You ever have one of those days when everything comes together? For a basketball player, the basket seems three times normal size. For a golfer, the cup has a diameter the size of a basketball. Today, I did something I had never done before and I am so excited. I set out to analyze the log files for our web servers at work. Originally I had planned just to export my findings to a flat file and do something with them later.
However, as the process unfolded I was able to create a new database using MYSQL. I also wrote a program that automatically imports the daily analysis of the web logs into my newly created database.
It is when I have days like this that build on what I can do for the future. I love having days like this.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Winter Storm of 2007
These are pictures from this morning.
This is the weather radar as of 9:28 AM EST
These are bushes out side the house.
All told we received more than 14" of snow. It started snowing around 4:00 am EST on Tuesday the 13th and didn't let up until around 6:00 am on Wednesday the 14th. It is snowing again!
As a side note, working from home sucks only in that I don't get a snow day. Oh well, I will trade that for all the other benefits.
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
This evening I successfully defeated Flame to have god-like powers bestowed upon the main character Tavin. You see, Tavin's parents were killed by his brother Daegon. Daegon was so obsessed with having god-like powers bestowed upon himself that he would stop at nothing. Tavin had other plans for his brother. Tavin was not concerned about powers. He wanted revenge for the death of his parents. And revenge he did achieve!
This is Tavin
This is Flame
This is Sub-Zero. I have always played as Sub-Zero. He is just too cool (heh heh).
If you would like to know more about Mortal Kombat please let me know. I will dig up as much information as you need.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Stuff that works: Hoover Steam Vac Dual V
Do you have kids? Do you have carpeted floors? Do you have kitchen table chairs with fabric on the seats? Are you tired of having stained carpets? Do you pay professional carpet cleaning companies to clean your stained carpets?
Rather than tell you how wonderful this machine is, I will show you some pictures.
If you answered yes to some or all of these questions then this post is for you. Three years ago we purchased a carpet cleaner. We did it because our first child was beginning to crawl and the carpet began to get little stains. Upon calling around to professional carpet cleaning companies I discovered that if we had our carpets cleaned two times we could have paid for our own carpet cleaner.
So we decided to purchase the Hoover Steam Vac Dual V.
Rather than tell you how wonderful this machine is, I will show you some pictures.Kitchen Chair: The stains are dried syrup, spaghetti and playdoh
Living Room carpet: The stains are Red Flashin' Fruit Punch from Wendy's.
WHAT?!?! The Dyson isn't working?
I use my Dyson for all of our household "sucking" needs. I take it outside to vacuum the car out. I used it to vacuum cob webs from the ceiling in the basement. I also used it to vacuum the linoleum in the laundry room after I replaced the floor due to water rot.
My Dyson is like one of my good friends. During the time we have been together it has always been there for me. I always take the time to clean Dyson from stem to brushes. I use the air compressor to give Dyson a thorough cleaning.
So on this particular day, I thought it to be the same as the rest. I was sweeping the floor and trying to get all the debris from the floor before I laid down the glue and the linoleum on top of the glue in the laundry room. I pulled Dyson from its closet like any other time. I wished it a good day and started unwinding the cord.
I plugged Dyson into the closest outlet. I leaned over and pushed the large yellow on/off switch........nothing.......I thought to myself "I have to be dreaming because Dyson didn't turn on. Here let me try it again." I pushed the button....again...nothing. So then I thought "It must be the outlet. You know how you are always blowing breakers. Lets try another outlet." Again....nothing.
I began to panic. I knew this day would come but I never imagined it would be so soon. Dyson was so young and vibrant. How could a loving God take someone with so much life yet to live?
I looked around the corner into the kitchen where B was cleaning. I spoke her name in a quietly nervous tone. "What? What is it? What's wrong?" she said. "I don't want to alarm you but I think Dyson might be gone." I muttered.
"Oh No, not Dyson! What is wrong with him?" she exclaimed.
"I don't know. He just won't power on. I have tried multiple outlets and still nothing. Can you try it in one of those outlets in a different room? Maybe a circuit breaker is blown." I said.
Nothing........at this point the house was filled with a moment of silence. Could Dyson really be gone? Was this the end of a generation in our household?
