The Family Sideways: August 2006

Our new baby, call-out to Fred 8/31/2006 10:54:00 AM

Well, after much talk (about six months of talk, at least), D and I finally took the plunge and bought a new car. Pictured above, it's the new 2007 Subaru Outback Basic. Basically, a bare-bones Subaru wagon (Dana likes to call it the Fitzgerald "Family Truckster", too bad they didn't have it in Metallic Pea). We already love it.

Basically, we needed another car before the winter, and the CR-V just rolled past 100k, so it was time to get Dana something reliable for the winter.

Basically, our qualifications were cheap, economical, and AWD (um, winter here dumps a lot of snow. For those who aren't in the know, the mountain got over 400 inches last year. Yes, there were two zeros after that 4). The subaru met on all fronts. Sure, every third person in Steamboat has one (and in Colorado, they have something like a 40% market share), but that alone tells you something, doesn't it? That, and I remember how Dave punished his in high school but despite it all the damn thing kept running.

So, please welcome to our family the "Family Truckster". The picture above is of the new model year - for some reason the subaru site still only has the 2006 models (I like to think we bought a car from the future), some glamour-shot from Navy Pier, apparnetly. Anyway, ours looks exactly like that. All black, so no more of that overdone Outback two-tone stuff anymore either.

For the flag-wavers, it was assembled in Indiana, so "nyeh". For the tree-huggers (and all those to whom I swore that our next car would be a hybrid), we'll be doing some of this. Besides, the 2007 model emits fewer pollutants than ever. So "nyeh" to you as well.

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One more thing: to demonstrate that in spite of my general dislike for the felines, I am hoping for the imminent return of Fred the Cat to Karen and Erik, I have posted this ribbon (these things seem to be trendy). Come home, Fred.

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Four days 8/29/2006 02:02:00 PM

I just realized how nice the upcoming weekend is going to be (despite the fact that Hutch will be in town). Since our guest is on his way, I asked for Friday off, and everyone in the world (OK, OK: country) has Monday off for Labor Day, so I'm going to be enjoying a nice four-day weekend. Pretty sweet.

And we're planning to make it a full one. Unfortunately, it has compacted my work week, and I'm already up to my neck in my professional responsibilities. So, while I'll need a long weekend, I'll probably need a nice little vacation FROM the long weekend. Ah, well. As Dana likes to say, "another shitty day in paradise." I suppose it could be worse, like one of the three books I'm reading now: Another bullshit night in suck city.

If anyone cares, I can review it later.

Anyway, just needed a quick break from work before having to gouge my eyes out.

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Brewing process: coming soon 8/28/2006 09:43:00 AM

I didn't take the time this weekend to do a walk-through of the brewing process, which I do intend to get to... just don't hold your breath.

I wanted to do it this weekend but it seems as if fall decided to show up in Steamboat this weekend - it was overcast and probably in the mid-60s all weekend. I commented on Sunday morning to D that it has already gotten colder in Steamboat (in August!) than it ever was in Houston while we were there...

And speaking of Houston, we watched the Texans-Broncos game last night. The Texans are looking like a completely different team this year (no surprise, with an entire new staff), but they actually look like they SHOULD be playing pro ball, which is a marked difference from last year. And last night I predicted a play as well. Marky learny football.

Anyway, back to cranking out these reports for work, but I will do my best to get a brewing-process post out there soon.

Oh, and blogger is really having a shit lately. I posted a comment on D's post yesterday that didn't show up until 24 hours later. Go [to hell] blogger!

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Also, D and I did a little shopping yesterday. We both got new hiking shoes, D got some trail running shoes and a bunch of clothes, and I got a new pack and some emergency stuff (first aid kit, compass, multitool) so that we can be responsible hikers. Plus, Hutch is bound to get lost and injure himself when he gets here this weekend, and I don't want to get sued. :)

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Little Miss Sunshine 8/26/2006 07:51:00 PM

9615_003
Originally uploaded by Dana Fitz.

