Now with Extra Extra-Extra

Tonight we took Jasmine out for her 20th birthday!  Wow, not a teenager anymore!  HOORAY!  Though that means she's a grown up now, though I said she's been a grown up since she turned 18, but either way she's not a teenager anymore so good for her.

For the celebration we went out to Benihana to get some delicious dinner.  I love going to Japanese steak houses, and have since the first one we went to Kobe in Leesburg as a teenager with a friend and her family.  It was so neat and I'd never been to anything like that before.  I'm a little sad that they don't light the grill on fire anymore, but I"m sure that has to do with lawsuits and liability and all that crap.

However, one thing we haven't dealt with in quite a while is the tendency for people around these parts to insist in what we call "Extra-Extra".  For some reason when we end up at a table with other people they often ask for not just extra, but extra-extra garlic butter on the fried rice.  I've even heard a couple of people ask for a side of the butter to dip their food into.  We haven't dealt with that in a while because usually when we go we take up an entire table so we aren't sharing with anyone else.

Well tonight we even surpassed the extra-extra and ended up with more butter than I would imagine anyone would use on fried rice.  It looked like an entire bowl full of butter.  I think there was more butter than in a small tub you could get at the store.  It was an extra amount of extra-extra.  As a result the rice was very garlic and buttery.

Other than that it was a great dinner and I had a lovely time.

Picture(s) of the Day:
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Looks like my 5th birthday.  I really don't remember this far back for the most part.  I look at things on the table like the glass or the can of Postum that Bernie used to drink, but I really don't remember my 5th birthday at all. I know I wasn't in school yet, but that's about all I remember from that time.

Problem Solved?

Recently I mentioned that our remaining cat has taken to using the floor as his litter box for no apparent reason.  It's rather annoying to constantly be cleaning up messes from animals, and having elderly and sick animals (not to mention neurotic asshole animals) it feels like I'm constantly cleaning something up.  Well, I read a few things and we decided to try a few of the suggestions and it seems like that has worked.  We've gone a number of days now with nothing on the floor, which is great news!

Basically I moved on of the litter boxes right to the spot that he was peeing, and I also removed the hoods that were on the litter boxes, and that seems to have solved all the problems.  I might take a few more steps to shift the location slightly around the corner so it's not in the main walking path, but so far it seems like he just didn't like the hoods and location. 

It feels like it can't be that simple, but we've gone a while now without any issues so fingers crossed that things are now being deposited to the correct location and I'm not mopping every single day.

Picture(s) of the Day:
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This tiny shed is where we waited for the bus when I was in elementary school.  You'd walk to the front of the trailer park and hang out in the shed if it was cold and nasty out.  Though in this situation it looks like it's perhaps early fall and my guess is that I'm waiting for the bus to Kindergarten because it seems to be midday and I had PM kindergarten.

Reading: The Monuments Men

Today I finished the first book of the month, though I didn't do a lot of reading this month which is obvious since it's the 29th and I finished my first book.  Though, I tend to go a little slower when I read non-fiction than when I read fiction.  Anyhow, today I finished The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel.  The book is about the group of soldiers during World War II who were tasked with protecting the art and architecture of Europe during the war.  They generally worked alone or in small groups and would go in and try and protect cultural significant places from being destroyed and were in charge of tracking down all the stolen art that the Nazis hid all over the country when the war turned (thought for a long time they refused to plan for this eventuality and those who suggested securing the art were consider borderline treasonous scum).  So, the book follows a number of these guys as they worked their way across Europe trying to find important art and to secure it so it could be returned.

A few  years ago there was a movie based on this book, though after reading the book it was clearly very loosely based on the book.  None of the characters in the movie had the same names as the actual soldiers, and while he movie covered the general stories that were told in the book, they used a lot of artistic license with them to make things more dramatic.  Not saying the movie wasn't good and it didn't drive people to learn more and probably read this book (I mean, that's why I picked it up).

I enjoyed the book, though for a non-fiction piece the author also used some artistic license with some of the "conversations" that he extrapolated to make the story more personal than academic.  I enjoyed reading about the people and the crazy things they found (like a mine full of basically all the gold in Germany which today would have been worth over $5 Billion.  So, it was a good book and a very interesting story.  Thumbs up!

Picture(s) of the Day:
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No idea of the date here, I'm guessing that I was probably maybe five or so in this picture.  My guess is that it would have been sometime after my mom got married to Bernie, but I'm not entirely sure of the time line.

Tuesdays Are Hard

I don't know why but Tuesday seems to be a day that's far too hard for me to get out of bed.  The past few weeks I have not been able to get myself out of bed to run in the morning.  It's only on Tuesdays that this seems to happen, and the rest of the week I end up getting up early and getting my run in before work.  Tuesday I just wake up to a great big bowl of NOPE!

There's nothing particularly bad about Tuesdays that would make it any worse than any other day. Perhaps it's the day that my body just has to reset to being back in the work week.  I don't know, but for what ever reason I just can't seem to get up early and run on Tuesdays. 

Stupid Tuesdays.

