E F T P O Z

Monday, 07 February 2011
Tonight, as we were lying in bed, Owen asked me if I ever wanted to travel back in time. We had talked about time-travel once before, about a week ago, when Jennifer and I were discussing its popularity in the Star Trek Universe. But tonight, he must’ve wanted to broach the topic again.
“Sure,” I said.
“Why?” he asked.
“’Cause, maybe I’d like to go back and fix some mistakes I made or try to do some things better.”
Owen said nothing for a moment; I could tell he was thinking. Then he said, in the most astonished voice ever, “I didn’t know you could change stuff!”
“Well, yeah,” I said, “I mean, of course it’s all hypothetical, but usually in stories when someone goes back in time it’s because they want to change something.”
This took us into a conversation about what are some things that characters have tried to change in such stories, as well as a few examples of things I would like to change. Owen didn’t quite get it, so I explained it this way: “Well, you know how you left your light-saber at Grammie’s house the other day?” He said yes, so I explained that, wouldn’t it be nice if he could go back to that time and tell his younger self to not forget it.
I kind of wish the conversation hadn’t gone that way, because I would have rather discovered what it was that Owen found so fascinating about time travel. I mean, if he didn’t want to alter the past in some way…then what? Did he just want to observe events like a fly on the wall? Because, in that case, he could just watch some home videos. More likely, he probably wanted to return to happy times and relive those moments.
And I think that’s a pretty good outlook on life: instead of desiring to go back and fix things, he just thinks it would be cool to experience the best times a second time.
…Unless I’ve ruined it for him now.

Tuesday, 08 February 2011
Day two of my new semester at Hamline.
I had that feeling again where I think, “What the heck am I doing here?”
It’s easy to see how I get that feeling – most the students look younger than me. Unlike my last two classes at Hamline, I’m pretty certain that I’m the oldest student in the class; and probably by several years. There are posters hanging on the walls advertising internships…there’s nothing wrong with that it’s just that I already have a job. I’m sure several of my classmates also have jobs, too, but they probably just look at their jobs as temporary measures to give them some spending money. My job is more of a career – I needed a degree to get my job, and I don’t have parents paying my tuition or for my dorm. In fact, I don’t’ even live in the dorms, I live off campus, with a wife and two kids. Is anyone else in the class even married?
In my other two classes, we went around the room and introduced ourselves. I liked doing that because I enjoyed hearing other students say that they were married, or that they are returning to school after an absence – stuff like that. We haven’t done that in this class. Oh well.
Our first two assignments were due today, too, and I’m hoping for a couple of A’s to kick off the semester.

Wednesday, 09 February 2011
Today was an extraordinarily busy day in which I got to work later than I wanted to, then hit the ground running at work. After working through lunch, then attending a Toastmasters meeting, I left early to get home to pick up my wife and kids (and my mom – she’s in town staying with us right now) so that we could get to the optometrists’ office by 3:30.
Owen and I were both seen by Dr. Pat Wellik. The whole experience was very draining for Owen. He was nervous the whole time, even after I assured him it was better than going to the dentists’ office (“I like going to the dentist,” he said. Who says that?). He watched me get my eyes examined first, then he sat on my lap while Dr. Pat examined his eyes. He was not very cooperative at first, but Dr. Pat knew how to get Owen to be a little bit accommodating. He let Owen play with the remote control for the eye chart, then let him hold the special ‘flashlight’ and shine it into my eyes first.
Owen tried very hard to get all the right answers. He studied the images through lens 1 and lens 2 before making his decision on which one is clearer. One time he even asked the doctor to go back so he could double-check his answer. Dr. Pat said, “Wow, his answers are very consistent.” Later, when Dr. Pat said, “Tell me when these two images line up,” Owen sat very still and then finally said, “I think they’re lined up like this [he gestured] but they’re not perfectly lined up.” Dr. Pat laughed and said that was good enough.
The worst part was the bright light the doctor used for looking at Owen’s macula. Owen absolutely hated the bright light and I could tell he was mustering all his reserves to keep his composure.
Following a magic trick that the doctor performed well but was not received well by Owen, and a prize pencil, Owen went back out to Jennifer (who had finished her exam by then) and began crying. I gotta say, Dr. Pat did an excellent job dealing with Owen’s anxieties, but Owen just couldn’t handle the pressure of the ‘tests’ and the bright lights. We went out to eat afterward, and Owen needed to sit on our laps practically the whole time. He ate about a quarter of his meal, and after we got home, he just wanted us to hug him. At 7:30, he said he wanted to go to bed, and he fell asleep by 7:45.
Man, you know Owen’s exhausted when he can’t even outlast Isla.