Disheveled Rambling's

Allow me to explain the subject of this post. We are going away this friday to bury my Grandmother, who passed away a couple of months ago. About 2-3 weeks ago we made our hotel reservations for the trip. Well, this morning I called to confirm and they had NOTHING on our reservation. Needless to say, I was not happy and getting less pleased as time passed.

I called the wife to let her know and we started going through our email accounts to find the confirmation and everything. Nothing! After all that, I look on the desktop of my laptop to find a reservation confirmation printout (printed to pdf file). Low and behold, there it is. What's worse, its for a different hotel chain than I thought. ***sigh*** Thus, the brain dead week starts.

The wife and I had a date night last night and after a wonderful dinner together, we decided to take in a movie. We ended up going to see Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr. I give it a 10!!, without question. From a geek's perspective, the computer technology displayed in the movie had me drooling from frame to frame. I could not help but sit there and wonder how far off we are from the technology they showed. Then, when they showed Tony Stark surrounded by monitors at his desk, I..... well, you can imagine I was drenching my lap with more drool.

All in all though, I have seen all of the movies so far that Marvel has turned into movies and I must say that this one is by far the best of them all up to this point. Again, from my geeky perspective this movie is going to be really hard to top. I highly recommend seeing it.

Since we have had kids we have kind of felt a little trapped (ok, a lot trapped). We spend a lot of time indoors with them, mainly because our yard STINKS!!! We have quite the uneven property and to do work to it would mean letting the kids run around. That's not a problem, don't get me wrong, but its the age that matters to us. When they are younger we had to keep a constant eye on them, picking them up when they fell down every 30 seconds, making sure they didn't touch anything they weren't supposed to (poison ivy, things that can hurt them, etc), and anything else they could get to.

Now that our daughter is 4 1/2 and our son is 3, we have been feeling a little more able to get out and do things in the yard. This year we will hopefully get things done that have been needing to. Things like:

• building the shed we bought almost 2 years ago.
• cleaning up the yard.
• build flower beds where we would like
• maybe build a deck for sitting on.

Future projects include leveling off the property in areas so that it isn't so awfully uneven. Some day that will happen. :-)

Anyone know an easy way to get 5 stumps from some bushes that were cut down, out of the ground? They are still in there pretty well after 2 years. They are in front of our house in a built up wall section. Difficult to work in, but I NEED to get them out of there. I am open to ideas.

Oh, look, its been a month. See, this is what happens when you are so busy getting up to speed at your new job and loving it at the same time.

Well, I started a new blog recently. Being a diabetic, I found myself needing some sort of "kick in the butt" to keep me on track.  Its not that I was trying to destroy myself, but I wasn't actively trying to get out there and lose weight either.  Plus, I wasn't testing as often as I should.  What I had and have been doing is monitoring what I eat. 

Well, with the advent of my "Motivated Diabetic" blog, I am not only watching even more closely my diet, I have been exercising (walks, sit-ups and such, etc) and testing more often as well (which is something I should have been doing anyway. 

I just wanted to share for those of you who follow my blog(s).

Well, to begin with, an update on my Grandmother. We had the wake on 3/5 at Brady's Funeral home. (I know many of you won't know where that is, but I am only mentioning it for those who do) Having seen Grandma on Saturday, 3/1/2008, I must say that she was looking much better and that they had done a great job at the funeral home, making her look peaceful and at rest.

We were all doing ok at the wake until the end. My wife and I were paying our final respects to her when my daughter walks up, grabs a rose off the table display and asks if she can put it in the coffin with her Great Grandma. Mom OK'd it and she climbed up and put it in with her. My wife absolutely lost it and began crying.

I was thinking during the week, trying to pick one thing that I could remember that Grandma liked. The answer..... "Certs!". Let me say that those mints are very hard to find when you need them. I did find a roll and at the wake, I placed them under her hand. (Love you Grandma!)

So, the next day we had the funeral at the United Methodist Church. Before we had even arrived for the services, my mother had asked me if I wanted to be a Pal Bearor. Without question I confirmed that I would. All of us that were going to carry the casket arrived 1/2 hour before the service, and carried it from the hearse up into the church, placing it on its carrier. After the service, we did the opposite (of course). I had no idea how heavy those caskets really were. WOW!!!

The service was beautifully done, but was difficult all the same. Near the end of the service, the minister offered for people to come up and speak on behalf of Grandma. With that, our cousin, Erika, got up and walked to the podium. I was curious as to what she was going to say, but then she announced that she had a letter from my sister, who was unable to attend on such short notice, that she was going to read.

My sister was an English major in college, aspiring to be a writer. Well, let me say she was quite articulate with her words, drawing many a tear from the audience with her letter. Most people were doing fine, right up until the end when she said that she was sorry that Grandma would not meet my sister's son (her Great Grandson). That did it and a number of us were crying.

My cousin made the trek from the podium to her seat, met with the silence of those pondering the words she had just read. When she got to where we were sitting, our 4 year old daughter blurted out, "Thanks! Thank was GREAT!". This inevitable broke the ice and people were laughing. It was much needed considering the somber atmosphere.

There was a gathering downstairs in the church and everyone sat around and chatted for a little while, before the people minding the church "kindly" ushered us nearer and nearer to the doors (ok, little kicks here and there).

Just to digress for a second, back to my sister's letter, I must say that what I loved most about it was how many memories came flooding back to me about my Grandmother's house. Although my Grandmother's house was sold years ago, I still have so very many fond memories of when she lived there.


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As many of you know, in May of last year I left a job I had been at for 6 1/2 years, for a position as a Perl developer in Boston. I was not only happy to get out of a company which was continuing to spiral down the moral staircase and break into the world of Perl development. I was a contractor for 3 months before becoming full time in August of last year. (Un)Fortunately, it didn't take long for the company to show what amounted to its true colors. There were far to many things that bugged me about the group I was in, those I had to work with and most of all, THE COMMUTE, to stay with that job. So, after only looking a short time I was approached by a headhunter regarding a position in Westford, Mass.

I passed the phone interview, was pulled in for an in person interview and a little over a week later, was notified that I got the job and that the offer was being sent to me. The funny thing is that the notice of the job came within an hour of my mother informing me that my Grandmother had passed. Bittersweet really. Worst part was that I had to put my two weeks notice in over the phone as I had already left for bereavement leave.

So, after my bereavement I returned to work for a quiet, very cold (shouldered), boring, final week at work. I was so very happy when I was finally out of there.

Now, I have been at my new job for about a week and a half and am LOVING it!! This company isn't 150,000+ like my last one, its just under 1000 people, so its much smaller and more able to better take care of its employees (which is already is doing). I am in training all this week and trying to get into more next week. I know more about VoIP at this point than I ever have. Its GREAT!!!

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So, things are just starting to settle down a bit and we are getting into our groove again. Hopefully I can keep the posts coming more regularly than before this one.

I am sad to say that my Grandmother passed away at 8:45 this morning. My mother says that she went quietly. Thank you to everyone who has sent their condolences. It is truly appreciated.

If I do not get back to anyone, please know that it is only because of everything going on at this time.

On a lighter, happier note, I accepted a position today at another company and put my 2 weeks notice in (with resignation letter) to my present employer. I must say that this is something that I really wanted as it brings me out of Boston and once again working much closer to home.

Anywho, I will be most likely out of touch this week, but thank everyone.

I know, rather odd to have a sad smiley in the subject line, but its all I could come up with right now.

My mother informed me the other day that my Grandmother was in ICU at a local hospital. She said that things were not looking good and that she had taken a turn for the worst. This weekend, we had planned on throwing a birthday party for our son, who turns 3 on Monday. Well, plans got changed, the party moved to next weekend, and the kids and I are back here in NY so that I can see her one last time. (I haven't seen her in a couple of years)

We took a trip this morning to see her in the hospital. She had been moved to a room outside of ICU and when we arrived, she was sleeping. Looking at her, I could tell that she was not doing well. She had a couple of IV's, oxygen and was breathing laboriously. It was very difficult to see her like that. I couldn't help but think back to the times when I was younger and I would be able to just run over to her house and see her.

