Yes, it's late, but I've been working on a project for the city (I'm leading an effort to modernize the city's IT infrastructure), and I've been sufficiently busy that I only have time this late in the evening.

That, and we watched "Shallow Hal" after we put the boy to bed around 9:30. It was a funny trifle of a film.

I did some work on the project earlier today, too - but I was also tugged to do a lot of prep for our upcoming yard sale this Saturday. We're trying to clean out all the junk we didn't get rid of the first time back in June.

Yard sales are interesting. Our original motivation in having one back in June was to get rid of stuff we didn't want to move to the new house with us. Now we're just trying to get rid of stuff, period. Hopefully, though, this will be the last one. They're tiring.

I've turned up a few interesting job leads thus far in the search, including one I came across Monday that looks like it actually might be a pretty appropriate fit. We'll see if the employer agrees, of course. One problem I see already is that there are still a decent amount of jobs out there to be had, but the competition is stiffer than it used to be. I know some good people that are out of work right now as well. Some of them for a while.

I'm still quite optimistic overall, though. I've seen more leads to date than I expected to, even if I wash up against the companies' HR filters. I even saw a few that weren't for me, but were well-suited to people I knew. I forwarded those along to the right places. The Internet has made searching easier, but only a nice suit, a solid resume, and good interview skills will get you the job.

As opposed to the go-go days, when all you had to do is breathe. Hopefully I'll nail something down within a month or two, which'll let me keep some of my severance in the bank.

I've just been too busy enjoying myself. This weekend's big project was dismantling the Big Ugly Rack in my nerd room, and moving the house server down to the basement. Unfortunately, it cost me my 161 days of uptime when I turned it off for the move, but oh well.

Today I took the cables that were dangling from holes all through the back wall of the nerd room behind the old rack, and organized them into a couple of raceways down the wall to a central patch box. It now has the Ethernet connection from the bedroom, the connection to the server area in the cellar, and the CATV connection for my room at a single, floor-level box. Much neater. I'm in the process of spackling all the various holes and dings in that wall section, after which we'll probably paint the room a new color.

Total project cost to date; about $80. That covers the new wall-mounted box, the RJ45 connectors, the plastic raceways, and a new 8-port 10/100 switch for the cellar. I already had the spackle and some of the other parts I needed in-house.

Then this afternoon we went up to Russell Orchard in Ipswich - missed the end of the Peach Festival by a little while, but we wandered around the barn area so David could look at the ducks. He was too impressed by seeing real ones to shout "Duck!" like he does when he sees them in books or on TV. But he did cry when we walked away, and he sulked at me in the car for a while afterwards.

Jane got giggles out of him, though.

Tonight, after dinner, we went down to the Willows for a stroll and some popcorn (for Jane, from Hobbs' - the best popcorn in the Universe). We got to dodge some skunks on the way back from our stroll. Successfully, I might add.

Tomorrow we may head up to the waterfront festival in Gloucester, weather permitting.

For now, I'm actually enjoying this brief interlude of having a life.

Well, today is essentially my first actual day out of work. I was originally going to work a half-day Friday before heading down to Connecticut for a party my sister and brother-in-law were having to celebrate their wedding back in January (they eloped to Fiji). So I simply slept in and got some stuff done around the house before leaving a little earlier for the trip. The party was a blast, and the three of us had a lot of fun. David was a hit with all the relations who hadn't yet met him.

Then Monday was spent at a golf tournament sponsored by my friend Steve's company. I'd planned that ahead of time as a day off. My team came in third, which was cool, and I birdied one of the holes.

Today, on the other hand, is different. Jane let me sleep in until I got a call at around 9, which was good since I'd gotten up at 5:30 yesterday to drive to the golf tournament. Since then, I've been mostly working on some childproofing around the house and chasing after a few job leads. Job hunting is pretty high on the "things I do everyday" list, but not a job unto itself yet these first few weeks. I'm pretty good at what I do, so I expect if there is a suitable job out there for me then I'll be the one who gets it.

Until then, I'm also going to try and enjoy my first real extended period of not working since high school.

A few months ago, I commented on the way job security doesn't really exist anymore. I was ahead of myself, it turns out. My employer changed it's business model entirely, and it'll require a lot of shrinking before it grows again. So I was the one in my area whose number came up.

And now I'm home, posting notes in my blog.

Anyhow, if any of you folks who enjoy reading the continuing adventures of David are looking for a really good network manager, I'm now available.

I think one of the worst things that has happened to racial relations in this country is the "Hyphenated-American" trend. The simple action of trying to acknowledge one's ethnic background when referring to them has contributed to more division than it's worth. Why? Simple. White people (European-Americans, I guess...) are the majority in this country. That's a basic fact, though minority groups are growing at a faster clip nowadays. However, it's normally the minorities that get hyphenated designations.

And I think that serves to only highlight "otherness", drawing attention to a difference between them and the majority ethnic group.

For instance - "African-American", the most common PC term for black people. Well, a large proportion of people referred to that way have little (if any) traceable African descent. A large portion of this ethnic group is of primarily Carribean descent (going back many generations) - do we call them "Carribean-Americans"? Of course not.

Or the term "Asian-American". I'd say that's downright insulting. There are tremendous visible differences between the various Asian ethnic groups, and to lump them all together is at least as insulting as I'd think it would be to lump every person with dark skin together as "African-American".

Same thing with "Latin-American". Does that mean Spanish (half of my ancestry), or Mexican? Are Brazilians Latin-American? They don't speak Spanish - their language is mainly taken from Portugese. But people from the countries surrounding Brazil are considered Latin-American, so I guess they count too.

Or in my case, as I just mentioned, my ancestry is roughly half Spanish. But my paternal grandfather actually came from Rhodes (which is currently Greek) with an Italian passport (letting me join the Sons of Italy, I guess). But the Italians had Rhodes at the time because they'd picked it up off the Ottoman Empire after World War I. So maybe that makes me a Turkish-American.

On the other hand, my mother is from rural Maine, but she was actually born in Canada (that's where the hospital was). Thus, my mom can't ever be President, and I could be a Canadian-American.

You see a bit of my point? If someone's parents are both from a particular nation, and they're immigrants here, then referring to yourself as, for instance, Jamaican-American" can be a source of ethnic pride. And that's fine. But to use it in a generic fashion is divisive and potentially insulting.

The best way we can refer to a resident of this nation? How about "American". Or maybe just "human". Because race and ethnicity are mainly artificial constructs that describe tiny physical differences in humans that are mainly alike. With my mixed ancestry, there are nonetheless miniscule genetic differences between myself and people from other races. We have much more in common than otherwise.

In the end, we're all human. And that's what matters far more than anything else.

Something interesting that I noticed yesterday while watching the boy play - the casual observer would think that his balance has gotten worse, since he's toppling over more often right now.

But it's not. What really seems to be happening is a combination of two things. One is another small growth spurt. We know this because he's getting visibly skinnier again, and he's also outgrown the last of his 12-month outfits. Quick change in center of gravity = temporarily worse balance.

The other underlying cause is a big increase in the spped he travels at, and a lot more willingness to take chances. He tries to do more than he used to - he crawls and climbs faster, reaches farther, and tries to go higher than he used to. And he does most of it with no regard to his own safety. Thank goodness for childproofing aids.

Fortunately, toddlers are resilient. Saturday morning, while I was at the car dealership for an oil change, David was playing and he "pitched a header". Jane told me he fell straight on his face and hit the floor chin-first. He bled a little, she thinks from biting his lip, and he has a hellacious bruise right at the cleft of his chin. However, he recovered from it in seconds.

On the other hand, now he'll stand on his own for a short time, basically until the "Wile E. Coyote" factor kicks in. When he looks down and realizes he's standing unsupported, down he goes.

I decided to perform a mental inventory of David's vocabulary to date. Sometime in the last few weeks, he went from babble (with an occasional word mixed in) to actually expressing himself on occasion. It's such a gradual shift, you hardly even realize it's coming.

The current words are:

Dada - me, of course. But any tall, bearded male will suffice for using the word.

Mama - Jane. He doesn't mix that one up as often.

Baba - his bottle. He'll use it now to clearly tell us he wants one.

That - anything other than a bottle that he wants. He'll point to the object and say "that".

Some kind of shrieking noise that means "Gracie". We know that because he uses the shriek to address the cat, and only for that purpose.

Duck - one of his favorite animals. He points to them in his board books when he says it.

Quack - because that's what ducks say, of course...

No - usually he parrots it back to us when we try and tell him not to do something.

There's a few more words that he understands, but doesn't say. Clap, for instance. If you say it to him, he starts clapping. He also knows many of his foods by name.

I have no idea how that compares with other kids, but it's real cool to see.

In other news, a mouse paid us a visit this evening - Jane saw it in the cellar when she was down there earlier. It scampered along the burlap in the ceiling, then popped out and ran away along a pipe. We've had them drop in a few times over the years - they don't stay long and generally do no harm. I laid a couple of peanut-butter baited traps out just in case this one gets any ideas about staying.

A neighborhood cat killed one and left it in our backyard the other day. This was probably one of it's littermates.

After last night, I'd say it's most probably Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. We went to the show down in Foxboro last night, and it was terrific. The entire band (plus a bonus violinist) was at the top of their game - and when Springsteen is good, he's really good.

They played for just under 3 hours - we got out at aroung 11:15 and arrived back home a little after 1 AM. It might have been shorter, but we parked about a mile up the road to make the getaway easier. Of course, we'd never been to the new stadium, so neither of us realized that the parking system was much improved. But it was a healthy walk, at least.

The show was worth it, regardless. And I'd never had club seating for anything before this show. I don't think I ever want to see an event the old way again. Wow.

I had my annual physical yesterday. Fortunately, it appears I shall live at least another year. The only downside thus far is that now prostate exams are part of the routine. I have managed to lose a little weight since my efforts began earlier this year (I'm down one pants size), and hopefully that'll continue.

In other news, I played golf afterwards and somehow shot a 48. That's a little low for me on my home course, but the entire round pretty much teetered on the edge of disaster throughout. When I finished, it felt more like I shot a 58. Golf's odd like that, which is one of the reasons I enjoy playing it so much. Unlike most other sports, you can play poorly (like I did yesterday) and still get all the breaks in your favor - or you can play brilliantly (like I did last week) and have no luck at all. I played much better last week, but my score was actually 2 strokes worse. Go figure.

However, I still think that with a couple of exceptions (The Masters, the Skins Game, Ryder Cup), golf is high on the list of Most Tedious Things You Can Watch On Television.

Fortunately, he isn't allowed to go up and down unsupervised yet, though. What he's tried the last couple of days is holding onto the bannister and stepping down with one leg turned sideways. Generally, however, that results in not being quite able to reach the next step down and a sideways tumble into my waiting hands.

He'll learn.

Meanwhile, my folks visited this weekend, and we went out to the Gull in Gloucester for lunch yesterday before they went home. We all had lobster sandwiches for lunch - David included. He really liked it, too (he's had lobster a few times before). Unfortunately, he had a meltdown on our way home, and screamed from when we got onto Route 128 in Gloucester all the way thru Beverly. About 12 miles, to be nearly exact. That part wasn't fun.

Last night, after I came home from playing golf ("I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for quite awhile."), I was playing with David upstairs while Jane was in the living room watching TV. As both my loyal readers know, David figured out climbing stairs about a month ago. We've been trying to teach him how to descend since shortly afterwards, but our chosen method (bring him up a few steps and try to demonstrate) had only resulted in getting him to climb.

We were playing on the bed, and I noticed that he could squirm to the edge and shimmy down backwards. So I tried something. I went down the hall to the gate, opened it, and got him to chase Gracie and I. I went around the corner and down a couple of steps. He went through the gate after me, came to the edge of the stairs, and then...

