Okay, brief summary of the weekend
Friday: Worked from home, took the kids to their 18 month checkup at the doctor, took them to city hall to apply for their passports, worked from home some more
Friday Night: Haircut for kids, watched 'The Spiderwick Chronicles'. Not bad. Probably a good kids movie. Sometimes they translate well to adults. This one requires that you have maintained a bit of the child within.
Saturday: Starbucks, work a bit on a work project, off to a company picnic so my wife can meet all my coworkers. Kids do an excellent job of being their normal cute, but high-energy-selves. Return home, talk to my sister on the phone for an hour. Solved all her problems, I think. That's what brothers do.
Saturday night: Watched 'Death at a Funeral'. Dark British Comedy. I'll give it 3.5 / 5 stars. Not bad. Laugh out loud moments, good acting, but not for everyone
Sunday: Starbucks, finally went out and bought a new office chair for at home. My old one was killing my back. This one is so much better, but I think I still need to tune it in some more. A lot of play time with the kids in the afternoon. Weeded the garden, cut the grass, talked to my folks on the phone. Tried to find a sandbox for the kids (everything around here is sold out for the year apparently).
Sunday night: Watched the video of the Last Lecture posted on my sisters blog 'Eclecta'. Interesting and pretty amazing for a guy with so little time left to still be so happy. Inspiring really.
Finished one book this week for fun, and I wish it was. I got lured in by a display for a novel called 'Endwar' that made it seem that Tom Clancy had a new book out. What it really was (if you read the fine print), was this David Michaels guy writing an absolute stinker of a novel about a VIDEO GAME Tom Clancy's company is producing. So horrible. Good thing it was a quick read, because the plot was paper thin, the characters lacked character, and the dialog atrocious. The only good thing about it was that it raised my belief that anyone (including em) can get published.
Anyway, the kids are doing great. A couple of scrapes and bruises from falls on concrete, but nothing they won't recover from. I've been trying to get some better pictures, but nothing has turned out very well lately, so we'll see what we can do this week.
By the way, does anyone have a recommendation for a service for web cam sharing for the grandparents to see the kids (and vice versa). Let me know.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Train of Thought
What I wanted to say to the woman next to me on the train last night, who was on her cell phone the whole time
"Lady, this isn't your office. Now hang up your cell phone, and STFU!"
What I actually said.
Nothing.
But I gave her a couple of really dirty looks.
Maybe I need to get some TShirts made up with this slogan on it. I should copyright it. I'm sure it will catch on.
"Lady, this isn't your office. Now hang up your cell phone, and STFU!"
What I actually said.
Nothing.
But I gave her a couple of really dirty looks.
Maybe I need to get some TShirts made up with this slogan on it. I should copyright it. I'm sure it will catch on.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
If I ran America, Part 1
So, a few years back, I started a blog that lasted two entries (which I believe have been deleted), about what a better place the world would be if everyone just listened to me. I still have thoughts on the subject, but not enough to justify a devoted blog. Besides, I've lured in a bit of a crowd here with cute baby pictures, and why would I give up this opportunity? So, every once in a while (interspersed with pictures of cute toddlers so you keep on coming back, I'm going to drop in a few messages to the world.
1. To solve the US Medicare funding problem: Since insurance companies won't insure anyone with a smoking / drug use / obesity background, why should the government? I say set a deadline that is reasonable (i.e next Friday), and let people know that if you are still smoking, doing drugs or eating that triple Big Mac with extra large fries and the 36oz Big Gulp from 7-11 beyond that date, you are no longer eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. Test for nicotine before every check gets sent out, test for drugs, test for body mass index. Make all the anti smoking treatmenrs, anti drug programs and weight loss programs cheap / free. Legalize the drugs (tax them) so we don't have to spend billons on hunting down traffickers and pushers, add a fat tax on fast food, and presto, the deficit is cut in half. If people want to live fast and die young in their younger days, make them realize they won't be around in their older days to change their minds.
2. The problem with Public Transportation is the 'public' part of it. Why is it that some people just can't wait 30 minutes to get home and talk to their spouses instead of sitting next to me on the train, gibber-jabbing away about their day? And do you really want to talk to a potential customer about how you can undercut all your competitors while sitting on the train with God knows who listening? Really? And if your IPod is loud enough for me to hear it three rows away, don't look pissy at the people who give you dirty looks when they need to change seats because they want to protect their hearing. Oh, for a good stun gun on my morning commute.
3. I'm starting to drift towards the camp that thinks the Baby-Boomer generation should really be called the 'Free Loader Generation'. All these entitlement programs, funded on the backs of their kids and their grandkids? Selfish much? Granted, selfishness is the American way. Whether it be Social Security, the housing bubble, roads and transportation... no one is willing to pay their own way anymore. No one is accountable for their own mistakes. If I took out a loan I couldn't pay back, that's my own damn fault. Stop blaming everyone else. Stop expecting the government to bail you out. Stop bitching that the fat cats are making billions while the middle class gets screwed. You had your chance to vote these bastards out of office many times, and you just keep electing the same group of crooks becuase they offered you a quick buck (how many people sent back their Econmic stimulus check because they thought it was wrong? I'm betting the number rhymes with HERO. How else do guys like Ted Stevens in Alaska, and George Bush (x3) get elected over and over again? It's not the system's fault, it's the public's fault. People are just too stupid and lazy. Democracy is hard, and it takes up a lot of evenings (Oscar Wilde gets the credit for that one).
