It's official. I am a coffee addict. I've resorted to brewing it at home and am considering the purchase of a french press.

Made a Rib Roast, cheddar biscuits and veggies for our guests. Good wine. Good friends.

What did Max get for Christmas? His first cold.

I do the grocery shopping. Just left the store where I am greeted by a frail old woman on crutches asking if I need help taking my groceries to my car...

Passed the mall to get to work. It's nuts.

The rain stopped in time to unload the truck. Everything is unloaded. Now time to unpack then clean the old place.

Wow. this rain is seriously slowing down the move. South of us got 14 inches of it.

dry season my ass. where is all this rain coming from?

Spent some quality time in Tampa with family and friends to celebrate my birthday. On my way home to pack more.

Landed in Frt Lauderdale.

Headed home. Max got to see snow before we left. He's really gotten active this week and is absolutely adorable when he smiles.

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble gobble!

Has begun the move packing. A box a day keeps the overwhelm at bay.

Jury duty today. Cold in here. Nap time yet?

Requires adult supervision.

Tonight AMC starts a series called The Prisoner that looks like a remake of the 1960s tv show with Steve McQueen. Looks good.

just finished watching the 11/1 Abu Dhabi F1 race. What a race. What a track.

Is not being successful at getting anything done on his day off.

Got the very nice 2 story townhouse in Wilton Manors. (happy dance) Moving in mid December.

Getting the car detailed. It's been a while since Baby has goten some TLC. Next up, hair cut.

Feels old today.

Is craving a strange mix of foods: spicy chk fried rice, corned beef and swiss on rye, and Waffle House hash browns smoothered covered and diced.

Not a productive project day. Got lots of exercise trying to calm Max though.

Came home from the Keys to a disconnect notice fro FPL. No A/C, internets, or hot shower before work tonight.

Hanging out in Marathon. Having dinner and drinks on the water. Ahhhhhhh, the Keys...

Is having a happy day.

What a night. Tomorrow will be better. Baby photo session and spend the evening cooking up a storm.

Bumper sticker on back of a pickup truck: Save a horse. Ride a cowboy.

Oopsie... Dogs sniff out wrong suspect; scent lineups questioned (http://ping.fm/LZ09h)

Max got his first vaccination at 8am. Now he's feeling the effects and is a wee bit unhappy.

Fun at the beach. The waves were low, but too big for Mom and Dad's comfort, so Max didn't get wet at all. Mommy is happy to have gotten some beach time though.

Today is Max's first trip to the beach. Mommy is so excited, but we hope the water is calm.

Max went to the Dr. yesterday since he's cranky after eating. Has reflux from spitting up. He's on Mylicon, and doing better. 8 lb, 6 oz.

"I don't want to start any blasphemous rumors, but I think God's got a sick sense of humor..."

At Cracker Barrel. Today is Max's due date. Mommy looks at him in his car seat and can't believe how huge he is compared to 6.5 wks ago.

Since Max is a premie his getting his developemental testing today. He's 7 pounds, 4 oz. Gained 32 oz in 5 weeks. He's doing excellent.

Tired. Long day of getting things done. Glad I took the night off work, but I am wiped out.

Is wishing his wife a happy 10th anniversary. I love you.

Scheduled a photo session. Who's next?

Ooooooo ooo... Witchy woman. She got stars in her eyes...

Had the unfortunate experience of not being able to stop in time when the cat ran out into the street. Argh!

Fed Max his first bottle of breast milk.

Liz gets discharged at noon today! Hooray!

Max is getting a little Phototherapy today. For my photographer friends that does not mean he's taking papa's picture. He's getting a suntan.

Picking up a lovely takeout dinner to have a nice evening in the hospital with the wife.

Baby Max has been upgraded from Acute care to Progressive. Yay!

Mom is out of recovery. Took her up to NICU after getting her settled in her room. Max is off the ventilator! I told you he was strong. 1 day old.

Maxillian Richard Smiley, Aug 13, 10:10am, 5 pounds 4 oz.

Nervous excitement. Prepping her for C-section.

Confirmed. Dr came in. C-section scheduled for 9am.

Induction not working. Only 1cm dialated for the last 5 hours. C-section almost certain at this point.

Labor being induced today. Here we go folks.

Got his business cards today. Yippee!

Just walked out the door into a spider web right at head level...

Liz is in her room and relaxing with her feet up.

Is still waiting for a room so that the wife can be admitted. Bored.

In starbuck's in hospital lobby. Kid with rm in sling jumping around. Swings his good arm back. AND RIGHT INTO MY GROIN. Ah... Kids. :S

33rd wk. Liz is at her Dr. BP is high and protein in her urine. They are admitting her to the hospital. 50% chance of C-section by Friday.

