Goin' to the chapel and we're.... 2006-02-13T18:23:33Z tag:,2006:/4 Movable Type Copyright (c) 2006, dave Site has Moved 2006-02-13T18:23:33Z 2006-02-13T13:23:33-05:00 tag:,2006:/4.138 2006-02-13T18:23:33Z Over the weekend (during the storm), I changed the backend of this site to WordPress. If you're reading this from an RSS feed, then please update your feed - the new site is at http://heaney.org/wp. If you're not reading this... dave Over the weekend (during the storm), I changed the backend of this site to WordPress. If you're reading this from an RSS feed, then please update your feed - the new site is at http://heaney.org/wp. If you're not reading this from an RSS feed, then odds are you're not reading this, because the main page of site automatically forwards there.

]]> Still reading... 2006-02-12T19:13:26Z 2006-02-12T14:13:26-05:00 tag:,2006:/4.136 2006-02-12T19:13:26Z "See, you look out there and you want to go out and play. I look out there and I want to run under the covers" - Gina, after looking outside during today's snowstorm There's not much else to do except... dave "See, you look out there and you want to go out and play. I look out there and I want to run under the covers"
- Gina, after looking outside during today's snowstorm

There's not much else to do except wait for the snow to stop so that I can go out and shovel, so I may as well write about what an utter piece of crap Blink turned out to be. The subtitle, as I said before is "The Power of Thinking Without Thinking". The book focuses on "thin-slicing" - taking very small bits of information, and making quick decisions based on that information. It takes the reader through several mini-essays about people who are very good at this - people who can spot fake pieces of art, firefighters who make quick decisions, etc. However, that's all it is - just a collection of these stories. Maybe I was reading under a bad assumption, but I figure that, at some point, the book would detail how the reader can harness this power of thin-slicing to better himself. No dice. Not even in the chapter called "The lessons of Blink" - that was just more drivel about somebody who can make good decisions with minimal information. Bah.

So now I'm reading Freakonomics which, ironically, has a quote on the cover from Gladwell. I'm only one chapter in, but it seems much better, although that may be because this time I'm expecting a collection of stories, and not a lesson in Economics. So far the book has focused on incentives in modern life, and why they don't work. I'll report back when done with the book (which could be soon, depending on how bad my travel delay is tomorrow)

Non-book-related-note: We just tried to open the front door, and the snow is up over the level of the door, so once this is all done, I'll have to shovel my way out to get to the shoveling. Good times...

]]> What's Dave Reading? 2006-02-06T23:40:19Z 2006-02-06T18:40:19-05:00 tag:,2006:/4.135 2006-02-06T23:40:19Z I know I said a while ago that I was going to start posting more frequently. That obviously hasn't happened. It seems like whenever anything entertaining happens in our life, I sit down to write about it, and say "man,... dave I know I said a while ago that I was going to start posting more frequently. That obviously hasn't happened. It seems like whenever anything entertaining happens in our life, I sit down to write about it, and say "man, that's SO not funny if you didn't get to witness it in person". This has happened no fewer than 4 times this calendar year. I've had a bunch of time to read lately, though (thanks to frequent trips back and forth to Logan, and frequent flights from Logan to Dulles), so I think I'm going to start writing about what books I've been reading, and what I thought of them. I'm currently halfway through Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. Before I get into what I think of Blink, though, here's a quick summary of what I've read recently:

The Smartest Guys in the Room - I'm a big fan of Mark Cuban's blog (and of many of Cuban's business philosophies and ideas), so I first learned of this book when he wrote about the movie version of the book that appeared on his television station, HDNet. It garnered a fair amount of critical praise, so when I saw the book in the Borders by gate C18 at Dulles, I picked it up. It takes the reader through the rise and fall of Enron, the two people most associated with the company (Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling), and a number of lower-level executives in the company. It also details how they set up a number of the "off balance sheet debt vehicles" that one hears about so much in the news. I'll be honest, the way the accounting worked in parts went a bit over my head, but overall, the book was great. It was both entertaining, and educational....which is more than I can say about....

