Oh, how we love to have Grandma in town. My mother came up for a visit this weekend, which was nice because now that she's retired, she can spend more time with us and less on the road traveling. The girls love having her around, and was doubly nice for the parents. Mom volunteered to watch the girls tonight to give Rachel and I the chance to go out on a date without having to spring for a sitter (they're expensive now). Rachel needed to go and see the current play at West Chester University for her theatre class, and it just made sense to combine the two activities into one. However, that was also the cap to a very busy day for us. My day was fairly mundane, as I had to work until 1 PM and pick up ice cream. Rachel had it far worse -- after morning tae kwon do lessons for her and the girls, there was the Primary activity at church, picking up a birthday cake, setting up for daughter #2 birthday party, cleaning up, taking a rogue child home, and then home to eat a quick dinner before off to the play. What a day! In any case, it was nice to have that extra Grandma hands to help with the girls.
In fact, I don't even mind the fact that I made the decision to miss my 2oth high school reunion in Virginia to spend time with everyone. High school wasn't the highlight of my existence, so it actually wasn't too hard to decide what I was going to do. There was the surprise that a girl I barely knew back then told me that she'd miss seeing me - and then backed that sentiment up with a memory of me to prove that she wasn't just putting me on to try and pump money out of me for a ticket. Oh, well, perhaps I'll live long enough to go to the 25th reunion.
Aaron
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Friday, April 16, 2010
WOW
Has it really been eight months since my last post on here? I have been such a slacker, but it seems that between school, work, and being a father there is little time left for other things. Let's try to catch up:
The end of August brought a start to another semester. I took four summer classes, so I was only able to enjoy two weeks of summer before starting up again.
September was pretty uneventful -- as was October. Although this time period brought the start to my favorite season of all, FALL !! I want to find a place where the weather is like that year round, and move there.
November brought Thanksgiving, and our Black Friday baby -- Courtney. Thank goodness for Loretta and Rory Sargeant -- you saved the day at the last minute.
December brought the end of another semester, which included barely passing Statistics. It's okay, I totally half-assed that class.
January was awesome, because I had a month off between semesters. It was also bad, because Rachel told me that it was time to stop putting off thinking about where we were going to transfer to once we graduated from community college. I ended up applying to four colleges ...
February and March were good -- February marked getting into two of the schools I applied to, and March brought a surprise birthday party for me that Rachel planned. March also marked getting into BYU -- yeah, me at BYU, look out Provo.
April is rapidly passing by, and my final semester is wrapping up quickly. The big question is whether or not Rachel and I are going to walk for graduation. We're going back and forth trying to decide.
I leave you with perhaps the funniest video clip you'll find on youtube:
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sometimes a good thing is just that
This past weekend, we made the trip South to visit with my sister before she left for her semester abroad in El Salvador. While this was the main reason for our journey, there was a little side trip that was also planned. Rachel noticed on the Redskins website that the Red Cross was going to be holding a blood drive that was sponsored in some way by the Redskins. If you signed up to donate, and actually went through with it, you got a goody bag that included some Redskins stuff. In addition, you were also entered to win a few door prizes that included: autographed mini-helmets, apparel, or club level tickets to a home game of your choice. The final bribe, and the one that I wanted, was special VIP seating to training camp on Saturday or Sunday. While I am admittedly squeamish about bleeding on purpose, no matter how good the cause, I can be bought. Last year was the first time I gave blood, and it was for a free ticket into the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. This year, it was for VIP access to training camp to be a little closer to the team that I have been devoted to for as long as I can remember. So, Andrew and I made our appointments last week and showed up on Saturday morning at 8:30 AM.
