The Big DumpTruck

Yesterday was laundry day around Casa Des DumpTrucks. I think I personally did 375 loads of laundry. I know that there were parts of the floor I hadn't seen in months that are now part of the family again.

We celebrated laundry day by, um, doing laundry. We also took in a showing of The Simpsons (only a couple of iffy words, I was more concerned about the content of the preview for Good Luck Chuck, or whatever it's called, which seemed to me to be more R than PG-13, given that the entire thing was about sex) and got some shampoo at Target. (Pantene, I got the one that has shampoo and conditioner combined because I'm so damned lazy that I cannot be bothered to do them both if it involves flipping the cap on two different bottles. I haven't done a 2-in-1 shampoo since Pert was first introduced in the Middle Ages and I hated how greasy it made my hair.)

Oh, okay, we also celebrated laundry day by playing a round of Travel Blokus (tip 'o the hat to utterwonder.com for bringing Blokus to my attention) and Mario Party 8 on the Wii. And then I ended laundry day by pretending I had enough money to buy a wide angle lens for my camera. (Anyone have an opinion on the Sigma 10-20mm? Is it too slow to use indoors?)

Okay, so I added a script to the page that will automatically turn key terms into Amazon.com links. Let's see how much of the above ends up sending you all on shopping sprees...

Labels: camera, chores, fun, shopping, Sunday

Saw a "news" article this morning that something is planning to sell Jerry Garcia's stereo speakers and bidet.

His bidet.

The thing he used to clean his arse with.

Okay, no offense, but why on earth would someone want to own such a thing? I know that there are people out there who are gigantic fans, still, of his, but really, do you need his bidet? What about his toilet, he probably used that a lot more than the bidet. Or was there a urinal cake somewhere that he peed on?

It looks like the proceeds from this sale will be going to charity, so I'll cut them a little slack, but please, people, if any of you want to buy my used appliances, contact me offline so we don't have to deal with the embarrassment of holding a public auction.

Labels: odd, stuff

There are two Ninjas in my bathroom. They are both sort of orange and clear and they are sitting on the counter. If I didn't have a 9-year-old son, I would worry. "How did I get ninjas in my bathroom? Are they here to harm me? Why are they on the counter? Did I already brush my teeth?"

Labels: junior

Sheesh, this is taking forever! I'll be good, though.

Hey, that book I talk about below? The author really really hates Disney. Like, REALLY hates them. So now I'm sort of on the fence about recommending the book. Okay, I'm still enjoying the book but I think Mr. Anti-Disney ("Too bad that inferno is now burning up the whole Sunshine State" - said in reference to the spark that ignited Disney's theme park flame.)

So the point I'd like to make to the author is that if it weren't for the major attractions in Orlando, most of these roadside oddities would suffer from a large lack of visitors. Instead, people like me planning a trip down to see the mouse will buy his book to look for other places to visit while I'm down there. Do you really think a family from Massachusetts would plan an entire trip to see the Indian River Citrus Museum?

Labels: florida, travel, Vacation

I'm the kind of person who finds planning a vacation as relaxing and enjoyable as going on one. Maybe more so, because when you are planning, everything and anything is possible, there are no lines or bugs or heat, no need to pull out the credit card every fifteen minutes, no maps to read or refold. I love trying to pick just the right hotel at just the right location. I could spend hours on travel websites looking at the interiors of hotel rooms. I'm smart enough to know that if a hotel's website only shows closeups of the pillows on the bed or the bedside table, the room is probably the size of a small dog.

So every time we go to Florida (and sometimes even when we aren't going) I am in planning mode times 12. I get books. I read websites (lots of them) and my favorite email newsletter from allearsnet.com (If you enjoy Disney and don't get this weekly newsletters, your Tuesdays are a cold and dank place I don't want to be.) Remember, one of my photos is on their website (scroll all the way down - the last photo on the page is mine.)

This time around, Mr. Dump asked to be the planner guy, and I said yes. So my role has been greatly reduced. I only got one updated guide (I'm saving all my old ones...some day we'll read and look at the pictures and say "oh my gosh, it hasn't been like that for 10 years!"). But I also got a book called Oddball Florida: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places (Oddball series). It's really really good and now I want to take a trip to Florida and just hit all these awful tourist attractions! By the way, my new favorite street name comes from the location of the Water Ski Hall of Fame and Museum - it is located on Holy Cow Road in Polk City. Holy Cow Road! I want to live on Holy Cow Road!

