Turtle Pond

Turtle book of the month club

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:27:00 +0000

So this time it's a twofer! I've recently read both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, with thanks to my father in-law for giving them to me for my birthday. They are both fantastic. I am immensely grateful for the new insight I have into the lives and cultures of the many peoples of Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. I think Hosseini did a fantastic job of painting a human face on the Afghan world in a manner that can hopefully help diffuse the myths and preconceived ideas about Afghanis, Persians, Pakistanis, Hindis, Islam, and much more.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is much more graphic and gritty than The Kite Runner, but they both powerfully drive home the personal and cultural struggles of the people we now both attempt to befriend and manipulate. This part of the world has been a doormat for foreign forces since the beginning of recorded history - starting with the Mongols, then Greeks, Crusaders, Arabs, British, Soviets, Taliban, and us, just to name a few. The current population remembers nearly nothing of their country but war, occupation, sacrifice, and suffering. The books, though fictional, help show of how this came to be, and perhaps what is in store for the future.

I give them four enthusiastic thumbs up. (Two for each book. Come on, I'm not a freak!)

Laughter is universal

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:39:00 +0000

Awesome comic. Thanks Faiqa for the tip.

Plans for healthy growth

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:05:00 +0000

*Oops for letting this sit in the "drafts" folder for a few weeks*

Last fall, I took my oldest daughter camping in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. We hiked and camped and had an outstanding time, and she remarked that we should do that trip every year. At the time, I totally agreed. Recently, however, two things have changed my mind. First, I've reflected on the fact that she is now 11, and I don't have too many years left before she'd rather be hanging out at the mall with her friends, so I need to keep her interested. More importantly, I happened to started watching the PBS series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" (Victoria gets the credit for bringing it to my attention Monday night. I would have missed it without the 4 hour time difference, too). After 6 hours so far, with no commercials, I am enraptured. Ken Burns has truly outdone himself with this series.

More importantly, I'm convinced that I need to take my kids to as many different national parks as I can within practical limits (I think there are 58 now). I did a heck of a lot of camping as a kid, and we always tried to go different places. It was awesome. Deep-down I know that I could take my kids camping anywhere and we'd have fun, but if I have to travel 4000 miles to take the oldest out, we might as well go for the best diversity and scenery the country has to offer. I have some awesome friends in D.C. that want me to come out there, but that's a tough sell when I put it up against, say, backpacking in Yellowstone. *sigh* I have some tough choices to make. Fortunately: a. My daughter is old enough to give me a real opinion of where she'd like to go; b. Any decision we make will be a great experience for her.

Discoveries

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:43:00 +0000

Life moves on. Not too terribly much has changed. That is to say, nothing drastic. Dusty is growing like a weed. At 8 weeks old, he is beginning to outgrow size 0-3 month clothes. Beth wants to smother him with kisses, and sing, and instinctively dance to anything with a beat, and play the drums, and play with her food. Life is good when you're 2-1/2. The mini-man is also finding things out about himself, like how to sit-up, and how ticklish it is to rub his feet on my face when I haven't shaved all week.

I too, have been slowly discovering myself. Actually, not myself so much as that there are others like me. All the thoughts and philosophies I've always carried and held dear, I am now learning the names to, like "Secular Humanist." Where agnosticism says, "I'm not sure," and Atheism simply says, " I don't believe in gods," Humanism takes on entire philosophies. It is about not only science and the natural world, but also about ethics and doing the right things for humanity. It's all the good morals of religion, but without the killing and raping and sacrificing of goats and stuff. One of the hardest parts is "coming out." When you tell people you're an atheist, they make some kind of mental connection with "anarchist" (which is all wrong). If you come out and say you're a secular humanist, you might as well have said "Scientologist," or "Hare Krishna ." It sounds at first like the kind of cult you might find camping in trees in the mountains like Ewoks.

