once in a lifetime, a man is given the chance to find his soul-mate.  the person who he knows was put on this earth for him.  some people never get that chance.  i was fortunate enough to find her.  she is a constant blessing.  her constant love and devotion are always present.  she has blessed my life far beyond anything i could have imagined.  long before we were married, and i would wonder what married life would be like, never had i imagined it would be like this. 

Patti, thank you for your constant encouragement and support.  you are truly a helpmate from heaven.  on your birthday today may it be filled with joy and happiness.  may you get to enjoy the peace and relaxation that you provide to so many other people.

Get up, my dear friend,
   fair and beautiful lover—come to me!
Look around you: Winter is over;
   the winter rains are over, gone!
Spring flowers are in blossom all over.
   The whole world’s a choir—and singing!
Spring warblers are filling the forest
   with sweet arpeggios.
Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed,
   and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms.
Oh, get up, dear friend,
   my fair and beautiful lover—come to me!
Come, my shy and modest dove—
   leave your seclusion, come out in the open.
Let me see your face,
   let me hear your voice.
For your voice is soothing
   and your face is ravishing.

most bloggers i follow on my rss feed don’t talk about their own health but for me it’s the most exciting thing going on.  remember my wisdom teeth that they barbarically stole from me.  yeah, i got a few weeks worth of stuff to talk about then.  about two weeks ago i noticed this weird rash along my side.  It was red and roundish and about the size of a quarter.  My first thought was that it looked like ring-worm- but i hadn’t been mud wrestling lately.  A few days later i noticed other spots along the same side of my body.  What was strangest is that they were actually painful.  Not like itchy but sore.  For a while i though i had cracked a rib somehow but again, no contact sports lately.  Finally by that Friday i was quite uncomfortable and the spots were spreading.  I gave in and went to see the doctor.  First of all, they schedule me for 9:20.  10 oclock they call my name to weight me and take my temp.  then they send me back to the waiting room.  10 minutes later they put me in a room.  The doctor lady person wasn’t long after that.  i showed her the spots and she took a step back.  “Do they hurt?” yeah.. “is it a stabbing pain? Tingling kind of prickly?” um.. now that i think of it.. yeah it is a stabbing pain.. and it does tingle like a foot fallen asleep.  “Have you ever had chicken pox?” um.. when i was like 6 or 7.

So come to find out.. I have Shingles.  Interesting thing about shingles, it’s the Chicken Pox redux.  When you get the ckicken pox… and it clears up, the virus that causes it, varicella, goes dormant.  Usually when your really old and have a weekend immune system, the virus wakes up again but comes back as shingles.  So i got these huge 1000mg pills and Patti got me some lotion that really helps.  a week later it’s cleared up quite a bit.  After looking at the websites i’m pretty sure i got off easy.

Shingles itself isn’t contagious.  You can’t catch shingles from someone who has shingles, BUT.. if you haven’t had chickenpox you can get it from someone with shingles (since it’s the same virus)

So enough about that-

Apple released it’s much rumored iPad today.  As much as i used to hate the concept of Apple, i’ve really come full circle now.  I carry my macbook around just as much as i carry my dell laptop.  I’ve found my iPhone extremely useful and productive. It’s just so small.. It’s good size for a phone but when i’m using it to VNC or RDP it’s a little hard.  And watching a movie on a 3 inch screen takes something away from the cinematic experience.  Now with the iPad, all that is a thing of the past.  *JOHN’S PREDICTIONS* I could really see one of these in everyone’s home, especially at the starting price of $499.

And every day it gets harder to fight the urge to su to the user and freak people out.

xkcd.com

The iPhone redbox app is by far my new favorite app.  Last night Patti and i were at HEB and wanted to “redbox” a movie.  So we go to the machine and of course there is a line in front of it with people browsing.  *sigh* so we go inside to shop and while we are shopping i pull out my iPhone, open up the redbox app and start browsing the movies that are loaded into that very machine we were standing in front of.  Found starwars and even though we had both seen it before, it was a good movie and wouldn’t mind getting to see it again.  So i clicked on “Reserve” and while patti was in the checkline, i walked back over to the machine, “clicked” the online reservation button, swiped my card and out popped my movie.

