Brad’s Life

Just found out via TUAW that you can run a quick command in the Terminal to create a banner-style printout saying whatever you want.  Rarely useful, but still pretty cool!

 Link

So my little dog, Bear, just got home from the Animal Hospital after having a bladder stone removal surgery. He’s still kinda druggy, in pain, all stitched up, and moping around the house with this, “Daddy, why do you hate me?” look on his face. I NEVER get sick, and my kiddo has stones! What kind of sick world is this where I spend more on healthcare for my dog than for me? After getting the bill, I had this moment where I thought, “Y’know, we did similar surgeries on other animals in H.Phys lab, I’ll bet I could’ve done this myself much cheaper.”

Somehow, though, I think that would’ve been a very bad idea…

Here’s pics from the trip! The hotel was beautiful…check out the flickr photoset:

Flickr - Nashville

Ok, not exactly a vacation. Sort of a work trip. But, I get to go spend a few days in Nashville meeting some other McAlister’s people, playing some golf, and just hanging out a bit. Oughta be good fun.

Only problem is that our flight leaves at 730 in the morning. Ick…I guess I oughta get some sleep. If I get the gumption, maybe I’ll post more with pictures and all later on. For now, sleepy-time…

More speficially, Southlake. I’ve spent the past few days in DFW for some work meetings/classes, etc. Overall, it was a good experience. This class was on financials, so we discussed different areas of the finacial aspect of the business, and ways to better maintain and control our expenditures. Also, we discussed some budgeting methods as we begin to write our budgets for the next year. Too many late nights, though…I work with a group of night-owls. I think the earliest I got to sleep was about 1:30AM.

At least I got a good bit of rest when I got back last night, and now I’m refreshed and ready to get back to life as usual. I started this morning with a nice game of golf. I shot an 86! (Ok, so it was a par 3 course…shhh!) Happy Friday!

So Jenn’s out of town for the next 24 hrs., going to a wedding shower for some friends of ours. I, however, will be stuck in Waco working tomorrow for the Parent’s Weekend game. So, tonight I’m off to hang out with some friends I haven’t spent time with in…well, a long time. Hopefully that will stave off the boredom for a while.

Is it sad that I’m this lost without her around? I don’t think so. We’re very much a part of each other’s lives, and spending time together each day is a huge part of our routine. I enjoy the time we spend together talking more than any thing else I do (even geeking out on the computer). Looking forward to time together is what keeps our relationship going in a very real way. We both get very busy with work, and making the time to connect is our relief from the rest of the world. But, I suppose I can survive 24 hours or so. I was single once, I think…

This is primarily for my own future reference as I try to archive to disc some of my favorite TV shows, but if anyone else stumbles across it and it helps, more power to you. I assembled these commands from various online resources, and this has been the set of steps most consistently successful for me. YMMV. I also included spots along the way where you can delete source files to free up space for those, like me, who didn’t think ahead about really wanting to stick with linux and now have a painfully small ext partition to work with.

STEP ONE - Convert the movies to mpg

First collect all files in a folder ON AN EXT formatted drive, move to that folder in a terminal window, and enter the following (I use half-dvd to fit more episodes per disc since I don’t have a top-notch display anyway, for better quality use “-dvd” in its place):

tovid-batch -half-dvd -ntsc -infiles *.avi

STEP TWO - Prepare a menu file

You can now delete all source files (the *.avi files). Now, make a menu:

makemenu title1.mpg title2.mpg title3.mpg -out menu

*NOTE - do not put an extension on the end of the “menu” outfile name

STEP THREE - Make the XML file

Now, make the xml file that will tie it all together:

makexml -menu menu.mpg title1.mpg title2.mpg title3.mpg mydvd

*NOTE - again, do not put an extension on the outfile name

STEP FOUR - Author the dvd file system

Use the xml file to make the DVD:

makedvd -image mydvd.xml

STEP FIVE - Burn the ISO

You can delete all files except the newly created ISO file. Now use your favorite dvd burning software (such as GnomeBaker) to burn the newly created ISO file to a disc! GnomeBaker is pretty much a cakewalk, so I’m going to skip the instructions there.

FOR MORE DETAIL/REFERENCE

For more options and information on all the above commands, check out Tovid Manual Pages

Ahhh, this is a nice, relaxing day. I slept in, go a hair cut, and just got done with some incredible steak. It was great steak, by the way. The most tender, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth steak ever. Jenn’s marinade is incredible stuff. Off to play some golf later.

It’s times like this that I’m glad no one else reads this blog. Mainly b/c I can go back and read a post and think, “man, I’m even bored reading that”…

No, not Thanksgiving, just turkey day…I just finished making 100 turkey sandwiches for a 250 box lunch order. I smell like turkey and tomato. Put some swiss on me and I’d make a great lunch.

This friggin’ game is addictive…