05-10-2003
Well I started to update this page. However, I had some problems. I will try again later.
04-26-2003
If it is not one thing it is another. I was just informed today that my grandmother on my mothers side in the hospital. She was having chest and arm pains Thursday during the day and night. After talking with my mother (her daughter) that knew about these types of pains. She called the doctor. Get this, she left a message on the doctors answering machine. The doctor called her back later and told her to get into the hospital now.
What gets me is not only the fact that my grandmother waited until she spoke with my mother, but also the doctor has an answering machine instead of a pager or a service. Thank you Gun Barrel city. I did not think that it was that far out of touch. Maybe it is something in the water?
04-22-2003
Easter has come and gone.
My father is doing much better. He finds it interesting that his mustache hair is coming in dark now instead of salt and pepper.
My niece Lisa has a new 'Bo'. He is a police man. How interesting.
I realized on Easter Sunday that a large part of my pictures were gone from my computer. This site has only thumbnails on it. I looked and looked all evening Sunday. Monday evening I found them. At one time I was using ZIP disks as my main storage area for my pictures. That was when I had a laptop that was not as powerful as the one I currently have. I am now in the process of merging what I have on my laptop with what I had on the ZIP disks. I am keeping backups on CD-RWs now.
04-07-2003
NEWS FLASH!!
My father is actually doing better. His cancer has shrunk from 9x5 to 3x4 in size. In fact the doctor thinks that the cancer may just be scar tissue now.
04-02-2003
At work, I am wondering how many status files we need in our system. Customers, codes, addresses, etc. All of them have a status file. Each status file has the same format; ID, short description ('Active'), long description ('This is the record that indicates the XXXXXXXX is active'), created on, created by. So far, I have counted about 18 status files. All of the are the exact same format, but each have a unique name.
04-01-2003
We have been busy helping people out that are suddenly having computer problems. No, you two are not the only ones. Ask Brad who else. By the way, if it is not an anti-virus it is Microsoft releasing a patch that locks up your computer and makes you really have to work at it (or get someone else) to get it fixed.
03-20-2003
Current events! It is like watching an episode of Family Feud. Don't get me wrong, I am not going to say that it should not happen. I just think, it just should have been done right the first time. This way it looks like a family grudge and that does not help the international opinion. On one hand there is going to be crow to eat if no weapons of mass destruction are found. On the other, it will be months of 'I told you so'. Good luck to Chris Rapp at his new job. Sorry, you have to travel so far now. At least you are making more $$ while you do it.
I was interviewed by a student that was attending DeVry. Since I graduated from there, his assignment was to find out how I had to adjust my study habits, family life, etc.
My mother had her birthday earlier this month. I got to see my father. He went bald and his hair is growing back in now.
My good friend Annette is still recovering from having her knees done. She had them replaced. I still wonder if she gives off sound effects like the Bionic Woman. My Grandmother needs to have her hip replace. Unfortunately, she is not a good candidate with her heart condition.
03-06-2003
Some one that I work with is now a short timer!!
03-04-2003
DONE! The ceremony pictures are there now.
03-03-2003
03-02-2003
Thanks Annette for checking my spelling.
03-01-2003
We went out to lunch today to celebrate the smoking ban that went into effect today in Dallas. Basically, restaurants can no longer have smoking sections. Smokers must go outside.
For those of you that want to see our ceremony pictures that we had taken. Hold on. I am still fighting with the beta version of this web site software.
02-28-2003
Management forced us to take personal days or vacation days for our time missed due to bad weather.
For those of us that actually worked from home. Tough! We did not scan our badges to get it, so we were not there. This is a very odd attitude for people that are on salary. Some of us had already arranged to make up the time, some of us had worked sufficient hours in prior weeks or months to allow for that time. According to management that is irrelevant. We do report our time worked for each week and we report any time missed during the week. Each value is placed into a different system. How can we be paid a flat salary per year and still have to record time? Are we really salaried employees or are we hourly? Software developers are in a gray area. However, there are certain rules in Texas that may be getting overlooked, creative interpreted, or just have not been looked at. Even a privately held company is still subject to TEC and labor laws.
