One of the best Pearl Jam songs sums up my feelings right now...glad to have the last couple of weeks in my Rearviewmirror (not sure that Eddie Veddor was talking about working too much but whatever). Put in an insane number of hours both at Colgate and on a 2nd project in the evenings but now (hopefully) the worst is behind me. This week should be back to being relatively normal.
By Friday night I was completely exhausted but really felt like some relaxation time was necessary so went out and played poker with some friends. My head was only 1/2 in the game and lost some money as a result, but nothing too crazy. Didn't play very well, got no hands worth speaking of but did figure out a couple of trends in the play of the others at the table. Hopefully I get a chance to exploit these at a future session where I am not so tired.
Watched some ODI and T20 cricket over the weekend as well. We are certainly playing well in these games but the oppo is really helping us out as well. We should be able to piece together a good side for the upcoming World Cups, will be interested in seeing how the selectors piece everything together. Quite sad in a way watching just how far the West Indies have fallen. Not only are they not great cricketers but they don't seem to be trying particularly hard as well. A real shame for a once great Test country.
Last night managed to get a great night's sleep however so I feel quite good this morning. Mindy informed me that Angus had a terrible night last night...I guess I blasted straight through it all. When I am tired like that I am pretty much like a bear hibernating - either that, or I sleep walk.
On other matters, we have both resolved to get on an "eating better" kick. We will see how well that goes.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Cell Phones
Mindy lost her cell phone right after Angus was born. At first we figured it must have fallen out, maybe at the hospital but then we remembered that we had heard an alarm on her phone in the other room when we were at home. So...we know that the phone is either in the house or perhaps has been gathered up with something and thrown out, which was quite frustrating. We gave it a few weeks for it to turn up but had no luck.
My cell phone was completely dead as well. I literally had 5 minutes of battery life. I also hated a lot of the features as well. I think I was the last person to actually buy a Razr model phone with good reason - they are JUNK. So off we went to the Sprint store to see what they could do for us.
Basically...they hooked us up! We both got the same phone model, a Samsung "Reclaim", made from 80% corn in some way and made with other environmentally conscious factors as well. So far so good. We are now both expecting Mindy's old phone to turn up but we are more than happy with the switch. The girls wanted something too: "It is not fair that you guys get something on Valentine's Day and we don't". When we started to remind them of the stuff they received for Christmas, I think they figured out that they had done OK.
Angus is now almost better. His cough is almost gone and so that is a huge relief. Found out that my contract here at Colgate is likely to run out at the end of April, so still 10 weeks but after that, it is looking quite unlikely for another extension. After almost 3 years of being local, I really cannot complain about it ending...but it will still suck to have to travel (possibly) again.
My cell phone was completely dead as well. I literally had 5 minutes of battery life. I also hated a lot of the features as well. I think I was the last person to actually buy a Razr model phone with good reason - they are JUNK. So off we went to the Sprint store to see what they could do for us.
Basically...they hooked us up! We both got the same phone model, a Samsung "Reclaim", made from 80% corn in some way and made with other environmentally conscious factors as well. So far so good. We are now both expecting Mindy's old phone to turn up but we are more than happy with the switch. The girls wanted something too: "It is not fair that you guys get something on Valentine's Day and we don't". When we started to remind them of the stuff they received for Christmas, I think they figured out that they had done OK.
Angus is now almost better. His cough is almost gone and so that is a huge relief. Found out that my contract here at Colgate is likely to run out at the end of April, so still 10 weeks but after that, it is looking quite unlikely for another extension. After almost 3 years of being local, I really cannot complain about it ending...but it will still suck to have to travel (possibly) again.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Snow Days!
Wednesday was a work from home snow day. We had about a foot of snow fall, which is a quite decent amount, but nothing like the mid-Atlantic states. DC got hammered again, they must literally be buried by now. I was actually quite busy catching up on everything that I needed to do but still found time to get some sledding in with the girls later in the afternoon. I also did the bulk of the digging out as I knew leaving it all until Thursday would not work.
