Raible Designs

It's gonna be a good week

It's gonna be a good week. Yesterday, I gave a demo at my client and they loved it. Shortly after that, my sister (Kalin) flew in to town. She's here until Thursday and I'm taking today, tomorrow and Thursday off. Vacations during the week are very nice. We're babysitting Abbie today, so it should be a good day - especially with a stop at Chipotle for lunch.

In other news, construction on our house started yesterday. Here's a photo of part of the new foundation (for the master bath) getting dug. There's already been one casualty - our sewer line. Luckily, Bob the Builder was able to run to Home Depot and fix it for our house full of guests. We also talked to our new (temporary) landlord on Sunday. We got pretty lucky - our neighbors bought a new house and we're going to finish out their lease. So we're going to live next door to our house while it's being built. Pretty cool, huh?

In even bigger news, Julie submitted her resignation at Qwest last week and today is her last day. She got tired of Abbie getting sick at daycare and more so, she was bored out of her mind. Things will be a bit tight - COBRA is just over $1000/month and it's our only option since she's pregnant. Doh! At least we'll only need it until September/October (crosses fingers for a healthy baby).

Pictures from Tucson

Last weekend, we headed to Tucson, Arizona to visit with family. Here are some good pics from the trip - and one of Abbie with her new kitty.

Cool Trainyard	El Charro
Saguaro National Park	Abbie giving Zoe a kiss

New Phone?

I just got an interesting SMS message from AT&T:

AT&T Wireless: Sony 
Ericsson and AT&T
Wireless have sent 
you a new T226
phone to replace
your current T68 -
no strings attached.
Questions? Call
800-500-3821.

Wierd eh? Is there something wrong with the T68i? I'll admit that the T226 looks a bit nicer, but when I get a new phone - I'd like to go all out. In other words, I'll be talking to Russ to get his recommendation.

Time for new business cards

The last time I got Raible Designs' business cards was when I first started the company - way back in 1998. I still have a couple boxes left, but with all the networking opportunities in my future - it's about time I got some new ones. So I'm looking for recommendations of good business card designers/printers. Maybe I should host a contest and give away an iPod to the winner? ;-)

As a sidenote, what do you think about putting the cert icons (i.e. MSCE and SCJP) on business cards? I think it was cool when I first got certified, but now it seems pointless. It just takes up space and would probably take away from a nicely designed card.

Construction on our house starts next week!

We finally closed on our construction loan to double the size of our (675 square foot) house this morning! It took us 2 months to get a loan because of some credit issues our builder had. We stuck with him because we interviewed a bunch of builders/architects and he seems like the best fit for us. He also came highly recommended from the folks he's done remodels for. So while I'm pumping out code this spring, I'll get to listen to a team of construction workers tear this place apart.

We will have to move out about a month or so after they begin. Luckily, our neighbors (who are wicked cool) just bought a new house and we're in negotiations with their landlord to move in there. Hopefully it all works out as planned. I expect this place will be done when Munchkin #2 is about 2-3 months old - or right around Abbie's 2nd birthday. Happy Day!

Tucson Rocked - long live the Saguaro

We arrived back in Denver safe and sound this evening. The only casualty was we forgot Abbie's pack n' play in DIA's parking lot. Doh! Maybe we can call and get it back tomorrow.

Erik Hatcher recommended some good spots to check out. We had dinner at El Charro's in downtown Tucson. We also spent a day touring Saguaro National Park and the Desert Museum. We played lots of Pinochle and my Aunt and Mom had a great time with Abbie.

My Aunt Mary Craig is quite a woman. She grew up in Montana during the great depression and her mom and dad (Hilma and Hank) were gold miners. They never made any real money off of it, but my Aunt has many stories about living in mining camps and helping her dad out when she was a kid. Her most amazing feat was going back to school in her 40s, getting her CPA and becoming the head of the Department of Revenue for the State of Montana. After that, she went on a speaking tour of the US about her childhood and how she became of the of the top 10 business women in Montana (at the time).

Meeting with Rick Hightower was a real treat and I got a lot of great ideas, and a ton of motivation from our meeting. I expected to sip Starbucks for about an hour, but time flew and we ended up talking for around 3 hours! Heckuva guy - he had a lot of knowledge and a great perspective on the whole independent consultant lifestyle I live.

Unlike most vacations where I drag myself back to the computer, I abandoned all electronics for the weekend and now I'm super motivated to pound out some code this week. My sister flies into town a week from today for a few days, so I've only got 7 days until the next vacation begins. Family Rocks!

Heading to Tucson

We're leaving in a few hours to go to Tucson, AZ for the weekend. We're flying to see my Great Aunt Mary and her friend Judy - and my Mom is going to meet us there as well. Hopefully it'll be a nice relaxing weekend since there will be 3 ladies fawning over Abbie. I'm also meeting up with Rick Hightower since he lives there. The snow is supposed to start in Denver this afternoon - good timing eh?

I've never been to Tucson, but here's a webcam so you can checkout the weather there while I'm gone. Have a great weekend, I'll be back on Monday night.

Fast Company's Fast 50

Via Erik, Six Apart makes Fast Company 50. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass about Six Apart, but I do think it's cool that Chipotle made the list. The first Chipotle is right next to DU on Evans and we currently live a mere 6 blocks away from it. In fact, I was just telling Abbie how good it is when we walked by it this evening.

What a weekend...

I pulled myself out of bed and onto the keyboard with great reluctance this morning. I've been goofing off with old college buddies for the last 4 days and it's been awesome. Thursday night was my friend's rehearsal dinner and the night that folks started rolling into town. Friday night was Shane and Jodee's wedding, where I was a groomsmen and Abbie's dance partner all night. Saturday we attended a DU Hockey game with 20 other people. The score was 9-7 and it was quite a game with DU being victorious. Following the game, we verified that the DU party scene was alive and well when we met up with a bunch of "actives" from our Fraternity. We had about 10 alumni with us, so it was pretty neat meeting everyone. Yesterday was spent skiing like madmen on a beautiful day at Breckenridge. It took me two Red Bulls to drive home last night without falling asleep. What a weekend - I'm glad it's over, I'm just not that young anymore...

Off to Vegas!

I'm flying to Las Vegas in a couple hours for a weekend of booze, gambling and good friends. It's one of my best friend's (Shane Murphy) bachelor parties. There's 16 of use meeting there from various time zones. Most of us went to school together - and all the others I'm good friends with. Should be a great weekend with lots of laughs and reminiscing about old times!

Have a great weekend!