Thursday, November 27, 2008

Epic win

Today, I got to have Thanksgiving dinner and do very little of the actual work.

I got to watch my scantily clad vixen Red (her words, people, not mine) parading around the kitchen making a pumpkin pie from scratch.

All in all, a good day with much to be thankful for.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Coolest iPhone app I've yet seen.

Koi Pond on your phone? Cool.
Virtual beer? Cooler yet.
Amazing portability and ability to do all of those cool-shit-factor things that we want our toys to do? Very, Very cool

I haven't yet seen anything, though, that made me go "wow" the way this one did. That's just awesome.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Change in commenting policy

I've decided to have some fun with the trolls that have been making an appearance here lately. Commenting is still open, but I may go to some level of moderation to make it happen.

That is all.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Gratuitous baby photos, November edition



I shot both of these yesterday morning. He was sitting on Red's lap right between two picture windows, the light was great, and he was having a great time giggling. I actually had a hard time getting a decent shot of him because he wouldn't quit moving around. :)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Well, that was fun.

No, not the election.

My family and I are all just fine, and all of our material posessions are fine, if somewhat the worse for wear. About 1PM today, Red called me frantically, and all I could get out of what she said, past the baby screaming and her sobbing, was that the house was on fire.

We are very, very fortunate. The fire started due to a short between the 220v outlet for the dryer and the dryer vent. I think, and the fire marshal agreed with me, that the dryer vent had not had a good seal behind it, and had blown lint up into the wall daily for several years, and that was what actually provided the fuel side of the fire triangle. From there, it went up.

The fire guys got there and got the walls pulled apart in time to prevent the fire from actually penetrating the attic. The stud cap at the top of the wall slowed the spread of things just long enough that they were able to get there in time. It's quite a mess, though - the microwave integrated into the wall was pulled out a tad too fast, and came down on top of the convection oven - both appliances are now casualties of Election Day 2008.

As far as smoke and water damage go - very little of both, except to the kitchen ceiling and back wall behind the stove/oven. Unfortunately, the house isn't habitable, in spite of the fact that the roof is intact, as the wall that contained the fire also housed most of the house's electrical junctions, the air conditioning conduits from the forced air, and the hot water pipes from the water heater. The property manager assures me that they'll get the insurance adjusters out there tomorrow with some luck, and he'll try to pressure them into moving quickly on repairs. It looks to me as though at most 4-5 days of repairs are ahead of us, if all goes well.

I'll post updates as I can - we're at my parents' place at the moment, and their network is working. Remind me later to tell all of you about how the move went last Friday. :-s