NathanBlevins.com

Milestone Two: Shedding

In my previous post, I mentioned that it looked as if my boa was preparing to shed.  A couple of days had passed and Lilith's eyes turned back into a deep black and nothing had happened.  Writing my prediction off as a novice mistake, I went about business as usual.

Today, was Lilith's scheduled feeding day.  Things did not go quite so smoothly for me this time.  Whereas the last time I got her to eat within 15 mins, I could not entice her w/ food at all.  A little worried, I spent some time playing w/ her instead and eventually put her up thinking that a 10-day feeding cycle would be better than a weekly one.

Imagine my surprise when I strolled past her cage and saw this image.

It looks as if Lilith was indeed preparing to shed and I had managed to convince myself otherwise – despite my previous predictions.  Thanks to my mistake, I have learned quite a few things about red-tailed boas. 

• There are clear warning signs when they are about to shed: milky eyes (for only a brief amount of time), skin that is slightly grainier, and the skin being slightly baggy.
• Listen to your boa!  This is critical.  My snake was trying to tell me something when it was not eating and I was not listening.  Learning to listen is key w/ anything and I am constantly learning this lesson in new ways.
• In this go-round, I did not detect any additional menace from the snake.  In fact, I was much more playful w/ it today than I had been in the past.  I don’t think this experience debunks the “vicious shedding snake” wisdom, but it is curiously different.

Here a just a couple pics of the 1st shed skin of my snake.  Take note of the eye-caps in the 1st picture.  Every time a snake sheds, you must make sure those eye-caps come off – otherwise you could have some medical issues. 

Fun times!  Now we wait for milestone 3!  What’s milestone 3?  To be honest, I am really not sure but I will let you know when I get there.  :) 

Categories: Personal

Milestone one: The Feeding of the boa

As a novice snake owner, there are a few different milestones that one has to face.  Of those milestones, one of the most interesting is the first feeding.  Feeding a snake can be a slightly tricky business, particularly for newly bought + young snakes.  A snake owner in this situation has quite a few different hurtles to overcome:

• Snakes are finicky eaters. 
• Snakes only eat (at this age) once every 10 days or so and can go for much, much longer.
• Since you just bought the snake, you have interrupted its previous eating patterns and environment.
• Depending upon your choice of food, you can be introducing a new food to your snake.
• Snakes can be shy, which can end w/ them not wanting to be watched + fed.

So, after reading about 10,000 articles on the subject, I went about my first feeding.  According to quite of few of my readings, first-time owners have ended up spending hours, trying to feed their baby snakes for the first time whereas it is usually a 15 min process.

Preparation

In order to pull off an adequate feeding, you have to have a few things in place.  In my case, I am feeding Lillith (my snake) ‘fuzzies’ – otherwise known as frozen baby rats. As it turns out, rats are more nutritious than mice and are generally the preferred choice of food.  In order to feed the snake, one has to completely thaw the mouse so that its body temp is slightly higher than room temperature.  Failure to do so, can lead to interesting effects which could include snake regurgitation (very, very hard on a snake) and the snake attacking a warmer object next to what you are trying to feed it (your hand!).  Also, its good to keep the scent of the rat intact by keeping it in a Ziploc bag during the thawing process (I failed to do so in the 1st video).

The 2nd most important part is to establish a feeding zone.  Some people feed their snake directly in their cage.   Generally speaking, a better idea is to have a separate feeding bin for the snake.  Establishing a feeding ritual w/ the snake, outside of its pen, is important because it disassociates an incoming hand and food.  :)

The Feeding

(If you don’t get the reference, check here)

The feeding routine is rather simple, you get some tongs (or, in my case, pliers) and dangle the mouse in front of the snake.  I found that slowly withdrawing the food from the snake seemed to entice it into a more predatory position.  If you are lucky and your snake is in the mood, your snake should strike within a few minutes of enticing it.

In my case, it took ~15 mins or so to get my snake to eat.  All things considered, I felt very lucky since so many snake owners find this first feeding to be difficult.  Sadly, I didn’t get a video of the snake actually striking the food, but I took several of it consuming the food.  I think the most interesting part is seeing the snake actually unhinge in jaw in order to eat something bigger than its face. 

All in all, this first milestone went very well.  The key was to have patience and to also be very wary of the snake.  Luckily, I didn’t get bitten at all during the process, which is a very real possibility when your snake is in ‘hunting mode.’  Now that this is under my belt, I feel confident that future feedings will go smoothly with less uncertainty on my part. 

Speaking of milestones, the next one for me is my snake’s first molt.  During this time, the snake can be extra aggressive and vulnerable.  Also, there are a plethora of tasks for me to keep in mind that range from keeping the tank more moist than usual to making sure the snake’s eye-caps come off.  The best indicator that a snake is about to molt is that its eyes turn a milky blue color.  While I thought I had a while to go before worrying about this, this is a picture of my snake from today…

/sigh.  Good times.

Categories: Personal

A New Addition to Our Family

While I was working with my previous employer, I had a good friend, Tanya, who was into raising bearded dragons.  Besides having a really cool name, bearded dragons are awesome lizards that grow to ~1 ft in length.  Also, they are tame and can even be trained to ride shoulders, sit with their master, and, if the sales dude can be believed, use a “lizard door” to defecate outside.  Pretty cool!

Anyway, I have been really wanting one of these for quite a while and finally convinced Crystal that we should have one.  Trekking out to our local pet shop, Fins and Skins, we when in to go get my bearded dragon… 

…  and walked out w/ a red-tailed boa constrictor.  XD

Yes, I mean one of these:

Just like this (in about 7 years):

So, the inner-Timmy in me has always wanted a snake for a pet (as a child, I caught many pet snakes but ultimately had to let them go within a few days).  When we walked into the store and I started salivating over the snake cages, Crystal turned to me and delivered her sternest, “NO!”  I even went so far as to give her the sad-panda face to no avail.  Then, the pet guy and I spoke – at length – and I ended up convincing myself (and eventually Crystal) that a boa would make a great pet. 

This tells me 2 things about myself First, that I am a creature of whimsy.  (Though I could claim that I have wanted a boa for a longer time than I wanted a lizard)  And second, that my powers of persuasion must be even greater than I originally thought (or, maybe, I managed to catch Crystal in a weakened-pregnant state and pressed the advantage).

Anyway, a few stats about caring for the snake:

• Currently, I only feed the snake ~ 1 time / week.  He/she eats small frozen mice.
• Yes, they can bite, but those are generally due to mishandling or confusing my hand for food.  :)
• Females can get 7 – 8 feet long and, at that point, will eat frozen rabbits ~ 1 time / month.
• Cages need to be sanitized 1 time / month – otherwise you scoop like a litter box.
• I am probably missing more points here but I am still learning!

Finally, below are a few pics of the new critter.  I am still more than a little skittish of it, but we are learning to tolerate each other.  Mainly, it is the head of the snake that scares me, as he frequently stays in a “striking” pose, though I do not think that the threat is completely intended. 

Aren’t snakes just cool?  :D

EDIT:  I forgot to mention that, as of yet, I don’t really know what the snake’s sex will be.  Typically, the females in this species get quite a bit bigger than the males, so I am gunning for a female.  Towards that goal, I have named her Lillith.

Categories:

Baby blevins has a name!

Today, Crystal and I were scheduled to have our “anatomy checkup” for @babyblevins . In addition to being poked and prodded to check for eyes, fingers, & toes, this is also the time when the baby’s gender is determined.  Though we were 100% happy w/ whatever came our way, Crystal was in hopes for a baby girl whereas I found myself waffling between “carrying on the family name” or “signing up to become the daddy-doormat”.

With that being said, Crystal and I are happy to announce that we are having a baby girl!  In addition, the Dr stated that all signs show that we are on our way to having a healthy and normal child.  Who knew that being told that your child looks to be ‘normal’ could bring such joy to one’s heart?

