Personal

M’s Parents Visit and Brunch

by

M’s parents came to visit this weekend.  They came Saturday morning and stayed over night.  We had lunch at our house and they hung out and got to play with Teagan.  For dinner we went to Agora since M loves it.  We wanted to take her dad out for a belated birthday and early fathers day.  We had a really good dinner even if M had to take Teagan away from the table for a bit to feed her since she was being fussy.

Sunday some of M’s cousins (and a cousin’s girlfriend) came over and we all had brunch.  M made a french toast casserole.  It was really good.  She used the Paula Dean recipe she used when her brothers family came to visit on new years.  We had a good brunch.  It was good to see M’s cousin’s.  We hadn’t seen either of them for a year.  We also had cake for M’s dad’s birthday.

M’s parents left to go home in the mid afternoon after her cousins left.  It was a short visit but a good one since they hadn’t been over since before the new year.

My Dad’s 70th Birthday

by

Today was my dad’s 70th birthday.  My sister and her family and MC, Teagan and I were supposed to meet up with my parents for dinner near my parents house.  As I was going to catch the train and meet up with MC she called that Teagan apparently had a fever.  I knew she spit up earlier but didn’t think anything of it.  Turned out she did it 2 more times.  MC had to go home and I went to dinner by myself.

The dinner was good.  We went to an italian place near my parents that my dad likes.  it was good to see Carrie, Michael and the kids as well.  My dad liked his present.  My sister and I got him an autographed football that had the autographs of 3 Giants players on it.  He is hard to shop for so I am glad we found something he liked.

After dinner I got a ride home from Michael.  By the time i got home Teagan was sleeping, but she got up briefly later on and we gave her more meds.  Hoping she feels better tomorrow.

My UP is Broken

by

Today when I went to sync my Jawbone UP I discovered the end that you plug into your phone was recessed a bit.  It made it difficult to plug into my iphone.  In the end i was able to sync it but it was obvious the device was broken.  I contacted Jawbone support and they are going to send me a replacement unit since this one is under warrantee.  I have to just keep this one working until I get my replacement unit.  It may take a week to 10 days to get.

Apartment Reconfiguration

by

I knew this day was coming but was delusional that i could put it off indefinitely   Teagan’s play area has grown and displaced my office area.  Today MC and I moved her desk into our bedroom out of our Foyer.  We then moved my computer desk into the Foyer so there is more room in the dining room / office / Teagan’s play area.  It is great that Teagan has more play area, and with MC’s desk in the bedroom I even have somewhere i can work from home when i need to and not have Teagan distracting me.  On the down side I don’t know how cool it will be in the Foyer durring the summer.  I hope its not too hot but we may need to get a fan to circulate air better.

The hardest part of the moving stuff was cleaning the dust we saw when moving one carpet.  Everything fit pretty well in their new locations.  I now just have to remember to walk to they Foyer when I want to goto my computer.  I keep walking to the play area and are disappointed when I realize my computer isn’t there.

The next reconfigurations we need to make is move the step cabinet we have out of the play area before Teagan can craw.  The last thing we need is a piece of furniture that screams climb me to a kid that just learned to move around.

Amazon, Why oh Why are You Using Smartpost?

by

I am very concerned about Amazon’s recent switch to Smartpost for some orders.  I have been a huge fan and customer for years and a Prime customer for many of those.  Recently I have noticed Amazon’s switch to Smartpost for some orders.  I was concerned because i have heard horror stories about Smartpost but didnt have any issues.  Now that has changed and my first delivery was missed purely because of Smartpost.  I wrote an email to Amazon.  In the event that they don’t read or reply to customer mail and before I forgot I wanted to paste the text of my mail into this post in the hopes that someone from Amazon may find it.  I get trying to cut costs, but Smartpost is just bad.  My example below is only the first example i have had with Amazon, but not the first i know of personally or professionally.

My wife pointed out that this order was formula and other supplies for the baby.  The whole reason we buy from Amazon is their price and the fact that we can rely delivery dates.  Yes we can goto the store nearby in a pinch if a delivery doesn’t happen but at that point why should I be ordering from Amazon at all for that stuff?

Email message read:

I have used Amazon Prime for years.  Very recently my family has started receiving packages via USPS Smartpost instead of directly from UPS for free prime shipping.  Today i was supposed to receive the order listed however USPS was unable to deliver it since no one was home.  Lets ignore the fact that someone was home and tried to buzz them for now.  I got an email telling me in order to reschedule delivery i need to goto a website and fill out a form to ask for re-delivery.  UPS or Fedex don’t require this.  They just try 3 times.  Also a more minor note that my building’s super accepts packages and i have never had a problem with other carriers until your switch to smart post.  Your switch to Smartpost is a step in the wrong direction compared to Amazon’s typical stellar service.

Not to make threads since i am one customer but continued experiences like this will lead me to look at alternative vendors.  I use Amazon for many things because of its ease of ordering and because I know I will get my stuff without question.  Starting to have delivery problems will get myself and probably others to rethink your services no matter how cheap the shipping costs are.

My Speedmaster Returns

by

In early January I was distressed when one night I went to wind my watch one night and felt something give when I started to wind it.  After that there was no resistance when winding it and i knew something was wrong.  I was very concerned because my Speedmaster Professional is over 40 years old and I just had work done on it almost two years ago.  Servicing that watch is not cheap so I was not pleased that it could be expensive to fix.  I took it to the Omega store the next day and thankfully the watch was still under warranty.  That was a huge relief.  On the down side they said it would take up to six weeks to get fixed.  At that point I didn’t care because it was a free fix.

Today I went to pick up my newly fixed watch.  It seems to be working perfectly so I am happy.  it always has a tenancy to run fast so I am wondering if this work has addressed that, but I am not holding my breath on it.

Meeting up with old friends

by

My friends Joe & Karen and their little one Logan were in town.  We don’t get to see them very often so I wanted to be sure I could see them.  Unfortunately the night they were free MC couldn’t get out.  It is still difficult to schedule stuff with a 2 month old.  I ended up meeting up with them on my own right from work.

We went to Sparks Steakhouse for dinner.  We meet other friends of theirs in one big group since they weren’t in for that long to have separate meetups with everyone.  I was suprised how good Logan was at dinner and I hope Teagan will be the same way!

The food was good but it wasn’t as good as I remembered from when MC & I went here for my birthday two years ago.  Either way it was great to be able to see everyone even if it was just for dinner.

The Story Why I Can’t Watch The News

by

I am not a fan of TV or radio news.  I used to be as my mom likes to say.  She is right.  I used to love the news and current events and would soak it up on TV.  I have been quoted at 5 years old giving opinions of who I thought would presidential race at the time.  Reagan vs Carter if you are wondering.  By the time I was in my 20’s In the 90’s I started watching less regular news and more financial news like CNBC.  After a while I couldn’t even watch that.  Back then I am not sure what made me stop.  I think it was just that news was depressing and repetitive on TV.

 

It turns out that if you blog long enough you will cover the same or similar topics again.  I found a post I wrote in August 2005 about another reason why I don’t watch the news.  For the record that post confirms I was reading the news from Reuters long before I worked there so I think its ok for me to say I think they are a great news source even though I work in there.  As always the opinions expressed on this blog are my own and not those of my employer.

2nd Date Night

by

With MC’s parents still with us tonight they suggested we go out again yesterday and let them baby sit.  At first we weren’t going to go but then we realized we should get out when we can.  We wanted to go out and do something quick so we headed to Austin St. to grab dinner.  We were going to goto Aged steakhouse, but we didnt have a reservation and it would have been 30 minutes wait.  instead we went to Sante Fe Steakhouse.  My steak was good, not great.  MC’s dinner was less stellar.  It was nice getting out but it wasn’t as nice an evening as last night.

Dinner and a Movie

by

MC’s parents are staying with us for a few days  since they are without power due to the storm.  It has been a bit cramped since I am working from home due to the storm but it is nice to have them.  They help with taking care of Teagan, and MC doesn’t get to see them as often as I can see my parents since hers lives about an hour and a half away.

Since they are here and they dont know when they will have power, MC had the idea that they could watch the baby Friday night and we could go out and grab some dinner and catch a movie.  We haven’t done that alone since Teagan was born so it is almost 7 weeks.  We were both excited since we would love a night out and we have wanted to go see Argo.  Up until her parents came to visit we figured we would never get to see  it in the movies and would catch it on DVD.

We opted for an early movie and dinner afterward.  The movie was great.  Probably one of the best stories I have seen in a long time.  It was very well done and worth it as our first date out.  We went to the theater on Austin St and then went to a Sushi Yasu place across the street from the Theater   We wanted to try a new place and we were in the mood for sushi.  The restaurant was nice but the sushi was not as good as our favorite place in Woodside (TJ”s) or the more upscale Moca Asian Bistro around the corner.  After dinner we went to Martha’s for coffee and desert before heading back home.

It was a nice quick night out.  We were both glad to get away even though MC talked to her mom 3 times while we were out.  We might go out again tonight but we aren’t sure.