ALEX: BAM!
ZOE: Hey, you just bammed my chicken!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Time Displacement Therapy
This is what I'm calling my four day weekend. Yeah, this will be the third four day weekend off, but here's my very good reason. Production has been down for almost a month now, so when they resume production, they have promised no less than 58 hours a week, possibly more if they don't get what they need. Its the end of the quarter and the fiscal year in April, so they'll likely work me to death in about a week here. So I'm just taking whatever rest I can now to make up for the lack of life I will have in the future.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Growing Up
It was raining that day, I remember.
One tends to notice cooler days because when you live in a tropical island, they are few and far between. There might have been thunder, and the memory of the incandescent bulbs filling in the dark gaps not reached by the cloudy skies is vivid.
I was responding to a statement my mom had made, I said, "I'm never going to leave you, even when I get older." Or some variation of that. It was a confession of affection in a household that didn't say, "I love you" or offered hugs. It was made by a boy who was young, had no other major contact with the outside world, and who never thought much about the future.
My kids are young, much younger even than I was in that story, and their spirit of independence is strong. Zoe has told us that she'll let us visit her house when she grows up. Alex has mentioned to both of us that he wasn't afraid of us.
As much as I want them to be more independent on stressful days, I do dread the day whereby they will be convinced that not only do they not need me anymore - but also that I will no longer be useful in their lives. That I'm the thing that's holding them back, cramping their style and limiting their potential.
That's far away, and there's a lot I can do between now and then. Meanwhile i'll just have to figure out how to convince my Mom that we're never going to leave her, even when she grows up.
One tends to notice cooler days because when you live in a tropical island, they are few and far between. There might have been thunder, and the memory of the incandescent bulbs filling in the dark gaps not reached by the cloudy skies is vivid.
I was responding to a statement my mom had made, I said, "I'm never going to leave you, even when I get older." Or some variation of that. It was a confession of affection in a household that didn't say, "I love you" or offered hugs. It was made by a boy who was young, had no other major contact with the outside world, and who never thought much about the future.
My kids are young, much younger even than I was in that story, and their spirit of independence is strong. Zoe has told us that she'll let us visit her house when she grows up. Alex has mentioned to both of us that he wasn't afraid of us.
As much as I want them to be more independent on stressful days, I do dread the day whereby they will be convinced that not only do they not need me anymore - but also that I will no longer be useful in their lives. That I'm the thing that's holding them back, cramping their style and limiting their potential.
That's far away, and there's a lot I can do between now and then. Meanwhile i'll just have to figure out how to convince my Mom that we're never going to leave her, even when she grows up.
A Wife Post
Walking through the halls today
A heavy fragrances lingers
Is it a ghost or maybe a flower
No just another human being trying to smell pretty for others
I laugh today because I know the frisbee season is saved
Little boys have to give up part of bath time
He is told that if he spits he doesn't get a bath
Little girl is still A bossy girl
But all is well and will be well
Waiting for my husband to buy me a stick
Fragrances still linger in the hall
Is it flowers or just another human being
Soon it will be time to go off for the day
Leaving the t.v. on to keep strangers away
We will frolic and we will play
But there are no real flowers today
Just someone trying to smell pretty for others
Trying to make my asthma flare up
I will go out and breathe some other time
I will frolic and play with a little girl
We will have fun and enjoy each other
Perhaps we will see flowers at the store
But spring has not arrived
It will be saved by a little boy
But there are no real flowers to smell today
There are no real flowers
A heavy fragrances lingers
Is it a ghost or maybe a flower
No just another human being trying to smell pretty for others
I laugh today because I know the frisbee season is saved
Little boys have to give up part of bath time
He is told that if he spits he doesn't get a bath
Little girl is still A bossy girl
But all is well and will be well
Waiting for my husband to buy me a stick
Fragrances still linger in the hall
Is it flowers or just another human being
Soon it will be time to go off for the day
Leaving the t.v. on to keep strangers away
We will frolic and we will play
But there are no real flowers today
Just someone trying to smell pretty for others
Trying to make my asthma flare up
I will go out and breathe some other time
I will frolic and play with a little girl
We will have fun and enjoy each other
Perhaps we will see flowers at the store
But spring has not arrived
It will be saved by a little boy
But there are no real flowers to smell today
There are no real flowers
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A Phone Call
My wife called me on the sidekick today and I couldn't figure out how to answer the darn thing. I have been using it as a data and email device, and it was almost novel that it could also be used as a telephone device. I did eventually figure it out, but it hurt like hell when I had to pull it out.
