Thoughts of the Eternal Student

Let the Campaigning Stop!

2008-12-05T23:03:00.003-06:00

The echoes of the soundbits of Obama and Hillary's bickering is still ringing in my ears, and the mud slinging for the Republican nomination for Texas governor is starting.

This is ridiculous. Kay "Bailout" is way too cutesy for me to listen to for the next TWO years. Perry's people need to find another nasty nickname if they want me to pay attention.

The Reason I Work

2008-09-19T15:10:00.002-05:00

When the kids wake up in the morning I'm usually the one to get up and get the day started with them. Earlier this week Bubba Gene was sick and I was going to be home with him in the afternoon, so I came in to the office early. When Princess Ana woke up and noticed the change in routine she was very understanding.

Ana: Where's daddy?
Mama: He went to school to do some work.
Ana: Yeah. So he can buy me more dollies.

A wonderful moment in parenting

2008-09-13T13:42:00.002-05:00

Ana just went down for her nap, but not before achieving an important milestone.

Ana: "Daddy, I want my towel."
Me (two minutes of harried searching later): "Ana, I don't know where it is. Try to go to sleep, baby."
Ana: "It's in the seat of my Barbie car."

and there was much rejoicing. Princess Ana now remembers where she leaves things and can tell us! I'm sure this is a very selective communication ability (she's likely been able to remember where they were for some time), but any clue is better than just whining.

Good morning, Ike

2008-09-13T07:34:00.002-05:00

The wind hit College Station at about 6, and is still picking up. The local tv station has their most junior weather man outside confirming that indeed, "Things have definitely started picking up. It's really coming down now and the wind is gusting." I don't know why they've got to do that.

Learn from my mistake

2008-08-25T11:18:00.003-05:00

If you ever walk in to a Wal-mart and see that there are absolutely no shopping carts available turn around immediately and leave the store. You don't need anything that badly.

I had done a good job of avoiding the locusts (a.k.a. the returning students) this year. I was out of town during the big move-in weekend and my grocery shopping had coincidentally avoided peak student shopping times. I made it through the week only wanting to shoot a handful of people that had not followed my Code of Acceptable Shopping Behavior, so I was feeling very good about the new school year.

Wal-mart changed all of that. This year in College Station all schools, Bryan, College Station, and TAMU are starting back on the same day. I couldn't see down the aisles where the school supplies were. It took me an hour to pick up 5 items and get through the check-out line.

The positive side of the purchasing swarm is that the shelves are sufficiently bare the good folks at Wal-mart have plenty of room to set out the Christmas wares. Who needs fall holidays anyway?

Always looking to accessorize

2008-08-20T12:13:00.003-05:00

I couldn't have said it better myself

2008-07-31T10:04:00.002-05:00

My cars are insured by that suave gecko with the British accent. Checking my account this morning I see the following:

Date of next extraction: (too soon)
Amount to be Extracted: (too much)

I think extraction may quite possibly be the perfect word to use for an insurance premium payment. It evokes the same imagery of pain and unpleasantness that I have when I think about having a tooth extracted.

That's what friends are for.

2008-07-24T22:41:00.004-05:00

My buddy Joel B called me from the road yesterday. He was listening to this story about the baby on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind album. The kid is 17 years old now. Scary.

As if that wasn't enough Joel was then kind enough to remind me that students will start returning to town in three weeks for the fall semester. I want to crawl in a hole. I haven't gotten to enjoy my summer yet, and the brats are already preparing to descend on town with their bad driving and over crowd every grocery store and restaurant in town?! Life isn't fair.

Tolerable Sunday morning in the office

2008-07-20T07:57:00.002-05:00

Yeah, paper deadlines suck, but that's grad school for you.

A large cup of coffee, a vending machine honey bun, and Guns 'n' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine" playing on the laptop (thanks to Pandora) make it enjoyable.

Back to the code!

From Pest to Pet

2008-06-30T22:48:00.003-05:00

The sandal eating pest from last week never went home. The neighbors were moving, and apparently they didn't want the little guy, so now he's part of our family. It would be pushing karma too far not to rename the pooch, not to mention the embarrassment that would be caused if/when my advisor meets him. So I'd like to introduce everyone to Bruno.

Bruno is named after the noble hound from Cinderella, a movie we watch a lot of around here lately. He's not brown, but he's not red enough or big enough to be Clifford. The only other dog we see frequently on television is the overweight and troublesome Ferdinand from Tom & Jerry: The Movie, which isn't a good choice. I can only hope that if I'm ever locked in the attic room of my chateau by my evil stepmother that he'll live up to his name and come to my rescue.

Karma owes me this one

2008-06-21T07:27:00.002-05:00

The neighbors in the next duplex have a new puppy. They've gone through a full grown pit bull (the scariest looking teddy bear of a dog I've ever met), a pit bull puppy (very cute with very sharp teeth), and some mop looking mutts. I think the moppy mutts are still around and are inside dogs, so I just don't see them much.

The latest arrival is a black retriever-looking puppy that is overly energetic and can't be bothered to stay put in his own yard. Just this morning I've had to take a bag of my trash away from him, rescue Lidia's garden shoes from his backyard, chase him out of my backyard as he was trying to steal my garden shoes, and finally rescue him from my backyard as he had stolen one of my shoes but was holding it sideways and couldn't slip back through the gate. And that's all just in the last hour.

I was determined to be the tough guy and teach the pooch to stay on his own turf, but you can see by my letting him out of my own yard because he was whining that the puppy has already won. So now I need to name this guy since I never see the neighbors. One of the unwritten laws of grad school is that you should do nothing to insult/mock/parody your advisor lest the academic gods rain down busy work and extra years of studies. I'm working on year nine of something that should have taken six years, so it's clear that the academic gods are already punishing me. Besides, I could think of no better name for someone that is constantly annoying me with busy work while at the same time doing nothing that I want him to do.

At least I can work on training the puppy.

Busted

2008-05-13T07:36:00.002-05:00

A scene in our kitchen a couple weeks ago as Princess Ana is about to go to bed.

Princess Ana: Daddy, what you eating?
Me (choking on a piece of dark chocolate): Nothing.
Princess Ana: Can I have some nothing too, please?

I really thought I'd be able to get away with more as a parent. Princess Ana plays the game all too well though. The best example of this is from last Fall when the sweet princess demonstrates that she knows all the dinner time rules and how to use them to get what she wants. The basic rules are 1) stay in your chair (or at least within arm's reach of it) until you're finished, 2) don't whine to get attention from mama or daddy, call us nicely, and 3) always say please when you want something.

Princess Ana to me in the kitchen: Daddy, come see me please!
Me (doing a happy dance to her side): Yes, princess, what can I get for you?
Princess Ana: Green ice cream, please!

Most days I really get the feeling that I'm out of my league with this kid and have serious doubts about how I'm going to make it through the teen years. At least the train wreck will provide some entertainment for the rest of you.

Food Fit for a Princess

2008-05-02T20:56:00.003-05:00

Bubba's Sis had a donut craving this evening, and reminded me that I've had a picture to post here since last October.

Princess Ana's favorite food in the whole world is a glazed donut with chocolate icing and sprinkles. Technically, her favorite food is just the top half of said donut. Once she's eaten the upper half she'll graciously allow me to eat the remnants.

The problem with most really good but not so good for you food (bar-b-que ribs) is that it's hard to eat without getting a little dirty. Princess Ana is not a girly-girl though, so the possibility of needing a serious spit bath in public doesn't keep her from her donut.

If I remember correctly that was a three napkin cleanup.

Yup. I'm a yo-yo.

2008-04-01T21:02:00.006-05:00

Fall 2003 -- Scared by my first physical since high school.
June 2005 -- Princess Ana arrives.
August 2006 -- Return to family life after summer internship.
July 2007 -- Bubba Gene arrives.

My half marathon training this fall postponed the 20+ pounds I gain at every major life event. With no kids or job changes on the horizon it's time to make the final charge at 200.

Today of all days

2008-04-01T19:21:00.002-05:00

I got the last of my committee members to sign off on my dissertation proposal and submitted it to the department for their rubber stamp. This is something that can only happen on April Fool's Day. I'm sure tomorrow I'll get the email from OGS, "It appears that your committee used disappearing ink on your title page. You'll need to make the rounds for signatures again." That must be why none of them used the pen I offered them.

Perhaps it's time for a career in telemarketing

2008-03-27T14:02:00.002-05:00

This afternoon I sat in my office and listened until I heard the door the the men's restroom open. The facilities weren't completely occupied and I didn't need to go so desperately that I was hiding in my office in case an accident occurred. I was hunting my prey, and trying not to look desperate while doing so.

After I heard the door close I walked down the hall quickly and managed to get to the elevators just as the door opened and my advisor was about to escape from the building. A productive elevator ride later I have another empty promise from him that he will read my dissertation proposal as soon as he can. I know it's an empty promise -- he's been saying this for the past four months now -- but I feel better nonetheless. This is what my grad student existence has become.

It's not quite time to throw up my hands and just walk away. I'll have reached that point when I start following him into the restroom instead of waiting for him to come out.

Signs that your children are on to you

2008-03-01T00:03:00.005-06:00

I bought a small computer desk for the living room last weekend hoping that I'll be able to get a little more work done in the evenings after the kids are in bed.

I just finished assembling it using a flashlight and my best ninja silent construction skills because Bubba Gene has decided that he'll only sleep for more than 20 minutes tonight if he's in his playpen... in the living room... about 15 feet away.

At least it looks like I can type without waking the little guy up. I just need a headlamp if I want to read anything other than the laptop screen.

Princess Ana's moment tonight came after dinner. "Ana wants to go outside... and I don't need socks on!" The crusade to keep her properly dressed this winter has been effective, but it looks like she's planning on preempting any attempt to dress her now. If we can avoid the trip to the grocery store in a bikini until May I'll count the effort as a success. She's been wearing her bikini to bath time for the past week now though, so I may be in trouble there too.

Every day is the same

2008-02-26T11:30:00.002-06:00

This morning -- for the second time in less than a week -- I tried to go to a seminar way to early. Last Wednesday afternoon I hoped out my chair to go to a distinguished lecture hosted by the department. This morning I thought I was late and rushed out of my office to go to another invited seminar. I noticed my colleague in the next office hadn't left yet, so I thought I'd make him tag along.

As soon as I walked in his office it hit me. "Today is Tuesday, isn't it?". "Uhm, yes."

The exciting life of a grad student. My daily routine changes so little that I have no idea which day of the week (or week) it is that I'm stumbling through.

Duh, Daddy

2008-02-13T21:29:00.004-06:00

There are times when I realize that you simply cannot explain to a two-year old what you're trying to say.

"No, daddy. It's not a DIAPER rash. It's a PANTIES rash!" Princess Ana hadn't had a diaper on all day. What the heck was I thinking?

"Dah-deeee... food doesn't go in my tummy. It goes in my mouth!" What crazy thing will I tell her next, that the food she eats turns into poop?

May God grant Princess Ana the patience to deal with my obvious mental limitations, and may God grant me the strength I need to not ram my head against the wall after she goes to bed.

