Disheveled Rambling's

 Hello all!  I know its been quite a long time since I have written anything to this blog, but I have had a lot going on.  That not being an excuse, and I know it, let me add that one of the reasons I originally had my blogs all centered over at Blogger was not just my fondness for Google as a whole, but it was also that they were both in one place.  

I succumbed to peer pressure, I am afraid its true, and back in 2007 I decided to take my account here at Live Journal, which was only really used for browsing and lurking, and take it to the next level of being an actual BLOG.  That was going fine for a while and I even set up a plugin in FireFox with both blogs.  Unfortunately this one fell to the wayside.  I kept going on my geek blog, literally forgetting about this one.  

So, after recently remembering that, "Oh yeah, I have another blog!", I made the decision to migrate back to my original blog.  I updated the template so that its all new and fresh looking and I am about to post my first post over there in over 2 years.  I have decided thought that I will not delete the old posts and will just leave them in place.  I will also be leaving this one here as well (not that I think anyone reads it so its for my own piece of mind and posterity). 

Well, that's all for this blog.  Please be sure and visit my other blog.  

Best regards,
 

I was reading an article on CNN's
website this morning that was written by a new parent who attempted to
telecommute from home and take care of his newborn daughter at the same
time.  The article, while causing a bunch of snickers from me (having
been there, done that), makes one realize the true difficulties
associated with trying to achieve this feat.

Between my present job and my last two jobs, I have gotten the chance to telecommute at the different stages of our kids lives and I must say that its not as easy as some would think.  In recent times though, it has gotten a fair bit easier as my wife tends to try and keep the kids at bay while I am working, but I still have to keep reminding our two kids (5 and almost 4) that daddy is working and that they need to let me.  Sure, there is the occasional request that needs filling (drinks, hugs, etc), but its has definitely gotten a bit easier.

While I can shut out the noise of the kids (typically with the help my iPod and Bose QC2 headset), I would highly suggest that anyone considering the work at home option setup a home office.  This goes especially for those that are easily distracted.  As any developer will tell you, once they get into their mindset and groove, they don't like to be disturbed (that goes for me as well).  So, the home office where you can shut the door and be alone is a huge benefit.

Why is it that every weekend we seem to have some amount of snow accumulation?  I literally have 7 foot snowbanks in front of my house.  I no longer have a mailbox, I have a hole in the snow where our mailman puts our mail.  Its just sick.  Plus, I don't know how much more my back can take.  

Sure, "buy a snowblower" is what most say.  See, first you need to have the $$$ to buy one and then you need a shed to put it in (seeing as how we have no garage).  Unfortunately, we just aren't there yet, but soon.  :) 

Some of our neighbors are threatening a move to some place like Florida in order to get away from all of the snow.  Last week we endured sub-zero temperatures that reached -10 where we are, but were down do -40ish in other places.   Its unbelievable really, but still its happening.

Oh well, enough venting.  :-)
 

I did not realize it had been so long since the last update.  We are in Christmas week and right now recovering from a couple really walloping storms.  The weekend before last we got hit with an ice storm that knocked power out to about 430,000 homes in New Hampshire.  It was quite a week.  In fact, we lost our power at 11:45 on December 11th, the night of the storm.  We ended up being without power for about 92 hours.  We didn't actually get our power back till about 8pm on Monday, December 15th.  The house got down to a bone chilling 38 degrees at one point, but thankfully we had a couple of different friends that allowed us to stay with them. 

Its nice that when things go awry that friends are there to step up and help each other.  This past weekend we got blasted with almost 2 feet of snow.  There was a storm on Friday that began in the early afternoon and it even though the second storm was Sunday, ending that evening, it never really stopped snowing all weekend.  In all I was out shoveling 5 or 6 times this weekend.  Its rather sick really.  My back is letting me know how displeased it is and my arms and hands are about seized from it all.  Typing is a lot of fun at the moment, but I am keeping up a good pace.

Hopefully Mother Nature will take it easy on us for a while.  We don't need much more at the moment.  Lets get through all of the holidays first.  :-)

I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  We hope that each and every one of you has the best holiday possible!

Wow, it feels like Halloween was only a couple of months ago.  Is it a year already?   Well, its true, and today is the day.  Our kids have been psyched for this day for weeks.  Our daughter is going out as a witch and our son as Spiderman.  I cannot wait to see them in their costumes, they are going to be ADORABLE.  You may think its biased, but its true, don't you worry. 

After we take them out for a little while Trick-or-Treating, we shall come back home for the giving out of some candy.  Oh, what fun.

Our daughter was asking last night if we could have made last night Halloween as she could not wait to go get a bucket full of candy.  YEAH!!! She probably thinks we are going to let her devour whatever she gets.  He he he, if that's the case, she has another thing coming.  Sparingly, that's how the candy will be dished out, sparingly.  :)  No need to ruin the teety, right? 

What a kill joy, huh?  Well, if you are parents, you probably feel the same way I am sure, especially after seeing the dentist with the kids.

Have fun and stay safe everyone!!!  Booooo haaaw haaaaww haaaaaaw!!!!

As we have all heard time and time again, John McCain and Sarah Palin have a made a celebrity out of the man they call "Joe the Plumber".  The whole deal was that the man was scared because under Barrak Obama's economic plan, any small business making under $250,000 would get a tax break. 

