Raible Designs

At the MySQL Conference in San Jose

I arrived in San Jose at 10:00 this morning to give a 3-hour tutorial on developing test-driven webapps with Spring and Hibernate [download PDF]. This was just a fancy name for developing webapps with AppFuse, but the session seemed to go over pretty well nevertheless. In the first half of the class, there were a couple of sleepers, but I cranked down the A/C for the second half and everyone stayed awake (although some were shivering). I never thought I could ramble on for 3-hours, but it wasn't that hard. I did end up doing mini-presentations on Spring and Comparing Web Frameworks, but all in all, I think it went pretty well. Very few people in the room had heard of any of the Java web frameworks, and only 6 were familiar with Spring and Hibernate. It was a tough crowd, but AppGen's code generation (hopefully) showed it's easy to create CRUD-based webapps with AppFuse. Note to self: make a video of that.

I have a free pass to the MySQL Conference, but I doubt I'll attend many sessions. I have a lot on my plate for AppFuse 1.8, Acegi integration into Roller, and some updates for Spring Live. It should be a good week, hopefully I'll get a lot done. This weekend should be awesome - Julie shows up on Friday for our 5-year anniversary party.

The best part of the conference so far? Talking shop over beers with the locals (crew from c|net and AppFuse user Phil Hershkowitz).

DU Wins and The Blizzard of 2005

Last night was a great game and DU has repeated as NCAA Champions! Woooo hooooo!! Nice jobs gents - we're definitely looking forward to next year's season and hope to get season tickets on the glass.

This morning, I woke up to a bunch of snow, high winds and The Blizzard of 2005. It's nothing like the Blizzard of 2003 where we got 4-8 feet of snow, but it's still pretty exciting. I snapped a few picks of what it looks like around our house.

It's time for some productivity

Just last night I was wondering how I was going to finish up AppFuse 1.8 and Spring Live's April update in the next 1 1/2 weeks. This morning, I got up early (5:00 a.m.) to get back to work on Spring Live, and found that Julie was already up. She was fed up with the fact that Jack was coughing up a storm and both kids are still sick. They've been sick off-and-on since January (but mostly on), and she's had enough.

Julie tooks Jack to the doctor a month ago and his recommendation was a warm and humid climate. She asked him, "like Florida?" - to which responded, "Yes! That's a great idea!" Since then, she's bought a humidifier, taken showers with Jack every morning and even hit him with the nebulizer a few times. No dice, he's still coughing and wheezing. At 5:00 a.m. this morning, she was fed up and said "I'm going to Florida." 20 minutes later, she'd bought her tickets and we left for the airport around 6:30.

While I'll certainly miss everyone, it's a golden opportunity for me to work on AppFuse and Spring Live and get caught up this weekend. Of course, I have to work an extra day in the mix to pay for the (spendy) flights, but it's nice being a contractor and having that as an option. Now the problem is I find an empty house often leaves me with little motivation. I tend to enjoy renting movies and going to bed early when the family is gone. Of course, with DU being in the Frozen Four tomorrow (and hopefully Saturday) - there's even more motivation for more fun and less work.

Regardless of the motivation I have to take part in my extra-curricular obligations (AppFuse and Spring Live), it's nice to know I have a great opportunity to work on them this weekend. Staying up late to work on this stuff just isn't any fun.

No More Kids

I've only ever wanted two kids. However, Julie has been playing with the idea of 4 ever since we had Jack. Her thought is "they're so damn perfect, let's have more!" I've always wanted 2, and so did she when we first met - but she grew up with a sister and they've always been best friends. Abbie doesn't have a sister, and Julie doesn't want an odd number of kids - hence her slight desire for four.

This Friday, all this talk of possibly having 4 kids will come to an end. I'm heading into the doctor's office for the Big V and will lose my ability to reproduce. I'm terrified, but hopefully the drugs will be good enough to ease my fears (and pain afterwards).

I'm supposed to "take it easy" for a week afterwards and not lift anything more than 10 pounds. This means I can't pick up Abbie or Jack, and I can barely pick up my backpack (w/ laptop) to go to work. No riding to work either. With all the "you can't dos", it almost seems like a mini-vacation. However, the thought of getting my nuts cut still sends chills down my spine.

Sun, Hockey, Snow and Skiing

This weekend was another great example of why it rocks to live in Denver. On Saturday, Holly (Julie's sister) hosted a house-warming/birthday party and we enjoyed a few Coors Lights in the 70 degree weather. Saturday night, I took Abbie and a couple of friends to the DU Hockey game, and when we left it was snowing. Sidenote: Abbie has switched from calling it "Hockey" to "DU Hockey" and she's becoming very well versed in "Go DU!".

I woke up early yesterday morning, picked up a friend and after 2 hours of nasty roads and traffic, we were skiing Keystone at 10. There was 5 inches of fresh powder and the sun was out - meaning it was a beautiful day to be on the slopes. This morning it's still snowing and expected to continue for a few more days. I'm sure we'll get spring weather again soon, but not soon enough for Julie.

Flights are booked!

I just booked our flights to California's wine country to spend our 5 year anniversary in April. I'm going to the MySQL Users Conference on Monday, and Julie is joining me on Friday. From there, we'll drive down to the Fog Catcher Inn for a romantic getaway and lots of wine tasting. We can't wait! Hard to believe it's been 5 years - Abbie and Jack are good reminders of how long it's been though. Kids rock.

Life Update

Technology blogs are boring for the most part. Sure it's cool to read about someone configuring or trying something out for the first time. However, if you run a technology blog and you read through your archives, chances are there's not much in there that peaks your interest anymore. Part of the reason I started this blog is so I could look back over the years and see what was going on in my life. This is one of those posts. One of those posts that I'll look back on and appreciate.

