Halloween in July

Our daycare does this thing in the summer where it switches to Summer Camp and has more fun activities like the title of this post.  I'm not sure why they didn't make it July 31st since Halloween is, much to my objection, held October 31st so it would have some symmetry.  Not to mention parents would more likely forget to bring candy and put their kids in costume on a Monday after a weekend of not having to deal with daycare.

We spent some money recently on baby sitters.  We found a college kid who is reasonably priced and can handle our two D-nuggets while we go off and run errands.  We also have a 12 year old girl down the block who can also watch them.  Keep in mind neither of these are Super Nanny as that is just as staged as the HGTV shows about buying and flipping property.

A lot of things that need to be done around the house require the intersection of appropriate weather, daylight, personal energy and someone keeping moose and squirrel occupied.  Often we have two or three of those but not the last element.

We did a lot of gardening that we had put off for frankly far too long.  I learned how to use an Edger, although I still need more practice.


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Embracing the Treadmill

Yesterday I tried something new.  Since I have so little time before work after I drop the kiddos off at daycare, and it was going to be another hot one, i decided to try something new.  I embraced the dreadmill.

3 lbs, I was hoping for more

I got on the treadmill every hour and ran one mile.  At least that was the plan.  However, it turned out to be more practical to run 2 miles each time.  I need to work on my fuel intake so that I'm not dragging on the last run.

So Thursday  I ran as many miles (6) as I did Tuesday and Wednesday combined.  I've basically lost 3 lbs though that might be more fluctuation and water weight.  I'll know better if/when I do this next week, as it looks to be in the mid 80s and I don't expect to get out before noon.



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Two Recent Bad Dreams

The last two nights I've had some not actual nightmares but definitely unpleasant dreams.

Monday night I dreamt some kid was bullying a younger me.  I could easily have kicked this kids ass except he was always surrounded by some friends who had his back.

Tuesday night I dreamt I was back in college in Kirksville and almost everyone was going home for the weekend.  Those that were around already had plans that didn't include me.  NMSU was such a commuter campus even though it was 3 hours from any major city.

I suspect my anxiety is coming from two places that intersect at my psyche.  One, I am worried my son will experience the same issues I experienced in life and be ill prepared for them (being bullied, not understanding the opposite sex, etc).  and Two, I've reach a point where I don't have very many friends that I hang out with or interact with on a day-to-day level such that what difference does it make if I stay in Chicago or move to Tennessee/Mississippi?



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Might I recommend a couple of Low-Cost Tech items

Might I recommend a couple of low cost tech items.   

• QFX WiFi/Bluetooth Speaker 
• Dayton WiFi Audio Adapter

You can connect to the speaker with Bluetooth but also to your WiFi which should have a farther range and theoretically better quality audio.  Admittedly, this one is a bit of a challenge to set up, especially if you have several of them like I do, but you cannot beat the price.

In our next house I may spring for a stereo receiver with WiFi, but for now I'm using the Dayton Audio Adaptor, which does the trick.

I cannot get celestial radio or CDs into the into my speakers but I can play Spotify et al on the speakers the previous owner put into the kitchen ceiling.  The dongle also works with the QFX speakers so it's a PoorTechDudes solution to full home streaming.

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Think of the Possibilities

In the fall of 1996, I was trying to decide between buying some property or going to G-school. I believe I made the right choice, especially since I could, no way no how, come up with the scratch to buy this house even at the 1996 price.

But man if I had, would I have kept it as is, converted into kick-ass SFH or sold to become condos, as is the most likely scenario.  It's ridiculous to speculate about what could have happened without a Delorean but let's play along.

This site says the Mortgage Interest Rate was around 8.5%.  Sites like CribChatter were not a thing back then and I was not a savvy buyer and didn't know anything about real estate.

According to the CCRD, this property sold in October 1996 for $315,000.  That means 20% down payment of $63K plus closing costs was very much out of reach for me on a $30K year paralegal salary.  But let's say they would give you a loan back then for 5% and there was some boutique lending program that let you roll up the closing costs or otherwise figured out how to help first-time buyers out.

HUD lowered down-payments from 20% to 3%, in 1995 and then to 0%. The Clinton Administration ordered Fannie and Freddie to expand their quotas of risky loans from 30 percent of portfolio to 50 percent.

The question then becomes could I have come up with $15-20K to buy this house.  Again, most surely NOT.  And if had, my life would not be the life I live today, which means no Nightingale, Natasha or Boris.  I think I'm in the better timeline.  

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Even in dark times there is always some light

Thai cave rescue: All 12 boys, soccer coach freed from cave

slight Change of Plan

Remember these?

I went to Lowe's to get some quarter rounds yesterday.  I need the following sizes:

• four 10 foot quarter rounds
• one  95 inch quarter round
• one 100 inch quarter round

Unfortunately, Lowe's only sells 8 ft and 12 ft quarter rounds (also known as shoes).  They also do not cut them because they are too hard to manage and technically pre-treated lumber.  That wouldn't be a problem except I had my Element instead of Nightingale's minivan so I couldn't bring home 12 ft QRs.



I did bring home the 8 ft one since that turns out to be 96 inches and I can see how things look and maybe practice on the one.

In the meantime I will work on touch-ups and clean up. In fact touch will be a never ending endeavor (at least until I run out of paint, which considering how much I bought won't happen) because I will always see a mistake here and a miss stroke there.

Given how much I hate to paint in the hot weather, I think the lattices will have to wait until Fall.


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Weight gains and loses

Because the weather has been so hot lately and I was unable to get out before work, I haven't run in almost 2 weeks.   This along with my usual bad eating and drinking habits make it hard to lose weight.   In fact I've gone the opposite direction.

June 8 Weigh-In

Above is what I weighed one month ago (210.8 lbs in case the picture is ever lost).  Obviously there was some oscillation between then and now but today I weighed in at 214.6 lbs.

Today: ignore other numbers

Now 4 lbs in and of themselves is nothing to get upset about.  But I'm already well past even the most generous BMI for a 6 foot 2 inch tall fellow.

The rest of the week is looking to be mid 80s.  If I can get out before work and beat the heat I can get some of that bloat off.  It wouldn't be the worse thing to run 3 miles mid-day or on the treadmill either. 


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some stuff I wrote about Facebook at the Other Place

I tend to write a lot about Facebook over at ChicagoNow.  Perhaps it's because our metrics are tied to social media and having a Facebook Page has revealed a lot about who your friends really are...or maybe I just overthink Facebook. 


Resources:

• Facebook Take a Break Feature puts friendships on Life Support
• http://www.chicagonow.com/mysteries-of-life/2017/09/facebook-friendships-on-life-support/ 
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• Facebook makes it easy to not Like it
• http://www.chicagonow.com/mysteries-of-life/2015/03/facebook-makes-easy-to-not-like/ 
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• 11 things you are doing on Facebook that are secretly pissing off your friends
• http://www.chicagonow.com/mysteries-of-life/2015/06/things-secretly-pissing-off-your-friends-on-facebook/#image/1
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• Giving up Facebook friends for Lent
• http://www.chicagonow.com/mysteries-of-life/2016/02/giving-up-facebook-friends-for-lent/
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• The Stages of Facebook Unfriending
• http://www.chicagonow.com/mysteries-of-life/2016/06/the-stages-of-facebook-unfriending/
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• You can show Empathy, Outrage and Restraint all at the same time
• http://www.chicagonow.com/mysteries-of-life/2017/04/empathy-outrage-and-restraint/

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School decisions

We just learned that the local public elementary school isn't...bad.  It's not a top-tier school and people in the hood with the means send their kids elsewhere, which causes a sort of self-fulfilling prophesy in terms of enrollment funding, but it is a decent enough school.

When someone says Good School they usually mean top test scores and student resources, etc.  But they sometimes also mean less work for the parent.  If our kids go to Portage Park Elementary, we will have to put in more work than if they went to Beaubien or Walt Disney for instance.

 "Level 1" status means It’s a combination of graduation rate, attendance, closing of achievement gaps year over year, test scores, and student growth year over year. The levels also take into consideration parent involvement and other things like healthy schools status (athletics, wellness programs, activities in the school) and art programs (art, drama, dance, etc. )
 Portage park elementary is a level one school with pretty high student attainment levels and NWEA growth scores. Check out the CPS website for more information and definitely take a tour. I second what Tanya said above, there are some pretty cool things going on over there.   Source

Public education is immensely important and needs to be funded so that every student gets a good and useful education, not just the ones in the “right” zip codes.

Public education needs to robust and useful to students Throwing money at public schools will not solve every problem, but adequately funding public schools removes a lot of problems and lets people focus on the other, different problems. Bottom line: Every public school in America should be a school you’d be fine with having your own child at.

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Finally a break in the heat

Like anyone looks here

Holy Mole, this heat. Mid-90s since Thursday and that is no fun.  IF I could have got the kids to school early enough, I would have been able to sneak in a run but the little 3 year old terrorists put up such a fight getting up, out of bed and dressed that by the time I get back, it's just about time to start work.

Most mornings I only have a 10 am call but lately I've had little things here and there which prevent me from going out until lunch time when it is too hot.  Ironically in the winter I wait until lunch time so it is ever so slightly warmer.

One day I had enough time to trim the lawn which I felt was good use of my time and needed.  I have a lot of PTO to use up and I may start taking a random Tuesday or Thursday off here and there to work on house projects but also to be able to go for a run or bike ride without worrying about getting back in time.

I am 90% done with the porch painting.  I just need to finish the stringers, which should take less than an hour.  Update: it took less than 30 minutes although I think I might give the risers a second coat at some point.

I need to do the threshold as well.  I'm going to get a heat gun to remove the paint, since I also need to remove the paint I put on the pedestals and I can get one for $8 at Harbor Freight. Then I just have to decide if I paint it green or stain it to match the door.

I probably will attempt the wood lattices at some point too, since I have way too much paint.  Then it's touch and clean up time.

Since Father's Day, my mom has not been here.  We got into one of our Pushed the Other Too Far spats and she went home.  While we can definitely use the help she provides around here, we can also live without it.  Especially since it is much less stressful with her gone.

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