Saturday, April 30, 2005

Tee Ball Opening Day


Nolan and his manager, Coach Davenport. Posted by Hello

Tee ball season kicked off this morning for the Niskayuna Baseball program.

Nolan is playing on the Price Chopper team, aka "The Choppers." He had a great time -- to the point where he was almost ready to cry when the game was over because he didn't want to stop. (Of course, as Tom Hanks taught us, there's no crying in baseball).


Nolan heads for home. Posted by Hello

Nolan "Slugger" Rooney is the only lefty on his team. When he went up for his first turn at bat, the manager automatically put him on the left side of the plate and had him right handed. He hit a couple foul balls before hitting a weak grounder. On his next turn, I reminded the manager to have bat from the other side, and he smacked it on the first try. So perhaps he has a future as a switch hitter.


Nolan plays left field under the watchful eye of Coach Rooney. Posted by Hello

I'm an assistant coach on the team. Today I coached third base when the Choppers were up to bat and stood in the outfield when they were fielding. Nolan played left field in the first inning and quickly grew frustrated since hardly anyone in tee ball hits anyting to left field. Fortunately, in the next inning he was moved to first base where he saw plenty of action.

Friday, April 29, 2005

The end of an era

Last night was big night for Thomas.  He spent the night in his new big-boy bed for the first time.
 
He's been acting like he was ready for a while now.  He loves to climb up onto Nolan's bed and will even put his head on Nolan's pillow and pull the covers up over himself.
 
In Florida he did that a lot too.  He would crawl into our bed and tuck himself in.  I'd ask him if he wanted to go to bed and he's smile and say "Yes," in his little voice.  So I'd tell I'd move him to his crib, to which he would reply with a big "No!"
 
So one of the first things we did after getting home was to go out and buy him a bed.  Yesterday Kris took the crib apart and put the bed together.
 
This means that for first time in nearly five years there is no crib set up in our house.

The Rooneys' Disney Adventure


The Rooneys invade the Magic Kingdom. Posted by Hello

Well, we survived our vacation to Walt Disney World. We returned Tuesday night, and everyone has been asking how our trip was. The answer: as best as it could be considering Thomas was sick for most of the trip and Nolan was terrified of most of the rides.

We left last Thursday. Traveling with Thomas is never much fun, and flying with him on the plane wasn't any better. It was late in the day by the time we finally got to our resort -- Disney's Port Orleans Riverside. It was past the kids' usual bedtime by the time we got them dinner and they were both bears. The day was pretty much hell, but that's what we expected for the travel day.

We had a system every day. We'd hit a park as soon as it opens. We'd have lunch somewhere at the park and be back at the resort by 1:30 p.m. for Thomas' nap. While he was sleeping Kris and I would take turns doing something around the resort with Nolan.

At the end of every day I'd ask Nolan what his favorite part of the day was and it was always whatever we did at the hotel. He enjoyed the paddle boat ride, going fishing, playing air hockey in the arcade, swimming, etc. Yeah, he liked the parks too, but the resort stuff was always his first answer.

On Friday we did the Magic Kingdom. Anything that was outdoors, Nolan enjoyed. He loved the Dumbo ride. He loved climbing through the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. But he did not want to do any of the indoor rides. We went on the Winnie the Pooh ride (c'mon, Winnie the Pooh, for crying out loud!) and he was a little nervous on that (Thomas, our little thrill-seeker, loved it). Even on a ride like Pooh, I think Nolan was nervous about the combination of the dark, the loud music and sound effects and the fact he couldn't see where the ride was going. He loves "Toy Story," so we tried taking him on the Buzz Lightyear ride and he flipped out. We had to get off the ride and leave. After that we knew to stick to things in the outdoors.

On Saturday we hit Animal Kingdom, which I was a little disappointed by. Kris and I were looking forward to this park since it wasn't there on our last trip to Disney World almost 10 years ago. But I found it to be very congested and hard to get around in. But the safari was cool and I went on the Dinosaur thril ride by myself, which was very cool! Nolan's favorite part of the park was a giant sand box where you can dig for dinosaur bones.

Those were the highlights of Animal Kingdom. But there was a big lowlight. We weren't inside the gates for five minutes before Thomas threw up all over himself. For the next three days he had a fever. We didn't have a change of clothes for him at the park with us. So I bought the smallest T-shirt I could find, which was still two sizes too big for him, and he wore nothing but that and a diaper for the rest of the park visit.

