Another warranty pays off...

This weekend, while looking at some photos on the laptop, heather noticed a vertical line down the display. Power cycling the computer didn't make the line go away. My first thought is that the display is going bad and that it's a line of dead pixels. I contacted the online dell help people and they helped me out tremendously. The online chat session is a novel idea. Sure there is a lot of typing involved, but there are no language issues and you have a record of your conversation in writing. The first guy i talked to had me run the diagnostic test and get back with them with the results. well, i couldn't get the diagnostic program to work properly on my machine -- probably cause i did some harddrive cleaning and re-installation of better software. The second guy had me connect the laptop to another monitor (why didn't i think of that??). Well, i did what he suggested and it turns out that the graphics card is fine. The vertical lines didn't show up on the desktop monitor. Well, that narrows down the problem. The technician set up an appointment for a technician to come to the house and replace the display. I'll report on how smooth this procedure goes. I hope all goes well. The interesting thing is that my warranty expires on this laptop in 7 days. Whew...talk about cutting it close! But another warranty pays off...it's gonna be hard for me to not buy warranties in the future.

Where have I been?

I just got off a shift of 3pm to midnights this week. This was a pretty busy shift for me with all kinds of planning activities to do. Good news is the International Space Station is still functioning and I didn't have any failures this week. This next week, i'll be pretty busy too, but hopefully i'll be able to post a few more times than i did this week.

Here are a few pictures from Luke's 2nd birthday party.

Aloha Brandon and Jessica!

As I type this, i'm sure brandon and jessica are enjoying the warm hawaiian sun on the beach in Maui. They are spending the week in the island chain to celebrate their union.
As promised, here is how the wedding festivities went down.

Rehearsal night...

Some people were running behind due to San Antonio traffic, so the rehearsal started late -- a minor setback. During rehearsal it was discovered that the wedding license was left back at Jessica's apartment -- this was another minor issue with major impacts. Brandon and Jessica retrieved it later that night.
After rehearsal, it was time for rehearsal dinner. The locale for this dining feast was to take place at Casa Rio. Casa Rio was the first restaraunt on the river walk. Well, I told mom that i had a GPS unit and didn't need directions to the place. She told everyone to follow me. I must admit, this made me a little nervous. I hadn't tested out the pedestrian function and was banking on technology that i hadn't tested yet. I was hoping Barbie would lead us to the right location. Alas, she took us straight there, no back tracking, no adjusting the route...found it with no problem.
Dinner was tasty...as mexican food is probably my favorite. After dinner we decided to walk back to the hotel. It was almost 10pm and we figured most attractions were closed on the riverwalk. Heather and her parents decided to hit a bar before heading back to the hotel. On the way back to the hotel I spotted a bar that was playing the Astros game. I took a peek in the window to find out that the Astros were about to wrap up another win. After returning to the hotel, it was time to retire to the room. Heather had breakfast with the ladies at 6:00am. I had pictures with the guys at 9:15am. I got to sleep in a little more, but it really didn't help.

Wedding day...

Wedding day started off with pictures in travis park, across the street from the hotel. Another snag, one of the groomsmen was nowhere to be found and no one knew how to get ahold of him. The photographer took a few pictures of brandon and his bestman. The rest of us just stood around ...waiting... Finally we tracked down the guy and did all of the pictures we could. I liked the photographer. He was very professional and had many great ideas. For instance, he had us do a couple of crazy poses and several jumping shots. He also made us do a walking shot -- a la Resevoir Dogs style. I hope it turns out okay...i really want those pictures.

By this time, the sun was starting to break through the clouds and the temps were starting to rise. The girls went to the park to take their pictures. Family members were appearing and arriving left and right. The place was getting chaotic.

It was nearing wedding time and everyone headed up to the roof, where the ceremony was to be held. There was a bit of confusion once we got up there, but nothing the guests would've noticed. I played the part of an usher and seated my grandmother, my aunt, and my mom. And then it was time for the big event!! Jessica and her Dad, Bill, made the long walk. Everyone was all smiles, and the ceremony started.

Presiding over the ceremony was the Rev. Ray Wells, of the father-in-law Wells. Yep, that's right. Heather's dad, who presided over our wedding, also presided over brandon and jessica's wedding. It was quite hot, so the ceremony was just as long as it needed to be. It was quite a lovely ceremony. After the ceremony everyone retreated to the conforts of air conditioning. Down in the lobby, hors d'oeuvres and beverages were served, while we finished up all the pictures. Once the pictures were done, we moved on to the reception.

Each groomsmen and bride's maid was introduced and finally the happy couple was introduced, Mr. and Mrs Brandon Horelica. We were served a wonderful meal and then the mingling began. There were too many people to get to everyone, but they were all there to see brandon and jessica, so i tried to keep a low profile when the happy couple was around. But it was nice to catch up, even if only briefly, with family and friends.

Well, once all the hubbub was over with, the newlywed couple retreated to their suite and all the guests departed back home. Heather and I headed back home as well. Fired up Barbie and had her take us home. I followed her prescribed route out of San Antonio, although i'm not sure it was the shortest (it wasn't the same route in which we came in on). I didn't complain, cause there was no traffic and we were on I-10 headed home in about 10 minutes of driving. Having the GPS is wonderful...I'd recommend anyone thinking about getting one to get one. So far she's been very accurate. Total drive time was about 3.5 hours on both the going and coming. A great tool to have.

Here are a few of the other pictures that I took that are decent enough to post.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Brandon Horelica!!

My little brother got married today!!! He married a wonderful girl named Jessica! We had this joyous occasion at the very same hotel that heather and I spent our honeymoon at -- the historic St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio. I'm not sure brandon new this before selecting the place, but he and i have been thinking a lot alike (recently at least). For instance we nearly wore the same outfit for the rehearsal dinner last night -- We both wore pin-stripped charcol slacks, nearly the same belt, and almost the exact same white tie. Our shirts were different colors but everything else was pretty much the same...of course, we didn't plan the attire to match. I don't have a picture of the occasion because i didn't have either of my cameras with me at the time. I know, i've got two cameras and they weren't utilized. I know, i am disappointed too. Well, since it's been a long day, i'll post one picture that was decent enough to post (well, it's not that good, i didn't check the settings and i don't think there were in best settings for the surroundings) I can't wait to get some of the professional shots back.



I know this is a bad picture, it's the best i have right now. And to think i used to be a photographer in high school. Yes this was my fault, i didn't grab the bigger camera. As soon as i get some from the professional, i'll post them here.

I'm tired...i'll post more about the wedding tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Luke

Happy Number 2 Luke!!!

Our Godson turned 2 today. Unfortunately, both heather and I were busy tonight and we weren't able to wish the little tyke a proper birthday. Hopefully we'll be back from San Antonio to celebrate his birthday at his big birthday bash on Sunday.

Here is a picture of the little tyke from Easter at the Parris'. I borrowed this shot from the Green's website -- I think photo credits go to Josh.

Finding Reason auditions drummer...

Tonight Finding Reason auditioned a drummer. The drummer role has been missing from Finding Reason since the inception of the band. We've been using computer generated drum tracks to help us along the way. While some of the drum tracks are fairly decent, it's still not the same as having a real live drummer with you.

So, we piled our gear into greg's vehicle and went to Alvin to see what Mike had to offer. He's a pretty good drummer. He's way too loud though. My ears are pretty banged up right now. I think if we can get him to quiet down a bit, we'll be alright. We (meaning greg and I, since ben already has 'em) might go with in-ear monitors. That way we can set the volume we need and block out everything else. This should hopefully save our ears.

Mike has ample room for us to practice and some of the stuff we did last night sounded pretty good with him there. And he has not heard our stuff before and he added the beats with no problem. That definitely makes me the weakest musician of the group. I've been saying i need to start lessons. Perhaps it's time...

The next step is to get Mike mp3s of our current stuff and then start practicing. Perhaps we can start recording some of his takes and then we'll be able to post more to the website.

Finding Reason may have found reason to start producing more quality music...
Stay tuned for the latest.

Reboost Aborted

Today I supported console for an ISS reboost. The reboost was more of a test than an actual reboost, but nonetheless, the space station was supposed to move today. Well, I encountered my first failure as an ADCO. Reboost Aborted was the caution message. Well, that told me something went wrong and we did not reboost. There isn't much that i can do from my seat with this failure since the Russians are the experts in this aspect. But it was a failure and I'm glad to get that out of the way...

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter!
Our Easter was a good one. We spent it in Palacios at the in-laws.
We had a great feast of shrimp, grilled shrimp, cocount shrimp, and shrimp enbrochette, cole slaw, twice baked potatoes, baked beans with bacon, and tea. I was stuffed after all that good food. Kudos to the chef(s).

Well, this was the first time that Barbie got a work out. And she did well...got us from point A to point B. There were a few places where the maps were incorrect. But that's to be expected since things change so often. I'm not angry about that...as some people were on the reviews of that GPS. Nothing is perfect ... but the Nuvi is a great little gadget. The next test will be coming up when we travel to San Antonio for my brother's wedding.

Here's a screen shot from the trip back home today. This is the trip calculator. You can see what kind of information is available to the user.



Did you have a great Easter?

Do people still...

...run out of gas these days? It seems that people would pay more attention to their vehicles. Today, on my way home from work, I was aggrivated to find out the reason for the traffic tie up were two middle-aged ladies who ran out of gas. Get this...it was IN FRONT OF A GAS STATION!!!! Women...must think that cars, in this case, a Chevy Tahoe, runs infintely. Women also think money is infinite. Now, to be fair, I too from time to time spend money that could go to better uses. But, this gas thing...man, that was annoying. Didn't the little light on the dash warn the driver of the impending starvation of go juice? Or were they too busy chattin on their cell phones? At first i was angry...then i just laughed. I thought it was quite amusing to run out of gas in front of a gas station...

These people should not have licenses to drive.

I'm just 4 days away from some tasty Freebirds!!!
What lenty item did you give up that you will return to?

Do the Chickens have large talons...

It's been a while, but tonight heather and I watched Napoleon Dynamite. This movie is disturbingly funny. I think it's one of those you either love it or hate it, there is no inbetween. Well, since my lyric post didn't generate much discussion, perhaps this one will?

What is your favorite Napoleon Dynamite quote?

K bye...

Quotable Lyrics

Today while I was listening to mp3s on my new GPS system, I came across a song that is one of my favorite songs from the great Pink Floyd. Not only are Pink Floyd a musical prowess, but their lyrical mastery is second to none. Lyrics so powerful and yet so beautiful. Perhaps one of my favorite lyrics are as follows:

...At a higher altitude with flag unfurled
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied...

I can't think of a more powerful lyric. These lyrics come from High Hopes off of the Division Bell album. I like this lyric so much, that i'll probably add it to my tagline on my work email. It essentially speaks of man's desire to continue to explore...and in the case of my business, continue to explore space.
Words that envoke imagination and vision.

What lyics inspire you?