Getting Better

Hello all,

Well, I'm am getting better at my job finally. It has been a struggle, but I feel like I am getting the hang of this place and my job. I want to thank Jason Topliff for getting me over the hump finally. It is a nice change of pace to make progress.

-Andy

Mowed Yard

Hello all,

The day went quickly for me. Jennifer and I were up early for church and then lunch at Olive Garden with the kids and Diane. After lunch, I mowed the yard and prepared for a week of firework sticks and wrappers in the street.

-Andy

Unimed Open House

Hello all,

This morning Jennifer and I headed to the Grand Opening of the Unimed Northland location. I cooked hot dogs for the open house while Jennifer and the rest of the staff attended to customer's questions. All in all, it was a long day and I'm glad it is over.

-Andy

Spa Tonight

Hello all,

Jennifer and I hosted Cyndi York's spa tonight at our house. The group was a lot of fun and we may get a few recruits from this spa. If so, that would put us over 20 on our team!

-Andy

Not my best night

Hello all,

Well, lets just say I did not have a good night. I'm not happy about my current position at eVergance. I don't feel like I'm put in the best position to succeed. I've been given a project to finish without a lot of direction. I have basically been given a canoe and an ore and told to find my own way. It is very frustrating.

-Andy

Playing with the kids

Hello all,

Really simple, tonight I played Wii Mario Cart with the kids. Jennifer was over at Vanna's so I played the racing game. I'm not the best, but at least I'm not the worst.

-Andy

Night with the family

Hello all,

Tonight I didn't unpack my work laptop. I made dinner and then sat down with the family in the living room to watch the Royals game and have some fun. It was good to just relax for a while and enjoy each other's company. Ali and Zac were great tonight and treated mom and I very nicely. At 8:00 Ali asked if she could scoop up some ice cream for each of us. She did a good job. She only managed to get two bowls scooped before she had to start eating. Needless to say they were not ours.

The night finished with Ali and Zac in bed on time and Jennifer and I watching the end of the game from our bedroom.

Good night,

-Andy

Long Night

Hello all,

I am the first to admit I am not a User Interface guy. I have always let the graphics guys handle that one for me when possible. Now I am the UI guy and it stinks. I am not accustomed to using div tags. In fact, I have relied on Steve Brown to handle that very task for me since I started doing Java back in 2000. What a learning curve. It is overwhelming.

-Andy

New Golf Clubs

Hello all,

Jen and I finally did it and bought the kids a starter set of golf clubs. They were on sale at Target for under $50 and we thought it would be the best chance this year. I set up some tees in the back yard and let the young golfers go at it. I am very proud of them both. Before long they had the ball in the air like pros!

-Andy

Cleaning the House

Hello all,

The kids rooms are clean and our main level is completely clean. The house looks amazing! Thanks to the kids and mom's hard work, everyone works together to get the house in the best shape it has been in months. Thank you all for chipping in and cleaning the house.

-Dad

Friday

Hello all,

We had EverReady Pest Control come out today and it seems that we have Argentine ants living in our window sills. The only way to get rid of them is to replace the wood they are eating since it is rotting away. It will not be a simple / inexpensive fix. I just love home ownership!

-Andy

Better Day

Hello all,

Today went better than yesterday at work. I've at least made progress with my velocity templates and struts configuration changes. The problem is the page looks great in Mozilla and bad in IE. Why can't things just work right for a change!

-Andy

Bad Day

Hello all,

Wow... today at work I was the bug against a windshield. Nothing worked right. I'm working with velocity templates and struts config files. The page is a simple page, but it is really throwing me for a loop!

-Andy

Great Night

Hello all,

Well, this has been a good night. Zac and I took a walk around the block tonight. I let him choose which direction we walked. He really enjoyed being in charge. After our walk, we headed in to play Wii for a while. Zac picked my character on Mario Cart and I raced. Thanks for the great night Zac.

-Dad

Watching the US Open at Work

Hello all,

Today was a strange day. The entire eVergance office was watching the 18 hole playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate on the 60 inch TV. The crowd grew as the match went on. What started as three people occasionally watching turned into a gallery of 30 standing as Tiger and Rocco finished the final three holes and finally the last sudden death hole. It was amazing to see everyone groan with each missed putt or missed fairway. This sport is truly amazing. That is why I like is as much as I do.

Dad would have enjoyed a day like today. I want to think that he was standing next to me watching it for a while.

-Andy

Happy Father's Day

Hello all,

The day got off to a slow start. I knew it was going to rain today, so I mowed the yard this morning. As I was finishing the back yard, the dark clouds that were on the far horizon when I started had now overtaken the sky. The temperature was dropping quickly. It was 68&F when I walked into the house. It had dropped 12 degrees in an hour and a half. The rain soon followed. I could not have asked for a better sprinkler system.

This afternoon, Jen's Dad came over to watch the final round of the US Open and eat dinner. We had bratwurst and hamburgers on the grill. We had more food than we could eat. Thank you for the great meal Jennifer. It was great.

