Archive for September, 2006

Windows and It’s A Small World

Monday, September 25th, 2006

The rest of my windows finally came in this weekend.  They arrived from Lowes on Saturday.  My friend Paul helped me pry off the old ones.  By 4:30 pm I had replaced the front 4 windows on our place.  They look way better than the old ones.  The old ones were aluminum frame, single pane, sliders that were bent and falling apart — the latches didn't work.  The new ones are made by Pella.  they're energy efficient low-e-glazed, double-paned, vinyl. 

I surfed both Sat and Sun morning.  The waves have been excellent — head high and glassy.  Alpo and I paddled out at 19th street in Huntington.  The water is warm from the south swell — high 60's.  The Santa Ana winds are lightly blowing offshore, giving the waves some hollow barrels. 

On Sunday we took Silas to Disneyland to celebrate his 6-month-birthday.  Bronwen's student, Colin, signed us in as his guests (he was working the afternoon shift in Toontown).  We took Silas on It's a Small World — our only attraction of the day.  He was mesmerized.  He sat on my lap motionless, looking at the bright-colored dancing dolls — didn't make a sound or move a muscle.  Besides the ride, all we did was get 2 ice coffees on Main Street.  We were in the park for a total of an hour and a half.  It was the perfect amount of time with a 6-month-old baby.

HD DirecTiVo

Wednesday, September 13th, 2006

Last week I got the HD DirecTV hooked up.  They installed a dish twice the size of the old one.  I don't think that was truly necessary, but the technician swears over the next 6 months the HD signals will be coming from a different satellite array (or something).  The result?  Fabulous.  The 20 channels of HD programming look AMAZING on my 37" LCD TV.  Regular stations look weak in comparison. 

Here's a list of the shows I have a TiVo Season Pass for:
- Project Runway
- Million Dollar Listing
- The Office
- Prison Break
- Sopranos
- Simpsons
- Family Guy
- Rome
- SNL
- Best Week Ever
- Friends Repeats (Bronwen's)
- Grey's Anatomy (Bronwen's)
- What Not to Wear (Bronwen's)

Summer Over

Wednesday, September 13th, 2006

Summer's over.  Labor Day has come and gone.  Yesterday after work, I found myself asking, "What time is it?  6:00?  The sun is already settting?"  NFL football has started.  The Skins are off to a dismal start.  I can tell this year will slide very quickly into Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Spent Labor Day in DC.  Went to see my mom who had both ovaries, utereus, and appendix removed.  They found early-stage ovarian cancer, but think they were able to get everything.  Just-in-case, she starts chemo today.  Mom's scared about the pain she will go through and the probability of losing her hair.  According to the latest clinical study, adjuvant chemo (surgery + chemo) gets you about 10% greater chance of survival without recurrance.  Cindy's tough and I'm sure she'll beat this.