I'm doing 30 things
Music Together
2 years ago
A friend just told me about “Music Together” meetings (I’ve got a 5-month old)... so we’re going to try it. I’ll let you know how it goes!
graham's Life List
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1. meditate every day
12 cheers563 people -
2. start using the library
1 entry . 21 cheers112 people -
3. exercise regularly
15 cheers9,167 people -
4. Go to graduate school
2 entries . 18 cheers1,124 people -
5. be more creative
1 entry . 12 cheers1,473 people -
6. make cheese
11 cheers92 people -
7. master the guitar
10 cheers409 people -
8. sing with people
1 entry . 8 cheers3 people -
9. write a book
6 cheers22,039 people -
10. Give blood
12 cheers2,560 people -
11. make a map of California that only shows the mountains and the ocean
1 entry . 7 cheers1 person -
12. learn the secret of being content in any situation
2 entries . 19 cheers46 people -
13. regain my fluency in Russian
1 entry . 7 cheers4 people -
14. wake up earlier
1 entry . 6 cheers1,687 people -
15. scan all my old photographs
7 cheers237 people -
16. develop a useful and popular web application
3 cheers23 people -
17. make & serve a Harry Potter themed dinner
1 entry . 7 cheers2 people -
18. get a dog
5 cheers3,321 people -
19. scale back
1 entry . 4 cheers1 person -
20. learn wilderness first aid
7 cheers5 people -
21. go on a road trip with no predetermined destination
5 cheers16,635 people -
22. Find a Bookcrossing book or two
6 cheers35 people -
23. Clean up my yard
1 entry . 5 cheers20 people -
24. learn taxidermy
1 entry . 2 cheers21 people -
25. volunteer on librivox.org
1 entry . 5 cheers4 people -
26. list the 100 best things about being a stay-at-home-dad
2 entries . 4 cheers1 person -
27. install this freaking dishwasher
1 entry . 3 cheers2 people -
28. go through my things, get rid of or donate anything I am not using
3 cheers195 people -
29. Listen to more music with my kids
1 entry . 2 cheers1 person -
30. wish cathibeth a brilliant birthday (July 10)!
37 team members1 person
Recent entries
a bad day
2 years ago
So, on our way to a family vacation in Yosemite, we stopped at a rest stop to pee and feed the baby. Kristin was nursing in the car in a fairly sparsly populated lot as I walked back from the bathroom. One of those extended-cab pickup trucks had parked right next to us (there was no shortage of empty lot; I think cars have a certain gravity that compels them to park in clumps), which wouldn’t have really mattered except that the driver had left the engine running when he went for his own pee. It was a diesel and spewing foulness all around us; Kristin, nursing, had the windows open, as it was a hot day.
There were three or four adults left in the truck. (As an aside, what’s the point of an extended-cab pickup truck? You can’t really haul anything in it…) As Kristin staggered out of the smoke with an upset, interrupted baby, I mimed “turning off the ignition” to the woman in the passenger seat, who shook her head and rolled down her window. I went around to her side and asked politely (honestly, I’m a pretty courteous guy) if she wouldn’t mind turning off her engine, since we had a baby in the car.
“We do, too,” she snarled, gesturing at a car seat in the back and rolling up the window half way. I could feel a blast of Legionnaire’s-disease-cold-air coming out that gap, and I couldn’t help hoping that they’d bundled their poor infant pretty well as I explained that their exhaust fumes were making it difficult for us to breathe, nevermind what might do to our baby.
“I don’t care,” she said and rolled the window the rest of the way up. I thought of all sorts of comebacks—Christian charity came to mind, since they had a crucifix dangling from the rearview, or even a simple “Well, I never!” But I couldn’t, of course, because the window was closed.
I did not feel content, not at all. I felt plain old angry, the more so because the peeing driver returned and they drove off. Could the baby not stand an a/c interruption of five minutes? With the windows up, would they even have noticed a temperature change? (To his credit, the driver seemed to realize the situation when he returned and, with his eyes, at least, seemed to apologize for not having realized we were next to him. I suppose I should pity that, whoever he is - husband, brother, father - he will be with that woman on the passenger seat for at least some fraction of his whole life, and I got out of it after five minutes.)
I keep coming back to this incident in my mind, though, and wondering where I went wrong. I certainly wasn’t content then.
I’m cheered, though, that writing this has made me feel more content now. A bit after the fact, perhaps, but content.
finish installing, I should say
2 years ago
After 10 years with the el-cheapo-because-we-can’t-afford-anything dishwasher, it finally gave out and we got a new one. I installed it (I’m handy with these sorts of things), but discovered that the aforementioned el-cheapo had been leaking in its cabinet, so I had to cut out a a fair bit of rot. Not only that, but the delivered dishwasher was defective and needed to be replaced. So the (replacement) dishwasher is in and working fine, but I need to cut down a new 2×4 to support the counter, replace the side wall to the cabinet, and screw in the dishwasher’s trim kit. I know, that ought to be an afternoon’s project, but as a house-dad, it’s hard to find the time! On the other hand, that exposed side of the washer is needling me, an affront to my sense of myself as a house-handy person.
Grr. Wish they’d installed the old one right in the first place.
