Baklava

If The Mommy offers to make baklava for you, take her up on it.

Zen Charger

I've retired the second-to-last item on the half-bakery project list. It turns out that I don't have to build a special USB charger for The Mommy's Zen Micro. Motorola's car chargers for their phones are USB compliant and are cheap and plentiful online. Is this a big deal in the grand scheme of things? No. But it's a nice bonus for The Mommy, who puts up with quite a bit of technology nonsense from my many other projects.

The updated Half Bakery queue:

driveway (in progress)
pergola
rack for trash and recycling bins
attic vent fan
cat box upgrade
Jeep LED interior lighting
built-in benches in dining room
built-in shelves in dining room
built-in shelves and cabinets in living room
built-in bench seat in dining room
built-in shelves and desk for the cloffice
LED kitchen task lighting
LED outdoor lighting
LED bike headlight
ironing board hanger
coat rack upgrade
car computer (MP3, GPS/NAV, DVD)
handmade CPU case
outdoor grill and oven
bike trailer from scrap
trash trailer
straw bale office / granny flat
subwoofer
water feature
rainwater collection system
fireplace upgrade
chimney upgrade
salvage laptop display as computer display
rework kitchen sink plumbing
trailer for trash and recycling
Jeep console upgrade

Poop!

Modern diapers are amazing. They'll absorb a volume equal Lake Michigan, and you really have to check a kiddo's diaper before you know it's reaching capacity. But that's for wetness. Solid diaper cargo announces itself.

When we smell poo smells, we go straight for the Babyfish's diaper, pull back her waistband, and give her a quick visual check. She knows the drill, and she's learning new words and new skills every day. Lately, she's learned to tell us that she needs a change, which I'll admit is pretty convenient. "Poop?" she says, with an expression that begs for affirmation. She's really proud of her words and what she can do with them. And when she announces poop, we pull back her waitband and give her a quick visual check. She's normally pretty accurate.

Fast forward to New Year's Day. I (The Daddy) was laying on my side on Superkid's bed, playing with both kiddos. I was laughing, and forgot to mind my exhaust, and... out came a little noise and a little smell.

The Babyfish froze, looked at me and announced with wide-eyed earnest: "poop!" I kept laughing, head down. I heard her run behind me, and I felt one little hand in my back and then the other tugging on my waistband. She was giving me the quick visual check that she had learned was customary in such situations!

Superkid, who was still laughing from just the noise of my exhaust ("remember, no matter what anybody says..."), saw the whole thing. "Did you teach her that?" I asked. He didn't answer.

Another Open Letter to The New AT&T

For providing me with the unlock code for my phone, when they really didn't have to:

Cheers.

Open Letter to Howdy Honda

For soiling an otherwise painless buying process with a $50 "Document Preparation Fee":



Bite me.



For remedying that black mark by removing $50 from the selling price of our car:



Cheers.