So Long, 2009

It's been a crazy year and it's definitely had some big ups and some big downs for DeAnne and I but looking back, there's no way that I can say we weren't blessed this past year. Everything might not have gone exactly how we wanted it to or how we thought it should have gone, but it went just as the Lord intended.

So with all the adventure that 2009 held, you would think that 2010's prospects might seem a little tame. You would be wrong! Already, 2010 promises to be a banner year for this little DuBose family. Personally, I can hardly wait.

Thanks for reading the blog in '09. This post marks #250 for the year. How is that for a nice, round number to finish the year out on? Personally, I really like it.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. War Eagle! See you next year.

--Paul

One Last Christmas Thin

First, in case you're wondering, I'm feeling a little better this morning. I still don't have much of a voice but my throat doesn't hurt and my sinuses are less clogged, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

So with everyone having crazy schedules for the holidays, our Sunday School class had a hard time putting together a Christmas party before Christmas. We ended up having it last night. We met up at David's Catfish and had dinner and then went back to Ben and Mendy's house for cake and "dirty Santa". I ended up with a $10 Wal-Mart gift card and DeAnne got some kind of linen spray something. We also played the customary round of "Catchphrash" and had just an all around good time.

DeAnne spent the day yesterday cleaning up the house and putting some things away. She also took some time to put up pictures from our various family Christmas gatherings. Check the last four posts or so on her blog to see all of the good times.

Have a good Wednesday.

--Paul

You Guessed It

I'm still not feeling well, so once again, I'm blogging instead of working out.

There's not much to talk about though. The college football bowl season is in full swing. I always like to see the SEC teams do well in bowls. It helps make the conference look stronger. The SEC teams always seem to take a lot of flack in the media for the strength of their out of conference schedules so it's nice when bowl season comes around and the SEC schools pound the heck out of the "best" schools of the other conferences. Believe it or not, I'm even pulling for Alabama to win the Rose Bowl. That just gives Auburn the chance to embarrass the defending national champion next year. Kentucky lost their game but Georgia got made up for it last night by beating Texas A&M pretty badly. Hopefully the rest of the SEC bowl games will go just as well as Georgia's did.

So that's about the extent of what I have to talk about today. It doesn't help that I can barely think straight with all this crud in my head. At this point, I've also lost my voice. It happens every time I get sick like this but that still doesn't make it any less annoying. Hopefully I can shake this stuff off and be better by the end of the week. Have a good Tuesday.

--Paul

Feeling Sick

Well, actually I'm not feeling sick, I am sick. By the time Saturday night rolled around my head started getting stopped up and my throat was hurting pretty good. DeAnne's Mom took a look at my throat and said my tonsils weren't inflamed, so I guess it's just sinus drainage, but that doesn't make me feel any better.

So as you probably guess, I'm not working out today. It would be murder on myself to try right now. So I decided I revert back to blogging until I get better. I am going to try and go to work today. I probably don't need to but I don't want to use any more vacation this year.

As for Christmas, we had a great one this year. We got a good bit of cash, a couple of gift cards and a load of the usual clothes, ornaments, and for me, games. I ended up with three games: Red Faction: Guerrilla, Army of Two and Dragon Age: Origins. I also got another controller for the xbox. The second controller I've had had something happen to it where the right joystick is stuck in a "up" position and since most games use that stick to control the camera, you just end up looking at the floor if you try and use it. So it was nice to get another controller. DeAnne also got me some Wii points so that I could download some new games from Nintendo. I downloaded Tetris and I've got enough points left for something else, I'm just not sure what I want to get.

It was also really good to get to see my cousin David on Saturday. He's been working as a missionary out of Florida for the past couple of years and this year he was able to arrange it so that he could be at my Grandmother's house for Christmas. We got to catch up and DeAnne got to meet him for the first time. Opportunities to see my family from Arizona don't come around very often and I had a great time hanging out for the short amount of time we had Saturday.

