7 Kids, 2 grandkids, 1 on-the-way, 2 cats, Mom, and Dad

Beautiful Wife is off for the summer or A glass of wine is waiting for me when I get home.

Beautiful Wife is an 80% employee which means that she is considered full-time and gets all benefits but doesn't have to work during the summer. This is a sweet gig since the kids are all off during the summer too.

I think that staying home with the kids may be more work than sitting in the office but it has a plus side like days at the beach and pool.

30 MM Dessert or It is strawberry season!

Oldest Daughter gave me Rachael Ray's 30MM Get Togethers for Father's Day. I made the Individual No-bake Strawberry Cheesecakes for dessert last night. I need to tinker with the ingredients if I make it again because it was a bit too soupy for me.

I refrigerated it for a while after pouring the mixture into the individual graham cracker crusts but it was still not very firm. I either need to add a pinch more cream cheese or more carefully measure the sour cream.

The plus side is that it was very good and I can see trying it with other types of berries as they come into season this summer.

The winner and still champion or I can beat Son arm wrestling.

Last night Middle Daughter wanted to do an arm wrestle. She's been working out and training for field hockey in the fall so she wanted to see if she's gotten any stronger.

Son works out a few times a week with his friends and he's getting pretty buff. He asked me to arm wrestle him after Middle Daughter and I finished.

Some background...I used to arm wrestle my dad every night before I went to bed. At some point, around 10-12 years of age, the arm wrestle took the place of a kiss and hug. I started lifting weights when in high school and the night I beat my dad was the last time we arm wrestled. He refused to do it any more once I had beaten him.

Son and I started and basically our arms were straight up as we tried for a quick victory. I knew if I could turn his wrist I'd be able to win but he was holding strong. Beautiful Wife said something as I finally turned him and then pressed his arm to the table. Son blamed his loss on her voice distracting him. It felt good to still be able to win. Now I have to continue working out so that I can delay the inevitable for a while longer.

Rank Certificate or This is all that would fit on the glass.

This is my shodan rank certificate that I received on Friday.

The whole thing wouldn't fit but all that is really missing is my name so it isn't a big deal. If you can read kanji you will be able to decipher what is shown. My name is the third vertical column from the right.

I've got a new laptop or Do they really pay these people for what they do?

I was scheduled to receive a new laptop on Monday at our Concord, MA facility which is a fair bit of a drive from my home in NH. I met a co-worker partway there and we drove down together.

We were told to drop off the laptops by 9am and that they'd be ready by 5pm. We resisted the urge to stay local and pester them every hour for a status. That was a big mistake.

When we showed up at 3:30pm it was apparent that the four laptops that hadn't been touched yet were those belong to the four people that don't have desks at that location and didn't spend the day dropping in looking for a status.

I kept asking what I could do to help and finally just took over the keyboard, asked to see the cheat sheets, and got it done. I also had to help the contractor solve the email connectivity problem (logged in as wrong user) and find the PST files from the other system (search didn't find them and they didn't know what directory to look in for them) for my co-worker's system. We didn't get out of there until 7:30pm.

Another co-worker got her laptop today and asked me to go down to the location with her and do the transfer. I did the whole process and finished her laptop in around three hours after having to wait 30 minutes for them to let me use the IDE to USB hard drive connector to transfer her files from a hard drive she had in another system. They weren't done yet with the systems they had going when I walked in the door.

The whole time I tried to be helpful and pleasant but they looked at me like I had three heads.

Bob: Did you know that you can get all the virus updates by right-clicking on the icon and selecting "Update Now..."? (they downloaded each update separately)

Contractors: *blank look*

Bob: Did you know that the browser responds faster if you put in the proxy information first? (last thing on their checklist)

Contractors: *drool*

Bob: You have to look in the Outlook directory to be sure you found all the PST files that have to be transfered. (hey, the cheat sheet says...)

Contractors: *chewing on their cud*

I'm a member or I'm a certified black belt.

What that all means is that my promotion certificate was signed by the master of our system in Okinawa and has the writing on it in English and in Kanji.

We had a great promotion show and received many compliments from the people that came. We had a great time but I'm glad I won't be doing anything like that again for a couple of years. It is a lot of extra work. We've been at the dojo at least four nights a week with Sunday night being a 2-3 hour practice. We've been meeting on Sunday night for the last six weeks so I'm ready for a break.

Bruised knuckles or What happens when you don't break a board the right way.

Son and I were practicing some board breaks, for the fun of it, yesterday afternoon. I didn't stand close enough to him so I dented the board with my top two knuckles (showing that I hit it right) rather than breaking it. I punched through a board later on but now my middle finger knuckle is swollen and bruised.

Don't pet the whales or He's the Croc Hunter!

I read a news article about Steve Irwin and his recent filming trip to Antartica to film whales, seals, and penguins. He was given a permit to film but not to do any touching.

Don't these people watch the show? Touching and "sharing space" with the local wildlife is what he is all about. Did they think he was going there with camera, tripod, and big telephoto lens?

Ticks, why'd it have to be ticks or They really make my skin crawl.

I was helping a friend with his computer (could Windows 98 possibly suck any more?) when I felt something moving along my thigh.

I lifted the edge of my shorts and there was a tick trying to find the area most conducive to feasting. I was glad that it hadn't attached to my skin or I might have done one of those "run around in a circle with my hands over my head and scream like a girl" things.

Project Graduation or Not this time around.

Son didn't graduate from high school. He failed US History and it is a state requirement that you pass that class in order to graduate. Most of the blame rests squarely on his shoulders. He skated close to the edge and put himself in a position that was difficult to defend.

I had gone to his teacher at the start of the quarter. I told him my goal was to see Son pass because I didn't want to be sitting in the principal's office at the end of the year hearing that it wasn't going to happen. Apparently, when you've been teaching for 31 years and in the district nearly that long, you do whatever the hell you want to do with very little interference by the administration.

Son got a progress report that was bad but it was right after I had spoken to the teacher. He was in the process of trying out for and rehearsing for the school play. He started doing his homework and projects on time. I figured we were on the upswing. He got a 93 on one of the major projects and a 77 on his final that was worth two test grades. He still ended up with a 65 average and you need a 69 average in this district to pass.

I spent every day last week on the phone, communicating via email, and sitting in the office asking what could be done in order for Son to pass. Every step of the way the administration would listen, agree with everything we'd say, and then say they wouldn't do anything. I told them on Friday that it was like trying to nail jello to a tree in terms of dealing with them.

I told them that education was what you remembered after you forgot everything taught to you in school and that I expected the administration to see the big picture and not be constrained by what was in the teacher's gradebook.

Obviously, they didn't see it the same way. I was sickened, disheartened, and saddened by the whole process.

The good news is that Son can still start college (which is on July 15th) as long as he's at least taken the GED pre-test by then. He knows he blew it and looks forward to redeeming himself in college.

Storm last week or Was that a twister?

I picked up Son from work last week and drove home in the middle of an incredible thunder storm. We stopped on the side of the road to watch the lightning display when I noticed something in the clouds overhead.

The clouds started rotating and then part of the sky turned green, both symptoms of an impending tornado. I called home and told Beautiful Wife to get the girls into the basement, just in case, which caused a major panic.

Youngest Daughter has a fear of twisters, since seeing the movie by that name, and she came totally unglued. Middle Daughter and Oldest Daughter were refusing to go and making fun of the whole thing until a clap of thunder shook the house and they ran screaming for the basement too. I got to hear this all over the cell phone before suggesting that we should hang up.

Son and I drove home and watched lightning strikes in the fields as we drove by. The thunder crashed as soon as the lightning struck so they were close. You could feel the concussion through the floor boards of the car.

We thought it was an awesome display of power by Nature's air conditioner, the thunder storm.

Sister Falls or I put in the air conditioners for her.

