Fashion Disaster
I keep trying to tell them to wear black socks, but this is what I get! And no, the one boy does not wear a blue belt.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Two new additions
We've had a couple of additions to the family in the last few days. (Updated)
A few months back we had to get rid of a crazy dog who bit 6yo on the face twice. The boys have been sooooooo sad since. They've begged and begged for a new dog. We came across Max and we couldn't turn him down. He's 4-5 years old rescue Brittany Spaniel. He's very mellow and sweet. No barking, no licking. He even lets little kids harass him without a fuss. He's a sweet dog. His original name was Jack, but I thought it sounded too much like someone else in the family, so it became Max.
The other addition came upon us suddenly because my Passat started making a scary noise and stalling. I'm tired of paying good money to keep that old beast running so out it goes! I went today and purchased a great Arizona car- Wrangler Unlimited! I'm really excited to go explore the big desert all around here. Plus it has four doors so it's great for the fam. Also, the back is big enough for the new pooch, Max.
Here's our first trip out to the hills. This is just after we turned around from a really serious hill. I really should have taken a picture of it, but I was so emotionally conflicted about not going up the hill and having to back up, that I forgot. I know I could have made it in the sweet jeep!
Updated: After a few hours of processing time, I'm REALLY glad I didn't try to go up that hill. It was huge, steep, and no one knew where we were. I'm going to stick with beginner trails for a while.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Plant vs. Animal Kingdom
Yesterday P-diddy and I(A****) were playing animal charades. It was P-diddy's turn and I was having a hard time guessing his animal. It really looked like he was making scrambled eggs and toast. I asked for a clue.
P-diddy: "It has three letters."
Mom: "Is it--zoo???" (I had absolutely no idea!)
P-diddy: "No! It starts with M and ends with M."
Mom: "Is is MOM?"
P-diddy: "Yes!" (Said with an isn't it obvious attitude!)
Mom: "But we are playing animal charades!"
P-diddy came and sat on the bed beside me to have a serious discussion: "Mom-there are two different kingdoms in the world. The plant kingdom and the animal kingdom. And I don't think you are a plant."
(P-diddy is constantly cracking us up! He has a very unique personality!)
Friday, April 11, 2008
"So You've Had a Bad Day"
Wednesday was not such a good day for me(A****).
Actually, it all started on Monday evening when our dog, Maddie, bit J-dog on the cheek. An ER visit, three stitches and two hours later we had handled that crisis. Unfortunately, we decided the dog had to go. J*** called the shelter to give Maddie back and was told that we needed to home quarantine her for 10 days to watch for rabies.
Then Wednesday came along. For those of you who don't know, J*** and I have been planning our 15 year anniversary trip to Cancun. It took us forever to decide when to go and where to stay. I also felt obligated to book it through a co-worker who is a struggling single mom. J*** did not feel this same obligation and thought I was crazy! We finally got it all figured out and then we had some struggles booking it online thru said coworker's site. The website was behaving strangely and kept freezing up. Anyways- I found out on Wednesday afternoon that I had double booked the same reservation! Why would I book a trip for me and J**** on the same flight to the same hotel at the same time twice? It was obviously an honest mistake and besides the stupid website kept freezing up! I thought it would be easy to resolve but boy was I mistaken. The travel agency refuses to credit us for one of our reservations and the cancellation will cost us $800! (We are still fighting for our $!) The whole incident stressed me out and gave me a gigantic headache.
So now for the rest of the day...J*** had told me that Maddie was to be locked up at all times for obvious reasons. But I felt sorry for her and let her out. I was playing a video game with C-dog and Maddie was sleeping at my feet. J-dog came in, bent over and guess what! The unthinkable happened and Maddie bit him again in the same exact spot and tore out all of his stitches. I felt terrible and I was scared to call J***. He had listened to my Cancun trip hysterics all afternoon and now this!
