Review: AT&T U-verseFiber Optic Service

Note this was written on May 3, 2008 but I am justgetting around to posting it now......

I recently switched from my current phone, Internet, and TV providers. I used to have AT&T DSL for Internet and AT&T for local/long distance using traditional phone service. Dish Network was my TV provider.

On April 30th I went with AT&T's U-verse offering which is all three of these services delivered over a fiber optic cable. One service, one bill each month.

It should be noted that Dish Network served me well for the going on the five years I have had the service at the previous and current house here. It is also worth mentioning that you can't miss what you've never had!

Installation:
AT&T showed up in their allocated service window, around 9:15 AM. They tell you to allow 5 to 8 hours when having all three services installed, but my network, since I am a geek, was all setup for them to drop there equipment in place, and my phone wiring easily accessible and some of the existing cabling that the Dish Network was using could be reused as well. The total install took just over 4 hours and was very professionally done. The X wife was having her house done too, and while she is no computer expert, she was up and running quickly too. The folks that come on site are highly trained for those with little to no computer skills.

So, how does it compare with my previous services? Read on to find out!

Comparison: Dish Network .vs. U-verse TV:

Dish Network was running me $75/month, I had no major premium channels such as Showtime, no HD service and a total of 250 channels, and a DVR for recording. I did have a smattering of lesser tier movie channels like IMC, Encore, and TMC.

Under U-verse, the TV portion of my fiber optic service is 300 channels, 39 of those in HD including all my local channels which Dish could not offer in HD. I have a PVR that can do 120 hours. Using a web browser from anywhere in the world I can tell the PVR to record as show right off the program guide, see what is scheduled to record, and see a list of all items already recorded. All TVs now do picture in a picture; none of them did that before. As I said this is $5/month cheaper but to really see the value of it you'd have to add in about $20 a month for the HD service from dish (again though no local channels in HD), plus another $15-$20/month for all the movie channels I am getting now, such as Showtime. So value wise I am saving $45 or so a month.

The new service has video on demand, Dish Network did too but it was pitiful compared to the number of films, shows, specials, and such that are available free on this service, plus of course you can rent movies as well. Many of the free offerings are items that are available for rental at local places like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video; I am seriously thinking of cancelling my Blockbuster monthly (Netflix type) service; there is just no need with this.

Another point worth making is that the visual quality of regular non-HD channels is so much better than it was with Dish Network.

Comparison: Internet (DSL .vs. U-verse Fiber )

On the Internet side, for the same cost of my previous service it is faster. Previously I had a 2.5 Mbps download and 512K upload and now I have 3 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. On fast web sites pages just flash onto the screen. There are some decent offerings on their portal but nothing major enough to note mention over my previous AT&T DSL Portal.

Comparison: Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) .vs. U-verse IP Phone Service
On the phone side for the same cost there are so many features I did not have before such as voice mail (which I can also access with a computer and forward voice messages to others), Call Screening, Call Forwarding, Do Not Disturb Me (People calling, unless on an approved list, will get a busy signal), Locate Me (the system will try me at up to four other numbers), Anonymous Call Blocking, and more. I can also place calls from the computer if I wanted to or dial off of the TV too. Call accounting which shows calls in and out, missed calls, etc. can be done on the web or TV. An interesting note: I just got an email while posting this that I had a voice mail message waiting so I listed to it from my PC.

The Hardware:
Tying these three services together is a Residential Gateway which you can log into. It features four traditional wired Internet ports, 802.11 g wireless access point capability, and a bridge for your current phone systems so you retain your current phone equipment. There is also a USB port. You can login to this gateway on your home network using a web browser and control many settings, including firewall, from this interface which will also display a map of your home network and allow you to setup file sharing between devices that support that. The interface can be set to experts, for example being able to tweak all settings for the firewall, add routes, etc. or a wizard based one, when you would pick a game you might play on-line, and the system automatically sets up the firewall for that.

The units that connect to the TVs are so much smaller than the Dish Network units and each of these have USB ports and a full complement of A/V outputs including an HDMI port. The Dish Network DVR records 100 hours while the AT&T unit does 120.

The pictures below show the DVR and non-DVR units; note the AT&T units are the same size while the Dish Network units are different and, particularly in the case of the DVR units have a much larger foot print.

Negative Points:

I have to be fair, while I am deliriously overjoyed and thrilled with this service far beyond my expectations, there is some minor nitpicking I can do.

Dish Network .vs. U-verse TV
You can tell the U-verse in still relatively new. While the hardware is indeed state of the art, the firmware needs work. For example, the program guide is not as polished nor is the search facility. On the Dish Network you could be watching a show, or highlight a show on the program guide, hit the search key on the remote, and then all occurrences of that show would be listed which made it much easier to tag them for recording. On the U-verse setup you have to bring up a search window and enter each character using the remote. While it does start auto-populating possible shows for you to choose from with each character you enter, depending on what you are searching for you may have to enter quite a few characters before the show shows up in this list.

On the other hand though once you have a show or movie selected, there is an option on U-verse where you can search on the listed characters real names and then bring up a list of anything else, be it from the program guide or video on demand, that they are in.

Changing channels is instantaneous on U-verse, there can be several seconds delay on Dish Network, but, Dish Network periodically caches the program guide, so moving day by day forward for the 8 days it stores is much quicker. Once you get a day ahead of present time with U-verse the guide has to obtain the information and this takes several seconds.

On the other hand, U-verse's guide goes for two weeks into the future .vs. the almost 8 days the Dish Network does. There is supposed to be a major upgrade to the gateway and TV units by the end of the summer; I will write of my experiences with that when it is available. One feature I am eagerly looking forward to the ability to watch recorded material off of any TV in the house instead of just the TV with the DVR attached to it.

Another negative point of the U-verse experience is you can't watch TV in slow motion which you can do on the Dish Network; a minor point to be sure, but a minor point nonetheless.

Phone System:
One downside of the phone system is its IP; if your power goes off so do your phones. Te be fair, AT&T installs a battery backup system that will provide 4 hours of power. Beyond that though and you would not be able to dial out. Of course if you have a cell phone this should not be a major emergency, but, it is a point worth noting.

Conclusion:

If you have this service available, go for it! There are different tiers, so, for example I could be saving more. If I did not get HD service, that would save me $10/month, and I could have gone with less channels. But, since the next channel offering is 200, and I had 250 with Dish Network, I did not want less, and let's face it, for a few dollars less that what I was paying I am getting so much more. I did not do this to save money but to enhance my services. You could certainly save more than I did or spend more since they have packages with 400 channels and Internet as fast as 10 Mbps downstream.

June 14th Update: As mentioned above I had originally wrote this over a month ago. Revisiting my decision I am still happy with it, though the immaturity of the interface and the shortcomings mentioned above for the guide and searching can be quite annoying when used to the features Dish Network have. I can only expect AT&T's interface to get better, but, I must say that after having it six weeks without any tweaks thus far makes me worry their top priority is of course sales and existing customers will just have to wait patiently.

760 miles later.....

....and I am back ....did you all miss me??

I left for Cincinnati 6:30 AM Monday morning opting to drive the Mustang instead of flying. It's a five and a half hour drive and with airport delays and such I just decided to drive.

I was in management meetings all week, and arrived back home last night.

While it's good to be back, I got really ticked at the kids who were watching the Tails Kitty for me; they had not picked her litter box all week and it was an absolute mess, I felt so bad for the poor cat and so angry with the kids who used the excuse "Mom did not remind us".....

For those who have been reading my ramblings you know when I approved the requisition for procurement of one feline unit they had promised they were going to do that. Needless to say they have to be constantly reminded to do this simple chore and from talking to their Mom today they also do they same with the Guinea pigs at her house.

So, instead of just picking up kitty and going home and relaxing which I really wanted to do after driving for five and a half hours I had to stop at the store and procure litter and take care of the cat box. There will be some TBD repercussion on the kids for this, strong enough to insure the daily chore is done.........I just have to decide what it is going to be. Perhaps I will not let them flush for five days.........that punishment would certainly fit the crime and give them a real idea of what they did to the cat.

In reflection later last night I realized that I was so upset it spoiled the memory of my perfect dinner on the way home (White Castle!) which I have not had this year. This is one 64 miles away from here and it was on the ride home.

Status Updates - Scott and I

I thought I would catch everyone up since I have not posted in almost a week. This is because.....

(Insert fade or ripple effect typical of bad 70's TV sitcoms indicating a flash back......)

I went to bed last Thursday evening feeling fine; I awoke at 4:30AM Friday morning feeling like I was choking on a pillow. My throat and sinuses were so sore and completely clogged, and I was running a fever.

I made it through the day and then spent the next four days feeling terrible which made taking care of the kids (Friday was the start of my week) a major chore. I ordered pizza and got Chinese take out, and Sunday, since it has been traditional and I know the kids really enjoy it, I did grill steaks for us though going to the store and making them was exhausting and felt like some major effort instead of the simple chore it normally is. Thanks to the X who came and brought corn on the cob and helped with the cleanup. The other four days nothing was cooked. I missed work Monday and Friday, though I did do some work from home I was too ill to do the whole days.

