my own private alamo

Loving the Summer again.

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:18:31 -0500

It's about fucking time: Over four decades have passed since I loved being outdoors during the months between June and October. Here in the North of Spain on the Mediterranean coast the weather this time of year is in the mid-70s to low 80s during the day, upper 60s to low 70s at night. As a bonus, there is a cool breeze throughout the day so it never really gets too hot.

The new apartment rocks thanks to Eva's mom and stepdad making all the necessary arrangements to have that ready for us when we arrived. We have little to no furniture yet, and probably won't for a while since there was a delay with Customs allowing our container to leave the U.S.. We did manage to pick up a small desk at IKEA� for 25Euro which functions quite well for now. I should also mention here that although Eva and I had a prenuptial agreement never to visit IKEA again after our first experience, here it has been much better. We've bought a wardrobe, kitchen table, and shelves for the living room which will look great in our new place. It was obvious when we got here that we shipped too much of our old furniture- a lot of which isn't going to fit so we already have plans to sell it.

Pol started Daycare two weeks ago when we got here and quickly became the teacher's favorite. He has such a good demeanor- mostly giggly and playful and only fussing when he's either tired or hungry, then eating all his food and falling asleep straightaway.

This weekend we treated ourselves to a trip to the Costa Brava again. This time in San Pere de Pescado at a really nice B&B. At the beach today with all the French, Swedish, Belgian and Dutch vacationers I didn't feel too bad with my own pale skin. This beach was quieter and more peaceful than the public beach at Peretallada, or maybe it's the time of year. Definitely feel like I got some sun though in those places that rarely see it.

Off to see the world.

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:06:40 -0500

Finally on our way. Packing up and moving out of the house was as big a pain in the ass as expected, but I think we managed to trim down the miscellaneous shit to mostly necessary items. The rest we distributed between family and the monthly trash pick up.

The anticipation of whatever drama awaits on the arrival end is (for now) thankfully overshadowed by our excitement. We have been living out of suitcases and working on our laptops for the last week or so, with one more week to go before we get to Spain. At the moment we're in NYC at Eva's sister's apartment, which happens to be right the fuck overlooking Columbus CIrcle on Central Park South. Next, we head to K�ln, Germany to visit the other sister and then to Barcelona at last.

The container with all our stuff arrives couple weeks after that. Then the madness begins unpacking and figuring out how a house full of shit will fit into an apartment.

I decided not to take my motorcycle after all. It finally dawned on me that with a new family I have no business doing 140MPH in a foreign country on highways I'm not familiar with. So that was a big fat 'duh'. We did pack the Audi though. It will be really nice to have that over there even if it is the last internal combustion car we will ever own. Nice car but a gas hog, and just not smart to use much except for trips.

We're also both still working too, by the way. So far my little MacBook Pro is rocking the house with no reason to expect any different until the big machine arrives with the container.

Holy crap

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 02:00:32 -0500

God I hate packing. I used to do it all the time when I was an underpaid semi-professional vagrant living under the radar, moving from house to house every year (back in the post-college days). But now- who knew we had so much shit in this house? We have shit behind other shit. Shit in the drawers out of sight that's been forgotten about but would be too expensive to replace when we need it right after we throw it out. Pol's too young to have a lot of shit, but still seems to have as much shit as we do- shit we bought that he'll need later because it's cheaper to buy it here than there.

Pol is such a great kid, by the way. We must have stolen him or something. And he's so cute- like you see other people's babies and you think.. holy shit that kid's homely. How can a baby be homely? But that one sure is. Don't stare too long- shit you stared too long now you have to smile and make the parents think they have a cute kid too when in reality your kid stood in line twice for an extra helping of guapo and then the supply ran out before their kid got up to the window.

And he's really funny so he's obviously super smart, because he giggles right in the middle of a frustrated cry-struggle. Lying on his stomach and pushing himself up is an effort since ~~he's still so fat~~ he's only 5 months old. So I humor him while he tries and tries and sometimes he cracks up in the middle of yelling in frustration.

As far as moving all our shit goes however, the good news is that Barcelona is a deep-water port. Which means, in theory, our crap will get offloaded from the container ship and we literally just schlep it across town to our apartment.

In other news, I took Eva to my 30 Year High School Reunion to see my old school mates. Unfortunately, no one showed up (that I saw or recognized, anyway). Typical.

Sympathy for the Devil?

Tue, 20 May 2008 17:30:20 -0500

None here, I'm afraid. So Ted Kennedy has a brain tumor. To me, this only proves that no one gets away with anything... again.

Harsh words? Maybe. Ironically, CNN is boo-hooing about it and has been throwing together a retrospective of 'this great man's career'. But I have no doubt that if CNN had been around in the days of Chappaquiddick, Kennedy might still be in prison doing time for, among other things, vehicular manslaughter at the least- or murder, if the prosecution has their shit together.