Well, we arrived home from the hospital and my mother informed me that the doctor had called to let her know that things were not looking any better. Grandma had a rough night and her urine output was down to zero (yes, she is catheterized). She is completely unresponsive. He said that in all his year practiced medicine, he has seen this many times. He was brutally honest and said that he would be very surprised if she made it through the night. My mother has called the minister and the funeral home to let them know of the happenings.

I must admit that this is very difficult. Seeing her lying in the bed, unresponsive and laboring to breathe, it brought tears to my eyes. I remember her in better health and find her present state to be hard to take. I know that she has had a long life and she is 89 years old, but its still tough.

You Are Fairly Normal

You scored 50% normal on this quiz Like most people you are normal in some ways... But you aren't a completely normal person. You're a little weird too! Why You Are Normal: You would eat meat from a cloned animal You would rather be an astronaut than a movie star You think fishnet stockings are trashy You think glasses can make someone more attractive You prefer fiction to non fiction Why You Aren't Normal: You rather screw someone over than be screwed over You prefer the moon to the sun You find the Chicken Dance to be the more embarrassing dance You don't keep up with your horoscope You prefer flat potato chips.

1) Are you currently in a serious relationship?

2) What was your dream growing up?

3) What talent do you wish you had?

4) If I bought you a drink what would it be?

5) Favorite vegetable?

6) What was the last book you read?

7) What zodiac sign are you?

8) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.

9) Worst Habit?

10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?

11) What is your favorite sport?

12) Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude?

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?

15) Tell me one weird fact about you.

16) Do you have any pets?

17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?

18) What was your first impression of me? (hmmm...careful!)

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?

22) What color eyes do you have?

23) Ever been arrested?

24) Bottle or can soda?

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?

27) What's your favorite place to hang at?

28) Do you believe in ghosts?

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?

30) Do you swear a lot?

31) Biggest pet peeve?

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?

34) If you could live anywhere in the world where would you chose?

35) Do you believe in God?

36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Well, the wife went to the orthopedist the other day to have them see her ankle.  The doctor took a look at it and said that she was not going to be back to 100% for a while as she did quite the job on it.  He officially put her into a "pneumatic cast", which is essentially the big grey boot that you see people wear (kind of like what Tom Brady was seen wearing the other day). 

Anywho, while we were there, the doctor hands me this nicely made CD with printed label and everything and says, "Here, have her x-rays!".  I'm thinking to myself, WOW, this is cool!!  I have my wife's foot x-rays on CD.  Not bulky, over sized x-ray films to cart around.  So, without ado, here are a couple of the x-rays:








Fortunately for my camera, my wife had to remove her air cast today so that she could bathe.  So, after she was done and before she put her boot back on I snapped a couple of pictures of how her beautiful ankle looks right now, in all its sprained, bruised glory:





Well, that's about all for now on the ankle.  Not a lot more to tell at the moment.  She is going to be going back to work on light duty.  In other words, sitting down and banging register or doing other sit down tasks. Here is to healing!

It was last Friday, January 18th, 2008, and I was on my way to Devens, MA to pick my brother up from Job Corps to spend the weekend with us.  I was about 10 minutes out when my phone rang from the house.  I thought it odd as my wife was supposed to be at work already, or at least on her way. 

She was on the other end of the phone and noticeably in tears.  She told me that she wasn't going in to work and that she had slipped on the ice and twisted her ankle.  OUCH!!! Well, that was only the tip of the "swollen" iceberg (or ankle as it is in this case). 

I arrived back home about an hour later and there she was, on the couch, ice on her ankle and winsing from the pain.  I asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital and she said "no, what are they going to do, tell me to ice it?".  So, she sat there and iced it for a while. 

Well, a couple hours later, after getting up to go to the bathroom, she quickly realized the amount of pain that had truly been inflicted upon her poor ankle as it began throbbing wildly.  I then decided that a trip to the hospital may not be a bad idea after all. 

The doctor took a look and said that it looks like she went as far as she could without breaking the ankle or any of the tendons and ligaments, leaving her with what he called a very severe sprain.  He proceeded to put on a rigid splint ( more like a mini cast as he wet the stuff and formed it to her foot nicely) and then handed her the crutches.  (Mind you, she has never been on crutches in her entire life, so this is a very new and eye opening experience for her.  I say eye opening because she is realizing after about two days exactly what muscles are involved in the use of crutches. 

