The W Sisters and the story of Superman

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So funny story, this story was written back in the middle of September 2016.  I thought i published it however I published a draft.  I only recently noticed it was in my drafts folder on WordPress.  Now I am finally getting around to publish it.

I don’t deny that I’m a geek and into most things science fiction. Some of the most fun about having kids is introducing them to things I loved to do as a kid. One area that I felt I have been lacking at is introducing the kids to superheroes and other science fiction universes. When A was born and T was going to a play group every Friday I remember seeing kids at the time (about a year and a half old) having lots of different superhero action figures. Not the small ones like G.I. Joe’s that I had but bigger ones for toddlers. I felt I was not doing my job as a parent because I wasn’t exposing T yet to some cool stuff. I didn’t really think I need to act that quickly but apparently everyone else was. That was around the time that I asked for some of my old toys for my parents. I was then able to introduce her to Ironman, Superman, the A-Team for some reason. I also got Doctor Who action figures.

In the two years or so since then I’ve done an okay job of keeping them interested in superheroes and science-fiction. I bought the little golden books of Star Wars. Because of that the girls have read the abridged versions of all the Star Wars movies. They’ve also read several superhero books and have some superhero toys. I felt for a while that I had greater luck with exposing the girls to rockets and the space station and superheroes until recently.

A has had an Avengers book bag for over a year. Last year we went to pick out book bags that’s what she picked. T wanted something with frozen on it. Since I prefer Marvel over DC and Iron Man is probably one of my favorite superheroes I was pleased that she picked the avengers. I had absolutely no say in that decision. It’s after she had it for a while though she would constantly ask for it by saying she wants the Superman backpack. Apparently since Capt. America and Superman both are in blue costumes she associated the two and for some reason keeps thinking Capt. America is Superman. My super geeky side of me is torn since I’m not a Superman fan however I love that she loves Superman.

Last year A asked for a Superman watch. She always sees me changing my watch when I get home from work so she must know that I like them. biscuit roll factual and her have both had these little plastic watches they got at the dentist office toy been for almost a year. They love to wear them. I have wanted to get regular children’s watches for both of them however I couldn’t find something I really wanted to get them and was happy not to spend the money if they were okay with what they had. When A asked me for Superman watch I thought to myself challenge accepted. As I was shopping for watch and MC was putting the girls to bed A proceeds to announce that she also wants a Superman Dee Dee. What she meant was she wanted a Superman stuffed animal. She proceeds to turn to T and asks “ you want Elsa Dee Dee?”. Implying that T would want and also stuffed animal since she likes frozen. T already had to or more else the stuffed animals so she did not need any more however I added to my list of things to research a Superman stuffed animal.

I was able to find a kids Superman watch that helped tell time with the hour and minute hands labeled for kids to know what they are. Of course A would have to read in order for that to be helpful for however she love the watch regardless. The stuffed animal I found wasn’t the greatest. It had a hard plastic head and was kinda thin body. A did not seem to care. When I gave it to her she grabbed it and hugged it tightly. She was in her room getting ready for bed and took her Paddington bear which is her favorite stuffed toy and threw it down out of her crib as if she didn’t need it anymore. Don’t be worried that anything happened to Paddington bear she was all over him 20 minutes later. It was however pretty funny to see her throw him away so quickly when she got Superman.

Hello Old Friend

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T was up early Sunday morning with a stomach bug. That meant the family went into quarantine. We were going to visit my dad in the morning and then have some of M‘s cousins over for brunch in the afternoon. Everything got canceled. We just hoped T would feel better and that she didn’t pass it on to her sister.

Before T got sick M had prepared a French toast casserole for brunch. With no company coming over food that would go bad we decided to make it anyway. T wasn’t eating obviously however M myself and A had the delicious French toast casserole.

For her size A eats pretty well however in the grand scheme of things didn’t put a dent in this casserole. M did not have that much so that left me to accept the challenge to try to finish this thing as best as I could.

When I told M that she said no, no you don’t need to finish it. I cannot stress how specific she was on the fact that I did not have to try to eat as much of this casserole as I could. I ignored her and tried anyway. I had about three helpings before I had to stop. There’s more than enough for another meal that we will have one day this week possibly for dinner when T is better.