2005 has been a pretty good year so far. This is largely in part to the fact that I don't work from home anymore, and therefore get some interaction other Java junkies. Another thing that's made it really nice is riding to work. I've ridden my bike to work every day since I started doing it. My goal is to ride everyday but those when it's raining in the morning, or when I have one of those "Oh shit!" mornings and I'm late for a meeting. I think I can ride all but 5 days this year. The past couple of weeks, it's been pretty cold (20-30°F), but it's actually been quite nice. It's a lot like skiing - you just have to dress for it.

Another reason I've been enjoying myself a lot is b/c I haven't been working on the weekends or late nights. I've been sleeping in, going to bed before midnight, and having a good time with Jack and Abbie. Last weekend, Abbie I went to Ocean Journey and the Colorado Crush game. Apparently she had a good time b/c when I asked her if she was excited about the DU Hockey Game this weekend, she said "Football!". Looks like we might be going again.

Jack is growing up fast and is already in 9-month outfits and he's only 5 months old. Since Holly moved in, he's been "Happy Jack", which is nice considering he cried 12 hours/day for the first couple of months. He's smiling a lot, squirming like a madman and even rolled over a couple of days ago. Before we know it, he'll probably be crawling and chasing after his big sister.

Last, but not least, I'm learning that I need to take advantage of my contracter status more. Today I took the day off to work on Spring Live. I hope to start doing it more often, as well as taking days off to work on AppFuse. My strategy for that is: go in early and work 4 10-hour days per week. If I'm in the office by 6, I can be home by 6 and hardly anyone notices.

Speaking of AppFuse, it continues to be popular and has the most mail traffic on java.net. While that's great, it's tough to keep up with the mailing list. I've started to not reply b/c I need to get other things done. The last two weeks of this month, I plan on pumping out new AppFuse and Equinox releases, so I'll likely get back into it then. Developing open-source projects is a lot of work, but it's a nice way to show clients your knowledge.

That's pretty much it. Julie continues to be the woman of my dreams and it's awesome living in a new/big house in the heart of Denver. I don't know how much I'll update this blog in the next few weeks - sometimes it's just better to quit e-mailing and blogging and get some work done.

Made it home!

We made it home today and boy is it great to be back in Denver ... and healthy. We had a great time with my parents and sister at my parent's place in Salem, Oregon. It was so cool being back in another place I call home. For the past few years, I've always looked at Montana as my true home, but I came to realize that I need to visit Oregon a lot more. It took me until this weekend to realize the power that your parents house can hold for you. I experienced one of several "perfect moments" in my life when I was holding baby Jack on Saturday night. It just felt great being around so much love. And their basement sauna rocks. I'll be installing one in my basement in the next year.

Friday was a nice and smooth flight out there. We left at 8:30 a.m. and Abbie slept for most of the flight. Not only that, but Frontier has individual TVs for every passenger. Julie loved it and watched HGTV for the 2-hour flight. The highlight of the trip is when both kids threw up (from coughing) w/in 5 seconds of each other. Like some kind of wonder-woman, Julie got both kids messes in the same hand.

My sister, Kalin, showed up a couple of hours after us - and we all enjoyed a nice evening together. Later that night, Kalin and I made a "Welcome Home Dad!" sign and drove to the Portland airport to pick up my dad. He flew in from Amsterdam (after visiting Germany and working in Tanzania for a week) and had been on a plane the past 20 hours.

We spent most of the weekend just hanging out and laughing with old friends. One of my best friends from high school (whose name is also Matt) has two boys (4 and 2) and Abbie had a great time trying to keep up with them. I was terrified of them at first b/c they were so crazy, but I ended up having a great time with them throughout the weekend. Julie dreads Jack growing up now more than ever.

Today was a nice easy flight, where Abbie slept half of it and watched Monsters Inc. the other half. We came home to melted snow, and missed the "2 feet" of snow that fell last night. After having the last week off being sick and then on vacation, I'm very motivated to do some AppFuse and Spring Live work this week - in addition to my regular job. It's good to be home.

You know you're sick when...

You know you're sick when you lose 9 pounds in 36 hours. Ugh. The fever and cold sweats seem to have subsided, but my cold is still in full force. Abbie has a cold but doesn't seem to have the fever. Julie and Jack seem to be immune to this bug. Should be a fun plane ride tomorrow - good thing it's only 2 hours to Portland.

A nice start to the new year

I had a really enjoyable weekend. New Years Eve was spent with my high school buddies Clint and Jess at a local bar. It was low key and fun to hang out with old friends. It was good I didn't drink very much because I went to bed at 3 and Abbie woke us up at 6. Saturday was a pretty lazy day, but I did manage to clean out the garage. Now so we can fit 2 cars in our 2-car garage. This is key for snowy days.

Last night, we went to the DU Hockey game with the kids, Holly (Julie's sister) and our good friend Justin. Everyone had a great time (Abbie loves the games) and DU won 9 to 4. Today, I woke up early and went skiing with Clint and Autumn (his girlfriend) at Copper. We missed all the traffic by leaving at 7 and had a nice breakfast before getting on the slopes at 9. We skied until noon and then went our separate ways and I drove back to Denver. I made it back just in time for the Broncos game. Justin came over and we watched them kill the Colts (let's hope they can do it again next Sunday). After football, we headed to another DU Hockey game tonight and watched them shutout Northeastern 4-0. This time, Tonya and Suzie (friend from college and her sister) joined Justin and I and took Julie and Holly's seats. Again, Abbie and Jack had a good time and it was a nice way to end the weekend.

Life is so much more fulfilling when I get off the computer. Next weekend, a good friend is flying in from New York to do some skiing. Couple that with a Saturday night hockey game and a Sunday morning playoff game and next weekend is looking pretty good too!