Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 505 miles
Weight lost: 48 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 8
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke
Recent listening: Sings Some Ol’ Songs by Victoria Williams, Broken Boy Soldiers by The Raconteurs, Welcome to Woody Creek by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Recent viewing: My Name Is Earl, The Office, CSI: Miami, Heat at Suns, AFC Division Playoffs, NFC Division Playoffs, 24
Recent playing: Wii Sports, ExciteTruck, Elebits
Recently accomplished: Re-partitioned Thomas’ hard drive, completed Super Excite Platinum cup, Pinewood Derby cutouts & shaping
Imperative To Do: Pinewood Derby sanding, Pinewood Derby weights, Pinewood Derby paint, Pinewood Derby axels & wheels, call mechanic, RMA old Tivo drive, vacuum van carpet, ride more/snack less, Super Excite Diamond Cup
Cool Link: Top Ten Myths About Iraq by Juan Cole

Snow Day

Last night it snowed about an inch. Thomas and Graham went outside for about an hour before bedtime to have a snowball fight and then build a snowman with their friend Ziad. The temperature was about 35° which made the snow perfect – sticky but still soft.

As I watched them cavort in the snow, I remembered the first time my hands got really, really cold. It was probably the first winter on my paper route and my gloves (or mittens) were horribly inadequate. I came home with very cold fingers and my mom had me put them under running water to thaw them out. I remember screaming that the water was too hot and my mom telling me that it was cold water. After that I always wore a pair of snowmobile mittens over another pair of gloves.

Much to our surprise the snow was still on the ground this morning and school as first delayed and then cancelled altogether. Thomas and Graham were outside for quite awhile before their play devolved into a fight. Graham had to come in and stay in his room and Thomas wasn’t far behind.

I decided to stay home, too. I’m going to try to divert attention away from the Wii this afternoon and toward Pinewood Derby cars. The race is on the 21st and we have not even started!

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 483 miles
Weight lost: 49 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 9
Hours billed last week: 20
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke
Recent listening: Recent Tracks from last.fm
Recent viewing: Chiefs at Colts, Spartans at Hawkeyes, Kingdom Hospital, Man vs. Wild
Recent playing: Wii Sports, ExciteTruck
Recently accomplished: Best of 2006, cleaned and lubed bike, re-installed applications on Graham’s computer, added memory to Tina’s computer, a little garage cleaning, dried most of the van carpet
Imperative To Do: Pinewood derby cars, call mechanic, RMA old Tivo drive, re-partition Thomas’ hard drive, finish drying van carpet, vacuum van carpet
Cool Link: History of Religion (in 90 seconds)

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 478 miles
Weight lost: 50 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 7
Hours billed this week: 0
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke
Recent listening: Corinne Bailey Rae by Corinne Bailey Rae, Coverville
Recent viewing: Countdown, Alamo Bowl, Dolphins at Colts, Rose Bowl, 20/20
Recent playing: Wii Sports, ExciteTruck
Recently accomplished: Tree recycling (for Cub Scouts), cleaned and lubed bike, cleaned contacts on stove burners, Best of 2006
Imperative To Do: Best of 2006, call mechanic, RMA old Tivo drive, re-partition Thomas’ hard drive, re-install applications on Graham’s computer
Cool Link: No Wii for Christmas (comic strip by Joy of Tech)

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: n/a
Weight lost: 50 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 14
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Coverville, Corinne Bailey Rae by Corinne Bailey Rae
Recent viewing: Sportscenter, Suns at Mavericks, Comedy Central’s Roast of William Shatner, Dr. Who
Recent playing: Sketchfighter
Recently accomplished: Paid bills, bought Wii, finished Thomas’ “new” computer, created my Mii (which looks just like me according to all accounts)
Imperative To Do: Finish garage, finish old blog entries, call mechanic, rake, fix laundry room door, RMA old Tivo drive, Best of 2006
Cool Link: Wii for Christmas: Thomas and Graham opening their box of cash to be used for purchasing a Wii (which we did two days later).

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: n/a
Weight lost: 51 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 5
Hours billed this week: 21
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Coverville, various Christmas songs
Recent viewing: Sportscenter, Everest: Beyond the Limit, It Takes A Thief
Recent playing: Sketchfighter
Recently accomplished: Waited in line, dried van carpet, paid bills
Imperative To Do: Buy Wii, finish garage, finish old blog entries, call mechanic, build new computer for Thomas, rake, clean garage, fix laundry room door, RMA old Tivo drive, Best of 2006
Cool Link: Pandora: Discovering more music you like

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: n/a
Weight lost: 44 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 5.5
Hours billed this week: 4
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Feminism Is For Everybody by Bell Hooks
Recent listening: XO by Elliott Smith, Either/Or by Elliott Smith, The Lost Christmas Eve by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Jimmie Rodgers, Not For Kids Only by Jerry Garcia & David Grisman
Recent viewing: Sportscenter, Bengals at Colts, Eagles at Giants, Medium, Discoveries This Week, Man vs. Wild
Recent playing: Sketchfighter
Recently accomplished: Sorted and stored computer stuff in garage, attempted to RMA hard drive (Seagate website messed up), reorganized workbench in garage, waited in line, called many Wii resellers
Imperative To Do: Buy Wii, dry van, finish garage, finish old blog entries, call mechanic, build new computer for Thomas, rake, clean garage, fix laundry room door, RMA old Tivo drive, Best of 2006
Cool Link: A Charlie Brown Scrubs Christmas

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 466
Weight lost: 50 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 9
Hours billed this week: 24
Meetings today: 3
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Feminism Is For Everybody by Bell Hooks
Recent listening: Coverville, DrugMusic
Recent viewing: Without A Trace, Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who, And You Don’t Stop, Everest, Countdown, Sportscenter, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Sketchfighter
Recently accomplished: Sorted and stored computer stuff in garage
Imperative To Do: Finish garage, finish old blog entries, call mechanic, build new computer for Thomas, rake, clean garage, fix laundry room door, RMA old Tivo drive, Best of 2006, memory rebate
Cool Link: Wil Wheaton reviews Guitar Hero II

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 466
Weight lost: 50 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 41
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Feminism Is For Everybody by Bell Hooks
Recent listening: Coverville, DrugMusic, NPR Story of the Day, Science Friday
Recent viewing: Without A Trace, And You Don’t Stop: 30 Years of Hip Hop, Sportscenter, Countdown, Mythbusters
Recent playing: Sketchfighter, Guitar Hero
Recently accomplished: n/a
Imperative To Do: Finish garage, finish old blog entries, call mechanic, build new computer for Thomas, rake, clean garage, fix laundry room door, RMA old Tivo drive, Best of 2006, memory rebate
Cool Link: International faux pas: Just reading the one for the U.S. is fun. Try another country!

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 448
Weight lost: 49 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 11.5
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Feminism Is For Everybody by Bell Hooks
Recent listening: Coverville, DrugMusic, NPR Story of the Day, Science Friday
Recent viewing: Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Cold Case, Giants at Cowboys, Colts at Titans, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show
Recent playing: Zuma, Sketchfighter
Recently accomplished: Cleaned garage (mostly), mowed lawn, winterized back yard, dried van, paid bills
Imperative To Do: Finish garage, finish old blog entries, call mechanic, build new computer for Thomas, rake, clean garage, fix laundry room door, RMA old Tivo drive, Best of 2006, memory rebate
Cool Link: AIM Fight: Are you on AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)? If so, you can take me on in an AIM Fight (my screen name is “rynosoft”), an idea conceived by one of the AIM programmers.