The semester is finally over and I feel a tremendous pressure lifted. I just finished the last of the discussions in my Protein Purification lab notebook, so I am completely done.

School pwnage

This has been one HELL of a semester, if indicated by nothing else than the fact that I have not been able to write a single blag the entire time.  Seriously. Melissa and I were both enrolled full-time (12 cr.) each. My schedule was noted on my last post, so I don’t need to go into that again. But let’s just say that between working ~40 hrs a week, doing 12 credits, taking care of house work, being a husband, and being a father to a rather ornery 1-year old, I had my arms, legs, and kidneys full.

The good part is that I know two of my grades so far: In Organic Chem II Lab, I got a 93% (A-). YES! And in Organic II Lecture, I got an A+. YES YES!!! I’m not sure of my grades in Biology or Proteins, although I suspect A’s (or at the very least, high B’s) in both.

House awesomeness

We recently discovered IKEA. OMG. I CAN HAS FURNITURE? I am in hot, sweaty, debaucherous love with that store. A couple days ago we spent roughly $800 on various furniture items, including a new computer desk (pictured), a dining room table, four chairs with pads, two shelf units for the kitchen, a bathroom sink/faucet/cabinetry/mirror combo, some plants, and various odds and ends.

I know that $800 seems like a lot, but it’s totally worth it. Those Swedes make damn fine products, and the price is right as well. (The computer desk pictured, or as Mel calls it, my “Geek Oasis”, was $90 and is FAR better quality than ANYTHING at Officemax. The dining room table we got, with four chairs, was $280 altogether.)

What really blows me away about the IKEA people though is how sensible they are; about EVERYTHING. The carts in the store? They have four rotating wheels so you can move laterally instead of only rotationally. The instructions are all clearly mapped out when you get them. They use s-shaped allen wrenches for much of the assembly (the s-shape makes it easier to rotate — most allen wrenches are L-shaped). They give you this little plastic widget for nailing in tiny nails so that you don’t accidentally hammer your fingers.

The table we got (pictured, left) has two leaves for expansion, but get this: the leaves are contained WITHIN THE TABLE! To expand it, you lift up one side of the table top about 2″, slide the leaf out, and then it locks into place. To un-leaf it, you lift up the table top again 2″, push the expansion back under, and there it is! You have to see it in action to appreciate the awesomeness.

In the past, at most furniture stores we go to, there’s generally an inverse relationship between price and quality. I expect that if something is cheap, it’s probably cheaply made. But I swear everything we’ve bought has been both inexpensive and really solidly made. They don’t use any particularly special materials, it’s just engineered very well.

But enough gushing about IKEA. The store is in West Chester, OH (near Cincy), approximately 48 miles from Richmond. You must go there and check it out. (They have a full restaurant, several mocked-up apartments in the showroom (full apartments!) — it’s quite easy to spend hours of time and lots of money there.

Oh! And we got CARPET finally!!!!

Sullivan

Sullivan is growing up so fast. He walks, runs around, wrestles with the dog, has already started signing, just had his first birthday, is downright hilarious at times, and learns things really quickly. Our Birth-to-five representative did some assessments on Sullivan and in all the categories except speech he’s as skilled as a two-year old. (He is 1 year, 1 month right now). Speaking he’s right on par (he says Da-da, but we’re not sure if he knows that he’s saying it yet).

I think part of the reason he is learning so quickly is that we just let him grow on his own. We don’t have any kind of agenda for him to stick with — no time schedule or “milestones” for him to meet. Neither of us are concerned that he’s developed physically before developing his ability to talk. We figure that when he’s ready to learn something, he’ll learn it — and we should be prepared to give him the exposure he needs to figure things out on his own.

We’ve been doing baby sign language. For anyone who has a toddler, or is expecting one, you *must* try this out. It’s awesome. Sullivan knows the signs for “hot” and “more”. It’s the most adorable thing in the world when you’re sitting there, giving him a cup of juice, and he makes the sign for “more.” It’s so neat to see what goes on in his head.

Fermentation

I’ve been brewing Ginger Beer/Ale. The only ingredients I use are ginger root and sugar. No yeast added or artificial flavors or anything. The yeast is airborne and grows in a culture beforehand. Melissa and I are planning on making a website with instructional videos for how to do it yourself — it’s really easy to do and it tastes pretty good once you figure out the formula right.

I’m still experimenting with some flavor options, and I plan on doing Root Beer next as soon as I can get my hands on some sarsparilla root and winter green leaves.

