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June 18, 200
Things here have just been crazy. I've been working like 50+ hours per week, but loving the new job. And, they pay for overtime over 45, so its not too bad. Makes all the over time worth it. I've also been traveling to Florida for a week or two at a time. We are doing some work at Cape Canaveral which is right next to the kennedy space center where they launch the space shuttle.

Aside from work, Mary and I have been keeping busy planning the wedding. She's been doing most of the work, but i "help" by nagging and asking lots of questions. The big day is July 8 and will be here before we know it.

And, last but not least, we just bought a new house. We're in escrow right now and it is set to close July 21, right after we get back from the honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Everything is moving very fast, but we're managing to hold on and just enjoy it! Check out the picture section for more up to date fun!

November 22, 2005
So I've been at Lockheed for about a week and a half now and i am loving it!! I've been working much longer hours than i was at Cisco, but it is really nice to be doing software engineering and working in Linux again. I didn't realize how much i really missed being a total nerd until i started programming again. Although work has been nerdy, I've manage to go surfing 9 out of the 15 days i've been here! It is so nice to get back in the water, even with my bionic leg brace (which says it can be used in both salt and fresh water...).

My house is officially on the market and ready to be sold. You can view the MLS listing at this link. Mary and I and my parents spent a couple days cleaning and painting most of the unit. I also had the carpets cleaned and I've been told it looks very nice.

October 30, 2005
Ok, so I haven't updated in a couple months... Sue me!! Anyway, much has changed so get ready for a long update. Geez, where do I start? So, my knee is doing much better. Doctor says that after 6 months the ligament will have attached itself to the bone at both ends. The six month mark is November 15. Then I will be able to go back to normal activities. However, my leg muscles aren't quite back to normal. I need to continue working out my legs to take the strain off my knee. I hope to get back to surfing soon. However, doc says I'm supposed to wear this bionic leg brace. We'll see how that works out. I also can't wait to get back to volleyball. Gotta beef up the leg more though before I attempt that.

Secondly, we're moving! I have accepted a new job at Lockheed Martin in Santa Maria, CA. Mary and I are renting a condo in Grover Beach. It is a very nice and spacious 3 bedroom condo. We will have plenty of room for guests!!

Mary just reminded me that I haven't written since we got engaged! Wow, that seems like forever ago. Here is a link to the pictures from the engagement. <Click here> I picked Mary up from work on her birthday in July. She was working in Hayward still at American Litho. I picked her up and she had no idea where we were going. We headed over the San Mateo Bridge and just kept going west until we hit the ocean. Headed south a ways to a little known place called The Ritz Carlton. Turns out Mary knew at this point what was going to happen, but she played along well. I thought the fact that it was her birthday might hide my real objective. So we pulled up to the front gate and checked in to the hotel. A few minutes later, all our bags showed up and we were ready to hit the beach for the picnic dinner I had packed. We walked down to the beach and found a little corner and had dinner. I guess I waited long enough to propose that Mary was starting to doubt it. But, just when she had started convincing herself that she could still have a good time even if I didn't propose, I popped the question. She said yes, surprise surprise and we returned to the hotel where there were chocolate covered strawberries waiting with a bottle of champagne. Turns out, they were replacing the carpet in the lobby of the hotel (which was directly below our room). I finally called to complain about 2.30 in the morning and they promptly moved us to a new room. But, because of our inconvenience they didn't charge us a dime for the whole event. Only cost me about $20 in tips! I've never been so happy about having a horrible nights sleep.

So, that's about it for now. I work Monday and Tuesday of this week, the movers come to pack on Wednesday, load Thursday, and deliver Friday. Then Mary and I will be back up here fixing up the condo and getting it ready to sell. Know anyone who wants to buy a condo? Let me know!! We're asking 385k which is about the average price right now for a unit in this complex. Units sold for as much as 400k, but the real estate marking has slowed a little bit and prices have evened out for now. We spent all day today cleaning and painting the guest bedroom as it is cleaned out since Jesse moved. After that I'm not really looking forward to cleaning the rest of the place! Oh well, at least it looks really nice when its al done.

