Month: February 2012

Categories
Family

Another Moment for the Lass

Today is a day for which the lass has been waiting for 2 years now. She reminded me about it when the school year began. She reminded me about it a couple of weeks ago when the lessons had turned to the subject at hand. Today, it finally came to fruition.

What could it possibly be? Why today, I brought our parrots in for a show-and-tell type presentation. I did the same thing 2 years ago with the boy’s kindergarten class, thus beginning her long, slow march towards her own moment in the Sun.

From a rational standpoint, I have a hard time understanding it. Sure, it’s exciting to have a parent come in to school so a child can show them off. Suddenly, the parent is on the child’s turf so there’s a subtle power shift. Even so, 2 years she’s been looking forward to it.

For what it’s worth, the event went fine. The parrots were agreeable little guests in the room and all the kids were very interested in them. I talked about some of the boring stats like their size and how long they live. All of them got a chance to touch the birds. That’s the hardest part, because the parrots aren’t used to little hands reaching for them. They (the parrots) take a rather dim view of the little hands, actually. I counter act things by holding the kid’s hand and helping them to touch the birds beak and their feathers. They still get a kick out of it, even though they aren’t like a dog or cat when it comes to holding them.

One of the kids got a bonus when I set one of the parrots on his arm. The bird decided he’d finally had enough and flew off, leaving one of his flight feather behind. The kids who were there (most were putting on coats and hats and getting ready to leave) thought it was pretty cool how the bird had flown. I handed the flight feather to the boy the bird had flown away from. He held it like it was a priceless treasure.

So, in the end, no one was bitten, one boy got a feather, and the lass got to strut her stuff in front of her friends. The most memorable moment for me?

When I first came into the room, the kids were having snack and the lass was holding court. She said something to the effect “My Dad brought in my birds…” Funny, for them being “her” birds, I don’t recall her ever cleaning the cage.

Categories
Family

Stupid Things Kids Do

“What do the dog collars feel like?” the boy asked.

He was talking about the collars that go with the electric fence. The collars have two prongs that reach down to the dog’s skin. First, the collar beeps- the dog should be conditioned to back away when they hear the beep. If they don’t move within a second or so, then they get a shock.

I’ve subjected myself to the shock, and while it isn’t pleasant, it isn’t the most painful thing in the world. It’s enough to be attention getting. Which I think is the main point when it comes to a dog- get their attention, thereby breaking their attention on whatever it is that’s tempting them on the other side of the fence.

I explained it to the boy, the lass as well since she was listening intently.

“Will it work on us?” he wanted to know next.

“Yes- as long as you’re touching the two metal fingers on the collar it will shock you.”

He then declared “I’m going to try it.”

I smirked, nodded my head and said “OK.” I’m not sure why he all of a sudden decided that he wanted to try this, but I really didn’t see any reason not to let him do it. Like I said, it wasn’t going to hurt him, although I fully expected him to yelp and drop the collar when it zapped him. But his curiosity would be satisfied.

Then he asked, “Will I ever forget it?”

I think he meant this question in the vein of “a momentous moment I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.” Obviously, I don’t think it rises quite to that level. But, he had never experienced an electrical shock before. So yeah- he’ll likely remember it.

So the boy and the lass each grabbed a collar and ventured out onto the driveway. That’s where the clearest path to crossing the electric fence is. I went out onto the porch to witness what I assumed would be entertainment.

Both of them immediately got the goofy-giggles kids get when they’re about to try something they know is a little crazy. The boy started psyching himself up for the big moment until he abruptly switched tactics.

He told his sister to go first.

I almost face-palmed. His sister walked up to the fence, but then danced away giggling.

So I decided to stir the pot a bit. I called out to the boy “You know, do you really want your little sister to do this before you and risk having everyone find out that she was braver than you?”

That had the desired affect. The boy finally decided on his course of action: he backed up to the garage door and started running as hard as he could towards the invisible line. His sister tried to keep up. As he neared the fence, he started to scream a little, anticipating the big moment. His sister pulled up short. The boy ran right on through.

When he came to a stop on the other side of the fence, he turned around and looked at his sister, whom had stopped. I hadn’t heard any beeping and he hadn’t dropped the collar. I though he might have actually gone through the field before the collar could activate the shock. But then he said “It just felt like a little buzz in my hand.” He sounded disappointed.

The lass was now upset and actively working herself up. She’d blown her chance by stopping short and now her brother had one over on her. Not a tenable situation. Amazingly, the boy agreed to go back across with her. So they started the whole thing over again.

