Vital Statistics

Graham got an extremely late birthday present today – I finally got around to wiring his bedroom for the internet. I did manage to get him a new computer on his birthday, but many weekends have passed since where I have promised him that I would get it installed but never found the time. He’s been understanding the whole time. Last night I told him that we could do it today if he would help and he was very excited to do it. His most important part involved traversing the crawl space from Thomas’ room (where the “hatch” is) to our room and back. There are several pipes and heating ducts in the way that make it very difficult for me to do it. When I wired Thomas’ room about five years ago, it probably took me an hour to make my way to our bedroom and back to Thomas’ room. This afternoon it took Graham about three minutes to do the same thing. Probably half of that time as me explaining to him where he needed to go. He was my Briar Rabbit today. Anyway, we got it all done and Graham is very excited to have iChat and his own computer for playing internet games.

After my first night with the CPAP, things have gone down hill. The chin restraint keeps my mouth from flying wide open, but my lips still open a tiny bit during REM sleep. This produces a hissing sound that makes Tina think that her ocean-sound alarm is going off. No, it’s just me so she rolls over and taps me on the lip so I close my mouth again. After the first morning of that (I usually go into REMs at around 4:00 am), I adjusted slightly and have since been getting the “chipmunk cheeks”. The valve (for lack of a better word) in my throat opens and air rushes into my mouth puffing up my cheeks. This wakes me enough to close the valve and go back to sleep. However, it’s not making for very good sleep and I’ve had a couple mornings where I slept past 10 hours. On Friday Tina and I saw my sleep doctor and he said to be patient with it. I go back to see him in 6 weeks and take my CPAP in for evaluation (it also records sleep data) in 4 weeks. If it’s not better by then, I’m going to insist on getting fitted for a nose-and-mouth mask.

I think I’ve noticed more motivation in myself on the weekends lately. It’s probably related to the weight loss I’ve had since Tina and I started South Beach about 6 weeks ago. But the whole sleep diagnostic experience has also made me more hopeful about my life in general, I think. I can’t tell you how great it feels to wake up after 8 hours of sleep and be completely rested. I’m looking forward to when every day is like that.

Bike odometer: n/a
Current reading: The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Humpy’s Soul Show, The Jumpoff, Dave Allen’s Neighborhood (all available here)
Recent viewing: Pee Wee’s Playhouse, Ed vs. Spencer, Countdown
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Installed network in Graham’s room, new music for Tina
Imperative To Do: Labels for my sister’s CDs, test drive new bike seats, bank
Cool Link: Spam: An excellent gift for a 40th birthday (the variety pack would be awesome!)

Vital Statistics

On Monday, we celebrated the holiday with a day trip into the Columbia River Gorge via the scenic Columbia River Highway. In the morning, we played 10 holes of disc golf at Dabney State Park, fulfilling a promise I made to Graham way back in July. We skipped the final 8 holes to play in the Sandy River for a few minutes before continuing on to Crown Point and then Bridal Veil Falls.

At Bridal Veil, we had a delicious picnic lunch before embarking on the 2/3-mile hike from the parking lot to the falls. Halfway down the steep, gravel-covered switchback trail, Tina fell flat on her ass and declined to continue, preferring to wait on a nearby bench for the boys and I to return. Yesterday, the doctor told her she had sprained her back and her ankle. We’ll know if she broke bones in her hand when the x-rays come back.

We endured stop-and-go traffic on Interstate 84 on the way home but that barely diminished the great day I had driving the new Scion around the twists and turns of the winding CRH. I really love driving a stick shift. Except in stop-and-go traffic. Fortunately, the range of second gear on the Scion is pretty wide so it wasn’t that bad. The source of the traffic jam turned out to be a car that had rolled off the back of a truck.

Yesterday morning, I dragged myself out of bed so I could be fitted with a CPAP machine, nasal mask and chin restraint. I was also instructed on the care and maintenance of the equipment, which is much more elaborate than I had suspected. Last night was my first night using the CPAP and it went pretty well. I think my mouth opened at about 4:00 am (Tina reported the time), but I awoke without my alarm feeling quite rested after 8 hours of sleep. I’ll let you know how future nights go.

Today was the first day of school for our boys. They were both excited and happy to return to it. Thomas is in fifth grade and Graham is in a second/third grade split class. This is Thomas’ last year at Margaret Scott. Graham’s teacher this year is one Thomas had in second grade.

