Showing Interest?

I'm not going to jump the gun here and read (no pun intended) too much into this, but N is beginning to show an interest in books. Not just any books, I don't think he's quite ready for War and Peace (is anyone?), but I recently checked out the Hunger Games, and he not only plowed through the first book, but he then devoured the second book and actually said he likes them. How cool is that? I am so stoked. I read all three books and really liked them, as well. Even though they're dark as heck, they're well done. Plus, he's into them - say no more. Fortunately there are many books in this genre, and his sister has read all of them and can offer recommendations. We could be onto something here, so stay tuned for more.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Dana Chan for the pic.

Long Ass Day

Boy, what a long (ass?) day we had this past weekend. N had two games down in southern NH, so we traveled for about 1.5 hours down to Manchester for an early morning game, the first of his doubleheader. We were up by 6:00AM and out the door by 7:00 to make it down there by 8:30. They played well, won their game, and we had several hours to kill down in a town we knew very little about. On a bright note, it's a big city compared to where we live, so there were more opportunities for entertainment. I was hoping he could meet up with his special friend up in the capital, but she was busy all day, so we were on our own.

Our plan was to see a movie, and we picked Jumanji. Not necessarily the sort of movie that I would choose, but it wasn't rated R (or X, for that matter), and was “mom-approved.” The only problem was that it started at 12:30, and his first game ended at 10:30, so we had some time to kill. We drove around a bit and then went to Bass Pro Shop, which is sort of famous around here. I'm not sure what inspired us to go, but we figured we'd check it out. I have to say, the place was enormous, and they even pointed out to me that this one in particular was one of the smaller ones. I would go as far as to say it was very impressive, except that it's really geared to people who hunt and fish, i.e., plenty of guns, rods and reels, and flannel. If those are not your thing, then the place probably doesn't have much to offer you. We walked around for a bit and within 15 minutes were done. For the record, I was impressed with all the boats, some of them fairly big, that were for sale inside the store. 

We then headed over to Best Buy so N could check out some high tech gear. He is in the process of building a computer (more on this later), if you can believe that one, so he wanted to see if they had any components, which they didn't. The woman working there, however, was very well informed about where to get the parts and shared her insight with us, or I should say me, because it was all old news to N. He's clearly been doing his homework. N went off to look at some camera and game stuff, and I wandered around the store. I have to say, being old and boring, that all that high tech electronic stuff does nothing for me. I have zero inclination to be spend money on 99% of it, so what fascinates young and hip people like N basically bores me, which naturally means that I'm a painfully old and boring person (my kids would concur). Personally, I would have rather been in a library reading books and magazines.

The Best Buy was linked to a mall, I guess it's the Manchester Mall, or something like that, so I decided to wander around there a bit, and my feelings went from boredom to depression. Malls are some of the most depressing places around, mainly because they are slowly sinking into oblivion. We went to the mall in LA and it was so desolate, I don't know how it was staying afloat. This mall was no different, with very few people walking around, and all the stores basically empty. I was talking to my mom in LA and she said that the mall that we visited, the Westside Pavilion, had gone from bad to worse - the two big “anchor” stores, Macy's and Nordstrom, were both closing. Pretty sad, if you ask me. Either way, I walked around for about 10 minutes and found N and told him it was time to go.

We headed over to the theater and ran into a couple of his teammates. If we had somehow communicated with each other or coordinated things, we could have just got the guys tickets and sent them inside. I had no clue what everyone's plan was, and in this regard, this team is a lot different from teams (for both A and N) in the past. Previously there were always plans for the team to do things, even if it just meant hanging out at a common location to watch TV and eat pizza. This has happened only once during his tournament, and in a way, it makes life easier, though less social. We simply made our plans and as luck would have it, N didn't have to sit with his boring dad (who embarrasses him to no end) and instead hung with the guys.

I will say this - it was one of the nicest movie experiences I've had in a long time. The tickets were a little pricey ($10/pop-standard city prices), but they had reclining seats which almost went completely horizontal. I could have taken a nap! When we first entered I thought the theater seemed small, but they had to limit the number of seats so that you could recline, and there was plenty of space to spread out. Oddly enough the seats are reserved, and the movie was almost sold out. N and I got the last two seats next to each other, and I traded my seat with one of his buddies so they could sit together. It didn't really matter, every seat was comfortable as heck.