This time, the result was the opposite: the boy stopped short and the lass ran across the threshold. She even had the same non-response to getting zapped.

And that was it. Their curiosity satisfied, the kids started making their way to the door. For my part, I headed back in to the house to start dinner, surprised at the subdued outcome of the whole affair. I guess we all learned something.

Categories
Misc

Great Global Warming Primer

This essay about the global warming debate is about as good as it gets in terms of laying out the sides, the misdirections and the points and counterpoints in the argument about global warming. Well worth a read. (Via WUWT)

Categories
Family

The Lass in My Corner

The Wife came downstairs and explained how she had locked the bathroom upstairs because she’d been pouring Drano down the pipes up there. Exciting stuff.

Not more than a moment after she’d finished her explanation, the boy (who missed it all) called down from upstairs “SOMEONE LOCKED THE BATHROOM DOOR!” My guess is he was trying to implicate his sister. On that front, he was bound to be disappointed.

The Wife called up to him “We Know…” at which point I decided to interject with “Mom plugged the toilet upstairs and had to poor a special liquid down the toilet. It’ll take an hour or so to work, that’s why the bathroom is locked.”

The Wife was only mildly amused with that, simply giving me a “Ha ha.”

The lass liked it a lot better. She called out “Good one Dad!”

It’s always nice when they’re in your corner for a change.

Categories
Misc

An SAHD No More?

I’m currently interviewing for a local network admin job. The odd thing is, I’m still not totally sure I want to take it, even though I’m going through the process. Of course, that presumes they consider me qualified for the position to begin with, which is hardly a slam dunk. Still, I have some reason to believe the odds favor an offer.

As I said though, I’m still trying to figure out if I really would want to take the job. The simplest way to look at it is, being an SAHD offers a kind of freedom that having a job just can’t match. It isn’t all strawberries and cream, but once the routine is settled into, things, well, take on a life of their own.

My thoughts aren’t real well organized at the moment, so I won’t go into it further. But I’ll be back with more when the times comes. Suffice it to say that, the biggest surprise, is the realization that the decision (to give it up or not) will be harder than I thought it would be.

Categories
Football

Disappointed

You know, the first 3 times the Patriots won a Super Bowl, I didn’t root for them. Then, for the last 2, they play the Giants and that’s one of maybe 2 teams that could actually make me root for the Patriots.

So naturally, they lose. Both times. I just can’t win with those guys.

Categories
Family

Elbow Update- Latest Doctor’s Report

Met the orthopedic Doctor again yesterday. Long story short is he gave me the go ahead for the next phase of recovery. I can start using the arm actively. The weight regimen starts out real light and gradually increases the weight each month by about 5 pounds or so. The idea is to condition the tendon to the stress of active supination.

I told him about the elbow issues over the weekend and he immediately felt the ulnar nerve was the culprit. He said scar tissue wasn’t likely this far out from the surgery. He explained that the nerve passes through an opening in the bone as it traverses the elbow joint, call the Cubital Tunnel. When the elbow is bent, that tunnel closes up by almost 40%. If the nerve get inflamed or irritated, then that becomes significant as a further irritant on the nerve.

So he gave me 2 remedies to use in tandem. One is to sleep with a pillow on my elbow on the inside portion of the arm. The idea is to prevent it from bending while sleeping at night because this is a major source of irritation for the nerve since most people (myself included) sleep with their arm bent. By preventing that, I’d be giving the nerve extra time to heal.

The second remedy is a stretching regimen that he wants me to perform 5 times a day for minutes each. The stretch is to place my hand and forearm flat against a wall and then lean towards the wall. This stretch should help with the gliding of the ulnar nerve as well as help with my range of motion when bending my arm.

Next visit in 2 months time. By then, I hope to be as good as new.

Categories
Cub Scouts

A Fire Station Visit

These are the meeting minutes I wrote up following a meeting we had on Nov 2 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 were at the Fire Station for our meeting, where we talked about emergencies and when it’s appropriate to call 911, as well as some simple First Aid stuff as well. Afterwards, the Scouts got a chance to go inside an ambulance and see what some of the procedures are and how some of the equipment is used. The Scouts even got a chance to see the crew respond to a call, though the crew was ultimately called back as the people had left the scene by the time the emergency crew arrived.

Prior to the meeting, we distributed binders to the kids to help track there progress through the remainder of the year. It will also be used for homework assignments as well as a scrapbook of sorts for their Scouting adventures. Again, thanks to Heather for putting those together for the kids.

