Still Sick
One of the downsides to being the parent of a toddler and an infant is the constant inundation of colds and flu bugs. I used to rarely get sick, and when I did I could just drink lots of orange juice, go to bed by seven, wash down some Sudafed and Advil with a bottle of Mountain Dew the next morning, and head to work. No such luck with two babies. People with older kids tell me I'll miss these days. I think they have permanent brain damage from all the sleep deprivation. Then again, it's pretty damn cool to listen to my little girl snoring softly on my chest.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Wow
I can hear again.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Sick
This is my house right now.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Hey Kids!
Did you know that once upon a time pornographic movies weren't all shitty and pixelated? The only drawback was that you could only watch them quietly at your dirty hippy friend's house while his stoner parents were passed out upstairs or in the motel room on band trips.
And now because that rat bastard Little Man In My Head is abusing me in my unnaturally sober state, here's another version of "Black Betty":
And now because that rat bastard Little Man In My Head is abusing me in my unnaturally sober state, here's another version of "Black Betty":
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Whirlwind
The last two mornings KYRS greeted me with Flogging Molly. Certainly an improvement from Tuesday morning when I spent a couple hours in the emergency room, but that's what I really want to post about. On Monday I bought a car. With cash. And not just some clunker but a nice little 2-door Subaru with low miles. It even has a little spoiler. Our savings is pretty depleted until I can sell the old G.O., but still it's pretty damn sweet to have had that kind of money laying around since we stopped using credit cards and paid off the other 'Ru. You'd be surprised how easy it is to save money when you don't have dozens of payments to make every month.
I'm not trying to be a snob here, far from it. The funny thing is back when we were dual income with no kids our credit card statements went up every month. We bought cars, bought computers, went on vacations, ate out and ordered in all the time, all without a penny in savings. We'd pay our bills on the last possible date, and I'd have to race to the bank with every paycheck to avoid getting another overdraft. That was until about three years ago when we realized that A. the situation was unsustainable, and B. we wanted kids, which would cause our income to drop and basic living expenses to rise.
I won't lie to you. It was not easy to make such a drastic adjustment, but now that we are living below our means, life is a lot less stressful. At least money-wise. Everyone tells me that they can't afford to live without credit cards and car payments. I disagree. You all can't afford to live with them. Anyway, I really like my new car.
P.S. The doc told me no more junk food, caffeine, booze, or swapping sexual favors for trucker speed in the Flying J parking lot. Why even bother getting up in the morning?
I'm not trying to be a snob here, far from it. The funny thing is back when we were dual income with no kids our credit card statements went up every month. We bought cars, bought computers, went on vacations, ate out and ordered in all the time, all without a penny in savings. We'd pay our bills on the last possible date, and I'd have to race to the bank with every paycheck to avoid getting another overdraft. That was until about three years ago when we realized that A. the situation was unsustainable, and B. we wanted kids, which would cause our income to drop and basic living expenses to rise.
I won't lie to you. It was not easy to make such a drastic adjustment, but now that we are living below our means, life is a lot less stressful. At least money-wise. Everyone tells me that they can't afford to live without credit cards and car payments. I disagree. You all can't afford to live with them. Anyway, I really like my new car.
P.S. The doc told me no more junk food, caffeine, booze, or swapping sexual favors for trucker speed in the Flying J parking lot. Why even bother getting up in the morning?
