bleary eyed

Let me just tell you that my daughter can STILL escape the crib whenever she wants, so the old "yeah, it's the middle of the night, she's crying, but she'll probably conk out any minute" thing that used to happen a couple times a month has now been completely transformed. Without relating the whole story, let me just tell you that I probably watched 3 Handy Manny's before 4am today. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

uh oh, here comes a milestone....

Tuesday morning (actually, like 3am) the little one was crying a little bit in her crib. We decided to see if she'd tire herself out so we just waited on it. Suddenly, the crying noise started getting closer and closer, and it wasn't coming out of the monitor anymore. The little monkey was walking down the hallway into our room. She'd escaped the crib.

I should just make "I'm not dead" a post tag.

Yes, I'm still alive. Let's have a few quick hits:

• I got a ticket Friday. It was a BS ticket for something I've probably done every weekday since my little monkey starting going to the sitter. So since that's probably 300+ times, I figure I've gotten away easy.


• I've stopped going out to lunch at work because the weather is so nice I just want to drive home.


• We took down the structure that was enclosing our hot tub on Saturday. Let's just say it was LONG overdue and keep it at that. There were ants involved. Hundreds of them.(ok, I didn't let that be that)


• Obama has won the Democratic primary, so we'll see how that goes.


• The Cubs are doing pretty well, so we'll see how that goes too.


• Some enterprising and intelligent people have updated MVP 2004 with the 2008 rosters since there's no real Baseball game for the PC anymore. My Cubs are doing well, and last night Carlo Marmol did something he does a lot in real life...give up a triple to the first batter and blow the next 3 guys away on strikeouts. Of course, the game seems to think Ryan Dempster is the Ryan Dempster we were all afraid we'd get in a starter (read: crappy) instead of the one we've really got (read: VERY strong).


• The monkey's current vocabulary: Mama, Dada, bob (bottle), yeah, no, elmo (for Elmo and Nemo), up, uh oh, whoa, juice (or something that sounds like that), ummm... (when thinking), and she also calls Hooper something nonsensical but consistent...I think it's na-na.


• Considering I put out a ton of garbage from the hot tub house for the garbagemen and the remains of a large bush we destroyed for the recycling/lawn bag guys, I'm sure both groups hate my guts right now.

More, as I think of it...

Household Political Endorsements

I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone that I'm throwing my endorsement for the Democratic Primary Election (and the 2008 Presidential Election) to Barack Obama.

Hooper (our dog) is not yet old enough to vote. He really likes John Edwards though.

Boots (our cat) is the only Republican in the house. He's actually a hard-line conservative, and we have many arguments about this. Because of his hard-line stance, he's having some issues with McCain as the Republican nominee but he'd sooner choke on a hairball than vote Democrat. I haven't really investigated it (mostly out of fear) but I do believe he had something to do with George W. Bush winning Florida in the 2000 Presidential Election. I suspect he was an integral part of the Republican Political Machine down there.

Oba-mania? Barack the Vote? GOBAMA?

Crosscut Seattle - Here's one reason students Barack the vote: respect

Interesting reading.

Starting back up

A little hitting to all fields, and then the starting of regular postings soon.

• The sprout and I weathered a little over a week of Mr. Mom-age. Worked out well since it was so nice to spend so much time with her. We had fun.


• I want to go on the record as saying it has snowed about 6 times since I told my wife in January that I thought it was time to put away the snowblower until next Winter.


• GOBAMA baby, just GOBAMA


• Got the car washed yesterday...perhaps it will rain today.


• Pitchers and Catchers have reported...and there was much rejoicing.


• More of my TV shows are getting canceled. This can't be good.


• I think I have watched 20 episodes of Mythbusters in the last month.


• I think Iraq is what scares me most about people who say they'll jump to McCain if their Democratic candidate doesn't make it. Hello, the guy wants to keep us in Iraq!

more later...

Yes, I'm alive (again)

Question and answer time:

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My father and his father.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I got a little sad reading about what is discovered to have happened to that poor little girl, Baby Grace.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's horrible.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Boiled ham.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yep, my little monkey.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? If I had to spend some time with me, yeah.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I guess I would.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Frosted Flakes

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES BEFORE YOU TAKE THEM OFF? no more than I have to.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? probably average.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their face I guess.