In other news we got Fury in Netflix tonight.  I'm not sure I really enjoyed it.  The characters were kind of shitty, and I think they were going for a movie that is less glowing about the people who served in World War II.  That seems to happen once you get a certain distance from an event.  The glowing stories of things is made less so. The stories want to swing toward the more negative aspects, the bad things people did even the "good guys" to show a more "real" story about history.  In this case it wasn't based on any real people or events, but they wanted to show the toll that war took on the mental and emotional state of the soldiers serving.  It was only so-so, and I don't know I enjoyed it.  I felt more like they were trying to force the negative cynicism that is common today and put that into the past. It seemed more like modern interpretation of past events than the past being it's own world.

I think a lot of people make that mistake and see history as the same as today only before rather than seeing it like a completely different world.  In reality it's totally foreign.  People in the past are not like the people of today because their worlds were shaped by different events, different ideals and different realities.  You can't take modern sensibilities and put them over the past.  We have the benefit of hindsight and distance.  We have detachment from the situation.

I dunno, perhaps it was just a kind of crappy movie that was trying too hard to say something.

Picture(s) of the Day:
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The picture corner says that this was sometime in 1985, so I would have probably been 4 when this picture was taken and Amanda would have been around two. That's quite a fancy bow tie and vest thing I have there.

Dreams

I had the weirdest dream last night about my paternal grandparents.  I'm not sure why, it's not like I've been thinking about them lately or that there's much to think about since I didn't really know them that well.  We didn't visit them very often since we were a bit away from them (Especially when we lived in Virginia).  They've both also been gone for quite some time, so it's not like there is anything fresh in my mind that would make sense to why I was having dreams about them last night.

It's weird when things like that happen for no apparent reason and out of the blue.  I'm a little more annoyed at how agitated the dream made me, and I'm not sure why either.  It was a rather normal dream but it's put me in a weird and somewhat cranky mood and I don't know why that would be. Maybe I had a dream right before that dream I don't remember, and it is what agitated me instead.

Who knows.  Brains are weird.

Picture(s) of the Day:

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Figured I'd do some old pictures since I've been doing a lot of scanning and uploading.  Here is a picture of baby me with my other Grandpa.  Not sure exactly when it was taken but sometime in 1981 from the looks of how small I was.

The Never Ending Errands

Today was the day of never ending errands.  We went to so many different stores, and drove all over the place.  I think we probably put about 300 miles on the car today just going back and forth to all the different stores.  We were able to find some good options toward our house project, especially with the tip to try Menards for lighting.  We've got a few fixtures that we're not in love with but we also don't love the options that are available from Lowes and Home Depot.  We are also still not he hunt for a new rug in our living room.

However the prize for the day goes to Sal for being such a trooper.  She was so well behaved and such a good kid through all the boring shopping.  By the end she was not happy to be going back into her carseat after being in it half the day (either that or a cart).  When she finally got home she was so happy to get to just play on the floor or jump for a little bit.  But still, good job, you're a great baby!

Picture(s) of the Day:
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Couldn't get Sal to go back to sleep so we put her in bed as we lounged around.  Becky fell back to sleep and so did Sal once she snuggled up next to Becky.  It was basically the cutest thing ever.

Outlet Mall Winning Part II

Well for a second time we mad a major score at the outlet mall and snagged a new side table for our living room.  We actually need two but they only had one for sure and as it turned out there was absolutely no way we'd be able to fit them both in the car.  We're going to try another trip to the outlet to see if we can find a matching table, which I think shouldn't be a problem since it's a piece that they regularly have.  The deals are just really good if you're willing to look around and really scrutinize the pieces that you're looking at to see how much damage they have.  In the case of our latest find I can see absolutely no damage on it at all.  My guess it was a floor model that sat int he window of a store somewhere and was never actually touched or moved until it was sent to the outlet mall.

I really can't complain, I'm getting very expensive items for the price that I'd pay for a shitty version from Target.  Which actually is where we got our current tables.  I will take my 65% off table and I will gladly take it home.  It's a shame that they never seem to have the bed we're looking for there, though I'm not sure how we'd get it home anyway.

Picture(s) of the Day:
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Here is the picture of our great buy.  It's significantly larger than our last table and that is great because it's fills the space a lot better.  I believe it came to about 6-8 inches wider.  It also looks a ton nicer than the last side table.  Being larger it also doesn't feel so cramped with the picture frames, though the lamps seems a bit too small, but hey, we're looking for new lamps anyway.

Never Ending Cat Pee

So, one of the things I thought we would solve now that Fluff is no longer with us is the constant cleaning of cat pee.  Well it turns out that Errol was also a contributor to that issue and he's been not using his box regularly since who knows how long.

I'm so tired of constantly cleaning up the piss and shit of some animal.  I don't think I want any more cats once Errol is gone.  I hate it.  It's constantly something and I'm just not interested in that any more.  I really am sick of it.  So now we have to take him to the vet and probably shell out a couple of hundred dollars to see what the fuck his problem is and why he's doing that.  Then there will probably be some sort of treatment that we'll have to pay for, and who knows if it will actually help anything.

I'm done with animals.  They are a huge hassle.

Picture(s) of the Day:
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Then again you get beautiful companions like this and you kind of want another cat. Perhaps I just need well behaved animals that don't make me clean there poop every freaking day.  It kind of wears on you.  This is an older picture which you can tell by the fact that Fluffy is wearing her old name tag collar.  I wonder what ever happened to that.  I'm sure it's hanging around somewhere.

Still Alice

Our current Netflix is Still Alice, which is basically about this woman who gets early onset Alzheimer disease.  It really bothered Becky that she was forgetting her daughter and basically losing herself.  She actually really felt strongly about the movie.

