I realize it has been a while since I posted last. I've started many posts, but never one I wanted to be my first post back into blogging again. Where do we begin? look at all we accomplished? Repainted house, installed sprinklers in backyard, started landscaping backyard, redid baby's room (pictures later) and lots of travel. In fact, I travelled over 50,000 miles this year to make Premier Executive status in the mileage plus program. We'll see what next year brings with the new baby and all.
After Thanksgiving, I took a trip to Colorado Springs and Albuquerque. Travelling is nice in that I can see some of our old friends that have moved around the world. I saw Keri and Calvin in Co. We saw Dave and Cherilyn in Hawaii in October, and I hope to briefly stop in Phoenix soon to see all those who have moved there. Last week, I spent the whole week in a class cramming for my CISSP certification exam (it's a security certification) which I hope to take this weekend.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Monday, September 03, 2007
Hot, Hot, Hot...
I hope everyone hasn't given up waiting for an update. It was an eventful summer, and I have lots to write about. But first, an obligatory weather update. It's hot. I mean, it's way too hot for Fullerton. It feels like Vegas. In fact, it's hotter in Fullerton (107) than Vegas (102) today. My car actually says it's 111 outside instead of 107 - but once its that hot, the extra 4 degrees don't mean much to me. I'd melt if I had to live in this climate for more than a few days. Good thing it is supposed to be much cooler (15-20 degrees) tomorrow.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
A Few Pictures From Graduation
Here are a few pictures from my graduation last weekend. I now hold a Masters in Computer Science / Information Security. Hopefully I'll be able to post a few pictures from our vacation the week after as well. Virginia and DC were absolutely beautiful.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Done
Turned in my last project yesterday and took my last final today. I am done. Next weekend I'll graduate!
Saturday, April 28, 2007
One down one to go
One final down, one more to go. I think I did ok on the first final. It was a mix of multiple choice, short answer and two essays. I nailed the essays and most of the multiple choice. There were a few short answers I had to BS though, but overall I think I'll come out ok. I have an A, A-, and A on my three projects for this class, so depending on what I get on my research paper, I should do well.
Now, I only have one more project to turn in and a final to take in my other class and I am completely done.
Now, I only have one more project to turn in and a final to take in my other class and I am completely done.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
So Close
Almost there...
Two weeks from today I will be walking across the stage receiving my Masters degree in Computer Science - Information Security. Until then, I am finishing up a major paper on MS Windows Auditing for my Forensics class this weekend, turning in a project about server defense mechanisms in my Secure Operations class next weekend, and taking two finals next Saturday.
Two weeks from today I will be done. Done with 2 1/2 years of school, and just beginning the start of a weeklong vacation in our nation's capital.
For everyone out there trying this, I am proof that it is possible to complete a Masters degree in 2 1/2 years while working full time and still having time to spend with your wife.
Two weeks from today I will be walking across the stage receiving my Masters degree in Computer Science - Information Security. Until then, I am finishing up a major paper on MS Windows Auditing for my Forensics class this weekend, turning in a project about server defense mechanisms in my Secure Operations class next weekend, and taking two finals next Saturday.
Two weeks from today I will be done. Done with 2 1/2 years of school, and just beginning the start of a weeklong vacation in our nation's capital.
For everyone out there trying this, I am proof that it is possible to complete a Masters degree in 2 1/2 years while working full time and still having time to spend with your wife.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
My Birthday and more
How does it feel to be a year older? I don't feel any different - Other than being in denial that my hair is still slowly falling out and getting thinner. Next year is the big 3-0.
We postponed my birthday this year as I was in San Jose, and Amanda was pulling two 14 hour days on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. So I took the day off on Friday and we celebrated by going to Disneyland in the morning. For dinner we indulged ourselves in a wonderful dinner at the Agora Churrascaria steakhouse. There is a buffet salad bar and side dishes, then the waiters come around and serve all kinds of chicken, pork, and steak. All you can eat steak is my kind of thing. If you're ever in the South Coast Plaza area, I highly recommend this restaurant. Then we finished up the evening with a little shopping. I got some new work clothes, as well as I have my eye on some noise cancelling headphones for all the travelling I'm doing.
These next two months will prove to be busy and challenging. I graduate with my masters degree on May 5, but from now until then I also have 3 work related trips scheduled (3 days in Baltimore, 3 days in San Jose, and another 3 days in San Jose) all in April while I'm trying to finish up 4 major projects and a major paper to finish my classes.
