No Matter Where You Go, There you Are

I went to Seattle for Tech Ready 11 last week.  Had a great time, learned tons of cool stuff about IE9, Windows Phone, HTML5 and others.    Most of which I can't discuss but suffice it to say you'll want to check out Windows Phone 7 and IE9 when they release.

Came back sick (I'm blaming people that didn't cover their mouths). 

Then, on Tuesday the compressor for the downstairs AC unit went out.
Today they are replacing the unit which is nice as it is 89 degrees downstairs.

 

I had more tests with allergist yesterday to try and figure out what is causing the rash. 

I had previously self-diagnosed that shellfish was the cause based on an outbreak after eating at Red Lobster.  Last week's blood test showed that I do not have the enzyme present that indicates that allergy.  This is a good thing as I loves me some shrimps. 

This week's test was a 'prick' test (I heard that, quick snickering).  They basically jab you with various common things using a device that feels like the rough side of Velcro and see how you react.  The test confirmed no food allergies but did identify a few other sensitivities.

Grass/weeds/plants
   Bermuda grass
   Johnson Grass
   Ragweed
   Lamb's quarters (herb)
   Russian Thistle (weed that might be in yard)
   Mountain Cedar
   Pecan Pollen
   Cottonwood

Mold/fungi/bugs
   Aspergillus furnigatus                           Black Mold
   Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus    Dust Mite
   Dermatophagoides Farinae                Dust Mite

The one thing I did realize this weeks is that I really need the Zyrtec I've been taking since last month.  After my last big outbreak I tried some out of desperation and noticed improvement so I have been taking it daily.  In preparation for the testing I stopped taking it.  Within 3 days the itching and rash were back.  The doctor recommended keep taking the Zyrtec.

In researching this article I found the http://www.immunocapinvitrosight.com website.  While searching for the plant allergens privet kept coming up also.  The big ugly green bushes (technically a hedge) in front of the house are privet.  Since I don't like them anyway this may signal their death.

Wowsers, yet another fantastic show from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra last night.   This show was basically the Beethoven's Last Night CD in its entirety. As usual the story portion was followed by a short free form section.  Paul O'Neill made an appearance again this year.  I'm still not sure if Jon Oliva was in attendance or not though.  During the band introductions Al Pitrelli  pointed to the audience and made a comment about Jon. 

They had a different secondary lead guitar who normally tours with the east coast group, no Angus Clark, but Chris Caffery did a great job.  He commented that the last time he was in Dallas was in 1988 with Savatage which was responded to with many cheers.  He has several solo albums so check him out.

The production was a scaled back a bit from the Christmas show (less moving lights, smaller amount of pyro) but still was a great show.

The show was held at the Verizon Theatre (Formerly Nokia Theatre) which is a great venue for intimate shows. The first two times we saw TSO was at this hall.  The normal check presentation of one dollar per ticket to the a local charity (the SPCA) was for $2800 which seemed low considering the hall can hold 6300 people but whatever.

Even more spiffy was the first time ever filming of the entire concert for an upcoming TV special.
So tune in next week, same TSO time, same TSO channel.

I was driving home yesterday (4/6/10 4:30pm) west on HWY 114 and just as I got out of Irving I noticed 4 police cars on the shoulder.   I was about a 1/4 mile away when they all turned on their lights, merged on the freeway and formed a rolling roadblock on 114.
As I continued west the police had the 635/121 North, entrance to 114 also blocked.

Since there is a ton of construction going on in that area I figured that they must need to temporarily close the freeway to move equipment or something.

Counting myself lucky for missing the blockade I continued west.  Approaching the Carroll avenue bridge in Southlake I noticed two hook and ladder fire trucks nose to nose on the bridge with ladders up at about 45 degrees and lights on.

At this point I realized that someone was coming down 114 in a procession or parade of some sort.

When I got to Trophy Club even more people and vehicles on bridges and parked along the sides of the road.  I asked someone on the side of the freeway who was coming and she said "Military".  Not wanting to get caught in the eventual traffic jam when they uncorked the freeway I headed home.

The 6pms new had the story (link below) describing that 4 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients were at DFW airport talking with soldiers deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan .  After that they were honored with a procession down 114 heading to Gainesville where they are honored with a week of gratitude.

