Home Page Archive

27JUL08: Greetings all!!! Busy weekend for us here and the Minnesota branch of the Mendoza Ranch. The Mendoza Parents and Mark Claudia and little boy Gabe drove up to visit here in Minnesota. Mark, Claudia and Gabe had to leave today (could only stay 2 days); that's okay, we had fun besides Mark and Claudia have a new house that they need to finishing unpacking!!! We spent Saturday morning going to our weekly visit to the beach at Medicine Lake and then had dinner at home to celebrate Mark's birthday - he's such an Old Man!!! Today, we spent the morning at Mall of America to go to their Underwater Adventure aquarium. It's not too bad, a bit overpriced at $19; thankfully we had some coupons. Afterwards, Mark, Claudia and Gabe took the long drive back to Chicago; hopefully by the time I post this, they'll be home.

Mom and Dad Mendoza will be staying here for the week so they can play with Evan and Maia; plus we get home cooked Filipino food, can't beat that!!! Here are some pictures from this weekend.

Actually took more video than pictures this time around. It was a fun weekend; next trip is us going down to Chicago this October...BTW, it's going to be Monika and mine's 8 year wedding anniversary - Holy Cow!!! Also got a chance to get some flying in with my Pico Tiger Moth. Mark and my Dad came along and seemed like they had fun time. Mark especially liked it when I'd "buzz" the tower (ie: us).

02JUL08: Yes, it's been a while so I'm make this quick and get up some more pictures so my brother will stop bugging me :) Not too much going on, all is well. Evan and Maia doing well of course and there more pictures of them below. I did pick up another hobby, Even since grade school, I've had an interest in R/C stuff; just like my brother. Over the past two years or so my interest has come back, so this year for Father's day: Monika, Maia and Evan got me (Daddy) and R/C plane!!! Specifically THIS (GWS Pico Tiger Moth).

Video of the Tiger Moth flying at a nearby school field - I love this plane!!! I need to include some close of pictures of what you're actually seeing - I was flying and videoing at the same time. I'm officially addicted to this hobby; it's very relaxing and challenging at the same time. Currently, I fly after the kids are asleep or during my lunch break at work. Yes, the video is not of my maiden flight. My maiden flight ended up in a maiden crash; quick repair with some glue and I was flying in 10 minutes.

22MAY08: Gee can you say, it's just a BIT busy with a 22month old and a 1.5month old?!? Yup, sleep is optional but things aren't too bad. We have Maia going to daycare 3x/week instead of 5x/wk; in retrospect, we should have keep the 5x/wk schedule. Monika is plum exhaust by the end of the day with 2 munchkins wanting her attention.

25APR08: So what's new - Well - We had our baby!!! Evan James Mendoza was born on 03APR08 at 12:12pm weighing 7lbs, 14oz and 20.5 inches. So that's my excuse for not updating our website and I'm sticking to it. ;)

So yes, the sleepless nights are a matter of fact for now; but it's worth it really. He's too dang cute and precious. My mom came up to help out and we're grateful of the help, but this week we were on our own and it's been BUSY. Speaking I think I need to go to bed, so I'll be uploading more pictures this weekend.

13FEB08: So tomorrow's my birthday - Yay to me!!! Took the 14th and 15th off and we're going to the Dells, yes, Wisconsin Dells. We're going to meet up with Monika's mom and brothers Gregg and Chris. Monika's coworker Rong and her baby, Anabelle will be coming along also. We be staying at one of the smaller water parks where the "girls" will be hanging out at and us "boys" will be ripping up Devil's Head Ski area. Gregg and Chris will be "knuckle-dragging" it and I'll be the lone "two-planker" (man I thought those VW Jetta comercials were funny!!). We don't leave until Friday so that gives me Thursday to due whatever I want.

Not sure what I'll be doing, I might go skiing at Buck Hill which is 30 minutes away if I have time. But, I want to pick up a ski helmet this year and with it being end of the season; there should be some deals. Why a ski helmet? Why not? I wear my bike helmet whenever I go biking, even when it's on-road. It just makes sense with skier, if not due to my incompetence and lack of skill; but then to protect me from the other bozos. Beside when Maia starts skiing/biking, she's wearing a helmet - period; so I guess I should be a good role model - man, is that parent-sounding or what.

