position change?

So today I found out that I am going to be moved from the Engineering department to the become part of a new group being formed under the Service umbrella. I'm basically going to have the same job, but report to the director of customer service and have a few more responsibilities. Along with my current duties I will also be doing some project management along with more initial deployment and on-going service with our systems projects. In all it should be a good move and I'll also get to retain my engineering title. My new title will be something like Systems Engineer, Applications Engineer or Product Engineer. The next 6 months should be interesting to say the least and professionally get me moving in the direction that I am looking to go...

lazy weekend

So the trip up to Fargo fell through which turned this weekend into a pretty relaxing one. Friday night I went with Melissa to a party that her gymnastics coach through. It was a pretty good time, with most of the conversations focused on gymnastics. It was a little weird since I’ve never really thought much about gymnastics outside of once every 4 years – during the Olympics, and this weekend was a heavy dose. Saturday I got a lot of cleaning done around the house. After cleaning Melissa and I went to Kahn’s Mongolian BBQ for some dinner and then hit a movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Sunday morning we attended church and then had plans to bar-b-q at Melissa’s brother and sister-in-laws. Well, those plans fell through so we decided to head to the Mall of America to do some shopping. I picked up some clothes and Mel got some new shades and a pair of sandals. We then strolled through IKEA, my first time, just to check things out. On the way back to my place we stopped at Pot Belly, one of my new favorite eating establishments, and Blockbuster to rent a movie.

anonymous commenting

I have disabled this feature due to unwanted anonymous commenting I've been having that has had inappropriate language. From now on you need to be comment using a registered username. Sorry for the inconvenience.

last weekend

So last weekend ended up costing me a little more than a weekend in South Dakota. When I decided to head down to SD, one of my plans was to have Melissa's dad help me change out the starter. The first thing we did was take the old one out, a task that took a whole 2 hours. The bolts were not only rusty, but were placed very precariously. We headed to the parts store and swapped out the starter for a new one ($130). Another hour later and she was in and running like a champ. Once that was done I figured why not change out the thermostat, something I've been meaning to do for almost a year. After a few bumps in the road and installing the thermostat twice, everything was done and the entire project only took just over 4 hours. That evening came along and we took the 'new' car out to Mel's grandparent’s house, a cool 45 minutes away. We arrived, at some home cooked food and before we knew, it was 10pm time to go. Well, on the drive back about 35 miles from Sioux Falls my car began to vibrate. Then it turned violent. I decided to pull over and as fate would have it, there was a rest stop 1/3 of a mile ahead. I pulled in and got out to inspect the car. As suspected, a flat tire in the rear of the car. I jacked the car up and went to grab the flat tire and my hand nearly got burned. The tire felt so hot like it could combust any moment! I pulled the tire off and to my surprise part of the tire had peeled away and left a nice strip of bald tire, and in spots, was worn all the way through the steel belt! Great. So I through on the spare tire and limped the rest of the way to SF. Sunday morning I woke and found a place that was open and bought two new tires. I had the two in the front of the car rotated to the back and the new tires placed up front. When it was all said and done, it was a cool $188 more out of pocket then planned.

sd

Off to SD... err, South Dakota - again. Melissa and I both took today off and are heading down to Sioux Falls for a family get together. Other than that, just running some errands around town before we hit the road!

end of the world - sign

So I just read the following on Fox News dot com and had to do something:


Pennsylvania May Mandate Doggie Seat Belts

GREEN TREE, Pa. (AP) — Doggone it! Rover won't be able to hang his head out the car window any more if an 11-year-old boy gets his wish.

Marc McCann came up with the idea of ensuring that dogs are restrained while in cars as part of state Rep. Tom Stevenson's (search) annual "There Ought to be a Law" contest.

Stevenson submitted a bill to the House Transportation Committee in June that would require drivers to keep their dogs' heads inside the vehicle at all times.

Stevenson also wants animals restrained, either with some kind of modified seat belt or in a crate or carrier box.

"I never did like dogs sticking their heads out the window," said McCann, one of more than 500 students from his legislative district who proposed laws. "Maybe a sign might have been too close to the road and they'd get hit. Maybe they'd jump out the window on a highway."

Stevenson said the bill will protect "not only human lives, but pet lives. I think it's going to be a great idea because it's going to cut down on driver distractions."

