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August 29, 2008

Why YES, Mr. TSA man, I would like to check this 3.4 ounce container of pomade…

Most of the time when I travel, I don’t check a bag. This past week, I left Monday morning and got home Thursday night, and didn’t check a bag. I was on 4 separate flights in that time. This trip, I brought along a container of hair stuff, called pomade, in a small container like this one.

Two flights on Monday were fine, one flight on Tuesday was fine. But Thursday, oh Thursday, at Reagan National in DC, I got the “Hawk”. The most skilled TSA guy in the system.

Scenario: I was waiting for my stuff to come out of the dark and mysterious baggage scanning machine.

TSA Guy: BAG CHECK!!! BAG CHECK!!!! WE HAVE SOMETHING!!!

Me: Ruh roh.

TSA Guy: (stops everything and pulls my little ziplock bag off the conveyor belt and holds it above his head). WHOS IS THAT??

Me: (Since I was the only one standing there, I looked around) Mine.

TSA Guy: (takes out the pomade) All liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller container. (he looks at the container) This is 3.4 ounces.

(to be honest, I thought pomade was in the category of a deodorant stick, which is fine if larger than 3 ounces, what do I know, the line is kind of gray on some of the liquids/solids)

TSA Guy: Do you want to check this?

So of course I was not going to check a small 3.4 ounce container of hair product. But after I had a beer waiting for my flight, I started thinking about. Why the (expletive deleted) not? Why not go back out to the ticket counter and check it? Not my travel bag, but just the one single item. Why not participate in this madness? If the system has gone so far to one side, why not play along with crazy. So next time, I am going to take the toothpaste, moisturizer, pen, vizine, or whatever they decide that day to focus on, head back to the freakin counter, AND CHECK IT!!!

I wonder how small of an item you can check anyway. Could I check a paperback book? If it has to be in a bag, I could put it in a change purse or something. Could I have checked my ziplock bag? Why not? What if I was only traveling for the day and had my briefcase, but wasn’t going to check that, but didn’t want to part with my toiletries. I assume I could check a ziplock bag.

And hope for better travel experience slowly slips away like ice melting in the shade.

Posted by David at 09:34 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 28, 2008

Power Rangers


Mom J and Ethan playing "Power Rangers" while we were on vacation in Orlando. This is how they entertained themselves while Fay was in town.


Posted by Patti at 08:21 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 27, 2008

Soarin'


David took this video while he, my mom and dad were on the ride "Soarin'" at Epcot. I had gone on it the day before, it was SO much fun. You feel like you are flying over the most beautiful parts of California. Make sure you don't miss this one when you go to Disney World!

Posted by Patti at 09:22 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 25, 2008

Opening Night: Democratic National Convention in Denver

I started listening to the DNC on NPR (was driving to Virginia) then watched the rest in a hotel room. Not bad opening night. Mrs first EYE-TALIEN-women-speaker lady was fun, especially when the crowd didn't play into her "MCCAIN IS WRONG" nonsense. Four years ago Edwards had a good one with "Hope is on the way" but Nancy's fell a little flat. And the story about her grandson looking at Barack and saying something about it being a dream was awkward. And you know its bad when you laugh at your own jokes, and with an arena full of people, you are the only one laughing.

Jesse Jackson Jr kind of scared me, he is angry. Very angry.

Caroline Kennedy always impresses me, tough family to have been born in to, tough life, a little sad.

Teddy Kennedy, although he is a dem and super lib, is a good Senator. John Kerry is useless in my beloved state of Massachusetts, at least Kennedy gets some things passed that make a difference.

Now watching the rest of this fun. And if I had a bucket list, you know, a list of things to do before you die as if you really have the ability to do anything you want or have any idea WHEN you are going to die, is to attend a DNC. Have you seen some of those folks in the audience, it's like a freakin rock concert. Democrats know how to party, loosen up, and let the good times roll. Fun times my friends, fun times.


