AT&T U Verse

I have just signed up for the new AT&T U-Verse service. This is AT&T's new television and Internet service. I'm excited about the possibility and will be blogging about what I think about it.

My experience with AT&T's customer service was very pleasant. But, the install takes 5 - 8 hours which is a very long time.

The install is next Thursday so I will be sure to report on that experience.

I Quit

Today I did something that at one time would have been inconceivable and that is I resigned my position as the Director of Technology for The LoanLink Center. I have been with this company for eleven and a half years and at one point thought it would be the last company I worked for. If you had asked many people that knew me as recently as ten months ago, they would have predicted that I would have died at my desk at Loanlink but at last it won't be.

It was just last May when I was sitting around a table at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with three others arguing that our parent company wouldn't be crazy enough to do what it appeared they might be thinking about doing. Well, they did it and that has resulted in the decision I made today. Also, three of those four people that were sitting at that table are no longer with the company.

Now the time has come for me to move on. It was never the company I liked working for or the job I had or how much money I made that made this job enjoyable, it was the people. I worked with some of the most fantastic people over the last eleven years and one by one many have moved on and the ones that remain might not be here much longer either. The people will be what I will miss the most.

But, we all have to start new chapters and the nice thing is that nobody can take away the friendships, those will go on no matter where we work.

Toys, Toys and More Toys

Last night I started picking up the boys' toys and came to the realization that we have way too many toys. I was struggling to find a place to put all of their stuff. Their rooms can't hold all of their toys so we converted our office to a playroom and it is now full so they have creeped into our living room, our bedroom and even our bathroom.

So I made the decision that we need to approach this problem much like our immigration problem. First we need to seal our borders and stop the flow of incoming toys. So no more toys will be allowed to enter our home. Once this problem is solved then we have to look at each existing toy. Unlike many proposed policies, mine will not have any option for amnesty. Each toy will be evaluated based on whether they play with it and whether it offers any educational value. If it fails these criteria, out it will go. I plan to have it down to where their rooms can hold the majority of their toys.

Books, please just give us books...

Castle Doctrine Signed Into Law

Governor Perry signed the Texas Castle Doctrine bill into law yesterday. The law goes into affect September 1st.

From plain old ordinary guy to daddy

This past Saturday was Day out with Thomas Day but this post isn't describing the great fun the boys had riding Thomas, having their photo taken with Sir Topham Hat, riding ponies and seeing all sorts of neat Thomas stuff.

No, it is based on what I was thinking as we stood in line with hundreds of other kids and parents who paid $18 per person for a 20 minute train ride.

The question is what happens to the male once he has children? He will do things that a few years earlier he would never consider. He'll trade-in his corvette for a minivan. He'll be willing to lug around a combination of diaper bags, back packs and camera bags when previously he would be afraid to even carry the smallest of accessories out of fear of not looking cool. He'll have conversations on topics such as poop, potty training, and Little Einsteins versus Wonder Pets. He knows the words to all the Wiggles songs and the programming schedule of Noggin. He'll pay money to go see Elmo in concert and even buy a program to remember the event.

I don't know what causes this change but I know at the end of the day when I hear "Daddy, I had a good time with you today." I wouldn't change a thing..

Weird Dream

I had a dream last night that I was a star indoor soccer player but we played our games outdoors.

Apparently, I was playing my last season and needed 3 goals to become the all-time leading scorer in indoor/outdoor soccer league history. The current record was 939 goals.

The game was a defensive battle but with just a few minutes to go I managed to score a goal which just put me one behind tying the record. I then caught on fire, I was in a zone and scored two more goals in just a matter of minutes and became the all-time scorer.

What does this mean?

Dreams will be one of those things I ask God about when we finally meet.

Lesson Learned

Don't venture into a house painting project that is going to take an entire Sunday afternoon when you have a 4 year old and a 2 year old.

Trying to keep them entertained and out of the paint was exhausting. We didn't quite finish what we set out to do but got close. Unfortunately, Chase's room is going to remain in its 85% completed stage probably for several weeks as I work up my courage to give it another go.

I'm exhausted and need to go to sleep.

Also, on a side note, don't paint your kids bedrooms or take the doors off and paint them without a plan B. Chase's room smells of paint fumes and Seth doesn't have a door on his bedroom so they are sleeping on a futon in the playroom. It would have been beneficial to wait until they were spending the weekend with Grandmama...

