Date: 2008-08-26 23:06 Subject: An observation Security: Public Current Mood: grateful

While the in-laws, Herself and reillye went on an outlet crawl, Himself and I did go-karts and parasailing (might actually get the video up on YouTube after we get back).

After one round of coaching, Himself took to the karts like his Peg-Perego had been Honda-powered. It's great when he can do things that, whether by intent or by happenstance, I never got a chance to do. Until I got my learner's permit and started taking driving lessons, I had never operated any sort of conveyance that was not powered by me or gravity--no go-karts, mini bikes, boats, snowmobiles, not even a horse.

So today, I got to shoot video as the passenger in a vehicle legally driven by my nine-year-old son. How cool is that?

As we drove back into Ocean City, I had to explain to him that as he and Herself get older, there are going to be fewer age and size limits on what they do, and more time and money limits (parasailing runs about $10 a minute for your time in the air), and that over the next few years he's going to start having to make some tough choices as to what to do and what to skip.

I'm glad they (and reillye and I) have been able to establish this annual tradition. Like almost all vacations, our trips to O.C. are always too short, but we at least know we'll be back next year, when we can either do what we missed this year, or decide it wasn't that big a deal anyway.

BTW, this is another thing I didn't have. With only a couple exceptions, we didn't take "vacations". We visited relatives. Growing up in NJ, we would visit our extended family in Des Moines (most of whom are still there), or some part of that family would come visit us, or nobody would go anywhere. It was always a car trip, 1200 miles over two days.

Now, to be fair, I loved those trips, even without XM, GPS and seatback DVDs, and I still like Des Moines, and I still like visiting the extended family, and introducing our next generation to theirs. But it's not the same thing as going somewhere cool just for its own sake.

Date: 2008-08-25 14:10 Subject: Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth? Security: Public

Any recommendations as to which stores are especially good pr especially bad?

Date: 2008-08-11 22:08 Subject: HSV - Fun to be there, hell to get there Security: Public

So reillye thought it'd be a good idea to get the kids to Huntsville to see my dad and stepmom, my sister, her spouse-equivalent, and my niece. Summer scheduling being what it is, we were only able to do it in early August, which is usually not the time one would pick to trek to the Deep South. Not only that, August has historically been the height of crunch time at work for me. But as it turned out, the best way to work things was for all of us to have gone down last Friday, then for me to have come back yesterday, and the rest come back Wednesday.

( So that's what we did... )

Date: 2008-07-28 23:54 Subject: Beeeeeee... Security: Public Current Mood: accomplished

Hmm, the washer's done.

...eeeeeee....

That's weird. Supposed to hear three short beeps.

...eeeeeep....

"F06" instead of "0:00". Crap.

[Google diagnostic code]

Tachometer error?

[Turn basket.]

thwonk thwonk thwonk...

[Google]

Tub bearing. Out of warranty. $300 part, $200-$300 labor. Buy new washer? OK, nothing to lose, let's take a crack at it.

[Download service manual]

6:00pm: Start taking things apart.
8:00pm: Washing machine is in a zillion pieces. Open two halves of tub. Remove basket. dislodge mangled pen. Eat dinner.
11:00pm: Machine reassembled. No unaccounted-for unused parts.
11:30pm: Diagnostics passed. Leaks out the front. Call it a night, pretty confident that $800 or so has just been saved.

No Scrabble, though.

ETA 7/29: The bad leak was because I seated part of the boot wrong. There's still a tiny (like 1tsp/load leak that I'm going to watch for a few days, but I'm considering the fix complete.

Date: 2008-07-06 08:00 Subject: Which is weirder... Security: Public Current Mood: hopeful

That I'm camped out in front of Nintendo World to get a Wii Fit, or that I'm below the median age of the people in line?

Edit at 9:40: We got here at about 7:45 and were about 15th in line. There was a signup sheet on the wall, which turned out to be a scam. The legitimate folks just handed out wristbands, and we're in, with maybe 20 more behind us.

OTOH, one person in line was 30th yesterday and didn't get one.

OK, back to waiting for the 11:00 open.

Edit at 11:55: Success! Picked up Mario Kart, too, since it's not easy to get out in Jersey.

BTW, they were completely stocked on Wiis.

Date: 2008-06-25 13:43 Subject: $CALL Security: Public Current Mood: amused

So I get this email from AAA talking about the super fantastic price I can get on a new car from them. I'm curious. So I spec out a nicely equipped Prius (which, availability-wise, is Toyota-ese for "Wii Fit"). Then it said, "fill in your contact information and on the next page you'll see your super fantastic price." And that price turned out to be:

( Wait for it... )

Date: 2008-06-22 10:09 Subject: Scott Kalitta Security: Public Current Mood: sad

Not many people who read this know that I'm a lifelong drag racing fan. Only one relative is (my uncle who lives in Nevada) and none of my friends are, which is why I've never been to an event. I almost talked myself into taking Himself to Englishtown this weekend, but man am I glad I didn't. I would hate to have to explain to him that one of the top drivers died in a crash--even worse if we had gone yesterday and he had actually seen it.