An ER visit, three stitches, 2 hours later (and lots of crying from me) the crisis was resolved. Unfortunately, the dog really needed to go now. Against the boys' wishes J*** and I took her to the animal control on Thursday for her 10 day quarantine. It was a terrible experience and even J*** was choked up.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
The Hike to Blueberry Hill
Our family enjoys hiking. At least we used to when we lived right next to the beautiful Wasatch Mountains. We have gone on a hike here, but it was an hour and a half from home, up in the mountains northeast of Phoenix. We went last June thinking it would be much cooler in the mountains. It was cooler, but it was still 95 degrees and much too hot to hike. Allison was too concerned with making the kids drink, and forgot to drink enough herself, so she threw up all the way home. Yesterday, we tried again, closer to home, with a neighbor family as guides.
They called the hike "blueberry hill". The 5yo loves blueberries and asked if we could pick some there. There were no blueberries, but there were many beautiful blue flowers. 
That's where the name came from, the flowers. There were also white and yellow poppy flowers. There were also a wide variety of cacti, lizards, and sun. Maddie (our puppy) came along and got so hot that she was foaming at the mouth and hyperventilating. Thank goodness that we had a hiking dog bowl! (Thanks JB!) It really is an alien landscape here.
Good fun was had by all.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Fast Sunday
Found attached to the calendar early last month:
Dear J***,
They cancelled fast sunday. By the way how is your day. Just to tell you the boys didn't do this so don't punishe them
sinceraly,
A***** your wife.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Dog Daze
Well, the Tamagotchis and the Nintendogs didn't work! I've been trying to prevent this day from happening. But it's hard to be the kind of dad who refuses to let his three boys get a dog. I do have a good excuse to not want a dog. Our first dog was a disaster! I was trying to stall until they really wanted one and really worked me to get one. The "asking" really started this last month. As the 8yo put it, "If I hadn't whined at you so much, then we wouldn't have gotten a dog. So sometimes good things come from whining." Whatever.
We went to the dog adoption day last Sat. at the PetSmart. We wanted to adopt to get an adult dog to avoid all the puppy issues (potty training, crying a night, chewing, etc.). But of course, they had a couple of really cute black lab puppies. Some background: my sister has a really sweet black lab. So we went for it.
They had to do the surgery to infertilize her, so we had to wait until this Thurs to get the dog. It was all the boys could think about: How many more days for the dog; When are we going to get the dog; Why can't we have the dog now? Every prayer included the line, "thank you that we can get a puppy!"Then they called on Thursday- the clinic wasn't open so we had to wait until Friday. Uh oh. It was a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth. We went out and picked her up Fri. at lunch. She was really woozy and vomitous from her anesthesia. So we took her home and put her to bed in her kennel.
Here are my observations after 24 hours of dog. She is very sweet. She knows how to scratch at the door if she needs to go (she's only had a couple of accidents). She slept through most of last night. She seems to like us. It's going OK. There was a problem agreeing on a name. The final compromise is Maddie.
She's at my feet right now chasing her tail. I guess having a dog isn't so bad.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Come on let's cruise ya got nothin' to lose
This was a big week for the 5yo!
This week the 5yo learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! I'd been noticing that he was starting to balance on his scooter, and I thought that if he can balance on one two-wheeled toy, he should be able to do all two-wheeled toys. So off with the training wheels!
He was actually pretty excited about it and I grabbed onto his seat to support him as he pedaled. Off we go! We biked down the sidewalk to the nearby park, and then around the park. He'd start to balance and I'd let go. This resulted in a lot of crashes onto grass and into bushes. But he was a trooper and kept going. He was actually having a lot of fun couldn't stop giggling (I think that the giggling was the major cause for most of the crashes) I was exhausted and my back was really sore because his bike is really short, so we called it a day.
The next night we went back. He started doing a bit better and was working on his braking, steering and balancing. He'd almost get it and then steer off the sidewalk onto the grass, and then tumble over. On the way back to our house on day 2, he just took off. He rode all the way home by himself, and was circling the driveway when I made it home! Eureka.
The next night was golden, he rode pretty much all the way around the park by himself, except or a few forays down the grass hills. He said that it was accidental, but I think he liked going fast down the hills.
There was one bad crash, and he landed on his handlebars. It looked really painful!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Militia Training 2007
Last Friday I went out with a bunch of guys that like guns- The way Cindy Sheehan loves attention. Seriously.