I will send out a mass email with new addresses, phone numbers, etc. as soon as we get settled. And, I forgot to mention, the wedding will be July 8, 2006 at Edna Valley Vineyards in San Luis Obispo. We will be sending out "Save the Date" cards very soon and will have more details available. We have reserved a domain name and the web site can be found at http://www.scottnmary.com .

May 26, 2005
Here's a picture of my knee. I took it with my phone, so its not that great. I had my post op appointment yesterday and the doctor said i was doing well and ready to start physical therapy. However, it seems the PT place doesn't have any appts until the 6th of June. So it looks like I have another week of this leg bending machine. Oh well, its not that bad. I've been working from home, which is awesome because I can't drive and won't be able to for a couple weeks. Anyway, ehough of that, here's the picture. Click on it to see a larger one.

May 21, 2005
Well, I had my surgery Tuesday and am doing very well. I stayed at the hospital Tuesday night and came home to Wednesday. I took a few pain pills, but haven't taken anything for pain since Wed. night. I have my post-op appointment with the surgeon next wednesday, and i think i will start physical therapy soon after. My parents and Mary have been taking very good care of me. I still can't get around very well, and use a walker to get between the couch and the bathroom. I have to keep my leg in this machine that just bends it from 0 to 90 degrees for 6-8 hours a day which doesn't leave a whole lot of time to do other stuff. Next week shouldn't be as boring as i need to start doing work stuff again. They're letting me work from home which is very good because i probably won't be able to drive for a couple weeks.

May 15, 2005
So, I tore my ACL playing basketball at a Cisco lunch league about 4 weeks ago. Finally saw a surgeon last week and he said surgery is the only way to get if i ever wanted to be able to play active sports again. So, I'm going in for surgery Tuesday, May 17. Surgery is Tuesday morning and the Doctor said i will spend one night in the hospital. I have a pre-op appointment tomorrow morning to go over all the final details. I'm not really worried about it, the surgeon seems really good and has done this hundreds of times. And I'm sure my family and Mary will be more than helpful. I will be needing sooo much help. I've never had anything like this done before. Doc says crutches for about 4 weeks. Oh, maybe i can get a handicap thing so i can park close. That'd be sweet. But, in the end, doctor says i should be "As good as new, if not better" after about 6-8 months. Just in time for next ski season!! Boy am I going to be out of shape. Hopefully, I'll have some exercises i can do to minimize the shock when i can finally run again!

We're getting kittens!! They were born April 9th. We have to wait until they are 8 weeks old to take them from their mom. I have tons of pictures, but they're still on my camera. Maybe i'll have some time to put them on the web site over the next week. I'm sure i will!! I can't wait to get them. We're going to pick them up June 4, and take them to the vet for their first doctors visit. It is going to be exciting to have 2 little kittens running amok around the condo.

The condo is pretty much back to normal. The smoke smell still lingers, but i think some of it may be in my head. The construction on the burned units was supposed to start last week but hasn't begun yet. They have an ending date of August 31. So the end is somewhat in site. I will be so relieved once the place is fixed up. The burned units just give the place a kind of ghetto feeling. I finally talked with the insurance agent for the HOA and he said my cleaning expenses should be refunded. I'm not celebrating yet, but it does give me some encouragement as i was sure i was out the 2500 bucks.

April 16, 2005
Yo! Everything is just about back to normal here in SJ. The two condo's still haven't been touched as far as rebuilding goes and it has been over 3 months since the fire. Oh well, hopefully it will happen soon. I'm still waiting to hear if they will honor my claim with the insurance company. They weren't supposed to be replacing belongings such as carpet and appliances, but the final report from the insurance company included those things, even window coverings. Therefore, since those things were damaged in my apt. they should be fixed as well. So right now, I'm waiting to hear if i will get new carpeting and paint. I really hope so, the smell isn't too bad, but it is still noticeable and definitely isn't in the state of before the fire.

