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Friday, April 30, 2004
Dinner
Errands
Cathy Amy and I decided to run to the bank, Captian D's, Target then picked Tommy up from his school.
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Bus Loading
Loose some panties?
All this time that you thought your dryer was eatting socks and panties, it was actually a 55 year old man in Japan.
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Coincidence or Produced and marketed?
Someone has to be writing material for and help produce Andy Milonakis. Here is a compilation of his videos on Angry Naked Pat. These all have fulgarity in them.
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Jeff Goldblum is Watching You Poop
I'm not sure I completely understand this one yet but its got a bizarre off the wall twisted humor that I find somewhat appealing. It's more than that. It's that "I don't want to be looking at this but can't take my eyes off of it appeal." I think it's mostly the domain name. Regardless, first glaces declares this site "work safe"- nothing attrocious and no nudity. Jeff Goldblum is Watching You Poop!
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Sweets for the Sweet
Amy just ran in the kitchen, looked to the top of the fridge, extended her hands and begged "my nandy! my nandy!" Her easter candy is in a bucket on top of the fridge.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Had many moments of wanting to get up. Amy at midnight. Again I woke at 2, 4:30, 5 and finally got up at 6 but lay on the couch until 6:20 when I gave Tommy his medicine and then finally got up at 6:30 to get dressed and find the boys socks.
Took the kids to school then returned to find Amy, Cathy and Tommy waiting for his bus. His bus is off and now I'm trying to find anything that requires a re-charge and make sure its battery is fully before I head off on the 5th grade field trip this weekend (3pm today).
Last Night
Got the kids fed, cleaned-up and in bed.
Watched "Kingdom Hospital" with the wife and "Futurama" of course.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Had many moments of wanting to get up. Amy at midnight. Again I woke at 2, 4:30, 5 and finally got up at 6 but lay on the couch until 6:20 when I gave Tommy his medicine and then finally got up at 6:30 to get dressed and find the boys socks.
Took the kids to school then returned to find Amy, Cathy and Tommy waiting for his bus. His bus is off and now I'm trying to find anything that requires a re-charge and make sure its battery is fully before I head off on the 5th grade field trip this weekend (3pm today).
Last Night
Got the kids fed, cleaned-up and in bed.
Watched "Kingdom Hospital" with the wife and "Futurama" of course.
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Thursday, April 29, 2004
Tommy's Turn with the Horses
Horsing Around
An early morning phone call had me off to South Knoxville to the ranch for a full-filled morning of horseback riding. The beautiful weather had all the animals giddy. The dogs were jumpy and even Sally came up to me asking for a pet. The horses were full of energy racing up and down paddock. The horse I ride came into the barn for grooming very willingly but my friend's horse decided to play a little game of "catch me if you can!" We saddled up and headed out. Walking for the horses seemed out of the question. Every moment was trot or canter with perhaps a few gallops.
It's wonderful to live in such beautiful country. The sky was picture perfect. The mountains rose around us cutting off any noise civilization creates. The fields of hay blowing in the wind and the variety of wildflowers is just not something that you see everyday and is awe inspiring.
Another highlight of the trip was when a small aircraft flew over. We waved and it waved its wings back at us. Two entities physically separated and completely unrelated connected briefly by friendly gestures.
Overall the break relieved much stress and helped bring many things back into perspective.
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It's wonderful to live in such beautiful country. The sky was picture perfect. The mountains rose around us cutting off any noise civilization creates. The fields of hay blowing in the wind and the variety of wildflowers is just not something that you see everyday and is awe inspiring.
Another highlight of the trip was when a small aircraft flew over. We waved and it waved its wings back at us. Two entities physically separated and completely unrelated connected briefly by friendly gestures.
Overall the break relieved much stress and helped bring many things back into perspective.
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Quoted for Clown Day
This electronic publishing mediium is certainly bizarre. My blog has been acknowledged in Ohio's Toledo Blade by Kevin Cesarz(thank you for the mention) for my Clown Day blog entry.
I was quoted in the Knoxville News Sentinnel! (that link may require a brief registration but its free and easy)
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I was quoted in the Knoxville News Sentinnel! (that link may require a brief registration but its free and easy)
McCaughan, a computer professional, said the kids learn much more than just keeping several objects in the air.
"It's very good for the mind and the cardiovascular system. It also teaches social skills," he said. "You can't juggle without someone coming up and asking what you are doing."
"It's very good for the mind and the cardiovascular system. It also teaches social skills," he said. "You can't juggle without someone coming up and asking what you are doing."
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Held my wife most of last night and slept very well.
First bell 4:30-- had the gumption to get up but no the wherewithal
Second bell 5:00-- barely remember it
Third bell 6:00-- rose and woke the kids, Sarah immediately took to hiding under the warm blanket on the couch. I considered stealing it from her but instead went back to bed for "15 minutes"
Fourth bell 6:37-- sprang from bed, ran upstairs to find Sarah still under the blanket on the couch, Noah almost done with breakfast and an innocent "I keep telling her to get up," and gave Tommy his medicine and told him to rise. Then I return to the basement to get dressed. At 6:53 I'm upstairs urging everyone on. At 7:02 Tommy is still in bed and I tell him to have a nice day (this is when he typically starts to get dressed).
Picked up our carpool buddy, hand delivered a birthday invite to his mother, and gave him his report card which had been in the floor board of our other car for a week. I reminded the boys that Noah was no longer to be on his friend's roof. Again, do I deny him those simple pleasures? I know I did some wacky stuff.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Held my wife most of last night and slept very well.
First bell 4:30-- had the gumption to get up but no the wherewithal
Second bell 5:00-- barely remember it
Third bell 6:00-- rose and woke the kids, Sarah immediately took to hiding under the warm blanket on the couch. I considered stealing it from her but instead went back to bed for "15 minutes"
Fourth bell 6:37-- sprang from bed, ran upstairs to find Sarah still under the blanket on the couch, Noah almost done with breakfast and an innocent "I keep telling her to get up," and gave Tommy his medicine and told him to rise. Then I return to the basement to get dressed. At 6:53 I'm upstairs urging everyone on. At 7:02 Tommy is still in bed and I tell him to have a nice day (this is when he typically starts to get dressed).
Picked up our carpool buddy, hand delivered a birthday invite to his mother, and gave him his report card which had been in the floor board of our other car for a week. I reminded the boys that Noah was no longer to be on his friend's roof. Again, do I deny him those simple pleasures? I know I did some wacky stuff.
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Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Today's todo list:
finances - didn't touch them
pay hosting bill - didn't do that either
work on a personal website that got 650 spontaneous hits sunday - didn't touch it
submit my resume to several job possibilities - didn't do that either
put all local web developers contact info into ACT - nope
Buy a paper - I did that!
I shouldn't, but I'm going to bed.
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finances - didn't touch them
pay hosting bill - didn't do that either
work on a personal website that got 650 spontaneous hits sunday - didn't touch it
submit my resume to several job possibilities - didn't do that either
put all local web developers contact info into ACT - nope
Buy a paper - I did that!
I shouldn't, but I'm going to bed.
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These so totally rock! Emotions 2 gallery from http://www.worth1000.com/galleries.asp Thanks Dean and Jeni!
A personal favorite - Eden
Handcuffs very good
Bleeding rose exceptional!
Thinking of loved one - very touching when I first saw this my thoughts drifted to Cathy and I trying to name our baby.
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A personal favorite - Eden
Handcuffs very good
Bleeding rose exceptional!
Thinking of loved one - very touching when I first saw this my thoughts drifted to Cathy and I trying to name our baby.
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Ran and got the two propane tanks refilled (that's the empty one from the grill and the empty reserve tank for when the one on the grill gets empty). Also checked with the tech at Cingular on a strange issue with my phone. I want to Internet research the problem before swapping the phone. Basically, the Motorola v400 I have will occasionally ring but the ring tone will be broken (silent pauses). When this happens I am unable to accept the call. I reproduced it from the house once and strangely enough while the cell phone continued to ring, the caller (the home line) entered voicemail. I'm hoping its a software issue and that a flash of the firmware resolves it.
Returned home and cooked some tasty hamburgers. Thanks to the wife for the good pattying. I timed the cooking by juggling torches. When the torches burned out, it was time to flip the burgers. And better exercise than lifting the 12 ounces of beer timer!
After eatting I rushed Noah to soccer practice and reminded him "no wrestling and no hanging on the goal posts" so as I approach the field I see him wrestling, later, the soft spoken Noah who I frequently have to command "speak up" is shouting "I wasn't trying to kick you in the nuts!", followed by some good spinning on the goal posts, a little more wrestling, and then as everyone did the team cheer "Go Yellowjackets!" Noah chimed "Go Yellow Butt Cracks!" He did kick the ball harder than ever and was very energetic in the practice. I'm so proud!
On the trip home Noah made no mention of the his urgent need so after he got cleaned up, the whole crew loaded up to go participate in Baskin Robbins free scoop day. I had one of those fun dad moments on the way to the mall by declaring in the car "to anyone older than 2, before you ask the question, the answer is 'no'". Having seen the carnival being setup in the mall parking lot earlier I knew exactly what was about to be begged for. Of course, given the challenge of figuring out a question, Tommy began chiming off a dozen questions all which the 'no' answer fit beautifully. Then, on que, Sarah screams "ew ew ew! Can we go to the carnival?!" A smile and a tear in my eye! Such poetry!
sidebar: I'd rather take an extended weekend to Cincinnati for Kings Island than waste money on these carnivals. However, when I lived in New Orleans we'd get one a season not a football field's length from my house. I went to them all. I feel some guilt denying my children but I also don't remember a 3 minute ride costing $5 a head. Dean can chime in at any time with my loss of birthday money on the nickle slide as he brought home bags of groceries from the more favorable games.
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Returned home and cooked some tasty hamburgers. Thanks to the wife for the good pattying. I timed the cooking by juggling torches. When the torches burned out, it was time to flip the burgers. And better exercise than lifting the 12 ounces of beer timer!
After eatting I rushed Noah to soccer practice and reminded him "no wrestling and no hanging on the goal posts" so as I approach the field I see him wrestling, later, the soft spoken Noah who I frequently have to command "speak up" is shouting "I wasn't trying to kick you in the nuts!", followed by some good spinning on the goal posts, a little more wrestling, and then as everyone did the team cheer "Go Yellowjackets!" Noah chimed "Go Yellow Butt Cracks!" He did kick the ball harder than ever and was very energetic in the practice. I'm so proud!
On the trip home Noah made no mention of the his urgent need so after he got cleaned up, the whole crew loaded up to go participate in Baskin Robbins free scoop day. I had one of those fun dad moments on the way to the mall by declaring in the car "to anyone older than 2, before you ask the question, the answer is 'no'". Having seen the carnival being setup in the mall parking lot earlier I knew exactly what was about to be begged for. Of course, given the challenge of figuring out a question, Tommy began chiming off a dozen questions all which the 'no' answer fit beautifully. Then, on que, Sarah screams "ew ew ew! Can we go to the carnival?!" A smile and a tear in my eye! Such poetry!
sidebar: I'd rather take an extended weekend to Cincinnati for Kings Island than waste money on these carnivals. However, when I lived in New Orleans we'd get one a season not a football field's length from my house. I went to them all. I feel some guilt denying my children but I also don't remember a 3 minute ride costing $5 a head. Dean can chime in at any time with my loss of birthday money on the nickle slide as he brought home bags of groceries from the more favorable games.
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This is worth the read! It's just kind of thing I'd like to do when I'm 70! The old man, the mountain and the sea
The boat sits where it was built: on the side of a mountain beneath towering Douglas firs, 400 feet above sea level, six miles from a suitable boat launch.
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Marketing to Teens Affects Their Attitudes
Take a look at the most recent PBTeen (PotteryBarn) catalog cover:
The guy is "mixing drinks" (alcohol reference) behind a bar. The bar is labeled "chill" with a bottle that looks distinctly like a "beer." The standing girl actually just looks like she is having a good time. The sitting girl is "beating her bongos" and is strategically placed so that she looks almost naked.
The poses are very intentional as the real catalog has slight differences than this online version and a forth person has either been photoshopped into the picture or was present for this alternative picture. The differences are very subtle so these exact poses are what the catalog wanted to present.
The party message and the necessity of "alcohol" or drugs to "chill" and "sex" to have fun are very clear. I know that sounds "paranoid parent" but its intended to be more of a pure criticism of their marketing approach.
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The guy is "mixing drinks" (alcohol reference) behind a bar. The bar is labeled "chill" with a bottle that looks distinctly like a "beer." The standing girl actually just looks like she is having a good time. The sitting girl is "beating her bongos" and is strategically placed so that she looks almost naked.
The poses are very intentional as the real catalog has slight differences than this online version and a forth person has either been photoshopped into the picture or was present for this alternative picture. The differences are very subtle so these exact poses are what the catalog wanted to present.
The party message and the necessity of "alcohol" or drugs to "chill" and "sex" to have fun are very clear. I know that sounds "paranoid parent" but its intended to be more of a pure criticism of their marketing approach.
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Ran errands with the wife and Amy. Had a good time for the most part except when wife went psycho and called me psycho. Amy impresses everywhere she goes overflowing with cuteness and popping weird things out like "look, a baseball" yes, she said "baseball" Where'd she learn that?!
We picked up more birthday invites, dropped off stuff related to Cathy's projects, did some banking for me, reserved a meeting space for Cathy's zoo project wrapup, tried to see if my phone needs a firmware upgrade or a total replacement but the tech was too busy, bought new sheets, did some necessary shopping for the kids, and pet some puppies.
Then we came home and Sarah spent $165 on a $.35 milk and I tried to turn it into a "value of money" lesson and Sarah ended up in tears and Cathy got mad at me.
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We picked up more birthday invites, dropped off stuff related to Cathy's projects, did some banking for me, reserved a meeting space for Cathy's zoo project wrapup, tried to see if my phone needs a firmware upgrade or a total replacement but the tech was too busy, bought new sheets, did some necessary shopping for the kids, and pet some puppies.
Then we came home and Sarah spent $165 on a $.35 milk and I tried to turn it into a "value of money" lesson and Sarah ended up in tears and Cathy got mad at me.
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In today's Tennesse political news, Financial Commissioner declares state shouldn't have to pay for lava lamps This regarding TennCare.
TennCare doesn't need to be paying for items such as porch gliders, lava lamps and New Balance athletic shoes, state Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz told lawmakers yesterday — items that have been prescribed for enrollees.
Advocates for TennCare enrollees described Goetz's examples as ''over-the-top.''
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Baby woke just as I was getting into my productivity gear. She is a woot and a half. I've left the television off this morning despite the temptation. She is a bit on the wild side this morning but having a great time with her toys. She and I both enjoyed some conversation and some waffles.
When she got up she removed the full diaper and immediately threw it in the diaper pail when I let her out of the bedroom. What a good baby! And soooo ready for potty training.
I love watching her play with her toys!
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When she got up she removed the full diaper and immediately threw it in the diaper pail when I let her out of the bedroom. What a good baby! And soooo ready for potty training.
I love watching her play with her toys!
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Mouths of Babes
Huffing - Canned Air
I had a question about my "canned air" reference. This is neat stuff. The chemical composition is 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane (at least in the Fellowes brand that I buy). It's a chemical under pressure that is typically used to blow dust out of computers. If you turn it upside down the chemical will spray out in liquid form and can freeze ants or be used to remove bubble gum stuck to something.
I found it interesting that when I bought this at Walmart I had to have an "age verification" which severely slowed me down at the self-serve checkout. This forum discusses the "blackouts" and "paralysis" caused by huffing canned air. Would You Know If Your Child Was "Huffing"? (scroll down to see article. Note 1999 publish date.)
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I found it interesting that when I bought this at Walmart I had to have an "age verification" which severely slowed me down at the self-serve checkout. This forum discusses the "blackouts" and "paralysis" caused by huffing canned air. Would You Know If Your Child Was "Huffing"? (scroll down to see article. Note 1999 publish date.)
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We missed "Turn off your television week" It was April 19-25 2004. Perhaps next year we will strive to turn off the television for a week. Bookmark TV Turnoff Network and White Dot. White Dot claims that science has shown a relationship between toddlers that watch television and ADHD.
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China 'Shocked' at U.S. Cold Shoulder in Space US does not rejoice the Chinese accomplishment of putting a man into space. Instead fears that their military controlled space program could pose a threat to the US.
Me thinks the US is starting to sound too paranoid.
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Tommy's Stats
I still find these referrer stats so interesting. These are to Tommy's Blog.
21 Apr, Wed, 07:37:17 Yahoo: aspergers knoxville
21 Apr, Wed, 12:35:19 Google: asperger's impersonation
21 Apr, Wed, 13:45:37 Google: "every little thing" unexpectable
21 Apr, Wed, 22:59:34 Google: aspergers meltdown
22 Apr, Thu, 17:03:48 Yahoo: finally teenage autism
22 Apr, Thu, 22:38:25 Google: aspergers teenage
23 Apr, Fri, 01:44:13 Yahoo: Aspergers/reading
23 Apr, Fri, 05:47:14 Google: "spectrum fairness"
23 Apr, Fri, 09:59:58 Yahoo: racist and jennifer hudson
23 Apr, Fri, 12:02:07 Yahoo: psychology behind eatting disorder
23 Apr, Fri, 13:05:11 Google: asperger teenager girls
25 Apr, Sun, 17:08:01 Yahoo: teenage behavior hands in mouth
25 Apr, Sun, 17:40:37 Google: "teenage boy" "sent to bed"
25 Apr, Sun, 23:20:24 Google: "no such thing as asperger syndrome"
26 Apr, Mon, 00:43:31 Yahoo: apsie
26 Apr, Mon, 20:35:37 Google: teenage aspergers
27 Apr, Tue, 12:51:05 Yahoo: www.aspergers.com
27 Apr, Tue, 13:52:50 Google: dentist stuff is the hardest for these kids asperger
27 Apr, Tue, 17:08:11 Google: showed son to masterbate
28 Apr, Wed, 03:10:26 Google: Our Aspergers Teenage Boy
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
This was one of those mornings I would have given body parts to keep sleeping. Now I did wake at 5am and was wide awake. Had I gotten out of bed I'd be writing a different story. I got the kids up at 6am and went back to sleep until 6:15 when I went up to give Tommy his medicine. Sarah had laid on the couch and sprang from it as I came up the stairs. Then I went to sleep again until 6:30 and I awoke with my head spinning, that kind of dizziness that only lying back down can resolve. I fought it and got dressed then stirred Tommy again at 6:35.
