September 23, 2006
I, for one, will never bow down to our new TV overlords
According to Nielson researchers, there are 2.73 televisions in the average US home, and only 2.55 people. Over 50% of households have 3 or more TVs.
We have two in use. A third 19" TV is collecting dust in the guest bedroom. The family room TV is just a standard 36" model, and the home theater set in the basement is a 53" HDTV. 4 years later and I still haven't bothered to upgrade DirecTV to HD.
We do have 5 computers for 4 people though. That will be 6 as soon as I find find a cheapie castoff PC to use for a music server. I'm going to ditch the CD jukebox and plug a PC into my receiver.
Permalink | Comments (8)August 23, 2006
Desert Snake?
California King snakes aren't supposed to need or want water in their living environment. Their natural habitat is the CA desert.
Blackbeard didn't get the message. He frequently spends 1/2 the day hanging out in his water bowl.
He also spends a lot of time hanging out on the fake tree branches in his cage.
California King snakes don't climb.
August 19, 2006
Anniversary Haiku
Fifteen years, it's been
I bought her clogs, and a horse.
Trophy wife, she is. :)
August 05, 2006
No Soliciting
I replaced Michelle's generic no soliciting sign with one that is a little more in my style.
ABSOLUTELY NO SOLICITING
If you are selling something DO NOT knock on the door, or ring the doorbell. We do not need your magazines, coupon books, or eternal salvation. I'm sure your cause is important, and it will still be important without the donation you will not get from us.
If you are a Boy Scout or Girl Scout this does not apply, please knock. One can never have too many Thin Mints in the house!
Nobody has bothered us all week.
Permalink | Comments (5)July 08, 2006
My Glamorous Life (for Spunky)
Since Spunky seems to think I'm leading some sort of glamorous life of luxury down here in the South... ;) I thought I'd detail my day today.
2:45 AM : alarm rings, Michelle gets up
3:15 AM : I give up on sleeping in until 3:30 AM
4:00 AM : leave house
4:20 AM : arrive at farm
5:00 AM : leave farm, with horse in tow
7:00 AM : arrive at 4H District competition
7 AM - 12:30 PM : Show dad duty, consisting mostly of lifting heavy stuff and taking pictures, with a little manure clean up thrown in for good measure.
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM : Tow horse back to farm.
2:30 - 3:00 : clean and park trailer, fall asleep in chair waiting for Delaney to get her post show stuff done. (tack stowed, horse cleaned, etc)
3:30 PM : Arrive at home - unload truck, clean coolers, etc
3:45 PM - lay down for a 15 minute nap - fail to fall asleep
4:00 PM: Give up on nap and check email.
update
4:30-ish: Fell asleep at desk. Woke up by wife at 4:45 PM.
Tomorrow will be a repeat, except that the show is local so the commute will be 15 minutes instead of 2 hours.
For those of you with horse crazy little girls...this type of schedule is not the exception, it's the rule. Even for a local show that starts at 830AM you'll want to be there 90 minutes before your first event to have time to warm up the horse and rider, get dressed, etc. Horse shows generally start with the youngest competitors first, so your 10 year old will be doing this to you frequently. Get used to it ;)
We are not particularly hardcore about this either. 1 or 2 local shows a month, with a trip thrown in to 4H Districts and State, is a very typical show schedule for a young rider. We haven't even contemplated multi-day shows, and living out of a horse trailer on the weekends.
Sharing your weekend residence with an equine friend that poops 40 lbs per day may be my daughter's idea of glamor, but not mine :)
Permalink | Comments (6)May 27, 2006
How Chris is spending the Memorial Day Weekend
Saturday: Up at 5 AM, at farm by 6:15 AM. Load horse and arrive at show by 7 AM. Spend all day on horse show dad duty, which mostly consists of cleaning up after the horse, and moving heavy stuff on command. I did sneak a 15 minute nap in during the lunch break though. It didn't really help. We got home around 7.
Sunday will be an exact repeat of Saturday.
Pictures, results etc. will come later. I'm too tired to deal with it now. She did have a fabulous show today though - her best so far.
Stay safe this weekend.
Permalink | Comments (2)May 08, 2006
The Daily Ping saved my toilet
The toilet in the master bathroom had picked up a case of the slow flushies. Plungering 'till my shoulders ached did no good. Auguring had no effect. Then Michelle said that I should go check the toilet post at The Daily Ping. The Ping is well known for it's numerous and epic toilet related commentaries. However, in this case, I knew exactly what she meant.
The "How To Unclog A Toilet" post in legendary. It contains a wealth of useful information, and the 5 year comment thread is just gut bustingly funny. Whether or not you need the advice today, you should pour your beverage of choice and sit down to enjoy the Internet's best potty humor.
BTW, pouring a bucket of hot water into the toilet works. It really works.
Permalink | Comments (2)April 20, 2006
Do you even know what Hippology is?
Apparently my 10 year old daughter does, as she scored a blue ribbon in the county wide competition and was named to the District team.
I'm sure she would have done better if she had been in school all day with a real teacher though.
Permalink | Comments (2)February 14, 2006
Valentine's Day Haiku
Beautiful she is
Worthy? I am not, no way.
Lucky. That I am.
In other V-Day news, her present, which shipped from Chicago on 2/7, is still not here. It is scheduled to arrive at the local PO this evening, and I guess if I'm lucky it'll be delivered tomorrow.
If anybody sees that southbound Mule train please give it a swift kick in the ass for me. Maybe that'll speed it up.
Update: I got a stainless steel cocktail shaker, jigger, and lime squeezer. Who's coming over for daiquiris?
Permalink | Comments (1)February 12, 2006
The Blizzard of 2006
Maybe not quite a blizzard, but the snow on the deck was 7 inches this morning. It took me about an hour to shovel, then I took the kids to the park to go sledding.
The roads are fine. That didn't stop the county from closing the schools tomorrow and canceling the planned day off for President's Day next Monday. All those parents that might have been planning a 3 day weekend are now screwed. I really don't know how people put up with some faceless stranger deciding on their schedule for 75% of the year.
January 26, 2006
Happy Birthday Delaney
It's official. I have no children left in single digits. Not surprisingly, the gifts are all horse related. She now has her own saddle, courtesy of Grandpa. It's used and way older than she is - but quality saddles that are well maintained last a long, long time. That is a good thing, since the same saddle new would be over $1500.
'School" is canceled on her birthday, and she has successfully lobbied for an extended riding session on Shado.
I wish my birthdays were so good!
January 20, 2006
Saturday's Field Trip
With a highly usual 62 degree day expected tomorrow, and the girls away at a horse thing, I decided to plan a field trip to do something the girls never want to do anyway.
I came up with Luray Caverns and a hike to the top of Shenandoah National Park's 2nd highest peak. However, while googling around for other ideas, I stumbled into one of the largest private collections of reptiles in the Eastern US.
Although I'd rather do the hike, being the good father that I am...I'll be hanging with the snakes tomorrow.
Expect lots of pictures of stalagmites, and snakes, later this weekend.
Permalink | Comments (0)December 31, 2005
Happy New Year!!
My visiting Father-In-Law has volunteered to kid-sit so Michelle and I can go out sans offspring tonight. New Year's Eve without the kids. Woo Hoo!
I bet we are back home on the couch by 10 PM. Preliminary plans are dinner and, uh, well that is as far as we have got on the plans. Probably dinner and home.
Update: Home at 9 PM, after dinner at Bonefish Grill, and then lingering over a mocha at Starbucks. However, at Starbucks I did get to witness a drunk guy put at least 20 teaspoons of sugar in his coffee. Yech.
Permalink | Comments (2)December 23, 2005
Merry Christmas from Blackbeard
The skin he shed last week was 3 feet and 2 inches long.
December 14, 2005
This is sad
Michelle is out at the farm with Delaney so Delaney can get her daily horse riding fix. It's 25 degrees F outside right now.
That is not the sad part though.
The sad part is that Michelle just got a phone call. I took a message, and emailed it to her. The most efficient way for me to get a message to my wife is to send it across the country to our mail server sitting in a datacenter in CA, so she'll get it when she checks email upon arriving back home, where I am right now.
Of course, we IM each other from within the house, so this really shouldn't be a surprise.
Permalink | Comments (4)December 12, 2005
Outstanding!
Not that I am bragging...
Actually, I'm not. I didn't do anything :)
However a certain 9 year old in the house received the Outstanding 4Her Award tonight. As I understand it, this is a big deal. They don't give the award lightly, and they don't give it to many 9 year olds. Reaching that level at age 9, without owning a horse, is rare.
I never achieved that level of recognition in anything as a kid. Well, unless you want to count my 20th level thief in Dungeons & Dragons, but we probably don't want to count that.
Permalink | Comments (2)
November 22, 2005
Christmas Lists
I picked up a tack catalog downstairs and noticed that somebody had used red ink to circle items in the catalog. I can't imagine who that would be :)
It reminded me of Christmas when I was a kid. The arrival of the Sears Wish Book was a blessed event. Especially since we were in Spain when I was in K-3 grades, the hardcore Santa years. I didn't have commercial television to clue me in on what was cool. I had no idea of the new toys until we got the Sears catalog.
My brothers and I each were assigned a pen color, and we circled the stuff we wanted. Since we were overseas most of the stuff probably got ordered right from that catalog.
My kids have Amazon wish lists. Delaney's is mostly books with titles like How to Win at Horse Shows and Championship Dressage. Breck's is video games and sci-fi books. It's just not the same.
Permalink | Comments (3)November 12, 2005
Say hello to Blackbeard
Say hello to Blackbeard
Originally uploaded by ChrisOD.
If this doesn't get us boku bonus points in the cool parents competition, I don't know what will.
Breck has wanted a pet snake for at least 2 years. I would have bet on a cold day on hell before I would have bet on Michelle ever agreeing to it. However, last Spring she told Breck that once he passed his 2nd class swimming requirement for Boy Scouts he could get a snake.
Let this be a lesson to all parents. Don't say stuff like that unless your really mean it!
It took longer, and more $wimming lessons that I would have liked, but we now have a son who is a better swimmer than I (that's not a high bar...)
And he owns a snake. Blackbeard is a 2-1/2 ft long king snake. The lifespan of a king snake in captivity is about 17 years.
I hope Breck's future wife likes snakes.
October 31, 2005
Name That Costume
Halloween just isn't what it used to be. The nattering nabobs of negativity that are taking over the country have about sucked all the life out of this holiday. Only one house in my neighborhood even bothered to do more than a token pumpkin on the porch, and about 1/3 of the homes were not participating at all.
In my day, we had ways of dealing with the non-participants. However, today our methods would likely qualify as a hate crime.
October 30, 2005
Happy Halloween from O'DonnellWeb
I don't think I need to specify who carved which pumpkin.
25 farenheight is really cold when you are sleeping in a tent
Actually, it's really cold when you are exiting the tent at 630 AM. Sleeping wasn't an issue. I was comfortable in my cheap sleeping bag supplemented with a blanket. But when it was time to get up...
The 7 mile hike went well. Breck is reporting no after effects. My legs and knees hurt, and I have a phat blister on my little toe.
Due to the freezing temperature, Breck has qualified for the Polar Bear patch, which is awarded to any Boy Scout that camps overnight in below freezing weather.
Permalink | Comments (1)October 23, 2005
Welcome to the family Shado
Well, he isn't really in the family, as we are leasing him, we don't own him. However, Delaney does have virtually unlimited access to the horse, and she'll be able to show him all season next year, assuming I keep the lease up ;)
Now I need a vehicle capable of hauling him to the shows.
When Willie Nelson sang "Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" he was talking about money.
October 02, 2005
DC Tour guide for a day
I spent yesterday running around DC with my buddy Damon (temporarily stationed in Dover DE) and Breck. We visited:
- The WWII Memorial
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- The top of the Washington Monument
- US Archives
- Nationals - Phillies game
Not bad for one day....
Permalink | Comments (0)September 25, 2005
I'm back
We are back. We went camping with 10 Scouts and returned with the same 10. That's enough to qualify as a successful outing for me.
In other news, Michelle was perusing the provider list for our new health insurance provider...and found two doctors that have been deceased for over 5 years. The insurance company probably thinks they are just doing a great job of minimizing claims...
Red Sox - Yankees looks like it will come down to the final series over the last three days of the year, at Fenway. I'll be having nightmares involving Mike Torres and Bucky Dent all week.
September 21, 2005
Happy Birthday to You...
Today is the [censored] anniversary of my wife's birth. Much to Delaney's dismay, Michelle is not getting a pony for her birthday.
She said she wanted to be 5 years old again. It's not a bad idea. Life was much simpler back when not soiling your drawers counted as a major achievement for the day.
Happy birthday sweetie.
Permalink | Comments (5)September 14, 2005
We're back
Well, so much for this years vacation. September is the high season for hurricanes on the east coast, so I guess we were due. We bailed out late this afternoon and made the 4.5 hour drive home. Ophelia is a particularly pokey hurricane, and it looks like it will be late Thursday before the weather settles down. Driving 4.5 hours on Friday just to get get in some beach time on Saturday doesn't sound too appealing, so I don't think we are going back this year.
Delaney's favorite part was the sidetrip to look at a horse. Not sure what is going to come of it. First her trainer has to examine the pictures and video I took and bless the idea of owning the horse, then we have to figure out how to pay for it.
More pictures, including even more horse pictures, these of the wild herds that roam the neighborhoods of Corova, NC.
Vacation Interruptus, or not
We packed up last night, planning on bugging out this morning. They put us under a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch at 5 PM last night. Given the events of recent weeks, I thought for sure the local officials would be trigger happy on the evacuation call. They did evacuate the 4 wheel drive area just a couple of miles to the north of us.
Alas, when the dogs woke us at 630 AM this morning, it was sunny and calm. It's downright beautiful outside.
So we are going to the beach, not home. The northern edge of the storm is still over 100 miles to the south of us, traveling 6 mph, and the storm jogged east at 8 AM. We may bug out later today if the situation warrants.
It is damn hard to relax when you have to watch the weather so closely though.
Permalink | Comments (0)September 12, 2005
Dancing with Ophelia
We are at the beach, keeping an eye on Ophelia. We may have to head home early, although at the moment I think we are far enough north that we won't experiece anything worse than a couple of rained out days. If we get evacuated I can invoke the trip insurance and get some money back.
Today is beautiful though. The cable company wants $45 for a week of broadband, and you people aren't worth it :) I'm checking email via a borrowed dial up account, but otherwise don't expect to see much here this week.
September 05, 2005
What I did on Labor Day
I spent Labor Day celebrating with the best paid union laborers on the planet, major league baseball players.
Breck was not happy with the results, as his Marlins lost 5-2. It was 82 degrees with a breeze, perfect baseball weather. As you can see, we had good seats.
More pictures in the sidebar.
August 19, 2005
Happy Anniversary to Us
Today is the 14th anniversary of the best decision I've ever made :) As is our tradition, we have no plans to do anything special.
Permalink | Comments (4)July 20, 2005
The Knotmaster
When Breck joined the Boy Scout troop he was issued a pair of 6 foot ropes. These ropes are worn as a belt until you achieve the rank of Knotmaster. Knotmasters wear the ropes like a sash. A knotmaster is any scout who successfully ties all 9 knots at the quarterly knot challenge. The knots are:
-square knot
-two-half hitches
-bowline
-mooring hitch
-sheep shank
-sheet bend
-timber hitch
-clove hitch
-taut-line hitch
As of last night, Breck is a Knotmaster. After practicing with him, I probably am too.
Permalink | Comments (2)July 10, 2005
First Horse Show
P1010065
Originally uploaded by ChrisOD.
The red ribbon is for 2nd place (out of 6). More pictures.
June 27, 2005
I survived
I survived the wild waters of the Lehigh River. Actually, class II and III rapids pretty much equates to a log flume ride without the big drop at the end. There was a dam release upstream on Friday, so the water was flowing about as high and fast as it can under normal circumstances.
June 24, 2005
Gone rafting
I'm white water rafting with the Boy Scouts this weekend. Assuming I don't get thrown from the raft and drown, I'll be posting again Sunday evening. I've got a waterproof disposable camera, so hopefully I'll get some decent pictures.
Permalink | Comments (0)June 05, 2005
Blogger Beach Campout
I'm under a wife-imposed NDA so I can't disclose any details from the weekend. Feel free to peruse the photos and come to your own conclusions :)
Yes, we had a good time. It stopped raining about 30 minutes before I got to the campground, which was nice. (It was pouring the whole drive down). Beer was drank, campfires were burned, steaks were grilled, and we learned that WalMart brand Graham Crackers taste like cardboard and are unsuitable for the important camping task of making S'mores.
Permalink | Comments (3)
April 21, 2005
WWHS: Reason #1
So we never live like these folks.
Selected, and utterly depressing snippets from the article.
In short, home life is beginning to imitate the downsized American office.
It means parents and children live virtually apart at least five days a week. They reunite for a few hours at night, sleep and separate again the next morning. In this study, at least one parent was likely to be up and gone before the children awoke.
What’s falling by the wayside?
Playtime. Conversation. Courtesy. Intimacy.
Kim and Gary Zeiss are keeping their children busy by design. They believe it’s a key to being a successful adult in a culture that rewards multi-taskers.
“You know the old saying,” says Gary, a 47-year-old attorney. “If you want something done, give it to a busy person. They’re learning how to be that.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 19, 2005
The Pope and I just aren't getting along
Today in the car...
Breck: The Pope and I are not getting along.
Michelle: What are you talking about?
Breck: The Pope, I just can't get along with that man. In fact, I've been excommunicated.
Michelle: I have no idea what you are talking about
Breck: My game mom. The Pope excommunicated me in my computer game.
I think he is talking about Age of Empires II.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 11, 2005
We survived our first Boy Scout Campout
We survived. A little chilly at night, perfect during the days. Boy Scout camping is very different than Cub Scout camping. When camping with the Cubs, the dads really do everything. Boy Scouts is a boy run organization. If they fail to plan properly and don't buy enough food for the weekend...they'll be hungry. The adult leaders really do let them fail as long as the consequences aren't dangerous.
