The kiddies, April 2008
"Emily (6 in May), Ethan (4 in Aug), Emerson (2 this past Jan)”
Patti took some great shots of the kids at the beach this past week while they were on the east end of Long Island.
Baseball hats in the attic
This past weekend Patti and I had no kids. My in-laws kept all three in NY while Patti came home from a trip there, and we picked them up at the ferry on Sunday morning. So Saturday, in addition to doing some fun stuff like spending the early afternoon in Davis Square, we decided to work in the attic.
Now, for those who own homes, having an attic is great. It’s a place to store crap that you might or might never use again and a great place to keep things out of the way that you don’t use that often (Christmas decorations). Since I find the process of throwing stuff out fulfilling, we thought we’d give it a shot.
So I am not going to bore you with the details, but...
So I am not going to bore you with the details, but I found something that was kind of cool – a big box of old baseball hats. I love baseball caps, but have way more than I will ever use, considering I wear the same two or three all the time. So a while ago I guess I decided to store a bunch in the attic, basically prolonging the process of throwing them out. Here is a list of the caps we found in the box.
- Two of the same hats that say Run Boston on the front with a simple sky line of Boston. I have no idea where they came from. I assume we got those running a charity race or something. I love getting free stuff at company events, road races, baseball games, whatever. That way I can hang on to something I will never use that I didn’t pay for.
- A green corduroy Jets hat. Yep, corduroy, with my football team, the NY Jets. I will never wear this in my life it looks ridiculous. I tried it on and Patti laughed out loud, so wearing a funny looking Jets hat in NEW ENGLAND screams “beat me up in the parking lot”.
- A University of Delaware Blue Hens hat. I used to work at a restaurant in NY in my teens and early twenties, and I exchanged a St. John’s Redmen lacrosse hat for this. Bad trade.
- Australia hat with a kangaroo logo. I remember the exact moment when a customer sitting at a bar I was tending during college gave me this. He was on a trip to the States from Australia and he had these to hand out, to stranger bartenders I guess.
- University of Miami cap with the word Canes on the back. No idea where I got this. Even the M logo on the front is the old logo I think.
- 2000 Walt Disney World commemorative hat. We got this on sale in March 2001 at Disney. Pretty ugly hat to be honest. This was way before we had kids and did I ever think I was going to wear it in public. No, the answer is no, and I should be ashamed of spending the money.
- Unifi. That was briefly the name of an offshoot of a consulting company (Coopers and Lybrand) I worked for in the 90s.
- San Antonio Spurs. I’ve never been to San Antonio. Never a Spurs fan.
- A really cool Charlotte Hornets cap. I don’t remember where I got that.
- A Tigger hat from Disney. Why would I ever have purchased a Tigger hat is beyond me. Maybe I was drunk.
- Washington Huskies hat that says “Go Dawgs” on the back. My friend Muggsy played football there so I think he sent it to me.
- A white hat with OXHP embroidered on the front. Long story, but I basically bought a small amount of stock in Oxford Health in the 90s after a recommendation from two people who used to come into the restaurant I worked at. At one point, it like quadrupled in price, so they got me this hat to celebrate. Then in October 1997 it lead the stock market collapse and I was left with pretty much nothing.
- A very old and very dirty Cleveland Indians hat with Chief Wahoo on the front. I used to wear this hat all the time, it was my favorite.
- A large, stiff NY Knicks hat. Unworn. I am ashamed to wear this given the Knicks recent history.
- A soft great looking Timberland hat.
- Minnesota Wild hat with the tag still on. I would guess Patti’s uncle Tim sent me this hat after losing a bet or something. I am going to hang on to this.
- Ski Windham. I broke my collarbone in 4 places on this upstate NY ski mountain, so I am throwing this one away.
- Florida State Seminoles. No idea why I got this. Two Florida college team hats. Strange.
- Winnie the Pooh hat from the Disney store. Ugh. I wonder if my kids want the Disney crap.
- Blue hat with the words “Las Vegas” on front. Pretty boring hat considering what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, like buying a boring Vegas hat.
- No Fear hat with the phrase “Limits Were Made To Be Broken” under the rim. The funny thing is for a hat that is so macho, the brim is plaid. Weird.
- Great looking St. John’s Redmen University hat. They are no longer called the Redmen. As you can probably guess, I went to St. John’s.
- Here is probably my favorite. On the front is a headshot of Hong Kong Phooey. YES, Hong Kong Phooey. I know, I know, amazing I would have a hat with him on it, but it gets better. On the right side is Hong Kong leaping in the air doing a karate chop. Google the words and you will know what I am talking about. Its freakin classic. On the back are big bold letters “Hong Kong Phooey”. I am going to wear this in public, I swear, and damn proudly.
- Black Aztecs: San Diego State Lacrosse. I knew the lacrosse coach from a neighboring school on Long Island and for a second I was thinking about transferring from SJU to SDSU. I even got a Cali driver’s license and started to transfer residency, but thought better of it.
- All black hat with a cool Batman logo on front, with the words “Forever” on the back. Ethan will love this hat, he is really into Batman lately.
- NY Yankees cap. Unused.
- Retro looking NY Jets cap. Looks great.
- Cool looking retro Yankees cap.
- Fifteen Gap hats. Patti used to work at the Gap, so we have a ton of these. All different styles. Most never worn.
45 or so hats, most I will throw away. Plus I have another 15 or 20 in my closet on the active list. No idea why. Actually, I think I’ll stick them back in the box, back in the attic, to go through in a few years again. Maybe my boys will want them when they are older, kind of retro thing.
April 27, 2008
Emily loves math
Today Emily and I (Patti) were driving home from soccer.
"Mom? How many hours in the day?" Emily asks.
"24", I tell her.
"So, if I want to know how much minutes are in the day I do 24 times 60?", she wondered.
"yes" I replied, thinking... holy cow!!
Later at dinner I told her to tell that to David.
David tries to stump her, "So how many seconds in an hour?"
Emily responds, "Well, if there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour 60 times 60 is your answer."
She can't do the multiplication, but she knows how to set up the problem. Amazing.
April 22, 2008
Our Family Video...by Patti
Just learned how to make a movie from our pics with my Macbook, how to put it on Youtube and our website...that's alot of new tricks for me in one day!!
April 21, 2008
My Photo Journal…My “travel” Photo Journal
Over the last month I received two free Canon digital cameras. They are not super high end, but decent and fairly small. One I got by using AmEx points and the other I can’t really say, it was related to work and I am kind of private when it comes to work. But either way, we now have four digital cameras, one really nice one, two new ones, and an old small one.
So I decided to keep one with me in my briefcase at all times. It’s small enough so that it doesn’t add that much weight and doesn’t take up that much room. I travel a lot for work and there are many times I wished I had a camera. So I thought it would be kind of cool to take one with me and capture random miscellaneous moments that have no significant meaning at all. Or getting a shot with someone famous, like that time I was about 10 feet from Bill Clinton.
So here goes…
”On my recent trip I took this shot out of my hotel room. I stay at a great high rise right near the park”
” And a water tank, which are on top of a lot of the older buildings in NYC”
” And this shot while in a cab going over the 59th street bridge, also known as the Queensboro Bridge, which I try to have the cabbies take because there is no toll and I save my company money, hooya”
” And Gillette Stadium where the Patriots play. The flight from NY to Boston is great because we fly around 20K feet so great views coming and going”
” And this one flying into Logan, of my neighborhood. I have some other more focused pictures of my house, but trees block out a shot of my kids playing in the yard”
” And an old mill in my town, the river separates Milton from Dorchester”
” Or this one of south Boston and the skyline”
” And of course the Boston skyline while landing, which I think I broke some federal laws by not turning off my camera”
” I also took one of my kids when I got home from the airport and they were still in the backyard”
So nothing special or exciting, at least until I get to fly to special and exciting places. But for now, my photo journal is of just another ordinary day.
April 14, 2008
Palm Springs, CA
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5 year old girl + high dive + belly flop = crying 5 year old girl
As some of you know, Emily, our soon to be 6 year old girl, is taking diving lessons at Boston College. She loves it and is pretty fearless of heights and water.
So yesterday I was in the mezzanine with other parents and while not looking at the water, talking to another parent, I heard a SPLAT. I immediately saw two other adults, who were sitting in the bleachers and looking at the water, make a “that looked paaaaainfulllll” face.
