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| Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 | | 9:33 am |
D&D for Kids
Will has done enough gaming (Munchkin, fantasy board games, adventure video games) that he wants to try a real RPG like D&D. He has a friend his age who he thinks would also be interested. Do I need to buy 3.5 Edition? I don't even remember whether I have the PH and DMG for 3rd Ed. I think new RPGers need an experienced player or two in the party, to give them an idea of the flow of things. Anyone want to play? Anyone willing to DM? I figure a Saturday chargen and maybe sleepover gaming session would be a big hit, possibly as soon as June 6. | | Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | | 8:55 am |
Patronized by a Ten Year Old
ME: [turning off the TV so we can talk] Will, you look very nice. I know you don't think appearance matters, but if you don't like and respect yourself, and look like you like and respect yourself, nobody else has any reason to like and respect you, either. WILL: OOOooooh, that changes a lot of things. [click]So, did he mean it? Or was he just agreeing with me enthusiastically so he could go back to watching Pokemon? | | Saturday, March 21st, 2009 | | 8:31 am |
Car shopping update
Thanks to all of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) louiseroho's Friends for car tips. Remember the criteria:
- Good for a guy turning 40
- No ragtops
- Black or navy blue exterior
- Tan leather interior
- Manual transmission
- Enough back seat for a kid
Shortlist: Nissan Altima Coupe. Problem: leather and manual are mutually exclusive. Maybe I can convince them to replace the seats with leather seats at the dealer. Honda Accord EX-L Coupe. Problem: tan leather not available with black exterior, and the blue isn't navy. I might concede the shade of blue, but I might also want a better price. Audi A4. Problem: Too expensive new, audi.com and carmax.com have no used models meeting all requirements. Consumer Reports says to avoid anything prior to model uear 2006 (because VW sucks for reliability). | | Thursday, March 19th, 2009 | | 7:58 pm |
Dad leaves rehab
Urgent call from my sister, Laura, today. The alcohol treatment center had called to say Dad had packed up and left. Now, Laura's been trying to reach them for a week, because after nearly two months (on this, his second visit), he was not responding to treatment for his chronic, degenerative disease, and we wanted to talk about getting him home. At a certain point, it's his decision to drink himself to death. I called him this evening, and told him we'd been thinking maybe he didn't need to stay, but I wish he'd spoken to us before checking out. We had trouble hearing each other: he's deaf, and didn't have his teeth in, but there was something wrong with the phone, too (upside down?). He said he'd decided Monday to leave, after waiting a few days to see if he changed his mind. Staff had told Laura that he hadn't told anyone, even though he had a thorough review with staff yesterday. When they asked why he hadn't mentioned it, he said, "You didn't ask." I love my Dad, and I don't want him to suffer. We'll try to get him into assisted living, or at least have the nurse's aides check in on him daily, I think, so that he doesn't injure himself and suffer for a long time. But I don't think their job is to keep him sober, or get him sober. He said tonight he'd see his doctor (and good friend and recovering alcoholic) tomorrow, and find something to volunteer to do for the church, and go to a meeting. I'm a little hopeful, but skeptical. Current Mood:  depressed | | Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 | | 5:51 pm |
New job
As of yesterday, I have been the Director of Technology Development at Time Warner Cable. It's been fantastic so far. New hire orientation was everything it should be. I know a bunch of people--some from ARIN, some from UUNET, and even one from college. But better than that is that the conversations so far have been exciting and fascinating. Sure, there are problems with acquisitions that haven't been fully integrated, and people disagreeing on what "best" means. But I'm working on a converged Internet internetwork! My job is to evaluate technologies that are 2-5 years out. Then I'll advise the architects on what they should pay attention to, and how not to design themselves into a corner, and work with product development, and even public policy folks, and take everybody's input back into the technology/protocol/standards development bodies. Doesn't that sound cool? It is! /me does happy dance | | Thursday, November 6th, 2008 | | 9:35 pm |
Thankfulness
Dad fell down the stairs. Broke a rib, cut his hand and face. He's in excruciating pain whenever he moves. But he acknowledges that he has to quit drinking. I went to an Al-Anon meeting tonight. It was really good. The theme was thankfulness, and I realized that if I could be thankful for the way Mom died--the extra two years I didn't think I'd have, the fact that she was at home, in the dream home she built, with the perfect view, and she could sit on the porch and read and look at the scenery, and that we were able to have hospice, and she was in no pain, and all of us were there at the last moment--if I could be thankful for her death from cancer, then maybe I could find something to be thankful for in Dad's illness. So tonight, I'm thankful for the opportunity to demonstrate to my father that I love him. I'm thankful for the opportunity to spend time with him. I'm thankful that I have Louise, who is able to take care of Will. I'm thankful that I am able to take leave without pay and not worry about losing the house. I'm thankful that I have a sister I love and respect so I'm not on my own in taking care of Dad. I'm thankful for the special people in my life who make me feel loved. And I'm thankful that those people have taught me to be mindful of my feelings when I can't be thankful. I keep reading this list and thinking of more things, so that's good, too. | | Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 | | 7:47 pm |
| | Monday, October 27th, 2008 | | 4:27 pm |
Parents are so hard to raise these days. . .
