I've Still Got The Old Magic. Have You?

Colin Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, Colin got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

I Haven't Kicked the Bucket!

I know, I know, I haven't posted in a while, but it's not that I haven't been writing anything, it's just that I've been writing a ton of stuff elsewhere. You can witness what I've been up to here:

http://www.pocastlaunchpad.com
http://www.indielaunchpad.com
http://www.gamesforppc.com

So as you can see, I've got a severe case of verbal diarrhea and lots of places to use as an outlet.

So apart from the tons of words sprouting from my fingers, what else have I been doing. Apart from work, not too much. Our babies are keeping us busy and they are getting cuter by the day. I have tons of pictures to upload to our website and I shall get around to doing that, hopefully later this weekend.

Have I told you lately how much I love my girls. I don't just mean the baby ones either. Part of being a parent is care and understanding. Another part of being a parent is trying to instill the values in your children, that will enable them to be better prepared for the real world, when they finally have to cut the chord. From the other point of view however, it would appear we are being mean ogres, who just don't understand.

I still remember to this day, having an arguement with my Dad about how much housekeeping I had to pay. Now let me put this into context. I was living at home. My Mum was doing all my washing, ironing, feeding me, etc., and I was paying the exhorbitant rate of 20 quid a month. Now let me tell you what my Dad wanted. Let me further put this into context, I was earning about 20,000 pounds a year. My Dad had the nerve to up my housekeeping to the out and out rip off amount of 25 quid a month. Can you imagine that?????? Yeah I know, what a total arsehole I was.

Anyway no matter what, it was time for me to leave home. I was 23 and needed my own space. It happens. Sometimes a guy needs to hang out, if you know what I mean.... mmm too much information me finks.

So what am I getting at. I dunno, just I suppose the hope that one day my kids will come to me and say, sorry Dad, you were right. We understand.... I just wish it were much sooner. Much, much sooner.

So What's New????

Well the cat's finally out of the bag. A few weeks ago, I was told I was nominated for th Exceptional Employee of the Year award for the Nepean Chmber of Commerce. Nepean was formally a city in it's own right, but has now been amalgamated into Ottawa. Anyway last Thursday was the awards dinner, and bugger me, if I didn't actually win. Don;t get me wrong, I was really grateful to be nominated, but I seriously didn't think I would win, as I usually don't win bugger all.

So now I have a nice award on my mantlepiece(photo to come later) and I can imagine asking Sherri if I can take the award to work and her saying, in the inimitable words of Charlton Heston, "From my cold dead hands".... which is nice.

So here I am, Saturday night, having a few beers, while Sherri cleans the carpet. Yes with two babies and a dog, the carpet needs a regular shampoo and set. I've been up since 7:15am and tomorrow is my morning to sleep in. As well as looking after my little princesses, I actually managed to winterize the pool (yes we still need to get the cover on) and I also managed to mow the lawn for the bloody last time this year. Yes I mean it, today was the absolute last time, so help me.

On a final note, as if I didn't have enough on my plate, I've started yet another website, called Indie Launchpad, a place to showcase the best of independent music. As with all the sites I start such as this, the important thing is content, content, content. Yes the site isn't going to win any award for groundbreaking design, but it's was created to convey a message. Once I get the content to what I think is a reasonable leve, I'll concerntrate on the master redesign.

So it's good night from me and goodnight from me.

Young Free and Single :-(

So here I am, young free and single... well that is until I go to pick Sherri up at her multiple Mums night out. Once a month, the ladies meet up to discuss, babies, nappies and I have no doubt, men. My ears aren't burning so far, so I can only assume I have pulled through this night unscathed. So I've got about half an hour before I have to jump n the Mystery Machine and go get my Lady. Fortunately I had the foresight to pack my Pocket PC full of podcasts, so I have something to listen to on my journey.

Talking of listening, I entered a competition a little while ago (no I don't know the result yet), to win the latest album from a balled called Hollow Horse. I had to email the band to be entered and not long after I sent in my entry, I got a really nice email from one of the band, Kenny. Kenny thanked me for my entry and kindly offered to send me the bands first album. A little over a week later, the album arrived all the way from Scotland. It actually arrived yesterday, but I think Sherri forgot to tell me until after I'd gone to bed, as I found the package on the laptop keyboard when I got up with the babies this morning.

