The Multimedia Okra

2011-12-16T21:42:00.000-06:00

I saw the Jefferson Memorial arrest video and was flabbergasted. But you know, the Park Service press release seems pretty reasonable. http://www.nps.gov/news/release.htm?id=1162

CDs

2011-07-31T07:17:00.000-05:00

Just packed away every CD I own. I have jewel cases but no disc for The Cure Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Eddie Coker Wow, and Modest Mouse Good News... For five years I thought I was missing Paul Anka Rock Swings but he was in the Modest Mouse case. This means I hadn't opened the MM in 5 years.

I had this project 2/3rds complete about 4 years ago, but that drive crashed.

But honestly, I haven't opened most of my CDs in a long time. When I do have time to listen to musak, it is via Sirius Radio or Grooveshark or a smattering of MP3s.

Why I feel like an episode of Hoarders

2011-07-16T11:56:00.003-05:00

It is a pain to move. It is a pain to put everything in storage because the new place is smaller than the old place. It is a pain move bit-by-bit in a Ford Ranger.

But most of all, it is a pain to realize you are just a step away from an episode of Hoarders.

PICTURED: a toy cannon I bought when I was 6, a pewter rattlesnake on an Inner Space Cavern rock, an employee of the month award from Stream/MSN, a Krew of Tucks Friar doll/throw, a wooden yo-yo, a life-sized resin monkey skull, a wind-up Mickey Mouse, an OFFICIAL Lionel Train watch, a dollar-store watch the Cub Scouts gave me to thank me for my time, and TWO souvenir Star Wars watches that probably came in a happy meal.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

June 29, 2011 Johnson's Peak

2011-07-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

June 27 9:09

2011-07-10T16:26:00.000-05:00

Mount Vernon (Hunt Version)

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Jun 28 8:47

2011-07-10T15:20:00.000-05:00

Fishing pier at White Rock Lake

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

ozone

2011-07-09T23:04:00.000-05:00

Fixed an electric train tonight and now I smell that wonderful smell of oil and ozone.

Solitaire

2011-04-21T06:41:00.000-05:00

I should not play solitaire at all. But when I do play, I use Vegas Scoring - cumulative, so that I can put a dollar amount on the time I have wasted.

Earthquake detectors

2010-08-12T18:04:00.001-05:00

Hey, my wife put the bobblehead earthquake detectors back on the bathroom window sill!

TOASTATION

2010-08-09T16:39:00.000-05:00

How is this not a challenge to see what it takes to make contents ignite?

Ticks

2010-07-27T11:39:00.000-05:00

Saw copies of this sign all over Ft A.P. Hill. I need some for the property in Lowell. After our first exploration, we pulled 8 ticks off family members.

Tribe 93

2010-07-26T14:32:00.000-05:00

There seem to be more fraternal orders up here.

Not Vegan Friendly

2010-07-26T14:30:00.000-05:00

Found this shirt in a West Virginia Wal-Mart. Couldn't resist.

Super Uncle Sam

2010-07-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

Don't tell Homeland Security, but Ranger almost successfully grabbed Uncle Sam's superhero hot pants at the Little Forest Hills July 4th parade.

Not vegan friendly

2010-06-11T12:42:00.000-05:00

Not Vegan Friendly

Level 7

2009-11-10T17:43:00.001-06:00

I made it to Level Seven!

The Big Texan

2009-10-11T21:17:00.000-05:00

No, I did not attempt this.

Get well soon Lainey

2009-09-26T18:52:00.001-05:00

Get well soon Lainey. We miss you at dinner.

Walking horses

2009-09-19T13:10:00.001-05:00

Somebody must be walking horses in my yard!

gb vs zoo

2009-07-20T10:07:00.001-05:00

I took the rest of the famil to the zoo for four hours and the gameboy club never knew we we gone.

¡Cuidado!

2009-07-09T13:55:00.001-05:00

I just slipped on a fallen "Caution, Wet Floor" sign. That would have been an ironic death.