So all in all, it was a great Christmas. Hopefully I can shake this cold and be feeling better by the time New Year's rolls around. Have a good Monday.

--Paul

Halfway There

I think I'm going to wait until Wednesday for the official Christmas wrap-up. We've now had two Christmas celebrations (three if you count Christmas morning with just DeAnne and I) and we've got two today to finish things out.

Today is first Christmas is with my Mom's side of the family in Tallassee. My cousin David is there and I'm looking forward to seeing him. I haven't had the chance to see him or any of his brothers or my aunt and uncle in probably over eight years. It'll be nice to get to catch up with David and introduce DeAnne to him. She's never had the chance to meet any of those members of the family that are from Arizona.

We'll be leaving Tallassee this evening and heading straight for Kinston for the final Christmas get-together of the year. This one is for all of DeAnne's immediate family, so all her step-siblings and nieces and nephews. It promises to be crazy.

Outside of Christmas, there hasn't been much going on. Courtney and Edwin came up and spent the night with us Wednesday night and we had a great time visiting with them. They were late getting here so we didn't get to spend much time with them, but we always have a blast when we get together with them.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and I'll see you on Wednesday.

--Paul

Surprise!

After two days my legs are actually in need of a little recovery time, so I figured I would surprise everyone with a Wednesday edition of the blog. It probably just means that no one will see it until they check Saturday for what should have been the next post. Oh, Well.

I've been enjoying the new morning routine. I think that it's working well and for the moment, I think I'm going to stick to it. I have missed the blog and if you follow me on twitter or facebook you've probably noticed the increase in posts there. I think a lot of that has to do with not blogging (and maybe a little to do with it being a slow week at work).

Speaking of work, today is the last day of work for the week. It'll pretty much be a ghost town today. I actually don't really mind working up until the official off days. With everyone gone I can usually get more done and do it at a less hectic pace. It's quiet and relaxed and really kind of nice.

Tomorrow starts all of our Christmas craziness. We'll be going through Saturday at least and you never know, it might even carry over to Sunday. It's always a crazy time but it really is "the best time of the year".

So I've kind of enjoyed the mid-week edition of the blog. How about a compromise. I'll blog Wednesday and Saturday instead of just Saturday. That gets two posts in per week and gets me four elliptical mornings in with a rest day between numbers two and three. Sounds like a plan to me. I hope you all have a great Christmas and I'll see you on Saturday.

--Paul

First Edition

Welcome to the first Saturday edition of the dubnet 2.0 blog. It's been nearly four years since I started blogging when I found out I was going to have surgery and this marks the first Saturday update ever (I think).

With the end of the year approaching, most media outlets have moved into full-blown "Best of 2009" mode and even "Best of the Decade" mode since we're bringing the 2000's to a close. I was browsing the iTunes list the other day seeing if I missed out on anything this year and came across their pick for best new rock artist: Charm City Devils (official website and listen @ myspace). These guys are incredible. Pure rock n' roll. They sound like something straight out of the late 70's or early 80's. If you played them after Aerosmith, AC/DC or Motley Crue they would fit right in. I haven't been able to get enough of their album the past two days.

I thought about making lists of my own, but really, I try to avoid stuff that other people think isn't any good, so most of the media I consume tends to the pretty good side. I would be hard pressed to pick an "Album of the Year" just because I've listened to so much good stuff across so many different genres. As far as games go, I don't get to play every new game that comes out so I'm sure I miss some things along the way. Of the games I have played this year, I'd probably have to say that Batman: Arkham Asylum was the best overall but Beatles: Rock Band wouldn't be far behind.

So next week is Christmas. Courtney and Edwin are coming up on Wednesday so we're looking forward to that. Then Thursday we'll start with DeAnne's family and on Christmas Day we'll eat lunch with my Dad and then dinner with more of DeAnne's family. Then we'll wrap it all up on Saturday with my Mom's side of the family. It's always a hectic time but it's always worth it.

