All About Bentley

Well, I stayed home today like I said I would. I have to be very careful not to sit around watching TV or around 4:00 I'll get stir crazy and start getting really irritated. The weather didn't end up being quite as bad as forecasted but bad enough. There is ice everywhere but the roads never really iced up that bad. Every tree is sparkling white with ice and sagging way down. We opened up our back door today and it was really quiet except for the wind blowing and the weight of the ice making the trees creak. There are quite a few people around town who dont have power. In Edmond there are 809 electric "customers" without power, 95,160 in Oklahoma City and a total of 191,244 for the whole state of Oklahoma. Thats a lot of people without power. Ours has flickered a few times, and even went out for about 30 seconds last night, but thats it. One of our friends was without a babysitter today because of the power problems so in addition to our three we are watching her 1 ye

The weather is really bad today. There is ice everywhere. There are tree limbs breaking all over the place knocking down powerlines. I'm going to exercise my last two "personal days" at work and use them tomorrow and Friday. "Personal Days" is a funny name to me. Not that I can think of a better one. But it sounds like a show you would see on "Lifetime: Television for Women". "Tomorrow I'm going to stay home and have some 'me' time". Also my car is acting up so I need to get it to the shop.

What does a person have to do to get good internet service these days? Another day with no service. From 2:30pm to 10:00pm my service was out again. I was on hold from 7:45pm to 9:30pm, and then some from 9:30 to 10:00 while they worked on my problem. This is ridiculous. There have been Cox vans all over the neighborhood over the last few days. Something big must be going on. I'm just glad I'm not on call. I use my cable modem to connect to our VPN at work. Also in addition to everything else, it seems that the cable service just reset my entire account. Deborahs email account was wiped out. I had to recreate it. Once everything came back up and I was able to check email, neither one of us had any. Not even any spam. So I'm guessing both our accounts were wiped out and any waiting mail was too. Oh well, life could be worse.

I can rest easy now, my insurance problems are behind me. Because I'm on the company 80/20 plan, and not an HMO, the company is allowed to say what I can and can't do. And they said I can add Zane late and it doesn't matter. So he should now start being covered without a problem. But I'm still going to be a bit uneasy until the insurance actually pays one of his bills. Only then will I know everything is the way it should be. So, nevermind sending me any emails to the previously mentioned address. I'll never check it anyway. Work sure is fun today. We are scrambling around trying to make sure some 40+ servers are up-to-date on their security patches and upgrades for an audit. Most of them are. But it sure is fun when someone runs up and says "Hey we need to find out all this information from you and we need it by this afternoon". Oh well, keeps me busy and makes the day go by quickly.

I probably should not post this here for fear of revealing what an idiot I can sometimes be, but I'm going to anyway. And if you continue reading you must first vow that you will not discuss the following with me for fear of me dying of embarrassment for being such a moron. I've had 2 kids already, you think I would know the ropes. But apparently its been a while. Zane was born on December 15, 2001. That’s 44 days ago. For some reason it completely slipped my mind to go have him added to my insurance plan at work. Well guess what, the company I work for apparently has some policy about adding your kids within 31 days. So there is a possibility that Zane might not be eligible to be on our insurance plan until open enrollment. That does not start until July. Granted I can get him insured on an outside insurance plan, but I don't know what that means for the bills he has outstanding right now. There was the circumcision and pediatrician visits in the hospital. Will that be cov

I actually got up out of bed this morning and went jogging. About 4 months ago I started jogging in the mornings. I would get up at 5:30am and go for a 2 mile run. It was tough at first. I did as much walking as I did running. Eventually I got to where I could run the whole 2 miles without having to stop and catch my breath. And when I started running I started doing the slimfast thing and I cut out all soft drinks. I lost around 6lbs pretty quick. But I couldn't stay off the soft drinks for long, I was too weak. But all in all I have lost a total of about 10lbs. Since the holidays though I put 2 back on. Anyway, I'm going to try to get back into the routine again. There is a new water park currently under construction in Edmond. I would like to take my kids there some day without being embarrassed. I'm sick of having to swim with a T-Shirt on. Granted I need one anyway because I get sunburned so easy, but I would like to have the option.