Last night was a rough one for Angus. He has been fighting off a cough and at 4:00, woke up coughing and throwing up as a result of the cough. Pretty much did this for about 45 minutes and so with this, coupled with the girls' school being closed again, worked form home again today. Fortunately Angus seemed a lot better by lunchtime. he is pretty much either OK or coughing...just hoping the periods of OK continue to lengthen.
Last night was a rough one for Angus. He has been fighting off a cough and at 4:00, woke up coughing and throwing up as a result of the cough. Pretty much did this for about 45 minutes and so with this, coupled with the girls' school being closed again, worked form home again today. Fortunately Angus seemed a lot better by lunchtime. he is pretty much either OK or coughing...just hoping the periods of OK continue to lengthen.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Wings and Pizza
I think this weekend I pretty much ate my weight in hot sauce. It all started on Friday with a trip to see the NJ Devils play the Toronto Maple Leafs in a hockey game. Scored a free ticket so decided it was too good to pass up! Met my friend before the game for wings and pizza (and a few beers) before heading to the game. Things were looking good early, leading 1-0 after the first period however 3 Toronto goals in the second took the atmosphere away. It appeared the Devils were looking at a depressing loss, 3 minutes to go in the game and still down 3-1...then they scored to at least make it a little interesting. A minute later, they go on the power play and score again with about a minute left in the game. THEN, they score the winning goal with about 20 seconds left!!! So 3 goals in 3 minutes to win 4-3. To add to the excitement, all 7 goals were scored right in front of us, so we were certainly sitting at the right end of the ice.
After getting home, I then watched the T20 game, Australia v Pakistan...another game we had no rights winning but a great bowling effort and the usual assistance by Pakistan got us home there as well.
Saturday brought the snow and some friends came over for lunch and sledding on our hill in the back yard. Lunch was, once again, wings and pizza. The sledding was a lot of fun with no injuries of any kind. A successful afternoon.
Sunday was of course Super Bowl Sunday. Went over to Gary's house for, yes, wings AND and amazing Buffalo Chicken Dip. I think I am done with hot sauce for a while now...in fact, I should be done with eating for a while. We had to leave soon after the game started to get the kids to bed but it was a great game to watch. I really didn't like/dislike either of the teams too much but I was hoping for an upset result and the Saints did not disappoint. After a shaky start, they closed things down and with a few VERY gutsy calls from the coach were able to run away with it in the end. Down 10-0 early, they ended up winning 31-17, it really was a great performance. I was also totally sick of hearing the announcers referring to Peyton Manning as simply "Peyton" for the whole game. Every other player gets called by their last name, why is he so friggin special?
After getting home, I then watched the T20 game, Australia v Pakistan...another game we had no rights winning but a great bowling effort and the usual assistance by Pakistan got us home there as well.
Saturday brought the snow and some friends came over for lunch and sledding on our hill in the back yard. Lunch was, once again, wings and pizza. The sledding was a lot of fun with no injuries of any kind. A successful afternoon.
Sunday was of course Super Bowl Sunday. Went over to Gary's house for, yes, wings AND and amazing Buffalo Chicken Dip. I think I am done with hot sauce for a while now...in fact, I should be done with eating for a while. We had to leave soon after the game started to get the kids to bed but it was a great game to watch. I really didn't like/dislike either of the teams too much but I was hoping for an upset result and the Saints did not disappoint. After a shaky start, they closed things down and with a few VERY gutsy calls from the coach were able to run away with it in the end. Down 10-0 early, they ended up winning 31-17, it really was a great performance. I was also totally sick of hearing the announcers referring to Peyton Manning as simply "Peyton" for the whole game. Every other player gets called by their last name, why is he so friggin special?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Birthday Stuff
Of course, last Saturday was Mindy's birthday. It is always fun to see what lies the girls can come up with when we are planning birthday surprises. Fiona decided that it was plausible for us to have to take an emergency trip to her school to get a paper puppet she left there. Mindy (of course) played along while we REALLY went out to buy birthday cake supplies, a Pink CD/DVD as a gift, and donuts/coffee for breakfast.
