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Category: Cassidy

First born

First born

Technically, Jane and I are empty nesters. All three of our kids are in college. But they are still dependent on us and not that far away at Texas A&M and Houston Baptist University.

Starting in 2020, Cassidy, our first born will be starting her career as a Labor & Delivery nurse at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Houston Medical Center. After getting her Bachelor of Science in Allied Health at Texas A&M, and graduating this December from The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, she will be moving to Houston for her much anticipated first job.

All three of our kids have given us much to be proud of, but this is definitely the biggest milestone for one of them and we could not be prouder! Every decision she has made to prepare for this day, every accomplishment she has received, she has worked so hard for. We are beaming with pride. The cartoon above does not reflect our joy of having our life back, it represents the joy we feel thinking about Cassidy starting her adult life having accomplished exactly what she set out to do after graduating from Lake Travis High School.

You rock Cassidy!

Cassidy’s Buick Encore

Cassidy’s Buick Encore

Been full time with GM since Sept 26th (started as contractor Feb 22).  Thought I’d eat my own dog food.  I don’t currently work on anything in GM cars, I’m working on the rider and driver Android apps for Maven Shuttle used for managing reservations for shuttle services on campuses.

Kristen is about to get her license so needing another car, decided to get Cassidy this car and let Kristen inherit the Kia Sportage.  Didn’t even need to use my employee discount.  Year-end 20% off offer was too good to pass up on this 2016 Buick Encore.

cassidyencore2016_sm

Things a father should tell his daughter

Things a father should tell his daughter

AlanCassidyJuly30_1996
Cassidy 2 days old

Click here for full list.

My favorites:

2) You can do anything a man can do, including organic chemistry, unclogging toilets and assembling IKEA furniture.

7) Nothing is more attractive than intelligence.

10) You don’t have to enjoy them, but have a working knowledge of the rules for football and baseball.

12) You don’t have to *DO* anything for someone to love you. The right person will cross a desert just for the chance to sit next to you at lunch.

13) Peer pressure is all about insecurity. Be confident in who you are and you’ll never have to “fit in”. People will come to you.

17) You were flawless the day you were born. If you must go get that first tattoo, please consider inviting your daddy to come and get his first tattoo with you.

18) You are perfect the way you roll out of bed. Let’s be clear: all that crap you do to “get out the door” is for everyone else’s benefit.

20) Compare every single boy you ever meet to your daddy. Nobody will love you like he does.

Oldie but Goodie  Rules for Dating my Daughter:

Hippopotami are dangerous

Hippopotami are dangerous

In your face Cassidy and David.  I told you that my answer of “Hippotamus” was right for the Scategories category “Things you are afraid of”.

From The Straight Dope:

“The hippo, found today throughout sub-Saharan Africa, is considered by many experts, explorers and Africans to be the most dangerous animal in Africa (not counting the mosquito).  They’ve all killed way more people than Africa’s lions have. (A few rogue tigers have killed a lot of people too, but they live in India, not Africa.) The hippo is extremely aggressive, unpredictable and unafraid of humans, upsetting boats sometimes without provocation and chomping the occupants with its huge canine teeth and sharp incisors. Most human deaths occur when the victim gets between the hippo and deep water or between a mother and her calf.”

We’re (mostly) an Android Family

We’re (mostly) an Android Family

Cassidy and I have been out of contract on our T-mobile phones for half a year.  We were waiting for the right time to extend our contract.  Cassidy has also been wanting an iPhone which of course T-mobile does not offer.  Earlier we were waiting to see if we could stay with T-mobile and maybe wait for AT&T to buy T-mobile and make iPhones available.

This weekend I picked up 3 new phones and extended Cassidy, David and my contract for 2 years.  The time was right because T-mobile was offering all their phones free with a 2-year committment.  T-mobile makes you jump through some hoops, however, asking for the cost of the phones up front and requiring you to send in rebate forms for each phone.  Rebates are such a cheezy business practice! Anybody that uses them I automatically think less of.  As much as Cassidy wanted an iPhone I convinced her to give the HTC Android a try. I’m hoping the speed of 4G and all the cool features of this phone will make her forget the iPhone.  She has an iPod Touch and an iPad!  And Jane has an iPhone.

We didn’t get the highest end Samsung Galaxy S II or HTC Maze 4G (normally each $230 with 2-yr) because they required the most expensive plans which we didn’t need.  We settled on the HTC Sensation (normally $199) which is a beautiful phone.

There is something to be said for having the same phones in the family.  We can share discoveries, accessories, and experiences. We each have 2Gig unlimited data plans which means we get up to 2Gig at 4G speeds and don’t get charged for going over, but the speed drops.  It has a 8MP camera and can take 1080p video.  It came with an 8gig SD card and a nice stereo headphone with volume controls.

So far, we are all very pleased with the phone.

There wasn’t a specific driver to get my laptop to recognize the phone for Android development; I had to download the HTC sync software.  I got it Here

Just discovered a killer app that I’ve missed on the iPhone.  Maps street view!  It’s a free plugin on the Android!

Toddlers & Pom Poms

Toddlers & Pom Poms

I attended Cassidy’s first cheer competition.  There were High School Teams all the way down to toddlers 5 years old. There is something fundamentally wrong with seeing a 7 year old with thick bright blue glittery eye shadow and thick bright red lipstick, a bow in her head, and no front teeth!