Texas Wedding

We are going to Buffy McDaniel's wedding today. It is at the Smith Family Chapel at Riverbend Church. Hopefully we will get to see Grandpa and Ross and lots of family at the wedding. I hope the wedding is not super long, Eleanor being sick might make this a little tough to pull off. I wish we knew what time the reception was so we could just drop in for that... I will take a camera this time, I keep forgetting it and then later wishing I had one.

We are in the Shoal Creek Ward and the LDS Church here is much the same as the ones in Utah except for much more diversity here in Texas (lots of blacks, hispanics, and asians).

Here is a list of places we have eaten at here in Austin; along with my rating of the restaurant:

*****	Marie Callendars - This is right by the hotel, walking distance. Somehow the food here is better than the same food at the MC in Utah. The pie? oh baby!
****	Quiznos - I love Quiznos, but Rebecca is right, we need to eat at places that we cannot eat at in Utah.
**	Subway - Bad food. Bad service. She put way too much jalapeño on the sandwich and didn't bother to ask if it looked alright. We were rushed through the line like cattle and the cashier would not give me the credit on my subway card because I was a split second too late handing it to him!
**	Parmer Cafe (work cafeteria) - A cafeteria and their food was pricy??! The convienient location does not compensate for a poor texture and flavor to the food. Powerful weak!
*****	Saltgrass Steakhouse - Loved my steak here, just plain loved it. I have had better steaks but they cost probably double the price of this place.
*****	Cheesecake Factory - Very very good place to go. An expensive place to eat but worth it. The reason is simple: Chocolate Truffle Raspberry Cheesecake.
*	Serrano's Mexican Grill - Flavorless, bland Mexican food that was served at a rediculously hot temperature.
****	Rudy's Country Store (BBQ) - We will be back here. BBQ is not healthy and I feel like crap after eating a 1/2 pound of brisket but it was still worth it.
*	Texas Roadhouse - Ate here in Waco on the way to Dallas, they offer A1 because their steak sucks without it (also their was a George Bush Jr./Dick Cheney mural on the wall. This was probably the biggest disappointment so far, Ruby River is probably a clone of this chain and they did a way better job.
****	Tin Star Taco Grill - Eater here twice, the fish tacos are very good.
****	Chipotle (burritos and tacos) - Very trendy popular place for lunch, has a very busy "Cafe Rio" style environment.
*	Taco Cabana - No one in Austin seems to eat here, there is a reason, it sucks.
*	Granato's Deli (at SLC airport) - Way overpriced, very slow service. I didn't get an olive with my dry flavorless sandwich and didn't bother to wait in line to try to get it after sitting down.
***	Luby's cafeteria - Same as always, good okra, I got liver and onions which blew Rebecca's mind.
****	Cracker Barrel - Good service we had a large group and only one order was screwed up Rebecca got two fillets and ordered one while Ross got one fillet and ordered two. Best fried okra so far
****	The Blackeyed Pea - Fried pickle appetizer is awesome! Comes with Ranch Jalapeño dip, yum! Fried okra was dissapointing, rolls were excellent.
**	Z-tejas (texmex) - Strange ingredients lots of presentation, but people go here for the alcohol not the food.
***	Thoma's Super Buffet - Lots of chinese/american food, no presentation, poor a/c. But an on-site sushi chef! the sushi is freshly made and good here.
***	Thundercloud Subs - The Austin version of Sensuous Sandwich, pretty good subs and Rebecca loved it... until I told her I pulled a hair out of mine.

*****	I recommend this place.
****	Good, but not fantastic
***	Meh...
**	Skip it, better off going hungry.
*	Avoid this place at all costs. Fake illness if you have to, just don't eat the food.

Overall the service is almost always incredible (even at chain restaurants) in Austin. The great service is noticeably better than just about all but the nicest Utah restaurants. I am not listing these to brag about how much fun we are having on this trip; more I am listing the reasons why my pants will probably not fit me ever again.