He turned around, butt-first, and shimmied down a step. And he followed me down the whole stairs that way. We were very happy, and expressed it to him with a few big hugs and some smooching - he was in a very good mood the rest of the evening and slept like a log all night. New skill - yay!

Jane was out most of the time after I came home yesterday (she had an appointment down the street, and then she was going out for dinner with a couple of her friends). So I got to spend an evening having quality time with David. For starters, he got sleepy after Jane had been gone a few minutes. So I put him down for a nap and prepared dinner.

Of course, halfway through my dinner he woke up. So I brought him down and we ate together. I had microwave lasagna. He had half a slice of American cheese and a tray full of Cheerios, with a cup of milk as a chaser. Then we played together for a while, I read him a book (as a compromise, I read to him from the book I was finishing - Back Story, the newest Spenser), and then he snuggled with me on the sofa while I watched some TV. He went to bed around 9:30 or so. It was a pleasant evening for all.

However, my original plan for the evening was for us to so out and do some errands (I have to pick up supplies at BJ's and Target), so that was postponed to today by virtue of the nap. It throws off timing.

David's discovered a new fun game - he plays tag with me. Basically, here's how the game works:

1 - I leave the room he's in downstairs. After a few seconds, I lean in and give him a loud "boo".

2 - He turns towards me, shrieks, giggles, and starts chasing me. I duck behind the next door after he gets me back in his field of vision.

3 - We repeat the process until he's done about 6 laps or so of our house's downstairs.

Not only does he love playing the game, but it tires him out nicely at bedtime. He also takes steps with me holding his hands, and can stand for short intervals. All fun developments.

He also had his first bath in the regular bathtub on Monday (to wash him down after his swimming lesson). He really liked that - lots of water to splash around. Gracie sits on the edge of the tub to watch him.

Danny, on the other hand (the older, dumber cat), may not be able to stick around with us much longer. He really doesn't like David at all - when David gets close, Danny hisses and runs away. He pretty much avoids all of us now. We only see him at night when he sleeps on the foot of the bed. As far as Jane and I are concerned, though, as long as he's in decent health the only option is finding him another home - I can't put him in a shelter and I won't put him to sleep. It's going to take some work and creative thinking to figure this out.

There is an anti-SUV movement out there whose slogan is "What would Jesus drive?". Now, I'm the last person who can be accused of being intimate with religious values, but I was thinking of the logistics, Jesus' professed values, and what I'm sure would be his desire to minimally impact the environment, combined with the harsh realities of travel in the Middle East. I've come to the following conclusion.

I believe Jesus would have two cars. For the occasional solo trip, he'd have the most efficient car possible that would be able to handle the road conditions. Probably a Subaru Forester. He'd prefer a Toyota Prius, but it's just not a practical choice in a world without paved roads.

But I think Jesus would spend the bulk of his time in a Chevy Suburban. If Ford weren't phasing it out, he might even consider an Excursion. Why? Because they can go nearly anywhere, and most of the Apostles would fit comfortably inside. The fewer cars make the trip, the more efficient overall your trip is. And they often traveled in a group. This one is a no-brainer. They'd get a 15-passenger van, but it wouldn't stand up to the off-road conditions.

The big question is, would Jesus get either air conditioning or leather seats? I think he'd go for the A/C, but stick to cloth seats.

Jane took David to the park for swimming both Tuesday and Wednesday - he seems to enjoy it so far. He also sleeps like a log afterwards.

Our house is famous now. Maybe that will help sell it. The actual print article (with photos) ran in last Friday's Salem News.

Ironically, it's a big fame week for us in general, because while Jane was at the park Monday, a Salem News photographer snapped a couple of pictures of her, one of which ran in yesterday's paper. Whoo.

We watched a movie last night, for the first time in a while. It was Heist, a David Mamet film from a couple of years ago with Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito, along with the usual Mamet gang. Really good stuff. I took State and Main out from the library this morning, so if I start writing this blog in Mametspeak next week, you'll know it was from the dialog overdose.

To balance all that good stuff, we've got some server problems at the office today. Grumble.