So the other hard part is trying to balance just how much to mention it at all. Of course anyone who feels they have finally found their spiritual calling wants to talk about it. It's exciting. It's a relief. It's..... a social stumbling block. Nobody really wants to read about someone blabbing the same thing over and over again. I found God, I hate men, my job sucks, gays need more rights, the president is out to ruin our lives, this disease needs attention, etc. Any cause can be interesting for a while, but after a bit most readers are bored or disillusioned. I know it's been creeping into my writing more and more over the last year or so, but hang in there, because there is more to me. The internet is, both gratefully and unfortunately, a great place to vent.

Back to discoveries. I've been talking with other Atheists here in Hawaii for a while here, and we needed something to help us get more organized in order to find more like-minded people and meet in person. We discovered meetup.com and I started a group. I'm very excited about building a larger network of friends out here, and the thought of going on outings and get-togethers without the religious undertones. Both of my parents were big into community involvement and service. Most notably Cub and Boy Scouts. I've always felt it in me too. I have been considering volunteering there for years, but seeing as my kids are still quite young, and SuperMom often works insane hours, I really don't have time to allocate to the level of commitment I know I'd want to. Hopefully this will give me the sense of community and service that I'm looking for while still working within a casual schedule.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz - and pictures!

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:38:00 +0000

I am still alive, just sleep deprived. I did manage to go to a wedding last weekend, where I saw my best friend from High School finally get hitched. Actually, I was in it, so I don't have any of the good pictures (yet).

I know it's been almost a month since my last lackluster posting attempt. I usually think of something to post at least every other day, but by the time the 2-1/2 year old goes to bed, I'm ready to follow. Speaking of sleep.........

But before I go, here's some pictures to keep everyone up to date.

Dusty and me ready for a nap

Beth and I on the water

The lovely and beautiful Kristen at Stew's wedding

The equally lovely and beautiful Gina at Stew's wedding

Me and Stew in his last fleeting hours of bachelorhood. Somehow "look natural!" never does. AKA I don't photograph well.

Stew in his first few hours of marriage. Look how happy they are! Heh, newlyweds.

Days that make it all worth it

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:21:00 +0000

Sometimes, my job is just awesome. I know most of you might consider this a nightmare, but spending 3 days making up these panels and contactors is like eating 3 meals of just dessert.

And yes, I know where every single wire goes and what it is for.

My attempt to make your head explode

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:00:00 +0000

from cuteness!

Okay mom, is daddy done with the camera yet?

Are you scared?

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:25:00 +0000

According to a recent scientific study, you may have less of a choice than you realized over which political party you choose: "Conservatives Scare More Easily Than Liberals, Say Scientists"

This syncs well with another study showing, "47% of Republicans don't think North America and Africa were once a part of the same continent (Pangea), another 29% aren't sure."

That ties well with this article, "Only Six Percent Of Scientists Are Republicans: Pew Poll"

And of course there's the recent poll that shows that I might not be in America right now: "North Carolina Leery About "State" of Hawaii"

So, with a little work we can begin assembling the pieces. People who are inherently more fearful of the unknown tend to cling to what they feel they know, or what brings them comfort in what they do not. They resist change. They are more conservative. They aren't interested in science, because they already know everything that is important to them, and why change that? Why challenge that? Why encourage it in our schools?

Republicans are currently whipped up into a frenzy over health care. Unfortunately they never stop to realize that without scientists, people who push the limits and test boundaries, we'd still be bleeding people and performing exorcisms and burning witches at the stake. Those pills that you just can't live without and are mortified at the thought of not having them? Yeah, they were developed by people and tenets of science (evolution, scientific method, belief that man could heal without prayer) which conservatives probably deny or abhor to some degree.

Seriously, I'm more center-of-the-road than I might sound. I'm not a fearful person, but there is one thing that scares the crap out of me, though. Ultra-conservatives. You can believe in God and science at the same time. It just takes an open mind, and some education.

Turtle book of the month club

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:37:00 +0000

I'd like to congratulate Danny Evans over at Dad Gone Mad on his new book, Rage Against The Meshugenah. I'd tell you how fantastic it is but, well, I just got it yesterday. Considering I just got a new son 3 days ago, it might take me a while to work through this one.
Mail is always exciting, especially when padded envelopes are involved!

Everything has to get past my secretary first....