Yumm, candle

2009-06-30T22:46:00.001-05:00

Apparantly my daughter made french toast AND melted candle for lunch.

Choppin' Squash

2009-06-29T17:47:00.000-05:00

Choppin' Squash... Just doesn't have the same ring as Choppin' Broccoliiiiii.

Patrick the Demolisher

2009-06-26T09:45:00.002-05:00

Patrick is hard at work taking apart Grandma's old kitchen.
Next we may tackle the old TV (assuming it is safely discharged).

Gave a man a dollar

2009-05-15T11:00:00.001-05:00

I gave a frantic man a dollar last night just because I couldn't understand him. I think he may have only been asking for directions.

Easter Tree!

2009-04-12T10:50:00.000-05:00

While we were at Mass this morning, something took out half the ash tree in the front yard.

Airports and personal space

2009-03-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

There is apparantly a large disconnect between a typical person's sense of personal space and airport design. I'm at DFW and it appears people would rather stand or sit on the floor than fill up every seat in a row or sit next to a stranger.

Or it could just be me. This corner I'm sitting smells of stale pituli and feet.

games to rent

2009-03-21T19:44:00.002-05:00

Somebody remind me that in the summer, when there is hopefully less to worry about that I want to rent and try out some games for he Wii

Geometry Wars: Galaxies, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Dangeous Creatures, de Blob, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Boom Blox, mercury meltdown, SuperMonkeyBall: Banana Blitz

Deathstar Trench

2008-11-28T19:00:00.002-06:00

Driving along the I-35 Hillsboro construction is like navigating the Deathstar Trench. Only when you are next to a wind-blown trailer, it is much harder than shooting womp rats back home.

Stuffing vs Dressing

2008-11-27T14:29:00.001-06:00

Edwin, the cafateria waiter, asked if we needed anything. I asked for dressing and he gave me an odd look.

"like for the turkey?"

"Yeah, the cornbread dressing..."

After he delivers this bowl of gravy, she says "he meant stuffing."

Edwin must be a Yankee exchange student and probably thinks dressing is just for salads.

Eyes bigger than stomach

2008-11-22T13:06:00.001-06:00

The Taiwanese TV won't fit into the Korean car.

Delivery Man at Trailsend

2008-11-15T20:01:00.001-06:00

This is how much Trails' End Scout Popcorn is left in my car.

Can't get people to be home during the random times I am in the neighborhood. Can't convince other people to drive my boys around the corner and let them run popcorn up people's driveways.

Smart dumb fun

2008-11-13T20:16:00.000-06:00

We went to Pocket Sandwich Theater the other night. The show was Sweeny Todd, one of their melodrama productions.

Anyway, after a while Kathryn looks around the room and says "I bet at least half these people have Master's Degrees. Wow, so this is where smart people go to be stupid."

Of course three days later, she aid we should host a Jack Black a Thon at our house.

A place to call (2nd) home

2008-11-08T14:30:00.001-06:00

The scout troop is camping on some private land -- two hours out of DFW with a cabin, land, room enough for field sports, a decent tank...

And a COWGATOR!

Statefair 2009

2008-10-06T17:03:00.000-05:00

there's a whole state fair out there and the boys actually want to spend the next hour right here...

Technology

2008-08-05T20:19:00.000-05:00

We really don't realize how much we incorporate technology into our lives, do we?

Me (8:11 pm): nice rainbow in the SE ... go outside
The Monkees LaB (8:13 pm): Which way is southeast? i think theses too many trees :/
The Monkees LaB (8:14 pm): nvm we found it =] thanks

Proof

2008-07-06T15:57:00.001-05:00

I'm in the middle-of-nowhere on I-45 (Fairfield?) and I have just received
confirmation of the existence of THAFD.

I bought a Lainey-special 4.5-Layer Burito* and tried to fill my drink cup with an utter lack of diet-brown. The taco twirp could not use the drive-thru fountain because "the central pipe was broken."

