Another At Home Daddy

Up on the soap box I go…

So, Haiti is in a bad place right now and many have stepped up to donate to rebuilding.  I question how much will actually go to those in need, and how much will make it into the pockets of the corrupt.  This morning I got to sleep in, and was woken up by Kim softly telling me to get up.  All in all I should have been in a great mood, but I was still a little grumpy and the filter on my mouth was not working.  Enter my soapbox….

Someone (who’s name I will decline to mention) had their Facebook status with something along the lines of; ‘Why don’t celebrities do more in a time like this?  They could make such a big difference in Haiti if they would donate some of their money (which they can spare) to help others?  I heard of one celebrity that only donated $100,000 and that made me mad.  Celebrities should do more.  Repost this so that we can get the word out.’

Okay, first off…who the hell are we to determine what someone else does with their money?  I feel sorry for ANYONE that tries to tell Kim and I how to spend the money we have available.  I will tear you a new one and not feel guilty about it in the least.  Yes, to most, celebrities are a different breed.  They aren’t normal people, they are celebrities and are therefore held to some higher standard than the rest of us.  They are required to help others in need, we aren’t.  Sorry, but this is bullshit.

Celebrities earn their money just like us.  Yes, they make a lot more than we do, but I’d like to see Joe Schmoe on the street pull off a performance like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, or play basketball anywhere near the level Kobe Bryant does, or hit a 100 MPH fastball like A-Rod can (yes, I’m a Yankees fan so there WILL be a Yankees reference).  So what if they get paid millions of dollars for acting or playing a sport??? They are good at what they do, and that is why they get paid millions of dollars.  Do I agree with their payscale?  No, I don’t, but that is the way the sporting and acting worlds have gone.  I still think nurses, firefighters, and police are severely underpaid considering what they do for us on a daily basis, and don’t even get me started on those in the armed forces.  How much would it cost to put YOU in a place where you could be: shot at or blown up by something everyday?  Think that combat pay is enough to entice you?  Me neither.

Then there was the comment about a celebrity that “only” donated $100,000.  That made you mad? Really?  That a celebrity was even willing to donate that much?  How much have you donated?  How many people do absolutely nothing?  Does that make you mad?  I haven’t donated any money?  You mad at me?  Tough shit.  We have one income, three kids, a house payment, car payments, student loans, and our kids would like to eat and have clothes.  Sure we may have a little to spare, but we like things too.

Take a look at yourself before you bitch….it’ll make you look a lot less like an idiot.

There are many funny things that happen with kids….daily.  Random things they say, new challenges they attempt, or they discover new things in this world.  I see these things with all 3 kids daily, but I don’t stop to write them down.  I know they are important, and we will wish we had them when the kids are older (like Aiden swearing that the “seed the daddy plants in the mommy to grow a baby MUST be shipped in a box”) but I don’t take the time to write them down.

I should be blogging at least once a day, but it isn’t happening.  Usually when I get a few free minutes I fire up the X-box for some Call of Duty online.  It is a stress reliever, and stress adder, but the big thing is that it gets me out of the realm of reality that I still have no job.  I do have a job interview on Monday, and hopefully this unemployment will end.  I would much rather be at home with the kids, but I’d much rather Kim to be able to take an A-day from work without worrying about the bills.

Wow…been a while.  Last post was on the 9th.  Not really surprised it has been that long due to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 being released on the 10th.  Yes, I’ve been spending far more time than I should be playing.  It is highly addictive, while being both quite fun and quite frustrating at times.

Kim’s birthday is soon.  Wednesday, actually.  Technically my shopping is already done since her present arrived a month or so ago (her new netbook).  Thankfully, she still loves that little thing, and I must say it is a pretty impressive little thing.

The kids are still doing great.  Plugging away in school and constantly talking at home.  Seems like we’ve been feeding them “Talk all the time” along with their food.  They seem to talk up until they fall asleep…Paige even continues to do so in her sleep at times.

So, I’ve got Windows 7 Pro installed (been a while actually) and I’m quite happy with it, but then again, I was happy with Vista Business as well.  Finally found an issue last night.  My built in webcam doesn’t work.  Worked fine in Vista, but nothing in 7.  Still toying with it, but using my Xbox 360 cam for the time being.  Also found out that my built-in mic didn’t work, but that was because I didn’t update the drivers for 7.  Did that this morning and it is actually working better than before.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.  Picked it up at midnight and came home and immediately started playing.  Funny thing was while we were waiting in line prior to midnight release, Puma mentioned that he’d start playing as soon as the update was done.  He was joking that this brand new game that hadn’t even released yet was going to need an update.  Sadly, he was right.  First thing I got when I put the disc in was the update prompt.  Ok, done.  No big deal.  Then came the issue with my NAT.  A couple years ago I made sure that my Xbox 360 was put outside of the firewall of my router (DMZ) so that my NAT would be “Open”, and therefore, able to match up with anyone on Xbox Live easily.  Apparently when I switched from DSL to Cable (for 2 months) then back to DSL something changed.  Well, DSL the first time was 1.5 Mb and now it is 12Mb.  With that we got a new modem.  Long story shorter…fixed it.  Course, now my $180 “Gaming Router” needs to be reset every couple days thanks to the “Updated Firmware”.  Hey, D-Link…the DGL-4500 needs a STABLE firmware!!!!! PRONTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over the last week I’ve had ideas come and go through my head about things to blog about.  Sometimes it is in response to Kim’s blog, and other times it is because some random event has triggered my brain on a topic.  Sad part is I usually get about 1/2 of what I’d like to say in my head along with “I gotta go put this up”….then…..I forget.  Once it is gone it is GONE.  Sucks.  I think Kim and I need to set a time at night after the kids are in bed for us to both sit down and blog.

