Thurman Saves Christmas (2006)

In looking back through my posts, I was surprised that this story has not come to light in its fullness. I will rectify that omission now.

The 2006 Christmas holiday was to be a special one, as nearly all of Carma's siblings were returning to Omaha for one last family Christmas gathering. Kristen was returning from her 18 month mission to Germany, and her siblings (and nephews and nieces) were excited to see her. Jenny and Aaron were unable to come for birth-proximity reasons (Spencer was born on the 24th), which is as good of an excuse as you can get. At the time of this story, Nico was a robust 1.5 year-old toddler, and Thurman was a soon-to-be 6-year old kindergartner.

(We had decided before never again to visit my parents for Christmas, nothing against them. It's just that 1) they live in the middle of nowhere in northern Minnesota, and 2) Christmas is in December.)

Unfortunately for us, December air travel had pretty much become the perfect storm of travel nightmares. A blizzard had socked Denver, causing a minimum of three days worth of back-ups, and Chicago also got shut down for at least a day due to inclement weather. There were national news stories of how people were camped out in airports for days waiting for flights, people abandoned by the airlines, and even if people got onto a plane, incredibly long waits on the plane before take-off.

So, it was with a bit of trepidation that we left for the airport (JFK) on the morning of December 23rd. We had an afternoon flight with a connection in Cincinnati on our way to Omaha. We hoped for the best, but expected the worst. Or, what we thought would be the worst.

Well, JFK is a busy place, especially as throngs of holiday travelers pass through it. But already the red flags were showing. Multiple delays (including our own flight, as we saw while passing through security), and lots of people looking like they'd been there all day already. So naturally, we waited many hours for our flight, and finally left 4 or 5 hours late. Naturally, we had missed our connection in Cincinnati, as we arrived there close to midnight.

Fortunately, the airline had some staff at the airport to help people make arrangements for the next day (as well as give us hotel and meal vouchers). Unfortunately, the arrangements were not optimal for us. They were only two seats on the morning flight from CIN to OMA, these were given to Carma and Nico. For Thurman and I, they sent us to Chicago O'Hare, with a connecting flight on a different airline to Omaha. 

In hindsight, I should have known there would be trouble. We had flown Delta to CIN, but to have us connecting on a United flight seemed like a desperation move. We asked to make sure that we were confirmed on the United flight, and the agent replied that we were.

So the next morning, we split up at the airport. We had framed this for Thurman (in an effort to make it more fun) like we were two teams on the Amazing Race (we had all become fans of that show about that fall). This worked for the most part, helping him not be anxious about being separated. So Thurman and I began our leg of the "race". As we were flying into Chicago I was able to point out downtown, the White Sox stadium, and even Evanston, where he was born. The real trouble began when we hit the ground. 

We were a little pressed for time to make our connection, and of course, we were in the completely wrong terminal. So after finally getting to the correct gate, I was told at the check-in counter that the flight was already full. I tried to explain that we had confirmed seats, she countered that we had been put on stand-by, and that a Delta agent cannot confirm seats for a United flight, and that if we had been told differently, the agent was lying. Shocked (but not really surprised), I tried to sort out my options. 

First was a call to Delta, which was completely in vain. Since Delta doesn't have any flights from O'Hare to Omaha, they weren't really in a position to do much. Next was to plead my case to the United agents. They were only slightly more helpful, saying we could stand-by on the four remaining flights to Omaha that day, but they were all over-booked, and since we did not book through United originally we would be the lowest priority. However, we could get booked and confirmed on a flight the next day (that would be Christmas Day). This essentially eliminated any flight options out of O'Hare, getting me to try to think of other options. 

Not having a iPhone (how did I survive?) I opted for the next best thing; I called a friend with high-speed internet. Thankfully, Trav was around and helped me. We found an Amtrak train heading out that afternoon, but it wouldn't get in until late (11 pm or so). I thought, "well it'd be quicker to drive", so he helped investigate one-way rental options from O'Hare. However, there were none to be found. So, thinking of the train as a last resort option, I decided I'd try my luck in person at the rental car counters without real hope of success. By this time, Carma had landed in Omaha and called me, so I related everything to her, admitting I was pretty much out of options, and didn't think we'd make it for the Christmas Eve festivities.

Throughout these two hours, I must say that Thurman was an absolute angel. I had explained the situation to him ("The airline lied to us and we don't have a way to get to Omaha until tomorrow."), and he was content to sit and watch a movie on the portable DVD player. So, as we started toward the ground transportation areas I related to Thurman what we were up to. He gave it some thought, and then asked me, "Why don't we try the other airport Dad?"

Out of the mouths of babes. I could have kissed him. In fact, I probably did. It was a genius idea that hadn't occurred to me, but should have. When Carma and I were dating long-distance (Omaha to Chicago), we used to fly Southwest out of Midway airport all the time. I called up Carma, who also thought the idea was spectacular, immediately bought us tickets.

Those of you familiar with Chicago will also know that getting between the airports is easy, though time consuming. The El train runs to both, and connections are made downtown. So we hopped on the Blue line, transferred to the Orange, and arrived at Midway 90 minutes later. Carma texted me our confirmation number, which I then used to check in at an automated kiosk (having no bags to check). We whizzed through security, and made it plenty of time for our 3:30 pm flight. We arrived safe and happy in time to celebrate the evening with our family. 

So that is the story of how Thurman saved Christmas. I guess the moral is, always be willing to listen to your children. And never, ever trust an airline to do what's right for you or your family.

Post-Script: To Delta's credit, after my scathing letter demanding reimbursement for our Southwest tickets, they did apologize and pay for the tickets. 

At Home: Day 8

Well, with Carma blogging from Australia, the best I can do is try to keep up.

Today was an exciting day, I woke up feeling not very crappy. Thurman, however, had the sniffles. Thurman had his usual french toast with apricot jam for the 53rd day in a row, only 212 more for the world record.

Nico didn't want to wake up, as per the usual weekday routine. He ate cereal, as did I. Um...they watched Scooby-Doo (again, as usual) while I tended to my own hygenic needs. 

We left late (as usual), though Nico happily went to play this Monday morning at his school (unusual). Thurman remembered the signs on Friday indicating the NJ Transit bus would not be running on Clinton street (our usual mode of transit to his school) through today, so I drove him to school. Naturally, we saw a bus running it's normal course anyway.

I went to work (usual) via a taxi (unusual) and then the Path (also unusual) as it was very cold and my lungs are still recovering. It was quiet in my office (unusual) since two of my co-workers were out. I left at 5:00 (usual), took the subway to the Path (usual), and picked up the boys (usual) at Mr. Roberts (usual), where they greeted me with smiles and shouts of "Daddy!" (usual, bless their hearts).

We came home, they watched Scooby-Doo while I made dinner (usual). We ate, and then played Lego Star Wars (usual) while waiting for Carma to call. Then bedtime was upon us with its usual routines and protestations. However, as I was writing this blog, I heard a page turn in their room (not usual). I caught Thurman illicitly reading a book with his little key-chain flashlight. I wonder if that is a typical thing for him...

My plans now are to do the dishes and relax a little, then hit the sack (all very usual).

So, yes. A typical day in almost every respect. And as usual, we miss Carma very much and can't wait until she comes home. Just as long as she doesn't shake things up too much. 

Where in the World is Carma Bylund-Lincoln?

Does anyone other than me remember "Where in the World in Carmen Sandiego?"

Carmen Sandiego was (I guess, still is) a fictitious video-game villainess that had her henchmen steal precious artifacts, art, culturally important items and the like from around the world, which then you as the player were supposed to figure out clues to stop Carmen and her V.I.L.E. agents. The game had a strong educational bent, as you were to use knowledge (or learn along the way) usually involving geography, cultural awareness, and/or history.