Wednesday Dinner Disasters

2008-02-06T23:42:00.000-06:00

The midweek meal at Chez Smith has turned into a weekly fiasco. By Wednesday I've recovered from my weekend cooking -- the goal of which is to provide me with enough leftovers for lunch the entire week -- and want to get back in the kitchen for the evening. My enthusiasm seems to have gotten the best of me the past three weeks. I've selected recipes that are new to me, and wound up with the same chaotic result each week.

5:30 -- start putting dinner together a little early since the recipe is new.

5:45 -- Princess Ana invades with a new distraction of her own and I lose my head start

6:45 -- After 45 minutes of plugging through the new recipe the first call from the living room comes, "Will dinner be ready on time?"

7:00 -- Dinner is not ready on time, and the girls come to the kitchen to investigate only to be chased away by an irritated chef. "Dinner doesn't get ready faster when you're standing in the way!"

7:15ish -- The girls give up and warm-up some of my lunch leftovers and eat.

7:45 -- dinner is ready, and pretty darn good, but I'm the only one that gets to enjoy it. The girls pick a little to pass judgment and decide if I'll be allowed to attempt the dish again.

Next week I'll pick something easier... like Chinese take-out. Another night like tonight and they'll be looking for a new chef at Chez Smith.

7 months ago

2008-01-23T12:48:00.000-06:00

The picture of Princess Jayci was taken seven months ago to the day. We didn't know that 48 hours later she'd be diagnosed with cancer and be in a hospital fighting just to breathe.

Seven months of praying, chemotherapy, and long nights later Princess Jayci is cancer free!

God has answered our prayers by healing Jayci and giving all of us the strength and coping mechanisms (half marathon anyone?) to make it through this.

A flea on the wing on the fly...

2008-01-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

... on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea. This final verse from Princess Ana's Veggie Tales DVD reminds me that not everyone wants to get every level of detail. So here are the high level details of last weekend's events.

Last Sunday I completed the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. My goal was to finish before the elite men finished the full marathon. Sure they ran twice as far as I did, but I weigh almost twice what they do so we'll call it even. I came in with a time 10 minutes faster than the marathon winner. Whoop! I got to spend the evening before the race with the entire Bubba clan (minus Sis' hubby and kids), and had Bubba and Katie Lady out on the course cheering me on the next day. See Katie's blog for the mile 6 photo. I had a great time. Not good enough to sign up for a full marathon, but definitely enough fun to run many more half marathons in the years to come.

Some tips in case you ever discover that you've registered for a half marathon:

Pack at least 24 hours before you leave your house for the event. This will give you a much better chance of remembering your anti-chaffing materials (for post-race comfort), your iPod arm band (to get ahead in your Nike+ Cahllenges), and your sunglasses (to look cooler in all race photos).
Book two hotel rooms for your family. I love my kids dearly, but I wanted to shoot them when they both thought they would party all night in the hotel room.
Con another relative into attending to help with the kids. Your spouse is having to put up with your crazy kids and your grumpy butt too. Get them some help, or at least give them a vacation on their own after the race.

A mental health exam should be in that list somewhere as well, but I think that should happen before you've filled out the registration so you save the race fee.

If this post has inspired you to run in next year's event you can go ahead and register now. I'd really recommend the mental health exam be done first though.

UPS knows all

2007-12-31T06:13:00.000-06:00

Package Progress

Location	Date	Local Time	Description
SECAUCUS, NJ	01/02/2008	6:58 P.M.	ORIGIN SCAN
	12/30/2007	7:57 P.M.	BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Tracking results provided by UPS: 12/31/2007 7:11 A.M. ET

It's nice to know that they've planned the arrival of my package so precisely. I wish they would pick it up today so my PC wouldn't have to sit dead until next Monday. The machine died an unceremonious death two days before we left town and I forgot to order the replacement motherboard and processor from my parent's house. UPS should resolve to pickup packages the day before a holiday next year.

Christmas isn't Christmas without an ER visit

2007-12-30T21:08:00.000-06:00

Last year I jokingly said we were starting a tradition of taking Princess Ana to the ER for Christmas Eve. This year the tradition changed a bit, but was continued.

The day before we left Aggieland we took Bubba Gene for a preemptive doctor visit hoping to catch any infection that he might have. We got antibiotics for an ear infection that was just starting. Ana had finished a round of antibiotics the day before, so we thought we had nipped the hospital visit in the bud.

Christmas Eve, the day we normally spent in the ER, came and went as did the next three days. The kids were healthy and happy. On Thursday we moved from my mom's house to my grandmother's house and forgot Bubba's antibiotic. Icy roads prevented a trip to get it. The next day he didn't feel well at all and in the evening we finally took him to the ER. His ear infection hadn't gone away. A shot of a second antibiotic and a prescription for a third seem to have cleared things up, so all is well that ends well.

Next Christmas we're just going to ask Santa for gift certificates for the ER of our choice and that the doctor we like be on call.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T20:46:00.000-06:00

SMRT smart

2007-12-22T11:53:00.000-06:00

Get a Cash Advance

I'm comforting myself with some foggy recollection of reading something somewhere that said the New York Times was written on an 8th grade reading level. That's junior high too!

Headline Writers Seek New Words

2007-12-17T19:56:00.000-06:00

Glancing through the headlines Google thinks are important this evening I see:

* Dodd Seeks Boost on Surveillance Bill

* McCain Seeks to Capitalize on New Endorsements

* Hillary Clinton seeks to warm up her image

* Romney Again Seeks Huckabee Apology

Here's my guess for tomorrow's headlines.

* Obama seeks mundane headline to counter Clinton coverage

* Ron Paul seeks to dismantle federal government

* Gulliani seeks new ways to reference 9/11

* Remaining candidates seek name recognition with computer science students

Monotony and the Wall

2007-12-09T16:22:00.000-06:00

My half-marathon training had been going very well up until this weekend. I've been steadily increasing my weekly mileage and was up to 10 miles on my long run last weekend. I was beginning to think that my first marathon might even happen in the next year. Then the running gods put me back in my place.

Friday I set a new personal record for monotonous workouts when I ran 8 miles on the track inside the Student Rec Center on campus. 8 miles is somewhere around 35 laps on this less-than-a-quarter-mile track. My iPod did a wonderful job of keeping my from going insane as I went around and around again. I was still feeling good, if just a tad bored from staring at cinder blocks for almost an hour and a half.

This morning I went out for my long run. 12 miles was the goal. I knew last night when it was still warm and muggy at 10pm that it wasn't going to be fun, but I was not prepared for the miserable consitions this morning. I made it to campus and was running by 5:45am. Even with the early start the heat had wiped me out by mile 6. I made a second loop around campus, but called it quits at 10.5 miles. I had run out of water and didn't think Lidia would appreciate me running myself into the ground since we had a photo sitting at 10am at Sears. Other runners were dropping out and ducking into buildings looking for water fountains as I was packing up as well. It seems that few of us were ready for a September weather workout.

So I've been beaten down and humbled. I'll do my 13.1 in January and not even think about 26.2 again until after I've crossed the finish line.

R.I.P. Asok

2007-12-07T15:49:00.000-06:00

Scott Adams has killed Asok the intern, the only sane character in the Dilbert universe. Something tells me Asok will be back on Monday though, and will be sweeter than ever.

A-hole of the day

2007-11-24T13:15:00.001-06:00

I'm declaring myself the a-hole of the day. I don't feel too bad about it. If I hadn't acted then the guy I inconvenienced would have been the a-hole of the day, and a much bigger one.

After 3 and a half days of sitting at home the kids were about to go through the walls instead of bouncing off of them. Lidia and I aren't nearly as entertaining as 7 infants, much less a room filled with 20+ two year olds, and no daycare means Ana and Gene are bored to tears. When it came time to go grocery shop everyone loaded up in spite of the nasty cold rain.

I pulled into the grocery store parking lot I saw that there was one spot for shoppers with kids open. This is one perk of being a parent that I love, and now that Southwest has followed the other carriers and no longer allows parents with small children to board first it's the only immediate perk I have left. Sure, I'll hopefully see them graduate from high school and college, get married and have kids of their own, but for the next 4 years or so I have random precious moments and good parking spaces to look forward to.

As I turned on to the aisle with the open spot a car went cruising into my spot. I didn't see any car seats and stopped. Sure enough, two healthy, fit, single guys climb out of the car. I wasn't going to take it. I beat on the window and gave the driver my best G-rated (kids in the car) gesture to express my displeasure. He was shocked back to decency and hopped in and gave me the space. I made sure to say thanks as he walked by as I was helping Lidia get Gene out of the car.

So I saved this poor guy with no umbrella from being a parking spot stealing jerk, but I did make him walk in the cold drizzle with no umbrella. I'm the a-hole of the day, but I'm ok with it.

Having our cake and eating it too

2007-11-24T05:58:00.000-06:00

The unthinkable has happened. Two wins in a row over Texas AND Fran has stepped down from his position. While I'm a bit disappointed that I never got the angry mob to help run Fran out of town on a rail -- you can ask Bubba and Wes about how long that pot of ire has been stewing -- I'm glad to see him go without taking a large buyout with him. Part of the statement by Bill Byrne does make me raise an eyebrow though.

"One thing I would like to say at this juncture concerning the private email incident. We now have reviewed all of the information available, and have taken what we think are appropriate actions on behalf of this institution. With regards to Coach Franchione, we are now convinced that he did not intentionally, knowingly, or directly participate in actions that were inappropriate or in violation of rules or policies. We do believe that Coach Franchione was guilty of inadequate supervision and oversight."

I read this as the letter of admonishment issued against Coach Fran being rescinded. Coming out and saying "He didn't do anything wrong, he was just mismanaged" without following up with, "and I take responsibility for that and will take the following actions to make things right." seems underhanded to me. Clearing Fran's name was probably part of the departure package, but the need for someone to be held accountable for the newsletters isn't diminished. If Bill Byrne says it happened under his watch because he didn't run a tight enough ship, then he also needs to say what he's going to do to correct it. Unfortunately, most Aggies, myself included will settle for 2-of-3 today and be happy we beat Texas and Fran is out of the picture.

Wes has a write-up with some criteria for selecting the next coach. I don't follow football well enough to add to the criteria. I'll just sit back and second guess "Dollar" Bill.

A Different Day

2007-11-18T07:40:00.000-06:00

It has rained all night, and I am on campus early. The sweet smell of rain, the gently dripping trees, and the neat precision of the memorial in the gray light hide the horrors of that morning eight years ago.

We will never forget.

Roughing It

2007-11-08T10:53:00.001-06:00

The tent city of folks camping for t.u. football tickets sprang up over the weekend. There have always been guys that would drag out their televisions and game consoles to pass the time. This morning I discovered someone has gone above and beyond that.

I must confess my first thought when I saw the tents this morning was, "They're camping out for basketball exhibition game tickets? I thought there was a lottery system in place. I guess that's only for the big games."

Yep. Texas A&M the basketball school. Who'd a thunk it?

Hit and Run Update

2007-11-04T11:47:00.000-06:00

Three weeks ago I completed my first 10-k Race. That was the immediate reason for the past run related posts. My training went well, and race day was a big success. I was fourth overall, second male finished, and first in my age group. That netted me my first award for an athletic accomplishment since a 6th place sack race finish at an elementary school track meet.

