You know you're from Rochester, NY when...

1. "Waking up with the Wease" doesn't mean that you have a respiratory infection.
2. The thought of eating a "garbage plate" makes your mouth water.
3. The only thing at the annual May Lilac Festival is snow.
4. The worst four-letter word you could say is "Fuji".
5. You can't swim at the beach.
6. You thought that you had figured out that alternate-parking thing, but wind up with a ticket anyway.
7. Toronto is about 70 miles away, but it takes four hours to get there.
8. The name "Greater Rochester International Airport" is bigger than the airport itself.
9. There's an 800 number to report a pothole in the road.
10. You know that a "Can of Worms" is not something that you take fishing.
11. Your baby's first word is "Wegmans".
12. You ask lifetime residents where the George Eastman House is, but they don't know either.
13. In a city where it snows at least 90 inches a year, they build a new sports stadium with no roof on it.
14. It can be 70 degrees one day, below freezing the next, and you think nothing of it.
15. Your mother is buying outfits to wear to Wegmans.
16. Your low-fat diet is never low enough to exclude an Abbott's custard.
17. You order a white hot and a pop, and the counterman knows what you're talking about.
18. You can travel from Egypt to Greece in about a half-hour by car.
19. D&C is a newspaper, not a medical procedure.
20. There are no hamburgers, only ground steak.
21. You can go to any mall on a Saturday and see at least 5 people you either work with, went to school with or dated.
22. A musical comes to town 10 years after its Broadway premier and the entire town goes nuts! (e.g. Miss Saigon)
23. You awaken from a deep sleep, look at the clock and see that it's 6:00, but you have no idea whether it's AM or PM.
24. When 18+ inches of snow falls overnight, but you never thought of NOT going to work.
25. You are perplexed when friends from other cities come to visit and want to "see the sights".
26. A flagpole strung with white lights seems like an acceptable alternative to a municipal Christmas tree.
27. In winter if the temperature hits 45 degrees and the sun comes out, people walk around downtown wearing shades and no jackets.
28. There are places at the poles that seem to get more sunlight during the winter months than we do.
29. Wegmans is somewhere to go on a Friday night, for entertainment.
30. You know who Vinnie and Angelo are.
31. You define summer as three months of bad sledding.
32. You think that people from Pennsylvania have an accent.
33. Halloween is snowed out with great regularity.
34. You have experienced frostbite and sunburn in the same week.
35. Your year has two seasons: Winter and Construction.
36. Half the change in your pocket is Canadian, eh.

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

In case you follow Wallace and Grommit and haven't seen the preview for the latest, here's a preview I found from Apple's trailer site.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen
Originally uploaded by danishsprite.

Our visit from Lana and family was wonderful. It was great to see her again and catch up. They really kept moving, which was impressive with Ben, who is 14 months. I didn't know until they arrived that they were teaching Ben to sign. He's quite good at it, and uses more, cookie, bath, finished and milk.

On Friday we all went to Copenhagen for the weekend. John and I had been once before, but it was terribly cold on that visit and we didn't get too much in. Not true this time! We saw Rosenborg and Ameliaborg castles, climbed the round tower and took a boat tour of the canals. Not bad for two days! It was a great time.

I'm sorry this is so short, and there aren't any links to the sites, but I'm absolutely exhausted. It's been a tricky week of babysitting with Olivia- I'm dead on my feet. I'll update you all soon!

how is everything?

Well as matt posted we survived large amounts of sunshine and a beautifully breezey day on sat. Not Rita. Dave how is everything going? Are the boys three or four weeks old now? Sorry I haven't sent our package for the boys yet. I want to send you some things I used for caleb that are gently worn. But they are in Emily's room. I always seem to remember to get the stuff when she is napping. When a baby naps I leave 'em alone. I'll try to get the package off this week.

jenn

This weekend.

