First Day of School

First day of school, August 17th. Crazy how school seems to start earlier every year. Here we are miniature golfing on Labor Day. I forgot my camera, so I used Jess's cell phone to take pictures.

tivoli command line check file backup versions

dsmc q backup -inactive ""

dsmc q backup -inactive "/var/log/messages"

You can also use the '*' wildcard character.

dsmc q backup -inactive "/var/log/*"

show me rpm installs sorted by install time

rpm -qa --qf '%{installtime} %{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE} %{installtime:date}\n' | sort -n

work related

I'm posting this on my public blog in case it proves useful to someone. I was trying to compile a .so on a RedHat5 Linux system with an atexit call in it using the linker ld directly. When I tried to compile an executable and link the library in I got the following error message:

hidden symbol `atexit' in /usr/lib64/libc_nonshared.a(atexit.oS) is referenced by DSO

I found a few pages out there which suggested creating the .so by using gcc instead of ld which does work but I wanted to use ld. To use ld I had to link in libc_nonshared.a by using the -lc_nonshared flag.

Baby Emily Isabella Lyons

She's here! The stork was late on this one but Emily was born August 5, 2008 at 10:55 am. She was 8 lb 13 oz at birth which makes her our heaviest baby. She's 19.5 in long and as cute as can be. It was a tough labor but Shelly and the baby are doing great. Originally she was due July 30th but she was in no hurry to get here.

We had a hard time with names on this one. Shelly didn't want to re-use other family members names and between the two of us we have more than a few female relatives. Between our trip to Italy last year and the meaning of the name from on line lookups I liked the name Isabella. Unfortunately there seems to be some kind of vampire book out where one of the main character names is Isabella. Shelly said people would likely not remember that in a dozen years but I don't really want to have to explain it. Evidently she's read the book(s) but I haven't. I kind of like the name Emma and she likes the name Emily. Emily sounds nice and Emily Isabella seems to ring better than Isabella Emily so there you have it. Maybe you'd like to see some pics?


Here she is getting here temperature taken.


Here she is with mom.


Now she's hanging out with her sisters.

Try It Again

Saturday's bike ride was so fun we decided to try it again. This time with Megan and my sister Meredee. Meredee had just purchased a new bike and this seemed like a good time to break it in. I also broke down and bought a trail-a-bike from Taylor's bike shop so my 4 year old Hannah could come with us. The day was hot and sunny which wasn't as much fun but Hannah was thrilled to be able to go with us and they all loved the park.


Here we are just before we rode over to get Meredee. You can see Hannah on the trail-a-bike attached to the bike I'm riding. She was soooo excited.


The path we took.


The elevation chart. I still want to see how far the trail goes but I need to condition my girls first. Megan isn't a big fan of the gravel, Meredee isn't use to the elevation and Nicole's bike only has one gear but it is still fun.

Saturday Bike Trip

I took Megan on a bike ride Saturday morning. We often ride on some city trails around a golf course in our area. The trails are covered in asphalt and are for cycling, walking and jogging. On the way it looked like the city was expanding the trail to the south so I took Ashley and Nicole to explore the trail that afternoon. The trail turned to gravel after just a short distance and then to dirt as we went from Cedar Hills to Pleasant Grove. I didn't get to see where the trail ended since it started getting late but I'll be back. Here are some pics:


The path we took.


As you can see there was a bit of a hill in the beginning but it was pretty flat after that.


The day was nicely overcast which makes the ride pleasant. Here you can see the gravel trail we were riding on and a great view of Utah valley.


Towards the end of the ride we found a cool 3 story playground. We stopped for a bit so Ashley and Nicole could try it out.

This May has been busy. Megan, Ashley and Nicole all played soccer.

Megan's team was the Pink Panthers.


Ashley's team, the Tigers, is a competition team. The Tigers were able to compete in the playoffs. After going into overtime and then doing a shoot-out, her team ended up with third place.


Nicole played hard for the Blue Fire Dogs.


Megan and Ashley were able to compete in the Track & Field portion of the Jr. Olympics. Megan placed 8th in her age group for the 50 m dash combined the with long jump and 4th place for the soccer, dribble and shoot.


