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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Revisiting my roots

Submitted 3/2/2005 1:24 AM

So, I've been gathering a list of people for announcements, and it's bringing back lots of old memories. There are so many people in Oklahoma that would probably like to get one, but I don't think I'll be able to get them all. So, if you're reading this and want to make sure you're on the list, email me. Otherwise, I'm gonna go with who I remember most.

I also got in touch with people I worked with at IDI. Crap, there's probably a few mission companions I should send them to as well. I just haven't really kept in touch with very many people, so it's hard to decide who gets them and who doesn't. I guess that's a normal thing.

Anyhoo, things are trucking along.

Now with weiner scent

Submitted 2/23/2005 1:26 AM

So, I uploaded the new genealogy site tonight and got it going. It's at http://genealogy.kathihill.com, so feel free to go check it out. I added a few searching options and the descendancy chart, revamped the design, and improved the performance significantly.

Tom and I were unsuccessful in finishing the wiring project, as there were too many obstacles in the wire's path to pull it properly. Oh well, one room without ethernet is okay. We just cut our losses and patched up the holes. Ok, all but one, we ran out of screws. I'll get it finished this week, and patch a couple other holes, too.

Progress is nice

Submitted 2/22/2005 2:41 PM

So, I'm feeling a lot less stressed now. The site was moved over last week, Rachel has her dress, the cake is purchased, the decorations are coming together, and the invitations have been chosen. All that in a week, w00t!! There's still a lot to do to get ready, and we're considering doing some home improvements on top of it all. We'll just have to see what we have time for.

Rachel's parents and some other family members came over for dinner Sunday. Was nice to show the house off a bit :) Not that I'm boastful, but I do think it's a pretty nice house. Her dad pointed out that doing tile would require additional floorboards to meet the required thickness for tile, so tile's out dangit. We're gonna look into other options, but I really wanna get something nicer than linoleum.

My old roommate Tom is coming over tonight to help finish up some wiring we started when he lived here. That'll be nice to check it off the list finally.

Still working on mom's genealogy site; ran into a bit of a snag getting the pedigree chart to display right. After that's done, there's only the descendancy chart to go, and maybe some minor tweaking. I hope to have some time this week to finish it up.

Ring-aling-ading


Submitted 2/16/2005 8:53 AM

Here's Rachel's ring. A beautiful ring for a beautiful woman. And she didn't even pick a diamond, man I love this woman :) Not that I'm cheap; I told her she could get one. I just hate supporting a monopoly like DeBeers.

Anyway, it's a Topaz; it's a beautiful stone. I have always preferred colored stones. You can't see the band so well from this angle, but it's really pretty and sparkly.

She gets so many compliments on it; it's great.

My brain is about to explode

Submitted 2/15/2005 2:22 PM

So, I didn't realize what I was getting into. There's so much to do to get ready for the wedding, plus I have a site I need to transfer to my server which is taking longer than expected, plus I need to finish my mom's updated genealogy site, plus I need to build Rachel's photography site, and a ton of other things. I'm starting to feel the weight of it all. I need to get the site transferred to the server and mom's site done so I can concentrate all my time on the wedding preparations.

Things are coming along nicely. We're pretty settled on May 14th for the wedding. That was my grandma's birthday, so we thought that would be a good day to do it. We were going to go on the 13th (Friday the 13th as it turns out) because it would be 6 months to the day since we met, but grandma wins out. So, that's settled now, on to finishing the invitation list...

Turnabout is fair play, and oh yeah, I'm engaged

Submitted 2/11/2005 10:45 AM

So, the short story is I'm engaged to Rachel. We're getting married in mid-May. So, that's super exciting.

