Raible Designs

Introducing the Cadillac named Snow White

Today I completed something I've been hoping to do for a couple months now - I bought a new car! I started looking a few weeks ago and today I let Janet the Used Car Sales Lady talk me into buying a 2004 Cadillac Escalade. I was planning on buying a used Yukon, but took a fully-loaded one for a test-drive this morning and found it to be sluggish and kind of a rough ride. Since I like the look of the Escalade, I decided to test-drive one of those this afternoon. 2 hours later, I'd made a screaming deal that I couldn't pass up. I wanted the shorter SUV, but ended up with the longer one. Oh well, I went from a car to an SUV to get more room so I don't feel too bad.

The main reason I wanted to get an SUV (and a big one at that) was because I've found my Honda Accord to be too small to cart the kids around in. While it works, it's tough to pack any sort of gear (bikes, skis, etc.) with us. I know, I could have boughten a roof rack and taken my 12" subs out of the trunk to free up some room, but I was ready for a truck. After the Blizzard of 2006, I didn't want to get snowed in for days at a time. Also, the kids and I got Winter Park/Copper Ski passes so I want to be able to take them skiing a lot this winter.

Disclaimer: I realize this is about the least green thing I could do and I'm not helping the environment at all. My only justification is 1) I had a very low carbon footprint the first 16 years of my life growing up at the cabin with no electricity or running water and 2) I don't really drive a whole lot. I averaged around 7,000 miles a year on my Honda - having only 36,000 miles after 5 years. With this one, I'll probably drive it a fair bit this winter and hardly drive it at all next summer and beyond. By then, hopefully the Bus is done and I can cruise around town in the sweetest ride I've ever owned.

As for the name "Snow White" - that was Abbie's idea. We'll see if it sticks.

Update: I forgot to mention one of my favorite features - a direct iPod hookup. I can navigate playlists from the stereo in the car. The display is only limited to 8 characters, but it's a lot better than broadcasting over FM.

The last external hard drive I'll ever need?

Today I pre-ordered a 1TB LaCie 2big Network (2-disk RAID) hard drive. Looks pretty beefy eh?

Why did I get this? Because it's time to get serious about backup. I currently have 3 external hard drives and none of them are big enough to backup everything. I also tend to use them as alternative storage rather than backup. I'm running out of space on my Linux box ... the list goes on. In reality, you can never have too much disk space can you?

I have a 250 GB Lacie d2 that I'm using on my MacBook Pro with Time Machine. I also have a Lacie Rugged that I use when I travel. I try to backup before I go to do major things - like a training class or speak a conference. That way, if my laptop dies, I can use someone else's Mac and be good to go. If there are no Macs, I keep all my materials in Subversion. Lastly, I have a 200 GB Maxtor that I use as a backup on my Windows box.

My ideal solution is 1) each machine has its own backup hard drive and 2) each machine can store files on a central server. I used to use Samba on Linux, but it seems easier to use my Airport Extreme and a big ol' drive like this Lacie. What's your setup and/or advice?

January 30, 2008 Update: Because of the feedback on my post, I never purchased this hard drive. I still need a back up solution and I'm thinking of using Apple's new Time Capsule. If it works with Windows and Linux - I'm sold.

Happy Birthday Abbie!

5 years sure goes by quick when you're a parent. It's hard to believe that 1) I started blogging over 5 years ago and 2) Abbie turns 5 years old today. It's pretty cool to be able to look back at previous birthdays: the birthday, #1, #3 and #4. I don't know what happened for #2, but I sure feel bad for not blogging the event.

Congratulations kiddo - you've turned into a beautiful (and awfully smart) little girl.

P.S. Don't tell her I called her a "little" girl - she's obviously a "big" girl.

Happy Halloween!

Abbie and Jack had great Halloween costumes this year. Abbie was Little Bo Peep (she even had a lost sheep) and Jack was Edward the Train. I emphasize Edward because everyone kept calling him "Thomas" and he kept getting mad and telling folks "I'm Edward, not Thomas!".

Julie's sister, Holly, made Jack's awesome costume. The best part about it was she made the back of it into his candy-holder so whenever folks would hand him candy, he'd spin around and look over his shoulder while they dropped it in. Today we found out the candy was actually coal - he said he needed a lot more to keep Edward chugging along.

Halloween was a blast this year: great costumes, two nights of trick-or-treating, and a parade/party at the kids' school today. Good stuff all around.

Car Bombs

From Sox and Co. party like champs in Denver:

By the bar, players, front office guys and fans were toasting the second Series sweep with "car bombs," which, we are told, is a shot of Jameson's whiskey and a shot of Bailey's dropped into a Guinness stout. Ew.

"After every win we do car bombs," said one Sox exec, who asked to remain nameless. "So I went up to the bar and asked for seven of them. The bartender wasn't happy because it was mobbed. I had to tip him $100 to get them, but we had to do the car bombs."

I'm not happy that the Rockies lost the World Series - but it is good to see the Red Sox know how to party. Hat tip to one of most obsessed Red Sox fans I know.

Gmail adds IMAP support

I'm pumped that Gmail finally added IMAP support. I've been waiting for this feature ever since I started using Gmail. Thanks Google! Now I can reply to starred e-mail on a plane and use tools like Apple's Mail to compose/read my e-mail. When I hooked it up yesterday, it took 6 hours to download the 23000+ messages I have stored on Gmail. I don't know if Mail will handle the volume very well, but with Leopard arriving tomorrow, hopefully Mail will be improved.

It should be a fun weekend installing Leopard. With two MacBook Pros (one from LinkedIn), I can test on one before I upgrade both. Of course, the best part of the weekend won't be technology - there's an Alumni softball game for my fraternity, a Halloween Party and several Rockies games to watch. You all know that weekends where you don't get on your computer are the best, right?!

Beautiful

This has to be cutest picture I've ever captured. It's hard to believe she's going to be 5 next month.

First Snow!

It usually snows in September in Denver. This year, it waited until today. It was awesome to wake up this morning and see the white stuff coming down. Bring on Ski Season - I'm ready!

Bill mentions that A-Basin is open. If you're going to this year's Colorado Software Summit (starts today), you may want to bring your skis. Then again, who wants to ski greens?

Wow!

The Rockies are the National League Champions!! Congratulations guys - it's been incredible watching your post-season magic. The next couple weeks should be quite the adventure.

Off to New York and Connecticut

Today marks the beginning of a long-awaited trip to the East Coast. Way back in March, I negotiated a deal with a company in Danbury, CT to teach my Open Source Java Jewels training course. I was supposed to deliver it in May, but that got changed because of their 45-day Vendor Approval Process. It was rescheduled for August. August came and it got moved again because so many people were on vacation. It was rescheduled for October and I'll be delivering it next week.

I'm teaching 2 courses: one for 16 managers Monday - Tuesday and one for 21 developers Wednesday - Friday. Yeah, I know that's way too many students, but I think I can handle it. I warned the company it wasn't a good idea to have that many students, but they wanted to pack them all in anyway. Oh well.

The best part about this trip is I'm doing something I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm taking the kids with me! The rest of my family is coming too - my parents will be on our 2nd flight today and my sister flies in Monday. My dad grew up in Beacon, NY - only 45 minutes from Danbury. Since his brother and sister still live there (as well as many cousins) it should be a fun week of family and crazy kids in a hotel room. With any luck, we'll get to see some fall colors and create some great memories.