I'd like to present to you the most evil creature on the planet.  Yes.  The Yellow Jacket Wasp.  Yes, these evil little bastards are the scum of the earth.  So unforgiving and mean.  I mean... come on... all I did was crush their house with my foot.  No big deal right?  You wouldn't be mad if a big giant stepped on your home right?  I didn't think so.  We'll these little bastards didn't like it much.  They sent hundreds of their little brothers and sisters to swarm my little city slicker of a human self.

You see, it all started at the lake.  I was simply packing the truck to leave when I got too close to their nest (which none of us even knew was there).  I upset them and that's when good wasps go bad.  I initially thought I stepped in an ant bed, because my legs and feet (I was wearing sandles) starting burning like fire!  A started brushing them off and stomping when I realized there were no ants on my legs, but a swarm of yellow jacket wasps.  So I realized I better get the heck out of there.  So I started running to the cabin and pop, pop, pop on the back of my legs.  I tripped and fell, busted my knees on the rocks and banged my chest on the deck stairs.  That in itself hurt more than the wasp stings.  However as I am laying there feeling my knees hurting, the wasps constantly reminded my back-end that they weren't finished.  So a few more pops on  the posterior and I was up and running again.  I got into the cabin, proceeded to clean my wounds, and Leslie walks over and says "What is on your back?"  Another freaking damn yellow jacket!  He rode me all the way to cabin and inside to remind me they were serious!  Leslie thumped him off and we never found him.

David proceeded to expell two cans of hornet spray into their nest.  As we left, you could still hear them buzzing, but they were leaving us alone.  Evidently, they were more worried about their survival than us after the spray!  Little bastards!  You get what you deserve.  I mean all I did was walk by your house.

So I just got through counting them and I have 18 stings on my legs and feet.  I have a pretty good mind to drive my butt back up there with some C4 and blow their nest and about 40 feet around it into oblivion!  Grrrr....

Today I spent a lot of time developing the groundwork for a new website/organization I am starting.  It's called the Information Technology Leaders' Forum or simply ITLF.

ITLF is a website/organization that will work to gather Information Technology Managers, Directors, CTOs and CIOs knowledge, resources, ideas and visions to assist each other with carreer growth and help make each others companies' successful. 

I'm quite excited about this project because there are only about three or four other websites targetting this group of people, and quite honestly, none of them are very good.  Especially considering they all cost money to join, either by the person or a donation from their company.  My website will be free to join and supported by the community and ad revenue.

http://www.itlf.org/

Go check it out and sign up if you are an IT Manager!  - Mike 

Today I ordered a SpiderBrace 2.  One of the big issues I've had with shooting digital video is that the camera gets so heavy and I start shaking after about 10 minutes of use.  A few weeks ago we shot some video at church for the baptisms and by the time we were done (about 15 minutes) I was pooped.

Anyway, I was at Pier 1 and we had a new product launch showcase on our conference room floor.  One of the camera guys was shooting the newer HD version of my camera and I noticed he had a brace on holding the camera.  I asked him where he got it and what it was.  He told me about spiderbrace.com.  An Austin, TX based small business that created this device. 

It is made of High-Impact PVC and shifts all of the weight of the camcorder to your shoulder.  You can attach a LANC remote for zoom and focus to the handle.  Best of all, it only costs about $65 USD.  I looked at a similar version of this at B&H Photo about a year ago that was almost $600.  What a deal!  I am excited to get this thing and try it out!

You know, normally this time of year I'd be begging for rain, paying $250 a month in watering and swimming just about every day.

But no.  That's not at all what's happening.  No!  I am begging for sunshine, paying zip for watering, and spending $200 a month in chemicals because the rain keeps flooding my yard and filling up my pool with grass, dirt and algae!  Wooo Hooo!!!  Oh did I mention I've been able to swim a total of twice?  Ugh...

Interestingly enough, with all of this algae I've been killing, I've noticed something interesting about the female algae.  You'd never guess.  An Algebra.  Yes, and if you laughed at that then you need help.

Oh in the words of Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs "Oh.. I can smell it now."  By the way, love the show Rowe, but come on, is it possible to get even one more Ford logo in in every shot? ;)

So we're driving home from work today on I-35W and we are rear ended on the highway.  Now you're probably already asking yourself "Why is the title of this entry 'Illegal Immigrants'"?  Well let me tell you...

The person who hits us doesn't speak english.  He also does not have insurance or a driver's license.  Guess what else?  He's in the USA illegally.  Great.  We are stuck with the bill for the repairs to our brand new Acura MDX.  Well, at least the bill for the deductable and any increased rates since we won't qualify for 'claim free' discount anymore.

But wait, it gets better!  The police come and guess what they do?  NOTHING.  They let the guy go.  He's an illegal, who just cost me money who was breaking several US and Texas laws!  Why is he not arrested and deported?  People ask what's wrong with America and why I am utterly opposed to 99% of the immigration bills.  Because we refuse to enforce the existing laws.  If this were to happen in Mexico, and roles were reversed, I would go to a Mexican jail where they would bust my ass for months before deporting me to the US.  Then, some hot sot Mexican lawyer would sue me and my family for damages.  America!  Wake Up!  Wake up before it is too late to repair this country!

Connor turned six on June 1st.  Yesterday, we took him to Putt-Putt on 820 by NE Mall.  Connor invited a bunch of his friends but only about three or four R.S.V.P.ed, so we weren't sure what to expect.  Well, eleven kids showed up with several parents.  We were fine with that, but I must wonder how many people understand that répondez s'il vous plaît (RSVP) means "please respond".  What if we hadn't planned for them and had to turn them away? No big deal, it turned out fine.

Connor also invited his Dad.  That was interesting.  I didn't really mind him being there.  It was Connor's birthday after all, and he can invite anyone he wants.  I say it was interesting, because his Dad sort of monopolized on it.  Leslie and I watched as his Dad took him on the go-carts, etc rather than us.  Again, I don't really have a problem with it as long as Connor had fun.  It would have been nice if he'd shown a little respect for who paid for and organized the party and asked us, or at least Lesie, if she'd like to take him on a ride, etc.  Again, I don't really have a problem as long as Connor had fun.  Just interesting learning more about people's character.

On another note, Dustin is living with his Mom in Conroe.  She's currently living with her parents.  I'm not sure how long this will last, but I expect Dustin back in a month.  We'd like to send him to Pincove Christian Camp in July, but we will have to see how that plays out.  I'm still waiting on his report card for the 8th grade, but he swears he made all A's and B's.  Based on his word, I bought him a cell phone for passing and making good grades. 

Hilary wants to be your new president.  And if you can't tell what is wrong with this picture, then you should definately vote for her.

Actually, the truth is, if you can't tell what is wrong with this picture then you shouldn't be voting at all!

I'm not going to go into a Hilary Clinton rant here, but I do have to say "This is pretty funny - and deserving."  Now for all you GWB (that's George W. Bush for those who can't tell what's wrong with this picture), I am not too happy with him right now either.  But, you have to pick the lesser of the evils. ;)  All for now.

Yeah, but it wasn't the bush you were thinking of!  Ha!

Now you can't really argue with that can you?

I've decided to dump the code I spent months writing (well, an hour here and there over years) that used to run MurrayNet in favor of DotNetNuke.  DotNetNuke is an open source portal server built on Microsoft's ASP .Net 2.0 platform.  All of the functions and code I need are built in.  There are modules galore to add just about any function you could ever want.  No more coding for me.  I don't have the time and this is just what the web doctor ordered!

Welcome to the new site!