Sunday, November 4, 2007
Life as Dad
I appreciate everyone's comments encouraging me to post more often; and how Cody has gained insight by my posts into me being more than just Dad..... while I have been Dad all of his life (and before), I existed (gasp) before he did....long before he did. (We used to ride dinosaurs to school before there were Flintstone cars) I was Mom's husband before that, and Elder Heffner before that, and just me before that. Life was so much simpler then; because we were simpler then. The good old days will be now, when you are old, not because they were good, but because you are old.
And now that each of my children has the distinct impression that he or she is my favorite one, I can say and finally confirm that indeed, you are absolutely right! And even more so my grandchildren! Each of you has special qualities that are irreplaceable and unique. I had to remind Brad the other day that he is pretty darned smart, because he married my daughter. (and lucky, too, because I gave my consent)
And now that each of my children has the distinct impression that he or she is my favorite one, I can say and finally confirm that indeed, you are absolutely right! And even more so my grandchildren! Each of you has special qualities that are irreplaceable and unique. I had to remind Brad the other day that he is pretty darned smart, because he married my daughter. (and lucky, too, because I gave my consent)
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The other day I set up a computer (a Sony VAIO TXN25N B, for all of you nosy nerds) for my boss at work. It's a tiny thing, but with all of the bells and whistles that he needed for traveling to Mexico, to his condominium in Huatulco. I set up his WWAN connection, so now he can stay in touch anywhere (even internationally!) His idea of a vacation is to work on the company POS program, and e-mail all of the store managers with orders and to-do lists, on the veranda overlooking the bay with the cruise ship below, and white sand beaches in the distance... (with a beer in his hand, of course) After I set up the VPN connection into our network, and showed him that he was indeed connected without any local restrictions, he turned to me, and shook his head, saying, "That's amazing. Isn't technology great?" This is coming from a guy who uses three 21" screens, two land line telephones, one with a wireless headset, two cell phones, has IM for business contacts, thousands of e-mail contacts, Outlook2007 Calendar, and keeps track of millions of dollars of business with 2 logins and ten flipscreens!
And then it made me stop and think....indeed, we should never cease to be amazed....even at the technology that we use everyday. At the moment, I'm sitting on the patio, watching a beautiful sunset, while running three different virtual machines in linux, listening to my favorite music, while updating my blog (that nobody cares about anyway; well, maybe if you've read this far, you do) And it really is great. I can keep in touch with all of my children during the day (as long as I don't spend too much time while at work!) and see what they are doing via their blogs and messages, and what's going on and important in their lives. It is an exciting time to live.
And then it made me stop and think....indeed, we should never cease to be amazed....even at the technology that we use everyday. At the moment, I'm sitting on the patio, watching a beautiful sunset, while running three different virtual machines in linux, listening to my favorite music, while updating my blog (that nobody cares about anyway; well, maybe if you've read this far, you do) And it really is great. I can keep in touch with all of my children during the day (as long as I don't spend too much time while at work!) and see what they are doing via their blogs and messages, and what's going on and important in their lives. It is an exciting time to live.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
My turn
So here I am, Sunday afternoon, thinking about how much I enjoy reading the blogs of my two daughters (I will announce which of my children is my favorite some other time, Mandi), and how good it would be to share thoughts, ideas, events, activities, plans and accomplishments with everyone in the family; and then I realize that I need to get started now. It's my turn.
My brother Dave sends pictures and commentaries every so often to select members of the family, and Dick sends pictures and notices less frequently by e-mail, but a blog gives an opportunity to add more personal thoughts to everyday events. So here goes.
My life is divided and compartmentalized into a few main areas: Church, projects, work, travel and recreation. That leaves about five minutes per week for "other".
I'll start with projects:
My idea of a good day-off starts at 6:00 A.M. on Saturday, when the air is cool, and the sun is just coming up. Focus on one thing, work till at least 10, but probably not past 2, and then take off for Morro Bay on the motorcycle to cool off, get a fish and chips, and read in the park by the marina until it gets chilly. By then, it has cooled off back home, and a couple of other small projects can get knocked off before it gets dark. Sounds boring, I know, but hey, it's my day-off, remember?
