I was actually looking for something else on-line when I stumbled onto this. Kids riding a zip line to get to school!

It sounded like the village name is Los Pinos in Columbia.

Direct link is here

The video shows it all.

Here’s the original Detroit Fox video. Or try here.

Shouldn’t this be illegal since she’s buying votes?

I’ve really been liking Ingrid Michaelson (although I don’t think I’ve mentioned her here before) but this home video is so cute I felt the need to share! If you don’t know the song it might not be as cute but I think so…

Actuallym Ingrid thinks it’s pretty cute too, she sent it out to her fans (that’s how I found it). Here’s a direct link to YouTube if the in-line video doesn’t work.

If this isn’t the cutest review of episode 4 that you’ve ever seen…

I’m sure a few parts were re-shot, but it’s adorable…

Here’s another cute kid video…

You can still Get 1 Give 1 through December 31st, 2007, they extended the date. I don’t know what availability is going to be after that, but you’ll have to take your chances after that…

As of JANUARY 1, 2008 they still have the G1G1 order form on-line.

The only way to get one is to donate one, so you actually get one for yourself and a tax deductible laptop that is donated to a developing nation. The Get 1 Give 1 (G1G1) program ends today (December 31st, 2007) so order now.

This is nifty little machine (and a good cause) I’ve mentioned the XO laptop before and I’ve been talking more about it more in depth over at the XO Experiment.

I’m SO excited!

I wasn’t expecting it for at least another week….

For more info, go to Laptop.org

‘I got my XO Laptop‘ uploaded by garylapointe

So they’ve got shipping info up for the One Laptop Per Child laptops! I didn’t order until November 21st, so it looks like my target is Dec 26, 2007 – Jan 15, 2008, they’re trying for sooner (the first ones may start arriving this Friday).

Since it’s really not all about me, I’ll mention it also says my “donated laptop will reach a child in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, Mongolia or Rwanda in early 2008.”

So I caved and ordered my $200 laptop, actually I had to order two . The only way to get one is to donate one, so you actually get one for yourself and a tax deductible laptop that is donated to a developing nation (total = $400). The Get 1 Give 1 (G1G1) program only lasts 5 more days (ends November 26) so order now.

As a “Give One Get One” donor, you will receive one of the first XO laptops to be distributed in North America. Laptops will be delivered on a first come, first served basis.

In addition, T-Mobile gives you one-year complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpots (I think you can use any laptop there, not just the XO). So that’s an extra bonus too. The tax write off for part of it and a year of free hotspots (granted I wouldn’t have purchased it, but I will use it) give even more value to it. And I’ll probably spend a little more time at Starbucks and Borders now.

Here’s some more details from when I had mentioned this $100 laptop before and some reviews on the laptop and the program. I’m not sure why they’re limiting the window for when you can buy it or why it’s limited to the US and Canada. I just wish I had it for my next trip to Costa Rica….

I thought this was hysterical!!!!
I stole this from Jodi at faster pussycat… type! type!.

This is probably the best review of the XO laptop (often called the “$100 Laptop”) I’ve ever seen. This is a very cool machine and should start manufacturing this fall. Unfortunately, it wasn’t designed for US sales, but once the demand gets up there I can see it (or something similar) being offered for sale. We have similar type items in the US but not as advanced and for more than double the price.

With a (tablet-like) twist screen it’s pretty need at how it folds over. And the screen has two modes: bright color and high contrast B & W for outside viewing. It had an SD slot and three USB ports, ethernet, wireless (with the mesh network), web-cam for collaboration, works as a gaming device or sideways as an eBook reader. They had to remove the built in charging crank which is a problem if you’re in a really remote area. I’m sure separate chargers raise the price)?).

The software running on the XO is just as compelling as its hardware. The Red Hat Fedora Linux-based Sugar operating system is fairly basic, and we got comfortable using it within a few minutes. The home screen displays the XO logo within a circle, and the surrounding circle fills up with running programs. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll find the Start Menu and system application icons, including Paint, Write, Chat, and RSS. - Laptop Magazine

I can see something like this really changing computing for a 1 to 1 ratio. This is all really most people want, e-mail, web, portability (3.5 pounds) and a 10 to 1 charging ratio. The high contrast for reading an e-book will (IMHO) give them something they don’t think they want (lots of text on the go). Add some bluetooth to get on-line on my phone and I’m in. And it runs Red Hat Linux for an OS. I want one of these puppies more than an iPhone.

This is really more about health costs, not my problems. As far as I know I’m fine, but they’ve been trying to diagnose a minor problem (although I guess I’m not qualified to say it’s “minor”) so don’t worry…

This is the story – I’m finally getting copies of the insurance bills for a big test (had to be unconscious for the test, I think that’s the only reason it was in the hospital) and so far they total up to about $3,300! and I haven’t paid a penny. Please note that this doesn’t even include my initial visit to my doctor and the two visits to the specialist (which all included tests) and each of the visits each included a prescription or two (I’ve probably paid less than $75 for all that). That’s a lot of money, and if I didn’t have insurance I’d be happy to spend money on getting better but so far I don’t think anything has helped (maybe I’m a little better since this started in late April but I might just be getting used to it or maybe I’d just be getting better anyways) and I don’t think the tests dound anything. I’m sure the costs would be a bit less if I were paying for it out my own pocket, but still…I can’t imagine not having great insurance let alone not having insurance at all. We’ve got great unions in Michigan and probably even more so in the Detroit area so that’s always benefitted me (medical and dental benefits). I just can’t imagine not having it. I’ve always been very fortunate with having great health insurance and they very few times I haven’t, I’ve not had to really use it.

I don’t know the solution for health in this country but I think we need to concentrate more of the USofA resources on health. People should be able to count on good health, education and food; I think these items qualify for the whole “life, liberty and happiness” thing (I’ll clarify these points if I ever run for office).

Speaking of insurance for everyone, in Michigan we’ve got a pretty decent Children’s Health Insurance program called MiChild for only $10 a month for your child. You have to be a low income family and I’m not sure what the requirement/formula is but I thought I’d mention it since I was mentioning insurance (I guess it’s only good if you actually qualify). If you have kids and no insurance in Michigan please check out this program and apply for your kids. They have a dental program that can be signed up for too.

I guess I really don’t have much else to say other than I’m very fortunate in this case and very thankful for great insurance (and thankful it’s not a bigger problem). It’s not that I want them to find something wrong, it’s just that if there is something wrong I want them to find it sooner.

I haven’t had the follow-up yet (in a few weeks), so I don’t have a diagnosis yet, but I’m thinking if they found something from the tests or the biopsy they’d have gotten me in sooner (or called me). So I’m assuming they’ll be no diagnosis, I’m guessing they’ll try more drugs and if that doesn’t help, maybe another similar test (yuk!) later…

Disclaimer: I’m sure at some point in the future insurance companies will be googling for pre-existing conditions on the ‘net. So I almost didn’t write this post. For the future googlers, to set the record straight, I confess that my problem is there is a banana growing out of my forehead, so if you are looking to insure me in the future and there is no banana that means I’m cured(!) and there is nothing preexisting…

Over at The Good Human it was mentioned that a “13 year old understands better than most how jeans are made” and so I went over to Simple Living to read it. Madison, the bloggers daughter, wrote it and it’s a great explanation on the resources used to make jeans so go take a quick look at it…

So I’m very excited about the holidays!!! Tomorrow my house will be packed with people. I’ve never had this many people in my condo so it’s going to be a tight fit. Twenty-eight people, I think about 10 will be kids and while I’ve generally got stuff for kids to do things, I don’t have much space for them to do it in, that’ll be the trick!

Saturday (the 23rd) will also be the closest to Christmas that my extended family (on my Mom’s side) has celebrated Christmas since 1997, I think every year before that we got that group together on Christmas Eve. That’s why I’m having it this year, I wanted it closer to Christmas and this way, I get my way

Well, I’m off. I’ve got a bunch of little things that need to be done, but enough of everything is done so I don’t have to worry about it. I think I’m done with all the kids except one (and I think that will require a call to his parents since I’m clueless).

So yesterday I had to do my Cat in the Hat appearance at a birthday party (I sold my self at an auction). I needed to change into the outfit before going and while I look goofy while wearing it, I think it looks even goofier when you don’t wear the whole thing (such as minus hat and whiskers).

So I’ve got the whole thing on, I’m driving the convertible, hanging onto the hat. I’m in the second lane to the left. I pass the cop in the right turn only lane. He swoops out of the lane and into mine (there’s now a van in-between us) and starts following me. It must be due to the rash of Cat (in-the-Hat) burglaries we’ve had lately or maybe there’s a gang of bank robbers who dress up as Cat in the Hat?!? He follows me a few miles and even makes a left turn when I do. He doesn’t follow me down the street to five year old Sophie’s birthday party, could you have seen it if he had pulled me over in front of the house? She would have been traumatized forever…

The party was great BTW, I read a lot of stories, a few Dr. Seuss and then some. We had fun and I even got an offer for another gig. But doing this more than the few times I do it for school auctions (which always seem to be on summer days) is more than enough for me. Maybe if I could do bachelorette parties instead…?

I knew this week at work was going to be cRaZy but I did think I’d have time to blog!?! I haven’t even looked at the photos from Chicago yet (other than on the other’s blogs). I’m in East Lansing again, one of my favorite towns! Eating lunch at Charlie Kang’s, broccoli with beef with no vegetables (but I still want the broccoli).

I’m off to Bekah’s high school graduation and I’m sure they’ll be lots of eating and drinking after (well, no drinking for her). I’ll see if I can photo blog something for it later

And tomorrow I get to be the Cat in the Hat for a 5 year old’s birthday party (this was the party that I was purchased for at the school auction a few months a go).

Since I’m busy this weekend and no time to relax, I’m taking a vacation day Monday, I’ll try to catch up then.

So I’ve always known I’d do a website with photos and video whenever I get around to having or adopting a baby. I even already own the website name for it. But the more I watch Erika-Renee post pictures (and video and stories) of her new little Sammy on her blog it just makes my gears turn or my future options.

Remember I’m the guy who’s posted a few hundred photos of a few week trip to Egypt and I’m nowhere near done at this point. Imagine the opportunity to having a baby who’s there all the time, if their going to keep me awake I might as well as take photos! S/he is going to think that a camera click is just background noise all the time. The podcasts, photocasts and videocast options are just limitless….

So Oliver Twist comes to mind often during these my Egypt trip. I see all these kids running around trying to sell you something. They just swarm you like a group of mosquitoes. It’s hysterical on some level it’s like on some TV show when you see the little kid with little puppies jumping all over them.

Most of the time it seems like the children are very poor but I think many of them are not poor (at least not by their standards). We were at this one place and these little kids were so dirty it just tears at my heart. When we got back in the van I asked if they dirtied them up on purpose, the tour guide laughed and said they were just dirty, “they’re kids, they don’t mind”.

Generally when swarmed it seems like they are in a few groups, they all seem to go back to the same few adults for change. But it just makes me think of the groups of orphans in oliver twist. I’ve spent many dollars/pounds on many of these trinkets if I can haggle down to a dollar or less, it’s a safe bet I’ll get one (unless I already have 15!).

So I’m up for auction again! You can bid on a basket of Cat in the Hat paraphernalia (book, movie, coloring book, crayons, etc) which includes a visit to your house from the Cat in the Hat (that’s me) to read to your kids or a party or whatever…

Last year I go to go to a birthday party for a 7 year old, their mom did the who party as a Dr. Suess theme so I was the hit of the party!

The basket I made got in the local paper (it’s in the lower right). So if you’re not doing anything tomorrow come to the auction in Redford, MI. FYI, it’s NASCAR themed so they’ll be all sorts of non-Cat in the Hat stuff too!

So Thanksgiving was great, really really cold, but it was great. We were at my cousin’s house, which used to be my grandparents, which is where I grew up until I was about seven. She had family from her in-law’s side there and some relatives from our side. There wasn’t many from my side of the family but they only live a few blocks from my Mom (we’re the only single people left around here so we always tag along with their events). We probably had about a half-dozen kids too so they were fun, I haven’t seen them much at all lately so it was great to see all of them.

My extra bonus for the day was that my cousin’s sister-in-law was there and she had her eleven week-old baby and he was great. I got to feed him and hold him for a long time (and a little bit later on too). He was great, I haven’t had many babies around lately, the next youngest ones (who weren’t there) are about two-and-a-half now, still fun but too heavy to carry around for that long.

So my cousin Scott and Katie showed up for dessert and so did his dad and girlfriend so it got to be a full house at the end of the evening. . He had a new iPod nano that I was checking out.

I know I’ve mentioned Diane Duane several times before. But I just got her last two Wizardry books (7-The Wizard’s Holiday and 8-Wizards at War, the latter which came out early!) for my birthday (I read the one, but it just recently came out in paperback and I hadn’t gotten it yet since I had it on my Wishlist) the other is my only hard cover of it. She writes a wide gambit of stuff but the Wizardry books are my favorite and the first two are among my favorite books ever. As books like that go, they are probably more Narnia than HP. Part of what I like are there are rules that define How Wizardry Works, you just don’t wave a wand…

So I’m excited about the new book that’s coming out later next year, A Wizard of Mars, generally if they leave the planet it’s for another galaxy or dimension, this will be pretty close to home. Probably tie into some real science and be more fun that just some make believe planet.

Check out this joystick! You can’t see it in the photo? It’s the horsey! The faster you rock the faster you go and you turn the head to go right or left. I’d have to assume this will be very intuitive for kids. You never know for sure but I’d think this would work for them. The “game” was pretty much a POV with you running around the landscape and it was very cool with the way the joystick worked.

So remember a few months ago a I mentioned I got auctioned off? So today was the birthday party for the winning seven year old; she got to have the Cat in the Hat come to her themed party. We had a blast. They came running out front when I got there and were pretty excited. They made me read four books and eat lunch and the birthday girl even read a new book she got and did an excellent job (even another first grader told her so). And even though they weren’t eating cake at the time they lit the candles and blew it out so they could cut a piece to send home with me

So I keep seeing this commercial for Toyota vehicles (I can’t find anything related to it on-line). It’s got two kids up in the control booth with “Bob” and they cheer him on as he keeps test crashing the cars (he’s got an assembly destruction line he can control). They’re like “now the eight seater”… I think it’s hysterical…

The boys are so sad when Bob runs out of cars. They say “what about your car?!?

Dandee (see comments) found a link http://www.visit4info.com/details.cfm?adid=22183&version=2&type=normal but said it will expire in about a month, so view it if you haven’t seen it!

So it’s graduation time again. I kept thinking about last years graduation and how emotional it was. This year’s wasn’t as emotional but there was one speech where we didn’t think she was going to be able to finish. She caused a lot of eyes to be not-so-dry.

There really seemed to be an extra connection between the kids and the class as a whole. After listening and thinking about them I realized this was the group, that after a few weeks of just starting high school, that they experienced 9/11 together. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it or maybe it was a smaller group or maybe just one of those things but it was something I noticed…

For those of you who don’t know much about me: I’m an administrator in a school district (this means I have to sit on the stage) and I’m a pretty energetic/fidgety person. Sitting on a stage for two hours with out standing up or going to take a break or stretching or getting a soda or something is a huge test of stamina for me. I just don’t sit still for that long. This is one of the few times in my life that I actually have to stay there and stay still. For most things in life a hour is all you have to do manage so this is always a test. Of course I made it but it always seems like a test…

So I saw this book a few times at the bookstore but left it alone, but when I saw it at the library I signed it out. Twenty-year-old Shane Monroe works on a machine to generate tornadoes so that we can understand them and stop them. When it turns out his college assistantship is funded by the government he quits, but then he sees strange weather disasters and he knows that it’s his fault. This is the story of a normal (genius) kid and how he tries to stop him from using his machine for evil.

It was a fun easy read (high school level), lots of movie and television references by him and his buddies that I caught onto so that was fun. Lots of excitement as he gets caught up in the government conspiracy crisis that he’s not used to. A bit more gore (and death) than I expected at this reading level, but it increased the tension knowing that some of the characters might actually die.

So you could have had the Cat in the Hat come to your house for the meager price of $55!!! I went a little cheap (and that was after I bid against the first low bid that was just sitting there; does that count as insider trading?) but a lot of items seemed to go for a bargain this time around; I’m not sure if there wasn’t enough people, too many items or the money crunch is hitting more and more pockets. I’ll end up reading at a young lady’s birthday party in a few months (I think she’ll be six) and I think her mom will probably making it a Dr. Seuss themed party. I always run into the birthday girl around town, I wonder if she’ll recognize me? The (school fund raising) auction was fun; it’s always great to do the silent bids and then see what you got later… I walked away with four items that I “won”.

If you’re into sports you should go to these types of things, there is always all sorts of sports memorabilia (some autographed), tickets and tailgating type packages put together that you can bid on. I’m not so into the sports but I do notice the quantity of items along these lines…

On Friday, March 18, 2005 the South Redford Foundation for Educational Excellence will be having an auction for the public schools in our district. We even let students write grants for their classrooms) in south Redford, Michigan. You’ll be able to bid on all sorts of things including an opportunity to bid on the Cat in the Hat to come read to you and/or your kids! And not only do you get to support the schools you get to meet me!

So I’ve started reading these books Stormbreaker, Point Blank and Skeleton Key.

Alex Rider, who as all good kid characters happen to be is an orphan, ends up being a junior spy for MI-6 (spy group in London). It’s a kid’s book, so you need a little suspension of disbelief, but it’s really well done. It’s even educational at times (I learned a bit about the breakup of Russia). He even gets some neat spy gizmos to carry around (no guns). The books do build on each other so be sure to read them in order (Stormbreaker is the first). Also to keep in mind is that I think each book has been better than the previous one, so if you only like the first one a little, give the next one a chance. The author’s name is Anthony Horowitz (I just realized I left that out, March 18th, 2005)

I thought the little kids at work (in the daycare) would think it was funny to see Mr. Gary with Miss. Hello Kitty. I just spotted this while digging through my CES photos and decided to share with you all too!

Hmmm… Actually it’s Hello Kitty… Does the kitty have a name? (Sanrio?)

Mexican style food and appetizers for dinner were fun! The kids sure seemed to love it. To clarify these are kids that I bought gifts for last weekend’s holiday get together, so we’re just there to hang out and eat and watch the kids play (this is fine with me they’re hysterical to watch). So now the adults have wrapped up gift cards from the kids for me as a thanks (this isn’t normal). Which is great, I love gift cards, Target and Best Buy (like I’m not in those stores 3 times a week), I’m even conscientious about how I spend them; I won’t use them to fill my prescriptions, I’ll use them when I get music, movie or some accessory for my computer or iPod (then I can tell them what I got).

Okay so I digressed, again, but I buy the presents for the kids ’cause I want to. I find stuff I like and I’ll know they like and it makes me happy. I figure out what I wanted for one the girls and spent too much time/money on it, but it’s what I wanted, so it’s what I got. What I want (at most) is for the kids to make me something as a gift or thank you. Or to make sure you invite me to the birthdays, I don’t eat much and I bring good presents, what’s the problem…
Two of the points made me laugh since they apply to me:

So we did Christmas with part of the extended family and Kelli (one of my cousin’s kids) was all dressed up in different clothes that had snowflakes and different shades of blues. I just kept thinking, “Hey! She looks like my blog!”

So I made a visit to the funeral home today. I forgot how many people show up when the person is so young. He was about 24 and he had been a student in the school district where I work and his mother works there (in a position where many many people know her and trust her) so there there were just bunches of people. There were teachers who don’t even work there any more, people who knew mom and whose kids knew mom and it was really sad to see how many people were there. It was an automobile accident and there had been another death of a former student this past week (also an auto accident related) so everyone was even sadder than usual.

