My Almost-daily Journal

Baby #2 On the Way!

2007-08-17T03:08:00.000-04:00

We just pulled into Beaumont Hospital! Baby #2 is on the way! We were
pushing our luck... Contractions only two minutes apart. We didn't want to
get sent back home this time.
----------------
Dino Filias
Sent via Blackberry

WoW! It's Been a While

2007-01-02T12:52:00.000-05:00

WoW! Or should I say World of Warcraft? Ha ha. It certainly has been a while since I've blogged. My goal is to keep this updated at least once a week for starters. Perhaps it may go down to once a month... not sure.

Stay tuned for more nonesense that's really only important to me. Ha ha.

The Decoma Goose

2006-04-06T20:15:00.000-04:00

It was pretty exciting to see the Decoma goose with five eggs in her clutch on 4/3/06. Even on 4/4/06, she was there, keeping her eggs warm. That's the day I told the building manager to make sure nobody bothers her and to keep an I on her. Little did I know he was a goose Nazi, and hates all things living. He made comments like, "Those eggs need to be destroyed so they don't come back", and "they are nothing but a nuisance...". On 4/5/06 there were four eggs in her clutch. Maybe a weasel, racoon, or mountain lion wanted an omelette. Who knows? Guess what? On 4/6/06 there were NO eggs in her nest. None. Can you believe that shit? Amazing too that the dirt where she was roosting was convenientyly manicured and cultivated. The only thing that I saw on the morning of 4/6/06 were two grieving geese, walking around the parking lot looking for their eggs.

I decided to pay a visit to the Michigan DNR webpage. This is what the DNR says about goose eggs.

Egg-Shaking and Replacement: Egg shaking and replacement could prove to be a useful tool for controlling goose numbers in urban areas. Once an active nest is located, the defending parents must be chased off and the eggs vigorously shaken. This will stop the development of the embryo, and the eggs will not hatch. The alternative egg technique is to remove eggs and replace them with artificial eggs of the same size. Simply removing or destroying eggs will not control goose populations because the geese will often lay a new clutch of eggs. Both egg control methods are currently experimental and require a special permit provided by the FWS and the DNR.

Legal Status

Canada geese are an important natural resource and are federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. They can be legally hunted during the hunting seasons with the proper licenses. The frightening and repellants described in this brochure are methods sanctioned by the DNR. Throwing firecrackers or chasing geese with any motorized device (on land or water) are NOT authorized scare methods. Killing geese outside of the established hunting season and disturbing nests with goose eggs present can be done only under special permit, which can be applied for only when other techniques have been unsuccessful.

Southeastern Management Unit
(Genesee, Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair and Wayne counties)
734-953-0241

I'm not a tree-hugging liberal. But to destroy goose eggs is a heinous act. I am almost to the point of filing a poaching case officially with the DNR. But I did not. I need more proof, the supervisor from the law division, Tim Payne, told me. Right now, I'm so furious, I just want to punch the mother f'er that destroyed those eggs right in the nuts.

Here's the videos of the goose on 4/3/06:
http://dinofilias.com/cgi-bin/album/album.pl?album=11dino/2006/04/2006_040306

Update to My SSN Rant

2006-03-13T20:01:00.000-05:00

Knowing how a lack of SSN for Angelina ruined my weekend, Danielle took it upon herself to resolve this issue to prevent filing an extension. Boy she works fast!

It looks like the half-wits aren't the ones at St. John's Hospital, but at the Social Security Administration. So instead of updating/deleting my post below, I'll just take a big spoonful or crow, and eat my words. St. John's Hospital had nothing to do with a five month wait for Angelina's SSN (perhaps). It's probably the half-wits at the Social Security Administration.

Danielle went to Secratary of State to see what she needs to do to get Angelina's SSN. Well, a number was issued... we just didn't get the card. A birth certificate (and the fact that Danielle brought Angelina with her) wasn't enough. They wanted to see the placenta. Not really, but they needed a hospital bill or some other proof of birth. Can you believe that? Lesson learned: save the placenta and bring that.

