Pretty heavy rain moved through here about 3AM. Everyone else is still asleep. The kid needs his sleep as he's been sick the past few days. I'm hoping he gets enough rest so he can head back to school instead of to the doctor. It's hard when he can't tell you what's wrong and he's good at detecting when you spike his food with medicine.
Been busy getting ready for the move at work. Monday will have my department going to a new location. I will have a window close to my desk.
Also been working on the year end CD. This year's will be available for download and should be finished in a week to ten days. Watch this space for exciting developments.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
I Got Your Plumber's Butt
A fix merely removed the mask of other problems.
Plumbing.
The toilet has been flushing itself for awhile. I've been in denial about it, until yesterday.
If Nationwide Arena did not charge $10 for parking for a Ohio State Hockey game I may not be making this entry today. I do not like paying for parking, but $10 for a game that costs $11 for a ticket is pretty ridiculous.
So I was home yesterday afternoon, and bought new fixtures for the toilet yesterday morning. That's what I did, instead of going to the hockey game.
It took less that 45 minutes to install the new valve and flapper. There was little cursing. The toilet flushed when you flushed it, and that's all. Not a bad job for someone who is not mechanically inclined.
Later, we went out to dinner. When we came home there was audible dripping in the kitchen and a ceiling tile was soaked through.
There has been a minor drip coming from the bathroom pipes for a long time. The tile was not in perfect shape. The work I did though seemed to take away one problem and cause a faster drip in the pipe.
It's not raining in the kitchen but it's annoying.
Plumbing.
The toilet has been flushing itself for awhile. I've been in denial about it, until yesterday.
If Nationwide Arena did not charge $10 for parking for a Ohio State Hockey game I may not be making this entry today. I do not like paying for parking, but $10 for a game that costs $11 for a ticket is pretty ridiculous.
So I was home yesterday afternoon, and bought new fixtures for the toilet yesterday morning. That's what I did, instead of going to the hockey game.
It took less that 45 minutes to install the new valve and flapper. There was little cursing. The toilet flushed when you flushed it, and that's all. Not a bad job for someone who is not mechanically inclined.
Later, we went out to dinner. When we came home there was audible dripping in the kitchen and a ceiling tile was soaked through.
There has been a minor drip coming from the bathroom pipes for a long time. The tile was not in perfect shape. The work I did though seemed to take away one problem and cause a faster drip in the pipe.
It's not raining in the kitchen but it's annoying.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
What if I shit on a Bird?
Jon Sands was the feature at Writers Block last night and Scott Woods kept making him read. Finally, he did the poem above. Dude's amazing.
His first non-chapbook will be published by Write Bloody Press in February.
Jon is also a Pop Up Poet.
This is art, love and poetry.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Top Ten Tuesday
Google Analytics is a site I check from time to time to see how many people are reading this, and where they are reading from. It does not track individual users, but what sites they use to access this one.
I get a wide variety of hits worldwide, but wonder how much of them are from spambots. Sweden reads me? Cologne, Germany?
In the U.S., here are the top ten states.
1) Ohio. No surprise here.
2) California. I do have friends out there.
3) Florida. Big population, but I do not think I know many people from the Sunshine State. Thanks for reading.
4) New York. My home state.
5) Virginia. See Florida. Who are you Virginians?
6) Minnesota. Really? This is probably the biggest reveal.
7) Washington. I'm fascinated. Thanks for checking in.
8) Utah. You'd think this was a surprise, but there are a couple of blogs I read from this state and the reading must be reciprocated. Thanks.
9) District of Columbia. Thanks for reading my blog Mr. President!
10) Arizona. I think I know a few people there.
I can go deeper, which city or town reads me most. A shout out to Brentwood, Ca.!
Readership has been slowly increasing the past few months. Comments are always appreciated but thank you for reading this piece of the internet.
I get a wide variety of hits worldwide, but wonder how much of them are from spambots. Sweden reads me? Cologne, Germany?
In the U.S., here are the top ten states.
1) Ohio. No surprise here.
2) California. I do have friends out there.
3) Florida. Big population, but I do not think I know many people from the Sunshine State. Thanks for reading.
4) New York. My home state.
5) Virginia. See Florida. Who are you Virginians?
6) Minnesota. Really? This is probably the biggest reveal.
7) Washington. I'm fascinated. Thanks for checking in.
8) Utah. You'd think this was a surprise, but there are a couple of blogs I read from this state and the reading must be reciprocated. Thanks.
9) District of Columbia. Thanks for reading my blog Mr. President!
10) Arizona. I think I know a few people there.
I can go deeper, which city or town reads me most. A shout out to Brentwood, Ca.!
Readership has been slowly increasing the past few months. Comments are always appreciated but thank you for reading this piece of the internet.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Old and New Tricks
Not sure if it was the change in temperatures, the time change, an illness or something he's not saying but for the past several weeks my son's been in a slump. It happens to all of us. We noticed, his teacher noticed. It's hard not knowing what exactly is wrong, because he's not saying in a way we can get.
The past few days though he seems to be pulling out of it. He's been sleeping better for one thing.
We slept in yesterday morning and he came into my bed with a ball and threw it at me as he said, "Catch the ball Daddy."
It was such a lovely day yesterday we took him to a park. Surprisingly there were not many people there so he had the place to himself. He did not wander along the fence, but used the slide appropriately, he even climbed up it!
We figured something out while he was on the swings. For reasons known to him only he likes to drag his feet on the ground while swinging. If he does not hold on tight enough, he's likely to fall and get a face full of wood chips, so we try to avoid that. Underneath a couple of the swings is a hole in the ground that is deep enough so his feet would not touch the ground. When I tried putting him on that swing, he got right off.
It's amazing what he notices, or, what we think he notices.
Looking up just now, I saw him get up, go to the box of tissues and pull one out. He spilled a little oatmeal on the table and was attempting to clean it up.
Last night he stomped around the house in my wife's boots, which he had not shown interest in for some time.
Toileting though, is another issue although a couple of nights ago I did find him in the bathroom sitting on the toilet correctly. After awhile he got up, no poop, but did put a new diaper on (backwards but give him credit) with two feet in one leg of his pajamas. He tries, he really does.
The past few days though he seems to be pulling out of it. He's been sleeping better for one thing.
We slept in yesterday morning and he came into my bed with a ball and threw it at me as he said, "Catch the ball Daddy."
It was such a lovely day yesterday we took him to a park. Surprisingly there were not many people there so he had the place to himself. He did not wander along the fence, but used the slide appropriately, he even climbed up it!
We figured something out while he was on the swings. For reasons known to him only he likes to drag his feet on the ground while swinging. If he does not hold on tight enough, he's likely to fall and get a face full of wood chips, so we try to avoid that. Underneath a couple of the swings is a hole in the ground that is deep enough so his feet would not touch the ground. When I tried putting him on that swing, he got right off.
It's amazing what he notices, or, what we think he notices.
Looking up just now, I saw him get up, go to the box of tissues and pull one out. He spilled a little oatmeal on the table and was attempting to clean it up.
Last night he stomped around the house in my wife's boots, which he had not shown interest in for some time.
Toileting though, is another issue although a couple of nights ago I did find him in the bathroom sitting on the toilet correctly. After awhile he got up, no poop, but did put a new diaper on (backwards but give him credit) with two feet in one leg of his pajamas. He tries, he really does.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Catching up
Had to take my car to the shop this morning, which caused me to miss my son's swimming. Luckily his Mother agreed to take him, can't thank her enough. Very nice thing to do.
Had a lot of time to kill before finding out the diagnosis on the car so I borrowed my wife's bus pass and got to walk around the city on a foggy morning.
Kept waiting for the sun to burn through the fog, but it never did.
Got a lot of walking in, from Buttles and High to the new park being built to the Main Library. There, I waited with others for it to open, and took over a computer to see the score of the Tottenham/Arsenal game while I waited for the mechanic to call.
Finished a book, and a few minutes later, got the call. I expected the rotors and brake pads to be shot, and they were. What was a bit of a shock, but not overly surprising was being told the head gasket is leaking.
It's a 22 year old car, in rough condition, with 241,000 miles on it. The mechanic and I agreed that sinking $1,600 to fix that was not a good idea. So I'll be watching the coolant levels, and hoping the car can hang on through the winter.
Backtracking to Thursday night's Decathlon Slam, team Shake and Bake was defeated. I lost the one minute round, and still do not the the judge heard the cheers properly. had to sit though an excruciating trivia round. Kids these days do not know their history. Then there was the Haiku Death Match which was closer to sitting at lunch in the high school cafeteria. I think the haiku was that old as well.
We did a group piece based on one of Kim Braswell's pieces about being dissed in a slam, complete with accents. I'm still trying to figure out what the accent was but I ended up yelling out in Long Island. Oh, and right as I was starting my first line the bell in the college went off. Nice.
I was representing our team in the Dozens Round, which is essentially - "Your Poetry is so..." Had come up with some solid hits. Your poetry is so bad Sarah Palin quotes your Tweets. Greg Oden's knee is stronger than your poetry. This was the first time I had done this and I was hanging in there.
I was up against Izetta, who beat me earlier this year at Writing Wrongs. She had my poetry being so bad that Kanye would not interrupt it. Finally though she came up with this gem. "Your poetry is so stupid, Fantasia reads it to her daughter at bed time."
Game. Set Match. She owns me, for now.
Had a lot of time to kill before finding out the diagnosis on the car so I borrowed my wife's bus pass and got to walk around the city on a foggy morning.
Kept waiting for the sun to burn through the fog, but it never did.
Got a lot of walking in, from Buttles and High to the new park being built to the Main Library. There, I waited with others for it to open, and took over a computer to see the score of the Tottenham/Arsenal game while I waited for the mechanic to call.
Finished a book, and a few minutes later, got the call. I expected the rotors and brake pads to be shot, and they were. What was a bit of a shock, but not overly surprising was being told the head gasket is leaking.
It's a 22 year old car, in rough condition, with 241,000 miles on it. The mechanic and I agreed that sinking $1,600 to fix that was not a good idea. So I'll be watching the coolant levels, and hoping the car can hang on through the winter.
Backtracking to Thursday night's Decathlon Slam, team Shake and Bake was defeated. I lost the one minute round, and still do not the the judge heard the cheers properly. had to sit though an excruciating trivia round. Kids these days do not know their history. Then there was the Haiku Death Match which was closer to sitting at lunch in the high school cafeteria. I think the haiku was that old as well.
We did a group piece based on one of Kim Braswell's pieces about being dissed in a slam, complete with accents. I'm still trying to figure out what the accent was but I ended up yelling out in Long Island. Oh, and right as I was starting my first line the bell in the college went off. Nice.
I was representing our team in the Dozens Round, which is essentially - "Your Poetry is so..." Had come up with some solid hits. Your poetry is so bad Sarah Palin quotes your Tweets. Greg Oden's knee is stronger than your poetry. This was the first time I had done this and I was hanging in there.
I was up against Izetta, who beat me earlier this year at Writing Wrongs. She had my poetry being so bad that Kanye would not interrupt it. Finally though she came up with this gem. "Your poetry is so stupid, Fantasia reads it to her daughter at bed time."
Game. Set Match. She owns me, for now.
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