New HVAC Unit...

Today I made a BIG purchase!

My house is 15 years old... and things are either starting to break or in drastic need of an upgrade. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of dealing with "fixes" when it's really time to just bite the bullet and move on.

Today, I replaced my entire heating and air conditioning system. Gasp! Yep, if you've ever done this, you know it's a major hit to the bank account. However, while it may have been a "cost," it actually will turn out to be a "savings."

A History Lesson...

Since I moved into the house in 2001, I have had three major "outages" with this system. Once was with the heat (out for about 5 days), and the other two times were A/C-related... in the heat of the summer!

Not only that, the emergency drip pan has taken a lot of abuse. Twice the water has come through the ceiling into the living room, the most recent two years ago.

Not only that, but I've had a company out here at least once a year to service it, adding freon, etc.

Anyway, I finally decided it needed to go to the dump and replace it with a newer/more efficient system.

I did a lot of research, asked a lot of people a lot of questions, and finally settled on a brand (American Standard) and a company (Snider's Heat and Air).

Scott Snider is the owner, and I gotta say that he and his crew did a superior job! Very professional... very detailed. In fact, I chose Scott's company because I had three very good recommendations! In this day of "who do you trust," that was huge to me!

I also selected a very efficient unit. Most people can get by with a 13 or 14 SEER, but I wanted to crank it up a bit. I bumped it up to a 15 SEER, which apparently rates up to 16 SEER. This allows me to qualify for a government rebate, knocking the price down to one that would be in the 13 SEER range. How awesome is that???

Scott estimated that my old unit was probably about an 8 SEER, so this should cut my bills in half! Incredible! He said he has the exact same unit on his house... and that I made a "quality choice."

The thermostat is also amazing... he says it will "learn" how the system/house work together to make the proper adjustments. He said that if I want the temperature at 70 degrees when I come home from work, then the system will get the house down to that temp by the time I get home. Freakin' awesome!

Outside, the condenser is so big that it comes up to my shoulders. Standing next to it, you just hear a low noise... it's because of this "blanket" that helps drown out the sound.

Can I tell a difference with the entire system? You betcha! It's blowin' and goin'! There is definitely some "wind" going on inside the house. And if you know me, I like it VERY cold.

This summer... it's going to be like living in a refrigerator! If you come to visit, bring a blanket!

From Fluffy to Flatty...

For the past year, I've had a bunny rabbit "around and about" my house.

I've seen it in the front yard... back yard... side yard. I deduced that it must like my yard because of the lack of predators (cats and dogs), I feed the birds (birdseed droppings), and I have St. Augustin grass.

It even inspired me to buy carrots from the grocery store at times... yeah, it was my pet.

(Notice I'm using the past tense)

Well, Saturday morning I awoke to see the bloody carcass out in front of my house in the center of the road. Yep, some "speed demon" hit it that morning.

My hunch is that the same driver that seems to "floor it" each morning around 5:30 scared it enough that it darted out in front. Poor little guy. Or girl.

Well, this is where I come out and say, "NOTE TO SELF." If you ever see something like that and know that you're the one that will have to deal with it, don't delay. Do it right then. Especially if it's in one piece.

Unfortunately, I didn't know that beforehand. It was 8:30... I was still groggy... hadn't had my coffee yet. So, I decided to wait at least an hour until I was "good and ready."

Around 10, I went outside with my shovel only to see it had been run over "multiple" times. It was now in at least 4 pieces. And what was left was absolutely disgusting... EVERYTHING that was inside was outside and exposed and oozing and smelling quite pungent.

So on one of our windiest days, I'm fighting a trash bag and trying to pick up the bloody remains while holding back the dry heaves that are erupting due to my constant gagging! What a sight to behold...

Let's just say that it wasn't just the "rabbit" that left something on that pavement.

Well, eventually I got it all into the bag... sealed, tied, and thrown into my dumpster. I then had to clean the mess off the shovel... nasty!

So why did I do all of this? Well, while it should have been done because nobody needs to see that... I also knew that I didn't want to warp the little 8-year old minds who live next door with the bloody images of the rabbit.

Especially since "The Easter Bunny" is just about to make his visit!

Greatest Baylor Basketball Team EVER!!!

We lost...

78-71.

Wow. VERY tough.

If you were fortunate enough to watch the game, you saw a great one. I've seen a ton of games this year, and this was one of the most "hard fought" I've ever witnessed.

The amazing part of this "losing outcome" is I've seen a lot of articles written about how great of a story we've been throughout the tourney.

This group of players rewrote the Baylor history. They have shown to the nation that Baylor has not only a new chapter, but a new book, in overcoming adversity!

