A juggling technophile shares personal stories, challenges, humor and perhaps some political commentary.
My son has experienced his first ever Emergency Alert System message on the television..and it wasn’t a test!
Evan, 3 years and 5 months old: "Daddy! Come look at tv."
Dad, hears that an Emergency Alert System message is on: "It’s okay. It’ll go away in a moment."
Evan, turns television off then back on and message is gone: "I fix it!"
I decided to teach Amy the Daimoku today and it is wonderful to chant together with her. At bedtime, I asked her if we could do it again and she wanted to chant then read a book. We repeat the Daimoku 3 times. What does Nam-myoho-renge-kyo mean?
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the Buddhist prayer that means I dedicate my life to bringing out the very best in myself and in all people. [Source, Jason Jarrett of A Buddhist Podcast, A Buddhist Podcast – Bodhisattvas of the Earth, 24:17-26:12]
Dad and Amy (6 years old), repeating 3 times: "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo"
Sarah (15 years old) with shocked look on her face: "You’re brainwashing her!"
Dear Sarah:
Buddhism is about revitalizing humanity, and transforming the world we live in from one dominated by greed, anger, and stupidity into one of peace and happiness. [Source, Jason Jarrett of A Buddhist Podcast, A Buddhist Podcast – Bodhisattvas of the Earth, 2:46-2:58]
Evan, quickly approaching 3 but already an expert: "OOH peein" (that’s open to the uninitiated) *squint* *grin* "peeeas" (that’d be please)
I think, "Aw, he’s so cute." Then Evan hands me a box of 24 Durex condoms. That’s a whole 2 year supply!
Dad: "A little young for those aren’t you?"
Of course, if you help contribute to the vasectomy fund , I can quit buying those things and think of ALL the oil that could be saved! The material itself, transportation, packaging, manufacturing equipment, and so forth. Snip me, save the planet! You know, if May 27 rolls around and we still only have a penny, I’m tempted to DIY this procedure while streaming it over ustream. I mean, how difficult could it be?
I thought yesterday was very special. I was tickled that our inlaws chose to join us at our house. The official family Thanksgiving is Saturday at their house when some other relatives will be in town. Between yesterday and Saturday we should have enough Turkey to last until Christmas. For half a decade or so, I have put off (ie. procrastinated) getting a meat thermometer. Yesterday, while the turkey cooked, I went to Walmart to get a meat thermometer, some ice cream, and a few essential non-essentials only to find that I wasn’t alone. I thought I would get to park right by the door but still had to park a distance before trekking around Wally World. Who needs a gym when you shop at Walmart! I did find a few things at the store for which to be thankful even if I don’t understand it. I felt sorry for the poor guy in line in front of me who had to produce his birth certificate, social security card, photo id, bring in three unrelated people to vouch for him, and give a blood sample before he could pay with a check. I sure hope there was a valid reason for the hassles. In America we should not have present papers simply because you look Hispanic. Do our schools teach any history anymore? Can people not draw the parallels between WWII Japanese and how we locked away American citizens because of their Japanese ancestry and today how we hassle American Hispanic citizens because of immigration politicism. Do people not see the risk of another race war hidden behind the word "immigrant?" Have we forgotten our Schoolhouse Rock Great American Melting Pot lyrics?
Whoops. How do these soap boxes keep getting under my feet? Yesterday was a thankful day. I brought a long standing project to a close. I was able to relax instead of spend the day in uncertainty and panic. I was with family and they laughed and played. I am thankful to have found countless friends on the Internet (I dare not make a list of links for fear of leaving someone out or having this post extend endlessly) who share such fascinating stories. I am thankful to those who have helped us in so many ways during the extremely hard times. I am thankful that I am not out shopping today. I am thankful for my children; they make me smile! And everyone knows, I am extra thankful for my wife! She is my sun which I gravitate around; she warms my soul; provides me energy; and shines on me to make my darkness go. I can think of so many things for which to be thankful that I believe I could type this post until next Thanksgiving! I hope you are thankful too.
So, how long do you think it will be before US citizens are wearing cages on their heads with rats in them?
…the Republicans are the party of torture, indefinite and unreviewable detention powers, and limitless presidential power, even over U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. By contrast, Democrats have opposed these tyrannical, un-American and truly dangerous measures. [Source]
Has our Senate absolutely lost their collective minds?!
During the debate on his amendment, Arlen Specter said that the bill sends us back 900 years because it denies habeas corpus rights and allows the President to detain people indefinitely. He also said the bill violates core Constitutional protections. Then he voted for it. [Source]
"I am a vegetarian. I’ll have my New York strip medium rare please." Could it be his meds were off and he couldn’t differentiate the YES button from the NO button? Or is Arlen Specter just that smug that he would brag about taking our country down.
When George Bush came into office I joked that his motives were to bring back his daddy’s Cold War and he has made good inroads to doing just that! What I did not realize is GW’s fascination with the Middle Ages. Apparently his sights are set in traveling further back in time than I had ever considered.
There is more in "Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215-2006)":
It leaves the president with the power to decide who is an enemy combatant.
This bill is not a national security issue—this is about torturing helpless human beings without any proof they are our enemies. Perhaps this could be considered if we knew the administration would use the power with enormous care and thoughtfulness. But of the over 700 prisoners sent to Gitmo, only 10 have ever been formally charged with anything.
[Source]
Expect more statements in the news like: The "heart attack" came after he had been beaten so often on this legs that they had "basically been pulpified," according to the coroner. Or not. I suppose the administration probably has some clause that for security reasons the public never needs to know about torturees.
Where will this stop? Is a person that cannot pay their taxes worthy of torture? What about death row? Or better, what about people we suspect maybe, might, have had something to do or perhaps some information on a crime?
Oh! We can stop giving our kids Ritalin. Let’s bring back corpal punishment. Nothing quite like a big armed principal with a wood paddle with holes drilled in it to keep the kids in line.
This bill that passed is a revised version that excludes several "safe guards" from the original bill.
In another change, a clause said that evidence obtained outside the United States could be admitted in court even if it had been gathered without a search warrant. But the bill now drops the words “outside the United States,†which means prosecutors can ignore American legal standards on warrants. [Source]
Right now I am sure many short sighted people are thinking that this bill only applies to the war effort and making our country safer. It is a short leap from applying this bill to the American people.
The bill also expands the definition of an unlawful enemy combatant to cover anyone who has "has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States." Quick, define "purposefully and materially." One person has already been charged with aiding terrorists because he sold a satellite TV package that includes the Hezbollah network. [Source]
Could the opinions I state in this blog make me an enemy combatant? If I chidingly state that we live in Amerika can I anticipate O’Brien to pound down my door and take me away?
As Vladimir Bukovsky, the Soviet dissident, wrote, an intelligence service free to torture soon "degenerates into a playground for sadists." But not unbridled sadism—you will be relieved that the compromise took out the words permitting interrogation involving "severe pain" and substituted "serious pain," which is defined as "bodily injury that involves extreme physical pain." [Source]
We are living it folks. Bush is a sadist. He will say anything to get his way.
In July 2003, George Bush said in a speech: "The United States is committed to worldwide elimination of torture, and we are leading this fight by example. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes, whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit." [Source]
Other news discusses Losing the War, Winning a Police State with Bush Co.’s Widespread Warnings, Fanned Fears, NSA Wire Taps, Expanded Powers, and War on Iran.
Ryan of The Transmission likes to hunt down Lost filming locations and followed up this series of pictures showing The Other’s Camp with some of his own.
[Source]
Thanks to Critz for pointing this out!
Noah had a friend over so we let the stay up late but when I heard shuffling at 4:30am I asked them to turn the tv off. At 6:30am the television was back on.
Dad: "I asked you to turn the tv off at 4:30 and now its still on at 6:30."
Noah: "But Dad, we’ve been asleep for 3 or 4 hours!"
Ever get the impression that the White House just doesn’t have the class that it did in the past?
April 7, 2005 — VIDEOTAPE of Jenna Bush in very high spirits at a bachelorette party is being sold and could end up on national TV by the end of the week. Luckily for Jenna, the cameraman missed “the high point . . . Jenna on all fours doing ‘the butt dance’ — and doing it very well — as guys were ogling her thong.“
You know, if my daddy was president I think I could keep a clean nose and act appropriately for a 4-8 years.
