Sam's burn

This last Monday, Cathi called me at work and I could hear Sam crying in the background. She explained to me that Sam got up on the counter (hopefully for the last time) after Jacob had recently made some 2 min. noodles and put his left palm directly on the burner and had burned it pretty bad.

From Family

He had a huge blister on his palm that the Dr's popped a couple days later. They set up an appointment at U of U for the next week to follow up.

I went in with Cathi Tuesday morning and they cut all the dead skin that was used by the long popped blister. They instructed us in how to clean, and redress the wound. He only whimpered a couple of times when they took it off. He was pretty well distracted with a couple of toys that he played with. The night before we went in, I gave him a Father's Blessing. That made a difference I think as he didn't scream, but whimpered a couple times.

From Family

His hand seems to be in more pain with the blister cut off, I think because the nerves are sensitive on that new skin and the blister was protecting it more. But with it popped and dry now, I guess it had to come off from what the U of U people had to say. The U of U burn center was apparently the only of its kind in the Mid-west and they know what they're doing. They told us to change it twice daily and to help him stretch his hand often so that he doesn't lose full functionality of his hand as his skin recovers. It will have a tendency to become tighter, thus harder to stretch than the skin before.

From Family

I sure love that boy. He has been real tough with the recovery, but its taking a toll. It's not as easy anymore and he protects his left hand from getting in the bath, and seems to be using it less which is a worry.

He's gotten on the counter before (as most of the other kids) and have been warned about getting burned. But I guess it really hits home with them when they understand the concern, after the fact.

Over a year later.......There is no scar, no loss of movement, no trace whatsoever of this burn. Sam just has a greater respect for hot things now. So he's doing great! Here's a video of Sam and Oliver under the influence (of sugar):

From Family Videos

Focusing Intensely

Today's table tennis at lunchtime sucked bigtime, until the later end. I was getting beat at about a 50% rate by Gyan and Travis. However at the end I tried something new that I've never done before. Focus. Not mentally, but literally with sight.

I'm not really a big cat fan but one thing I admire about cats is their ability to zero in on prey and put their attention completely on their object. I tried that this time. I kept my eye on the ball with a much greater intensity. When I did that I was able to play much better. In fact when I did that I kept Gyan to 1 and 2 points for two games before calling it a day.

Gotta remember to focus!

Finished first draft of wfttc.org

This evening I finished the first draft of my vision of wfttc.org Sent an email to George Majors for his thoughts. If you check it out and find any typos let me know. If you have any suggestions on UI or navigation, let me know too.

Too Many Bubbles

It doesn't take a whole lot of bubble bath to get some bubbles. Especially when you turn on the jets, that gets them built up even more. The little kids were filthy so I gave them a bath. When Sam declared "Bubbles!" I felt obliged, but I guess I added a little too much. They had fun and we had to give them a shower rinse after getting out cause they were covered.

Discovered "Within Temptation" and rediscovered static-x

Browsing around on Yahoo Music I found "Within Temptation" which sounds to me nearly identical to Evanescence. Which is great cause they rock. I downloaded their latest three albums and so far have been pleased. Here is one of my favorites - Mother Earth.

But on the way to work I heard another song from Static-X which I've had for a while. I was getting into it. What Static-X lacks vocally (which isn't necessarily bad, just different and intriguing) it makes up for in Guitars and Drums. Here is one of my favorites - Chromamatic. The vocals sound just like their name "static".

Volkerball DVD in US

Although I bought the latest Rammstein DVD when it came out in Europe a long time ago, I guess it takes a while for the US to come around to it. I don't really see the point since the real US fans should already have a copy.

I bought the Special Edition and I sure glad the documentaries included English subtitles (which you have to turn on) cause although I really like the German Language and know a few words here and there I definitely can't speak it or understand in conversationally. The concerts shown are amazing and if they come to the Western USA, I'm there!

I still like dogs better

Ever since my adolescence I never liked cats in fact, I would have spent time in juvenile detention if the animal police knew of an incident I was involved in. But lately, my ways have changed and I'm a little more tolerant of cats. The kids have enjoyed having "Zeldamo" that we picked up in Albion. Here is a picture of me sacking out on the floor one Sunday afternoon after church and the cat helping itself to my back as a warm pillow.

Oh if things were simpler

Last weekend we went up to the cabin and it seems like every time we drive through Logan we really enjoy the small town feeling and the "out in the woods" feel and I often say out loud, "Wouldn't it be nice to live here. I think I'll retire here". Last time I even said wouldn't it be nice to get a job up here? Well coincidently I got an email yesterday with a couple job openings for a web developer in Logan. I applied, although it seems highly unlikely it will progress very far. The salary they are offering is not remotely in the range we would need. Reminds me of the Talking Heads Song where you question your place in life. Oh if things were simpler. There are so many variables to consider and I think a change at this point of this magnitude would do more harm than good. But here's to dreaming!

John Pratt's nerdy, but enlightening attacking rule

Here is John's article.

Basically I need to make sure that I'm making no less than 2/3rds of my attacking shots. This forces the defending Ballarino to return at least half them in order to cut even.

Oliver is getting to be real fun

This weekend we went to the cabin mostly to avoid early morning traffic to Smithfield for Jacob's football game. They won 30 something to zero. Jacob didn't play much since he was sick this week and lost his starting position. But it was fun to watch anyway.
We gooed alot with Oliver who is getting to get real cute with the smiles and gooing.

My wishlist

1) Star Trek New Generation Seasons 1 - 7
2) Night Vision Goggles
3) Bag for carrying my stuff. PURCHASED
4) Mike Doughty Tour shirt XX-Large size!

Configuring OC4J 10.1.3 to startup in debug mode

Trying to find documentation on this kind of stuff should NOT be that tough!!!!
But I won the lottery and found it. Here is a link ->

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B32110_01/web.1013/b28950/sysprops.htm#CHDGCJHG

Table tennis is best played like karate, not ballet!!!

I've always realized there have been different playing styles, and I have very strong opinions on what is a desirable style to watch and play and that is an aggressive style, rather than a defensive style, or one that overemphasizes spin over speed. I've seen some people play the game and it reminds me of a martial art. One where it is very aggressive and militaristic. That is the style I like to see.

However the way a couple of guys play at work its being rendered as a very feminine style of play, almost like a ballarino. It annoys me, because they'll often setup using backspin like a ballarino, and then come back with a topspin kill that once in a while they actually get. So I have to remember not to give in to the slow girly type of play, and continuously play offensively even if it seems easier just to chop the ball.

Down with continuous chopping and pushing. Don't be a pussy!

Anonymous Inner Classes

Today I noticed that the class files that eclipse would generate also generated other class files with $1 in the name. I was wondering what that was all about. So I decompiled the class by looking at the files in cavaj. I found that it was small java code that was from constructing a new object without a name (Anonymous innner class).

Gridley Bike Race

Well there were quite a few deadbeats to Dad's challenge, but here is how it went.
We started in front of the FAA building on 700 North turned north on 2200 W to 2100 N and turned right. Went over the overpass down to 1800 N turned right to 2200 W again and turned North. Followed the same path again to get to 1800 N and 2200 W again, then turned south to just past 700 North. Total = 7 miles.

Dad and Mom got a head start of 25 seconds. I got a head start of 5 seconds to Eric. Mom only did the northern loop once so her race was only 5 miles.

Eric passed me quite easily. I wasn't going to kill myself. I saw that Eric was closing in on Dad, but never was able to pass him. Dad won the race with Eric about 100 yards behind him. I don't know what everyone else's times were, but I did the race in 14.4 Avg speed (28 minutes or so) and came in last. Better luck next year.