I am dreading today. I want to hide.
Last Evening
I rewarded my computer efforts with some yard work. I intended only to be an hour and ended up being 2 hours. I fixed another lawn mower. So that's 2 out of 3. The two push mowers both work (granted I think I still have a little tuning to do on the 2nd push mower). Now I just have to get the commercial walk (run rather) behind mower working. This is one that I can get a sled for and it does all the work. It's going to be a beast to get running again.
After getting the mower working I grabbed the pruning shears and machette and bush hogged the yard for a bit. Cleared a good bit of brush back and the red bellied woodpecker later thanked me by flying through its newly available flight path. The birdseed that has fallen to the ground has grown so tall that its starting to go to seed. I am certain that this is how the chipmunk found its demise since the cat could hide in that tall grass which was right beside the drainage pipe that the chipmunk lived in.
The evening was spent getting the kids to bed then watching most of a good movie with the wife.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
This was one of those mornings I would have given body parts to keep sleeping. Now I did wake at 5am and was wide awake. Had I gotten out of bed I'd be writing a different story. I got the kids up at 6am and went back to sleep until 6:15 when I went up to give Tommy his medicine. Sarah had laid on the couch and sprang from it as I came up the stairs. Then I went to sleep again until 6:30 and I awoke with my head spinning, that kind of dizziness that only lying back down can resolve. I fought it and got dressed then stirred Tommy again at 6:35.
I am dreading today. I want to hide.
Last Evening
I rewarded my computer efforts with some yard work. I intended only to be an hour and ended up being 2 hours. I fixed another lawn mower. So that's 2 out of 3. The two push mowers both work (granted I think I still have a little tuning to do on the 2nd push mower). Now I just have to get the commercial walk (run rather) behind mower working. This is one that I can get a sled for and it does all the work. It's going to be a beast to get running again.
After getting the mower working I grabbed the pruning shears and machette and bush hogged the yard for a bit. Cleared a good bit of brush back and the red bellied woodpecker later thanked me by flying through its newly available flight path. The birdseed that has fallen to the ground has grown so tall that its starting to go to seed. I am certain that this is how the chipmunk found its demise since the cat could hide in that tall grass which was right beside the drainage pipe that the chipmunk lived in.
The evening was spent getting the kids to bed then watching most of a good movie with the wife.
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Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Accomplishment!
I put a new (rather older) video card into the graphics production machine and was able to reboot it. If I can get the driver working with it once again I can do design work with that machine. I think to celebrate I will take an hour break to cut the grass in the lower lot in preparation for assembling Noah's soccer goal. Milestones and babysteps!
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Nous sommes desoles que notre President soit un idiot. Nous n'avons pas vote pour lui.
Sales soar for "Idiot President" bag
The bag's designer... says he had no idea the inscription ... had been included on the bags' washing instruction tag.
Clients throughout the United States have flooded his offices in Seattle and Port Angeles with calls and emails to order for the bags...
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Google has lots of advanced functionality but it doesn't jump off the page. I've known for a long time how to use google to search content within one of my own domains but that's not something the common searcher may realize. Soople comes to the rescue! With an easy to use interface, the advanced functionality of Google is now laid at your feet. Enjoy!
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Amy woke before the other kids left (6:50) but I left her to play in the room she and Sarah are sharing. I returned just before Tommy's bus came and I buried the chipmunk that the outdoor cat killed just as the bus arrived. That chipmunk was large. I hope that it wasn't the only one. I know I've regularly seen a chipmunk the entire time I've lived here. I much prefer the chipmunks, birds and snakes to the cat.
I got Amy dressed and she was eager to throw those clothes on. She told me "snap!" for each button. Noah had escaped to school forgetting his backpack and lunch so we took those to him and coincidentally got to see him in the hallway as we left the office.
Next she and I went to Kinko's where she helped me by watching for the copy to come out then handing it to me.
We then went to the post office and she handed the rebates that needed to be mailed to the post master then handed him the money for the stamps. She waved bye to everyone and kept large smiles the whole time.
After the post office she read me a story from her book as we drove to the Boy Scout store for day camp paperwork for Noah.
Then we shot over to Walmart and sent picture messages to Mom while we shopped for ant poison and canned air.
Overall a fantastic run of errands! The rest of the morning was spent detailing one of the computers whose video card may have gone bad. I got all the dust out (completely took it apart) and it almost looks new!
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I got Amy dressed and she was eager to throw those clothes on. She told me "snap!" for each button. Noah had escaped to school forgetting his backpack and lunch so we took those to him and coincidentally got to see him in the hallway as we left the office.
Next she and I went to Kinko's where she helped me by watching for the copy to come out then handing it to me.
We then went to the post office and she handed the rebates that needed to be mailed to the post master then handed him the money for the stamps. She waved bye to everyone and kept large smiles the whole time.
After the post office she read me a story from her book as we drove to the Boy Scout store for day camp paperwork for Noah.
Then we shot over to Walmart and sent picture messages to Mom while we shopped for ant poison and canned air.
Overall a fantastic run of errands! The rest of the morning was spent detailing one of the computers whose video card may have gone bad. I got all the dust out (completely took it apart) and it almost looks new!
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Mouths of Babes
Conversation this morning so far.
Amy seeing pictures on the wall identifies all the family members.
Since I am holding her and need to put her down I say "I am going to go get you some cloths, ok?" She nods her head with each syllable and slowly says "O....K..." with perfect enunciation.
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Amy seeing pictures on the wall identifies all the family members.
Since I am holding her and need to put her down I say "I am going to go get you some cloths, ok?" She nods her head with each syllable and slowly says "O....K..." with perfect enunciation.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
This is one of those mornings I really would have preferred to stay in bed. I was up at 5am and with almost no motivation I could have gotten up but I drifted back into a deep sleep with strange dreams. I dreamed of being in a lighting store (I think my friends owned) with really tall ceilings and all their displays too high to appreciate. They were giving me directions with road names that apparently I should have known but didn't. A 6 pack of coke played some kind of importance as it was forgotten at first and then I ran back in to recover half of it.
This morning I woke with soreness and a desire to do my stretching exercises but not on the hardwood floor. I am stressed over my inability to put dents into the insurmountable tasks in front of me. Albeit I had a great day yesterday with accomplishes and having worked all day in my office. I even made decisions on how to proceed with some marketing of myself to rapidly bring in some income but that all depends on my ability to revive the art computer.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
This is one of those mornings I really would have preferred to stay in bed. I was up at 5am and with almost no motivation I could have gotten up but I drifted back into a deep sleep with strange dreams. I dreamed of being in a lighting store (I think my friends owned) with really tall ceilings and all their displays too high to appreciate. They were giving me directions with road names that apparently I should have known but didn't. A 6 pack of coke played some kind of importance as it was forgotten at first and then I ran back in to recover half of it.
This morning I woke with soreness and a desire to do my stretching exercises but not on the hardwood floor. I am stressed over my inability to put dents into the insurmountable tasks in front of me. Albeit I had a great day yesterday with accomplishes and having worked all day in my office. I even made decisions on how to proceed with some marketing of myself to rapidly bring in some income but that all depends on my ability to revive the art computer.
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Monday, April 26, 2004
I did 10% of what I had hoped to do today. I'm just melancholy right now.
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Movie Web site stirs cloning controversy To promote the movie "Godsend" they have created a website called Godsend Institute that makes it sound like they have an active cloning laboratory and they never make any mention of the movie.
My biggest thrill is that the article mentions the website was built for roughly $10,000 which is about where I would have priced similar work. So at a time I question my pricing models, this is a nice boost to the ego.
Ortenberg calls the "Godsend" site "a million dollar idea" built for only about $10,000. ...
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Rebates prepared. Just need to be photocopied and mailed. Will coordinate that tomorrow.
Next: Clean a bit.
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Next: Clean a bit.
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I am always telling friends about the future of cell phones and some of the cool things that are to come. Here's a writeup of the potential for putting television programming on an SD memory card and viewing it with your phone later. Special thanks to Camera Phone Report for the article.
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"I counted only six beers, but who knows how many more there might have been. I don't remember." says man who sleeps though train running him over. It may be time to mend that drinking habit!
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How horrific! Pain-Free Tot Is Menace To Herself The child feels no pain. Teeths through her fingers. Pokes her eyes and just doesn't know not to do it!
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Iraq adopts new flag, dropping slogan "God is Great". New currency to feature portrait of Bush, Jesus shaking hands Thanks to Fark for the headline!
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I'm putting up with my cough so I don't waste time traveling to the store. In the office, at the computer, ready to work!
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Words of Babes
"Dada, look kitty!"
"Dada, look fish!" (very clear on fish)
Upon me spraying the table with 409 "Dada, what doing?" I reply "Cleaning the table." She says "Clean d table"
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"Dada, look fish!" (very clear on fish)
Upon me spraying the table with 409 "Dada, what doing?" I reply "Cleaning the table." She says "Clean d table"
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My mind is reeling with various thoughts of how to rapidly bring in money. Instead of getting fixated on that, I need to bring Quicken to balance, send in my phone rebates, and invoice 1 client. If I accomplish all that, then I can work on new client aquisition.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
My cough is worse. I am certain Tommy has not be faking his cough. I hope this ends soon. I could not do a successful phone or in person interview right now to save my life. I run out of money this week and Sarah's class trip is at the end of the week. This sucks!
Got up this morning at 5 when I heard Amy fall out of the bed. Could not pull myself out of bed to help her back into her bed or do anything else until 5:45 when she started crying. Got her in bed and got Sarah up then I went back to bed until 6:15 when I got Noah up and gave Tommy his medicine. Then I went back and blogged Friday and Saturday.
Now off to carpool.
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This Morning
My cough is worse. I am certain Tommy has not be faking his cough. I hope this ends soon. I could not do a successful phone or in person interview right now to save my life. I run out of money this week and Sarah's class trip is at the end of the week. This sucks!
Got up this morning at 5 when I heard Amy fall out of the bed. Could not pull myself out of bed to help her back into her bed or do anything else until 5:45 when she started crying. Got her in bed and got Sarah up then I went back to bed until 6:15 when I got Noah up and gave Tommy his medicine. Then I went back and blogged Friday and Saturday.
Now off to carpool.
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Sunday, April 25, 2004
Backyard Rollercoaster
Build you own roller coaster in your back yard, The design employs the same principles as a theme park coaster so the car will not derail Our kids would be superheros to all the kids in the neigborhood! We certainly have the land for it and I've got the skills to build it!
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Death to outsourcing! Outsourcing didn't pay off for Conseco "Insurance firm may be at forefront of trend by bringing jobs moved to India back to U.S."
Three years ago, when Conseco moved 800 jobs to India, its chief executive was clear that his pioneering outsourcing move was more than just cost-cutting.
These days, the insurer also may be a pioneer because it brought most of those jobs back to Indiana.
In 2001
CEO Gary Wendt says that buying India-based ExlServices will save Conseco up to $60 million a year and reduce turnover to less than 10 percent a year.
CEO Gary Wendt says that buying India-based ExlServices will save Conseco up to $60 million a year and reduce turnover to less than 10 percent a year.
In 2002
With turnover in India at 200 percent and cost savings falling short, Wendt's successor, William J. Shea, sells ExlServices at a $20 million loss.
With turnover in India at 200 percent and cost savings falling short, Wendt's successor, William J. Shea, sells ExlServices at a $20 million loss.
Don't get me wrong. I've even outsourced a project to Russia with success but also with a quick learning about the negative sides. I look forward to my industry (software) maintaining its quality of work and employee salaries by keeping jobs here in the states.
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Got one of the 3 broken lawn mowers working and proceeded to even out the cutting Tommy had done with the weed eater.
Now heading out with wife and baby to see a health fair at the Jewish Community Center.
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Now heading out with wife and baby to see a health fair at the Jewish Community Center.
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Pentagon angered by photos from military mortuary Yes! Let's just hide the fact that people are dying why don't we?
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Fuel rod parts missing from nuclear plant
In unrelated news see Vermont Nuclear Scientists taking early retirements out of the country.
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Vehicle to autonomous biped robot conversion for the Mini Cooper r50.
I first had the vision to build a robot while working as an engineer on the old Mini Coopers in the late 1960s. There were no real robots at the time of course, so it was purely science-fiction. But I always believed a robot would be the most natural complement to the automobile - a full biped, intelligent version having great strength, dexterity and a library of mechanical knowledge. I imagined a robot with the ability to repair vehicles, direct traffic and watch over high-accident crossroads to preempt accidents.
The movies are worth a watch
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Tired of your kids? Auction them on Ebay! German 8 year old girl 'up for sale' on eBay
Three bids had reportedly been made by the time police removed the ad - the highest for 25.50 euros ($30.35).
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I understand that the policies are in place to allow for learning environment without distraction. However, ever since the digital watch came out, students have synchronized alarms to disrupt class in jest. Should we ban watches?
The cellphone will continue to shape our society. Already in S. Korea cellphones can be used to buy sodas from vending machines and groceries. So, do we ban cell phones? Or integrate them into the edication system teaching students how to research using WAP and creating opportunies with SMS allowing the student another means of interaction with the teacher?
I want my children to know technology, use it and push it to the limits. I like the idea that one day my daughter may send me a brief text message from school telling me of some significant accomplishment and me being able to send her a hearty congratulations back!
The cellphone will continue to shape our society. Already in S. Korea cellphones can be used to buy sodas from vending machines and groceries. So, do we ban cell phones? Or integrate them into the edication system teaching students how to research using WAP and creating opportunies with SMS allowing the student another means of interaction with the teacher?
I want my children to know technology, use it and push it to the limits. I like the idea that one day my daughter may send me a brief text message from school telling me of some significant accomplishment and me being able to send her a hearty congratulations back!
White said she felt that surrendering her phone to school administrators for six weeks – the other option for violation of the school policy – was too severe, so she chose to miss 10 days of school instead.
I know our middle school policy is that if a phone comes to school it is removed from the student and the parent must come pick it up. The 2nd offense the school gets to keep the phone. I'm sorry. If I have invested in a phone for my child the school will not sudden de facto own it!
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Mork moved! Careful what you agree to!
Kay Oltmans told the newspaper earlier that year that she never expected the attention - fans almost daily knocking on the door, asking for tours and peering in windows at all hours - when she agreed to let the exterior of the house be filmed.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
Getting behind on things makes it difficult for me to do things meaning I get further behind. I was too busy to blog yesterday at the moments I had to blog I didn't have time to do so completely so I just didn't do. This is a trap! A trap that will get me in much trouble.
Tommy is the only child here so Cathy and I were able to sleep in. Time to check on him.
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This Morning
Getting behind on things makes it difficult for me to do things meaning I get further behind. I was too busy to blog yesterday at the moments I had to blog I didn't have time to do so completely so I just didn't do. This is a trap! A trap that will get me in much trouble.
Tommy is the only child here so Cathy and I were able to sleep in. Time to check on him.
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Saturday, April 24, 2004
A New Day!
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This Morning
I don't remember much of Sat except that we went to a park in the afternoon and at the very end Amy felt and landed her temple on a metal spike that is used to hold part of the equipment together. It goes into the ground and looks like an oversized carriage bolt. Time had wiggled it above the plastic. She got a nasty goose egg but the bump came out instead of in and it healed quickly.
The grandparents took all the kids except Tommy returning the girlscout on their way home. Cathy and I had a very pleasant evening together and got to sleep in on Sunday!
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This Morning
I don't remember much of Sat except that we went to a park in the afternoon and at the very end Amy felt and landed her temple on a metal spike that is used to hold part of the equipment together. It goes into the ground and looks like an oversized carriage bolt. Time had wiggled it above the plastic. She got a nasty goose egg but the bump came out instead of in and it healed quickly.
The grandparents took all the kids except Tommy returning the girlscout on their way home. Cathy and I had a very pleasant evening together and got to sleep in on Sunday!
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Friday, April 23, 2004
Circus
We took the girlscouts and family to the circus. There were 13 of us and it was terrific! The clown that blew bubbles with his hands was very interactive with us blowing a square bubble for Tommy. Amy was not scared of the clowns at all but needed frequent walking breaks away from all the noise. Everyone had a great time. Even I didn't mind spending $40 on cokes and hotdogs! The circus had the heat up and added extra salt to the popcorn in a blatant attempt to sell more drinks. This circus was energetic and overall had one fantastic performance after another. Our seats were perfect.
The boys went with the grandparents to spend the night. We dropped one of the girlscouts off at her house and another one came home with us to spend the night.
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The boys went with the grandparents to spend the night. We dropped one of the girlscouts off at her house and another one came home with us to spend the night.