So that's all I have to say today. I'm still killing time. I can tell you, I won't be finishing the Oddball Florida book in the next few days.

Labels: florida, fun, photos, Vacation, wierd

UPS is bringing me that book that I promise I won't talk about for at least the next 5 days. Okay, fair enough? I will not talk about it, and I would ask you to do the same with your comments. Nothing until, let's say, Wednesday t 3pm. Is that long enough? It should be, even if you didn't pre-order a copy or haven't gone out to get one yet. And when I do talk about it, I won't put it in the post title or the first paragraph, so you kids with RSS readers or what have you won't have to drop me from your feed. Aren't I nice?
Mine is coming, but I need to go to Target and you KNOW there will be a display of them. Will I have the self-control to not buy a copy?

Labels: books, potter, shopping

Dump friend Chuck of Unbecoming Levity took "one" of the coolest photos I've seen in forever. I have to go try to do the same thing, that's how cool it is. I think it's going to take some planning, to find a place where there won't be a lot of background activity, and to take it at a time when the light won't be rapidly changing (so midday). Go right now and check out the photo. It's VERY cool.

(His site gives the final Chuck count. Junior spotted one that I missed.)

Welcome Heathen-Seeker! I really do appreciate all the traffic being funnelled my way by the website that sent you here. I don't have any real plans to pimp my children out for the sake of a charity car wash, just in case that wasn't clear. I don't believe in car washes. On the other hand, I would allow any cute child of mine to open a charity lemonade stand on a busy street.

I kid!

No, I'm not about pimping my children. I'm not interested in short term rentals. The real money is in selling your children outright.

I kid again!

Here are important things that I would like to share with the hoard of Catholics (or is that a "pew of Catholics?") wandering through the front door:

• Dubble Bubble white gumballs are pineapple flavored.
• Disney's Meteos game boy game is very very hard so why make a Disney flavor that implies it's for kids? The Winnie the Pooh level is a killer!
• Mr. Dump made American Chop Suey for dinner. He's my hero.
• I wouldn't be sad if Barry Bonds retired before breaking the record.
• I'm confused. El Presidente said we were fighting this war to make America safer. So then why have the Al Qaeda reformed and possibly moved terror cells back into the US, putting us in the same danger we were pre-9/11 if...and I hesitate to even suggest it...the war in Iraq has nothing to do with Al Qaeda because the Iraqis didn't have anything to do with 9/11?
• CNN - you stink. What the hell is up with the new redesign? There is less branding (and useful information) on there now than there is on my website! And if you don't cut the crap with the video-only stuff I'm going to scream. Don't you even care about the millions of people who want to check the news at work and have video streaming blocked? I'm done with you. I'm going to have to go somewhere else to get my news and that's a sad, sad thing.
• The Vicar of Dibley - how come nobody told me about this show? I adore Dawn French!
  

Labels: News, video, websites, welcome

Mr. Dump has decided that if your youth group is going to have a
successful car wash you need a minimum of 30 (!) volunteers divided into
two lines with different people given wash, rinse and dry roles.

I said that if you had 6 really cute girls you'd be all set. He pointed
out that unless severly disfigured, most guys think *any* 16 year old
girl is cute. I have to agree with this theory. But I don't know if you
can staff all 30 positions with cute girls. As long as you have a couple
of them holding signs on the road, you'll suck people in behind the
school where you can actually have boys do the heavy work.

Good thing we have no reason to run a charity car wash. I don't have 30
volunteers lying around.

Does anyone else have this kind of oddball discussion?

[Posted from the SideKick using email]

Everyone is showing off the quality of the photos taken with their
iPhones, so I feel I should share a photo I took with my SideKick of Junior on an
inflatable bucking bronco. We did this at the Oak Ridge Farm Stand when
they had their strawberry festival. It's not as good as the ones taken with an iPhone, but it's not awful.

Labels: phone, photos

According to Boston.com Merriam Webster added the word "ginormous" to the dictionary. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I kind of liked using the word because it wasn't a word. And now it is one. Where does that leave me?

I don't know.

I may continue to use it, I'll just have to wait for an appropriate opportunity.

A little personal aside on this topic - back in about 1985 or 86, when I was attending St. Joseph College in West Hartford, getting an English degree (hard to tell, huh?) I took an etymology class (that's words, not bugs). Sr. Mary Joan Cook, the professor, took us on a field trip to Merriam Webster. Talk about exciting! It was a big building full of little pieces of paper with words on them. Literally. Picture the old card catalogs at your local library, multiply that by 100 and that's what the words were stored on. The committee would review new words every year, based on usage in publications they recognized as legitimate (New York Times vs. a comic book). The ones with the most cache and the most likely to be long-lived made the cut and got added, and a couple of Olde Tyme words would drop off to make room. So I am very familiar, actually, with the process they follow, although I'm hoping to God that a lot of the physical paper copies of words and definitions and articles have made their way to some sort of electronic media. That place was a major fire hazard.

I was going to slow down on blogging about the photos I've added to my photostream over at Flickr, but the photo above has zoomed up higher in Flickr's "Explore" than anything I've ever done. It hit #26 for July 6th, and I am just so pleased! It certainly makes me want to take more gumball photos.

The problem is that we keep eating the raw materials.

Labels: flickr, gumballs, photos

I'm scared. Really scared. Today, Junior takes his first trumpet lesson. Are you listening? Trumpet. Meaning he has to practice. In my house.

Flash back a billion years ago to the year 1976. Little Jody B went to a presentation by the music teacher about all the different band instruments available to the kids at Priest Street School. And Little Jody B chose....the trumpet. Well, I wanted to play the coronet, but the school rental instruments didn't have one, only a slightly dinged-up trumpet. So for two years, I took trumpet lessons at school, the highlight of which was my solo performance at the annual talent show of the Carpenter's song "Close to You." My mom still speaks in awed tones of the brilliance of my performance, and her disappointment that we didn't continue on with the trumpet when I moved up to junior high, because I wanted to take chorus and you couldn't do both.

I'm still scared that a 10 year old boy will be practicing trumpet in my house. I remember what my first weeks were like 31 or so years ago. (Good Lord! 31?) It wasn't pretty.

Labels: junior, kids, music

Okay, I'm saving this spot for something good. I'll see you tomorrow.

Okay, I've been meaning to share this with all of you. What you see below you is what happened when Mr. Dump showed the 16 year old, AKA JPDLF his new Wacom Tablet. JPDLF asked if he could try it out. He was left alone for a very short while. Did I mention the first thing I ever drew with a Wacom looked suspiciously like the kind of cloud a two year old draws the first time they pick up a crayon? I thought not.

This is the kid who does the infamous Etch a Sketch art. (Ohh, I was going to link but it looks like the link is broken in the archives. Remind me to fix that tonight).

Labels: computer_art, kids

I told you we had good seats! Actually, when we got the tickets we assumed we were in the 6th and 7th rows. However, when we got there we realized the rows started with C, not A, so we were in the 4th and 5th rows.

So that was two Sundays in a row we went to Spinners games. What the heck am I going to do *this* Sunday, now that it's a habit?

In non-baseball chatter, anyone doing anything fun for the 4th? We're going to just roll out of bed late, fire up the laptops and the grill, and relax. I suppose if I were really awesome like Chuck (http://flickr.com/photos/plastereddragon/) I would have planned a day out taking photos, complete with maps, GPS and a field guide to small bugs and flowers. Maybe I'll just take more photos of my feet, as they are creepily very popular and got a lot of people into my photo stream. (My foot picture is actually of gumballs, with the feet used as a reference for the size of the container.) If I'm going to do that, I'm going to have to put a new coat or two of nail polish on my toes. Too bad I don't own white and blue, I could make little flags!

Labels: baseball, feet, holidays, photos, summer

We attended out 2nd Lowell Spinners game in as many weeks (actually, more like a week because they were both Sunday games) with great GREAT tickets right behind home plate. I mean, right behind home plate. I will post pictures later, but you brave souls not afraid to go look at my flickr account will see a couple of them now.

We ended up sitting next to 5 players from the opposing team, the Tri-City Valley Cats, a single A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They were all pitchers, and they were sitting in the stands next to us with clipboards and radar guns. They were SUPER NICE GUYS given that they were "the enemy" and I swear, if the one who talked to us the most will be my favorite ball player if he ever gets called up to the majors. Mr. Dump tells me that based on the fact that they were just drafted and are already in the single A Penn League team, they are fast tracking up. I will have to find out their names so I can set up Google Alerts to tell me if they are ever in the news.

My heart belongs to the Boston Red Sox, but it can't hurt to have a favorite National League team, right?

Labels: baseball, Red_Sox, weekend