02 April 2010

TodayI received an email from one of the administrators of this site: MinnPost. He asked if I wanted to contribute to their blog site.  I haven’t responded yet.

I’m not sure exactly what this is…is it just a site that harvests news and blogs from other sites, thereby enhancing their own with little effort? And if it is just a site that collects data from elsewhere, than what’s the point? Why do they exist?

In other news, though: I have decided to speak at the Maple Grove Crticial Thinkers’ Club regarding having been a Jehovah’s Witness. The date selected for this is September 11th, which is so far off right now as to not even merit it a place on my priority list right now.

03 April 2010

Today is my wife’s birthday.

The bulk of the day was spent doing homework (she) and cleaning the house (me).  We went to Buca for dinner this evening, and met our friends (Jeremy and Charlie) there. This is a near-duplicate of last year’s birthday: same resataurant, same group of people. A few days ago, I asked Jennifer what she wanted to do for her birthday, and she said last year’s birthday was her favorite, so I decided to pretty much just repeat that. I know that’s usually a recipe for disappointment (e.g., sequels), but I think it worked out this time. Afterwards, Jeremy and Charlie came over to our place. It’s funny, Owen seems to enjoy having other adults over to our house as much as we do, and he continually tries to engage them in various activities. Charlie had to play Sorry with Owen, for example.

Jennifer’s birthday signals the beginning of the celebrations at our house: In a little over a month will be Owen’s birthday. Mine will follow in mid-June. In August, it’s our wedding anniversary. There’s no celebrations in July, so hopefully child #2 will arrive before August 1st and fill the void for us.

04 April 2010

So…Easter…yeah. Big deal.

Actually, Easter 2007 was fun. Jennifer’s whole family gathered for brunch at a restuarant. Then we went to Jennifer’s parents’ house and just sort of hung out there all day. There was even an Easter egg hunt!

But the next two years…it was kind of a let down. In 2008, Easter was too early in the year, so it was cold and we were just kind of cooped up at Jennifer’s Uncle and Aunt’s house that day, like a lesser version of Christmas.

Anyway, this year we met my sister and her husband for brunch at a restaurant in Eagan. The waitress was kind enough to not charge us for Owen, which was cool ’cause then it made it easy to split the bill in half and, also, Owen hasn’t yet learned to stuff himself when at a buffet, so we wouldn’t have gotten our money’s worth for his food.

Afterward, they came over to our house, whereupon my sister wanted to update her iPod (she does not own a computer, so she always wants to update her iPod when we get together), and Owen convinced his Uncle to play a round of Sorry. They gave Owen an Easter basket, and he adopted one of the toys in there for his robot collection, which is pretty much the highest praise he can give a toy.

31 March 2010

Today, we first tried to visit Fort Snelling State Park and go for a walk there. Alas, it was closed due to high water. So we next went to Crosby Farm Regional Park. Guess what? Also closed. But since the trails at Crosby are right by the entrance, we figured, hey, why not? Let’s go for a walk…

So, we parked the car outside the park, then walked right past the sign warning us of dangerously high water. Oh no! High water! If we don’t stop walking, we might…you know…get our shoes wet…aaahhhh!

We went for a little walk, but, wow, that water was high.

Here, we see Owen ~6 feet from the water’s edge. Normally, the River is so far away from this point that it is not even visible from here; we normally would have to wind around this trail for ~1,000 feet before cutting over, through some trees, down a small hill and then to the shore.

The water was so high that some of the interpretive signs were half-submerged; you can see one such sign in the above photo.

There was an entire pond in the middle of the clearing where normally there isn’t any water at all. A pair of ducks were swimming in this ephemeral pond, alternately paddling and diving. Yes, actually diving under the water to look for food: that’s how much water there was.

01 April 2010

Today I had another one of my clandestine, covert meetups with a Witness in hiding. I feel bad that this friend of mine knows the religion is false, yet is worried/nervous to leave for fear of upsetting their friends. It’s amazing how many people go through all the motions of being a Witness and don’t actually believe it.

