Kali 1.5 is obviously on some sort of a ridiculous growth spurt. Here's a chart of her eating for the day.........
Breakfast - 6 oz. of milk, roughly 150-200 blueberries
Morning snack - Another 50 blueberries
Lunch - 15-20 nacho chips, taco meat, half a flour tortilla, and two fist-size portions of pico de gallo (tomatoes and onions)
Afternoon snack - Full carton of red raspberries
Dinner - A full cob of corn, several bites of chicken, two eggs, and a handful of berries
Evening snack - Two handfuls of pretzels.
My whole day consisted of repeated 'More! More!' yells from my daughter. The good thing is that she's very good at saying 'Please!' now, so at least she's becoming polite with her demands. As I write this, it appears that she's over on the other side of the room grunting and making a disturbed face. I guess she had to fill her pants at some point. All that food has to go somewhere.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Yep, she's still paying attention.........
More proof that Kali 1.5 is watching my every move.
Usually, if Kali is taking a nap or is relaxing, I try to make sure that Nova 8.4 keeps quiet and doesn't bark. If he starts to act like he's going to make some noise, I'll whisper 'Nova!' and tell him 'Ssssshhhhh!'.
Yesterday, Kali and I were walking through the house to go change a diaper. A car happened to drive by the house and so Nova began to bark. Kali immediately stopped in her tracks. She turned towards Nova, put her finger to her mouth, and said, "Noba! Sssssshhhhh! Sssssshhhhh!". She then turned away and continued to walk in the same direction as though nothing had happened.
17 months old and she's already disciplining the dog.
Usually, if Kali is taking a nap or is relaxing, I try to make sure that Nova 8.4 keeps quiet and doesn't bark. If he starts to act like he's going to make some noise, I'll whisper 'Nova!' and tell him 'Ssssshhhhh!'.
Yesterday, Kali and I were walking through the house to go change a diaper. A car happened to drive by the house and so Nova began to bark. Kali immediately stopped in her tracks. She turned towards Nova, put her finger to her mouth, and said, "Noba! Sssssshhhhh! Sssssshhhhh!". She then turned away and continued to walk in the same direction as though nothing had happened.
17 months old and she's already disciplining the dog.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A cruel business............
So today, I sit here knowing that someone in my group is going to lose their job in the coming week. No one in my group knows about it, including that person. Thankfully, I don't have to do the dirty work as it's a decision that my new contracting company is making.
Needless to say, it sucks. Not more than 24 hours ago, this same person came to me seeking advice about what to do in the upcoming days as he was concerned about the changes in our contract. I told him that he should always have a backup option available, but that I was told that everyone would be retained in the new contract group.
Today, I found out that my words about having a backup plan end up being prophetic. He'll be back out of a job after only a couple of months on this job. He just signed a 1 year lease on an apartment and now has no income for the immediate future. I have no idea exactly what he did that warranted his removal. The decision was made above me in the food chain. In a couple of days, I'll have to explain to him that it wasn't my choice and he'll want answers. I can't say I blame him.
Needless to say, it sucks. Not more than 24 hours ago, this same person came to me seeking advice about what to do in the upcoming days as he was concerned about the changes in our contract. I told him that he should always have a backup option available, but that I was told that everyone would be retained in the new contract group.
Today, I found out that my words about having a backup plan end up being prophetic. He'll be back out of a job after only a couple of months on this job. He just signed a 1 year lease on an apartment and now has no income for the immediate future. I have no idea exactly what he did that warranted his removal. The decision was made above me in the food chain. In a couple of days, I'll have to explain to him that it wasn't my choice and he'll want answers. I can't say I blame him.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Where's the posts?????
I've been busy at work of late. Our old contract ended and a new company was awarded the next contract. As a result, the workers end up basically reapplying for their old job. It's not that big of a deal as far as job security goes, but I needed to update my resume to reflect the latest work in my career. So it's a bit time consuming.
In addition, we have a couple of people in my group that have never gone through this kind of job transition. They're confused by all of the shenanigans that occur when a contract is taken over by another company. For example, the new company can't officially recruit the workers in the departing company for the same positions in the new contract. What they can do is hold a "job fair" where they only invite the current team members to the job fair and then hire the employees back again. It's a really odd system that can be really confusing for newer employees who haven't dealt with it before.
