Saturday, February 28, 2009
Something else is broken
Friday, February 27, 2009
Having kids
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Problems reading books . . .
At least this video was created by me, about me.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Someone else's (quite sound) advice to the lovelorn
(Oh, and just to provide complete understanding to the inside jokes, the "nerd boys don't sparkle in the sunshine" remark is a reference to [vampire] Edward Cullen from the Twilight series. . . . Gee, I hope I didn't spoil anything by saying that Edward was a vampire.)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
TV troubles
Monday, February 23, 2009
Hannah walks
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Oscar twittering
Oscar night
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Click
Friday, February 20, 2009
Yep, still lazy
Sorry.
It's days like this when you and I both wonder what the practical use of my 365 days of posts pledge actually is . . . since I am obviously treating it with less respect that it deserves and you are disappointed with the results.
But, I am sort of trying to push content forward every day--even if it isn't content that I personally crafted and honed.
But, honestly, even if I WAS taking the time to describe what a disaster of an evening I had Thursday night, and what a fruitless day at work I had earlier, and how I'm needing to work tonight but have absolutely no interest in doing so . . . well, you've heard that all before right? (And now that I'm trying to post every day, you've heard it MULTIPLE times and all quite recently.) So, I'll spare you that.
But, if I choose to spare you that, then (again) what is the freakin' POINT of all of this?!!
*****
Let's step away from that nonsense up there and get to the real reason I started typing this post. I wanted to share an interesting video that I found that graphically describes the financial credit crisis.
Adding graphics makes things more approachable. I won't say that it is entirely more understandable, because all the jargon is still there and the rapidity of it all continues to make it hard to follow. But it is a help.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
However, I am sure that some (me included, I guess, since I'm bringing it up) will be offended by the graphic choice to depict the "typical" sub-prime mortgage owner as a fat smoker, his wife, and their multiple (crying) kids. [This occurs at approximately the 7:20 minute mark in the video. You'll note the difference between them and the more "appropriate" fixed rate mortgage family that was used earlier in the video.]
h/t to the NPR Planet Money blog for the original notice of the video.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
One opinion on the Stimulus Package
*****
And finally, here is the latest episode of LOST Untangled:
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Red zone
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Day of surgery
7:00 am The older kids are awake. I've been reading in bed for a while, unable/unwilling/unnecessary trying to go back to sleep. Soon we'll go downstairs and have our breakfast and decide what to do for the day.
8:00 am Lynda calls and asks me to clean the bathrooms while I'm here at home. Not my regular type of chore (in fact, I avoid that one as often and as completely as I can) but I can't say no . . . nor would I in any case.
9:00 am I've consulted with Sarah and Grace and they have decided to go see Hotel for Dogs after lunch. It'll be a good way to keep them occupied. Hannah should be starting her surgery soon.
10:30 am The bathrooms are clean(ish) and I've gotten a visit from a wandering Jehovah's Witness who handed me a tract, read me a Bible verse and asked me to consider "Who rules the world?" I listened politely.
I'll call Lynda in a few minutes to see how things are going. Hopefully our church priest is there visiting with her since I can't be. I'm sure she is nervous.
10:45 am The surgery went fine. Hannah has to recover for a while, but Lynda will be bringing her home in an hour or two. She hasn't seen her yet, but the doctor said things went very well. I hope Hannah isn't terribly uncomfortable for the rest of the day, but I expect she will be. Now the grim march of recovery must begin.
2:25 pm Back home again and the family is together once more. Hannah is home and sitting beside me eating some toast. Her right eye is securely patched and her voice sounds a bit hoarse (due to the breathing tube they gave her during the surgery), but all things considered, she is doing surprisingly well. She's staring into space a bit and absent-mindedly scratching her right side as she chews her toast piece. But she is looking around and showing alert interest in things. She hasn't scrabbled much at her bandage . . . but that will likely come later.
Hotel for Dogs was surprisingly decent . . . for a kids movie. In my childhood, it would have been a Benji story, but here is it focused on an orphaned brother and sister who are nicely scrubbed and bright eyed (though they've been in the foster system for many years). The loss of the parents in never explained and the current foster family is stereotypically, buffoonishly unable to parent (they are failing "musicians"). Thus the kids have free reign to roam the city and get into all sorts of cinema-friendly hijinks with their trusty dog named "Friday."
The siblings take in stray dogs (get it?) and house them in an appropriately grand abandoned hotel full of furniture and stuff that would have been looted long ago in a world where homelessness exists. But nevermind. The young brother has a mechanical bent (which he inherited from his dad . . . and never speaks of again) which allows him to construct many Rube Goldberg contraptions that keep the dogs fed, watered, exercised, and clean.
But the center eventually falls apart in the second act--as plot rules say it must--and the children, their newly photogenic friends (along with the stereotypically funny fat kid . . . oh, let's call him "Chunk"), and the dogs are all in danger of losing their idyllic life on the unseen margins.
Will it work out in the end?
5:31 pm I took Hannah for a walk around and through the neighborhood earlier in the afternoon. (Fresh air heals wounds faster, right?) It was a chilly day, but keeping moving kept me warm and I walked around the block and then down a different side street--making sure that I saved the downhill part of the final leg for the return trip (right Sven?). It felt nice to get outside on a pretty day and stretch the legs. And Hannah was quiet and drowsy throughout. I thought Lynda might take the chance to lay down and rest or (more likely) pull out her computer and do some afternoon work . . . but when I came home she was playing Monopoly, Jr. with Sarah and Grace. I let them finish the game while Hannah and I played in the basement. . . . And then it was my turn to play the game while Hannah had some dinner. Perhaps she'll go to sleep early tonight, but I don't have many illusions that she'll sleep soundly this night or many nights in the coming future.
Tomorrow morning Lynda (I think?) will take her to an early appointment to remove the bandage. And we'll move forward.
She's a strong one. Not any serious complaints and has handled it all very well. (I do think it is better to do this sort of thing when they are younger and less aware. It allows them to be more resilient, maybe? Sure, there will be complains and crying, but that would have happened no matter what the age.)
6:55 pm Just finished eating a very nice meal provided to us by one of our friends from church--pork roast, green beans, stuffing, cheesy potatoes . . . even grapes, oranges, and dessert. I wonder if THAT is the answer to the Jehovah's Witness that came by earlier in the day? Who rules the world? Kind people doing charitable things to help others . . . if we choose.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday night
Lately we've been spending more time with Hannah in the basement. It allows one of the parents to stay "topside" and work while the other takes the neediest of the three out of the picture for a while. When it is my time, I usually fold laundry, watch cooking shows on Food Network, and watch Hannah as she crawls from one set of things to another. Everything is something to put in her mouth these days.
But in the blur of these chores and tasks, the weekend can simply move on by--especially if you are spending your free time wondering if you are going to work, wondering what you might work on, and then being disappointed in yourself when you realize that you are, in fact, doing the work that you'd resigned yourself to doing (though not fast enough, naturally).
In the winter, it makes it even harder because you are usually forced to stay indoors to avoid the cold. Sunday was not, I admit, a unwelcoming February day--it was actually sunny with blue skies. But the temperatures were chilly and . . . well, you can't do work outside. (sigh)
So, the kids played around the house and Hannah even played with them a fair bit. It is good to see the three of them interacting with each other in a playful, sisterly way. I look forward to more of that as they each age.
*****
And so, on Sunday night, after playing, doing chores, working, and living, we faced the inevitable question of what to do for dinner. I'll admit that we took the lazy way out and chose to go buy fast food.
And where did we go?
One guess--
Oddly though, the music piped in wasn't the cook and hip music you'd expect from the "restaurant" that brought you the Angry Whopper or the Subservient Chicken.
Nope, it was 1970s Donna Summer and Elvis and stuff your parents would enjoy.
Is it retro-kitche? Is that what the college kids are liking today?
I can't keep up anymore.
