My Kind of Sport

Lindsay, you have inspired me with your running races and new custom shoes. So, check out this.

No calls yet on the work project I am watching for teammates. Of course not. Now, had I left town...well, you know what would have happened.

Years ago, in Palo Duro Canyon up in the panhandle of Texas, the family took a vacation. While there, Dad took this photo. As soon as we saw it, we started calling it "The Album Cover." So, here is our Album Cover.

On Call After All These Years?

This is the end of the fiscal year for Apollo Group. So, everyone has been using their vacation furiously (OK, most were not that furious) because it does not carry over. Anyway, the project manager for a big project took off Thursday and Friday. It's due date is soon, so my boss pulled me into it to lead some meetings today.

One of the issues was one group planning to work this weekend (because if not, we will surely not finish by 9/12). Another group was saying, no thank you. Well, the higher-ups prevailed and said they did not have to work the weekend if they did not want to, but the deliverables must be ready by 9/3 just as scheduled.

Since the PM is gone, I am on the hook if any groups get stuck (need help with booting a server, a program that doesn't shut down as scheduled, etc.) They can call me and I will facilitate finding the right person to help. Since I am a contractor, I do not have dial-in capability, so if they call, I must go to the office. That tethers me close to home.

But not the wife. She is going with the grand-ones to a wild animal park near Sedona or Flagstaff. Hmm. Something is wrong with this picture.

Nothing is wrong with this picture, though.
Kendall is obviously saying, "Aunt Ali, I am really feeling the Beatles." What taste this child has.

Hearing and Not Believing

Today was an interesting day. On Monday, we had a meeting called for today at which attendance was required. They even flew in team members from Denver and St. George, UT. If you've ever been part of a large corporation, you know that rarely signals good news. I decided, based on the lack of hallway scuttlebutt, that it was probably a reorg as opposed to a layoff. I was right.

Well, I was wrong, too. They decided to eliminate all of the Project Management Office's (PMO) jobs as of September 17. However, we are free to apply and be interviewed for jobs in the new PMO if we want. That way, the company is on stronger legal grounds no matter what each of us individually decide.

I am going to apply. After all, they haven't finished hiring me anyway. I've got nothing to lose.

Man, I heard it but could not believe it. It's like Yogi Berra said, "Deja vu all over again."

Well, this should bring a smile to your face. It's Sleeping Beauty Castle when it was still tall and more interesting, back in the mid-1980s.

Seeing and Not Believing

Don't y'all see photos and remember it a little bit different from what the picture shows? I remember these colors being so vivid when we toured Zion National Park a couple of years ago. I adjusted this using Levels and Saturation a bit, but if I did it as much as I think I remember, it seems too much. Well, here is today's photo. I do not remember this particular peak name.

I have the Olympic closing ceremony on beside me as I write this post. There is always a touch of sadness when the flame goes out. But the fireworks are unbelievable. Maybe too unbelievable. After the publicized debacle (good word, huh?) of the opening fireworks, I can't trust that these are real. If they are, they are amazingly well timed.

Am I Doing My Job or Not?

Well, it has been quite a week. I went to work every day, and I think they are still paying me for it. Pretty cool, huh?

OK, on Tuesday, I found an email from the IT VP saying that we had a project in crisis (coincidentally, the project is the Crisis Management System). We needed to react quickly, so could Paul, my boss, put Randy on it. Sure, he knows me, but I didn't know he really knew what I do. So, as you can imagine, I spent a good part of that day researching and trying to coordinate an IT strategy.

Wednesday morning, I am still feeling pretty good about this implied pat on the back. There was an email in my box asking Paul to replace the current project manager of the GoldenGate project as the project was out of control and no one was leading it. He complained that there was too little communication. Who was the PM? Me. OK, wait a minute, am I someone he wants to turn toward or away from? OK, I talked to my boss, we got called into a meeting about the project. We carried in all my documentation and emails. After all, I was holding daily conference calls and publishing the minutes every day. How much communication is required? Do I need to sit in his office and let him read each email over my shoulder? Anyway, we went into the meeting and he said, "Randy, I need you to send out twice-daily updates, and really get this done. I think you are the right man to lead it." Hmm. He's not upset with me? Paul stepped up and said that I was always the PM, but I did not include high-level management on a daily status report. One of their staff who has been on vacation for 10 days or so is on the distribution list and maybe that was where the disconnect came from.

Thursday morning, another email waiting for me. The VP said that my Wed afternoon communication was excellent and concise and he expects everyone copied to give me whatever support I need.

Friday, we finally got the Crisis Management system up and running, with one minor problem. Luckily (is that an appropriate word for a problem?), the customer's server has an error, so we cannot resolve that piece.

Maybe I should go up and add something for Monday so you won't think I wasn't at work that day. No, this is fine.

What happened with GoldenGate? We moved the whole team into a conference room together at my building so I can get more frequent updates and be involved in more meetings. We've got until next Friday to get this work done.

Any photos today? Not right now. I am still doing some LP ripping. Right now, Loggins and Messina Sittin' In and Chicago 13.

And It's Free!