Anyway, this person met up with me for lunch today to discuss their recent visit to the Kingdom Hall (=Witnesses church). Tuesday was the Memorial (=Witness Passover), and if you don’t wish to raise any red flags (sorry for the lame cliche’), then you better get yourself to the Memorial. Since it’s the only thing Witnesses ‘celebrate,’ everyone views it as their sacred duty to attend. In fact, my family all attended one year despite the fact that, moments before leaving the house, my sister burned her hand on the curling iron. She sat on the floor of the Kingdom Hall with her hand in a cup of cold water during the Memorial.

Rightly so, then, this individual figured they’d better show up at this year’s Memorial to avoid a visit from the elders, who would surely know something was wrong. It’s kind of a worst-of-both-worlds scenario, as this person is managing to maintain their relationships with their Witness friends, whilst simultaneously knowing such friendships will surely end should any of them find out. Likewise, they are free to do normal human activities, but risk getting ‘caught’ by the elders. Tough situation.

I hope we have lunch again soon.

29 March 2010

Today was a good day. Long, but good. First off, I took the day off work, which makes it a pretty damn good day right there. It’s spring break, you see, and just like my last spring break (in 2002), I took off Monday from work. Back then, my wife stayed around the house and created two filmlets, including this gem that went on to win Century College’s Student FIlm Award two months later.

Today we most definitely did not stay around the house. After Jennifer came home from the chiropractor, the three of us took off for Stillwater. Jennifer’s favorite children’s store there was closed, but we checked out the winery (scored $2.50 off for bringing in some old bottles), bought some high-brow mustard, added to our viewmaster collection (ever heard of Tom Corbett? Me either.) and went out to eat at Brine’s. In fact, I feel like we eat at Brine’s everytime we visit Stillwater. Maybe that’s because it’s the only place that’s not either A) crappy or B) expensive.

We tried switching up our mealtime foray today by first going to Nacho Mama’s. We were taken to a table in between two other groups (I really hate how restaurants try to shoehorn guests in between other groups, when the other half of the room is totally empty). I opened the menu, and…WAY OVERPRICED! Still, I thought “Well, we’re here now, maybe the food’s really awesome.” We next ordered waters, and the waitress brought us a stack of plastic Pizza Hut glasses and a foggy plastic carafe for us to pour it ourselves. Then Jennifer noted that there was not a single food item (except side items) that was meat-free. So we got up and left. I saw the waitress as we were getting up, and she said: “Well we can make anything without meat.” To which I wanted to say: “Yeah, so then it would be even more overpriced,” but instead, I just said: “That’s okay, I think we’ll just go somewhere else.” She waved dismissively at us, and Owen helped himself to a complimentary mint as we exited the establishment.

Jennifer says leaving a restaurant like that is embarrassing, but I say: If the service sucks, why stay? I mean, especially when I haven’t purchased anything yet. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had a lousy experience at a restaurant but been trapped there because we were with a larger group of people. So, when the group is just my wife and son, I ain’t staying if the place is crappy.

Anyway, we later purchased a bed, dresser and nightstand for Owen via Craig’s List. This required renting a truck from Menards, which was a big to-do, but, overall, nothing I can complain about. One of the downsides to not having any redneck-good-ol’-boy friends, is that none of our friends owns a vehicle large enough to carry anything but themselves and one reusable bag of organic groceries. Oh well.

The only bad part of the day: our cat puked like eight times. And I had to clean the litter box. Why is she puking? I don’t know, but I think she’s been munching on the large plant in our bedroom.

30 March 2010

So, today, for the third time in my life, I escaped a round of lay-offs.

The first time was in 2003. I had been working at my job for about 6 months and an email arrived saying three technicians had just been terminated. I was stunned, and, if the email hadn’t  told me that those affected were already notified, I would’ve thought I was one of the people to be let go. There were only ten technicians in the company, and I had less seniority than any of them.

The second time was in 2007. By that time, I was working at my current job and – get this – I was actually hoping to get laid off. My severance pay would’ve allowed me to coast through to early 2008, by which time I knew we’d be living in St. Paul, and I’d be near several other pharmaceutical companies that were hiring. But it was not to be.

