NicholasYax.com

I keep saying I am going to update my blog more, and I keep failing.  The problem is I keep having good news coming that I wait for to post, but it just gets more and more delayed and then never comes.  Well, it is February 28th, and I want to get a post out before the month ends, so when the good news does come it will just need to get its own post.

Regular visitors to my blog (are there regular visitors to my blog?  I don’t think there actually are, as you all just read this via the Facebook feed.  It is at nicholasyax.com, in case you didn’t know) may note that I no longer show posts on the front page.  I turned it into a static page with some links to my resume and such, in hopes of having a place to direct prospective employers to some of my school projects.  You can just click the “Blog” link up top though to see all 586 posts, and growing.

Since we are kind of on the topic of blog statistics, I am just 333 visitors from crossing 20,000 in the blog’s nearly 7 years.  I also just passed over the 170,000 word mark.  Not too shabby.  Of course, if I followed my original “every third day” schedule, I would be at nearly 850 posts come the blogversary in May, not the mere 590 − 600 I will likely reach.  Oh well, such is life.

So, important events from February…

Jenn and I got to spend Valentine’s Day together, and went to The Blue Cow for dinner.  I had lamb chops for the first time, and they were pretty good.  She bought me a backpack (a hiking backpack, which I hope to use this summer) and I got her a scrap-booking bag.

We went to the Grand Rapids Boat Show which was pretty fun.  I particularly enjoyed the old wooden boats over the new ones.  There was also a wake boarding demo put on by the folks building the new waterpark in Allendale.

Jenn’s parents came in this week, for the first time in almost a year.  We went to Schuberg’s, did a bit of shopping, they got a hotel, had breakfast the next morning, a bit more shopping, and they were on their way.

I have been doing some genealogy lately, and doing rather well.  I have followed three of my grandparent’s lines back to about 1700, but my Grandpa Don I can’t even get to his parents.  I will need to try and get whatever I can from my Mom and see if I can find any little hints.  I know others have tried before me and got pretty much the same, but there is more info going online all the time, and there must be something new out there we are missing.

And I think that covers it for February.  I am right around 500 words, so good enough for now, I say.  Will report back by March 31, or when I get good news, whichever comes first.

I have been stalling on posting because I hopefully have some big news.  I am being a little superstitious about it even though most people know about it by now.

Anyway, I did feel that some update should be made, before I let the entire month of June slip by with no post at all.

Our camping trip went well.  We went up to Garland for our tasting for the wedding, stayed in Alpena at a hotel, Jenn did the fitting for her wedding dress, then we went to Clear Lake State Park for 2 nights.

On the way up I first got word of my possible good news, and on the way home I had the first bit of confirmation.  Now just to wait for more confirmation.

Jon came in Saturday morning and we went tubing, had dinner at Schuberg’s, and went to the gate for a while.  He headed back home Sunday just before noon.  Todd is supposed to be coming in late next week for a short stay to go to the county fair and check out the demo derby and figure 8.

OK, hopefully more info soon.  Next post should be less vague and confusing.

So, Today marks six years since I started the blog. The future, though, is a little uncertain. With Facebook and Picasa, low visitor count, and my complete loss of habit of posting here, I question the reasons for continuing the blog. I’m not saying I am quitting, just that it is in the back of my mind. At the minimum, there will be a rather major redesign. This would include more obvious links to other places you can get info, like my twitter feed, picasa updates, and facebook page.

Moving on, I still have no job.  Still looking, but really not even much to apply to.  Hopefully some company opens up a lot of jobs soon.

I’ve been reading some books on backpacking and it’s getting me excited.  I want to try it, perhaps this summer, but need money to be able to do it.

Thats all for now.  Will try and be a little more regular since I have nothing else to do until I am working.

nick

So, first up is another weekend trip.  Jenn and I wanted to go somewhere Friday night and decided on north.  We packed up and headed out around 7:30, and by 10:30 were in St. Ignace.  Saturday morning we started at the casino and with our $40 in free tokens ($10 each for joining players club, 1 each for staying at a hotel in St Ignace, and 2 for Jenn for birthday in June) we won $31 in cash.  Next was breakfast that took a while to find, but ended up being at King’s Fish Market in Moran.  The food was very good, and the smoked fish was very tempting, but we knew we had a while till we headed home and thought it best to wait.  We continued further north to Paradise where we stopped at a roadside park to get a look at Lake Superior.  next we turned west to Taquaminon Falls.  We checked out the falls, took lots of pictures, and had a stop at the brewery on site.