15. RED OR PINK? Red.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Not knowing when to just Stop.

17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My family who has moved to Arizona.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO FILL THIS OUT? If someone wants to they can.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Light brown pants and a navy blue shirt.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Dinner last night, Raspberry glazed chicken.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? training class call.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Brick red baby

23. FAVORITE SMELL? There's a smell that happens in the spring sometimes that takes me right back to growing up in Bartlett.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? on a conf call now

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM? Sure

26 FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Baseball.

28. EYE COLOR? Brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Shake and bake pork chops with mashed potatoes and corn.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy ending is fine.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Shrek 3 and then the first half of Ocean's 13.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Navy blue.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter, the colder the better.

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? apple pie

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? not sending this out

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? not sending this out

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Star Trek - Titan - Sword of Damocles.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? At work, Cubs. At home, a black optical mouse pad.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? A Bones from a month ago (the Halloween episode) and then last night's Chuck.

42. FAVORITE SOUND? Rain

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Beijing, China

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? None that I use for 'good'.

46. WHAT IRRITATES YOU MOST? People who are just ignorant or are so slaved to their way of thinking that they don't accept what's obvious.

Out of it for a little while

Ok, yesterday was my first day back at my desk at work in 3 weeks. 2 weeks of training, one of vacation. I learned a lot in those 3 weeks, but I also forgot a lot.

• How to wear my brown shoes which I wear to work. For some reason they now kill the backs of my ankles. Maybe because I haven't worn them for almost a month?


• How to wear pants. Yes, in three weeks, I did not, not once, wear pants. The fact that it was hotter than heckfire at home and in DC aided in that fact.


• How to drive to work. There's been pretty extensive construction cutting 53N down to one lane around 90. Stinks for me because my exit is the next one after 90. So I hadn't been taking 53 to work for a long time. Until yesterday, when I forgot all about the construction. Whoops.


• How to shave every day. Maybe some day they will invent a whole-face Nair that won't cause people to go blind. Then, I can just shoot that stuff on and be done with it all. The days of me with a mustache or beard (or both) are long done. I hate shaving with the fire of a thousand suns. I think it stems from the fact that for the first 5+ years of doing it I had no idea what aftershave was (thanks Dad) so shaving when I was in High School resulted in my fact getting all dried out and feeling like sandpaper.

So that's how dumb I've gotten. I'll post about the stuff I learned later, when I'm feeling a bit smarter.

Better know a country

1m 50s

Click here to try the quiz.

And we're back!

Hey! I'm NOT dead! Isn't that great?

I'll do a little version of 'hitting to all fields' now.

Am I becoming a flight snob now?

I've just recently returned from a one night (and next day) work trip to Miami. As expected, it was hotter than Hell. Work-wise, it went well, which is nice. I took an early flight back (yeah!) but first was full so no upgrade (boo!) but what are you gonna do?

I'll take that deal every day of the week and twice on Sunday

Since our sitter (who is great, btw) was on vacation last week, I took last week as a vacation week and watched the sprout all week long. It was a pretty amazing experience, spending so much time with her. I'm glad I did it. It only reinforced my thought that (if the $ were not an object...) I would be a stay at home parent, no doubt.

That smell on the DC Metro? That was me.

The week before that, I spent a week in SCADA training in Washington, D.C. Now, I've always wanted to go there and see the National Mall and all the memorials and all that. And this was the perfect occasion to do so. Training was Wed--->Fri so I flew out Tuesday morning and did some site-seeing for the rest of the day. I took the DC Metro from Vienna, VA, into the city. I walked around for almost 6 hours. It was hotter than Hell and I was major-league sweating. I'm sure by the end of the day, I reeked. It was so bad I washed the clothes at the hotel.

Now that everyone's grossed out...

I have to say, DC was amazing. I saw the Air & Space Museum, Capital Building, White House, Supreme Court, Washington Monument, FDR, Jefferson, and Lincoln Memorials. Vietnam Wall, Korean War Memorial, and the new WW II Memorial. I also saw the Holocaust Museum.

Someone with my same first and last name is on the Vietnam Wall. I plan to see what I can find out about him.