I left for work just after 8:15am this morning, and after listening to two tracks, had the chance to get myself involved in a traffic jam, to kill some time. I managed to get to work, just before the last song, so decided to sit in the car and enjoy the end of the album and my Timmy's coffee. So far, I've only heard the album once, but from what I've aken in, it's a cracking album, with a great sound. Come what may, win or not win, I shall be adding the follow-up album to my collection. Isn't podcasting a wonderful thing?

Godybye F1, I'll Miss You

And so the Formula One season wrapped up for another year,but not with either of the results I wanted. OK, so Alonso managed to become the youngest world chapion ever, but come on, Renault as the constructors winner, arrrgh, it's just too much. Alas it's all done and dusted, but there's so much to look forward to next season. Also as far as I know, there's a new world racing league starting in November and I heard a story that there's also a veterans series starting. Sould be interesting.

Not a highly productive weekend this week, but interesting none the les. Sherri was volunteering at the Multiple Births sale this weekend, which meant that as well as having to spend Friday night and Saturday at the sale, preparing and for the actual sale, she also had to get our own stuff washed and tagged ready to put in the sale. I helped a bit, but I was also knocked bandy by the flu, so I wasn't too efective In fact I had to take Thursday off as I was just not up to going into work.

Saturday was hard, as I was up at 6am having to get Sherri to the sale. We were actually able to go into the sale at 8am, as Sherri was a volunteer. I finally got back home at about 10am, but not before I stopped off at the grocery store to pick up some treats for my big girls who had to get up and the same un godly hour, to look after their baby sisters. It's funny when I got home, the babies were back in bed and the older girls were fast asleep on the sofa. Ah bless.

I spent the remainder of Saturday listening to podcasts and reading. The babies were great and we had some real good quality time together. I picked Sherri back up at around 4pm and the rest of the day was a bit of a blur. We did all sit down on Saturday night to watch the fifth Sens game, and it was great to finish watching the game after having won yet again, this time 5-1. So the Sens aren't plaing again until Friday, so a nice rest and a game and then another prolonged break. Let's hope we can go into that break with an unblemished record.

Anyway time for me to say goodnight. I'm just gonna finish my chinese beer and then relax before going to bed.

My New Ventures.

Anyone who knows me, knows I can't stand to sit doing nothing... unless of course I actually want to literally sit doing nothing. Anyway as many people know, I love to write, so I decided to launch a couple of new websites. So below is a quick rundown of my new sites. As always all feedback is greatly welcomed. I realise many of you will have no interest in these sites, but have a look, you never know.

Games for PPC - http://www.gamesforppc.com
Games for PPC is my attempt at a review site, specialising in games for the Pocket PC. Content is a bit light at the moment, as I've only review a couple of games, but I intend adding to it regularly and hopefully expanding it quite substantially.

Podcast Launchpad - http://www.podcastlaunchpad.com
As many people know, I am very into Podcasts. I remember the frustration when I first investigated the podcasting scene, not having a clue what I needed and what Podcasts to subscribe to, so I've created this site to hopefully help other people get into Podcasting.

So that's it, another couple of things for me to update. Again have a look and let me know what you think. If you don't know what Podcasts are now's your chance to find out.

Cough, Cough, Cough!

If there's one thing I hate, it's being sick. I've been fighting off something for a few weeks, but I've finally succumb to it, which sucks. I first started getting worse on Friday, nothing too much, but enought to know something was coming. By Tuesday I was feeling rough. I went into work as normal on Wednesday, but by Wednesday evening I was feeling really rough. Anyway suffice to say by Thursday morning I just couldn't summon the energy to get out of bed, so that is where I stayed until about 11:30am, when I was gently awoken to the sounds of giggling babies. Being sick sucks, but it was nice to spend time with my babies. With any luck, the cold I have, I caught from them, so hopefully I am the last in the chain and our house can get back to it's healthy self.

When I was a kid... (Part 10)

I was at Home Depot for 18 months. I can't really say anything bad about my experience there. Yes it wasn't the career I wanted to follow, but it was an excellent stepping stone. You can't change countries and expect to fall straight into the job of your dreams. That's not to say I didn't get downhearted. I'm not lazy by any means, but I've never been used to manual labour, so the job did take it's toll on me to a certain degree. The side effect of this is that I lost 4 inches from my waist and around 50 lbs in weight, but my poor feet took a real pummelling. The first night on the job, I came home and my feet had lots of blisters and were bleeding, which wasn't a pretty site.