As matt said I'm trying to be ready for the bad weather this weekend, but not too paranoid. Please keep us in your prayers that our utilities will not go out. We don't need the hot and humid weather with no AC. It's still in the nineties here. And please keep Caleb in your prayers. We're supposed to get some pretty bad rain when Rita arrives here. I"m hoping it's only rain and not a thunderstorm. Caleb has recently become very afraid of thunder. So please keep him in your prayers. Thanks guys. Jenn

Hurricane

Well, it's 8:30pm Wednesday night. I just got home from running an errand after dinner, and it's just nuts. Grocery stores are packed with people buying bottled water and canned goods, gas stations are packed with cars overflowing in and out of them, roads are full of crazy drivers....moreso than usual. Everyone is gearing up for Rita when she is supposed to hit Austin on Saturday. She has a direct course for Central Texas (Austin / San Antonio), but not before hitting Houston, Galveston, and down to Brownsville and Corpus. We're in for a doozy of a weekend. I'm glad I mowed the lawn this past Sunday.

Jenn's out now fighting at the H.E.B. to get baby food and water and whatever else we might need. Tomorrow I'm bringing the grill and swing into the garage, and making room in the garage to pull the cars in (which we never do, because the garage is always full of crap.) Battening down the hatches.

So that's what's happening in Austin. Night night.

Baseball, and new pics

I just uploaded some new pics on that flickky site - you can see them on the box thing on the right hand side of the page here.

Also, have to tell you all about Caleb. Last night, he and I were outside throwing his little OU (Oklahoma) football around, and sometimes he can throw that right over my head. He was amazing, and sometimes he gets the spin on the football too. Then afterwards he ran into the garage and grabbed his plastic baseball and bat. A couple times I pitched to him and he missed, but then he started hitting them...again, over my head. He hit 6 pitches in a row! Amazing kid! I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn when I was 3-1/2 years old....but Caleb, he's awesome. I kept telling him to "keep your eye on the ball"....and that's when he hit it. Then, before I pitched to him, he'd say "Daddy, I'm going to keep my eye on the ball." It was funny when I told him that I had to duck because he was hitting them straight at me. Then he asked, "Daddy, where's the duck? I want to see it."

Anyway, just wanted to relay all that. I'm proud of him.

Olivia

John and I had lunch with Olivia and her parents yesterday, and it was a great time. Olivia was all smiles, but she's forgotten a huge amount of English. She responded to lots of questions with 'fine' or 'I forgot,' and relied on saying, "Come, Kristen" and pointing to things. I'll be watching her next week, and a few odd days in the month of October. I'm sure her English will start to kick in after a few days.

My high-school buddy Lana arrives tonight with her husband and son. They got a great flight; they leave LA and fly straight through to London, then hop to Copenhagen. Unfortunately they changed their plans at the last minute, and will have to take a train from Copenhagen to Århus- it's a four hour trip! (We don't have high-speed trains in Denmark.) That last leg should be a killer, and they'll arrive at 10 pm our time.

I'm excited, but it doesn't seem real yet.

John is doing better. The swelling is down in his arm and fingers, so he has more movement. He managed to get through the shower on his own and tie his own shoes this morning. He's giving a talk at the University tomorrow. It's meant to be a dry-run to the talks he'll give when interviewing. We'll see how he does.

I should give a little update on my dear Hunny. As you guys know, she's 14 years old! Up until now, she's been in great shape, but recently she's developed an inflamed bladder. So far she's manged to hop herself to the litter box regardless, but she's had two accidents (over a month, both, thankfully, not on the carpets), which has sent my mom into hysterics. The vet says it's kinda like getting arthritis as an older adult human; they can treat it with steroids, but the inflamation will return when they wear off. She received a steriod shot (the cat, not my mom) last week, and so far she's better. It will last 4 to 6 weeks.

I have to find out how long they can continue the steriod shots. I'm guessing that they'll give them to her, regardless of the ill effect it may have on her long term health. They'll keep this inflamation down as long as they can. It doesn't cause her pain, but it will make it difficult for her to get to the litter box, which (understandably) is a pre-requistie to living with my parents. We'll see how it goes.