The manager claims the Pepsico Repairman had been called. But of course we know the TRUTH. The problem is a breakdown in the Taco Hell Arterial Food Distribution System (THAFD). Clearly, one of the tubes leading the the worldwide central repository of all Taco Bell products is clogged or kinked.

*(7-Layer Burito minus sour cream & cheese plus extra guac)

More rockets

2008-06-17T17:14:00.000-05:00

I want one these for home. PVC, compressed air, and rockets made of printer paper, index cards and duct tape.

Nuttin' to blog about

2008-05-24T14:52:00.001-05:00

If pralines & cream ice cream could be made into a cream chesse: Gourmonaise - processed pasturized cheese spread... With Nuts!

Digestive biscuit

2008-05-24T14:40:00.001-05:00

Yumm, but digestive biscuits really do hit the spot.

HOB Rockstar

2008-04-26T22:46:00.000-05:00

"The Firm" hosted a party at House of Blues that include Rockstar Karaoke (rskdfw.com).

Wow. That made for a fun evening!

It ain't over yet... But Lainey is babysitting for one of the people in the pics.

Vowels

2008-04-12T14:23:00.001-05:00

I saw an A being delivered today. Word.

Abduction

2008-04-05T19:55:00.000-05:00

Boy versus robot. Film at eleven.

Today's Fashion Tip

2008-04-05T19:52:00.000-05:00

Your ICE CREAM GOATEE should always match your shirt.

Living Breathing Mallow

2008-03-29T21:50:00.000-05:00

"Look! It's alive!" exclaimed Tiger, Wolf and Bear.

Bubbling and gurgling sweet magma.
Oozing and pulsing with apparant life.
Regretfully dreaming of the smore that will never be.

Cubs Scouts like to burn things. This group is trained well enough to not throw trash on the fire (much). And with carcoal, the temptation to feed the fire more sticks is lessened. But there is a big loophole in the roasting of marshmallows.

Route 66

2008-03-20T04:10:00.000-05:00

We drove "the mother road today" and even stopped at Cadilac Ranch."

After a detour down Palo Duro Canyon, we finally arrived home some 1600+ miles later.

Never Ski Santa Fe (during Spring Break)

2008-03-18T21:19:00.002-05:00

Never ski Santa Fe during Spring Break, or at least don't plan on skiing Santa Fe for Spring Break unless you either own your own equipment or plan to get there at 7:30 AM (lifts open at 9:30).

After waiting in line for 3 hours to get equipment, we were told ski school was sold out. Of the 15 people surrounding me in line, only 3 were not from Texas. That is not technically true. There was a couple from Vermont. But the local guy had just moved from Ft. Worth a couple of months ago, so even he was from Texas.

But we were able to salvage a partial day. By the time we had our equipment sorted out, we only had to buy half-day lift tickets. But we still had to figure out how to teach the kids to ski. I was afraid I'd frustrate them completely out of wanting to ski. After ensuring they could move around on flat (icy) land and get up from a fall, we chanced the lift. But we only had two experienced skiers and three newbies. Lainey bowed out, rather than try to lift. Patrick and Paul made it up and down the beginner slope with the expected amount of falls. Paul went up one more time and improved a bunch. For a kid with no ski school, he practically looked like a natural.

And that was it. Game over. Lifts closed. No more runs. Lesson Learned: SHOW UP AT 7 AM.

The ice thing commeth

2008-03-17T19:54:00.000-05:00

Unbeknownst to our brave artic research scientist, danger is near.

Danger in the form of the Ice Beast (scientific name: Lainus Grrrrgus) angered by the radio interference of the comminication array. Danger looking for a strong Internet signal.

Ice cream

2008-03-17T16:11:00.000-05:00

To: "GO Blogger" <go@blogger.com>;

We caught Uncle Bubba at lunchtime. So the boys had ice cream. No, Patrick doesn't really like mint chocalate chip.

Thunder and Lighting

2008-03-17T14:22:00.000-05:00

Stopped in at Gardenswartz today and Cousin Matt asked the boys if they wanted a shirt. Soon eveyone was wearing a GTS hat and was busy working the decal iron.

