Dave's Online Journal

10 out of 10

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:29:26 GMT

You know how the doctor asks about your pain, "on a scale of one to ten you're experiencing a <your number here>". I think this was my first ten and I will judge all future pain against this experience. It was really unbelievable how much it hurt. I had two root canals. The actual procedure went fine. Unfortunately, the secondary infection that set in just knocked me out. I didn't sleep at all on Tuesday night. The next morning Karen took me back to the Endodontist, where they gave me more antibiotics, steroids and percocet. Percocet is fun...I finally got some sleep (more like a coma) once I took a few of them.

I'm glad that I took care of this now. I cannot imagine dealing with this with a newborn. Only two weeks to go before we're parents (Karen's due 7/7)! We had our last ultrasound last week. The baby is still on the small side, but everything looks good.

My poor truck

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:04:43 GMT

Yesterday while driving to a client site I was in my first auto accident in many years. The other driver ran a red light and went right in front of me. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Basically, the other car scraped all of the plastic off of my truck's front end (more like it exploded off), until the truck caught the car's back end. This caused the car to spin around and slam into a light pole. I barely felt the impact and my truck just kept going straight. My truck is still drivable, but I cannot drive when it's dark because both my headlights are dead.

Unfortunately, the other driver does not have insurance, so I'm going to have to pay for the damages. I am in the market for a new vehicle (I've been driving the same thing for 11 years and 145K miles), I just haven't decided what I want yet. Although, after the accident I'm leaning toward another truck.

It's another bad week for the Youngerman pets

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:29:53 GMT

Our cat, Christine is hanging in there...she's getting weaker by the day though.

I lost two (Scooter & Dorsey) of my four turtles (I still have Nubbin & Kermit) last night. A giant raccoon, seriously he was like a small bear, found the turtle tank on our deck. Karen caught him eating Scooter. I chased him off, but Scooter was badly injured. All of his legs were terribly mutilated and he was barely alive. I ended up euthanizing him due to his injuries.

I cannot find Dorsey. I'm hoping she somehow escaped (it rained a lot recently and the tank got close to full) and is hiding under our deck. I doubt it though, I think that the raccoon might have caught her the night before.

I'm bummed. I was going to take them in this week because it's starting to get cold at night. They made it all summer without incident and to have this happen during their last week outside is maddening.

Chris cat

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:31:14 GMT

Today the vet informed Karen that Chris's liver is failing (her skin and eyes are yellow). The vet gave Chris some meds, but there really isn't too much they can do for her at this point.

Toad Rescue

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:27:44 GMT

Recently, rescuing toads from the basement window well has become part of my routine. One night after feeding the cats, I looked up and saw three toads staring at me through the window. They've slowed down a bit since then, it's only one been one toad every three days.

Coyote

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:34:23 GMT

We almost witnessed a coyote catching our neighbor's cat (we call the cat - Mustache Kitty). The cat cleared the fence with the coyote just a few feet behind him.

The coyote just stopped, looked at us for a few moments, then trotted off to the creek that runs through the field behind our house.

Pet blogging - Turtle Edition

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:21:00 GMT

Requested turtle closeups (Hi Jen :)).

Nubbin (Missing most of her tail when I bought her):

Kermit:

Notice that their outdoor tank/pond is now algae green. In about 2 weeks, they've managed to eat almost all of the plants. The filter screen now clogs almost every day, so I have to go out and remove and rinse/clear the filter. Ah, the joys of pet ownership.

Turtle Tank

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:06:56 GMT

I still want to build a small pond in our backyard for the turtles, but I thought I'd try something simple first. So I went to the local feed store and purchased this 100 gallon stock tank, and then to home depot to buy a small pond filter.

The turtles seem to like it. We can see the turtles sunning themselves out of the water from the kitchen window. They quickly dive and hide when I go outside to feed them (Kermit is hiding underwater by the potted plant in the picture to the right). Hopefully, one of the neighborhood kids won't climb the fence and steal them.

Foot Surgery - Part 1

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:39:12 GMT

I had surgery on my right foot on Friday (taylor's bunion, wide feet, cannot put my feet in regular ski boots or biking shoes). It went well. I was awake for most of it. During and immediately after the surgery, I thought that I was awake for the entire thing. However, I don't remember them giving me local anesthesia and the surgery seemed shorter than it actually was.

For the first week I cannot put any weight on my right foot and have to use crutches. I'm not allowed to drive, although I don't know how I could with all the bandages and the splint on my leg.

BTW - Crutches suck! And why did we buy a house with so many stairs? I lost my balance on the deck this morning while going up to feed the turtles and stepped down on my foot. I didn't swear (for once), but Karen saw the look on my face when it happened. So I've been 'grounded' to the couch for the day. I'm so bored I'm considering working the rest of the weekend.

New Camera

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 19:07:26 GMT

Recently Karen and I were at a camera store looking for a SLR for her, for our trip to Baja California (whale watching, snorkeling, kayaking, etc.). While looking around for her camera, I found that Olympus makes a water/weather/crush-proof point and shoot digital camera.

I was interested in using it for our recent trip, and for when I go up to the mountains. I have resorted to using my camera phone several times when encountering wildlife while out on a bike ride, but the pictures just aren't very good.
So I ended-up purchasing the model that just came out a couple of weeks ago, the Stylus 1030 SW.

I currently have two of them because I purchased the first one from Tiger Direct and inadvertently had it shipped to my old office in Pittsburgh. I tried to have it rerouted, but it was too late. It was then forwarded to my Denver office. Because I'm impatient and was told that it would probably be sent back to the Tiger Direct, and I really wanted it for our trip in a couple of weeks, we found and purchased one at Best Buy the night before the original purchase arrived in Pittsburgh.

I've always been pleased with how fast Tiger Direct ships items. Now I'm going to have a chance to test their return policy.

Work from home Wednesday

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:33:30 GMT

I think I'm officially going to make Wednesdays my work from home day.

I stayed home today because I had to get cortisone shots in my feet, because they still hurt and swollen from skiing last season. The doctor wants to perform surgery, but I'm going to wait until the spring (vacations and downhill sports await this winter).

I managed to get a lot of work done for a few of my remote clients because I could VPN into their network via our apartments broadband connection, versus using the Verizon wireless card.

Current happenings

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:30:44 GMT

It has been a busy summer.

We've had a couple of friends from Rochester and our families come to visit. We also returned to Rochester for Alex and Sarah's wedding.

We took our parents to a couple of local parks. We took my parents to Rocky Mountain National Forest, and Karen's parents to the top of Mt. Evans (we drove to both). It's 14 thousand feet at the top of Mt Evans. I was worried that people would have altitude sickness, but everyone seemed to be alright with it.

I bought a full suspension mountain bike this summer and have been learning how to ride on the local trails. This weekend I road 31 miles around the local reservoir and into Waterton Canyon. I'm still getting accustomed to the whole off-road riding thing. I'm still afraid of pitching-over while clipped into the pedals and falling-off the side of the mountain.

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:51:14 GMT

It has been a long time since I last posted.

In March I went to Palm Springs, CA for the ESRI Developer Summit. It was good to go, as I've been doing a lot of ArcGIS Server 9.2 development the last month or so for a local wastewater facility. It has been interesting and sometimes frustrating work. It has been a challenge learning the new technology. The documentation is often lacking, and the software is buggy. This project is winding down, and soon I'll be working on another ArcGIS server project in the Boston area.

I went skiing Saturday. My coworker, Dave, and I went to Keystone. We were only there for a couple of hours. My boots still hurt my feet after having custom foot-beds made, and having the plastic shell "knocked-out" several times. I'm thinking about going to a foot specialist to have better foot-beds made. I'd have new liners made as well, but I'm getting ready to upgrade to a stiffer/more advanced boot.

Last Weekend Outdoor Fun

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:20:52 GMT

Saturday I went snowshoeing at Rocky Mountain National Park with people from work. It was a lot of fun. The store where I rented my snowshoes had crazy-low prices on outdoor clothing, so I purchased a pair of snow-bibs. I was getting tired of the cold air getting through the seam between my coat and my snowpants while skiing.

