Finally, fall…

imageThe leaves have finally fallen off the trees, it just took until late November. And we were recruited to Nana D’s house for removal duty. It wasn’t so bad but it took a little longer than normal since we had to keep up with Connor and keep him out of the leaves. He had a lot of fun so it wasn’t hard to put up with. I used a leaf blower and a lawn vac to shorten the job.

imageEventually Connor went off to play with my mom’s next door neighbor’s kids, Megan and Charlie. That’s when I got the work done. now I just have to find time to finish my yard between now and Thursday. All of Amy’s family is coming to our house for Thanksgiving. Amy has never done this before. It ought to be interesting.

Summer in October

imageJust before the first frost hit I made the decision to cut our backyard watermelon free. I really decided to do it because Matt, Lauren, Andrew and Daisy came over to hang out. It could have used another two weeks but if I had left it there it would have killed the melon and any chances of the vine producing anything in the future. It was actually real good and none of the kids had ever had a watermelon straight off the vine.

imageLauren took pictures as I cut it while Connor stood to close to my knife for comfort. Andrew and Connor ate most of it and we gave half of it to Matt and Lauren to take home.

Poo Poo Analytics

Google Analytics was a flop for me. I could never get the required code installed in WordPress. Google got overwhelmed with requests for this service and quit accepting new accounts. I think they grossly underestimated demand for this service.

I got frustrated trying to install the code in the version of WP that I refuse to upgrade to any of the new theme based releases, I like my current css. So I went and checked out statcounter.com. It automatically emails me all of the stats I need each week. The free version is limited to analyzing the last 100 visitations in the log but I don’t foresee needing to gather any information about any more than my last 100 visitors. So analyze this google – I’ll come back when Analytics tracking code is easier to integrate into WP 1.2.1 and you can track the stats of current subscribers a little faster.

Safest And Most Dangerous Cities

Following are the safest and most dangerous cities with populations over 75,000, according to Morgan Quitno Press.

Safest Cities:
1. Newton, Mass.
2. Clarkstown, N.Y.
3. Amherst, N.Y.
4. Mission Viejo, Calif.
5. Brick Township, N.J.
6. Troy, Mich.
7. Thousand Oaks, Calif.
8. Round Rock, Texas
9. Lake Forest, Calif.
10. Cary, N.C.

Most Dangerous Cities:
1. Camden, N.J.
2. Detroit
3. St. Louis
4. Flint, Mich.
5. Richmond, Va.
6. Baltimore
7. Atlanta
8. New Orleans
9. Gary, Ind.
10. Birmingham, Ala.

I live down the road from the 10th safest city in America and just last year I wandered around the third most dangerous city alone for two hours, good ‘ol St. Lewy.

First World Frustrations

David Rakoff is the author of the new book Don’t Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems.

This book delves into the hypocritical aspects of American life, the luxuries many of us take for granted and the absurdities we simply ignore. And, once again, it got me thinking about how good everyone in America has it compared to the rest of the world despite our frustrations at home and work and our self commitment to a never ending rat race. I looked up some encouraging facts any westerner should pay attention to if you ever feel like you’ve got it bad:

1. If you woke up this morning with at least $350 US dollars in the bank you are in the wealthiest 8% of the world’s population.

2. If you consider yourself a somewhat healthy American then you are far ahead of the 1 million people in third world countries that will die today because they lack access to basic amenities you take for granted – like vitamin A in their food.

3. If you’re religious and you feel free go to your place of worship regularly in America you’re way ahead of the almost 2 billion people who are assaulted, arrested, incarcerated and tortured each year for attempting to worship or participate in their religious beliefs.

4. If you woke up this morning and took a shower or used a toilet then congratulations, once again you’re ahead of approximately 2.6 billion people, or 40 percent of the world’s population, who lack access to basic sanitation.

5. If you put gas in your car recently, at any price, think about this: in a passenger car, for example, typically only 10 percent of the oil’s energy actually moves the car. Of that, only about two percent actually moves the passenger. So you are wealthy enough to afford an energy resource you will only use at 2% efficiency to haul you down the road. The rate of cars being built now exceeds the rate of growth of the world’s population*. And you are fortunate to be among the 28% of the world’s population that owns them.

6. As of 2004 the impact of the average U.S. citizen on the environment is approximately 3 times that of the average Italian, 13 times that of the average Brazilian, 35 times that of the average Indian, 140 times that of the average Bangladeshi, and 250 times that of the average sub-Saharan African.
Source: UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children

So don’t be surprised to find me laughing at anyone who is about to bust a blood vessel because they forgot to put ketchup in the bag at the drive-thru.

*NOTE: To clarify this is growth rate based upon percentage. From 1974 to 1999 the number of automobiles manufactured per year increased 44% and the world’s human population only increased 16%. As of August 2003 there was 1.9 cars in America for every licensed driver. – Source: Transportation Alternatives, NYC

The $tate Fair

So I broke down and wagered Connor’s college fund against the NC State Fair yesterday. Mostly just to see his face when he rode the flying Bumble Bee’s and kiddie swings. And I committed a serious sin that almost ruined it for Amy – I did not remember to bring a camera. But seriously – I got away lucky and only spent about $60 in just under four hours! Let’s recap:

Parking – $5
Admission (2 adults) – $12
2 corn dogs – 1 hotdog – 2 drinks – $12
Fried Dough w/ strawberries – $8
20 ride tickets – $15
Cotton Candy and Candy Apples – $7

Total financial impact for 4 hours of traffic, heartburn, crowds and 2 rides = $59. But Connor loved the rides and Cotton Candy so I officially declare it justified.

It’s easy to see that the amount of time that can be spent at the State Fair is directly proportional to the depth of one’s wallet. $59 could have almost gotten us into Busch Gardens because Connor’s admission is free!

One busy year.

I just realized this blog turned one today. I was cruzin’ through it to recap some of the events that took place because this eventually turned out to be one of the best years ever (despite a rough start and Dubya being re-elected):

This is a whole lot considering just two years ago Amy and I were living in an apartment on a college campus and I was playing the drums in a steadily performing band until 3am several nights a week. Now if we don’t get to bed by 11 the whole next day is shot to hell.

Back On-line

This morning I got my cable modem back on-line. Obviously the DynDNS update completed successfully or you wouldn’t be visiting. Wednesday DirecTV will be out to hook up a new dish and the last of the utilities will be transferred.

We are living out of boxes for now. Moving is just plain painful. But my new office is a huge 16’x18′. It’s the biggest room in the house, Connor’s new playroom being second at 16 feet square. The boys get the big playrooms. Mom gets the downstairs. I made her kitchen look like a Starbucks so she should be in heaven.