Olivia

John and I had lunch with Olivia and her parents yesterday, and it was a great time. Olivia was all smiles, but she's forgotten a huge amount of English. She responded to lots of questions with 'fine' or 'I forgot,' and relied on saying, "Come, Kristen" and pointing to things. I'll be watching her next week, and a few odd days in the month of October. I'm sure her English will start to kick in after a few days.

My high-school buddy Lana arrives tonight with her husband and son. They got a great flight; they leave LA and fly straight through to London, then hop to Copenhagen. Unfortunately they changed their plans at the last minute, and will have to take a train from Copenhagen to Århus- it's a four hour trip! (We don't have high-speed trains in Denmark.) That last leg should be a killer, and they'll arrive at 10 pm our time.

I'm excited, but it doesn't seem real yet.

John is doing better. The swelling is down in his arm and fingers, so he has more movement. He managed to get through the shower on his own and tie his own shoes this morning. He's giving a talk at the University tomorrow. It's meant to be a dry-run to the talks he'll give when interviewing. We'll see how he does.

Diaper bags

Here's my suggestion for going out with twins. Something I learned with Caleb, Dave - just keep the diaper bag in the car. Don't even bring it back into the house. If you do, you'll forget it. I learned that the hard way with Caleb. I would bring the diaper bag into the house when we got home. Then one day when I took him for his well-check and I forgot it. I was lucky I rememberd to bring him in the car seat. Well when the nurse went to do his naked weight, he stripped Caleb down. Caleb immediately began peeing in lovely arc across the entire wall of the room. I burst out laughing and couldn't stop. His clothes, diaper and everything was soaking wet. And I had forgotten his diaper bag. I never forgot it again. Thankfully the Drs. office had extra diapers. As far as the soaked clothes, we wrapped him up in his blankets naked and he survived. Keep the clothes you like least in the diaper bag that way you don't have to feel guilty not using them. Tell yourself that they're serving a greater good in case just such a peeing emergency arises. Ahhhhhh there's nothing like talking about peeing and poop and other bodily functions I never would have dreamed about four years ago. Karen can you believe our little ones will be four this year???!! Good night all.

I GOT THE DVD!!

WoooHOOOO! Go Nate! Got the DVD this afternoon, and it's great. Even though I wasn't around for the particular times included, I've heard so much about them, it was still wonderful.

Thanks for all the effort. You made my day!

Er visit #2

John came home from work after one hour yesterday. He was in so much pain I sent him over to our doctor, who saw him immediately, who sent him back to the ER.

They'd missed a fracture in his wrist. He now has a temporary cast on his arm, which will come off in ten days and be replaced by a plaster cast. That will stay on eight weeks. He felt better the minute the arm was immobilized, so that's been great. However, there are lots of things that are rather tricky, such as showering and dressing. I'm glad that I'm here to get groceries, too . . . I'm not sure what he'd do!

We were awoken this morning by a call from Olivia! She arrived in Århus with her mom last night, and wanted to call this morning. She really didn't call that early, it was 9, John and I were sleeping late. We're going over for lunch tomorrow. I can't wait!

Dave, how's the baby-decathalon going? Hope things are settling in a bit.

rain rain rain

uh... we got a lot of rain today...

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWS01/50916002

Catchy ways to learn the alphabet

For all the parents out there.. and those who appreciate songs about letters, They Might Be Giants has a new kid's album out. You can see it here:

http://www.giantkid.net

I am currently singing "alphabet of nations", and having a grand old time doing it.

Not their first adventure in children's media- I will be curious to check out some of their other kid's stuff.

beats barney...

Bike accident

John got sandwiched between a bike and a car yesterday on his way to work. At first I thought he was ok, just dazed. Then we rolled up his shirt sleeve. While it didn't look bad, his elbow didn't look quite right, either.