Well, she has been taking her meds (Percoset) and lying on the couch with the ankle up and being iced on and off like a good patient.  Me?  I have been doing my best to take care of the house (laundry, dishes, kids, baths, cooking, etc.  You name it!  Thank goodness I took this week off as vacation.  I get to take care of her and then next week I am going to try and work at home so I can be here for her to help by continuing my husbandly duties. 

All in all, she is doing ok, but is still in a fair amount of pain.  The good news is, she thinks the swelling may have gone down some as the splint is quite loose on her.  She has an appointment tomorrow with an orthopedist to have it further looked at and get a determination. 

Isn't winter fun?  And to think, this was all caused by a patch of ice from some snow that melted during the day that was right behind her car.  Damned ice!!!

Well, it is a sad day in the chess world as Champion and Grand Master Bobby Fischer has passed away.   I know, he renounced his U.S. citizenship and spoke out against the U.S. in what is considered a very un-American  way.  But, the last time I checked, there is still a freedom of speech alotted to each and every one of us.   It was his opinions and that's that.  His accomplishments in the chess world should not be overlooked for that though.  He beat Boris Spasky in 1972 to gain the World Champion title and beat him a 2nd time in 1995. 

In my opinion, he is the greatest chess player to have ever lived and should be remembered for that.  What a lot of people don't know is that Bobby was fed up with the fact that people tried to cheat at Chess and he invented his own version (called Fischerandom) to thwart that cheating.  In his version, the back row of pieces are arranged at random, not in their normal spots.  That way, keeping the game interesting for all.

Lets all take a moment of silence to remember one of the greats.
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Ok, "PLAY BA......er......CHESS!"

It seems that there are a number of "Updates" posts on my blog, having looked back today through the history.  I am actually not suprised at that considering that the busy meter has been pretty well pegged for a while.  Hopefully nobody minds as it allows me to get a number of things out at once.  Ok, here goes.

Well, we are expecting more of that fluffy white stuff that they call "SNOW".  It is supposed to start this evening and go until tomorrow evening.  My wife would like me to stay home tomorrow, but unfortunately my work requires that I make every effort to make it in.  While I completely understand why they would like this, I would l love it if there was some leniency with that policy, especially when it is snowing heavily.  Its not like I live around the corner and down the street from work.  No, I work in Boston and commute their from up here in NH.  While the commute actually STINKS, I make it into the office regularly.  It is storms like the one we are expecting that make me want to work from home. 

Well, on to other things.  We are somewhat cleaned up from the holidays.  The tree is down, the decorations put away and all, but one of the bigger chores still lies ahead for us.  We plan on going through the kids toys and eliminating all of the baby toys that remain, and there are quite a few.  They have advanced to a higher level of toys and don't really play with a bunch of the older toys.  So, we play on good-willing them sometime soon in order to rid our house of them (and the clutter they are providing). 

I have to get off my butt and send an email to the writer for the column "Chris' Mailbag".  Chris' Mailbag is a column in the Sunday version of the Nashua Telegraph in which people write in about things they need or things they have that are available to those who need them.  The items are not for purchase or anything, it is kind of like one big newspaper based, swap meet.  So, I am going to let them know about a few items that we have that we would like to give away to anyone who needs them.  Specifically we are talking about:

1. A crib  -  This is a nicer crib that has a drawer underneath and is rather sturdy.  We obtained this from some friends and are not in need of it any more since our children haven't been in a crib for some time now.  We have checked with the family that gave it to us and they are completely ok with this decision.
2. A Graco double stroller - this is something that we have gotten a fair amount of use out of, but unfortunatley both of our kids have now pretty much outgrown it.  It is great for those with two children.  The steering on it isn't too bad, but like all double strollers, it is quite cumbersome.
3. An electric dryer - We have had this sitting around for quite some time, specifically since around the end of 2000 when we moved back up to the Northeast.   It is a plus capacity dryer that can actually dry a king size comfortor (the reason we bought it)

I think that is about it, but who knows, I might have more later when I go through the basement.