On Sunday we went to Dinsey/MGM Studios. Nolan wanted to go to the park, but didn't want to actually do anything once we were there. We pretty much forced him to sit through Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We also took him on the studio backlot tour, which I remembered as being fairly benign, and for the most part it was. But I forgot just how close you are to that truck that "blows up" and that the tram you're riding in starts to rock. That scared the bejeezes out of him. That said, he and Thomas did enjoy the Playhouse Disney Live show, lunch at Pizza Planet and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. However, I could not talk him into going to see Muppet Vision 3-D and I didn't feel like forcing him into anything anymore.

Monday we went to Epcot, which was quite possibly our worst park experience. Every day one of the parks opens early for resort guests. On this day, Epcot opened early, but there was nothing to do! A large section of the park was still closed off. All that was available were the indoor rides that Nolan didn't like. We tried to take him on the ride in the Land pavillion -- the one that's all about farming and vegetables and all that good stuff. What could be scary about that? Apparently, plenty. It was the Buzz Lightyear experience all over again, and again we had to get off the ride while we still could. He did enjoy the Living Seas, which has been turned into one big "Finding Nemo" display. But otherwise everyone was fairly miserable, especially Thomas who was still pretty sick.

But at least we ate pretty good. We ate in lots of different places and tried lots of different things. With one exception, we never ate in the same place twice and the food everywhere was always great.

On Tuesday we came home. Traveling with Thomas was slightly better this time than it was on our trip down.

So the vacation was a lot of hard work and definitely had its ups and downs. The big question: was it worth it? Well, that depends on who you ask. Nolan wil ltell you he had a good time, and I suppose that's all that matters. As for his parents, one us would like to go again in five years or so when the kids are a little older and one of us says it would take a lot to go anywhere near Orlando again.

We've got a couple camping trips planned for this summer, which is more our usual speed. We'll see what we decide to do for our big trip next year.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Hittin' the road

This will be the last post for a while. We're all packed up and ready to embark on the big family vacation for the year tomorrow.

We're going to Disney World! This will be the first time Kris and I have been there since our honeymoon almost 10 years ago. Of course, we didn't have two kids with us then. So we imagine this will be a very different experience.

I was hoping to figure out a way to send pictures to my blog with my camera phone, but no luck. So you'll just have to wait until we get back for all the vacation highlights.

When we return, we will be knee-deep in T-ball. Nolan had his first practice Monday night. There will be another practice right after we get back. And then his first game is on April 30. He's playing for the Price Choppher team.

I'm a pseudo-assistant coach. I told his manager I might not be able to make every practice because of my hours, but I would be there when I could and would never miss a game -- so I'd like to help out however I can. So for that, he gave me a team hat!

Well, that's all for now. More to come after the trip...

Doctor Who to play meddling monk?


Now it's all starting to make sense...

Earlier it was reported that Christopher Eccleston was bailing out of "Doctor Who" after only one season. Now we may know why. There is a report he is in the running to play Silas, the albino killer monk, in Ron Howard's adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code."

Meanwhile it's been confirmed that Alfred Molina will play Silas' boss and Sir Ian McKellan will play the eccentric brit the story's Harvard professor hero (to be played by Tom Hanks) turns to for help. However, when I first heard Molina and McKellan were going to be in the movie, I imagined them in the opposite roles.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Willy is still slick

I'm listening to Bill Clinton delivering his speech at the rememberence ceremony for the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.  He's actually getting laughs!
 
Do you think anyone else could get away with punching up an Oklahoma City speech with a few one-liners?

Monday, April 18, 2005

Marathon Update 7

5k - 0:23:55
10k - 0:48:05
15k - 1:12:25
20k - 1:36:45
Half - 1:41:57
25k - 2:00:59
30k - 2:26:23
35k - 2:52:40
40k - 3:20:05
----
Start Time Offset: 04:39
Pace: 0:08:06
Projected Time: --
Official Time: 3:37:04
Net Time: 3:32:25
Overall: 4441
Gender: 3902
Division: 1383

Congratulations, Tim!