"On 19 July 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into Poucha Pond. He swam to shore and walked back to the party -- passing several houses and a fire station -- and two friends returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew, that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep.

Kennedy called the police the next morning. By then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began pulling strings, ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne, and he didn't call police because he was in a state of shock. In versions not so kind, it is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, that he was having an affair with Kopechne, and/or that he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight." *

Other lowlights of this 'great' man's career *here.

Fear and Loathing: or Adding Airport Extreme to a Mac Pro

Tue, 13 May 2008 02:30:13 -0500

I ordered my current Mac Pro like I always do when I upgrade, from the refurbished section of the Apple online store. It so happened that at the time my model was offered, a wireless card wasn't included. Later I found out that it's a big deal- not like the old G5s I had where I could buy a card and snap it in, shut the case and move on. Until recently, this new configuration was considered an operation only possible by authorized blah blah blah. I couldn't even buy a card or whatever and install it myself if I wanted to because apple wouldn't sell them to end users.

So, to make a long story short, it is as they all say, a delicate little piece of shit. If you googled in here looking for a tutorial I suggest this and this.

I can offer a little advice and moral support though: First, don't take no for an answer at your local Apple Store. They can and do sell these rigs to individuals though you won't see them on the shelf. Tell the little twerp sales associate you could buy one from a third party retailer like this but you'd rather buy it from Apple. If that doesn't send them to the back room suggest something over-the-counter with 10% Oxycerin for those embarrassing blemishes and go somewhere else to buy your card.

Overall, it's no more difficult than installing RAM (remember when that was considered too tricky for regular people to install also?). Just take it easy, take your time, and don't be afraid to ad lib some of the instructions. I fussed with the super-tiny wire connections for quite a while more than I needed to just because all the stuff I read warned of ruining the card by accidentally breaking the microscopic wire plugs. The fact is, I finally had to press a bit to get it to snap in to place.

Beyond all that, I also bought a new Airport Extreme with 802.11n to replace the older 802.11g versions I had. The extra bandwidth and 5GHz frequency will be most useful in Spain since wireless is a way of life there.

A Day In The Park

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:41:09 -0500

Cheesy home movie* (with audio) can be seen here.

*Fast internet connection needed because, you know, it's 2008 and you should have one anyway by now... heh.

Rumors are that it's gorgeous weather outside

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:24:33 -0500

Spent the better part of the weekend translating my work site* to Spanish (con ayuda de mi mujer, por supuesto). Also met with a couple of real estate leasing agents to discuss getting our house rented while we're gone. No sooner did the sign go up in the yard than we got some people interested, so we're hoping we find someone good who will love the place as much as we do and take care of it.

Pol was a bit 'fuzzy' on Sunday, but with good reason. He's been growing like hell and needs sleep which he fights sometimes, especially when he's so tired that he's all confused.

Eva went to the Whole Foods and brought home some new items she likes which she'd never had before we met. I made these last summer for her and explained what they were, but as of Sunday will now and forevermore be referred to around this house as 'shishkaboobs'.**

*Still sadly in need of an update, both in design and with new work not posted yet.

**Makes me wonder now what the meat counter guy thought when she asked for them by that name.

An idea worth sharing

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:20:51 -0500

My sister-in-law sent this link to a video which I found truly inspiring. It's a presentation given by a brain scientist who suffered a stroke at one point in her life... the rest of the story I offer here, as my summary would never do it justice:

If the video above loads really slowly, you can probably see it better here.

Shoes for infants: A dumb idea poorly executed.

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:10:27 -0500

At a little over 2 months old now, Pol has begun wearing 'clothes'. It makes sense to start phasing out the baby loin cloths, togas and thongs, but there's not much else of a transition except straight to people clothes. This includes socks and 'shoes'.

At the moment, Pol lies on the floor on his puffy mat working off one of his 'shoes' by stamping his little feet with focused concentration. Why do we bother? He hates the whole concept of something strangling his feet, preventing him from curling his toes and making tiny fists with them. And who can blame him?

On the other hand (so to speak), the rest of him looks like a midget in miniature jeans and golf shirt.

Why can't someone create and market a baby shoe with a built-in sock? An all-in-one footwear that's less likely to end up dropped in the parking lot and left behind.

Watching him now reminds me of a time when I was a kid, some neighborhood pals and I captured someone's house cat and put tinfoil on its legs to watch the kitty terror which ensued. While absolutely fall-down hilarious to see, its still damned cruel.

Teh conversaci�n

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:25:34 -0500

Eva: "How's it going?"

Me: "My computer is up to its old antics"

Eva: "eh? what's.. and ticks."

Me: "high jinks"

Eva: "eh?"

Me: "shenanigans"

Eva: ...

Me: "tomfoolery"

Eva : "no..."

Me: "it's crapping out"

Eva: "ah- vale. Muy bien, schnooks..."

Me: "How's Pol?"

Eva: "He's fuzzy right now"

Me: "eh?"

...etc.