A Crushing Blow to the Ego

One evening recently, my daughter was asking about why we had to move. I explained it was because Daddy had gotten a new job.

"Why did he get a new job?" she demanded.

"Because he was the most qualified candidate."

"No, he's not," she insisted. "He's Daddy!"

That Makes So Much More Sense Now

I've been reading about Seth Godin quite a few places lately. Apparently he has a pretty well known blog. As I rarely venture out of this little Moms' Corner of the blogworld, I don't really know much else about him. This morning, though, I finally figured clued in about one important detail:

Seth Godin is not the same guy as Josh Groban.

I'm glad we had this talk. Carry on.

Late to the Hayride

We're supposed to be going on a hayride this afternoon. Everybody is meeting at the church parking lot at 2:30. Actually, this was all supposed to happen last week, but there was some rain so they put it off a week.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to make it at 2:30. You see, the Bears are playing the Vikings today. That means the game will actually be on TV here. Now that my Bears TV time has been downsized to just a few games a year, I'm not prepared to early without a more compelling reason than a big wagon and a couple bales of hay.

So, we'll be a little late. I'm sure they'll save some hot dogs for us. Adam's record for hot dogs is 10. Maybe I better call ahead and warn them.

I Found Rush Hour!

I figured out where they've been hiding it. I guessed pretty accurately last time.

Adam and I actually got stuck in traffic that was clogging up the left-turn lane to go into the local superstore.

Yes, folks, Sioux Falls hosts rush hour at three o'clock Saturday afternoon, right in front of Wal-Mart. Bring your RV and stay awhile! I'll bring the coconut marshmallows for roasting.

On the Other Hand

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. I'm all merged.

I edited the post pages at By Hook or By Cook to forward to this blog. The first couple went just fine, but once I stepped away for a while and returned to complete the project, Blogger had added word verification to my publishing page. Apparently their computers thought I was a spam blog.

Not that this is the first time Google has suggested I was an automated process with malicious intent. Every once in a while while I'm browsing through my iGoogle homepage I get the following message:

Google Error

We're sorry but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

What's that phrase about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing? I've noted before that the various divisions at Google don't always seem to play nicely with one another.

And while we're on the subject (kinda), does anybody else think the word verification Google uses makes it nearly as hard for humans as for computers? I've left a lot of comments on a lot of sites and I've found most of them to have more user-friendly human checking than Google's warped and twisted letters. More than once I've tried to type in what I thought it said, only to have to do it all over again because I couldn't read the letters! Surely there's a better way; if only I could figure out what it is and sell it to Google ....

On the positive side, though, I really like the new Google search widget (installed in my sidebar). I'm also intrigued by the new comment option for commenting right on the page. I miss the avatars, but I really like keeping everything together on a single page. What do you think?

Happy Belated

D'oh! I completely missed my own blogiversary. Experience Imagination turned two on October 11 and I totally didn't notice. Happy Birthday to me, anyway.

On a (just barely) related note, do you know how hard it is to find stock images of birthday cakes with two candles? I finally had to give up and just make my own. Everything I was finding had either one, three, or a whole slew of candles with a fire about to start any moment. I guess that will make my life easier for next year. Maybe I'll even remember to post on time. Hope springs eternal, right?

Works for Me: Furniture Catch

I figured it out! I figured it out!
With a pencil and a pad, I figured it out!

Well, okay, not quite. But I love the song, anyway. And I did figure something out that's bothered me for years. Maybe it will help you, too.

There is a catch on my desk chair that keeps it from tilting backward. I like to be able to sit back in that half-reclined position and think deep thoughts. I find it restful. Maybe it puts my brain in better alignment or something

In any case, my daughter likes to play with this chair and spin it around. She regularly sets off the catch mechanism and, until just recently, I've not known how to fix it.

But, I figured it out! (Have you caught on to that idea yet?)

The lever that controls the height of the chair twists to allow the seat up or down. It also slides in and out about ¼" and that is what controls the tilt.

So, now when I come back to my computer desk after my little one has been spinning and playing, I can lean back and ponder to my heart's content. Ahh.

