Tuesday, June 27, 2006
There and Back Again
Last week I had a scheduled trip to Indiana. I was going to help a customer of ours do a demo of the software integration that we built for them. While I was in flight on Tuesday, the meeting got cancelled. I found out when I arrived in Indiana at approx. 5:30pm local time. At that point, there were no return flights available. Instead, I spent the night and got up early Wednesday (5:15am Eastern Time) to get to the airport and return home.
Why so early? Since my meeting was cancelled I was being sent to another customer site in Valencia, California (near Six Flags Magic Mountain) to spend the night there for a couple of days of meetings. I drove the 2+ hours to Valencia after flying home and arrived in time for the last hour of the Wednesday meeting. At that point I found out that the customer was not expecting us to be there on Thursday and would not be available. Based on that, I drove home.
So in summary, my day started at 2:15am Pacific Time and I finally arrived home at 10:30pm. Two long days for a little over 1 hour of meeting time. Glad that doesn't happen very often! Now I'm ready if I ever need to head to New Zealand for a meeting (I have a customer there -- it could happen).
Why so early? Since my meeting was cancelled I was being sent to another customer site in Valencia, California (near Six Flags Magic Mountain) to spend the night there for a couple of days of meetings. I drove the 2+ hours to Valencia after flying home and arrived in time for the last hour of the Wednesday meeting. At that point I found out that the customer was not expecting us to be there on Thursday and would not be available. Based on that, I drove home.
So in summary, my day started at 2:15am Pacific Time and I finally arrived home at 10:30pm. Two long days for a little over 1 hour of meeting time. Glad that doesn't happen very often! Now I'm ready if I ever need to head to New Zealand for a meeting (I have a customer there -- it could happen).
Grad Night
Last Friday night I helped work Grad Night at El Toro High School. The school holds this event on-campus for Seniors on the last day of each school year. Andrew attended (although he has another 3 weeks of summer school before he actually graduates). I worked Security. Basically our job was to make sure that everyone that was in stayed and no one came in that didn't belong. We also did any "odd jobs" that were needed during the night.
The event was setup within the gym and a fenced off area in front of the gym. There was a carnival with various games, a dance floor, a "gambling" area (where they won raffle tickets), a lip sync, video games, a remote control race track, a rock climbing wall, a digital photo area, a "make a video" area, and more that I can't remember. There was lots of free food and drink available. There were also hundreds of prizes (won with the tickets from the carnival and gambling area) and a goody bag that all of the participants received.
The students all had a great time. There was a lot of parent support. There were around 550 students and probably 300 parents working it. I worked from 9pm to 6am and was surprisingly less tired than I expected in the morning.
It was a really profitable night for Andrew. He won the "grand prize" of a new laptop computer. He has been having lots of fun getting that setup. Hopefully he will use it for something other than gaming when he is in college next year!
The event was setup within the gym and a fenced off area in front of the gym. There was a carnival with various games, a dance floor, a "gambling" area (where they won raffle tickets), a lip sync, video games, a remote control race track, a rock climbing wall, a digital photo area, a "make a video" area, and more that I can't remember. There was lots of free food and drink available. There were also hundreds of prizes (won with the tickets from the carnival and gambling area) and a goody bag that all of the participants received.
The students all had a great time. There was a lot of parent support. There were around 550 students and probably 300 parents working it. I worked from 9pm to 6am and was surprisingly less tired than I expected in the morning.
It was a really profitable night for Andrew. He won the "grand prize" of a new laptop computer. He has been having lots of fun getting that setup. Hopefully he will use it for something other than gaming when he is in college next year!
Too Busy to Blog?
The last couple of weeks have kept me busy. I've been trying to Blog at least a couple of times per week as a living diary. The main reason I Blog is to document some of the stories and events that I want to remember with my family. I have long wanted to document some older stories somewhere so that they are not forgotten. I see this Blog as a way to do that. Secondarily, it's a great way to keep in touch with friends that I don't get to talk to as often as I'd like.
Anyway, the last couple of weeks have been really busy making it difficult to do these updates. I might get caught up with a couple of updates today though.
Anyway, the last couple of weeks have been really busy making it difficult to do these updates. I might get caught up with a couple of updates today though.
Labels: Blogging
Friday, June 16, 2006
Dream Jar
At the house, we have a "Dream Jar" for extra change. The idea is that loose change gets dropped into this large decorative jar kept in Mom & Dad's room. When enough change has collected to fill the jar, we roll the coins and spend it on a fun outing for the family. We have cleared it out twice as I recall over the last couple of years. A slow process, but a fun family outing when it's done.
Labels: Family
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Eagle Scout Court of Honor Photos
It's been a little while since I updated this Blog, so I will indulge with a second short posting today.
