• Hit the Quicksilver key combo (I use ctrl-space)
• Hit the , (comma) key to go into text-entry mode
• Type your message... for example, "Stand up and stretch".
• Hit tab, then ctrl-return to 'freeze' the message.
• Start typing 'Run after Delay...' (after the first 4-5 letters it should show up in the lower QS pane).
• Once Run after Delay is shown, hit tab (a third 'lower pane' in QS should now appear).
• Type the time interval. (10m = 10 minutes, 2h = 2 hours, 30s = 30 seconds, you get the picture)

Now, after the time interval has elapsed, you'll get a big full-screen message reminding yourself of whatever it was you needed to do. It may seem like a lot of keystrokes, but it's actually VERY fast once you get used to, and incredibly handy for setting a regular stretch/exercise if you spend a lot of time at the keyboard, or just reminding yourself of random daily tasks lest you lose track of time. I regularly use this trick as a 'surf timer', to limit my random web surfing to a specific timespan, but the more you get used to it the more uses you'll find for it. I've been using it a lot lately for 'check on the baby' reminders, for what it's worth.

Enjoy, and happy Quicksilvering!

For one, I'm the kung-foo master of calming Devin down. Desiree is looked at as both mother and food source, but I'm the calming figure in his life. Between the strategies in "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and my general diplomacy skills, I can usually get him from pinchy-red faced screams to nap-time in about 5 minutes. Not to say Des isn't good at it too, but somehow - whether it's the sound of my voice, or the smell of my skin - he seems to calm down faster with me. Nice. I can feel like I have some intrinsic part to play in his parenting already.

It's a dead-heat as to which of us can change a diaper faster now. I'm damn good, but as Des has been taking the night shift lately she's got some tricks to do it VERY quickly I haven't picked up (mostly as she's so fast I rarely wake up before she's crawling back into bed).

Most of all, my patience level and general sense of urgency have improved greatly with Devin now in the household. Trips outside take a lot longer to prepare for now, I find myself planning small outings hours in advance just to make sure everything goes smoothly, and with no work responsibilities to take care of, I'm generally unscattered and don't feel the need to rush anything.

I think we're learning as much- if not more - about life from Devin as he is from us.
Nice.

Desiree and Devin catch a quick nap on the sofa.

I then interrupt them with my flash.

Follow the saga here.

There's more pictures here, too

Devin Benjamin Fegette was born at 10:11pm on June 1st, at 8 pounds/7 ounces. Although you can't see it here, he's got his Grandpa Pete's red hair, too. There's a lot more pictures here, too.

(Spoiler alert: if you read or click further and have yet to see this episode, I take no responsibility for ruining the episode for you. Consider yourself duly warned.)

That being said- with all the baby stuff lurking throughout the house and no baby to use it on, we've discovered that a few of the items of infant gadgetry are actually kinda handy.

• The changing pad makes a perfect cushion for sitting on while watching TV. I'll probably revise my opinion there after it's been pooped upon a few times, of course.
• The nose bulb is really handy for blowing dust out of my laptop keyboard. I'll definitely reconsider this once it's got some snot in it, tho.
• The cool ocean noise generator we got for the baby room (came with the playpen, if I recall correctly) puts me to sleep lickety-split. If it works half as well with the kid, I'm set.
• And finally - baby wipes are the most awesome and handy item of all. They should just call 'em people wipes.

I guess it should go without saying that we're getting more than a bit stir crazy over here. Argh.

Technorati Tags: parenthood, journal

Watch the video at Alex's site...

Check out the trailer at the Yahoo! site here...

