First and 15!

Well for the first time, I sat and watched the entire first day. For me it was a little slice of heaven, but not even close to being on the scale of my daughter. Overall, I saw a couple surprise picks but for the most part I thought everyone went towards holes this year instead of player talent which seemed to be the direction last year.

So I honestly thought with Norman Chow in Tennessee, they would have went with Leinart. He was the more polished choice that could actually play the position this year. Young still has a lot of development needed, but may have more room for growth. Still, they passed on a quality QB for a bet.

The raiders really didn't need a DB/S, so when I picked Michael Huff instead of targetting what I think is a major need that could have been filled early with some solid defensive tackles and still be able to pick one of the many good DBs in the draft. Again, it was a little odd to see.

The biggest draft news was the Texans jilting Reggie Bush. I honestly believe no one was willing to trade up to 1 to get Reggie, so the Texans did what they had to and that was start filling in some of their wholes. I probably would have went with D'Brickashaw but I think that the Texans have been able to use the later rounds to shore up the D. But passing on Reggie Bush might be the move that shows the mediocrity of the Texans organization. But not comparing Bush to Barry Sanders, when you take a great offensive weapon and put them in a broken system, you will always improve the level of the system. However that system will still be fundamentally broke. I think we can honestly say that with Reggie Bush, the Texans might have run to 6-10, which is what I think they will be able to do this year with the players they did get, but I think going into the future, you are going to be better aligned to get some long term perspective.

Just to show how bored Miranda was during my watching of the draft:

With the number one pick . . .

Mario Williams? WTF? I can see it fits under a bigger need, but Reggie Bush has a lot of potential. Of course this is easy to spot based on contract negotiations and the recent extension of Dominic Davis. So that shuffles things around a bit. I had just assumed they would trade down a bit and pick up an extra round 2 or 3 for it. Interesting and it screws up what I had set out before.

1. Texans - Mario Williams
2. 49ers - Reggie Bush
3. Titans - Matt Leinart
4. Jets - D'Brickashaw Ferguson
5. Packers - A. J. Hawk
6. Saints - Vernon Davis
7. Raiders - Brodrick Bunkley
8. Bills - Michael Huff
9. Lions - Ernie Sims
10. Cardinals - Vince Young
11. Rams - Haloti Ngata
12. Browns - Karmerion Wimbley
13. Ravens - Winston Justice
14. Eagles - Chad Greenway
15. Broncos - DeAngelo Williams

We'll see how well that one stands.

NFL draft quickie

I haven't really had time to finish what I started in terms of my draft research. I have a preliminary expected draft order but haven't had time to put in all the trades that I expect to happen and only got to pick 15.

1. Jets - Reggie Bush
2. Saints - Mario Williams
3. Titans - Matt Leinart
4. Texans - D'Brickashaw Ferguson
5. Packers - A. J. Hawk
6. Cardinals - Vince Young
7. Raiders - Vernon Davis
8. Bills - Brodrick Bunkley
9. Lions - Michael Huff
10. 49ers - Kamerion Wimbley
11. Rams - Ernie Sims
12. Broncos - DeAngelo Williams
13. Ravens - Haloti Ngata
14. Eagles - Winston Justice
15. Browns - Chad Greenway

Parts of this don't feel right yet. It feels like I have a lot more movement than I wanted, but at the same point, when you look at the top 10 players there is a definite order to their skill levels also coupled with the power of their position. I tried to capture the strength of the players and let the teams come to them. The teams may end up not trading and taking these players as well. Either way, I am starting to get excited about it.

More than spit

Well Miranda got sick on me for the first time. I guess she drank her dinner too quickly. Amazing how much 2 ounces is! Watching to make sure she is doing ok. Poor babe!

Another bath, and voila: Clean Miranda

So today was another bath for Miranda (sorry, no pics nor will there be). She is starting to tolerate them more it seems like. Same with the changing of the diaper, done now with minimal fuss. So far adventures in baby land are going well.

However I am sorry to say the picture a day thing has failed really before it even took off. I guess I didn't realize how tired one could be. However either I am getting used to being tired or somehow I am magically squeezing out quality sleep in shorter time periods. Either way, Michelle and I are maintaining the necessaries of sleep, food, and cleanliness for us and more importantly, Miranda.



