Non-Technical

Get Fit in February Challenge

Lou Vega — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:31:30 GMT

Today begins the Get Fit in February Challenge from Facebook. If you haven't already signed up - check it out while the month is still young and compete against over 100 other geeks for an MSDN subscription and other prizes! :)

Here's my first blog entry concerning the challenge. I'm starting the challenge at 210 lbs...yeah I ended up putting on some of what I lost last year after giving up soda completely. I was down to 195 for a while but I guess the holidays and then not really paying attention let things creep back up on me. So one goal for this challenge is to get back to that weight level again.

I'm also starting up the 100 push ups challenge again - and this time have 4 people in my office plus my neighbor joining me on the challenge. My initial test the other night was 43 - I could have probably done more but just was feeling lazy at that point. Either way it's a good starting point because rather than the full 6 week program I'm going to start off at Week 3 and try to complete it during the month of February!

Not quite a Fail Whale - just stressed :)

Lou Vega — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:15:18 GMT

Twitter got stressed.

Small reflection on changes over the years...

Lou Vega — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:33:40 GMT

So of course the big announcement for every .NET Geek this week is Windows 7 availability. As I type this out, I'm downloading it in the background (released already on MSDN) and I hear tomorrow Microsoft will open up downloads to like 3 million people. I heard a tweet or two from folks about how large it is and how long it's taking to download and it got me thinking back to when Sun first released the Java SDK and I downloaded that thing. I don't remember how big it was, but it might as well have been gigabytes (of course it wasn't!) as I was overseas downloading it on a dial-up connection...so I actually paid twice for that download, first to my ISP (I think it was Netcom UK back in those days) and second to British Telecom since there wasn't (isn't still?) free phone calls available over landlines on BT's phone network. I actually started the download at night and let it go overnight...thankfully the download wasn't interrupted and in the morning I had a brand new "toy" to play with as I started down the path of learning Java.

Fast forward to today as my download continues from MSDN (MSDN Download Manager says 3 hours remaining) and it just stuck me as odd how though bandwidth has certainly increased (from the old 28.8 dial-up to broadband now) with the bandwidth growth so has the size of downloads grown. Will things ever equal out? Who knows. I remember about that same time I had bought my first Gigabyte hard drive. Yeah - some may remember when they first came out with those. I bought a 1.6GB hard drive for my computer and a friend commented something to the effect of not needing that much space "What the heck are you going to do with all that space?" he asked. "I got a lot of games I want to install" was my answer at the time...and here I am now looking to set up a 2TB RAID NAS on my home network to safely keep all the family photos, videos, games, and other digital artifacts I've collected over the years...while 1GB flash drives are routinely given away free at trade shows, conferences, etc.

No real point to this post other than just some reflections on my part. Thanks for sharing with me!

The duck...go duck, go!

Lou Vega — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:17:19 GMT

I pulled into my driveway after work yesterday and my son immediately starts asking if we could go feed the ducks near one of the ponds in the neighborhood. I had told him yesterday that we could do it and so we grabbed some bread and his wagon and walked down there. My wife and daughter followed (at first, then raced ahead of us) on their bikes.

The pond we picked was along one of two main roads in our neighborhood. Even though the speed limit is 25 and there's a pool and playground near the pond there are still a fair number of cars that really whiz down that road. We have sidewalks and the pond is set off a good distance from the road so we thought we'd be fine as we started to break apart bread and throw it to the hordes of ducks that descended upon our little family.

We had been feeding the ducks for about 10 minutes when we heard a loud "BUMP!". I turned to the road and saw a small white car with a cloud of feathers flying around it. The car's brake lights lit up briefly and then the car continued on its way. I then noticed the small feathered mass in the center of a LOT of feathers in the road...some still swirling around in the breeze created by the car that had just caused this accident. My daughter screamed and started crying saying that the car had just killed that duck. We were easily 150 feet away from it so I couldn't tell if the duck was alive or dead from where I was but I offered to go check for her to see if it was OK. Thankfully my son was too involved in feeding the ducks to have noticed the whole incident.

