Sorry for the interruption…

To my dear friends and followers – Sorry about that.  Took the blog down for a day, then set all the old posts to draft, and then brought the blog back up.  Don't worry, I'm bringing back the archives, slowly, as I have time.

But, one bit of old business to deal with before getting back to new business.

There are some folks reading my blog that shouldn't be.

No, not "the daughter".  She knows it's not for her, respects that, and really doesn't care as long as it's not embarrassing stories about her.

No, these are some adults who I am going to politely and respectfully ask to click the little "X" in the corner, clear out your browser's history cache, and to not return.  If you choose not to respect me and my wishes on this matter, then I may find I have a hard time respecting you later.

And I have Google analytics on here.  Using a couple different matrices, I'm able to recognize your foot print when you visit.

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"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

That is the FIRST Amendment to the United States Constitution.  It seems that even our founding fathers really didn't like the idea of bullies trying silence the voices of others.

To be clear:

1. This is my place.
2. This is my press.
3. This is my voice.
4. This is where I choose to peacefully assemble with my friends.
5. I won't be bullied into silence.

That would be both un-American and hypocritical.  Right now, we are fighting to help the daughter's voice be heard.  I would be a hypocrite if I allow mine to go silent.

To be clear, again, the daughter knows all about my blog.  She even was following it.  But she doesn't READ it. 

Let me say this again, clearly: While she COULD read it, she DOESN'T read it.
Same goes with her mother's blog.

How do I know she's not reading it?  We have to hound her to get on Facebook and talk to her friends.  She's just not on the computer much.  They're not her thing.  And, since my blog isn't really "forbidden fruit", it's just not that tempting.  And I trust her to respect my privacy.  I've seen on my friends' Facebook pages where if the parents leaves their account signed in on the home computer, their kids will start posting on it.  My Facebook, my email, my whole computer are left unlocked 24/7.  I trust the daughter that when she needs to use it, she won't going nosing around.  She respects other people's privacy.

But, all this talk about blogs and what is appropriate content to write about is a side show.  A distraction to the main issue.  And the main issue is right over there –> on the sidebar of this blog.  That's the countdown to when the daughter turns 18.  When that  clock reaches 0 00:00:00 all the sideshow stuff becomes moot.  If the real problem hasn't gotten better ("fixed" is a might big reach), then she's legally entitled to solve it by just washing her hands of it and walking away.

And none of the adults really want that.  Life would be a whole lot easier for everyone concerned if she and her father had a better relationship.

And until her father realizes that this isn't a problem with her.
And that it's not a teenager thing. 
And that's it's his inability to see anyone else's point of view. 
And his inability to value her feelings. 
And his inability to admit he has treated her badly. 
And routinely. 
And for all her life.
No progress will be made.

And after 15.5 years, if progress is to be made, it will be made SLOWLY.  So look at that number again.  If we keep the focus on the sideshow, time will keep ticking away and soon the clock's going to run out and she'll walk away.

And yet, the focus recently has been on my blog?  My wife's blog?  Facebook?  Seriously?

The issue isn't:  That my wife celebrates the day the blood clot on her spine didn't kill her.  Blogging about it doesn't remind the daughter that she almost lost her mother and it doesn't drive a wedge between the daughter and her father.  The repercussions of the blood clot are with us all the time: the scar on the back of her neck, the occasional balance issues,  the nerve damage that has given her a numb side and a hyper-sensitive elbow.  That's every day life.  We joke about it and go on. 

The issue is:  That while her mother was in the hospital recovering from a surgery she wasn't excepted to survive, her father took her.  But since he didn't take her to school, and wasn't going to, that lasted only two days.  That's the kind of thing that drives the wedge deeper.

The issue isn't:  That someone was given a less than graceful nickname on a blog.

The issue is:  That someone told his daughter that since she's getting A's, that school must be too easy.  And when informed that she got into one of the toughest school's in Chicago, his response was "Thanks".  No, "Good job!" or "Way to go!" to her.  Just "Thanks" to us for the information.

The issue isn't:  That our blogs are not appropriate for a 5 year old child to read.