Eleanor has Croup

We are in a single room shaped kind of like an "L" at the residence inn. Eleanor somehow got croup so her poor little pathetic self is wheezing and coughing all through the night. WebMD says it should only last a few days. If you know of treatments for this that you personally have found to work on 14 month old kids, drop me a comment or send an email. I could tell it was hard for her to swallow the little bites of banana she ate, her poor throat must hurt. I can't imagine how hard it would be to have to witness you kid seriously hurt or how hard it would be to deal with a child who has life-threatening illness. Becoming a parent certainly has changed my perspective on life and how to treat others unselfishly.
Marriage has had that effect on me as well. I have a gained perspective from Rebecca that I doubt I would have found any other way. I am glad we don't always agree. She and I have opinions and hold our own in discussions. Rebecca definetly has motherly-instincts when it comes to Eleanor that I just don't, so we butt heads sometimes when she wants to get Eleanor something that I think is a waste of space and money.

Here is a link to list the info about croup:

http://children.webmd.com/tc/croup-topic-overview

How to reject a job offer

I turned client3 down. Here is a handy template for turning down job offers you may receive that is based on the rejection I made to client3.

< insert name of hiring contact >,

I thought about the open permanent position at < company > over the past few days. I gave serious consideration to the offer you made on < date of last meeting > and discussed it with my family. At this time, I have decided I would not accept a position at < company name > because it is not the right time for me personally to make an employment change. Thank you for understanding. Because < company name > has such a great work environment, I cannot imagine it will be very long before you are able to hire the right person and I wish you good luck with your search.

Sincerely,

< your name >

Things to avoid in turning down a job offer (or marriage proposal):

• listing specific negative reasons like "I don't think the job has good benefits" or "Your armpit hair is out of control!"


• listing specific personal concerns "I don't want to move" or "It is time I tell the police EVERYTHING"


• not being clear or indicating you have not made a final decision like "making this decision has been so hard for me" or "I have had so much fun with you, you complete me"


• burning the bridge "I would never work for this place, EVER" or "die... in a FIRE!"


• over-patronizing or kissing up "although I will not be accepting the position, I will be buying stock in < company name >" or "It is not you, it's me; you deserve waaaaaaay better, but you knew that"

You need to be respectful, kind, and clear. Try not to giggle and blush like a girl. I can't tell you how much fun it is to reject a company's offer rather than have companies reject me. It is a big ego boost and sweet, sweet revenge rolled up in a saucy burrito of dripping joy.

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP LCD Monitor

I found out that the desktop computer in my office is in fact for me to use while I am at client2. It is a Pentium Duo with 3.5 GB RAM, the desktop is so much nicer than trying to run a local instance of BEA Weblogic 8.1 application server on a laptop processor with 2 GB of RAM. But the title of this post refers to the gigantic Texas-size monitor, it is huge. This LCD is the biggest I have ever used, which is appropriate since I am in Texas where everything is bigger.
I snapped a photo with my cell phone camera, so the quality is horrible, but I don't think client2 would let me bring a camera to work to take nicer pictures.

I was talking to Rebecca about client2's problems with hiring someone to work my position full time. I think one of the issues is that the environment is an outdated version of ATG Platform and ATG Service. Who would want to come manage an environment running Java 1.4.x BEA Weblogic 8.1 and ATG 2006.3 when

• Java 1.5 and Java 1.6 are already out


• Weblogic 9 and Weblogic 10 are already out


• ATG 2007.1 is already out

In this industry, you are putting yourself in a dangerous position by only knowing 5 year old technology and not using and learning the newest released technology.
Client2 shot themselves in the foot by heavily customizing ATG 2006.3 to the point that even loading the latest patch level of 2006.3, patch 6, would be a month-long process or more because all the changes would have to be carefully merged into the p6 out of the box code.

All that being said it would be very nice to work for client2, they have good benefits and it is a very nice environment (huge monitors, free magic genies, etc...) I know this because they have offered me a position here in Austin and want me to relocate to Austin. So I have to think about the pros and cons of moving from Utah and actually taking the job here in Austin as a permanent position. There are a lot of advantages, Austin is such a cool* place to be. I think Rebecca and Eleanor are game to stay, but I just don't know if it is the right move for us.

