As I sat on my recliner in the wee-hours of the morning, what some call the Quiet Hours, with Elizabeth quietly on my lap, her head resting on my shoulder, her toes brushing my knees; I couldn’t help but reflect on how few more opportunities we will have to spend those quiet times together.

Getting up yesterday morning I found it difficult to find pants that fit and a belt that I could even get on anymore.  I’ve always been a big man, but since my promotion last year I do nothing but sit at my desk.   Prior to that I was often getting out, visiting with customers, making system repairs, carrying equipment….. now I just sit.

Also, with the new job came new responsibilities and added stress…. I’m a stress eater…..

Equation: Sitting all day + Stress Eating = Big lump of shit…. ;)

While I really don’t think I’m a big lump of shit (I still have some positive qualities), I have put on about 30 pounds since last year and not only do I feel terrible and my clothes don’t fit, I’m sure that I continue to adversely affect my health.  With cholestoral issues since my 20s and high blood-pressure now in my 30’s I need to change…. for me and my family.

I need your encouragement and support.

I’m hopping on the trusty Wii-Fit scale, since I’ve now outgrown the bathroom scale, and let’s see where we are so we can get to work.

311 lbs… hmm, actually not as high as I thought it was going to be considering how tightly my clothes are fitting, but that’s where we’ll start.

My goal is to lose a realistic 3 lbs every 2 weeks.   By plugging the current numbers into my trusty health calculator to take into account my age and lifestyle…. 2,312 calories per day to make my goals.

Through the use of www.fitday.com to track my food and daily exercise I am going to change my lifestyle and be more healthy.   I hope you’ll join me by reading my daily updates and offering your encouragement, support and general ass-kickings when I need them.

Thanks!

Today at Kindergarten, the class had a project where they had to draw the numbers on a blank face of a clock.

When Michael turned his paper in the teacher looked at him and said, “Michael, don’t do that again.”… you see Michael had finished and turned his sheet in with all the numbers completed…. in Roman Numerals!

• Karen and I actually got a sitter last night and went out for the night.   We attended “Art Under the Dome” which was a showcase for local artists presenting their wares along with food and music.   They got WAY more people than they expected and we got parked in…. having to try to navigate our way out through the yard…. and getting stuck in the MUD!   Well, 1/2 hour later I was finally able to track someone down to help me push and we were able to get our car and another that was in the same predicament out and back on the road, although a tad bit dirtier than when we arrived.
• After being quite hungry (pushing does that to you) and seeing lines at Red Lobster, Applebees, etc at 8PM we chanced upon a discreet Italian Restaurant / Bar by the Staples in Hermitage that we were able to get immediate seating.   Can’t remember the name, but the food was quite good and I’m sure we’ll end up going back.
• Michael signs up for T-Ball today and I’m going to take the leap and check the box that says, “Do you volunteer to coach?”.   We were talking last night about how our lives are going to now forever change now that one of our kids is officially part of an organization.   Karen can now officially be tagged a soccer-mom, sans mini-van.
• A big congrats to my foster-sister Sharon who was named VP for Region II of the Pennsylvania Healthcare Association.  Sharon is a great example of rising beyond her circumstances and not making excuses.   Just go do it.   Congrats!
• The girl where I get my hair cut sold me some ‘forming cream’ for in my hair.  It looks good, but damn does it make my hair feel funny.
• I need to go to the car wash today (see item #1)
• I need to go to the ‘hair wash’ today (see previous item)
• Karen dripped ranch dressing on her cashmere sweater last night and needs to go to the dry cleaners.   That’s what happens when you get dressed up and go out once a year
• I’m listen to the band Mindflowers.   If you want to take a chance on some very cool progressive jazz you have to check these guys out
• Elizabeth is asleep on the couch snoring her lungs out.   I should go get the new ‘stop-snore’ spray that I’ve been using for the last week and give her a spritz (one under the tongue and one in the back of the throat).  I don’t notice a difference, but Karen said it’s doing wonders.
• I find it funny that when we voluntarily go to work on the weekends it usually ends up being longer days than during the week.   We’re scheduled to take our computer systems down at 8am tomorrow and have them up by 6pm for maintenance on the electrical system…. I’m probably going to bust out early for my Father-In-Law / Sister-In-Law birthday celebration at 2:00 and will go back if needed.   I was hoping to get some other work done while at the office, but it struck me last night that OUR SYSTEM IS GOING TO BE DOWN… so I’m curious as to what I’m actually going to do all day.  Study and jot everything down on paper like the old days I imagine.
• Happy Valentine’s day lovers!  Single people hang in there…. and stay away from the restaurants tonight.

