More stuff

So in effort to keep this blog alive, I post my second blog in less than one week!

For those of you who may not know, Ava is now over 4 months old! The picture was taken on Easter Sunday...my two ladies! I'm a lucky man. Ava got 3 more shots at her 4 month appointment, and she took them like a champ! She was a little confused by the pain, and immediately after the 3rd one she let out a quick scream...and then turned to Tenielle and laughed! Not sure if that is a good sign or not :) We are about to start her out on a little bit of cereal, but we haven't tried yet...although we bought some. Maybe tonight?

She has now started to really enjoy making noise too! She babbles constantly and loves to hear herself talk. If we encourage her enough, she has quite the giggle fits now too. We have some video of it so maybe i'll try to post that in the next day or 2.

We bought a new truck! We figured with how full we would pack the Santa Fe for a weekend up north just for the two of us, there was no way it would accomodate us now with Ava and all of the extra items we need to bring up north. So we ditched the Elantra (enjoy Jocelyn) and picked up a Honda Ridgeline. We really like it! Here's the only picture I have of it so far. Just got the tonneau cover installed tonight! Looks great! In most lights, the truck looks black as night, but in the right sunlight it will also look like a deep blue...pretty cool, huh!

For Justine

In response to Justine's comments on my last post, I have the following:

The card tournament went really well. I was playing awesome. Then I realized how nice it was outside, and asked myself....do you really want to waste this beautiful Saturday afternoon in a stuffy house when you could be outside having a cocktail and relaxing??? Choice was clear...so I dumped all of my chips and left. I happened to be the first one to leave, but plenty of other people followed my lead shortly after from what I hear.

I'm not really sure if you honestly think Tenielle would have input on the Vikings draft, but I can provide you with my thoughts. Maybe they will trigger a response from some of you who actually know something. Here's what I know. Vikes draft 17th. My guess is they'll end up picking DeAngelo Williams. If Cutler is still avail at that point, which I doubt, I would hope we'd take him instead...We MIGHT want a younger QB.

Otherwise I might say we should pick "Mean" Joe Green. He's good.

My contact at Winter Park is on vacation this week, so sorry, I can't provide you with any 'top secret' info this week...

And who cares about the Vikes right now anyway? It's baseball season. And early fishing season.

So, Justine, I hope that provides some food for thought or something. Feel free to comment or leave your opinions. I'm sure my blog will now be a sports topic hotbed. It's certain.

Lamest blog of the year contest...

Apparently people are voting for my site to win the lamest blog of the year contest? They must have something against me personally, because the content in this blog is first rate!

I must appologize for the lack of commitment I've put towards this...i know a lot of you have such boring lives that this blog...yes THIS blog, is one of the most entertaining things you have going...so i DO appologize. Hopefully all of you have made it through this without suffering from withdrawl too much.

So the past month and a half, i've been drafting up my next entry. Unfortunately i've run out of things to discuss! Apparently i'm not all that interesting. But to fill space and appease the masses, I'll write about Ava.

Ava is now 3 1/2 months old and changing every day. We just added pictures to the website last week from the past month or so. If you don't know...the site is at http://65.27.127.201. She loves to smile and laugh and talk now and is ALWAYS happy. I think it's mostly because of how proud she is to have such attractive parents. But that's up for debate.

She started daycare today :( When Tenielle dropped her off, she seemed to be OK! She was happy and curious to watch the other kids in the infant group. I'm sure she'll make lots of friends! Although she's 3 1/2 months, so she'll probably forget them after an hour or two and make them all over again.

Oh, and since I believe it is now public knowledge...Contrats Karen and Mike! We can't wait for Ava's cousin to arrive! And even if it wasn't public knowledge, I think only Mike and Justin read my blog anyway.

There is a $50 dollar buy in poker game this saturday in prior lake that i'm playing in and there are some spots left...so if you are interested in playing, let me know! I would love to take your $50.

Ok, that's all I have time for..until next time (date TBD)...

Do you really want to hurt me?

Do you really want to make me cry?

Then steal my new tv! How did I ever get by with a plain jane non-HD tv? Don't ask me. Apparently I just didn't know any better. It even makes the analog channels look a ton better...but who cares! Why watch analog channels anymore? Goofy 90's trend. TV isn't TV unless you can count the pours on Jay Leno's face. So if you haven't already...hop on the train. Spend that tax return money on a new HD.

By the way, Played a little poker on Saturday...To avoid sounding cocky, I won't mention how I walked all over the competition, i'll just mention that I took 1st...easily. I could play anything and everythign and end up taking the hand. I'm just that good now. But enough about me...

Tenielle and I are taking some basic ballroom dance lesson's at Church. We had our first one last night. I must say I will need to practice quite a bit. Not sure where my skills lack yet...so far it's just overall 'awkwardness'.

Have a happy Valentine's Day!