For me I thought it was a decent movie, and I thought it was well acted with the exception of Alec Baldwin who I really thought was rather flat.  He kind of just took up space and didn't really add anything to the story.  He didn't seem like he really was all that attached to his wife or that it was straining his life to deal with such a challenge.


In general there were a few parts that I could relate to such as frustration about not being able to find things or remember words and trying to communicate when you can't remember things and how frustrating that is.  I often forget words, what I'm doing, and things like that.  I'm not at all worried that I'm going through anything similar but I still understood.

Anyway, it was a good movie and I recommend it if you get a chance.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 203

I had far too many pictures of Fluffy so I figured I'd use my picture of the day to commemorate her life. Here is one of Fluffy and Norbert I believe around Christmas of 2002 if I remember correctly.  I believe these toys were gifts from the -wiches.  Really, she almost looks like a different cat.

Home Projects

Lately I've been compiling a full list of things that need to be done around the house.  Well some of it is optional like the new paint we just did in the living room, but the house is looking kind of shitty and needs a refresh in things like that.  Every room has at least a couple of projects for things that need to be done.  From easy things like a fresh coat of paint to harder things like updated light fixtures, it's quite a long list.

Right now we've been focusing a lot of effort on the Kitchen/Living Room portion, which has a lot to do with trying to organize the house a little better and get things more tidy.  We scored that awesome modular cabinet set last weekend and I love it so far. There are still a few things we need to do with that in regards to the brackets, but overall it's great.  The paint in the living room has also been a huge improvement even though it's not that different than before.  However the result is the room is much brighter and looks a lot cleaner.

There are also a number of tasks I want to get done outside, but that's a little more complicated.  The deck is a huge priority for me because I'd like to have that living space.  I'd also like to have a place where we could put the grill, since it's not really that useful in the garage and it's really just a hassle to try and get it in and out to use it.

So, lots of little projects going on, once there's something to actually see, then I'll have to update with some photos.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 202
When fluffy was a young cat she didn't have her massive mane that she had in later years.  In fact she almost looks like a different cat all together.  This would have been probably around the time she was one year old.  My guess from that comes from the fact that this was in the apartment, and what looks like Jeff's clothing is hanging from a chair as well as some sunscreen which was probably from when we went to Florida in 2002.

Fluffy

I'm a little late on this post because I needed to get to my desktop so I could find some good pictures, but on July 6 we lost Fluffy. This wasn't a surprise or a shock, we knew that she wouldn't be with us much longer for a while now because probably about a year ago we took her in on account of some large lumps she had on her belly.  After checking them they determined that it was most likely cancer, though it was very odd since she was neutered and that is a very rare occurrence when cats have been neutered at a young age.  The options were that we could spend a ton of money and possibly have another 1-3 years with her, or we could just let her go and see how she does.  Give that she was 14, and severely inbred it was unlikely that we would have really have been extending her life much since she already had a number of issues unrelated to the cancer.

So we decided to play it by ear and let her live her life normally and readdress the issue if it started to change her quality of life.  For the most part it didn't.  She wasn't able to jump up onto things anymore on account of the tumors, but she still went about her daily routines.  She was never overly social, especially as she aged.  There were many days where someone in the house would say, "has anyone seen Fluffy today?"  After Norbert died she wasn't seen as often. I think part of that had to do with the fact that she tended to stick to her sister and Norbert was social so we saw her more often.  Once she was gone there was no interest in that.

As I mentioned things were going rather normally until a few days before the 4th of July when her tumors finally started to become a problem.  They began to bleed and then became infected.  So, we knew that we were coming to the end of the road.  We arranged an appointment and took her in and the vet assured us that this was the best option.  She was an old lady, and had we let her continue on it would have resulted in pain, suffering, and this was the far better way to go about things. It's good to get those assurances, but it doesn't change how painful it is to have to do it.

It was also difficult because we have had fluffy since she was just a kitten.  She came home a few days after Norbert, much to Norbert's displeasure. However, after a short period of time the two became inseparable.  There was once when she and Norbert were locked in different rooms so that workmen wouldn't leave a door open and allow them to escape and the result was a destroyed bathroom because Norbert wanted to be with Fluffy. Having a pet their entire life creates quite a bond.  You can remember when they were just tiny little fluff balls.  In this case Fluffy was far less fluffy than she was in later years, and she had the smallest, stubbiest tail that I'd ever seen.  But she was full of personality.  She enjoyed attacking the news ticker at the bottom of the screen when I watched the news.  She loved her toys, especially the feather.

There is also a high level of nostalgia that comes with her because she and Norbert were our first pets in our first apartment after we moved out.  First pets have a special place, and while Fluffy wasn't my first cat ever, she and Norbert were the first pets that Becky and I had as a couple, which is a special kind of thing.  They were there at the very beginning and have been with us ever since. We actually could have gotten into a bit of trouble because we didn't tell them we had cats.  However when the workmen visited to fix a few minor issues they just thought the two of them were beautiful.  Fluffy also could have gotten us in trouble on account of the fact that she liked to "bury" her food, and ended up pulling up a ton of carpet to the point that surely when we moved out they needed to replace the carpet entirely.