02-27-2003
We saw another of Stephens shows last night. Most excellent!
02-26-2003
Still cold.
I am a native Texan and I hate the heat. Maybe that is why I like San Francisco so much. (Frozen pictures soon!)
02-25-2003
It's cold!! I love it.
The place I work does not seem to know the meaning of "It's to dangerous to drive". Their policy is to NOT shut down regardless of the weather. This means that every employee is responsible for any work missed and they will not be excused. Unfortunately, this additional stress can cause many employees to try and drive to work anyway. If an employee is injured at work it becomes an safety related issue. However, if an employee is injured or wreaks their car when work will not close down it is an employee judgment issue. They do not have to pay employees for time missed on those days. They also, do not have to pay any deductibles for auto or medical insurance. At the same time lets not forget the lost pay for any hospitalization or physical therapy.
The policy creatively places all blame on the employee for attempting to get to work and having an accident during obvious bad weather conditions.
02-23-2003
10:30am
Why doesn't anyone tell me these things? For years now I have had a misspelling on my site. Listen viewers, I am a software developer (geek). I do not spell. I create variables that hold values ( i=1 nSub1 = 0 cAnyValueWorksHere=" "). If I think about it from time to time I run this log through a spell checker. I never thought to run any labels on a web page through it. Don't be afraid to send me an E-Mail to correct my spelling.
I have even been known to ask people that just moved to this country how to spell. Of course, Brad wanted to act like he did not know me when I did that in front of him. It doesn't bother me, I just admit it and hope the spell checkers of the world keep on helping me out.
I take great comfort when I see some high up managers E-Mail that has obviously been spell checked. Some of them tend to accept all corrections with out looking.
I have always liked the term 'Software Artist'. Of course, an artistic friend of mine scoffed at that and said 'Good try.'.
I just look at him as he is programming and wonder. "He is a very talented sculptor. He works with his hands. He is able to create physical shapes using various materials that represent what he sees in his mind. Just what does he think he is doing when he is programming? He is working with his hands. He is able to create visual representations on the computer using logic that act just the same way he thinks they should in his mind. Maybe someday he will get it. You never know.
04:30pm
A busy day. The Homestead site that I have my web area on has release a beta version of their new editor. I accidentally clicked on the upgrade. Some things are changing with it. Let me know if you catch anything that is not working correctly. Right off the bat ALL of my San Francisco pictures for 2001 got removed. I always keep a back up. Also the Wonderful product GoBack kept everything that was removed.
02-20-2003
Happy Birthday to Brad!!!
02-19-2003
Happy Birthday to me!!! Oh, joy.
Thank you to every one what wished me a happy one.
To those of you that did not, thank you for forgetting or not knowing how old I really am.
Jared and Lisa - We have some work to do my lovelies.
I need some fresh pictures.
02-17-2003
Brad got to see Angelinas engagement ring today. I have not seen it yet. I wonder how well she did? Maybe I can get a picture of it and post it for everyone like I did for Lisa.
02-16-2003
Last week I went to Java training. My company sent me. Now I am all set. If they want a basic drawing program I know what to do. It turns out they really wanted me to learn about Java Server Pages, accessing a SQL server data base, etc. What I got was a basic understanding of the Java GUI and how to program in Java. Go figure.
I can now honestly say that Java as a standalone language is not the way to go. If you want portability between operating systems, use it. If you are after speed, forget it.
Java itself has NOTHING to assist the developer. The development power lies in the text editor (or package) that the developer is using to create the programs.
Other languages at least offer some type of environment to assist the developer. Remember, Java is free and you get what you pay for.
02-15-2003
Well I did the best I could for Brad. At least for now. I went out and got him some rose scented soaps and fragrance. The actual roses were already wilting. The good part is that these will last longer.
02-14-2003
Happy Valentines day.
With everything that has been going on I have not been able to get Brad anything.
He shocked me by fixing up the lining my leather coat. He got me a card that was wonderful.
I am so fortunate to have him as my lover.
02-13-2003
At 4:45pm today we had to let Amber go.
She had to be rushed in Wednesday night and was once again put on oxygen. This morning she was more like herself again. They took her off the oxygen. By noon she was slipping back. We realized that this was not going to work. We had been feeding her with a syringe and she was still not interested in food.
I will miss her purring and sitting on my arm as I type or hearing her 'talking' to me when I get home.
2003 - 02 - 10
Amber was transferred next door to a vet that happens to specialize in cancer. They ran more tests on her. The specialist does not think that it is cancer now. Her heart is enlarged. It is having trouble beating and is causing her blood to kind of backwash inside her heart. Microscopic blood clots are forming and appear to be settling in her lungs. This is causing her to have problems breathing. She is on oxygen and meds now to try to help her. They attempting to remove her to normal room air to see if she can breath on her own.
We went to visit her tonight. She was back on oxygen. The doctor said that she was looking blue after she came over. They were going to try again later on. I am scared. During lunch tomorrow I will have to go visit her.
2003 - 02 - 09
My father is doing fine for now. He is starting to loose his hair, so he shaved his head.
We took Amber to emergency tonight. Her breathing was rapid and she was lethargic. She is staying overnight. The X-Ray is showing a spot that may be her cancer starting back up.
2003 - 02 - 01
A while back, we watched as one of the shuttles flew overhead and landed safely. That was a spectacular site.
Early this morning they announced that once again a shuttle would be flying overhead. We watched in excitement as the shuttle was spotted. That excitement turned to horror as history appeared to tragically repeat itself. The realization dawned on all of us. This time the shuttle would never
land.
Our hearts go out to the families of the astronauts that risked and lost their lives in this tragic accident.
2003 - 01 - 25
Brad just heard from them over the phone. I just got to overhear as best I could. Considering how excited they were, it was not that hard.
2003 - 01 - 23
A dear friend asked me about my father today. She mentioned the hospice care that my father was to receive. Well from what I can tell they were are only stopping by three times a week to check on him. However, they stopped that when he was able to get up and around after his long stay at the hospital. I think that they are holding off as long as possible before they start the hospice care full blast.
She is going to have an operation soon to have both of her knees replaced. She has already had one of her hips done. I can not wait to hear if she starts beeping like the Bionic Woman.
Unfortunately, she also informed me that they just lost their grand-baby that was only a few months old. I think I speak for everyone who reads this when I say how sorry we are to hear about that.
2003 - 01 - 22
Went to Stephen Crabtrees one man show called 'Dysfunctional Divas'. Had a fantastic time.
2003 - 01 - 20
Work! In this day and age of many changes and problems, some things are just not needed. At work they passed out a form for us to fill out. Something like a mini-resume template. Nothing like filling one of those out the week of pay day. Of course they want it by the end of the day.
2003 - 01 - 17
More news. He came back home and is up and running around. My mother is griping at him because if he would have done this earlier he would have been out earlier.
2003 - 01 - 14
My father is in the hospital. He dehydrated over the weekend and passed out when he went to the doctor for his treatments yesterday.
2003 - 01 - 13
Well it finally caught up with him. My father is really feeling bad now. He stopped eating the other day. The family may start forcing food down him shortly. We will see.
2003 - 01 - 07
My father says that he is doing better after his second day of chemo and radiation.
The cancer apparently has roots that are growing into his bronchial tubes and up into his esophagus. Since those are new he thinks that those are being affected first. He says that he can breath better and feels better.
It turns out that his cancer doctor did not know about and would not have authorized the surgery. The cancer doctor is the newest addition of doctors that my father is seeing. Also, apparently this type of cancer is very susceptible to radiation. However, they have to be very careful with it. Apparently if he gets radiation on his head the hair not only falls out, the follicles die.
2002 - 12 - 30
A new year is almost here!
2002 - 12 - 25
Merry Christmas!!
Did everyone get what they wanted?
I know I got something that I really wanted. Check out the entry for 10-19-2002 and you will see what I mean.
Unfortunately I had to walk out of the house in Waco a few times to cool off. We did stay at a Best Western down the road. What a difference that made in our stay. I think we will do from now on.
I have been off work since the 20th. I had planned this since the beginning of October. Boy had this been needed.
