Evolving Christmas List

So my mom among others has been requesting a list of things that I'd like for Christmas. I am way behind in fulfilling this simple request because I really feel like I have (within reason) everything I want. I have a smart, funny, and beautiful wife. I have a wonderful dog, and two cats who use their litter-box. When it comes to my computers, honestly what I need most of all is restraint. I usually spend a bit much on them keeping them near the top of the line without going overboard (IMHO - YMMV).

Really the most useful thing people could give me for Christmas is clothes. I really dislike clothes shopping. I really don't have the skill of imagining what a piece of clothing will look like when I'm wearing it; let alone what it would look like in like an outfit. If I try to buy anything but jeans a t-shirts I almost always mess it up somehow. Good news is as construction electrician I tend to go through jeans and t-shirts at an alarming rate, so I need those too.

Pants size: Waist 36 - Length 30
Shirt size: Large
Hoodie size: Extra Large

Right now the clothes I most need are pants and long sleeve warm shirts. I really don't like anything fleece,or plaid. My favorite pants are the Flex Fire Hose from Duluth Trading Co.

If you do want to buy me some electronic stuff I do have a small list. These are fairly high dollar items; I'm not expecting to get these things as gifts. It's just sort of my current wish list of computer parts:

ASUS VG248QE Black 24" 144Hz 1ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD 3D Monitor
Thermaltake Toughpower XT TPX-1375M 1375W Power Supply
Western Digital RE4 WD2003FYYS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA Hard Drive Bare
(I really can't have too many of those hard drives...)

When it comes to computer parts the list just gets more and more silly after that.... I really do need to get a couple of those monitors. I want to compete/play in a LAN event here in Portland in Febuary and I recently discovered that my monitor is both too slow and is actually wearing out. It's lost a tremendous amount of contrast over the years. Any web forms that have light grey lines in them are impossible for me to fill out because this monitor can't display them.

So to sum up! I don't need presents. I don't need presents. I don't need presents. If you want to get me something awesomely useful, buy me a pair of pants. Doesn't have to be expensive, check at the thrift store; for reals.

No matter what; please just know that I love you my wonderful family and friends! Happy holidays and merry christmas to you all!

A Happy Birthday

I had a very nice birthday party with a few friends yesterday. The homemade carrot cake was definitely the highlight of the party. I even won a game of Settlers of Catan later in the evening.

Unpackng, before.

Some of my relatives have been asking to see my new place, so I've decided to do a before and after.  Here is a panorama of the living room in which I've done very little unpacking.  I'll follow up with an after photo as soon as I have one. :-)

The moving van is here!

As many of you dear readers may already know Gretchen and I are moving to the vicinity of Portland OR. We for the past three weeks have been working hard to secure new lodgings, pack, and move; but mostly to fix up all the little things on the house to help make it attractive to a buyer. It's been exhausting, and frankly the next three days might prove to be the hardest. The house is pretty much all fixed up, we are hoping to do a bit more painting, and now comes the heavy lifting (my favorite part). The rented moving van is in our diveway and all of our worldly possessions must go into it, or to the garbage dump!

I've already made one trip with Gretchens truck and a trailer; both full of many of our heaviest things. But there is still quite a bit left to go. Everything in the Garage, Shed, Kitchen, Living room, Store room, Under the stairs, Gretchen's Office, My computer room, and the master bedroom. Thursday and especially Friday are going to be days of intense packing.

Wish us luck!