Bike odometer: 798 miles
Weight lost: 55 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed last week: 41
Total mice caught: 15
Current reading: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Recent listening: Broken Boy Soldiers by The Raconteurs, DrugMusic, Digital Ash In A Digital Urn by Bright Eyes
Recent viewing: Without a Trace, Cold Case, Battlestar Galactica, March Madness (but only a little bit)
Recent playing: Donut Games
Recently accomplished: Beat Legend of Aladdin
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, fix bathroom sink, backup everyone’s computer, implement rechargeable battery plan, pay bills
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 790 miles
Weight lost: 55 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 7
Hours billed last week: 41
Total mice caught: 15
Current reading: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Recent listening: Broken Boy Soldiers by The Raconteurs, DrugMusic, KBOO Bike Show, NPR Story of the Day, Science Friday, Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull, Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Recent viewing: Doctor Who, South Park, Countdown, Suns at Mavericks
Recent playing: Donut Games
Recently accomplished: Reunion planning
Imperative To Do: Pack for snow camping, RMA old Tivo drive, fix bathroom sink, backup everyone’s computer
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: n/a
Weight lost: 58 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 6
Hours billed last week: 37
Total mice caught: 15
Current reading: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Recent listening: Coverville, KBOO Bike Show
Recent viewing: The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Lakers at Suns, Crater Lake: The Mirror of Heaven, Battlestar Galactica, Kingdom Hospital (finale), 24, Frontline, 60 Minutes
Recent playing: Donut Games, Elebits
Recently accomplished: Bought and installed new front bike fender, cleaned and lubed bike, minor garage cleaning, major office cleaning and dusting, sorted inbox, paid bills, filed taxes, recycling, hair cut, cat to vet, beat Elebits
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, fix bathroom sink, backup everyone’s computer, determine vacation availability
Why not take all of me?
Graham is playing basketball this winter. It’s his first time and he’s a little behind some of the other kids on his team. Still, he’s doing a good job of defending and he’s getting better and better at his offensive skills. Tina has been practicing with him after school which has helped a great deal. He occasionally has problems with physicality – i.e. when somebody bumps him he’s prone to bump back harder than necessary (and the like) – but he’s learning to deal with the frustration and conflict. It’s a really important experience for him, I think. He had a double-header yesterday and really enjoyed himself.
Thomas saved money from Christmas, his birthday and allowance. At first, his goal was to buy a Wii, but that became unnecessary when we got one for Christmas. After weighing his options, he decided he wanted a new iPod. Especially after his friend, Andrew Barton, got an iPod Video. On Monday I ordered a 30 Gb iPod Video via the Apple Developer Hardware Purchase Program, where we get a slight discount. We weren’t expecting to receive it until next week, but it came on Thursday. Thomas has been ecstaticly exploring its many options since it arrived. I helped him download some shows from our Tivo and he’s learned all about the various video formats out there.
Meanwhile, Tina has been furiously working on a ten minute movie for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet tomorrow. She gathered a slew of pictures and a few videos and has set them to music in iMovie. She’s enjoyed it immensely, I think, and has been spending alot of her free time working on it. I think it will be well-received tomorrow night. I borrowed a projector from work to enhance the experience, so we’re all excited to see it.
I’ve been enduring the Oregon winter weather in the morning and evening. The rain seems never-ending at this time of the year, but I’ve been taking the shortest possible routes in order to minimize my exposure to the elements. I took Tina’s advice and bought a balaclava which helps keep my head and neck toasty-warm. Last weekend I accidentally broke my crappy front fender and have been riding fenderless all week. I repaired the crappy fender once before so this time I’m going to get something that will last longer. I need to get it soon, though, because I’m getting tired of the mud that’s flying all over.