The issue is:  That my wife ex-husband still thinks that the daughter IS a 5 year child old that he can bully and intimidate and demand respect from.  Instead, she's a 15.5 year old young lady who deserves encouragement, praise and whose respect you have to EARN.

The issue isn't:  That the daughter's feelings and opinions toward her father MIGHT be influenced someday by what she COULD read on-line.

The issue is:  That the daughter's feelings and opinions toward her father HAVE been formed by 15.5 years years of interactions with him.  Seeing, feeling, and living with how he treats her and others.  I understand how he doesn't see that.  But she does.  So he needs to.

The issue isn't:  That my wife's ex told me that he wanted to beat up the first guy to break the daughter's heart.

The issue is:  That he doesn't see that person is him.

And the more that the focus is on the side show…

And the more people look for external sources for problems between the father and daughter when the real problem looks back at him in the mirror…

And the more that the hole keeps getting deeper…

And the less time left for a bridge to be built…

And the clock keeps its unrelenting count down.

Tick
o
c
k

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[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the sensitive nature of this post, comment moderation has been turned on.  Comments may not get published right away, if at all.  Sorry about that, but even when told explicitly to not read, certain adults may not abide.  Thanks for your understanding in advance.]

Please Stay Tuned…

 
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Please stay tuned.

Second Times A Charm

Oh, everyone knows about the first time.

It's something you look SO forward to.

Yearn for.

ACHE for.

Oh, and it feels SOOOO good when you finally have it.

That first pee of the morning.

"First Pee" is so celebrated, it's even immortalized in film.

But what about the equally important, but much less celebrate "Second Pee" of the day? After the first pee has vacated the premises, the kidneys kick in and start thinning out the blood again and filling the tank back up.

After you've been up an hour; "Ding!", round #2.

I don't leave the house without "second pee". Even if I think that the 2:00 am trip should count as "first pee" since it seemed to last 5 minutes. I doesn't. And leaving in the morning without a good second pee makes the morning commute WAY TOO STRESSFUL!

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Now, since I've already freaked you all out enough by talking about "urine", one more thing about #1:

What the heck kind of tuna does Subway use? I mean, a good foot-long tuna sub for lunch on Friday for Lent, and my pee smells like tuna 'til Saturday noon. No other tuna seems to do that to me. Just Subway's. Man, I remember the first time that happened. I almost went to the hospital freaked out bout the pungent smell of fish streaming down into the bowl that morning. Like I was rotting inside.

Handicapped Parking

This one is for So-Cal Gal & Skyler's Dad:

When you come to visit, there's a handicapped parking space directly across the street.  Just be sure to bring your hovercraft.

Daylight Savings Time - 2012

Well, folks, daylight savings time is upon us.  This is the weekend we turn the clocks back forward an hour.  And Monday is the day everyone looks forward to: Dragging their (and worse, their children's) sorry carcasses out of bed an hour earlier than normal.

YEAH TEAM!

Here @ Scope-Tech, it just wouldn't be right for this occasion to pass without note.  So, back again, is everybody's favorite couple, Larry & Sarah.

And, if you wish to revisit some of my older posts on the topic (because you're boring and have nothing better to do on a Saturday night, unlike me, who is going grocery shopping), the links are below.

• The Times They Are A Changing (I'm particularly fond of the DST video explaining DST in this one.)
• A Happy Thought For Friday
• And Now, A Word About Daylight Saving Time…
• Spring Ahead

It Came From The Aisles – Out & About

This week, I've been talking about being out grocery shopping with my fabulous and lovely wife, Cora.  But, not all the great finds are in the grocery store.  And they can be both free and priceless.

"Korean Live B.B.Q."?!?  Are they barbecuing live Korean's?  That's a very specific form of cannibalism that they are targeting there. I can't see that the market will be able to support that thing for long.

 
The colorblind play full price, I guess.

 
No.  I don't want any part of that.  No.

Look, it's "Rumspringa Barbie" and her English slut friends.

 
"Low Radiation"  That's a HELL of a selling point to put right in your face.  "Low Radiation – Cooking you slower, like the 'defrost' setting on your microwave."

