January 20, 2009 11:07 PM

As many other bloggers are doing, I am writing about my experiences on this historic day in the United States. Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President. My kids are born into a new world, and by the time they are my age, this may be a more common experience for them.

I enjoyed his speech, as it supplied a dose of reality along with hope. Setting expectation is important at this stage. Too many people who don’t understand how our government works expect a lot out of a president, when in reality, it’s really the Senate and House of Representatives that are truly responsible, but the people hold the President accountable.

The current budget crisis here in the California is a perfect example of this. Our state assembly is holding up the budget, and is not willing to make tough decisions. President Obama gave an example in his speech regarding workers being willing to take a pay cut in order to avoid a friend from losing their job. This is a call for action and sacrifice in order to help the country get through this economic crisis. Governor Schwarzenegger has already begun doing just that within California’s state agencies. http://cbs5.com/politics/state.pay.cuts.2.792888.html

At least Governor Schwarzeneggar is willing to take action to help the overrun expenditures instead of just wait around for a bunch of politicians to come to agreement and let the state run in the red.

I hope that President Obama is willing to take similar actions to get the USA back on track.

In technology news, President Obama is establishing the first Chief Technology Officer position in his cabinet. 2 executives that work for Cisco are up for the position. http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/19/1557211&from=rss

I think it’s a great idea to have a CTO. With the convergence of many technologies, it is even more important to understand how to best deploy technology within the government to maximize return on tax payer dollars.

~rb

December 29, 2008 8:43 PM

Christmas is now over. Mom went home yesterday. We went to Patio Filipino in San Bruno for lunch before dropping her and her husband off at the airport. Patio Filipino is my favorite Filipino restaurant. They have several different types of Sisig and Bagoong flavored dishes.

Christmas was fun, as it was the kids first Christmas. They received a lot of toys and clothing. Baby Einstein was fairly popular. They also received some hand puppets from Uncle Vince!

Well, 2008 was a great year for the family. Chloe and Sebastian were born this year. My brother got married, and everyone is healthy.

In 2009, hopefully the economy will pick up, but I think we won’t see any real recovery until 2010. The bright is that 2009 will be another year of firsts for the kids. There are also some great movies in 2009. I’m looking forward to Transformers 2. Hopefully, Annie and I will be able to see it in the theater.

Well, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. We wish you a Happy New Year!

~rb

December 22, 2008 9:58 PM

Christmas is just a few days away. We are excited about Chloe and Sebastian’s first Christmas! Family is flying in to celebrate at home with us. Annie has done a lot of work to prepare for the upcoming party. We’re both looking forward to everyone being here at home with us.

I’ll write back after the holidays to hopefully do some tech looks.

Happy Holidays everyone!

~rb

November 28, 2008 1:34 PM

We had Thanksgiving away from home for the first time in over 5 years. We’re in Santa Barbara for the weekend. My brother is getting married tomorrow, and this is a very special occasion, worth breaking the tradition of home.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner out last night. The food and company were great as we were with close family. Sebastian and Chloe enjoyed themselves, being around grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Today is Black Friday, and I’m avoiding the crowds by staying at the hotel with the kids. Tomorrow will be an action packed day and an opportunity to catch up with people I haven’t seen for over 3 years. I’m looking forward to the gathering.

Stay tuned for an update.

~rb

I went fishing this weekend down in So Cal. It was a great weekend where I got to see friends and family for the first time in years. The occasion was my brother’s bachelor party.

It was a good time. The weather was perfect. The sea was pretty much flat and there was a perfect breeze in the air. The sky was clear and sunny. Last, but not least, the fish were biting!!! My cousin Joe won the boat jackpot for biggest fish. Everyone had a great time. I think I’m gonna try to make this an annual thing.

November 23, 2008 8:46 AM

Ok. I told myself that I would never do this but….

Our national deficit is terrible. Interest expense is the 3rd largest expense in the federal budget. Social spending and defence are the only 2 expenditures higher than interest.

We need a long term plan to get interest expense under control. This is money that is being thrown away with no value. Also, the expenditures made with these loans aren’t revenue generating…

Also, what’s up with the auto makers??? They’ve just screwed up. Here are some factoids…

Toyota: Profit of 5 Billion a year. CEO makes 1 million a year
Ford: Lost 2.7 Billion, CEO makes 20 million a year
GM: Lost 38.7 billion, CEO makes 15 million a year

I don’t know how much is salary versus bonus, but hell, there should be no bonuses paid out if you have any loss….

Just makes you wonder what these people are thinking…

~rb

November 15, 2008 9:43 PM

Today, Chloe and Sebastian had several firsts! They are now 4 months old, and are quickly experiencing new things.

Both of them tried solid food for the first time today. Auntie Christine was around to witness Chloe and Sebastian trying out banana oatmeal. Sebastian kind of let it dissolve in his mouth, but he did eat it. Chloe took to it very quickly and swallowed normally. They both seemed to enjoy the experience.

Chloe also is almost sitting up on her own. She was able to hold herself up for around 4 seconds, using her hands to help her stay up.

Sebastian began to hold his own bottle. He was so adorable. Annie and I were wondering what his “praying” gestures with his hands were for. Now we know that he can use it to hold his bottle. He held his bottle for almost his whole feeding.

Sebastian is very close to rolling over on his own. He already does it while sleeping in his swaddle, but we have yet to witness it while he’s awake.

Nothing else new is going on. Just work stuff. We’ll be off to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving, where Vincent and Amelia will get married. We’re looking forward to that trip.

~rb

November 2, 2008 10:24 PM

This weekend was fun. We dressed up the kids as 2 pea pods. They looked great and fell asleep in their cozy costumes. Saturday, we were cooped up in the house, but this gave us the chance to play with the kids and take some well deserved naps. I went grocery shopping today and made chili for dinner.

Off to another week of work tomorrow.