We are outta here!

Everything in bags...check!
Kids in minivan...check!
Bags in minivan...check!

We are outta here!

Wish us luck!

Tonight our journey begins. I completed the last of the planning last night so tonight, we execute the plan.

VACATION!

In a moment of sheer madness, OhCountess and I decided to take the kids on their first "airplane" vacation. Remember back in February I started a new job? We are blowing the whole load of PTO (Paid Time Off) I've accumulated so far.

I plan on doing posts from my phone whenever I get the time. I was hoping to recap the past weekend, but this planning and prepping stuff takes A LOT OF TIME.

Drop me a line if you live in the Virginia / Maryland area. A Midwest Geek's Family is about to invade the south!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

A little part of me wishes that people would remember why we get a day off of work. We need to remember to cherish our independence from colonial England...there, you've been reminded.

Last weekend, we dressed the kids in Minnesota Twins clothes and brought them to the home of the Minnesota Twins. Yipee! We were joined by my good friends Mark and Paul.

Here's Mom and OhPrincess2 enjoying themselves.

You see, I also have a photoblog, and quite often, I confuse the idea of taking pictures for art's sake with taking pictures for our family's needs.

Sometimes, you just need to take silly pictures :)





Here's Paul and Mark.

Just remember - "It's too high!" is the best way to describe a ball you don't want to be a home run.











Our OhPrincess2 is not really a shy girl. This group of you people went to the ball game, I'm sure, to drink some beer and have a great time. Well, the guys were in for a treat, seems the girls just couldn't have enough fun with our little one and she hung out with them the whole time.

We had a blast at the game. Everyone did.

We even got another Twins victory out of the deal.

Here's the last picture with OhPrincess1 finally showing a smile.

I do have to ask the question, what happened to my baby girls...they don't look like babies any more.

Over the next two weeks, we will be travelling a lot! This weekend we are going to visit friends in Wisconsin for some much needed R&R and then on Tuesday, we begin the journey to the Virginia/Maryland area. Taking the kids on their first airplane vacation. Any bloggers live in that area, let me know! Anywho, watch for live posts from my phone and lots of pictures. I'll be posting when ever I have time!

Twins win!

I must be in the front row

Twins leading 2-0 in the top of 6

Look what I have!

Guitar Hero Aerosmith is the house!!

It will have to wait for after the Twins game today.

Since it's raining, it's time to catch up

Summer in Minnesota is a busy time of year.  We only get a few precious months to do what other people take for granted. 

The picture on the left pretty much shows what summer looks like to me as a Dad.  I usually spend the summer just trying to keep up with one of both of the OhPrincess'.

We've already had a pretty busy summer.  So busy, I'll need to get a few things in this one post before we head out for another adventure.  What do I plan on covering?  Pretty much just last weekend.  The rest will be trickled in a bit later.

Last weekend was jam packed with goodness.  OhCountess worked on Saturday, but only until 1.  A real treat for us since Mom usually works until 5 and we don't see her until closer to 6.  She was off early because we had plans...and a babysitter.  But more on that later.

We started our weekend in earnest Saturday morning.  OhPrincess2 had been invited to a birthday party.  This made for something I just don't get very often any more, Daddy/daughter time with just one of the girls.  OhPrincess and I were going to spend some time just the two of us.  I picked a photo shoot as the topic of the time.  To the Plummer House to be exact.

We dropped the little one of at the party and we headed on our way.  "Yippee!", I thought.  I get to share one of my hobbies with my daughter!

Well, Plummer House was closed.  In the words of the wise Spongebob Squarepants, "Oh, tarter sauce!"

Plan B.Quarry Hill Nature Center.

First place she wanted to stop was the main building, also the learning center.  Here's OhPrincess checking out her wing span.  Is that really my baby girl?

I found the turtles.  These are the same turtles I photographed the last time. This time, the turtle in the front seems much more vicious.

 

 

Not too shabby.

We finished up our trip out here with a little hike. 

Here's a shot taken by the princess.  We had a lot of fun and I hope to get out here again when we have more time. 

We didn't make it very far before the alarm went off and we needed to go get OhPrincess2.

After picking her up, we packed up everything the kids would need for an overnight at Grandma's.  Mom and Dad were going on a date!  Oh yeah!  You see, my beautiful, smart and lucky wife won us trip to see The Colin and Brad Show.   Sorry the picture sucks, but we took it with the phone.

This show was hilarious!  We really enjoyed ourselves.  Even the time we spent on stage with them.  What's that?  Yes, me and the Mrs were called up on stage to do game with them.

I played the struggling mime and OhCountess was the lactating wet nurse assassin.  We were playing Jeopardy, but Colin and Brad were our voices, so we needed to lip sync them.  Loads of fun, but no photos.  We were on stage and that wasn't really acceptable. :)

The Mrs let me play some cards there to.  I had loads of fun.

We had some time to kill in the next day before we had to pick up the kids so we decided to go check out downtown Red Wing.

I grew up in Red Wing.  Its a peaceful little river town, but I worry about its future. 

I was shocked by the number of closed retail stores.  Even the stores of the St. James are a far cry from what they once were.  I'm not sure there is critical mass there any more.  Even the mall on the edge of town is really more of a big box strip mall and no one was there. 

The town is still beautiful.  We got some ice cream and even ran into a retired teacher from High School.

That catches you up to last weekend.  This week was RochesterFest.  We've been a little busy getting ready for our family vacation so we missed much of it.  I do hope to post soon about Peace Plaza.  Wow!  What an amazing space.

Tomorrow...Twins game...stay tuned!

The biggest shopping cart!

This thing is huge!!!

Now we are all waiting!

RochesterFest Parade is about to begin

We've got our spot on the parade route hoping it doesn't rain. Should
start any minute!