Remember, no blog until next Saturday. Have a good week next week and a Merry Christmas to you all and your families.

--Paul

Ch Ch Changes...

First let me say, yesterday was a weird day for the digital life. Twitter was having issues, BlackBerry was having issues and even Facebook seemed like it was slower than usual yesterday. Strange stuff.

Anyway. So, here we go.

I'm going to change the way I do things with the blog. If you read this then you're probably aware that I've been blogging every morning, Monday through Friday, with the exception of days that I'm off of work, for the past couple of years. I started it because I thought it would be fun and give me something to occupy a little of the time I had in the morning while I ate breakfast.

I've decided that my time in the morning may require a different use. The elliptical. I'm having a hard time forcing myself to get on it in the afternoon. I feel like I would be more apt to get on it every day if I did so in the morning. If I continued to blog though, I would have to get up 30 minutes earlier and I'm not crazy about that idea. So here's what I'm going to do:

I'm going to blog on Saturday morning and use the elliptical Monday-Friday during the time I usually blog. Yes, it means only one blog post per week. If the Saturday posts get too long, then I may add Sunday also, but for now, I'm just planning on Saturday. I seriously thought about just stopping the blog altogether, but I felt like I've had it going for too long to do that. I can't just walk away now after nearly four years of doing this.

So tomorrow I intended to write the first Saturday blog and then on Monday I'll begin using the elliptical during the time I have in the mornings. I'm going to give it a trial period of "until the end of the year" and then when the new year starts I'll reevaluate and see how it's going. I also want your feedback once we're a week or two into the trial period.

Have a good Friday. I'll see you tomorrow.

--Paul

Nothing To Speak Of

The only thing that really happened yesterday is that the sun did come out. That was about the extent of the note-worthy events. All of our shows are now on winter break, there wasn't any new music this week that got my attention and I didn't play any games yesterday.

Oh, I did play guitar a little. I really love the new acoustic I bought a couple of months ago. I've been trying to make myself play at least once a week just to make sure I don't feel like I wasted the money. That and I really do want to start playing more. DeAnne's been supportive. Last night she played Monopoly and made up silly lyrics about the animals while I played. One day we need to record some of that mess and put it up on the internet. People would probably think we're crazy, but it would be hilarious.

That was about it though. It's Thursday, so we've got just 8 days until Christmas. Of course, we'll start on Christmas Eve, so I suppose you could say we've got just 7 days, but whatever. Anyway, have a good Thursday.

--Paul

Here Comes the Sun...Hopefully

Hopefully today we'll see some improvement in the weather.

Other than the rain, there hasn't been much going on. We're just waiting for Christmas to roll around.

Edwin and I managed to wrap up everything we wanted to do with Gears of War (the first one) last night. We decided to go back and pick up some achievements for it. It's interesting going back and playing the first game after we've spent so much time with the second one. I didn't really realize how many improvements they had made in the second game.

I think now we're going to turn our attention to Halo Wars. We've both had the game for nearly a year and neither of us have really played it. We've been waiting on a chance to play co-op and it just hasn't happened until now.

I'm still working on Mass Effect. I'm really enjoying it so far. The missions are pretty interesting and the side missions aren't so long or so hard that you don't feel like you can't get back to the main story line when you want to. I've struggled some with the combat, but I think it's because of the character class I choose. I'm too far in now to change it but if I ever decide to play it again, it won't be as a Vanguard.

Have a good Wednesday.

--Paul

Rain, Rain

Looking at the forecast, tomorrow has a big yellow circle on it. I'm not sure I remember what that is exactly, but it's only on the forecast for one day, so I'm sure we'll be back to it raining again soon enough.

Seriously though, can we get a break? My back yard has turned my house into lake front property. I'm listening to the WAAO stream on the web and it sounds like they've opened the roads back up. They had them closed for a bit last night. Looks like the rivers will be reaching flood stage today. Should be interesting to see what happens. County school are closed, but the Opp and Andalusia systems are open. I'm just glad that PowerSouth is still operating. It would be a travesty for a day of snack week to get called off.

