Good-bye BEFW11S4... you were a good friend...

After 7 or 8 years (we can't quite remember), our trusty Linksys cable router gave it up. So yesterday, I "reluctantly" worked through the grief, and decided to move forward and seek out a new one.

Enter the "new hotness"...Introducing the Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router. Draft-N wireless connectivity coupled with Gigabit wired Ethernet hotroddedness. schweet.

Wired? Why yes, I still rely on a good ol' fashioned wired network for some things in the house (Cat5e in every room - as well as telephone and coax - installed when we rewired the house). The desktop machine, print server, and a future NAS, will all be wired in the office.

I'm running the wireless for our work laptops, and for guests that bring one with them. Of course, I'm sure I'll be using the wireless for more things in the future.

Now I can take the chunk of Cat5e that I've been running across the living room Boompstar's playspace, and into the dining room, and put it away.

Good for another eight years? maybe.

waiting for the...

That's what I call it when one day you're looking at the leafless trees of early Spring, and then...suddenly...without warning...FOOMP! Every leaf in the Northern Hemisphere says "HERE I AM!", and the trees are magically transformed to greeny goodness.

It's unpredictable. No one knows exactly when it'll happen, but everyone does the "when-the-hell-did-that-happen?" double take when it does. It usually happens when you least expect it, and definitely when you aren't looking... hence the WTHDTH look.

For us, it's happened coming home from the annual Spring trip to my brother-in-law's in Boston, or on the way home from a Lions Club state convention. I think one time it happened on our way home from South Carolina... which was pretty cool given the whole distance and climate change.

Well, I welcome the FOOMP!, as it's the sure way to know that Spring is just teasing us.

a little nervous

Tonight, I'm doing a live test of an e-mail throttling script I wrote for the Boy Scout council website I've been working on since 2001 (along with a bunch of other Scouters). I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous about the test.

About a month ago, the monthly email notifier went out to over 1700 subscribers in about 3 minutes. This broke my web host's e-mail speed limit, and ended up causing the website account to be suspended (under suspicion of spamming). After about an hour on the phone, I was able to convince the host that we were not spammers, and to reinstate the account.

They agreed to my solution to throttle the email delivery, and to run the process in the wee hours, while server activity is low.

Well, tonight is the test... and I'm really hoping it goes well.... otherwise, I'm going to find myself back on the phone, groveling for another chance.

UPDATE: Okay, a minor glitch on the reporting script, but it worked. whew!

i've got to get to doing this more often

almost a month. dammit.

Okay, so much for blogging on a more regular basis. My problem is that I get too busy, too much on the code groove, and then, POW! A month has gone by. I need to think less about what I am blogging about, at least the planning on what I am blogging about, and just type something... okay, but it's got to make sense... and cost me less than a therapist.

Lots of work going on from all angles... so I'm going to get to it.

busy, busy, busy

I know I've been away for a while... it's been busy, and looking to get busier.

I have a new web client who needs a quick turnaround on some brochureware, and an existing client who is finally ready (after 2-1/2 years of waiting) to pull the trigger on a complete rebuild.

The new client's website is an easy build, and will be done by early next week.

The complete rebuild is going to take some time. It's a full-blown db-based site with ALOT of content. Luckily, the client has offered to input all the content (whew!). I was originally supposed to receive design files from a graphic artist who designed their brochure, but due to reluctance, I'll now be recreated all the graphic elements. Not a problem, as I'm used to it.

Oh, and I'm still working on a kickass summer camp registration app for the local Boy Scout council... but I've been given a bit of a reprieve on that one.

Back to work...

5 levels of pure awesomeness

Boomper and I wanted to go higher, but we ran out of ramps and bricks... dang. Click the image for a better view.

boomper's birthday

Last Sunday we celebrated Boomper's (the boy wonder) third birthday. Hard to believe it's three years already.

Last year, I decided to make his cake, so I made one that looked like a dump truck. he liked it so much, he wanted to play with it.

This year, I wanted to make a Thomas the Tank Engine cake, but after talking it over with The Wife, we decided that it would be better NOT to experience the possible psychological trauma of a little boy watching his favorite train get sliced up with a large knife. Believe me, I can just picture the look in his eyes, and then the look in my eyes as I'm shelling out huge sums of cash for all the therapy. Not pretty.

So instead of Thomas, I decide I was going to make a simple steam engine with tender, and after my first experience building a groom's cake for a nephew, I decided to revisit the world of fondant.

First of all, let me go on record as saying that Duff and the kids at Charm City Cakes make it look a whole lot easier than it really is. Of course, they also crank out boatloads of cakes each and every week, and get loads of practice.