And that's probably okay . . . I've got laundry to fold.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
When you're out of ideas . . .
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Another eye problem
Friday, February 13, 2009
Grace and astrophysics
Thursday, February 12, 2009
What's on my desk this morning
2. coffee I still need to drink
3. pens
4. business cards I keep but rarely use
5. paperweight given to me by Dad. said weight is holding down out-dated papers
6. fire warden walkie talkie in recharging holder
7. Looney Tunes fast food give away glass circa 1974. it probably needs washing
8. ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America) paperweight that spells out TIFTON . . . my hometown and location of an ALCOA plant
9. tissues
10. cut up textbooks
11. non-cut up textbooks
12. phone
13. two vampire-related books. one is Twilight which I have to return to coworker after completing last night; the other is Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale which I have to return to another coworker after finally deciding I wasn't going to finish completely.
*****
What's NOT on my desk this morning--Cliff Claven.
*****
If you want to read my random thoughts on last night's episode of LOST (featuring SPOILERS, I guess . . .) check out the last fifteen or twenty of my entries on the Twitter page. You can either read from top to bottom, going backwards in time, or find the first entry and read up. Or skip around in homage to this season's plot motif.
And here is last night's episode 2 of LOST Untangled. Probably SPOILERS here as well:
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A rare Twofer day
Afternoon blues
But when I got home, I found that I had a great deal of trouble making myself stare at the spreadsheet more--knowing that I'll be doing it again later tonight when the girls are safely pajama'd and in their rooms. AND I've got to sort out dinner. AND I've got to go back out the door in the next hour to gather up all three kids. AND dinner (whatever it ends up being . . .) needs to be quick because Sarah has Brownie Scouts tonight. AND that isn't even counting the three or four other work-related tasks that I have been pushing aside and putting off for weeks now and will probably ALL have to be completed by next Tuesday. AND I've got to go back to doing it all again tomorrow.
So . . . what am I going to make for dinner?
It seems like we've eaten it all twenty-five times before. And all I really want to do is sit and eat cookies until my stomach hurts and I can't look at myself in the mirror.
But what could/should I concoct tonight? I just looked in the pantry and nothing seems to combine with anything else to create an appetizing possibility. It's all just a random collection of cans and boxes and bags and bits of this and half of that. We have lots of meat in the freezer, but in what manner should I cook it? How should I flavor it? And can I get it done in thirty minutes or less?
I just want to throw up my hands and buy something. Let someone else make me dinner tonight! (Ahh, but what about tomorrow? And what about nutrition? And what about cost?)
Just in a bad, dissatisfied mood.
Later: I didn't accomplish ANY forward movement on my afternoon work projects. I just couldn't muster up the energy to care. (Shh! Don't tell!) Instead, I trolled around YouTube, watching several short videos from my latest interest--the Vlog Brothers. As usual, I'm behind the curve on hearing about these guys. But I'm only one person and the Internet is a big place. Frankly, I think I need to start culling my interests to maintain some media/Internet sanity in my increasingly hectic life.
*****
"But," you ask, "What did you do about dinner?"
I didn't go out and buy anything. I cobbled up just enough leftovers (hamburger patties, macaroni and cheese, green beans, supplementary baked potato for Lynda) to serve adequate quantities to all of the girls. I skipped all of that and had leftover Pirate Stew (Aaarrrggh!), which I cooked in the crock pot on Sunday. As with most crock pot items, it tasted better a few days after the original. The time in flavor melding and texturizing made a smoother tasting stew.
Sarah is at her Brownie troop meeting, which came after her Drama Club meeting, and before she does her homework--which she almost forgot at school for the second day in a row.
And now I'm just going to abruptly stop this post and try to be productive and useful around the house.
*****
I clearly need to be reading The Happiness Project more often.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
My thoughts on "David after Dentist"
Monday, February 09, 2009
Sunday at the Zoo with David
I've got two or three other partial posts that I could fill out more and complete for delivery on Monday morning, but I just feel too tired to devote the brainwork necessary to make the writing--and later reading--worthwhile for everyone involved. I really like the ideas and hope they won't be too removed from their topics of origin by the time that I get around to feeling up to completing them.
