.: bistan.net :.

Since I’ve been slightly neglecting this blog lately, I figured its a great time for a life update.  In no particular order:

RUNNING: I ran 4 miles tonight. It’s the longest distance I’ve done since the Disney Marathon, which was almost 3 months ago.  I’m just over a 9 minute/mile pace at that distance.  I have five races scheduled in April/May so I’m really going to be hitting the pavement.  It feels good getting a trophy at the end of a race!

SCHOOL: I turned in my second C# project last weekend.  One more to go and then class number one of masters degree number two will be complete.  Summer semester is going to be rough because it’s less than a month and I have a work trip to Colorado scheduled right in the middle of it.

WORK: Work sucks lately.  I just hate being there.  Our worthless marketing guy is trying to take over technology and my boss doesn’t like to fight the political battles.  On top of all of that, four years of doing the same things is getting boring.  There is no chance of advancement in my current job and my boss doesn’t support formalized training (even when it’s free).  I would really like to get my expired CCNA back (which wouldn’t cost the University anything but time), but the boss believes that if you train someone, they will leave.  I’m not knocking my boss.  He’s a great guy both in and out of work, but I need challenges!!!  I would go for the CCNA outside of work, but I don’t have time.  I do have a 5 day weekend beginning tomorrow, so maybe I’ll be re-energized by Wednesday.  If things don’t improve over the next few months, I may jump into the job market.

TRAVEL:  Yes, we are hitting the road again Sunday.  Back to Disney World.  As annual passholders, we can book the value rooms for next to nothing.  Apparently though, too many of them have been booked, so someone from Disney called me today and gave us a free upgrade to one of the Deluxe Villa Resorts (Old Key West).  It should be a great weekend.

TELEVISION: LOST is really slow-moving this season.  Some questions are being answered, but there’s not much new.  I’m ready for more action.  24 is pretty much the same old thing.  Some [insert hostile county]ian terrorists plan to detonate a [insert WMD type here] weapon in the U.S. and Jack is going to save the day.  Been there, done that.  The best part of the entire show is Chloe!

Macon’s Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off about an hour ago, but we’ve already had our fun.  Frugal Jonathan knows a secret.  The Thursday night before the open ceremonies, all of the rides and attractions at the park are open to the sponsors, volunteers, vendors, dignataries and people who know about it like me — for free!  We stopped by last night and rode the rides for free with no wait.  The kids had a blast and I left with the same size wallet as I came with.

Here’s another gallery post that you are all so tired of seeing, but when you have kids and you love photography, you have lots of pictures to show:

Make sure you get out and enjoy the festivities.  This is one of the few weekends that there is actually something to do in Macon!

This evening, I’ve made a few subtle changes to my blog.  

I’ve upgraded from 2.6 or something to the latest version, which means I can’t find anything in wp-admin anymore!  It takes me 10x as long to blog now.

I also added the fotobook plugin.  This links to my Facebook account and automatically imports my photos from there into my blog.  You can view the most recent photos in the widget to the right or all of them by going here.  This will allow non-Facebookers to view my photos, including Mobile Uploads from my iPhone. I’m going to stop using the old photo gallery software, but what is already up will remain.

I’m also considering going “public” with my blog.  This would entail changing the address so that www.bistan.net automatically points to the blog.  I’ve struggled with doing this since I started this blog, but up until now, www.bistan.net/blog has been primarily word-of-mouth.  I already watch what I say about people now, but if I do go “public”, I definitely won’t be able to say bad things about my in-laws or tell you how worthless the new marketing guy at work is.

So what do you think?  Public or word-of-mouth?

Sorry for the neglect, but I only have 4 more days to be a twenty-something.  We have a road trip planned for this weekend (guess where?) and I have a huge project due the day that I return.  However, I will be back to blogging regularly again soon.

While things have looked quiet lately here on my blog, I’ve actually been writing several posts.  They are all “drafts” right now instead of posts for various reasons (timing, sensitivity, etc.)

Other than that I’ve been busy, busy with a number of things.  This is the first week of classes here at work, which makes for a nice headache.  It’s also my second week of class.  I just started on another master’s degree through Mercer’s School of Engineering.  This semester, the only class I’m taking is an object-oriented class using C#. 

I had the kids all day Monday because healthcare doesn’t observe holidays, last night was 3 amazing hours of LOST, and tonight I have the kids again while the wife updates her CPR certification.

I intentionally withheld my comments about this weeks “historical” event, although I think Obama did a great job attacking global warming — it is freaking cold here!  I’m also intentionally NOT discussing some work-related items.

1 — Out of the last 25 calendar days, I’ve actually been at work for a whopping three (3) of them.  I need to refocus on that for now.  Backups need to be made, emails need to be acknowledged, voice mails need to be ignored, and servers need to be updated.  This blog will have to wait another day or so until I catch up on things at home.

2 — I didn’t just run the Walt Disney World Marathon this weekend, I ran “Goofy’s Race & a Half Challenge”, which includes the Sunday marathon AND the Saturday half-marathon.  Even though I registered for it in February, nobody knew I was running both until this week — not even Kimberlie.  Yes — I finished 39.3 miles and have some nice hardware to show for it.  I also have sore muscles, torn ligaments, blisters and sunburn.  The half-marathon was the most fun race of my life.  The marathon was the most painful and probably the stupidest thing that I’ve ever done . . . but I’ve registered for next year’s already!  Anyone wanna join me?  Anyway, more marathon weekend details and photos are certainly forthcoming.  Stay tuned.