The Devil in the White City - Argh. I don't know if this book was too hyped up by the time I read it for me to enjoy it, or if it just sucked, but it was a chore to get through. I will usually fight through any book I start, and get to the end, but this one almost broke me. It's the story of the Chicago World's Fair, intertwined with the author's version (based on a fair amount of research) of one man's murderous spree that happened at the same time. All of the reviews I saw said that it was a "history written as a novel" so that it was factually correct, and completely engrossing. The chapters about the fair were interesting, though by no means engrossing. As for Mr. HH Holmes (our dastardly murderer)....eh, his story was pretty boring. "Boy meets girl. Boy kills girl" Rinse, repeat

Harvard Business Review - Managing Yourself - This was actually a pretty decent selection of essays collected from (obviously) the HBR. The best among them was "How to Play to Your Strengths", "Managing Your Boss", and "Managing Oneself", all of which were applicable to a 26-year-old working at PwC. "Almost Ready: How Leaders Move Up" was more or less useless, because of the fact that it discusses why some COOs can make the jump to CEO, and others can't. Seemed like an odd choice for the first essay in the collection. The other four essays were decent, but not worth writing about.

Out of the three listed, I'd recommend Smartest Guys first, then the HBR essays (if that's something you're into). I'd shy away from Devil unless you have a ton of time on your hands...

And seeing as I wrote a ton about those 3, I'll save my thoughts about Blink for another time...

One final note - I've enabled commenting for this thread...we'll see if I still get spammed....

]]> New Bedroom! 2006-01-29T17:03:56Z 2006-01-29T12:03:56-05:00 tag:,2006:/4.134 2006-01-29T17:03:56Z Well, not exactly, but it's at least a new color - Beach Glass! This is what the bedroom looked like before the painting...white walls, and a nice little water stain that you probably can't see in this picture: And here's... dave Well, not exactly, but it's at least a new color - Beach Glass! This is what the bedroom looked like before the painting...white walls, and a nice little water stain that you probably can't see in this picture:

And here's the after (note, though, that Gina hasn't had a chance to fix the curtains. she didn't want anybody to see them this way, but I'm quick with the camera =) )

This was Gina's first painting experience, and she was very nervous about it. She had never used a roller before, and was convinced that we needed to put newspaper over the *entire* floor (not just by the walls) and also over all the furniture in the room (plan A was to move all of the furniture out of the room....I put the kibash on that one). She was also convinced that she was going to get paint in her hair. I tried to explain to her that the physics of the whole thing made it almost impossible that she would get paint in her hair. Well.....

]]> Whoops... 2006-01-25T02:52:14Z 2006-01-24T21:52:14-05:00 tag:,2006:/4.133 2006-01-25T02:52:14Z That last entry probably didn't make any sense. That would be my fault. I made a post about our little "incident" from this past friday - apparently you're not supposed to point a humidifier at a wall. We did, accidentally,... dave That last entry probably didn't make any sense. That would be my fault. I made a post about our little "incident" from this past friday - apparently you're not supposed to point a humidifier at a wall. We did, accidentally, and now there's a snazzy water stain in the corner of our bedroom, so we'll be painting our bedroom "beachscape" this weekend. I have pictures on the computer at home (I'm currently residing in the Sheraton Premiere in Vienna, VA), and that's what screwed all of the formatting up. When I wrote my haiku, though, I overwrote the entry with the haiku, instead of adding the haiku afterwards

Stupid haiku.