Through everything though, you have to have a positive mental attitude and I was always plotting and planning on software and new technologies I needed to learn. With IT jobs, the worst thing you can do is fall behind on what's happening. I lost track of the amount of jobs I applied for. It wasn't the rejection that was down heartening, it was the total lack of response from the majority of them. I managed to compile a list of companies to approach and noticed that one of them had an English CEO. I decided to take a different tact and try to get some feedback on what my CV was missing. Over the period of about a year, me and John, the boss, exchanged numerous emails. One day I got an invite to come in for a chat, but with no promises. I went in and I was given the opportunity to do some consultancy, specifically developing a new product for the PocketPC platform. Now I'd never programmed a Pocket PC machine before, but I always learn best, when I'm dropped in the middle. Anyway over a period of a few months, I'd go back into the office and give John a progress report. Over those months, I must admit, my confidence level began to rise and I felt really good about having my toe back in the IT waters. I felt that my exeperience with John was handy to put on my CV and began to think about applying for more jobs using John as a reference. What happened next, surprised even me.

I'd gone into the office to give John an update on how the new system was coming. We spoke for an hour or so and then I had to leave. John walked me down to the car and it was then that I asked if it was OK to use John as a reference. My stomach sank when John said no, but it didn't sink for long. John said if I was ready to leave Home Depot, then he wanted to offer me a full time job. This was totally unexpected, but a wonderful nonetheless.

So there you have it, my working career up to the current day. I'm now been with Sage Data for over 2 years. Everyday has something new to offer and I manage to get my hands on tons of new technology, which is just what I like.

So from 1986 to present day, it's scary when I think I've been working or nearly 20 years and all but about a year of that in the IT or design field. Who know's what the future may bring, but I know one thing...... it's time for a new series, maybe about some of the many stores I've got to tell. Now which one shall I start with?

Last Day of the Long Weekend!

So Monday is wrapping up nicely. Alas Kosmo did have another seizure late night, but he seems to be back on the road to recovery, which is good. I finally bit the bullet and got most of the garden ready for winter. I did want to mow the lawn (honest), but the weather has been drizzly all day, so looks like I'll have to do it another day. Anyway I have the pump dismantled and stored safely in the garage. The garden has been mostly cleared of all stuff that shouldn't be there. All I need to do now, is get some chemicals for the pools and put the cover on. If I get to mow, that will be good, but it's no hassle if it doesn't get done.

I also finally swing mounted one of the gates at the top of the stairs, so that will make Sherri's life easier when she has a handful. It also means there's not excuse for not putting the gate up now when the babies are upstairs, not that that's ever happened so far, but the easier things like that are, the better.

On a totally different note, I'm currently working on a couple of new websites. One is specifically for reviewing Pocket PC games. The other is an attempt to explain podcasting and also point people to interesting Podcasts. So far I've laid the ground work, I just have to register the domains and then I'll be ready to launch. The main objective of these websites is to get me writing more and to maybe start to do some professional writing. Consequently, there won't be any of the typos you've come to expect on this site. Hopefully I can expand the sites and maybe take on some other work. Should be interesting.

Thanks!

This is Thanks Giving weekend, not to be mistaken for the American Thanks Giving which happens sometime in November. Anyway the result of this is an extra day at home, to relax and to also get the house ready for the winter, i.e. actually closing the pool and maybe mowing the lawn for the last time this year. Although Monday is officially Thanks Giving day, we had our turkey dinner today, which means we have more chance to relax tomorrow.

Yesterday I took Sherri out to dinner, although not at the either of the places I'd intended. We were originally going to go to a new restaurant that opened within walking distance of our house. We had the foresight to take a stroll there with the babies in the afternoon, and although the restaurant looked nice, the menu was a bit limiting, so we decided to go to another restaurant a short drive away and decided to leave bit earlier than 7pm, so we could get back to watch the remainder of the Senators game. Anyway we drove to the new restaurant and unfortunately couldn't get a table. Apparently they were only taking reservation, so yet again we couldn't go where we wanted. We finally ended up in Kelsey's, which wasn't too bad, but it always sucks when you can't do what you planned. We had the added bonus, that when we got home, the Sens were winning and finally ended up beating Buffalo 5-0, which is always nice. To top that our arch enemy Toronto managed to lose to Montreal, which is just the icing on the cake.

Sunday was due to be my sleep in day, but it's funny how life just doesn't go as planned. Sherri came in to wake me up around 9am, Kosmo was having another seizure. It's not like we didn't expect it. We both thought how well he was doing and hoped this time would be different. We of course both thought that without saying anything, not wanting to jinx him, but alas nothing seems to prevent his seizures happening, but at least he seems to have been fine for the rest of today. Yes he still might have another seizure later tonight or tomorrow, but at least his episode will be over for another 4-6 weeks.