Now this getting frustrating

I've been trying to get the time to tell the story of last weekend.
Almost head it tonight but instead I'm posting this from my phone.

Tonight, first my laptop loses its marbles when applying my user
settings. So, absolutely nothing works on there. And now, Charter is
down until 6am. Did they tell us we would lose everything ahead of
time? No.

Geebus criekies! I even have pictures!

Pretty soon, you will be getting 20 posts a day from me while I catch
up.

Ah yes. RochesterFest 2008

Carnival food for lunch!

It's about time

My life is all about time. More importantly, its about time balance and time management.

Here in Minnesota, we value summer like no other place in US. We don't get much of it, and when its here, we look around and see some of the most beautiful places you can imagine. We have lakes and streams and hardwood forests. Not to mention, swimming pools and picnics and LOTS of baseball.

The only problem is we still only have 24 hours and a day and 7 days in a week. Our weekends are still only 2 days long. CRAP! I need more time!

I remember being a kid growing up here. Summers lasted forever! We spent the entire summer just being kids and exploring the world we lived in. We came home when we were hungry or on the off chance we actually heard mom and dad yelling for us to come home. It was a different time. My mom was a SAHM for much of my childhood, but I don't think we really saw her very much. There was too much to see.

I have kids, a wife and a career now. The freedom of my youth is gone. I'm not complaining, I do miss it but I'm also doing my best to make sure my kids get the same sense about summer, but its a hard battle. How do we not drag our kids into our hectic lives?

The balance in life seems to be the hardest problem I've ever had to solve. I have things I'd like to do, but so does the Mrs and so do the kids. We usually try to lean the priorities to the kids, but frankly, I think sometimes, its too much for them to have things to do. Sometimes its good to just let them do what they want to. Like veg.

Enough of this. Let's just say, summer is zooming by and I can't make it stop.

In my last two quick posts, I showed you two of my father's day presents. They were two ties. I find myself now a member of a very small group of me. I'm am one of the 6% of men that routinely wear neckties to work. My Dad never wore a tie to work. My brother teaches phy-ed now, so he gets to wear sweats and shorts to work. Nope. I still button it all the way to the top and wrap the tie around. My only salvation of personal expression is the tie itself.

In years past, my wife has bought the father's day presents for me and the girls had only a small bit of input into the process. I love my wife, but, well, that's just not as much fun. This year, she asked me what I wanted for Father's Day. My answer, "What ever the KIDS pick out for me." I kind of expected mom to weed out the Barbies and the Littlest Pet Shops gifts. I know they THINK Daddy wants one, but I know that will end. "Dad, since you aren't really play with that, can I..." The classic Fred Flinstone end around gift. I'm a guy, of course I know how this works.

It seems OhCountess took the girls shopping for ties and let them pick them out. She told me she filtered a little bit know that my place of employment can be a little, um, stuffy. There is still a dress code here and the ugly tie day is not greeted with joy.

This tie was picked out by OhPrincess1. and I figure I'd share a little bit about why this tie is really amazing to me.

My 3rd grader really seems to like school. Not always the classes themselves, but she doesn't seem to loath going each day. The school she attends is fantastic and does a great job of teaching what I would consider a classic eduction. Heck, we even still have an art class!

This past year, they were doing a little work in studying the classic artists. She even studied one crazy man called Vincent van Gogh.


In studying the master painter himself, they were given the task of reproducing the classic work, Starry Night with their own little twists.

At right is what she did. Now granted, the school didn't frame and matte it, but we did. It now hangs, with honor, in the bathroom on the main floor for all to see.

According to my wife, she found this tie in Ralph Marlin and just knew I'd love it. She even asked if I knew why she picked it out. Well, honey, of course I do.

I even had fun at work. I got some awesome comments from co-workers loving the tie, but I had to ask them, do you know what it is? My 8 year old does :)

Why spends hundreds or even thousands of dollars on fancy smanshy framed art when you can hang one of your kid's masterpieces? Common on, what would you rather look at while doing your business...a framed velvet Elvis, or Starry Night as seen through the eyes of your child?

Father's Day Gift #2

This tie was a gift from OhPrincess1. I love its classic artness.
Again, bold career move or cubicle suicide?

Father's Day Gift #1

Chosen by OhPrincess2 (5yr). I'm wearing this to work today.
Bold career move or cubicle suicide?

Reader viewers may need to click thru to see photo.

Checking in

According to the last post, it occurred 6 days ago. We were at IKEA, OhCountess and I were enjoying a little quite shopping for furniture and the kids were off behind the curtain, from what sounds like a really fun play area.

We've been so busy, I was trying to remember all the stuff we'd done and seen and shared. It's been quite a time recently.

We are getting ready for our first family airplane vacation. I've travelled for work many times, and near as I can tell, that's a completely different adventure. Last year, we had a wonderful time travelling with the Bodie25 family, but that was by car. This time, the whole clan will be travelling by air. I'm pretty sure, my heads down, headphones on travelling persona will be missing.

To remember where we've been and what we've been up to lately, I went to something far more reliable then my brain. Seems, I have a camera. I do shoot a lot of pictures for their "artistic" value and rarely share pictures of the family, but it dawned on me...why not share some of the more smiley pictures here.

This first picture is one of the OhPrincess girls standing over something very special to me.

When the Mall of America was built, it was built on the site of the former home of my beloved Minnesota Twins. There is a plaque on the floor commemorating the location of the former home plate.

Every year, since OhPricess was born, I've dragged the family to this spot for a picture. It plays out like a time capsule on my desk. I've saved every one of these. Man, how they've grown.

As you can tell from OhPrincess' face, she's done this before. Too bad. Dad's in charge of this one. Someday, maybe they'll appreciate it as much as I do. Doubt it, but I'll still cherish this one.

