Recent Updates RSS Hide threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Memory Dump: Recent Goop

    tom 11:31 am on July 17, 2010 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: memory

    Noting my impending dementia I’ll need to jot things down from time to time so I can recall that I did in fact have a life outside the mental ward at one time.

    Jetted down to San Diego last Wednesday to meet Matt and Justin Reimer and families.  Since I’m too smart to fly and Matt lives in Wa., the three hour drive was about as painless as I could get to being able to see him.  Justin isn’t a whole closer being in Bend, Or. so I got a true twofer.  Had never met Justin’s family before so that was a bonus.  Not that I had any doubt but his wife (Tamara) was just nice as could be.  It took me and the kids all of 2 minutes to feel perfectly comfortable while invading their space.  Between my kids and the Reimers’ (and a future Reimer-in-law) we had ten little ones roaming and wreaking havoc.  They all had their unique personalities of course but it seemed like they all had a similar disposition which made things very nice.  And I left with a new t-shirt which basically turns me into a free billboard for The Elisha Foundation. Wore it proudly yesterday.  6.5 hours with the Reimers, 6.5 hours in the car.  Gracie and Ben racked up credits for being totally awesome while stuck in the rolling can all that time.

    Small neighborhood congregation yesterday.  Darin’s dog was the first to arrive, followed by Darin himself 20 mins later.  Not sure Jake got permission before heading up.  Marc, Matt, Barb, her sister Linda, Jack and Misty and of course old friend Chris all hung out for a bit.  Missed having Ely but betting NJ is seeing better weather.  We ended up with the Q’s over for a campout in the backyard.  Throwing that stupid new tent in the trash.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great tent once it has been assembled but it keeps defeating me and I’ll not have a tent defeating me.  Some folks would wrestle back control but I rule with an iron fist and if the darn tent won’t submit, it will suffer the consequences.  Actually, I think neighbor Matt is going to take it.  Having mixed feelings about it because he’ll take it camping with us all the time and have it up in 5 minutes and then that bloody tent will have a grubby little smirk on its face the entire weekend and I don’t know if I’m willing to put up with that.  I’m afraid I’d set it on fire in a fit of rage and I’m not sure I’d check to make sure it was empty.  All I’m saying is, it’s risky business giving up and letting Matt try his hand at it.  It’s settled then.  Screw that tent and screw Matt, it’s going to a landfill to think for a while about how it has treated me.

    Ugly power outage yesterday too at our colo center.  All boxes abruptly lost power — So much for triple redundant power.  Not our colo provider’s fault… appears to have been an issue with the building… they’re the ones who manage the “redundant” power.  Turkeys.

    Enjoying my iPhone4.  Not having the dropped calls or signal issues as reported by so many but then again, I rarely use it as a phone.  Only complaint is the battery life.  If I leave 3G on and don’t use the phone at all the battery dies in less than a day.  I’m in a very weak spot so guessing it is constantly searching for signal.  Turn off 3G and all is cool.  And of course, if I’m in a good coverage area the battery seems to do fine even with 3G turned on.  Didn’t have that issue with my 3G so really hoping they can address the issue via software at some point.

    Doing some work for old pal Scott.  I feel 10 years younger.

    Spending some in-between time working on DemoGirl — It has been in long need of some attention.  Should be re-launching it next week, hoping to keep Molly and Mo busy.

    Hair is reaching ridiculousness in terms of length.  After all, I’m 39 years old and should have a well groomed look.  If you saw me in the parking lot you’d assume that I’m heading to a car with Metallica stenciled on the back window, a small lift kit, self-installed tinted windows and custom (personally installed of course) stereo that prefers loud static-filled “music”.  For now this rocker will keep rocking but getting close to pulling out the shaver.