"Well, I wonder if we could get another one from EBay?" I said. "Wait, before we spend $500.00 on a new vacuum, lets call the 1-800 number at Dyson to see what they think" said B.
I thought to myself quietly, OK fine, but I hope we can't get it fixed because I sure would like one of those new models with all the bells and whistles. But I would never vocalize this because I would never want to offend Dyson. Plus we might still be using Dyson if we get it fixed.
"Ok, I will call Dyson." I said.
So we called Dyson the company as much for moral support as for advice on getting it repaired. For some reason I believed that everyone that called them was experiencing the fear and anxiety associated with losing a loved one.
They directed us to a repair store in Columbus. B took Dyson to the store and they charged her $20.00 just to look at Dyson. As it turns out, Dyson had a broken on/off switch that was replaced for no more than the cost of the estimate.
When we went to pick Dyson up from the store I felt very much like we were going to get our pet from the vet's office after surgery or to the hospital to pick up a family member.
Dyson is home now. He is happy and playing just as before. We are one big happy family again.
My Dyson is like one of my good friends. During the time we have been together it has always been there for me. I always take the time to clean Dyson from stem to brushes. I use the air compressor to give Dyson a thorough cleaning.
So on this particular day, I thought it to be the same as the rest. I was sweeping the floor and trying to get all the debris from the floor before I laid down the glue and the linoleum on top of the glue in the laundry room. I pulled Dyson from its closet like any other time. I wished it a good day and started unwinding the cord.
I plugged Dyson into the closest outlet. I leaned over and pushed the large yellow on/off switch........nothing.......I thought to myself "I have to be dreaming because Dyson didn't turn on. Here let me try it again." I pushed the button....again...nothing. So then I thought "It must be the outlet. You know how you are always blowing breakers. Lets try another outlet." Again....nothing.I began to panic. I knew this day would come but I never imagined it would be so soon. Dyson was so young and vibrant. How could a loving God take someone with so much life yet to live?
I looked around the corner into the kitchen where B was cleaning. I spoke her name in a quietly nervous tone. "What? What is it? What's wrong?" she said. "I don't want to alarm you but I think Dyson might be gone." I muttered.
"Oh No, not Dyson! What is wrong with him?" she exclaimed.
"I don't know. He just won't power on. I have tried multiple outlets and still nothing. Can you try it in one of those outlets in a different room? Maybe a circuit breaker is blown." I said.
Nothing........at this point the house was filled with a moment of silence. Could Dyson really be gone? Was this the end of a generation in our household?
"Well, I wonder if we could get another one from EBay?" I said. "Wait, before we spend $500.00 on a new vacuum, lets call the 1-800 number at Dyson to see what they think" said B.
I thought to myself quietly, OK fine, but I hope we can't get it fixed because I sure would like one of those new models with all the bells and whistles. But I would never vocalize this because I would never want to offend Dyson. Plus we might still be using Dyson if we get it fixed.
"Ok, I will call Dyson." I said.
So we called Dyson the company as much for moral support as for advice on getting it repaired. For some reason I believed that everyone that called them was experiencing the fear and anxiety associated with losing a loved one.
They directed us to a repair store in Columbus. B took Dyson to the store and they charged her $20.00 just to look at Dyson. As it turns out, Dyson had a broken on/off switch that was replaced for no more than the cost of the estimate.
When we went to pick Dyson up from the store I felt very much like we were going to get our pet from the vet's office after surgery or to the hospital to pick up a family member.
Dyson is home now. He is happy and playing just as before. We are one big happy family again.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
XBox 360 .... no I not ashamed
I am 37 years old and I purchased a brand new Microsoft Xbox 360. Am I ashamed? No! Do I feel weird when I hear through the headsets as I am playing Halo 2 the voices of people that are clearly no older than the 8th grade? Not really! Ok maybe a little! Am I enjoying the time I am spending playing these games? ABSOLUTELY. Of course now I am hearing "So, are you on your way down to play video games again?"
Yes honey....
:)
Yes honey....