It's a difficult adjustment for me. Watching Breck struggle with his tent I really did want to go help. But I didn't. The idea is for him to get help if needed from an older Scout. And sure enough, next I looked the tent was up - and it didn't fall down the whole weekend.
I wish I could say the same for my self inflating air pad. About 1 AM Saturday night I was awakened by a loud POP, followed by the sound of air rushing out of my sleeping pad. I guess a seam blew out on it. About 30 seconds later I got much colder as the buffer of air between me and the ground was gone.
We (the adults) ran the knot tying competition. Our boys won, which was cool. Even better, over the day I learned how to tie all my basic knots. If you need a tautline hitch or a bowline, I'm your guy :)
Permalink | Comments (2)April 07, 2005
I'll leave you alone if we can just talk about luncheon meat
Do I need to explicitly tell you which member of my family started a conversation with our son using that phase?
She isn't dealing well with the fact that when we say the Boy Scouts are a boy run organization, we mean it. Even if they appear to be planning on carrying lunch meat sandwiches around in their backpacks for 4 or 5 hours before lunch at the campout this weekend.
BTW, Breck assured her that he will fall back to the emergency cereal bar if that indeed is the plan.
I also don't believe for a second that this is the last we'll hear of it from her.
Permalink | Comments (0)February 26, 2005
A Very un-PC Birthday Party
Military themed birthday cake and accessories - $30.00
Paintball for 6 kids and 2 adults - $30 each
Nailing your son in the chest from 30 yards....priceless.
Both my kids' birthday parties this year required liability waivers from the parents.
The paintball field was a mud bog. It just added to the fun.
I'm not sure how we top it next year. Maybe skydiving?
Permalink | Comments (5)February 05, 2005
When did I get old enough...
...to have a son who is a Boy Scout?
He bridged over from Cub Scouts this evening. I'm not sure he realizes he just went from top dog back to bottom of the pack. The Scout Troop he has joined camps every month of the year except December. Expect some good cold weather camping stories...if I survive.
He recieved the Arrow of Light, the highest award in Cub Scouts. Only about 25% of Cub Scouts get it. Now he gets to start working on Eagle Scout!
Permalink | Comments (3)
January 26, 2005
18 divided by 2 = 9
My daughter is 9 today. Only nine more years until my job is essentially done. Of course I'll always be her father, but if we've done our job as parents well, by the time she is 18 she won't need our full time services anymore.
At age 9 she already has her entire life figured out. Goal one is to purchase an Andalusian horse, goal two is to purchase a large farm and build a herd of Andalusians.
I wouldn't bet against it. I'm just hoping she lets me put a small house on an out-of-the-way corner of her land :)
Permalink | Comments (2)November 01, 2004
Name That Costume
2 weeks free advertising on O'DonnellWeb to the first person who correctly identifies both costumes. Leave your answer in the comments. Immediate family members excluded of course.
Update Chad Harris wins. Breck is a Clone Trooper and Delaney is Laura Ingalls. Breck was asked several times if he was a White Power Ranger, or a Stormtrooper, which drove him nuts because is there is no White Power Ranger, and Stormtroopers are (of course) on the wrong side of The Force. The only people who had a clue who Delaney was were a couple of grandmothers, who were quite pleased that anybody in the current generation is still reading the books. Kim knew the answers, since it was a comment I left on her blog that inspired this post. If she wants a free ad she can have one too. It's not like I've got a backlog of people who want to pay to advertise here.
Kim, Chad - just follow the link to buy an ad, when it kicks you over to Paypal just quit at that point and send me an email to let me know you've done it so I can activate the ad.
More - A commenter points me to the white power ranger. Breck was never into The Power Rangers. Star Wars and GI Joe have always been his action figures of choice.
October 24, 2004
All Work and No Play...
Proof that the CEO of Horseshues.com does find time to get out and play. (Click on picture for larger image.)
October 14, 2004
Welcome Amado
The newest colt at Tamarack Stables has been named Amado. Take a look at who named the horse.
Permalink | Comments (1)October 09, 2004
Marriage is Good Work to do
Don't put your marriage on autopilot.Words of wisdom from Real Live Preacher.
We did the long adult weekend away...once. Damn that seems like a long time ago. Probably because it was. It was so long ago that I apparently never blogged it. We referred to it as our no chicken nuggets weekend.
Permalink | Comments (1)Camping Out For Flu Shots
Well, I'm not sure if anybody really camped out. However, on the advice of the pharmacist, Michelle got to the grocery store at 7 AM this morning to get in line for flu shots that start at 9 AM. She is 130th in line, which is fine because they have 270 shots. Our doctor had zero. The store is supposedly only giving shots to people in high risk groups, but I'm not sure how they are going to verify that. Anybody could lie and say they had asthma or something else.
This is a great example of the free market properly rationing a scare good. The people willing to pay the most (in time) get flu shots. The market reacted by rationing shots only to those in high risk groups that really need it. The government didn't mandate anything.
I've never had the flu or the flu vaccine.
Permalink | Comments (6)September 30, 2004
Who is Brian Jacques?
Ask your 10 year old, he will know. Brian Jacques was in town for a book signing at a small independent children's book shop in Fredericksburg.
About 400 kids, plus parents, were there to meet him. It was a huge crowd. I talked to people from Richmond (1 hour each way) and Norfolk (3 hours each way). The store can handle about 15 customers at a time comfortably, so they held the signing in an art studio above the book store. Some of the art was decidedly not child friendly, but the kids were so enthralled at Jacque's presence that I don't think any of them noticed.
Jacques talked for about 20 minutes. Then we waited almost 2 hours to get to the front of the line. Breck was bouncing off the walls as we left,so it was definitely worth it.
And yes, I am writing this during the debate that will feature no actual debating. I know where I stand on the issues, and I know which candidate is most palatable to me.
Permalink | Comments (4)September 21, 2004
The Old Crow
Today is Michelle's uh, ah, 29th birthday. Yeah, that's it :) The kids made birthday cards for her. Breck (who hates art) drew a picture of a large sailing vessel on the inside of his card.
He named the ship The Old Crow. When Michelle asked him why he named the ship The Old Crow he said, "Because it's a battered old ship."
He has no idea why we laughed ourselves into tears.
August 20, 2004
Happy 13th
I 'd like to wish my marriage a belated happy 13th birthday (it was yesterday). Fortunately, I did wish my spouse a happy 13th on the correct day.
We did nothing, nada, as in absolutely nothing. I had to trek in to the office, got home around 7. She brought me dinner from Hardees on her way home from picking up Breck at a birthday party, and we lounged on the couch and watched the Olympics.
How romantic, eh?
Permalink | Comments (5)July 27, 2004
Factory Tours
This has the potential to be a fun road trip - factory tours in York County, PA.
- Hershey
- Harley Davidson
- Utz Potato Chips
- Crayola
There is a vineyard and brewery too.
Unfortunately, I doubt Harley is giving away free samples after the tour.
July 22, 2004
Stupid Rabbits
The dogs have been obsessed with something under the deck - but I didn't see anything dead or alive under there. We figured it out today, a rabbit warren containing at least two baby rabbits.
Did I mention I have two beagles? They, of course, have been bred for hundreds of years for the singular purpose of hunting rabbit.
Which is worse?
- That the mother rabbit dug out her warren and gave birth in a fenced yard patrolled by two beagles.
- Or, the fact that the two beagles let it happen.
I've surrounded the warren with a cheap garden fence, which should keep the beagles at bay. Although I feel like I am messing with Darwin's Law here. A rabbit this dumb probably should not be passing its DNA to the next generation.
Permalink | Comments (0)July 17, 2004
Card Sharks
Sorry Ryan, this has nothing to do with the game show ;)
We've been playing cards with the kids every evening for the last couple of weeks. It started with Mille Borne, and we've progressed to Rummy, Spades, and as of last night, 5 card draw (betting pennies). When we quit last night, Breck wanted me to teach him to play "that game Jeff Gordan was playing on TV." He was referring, of course, to Texas Hold 'Em. It didn't go too well though, he had a hard time grasping Hold Em. Both the kids get 5 card draw though.
Can't start them too young ;)
Permalink | Comments (3)July 11, 2004
Damn Cars...
This morning I went to move my car out of the garage so I could get the lawn mower out.
Enter car, turn key, nothing.
Great - the battery is dead. I recruited the boy to push and we got the car out of the garage so I could manuver the minivan next to it and jump start it. It jumped easily, and I let it run for 15 or 20 minutes to recharge the battery.
The I turned off my car and attempted to restart it. Nothing.
The battery is completely dead. I took it to the autoparts store for a test. It needed to recharge a bit before they could even get a test done - it would take an hour. So I went home for lunch.
Went back to the store - the battery is toast so I had to buy a new one. I got the new battery home and when installing it noticed that the battery terminals were reversed, and my battery cables weren't long enough to reach. So I had to go back to the store and switch out the battery. It was totally their mistake - they gave me the wrong battery.
Fast forward 20 minutes, I'm home, new battery installed, I hop in the car to start it. Nothing. Not even the lights will come on. The car is getting no power at all.