So the picture above is only my second attempt with fondant, and I'm sure that with a wee bit of practice, I'll get "mad skills"... as the kids say.

code jones

There's something to be said about releasing a project into the wild...

Today, I opened a web app that I've been working on, to beta testing by the internet sales manager at work. It's an web/tv ad submission and traffic app that I built for our sales department, and it's a module of the extranet app I'm building for the station (Did I mention that my day job is web developer at the local ABC affiliate?).

I still have some core processing to complete, but the data entry part is done to the point where I can have someone kick the tires. Of course, I still have to add the bells and whistles.

Back to the "something said"...

Right now, even though I still have work to do on the project, the act of releasing it for testing has given me a morale boost, and has triggered a "Code Jones".

Code Jones? Well, think of it this way: Right now, and I know it sounds geeky, I've got "code" running through my head at an alarming rate. I can "see" the code in front of my eyes.

Okay, it IS geeky, but sometimes that's how my brain works. I have always been able to visualize concepts, project plans and the such. Those tests back in elementary school where you are given a two-dimensional cut-out and have to form it into a 3-D object? Aced 'em every time.

So now that the Jones is rolling, I'd better get back to work. One thing about these things... they can disappear just as quickly as they appear...

hold on... be with you soon.

Okay, so I've been away for a bit. I got busy. I'll be back in a bit. I promise. Really.

embedding Google Docs

Testing a new app from Google Docs... embedding presentations:

golden brown & delicious

After a weekend of holiday prep, cooking and baking (and a few days of a nasty tension headache), I hung up the apron for an enjoyable Christmas Day with Regina and Boomper, the Boy Wonder.

But after making "Southern" Russian Teacakes, a crock pot full of three-bean chili, a pot of Greens 'n Beans soup, a pot of Chicken Soup with Orzo, Chocolate AND Chocolate-Peanut Butter Truffles, a huge gingerbread cookie boy, and two other doughs that I just ran out of time to bake (but will be a nice treat next month), the day off of cooking left me with a bit of cook's withdrawal.

As Boomper and I sat on the living room floor, playing with the Mr. Potato Heads that Santa left under the tree, I spied one of the many accessories Aunt Cathy brought back from Disneyworld: a small plastic Mickey-shaped soft pretzel. I had found my inspiration...

I soon set forth to track down the recipe I remembered from the "Pretzel Logic" episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats on Food Network. With printed page in hand, I presented my idea to Regina, and then headed to the kitchen to make sure I had everything I needed. We decided to have them with dinner, so I had some time to plan and prep.

A few hours before dinner, I started the dough. I gave up on 'active dry' yeast a long time ago in favor of instant yeast. I like the instant yeast because when I'm making pizza dough, or baking bread in the bread machine, it can be added to the dry ingredients. No proofing necessary.

This recipe called for for proofing the active dry yeast in lukewarm (who WAS Luke, and why was he always so-so warm?!?), salt and sugar, so I decided to proof the instant yeast. I swear I could hear the little yeasties burpin' and tootin' (well, that's what they do). Soon the yeast was nice and foamy, and ready for the flour and melted butter.

After a thorough mixing, kneading and a one-hour rise, the dough was ready to be portioned, rolled, and pretzeled.

Now comes the science. Prior to baking, each pretzel took a 30-second dip in pan of boiling water-baking soda solution. Dipping each pretzel in this slightly "basic" solution, helps the pretzel brown to a deeper mahoghany finish, helping the pretzel look more like a pretzel, and less like a funky-shaped dinner roll.

Each pretzel then got a quick brushing of eggwash, and a sprinkle of Kosher salt, and then into the oven. Yes, pretzel salt is ideal, but I wasn't planning on heading to the grocery store just for it. Maybe on my next trip.

The picture above is all that is needed to tell of the end result. That, and the "yummy" I got from Boomper. That one makes it all worthwhile.

If at all possible, keep an eye out in your TV listing for this episode of Good Eats, as it has a great explanation on the whole process, in a rather entertaining way. And follow the link below for the recipe and instructions: Good Eats Homemade Soft Pretzels

the sweet relish conspiracy

Okay, maybe I'm a little crazy, but I think there's a conspiracy out there to rid the world of dill relish. And this, of course, worries me.

I know, I know, you're probably thinking, "Gee Matt, lay off the caffiene already," but I'm serious. Every time I go to the store for another jar, it seems that the dill relish shelf space keeps getting smaller and smaller, while sweet relish seems to be expanding.