Here is the newscast, http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Soldiers-heading-off-to-Iraq-inspired-by--90092682.html

Here are the details on the program in Gainesville, http://www.gainesville.tx.us/Historical/MedalofHonor.html

Got up Thursday morning wondering why it was so bright outside at 5:30am.  Turns out it was 3 inches of snow and a work from home day for me.

The snow continued to fall all day and late into the night.  Our total was 10 1/2 inches in the front yard, 6+ inches on the driveway.

According to the news we had almost 14 inches

Heather made a snowman Thursday, by Friday morning it had grown a bunch due to the snow.

 

I guess my body waited till I was in my 40's to decide that I needed allergies like the rest of the family has had for years.  First I started having serious sinus issues from pollen, daily Zyrtec helps with that. Then Heather decided to try OxyClean laundry detergent, that made me itch all over for several days till we figured out the cause.  In December I noticed red rash like splotches on my skin.  Since I had just started using Dove soap to combat the dry skin I get from low humidity I attributed the rash to an allergic reaction to the Dove.  Three weeks later the rash is not only not going away it is getting worse.  I made an appointment with a dermatologist but they couldn't see me till the January 25th. On Sunday the rash seemed to spread even more so I went to a doc-in-the-box to get checked out.  The doctor there determined it was a contact allergy reaction (as opposed to an ingested reaction) due the rash primarily being present on my upper body.  He made a comment about washing the linens which clicked a gear that made me realize the cause.  We use Bounce dryer sheets and the last box we bought had this new "Refreshening?" feature, I'm guessing that was the trigger as we've been using Bounce since Heather and I were married.  We'll find out in a few days between the shot and the Benadryl I'm now taking. 

The doctor gave me a 125mg shot of Solumederal (Methylprednisolone) shot.  Solumederol is a adrenocortical steroid that started relieving the rash in a couple of hours.  Of course like many other things relief isn't free.  The injection was intramuscular in the hip.  The nurse warned me that there would be some pain in the hip later.  Boy she wasn't kidding, the pain kicked in less than five minutes after the injection and lasted over eight hours.  This morning there is trace soreness.

While running around Sunday I saw one and was almost involved in a car accident.  Sitting at a light, light turns green, truck two vehicles ahead of me slightly rolls then stops, truck in front of me just keeps going, smacko!.  On the way home on a 5 lane road with extra shoulder lane road (377 in Keller by Double Dave's Pizza, there's a DPS office with a guy pulled over on the right shoulder, and a guy pulling out of a strip center, I'm in the left lane (natch), I see the guy start rolling out and hit the horn and start to slow down from 45mph, he keeps coming anyway so I slam the brakes and both of us come to a stop with me about 20 feet from his door.  He looks up startled, and instead of continuing forward into the turn lane he puts his car in reverse and zooms back into the strip center.  I'm still not sure if he looked behind him before zooming back.  I gave him a head shake and finger wag (no not that one) and rolled on.  On the bright side we didn't hit and I know how my car will react in a panic stop, straight and true stopping on a dime giving nine cents change.

 

Missed getting this posted last year.

Saw TSO for the 9th time and heard the great news that they are touring in the spring.

Had a surprise ice/snow storm on Christmas eve that stranded everyone at the house for the evening.  This was actually very fun as we got to have Christmas day at the house will most of the family. 

Rust finally caught a squirrel today after many failed attempts.  Even more surprising it was an adult squirrel

I thought he had killed the poor thing but once I got Rusty inside and restrained and returned to deal with the remains it was up and ran up into a tree.

Well that didn’t take long, only had the car 3 days before I ordered my first mod.  It came in and got installed today, I haven’t even had the car a week yet   

The exhaust system on the car is a dual mode system.  Each muffler has two outlets, a restrictive (quiet) side, and an unrestricted (LOUD) side.
The sound is regulated by a valve on the loud side that opens as the RPMs go up

Here is the exhaust at idle;
Here it is when off or really getting in the throttle

Problem is that it is too darned quiet during norma in town or highway driving (80mph is only 1800 RPM), you have to get up to 3000 RPM to get the valve to open.

Enter LEEA Customs inc with their NPP/ZO6 Mild adjustable Control Kit

After installation I’m open about a 1/4" at idle

Wow, what a difference, now the car sounds like it should.  And the best part is the system can be adjusted in seconds to wilder or quieter.

