Happy New Year!

01/10/2021 13:38:39 by Dylan Houston

2020 was a year to remember. We had a lot of things happen in the Houston household!

  • I caught and recovered from Covid19. Luckily my family did not catch it.
  • Got a new job at Carmax
  • Bought a bearded dragon (his name is Geralt!)
  • Vacationed in Florida during the pandemic
  • DJ participated in his first soccer league team
  • Watched the Ravens lose in the playoffs in Baltimore :(

I'm going to post some blog entries related to Geralt. I have to admit, after buying him I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that I needed to do to ensure that he lives a good and healthy life. But he is growing rapidly and I think it'd be fun to blog about him!

Lastly, I really hope the Ravens beat the Titans today. They need to punch the bully in the mouth so to speak. I like this team better than last year's team though. The main difference? This team has overcome adversity in the middle of the year (half the team got Covid!)

Summer is almost over :(

08/30/2020 23:19:52 by Dylan Houston

I just got home from going to the beach with the family. It sure was hard to get everyone out of the house, but it was well worth it. I put some chairs in the water and sat with my feet in the water. That was actually the first time I had ever done that, and I recommend it!

Madden 21 has been my game of choice over the weekend too. Although it is getting review bombed, I am enjoying it. Perhaps because I didn't really play the Ultimate Team mode too much and the game features Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

I've been experimenting more with the layout of the site. There will probably be more changes in the weeks to come. I can't really decide on what I like. :(

While I've been enjoying working from home, I am a little anxious to see how school for DJ goes. I can't imagine teaching him and working a full time job along with my wife. Also, we have another little one to take care of! 2020 has been a drag for sure...

Hope everyone is having a safe summer.

06/27/2020 23:52:46 by Dylan Houston

This whole Coronavirus pandemic sure isn't fun! I've been really wanting to go on a vacation. I have learned how to do a good job with laying down sod though. All it takes is a bunch of good dirt and a lot of time and water!

I've been working and watching my kids grow. I'm really grateful that my wife and I are able to work from home. I've been playing through a number of interesting games too, and have been staying active. However, I haven't done too much in terms of extracurricular software development... maybe one day. But I did see that .Net Core Blazor WebAssembly is now in production. I might have to give that a shot. Maybe I'll convert this site to use that... it sure would be nice to have a SPA for this website.

I'm about to go pick up some food now from the Kickin Chicken. Until next time!

Been staying busy!

05/07/2020 23:42:45 by Dylan Houston

It's been a busy couple of months, regardless of how the Coronavirus has impacted normal life! I've been keeping busy by doing a lot of yard work. Last weekend I worked on installing over 200 squares of sod in my yard, which took about 4 days. Then the prior weekend I put 5 cubic yards worth of mulch in my yard beds, after plucking weeds from both of them. This weekend I plan to take it easy. I've been playing a lot of Mega Man Zero Legacy Collection as well, which is easily one of my favorite games.

I've been updating the site too. I migrated everything over to Azure, so I no longer have to deal with legacy style hosting. I also redid the website layout. Hopefully I'll find some more time to do some other coding projects, but right now things have been super busy at work and home as I balance working a job and homeschooling my kids. Hopefully all is well for whoever is reading this! See you next time.

Oh and... Lamar Jackson is on the cover of Madden! Guess this means I have to buy the next Madden!

Looking forward to watching the NFL Honors Awards this year!

02/01/2020 23:39:51 by Dylan Houston

After a disappointing end of the season, I am really looking forward to watching the NFL honors awards this year. I was at the Ravens playoff game and I was pretty down afterwards. But I did end up meeting a number of players! I posted some pictures over on the "Ravens Hub" section of the site, but that page does need some more work. John Harbaugh is set to win coach of the year and Lamar Jackson is set to win MVP. To me, it makes my card from John Harbaugh feel that much more special.

I have been working on updating the site layout. I wouldn't be surprised if I updated it another 5 times before I make another post here! This week at work has been pretty tough. I had a user story that took over 3 weeks, but I finally got it done and it feels good! Hopefully I can get started on some more personal projects...Until next time!