It's been several months since we moved to Texas. I can certainly say everything is bigger in Texas. The high school my sons go to is about three times the high school size that they went to in Issaquah. Sports are extremely important but so is education. A lot of emphasis is placed on education which is great. So if you do both there is plenty of help, all you have to do is take advantage of it. Easier for me to write about than getting my two to realize that.

 

Work is challenging, you don't realize how much you forget when you are away from something especially SQL Server. I've been learning alot or should say remembering a lot plus learning new stuff. Sure is a ton of stuff they add to the product in SQL Server 2005. But it's enjoyable in that it keeps my mind fresh. I miss the Puget Sound beauty but not the rain, that doesn't mean we don't get rain, just that when it rains it's in buckets not days and days of springles. The heat though I can leave, it's middle of October and we are still running the air conditioner.

 

Well that's it for now.

Well, after 12 years we're moving back to Texas. The job so far has been great and I can't say enough about how good the people are. It's tough to leave the Seattle area but I'm looking forward to being excited again about my work. I couldn't say that the last few years. Perhaps the "Vote them off the island" was a reason for that, not sure but I know for sure I didn't like what it did to people. It didn't build team spirit and after a while watching folks either leave or be forced out was painful. I think I realized after leaving that I enjoy working in a group where everyone wants everyone else to succeed. It's a great feeling at the end of the day when you watch your teammates succeed because the whole group succeeds. I'll miss the folks that I worked with and the beauty of the Puget Sound but alas a new challenge is sometimes good for the spirit as well as the soul.

 

My weight, well let's say that I'm leaving with less than I came with but not as much as I hope I would of left behind. :) 

 

It's been long time since I've updated my blog. Thought it was about time.

 

After 12 long years, I've decided to leave Microsoft and accepted a job with bank in Houston, Texas. This is quite a change for me because it's the first time in 30 years that I'm not working for a company where technology is their main focus. The bank uses technology very heavily and is a premier Microsoft shop but for me it's a chance to start using some of the stuff that I have been exposed over last several years. Working at Microsoft you become very specialized in what you do and know. You don't really get a chance to learn the variety of products that the company creates, thus in a real world (I'm sure some will disagree with this) the focus isn't on writing the products but rather using them to accomplish something that makes a business successful. I felt after 12 years at MS, that it was time for a change. Although it was hard to leave my friends and the Seattle area, I think in the long run this is a good move because it allows me to focus on regaining some of the skills that were slipping away.

 

On the weight front. Well, that hasn't been going as well as it should be. With all the events going on in my life, it's hard not to eat. That's my stress reliver, so I'm trying to just maintain until life gets a bit less crazy. So, I've gained weight but at least I know what I need to do to get rid of it, thanks to Sound Health.

 

Movie wise, well so far this year has been a disappointment. I think there is less good movies this year then I've seen in a long time. Even Spiderman 3 was just ok, not great, just ok. Hopefully, the summer will have some better ones.

 

 

This one dragged on and to be honest I don't think it took off until the last 15 minutes of the film. You sort of knew Billy Bob was going to take off but they tried to put the suspense into the film of him not going. Interesting that they let him fail and then his wife is the one to push him.

I'm not exactly sure what they were trying to do with this film. Was it suppose to be a family film to talk about how tough life is and what it means to have a dream, I guess that is the message but I think they made it a little too unbelievable if is the case. I'll point out an example, he needs 50,000 dollars to purchase rocket fuel. Well he's a farmer and has mortgage his house multiple times, where is he going to get 50K, but then all of a sudden they drop it and he now has the fuel. Huh? There is quite of bit like this in the story. The last part of the story is when he goes up into Space and they lose contact with him, but alas he comes back in time to go on Jay Leno.

 

Is this a great story naw, not really. Anything offensive (by that I mean raw violence, in your face sex, language that makes your ears turn red) no! So, how would I describe this film - think "Field of Dreams" meets "Apollo 13"

 

If they spent more time on the space aspect and what happened to him afterwards they could of done some interesting things. Ala, X Files.