But, on May 4 it will be all over, and Amanda and I will be on a plane to Washington DC so I can walk in my Graduation on the 5th. We're also going to take a week afterwards for vacation to visit the nation's capital. In September we're going to spend a week in Hawaii as well! (I gotta use those frequent flier miles and 325 hours of accumulated vacation time somehow right)
We postponed my birthday this year as I was in San Jose, and Amanda was pulling two 14 hour days on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. So I took the day off on Friday and we celebrated by going to Disneyland in the morning. For dinner we indulged ourselves in a wonderful dinner at the Agora Churrascaria steakhouse. There is a buffet salad bar and side dishes, then the waiters come around and serve all kinds of chicken, pork, and steak. All you can eat steak is my kind of thing. If you're ever in the South Coast Plaza area, I highly recommend this restaurant. Then we finished up the evening with a little shopping. I got some new work clothes, as well as I have my eye on some noise cancelling headphones for all the travelling I'm doing.
These next two months will prove to be busy and challenging. I graduate with my masters degree on May 5, but from now until then I also have 3 work related trips scheduled (3 days in Baltimore, 3 days in San Jose, and another 3 days in San Jose) all in April while I'm trying to finish up 4 major projects and a major paper to finish my classes.
But, on May 4 it will be all over, and Amanda and I will be on a plane to Washington DC so I can walk in my Graduation on the 5th. We're also going to take a week afterwards for vacation to visit the nation's capital. In September we're going to spend a week in Hawaii as well! (I gotta use those frequent flier miles and 325 hours of accumulated vacation time somehow right)
A Letter to Hilton
I just returned from a one night stat at the Hilton San Jose (Mar 6-7). This had to be one of the worst hilton experiences I have had. I am current a Starwood Gold member and try to stay at Starwood properties whenever possible because they know how to treat me as a business traveler. This time, the Hilton San Jose was the only hotel in the area with available space at a reasonable rate, so I booked a night there. The reservation was for a non-smoking room selected at checkin.
When I checked the night before on the Hhonors website, it said non-smoking confirmed, room selected at checking. Thinking everything was ok, I proceeded to the hotel. When went to check in, the desk clerk said there were no non-smoking rooms available - so much for non-smoking confirmed. This was not ok with me as I am very sensitive to the smell. I was given lounge access for the trouble, but there was nothing else they could do. I decided to try it.
I get to my room, and it is filthy. It is not what I would expect out of a hilton room, and is far below what Starwood provides. The room appears as if it has not been renovated in 20+ years. The bathroom is clearly dated, but the worst part is black stained grout in the shower, stains on the bathroom floor, and a toilet that occassionally ran. During the night, I noticed that the walls were paper thin. I could hear what was happening in the rooms next to me. In the morning I was woken up by their showers as I could hear all of that through the walls. The noise extended outside as well as my room overlooked a light rail station. I was kept awake at night by the constant clanging of bells every time a train entered the station.
All of that, while clearly annoying, can be overlooked for one night. However, in the morning when I got up to take a shower, I found that there was no hot water in the shower. I took a very quick cold shower in the morning which is completely unacceptable. Hot water is one of those absolute necessities whereever you go.
I don't know what you can do to compensate for my troubles, but something needs to happen if I am ever going to consider hilton again. I will be returning to the San Jose area twice in April, and have already reserved a Sheraton property for those stays even though it is farther away and more expensive than the hilton. At this point, unless something changes, I would consider staying at a Starwood property 30 miles away rather than a convenient hilton property.
When I checked the night before on the Hhonors website, it said non-smoking confirmed, room selected at checking. Thinking everything was ok, I proceeded to the hotel. When went to check in, the desk clerk said there were no non-smoking rooms available - so much for non-smoking confirmed. This was not ok with me as I am very sensitive to the smell. I was given lounge access for the trouble, but there was nothing else they could do. I decided to try it.
I get to my room, and it is filthy. It is not what I would expect out of a hilton room, and is far below what Starwood provides. The room appears as if it has not been renovated in 20+ years. The bathroom is clearly dated, but the worst part is black stained grout in the shower, stains on the bathroom floor, and a toilet that occassionally ran. During the night, I noticed that the walls were paper thin. I could hear what was happening in the rooms next to me. In the morning I was woken up by their showers as I could hear all of that through the walls. The noise extended outside as well as my room overlooked a light rail station. I was kept awake at night by the constant clanging of bells every time a train entered the station.
All of that, while clearly annoying, can be overlooked for one night. However, in the morning when I got up to take a shower, I found that there was no hot water in the shower. I took a very quick cold shower in the morning which is completely unacceptable. Hot water is one of those absolute necessities whereever you go.
I don't know what you can do to compensate for my troubles, but something needs to happen if I am ever going to consider hilton again. I will be returning to the San Jose area twice in April, and have already reserved a Sheraton property for those stays even though it is farther away and more expensive than the hilton. At this point, unless something changes, I would consider staying at a Starwood property 30 miles away rather than a convenient hilton property.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Reminder set your parking brake...
...or you could end up like this guy. Car tumbles off L.A. parking structure, driver survives.
