The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey February 24, 2012

Columbus Day

No, not that Columbus Day! Mine! I was in Columbus for the last two days on business. Still battling the cold from Hell, though. Getting through the days on antihistamines and cough suppressants, and getting through the nights somehow. Today I finished up really early, and got to the airport early. There I was reminded of the maxim: If The Deal Seems Too Good To Be True, It Is. That's because all the money I saved booking flight, hotel, and car through the Southwest Airlines website seems to be a third party package seller working in cahoots with SWA. So,…

Brian Bilbrey February 20, 2012

Out the Wazoo

So, the good news is that I'm back on the upslope. Pending a relapse, I've gotten the better of this cold. I even got several hours of (non-contiguous) sleep last night. I did, however, fail at taking a nap during the day. Heck of a holiday weekend, eh? What I did do today was as much of the week's reading as I could manage. All of the Geology reading is done, and I'm slogging through Chapters 8 and 9 of my Principles of Software Engineering book right now. Slogging is the politest term I can come up with - I…

Brian Bilbrey February 19, 2012

Plodding along.

Someone who's had a bad cold in the last couple of weeks decided that I was lonely, and needed a cold, too. Thanks, Hon! Aches (but no fever), head congestion and throat pain. I sound like Kim Carnes on a bad day after a couple of packs of Parliments. But I make up for that with the loonie sense of not having gotten much sleep in the last two nights. I detect a little improvement, and hope to sleep better this evening. How I feel has no bearing, of course, on the work that has to be done for school…

Brian Bilbrey February 17, 2012

Lexi sticks her tongue out

I'm just sayin' ... Lexi sticks her tongue out at the camera, from time to time. She certainly isn't the camera hound that Lucy was, though.

Brian Bilbrey February 14, 2012

New Heat

The old furnace was a wee bit crufty, and I really don't like supplemental condensate pumps - they're prone to failure, which makes a basement prone to water damage. But worst, we had a corroded burner in the old Janitrol, and not a replacement to be found - they don't make them anymore. Now, thanks to A. P. Mathews, we have something new to heat the basement: The new Trane – well, for starters it’s 21 years younger. It’s more fuel efficient, and moves more air, too. Two other big wins. We got rid of the condensate pump, and are…