I even remember there being a PBS game show for kids based on the whole concept, including a funky title song sung by the group Rockapella. 

This all simply popped into my head while thinking about Carma's travels. For all I know, maybe she is leading an international crime syndicate. That certainly would be like her, not to be satisfied with some rinky-dink little Mafia organization. I guess I can respect that.

Anyway, over the past few years she's been to Paris (twice), Italy, Spain, Australia (currently), and has plans to go to Austria in March. Plus in February, she'll go to the Dominican Republic, the British Virgin Isles, St. Thomas, and the Bahamas- though I get to go with her for that trip, so I guess I'll be on the lookout for shady dealings.

Let's see...the only times I've left the country include Victoria, B.C. (honeymoon with Carma), Acapulco, Mexico (with Carma for her conference), and to London and Warwick, U.K. (again, another Carma conference). Hmmm. But Carma does tell me if I ever get to go anywhere interesting, I should take an extra day or two to enjoy it. I don't know if she's saying that to be nice, or because if I go anywhere interesting, she's usually with me.

Domestically, I've recently gone to such exotic places as New Brunswick, NJ; Providence, R.I.; Albany, NY; Portsmouth, N.H.; Seattle, WA; and Chicago, IL. Yeah. Really pushing the frontiers there, Greg. I did get to travel more in my previous jobs, but the locales weren't often that interesting (Evansville, IN; Lamoni, IA; Lansing, MI; Bangor, ME to name a few) and were often a pain to get to. 

Oh well. Maybe after Carma retires from her cartel life we'll travel the world together. But it would probably be my luck though that we'll end up in a witness protection program in Le Mars, IA or some other puny little hamlet in the middle of nowhere. 

OK, so I don't actually think she'd do anything like that, in case anyone doesn't realize I'm totally kidding. But these are the crazy thoughts I have sometimes.

A Qualitative Sociographic Study of Video Game Playing Habits Among the 7 and Under Demographic

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that American children of various age demographics in general elicit positive emotions from interactive participation in simulated, digitally rendered environments (i.e. "video games"). This case study is an in-depth qualitative examination of such interactions among the male segment of an Eastern United States family. 

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Thurman and Nico have been enjoying playing the Lego Star Wars video game for a little while now. It is essentially a tongue-in-cheek walk-through all all six episodes of the Star Wars saga, but everything (including the characters) are made out of Legos. It has a two-player mode but, not surprisingly, Nico really isn't very good at playing the game. We've tried and tried, but he just doesn't quite grasp the basics yet. Stuff like moving his character around and knowing what he's supposed to do (or following the instructions of his brother or father). (Though to be fair to Nico, Carma isn't very good at the game either.) Earlier this morning we tried again, and as Thurman's (Obi-wan) character charged into battle, Nico's (Anakin) went the other way. I asked, "Nico, what are you doing?" He said "I'm hiding."

Thankfully, the game has a setting in which one player can play, and another computer controlled character follows along. So, being the deceitful parents we are (for the greater good, of course) we allow Nico to believe he's actually playing along with Thurman. This works well, as long as he thinks he is playing the character he wants to be. I fear for the day when he finally discovers he hasn't been playing all this time. Hopefully we'll have moved on to a different game before then.

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Our family owns a Nintendo Dual Screen portable entertainment unit, more commonly referred to as the Nintendo DS (or simply "The DS"). Now, it may seem like it's Thurman's because he's essentially the only one using it. But it's not, really. 

However, Thurman has been patient with Nico while trying to let him do some of the easier games on the DS. He still pretty much fails, but it's often the thought that counts. Recently at aftercare however, Thurman was kind enough to make a DS for Nico built out of construction paper, complete with two screens, all the appropriate buttons drawn, and even a little paper stylus for him to use. Nico was elated to have such a prize, and played with it for a couple of days. One time while Nico was "playing his DS", I heard him making video-game sounds, and then he said, "Oh, dang it!" The poor kid has trouble even succeeding at his own imaginary games. 

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A few weeks ago, Thurman was playing baseball while I was working on the computer. I'd occasionally snatch a glance to see how he was doing. In this particular game, Thurman was trailing by a couple of runs late in the game, but had runners on first and second with nobody out. So, his batter promptly hit a sharp grounder right at third base where the computer got the force out at third, threw to second, and then threw to first for the triple play. I've never seen that before on a video game before. I think it must be rigged.

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One of Thurman's favorite computer games on the internet is Bloons Tower Defense, which involves a bunch of monkeys throwing darts at balloons. Trust me, it's more fun (and addictive) than it sounds. But beware, there are no left-handed monkeys.

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Amongst the older male demographic, I wish I had more time to play video games. :) I did get Rock Band 2 for my birthday, and I'm pretty excited about that. It now has a feature that makes it so you won't get booed off stage, so I can now rock out with Thurman and Nico without fear of failure. I'm sure we'll get better with practice. If Carma lets us, anyway. 

The Thrill of Victory

After losing or tying in all 7 games of the season so far, Thurman's team finally pulled out a victory in the final regular season game today, 1-0.

Let's just say there was a happy father jumping up and down in the stands that was described by some as "loud" and "a maniac". (Friends of mine, can you tell?)

I'm just glad that when the final whistle sounded, the kids (and parents) had an extra reason to be happy for once.

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To celebrate the occasion, we let Thurman pick a place to go for dinner. He chose Chili's, mainly for the desert. As a "special treat" we let him have his own Molten Chocolate Cake, while the rest of us shared another. To his credit (or detriment) he did eat almost all of it.

The Early Years (Pre-K)

The sad thing about my early childhood is that I don't remember much of it. Well, maybe there's not much to remember. I'll be as thorough as I can for this section given the lack of material to work with. I don't have any pictures or anything, mostly just memories and memories of pictures.

I obviously don't recall being born. I was the first (and only) child born to Robert Merrill Lincoln (1954-2008) and Diane Louise (Martinson) Lincoln (1952-present). They were married out of high school, but the marriage dissolved by the time I was 3 years old. I really have no memory of us being a family together at all.

I was born in Albert Lea, MN and lived there for nearly all of my childhood. Up through kindergarten I remember living in a one-bedroom apartment on Washington Street, near a grocery store, and only about a block from our church (Trinity Lutheran). My grandparents on my mom's side lived in town and were a big help us in those lean years.

Prior to kindergarten, I only have a few memories that float around somewhere inside my head. I remember breaking rocks with a hammer, interested to see what was inside. I remember watching the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. I remember playing with army guys and Lincoln Logs in the house. I remember getting spanked after stealing a candy bar. I remember fearing the lady who lived downstairs because she was ancient. I remember I slept on a hide-away bed, though usually I'd get to fall asleep in my mom's bed until she hit the sack. I remember dialing random numbers on the telephone and talking to someone. I remember going to the truck stop for dinner/lunch occasionally.

At the time, I'm not sure my mother had a job. I know by the time I was in kindergarten we were on Welfare for sure, but don't know for sure when that started. So, I'm not sure what I did all day. Apparently I was able to read before kindergarten, so I had that going for me. I don't remember having any friends at the time.

Seems like a bit of a wasted post, really. "Greg remembers little before kindergarten." News at ten, film at eleven. But I guess it does set up the background of things to come. 

Ruh Roh Raggy!

The latest phase in the cartoon world amongst the younger demographic in our household has become almost alarmingly an addiction. Sadly, it was as a result of me trying some new recordings for them. They'd seen most of the Spiderman and Superman cartoons, and Carma thought they should have a break from Superheroes for a bit. So, thanks to Boomerang (the "classic" cartoon channel) I was able to get some new choices fairly easily. I recorded some Jetsons, and the Flintstones. Both were received slightly warmly. But then, they watched Scooby-Doo.

