Entries from September 2006 ↓

It’s only been a day since Apple updated iTunes to version 7, but the folks over at the Hymn project have already posted a new version of a program that can be used to remove the DRM from songs purchased from it.

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Today I showed mommy how to fix her computer.  She is so smart

Well it has been a few days since the last family post. The family has been sick for the past week. It started with Ryan getting strep like symptoms and then mommy and then Krystal. Krystal was the only one that tested positive for strep but everyone ended up with fevers and general badness. I got the bug and it turned into a sinus infection. I am now on antibiotics and things are looking better.

I recently did quite a bit of research on which hosting provider to use for the almondice.com domain name. I currently have a site hosted by another company and I wanted to see what other options I have. I found Dreamhost and got a great deal with a savings code. So, I created my own savings code for others to use. With another savings code setup just like the one below I was able to get (2) years of hosting for $93.80. I get 20GB of drive space,(1) TB of bandwidth, unlimited domain hosting, and to many emails. Lots of other features exist as well like support for PHP4 and PHP5 and a great support team to help you install things like many different wikis.

To get the same deal go to http://www.dreamhost.com and use the savings code almond97. This code will save you the amount below.

On August 2nd Ryan (8 yrs old) and I were out in the parking lot of the apartment. Ryan wanted to try out his new helmet, rollerblades, and do some jumping. I decided to get Jeanee’s camera out and take a few shots. They are pretty impressive. Check out the larger pics…

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We recently put money down on a new house in Austin. We found the house in Leander and really like the open floor plan and the use of space. The house is being offered by American Premier Homes in Leander, TX. We chose the Magnolia floor plan. We are very excited about them starting on the house. I will post a pic of the lot when we get a chance.

What the house looks like from the front elevation.

Our floor plan

Google Map (At the corner of West Rd and Sonny Rd is where the sub-division is being built)

Our lot (Lot 23 on Drake Cove

The Nikon Coolpix S6.  Why? Currently Jeanee has some really high end large cameras but I want a small camera that can go with me for those quick family shots for this blog.  I found the S6 to be small and alos offers a big LCS + wireless connectivity.  All for under $300.  How cool is that!

A good review to read on the camera is here.

The 24″ iMac. Check out the tech specs. A nice screen + Merom processor= great video and phot editing all-in-one computer. The only issue I have is we will need to buy a bunch of external drives to store all our pictures and videos or…..

My new Mac Pro, when I get one, has plenty of open drive bays to get a couple TB of drives installed. Hmm, maybe my next post will be about Curtis’ next computer purchased

I got my first ever phone call from the school nurse to come get Ryan. It was rather interesting to listen to the voice mail and go through the thought process that your little child is all alone in the nurse’s office sick.  Jeanee was also sick and at the school doing a presentation to the PTA board and other volunteers when the nurse called me.  The nurse attempted to call her before calling me but Jeanee was in the middle of her presentation.
I got in the Sport Trac and headed to Whitestone and then Jeanee called and told me she got him since her presentation was over. So, I turned around and headed back to the house. Turned out that Ryan, Krystal, and mommy all have a viral thing and are running fevers this weekend.

This past weekend, Labor Day to be exact, we decided to check out The SkatePark of Austin.

We wanted to let Ryan and Krystal get a chance to ride rollerblades and skateboards in the park. First off it was kind of interesting when I went in is they required both Ryan and Krystal to sign, well initial, rules they had to agree to. It was pretty cool. I pretty much told Ryan that he had to follow the rules and wear his helmet or he would get kicked out.

The fun thing was we brought Ryan’s new skateboard, the wave, and it was an immediate attraction for the other kids. When I was paying, the kids right outside of the Pro Shop were riding it trying to figure it out. It was fun watching the interest in the board.

After we got in Ryan wanted to Rollerblade first and ride the mini bowl.

He struggled a little bit but picked it up pretty quickly and was able ride around the bowl and handle some of the walls. Then Krystal decided it was her turn to run around the bowl in her shoes and then lace up and roller blade. I was very proud of her to want to try it. She did good and was very patient in her skating and was able to go up a little bit on some of the walls and turn around. Going backwards from a wall was a very new sensation for her.

After the mini bowl Ryan decided to try the street course.

He started out on his rolerblades moved to his skateboard and then had a good time on his wave. He would start on the far end and then up the ramp on the left hand side in the middle. He had a great time and was getting more comfortable and having lots of fun before the day was over. Ryan had to stay on the left side of the street course because the more advanced skaters were more towards the right and were pretty good. At one point a few of the kids were dropping in from the top of the ramp and then going across the street section and attempting to jump over a chair on the top of another ramp. It was pretty cool to watch.

Krystal also attempted the street course on her roller blades with daddy holding her hand going over the ramps on the left hand side. As a matter of fact Krystal turned into a street skater girl taking a big hit. I was holding her hand going down a ramp and Ryan’s board popped up and buster her lip. She decided at that point she was done.
After hitting the street course we were hanging around the 69 bowl and I decided to give the big bowl a try. Ryan did not want to go in initially because it is a big swimming pool and the shallow end is 6ft deep. He was more concerned about how he would get out. I was too until I got in.

Well, mommy was snapping pictures and told him to give it a try and then she gave him a little nudge when he was sitting on the corner and he slid down into the pool. Once he was in the bowl the first challenge was to try to get out So he tried to get out and he needed some help from Dad to get out. Once he became even more comfortable he really liked riding from the shallow end to the deep end. The cool part about it was the transition to the deep end was about a 2 foot drop that gave you even more speed to hit the 9 foot wall. He spent his time on his roller blades and was able to get some consderable speed and hit the 9 foot wall and turn around pretty good.

During this time mommy was talking to the other kids skating and showing them the pictures she took of them doing jumps. Some of the kids were even interested in paying for the pictures. Hmm, a photo business opportunity? All the while Krystal was very intent with her coloring books on the benches around the 69 bowl.

I got some courage up myself and rode the wave board in the big bowl and was able to get form the shallow end to the deep end without crashing. I was able to get as high as about 5-6 feet on the 9 foot wall and able to turn around. I only ate it really hard once but I had a lot of fun and it brought back lots of memories of riding skateboards at Clown Ramp in Dallas when I was growing up.

We had a ton of fun and Ryan & Krystal want to go back to the skate park for more fun. We will have to go again. The good thing is the kids in the park respected everyone skating ability and were courteous and patient. Goot time, we will be going back.