As I picked up a new bottle of Men’s 1-A-Day at the local Wally’s earlier this week I spotted a Major League Baseball logo on the front of the bottle.   The first thought that popped into my head was, “WOW, they’re putting Human Growth Hormones in multi-vitamins now?”

No joke………..

We took the day today to make a family excursion to the North Hills of Pittsburgh.   We started with the Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum in Gibsonia which was a nice family value for the afternoon.   The non-profit organization asks for $6 / adult and $4 / child to get into the museum.   The first level is primarily a children’s section where the kids can play with a couple of Thomas layouts as well as play ‘engineer’ with some layouts.

The upstairs, and primary attraction, of the museum of a replica of the rail line starting in Pittsburgh and running to Cumberland, MD.   The model is quite intricate and very well laid out.   Much of the towns and landscape contain accurate replicas of houses, business and landmarks for the cities they represent.

My only complaint is that the layout is several feet off the ground making it hard for the kids to enjoy.   There were even spots where Karen had a hard time seeing parts of the layout.   They had key areas where they had steps and platforms, but much of the layout can not be enjoyed by the children unless they are being carried.

The layout area was also quite crowded with people as you had to snake around the models, but is probably much better when not visited during ‘peak’ season.

Following a couple hours at the museum we took advantage of an exceptionally warm day for late December in Western PA and went to North Park for a while so the kids could enjoy the playground.   Then it was dinner and off to Hartwood Acres where we took in the Celebration of Lights at Hartwood.

We were quite impressed with the lights and again it was a great value at $12 / carload.   The trail is driven in your car and is 3.2 miles long.   With the speed maintained through the park it took about 45 minutes to get through and I have to admit we were absolutely astounded at some of the light displays including the colored forests and tunnels of light.

We had to laugh though as we drove past Hartwood manor and Michael exclaimed, “It looks like the Baum House”…. not sure where he gets off making that comparison, but if he wants to think he lives in a mansion so be it.  We won’t let him know any differently.

Both kids seemed to really love the day and I think we’ve come up with a new annual tradition.   Michael was exhausted and passed out in the car on the way home and E is wound up and still running around in her bedroom…. after singing “I’ve been working on the Railroad” the whole way home!

Great memories……..

This is not my material..... so I won't take credit, but it's good enough to pass along:

*******************************************************************

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants, the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War II.

"Germany put together an incredible number of victories beginning with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland and continuing on into conference play with defeats of Poland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Their only losses came against the US and Russia; however considering their entire body of work--including an incredibly tough Strength of Schedule--our computers deemed them worthy of the #1 ranking."

Questioned about the #4 ranking of the United States the BCS commissioner stated "The US only had two major victories--Japan and Germany. The computer models, unlike humans, aren't influenced by head-to-head contests--they consider each contest to be only a single, equally-weighted event."

Rupert Stooplegruber, great grandson of German Chancellor Adolph Hitler, and who lives in Norman under an assumed name, said "Yes, we lost to the US; but we defeated #2 ranked France in only 6 weeks." His grandfather has been criticized for seeking dramatic victories to earn 'style points' to enhance Germany's rankings. Stooplegruber protested "Our contest with Poland was in doubt until the final day and the conditions in Norway were incredibly challenging and demanded the application of additional forces."

The French ranking has also come under scrutiny. The BCS commented "France had a single loss against Germany and following a preseason #1 ranking they only fell to #2."

Japan was ranked #3 with victories including Manchuria, Borneo and the Philippines in spite of blowout losses at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Well, after my call last Thursday, and my assurance that my issue had been escalated to the engineers and that somebody would be in touch; Earthlink finally called me back tonight.... 6 days later..... AT 11:00 AT NIGHT!

Karen is calling Verizon to switch our internet over tomorrow.

Now as a computer professional I try to give Tech Support people the benefit of the doubt because remote support is a shitty job... but that doesn't mean that I have to like working with them.  Please find following an actual, unedited (except where marked) live chat I just had with an Earthlink support rep:

Welcome to Earthlink LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly. Feel free to begin typing your question.

'Jewel A' says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?

thebaums@earthlink.net: Jewel A: It's me again. My send button stopped working so I had to end the session. Here is the text of our conversation so far:

*************************************************

<<This was all pasted into the browser as my SEND button had stopped working so I had to reconnect to the live chat session>>

thebaums@earthlink.net: Welcome to Earthlink LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly. Feel free to begin typing your question. Please hold for an agent. While you are waiting, please feel free to begin typing your issue in the box below. Try to be as descriptive as possible. Once an agent is assigned to the chat, click SEND to transmit what you have typed. Please hold for an agent. While you are waiting, please feel free to begin typing your issue in the box below. Try to be as descriptive as possible. Once an agent is assigned to the chat, click SEND to transmit what you have typed.

'Jewel A' says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?

thebaums@earthlink.net: I have to cycle the power on my modem at least once every 1 or 2 days. It works fine for a little bit and then I start to get slowdowns in the network and then a lot of "Page Can Not Be Found errors". This is consistent across all computers on my network, on XP and Vista. I have also run a new phone line to the modem as well as bypassed my router and have seen no improvement in perforance. I believe I need the modem replaced to resolve this issue.

Jewel A: Hello, I’ll be glad to assist you in resolving the issue.

Jewel A: I understand your inconvenience. Let's work together to resolve the issue.

thebaums@earthlink.net: ok

Jewel A: Let me know the status of all the lights on the DSL modem when it disconnects.

Jewel A:

thebaums@earthlink.net: The lights are the same as when it is connected... POWER - SYS - 100 - DSL - ACT are all lit. As I said at the beginning, it doesn't completely disconnect at first it starts to slow down until it takes up to 60 seconds for a page to load. Sometimes I get a page could not be found error, but if I refresh it will resolve.... it will just take a long time for the page to load. After recycling the power on the modem, it will load quickly again for a 1/2 day or so and then will begin to slow down.

Jewel A: May I know the name and model number of your modem?

thebaums@earthlink.net: Zyxel Prestige 645M-UHP

Jewel A: Are you using any router?

thebaums@earthlink.net: Yes, I have a Netgear Wireless router going into the modem, but this problem has occurred even when bypassing the router. I have tried that.

Jewel A: Have you tried power cycling the DSL modem?

thebaums@earthlink.net: I have already told you 3 times.... I cycle the power on it at least once every 1 or 2 days..... that is the only way to get the system working again.

thebaums@earthlink.net: That is why I am opening the ticket.

Jewel A: Have you tried resetting your DSL modem?

thebaums@earthlink.net: Yes. I just reset it about a month ago when on a different support call with Earthlink. With the reset button on the back of the modem. I've done that several times as well.

Jewel A: Mostly you will get disconnections due to some interference device that is near by DSL modem or phone line.

Jewel A: Make sure your DSL device is not near any of the following as they can cause interference... Halogen lamps Fluorescent lights Scanners 900 MHz cordless phones Cell Phones Ham radios AM radios Electrical interference (don't put the router near a Monitor, UPS or motor driven device) Dialup Modem, fax, or other device on the same phone line Microwave oven A shoddy phone cord Home security/Alarm system#PFR#/BBT/Wir/Gen/IntermittentSync

thebaums@earthlink.net: I have the modem on top of a shelf with no other electrical equipment except the Netgear router which is nearby. I also thought that it may be line interference, so I went out and bought a high quality phone line which I ran directly to the phone junction box so that there would be no other traffic on the line.

Jewel A: How far is your DSL modem from the computer monitor and CPU?

*************************************************
Jewel A: Thank you.

Jewel A: I am glade to assist you in the connection issue.

thebaums@earthlink.net: The message I was trying to send is that my CPU and Monitor are in the basement. THe router and modem are on the 2nd floor, so they aren't in proximity.