Thunder and Lighting and Cobras, yeah! & I have shiny Isotopes shirt.

The Way

2008-03-16T17:54:00.000-05:00

It must be one of the truly great gifts of prayer and reflection available to Christians, especially R. Catholics: The Way or Stations of the Cross follows the passion of Jesus's cruxifixion.

Not a pagent. Not The Greatest Story Ever Told with C. Heston as John the Baptist.

And to me even deeper than the Palm Sunday Passion with the Gospel focus on the actions of disciples, the Romans and the Jews (basically in my view, OUR faults and reasons we NEED Jesus' sacrifice and gift of salvation).

However, what I get from The Stations is a chance to really focus on Christ's sacrifice and trials. I find myself especially touched by His falls and stumbles. If Christ can fall and still be Christ, then any of us can acheive grace and forgiveness, no matter how hard the fall.

Dust storm in Estancia

2008-03-16T17:46:00.000-05:00

I just saw a tumbleweed shoot across Route 66/I-40. Big winds and dust in the Estancoa Valley.

Minden from above

2008-03-05T18:29:00.001-06:00

I saw Minden today... While flying Delta from Atlanta to Dallas, I spotted first the Ouachita and I-20 and then Arcadia. I could only recognize Arcadia by the interstate exit and the outlet mall.

The pilot confirmed that we had just passed over Monroe, birthplace of Delta. But we were usally right above or just north of the interstate, so I missed LA Tech.

I almost missed Minden as well. It is so tiny. But I definately made out the upper and lower Caney Lakes. That means I was looking right over my house. Too bad the angle did now allow me to use my camera phone.

Common clouds

2008-03-04T08:06:00.000-06:00

Clouds appear common
When commuting through the sky
I should take notice

Boy vs Carrot

2008-02-01T19:44:00.001-06:00

Who will win?

Tune in next week when The Carrot says: "Gee, that boy was delicious!"

Rockets

2008-01-26T19:58:00.002-06:00

(I made this mobile blog, just as a way to remind myself about the brand name of the rocket kit. They want $140 for the "AquaPort" so you'd probably better off making your own. I think I spent less than $30 when Paul made Water Rockets for his science fair project.)

www.Pitsco.com makes a water rocket that even adults can enjoy. The R2K!

Teleportation

2008-01-09T21:29:00.000-06:00

Now I am finishing a meal at Abuelos. The waitress has brought mints.

Look! This one is from The Melting Pot.

Clearly this evidence of teleportation or quantum entanglement or something.

Time Travel

2008-01-09T18:21:00.000-06:00

Today some one brought in left over Christmas candy...

Actually that one popcorn ball is covered with bats and spiders. But I'm digging for a fire ball anyway.

And look, a Dum Dum, a Dum Dum with a curious wrapper.

The wrapper sports a fancy banner proclaiming "100th Anniversary" and under that, the year 1953.

This means the sucker is from 2053, FORTY-FIVE years in The FUTURE!

Hey Lainey, here's proof that at least candy will survive the end of the Mayan calendar!

New years restitution

2008-01-01T12:02:00.000-06:00

Time to pay the holiday bills.

I feel overdrawn in funds, metabolism, sleep and creativity.

For the new year, I should be balancing my diet and checkbook. I should do sit-ups and lift weights and run. I should have goals.

And of course I should write.

We will see.

Spare Christmas Spirit

2007-12-21T17:36:00.001-06:00

I thought I was leaving work early today. Instead I was changing a tire and forking over the moola to replace it.

Still, I wasn't working on spreadsheets and I wasn't stuck on the side of the road.

Merry Christmas!

Irony

2007-12-19T14:07:00.001-06:00

there is just something about this sign...

Driving picnic

2007-12-08T21:38:00.001-06:00

Tonight we took a driving picnic. (sonic wacky packs w/ chocolate shakes for the boys. A 7-Layer minus two burrito for Lainey).

Our mission was to see Chistmas lights and the fireworks at Firewheel Mall. But the unintentionally neon-lit tree at Sonic was one of the best sights of the night.