They usually only get to watch cartoons once, twice at most per day. Now, they are focused little guys trying to watch as much Scooby-Doo as possible. Thurman loves it, because he (being a bright boy) has already figured out the "pattern" to the show, and tries to guess who the bad guy really is. Nico, his favorite parts are the chase scenes and crashes. Having a talking dog is also a plus in his book.

Carma was relatively happy with their choice a couple of days ago ("Hey, my mom even let us watch that!"), but now is regretting it a bit more ("This show makes no sense, it's completely unrealistic.") Myself, I remember loving the show as a kid. Now I watch a bit of it, and wonder what I was thinking. The laugh tracks, the horrible music, and complete predictability make it hard for me to watch. I guess there's some things you just need to be a kid to really enjoy. My enjoyment comes from hearing them laugh and have a good time.

Weird Lincoln Tales #3: The Evil Doppleganger

"I know he looks like me,

 hates work like me,

 and walks like me.

 He's even got a twin like me.

 My Evil Twin,

 Bad weather friend,

 I know someday I'll meet him,

 but I don't know where or when."

My Evil Twin, They Might Be Giants

This isn't a real trend, I promise. Not all of the Weird Lincoln Tales will be about people who resemble to me. But these two (this one and the prior) are special to me.

Prior to 1998, my real experience with baseball amounted to 1) being somewhat interested in the Twins winning in 1987, 2) being much more interested (i.e. actually watching games) when the Twins won in 1991 (best World Series ever) and 3) wishing the baseball highlights on SportsCenter would be over so they would talk about football.

Then in the summer of 1998, two things happened to plants the seeds of baseball love. The summer of the home run chase captivated me (and now feels forever stained), and my friend Aaron moved in next door to me. This eventually led to hours and hours of playing baseball video games (and at one point, a broken chair).

Unlike me, Aaron had pretty much loved baseball from childhood. Growing up in Iowa, there's apparently nothing else to do. :) But unlike most Iowans, he didn't follow the Cubs, or even the Twins, Royals, or White Sox. Somehow, he became a fan of the Atlanta Braves.

By the fall of 1998, I met Carma, who was also a baseball fan. For some reason, soon after we started dating, I felt the need to pick a team to root for.  This was not very difficult to do, as the New York Mets were the perfect choice. Carma liked New York (still does, I guess), but I could not root for the Yankees (at least if I wanted to keep my soul). And the Mets were a division rival to Aaron's Braves. Perfect! So naturally I had to go get a Mets jersey to pledge my allegiance. (Photo from 2006)

Moving forward to the summer of 2000, Carma and I went to New York City to visit some friends (as yet unencumbered with children we could still do such extravagant things), as well as take in a baseball game. We had previously visited NYC the previous November, but needed to return to actually catch baseball in action. (The November '99 visit- my first to NYC ever- is also the same in which I declared to Carma, "It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.") We took in a Mets game on July 1st, 2000, which happened to be against the Braves. Not only that, it happened to be during the first series where relief pitcher John Rocker returned to NYC after his Sports Illustrated interview filled with derogatory comments about New Yorkers.

"It's the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark, looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing." In addition he went on to add "The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?"

So, yeah, pretty ignorant and a bit hateful. Needless to say, New Yorkers weren't expected to be very welcoming to him after his comments. The series between the Braves and Mets was a 4-game series starting Thursday, June 29th. In preparation, the normal police presence at Shea Stadium was increased tenfold to about 700 officers. The atmosphere was a bit raucous (as was the media coverage), but yet festive at the game we attended. Part of that could be because the Mets won handily that day, and John Rocker did not pitch. 

It was a fun and memorable trip. About a week after returning home (Evanston, IL at the time) I got a copy of Sports Illustrated (another pre-children luxury), which had an article about the series. On the first page I found a surprise.

Looking at the guy holding the sign very closely...

So let's see: Black Mets jersey, brown hair/beard, glasses, a little on the portly side, and was at one of the Mets games against the Braves. Yep, it could have been me. Except for the fact that I would never hold a sign like that.

However, to test how good a doppleganger my evil twin really was, I emailed my friend Aaron (still in Omaha) and simply told him to get the latest SI and look at page 38. A couple of days later, I got his reply:

"You're a jackass."

Fair enough, I guess. But if my best friend was fooled, than it's definitely a twin. How evil he is is anyone's guess, but I figure he can't be too bad if he's a Mets fan.

The Blog to Nowhere

"We need a plan."- Bylund family quote

I was considering what I want to do with my blog here, and among the occasional rantings, happenings, and comments on everyday life, I do want it to be a bit more. I'd like to actually document stuff. You know, almost like a journal.

At first, I was resistant to this idea. I'm not sure I'm completely comfortable with having such a mixture all in one blog: some funny tidbits offset by long, drawn-out reminiscences of past items I want to dwell on (or at least capture). I considered possibly starting another, separate blog for such journal entries- more accurately I guess I'm still considering it.

However, I'm reluctant to start a second blog. First and foremost, because I'm a bit lazy and don't want to feel like there's added pressure to have to keep up with two blogs. Secondly, perhaps there is some benefit to a good mixture of stuff- I mean, that's much like real life, right? For better or for worse, richer or poorer, with or without cheese. You get the idea.

I guess it really comes to this: if someone were to dig up an archive of my blog 50 years from now, what would I want them to be able to read?

My thought is to just incorporate it all into this current blog. But to do so, I need a plan. Here's what I'm thinking:

I want to post at least 3 times a week, regardless of topic or length of article. Do more if I have time and desire.

I also have several ideas for upcoming posts. I dug through some of my old papers and items my mom saved for me- including old newspaper clippings, report cards and transcripts, and other various items. I want to try to incorporate these in, just because it might be kind of fun. Some topics will include: what I remember from my early years, elementary school life, my acting "career", the Duck, high school days, college thoughts, marital life, and others. Not to mention more Weird Lincoln Tales, Haiku Movie Reviews (if I ever get to watch more movies), and the occasional report on the darling boys of my life.

And lots of bad jokes. Promise.

Soccer Update

Thurman got to play on offense this week, which made me very excited. I fear his ability to run fast was being wasted standing around on defense.

Anyway, the team played very well, but failed to score a goal. Thurman had one really good try at scoring though, but the ball went a bit wide. The good news was that the other team was unable to score either, meaning yet another tie for the Cougars.

Yellow Shirts with Zig-Zag Patterns

I'm thinking they should perhaps change Thurman's soccer team uniforms to that described in the title. For that would better display the essence of Charlie Brown the team seems to have acquired.

Five games into the season so far, Thurman's team is 0-3-2, meaning the have yet to win a game, have lost three, and tied twice. The scores of those games have been 0-4, 0-3, 0-0, 0-2, and 1-1.

Note that their poor team was held without a single goal for its first four games. Their first goal, scored on Saturday, was on a penalty kick (in all fairness, so was the other team's goal). However, when the kick went in, all of the kids (and quite a few of the parents) celebrated as if they had just won the World Cup. It was 45 seconds of pure bliss and pandemonium.

Now, I have to freely admit I am one of those dads. One of the dads who cheer their kids loudly, often embarrassing their wives (and possibly the children too) in the process. Granted, I'm not going to get into fisticuffs with other parents, or start berating the coaches for poor decisions - I do have a modicum of self-control. But I do get overly invested emotionally in games in which my son is participating. I just can't help it. Last year in instructional league, I was an "assistant coach", emphasis on assistant, as not much coaching was going on. When Thurman scored a goal last year, I nearly exploded with pride and joy. I think I was happier than he was, though he was very happy.