We went out into the Arizona desert and found a big hill to shoot against. There were silencers, large caliber scoped rifles with the bi-pod mount in front so you can shoot without your arm getting tired. One of the guns even had a bayonet! 
The main guy even had this crazy explosive called tannerite. According to him, it was developed as a training aid for snipers. Apparently it can be difficult to tell if you hit your target when the target is thousands of feet away. With the tannerite, when they hit the target, it would go BOOM! It's supposedly quite stable and will not explode if a pistol round hits it, only high-powered rifle rounds. It was really fun! To the side you can see how it launched a big blue barrel. The picture shows the barrel at about half-way up! I felt a little bit under-armed with my 9mm pistol and my two 22 caliber rifles.
I learned a couple of things while shootin' with the men. 1) we should have just invaded Russia during the cold war and 2) we should just invade China right now! Why do I say these controversial things? 1) The gun guy bought a bunch of Russian ammo over the Internet and only about half of it worked. If we would have invaded Russia, their soldiers would have been too busy trying to find a shell that would fire to really fight back. It's really disconcerting to pull the trigger and only hear a click. 2) He had a Chinese assault rifle. It weighed about 80 pounds and was impossible to hit anything. Our soldiers could just walk up to the Chinese lines and demand surrender while the Chinese soldiers tried vainly to aim that lead brick to shoot back.
So Memorial Day I took the little boys out to the same spot for a little target practice. I know, I know, we're extremely careful. My boys have been drilled since birth about the basic safety rules of guns. (Treat every gun as if it's loaded, never point a gun at someone, if one of your friends wants to show you his dad's gun, come home immediately!) I firmly believe that if you refuse to allow your boys to learn to use guns responsibly and to respect them, you're living dangerously. Boys are interested in guns and it's a lot safer to allow them to investigate them under close adult supervision than sneaking around with their friends.
Anyway, we had a great time. The boys needed my help supporting the weight of the rifles, but they were able to hit a few cans and boxes. We took turns, so that only one person was shooting at a time and the others stayed safely behind the shooting line.
Here's a flowering cactus that we saw on the drive. I liked the contrast of the delicate beauty of the bloom against the drab cruelty of the cactus and surroundings.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
A Big Change
Well, I keep hoping that I'm going to find a lot of time to blog. But it's not happening- I just keep getting busier. So- I've made a decision. I am not going to blog as I have in the past. The title of this blog (as you can easily see) is A Humble Opinion. To me that implies that a certain amount of opinion should be shared. However, the overwhelming majority of my readers are people who don't really care about reading opinion pieces. They just want to see pictures of my kids and hear about what we're doing. So, that's what I'm going to do! Low on opinion, high on feel-good family info. That should be much simpler to write and I should be able to do it much more often!
Read More......Wednesday, May 2, 2007
The Truth about 4/29
You've all heard the official story about the bridge collapse in California. You know, the one where a gas tanker truck exploded after an accident. The resulting fire weakened the steel in an overpass, which caused it to collapse. At least that's the Official Story. Remember what Rosie O'Donnell taught us when referring to 9/11- "I do believe that it was the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel."
Fortunately, there are those out there who can expose the TRUTH.
I found this (tongue-in-cheek) website that EXPOSES THE TRUTH.
Some of the funniest lines:
Oh, and Rosie- Maybe you should do some research before mouthing off.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Work Japanese
I just left the employ of a Japanese-owned company. There were good and bad things about working for a Japanese-owned company. One of the bad things was that the Japanese employees were consistently unhappy and dour, and man, were they chain smokers. I think those poor addicts spent 10 minutes out of every hour, rain or shine, puffing away.
I was never asked to go to Japan for business. Although I would really like to vacation there, and there are a lot of things that that I would love to experience in Japan, I'm really glad that I didn't have to go for business. This was such a blessing for me. My buddy, who also recently found new employment, has posted about one of his trips to corporate Japan. This will explain why I never wanted to go. You should read the whole thing, but I'm going to reproduce a lot of it here. This may explain the attitude of the Japanese employees.The men are dressed in the same light two-tone green jackets identified as their uniform, and is only to be warn at work. All wear glasses that magnify the redness in their eyes that obviously comes from suffering for the company. Long messy hair and dirty pants tell me they are here for only one reason. To suffer just like their boss does. The men are expected to stay until their manager leaves. The manager is expected to stay until his manager leaves. He is expected to stay until his manager leaves, and he does not leave until 8pm because he too is suffering for the company.