    Took the kids to a Dodgers game last week.  Left Field Pavilion is a dangerous place to wear a Cubs hat, unless the Dodgers are winning (thankfully we were this time).  Me and Grace wore GB Packers caps and for some reason there’s a bit of universal respect that keeps us safe, even while surrounded by Raiders and Chargers fans.  Yes, I realize we’re talking baseball and I’m referencing football but I know these fans.  Met some folks from Wisconsin a few rows back.  They were wearing Brewers shirts.  Very nice people and obvious Packer Backers.  I don’t even care for baseball too much but I love the social aspect of being at the game.  Oh, made the mistake of having my trusty pocket knife on me when I went through the gate.  It was either the 15 mile hike back to the car with the kids or toss it in the trash.  Sorry to see you go faithful assistant!  Say hi to the tent for me.

    Reading a book that is not purely tech or documentation for the first time in a long time.  I like the book (The Father Connection by Josh McDowell) but I hate reading.  I really hate reading.  Always wondered why folks do it willingly and often.  Screw them.  They probably don’t even watch football.

    Had our Nephew (Chris) and Kerri’s sister (Kathy) over for a while.  We did more in the last two weeks than we did all last summer.  Many days at the pool, fake sky diving, go-cart racing, golf, baseball game, movies and… I’m sure there was a crapload more but I can’t recall.  See, this is why I’m writing this junk down.

    Abby got braces (!!!!!) and she loves them.  Chances are she’ll need them again… she still has “baby teeth” and this installation is to make room for the future.  

    Kerri and I passed the 10 year mark as far as the state is concerned, 12 in total, if you leave out high school.

    That ought to do it for now.  Remember (hah!), this is for me to read in the future.  You’re welcome to read it but comments about splelling or grammatical, errors,are, n0t; welcome.

     

  • Waiting for iphone

    tom 1:55 am on June 24, 2010 | 3 Permalink

    Justin, I hope you feel terrible.

     

    • Justin 10:51 am on June 24, 2010 Permalink

      Tom, I hope your gross neglect of early and full utilization of the World Wide Web service as used by AT&T will teach you something; however, I don’t think that is likely given the insidious nature of the malingering absence of intellect you regularly display.

      BUT, I am grateful that you are braving these waters and are going to get an iPhone 4 for The Elisha Foundation while you are at it!!!! ‘:)

    • tom 1:27 pm on June 24, 2010 Permalink

      TEF getting a new iPhone 4? No, no. I said, my broken, 1st gen iPhone *for* TEF. We did talk over that old monster so I can see how you’d misunderstand. Steve apologizes for your misinterpretation.

    • Justin 1:45 pm on June 24, 2010 Permalink

      Argh!

  • I'm Merely A Scientist: Observing, Recording And Without Preconceived Notions

    tom 6:06 pm on June 23, 2010 | 0 Permalink

    Hypothesis: Kerri is deliberately sabotaging me whenever she leaves town!  Wait, wait, wait.  I realize that first sentence doesn’t *sound* very scientific but I’m certain that’s what’s going on here.   I have glass jars containing crazy liquids and Bunsen Burners and a fricken lab coat to prove, as surely as those JFK enthusiasts, that Kerri deliberately rolls our house back to the dark ages whenever she leaves town.  The reason?  I’m not sure so I have more science-type stuff to dig into but believe me, the Bunsen Burners don’t lie and my end result is infallible.

    Here’s the background: The last few times Kerri has left town, all of the appliances started malfunctioning.  I’ve written about this before but chalked it up to coincidence.  When Kerri returns everything just starts working as if nothing had gone on at all, like taking your car to a mechanic and having the noise temporarily go away.  (Scientific note: Is Kerri also trying to make me paranoid? Investigate further, along with that weird shadow behind me)

    We paid a lot of money for this house.  I mean *a lot*, like way more than my first Datsun B210 and that thing didn’t just sit in one place all the time.  Our appliances are pretty nice (not great, more on that later) and have standard operating tendencies.  For example, the fridge keeps things cold, the oven heats things, the washing machine cleans clothes.  But as soon as Kerri left the fridge only kept itself cold… it didn’t refill the American Cheese or hotdogs and keep *them* cold.  As I remove things from the fridge they no longer replenish.  Sure, the dishwasher will clean things but only if I load it… same with the clothes washer.  WTF?