On the 21st, we went to the eye doctor. I am getting bifocals! I am also informed that I may have glaucoma. Lets hear it for a happier new year.
2002 - 12 - 21
It is my parents anniversary.
2002 - 12 - 20
Christmas shopping!
Yesterday we were out shopping for a Raggedy Ann doll for one of the kids kids.
We happened to go into a Teddy Bear store where they stuff the bear there. So all along the wall are examples of the bears you can buy with the unstuffed ones in the bins below.
Brad lost it. He held one a unstuffed one and said 'I don't know what happened Johnny. Maybe, a hunter shot it while it was on the way over here. Maybe you can still use it for a rug.". He was laughing and trying to keep quite so much that he was turning red. I was so tempted to purchase one just for that reason. I still may.
I am now on vacation until next year.
Is there really such a word as 'unstuffed'?
2002 - 12 - 19
I have added a right-click protection to all the pages now. This means that I have now protected Brads pictures from being copied (I hope).
2002 - 12 - 07
Well. WalMart is defeated. Even the mayor of Dallas did not want them to move into that spot.
My father is doing fine for now.
Halloween was quite.
Thanksgiving was in the tradition of the normal family turmoil. (My extended comments are here. You have to use my middle name to get in.)
2002 - 10 - 21
Happy Anniversary to us!!
2002 - 10 - 20
I may get my wish. He is suddenly getting better.
2002 - 10 - 19
My father has cancer.
It is the lingering that really hurts. I would at least like him to be aware enough to say good bye to. I would also like him to at least be here for just one more Christmas.
2002 - 09 - 15
Another long time.
WalMart is attempting to get their fingers in this area real hard. I am surprised that they have gone this far. In this area the traffic is real bad. There is a section of Dallas called Highland Park. That section is literally two or three streets away from where this site is located.
The street called Mockingbird is a extreme high traffic area. It runs through Hghland Park, crosses two of the main North and South routes (N. Dallas Tollway and Central Expressway), and passes Love Field Airport. In this area that WalMart is looking at is between Love Field and the tollway. It is three lanes on either side and switches to two lanes each side when hits Highland Park. It is like that for two blocks then it goes to 1 lane when it goes over the tollway toward Central.
During rush hour this street is one to avoid. I have waited 15 min. before just to turn right into traffic when I was at a stop sign.
I am watching the residents here that live in the houses (I live in a condo). Most the ones that are for WalMart live on the other side of Mockingbird. If WalMart makes it, I think it will not take very many accidents before something is done. The city may have to take away some houses to widen Mockingbird. I don't see the council reversing their decision and telling WalMart to move out.
WalMart has said that they will pay for a light to be put in that area. Just what everyone needs, something else that the rush hour traffic will run through. Now if WalMart puts a bridge over Mockingbird that will be different. However, they had better put an elevator in it as well. I don't see them doing that because there is no place to put that. Also, with the type of construction this WalMart is going to have (It is two story, with parking on the first), they would have to have someone there to greet / guard the walkway.
2002 - 07 - 08
CRAP!
Our trip has to be postponed. To many things are going on for 10 day vacation to be real enjoyable.
2002 - 06 - 21
Wow. It's been a while. I've been busy like crazy.
A new WalMart tried to rezone an area around where I live. The zoning commission would not let them. Now WalMart is going to the city council to try and get them to over ride the commission.
Homestead is going to be updating all of their software packages soon. I am going to go all out and get the business package. That way I will be able to market some of the things I have been working on. Screen Savers that will include some of the pictures you see here. I will also have some software utilities. Some of them are written in WinBatch and some are writing in Visual FoxPro. I will also have some VFP programs that you can add to your programs as well.
2002 - 04 - 29
Well, we are planning our next trip. This time we are going by bus instead of plane.
2002 - 04 - 18
I did it! I purchased a new laptop. I used part of my refund to do it.
2002 - 04- 15
Its time!!
*"The hardest thing in the world to comprehend is the income tax."
- Albert Einstein
2002 - 03 - 27
CRAP!!!