After this, Indian food for lunch then a quiet evening at the house. Our local Indian buffet is back! There was a recent change in ownership but now it seems that they have the menu sorted out again.
Angus also had another checkup and he is developing into quite a large lad! 97th percentile for height (length) and weight, grew 3lbs in two weeks and is the size of a "normal" 3 month old. Not bad for 5 weeks! There are some future "All Black" kids right now, crying themselves to sleep worrying about getting hit by this future "Wallaby" :-)
Life is still amazingly busy. Managing on not a lot of sleep...but looking forward to seeing the NJ Devils play tomorrow night. A friend got some free tickets, a price too good to pass on.
After this, Indian food for lunch then a quiet evening at the house. Our local Indian buffet is back! There was a recent change in ownership but now it seems that they have the menu sorted out again.
Angus also had another checkup and he is developing into quite a large lad! 97th percentile for height (length) and weight, grew 3lbs in two weeks and is the size of a "normal" 3 month old. Not bad for 5 weeks! There are some future "All Black" kids right now, crying themselves to sleep worrying about getting hit by this future "Wallaby" :-)
Life is still amazingly busy. Managing on not a lot of sleep...but looking forward to seeing the NJ Devils play tomorrow night. A friend got some free tickets, a price too good to pass on.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Awful Morning, Great Afternoon
Right before I was about the leave with the girls to school/work, it started snowing. A quick check of the weather and the school cancellation message and we got confirmation that school was in fact on. The snow appeared to only be relatively light, ending around lunch time, so off we went.
As it turned out, the snow was pretty much exactly the worst kind of snow to be driving in. Light enough to mean that everyone was out on the roads but still heavy enough to cause cars to be sliding everywhere. There were accidents all over the place and the commute, normally 40 minutes, was still in progress at the 2 hour mark.
At this point I was approaching the exit from our last main road, and noticed that a lot of cars were getting onto the shoulder of the road to get up to the exit ramp (the main lanes were pretty much stopped at this point). I decided to also try this and it was going well, making some more progress when suddenly someone decided to try to cut in front of me. Of course, there was a lot more snow on the shoulder and there was no way I was going to be able to stop in time...so I had to hope that I could slow down a little and that they would accelerate away. Naturally, their cunning plan in the icy conditions was to cut in front of me, then stop...so at about 15 mph (I guess) I ran up the back of the car.
Massive shout out here for the Honda manufacturing process, particularly the Japanese bloke who designed their bumpers...the only damage to my car was to the licence plate cover - literally. The woman in front had a few small scratches on her bumper. As part of my continuing need to educate humanity, I threw out a comment - "Are you serious cutting in front like that in this weather?", she then yelled back something about me driving on the shoulder...the same shoulder that she was driving on when she cut in front of me. I could have continued by showing her the lack of logic in her comment but thought better of it.
I said that I was happy to simply drive on if she was happy to do it. If we wanted to wait for the police, we would literally have been there for hours so everything worked out OK.
I managed to crawl up to the exit ramp, then saw there were 3 cars smashed up there so despite only being a few miles from our destination, figured that there was no guarantee it would have been a short trip. I then took another exit and looped back around and headed home, arriving back 3 hours after leaving. The girls were happy to get a snow day and I got some stuff done in the afternoon, so it all ended up being OK. Working from home in comfortable clothes near a fire beats going into the office any day!
As it turned out, the snow was pretty much exactly the worst kind of snow to be driving in. Light enough to mean that everyone was out on the roads but still heavy enough to cause cars to be sliding everywhere. There were accidents all over the place and the commute, normally 40 minutes, was still in progress at the 2 hour mark.
