Canned Ham: Excellent Timing

Short but sweet:

15 minutes is almost instant.

Almost instant, eh? I would say it's infinitely distant, time-wise, from instant but that's just me. Maybe it's a lot closer to being instant than, say, 16 minutes.

2 Guys and a Truck (ok, 5 Guys and 2 Trucks)

As of last Thursday, we’re in the house. Jesse spent last Wednesday night at his Grandparents, we stayed up late working on some last minute packing, and we met the movers at 8am the next day. And, let me tell you, the movers (Two Guys and a Truck) were awesome. After only 3.5 hours, 2 trucks, and 5 guys (+myself) everything was at the new house. They were fast, courteous, and careful. It was amazing.

Then came the unpacking and, so far, so good. We immediately got to work on Jesse’s bedroom so he’d have someplace to sleep that night. Our bedroom went together pretty quickly, too. Over the last few days, the kitchen, family room, and most of the rest of the house got unpacked and situated. There’s still a lot of stuff in the garage and one bedroom is full of office/art/craft stuff but things are definitely coming together.

This is not to say there isn’t still a lot to do. My moped and lawn mower are still stored at a friend’s house. I kind of wonder if the lawn mower is going to run when I get it…I did absolutely nothing to prep it for storage. Well, if it dies, I really will think seriously about one of the reel style mowers. It would definitely be better on the environment. And, of course, we’ve still got boxes at my in-laws.

As for the house, we love it and we especially love the neighborhood. We’ve visited both parks (walking distance from the house), a neighbor couple brought us a pie, and everyone we’ve met has concluded the conversation with something along the lines of “If there’s anything we can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask”…and it feels like they actually mean it. We commented last night how it was great just to see so many people out. You know, people walking, riding bikes, having family baseball games at the park. People were actually waving to each other. I also thought it was cool that the dad across the street was playing football with a dozen kids in the cul-de-sac last night. Cool for the kids. Even cooler for the dad.

And, my commute? 25 minutes flat. Not actually much different than living in Westfield, only 5 miles from the office.

Count to Five

A few random things:

1. Jesse is crawling! And standing up at the table! The little guy's on the move.


2. I happened upon this article about another fun thing that's fallen victim to the latest streak of recalled items. It's an arm wrestling video game that, apparently, has resulted in a several actual broken arms. Ouch. I especially like the distributor's comments about how "The machine isn't that strong...". Kind of adding insult to injury.

3. I sold my first round of comic books the other day. I posted them on Craigslist here in Indianapolis as a last step before putting them on eBay and, amazingly, someone in Maryland wanted them. Anyway, they were issues 1-5 and 9-12 of the 1986/1987 Watchmen series. They went for my asking price which was probably low but I'm happy with the result.

4. Several weeks ago I was reading through the list of the Top 100 Sci Fi movies on the Rotten Tomatoes site. It was an interesting look at an extremely varied genre and I found many films that I had never seen and several that I would like to see. I started by watching Westworld (see it on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes) and was duly impressed. Definitely Michael Crichton's precursor to Jurassic Park. I followed that by watching Futureworld, the sequel to Westworld. Well, there's a good reason why Futureworld is NOT in the Top 100 movies. That reason...it's awful. Seriously, the worst movie I've ever seen that didn't involve Crow or Tom Servo. Consider yourself warned.

5. Moving Day is tomorrow! Wish us luck.

Comic Revelations

It’s finally come to this. My celebrated weekly Comic Book day is no more. Sure, publishers are still cranking out comics, new books are still showing up in shops on Wednesdays, and I’ll probably still track new releases but, officially, there are no titles I regularly purchase. None. I never thought this day would come. But two things happened to facilitate the change.

First, the handful of titles I regularly picked up eventually dropped off my list. Some were miniseries books that ended as scheduled. Others were dropped because I decided I simply didn’t care about the stories. Either way, they went away.

Second, I grew tired. As much as I looked forward to comic book day, I grew weary of watching the distribution lists to see what was coming out each week. Likewise, I got tired of waiting, buying bits of story each month to see “how things turned out”. Even the best stories were rarely worth the wait. And, if the story turned out lame after waiting so long, I was infuriated. Most recently, I dropped a title because its content quite suddenly grew inappropriate. Not only do I not want to buy that book anymore…I really want to get the whole lot out of my house. That’s the problem, it’s impossible to tell how good something will be until it’s already been. And it doesn’t help that comic books have gotten more and more expensive while I’ve remained impossibly cheap. It’s one thing for me to see a comic book and think “I can spring 3 bucks to see if it’s any good.” It’s another thing to know that you’ve really got to spring $20+ over the next few months. Ouch. There are a lot of other things I can do with $20.

The solution? Well, I’m not sure. There’s a trend in comics to collect books in graphic novels. They’re not as collectible as individual books but I like that I can have the complete store right now. I especially enjoy that I can read reviews of the entire story before buying in (some I can even pick up at the library). I know it’s silly but I also kind of like the fact that I can put them on my bookshelf. If I have the individual books I keep them stashed away in boxes and I never look at them. The novel, though, I’ll shelve but actually pull out and thumb through periodically.

Anyway, I’m looking at selling off some of my collection. We'll see how that turns out.

