Driving Aphorisms

As previosly noted, we just got back from two weeks in Great Britain. The first week was in Scotland between Ediburgh and Glasgow with our friends (thanks for such a great trip!). Like I said, I'll post more when I get a chance, but I thought that I'd share a little now...

We had a rental car, so I did a fair bit of driving. On the M8 and M9 (the major motorways around/between Edinburgh and Glasgow) they have these electronic signs that are presumably for traffic information but it seems most of the time they have sage advice:

• Tiredness can kill
• Please follow the speed limit (so polite!)
• Frustration causes accidents
• Drive with consideration

I feel like a better driver already.

When have you satisfied this goal?

Since Dec. I’ve brewed:

3 IPA’s
An Oatmeal Stout
A Holiday Ale
A Saison

That’s pretty stinking close… That said, I’ve got two of those in secondary and one in primary. Maybe I should set the goal of “Bottle my beer once a month” ;)

See more progress on: brew beer at least once a month

Moments away...

We’re waiting to leave on our first international trip as a family. In about 7 hours we board the plane heading first to London and then to Edinburgh. We’ll spend a week with friends there, and then a week back in London in an apartment we’re renting near Canary Wharf. We’re pretty excited. I’ll post some pictures when we get back. In the meantime, if you have any tips, drop a line. We should have internet access.

See more progress on: travel internationally with my children

Another lesson down...

I finished another lesson with my brother-in-law. Basically I just drove him around the town. He was busy working on a real estate transaction so I was basically solo. I only stalled and interrupted him once when I started out too quickly at a red light, came a little close to the guy in front of me, and paniced when I had to stop and start over…. Tip… Never lose your composure. ;)

See more progress on: learn how to drive a manual transmission vehicle

Yur people need English lessons

As I commented on my previous posts, I did get the passports for my family. Woo! You go Shirley.

But today I got this e-mail message:

Re: Status inquiry

Please provide yur full name.

If you have further questions, please email us at NPIC@state.gov.
Please include all prior messages or correspondence in your reply so
that we may know what has taken place previously.  If you prefer, you
can call us at (877)487-2778.  Our contact center is open Monday through
Friday 8:00AM-8:00PM EST.

Thank you. 053
National Passport Information Center

Tell me that doesn't look like a SPAM?!?!? Nevermind the fact that I got it 3 days after it was sent, and a day after I actually received the passports.

Maggie, you have a very bad attitude

I called the passport information center to check on passports for our family. Applications were submitted on Apr 11th and I know the goverment cashed our checks on Apr. 25th, however we have not received them which is why I called. Actually, I was kinda shocked that they even have a human that you can speak to.

Maggie answered my call and said "what's your last name and birthday?" in a curt manner. So I replied. When I realized she was going to use them to look up the application I quickly stopped her and said, "err, but you probably want the information for my wife and children, because I wish to check on the status of the application". And I told her my wife's birthday. It took her abour 4 tries to get it right because she kept mixing my birthday with my wifes. Finally she got it right and said "it's in New Orleans"... So I started asking more questions like "will I get it in time?", "can I call New Orleans?", "what's the number?"... She got really rude with me and basically said she couldn't tell me because of privacy laws. I was ticked and not thinking clearly so I just hung up when I realized that my one year old wasn't going to be able to call back. She should've at least let me get more information about my kids.

I called back immediately and got a VERY HELPFUL and nice Shirely. She put urgent messages on all of the applications and told me to call back Tues. to check on the status. Thank you Shirley!

Hat tipped in deference for my title

Everything Bad is Good For You

My son got Zelda The Minish Cap for his gameboy for his birthday, and I've been playing with him. We each have our own "file" and while he's really good at the game, I'm still better ;) Anyhow one of the thoughts that I've had watching him play is that how incredibly spatial the game is, and how quickly he grasps it. He'll say things like "remember that castle over on the right" and I'll say "huh?" and he'll say "go left, go up, go up, go right, go right, go right" and we'll be at the castle that he was talking about. So I've been wondering whether you can learn spatial relations, or perhaps more generally, can video games make you smarter. Traditionally, parents treat video games like addictions that suck your brain out, and certainly they do simulate addiction. We learned this year that you NEVER give a gameboy game for a birthday BEFORE you're done requiring your child's attention. Our son was immediately absorbed in Zelda (and Super Mario Bros. 3) and we had to pry him away when we needed him for cake (can you believe it?!?!) or pictures, or saying goodbye to guests. That said, there's an interesting new book out called Everthing Bad Is Good For You. I heard an interview with the author on NPR and he argued (somewhat convincingly) that television programs are more sophisticated today than they were in the 70's and 80's and require more refined intellectual skills to follow and enjoy. I haven't read the book, but you're welcome to buy it for me ;)