The other day, I was in our local small-town grocery store, and counted five different brands of sweet relish, as compared to one brand of dill relish. Oh sure, they threw in one label of hot dog relish, but using that is just plain being lazy.

I'm a dill relish guy. Always have been, always will be. There's nothing like a Zweigle's White Hot, hot of the grill, with spicy mustard, sauerkraut, a little swiss cheese, and big dallop of dill relish. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm. Now how can sweet relish even THINK about entering that equation?!? That's just not right.

Then there's cheeseburgers, tartar sauce, and the occasional turkey sub (with provolone, lettuce and tomato....good groceries!). I'd even throw a little in some tuna salad, but I'd have to eat that by myself. Potato salad? Sure, it's worth a try.

Okay, I'll admit, I have a jar of the sweet stuff in my fridge, but it's only for when company comes around... Honest, I never touch the stuff.... really!

Is it a cultural thing? A Western NY thing? Or does the conspiracy reach the entire Northeast?!? Are the cucumber people in cahoots with the high fructose corn syrup people or are they just on the outs with dill farmers?

Where, oh where to find the answers...

UPDATE: For the record, I am COMPLETELY absolving the Freemasons of any involvment whatsoever in this conspiracy... they get blamed for way too many things as it is.

it's snowing... EVERYBODY PANIC!!!

Yup, it's a "major storm" here for us. The weather guys were all talking about 12-24" of snow falling in a 24-hour period. So far, we've had a few inches, a bit of light freezing rain, and now some lake-effect snow is falling.

"It's going to snow" is all the local meteorologists had to say to trigger what I call a "French Toast Alert"... meaning to tell everyone to hit the grocery stores for all the bread, milk and eggs they can carry. I came up with the term when we lived in South Carolina, because without fail, these were the first items snatched up when ever the "weather panic" struck.

Of course, the weather panic usually meant a "possible inch of snow", but mostly meant freezing rain. Where they basically don't have snow removal equipment (or very little), this will shut the state down.

The snow is coming down steadier now. Who knows....maybe we'll get what they predicted, and those weather guys can maintain their safe 65% job accuracy ratings...

UPDATE: It's 11:36PM, and at last glance it was still coming down. I was out around 9PM clearing the driveway, and finding the cars, in an attempt to lessen the chance of having the clear it again before I leave for work in the morning. Good freakin' luck.

testing this email publishing voodoo

Is this thing working?  Just checking to see if this is working.

first good snow

Last night we got our first "real" snow of the season. It was just a few inches of snowy goodness, but it's amazing what it does for the spirit...

These folks (over there in the picture) are the newest residents in our backyard, courtesy of Regina and Boomper, the Boy Wonder.

The stylish fellow on the left is sporting an ensemble called the "Build-Your-Own-Snowman" kit (just add snow) we received from Bob and Sheila (Boomper's godparents), and the lovely lady on the right is rather smart in Regina's hat and scarf. Very nice.

As I finished clearing the driveway, Regina and Boomper had a lot of fun playing in the snow and sledding down the big tree mound. It wasn't a big hill, but with some snow and a snow saucer, the laughter was fantastic.

And as classic as can be... he didn't want to go inside.

Now, along with learning all about the fun of playing in the snow, Boomper gets to learn the harsh reality of "snow-life".... because right now, it's 37 degrees... and raining.

colds suck

I've spent the better part of this week with a cold. To the point that I took two sick days (Wednesday and today), and came home early from work yesterday.

Normally, I have a 5-day cold that starts in the sinus and heads South, ending in a chest cold. Today is Day #5 and it can't decide on staying in my head or migrating.

Here's hoping that it stays put and fades away. The chest cold is the worst part. Well, except for Day #1 sinus headache (the wife keeps the cordless drill away from me for that one.)

Anyways, this cold has outstayed it's welcome...

"What I Did On My Summer Vacation"

Sorry for the delay in posting my vacation work updates, but I was pretty much toast each night, and too busy back at work this week. I'll do my best to give the week in review...

Saturday, August 25
The calm before the storm...

I spent Saturday hanging with Boomper, and working on some of the work plans for the coming week.

Sunday, August 26
"I want my @#$%^&* doors!"

After our traditional Sunday Morning breakfast of Dad's Special Waffles, I called Home Depot to let them know that I wanted to pick up the new side door so that I could start the project. Thinking that it would be a simple case of driving up there, picking up a few supplies and the door, and then coming home and getting down to work.... nuh-uh.

"Sorry sir, but your doors are on order, and won't be in for a few days."