Remember this photo? Well, you may not because I don't think I have posted it yet. It's quite a bit hazy. I was working to frame Cascade Falls in Ouray between the trees and there was nothing I could do about the haze. Still, I liked the shot.

So why share it? Well, Adobe has created a web-based version of Photoshop that has some pretty powerful features. And it's free to use. You can find it at www.photoshop.com/express. Anyway, you can sharpen, improve colors, adjust colors, and make it black and white. So, I did several of these actions. Here is where I ended up. I really like it. Maybe I will change my name to Ansel Walker.

What Do 1986, 1790, 1653 Have In Common?

This is a picture scanned in from a slide of Alison and Kyle at Disneyland in 1986.

So, I decided it was time for a numbers check. Here they are, in no order except that I put them in order that I looked them up. If they are in random order, doesn't that still make it come kind of order. In that case, I guess I put all my numbers in order.

Total pictures and movies in iPhoto = 12445
Of those, 1790 are of Isabella (approx 43.65 per month)
And 569 are of Kendall (approx 56.9 per month. Wow! Kendall is ahead on a per capita basis)
There are 1653 landscapes, and 7 photo books that I've built.

Turning to music, iTunes contains 6767 individual songs.
I took 4502 of them from CDs, which came from 317 albums.
471 were downloaded by myself or Kyle. This is 54 albums.
And from my own collection of my younger days, 1588 were ripped from 138 LP albums.

And the most recent LP ripped? I looked back through my boxes of LPs and found the first Gaither Vocal Band album. It includes such timeless classics as 1. Abide In Me 2. Because Of Whose I Am 3. Don't Play With The Devil 4. Every Eye Shall See 5. Have You Made Your Reservation? 6. He Came Down To My Level 7. I'm Yours 8. It Won't Rain Always 9. Living Sacrifice 10. Not By Might, Not By Power 11. Where Would I Turn? 12. Your First Day In Heaven. Before that was John Denver's Rocky Mountain High. The title track became the official state song just last year.

Craig, here is the original from yesterday.

Each week, the director of our multi-church Chorale reads an inspiring or funny story at the mid-point of practice. Tonight's was about a family that saved its china for special times, but there never seemed to be any. So, I thought back to a related, but opposite situation.

I remember eating the grape jelly from Flintstone glasses and then having those become our dinner glasses (at least for the kids). Now that may have only been a one-time thing, or it could have been many years. I do not remember the details, only the situation and that there were some that were more desired than the others, especially if one of my brothers or sister wanted it. I do remember some of the other glasses we had, but none that really make me smile like the small (juice sized) Flintstone ones.

Anyway, along the lines of what Bruce read, aren't we all glad that God fills us whether we are cut glass or Flintstones glasses or even sippy cups? Each of us needs to remember what Grady Nutt once said, "God don't make no junk."

Quote Unquote

Another company is coming over tomorrow for a quote on replacing the patio roof. So one of the companies will be the quote we choose and the other with be the unquote, right? Rain is due again on Wed, so we are getting a bit nervous.

Played a bit more in Photoshop. Here is a technique that is supposed to fool the eye into thinking it is miniatures. What do you think? The narrow focus plus the increased lighting are the keys.

Phone Fuss and More!

Kathie and I just switched from Sprint back to Verizon for cell service. We chose a special deal on Motorola W755 phone that gave them free + $50 back on each. Cool, huh? The problem is that they lock up the phone so you must purchase ringtones from them. So, I went web surfing and found a way to get my songs onto the phone as ringtones using myxer.com. Now Kathie hears The Beatles sing Got To Get You Into My Life when I call. Take that, Mr. Cell Phone Mega-Conglomerate.

With the recent heavy rains, we found water dripping into our den. The insurance adjuster said it was because of a deteriorating patio roof and left us a check. A fix-it dude that came out said he did not believe that because the water did not run all the way from the exterior wall to where it was dripping. Still, we've got to get the patio fixed, so we are going ahead with that next week. Now I've got to fight with insurance. After all, the adjuster did not even go into the attic. Take that, Mr. What I Say Is The Way It Is Adjuster.

I took one carousel of slides in to Ritz to see how their scanning works. Dad is doing his, but he said it is pretty time consuming. They are charging $0.25 each, so let's see how they turn out. I'll post something when they return them.

Played a bit in Photoshop trying to convert a photo to HDR.
Here is the before photo from our trip to Scotland in 2004.

Here is the post-production version. Yeah, not bad. After all, Ansel Adams said "Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships."

Whoa! Back It Up!

It has been a long time since I backed up my stuff. You know that you should always back up your stuff. I'm sure you think your stuff is important, but I KNOW my stuff is important. So, now it is backed up. It is on a separate drive, but it is still sitting right next to my computer. This makes me protected if the main drive goes south, but not if the house burns down. That doesn't really happen all that often, but maybe I should set u a hot site recovery system like we do at work. I could place my backup drive at Zachary's place and then I'll be ready if our house burns down and his does not. I'll get right on that.

Craig, Lindsay, Brenda, I commented on your comments to my posts. Yes, everyone, I do look back over fairly recent posts to see if you commented.