 

This one is sort of a silly movie but it's what I'd call a great date movie. There isn't anything that stands out in this one, but it sort of non-offensive film that I enjoyed. I like Drew Barrymore (the new Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan replacement for these type of films) though so what I can I say. Her and Hugh Grant seem pretty good together. Best description is a feel good movie same as you get from "You've Got Mail" starting Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I like the jab they take at the Has Beens of the 80s. 

 

Updated: I ended up taking my son to this film, he's 16, I wanted something that I wasn't going to be offensive and felt opps made another mistake (he sees a lot of films), well he liked it, laughed quite a bit, and like the music. So, that raises it a bar in my book. I've included the Youtube video on the homepage of my space.

I wouldn't consider this one Marvel's best but it's ok for the special effects. It doesn't really have a great plot and the acting is pretty cheesey but it's a comic book so what did you expect, (Spiderman perhaps). Might be a good one to wait for on DVD. Nicolas Cage has been better but this was his pet project so I hope he had fun. This movie reminds me of what they use to call a B movie on a Saturday afternoon. Is it the worse I've seen this year, no not by a long shot.

Well, my weight loss program officially ended on Friday. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add more sessions, but considering I belong to health club it seems a bit silly, but maybe a once a week thing, might make sense to reinforce that I'm going.

 

I didn't lose as much as I wanted but then again I had lost some 60+ pounds at one time before my knees gave out and I had tons of problems. Then the stress and anxiety took over and I started to eat more than I probably should. At least now though my knees are somewhat ok so I appreciate that. I still want to lose the extra 20 I gained back but not at the expense of my knees.

 

Would I recommend the program, absolutely, the folks are the best!

After feeling very disappointed by Smokin's Aces the other night, decided to go see Pan's Labyrinth. Well in one word, I would say it's pretty intense.  I checked rotten tomatoes this time to see how it ranked. 96% Nominated for 6 Academy awards, including Best foreign film. Wow!

 

So I decided that's the one, off to my favorite movie theater - Lincoln Square. Well, after purchasing tickets, I was surprised to see that film was playing in the biggest theater that they had. That was quite a surprise, doubly surprising was the fact that they had one of the attendants standing in the doorway as people walked in. Shortly, there after I found out why. He announced that the film was very gory and that parents shouldn't take their children to it. Didn't take long to agree with him, although it's a very good and intense film, the gore was a bit much.

 

The storyline is set in Spain at end of WWII. A young girl and her pregnant mother are traveling to their new home where the mom will meet up with her husband. Turns out this is her second marriage, because her first husband died. They spend a lot of time on that aspect, only to say that the girl resented the new dad, and rightfully so, turns out that he is a sadistic man that is trying to kill off the resistance move. He tortures and manes a prisoner that they find as well as being to the town folks. The movie though isn't as much about him but instead about the girl who lives in a fantasy world which becomes reality. She is visited by a ferry that eventually leads her to an underground kingdom, where she is the lost princess and they have waited a very long time for her return. The movie deals with how she tries to prove she is worthy to return to the kingdom, while mixing in scenes about the captain and how he is trying to deal with the rebels. Needless to say the gory stuff is wrapped around the captain.

 

This is very much an adult themed movie even though it's a fantasy at heart. If you want a good film, this is the one to see but if you have an issue with gore, even though they don't show some of the worse stuff, then I'd say read as many reviews as possible before deciding to see this one.

I decided, after hearing a lot of folks why aren't you blogging about the movies you see, that maybe I should. Especially after seeing the stinker that I saw tonight.  You can see a clip for the movie that I pasted on the front page of my space.

 

Smokin Aces is the last Quentin Tarantino's film, that has no humor and is just an excuse for raw violence and bloodshed. With the array of folks, that are in this film, I have to wonder why Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta even considered this film. The plot of the movie if you can call it that, is for the FBI to protect Buddy "Aces" Israel (played by Jeremy Piven) from the mob who put out a contract on him. Since the bounty is so high, Buddy has multiple hit men (or in this case hit people because they even have a set of women after him) and the FBI must protect him long enough to reach trial. Needless to say, the film spends the majority of the film having everybody shooting after everybody, not to unusual for a Tarantion's film, but this one has absolutely no humor and is just plain bad.

 

Latest RottenTomatoes rating for it was a 27%.

 

I give it a Thumbs Down!

