Family

2010 2020

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A lot happens in 10 years. I have: Lived in 7 different cities Antioch Santa Cruz Felton Ben Lomond Boulder Creek Washougal Camas Worked at 4 different companies LLNL Bay Photo Lab Stanford New Relic Visited the emergency room 3 times Said goodbye to 3 wonderful pets, all of them broke my heart Taught two kids to ride a bike Taught one kid to DRIVE Read 97 eBooks Read countless comic books Got 2 tattoos Gained ~50 glorious pounds Joined the “1000 lbs club” This is a lengthy post with a lot of pictures. Read More...

Archery

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A while back when I was visiting my Dad for a little family gathering, he had us shoot some arrows in his backyard: HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc00118f900-1-HBHB It rekindled the fun I had as a kid with archery, when his dad taught me how. Since then, I have always kept it in the back of my mind to see if I could somehow arrange my back yard to accommodate the hobby. It has taken over 6 years to finally actualize that goal. Read More...

year one the good the bad and the weird

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Since I/we (the family) have made a fairly drastic change in our lives, I thought I would give the “Year One” run down. In pictures only. HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc0010e8000-1-HBHB My first day at work, and the last time I showed up before 8am! HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc0010e8000-2-HBHB The room I rented while the family was in antioch was a real gem. The manager of the home ripped the bathroom out after he cashed my first check. Read More...

google ads coming

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HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc0008b9400-1-HBHB Owen and Caralyne playing at the beach I always felt very proud that this site was “free” to everyone. I think its great when you can go to a site that isn’t laden with advertisements or pop-ups that try to sell you more things you don’t need. Sort of like how the internet used to be. I regret to say, I’m going to compromise my ideology and give Google Adsense a try. Read More...

skynet began in a kitchen

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Over the past year or so, Caralyne has become increasingly interested in scientastical things like computers, Minecraft, Robots, Mythbusters, and specifically, Mythbusters! I’ve been using our TV for my own nefarious deeds, unbeknownst to Caralyne, as an educational tool in science and skepticism. Between Good Eats, Mythbusters and a few PBS clips of Neil Degrasse Tyson being awesome, something was bound to stick. Also, as a daughter and child of mine, she is constantly seeking my affection and approval… which I am not above exploiting these features she no doubt got from me, so I give her a LOT of positive feedback and attention when we are watching these shows. Read More...

coal

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I’m absolutely crushed. I’ve lost a great friend and member of our family, Coal. He escaped our backyard and was hit by car between the A and G street freeway on-ramps. He turned two on 11⁄16. Coal was the dog I dreamed of having; he was the combination of all the Aussies I’ve had growing up. He was the best. That dog never seemed to have a down moment. He was always happy, and always looking for trouble. Read More...

welcome to antioch

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For a few reasons, I decided to go through the City of Antioch’s Type I crime reports (available here: http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/citygov/police/crime-maps/crime-maps.htm). The City only publishes this as a PDF image, comparing the year selected, and the previous year. It also only goes back to 2005. To help view this as a possible trend, and not just a snapshot in time, I typed up all of them in Google Docs - City of Antioch Crime Stats Read More...

zoey

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We lost a great companion on Friday. Our super awesome dog, Zoey, passed away due to a heart complication (cardiomyopathy). She was just over 6 years old ( 05-04-2005 to 06-10-2011). She was diagnosed two weeks ago, and we knew what to expect. It was terribly sad to see her in such poor shape, however, I’m glad I had two weeks to hug her, feed her delicious food, and tell her that I love her. Read More...

chabot space and science center

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HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc000835900-1-HBHB We did a night hike, and spent the night at the Chabot Space Center in Oakland the other week. The weather did not permit us to use the large telescopes they have there, but we did get to see the perigee-syzygy of the Moon. It was quite large and nice looking, but too bad the camera does not duplicate the same optical illusion our brains produce by making it look REALLY big: HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc000835900-2-HBHB Read More...

christmas in feb

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I guess I missed writing about last years Christmas in February. I’ll have to try and make up for it right now. First off though, we didn’t charge the battery for our nice camera. We were not prepared at all this year. So, the nice family portrait was not taken by us this year, and I don’t have a copy. Here is the other part of my lack of preparedness… I sort of forgot to tell Michele that this was the weekend we were going to my Dads. Read More...

pinecrest

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We went camping with Michele’s family this weekend: View Larger Map We forgot our nice camera, so all the photos were taken with either Droid, or Michele’s Droid. Mostly mine, because I had a full charge that pretty much lasted all 4 days (I charged it in the car for 30 minutes one day). Pretty nice for a smart phone, especially since I was using to take photos , movies play music off of it, I’m in love with the latest Buckethead album I recently purchased. Read More...

4th of july in monterey

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HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc001024000-1-HBHB Michele and I purposefully did not make any July 4th plans, because we both silently and secretly waited for Steve and Summer to invite us down. We’d mumble back and forth “So, no fireworks in Antioch this year…”, “Yeah, maybe Steve and Summer will invite us down…”. As it got closer to July, there was a possibility that the two of them had otherĀ arrangements, and we might have to fend for ourselves! Read More...

stuff and things

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I don’t have a central theme with this post, but I wanted to at least do something (it has been a while). Packet Filter Based on Chris’s “Falling in love with pf(4)” google status, I decided to take the plunge and move off of ipfw(4) to pf(4). I’m not at the point where I could write my one filter, however, I do feel I at least understand what is happening here. Read More...

mt diablo the quick way

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Caralyne spent the night at a friends house Saturday, so after we dropped her off the three of us drove to the peak of Mount Diablo and hung out for a bit. I got a little queasy on the drive up, and I think Owen did too. Hiking up to the peak was easier in that respect at least : HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc000e57400-1-HBHB Whew, made it to the 1K mark… HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc000e57400-2-HBHB View at 1K Read More...

coal and zoey playing

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Michele recorded these two playing, and then the aftermath of it all.

new aussie

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We have been talking about getting a new dog, off and on, for a year or so. There was very little doubt that it would have been anything other than an Australian Shepherd, since I’ve been pretty vocal about that. That, and I try to abduct everyone else aussie. So, now I have my own, and he’s pretty freakin’ awesome. Let’s talk about names. I’ve had a rough time picking one, nothing has really lived up to how awesome this dog is. Read More...

gone fishin

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[caption id=“attachment_583” align=“aligncenter” width=“150” caption=“Rudy does not approve of our aquatic activities”][/caption] My parents had my nephews this weekend, so my Step Dad called me around 10 this morning to ask if Caralyne and I wanted to go fishing with him and the boys. Caralyne seemed really excited about the idea of going on a boat and fishing, so we got ready and met them at their house. [caption id=“attachment_584” align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“Getting suited up, safety first…”][/caption] Read More...

random pictures

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I saw one of my Wushu Buddies picture on facebook (James). The picture is him as an angst filled teenager, with a closely shaved head and a goatee, playing an electric guitar. I sported a similar look, and I play as well, so that prompted me to dig through some old photos. I only have one picture of me during that time (I never owned a camera until 2000): [caption id=“attachment_543” align=“aligncenter” width=“573” caption=“Glenn, John and Me”][/caption] Read More...

alaskan vacation part 2 the cruise day 89 tracy arm fjord

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I felt cheated today, I had to rush out of the room at 8am to see the iceberg that we were scheduled to see at 11am. I have had to wake up at 7 or so everyday, and the night before I was adamant (with myself anyway, I didn’t express this to anyone else) that I was going to sleep in, this is after all a vacation. Captain Rick had a different plan, and announced on the PA system at 8 that we were about to depart from the iceberg and head to Victora, BC, after another two days at sea. Read More...

alaskan vacation part 2 the cruise day 67 juneau and skagway

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Both Juneau and Skagway are tourist towns. the main streets are lined with cheap jewelry stores and gift shops hocking Ammolite stones and the Ulu cutting tool. This “knife” must be incredibly cheap to manufacture, or the cruise ship got a great deal on a bulk purchase. The did a demo of using it, and while the chief hypes it up with how easy it is to chop an onion, the way he holds the blade, by one of the sharp tips itself, seems pretty dangerous. Read More...

alaskan vacation part 2 the cruise day 45 at sea

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Our ship is named “Rhapsody of the Seas”, and I can’t stop re-wording it as Rapture of the Seas, which would be more appropriate for these two days at sea. Most people we came with got sea sick, Michele got sick from the food. I didn’t get sea sick, that part of swaying back and forth doesn’t bother me, I did jog on a treadmill during some pretty choppy waters and that was interesting :) I was also listening to a funny podcast, so I was jogging, balancing, and laughing all at once. Read More...

alaskan vacation part 1 the drive day 3 seattle

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The previous night I was lucky enough to get out for a jog :) and Portland is pretty nice, that is until I hit a truck stop type of road (which is odd, I guess I just naturally find myself in this places). I made a full circle back to the hotel at that point anyway, so the jog was shorter than I had wanted (and I ended up adding 30 minutes to the total on a treadmill that night), but it was nice to get out and see some of Portland and not get completely lost. Read More...

alaskan vacation part 1 the drive day 2 portland oregon

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The drive to Portland was really nice. The best part about drive NORTH on I5 from California, is that it gets prettier the farther you go. Oregon is a beautiful state, I’m really going to dislike the drive back home (view wise that is, otherwise, I’ll be ready :) ). We had timed it really well, we left right before Owen was ready for a nap. He slept most of the way, and then we kept him busy with a bottle and toys. Read More...

alaskan vacation part one day one eugene oregon

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We are driving up to Seattle to catch our cruise ship. Our “Vay-Kay”, as my sister Jessica was trying to get Caralyne to say. We’ll be on a 7 day cruise up the coast of Alaska, and the first part of that is driving from Antioch to Seattle. It should be really nice. I’m also going with 12 or so of my In Laws. This, like any good HP Lovecraft journal, will document my path to insanity. Read More...

yosemite trip

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Hmm, what does this remind me of? HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc000c9ea00-1-HBHB Ah ha, thats it! HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc000c9ea00-2-HBHB I grew up on Sierra adventure games, this was the highlight of my trip :) A few weeks ago the four of us went with my In-Laws and Butch, a friend of the family’s, to a place outside of Yosemite. It was a RV kind of campground, and they even had cabins you could rent out. Yeah, camping is really tough these days :) With two kids, we opted for a small little cabin, and it was nice even though I had a cold and a sore throat. Read More...

easter

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Sunday we celebrated Easter, as well as Owens 1st birthday (its really April 22nd, but we took advantage of having most of the family in one place), at my parents place in Knightsen. Here is a link to the gallery on my other site, m87-blackhole.org: http://m87-blackhole.org/photos/2009-04-12-easter/ I also took some pictures of my parents house in the making. It is starting to shape up nicely, my step dad is a pretty talented carpenter. Read More...

christmas in february

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Group photo HAHAHUGOSHORTCODE-0xc000e6a000-1-HBHB My Dad and I are very similar, one of those similar traits is that we procrastinate and push things like Christmas off until ALMOST March :) This get together worked out last year, so we did it again. The traditional holiday schedule is so crazy and overwhelming (especially for an introvert) that it is miserable to try and cram everything in within a few days. With us getting together two months after settling down from the real event, its nice and relaxing and we get to have Pizza without worrying that the place will close due to a holiday. Read More...

what day is this 2

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The past few weeks have been pretty busy, Owen is still in the hospital (and we expect him to stay there another two weeks) and his collapsed lung has healed up. Now they doctors are getting him off the pain medication (down to morphine now), helping him feed on his own, and get his bilirubin resolved. We’ve been going to see him everyday, and we were finally able to hold him last week. Read More...

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My little boy was born ( 04/22/2008 @ 10:25am ), at a nice healthy weight of 7lbs and 13oz with a height of 20” ( all in all, almost exactly what Caralyne was, she was 21.25”) We don’t have him home yet, and I’m sure I’ve keep almost everyone up to day, but he has a collapsed lung, or pneumothorax. This happens a lot, but most of the time it’s a tiny hole and the body just absorbs the escaping air and the lung heals within a day or so. Read More...