Since 9/11, all the areas around the White House are pretty locked down. You can't even walk up to the fence anymore. What a drag. I did take a zoomed in picture of some guys standing watch on the roof though, which was kinda cool.

All in all, it was a great trip. Even greater since I earned the certification I was there for in the first place. But what stays with me is the memorials to so many of the people that made this country what it is. I don't think they make people like that anymore.

question mark

60 questions...(and answers, by me)

1. What time did you get up this morning?
7:30am

2. Diamonds or pearls?
don't have a particular use for either

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Smallville

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
Slimfast, on weekends, a bowl of cereal and some toast

6. What is your middle name?
Anthony

7. What food do you dislike?
eggs (just thinking about them now makes me want to wretch)

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
Mostly listen to podcasts and stuff but probably the Superman Returns soundtrack

9. What kind of car do you drive?
2007 Toyota Camry

10. Favorite sandwich?
ham and cheese on rye

11. What characteristic do you despise?
lying

12. Favorite item of clothing?
sleep shorts, probably

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation?
New York

14. What color is your bathroom?
grayish

15. Favorite brand of clothing?
don't have one

16. Where would you retire to?
cabin somewhere in the woods where it was cool out.

17. What was your most recent memorable birthday?
don't remember

18. Furthest place you are sending this?
not sending it

19. Favorite saying?
"Come on, now" OR "Just think it through"

20. When is your birthday?
November 20, 1977

21. Are you a morning person or a night person?
night

22. What is your shoe size?
11 and a half

23. Pets?
dog and cat

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
I don't have to go to China next week, which is nice.

25. Who did you want to be when you were little?
Fireman

26. How are you today?
Feeling good

27. What is your favorite candy?
California Starbursts

28. What is your favorite flower?
uh, no

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
October 2, 2007 (and 2008, and 2009, and 2010, and...)

30. What church do you attend?
Don't attend church

31. What was your pets name as a child?
We had two dogs, Chico and Meeko, boy and girl pekingese. They had puppies...Lefty, Right, Tattoo, Omega, and Maui (and I think another one). We gave Meeko away with the puppies and kept Chico. He died of dog cancer (I think) and I didn't have another dog for another 20+ years. We should have kept one of the puppies.

32. What are you listening to right now?
people jabbering about something

33. What was the last thing you ate?
Small piece of cheese last night while I was reading.

34. Do you wish on stars?
No

35. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Brick Red

36. How is the weather right now?
Pretty damn hot.

37. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
wife, and before that, wife, and before that, my Aunt

38. Do you like the person [from whom you got this]?
I read his blog, so I guess so

39. Favorite soft drink?
Barq's Root Beer

40. Favorite restaurant?
fast food: Chick-Fil-A, sit down: Chili's

41. Hair color?
Brown.

42. Siblings?
younger sister

43. Favorite day of the year?
Thanksgiving, probably, but Christ Eve is a close second

44. What was your favorite toy as a child?
GI JOE guys

45. Summer or winter?
Winter

46. Hugs or kisses?
depends who it is

47. Chocolate or Vanilla?
Chocolate

48. When was the last time you cried?
Don't remember

49. What is under your bed?
nothing, but sometimes a cat

50. Who is the friend you have had the longest?
A number of people whom I don't really talk to anymore, like my friend Doug. After them, my sister-in-law, whom I talked to regularly.

51. What did you do last night?
watched the last few episodes of Everest: Beyond the Limit.

52. Favorite smell?
There's a mixture of cut grass and a few other things that takes me right back to where I grew up in Bartlett. It doesn't happen very often but when it does, it's immediate.

53 What are you afraid of?
something happening to my daughter

54. Plain, buttered, or salted popcorn?
buttered and salted

55. How many keys on your key ring?
2, car and house

56. How many years at your current job?
a few months over 9 years.

57. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday

58. How many towns have you lived in?
Bartlett (IL), Hanover Park (IL), Carol Stream (IL), Elk Grove (IL), Orlando (FL), Wood Dale (IL)

59. Do you make friends easily?
I don't mind meeting new people and always try to be friendly to them when I do, but sometimes I'd rather be left alone.

