Quick post as I have to go into a meeting where I get to present a 50 page flowchart I created this week. The government loves documentation, moreso than results. Anyways, last night was another softball game. This time I saw alot of action. They put me out at right field, catcher and for one inning, second base. Talk about weird. When I was in right field I had three balls hit to me, all grounders. The first one went underneath my legs and a guy came over and got it. The second one hit my shoe, bounced to my knee and then flew past me. But the third time I took it slow and was able to pick up the ball and throw it. In all of this action I think the other team scored like 5 runs.

My time as catcher was also good. I only let the ball get behind me one time. Towards the end of the inning a guy was running towards home and the ball got thrown to me super fast. I didn't know how to react but somehow I caught the thing. I couldn't believe it. I figure the guy was out because my foot was on the base and I had caught the ball, but instead he scored. Apparently another rule is you have to "tag" a guy out at home plate. Tagging means to touch him with your glove. Had I known that he probably would have been out. Live and learn.

Since I was at the bottom of the batting order I only had two times at bat. The second time I struck out. But the first time I actually hit the ball past infield to left outfield and ran like crazy. I could not believe it. I got a base hit! I also got to run to second the next after it was hit again and I made it to second and stayed on base this time. The next guy got out. We ended up losing like 20-8. But it was fun.

A Big Happy Birthday goes out to my Wife! I Love You!~

Ha x 50

So last night I get the ole - your too picky with your food - bit from my friends and I proceed to tell them about supertasters and they think I am making it up. So now here are the facts. Via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster - the real reason many people are "picky" eaters is that they have too many taste buds or fungiform papillae on their tongues and they are classified as a supertaster. Thus the world of hot food and slimy food all tastes too strong. It makes me think if I had a tongue transplant or burned it badly I would be able to eat more foods. But as a big person I am like, why eat more? Need to eat less. As I delve further into the article there is a link to a new disorder called SED or "selective eating disorder" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_eating_disorder . Apparently I am a "sufferer" and could be "autistic" or have "OCD" beause of it. Please, everything has a disorder nowadays.

These social disorders are not the person's fault. The disorder is society. If you don't fit in with society then society needs to change, not you. I can make one up like Zipper Down Disorder, where my zipper constantly falls down. It could even be a social disorder and "sufferers" would get laughed at by their peers. Society should accept the zipper down disorder, or tell us when it is down, or you should just wear button flys. Think of all the disorders that would have existed in the 1800's that would be unheard of today like slavery beating disorder and horse-and-buggy-o-phobia. The real cure is the abolition of slavery and the invention of the automobile, not behavioral therapy and drugs. I imagine it would take someone years to get over their horse-and-buggy-o-phobia. Enough years to where the car gets invented anyways.

Holly and I saw a show called Obsessed on Monday. It was about people who really do suffer from some kind of mental disease. Like obsessively cleaning. Another person was afraid to go driving on the highway and avoided it altogether. Her dad died in a car wreck and it obviously affected her. She even put on his clothes. I think a big criteria for any kind of therapy are the questions "does your behaviour hinder your life?" and "do you want to stop but can't". So does picky eating hinder my life? Not in the slightest. Do I want to stop selectively eating but can't? I don't want to stop so the "but can't" is unimportant. So for my social life I say to you, live with it. And I have. Peace out, man.

So summer movies are in full swing. I really liked Star Trek and would probably go see it again if given the opportunity. I wouldn't mind seeing Night at the Museum, Land of the Lost, X-Men, Transformaers, Up 3D, and GI Joe as well. Last night Holly and I met up with Mr.T and his friends and saw Terminator 4 at the XD Theater in Plano. XD is the new Imax Digital theaters. You pay more per ticket but get a screen larger than the Imax and with better clarity and sound. It makes you get into the movie. As the movie progressed I didn't even think I was in a theater, if that makes sense.

As for T4, I liked it. With the Terminator movies it is hard to place how it should go in the timeline. In my opinion this movie should actually be T2 because the characters flow with T1. It is also kind of a prequal to T1 because the main character in T1 is older than he is in T4. It gets confusing and Holly was like, what? The acting was good. The plot was good. I definitely liked this better than T3. The robots were cooler. Technically the future Terminators in T2 were more advanced than T4. Now that I think about it. If the timeline is based upon the future timeline the movie order should go: T3 -> T4 -> T1 -> T2. Because T3 is the start of the future war, T4 is a little later, T1 the robots are more advanced and go back in time, T2 the Liquid Terminator guy and Arnold Terminator go back in time. So T2 is really the end of the whole thing. Of course there is still room for a sequal. They should just jump to how the final battle is fought and give us all closure.

Anyways, the movie was good. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. I remember reading if you want to win in a robot war just throw mud in their eyes. Also, water in their parts seems to work as well. I think it would be very easy to win in a robot war. Just pull the plug. You could also get some kind of electromagnetic pulse and distort their sensors. You could also get a giant electro magnet and erase their hard drives. I can't believe people in the future haven't figured out how to beat robots. I guess if I survive the coming apocolypse I'll have to teach them.

So this weekend was a three day weekend. Ah, I love those. It is a time to relax. Considering I am saving all my vacation days for when we have our child I will not have a real vacation this year. Then again, I don't think I have had a "real" vacation since our honeymoon. Now that was fun. So those federal holidays will have to serve as my vacation. On Friday night we went over to some of Holly's Tech Friends for a party. They surprised us with a birthday cake shaped like a hamburger. It was very tastey. On Saturday I slept in till like 12:30. I think I had been running a sleep deficit. I guess 6 1/2 hours sleep a night during the week is not enough. Saturday night we had a birthday coupon for Chili's giving us a free dessert. Then we went to Main Event and they were having a $15 special where you get to bowl, play pool and laser tag all night. We were actually tired from bowling by 10:30. I guess our age is catching up to us. Sunday we did the church/Sunday school thing. Then we went to Central Market and I got a steak and some burgers and a rump roast. I cooked the steak Sunday night and it was delicious. The key is to sear it on a frying pan first and then broil it in the oven. That way the juices get locked in. Monday we did mall walking. I have figured out that the garlic picanya at Rafain's is rump roast. I just have to figure out how to cook it. Monday night I cooked the burgers. There is still some left over. I think I may use some for our birthday/graduation party this upcoming weekend. The location has changed to a friends house with a pool. There should be lots of people there. It should be fun. And now I am back at work. Doing what I will be doing for years, working for the man. Bringing home the bacon. How was your weekend?

So, if you are wondering if I played softball yesterday the answer is no. Instead I was sequestered in a room with 10 other anonymous professionals answering questions for 2 hours. Let me take you back to the beginning. So earlier this week I get an email from an AOL email address saying she is looking for people to answer a survey. The going rate is $225. I had to live near Plano and be a technology professional. So I say, what the hey, and give her a call since she asked me to call her. At first she asked a few demographic questions as to what languages do I program in and what are my skills. So she says she will call back with more details. Around Tuesday I get a callback and she says Alcatel-Lucent is doing surveys and can I come in Thursday from 6 to 8. She says I will get it all in cash when I come in to the survey. So I decide to do it. Why not.

So I arrive there and the building is locked. I then notice the wrong address and walk around the building to get to the other one. It is Alcatel's corporate headquarters. I get in and walk into their staging room. They have drinks and popcorn and some of the people I will be with are in there. There are the teenager hobbyists that build XBOX games at home. There is the medical programmer. Then the boss at a gaming company. Then a cisco consultant. Then a iphone developer. We all are wondering what this is going to be for.

So then this guy opens up the Willy Wonka magic room and leads us in. It had gaming systems and phones and computer systems all with blinking lights. On one wall was a tv with an XBOX and a little chair for a child. We all sit on bigger chairs in a circle and introduced ourselves. There are cameras recording everything. Mr. Facilitator does this for a living. He sit and throws out questions and points to each of us for answers. He says stuff like,"Go with that. Good. More?" and "any other opinions." He points at me alot because I do have an experienced opinion and I am not afraid to speak it. The context of this whole survey is that the phone networks are looking at releasing their own version of the "cloud" and wonder if developers will use it. What is the "cloud"? Is is basically a set of online services that do billing, storage, authentication, profiling, user analysis, and with phones, location based services. Imagine instead of typing in your credit card number to make payments you do it from your phone. Say you want to pay the bill in a restaurant, you send a text of the amount to the restaurant phone and it takes it out of that. They had us come up with uses for all of this technology. It was fun. But the funnest part was walking out with $225. Happy Birthday to me!

Well, as I have looked at the past post I can say I have come to a decision. I am going to try to sell RideSearch. I am going to keep it running and just let it stew there a while. How I can sell it and at what price I need to figure out. There is an art to pricing known as business valuation. I of course don't know how to do that. Time to research the flipside of owning a company and gain experience doing that.

