Prometheus Shared Fire From The Gods

I just love this idea. I usually think "stealing" as taking something and now the original person can't use it. Fire and information aren't like that.

10 Reasons why toddlers are like tourists

I had an epiphany the other day: toddlers are just like (rude) tourists.

1. They babble along in a language that you don't understand.
2. If they are using words that they think you should understand but don't, they say them louder. And louder. And louder.
3. You can partially communicate with them, but only a few words. And their accent is horrible.
4. They don't understand the local eating customs - don't put your spaghetti on your head, food on the floor, and get this gleam in their eye when they look like they are about to break something, etc.
5. Your bathroom toilet is unknown to them. They are more likely to poop on the floor or their pants rather than use a toilet.
6. They seem to operate in a different timezone. They need a nap in the middle of the day and they're likely to be awake in the middle of the night.
7. You can't trust them not to get to the store or go to the museum by themselves. It's almost like they don't read the language or follow simple signs.
8. They expect you to cater to their every whim. If you do not, or not in the time frame they were expecting, they totally freak out. But it's usually fake and can be turned off when you bend to their will.
9. They try to get over the communication issues by smiling and tilting their head.
10. They seem to spend money like mad. Unfortunately unlike real tourists, it's your money, not theirs.

Can you direct me to the local discotheque?

Just a few words

I know that I'm going to forget this time. My brain replaces my memories of the Alice Past with the Alice Current. I can't think what she was able to do at 13 months compared to now. She currently speaks in toddler speak, but I can't reproduce it unless it's something she says 80 times a day. My brain transcribes the toddler speak and trashes the original. I need to take more videos.

She's talking a lot more. She's stringing words together all the time. "Daddy sit too" as she pats the ground beside her. Or while sitting in traffic "Big tuk (truck). Vrrrr!!". She knows that sometimes making the sounds helps us figure out what she's talking about. So kind of her. Today while reading a book about a cruse ship for the fourth time in a row I tried to look at my phone. "Ppt dwn" and she motioned me putting the phone on the cushion. She needs my full and undivided attention for all four readings of the second seating.

I know she won't always want to read a story with me. There will be a time where she won't curl up in my lap and refuse to get off (no matter how much I have to go to the bathroom). I have to remind myself to be present and capture these moments. It's just hard sometimes when you're on the 7th reading of a book in an hour and you've literally been reading it backwards and forwards. But harder I will try.

What would you take

Assuming your family and pets were all safe: if you were able to take one thing before your home was destroyed, what would you take?

That question was discussed in a tv show we watch. My mind has wondered back to it with the ongoing floods in Alberta. Now, I'd be really sad if we lost everything. The memories, and stuff that you build up throughout your life. But what would I take if I had the chance?

One of the most precious things that we have are our pictures and videos. If I had some time to pack a car with as much as I could, I'd load up the laptops and external hard drives (among other things) because for size / weight to personal value ratio is really high. But for the most part, those are all backed up off site. I could get it back if I really had to. I hope.

What else would I take? The Christmas tree decorations? Those are precious but I don't think that I'd be loading up the car with those.

I love the things we have, but I've been thinking about this for a while and looking around the house and there's not really anything that I'd be truly heartbroken if we lost (other than the photos and videos). It's just stuff.

This feels like a breakthrough for me. In the past I've always tied a lot of emotional value to things. The memories I associated with them gave them value. Giving away stuff we're not using has helped with this. Living in a smaller place where you only have so many options has helped too. But what I think has helped me the most are Laura and Alice. The love I feel for them makes it difficult to care for physical things. It's like trying to see a candle when you're on the surface of the sun: you don't need a candle anymore, you've got more important things to think about. Namely, "oh my god I'm on fire by being so close to the sun! Why didn't I come at night?!?!?"

Stuff is stuff. People are what's important and in the end, what matters.

Fantasizing about Cappuccino

About a week ago one of Laura's co-workers had a bunch of people over for dinner. Everything was fantastic. So good. The thing that I can't get off my mind is the home made cappuccino they had. It was so freaking good. A couple of days after that we went to the mall and I bought a couple of cappuccinos from a chain store that (in theory) should have great coffee. It wasn't. Not by a long stretch.

Have I thought about showing up at Laura's co-workers place with a coffee cup? I've be lying if I said no.

Should I revisit my decision to buy a fancy coffee machine? Perhaps. However I think that it takes a lot more than just a nice machine to do a good cup of coffee. It also requires a good grinder, good beans (which I think that I get) and good technique. I wonder if there is a place that offers a day course in making coffee...

This is how coffee breaks should go

iPadding my desires

New tech toys are always great. I'd love to have them all. I just don't want to pay for them. I thought that I'd really like a ipad. Now I'm not sure sure. Not for the 10 inch size at least. What changed my mind? Having a 10 inch ipad in the house.

Laura has one through work and it was fun to set up. It's screen is very pretty. Hypothetically it is nice to play angry birds on (but I wouldn't install a game on someone else's work device...). It's just too heavy and awkward for me. Maybe it's what I'm used to, but I find it a lot more comfortable to surf for a while on a laptop. Sometimes reading sites that are set up for swipe transitions are nice, but it doesn't seem to make up for holding a heavy device.

I really enjoy my kindle. It's a nice size. I'll probably enjoy the next version that I'll get (in about 10 years) that will have a lit up screen. These things are all nice for consuming. Not very good for creating and typing. Like blogging. Or making long winded silly posts to social networking. Or tagging pictures or videos.

Sort story: my next device will probably be a very nice laptop. Probably not a tablet.

The yin and the yang of having a toddler around

Today had the usual Wednesday routine: I picked up Alice, brought her home, played with her a bit, and started to make dinner. While I was making dinner Alice was off in her room. I'd check on her every 5 or 10 minutes. I'd sneak over to her door and peek in. She'd be sitting in the adult rocking chair, quietly reading a book to herself. She was reading Mommy's Best Kisses at one point and pointing to her body parts as she was reading it. Each time I checked on her, she was quietly reading another book.

That's the wonderful part of having a toddler. The part that you want to share. Not all parts are like that.

For instance, shortly before she was quietly playing by herself she was screaming at me, saying she was hungry, so hungry. Then I let her into the kitchen and she decided she was no longer hungry, but would like to take all the wax paper out of the box. Followed by all the utensils out of the drawer and to make sure she bangs them on the floor. And you can't forget pulling out the sharp knives and saying "sharp sharp sharp". *sigh* I'm pretty sure that I'm a bad father for letting her explore like that.

There are two parts of having a toddler around. One that you go "awww..." and want to somehow freeze time. And there are the other parts where you wish it was happening to not-you, anyone else really. The second really makes you appreciate the former.

Delusions of Grandeur

Sometimes I fantasize that everything is easy for me. I could try something and just be brilliant at it. Languages, art, science, etc. I'd have groundbreaking insights in a field after just doing some cursory reading on it.

Reality isn't like that. I can't even spell "cursory". Most things are not easy for me. They take time. Work. Effort. For some subjects (like spelling), regardless of the effort, I seem to not make any headway.

Is it weird that I fantasize about being a genius rather than winning the lottery?

Plan for spontaneity

I love our daughter. I love playing with her, hugging her, and going for walks with her. However sometimes it's just really awesome to go for a walk alone with Laura. It's been a while since that's been a regular thing. Probably a bit over 18 months if I had to guess.

It used to be that we could be spontaneous. Make up meal plans on the spot. Go for a bike ride and be out for 4 hours that you never thought that you had to spare. Stuff like that. Doing that now seems almost impossible. So we did the next best thing: dropped Alice off with her grandparents and then were spontaneous in a roughly set window of time. It was great.  I miss those. I need to add "spontaneous" events to our calendar - well in advance so we can plan for them of course.

