Personal Stuff

Brain Freeze: Summer 2010

2010-07-28T11:00:00.000-06:00

Summer 2010 has been some crazy good times. After a 1 month period with the kids in Tahoe, they came back to the bay area in full force. We have in the last month (almost) been swimming almost every day, gone to Waterworld, eaten a ton of Sushi and been to some other minor events. Today, to cap the event stack, we are going to Californias Great America! The wife and kids have never been and the last time I went I was a midget myself.

Pictures will be posted after but it will definitely be a time to remember. I am trying to get all these pictures up before they end up getting archived so there may be a big picasa dump coming soon.

Birthday Post

2010-07-06T04:16:00.000-06:00

I am passing into my 31st year of human existence today and as is the general custom I like to take some stock on what has occurred in the past year and what I will work towards for the next year.

Personal:

My personal life this last year has obviously been dominated by my first year of Marriage. So far everything has been realy wonderful with a minimum of cuts and bruises. I am really glad I ended up waiting until I was 30 to get married, I feel like I am more prepared and more aware than I would have been in the past.

Along with the marriage has of course been the parenting role that has become an integral part of every part of my life. It seems oddly natural, but I suppose it does for most. The love of a child is truly indescribable. Both Acayda and Jaxon have been a wonder to watch as they grow and learn. My son Damon makes me so proud every time I hear from him or about him and I am really hoping we can get together over the next year.

This year I quit smoking, started eating healthier and working out. I don't know if there is a starter kit for over weight geeks but it would probably consist of the couple things I have started doing. I feel physically better then I have... well in the last 7 years or so at least.

My Dad and family on his side have been in the same area of California as me for the last year which has been really cool. I get to go visit them fairly often and have really enjoyed getting to know all my brothers and sisters more, they are all really cool people.

Educational:

Learning is kind of an all year event for me, but now with Melanie being in school full time I am really getting to see the process up close and pick up some of the tips and tools. As far as I know the current plan is for her to get her Bachelors, then I get mine, then we swap again. We will see how all of that goes but at least we have a plan.

Vocational:

This year has been marked by an almost constant stream of work. Starting with the work I was doing for Paul Kooiman this time last year up to the currrent set of websites I am finishing out. All told in the last 365 days I have put up over 200mb of content, code and creativity. Not all of it has been great, but all of it is at least good. Managing the web side work with my day job has been pretty easy... except.

The day job is a little crazy. I owe my employer a lot of respect for sticking with me through some tough times and I feel loyalty for the company in a pretty direct way. That being said working 2 graveyards a week and doubles on tuesdays for 7 months now has definitely been draining the loyalty pool. I have definitely been there to pick up the slack that the recession dropped on us, picking up support and tech duties while maintaining my development and webmaster responsibilities to make sure things don't fall apart.

The fact is... I need to make more money. I need my compensation to become a non issue for the life I live so I can really focus on providing the best code/services/skills that I can bring to the table. I don't think they are going to be able to meet that mark and so I have been keeping my eyes open for a good opportunity to shift to a more agreeable situation.

Squirrels Squirrels Everywhere

2010-05-31T14:56:00.000-06:00

We went for a lovely 7 mile walk yesterday through the trail going east through Lafayette. I posted pictures from the journey over on Facebook and I will post some below. We kind of got hung up on the squirrels, they were something of a theme yesterday. Melanie mentioned that the scene in UP was a noted instance of non-sequitur in her writing class.

We had to do some pushing and pulling to get Jaxon out of the house, sometimes he just doesn't want to leave the house. He would sit and play addicting games all day if we let him. Once he got out he had some fun though, he rode his bike and Melanie and I walked. As is the case with most of our good trips we had to go the wrong way and get a little lost to have fun.

Yesterday was one of those days where I wish I didn't work graveyards (Sunday and Monday nights). Having a full rich day interrupted by inexplicable exhaustion, inability to sleep, and then 8 hours of "MUST STAY AWAKE, PHONE MIGHT RIGHT", is completely heart breaking.

I have been reading the book "the Passionate Programmer" and I am really enjoying it. Maybe the authors experience rings close to home for me, or maybe what he is saying has some root goodness to it, but it makes me want to really get out there and join the Development community with force. Anyway you have all dealt with my ramblings long enough, as promised.... squirrels:

One Month Beyond Cigarettes.

2010-05-26T23:46:00.001-06:00

Well this blog post is essentially just toot my own horn kind of post. One month ago Thursday I stopped smoking, completely. I have not had even a single drag of a cigarette/cigar/tobacco product in 28 days. I would love to believe that this is some special sign that I am somehow now more in control of my destiny or that only I could achieve this amazing feat, but the reality is this is not the first addiction I have struggled with and as with all the others this will require constant effort and awareness to be rid of for the long haul.

My wonderful wife has been very supportive of the whole process even dealing with my mood swings and grumps with cheer and a smile. Our son has also been super cool during the whole thing, sometimes all I have to say is "I quit smoking" and he stops making noises and does something quiet for a while. All the things I thought would get harder (concentrating, thinking and long programming runs) have actually gotten easier over time. At first the monkey would just sit there and distract me from getting any work done. But finally the only time I think about cigarettes are when I smell someone else smoking one (neighbors and coworkers), and then they smell terrible to me now.

I guess this could also be my little farewell letter to what has historically been my old fall back friend. I read about programmers and their Rubber Ducks, Plants and "Discussions" and going out for a smoke has always been mine, I would ramble for a few minutes about my problem, talk to the air and eventually smash the butt in victory as the solution became clear to me. I am hoping that this final disconnect will open me up to actually working with more people and becoming involved in some Open Source projects (something I have desperately wanted to do but avoid out of fear and loathing).