 

It's been over a year that I've been struggling with my knee problems and finally the doctor (long story but this is doctor number 1 that did my surgery several years ago but who I didn't think was figuring out the problem, only to find that doctor number two didn't real find the issue so  I went back to doctor one) figured it out. He sent me for an MRI where they shot dye into knee. To be honest, I was pretty much a baby on that one, after the pain of doing the shots to my knee, having another needle shot into me made cringe.

 

But I got through it. Just happens the day that they did the MRI was the same day that we had another snowstorm in Seattle. Lovely, took two hours to get home on a trip that normally takes about 15 minutes. Can't complain though, there were people I work with that had a much worse commute. Goodness was that the power didn't go out, hey, way to go Puget Sound Power.

 

As it turns out I had to wait a week to get the news of what they found. Well I wasn't exactly ready for the news. Turns out that all the cartilage is gone from the inner side of my knee. And this is supposed to be the good knee that I'll depend upon when I have the knee replacement in the other leg. Needless to say I was pretty much in shock and didn't know what to say, took me a couple of days to handle it. The doctor basically said that my options are to have a partial knee replacement, an osteotomy (wedge, same as what I went through with my other knee), or live with the pain. The last option though is only an option until I'm ready to say uncle, which is what I'm doing right now.

 

So needless to say, my exercise routine has to completely change for me to be able to continue. I have to admit that over the past several months, it's been hard to be motivate and I have gained more than I lost. I haven't been that dilligent because of the pain and have let the whole thing get to me, thus losing any desire to lose weight or even watch what I eat. The operation last year was suppose to help me and it basically didn't do anything of any value other than cause me to waste a year going through various routines that didn't seem to do anything for me. I've done the physical therapy routine and question whether that is even of any value, since most of what they showed me is the same as what I was doing during my weight loss program. 

 

Hopefully now though that I know what I face I can get motivate again.

As a family, we finally went to New York City this year for the Christmas season. It's something that I have been talking about for a long time and every year we watch the Home Alone series and I talk about how wonderful New York is at Christmas time. This year we decided to go. It's the not the only reason though because my dad is getting along in years and its much harder for him to travel, thus we thought it would make a good excuse to go back and see him in Pennsylvania.

 

The start of trip was off to a very rocky start. We lost power in community for 4 days thanks to heavy storms in the Northwest. Being without power rotten and thankfully we got it back the day before our trip was to start. But I ended up getting sick before traveling which was a real bummer. We visited Philadelphia, New Jersey (staying over night in Mt. Laurel) and then up to Scranton, from there we traveled to New York for a few days staying at the Sheraton Manhattan. We saw Jersey Boys which is a play about Frankie Vallie and the Four seasons. We toured New York including the Home Alone tour of seeing Trump Plaza, FAO Schwartz and Rockafeller center. We then did a tour of Radio City Music Hall and even took in the show. We topped it off with a visit to Macy's but really didn't get to see much of it since it was so crowed. We saw the Phantom of the Opera the last night we were in New York.

 

From New York we went back to Scranton, visited some relatives and friends and finally traveled to Reading to visit Uncle Jason and his family. Our trip home though was anything but pleasant. We have a two and half hour delay in Philadelphia because of weather. We were afraid that we were going to miss our connection, but thankfully the connection was delayed as well. What should of turned out to be a 10 hour trip (yes, even that is long) turned out to be more like 18 to 20 hours with all the delays. Needless to say we were pretty tired when we got home. I went to the doctor the very next day and was able to get some medicine which seems to be helping. The kids didn't fair so well, they had their wisdom pulled. They were suppose to have it done before we left, but the power outage took care of that.

I haven't been keeping my blog up todate because to be quite honest I'm frustrated with the progress I've been making lately and not doing so well. I somewhat lost my motivation because of all the pain I have had in my knees. After getting the three shots I've been in a great deal of pain when I try to push myself. Walking has become a chore and that just leads to my own frustration. I've put on 20 pounds which I hope with the New Year that I can take off. That simply is my New Year's resolution.

It's been a month since I've updated my blog and thought it was about time to. I have a lot to be thankful and thought I should say thanks. My wife seems to have recovered from her surgery and is doing much better. Still not 100% but much better. I received my shots and my knees seem to be doing much better. The shots themselves where somewhat painful getting but once I got them I got immediate relief. Felt like my knees was given new life.

