Profound. Powerful. Witty. Life Changing. http://www.fstreamz.com/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:13:29 EDT en-us
Lets figure out where we left off shall we.

Colorado
I really enjoyed that state and chilling with my brother-in-law and his family. It was half hell (as in work that wouldn't die) and half heaven (as in screw work I'll enjoy this one moment). Colorado was pretty but I was expecting more water. The top of Pike's Peak was awesome as was other trips we took. But hey not everything can be hunky dory, now can it?

United Airlines is worthless
If I can help it, I'll never fly United again. It took 2 hours more on our 2 hour flight because of 'weather' and not having enough 'gas'. Then our connecting flight didn't have 'Air Conditioning'. Cool, forgivable, call it a bad day.

8. Meet customers' essential needs during long on-aircraft or in-airport delays, diversions and cancellations

Then coming back our connecting flight to Chicago was postponed by like forever so our intinerary ended up being Tuesday night--Chicago to Norfolk. Wednesday morning--Colorado Springs to Chicago. Yea, figure that one out.

2. Notify customers of known delays, cancellations and diversions

We ended up having to fly out the next day after spending 90 minutes watching some lady try to change our flight. I mean it wasn't like "Oh yea let me squeeze you in and move these people around". Nope. It was "Oh here are empty seats let me change your reservation to here." OH NO ITS TO HARD!!!

We got to Chicago just fine and prepared for our 4 hour layover.

Chicago to Norfolk went fine. Like weird fine. Cool, we landed. I'll get the car, Honey. Oh yea pay $56 dollas for long term parking. Thx Ok Go around, she should be out by now. Uhm hrm maybe I was quick. 5 more circles around the airport and I finally go in for a peek.

Our baggage is still in Chicago

Oh! Awesome! Good thing I packed that Laptop in the checked baggage.

3. Provide on-time baggage delivery

In case you are wondering about the strike-thrus.

The rest of the summer

Wow, this is all a blur to me. It really is. I really don't know what I did these days except work. This is embarrassing.

New Office
We started moving to our new office late last week. Ash and I have spent the past few days moving things, reassembling things, installing blinds, running cable, cleaning, vaccuuming and of course bitching. Contractors could care less about how something is done, it just needs to appear done. Gotta stay on those hacks.

Sadly, we won't be able to enjoy our office for another couple weeks. Thanks Cox!

More to come.
]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/597 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:55:19 EDT
I'm going to keep working. Blast from the past.

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/596 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:08:50 EDT
The last time we flew was in Florida and he was pretty much immobile. I just remember pushing him in his stroller around a few times to get him to sleep. Oh the difference 5 months make.

I am about 3 days from being completely caught up. I'm pretty excited. I'm on my last project and I think I'll be staying up all night to get caught up more. It has been quite the roller coaster ride this month but things are working out. Of course tomorrow the phone will ring and things will not be worked out. Then what?

Must remember to pack my camera.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/595 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:30:25 EDT
Fell asleep last night early and never woke up to post. I didn't post the day after cause people bitch and whine and call me a cheater when i do. bleh bleh bleh. I didn't know this was a contest.

Oh well, this made it. YAY ME!

(Don't you wish I didn't post anything at all?)
]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/594 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:31:16 EDT Munden Point Park. So pretty there. Google Map







]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/593 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:28:49 EDT
When I am about to present something, I go over my thoughts, words, points in my mind while I drive to the meeting. I was thinking about what I was about to do and boom, cop and ticket out back of Regent.

Thanks for taking your sweet time on the ticket.

So basically I should have waken up, burnt $150, and went back to bed. 48 in a 30.

I seriously believe that there are more cops out there now than ever. I see 4 on the way to work. They sit at key spots everyday. I know they are out there for gas money. If the price of gas is at $4/gallon and you drive around all day in some gas guzzling Charger, Impala, or Crown Victoria then you obviously are hurting. So just pull more people over.

Of course this makes all the sense in the world. How is it that the Government never suffers or never has to cut back? Maybe I can charge the City a surcharge since their courthouse is in a far SE corner of Virginia Beach and 75% of us have to drive a long way to get there. I mean it makes the same sense right?

Back to work. So much to do so little time.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/592 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:38:09 EDT
Its funny how my intentions were good. I wanted to start on this 2 days after the last meeting. I wanted to do this in Pennsylvania. I wanted to start on it Saturday morning. I even wanted to start on it this morning at 8am, then 10am, no 12pm, maybe 2pm?

I finally was freed up to start at 3pm, then I had to run into work for a 4pm meeting, back by 5:30pm.

Then the thoughts came in, man if you just started at 8am like you wanted to you'd be done now. You'd be able to kick back, rock out some more code, and go to bed at a cool 2am. Life would be good Luke.

So here I am mid-way. Not as bad off as I could be, not as good off as I want to be. Did I screw around the last two weeks? No. Too many fires. Every day a new fire and an new thing that requires attention. Did I screw around today? No. 8am, people are working and people call non-stop. Can't ignore the emergencies, or the day-to-day tasks. I need an Account Executive.

... and a System Admin.

... and an Asp.Net developer

... and a nap.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/591 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:40:55 EDT
The list (I'll cross out what's done, when its done):

• Finish food site
• Finish property site
• Finish Registration
• Travel Stored Proc / CRM Change
• Training Emails
• xTeks site update
• Major QA Piece
• Purchase Order Admin
• City Changes

Jayden's Birthday is Thursday; Next week is Colorado. Fun times ahead. Sooo Tired.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/590 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:35:23 EDT
Here is what I have going on. Its encouraging to see the huge weight of undone projects is lifting. Discouraging to see the unfinished projects piling up.

• Basketball site (96%)
• Travel Site (97%)
• Property Site (85%)
• San Diego (85%)
• City (90%)
• Trading Site (70%)
• Food Site (90%)
• Training Site (93%)
• CMS (0%)
• Events DayPlanner (0%)
• Medical System (0%)
• Maintenance #1 (5%)
• Maintenance #2 (20%)

Priorities for the night are:

• Maintenance #2
• Finish Property
• Finish Food
• Work on Maintenace #1
• Work on Trading site

Oh to wrap up 80% of these this week. It'd be grand.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/589 Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:40:00 EDT Dismal Swamp is on fire and the wind is blowing it north. This is the second time we've been engulfed in smoke since I lived here. The first time was another fire but it was more in North Carolina I think and the timing was a few years back. When you walk outside, you can see a thin smoke cloud. The A/C keeps us from smelling it indoors.

Shyamalan is back in theatres. The last time he was in theatres I wrote an incredible synopsis of that movie. I stand by that accuracy 100%.

