Neat pic

July 22, 2006I thought this was a neat pic.

Adult

July 20, 2006If you were to hold a bucket, and I kept dropping pennies in the bottom, when would it be heavy?  If I asked after each penny "Now is it heavy?" and only allowed a yes/no answer, could you answer?  Would you be able to pinpoint the penny that makes the bucket go from not heavy to heavy?  This, of course, excludes Paul who'd think the empty bucket was heavy.

The older I get, the more I accept that there is no switch that makes you go from not adult to adult, though I admit the baby was a big boost.  Rather, "adult" is more of a scale.  Our priorities, responsibilites, actions, and intentions reveal how adult we have become, and our motion is not always forward.

I turned 21 on Monday, hitting the final birthday most consider to be adulthood.  I felt much like I did on the day before, but I am truly different than I was 5, 3, of even 1 year ago.  I do not resent this change, of course, because it is one I chose and embrace.  I was not forced into adulthood against my will, evidenced that there are many who go through similar to what I have and choose not to rise to the occasion.  I have committed to my family, and fulfilling that committment takes purposed effort.  Should I spend this hour providing for my family or being with them?  Should I clean the kitchen or rotate the tires?  How tall must the grass be before I'd rather mow the grass for an hour than be with my wife and baby?  What happened to easy questions?

Anyway, it was a good birthday.  We went to Hendersonville to get Liz's car, and her parents had a really nice birthday dinner for me, complete with Liz's sister and respective husband, grandparents, and neighbors.  I have gotten 2 Lowe's gift cards, one of which was spent within days, and the other is being saved for a project.  So, thanks to them.

Anyway.... my life is enjoyable.  I don't always know exactly what to do, but I enjoy work, and I love being a husband and daddy.  I would trade neither role for anything.  The point is.... growing up is a choice, not a chronological dictate.  If you want to be an adult, choose to be.  Your choices are what determine it, not your age.

Things that go BUMP in the Tub

July 13, 2006Speaking of things that make me want to drop a toaster into my bath water...

Fellow drivers.  I'm tired of people passing me, and then slowing to 65 when they start to pass a semi.  Having seen the ball joints on commericial vehicles, I strongly recommend that you either pass them or don't.  And I hate being passed by a cop going 85 and passing people on the right.  The fact that you enforce the law doesn't mean you're above it.

Open Office.  If you haven't tried it, you're not missing much.  You see again and again that it is a "free alternative to MS Office."  Sure, as long as you don't actually use MS Office.  The word processor works well enough, since word processors only need to process words.  Although, a lot of their formatting controls are clumsy.  Their spreadsheet and database applications are horrible.  Both suffer from very limited functionality.  If you are using really basic functions and formatting, the spreadsheet program will probably work for you.  If it's anything unusual or complicated, don't even try.  As for OpenOffice Base, their attempt at a Access 'clone', be forewarned.  I spent nearly 5 hours struggling with awkward controls and limited options, I finally got my datasheets, queries, and forms set up.  When it came time for report generation, though, I hit a wall.  They don't let you build it like Access.  You basically have to go with a template and you have the option of changing column widths if you ask nicely and can figure out if it's the triangle, L, or bar on the ruler that moves the box.  You can't add fields.  And you can see data, but can't manipulate it.  I couldn't even get a running total of numbers.  It seems like addition would have been a helpful... addition.  Not to mention that 'Help' was... unhelpful.  Basically, if you care enough about what you're doing to bother downloading of installing OpenOffice, then you care too much to use that program.

Dentists, Teeth, and all things Related.  Apparently some of my teeth are cracked.  They say there's nothing I could have done, and I probably just chew hard.  Inconvenient, yes.  Painful, not physically at least.  Expensive, try $5000.  I think I'll wait til they hurt.

Quickly

July 08, 2006If it's so early that it's not yet bright, is it still bright and early?

So Liz and I watched two very similar movies recently: Aeon Flux and UltraViolet.  Both starred women who were gifted fighters, with super fast reflexes and cool weaponry.  Both were set in the future.  Both vixens were part of a group at odds with the tyrranical dictator and his mob of black ninjas that die easily and shoot poorly.  Both discover some secret and betray their group, being wanted and hated by all except the one person they are working with and protecting.  Both spend the rest of the movie trying to survive and "do what is right."  And they both came out this year.  So what was the distinguishing factor?  Aeon Flux made me want to microwave popcorn, while Ultraviolet made me want to drop a toaster into my bath water.

Good Timing

July 07, 2006So I have discovered something awesome over the last couple days.  Daniel has rhythm.  At first, it was hard to tell, but now I'm watching close, and he definitely does.  If I start clapping, not only will he clap, but he'll even start clapping in time with me.  He especially does this when music is on.  And the other day, I started patting the couch with one hand, and Daniel started patting with both hands in double-time.  It's so cool to watch.  He starts patting and then speeds up or slows down until he's sychronized with me.  Finally, a Morgan drummer!  Family rock band complete.  I'll start booking shows.  Anyone wanna be a manager?  And we need to talk about product placement.

Also, Daniel LOVES playing piano.  And he's very polite about it.  I'll sit him in my lap and play a few notes.  He'll patiently wait until I'm done, he'll commense smacking the piano, and then he'll pause and wait for me to take my turn.  I play, and we start all over.  We can go back and forth for quite a while.  This is especially true when I play blues, which has has enjoyed since birth.

I'm hoping to get some video of his musical exploits and post them with the 'standing!' video on the site Sarah recommended.  I'll try to take care of that soon.  I'll let you guys know when it's done.  Off to work!