Sunday Dave K. and I went skiing. I went to a recently opened mountain at Breckenridge, which was all intermediate and advanced runs. I started out on the easy blue runs and worked my way into steeper terrain. Dave took me on a blue/black and black run. I didn't know this until I made it to the bottom of each. On the black run I 'cheated' by sliding down sideways about halfway down, after taking a bad spill when my ski got caught in the rocks and mud, and my knee felt like it snapped. Luckily, my knee doesn't seem to be injured. I'm not ready for that level of skiing yet. However, I'm happy with my progress, since I've only been skiing for a short while. The lessons that I had as part of my learn to ski pass were great. I actually extended them for the rest of the season for an additional $150.

Skiing

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:21:13 GMT

I went skiing twice over the last week.

I purchased a learn to ski pass for ~$300, which includes three lessons, three rentals, and a seasonal lift-ticket. It's a pretty good deal, considering half-day group lessons costs approximately ~$70.

My coworker (another Dave) and I took the Friday before Thanksgiving off to go. We also went skiing on Thanksgiving to avoid the crowds.

I really enjoy it, although I still have trouble dealing with the steeper grades on the intermediate runs. Dave took me to the top of one of these intermediate runs on my first day out, where we ate at a mountaintop lodge. Since I hadn't eaten anything all morning, I really loaded up with a chili-dog and piece of cake (bad idea - as I almost lost this on my way down the mountain). Then I spent the next 45 minutes falling and swearing all the way down the mountain. Because I was terrified of careening out of control down the mountain, I "forgot" how to turn to the right. So I would go 50 feet, turn left, then crash to slow down. I would then get back up and repeat the process until I reached the less-steep beginner territory. Later, I discovered that it's natural to lean away from the downhill leg, which I was doing because of fear. Once you do this, you don't have any control over turns or speed.

I'm looking to buy my own skis and boots this week. There's a ton of information to take into account to get the right functionality and comfort for ones skill level.

Birthday

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 17:22:16 GMT

As of yesterday, I'm 37.

Denver update

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 00:30:05 GMT

We've been in Denver for a little over a month. There are still some boxes to be unpacked, but we've unpacked more than we ever did in Pittsburgh. Our apartment has a nice mountain view. We are only about a mile from the Bear Creak Greenbelt. It's a great place to bike ride and run. You can tell that Karen and I aren't from the area because we stop to watch the prairie dogs; most of the locals don't give them a second look, or outright dislike them.

The apartment is also close to the light rail, which I take to work. It's about a 10 minute drive to the train station. I tried taking the bus, but it takes around half an hour. So I feel that the time saved by driving to the light rail is worth the gas. The good thing about taking the light rail is that I don't have to pay for parking, and I avoid most of the commuter traffic. Work provides us with a discounted public transportation pass, so I don't even have to purchase a ticket.

I haven't done much in the way of exercise lately (which is really sad when one considers all of the outdoor activities available). I did go for a couple of bike rides last weekend. I had a tough time once the trail started going up into the mountains, the combination of the lack of exercise and thinner air was very obvious.

Denver Relocation - Goodbye Pittsburgh

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 03:55:24 GMT

The movers came today. There was a little problem with transporting Karen's car, but it was taking care of fairly quickly. We didn't get on the road until 6:30, but we made good time to Columbus.

I'm towing a u-haul trailer behind my truck, so I have to drive a little slower. It has been several years since I've towed a trailer, so I'm a little rusty on backing-up with the trailer.

All of the fish are still alive in their coolers, and the turtles and snake are doing alright. I purchased a new toneau cover for the truck, so all of the animals are covered up.

Karen's Mom picked-up a couple of filters for the fish containers. It didn't dawn on me until I started this little trip, that I could replace the air stones that I'm currently using with simple sponge filters. So now I'm actually keeping their water clean while aerating it too.

Current location - Columbus, OH

Moving update

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:00:00 GMT

The packers are boxing-up all of our stuff. It's impressive to see them work.

Crates are begin specially built for the fish tanks as I write this.

The cats are freaking out.

Current location: Pittsburgh

Less than 2 weeks until Denver...

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 03:44:12 GMT

We were approved for our apartment yesterday. It's a lot bigger than our current apartment, so no more stepping over boxes and cats. We have a nice view of mountains and it's close to one of the greenway bike trails. It's also a short commute to the lite-rail, which will take me into downtown (Parking in my building's garage costs $120 month :( ).

I've been crazy busy at work, but I'm going to go to 3/4 days next week to deal with moving issues. Then I'll be taking the entire last week of August off, for our cross-country move.