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Came out of a 2.5 hour IEP at Tommy's school. The goal was supposed to be to get a clear definition of Tommy's placement for high school. At the end of the meeting 5 minutes was spent describing the lack of placement options in the high school, the infelxibility in the main stream teachers and their unwillingness to work with special needs children, and the fact that Tommy will spend most of his time in a CDC classroom with extreme behavior problem children. The administration did not write a thing down on the paper as this was described. The nice politicians are very good about creating only the "proper" paper trial. It's lawsuit time!
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Sick kids
School nurse called. Time to go pickup Noah. Symptoms. 99 degree fever, headache and stomach ache. Hmm. Wasn't Tommy complaining of headache and stomach ache while earlier in the week Cathy, Amy and I all had bad stomaches?
Must go pickup Noah and get back here in time to research TCL before my phone interview in half an hour.
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Must go pickup Noah and get back here in time to research TCL before my phone interview in half an hour.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
This morning the backs of mytights thighs are so sore it almost hurts to touch them.
Tommy had me up at 5am and although I was fully awake I could not resist the urge to return to bed. I arose again at 6:08 to get the kids going. The morning went smoothly and I even returned in time to see Tommy off to his bus.
This day is going to be fun. The first part of the morning has to be planning for the IEP, confirming there is not a conflict with the recruiters and if not doing a phone interview, and then the actual IEP. That is all before lunch. After lunch I have to rent a drain snake and get this bathroom sink working well so that the 3 teenage girls that will be sleeping here tonight have running water. Additionally, I have to get the whole upstairs scrubbed. Sometime around 5pm all focus has to change to getting our crew out the door for the circus with the girlscouts tonight. Um.. yes, a computer needs to be repaired and something needs to be done to earn some money (guess I'm buying more lottery tickets :) )
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This Morning
This morning the backs of my
Tommy had me up at 5am and although I was fully awake I could not resist the urge to return to bed. I arose again at 6:08 to get the kids going. The morning went smoothly and I even returned in time to see Tommy off to his bus.
This day is going to be fun. The first part of the morning has to be planning for the IEP, confirming there is not a conflict with the recruiters and if not doing a phone interview, and then the actual IEP. That is all before lunch. After lunch I have to rent a drain snake and get this bathroom sink working well so that the 3 teenage girls that will be sleeping here tonight have running water. Additionally, I have to get the whole upstairs scrubbed. Sometime around 5pm all focus has to change to getting our crew out the door for the circus with the girlscouts tonight. Um.. yes, a computer needs to be repaired and something needs to be done to earn some money (guess I'm buying more lottery tickets :) )
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Thursday, April 22, 2004
Wife Time
Cathy and I shared conversation and watched an episode of Futurama that both of us had somehow never seen before. Sleep came quick.
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Casino
To help return the favor the entertainment company is giving us for the Zoo event on May 8th I dealt craps at one of their mock casinos. I enjoy these events because the activity and talking doesn't stop for 4 hours. It's like juggling only I'm doing it with 15 people, chips and dice. Cathy does not enjoy me doing these events. The evening went quickly.
Afterwards I stopped by Kroger to buy pullups for Noah and beer for me. At the checkout I had an epiphany and looked up at the cashier with a laugh and said "looks like I'm not planning on getting up from the couch tonight." Smilies were shared by all.
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Afterwards I stopped by Kroger to buy pullups for Noah and beer for me. At the checkout I had an epiphany and looked up at the cashier with a laugh and said "looks like I'm not planning on getting up from the couch tonight." Smilies were shared by all.
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Recovery
I came home rather bushed and wanted to get my sound system checked out for tonight's event. However, after a relaxing bath I found the couch all too inviting. Amy was napping, the Sirens on the Couch called and Cathy joined me for a refreshing nap.
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Tommy
Then I had to pick Tommy up from school. On the way there, I played phone tag with one of my recruiters that wants me in a phone interview tomorrow morning. Tommy came out complaining of a headache and the urge to throw up so I recommended we not go to Star and instead go to the doctor's office. He immediately felt better (I still believe he is down and I think Cathy nailed it with "allergies"). Arriving at Star I warned the instructor that Tommy was "edgy."
After handing him off to the Star staff, I began 45 minutes of phone calls from the car. I confirmed with the recruiter that the phone interview would not intefere with the 11:30 IEP Cathy and I have with the school (if it goes badly, we may be looking at creating a class action lawsuit..what fun!). During the call the recruiter told me the interview was not really for the company he mentioned in the voicemail, but for a different company going through the first one. This raised a problem as my other recruiter has been pushing me in the 2nd company and it could look bad for me to be "double dipping." Often hiring managers simply discard candidates that come to the same job from 2 different sources. I called my main recruiter and confirmed some details with him them began phone tag with the other to try to make sure it was truly a different position. Slipped a phonecall into the wife at some point there too.
Tommy did good on his ride threatening to throw up only once. The instructor nipped it in the bud explaining the social inappropriateness of talking about the urge to vomit and suggested that he simply say he is not feeling well and end class early. He quit talking about it.
On the way home I was pulling in for gas. Tommy says, "I need air." So I stop the car in the road and tell Tommy, "Get out." He gets out and leaves the car do open so I can't drive out of traffic. I holler at him to close the door. Then I pull around the grassy median to park opposite of where I dropped Tommy off. When I see Tommy, rather than getting into the grassy part of the median he has sat on the curb, laid back in the grass and extended his legs and feet out into the road. I stop the car and yell at him to get out of the road. As he's standing there I am talking to him and he just bends over and empties his stomach of the 20 ounce (.6 liter) bottle of Gatorade he drank earlier. This is a skill Tommy can do on demand so you never know if he's up to something or really sick. I instruct him to go to a safer spot in the median with a nice manhole cover to sit on then I move the car to get gas. I look back and Tommy is spread eagle lying on his back in the grass! I holler at him "get up or I'll call an ambulance!" The guys on the adjacent pump are confused but watching the whole scene. The station attendant happens to be passing by me to help another customer as I start to call Cathy and scolds me explaining that I cannot make a phone call due to federal law; I almost told him where he could shove the federal law or my cell phone, his choice.
Tommy and I make it home without any further incident and he is told to take a bath..brief whining then he goes.
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After handing him off to the Star staff, I began 45 minutes of phone calls from the car. I confirmed with the recruiter that the phone interview would not intefere with the 11:30 IEP Cathy and I have with the school (if it goes badly, we may be looking at creating a class action lawsuit..what fun!). During the call the recruiter told me the interview was not really for the company he mentioned in the voicemail, but for a different company going through the first one. This raised a problem as my other recruiter has been pushing me in the 2nd company and it could look bad for me to be "double dipping." Often hiring managers simply discard candidates that come to the same job from 2 different sources. I called my main recruiter and confirmed some details with him them began phone tag with the other to try to make sure it was truly a different position. Slipped a phonecall into the wife at some point there too.
Tommy did good on his ride threatening to throw up only once. The instructor nipped it in the bud explaining the social inappropriateness of talking about the urge to vomit and suggested that he simply say he is not feeling well and end class early. He quit talking about it.
On the way home I was pulling in for gas. Tommy says, "I need air." So I stop the car in the road and tell Tommy, "Get out." He gets out and leaves the car do open so I can't drive out of traffic. I holler at him to close the door. Then I pull around the grassy median to park opposite of where I dropped Tommy off. When I see Tommy, rather than getting into the grassy part of the median he has sat on the curb, laid back in the grass and extended his legs and feet out into the road. I stop the car and yell at him to get out of the road. As he's standing there I am talking to him and he just bends over and empties his stomach of the 20 ounce (.6 liter) bottle of Gatorade he drank earlier. This is a skill Tommy can do on demand so you never know if he's up to something or really sick. I instruct him to go to a safer spot in the median with a nice manhole cover to sit on then I move the car to get gas. I look back and Tommy is spread eagle lying on his back in the grass! I holler at him "get up or I'll call an ambulance!" The guys on the adjacent pump are confused but watching the whole scene. The station attendant happens to be passing by me to help another customer as I start to call Cathy and scolds me explaining that I cannot make a phone call due to federal law; I almost told him where he could shove the federal law or my cell phone, his choice.
Tommy and I make it home without any further incident and he is told to take a bath..brief whining then he goes.
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Another Win
After dropping Tommy off I run to McDonald's but have to stop for cash first. Instead of using an ATM I turn in my instant lottery ticket for the $35 winning. I decide to use $5 to buy another ticket. While waiting for my food at McDonald's I check the ticket and win $10! I'm 2 for 2! I can certainly understand how people get addicted to this kind of game.
I bring the food home for the kids and rapidly get ready for my evening.
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I bring the food home for the kids and rapidly get ready for my evening.
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Clown Day
Made it to Rocky Hill School by 8:30 and was setup, practicing and ready to go. A little rubber cement on my nose and a good fresh coat on the red ping pong ball assured that I'd have some laughs from the kids by throwing the ping pong ball up and catching it on my nose then balancing it there and taking a bow with the ball still on my nose.
The newspaper was there and I'll be quoted in Wednesday's Living section.
I began teaching first grader's how to juggle. Of the many things that the phrase "herding cats" fits with this is certainly one! It's much fun!
This was Rocky Hill's 24th Clown Day. In Knoxville, apparently this is the only school the Ringling Brothers and Barney and Bailey Clowns visit. They always do a remarkable job and I enjoy getting to speak with them.
After teaching the children for an hour and 15 minutes or so the clowns showed up and did an outstanding performance with dogs, juggling, an acordian and remarkable bubbles blown with their hand.
The kids left for lunch and I got to speak with the clowns briefly (always a thrill). Then Amy and Cathy showed up and we got to interact with the clowns briefly until we started to get in the shot that the news was trying to film (we exited quickly at that point and joined Noah for lunch). Amy did good with the clowns. She didn't seem scared as much as she did the bashful routine she does with strangers.
After lunch I found the first graders had started the next round of activites early so I rushed in to teach my next group. Obviously they were sugared up. The pre-lunch crowd was more focused on learning; the post-lunch crowd just wanted to throw things. There were several students that with some 1 on 1 time I could have had juggling 3 balls in no time flat.
During one of the breaks I actually got some guys and juggled all 5 of my crystal balls. It was beautiful. My pattern seemless. When I did mess up the rubberized gymnasium floor gracefully caught the crystal balls. I did a much better job than I expected. It looks like I'm juggling bubbles when I do it. Must add to the performance!
I enjoy Clown Day very much!
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The newspaper was there and I'll be quoted in Wednesday's Living section.
I began teaching first grader's how to juggle. Of the many things that the phrase "herding cats" fits with this is certainly one! It's much fun!
This was Rocky Hill's 24th Clown Day. In Knoxville, apparently this is the only school the Ringling Brothers and Barney and Bailey Clowns visit. They always do a remarkable job and I enjoy getting to speak with them.
After teaching the children for an hour and 15 minutes or so the clowns showed up and did an outstanding performance with dogs, juggling, an acordian and remarkable bubbles blown with their hand.
The kids left for lunch and I got to speak with the clowns briefly (always a thrill). Then Amy and Cathy showed up and we got to interact with the clowns briefly until we started to get in the shot that the news was trying to film (we exited quickly at that point and joined Noah for lunch). Amy did good with the clowns. She didn't seem scared as much as she did the bashful routine she does with strangers.
After lunch I found the first graders had started the next round of activites early so I rushed in to teach my next group. Obviously they were sugared up. The pre-lunch crowd was more focused on learning; the post-lunch crowd just wanted to throw things. There were several students that with some 1 on 1 time I could have had juggling 3 balls in no time flat.
During one of the breaks I actually got some guys and juggled all 5 of my crystal balls. It was beautiful. My pattern seemless. When I did mess up the rubberized gymnasium floor gracefully caught the crystal balls. I did a much better job than I expected. It looks like I'm juggling bubbles when I do it. Must add to the performance!
I enjoy Clown Day very much!
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Amy is up and playing happily. I need to leave in 20 minutes and I'm not bathed, dressed (nor do I know what I am wearing), and my gear is not in place. I am unpracticed, un-mic'd, and nervous. I know I will excell. I always do. I need to give my art more daily attention and my gear needs freshening (new decoration, some replacements, etc). I should have 7 balls down by now but to do that I need to order roughly $50 in smaller bean bags.
I think I need to wake the wife.
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I think I need to wake the wife.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
Stressing. I really should wake the wife and ask for her help. I need to stretch. Body sore. I should have laid my clothes out last night. My juggling gear should have already been in order. I go to bed too early and sleep too late all the time!
Blast my memory. A mom at Krispy Creme said we could take the report cards somewhere else for something else free.
Must do's! Juggle and teach juggling at the school for clown day (morning and mid afternoon). (late afternoon) Prepare for casino tonight; ie. refresh my mind on terminology, test wireless mic with small speakers. Submit a resume. (evening) Mock casino; deal craps.
Last Night
I took Noah to soccer and practiced juggling. I went around the bend so that the kids couldn't see me and be distracted. I still had enough of a view to be able to tell Noah to pay attention and ask him to quick karate kicking the other players (the 7 yr old boys love that game!).
Came home and prompted Tommy to get out of the tub which was a task. Spent time in bed talking to wife and eatting ice cream and watching Futurama.
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This Morning
Stressing. I really should wake the wife and ask for her help. I need to stretch. Body sore. I should have laid my clothes out last night. My juggling gear should have already been in order. I go to bed too early and sleep too late all the time!
Blast my memory. A mom at Krispy Creme said we could take the report cards somewhere else for something else free.
Must do's! Juggle and teach juggling at the school for clown day (morning and mid afternoon). (late afternoon) Prepare for casino tonight; ie. refresh my mind on terminology, test wireless mic with small speakers. Submit a resume. (evening) Mock casino; deal craps.
Last Night
I took Noah to soccer and practiced juggling. I went around the bend so that the kids couldn't see me and be distracted. I still had enough of a view to be able to tell Noah to pay attention and ask him to quick karate kicking the other players (the 7 yr old boys love that game!).
Came home and prompted Tommy to get out of the tub which was a task. Spent time in bed talking to wife and eatting ice cream and watching Futurama.
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Wednesday, April 21, 2004
I won!
Ok. TN got the PowerBall this week so yesterday I bought 5 computer quick picks. Today I got a card because I wanted to hand pick a couple of numbers (I'm not going to regularly play). I also bought a scratch and win card. If I am reading this right, my scratch and win card just paid me $35! That puts me up $29 on the TN lottery so far :)
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Tired. Very successful trip downtown. Got lots of brochures for the zoo event, got questions answered about how to get tags for the car where we lost the title (which isn't in our name), got addresses for all new businesses in the area over the past 2 weeks, collected my thoughts with a walk in the park, visited the Chamber of Commerce, cooked lunch, watched the History of Niagra (not all of the show); and am tired.
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Amy is up. Cathy slept through her crying--I suspect tylenol sleep aid was necessary last night. I wish she could sleep better. Our friend Tim has suggested some exercises. She should get more details from him.
When I went down to get Amy she was yelling (gleefully) and jumping up and down in the crib. Her feet must have been grabbing 10cm (4 inches) of air! She is in a talkative fun mood as is typical in the mornings. She makes my day!
As I get her out of the crib, we take a moment to study what's in the crib and she decides "nite nite" (her words for her blankie). Her ritual is that one thing must leave the crib with her. Out of the crib she takes a moment to identify the dog "Luscy" (Lucy) and "Mama, nite nite" (Mama is asleep).
She was wearing my house slippers (looking goofy as a clown) and saying "Dada shoes. Dadas shoes."
Dog gone this girl is smart! She was crying for a cookie so I gave her dry cereal instead and she was standing in front of the utensil drawer and started asking for a spoon. "Dada, a sfoon. Dada, a sfoon."
She is now in her play house yammering away. She spilled some cereal and cried out "Dada, a pill!" so I ran the rescue and put the pieces of cereal that spilled back into the bowl and she was quite happy.
I could go on and on. She is so much fun to be around!
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When I went down to get Amy she was yelling (gleefully) and jumping up and down in the crib. Her feet must have been grabbing 10cm (4 inches) of air! She is in a talkative fun mood as is typical in the mornings. She makes my day!
As I get her out of the crib, we take a moment to study what's in the crib and she decides "nite nite" (her words for her blankie). Her ritual is that one thing must leave the crib with her. Out of the crib she takes a moment to identify the dog "Luscy" (Lucy) and "Mama, nite nite" (Mama is asleep).
She was wearing my house slippers (looking goofy as a clown) and saying "Dada shoes. Dadas shoes."
Dog gone this girl is smart! She was crying for a cookie so I gave her dry cereal instead and she was standing in front of the utensil drawer and started asking for a spoon. "Dada, a sfoon. Dada, a sfoon."
She is now in her play house yammering away. She spilled some cereal and cried out "Dada, a pill!" so I ran the rescue and put the pieces of cereal that spilled back into the bowl and she was quite happy.
I could go on and on. She is so much fun to be around!
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A New Day!
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This Morning
Amy awoke at 12:30am and I couldn't get her to settle. I tried putting her back in her bed after holding her and returning the lost pacifier, blankie (she calls it her "nite nite"), and juice but that nor the crib worked. She lay with Cathy and I for a half an hour then I moved her to the crib. She didn't sleep well because she was up at 6 (I think she went back down) even though I turned the alarm off before it went off. Even though I frequently get up before the alarm, I still want one of these by Harris Communications.
I so wanted to sleep in today. I'm sorta thankful that I have responsibilities that make me get up. I wish I could get back to getting up and exercising. If we had carpet and it was kept clean, I would be more likely to do my stretching every morning and evening.
I am getting really strung. I have to get the art computer working again. I have to do finances today. I have to spend all day juggling. I really need to rent the snake for the pipes. I would like to help Cathy run around and empty the Project Linus boxes (Sarah says the one at school is full again).
Gave Noah Claritin again. I can't tell if he is getting the sniffles or is having allergies again. He's so laid back that it doesn't seem to bother him either way.
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This Morning
Amy awoke at 12:30am and I couldn't get her to settle. I tried putting her back in her bed after holding her and returning the lost pacifier, blankie (she calls it her "nite nite"), and juice but that nor the crib worked. She lay with Cathy and I for a half an hour then I moved her to the crib. She didn't sleep well because she was up at 6 (I think she went back down) even though I turned the alarm off before it went off. Even though I frequently get up before the alarm, I still want one of these by Harris Communications.
I so wanted to sleep in today. I'm sorta thankful that I have responsibilities that make me get up. I wish I could get back to getting up and exercising. If we had carpet and it was kept clean, I would be more likely to do my stretching every morning and evening.
I am getting really strung. I have to get the art computer working again. I have to do finances today. I have to spend all day juggling. I really need to rent the snake for the pipes. I would like to help Cathy run around and empty the Project Linus boxes (Sarah says the one at school is full again).
Gave Noah Claritin again. I can't tell if he is getting the sniffles or is having allergies again. He's so laid back that it doesn't seem to bother him either way.
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Tuesday, April 20, 2004
The wife and I were just talking about the infamous "cough test" done in high school with the boys. She says "Nah! That didn't happen" and I assured her that one day we went into the school nurses office 5 boys at a time where we were told to drop our pants and "cough." I clearly remember the boy in front of me being asked "please move it to the left."
Still don't know what the test was for but its not a memory that fades easily. The wife says "you were sexually abused!"
Another documented related story.
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Still don't know what the test was for but its not a memory that fades easily. The wife says "you were sexually abused!"
Another documented related story.
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I started to work on the Jeep only to realize I needed to go buy an E-12 torx socket to be able to do this. Headed out, bought the tool, picked up my special order lightbulbs for the bedroom, then went to Tommy's school and checked him out for his psychologist appointment. We went to the psychologist and I wrote a letter to Amy then met with the doctor and Tommy briefly, then played with my phone until the battery low warning came on. After the psychologist I took Tommy to the eye glass place to fix the glasses he broke in an attempt to get out of doing homework. Turns out his frames are discontinued so the warantee is no good anymore. They fixed them with a piece that is close to the existing one. His next trip in will be for brand new glasses (start putting away another $200). We went home so Tommy could yell as his mom some and have lunch. Considered keeping Tommy home but I took him back to school (which is what I really wanted to do because of his surliness and to see how he would handle the rest of the day). Then I returned home and bummed around until I finally motivated myself to get out and work on the Jeep. Once I started the work was easy going and I now have a greasy starter to take to Autozone for testing and replacement.
Heading out now.
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Heading out now.
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Amy the sweet thing has discovered pleasure in sleeping in a toddler bed. She now wakes up and plays with her toys.
I heard her ranting so I went and opened the door. This morning she had difficulty getting to her toys and she was saying over and over "toy! toy! toy!" so I pulled them out a little and left the door open. Instead of following me out, she decided to play with her toys. Very big girl!
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I heard her ranting so I went and opened the door. This morning she had difficulty getting to her toys and she was saying over and over "toy! toy! toy!" so I pulled them out a little and left the door open. Instead of following me out, she decided to play with her toys. Very big girl!
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The kids are off. Amy is remarkably still asleep. The wife is in dreamland.
My anxiety is up with mixed feelings on what I should be doing. a) fix Jeep (this is like a keystone. If I fix it, it will aid me in many other activities) b) clean office and garage c) program d) go rent the snake to fix the bathroom sink
Ugh. I'm just dreading getting to work on the Jeep. I don't know why. It's the kind of thing I enjoy. I'd enjoy it more if my tools were organized and the garage were not such a stye.
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My anxiety is up with mixed feelings on what I should be doing. a) fix Jeep (this is like a keystone. If I fix it, it will aid me in many other activities) b) clean office and garage c) program d) go rent the snake to fix the bathroom sink
Ugh. I'm just dreading getting to work on the Jeep. I don't know why. It's the kind of thing I enjoy. I'd enjoy it more if my tools were organized and the garage were not such a stye.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Didn't want to get up. The first alarm isn't going off. I suspect the volume has been turned down. Time to order an alarm clock from Harris Communication.
Todo: Put new starter in Jeep. Stressing over getting the office and paper work in order faster. Need to be soliciting new work.
Last Night
Spent quality time with the wife. Talked about babies.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Didn't want to get up. The first alarm isn't going off. I suspect the volume has been turned down. Time to order an alarm clock from Harris Communication.
Todo: Put new starter in Jeep. Stressing over getting the office and paper work in order faster. Need to be soliciting new work.
Last Night
Spent quality time with the wife. Talked about babies.
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Monday, April 19, 2004
They deserve another plug!
Planning some travel? Some associates of mine have launched Kapuni Global Hotel Reservations for cheaper travel! Try Kapuni today!
See the Kapuni Blog today!
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Support group went really well. I had a good time leading it. I like leading groups. I'd make a good project manager. Not nearly the turn out I had expected but a great meeting that was very helpful to a new visitor.
Came home tried but stimmed. Time to help the wife then settle to collect my thoughts and regroup for the evening.
Key dates are here for bills. Time is tight for preparing for performances.
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Came home tried but stimmed. Time to help the wife then settle to collect my thoughts and regroup for the evening.
Key dates are here for bills. Time is tight for preparing for performances.
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Sometime between 1991 and 2001, a regional sector of the North American Aerospace Defense Command simulated a foreign hijacked airliner crashing into a building in the United States as part of training exercise scenario, a NORAD spokesman said Monday. ie. Everyone knew it was coming...no one knew what to do about it.
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Amy up. Kids done homework. Tommy worked in yard.
My head is swimming. I can't wait for this evening to be done.
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My head is swimming. I can't wait for this evening to be done.
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Cathy left for her meeting. I had a phone call and found out I'm in the pool for another job possibility with yet another company that I'm familar with. That puts me in active consideration with 3 companies and a total of 5 positions. My new Motorola v400 is already exhibiting some Gremlin like behaviors that are irritating me. I have the Midas touch for electronics. I love them! I know how to do fantastically cool things with them. But they melt with my touch!
Noah and Sarah are home. I need a nap.
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Noah and Sarah are home. I need a nap.
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Limos
So you think that Hummer turned into a lengthy limosine looks cool? Check out this 747 turned into Limo! (unfortunately, no picture)
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Zero Tolerance or George Orwellian High School
Zero tolerance raises alarms "Parents say Katy ISD overdisciplining students for minor offenses" and I'd have to agree.
Bing and other faculty members greet the students as they lift up their shirts and pants, empty their pockets and take off their shoes...
Sounds to me like some faculty are getting their jollies.
Certainly doesn't sound like school is a fun place to get an education. This article makes it sound more like training for institutionalization.
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Politically Incorrect Humor
Two Arabs are sitting in the Gaza strip chatting over a pint of goat's milk.
One pulls his wallet out and starts flipping through pictures and they start reminiscing.
"This is my oldest son. He's a martyr."
"Here's my second son. He's a martyr too!"
After a pause and a deep sigh, the second Arab says wistfully, "They blow up so fast, don't they?"
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Jeep manual found! Also a horde of other great books!
Tomorrow the Jeep gets a new starter and I take all the construction debris in the driveway to the dump!
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Tomorrow the Jeep gets a new starter and I take all the construction debris in the driveway to the dump!
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Yes! Got some cleaning done (put things away not thrown away). And reorganized in the bedroom to better understand what is in our mystery boxes. Identified several to grow through and throw stuff away while everyone else is asleep.
Found some of my books that I've been looking for (magic books, music tablature etc) but still not the Jeep manual.
Time to update the list of missing things:
Things I can't find:
-my house keys
- the bathroom caulk
- the two caulk guns
- my mind
- a job
- me
-the Haynes manual to fix the Jeep
- time
- most of my tools
-my sunglasses
-fingernail clippers (neither of the two)
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Found some of my books that I've been looking for (magic books, music tablature etc) but still not the Jeep manual.
Time to update the list of missing things:
Things I can't find:
-
- the bathroom caulk
- the two caulk guns
- my mind
- a job
- me
-
- time
- most of my tools
-
-
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Got my chi tea and am trying to settle into something.
Bouncing between files and job apps. Must focus on one!
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Bouncing between files and job apps. Must focus on one!
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More Robotics in the news. Military applications of course. This time a robotic airplane that takes off, drops a bomb and lands without human intervention (except to authorize the drop).
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Amy rants "MOm MEE!" and now climbs into my lap to help at the computer. Wow! 5 sneezes! Earlier she said "Dada type" and "Dada's [d]rink" and "frog frog frog" and "redip reedip". She just now almost dropped my coffee mug and surprisedily (such a word?) said sharply "Whoa!" Yuck! She is spitting into my coffee mug! OH! No she is saying "Hot" and blowing into the empty mug!
I recorded Amy's voice and just played it back for her and she got surprised and silenced, stood on my lap, leaning toward the computer, listened for a second said "who dat?" listened some more then said "dat me!"
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Blind Blog "One of the first steps to becoming a guide dog instructor is to spend ten days blindfolded..." What a cool concept! I've tried covering just one eye for a weekend and found it incredibly difficult!
Thanks to MetaFilter where I found the link!
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Amy has climbed into her high chair, put her seat belt on and is trying hard to get the buckle to work. I guess she is hungry.
I gave her some dry cereal in a bowl and she cheerily said "thank yoooou!"
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I gave her some dry cereal in a bowl and she cheerily said "thank yoooou!"
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Tantrum ended when I went near her to clean up a spill that went unnoticed from last night.
She looked up and say "Dada er you doing?"
Now she is staring at the cat saying "Eeeww Eeeww"
I wish I could record her all day!
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She looked up and say "Dada er you doing?"
Now she is staring at the cat saying "Eeeww Eeeww"
I wish I could record her all day!
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So much for the good mood. I just threw the baby into a royal tantrum. She had a piece of paper and I didn't know if it was important or not so I took it away. It got mangled in the process. I should have asked for it as she would have given it over. Handled it very wrong.
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"Here's da da's phone!" (pointing to my cell phone on hip)
more energy
"Dada phone"
louder and higher energy
"Here dada's phooone!"
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more energy
"Dada phone"
louder and higher energy
"Here dada's phooone!"
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I started bouncing my legs with Amy on my lap and sang "bum bumb bum bum dum bum bum" and she looks up at me making eye contact, covers my mouth with her tiny hand and says "Da da. Stop!"
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Wow Amy is so talkative this morning! She has given a strong hug. Grab an incredibly firm pat on my leg to get my attention and tell me she wanted in my lap. Is giving nice kisses and keeps telling me about her "cereal."
Hehe. She just identified a yellow circle on a poster on the fridge as "look daddy, a moon!"
She is such a pleasure. I can't put into words how good it feels to have this little person sit on my lap as I type this.
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Hehe. She just identified a yellow circle on a poster on the fridge as "look daddy, a moon!"
She is such a pleasure. I can't put into words how good it feels to have this little person sit on my lap as I type this.
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Amy says "Dada! Ceriel[sic]"
I just changed the messiest diaper I've ever had. Ok. "Messiest" isn't right. "Gross" would be better. It was like dried spinach on her cheeks with fresh spinach juice running out the legs of the diaper down to the backs of both knees. Yuck!
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I just changed the messiest diaper I've ever had. Ok. "Messiest" isn't right. "Gross" would be better. It was like dried spinach on her cheeks with fresh spinach juice running out the legs of the diaper down to the backs of both knees. Yuck!
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hehe! I got scolded (in a happy way). Amy was behind Sarah's door playing with her magnetic calendar when I opened the door disturbing her play and she smiles, looks up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and says "Daaa Da!" as if saying "Hey! I was doing something."
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I forgot to mention that last night when I came upstairs to investigate a noise, I found Amy asleep in a fetal position with her rump in the air and cheek on the hardwood floor. I felt so bad. I wanted hardwoods for the ease of cleaning and their beauty but with kids it doesn't seem very practical. Now I can't afford carpet. I must work harder!
Anyhow, when I came up I disturbed the cat on a hunt. We obviously have a mouse in the kitchen (I've found evidence). I know where it lives and the cat does too. She is staring down the gap in the cabinets where the mouse enters and exits. The cat must have been on alert all night long. Earn your keep cat!
Amy is awake.
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Anyhow, when I came up I disturbed the cat on a hunt. We obviously have a mouse in the kitchen (I've found evidence). I know where it lives and the cat does too. She is staring down the gap in the cabinets where the mouse enters and exits. The cat must have been on alert all night long. Earn your keep cat!
Amy is awake.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Had trouble getting to sleep last night. At 1am I finally drifted off. I was torn between sleep and staying up and cleaning. I knew if I stayed up the morning would be hellish but the productivity would have been great.
Got up on the 2nd bell at 6am. Never heard the first bell. I suspect the volume has been turned down.
Expectations. Are they wrong? I keep a reading light on a specific spot on the head board of our bed. That way if I need light in the night I can reach up and grab in and in seconds I can have light. This reading light keeps getting "cleaned" and this morning it was so well hidden that I had to turn on the overhead light, disturbing the wife's sleep, to find it. My wife has an expectation to not have a cluttered headboard (really a built in book case at the head of the bed). So how do we find a happy medium here? Simple answer. She needs to pick a spot that she likes the reading light to be and I need to know where the spot is.
•
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Had trouble getting to sleep last night. At 1am I finally drifted off. I was torn between sleep and staying up and cleaning. I knew if I stayed up the morning would be hellish but the productivity would have been great.
Got up on the 2nd bell at 6am. Never heard the first bell. I suspect the volume has been turned down.
Expectations. Are they wrong? I keep a reading light on a specific spot on the head board of our bed. That way if I need light in the night I can reach up and grab in and in seconds I can have light. This reading light keeps getting "cleaned" and this morning it was so well hidden that I had to turn on the overhead light, disturbing the wife's sleep, to find it. My wife has an expectation to not have a cluttered headboard (really a built in book case at the head of the bed). So how do we find a happy medium here? Simple answer. She needs to pick a spot that she likes the reading light to be and I need to know where the spot is.
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Sunday, April 18, 2004
Duke University Cuts 8 A.m. Classes
Duke University is eliminating 8 a.m. classes and trying to come up with other ways help its sleep-deprived students, who too often are struggling to survive on a mix of caffeine, adrenaline and ambition.
Now if only we can get businesses to do the same!
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Foiled al-Qaida Attackers Caught Red-Handed With WMDs
Two members of an al-Qaida cell connected to top terror master Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have been caught in Jordan with chemical weapons and poisonous gas for a planned attack that Jordanian officials say would have killed up to 20,000 people.
The discovery of the al-Qaida WMD plot is sure to renew speculation that some of Saddam Hussein's missing weapons of mass destruction were hidden in Syria before the U.S. attacked in March 2003, and have now found their way into al-Qaida's hands.
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Morning was spent typing and blogging.
Afternoon was spent at the inlaws with Cathy's brother, his wife and kids. A good time was had by all.
Evening was spent accomplishing nothing but irritating the wife.
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Afternoon was spent at the inlaws with Cathy's brother, his wife and kids. A good time was had by all.
Evening was spent accomplishing nothing but irritating the wife.
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I have so much in my head that I want to type. I could happily spend the rest of the day blogging, journaling and composing.
I also could happily spend the rest of the day cleaning and throwing stuff away.
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I also could happily spend the rest of the day cleaning and throwing stuff away.
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She says..he hears
She says: "Why haven't you gotten the paper?"
He retorts: "I haven't been outside yet."
She ponders.
She says: "I wonder if Sarah's glasses got returned [to the mailbox] last night."
He hears: "Get your lazy ass out and get the paper! Bring in the glasses while you are at it!"
He submits.
They have happy marriage!
"The secret to a happy life is a happy wife!"
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He retorts: "I haven't been outside yet."
She ponders.
She says: "I wonder if Sarah's glasses got returned [to the mailbox] last night."
He hears: "Get your lazy ass out and get the paper! Bring in the glasses while you are at it!"
He submits.
They have happy marriage!
"The secret to a happy life is a happy wife!"
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
The alarm clock went off at some ungodly hour. I never recovered a deep sleep after that.
7something Tommy begins drumming on the walk for attention. It's one of his announcing techniques: "I'm awake but I don't want to bring my medicine to down to you."
I decide to get some coffee going and give Tommy his medicine. He either returns to sleep or lounges in bed. Half an hour later Amy is playing happily in the room she shares with Sarah. A bit later I decide to open the door and she looks up at me from her sitting position in her toy box with Toy's piled all over her as if to say "what? I'm busy" so I leave the door open and return to Blogshares and she continues to play finally emerging 20-30 minutes later. What a happy well-rounded confident child!
Tommy rises and watches Amy while I bath. The wife is up shortly after and I decend into the basement for blogging, mental review of yesterday, planning for today, and coffee!
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
The alarm clock went off at some ungodly hour. I never recovered a deep sleep after that.
7something Tommy begins drumming on the walk for attention. It's one of his announcing techniques: "I'm awake but I don't want to bring my medicine to down to you."
I decide to get some coffee going and give Tommy his medicine. He either returns to sleep or lounges in bed. Half an hour later Amy is playing happily in the room she shares with Sarah. A bit later I decide to open the door and she looks up at me from her sitting position in her toy box with Toy's piled all over her as if to say "what? I'm busy" so I leave the door open and return to Blogshares and she continues to play finally emerging 20-30 minutes later. What a happy well-rounded confident child!
Tommy rises and watches Amy while I bath. The wife is up shortly after and I decend into the basement for blogging, mental review of yesterday, planning for today, and coffee!
