Introducing James III

 
Introducing James III


Our son James III was born September 12, 2008 at 9:08AM CT. He weighed 5 lbs., 8 oz. and was 18 3/4″ long. Other than the fact he physically resembles his big sister, he is completely different than she was when she was born. James is very very quiet. He does not cry much and he doesn’t get upset easily. Abriana always wanted her chupon (pacifier), but James refuses to use one — he is content using the back of his hand.

Cynthia was checked into the hospital the prior evening. In the morning, I dropped Abriana off at day care, got stuck in traffic, then arrived at the hospital around 8:30ish AM. After I arrived, the nurse administered some medicine for pain relief in her I. V. and a shot to her hip. The nurse told us that this would put Cynthia to sleep. Cynthia told me to go get breakfast, but I figured it would be best for me to wait until she fell asleep. I’m glad I did, because James wasn’t going to wait. Cynthia had James about 20 minutes later before the pain medicine took effect and before she had the option of an epidural.

 

Abriana on 2008 Presidential Elections


Abriana sits in disbelief as she listens to our Presidential candidates.

I finally made the switch

After many years of dedication to the PC, I’ve finally made the switch. I am now a full fledge Mac user. I’ve given my old laptop to my wife, and now I use a little MacBook. It’s packed w/4GB memory and a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. This thing weighs less than half of my old laptop and is about 4 times more powerful.

I initially purchased the the mac as a light-weight, cost effective laptop for going back to school, but after owning it for just a couple days, I knew that I no longer needed any other computers. I should have made the switch a long time ago.

I’ve loaded VMWare, so I can run my old licensed version of Windows XP, Red Hat Fedora, and Ubuntu all simultaneously with Mac OSX. It’s awesome!!!

My art collection

Last year, when visiting Ohio, I stopped at Vancura Gallery of Fine Art located in Middlefield. There I fell in love with paintings by James Christensen. I purchased “Hold to the Rod, The Iron Rod.” This was the start of my fascination with art and the beginning of my collection of limited edition art giclees (prints).


“Hold to the Rod, the Iron Rod” by James Christensen

After many nights scouring the web for other art that I would find interesting, mainly trying to determine what my style is, I came across works by the artist Kim Wiggins. I purchased “Song of the Valle Vidale” at a local fine art gallery outside of San Antonio and “Sonoma Vinyards” from a seller on ebay.

“Song of the Valle Vidale” by Kim Wiggins


“Sonoma Vinyards” by Kim Wiggings

It turns out that talent runs in the family. I discovered paintings by James Christensen’s daughters, Emily McPhie and Cassandra Christensen Barney. I’ve purchased “One if by Land” by Emily McPhie and am anxiously awaiting “Two if by Sea” and “Three if by Air” to be made available. I currently don’t have anything by Cassandra Christensen Barney.


“One if by Land” by Emily McPhie
Cynthia thinks this one is a little “spooky.” From what I understand, many of Emily’s paintings are inspired by her daughter’s dreams.

During my most recent visit to Ohio, I stopped at Vancura Gallery of Fine Art, where it all began. I picked up an additional limited edition print by James Christensen, “The Listener.” Some people have told me it’s a little too loud and a little too “busy.” I can’t disagree with them more. The vivid colors, extreme detail, and wild variety of characters makes this one of my prize possessions.


“The Listener” by James Christensen

As you can see, my collection is rather small right now. As it grows, I will continue to share it with you.

Ohio Trip September 2007

We visited family in Ohio in September of 2007. Here are some photos of the trip.

Abriana and cousins ©2005Abriana and Uncle Mike ©2005Abriana and cousins ©2005

Abriana turns 1!!!

Abrian just had her first birthday. We had her party at the local park the weekend prior to her actual birthday. It was a Backyardigans theme party. Cynthia had a custom “Tasha” outfit made for Abriana to wear at the party.  Tasha is the yellow hippo.

One of Abriana’s B-day presents was her own chair.


GE Adora Dryer E61 Error Code

First GE did not send us our $600 rebate check on the $12K in GE appliances we purchased.  We sent the rebate forms in two envelopes because there were not enough lines on one rebate form for all of the appliances that we purchased.  They claimed that they never received any rebate paperwork from us, and now it’s too late.  Then, mysteriously, GE sent us two letters asking us to purchase an extended warranty on each of the appliances that they don’t know we have since the rebate paper work was the only form we sent in detailing our purchases!