This was one of those times you really feel like an ex-pat. I haven't had to check into and ER yet, and I think John was afraid of doing something inproperly. He was not in immediate danger, so calling 112 (our 911) was out of the question. The first plan was to take him to the doctor, which is a few minutes walk from our apartment. He's closed on Thursday mornings. John wanted to wait until he opened at noon, but became more and more restless as time went on. At first I really didn't think there was anything wrong with his elbow, just swelling, but as he got more and more restless, I started to wonder.

I finally called the ER. That's all we had to do, call ahead and they told us where to go. We were in and out in a few hours. John did fracture his elbow- the ulna, next to the elbow, on the left side. They gave him a brace, which helps the pain, and he's been taking aspirin, which isn't quite helping. What's really getting him is that he can't play Warcraft (it takes two hands on the keyboard). He could use the distraction at the moment. For some reason, his wrist is bothering him more than his elbow at the moment. I'm hoping there isn't a problem they missed i the ER.

In other news, John has informed me that there are labs in the US that look interesting, and are taking applications for post-docs in his field. He's currently preparing the presentation he'll have to give to apply for jobs. He wants a second post-doc before looking for a permanent position. So far the possibilities include, but are not limited to: Irvine, Boston, Rochester, Portland (Oregon, drat!), possibly Texas (A&M University). I'll keep you posted.

Guilty Blog

Hello all. I feel guilty for not writing for a while. I've just gotten caught up on all the recent postings. What a wonderful birth story Dave and Sabrina. Wish we were there to help you somehow. Nate is driving to NH tonight to pick up Heather T. and her boyfriend, Jason. They will be visiting for a week, staying with Grandma T. Nate's parents will be arriving on Friday as well. Should be a good visit. Some news about the girls: Jane is walking more confidently and climbing on everything. I'm not used to that at all! Anna said "mama" for the first time last week. She's said it almost every day since. I've waited over three years to hear that! She is liking pre-school more and more. She's exploring more and scooting all around. She likes playing with her friends Bella, Madeline and Lokie. I'm glad she's so happy. The one challenge is getting the girls back into the car at the end of school. Picture me with Jane in the baby Bjorn and Anna in an umbrella stroller. The cars were parked so close that I had to lift the stroller with Anna in it over the hood of a car. Hard to picture, but I'm sure if anyone saw me they were holding their breath, waiting for us all to topple over. The two of them combined are a few pounds shy of half my weight. I don't know what I'll do when the snow falls and we're all in winter gear. Time for bed. Goodnight.

For the nerds...

OK, at least half of the people on this blog are nerds, so this bud's for you:

NerdTV

I haven't watched it yet, but it looks good.

Etc.

This is going to be a catch-all message of various thoughts and news.
1) The remainder of our vacation was wonderful. I had hopes to send daily updates on our activities but by the end of the day I was so exhausted, emailing was about the last thing I felt like doing. Sorry. Day 2 we went to the National Air & Space Museum. They have 2 locations now. The original location which you may have visited in downtown DC and a new location next to Dulles Airport just outside the beltway. This new location is the one we visited. It is basically a huge hanger that houses various aircraft. When I say huge.....think bigger! Inside is the Concord, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the SR-71 Blackbird (fastest plane in the world) and hundeds more. And there is room for many more! Lucas was on cloud nine! He saw all the planes that Lucas knew and got pictures of them all. While daddy watched "his movie called Imax" (as Lucas explains it), "we went up in the Control Tower" (aka Observation Tower) and watched the planes land at Dulles. It was a totally thrilling day for all of us. It is such a pleasure to watch your kids in shear joy. Day 3 we walked the Mall. Nope, no shopping; the mall as in the area from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial to the White House. By this day our pace was much much slower because 2 full days of walking with the added weight had me very tired. Eventually both boys fell asleep in the stroller and Matt and I were able to stop in the shade and rest a while. Day 4 was a lazy day of laundry, naps and playing at the hotel till we went to my aunt & uncle's for a wild, crazy and fun dinner (thats a long story).
2) We came home to find a message on our answering machine stating that Connor had won the weekly contest at Picture People! I guess they are having their yearly 'cutest kid' contest and it starts with each store picking a weekly winner which then moves on to the next round and so on. I've always thought my kids were the cutest but I am terribly biased so when someone else thinks he's cute too, it only builds my ego more. He (we) won a free pose (1-8x10, 2-5-7s, and a sheet of wallets) and a free sitting. Next round wins free portraits for a year!!!!!!!!!! Considering Matt is ready to create a line-item in the budget just for Picture People, that would be awesome!
3) After church yesterday we stopped by to see the twins! They are adorable and oh so tiny! I joked to Lucas that I think the baby in mommy's tummy is probably that size now (and I still have 3 months to go!) I got to hold Corban for a while although they were both asleep the whole time. Both Dave & Sabrina looked well too. A bit tired, but happy and proud!