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Saturday, April 17, 2004
Cathy returned home and the boys and I went to UT to watch the Orange and White game with their grandfather and uncle.
I wasn't really looking forward to this as I'm not sports buff but I do enjoy watching the game. However, this event turned out to be a very special treat. In college I was a huge fan and went to all the games. I never went down on the field. This was my first time ever on the grass. It was pretty cool. I stood as center in the stadium as I could (players were signing autographers dead center) and imagined myself as a football player. Funny thing is all I could imagine is how fun it would be to be playing the game and the rest would seem so irrelevant. I remember playing shirtless, tackle football as a teenager. It felt good.
We let the kids run all over the stadium unattended. I was never nervous and they handled themselves well. Tommy eventually got bored and started being mean to his brother so he was separated. Bill let Tommy hold the money then would let the kids run around the stadium and after they left would remember "oh! Tommy's got the money!" which was quite humorous. Despite frequent restroom breaks Noah still wet his pants. I don't understand why or when it happened. He did have a 20 oz Coke which was probably a mistake but there weren't many other options.
We returned home and I had a moment of upset with Tommy for his rudeness and sent him to chill out on the porch and I got mad at Noah for lying about his pants. He doesn't understand that I don't get upsetting over the wetting of the pants but I get furious over lying. I need to take a lighter approach with all the kids. Overall I have backed off tremendously but I still have my moments.
A moment of forgetfulness
Just a note on parking. Right now we park the station wagon (which is beginning to have a transmission problem) in a gravel parking space level with the road in the front side yard. The Jeep (which has a dead starter) gets parked at the top of the driveway so that I can roll it down the hill, pop the clutch and get the engine going. Right now, we are borrowing one of Cathy's parents cars because they insisted I have something that started with a key for my last business trip (we haven't returned it yet because its been convenient and I want to wash it); that car moves twice a day. In the morning it blocks the station wagon so that the postman can get to the mailbox; in the afternoon it blocks the mailbox so that the station wagon can be used. Having it in the road has reducing the amount of traffic using our cove as a turn-a-round. Yesterday that car was parked in the grass in the middle of the cove.
After Cathy and Amy returned we had a break then loaded everyone back into the car. Started the Jeep and parked it on the other side of the loaner car in the grass (engine running of course or it wouldn't move again until I put a starter in it). We backed the station wagon down the driveway and attached the trailer then sped off to try to go to Sam's Wholesale club. Cathy realized that most things we would buy would be frozen and that it was a silly trip so we re-routed to meet her mother at Lowe's where she was buying a new grill. We decided to make a quick stop at Walmart for dry goods which proved a convenient rest stop for Noah then met Cathy's mother at Lowe's and secured the new grill in the Jeep. About .4 kilometers (1/4 mile) from Lowe's a piece of the grill blew off. Fortunely Cathy's mom was behind us and recovered the piece. Even more fortunately it did not hit her car. I am still furious with myself for allowing it to happen. I'm a much more skilled mover than that to make such a stupid mistake. The damage was superficial and to a hidden part so it is kinda irrelevant. We visited with Cathy's brother and sister in law (in town for the weekend) and her parents briefly then headed home. We arrived home and backed the trailer down the driveway, parked the station wagon then moved the Jeep back from the center of the cove to its position at the top of the driveway note: It sat in the middle of the road with the keys in the iginition and the engine running for about 4 hours unattended! Thank goodness we live in a low crime area!
Was too exhausted to do anything productive or even recreational and just passed out. Tis a shame as it was "Nosy Neighbor Awareness Day" and I could think of a couple of adult activities in the front and/or back windows or out on the trampoline that would have made for a fun celebration of just such a day!
•
I wasn't really looking forward to this as I'm not sports buff but I do enjoy watching the game. However, this event turned out to be a very special treat. In college I was a huge fan and went to all the games. I never went down on the field. This was my first time ever on the grass. It was pretty cool. I stood as center in the stadium as I could (players were signing autographers dead center) and imagined myself as a football player. Funny thing is all I could imagine is how fun it would be to be playing the game and the rest would seem so irrelevant. I remember playing shirtless, tackle football as a teenager. It felt good.
We let the kids run all over the stadium unattended. I was never nervous and they handled themselves well. Tommy eventually got bored and started being mean to his brother so he was separated. Bill let Tommy hold the money then would let the kids run around the stadium and after they left would remember "oh! Tommy's got the money!" which was quite humorous. Despite frequent restroom breaks Noah still wet his pants. I don't understand why or when it happened. He did have a 20 oz Coke which was probably a mistake but there weren't many other options.
We returned home and I had a moment of upset with Tommy for his rudeness and sent him to chill out on the porch and I got mad at Noah for lying about his pants. He doesn't understand that I don't get upsetting over the wetting of the pants but I get furious over lying. I need to take a lighter approach with all the kids. Overall I have backed off tremendously but I still have my moments.
A moment of forgetfulness
Just a note on parking. Right now we park the station wagon (which is beginning to have a transmission problem) in a gravel parking space level with the road in the front side yard. The Jeep (which has a dead starter) gets parked at the top of the driveway so that I can roll it down the hill, pop the clutch and get the engine going. Right now, we are borrowing one of Cathy's parents cars because they insisted I have something that started with a key for my last business trip (we haven't returned it yet because its been convenient and I want to wash it); that car moves twice a day. In the morning it blocks the station wagon so that the postman can get to the mailbox; in the afternoon it blocks the mailbox so that the station wagon can be used. Having it in the road has reducing the amount of traffic using our cove as a turn-a-round. Yesterday that car was parked in the grass in the middle of the cove.
After Cathy and Amy returned we had a break then loaded everyone back into the car. Started the Jeep and parked it on the other side of the loaner car in the grass (engine running of course or it wouldn't move again until I put a starter in it). We backed the station wagon down the driveway and attached the trailer then sped off to try to go to Sam's Wholesale club. Cathy realized that most things we would buy would be frozen and that it was a silly trip so we re-routed to meet her mother at Lowe's where she was buying a new grill. We decided to make a quick stop at Walmart for dry goods which proved a convenient rest stop for Noah then met Cathy's mother at Lowe's and secured the new grill in the Jeep. About .4 kilometers (1/4 mile) from Lowe's a piece of the grill blew off. Fortunely Cathy's mom was behind us and recovered the piece. Even more fortunately it did not hit her car. I am still furious with myself for allowing it to happen. I'm a much more skilled mover than that to make such a stupid mistake. The damage was superficial and to a hidden part so it is kinda irrelevant. We visited with Cathy's brother and sister in law (in town for the weekend) and her parents briefly then headed home. We arrived home and backed the trailer down the driveway, parked the station wagon then moved the Jeep back from the center of the cove to its position at the top of the driveway note: It sat in the middle of the road with the keys in the iginition and the engine running for about 4 hours unattended! Thank goodness we live in a low crime area!
Was too exhausted to do anything productive or even recreational and just passed out. Tis a shame as it was "Nosy Neighbor Awareness Day" and I could think of a couple of adult activities in the front and/or back windows or out on the trampoline that would have made for a fun celebration of just such a day!
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Home after taking Amy and the boys to soccer. The grandparents where there with Cathy's brother, his wife and their 2 children. Fun time was had by all and even Tommy did not complain much about having to do his school work.
Amy down for a nap. Wish I could have one.
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Amy down for a nap. Wish I could have one.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Todo: Take Noah to soccer, Go to UT's Orange and White Game, work on house, work on cars, visit with relatives, play with new phone whenever possible.
Last Night
After dropping Cathy and Amy off at the house, I switched cars (this one has only stalled in traffic twice). Went to the lighting store to get our special halogen buibs for the bedroom but they were out. Spent a good deal of time discussing lighting of the house with the outside sales rep. When Cathy gives the ok, she will stop by the house and we will make a plan (similar to what I'm going to do with a landscaper). She also gave me a referral to a landscaper. From there I went to Cingular and griped fruther about how they made me suffer with terrible phones and I ended up walking out with two Motorola v400 phones! Wahoo! From there I went to Bi-lo for potatoes (for the kids potatoe guns) and ended up buying salmon and shrimp for dinner.
Had a terrific evening of fish, phones and fun!
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Todo: Take Noah to soccer, Go to UT's Orange and White Game, work on house, work on cars, visit with relatives, play with new phone whenever possible.
Last Night
After dropping Cathy and Amy off at the house, I switched cars (this one has only stalled in traffic twice). Went to the lighting store to get our special halogen buibs for the bedroom but they were out. Spent a good deal of time discussing lighting of the house with the outside sales rep. When Cathy gives the ok, she will stop by the house and we will make a plan (similar to what I'm going to do with a landscaper). She also gave me a referral to a landscaper. From there I went to Cingular and griped fruther about how they made me suffer with terrible phones and I ended up walking out with two Motorola v400 phones! Wahoo! From there I went to Bi-lo for potatoes (for the kids potatoe guns) and ended up buying salmon and shrimp for dinner.
Had a terrific evening of fish, phones and fun!
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Friday, April 16, 2004
New Airport Game! For the bored traveler you know have the ability to entertain yourself for hours. Compete against other travellers and have government paid referees determine the winner!
At the security checkpoints, screening supervisors have a score sheet with a list of behaviors on it. If a passenger hits a certain number, a law enforcement officer will be notified to question the person.
Be the first on your flight to get questioned and win a free layover!
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Took wife and baby downtown to pickup circus tickets; Amy slept. Had car trouble on the way back (transmission could be dying == $1500+- probably + or it could be a fluid problem). Went to Joanne's and Gina's to drop off Project Linus boxes. Went to Smart Toys (someone tell them I can fix their webpage) for a birthday present and Amy woke to get to play. Returned home to find our latchkey keys know how to get into the house.
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Conversation with Tommy's teacher transcribed. Our phone systems should do this automatically! The technology is advanced enough. It's silly that we don't have automatic transcriptions of all phone conversations and meetings. And I don't mean recordings. I mean electronic editable, searchable text documents.
I feel like I need a refund of several years of my life for all the wasted time documenting conversations with employees, covering my ass documentation, and documenting political meetings with places like the school system.
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I feel like I need a refund of several years of my life for all the wasted time documenting conversations with employees, covering my ass documentation, and documenting political meetings with places like the school system.
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Fort Campbell officer robs bank, surrenders Iraq sounds like such a fun place.
...soldier who police say robbed a bank and then surrendered just wanted to go to jail, Keokuk police said. "He told us he couldn't take it any more," ...
...fired a large caliber handgun into the air and demanded cash...
...climbed into his pickup truck and drove to the police department, where he turned himself in...
...the first one-story bank he had come across...
...was going to fire shots in the air and didn't want to hurt anybody...
...left the handgun in his truck...
...so police wouldn't shoot at him and so he wouldn't have to return fire...
...climbed into his pickup truck and drove to the police department, where he turned himself in...
...the first one-story bank he had come across...
...was going to fire shots in the air and didn't want to hurt anybody...
...left the handgun in his truck...
...so police wouldn't shoot at him and so he wouldn't have to return fire...
"Our main mission was to provide a secure environment to facilitate the rebuilding of the central government services," Cate said. "We lost 58 soldiers in one year."
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Wahoo! One more cover letter and resume sent. This for an IT Web Master Database Marketing Expert position. You have to love titles like that!
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Ooops. Just noticed the cover letter I sent to the insurance company had the POB of the last company that the template was used for. I just gave them a strong reason to circular file my resume!
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Wahoo! Submitted a cover letter and resume to a local insurance company that specifically asked for ColdFusion!
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Ran to Kinko's for more boxes. They'll have even more this evening if we want them.
Went to Cingular and paid $128 cell phone bill. Stared at phones, drooled, dilerated, left without a new phone.
Went to United Printing and got more boxes. One of Noah's scout buddy's (Will) Dad (Jeff) runs the business!
Returned home. Working on cover letter. My cover letters suck.
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Went to Cingular and paid $128 cell phone bill. Stared at phones, drooled, dilerated, left without a new phone.
Went to United Printing and got more boxes. One of Noah's scout buddy's (Will) Dad (Jeff) runs the business!
Returned home. Working on cover letter. My cover letters suck.
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Scientists find new face on Turin shroud
Deane Hill man wins case with MPC The neighborhood of elitists is in the news again. After failing to close of roads used as "shortcuts" through their neighborhood, they now choose to attack a neighborhood that has run an accounting business from his home for 5 years.
Rare whales spotted for first time in 20 years. Giant cigarette-shaped thing now moving away from earth Thanks Fark
Women plan to protest as topless barber shop opens Aw come on! We are staring at them anyway! Why not uncover them?! I've wanted a topless barber shop since I was 12!
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Ray Bradbury praises Pres. Bush's space plan; also says to ignore that gremlin on the plane wing looking in at you Too many good headlines by Fark today.
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Sony's new 25 GB Blu-Ray Disc made of paper. Finally, we can smoke our video games Thanks to Fark for the headline.
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a magnetic motor that consumed almost no electricity This sounds like it belongs in The Museum of Unworkable Devices (see the original post for earlier comments).
Thanks to My Likes and Dislikes for the link.
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GW Bush
Tom Tomorrow on the President's speech --- I'm speechless!
Thanks to Whoa Mama! for the link.
Every sounds like a lie
Thanks to My Likes and Dislikes for the link.
The Out-of-TownerWhile Bush vacationed, 9/11 warnings went unheard. By Fred Kaplan Posted Wednesday, April 14, 2004, at 4:54 PM PT
Tenet replied, "I was not in briefings at this time." Bush, he noted, "was on vacation." He added that he didn't see the president at all in August 2001.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Woke at 6:06! Whoa! Rushed upstairs to get the kids moving and prodded Tommy into getting dressed and doing math work. Ticked Sarah off by making her look at her day planner ( "I thought I only had to do that on Monday's!" ); trying to instill time management skills in her is going to be a royal pain ( "I don't check things off. I erase them when I'm done. If I don't erase them, well, I KNOW I've done it." ) Quizzed Noah briefly on his spelling words.
Carpooler wasn't ready either. Talked to Noah and Sarah in the car asking "so what do you do at your friends' houses when you spend the night." Sarah gives a brief answer followed quickly by "can we turn on the radio."
Amy certainly has a lot to say this morning.
Last Night/Afternoon
Picked Tommy up at school. I called him at 3:08 to tell him that I was on my way and he should not get on the bus. 15 minutes later I arrive at the school and he is still in the classroom unattended. The lady at the front desk was even taken back.
Tommy and I drove to the West Knoxville Travel Bug Hotel to find that the brandnew logbook has indeed disappeared. I hate vandals.
I then when to a cloth store and got permission for us to put out a box for Project Linus.
Tommy and I made it to STAR where he did very well.
On our return we stopped at Michael's and dropped off a letter for the management to see if we can leave a Project Linus box there. Then we went to Joanne's Etc and got permission to leave a box there.
For dinner we went to Rafferty's and ordered 3 racks of ribs to go. While they were preparing it, Tommy and I drove around. He declared "Let's go in Fantasy World!" (thinking it was a magic store) so I explained that it was a place that sold ladies underwear and dirty books and he changed his tune to "Let's put them out of business" so we had a brief discussion on captialism, morals and right from wrong. In the end he said, "ok. I just won't shop there" which was a great conclusion for him to draw. We went to Lowe's and looked at plumbing snakes and flowers. Happened to drive past a strip club on the way and because of Tommy's over reaction to the adult store and "not liking girls" I used it as an example to explain "it's ok to like girls. Some guys pay money to see girls take their clothes off" and left it brief not wanting to go into details except to mention that its very expensive. We picked up our ribs, headed to Weigel's for 2 gallons of milk, then home to enjoy a great meal.
Evening was battling with Tommy to actually complete some work. Then Cathy and I watched some Kingdom Hospital and fell into a deep sleep.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Woke at 6:06! Whoa! Rushed upstairs to get the kids moving and prodded Tommy into getting dressed and doing math work. Ticked Sarah off by making her look at her day planner ( "I thought I only had to do that on Monday's!" ); trying to instill time management skills in her is going to be a royal pain ( "I don't check things off. I erase them when I'm done. If I don't erase them, well, I KNOW I've done it." ) Quizzed Noah briefly on his spelling words.
Carpooler wasn't ready either. Talked to Noah and Sarah in the car asking "so what do you do at your friends' houses when you spend the night." Sarah gives a brief answer followed quickly by "can we turn on the radio."
Amy certainly has a lot to say this morning.
Last Night/Afternoon
Picked Tommy up at school. I called him at 3:08 to tell him that I was on my way and he should not get on the bus. 15 minutes later I arrive at the school and he is still in the classroom unattended. The lady at the front desk was even taken back.
Tommy and I drove to the West Knoxville Travel Bug Hotel to find that the brandnew logbook has indeed disappeared. I hate vandals.
I then when to a cloth store and got permission for us to put out a box for Project Linus.
Tommy and I made it to STAR where he did very well.
On our return we stopped at Michael's and dropped off a letter for the management to see if we can leave a Project Linus box there. Then we went to Joanne's Etc and got permission to leave a box there.
For dinner we went to Rafferty's and ordered 3 racks of ribs to go. While they were preparing it, Tommy and I drove around. He declared "Let's go in Fantasy World!" (thinking it was a magic store) so I explained that it was a place that sold ladies underwear and dirty books and he changed his tune to "Let's put them out of business" so we had a brief discussion on captialism, morals and right from wrong. In the end he said, "ok. I just won't shop there" which was a great conclusion for him to draw. We went to Lowe's and looked at plumbing snakes and flowers. Happened to drive past a strip club on the way and because of Tommy's over reaction to the adult store and "not liking girls" I used it as an example to explain "it's ok to like girls. Some guys pay money to see girls take their clothes off" and left it brief not wanting to go into details except to mention that its very expensive. We picked up our ribs, headed to Weigel's for 2 gallons of milk, then home to enjoy a great meal.
Evening was battling with Tommy to actually complete some work. Then Cathy and I watched some Kingdom Hospital and fell into a deep sleep.
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Thursday, April 15, 2004
Cover letter drafted. Baby awoken. Cover letter and resume will be sent tonight.
Reassembled plumbing with Amy's help. It still backed up. I need to rent a more serious 2" snake (50.8mm) OR call in a plumber. Hmm...
I need to get dressed for errands.
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Reassembled plumbing with Amy's help. It still backed up. I need to rent a more serious 2" snake (50.8mm) OR call in a plumber. Hmm...
I need to get dressed for errands.
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Planning some travel? Some associates of mine have launched Kapuni Global Hotel Reservations for cheaper travel! Try Kapuni today!
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Made a new business contact and impressed by referring him to a friend of mine (friend thankful). Good karma all around.
Sent updated resume to both recruiters and new business contact.
Cleaned sink. Now ready to reassemble pipes.
Cooked BLTs...did I wash my hands?
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Sent updated resume to both recruiters and new business contact.
Cleaned sink. Now ready to reassemble pipes.
Cooked BLTs...did I wash my hands?
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Just snaked the pipes in the upstairs bathroom. I hope it was sufficient. I'd really like to go in with a rented one that would do a better job. I may schedule that for a weekend once a year and just snake all the pipes.
Before I can reassemble the pipes I have one more length of pipe I want to clean out. Long blonde hair all over the place...hmmm.. I suspect I'll be snaking the pipes frequently for the next couple of decades.
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Before I can reassemble the pipes I have one more length of pipe I want to clean out. Long blonde hair all over the place...hmmm.. I suspect I'll be snaking the pipes frequently for the next couple of decades.
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Rant
Indian tribes sue to reclaim about a third of Colorado, but will settle for a single casino Thanks Fark for the headline!
I think this is ridiculous. Some of these Indian's asking for their land back are about as much Indian as I am Irish. Well the Irish were screwed in America too! I want justice. The Irish built most of Knoxville. I want a third of Knoxville but I'll settle for a nice office building!
Other stories like Cherokees get coveted Smokies land where the Great Environmentalist GW Bush gave 143 acres for the purpose of building schools (you watch how quickly the schools become casinos) irritate me to no end. Yes! Part of the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway was an agreement that the lands would be handed over but over time I think the value of the National Park as a natural resource outweights the necessity to honor that deal and that compensation should have been made in other ways. Besides, all my maps are screwed now. There are also vast treasures to be found in the Smokies for the outdoor adverturer that gains the skills and permission to go off trail. Cabins can still be found with tables set, watches in place etc just as if someone had been living in them yesterday. Taking land from the Smokies destroys such history not to mention the environmental impact from the construction vehicles and human habitation of that 143 acres. It was an idiotic move.
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Off the Wagon
Look! Jobs I can do in Iraq!
EMW has an immediate need for a Network Engineer to support US Military operations in Iraq.
ok. I think giving anyone that works in an IT department a "gun" is a bad idea!
Conduct interrogations, pre-brief and debrief preparation which includes researching, compiling, and preparing supporting material; prepare all-source target overview/summaries to include cultural, religious, and sociological factors; and identify information required for immediate processing and dissemination including support to ongoing and planned operations and force protection.
Category: Computers, Software
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TN Delivers Live Weapons to Oklahoma (aka Lowe's Customer Bitten by Rattlesnake)
The snake probably made its way to Broken Arrow with the trees, which were shipped in from Tennessee.
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Osama bin Laden wants to make a deal with Europe
"It is completely unthinkable that we could start negotiations with bin Laden. Everyone understands that," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters.
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The Museum of Unworkable Devices is a fun place to visit. Within it ther are several places like the Gallery of Ingenious, but Impractical Devices This site is fun and irritating. I know just enough to believe that some of these devices should work and just enough to know why they don't.
In the 7th grade I did a science project on perpetual motion where I hooked a generator to a motor. The generator was started by a crank and was supposed to power the motor which would in turn power the generator and so forth. I was very steamed that I could not get this to work.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
Awoke at 12:52am to a crying baby. She had moved from her bed to the hardwood floor. There is a soft mat near the bed that she could have chosen but instead was on the floor. I hugged her, gave her a fresh pacificer and put her back to sleep. At 5:50 she was crying again but from the bed this time. I brought her down to the crib and stirred the crew.
Last Night
Was more tired than I thought I was. Watched some of Groundhog Day with the wife. Went back to errands around the house then returned but didn't even make it through Futurama.
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This Morning
Awoke at 12:52am to a crying baby. She had moved from her bed to the hardwood floor. There is a soft mat near the bed that she could have chosen but instead was on the floor. I hugged her, gave her a fresh pacificer and put her back to sleep. At 5:50 she was crying again but from the bed this time. I brought her down to the crib and stirred the crew.
Last Night
Was more tired than I thought I was. Watched some of Groundhog Day with the wife. Went back to errands around the house then returned but didn't even make it through Futurama.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2004
I'm not tired. I should stay up and bang keys. Instead I want to go to bed and watch tv with my wife.
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I spent the afternoon fighting computer problems. My art machine seems to have lost its video card and my development box won't open a word document without word crashing. My copy of Office 2003 which I was saving to install on a new box has vanished into this garbage pit of a desk (Alro Gurthrie would be proud). And my laptop is so slow I wonder how I ever accomplished anything in the past.
I took Noah to soccer practice. I really enjoy the time with Noah. I spent most of the time talking to a mother who's son is a first timer. She sounded a whole like like Cathy and I talking about Noah. She also complimented Noah's playing ability. Once again, evidence that Noah is just a normal all American 8 year old boy (8 next month).
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I took Noah to soccer practice. I really enjoy the time with Noah. I spent most of the time talking to a mother who's son is a first timer. She sounded a whole like like Cathy and I talking about Noah. She also complimented Noah's playing ability. Once again, evidence that Noah is just a normal all American 8 year old boy (8 next month).
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My wife and I are in one of those marital disconnects right now. She needs to be left alone and I just want to be a bother. I wish I could lift the weight from her shoulders.
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You want fries with your Warchalk?
Wayport to Give McDonald's Wireless Internet Access McD's jumps into the WiFi world. Now you can blog while you eat!
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Thrill Seeker Deprivation
So I used to kayak, mountain bike, spelunk, rock climb, rapell, dangle my feet over the railings of tall parking garages and anything else for a thrill...the rush...adrenaline.(aka epinephrine). Now-a-days I get the same rush with a 15 minute powernap..I fall into a deep relaxing sleep then jump from the bed in a panic when I realize I should be doing something else. You can watch my heart pounding through my chest when it happens.
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American commercials have a long way to go before catching up with Danish commercials (not safe for work)
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New bill may reinstate the draft for 2005
New bill may reinstate the draft for 2005 - The Guilfordian - World
The revised draft calls for all Americans between the ages of 18 and 26 to enlist in the military, including women. College students are not exempt from service, and neither are conscientious objectors, who would be placed in non-combative service.
In addition, the "Smart Border Declaration" of 2001 between the U.S. and Canada would monitor draft-dodgers from the U.S., implementing a "pre-clearance agreement" of people attempting to enter the country.
In addition, the "Smart Border Declaration" of 2001 between the U.S. and Canada would monitor draft-dodgers from the U.S., implementing a "pre-clearance agreement" of people attempting to enter the country.
Rangel said he introduced the bill "in hopes that those people who make the decisions to go to war, to attack Iraq, would be better influenced against it if they had kids that would be placed in harm's way...
"We're not going to re-implement a draft," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. ...
Link
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Amy is in fantastic spirits this morn! She is talkative and smiling and playful! She is currently feeding me her cereal. She has been entertaining herself. I think she enjoys the freedom of being able to wake up, get out of her bed, and play.
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New water doesn't get things wet
The chemical has all the firefighting properties of water, yet it will not cause the damage ...
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I am so paniced that I just don't want to get up. I wanted to hide in bed all day.
Awoke at 3:45, 5 and 6:06.
Sarah and Noah are moving good today. Sarah was completely prepared by 6:44! Tommy is trying hard to stay in bed. I told Tommy that Amy is asleep in Sarah's room and asked him to be extra quiet. So far he has made more noise than he normally does.
Yesterday/Last Night
I took Tommy to his psychologist group therapy appointment. Made several phone calls from there. The entire time I was having a problem relaxing and being calm. I ended up reading a book for a bit then getting into a great conversation about the school system and where our Aspie children will go in the 9th grade. Knox County Schools is completely unprepared to deal with our children.
Came home and prepared a preroasted chicken and corn on the cob for dinner. The wife went to a meeting. The kids were well behaved and cooperative despite Tommy's upset at having to do his homework. After Cathy returned home we got the kids to bed and went downstairs for card games and television.
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This Morning
I am so paniced that I just don't want to get up. I wanted to hide in bed all day.
Awoke at 3:45, 5 and 6:06.
Sarah and Noah are moving good today. Sarah was completely prepared by 6:44! Tommy is trying hard to stay in bed. I told Tommy that Amy is asleep in Sarah's room and asked him to be extra quiet. So far he has made more noise than he normally does.
Yesterday/Last Night
I took Tommy to his psychologist group therapy appointment. Made several phone calls from there. The entire time I was having a problem relaxing and being calm. I ended up reading a book for a bit then getting into a great conversation about the school system and where our Aspie children will go in the 9th grade. Knox County Schools is completely unprepared to deal with our children.
Came home and prepared a preroasted chicken and corn on the cob for dinner. The wife went to a meeting. The kids were well behaved and cooperative despite Tommy's upset at having to do his homework. After Cathy returned home we got the kids to bed and went downstairs for card games and television.
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Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Hot Dog Attack
I remembered something funny. Last night just before 1:45am I had a bizarre dream. I dreamed that no matter which way I flipped in bed that someone was shoving hot dogs under my nose. I was being attacked by hot dogs. It was so ferocious that I woke up. And there was the smell. It permeated everything. I smelled my wife and she smelled like a hotdog. I jumped from bed to find the problem and ran to the wood stove and it smelled like a hotdog. I stuck my nose in the babies crib. She was fine but the smell was there too! I kept following my nose and finally ended up in the kitchen where I recalled the crock pot of navy beans and ham hock. With much relief I checked the water level, stirred the pot and went back to sleep.
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I'm so proud to live in a state that can't figure out how to educate my child chosing instead to let him play Star Craft online (unsupervised) in his "spare time" yet they have time, energy and money to legalize the scraping of dead animals off the road for cooking and decide that it's legal to have an unrestrained dog in the back of a pickup truck.
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I snuck back downstairs and grabbed a nap. Woke several times in a panic; one included head butting my wife--I can't remember why.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
I awoke at 1:45am and stirred the navy beans and hamhock cooking in the crock pot.
I awoke at 3am and stirred the navy beans and hamhock cooking in the crock pot.
I awoke at 5am and removed the bone then stirred the food cooking in the crock pot.
I awoke at 6:07am and decided to get the kids up. I slept on the couch for a few minutes then moved to the computer.
I'm sore. I'm tried. I'm stressed.
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This Morning
I awoke at 1:45am and stirred the navy beans and hamhock cooking in the crock pot.
I awoke at 3am and stirred the navy beans and hamhock cooking in the crock pot.
I awoke at 5am and removed the bone then stirred the food cooking in the crock pot.
I awoke at 6:07am and decided to get the kids up. I slept on the couch for a few minutes then moved to the computer.
I'm sore. I'm tried. I'm stressed.
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Monday, April 12, 2004
Was going to try to stay up all night. I'm wiped. For the most part I enjoyed helping Tommy. He worked hard. Maybe I can rise in a couple of hours.
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Tommy has been a chore and a half. I allowed him to raise my stress to the point that I yelled at him, I got mad at Noah for wetting his pants, got upset with Sarah for using our bath towels outside (she likes to use them for things rags should be used for but that's my fault for not having a tool shed/toy shed where they could get stuff like rags), and talked all too firmly to one of the neighbor's kids for flipping Tommy the bird.
Cathy, the good wife, sent me out to destress. What a woman!
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Cathy, the good wife, sent me out to destress. What a woman!
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4 kids on a trampoline in the rain. This is a formula for an ER trip. As long as the wrestling is minimal I won't intervene.
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I'm such an ass. I've made Tommy, Sarah, Noah and one of the neighborhood boys cry each for different reason. I'm surprised Amy hasn't cried.
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I'm so incredibly frustrated. I need to put in 14 hours today working for myself. I thought I'd shoot for 8 hours. It's 1pm in the afternoon and this is the first stolen moment I've had at my computer. I haven't even checked email yet.
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My plans for the day have completely changed. The afternoon is to be spent by Tommy's side convincing him to do his school work. I have to start sneaking cat naps during the day and evening so that I can spend the night time working while everyone else sleeps.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Woke at 7. Should have woken at 5 but I intentionally didn't set the alarm. Ran upstairs to get the garbage out then ran downstairs to get the screaming baby. She doesn't want to keep her clothes or diaper on. I've resorted to duct tape which for the moment is working. A friend also recommends "on emergency" putting the diaper on backwards. Gave Tommy his medicine.
Amy was insisting on trying to get under or over the gate at the top of the stairs. That door just may need to be closed if she keeps it up.
Breakfast is waffles. The only recycling we do is with the syrup container; when it empties, we refill from this giant container. Apparently someone threw away the small container. I'm irritated but not upset. I will question the kids only to teach not to scold.
The kids are home from school today for a teacher in-service. I'm hoping to use today as a marketing day for myself.
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This Morning
Woke at 7. Should have woken at 5 but I intentionally didn't set the alarm. Ran upstairs to get the garbage out then ran downstairs to get the screaming baby. She doesn't want to keep her clothes or diaper on. I've resorted to duct tape which for the moment is working. A friend also recommends "on emergency" putting the diaper on backwards. Gave Tommy his medicine.
Amy was insisting on trying to get under or over the gate at the top of the stairs. That door just may need to be closed if she keeps it up.
Breakfast is waffles. The only recycling we do is with the syrup container; when it empties, we refill from this giant container. Apparently someone threw away the small container. I'm irritated but not upset. I will question the kids only to teach not to scold.
The kids are home from school today for a teacher in-service. I'm hoping to use today as a marketing day for myself.
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Sunday, April 11, 2004
Back from shopping. Sarah and I enjoyed it much. Don't feel like snaking the sink although much progress has been made. Will finish tomorrow.
I need to step away from the computer as I am not being productive..although I am having fun!
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I need to step away from the computer as I am not being productive..although I am having fun!
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Really don't want to leave the house. Kind in a "let's accomplish something mode" but I've got to go with the flow. Off to hunt candy deals, fire starters and milk. "Here moo moo moo!"
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The colder and snowier it gets, Canadian scientists have discovered, the more penis length matters for mating success. ...
I really should stop there.
...a longer penis increases the chances of being the successful father when females mate with a succession of different males...
So in a gangbang the short guy is pretty certain to avoid an unexpected child support expense?
Ultimately in these experiments, the question that begs asking is "who does these measurements and how?"
Ultimately in these experiments, the question that begs asking is "who does these measurements and how?"
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I got up early to scrub the floors. Ew! Need to do that a little more often. Failed to make breakfast in time for everyone to run off to church.
I was throw off balance a little when it was announced that Amy was going to church. A part of me thought "great! We can get the eggs hidden and do some other things without Amy underfoot" Another part of me thought "hey? Shouldn't I be there for her first time in church?" It was very helpful. Tommy was too wacky to go and was refusing to get dressed for church despite his grandfather's pleas. So Tommy stayed home and played on the computer downstairs while Cathy and I hid eggs. I enjoy that sooo much!
Upon returning from church, Amy was given a brief headstart to understand the egg hunt game. Took her no time whatsoever to figure out what to do. Shortly she was cackling and having a great time with Granny holding her basket. The kids did a wonderful job finding all but 4 eggs without much help. The 6 prior to that had some hints but the final four became a game of "red hot."
Lunch was very fulfilling thanks to the grandparents and Honey Baked Ham. Afterwards the kids played and the adults napped.
Last Night
Tommy and I joined a friend of his (also Aspie), that friend's sister, that friend's dad, that friend's dad's friend for dinner and a movie. Pleasant evening!
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I got up early to scrub the floors. Ew! Need to do that a little more often. Failed to make breakfast in time for everyone to run off to church.
I was throw off balance a little when it was announced that Amy was going to church. A part of me thought "great! We can get the eggs hidden and do some other things without Amy underfoot" Another part of me thought "hey? Shouldn't I be there for her first time in church?" It was very helpful. Tommy was too wacky to go and was refusing to get dressed for church despite his grandfather's pleas. So Tommy stayed home and played on the computer downstairs while Cathy and I hid eggs. I enjoy that sooo much!
Upon returning from church, Amy was given a brief headstart to understand the egg hunt game. Took her no time whatsoever to figure out what to do. Shortly she was cackling and having a great time with Granny holding her basket. The kids did a wonderful job finding all but 4 eggs without much help. The 6 prior to that had some hints but the final four became a game of "red hot."
Lunch was very fulfilling thanks to the grandparents and Honey Baked Ham. Afterwards the kids played and the adults napped.
Last Night
Tommy and I joined a friend of his (also Aspie), that friend's sister, that friend's dad, that friend's dad's friend for dinner and a movie. Pleasant evening!
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Saturday, April 10, 2004
Sarah helped me empty the trailer and man did the country girl in her come out as she chucked the wood into a pile. All that is left to do is stack it!
Tommy returned from his birthday party excursion needing attention.
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Tommy returned from his birthday party excursion needing attention.
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Cleared all the split wood from the neighbor's yard. If I don't pick up another stick there I'll be content. If it so happens that I get more wood later that's good too. I'd like the 7 yr olds to take the wagon down there and collect up all the kindling.
Going to empty the trailer before the rain comes then move to clean the front yard and then the inside of the house.
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Going to empty the trailer before the rain comes then move to clean the front yard and then the inside of the house.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
I like getting up and making something of my day; however, one in a blue moon I would appreciate getting to sleep in a few extra minutes. This thought usually happens as I am struggling to get out of bed then I feel silly later after I'm moving.
This morning I got to enjoy watching "Static" with Noah. It was an episode that included the new and old Batman which thrilled me!
Time to give Cathy her computer back.
Yesterday
After returning home I got dressed and had planned a few hours working in the garage and yard. Cathy was fried and needed a break from Tommy's shenanigans so we packed up everyone except Tommy and went to the mall to play. Sarah scored some socks, we all had pretezles, Amy lost her blankie and I found it again, and overall we had a great time.
After the mall we enjoyed petting the puppies at PetSmart then were off to Bi-Lo to get 48 eggs for coloring for Easter.
At home, we boiled eggs, cooked chicken, colored eggs, Amy and I walked the neigborhood, Tommy went to his grandparents and Sarah went to midnight bowling (9pm-midnight). Cathy and I had good evening conversation.
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This Morning
I like getting up and making something of my day; however, one in a blue moon I would appreciate getting to sleep in a few extra minutes. This thought usually happens as I am struggling to get out of bed then I feel silly later after I'm moving.
This morning I got to enjoy watching "Static" with Noah. It was an episode that included the new and old Batman which thrilled me!
Time to give Cathy her computer back.
Yesterday
After returning home I got dressed and had planned a few hours working in the garage and yard. Cathy was fried and needed a break from Tommy's shenanigans so we packed up everyone except Tommy and went to the mall to play. Sarah scored some socks, we all had pretezles, Amy lost her blankie and I found it again, and overall we had a great time.
After the mall we enjoyed petting the puppies at PetSmart then were off to Bi-Lo to get 48 eggs for coloring for Easter.
At home, we boiled eggs, cooked chicken, colored eggs, Amy and I walked the neigborhood, Tommy went to his grandparents and Sarah went to midnight bowling (9pm-midnight). Cathy and I had good evening conversation.
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Friday, April 09, 2004
Visited with my recruiter. Pleasant visit. I'm comfortable with how things are going.
Went to father-in-laws to pickup some stuff that wasn't there and talked pleasantly for an hour. We discussed computers, employment, screened in porches, decks and landscaping.
On the way out of his neighborhood, I observed a news van and the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol delivering a check to a winner! They really do it like they show on the commercials!! I was blown away!
Went to Kinko's for a cool copy and observed a panic over a dog dying in a window with all the windows rolled up in today's heat. The person was found, the dog saved and many people verbally chided the offender.
Picked up dry cleaning.
Dropped off Tommy's prescriptions.
Returned home for battles with Tommy.
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Went to father-in-laws to pickup some stuff that wasn't there and talked pleasantly for an hour. We discussed computers, employment, screened in porches, decks and landscaping.
On the way out of his neighborhood, I observed a news van and the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol delivering a check to a winner! They really do it like they show on the commercials!! I was blown away!
Went to Kinko's for a cool copy and observed a panic over a dog dying in a window with all the windows rolled up in today's heat. The person was found, the dog saved and many people verbally chided the offender.
Picked up dry cleaning.
Dropped off Tommy's prescriptions.
Returned home for battles with Tommy.
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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.
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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.
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Thursday, April 08, 2004
A police radar in Brussels recently stopped a car travelling at three times the speed of sound ...
The supersonic motorist was apparently let off with a warning.
In related news: Training speeders to slow down, lab rat style
A camera about 350 feet from the intersection measures speed and tells the light whether to do its business. Traffic engineers plan to give drivers a few miles per hour of wiggle room. But once speeding is detected, the red light will turn on for at least 10 seconds -- or 30 seconds-plus if cross traffic is waiting.
Thanks to BoingBoing for the link and exceptional headline!
Other related news: 1/3 of police pursuits nationwide end with the death of a bystander and 1/2 end up being shown live on cable news
One third of all high-speed police pursuits nationwide resulted in the death of an innocent bystander, according to a Harborview analysis of nine years of national statistics released Wednesday.
Thanks to Fark for the headline and link!
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Bush Ad Is "Troubling" Indeed
The President's ad recycles bogus claims, then tells only part of the story about Kerry's position on tax breaks for couples and children.
A Bush Cheney '04 ad released April 1 repeats several misleading claims that FactCheck.org has de-bunked before. It also adds something new, saying Kerry repeatedly opposed tax breaks for married couples and families -- breaks that Kerry has repeatedly and consistently said he would preserve.
This is a wonderful write-up complete with quoted sources for information to confirm the facts and links to related information. No Bush 2004!
Thank you FactCheck.org!
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Women who eat chocolate during pregnancy have happier babies. And umm...men allowed to drink beer and go to strip clubs during pregnancy make better fathers Thanks to Fark for the headline.
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Everyone loves IKEA! Classy stuff. But check this out. It's their Fartfull.
For an extra giggle, read their "care instructions".
Thanks to BoingBoing where I discovered the link!
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Amy just said "Lucy need help!" Lucy is the dog and she was put outside to "do her business." She was done and barking at the door. "someone need help" what a concept for a 22 month old!
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Wednesday, April 07, 2004
I am too bushed to think straight. My eyes are blurry from tiredness. I did accomplish several things today and that is good.
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I am trying so hard but I keep having these terrible slipups with the various family members where I let my temper show through. I feel horrible. I'm most intolerant of Tommy. One moment of unnecessary, harsh words can ruin an entire day.
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We took the horde to the dentist then to the mall for ice cream. Something ironic there. Let's clean our teeth then dive into a sugary product! The boys enjoyed the Game Board. Parents "Don't ask for anything because the answer is no" Boys in the store "ew! Ah! Can I have this? Can I buy that? Can I pay you back? This thing is free. ..."
Amy continues to shine having more than one person comment on her fantastic smarts in the dentist office.
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Amy continues to shine having more than one person comment on her fantastic smarts in the dentist office.
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Finished the b/w flyer for the zoo event. Not to my satisfaction but certainly falls under a "good enough" category. Finish the game!
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The Simpsons' HouseSo, is some film studio doing a live version of The Simpsons? Is a fan just nuts? Did some CGI dude with too much time and some awesome software go nuts rendering this? Is this a stop on some studio tour?
Special Thanks to Plaintive Peach Ponders where I discovered the link.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
Woke at 3:33. Thought that was significant and almost...almost!...got out of bed to try to get some work done. It's the only way I ever will so I have to start getting up around 3 or 4!
Woke again at 5. Then 6. Did not want to get out of bed.
Desire: Go backcountry camping.
Goals: I failed to acheive almost all my goals yesterday. Today's goals should be to accomplish yesterday's goals. MUST print some of Sarah's digital pictures (her school wants them on print so they can scan them in--stupid!). 3 eldest children have dental appointments today. I had wanted to spend this morning downtown at the City County Building and the Chamber of Commerce but I didn't get my p's and q's in order yesterday so it would be a waste of time. I'm so aggrivated with myself!
Last Night/Afternoon
Spent the latter part of the afternoon building a baby bed for Amy. She loved it! And at one point walked back to the room with the bed, laid down in it, covered herself up and went to sleep for a good couple of hours. She's such a big girl!
I had a meeting at Sarah's school to discuss their class trip. I'm going to chaperone. So far I'm the only dad. 24 boys going. I can handle that!
[The human mind is incredible. I just picked a candy sprinkle (like on a doughnut) up off the table. It's so tiny I could barely pick it up. But I was able to toss it 10 feet into the sink. I didn't see it fly or land but I heard it roll around in the sink. The toss was done effortlessly. Can you imagine the calculations that had to be going on for that to happen?]
I promised the boys a bonfire for roasting marshmellows so I instructed Tommy on how to build it then we lit it up and had a good ol' time. We roasted marshmellows, ordered pizza, had more marshmellows, got everyone bathed and to bed. I wanted some time to gather my thoughts but Cathy was bathing and Amy decided it wasn't bed time so she needed to play then slept in the crib.
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This Morning
Woke at 3:33. Thought that was significant and almost...almost!...got out of bed to try to get some work done. It's the only way I ever will so I have to start getting up around 3 or 4!
Woke again at 5. Then 6. Did not want to get out of bed.
Desire: Go backcountry camping.
Goals: I failed to acheive almost all my goals yesterday. Today's goals should be to accomplish yesterday's goals. MUST print some of Sarah's digital pictures (her school wants them on print so they can scan them in--stupid!). 3 eldest children have dental appointments today. I had wanted to spend this morning downtown at the City County Building and the Chamber of Commerce but I didn't get my p's and q's in order yesterday so it would be a waste of time. I'm so aggrivated with myself!
Last Night/Afternoon
Spent the latter part of the afternoon building a baby bed for Amy. She loved it! And at one point walked back to the room with the bed, laid down in it, covered herself up and went to sleep for a good couple of hours. She's such a big girl!
I had a meeting at Sarah's school to discuss their class trip. I'm going to chaperone. So far I'm the only dad. 24 boys going. I can handle that!
[The human mind is incredible. I just picked a candy sprinkle (like on a doughnut) up off the table. It's so tiny I could barely pick it up. But I was able to toss it 10 feet into the sink. I didn't see it fly or land but I heard it roll around in the sink. The toss was done effortlessly. Can you imagine the calculations that had to be going on for that to happen?]
I promised the boys a bonfire for roasting marshmellows so I instructed Tommy on how to build it then we lit it up and had a good ol' time. We roasted marshmellows, ordered pizza, had more marshmellows, got everyone bathed and to bed. I wanted some time to gather my thoughts but Cathy was bathing and Amy decided it wasn't bed time so she needed to play then slept in the crib.
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Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Don't tick off the neighbors
I was raised a Southerner with manors manners and taught to respect other people and other people's property.
I think that people today have s*&t for brains, are completely self-centered and absolultely have thrown MrsManor's Manner's Book of Etiquette out the window.
So I'm driving into my street. It's a cove. 7 houses. Unfortunately this causes a bunch of traffic from people thinking its a convenient turn-a-round. So, I've parked one of the cars strategically in the street so that people have to slow down and landscapers have to back up since their trailers can't make the turn.
My neighbor is having some kind of gathering and as I drive down the street returning from an errand one of their guests is preparing to leave in her convertible. She takes a final drag off her freshly lit cigarette and tosses it onto the road still burning. I ponder. I consider a reaction. I respond instead. I had moved my car to the right of the road so she could get by; I quickly move it to block her. I get out the car. Walk to the cigarette and crush it out. Pick it up. Slowly walk to the neighbor's trash can. Throw it away. And return to my car then drive past her into my driveway. I should have made and kept eye contact the whole time (my only regret). My typical response would have been to have a chat and hand the cigarette back to her but this approach felt right considering she was a friend of a likeable neighbor.
I suppose I could have waited until after she left but I like to make a point.
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I think that people today have s*&t for brains, are completely self-centered and absolultely have thrown Mrs
So I'm driving into my street. It's a cove. 7 houses. Unfortunately this causes a bunch of traffic from people thinking its a convenient turn-a-round. So, I've parked one of the cars strategically in the street so that people have to slow down and landscapers have to back up since their trailers can't make the turn.
My neighbor is having some kind of gathering and as I drive down the street returning from an errand one of their guests is preparing to leave in her convertible. She takes a final drag off her freshly lit cigarette and tosses it onto the road still burning. I ponder. I consider a reaction. I respond instead. I had moved my car to the right of the road so she could get by; I quickly move it to block her. I get out the car. Walk to the cigarette and crush it out. Pick it up. Slowly walk to the neighbor's trash can. Throw it away. And return to my car then drive past her into my driveway. I should have made and kept eye contact the whole time (my only regret). My typical response would have been to have a chat and hand the cigarette back to her but this approach felt right considering she was a friend of a likeable neighbor.
I suppose I could have waited until after she left but I like to make a point.
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Amy is up. We are in the process of putting together a bed for her and her mattress is on the floor. She is jumping on it like a trampoline. Yesterday she spent the entire day laying on it, sitting on it and playing on it. She always knows what is "hers".
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Bored? Buy a tunnel digging machine!
Thanks to terreus for pointing out this ebay auction! Eurotunnel TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) Yes you too can now drill your own tunnel large enough to run a train through!
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Noah just came in wearing two watches--almost 2nd grade appropriate. I had to de-geek him and ask him to wear only one watch. I had him remove The Simpson's watch since it talks and makes lots of noise. Noah has enough problems with talking in school without a watch to help him.
Does anyone remember synchronizing watch alarms in school? I think it was probably high school but the digital watchs had become fashionable...oh man! remember those red led numbers? (that was probably middle school)...and I clearly recall leading people to set the alarms to all go off at a certain time during class. It was like a guaranteed moment of silence and starring from the teacher.
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Does anyone remember synchronizing watch alarms in school? I think it was probably high school but the digital watchs had become fashionable...oh man! remember those red led numbers? (that was probably middle school)...and I clearly recall leading people to set the alarms to all go off at a certain time during class. It was like a guaranteed moment of silence and starring from the teacher.
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For those with mobile phones that have cameras, Phlog.net gives you a spot to send those pictures with a comment.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
Slept like the dead! Did not want to get up this morning. The kids are moving sluggishly too.
Desires: Haul the rest of the wood from the neighbor's before the fruits of my labor wander off, work on the yard with a brush burn, find the Jeep manual and work on the Jeep, get income
Today's goals: Create a new business card design, create a marketing sheet, schedule a meeting with my recruiter (light a fire or fire him--one way or another there is going to be heat), study the MS Parter site to see how I could better be using it, Tommy's psychologist appointment, meeting at Sarah's school regarding 5th grade class trip, and finances.
Last Night
Watched deleted scenes and easter eggs from Futurama Season 1 with the wife.
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This Morning
Slept like the dead! Did not want to get up this morning. The kids are moving sluggishly too.
Desires: Haul the rest of the wood from the neighbor's before the fruits of my labor wander off, work on the yard with a brush burn, find the Jeep manual and work on the Jeep, get income
Today's goals: Create a new business card design, create a marketing sheet, schedule a meeting with my recruiter (light a fire or fire him--one way or another there is going to be heat), study the MS Parter site to see how I could better be using it, Tommy's psychologist appointment, meeting at Sarah's school regarding 5th grade class trip, and finances.
Last Night
Watched deleted scenes and easter eggs from Futurama Season 1 with the wife.
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Monday, April 05, 2004
I got out and did some yard work. Small dent but progress. The area that I cleared last summer has scrub that has grown 2-4 feet since I last worked on it. Wonderful living in a rain forest! (E TN does actually have a rain forest. Many of the rain forest movies are filmed there).
Cooked hamburgers for dinner and did a fine job I might add. Couldn't have done it without the patty expertise of my wife Cathy Squarepants.
Blogging and then relaxing in bed next.
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Cooked hamburgers for dinner and did a fine job I might add. Couldn't have done it without the patty expertise of my wife Cathy Squarepants.
Blogging and then relaxing in bed next.
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Wahoo! I bought Abschlussfahrt nach England (2001) on Blogshares at 20 cents a share and its up to $162.82!
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Ambivalence
My head feels like someone's put a mixer in it and has the mixer on high speed. I want to get the trash out of the driveway but I need the Jeep running for that so I need to get the Jeep manual which I am pretty sure is buried in the garage and I need my tools which are scattered and buried in the garage and to clean the garage I need to move stuff out to the driveway but to do that I need to clean the driveway first which means I need the Jeep working....
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Amy is now trying so hard to interact with Lucy. She has the dog's "budda" but the dog doesn't want to play. Amy needs a puppy.
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Cathy has gone to get Tommy. He is being suspended for spitting on a teacher.
Amy is looking in a mirror saying "baby" and kissing the mirror with a big "muwah."
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Amy is looking in a mirror saying "baby" and kissing the mirror with a big "muwah."
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Wood splitter returned. Discussed next piece of equipment to rent. $240 for 10 hours and I need an F150 to haul it.
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I wish I could read German because according to Bogshares Barby is a hot commodity! [Barby on Blogshares]
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Amy is jolly. She is talking up a storm. Spent several minutes repeating "Mama .. nite nite." She feels good in my arms. She's getting bigger. She is laughing and enjoying life!
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Things I can't find:
- my house keys
- the bathroom caulk
- the two caulk guns
- my mind
- a job
- me
- the Haynes manual to fix the Jeep
- time
- most of my tools
- my sunglasses
- fingernail clippers (neither of the two)
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- my house keys
- the bathroom caulk
- the two caulk guns
- my mind
- a job
- me
- the Haynes manual to fix the Jeep
- time
- most of my tools
- my sunglasses
- fingernail clippers (neither of the two)
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I feel so disorganized. I had Tommy's bus driver's phone numbers written down and I never put them into an electronic form. Of course, that sticky note is long gone.
I returned from the carpool run to see the bus sitting in front on the house. Assuming that Tommy was not noticing it I ran through the house looking for him but couldn't find him. He obviously was already on the bus.
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I returned from the carpool run to see the bus sitting in front on the house. Assuming that Tommy was not noticing it I ran through the house looking for him but couldn't find him. He obviously was already on the bus.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
This ridiculous Day Light Savings time has me getting up at 5:30 but the clock says its 6:30.
This morning will be rough. I expect the afternoon to be unproductive.
