Amy, 7.5 years: "Evan’s got a bloody nose!"
Evan, 4.5 years: "Dad! My nose is bleeding!"
Evan: "Oh, it’s just a boogie."
Category: Daily Life
Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.
Annnd they’re off! (to a bad start)
Sarah has a portfolio review today near Nashville for a summer art program where she would get to live at a university and work with some very talented people. This is very important which is why I cringed when I saw Cathy’s tweet:
Why is the teenager dressed like a clown for her portfolio review? [Source, Twitter, @cathymccaughan]
After a grueling day yesterday, I failed to do the standard road checks last night. This morning as the girls were walking out the door, I found a nail in a tire. The same nail I found in the same tire weeks ago and forgot about. No problem! I could plug it in minutes only I was out of plugs. 30 minutes later, I had purchased plugs, discovered McDonald’s at Northshore and Pellissippi still has free air, fixed the tire myself, signed a conversation with an old friend, and had two very upset women driving to Nashville. Good luck Sarah!
Jeep Unburied
5 children, 5 schools, 1 car. Working from home certainly lends to making our lives function well. This week I find our schedule so unmanageable that we must have a second vehicle working. Knoxville public transportation fails to deliver a reasonable solution. This means getting the Jeep or the motorcycle roadworthy. Glancing down the driveway I’m embarrassed to see the Jeep with boards and pvc pipe piled on the roof, kites and other toys stacked on the hood, rusting bicycles lean against the bumper, a bent ladder waiting to be recycled rests against its side, and the whole mess is half covered in a blue tarp. What an eye sore!
Last night I unburied the Jeep. The odds that this vehicle will run again without major repairs is slim. But I shall try. In my mind, I have committed to converting this Jeep to an EV if I cannot get it running. I find thinking about Sarah driving to school for her senior year in a vehicle that doesn’t require gas someone amusing. For now, the Jeep is uncovered and the driveway looks a little better. Hopefully, I can find a key to the Jeep today and tomorrow I can try to jump start it.
Today’s Forecast: Brain Cloud
Stress is so high it feels like someone is inflating a balloon in my head. I yawned today and saw shooting stars in my peripheral vision which was really cool. I can never get that on demand but its like having a little light show for 12 seconds or so whether the eyes are opened or closed.
Update: Looks like Stress could cause cancer.
Updating the score
Visitor: Mrs. Frisby – 2
Home: Me – 1
Game over. I win.
From the mouths of babes
Evan, 4.5: "I want a baloney sandwich with no crust and cut in the shape of a triangle."
Ancient
Feeling old this morning.
I have joined the Cult of Jobs
My Motorola RAZR v3xx which was so cutting edge when I got it years ago died. Being a miser, I replaced it with a free subsidized phone by agreeing to be an AT&T customer for another 2 years. The phone was an LG 360 and sucked for me. I fat fingered keys and menus. I was missing calls from clients. The phone froze. I missed a teleconference with a long standing client and his client that could have cost both of us an important contract. The end result was that free phone was costing me a fortune. I decided to exchange the phone using AT&T’s satisfaction guarantee. Basically I could chose another free phone that had all the suckage of my first free phone, spend a lot of money on a smartphone and in 6-8 weeks receive a rebate, or get an iPhone. Thanks to a timely project, I got an iPhone.
I dreaded the thought of giving up a Motorola for an iPhone mainly because of the lack of a keyboard. Anyone who has ever dissed or complained about an iPhone has never used one. Steve Jobs is a user interface genius! I’ve joined the cult of Mac.
A Merry Christmas was had by all!
And today I return to work. Time to code.
When does work get done?
Today it gets done at 3:15am…
State of me
Too tired. Too stressed. Here’s hoping the postman comes with good news tomorrow.
Amy’s Christmas Present
Amy wants a puppy for Christmas but we already have two large German Shepherds so I’m getting her this instead:
Picture borrowed from Picture is Unrelated without permission.
Aw nuts!
Last night we trade some food with hydrogenated oils for organic food at Earth Fare. N.B. there’s a coupon on their website somewhere that lets you bring any 1 food item from each of 5 categories even if it is almost empty and trade it for healthy food. While there I bought some almonds because I thought they’d be a healthy fidget food for programming. You know, takes time to crack open, gives you energy, improves memory, occupies your hands while you think through a solution to a problem, etc. So this morning I sit down to program and cannot crack open the nuts. What kind of household doesn’t have a nutcracker at Christmas time?!
From the mouths of babes
Evan has been reluctant to give up his pacifier, bop, at night. Last night he slept without it! Today he is a little crabby and just walked through the house with it so I bargained it away from him.
Dad: "Evan. I want you to say oral fixation.
Evan, 4.5 years old: "Oral fixation."
Dad: "Good. Now I want you to go tell Mom, ‘I have an oral fixation.’"
Evan, yelling through the house: "Mom! Dad has an oral fixation!"
How ’bout them knockers?
We had the pleasure of actually getting out of the house recently and participating in, gasp, an adult party! No this wasn’t an Eyes Wide Shut thing. It just wasn’t at Chuckie Cheese and no one had to be reminded to go to the bathroom. This was the party with some very fascinating people. At one point, one of the guests had a moment of recognition and recalled working with Cathy.
What he said: "The last time I saw you, you were breastfeeding your youngest daughter." (read more)
What I heard: "I’ve seen your wife’s boobs! NiiiiIIICce!"