So it's been a rough 24 hours for me with work, and after getting home this afternoon and having lunch and an awesome nap with Mark, he really wanted to get out of the house for a bit. We haven't been to see a movie in a while (I still have a hard time believing we haven't seen Superman or Pirates this summer--very odd) so he brought it up and I agreed. I even let him pick.

And I always get a little worried everytime Mark picks out a movie, even though 75% of the time I end up enjoying it. This time around he picked Little Miss Sunshine, which I had heard of--basically just knew it was an indie film--but didn't know what it was about. He assured me I'd love it. And as always, I blindly trusted.

So we took our seats near the door (I am on call, and did get one phone call from a parent, but quick, easy stuff) of the theatre and settled in. I really like the new theatre in SBS.

Couldn't recommend this movie more--Mark and I both talked afterward about how the little girl reminded us of a young Lauren, and befitting me, had a great overriding theme of, well, you watch it and decide for yourself. Oh, and it's hilarious. Casting is perfect. One of the most entertaining movies I've seen in a while.

Mark and I are still trying to figure out what we're going to do for dinner--it's the whole dilemma of he wants to go out and I want to stay in--it's been cloudy and rainy in SBS for most of the day--very fall-like, and I love it. Makes me want to snuggle in by our (unfortunately fake) fireplace. And sleep a lot.

Updated by Mark, added image dimensions so next post doesn't overlap

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It is done. 8/26/2006 02:18:00 AM

It was actually done a long time ago, like 9pm-ish. I can't believe it's so late. I'm going to bed. I'll recap tomorrow.

There are also pictures here. (or click on the one above for flickr notes on what you're looking at).

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Mother of all splinters.. 8/25/2006 09:28:00 AM

Note: this picture has nothing to do with anything, but I couldn't find the camera yesterday.

So at the end of lunch yesterday, I was lightly sanding down the workbench built on Tuesday to put on another coat of lacquer, and I had to do it quickly as I had a noon conference call to get to. So I'm sanding, sanding, sanding, when all of a sudden the sandpaper lifts up a huge splinter of wood from one of the 2x4s that make up the frame of the workbench, and it jams right into the meat of the pad on my right index finger.

Immediately, I pulled my finger back to take a look. The splinter itself was about 2" long, and was in my finger almost exactly dead center all the way to the first knuckle - about half an inch. Um, OW.

So I pulled it out (mercifully, it came out in one piece), and then started to bleed everywhere (this is a great story, no?). Washed it thoroughly, went upstairs and got some neosporin and a band-aid, and actually was the first to dial in to my conference call!

Today I'm bandageless, and the finger is pretty discolored (from bruising) but doesn't hurt too much unless I'm typing (um, like now) and happen to hit the entry point right on the corner of a key. This happens often. It's not too painful, though.

--

Anyway, brew day has been put off as I intend to ferment the beer in the garage and would really rather not have it tasting like lacquer, as one might imagine. Also, I figure it's a perfect Friday/weekend thing to do, so hopefully today after work is the time. I also have to find the camera to supply the promised pictures.

Blogger is having a shit today, so I'm not sure if this will post or not (or post multiple times, as blogger sometimes likes to tell you a post failed when it in fact has not).

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Otherwise, I've been really busy with work this week. I can't seem to finish projects that have been on the table for ages due to new projects that always seem more urgent. What I really need to do is spend some good time getting the old stuff off the table (ie: finish it) so I'm not so frazzled. It doesn't help that this week we had two pretty big (recurring, scheduled) import jobs fail, which stresses me out (I'm really the only resource who can re-run the jobs) because they're so "need to get done yesterday" kind of things that hold up dozens of people.

But you don't care about work. You want to hear about beer. Alright, already. I'll do it this weekend at the very least. It's been put off also because of equipment problems (as you know), but partly also because sterilization is so important and I don't want to Eff that up, and, well, it's my first time and I don't want to screw it up.

OK, back to work. Break over!

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Happy Octopus 8/22/2006 09:53:00 PM

happyoctopusshenmansell
Originally uploaded by Dana Fitz.