I took my father to the emergency room Sunday. He was shaking violently, unsteady on his feet (stairs were intimidating), sweating, and vomiting. Can you diagnose his ailment, Dr. House? Alcohol withdrawal. He's in ICU for now, because D.T.s can be fatal. I'm working on a treatment facility (rehab) for after detox, comparing the one in Williamsburg to the one in Palm Beach FL, but I'm mostly concerned about what happens after that. Laura's out of town, and so's the minister (Tanzania--I'm jealous), so I'm still in Irvington. Did I mention the part about bailing a friend of my mom's out of jail? Drunk driving, the day after the funeral. It was her daughter (a high school friend) who commented about raising parents. Really, 70 is such an awkward age. | | Monday, October 13th, 2008 | | 5:54 pm |
Candy Daniel Howard, 1942-2008
Candy Daniel Howard, 66, long time volunteer, lost her battle with cancer on October 12, 2008, at her home in Irvington, Va. She was surrounded by her husband, Bill Howard, and her children, Lee Howard, and Laura Howard Mayer. The daughter of Ernest Humphrey Daniel, Jr., and Helen Beattie Daniel, Mrs. Howard was raised in Bethesda, Md. Her brother, Ernest Humphrey Daniel III predeceased her by seven years. A graduate of Mary Washington College, she worked for years as an accountant and property manager. Mrs. Howard was devoted to and sustained by the Episcopal Church. She attended the National Cathedral School as a girl, and during her life she and her husband, Bill, held every volunteer job in an Episcopal Church except warden and altar guild (she hated ironing). Candy cherished her friends at St. Timothy's in St. Louis, Mo., Ascension in Gaithersburg, Md., and most recently at Grace Church in Kilmarnock, Va. In her retirement, she enjoyed playing bridge, boating, swimming, and playing with her three grandsons, William Lee Howard III, Liam Hunter Mayer and Daniel Thomas Mayer. Funeral services will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Kilmarnock, Va., at 1pm on Thursday; reception follows burial, at the Howards' home in Irvington, Va. There will be a visitation on Wednesday, from 3-5pm, at Currie Funeral Home in Kilmarnock, Va. At her request, the family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Grace Church Trust, or the Foundation for Historic Christ Church. | | Thursday, October 9th, 2008 | | 3:23 pm |
got the call
I got voicemail from my father: "The hospice nurse was here this morning, and said I should call the kids. She didn't say why, or what I should say, so I'm just following instructions and calling." I'm going to do a couple of loads of laundry so I can pack for a week (supposed to go to the ARIN meeting on Sunday anyway) and then head down tonight. Thank you for you love and support. | | Monday, September 22nd, 2008 | | 8:21 pm |
Mom continues
Things are going about as well as could be expected. She's home, and attended by Dad, Laura, and me, plus the first of round-the-clock nurse's aides. She's cranky, which is just like her when she feels powerless. She insists she can walk, despite the evidence that even when she stoof with the walker and two spotters, she couldn't actually get her feet to move. We're using a wheelchair to move her anywhere more than one person can carry her. She knows where she is and what she wants. She knows who we are (I just coughed and she heard me from the next room and asked, "Lee?"). Anita (a cousin) brought dinner tonight: roast beef tenderloin, asparagus, three pounds of lump crabmeat, and whipped potatoes in the skin. Mom ate well, in both senses. But this is all significantly degraded from just a few days ago, when she could get around the house with a walker, and could carry on a conversation. The hospice doctor said she has weeks, and not ten of them. I'll be back down for the weekend, and probably every weekend she has left. She's just gone to bed. | | Sunday, September 21st, 2008 | | 1:20 pm |
Mom decline
On Friday, Mom went into the hospital. She's been unable to control her feet, and using a walker for stability, but on Friday, she was disoriented, and couldn't form sentences. The hospital said she was dehydrated, and wanted to keep her for the weekend. My sister, Laura, went there yesterday, and said Mom was behaving exactly the way she was after the brain surgery, when she was insisting vaguely that she had to go, without knowing whether home or the bathroom was where she needed to go. I just got off the phone with Dad. He had brought in a palliative car doctor, who has spoken to the hospital staff, and who now says the dehydration was incidental. Mom is in decline; her symptoms are caused by cancer, or scar tissue from radiation or surgery. She won't be getting better. She has weeks, maybe months. I'm starting to think in terms of holidays. But it sounds like her brain isn't in control of itself anymore, and her grandsons shouldn't see her like that. I think she was diagnosed in January 2006. In May 2006 she had the biopsy, and we thought she had less than a year. December 2006 we found out it had metastasized to her brain. At that point, we thought she had five months. I do feel lucky to have kept her this long. She's a wonderful lady, and I'm going to miss her. | | Monday, September 1st, 2008 | | 5:42 pm |
What's better than. . .