A tail of two glasses

2007-10-28T12:11:00.001-05:00

I typically wear glasses in only two situations.

1. At work after about 40 hours (this usually occurs by Friday at Big Time Consulting, LLP).

2. Driving long distances at night or towards the sun.

When I wear my glasses in these situations, I find I have left them in the car or at home and do not have them for work. Or they are sitting on my desk when I want them in the car. My prescription and need is not strong enough to have them with me all the time. Usually, I throw my most recent pair in my laptop bag and regulate the old pair to the car.

I actually went all of last year without wearing glasses. They were uncomfortable. It turns out my eyes had gotten stronger and my prescription is now weaker. Time for new glasses! But that also means, I cannot just dump the old pair in the car. And insurance only pairs for frames and lenses every two years.

Enter Zenni Optical. Instead of dropping $150-200 a pair, a decent pair of glasses can be ordered online for $18 after shipping.

So I bought a "real" pair of glasses from the local walli-world eye-mart ($148 for discount frames) and a nerd pair for the car from Zenni.

Walgreens sells socks

2007-10-26T18:13:00.000-05:00

OK, I forgot to wear socks to work!

I began Friday morning letting the doc take some of my blood. He likes to keep tabs on my thyroid, you know. Anyway, I knew I was swinging back by my apartment before finally heading to work, so why wear real shoes...

It wasn't until I hit woodall rogers that I realized I was still wearing sandals. Luckily, I have a fear of loosing digits and I always insist on closed-toed sandals. With socks, my feet looked professional enough for casual Friday.

Cub scouts at football

2007-10-20T22:03:00.000-05:00

Scout night at SMU Football! We spent Halftime and most of both the 2nd &3rd quarters in line for pizza and pretzels.

By the 4th quarter a pokemon game had broken out.

7 minutes to go. 27 27 tie game and I don't think the boys remember there is a game....

UPDATE:

Tulane wins. The tie was up to 34 with just a few seconds left. The crowd was in the game and the boys were watching now. Tulane scored in their overtime procession and then recovered a SMU fumble to end the game. Dad, who had been relatively quiet stood up and cheered... clapping for the crowd. He could hold in his Tulane support no more.

We listened to LSU on the way home... I checked the score via-Treo from the stadium and LSU was behind. By the time we found the game on Sirius, LSU was ahead. And then they were behind and then they went ahead again with one second left.

While we were looking for the game, we tuned n WWL AM and thought we had the wrong station, until we realized we were listening to the Jindal acceptance speech.

All in all, I think it was pretty good night for Louisiana.

Finger...

2007-10-19T21:43:00.000-05:00

my false severed finger is looking nasty.
the yellow-orange goop that looked like a urine sample to begin with is turning darker
and the finger keeps rising to the top.

REDBOX

2007-10-10T16:49:00.001-05:00

I have been shopping at Redbox [www.redbox.com]. (Don't get confused. My fiancee should not get excited and expect something from Red Envelope [www.redenvelope.com] which is an entirely different website)

Redbox is that big DVD-dispensing machine that is starting to show up in grocery stores (and supposedly McDonald's). Push buttons on the touchscreen, see what's inside and rent a movie for a dollar a night. Considering that the local video store no longer had dollar rentals but instead wants to give me 5-night rentals for $2.50 or something, Redbox is cheaper. Not cheaper by night, but cheaper by use... assuming I return the movie in the morning.

The selection is limited by machine and location. Customers can return a movie to ANY Redbox machine. So some locations may be short on titles while other locations may have extra titles. But by running out to the Redbox.com website, I can browse the selection by location and even reserve the movie, to be picked up later.

This really isn't all that exciting. But I come from a town that got excited when they built that no-attendant/pay-at-the-pump Shell station.

2007-10-09T12:55:00.000-05:00

It is Texas State Fair time and my baby wants fried food for her birthday! Normally, I'll take in the Fair with the kiddos on whichever day the school district designates. But this year their mom took them. Dang, last year the kids and I won a DVD player at the Mutual of Omaha exhibit.