 

My son is finally getting it straight in school, his grades are much improved. Now if he would only give up smoking. My other son, is having surgery soon to correct what the doctor feels is a torn liagment in his wrist. He'll be down for the count but hopefully it will relieve him of the pain that he feels in his wrist when he works out. He probably will miss his freshmen year of baseball which he was looking forward to but, if he gets rid of the pain I think he'll be very happy.

 

 

We'll after visiting the doctor and talking about it, decided to go for the shots. The product is Synvisc and you can find out more about it at: http://www.solar-med.com/eng/products/synvisc.htm They have a good description and a few photos as well. I've been doing research on it, and it appears that if it works (sometimes it doesn't) that it might be just what I need. I decided to postpone any more surgery, after spending basically a year on the disable list as I tend to refer to myself as, that I didn't want to continuing to do surgery unless it's the last thing available.

Well it's been a month since I've updated my blog. As it turns out I've been back to the knee doctor. He wants to operate again, but on my other knee. I'm not that excited about that because, the last operation I feel help only slightly. I finished my first set of physical therapy but when I got to the very end my knee starting to hurt again. I went back to the doctor but he didn't recommend anything other than to change my physical therapy routine, which eventually the physical therapist did. But it didn't really help because I started to having pain in my other knee. I went back to the doctor and this time he decided that the best he could do is operate on the other leg, to help with the pain there. Being that I'm getting so frustrated with the whole thing, I went back to the original doctor and asked him his opinion. He thought I'd be better served getting medicine shot into my joints (more on that later). He said try this and if it doesn't help then consider surgery. Being that I'm sick of surgery, sick of doing physical therapy I decided that was the way to do. So, now I just wait to find out when.

Well I was making great progress from my knee injury but last week I suffered a set back. I started having pain in the same knee that I had the operation on to correct it. I went back to the doctor to see if he could find anything and he basically said he was stumped, great!

 

So he wants me to change what I'm doing for physical therapy, so here we go again...back to the p.t.  One thing the doctor said though was to stop doing what the physical therapist gave me and to see what happens, feels it might be the weights that I was using.

 

I started back at the weight loss program last week, but only two days. So far, so good.

My wife had her surgery on Friday which made for a very, very long day. I ended up working late Thursday because I knew I was going to be out on Friday as well as probably Monday so I wanted to get some things done. Thus, I didn't get to bed until 12:30 Thursday night. I then had to get up at 3:30am so that I could get my wife to the hospital by 5am (she wanted to be early, she didn't need to be there until 5:30 but this is her way of making me be on time). They processed the paperwork, took some blood, and eventually got her to the prep area. They took her in at around 7 but didn't actually start the operation until 7:30. At that time they sent me on my way, so back across the pond I go to make sure that my kids are up, eating breakfast and on to their activities. I kept getting periodic updates on her conditions and eventually went back to the hospital but ended up waiting two hours because she didn't go into the recovery room until about 3pm. I didn't get to see her until 5:30 that afternoon. Between running back and forth to take my son to football practice, making sure that he had food and everything else I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

 

Saturday didn't make it any better because I had to get up at 6 to get my son to football practice at 7, where upon I went to work out myself. Then picking him up at 9, getting something to eat and then onto a baseball tryout for next years select team for the next three hours, mean while calling the hosptial every so many hours just to see how my wife was doing.  Eventually I got the word to come and pick her up. So the tryout ends and it's time to take my son home, and go and pick up my wife. By the time I get there it's 4 and I have to wait until all the paperwork is done and the medicine that they are sending her home with is ready. We get home, I get her in the house and I'm ready to crash, no it's time to get food and she wants to relax and chases us out of the house so she can rest (sleep) and I end up taking the kids out to eat and end up doing some errands so that she has some time without interruptions.

 

Sunday isn't much better because end up getting up 6:30 this time so that I can catch church with my son and then take him over to another baseball tryout. This time though it's an all day affair, starting at 9:30 and going until 3:30pm. So, yes it's becomes another marathon. Eventually it ends and I end up taking him for something quick to eat so that he then can go to his fall ball double header which started at 3. He ends up arriving when the first game is half over and is quickly put into the game because some of the kids that were available now have to leave. The double header didn't get over until 8:30 that night. By the time I get home, (we stopped to get some ice cream) it's 9:30, and by the time I get to bed it's 11:30 again.