Then our GE Adora electric dryer died with error code E61 on the display panel.  We called the GE answer line.  They could not find any information on what the error meant.  They don’t have all their appliance error codes documented?  They sure were happy to send us out one of their own GE appliance repair technicians for $65 just for showing up.  There were no available appointments, so Cynthia and I had to wait for a week and a half.

I worked from home the day of our appointment and my in-laws were over preparing to host Nelly’s (Cynthia’s youngest sister) graduation party.  I was in my office all day (about 15 feet from the front door).  The GE repair man never showed up.  I called to enquire when he was going to get here since it was far past the 5 hour window for the appointment.  They told me that he was already at my house and no one was home.  There were like 8 people in my house that day!  They said since he was already at my house, they would have to reschedule the appointment for 2 weeks later.  I was extremely upset with them at this point.  

I asked them what recourse I had for a) the dryer failing, b) them not coming to my house while I stayed at home, and c) their service being so awful that they couldn’t send the technician back out (I believe he was one at the right address, but one street over.  It happens all the time) or at least schedule another appointment sometime before I was forced to burn all of our clothing.  Essentially, we have no recourse.  The best they could do is “document our complaint.”   So our complaint has been “documented,” meaning, it’s been sent directly to the bit bucket.

Anyway, we couldn’t wait 2 weeks for a dryer, so I called a local appliance repair technician.  They actually work on the weekends unlike the GE repair technicians.  It was the same $65 fee to show up and tell us what was wrong with our dryer.  It turns out that the E61 error is referring to an incorrect voltage being received by the main power board.  The technician verified that the voltage was correct; therefore, the power board itself was faulty.  No problem, just $360 for the board and $150 more for labor and we’d be up and drying again.  That’s almost a new dryer!  I don’t think so.

I kindly paid him his $65 dollars and escorted him out of the house.  I found the board online for $260 at the GE parts website (part # WE4M331) but you can find it for about $50 cheaper on other sites.  I received it via UPS in about 4 days and replaced it myself (a monkey could do it; it certainly wasn’t worth $150 in labor).
I’ve documented my steps for the Oh-so-mysterious TOP SECRET SQUERREL GE Adora Dryer E61 Error Code:
 

Here is a photo of the dryer displaying the evil E61 error code.  First, First, unplug the dryer from the wall.  Then take rear plastic display cover off by removing 3 screws.  This is a picture from the rear facing forward.   

Next, remove 2 screws holding the top cover on.  Once removed, you will be able to lift off the top of they dryer. 

This is what the inside of the dryer looks like, and that is the bad main power board (looks like something you would expect to see on the inside of a computer).

 

Here’s a picture of the main power board up close.

 

Before I start removing anything, I test the lines to make sure there is no electric current.  If there was, this device would alarm and flash red light.  You can pick one of these up at Home Depot or Lowes for about $12 dollars. 

Now, just pull the ribbon and the other wires off of the main power board.  Don’t worry too much about where to place these after the new board is on, as it’s real hard to get them confused.

 

All the wires are off, no just remove the screw on the upper left corner and the lower right corner and the board comes right out.  Just reverse the steps with the new board and you’re done.

 

After the dryer has been put back together, I plugged it in and tested it out.  It works great!

 

 

  

 

Abriana to be on KENS 5

Abriana has been selected to be the KENS 5 Cutest “Morning Mug” Shot sponsored by IHOP.  You can see her on KENS 5 Eyewitness news on Tuesday, February 20th. 2007 between 7am - 8am CST.  If we can find a way to pull the episode off the Tivo and post it here, we will. I believe this was the photo that was entered:

This photo was taken when she was 2 months old and weighed 10 pounds 7 ounces.

Abriana is 5 months old today

It’s been a while, but here is one of my favorite portraits taken of Abriana earlier today. Thanks Uncle Mike for the sears portrait membership!

©2005©2005©2005

It’s a Girl!!!

Cynthia and I welcomed our first child into the world this past Tuesday, September 19th, 2006 at 3:15 pm. Her name is Abriana Isabel Mullett. She weighed 5 lbs 14 ounces at birth and is 19 1/2 inches in length. For those who do not know, my birthday is also September 19th, so this year I received an extra special birthday gift. We delivered at North Central Baptist Hospital here in San Antonio. I’ve included some photos of the facilities.

We’ve officially lost our DINKhood status and have joined the ranks of parenthood. It is an unbelievably surreal experience. As we were leaving the hospital, I couldn’t help but be amazed that they were actually letting us walk out of there with a baby. They didn’t require a parenthood license or even proof that we are capable enough to take care of goldfish.

