Author: Gerry

Categories
Family

A Surprise Call

Well, the call came at 5:30 this morning as expected. The content of the call, however, was not expected. School has been cancelled for today.

Being 5:30, I decided not to go investigate immediately. What good was it going to do anyway? My assumption was the roads had deteriorated significantly overnight with ice and the like.

So imagine my surprise when I did check the roads out and found them wet, and nothing more. No snow. No ice. Temps over the freezing mark.

I can only assume we got screwed because the SS for our district has to make the call for multiple towns and the other town was in worse shape. Still, it’s frustrating since there really nothing wrong with the roads around our way.

Naturally, the kids don’t mind. Their outside building forts right now.

Categories
Family

Less Snow More Fun

Sometimes, less is more.

Take the snowfall amounts this year, which have been minuscule to non-existent. The kids have both been complaining that they hadn’t had a chance to play in the snow this year. They wished there was more snow to play in, like last year.

And there’s the key: like last year. We had so much snow last year, it was easy for them to assume that’s what every year is going to be like. I even remember telling them not to assume we’d have another Winter like last year again, perhaps ever. But it fell on deaf ears. Play in the snow? There’s always next Winter.

Then next Winter arrived, but the snow didn’t.

They were both overjoyed to learn that snow was forecast for today. The talk around town was for an early dismissal because it was suppose to start falling about midday. I actually got the alert around 9 this morning. The snow start falling around 11:30, only a little before the lass arrived home. In fact, because of the timing of the storm, there’s an expectation that tomorrow will have a delayed opening. It’s one of the dirty little non-secrets of the public school systems that “half” days don’t count as missed days, meaning they don’t have to be made up like a cancellation does. Thus, someone imagines a snowflake falling in the woods somewhere and next thing we’ve got a 2-hour delay, or a shortened day.

The lass arrived home around noon. The boy got home around 1 or so with the early dismissal. They both were hoping there would be FEET of snow. Alas, we’re only supposed to get up to 5 inches or so.

But it’s proving to be more than enough.

Once it started to stick, they both kept an eye on the ground to judge when a good time to head out and play in it would be. Last year, there was 2 feet plus out there for most of the Winter. We had to throw them outside to get them to go play. Today, there’s barely 2 inches on the ground and they couldn’t get their stuff on and get out there fast enough. The lass was talking about making snow angels and throwing snow balls for the dogs. The boy decided to make the snowman above, with some help from the lass.

It was a year in the making, but I’d say they learned a lesson. Maybe even attained a little wisdom.

Categories
Misc

Archery Analysis

Over at the GeekDad there’s a post about archery in the new Pixar movie Brave. Actually, it’s an analysis of the technique used by the archers in the clip shown. Lots of tidbits about proper archery form like not using your arms to draw the arrow, proper anchoring, proper release of the arrow, the archer’s paradox, and other bits.

I’ve always thought archery was a cool skill to have, but there’s only so much time in the week. I got a chance to try it out a bit with the boy at Scout camp last Summer. I’d like to think it was because I couldn’t properly draw the arrow back due to my size versus the bow and arrow (the arrows were significantly shorter than the draw length of my arm, plus the bow was a bit undersized), but I didn’t seem to have much natural talent for it. I still enjoyed it though.

Aside from that, I can’t really tell what the movie is about from the teaser or the actual trailer; other than the well worn yarn of the girl who wants to make her own choices, rather than live the life her parents choose for her. Oh, and it looks like there’s a massive bear, but I have no idea if that’s the actual point or just a step along the way. Still, it looks intriguing. Perhaps Pixar has righted the ship a bit after Cars 2.

Categories
Misc

Odds and Ends

A few random things…

My NookT received an OTA update to veresion 1.4.2 the other day. This zooted my Android Market access, presumably because it undid the “rooting” that had been done when I’d installed it previously. The good news is the identical rooting procedure using an SD card worked to restore root. The only hiccup was I had to setup my Google Market account credentials again. No big deal ultimately and now I have an updated device.

