My Blog

Welcome to greg.kathihill.com, the home page of Gregory Neil Hill. Please, call me Greg. There isn't a lot to this page, just a blog, a resume, and a portfolio. I may add more sections in the future as whim strikes me. Feel free to browse around, and contact me with any requests/complaints/admiration you desire.

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Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Hill

Submitted 5/26/2005 1:07 PM

I now have a wife, contrary to popular belief that I would forever remain a bachelor. Neither of us has really absorbed the fact that we're married yet; I'm sure it'll sink in eventually. The wedding went superbly. We managed to get everything together, with a lot of help from tons of people. We got a lot done on the house, putting up curtains, shampooing carpets, setting up my office, etc, etc. It hasn't looked so good for years.

The honeymoon was great, we went back to the places where we met in Vegas, then on to Sedona for the rest of the week. We even saw Star Wars down on the digital theater in Phoenix. Definitely one of the best in the series. It was fun, but we were both glad to be back so we could settle in to the house. Luckily I had a couple more days off before I started my new job. New job is going well, btw. 2 days in and I already fixed a bug, w00t. We came home to two leaks in the sprinklers. One from staking the tent through the pipe in the backyard (oops), and the other because the water was on all winter despite my roommates' claim that they had turned it off for me. We have them both ready to fix, just need to get the parts and do it.

In other news, mom is moving back down to John's house in the very near future. I'm sure she'll be sad to leave Washington, but it'll be good for both of them to have someone else around. Hopefully things will fall into place for her here. That's about all for now, I'm sure I'll think of more later.

All work and no play make Greg a dull boy

Submitted 5/10/2005 8:41 AM

So, I'm now an unemployed groom-to-be. Of course, it was by my own volition, and I start my new job on the 25th, but it sounds fun to say I'm unemployed. I think I'll tell all Rachel's relatives that :)

We've been working ourselves weary getting the house ready. Saturday I did the two upstairs bedrooms' outlets and switches, except one switch and outlet which I discovered were on another circuit (by shocking myself, d'oh). I screwed something up somewhere because the outlet in the bathroom no longer works. I'm kind of peeved about that 'cause I don't really have the time to figure it out. I may hire an electrician frined of mine to come look into it. I also enlisted Joey to help me move my computers to my new office in Tony's old room. We also moved the hutch downstairs. Sunday we moved the desks up to the office and I got everything put together. Monday we got the marriage license, bought curtain rods and curtains, put up curtain rods and curtains, etc, etc. During all this Rachel has been working with her mom sewing bride's maids' outfits, working on the slideshow, and so on and so forth. Really, most of what's left is arranging the food for the reception and lots of cleaning and yardwork. The weather doesn't want to let up raining, except for yesterday when nobody had time to do yardwork. Funny how that works.

Oh, and in the middle of all this, the dishwasher malfunctioned. Serviceman is coming today to look at it. I hope he can fix it on the spot 'cause we need it. All-in-all it's coming together very nicely, but the clock is winding down and there's a lot left to do. More people are coming in over the next few days, so hopefully the extra help will get us there.

Bachelor Party, or campout as it was

Submitted 5/2/2005 3:16 PM

So, at the last minute we decided to do the Bachelor Party as a campout. So, Garth, James, Joey, Roland, and I drove down to Jacob Lake to meet Ryan. We sat around the campfire, shot some guns, ate some food, froze our toes, all the normal good stuff. It was a good time, and it felt great to get away for a few days. Supposedly, Tony is putting together something for this weekend because he couldn't make it to the campout. Should be fun. Mom gets here Saturday, Heather next Tuesday, and Rachel's peeps will be coming in at random times over the next week. It's weird to think that in two weeks I'll be married. A year ago I didn't think I would ever meet the 'right one'. And then, I did. It's all a bit surreal still, and I imagine it'll be that way for quite a while. Anyway, entries might be sporadic for a bit as there will be a lot going on, but I'll try to post a little here and there.

I must be totally insane

Submitted 4/23/2005 7:02 PM

because I am going to be commuting to Park City after I get back from the honeymoon. Backcountry.com offered me a position as a Software Engineer. It seems like a really cool place to work, and we were finally able to come to an agreeable salary. I put in my notice at Navitaire yesterday. My boss wasn't too happy about losing me, especially since another member of the team left this week. But, as he said, I gotta do what's best for my career. So, that's the biggest news of late.

Oh yeah, my knee is feeling much better. I put it on ice for several hours during the day and all night, and the next morning it was back to normal.

Rachel's contract ended at her apartment, so she has already moved in most of her stuff (apart from what she needs for the next few weeks). We've put together the room for the most part; it's almost like we're married already :) Man, 3 more weeks...

Does anyone even read the titles anyway?


Submitted 4/18/2005 11:54 PM

Here's a few more recent pics that I stole from Rachel. Ok, more like she emailed them to me, but I like to pretend that I'm a bad guy. A few were taken at the Provo Castle, a few at the house. They're just random shots, but I figure if you're reading this then you must like me at least a little bit. So hey, free pictures.