Anyway, just like we’ve been warned, our sleep has been limited. That’s the main reason it’s taken a couple days to post these pictures. I’ll do my best to update the site with photos of Abriana as she grows. If you didn’t already know, Cynthia has a website as well that she maintains independent of this one. You can visit it at Cynthia Mullett . com. Sometimes she gets her web site updated before I get mine updated.

©2005©2005©2005

Memorial Day 2006

Cynthia and I went to South Padre Island for our traditional Memorial Day weekend; however, this year we went the weekend after to avoid the crowded beach. We were met by Cynthia’s entire family for fun on the beach and dinner in the evening.

While there, Cynthia and I had an opportunity to relax and unwind by the pool and drink plenty tropical drinks – Cynthia’s being virgin drinks of course. We even went on a dolphin watching trip. The most surprising thing about our little excursion out to the Gulf to see dolphins was the tour bus of people that joined us. It’s not often you see Amish away from their home, but it’s even more rare to see an entire tour bus of them from Ohio all the way down in the southern most tip of Texas on the Gulf.

Before we left, we climbed to the top of the light tower in Port Isabelle. There is a winding staircase on the inside wall of the light tower that takes you all the way up to the “Widow’s walk.” Cynthia almost experienced full muscle failure on the way down while I was strangling the handrail, as I was confident that I was going to plunge to my death. I’m glad we did it, but I have no need to ever do it again.

©2005©2005©2005©2005©2005©2005©2005

We’re expecting a baby!

 
©2005

We haven’t told too many people, but Cynthia and I are expecting our first child this month (only 3 weeks away). We’ve had a friend, Betsy Suckarieh, paint the baby’s room, purchased all the baby furniture, bought a super cow sucking machine, and even had a baby shower. We are expecting a girl and have already named her Abriana Isabel. I will be posting photos soon of the baby shower that Cynthia’s sister hosted in Laredo last month.

 

Home Improvement Update

 
©2005©2005©2005©2005

Several months have passed, and we’ve finally seen a lot of progress on the house. I was able to finish the kitchen and utility room flooring with a great deal of help from Jeremy Carter. We installed about 550 sq. ft. of ceramic tile. Installing tile is extremely difficult and to put it simply; it sucks! I have no idea how people can do it for a living. Only a good friend would help with something so unpleasant. I’ve also included some before, during, and after pictures of the utility room as well.

Our cabinetry has been installed, we still have some trim work and hardware left to install, but it’s looking pretty good. The granite counter top and back splash, and all kitchen appliances are in. The sink has been installed and all the plumbing is done. After 2 years without, we finally have a fully functioning kitchen!

We decided to go with Kraft Maid cabinetry as I have a lot of pride in the town and people in which Kraft Maid is located.

Along the way, our hot water heater gave out and we replaced it
with a tankless water heater. It takes a little longer for the hot water to
reach the faucet, but once it does, the water remains hot for as long as you want it.
This is Cynthia cooking the very first meal in the new kitchen.
Notice the big smile on her face – no more hot plates. Also, you can
see the French doors in the background. We replaced the large
window that was there with glass French doors and placed a bar (left)
where the old door was.
 

In Loving Memory

 
©2005


Winston
Very affectionate, well loved, and very happy.

 

Vacation, December 2005

Cynthia and I spent a week at Holly Lake just reading, sitting in front of the fireplace, and drinking wine. I read two books from the Wess’har Wars series by Karen Traviss and Cynthia made Christmas cards. We played some board games, air hockey, and tried our luck at archery. It was a very relaxing week; perfect to unwind and prepare for our trip to Las Vegas the following week.

The following week we went to Las Vegas. First we stayed with our friends Jeremy & Lisa, and then we checked into the Bellagio . While in Vegas Cynthia and I got massages, ate at fine restaurants, had plenty of room service, and saw a couple shows. We saw Jubilee at Bally’s and Cirque du Soleil’s Ka at the MGM Grand. Jubilee is the traditional Vegas show featuring show girls with the big feathers. Ka is another amazing Cirque du Soleil show of acrobatics, art, music, and technology combined to deliver a sensational evening of entertainment. If you ever make it to Vegas, or ever have an opportunity to catch any Cirque du Soleil shows, I highly suggest it. Last time we were in Vegas we saw Mystere, that too was equally amazing.

