Backups really do pay off

Last night I performed an update for wordpress, and promptly broke the web site. At first i wasn’t sure what the issue was, just that it was something with the way the site was parsing the layout information. Fundamentally the site was working, but not displaying everything properly. I was able to go back to last months full backup and pull out the core files that I expected to be the culprit. After running comparisons on those files I was able to find the one that was causing the issue. The culprit was one file, formatting.php, located in the wp-includes directory. Thanks to running the monthly full backups I was able to bring back a working copy of the file and fix the issue. This is just one very good example of why performing routine back ups is so important. Kind of interesting that this very thing, ensuring proper backups of data, is one of my core responsabilities at work.

Reinstating the operation

A little over two years ago (I can’t beleive it was that long ago!) I started Operation Fat Ass and I have to admit, it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I’m not going to lie, it was my own failure. Dieting is hard, not so much because I eat a lot, because I don’t do that any more, but becasue I don’t eat right and I definitly do not get enough exercise. Both of these issues are due to both time and money, two things I don’t have enough of. Well, today I am reinstating Operation Fat Ass! I joined a 13 week Weight Watchers at work program. Once a week we will have meetings in the office and have our weigh-ins and discussions. It cost me $150, but hopefully it will be worth it. With this course, and an honest attempt to be more active when I can, I am hoping to finally start losing some weight. The program starts one week from today, and I am going to do my best to follow its guide lines, and hopefully, learn to change my life style for the better. In addition to wanting to lose weight and improve my life, I also have a monetary investment in this, so hopefully that will also be a driving force to keep me motivated and on a positive track, because I hate to waste money! Here’s hoping for a good change!

Motorcycle update

I got a phone call from the insurance company yesterday and they told me they had finally finished the estimate on the motorcycle. While an initial estimate had been done months ago before it was even taken to the shop, at the shop they performed another crash inspection and they found damage that the insurance adjuster had missed, so the insurance company had to go out and verify this new damage and write a second check. Now that all the estimates are done, today I went over to the shop and finalized all of the parts selections and talked to the parts guy, Joe, and the sevice technician, Sid, to get everything finalized. Now I just have to wait for all the parts to come in and the work to be done. With any luck all the work should be done by the end of May, probably before I am back from Philadelphia and New York, but I won’t be able to go pick it up until after then. While I will have and already have missed a couple of nice riding days, I will still have at least 3 months of ride time. Hopefully I can put some miles on it.

Touring Ann Arbor

Today Melissa and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go take some pictures of the University of Michigan campus, mainly around the Law Quad due to how much I like the old stone buildings. We didn’t realize that this was also the weekend that they were having there open house for incoming freshman. This was actually a good thing, as we realized that the Michigan Union was open and got to go in and walk around the union as well. It was a nice time and I think the pictures came out pretty nice too. I took a couple of sets to try and make some more HDR images, and I like the way most of those came out too

Toledo Zoo Trip

Today Kylie and Mommy went to the Toledo Zoo with Grandma Jen, Aunt Courtney, and Grandma Joan (Grandma Jen’s mom). Kylie really loved the fish. They seemed to keep her attention the most. She said, “That is just AWESOME!! Now that’s what I’m talking about.” However she was also very interested in the giraffes, the hippo, and really liked the polar bear. She kept saying over and over again “He’s HUGE!!” She liked sitting for pictures with the statues and really liked the gift shop, but that may be because Grandma bought her all kinds of things. She got a hat, a shirt, a deck of animal cards, a giraffe figure (“just like you grandma”), a little purse that had a little elephant inside. Kylie had so much fun that she fell asleep in the car on the way home. It was a very exciting and fun day, and hopefully we will be able to go back again.

Kylie’s First Date

A while ago Uncle Jason realized he had not seen Kylie for some time, so he asked if she would like to go on a date with him sometime, she of course said yes. Well today was the day they finally got to go out and spend some time together. Uncle Jason came by, wearing his best suit and holding a dozen Red Roses for Kylie, to pick her up for their date. Kylie was very excited to see him and ran to open the door for him when he pulled up. They went to Red Lobster, which Kylie called the Red Crab where they had a lovely dinner! Kylie had popcorn shrimp and fries, which she ate all of, and then her and Uncle Jason shared a yummy dessert consisting of a chocolate cookie and ice cream. Kylie even ate more of it than Uncle Jason did! After dinner they went back home where Uncle Jason stayed and played with Kylie and her dolls for a while. After a time Uncle Jason had to leave, on account of it was almost Kylie’s bed time. He gave her a kiss and said “Thanks for going on a date with me.” to which Kylie replied “You’re welcome. Uncle Jason, when are we going again?” Mommy and Aunt Sissy said it was the most adorable thing ever, and it even made Mommy cry a little.

Kylie and Uncle Jason

More pictures from Kylie and Uncle Jason’s date can be found by clicking on the above image, or by clicking here.

Daddy, I like your new face

I was getting ready to shave today when Kylie came in and asked me what I was doing. So I proceeded to explain to her that I was going to shave and what that meant. Seeing as I had grown out my beard for about a month I was happy she was going to be here to see me shave so she wouldn’t be to shocked the next time she saw me, mainly because I have heard stories of kids crying after their fathers had shaved due to not recognizing them. I admit it wasn’t a huge concern as she was used to seeing me with less facial hair then what I had pre-shave anyway. During our conversation she said simply “Your not going to shave this are you?” and reached out to scratch my beard, or more specifically my chin. She has always like scratching my chin hair ever since she was very little, and I think it gives her a sense of comfort. Even though I had no intention of shaving this I said to her “Do you not want me too?” Of course she said “No” so i told her that I wouldn’t, for her. The a thought occurred to me and I said “Kylie, what should I shave?” She thought for a moment and started pointing to areas I should shave, resulting in me shaving everything but my chin. When I was all done she looked at me and said “Daddy, I like your new face.” It was incredibly cute, and I actually think I look a little younger now. I think I like the new look and will keep it this way for a while.

[Update: 4/14/2009]
Here is an image of Kylie and Daddy with his “new face.” Clicking the image will bring you to the album containing all the images from 4/14/2009

Kylie and Daddy

Daddy, this is the best surprise ever!

Last week, when Kylie first saw her new wagon she was very excited, exclaiming “A Wagon! WOW!” Today we got to use it for the first time. Kylie, Melissa and Daddy all took a walk to the park, and Kylie got to ride in her new wagon. While we were taking our walk, and when we were about half way to the park, Kylie called out to me. So I stopped walking and turned to her and said “Yes Little Bit?” to which she happily replied “Daddy, this is the best surprise ever!” This, of course, brought a very large smile to my face, as she often does. I have to say I am very, very pleased with the reaction to her new wagon and I am very happy I was able to get it and make my little girl happy. I am looking forward to many wagon rides and park visits this spring and summer!

Kindle 2, I Want One

I really want one of Amazon’s new Kindle’s! When the generation one Kindle came out a year ago I thought it was pretty neat, but I purposely held off looking into it. Then a buddy at work showed up with one, and I was hooked. There are, of course, a few things preventing me from getting one of these little gems. Firstly, the $360 price tag is a little out of my budget at the moment. The other, and most major, thing stopping me is the crippling DRM that Amazon throws into there books. It would be great to be able to share books with other Kindle user, and I know I am not the only person who feels that way.  This thing has a ton of great features and improvements over the first version, and perhaps I will get one some day.  -sigh-