I pop open the fuse box under the hood and the problem is immediately apparent - the 100 Amp fuse is blown. So I grab it to pull it out - it won't budge. I then realized there were two screws holding it in place. However, to get to those two screws, I had to remove two other screws. Once I got all that done - it still would not budge. At this point I took desperate measures and actually lowered myself to reading the f'ing manual. It turns out there are two hidden bolts holding the main fuse in. I had to completely remove the fuse box to get to them. P.I.T.A.
So now I'm off again to the autoparts store. Except this time I go to a different one because I don't feel like dealing with store 1 again. The fuse cost a whole $2.60.
This time once I got everything reassembled the car started fine. I pulled the positive battery cable off while it was running and it kept on running - indicating that it really was just the battery, and that I don't have an underlying alternator problem.
Changing the battery really shouldn't take up an entire afternoon.
Permalink | Comments (2)June 14, 2004
On the virtues of living slow
Fred First has penned a nice piece on slow living. I was just commenting to Michelle this weekend that I'm really looking forward to a summer with nowhere I "have" to be. Cub Scouts is done, Little League has a week or two to go, Girl Scouts will be done tomorrow, we have no major trips planned this summer, and starting next week I'll be working out of the house full time again, trading in my 4 hour round trip commute for a 10 second trip up the stairs to my office.
I think a lot of what Fred wrote will resonate with homeschoolers. I certaintly have come to understand that one of the primary benefits of homeschooling is the control we have over our lives. We aren't bound by an arbitrary government school calendar. We don't have to be at the bus stop at 7 AM. We don't have to vacation in the summer when everybody else does. We are very busy, but for the most part it is all stuff we have chosen to do. As Fred put it, "There is a difference between being busy and being hurried."
Permalink | Comments (2)March 06, 2004
Pinewood Derby Day
Breck's Pinewood Derby entry this year. He took 4th out of 11 in his den. It bounced off the track in one of his heats. He got 2 firsts, a third, and a fourth in his 4 races. The fourth coming in the race where he bounced off the track.
He had fun, which is the point. And nobody got hurt building the car either.
(In case you can't tell - it's a Humvee)
Permalink | Comments (2)
February 29, 2004
He's only been 10 for one day
I went in to say goodnight...
He is listening to Bon Jovi.
Michelle tells me that last week he decided he was tired of his music collection, and had segregated most of the CD's into a "too babyish" pile. So, Michelle told him to pay attention to the radio in the car and let her know what he liked.
His first two "likes" were Bon Jovi and The Beatles.
Michelle has forbidden me from introducing him to Led Zepplin. I'm guessing Iron Maiden is completely out of the question.
Permalink | Comments (3)February 28, 2004
Happy Birthday Breck
Was it really just 10 years ago that I held him for the first time and wondered to myself, what the hell do I do now? We are over 1/2 way to college, and only a couple of years from acne, girls, and all that fun stuff.
He is having several friends over and we are taking them to the arcade and laser tag arena for the afternoon. Then one friend is spending the night. The birthday fairy is bringing a BB Gun and Razor Scooter. Because you know, your not really 10 if your birthday presents don't somehow involve violence and danger. Mother Nature is conveniently delivering the first nice weekend of the year, 60+ and sunny both days. I suspect we will be torturing a few empty coke cans with the BB's. He also indicated that this would be a good weekend to start getting ready for baseball season. That translates into me pitching batting practice until my arm falls off.
February 17, 2004
Spring is in the air
And how do I know this you ask? It has nothing to do with robins in the yard, or even the imminent beginning of baseball spring training. Nope, I know spring is near because Carl's opened for the season last week.
What is Carl's? Ahh, only the finest custard available anywhere. We stopped by after dinner last night. The air temp was colder than the custard. And there was a short line. Not the summertime evening, 25 minute wait line, but I did have to stand in the sub freezing weather for a couple of minutes to get my first fix of the season.
Permalink | Comments (0)January 14, 2004
I hate deer
I particularly hate deer that commit suicide by running in front of my car and causing $2000 worth of damage.
The car is still drivable, and there were no injuries.
Well, except for the deer. It's dead. If it wasn't for Bambi deer would be recognized for what they really are - 500 pound rats.
Permalink | Comments (4)January 01, 2004
Welcome to 2004
We had the usual NYE celebration here. Me, Mrs O'DonnellWeb, the couch, a bottle of sparkling wine, and me frantically flipping back and forth between the various NYE specials trying to find one with an interesting musical guest. Oh, and to really complicate things, Xanadu was on the WE network.
Prior to the TV specials last night, I was playing around with Booksync, a nifty batch program that helps you syncronize your Mozilla bookmark file between two different machines. I also downloaded Firebird and I'm using it right now. It seems noticably quicker than Mozilla.
Xanadu, DOS batch programs, and Open Source software. My kind of New Year's Eve :)
Purdue spotted GA a 24 point lead in the first half today in the Citrus Bowl and then lost in overtime. Purdue seems to have that problem every year in the bowl games, we fall way behind early.
I don't make new year resolutions. However, Boortz had one today that I think is perfect. Do this and everything else takes care of itself.
Use wisely your power of choice.
Permalink | Comments (0)December 28, 2003
In-laws visiting
and I've lost my office as it is a guest bedroom for a couple more days. The redesign is about 90% done - it looks damn good :) I should be lauching it on Wednesday.
Permalink | Comments (0)December 25, 2003
Just 15 minutes
I want just 15 short minutes with the guy that decided to package toys by using 75 steel reinforced twist ties to hold them in the box. I'm certain that there is a special place in Hell for that guy, and I'm going to use my 15 minutes to send him there.
Consider it my Christmas present to parents everywhere. Assembly isn't even the hard part of Christmas morning anymore, it's getting the damn toys out of the box that makes me want to scream.
I must have been a good boy though, because Santa brought me a bunch of CD's, some DVD's, and a couple of books.
And a monkey.
Permalink | Comments (3)December 14, 2003
Parenting 101
Attention Parents:
There is a nasty flu going around. It is very contagious. People are dying. If you or your child has the flu, please stay away from my family. In particular, stay very far away from after school activities that involve groups of children. The fact you paid for the activity in no way gives you the right to show up and infect 20 otherwise healthy people with your strain of the virus. You're sick. Life sucks. Excercise some adult judgement - GO HOME AND STAY THERE.
Thank you.
(This is all theoretical. I am not sick. I intend to stay not sick. The key component of my strategy is to stay away from people that are too stupid to stay home when they are sick.)
Permalink | Comments (3)November 17, 2003
Disney: A Review of the other parks
Epcot
Epcot has evolved or devolved (depending on your POV) into being mostly about the World Marketplace, the collection of movie set like facades from various countries around the world. It's the most adult of the parks, with activity being centered mostly on eating, drinking, and shopping with a handful of "attractions." The History of Communications ride through the golf ball is still mostly lame, Test Track, the new thrill ride, is only thrilling if you are under 10. It's quite tame for the rest of us. Mission:Space sounds cool, I didn't ride it because I have a history of vomiting on rides that screw with your equilibrium.
MGM Studios
MGM may be the most fun park for adults. Space Tours is a simulation ride that put you in the Star Wars universe. It was Breck's 3rd favorite ride of the week. The Indiana Jones and Little Mermaid shows are truly spectacular and not to be missed. I passed on The Rock and Roll Coaster and Tower of Terror because I'm not a heights and speed guy.
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is unbelievable. Disney has re-created the Serenghetti Plains, in central Florida. Giraffes, elephants, gazelles and other natives of the Africa roam apparently freely throughout the park. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and could often see these animals roaming outside our hotel window. The safari tour takes you out in Range Rovers for a 20 minute drive through the plain and some up close looks and the animals. The Its's Tough To be a Bug 3-D show is incredible and has some very well done bio feedback stuff in the seats that I won't ruin for future visitors by disclosing here. The Dinosaur thrill ride is entertaining, although again calling it a thrill ride is a stretch.
November 16, 2003
Disney: A review of The Magic Kingdom
We spent 2 days in the Magic Kingdom, one day each at Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and MGM, and a few hours at Downtown Disney and DisnetQuest. The longest we waited in any line was about 30 minutes, and we only did that once. Beyond that, I don't think we were ever in line for more than 15 minutes.
The Magic Kingdom is, of course, the original Disney World park. However, parts of it feel very dated. Tomorrowland, home of Space Mountain, really looks like a bad parody of The Jetsons. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority, those slow moving people movers that run above ground throughout Tomorrowland, really need to go. The commentary about the transit of the future is just laughable. Also, the Tomorrowland Speedway is out of place. On one hand, you have Disney touting its eco-friendliness at every opportunity, particularly in the Animal Kingdom and Epcot. On the other hand, you have the kiddie-Indy cars which are powered by gasoline engines that I think are just hyped up lawn mower engines. They are loud, smelly, and to a generation of kids growing up on virtual racing games, probably somewhat outdated. It might be time to find a better use for that real estate. The new Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland is a big hit with the under 10 year old crowd.