I played a bit with Photoshop today. Here's a fall afternoon from a few years back. I used Ansel Adam's photo of Aspens as my inspiration. OK, maybe I just used the word Aspen to try and capture my own vision. OK, maybe I copied this from the web and said I took it.

Heard from the young 'uns over in Anaheim. They are having a good time. Whoo Hoo.

Watching stupid sports just because it is the Olympics. Why is that?

I'm Here, and They're Not

Kyle, Lyndsay, Isabella, Kendall, and Alison are all at Disneyland...even as I type this, and we're not. It somehow isn't fair. however, that is what happens when I got a job. I guess I will live with it. And the folks are in Cloudcroft, NM with Rick and Denise and Ben. And we're not.

Kathie and I are going to the Cheesecake Factory for our anniversary meal tomorrow. Yeah, we did hit Jason's the other night, but this is a little nicer, and much more expensive.

Well, I think I got the video from the other night to work. They asked me to tape it so we could catch Bella running and running, and then saying "Hang on." This is a favorite game, where someone chases her around the hall saying "I'm going to get on Bella's shoulders." Check it out.

Boo Hoo or Whoo Hoo?

I must have done something wrong. I have a video of Isabella that I wanted to post, but I couldn't get it to upload right. It did once, but it wouldn't play. So, no video tonight. Boo Hoo.

It is our 32nd anniversary tonight, so we went out to Jason's Deli. Yup, that's what we wanted. She gave me Photoshop CS3 and I gave her a gift card for Starbucks. Whoo Hoo for both of us. Just what we each wanted.

Oh man! Guess What? Our patio roof is leaking into the attic and dripping through the den ceiling. We are trying to get someone out to fix it, but with the monsoons, they are crazy busy. A dude is supposed to come by tomorrow morning and give us an estimate. Our decision will probably end up being: do we just fix the leak for now and get a new patio roof later or just bite the bullet and do it all. It will probably depend on the cost. Boo Hoo.

Yes, I am still employed. Whoo Hoo.

I lost my manual for my camera a while ago. So, this past weekend, I bought a How To book for it at the bookstore. Guess what I found today after it had slid up under the driver's seat in my car? Yup, the manual. So, I have no excuse for not being able to do all sorts of stuff with the camera, right? Whoo Hoo.

Typical?

Today was a not typical day. The key database resource actually participated in our conference call on his project. One of the senior members of my team asked me if I wanted to go to lunch. It was not too hot when I drove home. It wasn't a bad day, just not typical.

Now this *is* typical. This is Kendall as I often see her. Well, let me explain. Watch the photo. "Kendall, smile." "Kendall, frown." See what I mean?

And here is a typical Isabella face. However, she might actually smile if I asked her to.

If I'm Tarred, You Can Chill

Zachary, I must admit I feel unfairly targeted. As you remember, I added that new blog display thingie that sorts my linked blogs as they are updated. So, when I saw your last comment saying you were tarred of being tarred and asking me to update, I checked my list. Yes, fine, Brenda *had* updated since my last one, but the others had not. And it is Brenda that updates yours, not you. Back off, nephew. That's all I'm saying.

Now, on with a real blog. No, I decided to add one more thing before I do my regular blog posting. We recently took a trip to Southwestern Colorado. It was nice, and cool, and relaxing, and fun. I had been looking forward to trying all sorts of things with my new camera. However, when we got there, I realized I forgot to bring a tripod. Well, for the most part, that would not be a problem. One of the things I wanted to try was evening and night photography. For that, I would need a tripod. So, my options were to buy the one there in V&S Variety or maybe cruise up to Ridgway or Montrose to find a cheaper one. Still, by the time I drove and with the cost of gas, it was just as cheap to buy the Ouray one.

Why did I bring that up? OK, here is where my aging brain showed the crystal sharp thinking that I can still do. On the box, it says "Free second quick release plate." Did you read that correctly? I could not translate it at first. Maybe it is written for a three-year-old and it should have read "Three second quick release plate" because it can be set up in 3 seconds? Finally, I figured out it meant I got a second thing to attach to my camera to the tripod and it did not cost extra. Pretty sad, huh?

Kathie is glad I don't sleep with my legs extended like Kendall. We have enough trouble sharing covers without that. Then again, if I slept in a chair like that, she might not mind. I think I have seen GrandDad do that a couple of times during his Sunday afternoon naps in his chair, but that's another story.

Bella is showing Nana what she learned in dancing class. Is she a Dancing Queen? Oh Momma Mia, I don't know. And check out their little media room/playroom. Don't you like the album covers and Beatles print hanging in there? I miss album covers now that everything is CDs and small or even downloaded. I guess I'll just go over to Kyle and Lyndsay's house sometimes and just sit up in the media room. I might even get Bella to teach me some dance moves.



When Lyndsay throws a party, she goes all out. Here, you can see she brought in a professional hair stylist for party guests. The first gentleman seems somewhat stoic, although he protested initially. The second young lady seems less pleased. That was not an actual cry, only a way to prevent hair from getting in her eyes. It probably still got in her mouth. There were two other haircuts that evening before we had to end it due to unbelievable fun we were all having. You can only party so much. right?