I have split up the Digital Art pages so they will load faster and be easier to navigate.  Instead of one big page there will now be multiple pages.  It’s still a work in progress as I have a 3rd page to add and I haven’t done too much testing on what is there now.  I have also added a photo to the Photography page to make sure that was working.

I’m working on various changes to the site as it’s been almost a year since I’ve posted anything.  As you may have noticed, I have a new background image for the site and a new image on About Me.  I’m also reworking the Digital Artwork page as well as a new Photography page.  Stay tuned…

I got to be part of two mini-miracles tonight.  Lincoln (my tablet PC) which had dyed a couple of months ago came back to life tonight.  It was dead in the sense that when turned on, there would be a black screen and nothing more.

I guess it’s road back to life began a couple of nights ago when I found some old batteries for it when cleaning up some old computer stuff at my parents’ house.  I looked at them and thought “heh, it might be worth trying to boot it up with these” even though I never believed it would work.

I put a battery in tonight, turned it on, and nothing happened.  Exact same symptoms as before.  The screen would stay black and never boot into anything or even show that it was trying.  So I turned it off and on a couple of times and just as I was about to give up, it started to boot.  My hopes still did not get very high but it continued.  It made it to “Starting Windows” followed by the login screen.  I logged in and it was as if nothing had ever happened!  Now, this in itself was pretty amazing.  My amazement was about to explode.  Right on the desktop was a folder full of pictures that I believed to have been deleted last summer.  Pictures including my old apartment and other pics from my old phone.  I had checked backups months ago from my tablet before it had died and could not find them anywhere, yet somehow, they were on my tablet.  Complete insanity.  I don’t think my smile could have gotten any wider.

 Work has been busy.  I had my annual review a couple of weeks ago and it went great.  I wasn’t nervous about it not going well but it was even better than expected.

The summer is coming to an end and it’s been a good one living in our first house.  A lot of mowing and a lot of yard work (mostly chopping trees) but I wouldn’t trade it for an apartment.  It’s been great.

Almost coming up on our 1 year anniversary.  It’s been an insane year full of good and bad but just like the house, it’s all been well worth it.

I would say I’ve been busy but isn’t that obvious?

Summer has been good so far.  The heat isn’t killing me too bad yet but it’s only the first few days of July.  Fall is looking good right now.  My fix of hot weather is complete.  Plus I’m kind of tired of mowing grass.  For the last few months it’s been every week.  I could have probably mowed it twice a week in the back yard.

Work has been great.  Getting ready to move into the Thompkins building next week.  We’re merging Tech and Customer Care which will be an interesting time.  There will be some needed adjustments but overall it is certainly for the better.  I’ll actually have my own space which will be a nice change.  The few that have been over there so far have loved it and I anticipate I will, too.

Sunday is promising an intriguing morning at Faith Church as it is the first service with Pastor Keith Peachy (not sure if that’s the right spelling but oh well).  Change is good and I believe the changes that are coming will take a great church and make it even better.

From the “Insane Once in a Lifetime Experience” files, I had an extraordinary experience with a cardinal yesterday.  One literally walked up to me and allowed me to pet it.  I tried to feed it by hand and it decided to jump on my head before going to the bird feeder.  I don’t know why it was so trustworthy but it trusted me like we had known each other for years.

Until next time…

Oh, and for the record, I’m picking Lebron to stay in Cleveland.

The last couple of months have been filled with work at Resource Systems and work at home.  The house is starting to really look amazing.  The true greatness is outside in the yard and the labyrinth.  Tera has worked extremely hard and it’s coming together fast.  The animals love it.  We’ve had deer, squirrels, our groundhog, our rabbit, and Tera even caught a salamander last week.  Having an acre is something that I didn’t really care to have when we were looking at houses but now it’s something I wouldn’t want to live without.

As the title suggests, Duke won the men’s NCAA basketball championship Monday in a great game against Butler.  Before the game started I didn’t plan on getting too emontionally invested in the game but that didn’t last very long.  By the end of the game I felt as exhausted as I assume the players were.  I couldn’t have been happier though.  After taking so much mouth from so many people over the years for liking Duke and Notre Dame it was fun to finally be able to wear a smile after the title game.

We have Emma tonight.  Tera and I got a bunch of great pics of her in the labrynth and the back yard.  She’s just over a year old but she seems so smart.  Definitely a fun age.  Doesn’t make me want one anytime soon though.

