Weekend!
Well, if you don’t wish to count the 30ish hours I’ve put in over the last two weeks (and why would you?), my new job starts on Monday.
Not only that, the birthday happens on Saturday! (As it turns out, I did not, in fact, write that book I was planning to write.)
Birthday plans are, however, muted. We’re going out to breakfast with friends tomorrow, I’ll see if we’ll be going out to dinner on Saturday Itself, going out to brunch with Mom on Sunday… but, mostly, I’ll be spending the time giving my best slug impersonation.
And I couldn’t even dream of a better birthday than that.
So… what’s on your docket?
Six weeks without a cigarette.
Tomorrow (which isn’t quite the weekend) I have to get the wife’s car inspected. Mine failed on account of the windshield (Damn the man!) (No politics.). I have got to do something about the state of this house.
I am one episode away from finishing the first season of Homeland.
I need to figure out a system of doing laundry with the baby. Waiting for the baby to go to sleep isn’t working.Report
Congratulations on six weeks.Report
Thank you, sir. I’m happy to be no longer counting the days.Report
Yeah. That’s quite an accomplishment, Will. Keep it up!Report
Here’s a line that I enjoy using. Perhaps you will enjoy using it too.
“I don’t know that I’ve thought about my momma for the last seven weeks. But I’ve thought about smoking every day for the last seven weeks.”
For the record, when you use “years”? It packs a whallop. Get to the point where you can use a year.Report
I have found that Mayo loves laying in a pile of laundry and “helping”… which basically means rolling around in it and chewing on it (try to give her one piece that can be her designated rag so you don’t have to do the whole load over again). Maybe Lane is similarly wired?
Note: Mayo is not yet effectively mobile, so this advice may draw an eye roll. If so, my apologies.Report
“I need to figure out a system of doing laundry with the baby. Waiting for the baby to go to sleep isn’t working.”
I used to use the Bijorn to do laundry and such. It worked really, really well, the boys loved it, it provided me with a wee bit of exercise during those months when exercise was hard to come by, and it meant that when naptime did finally come I could take a break.Report
Bijorns are cool. I eventually went to a sling so I could pivot the kid more toward my back. Handy for cooking or doing things where you don’t want junior up front and center. Congrats on the not smoking Will.Report
I used to use the Bijorn to do laundry and such.
That is one fancy gadget.Report
I’ll be tryin to reason with hurricane season. This is a very involved situation. Not only do I have stacks of wood all over the place that have to be tied down, we have to make sure all the gas cans and vehicles are full and the generator works. Plus we will be making ice and stashing enough margaritas to last for a while.
On Saturday we are having a surprise party for my mother-in-law. Since she only lives a hundred yards away, we shouldn’t get blown away getting there.
Will, congrats on the nonsmoking thing.Report
Homework. And celebrating Jaybird’s birthday. And more homework. Also possibly some drinking.Report
I wouldn’t mind if you gave Jaybird an extra kiss on the cheek for his birthday.
Maybe two.Report
one or two from me too if that is not too presumptuous. Happy birthday JaybirdReport
Will do, ladies. (Anyone else of any gender who would also like me to apply cheek smooches, friendly pokes, hongi, or other pg-rated signs of affection in honor of hizzoner’s natal occasion, feel free to speak up!)Report
Can you give him a raspberry for me? The sloppier, the better.Report
“or other pg-rated signs of affection” Dang. I guess pegging is out then.
Happy Birthday Jaybird.Report
My son works summers at a water-sports shop, the logo is a pirate with an eye patch and peg leg. This summer, they had a sweatshirt with “Respect the Peg” on it in an elegant paisley-swirl box. He was surprised, women kept coming in and buying it. And one day he finally realized: they were all named Margaret.Report
Zic I need that shirt for my Aunt Peg lolReport
Men’s sizing; shop’s closed for the winter, but if you tell me what size you need, I can check on availability.Report
thanks probably a mens small she is skinny as a railReport
I will see what I can do, @anne; it will have to wait on the sprout showing up at home.Report
Happy birthday, Jaybird!Report
The carpet is coming! The carpet is coming!
Did I tell y’all a faulty valve on our water heater led to a slow leak that damaged a good portion of carpet in our basement? Well, that happened. So, we are having the whole thing replaced. Fortunately, our homeowner’s policy is picking up the tab, in part because I was willing to do the removal myself which covered our end of the deductible. BUT, there is still a bunch of stuff to haul up from the basement before they arrive Saturday AM. So that will be Friday night. And Saturday, since I need to stick around the house while they work. Zazzy will actually be heading to my school to find a quiet place to study for her certification exam. If all that goes well, I will try to sneak away Saturday evening to catch one friend’s birthday and another friend in town for a work conference, both down in the city. Sunday brings lunch with my parents and another day of FOOTBALL!Report
I am taking my car in for an alignment tomorrow morning, which means about 2 hours of reading while I wait.