The theatre kids also loved Fluffy, however many of them thought that a better name for her might be Crookshanks.  Perhaps that may be the case, however when Fluffy was named I had not yet red the Harry Potter book where Crookshanks mad the first appearance, so how was I to know. Truth be told, Norbert probably hat the more Crookshanks like personality, she was a bit more spiky where as Fluffy was more like a beauty queen.  In fact back in the apartment when I often would narrate the animals Fluffy was often fond of saying things like "Isn't it cute, when I roll around the floor?  Isn't that cute?  I'm a god-damn work of art!"

Of course she also had her less than beautiful sides, for example she was very fond of eating string type objects.  Floss was a regular delicacy that she enjoyed, and as a result it created what I called "Kitty Jewelry" in the litter box.  It was like a cute little turd necklace.  However, that was better than when it didn't pass entirely and she was dragging it along behind her like some sort of Feline "just married" decoration, or more like "just shat".  I was kind enough to let Becky handle that removal, which from the living room sounded like a live version of a See-and-Say, "The cat says MEOOOOOOOW!"

14 years is quite a time to share with a pet.  She was a good cat, and there are many great stories and times we got to share with her.  She had quite the personality and I will always enjoy my memories of narrating her in our apartment, watching her drag the bird toy under the bed so she could "kill it," of the Fluffy shaped hole in our artificial christmas tree from where she'd climb onto the first set of branches and sleep, and just her general Fluffiness.  She was a good cat and I will miss having her around.  I wish both of them and made it longer, but the time we had was well spent.


Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 201
Her bird stalking days are over, and she is no longer separated from her sister.  So long, friend.

Vacation Dilemma

As the summer is fast approaching an end we still don't have plans yet on what we want to do in terms of a vacation.  We haven't planned anything, we don't really know what we'd do for sure or how we'd go about doing it.  We've got the dilemma about what we'd do with Sal if we wanted to go somewhere that isn't necessarily baby friendly, but also the dilemma of do we want to do that even if we can.  Do I want to be away for a week? Would she be fine on a vacation?  How would that limit our activities?  Driving long distances probably won't work because she's going to get bored in the car because she does get bored when we're in the car too long doing errands and such.

Part of me likes an option of going out toward the ocean, but then again part of me likes the idea of going out west.  Part of me really wants to go on a trip since we haven't gone anywhere since last July 4th weekend when we went to Maine, however part me of me also would rather spend that money elsewhere.  It's quite a pickle.

Well, we need to decide something soon.

Picture(s) of the Day:
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Clouds out front late in the evening.  I love when there are the really tall clouds and it's very dark near the bottom but the tops are still tall enough that they can catch the sun which has already dipped below the horizon.

Worse Than The Olive Garden

The only thing that I have found that is worse than eating at the Olive Garden is eating there with someone that stresses you out so terrible that you are physically not well.  I have never spent a lunch so tense and worried ever in the history of ever.  It was the absolute worst and there was nothing better than for it to end and to get to leave.  I actually sat in my head encouraging myself that it was almost over and that there wasn't much time left that we had to make it though.

This is the case every time we go out to a nicer place like that with this person.  It's always tense and stressful.  The only time it's been less so is at something like Ponderosa. 

Picture(s) of the Day:
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They still have the signs up here.  It's quite sad really.

New Experience - The Henry Ford Museum

Today we took the Cadence, Colton, and Becky's mom to visit the Henry Ford Museum.  I've actually never been there before, and I've only been to Greenfield Village two or three times ever.  A while back we got an annual membership so we get in for a year and can bring two people with us every time we go, which is pretty nice.

So today we decided to go to the museum since it was really hot out and it would be something to do.  In terms of museums I wasn't blown away by it or anything, however they did have some neat stuff.  I particularly enjoyed the presidential cars.  They had cars that belonged to FDR, Reagan, Eisenhower, and the car that Kennedy was riding in in Dallas.  They also had Teddy Roosevelt's horse drawn carriage.  So that was pretty neat.  They also have a MASSIVE locomotive that is absurdly long and tall.  It's really very impressive, and I can't imagine actually working on it when it operated.  Other than that they had a bunch of cars and machinery.  Nothing super exciting, and I found myself wishing that perhaps we could have also visited the village, but it was just too hot for that nonsense.

But, strike up another experience on the annual list, I've now visited the Henry Ford Museum.


Picture(s) of the Day:
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They have these molds that make either little plastic or way models as you go through the museum.  This one is the Wienermobile, or an inappropriately placed sex toy dispenser.

Fatigue

I think I've hit my limit on my ability to deal with family drama anymore.  I just don't think I can take anything else, I'm full up, don't need anymore, take it off the shopping list, no thank you, I'm fine.  And it's not the, "Oh dear, your racist old fox news watching uncle is coming to Thanksgiving dinner, we'll have to deal with that."  No, it's the constant Jerry Springer bullshitphosphate filled nonsense that is constantly going on.  Every day there is something going on and I'm just so sick at tired of it.  I don't think I can really care anymore.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a family that gets along and possibly even likes each other?

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 197
While changing Sal's diaper I decided to put her pants on her head.  She was somewhat amused, and then shortly after reached up and pulled them down over her face.  It was a fun game.