I found Tom's email address, tstevens@pahousegop.com and have sent him the following email:

Now I'm not from your district or even your state but... I just read that you submitted a bill to the house that would require a dog to wear a seatbelt? This is absurd and I am hopeful this is a joke. I know, maybe you should require humans and dogs to wear helmets too... or maybe wear football pads. Statistically that will save more lives, right? Tom, there has to be a point where enough is enough. Don't protect people from themselves, people don't need it, and more so, neither do the dogs.

- Adam

re: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161748,00.html

charles spurgeon quotes

"I hear some Brethren rejoicing that perhaps the Lord will come, and therefore they will not die. I would sooner die, had I my choice. I see no comfort in the hope of not dying. If I die not I shall have lost what thousands will have who die, namely, actual fellowship with Christ in the grave."

"You know more about your ledgers than your Bible; you know more about your magazines and novels than what God has written; many of you will read a novel from the beginning to the end, and what have you got? A mouthful of foam when you are done. But you cannot read the Bible; that solid, lasting, substantial, and satisfying food goes uneaten, locked up in the cupboard of neglect; while anything that a man writes, a best seller of the day, is greedily devoured."

san diego

As you may or may not know, I went with my girlfriend, Melissa, to San Diego for the 4th of July this year. 5 days of fun-in-the-sun or should I say, perfect weather.

We arrived on Friday and didn't do too much right away. We went to my sister and brother-in-laws to drop off our luggage. After sitting around for a half hour we decided to head downtown San Diego and hit the gas lamp district for a drink or two before we head to a baseball game (which I surprised Melissa with). We got to the ball park, which is bran new last year and really state of the art. Not only is it scenic, but its in downtown, open air, very accessable, and a really well designed park. The game was against the much rivaled Giants, which for being not close (8 hour drive) had quite an attendance of Giant fans. The game ended with SD losing 2-3, but the real highlight of the game was just the atmosphere.

Here was the view from our seats! I know a lot of people say it, but there really isn't a bad seat in the house! The cool thing about this park is as you go down the baseline the seats angle in so you don't end up with a kink in your neck. Brilliant.

So after the game we were wiped and headed back to their house for some much needed rest. Saturday we woke up and had lunch at The Farms golf course in Rancho Santa Fe, one of the wealthiest communities in the US (#3 to be exact, used to be #1). The food was great and before we new it we had to head to the airport.
We got to the airport and Dave was already there prepping his plane for our flight up to Malibu to visit two of Melissa's friends, Anna and Mike. We arrived in style 45 minutes later and were bound for lunch at the In-and-Out Burger. After a filling lunch we shot over to Santa Monica and Venice Beach (muscle beach) and did some site seeing. After some walking around we took off and stopped for dinner at an amazing seafood restaurant right on the ocean. Great food, great atmosphere, huge portions (no joke), all at a premium price. For desert we headed to the UCLA campus to a local ice cream shop and finished off the night. Sunday morning we went into Malibu for some breakfast and got to do some star gazing. We happened to catch Matthew Perry from Friends walking out, a surprisingly large guy. After breakfast we headed back to the airport where Dave picked us up to bring us back to San Diego.





After getting back into town we decided to head into La Jolla to do some shopping and more site seeing. This is the second time I've been to La Jolla and it's probably one of my favorite places to be. I think if I won the lotto, I'd have a place in La Jolla. Anyways, so we ate at a microbrew, watched some seals playing in the water and just enjoyed another nearly perfect day.


Monday on the 4th we had the privilege to head to the La Jolla Beach and Tennis club - a club privately owned by the Kellogg family (as in Kellogg cereal). We played some bocce ball, frisbee, football, and rented sea kayaks. The club then served a phat buffet dinner worthy of royalty and then we relaxed on the beach as the fireworks display was shot off the point. It was truly a memorable vacation... one that went by way too fast.

islam

Something I learned today, somewhat interesting:

From family.org

In news reports, you'll often hear the claim that "Islam means peace." There is a grain of truth in this, because the word Islam is related to the Arabic word for "peace." But it is properly translated into English as "submission."

How does "submission" relate to "peace"? Malise Ruthven, a religious-studies professor at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and a former editor for the BBC's Arabic Service, explained that in Islam, "People protect themselves against God's wrath by humbling themselves before their Creator and undertaking the duties and responsibilities of Muslims. Islam in its original meaning is the primary act of self-surrender: an act of ... choice whereby a person places his or her destiny in the hands of Allah and submits to Allah's 'governance.'"

The very word Muslim means "one who has submitted himself to God," and the kind of peace offered such a person is expressed by the Arabic word salima, which means "to be safe, unharmed, secure or intact."