Anyway, it's been over 2 years since I went skiing. Tore my ACL 2 years ago and then had Maia last year, so it was hard to find time. Plus I'll admit that after ACL surgery, I was a bit nervous. I hit the slopes for the first time this season at Buck Hill 2 weeks ago and it reminded me why I love the sport. I went again this past Sunday when temperatures were 14 below and windchills were -30 below. I was pretty warm and man does a balaclava help. Only part that got cold were my feet after 3-4 runs, so it was off the the indoor fireplace for some water and warming up.

I haven't been back to Devil's Head in about 5 years so it should be interesting getting back. It's not Colorado (and neither is Minnesota), but I happy just getting out on the slopes and carving some turns. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Buck Hill is only 30 mintues away and is quite decent. Afton Alps is another place I go to that has more runs and that's about and hour away.

Away just thought I do a quick update, I'll be adding pictures of the Munchkin playing in the water and us boys playing in the snow later this weekend!!!

02FEB08: So I keep being told that I need to update our website more often (thanks Mark and Claudia); so I'll do my best this year even if it's just a couple of lines and a few pictures. Maia's will be 18 months old next week and she gets cuter, smarter, and sillier every day. Her new thing is to shrug her shoulders and give that impish grin that she does so well - I think I taught her that ;)

I need to figure out how to add videos to this website, I'll try this weekend to figure it out. Nothing else new, my company (PDLI) is still for sale and I still have a job. No official word yet on if/when we'll get bought, it's just a bit nerve-racking. Our manufacturing site has so much potential and a talented workforce; I'm going to try and stick it out. Monika will be going to Boston, MA next week for work, so it's going to be 3 days of Maia and myself - hopefully I'll survive...

So like I promised, here are new pictures of Maia. Here she's helping me clean up the driveway and there are other shots from Monika's Holiday Party with Aveda. There was a really great band, CBO, that rocked the house. Great entertainment, great fun!!!

I must apologize for the pictures from the party. There were taken with a Canon S80 (point and shoot) and Monika and I haven't really been impressed by it. Too bad I didn't bring along my Canon XTi (DSLR); the pictures would have been much better. Oh well, sacrifice quality for size I guess; just need to find a compact camera that does it better.

Monika as usual has planned a great birthday weekend for all of us. We'll be spending next weekend in the Wisconsin Dells at a water park. Monika's mom and brother will be meeting us along with our friend Rong and her daughter Anabelle. We're trying to work it out so that my brother Mark along with Claudia and baby Gabe can meet up with also. The girls and kids will be playing at the water park while Greg, myself and hopefully Mark will be carving up Devil's Head Ski Resort by skiing and snowboarding.

Here's a web forum on snow sports: The Barking Bear Forums Great info on ski gear, resorts, training and much more.

It's been about 3 yrs since I last went skiing. Blew out my ACL, next year had Maia but I did get out at finally this year and skied at Buck Hill which is about 30 minute drive away. My knee held up fine (didn't wear a brace) just need to built up my stamina and muscle memory - yup, outta shape but still had a blast. Can't wait for Devil's Head to work on my carving technique (was a mid level 7 but feel like a low 6 now on the PSIA scale). Being back on the slopes has given me the ski bug again so I'm going to try and work in as much slope time as I can this year - gotta head out West again, I miss the Outback at Keystone!!!

31DEC07: So a new year is almost here, can't believe that it's gone by so fast. Lots of things going on this year and even lots more for 2008. Oh, in case I didn't mention it -

Yup, positively craziness I know. So Monika is due around April 25, 2008 and it's going to be a BOY!!! One girl, one boy - *sigh*, I think I'm still in denial about the 2nd baby. I guess things will work out - with coffee and beer. Seriously though, we're all real happy about it. Figure now that Maia has someone to boss around now, being the Leo that she is. Hopefully the two of them can keep each other entertained (you know like 2 dogs or 2 cats - yes, we've had pets for such a long time now); and not have to be bailed out of jail at an early age (btw Mark, if you don't want Auntie Tessie's shotgun, pass it over to me so I can inspect any boyfriends and keep the boy in line).

