morrowlife

Here’s yet another picture of the little train we rode several days ago. I think this looks just like some of your more famous train pictures, don’t you? What a great train.

Today was my off Friday, so I only worked about five hours and then did one phone call at home. Easy day! Man is the work piling up there. Extended Bearing Down is required just to keep up there.

Spent some time with Loyal Readers One and Two in the pool this afternoon. Great relaxation. Later, Loyal Reader Number Four and I went to the grocery store to buy food for the boys and I to eat while she’s away on her girls’ trip next week. We have plenty of TV dinners, taquitos, popsicles, and breakfast food. We’ll survive. On the opposite side of the spectrum, she made us a great dinner tonight. I figure she wants to create a contrast between when she’s here and when she’s not, causing us to miss her more. Not necessary, of course, but the difference will probably be dramatic indeed. I’m sure we’ll enjoy our TV dinners, though.

Inspired by Design On a Dime, I’ve decided to work on a Computer On a Dime. I want a reasonably-powered Linux machine for experimenting, and I’m trying to figure out how to get it for two hundred bucks or less. I’m looking for a 2 GHz motherboard and processor for about a hundred dollars, an eighty or hundred gigabyte hard drive for fifty bucks, 512 MB of memory for thirty dollars, and a case for about twenty. I have a CD drive already. This is really a challenge, but I think we’ll be able to do it. Loyal Readers are invited to keep an eye out for sales and let me know. Or they could just donate hardware if they prefer.

Phase two of this project will be a case mod. Loyal Reader ideas for this phase are also invited.

A quiet weekend is planned. We take LRN4 to the airport on Saturday afternoon and go to Manteca for church and to pick up the modified pool plans on Sunday. Otherwise, we’re pretty much unplanned. Maybe something fun will come up.

Otherwise, see you on Monday. Have a great weekend.

Here’s a picture from the Secret Undisclosed Location, courtesy of Loyal Reader Number Two. I won’t reveal the exact function of this room except to say that we expect a lot of rumpusing to go on there.

It turns out that one of my brothers-in-law is a little more famous than I had realized. Way to go, Loyal Reader Number Zero! On the other hand, my father isn’t doing very well at all.

Well, we made it through the induction ceremony – turns out it was more for the parents than the kids! – and the house and pool walkthroughs. We detected a small mistake in the pool design, which they have agreed to fix before construction begins. We also found several nits but no really serious problems in the house. This builder really seems to make a quality product. Check back with me in a year or so and see if that opinion still holds.

Anyway, we’re all exhausted. Poor little Belle had to spend the entire day in her box, but she seems fine tonight.

The one problem with going to the walkthrough is that we’re now more anxious than ever to get moved in. The place is beautiful and relatively roomy (could be better, but it’ll be just fine) and we are really ready to have our own things and our own home again. There is a lot of landscaping and interior designing to be done, and we’re anxious to get started doing it. Only two more weeks and it’s all ours!

We got a call from Loyal Reader Number Five around mid-day. She had apparently recently been to see her doctor, and she now knows the gender (link warning – cute baby picture that doesn’t disclose any Top Secret Information) of her baby! I’m not telling, of course, but she can feel free to add an appropriate comment if she chooses. All I can say is that I’m really excited about the whole thing. We need to start buying baby presents right away! I wonder how (he or she) would like a new computer. Or maybe a 42-inch plasma television. (He or she) could use them whenever (he or she) comes to visit us. I think I’ll get that neat-o baby wipe heater to keep at (his or her) house.

Well, I want to read some tonight, so bye.

It kind of looks like this poor caroussel horse is trapped in a full-body leather mask, doesn’t it? Poor thing. I wonder what he did.

Tomorrow is a big day for us! We’re doing both the house and pool walkthroughs up in Lardville, and the boys are going to Salida for their School Induction Ceremony. I think they have to take a test or something. We have to leave pretty early, so I have to get up on schedule on my vacation day! That’s just wrong.

We watched a DVD with a bunch of old Monk episodes tonight. Always enjoyable. The three of us boys also got haircuts. We look great, if I do say so myself.

The History Channel is running shows about pirates. I think it’s merely a coincidence that Disney is releasing their big pirate movie this week, don’t you? I wonder if those guys ever wrapped a horse in leather. Bad people.

Bedtime seems to come earlier every night. See you tomorrow, with news on the multiple walkthroughs.

Following up on yesterday’s Great Art, here’s a fearsome steed from the Los Gatos caroussel. In fact, this was my Personal, Private Horse. He tried to throw me several times, but I showed him who was boss.