Due to time constraints, I haven't been able to read the book yet, but Hasta the (I blink for every possible photograph) wonder dog gives it three paws up. She tried to give four, and then lost her balance.

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:34:00 +0000

The Rainbow Connection - Sarah McLachlan

Welcome son, to your new world. It is not my world anymore. Just as my parents leased it to me, I now pass down that lease to you. The Native Americans did not believe that any person could own the land, and we are still realizing their wisdom to this day. I hope that I can teach you and present a good enough example for you and your sisters to build upon, to be morally sound, and be a good tenant of this planet. I will remain focused upon leaving the world a better place for you and preparing you to do the same.

You have come into the world at an incredible point in human history. Advancements come with every passing day. Technology spars with tradition. New challenges old. I hope that you can remain balanced enough to always consider all sides of a story and make well-informed and balanced decisions. In this new age of instant gratification we have found it easier than ever to make instantaneous knee-jerk decisions and judgments based on slivers of information touted as fact. I hope that I can teach you to be part of the solution, and to question everything - even me.

Don't think I forgot the important stats!
6:59AM Aug 5, 2009 7lbs 9.8oz 20.5"

Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:50:00 +0000

We're still trying to figure out why Dustin is being so stubborn (this is the part where you bite your tongue) and hasn't come out yet. He's officially 2 days late. I thought about it, and realized every good superhero needs some theme music. That's right, folks. This kid is coming out with a cape on! Not that I have high hopes or anything... So here you go kid. Now get the hell out of mommy's belly!

Top Gun Anthem - Harold Faltermeyer

You twisted my arm

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:53:00 +0000

(View from the front of our house. The tree is an easy 20' tall)

Unfortunately, I don't really eat mangoes. Maybe one or two here and there, but I'm certainly not a connoisseur. However, we happen to have a ginormous Mango tree in our backyard. The tree is very nice, and provides fantastic shade. For the last 2 years, it has produced a combined total of about 12 mangoes. For the last 2 years, we've been hearing legends about how productive and tasty this tree is.

We did 2 things this year that seemed to change things. First, we pruned the tree. Second, we installed gutters along the roofline under the tree. Basically, we pissed the tree off, and then we taunted it.

First came the flowers. They were tiny, but they were everywhere. Imagine what a big black trash bag 1/2 full of wet Grape Nuts feels like and you'll kind of understand what I had to climb on the roof and clean out of the brand new gutters for about a month.

The mangoes appeared slowly, and the anticipation built. We watched them get bigger, and bigger, and bigger, but they still weren't getting ripe yet. It took weeks before that started happening. Once it did, we realized that there were still new ones growing every day. It got to a point that, no matter how many fell, the tree looked a little more full each day. At the pinnacle of production (about 3 weeks ago) we would have about 5-10 mangoes fall down every hour. I never appreciated just how much fruit weighs. We couldn't load the trash or green waste cans more than about a foot deep or else they were simply too heavy to roll to the curb!

Fortunately we have the best-tasting mangoes that apparently everyone has ever tasted. This helped us offload the hundreds upon hundreds of them. I hate to see good food go to waste, so they got distributed at work, to family friends, to the kids' teachers and classmates, and door-to-door to all of our neighbor's houses. If it wasn't rotten or split open, someone probably took it off our hands.

The gutters look like they've been in a demolition derby. Having softball-sized fruit fall or roll into them will do that. *sigh*

(This is about 1 day's worth of mangoes, not counting the others on the roof and/or in the gutters)

Things I intended to blog about but never bothered

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:12:00 +0000

Our 5-year anniversary
Day Care dilemmas
Michael Jack...... no. Not even for a second.
My Facebook addiction
Giving up Sugar and caffeine (very slowly)
My daughter's new cell phone (!)
The perils of part-time dadship
Mango madness
Computer conundrums
In search of the balance between atheism and antitheism
Shameless cute pictures

Who's hiding the time?

