Tired and feeling a little flat.

Lately, my days have been long and the nights extremely short. After putting Mckenna to bed and settling down little Adrian for the night, it's about 10:30 and I can't fall asleep easily. It's been rough this week as my schedule has me up at 4:30 to be to work by 6 (I used to work this schedule, but I've been off of it for almost a month and I'm having a hard time readjusting). To complicate matters, Haily's current shift has her working until almost midnight. Last night Haily called around 11:45, concerned that one of the tires looked a little low. She said that there was air in the tire - the rims weren't in any immediate danger. She felt that she could drive home without a problem and I stayed up with her on the phone and talked with her as she made her way home. She didn't get home until close to 12:30 and we didn't get settled in until close to 1. Then, of course, my alarm goes off way too soon, and I'm back up and getting ready for work. When I went outside, I looked at the tire - it was almost completely flat! Somewhere, we ran across a screw that got stuck in the tire. I ended up late for work, but I knew we couldn't leave the tire on in that condition.

Haily was able to get the tire in to be fixed, and there isn't any damage - she said it wasn't that flat when she got home, so overnight it must have deflated. Hopefully, that's the most exciting thing that will happen this weekend, and I can look forward to a relaxing couple of days.

My family

Thanks to everyone who's been in touch with us. We're doing well. Adrian is getting bigger everyday, and so is his big sister, Mckenna - it seems like she's been going through a growth spurt of her own lately. We're still in AZ, but we are looking for ways to move to Utah in the near future.

Recently, my department was closed, and I've been moved to a department that I worked in four years ago. It's been a difficult transition, but I know how to do the job and how to do it well. I've just begun a new project outside of work that may translate into better circumstances for my family, but I'll need to wait to get more information before I can discuss it.

Legend of Link

One of my favorite series of games through the years has been "The Legend of Zelda." As kids, my brother borrowed the first two NES games from one of his friends. We were never able to get the hang of it, and life moved on. In college, I found a second hand Super Nintendo and Legend of Zelda, a Link to the Past and was hooked. Half the reason I bought a Nintendo 64 was to play Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. I've played the Gameboy and Gameboy Color games and just recently finished The Legend of the Windwaker - there's still a couple more games out there that I need to get my hands on and I eagerly look forward to when I can try them out.

The storyline is pretty simple. The main character, Link, must collect certain mystical items and gain a sword to fight the evil Gannon and rescue the princess Zelda in most games. You can obtain certain items like bows and arrows, mirrored shields, flutes, music wands, etc. to move on in each quest. The games are not exactly sequels or prequels of each other (see the Angry Video Game Nerd's diatribe on the chronology of Zelda), but it's hard to find a Zelda game that not only improves upon it's predecessor, but also moves the genre forward. They're fun games, and I highly reccommend playing them. If the current 3/d realtime games aren't your cup of tea, I would suggest "A Link to the Past." It features a great storyline, fun mini-quests, and is just an experience that you need to check out.