This year, I just met Katrina after work and we used Dr. Pepper cans to knock the price of our tickets down to $3 ea. We saw the pig races and joined the nighttime parade. We ate our fair share (pun intended) of fried goodness and wandered the midway. I think this is the first time she had ever tried boudin. We will have to acquire some more this Thanksgiving. Fried Boudin Balls at the fair in Dallas; who knew?

Oh yeah, the hats were free from the GM tent.

Happy Day

2007-10-06T22:48:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, 'Trina and I went to celebrate my birthday at the MasterGrill Churrascaria at Firewheel Mall in Garland. She had never eaten at one of these Brazilian type restaurants before, so it was a treat. The Picanha with Garlic was our favorite. But the salmon from the salad bar was also especially tasty. And I did not die when cajoled into trying the grilled pineapple.

This was a nice little place. Not as swell feeling as Texas de Brazil on Cedar. I always had the feeling that Garland and the mall were just a few yards behind me. But it was tasteful and tasty all the same. The value reminded me of the first of these places I even visited, Rodizio in the Salt Lake City Trolley Barn.

I must say, even though it was 5 year's ago, Rodizio was the best. But I'd gladly go back to MasterGrill on another special occasion. I'd even take the kids if Lainey weren't working on the vegetarian thing and Paul wouldn't ask if they had one of those skewers with a PB&J on it. I wonder if Lainey remembers going to the churrascaria in San Antonio?

Yumm indeed

Halloween trees

2007-10-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

Kids wanted to look at Halloween stuff today.
After we found our way past the Christmas trees,
I think we found a New Zoo Hat
and the perfect costume for Paul...

Shotgun

2007-09-29T22:08:00.000-05:00

Paul with a shotgun!

So after our adventure at the Louisiana Wildlife Festival thing, I really had a hankering to go shoot some more clay pigeons.

So I borrowed a friend's 870 12 ga and Katrina escorted me out to the Alpine range. That is fun. I only wish, I lived in the country where I could justify the purchase of a manual trap and my own shotgun. But why bother? Here is Dallas, it will take you just as long to get out to someones farm as it will to get to the range. And you can shoot the heck out of a range-rented gun ($10 for gun rental, $15 for clays and range use) many times before you'd pay for your own.

Heck, for that matter, there is an indoor rifle and handgun range just up the road from me. Targetmaster offers a yearly membership. Of course, you'd have to shoot at least twice a month to break even on the gold-level membership.

Maybe shooting is a three or four times a year kinda thing.

2007-09-24T20:40:00.000-05:00

Here is one of the hawks Patrick enjoyed shooting with the camera.

Bayou Bodcau

2007-09-24T08:11:00.000-05:00

This was the weekend (9/23) for the anual
Wildlife Festival at the Bodcau Army Corps o' Engr site.
The were plenty of critters to look at and a hill to sled down.
Great fun, but if you go, watch your step.

1K Popcorn

2007-09-21T17:00:00.001-05:00

A package of last year's Trails-End Popcorn. Looks like it was deemed good for a long time, a thousand and one years actually!

WOW, you should really buy some popcorn from your local Cub Scout or Boy Scout.

BAGGIE PANTS

2007-09-19T14:49:00.001-05:00

Just thought of a great deterent to baggie pants: PEDESTRIAN SOBRIETY CHECKS.

Imagine a cop stopping you on the street and asking you to run about 20' WITH your hands ON TOP of your head.

If you stumble (trip over the pants that are now around you ankles), you get thrown in the drunk tank!

Better pinatas

2007-09-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

NM has better pinatas.

Rockhound State Park

2007-09-02T19:40:00.000-05:00

You can keep the rocks at Rockhound State Park... But not the tarantulas or humming birds.

Late check in

2007-09-02T19:36:00.001-05:00

Rockhound State Park has late check in.

Meteor Crater

2007-09-01T13:38:00.000-05:00

You can not take rocks or snakes from the meteor crater.