For more tips and tricks to improve your live, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Shutting Down My Blog

Not here. Don't worry, I have plans to keep Experience Imagination around indefinitely. I have been thinking of getting rid of my project blog By Hook or By Cook. I almost never post there anymore. I'm not sure why I thought I needed two blogs to share my craftiness and cookiness (yes, yes, that probably should be spelled with a "k").

Really, it's just a matter of transferring the posts over here. Then maybe I'll actually start posting some recipes and patterns again. Just don't hold your breath for it to be any time soon.

I've also been thinking about a design overhaul. I've been getting a little tired of this design. Those of you who have been following my blog for awhile may have noticed my tweaking here and there over the past several months. I'm especially fond of my new subscription buttons in the sidebar. Those took me about four hours to research and test the code to make them work right.

My biggest concern is that I don't really know much about CSS or how the whole template thing works. I don't want to start something that I won't be able to finish. Maybe I should get a book.

Any suggestions?

"There's Just No Way to Sanitize Live Fish"

I'm vacillating between a moue of disgust and a great big giant belly laugh.

EWWWW or HAHAHA?
You decide.

Something's Fishy: Washington State Bans Carp Pedicures, Calls Them Unsanitary

(with thanks to Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for sharing this link)

I'm Brilliant

At least that's what they tell me. In Spanish. My friend Jeanne, who writes At A Hen's Pace, passed on this wonderful award, saying she hoped to encourage me to post more often. She also said:

She's a superb writer; she's also funny, insightful, honest and quirky--even in the midst of trial.

Ooh!! Love those warm fuzzies!

I was looking for the origins of the award and found a killjoy informing us all that it's not a real award, just "a viral nuisance." Pah, say I. It may not be real to Alex Boese, but I like it just fine. If viral marketing is lauded, why not viral admiration and encouragement?

Now I'm supposed to pass it on to another brilliant blogger. Actually, I have two. One I know personally, the other I've only stalked online gotten to know virtually.

I hereby bestow my own warm fuzzies on Abigail of abirumania and Christine of welcome to my brain . net. Both women write thought-provoking posts that challenge me to reassess my own understanding of my world, my faith, and my relationships. Thank you, ladies. You inspire me.

Jeanne also tagged me to share six random things about myself, since apparently she didn't get enough with the Seven Random Things Meme. Thats okay; I've always enjoyed trivia. First thing done!

2. I can't seem to get a handle on the pronunciation of "meme". I know it's supposed to be "meem", but I continue to think of it at "meh-meh".

3. My family has some weird birthday coincidences:

• My mom and dad were born on the same day of the month, two months apart.
• My brother was born in the intervening month, two days earlier
• My father's ex-wife has a birthday in the same month, two days after my brother's
• His birthday is a week and one day before his wife's
• Her birthday is two days later than my niece's
• Another niece has a birthday exactly one week before my sister's
• Her husband has his birthday exactly one week before mine
• Adam's birthday is exactly one week after mine

4. I used to look forward to watching The Love Boat when I stayed home from school as a kid.

5. I was named after my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my dad.

6. I prefer generic canned black olives to Kalamatas.

The first six of you to read this, consider yourselves tagged.

Things Are Different Here

Moving is good for the soul. I'm convinced of it. We all could use a bit of picking up and dusting off of our cultural sensibilities once in a while. Now that we've arrived here and are starting to settle in, I'm discovering just how long it's been since I've had a little cultural shakeup in my life.

I went to college in North Carolina. I had moved there from New York, about an hour north of NYC. I made a friend in my first couple of weeks down south; her name was Lynn. She'd moved a year or two earlier from Los Angeles. She told me about her own first few days in the state--how every evening for a week the lead news story was the kid on the overpass chucking rocks at the cars driving down the freeway, and how they hadn't caught him yet. That week, she said, she'd come up with a gentle reminder to herself of the radical turn her life had just taken.

"Welcome to North Carolina," Lynn shared her wise words with me. "Things are different here."

That phrase has come back to me this past week. Often. It's taken a little twist, though: Welcome to South Dakota. Things are sure different here.