The third time was today. In fact, no one from my department was laid off, though a few people I know from other departments were dismissed. Major bummer today. I almost had to force myself to get some stuff done in the lab this morning. And when one co-worker emailed me asking me to work on a certain task, I replied saying something like: “Yeah, I’m gonna put that on my things-to-do-if-I’m-still-here-at-2:00 list.” Which, despite the humorous tone, was totally true.

Anyway, back to the old grind tomorrow. HalleluCEO! Passover came one day early in this house.

26 March 2010

Today might be my last full day at work. The folks in charge are announcing the lay-offs on Tuesday (the 30th). But I’m taking Monday off of work, so…you know, stay posted.

One of my co-workers sent me this link: Click this. It’s pretty cool, but you have to make sure you know a lot about the person you have in mind. I stumped him on Mason Jennings, but in Akinator’s defense, Jennings was probably the least-famous person I had him guess, and there might be some sort of popularity-threshold a person must attain to before being considered “well-known.”

My sister called me this evening and inquired as to whether I’d be willing to videotape a wedding/reception in July. Yeah…I don’t know. I’m kind of like the guy who owns the really big truck: just because I have the capability to move your furniture, doesn’t mean I want to. My sister promised it would be a small wedding and reception, which makes it a little better, but the tough part comes after – editing can be a pain.

27 March 2010

Today we celebrated Jennifer’s parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. A bunch of the family went out to eat at some restaurant in Forest Lake, and then we went back to my in-laws’ house. I got to be the designated driver for my in-laws’ car, as they were too intoxicated to safely drive the 1 mile from the restaurant to their home. I think part of the secret to staying happily married for 40 years is to get plastered on your anniversary.

My brother-in-law, himself somewhat drunk, suggested I needed to rewatch the 6 Star Wars films with a new, open mind. I don’t think I ever said I hated the newer trilogy, I just don’t think they’re that special. It was funny, though, how confusing the discussion was. It went something like this:

LES: That first episode isn’t so good, you know.

ME: You mean the first of the newer ones.

LES: No, the older ones, when Anikan’s a little boy.

ME: Oh, that IS the first of the newer ones.

LES: I thought you meant ‘newer,’ like more recent.

ME: I did.

LES: Yeah, but the ones from the 70s and 80s are more recent.

ME: Oh, I get what you’re saying.

LES: Anyway, I think the second one of the newer ones and the last one of the older ones are my favorites.

ME: You mean “Return of the Jedi” and “Attack of the Clones”?

LES: No, I mean the other ones.

ME: Oh, “Empire” and “Revenge of the Sith”?

LES: Yeah, them.

28 March 2010

Today I finally finished listening to the audiobook John Adams. I was intrigued by this book for two reasons:

1) One of my co-workers had this book on his desk for months, reading small chunks of it during lunch breaks. He kept citing fascinating tidbits from it.

2) I often wondered why Adams was so slighted. I first noticed this on a visit to Mt. Rushmore over 20 years ago. The faces on that mountain are of presidents number 1, 3, 16 and 26. The obvious question then becomes: where’s #2? I actually think it would’ve made more sense to have just put the faces of the first four Presidents on the mountain (and it would’ve made more sense to not put it in the heart of Indian territory, too, but that’s the Federal Government for ya’). While dining in the Mt. Rushmore cafe, I asked my Aunt if she knew why President #2 wasn’t on the mountain, and she said: “Wasn’t Adams only president for 4 years? They probably wanted to put just 8-year presidents up there.”

This kind of makes sense, except that it begs the question of why not putting up 8-year presidents like Madison, Jackson, or Grant. More importantly, it’s flat-out wrong: only one of the 4 people depicted on Rushmore were President for 8 years.

But Adams is slighted in other ways, too. Check out our money. There’s a place for Presidents 1, 3, and 4, but not #2. Even Franklin and Hamilton are on our money (founding fathers concurrent with Adams), but not Adams himself. (Okay, I suppose Adams is technically on the $2 bill, but he’s not on the obverse.)