We were taken back to give our history, first myself then Andrew, to be tested to see if we qualified to give blood that day. I still had my Red Cross card from last year, with a scan bar on it, so I gave it to the lady to jump past the medical history and go straight into testing. This is when the rather English-challenged lady tried to inform me three times that my card was from another district, and that I was going to be considered a first time donor after my repeated "WHAT?" and "EXCUSE ME?" responses. This continued the whole time she was asking me questions, as her think accent muddled the line of communication between us. She probably thought I was some ignorant hick or partially deaf at the very least. Finally, I was given the computer to answer the personal health information and I passed. I was escorted back to the area they were taking the donations, and lo and behold -- Andrew was already stuck with the needle and filling his baggie. I had volunteered to donate double red cells, not only because the needle to procure the blood is smaller (I'm a wuss), but because I now have a valid excuse not to give blood for a longer period of time. So, by the time we both were finished -- training camp that day was not even a possibility. We got passes for Sunday morning, and the debate started on whether or not we'd go.
Sunday morning comes, and it's raining. Rachel checks the website to see if practice outside is canceled or not, and we find that it's still on. Andrew, my oldest daughter, and I piled into the van to head out. We park, and walk to the practice fields. We go over to the VIP access entrance, and are told that the Red Cross area is not inside the fence (like we thought) but a roped off area "over there" the guy informed us. We wait at where we think the player entrance is, but the players ended up going onto the field another way. I decided to go over to our "special access" area, and find that they area they've picked is crap. It's roped off, for sure -- but it's further away from the field and players than those who didn't give blood were able to stand. I was PISSED!! As we drew closer, a young woman asks us if we're holding Red Cross passes and we affirm that. She tells us that they are now letting Red Cross people into the VIP entrance, and to go back to be let in. We tell her we've already been there, and were turned away. She says, "Oh, they decided to let the Red Cross people inside the fence now." I'm fully expecting to be turned away again, but the same guy now lets us through. The team is all out on the field now, so I pull out the camera to get a few pics now that we're much closer to the players. As I turn it on, I see that the power is zapped. Rachel had charged the battery before we left, so I was puzzled. My daughter informs me at this point, as I'm lamenting the fact that I didn't check it before we left, that she and my middle daughter were playing with the camera the night before at the party for Nancy. Great -- how angry could I get? I was too pumped. So, I snapped exactly three pictures before the camera died. Then the rains came. My daughter was complaining about getting wet, and that she wanted to go home. She also saw the Papa John's and Johnny Rocket's food trailers and kept reminding me how hungry she was. The combination of the rain, the complaining, the fact that the camera was dead all combined to force us to go home. Andrew and I were both a disappointed at our luck, but I can't say it was a total loss. I'm posting one of the rare Redskins pics, and one of the ones that Ryles took the night before playing with the camera. Enjoy.
So remember -- if you're holding a blood drive for your Eagle Scout, church, sports team, etc .... I can be bribed into bleeding on purpose if you have a goody bag in store for those who sign up to donate. And it has to be something good, none of this "the feeling you get for doing a good thing is reward enough" crap.
We were taken back to give our history, first myself then Andrew, to be tested to see if we qualified to give blood that day. I still had my Red Cross card from last year, with a scan bar on it, so I gave it to the lady to jump past the medical history and go straight into testing. This is when the rather English-challenged lady tried to inform me three times that my card was from another district, and that I was going to be considered a first time donor after my repeated "WHAT?" and "EXCUSE ME?" responses. This continued the whole time she was asking me questions, as her think accent muddled the line of communication between us. She probably thought I was some ignorant hick or partially deaf at the very least. Finally, I was given the computer to answer the personal health information and I passed. I was escorted back to the area they were taking the donations, and lo and behold -- Andrew was already stuck with the needle and filling his baggie. I had volunteered to donate double red cells, not only because the needle to procure the blood is smaller (I'm a wuss), but because I now have a valid excuse not to give blood for a longer period of time. So, by the time we both were finished -- training camp that day was not even a possibility. We got passes for Sunday morning, and the debate started on whether or not we'd go.
Sunday morning comes, and it's raining. Rachel checks the website to see if practice outside is canceled or not, and we find that it's still on. Andrew, my oldest daughter, and I piled into the van to head out. We park, and walk to the practice fields. We go over to the VIP access entrance, and are told that the Red Cross area is not inside the fence (like we thought) but a roped off area "over there" the guy informed us. We wait at where we think the player entrance is, but the players ended up going onto the field another way. I decided to go over to our "special access" area, and find that they area they've picked is crap. It's roped off, for sure -- but it's further away from the field and players than those who didn't give blood were able to stand. I was PISSED!! As we drew closer, a young woman asks us if we're holding Red Cross passes and we affirm that. She tells us that they are now letting Red Cross people into the VIP entrance, and to go back to be let in. We tell her we've already been there, and were turned away. She says, "Oh, they decided to let the Red Cross people inside the fence now." I'm fully expecting to be turned away again, but the same guy now lets us through. The team is all out on the field now, so I pull out the camera to get a few pics now that we're much closer to the players. As I turn it on, I see that the power is zapped. Rachel had charged the battery before we left, so I was puzzled. My daughter informs me at this point, as I'm lamenting the fact that I didn't check it before we left, that she and my middle daughter were playing with the camera the night before at the party for Nancy. Great -- how angry could I get? I was too pumped. So, I snapped exactly three pictures before the camera died. Then the rains came. My daughter was complaining about getting wet, and that she wanted to go home. She also saw the Papa John's and Johnny Rocket's food trailers and kept reminding me how hungry she was. The combination of the rain, the complaining, the fact that the camera was dead all combined to force us to go home. Andrew and I were both a disappointed at our luck, but I can't say it was a total loss. I'm posting one of the rare Redskins pics, and one of the ones that Ryles took the night before playing with the camera. Enjoy.
So remember -- if you're holding a blood drive for your Eagle Scout, church, sports team, etc .... I can be bribed into bleeding on purpose if you have a goody bag in store for those who sign up to donate. And it has to be something good, none of this "the feeling you get for doing a good thing is reward enough" crap.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Another One Down
Friday is the official date when final grades are due from our professors for the spring semester. My professors this time around have all submitted their grades, so at least I didn't have to wait too long. Here's a breakdown:
Microeconomics, Grade: A. I don't know how anyone in that class didn't get an A who completed it from this professor. The discussion board topics only required students to respond a minimum of three times over three different days for full credit (100%) in the respective chapter. There was also a chance for extra credit if you responded more than three times over three different days. The homework assignments allowed multiple attempts to keep trying until you got it right, and the exams were all open book. Shame on anyone that didn't get an A (from this teacher, not for microeconomics in general)
English Writing, Grade: A. I placed into an English prep class once I ended up taking my placement test last summer. I was annoyed, but it was fairly obvious to anyone that I was rusty in my writing skills. My score was enough to place me into English 101 at some schools, but the standards for MontCo are higher for whatever reason. I got an A in the class, but it really was kinda a no-brainer.
History of Western Civilizations, Modern European, Grade: A-. The class consisted of weekly discussion board assignments, in which we had to interpret in our own words the chapter that we read. There were four papers we had to write that each covered a quarter of the class, one midterm and one final. There wasn't much room for error on any of these assignments, which I found annoying.
Accounting II, Grade: B+. This was mainly due to Rachel's tutoring, as her ability to pick up on accounting principles quickly made me jealous. I started out fine, but struggled later in the semester. I give full credit to Rachel for helping me attain the grade I did.
Introduction to Astronomy, Grade: B-. I struggled a lot, as the work required a lot of time that I didn't have to devote fully to the class. I started to lose focus about a third of the way through, but was able to pull things together for the final. I'll always wonder if I could have gotten a higher grade in the class if I had been able to devote the time I needed. At least my lab science elective is over with early, instead of putting it off until my last semester as originally planned.
In all, a successful semester. I'm taking a full load this summer as well, and by the end of August, I'll have officially completed my first year of college. Not bad, considering the dismal failure that I was back when I was fresh from high school. Sorry to bore you all with the details, but I am proud of the progress I've made.
