So today when I was taking off to pick up the boys, I noticed that the front windows of the still unnamed minivan were completely down.
Really?
This thing was last driven last night. It was 45 degrees. The windows never went down. In fact, other than drive through window negotiations, the windows never go down.
So why were they down today?
My conclusion?
That suckers haunted.
Anyway, now my butt is wet.
Where did my socks go?
I used to have lots of them
So like what happened?
Think its a gremlin
Or some sort of poltergeist
That likes white tube socks
Howdy folks,
So, um, we’re doing the internet one better in their protest of the SOPA/PIPA thing by having a blackout week.
Yes.
This was completely and totally a conscious decision on our parts.
Totally
But seriously, check out this video for more info on what Congress is proposing, and how it will screw things up
So like, totally, once we’re dong all protesting and stuff, we’ll tell you about how we’re feeling better and stuff like that.
My mom used to tell me that when I was sick…that little green worker men would come work on my body to make my sick go away…but only while I sleep.
And to drink plenty of fluids…so they can work really hard.
We are working on the fluids. WeePT likes oj in a bottle. It’s been a special treat in the past…so, she thinks it’s pretty cool that Ive presented a juice bottle to her the last 3 days.
AT and I took her to the doc yesterday. Her fever spiked on day 4. She has ear infection in both ears. Freakin cold. This one got her good. She’s now taking her first antibiotics.
AT is also taking antibiotics now, too…for “acute sinusitis” …. Dumb ol sinuses.
The house kinda feels like a sick ward right now. Medicines all over the window sill, kleenex all over the place. Lots of sniffles and little raspy coughing.
I’ll be glad when it’s over.
AT is a little medicine-headed….and was in charge of the baby tonight. (Her onsie is on over her pants)
Dont worry. I’m home now. 
We’ve all got da cold
Passed around like a kickball
One made of mucus
Except WeePT
Crackhead baby energy
While being clingy
The child needs sleep
Yet refuses to settle
Twitchy, glazed over
Shes cutting a tooth
So she’ll have a matching pair
That is the theory
Now, a good night’s sleep
Thats totally what we need
Tomorrow will rock
While we were down at the Blueberry Farm for new years and Mom’s birthday, Pigpen, famously allergic to poison oak, swung on a vine. You can guess what happened next.
In an effort to treat the spreading rash on his neck, chest, and face, the boy is taking a daily oatmeal bath.
It was during such a bath, while I was busy cooking dinner and feeding WeePT, that I heard him chanting from the bathroom on the other side of the house “daaaaaaaaad. daaaaaaaaaad. daaaaaaaad”
I sent MastaG to investigate and let him know that his 30 minutes were up and he could get out of the bath. The conversation I overheard through the cracked bathroom door, well, read it for yourself…
MastaG: “Pigpen, you can get out of the tub”
Pigpen: “But I need Dad”
MastaG: “Do you need him to hold your hand?”
Pigpen: “NO! I have to pee!”
MastaG: “Why do you need Dads help for that?”
Pigpen: “Well, it would mess up the bathwater!”
MastaG: “Dammit Pigpen, you pee in the toilet right next to you!”
Pigpen: “But I can’t get out of the tub!”
MastaG: “Do you need me to hold your hand? Dry yourself off, pee, get back in the tub!”
Pigpen: “No MastaG, I have to stay in the tub!”
MastaG: “Well how bout you just stand up and pee from the tub to the toilet!”
Pigpen: “Uggggg fine.”
At this point, I’m told, MastaG walked out of the bathroom, turning out the light on his way out.
Yep. These are my boys, internet…
Earlier today, when Bell was wanting to pop in a CD for WeePT (Christmas present from our best buddy Tina, woot) she found that the house CD player, our PS3, wasn’t working.
Properly speaking, the controller wasn’t working, which, unfortunately means that essentially it isn’t working.
So when I got done working today, I took a peek at it. The four lights on it were blinking when it was plugged in, meaning that it was charging, but it sure wasn’t controlling the Playstation, whether it was plugged in or not.
I reset the thing, and did a little dance around it, and it still didn’t work.
The innards of the PS3 controller
So, I took that bastard apart. Why? Because that’s what I do when things are broken, and in my experience there’s a 50/50 chance that it’ll work, or that it won’t work.
Ever again.
Anyway, my thinking was that the battery might want to be jiggled around, or there was a wire loose, or a gremlin that I can shake out.
WeePT, entertained by Pigpen
At this point, let it be known that Bell was at work for the evening, I was on tap to make supper to arrive at around 6, and WeePT is hiiiiiiiigh energy and will be expecting her dinner soon. I tasked Pigpen with entertaining the baby temporarily while I fixed this thing.
So, now that I’ve got the circuitboard exposed, I found what seemed to be the problem, one of the L/R triggers was stuck in the downward (mashed) position.
Fixing it basically meant taking everything off, and these triggers are housed in a little plastic assembly, connected to a foam trigger pad, connected to a little offshoot of the circuitboard that turns your fumbly clicks into the guy on the screen failing to do what you want him to do.
Once I removed all the little plastic bits, I was able to slide the evil little plastic piece back on.
The offending trigger
Sliding the trigger back on
Cue theme to Jaws
By this point, young WeePT was becoming bored the the attentions of her brother,and started inquiring after her dinner.
Time was running out.
I was able to get the triggers back on, and fitting the circuit pad under them was a pain, lemme tell ya. I started fitting the two halves of the body back together, and..
Let me step aside for a moment.
Deep breath, Theres a reason these bastards aren't joining, and it's not because the world hates you.
I have a tendency, in moments of pressure and at the climax of a project, to try to brute force my way towards completion, completely throwing out the window any delicacy and finesse I possessed earlier. It doesn’t work, not on electronics, not on cats, not on cars, and not on the ladies.
When the two halves of the body refused to connect, while WeePT was counting down
Success!
her fuss clock, I was tempted just to squeeze those suckers together and MAKE them fit, but I resisted.
After a little bit of wiggling and jiggling, everything connected together peacefully.
I plugged it up, and hallelujah, it worked.
Just in time to make dinner.
And it was good too.
Mmmmmm ricey chicken!
Alas, Sears is closing the doors of the Oak Ridge store, and I’d like a moment to reflect.
OK, thats better.
I’ve only relatively recently picked up a relationship with this particular Sears, and was in there as recently as this week to purchase a kick ass humidifier for our mighty dry house. Granted, its only the third big ticket item I’ve bought from this particular Sears, but it was good to have that as an option to shop.
Except, c’mon, it’s Sears…
Sears, where the Service Merchandise method of talk-to-the-salesman-for-a-long-time-and-then-pick-up-your-junk-in-the-back-alley shopping still exists?
So lets talk about this humidifier purchase. The kids and I wandered into the store at about 7, wandered over to the section where the humidifiers live, found the one that we had already found online, and discovered that it was a display, and not an actual box we could pick up, pay for at one of the eternally empty and hidden checkout areas, and wander out happily with. The sole salesman in this particular area was talking to two ladies about washing machines, and was paying my crew no mind.
See, Sears pays commission for these things, so of course he’s not going to trump his possible $1000 washer/dryer sale for a $140 humidifier. Can’t say I blame him, but I was still left in a quandary.
So after about 10 minutes of waiting, I wandered around to see if somebody else was authorized to tell me if they have a humidifier that is still in the box that perhaps I can purchase and moisten my home with, but there was nobody in sight. The little bespectacled fellow in the nearby electronic section had been giving me the stink-eye as he talked on the phone, but had completely disappeared by the time I was looking for him.
After some wandering, I found a happy little teenager in the hardware section who would sell me a humidifier. After some discussion about the location of the display model (he was insistent on looking for it in the vacuum cleaner section and electronics, but I finally prevailed at letting him know that I had found it earlier that hour, and it probably hadn’t run away) he announced that he didn’t know where the stock would be. By now, bespectacled electronics guy was talking to a manager in the electronics section, who, after some glaring at the teenager, pointed out the location of that which will humidify my house (next to the dumbells in the exercise section, because that makes sense, right?).
So, long story short (ha), what would take me like 4 minutes at Home Depot or any kind of store that is employing inventory and shopping techniques that were pioneered in the 1960s took me about 45 minutes at Sears.
I could go into other stories, like the time we bought a home video camera and waited an hour in the pickup area for somebody to find the box and bring it to us, but I think you get the point.
Now, I’m sure a lotta people are going to be wailing and gnashing their teeth over another Oak Ridge store closing, and I don’t blame em. It sucks that we’re left now with Wal-Mart or Kmart as the only place in town to buy electronics. But folks, before we start setting fire to ourselves in the street, lets remember one thing.
Sears sucked. It had plenty of time to turn itself around, even in this town, and failed to do so. It should not be mourned, it should be taken out in the back yard and put out of its misery.