Ashley was able to get 1st place in her age group for the same events and was able to advance to regionals.


Ashley went to Regionals for the Jr. Olympics in West Valley. It wasn't nearly as organized and it didn't seem that many kids participated. She won gold for both the 50 m dash with the long jump and for soccer.


This past weekend Ashley also played with her team in the Kick It 3v3 Soccer Tournament.They played hard and earned 2nd place.


Megan, Ashley and Nicole had fun this past week at BYU's soccer camp. Every day, each group coach (usually 10-15 kids of the same age) would choose a player who had done well, played hard, and listened. That player was awarded a cute BYU mini soccer ball. Megan received a ball on Monday, Ashley on Wednesday and Nicole got a ball on Thursday. All the participants received a ball during the closing ceremonies on Friday.


Earlier in June we saw double rainbows.


Hannah was nervous, but stood up on Jess's shoulders.


We also planted a Kwanzan cherry tree in our front yard and planted six different tomato plants, two watermelon plants, cantalope and pumpkin seeds. The tree and tomato plants are doing well, the watermelon plants are struggling and so far, no sign of seed sprouting.

Ha ha ha ha

Jess's results:
You are Dr. Doom

Dr. Doom 56% Lex Luthor 51% Venom 49% Kingpin 48% Magneto 46% Mr. Freeze 43% Apocalypse 42% The Joker 41% Green Goblin 41% Juggernaut 29% Two-Face 29% Riddler 27% Dark Phoenix 27% Mystique 25% Catwoman 24% Poison Ivy 12%

Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

spring fun

Things have been busy for the past couple of weeks. I've decided I'd like to try taking up golf. I've been a couple of times with some friends, Thad and Randall. I'm not very good but that's ok since I've just started. It's nice to walk around well kept lawns for a few hours. I find it quite relaxing. Especially after some of the zaniness at work.

Our girls have been busy playing in a soccer. Until yesterday their games have been during cold stormy days. We have had nice days in between but it seemed like a conspiracy.

Recently I got a chance to coach Megan's team. The girls played pretty hard but it didn't go so well. We didn't have any subs. In fact we only had 8 of the 11 players that should be there show up. It seems at least 3 of the girls on her team either quit or moved away. The other team played short as well and scored 5-7 times. We came close a few times but just didn't seem to have what it took to finish the goal. I'm not sure I was playing the girls in the spots they were best suited for. I did try to mix things up during the game but I hope their regular coach is able to finish the season.

Ashley's team is doing well. They are a competition club and have finished their regular season. They have had 3 playoff games which have all been close and quite exciting. Yesterday they had a game. They were tied 1-1 or 2-2 (I don't remember any more) at the end of regulation play. Since this was a tournament game they got to play overtime. The way overtime works in their league is by playing two short halves. During the first half the other team scored. When the first half of overtime came to a close many of us mistook it for the end of the game. During the second overtime half Ashley's team scored a goal to tie up the socre. Then, with only a couple of minutes left, Ashley's team went down the field to score another goal. The opposing team tried clearing the ball which landed close to mid field where Ashley was playing her position. There were forwards in front of the goal so Ashley passed/shot the ball towards the goal. The ball bounced off one of the opposing players right back at her. She tried again. This time she got under the ball with her kick. The ball sailed over everyone's head into the back of the net. It was a really cool shot and we were really happy for her and her team. Ashley's team was able to keep the other team from scoring and they won their 3rd tournament game. Go Tigers!!! This means their next game is Thursday at 5:30pm. I guess I'll miss another tee time with my friends. Randall and Thad have been going every Thursday afternoon after work. Oh well, there will be other chances to go golfing. Besides, these games have been fun and exciting. Whether they win or lose I hope they play their best. Of course I also hope they win. ;)

Nicole's team didn't play last Saturday but the Saturday before that she was able to score 3 goals. At her age group they play 4 on 4 boys and girls. It's fun to watch them try to decide if they want to go after the ball. Usually they want one of the opposing team members to kick it to them. Of course that is the last thing the opposing team wants to do. The team that remembers to go after the ball and not wait usually does pretty well. Sometimes Nicole remembers that and has been able to score.