Mark's been bugging me to blog for a while, so here you go. I found this picture entitled, "Happy Octopus", and liked it. So there.

As you may have figured out from Mark's post, I've been pretty sick for the past week or so. Nasty cold I'm sure I picked up from work--it all started Wednesday with a nasty sore throat, and was full blown gross by the time his parents got to SBS the next night. I was pretty bummed, because I was really looking forward to doing more stuff with them and going on the hikes, but I was so achy and exhausted. Had a blast at the party we threw Saturday night, though--until I lost my voice and couldn't speak at all Sunday or Monday. It's only just started coming back today, and I'm really starting to feel myself again. A friend called yesterday to go hiking, but I just couldn't pull it off--I think I might call her tomorrow morning, though.

So Mark and I have started looking around more at houses here--he started doing it a bit with his parents over the past weekend, but we've been talking about it more and more. It's just such a catch-22. We don't really have the ability to come up with a down payment right now, but are feeling all kinds of pressure to buy because housing just keeps going up and up. And with new improvements planned for the base of the mountain, it's just going to stay that way. I'd love to be in a nice big house, but it just seems so unreasonable right now. Big sigh.

In other news, Mark and I are super-excited about Hutch coming out over Labor Day weekend. We're figuring out all the fun stuff we're going to do and I can't wait. I'll have the weekend off, but am on call on Labor Day itself (but the clinic is closed). Meaning--I can't do a ton on Monday, but the weekend should be great. I think that's going to kind of be the same story when people come visit this winter--Mark will always be able to snowboard on the weekends, and I'll be able to ride maybe one or two days during the week with company, and maybe on the weekend if I'm not on call. Regardless, we still can't wait for people to come out and see us.

Congrats to my friend Tamee, who recently informed me of her pregnancy! She was one of my bridesmaids, the one who I went to high school with who now lives in South Dakota, for those of you who are counting. Awesome--seems like everyone is getting knocked up these days. It's still going to be a number of months for us, I'm afraid, but yes, more likely months than years.

We bought our tickets to the Pi Kapp 10 year Anniversary--flying into Dayton Friday night and driving straight to Miami. I'm pretty excited about it--to be able to see so many friends from Chicago again, get Grillot and Healy bombed so they can tell me funny stories about Mark, and to tell Karen how to REALLY plan a wedding. Should be good times. Steve, have you got your tickets yet, baby?

That's about it, I guess--I still can't believe I get these 7 day breaks from work every 3 weeks in the summer--makes those 13 hour days when I am on call a bit easier. Looks like it's going to go to 4-5 days breaks every 3 weeks in the winter, but that probably won't start until December.

OK, time for the Daily Show.

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Tools, building and the weekend 8/22/2006 09:29:00 AM

Yesterday I took another trip to ACE to get a circ saw, a square, and an extension cord. I was going to head to the local lumber place afterwards (and, in fact, did) to pick up some wood for my planned workbench (see MAKE Magazine's plans for a workbench), but they can't cut wood well, so Wes and I are going to take a trip today and cut the sheet of plywood at his place (as a carpenter, he's got the table saw required - among a myriad of other tools). So that plan got put off a day, but it really shouldn't take long at all to build today, which is nice becuase it will also get me to clean up the dang garage. And yes, I'll get you some pictures of it.

Also, my faucet/hose adapter comes in today (along with my IPA kit), so brew day will probably be tomorrow after work. Mmmmm. Beer. We've been saving and cleaning longneck bottles as well, and with several more saved up (and some new caps purchased) I should be set to brew more than one batch at a time. I imagine the IPA brew day will be about a week after the "Light Ale" brew day, which will mean lots and lots of beer for anyone who visits in September/October. Along with the ingredient and adapter arriving today, I'm also getting a book on how to create new recipes, so I guess you could say I'm diving into this beer thing whole hog. Should be fun.

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My folks were in this past weekend as well, and the four of us had a great time (despite Dana's being sick most of the weekend). They arrived Thursday afternoon/evening (after some furious cleaning and organizing of the boxes in the guestroom), and we celebrated with a bottle of champagne (no, not everyone will get the VIP treatment like that), and I think we headed out for dinner somewhere (though I already can't recall where).

Friday, we headed to Fish Creek Falls in the morning, then picked up Dana, stopped by her office to show my P's around, and then went for lunch at Tugboat by the mountain. We then headed up the Gondy and did a short little hike up there which just about knocked out Dana, rode the gondy back down and headed home (after a little sightseeing detour for the benefit of my parents). Again, we ditched Dana so she could get some rest, and drove around much of the afternoon to give them the lay of the land and so we could go house-hunting. Came home and decided to cancel our dinner reservations for that night, and picked up some swordfish and steak from Steamboat Meat and Seafood company, then some fresh produce from the local produce place. Holy crap, what a great meal.

We augmented the dinner with too much wine and assorted other booze and the four of us drank ourselves to sleep at a late hour. (this happened pretty much every night).

Saturday was "hike day", and again the P's and I ditched Dana. At my mother's urging we decided to hike a trail that a friend of hers recommended (not being a blog reader, she didn't realize I had been scoping out trails for some time), and of course we got lost and ended up hiking on a rutted dirt road. The good thing is, even the rutted dirt roads are scenic when you're (approximately) on top of the Continental Divide, so the three of us still had a good time. Rain threatened, but since I came prepared with warm clothes and rain gear for the three of us (and three times as much water as needed) it thankfully stayed away.

While we were out, Dana went to pick up a few supplies for the party we had Saturday night - the idea being that it would be an easy way for my folks to meet her coworkers. On the way home from the hike we stopped at Backcountry Provisions for some food (me: Hot Springs; Dana: Pilgrim; Mom: Lost Creek; Dad: Summit), and came home to enjoy, take a cat nap, and prep for our company. Along the way we ran into the owner of our place, so I invited him and his girlfriend, and our next-door neighbors who we hadn't seen since the week we moved in. The latter showed up, the former did not.

Our "party" started at 4:30 and we were planning on heading to the rodeo at 7:30 but, well, plans changed. We ended up drinking 8 bottles of wine, finishing off a bottle of gin (and probably most of another one - it's an opaque bottle so there's no telling), along with about a six pack of beer, some vodka drinks... you get the idea.

Anyway, the neighbors were the last ones to leave (but by no means overstayed their welcome), and at that point it was probably about 9 pm, so we decided to order a pizza after drinking some more wine.

Sunday was a wicked hangover day, and the P's left at about 9 or 10 to catch their flight in Denver. Dana and I walked around town (got a library card, went to the soda fountain, the book store, etc) and came home and chilled.

Anyway, this post is long enough, and since D is off today I told her she had to blog too. The blog world (apart from Pablo and the ever-posting Joter) is boring lately, so I'm just doing my part here.

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Brew Day Delay 8/16/2006 09:02:00 AM

As I'm sure I've mentioned at least once, Dana got me a home brewing kit for my birthday. Well, I decided that yesterday after work would be Brew Day. Dana was working late, then had a meeting (those "awesome" hours get stretched more often than not) which means I didn't have to cook. So, I decided to (again) read through the relatively simple instructions and get started. Brew Day shouldn't take more than just a couple of hours, and with the wort chiller should be even quicker than most.

I'm glad I checked everything out before beginning, however, becuase I realized that my wort chiller can't hook up to our faucet without an adapter. SURE, it would have been possible to brew yesterday without the wort chiller, but I wasn't prepared for it, nor did I think I had the time. So I ordered a $3 adapter (and a book on designing beer, and the ingredients for an IPA) and tried to put the faucet back together (we had a little plumbing problem after my nosing around).

So instead, I watched the marathon Cubs game. Dana didn't get home until the 15th or 16th inning, so we had a beer, continued watching the game as we caught up on each other's respective days. At the top of the 18th I made the call that if the game didn't end that inning, we were calling it and going to bed - luckily, I didn't have to. Dana's boyfriend Murton (she is allowed two boyfriends per team, and with D Lee on the DL is left only with Matt Murton right now) drove in two RBIs unanswered by the 'stros to end the game. And we gleefully went to sleep, visions of hops dancing in my head.

Until next week then, I guess. My parents get here Thursday and I'm sure they don't want to watch me make beer (and blog about it), so it'll have to happen next week.

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A few other things. Our first scheduled [non-family] visitor is scheduled to come Labor Day weekend. He found good airfare. So, if anyone would like to wrestle Hutch for the guest bedroom that weekend, let me know.

Also, it seems that this week Blogger introduced a bunch of new features, including new design templates. I'm probably going to stick with this one (and yes, I'll finish it eventually as well), but they've added some features that might be helpful, including (reportedly) an easy way to add OTHER feeds to blogger - so I won't have to hack around third-parties to get our netflix queue - and eventually our Steamboat Visitors Calendar - up on here. Yay. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of work to be done before this sucker is presentable. It's not high on my priority list right now (there's work to be done, after all), but it's on there. Somewhere. It doesn't help my motivation that the site is VISIBLE..

As a consolation, I'll add the code for the forced refresh now, so you all get the most recent page when you call this sucker up.

Until later...

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Go cubs..! 8/12/2006 06:00:00 PM

Third row!

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If i'm going to be a brewer, i need to check out the competition.

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Another landing. 8/11/2006 08:21:00 AM

This happens at least once every week.

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Yesterday, tomorrow, and various ramblings. 8/10/2006 08:46:00 AM

So after work yesterday I rode to the mountain and deflowered my new season pass, taking the gondy* up to check out a 1-mile loop on top of the mountain (well, at the top of the gondy, anyway), with the plan being to hike the 1-miler as an evaluation before my parents get here next weekend, and then hike down the 3-mile trail to the base (just didn't have enough time to hike up, around, and down before having to put on the chef hat and make dinner).

So, there are some great views (watch my picasaweb account for a new album later today), but the trail is really very "meh" - it took all of 20 minutes and didn't have much to offer, so I think we'll skip that and just take the P's to Fish Creek Falls (note to self: get a CO parks pass for the car) and the hike I went on last weekend at Spring Creek.

But of course, at the very end of the one-mile loop (I'd call the trail by its name but it escapes me right now), I rolled my left ankle in a rut in the trail as I rubbernecked to look at this mountain biker who looked just like a guy I used to work with (Tim Clement, for those of you who were wondering. I'm pretty certain it wasn't him, I was just having a Pablo moment).

As I was still right by the gondy I evaluated whether or not I should hike or ride down, but opted to hike. It was the right decision; the ankle is fine now.

However, I totally janked up my RIGHT foot somehow (referring to the picture up top, it feels like my Navicular, whateverthefrack that is), so now I'm limping around like a cripple Hutch. Hopefully it won't bother me riding into town to get some errands done today.

D half-examined me last night, but only after my insistent prodding as she is scared to death of misdiagnosing me (becuase, presumably, then I would have something to hold over her head forevermore; eg: "Remember that time I had foot-cancer and you thought it was tendonitis?**")

Anyway, like I said. Keep your eyes out for my picasaweb pics of this hike later today.

Tomorrow
I'm not sure I've mentioned it, but Dana and I are heading to Denver tomorrow night as the Cubbies are due to trounce the Rockies this weekend. We ordered tix a while ago for Saturday and Sunday's games, and we'll either scalp tickets for Friday's game, find something else to do in the city, or go out to dinner with my uncle in Denver (who I have yet to call, which is why it's third on the list). I can't say I'm looking forward to getting out of the Boat, but I'm not all broken up about it or anything. And we can get some supplies and stuff while we're there, so the trip won't be all fun and games. Expect some moblogging from Coors Field, natch.