Stagnation

With my impending annual review, and bullshit token raise that will surely be associated with it, as well as friend being promoted, getting fancy new jobs, and fancy raises, it's made me think about where I am.  Basically I have not moved anywhere in 10 years.  I've been "promoted" once, but really that didn't change any of my job functions or had anything to do with career growth.  It was purely that my boss was promoted and thus my title needed to be adjusted since I was now working for someone far more important.  Really, there is nowhere for me to go.  This line of work is terminal and I am at the end and have nowhere else to go.  Technically I could move one more level up to "Executive Assistant" but I'd rather have barbed wire shoved up my pee hole than do that.  I already can't stand nannying the mid level assholes, I don't think I could handle someone with an even high sense of self importance.

In terms of salary the situation is no better.  My salary growth over the past five years has not kept up with inflation, in fact it is half the rate of inflation since 2010.  In reality compared to 2010 adjusted for inflation I make less money now than I did then.  Our vacation last year was more expensive than the total dollar amount of all the raises I have received in the last 7 years.  That's not to say it was an extravagant vacation, it was not.  It's to say that my raises have been so pathetic and worthless there's no point in even giving them to me. Meanwhile my boss has had an increase three times greater than mine over the same time period.

To look at my resume I've basically done nothing for 10 years.  No growth, no path forward, no increase in earnings.

I hate this place.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 196
My mom's boyfriend apparently had an issue backing up and missed the road and ended up backing into the yard.

Scheduled

Well, despite my blog from a few days ago I'm officially registered for classes in the Fall.  I have one class on campus, and one class via the web.  Though, the only class that officially counts is the one in person.  The web one won't count toward my program, it'll just allow me to renew my teaching certification with plenty of time before it expires.  I figured that was better than waiting till the last minute and then having to rush around.  This will give me an extra four or five months to actually get everything in order which I think is good.

I don't mind taking the extra class too because it's a subject I'm interested in, it's via the web so I won't be spending time in a classroom, and in the end it'll just help me know my subject better so I'm find with it.  It's also cheaper than my grad class so it's not that expensive anyway.  So starting in September I'll be back to the education grind.

I saw my student loan award and for a second realized the left over after tuition would almost replace my salary for the entire semester which would allow me not to work. But as tempting as that may be, it'd be an absurd acquisition of debt, so obviously I won't be doing that.  Hopefully I can get a new job that would be nice.  Or perhaps I'll find a long lost uncle who left me a fortune.  That'd be nice. Haha!

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 195
There's a guy that works in my building who is from Korea and apparently it was his son's birthday so his wife made these weird little rice ball cake things.  I'm not entirely sure what they are really.  They're kind of soft and chewy on the outside almost like a fruit snack but then the inside has this core that's like almond something or other.  They're very strange.

You're Doing It Wrong

In relation to yesterday's post, the other type of story I'm really sick of seeing is the "YOU'VE BEEN DOING THIS ONE SPECIFIC THING ALL WRONG!"  It's all either you're doing it wrong or someone wants you to know something and really I just don't care. 

I'm not entirely sure why they bother me so much but they are just really annoying to me. 

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 194
Got Jasmine a container for her coffee at the outlet mall the other day. This one comes with a scoop and a little place for the scoop to sit.  It also matches the other canisters in our house, sot hat's really nice. 

One Thing I Want You To Know

It seems like every time I log online I see about 15 different articles that are basically X number of things Y wants you to know.  For some reason I'm finding these things really annoying and rather than caring I'm finding myself not caring at all.  Screw you introverts, or socially anxious, or depressed, or people with kids with nut allergies.  I don't care anymore.  Figure your life out.

I don't know what it is about them that I'm sick of.  Perhaps it's the idea that is presented that this is the case for every person with that issue, which it's not.  Really it's "x number of things that this one person who has y wants you to know". 

I'm aware that this makes me a cranky old man.


Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 193
Sal has started scooting, but hasn't figured out the going forward part of it.  She just ends up in reverse, though I think she's going to be going forward before we know it.  The other day while trying to get to her ball, which was in front of her, she ended up under her swing, which was behind her.

Too Short

It seems like the weekends are going way too fast.  They just speed by and I barely get a fraction of what I'd like done.  Even the days just move way too quickly.  Today I had all this stuff going on and I looked up and realized it was nearly six and that I wouldn't have time at all to do anything else since we were getting visitors soon.  I probably could do more over the week, but it seems like that time just passes too quickly too.  Once Sal eats and then we eat then she has to do her bedtime routine, then we have to do ours.  It seems like the time is just escaping into the air like gas.

What the heck, man!  We need more 3 day weekends.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 192
So, I Jasmine has been trying to get me to star playing Duolingo which is basically kind of like a  game that helps build language skills.  You get points and then you can see the leader board and see your friends and how well they are doing in comparison.  When I started on Tuesday she did a lot of shit talking about how she's got so many xp points.  Well as of yesterday I was totally kicking her ass.  So, challenge accepted and won!It is fun, I recommend it, though I don't think you're going to learn a new language properly, but it will help.

Outlet Winning

Today we spent the morning visiting with my cousin who is up visiting from Virginia.  It was a lovely last minute invite, which is the standard for my family.  I always get an e-mail the night before saying, "oh sorry we forgot you, but this is happening if you want to come."  We were able to make it though we did end up missing going to see the Ragtime Weekend at Greenfield Village.  But, I'm sure they'll do something similar in the future so we can see it again.

After visiting we decided that Sal needed to sleep and she does that best in the car so we should drive a bit, and we headed to the outlet malls to just look around.  No big plans to get anything, just wanted to drive for a bit and see what was going on.  We ended up at Pottery Barn and were looking around for a few things.  We found a nice rug for Sal's room, which we have been searching for a suitable option for ages.  We also picked up a nice canister for Jasmine's coffee that matches our Flour, Sugar and Tea canisters.

However, the big thing was we found this modular cabinet set that we've had our eye on for a while but it goes for over $1,000 so we're not really all about spending that much money.  Basically it's multiple pieces that you can attached to create cabinets that fit your needs.  We were looking at wanting to get one of the wine cabinets (has a wine rack in it) and then two of the cabinet pieces.  Well, they had a bunch of them at the outlet for probably 70% off, plus an additional 20% off of that price as their big weekend sale.  We took a look and other than a few scraps and dings in places that you won't see it because they will bet on the sides that touch each other, there was really nothing wrong with them.  So, not willing to pass up a good deal, we decided to take them home.

They are very lovely and will give us so much more space to put things and get them off the counters.  Especially Sal's stuff becuase we can move a bunch of stuff to these cabinets and then use that space for bottles, and bowls and all that baby stuff.

Big win at the outlet today!

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 192
A picture of our major score!

$328,000

Today I saved our department and the University $328,000. 

That is not an exaggeration, today I uncovered that we were the target of a scam where someone got a lot of information about some items that we ordered, contacted us with an invoice with bank information and got the entire invoice paid.  They even corresponded with a coworker when we didn't get exactly what we needed to pay the invoice.  However they messed something up in the bank information so it got stuck and routed to me to fix.  While looking at it I uncovered that it was a scammer and that we had actually paid this person $328,000 for a piece of equipment and that because of the error that bank had the money but needed more information to put it into the correct account.

Had I not looked back at the information and noticed we would have asked for updated information and this conman would have walked away with $328,000.  The response was very "oh ok" like, really?  I just found an error that saved this department over a quarter of a million dollars and your response is basically, "well, ask so and so this question and let me know".  Like, the attitude was almost like it was not a big deal.  Like, well, it would have come up eventually when the actual vendor sent us a bill and the PO was closed.  Which leaves out the part where it's a closed PO because some one conned us out of $328,000 and we just gave it to them.

Seriously people. 

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 191
I get a lot of interesting things come across my desk, and today while helping some people get visas so they can visit China for a conference I got a bunch of passports including this one which is something you don't see every day.  

Cursed Chlid

I am so incredibly inpatient right now because sometime this month they're going to start releasing information on a new Harry Potter play that will open in London next year.  I want to know details because I want to go see it.  JK Rowling is involved in the writing and she says it's not a prequel but it's an untold story about Harry's life.  So what does that even mean!?  Is it during his time at school?  Is it after?  It's clearly not before.  There's a child involved, but who is this cursed child?  WHAT IS GOING ON!?

I have already started looking at possible travel plans and what we would do if we went.  Though, we'll need to find out when and all the details, which won't be released until alter this month.  Apparently tickets will go on sale this fall!  OMG!  I NEED TO GET TICKETS!  It will also mean that we could go to the studio tour and see the sets from the movies.  I can't even deal.  I have to make this happen. OMG!

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 190
I took this of Jasmine taking pictures, probably for Snapchat while we were in Greenfield village in this little house that looks like a little English cottage.  It's pretty cute because they also have a little garden that has a tea house in it where they serve little sandwiches and tea.  Perhaps one day we will have to try it out.

What Am I Doing?

I'm all set to register for classes, but I'm not sure why I'm even bothering.  A friend of mine teaches, and he's getting out of it because the system is not good on the level he is teaching.  The pay is bad, the work is spotty, and he is in a field that has decent demand.  I'm not in that kind of field, and there is no way that I'm going to find enough work to make it worth my while to try and go for that sort of job.

So, what am I doing?  To be honest I don't even know.  I tried doing some IT stuff but the classes were never when I could take them, and I've been working on a 6 class course for two years now with no resolution in sight at all.  It's all rather annoying.

Every time I go to look at scheduling classes I just see all the time that I'll be in class, and think about the work, the reading, the papers, and it makes me sick because I have no interest in doing any of that.  And it's not going to get me anywhere either.  It's just a big waste of time an money with no upside at all, no real benefits.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 189
A picture of Sal smooshing her head up to Becky while we were at Greenfield on Sunday.She's also chewing on her hand because she's starting to get a teeth.  She's already got one that's popped through but it looks like there are more coming soon.

Crabcakes

Today I'm having one of those days where I'm totally unhappy about my job, trapped in it, and angry.  I had this person get really shitty with me about something that is totally outside of my control.  I'm not mad because it's outside my control, I'm mad that he feels he has the right to talk to me that way.  I've often said that I'm treated like "the help" around here, and I know this guy is just a pompous asshole who thinks he's more important than he really is.  I'm just sick of doing it.  I'm sick of doing what I'm doing, being in this job, and not being able to get out.

I've been applying to a lot of jobs, at least one a week for the past two months.  The results have been one interview where they were clearly not interested when the interview was over (even though the position is still open, though it's "very entry level" so I'm sure the pay wouldn't be affordable).  Other than that it's like shouting into a void.  No echo, not decline, no interview.  Nothing.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 188
After a day of visiting Greenfield Village, Sal was ready to sleep anywhere.  It was actually quite adorable. I'm a little freaked out by how big she looks int his pictures. She's looks like a proper toddler.  She's growing so fast!  It's crazy!

