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ATTN: SERVER DOWNTIME THIS WEEKEND
The company keeping this server powered and connected to the internet has been bought out. As part of the restructuring all servers are being relocated to a different storage facility. This site and all others hosted on “interspike.com” will be unavailable during this time. Backups are being taken in the event of technical failure.
Details from the hosting company:
The 12-15 hour outage will take place beginning this Friday July 27th at 8 PM EDT. The outage time will be incremental for customers. Therefore, if your server is taken off line at 8 PM EDT, you should expect your server to be back on line between 8 AM and 11 AM on Saturday July 28th. The estimated completion of the project is July 28th at 7 PM EDT.
I’m hoping all goes well and services come online as expected.
My plan (delayed due to lack of funding for a machine) is to build out my own server and have it hosted at a co-location facility about an hour away. The current machine hosting interspike.com is hosted at a data center in Florida.
Engagement and baseball; check.
Finally I have a chance to sit down and hammer out a blog entry. Seems like I’ve been busy since we got home Sunday afternoon. This week at work has been action packed and its only Tuesday. I want to talk about what I’m working on but alas, this blog isn’t about my work. That would cross some line that I’m not interested in drawing so suffice to say, work has my attention these days. Even when I’m not there threads are running in my mind, pondering feedback, options, strategy, direction. It’s all very interesting. To me at least.
As I’m like to do, I photo-journaled our trip up north. Funny how as I’m taking pictures I’m thinking about how to work them into this blog. Kind of silly maybe, but at the very least its a way for me to remember what happened and when.
After packing up we set out without eating breakfast. Hungry, we decided to eat lunch in the town where we spent three years of our lives filling our heads with guiding instruction. The way we took had us passing this place. It used to be “Pete’s Place”. When my brothers and I would visit our father in Cadillac he would take us here to visit with his friend, Pete (at least I think that was his name). There was a large black newfoundland dog named Bear that would be sleeping in the store. Pete would give my brothers and I quarters from the cash register to use in his arcade games. I have nothing but fond memories of that place. These days it’s a furniture store or something. I snapped that picture at 60 mph thinking of my father. Not a bad pic.
We got to Traverse City and visited the book store at the college W. and I attended before we transferred to CMU. On the way to our hotel I snapped a couple pictures of the tall ships that sail the bays. That night we went to a professional baseball game where W.’s brother proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes of course. W.s cousin’s son was selected ‘at random’ to throw out the starting pitch. Here he is warming up while W. takes his picture. I couldn’t resist taking this picture with one of the team’s mascots, “Suntan”. We watched fireworks after the game. The next day we did some shopping downtown then headed out to Old Mission peninsula where W.’s grandma grew up. A gorgeous area overlooking both east and west bays. W. spent a some time at this beach as a child. This woman was giving her dog a workout. Good memories and a beautiful beach. We stopped at couple vineyards on the way back and picked up some birthday spirits for W. Once back in town we stopped for a quick visit with W.’s cousins then spent the evening with W.’s brother and fiance before heading home the next morning.
We have one more trip planned this summer. Our ‘annual’ camping trip to Mackinac. W. used to camp with her grandparents where we’re headed. There are very nice cabins there now (with bathrooms and showers) so we don’t have to rough it in tents. Granted, we tried tent camping once or twice but riding a bike to the bathroom in the middle of the night gets old quick.
W. has turned off the Tiger’s game and gone to bed and I’m about to do the same. Until next time…
Image: This is a picture of the dog at Old Mission beach that repeatedly disobeyed the sign to chase after tennis balls. It took a few tries and a lot of patience to get that shot, but you have to admit, it’s pretty funny.
Travel and reflection
We are about to hit the road again, headed to northern Michigan. Tourists in the town I grew up. The weather promises to be spectacular. In fact, it’s sunny and cool right now. Rays of sun are beaming through the little basement window into my ‘dungeon’ office.
Looking over my blog entries of late, who would think I’m a student? But Hey! This is summer! Thinking about it though, summers sure are different than when we were in school before.
We didn’t vacation much or travel (unless absolutely necessary). We worked and scrounged to pay rent and such. We knew we were living a transition, that finishing school was paramount to getting into the “real world” where we’d really start living. For the most part that was true. After we graduated (W. and I are the we to which I’m always referring), we got serious about our careers. Summers took on a different feeling, became more event filled.
