Month: August 2004

A New Day!

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This Morning

Tommy came down at 11pm to explain that he could not sleep. At 1:15 in the morning I jumped awake probably due to something Tommy was doing but when I checked on him he was pretending pretty good or he was actually asleep. At 4:15am Noah’s alarm clock went off and I had to encourage him to get back to sleep. At 5am my biological clock said, “get up.” and at 5:15 I rose.

The bank is now charging me $6 per day plus $32 on any transaction that tries to go through (which should be none) until I get the account positive again. So, let me see if I understand this right. You are broke so we are going to charge you more money. Keep ’em down! Soon they will threaten to close the account and lecture me on how I will be unable to re-establish myself with any bank.

I used to wonder wonder what kind of person buys glasses at the check out of convenience stores. Now I know. It’s those working, uninsured blind people like myself that lose their glasses and have no other options but to squint or use something “close.”

So I have noticed that occasionally I get this strange fibrillation in my chest as if my heart instead of going “da thump da thump da thump” instead goes “da thump pause thump thump thump pause da thump.” I have always found it interested that toward the base of my sternum I can effectively watch my pulse. Now the pattern I described I actually feel slightly in my chest but mostly can feel with my hand at the base of my ribs on my right side. If I place a business card on my stomach there I can watch the card jump like a Mexican jumping bean or a metronome.

Cathy says it is anxiety but I think I am handling my stress fine. I’m not concerned about it but its one of those times where if I had insurance I’d consider consulting my gp. It is a little annoying because it’s one of those unnatural things your body decides to do that you have no control over. Like a water torture or an eye twitch.

Student: Am I weak?

Master: You were before you asked.

The tea pot whistles with my hot water for my oat meal. Amy looks at me perplexed and says, “Wht’s that noise?” with emphasis on ‘what’ and ‘that’. So its rythmic like “Wht’s! *pause* ThAT *andante* nooiise?”

Knox County Transportation (594-1550) rings busy thing morning.

We showed up for the bus at 7:20. The bell rings at 7:45. 7:46 the kids are officially late. So I drop Noah with the other parent that comes to the stop then I rush Sarah and her friend to their bus stop since I really don’t approve of them crossing Northshore. Traffic on Northshore today going east bound was beyond bad. After dropping the older girls I return to find Noah and friends still at their stop. 7:45 comes and goes and I check to make sure I can’t see the bus stuck in traffic. We load the car up and I use the backroads by going west bound so that I am not 20 minutes in traffic to drive 1 mile (1.5 km). On the backroads I pass the bus going the other direction. I still beat it to school and negotiate no tardies for the children that have been told “if you are late on Monday you will be counted tardy regardless.” The new principal is very nice! At 8:00 I am returning home and I pass the bus in traffic on Northshore still unarrived at the school. (or had it already been to the school and was now doing its middle school route?)

1 hour until the M-Team at the high school. Just enough time to get ready to go and maybe review the Jobs section of the news paper. I like how it has been switched from “Careers” to “Jobs.” The concept of a career is dying.

A New Day!

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This Morning

I am completely wigged out this morning but working hard to stay calm. I woke naturally at 5am and Molly encouraged me to get out of bed by 5:30 which was good. I really like getting up early.

Yesterday

The day started calm and then I became tense when I found out we had to leave earlier than planned. Some adjustments and a brief fight with Tommy. He was calling his brother a “dummy” and his brother was participating by calling Tommy a “dummy” but became frustrated and hit Tommy. When I asked Tommy to come talk to me he started yelling. We arrived at the meeting location to hand Amy off to the grandparents 30 minutes late. I made good time getting to Severville and we arrived at the barn before the crowds. We had a one hour ride with the guide in the lead, then Noah, Sarah, Cathy, Tommy and myself. I got horse that I swear the guy called it “Dog” but back at the barn they told me it was “Dot” so the entire trip I’m talking to my horse saying “Good dog!” I bet the guide was laughing his tail off. Probably an intential joke on the dad as when you return to the barn if you can’t remember your horse’s name you are suppose to either kiss the lady in the barn or the pig. Dog had one speed and twice Dog and I had some difference of opinion about who was in control. For the most part, it was a responsive horse without needing to use the harsh steering techniques and kicking that the guide taught to us.

Noah during the ride was so excited that he refused to be quiet. “Hour many hours do you work?” “How many horses do you have?” This. That. More. Chatter. As two skunks crossed the trail right in front of Noah (Noah saw only 1) the guide tried to get him to shut his mouth because a startled skunk is a smelly skunk. Afterwards at the petting zoo Noah seemed afraid of all the animals. I have to get him around critters more often so that he becomes more comfortable with them. He is even very timid around Molly that demands attention and I’m not sure if he ever pets Lucy or the cats unprompted. He had a great day of it. His best quote from the ride, “Ewww! My horse pooted!” Noah was a great help with the two year olds.