This morning between work and Miranda (letting Michelle get more rest, she needs it!) I started work on my 2006 mock draft based on too much research. I have gotten through the first 15 pics, but am deciding that I am not liking some of the pics I have. I seem to be lacking some of that edginess that will either make me a genius or get me totally laughed at. Either one of those options is completely fine with me. The draft is always tricky. You know that the teams are holding these secret "love affairs" with certain players that they don't want anyone else to know about. This is some value to stealing another teams desired player or moving like you are. Hopefully the research will be done so that I can post it tomorrow night.

6 days

Well we have made it so far, and we aren't too much worse for wear. Although staying up till 2:30 AM with her and then getting up at 7:00 AM was not exactly comfortable. But when she is happy, we are happy.

No new picture today. Don't really want to disturb her as she had a busy day. Nothing bad, just a visit to a nurse and she is doing wonderful.

As I have said that football is a year round sport (well a slight break for summer training), I will be talking about the upcoming draft soon. Otherwise, my energies are focused elsewhere.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone is having fun with family and friends today!

Everything I thought I knew

As the last couple of months went by, Michelle and I spent a lot of time trying to learn more about baby care and what to expect. In the end, you just have to wing it. I guess I should have sensed that this pseudo-preparedness was in fact a warning sign of overconfidence and bravado on my part. I don't know how else to describe the sheer helplessness a parent can feel at 2:30am when the baby is crying and the diaper is dry, she has just been fed, and burped, and it just isn't stopping. The first night, we just turned on the light and everything was fine. Just wanted to look around, I guess. Last night, we started supplementing with some formula and that helped.

Other things of note for fathers: During the time of labor, you need to make sure you have food and WATER! Also lay off the aspirin as nerves are going to play some not-so-funny games with the stomach. The nurses will help your wife. You need to take care of you so that when the time comes that your wife needs help, you are ready. I know a couple of friends that are expecting soon. If you are worried about missing it, just ask one of the nurses. I mentioned that I would like to get some lunch and the nurse said that it would be fine, that we were still a bit away. Same when I mentioned I needed to buy some antacids (you may want some of those as well).

All that said, it was the most special experience in my life. Watching my baby daughter arrive was so amazing. Listening to her first cry and she awoke to this strange environment was precious (just keep remembering that a cry can be beautiful...). All in all I feel blessed and lucky with this little bundle.

I want to thank all my friends and family who have talked to us over the last couple of days or left comments. It is always a good feeling when you see all the people that care. Thanks again!

More pics

I uploaded a bunch of pics to my flickr account, but most are marked as private. If you wish to see them, you will need a flickr account and become a contact of mine and I will add you to my friends and family!

And thank you for all your congratulations!

Bob Wehadababy Itsagirl

Miranda Lynn Dykstra
born 3:52 PM PST
7 lb 1.5 oz
19 3/4 inches

Sorry for the small picture. I was sent home sick and this is all I had with me (camera phone). Everything went well, but I will let Michelle tell that story on blog. We went in for some tests and the doctors were concerned about the low amniotic fluid. So they decided to induce. They gave Michelle 3 pills over the course of 9 hours Tuesday, and then a sleeping pill since it was 12:00pm when they finished that round. The next morning at 6:00am they started giving the serious inducement medicine, and Michelle's water broke around 9:00am. The epidural showed up at around 11:00 am and things got a lot better.

But we have a little girl and I couldn't be happier.

No news yet.

Still no news.

It's started

They are inducing today. Will post more later.

To be dad, chart redux

Updated in date order...

Who?	Date	Time
Jfew	April 7	7:00 PM
Michelle's Mom	April 10	4:00 AM
Manders	April 10	7:00 AM
Agregov	April 11	7:00 AM
Lehman	April 13	2:00 AM
Jay	April 13	3:00 AM
Qhunt	April 13	9:00 AM
Michelle	April 13	3:00 PM
Brownell	April 14	6:00 AM
Cathy	April 15	7:33 AM
Amanda	April 15	5:32 PM
Janak	April 16	7:00 PM
Me	April 18	3:30 AM
Ish	April 21	6:30 AM
Andy	April 22	10:30 AM
My Mom	April 24	2:00 PM

When will I be a dad?

So I started a list of everyone's guesses. Feel free to tag on any additional guesses. Here are the only vital statistics that you get:

• Original Due Date: April 11
• Fetal Survey Due Date: April 14

So here are the guesses in so far:

Who?	Date	Time
Me	April 18	3:30 AM
Michelle	April 13	3:00 PM
My Mom	April 24	2:00 PM
Manders	April 10	7:00 AM
Lehman	April 13	2:00 AM
Jfew	April 7	7:00 PM
Qhunt	April 13	9:00 AM
Brownell	April 14	6:00 AM

So we are getting near the date.