Well, I have lots of work to do. Always 3 clients too many. What am I going to do? GO OUTSIDE? LOLOLOLOL

In other news,
WAYNE, Pa. (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama told voters Saturday he would push an aggressive economic agenda as president: cutting taxes for the middle class, raising taxes on the wealthy, pouring money into "green energy" and requiring employers to set up retirement saving plans for their workers.

So as long as I stay middle class, I can take the taxes I'll save and give our employees retirement accounts!!! Hell, why should I even work hard? Just going to get taxed MORE.

Obama made no new proposals but emphasized ..... a new Social Security tax on incomes above $250,000;

So, I'm guessing its pretty fair to say most people making $250k+ are business owners. If this is the case then they are paying 13% * 250,000 or $32,500 just to Social Security. This is on top of the 6.5% they're paying in per employee's salary. I have an idea. Why don't we just charge a 50% Social Security tax? Then a 250k salary will be the same as 125k salary and we can all embrace socialism.

If only Lang was online, 1 win sounds neat.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/588 Sat, 14 Jun 2008 10:59:17 EDT
I have like 15 things to do this weekend / upcoming week. But only like 2 of them are new projects. 13 of them are cleanup. If I can get through this list, I will be in awesome shape. Then I think I'll have 5 parallel projects to work on, which will be quite the change of pace. I need to hold my breathe tho cause who knows what will happen. Seems like when I think I'm at the end, the sky falls.

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/587 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT
I started keeping a journal today of all my projects and 'interruptions'. I seriously can't seem to get anything done between 8 and 5. Its quite sad. Distraction after distraction after distraction all business-related. Hopefully the journal will help me see a pattern or at least know what I had to do unexpectedly on such and such a day.

Everyone says White Birch Beer tastes like Pepto-Bismo. Hurts me. =[

My partner had a bluetooth earpiece that he never used today. I plugged it in and WOW. Sure I look like a super geek but its so nice to hit a button on your ear and start talking to someone without having to use your hands. I had the phone on my desk and was writing away at the whiteboard and someone called. Just hit the button and keep writing. Hands free baby!

So much to do, so little time. Cute pictures here.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/586 Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:11:56 EDT
Sweaty, hot, and dirty I then hopped in the truck and off we went. Too many cars for 11pm on a Wednesday night, I-95 has 2/3 the lanes blocked around exit 143. I followed some cars off the ramp and was going to get on Rte 1. I decided to keep following the cars instead. I mean its 11:30pm. They should be travelling too right.

When the last car pulled into its house. I knew I was screwed. But, lucky luke, the road through the community was recently finished and connected to CourtHouse rd. Take a look:



]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/585 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT
My feet are blistered like crazy and my ankles are sore. I prolly walked 15 miles in the past 36 hours. I had serious fun tho.

Yesterday afternoon, Jayden was sleeping on a little mattress in the living room floor. Kris, Reb and him needed to go somewhere so I played the annoying parent who yelled "Jayden GET OUT OF BED!" It was so cute to see him smirking and rolling over going back to sleep. I'd keep saying it to him and he'd keep doing it. Before I know it, he'll be in school and doing the same thing.

Oh well, slave to the grind.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/584 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT Knoebels. It was really really hot and the park had maybe 1000 people? Anywayz, 1000 people in a park that size means NO LINES.

(NOTE: Honestly, being involved in a top-notch web firm, its hard to look at the site above and not be a little disappointed. Let's say they did the rides section superbly with a nice page for each or at least anchor tags on their current page. Then I could link you and give you a glimpse into our amazing experience. But, nope, I get to do something like I'm about to do.)

Here is a list of rides they have. We rode the Phoenix 4x, Flume 5x, Twister 4x then a single time on the Haunted Mansion, Fandago, Scenic SkyRide, Giant Wheel, and Pioneer Train. Everytime we were on a roller coaster we had prime seating (either back seats or front seats). Anything between those are for noobs.

Anywayz, I'm exhausted and I have blisters on my feet. Must sleep.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/583 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT
We had a small reunion today with Jayden stealing the show. He's so lively and bubbly and people just want to be around him. We're so blessed. Right now Kris and him are asleep after having a mini-Sunday night struggle of their own.

I really wish I had more to say, but I must send off a dozen emails or I'm screwed.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/582 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:59:59 EDT
We had a get together today for Jayden's first birthday. He was a little preoccupied when opening gifts (he didn't want to) but entertaining throughout. He got to play in a little kids pool that had a water nozzle fountain and loved it. He fell asleep on the way back to the grandparents.

Kris and I then hopped in the big truck and went to Penney's. We both some new spiffy clothes. JCP has some sweet deals.

I finished a project and am currently working on another. Yippee.

I know this is boring. Its what happens when your camera manufacturer goes all Apple on your ass and makes a proprietary cord to connect the PC to the camera. You leave the cord at home and suddenly you have a camera full of pictures that you can't get off.

Sorry!]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/581 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:24:51 EDT

1. A project slated to be done today actually was bigger than I anticipated and now I have to finish the remainder by Monday.
2. Another contract job I had has a ultimatum to be done by Monday or be handed off to someone else.
3. My family has taken off Monday to go to a local amusement park with Jayden.

Maybe if this was a normal weekend where I had the entire weekend to work. Unfortunatley the only thing keeping me up working light is that insane nervousness that comes with having too do too much in too little time.

The joys of being me.

If Lang didn't live close to me and boot my computer back up, I'd probably be enroute to Virginia Beach right now. <3]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/580 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:33:38 EDT
The rental we chose to drive to PA is a Dodge Ram 1500. I joke that the price of the gas will be more than the rental. So far the needle hasn't moved to much but if the tank is 30-40 gallons, I'll be in for an unpleasant suprise when I fill up. Anywayz, it sits up really really high. Did you know most truckers dont wear pants?

The new work laptop requires an express card. I scored one off of Ebay---a good card---one of the best that Verizon sells. It has this annoying blue blinking light the about an inch long. So as I type this in the dark, a blinding blue light is causing my right eye to go numb.

The Dakona CD playing takes me back about 4 years. What ever happened to them? Yes read all about them on Wikipedia. Set aside like 10 seconds of your time to read the entire article.

I wonder how many people put black electrical tape on their Kyocera KPC680 broadband card.

Seriously, how can he compete with me. I'm a deadly posting machine from anywhere in the United States.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/579 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:08:57 EDT
The vision is that of driving on a road, next to a wide body of very blue water with green mountains as a back drop. It is very bright and very peaceful. The mountains and water are always on the left hand side and when I think about it there's just a calmness and peacefulness about it. I don't know if its the vision that causes the feeling or if its how I felt at this moment in time when I first experienced it, if it even happened. Its obviously a happy place to me.

I am weird.

Tomorrow night we head up to Pennsylvania to visit family for JJ's first birthday. In 3 weeks, we had out to Colorado to visit with Kris's brother before he heads off to Iraq. Maybe I'll find it...