Black Betty
For no particular reason, here's some Ram Jam:
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Jeep
The new 2007 Jeep Wrangler is out. Now I'm usually not a big fan of SUVs, I'm not militant about them, it's just that I think people who use them to pick up groceries and the kids from soccer practice are idiots who need to be forcibly sterilized. However, as off road vehicles I respect them, as long as the roof comes off so you can actually enjoy the view, and I think that Jeep is the only one of these still in existence, long after the demise of the Bronco, K5, Scout and the tiny Samurai. A few years ago we drove one around the back roads of the Sinaloa, Mexico, and it simply can't be beat. I'd love one for trips up into the Bitterroot range around here, but it's simply not very practical due to lack of cargo room. So it intrigued me when I found out that the new stretched 4-door version starts at under $20 grand. Not that I would buy one new, mind you, but I was thinking of the used market a few years down the road. Imagine my shock when I discovered that the price was for the 2-wheel-drive version. A 2-wheel-drive Jeep? When I was in school, a friend and I did two cross-state road trips in his old Jeep, and suffice it to say, I know first hand that they are not highway vehicles. The ride is rougher than a sandpaper condom and the handling is downright dangerous. Take away the off-road ability and ask yourself, could there possibly a more useless vehicle? On another note, the new model signals the end of the last vestige of the old Rambler straight-six engine, in favor of a modern V-6 borrowed from the Chrysler minivans. I'm sure it's much more powerful, more efficient and cleaner, but something about a minivan engine in a Jeep just doesn't sit right with me. My '78 AMC Concord that my brother kept when I moved away had the same engine as the outgoing Jeeps sans fuel injection and modern heads. The thing was probably already obsolete many years ago, but it was simple, durable, and had plenty of torque. Mated with a 4-on-the-floor, it could push that little car around like a son-of-a-bitch. Pity the fuel line eventually broke, turning the car into a fireball on the side of the road as my brother watched on.Monday, October 09, 2006
Prodigy
When I was a kid I was really smart. Stick a standardized test in front of me with little or no preparation and I blew everyone in the school out of the fucking water. I won't even mention what my SAT scores were, but suffice it to say I had my pick of colleges. In 5th grade I won a medal from the state for being in like the top 10 on some math test that was given out 6 problems at a time in 6 intervals through the school year. Needless to say this gift did not make me very popular and I knew it. As a result I cared very little about school work, turning in homework assignments late if ever, and daydreaming during class. Part of the reason for my apathy was that I was bored, but mostly I didn't want to be a genius, I just wanted to have friends and maybe kiss a girl.
Now, I did go to a really good school so the teachers actually did a good job of finding challenging work for me, eventually convincing me to spend two days a week at a neighboring school with other nerds from other towns. But that didn't help my motivational issues one iota. Yeah, nothing like climbing on the short bus with the droolers and screamers in full view of my classmates to guarantee that I never get any over-the-training-bra-action. In turn, my apathy also alientated me from the over-achiever Odyssey set. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't managed to get out of that place by the age of 16. Once enrolled at the Arts High School, I was determined to be a closet genius. Some knew my secret, but most just saw me as another wierdo with no talent and poor social skills. I fit right in.
Having proven to myself that I could actually interact with other humans I eventually threw myself into an academic challenge. For those of you who don't know, architecture school is (or at least was) a 5 year bachelors degree: 2 years of standard undergraduate study with similar prerequisites to both Fine Arts and Engineering, followed by a 3 year professional program of intense studio work. At the end of the sophomore year, the 200 or more students submitted an application, essay, and portfolio of which 45 were chosen to continue. The rest could try again in another year or change majors. The next semester was an exercise in sleep deprivation and humiliation as we were given projects with weekly deadlines culminating in a brutal critique every Friday. For a few months I didn't even bother to rent an apartment, sleeping in class, eating at my work and showering in the gym. Being smart simply was not enough, where teachers had tried to motivate me with praise and encouragement to no avail, my professors dispensed with that crap and bludgeoned me with harsh criticism or worse, indifference, whenever I tried to bullshit my way through an assignment. Eventually about a third of the class washed out before graduation. The school has since gone to a Masters program, but the process and timeline is the same. They were just able to triple the tuition for it.
After all this work, I was determined to finish the process as quickly as possible, and by the age of 28 I had completed my internship and exams. Most graduates don't get licensed until they are well into their thirties or forties if they ever do at all. I was once again a prodigy, and this time by hard work. However, having reached this plateau, I've been at a loss as to where to go for the last 4 years. I've made good on my goals. I make decent money, and I like my work. I even have great friends and a wonderful wife and children, quite an accomplishment for someone with the social skills of a rabid muskrat. Now what?
So if you're still reading this, or at least skipped ahead to this point, here's the part where I ask for you input. I would like to hear your suggestions for a new goal in life. Don't even bother mentioning a sports car or running off with a younger woman or finding Jesus, I want something clever, damn it.
Now, I did go to a really good school so the teachers actually did a good job of finding challenging work for me, eventually convincing me to spend two days a week at a neighboring school with other nerds from other towns. But that didn't help my motivational issues one iota. Yeah, nothing like climbing on the short bus with the droolers and screamers in full view of my classmates to guarantee that I never get any over-the-training-bra-action. In turn, my apathy also alientated me from the over-achiever Odyssey set. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't managed to get out of that place by the age of 16. Once enrolled at the Arts High School, I was determined to be a closet genius. Some knew my secret, but most just saw me as another wierdo with no talent and poor social skills. I fit right in.