Music For 'Ya!

John has been listening to Kelly Joe Phelps for awhile, and I think it's the type of stuff you guys might like. You can listen to a few songs on his website, under Discography (just pick an album).

Winnie the Pooh, in German, too!

I had my second night with Jan and Karoline yesterday. Considering that their mom warned me that Karoline was having a terrible day, I thought we did great. We put in a Winnie the Pooh and the Hunny Tree, in German, (Jan has to teach me the Rain Cloud song in German) and within 15 minutes we were all camped on the couch under a blanket, snug as can be. Karoline soon decided to serve "tea" and Jan talked a mile a minute about school and his favorite tv shows. It was good.

There was a brief misunderstanding between Karoline and myself. We'd already navigated several situations where my Danish vocabulary was lacking, but this last one set her off. We got through it, but I'll admit that I resorted to putting Winnie the Pooh in again.

I've learned a few things, and one is that I need to press Jan to ask her more questions in German for me, not just translate. The three year-old is very good at stating what she wants, and is willing to negociate if I catch her quickly. However, has figured out that since I know some Danish, and apparently no German, she speaks only Danish when I'm around.

She seems to know my Danish is lacking, since she throws in very obvious body language, illustrating one word at a time if necessary. (The poor kid probably thinks she's been left with the Village Idiot.) Technically, there is little to nothing for her big brother to translate, and since he speaks little Danish, he can't help. The dely in communication- even a few seconds- frustrates her. That's when I lose her. I think the trick is to make her switch back to German when we hit a roadblock and work things through that way. Jan enjoys being a helper that way, so I'm not putting him out.

It's all a process, I guess. We've been fine. I'm having fun. The kids seem to like me. But I think Karoline hit the nail on the head after our first night when she greeted her mom saying, "I guess this means I have to learn English, huh?" Smart kid!

Dad in the OR

DSC01699.JPG
Originally uploaded by davemayp.

Just a few minutes after birth..

Hello from Sleep Deprivation Labs in Rochester, NY

Hi all!



Anyhoo- our new family is underway. Hard to believe.. but we're home and living under one roof. I apologize to all who have received incomplete or concerning updates- so much has happened in the last 2 weeks (or is it one long day?) that I have no idea who I've talked to about what and when. So here's a quick summary of events-to-date.

27th- Water broke at 6:45 am. Contractions started right up, and the doc said to come on it. We hurriedly packed our last-minute items and headed out the door (things we forgot: the phone list, and clothes for dave) (i was wearing clothes already, thankfully)
We were already 3 cm at arrival, and progressed to 9.5 cm by noon. Epidural was had... as soon as that back labor showed up, the anesthesiologist was our new best friend.
The head OR resident made the call to bring her into the OR (All twin deliveries are done in the OR, so we all had to suit up) Turns out she had a little bit more to go... about 7 hours...
I think the resident was a bit embarassed, but we didn't mind, as it was kind of a "practice run" for us.
There followed the experience that is aptly named "labor". Contractions continued to cook most of the afternoon, and around 5pm, they told her to start pushing.
"How?" was the question of the hour, as Sabrina found it very difficult to push "properly". How does one attempt to push your insides out between your legs? I still don't know.
After an exhausting 3 1/2 hours of pushing, the attending presented us with a choice :
1. keep going as long as she had energy.
2. deliver now with vacuum extraction
3. c-section.

A new development was the fact that Sabrina now had a temperature, and certain proteins in her blood indicated the onset of pre-eclampsia, a not-so friendly circulatory condition that makes a unfriendly place for babies to be in. She was put on magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures. (this is that nasty medicine that makes you cross-eyed and sicker than a dog (a sick dog, that is)) BUt all of that is better than a seizure...

We chose 2... wheeling into the OR again around 7pm. The vacuum extraction (medical staff lingo= 'the hoover') is basically a small toilet plunger that goes on the baby's head. Then you just pull on it, and out comes Mr. baby. Turns out that was just what we needed to get past the last little bit of cervix. Corban came out quite easily.. with a goosegg on his head from the plunger (it went away quickly)
They cleaned him up, gave him to me, and i held him as i watched a 200-lb man put most of his wieght on my wife's midsection to get Jayden to come out before her cervix closed up. He knew what he was doing... Jayden came out 15 minutes later in good shape.
Both boys were mellow fellows.. they had magnesium in them, which sedated them a bit. I held both of them while they did a little sewing on Sabrina (small tear)
So the babies were off to the NICU, and Sabrina was wheeled back to the room. She was out of it, in every way possible.
Corban had no issues, but they kept him in the NICU to see if he had an infection from the temperature that Sabrina had.
Jayden had some fluid in his lungs, and a high breathing rate, so he stayed in the NICU longer and had an IV line for 24 hours.
Both boys stablized within 48 hours and were released to the regular nursery.
Meawhile, Sabrina's condition got worse the next day. Her pre-eclampsia symptoms rose and she became more and more out of it. They kept the mag in her IV for 36 hours post-delivery.. which means she had a tremendous headache and couldn't get out of bed or eat anything for that time. She couldn't see the babies because you have to be in a wheelchair to come to the NICU.
So.. that was a tough day.
But her condition improved by monday, and they took her off the meds by the end of the day. The next few days were a whirlwind of recovery milestones (standing, walking, eating breakfast) as well as all the new-parent stuff (nursing, baby care, who's babies are those?)
Her milk has been slow to come in which had made nursing difficult to start up. We've had to feed the boys formula in a cup (avoids nipple confusion) until they get enough milk from mama.
Feeding a newborn with a cup is not the most fun thing to do, although it is very cute to watch.
The boys also had a day in the tanning booth, as they had some jaundice.

BUt all that is behind us now, and we are home.
We're both at about 9.5 on the Richter Scale of Parental Overwhelmedness.. but we must be doing something right, as the boys are still here, and even gained a little weight since discharge. This round-the-clock marathon is quite an experience. I have never been so tired. Yes, we're both ecstatic at the outcome, and grateful beyond words for how healthy our little peanuts are. But that has still to sink in... right now, its just survival and hoping we don't screw something up! This is all so new... everything is a learning experience!

Fortunately, Sabrina's mom and aunt (twins) are here to help during the day. Amazing how it takes 4 people to take care of two 5-lb babies. Any "free" time we get is usually the only chance to grab a nap. We're getting trained to sleep in 10-minute increments.

So- I've used up all my free time for this week to write this post. :)
Soon.... I will get pictures published. Its very high on my list.. i know you all are eager to see them.

PS- thanks MattW for posting the links to the names. Their meanings were a very important part of why we chose the names.