]]> Stupid website! 2006-01-21T03:50:50Z 2006-01-20T22:50:50-05:00 tag:,2006:/4.132 2006-01-21T03:50:50Z Pics were far too wide Something's needed to fill space Haiku does the job... dave Pics were far too wide

Something's needed to fill space

Haiku does the job

]]> It's been a while... 2006-01-04T01:38:03Z 2006-01-03T20:38:03-05:00 tag:,2006:/4.131 2006-01-04T01:38:03Z Yep, I haven't posted anything all year, so I figured it's about time. Especially since I just booked the second hotel (to go along with the first hotel) for our vacation in May. We leave May 8, using some airline... dave Yep, I haven't posted anything all year, so I figured it's about time. Especially since I just booked the second hotel (to go along with the first hotel) for our vacation in May. We leave May 8, using some airline miles to book a flight from Boston to LA. Then we'll use some hotel points to stay 5 nights in LA, and 3 in San Diego. All sorts of hilarity shall ensue...

I also finished fixing up my resume to submit it to ISC2 so that I can get my CISSP certification, because I passed the test back in December...it's been quite a productive night!

Lastly, I'm going to try to post more often here...probably just short little quips, but empty pages are boring.

]]> woah. 2005-11-26T02:48:16Z 2005-11-25T21:48:16-05:00 tag:,2005:/4.130 2005-11-26T02:48:16Z My day: 4:15 AM - Alarm goes off 4:35 AM - In the car, solo, freezing 4:55 AM - In line at Kohl's 5:20 AM - Done at Kohl's, off to Circuit City 5:23 AM - Circuit City is a... dave My day:

4:15 AM - Alarm goes off
4:35 AM - In the car, solo, freezing
4:55 AM - In line at Kohl's
5:20 AM - Done at Kohl's, off to Circuit City
5:23 AM - Circuit City is a MADHOUSE, f that, I'm leaving
5:28 AM - mmm...Dunkin Donuts
5:35 AM - wtf? Sears isn't open yet?
5:40 AM - JC Penney is!
6:10 AM - Back to Sears, not one of the first 200 people, though....no free gift card for Dave...
6:40 AM - Done at Sears, back on the road
7:00 AM - Juice Break
7:15 AM - K-Mart...yes, K-Mart
8:00 AM - Might as well stop at Shaws since I'm out
8:30 AM - Home. 100% over Christmas-gift-budget. whoops
9:00 AM - Everything's unpacked...time to decorate!
2:00 PM - Back out to Michelle's, with Gina this time, to pick up the icicle lights she got for us
3:00 PM - Staples! Free remote control! Cheap USB Drive and new router! and Gina's backpack and organizer.....
3:30 PM - Jordan's Furniture
4:00 PM - Michael's for 1.2 billion frames.
5:00 PM - AC Moore for 2.6 billion frames. Stupid sales...
5:45 PM - Modell's. Ping Pong table is in stock! Sold! Thank God for SUVs....
6:15 PM - Lowe's. Of course we need a chainsaw!
7:00 PM - back home. back the truck into the driveway. Switch to the little car, go out for dinner.
8:00 PM - back home again. Try not to pass out while unloading truck.
9:46 PM - write the longest away message in history, go to bed, immediately pass out

somewhere else in there - crack my head twice, eat buffalo wings, listen to Christmas music all day.

This would've been my AIM away message, but AIM sucks and cut me off after 1024 characters. That rant was 641 over the limit. Apparently my budgeting skills just disappeared today....

]]> Comments Disabled 2005-10-30T19:34:16Z 2005-10-30T14:34:16-05:00 tag:,2005:/4.129 2005-10-30T19:34:16Z I'm sick of trying to keep up with the stupid spammers, so going forward, all comments will be disabled. If we switch blog systems, maybe I'll put comments back in, but we've had 84 posts and 155 comments, so it's... dave I'm sick of trying to keep up with the stupid spammers, so going forward, all comments will be disabled. If we switch blog systems, maybe I'll put comments back in, but we've had 84 posts and 155 comments, so it's not like there's a huge demand for them....

]]> Delivery 2! 2005-10-04T20:04:49Z 2005-10-04T16:04:49-05:00 tag:,2005:/4.128 2005-10-04T20:04:49Z The car's here! The massive, gas-guzzling, earth-killing SUV is here! It got delivered today, and I took a few pictures before going to pick Gina up from the T. Pics below:... dave The car's here! The massive, gas-guzzling, earth-killing SUV is here! It got delivered today, and I took a few pictures before going to pick Gina up from the T. Pics below:

]]> Delivery 1! 2005-10-04T14:49:35Z 2005-10-04T10:49:35-05:00 tag:,2005:/4.127 2005-10-04T14:49:35Z Woo-hoo! The couch and love seat came in just like they were supposed to. I haven't done a thorough inspection of it yet, but they look pretty good so far...(click the image for a bigger pic) Yes, I know they... dave Woo-hoo! The couch and love seat came in just like they were supposed to. I haven't done a thorough inspection of it yet, but they look pretty good so far...(click the image for a bigger pic)


Yes, I know they look like they're valour (sp?), but they're not...they look better in person

]]> Noodles! 2005-10-02T21:22:24Z 2005-10-02T17:22:24-05:00 tag:,2005:/4.126 2005-10-02T21:22:24Z Gina made a lasagne today, and had a bunch of leftover noodles. She stacked them all on top of each other, then we had this conversation... Gina: What should we do with all of the extra noodles? Dave: I'll give... dave Stories Gina made a lasagne today, and had a bunch of leftover noodles. She stacked them all on top of each other, then we had this conversation...

Gina: What should we do with all of the extra noodles?
Dave: I'll give you a dollar if you just take a bite out of the pile.
Gina: ok!

Apparently she was hungry this evening...

There's also a video of the event, but it's a huge file, and it's fairly embarassing (though it's the highest of high comedy). If you want to see the video, let me know, and I'll see if I can get you the link without Gina finding out....

]]> New Design 2005-09-19T22:11:26Z 2005-09-19T18:11:26-05:00 tag:,2005:/4.125 2005-09-19T22:11:26Z Q: WTF happened to the site? A: I thiefed somebody else's design and modified it to fit my own needs As you can probably tell, the site looks really different now. I found an open-source layout that I liked, but... dave Site Q: WTF happened to the site?
A: I thiefed somebody else's design and modified it to fit my own needs

As you can probably tell, the site looks really different now. I found an open-source layout that I liked, but it had awful colors (read: pink). I took a little time and adjusted the colors (trying to avoid the tried-and-true PCCO blue). What you see here is the result of that. None of the other pages are changed yet, but that will happen in due time. Also, I realize the image on the top of this page doesn't stretch all of the way across. When I get a chance, I'll re-crop that image, along with some others that I think will fit in nicely. In the meantime, let me know what you think of the design. Hopefully it works in all browsers, but I have no idea if that's the case. I figure it can't look any worse, though =)

]]> What's this? CONTENT??? 2005-09-18T21:55:20Z 2005-09-18T17:55:20-05:00 tag:,2005:/4.124 2005-09-18T21:55:20Z Today was picture selection day. For those who don't know, the photographer took about 1,500 pictures of our wedding. She put about 1,000 of those on a cd for us. From that, we had to choose 250 to get proofs,... dave Today was picture selection day. For those who don't know, the photographer took about 1,500 pictures of our wedding. She put about 1,000 of those on a cd for us. From that, we had to choose 250 to get proofs, and now we're choosing 101 for the album. This should be easy, right? nooooooooooooooo.......we had to do THIS:

We had to cut 26 pictures from the album today...not nearly as easy as it seems...

]]> blank page 2005-09-03T19:33:33Z 2005-09-03T15:33:33-05:00 tag:,2005:/4.123 2005-09-03T19:33:33Z wow...it's been a while since we posted anything, so the page went blank. can't have that now, can we?... dave wow...it's been a while since we posted anything, so the page went blank. can't have that now, can we?

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