I have posted the third set of pictures from Florida.  The second is going to take more work than the first and third because I want to include pictures that I will need to scan.  So, go check out the new pictures, and I will have the second set up as soon as I get a chance to scan the half that aren't on the digital camera.

My dad added more pictures to his web site as he continues to build his new computer desk.  Check it out.

When Jenifer moved back out to Phoenix, we put both of our cars on the same insurance plan to save us both money.  (Our insurance company has a multiple-car discount).  Anyway, Jenifer recently took her vehicle off of our policy, and I just received my new 6-month premium.  The bill was for $910!  Well, of course I called my agent and asked him wtf was going on.  It turns out two things were getting us.  One problem was the loss of the multiple-car discount; apparently it was saving us about $200.  The other problem was that Heather's speeding ticket was noticed by insurance company and that was hitting us with about another hundred dollars.  Well, there is a bit of a happy ending.  They hadn't run my credit in about a year, and it turns out I have awesome credit.  My agent told me that a year ago my score was middle to low and now it is super high.  The only thing that really changed that should have impacted our credit was us purchasing a car and we paid off all our credit card debt.  So, now our premium is $680 every six months (comprehensive, $500 deductible).  Not too bad for a male driver under age 25 and a speeding ticket counting against us.  I am not entirely happy with this number, though.  We are going to see if we can get Ginny's (Heather's mom) car on the same policy as ours and then maybe we can pick up that multiple-car discount again.

I have posted the first set of pictures from our trip to Florida.  Go check them out.  Now!

I have posted the pictures from the party at Jeff's house on New Year's Eve 2004.  As always, you can get to pictures by clicking on the "[pictures]" link to the left and then selecting the set you wish to see.

Heather made her debut on transmatrix.net!  See below...

Well, here it is my first "post". Nothing important, I just thought I'd elaborate about our experience at Sugar Daddy's since Kevin only touched on the subject.

First, let me tell you that Sugar Daddy's is an indoor/outdoor bar with live music 7 days a week. They're located just North of Thomas Rd on the west side of Scottsdale Rd in Scottsdale, AZ.

Kevin & I went there for the first time on Saturday (Valentine's Day). We were there from about 5pm - 8pm, and it was surprisingly empty. Mike Mercier was the live music that evening. He is definitely worth seeing again. The whole atmosphere was perfect for Valentines Day. The weather was great, the outdoor lighting was great, the music was great, the food and service was even great. It made for a wonderful evening.

We've been to Sugar Daddy's one other time and that was at 10 or 11pm on Friday, Feb. 27th (for a friend's birthday). It was like a completely different place. It had a nightclub kind of atmosphere. There was a cover charge to get in, the live music was inside instead of out, and it was hoppin' with nightclub type people and music. I don't know exactly when this metamorphosis takes place, but it's obviously sometime between 8pm & 10pm. So it doesn't really matter what kind of person you are or what mood you're in, chances are they have an atmosphere you'd enjoy. I wonder what side of Sugar Daddy's I'll see next time.

Okay, I have added the ability for you to enter your e-mail address in order to be notified when I add new posts. Off to the right, there is a Subscribe/Unsubscribe form. To add your e-mail to the notification list, click the Subscribe radio buttion, enter your e-mail address in the field, and hit the go button. You should receive an e-mail confirming your addition to the notification list. If you ever want to stop receiving notification, follow the same process, but select the Unsubscribe radio button. If you have any problems, e-mail me.

If you hadn't noticed, my website has had a bit of a re-design. This section has been replaced with web log utility that allows me to make these posts much easier than before. The utility is called Movable Type. It's a really powerful tool, and extremely flexible. Another hope is that Heather will now be able to make posts because of the new ease.

I feel I should explain some of the new design in case it is in any way confusing. As you can see, in this section is where my "Ramblings" will be posted. Off to the right is this month's calendar. The days with the blue font are days that I made posts on. You can click on the day to go to my Ramblings for that day. Underneath the calendar is a search box. You can search for text in all of my posts to date. Finally, the Archives section is a set of links to months that I made posts in. Just click on a month to see all the posts made during that month. Only the last 14 day's Ramblings are shown by default. Finally, you may notice that at the bottom of each post is the word "Comments" and it is a link. If you like, you can make comments on my posts. I am going to leave this feature active for awhile, and if anyone uses it and uses it responsibly I will keep it alive. Otherwise, I may stop supporting the comment function. And that's about it. As always, e-mail me if you have any questions.