The next big race is the Houston Half Marathon, and my training officially kicks off tomorrow with a rest day -- the perfect way to start a program. Since I've run twice in the past three weeks (race recovery and a long cold have been my excuses) this first week of training is going to hurt. Anyone looking for a good laugh in College Station next Saturday can come out and watch me try to run the eight mile long run.

Was I on a Track?

2007-09-21T13:17:00.001-05:00

I woke up too late to go outside for my long run this morning (more later on why I am possessed to run this far anyway). So I grab my bag and head to the nice track at the Rec Center for my workout, and this is what I manage to do.

Usually my track workouts are boring flat lines.

I'll blame the "wildly varying" -- the difference between the peak and the lowest point is 36 seconds/mile -- on the seriously cute girl at the track today. My sweetie tagged along to work out and between stopping to chat with her on water breaks and running fast to impress her I lost any chance at a steady pace.

Stupidly Good Salads

2007-09-15T14:39:00.000-05:00

It is high time I share two of my current favorite dishes with those of you that don't waste as much time on the web as I do. I spotted a link to this article of great post-workout meals. Of the eight recipes given only two sounded good to me. The Lemon Garbonzo Salad with Feta and the Edamame and Bean Salad with Shrimp and Fresh Salsa find their way into my refrigerator at least once a week.

Warning: if you're already hungry when you start making the salad you'll have starved to death before you finish. I'm no slouch in the kitchen, but my knife skills are not the greatest and all the chopping required takes a while. Both salads are worth the effort though.

Enjoy!

Yet Another Trash Talking Contest

2007-08-26T18:58:00.000-05:00

If you've got your nano and Nike+ setup for jogging, log a few miles for the Ags. Check out the Big XII Conference run.

We need some more runners for the Aggies. I've covered 11.8 of the total miles to date.

Sons of Motherless Goats

2007-08-26T15:30:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. Another wonderfully quiet summer in Aggieland has come to and end as the undergrads swarm back into town. Last weekend I made the mistake of going to Sam's and Wal-mart, but wrote the crowds off to the tax-free weekend. It was only after I was back home that I realized my stupidity of venturing out on the biggest move-in weekend.

Learning from my mistake I kept of my bicycle all week and rode the bus to and from school. Since the undergrads aren't venturing around campus much this allowed me to remain blissfully ignorant of the carnage being wrought on the streets and in the discount stores around town. I was lulled back into a false sense of contentedness.

My bubble was totally shattered yesterday when I went to HEB at 4pm. The masses of students made me seriously think about leaving immediately and not returning until after midnight. If they weren't on their cell phone finding out where the party was and what kind of chips and beer to buy they were debating the cost effectiveness of different brands of instant noodles and toilet paper with their roomies. A store full of people completely unaware of those around them. I've seen demolition derbies where the driving was better.

As I wove through the mass of humanity I tried to keep my swearing internalized (Princess Ana was with me or I wouldn't have tried nearly as hard) the insults of the Three Amigos came to mind. I muttered a few and chuckled, but then swore in earnest when I realized that most of these young 'uns probably had only seen bits and pieces of this comedic masterpiece while channel surfing. IMDB confirms my fear... only the students that are juniors and older were even alive when the Three Amigos rode on to the big screen.

And so another year begins with me being reminded just how old I am.

Running an Errand

2007-08-11T08:52:00.000-05:00

It looked like the perfect morning for a solo run. I was slipping on my shoes and chatting with mama and Bubba Gene when we head Princess Ana start beating on her door. I wasn't about to run off and leave mama alone and outnumbered by the riff raff, so we unfolded the jogging stroller and the princess and I took off.

There's no way I could push the stroller for the originally planned four miles, so I decided to take a suggestion from a recent issue from Runner's World (a good magazine even for a casual jogger like myself). We ran down the back streets to the Albertson's and picked up the almond extract I need for some baking today. We took a short break in the air conditioning while Princess Ana had a donut and I got my espresso fix. We loaded up and ran back home.

It was a productive idea. Mama got a break and princess got some early morning sun. I got my caffeine fix, a needed ingredient, and an easy workout. We'll definately do that again when Ana wakes up before I get out the door.

Be kind to nerds: Make your bibtex entry available

2007-07-30T13:51:00.000-05:00

A break from babies and children's books for a small nerd plea. When you all become rich and famous (well, at least famous) by publishing a technical book that will be cited by untold millions of computer scientists take a moment before the fame goes to your head and perform this small act of kindness. On your website, or your books website, put the BibTeX entry for your book in an easily spotted location. This will only save every computer scientist two minutes of work and a few choice swear words, but will result in hundreds of scientist hours from being wasted doing what has been done at least a thousand times before.

For my less than nerdy readers, BibTeX is a program for generating bibliographies for publications written using the LaTeX typesetting system. LaTeX is the method of choice for producing technical documents in computer science and several other fields.

This afternoon I'm working on my proposal and wanted to cite two of the most fundamental texts in computer science. After Googling and swearing for a couple of minutes I found an entry for Knuth on a BibTeX tutorial, and nothing for the second text. So I've made the entries myself instead of cutting and pasting as I had hoped. And now, after wasting much more time blogging than I wasted generating the entries, I present for the hordes of hurried computer scientists the BibTeX entries for Knuth volume 1 and Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, and Stein.

@book{knuth-v1,
author = {Donald E. Knuth},
title = {Fundamental Algorithms},
volume = {1},
series = {The Art of Computer Programming},
publisher = {Addison-Wesley},
edition = {3rd},
address = {Reading, Massachusetts},
year = {1997}
}

@book{CLRS,
author = "T.~H. Cormen and C.~E. Leiserson and R.~L. Rivest and C.~Stein",
edition = "2nd",
publisher = "MIT Press and McGraw-Hill Book Company",
title = "Introduction to Algorithms",
year = "2001"
}

Who Needs a Patronus?

2007-07-28T13:06:00.000-05:00

I don't think I could have had a better reading companion for the final Harry Potter book. Princess Ana read the previous book with me, but she liked to be on the move. I wandered through the house with the book in one hand and her in the other. Certainly not the most comfortable way to read.

Bubba Gene was content to lay on the boppy, prepared to protect me should a Death Eater or Lord Voldemort himself leap from the pages. I'm certainly glad there isn't another Potter book in the works. I'm afraid I'd have to have another kid to be able to sit down and read it.

The Tiring Work of Being a Baby

2007-07-23T13:19:00.000-05:00

I know... that "moment" I promised was four days long. I'll work on it.

Gene has enjoyed the swing much more than Princess Ana did. He spent the better part of the weekend in it soaking up the sunlight to help knock out a little bit of jaundice, and loved every minute of it.

Your Amazon.com order is being prepared for shipping

2007-07-19T15:14:00.000-05:00

The following items are being prepared for shipment by Amazon.com:
---------------------------------------------
Qty Item
---------------------------------------------
1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Hooray! It's a week of new arrivals at the house. I had jokingly told my mother that if her grandson was born on Saturday I was naming him Harry Potter Smith. Mother was not amused, but the baby came early and a family crisis was avoided.

More on the baby momentarily.

When I'll actually have time to read the new Rowling tome I don't know. I read the last book while holding Princess Ana in my arms. The problem now is that Princess Ana still wants the world revolving around her regardless of who's holding her brother.

The Rain Needs to Stop

2007-07-05T13:20:00.000-05:00

Behind my building on campus there are eight large concrete planters. Half of them have smallish trees that usually struggle to survive through the heat and inundation of cigarette butts -- smokers in the building are too eager to toss them and will put them in the planters instead of the ash tray near the door.

This summer the trees are all very green and don't seem to mind the trash in their bed. I just went out for a break and saw a new addition to about half of the planters.

Cooler temperatures, abundant moisture, and a certain amount of rot have led to a nice growth of mushrooms. If I were adventurous, a druggie, or had a death wish I might try to do something with them. Since I don't meet any of the previous criteria (boring, I know) I'll just keep waiting for the rain to stop.

Rednecks love quality too

2007-07-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

CNN is reporting that Larry the Cable Guy has a beer named after him now. The quote from the microbrewery owner about the ingredients used in the beer is great.

Let's drink-r-up!

Making Connections

2007-06-27T10:34:00.000-05:00

Princess Ana is starting to show her ability to associate one activity with another. The quotes and looks we get from her as a result of this are a lot of fun.

Last week she came to visit Daddy at the office. She hoped up in my chair and started pounding on the keyboard. She suddenly turned and gave me a slightly annoyed look and said, "Ana working. Ana busy!" and then returned to her keyboard pounding. I guess mama and daddy need to stop trying to do any work on the PC at home.

This morning the princess had to go to the doctor for a follow-up exam to make sure the latest ear infection had cleared up. In the car after seeing the doc she asks her mama, "Go pharmacy now?" She really likes the pharmacy. Lots of things on low shelves she can play with, and she always gets a bag of candy in an attempt to keep her away from the shelves.

Two year olds are so much fun as long as you're not trying to get them to do something.

Annoying Words of Motivation

2007-06-20T10:03:00.000-05:00

"Only you can decide at this moment what percentage of your total commitment you're going to use."

I went to my first group exercise (a.k.a. aerobics) class yesterday that wasn't part of triathlon training. The class, Cycle 2 & Strength, is a wonderful way to get your tail kicked during the lunch hour. The instructor is an interesting character that mixed motivating gems like the quote above into a discourse on Paul McCartney's musical career and the impact of British musicians on rock (Bob Dylan was the only non-brit on the playlist during the class), the history of Juneteenth, and a mention of the upcoming solstice. I enjoyed it well enough that I'll be going back.

Until then I'm trying to apply a little more commitment each moment to my research because the quote refuses to get out of my head. Back to the grindstone.

Robbed by a two-year-old

2007-06-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

Stealing candy from a baby is supposed to be easy. In my house it's just as easy for the baby to steal your breakfast. I had fed the Princess the better part of a bowl of Cheerios this morning before I had to run out the door to catch the bus. As I put together a peanut butter sandwich she was helpfully reminding me of the time. "Daddy go school. Daddy catch bus. Catch bus now!"

I grabbed my sandwich, got hugs and kisses from the Princess and her mama and headed for the door. Just as I crack the door open Ana jumps into full whine mode and come running over to the door. I was expecting a showdown over whether she could go outside. Instead she points to my sandwich and I gratefully hand it over so she can take a bite, thankful that the solution is so easy. She grabs the sandwich, checks it over to make sure I hadn't drooled on it, and then dismisses me with, "Bye-bye! Daddy catch bus!" Robbed blind before I even left the house!

My lovely wife has always held the belief that food on my plate is better and steals bites all the time. Princess Ana has learned this and will come sit with me halfway through dinner and sample my food to make sure she hasn't been given inferior green beans. The blatant theft of an entire meal is taking this to a new level, and I'm not sure I like it. Too bad I don't have a voice in the matter as I'm just the male servant of the house.

In other news, today is Princess Ana's second birthday. Mama will be taking cupcakes to daycare this afternoon so we can get all the other kids loaded up on sugar before they go home. It's a really good thing that we haven't met any of their parents.

