Merry Christmas!

I wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.





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"Digital" Bill will be missed!

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of "Digital" Bill Douthett. "Digital" Bill was the voice behind the Wizards of Technology podcasts. He was a very interesting and knowledgeable person. He had a great knack for injecting some humor in our daily headache of technology. This is why I started listening to his podcasts and the reason that I did "stay subscribed", as Bill liked to say.

"Digital" Bill passed away on Wednesday, October 4, 2006.

I pray that Bill is with the Lord today and that He comfort Bill's family.

Shooting the Bikes

We are having an outing tomorrow for our IT staff at work. The plan is to check out the qualifying for the WERA National Challenge Series and the motorcycle museum at Barber Motorsports Park.

This will be the first time that I get to photograph motorcycles. It should be an interesting day. I will post a pick or two Saturday evening.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle, WERA, photography

POD is empty!

My wife and I emptied the POD today and it will be picked up Tuesday. A lot of the boxes are Christmas decorations, so that can stay packed up for now. Some of the boxes are our sons baby clothes, so that can stay packed up as well.

We need to go through what is left, try to throw away some of the junk that we do not need to keep, and put the rest where it belongs.

See more progress on: finish unpacking

Finish unpacking and enjoy the new home

I isn’t that I want to do this as much as I need to do this. Well, I need to help my wife do this so that she does not end up unpacking everything.

Wait… she will not unpack everything. She will unpack her stuff and mine will still be in boxes. :)

Seriously, we just got hot water recently after being in the house two weeks. We can finally start enjoying it now. Unpacking is just a part of that process.

See more progress on: finish unpacking

Continued Moving ...

We continued moving items from my wife's parents home to the new house today. We are probably about 95% moved with 5% unpacked at this point. :)

We currently have boxes stacked everywhere you look in the house. Unfortunately, our real jobs have to be taken care of as well, so we unpack as we can.

My wife is feeling more at home, because she was finally able to run the washing machine and dryer. She has a large up-right pair that she has not been able to use for around six months until this weekend. She was also very excited about cooking this morning now that the gas has been finally connected.

First night...

I guess I can mark this goal as done since we are going to stay in the new house tonight for the first night. We still have a lot of unpacking to do, but that will take a while anyway. At least we are now in the house and not having to stay with my wife’s parents.

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

water in the basement

My wife and I went to unload some more boxes in the new house today. We did not want to find what we found, though. There was a lot of water in the basement where it had come in from the 90+ minutes of rain that we got yesterday afternoon. We went back last night, but we did not go to the far end of the basement, so we did not know about it until this morning.

Luckily, it is not a leak issue, but more of where someone forgot to seal the area around the waste pipe where it goes through the sleeve that was put into the poured concrete basement walls. The water came in around that area.

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Still moving ...

I hate this part of it all. We moved a lot more of our stuff that we had stored at my wife’s parent’s home to our new house today. My wife finally has her refrigerator and freezer in the kitchen where it belongs.

On top of that, our POD was delivered today. We started trying to empty it, but at noon, it was around 100 degrees outside. It has been way too hot lately for this time of year.

Everything came to a halt around 6:00 p.m. this evening, though. It started raining and did not quit for over 90 minutes. This is the first real rain we have had since the first of May.

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Moving, moving, moving...

... keep those boxes moving… wait… you aren’t going to see anyone riding around on horses herding up boxes here! :)

Seriously, being in a new house is exciting, but having to move into a new house is not. This was a very long day of moving boxes, but we completely emptied two storage units today saving us $156 per month. We now just have the POD left to empty out. It will be delivered to the new house Monday. Boy, what a blast of a Fourth of July I am going to have! hahahaha

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Closed!

The day came and the day has gone. We did close on the new house today and started moving in tonight. I hate paying out all that money. :(

Everything was completed today on the inside as far as the finishing work goes. Gas will be hooked up tomorrow morning.

HughesNet came out today and installed the dish for our broadband satellite internet service, but there was an equipment problem, so the installer has to come back tomorrow morning to finish up.

Moving continues throughout the weekend. Everyone is invited to help! :)

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Closing this week

It looks like we will be closing this Friday, unless something happens. I am very excited about this, but a little depressed as well. Once we close, I know that I will have to start moving all that furniture and those boxes.

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Closing pushed back

Things come up that were unforeseen and delays happen. It looks like our closing will be pushed back a few days. There are some more things that have to be done before we can close.