Marathon Update 6

5k - 0:23:55
10k - 0:48:05
15k - 1:12:25
20k - 1:36:45
Half - 1:41:57
25k - 2:00:59
30k - 2:26:23
35k - 2:52:40
40k - 3:20:05
----
Start Time Offset: 04:39
Pace: 0:08:04
Projected Time: 3:31:20
Official Time:
Net Time:
Overall:
Gender:
Division:

Marathon Update 5

5k - 0:23:55
10k - 0:48:05
15k - 1:12:25
20k - 1:36:45
Half - 1:41:57
25k - 2:00:59
30k - 2:26:23
35k
40k
----
Start Time Offset: 04:39
Pace: 0:07:52
Projected Time: 3:26:06
Official Time:
Net Time:
Overall:
Gender:
Division:

Marathon Update 4

5k - 0:23:55
10k - 0:48:05
15k - 1:12:25
20k - 1:36:45
Half - 1:41:57
25k - 2:00:59
30k
35k
40k
----
Start Time Offset: 04:39
Pace: 0:07:48
Projected Time: 3:24:21
Official Time:
Net Time:
Overall:
Gender:
Division:

Marathon Update 3

5k - 0:23:55
10k - 0:48:05
15k - 1:12:25
20k - 1:36:45
Half
25k
30k
35k
40k
----
Start Time Offset: 04:39
Pace: 0:07:48
Projected Time: 3:24:21
Official Time:
Net Time:
Overall:
Gender:
Division:

Marathon Update 2

5k - 0:23:55
10k - 0:48:05
15k
20k
Half
25k
30k
35k
40k
----
Start Time Offset: 04:39
Pace: 0:07:45
Projected Time: 3:23:03
Official Time:
Net Time:
Overall:
Gender:
Division:

Boston Marathon 2005: Go Tim Go!

My brother Tim is running the Boston Marathon again this year. You can keep track of his progress on BostonMarathon.com or just follow along here! I'm going to blog his progress as he goes along:

5k - 0:23:55
10k
15k
20k
Half
25k
30k
35k
40k
----
Start Time Offset: 04:39
Pace: 0:07:43
Projected Time: 3:22:10
Official Time:
Net Time:
Overall:
Gender:
Division:

Friday, April 15, 2005

Tour de Cure


Getting ready to ride.

I've officially launched my personal Tour de Cure page for 2005. Please stop by and make a donation.

The ride is on June 12 in Stillwater, N.Y. Once again I'm going to tackle the 50-mile route. I've only been out on my bike once so far this spring. Later today I'm bringing it to get tuned-up while we're on vacation next week. Then I'll dive into training!

This is my third Tour de Cure. The first year I did 25 miles. At the time, the was the longest distance I had ever ridden. But I felt great after and thought I could easily go farther. So I decided to do the 50-mile route in 2004. Well, that near killed me! So I'm determined to be better prepared this time.

Last year I raised more than $700 for the American Diabetes Association. This year I'm hoping to raise at least $800. With your help, I know I can do it. Please donate now.

I'll keep you posted on my training and fundraising progress as June 12 approaches.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Play ball!


Nolan and Thomas display their Yankee pride. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em

Dispatcher's Joke
A 9-1-1 dispatcher in Texas has been reprimanded for responding to a mother's call about an unruly child by saying: "O-K. Do you want us to come over to shoot her?"
Read more...

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Beef...It's what's for dinner


Courtesy of high school buddy Chris Johnson. Posted by Hello

Am I so old?

One of our younger producers e-mailed me to ask me to set up a link
connected to a story she's running in her show about Meatloaf coming
to SPAC. This was news to me. So I wrote back to her, "Meatloaf is
coming?!? Cool!"

Then she came back to my room and said, "Chris, since you seem to know
who Meatloaf is, can you tell me, is it a group?"

"No," I said. "It's a guy."

"A man?"

"Yes. One man," I told her. "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights?" I asked.

She just stared at me like I had two heads. Then she turned and left
the room as I shouted, "It's a classic!"

Thoughts on '24'

If I was a CTU agent, let me tell you there is no way I would ever go out in the field with Jack Bauer! These guys are as silly as the "red shirts" that used to beam down to the planet with Captain Kirk only to wind up vaporized. Anyone who goes anywhere with Jack will wind up catching a bullet within the hour -- maybe two hours.

Oh, sure, there are exceptions. Like Jack's partner, Chase, who got his arm hacked off in season 3 and his girlfriend's estranged husband, Paul Raines, who this year was shot and now will likely never walk again. They were the lucky ones.

Meanwhile, it is now apparent that some very highly placed in the government is helping Habib Marwan. How else could he have gotten the transponder code to track the nuclear football?

