Up To 4 Rooms Of Equiment

I wait at one light in the morning on my way to work that takes a good five to eight minutes. Nothing to do but look at all the people going by (ooh, another school bus!) or read the sings that advertise the latest commodity service or product. You know, those services or products that every other person is selling, usually in bulk so as to make a slight profit. Problem with these commodities is that they have to spend next to nothing on the advertising vehicle to get you to notice.

The latest way to advertise for next to nothing is to put up a 16 x 24 piece of gator board with a one color quick-sell wording. These are usually at intersections, lined up for people like me who have a few minutes while waiting for the traffic signal to turn.

These are gone in just over a week when that patch of grass is mowed and the municipal employee or contractor has to remove said sign from the area in order to mow it. The next week, like a weed, another unsightly sign will be up in that place advertising for another commoditized service or product.

This weeks caught my eye because it looked "funny" to me. I couldn't figure it out, it just spoke to me in a negative way until I realized that they misspelled "Equi[p]ment".

These signs are also manufactured by the hundreds usually, so there are probably a hundred more around Fairfax with the same error.

Empty Nest Syndrome

We hadn't had any new crap to deal with, literally, in the last week, so I went and checked on our baby Robins. Looks like they up and left, out of the nest and on to, whatever baby Robins do next (probably eat worms).

Random Acts of Destruction T-Shirt

So here is another t-shirt from Kristen at babybrewing.com that Jack can wear. It fits nice and he even agreed to "model" it for me when I had the camera ready.

Thanks Kristen!

Viva Vienna

We attended "Viva Vienna" on Sunday and had a good time, except for at the very end. The fair was great, lots of vendors, good carnival food, rides for kids and adults and some music.

We saw one of Kate's online friends there, she was a vendor that sells funny t-shirts with stuff like "Mommy Needs a Cocktail" or a kids shirt that says "Random Acts of Destruction". Very cute stuff. She also has a blog (babybrewing.com), so go check it out and get a taste of her writing skill. She is a hoot.

We got a few shirts, I got the "Daddy Needs a Beer" and wore it today since I worked half the day from home. I went out twice, once to drop Jack off at daycare in the AM and once at lunch. I got four comments about the shirt, so you know its funny! Thanks Kristen!

Yes, a few seconds after this shot, a big glob of ice cream found its way onto my head. Such is the risk of having someone eat above you who is still learning how to use a spoon.

We discovered a pizza place that is tucked away off the main drag in Vienna and we will definitely be going back for some of that pizza. When you find a decent New York style pizza, you go back. (Its like Victors Pizza, Mom - Remember them?)

We let Jack go on a few rides like the train ride (he bailed at the last second), which was a surprise since he loooooves trains. He wanted to go on the big slide, so we did that, but as soon as we got to the bottom, he said he didn't want to do it again. We had some great homemade ice cream, too.

Anyway, Jack was a little tired from all that walking, so I put him up on my shoulders for some time when he would ask. It was getting late so we decided to leave. On teh way back to the car I turned my ankle on a rut in the asphalt and had to take the full brunt of falling on my knee, since Jack was still on my back. I fell forward, but pushed him so he would land on my back instead of falling off and possibly hitting his head and used my hand to stop my face from hitting the ground. Kate nearly had a heart-attack. Jack was crying and I was in some serious pain for a minute.

Jack was fine and landed just as I had wanted him to, onto my back. I thought I had broken my ankle, but it was just a sprain. My knee had a huge scrape on it and was bleeding a good amount. I limped back to the car a few hundred feet away.

Got home and cleaned up my knee. My ankle swelled up like I had a golfball implanted and stiffened up. I took two Advils and the next day it was only stiff in the morning. I kept it loose all day, I still feel it, but its much better.

Besidse the ankle sprain and close call of dropping Jack, it WAS a good time. We plan on going to Viva Vienna again, but next time I will be very wary of that spot when I go by it again.

Baby Robins

We got home and a Robin flew out from under the canopy of the weeping cherry tree out front. I looked under and saw a few beaks sticking out of the nest. The hatchlings had finally arrived and were waiting for the mother/father to return with a meal (hopefully of grubs from the front yard).

I snapped a shot of these little darlings and you can see their beaks sticking up waiting for something yummy.

I found the Robins nest by accident a few weeks ago when I heard some strange noises outside. It was the mother/father who was pecking at Kate's car window and door. I thought the bird was nuts, maybe it had seen its reflection or something, but it was persistent. The next few days the car had bird poop all over the back and side doors. This bird was not pissed, it was pooped. It also did its business on the back of my car as well.

The bird poop doesn't happen nearly as frequently this week, probably because the energies of the parents are on feeding the two new members of its growing family, so no time to poop. (I know this feeling).

But the behavior is typical of Robins who are defending their nesting area. So if you notice a lot of bird poop on your car and there are no trees or roosting areas directly above it, you may well be in a nesting zone.

Blue Jays are famous for dive-bombing anyone that wanders in their nesting zone, which happened to my dad one time. I remember looking out into the back yard from the dining room window and seeing my father step off of the sewer cap that was situated at a low spot in the yard and a blue jay swept down and dive-bombed his head. I remember thinking, "Did I just see that?".

At least it didn't poop on you, Dad!

FiOS

We went to Fair oaks and Kate decided that we go into the FiOS store and talk to Verizon about getting it. FiOS is a service offered by Verizon that is a bundled service of Cable TV, Phone line and High-Speed Internet all bundled together.

I am a skeptic, I had heard a story on local TV about how the billing practices were a bit skewed and that reaching anyone at Verizon was a nightmare. So when we walked in I let Kate ask all the questions and when she was satisfied, we decided to sign-up.

Right now we have Cox Cable and the internet service has been good. The cable TV has been OK, but what turned me was when the Caps were playing earlier this month and I could not get the game, because it was on a higher tier only. A week before it was a nationally televised game, but for the next three games, I had to listen to it on the radio.

Anyway, I digress. I am letting Kate take care of the FiOS installation and will keep meticulous notes as to how well this service lives up to its marketing. We are talking about Verizon, here. They are huuuuge and have a reputation (No offense, Ma) of not keeping their customers happy sometimes. (My mom is a former C&P/Bell Atlantic/Verizon employee)

I will keep you up to date on how the installation, service and billing goes.

Jack enjoyig himself at the FiOS store watching SpongeBob in High-Def.

The Sandbox

I wanted to get Jack a sandbox so he could play with it outside over the summer, but Kate wanted it to be up off the ground so neighborhood cats didn't climb in a do (doo) their bidness, if ya know what I mean.

We had a table that Frank and Debbie had given us that was upstairs, and it was perfect for this, all I had to do was get some sand ($4.95 a bag) and we were good to go. We had some plastic toys that a neighbor had given us so that cost nothing as well. He awoke from his afternoon nap and played with the new sandbox for a few hours.

I situated it under the tulip tree, so it gets lots of shade and is relatively protected from the heavy rains. I also put a few sheets of plywood down so it doesn't sit on the ground. He can walk around it and it doesn't get in his shorts and shoes as much. Mom is happy, I am happy and Jack is happy.