Graham got a little bored at the Scout meeting. Luckily, he brought along his iPod which was freshly loaded with his new CD by Chameleon Circuit. All of the music is Doctor Who themed which is pretty cool. That Graham found it on his own is even cooler. My son, the nerd.
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: n/a
Weight lost: 53 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 7
Hours billed last week: 41
Total mice caught: 13
Current reading: 2107 Curious Word Origins, Says & Expressions by Charles Earle Funk, The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees, The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
Recent listening: Coverville, DrugMusic, NPR Story of the Day, Science Friday
Recent viewing:Â Sportscenter, Kingdom Hospital, High Stakes Poker, Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Donut Games, Elebits
Recently accomplished: Fixed Thomas’ email, helped Tina finish her Cub Scout movie, help Thomas get video on his iPod, fixed DVD player (with Dust Off), test run for Cub Scout movie on projector
Imperative To Do: RMA old Tivo drive, hair cut, fix bathroom sink, buy front bike fender, taxes, move music to new drive, taxes, install CD burner in Thomas’ computer, backup everyone’s computer
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.
Any way the wind blows
The wind was blowing very hard last night when I came home. So hard that it caused Max service disruptions throughout my ride home, causing my hour ride home to take an hour and a half. While I waited downtown for the train to arrive, the wind was blowing hard enough that I had to hold my bike in place. Never mind trying to read while waiting!
Graham had his holiday program at school last night and shortly after we got home last night all the lights went out. Graham was scared at first but we declared the situation “cool” and “fun” and he was soon at ease. We played Name That Tune (Christmas edition) with my iPod and the Boomtube. The boys and Tina went to bed around 9:30. I stayed up and played Brain Age on Thomas’ DS. Just as I finished my Sudoku puzzle the lights blinked on at about 10:15.
The aftermath this morning is lots of downed trees and branches across the Portland area. Winds on the coast gusted over 100 mph. Power outages are still prevalent throughout the area. Most schools were delayed two hours, but not ours. Here’s some links: