Meeting with The McClock's
The wife and I met up with Stacky and clock a few weeks ago, maybe longer. However, I haven't posted anything here so I have to give an update.

Back then Stacky was looking very pregnant, and I'm glad that she will get to pop out her son soon (I haven't read many diaries lately so if it's already happened I'll feel like a dumbass.) They are both great, and I appreciate their compliments about my daughter. She is indeed extremely cute, and it's good to have external feedback to justify that. Also I'm sure their son will be very cute as well, and despite my constant references to my gun ownership and everything, I'm sure they will raise him to be a fine, albeit quirky, young man. I should talk to clock sometime and give him my thoughts on the whole fatherhood thing because it's so unusual.

Sofia
She's getting much bigger. She's not quite three months old yet, and she's already grown seven inches and doubled her weight. Unlike my cousin, we did this without putting Pepsi in bottles to feed to the baby. She also smiles a whole lot and seems like a very happy baby most of the time.

Family Visit
My mom, stepfather, grandmother, and aunt visited us recently. It was great to see them, and interesting to see how their roles changed. With this being the first grandchild for my parents and the first great-grandchild my grandmother actually got to meet, I think they had to adjust but were very happy with her. My parents had the biggest change I think, going from parents to grandparents and needing to quickly change their life philosophies as a result.

It was also nice that they were here because the wife and I got to go out a few nights. One night we ate at The Melting Pot (overpriced, but the closest thing to fondue in Houston other than that is Vietnamese hot pots.) We then went to see the Transformers movie, which was good. The second night we met up with some friends that were recently engaged for sushi and then to go to a wine bar and hang out. It was great to get a break, and we hope with the next visit we can also get at least one break.

Transformers
I think Michael Bay sucks. The Transformers movie was good, but it could have been so much better. The action scenes were too jittery and blurry to tell what was going on, leading me to believe that Bay put some crushed soda cans on strings and made them hit each other while having a five year old that just learned how to use the zoom function on a camcorder film it. However, the plot was not too bad for a Transformers film, and the non-action scenes were good. I think it made a big impact for the better that they brought back the voice of the original Optimus Prime. They were stupid for not using the original Megatron though, as I'm sort of tired of Agent Smith from The Matrix being in every movie that comes out anymore. Most of the special effects were great though, and the transformations themselves were believable. I'm curious as to how detailed the toys are, and if they are using metal again instead of that worthless plastic. No, LiaD did not hijack my account to write this (besides, I have no intention of buying the toys.)

Work
Work is complicated. I'm doing good and my mid-year review went really well, but some things are frustrating and in some ways things have gone downhill. I'm not sure what to think and it tires me to even write much about it. Suffice to say Phase I of the project I've been working on is complete and was mostly successful. Phase II should be easier and carry me through the rest of the year.

Hurricane Season
People aren't panicking yet, but we could have something within the next few weeks at the earliest, which means I have to quickly wrap up something I've been working on. For some reason, IIS is a piece of shit and won't work with Tomcat very well or something on my disaster recovery webserver, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. However, there is more pressure when freaking hurricanes are moving your deadline up.

Up-Conversion DVD Players
I've been thinking about getting myself one of these since I have an HDTV, but I don't know how much of a difference it makes. Also, does WinDVD do the upconversion process as well? If so, I'll just use my laptop as a DVD player instead of buying a new one.

Cheese
Since I put it on the topic as the icon, I'll tell you that it's really good to put some jamon serrano and manchego cheese, dipped in olive oil, on some fresh rolls and eat with red wine from the Rioja region of spain. Dat's sum good shit, main.

Wine
My wife and I have started drinking too much wine I think, ever since the discovery of moscato d'asti. This stuff is like drinking Sprite.

Health
I've started eating healthy again, and plan to start going to the gym on my lunch breaks and eat at my desk. We'll see how that goes.

Hair
My hair is longer than it's been in years. The last time it was non-shaved was in high school when I looked like James Hetfield's younger brother. It's too long for my comfort, but no haircut place in town knows how to cut hair short without shaving it. As a result, it keeps getting longer. I may have to shave it all off again, but I was hoping to find a happy medium. We'll see, but it bothers me quite a bit, especially with a cowlick on the front of my head that makes a mess (which is a genetic mutation I seem to have passed down onto my daughter.)

Miscellaneous Stuff

• My ultra-religious right-wing cousin supports Obama for president.
• Today my boss was offered my resume as a consultant that I'm trying to bring in for $1400/day. The consulting firm that gave her my name had not asked me first, and apparently didn't view my resume to see who my current employer is. I'm also not looking for a job right now.
• My daughter is a huge fan of my grandmother. Sofia smiled for her more than anyone I think.
• It has been weeks since I've played either God of War II or Super Paper Mario, both which I really want to play.
• I've been thinking of calling a friend in Canada, and if his wife answers, pretending to be a policeman (without actually claiming to be a cop and thus committing the crime of impersonating a police officer) and calling to ask her about her husband's sex crimes. I don't think it would go over well, but it sounds pretty funny to me.
• It has not rained for like three days in a row now!