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/578 Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:04:16 EDT

Finish a quick shopping cart / paypal implementation

Fix a calendar that had a core part changed today

Finish a helpdesk for a city

Come up with 2 contracts for hosting / development

Add a sample test to a client

Submit an email for hours worked.

Submit another email for hours worked / next years specifications

Remove 2 events and update a page.

Make major updates to a client running Teks code =[

Double check emails for a client

Come up with a quote for a new client.

Start on a major project for another client

Finish a login object for a west coast client

Where do I begin? Top of the list of course. Where does it end?

Every day it either has yesterday's left overs or it starts fresh and its a crap shoot. Administrative, HR, Consulting, Programming, Support, System hats all must be worn and the phone never stops ringing. I've learned to spread some of the expectations out but as today, you just get blind sided with everyone elses emergencies mixed with your to-do list mixed with your past-due list.

Day after day of these tugs yields complacency. You start to confuse laziness with 'Well you deserve this break, you poor overworked man'. But, the bottom line is, you don't deserve it. Do your job. Do what you say. This is black and white. Sure its ok to do something for a couple minutes to an hour, but you know when you are supposed to be working and when you are dicking around. You is me and me is now.

America is a great country because people simply did what they'd say they'd do. There was blood, sweat, and tears--and follow-through. It seems like that is becoming a rarity today so utilize it and capitalize on it. Capitalism rules.

What happens when you simply do what you say for the price you say in the time you say. Well, sometimes, really good things:

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/577 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:49:22 EDT
This happened 3 months ago. You know what happens when you lose your serpentine belt? You don't have power steering, your engine overheats rather quickly, and you don't have an alternator recharging your battery. I stopped halfway between here and White's Automotive to let the engine cool. I had fun trying to steer. And, all of a sudden, that little temperature gauge in the dash actually mattered.

In the end, my truck has A/C, because fixing the A/C was only $600 more than a bypass pulley system. When you drive from meeting to meeting and don't want to look like a sweaty pig, the $600 is a wise investment---especially before the hottest time of the year.

Since August of 2007, I have worked and worked and worked. During the course of it all, I encountered a lot of broken pulleys. The steering has been rough, the battery doesn't charge so well, and things get really hot. I've had a lot of people say that "noone can consistently work that much" and "you'll get burnt out eventually" and its true, at times, I question my very existence and why I've made the choices I made---but, in the end, I am accountable for such and I have to decide what I'm going to do about it. The hard steering, sleepless nights, and heated moments will all be worth it if you get to spend the rest of your days driving in comfort. Never sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.

No excuses; No regrets; Head down and keep pushing forward.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/576 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:03:35 EDT
Sentence fragments rule.

I really wish I had a boat load to say. But moments are still few and far between. I can't give a lot, but I can give a little. Let me just give a little every day then, or try to.

Right now I have everything figured out. I'm going to keep it that way.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/575 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:06:07 EDT Like I aint got a single minute to lose
Sometimes Im my own worst enemy
I guess thats just the coda in me

I got a life that most would hate to have
But sometimes I still wake up kinda glad
At where this road Im heading down might lead
I guess thats just the coda in me

The urge to code, the restlessness
The silly projects I always get
The things I've tried to turn the tide
The client thats never satisfied
The error thats in the monitor when I cannot hardly see
I guess thats just the coda in me


I'll never win. Live to lose.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/574 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:44:39 EDT
Ever since August of 2007, I've been a prisoner to work. Every day, I'd wake up and code till I'd collapse and sleep. I recall roughly 8 days in that period where I didn't do that, however, even in those 8 days I worked at least 3-4 hours. I literally feel like a prison sentence is about to end.

Last week, I got help. Awesome help. Now my time can be spent purely on making money and securing client relationships rather than everything thrown at me.   I   WE have 3 huge projects to finish up this week and then its back to the queue---just in time for March Madness too. I want Jayden, Kris and I to go somewhere just for a day or two----especially, now that we've found awesome sitters for Roxy. I have so much I want to do---just like a prisoner getting out of prison---wow, is my life really that sad?

Expect a lot more updates.

Live to Win,

Luke]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/573 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:29:48 EDT
Unlike me, the rest of the world seems to value OOP and 'layers' over raw efficiency so when you try to make OOP efficient, well, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing thats bound to lead to heartache.

Wish List: A sortable, pageable, searchable grid.

In PHP, I can do this in 5 minutes with a well thought out class I created. YES OOP IN PHP OMG LOL ROFL BUT PHP = HOBBY LANGUAGE WTF. Pls Die.

In ASP.NET, well its a much more flexible language than PHP being OOP so like the problem was choosing how I wanted to do things. I mean I have soooo many options. So here it goes.

GridView + SqlSource Oh, can't, using MySQL.

GridView + SqlSource with Provider set OLEDB Oh can't, requirements are to use a Business Layer

You have to be pretty lazy to use the above code anyway. After all, it returns ALL THE RECORDS, then filters them and shows your 1-20, 21-40 etc. SO EFFICIENT.

Yes sometimes you don't need to care about that, such as in form options or relatively small tables with not that many records. I concur

BUT THIS HAS A BILLION TRILLION RECORDS. WHAT AM I TO DO.

Ok, so I need to implement some sort of custom method. I mean I don't like returning a billion records. That's just asinine. I guess I want paging and only the records returned that are needed so let me have a startIndex and endIndex. Guess I'd like to sort, so a sortExpression would be cool and oh yea Search so I need a searchText field.

Ok let me create my business object method:

GetCollection (sortExpression, startIndex, endIndex, searchValue)

Ok, well let me uhm make a Database Method that accepts the same thing, that will rule, so

DatabaseHandler.GetDataTable(string sql, DBConnection connection)

Oh I forgot, I'm only returning a subset and I don't know how many records there are overall in the Collection so I guess I need something that select count(*) from...

GetCollectionCount (sortExpression, startIndex, endIndex, searchValue)

DatabaseHandler.GetScalarInt(string sql, DBConnection connection)

Awesome. Almost done.

Oh shit, I'm using parameters to prevent any type of sql injection etc. Hrm. I mean like wow, quite the dilemma here.

• Do I set them in the GetCollection? Well I can't pass a sql statement to the GetDataTable then. And passing a Command would be asinine. return command.ExecuteNonQuery(); LOLOL
• Do I pass an array of Parameters to my Database Layer? Loop through, do an IndexOf on the Name, see if its in there and then add the parameter? I basically have to create them all in the GetCollection anyway.
• Whatever I do here I have to duplicate for GetScalarInt.

Screw it I'll just do it all in the GetCollection and return a DataTable. I don't have time for this.

Done, Ok, Sir, I'm ready for my Presentation Layer Now.

Hrm. The Gridview's PageIndex is Read-Only. Wow. Ok well I guess I can't set that. Hrm. I have to extend it and use a hack to access the CustomPagingObject and VirtualCount hrm. no thanks.

Hey, mom, yea the gridview isn't so hot after all.

Ok so back to the drawing board. You'd think a framework would put efficiency at the forefront.

I guess I can use the ObjectDataSource, seems like it will work.

LOL It uses reflection and builds 2 objects...The first to GetCollectionCount and the other to GetCollection---well that is just teriffic. 2 DB CONNECTIONS YO.

But, hey, you aren't cool unless you query the db, use a datareader, loop through it, build an object, assign the object to its corresponding fields in the datareader, add each object to a list, and bind that. Now, that my friend, is the pinnacle of OOP. Strongly-Typed, Lots of overhead, all for your string output pleasure. You can walk around with your head up high because you R A TRIED AND TRUE ASP.NET PROGRAMMER.

Anwayz, If only I was smart enough to come up with a better way than the above mess... I'm sure I'll find it somewhere along this journey.

UPDATE I went back and passed an array of Parameters to a GetDataTable Method in a new Database Layer. Its working beautifully. So, the database layer method's job is to make the query statement have ORDER BY and LIMIT to only return the records needed. The business object layer's job is to setup the select COLS from TABLE where SEARCH and to add any parameters that are needed to filter that result.

ORDER BY and LIMIT?!?!?! LOL, THANKFULLY I AM USING MYSQL.

I see SQL Server 2005 has ROW_NUMBER now, have no idea why they didn't just follow suit with MYSQL. And Microsoft wonders why their stock goes down. Part of being smart is copying good ideas, not ignoring them and doing your own....especially if its asinine. Oh the joys of life. 8 hours down the drain. THANKS MICROSOFT!

ANOTHER UPDATE Seriously. This is 2008. Why do I have to try so hard to find the flags for DateFormatString? I've been searching for 10 minutes, what a waste of time. OMG LOL HOBBY LANGUAGE DOCUMENTATION]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/572 Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:15:35 EST
http://www.geocities.com/tablizer/oopbad.htm

This is quite possibly the most brilliant piece of work ever written when it comes to programming.

Am I against OOP completely? Absolutely not. I use it wherever it makes the most sense. Its just another tool in the toolbox. Its there for your use.

My problem is more deeper. To MVC or not to MVC? I hate MVC because creating a controller, and having the view and code separated is more to manage and more to remember to copy. It might also use a framework which is just more overhead.

I try hard to organize my code like the following:

// library include
// initialization
// page save (switch)
// page load (switch)
// begin html
// js (switch)
// begin body
// code (switch)
// end body
// end html

The best part is its self-contained. Just copy it wherever and make the modifications. The worst part is its hard to follow after a while. I do a lot of different things in switch statements to help control the flow. This helps a lot but still, sometimes you scroll too much. Too scroll or manage multiple files; that is the question.

MVC would either separate that out into a save/load, and mix the js with the html body, or worse separate all those switches out into separate methods of a class and yea... Of course methods of a class would be nice because you have another solution other than switch case fall-through.

Hrm....

Oh to start clean on a new project that is purely of the civilian nature. Oh, to have a closed stubborn mind and say my way is better than yours and don't talk to me about your way cause its sucks.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/571 Sun, 10 Feb 2008 07:06:45 EST
One of the key pieces to finalizing my development is the use of javascript. Right now I have pieces everywhere. I'm all about efficiency so I'm going back over everything I've done the past 3 years and debating whether to bank on a solid framework and rewrite to fit that, or go my own route. I think I need to go the solid framework route. Its just learning it and retrofitting everything to use it. I have roughly 5 js things I need to be standardized and I seem to always have one or two that I can't get to work in the same version of mootools. I'm not going to standardize everything until I get them all figured out. The goal here is the smallest code base ever and a no-nonsene code base at that.

The other part to this whole thing is finding out where the cut off is on some loose ends from 2007. It frustrates me to no-end on the out-of-scope projects. I have worked so hard to get out of them but I'm quickly realizing how hopeless they are. I think this week if I don't get where I need; I'll force a decision to end them, permanently. Had I done this 4 weeks ago; I would have more than made up the money lost. My pushover days are soon over. Its really sad that you HAVE to bill like a lawyer to get people to respect your time and do preparation on their own. Money is the great equalizer.

Ah the growing pains.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/570 Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:34:01 EST
Another short day for you I guess; I'd kill for 8 hour days. A short week too; I'd kill for a 5 day week. But alas I must do the work to support my family.

Chinese Labor.

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/569 Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:31:08 EST
7 years later in 1992, I would get a piece of a different brand. My parents gave me a Tandy RSX 2500 for Christmas. It had the amazing Operating System known as DOS which also ran Deskmate. I played with it hard and one summer did enough chores to score 2x4mb sticks of memory. Suddenly, I had a 9mb computer and could play floppy games without any lag!

4 years later I would pack up the Tandy and take it with me to college. At college, I scored Windows 3.1 in the dorm and then installed Turbo Pascal 7.0 on my computer. I had an unusual high aptitude 2 weeks after my final exam. By that, I mean that during the semester I would barely scrape by with a C-, then two weeks after the class ended I'd be writing my own programs with ease. I would then spend the next semester tutoring whoever needed help in the previous classes I took while I got a C- in my new CompSci class. Odd. I was not a grade whore by any means.

Anywayz, so back to the Tandy. My freshmore year, I had two roommates Blair and Phil who would play games on my computer when I left for class. I never gave them permission but I guess anything is game when you live in the dorm. That is when I learned the power of ALT-0-2-5-5 and other number combinations to produce directories of spaces and greek symbols. They apparently cracked the code before too long. That Christmas I wrote a password exe program that sat on top of the boot loader. I hardcoded the password and then suddenly forgot what it was. I tried hard to hack my own program and after a couple hours successfully broke it. "redeagle" was the password and I ask myself to this day "Why that?"

After Christmas, I experienced a transistor short in the keyboard and my Tandy was suddenly rendered useless. (No Keyboard in a DOS world = gg.) That was until Rich Lagger soldered around the burnt transistor and gave me my computer back. He said the next time I'd probably damage something closer to the processor and GG. I never had a problem with the computer since.

My Sophomore/Junior year (1998) I bought my second computer using money I earned that summer. It was an AMD-K6 200mhz with a whopping 32mb of ram. It was built by Cybermax who had an ad in PC World. That computer had a glitch which would lock everything up randomly. I got my first taste of the insides of a computer as I'd try removing memory sticks hoping it was a bad stick and I could just send for a replacement. After all 32mb was a luxury, 16mb was the norm. After reinstalling windows 95 5+ times and then reinstalling Windows NT a couple times on top of that, I finally RMAed the computer back to CyberMax and waited in nervous anticipation for the replacement computer to lock up the same way. It never did.