Chuck Norris can divide by zero.

Is that true? I believed the rest of them, but that one I just don't buy. Just a quick update before the weekend...Most of you may think that this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday. It isn't. Let it be known that it is Super Soy Sunday. Or as I call it, the 'tripple shizzle'. Sunday is Tenielle's birthday. So if anyone is looking for a great gift to buy her, here is a short list of things she probably wants:

1. Fishing supplies/equipment of any kind
2. Computer Peripherals
3. Cigars
4. Scotch
5. Ticket's to Rob Zombie

Also, we have finally gotten back into getting pictures up on our website. Be sure to check it out for weeks 1-7 of Ava. With maybe more added this weekend. For those that don't have the site info, click HERE to check it out.

Have a great weekend. Go Seahawks!!! (Like I care)

Follow the rules, and you shall succeed.

So last night we had the neighborhood game....played 2 games, 7 guys. Can you say unbeatable??? I took 1st in both. The neighborhood game has some serious players...all sorts of styles...a pretty tough game. But when you are feeling it, making solid bluffs...calling other people out...and getting the cards when they matter...you just can't lose. First game I was chip leader from about 20 minutes in through the rest of the game. 2nd game was down to crumbs and came back up to the top. Just thought I'd let you guys all know how great I am. Have a great weekend!

If you have mp3's, you need this!

So in working on writing an app to stream and control my music library on my pocket pc, I ran accross a REALLY cool web application that does this through a browser on any normal PC with an internet connection. If you own/stole a bunch of mp3's on your pc (and a high speed always on connection), this is a must have IMO.

It's called streampad. (http://www.streampad.com) and it's COMPLETELY FREE! Basically you need to install the server on your home pc (or if you have media jukebox, you can use the media server from that)...and then you create a login. There is some very simple setup, and once you have a login and set up the server, you basically have your own webpage. The page lists all of your music, sorted by genre, artist, album, song name, and you pick what you want to play. It then streams it to the pc you logged in from. So literally you can listen to your entire music library on ANY internet connected pc without installing anything at all. The interface is great and it's very very stable.

Also, besides your own mp3, you have access to other streams, including live concert recordings (O.A.R, Jack Johnson, G Love, Greatful Dead, Gavin Degraw, Ryan Adams and more) and internet radio stations...all for free. It's an open source project (using mostly AJAX and Flash), and there are not banner adds or spyware or anything like that...it's completely legit, and it earns my highest stamp of approval.

Anyway, if you are interested in setting it up and need some help or info on it, let me know and I can walk you through it.

¿How hard is that¿

Ok, so played poker again last night...didn't follow rule #1...most of the game I did...but when it really mattered, I didn't. How hard is it to follow the #1 rule? Apparently pretty hard. So needless to say, I finished one place out of the money. That's what I get for playing like a Belmonte.

Fishing tomorrow! Again, if anyone is interested, we are hitting Green lake..probably be on the lake by 2 at the latest. So far it's Brad, Joe and me.

I'm looking at buying a seal-a-meal type thing...there are at least 3 brands out there. Anyone have an opinion on which one to buy? Probably not.

Ava has had a bad streak in the past 36 hours of covering herself in doo-doo. 4 outfits soiled. I never though such gross sounds and textures could come from something so cute. She's not shy though, she tells the world when she's getting down to business.

Weekend is here, so everyone have a good weekend and give me a call if you want to fish or stop by and see Ava!

Ok, I'm back.

Don't bite my head off...as I stated in my first post, I will try to write at least a couple times a week. So from time to time, I may go a few days without a new post. I know all of you have been dying of anticiption and suffering from "Steve's Blog" withdrawl, so hopefully todays post will give you a bit of a fix.

This coming Saturday I'm hoping to go ice fishing for the first time this season! Crazy. If anyone is interested in going, let me know. I'm also open to info on those secret hot crappie spots that people lie about.

Ava update : Well, Ava had her 1 month birthday last week. Hard to believe it's already been over a month! We expected her to be walking and talking by now, but apparently she isn't that motivated. She sure is good at holding her head up and looking around though! She's now captivated by the T.V. and spends her late mornings watching soaps with Tenielle. She's making new noises every day, unfortunately they aren't all coming from her mouth.

Just for Justin, I have this horrible joke:
Q: Why do programmers always get Christmas and Halloween mixed up?
A: Because DEC 25 = OCT 31

Get it? If you did, you can be in my geek club. That is probably the dorkiest joke I could find.

I've go no creative energy today, so that's all I have for now. I appologize. I may write more later today...or maybe not. If not, then probably tomorrow. Or the next day.

Random topics

Ok, so every once in a while the unexpected happens...I played by my 5 rules...and didn't finish in the money...a rare event. I'm sure i'll get plenty of comments on that one.