Audio podcasts have been a huge thing for me lately, and one of my new discoveries is "A Prairie Home Companion: News from lake Wobegon." It is available from iTunes as a podcast for free, and I highly recommend it. Essentially, it's a series of stories, humorous and tragic, fleeting and insightful, about the fictitious characters from Lake Wobegon and their secret lives. The podcasts have been responsible for me getting a lot of queried looks from co-workers, because I just enjoy the stories so much.
A string of burglaries have hit this neighborhood in the past week, 7 homes broken into through their windows, sliding glass doors and front doors. It comes from a relatively reliable source, one of our neighbors is a cop. Anyhow, judging from the details, it seems like it could been kids doing it for thrills, since it isn't terribly organized and don't go for computers or electronics. This gets me very paranoid, so we went to Home Depot to look for implements of sorts. We found some window stoppers but I don't know if they'll do much. Perhaps banana peels and thumbtacks are a better way to go.
Audio podcasts have been a huge thing for me lately, and one of my new discoveries is "A Prairie Home Companion: News from lake Wobegon." It is available from iTunes as a podcast for free, and I highly recommend it. Essentially, it's a series of stories, humorous and tragic, fleeting and insightful, about the fictitious characters from Lake Wobegon and their secret lives. The podcasts have been responsible for me getting a lot of queried looks from co-workers, because I just enjoy the stories so much.
A string of burglaries have hit this neighborhood in the past week, 7 homes broken into through their windows, sliding glass doors and front doors. It comes from a relatively reliable source, one of our neighbors is a cop. Anyhow, judging from the details, it seems like it could been kids doing it for thrills, since it isn't terribly organized and don't go for computers or electronics. This gets me very paranoid, so we went to Home Depot to look for implements of sorts. We found some window stoppers but I don't know if they'll do much. Perhaps banana peels and thumbtacks are a better way to go.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Wonder
I wonder who they will grow up to be?
Will he become a Ninja, like he's always aspiring to emulate? I would think not having a drop of Japanese blood in him would be a factor during the candidancy process, but perhaps he becomes the exception? And what would a modern day Ninja do anyhow, other than hosting podcasts or appearing as sight gags in commercials?
Will she become a princess, even though she is a descendent of peasants and common folk, and her Dad's only claim to regalty is that he sometimes eat at Diary Queen, and he doesn't even order the Ultimate Meal Deal? She could marry into it I suppose, and then I wonder if she'd be the kind of princess who would bring peace to her kingdom, or the kind of who'd own 30,000 shoes in her closet, not counting the open-toe varieties?
Will they grow up to be patient, compassionate, wise, and loving? Will they wipe their bottoms from the side, or like the freakishly small percentage who do it between their legs? Will they be liberal conversatives, or coversative liberals?
Will Zoe know that you can't take off your pants while running, or will Alex realize that self-regulation is the answer to his self-preservation? Will Alex learn that bruises don't smell like anything different, and Zoe learn that dinnertime usually lasts no more than an hour, tops?
Maybe.
Will he become a Ninja, like he's always aspiring to emulate? I would think not having a drop of Japanese blood in him would be a factor during the candidancy process, but perhaps he becomes the exception? And what would a modern day Ninja do anyhow, other than hosting podcasts or appearing as sight gags in commercials?
Will she become a princess, even though she is a descendent of peasants and common folk, and her Dad's only claim to regalty is that he sometimes eat at Diary Queen, and he doesn't even order the Ultimate Meal Deal? She could marry into it I suppose, and then I wonder if she'd be the kind of princess who would bring peace to her kingdom, or the kind of who'd own 30,000 shoes in her closet, not counting the open-toe varieties?
Will they grow up to be patient, compassionate, wise, and loving? Will they wipe their bottoms from the side, or like the freakishly small percentage who do it between their legs? Will they be liberal conversatives, or coversative liberals?
Will Zoe know that you can't take off your pants while running, or will Alex realize that self-regulation is the answer to his self-preservation? Will Alex learn that bruises don't smell like anything different, and Zoe learn that dinnertime usually lasts no more than an hour, tops?
Maybe.
Privacy
Anyone who reads this blog knows that I tend to be more than forthcoming regarding my personal life. But I can't help but wonder, before a batch uploading of photos to flickr - am I simply sharing too damn much? Should I be making more of these photos private? What could happen, other than fraud, identity theft, or maybe my very own stalker?
Of course, it wouldn't be like a normal stalker - it'll be the weird
obese comb-over snaggled tooth freak who thinks nerdy Chinese guys with glasses should have body parts in their purty mouths.
Oh, microwave dinged. Its dinnertime.
Bathroom Antics 1
I have to pull Alex into the public bathroom when I go, because he can't hang out there by himself. Therefore, I have to keep him busy while I'm rotating the stock. So the camera on my Sidekick got him into an impromptu photo shoot.
Chinese food
Blogging on the go is certainly a welcome addition to my bag of tricks, but I'm still working the spotty formatting that comes with the territory. What looks fine on the phone has some dubious line breaks and that means I have to get back into blogger, eliminate all the "br" html from the page, and then republish it. Not difficult by any means, but a hassle nonetheless. So for now i'll be emailing myself the post, and just plugging it up on blogger when I get to a computer. I could always write directly to blogger, but then anxiety causes my brain to freeze up and i'll have nothing to write about.
One of the things that my Mum enjoys is to watch the kids, especially Alex, eat Dim Sum. So we went again today, and the boy was trying to eat his equivalent in weight. Everything that was put on his plate was devoured with precision and gusto. I tried not to let my hand linger too long over his plate in fear that it might get eaten too. The boy had three baos and an assorted of Siew Mai, Har Gow, and other assorted goodies. As always, by the end of the meal I turned into the human recycling project, eatiing all the leftovers that others couldn't or wouldn't finish. Leftover Dim Sum is not any good, so I might as well just eat the damned things.
But Alex would maneuver his chopsticks patiently, squeezing the two sticks with enough pressure to get the food in his mouth. And then he was in his own world, chewing on the food and just enjoying the bountiful tastes dancing on his tongue.
He doesn't quite believe he's Chinese, but he did choose a dragon t-shirt today because he knew he was going to have "china food". He knows that grandma and Daddy are Chinese, but he has a different idea about what it would take to make him Chinese. Zoe also did well, perhaps their appetite in the morning is a little stronger and more adventurous, who knows.
Well, the tough part of planning for our road trip to San Fran is done. I got a room through hotwire and so now, the vehicle and lodging accomodations are done. Now we just have to worry about time management, what to see in the city, and how much advil and dramamine to pack. I've got some pretty good ideas, but now with my sidekick's internet accessibility coupled with my GPS, I'm practically unstoppable.
I welcome and dread the return to work tomorrow. Earning money is a good thing, but I just wish there was actually something to do at work. But it certainly is the end of me taking extra days off. I've already burned through half my PTO so far.
Alex is like the terminator of trouble. He scans the room, looks for the thing he's not supposed to do the most, and gets to it. Was I ever this cheeky? I think later on in my childhood, maybe.
Nice, he just kicked me in the neck. Paralysis will soon follow.
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