I had that computer till I moved to Virginia Beach. I remember meeting Lang and was in aww of his Pentium II 300mhz computer that he'd play Quake on. Over the years, I'd score a P3 700mhz computer from Automark, then upgrade it with a later score: a 933mhz chip. I had that computer until 2 years ago when I bought a P4 3.0ghz Viao desktop from a guy at trader. That computer was solid but frustrating when I needed the performance for gaming.

For Christmas this year, Lang regifted me his 7900gtx and generously got me some computer parts off of my newegg wishlist. Having such a good start on a new computer, I splurged and bought the rest opting to go with the Core 2 Duo over the AMD 6000+ as well as the Gigabyte board over the Asis board. I went with 1066mhz memory and a decent size harddrive. I had one web browser open monitoring the shipments from the time I received the tracking numbers to the time they arrived at my door last friday. We spent quite a bit of time getting to know each other before we consummated our future Saturday night. I now host the games. =)











]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/568 Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:47:16 EST


]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/567 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:05:17 EST
PHP/MySQL - Registration / Payment System
Windows CRM Application - (Thanks Lang for helping my questions)
ASP.NET Web service (for talking to the CRM)
ASP 3.0 - Little tool to update Tips on a college website.
SQL Reports - Using Reporting Services for MySQL
Proprietery Language / VB - Writing a export script in Visual Basic that pulls data from a company who interfaces with a major Airline / Travel Industry system and inserts it in a remote DB.

Exhaustian dead ahead.

Not as extensive as Lang's by any means, but:



I worry that something similar to this could happen to me.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/566 Sun, 02 Dec 2007 07:41:46 EST Kris was in a wedding this past weekend so she had activities to do on Thursday night, Friday night, and then Saturday from 7:30am till 4pm. I had to watch Jayden during those times.

So exhausting.

Jayden likes to be active and entertained. Unfortunately, he's can't crawl so he has to be held. You don't have to hold a sleeping baby for long so getting a baby to sleep is key. Jayden hates sleep.

He's been sleeping for 3.5 hours straight since I wrote this. I'm so happy.

I think Friday night / Saturday morning was the worst. Kris came back Friday night and was exhausted herself and fell asleep. Jayden woke up about 30 minutes after Kris fell asleep so I rocked him for over an hour till I got him back asleep, then he woke up again 40 minutes later. Kris took over for me at 3am. At 7:30 am, she was out the door and it was just me and Jayden all over again.

Shave, shower, bathe the baby, feed the baby, iron clothes, pick out clothes for baby, get a diaper bag together, get in the car, get to the wedding

I secretly hated all the other people who had babies at the wedding. Their babies were older and they had other family there to hold the baby. Kris was in the wedding so all Jayden had was my arms to hold him, and he didn't want to sit there in a pew. I think we covered every square inch of the surrounding hall.

Movement is entertaining and entertaining isn't boring

After the wedding, they did pictures and since Kris was in the wedding party she'd be tied up in those for an hour. I put Jayden in the car and took him home for another bottle feeding. It took me an hour to get him to stop crying for whatever undisclosed reason he had.

I remember walking into the reception about an hour late with Jayden in my arms. I originally wanted to leave the house at 1:15pm but didn't get to leave till 2pm because of the excessive crying. We spent another 20 minutes in the car waiting for the ships to pass and the bridge to lower. I remember thinking "Stay focused Luke don't fall asleep". Its funny cause a driver in the other lane in front of me fell asleep and didn't wake up right away even with all the cars honking their horn. I watched him as long as I could in my rearview mirror and the car never moved.

Maybe the driver died =[

As I walked into that reception, I was never so exhausted in my life. I didn't want to talk to anyone or even look around. I handed Jayden to Kris and enjoyed feeling the sanity trickle back in.

Someone just woke up...

Jayden is just a baby and I wouldn't trade him for the world. The focus of this post wasn't to bitch and whine. Its simply to outline what I went through in a span of 3 days and the exhaustion I felt AND to give appreciation for what Kris does every day. She's a hero. I know she's just as exhausted as I was and has been that way for a long time, but she never hesitates to jump out of bed 4 or more times a night and tend to a crying baby. Jayden can honestly say "My mom is better than your mom."

And yes she is...]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/565 Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:16:28 EST YouTube account. As much as I've completely shunned the social networks, I realized that it goes against my principles to require people to download Apple Quicktime to view them especially since Apple tries to force you to install iTunes and then constantly nags you with updates. After installing the 3rd update in one week I thought "Screw this, I'm getting a YouTube account" Here are some videos I uploaded. These are a month old so it was Jayden just under 4 months.





]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/564 Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:37:41 EST
Kris was having lunch with her friend so I decided to grab some sushi at the hottest place ever. I ordered the usual spicy tuna, salmon, and california rolls with a portabella and salad on the side. As I sat at the bar watching the sushi be made, life started to make sense once again. There is such a beauty to watching a craftsman work on his craft. Its the outside forces of endless changes, distractions and time constraints that ruin that beauty. I need to rediscover that craft.





After I was finished with the sushi, I started driving home when I passed the railroad tracks where Lang and I used to place the pennies to be smashed. I pulled into the 7 11 where I've probably spent over a thousand dollars on snacks. Miss Lily still recognized me after 4 years. We had a little chat and I was on my way to the railroad. The spot where Lang and I used to cross is now all mowed instead of overgrown with weeds and brush. Our smashed penny spot is pretty close to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach line which is pretty significant because Norfolk approved a Light Rail project using this railroad while Virginia Beach rejected it. Its now a part of history man!



After visiting the railroad, I passed the old Automark building and suddenly remembered where I used to be and where I am now. Its quite a leap. Suddenly those projects didn't seem so bad.

It is waiting for you to awaken
And someday you will
Learn to be still
Learn to be still

It doesn't have to wait any longer.


Now for some JJ Time




]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/563 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:12:32 EST
It used to be Brian Urlacher

I am hardly a Bears fan but I respect talent, power, confidence, and humility. Brian was by far all of these. Brian Urlacher Bilger would have made a great name for munchkin with the initials being BUB. This, of course, is second to Bill Bilger which would have made a great football name. Tackle made by #1337 Bill Bilger. Another thought, would have been creating a name called "Theleet" pronounced "The Leet"

Theleet Bilger. Ah, looks like we're making a trip to the Social Security Office.

Anywayz, back to Brian Urlacher
If you aren't familiar with Brian Urlacher, here's an introduction.

