Was I the only one surprised to find someone as brilliant as Ray Kurweil submitting to a Daily Show interview?!
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Happy Anniversary Wife!
I first met Cathy on October 23, 1999. I knew she was remarkable at first glance! We probably exchanged 3 sentences and by happenstance were brought together by friends in the beginning of 2000 hoping we would dispense with some mutual angst and move on with our lives.
Cathy and I dated approximately a year an a half. During that time she won me over and I put an engagement ring on her finger. A short while later we were watching the children play in the cove and questioned why wait. We had each experienced fancy weddings with our previous marriages. Noah was too young to appreciate a wedding; he has almost no memory of our trip to Disney World. Tommy was still too unpredictable and self-absorbed. The wedding would be meaningless to each of the boys, or so went our thinking. I checked some legalities and acquired a marriage license. Cathy and I told no one of our plan, had the grandparents watch the boys, and we took Sarah with us to Gatlinburg to Garter’s & Gun’s. We picked three nice costumes which velco’d on the back. They took our ol’ tyme photo. We went to a room decored as a chapel that could probably hold all of 10 people. The photographer performed a legally binding ceremony and Cathy and I became married on August 25, 2001 much to the disappointment and disbelief of many people.
Amy was born on June 10, 2002. There has been speculation that she encouraged our marriage. This speculation is wrong. Suffice it to say, everyone responded to 9/11 in their own way.
Six and a half years fly by so quickly. As I look back, they have been fantastic years! As I understand, the milestone years in marriages are 1, 3, 7, 10, 14, and 21. Those the years with the greatest numbers of divorces. Our relationship is still magical and strong. If anything could stand improvement, I need to be a better husband, father and provider. I remain the wildcard that introduces instability into our family. I need to be more of an anchor, a rock, a foundation. Looking back on our five years of marriage, the only missed goals have centered around that instability. So before we blink again and see another 5 years pass, I must provide more stability. In all other aspects, we have a wonderful marriage and a wonderful live!
Happy Anniversary Cathy! I love you!
ps. "5 years is a wood anniversary." Uh…
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Math is hard
One of the things The They don’t tell you is that as a parent you get to repeat school. You repeat it once for every child you have. I find it interesting to watch little minds grow. Concepts that are reflexive to us are foreign to them.
Today I wrote the number 1943 and asked Noah watch place each number occupied. 3, ones. 4, tens. 9, hundreds. 1, thousands. Then I added 1943.5 and asked about the 5. "That’s the oneths. No. Tenths." Good. So I added a 2 making the number 1943.52 and asked about the 5. "That’s the hundredths. The 2 is in the tenths." Hmmm. I add 7 making the number 1943.527 and asked about the 5. "The 5 is in the thousandths."
I started over putting only the 3 and he correctly identified it as the ones place. When I added the 4 for 43, the 3 remarkably remained in the ones place. Using this knowledge and some diagrams I think Noah finally got it. He correctly identified the 1/10s, the 1/100s places and so forth. Still, I think some reinforcement is in order.
I enjoy being a dad. I enjoy helping minds grow.
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Private Calls With Spoofcard
Spoofcard is a calling card that allows you to specify what is seen on caller id. You can also record calls. Legit service? I’d say buyer beware!
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We each walk our own path; even if it is a well worn path
My teenage daughter frustrates me so much. Why as teens do we do such stupid things? The irony is I acted much like she is. I retreated emotionally at her age. I silently screamed for notice and became angered when no one answered, when no one read my mind. That was ok. I knew everything. I didn’t need them! I cut ties to friends and family. I made mistakes and I seem helpless to stop her from making the same mistakes.
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Respect to the Mommy Bloggers
In the brief times that I solely try to simultaneously watch and keep Evan happy in the name of giving Cathy a break I have accumulated dozens of half finished draft blog posts. How do you guys do it with infants, toddlers, and other assorted rug rats?! On top of producing great content for our reading pleasures, the Mommy Blogger Brigade tends to the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of the children and even squeeze in time to clean house, cook, and in some cases work a job or two among all the other varied things on their calendars. Amazing! I salut the Mommy Bloggers!
I’d say more but Evan wants me to be a jungle gym for a bit…
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August Challenge – Projects
I am happy that today I generated invoices. I am also happy that I purchased materials that will see progress on another project.
Can you meet The August Challenge?
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Are your ports blocked?
Many ISPs, particularly residential, block ports to control traffic or protect their users. This means that if you want to run a webserver from your home and your ISP has blocked port 80 then you have to jump through some hoops to make it happen. How do you know if port 80 (or some other port you need) is blocked? Use the Can you see me? service.
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From the mouths of babes
Dad, point out some studs in the house: "Noah, what are these for?"
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."
Dad: "It’s a crib not a craddle."
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."
Dad: "It’s a crib not a craddle."
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."You know, kicking expensive phonographs always helped in these circumstances…
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Funny Computer Dude Music
First there was CodeMonkey and now The System Administrator Song. I’m going to have to start collecting these! Thanks to James for the link!
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Why space is good
Check out the pretty colors!
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CORRECTION: TN Does Not Separate Church and State Either
Earlier I posted that Arkansas does not allow Atheists to hold government office nor testify as witnesses. I went on to suggest that TN had been out done in their efforts to live backwards by legislating beliefs and morals. I was wrong. Per Article IX Section 2 of the TN State Constitution.
Section 2. No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards
and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this
state. [Source]As a matter of fact, religion [implied Christian] is so important to the state of Tennessee that Article IX Section 1 specifically excludes ministers from holding office since their duties are far more important.
Section 1. Whereas ministers of the Gospel are by their profession, dedicated
to God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great
duties of their functions; therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any
denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature. [Source]Arkansas and Tennessee are in good company. Apparently, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas all require the believe of a supreme being and/or afterlife and in some cases you must specifically be a Christian to hold office or be a witness.
So, not only are Atheists going to Hell (a place they don’t believe exists) but they cannot hold one of the most corrupt jobs known to man for which they would go to Hell anyway.