60. How many people will you be sending this to?
Just posting it up

Stepping out, with my baby...

Big news yesterday. The sprout has taken her first 'real' steps. Before, she'd take a step or two and then plop down. Yesterday, she took about 4 steps right in front of my wife and I. The funny thing was, she did it just as we were discussing whether or not we'd actually witness her first steps. It was amazing to see.

Also going along with the title of this post, my wife and I are going out to dinner and also to see the latest Harry Potter movie.

Kids, just sneak in.

That tears it

I'm going to come right out and say I'm fucking sick and tired of reading stories in the news about little children fucking dying.

The other day, murder suicide where 3 (I think) little children were killed and 1 survived. (thank God)

Yesterday, a story where a fired consumed 5 little kids while their babysitter was supposed to be watching them.

Today, 3 kids murdered (along with a woman, possibly their mother) in an SUV.

So, in closing, if you want to do violence to somebody, or hurt somebody, do us all a favor and just fucking kill yourself. Hopefully in a way that doesn't cost taxpayers any money.

Sorry for the language, but I'm pissed off.

Well, two out of three ain't bad

My daughter is amazing

On Monday, with my wife behind her and me up at the top, coaxing her, my daughter crawled up the stairs. I'm blown away by how much progress she has made in the last 2-3 weeks. She crawling around at top speed, pulling herself to stand against stuff around the house, and generally shooting around the house like a little monkey.

My wife is amazing

After finding a recipe online my wife has duplicated a dipping sauce that we really really really LOVED from the Japanese Steakhouse we always used to visit in Florida. She made it on Monday and we had it with chicken for dinner and it was GREAT. Fantastic job by her.

I have done nothing of importance

That much is certain.

It's a whole new ballgame.

Boy, I haven't posted in a while. At least, beyond the different question/answer stuff I post now and then. Anyways, some catching up to do.

Our little one is now scuffling around the floor and pulling herself up to stand against just about anything. It's pretty amazing to see. It seems so cliche to say that time has gone by so fast, but it does not seem so long ago that we were at the hospital begging her to eat a half an ounce so we could finally take her home. Now, she's eating Stage 2 foods and regularly draining her bottle. Last night (and this morning) I went into her room in response to her making some noises to find her standing up in her crib and clutching onto the top railing. It's simply amazing.

Work has been pretty busy. I have not been traveling as much as I used to but I have a trip on tap for June. Ottawa, Canada for a week. At least it's not over Father's Day. I'm not sure what there is to see there but if there is I'm sure we (I am going with someone from work) will see it. No baseball team though, so that's too bad.

I've found that the combination of watching Tivo and listening to my iPod in the car has totally made me intolerant of commercials. I just can't stand them. If they could find some way to target them towards things I actually use, that's fine. But the majority of them are for beer (no thanks) or insurance (already have it in multiple forms) or for other products that I have no use for. Just about the only ones I enjoy are the funny ones (a rarity) or ones advertising new products like a new dish at Olive Garden or something. There has to be a better way, because literally 95% of the ones I see are for stuff I have never and would never purchase.

I think much like a person who drives in a ton of traffic ever day becomes numbed to it, and a person who doesn't gets bothered by the slightest amount of traffic, I can't stand commercials at all because most of the time I don't have to listen to them.

On that subject, when I listen to the Cubs games on the radio commercials are unavoidable. There's a beer commercial (at least I think it might be Old Style) where a guy talks about 'local traditions' with the catchphrase "It's a local thing"...the only problem is that these commercials are so annoying AND it seems like the guy is just reading various bits of Chicago trivia off of a script. I can't stand them.

Some days I find myself getting really annoyed at the smallest thing. Maybe I'm too busy at work or not getting enough sleep. Who knows, but I'm sure it's annoying my wife and friends.

I was able to order this, which I was very happy about. Wedge is one of my favorite characters.

I've decided that instead of aiming at last year's model of LCD TV I will most likely choose this year's model, which has 3 HDMI inputs. I'll mostly likely get it from Grants and try to get a good price and financing. Timeframe is TBD because I still haven't found a nice stand for it. I think the TV will end up getting mounted to the wall. I think this will make the front room look bigger. (oh yeah, and my 30th is months away...)

