Adventures in Mediocrity

Life changing decisions already? Part 3

2008-08-20T00:25:00.002-04:00

We had our meeting with the new principal and the GT supervisor. After all that build up, the meeting went very well. We sat down and after introductions, the principal said, "so, Marc will be starting in third grade with us this year." She was very supportive and said they would do all they could to make sure he is successful. Now we just have to hope both our childrens' transitions to their new school go smoothly.

Life changing decisions already? Part 2

2008-08-02T01:01:00.004-04:00

The other night, I was talking to my dad and he asked "how would this decision be good for Marc?" I realized Amy and I always discussed the matter in terms of what was best for Marc but when we shared the dilemma with others, it sounded more like a power struggle between the parents and the school. From the beginning, Marc has been very involved in this process. He enjoys being challenged and dislikes the attention of being expected to get every answer right by his peers. He is very much in favor of acceleration and was disappointed by the principal's decision. We understand that Marc does what is expected of him. If a teacher expects him to do 2nd grade work, that's what he'll do. If they expect him to do the fourth grade work he's capable of, that's what he'll do. He's mature, has a very god sense of humor, and is tall for his age. He's not into competitive sports (it's funny to me how many people have suggested not accelerating because he'll be a year younger than his competitors in sports). We really feel he'd be bored and unchallenged in a second grade class.

Last evening we got the test results. Even we were surprised by what they showed. Marc's IQ was extremely high. His Math ability was "Very Superior" and his English was Superior. The psychologist actually wrote "it would be detrimental for Marc to be placed in second grade classroom next year. Across the board he was advanced in all subjects.

As a parent, it's interesting getting results like this. It's not like A's on a report card. He didn't accomplish some great feet. He simply is what he is. It doesn't make him better, it makes him unique with special needs. It means it's going to be a great effort over the next 10 (yes, we probably lost one) years for us to make sure he gets the challenges and education he needs and deserves.

So now we have to go back to battle. Hopefully the tests will speak for themselves and little will need to be said after the results are shared. We'll just have to see what the next few weeks bring.

Castrating My Truck or The Death of a Small Portion of My Identity

2008-08-02T00:04:00.003-04:00

Due to the ridiculous rise in the price of gasoline and it's effect on the price of everything else, the great distance to any place to you can legally drive a vehicle off road, and the wear and tear I've put on my truck; I've decided give up offroading. I'll eventually sell the truck for something more eco friendly, but for now I'm just removing 400 or so pounds of steal and 2" of extra rubber. I figure I should pick up between 3-5 MPG which is a lot these days.

Sunday night I listed my parts on the classified sections of my Xterra club forums. By Monday morning I had sold my CB, skid plates, sliders (steel step rails), steel bumper, one of three oversized tires, and my hi lift jack. I should clear about what it costs to get Marc's testing (see next post). That's almost exactly half of what I paid for the stuff so I definitely got my money's worth over the past 8 years.

I spent all evening Tuesday and all day today removing parts. With a small tear in my eye, sweat rolling down my face, and a combination of dirt and grease covering my entire body, I loosened rusty dirty bolts while laying in contorted positions and holding up heavy parts. I Dremmeled away broken bolts and even helped one of my buyers install the parts on his truck. By the end of the day my truck had gone from the beefy behemoth to the piddly mall crawler. I even put the stock step rails and bumper back on.

The final step is the tires. I blew one out offroad last weekend. I figured that was the sign that it was time to quit before I broke something really expensive. I decided to go with small economy tires. They should have been put on Wed night but Mr. Tire broke my wheel lock key. (If you are unfamiliar with wheel locks, they are lug nuts that require a special socket to remove. If you have them, I suggest you throw remove them now and dispose of them. The chance of your wheels being stolen is much less than the chance of this thing causing you a huge hassle.)

So anyway, they tried a special tool but had no luck removing the wheel locks. I called two Nissan dealers who were no help. One wanted to charge me $100 a wheel to chisel them off. Finally I was able to find the company that makes them online. They told me that I could send the broken key to them and they'd send a replacement free of charge. So, as soon as that key comes, assuming it doesn't break as well, the castration will be complete. My truck will no longer have any balls.

Life changing decisions already? Part 1

2008-07-31T10:12:00.006-04:00

Since Marc started school, we have been absolutely amazed by his ability to learn but aren't all parents. He had an excellent kindergarten teacher who had him reading in the first couple months of school. We hadn't pushed Marc at home. He went to kindergarten knowing the alphabet, letter sounds, and how to spell abut 10 words. Math was his real strength though. He was like a human calculator. Show him how to do something once, and he's got it. His teacher looped the class so Marc got another year with this outstanding educator. By January, the teacher was suggesting we have Marc skip 2nd grade. He let us know that Marc was well beyond the other students and that he had already taught him most of the first and second grade curriculums. He said he was having trouble keeping ahead of Marc with assignments.

At first we were unsure how to handle the request. We didn't really want our little boy growing up a year quicker and we didn't we want to do what's best for him. We did a lot of reading and found that acceleration does seem to be the best option for Marc. The teacher did more testing and confirmed that Marc is highly capable.

Unfortunately, we hit a great deal of resistance from the principal. The principal is one of those people who won't take a risk. He wants 100% assurance before he makes a change like this. He felt the testing the teacher gave was invalid because it could be coached. We got in contact with the county GT supervisor and a reading and math assessment were given. The reading assessment was subjective and showed Marc was reading independently at a 4th grade reading level. The math test they gave was the end of the year assessment for 3rd grade. It had a good deal of vocabulary Marc was unfamiliar with and a few concepts he had never seen. He scored a 16/26 on the assessment so the principal determined this showed he was not ready for 3rd grade. Now Marc is the kind of kid who could have aced that test if they'd shown him one time how to do each problem one time. The test wasn't an ability test, it was more of a final exam on content he hadn't seen.

Because of my new job, Marc will go to a new school next year. If this transition is to occur, we feel it would be in his best interest to happen now. That way he will skip a grade and start a new school all at once. He won't get as much attention for skipping and won't have to make new friends with the possibility of having to move up later in the year.

The GT supervisor understood our concerns, but without data and with the principal against it, his hands were tied. He suggested we get private educational/ ability testing which we did.

Now there is a great abundance of money and assistance for children in this country for special education services. They receive testing, individual education plans, special teachers, a greater ratio of teacher to student time, and funding for many programs and materials. Unfortunately, there is very very little for gifted students. If our child had a disability, the law would require educational tests be given at no cost to the parents, however, since his special needs are at the opposite end of the spectrum, he has no right to anything. Since our child's special needs are that's he's more capable than average, we have to pay $1200 for the testing he needs. Both situations involve kids who will not receive their appropriate and least restrictive education in a regular classroom. I in no way mean this to diminish the importance of special education, I am simply showing that there is a great discrepancy. I do however see a big problem as a society if we continue to devote so little of our educational resources to our students with the most potential.

So Marc was scheduled for educational testing. We were to meet with the Dr. once, then Marc was to meet with him for an interview. Following that Marc would have two sessions of testing. Finally we would get the results. We could then use this information to make a better choice about Marc's education and possibly use the results as ammunition if they showed what so many had already implied.

Long overdue

2008-07-31T09:17:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted recently, mostly because I really didn't have anything to say, but when has that ever stopped me from shooting off my mouth before. So, where to start?

I'm starting a new job in the fall. I'll now be a high school media specialist. I'm very excited and scared to death at the same time. As I may have mentioned before, my biggest fear in life if that everyone will realize I've been faking it all along and have no idea what the hell I'm doing. That's not totally true but it sure does feel that way sometimes.

I found out this job was a possibility back in October. Our school system has strange transfer process. If you are interested in a transfer you have to request it by January, even if a position is not open. If a position becomes available you get an interview. However, they can't interview until the position is available (current position holder announces retirement or resigns). This means you basically have to know a position is going to be available months before it is. Luckily for me, I happened to overhear that the current media specialist was retiring. I had really planned to wait a few year before jumping from elementary to high, but being as the school is right next to my house I had to jump on the opportunity. The kids will go to the elementary school beside the high school so logistically, the move is perfect.

I worked very hard getting my portfolio up to date, speaking to high school media specialists, and reading up to prepare for my interview. I also had the recommendation of my previous supervisor, my current supervisor, my previous principal, and my current principal.

My interview went really well and I really liked the principal there. I went in with thinking, if I get the job great, if not I'm happy where I am. I walked out thinking, man, I really want to work for him. The principal seems to put what's best for students first and trusts his staff as professionals. It seems more and more principals nowadays are only worried about making sure the school does well on high stakes tests and blindly follow, to the letter of the law, whatever mandate or program the county favors this month.

So, I waited a month or so and got a letter stating I had received the position. Wow. It's so strange thinking about going to a new school. Everything I've done in my career has been at the same elementary school. I went from being a classroom teacher to a media specialist, but I never left my building. I'm very excited at the potential the new position has. I can work with young adults and discuss real issues, I can do much more with technology, I can read and recommend young adult novels, and I can be more of a librarian than I could teaching 25 classes a week in elementary. At the same time, I have to learn how to teach, manage, and deal with the behaviors of high school students. I also have a lot more responsibility for running a larger library, spending a much larger budget, and doing a lot more cataloging than I currently do. The thought is a very overwhelming to me.

In addition, I have the added bonus of not being a the favorite coming in. When I took over at my current school, the media specialist was not well loved. My staff knew me and was very excited when I got the job, especially the tech who hated the previous media specialist (the tech is like the librarian's assistant, they do a lot of book check out, cataloging, and other mostly clerical jobs). The other person who had applied for the media specialist position at the high school was really good friends with the tech there. We've gotten along well so far but she's also let me know that she was really pushing for her friend to get the position. She felt that my previous boss had too much say in who got the position. So, although she's told me she doesn't hold it against me, it's still hard feeling like I have a strike against me before I even start.

So here I am, about to go into the complete unknown. My last experience with high school was when I went there. I'm hopeful that things will go well and I will love it. At the same time it's really hard to leave my comfort zone and go into a position where I need to do well, learn quick, and show that I'm in control of it all.

Weekend in AC

2007-12-10T22:46:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was my big weekend in Atlantic City. Amy and I both met out weight loss goals so we both earned our trips. I booked a decent room in the Tropicana. My friend Toby and headed up for the weekend.

After 3 trips around the block to find the entrance to the parking garage, we grabbed our bags (mine loaded up with a gallon of beer and Captain Morgan because Toby said their were no free drinks in tournaments), and we headed into the hotel. After hiking across the casino and asking directions 3 times (it was that far) we finally got tho the check-in desk. A nice clerk saw we were in a room clear back where we started so he nicely changed or room to this side. We hiked up to the room (my bag was really heavy by this point) only to find the room had not been cleaned; cups all over, sheets off the bed, etc. We hiked back down to the desk, were given a room clear back where we started, and hiked once again. By this point I was exhausted and needed a change of clothes. I took a couple shots of the Captain to get my game on and we headed out.

We then decided to walk (against my better judgment) the 5 blocks to Caesars in the freezing cold crime ridden streets of AC. We signed up for the 9:00 tournament and walked the shops until game time.

The blind structure was tough, 5000 chips, blinds up every 20 min and antes at the third level. Since the table was loose and I didn't catch any decent hands, it was hard to build a stack. I did catch quite a few free Captain and Cokes (yes they were free!). I held out for 2 hours but went out 11th out of 40 some of us. They paid the top 6. Toby went out 9th.

We ended just a bit too late to make the midnight madness as the Taj so we caught the bus back to the Trop and called it a night.

The next day we played the 11:00 at the Showboat and both busted early. I was flopped a straight, got it all in, and busted to a guy with 2 pair who sucked out with a boat on the river. Oh well, I got my money in when I had the best of it, what can you do?

I was out early enough to play the 2:00 tournament. I figured what the hell, we came here to play. I played very conservative and enjoyed my free liquor. Between the earlier game and this one, I was in good shape :P I caught some lucky hands, built my stack slowly, and was somehow still in it after 2 hours. After the 2nd break, I was moved to a new table. They were very tight so I was able to bluff my ass off and pick up quite a few chips. The hand I did show down won so I was sitting pretty.

Another move and I decided to get conservative again. We were down to two tables (about 20 of the original 50+ players were left). I couldn't believe I got this far. I got crap for a while and then picked up Ace & 7 of spades. The flop came down with two spades. I raised trying to win the hand but an old dude across the table called with a cocky grin. To my amazement another spade came on the turn. He checked, I now had the hand. The board wasn't paired so I had the nuts (highest hand possible). I tried to look nervous and raised about half the chips I had left (3/4 of the pot) and he called. The river was a blank and I looked at my chips. Not much left compared to how big the pot was. I asked nervously how many chips he had left. He said more than you have. So I thought for another minute, said "what the hell, I'mm all in" He called instantly and turned white when I showed the flush. He had 2 pair and thought I just had a pair.

The next hour was pretty good. Our table broke and we were down to one table. This annoying librarian looking lady started asking about taking a collection for the bubble boy (the person who loses just before the paid positions). The tourny was paying 7, there were 9 of us. We agreed, 10 bucks each would pay the entry for the guy who bubbled. Then she busted out, two away from the bubble. I felt kind of bad for her but everyone was glad she was gone. She had been bitching about jacks for the past three hours.

I was so excited, at this point I was getting money no matter what! I picked up some OK hands, played well and actually outlasted half the table. The dude across from me had about 1/2 the chips and we were down to 4 players. He was winning with ace rag over and over so I had to make a stand. I looked down and Ace 10 clubs and went all in. He called turning over Ace Jack and it was all over. Still, I just made $318 on my $65 entry. I was so psyched!

I took myself out to the Hard Rock for a pig sandwich to celebrate!

After that the weekend wasn't very eventful. I tried a cash game with Toby that night. There were 5 really drunk guys at our limit table. Thy were all going full speed ahead on every hand. You can beat one drunk idiot but 5 of them made it impossible. I had pocket queens busted 3 times and aces busted once buy idiot hands like 9 4 hitting 2 pair. I should have walked earlier but I was kept thinking they couldn't get lucky forever. I learned my lesson.

The last day I was still a little ahead but I came to play so I entered on last tourny. I got crap cards and busted early. Oh well.

I left AC with $100 less then had come with. However, I had played in 4 tournaments, $100 in a cash game, and I had at least 20 free drinks. I also had a blast. If you do the math, I think I definitely came out ahead.

So what did we learn?
1. Drinks are free in tournaments (don't haul in 10 lbs of liquor).
2. Atlantic City is a shit hole. (don't go there unless you just came to play poker, their ain't nothin to do there but gamble) If I'd have the time it would only have been another $100 or so a piece to fly to Vegas.
3. Jitneys are your friend ($2 short buses that go up and down the strip preventing frostbite, sore feet, and muggings)
4. Never play limit poker with a table of drunk idiots at a bachelor party.
5. The Showboat is the best play to stay and play poker in AC.
6 Old people walk like battering rams when they are gambling away their children's inheritance.

I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane!

2007-11-27T00:22:00.000-05:00

Good weekend. Spent Thanksgiving weekend with the inlaws, brother and sister in laws, and their many minions. We had a great house, aside from no heat on our floor, and great weather. The first day was 75, following days were in the high 40s/ low 50s. The kids played with their cousins a lot so I actually participated in some adult conversation (felt kinda weird) and played some online poker (free wifi rocks!).

The best part though, was getting to sky dive. We had planned and attempted the trip 2 and a half years ago for Dan's 30th birthday. After we were geared up, the clouds rolled in and they canceled the jump. Since we were driving past the "airport" on the way home and Dan was as well, we met up to jump.

Yes, that's the runway!

We pulled into the row of RVs and dirt field that claims to be Laurel Airport Sunday afternoon to a brisk 50 degrees and light cloud cover. We got geared up, signed about 17 pages of waivers (I kid you not), and met the instructors.

30 min later we had had our 5 min. training and were boarding a two prop plane that looked straight off the cover of one of Jimmy Buffet's albums. I kissed Amy and the kids goodbye, and boarded.

We literally had to sit on each others laps as they crammed about 16 of us into the back of this plane, pulled down the mini garage door on the side, and took off (all in a matter of 3 minutes).

Uncomfortably squished between two dudes, I figured we were just about as high as we needed to be after 15 minutes. The instructor then informed us we were only halfway. He pulled my straps tight one more time and began attaching himself to me in ways that should be reserved for a dungeon. 10 minutes later a green light came on and we were at 13,000 ft, ready to plummet back to earth.

The dudes in the front, solo jumpers, pulled up the door, counted to three, and jumped out. Woosh, they were gone in a millisecond, swept away like cartoon characters. 2 tandem groups went after and then we waddled up to the door. Surprisingly I was not at all nervous about jumping. The only thing I was worried about was not beding my legs high enough in the air. I put my feet on the edge of the door, crossed my arms, and the instructor leaned us forward.

Before I knew it we were out the door and falling very very fast. I felt my ears bubbling and popping (I was a bit congested) and icicles forming on my face. The wind was rushing by so fast but it didn't really feel like falling, not like a roller coaster anyway. More like just going really fast straight down. We fell like that for over a minute and then he pulled the shoot.

We abruptly stopped and then floated from there down like a feather. The view was incredible. You could see the curvature of the earth in 360 degrees. It was so calm and peaceful after such a rapid decent. The instructor let me control for a bit and showed me how to put us into a 2 g spin (not very comfortable, I like my brain in my head). A few more minutes and we were ready to land. there was a big gravel pit that we flew into. It was about like sliding into first in baseball. I was on the ground and Marc didn't have to follow through on his offer to scrap me up if things didn't work out.

Cristy tagged me

2007-11-12T23:03:00.000-05:00

Rules

A). Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

B). Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
1. My dream job would be to work on the Geek Squad.
2. I do the majority of my reading on the toilet.
3. I hate being around dogs.
4. I hated reading and avoided it like the plague until college.
5. I love all three CSIs for different reasons. CSI for quality TV, NY for quirkiness, and Miami for the hilarity of David Caruso's acting and how good it makes my HDTV look.
6. I'm needle phobic but getting tattoos doesn't bother me. The wiping and cleaning afterward does.
7. I get my back waxed at least 3 times a year.

C). Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Every Wrong Move (Amy)

Jer Illuminated (Jeremy)

Dementation (Jen)

(Wry)

Open Vein (Belaja)

Ripzip-a-dee-doo-dah (Ripzip)

Todd's Hammer (Todd)

>
D). Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

New Tattoo

2007-11-11T18:36:00.001-05:00

I finally got my new tattoo. I took Amy a few weeks ago to the same place we got our original tattoos 11 years go. I had wanted to get a Tiki God in the spring but the healing calls for staying out of pools, the sun, and the ocean for a few weeks so it just didn't fit into the schedule.

The artist who did Amy's did such a great job that I really wanted him to do mine as well. I was a little nervous as we had an image for Amy's that we brought with us but he drew mine from scratch. I described what I wanted and left it up to him. The first time I saw his drawing was 10 minutes prior to getting it. Needless to say he drew exactly what I wanted.

I did surprising well as I'm a total needle phobe. The Valium did help but it wore off about 45 minutes in so the last 2 1/2 hours was all me. I did get a little nervous about half way but got it back together and was fine. Since he did so much shading, he ended up going over the same spots 4 and 5 times which got a lot bit tender toward the end.

The only time I really got queezy was when he asked me to stand up so he could take pics and had to wipe the blood away first with a paper towel. The thought/feeling of rough paper over my fresh bleeding tattoo was a little much and I had to sit down for a few minutes to get color back. Otherwise I deserve a lollipop. We'll have to see how removing the bandage and cleaning goes tonight.

It's really much better than I had even considered it would be so I'm very excited. I was going to get my hammers redone today too but it took a lot longer than he expected so I have to come back another time for that.

I have a real niece now

2007-10-30T21:32:00.000-04:00

My brother Andy and his wife had their daughter last night. Jen did great and the baby is so cute. Amy came in this morning and said how's it feel to have a real niece. I thought that was a funny. I married into most of my other nieces and nephews. Congrats Andy and Jen.

I did it!!!!

2007-10-30T21:21:00.000-04:00

I don't remember if I mentioned it before but I know Amy did on her blog. She and I had bet. If she could lose 15 lbs she got a weekend in NYC with her younger sister. If I could lose 15 lbs I get a weekend to be a degenerate gambler in Atlantic City. We started tree months ago. The deadline: October 31.

Now some of you may be thinking, Erik, you don't have any weight to lose. And if that's the case, although I thank you, I also know you haven't seen me shirtless. I had developed the married man's emblem. Yes, I had, the spare tire. Skinny, skinny, woooaaaamp skinny.

But now I proportionate again. Tonight, one night before the deadline, I hit my goal. Although I'm wearing the same pants size, I can comfortably wear a size lower and I went from the last hole in my belt to the first. And I'm going to AC!!!

I'm even more proud of Amy. She hit her goal Saturday and has dropped two sizes. Unfortunately she no longer has any clothes that fit but that's OK.

Everything's My Fault

2007-10-20T11:03:00.000-04:00

Ever go through a period where no matter how hard you try to make everyone happy and do the right thing, everything ends up being your fault?

