February 2011

When iBank goes bad

February 21, 2011

Some time back I made the conversion to iBank for keeping track of our finances. Then last year an update to iBank 4 came out. I grabbed it and started the update. For a blissful 30 seconds it all looked good and then came the dreaded error message.

The operation couldn’t be completed. The backslash is a wildcard char, and cannot appear unescaped at the end of a string.

So starting last October a number of posts were exchanged on the support forums. It ended not so well with this post. Asked to once again supply the data that had taken a fair bit of time to prepare the first time around. I was tired of the dance and just walked away. How hard can this be I wondered? Being a database guy it seemed pretty obvious that this was a problem with a '\' being at the end of a string and not being escaped.

In all things K.I.S.S.

February 5, 2011

st_lukes_access_ramp.jpgKids are great at reminding us that it is the simple things in life that bring joy.

Sure our kids have the requisite collection of probably more goodies than they need and a week filled with fun things to do. When we have some quiet time a quick trip to the park, riding the horses or playing in the backyard is in order. However this all seems to pale in comparison to one of their favorite play places.

Pictured at the right is an access ramp/stair complex on the side of a local hospital. When we visit there, whether it's sunny, raining or freezing they always want to take the time to play. While it may look like the average ramp and stairs that it is there is also a house, family, hide-and-seek, circus and many other things hidden in there. What may at once look like a simple brick and concrete structure hides hours of fun.