Freethought Society

The Richmond Area FreeThinkers Society website is finally up. RAFTS is a group that a few of us founded to be a collective haven for freethinking folks in this region. We’ve got a little over 20 members so far and our website is finally up. We have monthly meetings and a discussion list. All are welcome to join us any time! Check out the website for more information.

This Summer

• I’m taking a class: Decision Support Structures and Data Analysis (Informatics 430) on the Internet this summer. Should be a lot of fun — we’ll be learning about data mining and how to analyze large datasets.
• We’re getting our bathroom finished (finally!) in a week or two. Pictures up when it’s done.
• We’re planning a couple vacations — small ones. We’re thinking maybe Toledo, maybe Philadelphia area, maybe Dollywood — not sure. I’ve got about a weeks worth of vacation and thought we could really make it stretch if I do a series of 4-day weekends rather than a single week.
• We’re gardening vegetables and herbs. Haven’t planted yet, but planning to plant next weekend.
• Mother’s day and Melukkah are both coming up as well, and I know that Melissa is excited about that.
• We’ll probably be making routine trips to IKEA to buy more things. I’m totally addicted.
• I’ll try to blag some more this summer as well.

Categories: Friends, Family & Pets, Geekery, This New House, Ziggy aka Sullivan
No Comments »

Sullivan

Sullivan has begun to crawl. Everywhere. He pulls himself up onto things as well. His new favorite hobby is finding new ways to bang his head into solid objects. Everytime he loses balance, gets that frightened look in his eyes, and then *THUD* right into the floor, coffee table, couch, table, chair, television, crib frame, kitchen cabinetry, computer, subwoofer, or some new object I have yet to see.

It’s hard to not feel like a bad parent when you see your son’s head collide with a stationary object but every parent I’ve talked to (including my own) have said that it’s totally normal. In some ways, it’s kind of funny — America’s Funniest Videos kind of schadenfreude kind of funny. But I still feel bad for him.

In addition to being more mobile, he’s a lot more lively. He cackles, shrieks, yelps, makes merry, cries, whines, bitches, moans, etc. He watches my mouth move when I talk. His eyes have a lot more character in them and his facial expressions are much more varied. He still doesn’t mimic quite yet, but I think that’ll be soon. (And then we get to teach him baby sign language!)

He can almost completely stand on his own, a prospect that frightens Melissa and I with a portent to the near future when he’ll be walking; elevating his head into a whole new echelon of objects to run into. I swear this kid is going to be a frenologists wet dream.

The House

The house is currently in a quasi-state of disarray. The bathroom, still unfinished, is lacking both a sink, a toilet seal (so it smells gross), and paint. The drywall is nearly done. All I have left to do is sand off one little area by the entrance, and it’ll be ready for painting. We picked up some primer to get it started, but haven’t really picked out a color yet.

The living room has one wall with primed-trim. The wall with the entrance door and large window have their trim painted (the door too). We finally decided that painting the trim would be a good idea, and I have to admit, it really does improve the appearance of the room. When we get carpet laid down, possibly next year, I think that’ll help it even more. It seems a shame to cover up the wood, but the hardwood floor lost it’s novelty after my eighth foot-splinter.

So painting, painting, painting. Anyone want to help? I also need someone skilled with doing ceramic tiling, because I think that’s what we want to do in the bathroom.

My Grammy

Earlier this year, in February I believe, my Grandpa Westerdale died at 83 years. He had some chest problems and knee difficulties, but pneumonia did him in. My Grammy Westerdale is currently in the hospital with cancer, and Mom says that it’s not gotten any better in spite of Chemo and Radiation therapy. I guess at this point, she’s done with treatment and just wants to go into pain management. Mom thinks it’s quite possible she won’t make it to Xmas.
This Thursday, Melissa, Sullivan and I will be driving out to NJ to see her and visit family. Saturday will be when we actually get to Jersey, because we’ll be staying at my Mom’s in PA. It’s supposed to be a bit of a surprise. My car is currently in the shop getting some much-needed repair work done to it, so it’ll be drive-viable for the trip.

I don’t think I’ve really had time to stop and let this whole situation sink in, but I’ll have a 10 hour trip each way to do it. I think the most significant thing about this is that this trip will be the last time any of we three ever see Grammy alive. Being able to say that with certainty is profound.

I know that I, and probably most people, have read stories and anecdotes about death / near-death putting life in perspective. But just like parenthood, you don’t comprehend how true it is until you’re actually in the situation yourself.