Right now, I have two main projects: finish installing the Heating/AC system, and add pavers in the backyard from the existing pavers to the fence, and over to the line that defines the edge of the circular area in the back, a straight strip that extends what I've already done, and defines the back yard area. That's about 50' x 24'; about 1200 sq. ft. I want to get that done before it rains, because after the rains start, it's excavation time for the foundation of the block wall in the backyard, around the circular area.
It's almost all hand-digging and shovelling, because the economics of my projects doesn't allow for heavy equipment or large outlays at a time; if I take the trailer to work, I can come home with about a yard of base or DG to lay down after work. A little each day still gets a lot done.
Set a goal, and stick to it, or I will never get it done. Why am I working so hard? Mostly just to stay fit; a little bit to have some control somewhere in my life. Most of the other things are activities that are dictated by the needs and necessities of others. No travel time available for the rest of this year, and recreation covers the few hours on Saturday afternoon, unless one of the other categories encroaches on that time.
Work. Work is interesting and yet stressful right now, because we are working on deployment of a big project, using a third-party software to manage document archiving and reports.
It is going agonizingly slow, yet every once in a while, something new pops up that makes it worthwhile. The back office is being remodeled, which means it will be nice and pretty and organized; but it means putting up with dust, noise, cleaning up, tearing up, and even a few inconveniences. There is drywall dust in the servers, everything I need is stored in boxes, equipment piled all over, and everything needs to be done either: now, or: after hours.
It will be finished. Someday. Soon.
My brother Dave sends pictures and commentaries every so often to select members of the family, and Dick sends pictures and notices less frequently by e-mail, but a blog gives an opportunity to add more personal thoughts to everyday events. So here goes.
My life is divided and compartmentalized into a few main areas: Church, projects, work, travel and recreation. That leaves about five minutes per week for "other".
I'll start with projects:
My idea of a good day-off starts at 6:00 A.M. on Saturday, when the air is cool, and the sun is just coming up. Focus on one thing, work till at least 10, but probably not past 2, and then take off for Morro Bay on the motorcycle to cool off, get a fish and chips, and read in the park by the marina until it gets chilly. By then, it has cooled off back home, and a couple of other small projects can get knocked off before it gets dark. Sounds boring, I know, but hey, it's my day-off, remember?
Right now, I have two main projects: finish installing the Heating/AC system, and add pavers in the backyard from the existing pavers to the fence, and over to the line that defines the edge of the circular area in the back, a straight strip that extends what I've already done, and defines the back yard area. That's about 50' x 24'; about 1200 sq. ft. I want to get that done before it rains, because after the rains start, it's excavation time for the foundation of the block wall in the backyard, around the circular area.
It's almost all hand-digging and shovelling, because the economics of my projects doesn't allow for heavy equipment or large outlays at a time; if I take the trailer to work, I can come home with about a yard of base or DG to lay down after work. A little each day still gets a lot done.
Set a goal, and stick to it, or I will never get it done. Why am I working so hard? Mostly just to stay fit; a little bit to have some control somewhere in my life. Most of the other things are activities that are dictated by the needs and necessities of others. No travel time available for the rest of this year, and recreation covers the few hours on Saturday afternoon, unless one of the other categories encroaches on that time.
Work. Work is interesting and yet stressful right now, because we are working on deployment of a big project, using a third-party software to manage document archiving and reports.
It is going agonizingly slow, yet every once in a while, something new pops up that makes it worthwhile. The back office is being remodeled, which means it will be nice and pretty and organized; but it means putting up with dust, noise, cleaning up, tearing up, and even a few inconveniences. There is drywall dust in the servers, everything I need is stored in boxes, equipment piled all over, and everything needs to be done either: now, or: after hours.
It will be finished. Someday. Soon.
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