Well, the holiday season has finally come to an end and everyone and their brother has made their way back into their cubicles and settled in for another year of working, coding and slaving (pick your order).

We had another two snow storms over new years, the first one started on Sunday night (12/30/2007) and ended about noon-ish on Monday (12/31/2007), dropping several inches of the white stuff.  The second storm started about 11:30am on New Years Day (1/1/2008) and ended later that afternoon after dropping yet ANOTHER several inches on us (as if we hadn’t had enough already!!!).

December 2007, in New Hampshire, ended up being a record snowfall month for the state.  Personally, I think we have already had more than our fair share and I am ready so start boxing it up and selling it on eBay.  (hmmmm)

While out shoveling the snow last night, I twisted my ankle about 90 degrees, causing quite the amount of pain, as you can well imagine.  My ankle was already hurting, so this didn’t help the situation much.  I have been limping around nicely today, trying not to aggravate it, but that is difficult.

Our Christmas tree is still up, but that is not going to last long.  I am hoping to be able to attack it tonight and get at least the ornaments and lights off so that we can just take the rest down in a matter of minutes.  Not that I want to see it go, but I would like the rest of my living room back. 

Anywho, I know I haven’t said it yet, but a Happy New Year to one and all!!!

 

What the HECK is with all this snow?  Don’t get me wrong, I love the white stuff and and overjoyed that we are going to have a white Christmas, but its not even winter yet and we are on our 4^th substantial storm with accumulation!!

I am absolutely sick of shoveling that mountain that the plows insist on putting at the end of my driveway.  Every time they come by the completely undo every bit of work I just did.  I still have to dig my mailbox out from the LAST storm.  I did it, mind you, with the help of my neighbors snow blower, but within an hour after finishing, BAM!!! the plow placed another 2 foot mountain down there, blocking me in and cutting off my mailbox from civilization (or so it probably feels). 

We have a friend who is an absolute snow bunny.  She got a snow board this year and is learning to use it.  Unfortunately, I have heard rumors of her doing ancient snow dances behind her apartment building, in an effort to increase the current snow fall.  I think we may have to get the torches and pitchforks out and form a riot to stop her late night rituals. 

Anywho, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

That is one way to describe my son.  I am in no way saying he is an angel as he is 2 and does get into his share of mischief, but when it comes to being sweet, he is writing his own book. 

A couple of weeks ago we were eating dinner and my daughter, being the instigator that she is, was tipping her chair back on two legs.  I had scolded her for it a few times at this point and was rather fed up with yelling at her.  So, I told her, “you tip the chair back again and you will be eating your dinner while sitting on the floor!”.

Not more than 15 seconds later she decides to test my threat and looked right at me while tipping the chair back.  With that, I picked her up, pulled the chair away and sat her on the floor, where she proceeded to ball her eyes out because I followed through on my promise/threat.

Well my son saw the incident and being the sweet younger brother says, “That’s ok….”, and proceeds to push his chair out of the way and sits down next to her.  My wife and I watch this in pure amazement and my wife proceeds to just cry!  Good tears mind you.

My boy can sure spoil a scolding, can’t he?

As we have all seen in the last few months, the seriousness of the lead in toys issue has really come into the light. It is absolutely frightening when you think of the number of toys that are effected and the fact that our kids are all effected by this. There are enough toys being recalled that I wouldn’t doubt that every family has at least one in their house.
On my train ride into work this morning I was reading the paper and there was an article in there about this particular issue (thus the reason I am blogging about it).
I don’t know how much research anyone has done on this so I will share here what I have. There is, of course, a main web site for the recalls and that is through the CDC. What I read about this morning though was a web site, not CDC related, that list about 1500 or so toys and their lead contents. The web site is located at healthytoys.org. They listed in the article I was reading a few of the toys with high (about excessive) lead content and one of them (particularly the Go-Diego-Go Backpack) was listed in those results.
This really irked me as we have two of these in the house, one for each kid. So, when I talked to my wife this morning, the first thing I said was that she needed to throw them out. They are not working right anymore anyway, so tossing them is no big deal to me.
In reading the healthytoys web site, you will also see that there are other chemicals in toys as well, but the lead is serious as it effects your child's learning ability and can never be expunged from the body.
If you are a parent or you know someone that is, please be sure to pass on to them the links above. Your child's well-being is more than worth the time it takes to look up all of their toys.
Unfortunately, since SOOO many things are made in China, I doubt they will be able to identify absolutely everything. Its just a massive undertaking. I would say that if there are any questions, you should contact the toys manufacturer and ask them.
I hope this helped everyone as it has helped us.

In the recent months we have all heard the craziness that has ensued from the Chinese manufacturing plant(s) that, for some reason, decided that lead based paint was appropriate when used on children’s toys.  Is it just me or is this just an act of pure stupidity on behalf of the Chinese plant(s) involved?  Lead was removed from paint years ago for a good reason.   What the heck makes you think you could just put it back?

Now, in most recent news, there is a toy called Aqua Dots that was developed by an Australian company.  When you arrange the dots in to shapes, you then pour water over them and their coating breaks down, solidifying the shape like glue.  Its really a neat idea and was well developed by the company.  Heck, according to the article that I read this morning, the chemical used for this is completely non-toxic and is used in glue. 

The company, as many other companies have, outsourced the production of the product to a Chinese facility (that hasn’t been named yet).  There is no shock there as it is dirt cheap and saves them mucho money in the process.  Well, this facility in question took a shortcut, as we all know that they love to do over there, and substituted a chemical that is listed by the FDA as a Class 1 Health Hazard that causes life-threatening harm for the prescribed non-toxic chemical. 

WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS???  It doesn’t make any sense to substitute something so incredibly dangerous for something that is non-toxic in a childrens’  toy. 

The reason becomes completely apparent when you look at costs. (Everything always comes down to money, doesn’t it).  The chemical that they were supposed to use (the non-toxic one) is listed as costing $9,700 per metric ton.  Ok, that’s a little steep, but that is what is called for.  Instead of spending the money on that, the Chinese facility got the bright (and lame-assed) idea to substitute the Class 1 Health Hazard chemical that only costs $1,300 – $2,800 per metric ton.  That is quite the difference.  Its amazing that something so potentially deadly would be so incredibly cheap.  That labels this facility as cheap and in my eyes ( and hopefully millions of other eyes) as corrupt. 

In doing this substitution, this Chinese facility has proven that it has a complete disregard for human life.  And, considering all of the other issues recently with things manufactured in China, I would say that that label applies to the whole as well.

As a parent, I am astonished that anyone would consider putting anything into a toy that would bring harm to a child.  I have gotten a completely new view in recent times and can only see one avenue. 

EVERY company that has items produced in China should move their operations to another country that will not actively and willingly create items that will harm children or people.  We need facilities that will care about what they are doing and stay within the letter of the law and produce goods that are safe and correctly built. 

I don't know about everyone else, but I am completely fed up with the shoddy products being produced.  We have to do everything that we can to protect our children and ensure their and our safety.  Allowing these facilities to produce good that are potentially harmful, if not fatal, is not something that we should stand by and allow. 

Please speak up if you agree with this and let me know your feelings.  I hope that you feel as strongly about this as I do. 

Well, 2 days ago the Boston Red Sox won the World Series.  (CONGRATULATIONS guys!  You deserve it!)  There is awe, wonder, glory, happiness and cheering everywhere in Red Sox nation, even now.  Even today there will be TONS of cheering as the Red Sox board their rented duck boats and go along for a ride from Fenway Park to City Hall.   That is GREAT!! We get to see the team. 

Oh, wait.  He he, I forgot something, I work at a building along the parade route.  Can you just imagine what the crowds will be like?  Oh my!!! Not to mention that the MBTA has already posted on their web site that all trains after 3pm are to be delayed.  Yippeee, I get to sit around with my thumbs up my butt, waiting for my train because of these crowds.  ***sigh*** What a frickin’ nightmare, yet is the price worth it?   I say yes, it is, but it doesn’t make me any happier about the delay in travel time. 

Oh well, what’s a fan to do except suck it up, unfortunately, as a way of life in Red Sox nation.