Break Fast at My Sister’s

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Today we took the kids to my sisters for the break fast.  Originally the break fast was going to be at Lauren’s house but she had to pass on hosting so it moved to Carries.  That presented a challenge for us since it was an extra hour or so drive.  We are still nervous about Teagan getting car sick.  We wanted to see everyone and we didn’t have time to change our car reservations so we had to make the round trip in one day.  Turned out fine.  We put the girls to bed in the car and carried them upstairs when we got home.  They of course woke up but the transition back to sleep once we got home was ok.

The day was great.  As always my sister had lots of great food.  Seeing everyone was fun also.  We didn’t get to see my sister and the kids as much as i would have liked over the summer.  Teagan & Amelia as always had a blast with her cousin’s.

The only minor drama was we both forgot to pack our diaper bags.  Thankfully we packed enough extra supplies to get by in the kids clothing bags since we knew we would get the ready for bed at my sisters.  It ended up being a close call but we knew we could have just ron out to the drug store if we needed anything.  Thankfully we didn’t.

Flying Solo With The Girls

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Today our babysitter was sick.  MC had a deadline at work so I took off.  I was already going to work from home because I was taking Teagan to her 2 year checkup but I wasn’t planning on getting no work done.  I have taken care of both kids alone before but it is always a challenge.

Today thankfully Teagan had a class in the morning.  I also had a class with Amelia but she was napping in the stroller so I made the command decision for us not to go.  Instead i got a civilized walk in with her sleeping.  The highlight was my Starbucks Cappuccino.  I miss my walks when Teagan was a baby were I could go for coffee.  With both kids it is a challenge so i was grateful for the chance today.

After Teagan’s doctor appointment and attempted nap time I got in some really good play time with them. That was followed by the challenging yet not as bad as it could have been bathing Amelia, feeding Teagan, then bathing Teagan juggling act.

All day I was craving Sushi, so i ordered delivery for when MC got home.  We hadn’t had in a while and it was delicious.  I was tired but it was a generally great day with my girls!

Securing my email a bit

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Today I completed my copying of my email off my Google App’s account.  That means all my data is safely on other systems besides Google Apps.  I finished re-pointing most of my domains to my new web host.  Next up is completing migrating my parents to the new system.  I cannot yet delete my Google Apps for Work account but i am one step closer.

A New Search Engine

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As a continuation of my previous discussion on my recent aversion to all things Google over the past month I have been moving my default search engine elsewhere.  I have been a fan of startpage.com.  I have heard from people I know that their search results are not nearly as good as google but they don’t log your searches so I made them my default search provider on my computers.  I do use Yahoo sometimes as an alternative to Google.  They may be close to Google in the data retention but the advise I got was they are a bit more transparent and better at fighting requests to hand over data.  That is purely opinion but the opinions of people I trust.

My Sudden Allergic Reaction to All Things Google

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I have recently had a technical dilemma.  I have been a user of many Google services over the years.  I have several Google Apps for Work domains.  I post private videos of my family on Youtube.  I have loved Google Voice long before Google owned it.  For most of the time I have used their services I have know there have been some questions about what they do with all the data collected.  From day one of Gmail you knew they were looking at your mail to give you ad’s.  At the time I brushed it off, especially since i didn’t really start using gmail for a few years after it came out.  After I did the lingering security questions were still there but because they provide services that really work well I didn’t question anything nor did I really care.  The cool aid was great.

The problem I am facing recently is I have read more specifically about what data Google collects and how long they store it.  Or rather how they don’t really say how long they store it.  There are many discussions on the topic, here, here, here, and many other places.  After reading a lot on the topic and talking with a few people I work with more knowledgeable on the subject than I am I decided the great user experience wan’t worth all I was giving them.

If was to move providers I needed first an email provider.  2nd I needed to stop using Google Voice.

Until very recently that was no small feat.  I didn’t want to rely on my mobile alone.  That is why I ported my mobile number to Google Voice in the first place.  Thankfully as good timing would have it the new IOS software offers wifi calling and handoff to computers for calls.  This is not nearly a replacement for google voice for me, but it made it easy to move back to one mobile for everything since as long as I had WIFI I know my number would work.  With my new iPhone 6 I would be able to solve my Google Voice dependency.  Next up of course is the bigger issue, my email hosting.  If just picking anyone I would have gone with Office 365 or some other cloud offering.  The problem was as I kept talking to people and reading more I have to say I wasn’t too happy with the US governments tactic’s on getting access to people’s accounts.  After that statement I know people are going to say if you don’t have anything to hide, why would you worry.  Well I don’t have anything to hide, but that’s not the point.  I would rather not know my government could relatively easily get access to my stuff with a court order that apparently happens more often than you would like.  I don’t think I am being paranoid guy about this.  To me it feels more like ignorance is bliss.  Since I do know how creepy stuff is apparently now a days I don’t just want to leave Google mail I want to ensure my data is safe where ever i put it.

I thought about my own server.  I just don’t want to deal with it.  The super secure Swiss email hosting provider was too expensive.  I opted for a well known general web hosting provider in Switzerland were data privacy laws are much more strict than in the US.

Next up for me is to goto the T-Moble store and port my number.  After that it is lots of mail copying to my new provider.