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:49:00 +0000

Obviously, someone is hiding it, because I appear to have been shorted a little lately. With the little time available, I just haven't been in the mood to blog. I mean, between the kids and dogs and swim lessons and summer school and picking up after the damn mango tree and, oh-yes-my-wife-is-going-to-pop-any-friggin-day-now, I'm simply exhausted. The hard part is that I know I have it good. I have a great wife, a good steady job that I'm accomplished and well liked in, 2.8 wonderful kids, and 2 dogs so intelligent they make outsmarting them a part-time career. Oh yeah, living in Hawaii means I get to buy a kayak rack for my truck instead of a snowplow attachment.

There is seriously nothing like being so cynical that you ruin your own pity parties.

I wish I could afford to quit the job that I love because, just like in high school, there is simply not enough time to do everything I want to do. There are billions of people who would love to only have my problems. Life is great, if you let it be. My struggles are trivial in the grand scheme of things, but they get in the way of my blogging. This means you get less of me.

See how I did that? I share the guilt, peoples. That's what you do for people you love.... and strangers on the internet.

Great day

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:47:00 +0000

I slept in, and woke up to a hand-made card and a doughnut. Then received some cool gifts. We chilled for a while and spun Beth on an office chair 'till she nearly puked while I jammed some Pandora on the computer (Coldplay, Mazzy Star, Tori Amos, Nada Surf, Snow Patrol...... I love Pandora!), and then packed up the kids and dogs and went for a hike up the hills behind our house. It was the first time either of the kids had been to the peak, and there's a 360-degree view. It was kinda cloudy and windy today, but it's still Hawaii. It's 80 degrees and gorgeous. We radioed down (Yeah, that's right. With walkie-talkies - 'cause I'm nerdy like that) to SuperMom so we could wave at each other, and then came back down to smoothies with Mangos from our mango tree. Oh yeah, we found that Mangos, aren't so bad after all. I love having a fruit tree. I'd love it more if it was self-cleaning, though.

Fathers Day was great. I just wish mine was still around to share it with.

Savings and Loam

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:49:00 +0000

Yeah, it's been slim pickings on my blog for a while. As long as my new computer doesn't randomly reboot (again), I might actually get something published and start using it regularly again.

So the financial debacle has finally caught up with us. I'm in no position to whine, it is merely a statement. SuperMom and I are doing fine and working away, but our tenant that lives in our old house in San Diego just became the unwilling recipient of a gradual withdrawal from the unemployment coffers. L happens to be the coolest tenant ever. As much as we'd like to see her succeed and buy a home of her own, if she has to rent, we really want her to rent from us because she is awesome. No hassles, low maintenance, easy to talk to, and very funny. So anyways, she just had a life-altering surprise and asked us if we can help. Well, we weren't about to risk losing her and having to find a new ~~weirdo~~ tenant from 2600 miles away, so we're, digging deep and helping her out.

In other news, the traditional pre-birth "nesting" stage is upon us. Last time I was remodeling our kitchen right up until munchkin's arrival. This time it's a whole lotta yard work. We finally broke down and had the front yard landscaped, but that really only gave me a breather. This weekend ~~she~~ we decided to complete some unfinished grass and sprinklers in the backyard. After an hour or so with the neighbor's roto-tiller, a few hours of raking, several hours of digging, soldering, cutting, gluing, and reinstalling all the sprinkler valves the hack landscaper installed, we were almost done. And then it got dark. And then it rained. And there we were shoveling Hawaii clay at 10PM on Sunday night. This project is of course going to stick around long enough to ruin more than one weekend. So far we have what earlier in the weekend was about 400 sq feet of freshly tilled and nicely raked dirt. It now is a lumpy, muddy mess (with sprinklers!). Oh and how lovely it is to come home and have to give the dogs a bath before they can come inside the house. Gah.

On the upside, our mango tree is loaded with a couple-hundred mangos that are beginning to get ripe - and none of us like mangos. Why couldn't we get a house with an avocado tree, or bananas, or coconuts, or apples?! There's nothing quite as tortuous as having a ginormous fruit tree that everyone in the neighborhood raves about and it being one of the very few foods that you don't care for.

Poop Bounty

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:41:00 +0000

With a 2 year-old and one more on the way at the end of July, I'm in a perpetual potty-training hell. Taking care of "#1" was easy. Currently there is roughly a 3-chocolate-chip/one-half popsicle bounty on poo that actually makes it into the toilet. This has been an uphill battle between us and the hazmat special ops team at day-care. It's lovely that she knows where to potty, how to potty, is not afraid of the potty, and still is more comfortable squatting in some dark corner or behind a wall of pillows and dropping a log into her panties.

*sigh*

Sometime, perhaps 3 or 4 years from now, We will have the biggest, most awesome, potty-training-is-over-forever party you've ever seen. I can see a bonfire on the beach where we burn old panties and undies, and a bountiful feast of chocolate chips and popsicles for all. Everyone will be invited. Friends, family, and even you - as long as you're not a creepy internet stalker/pedophile (I'll have to ask you to use your best judgment). It will be awesome.

You can't argue with geometry

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:30:00 +0000

Just last weekend my wife was trying to ~~coerce~~ talk me into some chores.

SuperMom: "Now would be a good time to mow the lawn."

Turtle: "Actually, it's 11:30 and about 10,000 degrees outside with 90% humidity. It's not the first thing on my to-do list."

SuperMom: "Really? What else is on your list?"

Turtle: "Let's see. I have to do some plumbing outside - too hot. I need to do some wiring in the attic - too hot. I need to sand, primer, and paint the bedroom ceiling - too hot and dusty, and you and Munchkin are here. I need to clean the gutters, dig up the old fence posts, bury pavers under the new fence to keep the dogs from digging out, add the expansion tank to the solar water heater...."

SuperMom: "So which is at the top of your list?"

Turtle: "Well, none, really."

SuperMom: "What kind of list has no beginning?!"

Turtle: "It's a.......a circle!"

Party animals

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:50:00 +0000

Computer, you're on notice!

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:01:00 +0000

After all the hard work to assemble the proper parts for my new computer, and hours of bench-testing the new setup, I finally assembled everything into my case and began the final assembly. This includes 4-6 hours just for filling, priming, and leak-testing the new watercooling setup. Finally, the moment of truth. I press the power button.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nothing

(-->Insert exhaustive and comprehensive list of expletives here<--)

Initially, I submitted an RMA to NewEgg for the motherboard, then I punished it by giving it a time-out and ignoring it for a week and a half. Yesterday I decided to finally prep it for shipping, but I'd better test it one last time before I pay another $15 to ship it back to the mainland - again.

Success, kind of.

Horray in that it is fully-functional. Holy crap in that I have absolutely no idea where to begin in the troubleshooting.

So now it sits for a little longer until I can summon the patience to toy with it again. I'm still limping along on my wife's computer, and praying daily to the great pasta god that this system doesn't go belly-up on me while I'm using it.

I lose. I win! I lose. I win!!

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:49:00 +0000

I lose.
You may have noticed that immediately following my proclamation that I would pick up on the blogging again, that I dropped off the face of the earth. Asus, Gigabyte, and Microsoft can collectively kiss my ass. First, my motherboard died - suddenly. Attempts to rebuild have been hampered by hardware failures, RMA wait times, and Microsoft's inability to allow you to load RAID drivers from anything but a floppy disk (unless you slipstream, which so far has only been mildly successful). Between all of this fun, housework, and life in general, I'm going on 4 weeks without my own computer up & running, which must be some kind of record.

I win!
The latest super-dooper 3-d sonogram told us quite clearly that we are having a boy in late July! I know I should be indifferent, and no doubt I still would love the baby if it were a girl, but I'm truly esctatic that I will have a boy to continue the family name, eat dirt with, and enjoy watching movies involving gratuitous violence with when we're older.

I lose.
As part of the new, baby 2.5 edition (oldest sister is a half-sibling) soon to be released, I have been both highly anticipating and dreading the replacement of Danger Ranger III. Alas, DR3 cannot fit 2 car seats and had thus had an expiration date equal to that of the arrival of baby 2.5. DR3, my 1999 Ford Ranger had been my nicest truck thus far, and I had heavily customized it to compliment it's street-only life. Fat tires, rear anti-roll bar, KYB shocks, Flowmaster, upgraded intake, as well as a host of other customizations. It was downright fun to drive, and will be the last stick-shift that I will have had the pleasure to own for quite some time. I will miss that truck dearly.

