Check It Out

We have a new combined blog going. Check it out.

http://pike-thompson.blogspot.com/

At The Track

Texas Derby Day!

Peace,
Billy

Sent via Blackberry

Twins !

Well, today we found out we are having twins. More to follow.

Peace,
Billy

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Neat Sculpture

We saw this at the Ft Worth Convention Center. It's made from old cowboy hats.

Peace,
Billy

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So my Mother isn't (that) Crazy

N has had a nasty cough for several days and hasn't been able to sleep, at all. Being a Pregnant, her options are limited. My mother tells her to rub Vick's on her feet and put on thick socks. So off I go to get the Vicks (being in this family you learn to not question crazy). Fifteen minutes later, someone is snoring peacefully for the first time in two days. Thanks, Mom, I love you.

N's Blog

If you haven't already, get over to Hey Bloghead! N has finally started up again. Be sure to check out the comments. Just beautiful.
Peace,
Billy

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My Daughter

Ok, we got back from the Dr. Baby and mother are great and things could not be better. The Dr confirmed it's a girl. We did not care if it was a boy or girl, just as long as the baby is healthy. So far so good.

Our friend GBB asked a very good question. Now that I know if it's a girl, does this change the way I feel, does this make it more of a person? She put it much nicer, but you get the idea. The answer is yes, it does. A few days ago I would have said that can't happen, but it did. Before today she was The Baby. Today she became My Daughter, Her Supreme Highness.
Today my daughter waved at me. She didn't know she was waving at anyone, but she did. I saw her beautiful, perfect little face. It actually looked like a kitten skull, but still perfect and beautiful to me. I watched her rub her face, do backflips, pick her nose, doggy paddle around, and just generally look cute. I saw her heart beat, and it made mine swell and almost explode. I don't know her yet and I already love her more than life. Today I realized I am the luckiest human alive, I will now have the two most beautiful, smart, loving, funny, kind women in my life. What a great ride this is gonna be.

It's A Girl !!

Obviously as the baby grows and develops, something may show up to change this, but so far they're pretty sure. We're waiting for the Dr now. More to follow.
Peace,
Billy

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Smart Car Parking

The garage was already full of cars, and we had one leftover. The back porch worked pretty well.
Peace,
Billy

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iPod Tip

Never turn your iPod backlight to Off. It's not dimmed, it's black. There's 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back.
Peace,
Billy

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Mooch

Here's our new friend. I call him Mooch, Nikki calls him Homeless. He's too fat to be homeless.
Peace,
Billy

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This is Only a Test

Just a quick test of mobile blogging.
Peace,
Billy

Sent via Blackberry.

Here We Go

As you all know, dear friends, we are about to have a baby. The words thrilled, happy, moved, touched, or scared do not even come close to describing how I feel. We are at week 12 right now. As we go through this, I'll share what we see, feel, and experience. Wish us luck!

Hi, it's only me

Ok, after almost two years, it's time to start this up again. My life will be full of many new experiences from this point forward and I'm ready to share. See ya soon.

BT

Convicts Are Having Sex in our House !!!

Ok, I'm not talking about my friends. I'm actually talking about fish. Convict Cichlids (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus) to be exact. For cichlids, these guys are about medium size, reaching around 6 inches. But don't let size fool you, when spawning they are one of the most aggressive of the Central/South American cichlids, and will take out a 14 inch Oscar to protect their fry. I wanted to get back in the hobby and was looking around for an interesting fish. Having raised Oscars and Jack Dempseys before, I wanted something with the same personality, but wasn't looking for another tank buster. If you've ever had an O or a JD, you know what I'm talking about. After a lot of reading, I was lucky to run across Dr Ron Coleman who was a huge help and very patient with my questions. The guy's an absolute fish nut and loves to talk about these fish, I would encourage you to check out his site.

I decided to start out with a juvenile pair and a common pleco, just so everyone would learn to get along. And they did, just fine. The only problem was I couldn't get the Convicts to breed. By this time the pleco had reached around 6 inches, and may have been crowding the Convicts. So we moved the pleco to the 55 gallon tank. I think they were mating within a couple of hours. So right now we are the proud parents of about 100 fry. While there's plenty of better info out there on these guys, I'll just mention that the one common comment is that they are terrific parents. And it's absolutely true. It's been very interesting watching them scoop up the fry in their mouths, herd them to a recently dug pit, and spit them out. And if you get close to the tank, there are two very pissed fish trying to get through the glass at your face. If you are interested in these fish, leave a comment and I'll get back to you. If you want a fish, let me know because in about a month they have got to go somewhere. Next post will cover the 55 gallon tank.

Here are some pics. Because of where the tank is, we couldn't get enough light to get good shots. I'll try again this weekend during the middle of the day.

