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Happy New Year!

Posted In: Everyday life — December 31, 2004 @ 4:28 pm — Peter

Well, the day is winding down here at work… It was a fairly productive day. I managed to rebuild a Linux software RAID without having to take the system offline. This was ideal since the system now lives in Salt Lake City and rebuilding in single user mode would result in painfully walking someone else through the process. Several hours of research was worth avoiding that mess. We played hockey over lunch, it was a blast. This was my first time playing since I borrowed Dennis’s skates. I know have my own skates and stick! Stephanie wanted to get me skates for xmas, so we stopped in Gart Sports store after a long day of xmas shopping. We found these skates for $120 and I tried them on. I fell in love, they fit wonderfully and were just what I wanted. It was more than we wanted to spend, but we felt it was worth it. When checking out, the skates rang up $65! What a bargain! Thank you so much Stephanie for insisting we stop there. Now I can play hockey every Friday Next, I think I will get some pads as our budget permits. I was hit in the shin with a puck today and have developed a rather nasty lump. I am not very fond of gear since it impairs maneuverability, but minimal gear should suffice.

Tonight we are going to the fireworks display on the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver. I am hoping we take the bus, but Stephanie seems dead set on taking a cab. The bus stop is about 1 mile away and the ride would be free. It will only be 35 degree tonight, so I don’t think a 1-mile walk is all that bad. Anyway, rather than bicker about it, we will likely take a cab to avoid arguing. I hope some of the bars and restaurants are open, especially Starbucks. We have a few dollars left on our gift card and it would be nice to have one of their seasonal lattes. Maybe we will stop into a bar for a drink or two also…

I don’t have much planned for the weekend. I may stop by Brian’s tomorrow to watch some football *gag* and smoke the Cuban cigars I brought back from the Caribbean. Other than that, I plan to work on my ‘1st night’s assignment’ for class and get started on the administration piece of the image gallery for our website.

It sure would be nice if some family came out and visited us for the holidays! *nudge nudge wink wink*

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Posted In: Everyday life — December 28, 2004 @ 12:37 pm — Stephanie

Christmas was nice this year…a little quiet, but nice all the same. Brian came over for dinner and then we went out to see a movie–Finding Neverland, which was excellent btw. Peter’s on break from school, so I’m enjoying the extra time with him in the evenings. Any extra cuddle time is always a good thing! Today, I’m going to take Iris for a walk around the park and catch up on some housework. At least, this is the plan. Somehow, I always manage to get sidetracked. This stupid headache I woke up with better be gone after I pop a couple Motrin! Headaches just ruin everything!

What else? I miss my grandma. Apparently she was hit by a car a few days before we left for the cruise. She said she didn’t want to worry me…can you believe that? Her ankle was fractured in three places, so it’s in a cast. Grandma swears she’s fine, but this is a woman who downplayed her stroke like it was a cold or something. *sigh* I wish I could check on her…make sure she has groceries and whatever else she needs. Hopefully, someone in my family is taking care of her. No one would help her set up a christmas tree this year. She couldn’t get down the basement stairs to bring it up herself, so she didn’t have a tree. Maybe Peter and I can make it back to Chicago for Christmas next year… I doubt it, but maybe something miraculous will happen and we’ll be able to. Since losing Grandpa this year, it’s dawned on me that my grandmother won’t be around forever, either. I want to spend as much time with her as I can. I write and call her all the time, but it would be nice to have dinner with her. She’s such a sweetheart…

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The Cat Carol

Posted In: Everyday life — December 24, 2004 @ 2:08 pm — Stephanie

I have had somafm’s irreverant holiday stream on all day, and this song came on. The next thing I know, I’m crying like a baby! hehe. Seriously… I really did. Everyone who knows me knows how big of a softy I am with regards to animals, particularly those of the feline persuasion. I’m sharing it, because it warmed my heart and reduced me to tears.

The Cat Carol

The cat wanted in to the warm warm house,
but no one would let the cat in
It was cold outside on Christmas Eve,
She meowed and meowed by the door.