    I’ve checked the manuals and noticed that a couple of pages from each have been removed.  I can only conclude that these are the pages which explain how to turn full automation back on.  So what I’m getting at, trying not to be accusatory, is that Kerri knows how all the automated processes work and she turned them off before she left.  Her reasons, again, will require more scientific-ish research.  A stab in the dark is, she feels like if I can learn to live off the land or somehow run these appliances manually (hello flint and steel!)  I’ll be a better partner for when 2012 comes ’round.  If that’s the case, it’d be all cool as long as I knew about it in advance.  But doing the equivalent of dropping me in the middle of the Sahara with nothing more than an auto-filling water bottle just to prove that I can perform in some potential bad situation is no way to handle things.

    I’ll admit that there may be some areas of my research that need shoring up but I feel pretty confident about what’s going on.  I’ll be posting to a prominent scientific journal to get their feedback but my guess is, they’ll put my notions on the same level as Einstein’s theory of relativity; Sure, it’s still  a theory but it holds quite a bit of water.

     

  • Fathers Day 2010

    tom 11:54 pm on June 20, 2010 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: fathers day

    On one hand, Fathers Day is not unlike many of my Sundays but that’s because I have a selfless wife and a selfish self.  On the other hand, Fathers Day is unique in that Kerri feels less like jamming an ice pick in my ear because she has slightly less justification (or at least, she’s less overt about that ice pick urge).   This little memory dump is about both a Sunday and a Fathers Day which, combined, act as a force-field against ice picks.  Enough about ice picks.

    Many of my pals are firemen and I was lucky enough to go to the LACoFD Annual Fathers Day Picnic along with Kerri and the offspring.  If you haven’t partied with cops or firefighters, you haven’t lived.  If you have, you’re lucky to be alive but that goes down an entirely different rabbit hole.  Let’s leave the cops out of the rest of this because that gets dangerous on several levels.  But focusing on firemen: They balance great fun with family friendliness; Kids are the focus and parents only get nutty in how extravagant they get with making kid fun.  Does that make sense?  Beer was free.

    Couple of things I remember:

    Abby and I did the egg toss together.  Made it through 4 tosses before Abs ended up with egg on the toes.

    Kirk and I won the egg toss 15 or 20 years ago but since Abby and I did that one, we settled on the water-balloon toss as partners.  Huge balloons this year (like a 5 pound baby!).  We were dialed — Set to win this bitch — And Kirk gave me a great toss on the 3rd turn.  I caught it in a nest fit for a condor.  And then I lost my train of thought for a micro-second and let it tumble out of my hands and it burst, along with Kirk’s dream for a kinda-repeat-ish thing.  Darnit!  My bad Kirk.:(

    Abby and I did the paddle boats while Kerri and Ben did the ferris wheel.

    Ladder truck from 125s spewed foam all over the place so me and Abby jammed down there.  Kerri and Ben were stuck on the top of the ferris wheel and had to watch for a good long time before they could get into the mess.

    Kirk was walking with this older boy held up through the foam but one crazy kid hid himself under the foam with a straw to breathe from and Kirk tripped over him hard.  He did the “Dad thing” and turned as he was falling so he would absorb the impact on his shoulders rather than landing on his boy (+1 Kirk) but in the end I’m not sure who was more stunned.  It was funny from the outside but a little dicey-looking for a moment.  The kid with the straw was a-okay (this is a firemen’s picnic for Pete’s sake!).

    Bought a few shirts for the family, neighbors and myself but at different times during the day.  Seems like one of our bags got mixed up with someone else’s and while the family has their shirts, mine and neighbor Matt’s are gone.  And Darin ended up with two (because of sizing).

    I can either not recall any other details or am unwilling to divulge here.  Probably a little bit of both. Beer was free.

    Great Fathers Day for me.  Thanks LACoFD for putting it on and Kerri for making it all happen!

     

  • 2010 Dads and Kids Weekend Notes

    tom 2:10 am on June 9, 2010 | 2 Permalink

    We did Buena Vista again this year and the weather conspired with the cops to keep things mild on us (except for that one darn parking ticket). You have to know the tale from last year to really get either the “cops” or “weather” reference… both were shitty. This year was awesome!