Anyway, it's just hard for me to watch them lose. I'm all about learning how to lose, and being gracious in defeat. But you know...I just want them to win some too, to feel the other side of it. As one of the other parents said to me, "I just don't want them to go around with the taste of losing always in their mouth."

You do see it in some sports these days. Teams so downtrodden, they expect to lose. Or as I've also heard it put, "They've forgotten how to win." It takes the joy out of playing. It creates a defeatist attitude. I'd hate for my son to experience that.

So, I do my best to keep things positive. I encourage him, and tell him how well he played. I cheer for him like mad, even if they lose. He'll occasionally hear me, and turn and smile, sometimes even giving me a thumbs-up. So, even if his team never wins a game or even scores a goal, he knows I'm still his fan.

NOT for the Children

So, as a reward for making the *ahem* "Ultimate Sacrifice" for our children, Carma and I have decided to celebrate our (still a little ways away) 10-year anniversary in style. Well, at least in a style as-of-yet not familar to us.

In February (approximately our 9.5 year anniversary mark) Carma and I will spend a week helping clean, restore and preserve the wetlands in North Dakota. Unknown to many in the U.S., the Missouri River is essentially a HUGE lake due to damming, which helps foster the wetlands. But much of it is in danger, as nearly half of the wetlands have been lost in the last decade. We have volunteered to spend a week camping, and helping to clean a portion of the lands in need. This opportunity is coordinated in part by the North Dakota Great Plains Project. We will be serving near the Little Missouri State Park area, closest town is Killdeer, ND- population 713.

I know this comes as a great surprise to many of you. I mean, who goes to North Dakota wetlands in February to camp and clean?

Um, not us. Totally kidding. We're going on a cruise.

For the Children

Carma and I have decided (at least tentatively) to make the ultimate sacrifice for our children.

We are planning to take them to Disney World in December.

Now, we've watched the brochure DVD (that made Carma wish we had a girl so she could be a princess) and have decided for sure to go to the Magic Kindom and the Disney Hollywood Whatever It Is Called.

We are planning on four days in the area, and are very seriously considering doing the Universal Studios parks the remaining two days instead of the other Disney stuff. We don't think Epcot 1) looks very interesting and 2) would hold much interest for the younger demographic in our family.

The Animal Kingdom...I don't know why, but I harbor a negative bias towards it for some reason that makes me not want to go there at all. Not that it's ever done anything to me, though I must say I never really liked The Lion King. And I hate zoos. So, maybe that's it.

Anyway, I guess one of the main reasons for this post is a call for anyone with Disney/Universal/Orlando experience to give us any tips, tricks, or ideas you may have to help our trip go smoothly.

Many thanks in advance!

Last Resorts

To quote Mr. Mark Newman  of the Weekly Christmas Letter "I've said before that Sprite is the default drink. No one 'chooses' it, but you get it because there is no other good option. ... It's just never a first-choice drink...you drink it because it's there."

I find this interesting, I would actually put Sprite about 4th on my list of soft drink choices (behind Coke Zero, regular Coke, and any type of Root Beer). But the interesting thing is that I have a similar theory, only instead of Sprite- I feel the same way about Denny's restaurants.

My usually quote regarding this (told to poor Carma way too many times) is, "Nobody ever goes to Denny's. You just end up there."

Really. I mean, I can't even remember the last time I even ate at a Denny's. Even if you see one, there's usually a Perkins or IHOP or anything more preferable nearby. I seriously wonder how the chain even continues to exist in the first place. 

Floundering Fantasy

I've heard a quote that says something to the effect of: "Only one person in the world is interested in your fantasy football team, and that person is you." Or, stated slightly differently, "No one wants to hear about your fantasy football team."

Well, I'm not here to tell you about my team exactly. Just bear with me.

Carma and I have been playing in fantasy football leagues since 1999. While she doesn't have the patience to last through the super-long fantasy baseball season, she still enjoys football leagues, which is totally cool.

However, the last couple of years, she hasn't been able to participate in the draft for her teams- leaving me with the responsibility (with a few minor instructions given) of drafting her team in addition to my own. And inexplicably, last year she finished with a much better record than I did, and is well on her way to repeating that feat this year as well.

So far this year, her team is undefeated (3-0), while my team is winless (0-3). She's scored the 2nd most points in the league, I've scored the fewest. This week, we play each other, and despite some roster changes she'll have to make due to byes, she'll probably beat me anyway. Honestly, it's a bit humiliating.

If I was the one drafting both teams, how did one go so poorly, and the other so well? And why is it my team that has to stink? And why for the second year in a row?

Maybe I'll have her draft for me next year.

Sheer Genius

Bravo, Apple. Bravo.

For iTunes addicts like myself, Apple has essentially just put their hand in my wallet (and many other wallets and purses out there) and made themselves comfortable. Somehow they managed to do this while keeping me perfectly happy and content.

So, last week or so, iTunes version 8.0 came out. This version has several new things (including HD shows), but I'm taken in by a new feature called Genius. Genius essentially has two functions: the Playlist, and the Sidebar.

The Playlist may make your own carefully constructed playlists in iTunes obsolete. All you have to do (on the computer, or your iPod or iPhone) is select one single song, and Genius will automatically create a playlist of 25 songs out of your library for you. The songs are usually deemed related by genre, year, and even tempo. This almost makes it too easy. Not to mention addictive and possibly dangerous.

All this time I've been trying to organize my music, I now don't have to spend. Why do I need separate playlists for "Grunge" and "Mellow" and "Hard Rock Workout"? Now all I have to do is pick a song, press the Genius button, and I'm set. Gone are the days of 200 song playlists- no one listens to that many songs in one session anyway. So yeah, wow. I'm totally cool with this.

Now, the double-edged sword strikes. On your iTunes library you can now have the Genius Sidebar. The Genius sidebar allows you to click on a song, and it automatically shows you all the closest matches to that song that you don't already own. That's right.  It uses your library against you, not unlike those photographers who use your own cute kids against you.

"Oh look at that. You remember this song, right! Yeah, I knew you'd like it. It's only $.99. C'mon, for old times sake. You know you want it."

I mean, really. The Genius Sidebar found They Might Be Giants songs that I didn't know I didn't have (or even knew existed). I didn't think that was possible. Add this to the fact that I've been stagnating in my music, looking for some fresh tunes to listen to. I have no defense against this.

So Bravo, Apple. Bravo. 

Enjoy my wallet until my wife cuts me off.

Movie Banter

The following is an actual conversation between me and Nico while dueling with lightsabers:

Nico: "I cut you!"

Me: "No! My name is Inigo Montoya. You kill my father, prepare to die."

Nico: "No! You killed my father!"

Me: "Nico, I am your father."

Nico: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

After stopping my laughter, I realized I wasn't sure if he was quoting Return of the Jedi, or Toy Story 2.

State of the Blog Address

My fellow readers,

It gives me great pleasure today to report that the blog is stronger today than ever before.

*waits for applause to die down*

The following statistics are tracked by SiteMeter (a cool and free tool for Bloggers).

Since April 28th, the Lincoln Blog has had 763 visits, which is about 4 per day. I want to thank people for their continued patronage. I know there's a lot of blogs out there, thanks for reading mine.

I extend a special welcome to the international visitors, I've had visits from Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. I have no idea why you care, but thanks for coming.

Locally, we've had visitors from at least 22 states. We'll work hard on getting all the others represented!

What I find very interesting is how people come to this blog. Some people have it bookmarked and check periodically. Some follow links to it from other blog sites (thank you for those links). Some even track it via the "Follow Blogs" feature on Blogger, or via a third-party site like Bloglines.

