I promised my son last night that we'd try to go to a playground or something today, since the weather really has been restrictive to what they can do for activities. They play at home, sure, and they climb over everything - but I thought it would be nice to take them somewhere where they could run around and be monkeys. I guess I still kinda owe him that because we went to Chuck E. Cheese instead.
I considered it because it was in the Entertainment book, and that book is like one of those things that make you feel guilty if you don't use it. Like "oh, I could've saved money if I used this book, but since I didn't, I'm going to hell broke." So it was a toss up because the Everett Children's Museum (not really a museum, mind you. More like an indoor playground.) or Chuck E. Cheese. And since the kids and I haven't been to one ever (my wife did a long time ago), we decided to give it a shot.
Well, there's about a 5% playground element in there, not really enough to qualify as a place for kids to run around. It was pretty swamped with kids and parents, all running from ride to ride, game to game. I think it was a bit of a sensory overload for the kids, because of all the noise and lights and buttons and other kids. But we got a pretty good coupon, and they got a lot out of the rides, and us parents got a little something too.
I made the mistake of delaying our lunch for 2 hours, and that place is not really worth 2 hours of fun. Honestly, like an hour would be a lot, but you know kids. They like their fun. We had to deny Alex actually meeting Chuck, or whatever the rat's name is, because he was doing his gig for the birthday party, and Alex wasn't part of the party. So he cried - until I let him drive on a wave rider video game. That pretty much distracted him.
But we think the kids had fun anyway.
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One of my passive tasks have been uploading my collection of photos to Imagestation - I have this fear that one day my hardware would just fail and I'd lose all the photos I've taken - just like that. I think honestly this idea came up when we were considering moving to Hawaii - if a Tsunami or a flood wiped out our home there, all the photos would be gone. So I had to upload them somewhere online just in case. I ultimately decided on Imagestation because it was free (4 bucks a year if I needed the original resolution), there was no goofy ass limit on storage or bandwidth, and it belongs to a company that would be around for a while. Flickr gets spendy, Twango has limits on bandwidth, and dotphoto's downloading can be a pain. I have about four gigs online now, but I have about... Gosh, at least 20-25 gigs of photos? A lot.
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So I was looking up postings for jobs, and decided to apply for a job in insurance, because I felt like my soul needed to be compromised, and I was asked on the online questionaire: Do you have a valid license? Yes. Then it asked for my license number, and when I looked it up I found out something strange. That date on the license that seemed so far away had come and gone. My license had expired since my last birthday, so I've been driving around illegally for the past four months. So in addition to not being able to apply for that job, now I have to go get my license renewed on Tuesday, 'cause on Mondays the DMV have their weekly animal sacrifices. Can't imagine if I got pulled over though. The fine would've hurt.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
The First Visit to the Dentist
Even though today wasn't exactly a family outing day, it kinda turned out that way anyway. We had eye appointments early in the morning so we left the kids with my mom while we went for our exams. My eyesight's about the same, though he told me I had a big optic nerve - .7 it was. He'd like to see .3 for my age group, and for comparison, .10 was batty blind. So, that wasn't great news, but he wanted to me to keep track of it. So I am.
We decided to get the kids before going to Lenscrafters, but we had to leave Lenscrafters for their very first dental appointment! Knowing that if one kid saw the other in the chair first would not bode well, Alex went first, and I guess that he was really good about the visit. They even got to clean, x-ray, and get flouride treatments. Zoe got a little frightened, and she was apprehensive anyway, but I think it's just too many strange things for her. She was really cute because she was maintaining a rather civil but frightened attitude. The hygienist would ask her if she wanted the different flavors and she went from saying, "Yes." to "No." Her sad little "no"s were close to tears, but she didn't cry. She didn't get too awfully far into the checkup, and when it came time for Alex again, I don't think he was ready for it. He put up a little resistance by saying, "I'm tired, Mommy. Sorrrrrry." But overall he got through it fine.