The Obligatory Pictures

The overall process of getting the ultrasound was rather amusing.  In order to get pictures of appropriate parts, the person running the machine ( utlrasoundnographer, perhaps?  lol ) has to hope that the little one will lay still long enough for them to track down what they are looking for.  As it turns out, @babyblevins is a bit of a squirmy worm.  Before the session was over, the person running the machine referred to her as stubborn, fidgety, and mule-headed repeatedly (traits that she must get from her mother).  :) 

For those of you who are brave enough to view uterine soniogRaphy, here you go:

Proof that she’s a she.  Dr kept calling it the “goal posts”, lol	Notice her legs / feet, which are above her head, lol.
Side view of @babybean. You can seen her heart vessels here too.	The baby’s face aka the “alien view”

What’s In a Name

Now that we have crossed this milestone, the 1st question we are asked is “Have you chosen a name yet?”  As it turns out, Crystal and I have already had a name picked out.  In fact, we actually have the names picked out for our 1st 3 children, if it ever comes to that.  This name was something that we picked when we first started dating, somewhere around 12 years ago.  Looking back, it does seem odd that a couple only dating a few months might choose a baby name together, but it seemed natural enough at the time.  Needless to say, the name has some special meaning to us for several reasons. 

Anyway, @babyblevins ‘s name is going to be Kitara Alexis Blevins.  We really like this name for several reasons. First off, it follows the basic naming rules that EVERYONE should adhere to.   These rules include but aren’t limited to:

•   It has a normal and unique variants.  Kitara is a rather unique name whereas Alexis is a fairly popular / common name.  I am not going to stick the kid w/ Yelagelo M-qua (Madashqua) Blevins.
• It has formal and informal variants.  I love names that have easy nick-names.  In this case, Kit, Kitty, Alex, Lexi could all be informal variants but there is still the formal option of Alexis and such.
• It does not have any obvious horrific variations or unforeseen meanings.  I don’t plan on raising a Gehnoria or Ahsholee.
• It is not a reverse self-fulfilling prophecy. Joy, Peace, Chasity…  you get the idea.  They make nice names, but…  ;)

Kitara comes from a couple of sources.  I originally fell in love w/ the name when it was used in one of my favorite stories that I read as a child, Dragon Lance.  Kitara was a figure of strength and determination throughout the story and was a rather complex character.  Oddly enough, Kitara made some pretty bad choices throughout the story, but I always loved her for the fact that she went her own way.  She was a warrior - independent, capable, and self-reliant.  The only other place I have seen a variation of the name Kitara used, many years later, was in Avatar The Last Air Bender as Katara, Sokka’s sister and would-be warrior of the Water Tribe.  I like this association as well as I really loved the Katara persona.

Alexis is a name that Crystal and I felt complimented Kitara.  Its a more common name and gives our daughter the later option of adopting a less unique name.  The meaning of the name, defender or protector, goes w/the thought of Kitara as well.  Furthermore, we just liked the way it rolled.  :)

What is Next?

Now that we have reached this milestone, we have to play the waiting game.  Crystal’s due date is on May 1st of next year.  Although that feels forever away, we have 10,000 things we have to do between now and then.  There are cribs to buy, baby rooms to prepare, storage buildings to build, daycares to pick, emergency labor routes to map, hot water to prepare, twitter handles and domain names to squat, and many many lessons to learn.  In many ways,  this feels rather overwhelming and, for me personally, each day is a lesson on patience and the illusion of control.

I am both excited and a little scared as we get ready for our long adventure.  I would ask why parents would subjugate themselves to this kind of torture, but I think I already know the answer…

Categories:

DragonCon 2009

Well, DragonCon has come and gone this year.  I have to say that I have been looking forward to it for some time and it did not fail to disappoint.  If you are unfamiliar w/ what Dragon Con is, you can read my earlier post about Dragon Con or visit Dragon Con’s website. 

Overview

I think I could spend pages on all the great things that I liked about this year’s Dragon Con, but, before I start rambling on about the event, here are a few pics of things around the con!

Looking over these pictures, I am still pretty amazed by the skill / dedication of some of these people.  They really did a great job!

Dragon Con’s Walk of Fame

Although I am not much of a fan of celebrities, I have to admit that I was pretty excited about seeing some people this year.  The celebrates that I wanted to see this year included (in no particular order):  Lenoard Nimoy, William Shatner, Patrick Stuart, Felicia Day, John Schneider, and Catherine Bach. 

I was able to attend a panel that was hosted by Nimoy and Shatner.  They did a great job and had the audience rolling.  As they spoke, you could easily see that they were old friends, even as they kept taking small jabs at one another while working w/ the audience.  Of course, the running gag was Shatner asking Nimoy why he was not in the new Star Trek movie while Nimoy managed to get a lead role.  It was hilarious! 

