Poker?

We asked Liam what he does at lunchbreak now that he is at school for a whole day. "We go to the library to play Poker" was his answer. And yes, with a bit more questioning, it is the card game and not some form of torture with a sharp stick. I wonder has he won much yet?

Rough Plumbing

Most of the rough plumbing seems to be in. We have the pipes in for the shower and the toilet and the washing machine. To our eyes this seems to be what happened last week. On Tuesday we will do the electrical walkthrough and finalize where we want lights, plugs, switches, etc.

Sling

So I rode to and from work today. When I got home, I realized that there was just something wrong with riding home with your sling in your bike jersey pocket.

I was riding the new bike today... and I just realized that I haven't posted a picture yet.

Back to School

Liam headed back to school on Monday, into first grade ("big infants" in Ireland). He seems happy to be back... none of the lying awake all night on the night before like I used to. Oh how I used to hate the first day back.

He ended up in a class with a few of his friends from his kinder class and a couple of other friends. The teacher he has is known for being a little more structured than the other first grade teachers. For example, he has his own desk, with his own pencils; none of this circle time on the carpet this year.

A roof over our heads

The framing of the house was finished this week, basically on time, given the initial 1 week delay in getting the final permit. This is the bulk of the heavy lifting done and we are about half way through the timeline, but still a long way to go.

Some of the "rough plumbing" is also in and the pipes for the heating. Progress, progress.

Sebastian was born

Carol gave birth to a healthy and lengthy boy this morning. The phone rang just around the time I was getting ready for work. It was mom. She broke the news of the latest Papa baby. She didn't remember all the stats about the baby, only remembering that the baby is very long.

Welcome to earth, Sebastian.

Cool Things of the Week

I didn't get around to posting any of these as cool things of the day, so here is a collection....

Google Earth. Mapping application that streams satellite images. See the field next to my parents house in Ireland, or the first curve on Old La Honda (with tilting to provide perspective). Very cool.

Konfabulator. Mac OS X borrowed these widget concept. They are little desktop applications (I use a gmail checker, clock, CPU and battery watchers) that live on the backgrouund of your screen.

Live music at the internet archive. The Greatful Dead long encouraged taping of their concerts and then free swapping of those tapes. Sounds like a perfect application for the web. Many other bands available too.

Remodel: Walkthru with the contractor

We had a walkthru with the contractor yesterday, it was very exciting. We went over the skylight placement, bathroom fixture placement, fireplace specification, all house fan and utility room flooring, etc. I'm not sure we're quite half way done but it's looking very good.

Click here for photos.

Selective Listening

After breaking his collarbone the 2nd time, I told Kieran that his Trek 5200 has bad Feng Shui. Within days, he bought a better and faster bike. He told his colleagues, "When your wife tells you that your bike has bad Feng Shui, you listen to her." I call this selective listening.

One gone...

Wow, craigslist really works. Here is the chronology

10:20 pm Bianchi add posted
10:24 pm email from buyer asking to see the bike in morning
10:27 pm call buyer, arrange to see the bike this evening
10:35 pm buyer drops by
10:45 pm the deal is sealed

Pity it wasn't the more expensive bike :-)

Upstairs

Liam and I wandered over to the house last night and found that we had a (temporary) staircase. So of course we went up to see what our new rooms are like and to look at the view from our windows. Very nice.

No chop, chop?

Today I went to get a second opinion from another orthopedic surgeon. His recommendation is that I leave it as it is since more than likely I will get full function back without fixing the torn ligaments.

I was very receptive to this plan since it was along the lines of what I'd been thinking given the rate of recovery that I have experienced this far. So I think that what I will do is, let it go for now and re-evaluate in about 3 months, having the surgery in early December if it turns out that I need it.