The school year started today. I'd say today had to be the smoothest 1st day I've ever had. It helps that this is the first time that I've started another year at the same school teaching the same grade. Tomorrow we get to dive in and start doing work.
As much as I complained about the Olympics coverage, I think that NBC showed a lot. It just wasn't convenient to watch. We pretty much were flipping between the four channels with coverage to see what was on. Luckily, I got to see all of Bolt's runs. That guy is phenomenal. I like watching him. It seems like he's having fun. The weird thing is, he does not look at all elegant when he runs. In fact, he looks almost uncoordinated, but he's doing something right to leave with three gold medals.
I'm looking forward to the Vikings season. I think that they made some good acquisitions and as long as Jackson is healthy, I think he's moving in the right direction. I really hope we can blow out the Packers on Monday night!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
She's lost it
I love my wife, but I think the lack of sleep, breast-feeding, and soon-to-be 3-year-old have taken their toll. My daughter is having her 3rd birthday party. Actually, one for family on Saturday and one with friends on Sunday. Did I mention she's turning three? I love her a lot too, but everything seems a bit much. What do you think? Our niece and nephew came today to help. This has resulted in about 100 chocolate covered pretzel rods, 100 3-shaped cookies (frosted), and at least two copies of Happy Birthday in cookies. I have just been informed that they are going to Frankenstein these creations together to create some monstrosity of chocolate covered pretzels combined with the frosted 3-cookies. To be honest, I'm a bit frightened.
As this weren't enough, tomorrow ice cream cone cupcakes are being created for the following day? Is all of this normal? Is this something that I missed out on? I remember a cat cake and a bunny cake for some early birthdays (well, I have photographic evidence of these cakes, but no actual memories, but the pictures do complete a rather reliable causal chain). It is currently 1:15 am and this has been going on since 8:30 or so.
Tomorrow should be fun though. My daughter is at the age where she's anticipating a party and is generally pretty funny. I get to grill and drink Dark and Stormy's, so that's good too. We'll even have some freezer and fridge space (which will make it easier to find things in the dark thanks to overheated metal and melted plastic - see previous post).
The Olympics are awesome. Track and Field finally started today and I start back to work next week. The timing couldn't be better to deprive me of my favorite sport. As more and more professionals enter the Olympics, I'm surprised that they still hold as much interest for me. There is something special about the Olympics. I hope that never goes away.
As this weren't enough, tomorrow ice cream cone cupcakes are being created for the following day? Is all of this normal? Is this something that I missed out on? I remember a cat cake and a bunny cake for some early birthdays (well, I have photographic evidence of these cakes, but no actual memories, but the pictures do complete a rather reliable causal chain). It is currently 1:15 am and this has been going on since 8:30 or so.
Tomorrow should be fun though. My daughter is at the age where she's anticipating a party and is generally pretty funny. I get to grill and drink Dark and Stormy's, so that's good too. We'll even have some freezer and fridge space (which will make it easier to find things in the dark thanks to overheated metal and melted plastic - see previous post).
The Olympics are awesome. Track and Field finally started today and I start back to work next week. The timing couldn't be better to deprive me of my favorite sport. As more and more professionals enter the Olympics, I'm surprised that they still hold as much interest for me. There is something special about the Olympics. I hope that never goes away.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Kenmore Refrigerator Warning
I've usually had nothing but good things to say about Kenmore appliances, but earlier this week, I encountered a problem. We have a bottom freezer, French door refrigerator and it had a major problem. Something happened so that the light bulbs stopped turning off when you shut the doors. This heated up a metal plate that holds the control panel. This got so hot that the plastic of the control panel actually melted so the entire control panel fell off. I had to unplug the fridge in order to let the light bulbs cool enough so I could unscrew them. Now I have a dark fridge with a big control panel hanging from the ceiling of the the fridge. I called Sears, who kindly reminded me that my warranty ran out 2 months ago, and the cheerfully sent out a repairman for a fee of $65 to give an estimate. The also offered and 12 month extended warranty for 12 months, but I had to choose that before anyone looked at the fridge (and pay $300 as well). The guy showed up and we have to replace 2 parts (about $200 each) and pay for labor, another $200.
So, if you start smelling burning dust from the fridge, unplug it, call Sears to get the extended warranty, then let the control panel melt off and let the warranty pay for the problem. I am usually not a supporter of extended warranties because the only reason that a company would offer one is because they are going to make money on it, but if you know the problem is going to cost enough, it's worth it.
I've seen this problem happening with other people and wish Sears would do something about it.
So, if you start smelling burning dust from the fridge, unplug it, call Sears to get the extended warranty, then let the control panel melt off and let the warranty pay for the problem. I am usually not a supporter of extended warranties because the only reason that a company would offer one is because they are going to make money on it, but if you know the problem is going to cost enough, it's worth it.
I've seen this problem happening with other people and wish Sears would do something about it.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Battlestar Galactica, Olympics & Favre
I finally talked my wife into watching Battlestar Galactica with me. I started with the catch-up hour for seasons 1 and 2 and we just watched the first four episodes of season 3. The best thing was that she said watching those made her want to see the ones we missed. For a few years now (since the show started), I've been telling her that I think it's the best show on TV (even better than 24). I don't think she agrees with me to that point, but at least I have a BSG buddy now! It's really too bad that the show is going to be ending soon. What should I work on next? For some reason, she is very much opposed to Stargate, so I think I may try Farscape.
The Olympics are starting tonight. I would be extremely excited but for one fact: the NBC website has such a difficult to navigate interface for a TV schedule that some genius must have designed it to be that bad. Trying to find another way to see when the events I'd like to watch would be on, I ran into this blog post that summed the difficulty of the NBC website. Does NBC actually think that by making it hard to pick and choose what to watch that people will just sit and flip through every channel every 5 minutes? It doesn't even seem possible to get a listing of when certain sports will be on. The best I've found (until it got too repetitive to continue) was a lot of listings for multi-sports. Come on NBC. It would not be that difficult to offer for download a simple matrix that lists what each channel will be showing throughout the days!
And I have to address the Favre issue. I am so glad it's over. I was worried that he was going to be a Viking. Granted, he may be better than Jackson will be this year, but either we are going to go forward with Jackson or not. I think that Tarvaris is moving in the right direction and has the pieces in place to do well. The whole team is looking improved from last year and I'm excited to see what's going to happen. It's sad to see a player behave the way that Favre did (I want everything my way. I don't care if I have a contract and already told everyone I was retiring and passed up the chance to come back earlier in the year when I still might have been in shape - not an actual quote.) and it's sad to see a player who gave that much treated the way he was. I wish him all the best with the Jets, but I'm glad he's out of the division and conference.
Anyone want to buy a 2006 Toyota Sienna van? We can't find a buyer and are selling it way below the KBB value. It's in awesome shape and only has 30k miles. Hurry before we just sell it to the dealership so they can mark it up $5000.
The Olympics are starting tonight. I would be extremely excited but for one fact: the NBC website has such a difficult to navigate interface for a TV schedule that some genius must have designed it to be that bad. Trying to find another way to see when the events I'd like to watch would be on, I ran into this blog post that summed the difficulty of the NBC website. Does NBC actually think that by making it hard to pick and choose what to watch that people will just sit and flip through every channel every 5 minutes? It doesn't even seem possible to get a listing of when certain sports will be on. The best I've found (until it got too repetitive to continue) was a lot of listings for multi-sports. Come on NBC. It would not be that difficult to offer for download a simple matrix that lists what each channel will be showing throughout the days!
And I have to address the Favre issue. I am so glad it's over. I was worried that he was going to be a Viking. Granted, he may be better than Jackson will be this year, but either we are going to go forward with Jackson or not. I think that Tarvaris is moving in the right direction and has the pieces in place to do well. The whole team is looking improved from last year and I'm excited to see what's going to happen. It's sad to see a player behave the way that Favre did (I want everything my way. I don't care if I have a contract and already told everyone I was retiring and passed up the chance to come back earlier in the year when I still might have been in shape - not an actual quote.) and it's sad to see a player who gave that much treated the way he was. I wish him all the best with the Jets, but I'm glad he's out of the division and conference.
Anyone want to buy a 2006 Toyota Sienna van? We can't find a buyer and are selling it way below the KBB value. It's in awesome shape and only has 30k miles. Hurry before we just sell it to the dealership so they can mark it up $5000.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)