Weekend update

Busy weekend for us, and it's still only Saturday.

I had a software release last night - we have had several recently, but we test them very well before we release them, and we're confident this latest update will eliminate virtually all of the problems we've had in the past. The good news about the problems is that the users of the software will not have noticed them, but they required us to do some work behind the scenes, which was sometimes tiring.

This morning we met dad (aka Grandpa B) at the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum at the Ham radio station. The AAHOM has some equipment available to send Morse code and the more mundane speech to other Hams around the country. While we were there, the operator made contact with someone from Tennessee, who gave him the weather report and told him what equipment he was using. The boys learned how to use Morse code to spell their names, and were happy to see Grandpa for a few minutes.

After lunch, M and I went to Veterans Park in Ann Arbor to do some sledding. We've never been there to sled before, and it was a great hill. We ran into a few people we knew, including M's flag football coach and his son, who is on the team. There was a very large bump (jump?) in the middle of the hill, but M and I didn't notice it until we accidentally went off it. That was a surprise for both of us. I'm old, so I didn't want to go over it again, but M is young, and made some late efforts to hit it full on.

We've been having problems with one of the outlets in the house, so I bought a replacement for it last week and installed it today. When I was finishing up, J told me the computer was freezing up when it started, just like it did a few months ago. I knew what to do this time - take off the cover, remove all the easily-removable parts, and put them all back in. That fixed it again. I hope that doesn't happen again.

The boys and I have been playing poker lately. We're not betting real money, just the plastic coins they have in the basement. Both like all kinds of games, and they picked up the rules pretty quickly. They're having fun with it, and are learning the Texas Hold 'Em variation, which is a lot more fun than the basic Five Card Draw.

Anyone else watching as much Winter Olympics as we are? We were talking about how dangerous so many of the winter games are - all the flips, and going 90 miles per hour in a bobsled, and jumping off a ski ramp and spinning through the air. Even the relatively safe events like ice dancing can be very dangerous if the man drops the woman or someone gets sliced with a sharp skate blade. I'll stick to the summer-type games, like running or beach volleyball.


A few fun links:

A submarine built from PVC pipe and pumps. Awesome.

Bionic Feet
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