Arrrrrr! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

2007-09-19T22:01:00.000-04:00

My pirate name is:

Mad Jack Kidd

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Things I'm Lusting Over Right Now

2007-09-15T01:31:00.000-04:00

1. My wife! Our diet competition is paying off two fold for me. I'm looking good for earning my trip to Atlantic City and my wife is looking damn hot! Now don't get me wrong, she was hot before but WOW! I'm so proud of her, she's dropped 2 sizes and she's only halfway through the bet. Everyday she gets home and I have to do a double take.

2. 160 GB iPod Classic-
I'm a gadget whore. I love em. Now the new iTouch is awesom too but 16GB of memory isn't even close to the space I need. My 20 GB iPod is busting at the seems and it doesn't even have video capability. Yes, I was the unlike fool who bought the 20GB audio only iPod a month before Apple was nice enough to bring out the 30 GB video iPod for the same exact rice I had just paid. So, I'd gladdly sacrafic the cool features of the iTouch for the space of the Classic. I could put almost all of our 600+ CDs on and still have room for podcasts and video.

3. Panasonic SDR-H18 Camcorder I just bought one for school and now I want my own. 30GB hard drive video camera that has all the functions you need and none you don't. Easy to operate. I took some video of the kids the other night and made my first iMovie but I'm gonna have to take it back to school eventually :P

4. Atlantic City: I am so looking forward to a weekend of degenerate gambling and debauchery.

No, no, not the anal probe! (Warning: gross post)

2007-09-09T12:10:00.001-04:00

The continuation of the camping entry:

So we get home and Lisey still can't get things moving. Amy had book club at 7:00 and we were worried about Lisey and worried about having people over while Lisey's trying to birth a monster. By the time I got all the camping gear hung up and settled, it was obvious Lisey needed assistance. Unfortunately I was still gross from camping all weekend with no shower and wearing my stinky camping clothes. Amy's group was due to arrive soon so I was had to take Lisey to the emergency room looking and smelling like a skank.

When we arrived there, we found out the hospital is under construction, the ER has been temporarily relocated, and there are about 60 people in the waiting room. After about 30 minutes we are called into triage (I'm glad she wasn't bleeding to death), and the nurse asks Lisey to point to the smiley face showing how bad it hurts. I didn't know I had to coach her, she points to just a little. (Noooooooooo!) We head back to the waiting room.

After 2 hours of watching people who arrived after us get rooms and leave, Lisey starts complaining it hurts bad. Alright I tel her, then you need to point to the hurts bad smiley. We go back to triage, the nurse asks how bad it hurts, Lisey points to the bad smiley and the nurse goes to find us a room. If we hadn't gone back, we may never have been seen.

Only read on if you are not easily grossed out.

So Lisey get a gown, and I put her slightly stained undies to the side. The nurse comes in and tells Lisey they will be taking a picture of her belly and it won't hurt. She leaves and the doctor, a small Indian woman, arrives. She tells Lisey she wants to take "a look" at her bottom. She then shoves a cotton swab stick up Liseys ass and tries to dig the offending blockage out. Lisey, as surprised as I am is now screaming at the top of her lungs as the doc digs for all she's worth. I'm still trying to figure out if I should be holding Lisey down or the doctor. I mean gosh, at least warn a person before you shove something up their ass.

After deciding this method will not be successful, she sends the nurse in with an enema kit. Again, they quickly flip Lisey over, shove a tube in her ass, and squeeze about a cup of liquid up it to the soundtrack of Lisey screaming. I feel sooo bad for her. The liquid instantly sprays back at the nurse how is obviously pissed off about the situation, and they determine it didn't work and they need to do it again.

Lisey figuring out what's going on say, no "I need to poop." The doc says let it work a few minutes but Lisey starts yelling "I NEED TO POOP!"

The doctor finally agrees to let her try. She then gives me directions to the bathroom :down the hall, turn right at the first hall, go a little ways, turn right again, thrid door on the right." WTF!!! There is no bathroom in the room? We can't get a bedpan? I have to carry her across the hospital about to explode with anal seepage dripping from her ass? (Sorry, but you need the whole mental picture to understand the absurdity of the situation).

So I truck my dripping daughter through the halls of the hospital, wait for the lady who is using it at that moment (again, wtf? doctor!).

Lisey sits down and tries to poop with no luck. She tells me she just want to go home. I then have to explain to my 4 year old that if she can't get this guy out right now, sh has to go back to that roo and the mean nurse will shove another tube of liquid up her butt. I guess this discussion was quite persuasive because she proceeds, with the determination of a pregnant mother, to birth something that scientifically should not have been able to come from a person that small.

It was then time to clean her up. The only thing int the bathroom was the cheap half ply toilet paper they use in public restrooms. But wait, I had a pack of wipes in my pocket because I had been taking her in public restrooms all day. Who's the man?!?

Cleaned up, we went back to the room. The doc was doubtful she was done but I convinced her there couldn't possibly be more. A few minutes later we were on the way home.

Talking to Lisey about the ordeal on the way home, I told her she had sprayed poop on the poor nurse. Lisey said, "well she sprayed that stuff up my butt so I sprayed it back on her!" I love that kid :)

Another survey thingy

2007-09-05T22:40:00.000-04:00

I've seen this on a few different blogs lately so I'm joining in with my anwers.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:45 AM I miss summer.

2. How do you like your steak? Rare. Amy taught me to eat steak the right way.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Bourne Ultimatum.

4. What is your favorite TV show? The Office

5. What did you have for breakfast? Mini-donuts and coffee.

6. What is your middle name? Scott

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican

8. What are your favorite chips? Pringles.

9. What is your favorite CD at the moment? O.A.R. The Wanderer

10. What kind of car do you drive? 2000 Xterra with many after market extras

11. What is your favorite sandwich? Hot corned beef on rye w/ swiss cheese and spicy brown mustard

12. What characteristics do you despise? whininess,infidelity

13. What are your favorite clothes? khaki shorts and a t-shirt

14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go? Australia

15. Favorite brand of clothing? Quicksilver

16. Where would you want to retire? Outer Banks, NC

17. Favorite time of day? quitin time

18. Where were you born? Annapolis, MD

19. What is your favorite sport to watch? Ice Hockey before the strike

20. Who do you think will not do this meme? me me? who's me me?

21. Who do you expect to do this first? Amy already did

22. Pepsi or Coke? Coke, if I order a Coke and they ask if Pepsi is OK I just order a Sierra Mist instead

23. Beavers or Ducks? Ducks - They won the Stanley Cup didn't they

24. Morning or Nite Owl? Totally a night owl

25. Pedicure or Manicure? i just cut till i can't see white anymore

26. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? won my poker game Sat night

27. What did you want to be when you were little? A monback, the dude that gets to ride on the garbage truck and yells "'mon back!"

28. What is your best childhood memory? The day I got my BMX bike

29. Ever been to Africa ? Nope unless you count Animal Kingdom in Disney World

30. Been in a car accident? oh yeah, I had a few in my teen aged years
31. Favorite day of the week? Sunday

32. Favorite restaurant? Air Transport Command

33. Favorite flower? white roses

34. Favorite ice cream? chocolate chip cookie dough

35. Favorite fast food restaurant? Arby's (and on is opening right next to my school very soon!)

36. How many times did you fail your driver's test? none and I took it in an extra long mini van

37. From whom did you get your last email? Madame Sarah Simone Montgomery, she needs me to be a foreign investor as she is a refugee and can't claim her late husband's inheritance. As soon as I come up with the 20 grand she needs to get the ball rolling, I'll be moving to Beverly Hills, later suckers!

38. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Mac

39. Bedtime? midnight- 2:00 am

40. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? everybody who answers

41. Last person you went out to dinner with? wife and kids

42. What are you listening to right now? boiler

43. What is your favorite color? clear

44. How many tattoos do you have? one but getting another soon

45. How many are you sending this meme to? still don't know her

46. Favorite magazine(s)? Maxim and Stuff

47. What time did you finish this meme? about 11:15 p.m. but how can I answer truthfully when I still have two questions left?

48. How old were you when you got married? 21

49. How old do you want your kids to be when they get married? old enough to take care of themselves and their spouses

Camping with My Babies

2007-08-27T21:55:00.001-04:00

Amy had planned a trip to NYC with her mom so it was just the three of us this weekend. One of my Xterra Clubs had a trip planned so I decided to brave a trip to the forest with my crew. This would be Lisey's first time camping, off roading, and being without a bathroom for a whole weekend, and it would be my first time taking both kids on an off road trip.

Friday after school, I jetted home, grabbed the gear and kids, and started off toward George Washington National Forest. We stopped at Arby's for dinner and the kids were surprisingly good during the 4 hour trip to the campground. We arrived at camp at about 11:00. Marc and Lisey were a big help holding the poles as I set up the tent and only shining the flashlight in my eyes about 15 times. We then headed down to the fire to say hi t the rest of the guys and sit by the fire. Twenty minutes later Lisey was asking to go to bed. (Lisey never asks to go to bed).

I took her out in the woods and helped her squat to pee (she's a natural) and then we got their pajamas on and crawled into bed. They were both out in 10 minutes.

Saturday we got up to a breakfast of donuts. Packed lunch and hit the trails.

I pulled the airbag fuse and let Lisey ride in the front seat off road. She was a bit scared before we got to the trail but once we started off, she was having a blast; cheering whenever we drove through the "chocolate milk" and yelling weeeooohhh like R2D2 as we drove over rock piles.

Marc has been off road a lot since he was 2 so this was pretty old hat for him. He spent most of the day in the back seat playing PSP but he had fun too.

Around 3:30 we came across a group of scouts, one of whom had fallen off his mountain bike and was hurt pretty bad. We called EMS and waited with the boy for them to arrive. since we were off road, they sent a decked out rescue hummer with a rescue team ahead of EMS. The ambulance took another 30 min or so to navigate the trail during which time Marc decided he had to poop. Now poor Marc can't go in less than 20 minutes to save his life.

We were on a shelf road so the only place to put him was in the middle of the trail in front of our line of trucks. So there's Marc, plopped down with is ass between two rocks on the side of the trail doing his business. About 10 minutes in, this jeep, dad, mom, and two young girls, comes rolling down the trail and drives right past poor Marc in all his glory. Marc took it well though, finished up, and was upset we had to go and he couldn't go make friends with the girls.

EMS took the kid, he seemed OK, and we were on our way. Lisey fell a sleep and it was off to the rock ledge.

The rock ledge is a 3 foot rock pile/wall that is the only difficult obstacle in GWNF. Last year I finally got the courage to drive down it. With good spotting and slow driving, it is not too bad but a little tippy.

After being one of the only ones in the group who would drive down it, I decided to give going up a shot. Basically I driving up a 3 ft ledge. After about 4 tries I was able to get the front tires up on the ledge. I was then able to muscle the back tires up with a prety good jar. Poor Lisey was banged awake and was a little unhappy but we were up and nothing was broken. On back to camp.

At camp the kids were incredibly well behaved. We made dinner, beef stew for them and foil meal for me. We then went down to spend the evening by the camp fire. Marc was being really funny and was excited to go get me a beer from the cooler every now and again. Lisey was being nice to everyone who had treats and was happy as coupld be chillin in her princess camp chair.

Around 11 we headed to bed. Again kids were out in minutes.

2:00 AM poor Lisey woke up having to poop. We got shoes on and headed out in the woods. Poor kid tried and tried but couldn't go. Eventually she just wanted to go back to sleep.

Next day we slept in late, packed up camp, and started the drive home. Lisey was feeling bad all day and tried to go several times but never could.

We stopped at the outlets to hit the Under Armour store. I let the kids each get a toy at KB too because they were so well behaved. Then on home. Lisey was miserable the rest of the day but that leads into my next blog.

It was nice to get home, see my cutie again, and have such great memories with the kids. When I asked the kids their favorite parts Lisey liked driving through the chocolate milk and Marc liked getting me beers, god I trained them well :P

The Walls Have Ears

2007-08-27T21:49:00.000-04:00

I got home from school tonight pretty exhausted so I skipped the gym to take a nap. After the kids were in bed I asked Amy if she wanted love later. She being a bit tired too said "if you're too tired to go to the gym, you're too tired for sex!"

As if on cue from the Marc's bedroom, he yells, "do it, I want you guys to have another baby!"

Doh!

Back to School

2007-08-22T22:18:00.000-04:00

Remember that sick feeling you get in you stomach the last week of summer vacation. You have to go back to school, lazy days are over, back to being driven by a schedule, having to eat lunch in 20 minutes, peeing only at scheduled breaks, will the teachers like me?, will the kids me?

Yep, I still get it every year.

Home Improvement Project: Day 11

2007-08-22T21:44:00.000-04:00

The final day!

Actually kind of anti climactic. Caulked around toilet, tub, and sink. Installed towel bars, light switch covers, toilet paper holder (yes, the paper goes over not under!). Brought in the last couple of items and my masterpiece is complete. 8 days late, tons of blood, sweat & tears, and $400+ dollars over budget but it's done. I rock! And hopefully bathroom #2 will go much smoother.

Home Improvement Project: Day 10

2007-08-22T21:39:00.000-04:00

Put up the medicine cabinet. Used the stud finder and after putting it on my chest to watch it go off several times, I put it on the wall and located the stud. Then I measured out where the cabinet should go, marked it, and held it in place. While holding it up with one hand, I drilled it to the wall with the other. Pretty impressive huh?

Next I put up the light bar and wired it in. Good to go.

Finally I brought most of the items back and organized them into the new drawers and cabinet. And the bathroom was 95% complete.

Home Improvement Project: Day 9

2007-08-22T21:06:00.000-04:00

Home Depot with kids is something everyone should have to experience at least once. Definitely a character building experience.

Spent 15 minutes returning my 4 dollars worth of piping because he computer was down. Went to the plumbing aisle and experienced more humiliation from same plumbing clerk. What was worse is he's telling me I can't do what I'm trying to do even though the way I wanted to do it was perfectly logical. While talking with Mr Plumbing Genius, Lisey decides to stand up in the front seat of the cart. Plumbing guy is flipping out and from then on I'm trying to contain her while getting pipe. Then every time there is a new pipe added to the mix, both kids want to hold it and get into a huge fight over who get to hold it. I'll the while I'm trying to plumb the impossible out of the 400 elbows and threaded connectors and 1 1/4" pipes, and 1 1/2" pipes and traps, and plastic or metal, etc. So I leave Home Depot with my extension 1 1/4" pipe to an 1 1/4" trap to an elbow to a 1 1/4" inch to 1 1/2" adapter to my only comes in metal 2" extension with the 1 1/2" adapter rubber washer and two kids about to be sent off to boarding school.

That night I put it all together, tightened my connections and turned on the water to the sound of... nothing. No water. WTF!!! Called dad. He had no idea except to trouble shoot. Took the hoses off. Water comes out now. Put the hoses on not connected to the faucet. Still have water. So the problem is with the faucet. I was about to pack the damn thing up and make another trip. I tied taking the screan off. Wow, now it works. Found this plastic thing blocking the water behind the screen. Thought it was trash but evidently it is the aerator. Figured out the problem was it was in upside down. Nice! Turned it over sink works great.

Checked underneath. Drip, drip, drip all over. Locked like a freakin Mickey Mouse cartoon. Tightened the pipes a bit more. Stopped 3 of the for leaks. The one leak from the downspout of the sink was coming out between the threads. Put silicone on the seal and more plumbers tape on the threads. No leaks. I still f'n hate plumbing but I am also, the man. Me make toilet and sink work. Me fix leaks. Me lay ceramic tile. Me rebuild vanity. (*beats on chest)

Home Improvement Project: Day 8

2007-08-22T20:51:00.000-04:00

On to the vanity. Remember when I thought I could make the out pipe go between the drawers since they were on the right. Great idea but the in pipes from behind hit the back of the drawers. Guess we're rebuilding the vanity.

Took the vanity out of the box and started pulling drawers and the cabinet door off. Pried the fake drawer front off. Unsrewed and pried the two slates between the drawers out. Hey this is going better than expected. Took the drawer tracks off. Moved the back of the cabinet from the right to the left. Reinstalled the slats and was able to screw them into the other side. Installed the slides. drawers work. Kick ass! This is going way to well.

Then I realized two small problems. #1 the hinges for the door have to be moved to the opposite side and the go onto a 1 1/2" wide X 3/4 deep circle #2 the handle knob is on the wrong side. After 1 1/2 hours of Dremmeling, I had created perfect replicas of the hinge holes. A hole on the other side of the door and some wood filler fixed the handle problem. Put it together and I'll be damned. Looks like it came this way.

Took the vanity into the bathroom. Wow, looks a little taller than the old one. Oh well, same width and depth.

Broke out the cutting tool to make a nice circle for the waste pipe, slid it in place and put on the sink. Nice. Screwed it to the wall.

Installed the faucet and downspout. Siliconed the sink to the vanity. And now for the plumbing... or not. First of all, Mr. High and mighty Home Depot Plumbing clerk sold me the wrong size pipes. Next my new vanity is 4 inches taller than the old so the whole thing is too high to hit the waste pipe. And the new sink has the spout a few inches forward. Back to Home Depot tomorrow.

Home Improvement Project: Day 7

2007-08-22T20:38:00.000-04:00

Yes my 2-3 day project is now up to day 7 and we still have no toilet or sink. But we have a floor. Damn that floor looks nice if I do say so myself. I'm half tempted to leave it this way, the toilet and vanity will cover 1/3 of it.

Cleaned the toilet thoroughly. Scraped off old shitty wax ring. Installed new clean wax ring and bolts. Then was the fun part. You have to line the wax ring up with the hole while getting two bolts to go right into their holes on either side. You can't hold the toilet and look under it at the same time so it's pretty tricky. But alas, I am the master and it went right on. Tightened it down. Good so far.

Installed the tank. Hooked up the water. Turned it on. Drip, drip, drip. Damn! Pipe going to toilet leaking. Took apart and removed tank. The pipe had pushed a rubber washer up inside the toilet tank. Fixed washer. Reconnected. Turned on water. No drip, drip, drip. Nice.

Let tank fill. Flushed with fingers crossed. Drip, drip, drip. Double damn. Water leaking from between the tank and toilet. God do I hate plumbing. Another trip to Home f'n Depot. Bought new seal for between tank and toilet. Also took the pipes for under the sink so I don't have to make another trip. "Mr. How can you be so stupid as to not know the proper pipe size and vocabulary clerk" helps me find what I need while intentionally leading me astray when I use the wrong terminology. Head home.

Take tank off again. Install new seal. Reconnect. Fill. Flush. No leak! Who's the man!

Off to dinner.

Home Improvement Project: Day 6

2007-08-22T20:35:00.000-04:00

Waited 24 hours for grout to dry. Sprayed on smelly sealer stuff. Accidentally locked the cat in with stinky sealer stuff. Drys in 24 hours but stopped stinking in 2 hrs.

Home Improvement Project: Day 5

2007-08-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

Took the kids to the Science Center in the morning. It's the last week of summer and I've been neglecting them for the bathroom. Planned to be home at 1:30.

Amy called as I was going into the parking garage and asked if I wanted to go to the Raven's game with her friend Christi and my friend (her fiance'e) Mark. Awesome, only problem was we were leaving at 5:15 and I needed to grout the floor in the bathroom.

The kids had a great time at the Science Center. Unfortunately Lisey was bored in the iMax, then she got diarrhea so we had the pleasure of rushing out in front of everyone. I'm so glad she made it.

Marc wanted pizza for lunch so we walked around the harbor to Pizzeria Uno. The wait was fifteen minutes. Not to bad for 12:30 in the city. Once we sat though, it was 20 min before the waiter arrived. I was kind of pissed but tried to be nice because I forgot to get cash for the parking garage so I wanted to use the waiter as an ATM (brilliant, I know, I asked him to give me five dollars cash and I put an extra $5 on the tip; stickin it to the man and his ATM service charge). Anyway, pokemon the waiter took forever to bring drinks and food was another 40 minutes. The fun of keeping hungry kids occupied when lunch takes an hour.

By the time we ate, walked around the harbor to the car, and got home it was 4:00. In one hour I grouted the entire floor, took a shower, through on my jersey, and was out the door. And it even looked good!

Home Improvement Project: Day 4

2007-08-12T18:06:00.002-04:00

Day 4: Got up, switched and folded laundry, ate breakfast, and then mixed up tile adhesive (basically concrete). Made kids lunch, and then began laying tile. About 2 1/2 hours later tile is done. Has to sit 24 hours. Finally a break. I realized I haven't even checked my e-mail for 3 days. This project is life consuming. Tomorrow is grout. Then 24 more hours. Tuesday I should be able to put the toilet and vanity back if all goes well (yeah right!)

Amy has been great about keeping the kids occupied this weekend which has been a big help. At the same time I miss them. I hate having to tell them I can't play Legos or games because I have a billion more hours of work. I'm not even sure what Amy looks like anymore.

Home Improvement Project: Day 3

2007-08-12T18:06:00.001-04:00

Day three: Shopping and floor prep

Went to Lowes. Found out I had to buy sink and faucets separate. Also was told that they only make vanities with drawers on the right hand side. WTF? Evidently builders always bring the pipes in from th back or left. Left hand drawers are special order and twice as much. Fuck that, we'll improvise. Looked at the possibility of switching drawers to the left. Possible but requires removing wood slats and re gluing. Called Amy for pipe measurement. I figured out that I can probably send the pipe between the drawers and not hit them if I get the next model up (another $50, crap). We'll see which option we choose Tuesday. Had to pick from 30 different colors of sinks. Then on to tile, another 30 kinds and colors. Picked a almond colored ceramic tile, got a primer on how to lay ceramic tile from Lowes girl, picked up tools and materials, and headed home.

Began laying out tile and marking cuts that needed to be made. Straight cuts were very easy. Score the tile and snap it with cutting tool. Corners and cut outs are nearly impossible. By evening I had all the straight cuts made and all the cut outs marked. I took a break to go to dinner with the family, do the dishes, go to the Iron Birds fireworks with the family, and bathe the kids. I had ten pieces of tile to cut. They tile is cut with these nippers. They suck. Just when you about have your shape cut out your tile splits in half. Every time! I decided to try the Dremel. Cut off disks were wearing away, turning orange, and flying off it flaming pieces. Went to Home Depot and bought a Diamond Chip Dremel attachment. It kind of worked but after half an hour I had one tile cut and had worn down the bit. I was able to cut the rest over the next four hours using the Dremel to score a deep whole and only breaking every other tile with the nippers.

At 3:30 AM I had all the tile cut, 4 blisters on my hands, and 12 pieces of broken tile. I then leveled a warped section of the floor, and was in bed by 4:30.

Home Improvement Project: Day 2

2007-08-12T18:05:00.000-04:00

Day two: Painting

I'm actually a pretty good painter. I did have to rebuild the wall behind the sink and toilet with spackle(old wallpaper didn't have a layer of paint under it so it pulled the paper right off the wallboard). After that dried, I whipped up two coats of paint with no problems. Again stopped to empty dishwasher, eat, get Lisey's glasses and get the kids off to swim lessons.

Hope Improvement Project: Day One

2007-08-12T18:04:00.000-04:00

Day one: Removal of old stuff

Planned about an hour to pull the toilet, vanity, and carpet out of the bathroom. Wrong again. First I chose to remove the toilet. Turned off the water, flushed the toilet, and scooped out the remaining water. Then started on the bolts. The disgusting bolts that hold it to the floor were rusted. In addition, when the nuts get halfway up the threads, they just spin in place and the nuts won't move up anymore. After screwing with them for 20 min, got out the Dremel and cut them off. Burning hot piece of cut off disk landed on my bare foot. I now have a nice little half mood brand. Disconnected the water and pulled the toilet off the ground. Gross!!!

I won't go into too much detail but just a warning, DO NOT flush diaper wipes. The giant mass of wipes stuck in the trap can only be described as "poop fish." Removed poop fish with latex gloves, put toilet in bathtub. Cleaned the ring and moved onto the sink.

First I cut the silicone around the sink. I then went to turn off the water but both shut offs were stuck. Got some pliers, turned and shutoff spun in place. Shit! Was able to get the other one to move and turn off but now the first one is definitely shot. Had to shutoff the water main to the house in order to remove sink. Undid the rest of the plumbing. Gave the sink a tug. Stuck. Found 3 screws holding it to the wall. Removed screws. Pulled. Stuck. Found three more hidden screws at the bottom. Removed. Pulled. Stuck. Pulled sink up and was able to remove sink from vanity. Found two more super secret hidden screws. Removed. Pulled. Budging now but the outlet pipe goes through a hole cut in the side of the vanity that is smaller in diameter than the end of the pipe. How is this possible? Got out cut off tool. Spent 15 min cutting a larger hole without hitting the pipe. Removed vanity Woohoo!

Trip to Home Depot for shut off valve, solder (of course it wasn't one of the threaded kind that broke), toilet bolts, paint, etc. FIL was nice enough to come over and taught me to solder on a new valve. Had to stop for the day to cook dinner, take kids to swim lessons, etc. Pulled carpet that evening. My hour project had taken all day!

Home Improvement Project (from hell!) Overview

2007-08-12T16:39:00.001-04:00

There are very few things in the world I find more repulsive than the smell of cat piss. My cats are usually good about using the liter box for some reason, every so often, they pee on the carpets in front of the tubs. This drives me bonkers. I've never been able to catch them in th act, luckily for them.

Since we bought our house, I've wanted to remove the wall to wall carpet in both bathrooms. I'm not a fan of carpeted bathrooms anyway, and the cat pee smell has never totally gone away, I'm pretty sure they'd be less likely to pee on tile and if they did, clean up is much easier from a non absorbent surface.

I decided since I'm pulling the carpet and putting down new floor, I should put in a nice new vanity with drawers and one of those medicine cabinets with the trifold mirror. And if I'm doing all that, I may as well paint while everything is out of the room. I priced it online: Vanity: $200, Medicine cabinet $140, Paint $30, Tile $100, so the whole project should be about $500 and take about 2-3 days right? Wrong!

The vanity in the nice picture from the Lowes website

doesn't actually come with the sink or the facet. It's another $120 for the sink and $50 for the cheapest matching faucet they had. Guess I need to read the fine print but they could have made that a bit more clear. Then there was another $100 or so in materials like rollers, grout, floor adhesive, diamond tipped dremel bits, etc. so my $500 project has now cost me about $800. Yikes! And I still have another bathroom to do after this one.

Addicted to the podcast

2007-08-08T22:12:00.000-04:00

I was a little late jumping on the podcast bandwagon, but my newfound love of everything Mac made me want to check them out. I listened to my first one about 6 months ago and have 30 different podcasts in my iTunes and have listened to who knows how many total episodes. They are always playing on the iPod in the car, so much so that the kids have started singing the theme music to several of them.

For those of you, like the love of my life, who may not have ventured into podcast land, read on. The rest of you skip this paragraph. Podcasts are audio or video presentations. Most are like radio or talk TV shows but others are tutorials, comedy routines, etc. I thought podcasts would be difficult to get started with. Nope! It's so freaking simple. If you have iTunes set up to let you download from the iTunes store, that's it. Go to the iTunes store. Click on "podcasts" on the left hand side. Browse or search for ones you might like. They have descriptions, ratings, and they are all FREE! You just click "get episode" and they go right into your iTunes library. If you really like one you can click "subscribe" and all new episodes will automatically download when they become available. You can choose to have them go onto you iPod or uncheck them and they will only be available on your computer. If you only have an audio iPod like me, you can watch the video podcasts on the computer. They won't transfer to your iPod or clog up space. When your done listening you delete them from iTunes and that's it.

So anyway, some of my recommendations are as follows:

Comedy:

Smodcast- Kevin Smith (writer/director of Clerks and all the Silent Bob and Jay movies and Silent Bob) and his friend Scott Mosier (producer of those movies) do an audio show in which they just chat about whatever the hell they feel like. Just like his movies and interviews, the dialog is hilarious. Definitely my favorite podcast.

Don't Be That Guy- Video podcast of a sketch comedy team showing the ironic truth of all those guys you don't want to be. Surprisingly funny for being so clean.

Mr. Deity- I believe Adam originally introduced Amy to his clips on the net. Now they've become podcasts. A delightful show about how difficult it is to be God and run the universe.

Tutorial:

Adobe Photoshop Elements Killer Tips- Name says it all.

Mac Tips Daily- see above.

French Maid TV- found this one tonight so I've only watched one episode. Sexy french maids teaching things like how to make a podcast and how to give CPR. What a concept!!!

Poker:

Pokerwire Radio- Pros Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok and host Joe Stapleton bullshit about poker, prop bets, and everything else. Once in a while they even teach you something.

ESPN Radio: The Poker Edge- Pro Phil Gordon (who's books I highly recommend) shares news from the poker world and tips for playing.

Ex Mormon:

TheChurchIsNotTrue Former Mormon radio- The episodes with Tal Bachman are particularly good.

My next step is to actually try to do my own podcast. They are the up and coming thing in education and maybe it will give me an excuse to buy a couple of iPods for the library! :) Or I could just post more of my mindless ramblings to further clog up the cyberspace world.

Hello...

2007-08-08T22:11:00.000-04:00

Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me? Is there anyone at home?

New Toy!

2007-08-07T01:01:00.000-04:00

If you haven't figured out yet, I love my wife, I love my kids, and I love my toys. I'm very excited because my beautiful wife told me to go ahead and buy my newest toy on eBay tonight.

It started out as a too good to be true deal but ended up turning out OK. I have been keeping an eye on eBay for a paint ball gun like my brother has. His gun has wicked accuracy and it very frustrating to play against him with rental guns. Time and time again I've been taken out from a distance that my rental wouldn't even fire and after cryin about it for a while, I decided if you can't beat him, join him.

So I've been keeping an eye on eBay and at dick's sporting goods for a good deal on the gun. Tonight I found one for $75 "brand new." I knew that the gun came with a one year warranty and usually came with the accessories in the pic but this one was just the gun. It retails with the accessories for about $189 but Dick's had it on sale for $169. (In addition to loving toys, I'm one hell of a comparison shopper; thanks for raising me in the mall mom!) Anyway, $75 seemed like a steal so I told Amy about it and she said, go ahead and get it, that's a great deal. I had a dilemma though, the deal seemed to good to be true but I was afraid someone else would snatch it up first. I bid the Buy It Now and sent the guy a message asking about the warranty.

He quickly replied he had mislabeled the gun as new and that it was actually a factory refurbished model with a one month warranty so he would give me a $12 discount. I found much better deals online for refurbs so I was a bit worried. I let him know I'd need a much bigger discount and a 3 month warranty like the other eBay listings or I needed him to reverse the trasaction. Suprisingly he said he couldn't take my offer but would open a dispute to reverse it. Within 15 minutes the whole thing was taken care of with no negative consequence to either of us. Who says there aren't trustworthy people left in the world? And this was at 10:30 on a Monday night.

So anyway, I went ahead and ordered the much better refurb deal with the 3 month warranty and now I'm hoping my new toy arrives before we play next Sat.

So once again, a post I meant to be two sentences ends up as a novel. Oh well, I like to babble.

Gregor the Overlander

2007-08-06T00:28:00.000-04:00

I finished the last Harry Potter last week. It was excellent but everybody is blogging about it so rather than be cliche, I want to blog about another children's fantasy book that was just as exciting to read. I do have to add though that I was telling everyone how great Harry Potter was before andyone had heard of him and long before there where plans for movies and midnight book premiers, so you might want to check this one out.

When we were in NYC we stopped by the overpriced Scholastic Store in SoHo. For teachers Scholastic is a resource of incredible affordable books and classroom materials but whether it was because it was in NYC or because they make up for their teacher savings by overcharging the public, I'm not sure. We bought a few things for the kids and I bought a Harry Potter tie which started a conversation between Amy and I and the two clerks. It came up that I'm an elementary school librarian, and they asked if I'd read Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins? They went on and on about how great it was, and since it was the best kind of book, a free book, I took it. In addition to giving me the secret teachers discount on my purchases, they were nice enough to provide me with a "complimentary teacher preview copy" of Gregor the Overlander.

I, like with most books I buy, had all intentions of reading it but got sidetracked by the 5 other books I was reading at the time. I finally picked it up tonight and read the entire book. It was outstanding. It definitely borrows themes from the big fantasies (Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Alice in Wonderland) but weaves them into an original, exciting, and moving story.

The story starts off with young Gregor living at home with his mom, elderly grandmother, and two younger sisters. Eleven year old Gregor lives in NYC and should be off at summer camp with his middle sister but has to stay home to take care of his two year old sister and his addled grandmother as the family can't afford childcare. Dad disappeared years ago which had a profound effect on Gregor and has caused significant hardships for the family including the shame and rumors associated.

While doing laundry, Gregor finds himself and his younger sister mysteriously falling into an underground land ala Alice in Wonderland/Being John Malchovich.

In this strange lands, he meets giant cockroaches, bats, rats, and spiders, all of which can talk. They have a delicate relationship which is falling apart and Gregor finds out to escape, he must decipher and fulfill an anceint prophecy. The themes Collins covers in this Underland and the way it all ties together in the end made it an outstanding and moving read. When I got to the end I couldn't wait to go out and buy book 2 (there are 5 in the series). It was also one of those books that made me feel the need to go kiss each of my kids on the forehead and give them a little hug before I went to sleep.

ECXC 07

2007-07-27T21:23:00.002-04:00

ECXC is the East Coast Xterra Challenge. It's my big Xterra trip of the year and I've taken Marc for the past 4 years.

This year we arrived Thursday night to a much nicer campground then we usually stay at. It had a nice creek flowing beside it with a rope swing, a bath house, and a well stocked camp store.

Friday morning we woke up and hit the trails. The place we go is set up kind of like a low budget ski resort. They have miles of marked trails throught a large park rated by difficulty. Green is easy dirt roads with small rocks and mud pits, blue is intermediate with larger rocks, ruts, deep mud, and steep hills, black is difficult and is only for lifted armored trucks, and red is nearly insane. Our group did blue trails all day and we challenged ourselves pretty good.

I drove through many rock gardens of 6 inch to 2 foot high rocks (thank god I bolted steel plates over the bottom of my truck). The mud wasn't too bad as it's been dry but we did have one guy manage to swamp his truck trying to drive through a deep mud whole and another flood his truck and short out his ECU trying to drive through a small lake.

I met a cool guy named George from Costa Rica who had a truck similar to mine and was just in front of me in our group. George was about my ability as well so we decided whatever obstacles George tried, I would try.

We both drove through some rock gardens the rest of our group went around and did some fun obstacles.

Not me but we did this trail!

Then we came to a giant dirt hill. I had watched trucks go over the hill many times and on several occasions, seen trucks come close to rolling and have to be winched down. The difficulty was it had deep ruts from bigger trucks going up it and a slight turn had to be made at the top. Plus if you took your foot off the gas too soon, you would get high centered and have to drive down backward or be winched off. I know I have a tendency to hit the brake a hair too soon. I always drove past the hill.

Our trail leader tried the hill and got stuck teetering on top. We rocked his truck off and he drove down the steep hill backwards which looked scary as shit. Then he had to give it several more goes before he made it over.

I thought after that our group would kip the hill but George got in his truck ready to give it a go. George gunned it up the hill, went over the top, and halfway down the other side before he stopped, stuck his head out the window and yelled "Yeah!" It was insane.

I was like yeah, I'm definitley skipping this but Marc looked up at me and said, let's go dad. I asked "aren't you scared?" He said, "yeah, but w said whatever George did we would do so we have to do it." Nothing like getting peer pressure form your six year old!

I got in, buckled Marc in and drove up to the hill still unsure if I'd do it. It looked steep, it looked rutted, I was scared shitless. I told Marc the hill was scaring the piss out of me ad he said again we have to do it. I put the truck in 4wd Low, accelerated toward the hill and gunned it up. I stayed on the gas and actually managed to get the front two tires off the ground. We came down hard on our belly but we had crested the hill. Thank god for skid plates and not being able to back down in front of my son.

The rest of the day was cake after that.

Back at camp Marc and I cooked dinner, fished in the fishless creek, and hung out with the fellas.

Sat started even scarier. Their was a trail that was black, all steep hills, and started with a dirt bridge that was not quiet as wide as my truck in places. The first guy across started sliding off the bridge, ended up on three wheels halfway in the ditch, and had to winch himself out. I decided to skip this one. About half the group did it and then we went on. Next up was a log bridge. Basically it was telephone poles laid across a ravine and chained together with steel cable. Each rail was three poles wide and there was a 6 foot drop into the ravine. I had to redeem myself so while almost the whole group of lifted trucks skipped it, I drove across with ease (and a spotter).

At the end of the day, I hooked up with another group and we did many rock gardens and muddy trails. They wanted to end with the scary black trail we has started with. I decided what the hell and did it. With good spotting the dirt bridge wasn't bad. The hills were a bit scary but I was more comfortable with my hill climbing so I did them with no problem (although I did flatten my tail pipe on one).

We went back to camp, had a nice cookout, went for a swim, and hung out some more.

Sun Marc and I stopped a few places along the Susquehanna trying to catch him a fish but were unable to get a nibble. We stopped at a great pizza place in Buck, PA, and headed home.

It was a fun weekend and I loved being able to spend it with my best bud.

Vacation Week Two

2007-07-27T21:23:00.001-04:00

eek two brought in my family and overall things went really well.

The first time we went to the banks, my grand father took my dad and I on an air tour of the island. They took my brothers years later. This year my dad continued the tradition with Marc and I. Marc was quiet but amazed. He seemed to really enjoy taking in all the sights from the air. The exciting part though was that the pilot let me fly the whole trip. He asked if I had ever flown before and I told him I had taken an intro lesson Amy gave me for Christmas a few years ago. He said cool, reviewed the controls, and once the plane was in the air he let me take over. It was a blast. I got to fly over the Wright Brothers memorial, bank around Currituck Beach lighthouse, and fly back along the coast. I didn't get to land but that was OK with me because I did it once and it is scary as hell.

We played beer pong one night, poker a couple nights, and went to do drunk Karaoke. Evidently I did a horrible rendition of Sweet Jane but I was drunk so it sounded pretty good to me. I figure if you can't do it well, do it really really bd right?

It was great to see the kids have so much fun at the beach and hang out with both the families. Two weeks was awesome because it didn't seem like you were going home hwen you had just got there.

Vacation Week One

2007-07-27T20:52:00.000-04:00

It's been a great month. We spent two weeks in the Outer Banks and then the following weekend I got to take Marc and go to ECXC.

Amy blogged about the Outer Banks so I'll just share my highlights and move on.

When I was 10, my family started the tradition of heading to the Outer Banks for or week or sometimes two each summer with my grandparents and my uncle's family. The tradition ended with the deterioration and eventual death of my grandfather, my parents' marriage, and my uncle's manhood (we'll save that blog for another time).

Anyway, a few years ago dad and my stepmother revived the tradition and we are lucky enough to get to spend a week at the beach each summer. This year we got a double blessing because we were able to talk my inlaws into renting the house the week before my dad.

So the first week was with Amy's family and the second was with mine. Unfortunately, the week got off to an incredibly Mormon start but got better as it progressed. Friday night we arrived and were invited to a spaghetti dinner by the local ward. Our first night at the beach was spent eating a half helping of spaghetti in a dimly lit chapel.

Then Sat morning we had to get up and drive 80 miles north (back toward home) to attend my neices baptism. Now the one rule about the beach is you don't do anything on Sat. That's the day everyone arrives and traffic is horrible. Getting out was Ok but getting back took 3 times as long as it should have with the last 15 miles taking about an hour and a half. I was not happy at all to have wasted an entire day and half of vacation doing church stuff that I didn't even believe in ("every time I try to get out, they keep pulling me back in"). But my inlaws were generous enough to be paying for the house so who was I complain about the plans. At the same time, when they invited us to church on Sunday morning we were like yeah right, we've had enough church for the whole year much less vacation. So they got dressed up for church while we were putting on sunscreen. If they only knew...

Anyway, aside from the first week being alcohol free and the evening scripture lessons (Marc, "this is boring, I'm going to play PlayStation") the first week was pretty good. The kids had cousins to play with and it was pretty relaxing.

Amy said I have to play

2007-06-05T23:51:00.001-04:00

Something about writing 8 random facts/habits about myself.

1. I'm addicted to online poker as stated earlier. I'm also addicted to Q-Tips(I too love the feeling of clean ears but I have to really get in there), checking my e-mail (seriously, like 5-10 times a day), and the Sopranos (only one more episode, the suspense is killing me but I can't believe they hit Sal!)

2. I reset the alarm over and over until the last possible second before I have to get up for work. Every time I wake up and give myself five more minutes, it feels like a gift from God.

3. I have an extreme needle anxiety. Something about steel being stuck into my arm. And since Amy outed my wousiness, yes Valium relieves it which is a double bonus.

4. I'm really anal about certain things and not about others. Things that drive me most crazy are kids pushing the books back on the shelves in the library, cat hair/vomit/or piss on the carpet, and my wife and kids leaving their shoes in the kitchen.

5. I'm extremely forgetful. I've had this problem since I was a little kid. I always forgot to do my homework, forgot what tool my dad sent me to the basement to get, and forgot to do my chores. Now it my number one thing that drives my wife crazy :(

6. I'm a chronic procrastinator. I seriously can't even concentrate on a school project unless I have a very immediate deadline. Again I've been like this since I was a kid.

7. I used to be Mormon but i wasn't very good at it. I was glad when i found out it was all made up anyway.

8. I hate chain letters, chain e-mail, chain jokes, etc so I refuse to tag anyone else. Just do it if you want to.

I love being my daughter's daddy

2007-05-16T21:42:00.000-04:00

Today is my daughter's 4th birthday. It's amazing how quickly she's growing up and how much of an individual she is. I must admit, I wasn't sure how I'd handle this whole dad of a girl thing. I mean when we went for the original sonogram, I was quite surprised. Not disappointed or upset, just surprised. In my family we didn't have girls, we imported them. I'm from a line of like five generations of all boys. A girl wasn't even a possibility I expected. And of course I fell in love with her the first time I laid eyes on her.