We've also had a lot of family stuff going on lately. Graduation parties, birthdays and what's that? Is that a baby? Yep, its our new niece! I don't think her big cousins could be more excited. I know OhPrincess2 couldn't wait to hold her.

Last but not least are just photos I've gotten that show, even here in the Midwest, kids like to have fun.

This weekend looks like the time I might be able to get caught on some blogger type things. I've been tagged by Greg, and actually have that started.

I've started a bunch of other posts of varying topics. I've gotta catch up on some Father of Five reading. The storms look to continue here in the Midwest. Should be fun. I'd like to try and photograph some lightning. Anyone else want to stand outside with a camera?

More soon!

Thank you

Even the folks at IKEA know how to treat us parents. They have a playland! (We didnt know)

More Birthday Celebration

Snacks and a treat at "The Scary Place!"

Happy Birthday!

Good times at Nickelodeon Universe!

5 years ago I called a special girl with the news

5 years ago at this very minute, I had just witnessed the most amazing thing. I grabbed my cell phone because there was one person I needed to tell.

Ring, ring.

"Hello!" said my mother-in-law, "well, did it happen? What are the details?"

Still giddy with excitement, I said, "Can you put OhPrincess on the phone. I need to talk to her. It's very important."

"Oh, come on, she won't mind...just tell me!" the MIL insisted.

I'm getting a little anxious here. Gee whiz! Just hand her the damn phone. "May I please talk to OhPrincess?"

I had made a promise to OhPrincess that she would be the first person I would tell about the birth of her new sister. This promise was very important to me and Mom. See, to us, having another child is very much a family activity, well, not the making of the baby, but you know what I mean...

"You aren't going to tell me are you?" she asked with disappointment in her voice.

"No."

"OK, but I'm gonna listen on the other line," she's a persistent one.

"I'd really appreciate it if I could talk to OhPrincess alone. This is a family matter."

"Fine." (Guys, fine is a woman's way of being pissed off. It's never fine)

"OhPrincess, it's Daddy."

"Hi Dad!"

"Honey, you are the big sister of a little baby girl. Her name is OhPrincess2. She weighs 5 pounds 9 ounces and she really wants to meet you. I'm gonna have Grandma drive you to the hospital in a little while OK?"

"Dad? Can I see her when I get there?"

"Absolutely!"

Happy Birthday OhPrincess2! 5 years old. It seems like just yesterday. Daddy's little miracle.

I love you!

A Nits Cleaning of the Garage: a retrospective

Today, OhCountess was working, she's worked every weekend since we got back from Vegas.

The weather here in MN started out a little muggy, but at least it wasn't hot.

The task I gave myself today was to tame the garage. A winter of neglect had taken my once orderly garage and turned it into a 2 stall. I know, I should be grateful to have a 2 stall garage, there are many people that don't have a garage. But alas, I built this house with 3 stalls and even put in a work bench. Its in the back, buried under all the crap on the right. I want my space back. Click the picture to see it clearer.


I had high hopes for the day. I played some ridiculous online poker on Friday night, totally fun and a bit profitable. No more hangover, time had healed that. The neighborhood was buzzing with kids, so mine joined in the fun.

I am a nit and this how I clean my garage each spring.

As is my S.O.P. (standard operating procedure), I clean first the recycling area. Its the easiest. This is also home to many spiders. I don't mind the spiders, but since OhPrincess1 got some ticks, OhPrincess2 is a quite scared of them. Cleaning this area makes a lot of spiders homeless.

I like to clean my workbench next. It has a maple top and is quite handsome. This also gives me a place to put my Diet Dr. Pepper and a radio. Since Rochester FINALLY got a real rock station, I can clean my garage to some good tunes!

I discovered that I missed a bottle of fluid with water in it last fall. It was a cleaner to be used in the pressure washer. This particular fluid appears to be strong enough to eat paint because it ate the paint off the bottom of the cabinet it was in. Yikes! I cleaned it up with water, but the sludgy paint in the bottom was really a mess. Note to self: double check the garage in the fall for bottles of stuff.

With the workbench squeaky clean, I turned my attention to organizing and removing the contents of the garage. I am a bit of a nit, but I like my garage clean from wall to wall. Cob web and dust bunny free is my motto! As OhCountess likes to describe it, "It looks like we are having a garage sale!" Everything must go! (outside)

It takes a while to put away things that can be put away and then move the larger items outside, but by this time, OhCountess had returned home.

By the time the last item had been either moved outside or put away, we looked to the west. FANTASTIC! I thought to myself, a thunderstorm is approaching. And it looked dark. My plans were dashed to complete the job. As is customary in a nit cleaning of the garage, the last step in the process is to pressure wash the floor with soap and water and the squidgy it to shiny perfection.

DAMN IT!

Oh well, that will have to wait a week or two. Tomorrow we have to our first graduation party of the season. Here's the final picture. I had hoped it would be from the outside, but with the storm approaching we just ran into the house. As for the mound in the middle, the Mrs told me that much of it is going to Goodwill or garage sales. We can only hope.

Num?????

He wants me to spell what???

The Best Hangover Cure

It appears the best hangover cure is time. Man, recovering from the night out with guys sure ain't what it used to be. Thanks for the words of encouragement! Just let it be a lesson to ya, oh never mind, we won't learn. I'll be back next month. W00T! W00T!

Last weekend was extremely busy in the land of OhCaptain. Our lives were in a holding pattern, waiting for storks to bring little bundles to a few people in our lives. First, Bodie25 and Company were waiting for the little bundle. He was late, but arrived Saturday morning! Yeah!!!! Congrats!!! The little guy looked awesome. The girls and I went to visit them on Sunday. Why didn't Mom go? Well...she was busy.

