A juggling technophile shares personal stories, challenges, humor and perhaps some political commentary.
I’m early birding today. It’s 4:30 and I’m productive.
Woot is a site that offers 1 product per day in limited quantities but at a superb price. When they are gone, they’re gone. Today’s product is a new (not refurbished) Roomba Sage with convenience pack (the same we have) for only $150. If you’ve wanted a Roomba, now’s the time to get one!
Mathematical Forecasting Initiative uses cutting-edge theory
Will global changes in weather cause population centers to shift? Where are new diseases likely to emerge? Which species need protection now before they begin to decline? The Mathematical Forecasting Initiative uses cutting-edge theory to anticipate the twists and turns of humanity’s story.
This just in!
The Hanso Foundation stands at the vanguard of social and scientific research for the advancement of the human race. www.thehansofoundation.org re-launches with a new look. Sign up to the newsletter if you want to get updates.
So, what do you do with all those legos once the kids grow up?
After picking up some groceries, I readied myself to head home in the Jeep with the top down. Let’s say the isle I was parked in is isle K. The exit from the parking lot is on isle L half way down. Naturally, you can drive all the way around or cut through. I was driving down isle K and remembered that the exit wasn’t at the end of the isle. In the seconds that it took for me to look to my right to see the exit in isle L a car materialized in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, swerved, and said something akin to a prayer (I’m sure St. Pete and I will debate that later). I’m a lane driver. He was a cut through driver.
Here I sit with my bumper a mere 6 inches from his fender. We make eye contact. Critical choices are made. The outcome? I smile, give a wave, verbalize "you ok?", he waves back, I drive around him completing isle K and loop around for isle L, he cuts through to isle L but waits for me to complete my loop allowing me to exit first. No one hurt. No one angry.
I still contend that the lines are painted in the parking lot both to give order to maximizing the number of parked cars AND give direction to prevent chaotic accidents. If you are going to cut across a parking lot at least recognize that you are doing something unpredictable and keep a sharp eye.
Lately I have found myself in discussions on blended families. I find it interesting to see how the different families handle their individual situations.
We know one family that the parents divorced and the mother remarried. The child still sees biodad most every weekend but the stepfather is there day and night for the child through thick and then. The child goes out of his way to distinguish the stepfather as "my step dad."
We have other friends that are a blended family. The daughter sees biodad regularly but I get the impression perhaps not as regularly as she would hope. The stepfather is hated despite appearing to be a kind, soft spoken, gentle man. The stepfather is called by his first name.
Last night I was told about a man who refuses to be a dad. He is the male in the house but totally ignores when his high school stepson comes home drunk or otherwise shows out. He declares, "I am not his father and it is not my place to discipline him." I so disagree! Perhaps that child is pushing the boundaries in part to see if this man will come alive and be his dad. Regardless, the child has been setup for rough relationships in his future.
In our house, I am called "Dad." We did not force it upon the older three and gave them the option to call me "whatever makes you most comfortable." For awhile, Tommy tried on "Doug" and, in the beginning, after every phone call with biodad there was great confusion causing the children to stressfully stammer between "Dad" and "Doug" because he gets upset if the children call him by first name. With the exception of Tommy, I have been the father figure in their lives longer than all biodad’s years. With irregular phone calls and 36-72 hours of visits a year, I don’t see how biodad could expect to nuture a relationship with the children. The teenage girl now refuses his calls so often that he has resorted to tricks to get her on the phone, "hand her the phone but don’t tell her who it is."
Any man with a half decent sperm count can father a child. A dad is the person who speaks to each of the stuffed animals by name at three a.m. while carefully cleaning spatters of vomit from their delicate fur. A dad is there to comfort a scared child and help her get cleaned up to return to bed. A dad takes the good and the bad. A dad is there for the children and it doesn’t matter if those children are his own dna, adopted, stepchildren, or squatters. Being a dad is something special and I am honored to be called "Dad."
By recording your cell phone’s serial number, when your phone disappears, the cell phone company can render the phone useless even if the sim card is changed.
To check your mobile phone’s serial number, key in the following on your phone:
star-hash-zero-six-hash ( * # 0 6 # )
[Source]
24 tonnes of steel from the World Trade Centers is being used to make the USS New York, an amphibious assualt ship capable of landing anywhere.
The $1 billion vessel is one of a new generation of amphibious assault ships capable of landing a 700-strong Marines assault force on a coastline almost anywhere without the need for a port.
Do police states like invasions?
Woody Oge, Northrop Grumman’s director of operations in New Orleans, was keen to play down suggestions that the ship might be used to spearhead invasions.
[Source]
Read George Orwell’s 1984 lately? Maybe it is time to re-read it.
The descriptions are a great read. [Source]
Son, your first year has been incredibly exciting! You amaze me every day. Hold onto that smile and happiness for all your life!
I bet Americans just do poorly on this.
Single Dads reminded me of a LOST comment I forgot to make. I posted it as a reply to his Lost Thought.
Did you catch the subtle references to the various Internet theories during the show?
At one point Desmond says, "We are in a snow globe." which is directly off one of the theories forums. In the same breath 2 or 3 others were mentioned. The writers certainly have a sense of humor!
You know.. Ala St Elsewhere.
Here’s my totally unconfirmed account. I post this without researching right now simply because it is Friday and on Friday no blogs or reads blogs except my wife and I.
There are reports shots have been fired in Rayburn House Office Building across street from U.S. Capitol. Entire Capitol complex is locked down.
…
they are now putting yellow tape around the entrance
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swat teams and bomb sniffing dogs going into the building