Super Fan

2007-09-01T12:32:00.000-05:00

If you ever run into this hand dryer, hold on...

Budding Photographer

2007-08-27T21:31:00.001-05:00

http://mediaokra.netfirms.com/okrapics/nfpicturepro/thumbnails.php?album=82

Grandma sent the kids her old Sony Mavica. Lain and Patrick first got their hands on it at Paul's Scout Meeting tonight.

But it was Patrick who really took to documenting the Court of Honor.

Follow the link to mediaokra for the product of his eye.

Hard Rock Liberty City

2007-08-25T21:14:00.000-05:00

The Whataburger/Exxon at the I-20 Liberty City exit is full of guitars and Beatles memorabilia... Jake and Elwood guard the door.

Neat... Nicely done... But an odd juxtaposition.

Make sure you look up!

Welcome Home a Hero

2007-08-25T09:09:00.001-05:00

Went to DF W today to cheer for returning service members. The flight arrived at 7:40 -- awfully early for a Saturday. But loads of cheering supports were there anyway... Very inspiring.

Why is the world out of focus?

2007-07-30T12:04:00.001-05:00

Could it be abnormal dilation due to excessive sinus pressure?

Elephant Racing

2007-07-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

Elephant Racing... 'nuff said.

July 21 Dallas Zoo. Treo Camera

she's not my girlfriend anymore

2007-07-17T13:08:00.000-05:00

It wasn't meant to be a test, but I guess dragging your girlfriend on a 1,000+ mile trip WITH your three kids to stay as a guest in the home of one of your closest friends can be somewhat daunting...

We went to DC.

With stops, including Mass at St. Paul's Cathedral (Yea! MassTimes.ORG), it took 27 hours to get there.

Our site-seeing party included 5 adults and 8 kids. There was much potential for many problems. By day three, we had been threatened with heat stroke and lightning and deviations from the spreadsheet.

But day three also found us in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/current.html) The Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals (http://www.mnh.si.edu/earth/text/2_1_3_2.html)...
past the Hope Diamond...
and the Tiffany Diamond...
and the The Carmen Lúcia Ruby,
somewhere near the giant beryl crystal. And I said:

All of these gems remind me of what is truly precious in this world and what a gift it is to find you. So to paraphrase our late Pope (John Paul II), will you do me the honor of joining me in the *gift* of matrimony?

-------------------------------------
Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church. -- Pope John Paul II

Orange

2007-07-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

Today we went to the National Museum of Natural History. We wore orange.

We saw an Arma'posum (or Pangoron?) and mummies and elephants and shiny things.

Ben liked the skeletons. But I think he expected them to move like zoo animals.

Paul held a cockroach.

Yep, we wore orange.

A man with a M16 just told us to have "an exciting day..." but I was so looking forward to a nice sit down at Becca's.

Joined another family

2007-07-10T14:15:00.001-05:00

While waiting in line for the Capitol Tour, Patrick joined a new family...

Well at least he joined their game of "Bubblegum Bubblegum in a ditch."

The long long march

2007-07-09T19:47:00.000-05:00

First day in DC... What should you do? Take advantage of the fact that the kids are still niave and don't quite know what "walking" means.

It took an hour to get from the middle of The Mall to The Lincoln Memorial via a sculpture garden and sprinklers. The Washington Monument was halfway. We did not go up but we did get quizzed by Russ.

The Washington Monument from Mid-Mall'ish

Srinkler below the Washington Monument

The Washington Monument from The Lincoln Memorial

Pooped at the Lincoln Memorial

(I promise we won't walk -as far- tomorrow)

Lunch @ the NAAS Museum

2007-07-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

You can get McDonald's at the National Air and Space Museum.

The trashcans open automatically!

And we all touched the moonrock.

Smithsonian

2007-07-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

Today we went to museums. Paul read everything.

Lainey found cool things like ruby slippers and Princes' guitar.

James really liked Barbie.

stress test

2007-07-04T20:25:00.001-05:00

The picture below has 2 identical dolphins in it. It was used in a case study on stress levels at St. Mary's Hospital.

Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are identical. A closely monitored, scientific study revealed that, in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical, a person under stress would find differences in the two dolphins.

The more differences a person finds between the dolphins, the more stress that person is experiencing.

Look at the photograph and if you find more than one or two differences you may want to take a vacation.

Don't you wish you had a sticker?

2007-07-04T20:19:00.001-05:00

Don't you wish your sticker was cool like mine?

Making groceries

2007-07-01T19:25:00.000-05:00

Ah, to be able to get liquor, groceries and a meat pie at the same place. Sweet, Sweet Louisiana.

Fwd: Ice cream

2007-07-01T09:59:00.001-05:00

We now have a workaround for the problem of having yummy ice cream left in the bottom of a nasty-soggy cone!

embedded?

2007-07-01T07:30:00.001-05:00

Well I spent a little time setting up VersaMail on the ol' Treo. I hadn't worried about the mail client before. Blazer seemed good enough to properly display the web-based mail I use. BUT... I wanted to be able to attache camera phone pics WITHOUT relying on Sprints horrible picture share system.

I could not get sprintpcs email to work on my sprint-branded Treo. It seems my pop/smtp password (and even user name) differs from my "Vision" account. But the tier one reps (even the ones in The States) can't seem to get past the word "Vision."

My local ISP to the rescue. Say what you will about cruddy customer service and spotty download spreeds, at least you get sub email accounts. Wheeeeeeee.

So I set up the Treo with a sub account from my ISP. Voila! Blog posted mobile-style. But alas, I still had to get to the PC, and manually insert the picture. Apparently Blogger doesn't recognize attachments and VersaMail is not robust enough to embed objects in the text of a message.

Such is life.

AH HAH! While the normal email directly to your registered blog doesn't work with attached pictures, the generic email to go blogger.com works quite nicely!

Ice cream

2007-06-30T17:48:00.001-05:00

We now have a workaround for the problem of having yummy ice cream left in the bottom of a nasty-soggy cone!

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-06-30T16:25:00.001-05:00

You have a Picture Mail from {###} @sprintpcs.com

Message:

Now we know the workaround for "ice cream left" when the cone is just too nasty-soggy  to eat.

Options

View Picture
Order Prints and Gifts
Reply to Sender
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Forward

Send and receive Pictures and Videos through Picture Mail^SM. For more information go to http://www.sprint.com/picturemail

TOKTWD

2007-06-29T01:54:00.000-05:00

Take Our Kids to Work Day, Accenture Style

First the official words:

The overall theme was Corporate Citizenship and the importance of giving back to the community in which we live and work.

The younger group (age 6-9) helped out by stuffing backpacks full of school supplies for 50 homeless elementary children. These children are supported by Rainbow Days, a United Way agency. Each year Rainbow Days provides children in need with a new backpack filled with school supplies, as well as a school uniform.

The older children (age 10-14) followed the Corporate Citizenship theme by selecting a scenario that depicted an area of need for a community in a foreign country. They were asked to come up with a method and plan in order to create and implement the program. Everyone did a great job showcasing their skills, and coming up with creative solutions to world issues.

After lunch, kids were able to choose between joining their parents for parent shadowing time or playing games with the other kids and volunteers. When the group reconvened, they participated in a presentation about Aidmatrix and an office-wide scavenger hunt. At the end of the day each child was presented with a gift bag that contained a book light and other small gifts.

And now what really happened:

Lainey decided she was too old and cool to do this. At the end of the day she would say "Awe, the gifts were cooler this year." (I think she wanted that book light – last year they got a calculator)

The boys did not get to shadow me very long. I did get to bring them into my conference room for a bit. But then it was back to spreadsheets and conference calls for me.

On the way back to the other kids, Patrick broke out into a zigzagging split. And when I called out to him to slow down, he spun and whacked his head into the counter under local tech support's service window. BAM! None of the other kids bled or caused physical damage to the building. Yeah. My kids rule!

no subject

2007-06-28T23:45:00.000-05:00

123... GO!