The things I should be doing at this exact moment: Getting trash to the curb. Putting the wood splitter into a returnable state (fuel cut off, splitter lowered and secured, full tank of gas). Moving the trailer. Working on Visio documents.
William H. Bonney: You remember the stories John use to tell us about the the three chinamen playing Fantan? This guy runs up to them and says, "Hey, the world's coming to an end!" and the first one says, "Well, I best go to the mission and pray," and the second one says, "Well, hell, I'm gonna go and buy me a case of Mezcal and six whores," and the third one says "Well, I'm gonna finish the game." I shall finish the game, Doc.
I need to finish the game.
Other things that have to happen today: Meeting about the Zoo event. I feel like I've failed the event by not taking an active role. I've done nothing. This event was supposed to continue to grow. We made it monumental one year. I saw this growing into a two tent event and even possibly scattered throughout the zoo one day. Now I see it dying.
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This Morning
This ridiculous Day Light Savings time has me getting up at 5:30 but the clock says its 6:30.
This morning will be rough. I expect the afternoon to be unproductive.
The things I should be doing at this exact moment: Getting trash to the curb. Putting the wood splitter into a returnable state (fuel cut off, splitter lowered and secured, full tank of gas). Moving the trailer. Working on Visio documents.
William H. Bonney: You remember the stories John use to tell us about the the three chinamen playing Fantan? This guy runs up to them and says, "Hey, the world's coming to an end!" and the first one says, "Well, I best go to the mission and pray," and the second one says, "Well, hell, I'm gonna go and buy me a case of Mezcal and six whores," and the third one says "Well, I'm gonna finish the game." I shall finish the game, Doc.
I need to finish the game.
Other things that have to happen today: Meeting about the Zoo event. I feel like I've failed the event by not taking an active role. I've done nothing. This event was supposed to continue to grow. We made it monumental one year. I saw this growing into a two tent event and even possibly scattered throughout the zoo one day. Now I see it dying.
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Sunday, April 04, 2004
I'm weary mentally and physically. My wife has the doldrums and I can't help her. I made decent progress on the wood but there is so much left to do. The time spent splitting could be so useful elsewhere. For all the pine, I'm considering just getting a chipper and making mulch. What's sad is I still have another huge tree to fall. I should buy a splitter. I miss the days when you could gather 3-4 or more friends on a weekend and kill a major task.
I so wanted the yard or a portion of the yard preped for an Easter Egg hunt on Sunday. This week may have to be split 50/50 between yard and contract seeking. Well like 20 yard, 20 work, 30 childcare, 20 crisis management and 10 household and other misc.
There's a steak and a beer calling my name in the fridge.
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I so wanted the yard or a portion of the yard preped for an Easter Egg hunt on Sunday. This week may have to be split 50/50 between yard and contract seeking. Well like 20 yard, 20 work, 30 childcare, 20 crisis management and 10 household and other misc.
There's a steak and a beer calling my name in the fridge.
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I must read through The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate (Tim's suggestion) faster. I'm really just irritating my wife left and right.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
Thanks to the wife for getting up before me and helping Amy and Tommy.
Arms are starting to feel the lifting but not really in a bad way.
I forgot about Day Light Savings this morning so I thought I was doing well on time to only realize I've lost an hour. I wish they'd do away with this Day Light Savings silliness. What Am I now? GMT -6. I was GMT -5 and set the clock ahead an hour so I guess that makes it GMT -4.
In the early stages of World War II, Congress decided to return the country to Daylight Saving Time in order to conserve energy. ...
Does this really apply anymore?
I think I will start the day with breakfast, caulking the bathroom then wood splitting.
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This Morning
Thanks to the wife for getting up before me and helping Amy and Tommy.
Arms are starting to feel the lifting but not really in a bad way.
I forgot about Day Light Savings this morning so I thought I was doing well on time to only realize I've lost an hour. I wish they'd do away with this Day Light Savings silliness. What Am I now? GMT -6. I was GMT -5 and set the clock ahead an hour so I guess that makes it GMT -4.
In the early stages of World War II, Congress decided to return the country to Daylight Saving Time in order to conserve energy. ...
Does this really apply anymore?
I think I will start the day with breakfast, caulking the bathroom then wood splitting.
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Saturday, April 03, 2004
A New Day!
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This Day
Action packed!
Started the day off with cleaning the bathroom. Scrubbed the diaper pail (nasty) and the toilet (nastier).
Preped to go to Noah's soccer game and backed our station wagon into the grandparents car that they've temporarily loaned us. I was so completely pissed off with myself that I yelled at everyone, cursed, drove angrily (albeit, it was fast my family was never in danger), yelled unjustly at Tommy, then stormed away from everyone for a 15 minute walk--what I really needed was a 2 hour hike in the mountains. I used to be so together. This was inexcusable! Accidents of this type should never occur and my loss of temper was intolerable also. The grandparents car was absolutely undamaged; not even a scratch. The station wagon has a small dent that I think I can pop out and a hairline crack in the tail light. I'm sure that if I had it professionally repaired it would be between $400-800 but we won't do that. I still can't figure out what caused the dent. It lines up with the plastic taillight of the other car.
Noah's soccer game was one of the best he's ever played. And he got to be goalie! His goal tending was good, his defense on the ball and his offensive aggressive for a change! I started the long uphill battle of trying to mend things with Cathy.
After soccer we buzzed off to the mall to get the cookie for the birthday girl that would be at the Girl Scout bowling. A quick run to the house for non-mud stained jeans for Cathy.
We spent the next 3 hours at the bowling alley with deafening music blaring. There were a total of 14 of us: Tommy, Noah, Amy, Cathy and myself, 4 sorority girls, and 6 girl scouts (one being Sarah). It was chaos and Amy disappeared on us once (that was scary). The noise and lights were enough to make a stable person go mad so I fully expected a melt down from Tommy. Instead he was together and well behaved. Everyone had a blast. Amy did a bunch of solitary dancing then some dancing with me as she tried to sleep on my shoulder. At one point they played a Who cover of "Behind Blue Eyes" but its obviously not The Who so I ask the 16 year old dj "I know this isn't The Who. Who sings this?" He replies "Limp Bizkit" Then careful adds "It's called 'Behind Blue Eyes'" For a moment there I wanted to smack him on the head and say "Sonny, let me tell you sumtin about dis here song!" I'm certain that he heard the only word he heard out of the first part of my question "I know this isn't The Who" was "who".
After bowling the kids and I scrubbed the bathroom floor. Didn't get around to caulking the sink but that's not far off.
Next the kids and I split wood, lots of it! We filled the trailer with it and still have much piled, much more unsplit and all the wood in our yard. It will be a long day tomorrow. Each of the kids worked very hard. As I was trying to free the trailer from the hitch on the car (the weight of the wood fighting me), Sarah brough Amy outside and I didn't need the distraction and thought it too dangerous and after I asked nicely that she take Amy back inside and she refused I got indignant and yelled but I really wasn't in a position to have a nice little discussion about the situation. I still should not have handled it so poorly. So, after the healing from the morning I was back to having an irritated Cathy.
We took the kids to the grandparents for dinner and watched old Jimmy Stewart movies then returned home to get a fire going, blog and passout.
Despite the loss of temper and the new dent in the car it was a pretty good day.
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This Day
Action packed!
Started the day off with cleaning the bathroom. Scrubbed the diaper pail (nasty) and the toilet (nastier).
Preped to go to Noah's soccer game and backed our station wagon into the grandparents car that they've temporarily loaned us. I was so completely pissed off with myself that I yelled at everyone, cursed, drove angrily (albeit, it was fast my family was never in danger), yelled unjustly at Tommy, then stormed away from everyone for a 15 minute walk--what I really needed was a 2 hour hike in the mountains. I used to be so together. This was inexcusable! Accidents of this type should never occur and my loss of temper was intolerable also. The grandparents car was absolutely undamaged; not even a scratch. The station wagon has a small dent that I think I can pop out and a hairline crack in the tail light. I'm sure that if I had it professionally repaired it would be between $400-800 but we won't do that. I still can't figure out what caused the dent. It lines up with the plastic taillight of the other car.
Noah's soccer game was one of the best he's ever played. And he got to be goalie! His goal tending was good, his defense on the ball and his offensive aggressive for a change! I started the long uphill battle of trying to mend things with Cathy.
After soccer we buzzed off to the mall to get the cookie for the birthday girl that would be at the Girl Scout bowling. A quick run to the house for non-mud stained jeans for Cathy.
We spent the next 3 hours at the bowling alley with deafening music blaring. There were a total of 14 of us: Tommy, Noah, Amy, Cathy and myself, 4 sorority girls, and 6 girl scouts (one being Sarah). It was chaos and Amy disappeared on us once (that was scary). The noise and lights were enough to make a stable person go mad so I fully expected a melt down from Tommy. Instead he was together and well behaved. Everyone had a blast. Amy did a bunch of solitary dancing then some dancing with me as she tried to sleep on my shoulder. At one point they played a Who cover of "Behind Blue Eyes" but its obviously not The Who so I ask the 16 year old dj "I know this isn't The Who. Who sings this?" He replies "Limp Bizkit" Then careful adds "It's called 'Behind Blue Eyes'" For a moment there I wanted to smack him on the head and say "Sonny, let me tell you sumtin about dis here song!" I'm certain that he heard the only word he heard out of the first part of my question "I know this isn't The Who" was "who".
After bowling the kids and I scrubbed the bathroom floor. Didn't get around to caulking the sink but that's not far off.
Next the kids and I split wood, lots of it! We filled the trailer with it and still have much piled, much more unsplit and all the wood in our yard. It will be a long day tomorrow. Each of the kids worked very hard. As I was trying to free the trailer from the hitch on the car (the weight of the wood fighting me), Sarah brough Amy outside and I didn't need the distraction and thought it too dangerous and after I asked nicely that she take Amy back inside and she refused I got indignant and yelled but I really wasn't in a position to have a nice little discussion about the situation. I still should not have handled it so poorly. So, after the healing from the morning I was back to having an irritated Cathy.
We took the kids to the grandparents for dinner and watched old Jimmy Stewart movies then returned home to get a fire going, blog and passout.
Despite the loss of temper and the new dent in the car it was a pretty good day.
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Friday, April 02, 2004
The place I rented the wood splitter from was giving away free cokes and free dry roasted peanuts. So, I had a craving for more peanuts and invited the family on a date to the Texas Roadhouse where we could have steaks and, yes, more dry roasted peanuts. Except for the terribly long wait and the stoned waiters and waitresses, the evening was much fun.
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Amy went into the bathroom, climbed into the tub, pointed at the knobs and said "fix it!" I couldn't say no to the sweetness and so she got a bath.
Later I was on the phone to Air Quality control (burn permit), Environmental Safety (mosquitoe control for the neighborhood), the party company regarding our may event and the middle school principal and gym coach regarding Tommy's hostile environment.
I got a haircut, dropped by Office Depot to pickup Cathy's copies, dropped by the bowling alley to confirm the girlscout event tomorrow, went to the Gateway store to see if the closing had any good specials on--no such luck, went to Home Depot, then the bank, then the rental company.
Finally I returned home to start splitting an impossible amount of wood for a single person to handle.
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Later I was on the phone to Air Quality control (burn permit), Environmental Safety (mosquitoe control for the neighborhood), the party company regarding our may event and the middle school principal and gym coach regarding Tommy's hostile environment.
I got a haircut, dropped by Office Depot to pickup Cathy's copies, dropped by the bowling alley to confirm the girlscout event tomorrow, went to the Gateway store to see if the closing had any good specials on--no such luck, went to Home Depot, then the bank, then the rental company.
Finally I returned home to start splitting an impossible amount of wood for a single person to handle.
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Amy just poured Gatorade all over my pants and cried when I quickly moved her to the floor to clean the mess. I suppose I over reacted and could have handled her more gently.
Now she cries because her baby doll doesn't fit in a box she's aquired. Oh. All better. She made it work.
She is playing happily with her doll. Some of her cutest words for me are when she says "Uh oOH!"
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Now she cries because her baby doll doesn't fit in a box she's aquired. Oh. All better. She made it work.
She is playing happily with her doll. Some of her cutest words for me are when she says "Uh oOH!"
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Amy just heard a helicopter fly over our house and tracked the sound with her head and said "ar plane?" And now stood in my lap and turned the lightswitch off then on observing the light turn dark then bright, laughed in satisfaction and said "I did it!"
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Amy is having a hard time deciding if she woke up on the good size or the bad size of the bed. Very impatient this morning. Still adorable!
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A New Day!
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This Morning
I slept very well. Had vivid dreams. The memorable ones were of Cathy and I working together on something and letting Noah use a sailboat to get all over either Tennessee or perhaps the whole United States. We used a GPS to track where he was and I was happy he was "getting to do things I couldn't."
For some inexplicable reason, I woke at 2:55 as I do many mornings. I almost got up to do creative writing on the blogs. I felt like I had a couple of hours to spare and that I have a couple of hours of writing I want to do. Instead I returned to sleep and woke again at 5 then hung out inbetween waking and sleeping in a semiconscious state and spent an hour telling myself to get out of bed.
Noah, the morning person, got himself up at 6am and as I was getting dressed came to check on me and make sure I was awake. He is such a great child!
Worked on Cathy's printer. Gave Tommy his medicine at 6:20 and am now enjoying the writing.
Today's goals: Get a haircut at 11:30 then rent a log splitter. Time permitting replace the starter in the Jeep. The afternoon is to be spent cutting wood. Saturday day is girlscout bowling and something else then Saturday afternoon and evening splitting wood. And all day Sunday is to be spent splitting wood. Then the rest of the week Tommy can help me stack it. A 2nd strong adult would really be helpful this weekend.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I slept very well. Had vivid dreams. The memorable ones were of Cathy and I working together on something and letting Noah use a sailboat to get all over either Tennessee or perhaps the whole United States. We used a GPS to track where he was and I was happy he was "getting to do things I couldn't."
For some inexplicable reason, I woke at 2:55 as I do many mornings. I almost got up to do creative writing on the blogs. I felt like I had a couple of hours to spare and that I have a couple of hours of writing I want to do. Instead I returned to sleep and woke again at 5 then hung out inbetween waking and sleeping in a semiconscious state and spent an hour telling myself to get out of bed.
Noah, the morning person, got himself up at 6am and as I was getting dressed came to check on me and make sure I was awake. He is such a great child!
Worked on Cathy's printer. Gave Tommy his medicine at 6:20 and am now enjoying the writing.
Today's goals: Get a haircut at 11:30 then rent a log splitter. Time permitting replace the starter in the Jeep. The afternoon is to be spent cutting wood. Saturday day is girlscout bowling and something else then Saturday afternoon and evening splitting wood. And all day Sunday is to be spent splitting wood. Then the rest of the week Tommy can help me stack it. A 2nd strong adult would really be helpful this weekend.
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Thursday, April 01, 2004
Catchup time. I could spend the next several hours just typing my thoughts.
Cathy and I did some banking (that felt good!) It's not nearly enough and there is no more in sight at the moment but it felt good to make a deposit and know that some bills will be paid.
Next I pick Tommy up from school and he stank. He obviously didn't wear deoderant today and had the smell teenager in full effect. So on the way to Star I stopped to get Tommy a drink and deoderant which was a good choice. He rode at Star but was rude, argumentative, and at one point dangerous. They could have kicked him out on the spot but was given a firm warning. I want him to get his act together. He could go very far with Star and I think he enjoys it. On the ride to Star Tommy informed me of more abuse in gym class; granted, he may have asked for it but I put a call into the school to see what will happen.
We went from Star to IHOP and had breakfast for dinner. I enjoy taking my family out to eat. And they were relatively well behaved.
Returned home and played on the computer but now must pass out.
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Cathy and I did some banking (that felt good!) It's not nearly enough and there is no more in sight at the moment but it felt good to make a deposit and know that some bills will be paid.
Next I pick Tommy up from school and he stank. He obviously didn't wear deoderant today and had the smell teenager in full effect. So on the way to Star I stopped to get Tommy a drink and deoderant which was a good choice. He rode at Star but was rude, argumentative, and at one point dangerous. They could have kicked him out on the spot but was given a firm warning. I want him to get his act together. He could go very far with Star and I think he enjoys it. On the ride to Star Tommy informed me of more abuse in gym class; granted, he may have asked for it but I put a call into the school to see what will happen.
We went from Star to IHOP and had breakfast for dinner. I enjoy taking my family out to eat. And they were relatively well behaved.
Returned home and played on the computer but now must pass out.
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First off, I want to say that I'm listing this for 2 reasons. 1) the video foot is astounding and 2) MSNBC's user interface is a very smart way to force viewing of commercials in order to see the video.
Drunken redneck crashes truck into gas pump and caues explosion. Luckily, it was caught on security cameras (with video) (thanks Fark for the headline)
A surveillance videotape shows a truck slamming into a gas pump outside a convenience store. The driver then drove away as the pump exploded.
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Looks like Google is hiring: Google Copernicus Center is hiring I'd be a little nervous about relocating the kids there though.
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Currently weighing heavy on mind: desire to continue working on the house wiring (network and electrical) and desire to buy/built/network several more computers (kids, house ai, ms biz server 2003, new workstation for wife, new workstation for me, cfmx server, t-1 connected web server connected to another ms sql server securely behind a 2nd ethernet card and its own lan, a lan for the kids controlled by a custom linux firewall, a box for a firewall between house and t-1 [see webserver above])
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Sarah immediately calls it out. "Uh, is this someone's April Fools joke? I thought my cereal looked wierd."
Sarah says "I know another" and that she woke up in the middle of the night wondering where she was and went back to her room.
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Sarah says "I know another" and that she woke up in the middle of the night wondering where she was and went back to her room.
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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
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
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