Great Week And Great Plans Ahead

Things have been very upbeat this week at work and home. We're slowly but surely getting things done around the house and preparing for the new baby due in April. Carly is pumped up about it and I hope she keeps her enthusiasm as the big sis.

Work is going great also. I'm working on a large project to convert 2 older labs to Google Chrome, if we can get the details worked out. I'm seeing everything fall in to place and am enjoying the planning side of it.

I've been meeting a group of guys every Wednesday morning from my Sunday School at Roosters at 6:30am for fellowship time. I've enjoyed being able to get together with these Godly men to swap stories.

Wednesdays are pretty busy with that at 6:30am and then wrapping up the day with a 5 or 10 miler with some different guys. I'm training for a half-marathon coming up this weekend in Winder, GA called The Thrill in the Hills. I'm hoping this xterra race won't kill me. I'll also get to spend some time with my sis-in-law and bro-in-law. I'm looking forward to it. The weekend after that is the Snickers marathon here in Albany. I haven't decided if I'll do the half or just volunteer.

Awaiting the Release of Google Chrome OS

I've had the opportunity to play with Google's new Chrome OS and have been very impressed with it. It's in pre-beta and so I've had to run it in a virtual environment or off of a flash drive. You can read up on more of that here. The quick and dirty explanation of it is that Chrome OS is cloud based computing. There is a thin client (linux based) on your computer that connects you to the internet and have access to all of your apps. In this case, gmail, google docs, and a host of other things. No MS Windows bloat.

I really like what I'm seeing with it but the main reason I'm interested is that I'm looking for an alternative to Windows XP in an aging computer lab at the school I work at. The machines are five years old and showing their wear. I feel that in another year the computers will not be worth using since they take so long to accomplish anything. The kids and teachers are aggravated with it and I don't feel their lack of performance is acceptable.

With Chrome OS or any other form of cloud computing, the workload is put on the internet connection and whatever the machines may be connecting to. If things go as planned, we should be able to come up with some type of solution by summer for implementation in at least one of the labs for testing. I am counting on the probability that all apps will be web based very soon, which is not always the case in k12 education.

Snow is Melting

We had a good time with the snow yesterday. It really came down yesterday evening in quarter-size flakes and though it was pretty wet, it was still fun to play in. My daughter had a blast and didn't want to come in. Something she didn't know or understand was how rare it was to have snow this far south. It even snowed in Pensacola, FL.

I will say that it was dangerous to drive in but not because of the snow itself. The drivers around here had no idea that you really should turn your headlights on and not drive over the speed limit. We saw a few good'uns yesterday driving like maniacs. I was a little worried about driving in it because my wife was worried about it. At the same time, I was amazed at how everything looked covered in snow. I had never seen any of Albany covered in snow like that. I kept telling my wife and daughter to enjoy the view. I was in awe of how God powdered the trees and made this place I was so familiar with look like a different place. It was a day of Norman Rockwell views.

Playing catch up-

To catch up, I'm still working as a tech specialist in k12 education. I've been there now for about 5.5yrs and its by far the best and most enjoyable job I've ever had. Having a great job is worth more than having a terrible job that you don't like and getting paid more.

I'm still running and have been for many years now. I've been in 2 half-marathons and too many shorter races to list. I'm now training for a xterra half coming up at the end of the month. http://www.dirtyspokes.com/tr_races.php?trraceid=1&trpageid=7 It's an off-road race at a state park and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

For the first time since I've been working at the school, I'm no longer coaching a sport. I've coached golf and tennis over the past few years and have loved it but its a big time commitment. Working with the kids made it worth it and I do love to play golf and tennis.

Part of the reason for the above is the pending arrival of our next child. We have a 3.5yr old daughter and we are expecting another girl. I'm certain she will consume a lot of our time and we are looking forward to it. Our daughter is looking forward to being the big sis and helping out with everything and I'm ready to watch her do it.

Long gap but I may revive this....on a SNOW DAY!

It's Feb. 12th, 2010 here in Lee County, GA and we are having a "snow day". It's currently snowing (and raining) and its about 40 out so its not sticking yet. The temp should be dropping soon allowing the snow to stick and the rain to change completely in to snow.

It has been a long time since my last post but I'm going to start posting regularly if possible. I've been reading the almost daily blogs from www.fatcyclist.com and found it pretty inspiring. If nothing else, this will be my vent.