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Lion's Journal

2004 Random Thoughts and Whatnot

November 24, 2004     Holidays are around the corner. There is even talk about snow tonight, and it's not even Thanksgiving.

The Lions gave away another game on Sunday. The Pistons found themselves in the middle of a national media story on Saturday. And our soccer team was creamed again Saturday night. Well, at least we won't lose this Saturday.

H is going to her second movie today with J. They are going because some time in the next week or two, her school is going to a theater to see The Polar Express. So this will be training for her to get used to the theater experience. Last year, she and a friend went to see Finding Nemo in the movie theater, in preparation of the school seeing the movie. But when she was with her mom in the practice, she and her friend got scared of the content of the movie and they all left. She never did go with her school last year. It sure is kinda weird that the movie experience is being forced by the school. Well, I guess that's part of the package. I don't home school the children, and neither does J, so we have to give up some of these rights of passages to the school system. Seems that I turned out okay, and so did J, with a public school education, so let's see how it goes for the little ones.

So Sunday, my wife went to work. She called me on the way home and asked me to meet her at Best Buy so that she could buy me a new car radio. No thanks, I said. So she came home and 30 minutes later left with H to get me a new car radio. Not only did I end up with a new CD player radio, but they fixed the problem with the rear speakers not working right and they fixed the electrical problem in the dashboard, so now I can see displays like the heat & fan when it's night. Not only that, they gave her an upgrade on the radio and didn't try to take advantage of her. Did I mention that she ended up at ABC Warehouse after Best Buy tried to take advantage of her and turn a $99 purchase into an $200+ purchase. So I got a wonderful early Christmas present.

She asked me after the first time out how I liked the sound. I said it was great, and I said "I listened to sports radio the whole time." She was wanting to know what I thought of the music experience, and that's pretty much what I told her.

November 19, 2004     Went birthday shopping with B last night. There is a birthday party for one of his friends tomorrow, so after going to a computer store, he and I went to Toys R Us to look for a fire truck. Seems like all the fire trucks they have make noise. After looking and playing for a while, I told him we were going to walk around the store. Half way around, he spotted a box about as big as he is, full of 20 or 30 construction trucks and accessories. This was perfect. There was even a truck with a crane that he called a fire truck. It is the kind of set that will complement those little matchbox cars, although these trucks seemed to be on a slightly larger scale. So we picked out a box and he wanted to carry it to the checkout line. This box was nearly as large as him, but he managed to bring it to the front of the store by himself, for the most part. Then I paid for the present, and got a gift receipt.

On the way home he seemed tired. At home, we read a Bernstein Bears book and then I put him and his sister to bed.

Actually, H and I finished reading an abridged version of Black Beauty last night. It had 30 chapters that were perfect for night time reading, about 3 or 4 pages per chapter. She has horseback riding tonight after school. I wonder if she'll tell her instructor we finished the book. Hmm.

November 11, 2004     Once per year, at the UU Church, high school students are invited to present their credo, a statement about what they believe. Sometimes the statements are serious. Actually, they are serious most of the time. But some of the statements include humor, but something that speaks about the individual. An example might be, "Item 11: I believe in Mountain Dew and its ability to ....". This isn't an example I remember, just an example. My point is that this hypothetical person really believes in Mountain Dew & how it really can help with whatever.

I don't have a credo. The catholic church (or is it Catholic Church? I always wondered why the "Apostles Creed" in the Catholic Church, uses a lower case "c" for catholic and church. I think that is their attempt to be inclusive, while specifying that catholic is the foundation for all Jesus churches. Sounds like an attempt to impose a monopoly where none exists.) (If I am in any way incorrect with the lower case "c" issue, I ask forgiveness from Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit and request that this paragraph be stricken from my record when I am judged at the end of my days. Now that I think about it, I will not be judged at the end of my days, because it is by faith that I will go to heaven. So with faith in Jesus as my savior, I am saved. That feels good, because now I can swear, cheat, steal, commit adultery, leave the toilet seat up, and fold the pages of library books without guilt, because I am already forgiven by J.C. standing in my place, taking all my sins on the cross with him. You see, there is such freedom in knowing that I will not be judged at the end of my days. Why even bother being a good human being any more? At times, I've believed that certain people operate as Sunday Christians, or more accurately, Sunday a.m. Christians. Shit. I catch myself speaking about other people, pointing out the spec in their eye, instead of paying attention to the log sticking out of my eye--let him who is without sin cast the first stone--don't speak ill of anyone else until you've dealt with all your crap in therapy---or as in the words of Bill/Ted in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, "Be excellent to one another." So I shouldn't talk any more about Christian myopia.) has a credo in which elements surprise me. I should write about that someday, you see I grew up Catholic and I have some reservations about one particular letter. But that's a discourse for another day.

If I had a credo, it would be very very simple. Something like, "All living things are interconnected. Help all creatures thrive."

This credo is a first draft. I actually have been caught breaking this credo, even in my own home as recently as Tuesday, when I smacked the guts out of an intruder fly in my living room. Oh that felt good! But at that moment of smacking, I was thriving, so I guess that balances out the equation, right?

November 5, 2004     Yesterday was an historic day for our son, B, on the potty. I gave him a high-five when he was done.

(Did I ever claim that random thoughts and whatnot would be clean?)

There is a song that I am including in Pop 13 that is somewhat stupid, somewhat unclean, somewhat sexual, somewhat instructional, and somewhat enjoyable. So since I'm on the subject of clean topics, I thought I'd talk about this song for a moment. I thought that I should remove this song or replace it with another, since Pop 13 is only 2 or 3 weeks old. But then I gets to thinking: isn't sexuality a part of our lives? As well as beings that communicate & make create our own culture, are we not sexual as well? So is a panda bear. So is a dust mite. So is a daisy or a rose. So I have determined that I am going to keep this song in Pop 13 and to hell with any party that might be offended the 4 times per decade that someone besides myself might hear this song play in the middle of Pop 13. If they ask or remark that it is obtuse or borderline offensive, I will agree and move on.

"Oh, no. A song about sex, let's turn off Pop 13." Now there is a sentence that will never ever ever in the course of humankind ever be uttered by any human being, at least any human who doesn't read Random Thoughts and Whatnot.

Besides, isn't our culture about sex? Ever watch a movie or listen to pop music? I guess the difference is that this song is called "The Art of Driving". I can't imagine Britney Spears' mother approving of a song called "The Art of Driving." (No, she is not the artist who sings this song.) Although if Britney Spears has no appreciation for the metaphor, she might not even know she is singing about sexual methodology. (The song is by an obscure band, Black Box Recorder)

Ok. I'm over the top. My parents might some day read this, so it's time to clean it up.... Wait a minute. Isn't that exactly what I'm trying to argue against?

November 3, 2004     Dude, check out this photo.

Found the site quite interesting, but they want you to register to have access to all the photos. I prefer to search and find back doors into the data.

B on antibiotics now. Has been fighting a cold since Thursday. Minor cold, but his asthma has kicked in. Now with the fever, his doctor put him on antibiotics.

Listening to Travis on Napster right now. Decent album: The Invisible Band.

Dude, check it out.

October 29, 2004     Lots of rain this morning. It was raining in the plant today, as well. I was cutting through the plant on my way to Waste Water and I felt a spray on my face. I told one of the operators and we went back to where I felt the spray and we saw that there was some plastic covering some coil samples. So I asked around and realized that the rain water comes down through a fan 70 ft up in the air. It just feels quite strange to be in a manufacturing environment and having rain water fall through an exhaust fan. You'd think there would be a better work-around than putting plastic over the affected area.

Went out last night with a group from work. There was a going-away party for two of the employees here who are leaving after only about 2 years each. They are going across the street to work for one of our parent's. They got a few going away presents, the first of which was a plastic garbage bag for each of them. Let's just say that so much alcohol was consumed, that the plastic bag was used before the night was over. I was out of there by 9:30 p.m., but I guess there were some who stayed till the bar closed, at 1:00 a.m. and went out after that.

It was the first time since we've had this new plant manager that I've gone out to one of these gatherings. The new plant manager seems to realize that you have to spend some money to get something extra from your employees.

It is strange talking at these kinds of events. Got speaking with someone in Maintenance and turns out her family is going through something that my family is going through. (Ah, secrets!) It was interesting because I shared a peanut of information, then she shared a grapefruit of information, then I realized I had so much more to share, but I stopped and waited and realized that this was her time to share--I've had mine. So I let her continue until someone came around that broke the dynamic.

Now there's a good word: dynamic. That is one dynamic word!!

October 26, 2004     The second meeting of the men's circle was much like the first. Less stress, but we still spent nearly two hours on the subject of how to make decisions and whether or not to be open to the third circle joining our new circle. Ugg. What bothered me, and what I expressed near the end, was that we voted on this the previous meeting and the conclusion was to close our circle after the second meeting. So why was there discussion? I think people think that loving their neighbor means being accommodating to the neighbor, even if it means creating a less desirable environment for everyone else in the group. It's the old adage, "You can try to please all the people all the time, but when someone new comes along, you're going to piss someone off that you pleased earlier." I think that's how the saying goes. It's Emerson, I believe. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Yes, it is. Really. It's from one of his lesser known works: Getting Along In A UU Church Without Losing Your Head Or Your Dignity. Check it out. It's in the library, next to the books on space flight.

