armlessbear.com

Crazy Parents

Since my website is blocked by the State of WI filters, I wrote this at my desk in notepad so that I could post it later. Now it’s a whole day later, but it bothers me. Yesterday morning after I dropped Adam off at school I was waiting for a bus and looking to see who owned a very distinct car painted to look like a Dodge Charger from a cheesy 1980s TV show. I turned my back to see if a bus was coming when I heard the sound of someone screaming. A parent bringing her child to school was screaming at her daughter. Not the sort of yelling when your kid is about to walk into traffic, but that sort of visceral screaming at another person that usually precedes divorce or homicide.

It's All Done

I’m not usually one to blog about politics. I leave that to more insightful people who seem to have a burning passion for it and the Tivo’d Sunday talk shows to prove it.
But just this once since I showed up at the rally a week ago to shout down the out-of-state idiots bent on destroying what’s good in Wisconsin. Oh yeah, and Vicki McKenna is an idiot.
Anyway, the budget has finally passed and is on the governor’s desk for signing!
Wheeeeeeeeeee!

Random Snippets From Today

This morning the Subaru went over to Octopus to get detailed. It’s clean! Incredibly clean! It’s like a brand new car all over again. Ok, except for the scratches on the driver side-view mirror where I took paint off getting into the garage.

At noonish we headed over to the Alliant with Amy to attend the Food and Wine show. The wine was tasty, the food was tasty! I was feeling vaguely hung-over by 5pm. I don’t know why you’d want a 2 day pass unless you really want to pace yourself. I also enjoyed the kitchen displays. I want a new stove!

Hot Midnight Wiring Action

Around 12:30 we were getting ready for bed and I went to flip the light switch.
This should be a simple action that requires no thought and minimal use of finger muscles. It did not. I had to push very hard to make it turn off, and then harder still to turn it back on and call Mike’s attention to our broken light switch.
He turned it on and off and agreed that our switch was broken. Then we went to bed.
We discussed the broken light switch in the dark. It loomed there in the dark. FIRE HAZARD mere feet from our heads. We confirmed we had a fire extinguisher in the room, but were unsure of the presence of a smoke alarm upstairs. I pointed out we had one unopened paddle switch in the room.

What Do Jacob Marley and My iPod Have in Common?

They’re both dead as door-nails.
At least my iPod won’t come back to haunt me and send me on a long journey into my past and the mistakes I’ve made. I made mistakes? Naaah…

On the bright side, the 30GB iPods are pretty cheap and I don’t harbor any secret desires for one of the new-fangled touch-screen iPods. yet. But do I really have $150 to spend on a new iPod? Probably not, but is my sanity worth $150? I think so. It’s a bad thing for everyone around me if I get stuck at work with a song stuck in my head and no way to get it out. Just mentioning the possibility gets Brend’r and Eddie running through my head again.

Watch out for Low-Flying Planes!**

Aaaah! I feel like I’m coming up from the bottom of a very big pile.
The last week has been a very busy week for me. Between the 2 courses I’m taking and the Ruppert wedding and work I didn’t have much free time.
My lack of free time was further eaten away by having to drive 200 miles north to Rhinelander to conduct a training class on Tuesday. I left at nearly 8pm Monday night, dead tired and desperately wanting a long, satisfying nap. I didn’t get that, but I did get some good, quality alone-time with my car, my iPod, and 154 of my current favorite driving songs. My newest favorite is “Bleeding Heart Show” by the New Pornographers. I know it’s well over a year old, but it’s catchy and very singable which is a double plus bonus for long, solo drives.