Winter Wonderland

Well Winter is hanging on for keeps this year - I spent the entire weekend stuck at home because the snow was so deep and the drifts were so high I couldn't get out of the driveway....

Here's a few photos of the drifts in our driveway....

Here are a few giant snowmen that Bill & I made for my mom a few months ago.

Lare & Mare Snowmen.... they were HUGE. - LOVE THE HAIR!

Barn Burning in the Hub

Today we lost a national monument in the land of 052. We burnt down the old pig barn on LaKnoll. Many of the local firefighters came to practice firefighting and burn down the barn for my dad so he can put in a new pivot (although we know he won't do it - he loves those travelers especially the orange one on the pig barn lane)
It turns out that burning down a barn is quite a spectator sport

Becaue the firefighters were practicing - they brought a truck to burn also (here they are putting out the fire with the firefighting foam).
They also put a chair and some other things in one section and lit that on fire then extinguished it ...
















After the practice, they lit the whole barn on fire and it only took a few minutes for it to come falling down....

































































Now that the barn is gone only a few questions remain unanswered....

- What will grandpa say?
- Where will Cole and Lexi shoot birds with their bb guns?
- Where will the deer, possums, woodchucks, and stray cats hang out?
- Where will the hunters park?
- and finally..... will anyone remember dad's brother who was eaten by the pigs - if there is no pig barn?

Quest to Save the Sheep

Hey All... hope February is going well for you.... Bill has a new quest I wanted to tell you about. He is on a mission to save the sheep that live in the field next to our house. Save the sheep you say.... interesting quest.... well - let me just say this is not exactly a PETA project.

Instead - it is more like a personal quest to shoot every Coyote within a 5 square mile radius.....

Becuase we have the sheep - we also have a ton of coyotes living behind our house - so Bill has decided to declair war and save the sheep .... lets ignore the fact that the real reason is there is nothing else to hunt right now except squirrels and pretend for a minute he really cares about the sheep.

So anyway - he has set up some yummy treats for the coyotes and has declaired war on them - I think he has shot like 5 or more just in the last week or so.... Here are a few he decided were looking particularly hard at the new lambs in the field... so they had to be taken care of..... (pictures below)

The funny part of the story is one day he had out an aresenal of different weapons because he was trying to figure out which scope/gun combination was the best for this war - and there was a knock on the door - it was an agent from an agency who has 3 initials one of which starts with a F - they were looking for me to interview me about a friend who is trying to get security clearance... so anyway - the agent didn't mention anything about the aresenal, but if you don't hear from me for awhile, there may be trouble.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES - DO NOT LOOK IF YOU LOVE COYOTES!

Professor Peck Remix

So, another exciting thing happened when I was down in Florida - I was supposed to start teaching my cyberwarfare class while I was there - but at the very last minute (day before) they called and said they didn't have enough students so they didn't need me..... :-( I was really dissapointed but in the end it all worked out.

The night before I had receved an email stating that KVCC needed a teacher for a networking + class - so I emailed them back and got the job - I started the Thrusday after I got back from Florida - actually the first class was while I was away.

We are in the 4th week now and things are going great! I am a little outnumbered as there are 18 men in my class - classes are on Tuesday and Thrusday nights from 6-7:20 and so far we are doing well....

No Dad - no one has thrown any spitballs at me yet - but thanks for asking...!

Florida Trip

Hey everyone, I know it is has been over a month since I posted, but it has been a busy month. First of all in the beginning of January, I went down to Florida to our National Sales Meeting.... if you are saying that you are jealous.... wait until you here the rest of the story with Paul Harvey....

My project at the end of the year was to implement a new VPN - a VPN is a device that allows people who are not at a Stryker building to access Stryker resources from anywhere that has Internet access - we had a VPN before of course but needed to upgrade.... so after getting the new VPN installed here - I had to go to Florida and install it on 300 computers - of course I wasn't alone, 2 other co-workers and 2 contractors were there and it was NOT a fun time....

Bill kept asking me what the weather was like but I couldn't tell him because I didn't go outside for the entire time I was there.....

Here are some pics of a few of the computers we worked on.

Lets just say I was glad to be home....

New Year's Resolution - Security in '08

I think a great New Year's resolution to go along with the weight loss and money management resolutions that we all have is to be more computer security conscious in 08... ok so I guess it sounds corny now, but trust me... the more advanced hackers become, the more threats there are to us as we surf the web and shop online.

A couple of tips that I think you should plan for in 08....

-Buy a security suite for your computer... we have arrived at the time where antivirus is no longer enough for a home computer. Antispyware, AntiMalware, AntiSpam.. yes it all slows down your computer - but so does spyware, malware and spam... so make the smart choice.

-Check your credit - go to equifax.com or one of those places that let you get your credit history for free and DO IT.... make sure someone isn't using your credit cards without you even knowing.

-Investigate LifeLock - www.lifelock.com - GREAT TOOL!!!

-Wipe your PC. Ok so not all of us can do this - but maybe pay someone to do it (preferably not me) but seriously this needs to be done every once in awhile to clean out all the garbage that you get piled up as you surf the web.... do this in conjunction with my first posting

-Change your passwords and download keepass - how long has your password been the same as your bank pin your voicemail password... etc... seriously CHANGE IT!

But seriously - have a great new year and try to be safe when surfing and shopping online.

Welcome to 2008

Welcome to 2008... I am still not sure what the theme is for this New Year, last year I was excited to be done with school, this year I am starting teaching but ... still don't know how all of that will go.... so I haven't decided what 2008 will be yet - but I know one thing, it will be March before I remember to write 08 on everything. I just got used to 07.

Had to go back to work today after a much needed long vacation.... Bill & I were couch potatoes for most of the break, just hanging out, playing our new Wii and watching football and movies. It was great, I am pretty sure it was the most consecutive time we have spent at home in over a year.

We did buy a new Wii before the holidays and since neither of us are really videogame people it has been funny trying to figure out how to play. I am addicted to the mario galaxy game which I am sure anyone who has played the original Mario would love. It is 3d and if you can imagine, Mario walks around worlds and is upside down and sideways, making it very interesting to try to control him. Also, the Wii remote controls are different than any other remote. For example when bownling you move the remote just as you would bowl, tennis you swing - forehand and back, etc.... so at least it is amusing at all times.

Not much else happening right now, other than a ton of snow in my road and driveway.... but Friday morning I will be heading down to sunny Florida for work, so maybe I will catch some sun and sand down there .....

Here's hoping your New Year was great and wishing you luck on your New Years resolutions, whatever they may be.