Thursday, April 03, 2008
Jay: Apparently
I hit just the right food combinations yesterday for the kids.
First, I had bought 3 Bartlett pears on sale, sneaking them into a “can’t get everything I need and must keep it under $10, preferably under $7 in case the debit card doesn’t work and I have to use cash” grocery order, and the girls split one like they were discovering fruit for the first time. It was especially good, perfectly ripe.
Shortly after, at their request, we had grilled cheese and red soup. The latter being what they call tomato soup. Which was Wal-Mart’s house brand, and quite good. They each devoured completely half of a grilled cheese, made with colby jack, cheap bread and cheap margarine. Since we can’t afford cheese, but still have to buy some, and are using it slower while Deb avoids dairy, and I’m nervous about my beloved cheddar after the allergy incident in which it’s about 80% probable the specific batch of cheese plus pre-sensitization were to blame (I didn’t know cheddar could be loaded with histamines) and I reacted to it or something too, we’ve settled on that kind. Wal-Mart’s is good, and it makes great grilled cheese. One devoured all and the other most of a third or more of the can of soup. I gave each of them at least as much of it as I had.
Then when I was at a total loss for supper, Deb remembered I’d mentioned blueberry pancakes the night before. We still had part of a bag of frozen blueberries my father had gotten for Sadie, knowing her love of blueberries. Most of it went into an astonishingly good blueberry cake a while back, which oddly enough left the kids indifferent.
There was exactly a cup of Bisquick remaining, enough for half a standard batch, without stretching it or making scratch. I made that up for them, figuring they might not eat it all and that would be part of what I had. Using an eight cup measure to scoop relatively uniform pancakes, I made 12 of them, heavy on blueberries, ate one myself, and between them they ate all of the other 11. Sadie ate 5 2/3 and Valerie at 5 1/3 of them, with plenty of cheap fake syrup.
That’s just nuts, compared to their normal, or at least recent, eating, especially Sadie’s. She’s been doing a lot of living on moonbeams. And afterward she pleaded still hungry, at least enough for several jelly beans.
In between, they each got a green apple lollipop from the post office when we walked there. You may remember we have books for sale, and there was an order for one to go priority, rather than the usual media mail. Not only did the guy at the post office give out lollipops, he had me stuff the original package into one of the “if it fits, it ships” priority folders, to make it $4.60 instead of $7.50.
Too bad having a full belly didn’t prevent a total meltdown by Sadie, for no apparent reason, late last night. She did make the breakthrough of calming herself enough to be coherent, so that’s good.
And speaking of cheap bread, we fell in love with Stop & Shop’s cheap bread, in 3-packs for $2.69, so it’s the best price as well as quality. I went in there the other day, read the package and found it has no milk or egg, so bought that rather than making more dairy-free bread myself just now. But… it went up sixty cents, to $3.29, just like that. Wow! If bread everywhere else, in single loaves, stayed that same, that makes them comparable. I have to assume there was probably a generalized increase. But 22%?? That’s going to mean the cheapest breads start to approach $1.50 a loaf. Perhaps it’s not generalized. I’ll have to look, just to find out.
My next mission will be to persuade the kids that soup is still soup and can still be eaten even if it’s not tomato. I have three cans of chicken noodle, which they ought to like, if I carefully promote it and make sure they know what it is. There are some other cans that the three of us can eat.
Speaking of allergies, we tried reintroducing eggs to Deb starting last night. The two of us had fried egg and ham sandwiches. Eggs come out odd on non-stick with no source of grease, but it was still good. Within a few days we should be clear that it’s okay for her to have them, which will leave only dairy, which makes it not too bad.
Henry can now eat oatmeal, rice, butternut, apple, chicken, and carrots. I really need to hit the store with money enough to buy chicken this week, as it’s on amazing sale, and hello, he can eat it and it’s a nice boost from the veggie kingdom. I was thinking of trying the pears next, but I doubt they’ll last long enough. They’re a safe bet, anyway. We still have sweet potatoes he could try next, and that’ll cover the major orange food group.
Oh, peanut butter and raisins appear to be safe for him, too. He has sisters. Apparently the main reason not to give him peanut butter is ability to eat it without choking, because he’s managed to get some twice.
One of his biggest problems seems to be my printed shirts. Part of it’s an abrasion factor, on the heavier, rougher prints, but the ink can also contain stuff that can bother some people. Given that we know he is bothered severely by bananas, and that probably means a latex allergy, the ink thing would be no surprise.
I’m rambling. Need to get more coffee, and at least make it so the girls will wake sooner rather than later. Last night I was threatening them with an earlier bed time, starting with waking them early today. I didn’t, but it’s about time even for not so early.
Jay: Happy Birthday
To me! An amazing 47 years ago, near this time, a modest walk from this place, I was born on my mother’s 26th birthday.
Apparently I was born hungry, because at 5 days old they were supplementing me with cereal.
At 17 days I went into the hospital in Boston with meningitis, for 11 days, and unexpectedly lived.
Henry is a mirror in more than appearance, as I apparently had a similar personality. I also talked fast, walked fast, and was apparently way ahead until about four years old, when I slowed down to the point it seemed there was nerve damage.
Anyway, mostly to me it’s another day, though there’s a brownie mix I’ll probably make in lieu of cake. I might try making a scratch cake, but we’re low on flour and it might have to wait for me to buy more, and someone gave us the brownie mix, which has been calling to me.
I am getting one big birthday present, the timing of which is coincidental. My aunt is picking up a new car today, and is giving us her old one. She says it’s big enough to fit three car seats in the back. If I keep feeding Sadie like yesterday, perhaps she’ll get to 40 lbs soon and be able to get a booster instead. A shame we lost one of our parking spots to the upstairs neighbor. And that we can’t afford to register it until whenever. Then again, the neighbor is using the two spots most directly in the line of fire of the mulberries, and the big car will be easier to get in and out of the driveway near the street.
That should be good enough to do what the van couldn’t even handle, simply getting us to my grandmother’s or brother’s or other local places as a whole group, without heavy driving in between.
Anyway, enough with the post. I need coffee, and to work on the “how to pay some rent next week” project.
Jay: Happy Birthday
To my mother, Barbara, who is 73 today. Which is weird, because that used to be old, but she’s not really, when it comes down to it.
Foibles or not, she has lately given us an appreciation of her probably greater than I have ever had. She seems to know when help is needed, that it can be done quietly, that the word isn’t spelled with “ar” as its middle letters, and that you can be family without always being judiciary.
Jay: Happy Birthday
To blogger Bogie.
Jay: Happy Birthday
To apparently former blogger Mickey.
Jay: Happy Birthday
To apparently former blogger Peter Davidson.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Jay: American Idol Top Nine
I didn’t expect to like Dolly Parton night as much as I did, since I am not the proverbial big fan and never heard of most of the songs. Then again, not knowing them eliminates preconceptions.
It has seldom been clearer who should be eliminated, but I said that last week, and of the same person, who was not even in the bottom three. However, this week Dial Idol has Ramiele Malubay so far below everyone else that they are likely to be right, though they’ve adjusted her from red to yellow since I check 2/3 of the way through the voting last night.
I’d have guessed that Jason and perhaps Syesha would be the rest of the bottom 3, but Syesha appears to be safe, and more likely either Kristy or Carly will join Ramiele. Assuming this is a week when they pull out a bottom 3, rather than moving to a bottom 2.
Since I already effectively wrote a post through live tweeting, I’m going to past those comments in here and maybe, or maybe not, embellish on them. Unusually, they reflect exactly what I was thinking at the time, sometimes before or just as a performance ended, without having seen any other comments or recaps, or listened again online.
Brooke is about as good as she’s been. I am unfamiliar with Jolene but liked it. Simon is on crack.
David Cook with Little Sparrow was amazing. Loved the intro with credits for all the cover covers, then emphasis it’s his own this week. Apparently, in news since, he was just recovering from a run to hospital before the show. We wonder if he held back to avoid being noticed too strongly and targeted too early, staying in but under the radar.
Ramiele was okay dawg, better than other weeks, out of breath, straining because too fast for her. Simon’s crack wore off. In the end, she was still the weakest. I wish I could have seen what Chikezie would do with this week.
Jason was a lot better this week, upbeat for once, yet still folky. Not very commercial, but okay. A small market, but he could make a living, tincluding small venue tours.