At this point I was approaching the exit from our last main road, and noticed that a lot of cars were getting onto the shoulder of the road to get up to the exit ramp (the main lanes were pretty much stopped at this point). I decided to also try this and it was going well, making some more progress when suddenly someone decided to try to cut in front of me. Of course, there was a lot more snow on the shoulder and there was no way I was going to be able to stop in time...so I had to hope that I could slow down a little and that they would accelerate away. Naturally, their cunning plan in the icy conditions was to cut in front of me, then stop...so at about 15 mph (I guess) I ran up the back of the car.
Massive shout out here for the Honda manufacturing process, particularly the Japanese bloke who designed their bumpers...the only damage to my car was to the licence plate cover - literally. The woman in front had a few small scratches on her bumper. As part of my continuing need to educate humanity, I threw out a comment - "Are you serious cutting in front like that in this weather?", she then yelled back something about me driving on the shoulder...the same shoulder that she was driving on when she cut in front of me. I could have continued by showing her the lack of logic in her comment but thought better of it.
I said that I was happy to simply drive on if she was happy to do it. If we wanted to wait for the police, we would literally have been there for hours so everything worked out OK.
I managed to crawl up to the exit ramp, then saw there were 3 cars smashed up there so despite only being a few miles from our destination, figured that there was no guarantee it would have been a short trip. I then took another exit and looped back around and headed home, arriving back 3 hours after leaving. The girls were happy to get a snow day and I got some stuff done in the afternoon, so it all ended up being OK. Working from home in comfortable clothes near a fire beats going into the office any day!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Catching Up
I think we are now pretty much over the initial hump of live with 3 kids. It was made worse over the past 3 weeks as I was working extra hours in the evenings, however, this should be behind me for a little while at least.
Angus is growing well. His next appointment is in early February but he seems to have added a couple of pounds and is already not fitting some of the 0-3 months clothes we had for him.
Naomi had a couple of minor cavities fixed the other day. So minor as to not need a needle and she did not feel a thing so that was good. When she heard she had to get something done, she was quite anxious, we were glad when it went so smoothly.
Cricket news - great wins by the Aussies in the ODIs. Despite Cameron White once being picked in the Test side as a bowler, I am lamenting the fact that his bowling is not quite enough to slot in there somewhere. However, I think I would be giving strong consideration to picking him as a #6 in the Test side. Would he really score much less than North? Also, with Haddin, Johnson and Hauritz at 7,8,9...we do have good depth and could afford to carry someone a bit I think. His slip fielding would be a massive boost for us, he is a decent bowling option as a 2nd spinner and I think, given time, his batting could continue to develop. Watching Watson has given me this hope - he has gone from an all rounder to being considered a front line batsman. Andrew Symonds and Steve Waugh were others who made this step up. Perhaps White could do the same. In any case, in the ODI team he is now a fixture and making us not miss Symonds quite so much.
Angus is growing well. His next appointment is in early February but he seems to have added a couple of pounds and is already not fitting some of the 0-3 months clothes we had for him.
Naomi had a couple of minor cavities fixed the other day. So minor as to not need a needle and she did not feel a thing so that was good. When she heard she had to get something done, she was quite anxious, we were glad when it went so smoothly.
Cricket news - great wins by the Aussies in the ODIs. Despite Cameron White once being picked in the Test side as a bowler, I am lamenting the fact that his bowling is not quite enough to slot in there somewhere. However, I think I would be giving strong consideration to picking him as a #6 in the Test side. Would he really score much less than North? Also, with Haddin, Johnson and Hauritz at 7,8,9...we do have good depth and could afford to carry someone a bit I think. His slip fielding would be a massive boost for us, he is a decent bowling option as a 2nd spinner and I think, given time, his batting could continue to develop. Watching Watson has given me this hope - he has gone from an all rounder to being considered a front line batsman. Andrew Symonds and Steve Waugh were others who made this step up. Perhaps White could do the same. In any case, in the ODI team he is now a fixture and making us not miss Symonds quite so much.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)