First Sign

Today I saw my first official sign that Spring is finally here. The daffodils on the side of the townhouse have bloomed. Impressive considering that it snowed here last week. The lady that lived here before us had a green thumb, and as a result we get to enjoy various annuals throughout the Spring and Summer right in our own backyard. On an unrelated note, I'm quite impressed with my picture here. Not bad for being shot on a camera phone.

If You Can't Laugh At Global Warming...

My wife sent this to me. I thought it was funny so I decided to share it with all of you.

Wallowing In My Blessed Geekiness

So, for those you who may know, Captain America is dead. Marvel Comics officially killed him off in the latest installment. Although I never got into comic books, I always enjoyed the superheroes that were portrayed. My father-in-law also loves superheroes, especially Spider-Man, and was an avid collector in his youth. We talked recently about Captain America's death and what it could mean for the value of his older comics. Yesterday he showed me a tote filed with old comics from the 60's. Only true geeks know how incredibly cool that is. He took out what Captain America comics he had and gave to me. I'm going to put them on Ebay and see what they'll fetch. In the meantime, I have 10 classic comic books to carefully leaf through and read. Awesome. Now if I can just get use to that mothball smell long enough to read an entire issue.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

More importantly, 1 month until the due date. Time is rapidly approaching, and the anxiousness is at an all time high. Hopefully this kid comes early.

Adventures in IT #1: Printer Logic

So when you work for a computer consulting company, you get to deal with a lot of fascinating people. The stories of IT misadventures are near legendary. Although I haven't encountered anything even remotely close to the famous "Can't find the Any Key", I've had some mildly interesting tales to tell. This first one so much isn't funny Ha-Ha, more funny What-Are-You-Thinking-You-Illogical-Humanoid! When I first started, there was a printer on "The Bench", which is where there having me start out. Normally we don't repair printers, it's just not worth it, but this was one of those All-in-one fax/scanner/printers, so we accepted this challenge. This printer frequently jams, and the diagnosis was that it was either the rollers or the motor that needed to be replaced. Now the thing about printers is, there comes a point where the cost of the repair exceeds the cost of the printer. This was one of those times. The cost of new rollers for this outdated and unsupported printer would be about $125 (including labor). I called HP and for a few extra dollars, our customer could invest in a new all-in-one printer complete with warranty. Logic dictates you ditch the obsolete printer and spend the money on a newer model, especially if the repairs do not guarantee fixing the printer!

You know where I'm going with this.

On top of it all, it turns out this guy is the IT guy for a non-profit organization. He above all should know this printer isn't worth it, especially if he's on a tight non-profit budget. I have a creeping suspicion that he tried to fix it himself, failed, and secretly passed it on to us to save face.

Next Time: Shaking hands with a guy I think sells male enhancement...

The Things I'm Learning...

What's wrong with me? I just spent 2 hours listening about and looking at the exposed female breast, and it was 2 of the most boring hours of my life. My wife and I started birthing classes last week, and tonight was all about the breastfeeding. The teacher was incredibly boring, and spent more time telling us why mommy milk good, formula bad. I wanted to sleep. At least the other classes have been informative. I've learned a lot about what my poor wife will be going through and how to properly bathe my child. I've seen video footage of little screaming infants coming directly out of the birth canal (gross!) and came to the realization that should we be blessed with a boy, the choice to circumcise is really a choice between the lesser of two evils. Next week will be a refresher on infant CPR. I hope I don't have severe mental overload...

First Day

Well, today was my first day at the new job. I got to meet everyone on the staff, and they all seemed pretty friendly and helpful. After a couple of hours of orientation, they put me to work. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed fixing computers. They offer a challenge that the analytical part of my brain likes to tackle. I even got to spend time showing an elderly lady how to burn photos onto a CD. Fun stuff. Now if I can only figure out how to get a printer to work properly...