Speaking of home assignments, 2 of those are the Emergency Phone Number List and the Healthy Habits chart. They don’t HAVE to have those completed for the next meeting, but those are assignments they can work towards completing. The home assignments go towards completing their requirements for the Wolf Badge.

Categories
Family

Testing Us Both

STOMP!

We had just start on our way to school this morning when the boy angrily stomped his foot down. Then he lamented how he forgot a picture for his “Share Day” and how he always forgets to bring in something for his “Share Day.”

STOMP!STOMP!

I sat quietly by for the moment, trying to judge the situation. The boy has a long, storied history of a temper that he either can’t, or simply refuses to, reign in. It can start out very benign, no more than a tad bit of frustration. Five minutes later he’s in the corner for smart-mouthing one of us. Or worse.

STOMP!

He wasn’t showing any signs of getting out of control, but the stomping was getting on my nerves, frankly. The words formed in my head like they had so many times before “Stop doing that- it won’t accomplish anything” and the many variations thereof. But this time, I held them back. I was suddenly curious, would he continue? Would it get worse?

STOMP!KICK

Now he’d kicked his backpack. We were about halfway to school. He hadn’t whipped himself into a frenzy yet. Plus, another thought came to mind: what if he’s just doing it for attention? What if he’s just trying to provoke a reaction from me just for some kind of weird emotional satisfaction? That might explain the “slow burn” nature of what he was doing.

He reached forward and roughly opened the glove compartment, perused the contents for something, didn’t find it and slammed it closed. Hard, but not too hard. Could have been comment worthy, but he clearly had restrained himself.

STOMP!KICK!

If he’d been a linebacker, there would probably be a hole in the floor at his feet. I was tempted to tell him he’d smoosh whatever he had in his lunch box but I didn’t. We were at the light just before the school. All I had to do was a right, 200 feet and I’d be turning in to drop him off.

He didn’t stomp or kick anymore. We arrived at the drop off and I told them both to have a good day. The boy roughly picked up his backpack and rushed out the door. He muttered some barely intelligible, dark words about how he couldn’t have a good day. The lass was her usual chipper self, all enthusiasm to be going to school. The boy had a frown etched on his face that was almost comical because of how mad he looked.

SLAM!

So does that count as passing?

EPILOGUE:

I was at the doctor’s when the boy got home. I talked to the Wife and asked how the boy’s day went. She told me when she asked him he replied “Superb.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Do you know what that means?” he answered, “It’s a synonym for ‘good’. I prefer ‘superb’ because it sounds better.”

Superb.

Categories
Cub Scouts

Legos and Flags and Rank Badges

These are the meeting minutes I wrote up following a meeting we had on Nov 29 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.

I selected 3 Scouts to be the Colorguard for our opening flag ceremony. After the Pledge and the Scout Promise, the boys helped setup chairs and I passed out Rank Tracking Badges. These are a plastic badge that goes over the button of the right pocket of the Scout’s uniform and is used to keep track of their progress on the way to earning their Wolf Badge. I also passed out a bead to mark their current progress.

After they put together their rank badges, I passed out some sheets with information about Connecticut’s State Flag. We looked over the picture of the flag and then discussed some of the elements as well as some simple facts like the official size of the flag and when it was adopted.

We then had the Scouts fashion a bead necklace. I will use these as a means to reward Scouts for certain things going forward. For future meetings, all Scouts who attend a meeting will get a bead, as well as any Scout who wears their uniform and brings in completed home assignments.

Finally, to end the meeting we had a Lego building competition. We had the Scouts form up into teams and then one of the other Dads passed out Lego kits which he assembled. His challenge to the boys was to see who could build a structure that would hold a roof the highest off of the table. They had about 10 minutes to work on their ideas. The boys enjoyed the little impromptu competition and the winner had Den bragging rights for a few minutes.

The Scouts then helped clean up the Lego’s and the facility and I assigned them their next home assignment: to help their parents by doing 2 chores (like laundry or cleaning dishes or whatever their parents need) from now until Christmas. Obviously, I’ll need help from the you guys to make sure they’ve all accomplished this assignment.

Categories
Computers

Nook Tablet Update- Part II

In the previous post on this topic, I went over the new rooting method for the Nook Tablet that involves simply booting an SD card with some special files on it. It was pretty simple stuff, really, and gives the user access to the Android Market for apps.

However, if you were like me and had loaded apps from the Amazon market prior to getting the v1.4.1 update from Barnes and Noble, then you were still hung up. The “unknown sources” hack was still unavailable at this point.

Luckily, there’s an alternative. It’s possible to used the Android Debugging Bridge (adb) to load apps. And as it happens, there’s an app that overrides the unknown sources block, thus allowing for installing apps from Amazon.

First, the Android SDK has to be installed. I’m not going to go over that as it’s documented elsewhere. It’s easy enough to find and do. Once the SDK is installed, make sure any path settings are updated appropriately. Then, it will be time to setup the adb to recognize the nook.

Just to be clear, these instructions are for linux. In particular, I’m using debian linux.

The next step is to update the rules for udev so that certain links are created when the device is plugged in. This is the resource I used to help get it all running. Create a file in /etc/udev/rules.d/ like 20-android.rules and enter the following 3 lines:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ATTR{idVendor}=="2080", MODE="0666", OWNER="<user>"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ATTR{idVendor}=="2080",ATTR{idProduct}=="0004",SYMLINK+="android_adb"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ATTR{idVendor}=="2080",ATTR{idProduct}=="0004",SYMLINK+="android_fastboot"

The first line assigns permissions and the owner to the device. The <user> is a place holder and should be replaced by the user name of whomever is running adb. Without this line, permission errors occur when connecting to the nook. The other 2 lines create symbolic links in the /dev directory that adb uses to connect to an android device.

When done, load the new rules into udev using udevadm or by just restarting the daemon.

Next up, modify, or create, the file ~/.android/adb_usb.ini and add a line that reads simply 0x2080. Alternatively, plug the nook in and type the following command:

$ android update adb

Next, debugging needs to be enabled on the nook. Simply try to install something from Amazon. When asked, choose the “Package Installer” and then proceed to Settings where you’ll get the familiar Unknown Sources checkbox. This time, however, don’t bother. At the bottom of the box is another option labeled Development. Go there and then check off USB Debugging and uncheck Automount.

Now, everything should be ready to connect adb to the nook. Plug the nook in and a little beetle icon should appear in the status bar area of the nook. To make sure the debugger is loaded with all the changes done, execute the following command:

$ adb kill-server && adb start-server && adb devices

There should be output like the following:

* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached 
<device id>        device

The <device id> field will be a long number. Congratulations! It’s almost done.

Now to get the app to fix the unknown sources setting. [Here’s][3] the original forum link where the app was originally posted. It’s been updated a few times and the link is towards the end of the first post in the thread. Download that app to your home directory.

Once the file is downloaded, simply type the following command:

$ adb install NTHiddenSettings.apk

It’s done. Now the Amazon Appstore will be available again.

That wasn’t so bad, was it?

Categories
Misc

That Would Be Nice Actually

Looks like the furball saw his shadow. 6 more weeks of Winter, supposedly.

It would be welcome if Winter actually arrived for a bit. Perhaps he meant “6 more weeks until Winter”? Even the kids have noticed because there hasn’t been much snow. The boy is hoping for the extended time because he wants more snow. The lass is in agreement.

I guess I am too. Does that mean I’m still a kid at heart?

Categories
Misc

The 10 Year MTBF

You know how you can tell when you’ve been living somewhere awhile? Things start to break. All at once; one after the other. Doesn’t matter.

Last month, I was able to fix our dishwasher. In addition to having a rather virulent form of “creeping crud” infesting it, the heating element had succumbed to rot. I’m guessing the two were related. Anyway, after replacing the heating element (and the controller board) we were able to get rid of the crud using a dishwasher cleaner.

This month, it turns out the microwave was next in line. The Wife realized it on Sunday when she attempted to cook frozen veggies (those steam bags are great!) and the bag came out colder than it had gone in.

Alright, that’s an exaggeration. But the veggies still weren’t cooked.

Yesterday, I half-heartedly decided to try opening up the microwave and see if there was anything obvious. Microwaves are actually pretty simple devices, really. There’s a controller board that drives the magnetron. The magnetron is what vibrates the water. In addition, there’s a diode and a capacitor that are related to magnetron operation. If any one of them go, no heating.

Anyway, it turns out Kenmore assembled their microwave with a non-standard screw head. It’s a “star” head screw, but there’s a pin in the middle of the star so that none of my star-head screwdrivers worked.

SNAP! Aww, shucks.

So I replaced the microwave yesterday afternoon with something that looks pretty similar to what was there. This one’s a GE model. SAHD or not, I can’t fix everything.

I’ll note that the range top on our stove has been acting a bit flaky of late. Don’t know if that’ll be next, but I think we’re at that point where it’s a matter of “when”, not “if.”