I had to talk a couple of my employees off a ledge yesterday. Both of them had been in the group for only a few months, so they weren't prepared for the chaos surrounding a contract change. I just simplified the discussion as best as I could to help them understand that everything was likely to remain the same. It seemed to work. They settled down and were much happier with the situation afterwards. Crisis averted.
Hopefully this will all be resolved in the next week or so and I can get back to blogging about stupid, meaningless things again.
In addition, we have a couple of people in my group that have never gone through this kind of job transition. They're confused by all of the shenanigans that occur when a contract is taken over by another company. For example, the new company can't officially recruit the workers in the departing company for the same positions in the new contract. What they can do is hold a "job fair" where they only invite the current team members to the job fair and then hire the employees back again. It's a really odd system that can be really confusing for newer employees who haven't dealt with it before.
I had to talk a couple of my employees off a ledge yesterday. Both of them had been in the group for only a few months, so they weren't prepared for the chaos surrounding a contract change. I just simplified the discussion as best as I could to help them understand that everything was likely to remain the same. It seemed to work. They settled down and were much happier with the situation afterwards. Crisis averted.
Hopefully this will all be resolved in the next week or so and I can get back to blogging about stupid, meaningless things again.
Friday, July 18, 2008
What are you saying?!?!?!
I was busy playing with Kali 1.5 the other night. She was doing her usual routine of bringing over books to read, coloring in her coloring book, playing music on her baby piano, etc. I was sitting in the couch with my arm hanging over the armrest on my left.
After running around for awhile, Kali 1.5 disappeared behind the armrest on the coach. After a minute or so, she yelled, "BI BI!!"
Now, 'bi bi' can mean a lot of different things. It could mean belly button and it could mean binky. I told her without actually looking at her that she couldn't have her binky. After 15 seconds, I heard her again........"BI BI!!".
I leaned up to where I could see her and told her once again that she couldn't have her binky. She looked back at my hand which had been hanging in front of her the whole time. She pointed at my hand and said, "BI BI!!".
Confused, I looked at my hand. I then remembered that I had a blister on my hand from yard work and had put a 'Sesame Street' Band-Aid on my blister. On the Band-Aid was a picture of...........Big Bird!
"Yes, honey, Big Bird!", I said.
She smiled and walked off to grab another book, happily knowing that Daddy had noticed that she recognized Big Bird.
After running around for awhile, Kali 1.5 disappeared behind the armrest on the coach. After a minute or so, she yelled, "BI BI!!"
Now, 'bi bi' can mean a lot of different things. It could mean belly button and it could mean binky. I told her without actually looking at her that she couldn't have her binky. After 15 seconds, I heard her again........"BI BI!!".
I leaned up to where I could see her and told her once again that she couldn't have her binky. She looked back at my hand which had been hanging in front of her the whole time. She pointed at my hand and said, "BI BI!!".
Confused, I looked at my hand. I then remembered that I had a blister on my hand from yard work and had put a 'Sesame Street' Band-Aid on my blister. On the Band-Aid was a picture of...........Big Bird!
"Yes, honey, Big Bird!", I said.
She smiled and walked off to grab another book, happily knowing that Daddy had noticed that she recognized Big Bird.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Role models.........
It's natural for a person to see a larger-than-life sports star and think how great it would be to be famous. You could be a hero to millions of people. You could make millions of dollars doing nothing more than playing the same game that we all play, recreational or otherwise.
I watched a HBO show last night about Mickey Mantle. I was amazed after watching the videos just how great of a player he really was throughout his career. He could run like the wind. He could hit the ball over the fence in one at-bat and then bunt for a hit on the next at-bat. His fielding ability was unbelievable. Millions of fans loved his bashful persona and warm smile.
While he was playing baseball, his wife and 4 kids lived in Dallas, TX. They interviewed her and she talked about how rough it was to spend 7-8 months out of every year alone raising four boys. Meanwhile, Mickey never really grew up. He went to parties and bars with his teammates nearly every day. He began to drink a lot, mainly because he was a bashful person and he though people enjoyed being around a drunk Mickey Mantle. I guess he thought it 'enhanced' his personality.
After his career ended, he went back home. The only way he felt he could really relate to his kids (who were now all grown up), was to have a few drinks with them. As a result, he had 4 alcohol-dependent sons. His wife lamented in the interview just how difficult life was living with 5 alcoholics.
Eventually, Mickey's body gave out from the years of alcohol abuse. He actually realized the error in his ways in his final few months. He presented himself to the public as a role model that you shouldn't attempt to follow. Simply put, he said, "God gave me all these gifts and I blew it."
It's easy to want to be everything in life. I don't have anywhere near the physical gifts that Mickey Mantle has (though I still attempt to prove otherwise on occasion). Watching Mickey Mantle's story showed me just how big of a hero I really am. I'm raising Kali 1.5 the best way I know how with absolutely no regrets as to how I'm doing it. Mrs. Lime and I are creating positive role models for Kali that will last her the rest of her life. Not only that, I think she'll be a better person for it, rather than be burdened with issues that were not self-initiated.
It's OK to avoid being humble every once in awhile and give yourself a pat on the back. You may be your own worst critic, but you're also your own best friend.
I watched a HBO show last night about Mickey Mantle. I was amazed after watching the videos just how great of a player he really was throughout his career. He could run like the wind. He could hit the ball over the fence in one at-bat and then bunt for a hit on the next at-bat. His fielding ability was unbelievable. Millions of fans loved his bashful persona and warm smile.
While he was playing baseball, his wife and 4 kids lived in Dallas, TX. They interviewed her and she talked about how rough it was to spend 7-8 months out of every year alone raising four boys. Meanwhile, Mickey never really grew up. He went to parties and bars with his teammates nearly every day. He began to drink a lot, mainly because he was a bashful person and he though people enjoyed being around a drunk Mickey Mantle. I guess he thought it 'enhanced' his personality.
After his career ended, he went back home. The only way he felt he could really relate to his kids (who were now all grown up), was to have a few drinks with them. As a result, he had 4 alcohol-dependent sons. His wife lamented in the interview just how difficult life was living with 5 alcoholics.
Eventually, Mickey's body gave out from the years of alcohol abuse. He actually realized the error in his ways in his final few months. He presented himself to the public as a role model that you shouldn't attempt to follow. Simply put, he said, "God gave me all these gifts and I blew it."
It's easy to want to be everything in life. I don't have anywhere near the physical gifts that Mickey Mantle has (though I still attempt to prove otherwise on occasion). Watching Mickey Mantle's story showed me just how big of a hero I really am. I'm raising Kali 1.5 the best way I know how with absolutely no regrets as to how I'm doing it. Mrs. Lime and I are creating positive role models for Kali that will last her the rest of her life. Not only that, I think she'll be a better person for it, rather than be burdened with issues that were not self-initiated.
It's OK to avoid being humble every once in awhile and give yourself a pat on the back. You may be your own worst critic, but you're also your own best friend.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
What kind of threat is that?
Over the weekend, we went to a restaurant in the area. The wait to get a table was 20 minutes or so. We all sat down and I bought a drink for Mrs. Lime and I. Kali 1.5 was left to enjoy her toys and a few animal crackers during the wait.
While we were sitting in the waiting area, there was a group of people from out-of-state that came into the restaurant. They had a pretty large group and were quoted a wait time of 40-45 minutes. One of the teenage boys in the group started complaining about having to wait that long for a table. His dad got after him pretty good and the kid was verbally firing back. His dad then shot off this gem......."You're going to get sent back to San Antonio if you aren't careful!".
Now I'm all for some form of discipline, but when did parents earn the right to make ultimatums that literally have no chance of being enforced? So this guy is threatening that he'll send his kid back to San Antonio. How exactly does he plan to do that?
Book a plane ticket? That would work. It might set the guy back a few hundred dollars. Also, the problem-causing kid would then be in San Antonio without parental supervision, which doesn't sound like any better of an idea than keeping him in Kansas City.
Dad drives him home? That would get him home and Dad would be there to supervise, but how would everyone else in KC get home without a vehicle?
In the end, his threat was just as intelligent as the old standby "Stop crying before I give you something to cry about!" phrase. And they wonder why certain kids turn out like they do..........
While we were sitting in the waiting area, there was a group of people from out-of-state that came into the restaurant. They had a pretty large group and were quoted a wait time of 40-45 minutes. One of the teenage boys in the group started complaining about having to wait that long for a table. His dad got after him pretty good and the kid was verbally firing back. His dad then shot off this gem......."You're going to get sent back to San Antonio if you aren't careful!".
Now I'm all for some form of discipline, but when did parents earn the right to make ultimatums that literally have no chance of being enforced? So this guy is threatening that he'll send his kid back to San Antonio. How exactly does he plan to do that?
Book a plane ticket? That would work. It might set the guy back a few hundred dollars. Also, the problem-causing kid would then be in San Antonio without parental supervision, which doesn't sound like any better of an idea than keeping him in Kansas City.
Dad drives him home? That would get him home and Dad would be there to supervise, but how would everyone else in KC get home without a vehicle?
In the end, his threat was just as intelligent as the old standby "Stop crying before I give you something to cry about!" phrase. And they wonder why certain kids turn out like they do..........
Friday, July 11, 2008
Never a dull moment.......
One of the people I manage uses a cordless mouse on their work computer. While that shouldn't be a big deal under normal circumstances, we work for the federal government. So, when you switch out any computer components, they get their feathers a bit ruffled.
One of the tech people came by her cube a few weeks ago and noted that she was using a cordless mouse. At that time, they told her that she really wasn't supposed to be using that mouse without proper approval from a tech person.
This lady on my team is not the kind of person that backs down from any discussion. She's very set in her ways and has no apprehension about stating her mind. It's great in the sense that she's a very independent worker and very reliable. It's not so great when she disagrees with someone.
Fast forward to yesterday. She had requested to have a new monitor installed. A different tech guy than the previous visit came by with a new monitor. Unfortunately, this tech guy has a similar personality to her. He immediately noticed that cordless mouse is hooked up to her computer. He confronts her about the unapproved accessory on her computer. Long story short, they end up yelling at each other in the middle of the office. She eventually became so angry that she stormed out of the building and went home.
So I get to spend part of today calming her down while smoothing over any other issues. Management is bliss.
One of the tech people came by her cube a few weeks ago and noted that she was using a cordless mouse. At that time, they told her that she really wasn't supposed to be using that mouse without proper approval from a tech person.
This lady on my team is not the kind of person that backs down from any discussion. She's very set in her ways and has no apprehension about stating her mind. It's great in the sense that she's a very independent worker and very reliable. It's not so great when she disagrees with someone.
Fast forward to yesterday. She had requested to have a new monitor installed. A different tech guy than the previous visit came by with a new monitor. Unfortunately, this tech guy has a similar personality to her. He immediately noticed that cordless mouse is hooked up to her computer. He confronts her about the unapproved accessory on her computer. Long story short, they end up yelling at each other in the middle of the office. She eventually became so angry that she stormed out of the building and went home.
So I get to spend part of today calming her down while smoothing over any other issues. Management is bliss.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Mizzou Tiger fans lose a great friend...........
Very few of you know Sarah Becking. But at the same time, all of you know Sarah Becking. Sarah is renown for her photographs of Mizzou sporting events. The reason you don't see her is because you usually see things from this angle......
The photo below was taken by a friend of Sarah while she took the above photo.
Sarah Becking died July 8th at the age of 36 due to complications from cancer surgery. She has two young kids and a husband. That kind of thing hits a lot harder when you have kids of your own. Below is a link to her husband's blog entry.
Jason's Blog on Sarah
Worse yet, Mizzou fans will miss all of Sarah's great photos from the various sporting events that she covered. Below is some of her body of work.......
MU scoring a touchdown against KU in 2006.
Chase Daniel's first game as a Tiger QB.
MU ends the Nebraska winning streak.
Kinney makes a big play against Nebraska in 2003.
Tiger player during pre-game.
Overhead shot of Faurot Field versus Nebraska.
MU coaches Larry Smith and Curtis Jones (Corby's father) enjoy a laugh. Curtis passed away unexpectedly after that season (just before Corby's senior season) and Larry Smith passed away last year.
The Golden Girls on gameday.
Tigers celebrate their 2008 Cotton Bowl victory.
2008 Cotton Bowl trophy.
Brad Smith on the way to the end zone in the Independence Bowl.
Gameday shot of Faurot Field. Great view of the students all in gold on the right hand side.
KU/MU 2007.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
They're mine! All mine!
Send me that Vehicle Title!!!!!
Just made the last car payment on my car, effectively ending my slavery to Ford Credit. I now have a SUV with 78,000 miles on it and a car with 50,000 miles on it. Both are paid off. As long as they hold up pretty well, we don't plan on getting rid of them anytime soon. My car works well for my commute to work, while the SUV provides a lot of room for Mrs. Lime when she's hauling around Kali 1.4 along with the strollers, bags, groceries, etc. What we have works pretty well and considering they're both paid off, you can't beat the price.
I'm sure my Ford dealer would love for us to head down to get a new car, but we're likely going to hold off for awhile. We've got some other home improvements that we'd like to save up for in the meanwhile. We'll worry about getting another vehicle only after one of our current vehicles call it quits.
Just made the last car payment on my car, effectively ending my slavery to Ford Credit. I now have a SUV with 78,000 miles on it and a car with 50,000 miles on it. Both are paid off. As long as they hold up pretty well, we don't plan on getting rid of them anytime soon. My car works well for my commute to work, while the SUV provides a lot of room for Mrs. Lime when she's hauling around Kali 1.4 along with the strollers, bags, groceries, etc. What we have works pretty well and considering they're both paid off, you can't beat the price.
I'm sure my Ford dealer would love for us to head down to get a new car, but we're likely going to hold off for awhile. We've got some other home improvements that we'd like to save up for in the meanwhile. We'll worry about getting another vehicle only after one of our current vehicles call it quits.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
We have a sentence.....well, not exactly........
Kali 1.4 continues to toss out new little tricks here and there. Kali and I were sitting downstairs reading some books and laughing at each other. Out of nowhere, she suddenly exclaimed, "Baby bye-bye Daddy!"
Now I'm not sure how to translate that phrase. Either she wanted one of her babies or stuffed animals to leave or Baby Kali wanted Daddy to leave. Either way, I just tossed a bunch of praise her way for saying her first big phrase. I'm sure she'll take that praise and run with it. She'll be talking my ear off in no time.
Now I'm not sure how to translate that phrase. Either she wanted one of her babies or stuffed animals to leave or Baby Kali wanted Daddy to leave. Either way, I just tossed a bunch of praise her way for saying her first big phrase. I'm sure she'll take that praise and run with it. She'll be talking my ear off in no time.
So we invited an elephant over for lunch........
Kali 1.4 had a big Fourth of July weekend. She started the weekend by heading over to see her grandparents and great-grandma. She spent a whole lot of time just wandering around the house, saying 'Hi' to everyone she ran into and trying to find lots of stuff to pull off shelves. I tailed her for most of the afternoon, grabbing her hands to pull them away from breakable objects and pointing her in the right direction every once in awhile. Once thing you quickly notice when you visit someone else's house is just how much you baby-proof your own home. It's amazing just how many things a baby can find while exploring.
Next, we headed over to Bobby's house. They had a big party at their place. We walked into the house and it was relatively quiet with only a few adults sitting at the table eating. But then I looked back in the back yard and my jaw dropped. There was no less than 20 kids, all younger than 8 years of age, running amok in the backyard. It was absolute chaos with a few adults supervising it all. We let Kali loose and she thought it was great. Lots of watching the other kids and she also wore Mrs. Lime out by climbing up and down the stairs over and over again.
Kali wasn't phased by the fireworks either. They were blowing off some pretty large fireworks and Kali didn't seem to mind at all. She loves watching them blow up in the air. To be honest, she doesn't seem to be scared of anything. That's a blessing now, but could be an issue when she gets older and starts getting bright ideas. I'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Saturday, we took it easy. We hadn't really had a free day in some time, so it was nice to hang around the house. Kali and Mrs. Lime took an afternoon nap. Mrs. Lime watched several episodes of the 'America's Next Top Model' show that she had missed from the previous season. We also went to Parkville, MO to look at some of the shops and have some ice cream.
Sunday, we went to the Rainforest Café for lunch. Kali lost all control. From the moment we entered the place, she just pointed and walked from one animal to the next. She did a great job with some of the names. She nailed 'butterfly', 'monkey', and 'fish'. She recognized a few of the other animals, but didn't say their name. Sometimes, she would make the noise that the animal makes rather than actually saying the name of the animal species. We had a table right next to the elephants, which was great. Kali's a big fan of the elephants at the zoo, so to have noisy elephants right nearby was a big thing for her. The only problem with the restaurant was that Kali didn't eat all that much. She was too busy taking in the sights to even care about eating more than a few bites of her lunch. Such is the sacrifices you make as a toddler. Play or eat?
Next, we headed over to Bobby's house. They had a big party at their place. We walked into the house and it was relatively quiet with only a few adults sitting at the table eating. But then I looked back in the back yard and my jaw dropped. There was no less than 20 kids, all younger than 8 years of age, running amok in the backyard. It was absolute chaos with a few adults supervising it all. We let Kali loose and she thought it was great. Lots of watching the other kids and she also wore Mrs. Lime out by climbing up and down the stairs over and over again.
Kali wasn't phased by the fireworks either. They were blowing off some pretty large fireworks and Kali didn't seem to mind at all. She loves watching them blow up in the air. To be honest, she doesn't seem to be scared of anything. That's a blessing now, but could be an issue when she gets older and starts getting bright ideas. I'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Saturday, we took it easy. We hadn't really had a free day in some time, so it was nice to hang around the house. Kali and Mrs. Lime took an afternoon nap. Mrs. Lime watched several episodes of the 'America's Next Top Model' show that she had missed from the previous season. We also went to Parkville, MO to look at some of the shops and have some ice cream.
Sunday, we went to the Rainforest Café for lunch. Kali lost all control. From the moment we entered the place, she just pointed and walked from one animal to the next. She did a great job with some of the names. She nailed 'butterfly', 'monkey', and 'fish'. She recognized a few of the other animals, but didn't say their name. Sometimes, she would make the noise that the animal makes rather than actually saying the name of the animal species. We had a table right next to the elephants, which was great. Kali's a big fan of the elephants at the zoo, so to have noisy elephants right nearby was a big thing for her. The only problem with the restaurant was that Kali didn't eat all that much. She was too busy taking in the sights to even care about eating more than a few bites of her lunch. Such is the sacrifices you make as a toddler. Play or eat?
Friday, July 04, 2008
A July 4th story...........
Yes, today is the day when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, thereby freeing all Americans to have the right to go outside of their home once a year and blow their fingers off. Bearing that in mind, I thought I'd relay a fine fireworks story of my own. My parents should prepare themselves now for the fact that this is another story they're hearing for the first time. Thank God for blogs and my own sharp recollection of past events.
As is often the case, I was a young boy who liked fireworks. Anything that would blow up was extremely cool. There's a mindless rush in seeing something explode, especially when you're a child. It's the one time of the year where you get to do things that are much more dangerous than any other day of the year.
I had a neighbor named Kurt who enjoyed fireworks probably more than I did. Just like any other July 4th, we were outside shooting off fireworks together. We had the usual Black Cat firecrackers and we were shooting them off one by one to pass the time. Being the bright kids we were, we were lighting the firecrackers while holding them in our hand. We'd let the fuse burn for a second with the intention to make sure that the firecracker blew up while still airborne. Any young boy will point out that if the firecracker blew up after it hit the ground, it was a failure of monumental proportions.
Every once in awhile, you'd get a quick fuse that you'd have to deal with in a hurry. You could either drop it where you were and run away or you could try to hurry a throw and get rid of it. Often, they'd blow up just after they left your hand, instigating nervous laughter from everyone knowing that you just escaped removal of one of your fingers via explosives.
On this particular day, I had a quick fuse that I had to deal with. I saw it was going quick, so I pulled back my hand to throw it. Only one problem.......it exploded while I was holding it. My right ear started ringing pretty good. I quickly stuck out my hand in front of me. 1.....2.....3.....4.....5 gunpowder-blackened fingers. Whew.
My fingers were stinging like nobody's business from the flash-burn on my thumb and pointer fingers. I knew I needed to run some water on my fingers to cool them down a bit. Being the bright child I was, I knew I'd get an earful if I went inside my own house to deal with the damage. Going into Kurt's house would have only been worse as I would have got an earful from Kurt's mom and then my mom would have been notified and I would have got an earful from her as well.
So I did the only thing I could do at that point........I stuck my hand in our above-ground pool in the backyard. It wasn't the best alternative, but it felt awfully good. I left my hand in there for 30 minutes or so and that helped quite a bit. Over the next few days, I just dealt with the pain as best as I could because I didn't want anyone finding out what I had done. Thankfully, everything healed up quite nicely and all fingers were intact.
Of course the moral of this story is 'If you nearly blow off your hand doing something stupid, take all measures possible to make sure your parents don't find out just how dumb you are'.
Have a good 4th and keep the fireworks on the ground when lighting them.
As is often the case, I was a young boy who liked fireworks. Anything that would blow up was extremely cool. There's a mindless rush in seeing something explode, especially when you're a child. It's the one time of the year where you get to do things that are much more dangerous than any other day of the year.
I had a neighbor named Kurt who enjoyed fireworks probably more than I did. Just like any other July 4th, we were outside shooting off fireworks together. We had the usual Black Cat firecrackers and we were shooting them off one by one to pass the time. Being the bright kids we were, we were lighting the firecrackers while holding them in our hand. We'd let the fuse burn for a second with the intention to make sure that the firecracker blew up while still airborne. Any young boy will point out that if the firecracker blew up after it hit the ground, it was a failure of monumental proportions.
Every once in awhile, you'd get a quick fuse that you'd have to deal with in a hurry. You could either drop it where you were and run away or you could try to hurry a throw and get rid of it. Often, they'd blow up just after they left your hand, instigating nervous laughter from everyone knowing that you just escaped removal of one of your fingers via explosives.
On this particular day, I had a quick fuse that I had to deal with. I saw it was going quick, so I pulled back my hand to throw it. Only one problem.......it exploded while I was holding it. My right ear started ringing pretty good. I quickly stuck out my hand in front of me. 1.....2.....3.....4.....5 gunpowder-blackened fingers. Whew.
My fingers were stinging like nobody's business from the flash-burn on my thumb and pointer fingers. I knew I needed to run some water on my fingers to cool them down a bit. Being the bright child I was, I knew I'd get an earful if I went inside my own house to deal with the damage. Going into Kurt's house would have only been worse as I would have got an earful from Kurt's mom and then my mom would have been notified and I would have got an earful from her as well.
So I did the only thing I could do at that point........I stuck my hand in our above-ground pool in the backyard. It wasn't the best alternative, but it felt awfully good. I left my hand in there for 30 minutes or so and that helped quite a bit. Over the next few days, I just dealt with the pain as best as I could because I didn't want anyone finding out what I had done. Thankfully, everything healed up quite nicely and all fingers were intact.
Of course the moral of this story is 'If you nearly blow off your hand doing something stupid, take all measures possible to make sure your parents don't find out just how dumb you are'.
Have a good 4th and keep the fireworks on the ground when lighting them.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Guess what? It's raining again.
We've received a brief respite from the fireworks. No fireworks were fired the night before last and Mother Nature put on her own fireworks show last night, drowning out any chance for human-created fireworks. We had a set of storms last night that just kept going in the same places. Specifically, they kept going right over our house.
In 3 hours, we picked up around 4-4.5 inches of rain. It was coming down in buckets and going sideways at the same time. For about 10 minutes early on, the outdoors resembled an ice dispenser as we had quarter-size hail. I don't think I've ever seen a summer with this much rain and this many big storms.
Meanwhile, people 30 miles south of us got absolutely no rain. Not a drop.
All that said, I believe you can take one thing from this post: I must be getting old because I'm talking about the weather like a farmer in a corner café. Please resume your normally scheduled life and ignore the babbling man in the blog.
In 3 hours, we picked up around 4-4.5 inches of rain. It was coming down in buckets and going sideways at the same time. For about 10 minutes early on, the outdoors resembled an ice dispenser as we had quarter-size hail. I don't think I've ever seen a summer with this much rain and this many big storms.
Meanwhile, people 30 miles south of us got absolutely no rain. Not a drop.
All that said, I believe you can take one thing from this post: I must be getting old because I'm talking about the weather like a farmer in a corner café. Please resume your normally scheduled life and ignore the babbling man in the blog.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
We're being shelled............
So I was *that* neighbor last night. There's a family that lives at the end of our street who has a few teenage kids. Those kids always seem to have friends over, so there's always 8-10 teenage kids in that house each night. Add in the fact that the parents seem to think that their job is to be friends with the kids rather than be parents and it's a bit of a mess.
These parents seem to think that it's a great idea to shoot off fireworks every night around 10:00 PM for 7-10 days before July 4th in a city that doesn't allow fireworks of any kind. Now I'm not a scrooge to the level that I mind them shooting off fireworks on the 4th or even July 3rd, but it gets a bit old when they're doing it late every single night for several days. Plus, there's a lot of kids in the neighborhood that are likely asleep by that time much like Kali 1.4.
So, I walked down the street at 10:15 PM last night and arrived just after they had gone inside. A couple of kids were still outside, so I asked to talk with their parents. I told the parents it was illegal to shoot off fireworks in the city and that shooting them off late every night was a problem given all the kids in the neighborhood. The mom looked at her husband who walked up late and said, "He says that it's illegal to shoot fireworks in the city".
Now, I may have 'stupid' written on my forehead and just not know it, but I'm pretty sure that there's no way in hell that these two both didn't know that fireworks were illegal in the city. The mom topped that comment by another gem. She said that "they didn't mean to disturb anyone".
So you're shooting off three-inch mortar shells in a neighborhood at 10:00 PM on a weekday night five days before July 4th and you didn't mean to disturb anyone?????? As shocked as I was by that comment, I kept my composure and said that I hoped we wouldn't have this issue anymore and thanked them. They gave a hollow-sounding 'sorry' as I walked away.
Any wagers on how much parental control these parents had as a kid? I'll put the over under at 0%.
These parents seem to think that it's a great idea to shoot off fireworks every night around 10:00 PM for 7-10 days before July 4th in a city that doesn't allow fireworks of any kind. Now I'm not a scrooge to the level that I mind them shooting off fireworks on the 4th or even July 3rd, but it gets a bit old when they're doing it late every single night for several days. Plus, there's a lot of kids in the neighborhood that are likely asleep by that time much like Kali 1.4.
So, I walked down the street at 10:15 PM last night and arrived just after they had gone inside. A couple of kids were still outside, so I asked to talk with their parents. I told the parents it was illegal to shoot off fireworks in the city and that shooting them off late every night was a problem given all the kids in the neighborhood. The mom looked at her husband who walked up late and said, "He says that it's illegal to shoot fireworks in the city".
Now, I may have 'stupid' written on my forehead and just not know it, but I'm pretty sure that there's no way in hell that these two both didn't know that fireworks were illegal in the city. The mom topped that comment by another gem. She said that "they didn't mean to disturb anyone".
So you're shooting off three-inch mortar shells in a neighborhood at 10:00 PM on a weekday night five days before July 4th and you didn't mean to disturb anyone?????? As shocked as I was by that comment, I kept my composure and said that I hoped we wouldn't have this issue anymore and thanked them. They gave a hollow-sounding 'sorry' as I walked away.
Any wagers on how much parental control these parents had as a kid? I'll put the over under at 0%.
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