    Darin, Matt, Kent, Chris, Steve: These trips wouldn’t be near as good as they are without you. Planning, food, beer, gear, toys, organizing and motivation are merely the high level things you guys provide. Thank you so much!

    What a great crew of dads and kids this year too. We come from all walks of life: Scientist, engineer, carpenter, sales guru, healthcare, “that guy who can do everything”, pilot and “drain on society” (that’s me — Rock on!). Everyone got along just fine and nicely, everyone could watch everyone else’s kids and apply proper parenting skills for various situations (kids ages ranged from 3 – 17).

    And now that the niceties are done with, let me get down to describing what I can recall from the weekend.

    First: I didn’t even put my own tent up. Strike that. I *couldn’t* even put my own tent up. I always pride myself as being one of the first to arrive, setup my camp and help others as they arrive, mostly to make them feel inadequate. But I had a brand new tent that I’m sure was designed by prison inmates as a commercial item that, if they ever got one shipped to them, would also help them build a system of escape. Whatever… I was there early but eventually Matt and Sean set it up for me. I think I’m going to throw it away and buy a regular tent (although it’s very nice once it’s setup by one of your monkeys. You should get a monkey).

    It was really cool to see everyone filter in and the kids who were waiting for that certain pal to arrive. It was a lazy-ish unpacking and the kids are of age to be able to head off to the water on their own while the Dads slowly got things dialed in.

    Saturday was brutally and wonderfully long. My arms are still sore from running kids on the skis or getting dragged behind Chris’ boat. Our connected spots were long enough to where the kids could take off but we could still keep an eye on them, balancing their sense of freedom with our sense of, well, “if something happens to them we’ll make more”. Really, we had a nice spread.

    We had planned certain activities for the kids but in the end most of them didn’t work out. One of them was for us to help the kids paint little cans (think soup and green bean cans) that they would glue together as little trophies for the other activities. Well, the other activities never materialized because the whole “herding cats” thing would have been easier. But at least we got them cans painted. Ben still has it on his feet… hoping it’s not lead based.

    We did s’mores of course but Kent’s oldest kept tradition by making little apple and cherry pies over the fire (they are insanely good!).

    Gonna see if I can remember one thing from each Dad that was there. If I left you out, I apologize… it probably means you didn’t bring me any beer. Here goes (in no particular order you crybabies):

    Kent:
    First guy I saw at the site. I remember being devastated that your older daughter wouldn’t be there Friday night and that damn ski of Steve’s wouldn’t start at first launch. That other dude on the launch ramp lent me a tie-down to toss to you so I could tow you back. And you made me do a shot of something awful (was probably expensive). Thanks for bringing the keg!

    Darin:
    You were either working or relaxing the whole time. No carrying a beer and a dufflebag… it was *either* a beer *or* a dufflebag, nothing in between. Your ski worked right away and you had to bust Kent’s balls when his wouldn’t start. Thanks for launching!

    Chris:
    I remember when you pulled up and wondered, “where the heck are your kids?!?”. Several times on your boat with apologies for that. Friday night sucked for you because you weren’t in a tent and flies love that. Saturday night in the front of my tent… I hope you had enough space. You and Steve made the weekend for the kids, but you more so.

    Steve:
    You made the weekend for the kids way more than Chris, that’s for sure. Sherwin was a real bonus for my kids who were born into a dog house (Bah! Don’t say it!) and loved to be around that massive hound. You are the only man so far to bring a woman in to camp and not get significant grumbling. It’s a bloody good thing everyone loved LEEEEeeeenda.

    Matt:
    Without you I wouldn’t have had a tent to sleep in because Sean never would have figured it out. And your cooking facility that you always setup was truly appreciated. Not to mention your tri-tip cooking, chili and the breakfast goop I won’t describe here (this is a family blog). It’d never be right if we didn’t have your level head, which I’m sure has just swelled to roundness so, forget it.