Now you see it

Now you don't

POOF!

Yep, I said goodbye to an old friend today

And brought a new one home

 

Returning to work today from a two week vacation during which we spent a few days in Las Vegas for C&C's basketball tournament.

Observations:

Circus Circus is a dump, no nicer way of putting it.  The check in process was glacial, paint dries faster than those folks move.  The rooms are dirty.    If you are ill informed enough to take kids to Vegas Circus Circus it is the place to go. There is a mini amusement park in the middle of the building.  Yep, in the middle.  I guess they had to make sure the little ones go through the casinos to get to the park.  Speaking of kids, the place was wall, to wall, to wall kids, even in the casino areas.  Yes I said ill informed regarding taking kids to  Vegas.  It is still an adult playground, gambling  and drinking are the primary attractions.  Not to mention the people handing out business cards for "escort" services and the rolling billboards advertising escort & strip joints with half dressed (or less) people on them.  

From looking at the number of people on the streets and in the casinos you wouldn't know that there is an economic crisis going on.  The casinos were packed, the strip was also packed.  The only indication that anything was different is the proliferation of penny slots.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that 75% of the slots were penny.  Funny thing is on most of the non-penny slots the max bet is 3 or 5 credits, the penny and nickel slots were 400, yes 400, 20 lines, 20 credits.  To get the max payout you are actually betting more than you would on the quarter ones with a much lower max payout.

First class is the only way to fly.  We upgraded to first class for the flight home and let me tell you that is nice.  Roomy seats, free drinks (Glenlivet is very tasty btw), first on, first off, all around a great flying experience.

Update on GrandMa Jo's house, we are scheduled to close on 8/10.

When you see the option to "Request Help" on a job do not click it yet.  Got to the highest level job you have enough energy to do, it is worth waiting till you have more energy as teh offer won't go away.  This way you and your mafia get the most XP/money.

Below is a table of the best combat items I have found so far including what job to do to obtain them.

Tier	Job	Chance to Loot	Stats (Attack/Defense)
Armor
Hitman	Protect your City against a Rival	Body Guards	8/25
Underboss	Take over an identity theft ring	Falsified Documents	2/30
Boss	Buy off a Federal Agent	Federal Agent	15/25
Weapon
Hitman	Exterminate a Rival Family	Napalm	25/9
Consigliere	Fix the Big Game	Bookie's Holdout Pistol	24/12
Underboss	Rip off the Armenian Mob	AR-15	32/10
Vehicle
Underboss	Break into the Armory	Humvee	26/22
Boss	Blackmail the District Attorney	Police Cruiser	22/28
Boss	Make a deal with the Mexican Cartel	Private Jet	12/38

Got my roof replaced, not a bad ordeal but not something I want to do again.
Still working on getting GrandMa Jo's house reay to put on the market.  We are almost done.
Still enjoying FaceBook.  They've got some really fun games on there, like Mafia Wars.

I found this floating around on the intertubes the other day, it has some good stuff in there.

Regina Brett

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time some time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

As the line in "Don't Be a Menace" (Wayan's version) goes,
Man that $%&#@ is FUN!!!

We had a team morale event at GatSplat Indoor Paintball Fields in Lewisville
There's nothing more stress relieving that putting a couple rounds into your management team (including directors) and teammates
Here is the instructional video that shows the arena and such, http://www.gatsplat.com/briefingvideo.asp

Your Humble Host
The Motley Crew (image tagged on FaceBook)

A few words of advice if you are going to play paintball for the first time

• Wear gloves of some sort.
  My fingers took a beating since you typically lead up with your gun exposing your hands first.
• Wear a hat or some other head covering, to pretect your scalp.
• Wear multiple shirts, at least one should be long sleeve to pretect your arms  A hoodie is even better as that offers you neck protection as the balls do sting when they hit
• Wear trash shoes
    You are not likely to to get shot in the foot (most shots are upper body) but you will be running around on a slippery surface and you will need to have dry shoes for the drive home.
• Take a rag (or two) to wipe yourself and your gear off
  

(title credit to Brother Dave Gardner)

We had a little fun a the thouse the Tuesday night when a pretty significant hail storm passed through Keller.
We didn't get too much hail but what we got was golfball sized.

After it passed the yard looked like a driving range. 

Inspection the next morning revealed no damage (yay!)