Married in Atlanta

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We travelled to Atlanta for a wedding this weekend.

Our friend Jennifer married her beau Kris in an evening ceremony on Saturday, and everyone had a great time. We’re really happy for both of them!

Our flight down was good – we got out of town before the storms hit late Friday afternoon, forcing a ground stop on all the DC area airports. We had the excellent company of a Marine officer who was just home from an eight month deployment to Afghanistan, managing health-care financial teams doing knowledge transfer to their Afghani counterparts, as well as investigating and keeping track of the money we spend in that arena to help those folks. This Marine was really glad to be home, and looking forward to her new posting in Dallas, and seeing her husband and four kids. You, ma’am, rock!

We got into ATL without difficulties, and hared across town in a Dodge Charger, getting to the church in time to crash the rehearsal! Saturday was a quiet, uneventful day spent resting up and preparing to be up and about late. After the ceremony, the reception was at Aunt Sarah’s gorgeous home, then about half the crowd went on to a popular alehouse near by the hotel. We bailed out “early”, and got back to our room a bit past midnight. Others were several hours later than that.

This morning we swung by the new (to them) house that Jen and Kris just moved into a few weeks ago – they’ve been putting a lot of work into it already, it’s a very nice place in a quiet little neighborhood north of Atlanta. Finally, with Kris’s mom in tow, we went back to ALT, and got on our plane home.

It’s good to be home … and I’ll pick Lexi up from the kennel tomorrow morning.

*      *      *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Spc. Vilmar Galarza Hernandez, 21, of Salinas, California, died May. 26 in Zharay, Kandahar  province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Tofiga J. Tautolo, 23, of Wilmington, California, died May 27, in Bati Kot, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle was attacked with an enemy improvised explosive device.
  • Capt. John R. Brainard, 26, of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, died May 28, in Kabul, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his helicopter crashed.
  • Chief Warrant Officer Five John C. Pratt, 51, of Springfield, Virginia, died May 28, in Kabul, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his helicopter crashed.
  • Sgt. Julian C. Chase, 22, of Edgewater, Maryland, died May 28 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Lance Cpl. Steven G. Sutton, 24, of Leesburg, Georgia, died May 26 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Cpl. Nicholas H. Olivas, 20, of Fairfield, Ohio, died May 30 in Zharay, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Petty Officer 2nd Class Sean E. Brazas, of Greensboro, North Carolina, died May 30 while conducting combat operations in Panjwa’l, Afghanistan.
  • Staff Sgt. Roberto Loeza, 28, of El Paso, Texas, died May 25 in Charkh, Logar province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire.
  • Staff Sgt. Alexander G. Povilaitis, 47, of Dawsonville, Georgia, died May 31, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when the enemy attacked with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Kedith L. Jacobs, 21, of Denver, Colorado, died May 27, in Chak-E Wardak District, Afghanistan, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces.
  • Pfc. Leroy Deronde III, 22, Jersey City, New Jersey, died May 27, in Chak-E Wardak District, Afghanistan, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces.

Memorial Day 2012 is tomorrow

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In a sense, every Sunday is Memorial Day for me – I don’t need a Federal holiday to remind me to stop, think, and give thanks for the sacrifices of the men and women of the United States who have died in service to our country. But tomorrow is the official Memorial Day, and I am deeply honored and touched by the sacrifices that men and women have been making for America for the last 236 years.

*      *      *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Capt. Jesse A. Ozbat, 28, of, Prince George, Virginia, died May 20, in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • 2nd Lt. Tobias C. Alexander, 30, of Lawton, Oklahoma, died May 20, in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Samuel T. Watts, 20, of Wheaton, Illinois, died May 19, in Bethesda, Md., of wounds sustained April 25, in Zharay, Afghanistan, when he was attacked with an enemy improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Arronn D. Fields, 27, of Terre Haute, Indiana, died May 21 in Qal-ah-ye Mirza Jal, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with rocket propelled grenades.
  • 2nd Lt. Travis A. Morgado, 25, of San Jose, California, died May 23 in Zharay, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his patrol with an improvised explosive device.
  • Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan J. Wilson, 26, of Shasta, California, died of complications associated with a medical condition May 20 in Manama, Bahrain.
  • Pfc. Cale C. Miller, 23, of Overland Park, Kansas, died May 24, in Maiwand, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Cpl. Keaton G. Coffey, 22, of Boring, Oregon, died May 24 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Hospitalman Eric D. Warren, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, died May 26 of wounds received in action due to an improvised explosive device blast in Sangin District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Did you say Snow Peas?