She's gone from a beautiful crying pooping lump to a beautiful little lady. She puts on her glasses and picks out her clothes in the morning (sometimes they even match!), she goes to nursery school, she tells me about her day when she gets home, and she makes decisions like what she wants for dinner and what to watch on TV.

The most amazing part though is that she is her own person. Despite my wife's attempts at non gender stereotyping, she's a little diva, loves make up, dressing up, and princesses. She's also a daredevil, funny as hell, and cute as a button.

But I love being a dad because I get to enjoy it all. I get to take watch her get dressed up and take her to the ball in the living room, I get to tuck her into bed (often again and again), I get to take her to the park to jump off the swings, take her to run errands, paint her toenails, and change her earrings. I get to curl up with her to watch My Little Pony and get a kiss and hug before sending her off to daycare. I even get to be the favorite once in a great while.

There's still so much to look forward to and I'm excited to get to see it all but right now I wish I could keep her this big forever. And I'm so luckily to love my son and have entirely different experiences with him as well.

Life is pretty good.

Life Imitates Poker

2007-04-28T13:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I read a poker tip from a brilliant psychologist and professional poker player named Mike Caro. The tip was: "What you already have invested in the pot... doesn't matter."

In poker it is the concept that you should fold, call, or bet based on the size of the pot, what cards you have, what you think your opponents have, and the chances of improving your hand, not based on how much money you personally put into the pot.

Think about that for a second.

If you don't play poker, it doesn't matter, I'm much more interested in the concept's application in life.

The author went on to give the example of buying a collector's item for $300,000. Later the item depreciates and is only worth $75,000. A collector comes along and offers $150,000 for the item. Do you take the money? Obviously the smart choice is to take the money and realize you got a good deal. Your initial investment shouldn't even be a factor in the decision.

How many times do we fight battles we know we can't win because we feel we've already invested so much we feel like we can't give up? Instead we should consider what we have to invest or risk now in comparison to the desired outcome.

Amy gets it at work a lot. I told her I was going to have this quote framed for her. Her clients will be in the middle of a nasty divorce and incapable of compromise. Amy can explain that the client will refuse to take a reasonable compromise, even if it means they will pay Amy more money to settle the case than they will get if they win. And that's if they win.

Sometimes choosing not to put anymore time, money, or emotion into a bad relationship, a losing, fight, or an unprofitable venture is the most profitable choice you can make.

Boring post

2007-04-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

While others have found the blog to be a wonderful window to the insight and knowledge they never knew they had, my blog has had the exact opposite effect. As I attempt to think of something to say, or read over what I have said, I am painfully aware of how boring I am. Don't get me wrong, I love my life. I have a beautiful, intelligent, caring wife who is also an incredible mother. I have two adorable children who are smart, funny, and loving. I have a friends, family, a nice house, a truck that's paid off, big screen TV, and a Mac laptop. We do fun things and are very blessed. I'm living the dream and I'm very happy. It's just not exciting to hear about.

I'd love to tell about some great enlightenment I've encountered, some incredibly numerous universal truth, or even some humorous catastrophe that would allow others to laugh at my expense but alas I've none to share. So, uh, thanks for reading and stay tuned...

Random funny momments

2007-03-16T00:50:00.000-04:00

We decided to have a family NCAA bracket pool. Amy and I did ours and then asked the kids to choose their teams. Marc, being very analytical wanted to know "which team was better" and would not choose the lower seated team unless Amy told him the two were almost the same. Lisey took a much more unique approach. She chose her teams by name after we read her the names of the two teams playing at each level. Some of her favorites included "George Attack", "Virgin Attack" and all the schools with Texas in the name because "Texas is where Sandy from Sponge Bob is from.

Marc came into my office the other day after school. As he was unpacking his back pack he said "Hey dad, wanna see my evil rectange?" He then pulled out an index card folded into a 3D rectange. "See, it's evil, it even has teeth!" Sure enough he had added teeth.

Today he was cleaning out his bag and pulled out 5 pictures all labeled "farting robot." I asked, did you shar ethese with your teacher? He replied "he wasn't there today so I shared them with the sub. As a matter of fact, I shared them with my whole class!" (His exact words, he's such a funny kid.)

Then there's all the interesting comments I get from my students.

Two kindergarteners from a different class then my son giggling.

Me: What's so funny?
Girl 1: Nothing, well she has something to tell you.
Girl 2: No, I can't say, you tell him.
Girl 1: OK, Marc (my son) loves her.
Girl 2: Yeah he does, he loves me.
Me: really? Did he tell you that?
Girl 2: Oh no but I know he does because I saw him looking at me.
Girl 1: Yeah, he's in love with her.

First grader in an exasperated voice: "Hey Mr. Snyder, I got my ear pierced but mom didn't know which side you were supposed to do and I got it on the fruity side." Now how do you deal with that one? We've got a gay slur, obviously provided from someone at home, but it's also obvious that first grader has no idea what "fruity" means. Whether I like it or not, it is not my place to be teaching first graders about human sexuality so I decided the best advice I could give him was to go get the other side done as it's become pretty acceptable for boys to have both sides pierced.

3rd grader requesting a library book.
Her: Do you got any books by dat guy dat be tryin to write poery and stuff?
Me: Ummm, Shel Silverstien?
Her: Yeah, dat guy!

Here's a fun one from a few years ago when I taught fourth grade:

4th grade boy, small, nervous, Charlie Brown type. We're doing Mad Libs because I always found they were a fun way to reinforce the parts of speech. We had done them in the past and I always reminded my students when it asked for a part of the body, they needed to keep it appropriate for school.

Me: I need a part of the body.

Student: Balls. (in a deadpan serious voice, not an ttempt to get a laugh from classmates)

Me: Excuse me?

Student: I said balls.

Me: I need to see you in the hall for a momment. (move to hall) Do you know what that word means.

Student: Yes your privates (still in a voice that insinuates hehas no idea he has done anything wrong.)

Me: Do you understand that is totally inappropriate to us in a school activity. I'm really dissappointed in you. I want you to go home, write me an appology letter (that was the satandard punishment that year so we could improve writing for out high stakes testing) and have your mom sign it. (I'm so mean!)

Monday morning, student gives me his note and it reads "Dear me, I'm sorry for using an inappropriate word during our activity in class on Friday. My mother has discussed what is appropriate and what is not for school. She has also bought me a dictionary so I can look up words and see if they are appropriate. The only reason I though it was Ok is that I used nuts two weeks ago and you didn't say anything.

Undeserved snow day

2007-03-08T00:16:00.000-05:00

Lake effect snow was on the way this morning and HCPS did something they rarely ever do. They cancelled school before the snow got here. We have this great new system that actually calls at 6:00 to tell students and teachers if school is delayed or closed. So I was plesently surprised to get the call this morning when it wasn't even snowing yet.

After sleeping until about 9:30, I watched Time Warp Trio and Sponge Bob with the kids in a half awake half asleep state. When they got bored of TV and were at each other's throats, I made their lunches and decided to take them sledding. There was barely enough snow for sledding (and definitely not enough to justify a day off school :P ) However, I figured they were light and our $2.50 Target clearance sleds were plastic so maybe it would be ok.

I tore through the closet attempting to find snow gear for the kids and myself. I had my snowboarding gear and Lisey fit into Marc's old snow pants and coat. There was also a pair of incredible hulk cotton gloves that used to be Marc's and a pair of rain boots, previously Marc's as well. How the hell did we make it to March with no winter gear, oh yeah, it was 50 degrees most of the winter. Anyway, Lisey was suited up, home goodwill style but what about Marc. Unfortunately it was white trash sledding for Marc. He did have a hat, gloves, and a winter coat. Unfortunately, jeans and sneakers were just going to have to be OK.

Even in the getto gear, the kids were very excited as they had never been sledding before. Don't ask me how that happened, it was probably because last winter after spending half an hour getting them geared up to play in the snow, they took two steps out the door, comlained it was too cold, and went back in.

Anyway, they were very excited as we drove up to the middle school to sled. To our suprise we were the only ones taking advantage of the big hill covered in and inch and a half of snow. The kids were both a little nervous and excited at the same time. We walked to the top and I sent Marc down, following cosely behind with Lisey on my lap. When we got to the bottom, they were both so excited. Both of them were troppers, walking up the hill over and over without complaint. By the end of the afternoon, they were going down on their bellies, backwards, and any other way they could think of. Lisey was going all by herself. I was really glad I had taken them out after all.

When they were finally cold and tired, we headed back to the house, stripped off the wet clothes and went in the hot tub. It was a great day. No profound point to make, just had a fun day off with the kids. The other day Marc told e he was going to sell me on eBay so hopefully I'm in their good graces again now.

That was a crazy game of poker

2007-02-16T21:17:00.000-05:00

Today was soooo fun.

Jen organized a trip to Atlantic City with her co workers and invited me along. As most of you know, I've recently discovered I love poker. Amy and I were hoping to take a trip to Vegas this spring but funds didn't work out and we opted for NYC instead. Since AC is the next best thing and a hell of a lot closer, I figured what the hell. I had $100 of birthday money to enjoy a nice day of poker and Amy was cool watching the kids for the evening s I went ahead and signed on. I had no idea what to expecgt and was a bit nervous about sitting down at a table in a real casino but I figured I'd bust out my $100 in an our or so and spend the afternoon playing nickel slots.

The bus trip up was fun. I hung out with Andy and Jen, and their friend Gordon. I later realized Gordon and I had a special bond, we'd both had sex in the same room. (He rented our former apartment after we moved out.) The 2 1/2 hour trip was $27 and included $20 in free casino money and $5 toward lunch. We had lunch at Sbarro so lunch cost me a total of $2.10 with my coupon. Who's the big winner!

Next we headed up to Mr. Bad Hair's plaza and cashed in our casino coupon. To our surprise they handed us each a $20 bill. Awesome! We didn't really want to play here anyway. We took the Donald's money next door to Ceasar's Palace (not nearly as big or cool as the on in Vegas, but hey, they had poker.) Andy and I felt a rush of excitement and nervousness as we cashed in our $100 each and headed to our table. I had read a book or to and we had played in my basement, but nothing prepares you for sitting down at he real casino felt with your $100 in white chips. Our table was pretty calm, two duets to my right were grinders, only playing the best possible hands, then the dealer, then Andy, then weird black dude with less than the appropriate number of teeth, followed by conservative college guy, all in foreign guy and old raiser dude.

I started off very tight, played my blind and folded when old raiser dude raised before my junk hand. A few more times around and I picked up a winner. Not a big hand but I was up. Andy soon got the blind and came in fighting. Seriously, the kid played 80-90% of the hands he was dealt and hit straights at least 4 times in the first hour. Mr Few Teeth called every bet Andy made and provided Andy with quite the bankroll. One of the grinders lost to Andy 2 or so times and was really getting pissed at Andy's "poor play" beating his perfect play. It was hilarious. I was quite proud of my boy. I won a decent hand after, even if I did have to take the majority of it from Andy, he could afford it :P. The next few hour were slow, aside from the free drinks (7 Captain and Cokes in the 4.5 hrs at the table). Andy won a few more but threw back more than he won.

All the while I was texting Amy and ken, keeping them filled in on how the day was going. Too fun, I love the text message. I'm actually surprized the casino allowed it, but nobody said anything. A while went by with just junk, but I followed the advice of my recent reading, Zen and the Art of Poker, and folded hand after hand without a second thought.

Finally, after correctly folding hand after hand, I hit KK and my excitement went up. I raised and luckily hit another K on the flop. I bet a round, then was luck enough to have the opportunity to pull of the check raise. Big money on that hand when the guy across from me laid down trip 6s, The devil's hand couldn't beat my white suppremisists!

I hit QQ right after that for another small win. With all my chases and losses, and my wins, plus tipping the dealers and cocktail waitress, I ended up with $116 in my rack, . Not bad for a guy who never played poker in a casino before and started with $100. Andy left with about $150 but was easily over $200 at his high point. Although we weren't huge winners, we were both excited to leave the table up instead of down.

Afterward we wasted $20 or so each on penny slots and I had 2 more free drinks. All in all, I came out about even. A whole day of play in AC, bus ride, drinks, and lunch cost me a grand total of nothing. Not bad for an awfully fun day.

I'm still flying high on the fact that I actually played at a real table and didn't lose my shirt. I can't wait to go back!

Milestones

2007-01-31T20:17:00.000-05:00

It's been an exciting month. I finally got the formal graduation ceremony even though I finished my degree in August (glad Towson saved a buck, too bad they never passed the savings on to me). With graduation, came the incredible generosity of my family. Do to that generosity, Christmas presents, and an even more incredible amount of generousity from my wonderful wife (she gave me a good deal of her bonus as a graduation/birthday present) I was able to purchase my new favorite toy.

Now I'd been contemplating switching teams for some time, but it took me a while to decide to come out of the closet. I mean I grew up being taught certain values. We were a very conservative family when it came to these kinds of things. Heck I'd even done some bashing of those people who "thought different" myself. But as you get older, sometimes you open your mind to things you had never opened your mind to before. I mean it was becoming more accepted, you saw them on TV all the time, and so I experimented a bit. And then I decided I really liked it. Really really liked it. Then I made up my mind. I was going to switch teams. My wife was really cool with it, but how was I going to tell my family. I mean what would dad and my brothers think.

Well, like most big pieces of earth shattering news, I just told dad one night. He was surprisingly cool with it. Even admitted he'd experimented a bit himself even though he decided it wasn't his thing. Casey was cool as he always is with anything I decide. Andy was a little put off but he's dealing with it. Even supported it with his Christmas and graduation presents even though he said it tore out a piece of his heart.

So anyway, a week ago, it arrived and now, I'm... a Mac guy.

The change has been surprisingly easy and the picture is absolutely gorgeous. I'm on it pretty much nonstop from the time I get home until I go to sleep. The first night I was able to move all my iTunes music (about 18 gig) to my Mac and delete all Amy's crappy disco. (I keep trying to tell her it's bad for the speakers but she doesn't believe me). I was also able to tap into my encrypted wireless network, and share my printer that is hooked up to my PC. Not bad for a guy who's never had a Mac before. There's still a lot I have to learn but I'm so excited to have my new favorite toy.

The other big milestone happens in about a day and a half. I turn THIRTY!!! I really can't beleive it. I mean I think of myself as like 18. I think of my parents in their 30s. So, to protest the whole thing, I'm stealing my friend Dan's idea, and having a huge birthday weekend celebration.

Friday night is Poker night. Beer, chips, bustin each others balls, and taking all my friend's money. I can't think of a better way to start the festivities.

Saturday is paintball at noon. I'm hoping not to killed in an assassinate the birthday boy coupe. Otherwise, should be great times.

Then Saturday night we're heading to my favorite Irish Pub for Guinness and fish and chips. Looks like about 25 of my closest fiends should be attending if all goes well. And then we'll finish the night off where we always go after J. Patrick's. :P

So hopefully this weekend will provide plenty of material for my next blog.

2006: The Year in Review

2007-01-02T23:47:00.000-05:00

In typical Erik style, I've procrastinated and my year in review is actually being created 2 days after the new years has begun. But anyway.... This year has been pretty OK. Not the best, not the worst, just interesting.

My birthday was pretty uneventful.

In the early spring DW and I took a mini vacation to the Bavarian in WV. Excellent food, excellent wine, incredible sex, and even some shopping. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Casey got married in May. Fun Snyder batchelor party; paintball, dinner, strip club, and scavenger hunt. I spent hours planning, getting prices, sending e-mails, making spreadsheets, making plans, contacting Casey's friends, waiting for Casey's friends to get around to contacting Casey's friends, and even hiring a van and a DD. The party was planned to the T. Overall, I think everybody had a great time and I know Casey did. The wedding was nice as well but that's his story.

Summer began with the annual Tiki party. We had hoped this year would be the biggest ever but conflicting parties and vacation plans kept that from happening. We had the addition of beer pong which made for added fun. The highlight of the party was Casey's drunk ass driving the Power Wheels into the beer pong table and creating quite the accident scene with the table in shambles, the truck flipped on it's side, Casey sprawled out, and Lindsey rushing in to make sure he was OK. I don't know how he'll top it next year.

Over the summer I did an internship at the super secure Board of Education building. I found it quite interesting that it would be pretty easy for any random stranger to walk into any elementary school full of children in this county at any time. However, to get into the board of education building you must show ID, write your intentions, and be buzzed in to get past the front desk. I guess this is important because we've all heard about the recent increase in violence at the Board of Ed and the kidnapping of random content supervisors.

Aside from that, I actually learned a great deal and had an overall rewarding experience. The best part is that the experience earned me a Master's Degree in Instructional Technology. This means I'm now qualified to do the job I've been doing for the past three years. It didn't really feel like graduation though because Towson University, in their typical treat students as numbers and do what saves a buck fashion, doesn't have a summer graduation. Therefore, even though I finished my degree in August, I actually graduate this Sunday. I did get my raise in August though so I guess that's the important part.

We did the annual Snyder trip to the beach. Great times but not much to talk about. Casey, Andy, and Lindsey taught me how to play poker which is my new favorite pastime, more on that later but I do thank them for that. I also managed to slice my heel open pretty good by stepping on a saw horse while playing beer pong. Not a pop top but cutting my heel the day before I had to cruise on home, pretty cool nonetheless. The best part is I have a total psychological phobia of needles, blood, incisions, etc. I would have been passed out on the floor if I hadn't been so drunk that I didn't feel a damn thing, even when Casey poured alcohol right into the wound.

School started with little excitement in the library but excitement for the family. Marc went off to Kindergarten, well just down the hall a few feet, but still quite a big step. He's no longer a baby, not even a little kid really. The changes have been amazing. He's so smart. He's picking up reading and math like it's nothing. He cracks me up because everywhere we go, I hear him reading in the back seat. Sounding out words, trying to make sense of signs, it's so cute.

Lisey also took a big step heading off to Ms. MaryAnn's nursery school. She's so funny because she is the exact opposite of Marc. In nursery school, Marc was always trying to make friends and got frustrated if the other kids didn't want to play with him. Lisey wants nothing to do with the other kids and usually plays alone in the corner. Other kids try to play with her and she gets up and moves.

The biggest event of the year came in September. Amy and I had a great deal of discussion and both felt our family was complete. The obvious choice was for me to get the big V. Scroll back up to my feelings on needles and incisions and add in the fact that this one it to my junk. Now factor in the horror stories from my dad, Internet friends, and most people who've had the operation. It's like part of the bragging rights of having it done are getting to embellish your story to scare the shit out of the next guy. To make matters worse, I had planned the procedure for the month I had off between my internship and school. Unfortunately the doctor had to cancel the day I planned and couldn't reschedule till after school started. So I had myself all good and worked up.

Although I dreaded it, V day came, and I prepared for my doom. I shaved the appropriate areas, The Dr. had been nice enough to provide me with one valium. I went to work in the morning and did a pretty good job of being brave. At lunch time, DW was nice enough to drive me to the urology office. I took my pill, and all though I didn't feel much different, DW told me it was definitely working. I went in, said hi to the nurse, who thankfully wasn't at all young or hot, and dropped trawl. The needles went in with a slight sting but I hardly got light headed. A little tugging and noise and before I knew it was over. It was done sooo fast. Ten minutes later I was dressed and in the car riding home.

The next few days were a little sore but the painkillers did their job and my DW was wonderful about changing out my bags of frozen peas and getting me the things I needed. Honestly the fear and anticipation was ten times worse then the actual surgery. It was kind of like that ratchety chain sound on the roller coaster is actually much scarier than the drop. When all was done I had the tiniest incision with two little stitches that dissolved in a couple days. Eight weeks later I went back for the follow up, turned in my spunk in a cup, and now I'm sterile!

The rest of the year was pretty low key after that. I have acquired a terrible addiction to online poker. I play constantly, for fake money of course, but it still accumulates and I'm quite proud of the $3 million I've accumulated from the $1000 I started with. In addition I've been unable to stop thinking of everything in the world in poker terms. (If I clean the house, fold the laundry, and give my wife a backrub, what are the pot odds that I'll get sex tonight? If I bluff my students into thinking I would really call their parents, will they be quiet and do their work or will they call my bluff? It's really quite scary.)

DW got some nice bonuses at work, I did well on my year end observations and evaluation, and Christmas came and went very quickly. I spent most of that week putting together Legos and Kin'ex and playing online poker. For New Year's Eve we stayed home and played games with the kids. And that was the end...

My New Year's Resolutions are:
1. Take DW on more dates
2. Lose 10 lbs
3. Be more prepared for my lessons
4. Play more PlayStation (that one is a repeat from last year, I need to persevere!)
5. Spend more one on one time with the kids

Alright I've done it. My first blog post is complete with typical Erik Speelling and Grammar mistakes (how did I ever BS my way into a teaching job?) Stay tuned for more in another year or so.