I didn’t think there’d be that many people I knew there and wasn’t really thinking I’d have to be social and make much real conversation. I usually say hello (and do the other stuff) and then I usually get lucky and find someone’s kids to entertain while I’m there. Most times I go to these things I generally don’t know the family or I don’t really know the deceased; this time my connection was to both. I know his mother from work and earlier this year I was complaining about our department being behind in some things and she did the mom thing and mentioned that he was between jobs and so he worked for our department for a little while doing some various tech jobs for us. She talked to me for a little bit about that today to me (I was surprised she even remembered in the state that she must be in) and the impact and the closure for him being around in the district and such. I seem to recall that someone told me he was more of the spiked hair type of kid when he was a student and that wasn’t the case now so he’d probably gone through a few changes since then…

So I just got back from The Henry Ford and seeing the Polar Express and it was excellent. I knew it might seem strange but there were lots of action scenes. With the 3D with action scenes were wild. Oh and did I mention it was at the iMax IMAX?

If you have any interest in seeing this then go see it! Better yet, see it in 3D…

Kids would like this, my question is: Since the movie is about people doubting about Christmas, would it make some kids doubt it?

I really don’t remember the original story but it was great. Tom Hanks was the voice and model for several of the characters. Lots of music some new and some old. Be sure to pay attention to the Elf singing on stage at the end, he looks familiar…

I liked this quote. I don’t have kids, but I hope someday I’ll help them to carry (or be) a message that is a good one.

It was someone’s signature on SlickDeals.net but no link to anything that I can attribute it to…

I was just writing something, it said, “I’ve been back in the Detroit area (Dearborn) for around six years now.” and then I realized it was exactly six years today that I started working back this way (I had been in the Lansing area for eleven years). I can’t believe it’s been that long. A few homes, a few relationships (broken hearts) and a few jobs later I’m still around here.

My (only) complaint(s) – still single and childless. (I thought that was going to turn into a long list of complaints, but I guess that’s all I’m really missing.) That doesn’t sound too bad but I don’t think was much longer than that when I got here six years ago…

So what’s your opinion is this just a toy that was found inside a bag of candy? or was there some deeper thought put into it’s creation.

Oh, did I mention the part number of the toy was 9011? Here’s a link to the news story.

So yesterday we got everyone together after Heather’s Ordination. Back at Mom’s (hers) to get everyone together, and I mean everyone. Heather knows people from all over and there were people from everywhere in the state, nearby states and even some really far ones. A few kids running around and a ten-month old baby, LaLa (short for Lavender), that I adopted for the weekend.

Then today she did the service at 8am and 10am (most of us went to the 10) and she was wonderful. Then a dozen of us went out to eat and we started our way home…

Heather is off to Evanston, IL to work for Northwestern as a campus minister. She’ll probably be living no farther than a block or three from where she lived when she went to seminary at Seabury. Evanston is one of my favorite towns, I almost always include it in my visits to Chicago (and I don’t always include Chicago into my Evanston visits). And I can take the train most of the way there!

Lots of comings and goings at school this week. Training new teachers (they’re all super nice). Got to see a few of the kids who will be in daycare in my building, I miss them so much. And lots of meetings that had food which is always a bonus; especially when I don’t actually have to attend the meeting.

And speaking of school (sort of) Heather graduated a few months ago. But now that she’s got a job she gets to be ordained! So it’s off to the ceremony tomorrow and hang out and then performs the service. Yeah! And she moves back to one of my favorite towns to work in.

I’ve been blogging for nine months. I’ve accomplished part of what I wanted. I’ve got random people reading and finding my ramblings (random wasn’t a big mission, but I need at least a few people to read it). I started the first part as being very nice and never complaining too much. I migrated that to a blog for talking (and occasionally whining) but wondering is anyone listening? and occasionally finding out that they are.

At the same time I needed a 12 step program due to too much meme-img. To feed this addiction I created two small meme-sites (http://thedailymeme.com/ (and a sub-site of lost memes ) that list daily, weekly, monthly and other memes to help people find more. Some of the odd one-short of propagating things and some of the odder memes arein the lost section of the same site. This was a accidental byproduct of memeing.

I have my gizmoboy site and that’s all but ready to go. But just haven’t found the time to finish it and get it on-line.

I did do a London Blog for my recent trip which generated a lot of friend/family interest in that it was just for them. I broke to my regular blog to keep the non-regular-readers from finding it by accident. If they want to read it, go ahead, but I’m not going to accidentally show them my “inner stuff” if they can’t find it…. or at least ask for it.

I’ve had in my head another idea that’s going to need some dollars to make it work, I’ve had it in simple terms in my head at different times. But I’d like to implement it. A site to get people to smile more and wave more to little kids more and be NICE. You”ll see more on this as time goes on.

Need some site to share some advertising with too. Need to be part of some networks for information.

A CHILD SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO LOOK AROUND WIHOUT SOMEONE WAVING AND SAYING HI! Wouldn’t that be nice?!?

So while I was in England I got to hang out with Monika, Danielle and Alysha. They were a blast and the kids had these accents that were so cute it actually sounded like that they were pretending to have accents. I should have recorded them so I could add an audio clip here.

1. Fav. Book as a Child?: I loved the Alvin Fernald books (A’s Secret Code, Mayor for a Day, etc.), always doing fun stuff and getting into trouble (and yet still helping out).
2. Fav. TV Show as a Child?: I loved the Wonderful World of Disney, Sundays at 7, I think… A different show/movie every week.
3. Fav. Movie as a Child?: The “Escape from With Mountain” movies, I loved Tia and Tony. FYI: Tia played Alvin’s sister on the Wonderful World of Disney movies (I didn’t realize how all 3 questions tied together until this second).
4. Fav. Food as a Child?: PB & J. Lunch and Dinner! I still remember mom getting excited the first time I at a hamburger.
5. Fav. Outfit as a Child?: Jeans and a T-shirt. I think it was always a white t-shirt.

From Chick Chat

Today was a nice day, I’ve been working on my To Do list and adding things almost as fast as I can cross them off. But I’ve been getting lots done. The one annoying thing was buying an additional bathroom rug (which I thought I did a week or two ago but searched the house/car/house/car many times for) and after being home 5 minutes I found the one I already bought… Back to Kohls!

One of the High School teachers was having a barbecue and I got an invite which was nice, sometimes things like that just go out to the specific buildings and I don’t hear about them. I’m on that odd borderline of Administrator or Person, depends who you talk to, what their mood is and how upset people are with other administrators. It was a lot of fun, we grilled, played croquet ate and played with the kids. There were some babies, one that finally warmed up to me and let me carry here around, and some older kids. Got to meet some spouses and that’s always interesting. I felt bad taking off as some others were showing up but the allergies had been starting to kick in and and then the neighbor started mowing (cut grass is my kryptonite).

On the way home, talked to some older gentleman at Borders who was looking at the O’Reiley’s Essential Blogging book and hopefully I gave him some good info, he want to get into it but wasn’t sure where to start. I pushed Movable Type but suggested TypePad if he just wanted to try it out. I found a few winners myself: Two 2004 O’Reiley’s books PHP & MySQL and and Pocket Linux guide.

Plus I found out a person I dated was getting married soon. For some reason I always find that interesting when I find it out about someone…

Schools Out. My babies are gone. I’ve got tomorrow off. I’m just about to get into bed. Okay, (since you asked) I’ll elaborate.

The last day of school for the teachers was today! My phone should ring a lot less with all the things that they’ve thought of the last 9 months that they want to remind me of as they run out the door. It’s still busy, our fiscal year ends in 3 weeks so lots of wrap up and then the new one starts and that takes time and then it’s mid-july and everyone is back in a month…

I want to go to England for a week in July, anyone have suggestions on where to get the best price from Detroit?

Okay, so they aren’t my babies. Day care for the district is in my building so I get to see all the little kids when they go for walks or play outside etc. But they are all wonderful and I already miss them. Whatever it is in the drinking fountains at school that causes the staff to get so pregnant so often also causes the children to be beautiful and smart and to generally like me. They are great kids and the department that takes care of them does an excellent job. It’s great to see them and they all know who Mr. Gary is. Speaking of the water in the district, one of my favorites’ became a big sister today as her mom had twins!

