Nerdy Excitement!

I received some exciting nerdy news recently. Hamilton County (HamCo) currently has several separate library systems. We're in the Hamilton East Public Library district so we have access to library branches in Fishers and in Noblesville. There's also a Carmel Clay system with one large branch. We were briefly in this district during or various moves a couple years ago. There's also a system in Westfield where we lived for several years. Additionally, there are a couple more systems that aren't quite as close to our home.

The New Year brings a countywide borrowing program that will allow us to check out materials from any of the HamCo libraries. The systems will still be separate but we'll have access to them all. I'm seriously pumped about this. The Carmel Clay library is very close to my office so I imagine I'll be stopping there semi-regularly.

I am curious about the details. I know there will be some additional registration when I first want to check out from a different library. And materials will need to be returned to the same library from which they were checked out. But how will holds be handled? Or will they? And what happens if someone does return something to the wrong library? Should be interesting.

Anyway, good news. I know Carmel has some books that our home library does not. So far, here's the list:

• Inventing Toys: Kids Having Fun Learning Science by Ed Sobey
• The Flying Circus of Physics by Jearl Walker
• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller

Outnumbered!

The adults are officially outnumbered in our house now. I was very blessed to have been able to spend the last two weeks home from work with the expanding family. It was terrific. Here’s the rundown on the last two weeks:

• The induction started at around 7:30am on 11/5/2009. By 12:30pm, we had a baby girl. It was fast and Denisa rocked. I am again reminded of my wife’s awesomeness.
• Our little Norah is beautiful. She’s sleeping and eating well. She has a couple of very loving older brothers.
• The hospital stay was calm and uneventful. We had great visitors. Due to the whole flu scare, kids under 15 weren’t allowed as visitors so, sadly, Jesse and Jonah couldn’t come see us. On the other hand, that meant the hospital was a lot quieter than when we’ve been there before. Previously, there were kids running up and down the hallway.
• Visited with a lot of friends/family.
• A lot of people have been bringing us food. A LOT. Friends from our current Life Group, our old Life Group, MOPS, parents, and the play group. Seriously, it’s been amazing and we are truly grateful (and full).
• I had guy’s morning out and took the boys to Half Price Books and the hobby shop. We played with the hobby shop’s train tables, checked out their train sets, stared at the RC planes hanging from the ceiling, and seriously trashed a couple planes with the RC plane video game/simulator.
• The whole family went to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Brave. Good times.
• Had the first guys meeting from our new Life Group.
• Had a bunch of siding re-done.
• Read some P.G. Wodehouse and a couple Graphic Novels.
• Finished writing a children’s story.
• Did a little woodworking.
• Didn’t really sleep all that much.

I’ll get pictures posted shortly.

Cash for Clunkers

The Cash for Clunkers program is old news now. Some consider it a success but I'm not sold. I was never really a fan of it. Actually, my first thought when I heard about it was "But I already own a clunker. Why should my tax money buy more?"

I don't like that so many semi-decent cars were pulled off the road and destroyed. As someone that refuses to finance a car, I like the cash car. A lot of those inexpensive cars are no longer on the road. No, they weren't going to win beauty contests. No, they may not have gotten great mileage. But they worked, they were affordable, and, if purchased right, were interest-free.

There are also a lot of people that don't have any kind of transportation. A so-called clunker may have been very much appreciated. They could really have used a low priced Ford Explorer to safely carry their kids, commute to work, or even start their own business. Now that Ford Explorer has been destroyed. Was it green? No. But sometimes dirty brown is better than clean green.

While I can't blame people for taking advantage of the program, I hate to think about how many car loans were issued during the program. Did we not learn we couldn't loan/borrow our way out of the economic mess? From what I've read, I'm not the only one expressing remorse about the program. According to this article, the levels of buyer remorse for those using Cash 4 Clunkers is about twice the normal rate. Yikes!

Here's what really hurts me. The other day I heard about the actual cars that were turned in. Overwhelmingly, the list includes the expected SUVs, trucks, etc. But that's not all. AutoBlog offers a staggering lists of other vehicles. Here are a few that, when I read about them, made me feel like I'd been kicked in the stomach:

373 Mazda RX-7s
327 Toyota Supras
6 Porsche 928s
61 Pontiac Fieros -- based upon the mpg requires, I'm guessing these were the GT model
A GMC Typhoon
A 1989 20th Anniversary Pontiac Trans Am
A 1987 Buick Grand National

A TYPHOON?! AN ANNIVERSARY TRANS AM?! A GRAND NATIONAL?! Are you kidding me?!

I previously said I couldn't blame people for taking advantage of the program. I was wrong. I blame the person that traded that Buick. I blame the person that traded that TA. What were they thinking? That's wrong. So very wrong. I wonder if they traded these in for Ford Focuses? I wonder if they realize that, with immediate depreciation, their new car may now be worth less than what they traded in (even in crummy, but running condition). And that without considered the sheer awesomeness they gave up. Ugg.