I have my suspicions about who that could be. Think about the only other mystery from this season that remains unsolved: how did the terrorists know to find Secretary of Defense Heller at his son's house in the first episode? They only people who knew in advance about that unscheduled stop were Jack, Heller and his daughter (Jack's girlfriend) Audrey. Either Audrey or her father could have the access to the transponder code.

I doubt it's Audrey. That would be too reminiscent of season 1 where Jack's confidant and former lover Nina turned out to be the mole working inside CTU. That just leaves the defense secretary.

But it's not like the show has never repeated itself. Last night's episode felt like season 2 all over again. For the second time, the series has engaged in a storyline about the 25th amendment. And once again, Mike Novik, David Palmer's former chief of staff, is at the center of it. It appears he is now highly placed in the Keeler administration. But why is the former chief of staff for a Democratic president working for a Republican president?

Also like season 2, next week it looks like Jack will be running around trying find a rogue nuke in Los Angeles.

The clock keeps ticking...

Get to know me!

PSTValumni.com - Profiles
I am the subject of this month's "Profile of the Month" on PSTVAlumni.com!

Monday, April 11, 2005

Who needs TV networks?

I'm getting quite adept at finding and downloading the new "Doctor Who" episodes. The latest episode aired Saturday afternoon ET on the BBC. By Saturday night I was able to start the download before going to bed and the show was there waiting for me in the morning.

I burned it to a CD Sunday night and this time it played great in the DVD player. The last time I tried this the CD kept skipping and the audio would often lose sync with the video. I was hoping this was just a problem with the disc and it turns out that must have been the case. My viewing last night was as good as if I was in the U.K.

The episode, "The Unquiet Dead," was pretty good. The show seems to be getting better each week.

Yankees vs. Red Sox...Again!

Got the game on here at work. We're one week into the season and the Yankees are about to play the Red Sox for the fourth time! Are there no other teams in the American League?

There is no question that the Yankees-Red Sox is the greatest rivalry in sports. But I think so much of the current rivalry is overhyped by the media and driven by MLB's lousy schedule.

I've gone on record before as saying that I really hate the unbalanced schedule baseball has used for the last few years. Out of 162 games, Yankees fans will only see six games against the likes of Seattle, Kansas City, Cleveland, etc. while it seems like every other game is against Boston, Tampa Bay, Baltimore or Toronto. Yeah, I love a good Yankees-Red Sox game as much as the next fan, but come on -- I want to see some other teams too!

Happy birthday, Thomas!

Yesterday, our little Thomas celebrated his 2nd birthday. We had a small party last night with my mom, Thomas’ friend Grace and her family. Grace is about six weeks younger than Thomas and, coincidentally, was adopted from China. Her family goes to our church and Kris and Grace’s mom run together. The toddler twosome usually gets together for a play date once a week.

Birthday pictures will be coming later. I haven’t had a chance to upload them yet.

The hit presents were anything related to Thomas the Tank Engine ("Choo-choos!"). My favorite was the miniature Yankee jersey from my sister Annie and her family, although the number on the back was 25 – Jason Giambi – I assure you my little guy has not taken any steroids. The only cream he’s used is for diaper rash.

Friday, April 08, 2005

Craig...Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig is the new James Bond
It looks like they may have cast James Bond #6. Daniel Craig is a British actor who is apparently already well known in the U.K. The only thing I've ever seen him in was "Tomb Raider," where he played Angilina Jolie's love interest.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Back in the saddle

The weather's getting warmer, and this morning I took my bike out for a spin for the first time this year. It felt great to be pushing the pedals again!

I like to get my bike tuned up at a local lbike shop in the spring. I haven't taken care of that yet. But the bike still seemed to ride great anyway. Suprisingly, I didn't have to put any air in the tires when I took it down off the garage wall last night. However, my bike computer seems to have bit the dust. I'll have to spring for a new one.

I didn't ride too far this morning -- only a few miles. I didn't want to overdo it my first day out, and it was still a little colder than I thought it would be this morning. As nice as it was to be out on the bike, it was also nice to get back home and put some coffee on while everyone else was still sleeping.

Pretty soon I'll be posting a link for you donate to my efforts to raise money for this year's Tour de Cure. I'm going to tackle the 50-mile route again, but hopefully I'll train better for it this time.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

...a fool for a client

Man who represented himself appeals competence of attorney
This guy sounds pretty out there...

The Force's effect on the weak-minded

'Star Wars' fanatics line up at wrong theater for May debut
It's a common misconception that all sci-fi geeks are smart nerds...

'God Bless America, yada, yada, yada'

I've got the Yankees-Red Sox game on here at work. This is the thrid straight game where I've heard Ronan Tynan sing "God Bless America" during the 7th Inning Stretch.

Do you think he ever gets sick of singing this song? I'm sad to say I think I've gotten sick of hearing him sing it!

'Doctor Who,' episode 2


Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor in "The End of the World."

I know I said I wouldn't get sucked into the habit of downloading every "Doctor Who" episode, but after an e-mail conversation with college buddy Joe Video who had watched it, I couldn't resist.

The second episode, "The End of the World," was a huge improvement over last week's show. I was willing to overlook a lot in that episode, "Rose," because it was after all the first new "Doctor Who" in more than 15 years. That is, unless, you count the Paul McGann TV movie, which also left a lot to be desired, but I similarly enjoyed it at the time anyway.

Now I can tell you that "Rose" did stink. It's no wonder the Sci-Fi Channel passed on it. But "The End of the World" was better in almost every respect. A better story, better effects and some mysterious hints dropped about the Doctor's past.

Let's hope they can crank out more like this one. The download I found included the trailer for next week's show. It looks like the Doctor and Rose are going back to 1860 to meet Charles Dickens and fight zombies.

I should mention that I was able to get the episode I downloaded to play in our new DVD player. Unfortunately the disc I used was prone to skipping. But when it worked, the show looked and sounded great on the widescreen TV.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Home Improvement, Part 9

The basement is now furnished. Last week Kris picked up some more shelves. So now more of our miscellaneous stuff has a home.

Over the weekend we went shopping big-time. We picked up a futon, which Chester has already seemed to claim as his new favorite place to sleep.


The new futon offers a relaxing spot for TV viewing. Posted by Hello

We also picked up a new TV and DVD player.

When we bought the new TV for our living room last year, we decided to stick with a standard TV and we told ourselves we would spring for an HDTV the next time around. But at the time, we had no idea we'd be in the market again so soon. An HD set is still out of our price range, but I was hoping to at least get a flat-panel LCD set. That we could have afforded, but we would have had to sacrifice on screen size. Finally we decided we'd get a tube TV, but still go widescreen. We got a good deal on a 30-inch widescreen JVC TV.


We can now watch TV and movies in 16:9 glory. Posted by Hello

When I was first watching regular TV on it and seeing how the image was distorted to fit the 16:9 screen, I was a little unsure as to whether or not this purchase was the right thing to do. Then I popped in a DVD. Oh. My. God. It looks so cool seeing a widescreen movie fill up the screen. We definitely made the right purchase!

Major news events

Once again, I've been out of touch because the news, among other things, has been keeping me busy. I had every intention of commenting on the passing of Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II, but I just haven't had the chance.

On the Schaivo case, I'm really tired of hearing about this story. I've heard so many "apples and oranges" comparisons made by people taking issue with allowing this poor woman to die. No, this doesn't mean we're going to start starving people in wheelchairs. No, this doesn't mean we're going to give up on people when it's no longer convenient to care for them. I believe this case is somewhat unique.

Ultimately it was all about a family disagreement. I've heard Schiavo's death referred to as a murder or "judicial homicide" and her husband has been compared to a Nazi. But if the family had been on the same page, then this woman would have died quietly years ago without anyone hearing about, without anyone caring and without anyone crying "murder!"

As for the pope, it was sort of sad as "Pope Watch 2005" last all day Friday and into Saturday. I was hoping for a swift end to this man's suffering. There is little I can say at this point that hasn't been said by so many others in the last few days.

I first got the news he had finally passed in an alert on my cell phone. Kris and I were shopping in Target at the time. I read the bulletin to Kris and another woman stopped to listen. The three of us stared at each other for a moment and then moved on. Suddenly I felt very silly that as the pope was dying I was shopping for a TV stand and a DVD player.

I will relate this story: Kris was trying to explain to Nolan on Friday who the pope was and what was happening to him. Nolan doesn't know who the pope is, but he knows who our priest is. So she told him the pope was Father Jupin's boss and he was very sick and would die any minute. Saturday evening I was sitting at the computer doing some work when Nolan walked over and asked what I was doing. I told him I was sending an e-mail to my boss.

"He's gonna die?" Nolan asked very concerned.

"No, he's not going to die," I told him.

"He's gonna die any minute?" he asked again.

I assured him my boss was fine -- it was just Father Jupin's boss who died.