Having proven to myself that I could actually interact with other humans I eventually threw myself into an academic challenge. For those of you who don't know, architecture school is (or at least was) a 5 year bachelors degree: 2 years of standard undergraduate study with similar prerequisites to both Fine Arts and Engineering, followed by a 3 year professional program of intense studio work. At the end of the sophomore year, the 200 or more students submitted an application, essay, and portfolio of which 45 were chosen to continue. The rest could try again in another year or change majors. The next semester was an exercise in sleep deprivation and humiliation as we were given projects with weekly deadlines culminating in a brutal critique every Friday. For a few months I didn't even bother to rent an apartment, sleeping in class, eating at my work and showering in the gym. Being smart simply was not enough, where teachers had tried to motivate me with praise and encouragement to no avail, my professors dispensed with that crap and bludgeoned me with harsh criticism or worse, indifference, whenever I tried to bullshit my way through an assignment. Eventually about a third of the class washed out before graduation. The school has since gone to a Masters program, but the process and timeline is the same. They were just able to triple the tuition for it.
After all this work, I was determined to finish the process as quickly as possible, and by the age of 28 I had completed my internship and exams. Most graduates don't get licensed until they are well into their thirties or forties if they ever do at all. I was once again a prodigy, and this time by hard work. However, having reached this plateau, I've been at a loss as to where to go for the last 4 years. I've made good on my goals. I make decent money, and I like my work. I even have great friends and a wonderful wife and children, quite an accomplishment for someone with the social skills of a rabid muskrat. Now what?
So if you're still reading this, or at least skipped ahead to this point, here's the part where I ask for you input. I would like to hear your suggestions for a new goal in life. Don't even bother mentioning a sports car or running off with a younger woman or finding Jesus, I want something clever, damn it.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Profession
I swear I'm the only person in my generation who is actually making a living at the career I picked out for myself at the age of 12. Growing up in a family where paychecks were erratic and health benefits non-existant, I used to be in awe of my grandfather who came home from the war and worked at the same job until the day he retired with a good pension. Now here I sit 20 years after deciding that I wanted to be an architect, and what do you know? I've been making a living at it for over 8 years.
Even when I spent my last two years of highschool studying theater, I knew I was only in it to build sets and because of the 3-to-1 girl-to-guy ratio; I always wanted to be drawing buildings and watching them go up. No offense to actors, but shut the fuck up. When you're not in character, no one wants to hear your shit. Anyway, I've found myself jealous at times of my friends who've bounced from major to major and career to career. Sure I have a 401k, two paid for cars, spotless credit, close to 6 figures of equity in my house, and I'm home at 6 every night, but the cost has been a certain single-mindedness to my professional pursuits.
Two weeks' vacation in a hotel is not the same as hitching across the country for 6 months. Catching some jazz and folk at a wine bar or coffee shop is not the same as living out of a van as a roadie. Don't get me wrong, I would never dream of ditching the wife and the kids to go backpacking in South America, but sometimes I think I should stop treating my job like another marriage, and more like I'm turning a trick. Maybe It's time to look for another pimp. Maybe even take a break and do some painting in the meantime. Fuck, I don't know. I'm just so damn good at my job.
Even when I spent my last two years of highschool studying theater, I knew I was only in it to build sets and because of the 3-to-1 girl-to-guy ratio; I always wanted to be drawing buildings and watching them go up. No offense to actors, but shut the fuck up. When you're not in character, no one wants to hear your shit. Anyway, I've found myself jealous at times of my friends who've bounced from major to major and career to career. Sure I have a 401k, two paid for cars, spotless credit, close to 6 figures of equity in my house, and I'm home at 6 every night, but the cost has been a certain single-mindedness to my professional pursuits.
Two weeks' vacation in a hotel is not the same as hitching across the country for 6 months. Catching some jazz and folk at a wine bar or coffee shop is not the same as living out of a van as a roadie. Don't get me wrong, I would never dream of ditching the wife and the kids to go backpacking in South America, but sometimes I think I should stop treating my job like another marriage, and more like I'm turning a trick. Maybe It's time to look for another pimp. Maybe even take a break and do some painting in the meantime. Fuck, I don't know. I'm just so damn good at my job.
Driving Miss Diaz
Sometimes having mild dyslexia can be fun, like this morning as I walked past Interplayers Theatre and saw a playbill for what I thought would be an interesting twist on race and class. Turns out it was just The Little Man In My Head transposing letters again. Note to any playwrights out there please steal this idea, just name the driver after me.A little water broke over the levee on the news front. I overheard that some congresscritter was busted for sending lewd email and IM messages to young male pages. That's some funny shit. It'll be interesting to turn on the news in January and see which pigfuckers are being sworn in to tell us how to live our lives. Until then I'll do my best to ignore the nannystate's advice and conduct my personal affairs according to my own judgement, thankyouverymuch. I have to deal with enough meddling by petty dictators at work, and that's just the city building department.