One of the more weirdly captivating things for me is seeing how people got here that didn't mean to. Among the last 100 visitors, 10 of them arrived here because they Googled some combination of "smoking cigarettes and watching captain kangaroo", which was not only the title of one post, but is also the catchy chorus in a song sung by the Statler Brothers called "Countin' Flowers On the Wall". Apparently since this is a post title for me, it rockets my blog post up to #3 on the Google charts for this search. I can only imagine how disappointed all those people were to find the post had nothing at all to do with the song (other than the song was stuck in my head that day).

At this point, I also want to comment that I've got a lot of links over to the left. Don't be afraid to click them. I don't make money on it or anything, but just fun stuff I thought I'd share.

I'd also like to invite Bloggers to use the "Follow This Blog" link on the left to list yourself among the daring, bold, and perhaps trend-setting people who are brave enough to consider themselves dedicated readers. No pressure though.

Thanks again everyone, and happy reading!

Now With 75% Less Verbage!

I admit, I often have a hard time deciding what to write about at times. Not that I have a lack of topics, quite the opposite. I just don't choose one. Which is probably why I usually end up writing mish-mashed posts that include several topics on my mind. To me, it often seems like these little things aren't "worthy" of their own topic/post, usually because I only have a little to say.

I'm re-thinking that position now though. Maybe little posts are OK. Perhaps even cute and cuddly. It would probably allow me to write more often. I need to realize I don't have to write a novel everytime, and it doesn't have to be well-formulated.

But it doesn't have to be super short either. Just so you are warned.

Great. I think we've made great progress today. Now get off the couch and start writing.

Back to School, With a Vengance

Hey yo! Fall fever is here, even if the true official fall is yet to begin. The wait for cooler weather is always a long one for me.

I figure instead of boring you with too many details about all that's transpired, I'll just give a bunch of quick hits. Feel free to hit back, but remember that you comments may be used against you in a court of law.

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Statistics

So, after 4,700+ miles the kids and the Grand Neuf returned home. Some unofficial statistics from the Tour:

• 9 fish caught by 2 boys
• 2 stomach bugs caught by 2 boys
• 5 large dogs weighing a combined 700 pounds visited
• 400 of those pounds transferred to 2 boys' clothing in the form of dog hair
• 87 cheeseburgers eaten
• 238 nickels spent at Nickel-a-Play
• 4 uncles, 7 aunts visited
• 19 pit stops while driving, 7 of them too late
• 3 days of diarrhea among 2 boys
• 22 bug bites on the eldest boy
• 2 tubes of hydrocortisone used
• 1 oil change
• 5 rounds of Putt-Putt
• 12 of 20 DVDs watched, most repeatedly
• 2 trips to a doctor's office
• 1 tooth lost due to collision, gravity (Nico)
• 2 very tired parents who are glad the trip is over

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Back into the Groove

A return to structure has been difficult, especially since the boys have essentially gone without any real regimented daily routines for a month or so. Back to bedtimes, and hard wake-ups. Back to making lunches, and complaining about the lunches that are made. But more importantly, back to SCHOOL.

Or, in Nico's case- going to a new school. We've been trying to prepare him all summer that he was going to go to Big Boy school (a Pre-K 3 year-old program). And this week it started, though not very well. Carma and Nico had a "practice day" where she got to stay with him for 2 hours- during which time he never really warmed up to anything or anyone. The real first day, Wednesday, I dropped him off much to his dismay (and pleadings, tears, and screams). Yep, adjustment is difficult for all of us- I was pretty sad about the whole experience myself.

Fortunately, he's warmed up a bit. We drop him off a bit earlier now, as he has a good friend he knows in the early care. He was happy yesterday, but sad today (though at least not crying).

Thurman on the other hand is doing well. He got the teacher he wanted, and has three of his friends in his class. His only complaints revolve around lunches (doesn't want to eat fruits) and the walk to aftercare after school.

The nice thing about this year (so far) is that our morning drop-off routine no longer includes using the car (or dealing with street-sweepers or cross-town buses!). Even better, both boys are now at the same aftercare, making pick-ups so so so much easier. Hurrah!

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Free Time

So, I was back in NJ without spouse or children for 10 days. What did I do? (Other than miss my wife and children?) I clearly neglected my blog in that time. There's a reason for that: I'm boring when I am by myself. Really! It's a wonder I ever got married.

My "accomplishments":

• Packed up our kitchen for a cleaning project
• Assembled a file cabinet
• Filed files into the cabinet
• Played some video games (Rock Band, Call of Duty 3)
• Cleaned my children's room
• Watched a couple movies
• Watched a few Mets games
• Had a fantasy football draft
• Went to work
• Went to church
• Had three meetings/activities cancelled
• Got a haircut

In my own defense, I was limited since I didn't have a car. But yeah, I'm pretty boring.

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Future Plans

We're all about the future! Well, we have a lot planned for it anyway.

October: Carma goes to DC (I think)

November: Greg goes to Rhode Island (um, yay?) Carma and Nico go to San Diego.

December: Carma goes to Australia. Possibility of family going to Disney World.

Ok, so Carma has a lot planned at least. :)

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Sporting!

So, the Mets are in a pennant race. Football has started. Fantasy baseball is in the playoffs. Fantasy football has begun. Is the U.S. Open over yet?

In the real world, Thurman begins soccer today. Practices are on Fridays at 6, with games on Saturdays. Just more routine to incorporate. Unfortunately, most of his games conflict with TaeKwonDo, which Nico will still go to. It'll be interesting to see how Nico fares at TKD without his big brother there.

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Politically Charged

Not really. But I'm trying to do my due diligence and listen/watch the DNC/RNC speeches. Thankfully they are all on iTunes and I can watch them on my phone during my commute.

Now, I've also been listening to General Conference addresses on my commute as well. Let's just say that the two are not on equal footing, and it's often a jolting transition from one to the other. I've noticed it's a lot easier to spot empty rhetoric from both parties after listening to the Lord's Apostles.

Is it too late to campaign for President Monson?

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That's all I got for the time being. I hope everyone is well and making their own seasonal transitions successfully!

Partnership

For the first time since we've been married, Carma and I are separated on our Anniversary (8/21). 

It's not a terrible thing. We did get to celebrate with a very nice date on Tuesday night while our children were nearly 2,000 miles away. So, it's not like it was forgotten or anything.

However, with the boys spending time with me for a week, and now being on my own in NJ, I have had plenty of time to realize and contemplate what a great partnership and marriage we do have.

There were times last week when I realized that being a parent is meant to be a job for two. And I was so grateful to know that Carma is my better parenting half (even if she wasn't there at the time). I love our children dearly and would do anything for them, but sometimes I need help. I need her perspective. Her balance. She makes me a much better parent.

She's also always there (if not always nearby) for me when I need her too. My confidant. My sounding board. My safety net. My solace and shelter. My inspiration. My love.

Without Carma, I don't know where or what I would be. But I know it wouldn't be as good.

Thanks for 9 years, honey. I love you, and look forward to many, many more.

Le Grand Tour du Grand Neuf

(That's French, for anyone who is curious)

A journey of 2,000 miles begins with... a lot of packing. Which at this point, seems a bit tiresome given we all just got home. I was in Cincinnati for nearly a week, while Carma and the boys went with Emily and Richie to Montreal.

However, those trips pale in comparison to the one before us. A true vacation in the tradition of the 90's Bylund Trip of the Decade (though, with 5 less children). Many states to roll through, and many people to see.

For our trip, we eschewed the rising airfare prices and decided to drive. In retrospect, considering the rising price of gas and our "Crossover" (read: kind-of-SUV), this may not have been a wise economic decision. But at least we don't have to rent a car now! And how can we not take Le Gran Neuf? ("The Big Nine")

The Plan
(please note, actual events may not follow The Plan. Life has a way of changing plans, but without a Plan we'd just drive aimlessly, which isn't really much fun at all.)

