North Myrtle Beach again

The Pilatos never get tired of the beach. So for the second year in a row, we've claimed the week before the Columbus Day holiday as our beach-trip week. As we did last year, we returned to the Avista Resort in North Myrtle Beach, SC, and did the overlapping visit thing with my parents. (We were in the three-bedroom suite from Monday to Saturday; my parents were there from Wednesday thru the next Monday.)

We had wonderful weather—not too hot or cold, and dry for the most part. We scored that three-bedroom resort suite by accident, even. I thought I was driving hard for a bargain on a two-bedroom place, and was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the deal I got was not only a great rate for two bedrooms, but was being applied to three! We all had plenty of room to spread out in that oceanfront suite, and my and Amy's bedroom was waterfront with a balcony to boot!

Of course, we didn't spent all our time in the suite. We did some mini-golf. We bowled. We shopped. Amy and I even caught a Medieval Times show. The boys were in good spirits most of the time, but tended to be a little preoccupied with hanging out in the various pools at the resort. Have water wings, will cooperate, it seemed. (Admittedly, Amy and I loved the water wings, too—it can be quite tiring to hold a forty-pound kid for an hour, even in the water.)

Our vacation week was a full one, but a good one. But don't assume that we returned to find more peace and relaxation. Oh, no. I'm hovered over a new laptop (which was shipped to Amy's parents' place in my absence) trying desperately to get Ubuntu Linux installed, and to get all my data off my previous work laptop, which has an ailing fan and only boots about 20% of the time as a result. Why the rush? Because tomorrow I leave for Germany and SubConf 2008! Busy times, busy times….

Labor Day apple pickin'

Today, Amy and I began the day by doing something I never imagined five years ago I'd be doing — marching into our own back yard and picking apples from our own apple trees.

We picked about eight plastic grocery bags full of good apples, plus another six or seven bags of apples that were rotten or soon-to-be rotten. Our neighbor Hilda even came over to join the fun. She grew up on a farm, so was seasoned in the skills of harvesting. We were somewhat embarrassed, though, when she used those skills — or maybe just her eyes and brain — to inform us that a second tree which we'd come to think of as a particularly bad pear tree was, in fact, another apple tree. (In our defense, we had been told the tree bore pears).

Amy even used a few of our apples to make some homemade applesauce the other day. I am not exaggerating a bit when I say hers was better than the brand-name applesauces we routinely purchase at the grocery store. Yum!

Flooding in Harrisburg

See spot. See spot run. See spot swimming in his own front yard in flood waters. Swim, Spot, swim!

March Illnesses: a poem

There once were two children beside us,
Who, when given medicine, would fight us,
Though both Amy and I
Wished to soothe their pinkeye
And the youngest one's tonsillitis.

WANTED: One (1) drop-in or slide-in range, soon

Amy's been somewhat less than excited about the range/cooktop included in the purchase of our current home. So, I'm sure there's some part of her that's not altogether saddened by the fact that it died on Sunday afternoon. Yep, while eating lunch, we heard a really loud pop coming from the kitchen. My guess is that the bottom element cracked or something, because it now generates no heat. The cooktop still works, as does the broiler (but who uses that?). But as GE's website lists no available replacement parts for this 18-year-old oven, I suppose we'll be making a trip up to hhgregg in the next few days.

[UPDATE 12/13/07] Much to Amy's chagrin, my Dad was able to locate a dealer that had a replacement element for our oven for a mere $30. Sorry, Sweetheart—looks like you'll have to hold out for the kitchen remodeling after all.

Fun at the Fair

Last year at this time I was in Romania, which was a neat experience, but it meant two weeks of missing my wife and kids, and missing the annual Cabarrus County Fair. I purposed at that time to do everything in my power to make it out to the 2007 fair. So this evening — on the anniversary of a very somber day in American history — we chose energetic family together-time over quiet reflection, and fulfilled that goal.