3 — Please don’t send me any more emails about the last post.  I was not knocking the disabled or handicapped.  I was only knocking people who pretend to be in order to get things, hence the title.  Actually, the emails showed me that I do have more than 2 readers, but the rest of you should use the comment feature sometime.  Thanks.

Just now, I was looking back through my old blog (LiveJournal), which is intentionally not linked here and has been abandoned.  It’s always good to read your old blog entries.  I actually blog more for myself than others.  I always have.  Anyway, were my goals for 2005, as typed almost exactly 4 years ago:

• Lose 15lbs (I’ve gained 25 since I got married. LOL)
  Comment: didn’t reach that goal.  I’ve actually gained 14 more!
• Exercise more
  Comment: didn’t reach that one intially, but I have now.
• Watch less TV
  Comment: same as the exercise one.  There seems to be a parrallel between watching less TV and exercising more.  Who knew?
• Keep the house cleaner
  Comment: Ha Ha.  Having another kid was not the way to do it.
• Spend more time reading
  Comment: Do blogs count?
• Cut down on Coca-cola (I’m down to about 4 a day now)
  Comment: I only have 2 a day now!
• Make more money than in 2004
  Comment: I don’t think I did that in 2005, but I certainly do now.
• Be nicer to people
  Comment: Ha Ha yet again.  Now, I just avoid people who don’t deserve my nice side, and even some that do.
• Get more education/industry certifications
  Comment: Yep, got CCNAed in 2005, but it has since expired.
• Keep up with my LJ more (this has been one before)
  Comment: Actually I took a little break from blogging, until this year.
• Get life insurance (I keep putting it off)
  Comment: I have a job that has life insurance now.
• Not get a haircut, until it starts to affect my income
  Comment: Another one I didn’t accomplish in 2005, but have now.

Now I should come up with some goals/resolutions for 2009 . . .

No, this isn’t a post about the law school’s new camera, which I talked about in my last post.  For a long time, I’ve realized that I need a subcompact digital camera to complement my bulky SLR.  It’s impossible to run with the SLR or take it to an amusement park and I’ve been sent back to the car with it at more than one “No Cameras Allowed” events.  It’s just not possible to sneak something that bulky inside.

I’ve spent hours and hours reading about the different models, playing with them at electronic stores, and asking people about their experiences with their respective models.  Unfortunately, one caveat that I can’t seem to get around is shutter lag.  Its a processor thing.  There is pretty much nothing you can do to avoid it on the smaller cameras (except learn how to shoot pictures better).  Some cameras will do a better job than others.

So what camera did I choose?  The Blue Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom.  It is currently the second highest rated camera by Consumer Reports (The first was 3x as much money).  And of course, I got it at my favorite online retailer: Amazon.com.  I’m sure you will see pictures taken with it soon.

Beginning tomorrow, December 1, this blog will feature “A picture a day“.  Although the linked article recommends doing it for 365 days, I plan to do it for a month.  Although I will be taking and featuring a picture from each day of the month, don’t expect to see a post each day.  I know some days will be combined into a single post because I plan to be out of town during Christmas — most likely without internet access.  More on Christmas plans in an upcoming post . . .

On another partially-unrelated-but-always-on-my-mind subject, I WANT AN IPHONE!!!  I’m holding out until January, hoping that Apple and Verizon will announce a partnership at Mac World 2009.  If not, I will probably jump over to the dreaded AT&T.  Everyone I talk to is on Verizon and I love being able to talk to them without minute counting, but I am willing to trade a few phone calls to friends for the iPhone.

Actually, I’m live from Marietta this morning.  Kimberlie has a professional conference today and I’m tagging along.  We usually tag along with each other to these sorts of things, just to have a nice family getaway — usually at our employer’s expense.  She has been to Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and soon to be Colorado with me, and I’ve been to Atlanta, Marietta, Helen, and Atlanta again with her.  I’m obviously clearly getting the short end of the stick here.  Anyway, she is skipping the Saturday sessions because we have way too much going on this weekend in central Georgie.

I feel sort of “naked” because I left my camera at home.  It’s not like there’s anything to take pictures of — it’s raining and the kids aren’t doing anything cute and the most exciting place we plan to visit is IKEA.  

Kimberlie’s foot seems to be doing better.  We should have just waited it out instead of going to the urgent care place, but then again hindsight is 20-20.  That urgent care place is clearly a pill-mill (and maybe a work-excuse mill too).  They offered her all kinds of good prescriptions, which she promptly turned down.  Her mother is a hypochondriac who is addicted to prescription drugs so we’ve seen first hand the impact it has on families.  After turning down the opioids, the next thing the doctor wanted to do was offer work excuses.  Luckily, we don’t work at places that require documentation every time we need to be out of work.  I can’t imagine a job like that.  Anyway, if anyone wants some narcotics or a work excuse, be sure to visit Houston Health Care’s Med Stop.

By the way, one of the best feelings in the world is when your toddler wakes up and runs to you and jumps in your arms — even if it pauses your blogging.  Happy Friday from a drizzly Marietta!