I am planning on adding a feature that allows you to be notified when I make new posts. I think this will be beneficial because of the sporadic nature of my past posting. This way you can check my web page when there are updates and not be frustrated if you are checking it often and nothing is new. I will mention it here when that feature goes live (I need to do some more testing).

I have tomorrow off from work, so I get to sleep in tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to that. Heather and I don't really have anything planned this weekend, but I'm sure we'll find something to do.

You may have noticed my ugly mug now graces each of my posts. This is a preemptive measure assuming that Heather begins to post messages here. Her picture will accompany her posts, and that way you will know right off who is talking.

I'm always thinking of stuff I want to post on my web page, but when I actually sit down to write I can't remember any of it...

I had an Irish Car Bomb for the first time this last weekend.  If you are unfamiliar with the drink, I will enlighten you.  First you fill a glass with half a pint of Guinness, then you fill a shot glass ¾ full of Irish Cream and ¼ full of Irish Whiskey.  You then drop the shot glass into the Guinness and chug the whole thing down.  They are pretty good, and they will mess you up pretty bad if you're not careful.  (I wasn't careful).  You'd think I would have learned by now to stay away from hard liquor.  My mind finds it difficult to realize that I am no longer drinking alcohol in beer form, and thus I need to drink slower and wait for the effects to kick in.  No, instead I think, "I'm feeling fine, I can have more," and forty-five minutes to an hour later I'm emptying my stomach of its contents.  So, I am going to swear off hard alcohol again for the time being.  Hopefully, next time I drink it I will remember my hard learned lessons...

The precursor to drinking last weekend was going out to dinner with Chris Murphey and his girlfriend, Desiré.  We went to Carrabba's (awesome food) for dinner, out to a bar and then back to Chris's house.  It was a fun-filled evening.  Heather and I played some air hockey at the bar, while Chris and Desiré played PGA tour.  Heather even took her chances against me in a game of Need For Speed.  It was a quick stop at Albertsons for the Irish Car Bomb ingredients and then off to Chris's house for the consumption.  Again, we had lots of fun.

Have you ever bought a can of Guinness?  There is this little plastic ball in the can that supposedly simulates the experience of getting the beer from a tap.  They call it a "widget" and I guess it contains nitrogen and beer that is released from the ball when you open the can.  Regardless of any of this, the ball calls to you from the can and must be released from its aluminum prison.  Personally, I achieved this with a can opener, but you can utilize any tool you desire.  Once you have your widgets the fun begins.  You can juggle them, see how many you can fit in your mouth, or even throw them at people.  The possibilities are endless!

I've updated the pictures section.  All of the pictures from Las Vegas are up, now.  It's slow going, but I'll get more up as I can.

Okay, like I was saying before, Monthly Ramblings (I'll try and be better)

News:  Check this out.  (I took two of those pictures.  Guess which ones...)

Heather and I had a great Valentine's Day.  We spent most of the evening at a local bar called Sugar Daddy's that had live music.  We were also able to acquire a pair of tickets to an EVE 6 concert the next evening over at the Marquee Theater.  (All we had to do was down a shot of Jägermeister). The Marquee Theater used to be the Red River Music Hall, and it's a real cool place to have a concert at.  There are no seats, just a big room with a stage.  We had lots of fun.

Speaking of concerts, last night (St. Patrick's Day) Jeff, Nicole, Pete, Karla, Pete's friend Chris from Ohio and I went to a Flogging Molly concert at the Marquee.  Jeff and I were able to get real close to the stage.  Jeff's birthday is March 17th, so we always have a good excuse to party on St. Patrick's Day.

My dad built a desk from scratch for his computer room.  It looks real nice, and talk about saving money...  He has pictures of his progress here.

I know I had more stuff to talk about, but they are eluding me at the moment.  Oh, and of course I still have more pictures to post...