"The Stripper And Other Fun Songs For The Family" – What the hell kind of family do they live in?  I did look up the album (sorry for the glare) and yes, the song is the one you're thinking of (video link).  I didn't know anything about David Rose, so I looked him up.  The dude was married to Martha Raye, but divorced her for Judy Garland.

It Came From The Aisles – WTF?

Note: For those of you who commented on yesterday's post, I have responded.

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As I mentioned last time, my lovely and talented wife, Cora, and I do the weekly grocery shopping together.  It's kind of funny, there's an Aldi across the street.  Literally, across the street from our condo.  When I moved in, I gave them a try.  When Cora moved in, she gave them a try.  It's a poorly lit Hall of the Damned, we simply can't visit it.  Just down the street is a Family Dollar.  They have a surprising variety, and being in walking distance, a great place to grab that "one thing".  We tend to hit them up for cleaning supplies and their snack cake knock-offs that we call, "Faux-Ho's".

As mentioned, Dominick's is our preferred store, but there's also Jewel-Osco, Target,  and a new guy, Mariano's, an offshoot of Wisconsin's Roundy's chain has also moved into the neighborhood (Actually into the building that used to house the Dominick's we used to shop at).  And then there's the Entenmann's Outlet (aka "The Bread Store").  Killer prices on bread, bagels, English muffins, and donuts.  The clerk looks like a peroxide nightmare, but she's actually pretty nice.

All-in-all, we shop far and wide, and sometime, just sometimes, we are amazed at what we see:

 
That's a very, very weird bit of of shelf placement for the 45 Piece Tool Set.

Our local Dominick's has a parking lot on the roof.  I saw this weird, enclosed 3 wheeled, motorcycle.  Sorry for the bad shot.  Only had the cell phone camera, and she was pretty far away.  I've seen them before, in London, but never around here.

"Fiber for Life"?  I'm not sure that I need a lifetime's worth of fiber in my bread.  Lordy!

 
I don't think I need Uncle Joe's mint balls keeping me all aglow.  I think that's more of a therapy thing.

Speaking of "therapy"…

I think I'll need some after staring deep into the "Red Eye".  See!  I'm hypo-mo-tized!

And while not at the grocery store, I did pass this little wine shop in my neighborhood that had a very interesting display in the window.  Joshua, this is for you:

 
A little Star Trek.  A little Dr. Who.  And Maybe some pirates?

 

 
Next time, some more oddities from our shopping trips.

It Came From The Aisles – Saving A Buck

On Sunday, the my wife, Cora, and I went grocery shopping.  Pretty standard weekend activity.  We grocery shop together every weekend.  It's kind of "our time" together.  One thing that's kind of cool is how we've gotten into saving money on the tab with about as little effort as possible.
We can't be like those "EXTREME COUPONERS" for a few good reasons:

• We live in Chicago.  None of the stores double or triple your coupons, or allow for overages.
• We live in a 2 BR condo & rent a mostly full storage unit.  Space is at a premium.
• To quote my mother "I don't want to die with all my cash tied up in toilet paper."
• Despite rumors to the contrary, we aren't freaks like that.

Our two main grocery stores, Dominick's and Jewel-Osco (Safeway & SuperValu vs. Albertsons, respectively) both offer their discount club cards.  Weekly discounts on whatever.  We normally shop Dominick's, and one thing I like is that while they usually advertise things like, "2 for $5.00" but it's really priced @ $2.50 each.


But now they've started something new, called, "Just For U" where you can load even more discounts "coupons" on to your card.  The trick is, you've got to go to the website, and put the deals on your card.  There are 3 sections: Coupon Center, Personalized Deals, and Price Match.  The Coupon Center are their deals for everyone.  Often, there's a deal for like, "$1.79 a gallon on milk, must buy 2".  Not shabby.  (The last two weeks, the milk is gone, but we've gotten a dozen free eggs each week.)
The personalized deals are based on your buying habits, and targeted at you.  I know that there are people out there who don't like the idea of the grocery store knowing what they bought, so the idea of getting tracked and targeted ads like this really bothers them.  But you know what, I don't care if the store knows that we buy their store brand of peanuts, and they offer us a deal on Planters peanuts @ 16 oz jar for $2.93 vs. the regular $5.99.  (A real personalized deal this week.)
AND, they've got a section where they price match some of the deals from Jewel-Osco and Target.  (Our local Target stores have been pushed by the city / county / state to offer more groceries, including fresh foods.)  This section usually doesn't have a whole lot, but it's better than nothing.
I know that sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't.  Maybe 10 minutes on the computer, then printing it out, and having it with you, so you can remember what the deals are.

