News flash - secret project soon to go public

I'm spending most evenings glued to my computer, working on the program I started two years ago, then set aside when I started working full time. Previous attempts to complete this program met with failure - whenever I got the urge to spent effort on it, the timing and/or motivation just wasn't right. This time, I've left myself ample time, and I'm highly motivated.

I expect to be done final redesign this week (two years is a long time to go between design sessions, and some of my ideas have changed in the interim), with coding proceeding through the next three weeks. Beta testing should be ready to go by late January with full trials beginning in mid-February. I'm looking at this as a business opportunity, not just a programming exercise, and I really want it to be successful.

My programming strengths are business logic and back-end stuff. I'm a fairly novice web programmer, and will be seeking outside help once I'm ready to put a face on this baby. Hopefully, I won't get bogged down in those details until the time is right - no need to think about anything potentially distracting at this point.

I survived the holidays

It's been a good week. Lots of food, even more calories, lots of diabetic sweats - yup, my kind of holiday!

Tonight, there's just one more night of partying (a.k.a. eating what I shouldn't) and then (hopefully) sanity returns.

Merry Christmas!

The gifts have been opened. Each of us got at least one gift we weren't expecting. My wife's side of the family is here for lunch right now, but I had to sneak out for a few minutes because I have problems handling crowds. A ten minute break is all I need.

Revisiting Christmas Past

By sheer coincidence, my Daily Differential backup overflowed today. So what, you ask? Last Christmas, my wife bought me a DVD-Rewriter. As a computer professional, I'm keenly aware of the need for backups. And that meant that prior to last Christmas, I did DAILY differential backups that spanned many CD-RWs. Last Christmas day, I took a full system backup of my primary computer, and that took up three DVD discs. Since then, I've been able to do my Daily Differential backup on one DVD disc. This means it could run unattended. Well, this morning (or more precisely, yesterday morning), I was greeted by an unfamiliar dialog: "Please remove current disc and insert new disc to continue backup". Yup, I hadn't seen that message since last December 25th.

Tonight, I took a fresh backup of my system. This time, the backup required five DVD discs to store the 29 GB of stuff I manage. There's no music or movies included. It's all operating system, programming languages, source code, and databases. Now I'm ready to enter the new season with the knowledge that another full backup is again, about a year away.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Jessie's home! Let it be proclaimed from the mountain tops, or maybe the tree tops ... or maybe the top of the staircase. Whatever. She's home, and we're all happy to see her. Too bad she won't be staying more than a few days. She's scheduled to work Christmas Day, so it's going to be a short visit. But a good visit nonetheless.

Keeping my promises

I promised pictures! If you're using Internet Explorer, captions will appear when you mouse-over the pictures. For the more enlightened among you, I've included the captions below the photos as well.




The kitchen was very dark, with cheezy paneling and cheezier faux brick. Hard to clean, and dreary, my wife had decided the day we bought the house that eventually, this would have to go...



This picture shows the faux brick as it encompasses the entire dining area and extends around the wall into the living room.



By far the dirtiest part of the job was the initial stripping. Though not visible from this shot, the archway between the dining area and living room had been curved. My wife decided to square it off to make the area appear more open. In the process of removing the faux brick, some of the drywall panels were damaged, so they were torn down completely.



Our son wants to be a drywaller. What better vote of confidence than to let him practice on our walls? Here, he's being supervised by my brother-in-law, an accomplished do-it-yourself-er in his own right.



Ready to go with the mudding, my wife sports her favourite painting moomoo. This dress has seen more action than most paintball warriors.



Mudding was hard work, and here, she stops to wipe her brow.




Fast forward a few weeks...

Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the painting that proceeded after the drywall was done. My wife had decided to apply stucco paint to give the walls some texture. It turned out to be a marvelous idea. Not only was it not as important to do sanding, but we were able to incorporate some of the imperfections of the brick applique into the finished product, giving that much-sought-after distressed look.




The dining area is much brighter. The phone has been placed on a side shelf (instead of being on the dining table), and the dreary brick and dark paneling has been replaced by a gleaming white surface throughout.



The transition from living room to dining room is much brighter, giving the impression of a larger space. The squared archway looks quite impressive.



The olive green front door was repainted a deep green, more in keeping with the colour scheme of the living room.



Partial view of the dining area, from the vantage point of the front door.



And finally, a view of the kitchen backsplash, formerly faux brick, taken through the archway to the dining area.


That's it! All done and ready for the holidays. Now, my wife can take a well-deserved rest, and I can go about reconnecting all the surround sound equipment. I sure have missed it lately.

Mission Accomplished

The painting is done. And I have to say, the dining area and kitchen look bright and inviting. Look out Debbie Travis, my wife is coming to town!

Pictures to follow tomorrow!

Home Improvement

Things continue to improve on the home front. Where once bricks lay strewn and walls were bare, there is now wallboard, primer and stucco paint. I am amazed at what my wife has been able to do, virtually on her own. She accepted some help from her brother and our son putting up the wallboard, but beyond that, all the preparation and finishing has been done solo - with advice from Home Depot and HGTV.