I might finally fire up Dominions 4. The current release date is tomorrow, but with preorder, you get in on the beta. I got it earlier this week, but I have not had a chance to play it. In this game, you play a superpower pretender who is attempting to become a god, fighting against other pretenders trying to become gods. You have a fantasy race, and the races are drawn from every mythology. I have not read the full lists, but Dom 3 had flesh eating giants from Hebrew mythology, valkyries, lizard people, and the R’yleh race of illithids and other aberrations who spread madness within their domain.
You battle to conquer a map, moving armies from province to province. You cannot control the battles directly, but you can give limited orders to units and commanders before turning them lose. The game can be played single player, but it is difficult for the AI to cope with all of the options. Where it shines is multiplayer. Turns are simultaneous, so everyone plans their turns and submits them, then they are resolved.
I have also wrapped up much of the TV I had been watching, so I need to figure out what I am going to hit next. I may watch Season 2 of Supernatural, but I am also considering starting The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, and The Sopranos.Report
Wi-re!
Wi-re!
Wi-re!
They should just show The Wire to everybody in their senior year of high school.Report
If you have the mental and emotional energy to devote to it, The Wire is the clear winner.Report
Hey, JB:
Any idea if you can use the culture bomb while embarked in Civ 5?
I keep meaning to try that, but it takes so long to get a great artist, I keep forgetting . . . 🙁Report
Oh, dude. I’ve been playing GTA V to distraction. Ask me about my golf game.Report
I was going to ask why Mel Gibson was in the new GTA ads, but I see that is apparently a common question.
https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7815974144/h2976E9A3/Report
IIRC, when I used the culture bomb, I wasn’t all that impressed with the results. Conquest was much easier for changing a tile’s color.Report
Culture bomb? Does that win culture wars? Or start them?Report
Hitting a bucket of balls. A little light yard work to prep for upcoming winter months. GTA V. Some consulting work for a colleague.
Filling out my syllabus for class later this month. Now they want me to record videos — what the hell is class for if I’m going to upload all my material for the students to view before they even show up?Report
Watching a show that was written as a joke.
It’s cheerfully bad.Report
Small local fencing tournament on Sunday. Standard goals for such: fence some different people, have a good time, don’t finish last. I’ll be fencing in the veterans event, for ages 40+. For the second time in my life I’m at a point where the drop-off between what I can do now, physically, vs what I could do ten years ago seems quite pronounced. The first time was mid-30s compared to mid-20s; this time it’s late-50s compared to late-40s.Report
I had an interview last weekend with Mennonite Central Committee for international aid work in Haiti. I’ve just been offered a three-year position and am torn between excitement (I’ve admired and loved MCC since I was a kid, they do amazing work) and terror (“…but I don’t want to get cholera!”). Will be spending the weekend deciding whether I’m up to this.Report
If you go, you take my sincere admiration with you.Report
Wow, that’s pretty awesome.
I’ve friends who worked in Zambia, helping set up irrigation and water-purification systems through MCC; and I used to make a point of attending the Christmas sales they held every year in Cambridge, MA. Really beautiful handwork from all over the world.
Yet cholera is a real problem, too. Have you investigated hand-held water filters yet?Report
My family owns two hand-held water filters for hiking, so my parents will definitely let me take one of those if I decide to go.Report
@katherinemw I’d recommend that you make sure you take a ceramic core filter. Something that can be cleaned in the field. You may even want to have a second element since they need to be dried out every now and then. Relying on paper filters that gunk up and are only available in the West would be a bad idea.Report
Happy birthday JB!
You were promised a coldfront you say?
How about a fourteen-cheerleader one?
Report
So I seem to have something to celebrate this weekend, though I’m not sure just what it is yet.
I spent about a month putting together a design portfolio for a company I really want to work with. Today, on fb another designer friend and I were chatting, and the company’s dye artists pops up and says, I”m “on the list.” Nothing official yet; but she’s the primary reason I want to work with them.
Do know what for yet; fingers crossed, prayer flags hung, and all that. But I really, really want to design for this company.Report
I’m working this weekend because I am going to Seattle next weekend and am taking two days off (life of a contract worker). It should be in the 50s when I am in Seattle and this is exciting, the 40s and 50s are my favorite temperatures sometimes. Jacket weather.
I also need to get my apartment mom clean because family friends are going to be in town on Thursday and want to see it.
In other news, I am in the fake it till you make it period for building confidence and this is not very fun especially because it involves what might or might not be a budding relationship with someone on the other coast. This is a very long story and involves a woman from college that I have not seen in 13-14 years but have suddenly been in strong and regular contact with lately after a few years of being normal facebook friends.Report