And what about in the nation’s capital? Washington and Jefferson have their monument and memorial, respectively, but what does Adams get? A street.

Anyway, I finished listening to the book, and I still think Adams has been short-shifted in the Presidential-memorial department.

24 March 2010

Whilst in the lab working diligently as usual this morning (~9 AM), my co-workers were involved in some sort of pointless ridiculous banter. At one point, one of them said: “Is this what you’re gonna blog about today, James?” And I said, “No, I already have something to blog about for today.” Which is this:

I pulled out of our apartment’s parking at 6:00 this morning. About 15 seconds into my commute,just as I passed over 35E, but before I passed Summit Brewery, I saw a shadowy 4-legged thing moving behind some trees. I slowed down. The thought: “Was that a dog?” entered my brain, but I immediately dismissed it, as no dog is that big. Going even slower, I drove forward about 100 feet more and saw not one, not two, but TEN deer nibbling in the grass and walking around. I brought my car to a complete stop and just stared. There were eight mature does, one juvenile, probably a year old, and another that was somewhere between yearling and adult (tween?). A couple of them looked up at me, and a few began walking past, but not hurriedly. The closest ones were fifteen to twenty feet away; close enough so that my car’s headlights gave their eyes that weird we’re-in-league-with-the-Devil look that my cat so often sports at 2AM.

Another vehicle approached from behind. The driver slowed as (s)he passed me, presumably because it’s odd to see a parked running car that early in the morning on that empty street. But then they sped away. They must not have seen the deer. But, I guess if you drive a Ford Explorer, you’ve long since abandoned noticing anything beyond your own dashboard. The re-acceleration of the Ford gave the herd a minor panic, and a few of them pranced away, past the railroad tracks, another thirty feet or so from the road. I watched them vanish behind the trees, then I took off for work.

Also – one of my co-workers emailed this flow chart to me today (if you click on it, it’s easier to see):

She thought I would find it amusing. I did.

25 March 2010

Owen and I stopped at the library on the way home today. He selected a whole bevy of books including titles such as: You can be Pretty like Barbie, Princesses are Fun, and Mermaids are Real. Just kidding. See, Owen is a boy, and so we were allowed to check out books with titles like Watching the Moon, Jupiter, and Dwarf Planets. Okay, so I guess I’m still harping on that thing from a few days ago. Princesses. Jeez.

Speaking of books, here’s my latest book review: The Heathen’s Guide to World Religions. This entirely mediocre tome is currently taking up precious space on our book shelf, so if you’d like to read it, I know where you can get a copy from.

Owen claims that everything he hears adults say aloud, he has to repeat in his head. This causes him frustration, and that’s why, he says, he tries getting us to stop talking so much. He also says he can stop the repeating if he makes these electronic/laser/robotic noises. I know this sounds unbelievable, but, coming from the son of someone who used to have to repeat everything backwards in his head, it seems as if the family genetics have improved with this generation. My wife says she’ll talk to Owen’s teacher about it tomorrow.

I received an email from the President of the Maple Grove Critical Thinking Club this evening. I didn’t even know such a club existed. More importantly, what are critically thinking people doing living in Maple Grove?  Anyway, she (yeah – she – can you believe it? I wonder if she’s a princess. Okay, I digress) wants to know if I want to come speak to her Club in June. On the topics of atheism and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Hm. I don’t know. I’m not an atheist “expert,” it’s just what I call myself because I see no evidence for gods, and, in fact, the evidence presented falls flat. Much like Santa Claus. (I’m also aSanta, too.) But I don’t really care if people think there’s a god, just so long as it doesn’t make them do crazy stuff, and I also don’t know all the finer points of defending/explaining such a worldview. I mean, for that matter, I’m also pro-gay rights, but I don’t think I’d be the one to lecture on the logical reasons for allowing same-sex marriages.

I do, however, consider myself an expert on the topic of Jehovah’s Witnesses, so maybe I could just talk about that for the bulk of the hour. This is unfairly easy, though, as I am confident there would be no one there offering counter-arguments to my Watchtower polemics. I guess I’ll have to think about this one.