    Sean:
    Matt had no idea what he was doing and without you I wouldn’t have a tent over my kids’ (and Chris’!) head. I think the last time we camped together was with Cudmore at Catalina (I can’t sleeeeeep!). Your kids were awesome; Shane made everyone happy around him. Scotty was my pal all weekend. Sarah scares me for you — Too articulate for her age and in dire need of more TV to dumb her down a bit.

    Joe:
    Better late than never. Wish we got to hang out more but stoked to steal Kevin for a jet ski trip. Sad that you setup your tent faster than me for the first time ever. I’ll never sleep the same again.

    Pat:
    I guess the trick was, my tent went up after yours, even though I was there first. Thanks for leaving me a view. And thanks for taking Ben out on the ski. As you know, I steal parenting tips from all of my brothers and I took special notice a couple of times when you and Megan sat on an ice chest and just talked, looking out over the water. That inspired me to do that later with Abs and it was a big deal in a little package. And even though it was short, I really enjoyed the football toss with me, you and Phil.

    Johnboy:
    You’re dumb. We’ve got all that darn food and you eat crapola on your stove. But thanks for being the coffee master and having water at the ready for me and my kids. Still not letting you off the hook for leaving your youngest at home. She’s going next year biotch.

    Phil Crouse (cuz there’s two Fills):
    You’re not a short man. Enjoyed the football with you and Pat but really, you need to get a tighter spiral. Luc was a blessing for Ben and therefore for me. You too are not getting off the hook for Amanda next year. Some Dads will do *anything* to get out of bringing their younger kids. Sheesh!

    Phil Rosenthal:
    We missed Lauren of course but Teddy was a joy. The 12-string was awesome but helping out my brother Joe on his new 6-string was totally cool. I dig on radio but nothing beats the live gig. Really appreciate all of it, even the brief doses. You need a mullet.

    Brian:
    Never did get my red leather underpants but I’ll let you slide. Logan seemed to be having a good time (I hope that’s how he logged it mentally) so that makes up for your presence. I miss the fact that we didn’t pull an all-nighter talking or really spend any meaningful time. Holy cow! My gay gene just reared its head. Not that that’s a bad thing but still… It’d be a bad thing for me at this time. So…

    Dean:
    Jenna was incorrigible and just plain mean the whole weekend, as usual. Okay, we all know you only get to come because everything she touches turns to sugar. Isn’t it silly that the first thing I think of about you for this weekend is, when I was getting ready to jump on the boat with Ben and asked about sunscreen you immediately pulled it out of your pocket and tossed it down to me in the water? Simple but sticks in my head. Side note: Ben ended up with a blister on his arm from sunburn. What did you *really* throw me? ;)

    Dave Sander:
    You were my ghost for the weekend. We talked, we sat under an EZ-Up, we saw each other on the jet skis but you didn’t get my cynical political views on things this year. Good for you, bad for me. I’ll get you nailed down next year for sure and your brain will never be the same!

    Dave Ely:
    You get the prize for the most endeavoring this year (which is bullshit because my daughter wasn’t even 2 yet when I first got into this) having brought your dynamic little one. Most of my “Ely experience” comprises of Jon and Addie (is that right?). Jon on the ski and Addie everywhere else. She’s a spitfire and what a joy to have around. Not only could I not setup my own tent, I forgot my tarp and you bailed me out. I’m a damn rookie all over again. While I was sitting by the fire Saturday evening your tent was way closer than mine and you had this cooler with Bud Lights in it so I started tapping that. I hope it made packing up a little less cumbersome for you. Or, thanks!

    Tim Infuhr:
    No boat — no camper? This is craziness! Me being a man who generally lives in flip-flops, I was barefoot because of all the water activity and tennis shoes not fitting the build too much. Did you miss something? I didn’t bring my flip-flops. So you came in with your cape (Pretty sure it was an Infuhr cape) and dropped some slippers I could use. The asphalt was so damn hot and the rocks are relentless on my tender feet so something needed to cover my leg piers. Like Scully, I missed hanging out with you until sun-up talking about shit we can’t change.