But, as they try to make very clear, the savings do add up.  It's not always 39%.  Last week 'swas 29%.  The week before that 37%.  Not being Rockefellers, saving an extra $24 for a couple of minutes websurfing is a deal I'm willing to make.
Anybody else out there doing the "Just For U" thing?  How are your savings?  Does your store chain have a similar thing?
Next up:  It Came From The Aisles!!!

Jumpin' On The Meme Bandwagon

Over on this little microblogging website call "The Facebook" (have you heard of it?) there's this 6 picture meme going around.

There are all kinds of them.

One for teachers:

 

One for living with chronic pain:

So, being a Photoshop sort of guy, I couldn't let this meme get too old before I jumped on the bandwagon.

So, what topic should I choose?

Ahhhhh…

 
The hardest part of it was finding the picture in the upper right corner while the stepdaughter kept coming into the room!

Have a good weekend, all.  There's a mild bug going around our condo, and I've got it at the moment.  So I can sure use the sleep.

A Kiss Of Grammar

Back in high school, I read the following in Ann Landers in my local paper. (Apparently from Oct. 11, 1982). I cut it out back in the day, and remember running across the slip of paper off and on thru my life. I haven't seen it in years, so it must be lost in the sands of time. Thanks to the internet for helping me find it.

Here's the text (in case you don't want to squint at the clipping):

• A kiss is a noun because it is both common and proper.
• A kiss is a pronoun because she stands for it.
• A kiss is a verb because it is either active or passive.
• A kiss is an adverb because it modifies the art.
• A kiss is an interjection because it shows strong and sudden feeling.
• A kiss is a conjunction because it connects.

I know it's a little late for Valentine's Day, but every day is Valentine's Day when you're in love, right?

Guitar Heroes

Love is…

Doing a Harry Potter post for your wife on Valentine's Day.

Do whatever makes your loved-ones happy today (and every day) even if is society doesn't view it as "romantic".

It's A Major Award: Padded Cell Princess

A week or so ago, The Padded Cell Princess gave me this award: 

So you, Princess, you want learn more about me?  Well, let me give 5 not so random facts about me.  I figure that since I've been blogging for over 3 years and 650 post, some of the newer folks around these parts might enjoy a little cheat-sheet.

1 – I started writing as "Scope" in the fall of 1984.  For 3.5 years, I wrote a column for my college newspaper under the pen name "Scope".  I probably averaged over 3 posts a week on whatever topic was on my mind.  It was very much like blogging LONG before the concept of a "blog" had been thought up.  Here's a LINK to a post with one of those "Daily Other" columns.

2 – In 2002, I was unemployed for a year.  (53 weeks to be exact.)  Being a bored tech guy with a tonne of free time, I set up a GeoCities account (remember those), where I would post content for friends and family.  There was a section on the site call "Scope-Tech".  To post anything to the site, you had to load the whole HTML page and it was a real pain in the @$$, so after my sabbatical was over, I just didn't have time to devote to keeping it up-to-date.  GeoCities is now dead, but I did resurrect a lot of the Scope-Tech content in my earliest blog posts.

3 – In 2008, I was at the summer party for some college friends.  (Yes, doing the math, you will see I've know them a LONG time!)  The wife had had various renditions of this party most every summer since graduation, and I'd been to most.  At this party was another one of their friends who went to the same college that we did, but started after we graduated.  The funny thing is, this was the first time we'd ever met, even though we had dozens of the same friends.  Heck, I even crashed out on her cousin's couch one night.  We got to talking, and she showed me her blog.  Blog?  What is this?  I started following her, and commenting, and then commenting on other commenters blogs.  I was commenting for about 2 months before I started my own blog.  While Gwen doesn't really post much anymore, my first commenter, Candy, is still rockin' blogworld.