I heard a lot about this attitude. The workers were expected to be at work until their boss left. They did not work, necessarily, but they had to be there. Going home to their families was not a priority. In fact, the older executives often travelled with a young attractive female. I assumed she was some sort of assistant. But, no, she was the mistress. And everyone knew it. Apparently the wife is expected to look the other way.The women her are machines. They are all to look the same in their uniforms, which are not to be worn to or from work, but only at work. They are to act like machines, which sit and do work. Machines don’t talk to anyone, they don’t look at anyone, they don’t read e-mails from friends, and they do not talk on the phone. They sit at their desk and work. If they get tired, they sit at their computer and close their eyes while they hold their head up with one hand hold the mouse with the other. This is ok, because they are at their desk, and appear to be working and suffering like the rest...
I have heard that in Japan if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you don’t talk about your relationships. Only gossip about others. If a woman does have a boyfriend, she may get fired from her job. The reasoning behind this, is because she will eventually get married, have babies, and have to quit her job to raise her family like every Japanese woman should, (not all do however).
The Japanese women at my job were definitely treated poorly. They were not viewed as important 'team members,' but as objects to be ordered around.I make a pit stop at the restrooms and try not to touch anything while in there. The toilets are really urinals embedded in the ground. This is typical Japanese. You really do have to squat to do your thing, the toilet paper is really wax paper on a 4” roll. And watch your wallet so it does not fall in either. The urinals are typical American urinals. No paper towels or rolls to dry your hands, so you use your handkerchief you are to carry with you everywhere for a number of reasons, one of which, to dry your hands.
Speaking of getting attention, every now and then, when I entered the restroom, there would be a tiny old Japanese lady hunched over wearing a dirty pink outfit, yellow rubber gloves holding a bucket and scrubbing brush, cleaning like she is suffering just like the office workers. She is just part of the restroom and no one pays any attention to her and you just go about your business.
Pretty funny, isn't it! I can't imagine having to squat like that with the little lady mopping all around me. Talk about performance anxiety.
So, the next time you're frustrated at work, take a deep breath and remember: it could be worse.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
The Boat Rental
We love the water. We love to swim in pools or at lakes, or as we recently discovered, in the ocean.
It's all good when you're by the water.
We have made it a yearly tradition to head up to Bear Lake every summer for a week as a family. The boys are little enough that they love just playing in the sand, but they also love it when We rent SeaDoos. I love to rent the fastest SeaDoo that they have. It is such a rush to be going that fast. Someday- hopefully soon- I'd like to head up to the lakes that people tell me are nearby where we now live and rent some.
This last year we also rented a boat for an hour to try that out. Everyone had a blast, except the 4yo, who was pretty freaked out by the entire experience. It ended up being pretty windy that day, and we had 2-3 foot swells. That's pretty big for a little boat with newbie boaters in it. I of course, thought it was great fun and tried to see how much air I could get with the boat.
That had to stop when everyone was screaming for me to stop and I just about gave my wife whiplash. Sorry sweetie! Then I practiced driving along the top of the wave, for a smooth ride. That was pretty fun.
Once the waves died down, it was time to try the tube. The 7yo was the bravest, and hopped right in. You can tell from the photo that he had a blast. He's a pretty good swimmer, but it was a bit scary to let him be out there alone. I didn't try too hard to knock him off the tube with crazy quick turns and such. My wife tried riding the tube, but she had a hard time holding on , so she gave up quickly. At least she tried! She's a good sport.
I really wanted a go at the tube, but that would involve her driving the boat for a bit. She was scared, but she did it for me. I told the boys about having a lookout and holding up the flag if the rider(me) falls off. I was ready to go!