As an added bonus, i got an email confirmation of the reservation and a confirmation when the movie was returned this morning.  now i’m just waiting for the chance try it again!

http://www.redbox.com/

First of all, i’m thankful for Patti, my totally awesome wife.  It truly takes a amazing woman to put up with the likes of me.  She is always supportive of my wild ideas and she is always there to help me with projects, run the media dept, give a listening ear, iron my shirts.. and on top of all the other things she does for everyone else.  I love you patti and I thank God for putting you in my life.

I’m thankful for the kids.  They each have enriched my life in their own unique way.  Hannah has become such a joy to be around.  I’m thankful that she includes me in her rather run school projects like band and her asl videos and even just going out shopping.  She’s making great grades in school, she’s even help teach the younger kids in her asl class.  She has so much potential built up inside of here, it’s exciting to see what she’ll become.  I’m thank for Tori and the healing that’s happening inside of her.  Last night she got up in front of her youth group at church and spoke on her life and how she was able to turn her situation around.  She told other kids how they can deal with it and really meet them on her level.  She’s also an amazing musician and the most determined person i know.  once she’s puts her mind to something she’ll see it done and done right away.  I’m thankful that Megan is still surviving and passing through school.  I’m thankful that her car is working and her bedroom is clean (for now)

I’m thankful for my new job.  I’m at a place where i’m surrounded by some of the smartest people in their field.  Biologist, chemist, geneticist, growers, professors, post doctorates, the place is just full of people any of whom you could sit and have an intellectually stimulating conversation with.  I’m at a place where i’m able to design the system architecture the way i’d it done.  I’m literally building it from the ground up.  And they actually listen to my recommendations and decisions.  It’s amazing to hand someone a list of servers and equipment and say i need this and “magically” an 18-wheeler arrives with more goodies.  Working in the academic environment is so much different than working in the corporate world.  

I’m thankful for my church and the things i get to do around there.  I’m thankful for the team of guys i have helping me.  Adam, Jeremiah, Gideon, Simeon, Mark, Art, Joel, Ben… you guys never complain and you show up when ever i need a hand.  I appreciate all that you guys do for me.  Without your help we couldn’t get any of the stuff we do.. done.

I’m thankful for my family.  For those here nearby and for those I’ve recently gotten to reconnect with.  It’s nice to be in the company of those who your stuck with for life and actually enjoy their company.  With this new job i’ll probably be getting to spend more time up in College Station with will give me more time to reconnect with relatives and friends i hadn’t seen in years.

I’m thankful for my friends.  Those who have chosen to be a part of my life not because of all the time we spend together at work or church or are just around anyway so might as well hang out.. but those who actually chose to be a part of my life.  I’m thankful for all of those who showed up at my surprise birthday party.  (still amazed patti was able to pull that off)  I’m thankful for the Leal’s.  They’ve enriched my life more than i can describe. 

I guess i do have quite a bit to be thankful for this past year.

Haven’t been back here since… Patti’s seminar back when she did that presentation.  It was a multi-function meeting.  First i wanted to get to meet the IT staff at A&M that i’ve found myself working more and more with.  Put a face to the name and an idea of the operation.  I got in and went straight to the Agrilife anex building to get myself acquainted.  Right from the get-go we talked about stuff going on in weslaco, things i would like to work on and they talked about stuff going on up there and where our projects meet in the middle.

From there i checked into the hotel.  It was actually an extended stay suite called the Vineyard so a bit nicer than a hotel.  Very comfy.  From there i drove my way over to my aunt Yolanda’s thanks to the very handy map’s app for iPhone.  (i’m horrible with directions but i can follow the little blue line)  Got to visit with them.  Then went over to my cousin Linda’s and got to see some more family there and dinner too!  After that entered a new route for walmart, picked up some plastic food containers, then to winersnitzel for two family packs of chilidogs.  You’ve probably heard me rave about these chili dogs.  They really are not anything extraordinary about them.. but for some reason, their is nothing else like them.  I can taste the even now as i think of the savor of a winersnitzel dog.  Back to the hotel, stored the 20 dogs in the containers and loaded them in the fridge.

