November 28, 2009

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Ok so a quick recap. A lot has happened since I last posted; which is probably a good thing since I have a tendency to ramble on with useless details. I went hunting for the first time. It's an awesome time in Texas when you've got good friends (Matt, Grant, and James and his beautiful daughter Lena), camping outdoors with guns to boot. I forgot my camera but I remembered my cell phone and got a great picture of our hunting prowess. With three guys and more than enough guns to go around, it is expected that we'd have such an awesome catch!

Matt and his trophy Squirrel

Yeah, all we got was a squirrel. No joke. I saw one deer and took a shot, but I wasn't even close. There is a story I have about duck hunting, but it's rather embarrassing so you'll have to ask me in person. Lets just say that duck is half way to Abilene by now. But it makes me feel better that Matt had to use a 12 gauge shotgun to get his squirrel. But overall the experience was awesome. I got to lend a hand out on the farm and unraveled barbed wire and cleaned up felled tree limbs. Slept out under the stars next to the camp fire and within about 100 yards of Coyotes. I had a blast! Hanging out with Grant always makes me want to explore Texas life.

Ok what else? I *love* Castrol GTX motor oil. It's a few dollars cheaper to change the oil in the cars myself using good oil, than to pay someone else to do it with cheep oil. It's nice that at every 3000 miles, the old oil in the car is a nice amber yellow, not pitch black burnt.

We spent this Thanksgiving week on our own this year. We were going to do touristy things in Austin, but basically that gave way to going out to eat ( or getting take out ) and playing computer games. To our credit, we went to Andiamo's and to the Clay Pit. We will eventually make it to the Oasis. We both needed the time to ourselves and also time to relax and not think about much else that life tends to throw at us.

For Turkey day itself though, we spent at the Robertsons with their family. Oh wait, let me back track.

So last weekend we went to Houston to attend a baby shower for my brother-in-law's wife's pregnancy. I will refer to her as Katie. I guess she's my sister in law-in law, or my sister in law once removed? Well whatever she is, turns out that the doctors were off on their due date by five weeks. So when we were literally on our way into town to attend this shower, we got a call from Shea's mom that Katie is now in labor. CRAZY! So we went for a party, and stayed for the birth of our nephew Samuel August Richey. I wish I was thinking and took photos with my phone. Hopefully we'll get pictures soon. They're on facebook, but I avoid the book of face so i'll see if I can con Shea's sister in sending us photos.

So that was awesome, but then we come home and find out that Tanya Robertson is also in labor. So the next day we see them and their little girl Emily Ashlyn. Their girls are like nieces to us, so naturally I forgot to take photos. So does pregnancy prevent Tanya from having Thanksgiving dinner at their place? Nope.

So Grant, Simon and I cooked us some sirloin steaks for Thanksgiving. Did I take pictures? nope. Seems the important things in life aren't so important that I remember to take photos! argh! I promise to do better.

So another car tip, if the power steering pump is making whiny noises when you're stopped or going slow, it may be because you're running low on power steering fluid! Go figure. Yes there may be indication of a leak, but I'll look into that later.

Shea is really looking forward to decorating the house for Christmas this year. We moved in last year so close to the holiday that we didn't get to do anything, but this year it's Shea's show. Hopefully we don't end up like the Griswolds Family Christmas when the house lights are turned on.

So this will be my version of the Grant ADD post.

Family Log - October 25, 2009

First off, I must say it certainly is easier writing a blog entry when you don't have to think of a creative title! Great for me, not tso great for our readers. Here are the stories:

Shea and I decided to attend the UT vs Oklahoma tailgate party being held at our neighborhood Frost bank (Mueller Location). We didn't really know many people there, except for the branch manager who attends our church. They held a drawing where you could guess the half-time score and the top six people to get closest to the score would win "bleacher seats", which basically

provide back support when going to a bleacher game. I got first place, because I got the score DEAD ON, and Shea got third place. We then walked home with our new bleacher seats!!

Afterwards we decided to go to the shooting range. Shea shot all of our firearms, and we had a lot of fun! We ended up spending three hours at the range where we learned that Shea is a great shot! She didn't quite like the 9mm because the pistol felt too big in her hand.. it was rather awkward. The 270 she was a good shot however it had so much kick it gave her a bruise! We'll have to get her a shoulder pad for next time! We also threw some clay pigeons and we both were able to hit them with the shotgun. Now that's fun!! Plus shotgun ammo is cheap, compared to rifle ammo. So my advice is to be nice to Shea.

Shooting the .17 HMR

Shooting the .270 deer rifle.

9mm Semi-Auto

12 gauge shotgun

Family Log - October 15, 2009

Sure has been a while for an update! Shea and I sent to the UT v Colorado game here, and it was a blast! I thought ahead and parked the car in residential parking on campus around noonish on gameday, and then we took the bus to campus. After the game was over (we totally won), we walked for 2 minutes to the car, and then drove 5 minutes back home! AWESOME!

Shea and I in full burnt orange!

This was our first UT game ever, especially notable since I graduated from there (Fall '06). We got free tickets from my boss and he took full advantage. It sure was a lot of fun. Seeing so many UT fans in the stands really made for an awesome feel in the stadium. It was chilly, but I am told that it is considered "awesome football weather". Also, for anyone looking for something free to do here in Austin, consider going downtown during one of the football games and attending one of the many tailgate parties. First off, people give away free stuff there all the time, as well as free food! Most of the time there are people with televisions with the game on, and it's quite teh awesome.

Otherwise, life is pretty quiet here. I've been working a lot of hours due to a major project for work. Shea is still working, and hopefully this Thanksgiving/Christmas we'll get to relax and chill out. Other plans for our future include a new back door. We've got a full glass door which is pretty nice, however it leaves no room for a cat door. Yes, we are getting a new door for the cats. Never have I thought I'd like cats enough to spend real money on them, but look what's happened to me. *Sigh*

We're also slowly learning how to play bridge. There's a little bit of Anthony randomness there for ya! We're having our neighbors over for cards tomorrow,.. maybe we'll get them to learn with us!

I've got an opportunity to go turkey hunting next month with my good friend Grant. We've both passed the hunters education course mandated by the state of Texas, however in the off chance that we actually are successful, I'm wondering what comes next. I've grown up fishing and have done so for most of my life, and have cleaned many a fish (including Walleye!), but I've never tackled a land animal before. We'll see! I also hope I will get a chance to go deer hunting this season. My arsenal (LITERALLY!) so far includes:

Harrington & Richardson .17HMR Rifle w/Scope - Varmint

Weatherby Vanguard Sporter .270 Win w/Scope - Deer

Springfield XDm 9mm - travelling to/through rough parts of Houston

and the latest addition that I just got today:

Remington 12 ga 870 Express Shotgun - Fowl

It's interesting, I still maintain the same sporting values for fishing as I do for hunting. I will not shoot any animal that I don't intend to eat. However, as Sam pointed out to me earlier, there is no catch and release in hunting! So better make each shot count. I hope I can stomach the cleaning of game, otherwise I'm in trouble!

So why don't I like to fly? It feels like I am riding a roller coaster. I cannot abide roller coasters.

Alright alright alright

Blogging is hard. So hard in fact that I haven't done it in a few months. But due to popular demand, I'll try again. So to jump start the blog, I'm going to have to go fishing soon, since all I did for a while was post pictures of fishing. Also, since I have to go run errands soon, I don't have much time to make a blog entry that makes any coherent sense.

So short term, what's going on in our lives? Star Trek TNG. We got the entire series (all 7 seasons) and I have fallen into a kind of 'Star Trek' coma where I come home from work, we watch star trek, eat something, then go to bed. Rinse, wash, repeat. It is as awesome as I imagined.

I was recommended this link for funny and educational Star Trek humor. Thanks Beth!

http://www.sitelogicmarketing.com/blog/02-analytics-according-to-captain-kirk

By the way, I really don't like flying.

Stay tuned to this blog to find out why I made such a random statement. (Assuming there is a reason).

Gall Bladder takes a hit!

One fateful night, February 13, 2009, I had a chicken fried steak to end all chicken fried steaks. It was a good steak, but it later became my undoing.

In *some* people, gall stones form from crystallized bile that has spent way too much time in the gall bladder. My surgeon described the stones as "dirt clumps", to give you a visual indication. Well, these gall stones will tend to get stuck in the bile duct, causing inflammation and pain. Symptoms include localized pain in the stomach area, and vomiting. I've been having these attacks every time I ate something particularly fatty or greasy, and usually at night. Being the kind of person I am (not wanting to see a doctor), I self-diagnosed myself with gas.

For the past couple of years, I have been suffering from what I thought was gas, but they were really gall stone attacks. In response, I've been popping Gas-X like crazy. Sometimes they worked, sometimes not. Well my surgeon tells me that during previous 'attacks', I was actually passing the stones. So I would eventually get relief that I attributed to the Gas-X.

Then came the chicken fried steak. The following morning around 2 AM, I awoke with the same pains as before, except they were exceptionally worse in magnitude. I vomited twice before I finally decided I could not take it anymore and went to the emergency room of St. David's Hospital here in Austin, TX. In triage, I threw up a third time right in front of the nurse, and she said, "Oh... I bet it's the gall bladder."

So when they admitted me, put me on an IV and gave me two doses of morphine, I finally calmed down. They ran an ultrasound (yes moms, I too know about that weirdo gooey feeling), and after stabbing me with the stupid ultrasound wand that hurt like a Klingon pain stik, I was debriefed by the nurse. I was informed that most patients are released and I would need to schedule an appointment with a general surgeon to have the gall bladder removed. Just as she was explaining all of this, the staff physician busted in to the room and exclaimed, "do not discharge! This man needs emergency surgery."

I felt like I was in a television show. Poor Shea got a little freaked out, and started making phone calls. Keep in mind we're now clocked in at 5am. Sam and Sarah Brown came and hung out with us at the ER. Or maybe they came earlier... I don't remember anymore. Them being there really felt like Ecclesiastes 4:10 in action. The general surgeon was called in and at around 9am I was wheeled into surgery.

They told me that they were going to give me an antibiotic for the operation, so I closed my eyes to prepare for the IV port being tapped. I opened them back up, and all of a sudden I was in a different room, my throat hurt, my stomach hurt, and I was really out of it. I asked the attending nurse what had happened, and she told me it was over! I was wheeled to my room for an overnight stay and recovery. Many good friends, and my family came to see me. The next day I was able to take limited walks and eat a little solid food, and was discharged in the afternoon.

So what's life like without a gall bladder? Not much different so far. During my recovery I had a difficult time managing the bathroom, and also my appetite was very limited. But after that first week, I pretty much went back to my "old star trekkie self", as a good friend so eloquently put it. However the best part of this whole ordeal was knowing that a whole host of people who love and care about us were praying for us to make it through. Praise God!

Now for a lighter side-

Towards the end of my recovery week, I was getting much better so I went that weekend to the shooting range with Grant Maloney and shot his .50 cal muzzle loader (cannon, more like). Not too long later, I went to the Saxet Gun Show, and then went to the shooting range again with Grant, James, and Shawn. I got a P90, .280, and 223 WSM. Talk about loads of fun!

So yesterday, at McBride's Guns, I found my rifle. The Weatherby Vanguard Sporter, .270 caliber. I bought it used, in new condition for almost half of the MSRP. Here she is:

Since I have not had any experience hunting, I am going to take the hunter safety course, and gun safety course offered by the state of Texas. I plan to:

1. Learn to shoot the rifle accurately
2. Get a scope (see #1)
3. Get my hunting license
4. Eat Venison this holiday season.

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So one last tidbit. If you're not into software programming, then you can ignore this section. The guys at work were attempting to classify the operation in an object oriented fashion, and this is what we came up with.

1. There was an object of type 'GBladd' that is a child class (singleton) of the 'Organ' class.
2. The GBladd object went out of scope, so the object was marked for deletion.
   
3. The garbage collector eventually ran and successfully ran the destructor for the object.
4. The GBladd object had a member pointer (gStonePtr) to a collection of objects of type 'GStones'.
   
5. The 'Organ' class is an abstract class.

Oh, we're such nerds!

The Merging

Sorry for the late posting. So quick update: We moved! WE LOVE IT HERE, and I'll have to post pictures later. So what was it that could cure my laziness and get me started back blogging again?

I made quite an interesting discovery. My two favorite series of movies have come together. Everyone who knows me knows that I generally am hesitant to watch a movie unless it has some connection to Star Wars, Star Trek, or Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings. Of course, there are exceptions. I was going over the cast for the upcoming Star Trek XI film, and I discovered that Karl Urban will be playing the role of Dr. McCoy.

If you were in need of medical attention, who would you choose?

So why is that significant? Karl Urban also played the role of Eomer in Lord of the Rings. When this knowledge entered into my brain, I went from 'wanting to see ST XI on opening night' to 'must see ST XI on opening night'. The merging of two of my favorite movies. Wow.

In related news, Grant, Nick, Shawn and myself went camping and fishing, here. It was awesome, and Grant caught a fish, 'worthy of remembrance'.

We're PACKING

Oh man, how I forgot how painful it is to pack. It seems like we just got here and finally unpacked!

The state of our home.