June 2006 Archives

If you can see this, the new server is online and working.

Pardon the dust as the final pieces are put together.

Things that might not work:
Trip Diaries photos - I am still trying to get all the photos back to where they were before the move at the same time trying to put Disneyland Paris in the same program as Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Florida. I am also trying to move French Polynesia and Chicago to Flickr. This will mean non-Disney travel photos will be on Flickr and Disney Travel photos hosted locally.

PDA/Mobile sites - these have been replaced by the "Lite"version which is on the back burner with no release date. Considering there really was not much traffic to it anyways, I doubt many people have missed it. However if you use your cell phone to browse the site, things will be broken.

Daily Update Archives - They look funny, but are all CSS templates so I can change the look and feel with a click of a button. I still need to tweak here and there so some bits might not display correctly.

As always if you notice something amiss please let me know.

This is the first server move in 6 years and it really has been a pain since it took 2 months! Also Email will be spotty as the domain gets routed to the new DNS servers and to the new site, so if it gets bounced, just drop me an email to my gmail account or to my work account.

15 years ago, a bump first started to form on my back - the result of a huge zit that I had Greg squeeze the puss out of back when we were roommates in college. Over the years, I hadn't really given much attention to it other than I knew eventually I'd have to remove it. I also had some skin tags I wanted to get removed, and since one of our family friends is battling some aggressive cancer started by a melanoma, I decided to head down to the dermatologist to get everything checked out. Now mind you, I thought they would just drain the cyst on my back and quickly make work of anything else, but boy was I in for a shock.

Some background - when I was in 7th grade I had two moles removed off my face in what I can vividly describe as one of the scariest and worst experiences of my life. Needless to say, I was nervous when I went into the office. The Dr. gave me a once over and said "Oh yeah the cyst has to go" and then her eyes lit up as she spotted a black mole on my back, "Yeah we should get this one too" and then she agreed that the skin tag would be a nice conclusion.

I knew they had to numb the area, but for some reason the skin tag felt like she was giving me an injection to my spine! When everything was numb they came back and started to hack away. I asked the nurse if she was using the dull edge of the knife cuz it felt like she was sawing at my tags rather than cutting them. She kept trying to make idle chatter with me which I obliges, save for the few moments I went, "Jesus what are you doing". My cyst was pretty deep and turned out to be two on top of each other so in the end I required 10 stitches there and a couple on the mole and skin tag.

So now I am totally grossed out by it all and that has been the worst aspect of it. It itches constantly but doesn't hurt. I just hate cleaning it out cuz I just get reminded of the fact I have them and I just don't like that knowledge because it makes me squeamish. Work has been a bit of a pain with it since my mobility is slightly limited. I have discovered occasionally I will crack the scab and it will send a nice sharp zing to the nervous system, but so far so good.

The biggest obstacle has been applying Hydrogen Peroxide, Neosporin, and the bandages. Have you ever tried to do this in the mirror? It is not easy and almost everything on my bathroom counter gets knocked to the floor. You really know who your friends are when the offer to help. I would have been lost the first few days without them.

So now it is recovering nicely. July 7th I have an appointment to get the stitches taken out and I can't wait!

One of the strangest things ever happened today. I received a notice last week that to combat a termite problem, the complex has hired a contractor to come in and heat my apartment to 150 degrees. Never in my life had I heard such a silly thing. What really caught my attention was that most sensitive items in the house - photos, CDs, DVDs had to be prepared for the heat by either massing them in low spots next to furniture that could be covered, or removing them completely from the house.

After spending a few days packing, I was finally ready. Coder got kicked out of the apartment around 8:30 (I was already at work). When I returned home, I could not believe how hot things were. The thermometer was maxxed out on my thermostat so I relied on a thermometer/travel alarm that Daniel got me last Christmas. According to it, it was 106 degrees in my apartment. Everything was warm to the touch. Even the Twinkies were warm and kind of disgusting. It took me over four hours with the windows open and fans blowing and the AC blasting to get the temperature down to 85. By that point I had to go to bed. Man it was warm.

I had planned on moving to a new place so now my DVDs et. al. I have toyed with the idea of getting a storage space for a bit since with all of Coders items here in the apartment it is feeling a bit crowded. The packing of the media seemed like a good time to pull the trigger, but its just way to expensive to get a storage spot - money which could go to rent on a bigger place.

It has been a weird week at work with celebrities coming out of the woodwork. Maybe it has to do with the Pirates premiere next week at the park or more likely they decided to wait for the second summer of the 50th celebration for the crowds to die down. I love it when they show up because all the new cast members go nuts when they see someone they like.

Amont the celebs making appearances: Celine Dion and her husband Renee, Courtney Cox and David Arquette, Laura Dern (who was hanging out with the Cox-Arquette family), Hugh Jackman, Cindy Crawford, and the asian guy from Lost. Kobe Bryant should be around soon, he loves to come in the summer.

Of course the celebrities I like the best are the ones that insist on getting a guide and security and then no one recognizes them.

So my roomie (the one on the couch) has smashed his car. It has been a minor inconvenience but nothing more to carpool until his dad comes out this week to assess the situation and then get him back up and running. He hopes his dad will co-sign for a new car for him, but his dad is leaning towards just fixing the old one. To top things off, he has to go up to the High Desert to resolve a problem with his bank account since someone tried to use his account from Norway. I tell you he has a swath of destruction following him around. I am convinced he mad a pact with the devil and now he is collecting the dues.

I finally decided to throw the towel in and just move the Trip Diaries section over as-is minus some of the photos just for the sake of getting the move done and to get back on track writing entries. I hope to get this accomplished this week. The anniversary is coming up and I want to be able to proclaim a re-launch by then.

Tomorrow is my first for real project shift and I am excited to say the least. I can’t wait until I’m there 100% of the time.