We finished up at Lenscrafters after that, and I was officially cranky from that point on. Glasses for the both of us was $753 out of pocket. Once the reimbursement processes I'm sure it'll be a little cheaper, but man - nothing like spending a lot of money that makes me cranky as hell. This is why I don't seek healthcare. I'm not even sure if I'm that excited about the frames. I wasn't very sold on the ones I got, but my wife said they looked good, and the girl said they looked good. Afterward we found out we both liked the other better. Oh well. At least I won't have "birth-control glasses" anymore. It'll be more like, "maybe he can walk my dog for free glasses."
The rest of the day was pretty normal. My wife and I like to play this game whereby we put the kids in the wrong beds, and treat them like they were each other, tucking them in, and then pausing - and then going, "Hey! You're not Alex! Hey! You're not Zoe!" And man, they get a kick out of that. We've also been singing the wrong words to songs and Alex and Zoe gets a kick out of hearing that Old McDonald had a dinosaur. They attempt to correct their silly parents but since we're so silly, it doesn't stick.
We also watched "Idiocracy" on DVD. This Mike Judge film got buried during its theatrical release because it satirizes some big corporations without changing their names. It was a pretty good film. Not Office Space good, but better than Talledega Nights, for lack of a more appropriate comparison.
We decided to get the kids before going to Lenscrafters, but we had to leave Lenscrafters for their very first dental appointment! Knowing that if one kid saw the other in the chair first would not bode well, Alex went first, and I guess that he was really good about the visit. They even got to clean, x-ray, and get flouride treatments. Zoe got a little frightened, and she was apprehensive anyway, but I think it's just too many strange things for her. She was really cute because she was maintaining a rather civil but frightened attitude. The hygienist would ask her if she wanted the different flavors and she went from saying, "Yes." to "No." Her sad little "no"s were close to tears, but she didn't cry. She didn't get too awfully far into the checkup, and when it came time for Alex again, I don't think he was ready for it. He put up a little resistance by saying, "I'm tired, Mommy. Sorrrrrry." But overall he got through it fine.
We finished up at Lenscrafters after that, and I was officially cranky from that point on. Glasses for the both of us was $753 out of pocket. Once the reimbursement processes I'm sure it'll be a little cheaper, but man - nothing like spending a lot of money that makes me cranky as hell. This is why I don't seek healthcare. I'm not even sure if I'm that excited about the frames. I wasn't very sold on the ones I got, but my wife said they looked good, and the girl said they looked good. Afterward we found out we both liked the other better. Oh well. At least I won't have "birth-control glasses" anymore. It'll be more like, "maybe he can walk my dog for free glasses."
The rest of the day was pretty normal. My wife and I like to play this game whereby we put the kids in the wrong beds, and treat them like they were each other, tucking them in, and then pausing - and then going, "Hey! You're not Alex! Hey! You're not Zoe!" And man, they get a kick out of that. We've also been singing the wrong words to songs and Alex and Zoe gets a kick out of hearing that Old McDonald had a dinosaur. They attempt to correct their silly parents but since we're so silly, it doesn't stick.
We also watched "Idiocracy" on DVD. This Mike Judge film got buried during its theatrical release because it satirizes some big corporations without changing their names. It was a pretty good film. Not Office Space good, but better than Talledega Nights, for lack of a more appropriate comparison.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
My Cyborg Wife
My wife had to wear this all day yesterday because they were monitoring her blood pressure, so she wore it to work, and then to sleep at night - which was pretty funny. It's basically that blood pressure wrap you put around your arm and it's hooked up to a computer/battery pack, and every hour it would just start up and inflate around her arm and take readings. I told her that I had a cool sexy cyborg wife now, but I don't think she took me that seriously.
Anyway, I was talking to my wife in the dark in bed last night, and we were dozing off, and the thing came on and jolted her, having startled the living doodie out of her. I couldn't stop laughing. I did for a while, and then I laughed some more at her expense.
It sure is fun to have a cyborg wife. We had to return the pack today, but the memories will live in infamy, thanks to this photo and the blog.