Videos
Badmitton Commercial w/ Ortiz
Banned Football Commercial (Clean)

Note: Urlacher laid down the law on Vick long before any Prosecuters




As you can see, Jayden and Brian have a lot of similarities. They both have no hair, they both are huge, and they both are stubborn. I figured it was a role model match made in a disney movie.

Enter Jason Witten

I was coding last night and needed a break so I turned on the very end of the Cowboys / Eagles game. That was when I witnessed a hard-hitting, 120%, give-it-all-you-got, never-say-die machine. And since 120% is better than 110%, Witten is in and Urlacher is out.

The video that changed everything.



Most players would have beelined it for a sideline or went down immediately if they somehow found themselves in the middle of a live play on a football field without a helmet. Not Jason. His never-say-die, i-am-a-machine like attitude kept running even after he lost his helmet. Once he lost his helmet, the "helmet-to-helmet no hit" rule no longer applied. There is no "helmet-to-naked-head no hit" rule. He was suddenly a marked man. But he was Jason Witten. He didn't need a stinkin helmet.



Note to self: Research to see if Ram Vela gave 130% on this play.

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/562 Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:41:36 EST
I now completely understand how some Dads don't have time for their kids. You know the "Cat in the cradle", work-all-the-time dads. I have tried consistently for a while to just get things done so I can enjoy such-and-such, whether it be a movie, a ball game on tv, or just a afternoon out-and-about. I wanted to be able to do it knowing in my mind there was nothing eminent that needed to be done. I worked diligently trying my very best to make this happen only to realize that regardless of my efforts, I was still behind and what I wanted would have to wait. I understand that for most Dads this probably doesn't apply. They get to work 9-5 jobs and once they walk out the door, they are done with work. But, for the Dads who have their share in a business, the lines are blurred. Their time is needed at any time of the day whether they are at the office or at home. If business is booming, this gets even worse because they have to either a) put out employee/client fires or b) be the employee. So, it comes down to a) not caring and not being able to feed your kid or b) caring too much and not being able to see your kid. The good thing is its really loosening me up. I used to be a tightwad about control, now I just want to delegate while handling my share of things.

Everytime I come to my site its the same situation. So much I want to do, but I can't because the site is play and play isn't work and work is getting things done and without things done there is no peace of mind to play. So its a catch 22. That is why the picture up at the top has never been updated to reflect my life in Williamsburg or with Kris pregnant or with a new baby or with life in Virginia Beach. Its just a simple reminder of when life was easier when I had the 9-5 job, could work at 20% efficiency and still outshine all the noobs. However, the pay was a lot less...and money is power. I want a million dawgs on salary.

Time to pick up the pace and finish strong.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/561 Sun, 04 Nov 2007 10:50:22 EST
Everyday is GroundHog Day---striving to get ahead, and then the next morning you wake up and its all ready to be done again. I can't even write proper English or remember things.

We go up to PA on Thursday. I can't wait to take a bite of an OIPS hoagie, sip some Bear Run Birch Beer, and wolf down Middleswarth Sour Cream & Onion chips. If only I could stop and smell the roses, while I consume.

This is short...I know. So much to do, only one life.

I am the last of the late night coders... Everyone else seems to go to bed at 10pm.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/560 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:31:29 EDT
Now, I'm prettttyyy sure we're in a "buyer's market", but it could all just be a lie. I mean these flyers were advertising condo's for $279,900 and $299,900. (Notice, how google corrected the Echingham addresses, Lang) I was walking by one open house and I overheard a realtor (older gentleman on the left) saying how "they think they finally have this priced right to sell." The price was not available on the flyer, so after consulting neptuneblu and seeing it was $249,500, I must agree that, at least, he was realistic. Don't forget to tack on the $130 condo dues to your monthly mortgage! Now with gigantic speedbumps!

Anywayz, I think the $279,900 house will sell really fast. I mean this is an awesome color to have in your kitchen. ROFL. If those awesome bar stools come with it, the deal would be so sweet.

Ok, anywayz, enough of the clueless realtors who give their clients false hope on sale prices, I must work. I leave you with an award-winning picture taken from my front door.

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/559 Sat, 08 Sep 2007 11:23:23 EDT

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/558 Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:15:45 EDT
1) Bourne Ultimatum  For the first time in my life, I walked out of a movie that I really really wanted to see again. The movie was just under 2 hours and didn't have one dull moment in it. It easily beats the first and second Bourne's and wraps it up so well. If you need a refresher, watch the Bourne Supremacy because Ultimatum is a continuation of Supremacy, pieced together in a rather remarkable way. The movie has no cheesy blow-ups or over-dramatic scenes. The fights are like how you and I would fight if we knew it was to the death. The car chases are metal on metal the whole way. The action moves fast, but not too fast where you lose your place. Incredible. If anyone wants to see it and doesn't have a buddy, you know who to IM. Thank you Paul Greengrass.

2) Yummy Korean BBQ  Such good food. I could eat the spicy chicken, cucumbers, kimchee, and bean sprouts over and over again and not get sick of it. Nothing like sweating while you eat. I'm glad I don't live too far from here.

3) Philly Style Steaks & Subs  Finally, authentic Philly food. When you walk in the place you see cooks going at it and Philly team newspaper clippings on the wall. There was even a Joe Pa / Penn State picture. The place is definitely blue collar testosterone. Nothing like walking in with Kris and watching 30 pairs of male eyes stare at her. The food is so damn good tho. The owners are from Philly and the bread is shipped from Philly. Don't get much better than that.

Anywayz, slave to the grind.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/557 Wed, 05 Sep 2007 10:24:12 EDT a movie that I had on DVR till I was tired, then I stopped the movie and went to bed. It was like I was 8 years old and having a birthday. Exciting, relaxing, I was on top of the world. For the first time in 4 years, I had no pending deadlines; no weight on my shoulders; it was surreal.

I don't know when watching a movie suddenly became a treat to me. Or when I became jealous of the 9-5 people because weeknights, weekends and even holidays were theirs for the taking. They had a defined line between work and play, co-workers and family, business phone and personal phone. I'm not chained to a desk, but my life is chained to work. In my life, clients calling at 9:30pm or 2am email exchanges happen frequently. And getting to bed at 2am is pretty common. Freelance is not very glamorous when you are in deep. I was asked last week by several people that if I was to choose this all over again, would I?

Yes, of course I would. I appreciate life so much more. When was the last time you watched a movie and felt like a 8 year old on his birthday? Slept in on a Saturday because you had no immediate needs? Went out to grab a bite to eat and not have to be anywhere or meet a client? Just go for a drive or walk for no other reason but to simply pass the time? Play PS2 just because? Now, I know people do these everyday. But familiarity breeds contempt, and for me, I had no familiarity. It was like I was doing them for the first time---it was incredible. Simply incredible. All of those things seemed so new and felt so good.

