Software Developer, Media Nut, and Proud Father of Two

Since I have such an awesome job, boss and supervisor, I had the opportunity spend a full week in New Orleans for Thanksgiving. Typically when we travel to New Orleans, it's a weekend trip that starts early Friday morning, but since I have a company provided laptop with wireless broadband, I was able to extend the amount of time I spent there, and as a result, had a much more fulfilling trip. A lot of times Becky and I rush to see one or two people before having to make our trek back home on a Sunday afternoon, not being able to see family and friends outside of the initial visit to their home and at church. I was tempted to extend my visit by a few days since my best friend Anthony's wife is going to have their third child on Wednesday, but I was ready to come back home. Not only did I spend time with family and friends, but I also got to ride in a helicopter and get majorly defeated in UNO by the Queen of UNO (Becky). During some of my down time I decided to become more acquainted with social networking sites, partly for work related research and partly due to curiosity since I have seen and heard plenty of social networking, but never got involved.

This trip gave me ample opportunity to hang out, talk, learn new things, finish my Christmas shopping (to Becky's surprise), get work done, and have a great time. One of my brothers is going through a rough time at the moment with his wife, so I got to spend a few hours with him just talking about a large number of things, something that I really haven't ever with any of my brothers. Growing up, my family never was close. We all kind of did our own thing and our parents supported us in whatever activities we had an interest in, but there never was family time. My parents showed us love, but in ways other than affection. We all got used to this and in my case, I would hate it when my mom did show affection. To this day I have to remind myself of the relationship I have with my wife and kids and see things from my mom's perspective, that you can't help but show your love to those that you love most. Being the youngest of four boys, I never did feel close to my brothers, or my parents, because again, there was no family time, so the several hours that my brother and I spent talking was great. Not everything we talked about was positive in nature, but it was good that we both got to share our core values and beliefs and really opened up to each other. I look forward to more conversations like this with him and my other two brothers. Enough mushy talk, on to other things!

My brother-in-law Al showed off some motion blur photos he took while his home was without electricity a few weeks back. This perked my interest, especially after having looked at 45 other motion blur photos. After some tinkering, I figured out how to take motion blur photos on my camera. None of them were anything like the linked photos, but it's a starting point. Speaking of cameras, I was considering buying Becky a new digital camera since our current one is getting dated (it doesn't even have a dedicated on/off button), but given all of the other gifts I have purchased so far, I didn't want to spend at least an additional $150 for a point and shoot camera. Several times in the past I've asked my mom to let me take her Canon EOS 20D, a backup camera to her EOS 30D. My oldest brother Max has also been trying to get his hands on the 20D, and I don't blame him, it's a great camera, and his current one is much older than mine. I implored my mom to consider letting me borrow it until she would need it, a thought her and my dad initially brushed away. The day before we were to leave New Orleans, my mom said she had a surprise and wanted me to go to her house to pick it up. I eventually went to my mom's house and sure enough, she pulls out the bag that holds the backup camera. To clear any possible confusion, I proposed the question that this wasn't for keeps, but for borrowing, and she sternly affirmed it. To my satisfaction, and Becky's, I have access to a great camera and will be able to get the best shots possible because of the action shot capabilities of the camera. Exciting times to say the least!

One of the other adventures I had on my trip was becoming more acquainted with social networking sites, primarily Facebook. I've been able to locate and get some updates on people I used to go to school with at John Ehret. Another part of Facebook is to let the world know what I'm doing, like micro-blogging, just like on Twitter. Honestly though, I never have seen the appeal in getting involved with these kinds of sites. I may spend a few hours on it initially, but will I really make one, or many, of the sites part of my daily routine and an integral part of my life? Will I really invest my free time in letting the world know that I'm studying a particular verse in the Bible, have come down with a stomach virus and will sleep in or am pulling an all-nighter with a video game or a client's website? I don't know, maybe I'm missing the point, but there are just way too many choices out there, and almost every one of them is another outlet for people to lose less and less of their private life by exposing it to the world. Most of my life is an open book and I'm happy to share my thoughts, ramblings and insights, but there's a point where a line has to be drawn and some information has to be restricted. With Facebook I am able to reconnect with those that I have lost contact, but spending large portions of my life updating the 'what are you doing' status? I just don't see the appeal, even for Christian ones like GodRev.com. I'd rather chat on a forum or IM, at least it's slightly more productive, especially when giving or seeking help, like web or software development issues.

Among the other forms of entertainment was being able to watch some episodes of Star Trek before going to bed, playing with my neice Heidi, riding in a helicopter, catching up on missed TV shows, and listening to the defeat of the Saints, defeating their chances of a playoff run. The trip back started really bad with Sarah throwing up at my father-in-law's, then again in the van, no more than 10 minutes after leaving, which made us rethink our plan of return. My eagerness to get home far outweighed the comfort of staying and recuperating, so we pushed on. Sarah threw up a second time along the way, but this time we were prepared, but being paranoid while driving definitely has its toll. Sarah is now over that stomach bug but along the way it affected me. Traveling between Houston and New Orleans typically takes between six to seven hours, depending on traffic. Our trip home took about nine hours, not because of traffic, at least not until we hit I-45, but mostly due to the frequent stops we had to make along the way. It was a great trip, but there's no place like home!