So other than the house, I've been keeping busy with work and Mary. Work hasn't bee too bad, just staying busy. Mary and I went to Colorado last weekend to see her best friend Kris. She lives with her bf in Denver and they both graduated from culinary school. Overall, it was an awesome weekend, and getting snowed in made it that much better! Our flight was supposed to leave Sunday at 2.30. However, no flights were going in or out of the Denver Airport Sunday. I finally got a hold of United and the earliest return flight was Tuesday at 5.30pm! Can you believe it? At least we had a place to stay and flexible jobs that didn't fire us!

And, last but not least, I'm getting kittens in 5 weeks!! I can't wait. Mary's sister's friend Jessica's cat just had four kittens a week ago. So, we went to look at them today and pick out the two we want. I'll try and get pictures soon, but they won't be here for another month or so. Hopefully by then all the construction on the condos will be done!!!

January 6, 2005
FIRE!!! So ya, Here is the story of my life recently. We (Mary and Dan and I) were headed to Tahoe for a new years celebration. However, mother nature had some things to say about that. We left Fremont at about 3 in the afternoon on Thursday the 30th in the middle of a storm. Our buddy Jesse had left SLO at 7:30 that morning. Highway 80 (the gateway to Tahoe) had been closed off and on all day due to blizzard conditions over the summit. So we get up to highway 80 about 7 pm and come to a screeching halt on the freeway. We slowly inch forward, passing an off ramp... 40 minutes later we still haven't gone underneath the over crossing from the off ramp. Kelly is about 5 miles ahead (at the next off ramp) and says they haven't seen an off ramp (ours) for about 3 hours. Too make a long story short we all turn around and crash at a friends place in Sacramento for the night. Seven of us in a little two bedroom apartment. There were bodies everywhere! Anyway, we returned to Fremont the next day and celebrated the New Year at Kelly, Alan, and Dan's place. See the pics in the photo album. So we turned what was heading to be a disaster into a pretty good time.

Now for the good stuff. So on Tuesday the 4th, I'm just chillin getting ready for work and someone starts pounding on my door yelling FIRE!!!! So i open the door and see smoke coming from the condo next door. I grab my laptop :-) and run out into the front yard. The fire department had already been called and people had been evacuated from the nearby units. Nothing much left to do but watch and wait. Fire department showed up about 10 minutes later and quickly extinguished the fire. Luckily, my unit was spared fire damage. However, the fire gutted the downstairs unit (where the fire started) and did major damage to the one above it (right next to mine). So, my house is still standing but unfortunately covered in a layer of soot and smells really bad. It is so bad that I can't stay there and have temporarily moved back in with the parents. I've moved all my clothes and have finished washing most of them and the smell is gone. What remains is the rest of the unit. So far i have one estimate and am waiting on another. It looks like it will be about $2000 for a full cleanup. Smoke got everywhere... and left oily yucky stuff on everything.

So, just claim it on your insurance you say. Well, see, there's this funny story about how I bought a condo and well it came with insurance that covers the physical structure and outside which is all the mortgage company requires you to have. I'd been looking into getting a policy, etc. but it just didn't get done. So, here i am with a condo that needs to be cleaned... Since the fire started in another unit, their insurance should cover all damage caused (liability). However, my insurance company would be the people used to go after them (I don't have one). So, I am currently trying to figure out what to do exactly. Any ideas? Email me...
Here is a link to the fire pictures of my house.
http://www.sbthomas.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=67

November 29, 2004
So I finally sent out the mass email with all my updated information. If you didn't get it, email me (scott@sbthomas.com) and I will send you my updated information. Here is a link to the pictures of my house. http://www.sbthomas.com/gallery/index.php?cat=2

November 24, 2004
Yo. I'm pretty much moved in!! Wahoo. Don't have my computers yet (which some people cannot believe), but am for the most part settled. We went to ikea last Saturday and bought all sorts of cool stuff including: Norden, Olles, Jussi, and alleby. In case you aren't down with the Ikea speak, that's a kitchen table, chairs, coffee table, and entertainment center. I hope to get pictures up soon, but as i don't have my computers it makes it a little difficult.