Failure is definitely a path to success. I spent 3 years gaining experience that most people never see. Experience with publicity, financing, marketing, developing, SEO, and site maintenance. See I have learned so much and already have a next business venture in mind. This next venture will have the following advantages:
No competition
A barrier to entry that takes a while to figure out how I did it - IPhone and Windows programming involved
A product/service that costs only manhours and has a high profit margin - I will code it and charge for it
An easy viral marketing strategy - Fills a basic need so people will spread the word

So my next company venture is going to be a software company. I am going to make Windows and IPhone software that people think is impossible, except for me. It does fill a basic need for all IPhone users. I have the skills. There is no competition. I am going to create a lite version and an ultimate version. I can mindmap it out. I came up with a name quicky yesterday and got the domain name. I will still keep Motivium as the corporation that creates this new software, so no bankruptcy. I will develop this quickly and will finish it quickly (maybe). I will be realistic. I have the business experience. I had already purchased out of the box software to create a web prescence quickly so I can just reuse it. I know how to market and know how to get hits on the website. I have the infrastructure in place with RideSearch to have purchasing be automated. I can build upon my previous foundation.

So now I have officially stopped the gear of RideSearch. I have a wave of relief. I didn't want to continue with something I had lost a passion to do. Maybe now all of my other gears will start working again. RideSearch was fun and is poised for success for the business that buys it. Hopefully I will be able to find it a good home. Either that or tell people RideSearch is doing fine living on a farm.

So I have formulated the reason why all my gears(activities) have stopped is that there is a big elephant in the room. I think we all know what it is. RideSearch. Basically I can't move on with life without taking care of this situation. There are and always have been a million reasons to quit RideSearch, with the number one reason being I am not making a dime off of it. The number one reason to stay the course is a sliver of hope, that I will be able to complete my new business model, send out a press release and get paying customers from that. But, because I have not declared it dead or officially made it fail means I get to talk about my hopes for the future of it and not have to do anything about it. I am in limbo basically.

So I am trying to decide what to do about RideSearch. Here are some facts:
1. The business plan for RideSearch 3.0, a new profit model, is already laid out and just needs to be developed and $1000 put into it. If I get customers it should start paying back $25 for person groups and $1000 for businesses a year.
2. I think I have have lost my passion to develop it.
3. RideSearch is already $50,000 in line of credit debt and implementing a profit based model may help it get out of the hole. Right now it will take 25 years to pay this off based on my current payments.
4. RideSearch's debt is property of Motivium Consulting, Inc an S-Corporation. That makes it a separate entity from myself and if it fails it should not affect my credit, I think. It may be possible to either sell the company outright to pay off its debts or have the company file bankruptcy. I do not know about how to fail a company. I might talk to my brother about this.
5. In order to keep RideSearch going it basically costs me $250 a month for the server and $500 a month for the line of credit payment. The server does house this website as well and all of my other sites.
6. The amount of money and time spent in this venture is substantial. The domain is worth at least $5,000 in itself and the software licenses that get it running is worth at least $4,000 in itself. So if I can liquidate it I may be able to get some money from this.
7. I think my competitors might be interested in buying this site outright. I have over 9500 members and am still ranked 7 for keyword carpool in Google. The site has always been poised for success. I just don't know if I have the passion to get it successful. My competitors have teams of people working fulltime on their sites.

So after this diatribe, what does everyone think? What should I do? Try and reignite a passion somewhere to keep developing, try to sell the site, or file bankruptcy? It has been my passion for years and I don't know if I have the heart to pull the plug. Thus the limbo. I think I need to make a decision.

So yesterday Holly graduated. It was a good ceremony. The speaker was the first guy to graduate from UTA. He talked for only 5 minutes, although I have forgotten everything he said. The doctoral candidates take the stage first. There were like only 4 of them. Then out of the 300 students there Holly is the fifth person to cross the stage. Having a last name that starts with B has its advantages in lines. I always feel sorry for those who start with Z because it'll take forever for them to be called. Anyways, when the masters candidates cross the stage everyone claps. Then when the bachelors cross the stage and their respective family goes "woo hoo" and "atta boy!" and "that's my bro" and other cat calls. It is humorous.

Afterwords I took Holly and her mom out to my favorite steak place ever, III Forks. Yes, it is probably one of the most expensive restarants in Texas, but Holly did get a stipend this month for being in leadership at her school. Anyways, every single bite is perfect. It is the only place I will eat the mashed potatoes. They make them so good. They are constantly voted as the best steak in the world. I think part of it is the heat. It is like they cook it and seer it quickly and when it is brought to you the outside of the steak is hot while the inside is warm. And the whole thing is juicy. I make a point to close my eyes whenever I take a bite. It turns me into a wild animal.

Anyways, as you can see I am still on vacation in my mind. All of my gears have stopped moving. I think of my hobbies and activities as gears. The gears of guitar, RideSearch, dieting, exercising, and even spiritual things have stopped moving. A lack of motivation is to blame. Some stuff I even enjoy doing and have stopped. I am rebooting my energy and prioritization. Maybe I need to replace old gears, or a new energy source, or a new drive, or a new car. It is a time of introspection and analysis of meanings of life activities. Or maybe it is time I make the donuts.

Quick post from my phone. It's Monday afternoon and we are headed to
UTA to witness Holly walk across the stage. She is getting her Masters
of Arts in Interdisciplinary Science. Somehow I was able to find a
smart and good looking girl. I am proud of her. It took three and a
half years at night school. I even remember having a hard time with
her Friday night classes while we were dating. So this degree had some
trials and is well earned. Way to go Holly! Woot!

Brian Bass
Creator of RideSearch.com and
RideSearch.biz
"Carpool for Better Tomorrow"

http://ridesearch.com
http://ridesearch.biz

So last night was another ball game, this time at 10PM. It had to be the most comical one for me. First it started off before I even got there. I go to open the garage door and head back inside with the door open slightly to kiss my wife goodbye. At this time Princess Leia decides it would be a good time to go running around the neighborhood and darts out of the house through the garage. So I start to chase her. I see her dart here and there in the dark. Thank goodness she has a collar that makes a noise. So I stood in the middle of the street listening for it. Finally I saw it and she was halfway up the street. So I go on ahead of her and corral her in. Then she goes running back into the house. I think, great I am already winded and I haven't even played yet.

So I get to the fields and guys are already warming up. I decide to toss the ball up and catch it. So I am looking cool tossing it up and holding out my glove to catch it when I toss it up and it doesn't come down. Gravity had been thwarted. Apparently I tossed it up too high and a tree grabbed it. So I am just staring at it for like 5 minutes wondering how I am to get it down. I then tell a classmate and he throws his bat up there and knocks it down. Meanwhile everyone is saying "I've never seen a softball get stuck in a tree before". So it is time to take the field. I sit out the first inning.

There was one inning where I played right field. It was this inning that 2 balls got thrown my way. The first one I actually start running towards it and just start to bend over to pick it up. By that time it was too late. Gravity became my enemy again. Skinny people need to realize I have an 80 pound weight always pulling me down and forward. I couldn't stop my momentum. It was almost cartoonlike. I decided to forego the trying to get the ball and just concentrate on not falling down. So I kick my legs forward and try to catch all of my weight. I must have kicked for like 20 feet before I could slow down. I probably looked lick a guy slipping on a banana peel or on a sheet of ice. I would have done a face plant into the dirt. But I am proud to say I did not fall. Luckily the ball was retrieved and thrown by someone else so it wasn't all bad. The other ball that got hit to me was a grounder. I slowly bent over, picked it up and threw it to the closest person as I don't really know how to play. For the rest of the game I was a catcher - for like 3 innings. My back is ok. I think I figured out how to squat. I basically have to do a 3 point football stance and that way my legs take the weight instead of my back. There was one scary moment when a person was running home and I didn't know what to do. Luckily the other teammate threw the ball too high and I didn't have to make any decisions.

My first at bat I get up there and the pitcher throws it so slow I can see it is outside. He does this three times and I get walked! I actually get on base. I can't believe it. I never get a chance to go to second base cause the next hitter gets out. My second time at bat I actually hit a grounder outside the diamond. So I huff and puff and run and actually make it to the base and hear "safe" as I go across. I asked the coach if that was a base hit, but apparently the guy going to second got out so it wasn't. Keep in mind I am so stupid/innocent in this game. I don't know when to run or where to throw balls to. So the first base coach tells me to run to second the next time the ball is hit. The next hit I take off from first, huffing and puffing. I actually make it to second base, but there is a snafu. Apparently when you touch the base you are supposed to stay on it. I didn't know that. So when I get to second I look over to the bullpen and am like "Look at me I am on second!" and they all stand up and say "Stay on Base!" and I am like,"ok". So I proceed to go to the base and the second baseman touches me with the ball. I am like so what and I touch the base, not understanding why the guy said "ouuuut". So I stay on the base for a few seconds and my teammates start going to the bullpen. It was then when I realized my mistake. Doh. My final at bat ended the game. We were down like 12-6 anyways and had a man on base. This at bat I swing at everything. The first one the ball hit my feet. The second one went straight towards an infeilder and I hear "that's the game". I am a little wiser now. We lost. But for me, I saw alot of action and that made it fun.

So since guys night was last night I shall now talk about what goes on at "guys night". I think in all of my blogging it is always referred to but never talked about. Guys night started in 1999 when Peetey and Mr.T moved close to me in the Dallas area. Guys night typically takes place on a Wednesday night and Peetey, Mr.T and sometimes Benz comes over. We then go out one of our preffered restaurants: CiCi's, Chili, China Dragon, Hooters, Bone Daddy's, and recently Spring Creek BBQ. Last night we went to Chili's. We usually chat about nerdy things. Like last night it was the new Star Trek movie even though I have yet to see it. We talk about Smallville and other favorite TV shows. If you have seen the Big Bang Theory TV show that is basically us. And yes, the guys do keep me in check on my blog boastings. Then afterwords we usually go to a store like Best Buy, Borders, Walmart, Movie Trading Company, Petco or Target. Usually I am the only one who gets something. Last night we did go to Movie Trading Company since we hadn't been there in a while. Then after that we return to my house. Peetey and I usually play Wii Tennis and Wii Bowling. Mr.T usually goes home early. And that is about it. Guys night. Some questions come up - will we keep doing it when the kid is born? My gut says Yes. Really most of our time is spent out and about so not much needs to change. I think all of the guys see a need for male bonding or a "bromance" as the wife says. I hate that term. There will always be a need to take a break from something. Gooo Guys Night.

So now that the gender confirmation is complete it is time to get a registry ready, take some kind of class, paint the room, get a crib ready, get some baby clothes and other things baby related. I think some of Holly's friends are setting up a baby shower and there is going to be one at her work at the end of the month. For now we are registering at Target. It's time to begin the expenses. I figure if we start a "baby" category in our budget we can get stuff every month and when Bacon is born use that same category for diapers, food and clothes. Maybe even a little category for college. It is hard to say. In the back of my mind I am thinking we might have another Dr. Bass so the college fund may need to be big. However, student loans are pretty easy to get and state schools are just as good as others so you never know exactly how much you would need. Obviously my mind races with all of the possibilities and opportunites our kid will have. Also there is the potential tragedies that could befall him and then my mind starts to worry. But as long as the kid is healthy that is my main concern.

I think maybe all parents want their kids to be smart and do good for the world. The problem is that probably doesn't happen for a majority of parents. So expectations should be realistic, although teaching him to have the morals of superman would be great. I was telling Holly my family has tons of smart genes and her immediate family does too so we should be prepared for it. Holly will be getting her Master's degree on Monday the 18th. Her mom has her PHD and her dad was a computer programmer in Iran in the 70s. Obviously we don't know much about his side of the family. Then I have a validictorian neurologist sister at the Mayo Clinic, a father who is a M.D., a mother who has her masters in Math and was saliditorian and me who is the black sheep just having one degree. Then mom's parents were teachers and principles. My grandfather was a shrewd businessman as was his father and military service is speckled throughout the line. Then in the 1700s and 1800s there was a string of doctors and politicians and businessman. I found out yesterday that we and G.H. Bass of Bass shoes all come from the first Bass in America. So the sky is the limit with our kid, assuming genes play a role in intelligence. That kind of thinking is probably outdated though. But I really can see how smart people have life easier than regular Joes. When you can see farther in the future and can analyze situations quickly and make good informed decisions you have a definite advantage over many people.

In my visions for our child I do think in terms of acts of service and a world view that is better than mine. I would like him to be like Superman and never tell a lie and be a hero for people. I think helping people is something that is tops as to what we can do with our lives and we will teach him that. To be a doer, not to sit on the sidelines and let life pass him by. To see what is wrong with this world and to try to correct it. I will also try to instill in him a sense of humility. Obviously someone who is better than me. I think all parents want their kids to be better than them. The great thing about where we are now is that there is so much hope for him it is exciting. Anything is possible. So I shall leave with that. Visions of Bacon.

Well, as you can see below we had our last sonogram. It's a boy! The kid is 22 weeks and 1 day old according to the proportions, which actually puts a new due date of 9/11, even though the last one was 9/14. I think it will be September 14th so I am going to go for that. His weight is 1 pound 1 oz right now which puts him at 72 percentile in terms of weight. That's my boy.

So yesterday we go into the sonogram office and the lady puts the gel on Holly's belly and starts feeling around with the sonogram wand. She starts labeling parts of the baby, takes proportions and asked if we wanted to know the gender. We said yes. So she waits a while and starts to label things and the kid is moving alot. He puts his hands over his face and she can't get a 3D picture of him because he is moving alot. Later on the doc tried to listen for a heartbeat but could only hear it for a couple of seconds before the kid would move. The first sonogram we had he was also twitching. I'm thinking, maybe this kid is althetic. Holly is thinking, maybe this kid is hyper. I guess we will know eventually. So then she labels his special purpose and says - It's a boy. I am like,"Woo Hoo, That's my boy!" I've been thinking lately of all the stuff we can do together - throw the football, go fishing, join boy scouts, make web pages, watch star wars, play cool video games. I can teach him how to be a man. That will be cool. I am excited.

For me naming is highly important. It is cool thinking of names. We have a list of like 50 names right now. I am including family names and other such names as well. All things need to be taken in account. I think personality traits are projected upon people based upon their name. I've thought about our big family names and then I start going into our geneology and think various things about what it means to be named after someone. Since my middle name is Alden I have often thought of John Alden and what he was like. His story about his love triangle in the Pilgram era made me think about all of the triangles I had in my life and how I got the girl in the end too. I also wonder if my pride was not raised being named after someone like that and is that a good thing? Grandpa's Grandpa, Josiah Quincy Bass(1845) was named after his great great uncle John Quincy Adams, and maybe because he had the name he ended up going into politics and becoming a representative from Ohio. But thinking about all of that I also think maybe naming him something unique is the way to go. That way there is no pride put forth in a name and we can get the domain name. But still, having a regal name seems pretty cool too. So I don't know. BTW, everyone says not tell the name until the kid is born, so you may not know his name until you meet him ;-) Four months to go. I am excited. For now he is Bacon Burger Bass. Goooo Bacon!

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

So on Friday Holly and I went to the Dallas House of Blues and watched a Beatles tribute band called "GetBack". They were pretty good. They went through the each phase of the Beatles, from the mop tops to the Sgt.Pepper album to the late 60's hipster doofus phase. Most of their songs were dead on. I did think the guy who played Paul was off on some notes and the George guy hit some bad chords on some songs, but otherwise it was pretty solid. We met Peetey down there with his wife and friend and watched the band. Saturday afternoon I drove to Wichita to pick up mom for mothers day and then drove her down to our house. So that was 4 hours driving on Saturday.

On Sunday my step-brother George and his family came to my place and I cooked burgers and hot dogs for everyone. His wife is due on August 10th and we are due on September 14th. So our kid will have a cousin his own age to play with. Sunday night Holly drove us back to Wichita and then back to Carrollton, another 4 hour journey. So all in all we got 8 hours of driving this weekend.

I got mom a slide converter called iConvert from Brookstone for mother's day. Mom has all of these slide from her world travels in the 60s. She went to Kenya, Tiawan, the Philipines, Cambodia, Germany, England and Italy during her travels. Mom tells many stories of her adventures. Unfortunately the guys who designed the software for the converter didn't test it enough and it only took 3 slide before it broke. I guess I'll trade it in for another. In other news, today is the day when we go in for a second sonogram and to get the gender determined. Stay tuned for the news...

So last night was the big game. I start off by being a catcher. Luckily I was catcher for only one inning. If it had been two innings my lower back would be hurting. There were a couple of balls that were off the mark when I threw it back to the pitcher that someone else had to get and about 50% of the time the ball would go behind me and I would have to run and pick it up. I get a workout every time I am a catcher. For the rest of the game I played right outfield which is where no one hits it so that was pretty easy.

The first time I got to bat I had a swing and a miss and a swing and a miss so I struck out. The second time at bat I swung and hit the ball. It was a popup in the infield and the guy just stood there and caught it. I actually did run after I hit the ball. I was only up twice that game. I think because I am near the bottom of the batting order that happened. So we were behind the whole game, like 4-1, and 8-4 and 11-8. In the last inning we had to get 3 runs to tie it. So we get 2 outs and score 2 runs and it is 11-10. So while that happened our guy starts running towards home plate and the ball gets thrown to 3rd with a man coming in to 3rd. So the guy gets tagged out at 3rd a split second before the tying run can get the score. That is how close it was.

All in all it was fun and I did get a little exercise. I think people know I am not that athletic, but the positions I am put in are not critical to our success so I can be thankful no one is mad at my playing. If I ever do get a base hit I will celebrate. It takes me back to 8th grade where the coaches had a bet that I couldn't score a basket all season. I did score one basket and got a game ball for my one basket. I know I could have done much better if the coaches had any confidence in me at all. When I was at Tech I actually played with the Lady Raiders a game and got beat, but I did score a basket. I think over time I learned how to score, but alas my ankle being broken twice made the doctor say "don't play basketball again". But he never said softball...

Ah, what am I thinking about. Tonight we should be playing softball at 8pm provided it doesn't rain. That should be fun, but my health is still a factor. Why I get lower back pain is easy to see. Exercise is good for me though. I think I am nearing the end of my vacation from stress. It's been fun. Eating what I want and watching lots of movies. I have analyzed and talked about the whole diet and exercise thing to death. You know I realize it is a problem within the brain. Studies have shown in obese people that there is a part of the brain that regulates self control and in those who are obese that part of the brain does not get triggered when things like sweets enter the mind.

I used to think I could get around this by hypnosis. That is one side of the equation. But I think as I got into hypnosis I realized I was messing with the wrong part of the brain. The conscious will not let the subconcious do anything that it doesn't want to do. The final solution is to do some kind of cognitive behavioural therapy mixed with deep brain stimulation. Kind of like the Ludvigo technique in Clockwork Orange. Of course we all know how that ends so I am not sure if that is wise. I wonder what my sister the neurologist would do for that. It appears to me that if you had a lot of money the treatments used to destroy cancer cells could be used destroy fat cells and the brain treatments use to stop parkinsons patients from tremors would be used to stimulate the self control regions of the brain to retrain it. It makes sense, but I am no doctor.

So I go on analyzing it and come up with a million excuses not to change. Like, when we have a kid our lifestyles will get reset again and there will be a period of adjustment. So whatever habits I start now will likely be broken. Or the old, I've been there done that and it doesn't work. Then there is the I enjoy good tasting food and hate healthy food excuse. Laziness is a good excuse. I have enjoyed not spending much energy on things I hate. I figure if my body was a fully optimized machine I wouldn't need to eat for quite a while while I expend this vast reseviour of stored energy. Maybe fasting is the ultimate in laziness. Maybe that's the ticket. Ok, enough. Blah Blah Blah. No one wants to hear about dieting and exercise. They want to hear about kittens. meow.

Yes, I know, I am a geek. But I think geeks have taken over the world anyways. Holly and I watch The Big Bang Theory every Monday and laugh at their phrases. I catch the Star Wars, LOTR, and Star Trek phrases they say. The sad thing is I understand everything they say. So the new Star Trek movie comes out this weekend. We plan to see it sometime in the future at the IMax theater. That should be cool. I am excited about this one and may see it more than once. I think in terms of how cool it could be it ranks higher than Episode I of Star Wars. We saw an awards show last night talking about how Star Trek influenced NASA and Holly couldn't believe all these astronauts on the stage were glorifying Star Trek. I could because Captain Kirk is pretty cool and the technology that is foreshadowed helped us design things like cell phones. What I am really waiting for is the MMORPG Star Trek Online. You get to be part of an online universe and be captain of a starship. Unfortunately it will probably come out next year, but the previews look pretty cool.

So we watched our Tuesday Night TV shows. Starting with the Biggest Loser. I am tired of seeing all of these recaps of how they lose 150 pounds in 18 weeks. If I worked out 10 hours a day and had a personal trainer I am sure I could do it to. But in reality we all know they gain it back. We are down to the final 4 and I am going for the guys to win. The two girls all seem to have a screw lose. Then we watch American Idol. They are down to the final four as well. I like Danny Gokey the best and Adam Lambert after that. I can picture Adam Lambert in a Queen cover band. He is too far out there for me to want to see in concert though. His style kind of reminds me of Kiss. I was never a fan.

So as to be cool I also watched the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets playoff game. It looks like Dallas has some problems. They always stay close and in the fourth quarter tend to quit playing. I don't like Dirk because he hasn't been able to win big games. I don't like Denver because they are mostly tattoo'd up. They have a player who wants be Larry Bird so he got tattoos of feathers on his arms and spikes up his hair. I don't like it when they call him Birdman because there is only one Birdman. So even though I am a geek I also dig some sports. I have tried to avoid all labels upon me growing up and have succeeded I think. People think I am a geek and then wham, I put down my star trek toys and play with a football. So maybe I am not a geek after all...

It is still rainy outside. I think we may have to rename Dallas to Seattle. Today I will talk about our current little one, Princess Leia. I started grilling last week and Princess followed me outside and quickly found a toad and started playing with it. So I go inside to get some cheese, come out and see Princess frothing at the mouth. She looked like cujo. I could not find the toad anywhere and think she ate it, maybe, but the toad was pretty big. I researched it on the internet and found out that some toads are toxic to dogs. So we grab Princess and try to wash her mouth out. I call the vet and Holly's vet friend and they tell us toxic toads are not native around here and if Princess shows any other signs to take her in. Luckily she showed no other signs. I guess I should start growing those eyes in the back of my head you hear talk of.

On Sunday Holly decides to mop the kitchen. She puts the mop outside the front door to dry and thinks nothing of it. An hour later she is like,"Where's Princess?" and we proceed to scour the house. Finally I open the front door and in prances Princess. We are lucky she knows where her food is. Some dogs leave and never come back. So yesterday I fired up the grill in between storms and made hotdogs and hamburgers. Every time I step outside Princess follows me. This time I stepped inside to go to the bathroom and Princess stayed outside. I should have learned from previous experience. When I come back outside Princess is no where to be found. Apparently she found a way out under the fence. So I spend 10 minutes screaming "Princess!" and look around for her. She must have darted really far. So I start walking around the neighborhood and hear a faint jingle that sounds like her collar. Finally I find her walking out of the brushes and she proceeds to run back to the house. At least she wants to stay, otherwise Princess Leia would join the Rebellion and hide the Death Star plans in her collar.

Let's see. It pretty much rained all weekend. So on Friday Holly and I stayed at home and watched movies on Netflix. Saturday we did the same until the evening then we went to the Olive Garden and then we went to see the King Tut Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. Things I noticed: The symbol(ankh) for Life was inscribed on many artifacts. The book of the Dead spell number 6 was plastered over everything, I think this was what emparted eternal life. King tut was kind of small and probably died of a knee infection. One of the scarab necklaces contain glass from the sahara desert made from a meteor impact. Something I didn't like was there was like 11 rooms of artifacts that make you want to see the coffin or mummy and at the end you get disappointed by seeing a video of it. I wonder why King Tut is not in the King Tut exhibit. Unless he is walking around right now... On Sunday we slept in cause of the rain and ended up watching the Mavs lose. Oh, I also got to talk to Melinda. She said Australia is pretty expensive. She said Greg has taken up hang gliding. It sounds like they are having fun. Anyways, that was my weekend. How was yours?

So Holly and I get to hear other people's kids stories alot more now. Yesterday I heard that as she gets closer to delivering we may see handprints in her belly where the kid is pushing. I have also heard gross stories about delivery and other things. Like how hard it is to cut the cord and about epidurals and jaundice and how the kid should cry when he is born. I am afraid things are going to get grosser from here on out. I get to hear about lactation and how some people need a lactation consultant. I get to hear about rashes and creams and other stuff. People really know all of the details about childbirth and raising kids. Holly sees her friends 16 weeks sonograms that determine the gender and can't wait to find out at 22 weeks the gender officially(the pharmacy test said boy).

The questions popup about natural vs epidural vs c-section. I think we are leaning towards epidural, but today I heard a story about an epidural that would fall out, whatever that means. Heck I really don't know what an epidural is. It sounds like a skin condition. I googled something I saw on TV called "born free" the other day. Do not do that. It is disturbing. Women laughing while standing up and giving birth in a bathtube on a beach or hillside. It all seems crazy and is crazy. I think when the kid is born I may or may not be in the room and if I am in the room I will be staring at Holly's face, not looking around lest I faint.

Holly has a month to go in her school and then summer Holly arrives. Summer Holly is less stressed and is on her own little vacation. This summer preparations for the baby's room will be the top concern. She wants an underwater theme, so if it is a boy or girl we will still have the same room. We will probably have sea creatures on the wall and maybe a fish tank or something. That will be cool. As the kid gets older I can predict Star Wars themes and other such things. Maybe I will be like one of millions of parents who live vicariously through their children. I told Holly I may be a helicopter parent, but she said that wasn't my style. We'll see...

I am sure there are lots of high tech things parents can do for their kids. I like looking at the baby monitors. I am leaning towards the ones with the pocket tv monitors that can control a camera that will watch the kid. I probably need a better digital camera. 5 megapixel is probably not enough. I still remember years ago I invented the baby bubble. This is a soundproof see through air conditioned baby carrier that allows you to take your kids anywhere and not worry about crying. When it detects crying the lights in the bubble will flash different colors alerting the parents. I suppose when we have Bacon Burger Bass I will be able to test all my inventions out. Wait for my new book "Baby Programmer". All I need is an illustrator. It is a kids book on logic. I'll make it into a series called "Smart Kids Books" or something like that. I am excited about our upcoming progeny. I can imagine all of the possibilities and test cases...