I jumped in the water, which was pretty chilly for August, and pulled myself up on the tube. I smiled and gave the thumbs-up to start the ride. It started slowly with the driver getting used to the controls. I gave the thumbs-up for more speed. She obliged, and off we went. She was really flying and I was really getting a beating. There were still some pretty big waves out there. I was just about knocked off the tube by a big wave and I looked up at the boat. My wife was focused on driving and the kids were focused on what was ahead. No one was focused on me! If I let go, I be adrift in the middle of that lake and they wouldn't even know! I don't think my wife and kids would have been able to find me. I would have been found days later by a steamer from the merchant marines, or something. Maybe the Bear Lake Monster would have eaten me.
On we went, the short train with a caboose of terror. My wife was really getting into the speed, the waves were doing their best to knock me off the tube, and I was holding on for dear life! I was yelling like an American Idol early-rounder, trying to get someones attention. This went on for probably 6 hours (maybe 5-10 minutes) until one of the kids noticed me and told my wife to slow down. My arms and hands were numb, and I was glad the ride was over, but it was still a lot of fun.
Look at me! Capt'n Jefferson!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
New Discoveries
After some thought, I've decided to lift the veil a bit on my personal information. I've been trying to be very obscure about who exactly I am, and my family, and where we live. This is to discourage serial killers and kidnappers from easily finding us. I've decided that I'm going to have a difficult time blogging without at least revealing the location to which I've moved. Here it is (drumroll...) Arizona!
I think that it would be pretty simple to deduce where we've moved from future posts, and I think that anyone who is motivated enough could go through the various family links/blogs and figure out who and where we are. I also really want to talk about the new, fun, cool, bad, frustrating things about a new state and climate.
(Note to any serial killers or kidnappers or whatever- keep this in mind. I'm 6 foot 8 and 250 pounds. I own and practice using handguns. I can also be pretty foul tempered. So step off!)
Here are the main things that really strike me about where I live.
Good things:
Bad things:
I am really happy here. I do wish I wasn't so far from family, but what do you do?
By the way...
Hasn't Lost been incredible the last few weeks? Now I remember why I liked this show so much. And Heroes?!? That is so amazingly great.
Read More......Well, I'm back!
My last post was on February 21, 2007. Anyone reading this already knows that, because you've all been checking all the time for my newest post. I can only apologize and offer as an explanation that I've totally changed everything in my life! That's not completely true- I still have my sweet wife and 3 awesome kiddies- but everything else has changed.
One of the things that has changed is that I get tired and fall asleep at 11:30. This is a new and unwelcome experience for me. I would get a lot done between 11:30 and 1:30 in my previous life- like blogging! I haven't really come up with a good solution to my lack of blogging time, but hopefully I'll figure something out.
I'll fill you all in on what's been happening over the next while, but I'd like to offer a humorous story for your enjoyment.
The drive to from our old home to our new home is about 12 hours if you go at a decent clip and don't stop too much. We had two cars, both jammed full of breakable belongings and people. But, at least we had our integrated entertainment system in the van for the kiddies. I can't imagine a 1 hour drive without it, let alone a 12 hour drive.
About 4 hours into the drive, we stopped for gas and treats. Upon returning to our vehicles, we made the horrifying discovery that the van wouldn't start. The van's battery had been acting up for the past few months, and I guess the strain of powering the integrated entertainment system was just too much for it. It was dead. As you probably know, when a car is running, it isn't taking any power from the battery, it's actually charging the battery. The battery is only used for starting the car and for running the electrical system when the car isn't running. (disclaimer- this may not actually be true. Ask your father. Actually, ask my father, he is the car guru.)
So, I jump started the van and was faced with a choice- continue the trip having to jump start the van at every stop, or try to find an auto-parts store in the middle of nowhere and get a new battery. It seemed to risky with the family along to do otherwise, so I went in search of a battery.
We located a store within a half hour and I bought the new battery. I had a bunch of tools conveniently packed in an accessible location in the van for such an occasion, so I wasn't too worried about the changeover. I mean, come on, it's a battery- simple job! I unhooked the battery and started dismantling the "clever" battery mounting mechanism.
I can't remember what I wanted to ask my wife, but I walked over to her window and motioned for her to roll it down. She pushed the "down" button and nothing happened. Duh, the battery is unhooked. So I motioned for her to open the door. She pushed the "unlock" button and nothing happened. She looked at my sister (did I mention that my sweet sister sweetly offered to come with us?) and then looked at me with a "now what do I do" look. I stood there in a mild state of amused shock as two grown women discussed how dangerous it was that they were locked in the car, just because the battery was unhooked. Finally, I pointed at the door and mouthed "pull the handle." My wife and sister lost it and laughed at themselves for a long time. Isn't there a pollack joke about being locked in your car?
The battery changeover went quickly and we were back on the road in no time. About 5 minutes after we started driving, I got a phone call- the integrated entertainment system was not working! Then I remembered about the security code: The integrated entertainment system has a security system meant to deter theft. If the radio/DVD player is unhooked from the battery for any reason (including theft or replacement of a battery), the security code must be entered before it will turn on. If you read in the owner's manual, it clearly states that you should not keep the code in the car, in case the car is broken into. Our code was safely not in our car. Our code was safely in our filing cabinet inside the 53 foot trailer with the rest of our stuff hours away from us. There was still something like 10 hours left of our trip. :(
Now, I know that many road trips have been taken with young children without an integrated entertainment system. I know that pioneers walked for months across plains with young children without an integrated entertainment system. I also know that television has only been around a short time compared to the history of man. No one would have died without the integrated entertainment system. However, why should I, a modern man living in 2007, the owner of an integrated entertainment system, have to put up with 10 hours of whining/fighting/yelling/bored/crying children? Can I ask you that? Even worse, the thought of having to subject my sweet wife and sister to such torment. (And then hear about it for days after the fact!) This could not stand.
I called the dealer and begged for help. I explained my situation and begged. "I'm sorry", the uncaring dealer parts man answered, "You have to tear the dash apart and read me the serial number off the radio before I can give you your secret code." Let's think about that statement for a moment. 1) The code is meant to make the radio useless for someone who steals it, 2)if I had stolen the radio I would be able to read the serial number off said radio, 3)With this serial number, I could call the dealer and get the secret code, 4)what the heck!!!
I tried to reason with the uncaring dealer parts man by walking him through steps 1-4. Despite my superior logic skills, he couldn't give me the code without the serial number. Argh! I was not going to tear the dash apart in the middle of our trip.
So off we went, the joy of the trip stolen by a useless security code. I am writing the code on the cover of the manual next time, because anyone who steals my radio is welcome to it. I just need access to the @$$#&4! code just in case I have to replace my battery. My wife and sister were trying random codes. I suppose it was possible that they would stumble on the code since there are only like 500 trillion unique combinations of numbers to input for the code. I guess when you're bored, you'll try anything.
Then my wife decided to have a prayer. You always hear about families stranded in blizzards that have a prayer and just when they finish a tow truck just happens by, saving their lives. This was not such a situation, but it was pretty important to the people trapped in the van of whining. After praying, my wife remembered that she had put the secret code in my planner. She grabbed the planner, and there it was!!! The day was saved.
The battery worked well for the rest of the trip, and continues to work to this day. That is important, otherwise my wife might just die from heat exhaustion after being locked in there :)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
I made a Padua
After a coughing fit at dinner...
4yo: Dad, I made a padua!
Dad: A what?
4yo: A padua.
Dad: A paddle?
4yo: No, a padua.
Dad: Oh, a padawan.
4yo: No, Dad, a padua. Cough, burp, cough, burp, cough, burp...
Dad: I get it! You made a pattern!
4yo: Yea, a padua.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Burning down the house
I have about 10 days until I sell my house. We've lived here for about 2 and a half years, so you'd think that the percent chance of major damage happening to my house during this 10 day period of time would be small. Let's do the math for those interested. 10 days/900 days=1.1%. That's pretty small. Maybe I'm just more sensitive to any damage done right now, but there seems to be a lot happening to my house the last week or so.
- My 8yo ran into a corner and dented it with his knee.
- A little cousin tripped and jammed a (plastic) lightsaber into the wall in the stairway. A real lightsaber would have been much worse.
- An eraser for a whiteboard was smashed into the carpet, leaving a nasty black stain. We was able to mostly get it out with our carpet cleaner, but I can still see it in the right light.
- And the piece de resistance. I just about burned the place down.
The process is this: wait until evening so the rodent will be home, find the front and back doors of the rodent dwelling, block one with dirt, stick a rodent bomb in the other opening, light the bomb, cover the remaining opening, and wander off to enjoy your rodent-free evening. I've done this before without incident. (Well, I guess the rodent had an incident.)
So I lit the smoke bomb, and buried the hole. I went inside and retired to the basement to watch Nacho Libre with my boys and my sister, who was visiting. As the movie progressed, we started smelling more and more smoke. I just thought that some of the smoke from the bomb was getting into the house. The smoke kept getting worse, even though I was ignoring it! I went out to investigate.
This is what I found. I had blocked the hole with decorative tree bark, not non-flammable dirt. Not so smart. There was a large section of bark that was glowing red hot. Fortunately it didn't ignite into flames, but it was really hot. I got a bunch of water and doused it, but the smoke was everywhere. The hole was close enough to the house foundation that had it ignited, it could have really done damage.What happens if you burn down your house right before selling it? I guess the move would be off. That would be bad.
I blame George Bush and Karl Rove.
Read More......
Monday, February 19, 2007
I love technology
I really love to read. I mean, I really love to read. I devour books. I especially love it when I find a good series made up of 10 books where each book is 800 pages long. I like slowly unfolding political dramas, I really love books with betrayal and murder. I really like thrillers, spy novels, alternate history books, fantasy, science fiction, history. It's all good.
Let me tell you about the new way the I have to feed my addiction.
Books are expensive. Even paperback books are like $8.00. Even though I do like to re-read books, I still can't afford to buy all the books I want to read. And then there's the book storage problem. Books are big and heavy and take up a lot of space. So I get a lot of books at the library. I live in a small county and our libraries are very poor. The library by my house might have book 1, 3, 4 and 7 of an 8 book series. I don't have time to drive to 3 different libraries to get the books I need to complete a series. Plus, I'm almost always at the library with my kids, and they don't have enough patience for a lot of browsing. It used to be really frustrating.
Notice that I said "used to be." A few months ago I figured out that I can access my county's library database through their website. I can browse for books there. I can also see if the branch I use has copies on the shelf, or at least when the book I want is due.
The best thing of all? I can request books. I put in my card number and my secret pin number and I can request any book to be picked up at any branch. It doesn't matter if a certain branch doesn't have all the books for a series, I just request the missing books. So, whenever I hear of a book that I might want to read, I log in and request it at the library that I drive past on my way home from work. Then, in a few days I get an email saying that it's ready! I just stop off on the way home and walk up to the counter. They have my books all wrapped up for me on the shelf there and I'm out the door. Slick as black ice.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
The Eyes
We bought this picture a few years ago for a decoration for my oldest boy's room. We're always trying to find decorations that we like and that aren't too expensive. We also liked the sentiment expressed in the picture. I hope my boys turn out to be brave, truthful, and unselfish.
I took the photo of the picture this evening to show you. You'll notice that it's not hanging on a wall, it's stuck in the back of a closet.
There's something wrong with the picture, something eerie. The boy in the picture may, in fact, be alive.
This hung for a lot of years in my oldest's room. He hated it. He was always asking for it to be taken down and out of his room. "At night," he said, "the eyes look like they're moving. They move from side to side." Finally I relented and we moved it to the next boy's room. Whatever, kids are weird.
From the moment we put it up in the 2nd boy's room, he complained about it. He wanted it gone. My wife asked him why he didn't like it. "The eyes, they look at me and follow me around. Especially at night. I hate it." I made him keep it up for several months. I thought that he had just picked up on something from his brother, and after a while he'd let it go. He never did. Almost every day he's ask for us to get rid of it. My wife took it down and put it in the littlest boy's room.
He wouldn't hear of it. He threw a fit. "Why don't you like it?" I asked him. "Because that boy is ugly!" he replied.
So now, the picture sits collecting dust in a closet. I will admit that the eyes do seem to follow me around the room. Especially when the room is dark. Is the boy alive? Is the picture haunted? I wouldn't dare to guess.
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