Corban- a gift dedicated to God
Tobias - God is good

Jayden- God has heard
Gabriel - God is my strength

Vacation: Day 1

Well we are closing up day 1 of our family vacation to DC. We spent the day yesterday driving down good ole Route 15 and actually had a good trip. The kids were great in the car and we only stopped once at lunchtime for food, gas, and some good leg-stretching. We made great time and our hotel is really nice. We are staying in Alexandria, VA just inside the DC beltway at an all-suite hotel with a kitchette and shuttle service to the Metro station <1 mile away.
Today we went to the National Zoo! Lucas was psyched by the "train" ride that we got to take downtown and probably would have been satisfied just riding it around all day. The zoo is large and required a lot of walking but the kids were so good and Connor even napped for an hour or so in the stroller! We had a nice picnic lunch and got to see tons of animals. The new baby panda wasnt yet on exhibit but could be watched via closed-circuit TV but we had a fun time watching the gorilla family antagonize each other.
Its 'tub time' now and hopefully early to bed for everyone. Tomorrow we hit the National Air & Space Musuem. THIS will be the highlight of Lucas' trip. He's been talking about going to see the airplanes for weeks and Im sure it will be all he talks about for months. We'll keep you posted and have pics to upload when we get home. (posted by Heather via Matt's acct)

First Day of Play

I had my first day of babysitting with the 'new family.' The six year-old, Jan (Yan), is a real sweet kid. Lots of energy, pretty quick, and an easy talker. He speaks English at school, so there is no problem with communication there. We're already buddies. The three year-old, Karoline, is more outgoing than her brother, but pretty easy-going, for a three year-old. She speaks German (the family's language) and has learned Danish in day care here. Jan functions as a translator for the two of us, and Karloline seems satisfied with the situation for the moment. She's still deciding if I'm ok.

Today was beautiful, so we went to the park. Actually, we did a "park crawl," and actually hit every playground in the area- four in two hours. I now understand, "Come chase me!" in German, although I can't quite say it correctly. I was having a great time, until I remembered that I'm sick. Here I am, 31 years-old, playing hide-and-seek with two little kids, and I was having so much fun I'd forgotten that I'm getting over a cold. I only remembered as the sky started to spin and I realized I couldn't quite count out loud, since I'd lost my voice. Just call me Ms. Responsibility!

Luckily, it was just about time for us to head in anyway. I'm really paying for my afternoon out. I can barely croak. But I'm looking forward to Thursday already. Hopefully I'll recover before then.

Labor Day, and a mischevious socket.

Sunday Jenn called me from Stuffmart (Walmart) and said that the battery in her Saturn died. She went inside and got another one, and also got a mechanic to install it for her. Car batteries tend to die all of a sudden, so no big deal. Problem solved. She did notice her battery light remained on as she drove home, but we just figured Greeny was being a bit obstinate.

Monday, Jenn was driving the Saturn again, and called me that the radio was acting weird, and other things were happening that led her to believe it was the alternator. You might recall her “BK Broiler” (Buick) back in RIT days devoured alternators like I devour milk. So in other words, Jenn knew what she was talking about. She arrived home safely, and I could see the battery wasn’t being charged. I went out, and bought a new alternator, and my neighbor Roger and I jacked up the Saturn, and removed the old one (the original – 135K miles on it. Not bad.)

Now, there’s this one bolt that is completely inaccessible unless the mechanic happens to have a deformed hand, or decides to hire a particularly adept and well-trained eel to reach it. However, somehow I was able to maneuver my hand in there and started tightening it. Then the worst possible thing happened: the socket came off my wrench, and DID NOT DROP TO THE GROUND. Roger and I looked all over for it. Flashlights were a blazing. Magnetic wands were being waved like we were Lords of the O-Rings, casting socket-expelling enchantments on the vehicle. In the end, we had to completely remove the new alternator, and only then could we find that socket; it took us longer to find the socket than it did to remove the old alternator and mostly install the new one. I was contemplating just buying a new car.

So anyway, new alternator is in, Greeny is happy and charged, and my hand is slowly returning to its original non-deformed state.

Happy Labor Day.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

I was just cruising the trailers on the Apple Quicktime site, and caught The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. It looks good. Not life-changing, but good.

I really liked the quote, "Sometimes happiness is an act of defiance." I would agree. Thought I'd pass it on.