After looking at the ticket stub I have for Borat (dated 11/10/2006) I discovered it's been some time since I've seen a movie. I would like to see Spider-Man 3, Fantastic Four 2, and Pirates 3 and Shrek 3 can go hang for all I care, since I can't stand Shrek. Oh yeah, and I WILL go see Transformers on or around the release date. Hello, it's the original voice of Prime!

Podcasts I listen to:

Tony Kornheiser show on Washington Post Radio
Official Lost Podcast
Battlestar Galactica Podcast
Jim Butcher.com Butcherblock Podcast
ESPN's Eye of the Sportsguy Podcast

It's time for the Happies

Happy Birthday to my nephew, who turns one today! Woo hoo!

Where do you want to go today?

Bold where you've been, italicize where you WANT to go, and name one place you want to go that is NOT on the list.


1. Times Square, New York City, NY: 35 million visitors every year
2. National Mall & Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C. (Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the war memorials): About 25 million
3. Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 16.6 million
4. Trafalgar Square, London, England: 15 million
5. Disneyland Park, Anaheim, Calif.: 14.7 million
6. Niagara Falls, Ontario and New York: 14 million
7. Fisherman’s Wharf/Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, Calif.: 13 million
8. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan: 12.9 million
9. Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France: 12 million
10. Disneyland Paris, Marne-La-Vallee, France: 10.6 million
11. The Great Wall of China, Badaling area, China: About 10 million
12. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina: 9.2 million
13. Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan: 8.5 million
14. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, Paris, France: 8 million
15. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France: 7.5 million
16. Everland (amusement park), Kyonggi-Do, South Korea: 7.5 million
17. The Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China: At least 7 million
18. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France: 6.7 million
19. Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, Fla: 6 million
20. SeaWorld Florida, Orlando, Fla: 5,740,000
21. Pleasure Beach (amusement park), Blackpool, England: 5.7 million
22. Lotte World (amusement park), Seoul, South Korea: 5.5 million
23. Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Japan: 5.4 million
24. Hong Kong Disneyland, China: 5.2 million
25. Centre Pompidou, Paris, France: 5.1 million
26. Tate Modern, London, England: 4.9 million
27. British Museum, London, England: 4.8 million
28. Universal Studios Los Angeles, Calif.: 4.7 million
29. National Gallery, London, England: 4.6 million
30. Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY: 4.5 million
31. Grand Canyon, Ariz.: 4.4 million
32. Tivoli Gardens (amusement park), Copenhagen, Denmark: 4.4 million
33. Ocean Park (amusement park), Hong Kong, China: 4.38 million
34. Busch Gardens (amusement park), Tampa Bay, Fla.: 4.36 million
35. SeaWorld California, San Diego, Calif.: 4.26 million
36. Statue of Liberty, New York, NY: 4.24 million
37. The Vatican and its museums, Rome, Italy: 4.2 million
38. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia: More than 4 million
39. The Coliseum, Rome, Italy: 4 million
40. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY: 4 million
41. Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Calif.: 4 million
42. Empire State Building, New York, NY: 4 million
43. Natural History Museum, London, England: 3.7 million
44. The London Eye, London, England: 3.5 million
45. Palace of Versailles, France: 3.45 million
46. Yosemite National Park, Calif.: 3.44 million
47. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt: 3 million
48. Pompeii, Italy: 2.5 million
49. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia: 2.5 million
50. Taj Mahal, Agra, India: 2.4 million

I'm talking here

What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Northern. Whether you have the world famous Inland North accent of the Great Lakes area, or the radio-friendly sound of upstate NY and western New England, your accent is what used to set the standard for American English pronunciation (not much anymore now that the Inland North sounds like it does).

Take this quiz now - it's easy!

We're going to start with "cot" and "caught." When you say those words do they sound the same or different?

Same, no wait I mean different, maybe, a little bit different... Different Same

Time has flown...

Was putzing around on amazon. Just noticed that my first purchase was in December of 1997. I sent a gift-wrapped hardcover copy of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' to the woman who is now my wife.

If I remember correctly, it wasn't the normal book, but a tiny coffee-house version of it. Oops.

Well, the relationship between amazon and I has gotten better since.