Okay, I'm done ranting for now. We now return you to your regular internet surfing programming.
1. To solve the US Medicare funding problem: Since insurance companies won't insure anyone with a smoking / drug use / obesity background, why should the government? I say set a deadline that is reasonable (i.e next Friday), and let people know that if you are still smoking, doing drugs or eating that triple Big Mac with extra large fries and the 36oz Big Gulp from 7-11 beyond that date, you are no longer eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. Test for nicotine before every check gets sent out, test for drugs, test for body mass index. Make all the anti smoking treatmenrs, anti drug programs and weight loss programs cheap / free. Legalize the drugs (tax them) so we don't have to spend billons on hunting down traffickers and pushers, add a fat tax on fast food, and presto, the deficit is cut in half. If people want to live fast and die young in their younger days, make them realize they won't be around in their older days to change their minds.
2. The problem with Public Transportation is the 'public' part of it. Why is it that some people just can't wait 30 minutes to get home and talk to their spouses instead of sitting next to me on the train, gibber-jabbing away about their day? And do you really want to talk to a potential customer about how you can undercut all your competitors while sitting on the train with God knows who listening? Really? And if your IPod is loud enough for me to hear it three rows away, don't look pissy at the people who give you dirty looks when they need to change seats because they want to protect their hearing. Oh, for a good stun gun on my morning commute.
3. I'm starting to drift towards the camp that thinks the Baby-Boomer generation should really be called the 'Free Loader Generation'. All these entitlement programs, funded on the backs of their kids and their grandkids? Selfish much? Granted, selfishness is the American way. Whether it be Social Security, the housing bubble, roads and transportation... no one is willing to pay their own way anymore. No one is accountable for their own mistakes. If I took out a loan I couldn't pay back, that's my own damn fault. Stop blaming everyone else. Stop expecting the government to bail you out. Stop bitching that the fat cats are making billions while the middle class gets screwed. You had your chance to vote these bastards out of office many times, and you just keep electing the same group of crooks becuase they offered you a quick buck (how many people sent back their Econmic stimulus check because they thought it was wrong? I'm betting the number rhymes with HERO. How else do guys like Ted Stevens in Alaska, and George Bush (x3) get elected over and over again? It's not the system's fault, it's the public's fault. People are just too stupid and lazy. Democracy is hard, and it takes up a lot of evenings (Oscar Wilde gets the credit for that one).
Okay, I'm done ranting for now. We now return you to your regular internet surfing programming.
Random Notes
Great Movie: The Lookout with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Jeff Daniels. After a lot of ho-hum movies this year, this is one of my new favorites. In fact, I watched it last night while Lisa was dancing, and then watched it again this afternoon with her. Really, really good. And is iot just me, or is there just a stunning resemblance between Levitt and Heath Ledger?
Bad Book: Fifty Degrees Below Zero by Kim Stanley Robinson. Second book in a trilogy that got good in the last 10 pages. My OCD will probably force me to read book three... but I so don't really want to.
Good Book: On Writing By Stephen King. Got me back in the mood to write again. Now if only I could get rid of my procrastination issues. I want to write, but stuff keeps taking priority. I just need to set realistic goals. Today, I'm updating my blog, and reading one of my old, unfinished stories.
Okay Book: Lean Mean Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. Quick read, pretty much formula JE.
Bad Movie: No Country for Old Men. SPOILER ALERT: If you kill off the main character 75% of the way through the movie, you had better either bring him back to life, or make the ending so incredible, that you forget it happened. Niether happens in this one. Boo, hisss...
Bad Book: Fifty Degrees Below Zero by Kim Stanley Robinson. Second book in a trilogy that got good in the last 10 pages. My OCD will probably force me to read book three... but I so don't really want to.
Good Book: On Writing By Stephen King. Got me back in the mood to write again. Now if only I could get rid of my procrastination issues. I want to write, but stuff keeps taking priority. I just need to set realistic goals. Today, I'm updating my blog, and reading one of my old, unfinished stories.
Okay Book: Lean Mean Fourteen by Janet Evanovich. Quick read, pretty much formula JE.
Bad Movie: No Country for Old Men. SPOILER ALERT: If you kill off the main character 75% of the way through the movie, you had better either bring him back to life, or make the ending so incredible, that you forget it happened. Niether happens in this one. Boo, hisss...
Friday, July 18, 2008
Dr Horrible
If you haven't seen this.... you must watch it, before July 20. Amazing!
Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog
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