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More snow peas from the garden

More snow peas from the garden

That’s a second nearly-two-pound harvest of snow peas out of the garden (tastefully blurred in the background) this week! At this rate I’m going to need to find a tasty animal to feed snow peas to, so that I can enjoy them all without becoming a vegetarian.

The Living Room Reboot

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Just to be clear, here at the beginning, Carolina Chair rocks! As an anniversary present to each other, Marcia and I purchased a few weeks ago a new Crawford sectional from Carolina Chair, after I’d done considerable online research about Made in the USA furniture, and reliable vendors, etc. Marcia worked by phone and email and mailed fabric samples with Cathy Fry and the rest of the team down there to get the right design, etc.

Carolina Chair got the furniture built and shipped before we even expected it to be fit into the manufacturing schedule! Then, we got the furniture a week into a two-to-three week likely delivery schedule. So, while your mileage may vary (that is, they may take as long as quoted, depending on how busy they are, etc.), the time to furniture in the house for us was simply stellar. And the quality of build and upholstering is superb. I’m very happy, and Marcia is wowed!

So, before I started clearing the living room last night, it looked like this:

Living room before clearing

Living room before clearing

I got the room cleared, leading to yesterdays antics with dogs and tables. I cleaned the floor fully, then we laid down the new carpet pad and rug, and hauled the recliner and a side table back into rough position so that someone could watch some TV last night.

Living room stands ready

Living room stands ready

This morning, I was at work at 0710, and bailed out at 0930, to get home before our 1000-1400 delivery window opened up. I needed to do this so that Marcia could focus on work, which is always hectic as the end of each month approaches (and triply so at end of quarter, but that’s not this time).

The delivery company called just before 10 and said they’d be here no later than 11 (yay!), then turned up at 1010. The good news is that I’d made it home in time to inspect and provide guidance (there’s some assembly steps explained on the website that the local, very pleasant delivery guys don’t grok, but that’s cool). The delivery of the new sectional and ottoman was uneventful and no furniture or walls were harmed during the unpack or load-in. Once that was done, the new sectional in place looks like this:

The new sectional from Carolina Chair.

The new sectional from Carolina Chair.

And after I loaded back in all of the things that make this our living room, it looks like this:

Living Room, Rebooted

Living Room, Rebooted

Awesome. Thanks again to the Fry’s and the whole team at Carolina Chair for taking such good care of us, and producing such a fine product!

What? Wait.

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Preparing the living room for a furniture delivery tomorrow means emptying the whole thing out, back to the walls. New rug and pad, etc. But while I’m moving stuff and cleaning stuff, I hear barking, and go to look:

Lexi innovates a new vantage point

Lexi innovates a new vantage point

Now, I have some work (remote to the office) work to do. Ciao!

AND a dollar Short

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Yep, I’m a day late with this. The weekend got away from me, but I did get a lot done. Not a lot in the garden, but the garden’s doing fine on it’s own right now:

Bilbrey garden 21 May 2012

Bilbrey garden 21 May 2012

As you can almost tell even in the small format, the peas are going wild, as are the potatoes. Everything else is just trying not to get left in the dust. But it’s early days for this growing season.

The old lawn mower went the way of Fat Albert’s car – spitting fuel sideways and back while making a lot of noise. It wasn’t an expensive one, but the expense and delays I would incur to fix it means that new makes more sense, so I bought a new Troy-Bilt self-propelled mower on Saturday. Marcia keeps asking me if I want a tractor or a zero-turn riding mower … But for the cost of an inexpensive tractor, I can buy five of the mowers I bought on Saturday. So for now, I walk. Also, the Troy-Bilt has 20% more horses than the old Toro, and doesn’t bog down in the tall grass where the Toro would fall over. So, win-win.

