Take a look at this. Amphibious party time!
On second hand, the price tag may be just a wee bit out of my league…
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Archived Posts from this Category
January 27, 2004
Drew and Alyssa told me today on the phone that they got “cool spinning motor toothbrushes” because the dentist said it would be good for them.
Man, someday when I grow up I want cool, spinning, motorized toothbrushes too. Turbocharged, even. With, like, chrome trim and stuff. Yeah–that would be awesome.
(Y’know, the sad part is that when I wrote that last paragraph, I began to hear it in Strong Bad’s voice. I’m becoming too conditioned….)
January 27, 2004
In a relative sense, of course. It looks like only one cord has torn free on the valve in his heart–there are a number of cords holding the valve in place, like a parachute. So they think that he’s better off with what he has than trying for a replacement valve. So they don’t recommend open heart surgery for that issue.
The other main issue is that all three of the main arteries leading from his heart are partially blocked–about 70%. The good news is that two of them are in straight sections of their respective arteries, and the other blockage is not curved very tightly. This means that he has the option to get three stents instead of open heart surgery with bypasses.
With stents, they stick a tiny cylindrical cage on the tip of an angioplasty balloon and insert it up an artery from his leg. When it gets to the right spot up near his heart, they expand the stent and it stays there, becoming the new artery wall with new tissue growing around it. With open heart surgery, they break open your chest to reroute your arteries. Both are very successful, but three guesses which one my dad is opting for.
Well, perhaps more news tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and my dad has an almost obscenely quick recovery like the last two times (’91 and ’99).
January 26, 2004
He’s avoided open heart twice now by getting stents (the first time in 1991, when he talked his way into being part of the original research study for stents with Johnson & Johnson). This time, we dont’ yet know if he’ll have a choice. It really depends on his test tomorrow and what it tells about a valve in his heart. Regardless, I think he should consider retiring. He’s almost 63, although he looks waaaay younger. He’s working all kinds of crazy hours at his job, and the stress seems to be getting worse there every year.
Hmmm. Re-reading that last sentence, maybe I should think about retirement too.
January 22, 2004
Sorry I haven’t posted regularly in the last six months–work is still crushing us. We hit over two thousand tech requests for the 03-04 school year at Christmas break, a 21% increase over last year (and a 71% increase over 00-01, the last time we added any tech support staff). So it’s pretty grueling (I tend to work at night from home, since I can connect to the the network from there–so time for the weblog has been cut down). Luckily, my boss is awesome and we’re putting two positions in the tentative budget for next year to handle the extra load. Hope they get funded.
At any rate, here’s a great site to see which presidential candidate you match best with:
Try it even if you’re Republican–the results may be interesting!
January 17, 2004
Strange but true news story: Boy crawls into stuffed animal game machine, gets stuck inside.
Thanks to Neil Gaiman for the link.
January 16, 2004
So I say to Alyssa and Drew at the dinner table, “OK, you guys need to settle down now. You’re at the dinner table–sit straight and eat right.”
They giggle.
I try again. “I’m serious. If you don’t settle down, I will punish you. I don’t like it, but I won’t hesitate if I have to. I actually feel very sad when I punish you, even though I act angry.”
And, as I look at Drew, I hear Alyssa behind me: “Good acting.”
You know, as a parent you completely lose control of situations like these when you bust out laughing.
January 16, 2004
Drew: Daddy, can I take my stick horse to the farm show with me?
Me: Your what?
Drew: The stick with the horsie head on it. The one I play with.
Me: Oh, OK. Maybe, Drew. Why?
Drew: Because Mommy said no, and then she told me she didn’t want to talk about it again any more.
Me: Hmm. Something tells my that no matter how many times you ask each of us, I know what my answer will be now.
(I know what side my bread is buttered on…)
January 13, 2004
You know, it’s out for Windows now too–I have it on my Mac and my Windows XP machine. It rocks, and the iTunes music store is great. Check it out–hey, it’s free. My dad installed it one night and burned his first CD of songs from the iTunes music store the next morning.
http://www.itunes.com (click on the downloads link)
January 13, 2004
Drew (in conversation): Yeah, Daddy. We need to see that movie, the really cool looking one.
Me: What movie?
Drew: You know, the cool one (pauses for dramatic emphasis)–Scarfield.
Me: Wow–what action film is that?
Drew: Daddy! The one we saw on the computer with the cat. You know, Scarfield!
Me: Ah–Drew, I think you just came up with a much more interesting movie than the one that’ll be in the theaters…