Nitro

Not too bad. kind of like the jeep compass.

Auto Show Bound...

My Interactive Media class is heading down to the auto show with the Sales and Marketing class. we are almost there!

New Well and Pump: $4,000 ///// Running Water: Priceless!

The water flows again! Technically, our water never really stopped flowing. Even while they were installing the new well, we were connected to our old one. The problem--as you know--is that our old well put out about 2gpm (gallons per minute) of water. What that mean for us is that if we were taking a shower and someone happened to run the sink at the exact same time, we'd run out of water. Meaning that I had to run down to the basement and reset the well pump switch.

The 'Well Doctor' finished up the well installation yesterday, but we were still unable to use it because of a clorinization step. Basically, they filled the well and our plumbing with cholrine and left it to sit for 24 hours.

Around 1pm today, I started running the water through the outside garden hose. We left it running for about an hour and a half. Our instructions were to run it until we didn't smell chlorine anymore. After that, it was time to open up the faucets inside and flush out the chorinated water. Step 3: Turn the water softener back on. Last step: Take a shower! This last step was not in the instrucitons, but I had to work at WDIV today.

Our water pressure is great. I'm guessing that in the house, we get about 8-10 gpm instead of the 2-3 we were used to. Watching the well pressure downstairs, it seems to work like clockwork. The well is rated for 50+ gallons of water per minute. Not too shabby.

So, the bottom line is this: We're not thirlled to spend $4,120 for a new well setup. But, we are enjoying the new found pressure! And it might just be me, but the water seems to be more pure, too!

Just Saying Hello

Hello! I haven't posted much in a while. My New Year's Resolution should be to do more, I guess.

Christmas at the Ryan's

Each Christmas, Jennie and I spend time at her aunt Janet and uncle Jack.

Pistons Mania

My pal Dayna hard at work in master control. We are Pistons partners, meaning I sit here and she runs the show!!

Cable6.org Gets a Facelift

I've spent the last week working on the new www.cable6.org website. Paul Dingeman and I have been discussing for some time the possibility of adding streaming and video-on-demand content to the site. This seemed like the best time to do it.

Although not totally complete, I'm happy with the first version of the site. I am trying to give visitors easy access to what they are looking for. Most visitors come for three reasons:
First, they are looking to for the phone number of the station. Second, they want to know the schedule. Third, they want to re-watch something they saw on TV. So, these three tasks will be easily accessible from the home page.

I am also adding some other unique features. One is a photo gallery to showcase different events. Next is an online bulletin board submission form. Finally, a volunteer and show idea forum where viewers can be more involved.

I told Paul to wait until Christmas week to mention the new site. I want to make sure it looks nice and is 100% functional before then.

The Pressure is On

It's 8:40 am and I'm sitting in a classroom that is dead quiet except for the sound of my fingers typing on my keyboard and 24 computer mice clicking. I am administering our Adobe Photoshop CS2 Certification Exam to my morning class right now. 86 questions, 90 minutes, multiple choice. We've spent the last couple of months learning the ins and outs of the program and this is their chance to shine.

I had to re-start the exam 15 minutes into it because I found a flaw in my system. It turns out that students were able to submit questions and then go back and change them if they were wrong. They could do so until they got them right. They lost a fraction of a point each time they did that, but it was still not good. So, I quickly re-built the exam and had them all start again.

Be sure to check out my new blog, 10blogs.blogspot.com. I plan on visiting 10 blogger blogs--at random--each day. My hope is to encourage all blog viewers and creaters to take time to view others' work.

New Blog Look...Same Minty Taste!

Okay, I've been struggling with the look of my blog recently. Part of me really wants to dress it up and have it look snazzy. That is the unrealistic part of me that actually thinks I would put in the necessary time to keep it looking that way.

So, I'm settling for another fine Blogger template.

I've re-dedicating myself to the art of blogging. I'm going to be better about attempting to post at least a little something 3 days a week. My wife (tivochangedmylife.blogspot.com) manages to out-do me in this arena at the moment. I tell her it's because I don't have my own MacBook Pro to use while watching television. So far, she's not buying that one. Anyway, if you want, follow the link on the right to her blog and check it out!

Bruce aka Plumber Extrodinaire

Look Dad! I should have been a plumber! We had an unfortunate back up of waste water at the homestead about a week ago. As a result, this little thingy here--we'll call it the water softener drain--got clogged up. I had to cut the old one at the pipe you see running in the back there, and build a new one.

I improved upon the previous design by adding a trap with a thread rather than just a curved piece. That way, if it clogs in the future, I can just unscrew it! Genius...