Crashing back to reality

2007-06-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

Things can sure go downhill in a hurry. My last post covered how I had set a personal record at Run Thru the Vines and almost made the top 3 in my age group. The next morning I set out to ride the bicycle course for the triathlon. The first 13 miles were uneventful and I was enjoying the new course. Then came the dogs.

I was riding down a flat stretch and looking for the next turn when a group of three dogs came running out to the road. Two labs and a mutt made up a very noisy and intimidating security team for the double-wide they called home. I was far enough out in the middle of nowhere to be unsure of whether the dogs were just in it for the chase or if they had a mid-morning snack in mind, so I tried to out run them. The mutt and one of the labs quickly fell behind. I turned to make sure I was clear of them and as I looked back up I saw the remaining lab had done the geometry right and was a little ahead of my front tire. He had decided that the attack from the right wasn't working for him and he cut in front of the tire to attack from the left. Of course he didn't check to see if he was clear and didn't signal this change of plan, so when he cut over he ran into my wheel and took it out from under me.

After skidding to a halt -- see the picture above -- I just lay there swearing at the sky. I realized that while the dog may have had the courses in advanced car chasing to be able to catch me, he hadn't had the final course in the series, "What to do when you finally catch something." All three dogs jumped in the ditch and kept barking because I was still on their territory. The worst part of the wreck for me was the realization that laying in the road like I was there was potential for a much bigger accident if I didn't stand up and create more of a profile. I picked myself up, brushed off the gravel, and managed to ride back out to the car. After the great feeling the day before, this certainly wasn't how I had planned to spend my Sunday morning.

My bike survived with just a few scratches. My scratches weren't too severe either. One of my ribs was bruised badly enough to make running and swimming a little intense, but I fought through the pain. Two weeks after the crash I completed my triathlon. I had hoped for a significant improvement over last year's time, but it wasn't meant to be. I didn't get the shot of adrenaline at the start I was expecting, and at several points in the race I just felt like this was something to get done, not a race. Next year I'll have one more shot at the event before hopefully moving on to a new home.

In the month since the race our home has been a one stop shop for respiratory illness. Lidia and Ana traded a couple of viruses before they found one that was good enough for me. I thought it was just bad allergies and literally ran myself into the ground with training. I've just finished the first week of drugs and no exercise, and everyone in the house is better now. I've probably got another three or four days before I'm back on the road running, but it's time to start climbing back up for the next personal record.

It seems my work has inspired some in the house too. I leave you with a picture of the next triathlete in the family. Just sixteen years or so before she's ready to compete.

Media tries to mock a Bubba

2007-05-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

CNN has a story about a 10-month old boy in Chicago being issued a firearm ownership card. His grandfather gave him a shotgun as a gift, and his father did the responsible thing of acquiring the necessary paperwork.

Why is this on the front page of CNN? Maybe I'm biased since my brother and I were given matching shotguns when we were 3 and 1, respectively. If you want to make a big deal out of this talk about how it is the responsible thing to do and discuss how the boy's family will teach him how to safely handle the gun. Don't do a short story intended to mock the Illinois State Police for issuing a permit to a toddler when there is no age limit on gun ownership in Illinois.

Frigid 5k's

2007-04-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

Mother Nature isn't being kind to the runners this spring. The morning of the Association of Former Students Run for the Ring the temperature was in to 40's. This morning at Run Thru The Vines it was a little warmer, in the 50's, but still with a blustery north wind. The weather at Run Thru The Vines is cyclical though. It seems like every other year is a beautiful Parent's Weekend day, while the off years suck. I remember big thunderstorms rolling in after the race two of the three years I covered the event as a photographer for Rec Sports.

The race today was a much better showing by yours truly. To recap the "highlights" from last year:

* 100th overall finisher
* 11th in my age group with a time of 29:31
* Beaten by a gaggle of junior high girls, a dog, and a mom pushing a stroller

This year I was much improved.

* 45th overall finisher -- my goal was to be in the top 50.
* 4th in my age group
* New personal best time for 1 mile -- 8:19
* I was not beaten by any dogs, 12 year old girls, or bad-ass mamas with strollers, though three 13 year old boys did finish in the top 10 (two in the top 5). They were amazing.

I missed 3rd in my age group by 4 seconds. Looking at the official results the 3rd place finisher actually came in just behind me. The joys of running with 600+ other people.

While I didn't get the trophy bottle of sparkling grape juice I managed to pick up a door prize with lots of triathlon related goodies. All in all a great race for me, even if I did freeze my tail a bit.

Hopefully the weather will be nicer in two weeks for the triathlon. A cold north wind after a swim in the lake will really suck.

Stupidity in the News

2007-04-13T09:46:00.000-05:00

Scanning through the web this morning a couple of things made me shake my head.

Gov. Corzine on New Jersey was seriously injured in a car accident. First, given his list of injuries it looks like he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. Even dumber, he was on his way to moderate a meeting between Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team. This mess with Imus is beyond stupid. See the recent post by Bubba's Sis, which pretty much sums up my thoughts on the situation.

Next up, Sen. Patrick Leahy has suddenly become a computer expert. The White House admits the mistake that was made when emails possibly related to the U.S. attorney firings. According to the senator, "You can't erase e-mails, not today. They've gone through too many servers. They can't say they've been lost. That's like saying, 'The dog ate my homework.'" If that's the case senator, I know my research files have passed through several servers on campus and I'll just hop downstairs and unplug the dedicated backup server that my research group runs for our systems.

I worked at an ISP and got to deal with many a disgruntled customer after they would hastily close their account and then call back the next day to ask for all of their email. Sorry, given the volume of customer email and the sheer uselessness of 90% of it there were no backups. Web space was backed up, but not email. If you think it's impossible to loose email then go ask the folks at Google why they put up with a lot of bad press recently when a small group of users lost a lot of their email.

Given that we're talking about the government here I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a backup device running somewhere that has the missing emails sitting on tape. But to assume that they are there because, "they passed through too many servers" is absurd.

Finally, close to home, we have a story in The Battalion about international students being kicked out of bars on Northgate and harrassed by bouncers because they're Indian. My problem with this is the story being reported is an account of an anonymous student who may have been intoxicated. If she feels that she and the other group of Indian students were discriminated against then they should be talking to the Better Business Bureau and a lawyer if they want to file a complaint. Whining to the Battalion accomplishes nothing. Also, if a uniformed police officer did in fact tell her that the bar could throw her out "because she was brown or Indian" then she also needs to be filing a complaint with CSPD. In the story it appears that there have been instances of racism and CSPD has responded appropriately with arrests when they've been informed. My issue with all of this is that this poor girl does feel victimized, but instead of doing something about it to make campus and Nothgate a better place for everyone she's enjoying her 30 seconds in the sun and whining to the campus rag about it. This is the last thing that she should have done.

Enough stupidity for one day. It's time to get to work.

Wanted: Mile-Eating Songs

2007-04-11T15:25:00.000-05:00

My run this morning was great. Over 4 miles in record time, including a new personal best for the mile. It was a run where everything just came together. Great weather, scenery, music, and energy.

Instead of running my usual loop around my neighborhood I went up to campus. Running past the George Bush Presidential Library, Kyle Field, and Sully (basically past all the nice campus spots they show on tv when the Ags play football) was beautiful. Watching the students walk to class and realizing I didn't have to be in the office at 8 made the run even better.

I think the biggest factor this morning though was the music. I finally took the three minutes necessary to make a custom play list for my iPod. I've been running by just listening to an entire album at a time, or to a running podcast. While I like AC/DC probably more than I should, they don't maintain the right energy level across an album. My running podcasts are great, but they use free music and therefore don't have any of the great songs I've gotten pumped up to throughout high school and college. I threw together a play list on Monday night and realized that, 1) I don't have a lot of good workout music, and 2) the stuff I do have is from a small handful of groups. I'll be tired of this play list by next week. Also, the list is dominated by "power songs" that get me pumped up and running faster. I need a kick in the butt several times during a run, but I also need a couple of steady upbeat songs that will let me cover some ground before the next kick comes along.

This is where I need your help. What are some of the great songs I'm missing? The complete set of what I'm missing is enormous, so just your top five would be great. My list from the run this morning is below. Songs with an asterisk are my butt kicking songs.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Comments on my lame musical tastes will be less well received.

AC/DC - Hells Bells*
Guns 'n' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle*
Zombie Nation - KernKraft 400
AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long
Guns 'n' Roses - Sweet Child o' Mine
John Cougar Mellancamp - Hurt So Good
AC/DC - Back in Black*
John Cougar Mellancamp - Authority Song
Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train*
Rush - Tom Sawyer
Beastie Boys - Sabotage

Born to Shop

2007-04-01T17:59:00.000-05:00

Ana was born to shop. When we enter a store now she'll say hi to whomever greets us and wave, ensuring we'll get any help we need finding something. At the cash register she knows I'll pay with a credit card most of the time and likes to "help" me sign. As soon as the cashier starts ringing up the purchases she'll ask, "Sign? Sign?" After she's signed for the goods she'll look at the cashier, hold out her hand, and ask, "Receipt?"

All of this is a very cute show in the store and I thought it was harmless enough. However, I had underestimated Ana's desire to shop. I loaded her up for some grocery shopping yesterday and as we were driving to the store she asked to go to the playground. I said that no, we were going to the store to shop and we would go play later.

"Store? Shopping?" she asked.

"Yes, we're going to the store."

"Wal-mart?!"

She was happy enough with the grocery store and I didn't have to make a second stop for her yesterday. I am in trouble though.

I'm not dead yet -- 4 more weeks of training to go

2007-04-01T14:34:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't found myself under the wheels of a bus on campus. My iPod continues to get regular use, but I have this crazy habit of looking around that lets me avoid cars, cyclists, and oblivious walkers around campus.

I am in love with my nano. I've purchased the Nike+iPod Sport kit. After velcroing the sensor to my shoe -- because I'm not about to pay what Nike thinks I should for a pair of shoes with a conveniently shaped hole in them -- this gadget allows me to track my progress on runs. It tracks my distance, time, pace, and calories burned. Nothing revolutionary with that, but the ease of using it and the pretty pictures it generates make it great. It is in short a neat little piece of technology that make the nerd in me want to go out and run, and motivation to run is something I am always looking for.

I'm training for my second Tri-O de Mayo Triathlon. Last year I participated in a program in the A&M Rec Sports department. This year I'm back for more of that as well, and am getting my money's worth. The coaches this year are both experienced triathletes and have each put together workouts over the past month that have earned the the title of "Evil Coach of the Day". For example, last year the longest bike ride I did was to ride the race course two weeks before the race. This year the cycling/running coach, a.k.a. Most Evil Coach, has put together a 17 mile bike ride on Sunday afternoons since week 1. They haven't killed me yet, though there have been a couple of workouts that made me wish I was dead. With less than a month to go I'm in a good position to achieve my goal of completing the race in 1:25:00... a 20% improvement over last year's time if I pull it off.

Time to refill the water jug and enjoy the cool before today's ride starts.

Irony now available from iTunes

2007-02-19T08:54:00.000-06:00

This weekend I was finally run down by the sleek and sexy machine that is Apple. I now own a nano. I've been looking at these for a while now, with a mostly jealous eye as my officemate taunted me with his. He enjoyed mocking the brick that I used as my main mp3 player. At about 8 times the size and 20 times the weight it was an easy and ugly target. Still, it did its job and will continue to be used at home, I just won't lug it around everywhere now.

