I needed that.
Category: Daily Life
Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.
Mark Michael’s Map
If you read Big Orange Michael, be sure to wish him a happy birthday today and mark yourself on his frappr map. If you don’t read him regularly, you must at least read his Lost reviews on Thursdays!
I love being a dad!
One of the best things about being a dad of an infant is love pats. There is no feeling to compare with holding a 7.5 month child who firmly puts one arm on your shoulder then uses the other arm to pat you on your chest or arm. Love pats come in repetition. Usually its about five. They are firm, confident pats; not hits. They communicate love and comfort. Love pats say, “Thank you Dad for protecting me” when the Roomba has my curiosity but is making me nervous. Love pats say, “I love you” and “you make me happy.” Love pats almost always are attached to the most content, at ease grin – just a little upturn of the corners of the mouth to say “Life is good.”
Approaching Boiling Point
I often feel like a mechanic that has been dropped into the pits of the Indianapolis 500 but only given a hammer and a screwdriver to get the job done.
My machines are slow. I could be so much more productive with a wireless network and a laptop. But those are simple and solvable. The real challenges come in the form of power outages. Just as I’m about to press the send button on an email I’ve spent 10 minutes on, I hear a boom and our house blacks out. A bit later the same thing. Now I’m trying to rush through some stuff and the cat climbs into my lap and starts shoving my hands with her head and licking me. Not cute when the veins in my neck are pulsing.
Those of course are simply a couple of very specific examples. If only it didn’t feel like karma was fighting me constantly.
From the mouths of babes
Evan, 7.5 months, while shaking head: “No”
Typeless
I want to write
But today I’m not quite right
So I’ll remain quiet
And ramble only in my brain
Can I have that autograph?
My wife won a caption contest then gained a little fame. (I like reading blogs like this because its fun to fantisize about someone like Mark actually working on our cabinets.) Much fun!
Bonehead
The next time a client asks for something and your response is “uh, you really shouldn’t do that. A browser isn’t supposed to do that.” don’t agree to do it anyway.
From the mouths of babes
Yesterday I was in the middle of trying to rush out of the house and had this amusing conversation with the nine year old.
Noah: “Dad, do you have some string or rope with a hole in it?”
Dad, trying to picture putting a hole through a rope or string and not weakening it: “No, why would you do that?”
Noah: “I want to make one of those walkie talkie things with the two cups.”
Dad: “Oh, you mean a telephone. Why does the string need a hole through it?”
Noah: “How else is the sound going to get through?”
I dropped everything and rapidly found some string and two plastic cups. With time running out, Noah and I made our telephones, then over our first call, we discussed the science and why the strings don’t need holes. Now that was fun!
From the mouths of babes
I hear the rattling of the gate at the top of the stairs which Amy has just traversed. Then I hear Amy walking around upstairs. Now, we keep the gate closed at all times since Lucy is so old and doesn’t need to be coming downstairs and Evan is so fast that at the blink of an eye he could be tumbling down the stairs. Perhaps I didn’t latch the gate completely.
Dad: “Amy, did you open the gate?”
Amy, coyly: “Yes”
Dad: “Show me.”
Amy, opens the gate: “I’m strong now!”
As one child learns mobility, the other learns to open doors. Scary!
Crab Trap
In college I used to really enjoy spelunking (caving). Once in a cave off Keller Bend Road, I took a moment to stare down this one particularly muddy shaft. It was narrow to begin with, sloped downward, and got narrower ending in a hole. My curiosity had my mind plotting ways to rig ropes so that I could down and get back up but it was so incredibly muddy that I wasn’t certain even with proper gear that a person who slid down that trap could ever get back.
From day to day I frequently feel like I’m in that shaft and I have no rope.
Do as I say, not as I do…
My mantra around the house: “Don’t put it down; put it away.”
Then I look at my desk.
I once read it takes 30,000 repetitions to make something a habit. I have a long way to go.
Filed under “dumbass”
- Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet
- Do read the label on the box which in bold letters read “DO NOT USE TO REMOVE SQUIRRELS, BATS OR BIRDS.”
- Moth balls do get rid of squirrels in the attic (temporarily) while poisoning the humans and giving them cancer.
On a side note, I’m having awfully good memories of visiting Great-grandmother’s house.
Update: About 5 hours later the house doesn’t stink any longer.
Bellsouth’s Privacy Director
Good information on Bellsouth’s Privacy Director I love the service but for about 2 months now I’ve had a recorded message trying to get me to talk to someone. Their poor system thinks someone is answering the phone but Privacy Director cuts them off before the recording identifies itself. No human ever calls. It’s laughable but they call everyday.
Privacy Director gives a recorded messages to callers that are anonymous asking that the caller identify themselves (much like you would with a collect call). The phone rings at the house and after listening to the brief recording I have 3 options: take the call, reject sales call (gives the caller a no solicitation message), or reject the call. It drastically cut down on phone solicitations!
How cool!
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Of course, this post messed that up. Numbers are so cool.