NATO Strap

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A few weeks ago I decided to try getting a new strap for my watch. I am thinking of a new watch and what I want to get has a heavy band. Looking on Pinterest I noticed that the NATO strap with a nice watch actually looks good and is considered pretty stylish. I was originally skeptical, but after my research i was sold on the idea. My Omega X-33 watch’s band is wearing pretty badly since it is titanium so I decided to try getting a NATO strap it as a test to see if I would like it. I went for a black and grey stripped combo.

I ordered 2 bands since the first cheaper one I got was crap and I didn’t even want to try putting it on the watch. Once I got the 2nd band I had to find time to goto the Omega store to get them to make the change for me. I wasn’t going to attempt that myself. Today I found time to get over to the store. Thankfully it was a 5 minute change. I think it looks good. I need to use it for a while to see if I like it better than the traditional metal band.

Last Day in London

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Today was my last day in London. As I write this i am on my flight home. As with most business trips the last day always seems like I should have gone home the day earlier. It is just because I am tired and home sick but it is still not easier. My 2nd workshop was very worthwhile so i am glad i had the opportunity to stay.

Thankfully the tubes weren’t striking and the workshop ended a bit early so i had plenty of time to take the tubes to Paddington and then catch the Heathrow Express. I traveled to the airport with Mark who was also headed that way. Since we work in two different continents we only get limited amounts of time to meet in person so the travel time was good to catch up on some stuff.

I can’t wait to get home to see MC and the kids. I hope Teagan is feeling better. I just want to give both of them big hugs! Until then I have to be happy that the flight is not packed. It was empty enough that I was able to move up a row to the middle of a bulkhead row. I now have enough leg room to put my feet up and barely touch the bulkhead in front of me. There is only one guy on the aisle and me in a row of 4. Since the aisle arm rests apparently do not move in the bulkhead row to accommodate the tray tables i am in the middle two seats able to sprawl out. Now if this guy in my row would stop coughing and not covering his mouth all would be good.

UK Bank Holiday, aka Cinco De Mayo

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For Cinco De Mayo I meet up with my friend Tom from work. He took me over to Hamstead Heath for a nice walk and to show me the London skyline. After that we hit a local pub for lunch and some afternoon bank holiday drinking. It was good to talk and hang out. We talk all the time at work but always on the phone. It is always good to get some good old fashioned bonding done when you are in the same city with someone you only speak to on the phone.

After leaving the pub with Tom I headed back to the hotel. It was early so I really didn’t know what else to do.  I headed out to forage for dinner.  Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that there was no line but I ended up eating at the Shake Shack in Covent Gardens. When I told her about it MC made some fun of me for doing that but I maintain if i was on the moon and there was a Shake Shack with no line i would eat there. Seriously that place always has a line. I was just utilizing an opportunity.  It was the perfect after drinks meal for someone who wasn’t keeping track of what they eat while they travel.

After the meal it was back to the hotel and a FaceTime with MC and the kids and now off to bed since it was back to work tomorrow.

Day Two Alone in London

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It is day two of me by myself in London. Technically day 7 of my trip. It is Sunday of a bank holiday here in the UK and the weather was fantastic.

After realizing Covent Gardens was a 5 minute walk from my hotel and that area had tons of stuff to do I went there for breakfast. I went to Bill’s. it was good but only after i went did i realize it was a chain. I was aiming for somewhere unique but apparently didn’t find it. The food was still good.

After breakfast I walked around Covent Gardens some more. It is a great area and everyone who recommended to stay at the hotel i am in was spot on.

After a little walking I headed back over to the Sherlock Holmes Museum. I wanted to see it and since i had less planned today i was ok to wait on line. It turned out to be about an hour wait. The museum was fun but not really worth the hour wait or the 10 pounds it cost to get in. As a Sherlock Holmes fan however I probably would have done it again if i had more information so no regrets.

After the Museum and gift shop (I didn’t buy anything honest) I headed over to Regent street for some shopping. I was looking for a replacement jacket for my North Face Jacket. I like the jacket but it is just a bit big on me. I got it when i was loosing weight and had no clue i would move into a size small. Now a Medium is really big on me. I ended up not finding anything I liked but got a pull over base layer to wear under a jacket like the North Face with a tea shirt.

After shopping I was back at Covent Gardens for the Transit Museum. It was interesting but not worth the 15 pounds. Unlike the Sherlock Holmes Museum I wouldn’t do this Museum again without kids.

After the transit museum I got some Gelato since i skipped lunch. It was good. I ate it on my walk back to my hotel.

At the hotel I unwound from the day of walking around and texted with my friend Tony trying to get dinner ideas. I selected Burger & Lobster as my dinner destination. It is in Soho and a 5 minute tube ride from my hotel. There was an hour and a half wait for a table but since i was alone i was able to get a seat at the bar with only little effort. I got the Lobster Roll. It was one of only 3 options on the menu. I could have had the Lobster Roll, a Burger, or Lobster. The Lobster Roll was fantastic and the food came pretty quick. Tony is now two for two on resteraunt picks.

After dinner I walked back from SoHo to my hotel. I didn’t find anywhere that looked good for desert so I ended up at the same chain cafe (not Starbucks) were i had desert and coffee yesterday. After that I turned into the hotel early. Since I was in the UK I did some light reading and then watched a Doctor Who episode on my computer!