A car tumbled several stories off a parking structure near a hospital today, authorities said. The driver survived and was taken to the emergency room.The sedan landed on its roof atop a steel awning two levels below. TV news helicopters televised the scene as a construction crane lifted the car shortly after the accident. "Somehow she accidentally jettisoned off the parking structure and landed below. How that occurred, we don't know."
A car tumbled several stories off a parking structure near a hospital today, authorities said. The driver survived and was taken to the emergency room.The sedan landed on its roof atop a steel awning two levels below. TV news helicopters televised the scene as a construction crane lifted the car shortly after the accident. "Somehow she accidentally jettisoned off the parking structure and landed below. How that occurred, we don't know."
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Time for Change
Well, we're nearing a year in our new home now, and over MLK weekend in Jan we decided to replace the floors in the study and buy some new furniture. We put in nice bamboo flooring, bought some new bookcases and an arm chair. It now has the ambiance of a study. The futon is now located in our guest bedroom. This means that guest actually get to stay in the guest bedroom and have their choice between a twin bed or a fill size futon. Overall, I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and we will definately be doing the same thing to our bedroom next.
Unfortunately, I do not have any good before pictures, but I have a bunch of during and after pictures...
Unfortunately, I do not have any good before pictures, but I have a bunch of during and after pictures...
Teens sentenced for cooking puppy in oven - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com
Teens sentenced for cooking puppy in oven - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com
This is just sick and wrong...
- a dead 3 month old puppy was found in an oven
- the dog's paws and snout were duct taped shut
- there were scratch marks in the oven, so the dog was cooked alive
At least they got 10 years for this among other things including burglary, vandalism, and threatening children.
This is just sick and wrong...
- a dead 3 month old puppy was found in an oven
- the dog's paws and snout were duct taped shut
- there were scratch marks in the oven, so the dog was cooked alive
At least they got 10 years for this among other things including burglary, vandalism, and threatening children.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Freeway sweeper swiped from Anaheim lot
This is a strange one. Why would anyone steal a freeway sweeper? "Strange things have disappeared over the years, but the bigger question is, why?"...And how exactly do you drive off a caltrans lot in a sweeper without being noticed?
Ok, I really need to get back into blogging. Look for an update soon.
Ok, I really need to get back into blogging. Look for an update soon.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Monday, November 13, 2006
The proud owner...
of a brand spankin new 2006 Mitsubishi Endeavor. And, since it's a 2006, we got the car for nearly $10,000 off the sticker price. =)
Sunday, November 05, 2006
An Interesting Experience
Yesterday, Amanda and I went shopping for a new car. Not because we really need one, but because I have an itch for something new, and we really want to cut our monthly payments. The payments on the CRV are killing me, and we really want something $100 less a month or more. So off we went to browse the dealerships looking for a new car.
We started with Mitsubishi. The salesman points us to an Mitsu. Endeavor SUV he claimed was sitting on the lot and they were really motivated to move. We climb in, like it and decide to go for a test drive. The battery was dead. The salesman had to pop the hood and jump start the car, all the while saying it had just been sitting there and they would make sure to include a new battery with our purchase. Once the car started, it was really low on gas, so he said we would need to get some gas. He walks in to the office and brings back a fuel voucher so he can fill up the car and proceeds to drive off the lot with us to the corner gas station. He parks the car at the pump, leaves the engine running (isn't it normal to shut off the engine when pumping gas?), and runs inside (I guess with a fuel voucher he had to go inside instead of using pay at the pump. Whatever happened to a corporate credit card?). He comes back and proceeds to fill up the tank...with the engine running and us customers still in the car. Our test drive did go well after that. But man, talk about a rocky start. That guy really wasn't earning points with us. When we got back, I asked to see the car next to this one, since I liked the color better. He put the key in...and nothing. Yet another car on the lot with a dead battery. Come on... We let the guy down nicely and continue our quest.
We went to Toyota next and hated all the cars we looked at. As we were leaving, another salesman who was not helping us, practically jumped on the hood of our car and pointed to the Disneyland parking tag on Amanda's car. He literally asked do you work at Disneyland, do you get free tickets? We rolled our eyes and thought, Not for you. Next. We couldn't wait to get out of the Toyota dealer. They were vultures there.
How did we fare? We looked at the Toyota RAV4, 4Runner, and Highlander and hated them all. I don't even fit in the 4Runner, I was bumping my head on the roof of the car. I guess they only make them for really short people. Honda Pilot was ok but very similar to the CRV only bigger. Nissan Murano was really nice (and ended up being my second choice pick) but it is a little too expensive. The new 2007 Nissan Altima is really sweet, I loved it, but it's a car and I really want to stay with an SUV if possible. And the Nissan salesman was the nicest and least pushy the entire day. Gold star for him. The VW Toureg...it's the one I really want, but at $37,000, it's way out of our price range.