As I walked closer to the duck I thought it was dead at first. Just a big mess of feathers around this mostly black mass in the road...then as I was about 15 feet away it raised it's head and looked at me. "At least it's alive" I thought, though I then wondered how badly it might be injured. I saw another car coming down the road so I stepped slowly into the road to motion for the driver to move around the duck and as I got closer it started to try to move but looked like it couldn't get up. I told my daughter the duck was still alive but might be hurt pretty bad so she could come see (there wasn't any blood around or visible external injuries) the duck. I tried to get it to move out of the road so that it wouldn't get plowed into again just laying there but it just looked around and wiggled a bit, never trying to move even when I tried to entice it with some bread.

A lot of cars passed by, oddly enough none willing to help or even find out what was going on until one guy in a truck stopped to ask if we needed help. Right about then one of my neighbors who's a police officer came by on his way home. I had explained what happened and how I was trying to get the duck to move and he was getting ready to call animal control when all of a sudden the duck stood up and slowly waddled off the road and back towards the pond. My daughter was real excited to see it move like that and I followed the duck over to the sidewalk where my daughter was. The duck stopped on the grass just off the sidewalk and sat down again. My daughter was still trying to get it to eat and by this time my son had run out of bread so he and my wife walked down to where we were...his 3 year old attention span quickly turned from the ducks to the police car that my neighbor was driving.

My neighbor and I ended up talking for a few more minutes and the duck ended up walking down the small hill toward the water and sat down again. It seemed the duck was fine, though understandably dazed. My wife and daughter raced off on their bikes as my daughter had wanted to tell one of her friends about this "adventure" and my son hopped back in his wagon so I could take him home.

AT&T Customer Service is horrible

Lou Vega — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:34:08 GMT

<rant>

AT&T Customer Service sucks. AT&T Customer Service is horrible. AT&T Customer Service is nearly the worst I've ever experienced. If you have AT&T consider dropping them before you run into the unfortunate event of having to deal with their horrible customer service. If you're shopping for a cell phone provider, wireless provider, etc., don't consider AT&T because it's just not worth it.

I'll explain more later. Right now just trust me on this. That is all.

</rant>

Follow up: This geek is asking for help

Lou Vega — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:48:15 GMT

Little did I realize when I posted a blog entry asking for help on August 12th asking for help that the response would be so awesome! There were so many folks both local and quite far away who one way or another found that entry and helped in some way shape or form whether it was a donation of cash, school supplies, or clothing, thank you so much for everything everyone donated.

One of the huge hurdles we faced with the kids is over for now. Getting them geared up for school with clothes, shoes, etc. The school district had donated supplies but we found out the day before school started they hadn't donated everything they needed and the backpacks they had donated literally fell apart dumping 2 of the boys stuff to the ground the first day they loaded up their books, etc. at school. So we ended up buying some better quality backpacks.

With a lot of the donated cash we were able to take them out to get the remainder of the school supplies they needed along with a couple other clothing items. We saved a chunk of it because both boys are taking music classes at school and tonight is the night they go (with us) to pick out which instrument they want to play so we can buy those too. One of the girls is taking a photography class and we'll end up buying her a camera for class (they're still using 35mm SLR). We literally would have been broke (i.e. no more money in any accounts) by the day after my last payday if it weren't for the donations, so again, thank you so much!

We're still trying to hunt down the child support money due to us, but also still getting the run-around by South Carolina DSS. One friend suggested we just contact the court in PA which awarded the child support, but without a docket number to give them we might end up getting the run around there too.