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 680 miles
Weight lost: 53 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 6
Hours billed last week: 40
Total mice caught: 12
Current reading: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Recent listening: Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull, KBOO Bike Show, NPR Story of the Day, Science Friday
Recent viewing: NBA Rookie Challenge, All-Star Saturday Night, All-Star Game, Daytona 500, The Daily Show, Countdown, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Medium, Battlestar Galactica
Recent playing: Donut Games, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Recently accomplished: Cleaned and lubed bike, office cleaning, recycling, installed longer Ethernet cable for Tivo
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, pay bills, hair cut, fix bathroom sink, clean office, rebait and move traps
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 656 miles
Weight lost: 52 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 10
Hours billed last week: 40
Total mice caught: 12
Current reading: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, 7 Seconds or Less by Jack McCallum
Recent listening: Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull, Sammy Davis, Jr., XO by Elliott Smith, The Outsider by DJ Shadow
Recent viewing: Countdown, Sportscenter, Stargate SG-1, The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, Meet the Press
Recent playing: Donut Games
Recently accomplished: Mouse hunting, picked up van from mechanic, vacuumed van
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, pay bills, hair cut, fix bathroom sink, procure longer Ethernet cable for Tivo
Former NBA player John Amaechi is gay
Amaechi announced it prior to the release of his book, “Man in the Middle,” which details his experiences in the NBA. Henry Abbott, over at TrueHoop wrote an excellent and incisive article that not only deals with homosexuality in sports but talks about the larger societal picture. It’s really a must-read. Here’s a couple of excellent points he makes:
- “I’m of the opinion that everyone in this world should be able to conduct themselves with pride.”
- “You know that open season on homosexuality is coming to an end sooner or later. I don’t see much point in hanging on the tired ways of ignorant yesteryear much longer.”
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 622 miles
Weight lost: 53 lbs. (fixed 2/7 – bad math)
Hours of sleep last night: 11!
Hours billed last week: 35
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, 7 Seconds or Less by Jack McCallum
Recent listening: DrugMusic, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joe Walsh
Recent viewing: My Name Is Earl, The Office, High Stakes Poker, Saturday Night Live, Sportscenter, Countdown, Power Fuse, Super Bowl
Recent playing: Bust-A-Move, Castle Smasher
Recently accomplished: Updated personal wiki, renewed prescription, called mechanic (van is done), re-positioned mouse traps, groceries, cleaned office, paid bills
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, pickup van from mechanic, vacuum van carpet, pay bills
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 596 miles
Weight lost: 49 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 9
Hours billed last week: 39.5
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke, 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk
Recent listening: Two Lane Highway by Pure Prairie League, Infected by The The, Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull, Necktie Second by Pete Droge
Recent viewing: The Daily Show, Wisconsin at Iowa, Suns at Bucks, Suns at Cavaliers, Classic Albums: Nevermind, Countdown
Recent playing: Bust-A-Move
Recently accomplished: Dropped van at mechanic, mouse hunting, bike maintenance, new tubes and tire for bike, cardboard recycling, Sunday dinner (hot dogs & sweet potato fries), cleaned and disinfected CPAP parts, paid bills
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, vacuum van carpet
Cool Link: The CIA and Saddam Hussein: A Short History by Juan Cole
Nothing can do me wrong
I burned MP3 CDs for Graham and Thomas shortly after Christmas so they both could have some new music. For some reason, Graham has latched onto a song called “Helmet” by a capella band The Bobs. He listens to it over and over and has committed the words to memory. A couple of weeks ago he started basketball practice and is playing in his first game today. His skills were raw to start, but Tina has been practicing dribbling and passing with him everyday and he’s getting much better.
Thomas has been engrossed with finishing The Legend of Zelda on Wii. They’re not allowed to play Wii during the week, so he’s been playing Runescape, a massively-multiplayer online role-playing (MMOR) game, after finishing his homework every day. He listens to cello music in bed at night while he’s reading. Sometimes he listens to science podcasts while he’s trying to get to sleep.
When Jan and Tom were here over the holidays, Tom mounted our dishwasher to the counter to keep it from tipping forward when the door is open. While working on it, he found what he described as mouse droppings under the dishwasher. Since we had never seen mice or any sign of mice in our house, we didn’t really believe it. Then last week came into the family room asking who had been eating his two pound Hershey Bar. We took a look and it had a very small tear in it and a perfect semi-circle eaten out of one corner. With tiny little teeth marks.
That night we bought a bunch of cheap mouse traps (Does Victor have a patent on that design? They look exactly the same as the ones we used 30 years ago.) and one “live” trap because Thomas asked. One went off the first night but had no mouse. Today as I was making eggs for myself I glanced over at the one on the counter and found that it had a tiny little mouse in it. Graham initially volunteered to be “in charge” of emptying the traps but when faced with an actual dead mouse, he begged off. Our success led us to check the four other traps and found a larger mouse under the dishwasher.
When I was a kid, I was “in charge” of emptying the traps in our house. I was the only boy in the house at the time, so I suppose that’s why I drew the duty. I really disliked it especially when the trap on the heat register caught one. By the time I would find it in the morning, it was half-cooked and pretty disgusting. I don’t know where I was supposed to put the mice, but I always dropped them into the two-foot space between the house and back porch. I remember always trying to open the traps without touching the mice.