My New Toy

I don't "want" many things.  I'm not very materialistic.  New toys don't mean a whole lot to me.  When I do want something I try to earn it by setting aside money, looking for deals, or "working for it" in some way that I mentally convince myself that's okay to get it.

For the last few months I have wanted a GoPro video camera.  It's small, very versatile, waterproof camera that can be mounted on bikes, helmets, tripods, or hand held wands.  The footage is awesome.

When I sold the house last week my reward was a GoPro 3+.  I felt that I "earned" the right to drop a few hundred dollars on something I wanted.

For the last few days I have been playing with the camera and learning to use new editing software.

Today we went to the pool for the last time this season.  I woke up at 3:00am with an idea to make a floaty handle for the camera and was awake from 3:00am to 4:00am-ish.  The result was a neat, bright orange, floaty that can mount the camera and float if dropped by the user.  We had a bit of fun making the test footage above!

Good Morning

This post is nothing but a silly picture.

September 12, 2014

So Long and Farewell

Good-bye my old house at 37 Miller Street.  You were both a blessing and a curse.  You were the pin on the map where I transitioned from one life to another - a ten year waypoint on my journey.  You were a source of stress and happiness and a lot of memories.

See those shutters?  My dad and I hung those after I bought you in 2001 after renting you for two years.  I remember being on the ladder and dad handling tools to me through the window.  That green star over the door and the railroad lantern light?  Yep, we added that too.

That dented garage door?  That was Lisa who managed to hit the garage door with her car and my car parked inside.  One door, two cars, at one time.

Remember the garage parties?!  Darts, music, dancing?  How about the ghetto fireplace in the backyard.  Is there such a thing as a "ghetto fireplace"?

Or the day the ex-wife moved out taking Samantha with her?  We didn't know it then but that was the day it actually started getting better.

You put a roof over my head - plus a couple of tenants, girlfriends, and animals (not all at the same time).  At one time you held two adults, two part time kids, and five dogs!  And don't forget the mummified squirrel I found in the ash pit in the basement (the poor guy but have been around the chimney and fallen in).

Of course your chimney is gone now.  When you got a new roof this spring we removed the chimney since the fireplace (the one inside the house) is inoperable and the heating system no longer vents through it.  You also put a roof over Lisa's head; the first home we had together as husband and wife.  And then, in 2007, TJ joined us - us being Mommy, Daddy, Poly and Hobie.

And the snow!  I'd shovel a mountain of it into the yard, high enough that Sam could jump off the rail and not get get hurt.  I'd shovel twice a day, maybe twice and a half if the plow came through right after I finished the first time.

We gave you a new kitchen and redid the bathroom.  Pat O'Brien helped on the bathroom, but we got a custom fitter for the tub and shower stall.  It turned out okay for two idiots who didn't know their way around tools.  Lisa repainted and brought a new life to the downstairs.  Drapes, rugs, stair runners.  She made you shine.

I knew every creak and groan in the house, from the doors that stuck to the draft under the front foyer door to the sometimes creepy basement that I had to stoop over in to walk through.

Christmas was always nice in the house but Halloween was the favorite.  We would make you scary - haunted music, lights, fog machine - but not too scary that kids wouldn't come around.

I laughed and cried.  I might have gotten drunk a couple of times too.  Good people came and went - usually through the garage door.

Then we rented you out after we moved to North Carolina.  No one really loved you after that. Certainly not the two families who rented you.  And not me who entrusted you to their care.  Selling you - or the decision to sell you - wasn't easy until this year.  This year I ran out of stamina to stress over you so far away.

You have been sold to a new family.  As of this post you are someone else's property.  A new set of memories will bloom within your walls.

Some people drive by and see an old house.

I knew you as my home.  

Mascots

As part of out Labor Day weekend we went to watch the Durham Bulls play the Norfolk Tides. Being reasonable parents - or at least trying to manage our expectations - we bought lawn seats in the outfield because we knew that the kids would never sit still for a baseball game.  Unfortunately, the lawn seats we the hottest part of the entire stadium and the temperatures were well into the upper 90s.

When we took our seats two employees from the team asked us if the boys wanted to participate in the  mini Wool E. Bull run between the eighth and ninth innings.  Out of the entire park our boys were picked!  Of course we weren't really sure what the mini Wool E. Bull run was but, hey, we'd figure that out when the time came and Lisa signed on the dotted line.

If only we could get to the eighth inning.  It was ungodly hot.  No breeze.  No clouds.  And the boys had no interest in watching the game even though a homer un landed twenty feet away from us or that there was a rare triple play!  Lisa and I took turns walking TJ and Grant around the park into the areas that were shaded and cooler - each time buying more food or souvenirs.  I am not one to endure misery and was ready to go at the third inning, yet somehow my patience, Lisa's patience, and the kids behavior all had positive vibes.  The fifth inning lasted forever and the Norfolk Tides scored runs that would ultimately put them over the top.  Thank goodness the sixth inning went fast!

I realized along the way that TJ, who is now playing baseball, has no concept of the game.  Balls, strikes, offense and defense are new concepts to him.  I did my best to share rudimentary rules and concepts with him and he did his best to follow along.  Amazingly, he showed genuine interest in how that game is played.  Clearly its something I need to work on more with him.  By the seventh inning we moved to the area where we were supposed to meet the park staff.  It was cooler and closer than our seats on the law, right behind the Visitors dugout.

TJ and Grant and a few other kids were ushered down into the stadium - air conditioning!!! - and put into their costumes.  I made  sure they were ready to go.  TJ commented (rightly) that someday, somehow, these pictures of him would come back to embarrass him.  Helloooo High School graduation.  The look on their faces was priceless.  They were doing something really unique.  They were both super excited and had no problem with me leaving them there.

Lisa and I enjoyed twenty minutes of alone time while the game played out.   We got to sit in the section behind the batter on the third base line waiting for the moment when the kids would come out.  Our "date night" lasted long enough to realize that we would come back some night without the kids and enjoy a game in the shade of the stadium drinking $7 beers.

Between the eighth and ninth innings Wool E. Bull and a small herd of mini bulls came charging out of the home team dugout and ran around the infield in a whacky game of Follow-the-Leader.  Grant - the smallest bull - was easy to spot at the pack of the pack.  We watched them on the jumbo-tron and crossed our fingers that Grant would run off in some direction other than where everyone else was going.   TJ stayed right next to the mascot.  TJ might have been dressed like a bull but was a real ham.  Standing in front of a couple thousand people and waving to the crowd put the biggest smile on his face.

The boys ran into the third base dugout and disappeared.  Grant was so excited that he followed the rest of the kids even after making eye contact with Mommy.  A few minutes later they came out to meet us with a baseball card from Wool E. Bull and a great story to share when they go back to school on Tuesday.

The Durham Bulls lost the game but we won the day.