Day 1: Go West, Young Men (and Carma)

Friday August 8th, we take off heading west. And keep going, and going, and going. As long as we can anyway. The objective is somewhere in Indiana, possibly South Bend. The goal is to chew up as many miles as possible so we can spend less time driving the next day. The over/under for "Are we there yet?" is around 75.

(States: NJ, PA, OH, IN)

Day 2: Wasn't that Chicago?

We'll cruise up around the horn through Chicago (no stopping, please) and make a mad dash for Wisconsin. While we are there, we hope to see my sister Kendra (and husband David), my sister Katie (and husband Mike), and our friends Becky and Dan. And somehow eat dinner in there, and end up in Madison, WI for the night. And no, we are not interested in trading either of our boys for Brett Favre.

(States: IN, IL, WI)

Day 3: The Cow Game, in earnest

There's a game that we play, well not in New Jersey, but in other places that actually have cows. It's called the Cow game. The people on one side of the car count the cows on their side, and the others do the the same on the other half of the road. Simple, yes? Well, if you pass a cemetery, you lose all your cows (they die, apparently). However, if you pass a church before then, your cows are "saved" or "eternal" cows, and are immune to the grave.

So, as we drive to Minneapolis, we will play this game. It'll be a novelty to us New Jersey people.

Eventually, we end up in the Twin Cities to see our good friends Trav and Steph, along with their children and pets. And Trav's motorcycle, which he's threatened to make me ride.

(States: WI, MN)

Day 4: Bye-bye Mommy, Hello Fish

Carma abandons her boys at this stage of the trip, as she has to go do that work thing. The boys and I will continue our trek Northwest, ending the day in the Middle of Nowhere. Also known as Dorset, MN. There we will stay for a few nights, letting the boys discover the simple joys of fishing, mosquitoes, trees, dogs, and the night sky not being obscured by thousands of lights. I am mildly concerned that they may be allergic to fresh air though.

Day 8: Return to Civilization

On Friday, August 15th, we start the second leg of the marathon trip. Still without Carma, we will venture west to the Fargo-Moorhead (ND/MN) area and stop at my alma mater to briefly visit with some friends and colleagues. Then we head south on I-29 through some of the most boring, sceneless stretches of land America has to offer as we head towards Omaha, NE. I've made this drive before in 8 hours, but with stops for visiting and children's basic needs, I have a feeling it will take a lot longer.

(States: MN, ND, SD, IA, NE)

Day 9: Omaha

Well, the end of the tour for me comes in Omaha. I get one day in town to see David and Elaine, and my friend Aaron before catching a flight to NJ the next morning. And one last day to have fun with the boys, who by that point may be very ready to see me go.

I don't have anything particular planned for the day yet, but there's still time to figure that out.

Also, lest you think I'm just abandoning my children in the Midwest, Carma will be there on Wednesday (Day 12) to give them some Mommy lovin'.

In the meantime, Day 10 I travel back to NJ, and get to spend two days with my wife sans children. Which also happens to be near our anniversary, so we will go on a much needed date.

The rest of the trip/plan will have to be chronicled by Carma, since I'm not really sure if she and the kids are actually coming back. Or if so, what the schedule/plan is. I think it involves Colombia, MO; Savoy, IL; Ann Arbor, MI; and Buffalo, NY. Stay tuned to see if Carma posts any details.

Potpourri

Hey there. Just an hodgepodge of thoughts before I go to Cincinnati on Monday.

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(Written Saturday) Somewhat unbelievably, I'm going to be going to my first Mets game of the year tonight. Thurman and I are going with Richard and Emily- as our wedding present to them. We wanted to get them something unique for their wedding, and I think it's safe to say no one else got them Mets tickets.

In a bit of a bargain-hunt for the tickets, I ended up getting $39 tickets (first row, Upper Deck) for only $23 off of StubHub. I was surprised there were any Mets tickets going for below face value, but I'll be sure to always look there now.  But I imagine if they start winning even more, that will change.

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In the world of LOST, Carma finally finished Season One, on the same day I finished Season Two and those Peterson kids finished Season Four.

There's a math joke in there somewhere, but I'm unable to derive it.

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Yes, I'm going to Cincinnati for a Statistics workshop. Four and a half days of all the statistics I can stand. Some people would consider this to be punishment, I am not one of those people. Actually, I'm looking forward to a bit of a refresher. I haven't had to do anything much more complicated than t-tests for years now, and I can feel the knowledge slipping away. Kind of like my Spanish speaking abilities. (Despite living in Jersey)

Plus, conferences in our family have recently become our "spend free time in hotel room watching Lost" breaks. So, there's that to look forward to. I bought the Season Three DVD set just for the occasion.

Sadly, the Reds won't be in town while I am there. I was hoping to get to go to the new ballpark there. (I'll explain why in a future post. It involves baseball parks and a family competition.)

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I'm very much looking forward to vacation in August, even though it'll mean driving about 2,000 miles or so. With kids. 

Thank heaven for portable DVD players.

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(Monday Morning) Off to Cincy! But quickly, a recap of the Saturday night marathon baseball game.

Ok, maybe there's no way to recap quickly. Let's just say it went 14 innings. Thurman was a trooper and wanted to stay as long as possible, so we made it through the 12th. By then it was midnight, so we opted to leave. Ended up getting home at 1:15, and had an 8:00 am meeting in Caldwell for church the next morning. Ugh.

Oh well, it'll make a great story someday. Maybe. With a little embellishment.

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Haiku Movie Review: The Dark Knight

Corrupt government,
economic depression,
dark times for us all.

Go to a movie!
Get some popcorn and enjoy!
We'll go see Batman!

Corrupt government,
economic depression,
dark times for them too.

But they have Batman!
But also a madman who
has a magic trick.

Joker is cunning,
perfectly maniacal,
always a step ahead.

Anarchy does rule,
pushing heroes to limits,
and sometimes beyond.

Weird Lincoln Tales #2: The Ghost Truck

What follows is a true story, though some events are fuzzy due to the passage of time and the red vision of anger that clouds the entire story.

*****

The couple of months leading up to our move had been extremely busy. We had our first-born child that January, and Carma was finishing her dissertation and looking for a job at the same time. When she landed one in Iowa City, I had to find one as well. Finally we started making all the normal moving arrangements. You know; finding a new place to live, getting people to help you move, and reserving a truck for moving all of our goods.

Not too far away from our apartment was a Ryder truck rental place. I called through their reservation line a couple of months before the move to reserve our truck for the weekend we needed. I checked it off my list and moved on to other tasks. Little did I know, that I had just sealed our fate for one of the most frustrating times of our lives.

Three days (or so) before the move, I either called to confirm my pick-up time for the truck, or they called me. I can't remember which. Either way, I was informed that the trucks for our area had been overbooked, and that we would not be able to get a truck on the day we had reserved it for. I was in a bit of shock. I believe I did end up asking, "What good is a reservation if I can't get a truck?" Essentially I was told that a reservation did not guarantee a truck. After about 10 minutes of futile arguing, I hung up and faced the challenge of finding a new truck for our move...with only three days left. On a weekend. During peak moving season.

Over the next day or so, I called every single truck rental place I could find within a 100 mile radius of Evanston, which being a suburb of Chicago, is a LOT. Not a single one of them had a truck available. I was starting to panic, as our lease was up on the day we were moving, and had no flexibility on that end. We were fearful that we'd have to move our stuff onto the sidewalk and let it sit overnight. Carma thought that maybe we should do that and call a news crew just to make a point.