I came to appreciate Nimoy as he is a very balanced person – not too unlike his Spock persona, but with a large dose of kindness thrown in.  Of course, Shatner is well… uh… just Shatner…  WYSIWYG.  They both seemed to be great people.

On the other hand, Patrick Stewart has officially made it on my ‘this-celebrity-is-an-ass’ list.  Along w/ Adam West, I feel that he did not have much respect for his fans.  At every convention, the celebrities usually do photo-ops and offer to sign paraphernalia for their fans.  Usually, they ask a fee (ranging from 20 – 50 dollars, depending upon your level of fame).  Although paying for a signature rankles me a bit, I can justify it as they are trying to get payment for their time, usually provide a high res photo for you, and spend a few moments to chat w/ you. 

As for Mr. Stewart, he set aside some time in his busy schedule to be available for signatures.  However, there were a few hitches…

<rant>

• He had to be in an enclosed room by himself.  Despite the fact that every other celebrity was in a great common room, he, for some reason, had his own room.
• Rather than charging 20 – 50 dollars for a signature – he charged 120!!!
• Also, he did not allow any photos unless you wanted to take a photo of him signing your item as “proof of its value and authenticity”
• Finally, if you wanted a picture w/ him, you had to fork out 200 bucks!!!  To compare, Nimoy and Shatner charged ~100 bucks to get a pictures w/ both of them together!

</rant>

It was really disappointing…

Anyway, Crystal and I did have the pleasure to listen to and speak w/ John Schneider and Catherine Bach.  They were both very down-to-earth and friendly people.  They spent some time speaking about the Dukes of Hazzard as well as some of their upcoming projects.  All in all, they were easy going and fun to speak with and offered some great insights into the creation of and the legacy of the Dukes.  Now I have to go watch the series again!

Finally, I hate to admit but - I failed in one of my objectives.  I spent the whole con telling myself that I would catch Felicia Day at her signing booth in order to get a picture with her.  Despite my best efforts, I never got to get that picture.  Oh well… 

Here are a few pictures that Crystal and I took w/ the celebrities:

A Few Other Highlights

As I said before, I could spend pages writing about all the great things of Dragon Con this year.  In order to keep things short, here are a few other excellent highlights of the trip:

Meeting @steph_rose and @adam_dominguez – Everyone knows about Twitter, right?  Anyway, two of my favorite people that I have met via twitter actually attended Dragon Con.  Although we did not get to hang out as much as I wanted to, I had a blast being able to finally met them in person.  You guys rock!  We will have to all get together again soon!  Of course, I had to mention them by their twitter handle, since, somehow, their handles seems like their real names to me.

The Masquerade / Dragon Con Parade - In my previous post on Dragon Con, I spent some time speaking about the Masq and the Parade.  My thoughts have not changed.  It is needless to say that I love these two events and consider them both a essential part of the Dragon Con experience.  Duck Dodgers FTW. :)  On a side note, I feel that this year’s Masq was EXCELLENT.  Not only were most of the costumes stellar, but the hosts were wonderful.

In Conclusion…

I have to say that it was a great trip.  At this point, one may ask, “How do I feel now that I am back from Dragon Con?”  Frankly, I feel awful. :)  During our last day there I managed to catch the dreaded Con Crud.  This powerful disease is the bane of all con-goers as it is a highly mutated and evolved virus that is created by the close proximity of hundreds of geeks.  Once created, this disease will incubate for several days and then viciously attack, not only debilitating its prey but also any who are close to said victim.  Of course, the only cure for Con Crud is relaxation and a heavy dose of a long-running video game session.  :)

I am planning to post the rest of my pictures within the next day or so.  Until then, let me end this post w/ my favorite pictures that I took at Dragon Con this year.  If you can’t identify 5 / 6 of these, you lose 10,000 geek points.  :)

I can’t wait for 2010!

Categories: Personal ,News-Events

On Dreams Fulfilled

It was on the morning of Sunday, August 23.  I remember having a nice dream.  I think I was driving a car down a long road.  The wind was blowing through my hair and I didn’t have a care in the the world.  The sun was shining, the landscape was beautiful, and I was driving freely in my brand new corvette.  The feeling was wonderful and I knew that nothing in the world could feel more right.  Nothing could go wrong…

It was then that I crashed the car.  I was thrown about – lights flashed in my eyes – and I had this groggy feeling as if my body had been tossed head over heels.  As I began to wake (I was dreaming, after all), I realized that I had not crashed at all.  Rather, something had attacked me.  Furthermore, lights were flashing in my eyes and the screeching filled my ears, much like that of brakes being jammed at the last moment.  I can remember cracking tried eyelids to see something in the far distance. 