:)
New Washer and Dryer
So our washer died on us and the dryer was probably not far behind it. So we made our obligatory trip to Sears (Darn right Sears) to purchase a new washer and dryer. But before we made the trip we decided to see what Consumer Reports had to say about the newest washers and dryers.
It turns out that since our last purchase of a washer and dryer they have come out with front loading washers. Have you seen these things? Have you seen what Consumer Reports says about them. Well if you haven't let me fill you in.
When you look at the evaluations of the traditional top loading washers you would be lucky to find any that receive a 5 out of 5 stars within any category. Yet when you look at the evaluations for front loading washers you would be lucky if any one washer has less than 2 categories that scored a perfect 5 out of 5.
What is the deal? Why are front loaders so much better? Well as we discovered, front loading washers hold more clothes, use less water, clean your clothes better, are more gentle on clothes, are quieter, use less energy and spin the clothes almost 2 times as fast as their top loading counter parts.
Front loading washers were to top loading washers as the electric washer was to the wash board. You can tell your kids that you were there when a new revolution occurred. So much so that when we were in Sears listening to the sales people give their song and dance about front loading washers we heard the most interesting story.
Apparently when one of the sales people installed a new front loading washer in his house, the city showed up after several months of considerably less water usage to investigate how he had tampered with the water meter (and he brought two police officers with him).
So we were very pleased to know that after a few months of using our new washer that we would be accused of stealing water. Oooo I can't wait to tell them about my new washer.
So we get the washer and dryer delivered and what do you think the first thing we did after they were connected? We put in a load of clothes and sat and watched the clothes go around and around. We were marvelling at the technological masterpiece that now sat in our laundry room.
After a few hours my wife overheard the kids in the laundry room..."Go CLOTHES...Go CLOTHES...I hope mine wins!"
It turns out that since our last purchase of a washer and dryer they have come out with front loading washers. Have you seen these things? Have you seen what Consumer Reports says about them. Well if you haven't let me fill you in.
When you look at the evaluations of the traditional top loading washers you would be lucky to find any that receive a 5 out of 5 stars within any category. Yet when you look at the evaluations for front loading washers you would be lucky if any one washer has less than 2 categories that scored a perfect 5 out of 5.
What is the deal? Why are front loaders so much better? Well as we discovered, front loading washers hold more clothes, use less water, clean your clothes better, are more gentle on clothes, are quieter, use less energy and spin the clothes almost 2 times as fast as their top loading counter parts.
Front loading washers were to top loading washers as the electric washer was to the wash board. You can tell your kids that you were there when a new revolution occurred. So much so that when we were in Sears listening to the sales people give their song and dance about front loading washers we heard the most interesting story.
Apparently when one of the sales people installed a new front loading washer in his house, the city showed up after several months of considerably less water usage to investigate how he had tampered with the water meter (and he brought two police officers with him).
So we were very pleased to know that after a few months of using our new washer that we would be accused of stealing water. Oooo I can't wait to tell them about my new washer.
So we get the washer and dryer delivered and what do you think the first thing we did after they were connected? We put in a load of clothes and sat and watched the clothes go around and around. We were marvelling at the technological masterpiece that now sat in our laundry room.
After a few hours my wife overheard the kids in the laundry room..."Go CLOTHES...Go CLOTHES...I hope mine wins!"
Strep Throat?!?! Am I 13 years old?
Somehow I managed to make it more than two decades without getting sick other than the occasional cold. Yet for someone unknown reason I caught strep throat twice in the past 6 months. What the heck is going on? Let me just say that I don't ever remember strep throat hurting this bad.
As if that weren't enough I also have a cold sore. Thank God for things like Penicillin and antibiotics. But hey its not all that bad. It gives me an excuse to play games on my new Xbox 360. (see next post). Also, thank goodness for the soft squishy heart that beats inside my wife. She takes care of me when I am sick. She is so good to me.
As if that weren't enough I also have a cold sore. Thank God for things like Penicillin and antibiotics. But hey its not all that bad. It gives me an excuse to play games on my new Xbox 360. (see next post). Also, thank goodness for the soft squishy heart that beats inside my wife. She takes care of me when I am sick. She is so good to me.
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