Finally I've mentioned podcasting a few times in this blog. Today I listened to one of my regular ones while going to the vets to pick up some more valium for Kosmo. Podcast Paul is a lawyer based in Birmingham who loves his music. Anyway his latest show #81 showcases a few bands I've never heard, but were all very interesting. One of my favorites was a band called Hollow Horse which is a band hailing from Glasgow, Scotland. I've heard the track Forget The Girl a couple of times, but never knew who it was. Anyway being a captive audience in the car, I had a really good listen and suffice to say BeggarsTown, their latest album is definitely on my list of albums to get.

Anyway that about wraps up my weekend so far. I know I've been talking about podcasts a bit over the past few weeks, I am mulling over a Podcast 101, which I hope to publish on my site soon. I'll post a link as soon as I've gotten around to writing it.

As always Sarah and Lucy never fail to make me smile, especially when I go in to get them after a nap. The smiles on their faces are priceless. Counting down the minutes till I wake them up in the morning.

Yesterday. All my troubles seemed so far away...

It's amazing to think that Sarah and Lucy are now one year olds. This past year has flown by in a flash. It's funy to look back, because I'm sure we've forgotten how difficult it all was in the beginning. OK maybe dificult isn't the right word, but for the first 3 months Sarah and Lucy slept in the living room, in swings. We tried a few times to put them down in the crib and in bassonettes, but they would just fuss too much. Those first 3 months were really draining, especially considering that Lucy was in the hospital for 4 weeks after she was born and Sarah was in for 10 days, which meant that on top of me working, Sherri and I were making the constant visits to the hospital.

But all of that and more just fades into the distance. Our babies are healthy, fun loving individuals. Lucy is the one that's into everything, like turning off the digital cable box, climbing on things as if she's a monkey with no consequence of danger. Sarah on the other hand is the budding musician. Give her anything musical and she'll play with it for ages. She's also the most pleasant baby i've ever know. Where Lucy is very vocal and years attention, Sarah will just sit and amuse herself... as long as you aren't too far away.

So yesterday was their birthday and apart from Sarah having a slight cold, the day was great. Sherri and I woke the babies up around their usual time fo 7am. We then took them downstairs for their bottles. They hardly noticed their new ride on cars, but rest assured they soon noticed them after they were finished with their bottles. All of their other presents we saved for the evening, after I'd got home.

After finishing work slightly early I went to the LCBO (the booze store) and bought Sherri a bottle the wine she likes and I got a selection of world beers. I actally did pretty well and covered 4 countries with my beer purchase, Poland, Ukraine, Singapore and France. I lastly stopped off at the florist to pick Sherri up some flowers for our anniversary. Yes folks, for those of you that didn't know, the babies were born on our wedding anniversary, of which yesterday was our 5th year. I finally got home around 5:30pm. We'd arranged for Doreen from work and Frances (the babies God Father's daughter, who's also my boss) to come round for a traditional bangers and mash dinner and to spend some time with the babies.

All in all it was a great day. I only ended up having 3 beers, but felt knackered after. Not surprising since I haven't had a beer in nearly 2 months. Anyway time to sign off and relax a bit. Tonight I'm either taking Sherri out to dinner, or we're watching the Ottawa/Buffalo NHL game. Either way it will be a pleasant evening, with a beer or two no doubt. TTFN

Happy 1st Birthday Sarah and Lucy!

I'd just like to wish my little angels the best 1st birthday in the world. I'd also like to extend that to Sherri and say Happy Anniversary honey, 5 years today.

I'm Famous!

Well OK, maybe not quite famous, but I was featured in a Podcast yesterday and was interviewed via Skype for the same Podcast, for inclusion hopefully in the next few weeks. The Podcast in question is called I Miss Blighty and is aimed at British ex-pats around the world. I'm mentioned in edition 41.

If you haven't yet tried Podcasting, I thoroughly recommend it. It's a great way to listen to the stuff you want, when you want to listen to it. There's Podcasts on every conceivable subject. You can see what kinds of Podcasts are around by visiting PodCastAlley or PodcastPickle, these are two of the most popular Podcasting directories.

All you need is a Podcast client (i.e. a program that handles your subscriptions and gets new shows as and when they are released). In fact Podcasting has become so popular that Apple's iTunes allows you to subscribe to Podcasts and this is indeed an excellent program to get you started.

I'll do a follow-up on Podcasts soon and maybe give a list of the ones I listen to most.