I spent this morning watching my kids while Beth went to a dentist appointment. The kids were good and they actually did some pretty cool stuff while Beth was away. Sharkie was trying to crawl and actually got himself over to a toy tower where the kids can drop balls into and watch them go around a loop and play music (similar to what I've seen in some fancy gumball machines). He got a hold of one of the balls and was trying to get it into the top of the tower but the music triggers were to hard for him to push past. It was still neat. I was hoping to catch some of his stuff on video but my little Scooter was grabbing the camera or trying to climb up on me while I was recording. In a feat of her own, Scooter stood up on her own from sitting for the very first time just after Beth got home! That was awesome. I'm glad I was home for that.
After finishing the chapter that I was reading in the guide to building a "Database Driven Website" I decided that it was time to work on my truck. Beth and the kids took a nap while I went out and removed my battery and the alternator. The toughest part was getting the serpentine belt off the alternator after I had it unbolted. I wasn't actually sure how I was going to get it off, but I finally noticed a spring-loaded mechanism that I was able to barely pull far enough to get the alternator out of the belt.
Once Beth and the kids wake up we'll head out to the store. We're heading to Sam's Club for some diapers and whatever else. On the way (there or back, I'm not sure) we'll stop into the auto parts store to have the battery and alternator checked and as long as it's not too expensive I'll get what I need there. Until then I think I'll enjoy this small amount of quiet time to play on my computer and try out some newly learned PHP tricks. ;)
Friday our A/C compressor finally got replaced, but just when we get one thing fixed something else breaks. Three breakdowns this week have got me a little more busy than I had expected to be. Some are easier fixes than others - two are website related and one is automotive.
Shalom and Joy (www.shalomandjoy.com), a retail website that I built for my friends at Tel Aviv Messianic Fellowship needs some updates. Apparently there was a miscommunication about one of the products that was supposed to be included on the new website. I was already working on getting them submitted to some search engines, including Google Adwords, and since oils are some of their best selling items it is something else that needs to be added to the site very soon. I'll try to have that finished up by noon today.
Funagain Games (www.funagain.com) moved their website to a new server this week so now I'll need to go in and change all the links in my site that point to their games (such as the image and links currently found on my weblog pages). If it weren't for Dreamweaver's site wide update it would take me forever.
My truck also broke down this week, on my way home from visiting a friend that was gone to the war for over a year. I got about halfway home when my engine stalled and wouldn't restart. (Is "restart" a term that can be used properly for cars? I use it so much with computer that it was just natural to say.) My battery light was on and my battery gauge was showing no charge. It had actually been steadily dropping during my drive but I was hoping to get home before the truck stalled. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I called home, got my wife to call for around to find a tow truck to pick me up for a reasonable price, and waited. Now I'm driving my wife's car until I have time to work on the truck. Hopefully I can get it fixed by the end of the week.