M’s French toast casserole is usually fantastic and this one did not disappoint. It wasn’t however the Paula Dean recipe with some ridiculous amount of butter and pralines in it. That is likely the only reason I am still breathing right now!

I Am Planning to Get an iPhone X Despite Face Recognition

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It used to be that when a new iPhone would come out it would have enough features that I would go one by one. There really wasn’t a question about it. When the iPhone 5S came out it was the first time I decided not to upgrade. It just wasn’t compelling for me.

I had the same dilemma when the iPhone 7+ came out and I had an iPhone 6S+. Someone convinced me to get it and go on the Apple purchase plan so I can get upgrades every year. Not saving any money however it’s a consistent payment for the same level of technology. With our plan to go overseas in January I do not think I can continue to use the Apple purchase plan since I believe it is only offered in the US. When the iPhone X was announced I originally thought I wanted it. Then as I do sometimes, I waffled a bit. I was not sure if the price difference was worth it verse the iPhone 8. The difference in cost is $200.

I was reading a review comparing both the 8 & the X and as I was reading it I was leaning more and more towards going with a simple iPhone 8+. One of the things that sounded cool in the beginning but as I read about it and thought about it I really did not like was the face recognition. The security minded part of me screams this might not be a good idea. At least Maybe I should wait till I get it. That along with the fact that the iPhone 8 and 8+ have virtually identical internals then the X got me wondering if I really needed to be spending the extra $200 for the X.

I was basically convinced to go with the iPhone 8+ until I got the end of the article and they showed a scale diagram of all three phones side-by-side. The iPhone 8, 8+, & X. I was surprised to see how dramatically smaller the iPhone X was to the 8+ while at the same time having a larger screen. The iPhone X was only marginally wider than the iPhone 8. That’s pretty small.

Despite the fact that I have reservations on the facial recognition unlocking of the phone the size difference between the plus and the X is too compelling. That means in a few weeks I will be getting up early to preorder my iPhone X. Later that morning I’ll be aggravated by the fact that I probably couldn’t place the order quick enough because Apple systems are overloaded. I do not have a crystal ball I just remember the last two or three times I tried to do this. I’m just stubborn enough to ignore past history and try again anyway.

 

The Facilitator Of Deliciousness

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I’m pretty sure that replacing this kitchenAid mixer is in my employee contract for moving.  If not it’s a stipulation in the unwritten marriage agreement that we get a new mixer when we get to London. It will be an expensive item however this mixer is the bringer of deliciousness, the facilitator of cake making so we will, no must have one. Unfortunately just not this one.

I do reserve the right to have sticker shock and at least think about alternatives when i see the price including VAT.

My sister graciously said she would give our mixer a home. I told her I I reserve the right to be an Indian giver her and take back the mixer if/when we come back to the states. She said she’ll take that chance and put the mixer next to another appliance with the same restrictions she got from her friend Amy 11 years ago before they went to Hong Kong. Well played Carrie.

Oh Yeah it’s Been Nine Years (and a Month)

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Today it has been nine years (and a month) of my working at Thomson Reuters. On one hand it does feel like I’ve been here for a long time. On the other hand it’s still challenging to grasp that it’s been eight years. One of the things I’ve learned that’s good about a large company is it changes as well as your role changes so even though it’s been eight years I’m not doing the same thing I was doing when I started in September 2008.

Thomson Reuters for me by the numbers was something I was thinking about in my head the other day. In the eight years that I’ve been lots of things have changed for me. I have managed five different groups. Six if you count the one I had for about a week or so however I don’t. I’ve had six different positions. I’ve gone through four different managers. Funny enough I switched between three of them within a three-month period that started with a voicemail when I was returning from my honeymoon. I have worked out of three different offices as well as working from home however if you really counted out I’ve gone from Office 1, to Office 2, to Office 3, back to Office 2.

On a personal side I have lived in three different apartments. I have dated, got engaged, got married. Oh and I also have two kids within those nine years. In context my life is vastly different than it was on September 8, 2008. On a personal and professional level far better off than where I was. In anti-climactic fashion I realized about a year and a half after it happened that I have been at Reuters longer than any other company.