My Oldest Younger Sister slipped and fell outside at work a couple of months ago. She landed on her hands and knees, got up, and went on her way. Ever since then she's had pain in her neck and shoulders. They finally did an MRI and it turns out that she completely fractured a vertebrae and that it is resting against her spinal cord.

We've had this hot weather the last two days and she lives in the second floor apartment in a house. She needed her air conditioners installed so I did it for her.

My Youngest Younger Sister lives in the same house so Son put in her AC at the same time.

Don't walk fast leaving work or you may fail and break your neck?!?!?!?

Turn of the lights me darlin' or My nightly wandering to lock doors and turn off lights.

Some internal sensor tells me when everyone is home and in bed. That means it is time to go around and check the doors and turn off any extra lights that may have been left in the on state.

Last night I went downstairs, in my boxers, to do that duty and get a drink of water. I walked by the downstairs bathroom because I heard a noise in there but the door was open. Oldest Daughter's Friend, Other Daughter that went to FL with us last year, was taking out her contacts. I didn't realize we had a house guest because she had come in after I had already gone to bed. They had worked on some project together and she decided to sleep over which explained her being in the bathroom taking out her contacts at 1am.

At least my boxers didn't have any holes in them...

Feeling tired or Dad, can you wake me up at O'dark-thirty?

Two nights ago Son and Middle Daugther asked to be woken up at 3am. Last night Middle Daughter asked to be woken up at 4am and Oldest Daughter was still at the computer when I went to check on the house at 2am. It must be the end of the school year with all classes requiring a major project.

Apparently, I'm the only one that knows how to not only set an alarm but how to get out of bed in response to the alarm.

Bruises, scrapes, and cuts or Between yardwork and karate...

No wonder my bedtime snack is ibuprofen...

What to do if someone grabs you or Never underestimate the pinkie.

We have many different things you can do if someone grabs you from behind. I believe that some of them are the wrong thing for a woman to do if attacked because they potentially can throw her off balance and result in her being on the ground with the attacker on top of her. Obviously, this is something she should avoid.

When I teach self defense I lead them right to the pinkie finger. It is amazing how little force you need to apply in order to make someone let go. There is something about the pain that is so sudden that it collapses the knees of the person that you're doing it to and at the least will make them let you go. After that, run like hell if you can. If you can't, then break or dislocate that pinkie. They won't be following you after that.

Belt Promotion update or Tickets are still available.

The Black Belt Extravaganza is June 18, 2004 and that is a Friday. It starts at 7:30pm and will likely go until around 9:00pm. The tickets are $15/each.

There are still tickets available but I'm only purchasing tickets for those who are sure they're going to attend the show.

*Heavy sigh* or *Heavy sigh again*

I seem to be sighing a lot today...

It is the simple things or Rain showers water planted flowers.

I mowed the lawn and Beautiful Wife planted flowers. The next few days it rains. You gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Busy weekend or I think I worked in my sleep!

We had a busy weekend and got lots done around the home and yard. Son and I put up the screen house so now we can sit outside without being eaten alive. Beautiful Wife put in many flowers so it works out great today that we're having some rain.

Son and I also did a karate demo and a practice on Saturday morning and a two hour practice last night.

I fixed the deck that I crashed a tree through last Fall. It isn't perfect but it will get us through the Summer/Fall and I can worry about replacing it next Spring. Son and I also cut down a few more small trees and trimmed branches off of others. I was able to mow the lawn yesterday so all-in-all I feel like we're being good neighbors.

People from the neighborhood have walked and driven by our home and they say we've done more since we moved in 9 months ago than the previous owners did the whole ten years they lived there.

I'm a little tired and a lot sore but it is good because we got so much done.

Helped do some moving or Our blogless friends have new digs.

Beautiful Wife and I dropped by after getting an email about their new home. They had an incredibly short window between putting in an offer and closing on the property. It helped some that the house was empty so they were able to start moving in right away.

The house is very nice and it doesn't appear that they'll have to do any projects in the near future.