This morning as I left the house I was careful to set the volume so that I could still hear the birds. I didn't want to be one of those annoyingly oblivious individuals that I consigned to early deaths as part of natural selection in my post less than two weeks ago. As I walked up to the Rec center I realized with a cringe that my effort had been to no avail. I almost walked right past my friends Nathan and Shawna. They had seen me coming and were waiting in front of the Rec. Nathan and even tried to greet me, shouting "Tim Smith!" as I approached. I however, had been sucked into my personal bubble and was bouncing along my way.

Someone run me over with a bus already.

Boogity, Boogity, Boogity

2007-02-18T07:24:00.000-06:00

The Daytona 500 is this afternoon, and I'll be watching. This year I think I'll have company too. Ana has started to move beyond the Baby Einstein and Dora the Explorer DVDs, showing interest in my Pixar movies.

Her favorite of the bunch is Cars. Bugs has too many scary grasshopper scenes that have to be skipped, and the Toy Story movies are a lot of talk without much action (The Incredibles also talk too much). This afternoon she may make a pit stop and help her daddy look for Lightning McQueen out on the track before resuming her own race around the house.

Update: Ana went down for her nap just as the engines were fired up. She slept as I watched the first half of the race. When she woke up it was too pretty to stay inside, so we went to the playground. So I missed the big wrecks and excitement, so it goes. They race almost every Sunday from now until October, so I'll see my fair share of wrecks this year.

Popping the personal bubble

2007-02-07T11:43:00.000-06:00

The Washinton Post has an article about proposed legislation in New York that would ban pedestrians from using electronic devices while crossing the street. Chatting on the cell phone or dancing along with your iPod would earn you a $100 fine.

I'm all for folks getting off the phone and making eye contact on the sidewalk once again. Cell phones and music players have killed a large part of the friendly spirit on the A&M campus. Long gone are the days where "Howdy" was an oft heard phrase as you crossed campus. However, I'm more in favor of letting natural selection handle the problem instead of introducing legislation to get people to pay attention.

Let the real waiting begin

2007-02-01T14:06:00.000-06:00

Harry Potter fans have been waiting for more than a year and a half for the conclusion to Harry's adventure, and now the wait has been intensified. The new book will be available on July 21, 2007. Knowing the release date has just made more more impatient, something I blame on my inner-child that will enjoy the book more than any thiry year old probably should. Whatever. The books are entertaining and well written.

I'd like to post a link to the press release on J. K. Rowling's site, but it is a bunch of shiny flash that requires pop-ups so I'll not bother. You can instead cruise over to Amazon and place your order now. I'd like to thank Borders books for sending me the SPAM with the news by not linking to them.

Let the annoying television ads begin!

2007-01-21T06:44:00.000-06:00

Hillary Clinton has formed her presidential exploratory committee. That brings the number of candidates whose names I know off the top of my head to two -- let the presidential politics begin.

I don't know much about Barack Obama, but what I have seen and heard from him I like. Senator Clinton isn't so fortunate. Even the announcement on her website rubs me the wrong way.

"The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008.

As a senator, I will spend two years doing everything in my power to limit the damage George W. Bush can do. But only a new president will be able to undo Bush's mistakes and restore our hope and optimism.

Only a new president can renew the promise of America -- the idea that if you work hard you can count on the health care, education, and retirement security that you need to raise your family. These are the basic values of America that are under attack from this administration every day.

And only a new president can regain America's position as a respected leader in the world.

...

This is a big election with some very big questions. How do we bring the war in Iraq to the right end? How can we make sure every American has access to adequate health care? How will we ensure our children inherit a clean environment and energy independence? How can we reduce the deficits that threaten Social Security and Medicare?"

Several points in the statement bother me.

Senator Clinton was elected to office in the same election as President Bush. Why wait until the final two years of the eight years you'll have been in Congress to fight the guy?

Bring the war in Iraq to the right end? Why not take a stand before conducting polls and say what you think that end is? Even after her most recent trip to Iraq Senator Clinton didn't make any sort of firm statement.

Finally, in 2008 we will have a new president regardless of who wins the election. Several times in the statement the phrase "only a new president" is used. I'd feel a lot better about Senator Clinton if her statement didn't make it sound like she has no idea that the 22nd amendment exists. I know it is written to make her look like she is running against all that W is about, but please wait until after the primaries to drop the level of the campaigns to below a fourth grade level. You're insulting the educational system you're proposing to save -- possibly intentionally -- with statements like these.

A Wreck on Every Overpass

2007-01-16T11:17:00.000-06:00

College Station is shut down today. No classes on campus, all schools closed, even Ana's daycare is shut down due to the bad weather. This is the third time this has happened since I've lived in College Station. I'm certainly glad that just about everything is closed too, because the roads are just bad enough to make traffic a mess.

Ana and Lidia were out of town over the long weekend visiting my brother-in-law. I went to Houston last night to pick them up. The trip was uneventful until we were just two miles south of College Station. One overpass was closed due to what appeared to be a car and an 18 wheeler getting together. On the next overpass, the last before I turned off of Highway 6, the three cars in front of me all slid off the road when they hit ice and tried to use their brakes. I rolled/slid through the middle of them and made it home ok.

This morning we took Ana to the doctor. I think the thought of travel is what makes her sick. Nothing serious this time, just a cold on top of her newly diagnosed asthma. The airline lost their luggage on the flight to Georgia so Ana missed two doses of medicine, which probably let the cold work its way in.

On the way to the doctor we stayed on the access road and on two of the overpasses we saw accidents. Returning from the doctor's office we saw accidents on every overpass that hadn't had an accident on it on the way to the doctor. There hasn't been anything serious that we've seen -- just some folks sliding slowly into the concrete barriers or off into the median or ditches. Even the accident with the truck and car last night didn't look like more than a fender bender. For that we can all be grateful.

Hopefully it will warm up enough to stop the sleet from falling and melt everything well enough that classes can start tomorrow and folks can stop sliding around.

Not Guilty by Reason of Cuteness

2007-01-15T10:44:00.000-06:00

As Bubba's Sis has noted, Ana has me wrapped around her little finger already. I've certainly been wrapped around her finger for some time now, but it has recently become very obvious.

In the last month my darling princess has managed to

Toss my cell phone in the potty -- it managed to survive

Lose my wedding ring the week before Christmas. I recovered it this past week from a tunnel on one of her toys where she was hoarding a nice assortment of small things.

Lose Lidia's wedding ring. It was recovered very quickly from the diaper bag since we had just realized my wedding ring may be gone forever.

Had any of this been done by someone other than Ana said person would have been shot. Ana has survived because I realize her attention span is too short to remember where she puts most things sure, but primarily because she's my little girl. It is hard to get angry with someone you think is so cute.

They're Back

2007-01-11T10:34:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon as I walked across campus enjoying the emptiness and sunshine I heard them. A not so far off cadence being sounded out as cadets ran down the street. I thought it was too early for formal all-out Corps activity, so I assumed it was a small group that had returned to campus early. I had a good swim and didn't think about it.

Then late last night I made a grocery store run. We needed baby food and we had spotted a sale on strawberries, so off I went. At 9pm the store was packed. It is official, the students have returned to campus for the spring semester. The month of bliss between semesters is over and now the stores and streets will once again be jammed with students yapping on cell phones, oblivious to anything happening in the world around them.

I doubt that signs posted on Highway 6 on either side of town saying, "There was a mistake with your grades. You've failed out. Sorry. Now go back to your parents!" would actually work. I'll just have to remember that long ago, in a century far, far away I myself was one of these annoying undergrads occupying space in town. And so the spring semester begins.

A Lousy Christmas Tradition

2006-12-28T12:05:00.000-06:00

Last Christmas Princess Ana came down with bronchitis and a patch of pneumonia in one lung. We made a couple of visits to the ER to get that under control. She also gave some variation of that illness to everyone in the family. We promised ourselves that this year would be better. She would be older, stronger, and we'd put her in a bubble the week before the trip so she didn't get sick.

The virus beat us to the punch. Ana came down with a cold a week and a half ago. Last Thursday she also caught a stomach bug that got her kicked out of daycare when she vomited twice. We hauled her into the doctor and thought the worst was over though when her ears and throat were clear. Friday she played hard at home all day and seemed ready to go. Saturday morning we were up before the sun and trekking to the Panhandle.

Saturday evening the family Christmas was great. Princess Ana and her cousin were the stars of a gift unwrapping bonanza. I didn't know that two little girls could make wrapping paper fly that quickly. It was a wonderful time.

Sunday morning the little miss woke up with a very high temperature, so for the second year in a row we found ourselves in the ER. We thought it wouldn't be as bad when we learned it was just one ear infected. However, Ana didn't respond to the antibiotic prescribed this time, so we packed up Tuesday morning and left before we infected the entire family again. Back in College Station the doc found both ears infected, her little chest congested, and she was wheezing due to inflammation. Armed with a bag full of medications we began nursing her back to health (antibiotic, steroid, breathing treatment, and Tylenol, oh my!).

She's responded to the new medication and a return to humid weather. Hopefully in a couple of days she'll be back at full strength so she can master her new tricycle and also guide dad on morning runs from her new jogging stroller.

I asked in the ER on Sunday if we could reserve space for next Christmas. The doctor here, knowing I'm an Aggie, also pointed out that this has happened twice now and is therefore a tradition. I think next year we'll try to break tradition by making Ana live in a giant ball starting at Halloween. She can trick or treat as a hamster and we'll just keep here in there until we've reached gramma's house in December.

Foxtrot reruns are on the way

2006-12-13T11:00:00.000-06:00

I just spotted this announcement that Foxtrot will be going to a Sunday only comic and the daily strip on the website will begin reruns. While they don't consume much of my day the funnies at Foxtrot (along with Dilbert, User Friendly, and everyone's favorite first-grader Calvin) make each day a little brighter. Calvin and Hobbes have been in reruns for years, so this isn't something new to me. It is just a little sad to know that Jason, Paige, and Peter will be around less often with new material to make me chuckle.

An Unwanted Plunge

2006-12-03T21:11:00.000-06:00

Tonight my wonderful daughter threw my cellphone in the toilet. She has always played with our phones and never done any damage to them. Once she was able to open the phone and hop on the web in a few seconds (I still don't know the key sequence she used to do that) I kept it locked and thought it was safe for her to use. She's so cute when she flips it open and says, "Hello." How could I not let her play with it?

I handed her the phone tonight and told her, "now go play." so I could catch up on my web surfing for the weekend. A few minutes later I heard a splash from the bathroom and knew I was in trouble.

As I ripped the battery out everything appeared to be ok. The phone hadn't shorted out yet. Here's hoping that an overnight drying and a little Lysol will save the phone.

These are the moments when you realize just how much you love your children. Anyone else that dropped my phone in a toilet on purpose would have been shot.

Update: The phone survived the bath.

P.S. Bubba's Sis, the toothbrushes are out of Ana's unattended reach. When she has grabbed a toothbrush and tossed it in the potty (which has happened a couple of times already) she has been supervised and a new toothbrush put in its place. It'll be another 6 months to a year before she's good enough at climbing and I have to worry about having a potty mouth in more ways than one.