Breathe, Brett. Breathe. I need to look at a Grand National. Here's one from Auburn a couple years back.

Canned Ham: How to Succeed

Better Success, well-wigged

I knew there was something holding me back. I guess the sideburns aren't doing it.

71 minutes

Jonah was up the other night for, I don't know, an hour or so. We try not to look too closely at the clock when we do have to get up with one of our kids. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often. Regardless, it was a long night. And it was such a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, I was frustrated to be awake and exhausted in the middle of the night. On the other hand, it was so nice to see the little man drop off to sleep in my arms. He doesn't often sit still.

Recently, a couple at church shared the story of their recent pregnancy and childbirth. Essentially, they found during their pregnancy that their child had health complications that, according to the professionals, were "incompatible with life". That phrase makes me shudder. I'm sure it's kept especially clinical to help distance everyone from the emotional aspect of the news. Still...shudder.

When their baby was born, the family was surrounded by family and friends. Seriously, surrounded. They had pictures of everyone at the hospital and there was so much joy in everyone's face. Joy...even while knowing the situation. Their baby lived 71 minutes. Those were some of the most precious 71 minutes in the lives of everyone there.

It certainly made the frustration side of my 60 late night minutes with Jonah a lot less...well...frustrating.

Built-ins Complete

Our family room has as decent sized fireplace right in the middle of one wall. It looks nice but does limit our use of that wall for furniture placement. The previous owners of our house had a pair of pre-fab bookshelves on either side. They were functional but didn't really fit as each one left a weird gap between the bookcase and the fireplace. A couple months ago, I started down the path of replacing those bookcases with built-ins. They are the biggest project I've had in a long, long time and certainly the most complex project in my limited woodworking career.

I'm happy to say I wrapped up the last of the bookcases this past weekend. We even started piling on the books (they still need organized). I could easily point out mistakes but I'll hold off on that. Instead, I'll just say I'm very happy with the results. They're sturdy, functional, and I think they look good.

Some construction highlights/comments:

1. The openings on each side of the fireplace were not the same size so the bookcases had to be slightly different widths. Both are the same height with the bottom cabinet being 36" high and the top cabinet being 48" high.
2. I knew I'd paint the bookcases so I used birch plywood and poplar for the construction. Both of which paint well. Stain would've been nice but I don't think it would've gone with the room as well. Also, paint helped hide my mistakes.
3. I should've gone with a glossier paint. They already have a few scuff marks.
4. I bumped out three electrical boxes (2 outlets and a light switch) to be flush with the bookcase. Easy enough to do though difficult to get the holes cut just right.
5. I think hanging the doors took nearly as long as constructing the doors.

And many thanks to those who allowed me to borrow tools.

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream
by Adam Shepard
Harper
ISBN: 0061714364

The premise of Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream is an experiment. The author, recently out of college, took $25, his journal, and an empty gym bag and set out to see if he could make it in a new town. His goals were pretty simple. After one year, he hoped to have $2500 in cash, a furnished place to live (with or without a roommate), and a functioning car. The book chronicles the author's journey through living in a shelter, searching for a jobs, working with social workers, and all the highs and lows in between.

To some extent, the book is a response to Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. I have not read Nickel and Dimed. Maybe I should but I doubt that I will. I've read some excerpts on Amazon and my impression was that the author's goal was to complain and, ultimately, fail in making it. That just didn't feel right. I apologize if I'm off on that. Again, I haven't read it. Neither is this a review of Nickel and Dimed.

In any case, I enjoyed Scratch Beginnings. It was obvious Shepard, the author of Scratch Beginnings, set out to succeed and that appealed to me. He did got lucky on several things. He landed a particular job that went a long way to helping him pursue his goals. He also stumbled into a homeless shelter with a lot of useful programs to help the residents. As life goes, things did not always go his way. Through it all, he was focused, he sacrificed for his goals, and he went after it.

The friends Shepard makes during his journey are an eclectic group. There are those with similar goals and work ethic and there are those content to let the world happen to them. The point at which Shepard explained his experiment (at the end, of course) to his friends was interesting. In particular, explaining it to the guy that, well, had already succeeded in the same experiment. The only difference was that the experiment was his life.

About the only complaints I had about the book concerned the writing style. Some of it was preachy. Some was a little egotistical. Then again, it was autobiographical. If I wrote a book about me, it would almost certainly seem egotistical.

So, will Scratch Beginnings change anyone's mind about the American Dream? Probably not. Those (like me) that believe you can make it with focus, determination, and hard work will find the book appealing and fitting into their ideals. Those that don't will complain that Shepard was far more privileged than many others. He had youth, education, health, and no family to support. All are maybe valid complaints--Shepard actually points several out--though they'd still be missing the point. Either way, previously held ideas won't be swayed. My guess is that Nickel and Dimed is similar...making good points that will be lauded by those that agree and dismissed by those that don't.