By Erik France on 8/22/2007 4:04 PM

A friend at work sent me the following story.  I liked it so well, I just have to share it.

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, observing his wife, looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she'd like to have for her Birthday.

"I'd like to be six again", she replied, still looking in the mirror.

On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day!

He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, everything there was.  Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down.

He then took her to a McDonald's where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake.

Then it was off to a movie, popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy, M&M's. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her...

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By Erik France on 8/18/2007 11:23 PM

If you are a lover of that little droid, R2-D2, then you have to look at this.  It is a great spin on the R2 droid model.

By Erik France on 8/18/2007 11:14 PM

It has been a while since I updated everyone about the kids.  Sorry about that.  I realized I have been focused on my experiences and have not done a good job of talking about the family.  I will do better in the future.

So, without further delay ... some updates on the kids.

Hailey's Bellybutton In case you did not know, several weeks ago Hailey had surgery on her bellybutton.  The bellybutton did not heal properly after she was born and the surgeon was able to fix everything.  However, about one week after the surgery, we noticed the belly button bulging outward.  The surgeon looked at it said to leave it alone for one month and it should correct itself.  He did schedule an August 30th surgery incase it was needed.

On Thursday of this week, Hailey had a follow-up appointment with the surgeon to decide if the August 30th surgery really would be needed.  He took Hailey off of the surgery schedule and set up another follow-up meeting for one month from now.  If her bellybutton looks really...

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By Erik France on 8/18/2007 11:04 PM

Justyn proudly told his mother today, "Fish are alive until you cook 'em and eat 'em.  If you cook them too long, they get burned."

Really?  I had no idea. 

By Erik France on 8/18/2007 11:03 PM

In many ways, it was a very surreal day on Thursday, August 16th.  I knew my kids would eventually start school and I have been talking about Justyn starting for about six months.  But when the day is finally upon you, it is a bit strange.

You could tell Justyn was excited because he barely stopped talking.  I think Julie said it best as we all approached the school.  She told Justyn, "If you would put some of that energy into your feet, you could walk faster."  His mouth was moving so fast ...

Justyn has a wonderful teacher, Ms. Herl.  I got to meet her a few days prior to school during a "Meet and Greet" night at the school.  This was a pretty cool event and it gave us all a chance to get acquainted with the school again.

But Thursday was the real deal and it was so much fun for me.  I was so proud to see Justyn...

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By Erik France on 8/17/2007 2:48 PM

I am always interested in things others think are strange.  Lately I have become fascinated with the ASCII and binary representations of letters and other characters.  For example, here is my name in binary:  01000101010100100100100101001011

Here it is in a more easy to understand way.

Letter

Binary

E

01000101

R

01010010

I

01001001

K

01001011



Yep.  That's a geek for you.  Always looking at things in a strange way. ...

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By Erik France on 8/8/2007 3:35 PM

Every weekday morning, when I leave for work, I tell my kids, "Be good for you momma.  Have a great day.  I love you!"  Or some variation of those three things.

Why? A friend at church was talking in a Sunday School class about how they always say, "I love you," before they leave the house.  This made me think that all of the times I leave the house could be my last time.  Who knows what will happen on the roads today, or what other freaky thing could happen and I may not make it back to my family.  What an awful thought. 

So I decided I do not want the last thing my kids remember about me to be that I walked out the door.  Instead, I want them to remember that I always said, "I love you!"

I think these three things would express my priorities, should I not be able to come home tonight.

Be good to your mother -- she is a fantastic person and one who will get you through any challenge life has to offer.  Make each day wonderful -- who wants to go through life being miserable? ...

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By Erik France on 8/1/2007 4:19 PM

I read about the Sousaphone Hero game today because a friend of mine told me about it.  While the game does sound like it could be fun, I am not sure anyone other than a Band Geek would really enjoy it. Besides, who really wants to wear around a 100 pound controller?

But after reading the article, all I could think about is the tuba gang from college.  They were great fun, and wonderful musicians.  And I could hear in my head, "We are the Big Horn Boys!  TUBA!"

Of course, that leads into "In Heaven There Is No Beer" or "Band Song" or any of a number of other good memories.  Ahhh ... fall, football, and marching bands.  The season is almost upon us.

By Erik France on 7/29/2007 8:37 PM

I read a great quote today.  Here you go:

"Not even computers will replace committees, because committees buy computers."
-- Edward Shepherd Mead

This, and other quotes, are available on my Quotes page.  Enjoy!

By Erik France on 7/23/2007 10:32 PM

I had to go in to the office around 11:30pm on July 16th for an over-night update of one of our systems.  While the update is not too impressive, I found out several things I had not thought about in the past.

Sleeping when your kids are awake is not possible.  The kids usually go to bed around 8:00pm.  But they learned I was leaving for the office and the questions began.  "When do you go to the office?"  "Why do you have to leave us?"  "Will you come back?"  "Do they still have cookies at your work?  Can I get one?" So, while this is going on, Julie and I are trying to get them to go to bed.  I thought I might get a bit of sleep prior to going to the office.  Not a chance. No one is on the Interstates.  This is not a huge revelation as I have known there are fewer drivers late at night.  But there was no one on the Interstates.  Ok, to be honest, I did see three or four cars and one semi.  Compared to what I see normally, this still equates to "no one". Entering the building is a bit creepy. ...

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