More random stuff

There is fish in the tank!!! They are white cloud danios, which are cheap. So the purpose to adding the cheapest fish I can to my 55 gallon tank is to get the Nitrogen cycle started. Since the tank at this stage is more unstable and likely to have an ammonia spike, it is often best to let cheap fish start producing the stuff to get the bacteria going.

Although anyone with a tank probably already knew that.

For my birthday, my brother was kind enough to order a smoker off my Amazon wishlist. I finally got a nice day and good piece of meat to try it out. I have to say I was totally impressed. I was impressed that I didn't burn off my eyebrows (even though it was close). I was impressed that the simplistic heat guage's ideal, really meant ideal. I was shocked by the quality of meat to come forth. Overall it rocked. So, Michelle picked up a pork tenderloin that I did a dry rub of

• Sea salt
• lemon pepper
• cayenne pepper
• garlic powder

on to the roughly 1.25 lbs of pork. I filled the water pan with a bunch of water, 4 cloves of garlic and a dash of port. I used some mesquite chips (thoroughly soaked) as my smoking agent and let it cook for 2 hours. The piece of meat came of with the most amazing flavor that I could imagine. Awesome. If you are interested in getting one of these things yourself, just click the link below.

Brinkmann 852-7080-V Gourmet Charcoal Smoker & Grill with Outdoor Vinyl Cover

Also so that I don't forget, here are some future topics I want to touch on:

• Iterative Design
• Joel on Software
• Rift lake fish
• Baby news

Like I could ever forget baby news. No new news. Michelle's latest doctor appointment went well and we are just waiting now. I think we are ready. I hope we are ready. We probably are not ready. Had one of those moments today at work, where I realized one week from today I could be a dad. How much will life change? Definitely excited and scared.

So I read a large portion of The Baby Book as I have linked to in previous posts. I glad it was able to tell me that it is highly unlikely that I will form a deep bond with my child. I gathered from the book that this is a mother only sort of club and that I will have to just resign myself to fumbling and making mistakes. Thanks Dr. Sears and Dr. Sears! Maybe I am being self-centered or need my ego stroked... but I would like to believe that men have some opportunity to form some connection with their children. In the end, all that matters is the happiness of the child and my connection may have absolutely nothing to do with that and that is fine. I just want a happy, healthy child.

Enough of the depressing stuff. Currently reading:

• The Art of Project Management
• A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)

Also on my Flickr Album, I added a bunch of pictures from my aquarium setups in Michigan as well as some flower pics that my wife took around our new house.

Not a book review

I finished a book that I could talk about, but I am going to postpone that for later. They require more time to thing them out that I feel like applying right now. So more on the stinky tank. I ended it off where I drained half the tank, stopped the filter, removed the pseudo-plants, and stopped the heater and the stink went down drastically. I have yet to do anything else to the tank lately. What I have determined is that I really need to clean out the filter and remove all the material from it to get rid of the smell. At least that is what I hope will happen.

Today we are going to swing out to the The Fish Store in Seattle to look at their stock, but more specifically pick up the filter supplies that I need. I hope they carry the brand I need, or else, this will likely set my tank setup behind.

Michelle is doing well. We are now down to two names, but not really sure if either will stick once the baby is born. I have heard stories of moms deciding once the baby is born that they are a "fill in the blank" and don't even use the names that they came up with during the pregnancy.

• Annika Lynn
• Miranda Lynn

So all in all, things are well. I should be working this weekend. I have somethings I need to explore for work and feel like I should get cranking on them.

Currently reading:
The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition)

Happy Birthday Brandon

Just a quick happy birthday to my brother!

What the heck is that stench?

So I decided this last weekend it was finally time to put together at least one of my fish tanks. They had been sitting empty for quite some time now. So I got out the gravel (stored from Michigan) and some ornament and put it all together. The next morning when I work up, there was definitely an odor in the house and it was definitely coming from the tank. I can only guess that the rocks/ornaments/filter have some weird nasty bacteria or fungus creating what can best described and a 1000 sweaty gym socks piled on a warm heater. So now I start attacking the problem and trying to get everyback to stink free, or near enough.

On a less stinky note, I finished a couple of books to free up more time for baby books.

