July 30, 2008:  Hey again, just a quick update today mostly because it's about to be time for lunch and I'm super hungry.  The rest of the week wasn't much different than the rest of any other week other than the fact that I took Friday off to be lazy and get a few things done for the weekend.  The front yard is looking pretty sweet but it seemed that something was missing between the two trees near the new water feature.  I did some cruising around and found a small concrete garden pagoda that looks perfect in that spot.  The one that I found was even slightly weathered so hopefully it will start to grow some moss and look even older real soon.  I also picked up another oudoor LED light like we have in the water feature to put inside it and wired that into the same transformer that we use for the first one.  The light is a little on the bright side so I need to get a piece of window tint or something to calm it down but it totally looks like it belongs there.  I also ended up doing some re-wiring of the timer that controls everything so the pump can be operated independently of the lights.  I'll try to grab some pictures of the new timers and throw them up on the Projects page tonight.  We spent a good part of the day Saturday running around to pick up snacks and ice and all that stuff in between trying to wear down Stella.  We also cleaned the whole house and I edged and mowed the yard so it would look pretty for our guests :) The party went well and everyone seemed to have a great time.  The weather was supposed to be bad but it ended up being a really nice day and perfect night.  So far this week has been more of the same but the weather has been quite different, cold and rainy for the first time in months!  The weekend is supposed to be better and we can really use the rain anyway.  Our friends Dave and Jeanie are going to be in town for the next week visiting some family and we're hoping to be able to meet up with them to catch up and meet the newest addition to their family Julia who is already one!  I'm sure she'll get along great with Stella because as both people and dogs all know, babies always have food on or around them!  Enjoy the rest of the week, I'm off for some food. 

July 24, 2008:  Why good afternoon everyone, how is your day going so far?  Mine is alright, bored as ever at work so I figured I'd do another updated.  Have you ever had so much work to do that you couldn't actually get your brain wrapped around any of it enough to start.  Well if you have then you understand where I'm at.  Yesterday was the last day for the other member of our team, he's a great guy and will be missed a lot, not just for his contributions to the team.  We still haven't hired any new engineers so nothing new to report there, we have made some offers but haven't heard much back yet.  I will probably continue my job search in low gear for a few more weeks and see how things work out, maybe I'll kick it back up again if it takes a turn for the worse.  We went out to lunch yesterday for his last day and then went to K1Speed to race some go carts, all during work of course.  Just a note to make for yourself, lots of dim sum and 35mph tight turning high torque go karts don't go all that well together.  I was green after lap 4 of 14 so you can imagine what I felt like when we finished the race.  I ended up going straight home to lay on the couch for a few hours until I felt a little better.  Of course after that I installed and wired the new amplifier, mounted the new speakers on the deck and even ran and spliced the wires in the crawlspace.  We originally planned to get speakers that were hidden inside statues or rocks or something like that but decided that it would just end up looking like clutter and Stella would end up knocking them over or chewing them up or probably both.  We decided to get some plain old white outdoor speakers and mount them up in the eves where they would be mostly out of site and as protected from the dog and the weather as possible.  They mounted very easily in the open eves and to help direct the sound to where we sit a little better I added a small piece of wood to one eve to point the bracket in the right direction.  Fishing the wire under 25 feet of deck without a small child to crawl under there was a challenge but worked out ok with a cool new tool I picked up called Fish Stix.  I was able to get the wires pulled through in just a few minutes with no child necessary.  They came out great and I just need to put some paint on few spots of exposed speaker wire and the wood I had to add to one of the eves and they'll look like they've been there for years.  I'll try to get some pictures and update the deck project page but don't hold your breath, you know how long it takes me sometimes.  When I was all finished I ended up feeling just as bad as I did when I got out of that kart earlier and just went to bed.  Other than all that we just have a few more things to do to before the get together on Saturday, hopefully the weather will be decent and everyone has a great time.  Enjoy the rest of the week and have a great weekend. 

July 22, 2008:  And we're back!  The week is rolling along for us, could be quicker but we'll take what we can get.  Work still stinks for me but is awesome for Lisa, at least one of us has it good right?  We have a nice weekend and like all the others lately were able to get a bunch of stuff accomplished around the house.  Lisa worked Saturday but was out at 6pm and didn't have to work on Sunday at all.  Earlier in the week we moved all the furniture off the deck and pressure washed off most of the old stain to get it ready for the new coat.  Bright and early Saturday morning I got up and got the new stain done in just a couple hours before Lisa went to work.  We had to keep the dog off the deck until yesterday so we went on a mountain bike ride and made a few trips to the dog park to keep her as run down as possible.  We're having a small get together here this weekend so Sunday we picked up a few things, more chairs, a small table and some margarita glasses.  In the afternoon we picked up some plants to fill the flower boxes on the deck and watched the Mariner's game on TV.  Monday we were able to put the furniture back on the deck and re-wire the lights inside the umbrella.  Tomorrow the speakers we ordered for the deck should be in and hopefully I can get them mounted by the party Saturday night.  When we installed the wiring for the speakers in the garage and house I ran wires for the deck speakers into the crawl space and left them until now.  Hopefully the install will be smooth, I'll try to grab some pictures.  Overall the deck came out well, not as perfect as I'd hoped but I was in a hurry and all said and done it does look much better than it did before.  Have a great week! 

July 13, 2008:  Hey everyone, this is gonna be quick because we're both pretty wrecked after a long weekend of getting it done at the house.  We finished the entire front yard project including the water feature, new shrubs, plants in the pots, edging the entire area, weeding the front yard and even picking up a cubic yard of bark mulch to dress it up and hold the moisture for the new plants.  Add into all that doing groceries at Costco and the supermarket, taking Stella to the park to swim for the first time and mowing/fertilizing the front lawn and that leaves you with two people that are completely drained. The pictures have been updated, enjoy them and we'll catch up later in the week. 

July 9, 2008:  Good afternoon class, hope you all are having a great day.  Not a whole lot to report from the west coast at this time, just more of the same really.  Work is taking up every second of my time and that is likely to change for the worse in the next two weeks.  The other person on the team just gave his notice so now there is just me and my boss.  When I started here there were six people on this team, now there is just one.  It sounds like hell to me so I'm going to feel out my options and see what's out there.  We have been trying to hire three people for this team for almost a year now and haven't found anyone worth hiring so it sounds like the market isn't too bad if you looking for a job.  Other than that things are good, Stella is getting huge and has been pretty good since she got past whatever it was she had.  We had a bad experience with the vet she went to and after they ran tests that cost hundreds of dollars that they probably didn't need to run and that all came back negative or false positive she was better.  We have been trying to give her as much exercise as possible but it seems like it's never enough, she has tons of energy to burn everyday and we need to work on a schedule for ourselves and her to burn it off on a regular basis.  We've started another project at the house, this time it's cleaning up the landscaping in the front yard, removing some shrubs, adding a few shrubs and building a small water feature near the walkway and front door.  Check the projects page for pictures and updates, hopefully we'll be able to knock more of it out this weekend.  Lisa has been totally loving her new job, the people, the customers, the schedule, the whole package is just amazing and all that she was hoping it would be.  I should take off, I'll be working all night so I need to get home and get some rest, have a great day!