Posted by David at 10:03 PM | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

August 19, 2008

Tropical Storm Fay

So, here I am, in Orlando on vacation. Two great days of Disney parks. Third day, and tropical storm Fay is heading in to town. So far not so bad, some wind and rain, with the worst to come tonight and in to the late evening.



Posted by David at 07:34 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 18, 2008

Vacation in Florida

I am on vacation with the family in Orlando. Visiting Disney, and you might have heard a hurricane is hitting the Florida keys right now. Guess where the latest storm track has it going? Yep, Orlando. Right over the top.

More later...

Posted by David at 06:03 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 14, 2008

Chupacabra Video

Below is a recent video a sheriff in Texas took of the chupacabra. As some of you know, I am very interested in this beast.

This video could be the chupa, but it also might JUST BE A DOG!!

Posted by David at 10:13 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 11, 2008

Parenting Dave-Style

Recently we had an incident where a child, a friend, was not so nice to one of our children. I relayed the issue to David and told him what I told the kids to do if something similar should happen again.

This is Dave's follow-up:

Dave: You're a Dobrindt. If someone is mean to you, you tell 'em "Go pound sand!" or say "Do you want a piece of me? (pounding fist into hand) I don't think you want a piece of this!"

I look forward to many calls from the principal and angry parents.....


Posted by Patti at 08:25 PM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Random Family Pictures

As many of you know, I love taking pictures. With our multiple digital cameras, we can take thousands of pictures and just delete ones that don’t work out. It’s great. Below are 11 random pictures from the past 2 months, in no particular order, and with no real rationale for why I picked them, other than they reminded me of a very specific and enjoyable moment.

The one below is from the view of a little kid who is about to step off a ladder at 12 feet above ground using a recently installed zip line. I have some great videos I need to post. The kids LOVE the zip line.


"I’ll post again from the emergency room”

This is a strange picture of Emerson (2) having a hard time deciding between two beds. Earlier this summer it was time to put away the crib and move a bed from Emily’s room into the boys room. It was fun and Emerson had a good time when he realized his crib was gone and there was a twin sized adult bed.


"Either one I pick, I’ll sleep wherever I want”

This past July Patti took Emily (6) to NYC to meet up with me on a business trip. This is Emily wearing a 5 dollar bought-in-Central-Park pair of sun glasses. She might lack many things, but confidence is not one.


"Future super stah”


This is Finely sleeping off a hangover.


"Too much catnip”


When Emily came in to NYC, her and Patti had a great time while I was at work. Near the end of the day, I met up with them at FOA Schwartz. This is the piano from the famous scene in Big.

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"You should see the video of her”



Right outside FOA Schwartz.


"Great store to visit”


Ethan turned 4 on August 5 so we had a mild birthday party for him the Saturday before. This is him with Katie, a really sweet girl he calls his “girlfriend”. When he found out she was coming to the party, he did a strange kind of happy dance.


"One of his girlfriends”


This is Patti’s brother Drew with the kids and his girlfriend’s two boys. Taken July 4th weekend on Long Island.


"Uncle Drew”


Another shot of the zip line.


"About to jump off the ladder”



The three of us before heading out to a “fancy” dinner in NYC.


"We went to a nice Indian restaurant”

Emily looking at herself in the mirror at the hotel before heading out for the day. Again, she does not lack confidence.


"You can’t see her dancing to music from my laptop”




Posted by David at 07:27 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 10, 2008

Disney World Countdown

Less than a week until our family trip to Disney World.

Next Saturday I am flying with my wife, three kids and my wife's parents (from boston) to Orlando. We are meeting up with my parents, who are driving from Atlanta, on Monday. We are going to be in Orlando for 8 nights and in addition to the theme parks plan on heading to the Kennedy Space Center about an hour east of Orlando for a day trip.

The kids are EXCITED as are the parents.

Let the count down begin.

PS. Ethan is 44 inches, so he is good for most rides. Emily is 52 inches, so is good for all rides.


