As I mentioned earlier, we are going on a big road trip over Christmas break. Our main destination is Phoenix, Arizona, where Tina’s sister, Michelle, lives. We’ll be traveling through California to get there and come back, so we’re seeking advice on places to visit and sites to see along the way. We may not see all of them, but we’re compiling a long list so we have many choices. Please leave your suggestions in the comments.
More days to come, new places to go
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted family news here mostly because I do that on Twitter several times a day. For more on that, you can read this and then join here. It’s free and easy and you’ll like it. I promise.
And now, the news:
- Since the end of October, we’ve been mad for Guitar Hero III. Although playing the game is a blast, equally cool is watching my boys groove and sing to some of my favorite bands. Right now they both like “Even Flow” and “Holiday in Cambodia“. Thomas is the house champion in career mode, but we still only have one guitar so we haven’t settled on a true champion.
- Thomas’ video game time has been limited, though, due to poor scholastic performance in the first half of this semester. He has been having problems getting his homework done and is easily distracted when he’s supposed to be doing homework. We suspended gaming privileges until he got his grades back up and his computer has been disconnected from the internet. With Tina’s help he’s been able to get his grades up closer to where they should be but he’s still got a lot to learn about managing his time.
- Graham had a chess tournament yesterday in which he recorded two draws and a win for his team. He’s also become a pretty good Medium-level Guitar Hero player. He’s so fun to watch play because the guitar is a better size for him than the rest of us. He really looks like a rockin’ dude when he plays! He and Rory, our little girl kitten, have become good buddies and she sleeps by his head at night.
- The kittens are doing great and Ming has grown used to their eager presence. Tina took them to the vet to get them neutered last week. The boys were as rambunctious as ever that night but poor little Rory has been sluggish until today. Because she has stitches, she has to wear one of those funnel collars to keep her from ripping the stitches out. She spent much of the weekend on my lap trying to lick through that damn collar. Funny but sad. We’ll take it off Tuesday morning.
- Yesterday morning we received our Oregon kicker check in the mail. The kicker law says that the government has to give back money when their income is more than they estimated. This results in a “surprise” tax refund every few years. The average kicker check this year was supposed to be around $600 and we did a little better than average.
- The boys’ last day of school is on December 21st. Sometime soon after that, we’re hitting the road for Phoenix, Arizona, by way of San Francisco and Moreno Valley. We’re looking forward to the trip since the boys haven’t seen their cousins Wil and Xander in so long. The drive shouldn’t be bad since we’ve broken it up into three days with visits of friends and family on the way.
What dreams are made of
Lately, as I’ve been waiting for sleep to come, I lay in bed and fragments of recent dreams begin to stream through my mind. Each fragment brings to mind another and, before long, I have embarked on a new dream journey. Here’s a few of the disconnected thoughts from some of those dreams:
- I’m living in Iowa and trying to get my car working. I own several cars and one of them is a muscle car which my dad is helping me fix up, the idea is put this car in the leasing market, I got this obsession after I check a article call Addicted to Transit Custom Lease? Us Too. 6 Reasons We Just Can’t Stop.
- My dad and I trespass on a farmer’s land. The cops come and we make a break for the car, but I am shot in the back. My dad gets away. The cops question me for several minutes before I ask them if they want to look at my wound or call an ambulance. They were unaware they had shot me.
- I’m riding my bike through Cedar Falls trying to find my old apartment. I purposefully cut through the bank parking lot by the ATM but still end up going down a hill by a park. My previous experience (which is fictional in real life) tells me I have overshot my destination and I am bummed I have to pedal back uphill.
- I am at the Dental Office in NY for family and general dental services office and I remember belatedly that they should check my bottom left molar because it’s sore when I chew (in real life), and them I got a wisdom teeth removal.
- I’m back in Riceville and there’s something incredible happening in the sky. It could be aliens and it could be atomic bombs. Everyone is outside watching it.
- The whole family is on a road trip and we decide to go through Kansas which is way out of the way.
- I’m late getting on an airplane that is taking me home. As we fly in to land, we dive at a terrifying steep angle.
- I’m back in Charleston and wondering around trying to find a particular place. I have an idea of how the city is laid out but I keep getting confused.
- I find a pawn shop in a really shady part of town. When I walk out of the shop I find that my car has been stolen from the parking lot.
- I go to a club where I know that there is a play. The play is self-referential and recursive which makes it cool. But there is something evil in the back of the club that I can never remember.
Siobhan Doyle speaks
Doyle was the Portland bike commuter who was right-hooked on Monday.
Kudos to the Oregonian for the great video.
Inside Graham’s Mind Again
Graham announced that he would be writing a song every day this week. I suggested that he put them on his blog and he thought that was a good idea. He tells me that each song uses the melody from this game (may take several seconds to load), but when I tried to sing it he said, “In your head, Dad! It only sounds good if you sing it in your head!”
Waking stream of consciousness
Spent yesterday and most of today camping with the Boy Scouts.
No electricity and I didn’t bring the CPAP.
Noted rustling in the bushes as I drifted off in my tent alone last night.
Woke up in terror sometime later after imagining that I had seen a vicious animal outside my tent and didn’t calm down for a few minutes. I hope I didn’t scream.
During my usual R.E.M. time, I awoke continuously from obstructive apnea. It went on for hours.
Woke up with a headache and a sore throat.
Slept in the van after the boys went trail riding.
Still feel like hell.
Hope to sleep better tonight.
Soon.
My Hometown in the News
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal had an article about Riceville, Iowa on the front page! My little hometown is evidently the home to telecom shenanigans!
Stuff I Got for my Birthday
- Half.com online gift certificate from the Powells (my perennially favorite gift but not this year), which I used to purchase:
- A Different Kind Of Christmas : Various Artists (CD, 1994)
- Sun Also Rises : Ernest Hemingway (Paperback, 1982)
- Dune Messiah : Frank Herbert (Paperback, 1994)
- The Areas of My Expertise : John Hodgman (Paperback, 2006)
- Salem’s Lot : Stephen King (Paperback, 1976)
- Quest for the Well of Souls : Jack L. Chalker (Paperback, 1995)
- The Mix-Up : Beastie Boys (The) (CD)
- Regal Cinemas gift card from the Bartons
- Cash from Uncle Buddy (second favorite gift every year except this year)
- Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii from Tina and the boys (second favorite all-time gift)
- A killer party mostly organized and thrown by my lovely wife
Car on the pole
I found more on the traffic incident that happened during my bike commute last night. KATU has the story, including video from the scene. Judging by the pictures, it looks like the car went right up the guy wire. I think that means he might not have been going 100 mph as someone on the scene had theorized.
Happy Birthday To Me!
I’m 41 years old today. The boys reserved Guitar Hero III for me at GameSpot. I can’t wait until October 28! In the meantime, they got me a cool GH3 poster.