The Village

Yesterday we decided that since we didn't do much this weekend that perhaps we should get out there and do something fun and different.  So, I was looking around for stuff to do and suggested that perhaps we should go to Greenfield Village and see the old time baseball game that they do every weekend on Saturday and Sunday.  Becky thought this was a good idea, and Jasmine had never been so she was all for it.  So we backed up Sal and we headed to Greenfield Village to see what was going on.

We actually decided that with the three of us going it made sense to just get a membership because it was half paid for with just the one visit and they have a variety of events going on through out the year that might be fun to go to.  In addition, I've never been to the museum and we didn't have time to go today so surely we could come back and at least see that part of it which would mean the entire pass would be paid for.

It was a pretty good time. Jasmine was quite excited and interested in seeing all the stuff.  We watched a little girl make a candle holder (thought the candle that it held was the size of a candle that you put on a birth day cake.  We also watched a buy make a glass ornament, with little bat wings becuase the guy that was explaining what he was doing said he would like to see him try to do that.  The glass blower seemed willing to give it a try so that was really interesting to watch.  We also got to go into the roundhouse and go under a locomotive that was just massive (it had 79 inch wheels and weighed over 250,000 pounds.

All in all it was a really nice trip, though it was super sunny and warm.  We got to watch the baseball game, and the home team totally kicked the shit out of the visiting team.  They have a world series later in the year that perhaps we'll come watch.  And like I said I need to go see the museum because it has a lot of really interesting things that I'd like to see.  But it was a fun day out today.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 187
Not too bad of a view.  I guess this isn't where they normally play, but where they normally play had a big event last night that featured the DSO and fireworks so they were still taking that down and the team had to play here instead.  The home team has white pants, the visitors had black pants.  Mostly I don't' know how they do it without gloves.  Has to hurt to catch the ball that way.

An Observation

In relation to last night I mentioned that we watch the Capitol 4th show on PBS, which leads up to the fireworks by playing the 1812 overture by Tchaikovsky.  This actually I think pretty common among fireworks shows here.  Concerts with fireworks shows just like to play it, but I think it's amusing that it's become such a common piece of music for us since it was originally written to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon by the Russians (you know, that whole don't attack Russia because of winter thing that Napoleon and Hitler both ignored).

Anyhow, just a little observation that I found amusing.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 186
Everyone watching the baseball game today.  You can even see Sal barely holding onto the rings that Jasmine is holding and her little white hat.  She wasn't interested in baseball really, but she had a good time being outside and touching grass for the first time.  She didn't quite know what to make of it.

But Mostly, America

Happy Independence Day!

The other day I mentioned that we weren't going on vacation this year, which is sad, and we had a pretty low key day.  We though about doing a few different things but nothing really panned out so we ended up sitting at home watching the Capitol 4th on PBS which was decent though they had a lot of performers I wasn't familiar with or very interested in.  It also wasn't the best viewing because it's cloudy/rainy in DC today so the clouds are low and there's a lot of moisture in the air which makes the fireworks not as easy to see.  The smoke also was building up so everything was a bit hazy.

However, as the fireworks started on TV they also started in our neighborhood.  Back in 2011 they legalized the big shoot them up into the sky type of fireworks. We weren't home in 2013 or 2014, and it was new in 2012 so we didn't really get the same level of use the last time we were in town for the 4th.  Well this year it was BIG business.  At first we heard them going off and could see them from our couch from the neighbors behind us.  We got a pretty good view and didn't even have to get up off the couch.  

However, from the sounds like there was a bombing raid going on nearby it was clear that there were a lot more fireworks going off in the neighborhood than just what I could see.  So we went up stairs and took a look out of our bedroom window, which actually gave us quite a view.  Our house is a bit up on a hill.  It doesn't look like much but it's about five or six feet above where the houses behind us are, and that allows us to see right over the tops of those houses which usually doesn't really mean much.  However tonight we were able to see all the fireworks going on in the subdivision to the south of us, which is a lot of subdivision.  Now, what we saw was a bunch of individual houses shooting off their own fireworks, but from where we were watching it made it look like a coordinated fireworks show.  

We actually stood there for an hour to an hour and a half watching the show.  It was surely thousands of dollars worth of fireworks, and probably more than if we had gone somewhere to see them.  It was really quite amazing to see, and the smoke it caused created this cloud that just kind of floated over the houses. So, despite not going anywhere we actually got to see a pretty great fireworks show.

Next year we'll have to plan something a bit better, but it was a nice holiday anyway.  So, Happy Independence Day!  Hope everyone has all their fingers and minimum burns tomorrow.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 185
Not the greatest picture, but htis is as it was tappering off.  You can see the fireworks and the haze around them is the massive cloud that was drifting across the neighborhood.  It was actually a pretty fun night.