I was looking at my web server log files this morning. I think my friend Chad looked at my page at 11:30pm on Saturday night. By the way, anyone that doesn't know, every page, every image etc that you look at on my web site is logged to a file. Along with what you looked at, it stores the internet address you came from to look at it. So, If you use AOL or MSN or a local internet company, I can figure that out, and based on that I can often guess who it was that was looking at my site. So, occasionally I like to snoop around a little and try and guess who has been looking at my page. By the way, Chad shows up as wks-166-154-231.kscable.com

I don’t know why I look forward to the weekends. I just spent 4 hours shopping. Deborah needed to get stuff for school. Tanner needed new shoes. We had to buy gifts for 2 birthday parties. And Tanner and I needed sleeping bags for our sleepover at the Omniplex next weekend. We stopped in there somewhere for lunch but that only took about 45 minutes. The longest segment of the whole adventure was when we found some shoes Tanner wanted, and then had to run to another store across town because they had the same brand on sale. Didn't have his size. So then we went all the way back across town to the previous store. By the time we got home I was exhausted. Then I got to sit and watch Shelbie’s new Mary-Kate and Ashley video. Nothing on the schedule from here on out thought except picking Tanner up from his birthday party. I think I'll take a nap. I sure have learned to appreciate naps.

ARRGGGHH I am about to pull my hair out. About a year ago I started doing some consulting for our local cable provider. In addition to payment I was given free cable modem service. That is how you are seeing this web page. I haven't done any work for about 6 months but no one had called to tell me they were no longer paying for my service. A bill collector came to my door today asking for $284. Luckily Deborah didn't pay him. She explained the situation to him and he said he would leave for a little and if he didn't get cancellation on his work order he would come back and disconnect my service. That would be like cutting off my right arm. Anyway, I called the people that I was doing the work for and they took care of it. They are really nice people. Sort of a funny story, the first time I went to a meeting discussing my consulting services and what I would do, the woman who is the manager of the data division came in and we both looked at each other and thought, "You

Ahhh...8 minutes until I go home. Work was good today though, but for the last 45 minutes I've just been watching the clock. In fact if you notice the time stamp on my previous post you'll see how busy I am. Today I've installed some software on a server that no one has ever installed before. And I have no documentation. And it's not going well. But constant work like that keeps me busy which makes me happy. I like to work. I hate sitting around doing nothing. No pressure though because this is just a test system I'm setting up for myself. So if I can't figure it out, no big deal. BUT I WANT TO FIGURE IT OUT AND I WILL FIGURE IT OUT. Ooh, only 6 minutes to go. Trying to talk Deborah into getting some take-out tonight. Didn't take much. We usually eat out on Thursday anyway. Don't know how that tradition started. Tonight it will probably just be fast food. Saving money for that new mansion. Have a long way to go, but with 3 kids and a 3-bedroom house... w

It appears that Service Merchandise is closing its doors. They are having a total liquidation sale. I bring this up because there is one next door to my office and I went there on my lunch break. There were signs all over the store saying things like "Everything must go" and "Nothing Held Back". But to contrast that (at least in my eyes), the were only marking 10% off. That's hardly a liquidation sale. I think that gives a little insight as to why they are going out of business. As I said to my friend Scott "Oh darn, now where am I going to go to get my over-priced crap". I always feel bad though when a business goes under. All those poor folks that lose their jobs. And this is a bad time to lose your job. Looks like K-Mart is heading down the same road. They just filed for Chapter 11. Hopefully they will recover. I'm not a big K-Mart fan but, like I just said, dont want all those people to lose their jobs.

I'm really starting to question the accuracy of our local weathermen. Granted weather forecasting isn't an exact science, but when there is a small chance for rain, and it starts pouring, and the temperature in the middle of the afternoon is 20 degrees less then the forecasted high, I think the days forecast was WAY off. And it seems to be happening more and more. I think its Gods little joke. I think God probably has a great sense of humor. I think when the weathermen are just a little too close in guessing what he has planned he throws us all a curve. One of the local stations used to make some contribution to charity for every degree they were off from the forecasted high. They didn't do it for long. I think they were spending too much money. Anyway, as you can guess, it IS raining and it IS much cooler than forecasted. And of course I am at work without my jacket. If the temperature keeps falling I'm going to freeze me fanny off on the way home. Tomorrow is casual d

Well mom and dad left a few hours ago. We had a nice visit. They were here for my birthday. Took us to The Cracker Barrel for dinner last night. After that we went to Krispy Kreme so they could experience a hot one right "out of the oven". I quoted that because it's not really in an oven. Its in a big tray of hot oil, then to a belt where it runs under a big water fall of glaze. Then some guy grabs it and hands it to you. Of course I cant walk out of there without a dozen to take with me. Anyway, today they stuck around for a little because dad wanted to see some of the Green Bay game (if you can call it a game..more of a massacre really) before his 2 plus hour drive home. Another two services under our belt at our new church. Not officially "our" church because we haven't placed membership yet, but we will soon enough. I feel so comfortable there for some reason. Its not like me to go into a big group of people like that and feel so comfortable. I'm sur

Feel much better today. Mom and dad will be here in a few hours. They're coming in from Amarillo to celebrate my birthday. They have been there since Wednesday working on some legal matter concerning my grandmother. MORE PRESENTS! And a free meal! Not too shabby. Kids are driving me crazy today. Shelbie keeps trashing Tanners room. He just sits there and lets it happen and then gets mad because he has to help clean up. Ah parenthood, what a wonderful job.

I felt pretty crappy when I got up yesterday but I thought "I'll go on to work. I'm sure I'll start feeling better as the day goes on". I was wrong. And I feel the same today. My parents are supposed to be here tomorrow. Every time they visit I'm either sick or the house has some sort of plumbing problem. So I'm determined to get well and hopefully the plumbing will stay intact. When I got home from work last night I started getting the chills and all that. I expected to wake up today and be totally wiped out. For the most part I'm just congested and have a sore throat. But I'm still taking the day off. This is the 3rd time in as many months that I've stayed home sick. Not a good record. Hope they dont can my sorry butt. The dry air of the winter plus the common cold seem to kill me each year. My allergies are just really crappy. I have an allergist but I'm not bad off enough for shots. My guess is that if I would eat better, wash my hands

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Scott, Happy Birthday to Me

Dont forget, tomorrow is MY BIRTHDAY!

Once again I missed a day. Nothing really happened yesterday anyway.Shelbie was sick. Tanner has been begging to eat at Whataburger for some reason so he and I made a run there for dinner last night. Deborah is exhausted and doesn't feel great so I told her not to cook anything. I dont know what Tanners sudden fascination with Whataburger was. The funny thing to me was that he got there and wanted chicken strips. Sorry my young friend but we aren't at Whatachicken (although they really did have chicken strips). But he loved his burger. Well tomorrow is my birthday. My 33rd birthday to be exact. I keep forgetting. Birthdays really aren't what they used to be. Mom and Dad will be here on Saturday to celebrate with me. They will probably want to take me out to eat so I should start thinking where I want to go now. Seems like we always go to the Olive Garden when they are here. I think we should go to Abuelos. Its can be a little pricey though. Dont know how they would feel abo

We visited Edmond Church of Christ this morning. It was really nice. There were tons of people that I went to college with there. Not anyone I really know, but its nice to see all the familiar faces. Class and the services were both really good. The church is big but somehow I didn't feel overwhelmed. I dont know if it is the way things are arranged or what but it felt really ... well ... cozy. Thats not a word I use often but it fits. After church we had to take Tanner over to a friends house from our other church. That was a little awkward as he was supposed to have just gone home with that family after church. Deborah had to tell them yesterday that "..well...we're visiting another church tomorrow." But they're very nice people. Its a small world in a way because the family who's house he went to used to go to church with one of my sisters in Texas, and they were all really good friends. Then the man took a job at Oklahoma Christian University and moved to