In the end, I really liked the Mitsubishi Endeavor the best despite our dealership experience. If we do end up purchasing it, it will definately be from a different dealership.
We started with Mitsubishi. The salesman points us to an Mitsu. Endeavor SUV he claimed was sitting on the lot and they were really motivated to move. We climb in, like it and decide to go for a test drive. The battery was dead. The salesman had to pop the hood and jump start the car, all the while saying it had just been sitting there and they would make sure to include a new battery with our purchase. Once the car started, it was really low on gas, so he said we would need to get some gas. He walks in to the office and brings back a fuel voucher so he can fill up the car and proceeds to drive off the lot with us to the corner gas station. He parks the car at the pump, leaves the engine running (isn't it normal to shut off the engine when pumping gas?), and runs inside (I guess with a fuel voucher he had to go inside instead of using pay at the pump. Whatever happened to a corporate credit card?). He comes back and proceeds to fill up the tank...with the engine running and us customers still in the car. Our test drive did go well after that. But man, talk about a rocky start. That guy really wasn't earning points with us. When we got back, I asked to see the car next to this one, since I liked the color better. He put the key in...and nothing. Yet another car on the lot with a dead battery. Come on... We let the guy down nicely and continue our quest.
We went to Toyota next and hated all the cars we looked at. As we were leaving, another salesman who was not helping us, practically jumped on the hood of our car and pointed to the Disneyland parking tag on Amanda's car. He literally asked do you work at Disneyland, do you get free tickets? We rolled our eyes and thought, Not for you. Next. We couldn't wait to get out of the Toyota dealer. They were vultures there.
How did we fare? We looked at the Toyota RAV4, 4Runner, and Highlander and hated them all. I don't even fit in the 4Runner, I was bumping my head on the roof of the car. I guess they only make them for really short people. Honda Pilot was ok but very similar to the CRV only bigger. Nissan Murano was really nice (and ended up being my second choice pick) but it is a little too expensive. The new 2007 Nissan Altima is really sweet, I loved it, but it's a car and I really want to stay with an SUV if possible. And the Nissan salesman was the nicest and least pushy the entire day. Gold star for him. The VW Toureg...it's the one I really want, but at $37,000, it's way out of our price range.
In the end, I really liked the Mitsubishi Endeavor the best despite our dealership experience. If we do end up purchasing it, it will definately be from a different dealership.
Monday, October 30, 2006
John Kerry's Outrageous Remarks
John Kerry made some absolutely outrageous remarks today talking to a group of college students in a campaign speech for Phil Angelides.
Kerry said, "Education, if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
That is just outrageous and downright disrespectful to all of our troops who fight for our country. And this coming from the mouth of a guy who fought in Vietnam.
I work for the Air Force, and work with some very bright and very well educated guys - many of whom have had at least one tour in Iraq during this war. People are in the military because they want to be, not because they couldn't do well in life. I can't believe this guy once tried to become the commander in chief of our nation and our troops (the same troops he is dissing now). He doesn't deserve anything after a comment like that against those who serve.
Even if you don't support the war, you don't say something like this. I hope the media catches wind of this, and you go down Kerry. Statements like this are totally unacceptable.
Kerry said, "Education, if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
That is just outrageous and downright disrespectful to all of our troops who fight for our country. And this coming from the mouth of a guy who fought in Vietnam.
I work for the Air Force, and work with some very bright and very well educated guys - many of whom have had at least one tour in Iraq during this war. People are in the military because they want to be, not because they couldn't do well in life. I can't believe this guy once tried to become the commander in chief of our nation and our troops (the same troops he is dissing now). He doesn't deserve anything after a comment like that against those who serve.
Even if you don't support the war, you don't say something like this. I hope the media catches wind of this, and you go down Kerry. Statements like this are totally unacceptable.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
I've been busy
I've been really busy recently, but took yesterday off to spend the day with Amanda and work on our house. We cleaned out our garage and fixed up our study. I ordered some garage door remotes, and once those arrive we will finally be able to park in our garage - it only took 6 months to get fully moved in. On the work front, we are in the process of recompeting for our contract. We all have every reason to believe that we will get to keep our contract, but if they select a competing company, we will all be looking for jobs in November. However, I'm not really worried since I got a call from my old manager two weeks ago saying that if things ever went sour here they would take me back in a heartbeat. Nice to have that fallback. This coming weekend Amanda and I are taking a trip up to Monterey for a family get together.
On the blogging front, I have a few topics to blog about over the next few weeks. Let me know if you are not interested in these or would like to suggest a different topic.
On the blogging front, I have a few topics to blog about over the next few weeks. Let me know if you are not interested in these or would like to suggest a different topic.
- Oil and Gas Prices
- 91 Freeway Construction
- Annual take on the ballot measures
Monday, October 09, 2006
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