I’m enjoying having the comments on the main page. It makes it feel much more like a conversation than before. Keep making those comments, Loyal Readers!

Loyal Reader Number Four spent a lot of time today getting some of the details of the new house lined up – insurance, power, water, sewer, garbage, phone, internet, television, and . . . and . . . maybe that’s it. Still, that’s a lot, and she did great work on it. It looks like the combination of phone/DSL/satellite is somewhat cheaper and probably better than phone/cable modem/cable TV. The big kicker is that the Comcast people don’t include TCM with their basic service here, and the DirecTV people do include BYU TV. Who can argue with that? DSL is a little cheaper than cable internet, but I’m really worried about the speed. Still, it might be worth it to give them a chance. Besides, I’m really sick of Comcast’s brand of service.

Loyal Reader Number One got a book called Applied Cryptography at the library today. I enjoy the topic and hope he does too. Maybe we’ll see some new crypto programs coming from Gardenville Software soon.

Early finish tonight. Hasta manana.

Here’s a beautiful hand-painted picture of some angels. With just a single glance, I’m sure my Loyal Readers will agree that their spirits soar. A second glance might not lead to the same conclusion, however. Actually, this lovely portrait is in the caroussel in Los Gatos we visited during the Fourth of July weekend. They had a lot more (by the same artist!) just as good as this one but, strangely, I failed to take their picture. Maybe we’ll go back so I can correct this oversight.

Speaking of Great Art, I think it would be appropriate to invite my Loyal Readers to submit Quality Photographs they feel would be suitable for viewing in the Morrowlife blog. This is a limited-time offer. Operators are standing by, so act now! Really. I’d love to showcase some Loyal Reader work here. At least until I find time to take some more pictures.

The days, they keep getting shorter. I’m busy, busy, busy at work, and now taking a substantial amount of work home to avoid being there until 7:00 every night. Yikes! At least they’re now giving me substantial responsibility and a little bit of authority to make decisions. Whatever were they thinking? I’ve been either eating, working, or home eveninging since I got home. Of course, home eveninging included a substantial amount of time in the spa under the heading of “activity,” so don’t get all emotional for me.

The weekend was pretty peaceful. We went to the library on Saturday so I could augment the Loyal Reader Book Club. I got a few good ones. Some are too nerdy to mention right now, but I’m reading a really interesting one, in a nerdy sort of way. It’s called The Romance of Engines. It’s by a Japanese guy who works for a manufacturer of large trucks and, as my notably intelligent Loyal Readers have probably guessed, it’s about engines. So far, I’m still in the early history of internal combustion, but he’s already discussed some pretty amazing technology developed to try to improve the efficiency of gasoline and diesel engines. Most of the basic science was done by the 1800s, and by early in the 20th century, they had tried a lot of really advanced stuff. The fact that most of it didn’t work, and in fact made things much worse, doesn’t take anything away from the coolness and inventiveness of the ideas. The book itself is an entertaining cross between history and science textbooks. We get the stories of the people and companies who invented new things along with a fairly detailed description of the math and physics behind their ideas, with illustrations ranging from pictures of vehicles and their engines to simple block diagrams of physical principles to detailed graphs of experimental results to basic equations and their applications. I’m really enjoying it. While the book won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, I suspect that one or two of my Loyal Readers might find it interesting. But probably not. Anyhow, it’s going on the Book Club list.

Let’s see, what else did I get? Oh, there’s a book called Basic Electronics that includes some elementary digital circuit design. Maybe too nerdy for the Club. There’s another one called The Success of Open Source. I don’t know what it says about open-source, but I intend to read it and find out. If it’s more general interest than how-to-program (and I think it will be – it got great reviews on Amazon), I’ll tell you all about it. Then there’s Cryptography for Dummies and The Elements of User Interface Design (kind of a weak point for Embedded Systems programmers like me, hence a topic of interest). You might not hear much more about those ones either.

I also get an Evelyn Waugh novel called Decline & Fall. I know nothing about it yet, other than that it was recommended by an author who likes P.G. Wodehouse’s work, so it might be good. I’ll refrain from adding it to the Book Club list until after I’ve read a little bit and determined whether it’s up to the Morrowlife Book Club’s high standards.

It was nice to hear from LRN5 in Friday’s comments. Your high Morrowlife standing is assured – at least for the time being. We’re pretty demanding around here.

Well, it’s time to stop writing and start reading some of those books. See you tomorrow.