*Cool as in chic or trendy, I am pretty sure the temperature is not cool most of the time.

23rd and Gualalupe, Austin, TX

It is great to come to a place with so much to do, their is a sea world in San Antonio, we are SO going to that! Rebecca has never been to a sea world before. I have been working non-stop, so I have not been able to enjoy any SXSW band related activities. Pictures will be taken, I keep forgetting the camera. We went to 23rd and Guadalupe in Austin Saturday, and pictures could not do it justice, you have to go their and actually smell the drug violations taking place and hear the hippie, anti-establishment weirdo's try and sell/trade their art to really understand what it was like. It is amazing the place has been around since 1970's... the motto is "Keeping Austin weird since 1971" and they were not kidding! I think we might have to go back, everything that was for sale was handmade in Austin, TX they specifically forbid selling imported chinese trinkets. Their was a guy who drills a hole in penny's and nickles, quarters, or other coins and then runs a thin coping saw blade and painstakingly saws out around the profiles of the Presidents on the coin to create necklace pendants. Very minute, unforgiving detailed work. I didn't bother asking him how much those would cost. The Art Co-op was almost like a gallery and you felt weird asking to buy anything. It was a bunch of temporary tents setup between two buildings and was a ton of fun to go see.

Austin TX

Live music capital of the world. Rebecca says their is a music
convention (SXSW) happening right now where musicians from across the world (
or galaxy ??? ) converge here in Austin to... I guess play music and
start the next big bands and create the newest sounds that music
producers and pop idols will eventually imitate, rip off and profit
from, all while those who love their craft plan the next trip to the
annual music convention to begin the cycle anew.

Now I am working for client 3 and client 2, I am naming them with
numbers because sometimes clients need to get on my computer and I do
not want to intentionally expose other customer identities. So if I go
to Pepsi, I do not have a dozen Coke project folders on my system that
raise the blood pressure of the Pepsi folks. (This scenario has almost
happened already.) Client 3 is a nice place to work (as a contractor)
free soda, free candy, free coffee, on-site cafeteria, on-site
daycare, on-site sport courts, on-site HIKING TRAIL, on-site MAGIC
GENIE!!!11!!!one Ok, that last one was made up, but the hiking trail
is real. This place has so many on-site perks, it is a wonder how they
fit in the actual offices. It makes Novell's offices look a little
smaller and in some ways a little pathetic to me. What's next?
On-site CARNIVAL CRUISES? ROMAN COLOSEUMS? MALE EXOTIC DANCERS?
PETTING ZOOS?

Late Night

Working a late night tonight to try as best as I can to get a client what they asked for. Main issue I have right now is access, they want me to setup the system but have not given me access to that system. Sad part is, it may take longer to get the account login, VPN client, machine name, database connection, all setup and running than to do the work I need to do there.

Happy Now

I guess I drew the short straw and had to take a job in Atlanta on short notice and work through Presidents Day. But now I think it is likely that I will start my 2 month project next Monday, after just finishing the extension of the Atlanta project this Friday... I guess it is better than being in a position where I am not needed for any work. I need to slow it down a bit I think, just because a project manager allocated 40 hours for 80 hours of work, does not mean I have to somehow magically get the project done in that time window. Also I need to disassociate my value and abilities and talent from the functioning state of the software I work with. I didn't write it or make claims about what it could do. I have tried to focus on presenting a positive and reassuring message to the project manager and to the clients, it is my coworkers that see me stressed and frustrated.

I am trying to not postpone being happy, it is easy to say "when this is done" I can relax. I have got to relax regardless of what is not done or what job I have to do, because if I don't, then I may never relax. It seems in life their is always something to do, some task to complete, some monkey on your back. I thought for a long time that graduating college was the end of a long, painful, expensive road and the beginning of my life of ease. I think I wasted college looking forward to the end of it, graduating, rather than taking time to enjoy what I could while I was there. So I could just look forward to the end of this 2 month project, but instead I will relax and be happy now and each day of the project until it finishes or ends. It is good to finish what you start but also good to enjoy the journey along the way.