And, the movie was good. I laughed the entire time, Kevin Hart and Jack Black are both a scream. The guys liked it, too. We left the movie in good spirits, and we had a couple of hours before his next game, so we went looking for food. We had to go to a different rink that was about 20 minutes away, so we found it first, and then headed back out for some vittles. We decided to find a Five Guys since it's one of the greatest restaurants in the history of humanity, and ended up on a bit of a wild goose chase to get there. It required driving through retail hell in the suburbs of Manchester, and traffic was bad. Also, everything is located in a strip mall, and all the strip malls (there are dozens of them) have separate parking lots that are not connected. This means that is you mistakenly drive into the wrong lot to, say, look for Five Guys, if you pick the wrong one, you have to exit that strip mall and enter the next one. We did this 2-3 times, and by the end, I was ready to give up and go without food. It didn't help that the clock was ticking on the start time for his next game. I guess I could have done better research before searching for food, so blame dad, as usual.

We found the Five Guys, got the food to go, and N ate in the car as we went back to the arena. He was a little late, but not horribly, and the game went well. His friend, who couldn't meet up during the day because of a prior commitment, made the trip to the game, which I thought was really cool. N scored an amazing goal, to boot. Nothing like impressing the girls, right? His team destroyed their opponent, and by the end, it was nearing 7:00PM and time to go. Earlier in the week N asked if he could hang out with said friend after the game, but I vetoed that because I didn't want to get home really late, especially after being out since 6:00AM. Of course I felt bad afterward, but we stuck with that plan and just headed home.

The drive wasn't that bad, I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be (coffee helped), we got home by 9:00PM and chilled out. Mom and A were up in Burlington for their concert, so we relaxed and I was in bed by 10:30. It was a brutal day, but as is often the case, anticipating it is the worst part, and it always feels good when all is said and done.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to schlabbalabba for the pic.

Darn Tough, Darn Good

When you live in New England you learn to appreciate a good pair of socks, so much so that you're willing to do the unthinkable and spend over $20 for a pair. I'm talking one pair of socks, for $20 or more. When I lived in California, I wore shorts most of the time, so all I had were white cotton ankle socks, the kind you get at Target for $1/pair, or something like that. They come in plastic packages of 6-10 pairs, and they wear out by the end of the year, but at that price, no big deal, right?

Well, since moving to the cold northeast, I've learned that wool socks are really the way to go, especially when snow and rain become a factor. The only problem is, wool socks are not durable, especially when you buy the fancy knit ones at LL Bean or J Crew, the kind you wear around the fireplace with a hot cup of tea. They look nice and cozy but they aren't build to last. What you need are wool blends that give you the warmth of wool but have synthetic fibers to make them strong. Wool is also the best material for getting wet.

The only problem is, good wool socks, including brands like SmartWool, WigWam, and of course, Darn Tough, are expensive. In fact, I would normally never have spent the money for good wool socks except that I was given a pair as a gift when I coached A's hockey team. One of the moms gave all the coaches Darn Tough socks, and at first I thought it was a strange present. Who gives socks as a gift? Plus, Darn Tough socks have pretty funky slick designs, which are great when you're young and hip. When you're old and boring like me, you've grown up with socks that are monotone and go up past your knees.

Either way, I started wearing the socks, and was amazed at how they kept my feet warm, dried very quickly, and lasted. I was still hesitant to drop $20 on a pair, but whenever there was a sale, I outfitted myself and all the kids with a few pairs each. It was harder with A because she's a sock fashionista and has upwards of 20+ pairs, so I don't think she's really looking at functionality.

The point of this story, which was lost about 15 paragraphs ago, is that Darn Tough socks have a lifetime guarantee. Don't ask me how they can make such an offer, but they will replace a pair of socks, no questions asked. How crazy is that? Now in the winter I pretty much only wear Darn Tough, and since they've served me well and I have no complaints, I didn't want to take advantage of their offer. I figured if I got 4-5 good years out of a pair, I got my money's worth. However, I did buy a pair a year ago and they developed a tear in the top (I think this is the exact style). I contacted them and they said, whether the socks are 10 days or 10 years, they will replace them, no questions asked.