I turned and saw the dive coach, a really great instructor and nice guy, walk to the immediate edge of the pool. I also saw the assistant dive coach, a girl who is on the BC dive team, and two other young ladies (instructors who are on the BC swim team and teach classes there on Sunday, and who were standing by the pool and know Emily), walk over quickly as well.
I then saw Emily, my daughter, pop up from the water and look at the dive coach. She swam to the edge and he kneeled down next to the water and put his hand on her head. He said something, I saw her bob her head up as affirming what he said, and she started to cry.
The other three girls standing there then did what most young ladies will do with a small child, and comforted her. She was still crying. One of the girls, the assistant dive coach, asked her something and she got out of the pool, wiped her face, which was red at this point, and walked to the smaller diving board. They all watched her as she got back on the horse, albeit a smaller horse, and jumped back in the water.
They all clapped.
Apparently she was on the high dive and jumped off wrong. Later she told me she tried to do a dive from the 9 meter board, but her coach thought she just leaned forward too much. She hit the water flat on her chest, stomach and face.
I went down and talked to her a minute or two later. She was fine but upset and kind of scared. She ended up going back on the high dive, which was good because the last thing I want is for her to have any kind of apprehension about it, she loves both the water and diving.
I talked to the other instructors and they said they have all done it, and from that height it feels like little pins sticking in your face and chest. They said when she first got to the side, she was crying but wanted to stay in the water.
Oh well, not a huge deal. And I am sure throughout all three of my kid’s lives there will be harder falls and bigger tears. Life goes on.
April 08, 2008
Emily and Emerson
"Emerson and Emily”
This was taken at our annual Easter egg hunt. 4 out of the past 5 years, I think, we get our friends and neighbors together for an Easter egg hunt in our yard. This year it was on the Saturday before Easter, sunny and a little cool. We had about 30 kids and 20 adults.
World's Largest Gift Shop, and I WAS THERE!!
In my life I’ve had some really amazing moments. I’ve had some awe inspiring moments, like seeing the Grand Canyon, going to Paris as a kid, spending time in London and seeing the Berlin Wall a few months after it fell. I’ve had some proud moments, like getting my MBA, playing lacrosse in a division 1 college, and running a marathon. And I’ve had some defining moments, like getting married and having my three children.
But it really wasn’t until today that I realized I’ve been walking around this barren and shapeless world without a clue of what matters until I saw the WORLDS….LARGEST….SOUVENIR SHOP. Yes, I was there today. Over 5 billion people on this planet and only a handful get to actually go into the worlds largest gift shop. When I take stock of my life, hopefully many fulfilling years from now, I will put 5:20PM PST as a moment that changed things.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I was actually IN the parking lot”
Did You Know...Shift Happens
I am at a conference and a pretty good speaker showed us this clip. It makes you think about technology, education, and SkyNET. If you have 5 minutes, it's worth a view. And bonus points for anyone who can tell me what movie originally used the song played in the background. Hint, it was the third remake of a famous novel by James Fenimore Cooper.
April 06, 2008
Charlton Heston
Goodbye Charlton, you are one of the all time greats. For me, it was Planet of the Apes (one of my all time favorite movies, a breakthrough at the time) and Soylent Green. Believe it or not, we watched Soylent Green in my 6th grade “Gifted and Talented” program. I know I know, it’s hard to image ME in a gifted and talented anything, but I was, I swear.
Two movie quotes I use all the time, especially at work.
“It's people. Soylent Green is made out of people. They're making our food out of people” (Soylent Green)
And
“You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!” (Planet of the Apes).
And when he was on Saturday Night Live, I am guessing in the early 90s, it was roll around laughter. Ok, maybe not roll around laughter, but very very funny.
Anyway, thought I’d share.
April 04, 2008
Bathtime
Hi, Patti here....
Last night while I was running a bath for the boys I was puttering around upstairs and the kids were just playing. Emily had turned on the CD player in her room and was singing along to the HSM2 soundtrack. She gets really into it.