The hero of the day was my father-in-law, David, who was planning to drive out from Omaha to help us with our move. The solution? David drove to Iowa City (about half-way between Omaha and Chicago) and rented a truck there, then drove it four hours to Chicago to pick us (and our stuff) up. (I must say here somewhere that Carma's sister Jenny also came and helped too.) When David rented the truck, they asked him if it was a one-way or a local rental. Seeing as he was planning to return the truck to the same place, he opted for local, which thankfully did not charge extra for mileage. Now, to add even more to David's heroism, the truck was probably older than me. It was a stick. It was so old, it didn't even have shoulder seat belts. It was clearly not meant for long travel.

With the situation back in hand, we packed the U-Haul truck (with help of the local Elder's Quorum as well) and set off. For some reason we went to a hotel for awhile first, and then drove in the very early morning towards Iowa, with silent prayers that the truck would not break down.

Well, the prayers must have been heard and interpreted literally, because it was our car that broke down. At about 3:00 a.m., in the middle of nowhere. (Actually, it was Peru, Illinois.) This was very troubling, as we were going to be expected to show up with our stuff to move in by 10 a.m. (by the Elder's Quorum in Iowa City).

So, after many tears of anger at the continued bad luck, Carma, David and Thurman continued the journey to Iowa while Jenny and I hung out at a truck stop waiting for a tow truck. The tow truck took us to the nearest Pontiac dealer with a service garage, which opened at 8. How we amused ourselves I don't know, as there is not much going on in Peru, Illinois at those hours, even on an early Saturday morning.

After a few hours, the car was fixed (alternator replaced, thankfully covered by our extended warranty) and we eventually arrived in Iowa City. I tried to feel bad about not having helped unload the truck, but I don't think I was successful.

After we settled in a bit, we wrote a letter to Ryder. There may have been phone calls as well, I don't recall. We were still very angry and bitter about the whole thing (still are, a bit). In the end, they sent us a $50 coupon towards our next truck rental, which really only made us more angry. We may have burned it in effigy, though I can't remember. It seems that not too long after that, Ryder abandoned the personal truck rental business and focused only on businesses. Not that we ever would have rented from them again.

Potty Adendum

Carma felt that I did not tell the "whole story" regarding Nico and the potty. For her additional comments, please read here.


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**Warning: The following highlights are mildly graphic and contain the word poop in excess.**


And so, not long after the potty became interesting, Nico's next goal was to go poop on the potty. Actually, the boy seems pretty obsessed with saying the word "poop" a lot, and thinks whenever he (or anyone else) does, it is hilarious. So, I can see his interest here.

On Wednesday night, he achieved his goal. In fact, he was having so much fun, he was on the toilet for half an hour, giving me minute-by-minute progress updates.

"Dad, I got another one!"
"Dad, some more came out!"
"Dad, that one looks like a snake!"

It's a riveting way to spend an evening, I assure you.

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This past weekend, at our hotel:

"Auntie Em! Do you want to see my poops?"

"Um...sure?"

Way to step up and be supportive Emily! :)

Decisions

After my own internal debate, consulting with my wife, internet research, and more internal debate, I finally decided to not get the new iPhone.

As many of you are aware, the new phone was made available to the teeming masses last Friday. It has many upgrades over the original version that I thought would be cool, but eventually deemed to be unnecessary.

The biggest improvements I was considering were the speed (new 3G network capabilities, which is prevalent here in the NYC area) and the thought of upping my memory to 16GB. The improved audio, reception, and non-recessed headphone jack were also exciting, but not really deciding factors.

The main reasons I decided to not get it were 1) I've only had my original iPhone for not quite a year and 2) it did seem silly to shell out another $300 so soon, and 3) the biggest improvement I was looking forward to wasn't limited to the new version. The software upgrade (iPhone 2.0) would also be available for the original iPhones as well, which enables downloads from the new Applications Store- a very exciting prospect. This allows users to further customize their phone with all sorts of nifty gadgets, doo-hickeys, whatnots, and more importantly, games.

So, I was trying to be at peace with my decision, and mostly succeeding. I'd tell myself, "I don't need it." As additional motivation, I told myself I didn't need to have a new phone just to try to one-up my father-in-law (Sprint Instinct), especially since the added functionality on the old phone still was already better. :) Heck, I even prayed to ask for help in not wanting it. Also, I told myself- there was no way I could waste all that time trying to get it on Friday- as we (Nico, Emily, Richie, and I) were leaving for D.C. that afternoon and I had a lot to do before then.

So, all that weekend, I was perfectly content with the decision. Right up until the point on Sunday when my iPhone slipped out of my fingers and crashed to the pavement, shattering the glass screen.

I nearly cried. It was almost like losing a favorite pet.

So, in the end, the decision was made for me. Monday morning, I had to go get a new phone. And there was really only one choice available. I'd done all the research. So I went to the 5th Ave. Apple store early Monday morning, waited in line for 90 minutes, and got the new iPhone.

Yes, it's awesome, but so was the original. It's a nice upgrade, certainly. But I'm still slightly morose about having to make the purchase in the first place. I guess I still feel like I made the right decision.

For Parents Only

The day we have been waiting for has finally arrived. We wondered if it would ever come. Patiently, oh so patiently we have been waiting.

Nico has finally developed a serious interest in using the potty.

(And as all non-parents quit reading...)

So, at three years, three months, and three days we had the magic breakthrough. He had been completely resistant before despite all enticings, bribes, encouragements, prods, and hypnotic suggestions. This past 4th of July weekend though he decided he wanted to wear some "big boy" underpants (with Spiderman on them). When he wet them, he didn't like it, but he still liked the underpants. So, we told him he could wear the underpants (over a pull-up) as long as he kept trying to go to the potty. He ended up peeing in the potty Tuesday morning (he woke up with a dry diaper), starting the magic day.

On Tuesday, he went to school with underpants on and the understanding that if he went pee on the potty, he could keep wearing them. Much to my surprise, he was still wearing them when I picked him up. His teacher was beaming, and informed me that Nico had gone on the potty five times that day. While he didn't go again at home that night (though he tried once), he wanted to try again today. So, he went this morning before school, another three time at school, and once again at home. While he hasn't always kept the pull-up dry, we're still way ahead of where we thought he'd be given his previous lack of interest.

So, actually tonight, it almost seems to be becoming a bit of an obsession with him (I'm not complaining though). He wanted me to text mommy to tell her he was a Big Boy and went pee on the potty. As he was going to bed tonight I told him I was proud of him for being such a big boy and going on the potty. He said "And Mommy too?" I reassured him Mommy was proud of him too. "And Thurman?" Of course. Then it became a game of "Who is proud of Nico?" He listed off Nana and Opa, Em and Richie, Curious George, Jose (Reyes) and the Mets, and all the Army Guys. (So if you want to post a comment to Nico expressing your pride, please feel free, he'll love it.)

In his prayer tonight he said "and thanks that Daddy is so proud of me for going pee on the potty, and bless Mommy to be proud of me for going pee on the potty, and bless Thurman to be proud of me for going pee on the potty."

Fingers are still crossed. We hope this is the true beginning of full-blown potty training. Tomorrow Nico and I will go to Target to buy more pull-up and underpants.

Everything I Know is Wrong

Sometimes I think I'm a knowledgeable person. It's at these times I'm often proven wrong and/or shown the errors of my ways.

For example, the other day Thurman and I were discussing the importance of drinking water. I wanted to emphasize that it was important for him to do so, especially since he was active at his basketball camp and sweating a lot. So, I told him that adults are supposed to drink eight 8-oz. glasses of water a day; so commonly referred to in my youth I thought it was the 12th commandment or something. Well, apparently, it's not.

The shock of this still reverberates through me. What else am I wrong about? I'm now in a constant state of self-doubt (thanks, Carma).

I mean, I am the guy that for awhile thought David Spade and Dana Carvey were the same person.