Now, Amy and I had taken Gavin to the fair in 2005, when he was two years old and right at 36 inches tall. Aidan was only months old back then. But now, two years later, Aidan is where Gavin was at the time. That makes him eligible for many of the rides at the fair, and made the whole idea of the thing that much more exciting. So tonight after work, we packed the kids into the car, grabbed a fast bite of dinner, and headed off to the fairgrounds.

The first thing Amy and I noticed was that there seemed to be more rides than there were in 2005. The second thing we noticed was that we needed to take out a second mortgage on our home to cover the anticipated costs of the evening. Rides take a minimum of three tickets per ride, per person. 24 tickets cost $20. So, for a yuppie foodstamp the family could ride maybe two rides. Ouch. Fortunately, for $15/person, you could get an armband which granted you unlimited rides. Clearly, it was the best financial decision we made this week.

The boys were, shall we say, a bit excited. But honestly, they demonstrated stellar behavior the whole night. They patiently waited in lines, didn't try to drag us from ride to ride at a harrying pace, and were respectful of both each other and those around them. Surprisingly, they weren't really afraid of the rides we rode, either. Two years ago, I remember Gavin crying a bit on one ride that did a fair amount of spinning, and so I expected similar responses from Aidan tonight. But there was none of that — both boys loved all the rides (save for one that Gavin and I did together that neither of us liked much because it was literally difficult to breathe while on it). Ferris wheel high above the tallest trees in the area? No sweat. A smallish roller coaster with hills and thrills? Rode it twice.

Fifteen years ago, as a student in the Cabarrus County school system, I couldn't have cared much less about the fair. And I certainly never dreamed I'd actually be looking forward to it. I guess that belongs on the growing list of things that inexplicably change when you become a parent. I suspect we're not alone in these types of transformations, nor that parenthood is finished transforming us just yet.

But for now, I'm anticipating the 2008 fair!

(Mostly) wallpaper-free!

Amy and I finally came to terms with the fact that we would never, ever, get around to finishing the wallpaper removal task in our house. So a couple of weeks ago, a crew from SouthEnd Painting (in Charlotte) came in and spent three days removing wallpaper from, floating, sanding and priming the walls of our kitchen, living room, dining room, and the downstairs half-bath. The crew was professional, very respectful, and did their best to keep our home orderly and dust-free (which is no easy task in jobs like this). And the end result met our expectations (also no easy task). Of course, it pained me to write a check for the cost of this service, but as my friend Fitz observed, Amy and I "finally recognized the value of our time."

Unfortunately, I'm not able to give quite the glowing review of the whole process that I'd like to.

I noticed shortly after the crew left our house that the glass break sensor in our kitchen (part of our home security system) was not functioning. Upon removing the front panel (just as I'd shown the crew leader how to do the previous day) I noticed that one of the microphone lead wires was missing, and that the microphone itself was sorta shoved up into the backing instead of in its proper mounting location. I called SouthEnd to report the damage. I wasn't sure if this kind of damage was covered by the service plan we have on our security system, so I told SouthEnd that I'd get a quote for the repair or replacement of the sensor. If there was no charge to me, then no harm, no foul — SouthEnd Painting wouldn't hear another thing about it. Otherwise, they'd be responsible for any costs incurred in the repair. I also advised SouthEnd to ask their work crew about the damage, just to make sure there was no dispute on the responsibility. I called our security provider, got the quote ($150), and relayed that to an assistant at SouthEnd, again advising that they verify the quote by calling our security provider themselves.

A few days later, I got a call from Todd, SouthEnd's owner. What happened next was simply unfathomable — after admitting that the work crew had claimed responsibility for the damage, and acknowledging the cost of the replacement, Todd had the nerve to suggest that they send me a check not for $150, but for only $125. "Why", I asked incredulously, "would I cover $25 of damage your crew caused after just writing you a check for over a hundred times that amount?!" Todd replied curtly, "Well, it doesn't hurt to ask — I'll send your check."

On the contrary, Todd, it does hurt to ask. You just lost the business I'd intended to give you for the upstairs of my house.