As with so many who have gone before him, my hope is that analysis of what happened will help to make the sport that much safer. The physics of drag racing are staggering--power, speed, acceleration, temperatures, pressures, viscosities, coefficients of friction, all of it. It's a wonder it can be done at all. That so few drivers die or are seriously injured any more, compared with decades ago where the cars were basically nitro-powered coffins, is little short of miraculous.

It doesn't make it any easier for those few or their families, though.

Date: 2008-06-10 09:36 Subject: So maybe I did overdo it a little Security: Public Current Mood: rejuvenated

This past Sunday was a bit of a full day. The temp was in the mid 90s with dewpoints in the mid 70s. This didn't stop me from a) going to the church picnic, b) power-washing our deck, swing set and outdoor furniture, c) fulfilling my Bridgewater Baseball work bond.

Let me explain that last bit. Bridgewater Baseball is a big operation, with over 2000 kids participating. They need lots of volunteer help, so every family has to pay a "work bond" of $100. If you do four hours of volunteer work during the season, you get your work bond back, otherwise you don't. I signed up to do a four-hour shift selling drinks, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc., in the "snack shack", the concession stand at the biggest of several ball field complexes in town. When I arrived for my 4:00-8:00pm shift, it was about 95F out, and inside the snack shack it was 10-15 degrees hotter (no A/C). I drank at least a half gallon of fluids (Gatorade and tea), and peed exactly once. The rest was, shall we say, evaporative cooling. I made it through OK, if pretty tired.

Yesterday, I got up at the normal time, and could barely move. It was as if I hadn't slept at all. After Himself got on the bus to school (which itself was let out early because of the heat, same today), I went back to bed and slept for another three hours. When I got back up I still felt like I hadn't slept. I worked from home for a few hours, but basically slacked. By the evening, I still didn't have enough energy even to make it to Scrabble club. I went to bed early and feel OK today.

Not sure if it was heat-related, a 24-hour bug or what, but I'm glad it's over.

Date: 2008-06-10 09:30 Subject: Lucky thirteen! Security: Public Current Mood: loved

Happy anniversary, reillye! Sucks to be the rest of the world, because I got the best!

*smooch*

Today's weather brought back our biggest fear about an outdoor wedding. Thankfully, June 10, 1995 had just slightly above normal temperatures. I can't imagine what it would have been like on June 10, 2008, with the temp pushing 100F. (Actually, I can imagine--we made sure there was an indoor space available in case of bad weather, but you get the point.)

Date: 2008-05-27 10:18 Subject: Not that I don't love the midwest Security: Public Current Mood: vicariously sad

...but it's times like these that make me very glad I don't live in tornado country any more. A few of the years we were there, spring was like life during wartime. There were severe weather warnings almost every afternoon, and every morning you woke up wondering if today was the day your house (and maybe your family) was going to get it. It may get miserably hot and humid here in NJ (the heat index once hit 129F), but I'll take it over fist-of-God supercells any day.

Date: 2008-05-13 16:04 Subject: Have some personal Security: Public Current Mood: content

People have said recently that they'd like to hear a bit more of a personal nature from me. What follows started out as a reply to someone else's post but I think it more properly belongs here. It also relates back to this, which I posted some time ago.

Life f___ing hurts. A lot. And Scrabble is just about all that I enjoy anymore. And when I'm doing it, when I'm absorbed in the games, nothing else in my life matters. And that's the best thing about it.

I used to say the same thing about beer. Guess what "community" that landed me in! But if nothing else, that community was based on mutual support. We all had a common purpose and winning did not mean someone else had to lose. I've never found that at any workplace. Employees can act like one big happy family, but that gets sent right down the dumper come performance review or budget time.

In that regard, Scrabble's a better place to build a community than at any job. But you have to go into it with the right balance of internal and external influences. When I'm playing, I'm like you--my priorities are the tiles, the board and breathing, in that order. But I have to keep the competitive aspects of it in perspective--deciding that you're going to get to the top no matter what will work, but it won't make you many friends. I've met some awesome people playing this game, people who will probably be part of my life forever. But that happened only because I used the game as a conversation starter. When I'm socializing at tournaments, away from the boards, I'm deliberately forgetting that these are my competitors.

The other thing about community is that it exists in layers. The innermost layer is me and my thoughts. The next layer is my family and my closest friends. Losing either would hurt but I'd only really be demolished if I somehow lost both (a trick I could easily pull off on my own if I make a couple really bad decisions--did I mention beer?).

The next layer is the people I interact with locally--everyone from Scrabblers to church to the other parents at the kids' activities (the Marxian "mediating institutions"). I'm not nearly as close to them, but I know they'd have the wherewithal to get me and my family out of that burning building. They're what make Bridgewater my home, and not just the town I happen to live in.

Beyond that are the people I run into with whom I have nodding acquaintance, or maybe don't even know at all, like the people who chat you up in the checkout line. They're what make the east coast, and New Jersey in particular, my home. It's why I feel good landing in Newark, even though the scenery is a whole lot bleaker than whatever Caribbean paradise I'm returning from.

