Thursday, November 29, 2007

Though it be not written down

I am well aware of the fact that I am an idiot, I really don’t need daily reminders to help bring the fact home but I still got a big one today. I have been lamenting the lack of Internet access for a month now as I patiently wait for my DSL to get set up. I ordered phone and DSL service on 11/5 and expected it to be setup fairly quickly. The first due date I received had the start time of 11/8 and then I got an updated phone message telling me “Congratulations! Your updated connect date is 11/18.” While I appreciate the up beat can do attitude of the machine giving me this message it is more of a “We’re sorry” type message. Anyway I waited patiently checking the site for an updated note but there wasn’t one. I finally got so frustrated that I called in demanding to know why it takes a month to set up a phone line in an apartment! Turns out I was sent an email needing me to call in and verify my identity since I ordered on line. Once I did that they let me know my phone service would be set up the next day. Awesome! Had I just called in 3 weeks ago we might be having this conversation over the phone, or at least I would be posting this from home, but no, I’m an idiot. I feel like Doberry in Much Ado About Nothing

Dost thou not suspect my place? dost thou not
suspect my years? O that he were here to write me
down an ass! But, masters, remember that I am an
ass; though it be not written down, yet forget not
that I am an ass.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Very, that's how cute he is, very

It seems I am perpetually apologizing for not updating and that reeks a bit of arrogance. I guess I have this picture of people checking each day for new content and going away with a cloud over their day when they find nothing there. That is probably not the case but my apology comes also from a place of wanting to write more and not getting the chance to and so it ends up being an apology for me more then anything else. A blog is at heart a diary of sorts and our diaries are meant to be more personal. Most of the time that I am writing it is more to myself as the audience then anyone else but I am always aware of who may or may not be reading this and there fore tailor and smooth where rough edges might have done just fine. I am rambling and wandering and all I wanted to really say was that I don’t have a computer at home and work seems to be a poor place to update so I have been negligent in writing what I have wanted for that I am sorry. I apologize to any disappointed readers and I apologize to myself for not stoking the flames narcissism that have roared wildly despite my neglect.

Now that I have that out of the way I wanted to talk a bit about how freaking cute my son is. Finn is now 17 months and walking away like a champ. He took longer to get there then his contemporaries but he is going full board now. His vocabulary is increasing from Ball and Car to a wider palate of phrases and sounds to make sense of his world. He calls Kate ‘mama’ and he calls me ‘gaga’. It used to be ‘kaka’ but he found that word was closer to cracker and didn’t want to confuse us. He loves cars and points them out screaming ‘car, car, car’ until we say yes Finn that is indeed a car. You are a very astute young lad finding a car on this freeway at rush hour. He has also created some much more complicated language for trucks. For the trucks he says ‘papa’ and shakes his head no. This comes from the fact that his Papa Bing drives a truck but he is well aware that isn’t indeed papa or his truck. He has heard the word truck, he can say the word truck, but he chooses instead this complicated process of audible and physical action to convey the meaning because he is a complicated, complicated individual.

A couple of nights ago Kate and I were driving around to fill a Birthday/Thank you basket for my mom and Finn was in the back checking out the scene. We had a pop station on the radio and there was a non-descript pop princess song on that was catchy but empty. Finn started singing along in ‘Ba ba ba’s but doing so in such a condescending tone that there was no doubt he was my child. It was like he was making fun of the song while humming along in true Indie-rock snob fashion. His uncle John would have been so proud of him.

It has been tough going back to work and not being with him all day but I have come to really enjoy those final few steps on my walk home when I know that soon I will see Kate and Finn. I know that they will both smile at me and be excited that I am home and that feeling is intoxicating. I am not sure it makes up for missing so much but it definitely softens the blow.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Polling the hive

Where do you go to find out what is happening in a new city that you have moved to? What are the resources to take advantage of to get plugged in quicker? These are the two questions rolling around while I sit in class learning complex piece of software to support. In two days we will move into our new apartment in Beaverton and I have been trying to see what's what with our new neighborhood. I have located the library and will be heading there as soon as I get a piece of mail with our new address. I have also located the bank and closest bookstore and the bus route to the max. Most of the other stuff is going to come from getting out and about and meeting people who give you a few pieces of their tiles to add to your new mosaic but in the mean time where else should I look? What do you think is important to find out right away when you move to a new place?