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User Journal

Journal Journal: Vent. Parents are jerks. It's their job!

I stole a million from my kid today.

It was a sad duty, but part of responsible parenting. Still it was a major bummer to see the gleam of delight fade.

An now for the rest of the story:
A friend of mine recently traveled abroad and returned with some foreign currency. So, my son received two notes, one for a half million slotkas, and the other for a *whole* million!

My nine year old son, for a few precious moments, thought he was a millionaire! He was eager to go overseas to spend his fortune! It was my sad duty to burst his bubble and explain to him that the total value of the notes was around 90 cents.

He may be one of the few kids at his school, now, with a notion of inflation, and exchange rates...

The Courts

Journal Journal: LA Times on WW II B29 and the Patriot Act

"THE SECRET OF THE B-29
How the Death of Judy's Father Made America More Secretive

A plane crashes at the dawn of the Cold War, and the government seeks a special legal privilege. Its claim sows the seeds of the Patriot Act"

An examination of some of rotton foundation underneath existing national security law:

La Times B29 Story - Part One
Short URL: http://shorl.com/gepykotuhale
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-b29partone18apr18,1,7860017.story

La Times B29 Story - Part Two
Short URL: http://shorl.com/fuvuhibeprupi
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-b29parttwo19apr19.story

The above articles appear to offer a fair and balanced overview of some of the legal basis for our national security, the kind of thinking that implemented the so-called Patriot Act. Reminds me of the abuse of power following the Tonkin Gulf fraud committed by the Johnson administration.
Now anyone questioning authority is viewed as not supporing the ill-defined fight against terrorism.

User Journal

Journal Journal: Is there a future in Blogging? Honestly. - Pie anyone?

Pithy cogent content. I'm not up for it today. I read an article by a columnist to the effect that 'Blogs' as a phenom are seeing their last gasp as they're co-opted by professional writers, and media pr folks.

- Companies having employees create edgy blogs which supplement their pr folks.

Plus folks don't sustain interest. It seems to be true. Many of the blogs I've been monitoring are showing signs of let down. Authors writing less frequently etc. We'll see.

He cited fade-out of personal webpages as one example. That seems relevent. Sad. I've been a lurker on the web since the early 90's. Ahh, nostalgia. - Information, no banner ads, general sense of information sharing without the reserve learned by being singed subsequently. So, yeah I suspect Blogs too will sell out. Tho' hopefully they'll shake up and make the media a bit more honest.

And now a word about Zack, or his brother. Hmm Have I mentioned his brother? Zack is such a time-sync/soak/magnet, that his brother is often overlooked. Sort of Like Joey and Dennis the menace. Joey is the good quiet kid that trails along in the shadow of Dennis.

But I haven't said anything yet. Well, food theft comes to mind. When Zack was around 10, on a now forgotten occaision, my wife baked me a pie. In the middle of the night, Zack snuck out and *ate* the rest of the entire pie. So as punishment, we made Zack pay for a replacement pie. He did.

He also ate it.

He Paid.

He Ate it.

See 'Recursion'.

After about 5 pies, Zack seemed to get his fill.

Tho there seemed to be *no* indication that he ever learned that some things aren't *his*. This scenario was repeated later in life with other instances of Chocolate, Cookies, Ice cream etc. Arguably it assisted us in staying thin. We ceased to by sugary fattening food, knowing our son would pig-out on it.

Flash forward to the present.

On a recent camping outing some other boys broke into Zacks stash of beef jerky. Man was he bent out of shape by this violation of his property. The irony of the situation didn't occur to him. My near total lack of sympathy stunned him. Only when I pointed out that we have been on the receiving end of this type of activity from him for *years* did he seem to understand this. I'm tempted to see whether he's learned anything.

I think I'll buy a Blackberry Pie.

User Journal

Journal Journal: The Rapier

Phone found. Good save.

Zack cooked me dinner yesterday. Spagetti. As a bonus he spiced the sauce up a bit.
Adding:
- Parmesan cheese - Good
- Lemon drops - Ok
- Red Peppers - Not good (for me anyhow)

And as a special bonus, he went to the store and bought hamburger. (Not the good stuff tho')

At anyrate it's the thought that counts, not the heartburn.

So, he wanted to buy the sword. He found another vendor that was 'cheaper' - 33 dollars for the sword, vs 38 dollars. The minor matter of the $21 in shipping charges was overlooked... I was able to convince him to get the $38 sword. Different vendors, same sword (if the Images are to be believed)

Sword ebay Link
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3655098932&category=47347

User Journal

Journal Journal: Sword cut out

Zack may not get the sword with his saved money...
The latest twist in the sword saga ties in with the cell phone.

- He lost it. So the saved funds may go toward replacement costs, unless he finds it double-quick.

User Journal

Journal Journal: 100 words a day

100 words a day

I was advised to record my children's upbringing . It makes sense, as some aspects of their early childhood are beginning to fade.
- First words? Don't recall exactly, would need to refer to the baby books.
- First stand, walk? Ditto.

So, I've at least logged the first unsolicited Breakfast prepared by progeny.
Zack entering HighSchool, joining the Volleyball team, being tired after practice, tired but proud. It's gratifying to see.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Breakfast of Champions

This morning I had two fried eggs, toast with Apple butter and a glass with ice and RC. Delicious. To some people the soda sounds like an unusual addition to a breakfast meal.

For me what was unusual this morning was the source.

My son Zack cooked and prepared the meal for me. A break-through/milestone. First time ever un-solicited Breakfast for Dad. Awesome! Actually more than edible too. Eggs were cooked nicely, only one broken yoke.
User Journal

Journal Journal: eBay Sword obliviousnes 1

Zesterday Zack was zestfully pounding Bricks.

Yes, bricks from our dismantled chimnee. I've had a standing offer of a dollar a brick for each brick with sufficient mortar removed so it can be used in some future (unspecified, unplanned) project.

This offer has been in effect for nearly a year now. Zack, found a rapier on eBay that he desparately wanted. The hilt looked beautiful. In the last ten minutes before the auction closed I reviewed with him the limited specification information on the sword. - 30" blade, no indication on place of origin, seller has only completed 18 trades, and only began selling two months ago (good rating so far tho').

With mere minutes to spare, Zack realized that the sword wouldn't measure up, and chose *not* to bid. So now he's money ahead...
User Journal

Journal Journal: Zero Period

Upon re-reading yesterdays entry, it occurs to me that some folks may not be familiar with 'Zero Period'.

It's an hour before school to review home-work assignments, organize and plan for the school day. Intended to help teach study skills for success in school.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Obliviousness.

I'm often oblivious. It would seem obvious then, that my progeny would have that potential as well.

This morning was close to the new routine:
- Zack getting up for HighSchool around 6:00am.
- My getting up around 6:30, getting myself ready to give Zack a ride to Zero period.
- Zack fixed his own breakfast while I pee'd, shaved, brushed teeth.

Upon completing getting dressed, I noticed that Zack was wearing his jacket inside out. As a self-awareness test, I asked him whether he'd had his morning medicine, figuring (correctly) he hadn't taken it. This neccessitated a visit to the bathroom, where two full size mirrors would give him the opportunity to notice the inside red liner of his jacket was on the outside....

As we were getting in the car outside ready to leave for the day, I remarked: Is that the new style? Did you know your coat is inside out?

Nope, not the new style, unless obliviousness is a style...

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