Y Mountain Hike

Friday Jess took the day off because the girls had spring break. Originally we were just going to go miniature golfing, but after we reached the freeway, Jess decided a hike to the Y would be fun. We had to come back home so Megan could change out of her flip flops and Nicole could change out of her boots.

We started hiking at 1pm and finished just after 3pm. Although we started with jackets on, everyone soon had them tied around their waist (except Jess-he thinks that's girly, so he carried his sweatshirt). Ashley lead the pack, followed closely by Nicole, Hannah and Jess. Megan and I brought up the rear. Hannah had to convince herself that she wasn't going to fall, repeatedly saying, "I'm not going to fall, right mom?" All the girls (and Jess) did really well and no one fell or complained too much.

We took the trail to the bottom of the Y, hung out for a while, then climbed up the side of the Y to get to the top. On the way down, Hannah looked up at Jess and with an excited exclamation, declared, "hey, I can ride that!!", pointing to Jess's shoulders. We were able to easily talk her into continuing to walk.
Megan slipped close to the base of the trail and barely skinned her knee. I wore a knee brace on each of my knees and still ended up limping down the mountain. Since we were all starving, we went to Olive Garden for lunch/dinner. Jess had the Grilled Shrimp Caprese which consisted of grilled shrimp on angel hair pasta in a garlic butter sauce. Ashley, Nicole and Hannah had the grilled chicken, broccoli and pasta, Megan had chicken strips and I had the Mixed Grill, skewered chicken with grilled veggies and Tuscan potatoes. I ate all the chicken and some veggies, but I wouldn't order mine again. Hannah had the yummiest soup (Pasta e Fagioli)--the waitress, when explaining, described it as being chili-like.

After food, we headed to Trafalga to do the outdoor miniature golf course. It was fun to watch the girls. Jess started out keeping score, but it got too crazy, especially since Nicole and Ashley were a hole ahead, and would yell back that they got the ball in in two shots. Hannah got her feet involved, kicking the ball and trying to hit it while it was still rolling (mostly when it was rolling back down the ramps). After about five tries, Jess got a "hole in one" at the last hole. The ball kept hitting the fence, so Jess was able to get more turns.

Lunch

Yesterday I had a Meatball sub with olives and parmesian cheese at Subway. Today Shelly and the girls came down and we went to Goodwood. I had ribs, a salad and a baked potato. Shelly had a pulled pork sandwich, Hannah had chicken strips and the rest of the girls had ribs. The girls have spring break but I'm on-call in BYU's data center. I'm done on Friday so I might take the day off to actually take some advantage of their vacation.

Lunch

Today I ate at Noodles & Company. I had their Indonesian Peanut Saute with chicken breast and a Dr Pepper in a to-go cup. It is a slightly spicy dish with a distinct peanut flavor. I forgot to ask them to hold the Asian sprouts. The Asian sprouts are moist and crisp but have that distinct sprout after taste that I'm not too much a fan of. I enjoy the noodles, peanut flavor, and the couple of broccoli and carrot pieces. There was a distinct sweet flavor that may have had something to do with the little bit of cabbage in the dish. It was good and I'd recommend the dish if you enjoy peanuts and a little bit of spice. I also recommend their Japanese Pan Noodles. After refilling my drink I went back to work.

I'm in our data center as the on-call engineer through Thursday of this week. Jeff, the guy before me, had a pretty rough time of it but things have been quiet for me.

Soccer

Ashley has a soccer game at 5:30pm and Nicole has one at 6pm. Both their teams lost. It was quite cold. Hopefully that means a cooler summer.

Lunch

At noon Greg, my brother in law, came and took me out to lunch at Friday's. I had my standard coke and a Jack Daniels burger. I got back to work in about an hour. I usually get the Jack Daniels burger. Of course there is no alcohol in the sauce but I like it for the sugar in it. Kind of like my favorite burger at Carl's Jr is their $6 teriyaki burger because of the sweet teriyaki sauce.

The Beginning

I've been working in the computer industry for over a dozen years and decided it's time to start blogging. Recently Brigham Young University (BYU) sent me and two of my colleagues to NJ for some HP Service Guard training. One of my colleagues has been blogging for some time now (see http://sparbowl.blogspot.com/) so I thought I'd try it out and see how things go.