Blog

My blog. Personal thoughts, anecdotes, and musings.

Light The Night walk Published September 12, 2007

We’re walking again in memory of my mom. Please consider giving a donation, or even better, join our team and walk with us. http://www.active.com/donate/ltnBrookf3/2037_bphogan

Bah! Thwarted! Published September 11, 2007

The baby did not cooperate with us today, so we don’t know what it will be yet. Sorry to dash your hopes.

The Downstairs Bathroom Remodel – Part three Published August 16, 2007

Today was a packed day. Things went really fast. Jason started out with the mud and drywall, and put the toilet in. Then we went off to pick up the vanity from Menards, after a brief detour to get new paint, since I goofed and didn’t have enough to finish the room. The vanity’s upper unit didn’t come with enough pieces or instructions for assembly. Jason didn’t feel comfortable with the way the guys at the store said it went together, so he attached all of the components of the vanity together.

The Downstairs Bathroom Remodel – Part two Published August 16, 2007

Day two started out late, as Jason ended up with some phone calls to deal with. When he got in, he hit the ground running, getting the subfloor mudded up so the screws wouldn’t show through the linoleum flooring. The floor went in without a problem. The rest of the day was spent doing the plumbing for the sink and the tub. Pipes had to be moved around a bit to accomodate the new vanity.

The Downstairs Bathroom Remodel – Part one Published August 14, 2007

Jason started remodeling the bathroom today. This is a project I’ve wanted to get done for a long time, but we didn’t have the money or the time. Here’s our current bathroom for those of you that haven’t seen it. We got off to a late start but made really good progress with the demolition. There was quite a bit of stuff to tear out, and he was constantly amazed at how bad things were, especially under the floor.

My accent Published June 13, 2007

**What American accent do you have? (Best version so far)** Northern You have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for. <a href=http://www.youthink.com/quiz.asp?action=take&quiz_id=9827> **Click Here to Take This Quiz** Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Funny job application (if you’re a a programmer) Published May 31, 2007

I got a kick out of this job application. I may have to steal that idea when I do my hiring next time. We need more innovative and fun employers out there. I love hiring students because they are so energetic and t hey aren’t jaded by the “real world” yet. They haven’t spent a year doing nothing but reading documentation about web services, or using a dead-end programming language with libraries that are no longer maintained.

My first book Published May 30, 2007

If you’re looking to get started with Ruby on Rails and you’re a Windows user, this book will walk you through setting up some of the tools you’ll need, as well as show you how connect to Microsoft SQL Server and set up Capistrano. Of course, this is targeted at people who are new to Ruby on Rails and come from the Windows platform. Curt Hibbs wrote the first chapter, where he showcases how to use RadRails and InstantRails to create a quick and easy setup.

+1 Published May 30, 2007

For those that have not yet heard the news, I am going to be a father (again). We’re all very excited but it will be a long way off… not ’till next February. I’m sure Corey and Titus will appreciate that.