What is happening 26-01-2007, 14:14 Personal Permalink Okay we had the furnace go out during the snow storm (that was bad) for 4 days before Thomas Heating could get our new 92% eff. furnace installed (Thomas heating guys are no relation that we know of)! Joe Thomas and his partner Andy came in and did the install themselves for us. They did a great job we have heat! We even could use a smaller BTU furnace, that is nice as well. We now have a 2 inch PVC pipe to vent out the flue gases (really just steam) Cameron calls it dragon's breath.. Now we have no other gas appliances that need to vent out the old 6 inch vent pipe that runs through the middle out of upstairs closet. So on Saturday I took it all out and patched the hole in the floor and ceiling re ran some telephone and data wiring upstairs and now we have a big linen closet!

This week I have been out in Las Vegas at the annual Nortel Global Sales Conference (Monday till late Thursday night), I got to play a short 9 holes of golf with a few of the other engineers I work with ( Okay it was Tony J and JP, and a really good guy Dave from one of our vendors, PS I am really bad at golf!) but for 42.00 it was good fun! Dinner on Monday was great we ate a a Irish Pub inside of the New York New York hotel it was great food (I don't drink so I can only comment on the food).On Tuesday we started our meetings at 7:30 am.. and went on until Thursday evening. They where very long and drawn out! we did have a great speaker on Wednesday afternoon about how to control stress and make our selves better leaders and employees! It was great. But I did learned a lot and had a good time.

Well I hope next week won't be so hurried! Have a great weekend. thor0128 Comments

What is happening 22-02-2007, 07:32 Personal Permalink Okay I did all of this on top of answering a huge RFP for one of our customers in Canada for work.

Well it seems that it is finally time to lay the new carpet in our downstairs family room. so we move everything to one side and rip out the old carpet and padding, guess what we find, a huge crack in our basement floor that someone filled with silcone caulk! Okay I have done that for small cracks but this puppy was a big one! The boy's and I have to clean all of the old crap off of the floor (left over glued down carpet backing, old floor tile, etc.) with some really nasty chemicals. Zach got weirded out on the fumes, then the floor scraping began! Then the mopping to neturalize the chemicals, then vacuuming up any thing that was left. Laying out of chaulk lines (which Sue did not agree with), so we laid them out again, then we started putting down the glue! It was blue so at least you could see it and not step in it (or so you would think). This started at like 8:00 am in the morning and we got the last of the carpet tiles layed at about 10:30 pm. Oh yea we could only work in about a 6 foot square area at a time and had to let the glue set for 45 minutes open time. So it was alot of bending and using a carpenters square to layout and make sure the carpet was put down correctly. By the way our house does not have a square room in it (meaning built using a square, level or any other technical tool). Man I was beat I could barely move on Sunday morning for church!

So we let the carpet set until Monday morning then I moved all of the furniture from one side of the room to the newly carpeted side of the room, and started the procedure all over again! That took most of the the day on Monday (Chris and Zach did most of the work and I supervised since I was working) I only needed to spread the glue for them and layed some of the squares to get them started! So my breaks and lunch was used up laying carpet. It took about an 2 hours of my time during the day. We finished off the project about 6:00 pm.

Tuesday we moved all of the furniture back and rearranged the room (ok a couple of time because I did not get the proper input from my sweet wife Sue). But now I spend my time running in to things in the dark.

Well this weekend we get our grand kids to come over and stay with us from Idaho! Hurray I miss them alot. thor0128

What is happening 23-03-2007, 09:59 Personal Permalink Okay it has been a couple of weeks since I posted anything. So here is what has been happening, Jon (Thomas) is getting married this weekend (3/24/07) so Sue and I are heading down tonight for that.

Jason and I did about 30 DVD's for our ward Relief Society Birthday party, of a slide show that I helped Sue and Kris Sather put together! I am told it was a hit.

Jason finished up his last quarter of school about 2 weeks ago and has started a new one. He has moved to a different group at his day job. He got another great reveiw at work. He has classes Wednesday through Friday this quarter.

Chris made the Dean's list again this past quarter, he hopes to has his AS finished in the fall!

Cam has had the week off from work and turns 20 today!

Nikole had a concert this week (she plays in the band and sings in choir), plus a drama production this week as well

Zach had WASL testing this week on top of being ill.

Sue and I delivered a PC that I built to one of the Ward members that needed a computer, (It is running Vista (YUK)) so that was fun, I just have to go back and get their network up (once the have something in place).

I am still buried at work on a bunch of projects. I went up to Victoria BC last weeek for a meeting that was interesting, the BC ferry system puts our in seattle to shame. They have massive ferries that hold hundreds of cars, passengers, seperate area for semi's, and they are not badly priced for passage, they run every 2 hours from BC to Victoria!

So We have been busy! thor0128

Cruise Info 27-04-2007, 17:22 Permalink Well it started when our flight from Seattle to our way point was 30 minutes late, after flying all night we arrived clost to on time, we went to breakfast boarded our next flight got all seated then the pilot comes on and says there is a small problem (Hydralic system was not checking out, and we would be delayed for 2 hours. About one hour later they cancelled the flight. we spent the next few hours trying to get to seats so we could get in to Fort Lauderdale! We go rerouted to Atlanta (after me telling Delta they needed to provide me with seats or pay me for the lost time and missed cruise), then from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, we laneded at 7:30 pm (instead of noon), got to the hotel by 8:15 pm. So we have had now sleep and nothing to eat since breakfast.. more to follow! thor0128

Cruise Oh Yeah 26-04-2007, 07:56 Personal, vacation Permalink Well we have just a few hours left before we go, Sue is still packing, I need to finish up a couple of things (pick up Tux and a cell phone for Nikki) pack the Tux then wait until 8:30 pm and head to the airport with our friends and luggage! Then We Are Off! overnight flight to our first plane change in Cleveland! Then off on Friday moring to Fort Lauderdale, where the adventure begins! I hope to post a few things during the cruise (yes I will try). Keep checking for updates! We are getting close 24-04-2007, 07:42 Personal Permalink Okay the excitement grows 3 days until the cruise, oh hurray up aready. It seems the cruise line has dsl connections (okay @ like .75 per minute but have to stay in touch some how right?), have to see what that is going to set me back. thor0128

Not yet 23-04-2007, 07:05 Personal Permalink Well the excitement is building we leaves for our cruise in 4 days! Work load is stressful, getting the last minute items purchased, packing (and keeping it to 2 bags each (okay plus a carry on's). Making sure we have everthing covered with the kids. I will need to take a vacation from going on a vacation. we ent out to dinner last friday with one of the couples we are going on the cruise with, all for of us realized that the time is short. We talked about what we want to do on each stop. Then when we got home we finsihed booking our shore excursions. Wow this is going to be fun (if I don't get seasick).

We will be picking up things up and until we leave on thursday evening (my tux for the 2 formal nights). Sue has her list's for what she has left. I think I am amost done (except the tux thing) even got one bag sort of packed.

More to follow, including pictures. thor0128

What is happening 16-04-2007, 10:14 Permalink Hi everyone. Well I have not posted, so let me try and catch up. We have had a few days of sunny weather here in the northwest. The kids have been keeping us busy (Nikole has been doing a play at school). Sue and I are getting excited for a cruise at the end of the month. Work is still driving me nuts, but that is good I guess. Have a few car repairs to do (the little blue car got a new muffler and needs a emission test this week, the white tarus need a water pump replaced, Sue van needs the brakes checked, mine needs a overall service, the S10 needs to have it's tires rotated) so I hope we get a few sunny days to do all of this in (I hate working on cars in the rain). Oh the Youth Confernce this year is a Pioneer trek (handcarts and all) so in may I will be over helping to build 15 handcarts. That seems to be all of the news, I guess. thor0128

What's happening 22-06-2007, 07:30 Permalink Well another week has gone by! Still playing with my navigation system it is really cool. Had a great Father's Day! We have had our 2 spare cars out on loan to ward members for a couple of weeks. We got the Tarsus back yesterday (I guess it is time for me to do some work on this one, the mirror is off, and the brae light is on) oh boy I can play weekend mechanic! I know it needs a water pump, but brakes are always fun. I hope it does not rain this weekend so I can get it all done. thor0128

What's happening 11-06-2007, 06:43 Personal Permalink Wow another month has gone by and only one post! Sorry. Here is what's new:

1. I turned 51 this past week.
2. Put a new car stereo in my wife's car, We just had a new pioneer deck installed (with a direct connection into an iPod) this is great ! Pioneer has built a great interface for the iPod! you can biring up all of your playlist, artist, etc, it is like having your iPod right in the car stereo, very cool (oh yeah it even charges your iPod too).
3. Broke the medicine cabinet on the master bathroom (yes it was mirrored anohter 7 years bad luck). So off to the Home Depot and buy another one!
4. Had a great birthday party with my wife and kids!
5. Got a new Navigation system for my car! (okay I went nuts here, XM radio with NavTraffic, Bluetooth interface, iPod connection, you can add a rear camera (okay I did not do that one, had to draw the line somewhere)), now I am still reading manuals to figure out all on the features, got the XM service turned on (I think you have to leave your car on for 20 minutes plus for this, with the price of gas what it is, not cool). They tried to give me another XM radio for 5.99 but that requires another subscription at 12.95 per month, that was too much.
6. Had to speak in Church this past Sunday on how we have taught our family to give service (okay I do a lot of service for folks, but the kids have just learn by Sue and I being good examples).

I am sure I have missed something, more to follow I guess. thor0128

Skitch cool beans 22-06-2007, 10:12 Permalink madcat Uploaded with Skitch!

This is really cool application (for MAC today but coming the Windows as well) you can grab any picture, and add text and share it with anyone.

What's up 26-07-2007, 21:23 Personal Permalink I have been really busy at work, in my spare time I have put out several snippets for rapidweaver. I am working on 3 more Jukeit snippet a cool juke box flash player, Tell-a-friend snippet a perl script and snippet for letting visitors send a link to your website, finally a Poll snippet a perl based script that allows you to make up polls and insert them into your website.