    Tim Quilter:
    The man with the wood. As the last body left you were walking an EZ-Up at half-mast from the far side of the camp towards me. As I wrapped up my camp and prepped to hit the Subway(TM) for the kids you stopped me and convinced me to make sandwiches for the kids. That extended our stay for an hour or more which gave us and the kids more lake time, blah. Just as we were loading up the girls had to go pee so we let them go (which was quite a ways) and hung out talking and watching. We stretched our leave time about as far as we could. You almost left with two little trash bags hanging off your antenna.

    This makes it seem like we had 18 Dads and their various offspring.  I had a great time!  Next year we’ll be doing Iceland — send your checks in early to reserve a spot.

     

    • Ibayer 6:25 am on June 9, 2010 Permalink

      Great post, Tom. Sad news – Iceland is fully booked for next year. Global Warmers drilling for new volcanoes.

    • Dave Sander 10:43 am on June 10, 2010 Permalink

      Tom,
      Brad and I had a GREAT week-end. Thanks to all who coordinated the event. Awesome memories for the kids!

      Dave S

  • The Last Thing I Trust Is My Own Judgment

    tom 11:43 pm on March 23, 2010 | 0 Permalink

    I don’t get truly introspective often enough.  Perhaps it’s because, like placing your hand in boiling water, one’s brain protects against engaging in activities that it knows are painful.  While soaking my fingers in a pot of softening noodles recently I had to admit to myself that I could be “missing something” when it comes to my cynical view on teachers.  Teachers, after all, have a difficult and important job; Measuring “results” is at least subjective and worse, getting those “results” is often out of a teacher’s control (due to dictated curriculum and other policies).  The point here is, I think we spend too much money on schools and I feel like too many [otherwise] smart people suggest that we don’t spend enough on schools, teachers, etc.  There’s quite a disconnect.

    I don’t think my views are completely without warrant but because I know so many great people who happen to be teachers or related in some way (administrative, union reps, etc.) I feel like I might be missing something.  Actually, I feel like I MUST be missing something.  I wonder too if teachers are missing views of their kids’ parents and if there’s some way to build a bridge across the gorge of perspective lying between us.

    I’m just “lil ‘ol me” so this may not work but I’ll put out there that I’d love to schedule a conference call with teachers and those in related positions so I can express my concerns while listening to theirs.  It’s true that I’m a passionate man when it comes to my understanding of things but it is also true that I am flexible in the face of logic.  Heck, I might have my facts wrong or I may not be seeing a piece of a picture that is critical to the equation.  I promise to be civil and fair.  I do NOT promise to agree with things that are incorrect. :)

    Any teachers or “related” who would want to be involved? I’d be willing to pay for a conference line so folks could call in and we could discuss if there was enough interest.  Just send me an email (tom@vpop.net) and if there is reasonable interest I’ll get it setup.  I’ll certainly respond to anyone who expresses interest, either way. Two expressions of interest would make it worthwhile.  Ten or more would make it seem unwieldy (There’s only so much hammering one man can take).

    Thanks!

    -tom

     

  • Kids at museum of natural history

    tom 9:23 pm on December 11, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: museum

    Darin put together a trip to the museum of natural history for the dads and kids group. At this point they’re doing a mock dig. Not sure what part comes next but I’m looking forward to going to sleep. Did I mention we’re spending the night in the museum?

     

  • Whoops! Forgot To Post On My Arrival

    tom 4:43 pm on November 30, 2009 | 0 Permalink

    We did make it home after nearly 10 hours on the road.  I was really tired when we arrived and forgot to let all of you adoring fans know that I had indeed avoided plunging over a ghastly edge on the way home and somehow Kerri missed her opportunity to create an alibi.  So all is well here.  My good followers can all turn their VW Buses around and go home, awaiting  further instruction.