Deciding that this must be some sort of trick of the mind, I started to roll back over and climb back into my Corvette for another drive.  I crashed again… Only, this time, the car was not moving.  How could I crash a car that was not moving?  The screeching was still there… or was that screaming voice? An excited voice?  Steeling myself for whatever may be laying in wait, I cracked my eyelids again, only to see:

My mind seemed to almost register that something was going on, but, being the stubborn / talented sleeper that I am, I closed my eyes again.  This time, I crashed long before I even thought of getting back into a car.  Being mostly awake at this point, I realized that there was not a crash at all, but bouncing.  Someone was jumping on my bed.  Also, the screeching was not that at all, but a voice – a voice I knew and loved – telling me to wake up.  The voice was excited.  Resigned to defeat, I managed to open my eyes to a squint to see the source of the disturbance.

I am still dreaming, I think.  I understand what that this is, but I don’t comprehend what it means.  Looking up from the object of my attention, I look questioningly at my loving wife.  She smiled and whispered, “You are going to be a Dad.”

So, after confirming with the specialist, dancing about the house w/ Crystal on several occasions, and expressing many thanks for answered prayers, I am happy to announce that Crystal and I are with child.  :)

Categories: Personal ,News-Events

Do You Want to Date My Avatar?

This you tube video has been circling around on the Twittersphere for a while, but it is so good that I had to blog about it.  The killer thing about this video is that there is a ton of truth in it.  If you have played a MMO before, you know what I am talking about.

This clip is a promotional video for The Guild, which is a great indie production that will keep you laughing.  Check out the video!  (and then check out the show, lol)

If you want to see more of the Guild, check them out here.  IIRC, you can also download episodes via XBOX Live.  Its cast includes persons from other great productions such as Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog and The Legend of Neil. 

Categories: Personal ,Misc

The perfect day

My birthday was several weeks ago.  For one of my presents, my wife planned a ‘perfect day’ for me, which involved a ton of my favorite activities as well as some of my favorite people.  Its was a great time and I felt the urge to share some of the pics of the occasion.  Warning:  This blog post is photo heavy, but I could not resist…

Event 1 – The Shooting Range

My epic day began w/ a surprise visit to the shooting range.  I have been dying to buy a handgun for some time and have been bemoaning the fact that I was not sure what kind of handgun to pick up.  In order to assist me w/ my turmoil (and for me to have a great time), Crystal planned for us to meet at the local gun range.  Gabe, Emilie, Geoffrey, and Nikki joined us.

After signing a release paper, we were able to choose our guns.  I liken this process to giving a kid the run of a candy store, telling him that he can choose whatever he wants.  After much deliberation, Geoff and I chose a Ruger 30 caliber handgun and Gabe and Emilie chose a 22 handgun.  It was love at first shot, as you can see below…

 

When we emptied, our bullet case, Geoff and I decided to trade in our gun for a 40 caliber S&W.  While we deliberating that decision, the desk clerk chimed in to help.  (Btw, our selection had nothing to do w/ the her comment about us choosing a ‘man’s gun’ rather than the pea-shooters, lmao).  We made a few more shots and had a blast. 

 

All in all, the gun range rocked.  Among the best parts of the adventure was watching Emilie knock the plaster off the ceiling w/ the 40 caliber, Geoff repeated flinging our magazine into the range itself, jamming our gun by trying to use 40 caliber bullets in a 20 caliber gun, being awestruck by Emilie’s perfect neutering of the her target dummy w/ her 22, and, of course, rapid firing hand guns – watching the shells fly.  :)  Good times!

Event 2 – Frisbee Golf

After a quick bite to eat, Crystal rushed us all off to play some Frisbee golf.  As we were traveling there, we managed to pick up Drew and Dylan as a part of our crew.  Frisbee golf is one of my favorite games.  It makes for a nice, pleasant exercise that can allow for the proper amount of heckling where you deem it necessary.

