Pay Attention

I consider myself to be an alert driver with good defensive driving skills.  Last night, on my way to choir practice, being alert paid off.  I was in the right hand lane on 3rd Ave by the Civic Center, and passing a slower car that was in the left lane.  The speed limit is 30 mph on this road.  He was driving normally, but as I came up to him, something told me that I should pay attention to this car.  Sure enough, when my front seat was about even with his back seat, he started making a lane change into me.  Somehow, I was expecting this, and immediately hit the brakes and laid on the horn.  My tires squealed, and he quickly moved back to his lane, visibly shaken because he had no clue I was there.  My heart was racing from the close call, but I also found it amazing that right before this happened a little alarm went off in my head that told me to watch this guy closely, because he might not know I was there.

This was actually the second time in the past month that a person almost hit me because they didn’t check their blind spot before switching lanes.  The first incident had the potential to be much worse.  It was on Highway 52, in the rain, at 55 mph or so.  There is construction on that road through Rochester and the left lane has less than a foot of shoulder room and then concrete dividers, so I had nowhere to go.  I make a point not to hang around in a person’s blind spot, and to pass as quickly as I can.    I also try to always keep an eye on the traffic around me because I know there are a lot of bad drivers on the road.  Help me out though and make sure you check your blind spot before changing lanes. 

Bye Constantine

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things is Scott Savol.  I’m sorry, but Scott really needs to be going now.  Compared to the other Idols, he just doesn’t have the star quality that they have. 

With that said, I was also rather happy to see Constantine go home last night.  He took it very well at least…much better than his mom and Paula.  I think there was something between him and Paula.  I didn’t see Randy crying, but the cameras didn’t constantly show Randy like they did Paula.  The sad thing was that he sang one of my favorite songs, and one we used to play in Vicinity, How You Remind Me by Nickelback.  I wasn’t really impressed with his version.  I think I’ll like the show a lot better now without Constantine.  I was really getting sick of the hype around him. 

When all else fails...

Things have been pretty mundane lately, so I’ve been having a difficult time coming up with stuff to write about.  I guess when all else fails, I can talk about Payton.  Yesterday when I came home from work, he was super excited to see me.  He yelled out “Da Dee” and ran to the gate at the top of the stairs to greet me.  It’s amazing how something that simple can make you feel so good inside.  That was really the first time he had said daddy in context too.  He usually just babbles dada a lot, so I wasn’t completely sure if he associated it with me or not. 

Payton has a couple of words now, and a few signs.  He’s really good about signing “eat,” “more,” “kitty,” and “milk.”  The other words he has are “nana”  or “danana” for banana, and thanks to my mom, he calls a clock a “tic toc,” or actually more like “tih tah.”  It’s definitely fun to watch him grow and learn to do new stuff.  Just in the past week or so he’s started running up to us and giving us hugs.  Also, just this week, he decided that if we put food on a fork or spoon for him, he wants to hold it and feed himself.  He’s always liked to feed himself, but never with utensils before.  Maybe this means less mess?  I can always wish.

Driving Thoughts

Yesterday we went to Holly’s parents’ house in Clear Lake, Iowa.  On the way, we drove through Austin, Minnesota, home of the SPAM museum.  I get a kick out of some of the billboards they have for it along I-90.  Two of the best I’ve seen are “Yes, we answer the ingredients question,” which is currently up, and “Not all hogs make it to Sturgis,” which was up one summer.  I had a free sample of SPAM at the county fair one year, but other than that, I’ve never had SPAM.  Sometime we are going to stop at the SPAM museum.  I’m curious to find out what is all there.

It amazes me how people complain about the high gas prices, but yet they drive their huge SUVs at 75+ mph.  Everyone knows that SUVs get poor gas mileage, but those highway mileage stats are for 55 mph.  The gas mileage is only going to get worse for every mile per hour faster they go.  I don’t think people consciously think about this when they are driving, but it’s going to make a big difference as the gas prices keep going up.  This was just something that crossed my mind as I was travelling on the interstate yesterday and getting passed by SUV after SUV. 

That's disgusting

There are certain places where you’d expect to find used chewing gum stuck.  Those include under school desks, under movie theater seats, and under restaurant tables.  It’s pretty sad when you find gum stuck under a conference room table at work.  I would have thought that people would have outgrown this practice and been able to find the garbage can sitting fifteen feet away.  Maybe it’s too much to ask educated professional adults to dispose of their gum properly.  It just seems pretty irresponsible and childish to me, not to mention disgusting when you find it. 

Happy Joe's

I read today in the Post Bulletin’s blog that a Happy Joe’s is coming to Rochester before the end of the year, and I was really excited to hear that news.  I have always thought that a Happy Joe’s would do well in Rochester.  It had been an idea of mine to open one up here someday, but it takes considerable money to do that…money that I don’t have.  So, now I’ll just have to make sure they stick around here by giving them my business. 