Today I feel pretty much recovered though my blood sugar is still north of 25 points higher than it should be; stress and illness really wreak havoc with your blood glucose levels when you are diabetic. For the first time in over a week, I was able to ride the exercise bike over my lunch break too.

Scott was feeling better with less dizziness Monday and, for the first time since May 2nd, made it through a whole day of school. Tuesday morning he woke up feeling more pain in his headache and more light-headed and weak. He only made half a day at school.

This morning he was so bad pain-wise, plus light headed and feeling very weak, he could barely rise so he did not make it into school. He has been struggling with trying to finish out his sophomore year of high school so he can go into the next grade come the fall. His mom has been busy working with the school to make arrangements for Scott having his tests staggered, and some of the work not done because of his absence dropped from the grading for his classes, so, [providing he gets some of the past work in and does OK on his finals he will pass, but, he will be going to school at least a week after it is over for everyone else since right now he's only going to do a test a day.

Scott is still going to the Chiropractor and we are anxiously awaiting word from the University of Michigan Medical Center as to when he will be going down there; I am just hoping it won't be next week when I must travel on business; the X is going to have her hands full enough (which I feel very bad about) having to deal with the kids herself.

Scott at School

So, in spite of feeling bad over the weekend and bad on Tuesday, Scott went to school yesterday morning and while dizzy and headachy was holding his own until he tried to go from his wheelchair to use the bathroom and fell ending up with a face full of tile which ended his trip to school. I feel so bad for him, yet I am so proud of him trying to attend school, and was very impressed this morning when he went back! While I do not know if he will make the whole day I am very impressed that he is trying so hard.

His mom talked to his guidance counselor this morning, provided Scott catches up on his homework and makes up some quizzes, they are going to stagger his final exams so he only has to take one a day, and later in the day since he has so much trouble getting going in the morning; we are hopeful he can still pass 10th grade this year!

What's wrong with the meat at McDonalds and Burger King?

Tails Kitty is a most discriminating eater; she knows what she likes! For canned food, she will only eat the most expensive Sheba brand which costs twice as much as the others and looks like whole shredded meat. I have literally tried every brand of wet food and she only likes the Sheba.

Cats and Dogs all beg while their human subjects dine at the table; Tails is no exception and of course we occasionally feed her something from our meals.

The kids and I have dined on assorted fast and home cooked fare. Tails will NOT eat Burger King or McDonald's Chicken or beef; turns her nose up at it and sometimes performs the ultimate kitty insult; she goes through the scratching motions on the floor next to it like she makes in her litter box while covering up her....uh....how to say this without offending...uh..yes...her solid waste!

She will eat Wendy's though or any chicken or beef I prepare at home. She's been offered Burger King and McDonald's Chicken and beef many times; even if her bowl is empty and she's obviously hungry, evidenced by standing next to her bowl meowing, she will not eat them!

So, what is it she smells in them? What really makes me fear what she might be smelling is that on one occasion Tails had thrown up a little, and, as some animals will do, went back to it and tried to (eeewwwww!!!) eat some of the chunks, so, WHAT THE HECK IS IN THE MEAT FROM Burger King and McDonald's that Tails, not matter how hungry she gets, she will not touch though she will eat her own regurgitated food??

Be afraid! Be VERY afraid!!!

Scott Update - May 28th

As I mentioned yesterday Scott's headaches returned with a vengeance over the weekend along with nausea; His mom contacted his pediatrician yesterday and they are working on the details to send him down to the University of Michigan Medical Center which is 125 miles from here. We should hear in a day or so about the details. For those wondering why this hospital, it's one of the 10 best hospitals in America.


While still dizzy, Scott felt well enough to go to school this morning though he was only there a couple of hours; he fell in the bathroom and bashed his nose, so he's back at my house now with me. I feel so frustrated right now.......sigh!

Scott Update May 27th

Last week Scott had gone to School around 1PM on Thursday to attend a couple of classes and an after school club. He made it through OK but was very tired when I picked him up,

This weekend his headaches began getting worse, and now he has nausea as well. His Mom called the Doctor this morning to have them compile everything that he was tested for while he was in the hospital, and we will be asking them questions of specific conditions we have found via research or friends inputs that they did not test for.

In addition, we're talking about a second opinion through the other primary heath system here in Michigan (There are two primary health services here and my insurance is taken by both.)

Scott had wanted to go to school this morning but his mom reported he was in no shape to do so with the headache and nausea. It will be telling to see if he improves any after this afternoon's session at the Chiropractor.

I am consumed with worry and last night I barely slept at all. I am sure the X is beside herself as well.

Cook With Fire Followup

For those who were waiting with bated breath, as mentioned in my previous Cook With Fire post I did end up making the burgers with chopped onions and diced turkey bacon. They were just so incredible! The turkey bacon added some amazing taste and made the burgers even juicier than usual! I am thinking, though it will be extra work, next time to crisp the diced turkey bacon in a frying pan before adding it to the ground beef. I would probably season the bacon with Red Monkey BBQ Spice seasoning because this really adds a nice flavor to pan fried turkey bacon.

I also learned a new thing about my gas grill. If I shut it off by closing the valve on the tank, when I go back to fire it up next time the grill flames will be very low in spite of what the burner controls are on. With them burning low like this I have to shut the burners off, then the valve on the tank, and then reverse this procedure to be able to raise the flames higher.

Hey, is that bated or baited breath? The former I hope for the latter makes me thing of talking with people who have been munching from a chum bucket and boy howdy that would not be pleasant!

Cook With Fire

The one time I left the house yesterday was to procure food for Tails and I. I went to Forest Hills Foods and picked up the ingredients for burgers.

Using 92% lean ground beef (why would anyone use ground turkey for a burger with this available) I mixed a dash of sea salt, some freshly ground black pepper, and chopped white onion into the meat.

I then grilled them and put them on high fiber low calorie bread with a slice of Kraft Fat Free Cheddar.

They were delicious, needing no condiments to enhance the taste.

On the way back from getting my keyboard this morning I swung by Forest Hills Foods again. Once this post is completed, I will make a slight variation on yesterday's burgers. I will chop several slices of turkey bacon, and add that to the simple recipe I used yesterday.

I salivate in anticipation! As I have often said, some of the simplest things are the best; if you like onion and you have never made burgers with copped onion mixed in with the meat, it is a must try!

Computer Stuff

My Microsoft Elite Bluetooth keyboard has fallen one too many times off the back of the couch as I had mentioned previously.

So, for a bit over a week now I have been using the dinky little RF keyboard that comes with the HP Z565 system; not something I would want to do on a regular basis!

I also still had that annoying problem where media center would not load on the PC and the screen would just go black. I can't tell you how much time I spent into that one, talking to three vendors, trying my own ways to fix it, and resulting to a lot of the technical forums out on the Internet. No luck!

Yesterday my friend David e-mailed me to tell me about SP1 for Windows Vista and the dramatic performance improvements he had on his laptop after installing it. That made me think about SP3 for Windows XP which has been out for a few weeks. So, yesterday, I decided to install it.

SURPRISE! Yay!! Good News! Media Center now starts up! reinstalling SP2 did NOT fix my media center issues, so I was really, really pleased.

SURPRISE! Arrrgh!! Bad News! Sound was no longer being carried via the HDMI cable back to my AV receiver!!!! After pondering this and checking some things within windows, which thought there was no problem whatsoever, I went under audio properties and chose Test Hardware. I heard some clicks and pops and after the conclusion of the 5 minute test sound was restored and worked through a reboot; being paranoid, I checked media center which still ran!

So, yesterday I thought about going out and getting a keyboard, I have been researching this most of the week. I was just too blue yesterday, and basically took a day off, staying in with Tails, playing games, listening to Music, and watching TV as much as I could get away with.

Today I was feeling a bit better so I headed over to Best Buy and picked up a Logitech wireless Wave keyboard which I am very happy with! One unexpected benefit, the sleep key works both for putting the computer into standby mode, and waking it up! With the Microsoft keyboard there was no way to turn the PC on without walking across the room and hitting the power button. A picture of the wired version of the keyboard is shown below; other than the wireless functionality the keyboards look identical.

A blow for laziness has been struck!

Scott Update

After three visits Scott has been showing some small measurable improvement via the computers the chiropractor uses for adjustment, and his headaches are a bit less. He says he's a bit less dizzy though he is not walking any better yet.

The three doctors at the Chiropractor's office are recommending 70 visits for adjustments as follows:

3 visits a week for four months
1 visit a week for 2 months
2 visits a month for 7 months

My health plan only pays for 12 visits in a calendar year and only covers 50% of the $50 fee. However you can't put a cost on this if it helps Scott.

In addition, over the duration of the adjustment visits Scott also needs 70 trigger point massage sessions. Scott, his mom, and I will be taking classes in June to learn how to do this part of his therapy. This will save us over $500. Even with this there is still going be quite a bit of out of pocket costs because this trigger point massage is an extra cost each time so the 58 adjustment payments will still have to be taken care of.

I may need some additional visits to my chiropractor for my back; the wheelchair is not light and getting it in and out of the small trunk of the Mustang is a chore. I doubt I will exceed my 12 visits at least!

The Chiropractor will be re-evaluating Scott every 12 visits. Scott's mood fluctuates between OK and very sad. Mood wise, I guess the same can be said for his mom and I too. This is a very rough time for us, the stress is affecting us all and it's causing my blood sugar to be higher...I'm probably going to have to go back to the doctor if I don't get that under control via stress management and some additional time on the exercise bike. I think the last time I was this down was right after the divorce.....sigh.

Since Scott is pretty secure in his wheelchair and is going stir crazy, he has asked since there are only three weeks of school left for the year that he return to school possibly after Memorial day. Since the school has agreed we have agreed so long as he feels up to it; he tires very quickly these days. His mom or I must drive him both ways since he can't take his wheelchair on the school bus. This means the days I have to take him I have to leave work an hour early to pick him up him or arrive an hour late if dropping him off. I figure I'll make this time up working from home and working through lunch most days. His mom pretty much sets her own schedule though it will impact some of her appointments and time she is supposed to be in the showroom.

The chiropractor is past his school so Scott's appointments will be scheduled for a half hour after he is picked up.

We're still looking into other possibilities for Scott's issues. I've been researching a number of conditions people have told me about. Another ping in the pocketbook; after finding out that the psychiatrist that the hospital recommended for him is out of plan and would cost us about $200/visit we have asked to be referred in plan. Considering how upset Scott gets at times over his issues now, and considering that the hospital is not going to take his problem as something other than psychological without these session, we figure it can't hurt, particularly if Scott is not walking better by the end of his first month's treatment at the chiropractor.

Scott Update - May 22, 2008

Other than the acquisition of Scott's wheelchair, nothing much to report; he's feeling a bit better but he's just as unsteady on his feet. The other night even supporting himself on both opposing walls of my narrow hallway, he went down. Fortunately he was close enough to one wall to lean against it as he fell so he did not get hurt.

Yesterday his grandparents took him to one of his appointments, and he has now seen the chiropractor twice, with his next visit tomorrow. They were there when I arrived home yesterday to await the delivery of the wheelchair. They were wonderful and did some cleanup and pruning of my front gardens and hauled away the debris we bagged since my trash company won't take it unless you subscribe to their lawn and garden debris pickup service.

We are researching via the Internet other possible causes for his condition.

Overall his mood has been good, but Monday night he was in tears thinking he might have a brain tumor or cancer, or something else that was horrible. Typical teenager attention span in the sense that he was told in the hospital and in his initial examination at the chiropractor that the MRI, CAT scan, and other tests he had showed it was none of these things. He was quite upset and his mood has his ups and downs. He feels guilty he is causing all this worry and work over him and I reaffirmed that he should not feel this way. It's not his fault and we are there for him.

Today he is going to try and sit in a class or two at school. This means that he and his wheelchair have to be taken there and picked up. In the Mustang this is quite interesting, when I picked him up at an appointment yesterday afternoon I had to fold the back seats down, and I had already emptied the trunk of everything except a can of fix a flat. With the size and weight and of the wheelchair and my bad back It still was quite the struggle to get the wheelchair in. Making a poor situation worse is that since the back seats are down I can only have myself, Scott, and the wheelchair in the car, there is no room for my daughter to sit and have a seat belt. For the first time since acquiring my beloved Mustang, which I have wanted since I was a teenager, I am regretting having chosen it as my vehicle.

At least when I removed the wheelchair, which came out far easier than it went in, I observed the placement of it in the trunk. I think I may have a way to place it in, using the reverse of the removal process I used yesterday.

The kids have no school tomorrow, so both will be home. I will be working from home in the afternoon.

Scott and the Chiropractor Part Deux

Scott has his first treatment session with the chiropractor today; they use computerized feedback equipment utilizing technology developed by NASA. Most impressive over the manual adjusting my chiropractor uses. The computer showed that Scott had several areas from his neck all the way down to his tailbone that were out of whack. AT one point when they were working the spine down by the tail bone he jumped which I could not help but chuckle at; he got his revenge shortly thereafter.

He'll be going for three visits a week and while they say results will not be overnight, the areas affected in his neck are the ones that can cause dizziness and headaches. Scott had a headache going in, but he said it was noticeably better after treatment, and double doses of extra strength Tylenol have been ineffective in dealing with this.

I told Scott this was encouraging news and shows there is physical evidence here to support his problem, and we'll see how things go moving forward. I got him Wendy's for lunch, where I had fun chasing a $10 bill across the drive through lanes as it blew out of my hand when attempting to pay for my order! I am sure Scott was laughing at the site of his portly old man running across the parking lot chasing that $10.

While there is no guarantee this chiropractic treatment will help his dizziness, I feel based on the information we have that its beneficial to proceed, while exploring other options as well.

In Memory of Speedy

You have to be a pet person to feel the sense of loss of a pet. Today Danielle's dwarf hamster, Speedy, passed away. It was Danielle's first pet that was hers, and that she was responsible for.

I told her about it this morning, she cried a little bit but then seemed OK for the rest of the day. I queried the X and she said Danielle had not been spending too much time with Speedy lately, another thing she has outgrown I guess. I remember how much she wanted her own pet and how many times she asked before the X agreed, and before we got Tails, I remember the ritual of bringing Speedy to my house whenever Danielle was going to be here. Kids grow up too fast.....

The X buried Speedy next to Chocolate, Scott's first Guinea Pig in her backyard. So, Speedy is in good company.

Enjoy that Great Big Exercise Wheel in the Sky Speedy!

"Speedy"
August 28, 2006 to May 18th, 2008

Those with the greatest awareness have the greatest nightmares.

I'm walking from the living room of the New Jersey house I grew up in towards the front hallway and stairs. Walking with me is my boss; she sounds like my boss but strangely does not look like her. She is talking excitedly about a new process they will implement at work. We walk down the stairs together but when I get to the door that exits to the front porch, her voice fades with an echo and I am alone.

I hear voices and commotion outside, so I open the door and the flashing lights of an ambulance greet me. Lying in front of me on two gurneys while the EMT's stand about doing nothing are my brother and my Uncle Sal. They are both dying.

My father, who is not sick or using an oxygen tank is slapping my uncle on the face repeatedly while sobbing "Don't die Sal, don't die!" Tears are rolling down his cheeks and I too begin crying. My brother weakly opens his eyes and calls my name; I gather him up and hug him fiercely. We are both sobbing and telling each other how much we love the other. I hear flatline tones from both monitors, and they are gone. I am stunned and....

I awaken with a start, badly shaken and arise early (for a non-work day) at 7AM; there could be no return to slumber after such an experience! Two hours and a shopping trip for the Sunday 'Cooking with Fire' ritual I have on my weekends with the kids later, I am somewhat more composed, but still shaken by this horrible dream which felt so very real.

Perhaps this post's title, a quote that I borrowed from Indian Philosopher Mahatma Gandhi, is true or perhaps I just have a lot on my mind. I certainly feel better than I did last night when I posted near the midnight hour. I hope Scott, whose sole dialog with me last evening was to request some soup and later a bowl of M&M's, is in a better frame of mind today. It is a bright sunny day and I like to believe such days are filled with promise!

Oh, another curious thing about this dream is that my Uncle Sal has been dead a number of years......

Note - Just as I was finishing this up the X called. Danielle's pet hamster Speedy passed away...I told Danielle who is upset....Speedy was her first pet. It's also overcast now. So much for the bright promise of the day...sigh!

Midnight Madness

Midnight approaches and I've just done three posts about Scott. What a rough two weeks this has been on all of us, I just feel emotionally wrung out and hung up to dry. I feel like crap.

I talked to my sister in law today and my brother, for whatever reason, evidently had not given her a lot of details of Scott's condition, so I caught her up. I also called my Dad who I deliberately did not tell that Scott was hospitalized because with his condition steadily declining I did not want him fixating on that and worrying. He is not doing well at all, even with the oxygen he is getting out of breath just going across the room at his small apartment and he sounded winded just trying to have a normal conversation.

It just seems like everything has turned to crap since the divorce. I hate when I feel like this, perhaps some sleep will put me in a better frame of mind for tomorrow.

Thanks for 'listening', at least 'talking' about it when I feel this way helps a little bit.

Scott and the Walker

I'll make this one somewhat short because it put a pall over the day and upset Scott, his Mom, and I. Scott wanted to go to the movies with some of his friends. I thought this was just flat out crazy myself! Anyway his Mom arranged the loan of one of these walkers that old folks use with the four big wheels. a seat, and handbrakes and went out of her way to drop it off here. Scott did not like it, unlike the wheelchair this made him very self conscious, plus he was not really all that steady on it. He insisted that he could go without it and his friends would help him, his Mom and I basically said no because, one he would not use the walker, and two it was just not safe. He can barely walk a couple of steps without stumbling and he just does not seem to grasp this when he wants to do something. So, he retreated to his room after yelling at me and stayed in there for almost two hours, and then pretty much stayed away from me most of the say. Later in the evening he asked me to make him soup which I did.

I feel really bad for him; I understand he is upset and wants to do normal things, but, I will not let him jeopardize himself. It really put a cloud over the rest of the day, particularly after how well the mall trip went. I think if this condition persists much longer I am going to have to acquire a wheelchair.

Scott and the Mall

Scott asked if there was anyway we could get a wheel chair and take him to the mall Saturday. I checked online and the local mall does do wheelchair loaners so today around lunch time we headed over to the woodland mall. I pulled up to the door and slowly Danielle walked her brother to one of the benches right by the door while I parked the car. As I arrived at the bench Scott remarked it was starting to rain so I walked him inside and he and Danielle sat at one of the tables in the food court while I went to get a wheelchair.

The mall, while nice to loan these out for free also wins one of my "What a stupid thing to do!" awards because the information both is in the exact center of the mall, and equal distance down two corridors from any door in the mall. Hello! So you have to walk all the way in, get the wheelchair, and wheel it empty back to whatever door you came in, and when you are ready to go you get to do the opposite of this. Would it not have made sense to put the wheelchair and stroller loaners by one of the freaking doors? Anyway I got plenty of exercise wheeling Scott and the chair around. We had lunch at the food court, I some wings from Wing Heaven and Scott and Danielle food from the Chinese place.

While I finished my wings they said they would slowly start heading down towards the stores Scott wanted to go to, since it takes him awhile to roll the chair using the two big wheels which he wanted to do. I completed eating and headed after them, and when I hit the main corridor they were no where to be found. I called Scott's cell only to find they were a whole corridor past the information booth so I hurried down there and admonished them for being so far away. Scott blamed his sister saying she took control of the chair and wheeled him there. I used my mall gift card Mom and Dad had given me two Christmases past and bought two new books in the Deathlands series, some Archie double digests, and a book for Danielle. I have been saying I would take the card to the mall every time we went but awhile back I had put it in my wallet.

We got pretzels for a treat and headed to their Mom's house so they could pick up their items for the week.

Scott and the Chiropractor

We spent about an hour and a half at the chiropractor Friday; they gave Scott a full going over, doing all sorts of physical tests of his balance, range of motion, spinal alignment, etc.. To make a long story short he has some issues in his neck which may or may not be the cause of his issues. They also mentioned a rare physical issue that can cause the problems he is having, I'll get them to write down the name of it Monday when I take Scott back for his next appointment. Scott seemed encouraged by the news that there were some physical abnormalities detected. I think with all the doctors telling him this was in his head he was starting to believe them and perhaps doubt himself.

Scott Update May 16th

Scott is going to see a Chiropractor this afternoon. With my bad back and pinched nerves I a firm believer in Chiropractic therapy and so is the X wife, so we figure, what can it hurt? I will post later today or over the weekend regarding what the Chiropractor has to say.

Mother's Day (May 11)

I had written most of this on Mothers Day and finished it up last night. Adjust and day reference to last Sunday, May 11.

Friday Christopher came to visit. We had planned on dinner and then watching last week's and this week's episode of Doctor Who. I made a modified version of the BK Bacon Breakfast Wrap alternative, adding Turkey Sausage (thanks Brian for the suggestion) and some Jalapeno cheese. They were very good. As Chris started eating his I told him "You can go get the Mayo, I won't be offended" and that's just what he did. He enjoys Mayo on almost anything.

Time to watch TV, but alas! My AT&T DVR was not being cooperative; I've already had one service call on this and I ended up placing another one. We had tried to start up the recording of last week's Doctor Who it would not play anything and then froze. A reboot (multiple reboots) did not help (it finally came up but reported it had no hard disk installed) so I placed a tech support call. 20 minutes later I had an appointment for a tech to visit the house on Mother's Day. Chris and I watched Bender's Big Score, the first Futurama movie that followed up the series which had been cancelled two years ago. This was the third time seeing it and it was quite enjoyable.

Chris departed, and I ended up watching the current Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica episodes off of live TV so I would not miss them.

A few more reboots and the DVR once again showed recorded content so I stayed up until about 2AM going through first run shows since I knew there was a strong chance the unit would be replaced Sunday.

Saturday I arose about 8:30 and over the course of the day did several loads of wash, cleaned the kitchen and dining room, worked on some issues on my computer (finally interfacing the dock for my Kodak Z1275 camera, and updating the bluetooth software for my bluetooth equipped USB hub), a session on the e-bike, web surfing, interacting with Tails, took a trip to Forest Hills Foods for some staple items (Salad Dressing and beverages for Sunday's dinner) and some cleaning supplies, and continuing the watching of recorded material on my DVR. I went to bed around 1AM. The cleaning tasks were because the X, her parents, and the kids were coming for Mother's Day. The dining room table was lots of fun, it has a tiled surface and the cracks between the tiles were, how should I put this delicately, less than clean.


Sunday I arose a bit after 8AM and headed down to Forest Hills Foods to acquire the perishable items for dinner. I lucked out and found 8 NY Strip steaks in two family packs. These family packs as I have mentioned before are a bargain when available and come in at almost half off buying the same item from the meat counter. I also shucked and bagged 8 gorgeous ears of corn, and bought onions and mushrooms, baked beans, apple sauce, and a cake (chocolate layer with creamed filling and Oreo cookies and crumbs on top) for dessert. Since apple juice was on same for 4 bottles for $5, I also picked those up since Scott drinks AJ as his primary beverage choice.

I headed back home, unloaded the car, and alternately spent some time on the PC, some time watching items on the DVR, doing some additional cleaning, repairing a wobbly leg on one of the dining room table's chairs, setting the dining room table for dinner, and an e-bike ride. Just as I was finishing this up and ready for a shower the AT&T tech called saying he was on his way. So, no shower for Chris (and I needed one!)

I took the steaks from the fridge and trimmed the fat off them and then put them to marinate in olive oil, chopped onion, black pepper, and just a bit of chili powder. Since the X's mom was coming and she is allergic to Garlic, I could not use my preferred Montreal Steak Seasoning. I put the steaks in the fridge and then make a nice salad which was covered with plastic and returned to the fridge.

It was almost an hour before the AT&T guy showed up, and Tails was fascinated by him, giving plenty of attention, rolling on his laptop, and following him anywhere he went in the house. I have never seen her so affectionate to a stranger and surmised he must be a good guy,

While Drew, the tech, was working the X and the three kids arrived, followed shortly by her parents. I saved her Dad a trip to the store when I overheard her asking about him getting her some coffee, by surprising them with all the materials needed to fulfill such a request.

Drew was having trouble getting the new DVR to function, and we delayed putting the steaks on for about 45 minutes until the DVR authorized and we verified all was working. He departed, the steaks were cooked (to perfection!) and we sat down to enjoy NY Strip steaks, salad, corn on the cob, baked beans, applesauce, and my own sauteed onions and mushrooms to use as steak toppings.

After dinner I discovered the DVR was not working right again, and left a message for Drew. Cards were given to the X and Mom, and various discussions between adults occurred, Danielle had her mom listening to music from her iPod; they each wore one of the ear buds, and the boys played video games.

Around 4 PM we sat down to desert which consisted of the cake I had bought, and a chocolate pudding cake grandma had thoughtfully provided.

The X had a customer to visit so everyone departed around 5PM.

Around 8PM Drew called me back, and I told him the DVR began working OK shortly after I left the message. He stopped by anyway to place a filter pack between the DVR and residential gateway as another tech had told him this often eliminated many spurious issues with the DVR. He also stressed I should call his direct line if I had other issues, since he and his manager could get tickets in quicker than calling tech support, and he was often in the area. Tails was right in her assessment of Drew, he is good people.

After Drew departed I enjoyed a long overdue shower and spent the remainder of the evening watching TV before an early bedtime of 10:30.

Scott Comes Home

So, after four days in the hospital, Scott is released today feeling no better, and suffering from headaches on top of the dizziness for the past couple of days. Last night the headaches were so painful he was brought to tears from it.

Because the MRI showed nothing they are leaning back towards the physiological cause mindset even though the staff psychologist did not think these excessive symptoms were caused by stress. Now we have to take him to see a psychologist, and the earliest that will happen because of referrals and such is sometime next week. Because the hospital is recommending this we have to use their service, so, instead of being able to go to the medical professional building right across the street from my house we have to travel to/from the city for every appointment.

Meanwhile, Scott is very distressed about his dizziness and not being able to go to school and see his friends. We also have to make arrangements now for a home bound program from the school in an attempt to insure Scott passes 10th grade.

Scott says the only thing really bothering him a lot right now is the dizziness and the inability of the doctors to find anything wrong.

Debby (The X) and I are very concerned for our son and what the future holds. Please hold him in your thoughts and prayers going forward!

Laughter is the best medicine

Thanks Barry for sending this my way; this story made me laugh heartily this morning so I had to share it since I have not had much to laugh at this week.

A 5 year olds first job...

Here's a truly heartwarming story about the bond formed between a little 5-year-old girl and some construction workers that will make you believe that we all can make a difference when we give a child the gift of our time.

A young family moved into a house, next to a vacant lot. One day, a construction crew began to build a house on the empty lot. The 5-year-old daughter of the young family naturally took an interest in the goings-on and spent much of each day observing the workers.

Eventually the construction crew, all of them 'gems-in-the-rough,' more or less, adopted her as a kind of project mascot. They chatted with her during coffee and lunch breaks and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important. At the end of the first week, they even presented her with a pay envelope containing ten dollars.

The little girl took this home to her mother who suggested that she take her ten dollars 'pay' she'd received to the bank the next day to start a savings account. When the girl and her mom got to the bank, the teller was equally impressed and asked the little girl how she had come by her very own pay check at such a young age. The little girl proudly replied, 'I worked last week with a real construction crew building the new house next door to us.'

'Oh my goodness gracious,' said the teller, 'and will you be working on the house again this week, too?'

The little girl replied, 'I will, if those assholes at Home Depot would ever deliver the f _ ckin' sheet rock.'

Scott Update - May 14th

Other than Scott having an MRI later today, no new news. He's still having trouble walking...and he really wants to come home.

The hospital is complex is quite large spanning multiple city blocks; it and the surrounding roads are under massive construction which makes it quite the adventure. Monday when I went down Scott was in the emergency room, parking was attached and very easy. It was a 10 minute walk last yesterday from the parking building to his room which required three different elevator rides, traversing many corridors and one large staircase.

Scott Update

Not much to say, Scott has seen more doctors including a psychologist in case it was stress related; she does not think it is so it looks like an MRI will be next. As I am writing this on my iPod Touuch at the hospital this will be a short post.

Scott is in the Hospital

Scott was sent to the hospital by his doctor today for some tests. He ended up being admitted several hours later. All we've determined at this point after numerous tests and examination by assorted different doctors and three nurses is that 16 year olds and their parents get easily agitated after watching the same physical examination performed and the same questions asked over and over.....don't these folks share their notes??

There was a minor abnormality on his cat scan but the consensus is this is not causing his issue.

Anyway, he has more tests and specialists and a neurologist seeing him tomorrow.

I am very distressed! The house is empty and lonely and I doubt sleep will come easy this morning.

Scott not doing any better

It's been a week now since Scott was first feeling dizzy and light headed. He was unable to go to school this morning and his mom took him back to the doctor this morning. The doctor sent them down to the hospital to see a specialist. They are concerned he may have an inflammation of the cerebellum or some other issues so an MRI, Cat Scan, and possibility a spinal tap will be done this afternoon.

Please keep Scott in your hopes and prayers! I am most concerned and distressed!

Music Video of the DayWalk Like An Egyptian by The Bangles

The week in Review

It has been a long week and it along with last weekend, is all kind of blurred together at this point, so here's a summary I've been keeping during the week. It's a long rambling summary with bold titles for each section.


A visit to Damnation County
Over the weekend, the most notable point was picking Scott up Saturday night from a friends house in what I now like to call damnation county.

He and a gal pal were dropped off at the movies and I told him to call me by 10PM if he was going to be later. He had alluded to the fact he would not need a ride home. So, around 10:45 when I noticed I had not heard from him I rang his cell. Yes, of course he needed a ride, could I come and get him, no he had no idea where he was. So, a friend read off the address which I did not recognize and then I asked for the zip. As soon as the last 3 digits were read off, which were different from mine, I knew he was nowhere close by. I mapped it, called him back mentioning i was not pleased by the fact that he was two counties away, and headed out.

Fortunately I had the presence of mind to take the GPS with me. As I got further from home and entered areas I ad never driven though the GPS saved me as the turnoffs I had to make from the main road were in totally dark areas with signs that would not have been readable without a quartz halogen lantern! Street lighting was non-existent here.

So, thanks to the GPS I found the large culdesac with about 8 houses, none of which you could read the street numbers on, and called his cell again.

"What house are you in?" I asked. "I dunno"was the laconic reply. Is it a big house, what color is it, was it close to the connecting street or near the end? "I dunno" again came the reply.

Meanwhile, one of the houses had illuminated and people were looking out and pointing at the car. I called Scott back and told him to hurry, and soon a bit down the street the massive garage door (by far the biggest one of all the house), on the furthest house in, with by far the longest driveway opened. I queried him as to how he could not have noticed any of those unique features compared to the other house?

Wait for it.......

"I dunno" was the reply followed by a request to take two of his other friends home with us.......after dropping them off I mentioned how this had best not happen again stressing he needs permission to lave the county we live in let alone be two county's away.

With the price of gas being what it is I used up a whole weeks worth in one trip. Oh, did I mention it was also raining? That added even more joy to it......anyway, it least I now what what lies down the road from the driver training school, I tell you what!

The only other thing that stands out about the weekend was the steak dinner Sunday. Forest Hills food had some excellent Delmonico steaks int he family value packs and the corn on the con, unlike the previous weeks pitiful offering of tiny ears with tiny kernels, were large and sweet. We had a most excellent meal indeed with the steaks seasons with pepper, dried onion, and garlic.

Don't Bug Me
A humorous note the X stopped by to watch Supernatural which I download off the Internet, she screeched at one point as a small black spider was spied on the couch by her. She is powerless where spiders are concerned; so I jumped up and crashed it in an empty bag from some low carb crisps. I teased her and said it's not that big and then pretended to reach in and toss the dead bug at her. She screamed at the top of her lungs startling Scott, and making Danielle, who was in her room doing homework, come running! Scott and I though that was hilarious. At this point I inverted the bag so the dead bug was trapped underneath and then, pretended to show her the bug by saying "Look! It was not that big anyway!" and opening the bag right by her face. She launched upwards and the kids and I had another laugh.......teasing the X about spiders is a long standing tradition that has lasted longer than our marriage did!


Sick kids through the week
Scott and Daniele were sick Monday, so I worked in the office until lunch time and then worked from home the rest of the day. I made a large batch of homemade chicken soup for an early dinner with lots of chicken in it, which the kids really enjoyed.

Danielle went back to school Tuesday but Scott, suffering from dizziness and vertigo stayed home again so I did the same thing at work.

Wednesday, I was feeling like crap, but I drove the kids to school because while Scott was feeling somewhat better I did not want him to have to ride the buss. I returned home and did half a days work and napped half the day.

I picked Scott up at school a bit after 5 (he had swing, did not dance but wanted to be with his friends) and we stopped on the way home to pickup Chinese food for him and Danielle while I went into Forest Hills Foods to get some items to make wraps for myself.

Thursday I took Scott to the Doctor's because he was worse and stayed home again and was very dizzy. They checked him for mono, strep, and some other items and concluded that it is most likely viral, though they warned to keep a close watch on his temperature because these symptoms could be indicative of meningitis. One humorous note when Scott was being examines as she went down the list of symptoms she was querying him for she was using the stereoscope to listen to his heart and lungs and she queried him: "Cough?" and Scott did his best to do so; the doctor and I both enjoyed a laugh at this.,

Thursday evening we watched the last episode of Scrubs....a show we all enjoy which NBC in their infinite wisdom has chosen to cancel.

Friday Scott stayed home again, I made arrangements to pickup his weeks homework after school today and came home half a day surprising him with some Burger King for lunch. He had his usual chicken tenders, fries, and a vanilla shake which of course he dipped his chicken and fries into.

True Lies

Danielle boldly and blatantly lied to me the other day after school. Even after giving her an out she did not back down, and while I will not go into details other than to say she lost her computer privileges for the entire afternoon and evening, it was most disturbing and depressing. We have always taught the kids to stand tall and tell the truth even if it means they might get into some trouble. I explained this again and mentioned how sad I was. I also told her since she could not be truthful for the right reasons that next time the punishment would be doubled! The sad thing was it was not really any big thing to be lying about!

Lunch on the Roof
Another notable tidbit this week was taking my lunch break yesterday on the roof of my house. I set my work IM away message to

"Taking lunch on the roof of my house - YOU figure it out"

and I got my ladder out of the garage. it's one of the four piece kind you can make into shapes, such as a U for example. I set it as a single straight ladder which barely reached tot he peak of the garage roof and I ascended to the top so I could remove the LMB from the Dish Network dish. Along with the receivers which I had boxed up for return you have to send the LMB. So, with instructions, pliers, and a screwdriver in hand up I went. Precariously perched I managed to dismantle the LMB assembly and disconnect all three cables to it.

I climbed down and packed up the LMB and also scored for my parts bin three coax cable extensions and three 6 foot coax cables. After work from home was over for the day I drove over to The UPS Store and sent the equipment on its way back to Dish Network.

In closing, that about covers it. I hope Scott feels better soon and this is not something more serious than a viral infection. he has already fallen down several times this week while trying to walk, it is most distressing. I will be heading off to school a little later to pickup his weeks assignments so he has something to occupy his weekend!

Link of the Day:Send Your Name to the moon!

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter website has a unique offer; send your name to the moon! Names will be collected and placed onboard the LRO spacecraft for its historic mission bringing NASA back to the moon. And you'll be able to download and print a certificate showcasing your support of the mission:

Click picture for a larger version

According to NASA, The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is the first mission in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, a plan to return to the moon and then to travel to Mars and beyond. LRO will launch in late 2008 with the objectives to finding safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

Music Video of the DayManic Monday by The Bangles

Music Video of the Day!

Something new here on my blog, a Music Video of the day, which I'll do whenever I have the mind to.....I am sure it won't be every day!

Feel free to let me know what you like or don't like!

Monday

The cold Weather continues....it was in the upper 30's overnight, though the house held the heat without using the furnace. It was 60 inside this morning when I got up and I know the furnace had not run since I had shut it off the other day. It's a balmy 52 right now and partially cloudy though thunderstorms are predicted and temps just below freezing overnight.

I had a massive pounding headache this morning, bad enough to keep me home from work guilt-free but since I will be out Wednesday when they come to install my fiber service I dragged myself in. As I type this at lunchtime my head still is bothering me, though not quite as bad. I would not mind going home and crawling into bed though!

My Son Chris has his first day today at his new job; I hope it goes well for him and he enjoys it!

Sunday

Another quiet day.....the X phoned as I was getting ready for an e-bike ride reminding me I had promised to look at her lawn mower which won't start. I must have gotten up wrong (I had Tails napping on me and did not want to disturb her) because I twisted my back when I got up to answer her call. Fortunately the e-bike ride and some subsequent stretching exercises took care of it over the course of the day.

I told her I would be there in an hour or so after my e-bike session. I was pretty sure the spark plug on the mower was either shot or fouled, so, I managed to find my spark plug socket on the first look and headed over.

I removed the spark plug from the mower and it was fouled, so with some emery paper I got it cleaned up, reinstalled, and the mower running on the third pull of the rope.

I am sure Scott was thrilled that I fixed the lawn mower since he would have to cut the grass now!

I went inside to tell the X who was sitting on the floor trying to extricate Chris old baby blanket from the vacuum cleaner. She told me she and Scott had tried to pull it out. I sat down in a chair, and within a couple of minutes had it taken care of.

She invited me to dinner, and I headed home, picking up the ingredients for my side dish which would be Perogies in a sausage cheese sour cream sauce.

I went back there a few hours later and the five of us ate; the X had made a nice London broil, one of the kind that are packaged in a marinate, and it was very good.

I headed back home and spent some time cleaning up, playing FATE on the PC, and continuing my effort to watch all the recorded TV on the Dish Network PVR before I cancel the service Thursday after the Wednesday scheduled install of my AT&T U-Verse fiber optic service.

That's about it....a very uneventful weekend.

midnight postings and ramblings

A very late or early hour for me to be blogging but.....

WHAT A FREAKING DIFFERENCE 24 HOURS CAN MAKE

Friday night it was 80 degrees and Saturday it was 50! Insane!

Chris came over Friday night, he and I watched The Dr. Who premier from the previous week and an hour long Good Eat we had never seen where Alton is stranded on a deserted island and makes all kinds of food using native ingredients, while slowly losing his mind and making a companion out of an old coconut....quite bizarre yet entertaining!

Not much going on today (Saturday); no kids, so Tails and I hung out home. I tried to fix the screen slider off the living room, I took it down figuring the wheels were broken but all four were fine, I tried adjusting them all and still cannot get it to slide right in the track without jamming.

Did some more cleaning in my office today, it's almost to a point where I won't die from shame when AT&T comes out Wednesday to install fiber.

High a nice long chat with the X's brother Kevin today, it was really good to talk to him at length, seems we rarely have a chance to do that these days.

Speaking of the X she came over this evening and we watched this weeks Supernatural and a Just Shoot Me (How the Finch Stole Christmas) which neither of us has seen since we were living together. A blast from the past indeed.

In my mission to watch all the stored TV off of my Disk Network PVR, I am doing well! A week ago there was almost 100 hours of recorded TV programs, today there is barely 10! If all goes well this Thursday I will call Dish Network to cancel my service! Whoo Hoo! Can't wait for fiber optic service!

Recipe - An alternative to the Burger King Cheesy Bacon BK Wrapper

I don't know about the rest of you but breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day. I could eat breakfast any time. Bacon and eggs for lunch and dinner are fine by me.

Of course many people around the world eat breakfast at fast food places, and it is well known how bad this type of fare is for you nutritionally.

While I realize those who 'eat on the go' may have no choice (or willpower to nab something else), those that are willing to do a little work can come up with a healthier and tastier alternative which is what I've done with this recipe.

I recently (yes, I admit it!) tried the new Burger King Cheesy Bacon BK Wrapper which consists of scrambled egg, smokey cheese sauce, bacon, and hash browns wrapped in a flour tortilla. While sound in concept, it falls short in a number of areas. Nutrition being the first, plus there is barely enough bacon and potato to taste, and in my humble opinion the smokey cheese sauce added nothing except perhaps calories.

I realized that I could not eat these on a regular basis, and I yearned for something like this that I could! So, concept firmly in mind I set out to make Chris' Cheesy Bacon Breakfast Wrap. I spent a few days on and off thinking about this. The hardest part was trying to find nutrition information on Burger King's offering. There is none on their site but I finally found it on an excellent site called The Impulse Buy.

See below for nutritional breakdown compared to the Burger King version, ingredients, and preparation.

Nutritional Breakdown - Burger King Version
390 calories, 24 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 grams of trans fat, 150 milligrams of cholesterol, 1080 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, 14 grams of protein

Nutritional Breakdown - My Version

292 calories, 10 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 33 milligrams of cholesterol, 1190 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbs (17 grams net carbs) , 14.5 grams of fiber, 2.5 grams of sugar, 27 grams of protein

Wow! Mine has 25% fewer calories, less than half the total fat, no trans fat, 75% less cholesterol, much more fiber, and double the protein. Note it does have a bit more sodium since I am using two slices of turkey bacon and a bit more sugar (why do they add sugar to fat-free cheese anyway??). Oh, and mine, at least to my palette, tastes much better


Recipe - Chris' Cheesy Breakfast Bacon Wrap

Ingredients (for 1 wrap)

2 slices Louis Rich Turkey Bacon
1/3 cup egg beaters

1/3 cup (two ounces) Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash Browns

1 LaTortilla Factory large low carb whole wheat tortilla
1 slice Kraft Singles Fat Free Sharp Cheddar

1 fluid ounce (1/8th cup) 2% Milk

Freshly ground black pepper

Notes:

• I have tried many brands of Turkey Bacon; nothing comes close to the Louis Rich variety; it is delicious! Other brands have been passable to something like shoe leather consistency, so, get this brand! If you have ever had turkey bacon and not liked it, and you have not had this, you just have not had turkey bacon. In some places it is now being branded as Oscar Mayer with the Louis Rich in smaller type. Same product, available at many grocery stores and Costco/Sam's Club.
  
• Two of these wraps make a nice dinner. If you wish to make more than one, multiply the ingredients above by the number of wraps you wish to make.
  

Preparation:

• Lightly spray with Pam-type no stick spray a non-stick skillet and cook turkey bacon how you like it, be it crispy or not, turning once.
• Remove pan from heat and remove turkey bacon from pan. Lightly spray pan again with Pam and add shredded potatoes. Cook until lightly browned (or more depending on preference).
• While potatoes are cooking lightly whisk egg beaters and milk. Make sure potatoes are distributed evenly over the bottom the pan and then slowly pour in egg beaters mixture. Lightly sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Cook covered over low heat until top is done. Uncover and remove from heat.
• Cut cheddar cheese slice in half and place end to end on tortilla along with two strips of bacon, and add contents of pan. If making more than one wrap divide contents of pan across tortillas after proceeding above with cheese and bacon for each one. Roll up, eat, and enjoy!

WHY does eating out have to be so bad for you at fast food places? Here is a very satisfying breakfast wrap that is much better for you.

Food, Kids, Computers, TV, and Weather

Not much happened over the weekend; the weather was nice, we ended up grilling some Steaks on Sunday; Saturday I made three cheese and garlic herb tortellini with garlic and mushrooms for dinner; the X was working a show over the weekend so I invited her to stop in on her way home for a bowl of food. And good news, she's finally on the mend and seems to be mostly recovered. There was enough leftover so I gave her a bowl to take with her. She and I watched an episode of Dirt while we ate. After growing up with Courteney Cox Arquette in Friends and Family Ties it is so shocking to see her play the evil, scheming, and seemingly heartless lead character on Dirt!

Chris goes for his drug test today and then his first day of work is Monday. This is so exciting! If he does well and likes this company he could be working there after he graduates in three years. He'll be working 8AM to 5PM which means he'll need to get up fairly early since he needs to allow time to get to work. I hope he gets into the routine OK; he's used to staying up all night, going to bed in the AM, and getting up sometime in the mid-afternoon. Even when on campus he'll be up most of the night and grab a couple of hours sleep before classes; I don't know how he does it; ah to be young again!

Danielle appears to be making a bit of an effort to be on the Internet less and spend some more time with me watching TV and such; she still spends way too much time doing non-creative things. She barely uses the tablet and pen anymore that I got for her last birthday, but Scott uses it quite a bit so its not like it is going to waste. Danielle is still taking a lot of pictures, mostly of Tails and has captured some good shots.

Scott, sadly, is moving into his second week having insomnia again; he is worried about stuff that may happen over a year from now when friends go off to college and his loses touch with them. Hopefully he will sort this out and move on and do what I've been telling him, which is not worry about things that will never happen. I've also mentioned that good friends will keep in touch! Scott is such a good, sensitive, and talented young man; I hope he overcomes this as he gets older.

Tails is as cute as ever and has adopted my bed as a resting place when she wishes to be left alone; now that the weather is warming up I leave my room and the windows open and this allows a good flow through ventilation with the rear sliders opened.

Its been in the 70's since Sunday and will be through the end of the week though temps are expected to drop into 60's and possibly 50's over the weekend, though the weekend is forecast to be dry. We shall see.

I ordered AT&T's U-Verse fiber optic service last Friday. For a few dollars less that what I am paying now, I will have phone, TV, and Internet delivered over a fiber optic link, with more speed, channels, features, and even HD programming! If I add in the cost of what Dish Network would charge me add another savings of $20 each month!

Such geeky features too! Check out the U-Verse site here. I can't wait they come on the 30th! Its an all day install (6 to 8 hours). I spent some time cleaning my office and the utility room where they will have to work, though my office needs additional cleaning to get it beyond the embarrassingly dirty/disorganized stage that I would not want strangers to see. Weird how that works isn't it? My kids and others I know see it and it does not bother me at all!

The new Home Theater PC is now fully setup; I had four problems that took me a couple of weeks to solve 3 of, and the fourth is an issue with Microsoft Media Center; it's a know issue and from what I see on the Internet, Microsoft says the fault is with the video drivers I am using which makes it the video card vendors issue....and of course the video card vendor says it Microsoft's fault. I have logged tech support calls and we shall see what happens. I brought the box in for the old one, once I do a couple of minor things to that I can box it and sell it. Then the last pending computer job is to build one for the X wife; back before they changed the rules at work I obtained a decent desktop Pentium 4 machine which will certainly be better that her Pentium II PC she's been using for the past 8 years. I will have to load it and install it at her place.

The New Camera

So, last week my new camera came. Having a decent 7.1 mega pixel Shirt Pocket Form Factor Casio camera with a 3x optical zoom I was not really in the market for one. But woot had this one on sale for $99 last week:

It is factory refurbished. I never buy refurbished unless it is factory certified by the original manufacturer and comes with the full years warranty, not that 90 day deal you get from some places. It looks brand new and features 12 mega pixels and a 5x optical zoom while still fitting in a shirt sleeve pocket. Read an independent review of it here. A good deal, since the lowest price I could find the same factory refurbish elsewhere was $179.

I LOVE THIS CAMERA! It also takes HD video at 1280x720 resolution and unlike most digital still picture cameras that do video, it will auto focus and let you use the zoom while filming. The shots I have taken have been gorgeous, and it also has a built in panorama mode where you take three pictures, such as of a nice scenic landscape or cityscape, and it stitches them into one wide picture. See an example below and remember it has been scaled down somewhat so as not to use too much picture quota on the blog. The original shot is just over 30 megabytes and has dimensions of 6124x1648. Click the picture for a larger version.

doo doo doo, looking out my back door!

Danielle is happy because the previous camera has been delegated for the kids to use and she has been following Tails around taking many pictures!

Speaking of Tails, here is a shot of her taken with the new camera; look how cute and fuzzy she is!!! Click the picture for a larger version. Awwwww!

Oh, Day of Days!!

Yesterday I called my Dad to see how he was feeling; he was very excited! Evidently there is a clinical trial of a new treatment for those with emphysema that may help hi,! He will be going for pre-screening Monday to see if he is eligible. Pray for the best please!

I know from talking to his girlfriend he is not in good shape! She mentioned they went out to her doctor the other day and he had his O2 with him; he was so winded when they got there he ended up in a wheelchair because he did not have enough breath to walk. I am hoping this procedure is doable for him, but it is the first glimmer of hope we have seen for him. I will be cautiously optimistic until I hear back from him next week.

So, I get off the phone from my dad, and it rings again, it's Chris, my 19 year old who has been looking for a job suitable for his co-op program at Kettering University, and he's got a job! Wow! And not the one in Detroit which would have totally sucked because we would hardly ever see him, but close enough to town so he'll still be in the area 6 months of each year!

THEN, On the geek side, the phone rings again, and it's the X, she's met someone at work who does AT&T sales and she's telling be about fiber optic service being available in our area, so, I will be signing up today. For what I am paying now for my phone, Internet, and Satellite TV, I will get so much more over a fiber optic connection including HD TV which I do not have and would cost me an extra $20/month over what I will be paying.

I have not had a day this good since before the divorce! I think that's entirely too long to wait for such a day. I am still giddy today.....is this what happy feels like?? ;)

So, it was such a good day I was almost afraid to go out of the house this morning!

Monday Evening's bad news!

Note this was written Tuesday so adjust time references relative to then.

I arrived home last night to very visibly upset children who, after being calmed down told me of a terrible situation, our good friend, teacher, and companion, the satellite service was broken!! After the kids and I got over the shock of the receiver is stuck in a test loop I accessed the situation; it was dire! We could not even watch any of the recorded content)! I called Dish Network and after being disconnected twice after being on hold almost 20 minutes finally got someone who could speak, but strangely enough, not under English!

The first thing I did was inform them I ran the self test and the box was stuck in a test loop and would do nothing else no matter what buttons on the unit or the remote were depressed.

So, of course thing I am told to do is:

"OK, press the menu button on the remote so we can go to the main menu."

"Uh, I just told you nothing works the box is stuck in a test loop. It's error 502 which states the box will do nothing until the satellite feed into it is fixed.

"Now, sir, please, I just need you to go into the main menu so I can check a few things." was the reply........

No matter how patiently I described it quite a few times, that I couldn't 'go to the main menu BECAUSE THE BOX IS STUCK IN A TEST LOOP!! Yes, at this point I was raising my voice somewhat.....I wonder where they farm out their L1 support to.......

After a seemingly endless eternity of trying to get that across I asked for and was transferred to a supervisor who immediately says "Hmm, error 502 the box must be stuck in a test loop!" right after I gave him the error number.

After asking me why I was sobbing he scheduled the maintenance call. They can't have anyone come out until Thursday the 17th (whimper!) so I must work from home that day.

I got the typical 9AM to 5PM window.....I think the kids may be too addicted to TV....I found them sitting on the floor in front of it mesmerized by the test loop display, the younger one whispering to the older one "look, my favorite screen of the test loop is coming up!"! I noticed this not because I was sitting there watching with them you understand, but because I am a concerned parent and the house had gotten very quiet!(Gee, I wonder which screen of the test loop I'm missing right now!?!!???)

If you in any way enjoyed this post OR have had bad dealings with tech support, check out this older post entitled If there's no Internet this must be Wednesday!. It is both a horrifying yet amusing tale of my worst tech support experience that happened with my ISP back in 2006 (wow, have I really been blogging this long.....Chris Falco: Proudly boring the world for over two years now!)

Note my recanting of the the interaction with Dish support might be a bit embellished, but, it is atypical of support from large companies today. I was disconnected by their automated systems twice...and I was told to press the menu key after patiently explaining it would not respond to any commands......

L1 support by the way is the first level of tech support; most times these people are not technically oriented and thus paid less; they troubleshoot by rote utilizing scripts....which can be very frustrating to the more technical savvy customers.

A Long week

It's been a very long week since my last writing here; as touched on in my last post the X is still sick, and on some days barely able to function; Sunday for example she had a blinding headache that really took a lot out of her! I worry about her because she pushes herself and suffers from what I call 'weight of the world on your shoulders syndrome'. She's been on at least two different antibiotics and assorted meds for the symptoms and as of this morning she is only marginally better. She needs to relax and smell the roses more.

I've done what I could, offering to run errands, watch the kids extra, and making her meals whenever I can.....I worry about her and hope she feels better soon.

Not much to tell other than that, though I may do a post or two about the new bargain prices camera, problems with my satellite service and tech support experience, and other issues. The kids enjoyed their week and two days off and are now back at school for the first day. I do not realize they had yesterday off too until my door burst open Sunday evening and Scott, surrounded by members of his entourage entered, Scott announcing that they were here to take the Rockband instruments over to a friends house where he was sleeping over.

The new Home Theater PC is 99% setup, and the old one is 88% ready to be sold, having been restore to factory defaults over the weekend and then having all the latest service packs and updates installed.

The weather is slowly moderating and doing the typical West Michigan thing; for example; it was below freezing overnight, 32 when I awoke and by mid-afternoon the temperature will have risen over 30 degrees to take us into the 60's!

I hereby proclaim that WINTER IN WEST MICHIGAN IS OVER and this weekend, with a Devil May Care attitude, I shall drain the snowblower of any remaining gas, and perhaps this very evening pour what's left of the gas can into the Mustang!

Anyway, for those that stop by on a regular basis, I just thought I'd take a brief lunchtime moment to post this.

Flight 405 Video

For those of you have never seen the video about Flight 405, it is a MUST SEE. It depicts a large jet having to make an emergency landing on the highway.



I'd be very interested in comments from anyone who watches this or had seen it.

Just another Monday in West Michigan

I had half a day as a personal day Monday so I just worked from 6P30-AM to 10:30AM and headed home. Scott and Danielle are at my house this week and have the week off. so Sunday night before retiring I put all the items I need for work into my bathroom so as not to disturb them. I got dressed and then headed right out the door by the garage.

After arriving home I rode the exercise bike and then headed out to the garage. A couple of months ago I had bought a holder for my iPod that plugs into the cigarette lighter and then broadcasts the sound from the iPod over the FM radio band. I finally decided to take it out of package and try it out. It worked flawlessly and I was berating myself for not having used it awhile back. I backed the car out of the garage and headed down to Forest Hills foods to get legal size envelopes to mail my taxes in. After getting them addresses back at the house the kids and I headed out.

It should be noted it's another glorious sunny day in West Michigan; the temperature at 2PM is barely 60 but Scott and I forgo wearing coats.

We stopped at Wendy's first for lunch then PetSmart for a couple of cat related items, and finally the Post Office so I could send out the taxes. Normally the accountant files mine but the X mishandled Christopher's (my oldest boy) taxes and had him claim himself as a deduction which he can't do as he's claimed on mine. SO my e-file bounced and now here I am paying for his amended return processing and running around with paper forms and such......oh well!

That done we returned home and Scott headed off for a bike ride, and Danielle, well......need I say anything??

Scott and Ben arrived back at my house and around 5:40 Ben departed. Scott, Danielle, and I headed over to their Mom's house so they could clean their rooms. After leaving there we parked on the side of Forest Hills Food and Scott headed off to China Garden to get dinner while Danielle and I went into Forest Hills Food; the X has been sick all weekend and was feeling terrible today after being diagnosed with a viral infection. She has so much on her plate with trying to run her company and all, I worry about her! We picked up something she needed at the store (her dinner was being taken care of by Scott next door) and I picked up a get well card for her as well.

We met Scott over by China Garden and then headed back to the X's where I ran in with her food and card, asking Christopher to serve his Mom because I wanted NOT to have this infection if I could avoid it! I also got to try some spicy beef jerky he had to procure which he said they made him sign a wavier for! Chris' friend Mike was there and he thought the jerky was very hot while Chris and I thought it had a nice spicy taste but certainly nothing major!

I exited the X's house and returned home where Scott, Danielle, and I enjoyed dinner watching a Simpson's episode (Treehouse of Horror XVII) and an episode of "The Critic". We followed this with an episode of "Monk" and then Danielle departed for the computer while Scott and I watched Psych.

The Weekend

Saturday: After getting up around 8:30 I spent some time continuing the finishing touches on the migration of the old HTPC to the new one which I had moved into the entertainment system cabinet last weekend. iTunes was not recognizing anything except the few songs I had purchased. Post thinking and troubleshooting about this the answer turned out to be somewhat easy; on the old HTCP my external drive was drive E: and on the new it had gotten mapped at J: because for some reason the card read slots were taking the first four drive letters. I had to disable both USB disk devices and then trial and error fashion re-enable the one the drive was plugged into. After doing that changing it to drive E: was easy, iTunes came up and all my songs were accessible. I re-enabled the other USB device and the card reader slots mapped above them.

Danielle arose around 10:30 and after a good morning headed downstairs, I rode the exercise bike around 11 and after I had finished up Scott had wakened and we headed out for some errands. We stopped at Costco first for some items. I had to wait when I finally got to the register as they were changing tape. "Good News!" exclaimed the cashier brightly, "You get to be first on a new roll! Isn't that great!" The person next to him who boxes your purchase looked at this guy askance as if to say "What planet is this gut from", and I brightly interjected "Oh my god, something must seriously be wrong with me, you know because here is this great thing, like, first with new register tape, and for some reason I find myself unable to drum up even mediocre interest!" This set the boxing dude into much laughter along with patrons and the supervisor who were within earshot. As I was handed the receipt I muttered pseudo sotto voce "I can't want to get home and put this in my memories box! This is truly a day to remember!!" which caused a fresh burst of laughter.

We zipped over to GameStop because after I had sold a couple of xBox 360 games to a coworker a bit back I had told Scott we would get a game we both liked, but, nothing suited both our interests. I had promised them Wendy's for lunch but I guess the mild weather brought out the bad parent in me and I asked if they'd still like that or going into Coldstone next door. They picked the latter and they each gave me a taste of their 'lunch'.

At this point Scott was awake enough to drive and with him at the helm we headed out to Best Buy to look for a good wireless mouse as the performance on my current one was lacking. I found something suitable there, paid, and since I had to go through the ATM machine for some cash, I drove and after procuring additional fluid assets we headed off on the next mission looking for a rental game for the Wii Scott wanted. I 'did Scott a solid' as I told him and backed into a space at Family video because his weak spot is still parking lots. He remarked there was nothing 'solid' about this....

No Soap at Family Video for the rental but down the hill at Hollywood video we obtained the game using a free rental I had from a previously defective rental DVD. Back at home I ran the cabling from the HTPC to the Onkyo receiver; the old hookup was an optical audio cable and a DVI to HDMI from the HTPC to the Onkyo. The new setup would be a single HDMI to HDMI with both HD audio and video. Once I got this working I marveled how things sounded much better and with one less cable across the floor. (Not that you'd notice on the right side of the plasma display with the mega bundle of cabling from that device and the xBox 360!)

Scott and I then watched a Scrubs, I played around some more on the HTPC. Scott headed out for a bike ride, and a bit later figuring Danielle had been on-line long enough I took her with me to Forest Hills Foods for some shopping and a refill on the propane tank for the grill, because this weekend I, like cooking legend Biker Billy, planned to Cook With Fire!

For dinner, I made pasta. For Scott, the usual pasta with marinara sauce. For Danielle and I, I oven roasted fresh broccoli, mushrooms, and garlic cloves in some olive oil and tossed that with pasta, olive oil, a bit of 2% milk and some grated Romano cheese. It was awesome!!

Thanks to the patience of my friend Brian, who had loaned me Meet the Robinsons weeks ago, Danielle, Scott, and I watched that and found it incredibly funny, in fact downright hilarious. It's now on my list of DVD's to pickup.

The kids have off next week and had Friday off too, so, I let Danielle stay up until midnight, and Scott until 1AM, I headed to bed around 12:30AM.


Sunday: ANOTHER GORGEOUS DAY! Blue sky and sunny, around 9AM I headed down to Forest Hills food to see what types of family packs int he beef variety they would offer, I snagged a five pack of New York strips for just under $20 and shucked four ears of corn on the cob to have with dinner. The remainder of the morning passed in exercise bike riding, computer puttering, and getting myself and the house cleaned up a bit. I also made a nice spicy (using Red Monkey seasoning) turkey bacon rollup with lettuce and tomato on a Flat Out flat bread.

At 12:30 PM there was a knock at the door; Emma had arrived. As Scott was not up yet I sent her in to wake him, she was trailed by Tails who wanted to join in. After Scott was up and the two of them got some food together (Scott made himself Ramon noodles and Emma some rice balls wrapped in seaweed) we sat down to watch Hot Fuzz off of HD-DVD; Danielle decided to stay on the computer (what a surprise). Scott and I remarked afterward that the movie was even better the second time around and Emma enjoyed it too. After the movie I went back to playing around on the computer and Scott and Emma headed for the family room. Emma left around 5:30 and I fired up the grill after putting a pot of water on the boil for the corn on the cob. By 6 PM we were eating perfectly grilled NY Strip steaks, all of them seasons with Montreal rub and mine also had Red Monkey Barbecue Spice rub. Danielle and I each had an ear of corn on the cob; Scott had two. We all remarked it was a most delicious dinner.

After dinner the rest of the evening was spent on computers and watching TV, by myself, and on and off with the kids.