Physical therapy is finished, and my back feels almost normal. My new gym workout is mostly my PT exercises. I quit going to silat these last two months in Pittsburgh, because being thrown and twisted up like a pretzel was not helping my back any. Once I get settled in Denver, I will find another place to train.

Karen and I are headed to Ohio this weekend to visit our families.

Current happenings

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 14:33:43 GMT

I'm currently waiting for the Kodak server to be turned back on after its move to a new building. In the meantime, I'm creating several new databases for another project.

Karen and I went to the X-men movie this weekend with some people from my silat class (thanks Lex). I was pleasantly surprised by it. I thought it was going to be total crap, but I actually enjoyed it. What did you think Alex?

Last weekend I tested for and earned my yellow sash in silat. For those who are counting (probably just me), this is my forth yellow-sash. Apparently, it is my goal in life to collect belts in every style of martial arts. I should be a much better fighter than I am.

Graduation weekend!

Sat, 20 May 2006 16:11:28 GMT

Karen Graduates this weekend, although she has another 3 months to go on her group project. Her family is coming into town this weekend for the festivities.

Weekend trips

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 14:02:27 GMT

Last Weekend - Denver
It's a really nice city. We will probably move there this August.

This Weekend - Rochester
Art's Egg Rocket Weekend - I'll be leaving work early to start the drive.

Last night we finished filling out our tax forms.

Preparing for Denver Trip

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 15:30:35 GMT

It has been awhile since my last post...

Karen and I returned from Las Vegas about three weeks ago. Vegas was fun. I had a chance to see my Friend Cameron and his wife one of the days. That left a day and a half for Karen and I to go to two shows (Penn and Teller) and the Cirque show - O. We also went to several good restaurants. I think our favorite was a Thai restaurant a couple of miles off the strip. The food was great, inexpensive, and it didn't seem to have any out-of-towners like the other places we went.

I had my four year review with CDM last Friday. This was my best review yet. Usually, I am given an average rating of 3.5 out of 5. This time, however, I think my average rating is a 4.5 out of 5. My review was better this time around because:

I'm working with newer technology (Visual Studio 2005, SQLServer 2005, ASP.NET 2.0, ArcGIS 9.1)

People in CDM actually are seeing what I produce - In prior years only the Kodak people would see my work, and they don't contribute to my review.

Maybe this time I'll receive a promotion.

Last week I also had a bad cold. I missed some work, didn't work-out, and mostly felt miserable. That was the only illness I had all winter, while Karen and my co-workers have been sick several times. I guess I'm lucky that I didn't catch the crud more often.

Karen and I leave for Denver, CO tomorrow to check-out the city and the CDM office there. If we like it, it is very likely that Denver will be our new home after Karen graduates. Tonight will mostly be packing and prepping the animals for their extended weekend alone.

Weekly update

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 00:19:18 GMT

I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I would while my computer is busy mosaicing orthographic photos together for work.

Karen went to Austin, Texas yesterday for her school project. She won't be back until midnight Saturday. She's has been really busy with school. There have been several all-night homework events recently. I don't know how she can stay up all night and then go to class the next day.

I have been very busy at work for the last month or so. I have four projects now, which are competing for my time. I have been working a lot of extra hours to keep up and learn the new systems and technology. I recently learned that I do get paid overtime despite being an exempt employee. So I'm now receiving a little extra money for my efforts.

Karen and I are going to Vegas in a week. I am a little leary of spending five days in Vegas, since I don't:

gamble

binge drink myself into a stupor

like large crowds of obnoxious, drunk people

I'm really excited because I get to see my friend Cameron and his wife Julie. They live in Los Angeles, and are going to drive into Vegas for the weekend to meet up with us. Karen and I are also going to a Cirque du Soleil show while we're there.

To change the subject: My friend from Ohio, Jason Lai, called me at work yesterday. I saw him 'recently' (last fall) at the Pittstop Lindy Exchange. I knew him originally from Karate. He introduced me to swing dancing. Which directly lead to my quitting Karate -> meeting my wife -> moving to Rochester -> where I met Art, who introduced me to Kung Fu -> then I quit swing dancing regularly (not because of Fu, I just don't feel that comfortable dancing).