a glimpse at the future?

i have read about this technology before but it sounds like it's getting closer to becoming reality. imagine the common household electric outlet serving as a your home's broadband connection? tokyo's matsushita electric industrial co has developed a chip that's embedded to a gadget you plug right into a standard electrical outlet. the technology uses standard electrical wiring in your home to relay data as well as electricity. the concept is that every major electrical appliance in your home, washing machine, refrigerator, television, etc., will have high-speed access to the internet. imagine your refrigerator telling you you are running low on eggs, or turning off\on lights, or changing the thermostat in your home from a remote computer somewhere? it's coming folks. maybe not today or tomorrow, but it's coming! read more here.

"please read.txt"...

i am someone who takes pride in the fact that i very seldom lose anything. i generally don't lose my car keys, wallet, cell phone, ipod (knock knock) or anything of value. in fact, more than once i have said to the wife, "how do you not know where your _ _ _ _ is?" well, it looks like i have lost my 512 mb flash drive. you'd think that it would be very tough to do since when i am not using it, i usually wear it around my neck. i remember using it at work friday afternoon and when i went to tranfer some files to my home pc friday night, it was not hanging on it's little hook on my work badge chain. hmmmm, no problem i thought, i probably left it connected to one of my pc's at work. came in this morning, checked every possible usb port i have, and no dice. not overly concerned about any of the data on it, just would like to have it back because it's a fairly large one and i do use it a lot. i have a text file called "please read" that i keep on it, with all of my contact information so there's an outside chance it will be found and returned. not holding my breath though...i guess i'm human! (like there was any doubt). i'll think twice before i spout off about anyone else losing something. :-(

the perfect storm...

i have mentioned before that i hate to post about the weather, BUT in this case i'll have to make an exception. yesterday started out as a wierd day. very hot & humid, unusual for a day in late septmember. early in the evening a wave of very heavy storms rolled in to the north metro area, the likes of which haven't been seen around here for several years. straight line winds, hail, horizontal rain, the works. the family and i hunkered down in the basement with a couple of flashlights, candles, and a battery powered radio to wait it out. the lights flickered off & on a couple of times before the power completely shut down about 8:00 pm. we listened to the storms rattle through overhead for a couple of hours before things settled down a bit, enough for me to go upstairs and survey the damage outside. there were a bunch of trees downed in my neighborhood, debris blown around, and some downed power lines just down the street. in the end, we only lost some good-sized branches from a tree in the backyard so it could have been a lot worse for us. the power came on around 11:00, things started settling down and the rest of the night was fairly quiet. this morning the entire twin cities area is in clean-up mode trying to recover from the aftermath of the storm. back to business as usual...

life in the fast lane...

the price house is running at full speed these days. it seems that just recently, everyone's schedules have clicked into high gear. here's a brief overview of what's happening these days, not counting work and school.

monday - alaina: piano lessons, alaina dance class

tuesday - me: fall softball league

wednesday - girls: girlscouts, noelle: dance class, allison: school meetings, owen: busy bodies (ecfe)

thursday - me\alaina: soccer practice

saturday - me\alaina: soccer games

also factor in the occasional birthday party, play date, and other activities the girls are involved in. all of this makes for a tired bunch at the end of that day. no problems getting the kids to go to bed these days.

one and a half men...

owen and i survived the weekend. picked up allie, grandpa, and the girls tonight at the airport. i must say, it wasn't too bad at all. owen was very good for me and complained very little if at all about being stuck with me. we had a couple of diversions to help pass the time. went to my folks on friday night and took my grandma to dinner. saturday morning my mom watched owen while i coached my kids soccer team. (we won our first game 4-2 by the way:-). saturday afternoon owen and i headed to ramsey to a cookout hosted by my boss. next thing we knew, it was sunday. we made it. the house is not the cleanest it's ever been but that's the least of our concern. now, it's back to business as usual. more later.

three strange days...

just safely dispatched my wife, father-in-law, and 2 girls at st.paul\minneapolis international airport. they are bound for chicago for a weekend of fun & sightseeing. it's me and owen solo-ing it 'til sunday evening. there's many activities planned so the weekend should go fast. we'll be out of our normal routine and in "survival mode" but i think we'll be fine.
first soccer game tomorrow morning...wish me luck! more later...

what's going on...

enjoyed a nice long 4 day weekend. went to the state fair friday, had relatives from rochester, mn and montana at our place sunday afternoon for a pre-labor day cookout, and played a round of golf on monday. girls started school yesterday so we are officially back in to the "routine". softball last night (we're 8-0), soccer practice tomorrow night, game saturday. allie and the girls leave for chicago friday morning, back on sunday, so all weekend i'm bach-ing it with the boy. that's where i'm at at this point. will report back when there's more to tell...

summer ends, fall begins...

we begin the unofficial transformation from summer to fall this weekend. i have customarily requested the friday before labor day off for the past several years, to go to the mn state fair, and this year is no exception. we will pile into the taurus wagon, fight for parking, seemingly always walk in the opposite flow of people traffic, wait in lines, blow a fat knot of dough on tasty food items, ride some kiddy rides, etc. as is our yearly tradition.
we will leave at the end of the day with sore feet and cranky kids, but that's what it's all about!
things are changing...school starts for the kids on tuesday, my kid's fall soccer season starts, baseball pennant races heating up (sorry, no twins this year), football season starts. it truly is one of my favorite times of the year.
happy retirement to my mom whose last day of work at NWA is today. enjoy your retirement!
have a nice long labor day weekend. more later...