Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
My Life as a Play: Jacob and Pickles
The setting: Jacob is off screen rummaging through the refrigerator. Daddy is sitting in his chair with a cautious look on his face at the worry that can become of this situation.
Jacob walks in to the living room toward the chair Daddy is sitting in. He is carrying a heavy jar close to his body.
Daddy: What do you got there Jacob?
Jacob puts the jar on the end table next to the chair. It is a new jar of pickles.
Daddy: Do you want some pickles buddy?
Jacob: Yea.
Daddy: Are you sure you want to try some pickles?
Jacob: Yea. I love trying pickles. I just love trying pickles.
Daddy opens the jar of pickles and hands one to Jacob. Jacob smiles as he takes it and puts it in his mouth. His expression quickly changes as he sticks out his tongue and puts the tasted pickle back in the jar.
Jacob: Pickles are yucky.
Daddy laughs very hard. He thinks that it is little moments like these which bring such large moments of joy as a father.
Jacob walks in to the living room toward the chair Daddy is sitting in. He is carrying a heavy jar close to his body.
Daddy: What do you got there Jacob?
Jacob puts the jar on the end table next to the chair. It is a new jar of pickles.
Daddy: Do you want some pickles buddy?
Jacob: Yea.
Daddy: Are you sure you want to try some pickles?
Jacob: Yea. I love trying pickles. I just love trying pickles.
Daddy opens the jar of pickles and hands one to Jacob. Jacob smiles as he takes it and puts it in his mouth. His expression quickly changes as he sticks out his tongue and puts the tasted pickle back in the jar.
Jacob: Pickles are yucky.
Daddy laughs very hard. He thinks that it is little moments like these which bring such large moments of joy as a father.
Friday, May 18, 2007
5 Wonderful Years Together
Shannon and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this week (the actual anniversary is May 25th) by staying at the Whitestone Country Inn. They call it a sanctuary for the soul, and I agree. At the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, the location is beautiful. The weather has been amazing, low 70s with a nice breeze. We had a blast just walking the trails, playing tennis and ping-pong. I have found out Shannon is tough at ping-pong. I have given her the nickname of "The Wall" because she returns everything.
Our bodies have also found sanctuary here. Shannon got a facial and massage. Our room has a body spa shower with jets and a waterfall as well as a hottub which we enjoyed tremendously. The food is incredible. 4 course meal made by a professional chef. He actually made broccoli taste good!
I encourage any couple to take a few days down here. It is a wonderful gift to your marriage. Here are a few photos from where we are staying. The sunrise was shot right off our our private deck overlooking Watts Bar lake. The cottage at the end is a the Lion and the Lamb where we stayed.
Our bodies have also found sanctuary here. Shannon got a facial and massage. Our room has a body spa shower with jets and a waterfall as well as a hottub which we enjoyed tremendously. The food is incredible. 4 course meal made by a professional chef. He actually made broccoli taste good!
I encourage any couple to take a few days down here. It is a wonderful gift to your marriage. Here are a few photos from where we are staying. The sunrise was shot right off our our private deck overlooking Watts Bar lake. The cottage at the end is a the Lion and the Lamb where we stayed.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Skyscraper Ride of Death
Shannon and I went to Gatlinburg this past week for her church's staff retreat. We decided to take advantage of Jacob-less setting (he was with my parents) and go to a late showing of Spider-Man 3.
On the way to the theater, I saw one of those mini-amusement parks with go-karts and a few big thrill rides. On a whim, I pulled in to see about doing one of the rides. They had a special for $35 to do a 70' bungy jump, a giant swing (not featured on their site) and a 150' Skyscraper ride which spins you around in circle perpendicular to the ground while you are at the end of the arm in a harness which spins from the force of the twirling arm.
I am out with my baby with no kid to come home to and I just turned 32 this week. I was feeling young and spry so I bought the special and headed to the bungy jump. It was my first bungy, and I enjoyed it. I admit when I first looked down and realized that I was supposed to fall face first toward the ground from 70 feet up that I had serious second thoughts (and thirds and fourths...). But, I told myself I could do it and made myself fall forward.
I liked it and would do it again but it is over with very quickly. I next went to the giant swing. It puts some strong G-force pressure on you, and it does take you parallel to the ground, looking straight to the ground from about 25' up. The swing was fun, but I pulled over to ride the Skyscraper.
Rather than describing the experience of riding the Skyscraper, let me show through a video they recorded. Notice my relative lack of yelling and smiling. I did scream out a couple of times, mostly to convince myself I was having fun, show others I was not scared and did not make colossal mistake. Shannon said it best that she got nauseous just from watching me on the video.
On the way to the theater, I saw one of those mini-amusement parks with go-karts and a few big thrill rides. On a whim, I pulled in to see about doing one of the rides. They had a special for $35 to do a 70' bungy jump, a giant swing (not featured on their site) and a 150' Skyscraper ride which spins you around in circle perpendicular to the ground while you are at the end of the arm in a harness which spins from the force of the twirling arm.
I am out with my baby with no kid to come home to and I just turned 32 this week. I was feeling young and spry so I bought the special and headed to the bungy jump. It was my first bungy, and I enjoyed it. I admit when I first looked down and realized that I was supposed to fall face first toward the ground from 70 feet up that I had serious second thoughts (and thirds and fourths...). But, I told myself I could do it and made myself fall forward.
I liked it and would do it again but it is over with very quickly. I next went to the giant swing. It puts some strong G-force pressure on you, and it does take you parallel to the ground, looking straight to the ground from about 25' up. The swing was fun, but I pulled over to ride the Skyscraper.
Rather than describing the experience of riding the Skyscraper, let me show through a video they recorded. Notice my relative lack of yelling and smiling. I did scream out a couple of times, mostly to convince myself I was having fun, show others I was not scared and did not make colossal mistake. Shannon said it best that she got nauseous just from watching me on the video.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Understanding SAML
I have been quite busy this week with work. There are two interoperability tests I am ramping up for and need some test plans out this week. But I thought would add a link to my company's monthly newsletter which just came out and its main feature is a short article I wrote. One of my goals with this site is to become a better writer. Writing which is technical in nature is actually quite tricky because it is so easy and natural to be strictly technical which makes it boring which means no one reads it. The challenge is balancing the necessary technical content with a form and voice which is interesting and readable.
Here is the newsletter featuring my article on SAML. You probably don't know what SAML is, but this is written to explain it to a novice. In re-reading it, I found a couple of places which could use some additional clarity, but it is not bad. I always try to come up with analogies to tie commonly understood concepts to the lesser known technical points I am trying to explain. I pulled from my 11th Grade US History class for this article. Enjoy.
Here is the newsletter featuring my article on SAML. You probably don't know what SAML is, but this is written to explain it to a novice. In re-reading it, I found a couple of places which could use some additional clarity, but it is not bad. I always try to come up with analogies to tie commonly understood concepts to the lesser known technical points I am trying to explain. I pulled from my 11th Grade US History class for this article. Enjoy.
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