So it's wet outside. Guess I'll go put on the swim trunks and see if I can get to work. At least being bald means I don't have to worry about my hair getting messed up.

Have a good Tuesday.

--Paul

What A Misreable Weekend

The weather pretty much put a funk to the whole weekend as far as I'm concerned. All we did was lay around the house and be bored.

The one highlight of the weekend was the Christmas Cantata that the church choir put on last night. It was probably the best cantata that they've done since we've been members at Carolina. The choir was full, the music was good and they sounded great. It was easily the best thing that happened all weekend and it didn't happen until the very end. I guess it was worth enduring the boredom until we got there.

Nothing else really going on. It should be a fun week at work. It's our hallway's annual "snack week". It's always a good time of eating way to much and enjoying it more than I should. We'll cap it off Friday with a cookout. This is always one of my favorite weeks of the year. This is the week that Christmas really gets going. The cantata last night, snacks and lunch all week at work and then next week is only three working days and then all the family craziness. Good times.

Have a good Monday.

--Paul

Post #500

Today I reach what I would consider to be a pretty major milestone. Today's post is #500 for this blog. It amazes me that I've been doing this for that long. Anyway...onward we go.

DeAnne reminded me last night of what I was going to blog about yesterday and forgot. Tuesday night we went to the Cattlemen's Association dinner with her Mom and Step-Dad. Wayne (her step-dad) was Vice President the past two years and now starts a two year term as President of the Covington County association. The dinner was pretty interesting. The food was good and it was definitely something out of the norm for us, so it was a nice change of pace. We're going to go ahead and join too. It's only $30 a year and they feed you four times a year, so it's really not a bad deal and we'll be supporting Wayne at the same time, so good times all around.

The other thing I wanted to talk about today is DeAnne's new spinning Christmas tree stand. You can see a video of it on her blog, here. She's wanted one of these things for years and this year she finally found one that wasn't just outrageously expensive, so I agreed to buy it. The crazy thing is is that she's had the tree up for weeks now, so to get it on the new stand she basically tore the tree completely down, put it on the new stand and then put the tree completely back together again. I would have just waited till next year, but that's just me I guess.

I have to admit though that it does draw your attention to the tree. It's just sitting there spinning and it's kind of a hypnotic motion. I had trouble watching T.V. last night because the tree kept drawing my attention. Maybe I'll get used to it after a day or two, but right now it's pretty captivating.

Have a good Friday and a good weekend.

--Paul

I Swear I Had A Topic

I know I had a topic picked out for today. "Had" being the operative word in that sentence. Now I can't remember what it was. I guess I'll just have to resort to the fall-backs.

A couple of more shows wrapped up their fall seasons this week. The first being Biggest Loser. Watching this show is like punishment for the soul. I know I don't eat like I'm supposed to. I know I don't exercise like I'm supposed to. And now I'm watching 400 lb. people drop 40 and 50% of their total body weight in six months time. There are guys on this show dropping more than 15 pounds a week and I can't get my lazy self up long enough to drop 15 pounds in 3 months. Anyway. It is fun to see what everyone looks like when they get to the finale and the guy that won this round was a nice guy that I liked, so all is well, I guess. Now, to get back on that elliptical.

Glee also wrapped up it's first major story line last night. It was a performance heavy episode and it was fantastic. Glee has quickly become one of my favorite shows. It'll be interesting to see where they take it from here and what new craziness they can come up with for the spring.

That's about all I've got for today. Have a good Thursday.

--Paul

New Music, New Movie

The Smashing Pumpkins released the first song from their new venture Yesterday. It's called "A Song for A Son" and I have to say, it's pretty awesome. Something else that's awesome about it is that you can download it for free. You can head over to www.smashingpumpkins.com and listen to the new song and download it. I was going to embed the player here on the blog, but they've not set it up to allow resizing and I couldn't get it to look right on the sidebar.