I win!!

My new truck, that needs a name. 2007 Honda Ridgeline RTS 4WD. Okay, Honda has the audacity to call it a 4WD. It's really front-wheel drive with automatic variable torque output (up to 50%) to the rear wheels. The short version: No 4WD low, so it's only "All-wheel-drive," and I can live with that. If it handles trails as gracefully as my wife's Pilot, I'm stoked. You know what else I'm stoked about? A 25% smaller engine (3.5L) that puts out 36% (87!) more HP. There are more cubby-holes and storage places on this thing than I've ever seen. You could probably smuggle 10 people across the border just in the trunk alone!

Since this truck is mechanically near-identical to my wife's '04 Pilot, I only have to buy 1 set of fluids, filters, wiper blades, light-bulbs, etc!

And the mother of all wins, I got an awesome trade-in on my Ranger. Awesome as-in they didn't drive it and find out that it has major engine computer issues (idle hangs at 2000RPM at stoplights) and the tranmission shifts so hard (bad syncros) it's like driving a dump-truck sometimes. I would have lovingly fixed it all if I knew I was keeping it (eventually), but it was kind of cool to get high private-party blue-book for it ($5300) as a trade in. Kinda like sticking it to the man for a change. Of course we basically paid sticker price for the Ridgeline (just below retail value), so its all a matter of semantics. We stuck it to each other.

It's a little depressing, in that this will be the frist time that I was Ford-less in about 15 years. I do love Fords, and even considered the F150 Super Crew (sorry Explorer Sport-Trac, you're ugly), but it came down to what was the smallest, and best truck that I could find that I liked, and Honda won hands-down. Counting motorcycles, this is my 5th Honda, and I don't regret "switching teams."

Redneck pride

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:53:00 +0000

Did you think I'd let Tanis over at Attack of the Redneck Mommy get all the glory? Well, maybe. She does have me outnumbered at the moment (congratulations!). But we still have duct tape and we're not afraid to use it.

And just for good measure, it takes a redneck to take a truck like this;

turn it into a truck like this;

and then sink it in a river like this:

Touché!

Thank you Grandpa

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:40:00 +0000

The last few months have been busy. Since buying this place, it's been a never-ending collage of home improvement projects minor and major. Lately though we started to give ourselves a little time off so our heads wouldn't explode.

It's been a while since I did a project just for the heck of it. Okay, I guess the last one was the hoist for the kayak, but that was a response to the challenge, "Where do we store the new boat?" I get to be crafty and ingenious at work while solving unique problems, but that too, is problem-solving with flair. In a small way, so was this one. "What do I get SuperMom for Valentine's Day?"

Neither of us are big into the commercialization of that day, but I know she still appreciates the sentiment. Flowers are, oversold. I try to remember to give her those on completely random days of the year with a special process involving a Chinese lunar calendar, a hampster, pecans, and a bicycle chain. What could I put together on short notice (Yeah, procrastination is a specialty. It's like a gift-with-purchase for being male)? Better yet, what could I build?

My brain started to flash back to my youth. My grandpa was great with these kinds of things. Small projects. Tinkering projects. When you grow up during the Great Depression, you get great at building your own solutions rather than buying them. Grandpa used to build most of his own Christmas decorations. He'd build airplanes out of beer cans. He helped me carve out custom propellers for my 7th grade science fair project on propeller-pitch-efficiency. Lots of things I know were cool but just can't remember, but most of all they were simple. That's when it hit me. A bird house.