going to a baseball game with your dad? Going to a baseball game with your son. We stood for the Star Spangled Banner. We watched the Running of the Presidents. We stretched in the seventh inning. I bought him some peanuts and CrackerJack. He liked both. We root, root, rooted for the home team, and they won. Today, we took the two-person kayak out for the first time, on Burke Lake. Other than dropping it on my knee, it was great. Will enjoyed it. He paddled most of the time, and agreed it was really nice in the shade. Was it a lot of fun or a little? "Just regular fun." We saw a green heron looking green in the sunlight, an osprey dive into the lake to catch a fish, and a bald eagle flying directly over us. As we paddled back up to the boat ramp, we scattered geese and children who were crowded around each other. A very good Labor Day weekend. | | Sunday, August 17th, 2008 | | 11:36 am |
| | Sunday, July 6th, 2008 | | 8:25 pm |
While I'm being snarky. . .
No disrespect intended to the Great Lord Hanuman, but does "leading a monkey army to fight the demon and rescue a kidnapped princess" sound like the plot to a video game? | | 8:24 pm |
| | Sunday, June 8th, 2008 | | 7:31 pm |
| | Friday, April 25th, 2008 | | 6:34 am |
Take Your Child to Work
Yesterday was TYCTW day. I'm really glad I work for Stanley. From 9-noon they had formal programming for kids. They made them company badges (with photo, lanyard, and garotte clip). They printed business cards with the kids' names. They went on an office tour/scavenger hunt (who is the President of Stanley? how many titles does he have? where can you get free sodas?). They visited the roof of the building (he was excited about the bird he'd seen, which he was pretty sure was a carolina chickadee). They answered questions about what their life would be like in 20 years (Will lives in his art stadium). When I came to get him, he was cheerfully playing with the other kids. Two adults made a point of telling me how cute Will is. 8^D Then we walked to the Silver Diner and had a nice lunch, and we went back to the office. I let him play Pokemon on his DS while I was doing boring stuff like reading email. He asked what the whiteboard was for, so I showed him about storage arrays. He corrected me when I said 1000MB = 1GB; he knows, as all right-thinking computer scientists do, that 1024MB = 1GB. I took him to a meeting. It was brief and small, and there were two other kids there. He answered when he was spoken to, instead of shyly hiding behind me. He even answered questions. All in all, I'm really glad I did that yesterday. I'm happy to work someplace that's good for my son. And I'm proud of Will. | | Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 | | 6:40 pm |
Privileged? Yeah.
The ones in bold are true.
Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished collegeHave any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively[1] Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 Your parents paid for the majority of your college costs
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer campHad a private tutor before you turned 18 Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child[2] Had a phone in your room before you turned 18 You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a childParticipated in an SAT/ACT prep course [3] Had your own TV in your room in High School Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16Went on a cruise with your family Went on more than one cruise with your family Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family[1] Nobody has anything nice to say about middle-aged, white guys. But we tend to be represented positively when we're not being talked about. [2] Yes, but bought from a starving artist sale at a warehouse, or a franciscan monk. [3] I could have, but didn't need to. I was already a National Merit Scholar, and I scored 1610 (back when it was an 1800-point scale). So yes, I grew up privileged. I feel a responsibility to work hard, to make the world a better place, and to help other people succeed. It's an obligation I feel because of my privileged upbringing. Noblesse oblige. From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright. | | Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 | | 8:12 pm |
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