preoccupiedwithstupidity.com

Since it has been forever since I have posted here I thought I would catch up with some reviews of products I have purchased/used over the last year.

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 - LOVE IT!
This is the fastest Jeep ever made. The Street and Race Team with Mopar has really done it. The vehicle is comfortable with its leather wrapped Ricaro seats. They are very snug so when you are taking an off ramp at 75mph you do not slide all over the place. Acceleration, wow! Because it is all wheel drive, the GCSRT8 will not burn rubber. That means when you mash the pedal at a green light, you are launched at blast coaster acceleration. 0-60 time is 4.7s. Overall it is a very comfortable vehicle. I never have to ride in back so I can say that. Apparently there could be more leg room for full grown people.

Apple Mac Book Air - LOVE IT!
The thinnest notebook in the Apple line-up, or any line-up for that matter, is very nice. It is so light and compact that it hardly feels like there is anything in my backpack. The display is solid and the super-drive works well. It is well built. The frame does not flex as one might expect being so thin. Battery time last about 4 hours.

More to come later…

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I have been trying to get a Joost invite. I am so desperate I am adding this to my blog in an attempt…

Check this site out for invite info: Brilliant Days

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I don’t know why but whenever I am sitting at home dinkin’ around the Interwebs I always forget to pop in and leave a post.

I have been extremely busy at work and I have been very busy geeking out in my spare time. Between travel and new hardware, my kids are forgetting what having a dad is like. Oh well, I woulda screwed them up anyways…

But seriously, I did get some pretty cool new hardware. For starters, I have a new bulldog watching the front gate of my home Internet connection. The Cisco ASA product line is very nice and easy to use. You should get one!

I also picked up a new Apple Macbook Pro. CompUSA gave me such a good deal I couldn’t say no. Oh, ok, I was going to get one anyway, but the deal was still great! I recommend you get one of those, too. If you plan on running Vista, you should just spend the money on the new hardware on a new Mac! You will not be sorry…

Next on my list is the 8 core Mac Pro. I can’t wait until those are announced.

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On December 24th 1996 I started a new job as a system administrator for West Shore Community College. This would be the job that would launch so many things in my life. This was the first real job that kick started my career in IT.

I want to say thanks to Bill Westphal, Roxy Gable and Rex Benfield for helping me get the position that put me in the right direction. I love them and I will never forget them. They were the best mentors someone could have getting started in life.

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Here is a very good video of Richard Dawkins defending Atheism. I always enjoy “thinking” about religion, rather than always “feeling” it.

Enjoy…

Dawkins Video (WARNING: Very Long!)

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I was 20 years old when I bought my first car. After looking over the available options in my price range I chose the 1997 Dodge Avenger ES. I went to the local Dodge dealership and asked the car salesman if they expected to get any on their lot anytime soon. He asked why someone my age would want such a vehicle. He was wondering how someone my age would be able to keep up the payments and if I understood that the insurance would be burdensome. Lacking the wisdom, I left disappointed having the attitude that the salesman obviously wasn’t good at his job.

In retrospect, he was just trying to help me put things in perspective. Well it’s a good thing that I am very persistent in getting the things that I want. I drove 30 minutes to the next Dodge dealership who were more than happy to go over the details of the new car with me. They too lacked the exact car with the exact options I wanted, but were willing to perform a “dealer trade” in which they would trade a car on their lot for my car on another dealer’s lot. I told them I would be back if I could get financing. Little did they know I had an ace in my pocket. The credit union I was a member of gave car loans on site, without application. So, I called them up, they cut a check to me in my name for the sale price of the vehicle. That same day I walked back into the dealership with a check for the full amount. The salesman’s jaw hit the desk when I told himI had a check for the full amount and that I wanted him to order the car.

I am reminded of this experience because I received an email from Dodge asking me to review their new Avenger concept. I have to admit, I am very impressed with the new design and some of the new features they are offering. Take a look here if you are intersted. I will be looking for the credit union’s phone number!

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So Mom and Madelyn have been home for just over 24hrs. Everyone is doing well. Madelyn is doing well with sleeping. She kept us up most of the night until around 2am. Then she slept until 8am. She had her first doctor appointment today. All went well.

So for those that are interested here is the play by play of the birth.

11/15/2006

1:45am: After not sleeping well for a few hours, Julie feels like she is going into labor. She felt contractions and started timing them. They were initially between 2-5 minutes apart. She waited a bit to see if it would continue.

2:25am: Julie woke me up to let me know that she is in labor and the we should head to the hospital. I awoke from my slumber and got her bag loaded. We said goddbye to the girls and Julie’s Mom and off we went.

