I know I’ve been off of everyone’s radar for a while, but I’ve been working on a few things. One of the big things is that we bought a house in Southgate, Michigan, which is just south of Detroit. Our desire to move to Florida still burns in us, but as Kiara was getting close to kindergarten, we had to make a decision on our living arrangements. We also got an offer to purchase a house that needed a bit of TLC, but had almost everything that we wanted in a house.

More news (with pictures) coming soon!

I’m currently in London, Ontario, Canada, to teach some Advanced end user classes on Lotus Notes 7 and Sametime 7.5.1. The trip so far has been good, with the usual lack of sleep taking hold of me. I’m sitting in the classroom, which is right in the middle of a huge factory, waiting for student to arrive. The customer is a great client, and I would not have a problem with teaching for them again. My only issue with this entire trip (besides not sleeping) is the hotel. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice place at a good price, plus it’s no more than 4 minutes away from the hotel. The problem is that they advertise free wireless internet, but it’s been shoddy at best. I can’t get a signal from my room, and when I went to the lobby to connect, I kept getting dropped. Other than that, I would recommend the Airport Inn and Suites to others. (Sorry, no website.)

Thanks to all of you that accepted me as a connection on LinkedIn. If I somehow forgot you, please send me a note and remind me. I did not intend to miss anyone, I just went off of my memory.

I hear the voice of Optimus Prime saying, ‘Autobots, transform… and roll out!’

An email with a reference to this blog entry came across my desk. I just have one question to ask… Who’s going to test this first?

Yesterday afternoon, WWE professional wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy (who went by the name of ‘Woman’ when she was involved in wrestling) and 7 year old son, Daniel, were found dead in their suburban Atlanta home. According to Fox News, they are investigating it as a murder-suicide.

Truly a sad day for wrestling fans, but a sadder day for the Benoit family. Too bad the problems couldn’t have been worked out. Poor kid… He didn’t deserve any of that… No one did…

As we are coming up to 2:04PM EDT, I’m breaking radio silence long enough to with Rocky Oliver (also known as LotusGeek) a very Happy Birthday! I hope that you’re doing well, and everyone here at the Pridelands sends you our best!

It looks like the metal band ‘Spinal Tap’ is reuniting, according to Yahoo! News. Some people call the band fake, but they really play, and even though the lyrics are funny, they’re a lot better than most of the crap out there now.

Crank it up to 11 and Rock on!!!

Once upon a time, Bob the Builder was hard at work, when the Foreman came by.

“Since you’re not doing anything,” said the Foreman, “I want you to start learning a new and different CAD/CAM system.”

“No problem,” said Bob while stopping what he was doing (which was obviously something), “After all, every time you’ve thrown a new piece of equipment at me, I’ve learned it with very little problem, and I’ve never complained, even though I’ve been doing the work of 3 people over the past year.”

“Yea, I’m going to hire someone soon,” said the Foreman, even though Bob knows that he’s heard that line for years (since the first person left).

The Foreman handed the manual to Bob and said, “You have to learn this as fast as you can, and be able to show the rest of the crew how to use it. The old system we were using isn’t being used anymore.”

“But I just came back from a builders convention where thousands of people were using it, and the manufacturer of the system said that there’s going to be newer versions of the system being released soon,” exclaimed Bob. He also noticed that the Foreman only gave him the manuals, but not the actual software so that Bob could practice working with the system.

“We only have one construction worker that knows this new system, and it’s not fair that he has to travel all the time,” said the Foreman.

“He’s part owner of the construction company, plus I have a family at home that misses me tremendously when I travel so much, so I’m really not interested in traveling so much,” said Bob.

“Well, if you don’t, you are not very useful to our company. You may have to find work elsewhere,” said the Foreman, “After all, there isn’t much business up here in Michigan for what you do.”

“That’s strange… because I’ve seen job postings for my skillsets here in Michigan, and a lot more out of state, and you know that I’ve been interested in moving with my family to another state,” said Bob.

“Well, have you learned it yet?” asked the Foreman.

Bob just smiled and nodded while quietly getting his resume together.

THE END

My good friend (and brother-in-brewing), Devin Olson, is back… on his blog! Go check him out at Spanky’s Place.

Welcome back, my friend!