On a bad note, my car got broken into the third night here :-(. They stole my radio and CD changer... Oh well.. What're you gonna do. Didn't do any damage to the car which i was thankful for... Went to Fry's today and bought myself a 79 dollar special. Xtreme sound brand... I heard they were supposed to be good?? Anyway, I'll install that over the thanksgiving time. It will be fun.

So, here are the plans over the holiday... Thursday is at Mary's house in Santa Cruz. (Yikes!) Friday is in Castro Valley at my Aunt's house. Other than that I'll be getting settled into my new place. Mass email coming soon with address and contact info, etc.

November 13, 2004
Its mine, all mine!!! I own it. Got the keys on Thursday. In LA this weekend hanging out with Diane at her new place. Should move in next weekend the 20th. Katie is coming down with a truck to help. Mary and her sister will be painting as Katie and I will be moving stuff.

November 8, 2004
Just got back from signing major documents. Tomorrow money is supposed to fly and everything should be settled by Wednesday. I'll get the keys then and it will officially be my condo...

October 30, 2004
So there were some minor problems with the home inspection, but overall everything went well. The HOA (Home Owners Association) is going to pay for all required fixes. Now i just need to decide if there are any major things I want to do before I move in like maybe carpet or something.

I just heard I was approved for my loan, so that makes everything official. Escrow closes Monday, November 8, 2004 and I will have the keys on Tuesday!

October 18, 2004
Guess what?? I bought a house!!! That's right I made an offer on a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condominium in San Jose and they accepted. I still can't believe it. I offered 5,000 more than asking as they had another offer. Had to make sure I beat it!!
So here's is the roadmap from now on. I have 10 days to back out of the deal if anything is bad. So we're getting termite and other home inspections down on Thursday. Assuming the place isn't falling apart, I'll go into escrow. That's supposed to last about 25 - 30 days, then (from what i hear) I get the keys and can move in! But then again i've never done this before so who knows! I will be posting updates here as the occur, so check back often. Right now I put some pictures Mary took when we looked at it on the 16th. The Pictures link in the left column finally works or you can click this link to take you directly to the house pictures.

My new house!!!

August 18, 2004
Hello all! Check out the newest member of the crew to get his name in lights!! http://www.jenglert.com

Also, I know the pictures link doesn't work... see well, there's a link, but no pictures yet... So once i get around to putting all the pictures on the server, then you can see pictures!! Wahoo.

July 23, 2004
So, its been quite a while since I updated the site. Doh, gotta run. Girlfriend calls...

April 21, 2004
What's better than working on a thesis?? Updating an old web page of course! I'm going to put up a links page, but until then, check these sites out...
Urban Dictionary
Mike Watts

February 6, 2004
Yippy it's 2k4! That's all.

December 9, 2003
Here I am with my once a quarter update whether the web site needs it or not. So, uh ya... I put some new research up and update my resumes. That's about it though...

September 5, 2003
Here it is, September already!! I just had my huge presentation for Cisco yesterday. I have one more week of work and have to write a final paper. I'm trying to put that off as much as possible. Writing just isn't as much fun as coding and testing. But anyway, I get to move back to SLO on the 13th. I wait to move in to my new house. Wahoo. Well, back to work! Oh, and I'm adding a text me button. Don't be afraid to send me a message.

July 10, 2003
Hi, I'm still alive.

May 1, 2003
Ok, the pictures section is up so check it out. It will open in a new window, so you don't have to worry about losing your place in my home page. Use all the buttons in the photo album. It has forward, back, up, details, etc. Hopefully I will be able to add descriptions sometime soon. Off to study for a midterm.

April 30, 2003
Today, I added more documents under the active research section. Soon I hope to actually create two separate sections: One containing a list of the documents I have authored and another containing the current research I am doing. I also created the schedule page and hope to post each quarters schedules here. I think I will also post my remaining course work to keep track of how close I am to graduation. Pictures are on the way soon, I promise. So much to do, so little time.

April 29, 2003
This is the debut of my web site! This is the first web site that I won't be embarrassed about in a few years. Hopefully I can find the time to update it and keep you all informed on my life. I'm still in the process of adding content, but check out all the links to the left.