We haven't found rush hour yet. I don't think they have it. Adam and I have been out several times now between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 PM, but not once has there been any traffic-induced delay. Of course, the fact that we can easily transverse the city in less than twenty minutes does make everything seem right next door.

Our electricity is provided by a cooperative. I'm not sure what that means. I haven't yet read the brochures they sent us. Adam tells me that if we pay more than is spent providing us with lights, heat, and computer time, they'll send us money back. I could get into this.

We took a family outing to a local apple orchard this week. I was excited to go because apple picking is something Adam and I have been trying to do every autumn for five years, but this is the first time we've managed it. The publicity for the orchard describes it as the perfect place to get away from city life. And it was lovely. Giant hay bales, a pumpkin patch, a little country store, and lots and lots of apples. Did I mention that this particular orchard is just five miles from the heart of the city?

Last Friday evening, we made the mistake of trying to shop at the big box superstore on the weekend. Everyone else was there, too. Maybe that's where they've been hiding rush hour. In any case, I should have been warned as we drove into the parking lot. A good section of the last row away from the entrance was filled by a collection of recreational vehicles. It reminded me of home games at Louisiana State (Geaux Tigers!).

Since we've been here, I started watching the news again. It makes me laugh. Not the horror stories they show, but the anchors. And the technicians. I'm guessing that our market here is a few rungs below Chicago on the career ladder of news crews. The evening news, especially on the weekends, is a bit less polished than what I remember, back when I used to watch the news regularly.

Adam and I have started playing a little game I call "Guess the Story". When the graphics don't match the copy, the first one to say which story the footage is from wins. We've had two matches this week, and we're tied at one apiece. Stay tuned for the bonus round. That's when we predict how soon the overpass-rock-throwing story will air. Should be any day now.

Highlights (Not Just for Children Anymore)

It seems like for-absolutely-ever since I've posted. I went six whole days without my computer. Six days! And then, just for kicks, when we tried to set it up, the DSL wouldn't work, so I had to wait another day for the local phone company to send somebody out to check the line.

Just to catch up briefly:

• Last month we spent a week driving to and from South Dakota for a series of interviews Adam had set up, and to check out the area and see if we'd like to live here.
  
• He was offered a job that sounded just perfect at the last place he went. We had less than a month to get our stuff together and move ourselves across two states.
• We secured an apartment long-distance and started pulling boxes out of the attic. After much discussion, we realized the move itself would take nearly a week, so we planned two weeks for packing up our stuff, one in transit, and a final one unpacking before the new job started.

Our moving sale went well. We made over $100, which was my goal. Plus, it made for a nice break from the packing.

The last day of September, a bunch of our friends came over to help us load the truck. The next day, another friend came over to help clean. She also brought her daughter to entertain our daughter and keep her from too much "helping". I need to send out a big THANK YOU to them both, because I don't know how we would have managed on our own. We certainly wouldn't have finished in time for dinner followed by swimming at the hotel pool.

Traveling was pretty uneventful, just as you hope driving a 26' moving truck hitched to a trailer carrying your car will be. We managed to make it the whole trip without losing anything or having to back up.

My brother lives in town here, so I had enlisted his help in collecting a crew to help us unload. When I spoke to him on Friday night, only three guys had said they were coming, and one could only be there an hour. Thankfully, in the end we had six strapping men (not all of them were young), plus Adam. We were able to get everything into our new apartment in less than two hours. Now we just have to get it all unpacked.

Meanwhile, the computer is set up, the phone is working, and we're trying to figure out what TV channels we get (I found channels that aren't listed in TV Guide--I've never had that happen before). This past Sunday was my first week of Bears withdrawal. It went pretty well. I was able to watch most of the Packers' loss to Atlanta and the Steelers' win over the Jaguars. And the Bears won again, which is more than I can say for another ursine sports team that makes its home in Chicago.

Oh, and in other news, I have sound for the first time! When I got my current computer, our friend who built it had installed a sound card, but didn't include speakers. I've had so little experience with computer hardware that I had no idea how simple it would be to plug my $10 speakers in and hear everything I've been missing. Now I, too, can watch Hulu.

So, what's been the highlight of your week?