The first week of my database “capstone” course is also done. Gonna be a bloody busy summer. I’m very happy, though, to be taking another class taught by Reggie Haseltine. He’s one of the best instructors I’ve had, full stop.

*      *      *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

1st Lt. Alejo R. Thompson, 30, of Yuma, Arizona, died May 11 in Bagram, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with small-arms fire.

Sgt. Wade D. Wilson, 22, of Normangee, Texas, died May 11 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Spc. Alex Hernandez III, 21, of Round Rock, Texas, died May 12, in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Sgt. Brian L. Walker, 25, of Lucerne Valley, California, died May 13, in Bowri Tana, Afghanistan, when the enemy attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

Pfc. Richard L. McNulty III, 22, Rolla, Missouri, died May 13, in Bowri Tana, Afghanistan, when the enemy attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

Staff Sgt. Israel P. Nuanes, 38, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, died May 12, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained during an enemy attack with an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. Michael J. Knapp, 28, of Overland Park, Kansas, died May 18, in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an indirect fire.

Sgt. Jabraun S. Knox, 23, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, died May 18, in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an indirect fire.

Garden Progress

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Moving right along, I managed to take a picture this evening as the clouds started rolling back in. Here’s the state of the garden today:

Garden, 15 May 2012

Garden, 15 May 2012

The potatoes are coming in nicely, as are all the other plants. The snow peas … they’re in production. I’m pulling a meal’s worth out every two days, and they’re barely started yet.

*      *      *

School is started too, and for grins, the first project in CMIS 485, the capstone course for databases, involves PHP and an Access database. Yeah, Access. Whatever. I’ve mostly completed the design of the required tables based upon the ERD, and I’ve got one question into the instructor about apparently duplicated fields. Beyond that, I’m going to roll as fast as I can in this class, getting ahead before the next class starts in three weeks from yesterday.

Another Sunday

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My day started in New Jersey. Seriously. I spent Thursday evening through this morning in New Brunswick, New Jersey attending PICC’12. What a great conference. Sponsored by LOPSA, and hosted by the New Jersey chapter of LOPSA, it was two superb days of new friends, meeting in meatspace folks I only knew electronically, good food, and some awesome technical training classes. My major focus this time around was on configuration management, security, and IPv6.

I can’t recommend this conference highly enough. Only a three hour drive for me, it’s also right close to the train and near to Newark airport. Think about it for next year for yourself. Oh, yeah, it’s inexpensive, too. Conf + food + hotel + gas was under $900.

Special thanks to William Bilancio, Thomas Uphill & Benjamin Rose, Aleksey Tsalolikhin, Shumon Huque, and Jesse Trucks. These folks were crucial to making the conference super for me.

*      *      *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

Master Sgt. Gregory L. Childs, 38, Warren, Arkansas, died May 4, in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Sgt. John P. Huling, 25, of West Chester, Ohio, died May 6 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Thomas K. Fogarty, 30, of Alameda, California, died May 6, in Ahmad-Kheyl, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

2nd Lt. David E. Rylander, 23, of Stow, Ohio, died May 2 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Spc. Junot M. L. Cochilus, 34, of Charlotte, North Carolina, died May 2 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. Jacob M. Schwallie, 22, of Clarksville, Tennessee, died May 7, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Spc. Chase S. Marta, 24, of Chico, California, died May 7, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Pfc. Dustin D. Gross, 19, of Jeffersonville, Kentucky, died May 7, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Petty Officer Second Class Jorge Luis Velasquez, 35, of Houston, Texas, died as a result of a non-combat related incident in Manama, Bahrain.

Best Two Out of Three

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One more day of weekend to go – I’m taking Monday off work, for a variety of reasons, some of which will be explained later. But Saturday and Sunday I was in the yard, planting: Both in front and in back. That process is pretty much done. I didn’t get the watering system fettled for the season yet, and that was my original goal … but the rest of the plants was an important part, too. So, tomorrow for that, I think. Pictures tomorrow, too.

