August 2008 Photos
The August 2008 photo galleries feature pictures of Berkeley, Eliana, and Olivia taken in bunches... like as Remlinger Farm, the Woodland Park Zoo, or during our recent inaugural rocket launch. As a result, the gallery pages themselves (see links below) seem a little bare. But if you drill down, you'll find some great August pictures. The galleries can be reviewed at Berkeley's web site, Eliana's web site, and Olivia's web site. Or just access the galleries directly using the following links:

Berkeley's August 2008 Gallery ... (6 years, 1 month old)
Eliana's August 2008 Gallery ... (4 years, 5 months old)
Olivia's August 2008 Gallery ... (2 years, 1 month old)

Inaugural Rocket Launch
For Berkeley's recent birthday, his gift from dear ol' Dad was an Estes Rocket Alpha III Starter Set (just $20!). I remember (with fondness) launching these model rockets back when I was a wee lad (a Cub Scout to be precise). Berkeley is always building rocket ships with his legos, so I thought it was a good fit.

During the past couple of weeks, we have been assembling the rocket ship and the launch platform. This evening we took it over to Sixty Acres Park in Redmond for the inaugural rocket launch. Here are the pictures:

We packed a McDonald's dinner (because we had to get the Clone Wars Happy Meal toys!) with the intention of having a casual picnic while launching to rocket a couple of times. Well, it didn't quite work out that way... it was cold up there, and it was windy. So we only ended up doing one launch. The wind carried the rocket about, oh, I dunno, a quarter mile away from the launch pad. If you look closely in the last picture - the little white dot next the shamrock-green-colored port-o-potty is me almost at the place where the rocket landed.

Despite launching the rocket only once, Berkeley had a blast (get it? a "blast"). He is already planning the next launch and is going to invite 4 of his closest buddies to come and watch.

Miss Hirt
The public schools open for classes next Wednesday. Berkeley will be in the first grade this year and for the first time will attend school for the entire day. The school district sends out elementary school teacher assignment notifications via postcard. The cards were posted yesterday and arrived today in the mail. Berkeley will be attending the class taught my Miss Hirt. We immediately started calling all of Berkeley's former kindergarten friends (Jake, Sam, Mitchell, etc), neighbors (Greysen), and church classmates (Fox). None - not a single one of his friends, neighbors, or church pals - will be in his class this year. There are 4 first grade teachers, so you'd think at least one would be in there. Nope.

Berkeley was disappointed, but he is still really excited for school to start. He can't wait to ride the bus and trade Pokemon cards again and sit next to his bus route buddies (Jake, Sam, Mitchell, etc). There will be four new kids at the neighborhood bus stop this year... Scott, Isabella, Greysen (switching from private to public school), and, uh, that one little girl that lives on the inside corner... not sure what her name is. Anyway, just a few more lazy days of summer and then it's back to the school routine.

Movie Review: 十面埋伏 (House of Flying Daggers)

Title:	House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Rating:	8/10

Back when I was researching Hi-def DVD options (this was before HD-DVD went kaput), reviews would invariably refer to scenes or sequences in what I would call "demonstration-quality" movies used for the benefit of comparing different products. Titles such as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Fifth Element, and The Phantom of the Opera, and (of course) Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series would very often be used. I do not recall seeing 十面埋伏 (House of Flying Daggers) ever used, but oh my is this a beautiful movie on the BluRay... just absolutely stunning! The cinematography is gorgeous... and every element of the movie - the color of the costumes used, the rich ornate building interiors, and the sweeping landscapes - have been carefully staged to create wonderfully rich and sumptious scenes.

The movie itself is quite good too. It is about a young 9th century military captain assigned to find and capture the new leader of a resistance group that call themselves "The House of the Flying Daggers". He and another captain create a scheme to free a known member of the Flying Daggers, befriend her, and then (hopefully) use her to find the new leader of the group. While the captain and the fugitive woman flee from their pursuers, they fall in love and a Shakespearean tragedy ensues. I won't say much more as I don't want to spoil it. Oh and... the movie is in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles (just fyi).