On Friday evening, a coworker asked me if I was going to get the kids outside this weekend since the temperatures were going to be so moderate. I didn't commit to anything and wondered if I would, parental guilt or not.
But Sunday rolled around and it was brighter and more pleasant than Saturday. So, I felt the need to get outside.
We decided to go to the Zoo, our usual default destination since: a) we have a paid membership, b) it allows us to stay outside for most of the experience, c) it makes us get on our feet and walk, d) it is educational and culturally enriching, and e) it's not as crowded in the colder months.
So, off to the Zoo we went! Lynda even went with us, thought I originally thought she might stay home to work. (Later Sunday night we both set up our laptops on the dining table and faced down our work demons for a while--until I got fed up and decided to finish watching The Dark Knight DVD from Netflix. We enjoyed perenial favorites like elephants, lions, tigers, and penguins. And we found a little corner of the Southeast Asia area with nocturnal animals and birds that we had somehow never been to before. It WAS a good time outside in the pleasing February weather. But I was tired by the end of it, with tired legs and a weary body. I'm simply not in good shape--exacerbated by the mystery that I gained about two pounds over the course of Saturday, and I don't entirely know how I did it.
I am increasingly behind at work. I thought I was doing ok, but at the end of last week I found that I have several small tasks that add up to several LARGE tasks that all have to be completed this week before Phase 1 of this new project can be given over to Phase 2. And even though next Monday is a holiday, I expect Lynda and I will be trying to squeeze some work in at home. Unfortunately, the daycare is closed that day, so no outside assistance from anyone else.
But enough of this stream of conscious complaining. I've got kids to get to bed on Sunday night and stuff to do before I sleep.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Saturday
But the snow has disappeared from roofs and yards and is melting away on the streets. So that is a definite improvement.
I should be working right now, instead of writing this (365 post challenge or not), but I'd really rather be reading or watching a movie or flipping through TV channels than work. But I DO need to do some work tonight--though I know it won't be as much work as is needed for me to complete.
Tomorrow night will be much the same. I'll be regretful that I didn't work more this weekend (though I really don't know when, outside of nighttime, I'd have the opportunity to sit down and do any work at all). And when I do have that opportunity, once the kids are up in their rooms, I just want to shut off the mind and do nothing.
Lynda, of course, is more work-loaded than me. And what is she doing right now? Sleeping upstairs in bed. I hope she isn't getting sick. I feel that my cold might be improving slightly, but I'll still be dealing with it for a few more days, I'd wager.
*****
Friday night Lynda and I had a rare date--initiated by our semi-regular babysitter from church who knew she'd have the night free and told us to schedule. It will serve as our Valentines celebration this year. So we went out for dinner and decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire. I knew that it was a good movie, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. There are many sobering scenes and the realism of a difficult life made it less than the feel-good movie of the year, but it ended up being a surprisingly apt movie to see for a semi-Valentine's outing. Certainly, the pull of love and the desire to never give up on those you love is a strong theme of the movie.
So, take your significant other and check it out. I haven't seen the other Oscar-nominated Best Picture films, but I've seen that one and it is good.
Now, I've got to get some work done before my resolve shatters completely and I pop a DVD in the machine.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Episode 1 of LOST Untangled
Enjoy.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Husband Olympics . . .
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Short post due to sickness
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
"Corde du roi"
The Clothing Project!
Today, I am choosing corduroy pants as my clothing to ruminate on, in part because during the fall and the winter months, I almost entirely live in corduroy pants.
A few of my potential readers might have their own particular associations regarding corduroy but that is mostly a joke for some of the insiders.
You aren't here to figure that out. You are here to learn about what corduroy means to me and what it might say about my personality and my own life journey.
Let's begin . . .