Last December, Andrew earned his BSA Eagle Scout rank. He and some other recent Eagle Scouts from his troop are planning an Eagle Court of Honor. It is a big event to plan, but we have some time: the event will be on September 2nd (save the date if you know Andrew and are in town for Labor Day weekend).
Each family is taking on part of the responsibilities for the event. Tonight we are taking photos for the invitation and the awards table. The scouts are coming to our house and we are using our recently purchased digital camera to see how it goes. The good thing is that we will get instant feedback on the results. Once we have something good, a Costco photo upload will let us pick up finished photos tomorrow. The biggest challenge right now is that we need to get the house ready for some nice backgrounds for the photos. Hopefully the gardening we did last weekend will give us some outdoor photo ops.
Last December, Andrew earned his BSA Eagle Scout rank. He and some other recent Eagle Scouts from his troop are planning an Eagle Court of Honor. It is a big event to plan, but we have some time: the event will be on September 2nd (save the date if you know Andrew and are in town for Labor Day weekend).
Each family is taking on part of the responsibilities for the event. Tonight we are taking photos for the invitation and the awards table. The scouts are coming to our house and we are using our recently purchased digital camera to see how it goes. The good thing is that we will get instant feedback on the results. Once we have something good, a Costco photo upload will let us pick up finished photos tomorrow. The biggest challenge right now is that we need to get the house ready for some nice backgrounds for the photos. Hopefully the gardening we did last weekend will give us some outdoor photo ops.
Labels: Andrew, Family, Scouts
Gardening
My wife's birthday was last weekend. Her request was that we buy plants and clean up our landscaping. Since I did a lot of the yard work growing up, I don't really like doing it as an adult. When we got married we had an agreement that we would only ever own as much yard as she was able to take care of without my help. However, I do break down once in a while and help out. This weekend was one of those times.
I have to admit that the yard looks much nicer now. It was also a family bonding event (both the good and bad, but overall good). Between buying the plants and giving up my time, I consider it one of the more expensive birthday gifts I have ever given my wife. :-)
I have to admit that the yard looks much nicer now. It was also a family bonding event (both the good and bad, but overall good). Between buying the plants and giving up my time, I consider it one of the more expensive birthday gifts I have ever given my wife. :-)
Monday, June 05, 2006
Hayley's Been Busy!
Hayley has had a number of memorable events lately, so I am summarizing them into this single post. I may be forgetting some, but these are the recent highlights that I can remember.
1. Hula Hoop Champion!
During our Memorial Day camping trip (see entry "Camping Memorial Day Weekend"), the campground held a number of events on Saturday. One was a Hula Hoop contest. Hayley entered and tied for 1st place out of probably 50 contestants.
She picked it up after a contest at a company picnic around 7 years ago and she is very good now at Hula Hooping. She has a Girl Scout meeting today and this is the talent she will show. She can do multiple hoops, walk and jump while hooping, and much more.
2. School Choir
Hayley has been part of the school choir for the first time this year. Last week they had their end of year concert with songs from a number of Broadway shows. The shows were great (not just this parent's opinion)! Hayley did an excellent job of practicing her songs, learning the moves, and getting up early one day every week to get to school for choir practice. The performance included songs from Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Oliver, The Wiz, Lion King, and more.
3. Student of the Month
Today we were invited to school for an awards assembly. They give out 3 "Student of the Month" awards per class each month. At today's assembly they covered May and June. Hayley won one of the awards. She was really beaming up there at winning the award and having her parents there to see her get it. Today was a perfect example of why I have a job with the flexibility in my schedule to attend events like this. I have to work long hours sometimes, but I make up for it with days like today.
1. Hula Hoop Champion!
During our Memorial Day camping trip (see entry "Camping Memorial Day Weekend"), the campground held a number of events on Saturday. One was a Hula Hoop contest. Hayley entered and tied for 1st place out of probably 50 contestants.
She picked it up after a contest at a company picnic around 7 years ago and she is very good now at Hula Hooping. She has a Girl Scout meeting today and this is the talent she will show. She can do multiple hoops, walk and jump while hooping, and much more.
2. School Choir
Hayley has been part of the school choir for the first time this year. Last week they had their end of year concert with songs from a number of Broadway shows. The shows were great (not just this parent's opinion)! Hayley did an excellent job of practicing her songs, learning the moves, and getting up early one day every week to get to school for choir practice. The performance included songs from Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Oliver, The Wiz, Lion King, and more.
3. Student of the Month
Today we were invited to school for an awards assembly. They give out 3 "Student of the Month" awards per class each month. At today's assembly they covered May and June. Hayley won one of the awards. She was really beaming up there at winning the award and having her parents there to see her get it. Today was a perfect example of why I have a job with the flexibility in my schedule to attend events like this. I have to work long hours sometimes, but I make up for it with days like today.
Labels: Camping, Hayley, School