Here's the longer version. We decided to get married a few weeks ago, so we went and picked out a ring last Saturday. They told me that it would be resized and ready on Thursday. So, I told Rachel that because of Valentine's Day, they were backed up and it wouldn't be done until next week. A bit disappointed, but happy, she accepted the delay. Thursday night was the only night this week where we weren't supposed to see each other, because I had to work on my mom's genealogy site, and I had promised Ryan I'd play some Rainbow Six with him. So, as usual, I called her on my drive home and we talked all the way home. When I was far enough down the highway that I should've been home, I told her I was getting home and needed to go. So, I went to the store, picked up the ring, and started driving to her apartment. How could I get her to be alone? Her roommates would likely be there and I didn't want to propose in front of them. Ah-ha, I'll call her and tell her to come online to chat. Then she'll be in her room for sure. So, I park and call her, then I go in her apartment and motion to her roommates to not announce my arrival. I sneak back in her room. She hears me open the door, so she turns around and with a 'what are you doing here?' look she stares at me. I pulled out the ring and got down on one knee (not an easy task for me with my joint problems, mind you), and she immediately started crying. It was beautiful. She finally stopped hugging me long enough to get the words out, and I put the ring on her finger.

It isn't the traditional engagement ring style, but it is Rachel's style and so very, very beautiful, just like her.

Oh yeah, she accepted, just in case you weren't sure.

I about died of a heart attack, but it was a good heart attack

Submitted 1/28/2005 12:19 PM

So, last night after work we had a launch party for Skylights 7 (the project I've been working on since last June at work). We played Laser Tag and went out to dinner. I got home around 8:00. In the meantime, I was talking to Rachel on the way home and she shared the excellent news that she'd be coming home early, Friday instead of Tuesday. She's been at her parents for nearly two weeks to welcome her brother home from his mission, among other things. I was excited to hear that she'd be back sooner.

So, I get home, hurry to the bathroom since I've been holding it since Draper, and afterwards proceed to look through the mail. Nobody was home, so I about died when I felt someone grab me from behind. It was a familiar touch, but it couldn't be, could it? It WAS!!! Rachel had been waiting there for me since around 4:00. It scared me so much I almost forgot to hug her :) But I did. It was the best possible deception :)

For the curious lot, the Portfolio and Resume sections are done

Submitted 1/24/2005 11:52 PM

I finally added all of the projects I can remember to my Portfolio, so it is pretty much complete. I say 'pretty much' because a few sites lack screenshots. So, I'll try to find those, but I'm doubtful that I'll find them all.

I've wanted to have a record of the sites I've worked on for some time, so a huge weight has been relieved to have this completed.

To Phoenix.... and BEYOND!!

Submitted 1/24/2005 11:55 AM

Ok, really just to Phoenix and then back home again, but butchering the Toy Story quote seemed appropriate. I went down to Phoenix to visit Ryan for the weekend. James was going down, so I tagged along and Ben (Ryan's childhood buddy) came over from Vegas, too. It was a weekend with entirely too much junk food and video game playing, so in other words, it rocked. We also got a little Star Wars RPG time in, and that's always good. I only wish I didn't have to get back here for work this week. Sigh.

A small inkling of updateage after so long a drought


Submitted 1/21/2005 2:01 PM

So, here's the latest on my life, or at least a small sampling of the goings-on from the last couple years. I should really update more often.

I got layed off from IDI in Feb 2004, and I spent some time relaxing before returning to work at Navitaire, a company that does software for small airlines in Salt Lake. While being layed off would normally seem a bad thing, it was honestly the best thing that happened to me in a long while. I was stressed out and depressed in a job that was not fulfilling to me any more (because of the management, not because of the work). It took that loss to wake me back up and get me motivated again.

So, flash forward to November. James wanted to go to Vegas for his birthday, and he invited the roommates to go along for the trip, with express instructions to 'invite more people'. And that we did. At a party, Tony and I invited everyone in attendance to join us. Only Shelby and Alisa decided to go, and Shelby coerced her roommate Rachel to tag along. So, long story not quite so long, Rachel and I hit it off and started dating. I'm not going to go into gushy details, but suffice it to say she is the best thing that has happened to me in my entire life.

I've attached a picture of Rachel and me all dressed up for the Navitaire Christmas party, as well as a couple pictures that were taken of me back in the Fall.