Golf Tournament

Hello all,

Today was the Maple Woods Estates Home owner's golf tournament. I shot about average. I hit a few good drives. My approaches were not my best, but I did putt better than I expected!

All in all, it was a great day out on the course.

-Andy

Lazy Day

Hello all,

I spent the day doing odd jobs around the house today. I did some laundry and cleaned up the kitchen. I know, for my day off I did a lot of work!

-Andy

Taking tomorrow off

Hello all,

Not a lot to say today. I am ready to take the day off tomorrow.

-Andy

Wednesdays at the Church

Hello all,

Jennifer and I joined a small group ministry at Good Shepherd UMC. It's purpose is to bring us back to the core values of Good Shepherd. I like our group. We have a good mix of people that make the conversation spirited and will keep us accountable.

Good night,

-Andy

Ali's soccer practice

Hello all,

Tonight, Zac and I took Ali to her soccer practice. The little guy and I played on the sidelines as Ali dribbled the ball around cones and kicked it into the goal. She is getting better with every practice.

Good night,

-Andy

Back to the Gym

Hello all,

After the month I have had, it is no surprise that today was my first trip to the gym in a long time. It felt good to get on the elliptical cycle for 45 minutes. Now the trick is to get back two more times this week.

-Andy

Switching out clothes

Hello all,

When I woke up this morning it was 59° F outside. Autumn is here to stay and it was time to switch out some of the summer shorts for fall / winter pants. I took the task of going through the kids closets and pulling out all of the clothing that is going to be too small for them next year and putting them in a box for Good Will. The rest of the clothes will go into the attic for next Spring. It was hard putting Zac and Ali's clothes into a box. My kids are growing up too fast!

-Andy

Day with the kids

Hello all,

Today I spent playing with the kids. After working the last three weekends, today was all about playing with Ali and Zac.

-Andy

D3950 signoff as well

Hello all,

It has been a banner week for me. Both major projects are now in my system clients hands for testing. I can relax this weekend.

-Andy

Signoff

Hello all,

Today I received signoff that D7840 is ready for client acceptance testing. This is a great day.

-Andy

Looking forward to a break

Hello all,

I worked another long day today. I went to bed Tuesday night at 1:00 and was back at it by 7:30. The best news I had all day was when my supervisor told me that I could stop working at 5:00 and have a night with my family.

-Andy

And yet another late night

Hello all,

I miss reality. I miss working on stuff that did not have VP visablity.

Good night,

-Andy

Another long day

Hello all,

This week marks the start of my fourth week in row to work. Twenty-eight straight days of working on these two projects. I am getting burned out.

-Andy

NO work today

Hello all,

Today was my first day off in 20 days. It was a welcome change of pace. I'll spend the day with my family watching the Chiefs game.

-Andy

Block Party

Hello all,

Today was the neighborhood block party for Maple Woods Estates. What a great day for a party. The weather was perfect. The day was warm, but a cool breeze circulated nicely. The food was great and the kids enjoyed playing in the water courtesy of the Kansas City Fire Department's Pumper #22. I don't know how many gallons of water were used, but from the sounds of kids laughing it was a hit.

It was a great day!

-Andy

Progress...

Hello all,

Weblogic is up on TKDA0167 and TKDA0168. INFORMIX is up, too. Now I need PERL DBI installed. Then D3950 will be done.

-Andy

Making progress

Hello all,

Well, at least I have servers to log into now. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to make progress.

-Andy

Getting tired

Hello all,

The days are starting to blend together now. This server project is really starting to take its toll. I have not slept well. I just want it to be over.

-Andy

My best day

Hello all,

Today was one of the best days of my year. I won a major victory for not only me, but many of my friends and co-workers at Embarq. Today I did what I have always wanted to do when confronted with an unreasonable expectation. I simply asked why? The question sparked a series of emails that called a few managers decisions into question. These responses were then used by many of my co-workers to open a dialogue with their managers about the past weekend's 24x7 work schedule. Yes, today Dad would have been proud of me. I simply had the courage to ask why we were working so hard on a testing system when real revenue generating projects were being put on hold.