Summary: Highly recommended... especially on BluRay!

Home Renovation Project: New Garage Doors: Installation
Our new garage doors were installed yesterday and today. Included with the installation: new openers, new tracks, new everything. Here are a couple of pictures:

All that is lacking now is a final coat of varnish and the garage door hardware (which includes decorative iron latches and ornamental clavos).

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Bar Counter and First Deck Door Installed
Baxton was here today as well as Joe from Kenis Loven's crew. We had Kenis design and manufacture a support for a remnant of solid-surface slate that was leftover from the fireplace hearth. The remnant will sit on the support at bar counter height (42") and function as both a serving counter and as a place for kids to eat (we have not as of yet found a suitable backless bar stool however).

Meanwhile, Baxton installed the first of the two doors upstairs that walks out on to the deck. He also added some trim around the lower patio doors to dress up the door a bit (and match what he did on the deck). Here are some pictures of the work done today.

To Camano Island and Back
The five of us traveled up to Camano Island today for the purpose of visiting George and approving the material for the spiral staircase and railing for the back patio and deck. Camano Island is near Stanwood if that helps (it didn't help me)... about an hour drive to the north from our house. We first had to drop off the Mercedes at the garage to diagnose some mysterious non-starting problem. The ride in the BMW was tight, but not too bad. It certainly would have been more enjoyable if Eliana had not thrown up a couple of times on the way there (thankfully we contained the ejected stomach contents in a small cooler). Ah... good times.

One we found the place, Kristy and I took turns watching the kids and talking with George about the fabrication and installation plans. I have no doubt the the final product will be fantastic, but George is certainly taking his sweet time.

Here are some pictures of the kids just outside of George's workshop:

On our way back we stopped in Stanwood at "Jimmy's Pizza and Pasta" which I found out just now is - according to TripAdvisor - the #1 ranked restaurant in all of Stanwood! (*cough* out of 3 total restaurants.) The pizza and pasta we ordered were actually all very good. The pizza was fresh tasting and the crust was very fine. We'll probably not be in that part of town again (never say never!), but if we happen that way then I would not hesitate to go back for more pizza and pasta at Jimmy's. Good cheap small town food.

We returned to Bellevue to pick up the Mercedes and Kristy took the girls home for naps. Berkeley and I lingered and then walked over to nearby Park Place and had a look at the inventory of exotic cars they have for sale; including (in Berkeley's order of preference) the Ferraris, the Porches, the Aston Martins, and the vintage Corvettes. Berkeley picked out a 5-yr-old red Porche Boxster convertible for Kristy and recommended that we buy it and take it home. To my surprise, it was listed at just a mere $22k and change. I had a small moment of weakness, but I stiffened up and got over it pretty quickly. We then continued on and eventually returned home.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Gutters/Downspouts Fixed
The LeafGuard folks showed up today to work on the downspouts and gutters that have been affected by the new deck patio footprint. The downspout up on the deck needed to be redirected around where the railing will eventually tie into the house trim, then down into the collection system that runs underneath the deck. Here is a picture:

Other downspouts on the ground level were also fixed.

(Update Tue Aug 26 08:51:38 PDT 2008 // added pic)

Amiina
A friend recently discovered my affinity for sigur rós (I now have purchased a majority of the sigur rós discography), and sent me a few tracks by another Icelandic band called Amiina. Amiina has played regularly with and opened for sigur rós. The musical style is minimalistic yet it is quite lovely. I have discovered that it is wonderful music to put on in the background while I concentrate on programming. Here are several samples of Amiina music to enjoy: hemipode, hilli, kolapot, and rugla. The song "hemipode" is available on the EP "Animanima", and the other three are available on the Amiina album "Kurr". Highly recommended.

