Smells Like Teen Spirit revisited

So I am driving down the road, windows open, Smells Like Teen Spirit comes on the radio, so of course I turn it up. But it got me thinking, because it's 2015 now, and the song is 25 years old. I wasn't even 25 when I first heard it, which was probably driving in my beat up '85 Impala, heading to Moraine Valley Community College or maybe just driving aimlessly with no particular place to go. So some things were the same, but I am driving a relatively new car, and I have 2 kids riding in the back seat who no doubt think this music is lame. I moved through 7 states, finished 3 degrees, learned to scuba dive, fly a plane, went to war, came home from war, lost both parents, along with many aunts and uncles, and changed jobs several times. So much has happened in those years, so much has changed, and yet here I am, rocking out to the same song, at around the same time of year, juggling school, work, family and friends. Not sure what that was all about, but felt like writing it down.

Is Halloween dead? It seems to be in Maryland...

No offense to native Marylander's, but are you from a different America? I have only been in this state about 2 months, but I find it hard to believe I will last a full year.

Halloween came and went this year, but it was very disappointing. We were ready to rock. The kids had matching Power Ranger costumes (their choice). We had candy. We had pumpkins-I even carved three into Jack O'Lantern's (Named for an Irishman, I am sure). Not a single trick or treater was sighted in the neighborhood. We took the kids out shortly after dark, but not very late (around 1900 local time). Out of about six doorbells, only two people answered their doors. They had treats to hand out, but still seemed genuinely surprised to see anyone out and about. We took our now thoroughly dejected kids home in the slight drizzle that just seemed timed for the sad music part of our day. We turned on the TV and couldn't even find the Great Pumpkin on TV. It was like we were in the old Soviet Union. In Russia, you don't scare people, Russia scares you! Bah, I can't even do humor, I am so depressed.

Maryland, you are on notice. We have a few more holidays in the near future. You better get ready to celebrate like you're in America or we kick you out of the union. My family will relocate if we have to. Virginia is starting to sound nice.

So much for Goth Christmas 2009.

Survived Disneyworld

Travelled to Florida for a few days with the family. We survived running around WDW with our 3 year old and 2 year old children. This is not for the feint of heart, nor for those out of shape. The kids violated the laws of thermodynamics by expending more energy than they took in while accumulating size and mass. Note: WDW is getting truly creepy with finger print scanners, hard plastic tickets that double as room keys and credit cards (they have your name on them). No obviously armed guards, but the Animal Kingdom park had some serious external security (barbed wire fences and vehicle barriers).

Man, have I been slacking off...

Sure, I have a blog, where did I leave that thing, it's around here somewhere....

Okay, okay, so I don't really write prolifically. At least I post once in a while.

Here are some updates:
It was warm enough new year's day to go for a motorcycle ride, so I did. I meant to post that to piss off my motorcycle riding readership in the cold northlands.

We were supposed to go see STS-117, the next space shuttle mission lift off from KSC. It was going to be a nice trip-the wife has not seen a shuttle launch in person yet, my 2 year old son might be just at the right age to enjoy that much fire and noise (or else I would be having surgery to remove a small child from my neck), and there would be time for the usual Orlando activities as well as visiting with some old friends. Alas, Thor, God of Thunder intervened and laid waste to the External Tank with a mighty blast of hail. Now, with the shuttle launch tbd (the last news was NASA decided not to make a decision until next month on when they might launch....grrrrrr), tax bills coming due, and other obligations on the calender, our trip may not happen this year. Too bad, cause I actually know one of the guys on the crew and wouldn't mind seeing him take a ride to orbit again.

The kids are 2 and 1, so life is ground hog day--get up, get kids ready for daycare, drive to daycare, drive to work, work, drive to daycare, drive home, eat, get kids ready for bed, fall asleep on floor of son's bedroom, stagger to own bed, wake up to screaming baby, hand in bottle, stagger back to bed, move son, who is now in my spot, move cat that has jumped up in place of son, fall back into bed, get up, get kids ready.....

We have all been sick, but fortunately not all at once. Lots of colds, one almost flu/strep throat thing, some ear infections, etc. Kids are biohazards.

I turned 36. Ugh. Felt like over the hill last year, can't wait to see what this feels like in another six months. Love getting older.

South Park has been on for 10 years???? They must be stuck in some sort of endless loop, because the kids haven't aged or changed grades in quite some time (hmmm-the future of tv-all cartoons-actors are never seen and so only have to sound plausible and not look plausible-screw reality tv, this is the real low budget winner). My favorite episode is probably still the undead episode (first season?) where Kenny was embalmed with Worcestershire sauce and turns into a flesh eating zombie (or pinkeye as it is known in the medical community). Actually, I guess it was episode 107 of the first season and it was called Pinkeye. And to my friends that played way too much warcraft (you know who you are), please watch Episode 1008, Make Love, Not Warcraft and take it's lesson to heart.

Iran started holding hostages again. Happy days are here again. Feels just like my childhood somehow.

Still no signs of intelligent life on Earth....

There has to be some good news in this guy's life

If you have read any of this stuff, you would think all I do is move from one disaster to another. That nothing good is happening at all. Well, it has been a rough few months, but here is some good news:

-Job is going reasonably well and the location is interesting and entertaining from time to time (if you like loud military jets-I do-we call it the sound of freedom).
-My son started walking at the end of January. He still likes being carried around, but he is also starting to walk on his own. I sense some relief on the horizon for sore arms, neck and back.
-My wife is not pregnant anymore. She gave birth to our daughter, who is sound asleep on my lap as a I type this. New borns are the tiniest humans you will ever see. She is smaller and lighter than our cats and loves to curl up in a ball in your arms.

The only bad thing this week is the weather is cold enough to make me want to skip riding my motorcycle. I thought Texas was supposed to be warm, dammit!