Memorial Day 2008

Posted by Phil Ryker on May 26th, 2008 at 9:15am

We decided to go watch the Memorial Day parade in Gettysburg PA today. What a great town Gettysburg is. So much history and so much to see. We could spend several days taking it all in. We did stop by the new Gettysburg Military Battlefield Museum for about 30 minutes but Juan and Sy'ees get impatient easily and it is not that fun for kids their age so we headed into town for the parade.

Watching the parade brings on such strong patriotic feelings, especially in such an important place! I am deeply patriotic to begin with but the experience make it even more meaningful. Check out the pictures of the parade.

Yesterday night Mirta and I were watching the National Memorial Day concert on TV. It is always very enjoyable to watch. This year they had Charles Durning speak about his experiences in WWII from storming Omaha Beach on D-DAY to the Battle of the Bulge. It was very moving and emotional. We salute all that have served in the military and given their lives for our country. There can be no greater selfless act!

-Phil

Dedication to Mirta

Posted by Phil Ryker on May 25th, 2008 at 7:00pm


I created this video a few months ago and wanted to share with everyone! Mirta has done so much for everyone else and is the glue that holds us all together. She is a Mom, wife and a friend and we will always love her!

-Phil

And so it begins...

Posted by Phil Ryker on May 25th, 2008 at 5:00pm

It is the day before Memorial Day, 2008. Outside the sun is shining and the birds are singing. It is a pleasant 78 degrees with very low humidity. You could not ask for a better day! So how am I spending this Sunday? I am working on our family website... I know, I know, not a great way to enjoy the day. Truthfully we do have other things planned this weekend but I figured I would work on this today since I never seem to have enough time.

I am not sure why I am even doing this? I guess the concept of having a family blog appeals to me but I am not sure why. I have read other family blog sites and have always thought to myself, hmmm... who reads these sites other than the guy who posts? Always seemed like a big waste of time. Maybe it is because I think I have something important to say and that by doing so I can somehow convince others who may stumble upon this blog to see things the way I do? Heh... Unlikely! I guess the best answer is that I just enjoy it. I like the idea of creating something from scratch and impressing myself with my incredible web programming skills. OK, maybe they are just mediocre but hey, I do enjoy it. It is also a good way for us to keep our family updated on what's going on but I guess so is the telephone.

p>For those of you that are curious this site has not been developed using any applications such as WordPress or the like. It has been developed using Vi via the Linux command line. Yep, I am a big computer nerd. Many could argue that it would be easier to maintain and update if I use some type of management software but I disagree. Using CSS, SSI and a simple text editor like Vi is about as easy as it gets. All I need is SSH access and I am good to go! I will need to archive content from time to time but that is no big deal.

And so it begins! Let's see how often I can actually keep this site updated! I hope that it does not become one of those many antique web sites out there that see one or two blog postings and then sink into the endless abyss of the lame family website. Only time will tell.

-Phil