.: bistan.net :.

When you see this many posts on my blog, that means I’m procrastinating.  I have a huge project due tonight at midnight and I’m avoiding doing it.  Its a database design project.  The design is done, but the report that I have to submit is not.  I would rather watch paint dry.

For the next six days, I’ll be blogging (or not) from Boulder Colorado.  I’m a speaker at the CALI (Computer Aided Legal Instruction) conference.  Its pretty much a conference for folks who do technology work at law schools.  This is my third time going.  In 2007 it was in Las Vegas and last year it was in Baltimore.  We usually work it out so that I can take the family with me.  My hotel and flight are covered so we just buy tickets for Kimberlie and the kids and end up with a great deal on a cross-country vacation.

In Vegas, we added 4 extra nights to the 4 that the law school covers and we explored sin city along with Los Angeles and the Pacific Coast (keep in mind Mackenzie was less than a year old then).  Last year we added 2 nights and I took the family on a quick tour of Washington D.C.  This year we only added one night because there’s not too much exciting about Colorado when the slopes are closed.  I do hope to visit Jon-Benet’s former home as well as Columbine High School — and of course the usual wonders like the Rocky Mountains.

About three weeks ago, I went to Academy Sports and purchased an Intex Easy-Set Pool.  I’ve always hated these things.  If you ride through a trailer park, you’ll see these things everywhere.  But we don’t invest in an in-ground pool at this house, because we only plan to be here for a few more years, and I think the regular above ground pools are even worse.

We had to get something because I’m about to drop a good bit of money for the kids to take swimming lessons.  Tristan took lessons last year, but forgot a good bit because he didn’t have anywhere to practice.  

I am certainly getting some practice on maintaining proper pool chemistry.  I guess it will come in handy when we do have an in-ground pool.  For now, we will enjoy our white-trash pool.

After the birthday party, we quickly headed off for Grub on the Grounds at church.  That is basically a bring some food, have a picnic, and then have some fun.  They had volleyball, wiffle ball, ping pong, basketball, frisbies, water activities, and plenty of other stuff.  It was great to get to know some of our church members and attenders in a different setting.

Today was an extremely social Sunday for us.  After church (which in some ways is a social event itself), Kroger (a potential social event), and a quick lunch (but not a social one), we headed off to a party for a daycare classmate of my children.  It was certainly odd because we didn’t know ANYONE there, except ourselves.

Our kids certainly had a blast on the inflatables, including a really huge water slide and we met some new people, which is always fun.  It was EXTREMELY hot out there though.  I wish I had been the one going down the water slide!  Maybe next time.

So last night, I wrote about my new favorite app CardStar.  I’ve had it for several days now.

Today, two of my favorite blogs picked it up: Consumerist and Lifehacker.  For some reason, I just feel special that I knew about something before these two.

So why am I neglecting my blog lately?  Here is what else I’ve been neglecting:

• We leave for Colorado in 12 days.  I’m doing a 1-hour presentation and I really haven’t put anything together yet.
• I’m two weeks into a five week class and I’ve barely done anything.
• I have tiled half of what I intended to get done during Memorial Day weekend.
• We haven’t been to church in two weeks.

So what have I been up to?

• I’m on a defined running plan now.  As part of it, I’m running on Friday mornings with the Director of Employee Wellness, who is awesome.  Running at 6:00 am has me pooped by 9:00 pm.  Good thing there is nothing on TV.
• I’m swamped at work.  There is so much to do before I head out of town.
• I put up a swimming pool — one of those ugly Easy Set pools — and I’m figuring out how to balance the chemicals.  This will come in handy one day when I have a real pool.
• I’ve been doing a little side work: both web and tech support crap.  A little extra money never hurts.
• We converted all of our telephones at work to Cisco IP phones, like the ones in 24.  It seems like the fallout from that will never end.

So now what?

• I’m off Friday — another asbestos abatement day.  Ahh, the advantages of working in an old building.  I plan to catch up on some of the above or at least prioritize.

Here is my current new favorite iPhone app: CardStar

You basically enter the numbers from your membership and reward cards and let the cashier scan your phone instead of all of those annoying little cards on your keychain.

Why can’t i just come up with some stupid idea like this that would revolutionize the way that the population does some mundane task?  I could package it and sell it and retire tomorrow.  I just need ONE good idea.

By the way, if you want CardStar, it’s free for a limited time, although it is totally worth the 99 cents that it usually costs.