Updates

Never seem to find time to blog lately between work and Alan. So I've doing a bunch of bullet points:

• Alan seems to be getting somewhat more independant. He can dress himself (even if he puts on 2 shirts, or pants on backwards). He does ok with matching (but boys have it easier).

• He's a little better on sitting ON the potty, not using it for #2 alas.

• Last Sunday during the storm, I finally cleaned out my closet/dresser. Now all I have to do is store my winter stuff in box storage and drop off some clothing for donation. And diet :(

• Have a bunch of book reviews to post. Most are good reviews - I got a lot of books from Harper Collins (via Blogher) which was nice.

• The check is in the mail for my $1000.00 deductable from my recent car accident. Thank you Travelers (the other guy's insurance) and Geico (my insurance). I do hope the guy does get some punishment from his employer for backing into my car, since my police department did nothing.

• I was actually at the police department (boro hall) tonight - in the room where I've gone for traffic ticket court. But it was to register Alan for soccer. He'll play pre-k soccer in the fall. It feels weird as I never did extra-cirricular sports as child. I need to get him shin guards (what size?) - the league supplies the shorts and shirts. And he doesn't need cleats. I also would like to get a size 3 soccer ball for him to practice with. I wonder if he needs one of those athletic supporter things (or is that for older boys?)
  I really signed him up for skills - social and teamwork as well as exercise, I'm not trying to turn him into the next Pele! Any advice on being a "soccer mom" would be appreciated though.

• We got the invitation to my cousin's son's Bar Mitzvah in June. The ceremony and party are at my cousin's house. He does well in business, so this will be a nice party. I have to confirm that Alan can come (it had been mentioned verbally, but it wasn't on the invitation). And since it is at 5PM on a Saturday I have to figure out what Alan should wear - suit - polo and dress pants - a dressy baby boy short thing (probably he's too old at 4 1/2)? Me, I guess I'll get a cocktail type dress and Mark gets off easy with a clean suit!

• Watched an old Get Smart episode (or part of it) with Mark and Alan last night. It was one where Hymie the Robot wound up running in an Olympic like event - the techniques used to merge the track stuff with the good guys/bad guys watching in the audience seemed so primitive. And when Hymie the robot was in need of power, he ended up being hooked to the 9 Volt Battery from Agent 99's portable radio - it would be a cell phone or iPod now (and does anything new use 9 Volt Batteries anymore?) But it was still funny - physical humor does hold up

That's all for now. Next post is current event commentary.

Current Events

On Imus: The particularly offensive part of his phrase was the "Ho" word. I think he got in trouble because he crossed the line and chose the wrong target. Rutgers is local to NYC and is trying to improve it's standing in college athletics - first with the football team making a bowl game and now the women's basketball team. Wouldn't surprise me if there Rutgers alumni, parents of students, or athletic fans in the chain of command at CBS/Infinity/WNBC. I used to listen to him back in the 1990's with my ex. He was ok, but I was never a fan (but didn't dislike him as much as Howard Stern). Also during that time period Joel Hollander (a now leaving bigwig with Infinity/CBS - and the one I don't like for destroying WCBS-FM) who was over him, lost his infant daughter CJ to SIDs. That led Imus to be involved with the Tommorow's Children's fund. It is based at Hackensack Hospital where Alan was born and there are building there named for Imus and his wife Deidre. I wonder they'll have to be renamed. I do hope his good works don't get lost in this flack. Since I wasn't a fan or listened to him before, I probably still won't.

On Governor Corzine: Weird how his accident was indirectly caused by Imus's remarks. (He was on the way to moderate a meeting of Imus and the Rutgers basketball team at the Governor's mansion.) I'm surprised that the hit and run driver who caused the accident was able to not be charged. I figure the state police would throw the book at the 20 year old driver. But Corzine should have worn his seatbelt. I heard he will be charged a 46.00 fine for this (he can afford it as the ex CEO of Goldman Sachs). He does face a long recovery ahead - I'm pretty sure he's getting the best care possible though. NJ still doesn't have an offical Lieutenant Governor position (we will in 2009), but at least our acting Governor Codey has experience in being acting Governor as he filled in after McGreevy resigned.

On the VTech tragedy: My heart goes out to all those who had loved ones hurt or killed that day. It's very strange that I've found 2 connections via 1 degree of seperation on the Internet. One connection is on a working moms list - the other off a children's clothing bulletin board (a poster was an ex-professor there). My early thoughts was that it was someone who wasn't right - it turns out people did find reason to question the shooter's behavior beforehand, but it seems followup with it may have slipped between the cracks. I wonder if any of it has to do with the size of the campus - both physical and in population. I went to a relatively small college in terms of size (WPI) - I felt more comfortable there than at a large state school. I've been meaning to e-mail the alumni admissions contact I have there and ask how they are dealing with it and the issues that have been raised. I got an e-mail today mentioning that people should wear the school colors (Maroon and Orange) tommorrow to show sympathy and support. I'm thinking about doing so, if I can find those colors in the closet.