Yes, I'm posting this at 530 in the morning. After having just changed the boy's diaper (it was soiled) and his clothes (and using socks as mittens to keep his little fingers warm), I've set the boy within his gym since he's still awake but so so fidgety. yet. he will be. He's fussy. but I think he's starting to sleep better. maybe.

Yesterday the three of us and Violets' folks drove through DC. We had McDs, Krispy Kreme, and saw the Washington Monument. Violet & Drake stayed in the car because the baby isnt allowed in public yet. His immune system is too immature to risk exposure.

It was closed when we got there, so we just walked around it. whoo hoo?
Once I get pics from Grandpa B's camera, I'll post them.

As the sun eases its tired smile upon the world,
As the day no longer competes with the night,
As leaves begin to show off their new Autumn colors,
As stars dance around Violet Twilight,

A sense of meaning fills the land,
A sense of belonging envelops the air,
A sense of purpose colors nature,
A sense of love surrounds Drake's Lair.

Avast me buckos, tis another fine day indeed. Since many of you land lubbers don't have a pirate name, I've taken the liberty to help ye out. Ye owe me a rum. ARRRRRRRR!

My pirate name is:

Mad James Rackham

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

I've added a few web comics to my usualy reading. I only remember the address for one, so here it is.

The Secret Life of Mobs

Its great in that it a web comic about Warhammer, mostly Warhammer Online, the game I'm working on. Its pretty amusing.

So like, I've been pretty busy having a baby. I mean, *I* didn't have him myself, but I helped. Anyway, check out Drake's Blog for what been happening the last week or two, since I havent had time to update mine too much :)
Here's a quick list

• Worked a lot
• Celebrated Violet's bithday
• Violet went into labor
• Started paternity leave
• Tried (and failed) to find time to get enough sleep.

Lily is the name of Violet's 2000 Nissan XTerra. (She's blue). Yesterday Lily wouldn't start. This is not good for a 39 week pregnant woman with no real food at home and a hospital that is farther away than the front door. It seemed to be due to the battery not having enough power. Some lights flickered dimly, but not enough to start the car.

Not ever having got around to buying any kind of jumper cable kit, I stopped at Sears on my way home from work, but I didnt care for their choices. I went to Home Depot and picked up one of those units that uses the 12v DC adapter in your car instead of needing to use cables connected to the battery. Unfortunately it wasn't portable like I thought. It plugged into the DC adapter all right, but I then had to plug the other end into a 120v wall outlet, and THEN it still took 5+ mins to charge the battery enough to attempt a start. Bleh.

After going online I decided I wanted the Simple Start™ Vehicle Battery Booster, from Black & Decker. Pretty slick little device, small enough to fit in my glove box or rear compartment, starts the car via in-car DC adapter in a few mins, built in LED, DC accessory outlet, etc.. Nice feature list. Although Home Depot lists in on their website though, my local store didn't have any. It was close to 10pm, closing time, so my choices were looking bleak.

I did some searching online and discovered that Wal-mart also carries it. Most stores close at 9 or 10, but I called by local store just in case, and lo and behold, they're open till midnight every day of the week. Score! I ask if they have any in stock, and they do! and at 8 cents below MSRP. SCORE AGAIN! I race down there, buy it, and discover that it has to charge for 15 hours before I can try to use it. Bah!

So Lily didn't get fixed last night.
Today I got home and tried the device, and after 15 mins or so of trying to boost charge, and the car not starting still, it just wasn't working out. I kept getting beeping noises and LEDs indicating some kinda warning. I followed the instructions to the letter. I was about to go buy a new battery when I decided to unplug the device and yet again and try the headlights. They came on for a second. So I tried starting the car (without the device attached) and it started fine. Maybe the device boosted it and I need to disconnect it before I tried starting the car.. I dunno. We drove to DQ and back in order to ensure the alternator was charging the battery OK. We just got back and it seems OK right now.

I suspect that the very short distances Violet travels (< 2 miles once a day or two) isn't enough to charge the battery with the AC, radio, lights, or whatever else on. I hope the car starts tomorrow morning.

This week was busier than even most of my busy weeks.

I worked around 55 or so hours this week at work. Not because I had to or because we're in "crunch" mode. I'm just passionate about what I do and I want to ensure I get it done on time and with a very high amount of quality. I'm pretty much done, and my stuff isn't due until Tuesday, but this gives me more time to tweek, test, bug fix, and otherwise polish my work. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on "what" I've been doing, only that it's great :)

Violet's Birthday was yesterday. We didn't do much, her being 9 months pregnant and all.. (She's due Sep 19th, which is National Talk Like A Pirate Day). Besides, I'm not sure I can top previous years... last year we went to the Godsmack / Rob Zombie concert in Boston (Sully's home town) and to Wicked, the musical, in Chicago the year before. Maybe we can do something nice next year, like visit San Diego. I'm glad Drake wasn't born on Violet's birthday. It would have made the occasion less special for them both, me thinks. We had Wendy's for dinner on her birthday. I need to try one of their new Oreo frosty's.

Violet went to a Baby Shower yesterday, so I went to work :). I wasn't there long though before some friends of mine called for my help. The furniture people they got delivered their couch, but just left it at the front door. Apparently these guys didn't get any games as kids that involved putting the round cylinder in the round opening and the square peg in the square hole. I arrived shortly after the movers had left (given up and were dismissed). The couch had been removed from its protective packaging and several scraps and rubs were all over the walls and some on the couch. Sure the couch was longer than the doorway was high, and entering the front door leads to an immediate right hand turn. Seemed hopeless to the movers, I suppose. Fortunately, I got lucky and was able to help them put the couch in the apartment without any scraping or scuffs. We tilted the couch straight up, then tilted it under the doorway and slid it in and up. The doorway was too short for the length of the couch, but the ceiling certainly wasn't. It didn't take too long. It's a pretty nice couch, IMO.

As I was leaving the friend's apartment Violet called me saying she was done with the baby shower (I had driven her so she didn't have to find parking and besides, it was close to work) so I went and picked her up. So I didn't really get any work done, but that's OK. We had dinner plans at 6, and it was around 430ish. So not wanting to drive 30 mins home and then 30 mins back to the same friend's apartment I was just at, we went over there early. Violet wanted P.F. Chang's for dinner, so we decided to do it Sat night instead of Friday night. Friday was book club, which Violet and I made a cameo appearance at. The place was near the friend's apartment too.

Important Tip: If you plan to go out to a fancy place on Saturday night in ritzy Fairfax, VA. make a reservation.

I didn't even think of doing so, and so we waited over an hour to get a table. Our friends had 2 kids (a toddler and a baby), so the wait was somewhat difficult for everyone. I ordered the only thing I like at a Chinese restaurant: Chicken Fried Rice, no veggies, no soy sauce, and no scallions. Chicken, Rice, Egg. That's it. It was pretty decent, better tasting than the PF Chang's in Madison, Wisconsin (Though WI has MUCH better service). I still prefer Pick up Stix.

Today I trimmed the hedges near the community mailbox, because no one else has. I also applied a primer coat of paint to a glider bench I acquired from the side of the road. It's in good condition, but the wood is a little worn. Works well. I cleaned and sanded it last week. Next week I'll paint it and be done with it. It'll work out well in the backyard, I hope.

In gaming news, I created a website for my new D&D group. It only took like 2 hours to make. I'm quite proud of it though.

I guess that's all for now. Leave a comment sometime, eh?

Happy Birthday to Violet. May your special day have more fun than candles.

Since its been so long since Ive last posted I'll just summarize as much as I can remember.

Lots of work.
Great relaxing weekend with the wife. She working fewer hours. Mmm Clifton Ice Cream was good. Saw Stardust last weekend, it was really good. Cleaned and sanded a bench. I was gonna paint it, but got lazy. I've been putting in a lot of overtime at work so I've just been sleeping and working mainly, and just got caught up on all my TiVo'd shows. At some point I should probably list what those are. I bought and played BioShock for a little while last week, but havn't got around to continuing it. ALso been trying to put in some Brain 2 whatever ya call it on the DS. I have the brain age of a 50 year old. I guess that makes me wise at least. I got the A Team theme as a ring tone on my cell phone. Took the dog to the vet and Gwynn is fine, just needs to heal a bit more from her apparent neck injury or whatever it was that was causing her to squeak. I started a new D&D game with some co-workers. I'm actually a player for a change. I'm, playing an Elven Cleric of Corellon. SO far so good, we've only had 1 game. I tossed together a quick website for it too. Once its DM approved and I get more info on it I may post a link.

Thats all I can think of for now.