Movie Review: Bucket List

Title:	Bucket List (2007)
Rating:	6/10

My brother and sister-in-law recently recommended that we rent and see The Bucket List. It is a show about two gentlemen which are advanced in years that are each diagnosed with terminal cancer. One man (played by Morgan Freeman) is a blue collar worker that worked repairing taxis up until the day he was diagnosed. The other man (Jack Nicholson) is a wealthy billionaire that owns a chain of hospitals, even the one where the two men meet and share a hospital room. After sharing a room with one another for some weeks time, they construct a "bucket list" - things to do before they die - and travel the world (on the billionaire's dime of course) crossing off items on their list.

Nicholson's character has a seemingly infinite supply of free time and money and leaves behind a sterile life that has no close associations whatsoever. However, Freeman's character leaves behind his wife and family to join Nicholson. Freedman's wife is especially bewildered by his actions and eventually this bewilderment gives way to frustration and anger. And really, who can blame her?! The whole notion of spending the last moments of life with a complete stranger rather than family and friends is a very curious notion and one that I could not empathize with the least. This left me completely disconnected from the Freeman character and the story itself for much of the duration of the movie.

But a few weeks into their "bucket list" journey, both men come to realize that the errand they are running is empty and wholly insignificant, especially compared to the value of the families they have left behind unattended. Freeman's character returns to his family and enjoys his last days surrounded by them. And Nicholson's character reconciles with a daughter and meets his grand-daughter for the first time.

Summary: Touching story; worthwhile message. But the setup is a bit contrived.

Mirror Lake Campout (2008 edition)
This is the third summer I have enjoyed being the 11-yr-old scoutmaster servicing the troop in our LDS Ward. Per tradition, I took my very green 11-yr-olds (technically, one doesn't turn 11 until next month) with their dads and camped out up at Mirror Lake yesterday and today. I only have the 11-yr-olds for one year before they move on to the 12-yr-old patrol, so the campout is always fresh for the boys. I only have three boys this year which is a nice manageable group. And they get along with each other (bonus!). This year was a repeat for Lonnie. He had an 11-yr-old two years ago and has another one this year. Ah well, he likes this campout he says. Plus he brought a camera (Kristy was using ours at the zoo yesterday), so all of the pictures below were taken by Lonnie.

Here is a good picture of our campsite on the shore of Mirror Lake. We arrived somewhat early compared to previous years, but we ended up with the last campsite on the south side of the lake. There were lots of other campers/hikers there. I think we got a perfect spot for the size of our group though. My tent isn't pictured below; I was up in the trees just a little bit.

What's for dinner? Camping food... boiled hot dogs and mac-n-cheese. Yummy!

Nothing beats an instant oatmeal breakfast... well nothing we had in our limited food inventory anyway.

After breakfast we set out to climb nearby Tinkham Peak. The previous two years featured overcast weather, but today there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Once we eclipsed the timber line while scrambling up the Tinkham Peak ridge, we enjoyed a beautiful view of Mt. Ranier to our southwest all the way until we reached the summit. It was a lovely day for a hike.

I'll see Mirror Lake and Tinkham again next year... if not with the scouts then maybe with the family.

Day at the Zoo
Kristy took the kids to the zoo today.

Home Renovation Project: New Garage Doors: Paint/Varnish
The garage doors have been stained and varnished. The front side has two coats of stain and the back side just one coat. See pictures below.

Installation is scheduled for next week.

Movie Review: Fool's Gold

Title:	Fool's Gold (2008)
Rating:	5/10

Kristy and I watched Fool's Gold tonight with very low expectations. We were both surprised that it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. It's kind of a cute romantic comedic adventure that really is nothing much more than a fist full of air. But it's fun enough that I didn't really mind too much (though the dumb McConaughey assistant and dumber millionaire daughter did get annoying). Matthew McConaughey plays a treasure seeker trying to find a lost Spanish treasure trove of gold. Kate Hudson plays his ex-wife and former partner in the now-decades old (and heretofore fruitless) treasure hunt. However, near the beginning of the film off the coast of an island in the Bahamas, McConaughey uncovers a piece of china that supposedly belonged to the ship that was last known to have had the Spanish gold. But he is so deeply in debt (and accidentally destroys his boat) that he no way to continue his search. So he enlists the help of a local millionaire who also happens to be his ex-wife's current employer. The rest of the movie falls from there. The mysteries of the treasure... once locked and impenetrable for centuries, unfold and are solved in minutes, etc, etc.