Here's one thing I realized yesterday: our son gets along with us most of the time, but he might feel more of a bond with his teacher at pre-school. Of course, the statement is absurd. Of course he has more a bond with J & me, but it certainly feels like he has love for this teacher at pre-school, and maybe I'm jealous when all he does at home is run around like a tornado. Or if we're out to eat he'll play on and under the table and eat after we're getting our coats on to leave. Oh, last night B & I ran around Applebee's. Why? Let's just say that both of us needed to let out a little energy when I swiped him out of his seat and took him outside of the restaurant.

Wife got back from Colorado. I dressed the kids this morning in the long sleeve shirts she purchased for them from the mountains.

October 20, 2004     Getting horible sleep this week. Our son has been waking up at all hours of the night. He is beginning to get potty trained and I think he is waking up and walking around because he wants a new diaper (he wears underwear during the day). So this a.m. at 3:30 I changed him. Time for me to wake up.

October 19, 2004     Went to a "Men's Circle" meeting Sunday night at the church. We got sidelined for over an hour on whether or not to include 6 members from an existing circle into our new group. The 6 other men are from the third men's circle and have been together for 3 years. This will increase our numbers from 9 to 15. I didn't feel I was heard when I voiced my concerns.

Went to the church last night for a family portrait. Came home and worked on the computer for two hours. J is heading to Colorado for two nights this weekend and I have hours to make up Thursday and Friday, so I'm preparing for that.

October 11, 2004     Played goalie for the first time Saturday night. I played one half of the 50 minute game. We lost, but I did alright. I learned to only make passes that I'm 100% sure will end up at the feet of one of my teammates. It was a ton of fun, though, and the time went by especially fast.

October 8, 2004     My commute to work sucks. It should get better in 2006. They are doing a lot of road work around here in preparation for the 2006 Superbowl. So as a result, they are infringing on my happiness.

Daughter has horseback riding lessons tonight after school. Soccer tomorrow. Both kids have soccer tomorrow.

I disinvited myself to Chicago for the weekend. I wrote my brother & folks and said that I wasn't able to handle the drive and the long days this time.

My dad is on chemotherapy. He had some cancer removed from his lung and they found some suspicious cells in other parts of the lung. So he is on a low dose of chemo. He said on the phone yesterday, "I don't have any hair to loose anyway."

My brother returned from Iraq last week. So he is visiting the folks in Chicago for the week and is leaving Sunday. He said on the phone it was mostly boring, and occasionally he'd hear mortor fire, but you just continue to do what you were doing, because it's over so quickly anyway. Guess that's the war--at least near the "Green Zone."

Had to buy a new washing machine earlier in the week. The only bright side is that we'll get 1% cash back bonus on the credit card. So that will earn us a free meal at the Olive Garden. You see, with this card (find it somewhere at www.citicards.com), you get 1% cash back in a check or in gift certificates. Sometimes we ask for the gift certificate to some restaurant chain; other times we ask for check. The check makes more sense to me, but the wife like the free meal.

Listening to Sigur Ros right now. You can find some audio tracks from there web site here.

October 5, 2004     We won our first soccer game of the season on Saturday! That was a good feeling. I didn't score, but I played pretty well. I'm working on using teammates more to move the ball upfield. I'm still playing Midfield, which I think is quite challenging, but my legs can take it. Am I starting to get better? I think so. I think that even though I'm not scoring so much this season, I'm playing more like a true midfielder should in indoor soccer.

Still trying out Napster. My 1 free week ended, but I forgot to cancel, so I've got it for at least a month. Still useful, but I wish is was as comprehensive as Kazaa. But no more Kazaa for me. Oh, I was checking out a band called Ride yesterday. I believe they are British. If you like a lot of guitar and some keen rifs, then check out Ride.

September 30, 2004     6:25 a.m.      Prop myself on one arm as I contemplate getting out of bed. Wife used her alarm to wake up and get out of bed 30 minutes earlier.

6:30 a.m.      On the floor beginning the first of four Pilates exercises. Stretched arms, legs, and abdomen with some of the basic skills that I've been learning from the book beside me, Pilates for Beginners.

6:45 a.m.      Heard B saying over and over "I want momma" from his bedroom. Stopped Pilates and got into the bed with him and touched his head and arm as he slowly woke up.

6:50 a.m.      B wanted to read Oh, The Places You'll Go! and I told him he could bring the book in the bathroom while I took a shower.

6:51 a.m.      Sat B on the potty so he could pee.

6:52 a.m.      Turned on the shower water, disrobed, and began a shower. B stayed on the bathroom rug and looked at the pictures in his book.

6:56 a.m.      Got out of shower, dried off.

6:57 a.m.      Put on shirt and underwear and sat on the floor in our bedroom and began reading Oh, The Places You'll Go! to B. He sat on my left as we both leaned against the bed.

7:00 a.m.      H came into the room and asked if she could sit with us as I read the book. "Sure," I said.

7:05 a.m.      Finished the book, found clothes for H and B, dressed B and put a shirt on H. Although she can dress herself, she isn't the quickest in the morning.

7:09 a.m.      Fed fish in B's room and then in H's room. Opened the drapes in B's room.

7:10 a.m.      I finished getting dressed, put on pants, long sleeve shirt, socks. Made the bed.

7:11 a.m.      The three of us made our way downstairs. I asked the kids if they wanted toast and peanut butter, cereal, or fruit. They both wanted cereal.

7:12 a.m.      Filled two bowls with cereal. H wanted Cheerios. B wanted Gorilla Munch. Put Vanilla Soy Milk in H's bowl. B poured his own milk.

7:13 a.m.      Put toast in the toaster, pulled down their lunch boxes, began to assemble their lunches. Toast finished, and I spread honey first, then peanut butter for my breakfast. Ate by the counter as I filled their lunch boxes with (1) chicken nuggets, honey, carrots, mashed potatoes, cinnamon apple sauce for H and regular apple sauce for B, spoons, and forks. Filled a water bottle for H and sippie cup for B. Closed the lunch boxes and put them in their position on the top surface of the (cool) electric stove.

7:30 a.m.      Brushed my teeth. Shaved. Gathered my keys and beeper. My wallet was already in the car from yesterday.

7:32 a.m.      Put shoes on B.

7:34 a.m.      Brought B to the bathroom so he could pee again.

7:35 a.m.      Encourage H to find her socks.

7:37 a.m.      Put shoes on H.

7:39 a.m.      Put coats on the kids. A Detroit Red Wings windbreaker for B and a My Little Pony fall coat for H.

7:43 a.m.      Cleaned up cereal bowls. Picked up loose pieces of cereal that fell onto the table so they wouldn't be stuck to the table later in the afternoon. Did NOT empty the dishwasher of its clean dishes. Decided that could wait.

7:48 a.m.      Opened the medicine cabinet, took out two Papaya Complex vitamins, one Glucosamine Chondroitin Combination tablet, and asked B if he wanted a vitamin. Of course he did, so I got an Animals chewable vitamin for him. H was in the bathroom for the second time this morning. I chewed the Papaya Complex; B chewed his. Poured two tablespoons of psyllium into a cup, filled it with water and took the Glucosamine Chondroitin Combination tablet. Partially filled the cup three more times with water.

7:50 a.m.      Brushed H's hair. Put in her red and white striped "hair thing".

7:53 a.m.      Put H's lunch in her backpack because I wanted the honey to be in the up direction until lunch.

7:55 a.m.      Took frozen leftovers out of the refrigerator and packed it in a bag with a fork and some carrots.

7:57 a.m.      Shut the door and put the kids into our 1995 Toyota Corolla. Only buckled B in his seat. Closed the garage door. Drove 4 houses to the bus stop. Waited 1 minute for Bus 30.

8:00 a.m.      "Bus 30 is here" I told my daughter. "B, do you want to say good-bye to H?" "Bye H," he said. "Bye B," she replied. She shut her door and got on the bus. I looked at the passenger seat and realized I forgot my lunch.

8:01 a.m.      Drove back to our house, pulled in the driveway and opened the garage door. Left the car running, went inside and grabbed my lunch bag.

8:02 a.m.      With B in the back seat and me in front, resumed our way to EMU Children's Institute so that I could drop him off at pre-school.

8:12 a.m.      One lane closed so there was a backup before I could turn right at the main drive into the University.

8:15 a.m.      Pulled into a parking spaces, encouraged B to unbuckle his seatbelt, met him outside his door, then encouraged him to get his lunch. He was also going to carry inside a Rescue play toy that J bought two days before.

8:18 a.m.      B saw that the computer was on in the Blue room. He was excited no one was sitting there, so he asked Carrie if he could play on it. Carrie asked B if he wanted to say good-bye to his daddy first. He came back and gave me a big hug. "Bye daddy."

8:20 a.m.      I'm back in the car, starting my way to Dearborn. Construction makes about 4 miles quite slow. I listen to 101 WRIF morning news with Trudi.

9:00 a.m.      Arrive at work so I can begin my day.