I’m all tuckered out from the last few weeks, so I took a vacation day tomorrow, made a list that maybe I’ll cross a few things off of. I’ve got the new Lee Child and Dean Koontz books from the library. The forecast isn’t great, maybe I can cross a few items off. And play outside on Saturday. Maybe I’ll rollerblade, I got my bike out the other day and it was great to ride around.

Bonuses today: Lots of end of the year/retirement food. Very few voice mails. Visiting teachers on maternity leave, which really means I got to see/hold/play with a few babies. Lots of hugs and handshakes from people leaving for the summer or forever.

Two little girls (and mom) are in front of me in line at the store. They were probably 4 and 5 (and mom was holding a little one) and they were bouncing and I chatted with them a little bit. Then when they were checking out mom said they were going to Grandma’s and one of the girls said “which one?” Mom responded with “Regular Grandma” . What made the answer extra funny was the kids knew exactly who she was talking about…

Remember making these when you were kids?

It’s pitched here as to Predict Your Future. I don’t think we did the Magic 8-ball thing when we did it, I’m thinking we made them say not so nice things when we were little boys…

I’m not kidding this DNA kit is from http://discovery.com/ and is sold as the Discovery DNA Explorer Kit. “Ideal for budding forensic-scientists or secret agents, the working lab and tools are just like the real thing.”

Be careful of the warning if you live in Canada: “Two of the 10 experiments included in the Kit require the “Lambda DNA,” which does not ship to Canada.”

The idea is to come up with twelve thoughts and one pic to describe your weekend.

1. Chocolate.

2. “Yes Mom, I have the ham”
3. Lots of stairs (I’m on the third and fourth floors).
4. “Gary! Watch me Gary!”
5. Lots of Ordevores and Desserts.
6. “Why do you have so many remotes?”
7. ‘13 Going on 30′ was really fun.
8. Lots of Cleaning needed to be done. (Now I need to sort the piles I hid in the closet.)
9. Four kids and eleven adults at my condo. That might be a new record.
10. Lots of Coca-Cola
11. Spilt Milk, down a flight of carpeted stairs and all over the wall.
12. Chocolate.

From Baker’s Dozen.

It was a blast today, I had everyone over for Easter Dinner. Seven households from one to four people in each, fifteen total, four were kids. They were a blast and they liked all my computerized toys and remotes and such.

After we ate, I took the kids down the street by city hall and they went nutty with me taking pictures. What a bunch of hams. Speaking of… we had a really good ham from the Dearborn Meat Company (or something like that).

No incidents, no broken bones, scrapes, fights, etc. Until they were leaving and one of the kids had a cup (with a lid and straw) of milk and dropped it down the stairs. I had splash marks 6 feet up the walls! My ‘little green machine’ wasn’t enough to have it, I dug out the rug shampoo machine I bought a few months back (but never used) and clean the stairs (and the walls) that probably needed it anyways. Can’t complain too much, last time they were over I accidentally rolled Kendall’s head up in the electric window in the car. I still feel pretty bad about that one.

1. What do you do for a living? I’m the Director of Technology for a school district, which means if it plugs in (unless it cooks food or heats/cools the building) it’s the problem of my department.

2. What do you like most about your job? Getting people excited about using tech in their day. Getting some tool put together for someone to use that makes their life easier.
3. What do you like least about your job? When I tell someone “I don’t know” and they reword the question a dozen different ways because the seem to thin I don’t. Telling someone the right answer (”I do know”) and them not believing that it is the way to go.
4. When you have a bad day at work it’s usually because _____… There just isn’t enough time to get everything fixed.
5. What other career(s) are you interested in? I love seeing the kids at school. I’d love to just do day care but I don’t think that would a good job to help me with my technology habit. Dream job would be to teach kindergarten in the morning and advance computers at the high school in the afternoon or be an astronaut.

From the Friday Five.