Children of nerds don't stand a chance

2006-11-15T11:44:00.000-06:00

Ana has reached an important nerd milestone -- she now owns her first piece of home electronics. I didn't own my first electronic gadget (a TI computer I got for Christmas) until I was 6. Dad is a pretty big nerd, but mom's lack of nerdiness delayed me a little bit.

Ana was just 4 days past 17 months when I took her to Best Buy this weekend to pickup her very own DVD player. Her favorite thing to do in the living room is to open up DVD cases and then swap out the discs in the player. If we let her she'd stand next to the tv and swap out discs all day -- she doesn't really care about watching the shows. The disk switching was always something that made me cringe since the DVD player was part of a small home theater system that let us have surround sound for movies. If the tray on the DVD player were to break the system would be useless, and Ana hasn't quite gotten the hang of doing something "gently".

Since Ana doesn't approve of my movies the surround sound wasn't getting much use, so I packed up the player and put the little $30 DVD player that could in its place. It is working great and Ana approves of the switch. She's got new remote to play with and doesn't have to listen to me say, "be careful!" every time she switches shows... what's not to love!

The poor girl is going to be a nerd before she hits elementary school.

Definition of sucks

2006-11-04T06:36:00.000-06:00

sucks (adj.), any circumstance or series of events that lead one to be at work at 6am on a Saturday.

The definition said it all. Machine died yesterday and since I have Sara's Wedding this afternoon and can't stay on campus to help deal with it (oh darn) I volunteered to be the first one to check on the system and start the recovery process. The machine is still trying to recover itself though, so I'm waiting on campus for a while.

On my way to campus I drove past Kyle Field. The Transportation Services folks were already blocking parking lots and doing their gameday duties. I also spotted an unusual group carrying what looked like picket signs across the vacant parking lots. My first thought -- which is a sad reflection of the state of student involvement on campus -- was, "Wait. This is A&M. No one gets worked up enough to protest here." You can pay a coach more than twice his predecessor, let him turn in the first losing seasons in the past 20 years and lose a bowl game badly and students on campus still love the guy. That's a story for another time.

I realized then that I was correct. These weren't protestors. These folks are the dedicated Ags getting the good seats to try to worm their way into the background of ESPN's College Gameday broadcast. Good luck to them, and good luck to the Ags this evening.

I'll find something fun to post about soon, I promise.

Thank you, Captain Obvious

2006-10-30T21:21:00.000-06:00

I don't claim to be a great writer. I think I could manage to do a little better than this bit of journalism that was part of the October E-newsletter from the Association of Former Students.

From the paragraph about the women's soccer team recently clinching another Big 12 title:

"Texas A&M has now won nine Big 12 championships -- more than anyone else in the conference's 10-year history."

Profound stuff. Nevermind that this is the eleventh season of the Big 12.

Nerd relaxation

2006-10-17T13:12:00.000-05:00

It was a rough day at the office yesterday. I got home last night and after cooking dinner I decide to kick back and try to relax. What I decided to do was to hang out in the hammock on the back porch and mark the errata in my copy of Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For More Food. Correcting errors in a cookbook helped me unwind. Sometimes I scare myself with the level of nerdiness.

Thirty year limited warranty

2006-10-02T20:48:00.000-05:00

Pictures of Ana are on the camera and will find their way here soon. Cute is on the way, folks, I promise. Until then, read about me getting old.

I handled the birthday fine with a minimum of flipping out. Being 30 ain't so bad... its better than being 29 because now I don't have to worry about turning 30. So all was well, almost.

Thursday morning, two days after the big event, I wake with a terrible headache the likes of which I had never had. After Aleve didn't help the pain I called the doctor. I am redirected to the local ER because the doc's office is installing a new CT machine and they want a picture of my head since this is the first big headache. Lovely. Five hours waiting in a noisy lobby with WAY too many healthy people I finally got drugs to help and the picture of my head shows I have a brain that appears to be normal. Yippee!

I called mom to tell her the story this weekend and she says, "Yeah, I started having migranes at 30 too." Thanks, mom, for the fantastic genes and not buying a longer warranty when I was born. I really could have done without this for another 10 years. At least now the good drugs are in the medicine cabinet instead of the ER.

The calm before the daily storm

2006-09-26T07:57:00.000-05:00

Baby Ana was having a nice dream this morning and chatting away in her sleep. So I'm up and ready for the day while she catches a few more Z's. Soon she'll be up and wating her toast, sippy cup, and entertainment. I've got my remote connection setup and waiting for my stepdad to get to his shop and read his email so I can take over his PC and try to fix the problem he's having with some program that decided to just stop working yesterday. I've got the morning to get ready for a meeting with my advisor this evening.

It is going to be a busy day. This is the way to turn 30. Too busy to have a minute to flip out about it. I'll probably listen to Phil Vassar's "My Next Thirty Years" too much today, but that song has been one of my favorites since it was released by Tim McGraw back in 1999.

Bring on the day and the next thirty years.

Treat terrorists as pirates (and a plug for Crypto-gram)

2006-09-15T12:16:00.000-05:00

While reading through a monthly security newsletter I came across this article proposing that terrorists be considered pirates in order to better prosecute them under international law. Not an area I have any expertise in, but an interesting read.

The articles about flaws in electronic voting systems that has disturbed Roxi is also covered in this month's newsletter.

Crypto-gram is written by Bruce Schneier, a computer security consultant, so topics tend to be more for the nerds, but he covers a lot of everyday security topics that affect us all. The newsletter is always long, and usually provides me with several days of reading material. Most of it scares the heck out of me, sure, but I'll deal with it.

Ana

2006-09-02T15:23:00.000-05:00

We've been too busy playing since I got home, but here is a picture of Ana. More later, I promise.

Back in God's Country

2006-08-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

I've finished up my stint in Illinois and have returned to A&M for year 12. For those keeping score at home that means that this year's incoming freshman were 7 years old when I walked into Political Science 205 on that sunny day in 1995.

I'll not apologize about the lack of posts for the past month. I had plenty of posts about the students returning to Champaign and crowding town, the students not knowing their way around town or how to use the bus system, the students being some of the worst drivers I've seen, and how my work was driving me crazy. You'll get to read all of those posts this year, it'll just be about TAMU students instead of U of I students and the work will be slightly different. I did sympathize somewhat with the kids learning the bus system since I had done it only a couple months before. However, if you're ever on a bus with a schedule book (which is complete with maps that are labelled with "The Mall" and "Wal-mart") and holding up the bus to ask the driver if this is the bus that goes to the Mall watch out... if I'm on that bus too I may just pound you into oblivion as I release the anger I repressed over the last three weeks.

I'm beginning the semester in the best possible way, sitting at home with my daughter. She caught a virus on Saturday as her special way of saying, "Welcome home, daddy. Here's some vomit to clean so you don't feel left out." She's over it now -- and only vomitted once -- but she's staying at home today because day care has a policy that the tykes should be fever free for 24 hours before coming back to daycare. I'll keep deluding myself into thinking that other parents with real jobs are just as considerate about the health of the other kids. After all, viruses randomly appear through a secret door at daycares, don't they? My daughter has "magically" gotten sick 9 times in the last 10 months she's been in daycare because the germs are just there, not because other parents are lying about their children's health, right? Right. Moving on.

We've been to the doctor, the bank, and the park today, and I get a break while she naps now. Time to wade back into the research.

Driving and bicycling rants will be posted soon.

"Now come over here so I can hit you for that."

2006-07-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

I've heard a lot of fun stuff using public transportation this summer, but I think this will be my favorite of the summer.

I went to use the restroom and the bus station and was slightly annoyed that there was a 7-year-old running around unsupervised. He was having a great time dashing around activating all the urinals, sinks, and hand dryers. He was very helpful when I went to wash my hands. He carefully explained how everything in the restroom was automated except the soap dispenser. "You got to push that button up and down to get soap."

As I was leaving the terminal he had finally gotten bored playing in the bathroom so he came sprinting outside with his sister and tried his best to knock me down. Thankfully I've got quite a bit of a weight advantage so he just bounced off and then got the stunned deer-in-the-headlights look. His mother was sitting at a nearby table being a very attentive parent. She did notice him running me down and yells at him as I'm walking away.

Mother of the year: "Hey. Why you do that?! Watch where you're goin'! You didn't even say 'xcuse me. SAY IT!"
Poor child: "s-s-s-cuse me."
Me: "That's ok." (walking away a bit more quickly now)
Mother of the year: "That's better. Now come over here so I can hit you for that."

Great parenting... only available at bus stations and Wal-mart.

Clerks 2 -- Too tame for NC-17

2006-07-23T15:21:00.000-05:00

I've been waiting for the release f Clerks 2 since I read about it earlier this year. I'm not a big enough Kevin Smith fan to have known it was in the works, but I've enjoyed all of his films. I read a couple of stories, including this one, where the director seemed to be determined to release his movie unrated to get everthing in it he wanted. "In terms of the edginess of the humor, I don't think we've ever gone this far before," he says in the USA Today piece.

Well, someone changed his mind. Clerks 2 came out with a R rating and I must say that it is one of the milder R rated shows I've seen. After being shocked by the foul-language in the original Clerks back in 1995 I had high (or low depending on your view) expectations of what Smith's cast of great characters would do. They do quite a bit, but if you're looking for the gross-out swearfest movie of the summer this isn't it. I give it two thumbs up.

My past two trips to the theater haven't been without disappointment though. Wes wrote some time ago -- so long ago I can't find the exact story to link to it -- about a lame Hoolywood project starring Samuel L. Jackson named "Snakes on a Plane". I'm sorry to say that this project is going to be release in early august and it is actually being promoted. I've been subjected to the trailer twice now and I spotted a cardboard cutout display in the theater today. That makes me sad. I guess the high school kids need a scary movie with no plot to go see. Best lame quote from the trailer, "You remember all those security scenarios we ran? Well, I'm smack in the middle of one we didn't think of."

Fast and Furious (or not)

2006-07-20T22:17:00.000-05:00

I was waiting to post until I had some pictures from this weekend, but I still haven't gotten any word about them.

The IronAbe triathlon this past Sunday was by far one of the dumbest things I've done in a long time. The lake was hot (86 degrees), the temperture was over 80, and the humidity was over 70% the entire race. I managed to finish the race with a great swim time, a decent bike time, and a lousy run time. The important thing was that I finished though. Now I've just got to get back on track with training for September otherwise I won't be able to finish that race.

My rental car for the weekend was a Suburu Outback. Closer to what I had requested, but still bigger than what I thought I would get. Since then I've noticed that they are a very popular car up here. I guess for winter driving it is a good car to have since it has a little more clearance and 4 wheel drive.

Work has been really fast and furious. The project I'm working on is preparing for initial release and I've become a full time developer helping fix bugs and prepare documentation. It's good work experience and I like it, but at some point I've got to finish the research project I was supposed to do. I have to present results on it in 4 weeks in Portland, OR.

I've also been working evenings on a project back at TAMU. My bug fixes there have gotten the code to a point where it now runs a new type of problem. Cool stuff to me, but not to anyone actually reading this. So we'll just say I've been really busy fixing code and enjoying it.

