For those that are paying attention, I missed February 22. It was the last Monday of the month and that marks “New Music Monday” around our house. Unfortunately, no new music was added during the month. Let me rephrase that. No new music was added that I remember explicitly making an attempt to acquire out of desire and need for something new. Instead, I was in recovery mode.

Here’s the reason: Flatten and reload.

Basically, my laptop decided that during one of my many late-night download fests of bit torrents that it was going to acquire some sort of debilitating malware/virus/self-destructing/registry editing code. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t even music I was downloading. It was a innocent exercise in trying to make my wife happy with yet another vampire-ridden form of television entertainment.

I knew it was bad when during the download even the multiple layers of protection on my system were brought to a screeching halt and nonoperational. I kept trying to scour the system, knowing that if I turned it off or rebooted, that would be the end of the laptop as I knew it. I kept at it and swore like a sailor. I eventually gave in and tried to reboot to the last know good configuration. I think it is safe to say that when you reboot and no reboot actually occurs, that is bad. The system wouldn’t even get past the splash screen. Suck balls.


Once or twice, I was able to get to the login screen but no further. It was inevitable. Rather than waste my colorful metaphors and curses on a reboot that was never going to succeed, why don’t I just flatten and reload the machine. A fresh install wouldn’t hurt. I routinely back up my hard drives but in the most recent past, I had acquired quite a substantial amount of new entries into our musical catalog. Furthermore, I had not backed these albums up on my external storage device. So I was facing two tons of lost music. Other files that were potentially lost had no bearing on my emotions, but the music loss was substantial.

After the reload, I spent most of the next week or so trying to repopulate the music directories. I tried piecing together what I remembered having. I slaved my MP3 player back on to the laptop as it had many music files that were lost in the viral contamination of my system. I drug those back over and rebuilt the archive of music. The others, I didn’t have backed up or on the MP3 player had to be reacquired online. Both legally and illegally.


To make matters more challenging, I had an overloaded work statement for the month:

I did a flatten and reload on the wife’s laptop. It didn’t have the viral symptoms that my laptop had. Hers was just overrun with stuff and needed to be wiped clean; I also took on two new challenging wheel designs for a client; Then began to rough out a new webpage for another client; I coordinated a surprise birthday party and invitation design for my father’s 70th throw down; Valentine’s Day (men around the world…you know the horror of this day); A major re-organization at my employer which has had everyone on pins and needles wondering the effectiveness of their work ethic and necessity of their existence; And the general day-to-day requirements of building with Legos and playing video games with Son #1.

February was busy and March is shaping up to be similar. With any luck, I won’t have flatten and reload anything other than my liver in the next month.

I like sports. Always have. I’ve played on teams where my contribution was needed and played on teams where my presence wasn’t necessarily evident or maybe more negative in fashion. I’ve participated in sports where you are the only one responsible for successes and failures and participated in sports where I had no business being.

All that being said, I am a huge fan of sporting events and entertainment. With the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., I’ve been absolutely beside myself with the utmost of school girl giddiness. I love the Olympics. Everything from the tantalizing expectations leading up to the event, to the Opening Ceremonies, to the first trainwreck of an athlete getting kicked out of the Olympic Village, to the sweet taste of American medals, to the final closing comments and the anticipation of the next games.

One thing I hate; media coverage. I can see B.C. from my doorstep and I can’t get live media coverage? NBC makes me want to impale myself. This media conglomerate (see: NBC-Universal-Comcast-Xfinity-You-Are-Under-Our-Control-Corporation) thinks by controlling the broadcast of the Olympiad, the peppering of McDonald’s and P&G advertisements, and the uncountable interviews with pre-Olympic injured athletes, that I’m OK with missing the action in real time.

Apparently, I am not the only one who wants the heads of NBC officials:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/ronjudd/2011098934_judd17.html

Anyway, I’ve been geeked out for weeks waiting to watch them. The opening ceremonies didn’t disappoint. It was no Beijing but then again, Canada doesn’t coerce its population into succumbing to a Communist Regime for the sake of a Dog and Pony show. I liked the intimacy of the Opening Ceremonies as well as their technological achievements in digital projection. But what I really wanted to see was all of the winter sport. Still, despite the network broadcast shortcomings, I’m an addict. Let’s talk some events here that I like. And I’m no media spinning, propaganda belching reporter, so you will get my feelings and not some overbearing dramatization.

Short Track Speed Skating
A wall of three South Koreans separated Apolo Ohno and teammate J.R. Celski from medaling. The spill of two of the South Koreans opened the door for Ohno and Celski to medal Silver and Bronze respectively. I am not a big fan of speed skating or going around in circles but I do appreciate the intensity of short track racing, the sharp elbows of the competitors and a good wad up. It’s like roller derby on blades but with out the slinky costumes and black eyes.


Men’s and Women’s Moguls
I was bummed out when local Patrick Deneen wrecked while trying to go big on his last jump. His competition had scored extremely well so the pressure was on to bring it. Unfortunately, the Olympic Gods did not support his plight and he went down. But such is this in sport, go big or go home. He went for the win and while not getting it, he embodied everything that is great about our US athletes. Heart to win.


On the women’s side, the race was tight and the Canadian incumbent, Jenn Heil, was the odds on favorite to win gold. Well, until Hannah Kearney rocked a flawless run in cleanup. In 2006, she sucked. In 2010, she was golden. Kearney had something to prove and went out and did just that. She had the fastest time and biggest tricks. Kearney snatched the gold right away from the incumbent through her dominance and not playing it safe.


Men’s and Women’s Snowboard Cross
This is probably my favorite event of the winter Olympics for many reasons. Most significantly, I snowboarded for a long time and the sport is near and dear to my heart. I always felt that it was my generation that assisted its growth into mainstream. Also, the course reminds me of a freeride MTB trail. Drops, gaps, and high berms are the stuff I dream about. And lastly, the race is about speed and style.

Seth Wescott made a huge comeback win to beat the competition during the finals. He was so far behind that he would have had to dial long distance to reach the leader. But in an shrewd, precise fashion, one by one, he made his way to the front of the pack to take gold. To make it more impactful to our nation, he carried his grandfather’s U.S. flag who served in WWII and has past away. Family and patriotism.


On the women’s side, I thought Lindsey Jacobellis would have learned from her mistakes in 2006. She had gold locked up in the Turin Olympics but pulled a bone-headed hot dog move on the last step down. That time, her landing was sketchy and she wadded up ultimately grabbing the silver instead of gold. This year, it wasn’t her style that got her, it was fate. Unfortunately, during her semifinal heat, she stumbled on a landing trying to avoid the competition and went off course. This resulted in a disqualification. It’s unfortunate fate for a star that revolutionized the sport for women.


Leave it to the media to rain on her more in her disappointment. Read this jack ass’s perception of her:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrybrewer/2011099429_brewer17.html

Olympics Medal Counter


Now I am waiting for the halfpipe competition to support the sports current generation of athletes. No live TV coverage though. It’s a shame that the CBC lost its Olympic contract and now us Seattle folks have to deal with a media conglomerate. Oh well, it would be easier to drive up and see it real-time, then drive home and watch it again on NBC. NBC continues to deny the fact that West Coast viewership wants to see it live. The idiots think that more people will enjoy watching tape delayed, packaged and edited curling and ice dancing. I love sports, but not on NBC.

When you spend the majority of your conscious day working for the man, you look forward to the solace of your own abode and the compassion of your family unit. It’s easy to lose sight of the comings and goings and daily happenings around the house when you are chained to a desk. It’s no different in my house. Coming home from the office always presents and interesting set of daily circumstances. Will I lose my patience with a driver who seems to have lost his or her ever-loving mind? Will I speed down a suburban street ‘above’ the speed limit only to have a local yahoo on a motorcycle chase me to my house, pound on my front door, and scold my wife in to lecturing me about posted speed limits? Or, will I enter the house only to hear the siren-like screaming of children being firmly, but parentally, accosted by their mother for the latest in disorderly conduct?

Typically, it is the latter of the list above.

I like dinner. My kids like dinner. My wife, I think, likes dinner. The problems lie on both sides of the dinner equation. For the parents, it’s the patience required to prepare the dinner. On the kids’ side, it’s the patience required to wait for the dinner to be prepared and the ability to outlast the parents when the dinner is not to their expectations. The stage has been set, dinner is on the table, now for the drama.

Son #2 used to eat everything we put in front of him. If you recall from previous posts, he skipped the bottle and baby food phases of development. He likes adult sustenance. Well, he did until recently. Son #2 believes, or at least I’m interpreting the screams as this, that it’s his God given right to eat cupcakes and crackers for dinner. He used to like meat and veggies. Now, it’s fish crackers and confectionary goodness followed by a glass of soy milk. Unfortunately for him, and my ears, this isn’t an acceptable meal. Let the screaming and arm waving begin.



Son #1 is a different breed. He has developed a liking for certain food products. And by that, I mean two specific items. The first being French fries, nondescript fried potato goodness. They can be crinkle cut, shoe strings, or tater tots. The second food of preference is chicken of the crispy outer covering variety. According to Son #1, this is how chicken naturally occurs in the universe. Apparently, we have visited KFC a few too many times. No matter how many times I try to explain that chicken exists in many other forms, some much more healthfully than others, he denies my culinary claims.



We don’t eat cupcakes and crispy chicken every night so you can tell there are 'disagreements' at the dinner table.

Because of such differences in opinion and the heated conversations which occur while seated at our table, I’ve devised a way to make this experience much more enjoyable. A drinking game.

Each time that Son #2 throws a veggie on the floor, points toward the cookie dish, and exclaims, “Cup,” we drink. Each time Son #1 asks the food related question, “Have I had this type of chicken before?” we truthfully answer, “Yes,” and he then retorts with an enthusiastic, “No I haven’t!” we drink. It functions on the same premise of the Sarah Palin drinking game. Each time she utters the word “maverick” a player takes a swig. Simple rules, just like Palin, for a simple game.

An unsuccessful dinner will ALWAYS lead to a successful drunk. Feel free to modify these rules to fit your household.

In all seriousness, we have defiance and crying at the dinner table. And typically, it comes from all four members of my family. Have we have created a little bit of this defiance and reactionary behavior by the way we portray ourselves? There’s a little nature here where the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But I think nurture might be heavily outweighing it in this instance. I’ve been thinking lately about how much children attempt to emulate their parents.

Think about it. How many times have you watch little Johnny pick up the phone, place it to his ear, and pretend to talk? We all think that it’s cute. Son #2 does it and we pretend he is calling his grandmother. But the reality is that he learned this from observing us. Why would dinner behavior be any different? I’m concerned that when we discipline our children, we raise our voices, especially if at first shot they don’t listen. They’re learning that it’s acceptable to raise their voices. I can’t help but wonder, are we raising our voices too often at our children? At times during dinner, it feels like it’s a no win game.

Most times, dinner is full of humor. It’s the occasional circumstance like the other night which paints a negative picture. Arguing about eating, timeouts, and early bed times are sometimes necessary but still sting afterward just the same. I love my two boys and need to remember to reflect back on my resolutions as well as how I like to be treated as a person and project that on to them.

Until then, the drinking game is a great idea. Here's to college and everything I learned there. Bottoms up!