I decided to for us to play golf at Morningside park.  After playing a few ‘holes’, I have to admit that the course is nothing but interesting.  After navigating trails that would make a goat sweat, avoiding broken glass, needles, and other paraphernalia, and passing up what seemed to be a whole wardrobe of clothing, we managed to complete at least half the course.  One of the largest difficulties was the fact that we did not have great demarcation as to were each hole started.  Consequently, we spent quite a bit of time foraging around for the next spot.

Here are a few shots of people making their first shot:

Despite the trials of the trail, I have to say that this was probably one of the most interesting courses that I have played.  Several of the holes were very unique and had very serious consequences for failure to keep on the ‘fairway’. 

Incidentally, I managed to ding someone’s mailbox w/ one wild Frisbee throw.  Thankfully, they were rather nice about the whole ordeal… :)  (You can see us talking in the background of this picture.)

Event 3 – Paintball

Now that I had been able to spend my morning shooting at targets, I was able to utilize that practice in a nice stirring round of paintball.  I could spend paragraphs talking about my love for paintball, but it should suffice to say that paintball rocks!  Its just a great sport and makes for some great memories (and photos).

Event 4 – King Tuts

In every town, there are those places that are so unique that everyone has to go to them at least once.  Sometimes they are scary creepy, totally crazy, or just simply a good time.  Once such place is King Tuts in Knoxville and it is an awesome and crazy time.  Although it is a small place, its owner makes it a grandiose w/ his funny gags, wonderful personality, props, and, of course, singing!

Since I am on the verge of making an epic post, here are some of the highlights of our adventure at King Tuts:

• Singing Margaritaville w/ the guys to the entire restaurant.
• Being challenged to a chess match by the owner - loser buys dessert.
• Watching a slightly tipsy biker asking John if he liked to choke his chicken, shaking a rubber chicken at him… repeatedly…
• Laughing with a large group of people dancing on a bar while sharing a very large pair of underwear… VERY large.
• And, of course, having all of our waters served in flower vases.

In conclusion…

All in all, good times were had by all and, IMHO, it was about a perfect of a day as a guy could ask for.  Thanks, Crystal!  You make me smile…

Categories: Personal ,Misc

Critters Again

Crystal and I were enjoying an evening on our front porch, reading and watching the puppies tear up our sparse grass.  As we were sitting there, I began to notice the sheer number of moths that were perched around my door and decided to take a few pictures.  They are pretty cool!

Although the above moths were pretty cool, the ones below were my favorite.  One is a Luna Moth, which is a giant in the moth world.  Unfortunately, they are pretty rare finds as their hatching season is in June to July and they only live for up to 7 days.  Its incredible that something so amazing will live so short a time. The second picture is a moth that I always called a ‘scorpion moth.’  I am really not sure what its real name is, but you can see why I named it so.

Finally, two more critters to round up the list.  It seems like I am in the middle of snake heaven.  As it turns out, this one is, without a doubt, a dead baby copperhead.  I found it smashed under some of the cross ties in my yard.  Since copperheads give live birth, it is more than a little disconcerting that I keep finding baby snakes all over the place.  I hope that I don’t manage to stroll across mama. 

Of course, I had to add the obligatory puppy picture to finish the list.

Categories:

Knoxville Give Camp 2009 – Wrap Up

This weekend concludes the Ann Arbor Give Camp ( #AAGiveCamp ) and also the Knoxville Give Camp ( #KnoxGiveCamp ), which was acting as a satellite camp for Ann Arbor.  I have to say that I am grateful for the opportunity to give a bit of my time and effort for some great causes but I am also very grateful for the tasks to be complete.  It was a very fun time if a little exhausting from time to time.

The Charities

This year, we were able to assist two charities.  This was a pretty big deal in that we were able to fully complete two projects with our local team.  They did an excellent job (but more about that later).  The two charities that we worked with were:

Interfaith Hospitality Network of Washtenaw County 

The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Washtenaw County (IHN) is a shelter for families experiencing homelessness in our community. Our mission is to provide temporary shelter, food and support services in a caring atmosphere of dignity and safety. More than providing just a bed and a roof for families, our goal is to support the families in securing and maintaining their own home.

