Oops, look at the time!

November 24, 2007

Wow, looks like I’ve already let things slide blog-wise and suddenly it’s November. Looks like I need to do some updating. Stay tuned…

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Computer Security for the Common Man

June 27, 2007

Since I tend to be the tech support guy for the immediate family (you know who you are… ) I’ve been toying with posting some semi-regular tech tips and security stuff on this site. There is a lot of great info on the web to help you secure your computer against all kinds of internet threats, most of it free. So I’m going to start writing little reviews and recommendations on some of the stuff I come across in my day-to-day stuff that will help you get a little more tech and security savvy.

Fortunately, one of the security sites I visit frequently has started a great podcast series geared to consumer security that I would highly recommend taking a listen to. The first podcast is a discussion of Operating System and Application Updates and why it is important to keep everything patched to the latest versions.

Just as an FYI, I have recently started a professional security blog over at www.JeffBolden.net as well that I plan on posting more technical security-related issues I deal with in my professional life, feel free to jump over and take a look.

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New subscription options

June 22, 2007

Last night I added some new features to make it easier to know when I add new posts to the site. For those of you that want to get emailed when new posts get added, just take a look at the links at the bottom of the left menu. There is a link to subscribe to the website via email as well as a RSS feed for those of you that read sites via RSS and Feedburner. I’ll explain RSS in another post…

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Oregon Coast getaway

June 21, 2007

Summer is finally here! The kids got out of school on the 8th and I took the next week off, so we headed to the coast for a few days to kick off the summer break. Per the kids rather loud requests, we drove through Tillamook and stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where we proceeded to load up an all kinds of cheesy snacks for the trip. They have a great tour there if you get a chance to head over, with lots of free cheese and some really great ice cream!

After eating lunch, we then headed down to Lincoln City and hit the beach, then later drove down to Depoe Bay and caught a few short glimpses of gray whales. Then dinner at Kyllo’s Seafood & Grill for a relaxing end to the evening watching the sunset over the ocean.

The next morning it was up early and to the beach for some low-tide exploring. The weather was pretty good, no rain although it was pretty cloudy until mid-day with temps in the low 60’s. it was warm enough we had a heck of a time keeping the kids from jumping head first into the nearest tidepool.

Kody (the dog) loves the beach and I spent the morning wearing him out throwing the ball up and down the beach. I thought the poor guy was going to drop as he’s a little out of shape from the winter. I got lots of sleep the next day when we got back home.

We hope to get back down there a few more times this summer.

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Goooaaaalllll!

April 24, 2007

Well, it’s been a busy few weeks after grandma’s funeral, and life goes on. It’s now full-blown soccer season at our house, and both kids are playing on teams. The soccer league has about 8 teams from the different Christian schools around the area and are broken up into 3-4 grade and the older 5-6 grade.

This is Brianna’s first year at soccer and she’s really excited about it. After sitting around most of the winter, it’s taken her a few weeks to get into shape but her endurance and skills are coming along nicely. They had their first game last Tuesday and won hands-down.

This is Ryker’s second year of soccer, as he played indoor soccer last year in Spokane. He’s having fun as well, although it poured rain during his game last week and he ended up looking like a drowned rat during most of the game. The 5-6 grade team is a good one and I think they will give everyone a run for their money this season.

The funny thing about Ryker’s team is the difference in size between the players. Ryker is probably one of the smallest out there but still gets in there well against boys that are towering over him. I was afraid he would be more intimidated with some of these matchups, but he surprised me by stealing the ball from the opposing team’s best player 4-5 times during the game. Hopefully he will gain some confidence as he goes and start wanting to play other slots besides defender. He’s currently perfectly happy with others doing the scoring, thank you very much.

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Grandma Shaw Passed Away

March 31, 2007

For those in the family that haven’t heard, my Grandma Shaw passed away Friday night around 11pm. I have yet to get all the details, but she was checked into the hospital Friday morning with heart problems and things went downhill from there.

At over 103 years old, she had a good run and a full life, and I know I’m glad she went pretty quickly and without too much pain or suffering. I know I’ll miss her, she was one tough woman and someone I’ve always admired for her faith and kindness.

Goodbye Grandma. You know I’ll be expecting an apple pie next time I see you…

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Ryker’s Spongy Birthday

March 30, 2007

We wrapped up Spring Break with Ryker’s birthday last weekend, hard to believe he’s 11 already. I told him last year he was to have no more birthdays and was to stay 10 until further notice. But as kids tend to do, he ignored me completely. Grandma and Grandpa were here for dinner as well as our friends from Seattle, and we had a great time. The theme was SpongeBob SquarePants, and Brenda outdid herself with this cool Spongebob cake.

The kids stayed up late playing the Nintendo Wii for hours. You have got to love a video game that makes you sweat! For those of you not familiar with the Wii, it’s a new video game console that uses controllers called “Wiimotes” and are motion-sensitive. So when you play a tennis game, you swing it like you would a tennis racket. It’s a blast and can be a real workout. The kids played a bunch of doubles tennis as well as many other games.

It was a great ending to a great week off. Unfortunately we all had to go back to the school/work grind. I really need to start buying some lottery tickets so I can retire and spend my time doing fun stuff all day.

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So Very Old…

March 30, 2007

This is what happens to out-of-shape people the day after hiking up Multnomah Falls…

At one point I think I might have actually slipped into a coma. But after a good 4-hour nap I was back at it. “It” being nothing but avoiding the stairs.

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Spring Break!

March 19, 2007

Despite the rocky start yesterday, it’s Spring Break for the kids this week and they are pretty excited. I am as well, as I took the week off of work so we could do some exploring this week. We have no major plans, just mostly winging it each day to see what we feel like doing. In the usual Portland tradition, it’s probably going to be rainy all week but at least it’s warm. We’ll probably hit OMSI tomorrow and maybe the zoo if the weather’s not too bad, and the Pierces are scheduled to be here next weekend for Ryker’s Birthday on Saturday.

The weather was beautiful last Saturday, so we did make a trek out to Multnomah Falls and hiked to the top. It’s a beautiful hike but with about 800′ of elevation change in less than 3/4 of a mile, Brenda and I came to the sad realization just how out of shape we are. Suffice it to say we are still limping around today with sore legs and backs. We ran into friends from church on the way up and had a great day driving up the old road back to Portland. I got some great pics as well!

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and Not So Happy Days…

March 19, 2007

Brianna had a rough day yesterday. We had been out all day running errands and such and then went out for dinner with Mom & Dad. When we returned home, Brianna’s pet hamster Butterscotch was curled up in the bottom of her cage barely breathing. We did what we could for her to make her comfortable, but she died later that night.

There were a lot of tears and explanations, and while she is still pretty sad, Brianna is doing better this morning. It’s tough as a father to have to watch your daughter be in pain and not be able to do anything to make that pain go away. I guess all I can do is chalk it up as a life lesson for her and help her move on as best as possible.

Ryker was great during the ordeal and was very concerned with Brianna. He sent out emails to some of you and then created (of all things) a PowerPoint tribute to Butterscotch and showed it to Brianna this morning. It was all very cute and touching, and made me very proud of him. Here’s a peek:

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