How's that for a guarantee? I sent the pair in and am toying with sending my oldest pair, which is about 5 years old, in, as well, though that would be going completely against my principles. Then again, they were pretty emphatic about their guarantee. I have yet to receive my new pair of socks, so we'll see how things play out, but if things work out as planned, I don't think I need to tell you what socks I'm buying from now on. I could do an ad where I'm standing naked and the caption would read, "If I can't wear Darn Tough socks, I'd rather wear nothing at all." Scary thought, don't you think?

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Darn Tough for the pic.

Back Home and Back to Work (sort of)

Now that mom is back full time, we can live our lives as normally as possible, or at least as normally as possible given the circumstances. I think a trip back to her home is in our near future, but it would be nice if we could all make the sojourn and at least be together. This might be logistically challenging given our amazingly busy lives, but we're adults here, right? We can make things happen.

One thing that having mom back means is that I'm am better able to work, and thereby support our fabulous lifestyle. Catering work has ground to a halt, as it always does this time of year, but poster-boy work is once again up and running. It's been a cold snowy winter so walking around and delivering the good word is a challenge, but on a bright note, it's good to get out of the house, off my butt, and moving around. I don't have a single illusion that my work is glamorous or desirable to anyone, but as I've gotten older I can definitely see the benefit of moving around on a regular basis. This, I've learned, is not only something that people don't get enough of (if they even do it at all), but many people are actually proud of it.

It's not unlike splitting wood by hand or mowing the lawn with a push mower - sure, it can be hard work, and is looked upon as foolish in the era of technology that's supposed to make our lives easier, but easier is not always better. There's value to moving around, it's just that you don't realize this until it's too late and you're unable to get off the couch, unless of course it's to get the TV remote.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Fernando Coelho for the pic.

First Run

Last week we went skiing for the first time, which in the grand scheme of things isn't that remarkable, but it is interesting when you realize that the ski hills have been open for a few weeks, and had we been motivated, we could have gone. It's just that the temps were locked in at about 10-20 degrees below zero, and when it's that cold, it's just not that much fun skiing, especially when you spend half your time sitting on the chair lift. At times it is potentially dangerous, though that's a being a bit hysterical.

Either way, once December ended, temps rose to a balmy 20 degrees, and last week we went skiing for the first time. The conditions were excellent, the cold weather coupled with a couple of big storms meant the snow was in good shape, and the warmer temps meant a good time was had by all. Unfortunately A could not join us because of her amazingly busy social and academic calendar, but N and I got to go.

I was a little pensive the first time down the hill, I always am, but once the first run is out of the way, we had a great time. N is once again doing the junior instructor program at the hill, it was something he wanted to do, so who am I to stop him? Actually, I'm well within my rights, but if he's keen on doing it, I'm completely supportive.

What's crazy is that the day after we skied excellent conditions, a big storm rolled in that brought warm temps in the 50s and tons of rain. There was extensive flooding and all that beautiful snow took a terrible beating. Then, in typical New England fashion, the temps dropped back down to below zero, and it all turned to ice. What a bummer. Our driveway was like an ice rink, and the ski hills really suffered. By extension, so too did the skiers.

For all it's worth, we aren't skiing as much this year, or at least that's how it seems. Things will probably change later in the season, especially now that we've got our feet wet, but for now, the awful conditions are putting a huge damper on our spirits. Plus, if we get a storm or two until the next time we ski, we'll once again be in good shape. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

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Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to SkiStar for the pic.

Routine Maintenance (albeit painful)

I'm no expert on cars, though I do play one on TV, but I was floored by how much it cost to have my spark plugs replaced. It was around $480, with four hours of labor, and my first thought was, how hard is it to unscrew 4 plugs? This all started about 5 months ago when I was talking to an automotive expert, the Amazing PR man, and he put the fear of god into me by saying that when plugs have been left in a car for too long, they can become fused to the engine block and if someone tries to unscrew them and they break, then you're looking at a major engine repair. Yikes, suddenly I was sweating over my spark plugs, something I've never, in all my years of owning a car, even thought about.

This was aggravated by the fact that my car has over 170,000 miles and I've never had the plugs even removed. I recently learned, 170K miles later, that they recommend changing the plugs at 100, 000 miles, and here I was, 70,000 miles late. On the other hand, I'm not one to religiously adhere to manufacturers/dealers recommendations. Sometimes it seems like overkill, not to mention expensive. And, the plugs were working, the car drove fine.

So this is how my neurotic mind began to work - while it's true the car was running fine, what if a problem did arise, and they needed to check the plugs and broke one off in the engine? Then I'd be screwed. Plus, I figured it wasn't a bad idea to change them, and at the very least, see if they could be removed. Was this something I could do myself? What if I broke the darn things off? The Amazing PR Man told me that some mechanics will make you sign a waiver absolving them of any damage to your engine if they break the plug, adding to my neurosis. Why don't you just break my other leg?

I decided that at 170K miles, it was time to just have the plugs replaced. I asked our trusty mechanic, Meuniers, if there was concern about the plugs breaking, and they said they didn't think so. They did, however, say that they would adjust the valves, and then check some sort of belt, a timing belt, perhaps. I said fine, just do what you have to do. I guess the engine needs to be cold, as well, due to expansion of the valves, which wouldn't be a problem with the temps hovering around -20 degrees. So I took the car over around 7:00AM, whereby the left it outside for two hours to cool it off, and it was done by 1:00. When I got the bill, I nearly fainted - $480. I completely trust Meuniers, it was just way more than I anticipated, and I'm not a fan of surprises when it comes to money.

I guess it took awhile to adjust the valves, and they ended up replacing the belt. The plugs cost about $30 each, they're some sort of iridium spark plug, but it's really the labor that kills you: four hours to change spark plugs. Needless to say I was really bummed, but nearly as bummed as I was when mom tore me a knew A-hole over the bill. My ignorance of the situation was no defense, so I had to bend over and take it like a man.

On a bright note, the car does run better, and I'm not going to worry about those spark plugs for another 100K, if not longer.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Kool Cats Photography for the pic.

Reflections on the New Year

I realize it's only the first couple of weeks 2018, but it's been somewhat crazy and so much has been going on, it's worth noting. Things started off late in 2017 when we had a passing in the family, which was at the forefront of everyone's thoughts and was very difficult.

To add to the situation, we were hit by a slew of household problems on our end that needed to be dealt with, including our boiler and plumbing. We were lucky in a way because I was able to fix the boiler before the two-week stretch of below zero temperatures hit us. Normally we don't really employ our heating system, but during that time it was going on every morning, and for good reason. I was riding solo as a parent for pretty much the entire month of December, and A had a bunch of things going on with school, music, and her raging social life. N had hockey and his budding social life, or should I say, romantic life. I'll leave it at that. There was a weekend in Lake Placid for his hockey tournament, and we also had car issues, with mom's car needing a new windshield along with inspections needed for both cars. I got a tuneup for my car (more on this later), which for the record cost way more than I thought it would, but I think it's running better. Since I was running the show, I really couldn't do much work at the Inn, so I couldn't make any money to support our fabulous lifestyle. Oh well, you can't be fabulous all the time.

Mom had to fly back home on more than one occasion, so she was back and forth to the airport, and as a consequence, we were back and forth to the bus stop to get her. I managed to hold down the fort and get the kids where they needed to be, though A is now driving and was able to transport herself. I'm guessing she was stoked to have free reign over the car, I know I would be. If you can believe this, we actually ate most of our meals at home. Cooking a healthy meal is not easy when you're running around and pressed for time, but since it was mostly just the three of us, there was less to prepare. Plus, eating out isn't easy up here, your choices are really limited and it's expensive.

What was really brutal was the cold, or rather the duration of the cold. I get that it's winter, it gets cold, but two straight weeks of -10 to -20 temps is ridiculous. I'm no expert on New England weather (I just play one on TV), but it seems very much out of the ordinary.

We didn't have much of a Christmas. The kids got some things that they really wanted, but for the most part, presents were not really happening, and our celebration was pretty muted. This is completely understandable considering the circumstances, and to their credit, the kids didn't make even the slightest issue out of it. If anything, the holidays were more along the lines of how we feel, with less consumption and stuff, and more about just being together. They're old enough to not pine away for lots of presents.

Now that we're well into the new year, things seemed to have calmed down a bit. We are returning to our normal routines, though there is still a lot of change on the horizon. 2018 is only about two weeks old, but already it has the potential to be a seminal year, and that has nothing to do with reproductive organs... or does it?

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Halina Reshetova for the pic.