Jewel A: Move the DSL modem at least 3 to 4 feet away from Computer monitor and CPU.

thebaums@earthlink.net: THEY ARE ON DIFFERENT FLOORS!!!!!!! They are at least 20' from each oher on DIFFERENT FLOORS!

Jewel A: Thank you for the information.

Jewel A: Please unplug the cable from the Phone jack to DSL modem and swap the ends and connect them again. Do that same with the cable connected from DSL modem to the computer.

thebaums@earthlink.net: I have already replaced the phone line..... Personally ran a brand new phone line from the phone junction box to the modem. I am a computer and network technician so have already done all of this troubleshooting. May we please replace the modem? I have tried everything else.....

Jewel A: In that case, as all the possible steps have been taken to fix the issue, I would need to escalate it to our engineers who would be in a better position to assist you on this.

thebaums@earthlink.net: OK

Jewel A: They will check everything from server to your home. If needed they will also check at your home. Since it's escalated to Master Technicians.

thebaums@earthlink.net: Is there cost associated?

Jewel A: No, they is no charge for this, Let me know your contact phone number.

thebaums@earthlink.net: ***-***-**** is my home phone number. If I am not available they may talk to my wife as well.

Jewel A: Is there an answering machine on the contact phone number?

thebaums@earthlink.net: yes

Jewel A: Let me know your Time Zone.

thebaums@earthlink.net: -5 GMT - Eastern Time Zone

<truncated>

Jewel A: Thank you for the information.

thebaums@earthlink.net: You are welcome... Anything else I can do for you this evening?

Jewel A: I will I am escalating the issue to our engineers with high priority so that our engineers will work on the issue and will fix it at the earliest time frame.

Jewel A: I will email the Trouble Ticket number with contact information.

thebaums@earthlink.net: Thank you for your time. Have a nice evening and thank you.

Jewel A: I appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

Jewel A: I am glad that you gave me the opportunity to assist you. However, If you need any kind of assistance please feel free to contact us again.

Jewel A: Have a great time ahead and please do take care, Good bye!!.

***************************************************

I may have to talk to Karen about going to cable.......

No, this isn't some "I just hope for World Peace" hippy-crap.... This is a link to my Amazon.com Wish List that I've been adding things to over the past two years:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3L36B2E74SLAC

If you've been wondering what you get your favorite blogger..... wonder no more :D

As many of you know, Karen is Catholic and will take Michael with her to church on Sundays.   This previous Sunday we were going to my parents house for dinner, so Karen was explaining to Michael about how they were going to have to leave church early so we could get on the road to Nana and Papa's.

Now when they leave early it's usually right after Karen goes to get communion.

Michael looks up at her and says, "Are we going to leave after you go get the mint from Jesus?"

Can't say that I'm looking forward to going home tonight.   Karen took the kids to the doctor and I get to look forward to:

Karen - Pink Eye

Michael - Throat and Ear "Gunk" from a bad cold

Elizabeth..... 1 of each from above.

Hopefully the medicine will knock all 3 of them out!   :D

Perhaps the funniest political short I've seen since Jib-Jab's "This Land".

Check this puppy out:  http://www.minimovie.com/film-128460-McCain-Obama%20Dance-Off

Karen, the kids and I traveled down to Pittsburgh on a cloudy day yesterday to experience ZooBoo at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium.  Running this weekend from 11am - 4pm the Pittsburgh Zoo encourages the kids to come in costume and has various stations set up around the zoo where they give out treats to the kids.   They also had two children's haunted houses that were just the right amount of scary for our 3 and 5 year old.

We are becoming big fans of the holiday events that are hosted at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium including the Polar Lights exhibit at Christmas time.   A lot of people don't realize that the zoo is a year-round destination and you will actually run into less crowds and see more animal activity if you go during the off-season.   This is the first time that we've been there that the tigers have been so active, jumping up and down their rock habitat and playing with each other.

I'll try to get some pictures posted shortly.

I had to laugh at this diatribe by Tim Williams today, as I'm all sure we've experienced this at some time or another.

I’m convinced there is one threat that could rip our country to shreds. It’s not the stock market. It’s not countless hours lost to the American work force due to time spent on your fantasy football team. It’s not global warming. It has nothing to do with credit problems or home foreclosures. This is a much bigger issue that no politician is talking about: password protection.

Say what you will about the economy, new taxes, educational support, the national debt, and any other issue. I want to see one of the candidates address the ridiculous measures we take to remember our passwords. It’s getting to be unbearable. Every site has different restrictions. Some sites don’t allow you to start your password with a number. Some make you capitalize one letter. Some sites force you to have a number in your password. Some sites set a limit of six letters or numbers for your password, while others have a minimum of six letters or numbers.

The end result is that we have 15 different passwords, and only six attempts at guessing which one to use before our account is locked out and we have to play the e-mail verification game. It only gets worse from here. Now you have to answer security questions. It would be simple if they stuck to the basics like “What is your mother’s maiden name”. The problem is that they ask questions that could be answered many different ways.

What is your favorite sports team? If I’m registering during football season, it’s going to be the Steelers. If I’m registering during baseball season, it will be the Pirates. Also, did I put “Pittsburgh Steelers” or did I put “Steelers”?

What city were you born in? Is this the city I first lived in, or the city that contained the hospital that I was born in, where I never lived a day in my life after I was first released from the hospital? Also, did I put the city, or did I put the city and state?

You think you’re home free when you have these questions answered, but that’s not the end. Now you’re being sent a temporary password that looks like someone had a heart attack on the keyboard. You have to enter that password in, and then you get a prompt to set a new password. So you go to set your new password, only to get an error message saying that you have previously used this password, and need to set a different password. And now because you aren’t using one of your regular passwords, the next time you go to log in to this site, you will forget what password you used, and go through the same process all over again.

http://accuscore.com/articles/nfl-articles/nfl-waiver-wire-wonders%3a-week-eight/

"If you pee in manly briefs, they aren't manly anymore.   They're just pee briefs." - Michael Baum - age 5

I believe that I've written here before about the "They Might Be Giants" children's CDs and DVDs that they put out.   If you have kids you have to get Here Come the 123s and Here Come the ABCs which are my kids favorite CDs and Movies.

In ABCs they sing a song where they take a 3 syllable phrase and sing about it:  vi-o-lin....lin...lin....... speck-of-dust....dust....dust.......

We tend to play a game around the house and in the car where we'll pick out similar phrases and sign them: big-red-truck....truck...truck...... etc,

I was playing Tiger Woods on the Wii last night and Elizabeth was watching when she started singing: In-The-Rough.....rough....rough..........

Which was really cute and since Karen was nearby I thought I'd get a little flirty and carried on the tune as I worked my way up to the green: In-The-Buff.....Buff......Buff............

By the time I got done with my portion of the song I was on the green and putting, so Elizabeth picked up the song from there.....

In-The-Hole....Hole.....Hole....

Which, if all goes well of course, is the natural progression from In the Buff :D

We packed the kids up today and headed off to Cheeseman Farm Pumpkin Festival in Portersville to meet Karen's sister, Stephanie, and pick out pumpkins for the kids.

After getting there and checking out the items in the barn we picked up our tickets for the hay ride that took us out the road to the Pumpkin Patch where the kids and Karen searched for their perfect pumpkin.

We then hopped back on the wagon which took us back to the barn where the kids were able to see baby farm animals (Elizabeth actually got fairly close) and jump around on the massive hay pile.

We will try to carve the pumpkins soon and get them out on the porch with the others that they brought home from the Villa Maria festival last weekend.   I couldn't help but reflect back to when Karen and I first moved into this house and we slaved all night making these gorgeous jack-o-lanterns; hers Elvira, mine Jerry Garcia; only to have the start to rot and wilt the very next day.

All in all, it was great family time on an absolutely gorgeous October day.   Next week it back for Cheeseman Fright Farm!  :D

Now playing on WinAmp? - Nothing - Watching Penn State stomp Wisconson

This morning on Good Morning America they were reviewing the debates last night and Michael says to Karen:

"John McCain and Barak Obama are back"

To which Karen asked, "Which one do you like Michael".....

Michael took a second to think about it and replied, "I like John McCain...... he approves my messages."

:D