Royal Flush

I don't know when it first happened, parenting can be a blur, but one time when we were at Costco I lifted Charlotte out of the shopping cart and placed her amongst the huge stacks of bath tissue. I then declared, "All hail Queen Charlotte! She's the queen of toilet paper!"

Now I have to do it every time we're shopping there.

It's a little embarrassing. A parent of one of my students caught me bowing down to the T.P. Queen last Saturday.

I guess that's the price you pay when you try to make a boring shopping experience a little more fun. If you're successful, then you get to do it over and over and over again.

Pony Up

Last week the Des Moines Register ran a few photos of Char's preschool class.

I thought it was pretty neat to see her in the paper, but I felt guilty that her hair was all over the place. 

That's because most weekday mornings Daphne's off to work before 6:30, so I'm the one that does Char's hair. And I'm not very good at it. 

I kinda hate brushing her hair; it's stressful. After rolling around the bed all night, her hair is full of tangles, and Char yells and cries when I have to pull the brush through them. After the fifth scream I used to threaten her with a pixie cut. But that just makes the screaming turn into crying, and that really doesn't accomplish anything does it? 

Hair detangler spray is much more useful. 

I don't hate the brushing anymore, but by the time I get her hair smooth and straight I'm ready to get her coat on and take her to daycare.

But because of that photo, I've stepped up my game and moved onto making pony tails.

I didn't tell her the first time I put her hair in a pony tail. And she didn't notice it until we were in the bathroom brushing her teeth. Char caught a glimpse in the mirror, turned her head, and flipped it up with the back of her hand, "Nice pony tail, Dad. You did a good job!"

It's cool when your efforts are recognized.

Sign of the Times

Daphne and I have a meeting to attend tonight.

Although I’ve taught for 23 years, tonight will be the first time I'll go to a school meeting and sit in the parent section. That’s going to be weird.

But what’s stranger is the thought that Charlotte's almost ready to start school herself. Kindergarten? Wasn’t it just yesterday when she puked pink goo all over my beard after I burped her? Now we're debating if she wants hot lunch? Did I blink and miss the last 54 months? 

No. I didn't blink. I just didn't realize those tentative baby steps were the first strides of a whirlwind sprint. And since this race has no finish line, all I can do is hold on, try to keep up, and enjoy the scenery when possible.

Here we go...

Hey Charlotte, Come Over Here!

"What do you want, Daaaaad?"

I swear, our daughter can't do anything in a normal way.

Thank goodness.

Yep, That's My Kid.

The Des Moines Register stopped by Char's preschool classroom to take some photos last week.

Can you find Charlotte?

At times like these, Daphne lets me take full credit.

Faces From the Weekend

Daphne and I had our first date night since last October. Instead of going out for an "adult" dinner, we  drove five miles to Grimes to check out the Old School Pinball and Arcade. It just opened.

(picture taken from arcadeheros.com)

I counted almost 30 classic video games, but apparently they have about 20 more games they can rotate into the room. I was in junior high during the height of the arcade's popularity (1980-81), so I revisited a few old friends like Galaga, Millipede, and Turbo. But really we were there to play pinball.

Luckily, we didn't have to bring a bag of quarters. All the machines are set for free play. You just pay a flat fee for a wristband, and you can come and go as you please all day long and play whatever you want. The only exception is a few premium pinball machines in a back room require money - their earnings go towards buying more premium machines. The Wizard of Oz premium game was quite the stunner to see and play.

Since it was the weekend, the cost of a wristband was $13.50 per adult. When you consider the average cost of playing a modern pinball machine is 50 or 75 cents per play, the cost is quite reasonable. Daphne estimated she played about 60 games of pinball.

We ate dinner in the neighboring Mustang Grill. I ordered a Mustang Burger that was topped with bacon, a fried egg, and peanut butter. I was about to take a picture of my meal when I checked my "new" Casio watch, and my heart sank.

It was broken!

The top part of it's frame had broken off. Dang it! I looked around the floor of the restaurant, but I knew it was no use. I wouldn't know where to begin to look, and I'd never find it now. My watch was ruined, and I was crushed.

And I was right; I never did find the piece that had broken off.

Instead, Daphne found it for me. It was on the bedspread back home. Yea! Thanks, Daph!

I tried using the super glue that we had in our kitchen's junk drawer, but after curing overnight, the piece popped right off again. I wasn't sure how to securely attach it, but then I remembered Tim Arnold's list of things not to do to a pinball machine. 

Here's tip #15: Cheap Super Glue is no bargain!

I use Super Glue a lot! The only one worth anything is Borden's Krazy Glue in the tube! The pen is worthless! Cyanide glue will hurt your eyes... Same goes for tape! Scotch # 33 or 35 is the only kind to use! 

I bought Krazy Glue at Office Depot, and it seems to be doing a much better job. When you research a new hobby, you just never know what you'll learn or where it will come in handy

On Sunday we headed down to the Wells Fargo Arena for Disney Jr. Live on Tour! The Pirate and Princess Adventure. A good friend of the family gave us tickets. 