Summary: Deserves a look.

(Update Sat Sep 6 07:16:49 PDT 2008 // corrected spelling)

Happy Birthday to Me
This is the last of my birthdays that begin with a number 3. I'm feeling quite a bit older this year, but not much wiser unfortunately. Kristy got up early and cleaned up my office, which was very considerate given the fact it was an utter mess. Kristy also made me my favorite breakfast this morning (Eggs Benedict). I opened my presents after breakfast: new hiking boots (Eliana), socks (Livy), crocs (Berkeley). I picked out the boots and crocs; the socks where Livy's idea, apparently she picked the gift out herself. Before I could open the gift, Livy blurted out the contents "It's socks Daddy! It's socks!" She seemed pretty pleased with her selection. I spent the afternoon running errands (Lamps Plus, Lowe's, etc) and also had lunch with Carl over at Frankie's (where I enjoyed a marvelous sausage/jalepeño pizza... yum yum). After dinner at home, we had some birthday pie... Strawberry Rhubarb to be precise. Here are the pics:

In the late evening I played some softball... in the rain. It was a muddy affair and I came home filthy. But it was worth it, we won both games. Sweet!

(Update Sat Sep 6 10:47:24 PDT 2008 // my memory was refreshed)

Product Review: Novaform Memory Foam Mattress Topper
The 1-inch foam topper that came with our overpriced Dulux bed has deteriorated to the point it needs to be replaced... my back has been aching and my back really never aches like this. I called up the local Dulux for a replacement price on the 1" foam mattress topper... they quoted me $800. Uh, thanks but no thanks you filthy leeches! Instead, I ordered a 2.5-inch thick Novaform Memory Foam Mattress Topper at costco.com the other week. It arrived last Saturday and I opened it up yesterday. I bought the California King size because that's what I thought we had, but... I was wrong, we have just a plain 'ol King. Oops. So I returned it today at the local store and wouldn't you know it, they have the foam mattress toppers in stock out on the floor... but not the 2.5" thick version, instead they have the 3" thick version for a mere $10 more than the on-line model. Bonus. So I swapped it out and put it on the bed. First impressions are good; nice and soft, just the right amount of firm comfort, responds and rebounds well during movement. Hopefully it will sleep well.

Update Fri Sep 5 22:14:40 PDT 2008
We have been sleeping on the new topper for 2½ weeks now. It is very nice and comfy. Kristy absolutely loves it and gives it very high marks. I am also very satisfied. Great value too... just $170.

A Productive Saturday
I spent much of the day working out in the garage. I moved all the junk out, pressure washed the garage, wiped down all of the shelving, then sorted through the stuff and put a lot of it away or threw it away. I also started on a garage lighting project I've been meaning to do for awhile. Nothing fancy... I'm putting in a couple of twin-tube fluorescent light fixtures on the ceiling next to some of the garage overhead storage racks I installed last year. The two lights will operate on a 3-way circuit with switches on either side of the garage. I'm also installing a goose-neck light fixture to provide some direct illumination to the dartboard in the garage. The dartboard light will operate via a single pole switch that shares one half of a double gang box; the other half is occupied with one of the 3-way switches for the fluorescent light fixtures. I have access to the space above the ceiling for the benefit of the wire runs. The space is just big enough for a 200-lb rat (me) to squeeze through.

It was a very productive day. A few more free Saturdays like this and I may just get this place whipped into shape. Finally.

Italian Cream Soda
Kristy and I went out to dinner tonight (at P.F. Chang's). While we were waiting to be seated we walked over to Cost Plus because we were, well, bored. While there wandering, I picked up a bottle of Torani raspberry syrup to make Italian cream sodas for the kids. Berkeley and Eliana discovered Italian sodas during some recent visits to Pallino. But at Pallino they are kind of expensive for whatever reason... just under $4 per glass! By contrast the 750ML bottle of Torani cost me just over $6 and contains enough syrup for several dozen drinks.

1-16oz glass
crushed ice
Pelligrino sparking mineral water (or equivalent)
2 tbs Torani flavored syrup (raspberry, peach, etc)
1 tbs half and half
whipping cream (optional)

Fill one 16oz glass about 3/4 full of crushed ice. Add sparkling water to almost the rim of the glass. Add 2 tbs favorite flavor of flavoured syrup. Slowly drizzle 1 tbs half and half over ice so that the half and half stays near the top and creates a "two-layer" type of effect (presentation is important!). Add a dollop of freshly whipped cream to the top of the beverage and serve with a stiff straw.

Note: I used Pelligrino in the recipe above because we keep it stocked in the pantry and serve it when we host dinner parties. Cheaper brands of sparkling water will probably work in a pinch. But satisfaction is not guaranteed when substitutions are used!

Home Renovation Project: New Garage Doors: Delivery
We are replacing our garage doors. The current doors are in perfect working order. We are swapping them out for aesthetic reasons only. The new doors are stain-grade carriage-style doors (see sketches of single garage door and double garage door). We saw them at Costco "on sale", grabbed the brochure, and called the number for a quote. A rep from Amaar came out to give us a quote. To our dismay, the garage doors shown in the pictures at the Costco booth (the carriage-style we were interested) weren't "on sale", instead some flimsy metal foam-core garage doors (that were of lower quality than what we now have) were the ones that were "on sale". Aargh... the classic bait-and-switch. The doors we actually wanted (the ones pictures in the booth at Costco) were quoted at just over $20 grand. Uh, no thanks.

So I made a few phone calls and found a local company, National Door that quoted us the same style doors (with what appears to be identical build quality) for a third the price of Amaar. The doors were delivered today:

The doors will be stained/finished next week and installed the week after that.

Movie Review: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Title:	Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Rating:	7/10

We didn't complete all of our laundry folding last night, so we finished it today while watching the movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (on BluRay of course!). It reunites the two main characters from another show I quite liked - A Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. Master and Commander is a fine film; very good in fact. I found the treatment of the rigors of the high sea completely fascinating. Despite the fictional narrative, the film seemed to go to great lengths to be an historically accurate portrayal of the daily life on a British naval war ship. I just read that there were 20 novels written around the the adventures of the fictional Captain Jack Aubry (Russell Crowe), so it sounds like there was a lot of material from which to make the film. The result is a film that is rich in detail and compelling to watch.

Movie Review: The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)

Title:	The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)
Rating:	6/10

Kristy rented and watched The Importance of Being Earnest last Friday night while I was camping with the kids. We watched it again tonight while doing laundry (laundry is never ending!). The writing is very sharp in this situational comedy (which I understand is faithful to the original play by Oscar Wilde). The movie is not gut-busting funny, but is quietly amusing. The film is less about the characters and how they came to be placed in such a situation and more about the dialog. For example, how do Jack and Algy become such fast friends and then *spoiler alert* coincidentally discover that they are actually brothers? The coincidence is so outrageous that it begs to be explained, but it never is. In this way, the movie is kind of like a TV sitcom comedy, silly... but a bit more refined (e.g. no laugh track).

Beverage Review: Root Beer: Crater Lake

Brand:	Crater Lake
Score:	87
Availability:	Bellevue QFC

The Crater Lake brand of root beer is a very good solid rooty brew, not too cloying. The soda is very dark and has very little carbonation... and has a nice and smooth delivery from beginning to end. The Crater Lake soda starts out a lot like the root beer at RockBottom but the execution is much more refined and it finishes well. Not a complete replacement for the Americana (I'm still crying in my mug about the lack of Americana supply), but the Crater Lake is a solid and capable brew for those (like myself) that like root beer more sharp than sweet.