     

  • Thanksgiving 2009 At Terry And Nancy's Place

    tom 9:27 pm on November 28, 2009 | 0 Permalink
    Tags: thanksgiving

    We haven’t been out to Terry and Nancy’s for a couple of years and it’s been three since we were here for Thanksgiving so we were really looking forward to making it up here.  We left on Wednesday morning and while traffic was already starting to get thick where the 405 and I-5 meet, our path up the 14 FWY was light and easy.

    We’ve seen weather all over the place, from below freezing mornings to afternoons that weren’t as warm as the morning before.  We got a nice bit of snow Friday night and it hovered right around 32 degrees for most of the night and today.

    The Thanksgiving meal was awesome as usual and the company was even better.  We had our family with Kerri’s parents and the neighbors (John and Janet) with their daughter and son-in-law.  I’ve written about John and Janet before: They constantly spoil our kids and John is always playing some sort of joke on me.   I can’t imagine a trip out here without at least some time with those folks… it just wouldn’t be the same.

    Newsflash Thanksgiving morning: Molly tells me that she and boyfriend Marty are getting married!  Woohoo!  Made the whole day just a little bit better.

    Kerri, Nancy and neighbor Janet all went out to the Black Friday sales Friday morning but none of that 3am nonsense.  They gathered at 7am-ish and made their way to the stores.  Of course, none of the stuff they were interested in was still available but they did get some shopping done and besides, half the point of going was to witness a Black Friday sale in person.  Apparently (and thankfully) things were pretty calm.

    Watching the kids on Friday fell to me and Terry but we were up to the task.  Why, those kids ate well, played well and started taking college courses online all while the ladies were out shopping.  We’d take charge more often but the kids would be off to university in a month working on some sort of weaponry with a government grant that could ultimately be used in war and I just couldn’t live with that; Some kid raised by less talented parents would eventually sell the secret sauce to an enemy state and all hell could break loose!

    In the afternoon we went to the movies and saw Planet 51.  It was a clever but not my favorite of the recent animated movies.  Then back home and then back out again to Johhny Rockets in Carson City.  The meal was good but I really only bring it up because of the cool dancing the wait staff did during various songs.  Perhaps they do that at all Johnny Rockets establishments but that’s the first time I had seen it.  Some time between our arrival for dinner and our departure it had begun to snow.  That continued until after we all went to bed.  That may not seem bad (it’s not really) but since I smoke outside it was a little harsh for this tender SoCal boy.

    We had initially planned on leaving this morning but with snow all about and more still reported in Mammoth (which is on my route home) we decided to wait an additional day since Sunday is *supposed* to be clear.  I don’t trust those darn weather tards but I decided to roll the bones.  We’ll see when I wake up.  And since we had snow-where to go (get it? Hah!) we decided to get some snow time in.  We build a snowman (two actually) and had a fairly brutal snowball fight.  I’m sure you’re all remembering that I live in sunny SoCal and the kids rarely see the snow so I’m sure y’all are thinking, wow! that snow stuff must have been wicked-fun!  That’s right people, it was fun.  I said we built two snowmen because the first one committed suicide.  A neighbor thought we didn’t balance the second and third tiers properly but I’m telling you, that snowman smirked at me and rolled his own mid-section and head straight off, just as we were gathering around to take a picture.  We built the second with less emotional problems and it worked out fine.

    At some points during this trip the kids watched Kung-Fu Panda.  Ben and I have been doing the kung-fu thing every so often and usually unexpectedly at first.  Thankfully I’m done having kids because one of his surprise attacks basically sealed that deal.

    So now I’m gonna go crack a beer and relax so I’m in tip-top shape for driving home in the morning.  If I don’t post again by 6pm PST on Sunday I’ve either been snowed in and all internet connectivity has been lost or I slid off the road somewhere near Mammoth and have been eaten by a bear.

    I’ll post pics and videos once I get home.

     

  • Halloween prep

    tom 3:49 pm on October 31, 2009 | 0 Permalink

    Getting ready for neighborhood festivities. Darin’s blow up pub is transforming into a haunted house.

     

Older Posts →

c
compose new post
j
next post/next comment
k
previous post/previous comment
r
reply
e
edit
o
show/hide comments
t
go to top
esc
cancel