I am also waiting on the phone company to come out and fix their screw up with the phone line installation. Of course, they want to charge me for that.

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Church sign

We should be receptive to all people who visit our churches, not just those that should “fit” with the church. I saw this sign today while driving. It pretty much says it all.

See more progress on: be a better Christian

Things moving quickly!

More work done on the front porch and saddle roof today. The dozer work was just about completed. Air conditioning should be installed Friday. Yea!! It is hot!!

We were told today that if all goes according to plan, closing will be next Wednesday.

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Finishing work almost complete

The finishing work inside the house is almost complete now. The biggest thing left inside now is the oak banister and handrail, and carpeting for the stairwell. The rest of the house is ready to be moved in to pretty much.

Work was done on the front yard to make it a little smoother and to control runoff from the field from which our three acres was carved out.

Check out photos on my .Mac page… Home Photos

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

misty sunrise

misty sunrise
Originally uploaded by adrians_art.

I do not usually post about photos from other people, but I saw this particular photo on Flickr today and I just cannot resist. This is one of the most stunning photos that I have ever seen. Absollutely beautiful.

Finishing work to start

The contractor called today. Wood for the front deck and saddle roof was to be delivered today. We also found out that the finishing work will begin tomorrow and the team is scheduled to be at our location until the work is complete.

The pace is picking up!

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Power and Water - complete

I drove to the new home place after work today. I was happy to find that the plumbing work is complete. Alabama Power also came out and ran the last drop to the house and set the meter today. The finishing work can now be done on our house!

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Power and Water

The plumbing work was started today and should be finished Tuesday. AL Power will also be setting the meter for our power Tuesday. After this, the finishing work can be completed inside.

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

House delivered and set up

The pieces of the house were delivered yesterday and they were setup with the crane today. It was an incredible site to see that took a major portion of the entire day. The next steps are for the crew to go in and do the finish work.

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Setup date set for new house!

The contractor called to let us know that if all goes well with the weather, the crane will be available and our modular home will be delivered this coming Wednesday with setup to take place Thursday!

See more progress on: Get moved into our new house after setup

Close to moving again

We just need two days of back-to-back nice weather so that the contractors can get a crane out to set our house on the basement. The driveway is covered in rock and looking good. The poured walls are finished with a nice, smooth floor for the basement. The power company set the poles and run the lines today for power. Hopefully we will be in the new house in a few weeks.

sleep study results

I went to the sleep study center last night to be retested after having used my CPAP device for about six years. I got a call from the doctor up in the morning telling me the results.

It appears that my sleep apnea condition has worsened. Instead of a CPAP machine which blows constant air pressure, I will now be using a Bi-PAP machine because the pressures are going to double from 8 cm/sec to 16 cm/sec. The Bi-PAP machine will actually reduce the pressure on the exhale to make it easier for breathing.

This was a little disheartening, but at least I know why I have been sleepy in the afternoons lately.

See more progress on: Sleep 8 hours every night

very tiring

I hate moving. This is the sixth time that my wife and I have moved since we got married just over almost 11 years ago. We finally got everything out of the house, got it cleaned, and I pulled out with the last load on my truck at 5:15 p.m. today. I am so tired, it is indescribable right now.

Unfortunately, we have to do this one more time as this move was temporary. We are staying with my wife’s parents until our new home is ready in a couple of months. :)

See more progress on: Prepare for our upcoming move

Church Marketing

I was listening to the latest podcast released by pixelZion tonight. It was regarding the marketing of one's church. Jessie interviews Kevin Hendricks from ChurchMarketingStinks.com. Do not let the name dissuade you. The podcast and their web site are very informative.

Technorati Tags: church, marketing

Complete

We have finally finished our bathroom renovation. Unfortunately, someone else really gets to enjoy it, but it is still mine for the next two weeks. :)

I will have to take a couple of photos and post them on my Flickr account later.

See more progress on: Renovate my bathroom

Fantastic day!

What a great day today here in the South. In my area of Alabama, we got a little rain last night, but we did not get any of the severe weather that had been predicted. The high temperature today was around 75 degrees. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

The other great part of the day was the win by Alabama in the Capital One Bowl Cotton Bowl against Texas Tech. Somehow, that ball went over the crossbar at the end of the game. I believe it had wings on it. Roll Tide! :)