Carly was good, better to me than Dolly’s version. Not something I’d buy, but it fit her and showed off her voice. Simon’s right regarding the wardrobe. It’s been bad and not getting better. Proud of the tattoo is fine, but a lot of voting America is still put off by seeing it, and that’s not the only problem.
Archuletta reminded me of a smarmy fake TV preacher in intro. Achoo-Bot sounded fine, but too old for him. He’s good at faking emotion when he sings, but it’s clearly a trained thing, essentially acting. He was good enough to give the judges legitimate pimp opportunity, but he doesn’t resonate with an awful lot of people out there.
This is the second week in row can see what they saw in Kristy originally, when she was one of the planted top contenders. Nice job, if unmemorable as Simon said. Carly, see Kristy’s clothes. I came away thinking she’d be safe, and even if she’s bottom three, she should be. Her voice is so much better to me now, I wonder if she was residually sick for longer than you’d expect from that initial flu problem.
Syesha did that song, okay at start, meh on big part. Should have kept it level throughout, as she seemed to be in a good vocal range for her, but cracked up on the belt. She didn’t hurt herself. Simon was on. Missed the intro because we were crazy enough to have kids. For what it’s worth, Henry ended a few minute meltdown to be engrossed with Syesha’s singing, even though she’s not a cute young blond. Poor kid, he’s completely controllable through the playing of Carmen Rasmussen videos.
Michael Johns shows he’s great without doing Queen or the Doors. Not perfect, but good, entertaining, and charismatic. Heh. Cue the British accent saying “Michael, if this were a charisma competition...”
I then observed that it has to be Ramiele at bottom again, and that the rest of bottom 3 will be Syesha and Jason. As mentioned above, it appears Syesha really did herself no harm, and is unlikely to be bottom three. There could be demographics at play here too.
Other Idol posts:
April
Kristy Sarah
Zombyboy
Jay: Happy Birthday
To Terri St. John.
Jay: Happy Birthday
To former colleague John Mackin, who went on to marry my cousin.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Jay: On a Blog Note
We’ve been considering the idea of abandoning Expression Engine for WordPress, mainly on the basis of speed, and also because the comment spams have increased. The trick was migrating, but in researching it last night, that may not be as insurmountable or manual as I’d thought.
I wonder, though, whether there would be speed improvements in updating Expression Engine itself?
Jay: Perhaps I Can Sneak In a Post
People are eating or occupied. I managed to spill blood and have to bandage my foot last time I started actually doing something away from the computer or without a kid on me. We need to resolve the kid on one of us problem, but I fear that’s a matter of waiting it out for a couple more months.
Or not.
Okay, done with Valerie and talking.
I was going to tell about the whole interview thing, in some detail, if not in a single post. Let’s do the short version, even though I closed my door, since I closed the door to do work, and 2/3 of the kids can open it anyway. (Okay, maybe not such a short version, ultimately.)
Train arrived on time. I was hopelessly confused about where to go, even on foot, even with good directions, because it’s the city. It was cold and sleeting, which didn’t help. I managed to find the building and then had to call when I was on the right floor, because I had the wrong company name. He’d never said, but I found him online under the name of the business before he merged with a larger firm. I still almost made it by the tentative time of 11:00.
We talked apparently for close to an hour. I figure it’s possible but not likely I will get the job. If I do, it may start as a 1099 trial basis, or be because of what he hears from references. He’s mulling it over a few days. The biggest problem is lack of focus. Ideally there’s a label he could apply, where I’d be the X expert - setting up servers, deploying desktops, programming, whatever. That’s a matter both of my skills and my preferences, and my preferences, weak in the first place, don’t fit well with what there’d be demand for at their size. On the other hand, my location is good for where they are starting to expand - most work being from home to clients, rarely involving the office (though many clients are in Boston).
Frankly, I could see being called in on a temp basis to help on projects, if I were continuing to otherwise freelance, and I might suggest keeping me in mind for that in any event.
It did go reasonably well and I liked the guy. We had a fairly animated discussion. I was embarrassed at how poorly we did focusing and marketing XTreme, and how little client base we had, but the whole thing was weird and I was there so long mainly out of stubborn inertia and sense of obligation to the one big client. I tend to downplay myself, so it was interesting near the end when I talked about having setup SBS (Small Business Server) 2003 for a client, from scratch, with e-mail and so forth, and he was impressed because he considers that hard and requiring comprehensive knowledge.
Look for post(s) soon where I muse aloud about focus and what I want to be when I grow up.
When I left there, I was only mildly confused getting to my other destination. I’d noticed funky cherry pickers with bright lights shining on a building at High and Oliver Streets, but thought nothing of it. Even asked a couple of guys manning one of them for directions, thinking they were construction, and they pleaded having just come in from out of town. On my way out, at that corner a crowd of people were watching the windows a few floors up, where the lights were directed, chattering about Sandra Bullock filming there. I saw her on my first look up there, then once more after a while, but I saw a lot of an unfamiliar actor. They were filming something called The Proposal, which is apparently shooting mainly in Gloucester, according to IMDB.
That gave me an excuse to stand around less obtrusively, pecking at the Blackberry and being amused by the crowd and the situation. Having gotten my bearings, I headed off to the building where Rob Sama works. I met a friend of Rob’s on one floor, to discuss a possible two week temp gig covering a vacation. We immediately concluded that he needed someone more up on the latest stuff and able to hit the ground as an advanced admin, but it was great to meet him, and he went up with me to see Rob. Then I hung out with Rob for a while, talking about this and that, until I thought I needed to move it to get the train. It was great to meet Rob in person after “knowing” him since 2003, early in my blogging.
Turned out it was closer and faster than I thought, getting back to South Station, but that’s not a bad place to hang out.
I’d been thinking it’d be fun for the kids to ride the train sometime, but it made little sense without a destination. Turns out the Children’s Museum is right near the station, so there you go. Eventually. If we can keep a roof over our heads and everyone fed in the meantime.
Other takeaways, besides the focus thing, included the need to do the blogging version of the resume ASAP, the need to push the side work, and a heightened perception of the side work as being potentially more than side work. That and an appreciation of my former colleagues, and good turns apparently coming around. The resume got to my interviewer via a guy I used to go out of my way to give rides to work, back in 1994. Wow.
Okay, enough writing and resting the gouged foot, on with the day.
Jay: Haven’t Done a Goofy Quiz Lately
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Jay: Regarding Yesterday’s Adventure
I’m thinking it might work best as a series of posts on specific elements, observations, and so forth. Like riding the commuter rail from Lakeville to South Station, and back. Which was great, and I can see doing regularly, as well as taking the kids on sometime just because.
I confirmed you can indeed pay cash on the train, rather than going to an out of the way store and buying tickets from a bored clerk. Apparently there is no surcharge, either. There are bathrooms on the trains, though I didn’t check them out myself.
Parking seems to be adequate, at almost 900 spaces.
The trains are comfortable. It was more so on the way in, and I am not sure how much of that was being on lower versus upper deck, versus any differences in the track or driving style. It was less smooth farther north.
On the way in, they collected tickets and fares after each initial stop, and left a cardboard marker on the back of each seat for each person who’d paid. Once they were north of a certain point, I think where it starts to double as part of the T, they took the markers and didn’t do any further collecting, etc. On the way south, the only time they did any of that was at South Station, though I would presume in theory people could get on at, say, Montello and go south to, say, Lakeville or Bridgewater. It struck me as relatively easy for someone to bypass paying a fare, at least selectively, but probably not worth the effort and schedule disruption it would take to avoid any free riders.
North ran precisely on time. South rand a few minutes slow and you could tell it was happening, because it crawled what seemed painfully slow in places it shouldn’t have, apparently due to rail traffic flow.
I forgot to grab a book, but it worked out between the first timer looking out the window factor and the Blackberry, which had good reception every time I checked going in, and most of the way coming out. I can see wanting a book or laptop or such if it were a regular thing.
The trains weren’t at all crowded. It was one person to a seat except by choice, and many seats empty.
At South Station and especially Lakeville, there was plenty of time to board. In the morning they seemed to go out of their way to wait for people to walk in from the parking. At the other stops, if you weren’t by the track ready to step through a door, you might have been left behind. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.
Being early for parking insurance is fine, but if I do it again, I’ll sit in the car until it’s almost time for the train to arrive. It was cold.
The view was cool, because it’s a completely different perspective. You see everything from the roads all the time.
I guess that about covers it.
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