[NOTE: Be sure to jump to the bottom of this post and read "What spurred this post?" as it has some great links!]
The credit card company was thrilled with my spending behavior and upped my credit limit to $750! Ironically, that was just about how much I needed to pay my 2nd payment to the university. I think I bought a $70 Australian Outback hat which to this day people say nice "cowboy hat". It is still one of my favorite hats.
Thirst begat NBC Visa;
Who begat MBNA Mastercard;
Who begat Capital One;
AT&T long distance begat the AT&T Visa;
Middle management begat an American Express card;
The TVA Employee Credit Union begat the TVA Visa;
Car repairs and tire rotations begat Credit First National Bank (Firestone card).
A suit begat a JCPenney store card;
JCPenney regular begat JCPenney Major store card;
A man’s need for tools begat the Sears Premier card;
A washer, dry and ladder begat the Sears Plus card;
Business ownership begat the Fleet gas card;
Marriage begat a handful of pre-existing store and credit cards (which I paid off quickly and before all other cards..those cards of course left when the wife did);
The first wife begat Dillards store card;
Dillards begat Proffits store card;
Proffits begat The Limited store card;
The Limited begat Structure store card;
Vacation begat the Disney Credit Card;
Marriage begat GM Motors autoloan;
A cracked engine head begat a TVA Credit union loan (Jeep loan);
A desire to not pad the pocket of a property owner begat a Mortgage.
Proprietorship begat several personal loans.
Proprietorship begat a laptop computer lease.
Re-marriage begat two student loans.
[Note: much of this has changed dramatically over the years. Luxuries such as "gym memberships" are a thing of the past.]
I was having this discussion
In a taxi heading downtown
Rearranging my position
On this friend of mine who had
A little bit of a breakdown
I said breakdowns come
And breakdowns go
So what are you going to do about it
That’s what I’d like to know
-From: Paul Simon, Graceland "Gumboots" (lyrics)
What I did about it was basically ignored my mail for a year. In that time of igoring bills (I was flat broke anyway) I nearly lost my house, had utilities cut off, skipped meals to save money and watched my debt skyrocket. My interest rates of 9 percent shot to 27%. The cards had late fees put on them which caused some of them to go over their limits creating over the limit fees. Mind you, the card company created the charge that caused it to go over the limit in the first place. I had one card with a $700 balance that over the course of 2 years in fees, penalities and interest would grow to be $2100! A $7000 card rose to $14000 without a single purchase!
Another resource: Cardweb – US Credit Card trends
A New Day!
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This Morning
My body is adjusting to the concept of waking earlier. At 5am my wife kicked me because the music alarm was on and I had not silenced it. I never fell back into anything more than a light sleep. Mostly I stared at the clock until 6am. The next challenge is making myself get out of the bed.
Sarah wanted something out of her room so I went to get it and Amy squeaks in the sweetest little voice “Hi Dada.” I had to reply “Hi Amy. Nite nite.”
This morning I’m in a cool, calm freak out. Needs: call all my contacts, letters to business, call local developers.
Last Night
What more Futurama with the wife. Can’t find any easter eggs on Disc 3 for Season 3 which is somewhat disappointing. After watching an episode of Futurama on DVD we turned on Futurama on television (just worked out that way) but we were both falling asleep so Cathy says turn it off. I began to get frustrated because the dvd remote was having absolutely no effect on turning the show off. After a few seconds Cathy says, “Oh! This is the tv!”
A New Day!
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This Morning
I didn’t want get up. Drilling a hole in my head felt more inviting than getting up.
Got a waste of time meeting with my recruiter today. Have several opportunities I want to submit resumes for. Want to get downtown to the City County building which is probably closed today. Want to visit the Chamber of Commerce which is probably closed. Want to visit the Lottery Regional office which is probably closed. Want to find the manual to the Jeep and get the starter replaced. Want to get the wood that I spent so much effort chopping out of the neighbor’s yard and stacked. Want to program, work on finances, clean and do construction on the house and landscape the yard.
Last Night/Afternoon
A flurry of activity. Cathy did a great job putting together a disc of pictures of Sarah for her school. One of the negatives of having digital photographs is non-digital people don’t know what to do with them.
Tommy, Noah and I dropped the pictures off on our way to Star. During Star, Noah and I worked on Cub Scout achievements towards his Wolf. I feel like a bad dad since he probably should have had the Wolf already.
After Star (Tommy did great!) we drove to McDonald’s for fast food dinner and brought it home. After a quick bite and Noah and I were off to scouts where I had a very pleasant conversation with one of the scouts grandfather as that scout’s dad has been deployed to Iraq.
Home for a quick bout with the wife. Children to bed. Kingdom Hospital. Futurama then sleep.
A New Day!
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This Morning
Woke at 5am and almost got out of bed! Woke again at 6:05. Spent the next 10 minutes making 2 gallons of chocolate milk. Woke the children. Now I’m going to check my shares at Blogshares
Noah watched the chocolate milk pour into his cereal and waited a few moments then put it away and said “Cool, the milk’s turning brown.” I decided to hold my tongue.
Last Night
Tried unsuccessfully to move the children around in their beds. Noah would be in Tommy’s bed, Tommy would be in Sarah’s bed and Sarah would be in Noah’s bed. We’d hoped it would cause much confusion in the morning for April Fools. Noah was the only one that didn’t wake while we were trying to move them so we ended up with Sarah in Noah’s bed saying “Why am I here?” (she later moved herself back to her own bed), Noah made it to Tommy’s bed and Tommy just groggily said “hi dad.”
Stayed up with the wife watching Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital and tried to stay up for Futurama
A New Day!
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This Morning
* baby cries at 7:30. Negligent dad let’s her play in crib while taking care of some necessary things
Last Night
* Watched Monk and Talked with wife until after midnight then drifted off around 1 am into a deep sleep
A New Day!
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This Morning
* I actually get up! Did not return to bed. Granted, I didn’t get up until 6:30 but I did get up!
* Bathe the 7 yr old
* The kids are in jolly moods and I’m nice to them. No grumpies!
* Return from car pool to bury the cats 2 day old mole kill (in warmer weather it would have been fly food by now) then have a “sexual responsibility” talk with the 13 yr old-topics: cleaning up after that personal activity, tissues by the bed, not leaving seminal fluid about, disease–what fun!
Last Evening
* Seems we forgot to give the 13 yr old his medicine
* The 19 mth old splits her lip just as Mom is trying to get out the door for a Girl Scout training meeting on selling cookies (which none of the other generous mother’s would donate time for). I lose my temper not because it happened but because no one cleaned up the toys. It was an irrational and unreasonable response. It bugs me that I’m such a loose cannon now-a-days. I used to choose my battles so much more carefully.
* Chaos calms and the 10yr old gets on her home work, the 13 yr old settles in bed for reading, the 7yr old works on his Daniel Boone project and I join him for some Internet research. We print a 17 page document and staple it to look like a book (I was hoping this would engage him better than loose papers) and set him down to read it. He gets through most of it before I give him a break and send him to bed to read Yu-Gi-Oh..a book that reads right to left but is printed in English.
* Cingular text messaging was down so I spend 1/2 hour on hold to get tech support to tell me its down in all markets and they don’t know why. “Could be morning before its back”
* Call Dad to wish him a happy birthday. Find out my brother got his job in South Carolina. At least someone is getting employed.
* Wife returns and we discover the 7yr old didn’t make it (in the morning he remains strongly opinioned that he did not wet his pants)
* Evening of email, chats and tv with the wife. Strong dizzy spells in bed.
* 13 yr old stayed up well past midnight masterbating. Tired dense dad goes upstairs to see what the noise is about to have 13 yr old quickly jump from the bathroom to the bed onto his stomach only to ask a stupid question “why the hell are you naked?” to get a well deserved blunt answer of “I was playing with myself” — pause — “oh, do you need to change your sheets?” which was prompted by his statement of “I had to wash my hands.” You DINKS don’t know what you’re missing!