These guys were a ton of fun.  I had the pleasure of working directly w/ Julie and Joel, both of which were wonderful people and a great joy to work with.  In fact, Julie won the my respect (and those of my team) by the simple fact that she baked us all cookies AND brownies for the give camp!!!  Unfortunately, since we were remote, we were unable to partake of the cookies, but still the gesture meant a lot.  Food = Love… ;)

Latino Family Services

LFS provides and coordinates bilingual, culturally competent comprehensive health and human services to residents of Wayne County, Michigan, with a special emphasis on the underserved Latino population […] enhancing the quality of life for individuals and families of Wayne County for the ultimate purpose of improving families’ social, health, and educational functioning while enhancing their community environment and increasing economic self-sufficiency.

Although I initiated the conversation with Latino Family Services, Mike and other team members quickly took off with this project, often leaving me trying to catch up.  Consequently, I did not get to spend much time with the coordinators of Latino Family Services, but I heard only great things about them.

The Team

Okay, I could spend PAGES bragging on the Knoxville Team.  It should suffice to say that they are a great group of people.   Not only are they all talented and intelligent folk, but they also were willing to donate their valuable time to this cause.  In some cases, these guys were giving up the last quiet weekend before a long business trip or driving 1.5 hours to get to and from location every day or simply giving up their own personal time after a hard week at work.  They all did an excellent job and I am glad to have been able to work with them.  Here is this year’s great team and their respective twitter handles!

• Alan Stevens - @alanstevens
• Ben Farmer - @benfarmer
• Cicelie Caulton - @archidraca
• Dylan Wolf - @dylanwolf
• Jenny Farmer
• Mike C. Neel - @vinull
• Mike Cooper
• Nathan Kelly - @devsolo
• Noah Manneschmidt - @psoplayer

Guys, I really appreciate your effort!  Thanks for making it such a great weekend!

 

The Tasks

All in all, we completed most of the tasks that we set out to do over the weekend.  I am actually very proud of the team for this because we hit ALOT of blocks.  In fact, the first half of the camp itself felt as if we were hitting constant resistance.   Each block was unique and not necessarily the fault of any single source, but I have to admit that there were some pretty trying times as solution after solution was met with resistance.  Through it all, the team kept up a great attitude and kept chugging at it, even if it meant working until the wee hours in the morning or getting up at the crack of dawn.  Through it all, I learned several key facts that I’d like to share:

• I, apparently, am not 100% geek due to the fact that I don’t have a DNS server set up.
• Routers, despite their configuration, might still block port 1443.
• Do not hit the friggin’ green button… you may need to… but just don’t do it!
• Medium Trust is the devil and security permissions suck.
• CS4 is grudgingly awesome.  I wish I knew how to use it.
• Mike and Alan make pipes look cool.  I almost want one!
• Do not check a database into source control!
• The aforementioned security issues are somehow better than no security at all.
• Even though you selected “Broadcast Now”, it does not mean that you are broadcasting.
• Cell phone on speaker + microphone = remote intercom system.
• Only Alan Stevens would fly the bird to an entire remote audience and get away w/ it.
• Though you may be a PHP guy, you can still rock some .Net
• Oxite is not quite there yet…
• UStream.Tv and FTP upload speeds are inversely proportional

Good times were had by all!

In Conclusion

The give camp was a great success.  I truly enjoyed working w/ my team and also interfacing with those in Michigan.  I would like to especially thank Mike and Jennifer, who had to deal w/ my nagging phone calls, incessant emails, constant DMs, and occasional text messages.  I am sure that they were almost sick of me by the end of the weekend, but I appreciate their support and the level of effort that they and the rest of the Give Camp team put into setting this up.  Also, thank you guys for taking a moment to remember my birthday in Michigan!

Finally, at the risk of sounding like an Academy award speech, I would like to thank Crystal, my wife.  It takes a very special woman to deal w/ 9 sweaty, loud men invading her home with technology and beer (of course, some of that burden was offset by Cicelie… she could usually handle Mike + 1).  Also, she worked diligently to make sure we all were well fed and watered.  Today, Crystal said that she wished that she were able to do what we were doing and work with these charities to help out.  To be honest, she did as much (if not more) than I in helping these charities and didn’t even think twice about it.  Thanks, babe.

Well, the Give Camp is over and I now officially have my free time back.  :)  Lets to it again (but not for another year)… :)

Categories: Programming ,News-Events