What else...ugh the Bears...they finally decided to get serious for the last couple of games of the season; just a little late. At least they looked good for the most part, and just like the Cubs - there's always next year!!!

Things are going pretty well except for my job. The company I work for (stock ticker : PDLI) has gone through a bit of a soap opera (read the news for the stock) that all started early in 2007. It didn't help that our main drug candidate failed late stage testing also (this came out of left field), so in October 2007, 103 people were laid-off from our Minnesota site (none from our HQ in California) and then a few weeks later our company went up for sale. I still have a job for now though who knows what's going to happen when/if we get a new owner. So, it's been a bit stressful this holiday season. Hopefully in January 2008 will find out the heck is going to happen. If you read the news on the company starting from March '07 with a letter from a large stakeholder - it really is/was a fricken soap opera that has yet to have a final ending.

So, with a new baby on the way and with Maia; we've developed contingency plans which include relocation - yes (Mark, Mary, Jen, Chris, Greg), it does include Chicago but it sorta depends on where we can get jobs.

On that lovely note, here are some new pictures of our munchkin playing at Ridgedale Mall near our house. They have a nice kid area where all the things are covered in this latex foam and there's only one entry/exit. Also, a few in the bathtub and one with her Christmas present from her Godmother/Monika's cousin Mary (go DJ Markski!)

03Nov07: What!!! Another update in less than 5 days..."stop the press, who is that, Vicki, Vicki Vale..." Sorry, I digress. Anyways, about a month or so ago; we had some really bad storms come through our area. 70mph wind gusts, dime-sized hail, trees falling all around our home, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria. With all that, we ended with no power for 3 days, a damaged deck, damaged roof and dented metal siding on all four sides of the house (yeah, some crazy winds that knocked down trees all over our neighborhood).

We had a new roof installed last week and this week, the siding is being done (we won't have the deck re-stained until next year since it's too cold now). With some of the reimbursement, we also changed out the exterior lights of the garage, lamp post and back door. Here are some pictures of the house before, during and after all the work.

What still needs to be done is to install the new black shutters in the front 3 windows, new windows wraps, new gutters and new fascia around the family room. After that next year, we'll need a new garage door and new front stairs (this will come out of our pockets...the house projects never end...).

31Oct07: Happy Halloween everyone!!! We're all doing well here in Minnesota. Monika is lucky enough to be in Tokyo, Japan for work; she's having an alright time and it turns out that she doesn't care too much for the way the local food is seasoned/prepared. It seems that their best meal so far was at an Italian restaurant... My mom is visiting from Florida to help take care of Maia but that also means "homemade Filipino food!!!!" Eat your heart out Mark!!!

Here are some pictures of Maia in her costume. She's supposed to be a witch, not a bad one, but a good one with a sense of style. Kinda like a hip Glinda...

She wasn't too happy about wearing the outfit at first, okay she hated it. Once it was one, she didn't want to wear the hat at all. Plus it was cold and very windy, it was around 50 degrees F at 5:30pm. We went to visit one of the neighbors but Maia became really fussy and cranky so we decided to bring her home and get her some dinner. She was much better after that. Monika left a card for her to read on Halloween which she loved as you can tell. And, yes, even Kira was not safe from the Halloween bug.

13Aug07: Here's the finished paddle: made of Douglas Fir, with polyurethane coated tips, and 3 coats of Tung oil - it's 82 inches long, 3.75 inches wide, loom is 20 inches long. It took about 20 hours of work to make this one. I hope to test it out next week at Medicine Lake near home. This is my first hand carved paddle and it won't be my last. Next a storm paddle and then a paddle for Monika.