I finally installed Skype on my 1015PN netbook. This was made particularly easy by the fact that Skype now has a 64-bit install file for debian systems. The only catch is it’s still 32-bit software so the 32-bit libraries must-needs be installed. After that, the only other catch was to add my user account to the video group so that the Skype application could access the webcam. That also finally verified that everything is working properly on my debianized system on the netbook. It’s the first time I’ve needed the webcam!

The NFL combine is on going, and lots of people are talking about RG3. I’ve never seen the guy, but apparently he’s really fast and this makes him extremely valuable and a likely first ballot HOF’er, as well as an awesome passer, dancer, and karaoke singer. His first Oscar is likely being prepared as we speak.

These guys might want to look up Ryan Leaf’s career. Or, for that matter, Gino Torretta, Josh McCown, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Henson and Tim Couch to name a few more. I’m not saying RG3 won’t end up being good in the NFL, but the odds don’t favor it. Just because Cam Newton defied expectations doesn’t mean RG3 will (nor does it mean Newton will continue to be effective). For that matter, Andrew Luck could be a bust as well. Playing on Sunday will do that to a QB.

The boy earned another stripe today in his MA class. He also confessed to not really liking practice, but he likes Martial Arts. Not sure how to square that. But pretty soon, hockey will be over and his weekends will be his again. I’m thinking that will cure quite a few ills.

The lass, on the other hand, has been practicing her developing dance recital routine and she can hardly wait for T-ball to start. She’s still enjoying hockey as well, though I think she’ll enjoy normal weekends again as well.

They’re definitely not 2 peas in a pod, more like same winery but different vintages.

Categories
Misc

Teller on Magic

I’m tempted to have the boy read this article on magic by Teller, of Penn&Teller fame. Too bad he wouldn’t grok most of it. Still, it’s a good read for those entertained by magic.

And let’s face it, who isn’t?

(via John Gruber)

Categories
Family

Hockey Update

After revealing that he wanted to play in the hockey tournament, I thought there might be a rejuvenation of hockey interest. But after practice this morning, the boy once again hates hockey and can’t wait for it to be over.

Even the weather up here isn’t this fickle.

Categories
Misc

Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You

Eric Raymond has penned an open letter to Chris Dodd explaining how things get done on the Internet and why those who have made the Internet what it is can make life real miserable for the likes of the former Senator if he continues to try and muck about with it(i.e. SOPA, PIPA or whatever other acronym for government sanctioned CENSORSHIP he comes up with). Of course, Dodd’s arrogance will prevent him from reading and, more importantly, comprehending. But I admire Mr. Raymond’s effort at good will.

Categories
Family

Parental Evolution

The kids have been off the wall for the past hour. Coincidentally, (AHEM!) right after we ended their video game time. Their antics were to such a degree that we finally told them to go outside and play.

It’s raining and dark out, just for a data point.

Shortly after they went downstairs, I started hearing something that sounded suspiciously like the boy crying. Rather than go and investigate, however, I waited.

Sure enough, the lass came traipsing upstairs a few moments later and began a long-winded dissertation on the course of events that led up to … something. It started with the dinosaurs and ended with her losing her boots because her brother grabbed her, or something. To be honest, I never was really clear on that point.

She never mentioned her brother’s predicament, other than that he had wronged her in some way, presumably with the boot thing. So I asked her if the boy was crying.

“Yes, I went to try and clean up the mess with the mop and he tripped over the mop and fell.”

“Is there any blood?” I asked. I was playing Bubble Buster at the time.

“I didn’t notice,” she answered.

“Well, go back downstairs and if their isn’t a pool of blood on the ground, then there’s no need to come back upstairs because he’s fine,” I told her.

“OK,” she chirped and off she went.

She didn’t come back up.

Neither the Wife nor I went down.

The boy continued to “cry.”