I'll get some pictures from the weekend up when I get them. Hopefully I'll have more interesting things to write about then too.

"Compact" Car Rentals

2006-07-08T09:36:00.000-05:00

I've been back to Texas to visit twice this summer -- I spent last Saturday through Tuesday there, a great holiday weekend -- and have wound up renting a car both times. The first trip it was cheaper with gas included for me to fly into Houston and then drive to College Station. I went to pick up my compact car and was directed to a Chevy Equinox. Sure, it is one of their smaller SUVs -- I don't know if the HHR is smaller or not -- but it is a far cry from the Ford Focus I was expecting. The rental associate at the counter had tried three times to talk me into an upgrade, so I think this one can be chalked up to them being out of the sardine cans on wheels.

On the 4th my flight out of College Station was delayed by the rain in Houston. The highlight of my time spent in the airport was learning at the same time that the shuttle had lifted off safely and that the aircraft we were waiting on had left Houston. I made the connection to Chicago, but missed the train to Champaign. I made a reservation for a compact car while waiting in College Station, and when I arrived at O'Hare I was directed to a KIA Sorento. This blew me away. If they hadn't had any compacts available they should have forced me to rent something bigger due to my late reservation.

My theories on why this is happening are; the rental cars are in collusion with the oil companies to force rental customers to buy more gas, the American perception of what is compact has been severely distorted, or the rental companies don't actually have any compact rentals but just rent bigger cars at a lower rate. The first theory seems most likely to me as the other two mean the rental companies would be charging less than they should.

I'll be renting a car this next weekend for a trip over to Springfield to compete in the Iron Abe Triathlon. I'll probably request something larger so I can fit my bicycle inside to avoid purchasing a bike rack. If they give me a 15 passenger van instead of a small SUV I'll not be surprised.

My new tattoo

2006-06-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

No, nothing permanent has been done yet.

Since I've been in college I've thought about getting a tattoo. My father killed the early impulses by getting a tattoo himself my freshman year or somewhere thereabouts. But just as time heals the wounds of parental mid-life crises it also heals the trauma caused by parental units getting ink.

My problem with tattoos for the past couple of years has been that I couldn't think of anything that I wanted on my body for the rest of my life. This week I had dinner at an Indian restaurant across the street from one of the many tattoo parlors close to the U of I campus and I think I've solved that problem. I never want to be this far from Texas and family again. Since I don't know what career opportunities lie ahead of me in the next five years I think the only way to guarantee my closeness to the state and the ones I love is to have their likeness on me.

I'm thinking an outline of the state on the left shoulder blade with something inside to represent family will do quite nicely. Thoughts other than, "Tim Smith, have you finally lost your mind?!" are appreciated.

Pixar does it again

2006-06-21T18:57:00.000-05:00

I made it to see Cars this weekend. I agree with Bubba's Sis, it is a great movie that will be part of my DVD collection as soon as it is available.

You'd think that being up in IL for the summer by myself I'd be caught up on movie watching, but I'd still like to see Over the Hedge, X3, and I guess the next installment of Pirates of the Carribean is due soon -- I've missed all the trailers for that. A trip to the theater this weekend is definately in order.

Google has taken over my browser

2006-06-03T11:27:00.000-05:00

Google hasn't managed to take over the world yet, and they're not even making good progress taking over the much smaller domain of my laptop. However, it appears that my browser has been overrun by Google.

I have four tabs open in my Firefox window right now.

Tab 1: Gmail -- Google's web-based email service I've been using for almost two years now. If you want a Gmail account let me know. I've got invites a plenty to share.

Tab 2: Google Calendar -- I've put my triathlon summer training schedule online using this newer service. I like how it is doubling as a calendar and a training log for me. No real need for me to use Google Notebook as a result.

Tab 3: This site -- I've just finished reading through my regular set of blogs and all but one of them is hosted on Blogger, a Google service.

Tab 4: Gmaps Pedometer -- While not a Google service it is a distance calculator built using the Google Maps programming interface. I use this site to map out my running and biking courses for my training, and also for getting some idea of how long it is going to take me to get somewhere in Urbana-Champaign on my bike this summer. This site and Google Maps share equal time open in my browser since I'm always trying to find something in town or figure out where I'm going to run/bicycle to next.

So there you have it, my regular set of tabs are owned by Google. My browser homepage is a personalized Google page as well that lets my quickly check the weather in cities of interest and glance through the headlines of the day.

While I think nerd-love of Google is a bit too high right now and the honeymoon is bound to end at some point soon, I have unintentionally come to use several online products from them. That scares me somewhat, but I'm happy with each of the services and won't be looking for replacements anytime soon. Google may take over the world in the near future, but now I'm going to be a little wary of any attempts to invade more space on my PC.

P.S. You'd think that with all of this online success Google would at least put together a spell checker that doesn't think "Google" is misspelled.

The Blind Pig Co.

2006-05-28T16:00:00.000-05:00

I made it out to check out The Blind Pig last night thanks to Wes' recommendation.

Since they do not serve food and because I had read way too much hype about the place I started the evening at Guido's. It's a sports bar nearby with rude waitresses that seem to have an aversion for tables of one. No problem though, I moved to the bar and got good service and at least some small talk from a couple of the bartenders. Had a Bass and a surprisingly good hamburger there before heading over to the Blind Pig.

I made it inside just after the group of 30 british car owners doing a pub crawl. Most of these nuts were dressed up in Ren Fair costumes -- I waited for my beer at the bar next to the king and the fat friar. All of them had several annoying strobes that made the place look like a rave. Once they had their two rounds and cleared out the night got much better.

The Blind Pig is cozy. For those who spent time in College Station it is about the same length as the Dry Beam and about 3 times as wide. The bar runs down the left side and they've got small tables down the right side. The lighting is poor enough that the decor doesn't matter, but good enough that you can read the beer list and notice that there is a deck of cards somehow stuck to the 20-foot ceiling -- magic was the explanation given by the bartender since that was the explanation he was given.

After 9 they have two bartenders -- when I arrived there was only one poor guy trying to get 30 flashy weirdos drinks -- who are very friendly and will help you find a beer you'll like. The list below is what I had. I'll definately be back there over the summer for more great -- and very reasonably priced -- beer this summer.

König Ludwig Weiss -- the lighter of the two beers pictured.

O'Fallon Wheach -- Peach wheat beer. Just about the only thing peach flavored I've ever liked.

Two Brothers Domain DuPage -- one of the last pints from the cask. I never knew room temperture beer (cellar temperture of 55 degrees actually) could be so good.

Buffalo Bill's Brewery Orang Blossom Cream Ale -- This one wasn't on tap, but The Blind Pig also keeps a large selection of bottled brews on hand. I heard several folks ordering this one and thought I'd give it a shot. A very light beer -- Coors Light may be heavier -- with a sweat orange taste. Great summer beer.

Living large in the corner office

2006-05-26T21:56:00.000-05:00

I've survived my first week of work in Illinois. I think the lab in Champaign is a great place to work. Everyone in my group is smart and nice. Their general attitude has been, "you're working on a PhD. you know the problem. Here's the source code. Go and have at it and let us know if you have any questions or need something." I've done my best to hit the ground running with the project and get something useful accomplished.

The weather has turned much warmer in the past two days. We've been in the mid 80's with around 60% humidity, so I certainly am not missing the typical Texas summer weather, I'm living through it instead.

My office is certainly a nice place to be. I somehow managed to wind up in a corner office with two walls of huge windows. It is great! I do have an officemate -- interior offices are typically just for one person -- but that doesn't bother me at all. My officemate is a rowdy old sysadmin, and he rocks! He'll swear out loud and yell at the machines. I love it. It reminds me of my first co-op term at HP when I was also officemates with a rowdy old sysadmin. That guy taught me about cigars... I wonder what vices BIll can teach me about this summer.

So Intel is a great place to be right now. I'm really missing the family, but I think we're all going to survive. Ana slept through the night -- 10pm to 7am -- for the first time last night! Everyone keep their fingers crossed that this is a permanent thing and not just another two week phase.

First Impressions of Champaign

2006-05-21T17:13:00.000-05:00

The end of my third full day in Champaign and I've finally gotten all of my walking/biking/bus riding around town done and my apartment resembling a livable place. The final touch was a new CAT6 cable since the cable left by the previous tenant was a piece of junk that would drop packets like crazy if bent the wrong direction. Fun stuff.

Urbana-Champaign, UC, Chambana or whatever you want to call it is a nice place. The weather is perfect spring weather... high of 70, sunny, breezy, and a little humid. Looking at my Google home page and seeing 90 in College Station really makes me feel sorry for the family suffering through another long BCS summer.

I've found my office, the Y, Best Buy, Borders, two Wal-marts and a grocery store now so my routes around town are set. I think I've also found the quieter streets to bike down, but we'll see how it all works out in rush hour tomorrow morning.

The UIUC campus is gorgeous. The consistent red-brick facades make the campus feel very homey and unified. Not like A&M where very few of the buildings look similar. I have seen the UIUC football stadium. In one word it is "quaint". I wanted to go up to it and pick it up, pat it on the head and tell it, "Don't worry. You'll grow up to be a big football stadium some day. Even if you don't you're still really cute." I think I've also seen the basketball arena... only slightly smaller than the football stadium. :) Seriously, it looks smaller than Reed Arena, but that is because it is a dome and I think quite a bit of it is below the surface.

One final note about campus for now. The squirrels are domesticated to a point that makes the A&M squirrels look like spooked gazzels on the Serengeti. I was waiting for a bus when a squirrel jumped up on the bench and gave me the sad squirrel eyes bit. When that didn't work he walked up and put his front paws on my bag and tried to look more worthy of a snack. At that point I decided to let him have the bench before he decided to switch tactics and beat me up for my lunch money.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2006-05-18T23:16:00.000-05:00

I've made it to Champaign, IL after my first trip via Amtrak. The train ride from Chicago to Champaign was fun, but I really wouldn't want to be one of the folks that will ride the train all night and the better part of tomorrow to get to New Orleans.

The trip as a whole was pretty routine with a brief period of sprinting in the middle after the flight from Houston was delayed over an hour. We made it to Chicago about 50 minutes late which gave me just enough time to grab my 100+ pounds of luggage, run to the L and jam the bags through the turnstyles just in time to catch a train downtown. I made it downtown and into Union Station just in time to get the bags on the train and board. The lesson here: what spare time you give yourself in your travel schedule to walk normally and catch trains with the airlines will take away.

Tomorrow is going to be a fun-filled day of picking up paperwork from Intel to fill out over the weekend so I can cut out on the HR lecture early Monday and then camping outside my soon to be apartment so I can get my bike from the FedEx man.

Hooray for short weeks

2006-05-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

I've got a couple of short weeks coming up here to wrap up the school year. This week I'll skip town on Thursday with the family for a trip to the Panhandle to see my folks and my newest niece, Jayci Joy, who is now 2.5 weeks old.

Since it is Texas Tech's graduation weekend getting a flight out of Lubbock on Sunday was impossible at a decent price, so we're coming back to College Station on Monday. I'll be back at school for just two days before I pack my bags and head off to Intel in Illinois -- Champaign to be exact -- for the summer.

Unfortunately I do have to get some work done still, but the thought of two short weeks in the office makes me happy.