This will cover measuring and notching the saddles, installing the bridge, and some ancillary work to tweak your bass back into playability after the surgery. Now some folks will swear that Badass bridges work just fine without cutting notches (and if they're cool with that, then I won't argue), but at least for my instruments, I wholly disagree. You'll hold a tuning better and get better tone with a notched saddle that can seat the string well on the bridge, and not allow slippage to dampen the string's vibration and possibly reduce sustain and tone. That's my $.02 on the subject. Take with your own grain of salt.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for you f@#king up your instrument(s), and as this is getting written up after I've finished my own projects I can't take pictures to accompany the steps, but here's the painful details on how I installed Badasses on my basses - when I did the work myself.

We finished up the baby room last week, which means that Des officially has nothing left to do other than prepare herself both physically and mentally for the delivery, and exercise her obsessive-compulsive disorders. The subsequent week has been mostly the latter, I might add. Rooms being rearranged, various surfaces being cleaned repeatedly, the vaccuum cleaner making more appearances in a week than in most pre-pregnancy months, anything to burn off that nervous energy she's feeling right now. My particular favorite is finding any possession of mine that (formerly) resided in one of our closets being deposited in neat piles in my office, for me to somehow will into a new and non-existant storage space. As if there was any room left over with all her shoes... hah!

And me... o'boy things are feeling edgy these days. I feel like I'm a third grader in the last week of school before summer vacation. Yes, there's things I need to do between now and then, but I can only think about the baby. I've been combing over lists of things we need (or at least think we need) and really making the UPS delivery folk earn their pay. During the day I'm diligently nailing down loose ends that may fray in the wind whilst I'm out on paternity leave, and doing my best to not get sucked up into any new projects all the while. Mentally, I'm definitely on edge. Not on edge as in being a grade-A hater and spouting passive-aggressive screed while biting my lower lip, but on edge as in finding weird humor in everyday moments, and possessed with far more nervous jitters than even my long-standing addiction to caffeine could instill.

I swear - if we both weren't so adept at finding things to occupy our time, we'd probably both be sitting perched in front of a clock watching the second hand tick by waiting for contractions to start.
It's so close now it's aggravating.
Argh.

Methinks this seems a bit fishy. Not only does the image at the original blog post look strangely Photoshopped, but if I recall correctly, iPhones are locked down under security tighter than the White House right now. My friends at Cingular IT are only getting their first opportunity to see one behind closed doors next week, yet this shot appears to be in public, at an event of some sort. Add the fact that 4 and 8 gigs of memory in an iPhone is barely enough for a decent mp3 library, let alone a bunch of video, I've got to claim extreme skepticism.

Although I think this sounds like a sweet field use for an iPhone, my bullshit meter is reaching it's maximum right now. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

My trustworthy and dependable Fat Strat, now sporting Seymour Duncan pickups (2x Classic Stacks in the neck/middle position, 1x Jeff Beck model humbucker in the bridge), a blocked tremolo bridge (never use the damn things anyway), regutted and reworked internal electronics, Sperzel locking tuners, and a pearloid white pickguard to match the rest of my collection.

I cannot believe how amazing this sounds now with the trem bridge blocked and locked (extra sustain now that it's not floating), and in particular, the JB bridge pickup, which is smooth as silk whether clean or punched. For a guitar I got as an afterthought to have a songwriting buddy, this has turned into a A-lister, no doubt about it.

The Fender restoration rush of 2007 is now over. Time to crank it up and let these f@#kers sing. :D

My Jazz V 5-string, apres-modifications. 2 Bartolini pickups w/preamp added (controls are - top to bottom - master volume, pickup blend, concentric bass/treble EQ, midrange scoop), a Badass V bridge - something no bass should be without - and a complete reworking of the neck.

Between the Badass adding a metric ton of definition/sustain and the Bartolinis giving it a much rounder and warmer tone overall, this bass just became a LOT more versatile in tone. In particular, the new bridge lets the B-string speak with incredible clarity and definition now, whereas before I had to really choke down to the bridge with my right hand to get a tight note out of it. No muddiness in the low register whatsoever now- it's almost painfully punchy and tight. Sincere thanks to Noah for breaking down and letting me buy this f@#ker from him in the first place.