2:50am: I get pulled over on Rt 1 by a Fredericksburg City police officer. He politely asks for my license and registration upon which I provide him my license. I politely inform the officer that Julie is in labor to which he replies “Well I guess you know why I pulled you over then? Here you go, just try to get her there safely.” Of course he first shone his flashlight on Julie’s belly to verify that she was pregnant.

3:00am: We arrive at the emergency room of Mary Washington Hospital. Once there, Julie and I were rushed off to Labor and Delivery, Triage room number 1. She is dialated to a 3 at this point.

3:30am: Julie is moved from Triage 1 to her labor room 3127. Once there, the nurses prepped everything to make Julie as comfortable as possible.

4:45am: Julie asks to use the jacuzzi tub so that she can relax and warm up. Once there she is able to get warm enough that I have to fan her during contractions. The only thing available to use as a fan was the “Clean” card used to notify the nursing staff that the bathroom was clean for the next patient’s use.

5:30am: Julie is finished up in the tub and wants to head back to the room. She is feeling muchmore pressure now and the contractions are about a minute apart. When asked how they rate on the pain scale, she responds “8 or 9″. Once back at the room, Julie notifies the nurse that she wants to be checked and if she has dialated more that she wants the doctor to break her water. While examining her, the nurse promptly stops and says that her water is very close to breaking and that they should call the doctor. Doctor Multon was on call from Julie’s doctor’s office. She responded within about 10 minutes. At this point, Julie is very worried that if her water should break and she is not dialated enough she will suffer for a longer period of time. Before arriving, Dr. Mullton reviewed Jilie’s birthing history and noted that once Julie’s water breaks, it is go time and reassured Julie of this fact. This time was no different.

5:59am: Dr. Mullton breaks Julie’s water.

6:02am: After three strong pushes, Julie delivers Madelyn Beth.

It was a quick birth but still not easy. Julie said even though it was quicker there were other challenges. For instance, today she was mentioning how it feels like someone punched her in the stomach a few times and that she is really sore; a feeling she didn’t have with the other two.

Here are more pictures for you to enjoy:

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You read it right! Madelyn Beth Ellis arrived this morning at 6:02am. Mom and baby are doing great. Just a quickie from the hospital.

Click on the images to get a larger size.

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Who woulda thunk that I would have super powers just by purchasing a simple electronic device?

Well, I really don’t but what I bought is pretty cool! In order to better operate my cell phone while driving in the Jeep, I found a killer deal on a Jabra BT800 bluetooth headset. This little thing has changed my commute forever. No more fumbling in my pocket trying to catch a phone call before it is sent to voicemail. No ruching to answer it before I really know who it is, just to get caught talking to someone I had been avoiding all week.

No my friend, I am now Captain Bluetooth, of similar fame as Captain Caveman. I would highly recommend this device to anyone looking for a great handsfree experience.

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Today was a very busy day. I was up by 7am and to the church by 8am to help Julie setup tables and chairs for “Super Saturday”. Then it was off to Krispy Kreme for quick dozen and then on to home.

You may be asking, what makes that a busy day? Well, it was the work waiting for me when I got home. Jay was on his way over to get some help finishing the car audio install on his Nissan Xterra. We started the install last weekend and were anxious to wrap it up today. Also, Duane, another work pal, was on his way over to get some help installing a system in his son Steven’s 07 VW Jetta.

Jay’s project had much more to do than Duane’s but it was all stuff we thought we had our heads around. We really thought we had figured out all of the gotchas… Lemme tell ya, the driver side door almost got ripped off it’s hinges. It eventually did survive, but what a pain! Trying to get a small spearker wire through this little grommet in the body was very challenging.

Duane’s install went much better! We were able to quickly identify a place to run his amp power wire through the car firewall. This was the step I was counting on taking the longest. The interior trim panels were a little tricky trying to figure out getting them removed, but all in all it was pretty simple. We installed a line output converter to send signal to his amp without repacing the factory head unit. That was probably the most challenging part. To install a line output converter you need to know what color wires from the factory go to the factory speakers. That proved to be challenge. No site on the Interwebs had any info. So, a wuick call to my buds a Tweeter yielded the info I needed.

Once we got everything hooked up we turned the ignition and fired up the radio. It immediately hit like a mofo! I actually had to turn down the gain on his JL Audio A1400 amp. Once I adjusted the gain, the system sounded really good! The factory head unit and components sounded really balanced with the aftermarket amp and subs. Oh yeah, he is running old MTX 8″ blue thunder subs. Amazingly, they really hit hard!

We didn’t finish on Jay’s but we got most of the really hard stuff done. To get a list of what’s left, check out his post here.

I am anxiously waiting to get back to work where I can nap under my desk like everyone else.

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