So Danielle came back, presented a hospital bill, and they were able to tell her Angelina's SSN. Good for me, since I was able to submit my taxes tonight. One down, two to go. I still have to do both of our parents' tax returns. I love tax season.

The Halfwits of St. John's Hospital

2006-03-12T23:12:00.000-05:00

Typically, per IRS.gov, it takes two weeks to get a social security number from the Social Security Administration.

Let's see... Angelina was born on October 9, 2005. We put our faith in the mentally-handicapped halfwits that work at St. John's Hospital administration department, to process that elementary task.

It's March 12, 2006, and I don't have a social security number for Angelina. What does that mean to me? Well, it means that I can't complete my mother f'ing taxes until I get a social security number for her. Do you think that I'll get one by mid-April? It's highly doubtful.

I spent all f'ing weekend finishing up my taxes, and now I'm stalled waiting for a mother f'ing social security number.

My problem: if people did the job they're supposed to do when they're supposed to do it, I wouldn't have problems.

Now I'm going to have to file an extension. In the meantime, I want to personally talk to the retard at St. John's that handles processing social security applications. Then, get them fired, and replace them with a half-retarded chimpanze. I can't wait.

Google Toolbar Beta

2006-02-12T23:17:00.000-05:00

Google Toolbar Beta

Google continues to astonish me. The latest google toolbar is a work of utilitarian art!

Oh Boy!

2006-02-10T11:23:00.000-05:00

These are exciting times! I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend: wiring up the living room, which means coax jack, surround jacks (need to wire up into attic), and a network line. Didn't plan on it, but it's better to come sooner than later.

Dino Filias ,
Your Plasma Display order was shipped via AIT Freight. AIT Freight
specializes in shipping larger items. You will receive your product(s) in
2-4 business days.

Oh boy!

Finally Bit the Bullet

2006-02-07T16:26:00.000-05:00

We're finally making some progress on the living room home theather system. We're slowly chiseling that project away, piece by piece, day by day.

Last month we finally made a decision on the TV stand/stereo rack. That was a major milestone. It looks fabulous, by the way! Here's a pic of the stand:

My main concern was an area that will hold my tall Yamaha receiver, as well as a shelf that could accomodate a center channel speaker. I am very happy with our decision to go with the BDI Deploy 9639 stand. Danielle was hoping for something more Amish, but I had a hard time envisioning a modern plasma display sitting on an heirloom relic dresser from the colonial days.

Yesterday, I picked up a Definitive C/L/R 2300 center channel speaker from Pecars. They let me borrow it to see how it fits. It's sitting nicely on the middle rack:

Here's some of the detailed specs on this bad boy:

-Recommended Amplifier Power: 20 - 250 watts
-Nominal Impedance: 4 - 8 ohms
-Tweeter: 1" pure aluminum dome tweeter
-Midrange: two cast-basket 5 1/4" upper-bass/midranges in D'Appolito arrays
-8" subwoofer
-Built-in sub amp: 150 watts RMS
-Frequency Response: 22Hz - 30kHz
-Non-resonant monocoque cabinet
-Magnetic Shielding: both metal shield and dual field canceling magnets
-Auto On/Off: Signal sensing
-Linkwitz-Riley crossover networks
-Wide dispersion pure aluminum dome tweeters with magnetic fluid cooling
-Diffractionless grill/baffle interface
-Full-range quality and linear response
-Dolby Digital AC-3 ready
-27 lbs.
-19.5" x 12" x 5.8"

The speaker not only is a piece of jewelry, it sounds crisper, cleaner, more separated, and deeper than some floor-standing speakers I've listened to. This thing has an amp and a subwoofer built-in! This means I can run that speaker in "large" mode in the receiver setup. I can't wait to fire up Saving Private Ryan in DTS and the Matrix. I'm gonna shake the house off the foundation.

I'm still on the fence on the front speakers. The Klipch monstrosities are in the living room now, but those are not going to grow too long of roots. I got congressional approval to get nicer speakers. I'm currently considering the Definitive BP-10B's or quite possibly the BP-7001's (same as BP-10B's but with built in 10" woofer + 300 W amp). There's also some dude selling a set of BP-2004 TL's on ebay, which is a similar set, but two model numbers older. Here's what those jewels will look like:

Still, it's a tough decision, considering all the key considerations: price, sound, and aesthetics. Sound and aesthetics are a no-brainer. Price? Well, that's a whole other story. Decisions decisions...

Drumroll please....

And finally, the biggest milestone of today is that I finally make a plasma purchase! Yes, I bit the bullet! But wait... I bit the bullet back in October, when I ordered a 42" direct from Panasonic. And it's now February, and still no plasma!

After months and months of research, flip flopping back and forth between Pioneer, Panasonic, and Samsung, the decision is made. When I first saw the Pioneer Elite in AV Systems in Rochester, I fell in love with it. It was considered a "monitor" plasma, meaning that it basically was just a plasma display-- no tuner, no speakers, no nothing! Just a display. That thing looked sharp! It came with a Pioneer media box, that is nothing more than a box with a stereo component form factor that gave you all the inputs, tuners, and things the plasma needed to be functional, without sacarificing real estate ON the plasma. Only problem, the 50" model cost over $6500. That was my benchmark.

Every plasma I liked had attached speakers on the bottom or sides, or was silver, or had a huge bezel... compromises compromises. I have digital cable, so I could care less for a built in HD tuner. I have a high end stereo system, so I don't need built in speakers. There was just not a consumer-level plasma TV that suited my minimalist needs. Then I decided to step up the research. I jumped on all the reviews ever written on the internet, and stumbled across CNET.com. I should've checked there first. You want to know what CNET's biggest recommendation is, hands down, for the best plasma display? It's a commercial-level plasma monitor made by Panasonic: the TH-50PHD8UK. All you get is a plasma display... no stand, no tuner, no extras. Eureka! Best picture? Yes! I'm sold (I'm sure they didn't review the $12,000 plasmas sold by Runco... they use NEC displays). The plasma monitor comes with three expansion slots on the back that accept a variety of input/output boards. It comes with two: component video board and a computer VGA board. I have to buy the HDMI board as well as a stand. Still, the total overall cost is at least $1000 less than if I bought a comprable consumer-level TV (such as the Panasonic 50PX500U) with speakers, stand, tuner, etc. I bit the bullet and actually ordered this sucker from an online reseller called monitoroutlet.com. Shipping is free, and they deliver to your door, instead of the curb. Believe me, I did research, and I couldn't find one negative thing about this company. I'm basically preordering since the company is out of stock, but they expect the plasmas to arrive in one to two weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one. Last time I ordered a Panasonic, I waited two months before cancelling my order. So here's the beauty that's on its way:

I also went ahead and order HD from Comcast, as well as their Motorola DVR. I'm eager as hell to set all of this up.

Finally, last thing is going to be wiring speaker wire up through attic and get surround sound speakers installed. I'm not looking forward to that, but crucial to my home theater. Got my eye on the Definitive BPX surrounds.

I'm sure more posts will follow as I'm tracking my TV shipment, which, since there are so many backorders on this thing, I'm a little worried. Prepare for some rants in the next couple weeks.

Pirhana Brothers Rants

2006-02-06T08:08:00.000-05:00

Pirhana Brothers Rants

Stumbled across these rants on a World of Warcraft site. I thought they were entertaining enough to share.

Crazy Physical Phenomenon

2006-01-31T14:13:00.000-05:00

Can you explain this?

Top Ten Geek Lists...

2006-01-31T09:56:00.000-05:00

Not sure where I found these, but they're so apropos:

Ten reasons it isn't always easy being married to a Geek

Top ten reasons Geeks make good fathers

Ten reasons why Geeks make good friends

The Do�s and Don�ts of Dating Geeks

I must be a hybrid geek, because on the first link, it assumes that geeks can't fix/repair automobiles. The only auto repair I haven't done is rebuild an automatic trans.

The lists are pretty easy reads.

Home Theater Update

2006-01-28T16:14:00.000-05:00

Finally, we're making some progress on our new living room home theater. When I was living in bachelorhood, the living room was pretty much an unused room. Josh had some furniture in there, but it was mainly because it was the only place to put it. We spent most of our time in the basement, which included the home theater as well as the computer room. After Josh moved out, and after I married Danielle, the computer room was moved to Josh's old bedroom, and the basement home theater was temporarily retired.

Right before Angelina was born, we gutted our kitchen, and purchased a new sectional for the living room. The house now started taking the shape of a home.

It takes us a long time to make decisions in this democratic household of indecision. A few months of window-shopping later, we finally agreed on some floor lamps. They look marvelous.

Now to the home theater... we finally decided on a plasma after almost six months of research. We decided on a Panasonic 42X500U, which was Panasonic's flagship 42" plasma. I pulled the trigger in October, utilizing the Ford Employee Network discount given by Panasonic to Ford employees. Shhhh... I'm not a Ford employee, but luck has it, I have a CDS ID since I'm a supplier to Ford, and it worked on Panasonic's Ford employee discount site. January has come and gone, and still no word from Panasonic. After calling them (and waiting 45 minutes on hold), they told me that they're so backordered on the 42" 500U, I'll probably never see it. The rep recommended that I just cancel my order and take my business elsewhere. That sure left a nasty taste in my mouth.

The delay in a plasma purchase may have been a good thing. Danielle is now finally convinced that we'll probably be better off with a 50" plasma. You don't have to twist my arm with that opinion... "Umm... 50 inch plasma? Yeah, I think I can make that work." So now I'm on the lookout for a 50" plasma.

I WANT a Pioneer Elite 50" plasma. That's probably the best plasma money can buy right now. Unfortunately, a 50" Pioneer Elite costs about $6500. The next best thing is a Panasonic 50PX500U or a Samsung 5072. Well, the Panasonic 500U is plagued by the same Panasonic supply issue: there are none... anywhere. Coincidentally, I did manage to find a 42X500U at ABD warehouse, but we're now in the 50" market. The Samsung 5072 is available from several places... one of them is Pecars, which is a high-end home theater boutique in Troy.

The Samsung looks better, since it's all black. The Panasonic has a silver bezel. What are plasma manufacturers thinking? Who wants a nasty silver bezel? Pioneer did it right. The bezel is tiny, and it's gloss black. It's beautiful. Samsung almost got it right... the bezel is almost non-existent, and the entire TV body is black.

I'd pull the trigger today if I could, but I'm indecisive, and I've been researching that TV non-stop. I've discovered that many people share the same decision: either a Panasonic 50PX500U or the Samsung 5072. What I've been reading is that the Samsung excels when rendering a high definition digital signal, but when you run a standard broadcast signal through it, the picture is "fair". Ouch. It's going to be a tough sell because Danielle watches plenty of day time and prime time television. Last thing I ever want to hear is, "This TV sucks!" So I'm back to research mode again. Maybe if we wait long enough, OLED TV's will be out.

We also recently purchased our TV and stereo component stand. That also took months of research. They don't make too many TV stands with center channel speakers in mind. The one I have is 22" long and 7.5" high. Most stands made either weren't high enough for the speaker, or not wide enough. We ended up with a stand made by BDI, and it looks marvelous.

As far as my old Klipsch speakers go, I got the executive nod that I can get newer and more stylish speakers for living room. Yippeee! I have the Definitive Technology Mythos speakers in mind. I was thinking about the bipolar ones made by Definitive, but the Mythos are just too damn stylish. I gotta get them!

Aside from home theater decisions and purchases, I've been playing with my new Dragonfly 4 remote control helicopter. I took a digger last week and had to order a new main shaft for it. Total cost was $8, so it wasn't a fatal crash. Got the part yesterday, and I've been flying it all weekend. I'm slowly getting the hang of it, but flying an RC helicopter is very difficult. I still have the training balls on it, and I don't think those will be going away any time soon.

Other than that, Angelina learned how to roll over last week. We were practicing rolling her over on Wednesday, and by Thursday morning she mastered it. Now she won't stay on her back at all. Even when she sleeps now, she has to be on her stomach. It's amazing watching her and realizing that her brain is a total sponge. Everything is brand new to her. She's totally amazing... more fun than RC helicopters and home theater components.

That's all for now. :)

2006-01-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

Holiday Recap

2006-01-03T13:17:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything on my blog. It's a combination of laziness, new parenting responsibilities, as well as lack of time (mainly due to games like World of Warcraft and Civilization 4... yes, I'm an addict).

Our baby girl, Angelina, get older day by day. Everything she sees or does, it's usually for the very first time. Everything is brand new to her. I have a blog dedicated just for her: My Baby Blog. I'm trying to write more often. The link is also a permanent part of this blog listed on the <-- left hand nav bar.

Over the holiday break, I did nothing productive other than install a set of automated running boards on my father-in-law's RAM truck. I planned on painting the kitchen, getting family room carpet, getting living room lamps, ordering my plasma, buying a plasma TV stand, installing Danielle's remote starter on her Pacifica, catching up on much-belated web work (I'm such a procrastinator), cleaning up the basement (boxes and junk need to be pitched), fixing the dryer (I did manage to order some replacement parts), organizing my utility room, organizing my pile of 2005 bills, receipts and tax info, and visiting friends. The big accomplishments were the running board install, dismantling and putting away the Xmas decorations, selecting a type of carpet, buying a pre-lit artificial middle-of-the-road Xmas tree, and mastering three scenarios of world domination in Civilization 4 (I hardly played any World of Warcraft).

This week, Danielle and I need to catch up on most of the neglected items above, mainly cleaning out the basement so we can get our eliptical (so I can start to drop the 50 lbs that I have accumulated in the year after marriage). I really need to get motivated and catch up on my neglected web work. Interesting... as I write this, a web customer is calling me on my cell, probably wondering why the month-old changes haven't been completed. I'm a slacker. Actually, I want to get out of the web business. It's now just an annoyance. I have one "high-needs" customer that needs support almost weekly. I just want to design front ends and layouts. I hate the updating, the webserver support, and the home-office support that usually is associated with my level of service. I'm in too deep, and many customers have been around for almost a decade. I wouldn't even know HOW to migrate them to somebody else. If anybody is interested in buying my customer base, please let me know. I want out.

Oh yeah... I also planned on compiling our wedding videos and start putting together a wedding photo book. That never happened either.

On the brighter side of things, Angelina is now a full-blown human baby. She laughs, smiles, and is starting to get interested in specific things (TV mainly). She's a total joy. She sleeps through the nights, and often times we have been able to "sleep in". She is addicted to her pacifier, though, and she gets into whiney fits if it falls out. That mostly happens in the evening. She's still pretty good about sticking her hand in her mouth if she can't find her pacifier.

And like always, we're taking 100 pictures or more per week, so be sure to visit the photo album... which reminds me... we get to start another album year! Woohoo!

Christmas was great this year! We celebrated the eve with my parents, Peter, Michelle, Gina, and Kyle at my parents' house. Christmas morning was spent exclusively with Angelina, Danielle and I. Then we celebrated Christmas afternoon at our house with Danielle's dad, Rhiannon, and Rob. We cooked up some nice vittles with the help of Honeybaked Ham, including a roasted turkey and all the fixings. Pretty darn good turkey too!

New Years Eve was celebrated at Pete and Dre Gulisano's house with the usual crew, and special guests Peter & Michelle, and Jon & Dawn. It was a great time, though I did get a bad spell of vertigo (i.e. motion sickness) playing 4-player Call of Duty on Pete's new Xbox 360. Graphics were phenomenal.

Then, I thought that I had to go to work on the 2nd, until Danielle reminded me that I didn't have to go to work until the 3rd! That was a nice treat that occurs maybe once every few years (i.e. you wake up to go to work, and realize it's Saturday).

Quarterbounce - World's Best

2005-11-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

If there's one junk mail video you need to watch this year, this is it!

Watch the whole thing. It starts off mundance, but it grows to insanity.

http://www.break.com/articles/quarters.html

Sign in to Google Base

2005-11-16T16:56:00.000-05:00

Hmm. Google Base. Looks interesting. Uses are limitless. Some examples:

1) Description of your party planning service
2) Articles on current events from your website
3) Listing of your used car for sale
4) Database of protein structures

Sign in to Google Base

I'm sure that the first people in line to take advantage of this will be:

1) Porn industry
2) Consumer products industry

I wonder what this will do to Google rankings in natural listings for websites that don't embrace/exploit this new Google feature?

Google Blog Search

2005-11-16T16:40:00.000-05:00

The Google Blog Search that I attached to this blog sucks and doesn't work. Can't wait to remove it and republish. Nasty.

It's a Girl! (Scanned @ Decoma)

2005-10-09T22:02:00.000-04:00

Angelina Candace Filias, born 10/9/05, 19:44, 8 lbs 5 oz!
----------------
Dino Filias
Sent via Blackberry

The Home Stretch (Scanned @ Decoma)

2005-10-09T17:15:00.000-04:00

We're in the home stretch now. We were finally admitted into the hospital
after the contractions wouldn't stop. We came by on Thursday night, and
were sent home. We came by Sunday around midnight, and after a few more
dilation laps around the nursery, they admitted us.

Almost a day later, we're making progress. I'm down in the cafeteria eating
my second meal, exhausted.

Danielle is resting comfortably with an epideral. The epideral came a
little too late after Danielle had to sit through midieval torture. The
pain was so bad, she was speaking in tongues I did not understand. I almost
called an exorcist. Remember the movie Braveheart, where at the end Mel
Gibson was getting disemboweled? The pain he felt was just a commercial of
what Danielle had to sustain. And it kept coming, every three minutes. I
have a new-found respect for her and all women. Childbirth is midieval.

More info to follow!
----------------
Dino Filias
Sent via Blackberry

Back We Go! (Scanned @ Decoma)

2005-10-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

Back to the hospital we go after two days of 5-minute contractions.
----------------
Dino Filias
Sent via Blackberry

Back Home

2005-10-07T16:02:00.000-04:00

We're back home. Apparantly, the "one minute contractions, five minutes apart" rule doesn't apply to us. For us it's, "please come to the hospital when the baby's head is sticking out".

Guess The Corp Don't Get Theirs (Scanned @ Decoma)

2005-10-07T06:08:00.000-04:00

Contractions still frequent. Not strong enough to take up a precious room,
though. They sent us home to endure labor at our leisure. More to follow,
obviously.
----------------
Dino Filias
Sent via Blackberry

Hospital-Bound

2005-10-07T02:04:00.000-04:00

Finally, we're off to the hospital. But for some weird reason, Danielle still "has some things to do" before we leave. Her contractions are now three to four minutes apart, and they are pretty intense. My wits are now at the point that I'm worried about getting to the hospital in time. I know labor takes a long time, but this is our first, so I have no idea if contraction frequency accelerates, or if it stays linear. Last thing I want to do this morning is deliver a baby Filias in the back of my Grand Cherokee. It sounds cool, and I'm sure it would be something cool to talk about around the campfire, but I don't think I'm ready for that kinda drama in my life right now.

I just hope I remember how to get to the hospital.

High Alert!

2005-10-07T01:30:00.000-04:00

We're on high alert! Ready to leave for the hospital! These are exciting times!

More and More!

2005-10-07T00:48:00.000-04:00

They keep stacking and growing with intensity! We're going to wait it out. No sense in being couped up in a hospital. Danielle says she ain't leavin' until after midnight. We'll see.

Contraction timing continued:

10:44 PM
10:49 PM
10:55 PM
11:01 PM
11:06 PM
11:11 PM
11:18 PM
11:23 PM
11:29 PM
11:35 PM
11:40 PM
11:47 PM (Bad one)
11:53 PM
11:58 PM (Mild)
Danielle decides to take a shower... let's she if she makes it out before the next one starts.
12:02 AM (Mild) Nope. She missed her window.
12:07 AM
12:11 AM
12:14 AM
12:19 AM
12:24 AM
12:30 AM
12:37 AM
12:42 AM
12:47 AM (Intense)

Getting pretty darn regular now.

I think we're trying to beat the record on "when" to leave for the hospital. We're shooting for two minutes in between contractions, I think.

Baby is on its way!!