Don't get me wrong. I still have a quite a bit on my plate. Lots of deadlines due next week, but I feel that I have a chance to finally start over---to put in those 8-10 hour days and try to draw the 9-5 line. We'll see if it happens.

Tonight, I'm going to do something I haven't done in a long time. Work on fstreamz.com. Hopefully I can get the image gallery coded and up. Should be fun.

I hope you all had a great Labor Day. Its funny because today I did no labor and had no worries. Antithesis]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/556 Mon, 03 Sep 2007 11:48:26 EDT
Question. If you drank the whisky drink, then the vodka drink, then a lager drink, then a cider drink, would you be pissing the night away? LOL classic I finally get it.

Most people when they move to the country, they eat peaches picked from a tree, not a can. Stupid city bands.

If everyone simply put a smile on their face, I doubt it would make the world a better place. They'd just be killing and backstabbing and stealing with a smile. That would be creepy.

Hrm. The girl says "You said that you would treat me right but you was just a waste of time". But the song is about the dude cheating on the girl. So wouldn't the girl have been a waste of time? I mean she got cheated on?

Band Ohne Namen had the best song ever. I cried when they broke up in 2003. Sobbed even. =..(

Fall back, take a look at me and you'll see I'm for real. I feel what only I can feel. SO PROFOUND! I'm not the milk, and Cheerios in your spoon either.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. Unless of course you are creating directories in an infinite loop. That sucks.

Whatever happened to the boy band craze? Just look around, and all of the boy bands that we used to know, just give it up they want to let it go...

Can you take me high enough? Not too high tho. No oxygen. =(

I wonder when R.Kelly wrote Ignition, if he secretly amused himself cause most 'ignitions' are under 18 years old. Sicko.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/555 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 07:58:33 EDT
Out of the 15, roughly half of us were hanging on by a thread. We were D+/C- ish and we just wanted to score C's on our tests/assignments to solidify that C-. The other half of the 15 were already old pros acing every test and programming assignment like it was second nature. These people were later branded 'geeks' by society. While these 'geeks' were getting high A's in everything computer related, they were failing English, Math, History etc.

I remember a senior friend making a comment "Wow, they are specializing a little early."---meaning they were focusing on one area exclusively and ignoring the others. You were supposed to do this in grad school, not undergrad.

My sophomore/junior year I had the privilege of rooming on 'geek' hall. It was incredible being in the middle of them all. These people were actually writing their own printer drivers and programming their own winamp. They all desperately wanted the network to be wired so they could write packet sniffers or not have to go to the lab. They would spend their lives in front of the computer doing something geek-related. They happilly repeated classes they failed 2 or 3 times and most of them were trying to score that C- in Calculus 1, a dumb prerequisite in their major. Some were repeating it the 2nd time, others the 3rd. However, they were all keeping up with some of the toughest programming assignments I've ever known in my entire programming career. I only got a taste of the difficulty with my higher end Math classes.

But, the senior's words "Wow, they are specializing a little early." still pops in my mind now and then. Specializing is something we are supposed to do as we get older. It helps us become who we are and ensures that we have an excellent chance to be really good at that one thing. After all, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I really wish I knew.

The hardest thing in my life right now is balancing everything I want to do with everything I have to do. Often times, these are one and the same. I want to get involved in so much, but getting involved requires time and time is limited. Sometimes this simple fact depresses the hell out of me.

Those 'geeks' had it made.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/554 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 01:06:55 EDT
To Kristen, the love of my life, thank you for always being there and for loving me. I look forward to many more years (and one more kid) with you. =*

]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/553 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:44:22 EDT


Last night, at 11ish, I lifted the grill tarp and out popped a snake. Its funny cause I instinctively look for a snake everytime I pick that thing up so I was ready, but I had yet to see a snake in VA after living here 7 years. Old habits from PA, I guess. The not so funny part was it was dark, I was barefoot, and I couldn't tell what snake it was. After grabbing my camera and taking a pic with flash, it ended up being a gardner snake. Too bad it got away before I could kill it. The last thing I want is it jumping out at Kris when she's out back. I WILL FIND U.



Speaking of Kris she took more pics of Jayden today and just nailed one in particular. I'll be printing it out for sure. I take pics too!

We had the first vidcast release for a client today. I ran home to catch as much of it as I could. I staged a picture for kicks.



I love what I do now. So much responsibility yet so much flexibility. S'life.]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/552 Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:33:06 EDT
This month has been incredibly busy at work and had both its ups and downs. I remember in the beginning thinking "Wow, Luke, you are kicking ass; you just made the world your oyster". Then, in the middle, thinking, "15 days left in the month Luke, time to rev it up". Finally, in the end I just gave up. I'm starting to accept the fact that you'll always have work to do, always have bills to pay, and always have things come up, that the secret is to manage the moment while planning for the future---and the simpler you keep life, the easier it is to manage.

Kris has been amazing both on updating her site and taking care of Jayden. My boy seems to want to eat and eat and eat and she's always there for him. Now if only he'd eat a little less and sleep a little more. ;)

I think I'm just going to cut this short, go to bed, and wake up tomorrow and tackle August. I realize I have a lot to work on both personally and business-wise and I'm eager to get started.

I leave you with some pictures. I'll try not to duplicate what is on Kris's site. (If I ever add my own photo gallery, this might not be the case)













]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/551 Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:31:10 EDT


June 18th

6:00am - The hospital calls us and tells us that no beds are ready. If we don't hear something from them by 10:30am, to give them a call.

10:00am - The hospital calls us and tells us to be there by 11:00am

12:00pm - We get our room, they hook Kris up to the IV and start the induction.

3:20pm - They break her water.

3:50pm - They insert the epidural---which helped ease the pain but Kris still dealt with a lot of discomfort and pain.

7:00pm - I get a little break from the action and call Lang and have a nice chat. <3 BFF.

June 19th

6:15am - Kris is at the final stages and is able to push.

6:47am - Jayden is in the world.

All in all, roughly 19 hours of labor. Kris was amazing, holding up extremely well for so many hours of misery. She took 20 pushes to get the baby to where you could see the top of its head, and then on the next push, she was able to get the entire baby from head to toe out. The doctor and nurse were amazed, as were Kris and the Jayden. =) She's going to be a great mom.

I was involved in all the aspects including holding her right leg while she pushed, cutting the umbilical cord and other unmentionables. I didn't even feel slightly light headed. =D (I gave up PreMed in college because I couldn't handle certain medical videos I was forced to watch)

Below are some pics of the whole trip. Mouse over to see the title. Some of the pictures are out of focus slightly. My camera is old and I didn't want to hurt Jayden's eyes with repeated flashes.

