For the past four years, we have been doing the ADA's Tour de Cure. We lost Rachel's father, Ken, a few years to diabetes. In addition, Rachel and a number of family and friends have diabetes. Therefore, we like to support the ADA when we can.

As Rachel and I do not normally ride our bikes, we are in poor shape for this event; had it been a walk, we would have an easier time. Additionally, even with the liberal application of sunscreen, we still become sunburned. However, we still enjoy doing the ride.

I keep kidding my wife by telling her she does not need to generate situations for me to write about; I have enough stuff happen to me as it is. :) Anyway, I am overdue for an update:

We finally had our garage sale. Anything we could not sell was donated to Goodwill and the local library. It is nice to park (at least one vehicle) in the garage again. Now, if we could only get the garage door open to work.

I am now within mere months of completing my Bachelors in Computer Science. I was able to submit an experiential learning portfolio that gave me credit for five classes. Moreover, while I am excited to be so close to reaching this next plateau, I am having difficulty getting motivated. Maybe I need a relaxing vacation. I have not had a good vacation in a couple of years now. While I have been able to get away for a few days at a time, I have not been able to detach myself mentally from normal life.

I am driving to work, as I normally do, when I get caught behind a school bus. When the bus stopped at a railroad crossing, I had to stop too. It was not because I wanted to stop. Rather, it was because my vehicle died. I quickly restarted the engine. But, the Check Engine light came on. In addition, it was sputtering to the point of nearly stalling out again. I pulled off the road and let the vehicle sit for a few minutes. I checked my gas cap (as that that can cause the engine light to come on). However, it still continued to sputter.

Whew! Things have been crazy here. My main computer at home had problems a few weeks ago. I ultimately had to wipe the hard drive and start over. I did not lose any data; I have good backups. However, it took quite a long time to get up back up and in a usable condition. I still do not have all the software reinstalled. But, my current classes are coming to a close. I needed to catch up on all my homework. I am nearly caught up now.

Rachel and I went to the Lorain Palace Theatre to watch Barak Obama's Presidential Inauguration Ceremony. I am not really a political person. However, I had never been to that theater. In addition, it is a historical event. There were a number of news crews there. One of them even caught a picture of us standing there.

I started working at Tri-C (Cuyahoga Community College) last Monday as a Programmer/Analyst in the Distance Learning department. So far it has been a fun and interesting experience. The first day was spent on orientation. About a dozen of us new employees were doing orientation that day. Human Resources helped fill out forms. We talked with Parking, Payroll, and Benefits. We also viewed a few videos about the college.

I hope everyone had a good holiday. Unlike most years, Rachel and I actually dressed up and went out to celebrate. It is the first time since our wedding since she has worn a dress! She looked wonderful in it. She will probably post the pictures we took on her site.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas or whichever holiday your family celebrates. It has been a crazy past couple of weeks. Pizza Hut finally contacted me about our past dining experience. They sent me a couple of coupons for free pizzas. In addition, the regional manager contacted me and gave me a $25 credit for my next order. That is fine, just as long as their products improve. I am not going to eat a crummy pizza even if it is free.