Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Visiting Ohio

I went back to Ohio this past weekend. It was a nice trip, even though Kathy wasn't with me. She stayed in Goshen because her parents were coming out for her sister's concert, which meant that I only had to visit my family instead of both families. On the way home my odometer reached a big round number like you can see in the photo. I knew it was going to happen during the drive home and didn't want to miss it so I kept checking the mileage. Turns out it rolled over only 10 miles from home.

I stayed at my brother's house and we stayed up late both nights... I think it was 2:30 on Friday night and 12:30 or so on Saturday night. Doesn't matter how tired I am we tend to stay up talking.

November is almost here, which of course means it is time to write a novel. We're looking forward to giving it a go and see what turns up. The idea is to write 50,000 words (about 175 pages) during the month of November. The goal isn't to come up with a polished, publishable novel, but to write--to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). Should be interesting. We'll keep you posted on how it is going.

I'm headed to Mishawaka today and need to meet my boss soon to pick up a computer. I need to take off now. Ciao-sy.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

In Ohio

I'm in Ohio for the weekend. Came in for my nephew's birthday party. Unfortunately, Kathy's family was coming to Goshen. So we decided to divide and conquer.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Monday, October 15, 2007

Kristi's Graduation

Here we are at Kristi's graduation.

I know, I know--that was a long time ago. Well, I finally got around to uploading the pictures from that weekend up to the web. Feel free to check them out! We found an interesting sculpture with a convenient wall right behind that we could set the camera on.

Congratulations to Kristi for such beautiful work. Oh, if you look at the pictures not all of the pieces are Kristi's--just the awesome enamel ones.
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Saturday, October 13, 2007

Another weekend

Here's my nephew Reed's hairy eyeball. Quite formidable, but much cuter in person. Kathy and I are going back to Ohio for his birthday party in a couple weekends.

For now we have Kathy's mom, Helen, out for the weekend. She has tickets to the Performing Arts Series, and there was another concert last night. While we were watching the Indians lose in the ALCS, she was listening to some sweet jazz.

I should have time to watch the Indians again tonight. I sure hope they play better than they did last night. They look very flat, although they were facing a good pitcher... We'll see what happens!


-Steven Wright

-Isaac Asimov

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Favorite little picture

Here is one of my favorite pictures of a young Kathy. Apparently this bird ran into their door and was laying on the porch. They picked it up and nursed it back to health. Or so they say. The other little twerp is Kim.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Weekend is here...

The weekend is finally here. Of course, I still need to finish up my paperwork before the end of the day. =)

Tonight we are heading over to Kevin's house to eat supper with his parents. Should be a nice evening, and we'll get to hear where all they have traveled since we saw them last.

The rest of the weekend is pretty free. We have a few things we want to get done around the house, including fixing a leaky sink. There are a few baseball games that I want to watch since the Indians are in the playoffs again. We have lunch with our small group after church on Sunday.

Other than that, a lot of nothing planned. Enjoy!

-Mark Twain

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Another server installation

Aptica has another server installation today. I have been working on getting the server ready and will be going out to the clients this afternoon to replace their old server.

Server installations tend to make work a little more busy. We usually schedule a couple of days on-site, plus some remote work before hand. So all of our normal work during the week gets shoved around to make room for the extra hours. So far it hasn't been bad though.

Kathy and I went and watched the GC volleyball team last night. It was fun to go and watch with Kathy. She has a very different perspective than your typical fan since she played for so many years and knows the game well. I found that I definitely watch the game (it's getting to be any sport) with a coaching eye. What are they doing that works? What are they doing poorly? What are their weaknesses? Sometimes I wish I could just watch and cheer, but then I listen to the inane banter of the other fans around us last night and I'm glad that I think like I do.

Today's quote:
-Elbert Hubbard

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

body art & busy days

I've had a busy few days. I've been scrimmaging with the Goshen College volleyball team on the days before they have games (they only have 11 people on the team, so they need one more to play a normal 6 on 6 game), and trying to work out most days when I don't play volleyball. It's been a lot of fun. I'm going to have to take off for a few days, though because of this:
My new tattoo! Since it's on my foot, I need to let it heal for a bit before I throw on socks and shoes and start running around. I might go over to my friend Kevin's house and use his exercise bike, though, since I can do that barefoot.

I got it done last night at Marvel Tattoo in South Bend. Kevin also came and got a tattoo; he got a dragon on his back. We both turned 30 in September, and have been planning the tattoos for about half a year. Larry, the tattoo artist who did both our tattoos, is very good. He finished mine in about 20-25 minutes. I drew the picture, which he cleaned up and changed a little so it would work well as a tattoo. I'm very happy with the results.

Today, then, I donated blood. Yes, it's ok for me to donate blood; I checked. I got my tattoo at a licensed tattoo parlor where they don't reuse ink or needles. They are inspected periodically by the state, and the Red Cross doesn't mind if you get a tattoo at such a place. The regulations do vary by state. New Mexico, for instance, doesn't regulate tattoos at all (and thus the Red Cross wouldn't want you to give blood for 1 year after getting a tattoo there).

I didn't have any problems donating blood, which was good. My iron was fine. The technician even said that I have good veins! I did have to wave my feet and open and close my hands to get the blood flowing, though. But the machine didn't beep at me because the flow was too slow, which happened last time I donated. Apparently good veins don't necessarily mean fast veins.

Tonight we have a meal with our small group, and then I'm going to watch the GC volleyball team since they have a home game. I haven't made it to any of their matches yet, and I'm looking forward to watching them play after scrimmaging with them so often.

Today's random quote:

First weigh the considerations, then take the risks
Helmuth von Moltke (1800 - 1891)