Take all these together, and it's how I feel safe and like I belong. It took an *extremely* long time to get here, having started at the bottom of a pretty deep gutter. It also gave me a lot of responsibility--if I want to keep what I've gained, I have to keep my proboscis out of the dirt. It got better, but not until I stopped looking for escapes, even the harmless ones.

Date: 2008-05-12 09:05 Subject: Impressive! Security: Public Current Mood: proud

[I need a new userpic for Himself.]

So it finally came time to take off the training wheels. We could have done it last year, but it just never came to pass. Dunno if we could have done it the year before. Himself had clearly outgrown his bike, so we picked out a new one as we were buying him a new helmet (that outgrown thing again). Unfortunately, the bike couldn't be picked up until today, so he looked a bit disproportionate yesterday.

Impressive #1 was that he took to it like a duck to water, with only a few minutes' worth of help from me, and in pretty gusty winds.

Impressive #2: We had him ride on a baseball field, figuring it was not too soft or bumpy to ride on, but a lot more forgiving than asphalt. After he got tired, we went to the playground part of the park. Uncharacteristically, he wanted to go home much sooner than usual. We got home, and he didn't even want to get out of the car.

Something about the 101F fever, I guess.

So not only was his first time on two wheels a resounding success, he did it in the process of getting sick. THAT'S impressive.

Date: 2008-04-24 11:29 Subject: Pittsburgh and me Security: Public Current Mood: intrigued

I have more connections with Pittsburgh than any other city I've never been to, and more connections with Carnegie-Mellon than any school I never applied to:

• The family of my best friend from high school was from Pittsburgh, which is how I learned what a "haahs" was.
  
• After a too-brief stint in Jersey, my friend Celanie just moved back to Pittsburgh.
  
• kdiddy
  
• Once and future etotheipi
  
• I tried spinning out of Dieselboy's crate once. Bad idea for a trance DJ.
  
• I probably should have gone to CMU, but what did I know back in those hazy days?
  
• My So-Called Life was set in a fictitious Pittsburgh suburb.
  
• [unrelated] It is nearly impossible to drive through South Pittsburg [sic], Tennessee without getting a ticket.

Date: 2008-04-12 20:57 Subject: Synchronicity Security: Public Current Mood: grateful

The dog is asleep on the floor. Herself is asleep in her room, the sounds of her breathing coming through the baby monitor. For several minutes, they were breathing in sync. That's a special kind of odd.

Just as Himself did five years ago, Herself got her Big Bed® for her third birthday. When Himself got his, the crib went back up into the attic, in anticipation a future second child. You all know there will be no third child, which means we took the crib apart for the last time. *sniff*

Of course, that doesn't mean it'll never be used again. It's in pretty much the same condition as when we got it secondhand, so no doubt, somebody will be able to make good use of it.

Date: 2008-04-10 14:13 Subject: Happy Birthday reillye! Security: Public Current Mood: happy

*smooch*

Date: 2008-02-22 14:41 Subject: Working? Yeah right! Security: Public Current Mood: cheerful

I'm supposed to be "working from home" today, just as I have through other weather events this year. What's different is that this time we actually had this winter-precipitation-substitute I've heard is called "snow". So let's see: Solve insignificant problems for whiny users, or make an old-school analog snowman with the kids... Hmmm...

Oh, and I got to wake my snow thrower out of its season-long stupor, too. Thus, I have a clear driveway, and my back is not in agony.

Waiter, I'll have an hour billed, and seven hours of vacation, please!

And tomorrow morning we'll look for deer tracks and see whether Frosty's carrot nose is missing.

Date: 2008-02-12 14:38 Subject: Things I learned after it was too late Security: Public Current Mood: ow ow ow

After the novocaine has worn off from having a temporary crown put on...

DON'T BITE DOWN ON IT!

Date: 2008-02-09 03:24 Subject: I need to WIN AT FLU Security: Public Current Mood: achy breaky

[N.B. I'm on an annoying WIN AT kick, after watching the videos here.]

So WTF am I doing up at 3:30am blathering here and in other people's LJs when I should be sound asleep?

LOSING AT FLU.

I had two nasty migraines this past week, before my Imitrex arrived (see previous rant re online pharmacy). Once I got past the burned-out migraine hangover, I noticed that my throat was all scratchy and sore. It's been like that for a couple days, and I didn't think much of it. Turns out I've picked up one of the three or four flu bugs going around; this one features massive arthritis-like joint aches. I feel all hobbly and decrepit, and rolling over in bed caused enough pain to wake me up.

Advil, take me away!

Date: 2008-01-22 15:50 Subject: Week of E?Gs Security: Public Current Mood: scatterbrained

Last week at the neurologist, they gave me my first ever EEG. I haven't heard back from them so I'm presuming it's OK, or the waves were so feeble that my brain was indistinguishable from the Jell-O I always thought it was. Or would that be "skull full of mush"? Wait, no--I never went to Harvard Law, and John Houseman has passed on anyway...

Then today it was a simple 8-lead EKG at the cardiologist, which verified that my heart is still firing on all four.

Now, how to counter the Cymbalta-induced weight gain (about 15 pounds)...

Date: 2007-12-26 11:17 Subject: HBTY Security: Public Current Mood: deaf from congestion

Happy birthday, greatscott66!