As you can see from the photo, I've got quite a few pairs of cords here. I favor the wide wale type of corduroy--meaning that the fabric bunches in thicker "ropes" rather than in a more numerous thin pattern. Back in high school, when I first decided that I liked the soft feel, warmth, and drape of the corduroy pant, I wore a more narrow wale, but once college hit, for whatever reason I don't actually recall, I went exclusively to the wide style.
I only wear them in the cold weather months, of course, but during that part of the year, I wear them almost constantly. I have a brown pair, a tan pair, and a black pair that I rotate through with regularity. As you can see from the above photo, I have some color duplication. That is a result of the expanding and contracting of my waist over the years, not because I need to have more than one of a color.
You can also notice that I have a dark blue pair. They are probably too snug for me to wear right now, but they are distinctive for the fact that they are the only pair of pants that I have ever paid a seamstress to have the length adjusted. I bought them, oh . . . about six or seven years ago now when we were living in Hilliard. Previously, when younger, I had always had my pants hemmed by Mom or been careful to purchase pants that were length-appropriate. I think these were given to me as a gift. I don't think Lynda knows how to hem (but I guess I've never had occasion--except here--to ask . . . and they say people who are married for a long time have nothing new to discover about each other), so I had to find someone. I recall simply looking in the yellow pages under seamstress or some such appropriate key word until I found someone close to where we were living then.
I drove over on a Saturday morning and felt distinctly foolish and apprehensive. I carried the pants with me, thinking it was inappropriate (?) to wear the garment to the appointment. But, as I approached, I wondered if there would be a place for me to change. And then I'd have to stand there while a stranger crouched at my feet and adjusted and pinned. It was just a newly odd experience. This kind of thing used to be quite common, I believe, but I've never had it done to me in a business-like fashion. (And it was before I became a Harry Potter fan, so I couldn't distract myself from the awkwardness by imagining I was shopping in Madam Malkins or Twilfitt and Tattings.)
I used to get good-natured jokes aimed at me in the office for my constant wearing of the corduroy pants. And I just shrug it off. (There are much worse things to be defined by. . .) But this year, my uberboss stopped me at the start of the Fall season and asked me point blank why I wasn't wearing my corduroy pants yet. He pointed out that HE was already wearing his--and he was quite happy about it too. I don't think he made our sartorial solidarity known throughout the office, but I took that as a point won by me.
And ultimately, I don't care what anyone says. Comfortable pants are not to be scoffed at, no matter the fabric or season.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Tired
It was my turn Monday (or so I calculated). I even put my name, and my name alone, on Hannah's morning sheet when I dropped her off at the daycare. But I guess I was not explicit enough, as Lynda still got the call first. She called me and I told her that I would get Hannah and try to continue working from home.
If the kids cooperate, I can--in fact--manage a facsimile of working at home. The laptop can access the work files remotely and while it spins a bit more slowly, I don't have to carry half of a filing cabinet of papers home when I am forced to relocate. I can also stay up with emails and project progress from home as well. But I don't prefer working outside of the office. I rather like the forced concentration of being in public, having managers able to call and check on progress. At home I could slip away from the laptop and watch a cooking show for thirty minutes or just sit and eat cookies or something.
I chose to take the bullet and stay home today in part because Lynda is (no surprise) behind in her current project. That seems like it is a constant description of her working . . . more so than is common with me. I don't know for sure if that is a reflection of our two working styles or the amount of work they expect of her as opposed to me, but it always seems to describe her more than me.
And that does bother me. Sometimes I feel that I work for one-and-a-half departments (my own and part time as babysitter for hers). But that is just my surliness talking and I try not to let it get to me too often--thought Lynda would probably disagree . . .
So, I'm trying to catch up on some stuff that I might have completed in the office. And I am anticipating some opportunities to relax and get away from the laptop for a while. But who knows what Tuesday brought? Who knows if Hannah will be suitable for daycare and who knows which of us, Lynda or myself, will be staying home if she's not?
*****
NOTE: I found the missing commercial that I originally wanted to pair with this post of a few days ago. Go check out the updated post.