As for information, I already reported that the bathroom is done. Now we're busy cleaning and organizing the house. The project to redo the power outlets and switches upstairs will resume shortly. And we might actually put up some curtains at some point in there. I've decided that I can't spend any more money until after the honeymoon 'cause I already spent way more than I meant to. I forgot to mention that the yard is shaping up nicely. We burned all the branches and wood and leaves and crap and run-ons. Rachel and her sister-in-law Laura have been working on one of the flower beds (her brother Tim also helped out some). Really, at this point, it's mostly just mowing and weeding left to do. Most of the wedding/reception junk is arranged. There's a few loose ends with food and tuxedos and a marriage license to buy, but nothing too pressing.

So, now that things are calming down, responsibility-wise, we're actually able to just spend some time hanging out and being lazy again, which is very nice. That'll probably last all of two days before we're reminded of some urgent thing we overlooked. But, while it lasts, I'm gonna enjoy it.

In other not-exciting news, my knee really kills today; I hope it's nothing serious. Usually my aches are limited to hips, back, and neck, with the occasional elbow flare up, but my knees are generally ok. It'll probably be fine by morning.

A crapper suitable for a king


Submitted 4/18/2005 4:22 PM

Or at least a much better one than before. We FINALLY finished the bathroom. I about cried when I put the towels in place. It's been a great learning experience, albeit at times an extremely painful one. Here's a few 'during' and 'after' pics. We forgot to take the 'before' pics. I think it looks quite a bit better now, but you be the judge.

I almost forgot to mention a funny story. Last week, I sat down to use the downstairs bathroom one morning before work. My left hip is stiff, as anyone who knows me knows, and it was in an awkward position. So, I leaned my weight back off my leg so I could move it into a more comfortable spot when I heard a crack followed by a swoosh and a lot of splashing. Turns out that the toilet tank was just itching to break and I pushed it over the edge. Cracked a huge ole hole in it. Tony, James, and I spent a few hours trying to install the new one, but the stupid bolts kept turning and popping out of the ring. Finally, on Friday night, inspiration struck. So, as soon as I got up Saturday morning, I went to work. I put some larger washers over the end to keep them from popping out of the ring, and voila, I was done in 30 minutes. So, from 3 toilets to 2 to 1 and back to 3 again.

A picture is worth a thousand words


Submitted 4/5/2005 11:01 PM

So here's a few thousand words worth. These are a few of the pictures from our engagement photo shoot. They have a copyright on them so we can't just print them ourselves, I guess (despite them being way too low res to print). Anyhoo, some of these I put up because I like them, others because they're fun, and a few outtakes as well.

Enjoy.

I'm tired; I think I'll go home now

Submitted 3/29/2005 4:29 PM

So, I found out yesterday that our countertop is on back-order. That means the bathroom won't be completed for at least 3 more weeks. Luckily, we only have to paint and re-attach the trim, put the toilet back on, and hang the towel rods, apart from putting on the new countertop. So, we'll have a partially-functioning bathroom done soon (toilet and shower, just no sink). James and I put the flooring and vanity in on Saturday. Well, he did most of the work, really, but I helped out where I could. I hope he knows how grateful I am for his help. Rachel and I started working on the trim; we should get it painted and re-attached this week. It's been a long project, but I've learned a lot. The next bathroom will go more smoothly.

Besides that, not a whole lot to report. Wedding preparations are still coming along. We're waiting for our engagement photos to get printed so we can send out the invitations. Just a few odds and ends left after that. Rachel took some pictures of us recently, so I'll try to upload a few of them soon. Once the bathroom is done, I'll upload some during and after pictures (forgot to take the 'before' pics). While we're waiting for the countertop, we're going to start on some other projects, like replacing all of the power outlets in the upstairs (they are all too loose to hold two-pronged power cords). Oh what fun!!

As if we didn't already have enough to do

Submitted 3/20/2005 2:19 AM

On top of the wedding preparations, Rachel and I are renovating one of the bathrooms, and possibly also painting a few other rooms. So far, it's been a fun project, but there's still a lot to do. At this point, we're just waiting for the flooring, vanity, and countertop to arrive so we can finish the job. Apart from that, we finally pruned all the trees and bushes around the house. There's more to do as far as weeding and general cleanup goes, but things are coming together nicely. We hacked off several hundred pounds of branches on the tree out front and you can hardly even tell we dented it.

So, the other day I passed another kidney stone. The second one and just as excruciatingly painful as the first (almost 4 years ago now). At least this time I caught the sucker in the filter, so hopefully they'll be able to analyze it and determine the cause. I must say, when I start thinking that ankylosing spondylitis is too much to bear, I get reminded that there are much worse things to live with. Not exactly the lesson I wanted to learn, but effective nonetheless. Having Rachel around this time made the ordeal much more bearable, that's for certain. I'm so lucky to have found her.

Well, back to wedding preparations; nearly everything is in place, it's just the little things left to finish.

Yardwork is hardwork

Submitted 3/8/2005 2:36 PM

So, we finally began preparing the yard for the wedding and reception. Rachel and I spent several hours on Saturday raking up leaves, then we built a bonfire and sat around the fire all night. It was good fun and nice to get done. There's more trimming to do on the trees and the gardens need some serious work, but all-in-all it's in good shape.

All of the major pieces are ready for the wedding, except for the engagement photos and flowers (Rachel is going to the flower place today). So, that's good news. Hmm... my life's pretty bland outside of working and preparing for the wedding, so nothing else really to report.

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