Sorry about the flash in the middle of the pic. This is our 28 gallon bowfront.
My first bowfront but I really like it.

Not a great pic. Male on the left and female on the right.
Those small dark pieces under them are some of the fry.

Just One of Many Ways my Mother Tortured Me

Recently my bride stopped by parents' home. While she was there, my mother presented her with an ancient instrument of torture, the Pellatron. This devilish little thing is a home electrolysis kit. I know, this already sounds like a bad idea. It's a couple of batteries attached to a needle in a stylish casing. Well, it was stylish compared to the other medieval items my mother the alchemist used. Any way, basically you picked a hair, jabbed this high voltage needle into the pore, and the hair died. Maybe some flesh too, but beauty comes at a price. Why my mother ordered this, I'm not sure. We're not exactly a fuzzy clan. It probably seemed like a good idea when she ordered this, but one look and you can doubt your wisdom. It must have been so frightening that she totally lost her wits. Why else would you use your only son (who hates needles) to test it out. Yea for me. I had blocked this moment from my memory until N handed this to me, with a little too much glee I might add. Women can be pretty sadistic when it comes to humor. And testing mail order medical instruments.

Ok, Mom never actually tortured me. Not on purpose anyway. Luv ya, Mom !!!!



Modern, my ass. Unless these were actually printed by Gutenburg.















The business end.

I Blog, Therefore I Am

I have no idea what this will be about, or where it will go. The pressure to post has been building, so this should hold some people for a while.

Why are teachers Crazy?

I don't know, but I am starting to learn how to spot them. Green vests knitted from some fuzzy stuff with cartoon characters sewn on. And the noses have to be buttons or little bells. I swear they all shop at Canton. We went to Nikki's school Christmas party, better known as the Island of Misfit Humans. The last two years I have sat at the very end of the table, using Nikki as a shield. And the last two years a different woman with too much makeup and an Energizer mouth has come in at the last minute and perched herself down at the end, next to me. Both were divorced outcasts from the land of McMansions, and boy are they bitter. And not shy about it. They haven't adjusted well. You really shouldn't be wondering where to hide your diamonds in your one bedroom apartment. Needless to say, I won't be attending next year, not sober anyway.

Why did she do that to my hair?
I got a haircut today. Those that know me can tell you that among my many, many faults, vanity is not one of them. I just want a haircut. A number 3 and don't make my head look square. Now, I don't usually talk much to the lady that cuts my hair. Her English is better than my Vietnamese, but only marginally. I will drift off, thinking about something, not paying much attention. Next thing I know, I am getting a vigorous head message. WTF? Too late, I have been North Dallas Gelled. She always asks, and I always say no. Not today. So, for the rest of the day I felt the urge to buy an Emo CD and put a DVD player in the dash of my truck. What the hell is Emo, anyway? Now I know how a candied apple feels.

Romosexuals
He's a pretty good football player, but come on. Get a grip, people.

My Inner Geek
I finally figured out how to make a home server with Linux. And I was excited. Please pray for me, this can't turn out well. Help me Baby Cheeses.

MySpace
Nikki has one, and enjoys talking to the kids in our church through the web. Not for me, I don't have any tattoos. I'll leave that to the 14 year olds.

See ya',
BT

I Suck

I realized it's been months since I posted. Something to follow soon.

BT

Getting in Touch with my Inner Geek

Recently, for some reason I cannot explain, I have become fascinated with Linux. I don’t have anything against Windows, or for that matter OS X. Maybe it has something to do with learning something new and different. Maybe it’s like being part of a super secret club. I’m pretty sure owning a Mac makes you feel like this, however Linux makes the MacBoyz look pretty mainstream. Real Squares, Daddy-o.

The truth is that the above reasons are what got me to try it. What has me hooked is the fact that people are coming together on a global basis to spread Linux usage. Why? Hell if I know, but it’s cool. It’s a very liberal movement, very organic. The software is free and the source code is shared. You can always find someone that will teach you whatever it is you need to learn. I also like the fact that my computers just run better. Linux has little to no kludge to slow it down. I think the actual term for how Linux is designed is “elegant”. My old laptop has a new life, and has been entirely stripped of Windows and is now exclusively running a Debian based distro called Ubuntu. I had to strip off the stock desktop and put a lighter, no frills desktop interface to make it run, but it’s much faster than when it had Windows. I have tried it out on my Dell, and it made the machine run pretty snappy. June 1^st a major upgrade is coming out, and at that point my second hard drive will be installed with Linux, making the Dell a dual boot with Linux/XP. I’m going to try to never boot back into Windows and see how that works. If after a few months I can’t find anything that I need Windows for, I will probably make the machine 100% Linux.

Holy crap, it was an April Fools Joke!!