Posts made in August, 2006

Caught pulling a fast one…

Posted by Dad on Aug 26, 2006 in Parenting | 0 comments

I got back from Peru at 6 a.m. yesterday after flying all night just to be home to see my kids off to school.  Every spend 5 hours on a red eye in a coach seat??? I don’t recommend it.

Anyway, rather than sleep, I wanted to spend time with my wife.  We went to the groceries.  As she went along throwing the usual into the cart, she suddenly stopped and exclaimed, “They don’t have the peach juice cans!”  The peach juice cans are my son’s favorite juice drink.  Apparently, other kids enjoy them as well as the space that they usually occupy was empty.

“Oh well, I’ll just get these apricot cans.  They look the same, he’ll [my son] never know the difference”, she said knowlingly.  Then continued on her quest.

“Are you sure?”, I called out to her. “He’s starting to read, remember!”

She turned and gave me “the look.” I instantly knew I had crossed the line into the “are you questioning my mothering skills?” area.

“I know he can read. I’m the one who taught him”, he said coldly.

Of course, she’s right. She is the one who taught him to read at the age of 5. He’s now 6 going on 7 so I’m sure my comment was a bit out of line.  “OK” I replied and we went on.  I assumed would be as absent minded as I am and will see a can that resembled what he’s used to drinking and think “close enough”.

Sure enough, when my son got home from school he went straight to the refrigerator for his usual afternoon snack.  I was in my wife’s office helping her out on the computer.  We didn’t notice that my son had crept up on us and was standing next to me when we noticed him.  We turned to him when he began to speak.

“Mommy, why didn’t you buy my juice? The one you bought begins with an “A”!”

I gave my wife a quick glance with a smirk. She, realizing her son had caught her fast one, smiled and laughed.

Our little one is growing up…

New look for Dad Daily is done

Posted by Dad on Aug 17, 2006 in Dad Daily Site, Uncategorized | 3 comments

Well, the designers have finished the new look.  What do you think?

Flying again…feels like the first time

Posted by Dad on Aug 13, 2006 in Family | 0 comments

I’m off later this morning on yet another business trip to South America.  Once again I experience the airport and all its wonders. Again I walk into a plane, smell that familiar airplane smell and take my seat. And, once again I begin to pray for God to bring me home safe.  It’s a routine I know very well as I’ve done it so many times.

Even though I’m an Executive Platinum member of American Airlines’ Advantage (miles) program, today I’m as anxious as the first time I flew after 9/11.  Yes, my rational mind tells me that the chances of something happening, especially with the added security measures, is very, very small.  Yes, chances are higher of getting into a deadly car accident on the way to the airport. I know all of that, consciously. But… sometimes anxiety seems to win the battle for my attention, especially when what is at risk is not seeing my family again.  As I’ve written in the past, these are the moments that really show you what’s important in your life.

I need to go get ready now.  Need to be at the airport three hours ahead of flight time.  Checking in my luggage- I haven’t done that in a LONG time.  Need to shave.  Man, it’s early for a Sunday!

I’ll write in from Caracas.  Wish me luck!

New look for Dad Daily site

Posted by Dad on Aug 11, 2006 in Dad Daily Site | 0 comments

As is obvious, this blog is a subset of the Dad Daily- a news site for dads.  As a father, I found it hard to read about things that were relevant and interesting to me.  Sure, I could scour CNN, the New York Times, Slashdot, Digg, Wired News, etc. and pull out the stuff from there.  However, it was very time consuming and wasteful.  As a result, the idea for Dad Daily was born- “Why don’t we dads combine our collective power and get a site going that contains all the news that we are interested in?!”

In a broader sense, this is what Web 2.0 is and why sites like Slashdot and Digg are so valuable to people.  The synergy of the community’s collaborative efforts will yield something that alone we cannot get.

This is why Dad Daily was created and why I think it is such a worthwhile project.  It is with that in mind that I paid a designer to revamp its current, drab design.  I tried to do it myself but the CSS kicked my butt.  Frankly, I don’t have the time or patience at the moment to try to figure it out.

Look for the new design in a few days.  Don’t be shy about voicing your opinions on it.

Oh, and by the way, the new design will only apply to the main Dad Daily pages.  It will not change the way the forum or this blog currently look.

Should I feel honored?

Posted by Dad on Aug 11, 2006 in Technology | 0 comments

Every day I delete about 10 SPAM comments from my blog.  Should I feel honored that these robots (I assume) think that my humble blog is worth SPAMMING?  They must think I or other dads need money because they are all about they are all about debt-consolidation, loans, and winning at poker.

It’s a shame that there are people out there that think they can generate business through these methods?  Is there anyone out there that actually reads/clicks on these things?  I can’t imagine reading comments somewhere and then read “Consolidate your debt now- GREAT RATES!” and say, “Gee, I have a lot of debt, let me see what these guys are offering.”  Am I alone?