Last night of Birthing Class. The one Liz has been waiting for. Taking the tour tonight.

Tired. Back flared up running up and down those stairs. Think i'll crash hard when I get home.

Plaxo once was a way to keep contacts updated. Now they charge $60/yr to download updated contacts to Outlook. I'm moving on. Suggest same.

Bucket List question: If you had a year left to live, what would you do?
I would build things, something different every day.

Mr President:

I am writing because I am happily going to be a new father soon. The upsetting part is that I just got off the phone with my insurance company where I was forced to cancel my health insurance policy.

Like many Americans I have a health care plan available through my company. I've only had this plan since the beginning of the year. As soon as the insurance went into effect, we found out that we were expecting a child after 4 years of trying. A month ago we were informed by our insurance that we'd reached the limit of our coverage. $1000 for doctors visits and $1000 for Labs/X-rays/Ultrasounds doesn't go far. We still have 3 months to go and due to high blood pressure, the doctors want her to come in every week now.

My wife began searching for alternatives, Medicare/Medicaid, and was approved, but only if she wasn't covered under any other plan. When we called up our insurance company, they refused to remove her from the policy unless there is a "major life event". I think this qualifies. They don't. So for my wife to get the coverage she needs, I now must go back to the ranks of the uninsured and hope I don't get sick or injured.

This is asinine. I'm livid. Our military budget is rivaled by no one. I'd gladly pay for less military and be able to guarantee medical coverage like the system in France. Please fix the system.

- Do away with open enrollment once a year. It's a ridiculous practice that has no relevance in the internet age. Any one should be able to apply at any time of year. Enrollment should be immediate. No more applying in October to wait 3 months for coverage to start in January.
- Plan changes should be able to be made at any time for any reason -- upgrades, downgrades, adding dependents, removing dependents.
- Regardless of your position in a company or how many hours you work, everyone should be able to select any plan offered. I am in a very seasonal industry where during the summer I am considered a part-time employee because I only average 28 hours a week. I'd have to lie, cheat and steal to be considered a full-time employee to get access to better insurance choices. From the lowly mail-room clerk or dishwasher all the way up to the CEO, everyone should have access to the same choices.
- Bring an end to worthless coverage. I feel cheated. I've paid my premiums. Now I have to suffer the burden of paying expenses out of pocket.
- Make it easier to make an apples-to-apples comparison between insurance choices. Every insurance provider should be required to provide 2 plans that the governments sets the criteria for. One being a minimal coverage policy for basic healthcare. The second being a carte-blanche, everything's covered policy.
- I don't think the solution to the healthcare "crisis" is a government run insurance. I think that a government sponsored, non-profit company that provides healtcare to individuals and companies at the same rates makes much more sense. It would run as a private enterprise just like any of thousands of cooperatives have been run over the years that have provided for their customers over the years. Telephone companies and financial institutions used this system to provide service to people otherwise left out by the free market.
- Insurance provider should NOT be profit companies.

Sincerely hoping for a difference,
Eugene Smiley


Bill Maher: New Rule: Not Everything in America Has to Make a Profit
The Health Care System I Want Is in France
Healthy examples - Plenty of countries get healthcare right

Life Goals

I got hooked by a friend's Facebook Note. It was one of those place-an-X-here-if-you've-done-this-this-passed-it-along surveys that was being passed off as a Bucket List. One of the choices was Given Birth. I've not given birth. I don't plan on giving birth.

It got me thinking though. What DO I want to to accomplish with my life? What does the wife want to do that I can support her in? What things do we want to do as a family now that we are expecting in 3 months?

So I started looking for resources for Life Lists, Bucket Lists, Reaper Lists, etc. I found some interesting pages, but the one that posed some interesting questions was Creating a Bucket List - 100 Things to do Before You Die. Near the end they offer, "10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating Your Bucket List".

Who do you admire? Why?
Google guys for creating a business that is innovative and has the commitment to do no evil.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for his philanthropy and his support for people who push the edge like the winners of the X-Prize.

Bob Cringely for his innovation and his insight into technology and business.

TiVo before they sold out on their users who like to Hack. They were innovative and listened to the community. When they stopped listening to their users and started listening to Big Media, they became old and stodgey, just like Big Media.

What did you always want to do when you were a child?
I was a builder. Loved legos. I wanted to be an Architect. I wanted to build houses and skyscrapers, and floating cities. I wanted to be an Aerospace engineer and build ships, rockets and space bases. I loved programming. I wanted to own a restaurant because I love to cook. Other interests included astronomy, lasers, holigrams and anything science fiction.

Makes for some interesting things to add to my List.

43Things
SuperViva
ReaperList
Day Zero