I'm also the person who didn't eat Mac & Cheese for 14 years because I thought it had onions in it.

Last week, my sister Hillary had a baby and named it Rowan. I was paralyzed with doubt, not remembering if the baby was a boy or a girl. (It's a girl!) Some uncle I am.

I'm not always wrong though. It would almost be easier if I were, then I would just assume that whatever I chose would be wrong. Very defeatist, I know, but at least it's predictable. But over the years I've usually been right about things, but wrong often enough to keep a bit of continual doubt. I just really hate it when I'm wrong about the big things, or the expensive things.

Other things I've been wrong about:

• Signing a two-year lease was a good idea
• Trying to sell a house FSBO saves money
• Cyndi Lauper sang "Voices Carry"
• A reservation guarantees you a moving truck
• Downhill skiing is fun
• The market research job sounds more exciting
• I can handle a Meta-Analysis (statistics) course
• The burrito's been frozen, it should still taste fine
• I can jump off this tower
• We should get a dog
• We should get a cat
• We should get two cats
• I'll finish (start?) my thesis
• No, honey. I don't think you need stitches
• The snooze button should never be used
• Accounting won't be that difficult
• Going to a chiropractor will help

So, yeah. I guess when I want to be humbled, I've got a nice list to help out with that. On the flip side, at least I know I've been right about a few things. The really important ones, anyway. Like loving my wife. My kids. Joining the Church. Oo! And getting an extended warranty on the Pontiac.

At least if I'm wrong again, I know my loving wife will be around to help correct me.

Shortcuts

On Saturday we took a relatively impromptu trip to Six Flags Great Adventure, which I was a bit nervous about. I'm not a crowd person. I don't like being in large groups of people, which is the main reason I dislike shopping at Christmastime (thank goodness for Amazon.com), commuting, airplanes, etc. It's not that I don't like people, I just like them one at a time, not all at once.

However much I dislike crowds and lines, I do love roller coasters. So that kind of balances out. The best times at amusement parks are always when it's not crowded though, and being a summer weekend, you can understand my concern.

So, I did a little research. Online, I found a lot of recommendations for using the Flash Pass at Six Flags, especially when things are busy. The Flash Pass is an electronic device you rent from the park that allows you to schedule ride times for the most popular rides (with the longest lines), and then skip most of the line, usually by travelling up the exit of the ride to a point near the front of the line where you merge into the cue for the ride. This sounded like a good idea, though it is pretty expensive.

However, as a large group of us (7) were going, I proposed this to people as everyone chipping in to buy a 2-person Flash Pass that we would all share and take turns. That way people could spend some of the time going on more rides then they would normally be able to go on, while also taking turns entertaining/going on rides with the kids. Plus it made it a lot more economically viable.

The Flash Pass worked even better than I hoped it would. Carma was the most reluctant about it (mostly because of the cost), but she even admitted to me it was a great thing. The math bears it out after the fact too.

The four adults who shared the pass most averaged 13.5 rides for the day, which is probably at least double what a full day with no pass would have yielded.

Another way to look at it is in time saved. The Flash pass was used to board 21 total rides during the day (2 people each time). While the time saved varies for each ride depending on the line length, it is probably a conservative estimate to say that an average of an hour was saved each time. But the pass was used most often on rides with lines that typically have more than an hour (sometimes two-hour) waits. Instead, the most we'd wait was 25 minutes or so.

The device was also handy as it alerted you when certain rides would open, close, or have technical difficulties. Nice information to know so you can change plans on the fly if needed.

One unanticipated result though, is it kind of felt like...I don't know. Privileged. Elitist. Where the Flash entrance merges with the regular line on some rides, there is a ride attendant. This attendant then stops the progress of the regular line (putting up a small chain), then scans your party in and let you pass. Then the regular line is allowed to resume. I felt kind of bad. But only a little, and it didn't last very long.

Anyway, not to sound like an advertisement, but it really helped us all enjoy our day at the park a lot more. That made it totally worth it. In the long run however, we may be in trouble. Carma likens it to flying first class. Once you've done it, you never want to go back to coach. I understand, and agree completely. We may never go to an amusement park again.

(Not surprisingly, Thurman was able to ride the most rides that day, a total of 20 including a couple of the bigger coasters. Though, most of the rides he went on had really short wait times.)

Haiku Movie Review: WALL*E

Lovable robot
who's grown a soul of his own
captured all our hearts.

Complacent people
and lack of effort are the
society's scourge.

The lesson is large,
and will take time to sink in.
Will it be heeded?

Loud child

A couple of Sundays ago both Carma and I gave talks during our church sacrament meeting. During the "handoff" of Nico after Carma spoke and it was my turn, Nico wanted to come up to the front too. After I was done, he was quite upset that he didn't get a turn to speak into the microphone. I mean, really, how fair is it that Mommy and Daddy got to, and Nico didn't?

Nico has had a desire to speak into that microphone for several weeks. He's seen a few other kids get up on fast and testimony meetings and speak. Last Sunday after church, we went into the chapel area to retreive my bag, and Nico saw a couple of his friends running around and talking into the microphone. His eyes lit up as he recongnized his opportunity. Thurman saw what he was about to do and tried to hold him back, which was futile. I decided to let Nico say something into the microphone, as I knew it had already been turned off.

He approached the podium and climbed the stairs with a look of triumph. However, I held the microphone up so he could not speak into it. He looked at me longingly, ready to cry if needed were I to say "No."

I asked him, "Do you want to talk into the microphone?"
He nodded.
"Ok, you can choose two words to say, ok?"
Another nod.
"Do you know what you want to say?"
A final nod.
"Ok."

Then I lowered the microphone, into which Nico said "I LOVE DADDY!"

I kind of wish it had been left on.

Behind the times

There are few areas (if any, really) that I am considered trendy, hip, or current. Heck, I'm usually too late to even be passe in most things. But sometimes, there's advantages to that.

Well, one of my "new finds" is...LOST. I can hear your groans now. "Oh, I've been telling everyone how good that show is for years.", etc. Yeah, yeah. I know.

But in my own defense, it seems like every time there's something supposedly so cool and so new that everyone has to see it/try it/buy it, it's often very disappointing to me (exception: the iPhone). So, I'm not usually one who gets caught up in all the hoopla of the "next new thing". The nice thing about that is that I'm allowed to watch the show and enjoy it on it's own merits, instead of being bombarded and overwhelmed by the experience.

So, anyway, I am really enjoying Lost, despite watching the first couple of episodes while on an airplane. I'm hoping Carma gets into it too, so we can enjoy it together. The one big advantage of discovering it now is that we can watch all the episodes online. Also, there's that waiting a week for the cliffhanger to be resolved thing that we don't have to deal with.

It reminds me of when we got all caught up in "24" before (and after) Nico was born. We'd get the DVDs and watch 2 or 3 episodes at a time (which seems laughably impossible to do now). But when we finally caught up and were able to watch Season 6 live...it really kind of stunk. Well, that season wasn't very good though, so maybe it'll be different this year.

This year was also the first time I ever watched American Idol, which I know was all the rage before. It was fun and enjoyable, but we'll see if I do it again. The strike really did impact viewing habits in our home. (Not as much as DVR though!) This fall will really be interesting though, as now I'm catching up on things. I'm going to have too many shows to watch. I may have to prioritize and eliminate some.

Prospects: Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Battlestar Gallactica, Heroes, Lost, 24, American Idol

Yes, sadly I just can't devote 7 hours a week to watching TV. Well, there's always the DVR to record and catch up later. Worst case scenario is I wait and let all the hoopla settle down, and watch it on DVD or online in a couple of years if it still holds interest. I seem to enjoy that anyway.

Next up: Arrested Development