You see OhCountess' sister Brannie Muffin was also expecting. Since Mom is truly a miracle worker (she's a nurse - you wanna argue that point with me?), Memorial Day was her holiday. She worked Saturday and Monday. Look! Sunday is open! Well, OhCountess is really the most amazing woman you'll ever meet. She agreed to be the birthing coach for her sister. A decision I was really proud to see here make. Brannie Muffin, here baby, was late too and found Sunday to be the day to blow that Popsicle stand.

Something I, a husband and a man, found very interesting was that, when I came to birth coaching, I was MORE EXPERIENCED then my wife! You heard it guys, I had advice about a baby topic for the Mrs. Since I was on the business end for the birth of both of our kids, I had been down the road before. Everyone did a terrific job and Abigail joined the clan Sunday night!

I'm so proud of both of you!

Since Monday was visiting day, we got nothing done but eating some fabulous ribs at Famous Daves.

The rest of the week? Just seems like one day has blurred into the rest.

I'm excited to see that the Democrats are inching closer to picking a candidate so the real election process can begin.

HBO did a documentary in 2006 called "Hacking Democracy." I watched it again this week. This should probably have required view for all voting age adults and teens approaching the age of majority. This documentary shed light on Diebold's attempt to shove poorly designed electronic voting machines down the nations throat.

I know people have their own views and their own needs, but this one fact remains. All of our hopes and dream are contingent on the fact we live in a representative democracy. If our mechanism for voting is flawed, our entire way of life is flawed. We will completely lose control of our lives and destiny. Be an informed citizen and think with your head, not just your wallet.

How did we get here?

There was a time, it seems like just yesterday, when a night with the guys would be followed by a day that was more or less productive.

Daddys are supposed to be invincible. I don't feel invincible.

I look at this scene and long for my bed. Why is it that I'm no longer able to enjoy a night with the guys without being grateful that it only comes around once a month? I used to be able to go all weekend.

Hmmm. Did they really say 144 proof? Oh my.

A week? Really...a week?

Seems I've neglected my blog for a week. I haven't succumb to the desire to move to NW Territories yet. The election isn't until November. :)

What we have here is a lack of time. I've chosen to read blogs lately. Seems the rest of you have been very productive. I'm also commenting like a mad man.

So Captain, what have you been doing otherwise? Good question. I've been going to bed early. Normally, I'm up til about 1am. That's pretty regular for me. I hate mornings.

Let's see, I had my question published and answer on Stark Raving Dad's. This site is hilarious. Let's hope everyone takes it for what its trying to accomplish. Fun advice. Heck, I even tried to ask fun questions. Give it a looksie!

Our live is seemingly in a constant state of limbo. Mr. and Mrs. Bodie25 are impatiently waiting for their next little one. He was due...a while ago and no one is patient any more. BrannieMuffin is in fact my sister-in-law. She's now over due in her first little girl. OhCountess is going to be her birthing coach....so we wait. I'm on Daddy Call, if she goes, mama is heading to the hospital and I will be waiting. And to make things even more interesting, my team lead's wife is also preggers. Dear God! Is it me? Is everyone having a baby in the next two weeks?

Thoughts of Father has been running this really interesting series of alphabet pictures. Go check it out. The guy is getting really good with the new macro lens!

I've got all my Las Vegas pictures up over at my photo blog. I've also posted a series of new pictures I took at the chapel on the campus here where I work. I've got the photo bug back.

Jeremy over at Discovering Dad is doing it again and doing a series about what Dad thinks about Mom's questions. His last series was great and I'm really looking forward to this one. The only snag...the baby bug has struck them as well! Welcome to the world Caitlin!

S over at Everyone Needs A Ride has got the greatest streak in sports going! The Minnesota Twins are 6-1 with him in the stands...lets encourage him to keep it going!!!!

Things will be back to normal soon. I can feel it, and well, these lady's ain't gonna be pregnant that much longer. Modern medicine is a beautiful thing!

Gots to run, the floor is having a golf tournament today...here...on the floor. This should be interesting, and quite fun!!! Enjoy your day...suckers! :-) (that last part was a joke about the fact I will be golfing at work...you aren't really suckers...unless we are playing cards together...that's for another blog...)

Would you look at that!

So, my girls don't like to sleep anymore. They played tag team with Dad until 2 am. Being Dad has its moments. Today - Dad is VERY tired.

But you don't come here to listen to me moan, and frankly, I try to not to moan.

So why are we here today. Today is about the wonders of life. I'm a bit of an audiophile. I love my iPhone, I hate the Apple ear buds. Those things suck. They are uncomfortable and their dynamic range is a bit crappy. I could never buy these things if they just didn't come with like my phone.

Pictured above is the headphones I use most often: my Bose TriPort Earbuds. The sound quality is excellent and I've never worn an earbud that felt so comfortable. Again, I digress, but seriously...OhCountess just got a pair...now she won't be wearing mine any more...but again...distraction.

On the days that I'm not the family bus driver, I drive the car to a park and ride since I have 12 years before I get parking privileges at the new job (that is not an exaggeration, that is the time I was quoted...yikes). These bus rides can be very interesting, well not really, but my phone does have a built in iPod, and trust me, it makes the ride a joy. Usually...I've got one of my favorite poker podcasts to keep me company.

Last night was poker league at a local tavern. I often play with my headphones on. It helps me stay focused and last night was no different. I busted out a little (a lot) earlier than I would have liked to and instead of neatly putting my earbuds away in their handy dandy case, I neatly coiled the cord, got home and set the spaghetti pile on the counter. I figured I'd just be uncoiling them in the morning on the bus ride in.

Good call, because that's what I did. I put the mess with case in my coat pocket (sports coat guys) and headed to the Park and Ride. I found a crappy sweet spot to park the car, got out and as I walked to the queue, I removed the birds nest from pocket and got the headphones in ear and cranking out soothing podcasts.

When I get to my desk, I usually put away the earbuds and exchange them for over the ear noise cancelling headphones. I reached into my pocket for the case to my headphones, and it was gone. CRAP! I knew I had it when I left the house, I thought maybe I left it in the car, but the sick feeling in my stomach reminded me that it was probably...on the ground in a large retail parking lot. Again...CRAP!

Its not the end of the world. There are alternatives, but I'm the type of person that hates to lose something.

Well, work went fine. Outside of falling asleep briefly at my desk this afternoon, I had a good day. Even OhCountess stopped by to finally see my new office. But I was really disappointed I lost that case.

Happy Birthday E! The family got to enjoy a wonderful 2 year olds birthday party. It started at 5:30 in a town about an hour from year so there was no way I was making it in time. This helped to distract me since, as many Dads know, bachelor dinner nights are a rare thing. I got to chose my own supper...without negotiation! Because of all of this, I stayed a little later at the office and took a late shuttle home.

I got off the bus at our destination and start the trudge back to the car. I keep my eyes peeled (that just sounds so gross...where did it come from) for my little black case. Holy poop! On the curb, could it be? Unharmed and in perfect condition lay my earbud case. Someone must have found it and moved it too safety. There is no way it could have just fallen and landed on the edge of this curb.

To whom ever did this...Thank you! This is a unfortunately rare event. Time to keep paying it forward.

My phone rings - its the Mrs

OhCountess hands me the grocery list and sends me to the store. We are short quite a few supplies: bread, milk, spaghetti sauce, yogurt and enough other stuff to fill a small square of paper. I can't wait to get this list done and get home. It has a section labeled "Sam's Club"...this just can't be fun.

While finishing up at the checkout, all of the items purchased, I swipe my credit card to the sound of phone ringing. My thoughts immediately move to the latest trend in Daddy shopping...calling me during checkout to tell me we need just one more thing.

But today isn't normal.

OhPrincess1 has decided to join and friend and disappear out of view of all the parents. As an 8 year old, she has a bit more latitude for movement then does OhPrincess2, but when all the Moms are clueless where they went, life ain't good.

Thankfully, this call wasn't to tell me they couldn't find her. That would mean I was too far away to be useful. Dad's don't like the helpless felling, do we.

No, today she got her first wood tick and also her second. They had wondered off to a an area of uncut tall grass and had attracted the attention of one of natures own bloodsuckers. This Dad will be the first to admit...my skin has been crawling ALL night. Yikes!

Please - return to you regularly scheduled day. At least the world is short 2 blood sucking parasites. They burn nicely...and finish with a POP!

Exhausted

How has your week been?

Vacations are great. I love them, but man am I tired.

As you recall, I've started a new job at a new place. This means I have almost NO vacation/sick time. I accumulate time off at at rate of 8.7 hours per pay period. Since strep throat requires a bit of bed time, I had already used some of my precious time off. We also are planning on going out to Virginia in July for a family wedding. If the math works. I will have exactly enough time off for that vacation.

But wait! I went to Vegas. Oh yeah, baby! We went to Vegas. But unlike many people, I was back to work the very next day. I've been drowsy ever since.

I've gotten a fair amount of pictures from the trip ready for your viewing pleasure. You can check them out on my photoblog.

The kids were sure glad to see us. I think they had fun with their aunt, still missed us. We spent a lot of family time together this week.

We even went out for supper one extra night this week. Normally we try to limit our dining out to just times when both OhCountess and I are working and we don't get home in time to really make a meal. But this week, we had planned on going to Mr. Pizza North on Thursday. I had meetings and a lot of work to do and OhCountess was working a little late. But on Wednesday, we had a bit of a surprise. OhPrincess1 had Track and Field Day at her school. Daddy Brag: my little girl got a FIRST and a SECOND in her two events! Woot! Woot! Awesome job kiddo!!!

We have some strange kids. When asked where she wanted to go for dinner to celebrate, she chose Applebee's. Our kids seem to prefer Olive Garden, Applebee's and Timber Lodge for their dinners. Not that we are complaining, in fact we are overjoyed. We get something other then McDonalds and Leo's Pizza Palace.

Today, me and the girls are cleaning the house. Part 1 of the Mother's Day present. I have no idea what part 2 will be, but a clean house ain't a bad start. I just hope we can get clean and KEEP it clean until tomorrow.

A really fun series for Dad bloggers (and the curious Moms) was recently wrapped up over at DiscoveringDad. It was called "What does Mom really think about." I suggest you check it out. It was really interesting a really fun read!

Have a great Mother's Day all you Moms out there.

Leaving Las Vegas

OhCountess and I are sitting here in the airport, sucking up the free wi-fi. We had a fun trip, but I think both of us are tired and ready to go home. Besides, we miss the kids. Its weird, you get excited to spend a little quality Mom and Dad time away from the kids, but it doesn't take too long before you start to really miss them.

No idea why, but they got use to the airport 3 hours before our flight leaves. Ugg. So very tired.

Last night, we saw the Wayne Brady show at the Venetian. That is one huge hotel. And the show? It was REALLY funny. He's a very talented man. We would definitely recommend this to anyone.

We will be home in a few hours. Ready for an early bed time. See ya soon!

What are you having for supper?

We are dining this evening at the Venitian. Chicken parmasean and
chicken picata. Its enough to feed 10 people!

Nummy!

M&M World

Nummy!

Where are you eating lunch?

We were shopping in the Forum at Caesar's Palace and decided to give
The Cheesecake Factory a try. We may need help getting out of our
seats. The food is amayzing!

Ceasar's Palace

The front desk. This place is HUGE!

We made it!!!

Yeah! We are boarding!

Don't let the door hit you on the...

We are out of here! We've hit the dusty trail.

Enquiring minds want to know

Since I was a wee lad, I've been a person that asked questions, tested ideas and questioned authority.

It must have been around 2nd grade. I got sent to the principles office for questioning a teachers understanding of the universe. I stood my ground because I knew that I was right and she was wrong. You see, the order of the planets is not fix. One planet, Pluto, has an elliptical orbit and is periodically closer to the sun the Uranus. Not more than a few months before this, this silly second grader had read that in the newspaper. Silly teach, how dare you question me! [evil laugh]

I cracked my first network in Junior High. Given myself super admin authority and creating a small gaming universe to keep my attention during free time.

In High School, I dabbled in Speech team. I found a category that suited me to a tee. Discussion. In this category, a group of 6-9 students are put in a group and given a task and as a group, solve the problem or develop a sound strategy for solving the problem. Here's where I excelled. I was very good at taking an idea and testing it. Kicking the tires and seeing if it had legs. Why is this useful? Because when someone in the group is trying to be in charge, the others tend to follow the guy that get you to the end.

In college, I first attending a Midwestern Lutheran private college. Why would someone like me do this, you ask? Well, the money was right. It was cheaper to go here then the U of M. And besides, on my campus visits, there were a lot of hot girls. Be honest. How much thinking do you think an 18 year old boy really does that isn't about girls. I said be honest.

While attending this school, I drifted between many subjects, never really finding my niche. I enjoy many things, but mostly, I've always enjoyed exercising my noodle. I came across a line of classes on J-term that really got me going. It was a class called, "Science and Religion" and was taught by the religion department. Me, in a religion class? Its true. I enjoyed it so much, I eventually decided I wanted to major in Religion. I know. Everyone that knew me was shocked.

I had discover that religion departments were just about turning out good Lutherans, but could be about something completely different...philosophy religion. We studied what made religious thought what it was and in particular what shaped religious thought. Whoa! That's not where this was going...but I felt I needed to let you know.

In that class I mentioned earlier, I found a couple of books that really spoke to me. It told things like I thought the should be. Not that book, these books, "The Consequences of Pragmatism", by Richard Rorty and "Structure of Scientific Revolution", by Thomas Kuhn. These books didn't change me as much as they helped me figure out who I was.

Pragmatism is a concept by which you evaluate an action by its outcomes. Some things are simple, if I whack my head on the keyboard, my head will hurt. Other things aren't so easy.

After all this explaining, I'm going to add to my repertoire some questions that hopefully someone out there can help answer for me. Since I like to test theories and really dive into subjects so that I might hope to someday understand others view points, I just need a little help sometimes with the details.

Groups like PeTA strongly encourage everyone to become a vegan. A vegan being someone that doesn't eat any animal products. I really want to know, if the entire world stops eating meat, whats going to happen to the cows? Seriously. If farmers no longer need to raise cows to produce milk and beef, the millions of cows on the planet will no longer be needed. What is the plan for dealing with them? Have you met a cow? They don't do well without a farmer. The have no natural defenses and are really quite dumb. Will we be letting the free to roam around until they are some animals lunch? What's gonna happen to all the cows? (Chickens too?)

There is no place like Vegas. There is no place like Vegas

It is snowing. In April. Please, someone explain to me this concept of
GLOBAL WARMING?

Its the end of April and currently 32 degrees. I'm finding it
hilarious that the free movie play at the Chateau today is Ice Age.
How fitting.

Keep our democracy strong

I have never really written much about this here. Didn't know if anyone really cared, but its gotten to a point that even my little voice might touch another person and bring attention to the fact that the electronic voting systems being built are just another boondoggle being shoved down the tax payers throats.

I just spotted this post on Slashdot, it summarizes an article on the Huffington Post. This article was about an interview with a representative of the Premier Corporation, a spin-off of the Diebold company, that now manufactures some of the voting machines used today.

To some this up, more money and engineering goes into developing ATM machines then the voting machines. Yes, we the people of the United States of American invest more money in boxes to distribute cash then we do on boxes that count our ballets. Cash > Freedom.

I realize that there are many issues that people think are very important. Healthcare, the economy and terrorism seem to top a lot of lists, but nothing really matters if our underlying freedoms and democracy disappear.

I, personally, find this whole torrid affair of giving billions of dollars to a couple of huge corporations to be criminal and lacking any respect for the foundation of this nation or the people.

If your local election officials start talking about buying electronic voting systems, please do the research and then let the officials know that these machines aren't ready. Its a complete waste of money. Read the articles I've attached and the read the ones they are linked to. You should see soon enough...these machines are worthless.

At times, it seems only the geeks that read the tech sites know of this problem. When I've talked to people about this, many have no idea what I'm talking about. There is great disbelief that it could be as bad as the geeks are saying, but watch the videos. The machines can be hacked in seconds, yes, seconds. The used the standard key that ever office has to open the cheap file cabinets. Yes, that one.

With no audit trail, there is no way to verify that a machine had been tampered with. Want Obama/Clinton/McCain/Nader/O'Brien to win? Rig the machine. It ain't hard. You thought hanging chads were a problem, you ain't seen nothing yet.

It's WKRP in Cincinnati

It is true. I'm getting old, atleast by TV standards. You see, I remember when Saturday Night Live was really funny, M*A*S*H was the show that really made you laugh and cry, Magnum P.I. was about the coolest guy ever and even more important Les Nesman showed the world how to believe in walls that weren't really there.

NapWarder over at "Chronicles of a SAHM" recently did her Thursday Thirteen about shows she wished would come back. Since OhCaptain is the clever type that just can't do an ordinary comment, I went and did some research into a show listed that I dearly miss and really think the youth of today should be forced to watch in retrospect. WKRP in Cincinnati.

If you are too young to remember the show, you really should put the episodes in your NetFlix cue and give them a watch. If you were bigger then a zygot back then and didn't watch it, its OK, you can start now. This show is that funny and for the most part, pretty timeless.

The story of WKRP chronicles the life and times of the 16th most popular radio station in Cincinnati. There are only 18 stations in the market. Here are the main characters:

• Gary Sandy as Andy Travis, program director. You get the feeling that he is way too talented to be where he is.
• Gordon Jump as Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson, general manager - yes, he later becomes the Maytag repair man. Rich and incredibly naive and clumsy but you find out that deep down he's a man of priniciples and has a heart of gold.
• Loni Anderson as Jennifer Marlowe, receptionist. About the HOTTEST receptionist on the planet, well, before she had work done. She runs the show. Don't let anyone fool you.
• Richard Sanders as Les Nessman, news director. Les is old school AM radio news. He's got the hog markets down pat. Too bad this is a Top 40/Rock station.
• Tim Reid as Gordon "Venus Flytrap" Sims, nighttime disc jockey. Hip, cool and always lookin like, well, a pimp. I firmly believe that he is "The Lady's Man" from SNL.
• Frank Bonner as Herbert R. "Herb" Tarlek Jr., sales manager. Bad suits, this used car sales man is always trying to have a affair. Too bad he's not much of a salesman.
• Jan Smithers as Bailey Quarters, traffic and continuity director. Smart and beautiful, she just lacks confidence. It is true, I had a crush on her.
• Howard Hesseman as Johnny "Dr. Johnny Fever" Caravella, morning disc jockey. When of the greatest characters in television history. He's right up there with the Reverend Jim Ignatowski. Anyone remember him too?

There is no single "Star" of the show. This is an ensamble cast. Each playing their part and playing it well. They struggle everyday to turn this two bit operation into something more. Luck is not on their side.

I'm a sucker for shows that can be both hilarious and moving in the same episode. Two episodes come to mind that demostrate this effectively. In one episode, a group of right wing religious zealots attempt to stifle the music selection on the radio station, this infuriates the DJ's and in the end the Big Guy puts his foot down and stands for his priniciples. The other episode that is really moving was based in a real life iniciden.

There was a time when big concerts at stadiums has "Festival Seating." When you bought your ticket, no seats were assigned, much like going to the park to see a concert. This works OK when no one is that excited to be in the front row. But when the who were touring in the late 70's, they were a big deal and EVERYONE wanted to be in the first row. 11 people died on 12/3/79 outside Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, OH trying to get into the concert. The mad rush for the front had caused a panic.

The best part of shows like this, isn't the gloom and doom of these things, but the never getting too stuck in a formula to mix it up once and while.

My second favorite episode and some dang funny stuff, is an episode called "Fish Story". The Big Guy decides to dress Herb up as the station mascot, a carp. Herb's not happy. But the funniest thing to watch is the other side of the day. To help the local law enforcement demonstrate the dangers of consuming alcohol, they decide to do an on air demonstration. A State Trooper comes in and the proceed to give alcohol to Johnny and Venus, on air. Little did anyone know that since Johnny was a chronic boozer, his reaction time just continues to IMPROVE throughout the entire demo. The more he drinks, the better he becomes. Funny stuff.

One of the funniest episodes in the history of all television is my last one for you. "Turkeys Away" is still one of the funniest bits I have ever seen, period, hands down. I don't think written words will do this justice. Just watch for yourself.

You got any memories of WKRP? Can you remember the Reverend Jim? Thanks for reading!

Let me think - Best Baseball Movies

Robert over at "Thoughts of a Father" suggested that I write a post about my favorite baseball movies. I didn't forget about this, would you believe its been in the 70's here in the frozen north? All you southern readers out there may not know about this, but midwesterners lose their minds the first couple of days it hits 70 degrees. We leave our homes and go outside in the morning and we don't return until sunset. Its also the time we see our neighbors again. At least here in Minnesota, we don't see our neighbors for 4 months every year.

Oh, but I digress.

I think its important to understand something that I think makes for a truly great baseball movie. The actors need to actually be able to play baseball. I can't emphasize this enough. Some of the movies most commonly on the best baseball movies truly suck in my opinion because the baseball is just so unbelievable.

The movie Major League is a very good movie. Its actually a movie I quote quite often at a baseball game. My biggest complaint and the reason it will never be a great movie is some of the actors really suck at baseball. The bright spots in this movie were Corbin Bernsen, and sometimes Charlie Sheen. Much of the rest of the cast just wasn't believable.

But I will never stop saying "Give him the heater." and "Its too high."

Rookie of the Year, Angels in the Outfield and Little Big League are movies that are close to my heart. I loved the stories. Each has a magic quality that has allowed me to watch them time and again. Little Big League will always find its way into the top 5 baseball movies because...wait for it...wait for it...it features the greatest baseball team, my beloved Minnesota Twins.

An actor that comes to mind that really looks he knows how to play the game is Tom Selleck, unfortunately, his movies about baseball haven't been very good. I don't know of any other actor that looked he could jack one out of the park.

Of all the actors that have ever played in a movie featuring baseball, no other actor compares to Kevin Costner. I really don't believe he is the greatest actor of all time, but as far as baseball movies go, 3 of my all time favorite baseball movies he was in.

• Field of Dreams
• Bull Durham
• For Love of the Game

These are my 3 favorite baseball movies of all time and look, each one starts Kevin Costner. One of the qualities that made these movies so good was the fact that actors in these movies actually looked like they could play baseball.

My favorite movie of the 3 is For Love of the Game. If you love baseball and a great story, this movie is for you. Kevin Costner plays major league pitcher whose had a Hall of Fame career and is looking at the end of his days in the bigs. Costner's performance on the mound is fantastic. His mechanics were solid and the productions understanding of the nuances of the game were spot on.