The 4 kids are doing ok for the time being with adjusting to the transition. They've expressed frustration that they don't want to be here and would rather be back home in PA, but they say they understand this is probably the best place to be for now while everything is being worked out and we're trying to make the transition as likeable as possible but of course we still need boundaries and they're having a hard time accepting some of the boundaries (i.e., "Why do I have a curfew?") I think some of the time I've spent trying to explain the enormity of support they have (between the whole geek/dev community that's given to us and the local church) has had a positive effect because they're starting to "get" that people out there do care about them.

Aside from the "assimilated" kids, my own two are doing good for now. Little Louie is still hospital free (except a follow up he had last week) and the doctors are pleased with his progress to date. My daughter is still trying to get used to the new school. She had gone to the private school before since she was 3 and wasn't too excited to leave her friends and teachers but with all that's gone on we just couldn't afford to keep sending her to private school so she's working to make the best of it.

Hopefully next month we'll find out if we've been accepted at the specialty center in NOLA, Ohio, or Boston (not sure which one we were put in for) and can start making preparations to get my wife and son out there for the specialized testing that the surgeons have said will provide a definitive treatment plan. They also say the longer he's out of the hospital the better his chances are that he won't have to go back in again. I'm looking forward to that. Here's to 2009 being his first year hospital free! Little Louie is also excited because he starts "school" in September. One of the local churches sponsors a "Mom's day out" where they'll take little children in for 3-4 hours during the day twice a week so moms can get a break. I know that will be a welcome break for my wife with the others already in school.

Thanks again!

Lou

You all rock! Thanks so much!

Lou Vega — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:30:17 GMT

The response to my plea for assistance yesterday has been pretty overwhelming so far...with inquiries and donations coming in from around the U.S. and even other countries, so thank you, all of you.

I had a number of inquiries about other ways people might help and I'll address them here so as to not have a ton of e-mails, phone calls, etc. to make :)

Q1) What ages are the kids and what clothing sizes are they?

A1) My nieces and nephews that we took in are a 16 year old girl, a 14 year old girl, a 12 year old boy and a 10 year old boy. My wife and I also have a 7 year old daughter and a 3 year old son. I don't have clothing sizes for them, but I'll get them and post that info.

Q2) Can I donate in other ways besides cash payments on PayPal?

A2) Yes, thank you. A couple of inquiries have come in about sending gift cards for common stores (Target, Wal-mart, etc.), or other items directly to our house via good ol' postal mail. If you're interested in that comment on the blog or direct message me via Twitter and I'll respond with my address.

Q3) Do the kids need school supplies? Can I donate that way?

A3) The school district where they will be attending is already familiar with our case and has donated all the initial school supplies for the kids which totally rocked because I had no idea how much it was going to be for 5 kids going to school. If you'd still like to donate in that way, comment on the blog or direct message me via Twitter and I can send you my address.

I think that pretty much covers the spectrum of questions I've had so far. If you have questions, let me know. And again thanks so much for everyone's help in every way so far.

-Lou

This geek is asking for help...

Lou Vega — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:20:54 GMT

As some of you may already know this has been a roller-coaster year for me starting with the hospitalization and near death of my son in February. Between the subsequent hospitalizations, (July marked the first calendar month he didn't get admitted to the hospital at all!), a pretty bad car wreck that left me with a concussion and associated post-concussion problems, and then additional extended family issues (one sister-in-law nearly died of a mix-up with prescriptions she was given at the ER, another sister-in-law lost all 4 of her children to foster care but that's an extended story below) it's just gotten to the point where my wife and I are just trying to catch up and breathe to get everything sorted out and we're rapidly running out of money ourselves.

The sister-in-law who's children we took in, has at this point essentially abandoned them and us. We bought her a bus ticket to come down here from Scranton, PA after she took care of some things she needed to and were ready to welcome her into our house to get a new start down here. Her ex-husband had never been good at paying child support and she wasn't getting any help up there so we stepped in to try and help her. That backfired on us the other night when she walked out of the house saying she was "going back to Scranton" and eventually she made her way to the bus station and caught a bus. Not sure how she paid because she left her purse, wallet, ID, everything in our house. None of us have heard from here since despite repeated attempts to reach her.