Disney, here we come

Posted by David at 09:08 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 09, 2008

Emerson


Since we are sharing funny stories, here are a couple starring Emerson (2):

Our home is very "lived in". We have a dining room set I got from someone on Craig's List because it looked... sturdy. The table has held up well to beatings with spoons and various "craft" projects. The chairs have not faired as well. Ethan has destroyed the caning on the chair backs as only a 4 year old can and the fabric on the seat covers is just falling apart. So I decided to make some seat covers for the chairs.

Normally I would just unscrew the seats and staple gun new foam and fabric on the seats. But the wood also needs to be replaced on most of the chairs because the screw has stripped the wood and no longer holds. To save time and money I just stitched up some quick covers for the seats. I hadn't made ties to hold them on yet because I wasn't sure if I liked the look of them.

Well, Emerson refuses to sit on the covers. He pulls off the cover and throws it on the floor. (Only the cover for the seat he wants to sit on.) Its annoying! I thought it would be a good plan, the seat covers could come off to be washed. My kids spill occasionally ...ha ha. Well it is no use if Emerson keeps pulling it off. I'm not sure why he's doing it, maybe he doesn't like the color. I'm going to attach the ties and see what he does then.


Danimals

Emerson LOVES yogurt drinks. If he could, by which I mean if I would let him, he would drink a package a day. I'm glad he likes them, they are healthy, and he is a skinny boy who can use all the calories he can get. But sometimes we run out.

Well, I had run out of yogurt drinks and was trying to avoid going to the supermarket. It seems that no matter how few items I go in for I always leave at least a hundred dollars later. So I was holding out, mixing GoGurts with milk to try to appease him. It wasn't working.

After many requests (demands, very loud demands) for a yogurt drink I told him we were out. Emerson was NOT happy. He decided I was a naughty mommy and I needed a time out. He dragged me to the time out chair and tried to put me in it. I guess I wasn't doing my job of keeping a well stocked fridge.


Posted by David at 07:38 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

August 08, 2008

Clean Rooms

Last week Patti took a few days off and went to Nantucket with a girl friend. She flew down early Sunday morning out of Boston and came back Tuesday afternoon, so I had the kids (ages 6, 4, 2) for three days. When we got back from the airport on Sunday morning I decided to lay down some ground rules with the kids for the next two and a half days. And one rule was that each morning they had to pick up their rooms, make the beds and put things away before they could play or watch TV or color and stuff. So I lined them up, Emily, Ethan and Emerson in order, in the kitchen.

Dave: Ok guys, I want you to go upstairs and clean your rooms before we do anything else. Understood?

Emily (6): Yep

Ethan (4): Yes

Emerson (2): Yogurt drink

I then said “go” and off went Emily and Ethan, enthusiastically running out of the kitchen, through the dining room and up the stairs. Emerson kind of looked at me funny.

About 10 seconds later, I heard them bounding DOWN the stairs. I wasn’t even sure they made it to the landing at the top of the stairs.

Emily and Ethan: We’re done!!

I was skeptical, but didn’t want to call them out right away. Although knowing the state of their rooms before I gave my order, and they would have had to do something pretty amazing to clean up in a few seconds, I could have been wrong.

Me: Are you sure? If I go up there, your rooms will be straightened up? Beds made? Clothes put away? Books put away? Toys in their place.

Ethan: Yeah, I swear dad, it’s done.

Emily: I cleaned it earlier.

I was going to give them a warning, something like if the rooms are not in fact clean they could not watch TV or something, but didn’t want to start my three days off on a bad note. So I went up to their rooms, saw that Emily’s room was indeed fine, and instructed Ethan on what I mean by “clean”. For a 4 year old boy, the term “straight” and “clean” have little meaning, something right above no visible signs of a rug and right below the room looking like it was searched for gold by a zealous robber. Ethan put some toys in a box and slid it under his bed, so he thought was good to go, so he might have stretched the truth but not exactly lied.


Posted by David at 08:16 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 02, 2008

Zipline

We got a 100 foot zipline for the backyard. I'll post more from the hospital.

Dave

Posted by David at 09:37 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)