Hawaii Cools, Redmond Snows
As any hot idea goes, it always goes through a cooling period and it seems that this Hawaii thing is cooling down quite a bit. I guess it started when my wife suddenly got very worried about not being to see her mother and her two grown daughters for long stretches of time. I mean, it's not like we see them much now, but it doesn't take 2 grand and a week off to do that. I was also quite concerned that my mom won't get any assistance if she needed it. She claims she can take the bus or taxi to her appointments, but I know it's not going to be easy. On top of that, lurking through some of the Hawaii related forums have been a little too informative. Some native Hawaiians tend to have a rather strong feeling against Haoles who come from the mainland and compete for jobs, and turn their homeland into a commercialized tourist hole. I might sympathize with their concerns, but some of their prejudices run pretty deep, and much more so in the school system. Google "Kill Haole Day" and you'll just get more than one account of how deep rooted the disdain can be. Now granted this may be a harmless tradition that doesn't usually end in death, there are accounts of beatings and whatnot, and it's not uncommon from what it sounds like. I do not like to entertain the idea of having my son, whose skin color would be a giveaway, get lynched and having the institution blow it off as nothing more than a tradition.
I know, what I'm reading may very well be far from the truth. The mainlanders and Cauasian community may have factions saying Hawaii's racist, and a faction from the Hawaiian community saying it's not - but you know, it sounds very much like the kind of stuff we're trying to move away from. We have racism everywhere, true, I got my fair share to racism in high school, but I knew at least if I went to the school about it, there would be action taken. I dunno. Racism anywhere can be a sour note for me, and though I can't stop it from happening to the kids, I can avoid the obvious circumstances.
Anway, what we've decided is sort of a consolation prize of sorts. We think we'll plan to go on the trip in December, and if we decide we'd like to hang out a little more, we'll move there temporarily for six months, and then come back to Washington or somewhere else and find a house to move into, a neighborhood for the kids. I figured since Dansen went to Japan for a year (and then returned, and then went back to Japan), and so did Trench and Syrinx, we could do it too, and then chalk it up to a life experience. We'd have a six month lease in a furnished apartment, work, and just enjoy the new environment. Sounds like a safe plan.
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It decided to snow in Redmond again, blanketing the neighborhood all over again. The forecast is saying that it'll melt away in the next few days, when the temps go back up to the 40s. We'll see. I'll try to post some snow pics and whatnot.
I know, what I'm reading may very well be far from the truth. The mainlanders and Cauasian community may have factions saying Hawaii's racist, and a faction from the Hawaiian community saying it's not - but you know, it sounds very much like the kind of stuff we're trying to move away from. We have racism everywhere, true, I got my fair share to racism in high school, but I knew at least if I went to the school about it, there would be action taken. I dunno. Racism anywhere can be a sour note for me, and though I can't stop it from happening to the kids, I can avoid the obvious circumstances.
Anway, what we've decided is sort of a consolation prize of sorts. We think we'll plan to go on the trip in December, and if we decide we'd like to hang out a little more, we'll move there temporarily for six months, and then come back to Washington or somewhere else and find a house to move into, a neighborhood for the kids. I figured since Dansen went to Japan for a year (and then returned, and then went back to Japan), and so did Trench and Syrinx, we could do it too, and then chalk it up to a life experience. We'd have a six month lease in a furnished apartment, work, and just enjoy the new environment. Sounds like a safe plan.
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It decided to snow in Redmond again, blanketing the neighborhood all over again. The forecast is saying that it'll melt away in the next few days, when the temps go back up to the 40s. We'll see. I'll try to post some snow pics and whatnot.
Doctor Day
Well, it's been about 2 hours waiting here at the doctor's office while my Mom is getting a cortisone injection for her shoulder, and even though I have an hour of power left on the laptop, I'm more or less ready to get going. I didn't have time to get breakfast, so I'm just starving right now. Furthermore, the waiting room of this office has some pretty hot sun coming in from the windows, so the back of my head, I'm sure, is much darker than the front of my head. I've taken to sitting on the ground to avoid some of the sun, but even so, I'm still baking.
Watched a handful of podcasts, but most of them are still on the hard drive at home, so I did what I could muster. Then I looked at some of the photos and tried to organize them, but I got bored. Then I tried spell-checking my American Babies archives, and man, I can be a terrible speller at times. I also found it disturbing that I use the phrase, "Hee hee" a lot of times. Too often for my tastes. I also make up a handful of words that sound conversation, like:
Didja
Gonna
Lemme
kinda
indeedy
And a lot of other words, except adding the "y" at the end or "iness". Making a whole new language, I am.
Well, looks like I have to relocate again. My head's overheating. Maybe I'll just look at the sun and get the other side tanned.
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It's been half an hour and the nurse just said that it would be another half hour, making it a nice 3 and a half hours. Whee. I have a dental appointment at 2pm, so if she's not ready in half an hour, I'll have to leave her here and take off for the dental appointment. We'll see.
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My dental appointment went pretty well, considering I was anxious about the whole experience and I told the dentist that I was pretty much the biggest chicken this side of the coop. They were pretty nice about the whole thing - enough babying to let me know that I was in good hands, but not so much that they weren't going to get any work done. I guess from the preliminary visit, I've got two decaying wisdom teeth that need to come out (that's why I haven't formed a logical thought for ages - my wisdom's rotting away!), and I have to get each quardrant of my mouth deep cleaned, which would be a hundred thirty each visit, with laughing gas! They said I would just feel pain, except I just wouldn't care much about it.
So this Thursday are the kids first dental visit, and we'll see how that flies.
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The appointment took an hour and a half, and by the time I went back for my mom, it was 3 something, almost 4 in the afternoon. And this is from a 10:15 am appointment... I guess she didn't even get that cortisone injection, and on top of that, she actually got sick (from something else) and didn't feel very good at all. We didn't get home till 4 something, so my whole day was pretty much just doctor's visits.
Watched a handful of podcasts, but most of them are still on the hard drive at home, so I did what I could muster. Then I looked at some of the photos and tried to organize them, but I got bored. Then I tried spell-checking my American Babies archives, and man, I can be a terrible speller at times. I also found it disturbing that I use the phrase, "Hee hee" a lot of times. Too often for my tastes. I also make up a handful of words that sound conversation, like:
Didja
Gonna
Lemme
kinda
indeedy
And a lot of other words, except adding the "y" at the end or "iness". Making a whole new language, I am.
Well, looks like I have to relocate again. My head's overheating. Maybe I'll just look at the sun and get the other side tanned.
--------
It's been half an hour and the nurse just said that it would be another half hour, making it a nice 3 and a half hours. Whee. I have a dental appointment at 2pm, so if she's not ready in half an hour, I'll have to leave her here and take off for the dental appointment. We'll see.
--------
My dental appointment went pretty well, considering I was anxious about the whole experience and I told the dentist that I was pretty much the biggest chicken this side of the coop. They were pretty nice about the whole thing - enough babying to let me know that I was in good hands, but not so much that they weren't going to get any work done. I guess from the preliminary visit, I've got two decaying wisdom teeth that need to come out (that's why I haven't formed a logical thought for ages - my wisdom's rotting away!), and I have to get each quardrant of my mouth deep cleaned, which would be a hundred thirty each visit, with laughing gas! They said I would just feel pain, except I just wouldn't care much about it.
So this Thursday are the kids first dental visit, and we'll see how that flies.
--------
The appointment took an hour and a half, and by the time I went back for my mom, it was 3 something, almost 4 in the afternoon. And this is from a 10:15 am appointment... I guess she didn't even get that cortisone injection, and on top of that, she actually got sick (from something else) and didn't feel very good at all. We didn't get home till 4 something, so my whole day was pretty much just doctor's visits.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
If It's So Wrong, Why Am I Enjoying It So Much?
Just read about this.
These photos are hilarious.
The pool at Flickr is the act of showing someone a picture of the Goatse, and then getting their reaction on camera.
I found out about it because at the San Francisco Mac store, during Macworld, some hackers put it on a bunch of desktops.
PS. Definitely not work safe. Or home safe. Actually, just see this when you're by yourself, or ready to take a photo of someone seeing it.
These photos are hilarious.
The pool at Flickr is the act of showing someone a picture of the Goatse, and then getting their reaction on camera.
I found out about it because at the San Francisco Mac store, during Macworld, some hackers put it on a bunch of desktops.
PS. Definitely not work safe. Or home safe. Actually, just see this when you're by yourself, or ready to take a photo of someone seeing it.
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