Yeah, I know all you women are thinking about how much you'd just loooooooove to get a frickin' bird house for Valentines Day, but there's a perfectly good story that goes with that decision. And no, I'm not going to tell you :p

So I grabbed the munchkin and made a quick trip to the hardware store, then to the shop for some of my tools (because even though I have practically everything, most of it stays on the utility truck @ work), and finally it was off to the internet to figure out the best way to build a bird house. Yeah, it seems simple enough, but I did actually learn some stuff. Like those little dowels everyone puts in front for the bird to perch on? -Apparently the birds don't like them so much. Friggin' finnickey birds already made me waste $2 on a piece of dowel and I haven't even started building yet! And the hole in front, yeah, they don't care for that either. Aww come the frick on! What happened to the old-fashioned birds that were happy to get free housing whatever way we decided to build it for them? Damned yuppie birds.

So for the most part, it was simple. Measure twice, cut, um, 3 times or so. Wood glue, brad nails, and lots of painter's caulk. The best part though was having Twerp help paint it. It took me about three times longer to accomplish, but she helped, "build the birdhouse for mommy and the birds," and loved it.

And so did SuperMom.

Where, oh where has my sister gone?

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:03:00 +0000

This song, from my youth, makes me think of her every time. I was 12 when my parents divorced. It was odd. I had a strange relationship with my father, and since I was an only child, had always been more of an introvert anyhow. The break-up didn't hit me too hard. At least not tragically like in some families. If anything I got a lot more attention from dad than before. It was awkward, but we coped well.

I'm not sure how long afterward it was before he began dating again. It wasn't too long. By the time I was 13 he was dating a great woman named Roberta, who had 2 kids of her own. Robin was 16, and Steve was 19 and had already moved away. The very first time I spent the weekend at their house, I remember Robin coming to give me a hug before we left. Not a mandatory hug out of courtesy - a real hug. When you're 13 and a hot 16 year-old gives you a real hug, it makes an impression. Most girls her age wouldn't be caught dead around a geeky guy like me, but her acceptance was both immediate and unbounded. Even in public and around her friends. All that and she was cool, too. Crafty, smart, and artistic.

When I was 14 I had my first official "girlfriend," which consisted of a whole lot of telephone talking gibberish and some hand-holding. Unfortunately, she lived about 15 miles away. On one of dad's weekends, Robin spent her Saturday night driving me to Donna's house (yes, I still remember her full name and her former address), bringing us both back to Santee for a movie, drove us back to Clairemont to drop her off, and then back home again. At that point in time, she was cemented in my mind as the coolest sister I never had.

The three of them accepted me without reservation or hesitation. I never refer to them as my "step" siblings. It's simply my brother and my sister. Even years after the death of both of our parents to cancer within 2 months of each other, we have remained very close. They both came to my wedding in Hawaii, and we've seen each other through quite a bit. It's because of her that my wife and I have a mild addiction to "Scrubs."

This summer my sister went off the map though. All I got was a cryptic email about needing time to herself and then.............nothing. I have enough vague communication channels to know that she's alive and not on her death bed or anything, but aside from that I'm in the dark, and I don't like it. We all have our ups and downs, and it seems that Robin has gotten a disproportional amount of downs over the years. Every time we talk I have something cool to tell her like getting married, a promotion in a job I love, a new kid, moving to Hawaii, another great job, travel with my older daughter, etc. I have had an exceptionally fortunate life (not counting some "turbulence" from 1997-2000) and can't help but think that it might be depressing for her to talk to me.

Robin, please call, or write, or email, or send a message in a bottle or something. I don't care if you're depressed, in a heavy metal band, joined the CIA, in a cult, have differing political or religions views from me, questioning your sexuality, or just frustrated with the world. I. Don't . Care. I love you and I miss my sister. Do you want me to fly out for a weekend with the kids? Done. I just want to know you're okay. We're all worried about you.

Ummmm, you were suppsed to leave the nasty weather at home

noreply@blogger.com (RebTurtle) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:29:00 +0000

Tourists will pack the damnedest things when they come to Hawaii. Very unsightly swimsuits, expensive cameras they've never used before, tornadoes, etc.

Twister Wreaks Havoc, Raises Eyebrows

Come on guys. We get hurricanes, volcanoes, flooding, brush fires, earthquakes, and the occasional tsunami. Please leave your tornadoes in Kansas. This is your last warning. Next time I'm telling Pele.