Goodbye Smoking Habit,

You and I have been together since I was 15, I can't think of anything I have had so intimately involved in so much of my life as you. You have been there with me through hung over morning, late night drunks, after meals and romance, even at my wedding. Only now do I realize, you are out to kill me. I can't keep pretending that you will somehow become better for me. So I say. farewell.

Gabriel

Jupiter the Gas Giant

2010-05-17T04:39:00.004-06:00

This last week Jaxon had a project due for school which peaked my interest more then most. He was to do a report on Jupiter. I have more then a passing fascination with the Solar System and the idea of interplanetary travel so I was very eager to help get the project going.

First we needed to do a bunch of research, I wanted Jaxon to really get the feeling for how massive and alien this world was. So he read and read and read, and I read and read and read, and Googled and read. I could sense Jaxon was getting a little frustrated with my fastidious nature and was eager to get his hands dirty.

This is where his Mother makes everything wonderful, she went out and picked up a couple of Styrofoam globes, one rather large one and a small bag of smaller ones. She also picked up an assortment of acrylic paints, the two largest bottles containing a tan/beige color and a copper metallic pigment. I think initially the idea was to try and paint the planet by hand but I injected my experience here and we had some fun spinning the globe under dripping paint to get an atmospheric effect.

One of the more incredible features of Jupiter is of course its many moons, the most prominent of which hold many exciting mysteries that we are beginning to uncover. Europa is known to have water ice and it is believed may also have liquid water below the surface. The volcanic activity on Io is unmatched from our knowledge of the solar system. Anyway, we needed moons.

We hand painted the moons, each to resemble its counterpart in the books Jaxon had got from the library. Melanie went ahead and printed out labels for the display and worked with Jaxon to finalize his report content, getting it all onto a nice sheet for presentation. Jaxon practiced the speaking part of his report a couple of times until he felt confident and Mel and I almost went deaf (just kidding, though he does know how to project).

The final project piece:

and the proud creator with his work:

Angel Lost in the Clouds

2010-04-19T23:30:00.001-06:00

As is our custom when we go to Lake Tahoe we stay at the Fantasy Inn and enjoy the hot tub and the fireplace. So this last time Acayda and I thought we would play a little trick on Mel. She filled up the tub with Bubbles and when Mel came back from the front desk I acted like Acayda had gone to find her, Mel looked worried for about 10 seconds and then Acayda popped out of the bubbles like an angel lost in the clouds.

She is too pretty.

My Momma

2010-04-19T23:23:00.001-06:00

I didn't really take the time when it happened, but my Mom came out to visit in March. We had a wonderful time, traveled up to sebastapol to be with a friend and her newborn. Yvonne will be moving out here in August so we are all really looking forward to getting to spend a lot more time together.

I found this picture floating on a memory stick and thought how perfect it was, Jaxon is wearing the Colorado shirt my Mom brought him and she looks radiant. Great time, can't wait to have more of 'em.

FuZ sushi

2010-02-10T10:03:00.001-07:00

Eat at FuZ Sushi Lafayette, CA... it makes good look bad.

White and Nerdy (Karaoke)

2010-02-10T10:01:00.001-07:00

Singing white and nerdy for my daughter Acayda.

Water World

2010-02-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

Acayda came down for the weekend and we all went to water world. Had a total blast but only caught a couple of photos. More picture taking next time I promise. BTW that is Melanie and Acayda in the back intertube.

Twinkles... the cookie I grew up on!

2010-01-14T14:20:00.003-07:00

2 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

6 Tbs Cocoa

Put everything in a put and melt on medium heat until it comes to a boil.

Remove from heat.

add:

1 tsp Vanilla

<= 3 Cups of Oats

Teaspoon dollops onto wax paper and let them cool. Recommend all organic ingredients.

Built By Google

2010-01-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Pretty interesting article.

Built By Google

The Cutest Darn Pair in the House

2009-12-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is my son Jaxon, pleading for.... something... whatever it was I know he got it. That darn cat and him have colluded the overthrow of ration in the house and now all decision making is by proxy of eye to lip size ratio.

Love the heck out of them though :D

Too Long to Sing the Song

2009-12-02T11:55:00.002-07:00

A little frustration this week as work grinds to a halt. You work really hard to get a project rolled out on time and exceed expectations only to have another cog in the business machine stop everything out of paranoia.

Oh well, I have other things to worry about. No point getting stressed about the things I have no control over. Thanksgiving was awesome, Mom came out to visit and we got up to Tahoe and spent some time just chilling by a fire place. Watched some movies and saw old friends. Shout out to Kristen and Jeff, Lennon and Asia, Christian and Elwood, and Adam Navone it was great to see you all.

Jaxon had a blast over at his Aunt and Dad's and Acayda was a vision of lovely for the little bit of time we got to spend with her. The snow came in pretty quick so we had to beat a hastey retreat back down the mountain. Highlight from the first night was seeing the Space Station and the Atlantis shuttle doin' they thang.

Hodge podge in funky hand.

2009-05-31T20:43:00.001-06:00

Hodge podge in funky hand.
Originally uploaded by Earnesto Guevara

Sent from my Tricorder.

Ren faire tahoe

2009-05-30T21:17:00.001-06:00

Ren faire tahoe
Originally uploaded by Earnesto Guevara

Acayda and hailey

Sent from my Tricorder.

...And Then There Was Singing

2008-08-15T21:07:00.001-06:00

Fun facts... it can sing and dance too...