The store where we purchased our glass roses is gone. Their phone number is changed and now belongs to an individual in the area (I removed the number from this site.). I was attempting to look them up to purchase another one.
2002 - 03 - 08
Now it is my mothers turn. She is now 62. With all the problems she has had I am actually grateful that she has made it.
2002 - 02 - 19
My Birthday.
Oh sh|+. I'm 40. It just doesn't seem like it.
2002 - 01 - 28
Note to family: To those who keep on referring to Waco as (a.k.a. Hell), move back to Dallas!!! If you don't like that, then move to San Francisco and really agitate me.
2002 - 01 - 07
Happy New year!!!
It has been a busy one already.
I never got around to posting the 12/04/2001 entry so I will include it here also.
This list is getting so long so I am going to change it up.
A dear college of mine suggested that I should keep the link ability of this text area. I don't think that is a bad idea at all. So I will trim off the early entries from the bottom of this list and put them on another page that will come up in another browser window.
The holidays were a bit rough. We spent Christmas day at home. I had not planned things very well at all. So we did not have anything to fix at home.
Work is getting busier. They are merging with another company they purchased. So everyone wants to make sure that it goes well. I find it amazing, since they are also attempting to implement new policies and procedures at the same time they are reviewing the other companies policies and procedures to select which ones are better.
We went to a comedy show that one of our friends created. I got some pictures of him to show off.
2001 - 12 - 04
Well. It has been a loonnngggg time since my last entry.
Much has happened since I last wrote. Who would have thought that so much could change in such a short time.
I want to thank everyone that voted on the site change. I have another one that I may implement strictly for the dated pictures.
We have also seen Harry Potter and the sorcerers stone. EXECELENT!!!
To all those critics that think the movie was incomplete, I have something to say. Of course it is!!! You fools! How else could you be teased into reading the rest of the books. Any good story teller knows that you have to leave the audience wanting more. What a better way than to leave questions unanswered. Heavens, just look at Star Wars. They had to go backwards so everyone could finally see how the story started in the first place.
Now the next big movie is The Lord of the Rings. More on that later.
We have just seen the release of the big mysterious 'IT'.
Very futuristic. I am starting to have nightmares of blue haired grannies racing through the mall, zooming up and down the isles of grocery stores, sweeping around the Target stores, and finally knocking everyone out of the way with their canes while being first in line for those blue light specials at K-Mart. We will not talk about Wal-Mart will we.
2001 - 09 - 07
I need your help to decide on a few things.
I have two navigation styles to choose from and two text styles for this listing.
The horizontal navigation is modified by editing each button and spacing them just right on each and every page.
The verticle style is using the new navigation control by Homestead. I can not place this control horizontally because it will wrap around accross the page. Its width is limited to about the end of the word 'Visit' at the top of this page.
The scrolling text box is very basic and has no extra controls. It will not allow me to place any links with in the text like this.
Let me know what you think of these options. I hope to hear from you soon.
2001 - 08 - 02
Well as it turns out Friday the 13th was and was not my last day. However, as it turns out I was able to work for two more weeks. Unfortunately, there is still much more to be done. I have put in some time for this week and may not get paid for it. It is hard to have to leave a project that is not done yet.
On the brighter side I am really hoping that I will get a favorable offer from a company I recently interviewed with. Keep your fingers crossed.
A special thanks for all my friends and family that have supported me through this so far (refer to the donation box on this page). Thank you too to Shontru (SF Gay tours) and Shari Cohen (Shari Cohen Photography).
2001 - 07 - 14
Happy Saturday the 14th!
Hope you made it through Friday the 13th without any problems.
Me? Officially Friday the 13th was my last day at work. Like so many others I have been laid off. Since it was a consulting job the assignment it actually ended early.
2001 - 06 - 12
We went to the Dallas Arboretum again today. We took some more pictures.
2001 - 05 - 12
We went to the Dallas Arboretum today. We took some interesting pictures while we were there. Take a look. See our pictures from our last visit there.
2001 - 04 - 31
Well,
We are back in Dallas. The pictures were not able to be posted each day like I had wanted. The connection quality and speed where we were at in San Francisco was not that good.. However, now that we are back they will start being posted.