 

Monday is another early day, I have to get up 5:30 so that I can give my son a ride to his workout session at 6:30. While I'm there I workout myself, after which I come home and am able to work for a while at home on mail and some other stuff for an upcoming assignment. At 1, I have to take my son to the doctor, turns out he has a very nasty sinus infection. After which, I bring him home to change so that he can go to football practice and then take my other son to his councelor. Eventually, I return picking up my son from football practice and stopping to pick up something to eat, where I learn that the power to my home is out because of a fallen tree, so we eat there. I bring the food home only to realize that I forgot to get his medicine that the doctor had prescribed, so out I go to the local pharmacy to pick up the medicine. By the time I come home, I need to jump back onto email and work on that for the next couple of hours, where finally I decide to update my blog.

 

Update on my wife, we'll she's up and about but is still taking lots of pain medicine. Now we wait to get the tox report on the stuff they took out of her.

Can you say tired? Going back to work will be a vacation after this weekend.

 

By the way, I start again at 6 because I have physical therapy at 7, which I haven't done any of for the past 4 days. Oh well, you can't have everything.

Usually I don't talk about family but recently I learned that my wife had stage 1 endometrial cancer and needs a hysterectomy. This hit home how fragile we really are and how at any time we can face something unexpected. My wife met with several doctors for a second opinion and they all concurred. What blows my mind is the type of surgery that they are planning on doing now that we have accepted the fact. Talk about something out of Star Wars. I'm including some text that I was able to find on the internet to explain what she has and the type of surgery so that you can see just how wild things are getting these days in the field of medicine. I've included links below to describe the surgery as reference from other women that have had it done. Here's a link to a short video presentation that I found that describes the surgery. 

Stage 1 endometrial cancer is confined to the corpus, or body, of the uterus. Symptoms may include bleeding between periods or, as is in most cases, spotting in patients after menopause. Stage 1 endometrial cancer is very slow growing and highly curable. A hysterectomy is the preferred method of treatment. Not only is the uterus removed, but the ovaries and fallopian tubes also are removed because ovaries are a possible site for more cancer, or they may secrete hormones that play a synergistic role in the growth of the cancer. Only in rare cases of early endometrial cancers in women who are in their second or early part of the third decade of life are attempts made to preserve the ovaries.

In stage 2 endometrial cancer, the cancer has spread to the cervix. Approximately 12,800 new cases of cervical cancer diagnoses occur annually in the United States (Sawaya, 2001). Symptoms of cervical cancer include bleeding between periods, bleeding postmenopause, or bleeding after sexual intercourse. In some cases, radical hysterectomy (removal of the uterus, cervix, top portion of vagina, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and tissues in the pelvic cavity surrounding cervix) may be the treatment of choice, along with chemotherapy or radiotherapy if needed.

In stage 3A endometrial cancer, the cancer has spread to the ovaries and fallopian tubes. This may be treated with a TAH and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries), along with chemotherapy or radiotherapy if needed. In stage 3B, the cancer has spread to the vagina. In this case, a vaginectomy or radical hysterectomy must be performed, along with chemotherapy or radiotherapy if needed. By stage 3C, the cancer has entered the lymph nodes. In this case, lymph node dissection and hysterectomy is the treatment of choice, along with chemotherapy or radiotherapy if needed.

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3315.htm

The reason that I'm talking about this is that she is having surgery in which a robot is being used. Although she'll probably flatten me for putting this on here, I thought it would be good to share with folks what is available in case they ever face this. The article I'm listing are of folks that have had it done and the articles describe the surgery.

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B2BE812BD-BE91-492C-A0B2-65A0C8324430%7D&siteid=google&dist=google

 

http://www.wbir.com/news/health/story.aspx?storyid=36220 

 

 

I'm continuing to rehab but it's been slow going. Today it's been pretty painful, for some reason. I'm now up to using 10 pounds again on my leg but perhaps too much. It really bites though because I've gained weight again. Yuck!