We <3 Flip Video

Brian got an inexpensive Flip video camera and it has been way fun. It's super compact, easy to use, and takes great videos. Check out the video I posted on Facebook from yesterday's Atlanta Tea Party protest. Or, for brief moments of silliness, watch these:

Christina Makes Them Dance

Future Olympic Athlete

Chillin' - or Not - to the Backstreet Boys

Adventures in Carpooling

Me and some people from our work started up a van pool courtesy of a nice little program run by the state. After driving it exactly one week a pickup truck (propelled by a little old lady in an SUV) ran into it while I was stopped at a red light and dinged it up a bit. But the real drama started a week later the TMA picked the van up for repair and dropped of another van. This first replacement had bad bearings and horrible brakes. So I griped. They finally picked it up today and made arrangements for me to pick up a second replacement at the local garage where it was undergoing routine maintenance - along with a comment on the way out that the front passenger side makes a popping sound when you make a hard right turn "so try to avoid doing that if you can". Um yeah. I find out that while that noise could be caused by a number of things it likely is a bad ball joint - which is dangerous if it goes all the way out. Especially if it happens in a big clunky van on the freeway in rush hour traffic. So after kajillion phone calls and e-mails they arranged for a THIRD loaner vehicle that we picked up at the car rental place. A nice Dodge Caravan with a CD player, super comfortable seats, and it rides really smooth. So while we were riding home, you know what happens? The change oil light comes on! And you know what? I don't care. This one ain't going back - the dang brakes work!

On this date in history...

Wow - and it's not even anyone's birthday.

I looked at the date and realized it was the anniversary of the biggest earthquake I ever experienced: the Sylmar earthquake in 1971.

I remember being shaken awake in the bunkbed I shared with Suzanne. I believe I thought she was shaking the bed. You young'uns can read about it here.

Zero Tolerance Run Amok

I've a zinger thrown at me yesterday evening that still has me scratching my head. Not a bad one, but it really makes me wonder about the mental capacity of both our educators and the whiny parents that think that the principal needs to be notified of such matters. Daniel's principle called yesterday (yes, on a Sunday) to speak to me about an "incident" involving "inappropriate comments" and the zero tolerance policy that took place last week. As it turns out the "incident" didn't even involve Daniel other than the fact that he was sitting next to another nine year old at lunch who (Gasp!) pointed his fingers at some of his fellow students saying "Bang! Bang!". Inappropriate comments? Oh lord, a little boy was playing Cowboys and Indians and now it's morphed into "inappropriate comments". It's amazing that they didn't put the school on lock down and call in the swat team!

On a lighter note, Lea Anna lost her first tooth yesterday. In reality we all know she does not believe in the tooth fairy, but she was going on and on about how the tooth fairy was going to leave a quarter under her pillow. Since she was so darn cute and her tooth was nice and shiny white I left her two quarters thinking she would be happy since it was twice what she was expecting. It did not provide the desired effect. She informed me this morning that "You know Mom, some kids get a dollar from the tooth fairy". Well, Yeah. And some kids don't use the last of Mommy's pomegranate body wash for their "frog farts" experiment either.