Firethorn – Father, Gamer, Geek.

The weekend more or less started yesterday when I picked up the new iPhone. I love it. Anyhow, I dropped our au pair off at the DMV and she took the non-driving portion of her driver’s test. I then headed to work.

Everyone wanted to see the phone and know all about it. It was surprising how many people were interested in it. I needed to get a personal phone, it’s the right thing to do. I definitely didn’t want to spend the money but I’m cutting the phone bill at home to off set the cost so it’s a net zero change to the family budget (which is nice). We then picked up some summer clothes for the boy at the mall, I got groceries while Mommy went home, and pretty much called it a night.

This morning I got up and we all got ready by 9 AM. We asked the photographer who’d done so much great stuff with our son to take some pictures of our dogs. In particular our oldest dog Madison is really starting to show her age and we would feel horrible if we didn’t get at least one more picture of her. As we’ve done so much with the photographers as “models” (I use the term loosely) they help us out by not charging us anything other than for the pictures we purchase. It’s a great deal and they got quite a bit of photos with us for use in materials (we’re on their web site).

Anyhow, with that done the boy took his nap and we hung some home organizer things in the kitchen (a small white board, cork board, and the like). The boy woke up, we ate hot dogs for lunch, and headed to a local park. The park is somewhat like a zoo but “zoo” makes it sound huge, it’s not. It is closer to a wild life preserve. Anyhow it’s a free way to walk around outside and have the boy see some animals. We were there at feeding time so that was extra fun for him.

We then picked up the au pair who was staying with a friend down town and got home to make dinner. By the time that is cleaned up, the dishes are put away, and breakfast is ready for tomorrow, it’s 8 PM and time for the boy to go to bed.

I’ve spent the last two hours getting everything set up for the phone and figuring out how best to manage my contacts in it — no clear answer yet. All I know is that it is 10:30 PM, I’ve been up since 6:30 AM, and the day has flown.

First pic on the iPhone at the mall:

First video (at the park today):

Growing up, one of the life lessons that was taught to me was the importance of vehicle maintenance. I have owned the care I drive for about six months and today was the first time I’ve had the time to clean it. Granted, I did not get to do everything needed but it was a very therapeutic session. I also learned just how knicked up the front of the car is from I guess road gravel. Surprising to me.

Date night last night was a hit. We went to see Hot House and had a great dinner beforehand. It’s the first time I’ve had very good filet in months. The wife got some kind of pork dish. The boy stayed home with the au pair. The whole night was enjoyable and it was so great to get out.

It made me realize that we probably need a vacation. I don’t know where, I don’t know what we’ll do, I don’t want to spend a lot of money, but I think we need to get away as a family. I need to investigate.

I also learned today that if you wash a car in the hot sun, and get some horrendous stains on the windows, you can use vinegar to clean them back to a perfect finish.

For whatever reason, the little voice in my head thought it would be a good idea to call DirecTV and ask what they could do for me. Sure enough, by just asking the question they lowered my monthly bill to below what they advertise on the web site. I’ve been with them for two years and have no desire to change my service, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.

I’m going to try this more often. I’ve read that in this economy that vendors are more than willing to bend over backwards to keep good customers. I’ve had that experience at work and thought I’d try it at home. It worked.

If you’re a DirecTV customer, it might be worth five minutes of your time (that is all it took) to save some money.

After working so hard on the interior for the first year of living in our home, and spending the second year learning how to be a father, this summer I’m working on making the outside of the house suck a little less. Specifically, working on the lawn. For sure I’ve done a better job of keeping the lawn mowed. We’ve also spent a lot more time on weeding and moving around the plants we have so that it looks a little better.

Most nights this week I’ve spent time working on the lawn, even for a half hour. It feels great to be outside and it will be nice this weekend to not have to think about it too much (although I know already that I’ll be hacking on some bushes which are going out of control).

We are also going on our first “date” in about two years. It is odd to type that. Anyhow we are meeting friends near Milwaukee, having a nice dinner (I already know what I’m getting – the filet), and listening to some music.

For no reason at all, here is a recent picture of the wife and son (he’s growing up quick):

Psychopath.

A psychological construct that describes chronic immoral and antisocial behavior.

I’ve resolved this summer to in general spend a lot more time outside. With the boy mobile now we want to go to parks, go hiking, and in general just be outdoors. We all look forward to going to the zoo in June.

This past weekend we played sports together as a family outside. I can’t tell you how great it was to all be playing sports. It also is a celebration of health across the board. Grandpa, Grandma, and even all the way down to little Frank got in on it.

Here’s the family taking some batting practice:

Perhaps most importantly, here’s the boy playing with a football. This is important as he will love football all of his life. There is no option.

In seriousness he will like whatever he wants; I simply hope to some day play catch with him.

A few particular web sites only seem to work in Firefox 3. A game breaker is the web site that I use to submit my Flex Spending and Dependent Care reimbursements only works in Firefox. It does not work in Chrome or IE8 on Windows 7 and thus I am back to Firefox.

I have a minimal number of extensions installed (Ad Block Plus and FoxMarks) and I must say even with those two my browsing experience is improved. I miss the speed with which Chrome works but the gap between it and Firefox is a lot less than it used to be. IE8 just flat out is terrible along every measurable dimension – performance, how it handles tabs (it doesn’t), and how to configure it.

I’m coming off of a great weekend. It started on Friday with getting groceries. I used to hate it but now I come home after work and grab my son. Together we go grocery shopping. I’m such a Dad. He likes to look at everything, play with the food I put in the grocery cart, and see lots of strangers. It also gives Mommy about two hours to herself to take a shower and do a few things around the house that are hard to do with a little boy in tow.

After that we had a small dinner and I started working on the lawn. I got up Saturday with Frank and we had a nice breakfast while Mommy takes her day to sleep in. Once she was up I finished the mowing and trimming on the lawn just in time for the in-laws to arrive. I showered and the rest of the wife’s family arrived for a small Mother’s Day / Father’s Day / Birthday party. The whole family then spent the afternoon outside on the lawn playing baseball, soccer, and horse shoes. I can not remember the last time the whole family was outside playing sports.

Sunday we spent working on the flowers around the house. The landscaping we inherited was in a very neglected state. We’ve worked hard to fight back the weeds and my mother in-law brought a bunch of plants and flowers that they planted while my father-in-law and I played with the rocks and the dirt to accomodate the plants. The wife, mother-in-law, and a friend from college all pitched in on playing with the boy and getting everything done. It was a grueling day but again the weather was almost perfect.

My face is sun burned, my arms are a little tired, but it felt great to work and play outside.

I also finished “Partners in Command”, a well researched book about Eisenhower and Marshall and their relationship during World War II. As a fan of history and in particular these to individuals, it was a wonderful read. Rarely does the author reach beyond the facts, but the assembly and interpretation of the facts in this book paint a vivid picture of just how difficult their jobs were. If you like books and like military history, this is a recommended read. It inspired me to read a few more WWII books, starting with two by Ambrose. His books inspired the “Band of Brothers” series on HBO which is among the greatest television ever produced.

So Google has a new toy out … called Wave. I thought Google already had Orkut for their social networking?

Anyhow, I signed up. My haiku that was submitted as part of the submission:

Wave, It Calls To Me
Like A Wife To A Husband
When He Comes Home Late

I’ve decided to try some video. Below is a test video from Frank walking today: