Creamy Skin

The spots are gone, and so is the strep throat. Only one child to the doctor at a time, please.

The Car

By the way, the car survived its ordeal. After much digging, Smitty found a jagged hunk of metal in the engine. A galley plug (?) came out and was chewed up by something. Without the plug, the oil wasn't getting to the places it needs to be.

He replaced the plug and did some other stuff and the car is now running.

Was it worth $1500? We shall see. If the car lasts more than a couple of months, then I figure we're doing ok. Since the payment on a new car would probably be $500 a month.

Our First Broken Bone

EJP broke his collar bone. How? When? We have no idea.

On Wednesday night, he made a comment about his arm being broken, but he says a lot of things. On Friday at gymnastics, it became clear to RCP that something wasn't right, as he was not using his left arm at all. He didn't complain of pain, he just didn't use it.

They headed off to the doctor, and X-ray showed a break. What can they do about a broken clavicle? Not much...

He's supposed to keep the arm in a sling for two weeks. After two days, its pretty clear that the sling won't do all that it is supposed to do, since he keeps taking his arm out. He really is acting like nothing is wrong.

It's freaking me out -- I'm afraid I'm going to jostle the bone and hurt him. But he's running around like a madman, as usual.

Spots

SKGP has spots.

It appears that she is allergic to penicillin and the like.

I did want to write a blog

EJP uses the contraction amn't all the time. I don't know where he could have picked it up, so I think he must have figured out the rules of contractions, and come up with it. It is a very reasonable assumption to make. There is "can not ==> can't" and "are not ==> aren't", so why not "am not ==> amn't"? I think this is the contraction of the future; just you wait.

He also throws forms of to do into his speech very regularly. For example, "I did want to jump out of the car," and "I do want to have a treat." To any linguists reading this, is there a term for this emphatic way of speaking? It's very cute to hear.

A Sick Car

I was driving the kids home from Nana's on Wednesday, and the Cadillac's control panel said "Low Oil Pressure. Stop Engine." I drove the little way home, so I didn't have to deal with a tow truck and two kids past their bedtime.

I called the mechanic, and he said that low oil pressure is a bad thing.

On Friday, I started driving to the mechanic's shop, hoping that I could make it before the message came on again. I got two miles from home, and it came on. So I stopped and waited for the tow truck.

Smitty, the family's mechanic, told me that they would try replacing the oil pump, for about $400. If that doesn't fix it, you throw the car away and get a new one. He's of the opinion that the car isn't worth putting several thousand dollars worth of repairs.

Let's hope that the oil pump fixes it. Our last payment on the Sienna is this month, and I was looking forward to not having a car payment.

It's Curtains For You

The walls are painted, the book cases are built, installed, and filled, and the curtains are up.

The computer room is looking good. Light blue and dark brown (chocolate?) do look good together.

Strep

Oh yeah, SKGP has strep throat. On Friday afternoon, near the end of the school day, she started feeling terrible. RCP picked her up, took a look at her, took her temperature (101.4 degrees in her armpit), and took her to the doctor.

The antibiotics are working their magic, and ibuprofin is a pretty miraculous too. She is acting like her normal self, and will go back to school tomorrow.

The neighbor kid in SKGP's calls, Jake, was out on Thursday with a fever. When we told them about the strep, they decided that he's going to the doctor tomorrow.

Christmas Lights

Yesterday we put up the Christmas lights. It was (hopefully) more difficult this year, since we had to figure out where they go and attach the hardware. We went with simple icicle lights from the front door, to the front of the house, across the copper thingy, and around the single garage door.

To attach to the copper thingy, we used stick on hooks. They are a great idea; I hope they work and don't all fall off.

I think it looks pretty good.

I need a tall ladder. Things in this house are high.

Cricket Season

A month or two ago, we were going to a Council meeting in Coalinga. We stopped for dinner at the Red Robin restaurant near Harris Ranch, off of I-5. On the door was a sign that read something like "Please excuse our crickets.". And sure enough, there were crickets all over the restaurant. Strange.

So we get to the council chambers, and sure enough, crickets were hopping around the room during the session.

No one said anything or acted like this was out of the ordinary.

The next trip down, two weeks later, there was no sign of crickets.

Impulse Shopping

My brother, DMP, has now joined the business. Two days into it, he's still breathing, even though it has been crazy. For example, yesterday, we had a 4 hour meeting followed immediately by a 2 hour meeting, followed immediately by a 2.5 hour drive and council meeting and a return drive. Whew!

It may not surprise you that my brother and I have different approached to many things. He always looks good; I rarely do (I mean, what's going on with my hair?). At the council meeting, one of the female councilmembers commented on his socks and tie. I guarantee, nothing like that will ever happen to me. Unless I'm wearing a Disney tie or something.

But, it turns out, DMP is crazy. After the meeting, at 10 PM in Coalinga, he decided he needed to buy some motor oil. Does he have a leak? No. Does he have any reason to think he's going to need oil? No. Does the stop-n-rob in Coalinga have cheap oil (or gas)? Definitely not.

Damn cool illusion

Damn cool illusion

That's frickin cool.

It's Steel Grey

Happy Sukkot. Today and yesterday are Jewish high holy days, so I'm not at work.

Yesterday, we packed the kids off to their respective schools, and had a leisurely breakfast at Panera.

Once that was complete, we went to Lowe's and bought some paint and supplies. Short story shorter, the computer room is now baby blue. I mean steel grey. Or some sort of pale blue grey combination. While I might not have picked the color by myself, it does go well with the first of our soon to be several Ikea bookcases (dark brown stain, and bigger than the one shown).

RCP was appalled that I had never painted a room before. It turns out that I'm not very good at it; I don't use enough paint and I'm too scared of screwing up.

Today, E and I went to lunch, then picked up S from school, and are hanging out around the house. I did put up some new shelves in the garage.

Completed Book: Getting Things Done

Title: Getting Things Done
Author: David Allen
Date Finished: 10/13/05

I came across this book based on the popular list at del.icio.us. All the geeks seem to be into the GTD philosophy for managing stuff. Basically, you keep a bunch of lists.

Let's see if I can get my life organized using these techniques...

Since my webserver is down until further notice, I guess I'll put my completed books here until I can update the official list.

Herbaceutical

The word of the day is Herbaceutical.

Oh wait, that's not a word, that's a stupid Avon commercial.

Giant Pregnant Spiders

RCP just killed a giant spider.

She was mostly blind in bed, and she saw a spider running across the room on the other side. That means it is big.

So, she grabs a tissue to get it. It noticed her and ran the other way, but she got it. Then she looked at the tissue, and it was swarming with tiny spiders. Then the mommy spider ran away.

She quickly grabbed it and flushed it.

It was crazy and frightening.

Arts and Wine

Today was the first annual Gilroy Arts and Wine Festival, at Christmas Hill Park. It was quite small, especially compared to the Sunnyvale and Mountain View equivalents that we have attended in the past. But, in general, that's a good thing.

There were maybe 6 local wineries present, and Coast Range Brewery, the local beer maker.
Of course, there was the obligatory peddlers, but maybe 15 booths. There was a crafts area for the kids, which was a hit with S and E. Live music. An art gallery, which I didn't get to see.

the kids enjoyed playing on the swings and stuff that are a part of the park.

blah blah blah

We Won the War

By the way, E has been broken of the pacifyer habit.

A couple weeks ago, he didn't ask for it one night, so we didn't give it. He made it through the night.

The next night, he remembered, but we didn't give in.

Hooray!

Another Trip to the Hospital

It appears that Thursday afternoon, E backflipped off of the couch at my mom's and hit his head or neck. This appears to have torn either his larynx or esophogus. That night, he wasn't talking or moving around much, so something was clearly wrong with him.

R took him the emergency room on Thursday night. The CT showed air where there shouldn't be. Our pediatrician had him transfered to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Gatos. They got to ride in an ambulance in the middle of the night. Apparantly, ambulances are not all they're cracked up to be. Maybe that's because the driver didn't turn on the siren.

At the new hospital in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, they ran some tests and kept him for observation. On Friday afternoon, he woke from a nap much more like himself, and has been pretty normal ever since.

He came home this afternoon. The tear appears to have sealed up without need for surgery. He's on antibiotics, since tests showed an infection.

We just took his temperature at bedtime, and its pretty high for him. I hope that isn't a bad sign. We'll continue to monitor the situation.

A couple cute pix of E in the hospital are buried in my phone pix...

A Positive Trend

Perhaps we've won?

Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Three nights. EJP has slept for three nights. In a row.