I find it interesting how those summers in school stand out so prominently in my mind. There were only three or four of them! This is the eleventh summer since then, if you can believe it. I hardly can.
It doesn’t take much reflection to call to mind things that have filled these past eleven summers. Births, deaths, marriages, vacations, graduations, barbecues, picnics, golf, baseball games… A LOT has happened. But those summers while working our way through college stand out; the promise, the pain, the potential.
I guess there is a little bit of that now, marking this summer with a highlighter. Maybe because I’m a “student” again.
So it is this. The rays of sun have moved since I started writing this post reminding me that this sphere we’re on is hurtling through space, circling a ball of fire. Reminding me that I had better start preparing for this trip. I still need to pack my bag, shower, prepare the house, load the vehicle, etc. Estimated departure in about an hour and a half.
W.’s birthday is tomorrow. We have no definite plans (if you can believe it) except to roam around and do whatever. We’re meeting up with her brother and his girlfriend (fiance after tonight mayhap) for dinner in the evening tomorrow. I think someone is going to get some birthday presents…
Ciao.
Image: That’s right. As I was writing this post I turned around and snapped a picture of the sun rays of mention. How’s that for real-time eh?
Radon and the Police; no more
Last night we went to a Police concert at the palace of Auburn Hills about an hour and a half away. We got to the Palace early and enjoyed a picnic in the parking lot. Tail-gating is fun. W. was looking great. Can you tell I’m smitten? Got a few self-portraits which are becoming my trademark. I can’t help it, they’re fun.
The Police sounded great. I was surprised how many songs I knew. Compared to the Black Crowes, the Police concert was considerably better. And I’m a huge Black Crowes fan! Sound quality matters a lot. Loud is good, but clarity is equally important. We’ll be going to one more concert this summer. It’ll be interesting to compare them all. We’re going to see Crowded House in Ann Arbor at the Michigan Theater. This is another band that I don’t know very well but W. is a fan and they are playing about ten minutes away.
The radon mitigation pump has been installed. No longer will I be breathing in the odorless, invisible, undetectable, poisonous gas while I’m sitting in my basement office. The radon pump draws air from the sump pump which pulls air from underneath the house and vents it to the outside. To be honest, I’m not sure I even believe in radon gas but it is code in Michigan now so why not put one in while we’re living here.
This weekend we’re heading north yet again. We’re going to a baseball game where a local team will be playing and W.’s brother will be proposing to his girlfriend. Don’t worry, she already knows the plan. Both our families are going so it was probably tough for W.’s brother to keep it a secret. Hopefully we’ll be able to see my brother and nephews while we’re up there…but W.’s birthday is Saturday so she’ll be calling the shots.
The Tigers are playing right now and W. is crashed out “watching” them. Both cats snuggled up to her and she fell asleep right quick. We are both tired from our late night last night and from working today. Time to brush the pearly whites and throw my greasy bald head against my pillow.
Image: This is “The Palace of Auburn Hills” … a view from the parking lot. It was early and there was hardly anybody there yet. Don’t be fooled though. An hour later this place was totally packed with cars.
Gardening to the Police
Now there’s an interesting blog title. Brace yourself though, it isn’t that exciting.
This past weekend we dedicated ourselves to finishing one of our gardening projects. We turned this under our deck stairs into this. Combined with the bed we put in nearing the retaining wall, our back patio is shaping up. This shot of a gold finch at a bird feeder in our back yard was nice. Those birds are crazy yellow.
My camera happy self took a bunch of pictures while we were at the nursery buying our plants. This cat sleeping in a crate wasn’t crazy about me putting the camera in his face, with a flash no less. I got this picture of Bailey later that day, crashed out. He’s a pretty good cat.
Now why Police? Well tomorrow we’ll be heading over to Auburn Hills to catch the Police in concert. I’m not a big fan but W. and her brother are and have been looking forward to this concert for months now. Should be a good time.
It’s getting kind of late and I’m dog tired. Took me a bit working the pictures for this post. My image re-sizer wasn’t functioning so I ran a search and found a registry fix to resolve it. Thanks Barry!
This is a crazy week. Tomorrow we’re having a Radon pump installed, then the concert, then golf, then back up north for a baseball game and family visiting. W.’s birthday is Saturday so we’re thinking a picnic in Old Mission on the peninsula would be nice, weather permitting. Summer is such a busy time.
Image: This is from our visit to the nursery. Brilliant colors on flowers I can’t name.