The next day back to A&M for some more meetings.  Met back up with one of the IT guys and we walked over to Rudder Tower for our first meeting.  This was a training mostly on some new software they are deploying.  Very slick actually.  Got finished with that and went over to meet with Gloria, an old family friend from Bryan.  Drove by the old homestead, visited the old church.  Then back to A&M.  This time i had some time before my next meeting so decided to do some sight seeing.  Anyone who’s been to A&M knows about the many traditions out there.  There’s a saying, if you do something twice, they make a tradition of it.  Driving around i could see the wall of Bonfire Memorial, so i decided to check it out.  Went up the wall and right from the start it was that quiet somber feeling all over again.  Very similar to being at ground zero in NYC.  Everything about the memorial was very symbolic.  The wall for example..

Visitors enter the memorial at Tradition Plaza, whose vertical wall serve as a barrier between the peace and intimacy of the memorial and the outside world. The wall is engraved with The Last Corps Trip, the poem traditionally recited before the lighting of each year’s Bonfire; the view above the lower wall draws visitors into the memorial via History Walk.

 

The “History Walk” was a pathway to the actual memorial.  The ground covered in dark grey and black smooth gravel, the granite slab along the pathway.  I noticed a date engraved at the beginning of the stone.  1909.  The first year bonfire burned.  89 blocks in all.  Notches were cut out in each stone representing a bonfire for that year.  A small amber light within the stone glowed.  Three of the notches had plaques in them, each with a name in them.  Those plaques represented a person who perished that year during the bonfire.  Another stone along the pathway was not grey granite like the rest but was all black.  That represented the year the President Kennedy was killed.  The bonfire was dismantled log-by-log in respect for the fallen president that year. 

Then at the end of the walkway came the actual memorial.  A ring made up of 27 granite blocks with 12 portals created the “Spirit-Ring” This recreates the perimeter fence around the actual bonfire.  on the ring itself were more plaques representing those injured, but left blank representing all those injured during the 90 years. 

Each the portals has a portrait and signature of each of those killed along the left side, the right side a written memorial and along the floor the person’s hometown.  Through the portal you could access the grass, in the center was another plaque.  Being totally overwhelmed with everyone’s memorial out there and the sollemness and peace of the memorial, i didn’t feel right walking out there but according to the brochure,

At the ring’s center is a black-granite marker, 18 inches in diameter, representing the Bonfire stack’s Centerpole. Positioned on the exact spot used for Centerpole, the marker is engraved with the date and time of the collapse: 11-18-1999 2:42 a.m.

Kind of made it hard to go back on the with the rest of the day.

Made it back to rudder tower for another meeting this time on the internet threat out there, and how the bad guys get in.  It was actually scary the reality of ever thing out there.  Check out this blog of the guy who was doing the presentation about some of the stuff the bad guys are doing out there.

After the presentation met back with with guys in the IT office, ending up talking way longer that i was planning on.  Ended up trying to rush back to the airport.  Come to find out the name “airport” on my iphone took me some where completely different.  So i put in the name of the airport and now i’m back on track, except i get to the exit and think i know where i’m going, yeah i end up at the private airstrip, not the main terminal.  so back on the road literally the car rental return slot, throw the keys in the drop box and huff it up the stairs to the ticket counter.  The flight aka, roller coster ride, back to houston was rough.  The first time i’ve ever got sick on a flight. 

Finally get home and open my luggage.  and find the card from tsa saying they’ve checked my bag, nothing odd.. but i can just imagine that guy going home to his family, “you’ll never guess what i saw in this guys bag!  20 winersnitzel hot dogs cold and packed in this guys luggage”