Baby goes to school
Parents "enjoy" new routine
Days are flying by
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Attack of the Catalogues
While sifting through the mail one recent evening between tearing up the numerous offers to get into more debt (what credit crunch?) and adding another Bed Bath & Beyond 20% off coupon to the stack we'll never use (that makes a baker's dozen), a thought occurred to me. Is the Crate and Barrel catalogue the new Victoria's Secret catalogue?
Both are corporate-produced sources of undue trauma on American citizens, invading our homes unsolicited through the mail. The only difference is the type of trauma in which they traffic. Victoria's Secret specializes in creating unrealistic ideals of the perfect body, whereas Crate and Barrel concentrates its efforts on creating unrealistic ideals of the perfectly decorated and organized home.
Our bodies and our homes: these are 2 fairly sensitive subjects for the average American. What's next? I can only assume that right now, someone is desperately trying to gather a bunch of images of children more talented and intelligent than our own and package them into a quarterly catalogue.
Both are corporate-produced sources of undue trauma on American citizens, invading our homes unsolicited through the mail. The only difference is the type of trauma in which they traffic. Victoria's Secret specializes in creating unrealistic ideals of the perfect body, whereas Crate and Barrel concentrates its efforts on creating unrealistic ideals of the perfectly decorated and organized home.
Our bodies and our homes: these are 2 fairly sensitive subjects for the average American. What's next? I can only assume that right now, someone is desperately trying to gather a bunch of images of children more talented and intelligent than our own and package them into a quarterly catalogue.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Adventures in Corporate World
Today, I had the type of day that we all dread. By "we", I am referring to those of us that spend the obligatory 2,080 hours per year of face time living the corporate life.
The work day started like any other: enter automatic revolving doors in my downtown office tower, grab an elevator from the middle bank & ride it to my floor, say hello to our admin on the way to my desk, put my bag down, hang up my jacket, switch on my desk light, and hit control-alt-delete on my PC keyboard. But then disaster strikes. On my computer screen, a pop-up appears that reads "Your password has expired".
An eerie chill runs through my body as I realize the horror to be endured throughout the day (the same horror endured 30 days ago, the same horror to be endured 30 days from now). I change my password that includes at least 8 characters with at least 1 capital letter, 1 lowercase letter and 1 number. Then the real horror begins.
Each day I am prompted to enter my network password approximately 46 times. This means about 29 times I will subconsciously enter my old password on my 1st attempt. That means about 8 times I will frustratingly and hastily fat finger a mistake in my 2nd attempt. If I get it wrong on my 3rd attempt, I'll be forced to deal with the PC help desk to reset my password, then wait patiently for 15-30 minutes for use of my PC.
So I have to be as careful on that 3rd attempt as a game of Operation. But even when I type my password at rate of 1 character per 15 seconds, I'm never confident that I got it right. All I see on the screen is "********". How can I ever be sure with that helpful display?
Fortunately, I got all my 3rd attempts right today. And there's something strange about the day after a password change. For some reason there are no problems that 2nd day. It's as if it takes my brain takes a full 24 hours to process any changes to my network password. The horror is behind me, but only for 30 days...
The work day started like any other: enter automatic revolving doors in my downtown office tower, grab an elevator from the middle bank & ride it to my floor, say hello to our admin on the way to my desk, put my bag down, hang up my jacket, switch on my desk light, and hit control-alt-delete on my PC keyboard. But then disaster strikes. On my computer screen, a pop-up appears that reads "Your password has expired".
An eerie chill runs through my body as I realize the horror to be endured throughout the day (the same horror endured 30 days ago, the same horror to be endured 30 days from now). I change my password that includes at least 8 characters with at least 1 capital letter, 1 lowercase letter and 1 number. Then the real horror begins.
Each day I am prompted to enter my network password approximately 46 times. This means about 29 times I will subconsciously enter my old password on my 1st attempt. That means about 8 times I will frustratingly and hastily fat finger a mistake in my 2nd attempt. If I get it wrong on my 3rd attempt, I'll be forced to deal with the PC help desk to reset my password, then wait patiently for 15-30 minutes for use of my PC.
So I have to be as careful on that 3rd attempt as a game of Operation. But even when I type my password at rate of 1 character per 15 seconds, I'm never confident that I got it right. All I see on the screen is "********". How can I ever be sure with that helpful display?
Fortunately, I got all my 3rd attempts right today. And there's something strange about the day after a password change. For some reason there are no problems that 2nd day. It's as if it takes my brain takes a full 24 hours to process any changes to my network password. The horror is behind me, but only for 30 days...
Monday, September 22, 2008
Edwin - Mr. Personality
Edwin is a great baby...he is generally in a good mood. He is prone to melt downs when he's hungry, exhausted, or dirty - just like any normal person...
He is really starting to showcase his personality and talk a lot...what a HAPPY BABY!!! He typically sleeps from 10:00pm - 6:30am (sometimes more)...wow, are we lucky or what?
Did I mention that I'm in LOVE?
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Farewell, Yankee Stadium
I am currently watching the last few innings of play at Yankee Stadium. Although I have never been a Yankee fan, I've always been envious of their winning ways, their substantial fan base, and of course, their beautiful stadium. (Well, Pirates, 1 out of 3 ain't ba--wait, who am I kidding? Yeah, Pirates, it's bad.)
I was fortunate to attend a game there back in 1993 while visiting my aunt Carol in Connecticut. We made plans to head into the city for one day, and she gave me the option of a Broadway show or a Yankee game. Being the 14-year old boy that I was at the time, I chose the ball game. And despite the spectacular views of the Pittsburgh skyline from PNC Park, to this day Yankee Stadium remains my favorite ball park.
Unfortunately, when I accompanied Mindy on her 1st visit to NYC last year, only the Mets were in town. At least she got to see a game at Shea Stadium before it gets torn down (hey, come to think of it, where's all the hoopla on ESPN regarding the final game at Shea?...I guess retrospectives on Mookie Wilson aren't exactly ratings bonanzas).
Hopefully, sometime in the future, we'll get to take Edwin to the new Yankee Stadium so winning baseball isn't something he only hears about on Sports Center.
Well, I hear Sinatra blaring over the stadium's PA system, so the Yankees won. Congratulations to them, and let's hope this October remains interesting without their involvement.
I was fortunate to attend a game there back in 1993 while visiting my aunt Carol in Connecticut. We made plans to head into the city for one day, and she gave me the option of a Broadway show or a Yankee game. Being the 14-year old boy that I was at the time, I chose the ball game. And despite the spectacular views of the Pittsburgh skyline from PNC Park, to this day Yankee Stadium remains my favorite ball park.
Unfortunately, when I accompanied Mindy on her 1st visit to NYC last year, only the Mets were in town. At least she got to see a game at Shea Stadium before it gets torn down (hey, come to think of it, where's all the hoopla on ESPN regarding the final game at Shea?...I guess retrospectives on Mookie Wilson aren't exactly ratings bonanzas).
Hopefully, sometime in the future, we'll get to take Edwin to the new Yankee Stadium so winning baseball isn't something he only hears about on Sports Center.
Well, I hear Sinatra blaring over the stadium's PA system, so the Yankees won. Congratulations to them, and let's hope this October remains interesting without their involvement.
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