A baby tsunami.............

What makes a good baby turn bad? When they go most of the day without napping. Yikes.

Kali 1.3 was not interested in talking things out yesterday. She took a 15 minute nap in the morning and a 10 minute nap in the afternoon and that was it. Both of the naps were in the car. This resulted in a baby who decided that random screaming constituted a form of communication.

Tried to entertain her with toys........not interested.
Tried to take her walking around in the restaurant........not interested.
Tried to give her some food.........nope.
Tried to give her something to drink.........not having it.

Eventually, she got handed off to Mrs. Lime and that worked relatively well, though she was still extremely squirmy and grumpy. But at least the full-on screaming subsided. I plan on cashing in on my experiences. I'm going to write a book entitled "How A Baby Can Go From Happy To Meltdown In 30 Seconds". I'm sure it will be a best seller.

Another successful landing on Mars........

Mrs. Lime always talks about going on vacation to far-away places in Europe or on tropical islands. This is my idea of a far-away vacation postcard........



If they ever figure out a way for me to travel millions of miles in a relatively brief timeframe to do some sight-seeing on Mars, I'm all over that. FYI.....click on the above picture to view a more detailed version of the photo.

Need more information..........

I'm generally a person that is always craving more information. I want to know everything about all topics. Mrs. Lime is always surprised by the random facts I pull from the deep, relatively crowded recesses of my mind.

I feel the same about my hobbies. I'm always reading poker books, hoping to refine my understanding of the game both psychologically and mathematically. I've always had an interest in ghosts and the paranormal. My friend Rudy always mocks me about it because he's doesn't buy into anything paranormal and has no paranormal experiences. For that matter, I don't totally buy into most paranormal news, though I do think that there is something to it. But I like looking into the scientific aspects of it to see how researchers go about collecting evidence. It's the only real way to prove or disprove whether paranormal events are actually normal.

In regards to fact finding, one of the current hot topics that has always disturbed me is the global warming theory. Of course, the poster boy for the global warming movement is Al Gore. One of the major problems I have with the bullet points for his global warming documentary is that most of his points are based on incomplete data that was specifically selected because it furthered his cause rather than using a wide range of data sources to confirm the theories. It's embarrassing that our government is throwing billions of dollars at a 'problem' that is not even remotely close to being accepted as being a true problem. The link below from Canada Free Press points out some of the widely held criticism's of Al Gore's documentary that point out his use of extreme selected stats and how he misrepresented the actual stats.

Counter point article in Canada Free Press

For what it's worth, I've got no problem with cleaning up our act as humans. Cleaning up trash, recycling, better gas mileage, reduction of emissions, etc. are all fine things to do. However, we should do that for the reason that it's a good idea to generally keep a cleaner living environment rather than trashing our planet.

Al Gore's movement of fallacies reminds me of similar movements by the Catholic Church hundreds of years ago around the belief in heaven and hell and its relation to sin. The church espoused the idea that people should clean up their act and avoid sin so they didn't end up in hell. Putting the debate as to whether heaven and hell exist aside, my belief is that threatening people with eternal damnation as they did is negative reinforcement and isn't very effective in motivation. People should avoid sin because it's inherently the right thing to do. Not only does the person benefit, but everyone around that person likely benefits because of their positive outlook and actions.

With that, I step off my soapbox.

Phoenix is ready to land............

For those that aren't aware, the Phoenix Polar Lander is on approach to Mars. It's expected to touch down on Mars this Sunday (May 25th). It's always exciting to have a new space probe reach its destination. This probe will be digging into the martian soil near the polar region of Mars hoping to get more information about the water content in that region. It is scheduled for a 3 month mission. After that, it will likely be frozen into the polar ice cap. It's not expected to survive the harsh climate change, so three months of scientific data is likely all that will be received.

Here's the mission website where all of the mission coverage is located.......

Phoenix Lander Website

Eating lots of food doesn't make you a good cafeteria manager.........

There's a guy that's been running the cafeteria in my work building for around a year or so. Pretty nice guy, though he does have a tendency to get on his employees pretty hard on occasion (Perhaps that makes him not quite as nice of a guy). He's a poster boy for the food that is sold in the cafeteria. Anyone who runs a cafeteria and weighs in at 350-400 pounds must have some tasty (and fatty) food to sell. I usually grab a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch, so I wouldn't know.

The other day, I noticed that there was a sign that said the frequent buyer cards that this manager had implemented would no longer be accepted. That's usually not a good sign for a manager. Yesterday, I went down to grab some lunch and notice the manager at the grill area. As I was ordering a grilled chicken sandwich, I noticed another guy come up behind him and ask him to move to the cash register to help out.

Translation: This guy wasn't a manager anymore. Worse yet, he was now an employee under the guy who took over the managing position. Ouch! Talk about awkward.

Personally, if that ever were to happen to me, I'd have to move on to another job. I think the tension in that relationship would just be too much to handle. Besides, if you've been demoted from a management position and have to work for the new boss, there's an awfully good chance that you won't be looking at a promotion any time soon. Best to move on and start over.

The great ventilation puzzle............

I've been working on the Air Vent swap around the house over the past week or so. As we move into spring/summer, the heat goes off and the A/C comes on. It's tough to figure out our house in that I have to open certain vents in the winter to achieve a good heat throughout the house, but I have to open/close several vents in the summer to make it work when the A/C is on. I may have to start drawing vast diagrams of the house that map out which vents are open or closed during each season.

For example, during the winter, I leave both vents in Kali's room open to provide good heat. When summer comes around, I have to close the vent over her crib to keep the cold air from blowing on her. In our bedroom, the master bath vent is open during the winter to heat that area, but has to be closed during the summer to avoid a pretty heavy chill when you come out of the shower. In the master bedroom, one of the vents has to be closed during the winter to avoid overheating, but is usually open during the summer to cool off that room in the evening. In the guest bedroom, the temperatures are left high during the summer and cool during the winter. Not much reason to control the temperature with no one in there.

I can't complain. This house is much better insulated than our last house, which was 50 years old. That house had spaces in the doors and windows that moved more air than the furnace. I was fighting a losing battle. Figuring out the vent puzzle in my hope is a much easier thing to do and my wife seems to enjoy the house without the drafty windows and doors MUCH better.

Fun with the girls........

Kali 1.3 and I went over to play with Kali's friends, Macy and Kaylin. They were in the neighborhood for a baby shower, so we dropped in for a cameo.

Kali was shy as usual, but it didn't take more than a couple minutes of watching a bunch of little girls running around having fun for her to join in. The girls surrounded Kali and she giggled. At one point they took off for the other room. Kali looked around and then took off in pursuit of the girls. She chased them all the way into the other room and then chased them all the way back when they returned. She wasn't able to go quite as fast as them, but she found them eventually.

Later on, the girls all got their food and sat down around the coffee table to watch a movie. Kali was sitting on my lap and realized that all the girls were sitting around the table. Never one to be left out of a party, she got off my lap and walked over to hang out with the girls. She ate a cookie with the girls and watched every move they made. Just being one of the girls.

Getting hitched during a war........

I picked up Mrs. Lime's grandma last night since she was going out to eat with us. She watches CNN all the time at home, so she's generally up on current events, though she tends to believe everything they report without exception. So conversing with her on current events is generally a dead end unless I want to hear a rerun of CNN stories. On the other hand, I know one topic that's always good to get her going. Bring up her husband or California (where she grew up), and it's like winding up a toy and letting it go.

Last night she talked about her wedding. Her husband, who she met in an officer's club, flew a plane in the Pacific during World War II. He was basically on-call in that he could be called away at any time to fly a mission. When he wasn't flying, he was allowed to go off the base as long as they had addresses where he could be located if needed. G-ma had been dating G-pa for a short time when they decided to get married. This wasn't that uncommon during the war, as people were constantly making quick life decisions in between missions and tours of duty.

So, G-ma and G-pa ended up getting married at her parents' home. They didn't plan the wedding very far in advance because they never knew when G-pa would be in town. She said they decorated the fireplace mantle with calililies. They had a small number of people there. A family friend played the music on the grand piano in the room. Her best friend sang a song at the wedding. She loved to hear her friend sing. It was all over within a half-hour and they were hitched for life (50+ years all together). That evening, there was a knock at the door.

"Lieutenant, you're needed immediately!", said the man.

G-pa replied back, "What? I just got married!"

Surprised, the man said, "Oh, well I'll see what I can do."

The man didn't come back that night, so they were able to spend their first married night together. However, G-pa was off to fly again the next day. They didn't get to go on their honeymoon until later.

That's all I was able to get out of her. We got back to my house and the great-grandchild suddenly became the focus of Grandma's attention. I'm used to Kali 1.3 stealing all the attention at this point.

Kali 1.3 video blowout............

Movie time! Pull out the popcorn!

Our first feature shows a young lady who finds that a good 'windy' sound is quite laughable. The look on her face near the end of the video says it all.........

Human Whoopee Cushion

Our second feature shows Kali 1.3 watching her favorite show. You'll notice that she quickly stops paying attention as soon as the music part is over.........

Idol Watch

Our third feature shows a pretty good view of her latest pasttime.......walking all over the place............

Walking Tall

Long week at the office.........

I haven't posted in a few days. Most of that is attributed to the constant scrambling I've been doing at the office. My manager (he's the VP of the company) lives in Colorado. There was a major problem with the government contract that came up about 10 days ago. As a result, I've been the 'mole' in Kansas City for the VP. In addition to getting information, I've had to find ways to keep my subordinates calm and give them as much information as I can.

My main job is a IT tester, but I spend 95% of my time last week playing the office politics game. My manager has said that I've done very well, so hopefully everything pans out and goes well for the company. While my job isn't in jeopardy, there's much to gain for me and the company if things go well.

I'm crossing my fingers.

Happy Mother's Day!

Kali 1.3 and I send out our best Mother's day wishes to all the moms and grandmas! Kali and I think her mom is the best mom ever and Kali is certainly thankful that she has so many grandparents to shower her with love, in addition to the attention that aunts and uncles give her. Hope everyone has a great day!

Hunting season.........

I just had one of the guys that works for me come over to chat.........

Him: Is there any restriction on getting a part time job outside of this one?

Me: Not really. Only restriction is that you can't work for a competitor.

Him: Sure, sure. I don't think that will be a problem.

Me: Something outside of Information Technology?

Him: Yeah, I think I may do some bounty hunting.

Me: (laughing) What?

Him: Well, the local cops have posted some people who have outstanding warrants. I thought I'd do some searching and try to track down a few people. Make some extra cash on the side.

Me: Interesting.

Him: Pays good money. I wouldn't go after the big trouble-makers. I'd just chase down some minor offenders.

Me: Alright. Whatever floats your boat...........

I can just see it now. I'm going to read about this guy being found dead of a gunshot wound, holding a can of pepper spray. This won't end well.

This is what a tornado can do.............

My fraternity brother took some pictures of the houses just down the street from his home. Pretty wild stuff...........







Thankfully, this was the only damage my friend had on his home........

An avalanche of new tricks...........

Kali 1.2 keeps racking up new achievements. Yesterday afternoon, Mrs. Lime was feeding her some crackers for an afternoon snack. She quickly snapped them up, one after the other. At the end, Mrs. Lime and I both told her they were all gone with our arms outstretched to the sides. Kali smiled, stuck out her arms, and screamed "Gone!!!". She was awfully proud of herself.

Kali was walking around the house with me in tow last night. She saw one of her toys and got pretty excited and broke into a "jog" as best I can describe it. It wasn't a run by any means, but there was definite acceleration and it was a different stride than her usual walk. Thankfully, her new-found speed didn't cause her to fall.