I really appreciated the way this movie respected the game of baseball. The game itself was an integral part of the story. I won't go into any spoilers here, but many of the traditions of a game of this importance were not forgotten. The little details were not missed.

So there you have it, my favorite baseball movie of all time is For Love of the Game.

You have one you think is better? Let me know. You think Kevin Costner sucks as an actor? I'll agree that he doesn't seem to be able to play a different character, but when his character is a baseball player...it works great! What are your favorite baseball movies?

The rear view mirror

Somedays I just love the view in the mirror.

Ain't it beautiful?

If I could save time in a bottle...

I'm back to missing writing. I've had so many really cool ideas for post lately. The big problem - these ideas strike me when I'm walking to my car, or driving to the school or sitting on the shuttle at work. Not really blogging time. Any of these ideas sound fun?

1. Posts about cool things I figured out to do with my phone
2. Posts about why certain baseball movies are good and other are bad
3. How-to tech questions answer
4. What is the difference between [insert topic]?
5. Why I prefer a toasted bologna sandwich to an untoasted one

OhCountess is getting increasingly more busy with her grad school stuff. This week she was teaching classes in the area English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. Its sounded like great stuff. It doesn't always dawn on a caveman like myself that someone that doesn't know how to speak much English wouldn't know how to tell a doctor what is wrong.

The kids continue to amaze me, every single day.

We got a letter from OhPrincess' (8) school that at her age, its acceptable for her to be home alone for short stretches. Neither the Mrs or I could remember how old we were when Mom and Dad left us there unattended. She's really maturing into a fine young lady. We are seriously considering making this a privilege for her. She can get in the house just fine by herself, so that's no problem. We just worry that with no one to say 'homework time'...will it ever get done. Again. when did my little girl get this big?

OhPrincess2 (4) is getting this alphabet/reading thing down pat. She has such a hunger for it. And her verbal skills just make our jaws drop. Tonight, after we got back from Targe`t Boutique, OhCountess has gotten the girls in bed. OhPrincess2 gets out of bed and comes in the kitchen where I'm putting away our newly acquired booty and says

"Dad, when you are done putting away all the stuff we got at the store, do you
think it would be possible for you to come up stairs and tuck me in?"

What have you done with my baby girl? She starts kindergarten this fall and can compose an interrogative sentence like this? I'm befuddled!

I'm beginning to hit my stride at my new job. The walk to the car is not nearly as gruesome as it was before, but this rain/snow crap stuff has got to go! I've discovered I really don't mind the shuttle to the park and ride. Its actually not bad at all. Less than 10 minutes in all.

The worst thing about this past week - I was actually sick again. I've barely been sick in the last 15 years and now - I'm sick twice in a month. The Mrs figures its because I'm actually working around other humans and again, my office is at a major hospital. Seems to be a lot of sick people there.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a comment from Jim over at the BusyDad blog. He talked about how he was a sucker for anything with a good Dad theme. I'm pretty much the same way. If you've got a story about a Dad that loves his kids...I'm there! This comment also made me want to mention what I think is the ALL-TIME GREATEST Good Dad song. I'm not a rap music fan at all and for the most part, most pop music makes me nauseous, but Will Smith's "Just the Two of Us" says it likes it is. The thing I liked about it was he held nothing back. It wasn't "macho" but he's telling his son that no matter what happens, he's all that matters. Ain't that why we are here?

Is that?

Yes. It is snowing.

Welcome to global warming. The earth has never been warmer then it is
right now. Except in Minnesota or where prohibited by law.

If this had been an actual scientific fact it would be provable beyond
a doubt. I officially doubt.

This isn't funny any more

We woke up today to find snow on the ground. I'm no longer impressed.
Its April!!!!

PLAY BALL!

Last night, I got to watch my one and only guaranteed Twins game on TV. OhCountess and I wait with anticipation for this most sacred of events...The MN Twins opening day.

This was about the oddest day I can remember to start the Twins season.

Minnesota was enduring a winter storm. Nothing major. The ground was warm enough to do a lot melting, but everything is white again and everything is covered, once again, in ice.

Another interesting twist to the first day was the Twins opponent. The team with the longest name, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The new home team for a long time Twin, Torii Hunter.

Now, I don't blame him for leaving. If you double my salary (and I was already making millions), I'd play football for the Packers. But it was still sad seeing him in another uniform.

Opening day for the Twins was strange in other ways. Johan Santana was in a Mets uniform and not in Minnesota. Losing the best pitcher in baseball was pretty hard to take, until yesterday. In the trade for Santana, we got a prospect named Carlos Gomez. Remember that name!

OhPrincess2 had a tough time last night. She wanted to watch something else on the TV or at least play the Wii. Absolutely not. Tonight is Dad's night. Sorry for being selfish, but I only get the TV guarantee on opening day, or every single playoff game the Twins are in. How many nights a year is that?

The other weird thing about yesterdays game. I could have gone. Remember, I have tickets to EVERY Twins home game. Sometimes living here sucks. My brother used the tickets. At least they went to someone that can enjoy them. If you get tickets from me, no going home early. I expect my seat to be occupied for the duration of the game. Plan for the traffic at the end. Its not worth leaving early to get out early to hear John Gordon screaming about a comeback win. I'd rather be screaming in my seat.

Gomez had a great game. Hernandez looked like a seasoned veteran and had an excellent start. Neshek was back in form pitching that amazing junk to set up Nathan striking out Hunter in the 9th. The Twins bats did what they did best, lots of small ball, stealing bases, advancing the runner and putting the team in a position to win. Gawd!!! I love this team!!!

Final Score Twins 3, Angels 2

Twins Win! Twins Win! Twins Win!

Life is beautiful.