Also, here are some pictures of a summer storm that came through over the weekend. This is the receding end that happened around sunset. There were some beautiful colors and cloud shapes. the sky had that eerie orange glow to it. Kinda freaky.

So I've decided to make my owe paddle for my kayak out of basically a 2x6in piece of wood. Why? A couple of reasons:

Below are the pictures of my progress, starting from left to right - a 2x4 piece of Douglas Fir to a useable paddle. I'll be adding more information for the pictures over the weekend. I just wanted to get these pictures quickly. Also, tonight I added the last coat of Tung oil to the paddle; it's looking real sharp and I can't wait to hit the water. I'll be adding pictures of my first hand-made Greenland paddle of the weekend!!!

I like sushi!!! (okay, maybe just Unagi since it's cooked)...

31JUL07: So in my limited free time usually late at night after 10pm, I've taken on a new project - building my own Greenland paddle for kayaking. I have pictures HERE (in the Pictures section of our web site). Time is short but we're all doing well. Maia has 2 new teeth (front upper teeth) and two new ones seem to be forming - that will make it 6 teeth by the time she's ONE!!! Speaking of which she'll be ONE in August, man has it been one year already?!?

I'll be updating over the weekend and I might be changing the style of this front page; we'll see how much time I have.

23JUN07: So, it's 10:38pm and the whole neighborhood's lost power. I was actually doing stuff for work when BAM!! All's quiet...no sounds from the aquarium, the movie that Monika was watching, or from the baby monitor. The only sound breaking the night's silence is the persistent beeping alarms from the UPS battery backups we have which inform us that power was lost - duh. So, I'm out on the deck work on this website. The laptop has a good 2.5-3hrs of battery juice. I'm also smoking a cigar (a Drew Estate's Natural Root - nice cigar, the Natural line from Drew Estate has really grown on me, I got a sampler from www.cigarsinternational.com with my last order). Not drinking any port yet, but give me another 10 minutes.

Not too much going on Monika's brother Chris flew up from Chicago to visit his girlfriend Becky and they both stopped by for dinner with us. Maia really likes Chris and had no problem with him carrying her around. It was cute seeing "gigantor" Chris holding "mini" Maia.

Looks like the power company is around here somewhere, I heard a big truck and saw flashing lights around the corner. It seems like we lose power around here at least 3-5 times a year. It's not too bad though, power is usually back around 30-50 minutes, so I can't complain too much. The only bad timing is during the winter for heat and then also from my aquarium (a discus tank with water at 82 degrees F). Well, what do you know, power's back - only took about 20 minutes. So, I guess I'll be uploading this later.

14JUN07: Nothing too new, took Maia for a walk around the neighborhood with her new baby carrier from "Uncle Jim". She's not too happy about the strapping in process, but once we got walking; she loved it!!!

What else...a couple of friends of mine have been playing Rainbow Six: Vegas (360)...we still need more practice as a team, but we're having lot of fun. Funny, I'm not in a writing mood today, sorry. Maybe I'll have to light up a cigar to get the creative ideas flowing.

13JUN07: Okay, so it's been forever; I try to write stuff up but never find the time to upload, so here's a quick Maia update:

Other news, I'll be adding pictures to our photo site: http://kudozza2000.myphotoalbum.com so check there often. Plus, I'll be add a new page to this site soon of random new pictures.

25FEB07: Well, it's been snowing since Friday and today we woke up with almost a foot and a half of snow on the ground. Soooo...that means family shovel and picture time!!!

We did about a third of the driveway when our neighbor offered us to use his 8hp, 2 stage snow blower; so I finished the rest of the driveway in the same amount of time it took to shovel the first third. Big thanks to them!!!

Maia's doing well, she still laughing but now she's trying to crawl; so maybe in a couple of weeks, we'll see. She loves to laugh, eat, and of course cry when she doesn't get what she wants; but we still love her to pieces.

17FEB07: Well, the Bears lost Super Bowl XLI; so I guess like the Cubs there's always next year (so I'll stop here from additional comments and armchair quarterbacking).

Maia's doing well, she's almost 6 months old now. One of her newest "talents" is performing "raspberries". Check it out HERE for some cute baby raspberries.