Movie Friday - Jurassic World

Well, since we had the day off and we haven't done anything in ages we took Sal to visit my mom and go to finally see Jurassic World.  Of course it's the same story that comes with this sort of movie: People make dinosaurs, people get cocky, dinosaurs escape, people become lunch.  That being said, I really enjoyed this a lot more than the previous Jurassic Park movies, with the exception of the first Jurassic Park.  It seemed to have a lot more in common with the first movie than the sequels which were horribly cheesy.  Though this one did have a level of "really? really?" to it that kept it from being great. T-Rex vs. Mutant Dinosaur fight that was like a bad Godzilla movie

However, despite the cheesy factor that was present the movie was fun and I enjoyed it.  I enjoyed Chris Pratt, I thought the movie was a lot more solid than some of the previous sequels.  They had some cheese, but nothing to the extent of I believe Lost World where you had the gymnastic girl do some absurd flips on the bars with no hand protections and kick a raptor in the face (when in reality it would have messed up her hands and that raptor would have just grabbed her leg and she would have been lunch.  Just saying).  Also they had the guy from New Girl and his character was just amusing.  They had a great interaction near the end of the movie between that guy and one of his coworkers that was totally funny where they really make fun of romantic type movies where the guy is going to do something heroic and the girl is all *swoon* "My darling" which probably doesn't make sense because no spoilers.

In terms of rating I'd give it a full price matinee rating.  Worth some money, but don't shell out too much.  It was fun, if you liked the other movies I'm sure you'll like this one.  They get points for not doing all CGI and bringing in some animatronics.  All around a decent movie.  Now I just need to make it to see Inside Out.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 184
While we didn't have git plans, we did decide to have a little camp fire tonight.  Had a few people over, made some s'mores, toasted marshmallows, enjoyed the fire.  Burned the Christmas tree.  Yeah, that's right I clipped up the Christmas tree and then have been slowly burning it because I paid a lot of money for that tree so I'm going to use it, dangit! That's actually the trunk right there burning.  So, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Vacation Blues

The past two years we've spent the 4th of July weekend on vacation.  I think the first year was probably the most awesome becuase we got a large group together and did a bunch of cool stuff.  Went to Pittsburgh, zipline, dark sky park, Niagara Falls, canoe trip, all sorts of fun stuff.  Last year was also really great because we went to Maine and got to visit Acadia National Park, and I had the BEST blueberry pancakes!  

This year we never got around to really planning anything, plus Sal isn't really travel ready and we haven't exactly figured out how we want to deal with going on vacation and what to do with her.  So this year we're going to be home for the weekend with no real plans.  It's a bit weird being home since it's been a long time since we have been.  I'm also sad that we won't be going anywhere because we haven't gone on a trip since last year when we went to Maine.  I get a bit stir crazy when I haven't gone anywhere in a while, and it's been since Sal was born that I've even had any time off, which is equally stressful because everyone needs a break.

Oh well, guess we should plan something soon.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 183

Jasmine got me this lovely hat, so I sent her a picture of me wearing it looking like a dingus.  Apparently this is now my contact photo in her phone.  Though I guess that's better than the last one which I believe I was making a face and shoving my fingers in my nose.

Goals Update: July 1 Edition

Half the year is officially over! Now we are on to part two, but first I have to recap what the first half was like in terms of my goals. 

Goal Number One - Get A New Job: Still a lot of applying for jobs going on.  Still a whole lot of nothing.  No phone calls, I don't even get rejection e-mails anymore.  I just get nothing. So that's fun.

Goal Number Two - Read At Least 18 Books:  I finished one book this month, which puts me at a total seven.  This month I read a non-fiction book called Merrill's Marauders, which was about the unit my grandfather was a part of during World War II.  I also started on The Monuments Men, and I'm about a quarter of the way through that.  For the year that gives me Children of God, A Farewell to Arms, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,  Common Sense, Why Don't You Just Tell Us the Answer? and Merrill's Marauders: The Untold Story of Unit Galahad and the Toughest Special Forces Mission of World War II.

Goal Number Three - Go Out West: Vacations are a bit up in the air right now.  We have one that we're considering that would take us out West, we also have some other ideas and I don't know where we will fall on it (if anywhere).

Goal Number Four - Be Consistently Active: Well, I've been doing well on this, but I wont' have any of the stats I usually do because my step meter broke mid month and I just got a replacement.  I've been running at least three days a week and I'm even started getting up early to do my runs instead of doing them after work. 

• Subgoal 1: I know that I made my step goal because despite not having the meter I did not change my daily plan so the steps would easily have reached my goal for the month.
• Subgoal 2:Not sure about my per minute activity meter since I know I missed writing things down because it wasn't automatically tracking it.
• Subgoal 3: I haven't signed up for a 5K yet, but I'm now regularly running on the treadmill, and if I can get my time down a bit I'll feel much more comfortable..

Goal Number Five - Digitize My Photos: This month I got a boat load of really old photos from my gran and started scanning things in.  Some were a bit damaged so I'll need to do some work to make them look better, but it's happening.

Goal Number Six -  Have Seven New Experiences:  Well, we had a nice new experience this month becuase for our anniversary we decided to do a escape room thing.  Basically they lock you in a room and you have to solve puzzles to get out of it.  So far that is three experiences for the year, the previous two experiences of becoming a dad and being in an operating room during a procedure.  Four more to go!

Goal Number Seven - Projects: No movement on projects.

Secret Horcrux Goal 8 - Pretty steady here, though it seems that I'm in better moods when I'm more active than when I skip days.

So, that's the goals roundup.  Good luck in the second half of the year.

Picture(s) of the Day:
Picture 182
Sal is getting really close to crawling.  She's now getting up on her full hands and knees, but she can't quite figure out the going forward part of it.  She keeps trying but ends up going backwards, though this is pretty common that babies get going backwards before they get going forwards.  We're going to have a mobile baby pretty soon.