Family News: Nikki and Zach are in drivers ed together! they had their first drive with the instructor and passed, they drive again on saturday (Sue is driving with them every day in the church parking lot, up at the Junior high parking lot and around the neighborhood.

Jason and I helped build playground equipment at our local park a few weeks back it looks great and the kids in the neighborhood love it!

Sue and Nikki surivied girls camp for a week... thor0128

Leopard! 27-11-2007, 09:10 Apple Permalink Okay I have been a MAC user since 2003, and I love my MAC's. I have now upgraded all but one to Leopard (out of the ones that can run it), all have gone flawlessly. The only issue I have had is with the printers we have (HP PS 1218xi and 7350) not functioning correctly. Hey that happens with all Operating systems (even Vista). So I am waiting for HP to update the drivers.

But that is not the reason I am writing today. Let's talk photo software again. Kodak Easy Share has been updated for Leopard, and wow it works very well. Sue likes it for how easy it is for her to get what she wants. It has the same look and feel in the windows version as well. Best of all it is free!

New photo app 09-11-2007, 06:26 Apple Permalink Pixelmator: Very nicely build application, more like the full version of Photoshop ( than Elements 99.00 for elements 59.00 for Pixelmator if I recall). It is really powerful! Has a sexy interface!

Thanks for reading!

Software review 09-11-2007, 06:08 Apple Permalink Okay just a few things to review:

iPartition: I bought this nice little application for Mac OS X 10.4.X in august used it once. It is a good application but you only need to use it about once every few months. They came out with a updated version 63 days after I purchased it, and charged me to upgrade it. Okay no where on the developer's site did it say how long the they gave free upgrades for. Silly me you think that would be important information! I get an email saying there was an update (the term free was in the email), it cost me 25.00 usd to get the upgrade. Sent a copied of the email to the developer, and got back a very nasty email. Was told to go pound sand because my purchase was over 60 days old.

Leopard: Okay I love this new Mac operating system! I installed it the day it came out on my MBP 17! It went great! (I never had a upgrade on windows that worked this well). I have been running it for 2 weeks now with out a hitch! I only have found 3 applications that don't play well with it. iFamily which I reported to their support site and they had a fix out in 72 hours for the issue. Rapid Weaver had a small problem in preview mode for flash pages. Reported that I am now test the new version of code from them that has fixed that issue. It took them about a 10 days to come out with a fix. The last one is Photoshop elements 4.0 for Mac, Adobe is not going to fix the issues, instead they want you to upgrade to the full version of Photoshop (300.00), or wait until they make a new version of Elements (some time in 2009), from following the forums at Adobe the full version does not work either in leopard! So I am looking for a new photo tool.

Pixelmator: Okay this might get me to drop Photoshop! Photoshop! thor0128

Happenings 28-12-2007, 08:44 Apple, Personal Permalink Wow I got a new 16 GB iPod touch for Christmas, my first reaction was WOW this puppy is great. I really like this iPod. Then I tried it on my home airport extreme network ( for accessing the iTunes store via wifi) it took me a couple of tries but that works great as well. Okay I spend like 40.00 dollars on my first trip, got to watch that, My only complaint is the on screen keyboard that my fat fingers can't get the right letters to type. The video playback is great, the large screen is great as well. It has only been 3 days but I am hooked. I wish Apple would let it play games as well ( the other new iPod's can but not the touch except online ones..) having a email app would be great as well. Hopefully when Apple releases the SDK tool kit to the developer community that will bring a fair amount of add ons to the iPhone and the Touch platforms. Well back to the music, videos, and movies on my new toy.. Oh yes buy the screen protectors and a good case are next on my to do list. Oh boy another trip to the Apple store!

Thanks Susan, Jason, Chris, Cameron, Nikole, and Zachary for a great Christmas holiday.

Also I forgot to wish all of you a Happy New Year!

What I want for Christmas 08-12-2007, 07:23 Personal Permalink Well it has officially started the 2007 holiday season. Life is going really good for the Thomas's this year. We plan a small Christmas get together this year. We have gotten all of the kids Santa lists and they are not really to bad so that helps.

Here is my wish list and I mean wish

A 928 Porsche to find and restore (okay I have been asking for a older Corvette for years thought I would change it up this year)

A new iTouch IPOD (for the coolness factor 16 gig)

A happy and healthy 2008 for all of my family both near and far.

The right special someones for my son's to find and spend a lifetime with! (Okay boys you know to whom I am speaking too) LOL ;)

For my daughter to graduate from High School and decide what college she wants to attend (soon) so I know how much it is going to cost the Dad!

For my lovely wife of 29 years, for another 29 years together no matter what comes Sue I love you more than I can ever express!

For all of the rest of the world a true and lasting peace to fall upon us all.

That I can continue doing what I love and provide for all of my family both financially and spiritually.

Merry Christmas to all and a very Happy New Year! thor0128