This makes me sick

Today was Holly’s birthday, and her parents came up to visit.  They took us to Red Lobster for supper where we had a great meal.  It was Payton’s first meal in a restaurant since about Christmas time.  He was very well behaved, so I think we’ll have to try it again sometime soon.  Anyway, the day had been going along very nicely until we went back to where we had parked the car.  My stomach dropped when I saw this:

We were parked in the Center Street parking ramp, and there was a guy backing a mini van up in a 99 point turn right by our car as we were walking up to it.  I assume he was the guy that hit it.  At first I thought it was a hit and run, so I tried chasing him down.  He didn’t stop, but I got his license plate numbers.  Luckily, we didn’t need it because Holly or her parents found a note on the windshield.  Since I’d never really had an accident before, I wasn’t really sure if we should involve the police or not.  Holly’s dad is in the insurance business and he said just to call their company in the morning.  We were about to go with that decision, when we noticed a police car at the stop light at the bottom of the ramp.  I figured that couldn’t just be a coincidence, so I got his attention and he came on up to file a report. 

There’s not much I could have done differently to avoid this accident.  It just makes me sick that it happened.  The other guy’s insurance should cover the whole thing since I’m not at any fault.  It’s just ironic that I’ve never been in an accident before, but two weeks after I raised my deductibles, my car gets hit. C’est la vie.

 

TV thoughts

Last night’s American Idol results were the first that I really disagreed with.  Nadia was one of my favorites, and I don’t think it was her time to go.  The song she chose was an obscure choice, but I still think she did an excellent job of performing it.  Scott is decent, but compared to the rest of the contestants, he definitely lacks in star quality and vocal ability.  I hope he goes next.  I wish Constantine would have gotten voted off a few weeks ago, because now he’s starting to grow on me.  I still think he’s over-hyped though. 

I hate the Wednesday elimination shows.  Usually, I just watch the last five minutes to see who was in the bottom three and who goes home.  I didn’t realize that they were dragging the show into a full hour last night.  That caused me to miss a good chunk of the Megastructures program I was watching on the National Geographic Channel.  That particular episode was on the Itaipu dam in Brazil.  Megastructures is a very fascinating series.  I’m just amazed by how smart the engineers are that design these enormous structures.  So far, all the episodes I’ve watched have had a common theme.  They start a huge project, they make a lot of progress and accomplish some amazing feats, they hit some sort of setback, and finally they overcome the setback and finish the projects successfully.  I’d definitely recommend watching this series. 

 

 

Genographic Project

Now playing: Switchfoot - This Is Your Life

You can relax, I won’t be talking about fur balls or stomach flu today.

I received a note today about IBM teaming up with the National Geographic Society to conduct a study in human genographics.  You can read more about it here.  Basically, they send you a kit for $100, you give them a DNA sample, and they tell you where your deep ancestors came from.  It seems like a pretty fascinating concept, and I’m seriously thinking about participating.  The price is a little high, but since IBM is a partner, they are offering their employees a slight discount on the kit. 

   

 

This isn't fun

Yesterday afternoon my stomach was bothering me and it kept getting worse throughout the day.  At 4:15 I decided to head home, and it’s a good thing I did.  Shortly after getting home, the misery began.  I spent all night going back and forth from the bed to the bathroom.  I hadn’t been this sick in a long, long time.  I couldn’t even keep water down.  Before going to bed, Holly said her stomach was a little off as well, and sure enough, at about 2AM it hit her.  We both stayed home from work today, and luckily I am getting my strength and appetite back, because she’s still miserable.  On the bright side, I lost ten pounds, although I know most of that is coming back as I re-hydrate.

Hungry?

Spring must be here now.  The grass is getting green, the tulips are blooming, and the cat is coughing up fur balls.  There’s nothing like getting woken up at 3:45 AM by the sound of the cat yacking up a wad of stuff that must have fur in the middle somewhere.  For those who are fortunate enough to have never seen a fur ball, let me dispel some misconceptions.  Fur balls don’t look anything like nice round balls of fur.  They aren’t like a furry tumble weeds bouncing around the house.  No, they are much more like a cat food and fur sausages.  I’ve never seen another cat’s fur balls, except ours, so I assume all fur balls look similar to what I’ve described.  It could be that our cat is just a freak, so if you have a cat, I’d like to hear what your experience is.   

Did I speak too soon?

I shouldn’t have started praising the Cubs so soon.  They had a great first game, but the last three have been awful.  Today they blew a one run lead in the ninth and ended up losing to the Brewers in extra innings.  LaTroy Hawkins gave up the tying run in the ninth, much like he did last year.  I sure hope this doesn’t become a regular occurrence again this year. 