Belief-O-Matic

I took the Belief-O-Matic quiz and my results are below. Its not surprising what is #1 but what does strike me as odd is that my beliefs have anything in common with Scientology or Secular Humanism.

You can take the quiz here.

I also took the How Hip Is Your Church quiz and the results were

Over the edge. Your church is happening!


1. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (100%)
2. Eastern Orthodox (83%)
3. Islam (83%)
4. Orthodox Judaism> (83%)
5. Orthodox Quaker (83%)
6. Roman Catholic (83%)
7. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (77%)
8. Seventh Day Adventist (75%)
9. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (64%)
10. Jehovah's Witness (63%)
11. Reform Judaism (59%)
12. Sikhism (55%)
13. Hinduism (51%)
14. Bahá'í Faith (47%)
15. Liberal Quakers (46%)
16. Jainism (44%)
17. Mahayana Buddhism (38%)
18. Theravada Buddhism (38%)
19. Unitarian Universalism (36%)
20. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (34%)
21. Nontheist (34%)
22. New Thought (33%)
23. Scientology (31%)
24. Neo-Pagan (24%)
25. New Age (21%)
26. Taoism (20%)
27. Secular Humanism (17%)

Morning Person

McDonalds is currently running an ad about a very unusual type of person and that is the "morning person." He is depiticted as being some type of "freak of nature" in the commercials that no one understands.

I have been one of these "freaks of nature" as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I was always frustrated that Saturday morning cartoons didn't start until 7 AM. This was when there were only three channels and maybe a couple of UHF channels and no such thing as The Cartoon Network. (How many kids today know what channels are the UHF channels?)

When I was 10 I had a job as a substitute paperboy in our neighborhood. So if the primary paperboy was out of town or sick, I got to deliver the papers. It was just like you see on tv with me on my bike and the big bag draped over my shoulder and slingging papers as I rode by each house. I loved doing it and the primary reason was I got to get up early. I loved being the only one awake in the neighborhood.

But a problem with being a morning person is that you are a minority and no one seems to understand you and they always seem to look at you funny.

Why am I so misunderstood? Why? Why?

Home Improvements

Our house is 7 years old and that means it is time for home improvements. We are just on the periphery of things beginning to fall apart so we are starting with painting. As I mentioned in this post the outside needs painting but I am actually going to pay someone to do that for me. We have also decided to repaint the inside of the house. Four years of little hands, tonka trucks and thomas the tank engine has left our walls and baseboards looking "distressed." We have just about finished one room; you don't realize how big your house is until you start trying to paint it.

Next on the project list will be hardwood floors and I imagine the fence is going to need replaced soon as well...

Job Satisfaction

Do you not like your job? Well, check these out and think again.

Texas Castle Doctrine Update

The Texas Castle Doctrine bill is headed for Governor Perry's desk. Last week the Texas Senate passed the bill unanimously and yesterday the Texas House approved it without debate.

Read the article here.

Good Bye Crazy Ray

The Cowboys lost an icon this weekend when "Crazy Ray" Jones died. He was the "unofficial" mascot of the Cowboys and only missed 3 Cowboy games in 44 years.

He is a big part of my childhood memories of the Cowboys and the games won't be the same now.

Here's an article from Mickey Spagnola.

Don't Let Your Kids Play with Matches

Just kidding, we didn't actually burn down the forest.

Penn and Teller Expose the Fallacy of Gun Control

This is a good video.  Penn and Teller expose the fallacy of gun control laws in their special way.  It is 28 minutes long.

If you don't see the video then go to this link.

No to H.R. 1022

In this post I urged you to go to this site and sign the petition to say no to House Bill 1022.  It currently has over 30,000 signers but we need to get more aggressive.  JR over at A Keyboard and a .45 notes in this post that the bill appears to be gaining momentum and he provides links to contact your representive to urge them to vote against this bill.


This bill is far more aggressive than the Clinton Assault Weapon Ban and will result in far more guns being banned.

Here is a good summary of the bill.

Spring Break at Lake Eufaula

After Seth started asking to go fishing (not sure where he got the idea he wanted to fish) we decided to spend our spring break at Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma. Shelley booked us in some nice cabins, Cabins on the Cove, and set up a guide to take us fishing.



The Cabins where we stayed.




The boys loved visiting the horses outside our cabin, Classy and Keila.



Captain Mark, our guide.



The boys really loved fishing.



We had a pretty good day fishing. Shelley thought she would out fish me but in the end I prevailed.



We also visited the Honey Springs Battlefield. This was the site of what Civil War historian Ed Bearss called the battle "America's first 'Rainbow Coalition!'" Troops on both sides included Native Americans, African Americans, and Anglo Americans. The Federal victory opened the way for occupation of Fort Smith and the later Union victories in the Red River valley.



The interesting thing at the Honey Springs Battlefield is that there is a small section of the original Texas Road. This was the primary trail taken by wagon trains travelling from Kansas to Texas. It was reported that at times there would be over 600 wagon trains travelling this road.



Finally, Shelley made me stop and take this picture.

Spring Break

I'm back from spring break.

Texas Senate Approves Castle Doctrine

Monday, the Texas Senate passed legislation that would give Texans the right to use deadly force to protect their homes, cars and businesses.  The "Castle Doctrine" eliminates the "duty to retreat" and also removes the ability for the families of criminals to sue their victims if some successfully defends themselves.

Read more here.

FedEx Planes Dodging Storm

This is a cool video of FAA radar track sequence of FedEx planes dodging a storm as they approach the Memphis airport.

If you can't see the video go here.

Old and Chicken

My first real job was painting houses. I did this for two summers and became very adept at using an extension ladder and climbing all over houses. I have to admit we did some pretty stupid things but you know how it is when you are 17.

Well, part of our house needs painting and it happens to be a part requiring me to get on the roof. So, this weekend I headed up on the roof to check things out and figure out exactly what needed to be done.

When I got up there I discovered that the pitch of our roof is really steep. As I sat there I realized no one even knew I was up on the roof and if I fell off it might be hours before I was missed. I also started feeling really old but this just wasn't worth it.

Down from the roof I climbed with my tail between my legs and feeling every one of my 40 years. What a difference 23 years of wisdom and more disposable income can make.

Balance

Who knew that balance was such a big deal.

Several months ago Shelley and I became a little concerned that Seth wasn't able to do some of the things all the books say would be beneficial if a 4 year old could do, one of those being able to peddle a bike or tricycle.

We bought Seth a bicycle for Christmas in hopes that if we just practiced he would soon get it. It didn't work and we were at a loss as what to do.

We finally took him and had him evaluated and found out he was about 6 months behind where he needed to be and it was recommended that he attend some physical therapy. They estimated that it would only take about 6 months to get him where he needed to be. We started the sessions about 6 weeks ago and it has made a world of difference.

We have learned during this process that not having a good sense of balance is a common problem with kids and it can greatly affect how they develop. Seth didn't want to feel unstable so he compensated with how he sat, how he ran, how he climbed stairs and by avoiding other activities like trying to ride a bike.

As I mentioned he has shown amazing improvement with just a few weeks of professional help and it was decided to have him reevaluated in his last session. His therapist reported to us yesterday that he was almost caught up and would only need a few more sessions. We are amazed at how well he responded.

But, he still won't ride a bike so Shelley mentioned this to the therapist and guess what it still comes back to balance. She said that even with the training wheels the bike feels unstable to him because it still has a bit of a wobble. She suggested trying to stabilize it for him. So last night I worked on getting the training wheels and rear wheel all on the same level so the bike wouldn't wobble.

I accomplished this and guess what, Seth rode his bike last night. Up until last night we could barely get him to sit on it and last night he made two loops around our neighborhood.

The coolest thing was the smile on his face.

Dallas Cowboys Stadium

Another photo of the construction work being done on the new Cowboys' Stadium. This is a view out of the tunnel the Cowboys will use to take the field.

Hugs and Smiles

My eighth post on Dadbloggers is now available. This one is about the greatness that is Chase.

Read it here.

It Hurts Me More Than It Hurts You

I'm sure everyone has had their parents say to them "This is going to hurt me a lot more than it is going to hurt you." This was probably in the context of a spanking. I never understood how they could possibly believe this until I became a parent and it is now one of the most true "parentisms" I know. We don't typically spank our kids but it applies to any type of punishment.

Last night we had our 500th battle with Seth regarding eating dinner and after trying a variety of punishments, I decided to start taking away toys. So, I got a garbage bag and started gathering up some of his favorite toys. Each time I picked up a different toy his cries would get more intense.

