The picture of the week is actually living up to it’s name. I’ve posted two weeks in a row. There’s a new one up now. I’ll have to set up a tip jar at Paypal so that you can show your appreciation.
May 072002
Apr 162002
The Boy and I managed to survive the long weekend on our own. We were actually pretty busy.
Early Saturday morning, we went to the post office (to mail our tax return and money to the bloodsucking IRS) and Home Depot. I spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon pulling weeds while The Boy terrorized trees and the dog with a super soaker that Sam left behind when she moved to Ithaca. We had a visit from Critter Ridders (expensive, but recommended) to relieve us of our second dead squirrel in the attic. The guy was really amazing. He managed to zero-in on the exact spot and only make a small hole in the ceiling. After that, we headed out to an early dinner at the Salt Lick with Ruhul, Hillbilly, the English, and Jennifer from GMan. The Boy gorged himself on brisket, bread, and an inhuman number of pickle spears. I got heartburn and he managed to fall off the bench, scraping his cheek and giving himself a massive bump on the head. He also picked up a new skill that he is quite proud of. At one point during dinner, Ruhul flashed him the heavy metal hand sign. (You know, the one with the thumb, index finger, and pinky point ing out and the middle and ring finger curled against the palm.) He was very intent on learning to do this and practiced on and off throughout dinner. Well, every evening since then, I’ve heard an excited “Look Daddy”, only to turn around and have him flashing me the two handed metal hand signals (although truthfully, he’s actually doing the Longhorns sign with his thumb tucked in over the middle and ring fingers) and tell me, “Like Ruhul.” I’m sure Ruhul will be happy to know that he’s influenced The Boy. He’s even showed it to his bewildered mother. The Wife’s now wondering what the hell else we taught him while she was away.
On Sunday, we went to see Ice Age. It was a decent kid flick, not quite on par with the likes of Jimmy Neutron and Iron Giant, but not any worse than the stuff that Disney has been foisting on us lately. The movie was followed by a trip to the GMan for the Blue Dog Rescue benefit. The Boy had the requisite pretzel and half-pint of root beer. We got to hear Hilary sing. She was quite good. Finally, we stopped by the Driskill for drinks with Sarah and Ivan who had just gotten married in a civil ceremony at their home.
The Boy was amazingly well behaved overall, only one real meltdown when we were leaving Salt Lick. He got a little crazy at the end of the night at the Driskill as well, but that was to be expected.
Apr 112002
It’s a bachelor weekend for The Boy and I as The Wife will be out of town. We’ll probably head to the park on one, if not both days. We’re also going to hang out at the GMan on Sunday afternoon. There’s a benefit for some dog rescue program (I’ve forgotten the name). I plan to take some new pictures, so you can all stop hassling me to update the picture of the week.
Here’s an interesting article from Bruce Sterling on the current state of the US military.
Apr 092002
I don’t think I have a comment on this. It really just speaks for itself.
Mar 252002
Well, I made it back from Las Vegas in one piece, but a lot poorer. We had a good time. I’ll be posting more on the trip later. Andy took some pictures that may or may not make it on to his site. I’ll link them if they make it past the censors.
Feb 072002
I got this gift card in the mail for Borders as part of buying a new cell phone. It was burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided to go over there yesterday and be a good consumer.
Before I went, I browsed a little at their online store (which is basically Amazon now with some different branding). I’ve been buying online for a while, but never really compared the prices with brick and mortar.
Some of the books are 40% cheaper online. The same book from the same company.
Who in their right mind would actually pay full price for a book these days? The trade-off between getting it in your grubby little hands immediately and waiting a few days to save money even WITH the cost of shipping is a no-brainer.
Most of you will say, “Duh!” and I guess I was already aware of this, but I never really THOUGHT about it and compared the prices directly.
In other news…
Dee Snider has gone respectable.
Jan 212002