What if I was still in college?

If I was still in college, I would be completing my eleventh year of school.  Maybe I would have about 234 credits and no degree to my name yet.  Well, that’s exactly what the guy in this article has done.  The part that I find the most impressive is that after eleven years, he only has $30,000 in loans, and his parents only chipped in the first two years. 

This really puts the whole thing into perspective:   “Sophomore Jenny Zinda, 20, hangs out with Lechner and said she doesn't think of him as old. Zinda was in fourth grade when Lechner was a college freshman.” 

Maybe he’s just lazy, but I’m pretty sure the reason he’s still there boils down to this quote from the article:  "Some girls say it's weird that he's still here, but the bottom line is they all want him," Zinda said. "Everyone knows him and there's a certain excitability about being friends with and dating Johnny Lechner."  So apparently, being an eleventh year senior gives you rock star status.  Personally, I don’t understand that.  I guess there are lots of people who go to school for eleven years, but we usually call them doctors. 

Hey Johnny VanWilder, it’s time to move on with your life. 

I hate toothbrushes

Why do people brush their teeth at work?  I’m seeing more and more people in the bathroom, standing at the sink and brushing their teeth.  First of all, the faucets are automatic, and only warm water comes out.  That’s nasty enough to brush your teeth with warm water.  And who wants to use a public sink for anything more than they have to?  That’s really their problem, but my main problem is that I can’t stand the sound of people brushing their teeth.  Some people get the chills from fingernails scraping down a chalkboard, but I get some serious chills from the sound or thought of teeth being brushed.  If a commercial comes on for dental hygiene, I immediately have to change the channel.  I shouldn’t have to be subjected to this at work too.  It’s really hard to “go” when you are all tightened up because of the hideous sound of teeth being brushed.  I don’t need that.  I can’t talk about this anymore because I’m getting the chills now.  I just think it’s ridiculous that people brush their teeth at work.  They aren’t going to fall out if they don’t brush 3+ times a day. 

Go Cubs Go

The Cubs sure looked good yesterday for opening day.  They scored sixteen runs, and had a seven to nothing lead after two innings.  The thing that impressed me most about it though was that they got this early lead without hitting homeruns.  Last year they relied on the round tripper way too much, and it was an all or nothing type deal.  That’s why it was so refreshing to see base hit after base hit yesterday.  Later on in the game the Cubs hit a pair of homers, but that was just gravy by that point in the game.  I know it was just one game, but it’s a good start and a step in the right direction. 

Please Cubs, don’t disappoint me like last year.  I don’t want to be crushed like that again!

I’m not too fond of the new WGN-TV broadcast team for the Cubs games.  They will have to grow on me I guess.  I liked Chip, but Steve Stone was the main reason I watched the Cubs on TV.  The man has so much baseball knowledge.  He would always know what pitch would be coming or when to steal a base.  It was almost like the game was scripted.  I will really miss his insight and commentary.  It’s too bad Dusty and the players couldn’t face the truth of what happened last year.  I don’t think Stone’s comments were too harsh.  He told it like it was, and that ultimately led to his resignation.  In my opinion, Stone was the greatest loss in the Cubs organization this past off-season.

The Weekend that Was

Now playing: Weezer - Say It Ain't So

Payton had his one year birthday party on Saturday.  Both sets of grandparents and Aunt Kara came to celebrate the occasion.  Unlike at Christmas, this time Payton cared more about what was inside his presents more than the wrapping paper.  Payton had never had cake before, but he know exactly what to do with it.  You can see the before and after pictures below.  I think he really enjoyed himself.  The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend too.  We’re all really glad winter is over and we can spend more time outside.   

The only damper on the weekend was that I was running a fever all day Saturday.  I’m feeling better today, but I’m still congested.  I’ve had more than my share of ailments in the past two weeks.  We’ll leave it at that. 

 

Happy April Fool's Day

At the end of last year there was an article in the Tangent section of our local paper about a time traveler named John Titor.  I had never heard of his story before reading that article.  I figure April Fool’s Day is an appropriate time to talk about a guy that claims to be from the future.  The part that makes it interesting to me is that the story has ties to IBM Rochester.  Sites like johntitor.com have compiled all the information that John Titor gave and it makes for some amusing reading.  Apparently, John posted this picture of his time machine.  To me his time machine sounds a lot like something from Back to the Future, since he used a car, but there’s no mention of the flux capacitor.  I give “John Titor” credit for coming up with an interesting and thought-provoking science fiction story, but this is just a little too outrageous to be taken seriously.   

(If you follow the link to johntitor.com, they seem to have some problems with their webpage.  The links at the top of the page only work when you are starting from the main “Home” page.)