4 – I met my wife, Cora, through blogging.  The first comment I ever left her was on THIS POST, and it translates to: "I want to hide a spy-camera in your house to watch you exercise."  I'm so SMOOOOOTH, no wonder she couldn't resist me.  I flew 2,000 miles to suburban Seattle for our first date.  I stayed at a Comfort Inn.  444 days later, in the breakfast room of that same Comfort Inn, we had our rehearsal dinner.

5 – Growing up, I never really imagined being married.  And I never once thought of having kids.  As I entered my 40's, I had pretty much given up on meeting "The One".  I had even come to terms with with it.  And now, I can't imagine life without my wife and child.  I'm plunging into the unimagined future and can't wait to see what's next.

If you want more random facts, I once did a post with over 100 random facts about myself.  While some of them are out-of-date, you can check it out HERE.  I love this fact:

099 - I dated a girl who had a bird. Mean little fucker. And the bird was no prize either.

Now, the part of the meme where I get to pass it along to 5 other bloggers.  How about we learn a little more about:

1. That Janie Girl
2. Angela's Archives
3. Shana's Place 
4. Candy's daily Dandy
5. The Colie Chronicles

Cap Goes Crazy / "Big Sandwich"

Lego minifig stop motion projects.

You've seen a lot of them.

I've posted a lot of them.

But none like this.

This is one Lego minifig stop motion project that I would definitely make sure the little ones weren't watching over your shoulder.

I love the "toss the clip up into the pistol" bit that comes at 0:28.

Happy Super Bowl weekend, ya'll.  I'm off to get the fixings for "Big Sandwich" as mentioned in my 3rd Post Ever, and again in this Super Bowl 2009 post.  Here's a crappy cell phone shot of "Big Sandwich" from that post.

 
Yeah, you want some of that, admit it.  You're just trying to figure out how to unhinge your jaw to eat it.

And Candy, "Yes, that's a 'Terrible Towel' on the back of the sofa."  :-)

Date Night

So, a couple of weekends ago, I had an epiphany.  I'm married to a smart, sex, wonderful, amazing woman, and it's been FAR TOO LONG since I've taken her out on the town.

Guys, seriously, if you had a wife like Cora, wouldn't you want to take her out.

So, we scheduled a "Date Night."

We left a big pile of Kibble and a bowl of water for the girl… We made sure our 15 year old daughter had dinner before we headed out on Saturday night.  The night was a little cold, but the winter has been so mild, we walked to one of the Thai restaurants in the neighborhood.  "One of"?  Yes.  I think there's like 8 Thai restaurants within a short walk my place.  That's not counting a couple of sushi joints and a Chinese place.  (And I live in a German neighborhood.  Seriously.)

We walked hand in hand to the restaurant, a little store front place that has gotten some pretty decent press, and we've been to a few times with great success.

Even though it was Saturday at dinner time, we got a table for two right away.  We sat at the table, talking like adults.  We didn't talking about the court case we are dealing with, and we didn't talk about the daughter too much either.  We just talked.

And it was wonderful.

(I had the spicy basil with chicken.  Cora had the cashew chicken.  We split the "crab lagoon".  Tasted like crab rangoon to me.  I knew you'd want to know.)

After dinner, we wanted a little dessert, but nothing on the menu sounded good, so we hiked up to a Mexican place.  Cora got the flan covered chocolate cake, and I got the berry cheese cake. MMmmmmmm…

We brought the desserts home, and ate them while watching Dead Again, one of Cora's favorite movies, starring a couple of Hogwarts professors (Gilderoy Lockhart & Sybil Trelawney) in a past lives / murder mystery drama.  And at about midnight, the movie and the date ended.

It was a good date.

I'm looking forward to doing it again soon.  :-)

Are you married?  Do you have date nights or is that just a "newlywed thing"?

This Is What You Get For Waking A Brother Up…

Wake the groundhog…

get a cap popped in your @$$!

Makes sense to me.

Happy Groundhog Day!