Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

I know it's half past midnight, but that technically puts it at the 28th of September so it's now my parents' anniversary! Hooray!!

My parents have been married about a year longer than I've existed on Earth...though I don't think I'll mention how long that is just yet. ;-)



In this day and age, it's so rare to see people stick it out for a long-term marriage that it's always great to know that my folks are one couple that have. (Of course, wouldn't it be cool if lifelong marriages became so commonplace that celebrating another year of life together seemed odd? Kate and I are sure going to shoot for the forever scheme!)

I'd like to thank my parents for all the love and support they've given me (and continue to give me) over the years. While I can probably blame them for a few of my bad habits, I also have to credit them with virtually all of my good ones. :-)

Thanks for everything, Mom & Dad! Hope you Vegas trip is going great!

Happy Anniversary!!!



Kate and I are planning on visiting Colorado Springs this weekend to see my folks and my sister. As part of the anniversary gift, Dianna is going to make a big family breakfast on Saturday morning while Kate and I will be making a family dinner that evening. Kate has a spiffy seafood pasta recipe that her Dad showed her how to make that she's eager to try out on my family. It's actually pretty good...and I don't even like seafood! ;-)

Mom and Dad don't actually get into town until later Friday night so Kate and I are going to stay and Heath and Dianna's place for the first night. Back when my folks were in California, Kate and I would stay at my sister's place a lot. We're wondering if maybe we ought to get back into that tradition. Maybe on a typical Colorado Springs visit, we could stay at my sister's place the first night and my parents' place the next night. Hmm...possibilities... :-)

All in all, it ought to be an enjoyable visit. It's always nice to see my family.



So again, another Happy Anniversary to my folks!!

Love you guys!
Your son, Michael

Happy Birthday to My Dad!

It's my Dad's birthday today! Hooray! He made it one more year!

(Don't worry, Dad, I won't mention how many years you've made it through so far...) ;-)

Things I recall about Dad:

1. Most questions are answered with a "Go ask your Mother."
2. Being told to sit quietly in the car and watch the scenary (in Kansas and Nebraska).
3. Suggestions to quit our "pretending" (playing with our toys) and go outside for a change.
4. Dad could fix anything - just get out of his way until he's done.

Among other gems. :-)



So happy birthday, Dad, and I hope you're having a great time in Vegas!

Try not to have TOO much fun...



Enjoy!

From Your Son - Mike

Stuff I've Been Thinking About

Couple things going on in the world and locally that I wanted to throw out:

1. My mother homeland of Thailand recently had a military coup to oust the current prime minister under reasons of corruption. So far it sounds like things are quiet and business is normal - although martial law has been imposed and a few civil rights have been suspended. My mother mentioned that she'd heard from my relations in Thailand and everyone's fine. I hope the situation in Thailand continues to be non-violent.

2. Our church was vandalized this last weekend. The sign outside of the building was tagged and damaged and apparently the title "St. Elizabeth Ann Seton" church was altered so it could be read close to "the Catholic Church lies." Ugh! I just can't stand these sorts of acts. To do this to a holy place just seems obsence. If someone's got issues or disagrees with the Catholic outlook in things, he or she is welcome to that opinion. I'd have just thought that we'd evolved beyond the need for such crass expressions of our opinions. Guess I was wrong. :-(

Okay, got that off my chest...on to more pleasent topics.

I finally recovered from the head cold that I had all last week. I probably would've recovered quicker if I could've taken some time off from everything and just stayed home and rested. But, with all the exams I had scheduled, that sure wasn't going to happen! But I'm all recovered now - today was the first day in maybe seven that I felt perfectly normal again.

I weathered my exams fairly well so far. I got A-level scores on my Databases and my Computer Organization classes and a solid B score on my Telecommunications exam. I'm still waiting to hear about the Weather & Climate test, but I'm not real confident. I threw down a lot of guesses on that one. :-/

I had hoped for a few days to catch my breath following the midterms...but no such luck. I've got three assignments all due sometime this week so I'm juggling my schedule to make time for them.

Also, I looked at the syllubus for each of my classes and guess what? It's really only another three weeks or so until the next run of exams!

Oi.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you're having a great day!

Happy Anniversary to the In-Laws!

Although I'm a couple of days late, I'm throwing out a fast shout-out to Brendan and Mary Ann for their anniversary!



Many well wishes and congratulations from your son-in-law! :-)

Academic Bodyslam

I just finished with my first exam of the semester. And now all I have are three more exams all next week. Ack! There goes my weekend. :-)

Here's how my semester is playing out...

BD350 - Telecommunications and Networking
I'm learning all about network communications concepts. There's even a semester project that involves setting up an actual server. The next couple of weeks look like they're going to involve a lot of Linux work. Cool.

BD355 - Business Database Systems
How do design and build a working database and all the considerations and nuances that one must be conerned about. It focuses mostly on Microsoft Access but the conceptual stuff is applicable for all database providers. There's a semester-long team project where we are designed an intended-for-real-use Access database for a local non-profit organization.

CS270 - Computer Organization
This class deals with the nitty-gritty details of what makes a computer work. We've worked through numbering systems and logic circuits (ugh - electrical engineering flashbacks) but toward the mid-semester, we'll be delving into some assembly language programming as well. This is unfortunately the class I'm struggling with the most.

AT350 - Intro to Weather and Climate
My 'fluff' class. I still needed 2 credit hours of science classes to meet my university requirements so my advisor suggested this one. The class talks about all the factors that influence our planet's weather. It's pretty intereting stuff!

With all the reading, studying, and homework I've been getting hit with, my free time (such as it was) is getting slammed into a pulp. :-)

I guess that's the cost of stretching the old brain muscles.

Thought I'd share. Thanks for reading and hope you're having a good day.

High Speed

W00t!

As of this moment, Kate and I are part of the high speed collective! We've been plodding along with dial-up for a while now as we weren't sure if the cost of upgrading was worth it or not. Plus, since we're at work most of our time, we just use the LAN connection there.

Well, with Kate about to start work as an online tutor with the Sylvan Learning Center, we needed to make the investment. We did a little checking around and found a good deal that we could do through Qwest if we bundled service in with our local phone package.

The set-up was cake. All the equipment showed up today - Kate and I had decided on the more expensive high speed modem that had wireless capability built it. I just popped the CD into the main computer and installed everything we needed. Then I popped another CD into the laptops and boom! We have wireless access!

Don't get me wrong - I never had any issues with Prodigy/SBCYahoo or its services. (And I highly recommend them for anyone looking into simple dial-up service.) But it sure is nice to have the fast wireless connection and the knowledge that it's also secure. (I'll be doing some work on all three computers to lock the wireless access down pretty tight.)

I also need to go through my current e-mail account (which is through SBCYahoo) and archive all my saved messages. I'll also need to be making some changes to the links to my photos online. Not a big deal - but it'll involve a bit of work.

Beyond that, we both busy with either work or school - or both! 'Nuff said. :-)

Thanks for reading. I'll try to post more sometime soon. Have yourself a great day.