Bike odometer: 118 miles
Current reading: The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Spillane by John Zorn, Coverville
Recent viewing: Thief, Sportscenter, Pee Wee’s Playhouse
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Cleared blackberry patch on the blind side of the house (with Graham’s help)
Imperative To Do: Install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs, test drive new bike seats, bank
Cool Video: When Spam Attacks by my friend, Rob Marquardt

Vital Statistics

I sold my truck on Thursday night. Tina has a friend, Robert, who has a nephew who wanted to fix it up and resell it. When he showed the conversation went like this:

He: How much are you asking?
Me: Fifty bucks.
He: Will you take forty?
Me: (rolling eyes and laughing) Yes.

I hadn’t been in the truck for quite some time so I was surprised how familiar it smelled when I sat in it the last time to start it (with a jump from the van). I suppose I’ll miss it but our last few years together were rocky. It’s probably better we go our separate ways.

According to MPG, an auto tracking program I’ve used for most of the time I had the truck, my total vehicle cost (including gas) was around $7500. I purchased it in the fall of 1995, when Tina was pregnant with Thomas. I drove it about 80,000 miles in the twelve years since. It ran better on “Plus”. It leaked a little oil and the transmission would get cranky when it was low on fluid. I bought a case of each just for the truck. The cab was always messy but it was perfectly functional and had everything I needed for truck use: tie-downs, rope, chains. It had a pretty cool cassette deck with an iPod jack that Tina got me one year at Costco. I pulled it out before selling it, but I don’t know what I’ll do with it. I had to slide the seat all the way back when I drove. The seat back wouldn’t fold forward when the seat was all the way back though. The truck came with a locking gas cap. Someone broke the key once and I had to replace it. Eventually, I replaced it again with a non-locking cap because it was such a pain in the ass to explain to the station attendants here how it worked. Nobody stole my gas after that. I’ve driven that truck to four different jobs over the years and hauled many loads of yard debris and junk. I guess I will miss it.

Bike odometer: 111 miles
Current reading: The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Spillane by John Zorn, Grace by Jeff Buckley, One Hot Minute by Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Decemberists
Recent viewing: 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, Late Night with David Letterman
Recent playing: Zuma, poker
Recently accomplished: Sold truck, recycling, grocery shopping, sprayed the driveway weeds
Imperative To Do: Install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs, fix Newton server, kill and pull weeds
Cool Video: Colbert and Stewart at the Emmy Awards (“Good evening, godless Sodomites”)

 

Vital Statistics

I rode all the way to work this morning – all 14 miles. It’s the first time in over a year and I felt pretty good. Well, except for my sore butt.

Bike odometer: 108 miles
Current reading: The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: DrugMusic, John Prine, Taking The Long Way by Dixie Chicks, Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Running On Empty by Jackson Browne
Recent viewing: FIBA Quarterfinals, The 4400, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Finally reached beta on one project at work and GM on the other, paid bills
Imperative To Do: Install network in Graham’s room, sell truck, labels for my sister’s CDs, fix Newton server, kill and pull weeds
Cool Link: Keith Olbermann Responds To Rumsfeld (click on one of the video links to watch)

Vital Statistics

My friend, Don Fitzgerald, helped me construct a bench on Saturday to reinforce the sagging rail on my deck. The bench turned out great and now the rail is rock-solid. Don was proud that we only had 4 scraps of wood left when we were done.

I’ve got some pictures from the sleep clinic that I’m sorting through. I’ll have those up some time this week.

Bike odometer: 82 miles
Current reading: The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: NPR Story of the Day, Science Friday
Recent viewing: Brainiac, 2006 World Series of Poker, Monk, FIBA Championships, Emmy Awards
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Finished Zuma, built a bench on our deck, deck maintenance, cleaned up the work bench in the garage, cleaned and lubed bike, paid bills, helped Thomas design a Lego steering mechanism
Imperative To Do: Install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs, pay bills, fix Newton server, kill and pull weeds, design a better steering mechanism
Cool Link: Why not impeachment? by Bill Maher

Vital Statistics

Our new car arrived at the dealer on Wednesday and Tina picked it up that evening. I celebrated by driving the van to work two days in a row – the first time I’ve driven to work in months. We’re all excited about our new Scion. The racks come in next week and Tina has to drop by the dealer to get them installed.

