A silly way of saying: "an update".

We've been very busy at Iodynamics, but we're coming off a relatively slow period (December-January), so cash is kind of tight. It's always a weird time for the business when that happens: You have work coming out of your ears but you're scraping for cash on hand.

Don't worry guys ("guys" being our employees), you'll keep getting paid. It's not that bad. We just have to take it easy on toys and "research projects" for a couple of weeks.

A new Subaru?

No, but it sure feels like it. Our 1998 Subaru Outback Sport has over 160,000 miles on it and it was time to do a few things to ensure it's going to keep running great. Last week, I had our friendly mechanic Gary replace the clutch and the rear struts. While he was working on the car, he saw the front CV boots were damaged and we needed new halfshafts on both sides.

 I hate that! Every Subaru I've owned has done that: needed new half shafts. Every time it happens, they tell me all I need to do is pay attention and if I ever notice a cracked boot, get it replaced right away. it's so much cheaper (and easier) to replace a boot than a damaged shaft.

 The clutch feels so different now. I think I'll have to adjust the cable because right now you've got to push the pedal in about three inches or so before you feel the clutch disengage. That said, the car feels great! I pulled the trailer down to my parents' last weekend and it felt a lot different than it did the last time I pulled the trailer -- it wasn't jerky at all.

Valentine's Day

Christine and I each gave each other a card and a candy bar ... and it wasn't even planned that way.

Maya had a lot of fun at her school V-Day party. Lucy had a blast at her preschool V-Day party. Eli... he just snitched candy from both of their collections.

Doctor tomorrow

I'm heading to see the doctor tomorrow for a diabetes checkup. I decided my New Year's resolution for 2006 is to get my hemoglobin A1C level, an indicator of diabetic control, down to or below 6.8.

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recently recommended a A1C target of 6.5--a level quite a bit lower than recommended before. "Normal" (non-diabetic) A1C is considered to be 6.

My A1C has never been above 8, which, a couple years ago, was considered a sign of good diabetic control. But, now, it's not good enough and I want to do better.