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2)

Where as the first book seemed to center on the political intrigue, this ones brings in more of the fantasy elements to set up the stage for magic and dragons. Mr. Martin still keeps his elements of pain and torture as in the first book where you many of the characters get disillusioned with life and to suffer through the events that unfold. It feels like he is telling the reader, life is unfair, get used to it.

If you liked the first one, then this one is sure to please. The characters are rich and multidimensional. The plot is deep and twisted. This reader is caught and just can't put it down.

Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software

Domain Driven Design is the perfect compliment to any development shop that has decided to use the agile process of eXtreme Programming. It is centered around iterative coding practices and test driven development but also hints to deeper point where you drive to your user stories in a common language with your consumer. Eric Evans creates a system to drive to a "ubiquitous language", reach deep architectural insight, and create robust systems in a changing environment and he explains all these steps in simple ways.

Where I think this book tends to fall a little flat is that is trying to be everything to everybody. This book is definitely not for the "architect" as these concepts are things that you have learned by fire when fighting the battles against scope creep and communicating with Marketing teams and consumers. This also would be wasted on any fresh developer as many of the things that are discussed have not been experienced yet. I do recommend this book to software developers that have roughly 2 to 4 years of experience as it really does plainly put forth the problem sets and offers a solution that can work in many environments.

Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity

This one is something I am still working on. So far I am liking what I am reading. It does seem to be not against XP, but against many of it's concepts in all but a small set of environments. The part is the writing style is very engaging. Either way, probably will have that done in the middle of next week.

The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition)

This book should really have a new title called the Encyclopedia of Attachment Parenting. Just started this, and have little time left to read it, but I am trying to hit the needed points and go back through on those upcoming sleepless nights. Maybe I will even read it out loud.
In conclusion

Things are still going well. The baby is due anytime now. Life is good. I am learning to play the piano. I have been posting pictures to flickr. Stud finder is working again. Galactic Civ 2 is better now that it is saving after I updated the video drivers. The Lions are shaking things up at the quarterback position, maybe that can bring the team to life. Ford is in trouble in the auto industry, which may mean the will let the Lions win. Will write something other than reviews shortly. Actually thinking of writing a "This I believe" after NPR and Fort Knight Dispatch, John M Knight's Blog: This I Believe... did one.

Terrible Mistake

Ug.

Although it probably isn't that bad of a mistake, I can't even look in the mirror now. I shaved off my goatee, since I nicked it when I was trimming it. This is the goatee that I have had for about 6 years now without removing it. I sadly miss it. Oh well, it will grow back.

On some reading notes: I am part way through Domain Driven Design. Not too bad, but I think this would useful to any developer about 2 years out of school. It has a lot of ways to look at how you organize and put together software. It also takes a look at the more practical aspects of XP in relationship to iterative development and the use of refactoring.

I also recently finished reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I found this book to be an exercise in what most authors eventually want to do to their characters, which is to torture them relentlessly. I have started to read the sequel, and I think I am starting to notice a pattern. Through the first 200 pages, you have trouble bringing yourself to read another page. It is so painful watching some these characters get punished for living (living?). The rest of the book leads into wondering if the character will somehow extract themselves from these predicaments, knowing most likely they won't, but curious enough to have a hard time putting the book down.

I also read Heading Home with Your Newborn : From Birth to Reality yesterday to start getting prepared for our new arrival. This book was darn good, but at this point, I don't know if will be helpful (as the baby isn't here yet). The writing was very good and lead to couple of chuckles reading which helps break some of the tensions that comes with expecting a first child and realizing you don't know the first thing about taking care of one. The book contains information covering a broad set of topics, but really doesn't get very in-depth about any of them. I actually prefer this as I was able to get a good chunk of basic information in the matter of 3 hours and feel a little bit more prepared. Highly recommended!

Also as noted on St. Patrick's day picture, I bought Galactic Civilizations II at the recommendations of Jefe le Grand. So far I like the game a little bit. My reservations may come from the fact that I have trouble with turn based strategy games (where is my bum rush?) or from the fact that this genre at some point can feel like a job as opposed to a game. But this game has the feature to end all features, the shipyard! It is like have legos and building spaceships all over again. This strategy really sparkles when you build the ships to your design and send them out. The design has little impact, but gives your race a feel of it's own. Noticed a bug so far where I can't load save games (ouch) but hopefully there will be a patch soon.

A Geek, I am

Am I the only that thinks this equals a fun evening?