That's the answer I got. I then explained to them that I had already purchased the doors, that I had actually put my hands on them, and was told they would be moved to a "on-call" area for me to pick up at a later date.

Silence.

"Um, sir? I'm going to have to call you back."

So after waiting an hour or so, I call them back. It seems that the message never got back to the millwork department to investigate and call me. I finally talk with someone in millwork who could possibly help. He can't find the side door, and then starts pushing the blame onto the salesperson who sold me the doors. "I need to talk with my manager. I'll call you back in 20 minutes."

An hour later, I call them back again. The salesperson "got busy". "My manager says that you can come in and pick out a better door, and we'll give it to for the same price."

At this point, I'd had enough.

"Listen, I purchased both doors the other night. I had my hands on them, and after I purchased them, I was told they would be moved to an on-call area. If someone there did not move the doors, and then RESOLD them to another customer, that could be construed as theft of stolen goods. Here's what you are going to do: You're going to call the other local stores and find the same door, then you are going to go pick it up, and deliver BOTH doors (side door and French Door unit) to my house FREE-OF-CHARGE. You have until 6PM to make the delivery."

The doors were delivered about 2-1/2 hours later.

The work day was shot, so I puttered around and tried to prep things for the next day.

As I was closing up the garage for the day, I looked over at my "door-locked" generator, and made the following remark... "that's okay, we won't be needing it any time soon...."

Monday, August 27
"Sill? What sill?"

Remember the last remark? About not needing the generator? Guess what was out when we woke this morning? You got it... the power. We decided to change plans slightly, and run our shopping errands in the morning, but first, we were off to the North Chili Dinner for breakfast. As we were getting ready to go, the power came back on. See, no need for the generator.

By the time we got back from our errands, and ate lunch, it was time to tackle the side door. But first, I remembered to go apply for my building permit.

I was pretty sure that I'd be okay without having to get a permit to replace the side door, but I wanted to be sure.

I went and dropped off my permit application for both doors and was told that since it was just a replacement, that I didn't need a permit for the side door. Better safe than sorry.

Time to demo the old door and get the opening ready for the new door unit. Demo went well, until I realized that there was no sill to new door unit on. Back to HD for supplies.

I got back late, but since I had a hole in the side of the house, I had to finish the job. As I was grumbling outside, my beautiful wife called in a little help.

Thanks for our friends, Valerie and Keith, and their daughters (kept Boomper occupied as we finished up the project), for helping us get things buttoned up before it got too late.

Tuesday, August 28
"My brain hurts."

Yesterday late work left me with a whopper of a headache this morning, so I pretty much did more puttering around (awful lot of puttering goes on around here).

The one thing I did do was go and meet with the building inspector, Tom. I met Tom back when I replaced the kitchen windows, and I thing he appreciate that I knew what I was talking about when it came to building/renovation terms and practices. We talked about opening the back wall for the French doors, and my concern about adequate framing to support it. He advised me to go ahead and open the wall, and then call him to swing by and look at it.

Wednesday, August 29
"The Pope, The Virgin Mary, and the Ace of Spades"

Today was dining room wall demolition day. I spent the bulk of the morning prepping the room by taping up plastic to minimize dust in the rest of the house, taping down contractor paper to protect the floors, and taking down the remaining trimwork to be refinished and put back up later.

While removing the gumwood baseboard in the corner, I found three cards behind it: an early portrait of Pope John Paul II, a Mass card for a gentleman who died in 1973, and the Ace of Spades. I just found the collection amusing.

The three-yard dumpster arrived mid-morning (our village rents these for $20/week - SCHWEET!), and so, after lunch, I grabbed the buckets, my hammer and flatbar, and a dust mask, and started demolition. After five hours of tearing down old wallboard and paster, and trucking it out to the dumpster in five-gallon buckets, and after the dust cleared from vacuuming and sweeping up the debris, and was very happy to find that I had enough room under the header to install the new doors. Of course, I still needed to install a pair of double-jackstud posts under each end of the header because IT WAS ONLY BEING HELD BY BIG HONKIN' NAILS NAILED INTO THE ENDS OF IT!!!

By the end of the day, I was pooped, and didn't feel like cooking, so we went to our nearby Applebee's for dinner.

Thursday, August 30
Decking Material Gathering
Today, I pretty much spent the day picking up the materials for the temporary deck. I was back at HD with the plan of renting their Load&Go truck to haul the stuff back to the house. It's pretty affordable ($20 for an hour and a half), and since HD is only 11 miles down the road, it was going to be a quick run.

Of course, I had to pick the day that EVERYONE needed to rent the truck. The lucky part was that I was second on the list.