We were very fortunate that our local church donated bunk-beds for the 4 kids we took in. They also donated a lot of food. So now that their mom walked out we're left asking South Carolina Children's Services for any kind of help and their answer is simply "Send them back to PA". Not exactly the answer we were thinking we'd get from a place that is supposed to have children's interest at heart.The PA Children's services folks have been as helpful as they can be but they're not technically responsible for those children anymore.

Because of this I'm turning to the geek/dev community at large knowing that there are a ton of really great people out there who might just be able to get this family through this after all. All the money that's donated is going to go towards paying down medical bills from my son's hospital stays, paying down unpaid bills that were missed and run up with late charges during the hospital stays, more food since our family doubled in size from 4 to 8, new clothes for the kids (the 4 came down with basically a suitcase and not much else), and also to help pay for other costs associated with providing for such a large family on such short notice. Most of our prior emergency savings were wiped out during previous hospital stays due to increased fuel costs (driving back and forth between hospital, school when it was in session, and home) and food costs (eating out a lot since we weren't home) and direct medical costs.

As for our part, we've contacted our bank to ask that they suspend our car payment for 6 months, and I've contacted my student loan company to ask them to do the same. We also took our 7 year old out of the private school she was in and put her in public school. Even with those changes we're still running short of cash. If it so happens that all our needs are met and more we're going to donate the excess to both the church which has so graciously helped us out and the children's hospital playroom where my son has spent a good amount of time when he wasn't on contact precautions at the hospital. In the event that my sister-in-law returns to us we'll gladly give her the excess also towards her new start at life.

I couldn't figure out how to get the PayPal donate button to integrate into the blog entry so I've posted it on my skeleton of a web site at http://www.brainthump.com

There's basically just the "Donate" button there and it's all handled through SSL on PayPal. I didn't set a minimum amount because truthfully I'm grateful for any amount anyone can give.

Thanks in advance to all who are able to help in any way.

- Lou

Dropping off the radar for a while...

Lou Vega — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:56:29 GMT

As some of you may know having seen me @ Code Camps, or other events in the past 6 months or so know, my life's been pretty hectic. Starting back in February and continuing up to this very night, my son has been in and out of the hospital so many times it's sickening to think that I know so much about the inner workings of a place nobody should have to visit that often. He was last discharged Tuesday, and then at 3:30 this morning (Monday) he was re-admitted. Each time they get a little closer to understanding what's going on and a little closer to getting him all better but it's gotten to where I can't handle that and all the extra stuff in my life any more.

Some of you also know in the middle of this back in May I had a pretty bad car wreck that landed me in and out of the ER for a while due to a concussion. My car was totalled, I'm supposed to go to traffic court yet can't remember much at all about the wreck, and this is all going on while my son's been in and out of the hospital.

When my son gets out of the hospital each time there's a rough period of adjustment where he's venting due to the trauma and loss of control he feels when he's in the hospital. He's going to be 3 on June 19th and yet he's spent more time in the hospital than I have in my 35 years. The medical bills too from all this are starting to really mount up too...just another thing to deal with since insurance companies don't look out for people.

All said and done, I just can't deal with it all anymore...there's a ton more behind the scene's that's gone on since November but in the end I just have to drop out of this aspect of my life for a while unless something really good happens really soon.

Thanks to all my friends online and offline who've supported me through all this and especially those close few who I'm sure will continue to support me through the coming months. I hope to catch you all at a code camp or other event some time in the future when this is all a distant memory.

Birthday Paradox (Happy 0x23 B-day to me!)

Lou Vega — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:27:24 GMT

I'm doing a little experiment. Today's my birthday and I'm wondering with regards to the Birthday Paradox how many people out there reading this share the same birthday. If you do - comment on this entry. Thanks! :)