Goodness, Goodwill!

I have a problem with Goodwill. It’s not that I don’t like Goodwill. In fact, the problem is that I like it too much. I don’t normally enjoy shopping but Goodwill is the exception (ok, bookstores and the comic stop too) and I often find myself stopping just, you know, to see if that have anything super cool. Often times, there’s nothing that really appeals to me. Still, it’s always a surprise. Unlike “normal” stores, Goodwill’s inventory really does change every day.

Anyway, I had some great guy’s time with my son this past weekend. For the most part, we played, read books, and took naps (staying where it was air conditioned). It was a full weekend. We did, however, venture out to Goodwill where we found this super mod chair. I’m in the process of trying to figure out what, exactly, it is. Like most things I get at Goodwill, it needs some cleaning and a touch of paint but I’m thinking it will make an excellent replacement our less-than-comfortable office chair.

Note: The cat DID not come from Goodwill. She came from the Feline Friends rescue in Indianapolis.

Canned Ham: Long Vowels

The school year is fast approaching. The family of a co-worker and friend of mine will actually be starting a homeschooling program this year. I'm excited to see how that turns out. I'm certain it will be a lot of work but, like many things that are hard work, it will be extremely rewarding.

This week's spam is only somewhat related to education but is pertinent because this same family just received their new Phonics book.

With talk or violent phonics

Off-Roadin'

I’ve posted a few entries on this in the past but, recently, I’ve been trying to take better care of my physical self. Most notable is my attempt to keep at a semi-regular running routine. I did actually run cross-country back in middle and high school. While I wasn’t overly competitive at it, I’m sure Coach Shenfeld would be embarrassed by how I’ve “let myself go”. Anyway, I genuinely do want to shape up and I’ve found that running off-road is a lot more fun than running on.

I ran on the local high school’s cross-country cross a couple times over the past few days. The excursions were painful but, also, a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the clean air, the woods, and the quiet. I even spied a doe and her fawn. The other thing I like about running in the woods is that the trees have an interesting effect. Having them “rushing past” on either side at least makes it feel like I'm really going fast even if I'm not. That sense of velocity is a good motivator. If you happen to be someone interested in running but, like me, find road running incredibly boring, I recommend finding a trail and taking a jog.

A friend of mine, a personal trainer, recently recommended Do Indiana Off-Road (DINO), an organization committed to mountain biking and trail running. They apparently host events in various parks throughout Indiana. I’m thinking I might be interested in a 5k trail run. Maybe not THIS weekend…but sometime in the future.

Book Review: Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

My wife, a brilliant librarian, recommended Devil in the White City by Eric Larson to me a long time ago but I’d managed to delay reading it until just recently. She said it was fascinating and left her thinking something to the effect of “This is so interesting, how could I not have already known about these things.” She was more eloquent than that and I eventually felt the same way about the book.

It really is fascinating. Essentially, it’s the (mostly) true tale of the building of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (aka The Chicago World’s Fair) and how that history intersect with theat of the serial killer, H.H. Holmes. I say it’s only “mostly” true because there are some details (the thoughts and motivations of some characters, for instance) which are not always reliably documented. To that end, Larson bases some of the narrative on what science now knows about psychology and other, more recent, serial killers. To his credit, Larson makes it clear where he had to make assumptions/speculations. The story was thoroughly researched and the notes section of the book is as copious as anything I’ve read in many, many years. This documentation is astounding in itself.

As for the story, the incredible feats involved in just getting the World’s Fair together are awe inspiring. The horrific acts committed by Holmes are chilling. Larson captures both the best and the worst of man and his accomplishments. Likewise, 1893 Chicago is both magical and squalid--kind of made me want but to visit (but not live there).

After this, several other Larson books have been added to my "To Read" list.

Canned Ham: I'm not the only one confused

This spam is a classic and always brings a puzzled smile to my face:

She will love you more than any other guy

What does that even mean? Who is she? Is she to love me more than she loves any other guy? Or, is she going to love me more than any other guy loves me? I don't even want to think about the latter option.

Beige with Phone Envy

A friend of mine recently posted an entry to his blog regarding his new mobile phone. I don’t personally have a cell phone. My wife does and we share it as needed. It’s one of those pre-paid phones that we recharge every so often. It works well for us since 90% of our mobile phone calls are just a couple minutes long and consist mostly of statements like “I’m on my way home,” “I’m running a little late,” or “Goodwill has something really cool today”.

That brings me to the phone I did recently purchase at Goodwill. It’s pretty big. Somewhat clunky. There’s no camera. It’s anything but digital. And the ringtones are pretty much limited to loud or louder. On the plus side, unlike modern phones, you can hang-up with some real force for those times when you’re really angry with the person on the other end. It’s a tank and I’m pretty sure it’ll withstand anything the world can throw at it. Anyway, here it is. If you happen to be the one that donated it to Goodwill, I offer you my thanks.


While it’s not red, I think I can reasonably replicate the Batphone per these instructions. I’m sure I’ll have to tweak the details a bit. Maybe make the LEDs point down rather than just housing them inside the phone. I’m half tempted to install it in my car.

UPDATE

I can't not post this. The Make blog has an entry about a rotary mobile phone. The videos of it mounted on the dashboard of a car are great.