Note apparently I had a bunch of posts that I wrote last year that were actually submitted as drafts and never public.  This post was one of them.  I updated the metrics on work and the years working at TR however not much else changed in the post.  I missed posting on my anniversary so i am posting on the anniversary and a month.

Drinking Americano

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I started drinking more Americano’s in the morning on the weekends. I usually drink French press since it’s significantly cheaper and tastes pretty good. With our upcoming move I’m not sure (almost positive it can’t) if the Nespresso machine will work so it is on the list of what has to go.

The delicious challenge I have is that I have a bunch of pods remaining I need to drink before we move in December.  I will either drink a single Lungo shot on its own or make an Americano using the single shot pods.  I am running low on the Lungo shots so it will be Americano’s for a while. The delicious challenge was accepted.

The less delicious challenge to finish the decaf will happen later.

You Need A Passport, And You, Every Gets a Passport!

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I am sticking with the title even though I am not sure if the Operah joke goes over well in this context.

The thing about living overseas is you need a passport. M hadn’t renewed her US passport until the summer. It expired sometime last year. We were pleasantly surprised to get the passport back pretty quick versus how long the State Department said it could take.

My passport is good through 2019 however I’m renewing it early. For one thing I look vaguely like the photo on my passport nowadays. It’s almost funny to see how much more weight I had back then. I also think it’s a good idea to renew it now since renewing it while I’m overseas I feel will be more challenging. Since we want to make a trip before we move I sent my request off and paid the expedite fee. Even though MC had hers come back pretty fast there’s no guarantee. I did not want take that chance.

T has a passport however since she got it when she was not yet one it’s expiring the summer. We will likely have to renew it before we go. I think there’s a rule that you’re not supposed to travel if your passport will expire within six months. I’m curious about that however in any event will renew T before we leave.

A and I went one morning this summer to get hers done. I was surprised at how complicated that was for me to go by myself without M. Apparently the governments concerned about people getting passports and taking their kids without telling the other spouse. I needed to provide a notarized letter and proof of ID from MC saying she knows that I’m getting a passport for A. I get the reasons why you have to do this however I was slightly amused, and slightly annoyed that I had to do that. A didn’t really care. She was fascinated with the post office.

Once T is taking care of we will be all set. Next up is the visas. Thankfully work is taking care of those.

Start With Why

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A few years ago a guy I work with sent me a TED talk video of Simon Sinek.  After  watching one of his videos I immediately watched the second one. Both were very fascinating. It inspired me to want to read his book start with why. The reviews however basically said if you watched the TED talk then you really don’t need to read the book. At the time I didn’t.

Over the summer someone at work challenged me to come up with my personal brand. I floundered for a while not knowing what to do since I am terrible at self-promoting or so I thin I asked the same coworker for thoughts on where to star on doing an exercise like that. He suggested going back to start with why He also pointed out that there is or was a course that Simon Sinek offered that helped people come up with their personal why.

What my coworker said made a lot of sense I ended up buying the book even though the reviews suggested I might not need i I’m three quarters of the way through and it’s been pretty interesting It is an easy read however very insightful information.I started reading the book in August I noticed that the course my coworker mentioned was being turned into a book that was published in September.  Once I am done with Start With Why  I hope to get that book and read it next.

Wait, The Money is Different Sizes in England?

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One of things that turns out to be way more complicated than you would think when planning to move to another country is banking. Before agreeing to go to England we did a lot of research on what it would take. One of the big challenges everyone flagged was getting a bank account. Apparently the Catch-22 is you need to be there to get a bank account in most circumstances. To be there you need money to live. That’s hard without a bank account. Most banks want a local address before you can open an account however most places you want to rent from want a bank account. See the challenge here?

Other things that I’m trying to be smart about is keeping our US presence while were gone.

Then of course there’s the whole thing of English money might not fit in my wallet since it’s different sizes. It’s never a good sign when the company that makes the wall that I own “Bellroy” has a specific line of wallet they market to the UK. That makes me feel like what I own now isn’t going to really work. I might get lucky and maybe everything will be NFC payment. It might be better than the US but that’s wishful thinking.