Also, another note is that I absolutely LOVE his birthdate. My birthdate is on December 19th, so he's exactly 6 months from mine. ;)













]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/550 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:52:46 EDT Jayden. Well, suddenly its June 10th and I ask myself how did 13 days go by already. Kris's due date is this Wednesday so I'm "on call". She packed her hospital bag on Friday, maybe I should get some things together too. I need to do a photo gallery so I can post pictures. The photoblog is going away. I know that hard to believe because I update it so much.

Work. I've been having some productive days and non-productive days. Coming up with hot code standards to build a company on is time consuming and you often wage a mental war against yourself but hopefully its all for the better. Coming up with hot code standards while you have hard deadlines is another matter.

As far as work goes, we launched a new website for our client, Moondance Gondolas. Pictures are worth a thousand words so this should explain it better. The main part I did for it is the reservation system for the excursions which was both fun and hard at the same time. I put in some hard days to finish it. I don't know what it is about me in reservation systems but thats 2 of them in 2 months. The first was for the City of Williamsburg when I worked with VTG. Unfortunately for me, the Moondance Gondolas system was completely different from the Community Building reservation system so I had to start all over with the architectural design. There was a lot less fields, but a lot more tables.

I have about 10 other things to do and I'm caught up. =[

Survival of the fittest. Here's some tips if you move into a condo community to get the edge on your neighbors.

1. Preemptive strike. Find who is on the HOA board and when you meet/greet people in your community for the first time, simply say "Hi, my name is Name of prominent person on the board"
2. I'm on your side!. Buy an inexpensive bright pink paisley bed comforter, make it wet, and throw it over someone's fence when they aren't at home. (Like they are drying it) Then, when they do come home be like "I tried to tell them that it wasn't yours but I saw them jot your house number and something down on their clipboard anyway."
3. Pharisaical edge. The best way to survive in the condo community is to be a cut-throat hard-nosed SOB. Your main arsenal is simply to look the person in the eye and say "I'm going to report you to the Home Owner's Association". First person to say it wins. All it takes is for them to have ONE party that you can hear through the walls past 11pm. Then you have them at your mercy.
4. Nice knowing you. Paint someone's door black in the middle of the night. Its gg when they wake up in the morning. Leave a trail of the paint going to the victim's neighbor's garage. But, to add more confusion to the situation, put a "Caution: Wet Paint" on the painted door. Then, people won't know what to think. Cover your tracks by painting your door black but with a water soluble paint. Make it look like the person was spooked and ran leaving it unfinished. When the people have come and gone and noone is looking, wash it off and don't talk to people for a few days. They'll assume you repainted it.
5. Hint. Hint. Buy some "Open House" signs and put them up early Saturday morning. Make the time be from 8am-12pm. After the first people have come and gone, poke on over and do the normal WTF! you guys are selling! =...[
6. Nail them. If you have neighbors who work during the day regularly, then you have the best opportunity yet. Get yourself a subwoofer and when they leave for work, point it at the wall and turn the bass up. The volume should be low enough not to alert anyone down the row. The vibration from the bass will start pushing the nails on your neighbors side out from under the drywall. An hour a day should produce marvelous results. Disclaimer: I don't know if this actually works. I've just noticed it on OUR walls over the years when we've lived next to neighbors who liked da bass.
7. Clearing the pool Take a toothpick with you to the pool and keep it in your mouth. Use it to quietly poke holes in the flotation devices used by your neighbor's kids. After all, who wants to swim around them? The plastic used in flotation devices is usually pretty thin and a toothpick is strong enough to not break, but subtle enough to not cause suspicion.

Special Section. Let's face it. Some of us really have the redneck neighbors. Here's how to deal with certain situations:

• The sunbathing in the drive way. 1)  Wash your car. Be sure to spray the water a lot. (Only if your driveway is next to them.)  2)  Have a cell phone conversation outside.   3)  Get some boards and pretend your making something. Be sure to use a hammer and nails.  4)  Find an on old shelf or something and paint it. (Best if the person is down wind.)
• Drying clothes on driveway.   1)   Buy similar clothes, get them wet and lay them out on their neighbors driveway, attach a little note that says "Sorry, ran out of room on our side. Will get them later."  2)  Move them to the middle of the street.  3)  Clorox in a spray bottle. A light mist should do the trick. Honey, the sun stole our color!   4)   See #3 above.


I'm done. =[ At least I tried to produce content when there was none.
]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/549 Sun, 10 Jun 2007 01:50:56 EDT
Move & House. Its been a while since I updated and things have been great. We are completely moved back to the Beach, and we unexpectedly got our security deposit within the week after handing over the keys (minus a small calculation issue that was quickly resolved). This helped us out a lot with the cost of the move.

As far as the house goes, the baby's bassinett (actually a Pak-n-Play) is setup in the bedroom, and we were able to score a nice 5-piece dining set and 27" TV off of Craigslist for $150.

Eyepinch.. Work is busier than ever and I'm looking forward to being caught up and getting to enjoy the summer ahead. I have some tough projects on my back currently and its hard to stay focused with all the angles you have to plan for, but I'm finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Good Times. This past Saturday night, Kris and I hung out with Lang and Sharon at their place. We had food from Tida Thai which was really good. Kris and I got to play the Wii for our first time and, well, wow, I can see what the hype was all about. After Sharon homered and Kris hit a triple, I was eager to take a turn at bat but I struck out 3 times in a row. =[ Kris won at monopoly and I once again got less than 5 properties by the time all the properties were bought. But I had plenty of $$$ to put towards paying everyone rent.

Jayden. He seems to either really love or really hate music. Yesterday, at church, whenever there was singing or special music, he would go crazy. Kris just had to put her hands on her tummy and hang on for the ride. I guess after he's born we'll know if it was a dance or a tantrum.

Last night, I read some of Kris's pregnancy books and feel a little less nervous about the delivery process. I just can't believe we're so close. Its like it was February and there was time to prepare and now suddenly its the end of May and its just around the corner and its like "Wow, what happened?" I know the follow up to that will soon be "Wow, its all over, that was fast".

I just want to make sure I'm the best Dad I can be for him and I want to make sure that work doesn't overwhelm me and I have plenty of time to spend with Kris and him. I think if I can start getting up at 6am and tackle the day early, then it'll all fall into place.

Geico. Somehow, a salamander got in the house a few weeks ago and he reappears now and then. I have no idea where he goes but its kinda comical. Kris loves him because he eats spiders and flys and I'm shocked that he's lived in the house more than 2 weeks already. I caught him today just to introduce him to a plate of water that we set by the door. He chilled in there for an hour then went on his way.

Here's da proof.



Don't drink and drive!]]> http://www.fstreamz.com/journal/548 Mon, 28 May 2007 12:44:16 EDT