Categories: Friends, Family & Pets, This New House, Ziggy aka Sullivan
No Comments »

Yesterday, the City of Richmond held an Earth Day celebration down at the old Piano Factory on 1st st. There were a bunch of booths about varying conservation-related topics. It really could have been called “Liberal Day.” There was lots of great information, some neat demonstrations (such as the one by Safari Steve from Silly Safari Station, who was both silly and entertaining) and giveaways.

We received a flying-disc (”F***bee”) made entirely from recycled plastic, two fluorescent bulbs (60W equivalent and 75W equivalent), an assortment of reading material about sustainable living, hiking in Richmond, and my personal favorite: a free flowering Dogwood from the Arbor Day Foundation.

Dogwoods happen to be my favorite tree. They look absolutely beautiful in the springtime. The one we got, I have no idea how old it is, but it’s about 2.5 feet (almost 1m) tall. It seems pretty healthy. The arbor day people gave us a little brochure on tree-planting, which was very useful considering I’ve never done it before. If you’re interested, here’s the digest version on how to do it:

1. Remove any packaging from your sapling and let it soak in a bucket of water for 3 to 6 hours. This helps to loosen up the root structure. No need to agitate it or anything, just let it soak.
2. When ready to plant, find a location that has both good soil and room for the tree to grow. The particular location I picked was 10 feet from the property-line fence and 10 feet from our garage. Dogwoods aren’t particularly big trees so I thought this would be ample room.
3. When you’ve sited your plant location, mark a radius of 1.5′ out from that point, and turn all the soil. The tree needs to be able to not compete with grass and other weeds. I completely removed the sod and threw it in our compost heap.
4. Determine how deep the sapling was planted previously - If you look at the trunk, there’s probably a visible line of discoloration. That was my guess as to the depth. It looked reasonable.
5. Dig the hole deep enough in the center so that the tree can be COMFORTABLY (i.e. “not crammed”) into that hole. Mine was about 1.5 feet down, and 1 foot in diameter. The roots should have ample room in both width AND depth. (Note: You don’t need to dig out the whole area where you turned the soil — just enough for the tree can fit comfortably)
6. Hold the sapling in mid-air so that the bottom of the root structure touches the bottom of the hole, and use your other hand to gently pull some of the excavated soil back into that hole. You want the sapling to stand up as straight as possible. You also may want to use work gloves, unless you really like getting dirt under your fingernails. Once you get enough soil in the hole that the tree can stand up on its own (a few inches deep should be enough), you can let go of the tree.
7. Fill in the rest of the hole as best as you can with whatever soil you have available, then water it immediately. I used the remaining water in the buket where I soaked the sapling.
8. OPTIONAL: apply mulch to the area where you turned the soil. Don’t let the mulch actually touch the tree (I’m not sure why, but that’s what the brochure said), but apply it generously. This will both prevent competing plants, help the tree retain moisture, and a number of other things. I used some compost from our compost heap.
9. If you have a dry weather period, you should water the tree regularly. This is only necessary during its first year. After that it should do well on its own.

The Arbor Day Foundation is currently giving away 10 trees of your choice if you join the ADF. There’s a $10 donation to join, but considering that you’re getting 10 tree saplings out of it, I’d say that’s a good idea! We would do it if we had somewhere to plant them all, but sadly our yard isn’t big enough.

Categories: Sustainable Living, This New House
No Comments »

I had been promising Melissa I would trim the hedges all weekend long. “Ok, TODAY I’m going to trim the hedges *mumble*inalittlebit*mumble*,” I said on Friday, Saturday and then again on Sunday. Something always conveniently seemed more pertinent at time.

But on Sunday, I finally decided it just needed to be done.

As I changed into work clothes and acquired the hedge-shears from the backporch, I had an idea: Why not bring Frank outside with us? He has been getting progressively more belligerent about dashing outside if we aren’t careful to blockade the lower two feet of the doorway when we come in or go out. His acrobatic antics have gotten humourously complex as well — the other day when I had the kitchen-guy (Steve) over, he came in the house toting a large toolbox. Frank dashed around me, jumped up on the couch, over the toolbox, and then ran between Steve’s legs!

I’m not really sure WHY Frank wants to get outside so much, but it kind of makes me think its an instinctual thing. He’s been getting a vicious case of cabin fever lately. I can appreciate that, having worked in a windowless office for 2 years. Usually when he runs outside he either prowls around the front porch, or crawls around to hide underneath the overgrown hedges that sit just beyond the porch.