Beijing Olympics Men's 4x100 Relay
If you missed it (like I did), then be sure to watch the incredible footage of the Men's 4x100 relay that occurred yesterday at the Olympics. (Note: requires Microsoft Silverlight install, but it's worth it.) It is quite a race... one that pits the heavily favored French relay team against a United States squad led by Michael Phelps and anchored by Jason Lezak. The announcers took on a somber tone for much of the race, and as Lezak took off from the blocks for the 4th and final leg of the relay... they seemed downright depressed:

"I just don't think he [Lezak] can do it."  (4:43)

"Bernard is pulling away from him [Lezak]."  (4:50)

"The United States is trying to hang on to second; they should get the silver medal."  (4:59)

But then the incredible happens:

<loud>"But Lezak is closing!"<:/loud>  (5:04)

<louder>"He's tightening it [the race] up!"<:/louder>  (5:13)

<screaming>"Here comes Lezak! Unbelievable at the end! He's done it!"</screaming>  (5:19)

After you watch that, then go read about the split times and CNN/SI's story.

(Update Mon Aug 11 09:22:03 PDT 2008 // updated content and URL)

Tim/Annie Wedding
Kristy took a one-day trip down to Phoenix today to attend the wedding of my nephew Tim (Kristy's oldest sister's second oldest son). Here are the pictures she snapped:

Family Campout
I took the kids up to the nearby LDS-owned Ensign Ranch to participate in the ward campout last night and today. Kristy could not attend, she is instead down in hell attending the wedding of one of our nephews (Timothy, Kristy's oldest sister's second-oldest son... photo gallery to follow). We arrived at our campsite at around 5pm last night and set up camp. There is a burn ban in effect up in that area, so the kids were stuck with eating mac-n-cheese instead of something prepared over the fire... no smores either. They didn't seem to mind too much as there were plenty of other little kids running around.

We had plenty of room in the Eureka Copper Canyon 13x12 tent I bought for the family last summer. I put up the divider and hosted a small movie screening in the tent. There were about 8 or 9 kids in there at one point (on the one side). Great tent... and for something so big, it is pretty easy to set up (Berkeley and I were able to do it in about 10 minutes).

In the morning we enjoyed a hot breakfast (provided by the ward). The kids behaved quite well and sat there (perhaps still in the daze of sleep) and ate without complaint. I was actually quite amazed as were several others that sat around us. After breakfast, we drove over to the water slide near the entrance to the Ranch and stayed there for almost two hours tubing down the slide. We then returned to the camp, packed up, and grabbed some burgers and shakes at Mountain High on the way back home. Good times.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Beam Bracket
Progress on the back patio deck project is at a standstill right now. Everything is done with the exception of the 2nd floor doors and the handrail/stairs. The material for the handrail/stairs is on backorder and the doors cannot go in until we replace the wood beam supporting the load over our family room... so we can notch the beam to cut in the door for our master bedroom. I've been working with Baxton's structural engineer, another contractor (Baxton has deferred on the steel beam installation), and some drafting skills of some friends (Dave and Tim) to get the beam and supporting brackets drawn up for fabrication. I think we finally have the design finalized (click to enlarge):

 

Beverage Review: Root Beer: Eric's Famous Root Beer

Brand:	Eric's Famous
Score:	10
Availability:	QFC

I drank the last of my stash of Americana the other week (I typically will buy 24 bottles or more and nurse them over the course of several months). I traveled over to the Bellevue QFC to pick up some more. To my great dismay, I was informed that the Americana distributor (Real Soda) has gone out of business... so it may be impossible to get more Americana in the short term, and it could be possible that I may have consumed my last bottle. Very depressing to say the least.