September 28, 2004     So we were out to eat at a new Indian restaurant yesterday on Main Street, downtown Ann Arbor. When the meal finished, H was having some trouble breathing--either the disinfectant spray that one of the workers used was bothering her or the spice in the food was bothering her. So I took her and B outside to get some fresh air while J waited to pay for the meal. There were tables outside, so I sat at one of the tables and the kids played around a tree, which had small pebbles around its base. They were playing something like merry-go-round and were racing and falling in circles around the tree. Then B fell. He came to me for a hug but went back playing as soon as H asked him to come back. Then H fell. Within a minute, J came back from the restaurant with our doggie bags and we headed to the car across the street.

Once inside the car, B complained he was hungry. Of course he was hungry. What usually happens when we go out to eat is that he plays with his water or plays on the floor and basically bothers the heck out of me, and then when it is time to go he might eat four bites. So he complained he was hungry and we found H's lunch box from school, opened it up and my wife offered him carrots in a zip-lock bag. He accepted that and took one out. A few minutes later, my wife in the passenger seat was cracking up. B handed her some skin that had peeled off, from when he fell earlier. But what was funny was that he was holding one carrot on his left wrist, where some skin had come off. It was comfort food, I suppose. What I was thinking was that he has experience with us giving him or H a bag of frozen vegetables when they hurt themselves. So I guess he figured that a raw carrot was a good substitute for a frozen bag of vegetables. So he held the carrot on his scraped wrist the entire way home.

September 24, 2004     Our daughter had her first horse riding lesson today. Actually, she had her first scheduled lesson, but the trainer was sick & had to cancel. We were at the stables, so we got to meet one of the horses, Marlin, and her owner. She said Marlin was a magician; he could make carrots disappear.

Working on Pop 12. It looks like I can't finish Pop 11 until I get a studio version of "Good Things" by The BoDeans. I'm not fond of the version I got from the new Napster, and it appears that The BoDeans do not want to release their entire catalog of tracks to Napster. I can see the arguments on both sides.

We are in the midst of changing the name of our soccer team. We are also in the throws of designing new shirts. Many issues with the shirts: whether or not to put the name of the team on them, what to have as our logo, order from a print shop or use iron-ons, and how to have a discussion about all these issues. I was appointed to lead both of these issues. So far there has been a lot of input through emails, but it is time to have a meeting of the TPC next week.

Stay tuned.

September 23, 2004     Sometimes I wonder. Ah, yes, "wonder". Wonder, wonder, wonder. What a beautiful word.

This is in contrast to "sometimes i wander", which also might be a valid statement, and maybe even more accurate most of the time. In fact, most of the time I'm wandering and wondering. (What's special about me is that I can have these deep philosophical thoughts and still be sober.)

Stop! This is madness.

So where was I? Yes... Sometimes I wonder when my relationship with my wife has been the strongest. Was it when we were younguns, dating and 19? Was it when we were getting married around age 23? Was it when our kids were born and we were in love with the moment more than we were each other? Not that we weren't in love with each other when the kids were born, but there is tension, of course, when kids are born. Or maybe our relationship was the strongest this week or last week, when we could pull each other out of trouble, picking up kids, making dinner, doing laundry to make life easier for the spouse. Makes sense. Of course I know when when our relationship was the strongest. There's no question.

Okay, maybe I don't know. Maybe it is just a rhetorical question. Maybe I just like to think that we are stronger today than we were the day we got married. This I firmly believe. I also believe our relationship is stronger today than when our kids were born. This I firmly believe. Is it stronger today than when we had affairs and cheated on each other and lied about it and had kids and all that stuff? Sorry, that never happened. Imagine, I'd have a blog devoted to my other family. That would be crazy. What if one family found out about the blog of the other family. I'd be in BIGGGGGG trouble then. No, there's no cheating here. But who needs cheating to have a strong relationship? No me. Although if that was the case, I'd be the first one to start strengthening the relationship as much as I could. No complaints there.

Jez, I'm just kiddin. Have a sense of humor.

So when I'm 93 years old and my old lady is 92 years old, will our relationship be stronger than it is today? I would have to guess that it would be. Yes. Let me revisit this blog in 2097 and find out.

September 16, 2004     Life can be so depressing and unpredictable. One day I'm running 4 miles, feeling on top of the world, the next day I'm playing indoor soccer, twist my ankle, and get a peroneal tendon strain, perhaps coupled with a mild sprained ankle. Oh, I have some hyperlinks here: Peroneal Tendon Strain Info, Ankle Sprain Info. So my ankle was puffed up like a balloon for a few days, and it is starting to get better. I tried running 15 seconds yesterday and the discomfort is when there is impact. I have a good range of motion, so that's good. Oh, I also found some beneficial exercises to try at the web sites above. I'll give those a go tonight.

I ordered two books about Pilates. I heard an interview with a sportswriter who is working on a book about one of the US swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and he was saying how her approach to training in the sport could revolutionize the way all athletes train. He went on to talk about how technique, good technique, can go farther than reps and miles and miles of swimming each day. And then he mentioned visualization. Well, a few days before hearing that, I saw David Letterman interview Natalie Coughlin, and I remember her attributing her success, in part, to pilates. So I'm pretty sure he might be writing about her. So next thing you know, I get injured and now have a personal need to learn a safe way to stretch and gain strength. Sounds like pilates might be the way. I had no clue what pilates was until the weekend, but it is basically yoga with better clothes. Ok, I still have a lot more reading to do, but I'll learn more about it in the coming weeks.

Oh, on the same subject, a few months ago I saw a doctor in my PCP's practice who looked at my sore knee. He easily diagnosed what the problem was, but asked if I do any stretching. Now I realize what he was asking about: he was asking if I did yoga, or pilates, or some other daily stretching routine. So now it is making more sense.

What freaks me out is that a year ago I sprained my ankle, playing basketball in the front yard. Now I have an increased chance of this injury recurring:

As it turned out, a history of ankle injuries was the best predictor of ankle injury. In fact, players who had previously injured an ankle were almost FIVE times more likely to injure an ankle during the study period, compared to previously uninjured athletes. 73 % of the players who reported an ankle injury during the research had suffered a previous ankle problem (the average number of prior injuries was 3.5). In contrast, a random sample of players who were uninjured during the study revealed that just 33 % had at one time suffered at least one ankle injury (the average for the uninjured players was 2.4 previous injuries). (click for source).

On the bright side, I went and saw the new thriller Cellular last night. Roger Ebert's review of the movie is here. I enjoyed it a lot, although the heroes and the villains act like idiots in several situations. Duh, if you cell phone is going dead in a stairwell, don't just stand there, but go back down where the signal was strong, and leave the phone at the bottom of the stairwell if you have to! But it was a fun movie and I have no complaints after I accept the fact that it is a movie.

I've also been trying out Napster (the new Napster) for the past few days. It is a great product, but I don't think I can spend $10 per month for it. Although it is tempting.

September 8, 2004     Went running twice during the 3 day weekend. Running, for me, is great. Soccer is fun and a necessary social event--and even something that I am above average at (at least in our Open league). But running is something that is part of my fabric. Get me out there, 20 minutes into a run, and I'm in heaven.

It was in 1986 and I was a Senior in high school. We were at the Regional meet, which meant that the top 3 teams move on to the Sectional, the step before State. I was the lead runner in the 4 x 800 meter relay, which is the two mile relay. Each of us had to run a half mile, then hand off to the second runner. Now I wouldn't be writing this if it wasn't so close to the closing of the Olympics. So this is in the front of my mind and I've been wanting to put this down for my kids & their kids, and so on. (Vanity, of course.) There are races that I don't remember. We'll call those the forgetable ones. (Duh.) Then there are races that are quite memorable. And I can remember two races that are of this variety. Just two? That's not too much, but I never claimed to have a stellar memory. So I was the first runner in the relay and the gun went off. I was concerned about staying out of trouble and running from the front. I wanted the pressure of pushing the pace faster than other runners have gone before. When we got to the first turn, at the 200 meter mark, I pushed ahead, moving from second or third to first. There were probably about 8 teams in the race. When we finished the first lap, I was either in first or tied with first. I do remember running in first along the back straightaway on the second lap. If a race is divided into quarters, I always tried to push the second-to-last quarter of the race. So the second-to-last 200 meters was probably my faster section of the race. I go all out on the second-to-last quarter because I know that there is a reward in the last 25% of the race--the reward of seeing the finish line and having a crowd in your favor and having adrenalline that goes along with kicking into the finish line. In this case, the finish line was a pass to the next runner, a good friend Wed. So I'm pushing around the final turn, arms tired, starting to labor in a big way. I wanted this to be a 700 meter race, and that's not exactly what I was thinking, but I was not in a position to kick. My arms were starting to feel asleep. I got to the last straightaway and one or two taller and stronger runners were coming up next to me, challenging for the lead. Then with 90 meters left, I looked up. I saw Wed positioned on the inside of the first lane. That is the position that the next runner receives when the runner with the batton is in first place. I looked up, then I lost it. I tried to sprint. I tried to catch 5 runners that passed me. I tried to use my arms, but I was surprised and shocked that they were asleap. I tried to accelerate to the end, but I was spent. I didn't have my reserves. I handed off and I was probably in 5th place, handing off to the second runner on the pole. For me, the crystal clear memory of the race mainly consists of my lifting my head with 90 meters to go and seeing my target, being a little surprised, then fighting my body to continue.

