Archived News starting from 09-07-2013 and earlier
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Rumors of a carnival in Plymouth proved to be true, and our recent string of them continued. This time it included polish dancers and craft crap, but most importantly buttered corn on a stick. The dancers distracted Lila long enough to tire her out significantly before she discovered the overpriced rides. Luckily she was only drawn to the "froggy jump" which was relatively cheap (and safe). "Up and down" being her favorite thing lately, the ride was perfectly suited to her needs.
Now that Xbox has revealed I have to wait 11 weeks before I can get my Xbox One on, my commander in chief Major Nelson has
teased me
with shots of it being packed up. No doubt for shipping to some warehouse where it will sit for 11 weeks and wait for inventory to build up proportional to my agony over waiting.
Screw you Major Nelson, I want my XBONE NOW!
After 1,800 miles on my
new Ninja, it felt like the right time for it's first oil change.
Fortunately,
Lila was up for the job and helped by dropping a ratchet extension into the exhaust pipe.
After fishing it out with a magnet, I realized I had no idea how much oil to put in, so I guessed at 3 quarts and later discovered I was correct.
One of the nice things about this motorcycle (in addition to fuel injection, foldable mirrors, and digital speedometer) is a spin-on oil filter.
The last 3 motorcycles I owned had a filter element that was a pain in the ass to remove and replace, now it's just like a car oil change.
The previously cancelled Michigan state fair was resurrected by Fifth Third bank this year at the Novi Expo center.
This resulted in shrinking it to 1/3 the size and adding a carnival (which worked out well for Lila). This also meant the animals were in an enclosed,
air conditioned area instead of being outside. While the cool air was nice, the concentrated animal stink was a bit overwhelming. Lila, fresh off her
pot smoke exposure was ready with her nose holding "pee ew" face and utilized it frequently. The carnival had the expected rides, about 1/3 of which Lila was tall enough to ride.
I'm fairly certain the "roller coaster" and swings may have permanently traumatized her, but she's good at burying her pain and made it look like she brushed it off. I'm sure I'll be
paying for both rides well into her adult years with therapy.
Lila had her
first disc golf adventure today, and surprisingly had a blast. I was certain she'd quickly grow bored of it, but tromping around
in the woods after frisbees is clearly on her enjoyable activity list. After meeting a father and his 4 girls on the course, I was assured "you get used to it" when I inquired what it's like to have
4 daughters and no son. Lila then decided the oldest daughter was "mama" and the dad was "papa" and refused to leave their sight for 4 holes in a row. Eventually I felt like I was
intruding on their day and threw up enough distractions to get her to disengage. Notable events include Lila holding her nose and saying "pee ew" when she smelled the obligatory pot smoke,
making it up a 45 degree incline all by herself, and finding a disc even I couldn't find (reward was tickling).
Not even 6 months after I bought my
new Ninja, a
recall
for the engine ignition module was issued for stalling problems. I didn't expect to feel like a
Honda owner,
but it looks like my only japanese vehicle suffers a similar quality problem. Fortunately the
recall part was an easy swap, with my old part going back to Japan for some
reflashing magic before being passed on to some other unsuspecting owner. I can now commute confidently that my motorcycle won't stall unexpectedly, despite my religious downshifting which probbably rendered
the whole recall pointless for my driving style.
Today was a work sponsored team building event that just so happened to be a Tigers baseball game. Rather than enjoy the game and shout what for at the opposing team, I took the opportunity to play with my $10
eBay zoom lens and the various Nokia camera apps on my phone.
The result was enjoyable, and passed the time quite well. The free food was also a nice
bonus, and of course Ron showed up because why wouldn't he. I found myself in the strange position of rooting for a sports team in the 9th inning when the Tigers were down 2 runs. They managed to come back with a 3 run home run
and everyone went nuts of course. I celebrated by making sure I grabbed one final free Mountain Dew for the road.
Bored with her teaset, Lila descended into my lair and demanded she hold the Xbox controller. I decided Minecraft was right up her alley since I already had all the cheevos and no longer cared about
my progress on my default world. Amazingly, she figured out the dual-stick navigation relatively quickly and was soon moving around on her own. I asked her to go different directions and she was able to
in the general direction I requested. Excited my daughter could finally operate the most time intensive thing in my life, she promptly grew bored and demanded I read her a book.
I took that as a good sign.
With the end of summer fast approaching, I decided it was time to
use one of Lisas friends for their pool membership.
I promise myself a trip to the beach at least once a summer, and since it looks like I won't be able to keep that promise this year, I can pretend this counted. Upon entering the pool, I was in
shock after learning it featured a diving board. I was convinced they had all gone extinct with our great litigious society forcing them out of all insurance plans. I confirmed with the lifeguard
that flips and dives were in fact allowed, and proceeded to fill my stomach with burgers and hot dogs. Once I was full enough to guarantee stomach problems, I did my first diving board flip in
at least 10 years. Lila was highly entertained, so I proceeded to do 2 more before landing one square on my back, resulting in some pool-wide entertainment. Undeterred, I continued with
cannonballs and dives, before returning for a few more flips. Lila became bored quickly, so we moved to a game where she threw diving rings and laughed while I scrambled after them and put them back on her head.
After hearing
Xbox One was on display at Microsoft stores, I of course planned a trip
today with Lila to introduce her to the device that will make her fatherless for several months. After taking the standard
creepy shot and being
asked to pre-order several times, we explored the rest of the mall including the moving walkway where I gave her a
taste of what to expect once it offically launches in November.
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