By Erik France on 6/27/2007 2:55 PM

My co-workers have shown me the ways of disc golf and I am now hooked.  I have discs and I am trying to play more often.  I figure it is fairly good exercise ... at least I get out of the house and walk around for a while.

My new desire is to find a disc golf basket which I can set up in my back yard.  There are ways to build my own, but I am not good at completing projects which I start.  Just ask Julie about all of the home projects which sit for months before being finished.  I am looking for a portable basket.  I have found a few on-line so maybe I can get one soon.  It sure would be nice to practice in the yard.

I'll let you know if I finally get one.

By Erik France on 6/27/2007 2:47 PM

I like this comic strip called "User Friendly".  Today's strip is pretty good and talks about how Al Gore invented the Internet.  I thought it was very good.  Take a look.

By Erik France on 6/11/2007 9:08 PM

Everyone at our house is feeling better today.  That is a good thing.  We have had enough sickness for a while.

By Erik France on 6/10/2007 7:49 AM

Remember that saying, "What goes around comes around"?  Well, it does and it did.

Warning:  The rest of this post talks about my family and the sickness we have had recently.  If you do not like this type of discussion, you have been warned.

 

 The whole family has been sick in the past week or so.  For me, it has been something to observe and marvel at how easily a virus or sickness can be transmitted.

See, about ten days ago Carter had a cold.  He did not sleep well for a couple of nights but then had only a runny nose.  Hailey then developed a runny nose and coughs at night.  So there were another few nights which were not too pleasant at our house.

Monday night of this past week Justyn began Vacation Bible School.  When I picked up Carter and Hailey that night, Justyn's teacher found me and said Justyn had spent quite a bit of time in the bathrooms.  So I found Justyn and he told me his stomach hurt.  Being a guy, I told him to tough it out.  Oh, and the fact that Justyn likes to use that excuse whenever his is in a new or unfamiliar situation.  So I dismissed the episode.

...

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By Erik France on 6/5/2007 11:57 AM

I finally went through the graduation ceremony for the University of Phoenix on June 2, 2007.  I was not really looking forward to sitting in the auditorium for two or more hours, but I really wanted to be hooded.

The Ceremony It was actually a very enjoyable experience.  I was able to see all of my classmates and catch up a bit on their lives.  That was a lot of fun.  It was also fun to remember some of the more trying times we experienced together.  I guess it is true that adversity pulls a team together because I am closer to that group of people than to many others in my life -- and we did most of our interaction over the Internet.

I also enjoyed being able to have my parents there.  It was, perhaps, a small element of my overall experience in gaining my Masters Degree.  But I started my education with them around and it was very fulfilling to have them there.  So, thanks Mom and Dad.  Your presence made the day seem more special to me.

Finally, the day just would not have been a success...

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By Erik France on 5/30/2007 10:54 PM

I received a phone call from Julie today around 11:00 a.m. during which she told me I needed to go home over lunch and help her remove the carpet in the kids' bathroom.  Julie was afraid it would stay wet and mold.

Well, I should explain.  You see, the boys decided to play "Corps of Engineers" and build France Lake right there in the bathroom.  It is amazing how two little boys with cups can splash almost six gallons of water onto the bathroom floor.

By the time I got home, Julie had used the Shop-Vac to clean up most of the water.  Together we took out the carpet, carpet pad, and tack strips.  The sub-floor seemed to be in good shape so we left it and let it dry. After having the fan blow on the bathroom floor for the rest of the afternoon, there is only one small spot of the hallway carpet which is still damp.  But it should be dry in the morning.

France Lake has been removed and everything appears to be dry.  While I am happy about that, I am a bit upset that we now have to move the "Tile...

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By Erik France on 5/25/2007 4:00 AM

My team at the office has been working like crazy over the past couple of months.  We have had two really large projects to work on along with all of the maintenance, daily fires, etc.  So, when I read the Dilbert comic strip today, I laughed and laughed.  It fit so well.

Here is that strip in case Dilbert.com takes it down.

By Erik France on 5/24/2007 7:55 PM

In case you did not know it, May 25th is Towel Day.  So, get out your towels and be sure they are handy.

And, in case you did not recognize any of that, here is another description of Towel Day.  This one shows the text of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

By Erik France on 5/22/2007 8:56 PM

This afternoon Julie, Hailey, and I all went to Children's Mercy Hospital for a procedure to determine what the fluid is around her kidney.  We had realized there was fluid around the kidney during her last procedure.

Julie did a lot of reading about this procedure, so we were both sort of expecting to see Hailey get strapped to a surgery board to keep her still.  See, they had to stick a catheter into her and we thought she would hate that.  However, she barely even flinched.  In fact, during the entire procedure, she only got upset as her bladder got full and we had to turn her on her side.  Then she cried for a couple seconds and became calm again.

The doctor who performed the procedure said there is indication of fluid around both kidneys.  On a scale of zero to five, five being bad, Hailey has one kidney rated at a two and one rated at a three.  Basically, this means she will be on an antibiotic for a while; perhaps three years or so.  It also means we will be going back in to have this...

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By Erik France on 5/20/2007 3:53 PM

Well, one week has gone by.  The foot is much better.  I can walk pretty much like normal and it only hurts now and then.  So that is good.

But yesterday my back began to act up.  I can not sit or stand in one position for much longer than ten seconds.  I think it is hurt because I adjusted my step while my foot hurt.  That, and I have a bad lower back.  Ever since I strained my back while carrying Justyn around, it has been easy to strain my back again.

Oh well, hopefully I can get through this too.