-Andy

Dinner at Skies

Hello all,

Tonight my wife and family treated me to dinner at Skies in Downtown Kansas City. What a great night! The kids loved the view and they behaved as well as Jen and I could have expected. Ali and Zac had the chicken fingers. Ali had lemonade and Zac had a chocolate milk. They were both having a ball watching the city turn before their eyes.

Thank you all for the great night out with you. I will always remember my first trip to Skies a a family.

-Andy

Lunch with Friends

Hello all,

Good morning! What a night last night. The wind really whipped around the house last night. Wow... It was really some lighting show to our South.. Impressive.

I am meeting my former team from Embarq at Heywards for lunch today. It will be good to see them all again. I'll write more later.

-Andy

Getting REAL Tired of this...

Hello all,

For another night, the family and I watched the skies and radar for severe weather. I went upstairs with Zac to help him get into his pajamas about the time the wind really started to pound the house. Zac looked at his already damaged window and asked me if we were going to get more tornado damage. I hugged him and let him know that everything will be OK. We headed back to the living room and watched Brian Busby track the storms. It was tense for a few minutes, but everything went to the South of us. It has been a very bad Spring/Summer so far. I am looking forward to a nice peaceful nights sleep soon. I just don't know when that will happen.

-Andy

Thunderstorms, again

Hello all,

The severe weather just keeps grinding on the Midwest. Nana had more tornadoes go through her county. She has really gotten pounded over the last month. At least the creek by her house has not gotten out of its banks this year. I'm praying for you mom.

-Andy

Kids are home

Hello all,

Nana brought the kids back to Kansas City tonight. The house feels normal now. The busteling of kids playing and laughter surrounding us again. Ali and Zac: It is nice to have you back home.

-Dad

Quiet Night at Home

Hello all,

Jennifer and I missed the kids this evening. When you are accustomed to always having noise and commotion running through the house the absence of noise is uncomfortable. I miss having get kids running through the halls. I miss the sounds of balls being hit downstairs. I miss the sound of teeth being brushed at night and Ali and Zac coming to ask if they are done brushing their teeth.

Good night,

-Andy

Wii Fit

Hello all,

Good morning! This morning I woke up and did 30 minutes of Wii Fit to get my day started. I did some Yoga and Balance activities. All in all, I'm getting better at it.

-Andy

Brooke's Baptism

Hello all,

Today our family traveled up to Nebraska to attend Brooke's baptism. She was a perfect angle during the service. Danna and Kevin looked very happy. After the service, we went back to Danna and Kevin's for a reception. Ali and Zac had a great time playing with their cousin Dade. The kids are staying with Nana until Tuesday. They are going to spend a few days up at the farm. I am sure they will have fun.

It's getting late. I'm heading to bed.

-Andy

D-Day Anniversary

Hello all,

I want to take a moment to remember the men that waded into Hell 64 years ago this morning at Omaha Beach. In 1994 I stood on the beach and looked out at the English Channel. It was difficult to imagine the entire horizon filled with ships. As I turned to face the cliffs that overlook the beach, trees swayed gently in the Fall breeze. It was quiet and peaceful, just as it should be after so much destruction occurred. Thank you all for your sacrifice. You have not been forgotten.

-Andy

Sever Weather

Hello all,

We are all getting ready for another round of sever weather coming straight for KC tonight. I've talked to mom and she had one go South of her house. Mom, you are in my prayers tonight.

-andy

First Code....

Hello all,

I finally made a code change today. My first code change in three weeks. I finally feel like I am contributing.

-Andy

Making Progress

Hello all,

What a great day. I finally had someone sit down with me and show how to use the tools that the company works on. After three weeks of being here, I finally have an understanding of HOW these things work. Finally!

-Andy

Still trying to connect to VM Ware

Hello all,

This is my forth day in trying to connect to my local VM ware. I'm getting a socket connection error and it is very frustrating. To top it off, the guy I was suppose to be learning from left the company on Friday. Wow... sounds familiar huh?

-Andy

Thunderstorms Rocked KC

Hello all,

Today was a unique day. All morning long thunderstorms built to our West. By noon, they rolled through KC like a fright train. I had a great view from our office. The rain was coming down in sheets. Traffic on 435 / Metcalf was moving at 10 miles an hour or less. Lightning darted across the sky in all directions. It was a real show for those that like thunderstorms. It was predicted that the storm would bring hail due to the updraft associated with the storm. It turned out we were lucky and the hail fell to our South.

By the time I headed home, the sky was clear and the traffic was rolling smoothly. You would hardly believe the weather was as unsettled as it had been earlier that day.

Tonight the family played Wii Fit. Zac likes the ski jump while Ali likes to hula hoop. Mom and I worked on strength training and balance. Before we knew it the clock read 9:00 and the kids had to get ready for bed. We sure did have a fun evening together.

Good night,

-Andy

Picnic at Vanna's

Hello all,

This afternoon the family went over to Vanna's house for a picnic. We all played Redneck Golf in the backyard. I don't know who's team won the event, but I think Kellen and I had a fine showing. The kids kicked the soccer ball around and played catch with a rubberized baseball.

By 7:00 it was time for us to head home and get the kids into a bath and ready for bed. Tomorrow is going to be an early day!

-Andy