In a comment on a prior post, Jocelyn said something about blogs being as cool as a one piece swimsuit. I'd like to know what other type of suit I should wear then...I guess I'm not aware of any other kind. Maybe i'll wear one of those junior high swimming rubber head cover things. Is that cool? Is that the money? Jocelyn, I'm looking forward to your blog...when are you creating one?

On a family side note, Ava has her first job! Bill Gates has heard from multiple sources about how amazingly smart I am....so he immediately saw the opportunity to get a brand new apprentice when he heard about Ava! He has hired her on to take over the Windows Vista project as Lead Architect and Platform Evangelist. He gave her a baby sized laptop of her own and she has been putting in long hours. Here she is asleep on the job after spending all night hammering out some proof-of-concept code. She is now the main money maker in the family, has purchased our house from us, and hired us to clean the house, bath her, feed her, and change her diapers. We are a little overwhelmed by it all, but we sure are proud of her.

My Rules of Poker

Ok, so tonight will be my first poker game since Ava was born. Will I be back into the weekly routine? Ha! Maybe monthly if I'm lucky...but for those of you who want some great pointers that will be sure to make you finish in the top 3...follow my rules below (60% of the time, they work everytime)

1. Don't play stupid. Yeah, it's obvious...but for some reason I have to remind myself of this rule on an average of once every 10 hands. Poker can get boring when the cards are cold. Impatience will kill you. I love laying in the weeds chasing garbage in hopes that I can destroy what should be a great hand...I LOVE being that guy...but it's expensive, and is only a way to irritate people...which of course I like doing. But I like to win more. Wanna be a renegade? Do it! I would LOVE to take your money.

2. Don't wash your face for a month straight. This will cause you to break out like the fry guy at Wendy's. Get that giant zit to the point of bursting...right on the tip of your nose or chin...it's sure to keep the attention of everyone at the table...hopefully enough to keep them from noticing your less than subtle tells.

3. Play with bad poker players. Of course, by doing this you are bound to get burned a few times on some jack-arse playing 7/2 suited and beating your 3 of a kind with a weak flush. But not to worry, any money they win on hands like that just makes them cocky and they'll start chasing everything..only to plunder, and leave you walking away in first.

4. Don't play against me. I'm a table killer. You think you know me? You think you know my game? You don't! I don't even know my game. It changes every day. But it works, and you fear it. With good reason. Ok, that's a bunch of B.S.

5. Don't cocktail it up! This seems to be a rule that only I need to follow, but it seems to pay off. I can have one beer/cocktail...maybe a 2nd late in the game. But if i have a couple before or keep a full glass during the game, Mr. Play it Right quickly becomes Mr. Play Everything. I tend to not like to sit and be bored while I'm having a cocktail or three, so waiting for hands to show up just doesn't jive with Jack Daniels.

So the odds of me winning tonight (based on the rules above) should be high! I'm smart as can be, so playing stupid hopefully won't be a problem. My face is captivating, so that always holds the attention of everyone at the table enough so they don't notice my leg bouncing like a mad man...and the guys I'm playing with....wow...horrible poker players (specially those Sharp brothers). I can't play against myself, so i'm safe there. So the key will be to not cocktail it up...which should be easy...since it's 193 miles from my house to Wade's, so gotta keep it sober for the drive home.

I sure hope these tips help (they won't, your game is hopeless...nothing can help it). I'll be sure to post the results of tonights game tomorrow, so be sure to check back...

Dual 19" or a single 20"? That is the question.

So shopping around for a new pc, I'm stuck at one major decision point. Monitor(s). At work, I essentially have 2 monitors. Pretty slick. Delphi open in one, everything else in the other. Tons of real estate. 20" LCD monitors are at least 2 times the prices of a single 19" LCD. So dual 20's aren't an option cost wise. Almost every 19" LCD has a max resolution of 1280 x 1024. The 20" monitors max at 1600 x 1200, so MUCH more real estate than a single 19", but less than duals. And of course, 1600 x 1200 can be a little tough to read! But a much better picture.

Dual 19 causes another problem. No room on my desk! They require a lot more desk space and our desk has a hutch, so they won't fit anyway. I'd have to buy a new desk as well. So there's another major expense. At the same time, we've wanted to buy a new desk. But how many provide enough space for dual 19s? Or do I save myself some money and just do a single 19" for now...and add another one down the road if I feel I really need it (of course I really need it).

So that's where I am stuck. Any suggestions?

New Family Member

We now have a new family member! Ava Noelle was born on December 13th! I'll be sure to write plenty about her in upcoming posts.... 

My first post!

So I'm going to attempt to write to this fairly often as to keep it worth visting. If ever you have an issue you'd like me to research/comment on, feel free to leave a comment and I'll see what I can do to fit it in. In the meantime, mark this page in your favorites as it's bound to be one of your new common spots to waste time!

Topics will vary and may be work/technology related...or might just be about my family and friends!