As I mentioned before, I slept at the sleep clinic again on Tuesday. They hooked me up with all the wires and I wore the CPAP nose mask all night. It went pretty smoothly until I started my R.E.M. period around four am. Evidently my mouth drops open during R.E.M.s which causes all the air to rush out. What’s more, I woke up startled and choking a couple of times until I finally awoke completely around five and couldn’t get back to sleep for about 15 minutes. During that time, the mask pushed the nostril microphones (yes, nostril microphones) into my septum. I awoke at 7:30 with a very sore septum. They’re probably going to give me a chin strap to keep my mouth shut. We’ll have to see if that works. I have an appointment with my doctor next week.

Tina’s mom has been here all week. We’re having some mutual friends and Tina’s cousins over tonight for a little farewell BBQ. After we bid adieu to her tomorrow morning, my friend Don is coming over to help me reinforce the railings on our deck with a nice built-in bench. I’ll take pictures.

Bike odometer: n/a
Current reading: The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: KBOO Bike Show, He’s Drunk/Plus Also Too by Scrawl, Spirit Trail by Bruce Hornsby, This Is The Moody Blues by The Moody Blues, Grace by Jeff Buckley, Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground by Bright Eyes, Has Been by William Shatner
Recent viewing: The Daily Show, 30 Days, Sportscenter, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Zuma Level 12-7
Imperative To Do: Build bench to reinforce deck railing, install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs, pay bills, fix Newton server, kill and pull weeds
Cool Link: United Nuclear: Online purveyor of cool and geeky stuff. Looking for a place to buy thermite? This is it!

Vital Statistics

This morning I was nearly a victim of the “right hook” (explanation here). A burgundy pickup passed me as I ented an intersection and then turned directly in front of me, passing within a foot of my front wheel. The violation was so blatant that I got mad enough to turn around and attempt to catch up with the vehicle in question. Unfortunately, he/she had a two block head start on me and disappeared around a corner. I cruised the street for a few blocks but they were long gone.

Tonight I spend the night at Portland Adventist where I will be fitted with a CPAP device. I’m bringing my camera this time and hope to get some good pictures of me all wired up.

Bike odometer: 74 miles
Current reading: The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: DrugMusic
Recent viewing: The Daily Show, 30 Days, Sportscenter
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Zuma Level 12-6
Imperative To Do: Install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs, pay bills, fix Newton server, kill and pull weeds
Cool video: Naked basketball

Vital Statistics

Saturday morning I awoke to extremely sore calf muscles. Evidently, all the hiking/walking we did at Adventure Cove the day before took its toll. I did some yardwork, but mostly rested the whole live-long day. I did more of the same yesterday, but my calves are still sore this morning. And I discovered that I actively use those muscles when I’m biking. Now would be a good time to have a second car!

Bike odometer: 64 miles
Current reading: The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Taking The Long Way by Dixie Chicks, Science Friday
Recent viewing: The Daily Show, PGA Championship, 30 Days, South Park, The Dead Zone
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Mowed, trimmed and edged the lawn, trimmed some hedges, instructed Thomas on lawn watering, setup my new Airport Express, grocery shopping
Imperative To Do: Install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs, pay bills, fix Newton server, buy pooper scooper, kill and pull weeds
Cool video: Monster dunk

Vital Statistics

We joined Thomas at Adventure Cove on the Oregon coast this afternoon and helped him lug his bags to the van. After that we dined and watched their last “campfire”, which is sort of their nightly show. Thomas had a great time all week. We’re all pretty tired from all the up-and-down hill walking in the camp. Thomas and Graham both fell asleep on the way home after they polished off their Blizzards. Tomorrow their Grandma Jan arrives and they are plenty excited about that, too. Isn’t it great to be a kid?

Since there have been a few comments about our decision to buy the Scion, I thought I might tell you the specific criteria that we developed and how the xB fits them:

  • Gas mileage: We spend $50 to fill up our Caravan now. That hurts. We definitely wanted something that gets better mileage and the xB fits the bill: 30 mpg in the city and 33 on the highway. That’s the rating for the manual transmission, but I’m sure my granny driving will get even better mileage.
  • Cargo capacity: We need room to fit Thomas’ cello and possibly a bass if he decides to switch later. While the xB does not have nearly the cargo capacity that our Caravan has, its 60/40 fold down rear seats make enough room to fit the instrument.
  • Reliability: The last couple of years have been a real drag on us for auto repairs. We wanted something reliable and with a good warranty. The Kia 10-year warranty is pretty incredible, but we think the Scion warranty will probably be good enough: 3 years bumper-to-bumper with 5 years on the drive train. In addition, if we want to purchase an extended warranty, it only costs about $800.
  • Price: Although Tina convinced me to check 6 Online Communities About New Electric Vans For Sale You Should Join and with info I decided that a new car was what we needed, I still was pretty unwilling to go into new car pricing territory. We set our price range at $15-17k and the xB was easily the least expensive of any other car we were considering: $14,570 MSRP with standard options.

In summary, the xB tested nearly perfectly for our criteria. What I hadn’t counted on was how much I would love driving it. Even though it’s got a tiny little motorcyle engine in it, it’s got tremendous get-up-and-go. The interior is totally Spartan but that also appeals to me because I hate having to pay for interior amenities. The amount of interior space is also pretty incredible, especially the amount of leg room in front and back.

If you’re really interested, you can go to the Scion xB showroom to get all the details, but here’s a few of the standard options that we appreciate:

  • Air conditioning
  • Power windows
  • Power locks
  • AM/FM/CD player
  • Auxiliary audio input jack on the console (iPod pluggable – nobody else had this)
  • Bucket seats similar to the ones in our van including the height at which you sit
  • Extra cargo space under the floor in the rear
  • Anti-lock brakes
  • Driver and passenger air bags
  • Shoulder belts for all five passengers

As you can probably tell, we couldn’t be happier. Tina wants one in Salsa Red (I don’t care about color) and we’re told one arrived in the Port of Portland. We’re calling tomorrow morning to reserve it. We’ll see how long it takes to get it.

Finally, lest it sound like I actually did anything aside from nodding my head occasionally, I have to give all the credit to Tina for finding this car. Not only did she find a great car for a great price, she resolved the conflict between us about what exactly we should do for our next car purchase. What a great wife she is.

Bike odometer: 59 miles
Current reading: The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Rufus Wainright by Rufus Wainright, Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses by Slipnot, Abraxas by Santana, Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Humpy’s Soul Show
Recent viewing: The Daily Show
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Got the boy back
Imperative To Do: Setup Airport Express, install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs
Cool link: zunafish: Trade the stuff you’re done with for the stuff you want

Vital Statistics

Tina, Graham and I went car shopping today. We decided that we really needed at least one reliable car, so rather than replace the truck with another used truck, we’re going to get a new family car. Today we looked and and drove a Kia Sorento, a Scion xB and a Chevy HHR. The Sorento was nice and Kia has a great warranty, but they couldn’t come down to our price range. The HHR might be nice, but after driving the xB, there was really no question which car we would get. We’re going to finalize our financing options and might have a new Scion next week!

Thomas didn’t go with us today because he’s been at Cub Scout Camp all week. Tina has missed him greatly and we’re going to pick him up there tomorrow. I suspect that he’s hardly noticed we’re not there.

I may have mentioned a couple of weeks ago about spending the night at the hospital as part of a sleep study. The study confirmed that I have positional sleep apnia which means that I have an abnormal number of apnia episodes when I sleep on my back. I also exhibit apnia symptoms while I am in R.E.M. sleep. During the sleep study, if I would have shown apnia by 2:00 AM, they would have awoken me in order to fit me with a CPAP device. I did not meet the criteria and did not exhibit severe enough apnia until after I went into R.E.M.’s sometime after 2:00 AM. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was when I awoke at 5:30 and realized that they had not awoken me. Later, the technician explained my situation and assured me that I would probably still be fitted for a CPAP on another night. Thus, I am scheduled for another study next week and I’m pretty sure it will be to do that very thing. I’ll write more later when I know more.

Bike odometer: 59 miles
Current reading: The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Taking The Long Way by Dixie Chicks, KBOO Bike Show, Humpy’s Soul Show
Recent viewing: Pee Wee’s Playhouse, Nature, Monk, Countdown, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Car shopping, recycling, garbage, paid bills, expense report, upgraded my DSL
Imperative To Do: Setup Airport Express, install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs
Cool link: Moving by bike