Dad,

Thanks for teaching me that life is all about making choices. I hope you were looking down on me today and smiled as your boy stood up for himself and those around him. I could feel you around me tonight as if you were patting me on the back.
I love you Dad.

-Bud.

Day of Remembrance

Hello all,

Today is a day I held my children a little bit closer, embraced my wife a little longer and prayed to GOD a little harder. Today spouses are waking up to another day of asking why their soulmate was taken from them. Children ask their mom or dad about the parent they lost. A country mourns another year of lives lost.

God be with you all,

-Andy

Late night tonight

Hello all,

Friday night was a long night as I supported the D3950 install for SODS. Saturday night was quiet since the people I was working with had other priorities. Today is the day that it all is suppose to come together and work. It is 9:00 and I am loading the files now for SODS. I am still missing a lot of the components that will allow my application to work, but at least my code is on the server.

-Andy

Mom is in town

Hello all,

My mother came into town today to watch the kids for Jennifer and I. Thanks for driving down mom. It is great to see you and catch up. Ali was really excited to see you today.

-Andy

Going to be one of those weekends

Hello all,

I was just informed at 2:45 PM that I will be working this weekend to support a testing environment being turned up. Yippee.

-Andy

Zac's appointment

Hello all,

After waiting for many months, Jen and I were finally able to get Zac into see a specialist. After a thorough evaluation, we were relieved to hear that our son is not autistic. The doctor believes that our son is very bright and wants to explore and see how stuff works. That was great news. During the visit, Zac played with a lot of toys. He would put a puzzle together for a while and then put it way and want to play with trains. He is a little hyper-active, but nothing that will require medication.

Our biggest concern was Zac's sleeping patterns. He has a tendency to not shut down at night. Our doctor asked us to try Melatonin. It is a natural herb that the body makes on its own. It is possible that Zac just doesn't make enough of it. Anyway, we gave Zac some tonight after he brushed his teeth. He was sleeping in bed within 30 minutes -- right on queue.

I'll keep you posted.

Good night,

-Andy

ASAP is dead

Hello all,

After many many years of waiting for ASAP to finally be turned off, it has finally processed its last byte of data. Cheers to an application no one wanted and no one needed.

-Andy

Soccer practice

Hello all,

Tonight I was able to take Ali to her soccer practice. It was a nice treat to see my little girl kick the ball and celebrate her accomplishment. If you remember, she did not want to kick the ball earlier this Spring. To look at her now you would never know it. Ali is passing the ball to her teammates and running with the group on breaks. Yep, my little girl is growing up before my eyes. I could not be more proud of her confidence.

While Ali was at practice, Zac and I sat on the sidelines and watched the airplanes fly over us as they approached KCI. Zac loves to watch airplanes. Maybe he will want to be a pilot like I did. Who knows...

After practice, we went to McDonald's for dinner and some playtime in the kids area. Both kids played well with others and did not fuss when it was time to leave. What a great night.

-Andy

Labor Day

Hello all,

Have you ever heard of Red Neck Golf? Well, neither had I until today. It is really a game that requires absolutely no skill. The game is simple. Two teams stand 20 feet apart and throw two golf balls tied together with a 10 inch rope and try to get it to wrap around one of three rungs. Simply stated, it is pure luck to get it to wrap on the first toss.

Jennifer and I played David and Suzy five games and won only two. It was a great afternoon to be outside and we are all looking forward to doing it again soon.

-Andy

Sunday Fun

Hello all,

Today was another day to play with the kids. Yep, playing baseball this afternoon was fun. I can't wait to see what my kids are like when they get older.

Good night,

-Andy

Playing with the kids

Hello all,

Tonight Zac, Ali and I had batting practice in the back yard. These kids are great. I am really having fun being their dad.

-Andy

Start of a new month

Hell all,

Fall is here and I am looking forward to a fresh month. I am at the Embarq campus now. I'll check in at the end of the month and give you an update.

Good night,

-Andy