Casey Smiles now Sometimes

I'm still not sure what causes it, some mood or experience or thought that she has that flits through her mind and is gone, but sometimes Casey smiles now.  She has little grins sometimes, and then sometimes they are full-on, full-face smiles that just melt the heart.  Especially since I've spent more time just hanging out and looking at her.  I like the quiet time I get with her, she doesn't ask me questions until I'm too tired to answer and then ask why I am using my 'tired voice'.  She just looks at me and is silent, as if daddy is here and that means that nothing can possibly be wrong with the world.

Today Fran goes home, so it's back down to just the four of us.  I'm pleased that I have the freezer well stocked with easy casserole dinners.  Easy to make and easy to clean up.  I keep thinking it will be 'quieter' now, somehow, now that it's just our familiy, but the 3-year-old is still with us, so it can't be *that* much quieter.

I haven't been exercising too much, the idea that I should purposefully make myself *more* tired just seems like a poor idea.

I ordered a new computer this weekend.  A desktop this time, for playing more robust games.  I'm excited by the prospects, of course.

Yesterday Tyler was singing "The Farmer in the Dell"...
T:  The Farmer in the dell, the farmer in the dell.  High ho the mary oh, the farmer in the dell.
Me:  ...
T:  The Farmer takes his life, the farmer takes his life.  High ho the mary oh, the farmer takes his life.
Me:  Tyler, it's "picks his wife".
T:  No, it's "Takes his life."
Me:  Tyler, "Takes his life" means "Kills himself".
T: Oh.
Me:  ...
T: The farmer kills himself, the farmer kills himself.  High ho the Mary oh, the farmer kills himself...

-N

Things I've been up to

We'll start with a Tyler update, being as I'm sure he's the guy you're most interested in hearing about. Tyler's latest trick is that he's starting to have thoughts of his own. Ever since he's been able to talk, he's been really good at parroting, repeating things he's already heard. New to his repertoire, though, is coming up with his very own ideas and sentences. That's right! There's a little human in there after all.

The most memorable example of this behavior has been when we were singing “Wheels on the Bus.” It's always been one of his favorite songs. After a few verses, I asked which sound he wanted to do next.

“Tyler, what else is on the bus?”

He paused, staring ahead, like he does when he's deep in thought (we all know where he gets this from)

“Enui!”

Okay, he technically just said “En-We”, but I think we all knew what he meant.

“Enui? Really? What sound does Enui make?”

Another long pause.

“Boop, boop, boop.”

And so we sang, “The Enui on the bus goes boop, boop, boop.” And he laughed. He laughed so hard, he thought it was just the greatest thing.

It shows up in a lot of smaller ways, too. We'll ask him what he wants to eat and he'll come up with something all on his own. You'll point out something that's big and he'll remind you that Tyler is Little all on his own. He hasn't yet used it to suggest that Daddy and Mommy are always wrong and that he should get more ipad and candy, but give it time, I'm sure.

Work continues apace. I got to travel last week to Patuxent river, again. I was supposed to be gone for the whole week, but we got out there, got everything working in a couple of days, and then everyone went “great, it works, I guess we're done” and went home. Jess has been really busy at work, too, well befitting a person who is so well regarded. And before any of you ask, I'm not worried about the sequester. It may make us trim back a bit, but I suspect that the most likely prospect is that we'll hire new people a little slower. I've been on the test team for maybe 6 months, and there are 5 new people in the group that have joined since. We're busy.

I've also been working on my Minis for ReaperCon. I decided to pull together some of the guys I've been painting and give them a platform to stand on together. Give it some scenery and character, so to speak. Here are some pictures, I hope you enjoy.

I'm also excited because I think I'm going to build a new computer. I've never actually done this before, but I've read some tutorials and it doesn't appear too difficult. The main source of work will probably be selecting all the components, and if you ask any computer-building nerd, that's the best part of the whole endeavor.

-N

Just One More Thing About Virii

The good news is that the family is feeling much better. Tyler seems like he's on the mend, mom and dad are over their respective illnesses, and the whole household is feeling relatively healthy. Which is why it's almost comical that now my computer has a virus. Ha. I managed to defeat the initial threat, but it's popped up again a few times. From what I've been told, the one I picked up is a tenacious one.

Which is why it's good that I've finally managed to get our household-wide backup working. Well, at least potentially working. My plan is to offload everything important off this computer and wipe the thing clean, then install the backup software so I don't have to worry about it anymore. All pictures of cute babies are totally safe, no worries there. It's an annoyance more than anything else, really. Just a heads up, in case you guys pick up something similar, too. If a brand new program shows up unannounced and starts 'scanning your computer' and 'discovering viruses', and then offering to delete them if you'll just 'buy the full version of the program' with your 'tender, delicious credit card', don't be fooled. You may need to do some technical gymnastics to clean up the mess, but it can be cleaned up.

Anyway, between that and some other chores, I've been keeping quite busy at home and surprisingly idle at work. Very frustrating to see Jessie have so much important stuff to do while I struggle to get even the most menial tasks. Anyway, lots has gotten done, and this weekend is definitely for relaxing. Though I've been getting a lot of exercise, too. The Kinect workouts are really tough, if you push yourself, and between that, Judo, and going out skating with Jess (I'm still practicing, she is more like a real skater) I've managed to trim a few more pounds. I don't really have a goal weight, but I've decided I'm too out of shape and need to trim up. Fortunately, I believe this will involve eating more tuna. Yum.

-N

New Computer- Thanks Parents!

My NEW computer arrived today, to work, there the friendly UPS guy brought it up to the lab. The new computer has several advantages. It hasn't yet threatened to overheat, none of the edges are sharp or broken, and it runs a modern enough browser I can use G+. Actually, the other computer WOULD have run a modern browser, if it weren't FULL. So yes, several upgrades right out of the box. And it is quite pretty to boot.

I did, in the end, opt to switch back to a PC- it's cheaper, and my experience with the Macbook wasn't so outstanding (remember that time my hard drive died?) that I have an Apple allegiance. Just the iPod! All this does mean I am making some adjustments. Right clicks, for example, are hard to get used to. And the software on the mac was about half a decade behind what the PC is running. But, the PC runs it faster! Let's all thank the parents for the end of Mackbook whines, as a birth-uation present to us all.

Matt is helping me stage the transition of files and settings to the new computer, and also install the fistfull of software I picked up from Pitt this afternoon (still at student prices until I both to pay the $85 graduation fee). Matt seems to think you'll want to know it is a Lenovo Ideapad, Core i5. I thought you might like to know that the inside is a pretty brushed metal. Oh, and it has way better minigames than solitaire and minesweeper. Hooray! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Almost time to go back to work

We’re gearing up to get back to the ‘real world’. At least, a little bit. I head back to work on monday. It’s been a great two weeks, hanging out with Tyler and watching him grow up bit by bit. We’ve been putting him on his stomach every once in a while to let him get some neck-cersise. He doesn’t like it that much, though: he gets frustrated that everything is so heavy in that position. I reward him with pinkies to chew on when he gets frustrated.

Other random baby highlights:

Putting Tyler to bed and taking my pinkie out of his mouth. I watched him continue sucking on his own tongue for another minute in his sleep before he realized the finger was gone.

Going on walks with Jessie and Tyler. We put Tyler in the stroller and see how far along we can get before Jess tires out. We managed to do a good hour-and-a-half of walking yesterday, because Jess wanted to make sure she got to the end of the trail. Low energy at the end, but she definitely made it back home. Tyler seems to like being in the stroller, even on rough terrain, but we usually time it so that he’s asleep while we’re walking. Last time, though, we were out for so long that we fed and burped him while on the trail.

Jess let me get a new laptop. It should arrive sometime next month. She’s the best wife in the world. She’s *also* taken over nightime baby duties, and I’m in charge of the morning. I feel bad that I can’t help, but it’s literally my least favorite thing (so far) about parenting: when Tyler gets all fussy and there’s no reason for it, or when you spend all the time trying to get him to sleep and by the time he goes down, he’s only down for an hour before he gets hungry again. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to take care of him a little bit in the morning before I go to work if the timing works out, just to help Jess out, but we’ll have to see if that works. In exchange, I’m pretty much indentured to Jess for whatever she wants me to do, be it dishes, handyman work, or playing with Tyler during the day while she naps. More than fair, if you ask me.

Still no Judo or derby yet, but give it time.

-N

I’m so freakin’ tech savvy.

I’m sitting here with my laptop downstairs in Jean and Ray’s house connecting wirelessly to the internet through their router. I have configured a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that allows me to logon to my work network and then remote desktop view my computer back at work and check on it’s process in running the simulation that’s cranking on it even as we speak. My phone is connected to a 4G tower nearby and beeps at me whenever I get an e-mail or text message. Soon I will attempt to video conference with my family in Pittsburgh just to say *hi*.

We are living in the FUTURE.

-N

This is why I'm a late adopter

The latest version of Office for Mac came out in 2008. I resisted using it for compatibility reasons- those .docx files can't be opened by everyone! - and then for laziness- the menus look different and I don't want to have to learn where stuff is again! As a compromise, I installed the xml converter last spring, that lets my antique version of office read files from the newer version. And wouldn't you know it, that cause my citation manager, Endnote, to loose touch with Word rendering it 100% useless. After some half-hearted attempts to fix it, I decided that best solution would be to upgrade both. Clean slate, and all that.

Office discretely installed itself while removing the old version, how polite. Endnote on the other hand, installs itself AND fails to work. It should keep a library of my references, which are seamlessly imported to Word as I write long, dry sentences that need copious citation. Instead, every time I open Word, it just provides an error that it can't "do the Endnote thing," and changes the subject. The FAQ and support online for Endnote are minimal, in part because it is kinda a one-trick pony. And generally "Working" is the only thing it can do.

While my current status is technically the same as it was before the install (Office works, Endnote doesn't). I'm slightly worried that there is some other reason for the glitch, and also on the verge of losing my patience with the computer, for being so obtuse. I'll update is this ever gets working, but don't hold your breath.

My computer is full

I'm not really one to procrastinate long term, but having a long term project, like putting together a course in bioethics for a year, has really tried my focus. I'm not really sure why it is so different from the rest of my work- I do sometimes have to sit at my computer and think about things. But that is the fairly exclusive mode of work for teaching. So I'll sit down, open up a spread of documents, start scribbling some notes and brainstorming, which leads to day dreaming...

I've learned to disconnect from the internet when I really need to get something done, but that can only go so far. I am at least fairly self-limited to actually productive activities. I organized my files for work into a smarter folder system. I sorted all the downloaded journal articles off my desktop. All of this is good, but it still isn't working on my syllabus.

The big kicker came yesterday, as I was really about to get serious on this syllabus. My computer popped up a message "Start up disk is nearly full." "Matt, what does this mean?" "... Your computer is full? What do you have on there?" Well! Let's find out! I hand cleared nearly 2 GB of random files (so now I have 2 GB of free space). Thank goodness for Matt's GIANT external hard drive, which serves as a reservoir for the kind of data I don't need to carry back and forth with me all the time. But will 2GB get me through the rest of this program? I don't know. Makes a person think about getting a new laptop- something I would rather do while I have the patience to re-learn all the new software (no, I am not running Office 2007. I like to keep my computer retro). But maybe this baby will pull through, and I'd hate to drop a chunk of change like that for no good reason.