Other classic attractions hold up well. The Haunted Mansion is still a blast. I wonder if I enjoyed it more because I've read Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom? The Pirates of the Caribbean is still fun, and although they may have PC'ed it up a bit, they missed a bunch of stuff too. Yes, we did It's a Small World, and it is still a damn annoying way to spend 5 minutes. The Tiki Birds have been updated and are quite funny, and the Hall Of Presidents has added George W Bush. I have always thought the animotronic Presidents were very cool.
Disney has added an awesome 3D show based on classic Disney tunes called Mickey's PhillHarMagic. It is a must see event when you are there.
With a real Animal Kingdom down the road, The Jungle Cruise seems particularly pointless. The only redeeming value is the constant witty banter from your river guide. It's almost like they know they are the whole show for that ride.
The Frontierland Shooting Gallery is still there, which was a surprise. I would have thought the anti-gun crowd would have gotten that removed years ago.
The characters are a bigger part of the park than I remember. They have designated places to appear and kids form long lines to get autographs and pictures. Getting autographs from the characters is a huge deal, every kid there had an autograph book and pen handy at all times. The character meals are a better place to get up close with the characters. More on that in my "low stress" post later this week.
Maybe I'm just a jaded adult, but the park just feels too commercial these days. Maybe it was that way 25 years ago and I just didn't see it because I was a kid and it was all about the magic. Most of the major rides empty out through an associated gift shop. As you try to leave the park, Main Street USA is clogged with vendors selling balloons, light sticks, and anything else they can think of to take a few more dollars out of your pocket. All the thrill rides take your picture on the big drop or other scary part and have them available for sale as you leave the ride. $12.95 for a 5 x 7 printout of a digital photograph. Are they smoking crack? The cost of the Disney experience in general is way out of hand.
Don't get me wrong. I had a great time. The kids proclaimed it "our best vacation ever." And that is what is really all about. Maybe I'm just bummed out that as an adult, some of the Disney magic is gone, and now I see it for what it really is. Commercialism done at a level few organizations will ever match. As a "selling machine" The Magic Kingdom is just about perfect.
Permalink | Comments (0)Back Home
We made it home, 13 hours and 45 minutes after we left. That works out to an average speed of 60.36 mph for the trip home. I averaged 65 mph on the way to Disney. 14 hours behind the wheel gave me ample time to mentally outline a few Disney related posts. Watch this space in the coming days for...
- A review of the parks
- Chris' hints for a stress free Disney vacation
- Things adults should never do at Disney World
- Proof that I really am smarter than just about everybody else
- Tigger hit on my wife
- If your kids are screaming maybe they are trying to tell you something
- The cult of Disney
- A mathematical equation that results in the answer 11?
- The halftime lead that Arizona blew against UCLA yesterday?
- The final score of the Mass Maritime - Westfield football game yesterday.
- The final score in a Babe Ruth 8-9 year old baseball game yesterday?
- All of the above
- Several pounds of Amazonite
- Fluorite
- Topaz
- Amethyst, including several stones that are fine jewelry quality once they are polished.
- A couple of very small, but very pretty Garnet stones.
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Permalink
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November 14, 2003
Disney'ed Out
We head back home tomorrow after 6 days in the Magic Kingdom, an environment perfectly created and managed to seperate money from parents. We've had a great time and I'll have stories and pictures to post next week. Right now though, I don't want to see another theme park for a very long time.
Permalink | Comments (0)November 02, 2003
Obligatory Halloween Photo
In case you can't figure it out...it's General Grant and a horse. But she is not General Grant's horse, she was very clear about that!
Permalink | Comments (3)October 28, 2003
Conversations with Breck
Michelle relayed this conversation that took place earlier today.
The scene: Michelle and the kids in the car in traffic near a shopping center. They see a panhandler working the corner.
Breck: Is that one of those church guys? (We have a problem with people from some so called church nobody has ever heard of frequently collecting on this particular corner)
Michelle: No, I think he is homeless
Breck: I don't think he is homeless.
Michelle: Why not?
Breck: Look at his shoes, look at that coat. He is dressed too nice to be homeless. If he can stand there and shake his cup all day he could be standing in any of these stores around here working. They all have help wanted signs in the windows. Roll down the window.
Michelle: Why?
Breck: I'm going to tell him to walk across the street to Kohl's and get a job.
Michelle: I am not rolling down the window.
Breck: Look at his sign. He thinks God will bless us if we give him money. I think God wants him to get a job. Did you say he is probably staying at the shelter?
Michelle: Yes
Breck: Then he isn't really homeless is he?
Luckily for Michelle, the light turned green at this point and she was able to drive on by.
Words can't even descibe how proud I am :) My son, the little Libertarian in the making.
Permalink | Comments (1)October 27, 2003
Di$ney Word is expensive
The kids got Halloween cards from Grandma today - with a $20 bill in each.
Breck: I'm going to save it for Disney Word and use it to buy a lemonade.
Delaney: Lemonade is only $8 at Disney World.
Breck: OK, I'll buy two.
I think we've done a pretty good job on setting expectations for the upcoming trip!
Permalink | Comments (2)October 19, 2003
Colder than a ...
It was 41 degrees last night in Haymarket, VA. This is relevant because I was camping with the Cub Scouts there last night. The DC area Boy Scouts own a couple of hundred acres that at one time was the proposed location for Disneyland DC. When Disney axed the project they gave the land to the Scouts. We went to bed at 9:30 for no other reason than it would be warmer in the sleeping bags.
I understand that with proper equipment cold weather camping is no big deal. However, all my equipment is geared for family trips in July. We had a great time regardless. Breck's favorite thing was the BB Gun range. On his second set of 5 shots he put 2 in the bullseye and 3 in the next ring out. Not too shabby. Archery didn't go quite as well for him, although I put one dead center while the dedicated bow hunter next to me didn't. Of course I also missed the target completely with 3 out of my 6 arrows. The bow hunter hit with all six.
Apparently, real cold weather camping is something he gets to do later on as a Boy Scout. That might be a good time to start fostering his independence by letting him go sans Dad.
Permalink | Comments (1)October 12, 2003
21-10
Does the subject line of this post represent
I have never been so miserable as I am sitting through these baseball games. Add to the fact that the coaches seem genuinely surprised that the kids keep losing this way and I'm ready to just scream. Breck of course sat the first two innings again, the coach has no concept that the point is to teach the kids to play. Then he sticks him in the outfield. Breck now has 10 at bats in 7 games. Every kid on the other team had 5 at bats in yesterdays game alone. I've spoken to the coach about the discrepancy in at bats among the kids. Since they always lose in 4 innings, the kids at the bottom of the order are getting screwed. 9 year old boys equate being in the outfield at batting last as a sign that the coach thinks they can't play. Unfortunately, that is exactly what this coach thinks. Breck is no superstar but he is far from the worst player on the team. Of course, he doesn't actually teach anything so what does he expect? And when they do try to teach something they are wrong, teaching flat out poor technique or focusing on stuff way beyond the kids ability. Just about every kid on the team has regressed as the season progressed. They are getting worse, not better. The parents have to drag the kids to the games because they aren't having any fun either. The team is 0-7 with six losses via the 10 run slaughter rule. We have parents threatening their children if they strike out or make a mistake. It's absolutely unbelievable. Thankfully, next week is the last week, we have 5 games in 7 days due to rainouts and the hurricane. Even better, we'll be camping with the Cub Scouts next weekend and will miss two games.
In other news, I should be coaching basketball again this year, so you can look forward to another exciting season of youth basketball stories.
Permalink | Comments (0)October 05, 2003
Kobe and ESPN
Remember when ESPN wanted to interview us regarding Kobe and parenting?
The show producer alerted us via email that the show was being broadcast this morning. Michelle and I watched it. I thought they did a good job with it. All three families profiled were handling the situation conservatively, trying to let their kids feel involved without getting into a discussion about the differences between rape and sexual assault. When we were talking to them they were trying to get a range of parenting approaches, from conservative to full disclosure. Interesting that they ultimately profiled 3 families that are handling like we are.
I don't really regret passing though. They had a shot of one family discussing Kobe with their daughter over dinner, and I commented to Michelle that they probably did about 20 takes of that shot over an hour and that on about take 5 she would lost patience with the whole thing and started throwing food at the camera crew :)
Permalink | Comments (0)September 21, 2003
Quotes from today's baseball game
These quotes are all from the same mother of one of the kids on the baseball team. In most cases they are paraphrased as I wasn't taking notes. Although I probably should have.
I can't believe I have to miss the race for a baseball game.
She is referring to NASCAR. And she had a headphone radio with her so she could listen to the race. I think golf on radio would be more exciting than NASCAR on radio.
Don't make me take you to the bathroom and whip your ass
Trying to discipline one of her three kids that wasn't playing baseball. The reaction of her kids (they totally ignored her) indicate that either she never follows through on the threat, or they are going to get beat regardless, so it doesn't matter. She then put her headphones back on and walked away.
Don't be swinging at that crap this time at bat.
Hitting advice to her son.
Ryan Newman needs to hit a wall and die
Reacting to the news that Newman was leading the race. There is nothing a diehard redneck NASCAR fan likes less than a college boy dominating "their" sport. BTW, to the slight extent that I follow NASCAR, Newman is my favorite driver. He ultimately won today's race.