Categories
Cub Scouts

Passing the Baton

I guess, officially, I became our Cub Scout Pack’s new Cub Master after the Blue and Gold Banquet. However, it wasn’t until today that I got together with our previous pack leader to go over some of the outstanding items and also collect some of the Packs’ belongings. It was only 7 or 8 plastic bins worth of stuff: camping items, holiday decorations, various displays, road-side pickup stuff and the like. I also received a lot of the paperwork and history of the Pack, which might be interesting reading.

Either way, it’s my ship. I just have to figure out where to steer it.

Categories
Family

Revisiting Sunday

I’ve been thinking a fair amount about my actions Sunday on the behalf of the boy. I haven’t teased out any big lessons. But there are a few things worth keeping in mind since there’s a chance I’ll see this sort of thing again.

  1. The antagonist has all the advantages.

    It’s hard to appreciate this point until it’s seen in action. Any kid is clever enough to push boundaries when no one is looking. But it also goes farther than that. If the boy retaliates, who’s more likely to be noticed? Further compounding the problem is that the boy was doing everything “correctly.” He kept avoiding escalating things even as the other kid continued to do so. He told a coach about it; unfortunately, on the ice it’s hard for a coach to take action because the likelihood of him seeing something is minimal. His attention is on 30-some odd kids on the ice. What’s more, bodies are going down all the time, how’s a coach reasonably supposed to notice that someone is being deliberately targeted?

    My advice to the boy for the future was to give any future perpetrator a warning, and then make a scene without getting too physical. The problem is people are so afraid of violence that the natural way to deal with the situation, punch back twice as hard, is deemed unacceptable. This was the best compromise I could come up with.

  2. Talk to the coaches first.

    Telling the other parent is one thing, but the people most capable of dealing with the situation are the coaches. They are the immediate authority. In the future, that’s the first place I’ll go, rather than confronting the child directly. If that doesn’t result in an improvement, then bringing it to the parent’s attention would be the next step.

    The problem here is potentially neither party deals with the situation appropriately. The coach because they didn’t see it; the parent because they don’t want to believe their kid is capable of such behavior, or just attribute it to “boys being boys.” I’m not sure what the answer is here.

  3. This wasn’t a case of bullying.

    While tempting to call it that, it was closer to isolated harassment or some such. Bullying is another degree where the prey can’t escape the predator, ever. Plus, there’s an intimidation factor involved.

    The boy wasn’t intimidated by the other kid and, near as I can tell, it was something that came up on Sunday rather than something that had been ongoing. He’s was more concerned that retaliating would get him in trouble. Which goes to show he’s on the milder side of the spectrum when it comes to aggression. He also tried to quietly thwart some of the other kids provocations, like blocking the kid’s stick at one point.

  4. I’m not sorry I acted.

    I imagine that I’ve upset minimally the parent’s of the other kid, and possibly the coaches. That’s unfortunate, but I won’t be apologizing to anyone. Though I will try to act differently in the future.

    My concern, at the end of the day, is for the boy’s welfare. Part of that means letting him know that I’ll stick up for him required. As I said before, he was doing everything right but ultimately being punished for it because no one else noticed. I put a stop to that.

  5. Make sure the boy understands what he can do.

    This is by far the hardest one, because the best way stop this sort of stuff is for the boy to stick up for himself and let the other kid know he won’t stand for it. Telling the parent’s or the coaches might work, but it also might make the kid more clever in his moments when he decides to take his shot.

    If, however, he knows that there will be no joy had because the boy won’t take it, then there’s no reward for his actions. Since this wasn’t truly a case of bullying, in my book anyway, I think that would have been sufficient to stop the whole thing.

    Unfortunately, the options for the boy are limited. Just about any physical retaliation won’t work because they boy will get in trouble for that. Also, once emotions start running hot, there’s the likelihood that he goes too far.

    The course of action the boy took, turning the other cheek and telling a coach, is fine as far as it goes, but it’s also pretty ineffective. The coach has to see something, and short of that, the boy had to continue to endure the provocations until I finally intervened.

    Ultimately, I told him to make a very visible scene next time. Basically, he needs to draw attention the fact that he’s being singled out and he needs to point that out to the coaches. What’s more, doing it loudly and visibly seems likely to make the coaches take some kind of action, as opposed to passively waiting for something to happen. Still, this approach has shortcomings as well. He could easily over react; it could be interpreted as drama or his being overly sensitive. It also turns into a matter of who’s story the coaches believe.

Categories
Misc

Sunshine is Good For You

This article on Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is pretty good stuff. Lots of interesting tidbits, such as:

In fact, Dr. Holick and others have demonstrated that osteomalacia is preventable and treatable using vitamin D. Osteoporosis, another bone disease, is also related to lack of vitamin D.

and

Optimal vitamin D serum blood levels, attained through sunlight or supplementation, dramatically reduce the risk of many diseases other than bone maladies. Many of the most serious are ameliorated by an astonishing 50 to 85 percent. These diseases include cancers, from breast and colon to deadly melanoma skin cancers.

It’s a good summary article about the benefits of Sun exposure.

While you’re at it, you can find more, here.

Categories
Family

Sticking Up for Your Kid

For once, it was someone else’s kid I called to the carpet today, rather than the boy.

Not that I’ve had to correct the boy in front of other kids often, but I’ve never been afraid to let him know when he was doing something wrong and he should knock it off, like now. Those moments tend to have a long tail when it comes to correcting behavior.

In this case, there’s a little bit of history between the boy and his antagonist. In fact, I suspect that the boy has been targeted as a measuring stick of sorts. He’s much larger than, well, everyone in his class basically. I went through something similar so it’s easy to recognize.

Fortunately, the boy is mild-mannered and conscious of “not getting in trouble” so he typically turns the other cheek or walks away from the situation. While I consider that to be the best response on his part, it has a negative consequence: it encourages the antagonist to keep pushing. Walking away is interpreted as weakness. Couple that with the fact that kids are crafty enough to know how to time their attacks for when no one else is looking, and, well, you get what we had this morning.

It started during warm-ups on the ice. I noticed the boy take a tumble, but his head whipped around immediately and he locked eyes with another kid and I knew immediately that the boy had been taken down deliberately. I was on alert now.

Luckily, the two of them were separated for most of the practice, purely by happenstance. But towards the end, all of the kids were brought together for the drills and, with the increased opportunities, the other kid started taking his shots. I saw a couple of pretty clear slashes and pushes, which the boy simply got up and skated away from. Finally, after a third time the boy went and told the head coach.

But things came to a head at the end of the drill. As the kids were skating to the bench, the antagonist skated up behind the boy and took a batter’s swing at the boy’s legs with his stick. Not just one, but a couple of swings. None of the coaches saw it.

Now I was hot and started walking over to the bench, which was on the other side of the ice. By the time I got there, I’d cooled off and decided I’d hold off saying anything. But then the Wife came up and said she saw the boy get “punched” in the head by the antagonist. She said the boy simply got up and went to the other side of the bench.

I immediately turned, walked onto the bench and in front of all the kids, and coaches, called the kid out. I told him that the coaches may not be seeing what he was doing, but I did and I better not see him slash the boy with a stick of punch him in the head again. I made sure the antagonist understood what I was telling him, then stalked off the bench.

The coaches separated the two of them after that. But the drama wasn’t over entirely. The antagonist’s Dad had seen me and wanted to know what was going on. I told him what had been happening and he asked if it was “going both ways” meaning he thought the boy was giving as good as he was getting. I told him “No” in no uncertain terms. Overall, he was upset I hadn’t said something to him before saying something to his son.

It was a fair point, but I wanted the shenanigans done. I’ve never had a problem with other parents correcting the boy, and I’ve generally not hesitated to correct other kids. This situation was different because of the public nature and the forcefulness with which I’d acted.

Did I handle things well? I think I’ll save that for a post later today.

Categories
Cub Scouts

First Den Meeting 2011 School Year

These are the meeting minutes I wrote up following our 1st Den meeting of the current school year on Sept 29. I recovered it from my email archive. I’ve only modified it to remove names, per my custom here on the blog. I’m adding them to the blog for 2 reasons: first, because my being an SAHD is the major reason I’m a Den leader making the content entirely blog appropriate; and second, they might prove useful for other Den leaders looking for ideas.

The beginning of the meeting was spent taking care of things like patches, books, neckerchiefs and slides. The Pack does supply these items (not shirts or baseball caps). Please check the following list and let me know which of these your Scout needs:

  • Wolf Cub book
  • Neckerchief
  • Wolf slide
  • “Den 2” patch (on sleeve of shirt- if your Scout has a new shirt, he likely doesn’t have this patch)
  • “26” patch (on sleeve of shirt)
  • CT Rivers Council Patch (on sleeve of shirt- large patch with red border)

We then spent time reviewing the Bobcat requirements, such as the Scout Promise, handshake and so forth. We’ll continue to work on these for each of the next several den meetings to help the newer Scouts come up to speed.

The guys got a quick break to play some games and then we moved on to discussing the American Flag. In particular, we discussed flag etiquette and how to fold the Flag properly. All the kids took turns folding the flag for practice, satisfying requirements 2c and 2g in the Wolf book.

By that time, it was time to adjourn the meeting.

Categories
Football

Top 5 QB’s

The guys at PFT have a quick blurb this morning about Joe Flacco and his contract negotiations. They’re wondering if he deserves “top 5” money, presumably meaning he’s one of the top 5 QB’s in the league.

It’s rare such questions have straight forward answers, but allow me.

Current QB’s who are better than Joe Flacco, no questions asked:

  • Tom Brady
  • Aaron Rodgers
  • Ben Roethlisberger
  • Drew Brees
  • Eli Manning

QB’s who are arguably better than Joe Flacco:

  • Tony Romo
  • Matt Schaub
  • Matthew Stafford
  • Matt Ryan
  • Jay Cutler

If Flacco wins a Super Bowl, as the article suggests, I think that merely vaults him into the top 10 because those other guys haven’t won a Super Bowl yet.

Sorry Joe.

Categories
Family

I Give Up

So yesterday, after his martial arts class, the boy informed my he wanted to participate in an upcoming tournament. I mentioned this to the Wife a bit later and she was in shock. Why?

Because when I picked him up from school so I could get him to his class on time, he started whining about “wishing he could go tomorrow.” This isn’t unusual, per say, because he likes being picked up from school. So he uses the pretense of class to get picked up, then carps about going to class in hopes that he can have the best of all worlds.

So when we got home, he started dragging his feet and continued whining, claiming he wanted “to go to class tomoooorrrrooooow.” In a fit of exasperation, I threw my hands up and told him to go ask his Mother. The Wife came downstairs a few moments later and we rehashed everything and she decided that he could just go tomorrow.

Cue the tears.

Now he was crying because he’d be too tired tomorrow, so he really did want to go now. By this point, it was looking entirely probably that we would be late to his class, and we told him so in a vain attempt to get him to calm down. But that only made him cry more because he was so sure he’d have to to “a million-billion push-ups” when he got there.

To cut to the chase, I ended up taking him to class last night. Culminating in his asking to participate in the tournament.

So this morning comes along and we double check with him about the tournament, since his whims change faster than the weather lately.

His response?

No.

Why?

Because there’s a hockey tournament that day.

Categories
Cub Scouts

First Den Meeting 2011 School Year

These are the meeting minutes I wrote up following a meeting we had on Oct 13 of last year. I recovered it from my email archive. I’ve only modified it to remove names, per my custom here on the blog. I’m adding them to the blog for 2 reasons: first, because my being an SAHD is the major reason I’m a Den leader making the content entirely blog appropriate; and second, they might prove useful for other Den leaders looking for ideas.

We started out last night’s meeting with our own Flag Ceremony, complete with a color guard, raising of the flag, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and finishing with the Scout Promise. This is something we’ll continue to do at our meetings so the Scouts get plenty of practice at it. As it happens, this allowed us to complete almost all of the Flag achievements (these are the thing the Scouts have to complete to earn their Wolf Badge at the end of the year).

From there, the rain barely held off long enough for us to run an obstacle course outside. That gave the kids a chance to have a little fun while completing another one of their achievements, “Feats of Skill.”

After getting everyone settled inside, we welcomed a new Scout into the Den and practiced all of our Bobcat requirements again. Also, I went through a list of the upcoming events that the Pack will be doing, which I will detail at the end of this mail. Finally, we wrapped up with more practice with flag etiquette and folding.

All the Scouts helped clean up the Rec room to make sure it was as good as when we arrived.

Categories
Football

Manning Should Retire

Saw this yesterday and meant to comment on it, but didn’t get the chance. Now I see ESPN has also picked it up, so I’ll take the time to offer some comments.

From what I know about fusion surgeries, they are a stop-gap procedure that is used when all else has failed. The other problem with fusing vertebra is that it doesn’t stop with just 1 surgery, my understanding is it takes 3 or 4 surgeries before things stabilize. Attendant with that is the loss of range of motion and also the loss of strength around that area.

I seriously doubt he’d be able to play at the level everyone is accustomed to. For one, it’s already documented that he’s lost a tremendous amount of throwing strength (He hasn’t been able to throw more than 20 or 30 yards according to one of the above links.) For two, a limited range of motion in his neck means he’d have trouble seeing the field- not necessarily down the field, but certainly in the pocket. For three, he’s no spring-chicken anymore- he’s on the wrong side of 35 now.

Not to mention, if he does play, he’ll likely not get the benefit of the doubt from defenses anymore. He’ll see much more aggressive play from them, especially with blitzing. Sure, he may recognize the blitz is coming, but it’s another thing to make a defense pay for it. Right now, it’s not at all clear he’ll be capable of it. If he proves incapable of handling it because of arm strength or reaction time, or just plain old rustiness from missing a year, then he’ll only get more of the treatment from defenses.

Manning has nothing left to prove where football is concerned. He’s a lock for a first ballot HOF’er, he’s been MVP of the league multiple times and he’s been to 2 Super Bowls, winning one of them. He’s set numerous passing records and set the standard for quarterback play in the league for many years now. And contra a lot of other opinions, I actually think this past season speaks volumes about Manning’s importance to the Colts. With Manning as QB, defenses couldn’t be aggressive and teams had to game plan how to out score the Colts. Further, the Colt’s defense was built to play with a lead. Take away the points and the leads, and you get what we had last season for the Colts. Defenses could blitz the Colt’s offense and generally be aggressive for the first time in a decade because the threat of Manning burning to the defense was non-existent. The Colts may not have won the Super Bowl last year with Manning, but they likely are a contender and they are certainly better than a 2 win team.

So given his accomplishments and the questionable health status that see-saws between not-so-good and bad, I think Manning should retire. He’s not going to be a Brett Favre- his neck won’t let him. If he does play, I think there’s a serious possibility that he gets hurt and is forced into retirement as a result. The other possible scenario is that he proves to be ineffective due to the physical limitations his neck problems create for him. There may be teams out there willing to pay him to play for them, but they won’t have his best interests at heart. Finally, at 35+, Manning is nearing the end anyway. Without the injury, sure he probably could have played until he hit 40. But I think the neck injury changes the calculation. His time is up, it’s as simple as that.

UPDATE:

I think Colts owner Jim Irsay is thinking this way too (from the ESPN article):

It’s a two-pronged thing. The first is if and when the nerve regenerates and whether it allows him to play at a high level. But I always want Peyton to understand the risk-rewards about playing. We want to make sure he understands the long-term aspects of his health in trying to play.”

Sounds like someone who’s trying to plant a seed in a player’s head. He could be acting out of self-interest- not wanting to worry about playing against Manning. But I think that’s unlikely. Irsay knows what Manning has done for his team, I think he’s being sincere here.

Categories
Family

A Little Disappointing

In recent weeks, the boy has been noticeably less enthusiastic about hockey. The behavior manifests as a nonchalant attitude while skating that’s infuriating for me to watch. Not just me, the Wife gets annoyed with it as well. Not only is he not trying, he’s not even trying to try. He’ll skate past the puck without even realizing it; he’ll even be skating in the wrong direction compared to where the action is going; he’ll just skate in circles out on the ice not even trying to help his team. The violations are numerous.

Of course, there’s nothing I or the Wife can do. What’s more, I’m not sure there’s anything we should do. I keep reminding myself that he’s only 8 and not all kids are made the same about this stuff. My concern is that he’ll develop the habit that it’s OK to just pack it in when things are hard. But there’s a world of difference between and 8-year old and a 16-year old, and there’s no guarantee that the boy he is now will be the teen he is later. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself (I’m pretty sure it’s true in my case- and I doubt I’m unique).

After his games this weekend, I asked him what was going on. He stated flat out that he didn’t like hockey anymore. When I asked him “Why, what had happened?” (he was the one who requested to play this year, we didn’t push him) he stated he didn’t like wearing all the pads and that he still got headaches. I found the last part incredible- we’d spent a small fortune on a top-of-the-line helmet for him because his noodle was too big for the regular helmets, which even the guys at the hockey store could see were too small for him. He hadn’t complained once all year about headaches, until now.

As to the not liking pads, well, that’s about as 8-year-old a thing to say as I can imagine.

I was shocked at his statement and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. One thing which occurred to me is there’s one sport he always asks to play, but we can’t because I don’t have access to a court anymore. He always asks to play racquetball. I started teaching him how to play a couple of years ago when I still had a membership at the Y. I’d take him and the lass, hand them one of my spare racquets and we’d play around on the court. I think the implication is pretty clear.

If I’m right, then that portends good news for his martial arts. I’ve been taking classes at the school as well so it’s something we’ll both have in common. But it also means that stuff like baseball and hockey will never be of much importance to him. It’s also an indicator that we’ve made the right call not having him join youth football for the time being. I’d hate for him to get a sour taste in his mouth about football.

So, while it’s disappointing that he’s not enthused about hockey, clearly it’s not the end of the world. He’s had a chance to learn something about himself, and the Wife and I have also learned a little about him and sports. Besides, next November is a long time from now, and he could always change his mind.

Categories
Cub Scouts

Fella’s Cake Remake

Drat.

There were 2 minor logistical issues that I thought I neatly solved with a single stroke. The first is that the cake is tall and didn’t neatly fit in the fridge nor was it easily covered. The second is that the Rice Krispie Treats we used to construct the Angry Bird course don’t do well indoors because the warm temps soften them sufficiently to make them sag. The picture in the previous post shows this pretty clearly.

So, since we’d been experiencing cooler temps the past few days, I decided to put it out in our garage. It was plenty cool out there and I figured it would be suitably preserved by the cold.

Unfortunately, there’s a mouse in our garage. And it ate some of the frosting on the cake. And we couldn’t, in good conscience, patch it up and try to pass it off knowing that it had been violated by the little critter.

The Wife wasn’t happy, nor was I since now we have to scramble to remake the cake. The boy was even less happy, wishing all manner of terrible curses and ill-fates for the mouse. Classic over reaction to the whole thing, but he’s a kid and that’s what happens.

At any rate, looks like I have my work cut out for me tomorrow.

Categories
Cub Scouts

Angry Bird Cake

Our Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet is coming up this week. Part of the nights’ festivities involves a silent auction and the Fella’s Cake Bake. The cakes are all made by Scouts with their Dads, or another male figure in their life. Then they spend the night bidding on each other’s cakes. Most of them want to take their own cake back home and will guard the cake by constantly outbidding new bids as the night goes on. Luckily, we’re only talking a few bucks so parents don’t end up on the hook for too much in those instances. Regardless, it’s a fun time.

This year, the boy wanted to make an “Angry Bird” cake. Potentially, that could mean different things to different people. But here’s what it meant to the boy: