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Bounce
I was at the grocery store, and the man in front of me had a box of Bounce dryer sheets, and that's all, on the conveyor belt.
Me: Static cling emergency?
Man: Mites.
Me: Mites?
Man: Mites hate Bounce. If you have a car with mites, you put Bounce in the car and the mites go away.
Me: You have a car with mites?
Man: Model A. Mites love Model A cars. I ( Read more... ) -
Father's Day Memory: Going to the Doctor's Office
Father's Day Memory: When I was six, and my sister Jennifer was not yet one year old, my mom and sister both became very ill, very suddenly. They were both a little sick when my dad left to work at the Texaco research lab, but by mid-afternoon my mother was having trouble breathing and was too weak to walk, and the baby was running a dangerously ( Read more... ) -
Changes
It's autumn, which has become my favorite season. This year's leaves are achieving that beautiful glassy glow that makes the reality of the season so much more dramatic than any of the photos that try to capture it. The sun is warm and the breeze is cool, and for the moment everything seems to be tentatively okay. That's the point of autumn, isn't ( Read more... ) -
Cash Does Not Mean Cash
Today we closed on the Bear Creek house. Exciting, but I'm very thankful we have such a strong offer on our Bothell house ... because until we get the Bothell house officially sold off, we're in debt for a terrifying amount of money.
Partway through the signing of the inch and a half thick stack of paper -- seriously, it was easily half a ream -- I ( Read more... ) -
Like Marriage, but with a Stranger
The plan is that we'll be moving my parents in with us in a little while, and we're now eyebrows-deep into selling the current house and buying/renovating a new house that will work better for the four of us. The sale of the current place has gone astonishingly smoothly ... not much time between putting the house on the market and getting an offer ( Read more... ) -
Phrases from a Chinese Dictionary
Leah loaned me one of her treasures -- a 1932 Chinese-English dictionary. It's lovely. The binding is leather, and it was set with hard type ... you can feel the texture of the impact of the lead type on each sheet of paper.
Anyway, here are some of my favorite definitions from the dictionary:
To dream of cobras and serpents - an augury of a ( Read more... ) -
Unexpected Story of Lisa and Avi
As Brian and I returned, foot-weary, from our trek across High Line walkway, the last block we needed to pass was a lovely tree-lined park. It was refreshingly breezy in the dappled shade and warm in the open meadow, and people were sitting and chatting or lounging and reading. We were charmed, and took a small detour to walk through it.
At the far ( Read more... ) -
Stories from Around
I did not have the opportunity to see everyone I wanted, on this trip. Even though I was in Austin for two weeks, it was pretty busy with work (impossible deadline, now thankfully extended), and home (mom is somewhat recovered from stroke, but the household routine is utterly disrupted).
I did get some good stories though ...
Nancy being attacked by ( Read more... ) -
Boston, Day 2
We did the tour-thing today ... like many of our trips to compact cities, we walked and walked and walked. I'm astonished at how long I can walk when we're on vacation, given how little I walk when I'm working from home. We did the "extended" Freedom Trail walk, which was pretty much most of the highlights in downtown Boston, and also the Beacon ( Read more... ) -
Blue Cherries and Legolas
Stinabat told Lycangeek, a few days ago, that society as a whole declares that women are attracted to what men think they should be attracted to, and don't really pay attention to what women actually are attracted to. The example she gave was powerfully muscular men. Stinabat pointed out that most women are more attracted to high cheekbones, ( Read more... )