Journal Entries
I'm a little late...
Posted Sep 27, 2018
...My second daughter was born 24 July 2018, two days after my first daughter's fourth birthday, and we named her Eleana Alexsandra. I had forgotten how crazy the first couple of months are...
Discuss this Journal entry [3]
Latest reply: Sep 27, 2018
It's (gonna be) a girl!
Posted Feb 1, 2018
My wife is expecting our second child. Due date is 4 Aug 2018, which is exactly four years after my first daughter's original due date. And, because we are a little older to be having children (I turn 48 this year, and my wife is only a few years behind me) we decided to do the genetic testing to check for chromosomal abnormalities, which we also did the first time around (also because of our age). To be clear, we wouldn't terminate pregnancy based on the results, but we see the test as a way to prepare ourselves, mentally and emotionally, should they show something isn't as it should be. But one of the pleasant side effects of the testing is that it can tell gender with 100% accuracy, and they will release that information or keep it to themselves based on parents' wishes. And I know some parents don't want to know until birth, but not us. We want to know, to decide a name, and prepare. And it's gonna be another girl! We decided on a name the day we found out the gender.
Discuss this Journal entry [3]
Latest reply: Feb 1, 2018
One more time, with feeling...
Posted Jan 17, 2018
We moved. Again. In nasty weather. Again. At least this time, we hired movers for part of it. Didn't prevent me from falling on the snow and ice... Twice... This house doesn't have all the issues of the last one, so we plan to stay put until we go to buy.
Discuss this Journal entry [3]
Latest reply: Jan 17, 2018
Still settling in
Posted Nov 21, 2017
The move sucked. Saturday was fine for loading the truck, but thunderstorms on Sunday meant getting soaked unloading... Plus being up until ~4am both nights loading and unloading REALLY sucked. And our new landlord has never rented before, and rented out two different places at once, and his inexperience as a landlord shows. When we first looked at the place, his maintenance person had a list of things that needed done to the property. I assumed this meant they'd be done before we moved in. Bad assumption. The place wasn't even cleaned before we moved in, which meant cleaning as we settled in, which means we're still not settled. It also meant repeatedly requesting the items to be done that needed done. And because the other place has some pretty major issues, it means most of the items still aren't done, and the most of the ones that are we've done ourselves. A couple of accidental texts to the landlord that were meant to be back and forth between the wife and I means the landlord knows how upset we are with him and is now pissed off at us. Too bad, because he's a really nice guy and the place is absolutely beautiful underneath all the grime and relatively minor annoyances, the biggest of which are related to the house sitting on an operating farm. There are lots of flies that we just can't keep out, not that we've tried anything beyond making sure the windows are closed tight and killing any live ones that we see... And there are apparently mice that get in when it's cold, like November in Ohio tends to be... Solutions exist for both issues, but we simply haven't had the time or energy to implement them yet... Specific herbs and plants in the window sills should drive the flies out, and getting a cat or two should keep the mice at bay... We're getting a cat tomorrow... And we have plans to do some planting soon... So, soon the two biggest issues should be resolved 
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Nov 21, 2017
Moving day!
Posted Nov 3, 2017
We've spent a couple of nights in the new place, but tomorrow is when we pick up our rented truck, load it with the bulk of our belongings, and move ~100 miles south. I hate moving. I hate that tonight is one of the rare Friday work nights for me, meaning I'll get little sleep going in to moving day. But it'll all be over soon, and I took Monday and Tuesday as vacation days to recover
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Nov 3, 2017
Wintermute
Researcher U156736
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."