Photographer: anonymous, I got this pic though email. It was apparently taken off the balcony of the photographers' house.

However, the devastation is not only in BC ... for I have some devastation of my own. The house is a is a horrible state. It is really amazing how many dishes stack up with only one person. I suspect Patches is holding parties while I am at work ... and not cleaning up after herself.

Guess the real problem ends up being motivation. With no-one visiting, and me being the only one that has to deal with the mess ... it just continues to add up. I look at it and say ... "Oh, before bed I will wash the dishes" ... "No, when I get up" .... "No, when I get home from work" ... again and again ...

Not to scare Melissa too much, I have vacuumed and done laundry, AND even done some of the dishes ... it is just that darn cat is making such a mess I can't keep up!!!!

Though I may be getting dirty at work, my wife seems to think this is a great time to party it up. This week she is visiting Alicia in Courtney, BC and is apparently having a great time. They have been swimming, rollerblading, and giving their dog a bath. Later this week she will be travelling down to visit more family & friends in Victoria for a couple days.

I tell you, her life sure sounds more exciting than mine :) Though I am still getting down to the pool every night for a late night swim and soak in the hot tub. Ahhh the life ... Remember it dear ?? And just so you don't forget I thought I would post a little reminder.

Courtney:

Sarasota:

Happy birthday ... Happy Birthday ... Happy Birthday TO ME!!!!!!

Well ... you have to at least pretend to get excited about these things ... it can be hard with your mother sitting there tell you about all those "kids" you spent hours baby-sitting, those "little bundles of joy" you knew -- ALL NOW in high-school ... SOME GRADUATING!!! Brutal ... and to think ... I knew them as these little pains when __I__ was graduating, and it was not that long ago, was it ?

26 really can't be THAT old can it ? One thinks back to playing early computer games, hair styles that were "attractive", and music that was "cool" ... and you realize ... the world changes! I think I am seeing those comments about Byron turning 26 coming back to haunt me ... my only consolation, he is now 28 and married.

Anyway ... better go and sign up for HairClub for Men !

I first want to congratulate John and Karin Haager in bringing young Bethany Elise into the world this past Friday. Hope you guys enjoyed your last few months alone ... cause the party is just beginning ;)

Work continues to go well, I have taken a new approach to work this past week or so. I have started each day of work with a set of goals that I would like to see accomplished by the end of the day. This allows me to better gauge my own successes and failures, and can help me keep my managers better informed (though they always seem to have a different, and shorter, time segment for each goal). It also allows me to leave when my goals are done (maintaining a full 8-hour day of course), which limits my OT at work while keeping the guilt factor down.

At home things have been happening too. I had a side-project approved that will keep me busy over the next month - and if things go right could greatly help reduce my past over-expenditures. Now I just have to figure out a slick way of fitting 250 hours into a 150 hour block of time ?? I figure I will just have to increase the block of time by getting some caffeine pills!!! It is only for a month (or so) ... so it isn't too bad.

Just something I found out through Krishen's blog. Seems I ended up in the midst of a trilogy. Give it a shot ... you never know where you will end up !!!

What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

[ I crossed posted with the comments on Krishen's page ]

What a day! From the late evening / early morning watching the Family Guy to breakfast through late night dancing ... the day went smooth and was a lot of fun. And now that it is all over Byron and Tracy are sitting in a quite remote location on Vancouver Island wondering what they are going to do now that the wedding planning is done ... well, let me tell you, "it is time to relax and enjoy your desired vacation ... then return home and clean up the mess you made!!" ;-)

This wedding easily takes the cake for the least amount of glitches, there were no troubles with the cake (which was so delicious I had two pieces). The bar was kind enough to keep my throat wet. And it ran ON-TIME ... yes, I said ON-TIME. Every segment started and ended exactly as planned - if not early. The guys were ready about 30 minutes in advance - long enough to grab a coffee from Tim's - and the pictures did not run overtime. Chalk it up to the wonderful job both Byron and Tracy do at planning events and hosting parties.

And the one moment that will live in our memories ... the garter toss!!! To the theme of "Mission Impossible" Byron enters, gun drawn, stage right. Preceding to confirm the guards have not noticed his entrance - he unlocks the safe. And hands behind the back he sneaks into the "uncharted territory" only to discover ... NOTHING. "Other left ... my left" we can hear Tracy whispering through her giggles, and back in Byron goes ... no fear of what lies ahead. No we know why Byron wanted to go and buy sunglasses so badly the day before !!! I just hope someone got that on video.

Anyways .... as promised ...

So ... ready for the big day ? Like a Karate tourney eh ? I can agree with that ... pain and suffering every day from this point on !!

Last time out with the boys ... and it was breakfast ??

Time to get dressed

So guys ... how far is it to the Mexican border ?

We get to drive this ... oh yea !??

The girls are going to dig us!

Lets rock and roll ... saddle up!

They had a fantastic location

Two wonderful lives ... one exciting life to come!

I now sit outside the bording gate at YVR. They have a wireless network and I had to say hi :)

Anyway ... my flight leaves in 15 minutes (so they say) [7:30am right now] and I arrive back in the warm climate about 7pm if all goes well. This time I fly alone with Melissa being left behind, so that should give me lots of time to poke through the dozen photos on the wedding and play a few games before touching down in Tampa.

Then my vacation is done ... well, a few days is not bad. Gotta run!!!

Travelling comes with its own forms of troubles ... and sometimes they just cause delays ! Seems that this time we blew a tire ... not "our" car - but our plane. Yes! That is right ... apparently the plane got a flat landing in Tampa which caused us a minor delay (about an hour) before heading out Phoenix. Well ... since we had a one hour layover before heading to Vancouver we sprinted from gate A to gate B (~ 2+ blocks) in hopes of ... ahh ... nope ... we're late. BY ABOUT 1 MINUTE AND 30 SECONDS !!!!!

Well, with all other flights booked for the next 9 hours we were stuck til 7:30PM. And it soon became apparently what a lack of sleep does to Melissa (not to mention how well she knows how to manipulate Customer Service). America West set us up in a hotel for the day - and we needed it. Melissa had been running on nothing since nerves left her unable to sleep the night before. Then what do we wake up to ... but half the country without power! What was funny was watching CNN as they reported that some US cities and Canada was without power. Seems someone has not looked at a map lately - just to make things clear ... only southern Ontario was without power, leaving 3 territories and 9 provinces to make popcorn and watch the show.

Anyways ... by 10:30 PM PST we arrived in Vancouver and after a good night sleep we are perpared to enjoy Byrons final hours as a free man. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post after tomorrows festivities.

Byron, enjoy the last few hours of being single! You will look back on them fondly ... both Melissa and I wish you and Tracy the best in the years to come.

Well, we are into our final week. Thursday Melissa and I make our trek back north to see Byron get himself hitched. After the weekend-long party (cause you know its going to be) I will be returning once more to this southern paradise, however Melissa will not be joining me. Since she has little has no reason to rush home she is going to spend so quality time with friends and family before returning.

This then leaves us only a couple days until we are once again apart for what is looking to be around another 2 months ... (and to think, I did not join the military because I did not want the extended family separation). On the positive side, the visit should be a blast and with the cost of the trip at least one of us is making it worth while. And hey, I will get lots of time to work on those extra projects I have been wanting to finish.

In the mean time, we managed to get a break in the rain last night and headed down to the beach. Coffee, sand, and ice-cream ... what more could Melissa want before she heads back to the Great White North (currently with a tint of red and orange). As she puts it, "Feels like a great vacation is coming to an end ...".

Oh, keep your eyes open. My Dad is looking to enter the 'web world' after developing a web site of his own. So keep your eyes peeled as I will be attempting to get him space on my web server. Guess this is addictive!

Thursday night I again joined in on an Ultimate game ... lots of fun ... especially the after-game action

The end has come to another week in our life ...

I woke this morning to thunder crashing outside ... and when I mean crashing I am talking about it shaking the entire house. The rain was literally pouring outside - what a great start to the day ... refreshing :)

Then came work ... I am making headway on the providing Windows printing support. There is so much that I know now that would have changed some of the design. But that is typical of the learning curve, thing is that Windows development requires so much manual direction - now I know why so many apps have bugs.

I much prefer the Mac OS X development and managed to snag a new computer for my desk; moving from the slowest development machine to the fastest development machine in the matter of hours. My new dual 1.2 Ghz G4 will be the fastest until the new G5 arrives later this month.

I should note a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ron, our Director of New Business Development. To celebrate we all too part in the first annual "Great Office Chair Race" ... to the apparent disapproval of the security guards ;) I managed to pull an early lead but lost it when I took the first corner too wide and ended up colliding with Ron as he pulled an inside pass. After the collision I never fully recovered. Ron took the top prize with Krishen managing to pull into second place. My battered vehicle and I crossed in third place with Jeff rounding out the pack. "Next time ... I will get my revenge!" !!!!

Starbucks coffee and a nice cold beer at the famous Patty Wagon topped off the evening ... what a day. Now I sit in the office, working a Saturday so that I can make Byron's wedding ... man ... only one week ... ONE WEEK!!!! Looking forward to the party!

Well ... BC is experiencing some of the worst forest fires in recent history.

CBC news on the fire

Turns out the my parents are not far from the action, from what I have heard they can see the smoke creeping closer and closer to their little dwelling in Fernie. Sparwood, not a hour drive away, is apparently on evac alert. Hot weather is apparently causing extremely dry brush, the only downer on a nice summer.

Here in Florida, though we have the heat we are lucky enough to also have the rain ... daily dosage. Sunday we were sun-bathing until around 2 when it started to rain, so we decided to move to the hot-tub where we continued to relax. The rain is so nice, at least until it stops - when the air gets really muggy.

I did manage to get out that evening for a little Ultimate game ... and I noticed one thing ... I AM REALLY OUT OF SHAPE!!!!!! Anyway, I do hope to get playing a little more as it would get me out and moving ... seems that sitting on my butt punching keys does not help my physical shape at all. Maybe I should head to the gym a little in preparation ?? ( yea right ... its not New Years yet is it ? )