Last bit here….anybody know how to go about getting a children’s book published?

Was chatting with Kim this morning when she got home from work….I was still sleepy, but tried to keep up the conversation.  There was mention of Aiden’s currently loose tooth, and wonder (mostly from him) as to when it will fall out.  I replied, “Probably at 0530 tomorrow morning”.  See, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 comes out tomorrow, so I will be picking up my copy at midnight tonight.  Last time I did this was for Halo 3: ODST in late September.  Once I get the game I am up most of the night playing with my friends online.  With ODST, Aiden came down at 0530 and scared the crap out of me.  I posted about this a while back…

So I expect that tooth to come out soon.

So just a few minutes ago I was chatting with Puma about it coming out.  He asked if I was excited, and of course I am.  New game, new campaign, and new multiplayer.  So I asked if he was excited, and he replied, “Yes, but I’m sure my excitement isn’t near the level yours is.”  I started thinking, “Why would he say that?”  Simple.  I have no job.  I have my normal routines and I’m a video game addict.  So I told him that any break in my routine will be nice.  He also said he wished he had more time to play.  Again, I started thinking.  I really wish I had LESS time to play!  I’m hoping the economy turns around soon and I will be able to get a job.

I want a job so that Kim doesn’t have to work as much (in theory), the kids can have more clothes (like they really need it, but we like them well dressed), Kim won’t have to work as much, we can afford to do more things we want and buy some extras, and most importantly…Kim won’t have to work as much.  She’d probably only drop to 3/4 time at most, but I long for the day she is working 1/2 time (2 days a week) or even on an as needed basis.  You know, just enough for her to keep her nursing license.

Here’s hoping…

Was on Facebook the other day and Steve made a comment about my status.  My status read: “It is just wrong to be up before the sun,” or something of that nature.  I was up too early.  Steve’s comment was, “Unless you’re a vampire.”  I started to answer with a list of reasons why I’d prefer to be a Lycan instead…then I decided I’d just throw it on here to save space on my profile.  Ok, and because it gives me something to write about.  So I present to you…..

Why I’d prefer to be a Lycan over a Vampire:

1. Silver bullets are far more rare than sharp sticks.  Wooden stakes can be found anywhere.  They can be made from any piece of wood.  Silver bullets could be made pretty easily, but you’d need the necessary tools.  Stakes only require the attention-span of a 4 year old, a piece of wood, and a knife.
2. I like garlic on too many foods.  Seriously, I put garlic on everything I can.  Even adjusted my pizza dough recipe so that I could have garlic in it.
3. I like the sun.  I know I stay up until 2am when Kim is working (and sometimes when she isn’t), but that is just because I play on Xbox Live with a bunch of night shift cops.  They are up late, and well, I just stay up too.  I do go to bed earlier when Kim is home….ok, I’m trying to get better about that, but I have been.

Those are the main reason.  Basically, it would be harder for someone to kill me.  There are downsides too.  So here they are from my point of view:

Why I wouldn’t want to be a Lycan over a Vampire:

1. I hate shaving.  Yes, I voluntarily shave my head bald in the summer, but I hate shaving.  It is time consuming and I always seem to nick myself regularly….not every time, but often enough that I always think its going to happen.  I shave because I don’t like the alternative.  I don’t like long hair (especially with all the grey hair and now that I’ve found out it curls a bit when it gets longer) and as a Lycan I’d be covered in it.
2. Vampires are usually portrayed as handsome and quite adept with the ladies, while Lycans are….well….let’s just say they’d probably be portrayed in high school movies as the the guys that are great at science, math, chess, etc.  Crap…I just described myself a bit there.
3. As a Vampire I’d finally be able to put cold feet on Kim in return for all the years I’ve received them.  Yes, payback’s a bitch!

So there are those.  All in all I’d like to combine them.  Be like the dude from Underworld.  Best of both worlds.  Able to be in sunlight, but still hang with the Lycan’s.  Be the ultimate undead.  Having Kate Beckinsale around in that rubberized outfit would be nice too.

Please note: This has nothing to do with the poll that I’ve seen on Facebook about the two guys from the movie.  Really, I’m straight.  Thanks