Char was really excited to see Sophia the First, but I believe she secretly enjoyed the pirate adventure more. But above all, what she talked about most was wanting to buy cotton candy.

If you invented wet wipes, I'd like to offer you my thanks.

If you invented the 25 minute intermission, I'd like to offer you something else.

I'm Done With You, PAL

Except for a little oil and a few minutes with a whetstone, my work on the PAL pocketknife is complete. Considering what it looked like when I found it, I'm pretty happy with the results.

The only problem with cleaning an open knife in the brass tumbler was that the can opener tool vibrated a tiny hole in the side of the tumbler's housing, but a strip of duct tape fixed that.

I understand that cleaning up rusty junk isn't everybody's idea of a good time, but I sure get a kick out of it. Time to find something else to work on.

Rusty PAL

Cool Watch, Old Man

What's that peeking out beneath my sweater sleeve?

It's my "new" Casio G-Shock wristwatch.

The Hope Ministries Thrift Store is on my way home from school, and I often make a five-minute stop to see if anything new has reared its thrifty head. I spotted this guy in the bottom of a display filled with used watches. The Casio caught my eye because it looked retro, and when I picked it up I was surprised by the watch's heft. The back screws on, unlike the cheap, athletic watch I already own.

I wear a watch everyday, but I'm not a "watch guy". I've worn an inexpensive Timex "Ironman" watch for about ten years. Besides getting me to class on time, I use the timer function for marathon training, Charlotte's timeouts, and grilling in the dark. If the watch or its band breaks, I just go to Target and buy the newest model. Other than the non-working watches I inherited from my grandpas and my dad (they're in a box in the basement - the watches, not the men), all I have is the Ironman and a dressier dial watch with a dead battery.

When I pressed the light button, the Casio blinked 12:00 twice and then died, but that was a good sign. The circuits must still be solid. But the price tag was 12 bucks, and that seemed a bit steep for an impulse buy. So, I did a little research.

Wikipedia reports that the G-Shock model DW-5600c, "...due to its dual time, stopwatch, countdown features, and more than 10 years battery life, it is one of the few watch models and the first in the Casio's G-shock product line to be flight-qualified by NASA for space missions. It is also a Hollywood star, being worn by celebrities in action movies (most notably by Keanu Reeves in the film Speed)."



That's pretty cool, but other guys have worn G-Shock watches in movies, too.

The DW-5600c went on sale in 1987, and this particular watch was sold around 1990 when I was a senior in college. That was 25 years ago. How is that possible? I use to think it was just a funny quirk when an oldies radio station played a song I liked in high school. I guess I didn't recognize the implication. Anyway, I obviously bought the watch (Clint tipped the scales).

I stopped by Kay's Jewelers after school yesterday and asked if they could replace the battery. The guy at the counter took the watch and told me battery replacement was $15. I've killed watches by trying to replace the battery by myself, so that sounded like a fair price. It took him 45 minutes to do the job. While I waited, another employe twice confined to me how badly the watch was kicking the his blank. I was actually embarrassed to only pay $15 dollars, but the poor guy proudly told me, "The harder they are, the better the watches are made. This is a good one." Gotta respect a guy who has pride in his work.

The only problem with the watch was the "locking loop" was made of a harder material than the rubber strap, and it crumbled when I handled it. I headed back to the "H" thrift store and found a cheap donor watch.

You can see the remains of the old "loop" on the left, and above the scraps is the loop from the donor watch on the right.

Since the donor watch had a yellow tag, it was only $2.50.

Sure, the loop isn't an exact match to the original, but I can't imagine someone noticing the difference.

If someone did point out to me, "Your locking loop isn't the right one for a DW-5600c." I'd reply, "Actually, you're the one who isn't right."

The total price of $29.50 isn't bad for a vintage watch that makes me smile and should run for another ten years. But does this mean I'm going to start collecting vintage digital watches ( I still can't believe digital watches can be vintage)? No, I have too many hobbies as it is. This is a "one and done". I hope.

Helping Out a PAL: One Week Later

Using the brass tumbler is so easy. I've never cleaned anything with such a "hands off" technique. I turn on the tumbler when I get home from work, and I turn it off when I leave with Char in the morning. Here's some before and after shots of the pocket knife I bought at the thrift store.

Before

After

To be honest, I did use the grinder's wire brush to remove some of the heavy rust on the bottom.  The walnut shells weren't putting much of a dent in those areas.

Before

After

Before

After

The rust on the blades is going to require some extra work. I'm going to use some steel wool. I'll begin with grade 0 and some oil, and work my through grades 00 and 000.  Then the tumbler will polish what's left.

I don't know what I'll do with my PAL when he's done, but life is about the journey, not the destination.

Of Course You Do

So what do you do when there's over a foot of snow outside, and it's blowing to near whiteout conditions?

You become the Snow Burglar!

And you jump out of obvious hiding places, so your victims can pretend to be scared.

Look out!

Whoa! Didn't see that one coming, did ya?