I also have to replace the kitchen sink faucet, since it gave up the ghost just before supper tonight. Fortunately, it wasn’t a catastrophic water-everywhere type of #FAIL, just a handle came off, broken bits inside, can’t get any water out at all type of #FAIL. C’est la vie.

*      *      *

Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Master Sgt. Scott E. Pruitt, 38, of Gautier, Mississippi, died April 28 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Pfc. Christian R. Sannicolas, 20, Anaheim, California, died April 28, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. Nicholas M. Dickhut, 23, of Rochester, Minnesota, died April 30 in Zharay, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Capt. Bruce K. Clark, 43, Spencerport, New York, died May 1, in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan.
  • Staff Sgt. Zachary H. Hargrove, 32, of Wichita, Kansas, died May 3 in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Garden and War

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Yesterday, I mowed the yards, and little else, since rain was inbound. We got another 2/10″, which is all to the good – perhaps a total of 1.5″ over the last week. That’d be a wonderful regular event.

Today, I planted all the seedlings in the garden.

Seedlings in the Garden

Seedlings in the Garden

It doesn’t look like much right now – 28 or so tiny tomato seedlings spread out through two beds, zucchini and butternut squash, cucumbers, and half-inch tall jalapeño plants. None of the cerrano peppers germinated. I’ve got spares of some of the tomatoes bedded for now where the cold frame was, in case of a late failure … and everything’s documented, so that I can preserve seeds for next year from this crop. The main purpose for this picture is to provide a baseline for the jungle to come.

Snow peas and tomato seedlings

Snow peas and tomato seedlings

The snow peas are doing very well. All about eight inches tall, and starting to flower. I sense YUM in our future.

*      *      *

Walking the dog after her supper tonight, we were lucky that her feet weren’t cut on the broken glass left behind by an asshat who was done with her bottle of Smirnoff. It covered a chunk of sidewalk. Fortunately, Lexi was trailing me, so that when I crunched, I stopped and made her walk around. After the walk I went back and swept it up and disposed of it. I suppose it’s true in any neighborhood – some are always going to be asshats.

*      *      *

A bad week in Afghanistan for our troops, sadly. Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

Staff Sgt. Joseph H. Fankhauser, 30, of Mason, Texas, died April 22 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

1st Lt. Jonathan P. Walsh, 28, Cobb, Georgia, died April 22 in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Pfc. Michael J. Metcalf, 22, Boynton Beach, Florida, died April 22 in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Chief Warrant Officer Nicholas S. Johnson, 27, of San Diego, California, died April 19, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his Black Hawk (UH-60) crashed.

Chief Warrant Officer Don C. Viray, 25, of Waipahu, Hawaii, died April 19, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his Black Hawk (UH-60) crashed.

Sgt. Chris J. Workman, 33, of Boise, Idaho, died April 19, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his Black Hawk (UH-60) crashed.

Sgt. Dean R. Shaffer, 23, of Pekin, Illinois, died April 19, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his Black Hawk (UH-60) crashed.

Spc. Manuel J. Vasquez, 22, of West Sacramento, California, died April 24 in Paktika province, Afghanistan.

Spc. Benjamin H. Neal, 21, of Orfordville, Wisconsin, died April 25 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Spc. Jason K. Edens, 22, of Franklin, Tennessee, died April 26, in Bethesda, Md., of wounds sustained April 15, in Laghman province, Afghanistan, when the enemy attacked his unit with small arms fire.

Spc. Moises J. Gonzalez, 29, Huntington, California, died April 25, in Balkh province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when his vehicle rolled over.

Lt. Christopher E. Mosko, 28, of Pittsford, New York, died April 26 while conducting combat operations in Nawa district, Ghazni province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Brandon F. Eggleston, 29, of Candler, North Carolina, died April 26, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. Dick A. Lee Jr., 31, of Orange Park, Florida, died April 26, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Staff Sgt. Andrew T. Brittonmihalo, 25, of Simi Valley, California, died April 25, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from small arms fire.