So, where have I been? Just doin the same ol same ol. Work has been a bit busy. It has been necessary to work at the call centers this week and last, and that burns me out pretty quick. I like my nice office! Today I get a repreive from the call center smells, sounds, and situations and get to work from my office so this is a nice change of pace.

I’m still plugging away at my studies every chance I get. Trying to breathe new life into my home schedule so I can get many of my side projects goin proper again. One site I’m working on right now was so near completion, and in the same spirit of the apprentice painter always putting that “last stroke” on the painting, I’ve had to tear it completely down and redesign it! Ahhh learning… :-D

Rhys’ big thing lately is fear. He’s scared of everything.  Like EVERYTHING: bugs, shadows, birds, shadows of bugs, being alone, his basketball hoop, the dolphin mobile in his room. You name it, and this kid will jump 20 feet in the blink of an eye! I guess it’s a phase. We are working with him, of course, but it’s slow goin.

He has found his new favorite game. His first real computer game that he fully understands! As a gamer dad, I’m so proud. We’ve been playing Peggle. It’s a PopCap game. If you like puzzle games, I’d recommend checking it out. It’s a good one.

Both Heidi and I have readjusted our outlook on things. Kinda stepped back to look at what is truly important in our lives, where we want to be, etc… So, we’ve redoubled our efforts to get back on track, as we both feel like we may have lost our way a bit. Things are goin good in that area, and we feel like we’ve got some good direction for once in a long time.

Hello there my faithful readers! It’s been forever and a day, and I wanted to just drop a line to say we’re still alive and kicking… The running theme these days seems to be sickness. Rhys has a cough right now, but he just got over (or is getting over) a real nasty stomach bug. It turned him into a human lawn sprinkler if you catch my drift. Poor kid just can’t seem to catch a break! On top of that, Heidi was diagnosed with Bronchitis! YAY! So much for riding this out until we get back on insurance. Chalk that up to another one of my brilliant foresights… I have remained sickness free, which is important when you have a new job.

I’m still working on websites on the side, and have been working with a local politician. A friend of mine and I are thinking of marketing to the local political scene to see if we can drum up some beer money. The market is ripe, and we have the skills. Might as well try capitalizing on it. At the worst it’s a learning experience — such is life.

Not too long ago, Rhys when #2 on the big boy potty for the very first time! So, he got himself a brand new red bicycle! He’s so excited about it. Even in his weakened condition, he insists on riding his bike outside a little bit each day. He gets about two good pedals in and then has to rest to catch his breath and drink some Gatorade! LOL  He’s a trooper! Of course, we don’t let him take it too far! What’s more, with me concentrating on studies, mom seems to be the one taking him out most of the time. I swear I will do more here soon, but studies take priority right now.

Speaking of studies, I’m studying up on .NET programming. Both the Win32 side and the Web App side. It’s so good to be back in Visual Studio, even for my Open Source projects. I have to hand it to Microsoft with Visual Studio, it’s just some bad ass shit. I gave my old copy of Studio to the neighbor kid who has shown an interest in programming — my good deed for the month. Hopefully he doesn’t squander the opportunity to take the free time in his life right now, and get a leg up on the working world.

That’s about it. Nothing too interesting, and I’m sure I am forgetting quite a bit of shit, but I’ll write more in here, I promise. Even if it is fluff, like this. :)

Happy Thursday, gang! We’re almost to the weekend! Have you survived?

All things are mostly the same in my neck of the woods. Came across a pretty interesting communication this week. Currently, I work for a software company (that in itself is another story). We are tied to the education industry, and that’s all I’ll say about that. But, there was a communication I was privy to between Teacher X and Sales Person Y. I just had to share this little pearl. You can guess how I feel about the No Child Left Behind deal… :: rolls eyes ::

Teacher X: We learned so much, and I have already begun implementing some of the suggestions you made concerning my ELL students. First thing this morning, I changed their passing score to be 70% rather than 80% on all tests. Hopefully, they will begin experiencing more success now. I have also taken out all lessons beyond 20 for my first grade students. That means that several are very nearly ready to exit the program!

Sales Person Y: I meant what I said when speaking of you being a MODEL implementation! Awesome job!

Come on… Really?

In other news, the new project is moving along. I’m getting probably one feature finished every day or two. Wish I had more time to concentrate on the code, but… I don’t. Both Heidi and I are pretty excited about this new project. I think it’s going to be fun! It’s been a learning experience for sure. At the very least it will be something to add to my portfolio. :)

Well, have a happy Thursday, and see you on the flipside.

YAY! The very first, and dirty iteration of BlaspNet is ready for Alpha. I told myself I need to get it done by Monday, and I JUST now got the last bug worked out. LOL! OMG. I thought I was going to have to give up for a bit there.

It won’t be long before the bugs pile up, I’m sure. But, hey, at least I got it to this point! That’s a pretty nice accomplishment for little ol me.

So, if you are interested in helping me out, just shoot me an email or comment here and I will get you a login for BlaspNet. :) Right now, I’m off to bed to allow my curdled brain some much needed rest!

Night night!