Christmas Jailbird

In his stripes enjoying a tangerine. Is this any good?

Oh yea ...


Opening his first present.

150th Sign of the Apocalypse

Need I say more? It is my sacred duty to protect the identity of the owner. Her name, Kellie G .... will never be revealed by these lips ...

Santa's Lil' Helper

 

Nathaniel was a natural on Santa's lap. Maybe this Santa was a little different from all the imposters (hint: Santa == Nathaniel's paternal grandfather) Nathaniel is helping Santa trim is beard one fistful at a time. And Nathaniel looked like a pro when it came to opening his gift and promptly attempted to stuff it in his mouth. 

Unleashing the Dragon or Marking His Territory

Ever since Nathaniel accidentally peed on Raquelle, I have prided myself on the fact that Nathaniel has never tagged me. Pride cometh before the stream. I was convinced that Nathaniel had wet his diaper and I was going to show Raquelle how right I was. I opened up the diaper, it was dry, I turned to Raquelle and asked her if it was dry ... and then the golden arch appeared and I'm not talking McDonalds! Nathaniel managed to get my leg, the bed spread, the carpet, and a mortgage bill.

First Fir

Merry Christmas and to all a good night!

My Dream Home Theater Setup

A setup like this would be very nice. [drooling]

This Little Piggy Went Home (to giggle)

First Semi-Solid Food ---> Strawberry Milkshake Licks

He loved holding the glass while licking its outside.

Do You Bite Your Thumb At Me? War Eagle!

Nathaniel leads his dad in some Auburn cheers! Go Tigers!

Rowr!

One Happy and Mellow Baby

Nathaniel must really love his parents to let them do this to him!

Car Seat Musings

Nathaniel shares his views on being strapped down in his car seat.

Eloquent Orator

Nathaniel says the Pledge of Allegiance ...

Flame Throwing Robot: Hot Time on the Town Tonight

By show of hands, who in the audience has been behind the controls of a titanium-armored, flame-throwing combat robot? Just me? Perfect ... my plans for world domination are right on track.

I went to Dallas this past week for Texas Instruments MSP430 Advanced Technical Conference (ATC) 2006. In other words, "a nerd herd." We talked technology and flashed our bling (gold embossed pocket protectors) for 2.5 days. Grant Imahara, one of the 5 hosts of the popular Mythbusters show on Discovery channel, was the keynote speaker at the conference. He is an electrical engineer from USC and has done some way cool stuff (R2D2 operator, Battlebots winner, authored a combat robot design book, etc) He also did special effects for a countless number of movies while working with ILM, including Galaxy Quest. I happened to bring that movie to the conference to watch on the airplane, so I asked Grant to sign the DVD case.

Cool, huh?

There was a company attending the conference called Nuvation. They own a combat robot called Texas Heat and Texas Instruments sponsors it. The CEO of the company set up a challenge course to let attendees of the conference test their skills and compete for bragging rights. I allowed a few attendees to go ahead of me to examine what they were doing and how I could do it better. I noticed that Texas Heat was overly responsive to any movements on the transmitter stick. Many people struggled to get the robot into a position to push around the cardboard box. I figured that it might be better to start farther away from the box and accelerate towards it. My plan succeeded. Most people took at least a minute or two to complete the course. I finished in 25 seconds, less than half their times. Even the CEO of the company and one of the principal operators of the robot took 30 seconds to finish. After the competition, the CEO asked me if I worked in the San Jose, CA area and if I wanted to join the combat robot team. Droooooooollllllllllll. Raquelle, pack your bags ... We're Going West!

The Shutout: Not in This House Baby

Did we ever lay the smackdown on Arkansas .... State University.


Tina's dad agrees ... The most exciting part of the game was the field goal attempt by ASU. We were trying to keep it a shutout and either the snapper or the holder obliged. The snap was bobbled and we nearly ran it back. War Eagle!
I took them to Toomer's Corner to par-tay!!!! It was fun .... nothing like when we beat Florida, but we all got several used toilet paper rolls and returned them ....

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Ok ... its been a while since I have last posted. Just a week people. So to make up, I've combed the internets, used the Google, and bring you this:


This scrabble game played recently set a few world records. Most notable is the upper right word "QUIXOTRY" Scored 365 points in a single turn.

Scary cartoon.

Our overburdened earth. Fails to mention when all our man-made satellites would fall out of orbit.

I had an Iranian visit to my blog. He was checking out my magnetic levitation video on Google video and then clicked the link to my blog.

2nd Pre-Halloween Party : Trunk or Treat Halloween Reloaded

What's on Nathaniel's mind?

Florida Gators?! Dave, ya killin' me!

I like the witch's smile!

Another little Roll Tider.

Cool but not trying too hard.

I was Napoleon last year. He never goes out of style.

Form your own opinions ...

Nice follow through!

Peace out ... until next year.

Funny Tag (Funny = Couch Tonight)

I might as well start fluffing the couch cushions in preparation for the backlash! :)

The Proof is in the Pixels

Remember that grainy picture I swore was a picture of Bambi and friends. Well, in the wee hours of Sunday morning I happened upon this deer threesome.

Pre-Halloween Halloween Party

Johnny Damon meets horse rancher's daughter and gets a horse as a wedding gift? Nathaniel's outfit was a mane contender for Cutest Custome Award, and I'm not horsing around. I think he would have had it cinched up if he could nay and buck.

Contest Tres ( 3 for the layperson)

Anyone want to take a crack at cracking (translating may be more appropriate) this? By the way, the last photo contest was a picture of a one time pad for literally unbreakable cryptography.

Finger Licking Good

Alternate post title would have to be "Nate's Morbid Sense of Humor." You see, we have some friends whose little girl accidentally got her finger caught in a rather large heavy door. The finger is doing well now (it required surgery!) so we thought we would make some cookies to commemerate the positive outcome!

Nathaniel's Special Day

Nathaniel's blessing was Oct. 15. It was a wonderful day for his parents and all the family and friends that came out to support him.

Auburn Upsets Florida ... Duh People!!!!

One of the most amazing games I have ever watched on TV at two different houses and listened to on the radio in between!

This refers to the Iron Bowl, where a win against Alabama will cinch #5 times in a row against them redneck bama hicks.

The man who got to watch the game in the stadium. [punk]

Need Noxious Weed Fertilizer ... Try Geese Poo

Ahhhh, the joys of home ownership. My raw, numb digits peck away at the keyboard to bring you my weekly woe. Family and friends are coming into town tomorrow for Nathaniel's blessing. We are inviting them over to our home. We ( read Raquelle ) wanted to give the impression to everyone that we didn't live in the Amazon Basin where the weeds eat the careless natives. So for nearly two hours I've been creating divets in our lawn by pulling up at least a half of dozen different types of faux grass. So we've gone from the jungle foliage to 3rd rate golf course. It's pretty bad when there are so many weeds that I was able to formulate numerous strategies on how to extract each vile variant. The picture may not look like a lot of weeds, but what the camera can't capture is the depth of the garbage bin. Also in this lovely lump is the present a gaggle of geese gave the grounds. I'm not sure why the geese graced us ( perphaps the jungle climate? ), but they overstayed their welcome. Maybe with all the poo removed and the weeds extracted, neither will come back ...

Puss in Boots and the 50 Foot Bottle

Nathaniel loves his mother a lot and while that will always ring true, he has another love that he indulges in as often as he can... his bottle. It turns the night into day, frowns into smiles, and parking tickets into winning lottery numbers. (Nathaniel is not sharing those numbers with us.) His whole body goes rigid as a 2x4 the minute he latches onto the bottle, almost like he is thinking "If I don't move a muscle, maybe this fortuitous situation won't change." He likes to grab onto a lock of hair with the left hand and help daddy hold the bottle just right with the other hand. His eyes lock onto the bottle holder with a Puss in Boots stare, saying "you wouldn't think of taking this bottle from me ..." And yet I have to do just that.
When I try to burp him ( every 2 ounces during the whole bottle) he goes ballistic. Usually I have to assure him that I'm going to give the bottle right back as soon as I'm done. I really enjoy the feeding times.

Puzzler #074

 

Anyone know what this is?

My Darkest Hour

Sometime in the third quarter I snapped this disturbing photo. Authorities have since confiscated the banner and are questioning his mother as to the source of the contraband. I have instructed them to go wherever the evidence leads them. (My ghetto Paint skills should be suspect.)

Pope-Purr-Ree-Ove-Pick-Churs

The Baby Einstein Play System really fascinates Nathaniel. He loves the lights and sounds.



Nathaniel gets into a serious mood when its time to help mommy balance the checkbook and pay the bills.



Bathtime is funtime. Mommy was laughing hysterically and kept calling Nathaniel "Issac" when he had his outfit on his head like this. Nathaniel didn't seem to mind and in turn joined in the giggles.



A few Auburn cheers helps liven the spirits.



Nap time. Don't count on it ... Nathaniel's naps average only 20 minutes (But mommy and daddy are happy he sleeps 7 hours at night, wakes up to feed, and goes down for 2 more hours). He usually falls asleep just before his mealtime. That way, when he wakes up, he knows it's time for chow.

My First Gantt Chart