The cat was not let in the warm warm house,
And her tiny cries were ignored.
’twas a blizzard now, the worst of the year,
There was no place for her to hide.

Just then a poor little mouse crept by,
He had lost his way in the snow.
He was on his last legs and was almost froze,
The cat lifted him with her paw.

She said “Poor mouse do not be afraid,
because this is Christmas Eve.
“On this freezing night we both need a friend,
“I won’t hurt you - stay by my side.”

She dug a small hole in an icy drift,
This is where they would spent the night.
She curled herself ’round her helpless friend,
Protecting him from the cold.

Oooooo

When Santa came by near the end of the night,
the reindeer started to cry.
They found the cat lying there in the snow,
and they could see that she had died.

They lifted her up from the frozen ground,
and placed her into the sleigh.
It was then they saw the little mouse wrapped up,
she had kept him warm in her fur.

“Oh thank you Santa for finding us!
“Dear cat wake up we are saved!”
…”I’m sorry mouse but your friend has died,
there’s nothing more we can do.

“On Christmas Eve she gave you her life,
the greatest gift of them all.”
Santa lifted her up into the night sky,
and laid her to rest among the stars.

“Dear mouse don’t cry you are not alone,
you will see your friend every year.
“Each Christmas a Cat Constellation will shine,
to remind us that her love’s still here.”

–Bruce Evans

Ok… see what I mean? If you were not moved and still don’t care about the animals left to fend for themselves during the coldest of nights, then you lack a heart at all. Please think of the homeless animals this winter and perhaps leave a little food or water out. Maybe even build a small shelter for that stray kitty that roams the neighborhood? If you can catch the cat, bring him to a shelter. Don’t let them freeze to death! If we all helped spay and neuter just one homeless cat or dog each, we could make such a difference. Please help!

Also, the message of the song is so beautiful, especially in times like these. Please treat your fellow earthlings well and resolve to celebrate peace this year and every year. Ok, I’m tearing up again. :/

*looks out the window to see if there are any mews or miceys that want to come in. Who could leave a meowing cat outside during a blizzard? I mean, really! What jerks! Peace, Stephanie, peaaaaace.

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Good News!

Posted In: Everyday life — December 23, 2004 @ 4:39 pm — Peter

So, after worrying for days about my final grade in MSCC 630, Information Systems Architecture, the verdict it in! I got an A-! I am so happy, all the long evenings of pouring out massive amounts of text into essays has paid off. I hope my next class is as fun. From what I have heard, not all the professors at Regis are as great as Dr. Conn. I really hope they come close, because he made a class requiring alot of work very enjoyable. Other good news includes my appearance in the SunCorp newsletter this month. In response to the success of a project I am working on, the project team had their photo taken and an article written. This is my first appearance in the newsletter and I think it is a sign of great things to come with my career at SunCorp. Overall, I have to say it has been a great first year in Colorado. Sure there have been some bumps along the way. But the good things that have happened far outweigh the bad.

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Photo Gallery et al.

Posted In: Everyday life — December 22, 2004 @ 1:18 pm — Peter

Finally, I have made some real progess on the photo gallery. While the gallery code is not nearly complete, it is somewhat functional, providing me motivation to continue churning it out. Last night I converted the thumbnail and resized photo storage to database tables. I was annoyed with using the local filesystem since the Apache webserver wrote the files and this caused permission issues. Also, I dig the idea of using databases for storing binary data. It makes me happy. So, if time permits, tonight I will wrap up some more features and hopefully flesh out more content on the site. Stephanie put together some great ‘About Us’ text, but I have yet to put together the page and get it posted…

Brian will be coming over for xmas. We will be having tofurkey and other xmas like dinner items. Afterwards, Stephanie and I will be checking out a movie. We are not sure which one yet, Stephanie will probably pick it out since she has better taste in movies.

Brian’s cat went into the emergency vet last night Appearently he has congestive heart failure. I am not sure of the details, but I hope his cat (Niles) is okay.

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