The man bought (or wanted to buy) a business for $280,000.  That right there is obviously over the $250,000 that was mentioned.  But now, he has become such a celebrity that I read online today that Joe has now hired his own publicity team from Nashville, TN.  So, what does that cost Joe?  It can't be pennies to have your own publicity team.  How much were you paid by the GOP for your vote?  I just think its absolutely rediculous that this man is bitching about having to pay his taxes, yet he can afford to hire a publicity team. 

Someone needs to get off his high (overpriced) horse and remember that there are two certainties in life:  death and taxes.  Taxes Joe!!  Why not do what the rest of America does and pay them and go about your business.  Oh, sorry, your too busy running your own "feel sorry for me" campaign, I forgot.

I was thinking the other day and trying to remember the last time that I blogged on here and, well, I could not remember. So, it is more than time for an update.

Things have been a little crazy and out of hand as of late. The weather, as all of us New Englander's know, has STUNK!!! It has rained for most of the summer and isn't letting up either. I truly feel like I live in a rain forest. If its this wet here it must be a frickin' drought in the amazon, let me just say!!

To top it all of, with all the wet weather, we have not had much of a chance to take the kids outside to play. Being cramped up inside the house day in and day out does not make for happy kids OR happy parents for that fact. Our daughter is absolutely dying to go outside and play, but every time we get the chance to take them out, the thunder cracks and the lightening flashes. If someone even remotely says drought, I will drown them in the puddle they are standing in. Heck, I now have webbed hands and feet for swimming ease.

Ok, enough of a rant on the weather as I could rain down the comments (sorry, had to). Our daughter is getting ready for her first day of Kindergarten. They have an orientation day the last week of August and then start up daily on 9/1. Oh happy day!!! My hope is that Kindergarten will calm our daughter to a much more manageable tempo. While we love her dearly and she is much more behaved than a lot of other kids you see while out and about, she is just ACTIVE!!! The questions start when her feet hit the floor in the morning and do not end until she is fully asleep. You have to force her to stop asking them during the day just to give you 2 seconds to have a thought of your own. My entire lot of pity goes to my wife who spends all day with her and is typically fried and completely done by the time I am on the way home. When I do get home, she goes to relax and is so spent from our daughter during the day that we really cannot spend much time together until the kids are bed bound. Even then its usually quiet time spend relaxing because of our over-active daughter and our son who is only like that when around her. Get him away from her and he is a completely different person.

I love the nights where I put the daughter to bed and keep him up an extra 1/2 hour to let her get to sleep (that way they don't try to get up and play together). He finds something to do, sits down next to you and you barely know he is there. That is such an inviting time of day, I must say. :-)

Well, that is what has been going on. There is probably more, but I will save some for the next post.

2 1/2 years ago when Verizon notified us that their FiOS internet service was available in our area, I was very quick to call and schedule the installation. Since we moved into the house almost 6 1/2 years ago, we have had Verizon as our telephone provider as well.

Well, about 4 months ago we changed to Vonage for our phone, moving to a VoIP system instead of a landline. The switch-over cancelled the phone service with Verizon (which migrated over to FairPoint Communications about the same time when Verizon sold a couple of states to them). Since then, we have been receiving bills for internet service and paying them, no problems. Until last Friday that is!

We received an email stating that because we had no valid phone number with Verizon/FairPoint, that the Verizon system could not bill our FiOS to our bill. We found this kind of funny since I had a current bill in front of me.

After an unbearably long time on hold we were able to get through to an actual person (Verizon's automated system absolutly SUCKS and runs you around in circles!). After describing the situation to the gentleman he explained that the entire reason for this is Verizon's billing system.... its completely flawed. The issue is, if you do not have phone service through them, Verizon requires a credit card to have their service. No offense, but I don't care to have a $45 charge going to my credit card every month. We are working at getting our card(s) paid off, not build them up. Must say Verizon, way to keep the American public in debt!!! Frickin' losers!!!!

You must be wondering why its not FairPoint that the issue is with, since they bought the services from Verizon. Because FairPoint was not ready to completely take over the FiOS portion, Verizon retained control, even though it shows up on FairPoints paper bill. To me, it makes no sense. If FairPoint is billing, why don't they just bill us and say that's that? They are both screwy. To top it all off, the guy told us that we got that email, we typically have less than a week before they shut off our service. This really stinks as Vonage is VoIP and you need a high speed connection to use it.

So after our hand was forced we did some checking into different service (high speed of course). I don't want to have service with Comcast again, but seeing as how other places are charging extravegant amounts for high speeds, it seems to be our only viably cheap option. So, I called Comcast and had a talk with the lady that answered, explaining the entire situation. She was able to give us a pretty good deal. Basically, Internet w/ modem, All the regular channels (basic, standard and preferred, totalling a fair number of channels), a DVR, HBO and all installation fees waived for a good savings for the first year.

So, after some debating over the whole situation, we called her back and made the switch. The guy is supposed to come out on Friday to hook it all up.

Verizon wireless is the only other Verizon stuff we have and that will change soon as well. I plan on getting an iPhone, my wife will get whatever phone she chooses and we will then be with AT&T. I know, some don't like them, but I get a discount on the plans and phones through work so its worth while.

Congratulations Verizon, you have lost yet another set of customers. If this is the way you treat your loyal customers, then I hope your customer base continues to dramatically shrink.

Well, I was "stumbling" around during lunch and I found a link that shows you how you can make Chocolate Cake in a cup, in the microwave. I have actually thought about trying it after I get off work, just to see if it works well and is at all tasty. Enjoy!