Then at one point he yelled out "You can't take MY toys" and this really set me off. So I walked over to him, got down on his level and asked him what made him think they were "his" toys. Then between sobs he was able to get out "because people gave them to me as presents."

My heart melted, I just wanted to give him a big hug, dump out all of the toys and start playing. But, I was too far into it at this point so now there are two garbage bags full of toys in our attic.

My plans are to let him get a toy back every night he sits and eats dinner with us without an argument. I really hope he does that tonight because I can't take another night like last night.

And Seth, when you are older and reading this, it did hurt me more than it hurt you.

I Got Pulled Over

This morning I got to test the theory that having a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) can help you get out of traffic tickets. There isn't proof of this except for anecdotal evidence but it does seem reasonable. When a police officer pulls you over and runs your plates, in the state of Texas he is notified instantly that the vehicle is registered to a CHL holder. He then knows that there is the possibility of a firearm being in the vehicle but he also knows that I am not one of the bad guys. He knows that I haven't
1. Been convicted of a felony
2. Currently charged in committing a Class A or Class B misdemeanor
3. In the last 5 years I have not been convicted of Class A or Class B misdemeanor.
4. I am not currently delinquent on child support or student loans.
5. I do not have any past due taxes.
6. I am currently not restricted by a court ordered restraining order.

He also knows I have been through FBI and state background checks so he has a good idea that I am a decent person.

This morning at 4:30 am I was on my way home from the gym when I failed to signal at a stop sign and instantly I saw the lights on his police car turn on. I quickly pulled over, turned on my dome light so he could easily see into the vehicle, got my license and chl ready and kept my hands in clear view.

He came to my window, informed me why I had been pulled over and asked for my insurance. I had not gotten that out yet because it is in my glove box and I didn't want him to see me rooting around in my glove box. When I pulled out my insurance I realized I had committed a 2nd violation. My insurance card had expired four and half hours earlier and I had not replaced it with the current one. Either he didn't notice or didn't care because he thanked me for my time, asked that I be careful in the future and sent me on my way.

Did the CHL help? Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure he was just checking to see if I had been drinking because why else would I be out at 4:30 am? Most reasonable people aren't on their way home from the gym at that hour are they? So, upon realizing I wasn't drunk he may have sent me on my way anyway but I'm sure the CHL didn't hurt things.

Can You Translate This?

If you hear a 20 month old say "fweep" and then he follows it up with "ache up", what is going on?

We are playing "Wake Up Jeff" from the Wiggles.

Chase likes to tell you to "fweep" (sleep) so you close your eyes and then he says "ache up" and you are suppose to wake up startled like Jeff Wiggle. He loves it and giggles every time.

My Visual DNA

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College Education

Some recent events in our family has had us discussing the value of a college education. Statistics show that on average a person with a bachelors degree will earn $54,000 per year and a person with only a high school diploma will earn $31,000. Over their working lives this will result in a difference of $1.7 million.

Considering I have a bachelors and a masters degree, one might assume that I am a big proponent of getting a college degree and for the most part I am. But, I understand that these are only averages and there are a lot of people who have done just fine without a college degree. My brother doesn't have a degree and he and I are about in the same place in life despite my 6 years of college experience. I also have a co-worker/peer who doesn't have a degree either and she is doing quite well for herself.

Then you can talk about people like Bill Gates, Harry Truman, George Washington, Michael Dell and Steve Jobs who all didn't get a college degree and I think they turned out ok.

But, I will argue that all of these people are the exception rather than the rule and getting a college degree is just one tool that can help give you a leg up in life so why not use it.

I know that if I had not gotten my degrees, right now I would be a lot closer to the $31,000 number than the current salary I am making. I don't posses some of the extraordinary traits that the people I mentioned previously have (Tim and Amy, that includes you).

I just hope we can instill the value of education into our boys because I don't feel like having a conversation with either one of them about how they are dropping out of school and going to Boston to "find themselves."

Concealed Handgun License

Last night when I got home I received a little surprise, my concealed handgun license. This was something that I procrastinated doing for three years but I finally got it done. As I wrote about in this post if you want to do one little thing to help preserve our 2nd Amendment rights, then get a CHL.

Now, my next project is to have Shelley get hers.