She's also interacting with her books and videos quite a bit more. She gets excited when fun or exciting things happen on the show. She also points quite a bit when there's something that she's noticed. In her books, she now points to objects and wants us to tell her what that is. She switches from one picture to the next so quickly that I sometimes wonder if she's getting it, but recently she's been trying to say the words on occasion, so there's something going on in that head of hers.

Mrs. Lime took her to the doctor yesterday for a checkup. Everything checked out fine. She's still the same weight as she was a few months ago (24 pounds), but her arms and legs are acting like Silly Putty right now. They just keep stretching further and further. She's going to be 6 feet tall by 4th grade at this pace.

Who's that biped that just walked through the room?

Kali 1.2 is quickly making the transition from a lap-based baby to a mobile 1 year old. When she gets tired, she does one of two things. Either she crawls up on Mom or Dad's lap or she just starts rolling around on the floor and burying her head in the carpet. Outside of being tired, she's generally on the go at all times.

She walks around the house in circles right now. Unless she heads for a staircase, I generally don't even bother getting up at this point. We have the rooms picked up except for toys, so she can't get into much trouble outside of the occasional fall. Since she's walking in circles, she'll show up every 30-60 seconds or so and wave as she walks through the room on her way around the house.

She's also able to climb up her slide without any assistance. She's pretty happy with that advancement, as she was likely tired of asking for a parent every time she wanted to go on the slide. She did have some problems yesterday, as the jeans she was wearing weren't very flexible. As a result, she wasn't able to lift her leg up and climb the slide like she usually does. The moral of this story is to put her in cotton pants to play until she gets a bit taller.

Much scarier than we even knew........

I wrote earlier today about the powerful storm that rolled through our area late last night. We had 80 MPH winds that were very scary just on their own. Little did we know, mostly due to the lack of advance warning, that a tornado passed two miles north of us packing winds of 160-220 MPH. We also didn't know just how close the damage would hit for us personally.

A fraternity brother of mine lives in the area where the tornado touched down. So I called him tonight to make sure everything was OK. They all did just fine, but they had some of their roof peeled off of their house. Thankfully, everyone was fine and their house held together for the most part. The path of the tornado pass one city block from their home.

Later tonight, I chatted with a neighbor about the tornado. There was another neighbor who used to live across the street from me. He had moved into our neighborhood after having his previous home destroyed by a tornado. After living here for a few years, he decided to downsize and move into a smaller home. He built a new home and moved into it 6 months ago. Last night, his 6 month old home was completely destroyed by the tornado. He's OK, but I can't imagine the devastation of having two homes destroyed within 5 years of each other. He called the person that built my home this afternoon to ask him to rebuild his home. Hopefully, this will be the last time he has to rebuild a home.

Unbelievably scary storm last night...........

We took a few punches last night from Mother Nature, but we ended up just fine. First, we had to weather two tornado warnings. Kali didn't mind being in the basement, but she was pretty irritated that she wasn't allowed to run around the basement as we wanted to keep her in the back area away from the windows. There was a funnel cloud reported about 4 miles from our house, but it never touched down.

Then, at 2:00 AM this morning, the big storm hit us. I had the window open while I slept so I could hear storm sirens if any bad weather came through. I woke up about 1:50 AM and I could hear the wind start to pick up. It only took me about 15 seconds to get over to the window, but in that brief time, the storm hit. It sounded like the roar of a train or animal, except that it wasn't short-lived. When I went to close the window, rain and wind smacked me and nearly knocked me down through the window screen. I was INSIDE THE HOUSE! The roar continued for a good 15-20 minutes with huge raindrops being blown sideways and trees getting close to their breaking point. It was pretty scary stuff, but the house held up well.

I checked the weather information this morning and found exactly why the roar of the storm was so pronounced. We had 70-80 MPH winds last night. For 15-20 minutes, we had a category 1 hurricane in our neighborhood. After what I saw last night, I believe it. I like to watch storms, but that was just nuts.