Tanner just got back from playing laser tag. It was a birthday party for some kid at his school. When I was young you would just go to someones house for a party, there were never parties at "Laser Quest" or "Chuck E. Cheese". I'm not complaining though, it sure is a lot easier. You just shell out some ca$h and when the party is over, all you have to do is drive home. No cleaning up after (or before), no moving furniture, no big square patch in the yard where the moon bounce killed your grass. The party was for some kid we didn't know. They called us 36 hours before the party to invite Tanner so we had to run find a gift on the way there. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Oh a funny note, while Tanner was at Laser Tag, Shelbie said to Deborah "Tanner is at Loser Tag".

Got my Christmas lights down today. Our tree and all of the inside stuff was gone shortly after Christmas, but it's been too cold out to work on the outside stuff. Actually last weekend there was a chance for snow and it was supposed to be really cold. I just got it in my head that I wouldn't be taking the lights down then. It turned out to be a nice day and I spent it puttering around the house. I hate waiting so long to take my lights down. Every day after new years that goes by with my lights still on the house makes me feel more like white trash.

I never got around to posting anything yesterday. Late Thursday night that same computer that I mentioned earlier died again. Instead of going in again on Friday, I just went in Thursday night and rebooted. it. Both times it blue-screened. The last process listed was Norton Antivirus. I run it every night at 8. Both times the computer died it was exactly 8:30. I changed Norton to a monthly scan just so it wouldn't try to run again on Friday. Server didn't crash. Who knows, maybe that fixed it.

Whats cooking? The best thing that ever happened to the world was when the pizza franchises started using the easy to remember city-wide phone numbers. Deborah and I are both exhausted today and the house is a wreck. Neither of us felt much like doing anything in the kitchen. So, 799-9999 and a credit card, and 40 minutes later there are 2 large pizzas sitting on the table. Didn't have to move a muscle except to get up and get my credit card. Unfortunately I've almost got that number memorized from all the recent online purchases. STREEETTTCCHHHH After my early morning stint at work I came home and crashed. I slept for close to two hours. But now I just feel wasted. Usually when I have to go in early it doesn't effect (or is it affect) me too badly and I can make it until bedtime that night. Not this time. Mr. Zane I think has just done too much damage. On a good note he has been awake some this evening. Maybe he'll stay awake for a long stretch and wear himself out.

Scott to the rescue Had to go to work at 4:00am this morning to reboot a server. Its used by a development group in Europe so it needed to be up for the start of their day. This same server does this about once every other week. I've tried to figure out whats going on but so far have nothing. The last time it did it I started a performance analyser against it. So this time I have a bunch of logs to look at. I can see if it was low on memory, or if the processors were at 100% utilization or something like that. This is the part of my job that I dont really love. Although its very early, coming in at 4:00am has its advantages. No one is here to bug me for starters. The time always goes by really fast. And the best part is I get to go home at noon. I can spend time this afternoon playing with the kids...hey I could take down my christmas lights. I think thats what I'll do. Get all the stuff put up in the attic. Then this weekend I'll have time to do other things. HUSH! Zane wa

Ahhhhh... Well we went to a different church tonight and it was great. There were a few couples from our old church there and I believe more are to follow. Plus there are other people that we already know that go there, some that we went to church with in the past, some that we knew in college. It was a huge breath of fresh air. We're going to go back on Sunday...and probably every other Sunday and Wednesday night for a long while.

My friend Scott is back from Peru. Its good to see him. He was there for 3 weeks. He went to the Amazon jungle and the Andes mountains.

I thought Zane would never be quiet last night. I get home from work and he sleeps and doesn't make a sound for hours. At bedtime he decides to start an 8 hour grunting marathon. Its like sleeping with a pygmy. I think we're going to visit a different church tonight. After going to the same church for about the last 8 years, I don't like the direction its heading. Time for a change I guess. I feel bad for the kids though, they're not going to like going to a class full of strangers. But once they get used to it I think they'll love it. There will be so many more kids for them to play with; our current church is so small.