Reason #2 I'm still in grad school

2006-05-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

I get to play with some really cool toys. I've just finished reworking some code of mine so that it runs on a small version -- if 2048 processors can really be called small -- of the fastest computer in the world. Yeah, I'm a big nerd. Tell me something I don't already know.

FYI, reason #1 I'm still in grad school is that I don't want to have to get a "real" job just yet.

Bugs

2006-05-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

This morning on the way to school I spotted the first pair of "love bugs" on my windshield. A couple weeks ago Lidia found the first junebug in the backyard. I hope that the drought that managed to prevent most of the blue bonnets from blooming this year is at least severe enough to keep the populations of these pests down too. If I can't enjoy the flowers then I don't want to have to tolerate the bugs!

Way to go delivery guy

2006-05-04T11:36:00.000-05:00

A Jason's Deli delivery guy just stopped by my office with a big bag of food and a gallon of tea.

DG: "Hi, I'm looking for Meredith."
Me: "There's no Meredith here."
DG checks the ticket on the bag
DG: "This says it is supposed to go to 514 Blocker."
Me: "This isn't Blocker. This is the Bright building."
DG: "Oh yeah. This isn't Blocker."

I should have charged that kid a sandwich for setting him straight. I typically feel sympathy for the lost delivery people on campus, but I could tell this guy was an undergrad with his head planted up his ass. He had no excuse for going to the wrong building other than he was playing with the radio in the car too much as he drove across campus.

1:36:00

2006-05-01T12:34:00.000-05:00

This weekend I participated in the BTU TRI-O de Mayo triathlon. I managed to finish with a smile on my face after turning in my fastest times on the bike and swim. My time on the run was just a little slower than I had hoped, but I'm very happy with the time. The break down of the time is approximately 9 minutes for the swim (I forgot to start my timer until I was on the bike and didn't get my splits from BTU yet), 52 minutes on the bike, and 32 minutes on the run, with 3 minutes in transition. It seems like I spent a lot longer than that getting my shoes on, but I guess having guys with a good transition routine sprint past with their bikes skews one's reality.

This was a great first triathlon, and I'm looking forward to my next race. Maybe one of these days I'll be one of the old guys you see doing the Iron Man in Hawaii. It's going to take about 30 years of training before I can run a marathon though.

"Great" minds think alike

2006-04-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

From an AIM conversation I was having this morning with a research colleague...

(10:36:49) nlthomas99: is that it's not about blame, it's about problem solving
(10:36:54) nlthomas99: f*** who's fault it was
(10:36:56) eimmitsmith: yup
(10:37:00) nlthomas99: get 'er done!
(10:37:00) eimmitsmith: get 'er done
(10:37:02) eimmitsmith: wow
(10:37:06) nlthomas99: that is scary
(10:37:09) eimmitsmith: yeah
(10:37:12) eimmitsmith: really is
(10:37:17) nlthomas99: you forgot the exclamation point
(10:37:31) eimmitsmith: I'm not as fast a typist as you.
(10:37:40) eimmitsmith: no time for punctuation.

Same thought at the same time. Crazy stuff. Maybe other craziness will occur and I'll manage to get real work done today too.

9 minute mile

2006-04-26T09:50:00.000-05:00

8 weeks ago I started my triathlon training. On our timed run I managed to go 1.5 miles in 15:40 and I thought to myself that if I could cut it down to a 10 minute mile by the competition I'd be happy. Yesterday after the swim in workout we did the same run and I came in at 13:06, just under a 9 minute mile. That still puts me in the last 1/3 of my training group, but I am now the fastest slow person in the program.

The big race is this Sunday. I've got my road bike rented this week so I can get used to the different handling and shifting and really like it. I'm drinking my water like I should and I'll have my pasta on Saturday. Hopefully I'll post Sunday afternoon that I was able to make it in ahead of all the moms swimming with their babies hanging on their backs. :)

I am a pack of cigarettes

2006-04-23T10:57:00.000-05:00

I'm on campus this morning preparing for the resumption of my usual Sunday code review meetings. A few minutes ago as I sat trying to put together a coherent picture of the code we want to produce I began seeing the objections that will be raised and the arguments we'll have this afternoon. On some of them I can see who will be on each side of the argument and how this pits me against my advisor and with the nuclear engineering profs at times. Then my imagination started going and I envisioned one debate becoming so intense that I was traded by my advisor to one of the NUEN profs in one of those, "If you two agree so well, fine. He's your student now." moments.

It was then that I realized that grad students are similar to the Hollywood ideal of packs of cigarettes in a prison. We're traded as currency amongst the professors. Not usually in the "he's your student now" sense, though that does happen occasionally, but in the "I've got a student I can make work on this project if you'll give me some of the grant money" sense. Grad students are thus shuffled around from project to project, losing little bits of themselves along the way. In the end, when they are used up, wrinkled and hollow they are tossed aside for a new pack of smokes.

The interesting bit of this is that once the discarded packs hit the floor they are swept into the garbage bin of industry research and incinerated, or they are instantly reincarnated into prisoners themselves working to secure their own carton of cigarettes. I think once I'm used up I'll wind up in the garbage bin of industrial research. If I am by chance reincarnated into a prisoner I'll try to be a little kinder to any smokes that may come my way.

I think I need to go outside now.

Could the spell check be any worse?

2006-04-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

The oddities of the spell checker on this site have been detailed on multiple occasions. Wes noted that it doesn't thing "blog" is a proper word. I found another one not too long ago. I'm sorry for not providing links to those posts, but after 5 minutes of searching I've also decided the search feature of the site also is lacking. That is really odd considering all of this is run by the fine folks at Google.

My rant is inspired by the spell checker not giving decent recommendations for "extraordinaire" and "remembered" which I had difficulty spelling tonight. For extraordinaire the checker came up with "extraordinary". Close, but not close enough for my lazy mood. For remembered, which I had spelled "remebered" the only suggestion it had was ramparts. Ramparts? I'm blogging, not waxing poetic about the revolutionary battle I'm witnessing.

Finally, as if I needed more fodder, the spell checker doesn't think Google is spelled properly. I'm sorry, but when you're a big company and you provide a service as one of your first steps toward world domination make sure that the tools you provide know how to spell the company name. It just looks bad otherwise.

Half-baked lobster

2006-04-18T21:40:00.000-05:00

Today my triathlon class went out to Lake Bryan to ride through the full bike course that we'll be racing on April 30. I've been out on long bike rides the past two weekends and got a little sunburn on my face each time. Today I thought I was a genius when I remembered to put sunscreen on my face. It definitely worked, but since I was truly an idiot and forgot to put it on my arms the topside from just above the elbow down is bright red... all the way to the tips of my fingers. The bottom side is still pasty white. It is going to take a couple of weekends outside to fix this mess.

The ride went well. I was able to finish strong and pass a couple of folks in the last 2 miles (the bike is 13.5 miles), one of which is a guy in my swimming group who is a jock extraordinaire. Fast swimmer, fast runner, but not fast enough on the bike today. That's fine too. I need my good days. He'll beat me soundly on our 3.5 mile run on Thursday, but at least then I'll have remembered to put sunscreen on my face, neck, and arms.

Run Thru The Vines

2006-04-09T11:23:00.000-05:00

This morning I participated in the 5k race at Run Thru The Vines -- a very fun event where the race begins and ends among the grape vines of the Messina Hof Winery. I've been to this event several times before as a photographer for Rec Sports, but the last time I ran any distance as part of a competition was my junior year of high school and it was only a half mile. Given that and I'm still much larger than what folks at these events consider your typical runner I'm happy with my finish.

I was the 100th finisher and came in at 29:32. I finished by myself basically so there wasn't anyone for me to run down at the end. To give you an idea of how slow that time is let me list a few folks that I noticed finishing ahead of me... one of the guys from my triathlon class (more on that in a sec) and his dog, several 10-12 year old girls, and a bad ass mama that pushed her toddler around the course in a jogging stroller. I wasn't beat by the cute little red-headed 6-year-old boy that was in front of me most of the race. I pushed past him with about a half mile to go and didn't look back.

I'm still thrilled to have finished in the top 100 and with a time that was a little faster than my target time for the upcoming BTU Tri-o de Mayo triathlon. That's right, my stupidity doesn't stop with wanting to run a 5k.

Towards the end of last semester I got the idea that I wanted to train for a triathlon to lose weight. My initial thought was to train for a quarter-distance Iron Man triathlon (0.6 mile swim, 28 mile bike, 6.55 mile run), but training on my own I was only wanting to swim and bike and leave the run out of it. I signed up for a triathlon training course at the Rec Center and we're 6 weeks through the 9 week program. The distances of the BTU triathlon are shorter (0.3 mile swim, 14.5 mile bike, 3.1 mile run) than my initial idea, but I realized quickly that this is much more my speed right now and something I'll probably be able to finish and feel good about.

So after biking the full distance yesterday in a time I'm very happy about and successfully finishing the 5k today and scoring a sweet t-shirt for the event I'm feeling pretty confident about where I'll be in 3 weeks. I know I won't win it, but right now my goal is completing, not competing.

Pictures of the Princess

2006-04-08T12:54:00.000-05:00

It was pointed out to me that I haven't posted any pics of Ana here in a while. Without further ado I present pictures of Princess Ana, benevolent (most of the time anyway) ruler of the Smith house.

This last picture is just after her bath. When Ana gets excited and wants to get something or go after someone she sniffs. She'll wrinkle up her nose and sniff at whatever it is for several seconds before going after it. Her way of saying (in her best Inigo Montoya voice), "Hello, my name is Ana. You are the current object of my attention. Prepare for playtime." It is a lot of fun to watch... unless she's sniffing at you, in which case it is time to run.

Yeah, I'm an ass

2006-04-03T13:15:00.000-05:00

Yes, folks, the bit about Lidia not being able to help move the desk for much longer was a joke. My own lame April Foolery. It worked too well on my mom earlier in the day -- FYI, it's fun listening to your mom swear at you over the phone when she realizes she's been had.

My apologies to Bubba's Sis, the first to notice my ruse. I had read her post earlier in the day about her dislike of April First pranks, and I felt bad when she feel for mine. Sis, I promise when we are really expecting again to proclaim it from the page top.

Busy Day

2006-04-01T20:50:00.000-06:00

I think I've done more today than I've done in a long time. First was the relocation of my desk/PC to mine and Lidia's bedroom from Ana's bedroom. Ana needs room to play now that she's mobile, and we need to make room for another bed while Lidia can still help move the desk.

Then a trip to Best Buy to pick up a new monitor. 17" LCD is a big step up from the 21" CRT behemoth on my desk. It is amazing the amount of space I have now, and I didn't give up much in desktop real estate.

After that trip came the run to Wal-mart for a filing cabinet, cookies for Ana and Lidia, Dr Pepper, and all the other various groceries we could remember that we needed.

Back to the house then to setup the computer, monitor, and to throw all the crap randomly on the desk. I think the PC wires are the most organized they have ever been. Zip-tied and baby guards over the two spare outlets. It is a site to behold. The next time you come visit you're welcome to crawl under the desk and check it out. As for the pile of crap on the desk, I'm to tired to put it all away now. I'll leave organizing the desk for tomorrow.