©2005©2005

Just checking in

It’s been a while since I’ve last posted. I’ve completed all my obligations for the day and since I will be working from home tomorrow, I don’t have enough time to start a weekend project. So, I’m taking this opportunity to catch everyone up with my life.

Our house renovation is coming along. Cynthia and I just ordered our new tile for the kitchen and utility room floors, new French door for the kitchen, GE appliances, and cabinetry for both our kitchen and our office. I will be installing everything with help from friends Jeremy & Lisa Carter (I hope ;) ).

I noticed that I haven’t posted any photos of the fireplace since I’ve installed the mantle and the trim; I’ll try to get around to posting those photos soon.

Another change; we ditched our Visco-elastic (memory foam) mattress and purchased an ultra-soft latex mattress. I’ll write a more detailed post on it later, until then I thought I would just say a couple things about it. The latex mattress is a thousand times superior to the memory foam mattress. I am sleeping a lot better now, and I am very happy with it. Simply put; memory foam bad… latex good.

Most of my friends already know, but for those of you that don’t, I’ve been working for The Capital Group for the past couple months. I am currently a contract employee representing TEK Systems. If you are in the IT industry, I’m sure you’ve heard of them.

Progress on the fireplace

This past weekend my wife and I finally tiled our fireplace surround. It took 7 hours straight on Saturday to tile it and about the same on Sunday to grout it. My entire body is still aching from this back-breaking labor, and I still cannot clean the black grout stain off my skin and under my nails. Anyway, we used 1×2 mosaics for the top and bottom, and I cut 12×12 tiles down to 3×3 and 3×6 inch pieces to do the platform. For anyone interested, the platform was done in a “windmill” pattern and top and bottom would be considered an “alternating” pattern. We still have to give it one more good cleaning with a light acid wash and then seal it with a stone sealer.

We ordered the mantle cap on Monday, so hopefully we get it a couple weeks before Christmas. Once that is installed, we are going to prime it and the walls, paint, and put up the trim.

©2005©2005

Halloween 2005

This Halloween was a big much-ado about nothing. It rained early in the day and a little in the late afternoon, but it dried up in time for the trick-or-treaters. I was surprised to see how small the turnout was. Cynthia still hung to our tradition of running out to the local pumpkin patch and picking out two pumpkins for us to carve.

©2005©2005

Sealy TrueForm

 
©2005

My wife and I recently purchased a new bed. We have been looking at the TempurPedic mattress for a long time and were convinced it was what we needed. After doing a lot of research and trying out many competitors to the “Swedish Sleep System,” we decided to buy the Sealy Posturepedic Trueform. Sealy’s version of the visco elastic (memory foam) bed is an inch thicker, a little softer, has better constructed box frames, a cashmere velour cover, and is about $400 less expensive than TempurPedic.

We’ve been sleeping on our new bed for about 2 – 3 weeks now, but I still haven’t seen the magic that is promised when sleeping on a memory foam mattress. I still toss and turn, I still can’t get comfortable, the mattress does sleep a little warm, and it feels hard. The foam is supposed to soften with body heat, but it doesn’t feel like it wants to give.

I’m gonna give it another couple weeks or so, then maybe I’ll grow use to it, or I’ll replace it for a good traditional bed. I really did get a good night sleep when I stayed at the Cleveland Airport Sheraton last year. Maybe I should see what mattresses they use in their rooms.

Anyway, like everything else, I’ve posted pictures of our new bed.

 

Did I say third time is the charm?

I meant to say the fourth time is the charm. Yes, I have just received my fourth Treo 600. I am going through one phone every 3 – 4 months. I wanted to just upgrade to the new 650 or the new 700 that will be coming out pretty soon, but because it is under warranty, they won’t let me exchange the phones and pay the difference. So, here I am on my third refurbished phone.

  • My first phone I bought new, and lasted about ten months before the speaker stopped working.
  • The second phone I received was a replacement for my first phone, and it was refurbished. I turned it off when I took a plane from Cleveland to San Antonio. When I arrived home and attempted to turn it back on, it stayed in the boot-up mode and would not turn on, and I couldn’t turn it off either. I had this phone for about 3 ½ months.
  • The third refurbished phone had two orange pixels one morning. Within two weeks the orange pixels grew like a cancer on my screen consuming more and more pixels until the two cancer segments were about to join in the middle. I had this phone for about 3 months.

So, here I am with my fourth Treo 600. Again, wish me luck.

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