While I was there (wallowing in sorrow) I picked up a couple of root beers that I haven't tried before. One was a beverage manufactured here in the Puget Sound area (in Mill Creek), Eric's Famous Root Beer. Wow, is this stuff terrible. My best description would be that it tastes like a cross between creme soda and diet cola. It also has a wet-sawdust like aftertaste that I can only guess originates from the ginseng or guarana included in the ingredients. I guess this is "root beer" in name only, as it tastes nothing like a good quality brew. If you can, imagine a fully-sugared "root beer" that actually tastes worse than a diet root beer (which is an abomination in and of itself). That's how bad this stuff is... I couldn't finish the bottle.

Summary: Horrible.

Too Late for Super Saver Shipping?
It's my 38th birthday on Tuesday in two weeks time (the 19th). If you haven't already, please consult my updated wish list. It may be too late for Super Saver Shipping (if timely delivery is important), but I certainly won't take umbrage at a late gift. Thanks in advance!

Setting The Bar (for Cuteness)
Berkeley started a "tennis camp" today over at the Plateau Country Club. He was invited to attend by his good friend Jake. The "camp" is really just four 1-hour sessions over the next four days, but it is a good excuse for Berkeley and Jake to have to fun together. He went swimming at the club pool after, had lunch, and came up with a nice red heat rash on his face, forearms, and legs.

I asked him about the camp and his day in general. I asked him stuff like how many people are at the camp, etc. I also asked him this:

"Are there any girls in your class?"

"Yeah, but just one."

"Is she a cutie?"

"Not as cute as Ana."

Completely unsolicited... and very sweet.

Kristy's Birthday
We had some family and friends over tonight for dinner on the occasion of Kristy's birthday. This completes the Berrett birthday trifecta: 3 birthday parties in 10 days. Kristy was the proud recipient of a locket (with a picture of the kids) and a new bicycle. The bike was the kids idea. The locket, well, was Kristy's idea... I just had to stich a picture of the kids (from a recent Easter picture) that would fit inside a locket.

I made her a nice big chocolate cake too (from scratch)... pictured below:

And Happy Birthday to my brother Brent as well... born on the same day (and same year) as Kristy.

August 2008 Remlinger Farms Photos
Kristy took the kids to Remlinger Farms today and snapped quite a few pictures. Enjoy!

Home Maintenance Project: Furnace Circuit Board Replacement
Last Saturday (while watching Wild Hogs), Kristy and I noticed a strong electrical odor in the house. After we tried to find the source inside to no avail, we traced the smell to the garage where we heard a loud buzzing noise. It was the furnace. I popped open the furnace cover and noticed immediately that the circuit board was fried... and there was a lot of black residue in the immediate vicinity; it appeared that there was a significant spark created or perhaps even a small fire.

Our furnace is a Trane, model XL80. The board itself isn't made by Trane, but by White Rogers. The original White Rogers part number on the board is 50M61-495 (the Trane part number is CNT-3077). This board has been replaced by a new improved model (hopefully)... White Rogers model number 50M61-843. I found a replacement board at a couple of web sites, but eventually decided to place an order from part-s-mart.com. Only $108 + $11 expedited shipping.

I swapped the board out myself. I figured that the task could not be too much harder than swapping out a motherboard on a desktop computer, a task I've done more times than I can count. In fact, it was quite easy. The boards are laid out identically, so it was just a simple matter of removing wire X from connection Y on fried circuit board and putting it in connection Y on the new circuit board. After about 15 minutes, it was done!

Here are a couple pictures of the fried circuit board and the newly installed board (click to enlarge):

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Architectural Stone Installed
Dave Bartlett of Bartlett Masonry (and his apprentice Jason) started installing the architectural stone around the fireplace and the bottom of the columns yesterday. They finished it up today... check it out:

We had some of our new deck and patio furniture delivered today... just in time for Kristy's birthday party tomorrow!

Photographs by Eliana
Eliana loves to play with our $1000+ camera (much to my chagrin). We humor her from time to time, but we really should get her a cheapo digicam (like our old Canon Powershot G2 that we seem to have misplaced). Here are a few of the pictures she took today in her "I Love My Sister" series: