5!

Before leaving Austin, I was fortunate enough to catch up with an old friend from high school, Ben Brumfield. We had lunch a few times with catfish and good beer to talk about old times and share stories about what everyone we used to know is up to.

One story that we talked about was about a practice for an academic decathlon event. Our English teacher, Miss Holier was the sponsor. On a regular basis, we would stay after school and she would quiz us on possible questions we would face. She was calling out questions and we were answering quickly, each of us trying to beat everyone else to the punch. All of a sudden, she came up with something that stumped us all. She called out, “5!” with all the enthusiasm and exuberance that only she could muster. We all looked at each other wondering if that was really a question. She yelled “5!” once again. After a long pause, Joel Lack hesitantly spoke up with a possible answer. He said, “120” as if he were the one asking the question. We all understood immediately and started laughing.

Mrs. Holier on the other hand was amazed. She had no idea how Joel came up with 120. We then explained to her that the exclamation mark didn’t mean she needed to yell. It meant factorial and everyone knows, or at least all of us nerds knew that 5! = 5x4x3x2x1 = 120.

So, for those of you that were there, I hope this makes you laugh. And for those of you that ever doubted, I am proud to be a nerd. Everyone has to be something…

Getting to know Halliburton

It has been a while since I have posted and for a very good reason. The item consuming my mind for the past few months was the impending transition to Houston and Halliburton. I couldn’t very well spill the beans here and have the world know too soon.

I am officially in the Oil & Gas industry now. I was able to go to one of the many Halliburton facilities today to see a tool that is in development. The guys who knew what they were looking at were very excited. As the newbie, I was just excited to see anything at all. What a different world this is going to be. So far I am having a blast and learning a lot. As long as that continues, I’ll be fine.

Having Beth and the kids still in Austin is not at all the ideal situation, but it seems to working so far. The house in Kyle will sell soon. We keep telling each other that. We both know it will be over soon.

9 already...

Wow. These little things turn 9 today. It's hard to believe. Here is a pic of their 1st 1K. They were awsome. For their birthday they are going to get their nails done with Beth and a few friends. They are really just girlie girls now.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!

I'm tired and bored because my family is gone tonight. I could go to sleep early, but I wouldn't want to shock my system. I'm updating my podcast so I can go on a run. But first I want to do a little bragging on my Bethy and her sister. Yesterday they completed a zip line and challenging ropes course at Cypress Valley Canopy Tour.

I'll try to get more pics on Flickr! soon, so check back if you want to see more. I am very proud of both of them. I know this wasn't easy and they chose the hardest route possible. Way to go!

My big boy…

My desktop background was corrupted and I started looking through some of my old pictures to reset the desktop. Anyway, I ran across this picture and couldn’t resist sharing it. His 6th birthday party is tomorrow and he is so excited.

It’s hard to believe that it was June of 2002 when this little guy first came home with us.

Milt’s BBQ:

I am working from home today, so Beth and I decided to go to lunch together in Kyle. We were planning to go to an old stand by, but they were closed. Sitting in the parking lot wondering where to go, we remembered an article in our community newsletter talking about a new BBQ place. We decided to try it out.

There was only one car out front, but it was already after 1pm, so we did not take that as a bad sign. The seating reminds me of the porch at the Saltlick. We sat in the covered porch under one of the fans. Even with the heat today, it was very comfortable. They have a signature wall that is filling up fast. Look for "Dax Loves Beth" that I had to get on there while I could. They also have a sign requesting old license plates for them to display. It’s a great atmosphere for eating slow cooked BBQ.

The menu features a great selection at reasonable prices. My wife and I each ordered a bird’s nest. That’s a sandwich with sliced brisket and sausage. I also ordered a side of ranch beans. They have chopped brisket mixed in. It was all wonderful.

There were other great menu items as well. The family meal comes with a pound of brisket, 2 chicken quarters or 2 sausage links and 2 medium sides for less than $20. I am getting the Haystack during my next visit. That’s BBQ Frito Pie.

Next time you are in the mood for great BBQ, you owe it to your taste buds to give Milt’s a try. They are located at 905 N Hwy 81, Kyle, TX 78640. You can call in your order at 512-268-4734.

Gratitude

Today I ran across an article about the affect of positive thoughts that I found to be quite interesting. You can find the article here.

The premise is that gratitude has a positive impact on our lives. I won’t go into the details, but the article is great.

Here are just some of the things that I am grateful for.

1) I am grateful for the wonderful wife and kids that chose to come into my life. They define me and I will never be the same because of them.
2) I am grateful for the job I have. It challenges me on a daily basis and forces me to improve myself.
3) I am grateful for the wonderful cars my wife and I drive. It is great to have two vehicles that our entire family can comfortably fit in.
4) I am thankful for my neighbors. They help raise our kids as we help raise theirs.
5) I am grateful for the school we have across the street. It is great to watch the kids walk into the door each morning.
6) I am grateful for the staff, especially Mrs. Carow, that is making sure my daughter overcomes dyslexia.
7) I am grateful for the wonderful home we live in.

Like I said, these are only a few of the many I can think of now. I will keep writing my thoughts on gratitude in my journal rather than here, but take note: You must play the cards you are dealt. It is up to us to decide if we play them with gratitude or bitterness.

Cyber Junk

Space Junk is a term used to describe the garbage created during space exploration. This may be parts of broken satellites, a bolt dropped by an astronaut while on a space walk, or entire satellites that have ceased to operate. Most of this stuff will eventually fall back into earth's orbit and burn up in the atmosphere. But what happens to Cyber Junk?

Millions of people are creating their own content on the web through social networks, blogs like this one, and countless other mediums. What happens to all of the stuff we create? How long will articles that I write on Helium.com be active? When will this blog go away?

I started thinking about this when I got to work this morning. I had an e-mail from Plaxo reminding me of a birthday that is coming up. I usually enjoy getting these so I can send a funny e-card to the person celebrating a birthday. Here is the content of this morning's e-mail.

Needless to say, I am extremely aware that my sister would have been 26 on 4/21 of this year had she not died in a car wreck in August of 2006. I contacted Plaxo to find out about getting her account deleted. Their initial response simply suggested that I change my settings to make sure that I would not get anymore alerts from her account. While I agree that this would work, doesn't it seem odd that Plaxo would not want to get an account off their system if the person is no longer with us?

Is telecommuting an option?

After being back from sabbatical for three days, I feel like I am back in the swing of things. I already have a trip to California scheduled for later this month and a ton of things to keep me busy. I have to give credit to those on my team that filled in for me while I was away. Without them, my return would have been a much rougher experience.

Everything at home is also getting back to normal, which is a terrible way to describe a life with four kids. There isn’t much that is normal, but I love every minute of it. Beth had to run to Houston tonight to pick up our nieces and nephew. The plan is for me to get the kids off to school and go on to work. Emma isn’t feeling well, so I may be working from home with a sick kid. That’s the beauty of the internet though; I can work anywhere I can get an internet connection. All of my phone numbers route to a single cell phone, so the transition from the office to the home office is nearly seamless. This brings me to another topic: Gas Prices.

I was talking with my life-long friend Aaron tonight about the cost of commuting. I did some numbers in the back of my head while we were talking but I wanted to see what the real numbers were. I opened up Excel and here are the results. I drive 26 miles one way to get to work with an average mpg of 16. (I know this is low, but I love my Suburban.) With gas at $3.20 per gallon and assuming I drive to work 5 days per week for 50 weeks each year, my annual cost for gas just to get to work is $2,600. By working from home just one day per week, I can save around $520 per year and reduce the miles on my car from 13k per year to 10.4k per year. That sounds like a pretty compelling argument to start working from home when possible.

Back in the Saddle…

Today is my first day back to work after four glorious weeks of sabbatical. I am glad to get back to the routine and I am sure that I’ll be going 100mph for the next couple of weeks to catch up on the things I missed. I had a great time that included a trip to Disney World and many fun activities with the family. I’ll post more later about Disney.

Starting Fresh

Happy New Year!

Christmas was a blast with the kids and family. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we were able to see nearly everyone in the extended families. My Dad is heading to Austin for a visit this weekend to complete the rounds. We’ll be eating well. A good friend of mine sent me some Turducken that we will be cooking Saturday or Sunday. I can’t wait.