Don't look up. Don't look at the goal. Don't dwell on the finish line. Don't panic. Don't panic by not looking up.

I really believe that if this was an 800 meter open race and I was against these other well condioned runners, like the strong tall guy in the green top, and if there was 90 meters left in the race, and I wasn't required to look up, I believe if all these things were the same but the finish was a true finish, that I would have won the race.

The excuse word in the last paragraph is the word "required". I wasn't required to look up, you see, but it is helpful to know the position of the runner who is going to receive the batton. So I had to look up sometime. The other guys could do it and accelerate to the finish. That day, I could not.

That is my sad memory. I write this and think about all the great runs I had in training and great races in my early running years. During my Junior and Senior years, I didn't have the moxie that I had in earlier years. I had it during training runs. I would leave nothing on the track in practice. But during the races, I was tight. For my body type and my size, it is amazing that I could run a half mile in two minutes, three seconds. But I wanted better. I wanted that to be my race.

That might have been my last half mile ever. I think Eric ran most of the open 800's that senior season. I was a 2 mile relay, first leg specialist and I was jealous of Eric. I'm not sad or upset about that race. Just the clarity of the last turn and the look up means that the adrenaline was in full swing up to that point. It was also special and fun to lead for a good portion of the race.

I wonder where the guy in the green jersy is today. He probably doesn't remember me taking the lead from him at the beginning of the bell lap. And he certainly doesn't remember looking up to find his teammate that would receive the batton at the end of his leg. It is weird to think about these things.

September 2, 2004     The most interesting blog I've seen in a while was one I came across a week ago in the midst of the Olympics. This guy was documenting the last place finishers in the Olympics. While the concept is superb, the execution was mediocre. So he would write that the winner of the men's 100 meter was whomever with a time of 9.?? and then he would say that the slowest time in a preliminary race was whomever with a time of 17.??. But who was the loser? Give me a little profile. I don't want to criticize a blog, but I guess I was turned on by the concept but let down once I read the details.

The Olympics are over. The kids got a feel for what the 19 days in August are all about. Summer sports & winners. Again, there is not much attention paid to the losers. I think that is a missed opportunity for NBC. But NBC did a fine job of presenting the Olympics. Good balance of sport & profile. I still am glad we have CBC here, so there is always an option during prime time, as well as the opportunity to see some of the sports live in the afternoon (while the activity might be going on in the early evening in Greece).

Played soccer Saturday for the first time in a few months. Still indoor. Still getting minor injuries.

Took the kids out for ice cream yesterday after picking them up from school. They both had Superman ice cream. I had to help B with some of licking (in other words, I consumed copious amounts of his Superman ice cream cone). He ended up with ice cream dripping on his shirt and all over his face. It was a good way to start to say good-bye to summer. I'm sure there will be more warm days in the next few weeks, but school has started back up again and the cool summer will soon turn into a warm fall. Some leaves are falling and the mornings are staying dark just a little bit longer each day.

We have a couple of pumpkins that grew in our garden. Unintentional garden plants are fun. We didn't know for several weeks if the vine that was growing was pumpkin, squash, or something else. So now we will have a home grown treat to carve for Halloween. That could be the name of my second movie: "The Accidental Pumpkin".

August 27, 2004     I've got random thoughts.

Ooo, that sounds like a creepy statement.

I've got whatnot.

So we went on this family vacation thing this past weekend. We went to a YMCA camp with the church to a place close to Lake Michigan. It was awesome. It probably wouldn't have been so awesome if I hadn't gone on the High Ropes on Sunday afternoon. But the High Ropes were these suspended ropes & cables 24+ feet in the air, hanging from tree to tree. There were different methods of getting across the ropes from one tree to another, but the height was the primary skill that needed to be conquered. I guess the Medium Ropes is more physically challenging, but I didn't go on those. For me, the most difficult was jumping off the last board, hanging from my harness to the cable above, swinging 150 ft to the tree at the end of a clearing. The 15 seconds before stepping off the platform were the worst. The second before I stepped off, I turned to one of the guides and said, "This is weird." It was weird, but I made it.

Got to canoe, hike, ride horses, play in the water, the kids & J fished, and we all had a great time. Oh, there were also campfire smores, "catered" meals, and hot showers. So how much can I call it camping. We even had a cabin with heat.

The highlight of my weekend was on one particular horse ride with H, she had to tell her horse to not go off the trail to chew at some green weeds. "No Miss. No." And I looked back (or was it forward; I think it was forward) and she was tugging at the reigns to the right. And Miss obeyed. Now we're talking about H, who is not a very expressive individual and who prefers to be led than to lead, and to express herself when there's just two of us around. But it was cool. She was trying to work with and control a horse. A pregnant 6 - 7 ft horse. Miss was great with H. H was great with Miss.

H & I made drawings for Kelly, the primary horse instructor/guide. We have some digital pictures of the drawings we made.

That was cool.

August 18, 2004     I think Pop 10 is finished. I haven't done any changes since the first time I compiled it. Sounds good without any more tweaks. It's not as spectacular as other Pops that I've made, but that's okay. Sometimes a double is just as good as a home run.

August 10, 2004     I spent a lot of time last night working on Pop 10. At least in this first draft stage, it appears that the compilation will begin with a couple of songs about the downside of relationships and end with some songs that are somewhat hopeful. I don't particularly like the compilation having a concentration of songs about break-ups, but I was thinking yesterday that I have to put these tunes somewhere. I could put them in Pop 10, all at the beginning, or I could scatter these songs throughout the next 6 samplers. Then I would have a break-up song in each of the next few ... you get the idea. It sounds better to arrange several of them together and get the songs off my list for future compilations.

Since "10" seems a bit ceremonious, I may rename the compilation to Pop 11 and work on Pop 10 later. That would be a story I could tell future generations. It would rank right up there with the story of Paul Bunyan or Paul Revere. You get the idea.

August 4, 2004     This one will qualify more as a "whatnot" rather than as a "random thoughts".

I'm not really sure what that means.

What I find interesting is that some people do not seem to care that this is their one chance in life to make it perfect. Of course, we are all going to go through life somewhat short of perfect, some of us falling farther away than others. But we only have one shot in life. I've repeated this theme before, but it is so true. If life is about happiness, then we should sow seeds of happiness. If life is about suffering, then we should avoid suffering and help other avoid suffering as much as possible. If life is about candy, then we should consume as much candy and promote candy to others as much as possible.

But instead of virtuous living, many people seek out sadness and suffering. It just pisses me off that so many people want to harbor negative thoughts and actions towards their neighbor and themselves. I know someone who goes to church every sunday but doesn't know love. How is that possible? I don't know, just ask any of the religious people who fought & fight in holy wars.

So am I anti-war or pro-war? That's not an issue I want to dissect right now.

I am just thinking about pain versus healing; sickness versus health.

I think that hell is on earth and that every time a person acts against their conscience and against what they know is right, they are putting themselves in hell. So is it better to have no conscience? I guess not, but I propose a two tier ethic: (1) work a loving attitude towards others and yourself more and more every day; (2) follow your conscience.

Hopefully that two tier ethic will close the loophole for those who act without a moral conscience. Then we have to deal with what is moral & what is love, although they seem like fundamental universal concepts to me. And to hell with all of you that see otherwise.

August 2, 2004     Son is starting to be in underwear most of the day, now. Daughter can now go the bathroom after we put her to bed without shouting downstairs to ask our permission.

Ah yes, potty talk at lionreviews.com.

Kids spent a lot of quality time with the neighbors this afternoon after dinner, playing outside in the sprinkler as I watered the garden. Then two friends of the neighbors came over & the 6 kids started to play tee-ball together. Batting practice. That was good fun. Their mom is trying to get the house & yard ready for an appraisal, since she is putting the house on the market.

So we all kinda babysat since the mom was out cutting the lawn and there were 6 kids between the two parents (myself and the neighbor parent). Confusing, since I'm not using specific names, but basically it takes a little help from friends and neighbors so that parents can do parent stuff.

Best part of the night? I pitching to the kids, playing ball, directing traffic for who gets to bat next.

But that's not really it. The best part of the night was realizing that I was playing a significant role in the the lives of a friend of a friend. I was helping the mom friend of our neighbors so that she could get her house ready. I was playing with her two sons. As it is, they can use male role models and in some moment of egotistical egoism, I believe that I am a decent role model to these two guys who were playing in our backyards this evening. So I am full of myself. I am big headed. I am full of my own importance. I do give kudos to myself. Is that so bad?

July 30, 2004     My daughter can ride her two-wheeler bike around the neighborhood! In about 4 practice runs, she has learned how to ride a two-wheeler without much help. She still needs help getting up on the pedals and getting started, but after that, she's gone. I've needed running shoes the last two times I've been out with her to keep up. She feels proud.

She is in camp and is supposed to be learning to swim. I haven't had a chance to observe her practice swims yet, but I'd like to one of these days. It's hard having to work 40 hours/week and not being able to take time off to watch my kids grow up. It is hard having to get into work at 8:45 a.m. It is hard getting home at 5:30 p.m. or having to make up hours at home. It's hard trying to find time in there to run and sweat. It's hard having family issues. Doesn't every family have family issues? I think my family was screwed up (there was one time when we were at boy scout camp and my mom volunteered that I could dress up in her leopard skin one piece (female) bathing suit for this dress up contest. of course I said i didn't want that, but she and everyone egged me on. i cried. two hours later i'm putting on this hideous thing like i had no choice. little did i know that i could opt out, protest, sit down instead of get dressed. but i was naive and not under my own control. so the contest was one person per troop had to get dressed up and line up on the pier. i ended up getting pushed in for 2nd place finish. i was upset and the only relief was that being pushed in got me out of the spotlight and closer to getting out of that hideous thing. i still go to therapy today (well, not today, but "today") to deal with the bathing suit incident and other such traumas.) ... but isn't every family a bit screwed up? My kids will think that I'm screwed up by keeping an online journal, not private and somewhat public. My kids will think that we're a screwed up family because we don't have a back porch or because we require the them to sit with us during dinner or that we don't the kids stay up till 10 p.m. Now I know those aren't issues that will screw up a kid, but there will be something that they will be affected by that will stick with them for 36 years and they can discuss with their therapist. I only hope that I can limit the degree that I impose my will on my kids. Of course, if their life is in danger or they need ethical help, I will impose myself on them, but in most circumstances, I want the to make choices and learn from those choices. "B, do you want to wear a hideous leopard skin female one-piece bathing suit that I brought from Chicago so that I could impose it on you at this time and once slipping into its awkward shape and size be ridiculed and humiliated by your camp-mates and pushed into the lake for their pleasure?" And I hope my son says, "No thank you, dad. I much rather prefer to be the ridiculer instead of the ridiculee." And I will give him a huge bear hug, knowing that he achieved a level of self-esteem, confidence, independence, and assertiveness that I never had at a young age.

July 26, 2004     So my son comes downstairs after his bedtime and needs a diaper change.  And he looks at the carpet & the floor and he says "Why is the kleenex holding the wine up?"  Oh my god, that was a riot.

It so happens that my wife and I had a few bottles of wine on the floor and one of them was open and when I poured wine, it dripped on the rug, so she grabbed a half a dozen kleenexes and mopped up the drips of red wine and then put a few klenexes beneath the bottle.  And then he comes down and asks why the kleenex holding up the wine? and we cracked up laughing.

Wine is relaxing; wine is grand; i wish i had wine in the palm of my hand.

Hehehe.

Wine is refreshing; wine tastes good; i wish i could drink wine with any old food.

Hehehe.

Wine is red; wine is white; i wish i could drink wine into the wee hours of the night.

Hehehe.

Wine is Merot; Wine is Cabernet; Wine is Pinot; and Wine is a blend.

Whoops, no rhyme there.  I better give it up.

DT

July 21, 2004     Oh, check out: http://www.picasa.com/google/ .  I like it lots.  The browser window, which isn't shown, is the best part of this tool.

    Got to finally cut the lawn last night.  The garden tomatoes are growing out of their cages & this could be the premiere crop ever.  For Ypsilanti at least.  The kids enjoy watering the tomatoes, and their clothes as well.  It's rained a lot this season, but we still water by hand every now and then. 

After cutting the lawn I went out and ran 3 miles.  That was nice.  My right knee felt like it was out of position most of the day and the cure for that is to exercise the quadriceps and a muscle to the inside of the quads.  It feels a little better today, but we'll see.

Our daughter has had a sore stomach for over 10 days now.  So she has a doctor's appointment at 10:00 this morning.  Hopefully it is nothing serious.  There is a chance it is just nerves.  And I don't want to minimize this and say "just nerves" like that is not serious, but it may be acid caused by nervousness.  She has a good deal of scared time during the day and needs more relief (role playing, book reading, movie watching) to counteract the stress of 8 hours of camp.  So we are guessing that it might be nerves rather than something biological.  We'll see.

July 15, 2004     Starting to plan B's third birthday party. Dropped off invitations at preschool and put them in the cubbies. He has been expecting his birthday party ever since H had her 6th party last month. So I brought the invitations upstairs to the classroom and then he and I sat down on a rug and I told him who mom invited. I told him these people are going to get cards to come, is there anyone else you want to come. And he says "I don't know their names." That was a heartbreaker. So I told him to think about it and we'll talk about it after dinner.

J and I are going to The Earle after the kids have dinner tonight. Mmmm. The Earle is one of those restaurants where we must go once or twice a year, but any more and we'd be broke. We got a coupon for buy one entree, get another free, so that should help us out a little. Their wine selection is fantastic, but last time we were there, we split a bottle of Riesling by the Hogue winery in Oregon (Washington?). That was like finding a diamond in the rough, because it was one of their least expensive wines, but better than the quality we expected.

The babysitter we've been using for a few years is going off to college. Time to decide on what to give her as a going-away present.

July 13, 2004     No random thoughts today.

B is waking up at all hours of the night this week. His language has improved greatly and I think I heard someone say that when kids have a developmental leap, their sleep is disturbed. Seems to be true. All I know is that I get up to put him back to bed and what he really wants is to get in bed with us and kick mom for 1/2 an hour. Okay, maybe he doesn't want that, but that's what ends up happening when we put him in bed at 5:00 a.m.

H is home sick from summer camp with the flu. I took time off yesterday to be with her and today J is home with her. It is difficult to care for kids when they are sick.

Visited Chicago for a second weekend in a row this past weekend. My dad has some cancer removed from his lung.

It is so stupid. This company I work for doesn't give any personal days. So what is the point of me telling them in January what days I want for vacation. I might have to burn some up for personal days, like this past Friday. So the year is half over and I believe I've taken one real vacation day so far. The rest have been some family excuse. I even had to make up a sick day with comp time. That is B.S. Oh, and next year they are going to take away 5 of my vacation days, so I'll be down to 8. Talk about B.S.

July 7, 2004     Visited the folks in Chicago for the 4th of July. On the way we stopped at Weko Beach on Lake Michigan on the Michigan side. It was a great time, until I realized my fingers were turning purple. I decided to dry off and get the circulation going again. Needless to say, we left the beach 15 minutes after that.

Chicago was pleasant. Got to run to my old middle school and back. My dad bought a new computer Saturday so we spent some time getting it set up and installing some software he needed: Ad-aware, AVG (a free virus scan by Grisoft), Adobe Acrobat Reader. Performed a Windows Update on the PC, just to keep it hummin'.

Came home the night of the 4th and got to see fireworks from the highway. It was also pleasant. But the best part was the B slept the entire way home. He didn't nap the next day and his sleep has been erratic, but at least the drive was decent.

July 1, 2004     Cassini-Huygens Arrives at Saturn: Click here for NASA's web site devoted to Cassini.

June 30, 2004     Going paddle boating with the kids and wife and neighbors later today. Should be a great time. The kids have been looking forward to it since Sunday, when we woke up and I told the kids we were going. I told them to wake up their mom, since it was 9:00, and tell her we were going paddle-boating. It was to affirm that this was going to happen, rather than a suggestion. Turns out she woke up with an ear ache and a sore throat, so we took it easy and didn't go. Since then the kids have asked if we were going and it looks like it will be tonight at 5:30. Meet at the park, share some subway subs, then boat around the lake. Should be a fun time.

June 29, 2004     J shouted downstairs, "Bring B two apples," because what happened was that he had a snack but didn't get any of his sister's apple slices. What she really wanted was for me to bring him some apple slices, but I was going to cut a new one and bring it up for his nighttime snack. Washed it and cut it into a plastic storage container.

Then I heard a small bang and then some pretty horrific screaming. "David, get up here; B hurt himself; there's blood everywhere." So I grabbed the apples and some cups that I had ready and headed upstairs. I found my wife holding our two-year-old and he was beginning to scream like crazy. She came downstairs and I got him a towel. He was bleeding a lot from the mouth. After a minute of holding a towel on it, and not deciding what to do, she had me call 911. Fine. I called and she spoke to the dispacher. They sent out an ambulance and the bleeding was somewhat under control. They examined it and he had cut the skin on the outside below his lower lip and he also cut the inside of his lip. That was doing the most bleeding. J was convinced he cut through from one side to the other. The paramedic looked at it and said they could drive us to the hospital or we could drive him. We decided to drive him. He wanted me in the back seat with him. That was cool. Took our daughter to the neighbor's and we set off.

When we got the ER, they told us to go to the pediatric ER. We waited in the waiting room there for almost and hour. I was watching B on and off and watching Men in Black II on and off. I just wanted him to stop talking. He was up way past his bedtime and he was walking and moving around the waiting room like nothing was wrong. Playing in the little house. Playing with a girl who had a 102 degree fever. Playing with this little board that you rub and the black color changes into an image when there is heat. He was B again. The bleeding was pretty much stopped, on the inside and the outside. Finally we got into a room and after a dozen Teletubby stories that I made up on the fly, we got a doctor to irrigate the wound and apply some glue to the wound on the outside. I guess they don't treat cuts on the inside of the mouth. The doctor was pretty sure he didn't slice through his lower lip and I guess that they are starting to use this glue instead of stitches for these kind of wounds. It seems to work. In a few days it will flake off.

H was concerned about him when we got her from the neighbor's house at midnight. I put her in bed and the next morning we all got ready for her first day of Summer Camp at EMU, the same building B goes for his preschool. We got to camp/preschool an hour late, but I had to let the kids take their time waking up after all the excitement Sunday night.

This morning, the second morning of Summer Camp, H said that she wants to go and have fun. It was great to hear that. Another boy said "Hi" to her after the mom introduced him to H. And she said "Hi" back. That was cool. A year ago she would have been too scared to handle that situation.

She knows she wants to go for the summer and swim every day and hang out with old friends and new friends. And I think this desire is weighing greater than her fear of social situations. This is huge and I'm proud of her.

June 21, 2004     So I'm over my rant. Love is in the air. My wife & my marriage couldn't be more perfect.

Our daughter lost a tooth yesterday. Her first. We were out to eat at a Mexican restaurant & just after the chips came, it came out. Don't know if she pulled at it or what. But that was cool. Now her adult tooth is already coming in right behind.

Sprained my wrist in soccer over the weekend. A ball was kicked at a good speed and it hit my wrist and snapped it forward. Kinda like whiplash to the wrist. At least I can type & the pain is a lot less than it was Saturday night. We still lost.

June 18, 2004     So it looks like I can upload pictures to the RTAW. That's cool. Now the question is whether or not to post pictures on my web site's blog. The big issue here is if I want to expose my family to the world, when they didn't ask for it. I could imagine putting my picture up here, because I can handle the throngs of fans who will pilgrimage thousands of miles to see my face in person. But my kids & wife didn't ask for that. How can I thrust stardom upon them.

So what else is new? Still fighting with the wife every now and then. Last night it was about if I would put away two extra bowls on 6/18/2004 that I didn't put away the morning of 6/17/2004. Now it wouldn't be the same two bowls, but my point was that I did as much work as I could humanly do on the morning of the 6/17 and her point was that if I wanted any favor from her on 6/19, I would have to seek out bowls that she will find and clean them up before I leave for work. (Another exciting blog.) So let's see... last year she rants about not wiping up the counter when I clean the dishes (despite whose crumbs are on the counter); this year she rants about the kitchen not being perfectly cleaned when she comes home in the afternoon; next year she'll rant that I only do laundry 8 times a month instead of 16.

Look out, Dave's close to a rant.

June 16, 2004     This is a test of uploading a file:

June 11, 2004     So the Pistons are up two games to one over the L.A. Lakers and it looks like the NBA is going be the most surprised. No superstars on the Pistons team. The most popular player, as Larry Brown pointed out, is a guy who averages 8 points per game. The team is built on defence with some great ball handling guards. Whenever a new "system" wins a championship in one of the major sports, they are copied by other teams who want to get to that level. Well, there will be a lot of copying if that is the case. Apparently, it doesn't take two superstars to win it all.

Of course I shouldn't say it is over until it is over, but the Pistons have to win two out of the next 4 games. Two of those games will be at home. Very comforting.

June 7, 2004     Story 1: Called my mom last week and we get talking about what's going on. I told her that I just had my first class on Wills and Trusts. "Wheels and Trucks?" she replied. No, Wills and Trusts. "Trucks?" No, I had to say it a lot slower and enunciate. Wills and Trusts. It was a riot on my end of the phone line, but I think this might not be the last time we miscommunicate.

Story 2: B can climb over the gate we put in front of his door at night. He often takes a while (15 - 45 minutes) to get to sleep. But last night I was working on the computer in the kitchen after we put the kids to bed and J comes up from downstiars. "Do you know B is up?" she asks. Well, I knew he was awake 5 minutes earlier, so I say, Yea, he might be up. So she says, "No. I mean he is right here." So sure enough he was in the hallway and had managed to crawl over the gate and come downstairs looking for us. I walked him upstairs and told him in a stern voice to get back in bed. Now, you see, the gate was still up. So he delays and pouts that he can't. I say, get back in bed, and then I sit on the rug between his room and H's and I keep telling him to get back in bed. He eventually stops complaining and starts to put his foot mid-way into the gate and swing the other one over, while balancing with his hands at the top of the gate. After half a minute, he is on his side of the gate. Right after he was in bed and pulled up his covers, I removed the gate and put it on the side of the hallway, not set up. Don't want the kid to hurt himself climbing over our safety device.

Story 3: J is now working 7:30 - 3:30 or so. So this is the first day I have the "late shift". Looks like I'll be getting into work around 8:45 from now on. Hope I can still run at a reasonable time Mondays and possibly Wednesdays.

Story 4: I guess Story 3 really isn't a story.

Story 5: neither is story 4

Story 6: We had a 2 - 0 lead in Saturday's soccer game. Then it was 2 - 1. Then within about 90 seconds we trailed 2 - 3. After the two goals in 90 seconds I called out the other mid-fielder. So she came off the field and I went into the circle for the free pass that occurs after a goal. J passed it to me, a short 12 inch pass, then I made a decision not to pass the ball back to a defender, and instead pushed the ball forward with some speed. I juked one of their defenders, then sprinted ahead, juked another one to the left, and before I knew it, I was in position to shoot. I think I pushed it past 3 of their players. Then when I was in position I just shot the ball past the goalie. The whole play took maybe 8 seconds. The goalie got a hand on the ball, but it kept on going. The kids were with my folks in the stands and I asked H later how she liked my goal. "It was great." The next day I asked her if she saw my goal and she said not really; she was looking for mom on the field!

May 20, 2004     Set up a gmail account today. I don't know if I'll be using my google mail as my primary mail address or if I will continue to use my yahoo address as the primary one, but with one gigabyte of storage space, I may migrate to gmail. Yes it is free, but the cost is that they put small text advertising in the right hand column of the page. Very unobtrusive. A good write-up about gmail here: Preview: Google's Gmail Beta.

Gmail is still in beta mode, but it sounds like every now and then they send out an email to account holders which allows us to invite others to gmail. Hmmm. Bidding starts at $10 dollars. Just kidding.

Got up at 2:00 a.m. this morning to put my son back to bed. He has been having a problem recently sleeping through the night. I think he is having a hard time adjusting to being in preschool 5 days per week. He stayed home Tuesday because Monday night he was running a fever. Seemed to be over it on Wednesday, though.

Went out to eat last night for Chineese food. Second time in two days (the other restaurant was Denny's, where kids eat free on Tuesdays) (I'm sounding like an advertisement (if I added a hyperlink, I'd really be a pitchman)). But the reason is that the kitchen is a mess. J's got plastic thrown everywhere, and dropcloths. She should be done paining the kitchen today. I appreciate her painting and making the room look homey, but I'm not a painter.

I'll have to post some pictures.

May 17, 2004     The paragraphs below are from a letter I wrote my brother earlier today... I didn't feel like retyping the standard news...

Had a busy weekend with housework. Pretty close to finishing a brick wall around a garden in our front yard. It is between 1 and 3 bricks high depending on the slope of the land. But it looks pretty professional if I have to say so myself. I was on the ground for about 3 days getting full of mud and sand, trying to level out the foundation. But it should be worth it. Now we have a wall in front of the garden to hide the garden weeds.

Got my father-in-law's gas powered chain saw two weekends ago and used it yesterday to cut down stumps that have been in the back yard since last fall. Last fall I had to take down 3 ash trees due to disease. So his chain saw was awesome for about 15 minutes, then I must have dulled it somehow, because it was tough cutting after that. I told him I'd buy him a new chain for it. It's worth the trade-off.

J's project for the next two weeks is to paint the house. We've got the paint, I guess the hard part starts today or tomorrow. Got a good deal, because Meijer's had paint on sale, buy one get one free. So we saved big $$ on that deal.

Had a garage sale Satuday. I vowed that we'd never have another one. It is just not worth the effort. I'm not sure if J agrees with my vow. We'll see next year. Now we have bags of clothes that need to be donated. At least we can write that off on our taxes and hopefully come out ahead.

May 13, 2004     Went running last night after 9:00 p.m. I went through the forest to Textile Road, then turned around and came back. The sun was setting and it was nearly dark when I returned home. There were mosquetoes concentrated around the river in the forest. My fear was getting one in my mouth, which happened once.

After dinner, we took the kids to Heritage Park and played by the river last night. They collected rocks and sticks and we sat & stood on the pier and threw the rocks and sticks into the water. The sticks would float. We watched them disappear downstream. H hurt her hand somehow and cried, so we picked up to leave. She eventually asked for a bandaid, which I gave her. That helped her attitude somewhat. Sometimes she prefers to pout than to find a solution to her problem. Still love her lots.

May 4, 2004     Been watching a little bit of American Idol this season. It is quite addicting. It is at the stage where I would accept any of the 3 final 4 singers to win it all. I wouldn't accept George Huff. Not this time around. A bit goofy and just adequate in most of his performances.

Went to the Ann Arbor Botanical Gardens with the kids on Saturday. It was a cold wet trip, but somehow we had fun. Got to see banannas growing on a bananna tree; got to see a pineapple growing; got to see a whole bunch of cactuses in another area. When we were by the river, B wanted to throw every rock in the river. "No more" just doesn't have an effect on him. He comes back with "Just one more daddy." And he does it anyway. He finally carried a rock with him for about 15 minutes after we left that area. I think he wants to assert himself to the world, "I EXIST. I WILL CARRY THIS ROCK AS A SIGN THAT MY DAD CANNOT STOP ME FROM MY DESIRE TO THROW IT IN THE WATER." I guess that's okay.

April 21, 2004     Been a short while since I blogged. We were over at a friend's house for dinner last week and she asked what kind of music I like. "All kinds," I said. My wife volunteered that I have a web page that reviews music and I was trying to play that down. I have a web site that used to review music. Right now I can't find time to write up my clever reviews. I can hardly find time to write in my blog here. But I am starting to write a valuable online journal. Okay, it may be lacking in fireworks, but by the time I am 99 years-old and my kids are 60ish and my grandkids are 30ish, we can all look back at these words and have a grand old time getting lost in these memories.

I picked up B from preschool yesterday. Found him in the "big gym". It was my first experience in the big gym. He was trying to hide a bean bag under a seesaw thing. The other kids were doing the same thing. I think he is the youngest one in the class, but he's getting along well. Still working on communicating when he needs to use the potty. He's starting to tell us after he relieves himself. That's okay. Step one is recognizing that he urinated. Step two is telling us before it comes. Yesterday morning I changed his diaper two times and J changed it once--all in the first hour of the day before preschool. But at least he is communicating when he needs to be changed.

H now dresses herself in the morning. We lay out her clothes on her dresser and she does a good job of getting herself dressed in the morning. I guess the next step for her would be for her to get out her own clothes. But the current arrangement is alright. He big hobby is collecting and playing with My Little Ponies. Any spare dime she finds or earns goes to buying the latest pony. I mind the cost of this hobby, but it is her money--she earns her money by making her bed and keeping her room clean. But that's her arrangement with mom.

We took the kids to a Japanese restaurant where they cook in front of you. It was a good experience for the kids. B ate about 5 servings of fried rice and some chicken. Even H ate some chicken. She liked it, I think. I had a stomach ache for the 24 hours after the dinner. I think there were too many onions in my vegetarian dinner. After dinner we went across the street to Running Fit. I shopped for a new running shoe. I hate to put $100 into a new pair of shoes, but I may have to do it. I know that I had knee problems a few years back and these guys at Running Fit evaluated my foot and determined I was in the wrong shoe. After buying the new shoe, I was fine. I didn't buy any shoes, but I had them order me one that was not in stock.

Ooo--exciting blogging here.

Found a new search engine, www.a9.com. Get this, it is a site set up by Amazon, mostly using google's technology, BUT the engine also searches inside books listed at Amazon's site. They describe it this way, "Search Inside the Book™: In addition to web search results we present book results from Amazon.com that include Search Inside the Book. When you see an excerpt on any of the book results, click on the page number to see the actual page from that book. (You will need to be registered at Amazon.com.)". I just tried it and it works. God this is great.

Give it a try.

April 8, 2004     After all, this is a blog called "Random Thoughts and Whatnot". So I found out about Milky Spore a few days ago. Went to Home Depot a two nights ago & they don't carry it. So last night me & the kids went to Pinters to see if they carried it. We got there at 6:10 p.m. after dinner, and they were closed up. When I drove past the gate, I asked the guy who was going to lock up if they had Milky Spore, and he said they do, and quoted me a price that was better than what I saw on the internet. So I'm going to apply it this season and see if it helps.

April 5, 2004     Where I play indoor soccer, there are 3 fields. I realized Saturday night that I prefer the one that is longer and larger to the other fields. I think I have an advantage with more open space. Scored again on Saturday. This is becoming routine. If it is, it's a routine I can get used to. On the way to the game I was visualizing a score in the lower corner of the goal. Sure enough, the goal that I scored was in the lower right corner. The only difference between the goal and the one I was visualizing is that the actual goal went off the goalie's hand and leg and spun its way in. I was using more power than usual.

My wife got a full time job. This is good news. The kids will be affected. I'll be affected. But there are some benefits. And the money will be an additional benefit as well.

March 30, 2004     Kids just got over some big fevers. I had one myself about 10 days ago. I guess I got the whole family sick. B is turning into a pretty good soccer kicker. H is turning into a good artist. We checked out of the library a couple of books that gave simple instructions on how to draw various animals. So we spent some time with this the past few weeks. It was pretty fun drawing turtles, horses, lions, mice, birds, and unicorns, of course. The question now is if this will turn into any kind of long term skill. Actually, that doesn't matter. We had quality time together and who cares if she turns into the next Picasso. She was sick the past few days and that has been harder on me than when B was sick. She didn't have much energy for anything for about two days and then this morning she was ready to go to school and show off her latest My Little Pony with her friends. Guess that's a motivation to get better.

Found my son last night curled up next to the gate, next to our upstairs linen closet. This is at 9:30 p.m. or so. He was passed out cold. Now this is a minute after my wife and I heard a fairly loud crash noise. So I went upstairs and saw him sleeping on the rug in the hallway, hugging his Cat in the Hat doll that he won at the show that was put on at the Hands on Museum. So I cross over the gate, pick him up to his feet and he is like a little rag-doll. He was asleap and wouldn't put any intention into standing up. I really wanted him to have enough consciousness to see where he was so he could think about not doing it again. After a few moments of trying to get his feet to straighten, I picked him up and brought him to his bed where he flopped down and continued his rest. Turns out that the crash noise we heard was a bar downstairs we use to hold hangars and clothes that come out of the drier. But that's another story.

March 19, 2004     Our son started preschool this week. It is going to be the best thing for him. Yesterday he was telling me about preschool and he said that he played basketball in the small gym and then later played basketball in the big gym. Now that's what being 2 1/2 is all about. If only we all were 2 1/2. What did you do at work today? Oh, I played basketball in the small gym and later, for a change, I played basketball in the large gym. It was a productive day at work. Thanks for asking.

I've got a nagging sore throat.

I wonder if these journal pages will ever amount to anything significant for me or my childeren. I guess one of my purposes in writing this is so that there is a recording of what life was like in 2004, when I or they want to look back in 20 or so years. But will anyone ever look back? It is like a journal, but far less intimate. So I write about soccer or the kids going to the game. But I don't write about everyday things. Let me illustrate an everday thing. B will eat dinner for about 5 minutes and then leave his chair and walk around the table. Then he will ask if he can play a computer game. Then he will find something to play with in the kitchen. Then I will offer him more pasta on a fork and he might eat it. Then he might run around the island. Then he might jump on the couch. Then he might take another bite of food. Then he might lay on his chair like an airplane. Then he might talk to mom. Then he might ... Okay, I get the idea. He's bored. The other day we were at Chili's for dinner and I had to walk him around the restaurant 5 times and later put on his coat and we walked around the restaurant outside one time. Why? Well that was my way of dealing with him rather than screaming at him. I did have a decent meal because I went in with the attitude that I would have to walk him a lot and nothing was going to stop me from having a good time. He is not a restaurant kid. Now our 5 year-old, H, is "perfect" in restaurants. She is mature in terms of making a choice, eating, staying in her seat. Let's see, at Chili's she ate her whole meal and a bit of my wife's. Now I don't want to say that one way is better than the other. B is motorious (a word my therapist used once). H is deliberate. If I try to push him too much in one way, he will (1) rebel, (2) cause a commotion, (3) not find his own solutions, (4) not learn in a way that is most appropriate for him, (5) cry and have pain, (6) perhaps not learn about the world in the most effective manner. If I tried to push my daughter in ways that were against her temperment, she would struggle with the same 6 things. But then again, being a parent is like flying to the mars. You only get one chance, and there is no guidebook that can show you the right way the first time. You just have to do your best.

March 15, 2004     Not much is new. Had a game Saturday night. This game was at 7:00 p.m. so the kids and wife were able to go. And we won! I didn't have any goals, but I played really good up and down. Played midfield. One of the other players came up to me early in the second half and said that I should count when coming back on defense and if I'm not needed, to stop somewhere in the middle of the field, instead of sprinting down to clog up space when I'm not needed. I gave her a half hug. I was tired as a .... I was real tired when she gave me that lesson, then I felt a bit better on my later shifts, counting when I was able.

The kids liked watching the game. They got to have popcorn and a hot pretzel. Besides that, I think my oldest really enjoys watching her dad play.

She got to go to a planetarium yesterday and learn about the consellations in the sky. Then she and mom came home and printed out the planets in their relative sizes and glued them to a long sheet of paper. Now she has a mini representation of our solar system in her bedroom. Cool.

March 5, 2004     Played some basketball with my son, who is two, the other day. He learned how to launch the small version of a basketball towards his short & small basketball rim with some degree of accuracy. So today I'm talking to my wife on the phone and she says they visited a preschool and she found him playing basketball. So she put him on the phone and he told me about it: "Played basketball, daddy." Ordinarily, he is more verbose.

Been listening a lot to a CD called Amplified Heart, by Everything But the Girl. Good music. I am in the process of stopping my reviews of CD's. How am I doing?

February 27, 2004     How political should music lyrics be? I was reading 24 posts in my email inbox this morning about Patty Griffin's new song "As Cold As It Gets". It appears that the song is a dig at President Bush, regarding the war that is being fought in the Middle East, and an appeal that he sees the error of his ways. It is my opinion that lyrics can be as political as they want. It doesn't mean that the artist will succeed. Or perhaps such lyrics can propell a singer songwriter. In the end, it is about art and the goal of the artist. If the artist wants to "sell out" and avoid stirring up controversy, then they can follow in the footsteps of many artists who cleared that path. Instead, if they want to write the most political commentary but alienate 99% of their audience, then they are welcome to go in that direction. Who am I to say what the artist should or shouldn't do. Probably the most accurate response is for me to say "I don't like it, but I respect the artist's right to express herself."

There, that wasn't so hard.

February 25, 2004     There is a billionaire visiting the plant where I work right now.

Better get back to work...

February 23, 2004     Our daughter is in kindergarten right now. Probably right now she is getting ready to get on the bus. I rarely rode the bus while growing up. Seems like my mom would drive me to school and pick me up for most of my years. I think I took the bus home in second grade or so. But from grade school through high school I'd either walk or get a ride. Now I have a kindergarten daughter who is taking the bus almost every day. A little weird and I don't now why. My sister, in Illinois, is home schooling her kids. That's a little too much parental contact for me.

Read two Dick and Jane books with my daughter yesterday. Each book has about 5 stories in them. She's doing well remembering words and working through words she doesn't know. It's a little funny how she will look at the first letter of a word she doesn't know, then look at the picture up above, and then try to guess at what the word might be from the picture. So she'll guess "Dick" because he might be in the picture, when the word might be "down". One positive note is that she is not as frustrated as she was a month ago. I think it's time to move on to "First Grade" books.

Received the sountract to Lost in Translation last week. Compelling, ambient music. One beautiful pop hit that may get up on Pop 8 or Pop 9. Stay tuned.

February 20, 2004     It looks like I'll be stopping therapy in March. The good news is that I still have a job with the new company but the bad news is that benefits are going down somewhat. I guess something that was a luxury is going to come to an end. Actually, I could find someone in the new network to see, but that is difficult. After the relationship that one builds over the months, years, I couldn't think of starting somewhere else. But even if there is out-of-pocket expense, I could still see this therapist and get things done. It will just cost a little more in the future.

Soccer game tonight. I have a bruised shin, in the area right next to where my shin guard was last week. I can't remember if it was hurt on the play where I slid behind our goalie and stopped a ball (temporarily) or if was on the play where two players on the opposing team wrapped their legs around my leg as we were all going for the ball. Dunno. But I went outside running yesterday for the first time all year and later, in the evening, the soreness came back and the bruise started to turn purple. I guess I hadn't gotten that much blood to it all week.

Found a gallery that I wanted to share: Blue is the colour. And here is another one from pbase that I also like: Panoramas.

February 19, 2004     Finished Pop 6 and Pop 7. Two more compilations to add to my collection. I wonder how many of these I can create. I guess the question is, I wonder how many quality compilations I can create.

    A couple of posts about my son, who is 2 1/2. He is at the stage where he goes into the bathroom to go to the bathroom. He still wears a diaper, but he is getting comfortable with the idea of going there, and that is step one. The other day we knew he was in there for serveral minutes, then we heard banging and crasing. I imagined the stack of books behind the toilet falling down. The next sound I hear is my son saying, "I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay mom and dad." You see, he is used to us charging down the hallway to ask if he is okay after we usually hear such noise. This time, he was letting us know we didn't have to get up. My wife and I smiled.

Then a few days later he was in the bathroom, again going potty, standing up in his diaper, and again I hear some noise. Books, I thought. A minute later he brings me a damp Dr. Sueus book and says, "This book didn't get wet"! I looked at the book and dried it off. I think he was doing his best to prevent an outburt from Dad. Instead what he got from me was a smile and a great story.

Yesterday he is in the family room playing with an open glass of water. I come into the family room and see him using a tissue to attempt to dry up the cushion on the couch. "Did you spill water?" I asked. What I find amusing is that he has enough experience watching mom or dad pick up water off of cusions with tissue, that he knew what to do. I hope he gets less and less practice with this as he gets older.

February 5, 2004     Back again for more fun. Well, the big news is that I still have a job. The company I work for filed for bankrupcy 3 months ago but the good news is that they were purchased by a Russian firm, so I still have a paycheck and some decent benefits. We are going to lose some vacation time next year and I'll end up paying a bit more for health care, but that is all to be expected. Not sure how long I am going to stick around, but I'd like to have a backup plan in case anything happens to my job.

Been listening a lot to Yo La Tengo and their CD And then nothing turned itself inside-out. I like the music. Good for my programming hours at work.

Our daughter ended up NOT choosing the Olive Garden when she had the February restaurant choice. She ended up wanting to go to a Coney Island in the mall and having grilled cheese and french fries. It was actually a good meal. We all ate well, and I had a vanilla shake. The only concern is that we didn't realize it at the time, but she was beginning to get sick and had a fever an hour later. She's still fighting the fever, but tries to be in good spirits. That is one thing I find amazing about kids--their desire to show themselves as stoic when they are sick. I'm sure there is a lesson there.

Been wearing a hole in the treadmill this winter. Since the weather has been below 20 F for the past month, I've been working out downstairs. Got in a 35 minute workout last night as I watched a little Michigan State basketball.

January 21, 2004     I got a new plan that involves eating out, the kids, and choices. It goes like this -- each month, one member of the family gets to choose any restaurant in the area to eat at. The first month is going to be in February, since we've spent our allowance of January out-to-eat money already. So in February, our daughter gets to choose any restaurant to go to on any day. While she was listening to this plan, she said "I already know what restaurant I want to go to." She said it with a smile, like she was holding onto some kind of secret secret. I asked her which one and she said "The Olive Garden." No doubt about that one. We were talking after the kids went to bed that when it gets time for our 2-year-old son to choose, we'll have to make sure our daughter is not in the same room, otherwise she will whisper in his ear and coach him to say her favorite restaurant. Now, he may still choose the Olive Garden, but I want it to be an independent choice.

We all get 3 months, except for dad. I get two, partially because I'll consider our January spending my doing.

I scored a goal in our last soccer game. Got my own rebound and passed it to the left then into a pretty empty net. That felt good. Our team still lost and I feel responsible for two early goals. My wife said I'd feel responsible no matter what happened. But when I try to play ball control 10 feet from our goal, I run the risk of having the ball stolen and someone scoring a goal. So remember, if the ball is in the box, just kick it as far away as possible.

My wife is starting to learn HTML. That's cool.

January 12, 2004     Went to a dance Friday night. It was at my daughters kindergarten school, but it was for students of all grades and their families. I wore a tie. My wife said I was over dressed and maybe I was, but I didn't care. I wanted my daughter to know that I would dress up for her dance. Kids were in all kinds of clothes & parents were generally uninterested. Maybe next year, I'll be curled up on one of the benches reading a financial magazine. But this year I was dressed up. There was a DJ playing loud dance music. Most of it I didn't like, but I danced when she needed me to be out there.

In the adjacent room, there was basketball practice for kids that didn't prefer to dance. In the hallway, there was punch and popcorn and small candies. Spent about 2 hours there, then needed to leave to get ready for a 9:30 soccer game. We tied. I can't wait to get to the day when tying a game is ordinary. Maybe later this season. I didn't score, but I came close with about 1 second left in the game. The opposing goalie was out of position and the ball came out of the pile towards me. I passed it to the left and then shot it with my left foot, but I had bad position and the ball sailed to the far left. I was aware of the time, and that is why I rushed the show and didn't set it up better.

We had a lot of subs and that makes the team a lot stronger.

January 6, 2004     Went to church on Sunday and the pastor addressed a question from a member of the congregation about blogging. A few months ago, he asked the church members to submit questions for him to answer. He answered most of the questions about 6 weeks ago. So on Sunday he answered the question: "What are your views on blogging?"

His answer was not straightforward. He said he saw little value in blogging and offered that we all be cautious about what we read on the internet, because there is no review board like there would be in a newspaper department. But he said that there is value because anything that brings us together as a community is valuable, and blogging brings us together.

So I was wondering what the purpose of my little blog is here. I know that I am writing this for a few reasons. (1) I want to record some of my less personal thoughts and actions so that my children and their children can review these vain snapshots of this stage of my life; (2) I want to provide a window into some of the less personal thoughts and actions for others; (3) I want to "show off" some things of interest that I have found; (4) I want to accrue a readership, thereby increasing my sense of pride --- something like that. Regarding the last one, I want to be clear. Some blog writers would say they write for utilitarian purpose, to increase their readers well-being, and so on. I don't dispute these noble efforts. But to be honest, one of the reasons I write is so that I can see an increase in the number of readers. Let's call that the oh-look-at-me-syndrome. Probably most blog writers have it, and I would guess that few are willing to admit it. OLAMS. I guess the cure for OLAMS is a regimen of selfless acts followed by a dose of caring and love. No. No, that wouldn't even cure OLAMS. I'm probably stuck with OLAMS and you'll just have to live with it.

Interesting link of the day: send your name crashing into a comet!. Okay, it may be a digital representation of your name, but it is legit. I haven't done it yet; I'm wary of the comet inhabitants who may track me down.

January 4, 2004     Testing 2004.