I was so proud of them yesterday - playing their hearts out against one of the pinacle basketball programs in America! In a tight game, we fought hard. At times we led... and almost won in the end, but just didn't seal the deal.

No worries.

The Baylor Nation is so proud of this team! We have 2 seniors who will be graduating, but we also have 2 others that probably could play in the NBA right now. If they return, along with the incoming freshman, we may be in the same position this time next year!

Sic Em!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

1 Hour to Gametime...

Well, I've been a basket case all day...

Here's what I know: The Bear Nation will be in full force tonight at Reliant Stadium!

According to online posters, the Baylor campus is virtually deserted.

People are reporting a lot of cars on I-45 driving into Houston with "Baylor" fans.

It's expected to be the 2nd most attended regional ever with over 50,000 tickets sold. That's for a basketball game being played in a football stadium!

My friend Brent sent me an email saying he's already there and it's "a sea of Green and Gold!!!"

Well, I'm prepared. I went to Central Market and bought my beer... and sushi... and I am just a complete "waste" as all I can do but continue to email friends and read more and more stories about my Bears!

If Baylor plays the way I know we can play, then we will rock the house! We will have plenty of dunks and alley-oops, we will launch 3s from the perimeter, and we will block numerous shots with our stifling defense.

However...

I'm also a realist. We're playing in the Sweet 16... we're playing a team that reached this spot by going 28-5 this season. They have a good center and have sharp shooters. They're not here by accident! I don't know what a "Gael" is, but I'm nervous to say the least!

In order to win, we have to be focused. We have to play our game. We can't get rattled. And we need to remember that we're playing before a home crowd... which we do very well when we're playing at "home."

Just one game... all I want is to win and make it to the Elite 8!

Oh, and one more thing. Today while I was at Central Market, an older gentleman said, "Go Baylor!" I looked up and realized why he said it - I was wearing my Baylor shirt. How about that?

Isn't that what we should all say? "Go Baylor!"

And yes, even an Aggie can say it... as Steve (brotherinlaw) said to me this morning, "Sic Em, Bears!"

Absolutely! SIC EM, BEARS!!!

March Madness!!!

Do you have any idea how keyed up I've been this week?

My Baylor Bears are in the Sweet 16 and play Friday night against Saint Mary's!!!

To say this is a rare occurrence would be a major understatement!

I'm 39 years old... and in my lifetime, Baylor has made it to March Madness three times: 1988, 2008, and this year.

In fact, the last time we won in this tournament was 1950! We were "1 and done" the other years.

For those that don't follow college basketball, I'll explain what "March Madness" is all about.

In college basketball, they crown a "National Champion" by whoever wins the NCAA Basketball Tournament... which is dubbed, "March Madness." 64 teams began this journey last week divided into 4 divisions (North, South, East, and West). Within each division, teams are ranked 1 to 16. So, the #1 team plays the #16 team in that division... etc.

Now, Baylor had a fantastic season... we are 27-7. And, because we played in the toughest conference, we were awarded with a #3 ranking in the South division.

We won our first two games, and now there are only 16 teams remaining. Hence... "The Sweet 16." If we win tomorrow night, we make it to the next level: "The Elite Eight." And, I'm sure everyone has heard of the "Final Four" - it is the champions of each of the 4 divisions facing off.

In case you forgot what transpired in 2003 at Baylor, I'll rehash: One of our star basketball players went missing... he was missing for about a month. It was then discovered that one of his teammates killed him and buried his body in a rock quarry. Horrible! And "shocking" to the Baylor faithful.

If that's not bad enough, we had a coach who was paying the tuition of the dead player. When investigators figured out something was amiss, he tried to convince everyone that the dead player was a drug dealer... and he was caught on tape saying all of that. Incredible!

Well, the NCAA came in and they dropped a NUKE on our program: Players transferred (all of our stars), we lost scholarships, and we were forced to drop all of our non conference games for one season... meaning we could only play 16 - the conference games.

If you've ever seen that movie, "We Are Marshall," recall that scene where the president of the university is searching for a coach... and everyone is saying no. Well, same thing. Who would want to coach at a school with a program so decimated?

In fact, things were so bad... morale on the campus was so low... that Bill Cosby actually called the university to see if he could come and give a free "talk" to uplift the students, university, and the city of Waco. It was a packed basketball arena!

Baylor hired a 33 year old coach named Scott Drew. When he arrived, he didn't have enough players... he actually went to the intramural gym to find students to come play basketball!

I think his first season he won maybe 1 game. I think the second was better... 3 wins or something.

Well, we've become better each year. In 2008 we made the tourney and everyone went nuts! But, we lost the first game...

Last year we were supposed to have a great team, but we lost too many in the conference. Late in the year, we went on a run. We upset Kansas and Texas, but lost to Missouri in the Big 12 Tournament. Instead of making the NCAA Tournament, we went to the NIT Tournament.

It's a lower-level tournament, but it strengthened us as a program. We won all of our games and made it to the championship at Madison Square Garden... unfortunately, we lost to Penn State.

This year, we were picked to finish 10th out of 12 teams in our conference. The coaches and media felt that we lost all of our good players to graduation, and we wouldn't do very well.

My how things have changed!

These kids have grown as a team throughout the year. They have taken that "underdog" role to heart... and played with their hearts all year! They're a very fun team to watch... fast, dunkin', and they can launch the 3's! They also play awesome defense!

Now that you know the whole story, doesn't me being "freakin' crazy" all week sound justified? I never EVER thought I would see my Baylor Bears at this stage... in front of all of these people... especially looking back at those dark days of 2003.

A few more points: There are only two Big 12 teams remaining - Kansas State and Baylor. And to garner some "State" pride, we are the lone Texas team!

No matter who you root for, I hope you can support my Bears for the sheer struggle that they've been through to get to this point. We play in Houston tomorrow night at 6:30. It will be on CBS... so check it out!

Oh, and why am I not going to Houston? For the fear of jinxing my Bears! I've watched every game this season (with the exception of 2) in my house - either on TV or online. So I'll be parked right here tomorrow night... pacing, screaming, cursing, cheering... the whole enchilada!

Sic Em, Bears! Keep making us proud!!!

Let's Talk Shop...

I don't know if you're this way, but I rarely talk about what I do at work. I mean, why should I? When I'm away from work, I need to be totally away... right?

Well, today was something a bit different... so I guess I'll share.

Some of you know this, but about a month after I returned to work, I changed roles. I wasn't too thrilled anymore with the path I was heading in my previous role, and I definitely wanted a change.

In the IT world, there is a role called "Business Analyst." That term is used rather loosely... you have to wear a lot of hats and deal with a variety of issues.

As a B.A., my job is to be the middleman between the business and the developers (programmers) in terms of projects... i.e. "Project Manager."

Typically in my world, a B.A. will manage multiple projects during a period of time. These projects could last a few months to over a year. And, a "project" is usually someone on the business side wanting a new addition to our web-based application... be it screens, reports, etc... that the developer would need to program.

Am I boring you yet??? See... that's why I don't talk about this crap... :-)

So for the developer to program, the B.A. needs to have dozens (if not more) of meetings with the business to understand exactly what they want/expect when their project goes "live." We then design, spec out, write up, document, and flow just about everything in a manner that the developer will understand. Specifically, mapping everything to the table/field the item is stored at in our massive database.

I can see you getting "Tired Head" right now... hang with me!!!

OK, so as I said, I usually have several projects. Well, one project started last April (right before the knee exploded!) and finally went live last Friday. The project was to redesign an external website... the site which is currently being used by our Borrowers to track their payments, transactions, documents, etc.

Well, not to toot my own horn (because I was just a piece of a larger group of people who contributed), but it went off without a hitch. The site looks great, we're going to continue to enhance it this year, and hopefully it will help the company save money in the long run.

Which brings me to today... Hello? Is this thing on? Hello???

Every other month, our office has an "All Staff." In our environment, that means "everyone" comes to a meeting and different people stand up and talk about different things. Usually the people speaking are Vice Presidents and Directors. (Now you know where this is going)

I was asked last week to present this new website... and oh, by the way, keep it to about 10 minutes.

Now I'm not typically prone to nervousness when it comes to public speaking. I was a teacher. I used to also teach Sunday School to a large class each week. In the company, I typically speak in small to medium sized meetings... and I've trained trained trained throughout my career. I can speak with the best of them...

But, this was my first "Big Meeting." When everyone shows up, we're approaching the 200-person mark... especially if we have out of towners.

So today was my day. Yippee.

Do you ever get that feeling of "can't catch my breath/why is my heart racing" just before you're introduced? Well, that happened to me. Uugh.

Just as I stood up and turned to face the SEA of eyeballs glaring at me, I said to myself "Do NOT produce shakey-voice, OK! Self... are you listening!!!???"

However, some tricks of the trade I've learned is to stare directly at people near you and when you have to "go the distance," look at the back wall. That way, you're just talking to a person or a wall, right?

Anyhoo... after I got started, things were fine. The only thing I noticed was that I became very aware of how dry my throat was! Note to self: Drink some water about an hour before speaking! In my preparation, I hadn't consumed any fluids in at least 3 hours before the meeting. Not good.

I got a lot of compliments afterwards, both regarding the project and the fact that I can stand up in front of a group like that and complete my sentences. Who knew?

I guess it's a lot easier when you know the subject matter... and you know what? I had almost a year of preparation if you think about it!

Well, our story doesn't really end just yet... tomorrow the company is splitting up into different meetings, and I will have to speak to 2 different groups of roughly 50 or so people in the room. And it won't be just about this project... it will be about an additional one that they will use internally.

Piece of cake...

Strength Training...

It pains me to say this... I mean, it REALLY pains me... but I'm trying to build muscle again in my leg.

A few things led up to this...

First, I'm getting really tired of favoring one leg over the other. I'm also tired of being "nervous" while going up or down stairs.

However, I noticed that when I went up some stairs last week, my leg felt a little stronger. Hmmm... maybe I need to be doing something to take advantage of this "new found strength???"

Last week, I mentioned this to someone and they said, "Why not put your stationary bike in front of the TV? Maybe that'll force you to ride."

Then on Saturday, my brotherinlaw calls me up and does his best to convince me to get my butt to the gym. (No... I'm not ready yet... ahem!) But it still got me to thinkin'...

So with all of those forces at play, I moved the bike into the living room. And looked at it...
a long time...

I thought, "Well, if it doesn't kill me it'll make me stronger. Or both."

I then hopped up on it. Now, I don't know what I can do... so I figured I'd just pedal and see what happens. I thought, "Hmmm... maybe I'll ride for 30 minutes." (Insert laughter)

Well, here's what happened: After a minute, I was already looking at the clock wanting to know how long it's been... "Only 1 minute! Geez Louise!!!" The next minute wasn't any better. In fact, it felt worse. I could feel that pain throughout the entire quadriceps muscle... and it was not happy!

After a few more minutes, I'm feeling it in my knee. Believe you me... that sucker was swearin' at me! I pushed and pushed and now I'm at about 8 minutes and thinking, "My gosh... this is ridiculous how weak I am... how winded I am... uuugh." And the crazy thing was my OTHER knee started hurting, too. Awesome.

I decided to end it at the 10 minute mark. I know... not much... but I challenged myself and I felt better for accomplishing that. Baby steps.

I have since ridden 3 more times. Today, my knee/leg is pretty sore... so I'm giving it a break. I'm still riding at 10 minutes, but I've noticed it's not as bad as the first ride. Maybe things are getting better...

You never know what you can accomplish until you decide to hop up on that horse, huh???

Incredible...

From 2010-03-21-0802-38

Well, we added to our record snow total overnight!

I awoke this morning to see this: Several inches of snow!

What makes this even more amazing is the "experts" said we "may receive 1 inch but it will mostly be on the grass." If you're familiar with the Metroplex, they said it wouldn't dip any further than McKinney, too. Well, I have at least 3 inches and the news this morning shows Plano with about 5. Good grief!

If you want to see more pics, as well as some I took on Thursday when it was in the mid-70s, click here: Link

New Sink...

OK... so yeah, I haven't been writing/blogging.

When I told one of my friends today that I just don't have anything to write about, she suggested the new sink.

So, here you go... Ta-Dah...

A few weeks ago, I noticed my faucet was really loose. When I went underneath to check the nut, it corroded into my hand. I guess that's what happens to stuff when it's 15 years old...

What started out as, "Oh, I just need to fix this faucet" turned into "Replace the faucet" and ultimately, "Hey... how about a new sink???"

I did quite a bit of research. I joined Consumer Reports... not just for this purchase, but for several coming up in the near future. I first thought a black sink would look great. Well, it would have... but the reviews said the "scratch-resistant" products (cast iron, acryllic) still scratched. So I settled on stainless steel.

I also asked a bunch of chicks what they looked for in a sink, what appealed to them, etc. I gotta say... that was a good move. I never thought about getting a "deeper" sink... or larger on one side... etc.

So along with the faucet and sink, I also bought a quieter disposal. You can test them right there in the store. By the way, the sound of a disposal is one of my little "pet peeves." Having one that is somewhat quiet is awesome!

Today the installer came... and immediately the price jumped up. It turns out that my pipes needed to be replaced (because he had to move them), and the hot water turnoff didn't work. Cha-ching... but, glad to have all of that upgraded.

Anyhoo... after a little over 3 hours, he had it all installed. I think it looks great, although I have to wait 24 hours to use it while the caulk dries.