Not wishing to be one who my wife ridicules for not lending a hand, I can say I dutifully performed all tasks assigned to me. So far, that includes moving a china cabinet TWICE (so paint could be applied to adjacent walls); unscrewing two screws that held up a curtain rod; and opening TWO cans of paint. Yup, I've definitely done my fair share of the work!

Pictures of the finished room will follow, though it will be difficult to find pictures taken before the work was done.

Life's a bitch and so am I

Just a bit depressed lately, hence the lack of blogging. Don't really want to discuss it here.

Happy birthday, ya big lug!

I've been really tired today, probably the effects of a few late nights in a row of serious sleep deprivation. This evening, I finally crashed. Having just woken up, I pretty much mucked up my plan to call you on your birthday. I try to do it every year, and today, it was on my mind all day. Sorry I fell asleep, and I hope you had a fantastic birthday.

When I talk with you next time, let me know how you're liking the new job.

This weirded me out

I really understand the idea of people having a dog to protect them and their families. But I have a feeling that this person is taking things a bit too far.

My wife the home-wrecker

I never thought I'd agree with the characterization. But it's official... my wife is a home-wrecker. She has single-handedly brought down the wall dividing the kitchen from the dinette, and the dinette from the living room. First it started with the removal of some faux-brick decoration on the walls. Then, it escalated into removal of drywall, culminating in her unilateral decision to remove the archway between the dinette and living room. She had planned for the wall to be re-boarded, mudded, sanded and painted in a week's time. Not only has she under-estimated, but with her being set to start a new job this coming Monday, time will be more scarce to work on pet projects.

Ribbit

Know anyone who's croaked lately *evil grin*. Good riddance.

So, who is Ken Jennings, and does he know I'm his brother?

I've only watched him play one match, but aside from his uncanny ability to answer all questions trivial and a remarkable ability to buzz in very quickly, he's not much different than I. We're both software engineers. We're both married. OK, that's about the extent of our similarities. Fortunately, we have even fewer differences. He's rich, and I'm not so rich.

Ken, any time you want to visit me and drop a few loonies, be my guest.

Christmas is coming

It seems to me the ads have started earlier this year. Is it because the merchants fear we won't spend enough if they don't start their reminders? I'm not sure, but it certainly is a bit disconcerting that I'm going to have to put up with ads for the next seven weeks.

Gonna have to get my Scrooge outfit out of the closet soon.

Get off your asses and vote

I don't know how many Americans read this blog. But if you're reading this on voting day and haven't yet voted, what the hell are you waiting for? You have the privilege and right to take part in the election of democratically selected representatives. If you don't take the time to tell them which you would prefer to be your voice in government, you really can't complain that things in government aren't going the way you want them to.

Trust me... voting is important, and this blog will still be here when you get back.

Carved in stone

I accompanied my mom on a shopping trip to a local stone-cutter to finalize arrangements for a marker stone for dad's grave-site. We had to compromise a bit on what we got, because my father's original wishes could not be accommodated due to changes in the cemetery's bylaws. The dimension of the stone my father would have preferred to have is no longer available.

After consulting with the designer on-site, we agreed on a design that I believe will honour his memory.

All we have to do now is talk with the rabbi to book an appropriate date for the unveiling.

Not for nothing

The place that makes the memorials wasn't open on Sundays, but it wasn't a complete waste of time. We took a side trip to the cemetery to visit not just my father's grave; but all of our relatives buried there. While there, I took photographs of the relative's stones, as well as photos of the general area around my father's final resting place. With those photos in hand, we were able to walk among the many example stones at the stone cutter's shop and narrow the short list. The actual size of the stone can only be determined after consultation with the stone cutter. He's used for most of the stones in the Jewish cemetery, so he's more familiar with size and design restrictions than the average shopper. Next weekend, we'll go again during business hours to see what's what.

Shopping day

Today's the day I accompany my mother on a shopping trip. I hate shopping, and spending shopping time with my mother would rank very low on my "fun things to do" list (if such a list existed). Yet, this trip is important. She's looking for a monument for my father's grave, and I want to make sure she doesn't choose anything distasteful. Never having been on such a mission before, I don't have many expectations, though, if it's as hassle-free as the funeral parlour arrangements were, I'll be quite happy.

Back to earth

The past week is best described as uneventful. With two of the major stresses removed, life has become - dare I say - boring! Yes, I know the blog is boring. But now, so is life!

That's not all bad.

The only exciting thing around here is anticipation over the U.S. elections. Living in a Canadian border town, our lives are inexorably linked to those of the Americans living a mere two miles away. Not only are our economies dependent on similar industries and the commerce of cross-border traffic, but the threat of terrorism is quite high in this area, with some of the world's largest corporations having either headquarters or major centres of commerce in this area.

Add to that the fact that within 10 miles of my Jewish home is the second largest Arabic population outside of the Middle East, and you can see why I'm more than a little concerned. Am I paranoid? Perhaps. But a healthy dose of paranoia can be good. It teaches me to be careful.