DO IT TREE!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

your baby doesn't love you anymore

At least that's what you think when he's all, "MOMMA!" when you go to give him smoochies too in the morning. WTFL? We were like best buds 12 hours ago now you're gettin' all maternal on me??

So, I have just given up an epic battle with my sister-in-law's computer. You are thinking, "Don't quit Roger! You can do it." Can I? No, I cannot. I cannot out tech support the devil. It's just not possible. It has some kind of hardware problem and hardware problems are the enemies of IT nerds everywhere. So much harder to diagnose and lull you into a false sense of security then WHAMMO, here's some 4-bit display modes (uhhh, rub vaseline on your eyes for an approximation).

But, the computer is old and I hoard computer stuff. After I admitted failure, I took an old machine of mine and made it the unholy union of the two of our computers. Hers was a stupid dell with all it's jacked up innards. Oh well, I think I've saved her from buying a new machine. At least for a week or so.

Anyone in Cleveland on 2/4, I'm getting a group together to go to Lake Erie Monsters game. This is hockey for all you Canucks out there. Like, NHL - so close. What's the drive from Regina? 45 minutes? I'm not good at geography or driving.

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Monday, January 17, 2011

geeky complaint

[ed. Not a lot of payoff for a lot of confusion, but what else do you have going on?]

RE: Brothers (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version) [+digital booklet]

I run 64-bit Ubuntu on my machine and have been unable to get your downloader working. I like to think I have a life outside these 4 walls, so I'd prefer not to spend anymore of my precious time on this mortal coil trying to debug the process. I am sure there is a way, but having spent far too much time on a previous version of Ubuntu, the will fails. Instead, I tried using another product called Pymazon to download my songs, but it appears that Amazon is claiming I have "already downloaded" these songs. I assure you this is hogwash as I am unable to do anything of the kind.

Why am I unable to re-download? This was simple and easy before. Has Amazon turned off that service? I was just espousing that very functionality as a reason for a friend to switch his music purchases to Amazon from iTunes after having been through the ringer with Apple trying to reclaim purchased product that I had lost. It is really not that hard to get songs to me. Why require such a tight-fisted, unfriendly process? I am sorry I do not use windows or 32-bit ubuntu, but this is where I am in my life. I know that songs can be "shared" all-too freely and that is sometimes unfortunate. But, I promise I was just going to burn a cd for my enjoyment in the comfort of my own home. In fact, I had planned to ear-plug my family and scare off any passers-by who might be lingering around my home in the hopes of consuming the Black Keys, Brothers for free.

Ok, that's a little beside the point, but it would be nice if you opened the download api for the creation of third-party products which would work with my current installation. Either that or you can send me a Windows 7 cd which I will take even more of my precious time to install on my native OS as a virtual machine. I know you "kind of" try to support Linux, but it's precious little. And I know I am in the minority here, but I'd like to think I'm worth it. I'm good enough that when I buy an album, I should be able to listen to it.

Thanks,
Roger

[ed. There's 45 seconds you're never getting back. Sucker!]

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

good news; bad news

The bad news is I haven't blogged in weeks. The good news is, in that time I haven't severely injured my son. Go ME!

So, we are letting cuddlebunnies "cry it out." For the uninitiated this is when your baby starts crying at night, you lie in bed staring at the monitor and go, "OMG STFU!" but in your whisper (2000) voice as you don't want the baby more awakey.

CIO is the new strategy for this week. The old strategy was to go in there every time he cried, give him a bottle, check for boogeyman, etc. I was ok with this, but then I started to get the feeling he was just messing with me. Like he was perfectly fine, but preferred to be held and rocked and sung They Might Be Giants songs*. I was ok with that too, because before he'd fall asleep rather quickly, I'd put him down and he'd be out for the night. BUT THEN, it was like TMBG and MILK weren't good enough and he'd kind of scream at me the whole time. (I know this could be way clearer, but I'll be damned if I'm going back to edit.) Finally, I'd get him to fall asleep and I'd gingerly put him back in his crib and oh how he'd scream and scream. He'd be PISSED. After repeating the process 2 or 3 times this becomes really stressful. So, for the sake of the family, we're trying to let him cry. Let the tears roll down his face. And if the sun comes out tomorrow - dang, who knows Hootie lyrics? Comment below.

Anyway, CIO was made for me as YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING! All I have to do is sit there and feel the crushing guilt of ignoring my first born son. That's it! Ok, if he cries for 5 minutes, I have to get up, go in, rub his back, give him his blankie, tell him everything's going to be all right, fist bump, leave the room. If he keeps crying, next time I wait for 10 minutes. After that time, if he's still crying 10 to 15 minutes later the book says he might not be ready for CIO.

I'm don't want to jinx it, but it's been going pretty well. Last night he got to phase 3, but it was kind of tainted because he wasn't crying the whole time, more falling asleep for a minute or two, cry for a minute, rinse and repeat. (Which reminds me. Who washes their hair twice in one shower? That's f'ed up.)

It is so easy, but so hard. You do feel guilty. But, best part, next morning HE STILL LOVES YOU! It's fantastic. It's like he can't remember your negligence in the least. Silly, undeveloped baby brain!

<No Jinx>It has absolutely made bedtime easier. I carry him in, he puts his thumb in his mouth, grabs his blanket and starts sleeping pretty much immediately.</No Jinx>

There you have it. That's how you parent. PA-POW!

Be sure to remember to crow loudly after new week's, Dear God, my child is a holy non-sleeping terror.

*Sadly, he's grown tired of Randy Newman. We're on TMBG and some Kinks. Stop your sobbing works - hand to God.

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