Emerson was wandering around saying "tub, tub tub". I saw him go into the bathroom but he is generally afraid of the running water so I didn't worry about it. When I walked in there to check the level of the water I saw that Emerson had beat me to it. There he was, standing, fully clothed (including shoes) in about 5 inches of water and playing in the faucet.
He was so happy and having such a good time I couldn't be mad. I just wish I'd had the camera handy.
April 01, 2008
Security Diamond Lanes
A few weeks ago I saw a report about a method to make the process of getting through airport security easier. It was called Diamond Lanes, you can read about it here, where there are three lanes for travelers to choose from.
Black Diamond lane, which has a picture of a black diamond like on a ski mountain, with an outline of a women with only a briefcase and no luggage.
Blue Square lane, which has a blue square and a picture of a guy with a pull cart.
Green Circle lane, for the unorganized scatterbrain with an image of parents and kids going bonkers and bottles rolling around on the ground, kids screaming at the TSA guy and total chaos and panic.
The idea is that travelers know how well they can get through the security process and will choose based on their own self assessment. Their OWN self assessment. As in I think I am the world’s most handsome man but reality says different.
WONDERFUL, I first thought (notice the “first” part), I LOVE IT. I, being someone who flies a couple of times a week, and a lot of day trips, have the technique mastered like some kung fu black belt of travel. And when I do travel with my wife and kids, I really like the fact that there is a lane I can go to where I don’t feel bad about taking a little extra time to get my little guys through, which can be interesting.
So this morning I got to Logan airport in Boston around 5:45AM and right away noticed something was amiss. Before the holidays last year they took away a special Delta Shuttle-only lane that made it harder for me to get through security. Not a big deal, I have no control over their ability to make my life harder so I dealt with it. But this morning I was unsettled a little, being a creacher of habit, I didn’t like that the security lines were redone AGAIN.
But you can image my delight and surprise when I saw the Black Diamond sign to the far right of the Delta Terminal security area. Holy sweet mother of creation, Logan is trying this thing out. YES. I quickly imagined myself in line with other self-centered smug business travelers going quickly through the security line, almost out of breath because it was so fast, Olympic runner fast. And this morning all I had was my briefcase and a sports jacket, no coat, no pull bag, nada. It was just me and my nice looking brown leather briefcase.
And herein lies the problem. When I told me wife about the concept, her first question was “who is going to police it?”
Great freakin question. Well, it is self policing. And human nature dictates that everyone thinks they are an expert, and no one wants to be in the slow lane. NO one.
So while the Black Diamond lane was really long, the green circle lane was almost empty with a couple of families. And of course I got on the black diamond lane because I thought it was the place to be for a super hero of travel like me.
And I sat there. In line. While an old couple in front of me tried to find their tickets. And then sat there. While they took off their jackets, put down the three very old tennis rackets they had in their arms, emptied their pockets, put their shoes in a bin THAT IS NOT RIGHT PUT THEM DIRECTLY ON THE BELT BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT YOUR SHOE CRAP IN BINS THAT MY JACKET GOES IN, and they tried to figure out what kept making the detector go off and their bags had to be taken off for a separate screening and police themselves my ASS.
So concept, good. Implementation, no so much.
I did notice a couple of good things. When their bags were flagged for additional checks, someone came right away and pulled it out of the conveyer belt so it didn’t slow down the process. And the black diamond lane seemed to have more security people to make things go quicker.
But that doesn’t solve the problem that there has to be some standard by which you are allowed to enter that lane. I have learned that people generally, at least while traveling, don’t care about inconveniencing other people. I hate to say it because it sounds so fatalistic, but during my travels people usually just don’t care. And while the idea of a black diamond lane to zip road warriors more quickly through the hassle of airplane travel sounds great, it still has some bugs to work. I don’t know, maybe over time it will find its own level, after all most people in the lane were wearing suits or business attire and had one pull bag or just a briefcase/purse, and the straggler who just doesn’t want to give in to “the man” will be the cost of the service, so over time things will be good.
I really hope so, because this is the best process improvement (as opposed to technical advancements) to help with the security bump in traveling by air that I have seen in a long time. Great idea, now I just need everyone else to work harder to make my life easier.
PS. I am going to start to bring a small digital camera wth me when I travel. That way I can take a picture of the thing that I am talking about.