I finally got the truck, loaded it, drove it home and unloaded, took it back, picked up the van, and headed home again. It started sprinkling, so I decided to hold of until tomorrow to get to the deck.

Soon after, I get the visit from Tom, the building inspector. What I thought would be a quick 5-10 minute visit to look at the wall, turned into a one hour discussion about the neighboorhood, and the problems with the "5-family" slum a few doors down. Tom gave me the thumbs up on my plan with the wall and door installation.

Friday, August 31
Deck Build - Part 1

Today, the weather was perfect for working outside. Low-to-mid 70's, clear and sunny. Perfect.

I got right into building the deck. For the uprights, I reused 4x4's from the black walnut stack. Some were a bit twisted, or bowed, but I was still able to use them. I'll admit that my goal of having the decking all down by the end of the day was a bit ambitious, but I knew it was going down in flames when I second-guessed myself, and decided on a different joist layout.

Then I got slowed up by a bee that decided that I hadn't been stung in a while. I'm glad I'm not allergic to bee stings, because he hit me at the base of my neck. He just pissed me off for the next few hours.

My punishment for changing my plan midstream, was that I ended up one joist short. So, it was back to HD for the joist, and the remaining supplies to finish my projects.

Saturday, September 1
Deck Build - Part 2

Remember the bee from yesterday? Well, I think he's family was trying to avenge his death. All day long, I had about 3-4 bees constantly buzzing me.

I finished building the deck late this evening, and I must say, "not too bad for a first-time deck builder."

We celebrated the new deck with a moonlit dinner, and beer, out on it.

Sunday, September 2
"There's a big hole in the house!"

With the inside wall demoed, and the the deck in place, it was time to tear out the remaining window jamb, and open the wall up.

It took pretty much all day to cut the opening. I was trying to minimize damage to the fragile siding, and to the underlying sheathing. I also had to be care that I didn't remove too much before I got the new jackstuds in place.

I confess... at one point today, I stood up, looked out through the big hole in the back of the dining room, and said to myself, "What the hell am I doing?!?" My father had a similar moment many years ago as he stood on the second floor of their Cape Code, looking out over the neighborhood, with the back roof suspended by crane.... okay, so mine wasn't THAT bad.

I finally got to a stopping point, stapled the plastic back up on the inside and drapped the tarp over the opening on the outside, and Regina and I, again, sat out on the deck and had dinner by candle light.

Monday, September 3
Nice Doors

So, which "big day" is this? That's right: Door Installation Day.

Just a few things to finish up on prepping the door opening, and then I can call Brother Mark to come over and help me move the door unit.

Mark arrived, and we immediately moved the door unit up onto the deck... er, "temporary work platform". Yeah, that's it. We got it humped into place, and started the time-consuming, and rather mindtwisting task of shimming and securing the door in place. Thanks Mark!

Finally.... it was in, and there was much rejoicing.

Here I am with the doors. The doors weren't "completely secured", and then, Mom called:








Here's the deck with the doors:








Here are the doors from the inside:

Of course, we still need to do all the interior finish work (electrical, insulation, drywall, paint, etc, etc, etc), but that's another weekend.

I have to go back to work tomorrow. yeah.

going on vacation... well, it is to me

It's vacation time... which means "time to work on the house."

I'm taking the week off to replace our old "can-see-light-all-the-way-around" wooden side entry door, with a brand-spankin' new steel door unit. I'm also looking to install our new French (we're passed the whole "Freedom" thing, right?!?) in the dining room.

The side door should be quick n' easy, but the Frenchies are going to take more work, planning and sweat. First, I need to open up the dining room wall to see what structural support I have to work with. Currently, we have to side-by-side double-hung windows, and I'm hoping that once I remove the window units, I'll have the needed 72"x80" rough opening.

The real work takes place if the opening is too small. See, the wall is a load-bearing wall (the house is balloon construction), and so I would need to shore up the second floor and wall, and install a monster 2x10 header to distribute the load from above. Keep your fingers crossed.

I'll also be installing two outdoor lights (either side of the Frenchies), as well as two duplex receptacles in weathertight boxes.

I'll post updates as I can.

Okay, it doesn't seem like all that fun of a vacation... but it gets me out of the office for a week.

afternoon commute with Boomper

zero motivation day

It's one of those day.

I get this way every once in a while, but today is just feels worse. I actually feel guilty because I accomplished nothing, nada, zippo, nill, ziltch, bubkus... of course, does posting this contradict the way I feel today?!?

crap.

Well, so much for that thought.