How did this guy park this thing on his lawn? This is the best example of parallel parking I have ever seen. This was done a couple doors down from our friends, the Gladstone’s house. I have no idea how they managed to do it.

In work related news, the company I work for is moving to the peninsula. This is a great big map to show. Katie and I have decided to move south so that I can have an easier commute now and more options for career later. We are looking at San Mateo County. We are going to miss all of our northern friends alot.
East Bay, oh East Bay. Berkeley. El Cerito. Hercules.

A wise man once told me, “You know the rule of IF? If Grandma had a dick, she’d be Grandpa.” Wisdom is where you find it.

I was just thinking, If I had a dollar for every time:

- I crushed a cheerio under my foot on the carpet..
- I heard “Daddy” more than 4 times repetitively..
- I said, “Cut it out!”..
- a hair fell out of my head..

..I’d be a millionaire.
But that is the rule of If.

I was just reading about Teri Schiavo in Florida. Just for the record, so it’s written down somewhere. I do not want to be kept alive by a feeding tube for years and years.

Ok, whew. Glad that is out of the way. Can someone notorize this blog please?

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (pronounced ka ma ka vee vo olay), or Bruddah Iz, wrote a Ukulele version of somewhere over the rainbow. You might have heard it, it is in alot of movie soundtracks. Katie and I have been listening to it. The song is beautiful. Bruddah Iz weighed 1000 pounds when he died in 1997.

The song brings out the best emotions in me. I think of the road behind me and the road yet to be. I think of the spirit of mankind to survive even the most horrible of circumstances. Many books I read show the inhumanity and the brutality we are capable of. But as long as there are songs like this, I feel that there is hope. As Tom Friedman said (paraphrasing), “Hope is not a flower, it is a weed. Give it a tiny bit of water and sunshine and it will break through concrete and spread.”

It is a wonderful and terrifying journey we are all on. Who knows what will happen next? Whatever it is, I believe it is going to be wonderful, and terrifying! Life is good.

The Shield is back on and, of course, it is great. Here is my quick prediction: The sting operation of the russian kingpin will yield evidence that implicated Vic and co. in on the Armenian money train robbery. ba-Bam! Love that show.

I gotta work in Excel now for Katie. Glen’s Computer Rule #1: I dont know what the question is, but the answer is Excel.

I had a dream about a work related thing.

I try to keep work stuff to a minimum on the blog. After all this is a public record and you never know who is reading it. I think this somewhat limits the blog as a journal for my kids to read one day. It would be cool if I could put a special tag around some text like <private>Blah</private> which would be invisible except for people designated as private viewers.

But the dream was very disturbing. I always felt my dreams were trying to tell me things that I didn’t want to think about while I was awake. Who knows. Maybe sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

I am about to work on a cool new JavaScript project. It is a form that has it’s validation JavaScript added after the body is loaded. I am excited to begin.

Surprisingly, the Ukulele that Katie got me is pretty easy to play. My father thinks I am tone deaf, but I think my problem is more that I can not sing any notes. They are correct in my head though.

Anyway, I know four chords. F, D, C, G7. And I sort of know G. A friend said that if I learn about twelve chords, then I would be able to play most music. I like practicing it. It is soothing. My fingers don’t hurt too bad, but my wrist gets cramped.

I need sheet music with the chords. There are a lot of websites out there that have information, but I need to get the signal-to-noise ratio fixed. Where is the good stuff?

Other events: Today is Jared’s Birthday and the first day of spring. Happy Equinox! Happy Birthday. His Tae Kwon Do party went very well. Everyone had a good time.

Penny noticed that my Robocut haircut was a little off. I knew something was wrong with it. I fixed it up this morning. Katie needs to shave my neck. Is that too much information for a public blog?

Katie and I just watched Napoleon Dynamite. I have to say: This is one of the most original movies I have ever seen. It was bizarre. It seems every thirty seconds, I was boggled. Great acting. Very funny and yet somewhere in the whole thing was a sweet message. I am not sure what the message was, but it was there. And it was sweet.

The movie sort of reminded me of the movie Happiness. My jaw was at my feet the entire movie. Except Happiness was bizarre sort of like a dead bird on top of a shiny new sports car, where Napoleon Dynamite was bizarre in a “Yeah, high school was sort of like that, in a bizarre way.” way.

Oh, I almost forgot yesterday. At Chez Panise, the lemon in the water was great. Meyers lemons are in perfect season I guess.

Last night Katie took me to Chez Panise. The downstairs restaurant, not the cafe! She also got me a ukulele! It’s hard to tune, but I think I am getting used to it. Its pretty easy to play and the kids like it. Right now, my fingers hurt and my wrist is cramped up, but I am having fun.

Katie is the best. She gets thoughtful presents. She is showing her love for me in creative and interesting ways. I am dropping the ball in return. I need to step up my efforts to show her how much I love her.

She is such a good mom and is providing a wonderful home for us all. She doesn’t think this is true, but I do. Maybe I should get a bowling ball that says Homer on it?

Jared’s birthday is this weekend. I am busy building furniture and fixing the crib. He is having a Tae Kwon Do party. Hopefully Ethan won’t try to create a 3 year old army.

I started reading From Beirut to Jerusalem, by Thomas Friedman. It starts off in similar fashion to The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang and At the Hands of Persons Unknown by Philip Dray. My jaw continually drops when I read about the sheer brutality that people can perform. Hobbes’ State of Nature is interesting to compare to the realities of history.

The main thing that strikes me at this point in the book is the adaptability of people to grow accustomed to, and deal with, the insanity of the world around them. Hundreds of little coping devices and mind games. It is all part of our very powerful psychological defense mechanisms.

The book also puts into perspective the Syrian withdrawn from Lebanon which makes me think: So What? The area has no security. It has no stability. What is the difference? Why is this a good thing?

In other news, Bernie Ebbers (I have an Uncle Bernie!!), who was found guilty today. He faces 85 years in prison after being convicted on all nine counts in accounting fraud. I find this great, but I have one question. Where is Ken Lay?!? Why isn’t he being tried? I guess having the president on your side is pretty important huh?