Can't we call the slaughter rule and end this. I can still get home in time for the end of the race
Showing concern and empathy for her son who was in the midst of losing a baseball game 18-1 in 4 innings. The kids have now been outscored 28-1 in their two games - both ending under the 10 run rule after 4 innings.
Breck says he is having fun playing though. Ultimately, that is all I care about. Although we will be bringing lawn chairs to all future games - so we can sit in a quieter area and not worry about what Delaney might be seeing or hearing around her.
And when we went to dinner at Logan's, there was a group of adults in the waiting room engaged in a full out peanut war (Logan's provides unlimited peanuts). Delaney commented that they shouldn't be thowing food. The 7 year old understands proper behavior in public, every damn adult I ran across today doesn't have a clue.
I'm really ready for that 100 acre ranch. Civilization just isn't civilized enough for me.
Permalink | Comments (3)Happy Birthday Michelle
Today is Michelle's birthday. She is uh, umm, 29 years old. Yeah, that's it :)
Happy birthday sweetie.
I tried to be a good hubby and do the grocery shopping for her last night. Instead, I got to experience what the people in the poor counties experience when they walk into the grocery store and find the shelves empty. Food Lion's produce and dairy sections were bare. I couldn't find the first 7 or 8 things on the list, so I gave up. I went across the street to Ukrops in hopes of at least finding bread and milk. They were stocked up OK. They were also selling the generic store brand milk @ $3.69/gallon. The going rate is about $2.79. I don't go to Ukrops normally but it is hard to believe they always have a commodity like milk priced significantly higher than the competition. Price gouging in the aftermath of a hurricane is somewhat unbecoming for a store that promotes it's Christian ideals by closing on Sundays and refusing to sell evil products like beer and wine.
Then again, maybe they are always that expensive.
Permalink | Comments (1)September 19, 2003
Isabel - The Aftermath
Isabel did tear through here about 2 AM last night. My wife reports that it was quite loud. I slept through it.
Looking around my property this morning it was hard to tell anything major happened. There was some debris in the yard, but really nothing worse that the day after a nasty summer thunderstorm. I decided to be productive with the unexpected day off, so I set off to the auto parts store to buy supplies to give the minivan a rightous fall cleaning. The auto parts store was open - but only accepting cash since their power was out. The entire strip mall a mile from my house was dark. So were several street lights. The shopping center across the street was dark too. Except for Autozone. They had power. My neighborhood looked pretty normal, the old part of the neighborhood was trashed, trees down, limbs everywhere, etc. After listening to the radio I think our subdivision may be the only place in the county with power. It's almost like some surreal movie scene. There has been a catastrophic event, but in the bubble of my property, nobody knows about it.
5 hours later the van looked like new. I washed, waxed, vacuumed, cleaned he wheels with a toothbrush, shined the tires, cleaned the dash and interior, etc. There is a lot of sheet metal on that damn van. I didn't think I was ever going to finish buffing. Now I need to do my car too.
Permalink | Comments (0)September 18, 2003
Weather Update - 4 PM
I don't think I've ever seen a radar image that solid with color. The power has blinked off momentarily 3 times in the last hour. (Good thing I have all three PC's on UPS). Hopefully it's not a harbinger of things to come. It's been raining since about noon, and the wind is a steady 20 mph with an occasional gust that rattles the windows. The eye of Isabel is due to pass over us around 2 - 4 AM tonight. Could be a long evening.
September 17, 2003
Batten Down the Hatches
We got back about 1 AM last night. So I got to spend today mowing, and making general preperations for Isabel (the hurricane). Anything loose from the yard is in the garage, hanging plants are taken down, deck cleaned off, and the beer is in the fridge.
Bring it on!
The trip was wonderful, even if both games were losses for the teams we were rooting for. We drove 1400 miles over 5 days, ate way too much fast food, and paid way too much in tolls. (Where does Deleware get off charging $2 for a 15 mile strip of I-95?) Surprisingly all the roads were in good condition, even the NJ Turnpike. The only construction we hit was in rural NY west of Albany - it didn't really slow us down though. A little diversity on the Mass Pike would be nice - McDonald's seems to have a monopoly on eating establishments at the service centers. NY seems to require gas stations, restaurants, etc to be at least 5 miles from any Thruway interchange, turning any rest stop in NY into a 20 minute detour.
Our seats at both games were great. I tried hard to get a Marlin to toss Breck a batting practice ball - to no avail. I thought him decked out in a Marlins hat and shirt in the sea of Phillies kids might get him noticed. Mike Mordecai had several chances to toss a ball to Breck and instead chose to pretend that none of the kids at the railing existed. So, Mike is officially designated an asshat from this day forward. Breck used the term jerk, which is about as strong a language as he is allowed to use. Dontrelle Willis and some other Marlin we couldn't ID were also in the same area and they threw several balls up to the kids.
The Hall of Fame is in the middle of a renovation. It needs it. It is very dated. They have 55,000 hours of baseball footage on film. Exactly 0 is being used in the museum. Some sort of digital surround sound enhanced "experience the great moments of baseball" thing would be awsome, and not terribly difficult to do. They have all the content, they just need to use it.
I didn't realize just how close Philly is to the DC area (when traffic isn't an issue.) I might have to do a couple of National League games next year.
I didn't check email or see a web site for 5 days. I didn't miss it at all.
Day 1 - Boston
Day 2 - Cooperstown
Day 3 - Philadelphia
August 20, 2003
Would You Go on TV?
Imagine for a moment that you left a comment over at Michele's blog regarding the Kobe Bryant situation. Further, imagine that somebody at ESPN saw the comment and sent you an email asking if you would answer a few questions about how you are dealing with the Kobe Bryant stuff with your 9-year old Kobe fan.
Now imagine that something you wrote in the email reply caught their attention, and they called you and asked about coming to your house with a reporter, producer and film crew to film an interview for Outside The Lines discussing the Kobe Bryant situation and how you are dealing with it as a parent. The show would feature 3 families, and then host Bob Ley would have psychologists as guests to discuss the issue.
Would you do it? We've been wrestling with this issue for the last two days.
After 4 or 5 phone conversations with the ESPN folks, Michelle could just not get comfortable with the idea so we declined to participate. I thought it would be an interesting experience. Also, since I'm not going to be a web gem anytime soon, this was probably my only shot a fulfilling the male fantasy of being on ESPN :)
Oh well, back to my regularly scheduled life I guess.
Permalink | Comments (3)August 19, 2003
Happy Anniversary Sweetie
Fred posted the story of how he met his wife (blind date.) Since I too met my wife on a blind date (sort of), I thought I'd share the story here. This is a particularly good day to do this, since today is our 12th anniversary.
The year was 1987. The month was February. I'm 90% sure the date was the 21st, but it might have been the 28th. I and several fraternity brothers had made our way to the Theta Xi fraternity house for a party. Upon arriving, we headed up the stairs to the party. Coming down the stairs at that exact time (on their way out) were Michelle and a friend. Michelle and my friend John knew each other from living in the same dorm the previous year. Conversation ensued, and at some point that night Michelle asked John to go to a sorority dance with her.
John had a girlfriend. Actually I did too.
The next day when we sobered up, John decided that he would never get away with the sorority dance date, and asked me if I was interested in pinch hitting for him. My foggy memory of the previous nights proceedings did include me thinking Michelle was cute, so I said yes.
Michelle tentatively agreed, pending coming over to our place for a party the next weekend. Apparently, I didn't overwhelm her with my charm and good looks at the frat party that night. This meant I had to keep my current girlfriend away from our frat house the next weekend. So I concocted some story about drinking with the guys and convinced her it was a good night to party separately.
Michelle came over, we talked, we danced, and all was going swimmingly well. A group of us were in John's room partaking of whatever overly alcoholic concoction he was mixing up in the blender (probably Tom Collins) when one of our pledges said he needed to talk to me. When I stepped out of John's room the pledge told me that my girlfriend was downstairs looking for me.
Oops.
I don't remember how long it took me to get rid of her, probably five minutes, although it seemed like an hour as I imagined all the bad things that would happen if they came face to face. ( I should note the existing girlfriend was someone I had met a week or two previously, not somebody I was seriously involved with.) Anyway, the evening progressed and as the party wound down I walked Michelle back to her dorm.
We kissed goodnight, and I fell in love. Although I had a fine time with her that evening, nothing that had transpired hinted at the flock of butterflies that would take over my stomach when we kissed for the first time. I sorted floated home with a weird feeling that this was different than the revolving door of girlfriends I had maintained up to that point in my life. A couple of weeks later we went to her sorority dance, and were officially "a couple."
That weird feeling was prophetic, we were married 4-1/2 years later.
I don't know if was random chance, Clotho spinning the threads of fate, or the hand of God at work that night. It's a little scary to contemplate just how important one 15 second span of time was to my life. If we get to the Theta Xi party 15 seconds earlier or later, we don't run into Michelle in the stairwell, John and Michelle don't start talking, and he never gets the opportunity to set up the date. And I certainly wouldn't be as happy as I am today.
Happy Anniversary sweetie.
Permalink | Comments (3)July 20, 2003
Miner 49'er
On Saturday, we took a roap trip down to Morefield Mines, an operating gem mine in central VA. They dredge out tons of raw material from below the surface and dump it up top, where the public (for a small fee) can dig through it, collecting bucketfuls of material which you then screen in a running stream of water to expose the rocks, just like the old school miners did it 150 years ago. I have to admit, I got rather excited when something pretty turned up in my screen. I can only imagine the thrill if that something was a shiny gold nugget. Normally, I would have pictures to share, but I was so into mining I forgot to use the camera! We took home about 10 pounds of rocks, including:
Plus some other stuff that is pretty to look at, but I have no idea what it is.
Morefield has a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian, so it does occasionally turn up world class gems.
A lot of fun, and a highly reccomended trip if you are in the DC area.
Permalink | Comments (1)July 10, 2003
Twister
I had a rather eventful ride home from Little League with Nomar Jr. They won by forfeit as the other team only had 7 kids show up. We loaned them a couple of ours (we had 13) to play a scrimmage game, but it was called due to lightning in the 2nd inning.
The storm was getting rather fierce, and the cloud formations had those characteristic low spikes of cloud that are a harbinger of tornados to come. (Those of you in the midwest will know exactly what I'm talking about.) As I'm stopped at a stop light, a lightning bolt and thunderclap popped very very close to the car. It seemed instantaneous, and since light travels much faster than sound, it had to be close be seen and heard simultaneously. It was so loud that it startled me and Breck, and the lightning was so close that we had no sense of where it was exactly. It just lit up all around us.
About 3 blocks later, I'm at the stop light to turn into my neighborhood. As I looked to my left, I saw a funnel cloud that appears to be only a 1/4 mile or so away. It was not a forceful tornado at this point, more of a lazy rolling cloud formation but there was a very obvious counterclockwise swirl that got noticeably faster and tighter in the 30 seconds I watched it. When the light turned green, I exceeded the posted speed limit in the neighborhood to get home to the safety of my basement if needed. I turned the TV on and sure enough, the super duper Doppler 9000 radar was showing a tornado at the exact intersection I had just passed through.
As far as I know, it did not touch down anywhere near us though.
Permalink | Comments (1)June 28, 2003
A real pitcher's duel
Rain wiped out over half of our little league practices ,and the first game. The kids finally got to play on Thursday. 2 hours and only 4 innings later, we (the Giants) had lost 10-9 after going into the bottom of the 4th with a 5 or 6 run lead. The game featured 6 or 7 hits, and about 30 walks. The umpire was a no-show, so the coaches took turns behind the plate. I was calling anything from the top of the shoulders to the bottom of the kneecaps, that was in the same zip code as the plate, a strike. Nomar Jr was happy with his day, 0-1 (fielders choice), 2 walks, 2 runs scored. We had a few kids missing that will be back today, so for today's game we have to get 14 kids into the game for 2 consecutive innings with an a bat. Games are only 5 innings or 90 minutes. Do the math. It's not easy.
Permalink | Comments (0)June 22, 2003
So much for Harry Potter
Breck started reading the book at about 5 PM last night. He finished at 3 PM today. 900 pages in less than 24 hours. As far as we know, he did sleep last night.
He proclaimed it the best Harry Pottter book so far.
I've got to catch up and read 3 & 4 before I read the new one.
Permalink | Comments (2)May 18, 2003
Fredericksburg Luminaria
This coming Saturday (May 24th) the Fredericksburg Battlefield National Cemetary will be glowing with the gentle lights of 16,000 candles that have been placed by the graves of the veterns interned there.
Did you ever wonder who sets up 16,000 candles? Who fills up 16,000 zip lock bags with sand and places them in the white paper bags? For this particular event, that somebody is the Boy Scouts and their fathers, mostly the fathers. We did a two hour shift yesterday filling ziplock bags with sand. it stopped being fun well before the two hours were up :) The project was completed in 4 hours - so we were doing 4000 bags an hour. That seems like a lot - there were no more than 50 people working at a time. I'm feeling it in my forearms today.
Permalink | Comments (0)May 15, 2003
Riding a Horse = Hard Work
I took advantage of my week off and tagged along for my daughter's horse riding lesson today. I had no idea so much was involved in riding a horse. Posture, position of the feet in the stirrups, and how you hold the reins seem to matter a lot. Also, I had no idea that the rider doesn't really sit in the saddle when the horse is at a trot. The position can be described as doing squats in time with a moving animal. Not easy, and I can see why she is so exhausted after a 30 minute lesson. I could also see that she is absolutely thrilled to be there. She even fell off today (a first) and got right back up ready to go. The instructor wasn't happy with her form on the fall and made her practice a few emergency dismounts before they continued. She also spent some time at a cantor pace, which is pretty quick. Quick enough that falling would hurt a lot I think. Probably the best part of the lesson was Michelle's reaction when the one of the farm dogs came out from under a wood pile with a snake in his mouth. (It was a black racer - totally harmless). Of course, in Michelle's world, the only good snake is a dead snake.
I expect in a couple of years I'll be writing about my search for a new home, one that can accomodate a 4 legged resident of the equine variety. I don't think this is the typical little girl obsession with horses. I think it's the beginning of a life long passion that will cost me a lot of money ;)
Permalink | Comments (1)May 13, 2003
Kid's Meals
One thing that drives me nuts about restaurants is the tendency to way overcharge on kids meals. I have no issue with restaurants making a profit, however when doing the mental calculation on a dinner out - you tend to brush off the kids meals as inconsequential. However, twice in the last month or so we have been somewhere that was charging $4 or more for kids meals. At our favorite local pizza joint, the two kids meals actually cost more than the pizza. That's ridiculous. We'll stick to take out pizzas there in the future. The pizza is quite good, but no way am I paying $3.50 for a kid sized bowl of pasta, and over $4 for chicken nuggets and fries, plus drinks.
May 11, 2003
Weekend Update
Friday Evening: Added to the nation's econmic woes by increasing the unemployment results by one person. I have a new gig starting the 19th - so this amounts to one week off to get some stuff done around the house. There are worse things in life.
Saturday: Road trip to the Green Valley Book Fair. The 2 hour drive took us up and over a 5000 ft mountain. The visibility near the peak was about 5 feet. Made for a fun few minutes of driving. Green Valley seemed weak compared to the last few visits. I only bought three books. The kids bought 15-20 each and Michelle found a few. Our typical take is 75-100 books. Still, it was all at 80% or more off retail, so it was a worthwhile endevour.
Sunday: Mother's Day. Cleaned the garage, dinner with the family at Logan's Roadhouse. It's a chain but it is quite good. Now the garage is ready for the installation of pegboard on one wall. That is one of my projects for this week. I also plan to rip a boatload of MP3's, and acquire a 128MB SmartMedia card for my Rio500 in preperation of my commute into DC for the new job.
Also, on Suday, we found this guy in our front flower bed. It's an Eastern Box Turtle, male. He seems harmless enough to the plants so we'll let him stay.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 25, 2003
Bob The Builder He Was Not
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away....
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Yesterday, my builder had his grading crew at my neighbor's house reshaping the drainage easement that runs along the property line. They didn't bother to call Miss Utility, and the guy in the bulldozer severed my phone cable. They spliced it back together within 15-20 minutes. Later on that morning, he hit my fence with the bulldozer, causing some damage. Bulldozer Billy, or whatever his name is, actually refused to repair the damage. Apparently, my fence jumped in front of his 'dozer, so it wasn't his fault.
The superintendant for the builder ended up repairing my fence that afternoon.
I was also told they were going to check the slope of my yard, as it tends to remain swamplike it spots for 7-10 days after a rain.
They didn't.
That is an awful lot of inconvenience to suffer from a crew that wasn't even working on my property. If they had been regrading my yard the house might have gotten leveled in the process.
Permalink | Comments (0)April 22, 2003
It's Always Something
I had to buy a new lawn mower yesterday. My previous mower was only two years old, but woefully under powered for our new and much larger yard. (It was a bottom of the line Murry, fine for my tiny yard at the old house though). The steel rod that the blade actually spins around broke loose from the engine and now it spins too. I'm probably lucky the blade didn't come flying off at 3000 RPM.
Anyway, the new mower is sweet. 6.5 HP, direct drive from the rear wheels, ball bearing wheels all around, and $100 off at Sears. I mowed the front yard today much quicker and more efficiently than I ever had before.
So, of course, my gas powered string trimmer would not start. It's 11 years old, and I'm pretty sure the original air filter and spark plug are still in it. Hopefully it just needs a tune up that I can do myself for $10 or so.
It seems like power tools, appliances, stereo equipment, etc always break in bunches. Last year I had to buy a dishwasher, TV, and Vacuum Cleaner all in the same month.
Permalink | Comments (1)April 16, 2003
Almost Famous
My daughter's Brownie troop solicited donations and collected enough to send about 100 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, plus other assorted stuff that they can use, to the troops overseas. The effort made the local paper.
Permalink | Comments (1)April 13, 2003
Joys of Parenthood
Ticket to Girl Scout's Father-Daugher Dance: $9
New Dress for Delaney: $20
Dinner out with family prior to dance: $28
Opportunity to embarrass my 7-year old daughter during the chicken dance: Priceless
Permalink | Comments (0)April 06, 2003
Kwaj Kids (80-85) High School Reunion
My high school reunion is next August in Maui. My graduating class had 26 in it, so we need to roll few years together to get enough people there to make a party of it. Officially, it will be my 19th year reunion. Egads, do I suddenly feel old.
We were married in Hawaii, and I would love to take the kids back there. I seem to remember us planning on going back for our 5th anniversary. Real life squashed those plans! Given that you lose a whole day traveling each direction, you really need to spend at least 7 days there to make it worth the effort. I think that us getting married and spending a week there cost about $5000, and that was in 1991. So...maybe $10 grand for a family of 4 for a week?
OK - I actually went and looked up some rates...
Flight - about $3200 RT
Hotel (Outrigger Waikiki) - $239 / night
Trans/Food/Spending - $500 / day ?
If we stay there 8 days, it looks like the $10 grand number I pulled out of my ass is pretty damn close.
BTW, I don't really expect any of you to care about this. I was just going to blog the link so I wouldn't lose it...and a post developed in the process.
March 24, 2003
Conversations with a 9 year old
Background: My son has been fascinated by war since he was 4 years old. He knows way more about the Civil War than most adults, myself included. For the last few months he has been reading up on WWII. So, I've been watching some of the news with him. I want him to understand that war is not glorious, its hell. While watching I ask him if he thinks being a soldier is a good job.
Breck: Its looks cool.
Me: Do you think so? It could be dangerous. You know, your grandfather was in the Air Force. Would you like to go to the Air Force Academy and be a pilot?
Breck: No, I'd rather be in the Army.
Me: Why the Army?
Breck: I want to be on the ground where all the action is.
I guess I can be encouraged that I've got 9 years... and he is just 9. In his fantasy world of GI Joe and green army men, the good guys always win, and they never suffer casualties.
I was supposed to go to the Air Force Academy too. What my parents didn't count on was that when I was 17 I would have long hair and a really bad attitude. In reality, I would have been borderline at best to get preliminary acceptance. Supposedly, Grandpa had the appointment in the bag for me if I got in. We'll never know...
And by the way, I'm kidding above. I would be very proud if he decided to go for any Military Academy appointment. I would prefer USAF though. They don't call it the country club of the military for nothing.
Permalink | Comments (1)March 01, 2003
Birthdays
Egads, my son turned 9 yesterday. Breck is 1 year away from being 10, half-way to 18, 3 maybe 4 years from really caring about girls, and probably 4 years from starting to dream about the day he gets the car keys.
Heh, I don't think he is aware of my views about 16 year olds and driving.
His birthday present was new bike, skateboard, and assorted instruments of war (of the GI Joe variety). It was very important that the bike (standard issue BMX) have a hand brake. Apparently that is the big thing these days. When I was nine hand brakes were for girls. Actually, brakes in general were pretty much frowned upon.
What was the "big" milestone age for you?. For me it was 10. I don't know if reaching double figures matters that much today, but to military brats it was huge. 10 was the age when you had to report to billeting and get your very own military ID card. Today, the libertarian in me recoils in horror at the thought of being excited about getting a government ID card. But on base, the card meant freedom. No longer was mom required to escort me to the library, or to the store. With my own ID card, I was free to roam the base at will. And roam we did. I don't care how many ID cards Breck may have, at age 9, he isn't leaving my sight on that bike.
I know we all had more freedom as kids than we will ever give our kids today. I don't know if the world really is that much more scary today than it was in the 70's, when I was exploring the world on my BMX bike. It may have been a scary place on the outside, but inside the confines of a military base surrounded by armed guards and barb wire, I never had a care in the world. I think one of the reasons I am so pro-homeschooling is that maintaining that level of control over the inputs into my kids lives allows us to keep the worries of the world at bay for just a little bit longer. He will have plenty of time to worry about world peace and the environment. At age 9, he should be worrying about mastering a BMX bike with a hand brake.
Permalink | Comments (0)February 24, 2003
IKEA Rocks!
I realize that this will probably reduce my cool quotient a bit...but we are all about honesty here at ODonnellWeb.
I had never been in an Ikea store before yesterday. It's probably a good thing. Easy access to IKEA would be very detrimental to my financial position. My God is that store loaded with really cool stuff that I never knew I needed, until I saw it yesterday. Somehow we managed to get out of there after only spending $25. That is probably directly related to the fact that we spent the day next door in the largest indoor outlet mall in the US, stocking on up spring and summer clothes for the kids.
Permalink | Comments (3)February 14, 2003
Valentine's Day Haiku
Babysitter sick
Quiet dinner with wife out
Dinner with kids in
February 13, 2003
Fredericksburg under siege!
Its not quite that bad, but something odd is going on. On her way to a docotor's appointment yesterday, Michelle saw armored military vehicles patrolling near the local hospital. There was also a manned military vehicle in the parking lot of the doctor's office, and it were still there, guarding against some unseen threat, when she left an hour letter.
I still get a weird feeling every time I drive by the Pentagon and see the soldiers manning a big ass, truck mounted, automatic weapon. It just doesn't feel right. Soldiers partrol the public streets in other countries, not here in the US.
I guess I ought to get used to it, I don't see it changing anytime soon.
Permalink | Comments (0)February 05, 2003
The Smithsonian is not free!
Michelle just related this story to me...
She was chatting with a friend a few days ago, making plans for an outing with the kids. Michelle's friend suggested heading into DC to visit one of the Smithsonian museums, commenting that they are free.
At this point, Breck interjects into the conversation to explain that the Smithsonian is not free, it's paid for with taxes, and that we are the taxpayers. He continues by saying " My daddy says that the government takes too much tax money from us."
Quick, somebody nominate me for father of the year. I'm obviously doing a great job!
Permalink | Comments (2)January 31, 2003
I can't type (but you already knew this)
My wife has decided her purpose in life is to read ODonnellWeb and IM me with typos she finds on the site. There are plenty, she has not chosen a difficult task. Maybe I should set her up with a blog where she can post her grammatically correct prose. I have never been good at proofreading my own work. I can read my own writing over and over again and I'll be totally oblivious to typos that are very obvious to others. Grammar and spelling were never my best subjects anyway. I try to check my posts by cutting and pasting into Cetus Notepad, spellchecking, and then returning the text to the Moveable Type. Sometimes I forget, and I think sometimes I copy when I should paste, and vice versa. I'll try to do better now that she has made me self conscious.
Also, I never learned to type properly. That wasn't an important skill for guys when I was in school. I wish I could type 60 wpm with 99% accuracy. I would guess I'm more in the 25 wpm range, with maybe 90% accuracy. I will definitely encourage Breck (and Delaney) to learn to type, because in the digital age typing is a critical skill, in my opinion.
Permalink | Comments (1)January 26, 2003
Happy Birthday Delaney
Delaney is 7 today. Halfway to being a teenanger. Hopefully when she is 14 she'll remember her 7th birthday and have some mercy on us! Delaney is obsessed with horses. Horse books, horse toys, everything revolves around horses. So, for her birthday, we took Delaney and her best friend for their first riding lesson. If my posting here gets less frequent over the next couple of weeks you'll know that I've had to cancel my DSL line to finance the regular riding lessons that I'm sure are coming very, very soon.
January 21, 2003
From the Glad We Moved Dept
Date: 1/17/2003 Time: 0353 Location: Residence
600 block of Nathan Place NE Incident: Simple Assault
An incident of an assault was reported to police. The parties involved were advised of warrant procedures.
Since I moved in Sept, there have been 2 assualts, 1 domestic violence, and one credit card fraud investigation on my old street of about 40 homes. When you factor in the amount of crime that doesn't get reported.... And to think people are paying in the $300K neighborhood to live there. Yikes!
Permalink | Comments (0)January 04, 2003
Fredericksburg Battlefield pictures
Pictures from my day spent exploring the Fredericksburg Battlefield are now available in the gallery.
Permalink | Comments (0)December 27, 2002
Why We Moved reason 468
From the Leesburg police blotter
Date: 12/24/2002
Time: 0841
Location: Residence
600 block of Nathan Place NE Incident: All Other Offenses
Juvenile Petition Service - Threats Juvenile petitions charging an 18-year- old Hyattsville, MD woman with Threats was served.
Looks like my former neighbors are at it again. Too bad we didn't press charges when she threatened to shoot Michelle. That would make this a repeat offense. Hopefully the Leesburg police will realize that the so called MD resident really lives right there, even though her car has MD tags. This is the third police report for our old block - which had maybe 15 houses, since we moved 3 months ago. I'll bet all were the psychos across the street from us.
Permalink | Comments (0)December 26, 2002
It's a Christmas Miracle
Well, maybe it wasn't quite a miracle, but I am pretty damn proud of myself for what I pulled off as Michelle's Christmas present this year.
I used ULead DVD Slideshow to create a retrospective of our 15 years together. This was not as easy as it sounds. I work from home most of the time, and Michelle is homeschooling the kids, s