No longer a sign of the times

It was extremely helpful at the start to teach Alice baby sign language. It lessened the frustration felt by everyone. As time has gone on and as she's learned more words and they've become clearer, she's almost completely stopped signing. It still happens, but usually when she's saying the word clearly and she really wants it. Like "cheese". Man, that kid loves cheese.

As one skill grows stronger, the other fads. Ah well. So from about 8.5 months to 18 months, it was useful.

More Cheerios Giants!

Pebble thoughts

I finally got my pebble watch on April 13th after ordering it May 1st. So far I've been enjoying it. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's still pretty awesome.

One super simple but highly useful feature is that I can shake my wrist to trigger the light. I can check the time if I have my other hand full. Not fumbling around to press that button. Simple but hugely useful.

It also allows me to get a notification and be able to quickly triage if I need to do anything about it. I can glance at my watch and see that it's an email from my mom vs email from amazon. Or I can see if it's a call I need to take. Pretty nice. I see this as being the big advantage of wearable computing - it augments your other devices. It allows me to be biking home in the rain having stowed my phone in a water proof case (ziplock bag) in my pannier and still get text messages. If it's important, I can always pull off and use my phone.

Do I always need to be connected like this? No. But it's a lot easier to be asked to pick up something on your way home if you get the request before you actually get home.

How would I improve it?

1. I'd make it so the alarm could connect to the watch and be dismissed. If my alarm that says "leave work" goes off while I'm driving away from work, I'd love to be able to dismiss that from my wrist.
2. I'd have it use induction charging rather than me needing to plug in YAUSBC. But I want that for my phone, which hasn't come out yet.

I think that those are the big ones. Like I said, overall pretty happy.

Shifting focus

Early on this blog was my random thoughts, mixed with helpful (to me) technology hints and tricks. My post about html labels and a struts multibox was always one of my more popular posts. I don't post things like that any more. Not because that info isn't useful, but because the purpose has been replaced by sites like stackoverflow.

Then I would post things in order to keep in touch with my friends. That has been replaced with social networking like facebook. I only know one person that blogs anymore. It's getting quieter in the blog-oh-sphere. Louder in social media.

So what's left? Me talking about home life stuff and of course some of the longer winded random crap that pours out of my head. Without conscience effort, this blog is turning into a web-log, or "online journal" if you're from 1997. Yes, it's becoming something for me to look back at and say "Hey, remember when I used struts or those times where you have to type one keyboards? Ha ha ha... *wipes laughter tears away* Good times..."

So... ya. *looks around empty room* I'm sure that I'll enjoy this post in 15 years. Until then, here's a picture of two cute kids.

Hey mommy. Where does the cheese come out from?

It's the law

I love Clarke's three laws. This post is about the first one:

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

Simple right?

This can actually (sort of) be applied to our marriage.

When Laura tells me that I need something (like a sweater), she is almost certainly right. When I state that I don't need something, I am very probably wrong.

Such is life. We are both starting to come to the same conclusion about it too. She doesn't give in when I refuse, and I give in a lot easier when she insists. We're learning. It just takes a decade.

Only two things

There's only two things to know about toddlers.

#1 They work hard

Hurry hard! Sweeeeeeeep!

#2 They snack hard

What a fine blend of H's and O's. Do I also detect a hint of citrus?

That is all.

According to the docs...

I'm pretty glad that I've got remote access to work. It doesn't give me full access, but it's enough to get things done that are better done in off hours. Off hours can be when Alice is asleep, before I go into work, or something else.

The other day she was sick so I stayed home with her and worked remotely. During a bathroom break for myself I heard the clacky clack of the keys being punched. I came out and she was so happy to be using the computer - mostly because she's not allowed to. She had such a big smile on her face. A smile that big on a toddler can only mean one thing: trouble.

Perhaps she was trying to understand just how I can look at a screen that doesn't have a picture or video of her on it. How is that entertaining?

With a simple command I can activate my weather control machine. Now just let me read the docs first...