27JAN07: So yeah, it's been forever and a day since I've updated this site. I have uploaded pictures on my photo site HERE. It's been a tough January with everyone being sick almost every other week. I'm the one sick now.

So finally after 21 long years, the Chicago Bears are going back to the Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts. Good luck to Da Bears!!! It should be great game!!

And also after 6 years, Monika and I finished our wedding photo album. It's a nice professional looking leather bound book with about 30 pages of framed photos. It looks great and since we did the work ourselves, we saved quite a bit of money; better late than never I guess.

Maia's doing well and getter bigger all the time. She's just over 14 pounds and we're having a great time with her. It's fun watching her laugh and trying to make her laugh and giggle, it warms the heart.

Hopefully, I can add more stuff here soon. Some things in the works: more pictures of Maia and I'm working on a new mead recipe similar to the mead I made for Christmas (which everyone loved) but this time it will be with fresh raspberries and will be oak aged. From my research so far, this combination will be outstanding!!!

03SEP06: Well, we're actually surviving through Maia's first couple of weeks. Yes, sleep is a bit of an issue; but it seems that we can now go a 2.5/3 hour stretch where she's sleeping at night. Like every baby, she seems to get more cute every day...yay, our little monkey!!! So as my time-off from work comes to end, I guess some folks are wondering, "So Glenn, what do you do when you're not feeding, burping, changing or putting the baby to sleep"... well you can check it out HERE (yes, it involves alcohol).

28AUG06: As a new father, I'm enjoying a cigar (a Patargas maduro wrapped for those interested) as I write this up. That's right!!! Maia came into our world on 18Aug06 at 5:02am weighing 7lbs, 13oz and 21.5in long. She's now our newest "pet" and Monika and I love her to pieces!!! Yes, quite a change for us but a new chapter in our adventure through life. More pictures are located HERE. In case your wondering, the slimmed-down timeline is found in Maia's story.

16JUN06: Geez how long has it been?!? Yup, it's been real busy taking baby classes, work, fun time, and now renovating the baby's room, bathroom, and our bedroom - basically consisting of painting and refinishing the hardwood floors. Couple of thing have gone on:

Outside of that all is well, Monika is now in her 30th week so she does get some discomfort, but all in all she's doing well.

10APR06: First off, we want to say thanks for all for the congrats and we also wanted to thank those who are checking out our website. Thanks for signing our Guestbook, I know Amoeba can be scary. To Joe and Vickie, yes, it does take time to work on something like this; but it's not that bad. It's amazing how doing just a little bit every now and then; when all of a sudden you have a decent sized website (if you get really bored read our Tripzilla journal from 2001, that did seem like a lot of work at the time; but now after these several years, it helps bring back funny memories that we'll always cherish - but of course, it will only last as long as you "Backup your data" - sorry I think I've spent too many years in QA Validation around computerized systems).

Anyway, it's fun to share our little adventures with all of you since you're all so far away. Plus, it doesn't hurt to get those creative juices flowing. Oh, and for those that we asking; yes, I will try to get a picture up of preggo Monika. If I can only get to stop throwing things at the camera when I do try to snap a picture...

Updates: Well, I've changed around the format as some may have noticed. I've turned the "Daily Grind" into our main page; this just made it easy when we did updates, plus these two pages tended to repeat itself in content. I've also added our trip to Akumal, Mexico in the Trips section. It's still early, hopefully I can add some pictures and narratives by this weekend.

One more thing, the knee is doing well; hopefully next year, I can attempt at least the bunny hills somewhere out West. Yes, Jen, I'm jealous; but I just use it as motivation to get back to 110% so I can hit the powder next year!!!

05/09APR06: It's taking some time for us to update all of the pictures from our Akumal vacation, so look for more pictures later this week HERE (http://kudozza2000.myphotoalbum.com) . Oh yeah, one more thing:

That's right, we found out Friday. So, it's going to be interesting having the first girl on the immediate sides of both our families. Pretty cool...and yes we have a name picked out, but I'll save that for later in the week.

14MAR06: Well I added a new web page, check it out HERE. In less than 3 days, Monika and I, plus her brother Chris will be snorkeling along the coral reefs of Akumal Bay in Mexico. Saturday just can't get here fast enough, let me tell you!! Yesterday, was much fun - NOT!!!. For those not in Minnesota, we got over 10 inches of snow dumped in our area over a course of 12 hours; plus we lost power around 5:40am. So it was a "take a personal day" for both of us. Luckily it wasn't too cold, but we kept the fireplace going for several hours and did our best to keep our Discus Tank at 84 degrees. The power came on several hours later and all was well. We did have to run out to get a hot meal though...did I ever tell that electric stoves just suck!?!

06MAR06: Well my apologies for the lack of updates. Things have been busy as you can probably imagine. Monika and baby our doing well, she has her next ultrasound in April. For now, check out the picture above where the baby is at 10 weeks. Monika is starting to show a bit now and we're doing the "fun" stuff of buying preggo clothes. We've been busy checking out baby stuff and working out baby registries. This stuff is tougher than buying a car - there are WAY too many options and selections to choose from, it is quite intimidating.

The knee is holding together with some exercise and patience. I can actually ride a bike now for more than 30 minutes!!! This is good since there's quite a bit of work to be done to the new baby's room (my former office)-painting, scraping off the lovely popcorn ceiling, and furniture moving.

Well for fun stuff, we've planned a "babymoon" to the same place we had our honeymoon in 2000 - Akumal, Mexico. With any luck, I'll be able to snorkel; with lots of luck maybe even a dive. We'll see in two weeks - it will most likely be our last "big" vacation for quite a while...

Phragmipedium species at the Como Park Conservatory

17Jan06: Well the knee is healing. I'm actually able to walk without the crutches for short periods of time. Pain has lessened and my range of motion is getting better. I get my post-op visit with the doctor tomorrow and will probably start therapy next week. Also, after almost 4 years; we finally have our planted discus tank again. Yup, we bought 6 discus yesterday and all are doing well in our 55 gallon planted tank. Check it out in our "The 55" page.

11Jan06 (2am): Hey, hey; I got the year right this time. So for folks that don't know, back in July 2005, I injured my knee in the semi-final game of beach volleyball (We did manage to take first and I even played in the finals), check the pictures HERE. Well, it turned out that I had torn my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and needed surgery to repair the damage. Check out this site for information.

So yesterday at 11am, I went in for pre-operative prep for a 1pm surgery to repair the torn ligament. All went well, even though I didn't get out of the hospital until 6pm - yeah, but of a long day. Bless Monika's heart, she was with me to keep me company and provide support. She made some tomato soup for me, went shopping for snacks; and even picked up movies for me. Isn't she AWESOME!!!

I have to sleep on my back and every time I move I wake up. There is some pain even with pain killers, hence, why I'm up at this time of the morning and working on this website in our family room watching NOVA. I didn't want to keep bothering Monika's sleep. I have this huge "immobilizer" on which covers the bandages on my entire left leg. It looks like a big wrap with a bunch of Velcro straps to limit movement; and it is a pain to move around. Almost like a part for a straight jacket - "there coming to take me away, ha ha, there coming to take me away, haha, hoho, hehe".

Well, I think this is all I can take now; I'm going to grab some crackers and my pain meds - woo hoo!! Take care all!!

03Jan06: Happy New Year everyone!!! Hope that all of you had a good/safe time celebrating the coming of 2006. Remember that it's 2006 when you write those checks out people!!! So what's new? Not much - except - MONIKA IS WITH CHILD!!!! Yes, there's a bun in the oven, she's eating for two, a baby's on board, she is preggo!!! We announced it to our family over a Christmas toast, I had to repeat it twice until it sunk in. Monika took some video as I made the announcement. The surprised look on everyone's face was PRICELESS!!! On the video, you then see Monika get mobbed by the women of the family; quite amusing if I must say so. It looks like the baby may be due some time in early/mid-September '06, but this will be confirmed as we move forward. This is going to be weird, yes, this will be our first. Monika keeps saying, "it may be twins". She does seem quite "concerned" with it; I'm chalking up to her just being pregnant and it affecting her intuition.

Outside of that, the only other news is that I'm having knee surgery for a torn ACL next Tuesday. I don't think I'm worried, but who knows; it may just be denial. What else, well...in case you didn't know, we have a 55 gallon freshwater planted tank. Currently, there are only a half dozen fish (neon tetras, black fin tetras, a German Blue Ram) and it's about 60% covered with freshwater plants. It looks like we'll be converting this tank into a planted discus tank. We did have a discus tank (only 2) when we first moved to Minnesota; unfortunately, they did not survive our move from the apartment to our new house in early (read: cold) March. So, we'll see. I'll be adding a new section to Fun Stuff , so check back there in a couple of weeks.

30Dec05: Added our trip to Iowa to the Trips section. Enjoying the time off from work and getting myself mentally prepped for my ACL surgery in a week in a half.

21Nov05: Time is funny sometimes, it never seems constant; even though 1 second is 1 second, right? Depending on your mood or on what's going on around you; time can seem to pass quickly, or move at a snail's pace, and sometimes just plain stop. Much has been going on these past months so I apologize for the lack of updates; and it's put my in an odd mood. However, I did add some photos from my business trip to Arizona, check them out HERE.

Outside of that work has been "interesting" and I'll leave it at that. But recently Monika and I had received news that one of our dear friends from college has stomach cancer. She's being a trooper though, and her happy spirit and positive attitude is quite infectious and together with family and friends support; nothing is impossible. We wish her and her family the best, and that we're there for you. Yup, I'm even trying to find a way to get some Imperial penguins from the Pole to come and visit her... ;)

We'll be heading down to Chicago for Thanksgiving dinner with the families which should be a good time.

08Sep05: Longing for escapism, I've got Jimmy Buffett playing (A Pirate Looks at Forty) as I finally finish working on the Tripzilla portion of our website. Yes, finally done; it LIVES. Tomorrow, I leave for western Wisconsin for a Bachelor Party weekend for our friend Travis who's getting married next weekend. Should be fun, boating, biking, fishing, gaming, good CLEAN fun + cigars...

07Sep05: It amazing how long it takes to fix hyperlinks for photos in a web site. I need to find a quicker way; this is the main reason why this is taking so long. So in the meantime, how about I add a "Picture of the Week". This one is our friend Angela and yours truly up in northern Wisconsin at our buddy Jim's cabin. Yeah, we really needed a break from work.

31Aug05: Listening to some Benny Goodman while I work on the site, plus I'm trying to finish working on a friend's PC. Gotta love those self-installing/can't remove/where's my sledgehammer spyware programs. It wasn't too bad though; it's actually kinda of fun - sick 'eh? Added more stuff from October 2001 which consists mainly of Hawai.

30Aug05: In between working on the website, watching news about Katrina, re-watching Band of Brothers, and working on fixing a friend's computer; I actually got around to cutting the grass around the house. Oh yeah, big fun; but it's nice to do mindless things from time to time. It gives you a chance for your mind to wander and ponder. I've been reflecting on a couple of things for the past couple of days and it's put me in mood to listen to the Cranberries - yup, weird.

I'm looking to playing volleyball though tomorrow (I'm in a Wednesday night sand league) after taking a week off to rest my bum knee. With any luck it will hold together for the upcoming play-offs. GO Dam Nilo Veth Ega Me!!!

28Aug05: Still working on reviving Tripzilla 2001, uploaded up to the first week of October 2001. Wow, it's hard to imagine that we did all this - and we're only half way through!! Kinda weird...

23AUG05 - It's been four years since Monika and I quit our jobs and decided to road trip the USA for 4.5 months. I've decided to try and bring back the e-journal that we kept going throughout the trip. Yeah, this is one of those memories that always reoccur during this time of the year. I'll be adding material when I can so check it out HERE.