Our next destination was Sault Ste Marie.  We looked at taking a ferry through the locks, but the price was a bit high.  We also considered the museum ship but it too was pricy.  So, we went downtown and headed into the locks viewing area.  As there were no ships at the time, we headed across the street for dinner at Goetz Lockview Restaurant, which included the best and probably freshest whitefish I have ever eaten.  Following dinner we went back across to the locks and watched as a ship began to enter.  Unfortunately, this is a very slow process, and as jenn is impatient, out time came up and we ventured on.

Next stop: Canada.  We crossed the International Bridge and once across the border headed to the visitor center.  Here, I did something really funny, but that I feel I should not mention.  We then went to a Canadian Tim Horton’s (the most canadian thing in the US, in Canada) then to the Duty Free Shop, and back to the US.  On our way to St Ignace, Jenn’s parents called to see if they could meet up with us, so we returned to the casino to see them for a while.

Following the casino again, we went to see if we could find some smoked fish and pasties, but everywhere was closed.  We stopped off to look at the Mackinac Bridge, then returned to the hotel for the evening and ordered a pizza.

Sunday, we headed out early and got some pasties.  We then crossed the bridge and in Mackinac City we ate our pasties, then bought more and some smoked fish.  We did a little more shopping and then headed toward Big Rapids.

On the way home, we passed some of these, which we had seen Friday on the way up.  We think they are pretty cool.  We then went to Cadillac and had dinner at Pizza Hut Bistro, then, finally, home.

So, The rest of the week, so far, has just been work.  Except today…

Back on Friday we sent out some glass samples to a PPG facility in Troy for testing.  This morning, we received an email that they had broken in shipping.  Due to the need to get new samples there quickly and to avoid more breakage, Dvid (Engineering Manager) asked me to drive them there.  Yes, from Evart to Troy, 3 hours each way.  Alright, why not.  Three hors down, here you go, 10 minutes, and 3 hours back.  I did stop and see my mom and brother quickly, since I went through Bay City, but that was like 5 minutes each, and those were my ONLY breaks.

So, today, between the trip for work, and actually driving to and from work, I drove 400 miles.  Plus, the miles we put on Friday – Sunday, plus the 50 miles I drive every day, comes to probably over 1000 miles this week.

OK, thats all.  I need to sit around and not move for a while longer.

nick

Oh, pictures of the weekend are up.

So, the prize I promised is… nicholasyax.com.  atomicow.org will continue to work until is expires on October 07, 2008.  I realized mostly that atomicow says nothing about me, and my actually name says alot about me, so why not.  At some point in the next 4 months you should change the link you have saved, though for right now going to nicholasyax.com actually redirects you atomicow.org.  I should have that changed in the next few days or so.  I will also start to push the point more in about August, possibly with JavaScript popups to those that go to the old address (if I can figure out how).

At work, I am starting to figure out what I am doing.  Working with Quality department for now, doing capability studies on gages and processes as needed, and starting on some process documentation.  Has been going smooth so far, though it’s hard not having a computer yet to do work yet.

On Saturday, Jenn and I went to Grand Rapids for some shopping.  I needed some shirts for work, and we felt like some non-Big Rapids dining.  We went to the chinese buffet that was so good last time, but this time was a little more disappointing.  I did get 5 new shirts though.

Jenn and I went fishing Sunday and I actually managed to hook something.  Unfortunatley, I did not hook it very well and it got off.  Fish nibbled a few more times, but I never managed to bring anything in.  Will try again next weekend likely.  There is actually talk of me meeting my Dad in Clare as Jenn will be working all weekend and he will be at my Grandma’s trailer in Gladwin.

Apple started their Back-To-School promotion today, and since they hate me, are giving away a free 8GB iPod touch to students with a computer purchase, or $299 off any iPod.  Oh well.

OK, that is pretty good for now.  Later…

nick