While I was gone on Wednesday night, RCP had a horrible night with him. When I got home, I took over the bedtime duties, and I guess he must be more scared of me than he is of her.

Last night, he did cry out once, and when I went to check on him, he was in bed with his sister, quiet and asleep. The important thing is that he took care of himself, rather than standing on the landing screaming until someone came.

I think if we get 7 days in row of quality sleep, we're taking away the pacifier.

Firefox Extensions Must Have List

I keep ending up on different computers. If I'm allowed (ie no one is looking), I install Firefox. But then I find that the interface isn't the way I like it. So once I write this post, I can come here and see what extensions and such to install.

• AdBlock - Removed unwanted things from web pages that you browse
• Tabbrowser Preferences - Lets you control tab creation
  
• Click2Tab - Move between tabs more intuitively
  
• Link Visitor - Mark links as visited or unvisited
  
• Disable Targets for Downloads - Don't open new blank windows when you download stuff
  
• Session Saver - Restore Firefox session state after exiting or crashing
  
• Foxylicious - Adds your del.icio.us links to your bookmarks
• IE View - Open links with Internet Exploder
• Last Tab - Allows tab navigation in a most recently used manner (So what does Click2Tab do?)

Extensions that I've got on a computer or two, but I don't consider critical yet:

• 
  
• 
  
• Greasemonkey - Scripting language that does lots of cool stuff that I don't know about. I don't actually use this, but I like the idea of it.
• MapIt! - Does something with maps; I'm not sure I've ever used it, but it is installed on one system. Someone hacked in Google maps support, I see.
• FirefoxView - Put a menu item in IE to view link Firefox
• Bandwidth Tester - Seems like a useful idea, but why not go to a website instead?
• Plain Text Links
• Print It!
• TinyURL Creator
• Web Developer
• WebmailCompose
• Duplicate Tab

Other tweaks I like to make:

• Use small icons on the toolbars
• Download automatically to My Downloads
• Configure Tabbrowser Preferences to open everything in new tabs

What am I missing?

Soylent Green Is Caffeinated

In my travels, I get the opportunity to visit Starbucks Coffee pretty regularly. My body, however, cannot handle very much caffeine at all; after any coffee, I always sleep very poorly.

So, for the past couple of months, I've been asking them if they have anything cold and not coffee based. This has either gotten me blank stares, or iced tea. But I've wanted a tea based Frappuccino.

Either they listened to me, or I'm on the vanguard of a movement. They now have a Green Tea Frappuccino. It is very tasty; it tastes like pistaccio ice cream. It is bright green, in a mildly radioactive sort of way.

I assumed that green tea is caffeine free. My body tells me that I'm wrong. (I can't find evidence one way or the other on the web.) I also learned that a Venti without whipped cream is 490 calories. Oh, and it costs $4.20.

Heat (Part 3)

I would have expected this article to be about my second trip to Imperial Valley this week.

After all, it was hot. Our crappy Impala didn't have a thermometer, but I think the temperature was around 109. Also, it was humid. A hurricane is running around the Gulf of Mexico, and its influences made Imperial humid and sticky. 109 and humid is worse than 117.

But no, this post isn't about that. Its about Gilroy. Various cars at my house have indicated that it is 108 here today. Its been hot for days here, and its supposed to stay hot for more days.

Fortunately, on very hot days the ocean gets vaporized and that water returns the next morning as fog. A cool night and morning fog makes this much more bearable.

Thank goodness the new house has air conditioning.

Little Girls

Today was the birthday party.

SKGP (Belle)'s friends Olivia (Annaliese from Barbie's Prince and the Pauper), Audrey (Erika from the same), Diana (Belle), Ariana (Snow White), Claire (Cinderella), Brendan (a knight) were here, as well as EJP and Baby Claire. The adults included Gram and Pop, Nana and Grandad, Uncle D, Aunt M, and the moms of the kids (and Crystal, an older sister).

I dressed in my prince costume and announced the kids as they arrived. They then walked on the red carpet into the family room.

The girls ran around and played in the castle tent, played in SKGP's room, and basically ran around screaming. They had some snacks and Princess Punch. They worked on making edible jewelery, with Fruit Loops and Twizzlers.

Next was the pinata. It looked like a nice fairy pricncess, but she was a lot tougher than she looked. Eventually, Granddad tore her apart and stood back as the swarming hoardes dove for the candy within.

The swarm then quickly destroyed the wrapping of the presents. SKGP got an amazing collection of goodies, including a disco ball and a swanky jacket.

The castle cake fell before the teeming masses.

Eventually, everyone went home.

Pay Attention to Me

Hmm... This article might no longer apply, since I'm back at blogger.com ...

Recently, My Yahoo! made some pretty major changes to their system. Now you can add pretty much anything to your page. Among other stuff, you can add RSS feeds. Blogs publish RSS feeds, so you can see when new posts appear.

So, pretend you want to read the PaceHouse blog regularly:

1. Log in to your My Yahoo! page (or create one).
2. Click Add Content which is on the top left of your page.
3. In the Find box on the next page, look to the right and click on Add RSS by URL.
4. In the URL box, put in the URL for the RSS feed of PaceHouse, which is http://blog.pacehouse.com/rss.php?blogId=1&profile=rss20
5. The next page will show you the last couple of stories from the blog. Then hit the Add to My Yahoo! button.
6. Hit the return to My Yahoo! button, and you're good to go. Hooray for me. The content is at the bottom of the page you were on when you started.
7. You get a blurb about each of the recent stories as a teaser; click on the blog name to get the actual stories.

Obviously, this can be used for any blog.

Don't know any blogs? Check out Technorati, the search engine for blogs.

Pull up a chair

The red room has been filled. The new dining room furniture is here. It looks great; I really like the table and chairs that we picked out. I think we even get to sit at it tomorrow.

RCP knows her stuff. I was wrong to question her ... :)

When I came home, I didn't notice the new furniture, even though I walked past it several times. I'm kinda lame.

I did notice the red Swingline stapler as soon as I came in, however.

Official Google Maps Mania

I mentioned earlier all the cool Google map hacks that are taking place.

Not to be outdone, Google Maps has come back with one of the hacks that I've been waiting for. In addition to the map view and the satellite view, they have now added a hybrid view, which overlays a street map on the photo.

This has the the useful features of TerraXsite for free, except the photos are watermarked.

Ahhhhh

I feel really good after getting an uninterrupted night's sleep. I didn't get the 8 hours I normally need, but I still feel more refreshed than I have the past bunch of nights.

I hope all went well back at the PaceHouse.

Heat (Part 2)

117.

117 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot. That's what it was in El Centro this afternoon around 5 PM when we were leaving town.

120 miles later, it was 68 degrees. That's 49 degrees different.

California is an amazing place.

Heat

Today, Dad and I flew into San Diego to visit the Imperial Valley. San Diego was full -- we had a hard time getting a flight down, we were unable to get a flight home, we had trouble getting a car and then had to wait about 45 minutes to get it. It seems the trouble is due to ComicCon, which sounds like something I'd like to go to.

Anyway, we finally get the car and head to Old Town for dinner. According to the white Ford Explorer, it was a perfect 75 degrees. While I didn't have the opportunity to get the giant margarita, I did enjoy my meal.

Finally, we hopped on I-8 East and began the 120 mile trek. After a mishap with a tire sensor, we crossed the mountain range and began the descent into the Imperial Valley.

The temperature climbed to around 90 degrees in the mountains. In the desert valley floor, the temperature quickly rose to 100, then 105, then 110, and peaked at 112 degrees. Did I mention that this was at 7 PM? Lord only knows what tomorrow holds for us -- I suspect I'm going to experience a new personal high temp.

Interstingly, once we crossed the first canal which marks the beginning of the agricultural region, the temperature dropped very quickly to 105.

Go To Sleep

EJP has been waking up in the middle of the night and yelling at the top of his lungs and crying until we lie down with him. When we leave, likely he'll wake up and start up again. Of course, he wants mom more than me; often, he yells all the louder when I appear.

I decided I was done with the interruptions in my sleep. I'm cranky enough when I get good sleep.

Rather than letting RCP comfort him, I have been going up for the past two nights. Without saying a word, I would point to his bed (and push him along if he resisted) until he got back in bed. Then I would stand there, still not speaking, until he stopped yelling and went to sleep.

Two nights ago, I did the above routine at 11PM and 4AM. Last night, he slept until 5:15AM and went back to sleep more quickly, with less fuss.

I can't continue the procedure tonight, as I'm out of town, but I told RCP the routine and I hope it works for her. It is my dream that when I return home on Saturday, I'll get a full night's sleep.

The Red Room

RCP painted the dining room red. She calls it cranberry; I call it blood red. It is a very bold choice; I'm not certain how I feel about it yet. I'm confident that she knows what she's doing, and its very dramatic. Once the new furniture comes, I'll let you know what I think.

Google Maps Mania

Cool stuff is happening on the Internet this week.

In the beginning was Google Maps. They had a nice interface to street maps. Then they added satellite aerial photography to the maps. Then they released the programming interface to the world. Then things got neat.

Many people have created cool toys using this maps interface. For example, Gmap Transparancies puts a street map on top of a portion of the aerial. BeenMapped lets anyone point out cool spots to everyone else (like a Stealth Bomber sitting at Edwards Air Force Base). There is also a pedometer and a weather map and a map of WiFi hotspots.

Slashdot just pointed out a project called Greasemap. This uses the power of Greasemonkey, which is an extension to Mozilla Firefox (the coolest web browser in town). Greasemap reads the webpage you're surfing, and if it finds an address, it fetches the Google Map of that location.

For example, when I view this blog entry, I see a map to my old house, which is 352 Henderson Dr., San Jose, CA 95123.

How to roll maps

A wise man recently taught me to roll maps and plans so that the printed side is out. This ensures that when you look at them, they won't be trying to roll up on you.

Dial-a-price

I came across the service AmaBuddy, the Amazon.com Buddy.

Imagine you're shopping for a book (or music) in a store, and you wonder if you should buy an item. You call AmaBuddy and enter in the ISBN number. A robot then tells you the Amazon rating and the Amazon price.

The number is (888) 937-4462. If that's busy (which it always seems to be), you can also call (617) 712-3574, which is not toll free.

Bubbles

Others believe there is a real estate bubble, and it will have long term impact on the US economy.

Since I'm new to the real estate games and have never seen a bust, I likely don't know what I'm talking about, but the market for real estate is insane. How could this not be a bubble? It certainly feels like the tech world did in 2000.

Broken Down Cars

The view from my new office window is very pleasant. In the foreground, I've got some flowers and bushes that attract hummingbirds and other birds to frolic. Beyond that are some stately trees that sway gently in the breeze. In the distance, I can see the hills east of town which are golden brown and speckled with brush and trees.

In between, however, is a line of broken down cars. How do I know they're broken down? I see the tow truck drop them off. It appears that this is the place where the trucks clearing freeway problems dump the debris.

Some are quickly removed, but others stick around for days and days. If you own a Toyota Camry (license 3JLH825), I know where your car is. Come pick it up.

Does this seem like a bad idea to anyone else?

According to StephenKing.com (the official site): Stephen joined World Series Champion Boston Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo on Bronson's album "Covering The Bases". The album, which includes various cover songs, was released on July 12. The album features many of the top musicians in music, including Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp), Leland Sklar (Phil Collins) and Mike Inez (Alice In Chains).

The album also features Red Sox players Johnny Damon, Kevin Youkilis and Lenny DiNardo, along with Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein.

Stephen contributed additional lyrics and spoken word on the fourth track "Everlong". Check out Bronson's album at http://www.bronsonarroyo.com

New Stephen King Chapter

Stephen King shares the chilling first chapter of a work in progress with Amazon.com. In "The Pulse," a sunny afternoon in the park turns into a scene of terror for a young man who witnesses the beginning of a deadly "event."

Some Say Housing Isn't A Bubble After All

Source:

The AIA "Advocate for Absolute Returns"
From: The Research and Editorial Staff of
The Association for Investor Awareness, Inc.
July 7, 2005

There's no place like the stock market when it comes to finding contrary opinions. Even the hot housing sector looks cool to some analysts.

For example, Richard Maybury, editor of the "Early Warning Report", http://www.chaostan.com/ believes our real estate market only appears overheated when it's priced in U.S. dollars. In terms of the British pound, Swiss franc, New Zealand dollar, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, and gold, U.S. real estate prices only rose 4% in four years.

When priced in gold, most U.S. houses are actually less expensive than a few years ago. For example, it took 519 ounces of gold to buy a median-priced U.S. home in September 2001. Today you can buy the same home with 488 ounces of gold. A similar relationship exists when house prices are compared with many commodities that have doubled in price, or more, in recent years.

The alternative view of our housing market indicates prices aren't going up so much as the dollar is going down. By that measure, housing is becoming a hedge against our weak currency. Many economists believe housing is a textbook example of the free market's ability to rebalance itself when something, like the falling dollar, gets out of whack.

Of course, real estate prices can also go down in terms of the dollar, which is likely to happen if interest rates start to climb again. As we discussed last week, however, low interest rates are likely to remain flat, or even decline a bit for several months. Low rates and a strong housing market will help the U.S. economy remain healthy.

Payments

On Sunday, I thought of an idea to bring a bit more calm to the house. If SKGP or I yelled, we would have to put some money in the jar.

For the most part, it seems like the plan is doing some good. We've got about 7 cents in the jar today.

EJP's New Room

Last night, we put EJP into his own room for the first time. He had some trouble going to sleep. Once he was asleep, he woke up a couple times. At 1 AM, RCP spent about an hour with him.

Tonight he went down pretty easily; he's obviously tired. At 9:44, he woke up and cried once, but went back down easily. He seems to lose his pacifier, and become disoriented when he wakes up without it.

The time of the pacifier might be coming to an end soon. RCP offered him money to trade for his "fire". He immediately threw about 4 of them to Rory, but thought about it for a second, and took two back.

We've told him that we're going to mail them to Baby Alex, who is the one year old son of one of RCP's cousins.

WallaceFest '05

The Wallaces are back in town. Stand back.

A Walk In The Woods

This afternoon, I went for a hike in the open space behind our house.

After crossing a grasssy plain, I came to a small creek. There are many deer trails around, so I followed one across the creek. On the other side, the ground begins sloping up and it is fairly densly packed with trees and bushes. As I wound my way up the steep hill, I kept expecting a mountain lion to eat me. Luckily that didn't happen.

After a long climb, it became tough to go up, so I turned back towards home. I had to scramble through much brush and do some backtracking, but eventually I made it back to the creek.

At the creek area, I found some nifty red boulders and rocks, one of which I grabbed as a souvenier.

I followed the creek down towards home. At one pool, I was overwhelmed with the desire to make a dam. It was strange, but compelling. I dropped in a couple rocks and sticks, which didn't change much, but satisfied my male instinct.

Behind one of the houses under contrustion, a long snake basked in the sun.

Rather than go home right away, I turned south, across the bridge to the next part of the development. After about a half mile of road base, where two motorcyclists were speeding along, I was once again in the wild. I crossed a rotting wood bridge and walked by an aging corral.

As I returned home, a large turkey was sitting on the top of the corral. Before I could get a camera phone pict, he had hopped down and headed into the hills. I reached home without further adventure.

I'm really looking forward to doing hiking in these hills. I think I'll be more comfortable if I have a friend along; my inexperice at trail blazing makes me nervous. I also plan on finding my GPS and hooking it up to some topo software I've got, so I can see where I've been.

The End Times

Hotel Day 90
PaceHouse II Day -11

We have had a walkthrough with our builder. There were a few mostly cosmetic problem that they are going to look into. We met with a family friend, who is going to give us a bid on doing our patio and hillside wall.

On Monday, we sign our escrow paperwork. Next Friday, we give them our money.

Behold, the end is near.

Guess What Happened?

The fire alarm went off again. At least this time it was during the day, so none of the kids was asleep.

Swimming hooligans are to blame. Or maybe the soccer hooligans. They're both swarming everywhere.

Flooring

The hardwood has been installed, most of the floor tiling is in.

Wow, we're going to have a house soon.

I Don't Know What To Say

The fire alarm just went off again. RCP is off singing in a concert, and the kids were asleep.

You would think that the hotel would stop putting free popcorn in the rooms.

Popcorn

In case anyone is keeping track, the fire alarm just went off again. It was another popcorn related emergency.

T Minus 71

April 19, 2005. The call came in today. We have a date. It's going to happen. We're getting a new house.

On Sunday, we made our deposit for the flooring and tile. That was the last decision; now all we have to do is wait. We visited our locked house, and the cabinetry has been installed.

The more time we spend around our house, the more we like it.

The base price for our model is now $835,000, which is substantially more than what we are paying. Of course, they couldn't sell you one at that price, as they are out of inventory. The sign indicates that only the models are left, but when I asked they told me each model already has a mile long waiting list.

Victory Is Mine

Hotel Day 30

Into the Woods

Hotel Day 28

Saturday began with the normal fights about hair, clothes, or shoes. I'm not sure which.

While SKGP was in her tumbling class, we chatted with Matt and Kim. He'll probably end up doing some patio work for us at PH2.

We dropped EJP off at Nana's, grabbed a bean burrito, and headed into the woods. Always take a map when heading into the woods. We drove around the scenic Santa Cruz Mountains looking for the object of our quest and avoiding the local kooks.

Finally, our destination: Theatre in the Mountains presents CT English Middle School's production of Into the Woods. This production differed from the one you've seen on PBS. This was missing an act, had issues with the sound and lighting systems, and was full of 6th graders.

On the way back home, we started talking about the difficulties rearing children, and SKGP said "I could take EJP for my own."

We ditched SKGP with EJP at Nana's, and headed off to celebrate our anniversary by dining and relaxing.

Soccer hooligans everywhere. Help.

Surely You Jest

Hotel Day 27

It's Friday. The soccer hooligans are back. They're boys this week.

It's 8:45 PM. The kids are asleep and we're watching Collateral.
There goes the fire alarm. Again.

You have got to be kidding me.

RCP grabs EJP; I grab SKP. She mutters something about getting her toothbrush.

We go downstairs, and the alarm stops blaring.

Stupid hooligans burned their popcorn.

Partial Fractions

It was 14 years ago today.

A first year engineering student was unprepared for the rigors of college life. He'd managed to squeak through Math 21A, but 21B was not going well. The topic of partial fractions was beyond the country boy's understanding.

In desperation, he wandered the halls of his dorm with a calculus book on his head, moaning.

Suddenly, a ray of light broke through the clouds. A door opened. A tutor emerged.

She was studying animal science, but had a strong background in calculus from high school. She was taking calculus for dummies to meet her degree requirements, but she could solve problems like a real science major.

She invited him in. She helped him do his homework. She tickled him.

A hiccup or two later, they are living in a hotel room with two children and two cats.

Uh oh Hot Dog

EJP has added a couple zingers to his vocabulary.

In a fitting tribute to the late, great Johnny Carson, EJP throws out an occasional "Hey-o!". Thanks to Gramzilla for introducing this, and his sister for encouraging him.



"Uh oh ... Hot dog" is something that he picked up from his parents after last week's Mad TV episode. Basically, an Asian guy doesn't speak English but he thinks he does. When something zany happens, he says the catchphrase. Funny.

The Country Club Lifestyle

On Sunday, we went to the Eagle Ridge Country Club for lunch with my parents. The weather was perfect and the food was pretty good. We were surprised at how few people were eating there at lunch time.

After lunch, we vistied PaceHouse II to check on its progress. The doors are now locked, so we can no longer wander around the inside. Looking through the windows, we see the sheetrock is up, taped, and textured. So its ready to be painted.

Things are moving along nicely!

Scandal

Hotel Day 25

It appears that dirty politics are rampant in the hotel. Rumor has it that this week's GotW has only been in the hotel for 18 days as of Sunday, versus our 22.

Apparently, I've been schmoozing with the wrong employee. Arielle worked the Sunday evening shift, but the Sunday morning shift made the decision. She assured me (if people play by the rules) that we'll be awarded fairly soon.

Tonight I asked Arielle about the coup, and she says that this imposter was bestowed the honor as he is checking out sooner than us. Checking out seems like admitting defeat to me, but no one is going along with my point of view.

Cookies

Arielle made us cookies tonight. She wasn't supposed to, but she did.

On dinner nights (Monday through Thursday), if we go to the front desk around 8 PM, there are fresh baked Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip cookies. You have to get there quickly, as they never make enough for the masses that swarm on them. On weekends, however, we are on our own for dinner and dessert.

But Arielle, who has been an employee for as long as we have been tenants, decided to try her hand at the Spunkmeyer oven with great success. She found some milk too.

We like Arielle.

The Secret

Hotel Day 20

I have learned the secret of the Guest of the Week. It is an endurance contest. Each Sunday, the staff determines who has been in the hotel the longest and never received the award. The prize is your name on a little sign in the lobby.

Mr. Dolan, this week's GotW, has been there since the middle of September.

How I covet the prize.

Lunch

Hotel Day 16

Today, I walked home from work and had lunch with the family. It was nice.

Belated Christmas Card

Christmas 2004 Photo

What Are the Odds?

The fire alarm went off around 9:45 PM.

Of course, neither of the kids woke up. We bundled them up and carried them out into the hall. Luckily before we got outside, the alarm shut off.

On our 2003 trip to Disneyland, the alarm at the Grand Californian went off. It was the middle of the night and everyone in the hotel stood outside in the cold for a half hour.

Fire alarms are scary; avoid them if possible.

Stupid soccer hooligans.

Something Fishy Going On

Hotel Day 13

We awoke to a cold and foggy morning.

For breakfast, I brought a couple waffles to the room and RCP added strawberries and whipped cream. With a little imagination, we can turn the hotel slop into something fun.

To escape the tiny space, we packed up the kids, picked up Nana and Granddad, and headed to Monterey. The weather down there was perfect. We had a nice lunch at the cafe inside the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Then we wandered around for a while. The only great white shark in captivity is doing well. The kids liked the children's area where they got to pet starfish and splash around.

When we got back to the hotel, we learned that this week's crop of soccer hooligans are girls.

Weekends

The soccer hooligans are back.

Last weekend, the hotel was filled with pre-pubescent boys. Its soccer tournament season, and we are one of the closest hotels to a large field complex. I'm sure this is good for the tax base of Morgan Hill, but its not so good for people living in the hotel.

Teenage boys make lots of noise, run up and down the hall, take over the pool and hot tub, eat all the food, leave messes in the dining area, and otherwise make things unpleasant around here.

It is Friday night, and the noise is starting again.

RCP suggests we start taking weekend outings. SKGP has never seen the snow, so maybe we should escape to Tahoe.

Dinner is Served

RCP cooked dinner tonight. In our little kitchen. With our little stove (and our big microwave).

She made chicken with Cuban mojito sauce, with rice and black beans on the side. A side of spinach for the adults and green beans for the kids rounded things off. A bottle of red wine helped us forget that we didn't have enough elbow room at the table.

I washed the pots and pans.

While the space is tight, the food was good and a nice change from the snack food we get downstairs.

The Remodel of PaceHouse II?

On Tuesday night, Standard Pacific, the builder of PH2, hosted a get together. Several of the new neighbors were there.

As RCP and I talked to the people living around us, we were surprised at the plans they had for their houses. One couple is going to gut their master bathroom before moving in. Another is trying to find a contractor to move the breakfast nook out a couple feet and put a new window in one of the rooms.

What's wrong with us? We're happy with our dream home.

Also, it appears that our laziness is showing once again. Everyone else knows exactly what they are going to do with their yards, and have lined up the landscape architects and contractors to get it done. I know I haven't planned this far ahead, and I'm pretty sure she hasn't either.

Standard Pacific couldn't tell us the date of completion, but they commented that the recent storms have not been good for their work.

Life in a Hotel Room

Hotel Day 11

We live in a hotel room.

We are two adults, two children, and two cats.

Hotel rooms are small. This is a big hotel room, but it is still small.

We will be doing this for the next several months. Until our house is completed. That's supposedly around the end of April. Unless something goes wrong. Something always goes wrong.

On the bright side, we get fed. Breakfast everyday; dinner four nights a week. Last night we had chili dogs. I wouldn't call them good, but the kids enjoyed them and we ate them. There is salad, or at least there is lettuce with dressing. Tonight is bean burritos.

The breakfast buffet includes eggs, plus one other hot dish that rotates between biscuits and gravy, sausage patties, and french toast. They also have cereal and milk, oatmeal, yogurt, muffins, bread products, and a cook your own waffle.

What other benefits do we get? We have access to a pool and a hot tub. There is an exercise room, with treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals. There is an outdoors court area. We have mediocre cable in the room, which is better than what we had in the first PaceHouse. We get a free newspaper. They have freshly baked chocolate chip cookies every night at 8 PM. They clean our room and give us fresh towels whenever we want.

Pretty soon, we might decide that the hotel lifestyle is for us.

How do I become the guest of the week?

PaceHouse I is Gone

Hotel Day 4

We have now moved out of the original PaceHouse and are living in temporary housing at the Residence Inn.

We have too much stuff.