Sarah was in hog heaven. I think she enjoyed the day more than anyone else. She took the riding in stride and seemed totally at ease and completely enjoying it. In addition to the skunks she saw a wild deer. Her quote came just before Noah’s as she was riding behind Noah, “EEEEW!” Her one moment of clumsiness came when her horse walked her into a low hanging thick vine and she struggled to push it around her without falling off the horse. I thought the vine was going to come down instead branches fell just barely missing Tommy’s horse. Sarah was last to leave from the petting zoo and would have spent the night there if permitted.

Tommy seemed to really have a good time. At STAR he is never without someone beside him to help. As we started the ride, all the lead horses went down the path and Tommy’s horse got a mind to go down a steep incline shortcut to the path. Tommy’s best quote came then with a shaky, “Whooooaaaaa!” This Western riding certainly had to have a different feel than the English riding to which he is accustomed. He had a great time but toward the end I think he became bored as he started grabbing for every branch he could reach from which to pull leaves. I was certain he was going to over extend and fall so I brought a quick halt to it. In the end he was getting sweaty and repeatedly put down his raines to tuck his shirt under his arms. Looks like he is doing the chicken dance whenever he does that. Back at the petting zoo Tommy found a baby goat and just sat on the ground caressing it over and over. It was very sweet. He enjoyed the petting zoo very much. Tommy, unlike Noah, is really into animals.

The rest of the family had a great time. Amy was incredibly happy and talkative having spent much time with her cousins and as an animal person ate up the petting zoo. Cathy and I really enjoyed seeing the kids have such a great time.

A New Day!

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This Morning

Started this morning by stepping in a puddle of urine that an over excited puppy put on the floor to tell me how happy she was that I was getting out of bed to walk her.

Noah just revealed to me that Amy’s sometimes early rising is not due to her needing to be let out of the room but due to his need to have a playmate. Amy sleeps now but Noah was on his way back to “get her out.” Funny.

Today we take Tommy horseback riding. Noah says, “Since I’m not training I won’t be doing any jumping. Maybe some hopping but not jumping.” The riders will be Tommy, Sarah, Noah, Cathy and myself (maybe Amy).

Uncle Matt says to his son, “Gabriel, let’s go see cousin Tommy, cousin Sarah, cousin Noah and Cousin Amy.”

Gabriel (2 years old), “Amen!”

Matt, at this point I am told to prompt you to start blogging as you could tell these stories!

So the other day when I lost productivity to cleaning the dogs cage I decided to let it air dry because I was pooped from washing the dog of poop. Being a lazy dog has now bit me in the tail because the very nice cage has rust on it. I am working hard to clean it of rust. I have the opposite of the Midas touch.

This could have been prevented by finishing what I started the day I first clean the cage.

A New Day!

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This Morning

Today we have relatives in town. Cathy‘s father has his exams today and everyone is anxious to hear the doctor’s words. At some point we will have cake, ice cream for Tommy and presents for Tommy.

A comparison of music storage options

So, I happen to look at the details of my phone bill, a luxury I don’t often make time for, and discovered that Integretel 800-736-7500 has billed me on behalf of Residential Voicemail 800-331-0641 whose automated operator is quick to state that “as you know, setup fees are not refundable.” They go on to state “due to hurricane conditions in Florida, our offices are closed on Friday, August 13th.” Fortunately, Bellsouth has a couple of blocking services that, due to regulation, they are only allowed to mention if I bring them up first.

The first is called “pig blocking” which is to prevent the “slamming” that MCI was notorious for. Slamming is when a long distance carrier solitics you and when you say “no” they switch your service anyway. Pig blocking requires your phone carrier to confirm a long distance service change or other toll charge changes by calling you directly before instituting the change.

The 2nd is “3rd party billing blocking” which simply doesn’t let any 3rd party such as AOL or these assorted evil voice mail companies (usually associated with dating services btw) bill directly to your local phone bill. It means instead you get an additional bill and lose a little convenience. Well, if you didn’t want the service in the first place then they aren’t providing you a convenience are they?

Bellsouth was kind enough to put the charge under investigation and sent it back to the company “Residential Voicemail.” Of course, the block will prevent them from further billing. Where did this come from? I saw an email sent to Tommy explaining he had signed up for a voicemail service. I suspect that to be the source.