Today, my homebrew kit is supposed to arrive (all 60-some pounds of it, in three separate packages!). I won't have time for what they call "brew day" and "bottling day" before we leave (it's supposed to be fairly simple, though time consuming), so that will probably happen sometime next week. Then, it's a 27-day wait, apparently, while the beer ferments in bottles before it's drinkable. I'll do my best to document the entire process in the hope of luring one of you suckers out here to try it for me. Each batch, as I understand it, will be a 5-gallon brew, which comes out to something like 60 12oz. beers - almost enough to supply BJ for an entire week! Rest assured, I will keep all up-to-date with the whole process and do my best to let you know how things are going.

I guess this means I'll have to clean the garage. And re-organize! I don't know where this stuff is gonna go... I'll spare you and not be as diligent in documenting that part.

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*gondy = Steamboat towniespeak for "gondola"
**I'm not sure there's any such thing as foot-cancer, nor do I believe that's what ails me. Example is for illustrative purposes only. Not to mention the fact that I would never be so petty. I would be much more passive-aggressive about it.

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Redesign... 8/08/2006 08:59:00 PM

As you can see, the redesign is coming along. Obviously not complete (archives, anyone? Blogroll? All the groovy right-column stuff? Missing.), but well on the way.

Half of the problems I encountered were, of course, stupid errors on my part that weren't detected until hours had been spent troubleshooting.

But now, we get:

a custom design,

a cleaner look than the half-assed edit from last Saturday at midnight,

nice little pictures at the TOP of every post, to let you know who posted what,

bigger pictures! (an extra 100 pixels across - see above)

Really, I'm happy with the way things look so far, but we're not out of the woods yet. I was just really disgusted with the way I hacked together the last half-version, so I wanted to get this out as quickly as possible. Also, looking at a half-complete site should entice me to finish it that much more quickly.

Should..

So, yes, as you can see from the moblog post earlier today, we got our season passes this afternoon. Unfortunately our plans to hike at the top of the gondy were foiled as it closes at 4pm on weekdays. Who knew!? I'll try to go later this week when I have time (meaning: not spending time preparing a gourmet feast for Dana).

Anyway, if you come across some obvious problems or strange behavior in the blog in the next couple days, be sure to let me know in the comments (that way other people know you're having the same problems as them, and I don't get a million emails detailing the same problem). The right column will make a glorious return eventually.

One funny thing is, the site is aligned correctly in IE, but not (yet) in Firefox. I'll have to wait for Scott to let me know about the status in whatever browser he uses on his Mac.

Feedback welcome! Ideas also welcome! Thanks for putting up with this.

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Awesome! 8/08/2006 04:34:00 PM

Yes!

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Why I hate Blogger.. 8/07/2006 03:55:00 PM (See what I'm talking about)

So after work today I get working on updating our template for the blog. A total redesign. And, just like last time (the design you're looking at now, in fact), the preview looks different than the published product.

Except this time it's ridiculous. Not even close. Check out the difference here: a screenshot of the preview, and a screenshot of the published result.

Blech. Blogger, you suck. Now I have to figure out how to troubleshoot this. And I haven't even tried either of them in IE yet. (but again, none of you should be using IE).

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Cleaning house... 8/05/2006 11:59:00 PM

Obviously there have been some template changes around here. Funny thing is, they preview differently than they turn out when published, so there is still some tweaking that needs to be done before the kinks are all worked out. (like how all this text is jammed up against the left side)

Of course, we'll eventually end up with a custom template, but for now I was trying to accomplish a couple things:

Easily determine who wrote a post - so I've changed background colors and added a little picture at the end of the post as opposed to our names,
Distinguish moblog posts. Of course, they're pretty obvious to begin with (what with the cameraphone picture), but what I did was create a new blogger account and had all the posts that come from our cell be that account's way of posting to the blog.

That's it, really. Just some late-night hijinx.

Let me know if you're seeing any problems with the new formatting. It's looking to me like things translate pretty well between Firefox and IE (if any of you are actually using IE, shame!), but of course I don't have a mac to test..

So: criticisms welcome. Other ideas welcome. Let it fly.

UPDATE: Oh, I totally forgot. I got Yakety Sax and Bananaphone on our new cell. Everyone rings with Yakety Sax except for our family, who gets Bananaphone. We picked out "Brick House" for Keri and a bit of Orbital's "The Box" for Pablo, but I'm having a difficult time thinking of other people's ringtones. I suppose they'll come with time. And so you don't think I'm insane, I'm not paying for these, I'm converting the MP3s and transferring them via bluetooth to the phone. Fun with technology!

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Test post with new moblog profile. 8/05/2006 10:53:00 PM

Testing a new blog profile. This is the kitchen and pot rack.

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Another exciting saturday!

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Da Bears 8/05/2006 08:37:00 PM

SNLSuperfansDaBears
Originally uploaded by Dana Fitz.

So today we had little party that my new office threw for me as a welcome to Steamboat. It was also held in conjunction with a new OBGYN who also just started. Mark and I had a pretty fun time, and it was nice to finally meet spouses, boyfriends, etc of all the people I work with. Most interesting fact learned at that party...

The office recently hired on a new front desk receptionist. In my mind, this is just an incredible important position--they are the first impression of the office a patient (and their parent!) gets when they walk in the door, and can either be friendly and helpful and get people a bit more relaxed, or be curt and short and get people tense. This new girl is very cool--quite young, but fun and good with people. Mark and were chatting with her a bit and it turns out her dad used to play for the Chicago Bears! I just looked him up--he played 7 seasons with them in the late 70's and early 80's, and for those of you who really know football--played with Walter Payton. Awesome! Her dad's still living here in Steamboat, doing great.

So that's the big news today anyway. Work has been going well, and I'm slowly getting less and less freaked out about being back in general peds--the knowledge gained from all those long nights at Rush has come back in spades. It's a little hard for me because I still like bouncing ideas and care plans off of the other docs every now and then, but 80% or so of the time I'm in clinic, I'm there by myself. I've done some checking, and have been assured this is normal behavior for the young physician, but I hate to be imposing too much. But private practice and residency/fellowship training are really two different beasts--private practice has a much more "let's wait and see" approach to most things (as long as a kid looks stable, of course), whereas at a large academic center, it's very much get the labs and the films and ask questions later. It's a different system--I kinda like it more, because there were times at Rush I was poking a needle into a baby to get lab tests at 3 in the morning on no sleep and I KNEW they weren't necessary, but you do as you're told and that's it.

The house is finally getting put in order--Mark and Wes hung the pot rack today and it looks awesome. Mark did a great job cleaning up the place while I was in KC last weekend, and it made for a really pleasant homecoming. KC was awesome--everytime I see Missy and DJ, it's always a weekend of good food, good talks, good beer, and of course, good naps. And this time around I got the chance to play with their 7 month old Edy, who is the cutest little kid! Didn't really see much of KC's attractions (never do) but had a blast and it was fun to catch up with Missy. I'm hot sure if I'll make it back to KC or not before they move next summer--sounds like they'll be moving back to ND to take jobs there. And to be honest, I'd MUCH rather see them in Bismarck than in KC. :)

HMMM...what else? I took my sports medicine boards down in Denver before leaving for KC. I really don't know how I did. If I failed, it can't have been by much. Unfortunately, even though I got a lot of training in peds sports medicine in my fellowship, to become "board-certified" in sports medicine, it's considered a primary care sports medicine test. Meaning, I'd be cruising along on my test, answering the questions about the 15 year old pitcher with elbow pain or the 11 year old soccer player with heel pain, and then come across the questions about the 60 year old who just got a new hip and is wondering what he can do for exercise, or the 35 year old pregnant lady who wants to know if she can still bench press. Big sigh. I just don't care. We'll see, though--it feels good to have the damn thing over with, as it has been hanging over my head for a while. I'd be in the mood to unpack and get the house straightened up, and knew I should be studying instead, so I'd study, but then feel guilty I wasn't helping Mark with the unpacking. Worse case scenerio, we have to throw down another 1800 bucks next spring and I'll take it again, and few people blame me for failing as it's really hard to be studying when you're packing, moving, unpacking, and starting a new job. Here's hoping I passed--if even just by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin.

I'm really happy the new job is working out so well--my two partners are just great people, and everyone in the office has been so nice and helpful. There's just a great vibe at that place--much better than pretty much anywhere else I've ever worked at. It's all good.

OK, back to chil-laxin' with my husband--enjoy your weekend!

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Stupid Picasa; last night and this weekend. 8/05/2006 10:20:00 AM (See what I'm talking about)

I tried to post - unsuccessfully - directly from Picasa. Of course, lost the whole post. Nice long one, too. (cilck on the pic above for the album of last night's awesome dinner)

So, where was I?

Accomplishments since finishing work yesterday: straightened/cleaned kitchen; ditto the dining area; cooked gourmet lobster birthday dinner sent by Scott from Maine; fixed home network, which used to be split on two subnets (don't ask)... and there was something else I listed in the last list that I've forgotten..

Happening this weekend: today is a "welcome new doc" party for Dana, so we'll be doing that. I'm determined to hang the pot rack and attempt to build a workbench at some point as well. If I build the workbench, it means the garage will get cleaned (it's a mess of tools everywhere since rebuilding D's bike and working on my fixie). I'll probably also get and mount a vice and the wheel-truing tool once the bench is built. D and I want to straighten the office more to remove the remainder of crap from the floor...

...and tomorrow I think I'm going to hike up Mt. Werner again, this time solo. D is on call all weekend, so she's probably going to take the Gondola up and meet me at the top, where we'll hike a one-mile loop to evaluate its difficulty before my parents come in two weeks. This is really our last chance to do that (and to get the place in order) before my p's get here, as we'll be watching the Cubbies in Denver next weekend (we have tix for Saturday and Sunday's game, and will probably scalp tix for Friday if we don't meet my uncle out for dinner instead).

So! I think I've gotten everything that Picasa didn't post for me. I have to shower for this party now.

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Thanks, sut! 8/04/2006 06:13:00 PM

Thanks, sut!
Originally uploaded by MarkFitz.

Don't know why these don't post when I tell them to.

This is a preview of coming attractions at the Fitzgerald Household (Steamboat location) this evening. More at 11.

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Test again 8/04/2006 07:43:00 AM

Test again
Originally uploaded by MarkFitz.

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Test blog post. 8/04/2006 07:39:00 AM

Test blog post.
Originally uploaded by MarkFitz.

test? working? New cameraphone pic, but didn't post immediately for some reason..

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Public Shaming 8/01/2006 03:18:00 PM

Complete text from an email I just got from Mikey:

"For the record, steve has eaten three bowls of captain crunch today, and lunch on top of that."

Oh, Steve.

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No more phone... 8/01/2006 01:31:00 PM

...at least not for a couple days. I called Cingular and cancelled today, when I realized that since I told them where I am no living, I haven't received a single text message (or been able to send any, for that matter). AND, they tried to charge me a $175 cancellation fee, but I talked my way out of that sucker somehow.

So, T-Mobile has a phone on the way (and a 300-minute plan and a 400-message plan). Dana and I will share this phone, so I'll probably call them to cancel hers soon as well (it's in my name. Long story.) Otherwise, we'll have to wait until September to cancel hers to complete the term, and two months of payments would BARELY be less than the cancellation fee. Oh well.

As for Pablo's comment about using my current phone on T-Mobile.. We'll see. I've tried unlocking it before, and one more bad code means it's effed. I might just sell it on eBay, along with all my Nokia chargers (three? Four?) after I get all the contact info off of it. We're getting a RAZR with T-Mobile. It was only like $60 and with quad-band means we can bring it overseas. And GPRS, and good coverage here with T-Mobile.

I'll get you all the new phone number as soon as we get the phone in the mail - hopefully by the weekend.

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