I've talked before about how the new album is supposed to work. They're going to release each song, one at a time available for free on the website. Then ever four songs are going to be bundled into limited edition EPs. Then once all 44 songs have been released they're going to release a repackaged box set of all the songs. It'll probably be years before all this is done and knowing Billy and the Smashing Pumpkins, it may not even all pan out, but if it comes together and lives up to the promise, it should be pretty awesome.

Two of my other favorite bands also had big announcements this week. Coheed and Cambria announced their next album should be out in April and they're planning to tour next summer. I really would love to get to see them next year. Hopefully the stars will align and I'll have the chance.

Also, Our Lady Peace announced a series of shows where they'll be playing two of their best albums cover to cover over two nights. They're going to be doing Clumsy and Spiritual Machines. The only bad thing about these shows is that they are all in Canada (where the band is from). So we won't be getting to go to any of those. Hopefully they'll put together a DVD and release it later on.

Speaking of DVDs, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out yesterday. DeAnne picked it up when she was at Wal-Mart and we watched it last night. I'm still disappointed with the lack of back story on Voldemort but I think I liked the movie better this time around than I did when we saw it in the theater last summer. Two sequences stand out to me as being especially well done. One being the liquid luck induced series of events that sets up the end of the movie and the other, the sequence that begins with Harry and Dumbledore returning from the cave and continues through the end of the movie. I know the end is different from the book, but they did a wonderful job with it in the movie and to me it's still just as moving as the end of the book. Here's hoping next November and Deathly Hallows part 1 comes quickly.

Have a good Wednesday.

--Paul

PS. I tried to find the Deathly Hallows trailer that's on the HBP DVD to put with this post but it looks like Warner Bros. is actively taking them down as they pop up. Probably because it's a "Ultimate Edition" exclusive. Oh well.

I Was In A Bad Way

Warning: May contain some graphic content.

So I caught DeAnne's stomach bug. It first hit me Sunday morning about 5:30. DeAnne was in Ft. Walton with her Mom staying at her Grandmother's for the weekend to do some shopping. So I get up and I've got issues. I get on the couch and fall back to sleep, wake up again about 6:30. I get to feeling like I'm going to throw up so I get in the floor in the bathroom just kind of waiting for it to happen. I break out in a cold sweat, dizzy, the whole nine yards. I just knew it was coming and was just waiting on it. Finally, I gag once, twice and then I'm waking up. I was having a dream of some kind. My shoulder's hurting and the pillow seems kind of hard. It was when I tried to roll over that I realized I was in the bathroom floor between the tub and the toilet. I had passed out.

So I called DeAnne and asked her Mom (who's a nurse) if I should go to the hospital and she said I needed to. So I called Dad and he came and got me and took me to the E.R. They gave me fluids and some phenigran and by the time they were ready to shove me out the door, DeAnne had made it back to town.

It was a crazy morning. I slept most of the rest of the day and never threw up but I was dehydrated and ran a little bit of a fever late Sunday afternoon. I stayed home from work yesterday and relaxed and took it easy. I still had a little bit of an upset stomach yesterday morning, but I think I'm good now. The only solid food I've had the last couple of days is the saltine crackers I've ate with my soup so I'm a little hungry this morning but I'm going to give it a little more time before I venture into the solid food category.

So the weekend could have ended a little better. It was definitely interesting though. It's the first time I've ever passed out. They diagnosed it as a "Vasovagal Episode". You can check the link for the Wikipedia entry. It's supposed to be more common in people with heart and blood pressure issues. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.

Have a good Tuesday.

--Paul

Ah, Friday

It still seems like the week just started, but I'm not going to argue. If Friday wants to come on and happen, then I'm more than happy to let it.

I'm going to try something new today: One sentence or less summaries of media I've consumed recently. Ready? Here goes:

Norah Jones' new album: Incredible

Kris Allen and Adam Lambert's albums: I didn't think anything could be worse than Kris Allen's album but then I listened to Adam Lambert's.

Them Crooked Vultures: Not too shabby for a post-grunge grunge band with an old guy playing bass.

John Mayer's cover of "Crossroads": Shamefully uninspired.

I Love You, Beth Cooper: Just enough funny moments to keep you watching.

V: Haven't watched episode four yet, but wow, wow, wow for the first three.

Glee: As awesome as it's ever been.

Grey's Anatomy: Still sliding downhill fast.

Private Practice: Probably better now than Grey's has ever been.

Heroes: Farther down that hill than Grey's is and moving about twice as fast.

The Guild: Final episode of season three was pure gold.

That's about all I've got. I'm sure I could come up with more but it's time to get going. Have a good Friday and a good weekend.

--Paul

Not Only The Computer...

Not only did the computer have a virus the other day, but DeAnne's been battling the stomach bug. She woke up Tuesday with it and it lasted pretty much all day. She was feeling better yesterday until last night when she started complaining about nausea again. Hopefully she's past it though.

I just hope that I don't come down with it. I'll never forget back in February when I had pneumonia and then came down with the stomach virus too. I don't think I've ever felt that bad before in my life. I don't know that recovery from surgery was as bad as being sick those couple of days.

This week seems to be flying by. It's already Thursday and it seems like it just started. At least all the rain seems to have cleared out. Those nasty, wet, cold, grey days are the worst. I don't really mind winter so long as it's not rainy and gloomy.

Have a good Thursday.

--Paul

Under Attack

The other night I was walking the dog before bed and while we were our I was checking my messages on my blackberry. DeAnne was inside on facebook and all of a sudden I got a message from her. I check and the subject is not something that DeAnne would wright and the message contained a link. I instantly realized what had happened. She had either been hacked or had gotten a virus. I had her change her password and figured I would scan the computer in the morning. Sure enough, we had a pretty good list of infections going on. It turns out that she had opened a spam facebook message that contained a virus. Malwarebytes was able to take care of everything though.

I've mentioned Malwarebytes Anti-Malware before. It's still probably the best anti-malware/anti-virus product out there and it's free. It's simple and does an amazing job of detecting things that I've seen even McAfee and Norton miss. In fact, we have McAfee running real-time and it missed the infection that DeAnne got the other night.

If you opened the message that DeAnne sent, I would highly suggest downloading Malwarebytes and scanning your computer. Heck, I would recommend downloading Malwarebytes and scanning your computer any way. It almost always finds something that's found a way on to a machine.

Have a good Wednesday.

--Paul

Catch The Wave

Thanks to an old friend, Griffin, I finally got an invite to Google Wave yesterday.

Wave is Google's attempt at creating a new communications platform. They call it a new way to share information. What it seems to me is that it's a combination of instant messaging and email. The interface is very "email-ish". You have contacts, folders, an inbox and all that kind of stuff. In your inbox you see "waves" that you're a part of. A wave is kind of like a conferenced chat. You can have any number of participants and everyone in the wave can see what's going on either in real time or when they log on later. You can also drag and drop things like pictures and youtube videos into waves and share them with the participants.

If you use Gmail, it's all pretty familiar feeling but at the same time it's different enough that in the short time I've had access, I've not really been sure what to do with it. I think like any social network, the more people that you know that are using it, the greater it's value will be to you and that's maybe one of the inherent flaws. No other company has a "wave" product. You can get an email address from any number of different places and I can email you all day long no matter if we have different names after the "@" sign. If you're going to do waves though, it's Google or nothing and there's a lot of people out there that don't want to use Google that unless they allow outside "wave" accounts, the whole thing might never take off.

If anyone's interested in checking it out, I have 8 invites. Send me an email or facebook message with your email address and I'll be happy to get you in on the party.

Have a good Tuesday.

--Paul