The hedgetrimming went well. In fact, I found it quite fun. I think it appeals to my meticulous Virgo nature. I had NEVER trimmed hedges before, but I kind of had a rough idea of how it works. Shears aren’t exactly high-tech electronics after all. By the time I was satisfied with the first hedge’s appearance, my technique was pretty solid. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to wear workgloves; A fact which became quite evident as I took a drink of water from the oversized Taco Bell cup. Blisters seem to have a slightly different sensitivity to…well..pretty much anything.

The second hedge didn’t go quite as well. Mostly because the hedge itself looked like crap. It was definitely the “ugly one” of the twin hedges. I was able to get it trimmed down, but I’ll have to go back and work it over some more once it heals up a bit.

Frank really enjoyed his time outside. Everytime a loud car or bike would drive by, he’d immediately run back indoors. He prowled all over the front and side yard. He chased little white butterflies and moths, which was really funny to watch. He would dash at them and then make a flying leap to attack them with his front paws. At one point he actually had a moth pinned to the ground by its wings! Since then, we’ve become a little more relaxed about letting him run around outside. I guess he’s old enough that he knows where his house is and is aware that “it’s bad to move in front of things that are big, loud or move fast.” During this whole experience, I was very aware of the obvious parallel that I will re-visit once again in about 10 or 12 years: The process of starting to relax the death-grip on your child, and allowing them to slowly gain independence. I think I did pretty well with this. I know Frank appreciates it. I’m not too sure about the Moths though.

On an unrelated note, I was the featured blogger for this past issue of the Richmond News Review! If you act quickly, you could be the next winner of the iPod Nano!

Categories: Friends, Family & Pets, Humor, This New House
2 Comments »

The kitchen is nearly done.

After about 2 weeks of using dirty dishes, eating off of paper plates, and washing cups in the bathroom sink, we now have a functioning sink, dishwasher, and garbage disposal — and LOTS of counterspace! yay!These pics of the stove and refrigerator are both digitally altered. The stove and fridge won’t be moved into place until after we paint, which I think we may do tomorrow.

Tonight was a minor victory because I was able to load up our DISHWASHER (!!) with all the dirty dishes in the house and let IT do the washing. I can hear it humming 2 rooms over right now. We ran into a couple small SNAFU’s: The countertops came in yesterday, and they were installing them in the morning, while I was at work. Melissa was here and was sitting on the couch reading a book. Apparently “the guy” that cut the countertops made a slight mistake on the measurement for part of the L, and forgot to put the laminate on one of the standalone base cabinets! When Hank (the countertop installer) came out to tell Melissa, the exchange went something like this:

Show me more… »

Categories: This New House
1 Comment »

We woke up at 7:30am. Melissa was awake before I was, and was already bathing by the time I rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. For some reason, I feel more comfortable sitting down (even if it’s just #1) when I first wake up. I think it’s because my legs aren’t used to all that activity just yet.

When Melissa finished bathing, I assumed her spot while she got dressed. She started blow-drying her hair as I stood up to get out of the tub, and a blast of hot air from the hair-dryer hit me in the face. I immediately flashed back to my childhood: My mom drying her hair in the bathroom, me brushing my teeth or getting ready for school, and I always liked feeling the hot-air from the blow-dryer, especially in the cold mornings. I think I just like being warm.

Still groggy, I barely remember pulling on yesterday’s pants, unearthing a shirt and boxers from the freshly folded laundry, leaving a note for the contractors, and grabbing my cellphone from the wall-charger. I made a peanut-butter sandwich on wheat bread because I wasn’t entirely sure I would get to eat anything else today until after work. Satisfied that we had everything ready, we were ready to go.
“Can you drive?” she asked me. I responded, half-mumbling, that it would probably be better to drive separately, since I only had 1 hour of comp-time and a 1 hour lunch. She said ok, and we started our respective cars and drove across town.

I parked in my building parking lot, which was catty-corner from the Wayne County Health Clinic. She advanced to the next block and parked in their lot. I quickly walked over, thinking that I didn’t want her to think I was chickening out. She had asked me before we left if I was sure I wanted to go, and I said yes. We met inside the clinic and she checked in. I looked around at the reading material. Finding nothing worthwhile, I resigned to sitting down on one of the chairs and gazing at the almighty color television.

We didn’t have to wait too long, one of the nurses brought us back to a checkup room. She proceeded to ask Melissa a bunch of questions about her history — generally about genetic diseases, health-risks, and other such questions pertinent to our genetics. There were a few questions I got to answer in the same line of questioning. Melissa signed off on a consent form for the blood-work as well as the pelvic exam, and we were escorted over to the testing-center, right down the hall, where she was to provide a urine sample.

Show me more… »

Categories: This New House, Writing Pieces, Ziggy aka Sullivan
3 Comments »