Work is still going great.  We’ve been super busy but the Beach has been stepping up big time.  I had my quarterly meeting this past week and it was nothing but good things.  I have some challenges to take on which I’m excited/nervous about.  I have faith that I can handle whatever they throw at me so I’m embracing any opportunity I can get.

I finally got to the dentist last week.  The last time I went was last year (probably around April) before I graduated from Muskingum.  My teeth needed cleaned but I didn’t think I had any cavities; however, you never know.  Thankfully, everything went well and I had no troubles. 

The bed is calling.  Video at church is up to me this month which means I need to be up a little bit earlier to get everything setup.  Well worth it though.

Still getting all moved in.  We’ve been in for about a month but just got internet/cable last Saturday.  Everything has been great so far.  We got mostly everything moved before the 17-20 inches of snow hit.  The worst part has been getting in and out of our driveway.  I haven’t had too much trouble but Tera’s car has had some issues.  Neither of us will complain too much though because it’s far better than having to go up icy flights of stairs at the apartment.  There is plenty of work ahead but I think we’re prepared for it.

Work has still been going great.  I’ve been given more responsibility with handling some installs (new Somo 650’s) of my own which has been a lot of fun.  It’s great to know how much I’m trusted and it’s great to be challenged.  Driving to work every day being excited is something the be thankful for and I don’t take it for granted.

I’m really having a hard time getting things done outside of work.  Don’t get me wrong, all of the major things are fine.  It’s the little things that have been getting put off over and over again for the big things that pop up.  It’s ok though.  No where near the danger zone yet, just not where I want to be.  My expectations are usually pretty blown up though…

I added a bunch of new artwork to the Artwork page so go check it out!

We are set to close on our house this Friday.  Seems hard to believe that the weeks have flown by so fast.  We’re both definitely excited but not ready for the move.  Plenty of stuff has been packed but moving down three flights of stairs doesn’t sound fun no matter how you look at it.

Work has been amazing this week.  I’ve had the opportunity to really step up and have savored everything that comes with it.  It also seems that an offer is going to be coming to me soon which is great news just days before closing the house.

I’ve done a TON of new artwork that needs to be uploaded.  It’s in the works and will be well worth the wait.

I’m also planning to upgrade my tablet to Windows 7 sometime this week.  Playing with it on Scott’s tablet finally pushed me over the edge.  It may not run the greatest for me but I’ll survive.  Speaking of 7, time to do a little bit of work on that.

So I’m sitting at the computer tonight and I noticed the wind blowing snow all over the place outside.  I thought I actually felt a gust from my chair.  Being the nosy person I am, I get up to look out the window at the snow and really feel a gust.  I bump the towel laying on the window sill and witness snow coming in!  Needless to say it didn’t take me long to caulk the whole thing to put an end to that.  Definitely not something I was expecting.

CareTracker training is going good so far.  A lot has been review but it’s also helping to piece together some parts.  The hardest factor is trying to focus and not worry about the work I can be doing to help the team.  The exam that is required after the classes isn’t a timed/written exam.  Instead, I can do it on my own and turn it in any time before January 30th.  That fact takes the pressure off a little bit.

Click on the Artwork link at the top to check out some of my digital artwork.  I didn’t get very  good until this past summer when I had too much free time.  Some pieces are good, some are not, some are in between.  Feel free to click on the thumbnails to open up a full size version.  The page should be updated somewhat frequently with new artwork so check it out each time you visit.  New pieces will likely go at the top and I’ll be sure to try and highlight them.

The 3 day weekend has gone way too fast.  This week should be fun though so I’m not too terribly devastated about going back to work.  For the first few days of the week I have my CareTracker certification training and then it’s a short week due to New Years.  I’m hoping that the training goes well.  There should be about 4 people in the class which will remind me of Muskingum.

I picked up a Dilbert 2010 365 day calendar at the mall yesterday.  As a kid when I had the 365 day calendars I could never keep up.  Whether it would be laziness or just forgetfulness, I would have to tear off weeks at a time to catch up when I noticed that incorrect date.  The plan is to place it on my desk at work so I’ll have to look at it almost every day.

Weather.com is now calling for 1-2 inches of snow tonight which really doesn’t make me want to look out the window when I wake up in the morning.  I’ll probably get to bed a little early tonight so I can take my time driving.

Time to do a little cleaning up around the apartment.  Check the Artwork page!