Apparently I’ve been tagged…

Thanks to SharePoint Dan/UVAGeek for tagging me. Something to get the mind wandering a little on this beautiful, cold winter solstice.

8 TV Shows I Watch

1. Scrubs. I had never watched an episode until the summer of 2007. Now I own all seven seasons on DVD. It's been moved to ABC and hopefully will end it's eight-year run properly now (NBC really screwed Bill Lawrence over). It's remained well-written and funny throughout the years. Kudos to Bill.
2. 30 Rock. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. *giggle*
3. Saturday Night Live. It's still funny, usually. I'm going to miss Amy Poehler.
4. 60 Minutes. We always watched it at home when I was a child. I think it made me appreciate good journalism all the much more.
   
5. Dead Like Me. It's no longer on TV, but I just discovered it so it's new to me. Dark, funny commentary on the human existence.
6. The Simpsons. Sure, I don't watch recent episodes every time they're on. But I have through season eight on DVD and it still makes me laugh. Purple monkey dishwasher.
7. Lost. A simple (yet complex) pleasure.
8. Moonlighting. Probably the best thing ABC ever produced. And my favorite show of all time. It's got David Addison. Enough said.

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Le Mistral. Only been there once, but I'd eat there weekly if we could afford it.
2. 2941. Also only been there once, but ooo la la!
3. Rabieng. One of the best Thai places ever. 
4. 2 Amys. Warren, where are you?
5. The Italian Store. Right alongside 2Amys for the best pizza around.
6. Sushi Taro. Best sushi I've had in the DC area, besides the sushi counter at the Harris Teeter. :-)
7. Bojangles. Still love that greasy fried chicken.
8. Sammy T's. Have to make a pit-stop in Fredericksburg anytime we're driving up or down I-95. Always good food and lots of vegetarian choices too.

8 Things That Happened To Me or That I Did Today

1. Was woken up multiple times by poor, sickly Zachary. He has yet another yucky cold.
2. Cleaned up the attic. (Yesterday was basement cleanup and classic technology reorganization day.)
3. Updated Windows Live One Care with a new prepaid subscription. That'll be the last time, seeing that Microsoft is dropping the product and offering a free anti-virus download sometime next year.
4. Watched some football!
5. Got Zachary to sit up, with assistance, for a little while. He's getting stronger.
6. Prepared some gifts.
7. Took more Tylenol and Sudafed for this cold that just won't quit.
8. Lit the menorah for the first night of Hanukkah! Benny enjoyed it. 

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To

1. Christmas.
2. Zachary sitting up, crawling, and walking.
3. Benny mowing the lawn.
4. Windows 7.
   
5. SharePoint 14.
6. The new PKI module.
7. A vacation.
   
8. Retirement.

8 Things I Wish For

1. Zachary will sit up, crawl, and walk.
2. Benny will always be so sweet and silly.
3. Good friends.
4. Good neighbors.
5. Financial security.
6. A fun car to drive.
7. A sense of humor.
8. Sanity.

8 People I Tag To Do This Too!

1. Warren
2. Radio Free Andy
3. Stefan
4. Mei Ying
5. Carol
6. Spence
7. Josh
8. Andrew Connell

My two little guys, together at last

Our second son, Zachary, was in the NICU for two months after his birth due to some complications not associated with his birth.

He finally came home last Thursday. Benjamin was happy to see him again.

I've been Tagged - five things you might not know about me

I was recently tagged by my old MCMS buddy Stefan Goßner. So now here are five things you probably don't know about me.

1. I spent an entire month living in Japan when I was ten years old. My mom, brother and I stayed with our Japanese friends in Osaka while my dad, a veterinary pathologist, traveled around the country for seminars and other meetings. We also traveled to places like Tokyo, Nara, and the mountains. It was the first time I was exposed to a culture other than my own, and it influenced my world view more than anything up to that point in my life.


2. After returning from Japan right before fifth grade, I spent much of my life through high school building a city out of Lego bricks. This was the inspiration for my choice of attending architecture school in college.


3. I attended Penn State University and made it two-and-a-half years through the architecture program and two internships with architecture firms before I decided I didn't want to be an architect. It just wasn't for me.


4. Instead, I created a website for Metrolegoland and fell in love with web development. I finished Penn State with a degree in Integrative Arts with a focus on web design and programming.


5. I met my wife, Ann-Marie, during a web design internship between junior and senior years of college. If I hadn't changed majors I might not have ever fallen in love!

I now tag Warren, Josh, Arno, Lorah, and my son Benjamin, who has a secret blog.

Been

In case you were wondering, and even if you're not, where have I been?

Around.

Personally, I've been busy at home with our new son, Benjamin, who was born in March. He's quite the young gentleman. Very funny too.

Professionally, I've been bouncing around a few projects and have currently found myself between things. It's alright. It has given me a chance to reset.

I have been actively watching the evolution of the new "2007 Microsoft Office System." If you run Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista RC1 and want to try the beta client (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.), check out the Office preview site.

I must say that it's quite different from any previous version of Office. Also keep in mind that it's an unsupported Beta, so you will find minor bugs. Lastly, make sure to download both the Beta 2 files plus the Beta 2 Technical Refresh updates. You need to install both.

The final release, slated for sometime in the next six months or so (maybe?) will be production quality. The current Beta 2 Technical Refresh is supposed to be the most stable yet, and I tend to believe it, though the faster your system the better it will run. This ain't your father's Word for Windows 95.

If you have the guts and time, check out SharePoint Server, aka MOSS 2007, also available on the preview site. Both client and server are a vast improvement over Office 2003 and SharePoint Portal Server 2003.

It's Alive

In case you're wondering, I am still alive and kicking. I've had a few busy months at work, requiring more of a management focus than a technical edge. I'm getting back into more technical aspects now, finally hopping on to a SharePoint project! (Hallelujah!)

After attending the MVP Summit last week, I was reminded how much I love tinkering in technology. Thanks to the other MCMS MVPs Andrew, Angus, and Spence for helping to ignite my fire.

In other news, Ann-Marie and I are expecting a baby in April!

Construction Update 2

With shingles:



When the weather is nice, we have to prime and paint and do some touch ups, and it's done.

Construction Update

Our shed was not built in a day.

It took three.

Here it is last night, before the shingles.



Shingles went on today. What a task. Now all we have left to do is caulk, prime, and paint.

But first, back to my day job as a computer nerd! Yes, I will start posting some useful stuff here. Really!