The Minton Family.com

We found some rabbits out in the yard and after spending a little time with them, they are getting used to us. This video is too cute.

I’m writing this from the phone, we have no power. There are pics at http://public.fotki.com/airjrdn/2009-03-08-damage and http://public.fotki.com/airjrdn/jill (neighbor pics).

We weren’t home when it happened, but another neighbor said it showed up out of nowhere.

As you can see, the website is all new.  The old website was running MyPhpNuke which hadn’t been updated in quite some time.  There were some security issues with the version I was running, and I decided it was time to update to something newer, and more fitting.  I didn’t particularly need the built-in image gallery since I started using Fotki to store all of my photos, and the built-in forums were never really utilized.  The old site also limited me to associating each story with only one topic (Jada, Lana, etc.), whereas the new one allows me to “tag” stories with as many as I’d like.

I’ll probably leave the old image gallery up for awhile yet, but all photos, old and new are at Fotki in the Family Photos folder.  If you need the password for the Family Photos, get ahold of me and I’ll give it to you.

Let me know if there’s something you’d like added to the new version of the site.  I’ve tried to provide the things I think most of us use, such as links to the photos, tags to locate pictures of people, and links to stories by month & year.

And it’s twins this time!!!

Who can believe it? It’s hard for us to believe too. Hopefully this will stop Jackie from getting that “empty nest” syndrome.

It was a surprise for us too. We really didn’t see it coming, but the proof is in the pictures.

Nope, it’s not a sibling for Jada Lana and Levi. This time it’s a cousin for them!

Hollie had a little girl this morning. I’m still waiting on the specs, but her name is Riece Nichole Utley.

I finally got it. I’ve been waiting for this for months.

I’ve spent the last 2 or 3 days getting things straightened out. The setup and install of the E-Cube EG65 went flawlessly. So flawlessly in fact, it was almost scary.

So what’s taken 2 to 3 days then? Well, you know how it goes. I get a new box, Jackie gets my mine, and this time around I’m loaning hers to my brother in law Mike (admin of www.pittsburgfwb.org).

Wondering what it looks like? Check these out:
(One was taken with a flash, one was not)

ECube

ECube

So what about the specs? Here ya go:

E-Cube EG65
Intel 2.8Ghz CPU with Hyperthreading
512M Corsair XMS Ram
128M Radeon 9700 Pro Video Card
Maxtor 120G ATA-133 Hard Drive
Sony DRU500AX DVD & CD Burner

What else could I possibly need? This thing rocks!

I’m thinking about getting a new computer here before long. I’m looking at an AMS GBox with an Intel 2.66Ghz or 2.8Ghz CPU, either 512M or 1G of Ram, and using some of my existing components (120G HD, 128M ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, and Sony DVD Burner). Here’s a picture of the computer. Click on it for a larger version.

ECube

UT2K3 is out and I’ve been playing online!

It’s been a blast. I haven’t won every game by any means, but I have fared pretty well. Take a look at my current crop of wins. I’ve been trying to take snapshots of the scores at the end of the games…the games I win that is!

UT2K3 actually keeps your stats on a server on the internet, but so far the game as been so popular that the server is having a hard time keeping up. As of tonight, my scores still aren’t showing up on their server and I’ve been playing online for about 2 or 3 days now. They say the scores will show up eventually, and I’m ready to see how I’m doing!

After the joys of flooding in our basement, we are finally up and running again. Helitech finished the tiling system a couple of weeks ago. We tried putting the old carpet back down, but it had shrunk and could not be stretched without tearing. So, we had to get new carpet. It was put down on Tuesday. We decided to go with a darker Berber carpet this time. It won’t show stains as easily as the cream colored carpet we had before. Hopefully we won’t have to replace this carpet for many years!

They’re all done. The basement should now be waterproof. Awesome isn’t it? Now, no water in my basement will ever get out!!! Wait a minute…that’s not what I originally had in mind!

Helitech came and went, and it was fairly uneventful for us anyway…I can’t really speak for them. They left at around 1pm today (I didn’t get home until after 5pm). I did notice however, as you can tell by the picture below, that they got a little sloppy at least once.

Damage

I’m not quite sure what they did there, but it wasn’t good. I haven’t decided if I’m going to call them about it or just try to make it not so noticeable. When my computers are down there you really won’t see it, but if that’s still there when we go to move, I’m sure the new owners won’t like it.

In any case, we have of course taken pictures of the finished product, and you can check them out below.