Microeconomics, Grade: A. I don't know how anyone in that class didn't get an A who completed it from this professor. The discussion board topics only required students to respond a minimum of three times over three different days for full credit (100%) in the respective chapter. There was also a chance for extra credit if you responded more than three times over three different days. The homework assignments allowed multiple attempts to keep trying until you got it right, and the exams were all open book. Shame on anyone that didn't get an A (from this teacher, not for microeconomics in general)
English Writing, Grade: A. I placed into an English prep class once I ended up taking my placement test last summer. I was annoyed, but it was fairly obvious to anyone that I was rusty in my writing skills. My score was enough to place me into English 101 at some schools, but the standards for MontCo are higher for whatever reason. I got an A in the class, but it really was kinda a no-brainer.
History of Western Civilizations, Modern European, Grade: A-. The class consisted of weekly discussion board assignments, in which we had to interpret in our own words the chapter that we read. There were four papers we had to write that each covered a quarter of the class, one midterm and one final. There wasn't much room for error on any of these assignments, which I found annoying.
Accounting II, Grade: B+. This was mainly due to Rachel's tutoring, as her ability to pick up on accounting principles quickly made me jealous. I started out fine, but struggled later in the semester. I give full credit to Rachel for helping me attain the grade I did.
Introduction to Astronomy, Grade: B-. I struggled a lot, as the work required a lot of time that I didn't have to devote fully to the class. I started to lose focus about a third of the way through, but was able to pull things together for the final. I'll always wonder if I could have gotten a higher grade in the class if I had been able to devote the time I needed. At least my lab science elective is over with early, instead of putting it off until my last semester as originally planned.
In all, a successful semester. I'm taking a full load this summer as well, and by the end of August, I'll have officially completed my first year of college. Not bad, considering the dismal failure that I was back when I was fresh from high school. Sorry to bore you all with the details, but I am proud of the progress I've made.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Sports Evolution
Growing up in the Washington, DC area you would think that my sports loyalties would all lie with the local teams. Redskins, Capitals, Bullets (I hate the Wizards name), and the Baltmore Orioles were the "big 4" teams of my youth, yet the only team I follow and root for is the Redskins. Dad was a big fan, and passed that onto me. The rest of the sports teams in the area never appealed to him for various reasons, so they never appealed to me until later in life. In that vein, here are the reasons I like the teams that I do (and perhaps one or two for teams that I despise):
Pro Football - Washington Redskins - number one in my heart. 'Nuff said.
College Football - I don't have a specific team that I root for all the time. If pushed to make a decision, though, it's between Michigan and Tennessee. Michigan because I liked their helmets when I was a kid, and Tennessee because their mastcot reminded me of Davey Crockett.
MLB - Chicago White Sox - I used to watch TV on an old black and white TV in the basement when I was a kid. Channel 20 (WDCA) would show Oriole games at night sometimes, and the first baseball game I watched was the White Sox/Orioles. Greg Luzinki hit two home runs, and the Sox beat the Orioles. In addition, I was a kid and I liked their uniforms better.
NHL - St. Louis Blues - I thought the name was clever, and Brett Hull was a scoring machine with Adam Oates feeding him the puck. Curtis Joseph came along later and cemented them as my team.
NBA - Utah Jazz - Pro basketball was the last of the four sports that I started watching, and I found out that Grandma Haslem was a big Jazz fan. I had no idea that Utah had a professional sports team, and it seemed like as good a team as any to root for.
A gentle nod of appreciation to the following teams that I subliminally root for:
Pittsburgh Penguins - that's all living with Jim for six years, then hanging out with him and his family in the space between then and now. I saw many a Pens game at the Cap center, and almost got into a few fights for cheering too loud. This is the main reason I hate the Capitals now, and their fair weather fan base.
Anaheim Ducks - Chris Pronger became my favorite Blues player, once Curtis Joseph and Brett Hull both played for the hated Red Wings at some point in their careers. Why not?
Washington Nationals - I still hate the name this many years later, but figure I can root for them since I wanted baseball back in the Nation's Capital for years.
Miami Heat - I liked Glenn Rice when he won the National Championship for Michigan, and he was drafted by the Heat for their inaugural season. I also thought their marketing department came up with a really sweet logo that survives to this day. Dwayne Wade is my favorite NBA player, anyhow.
San Diego Chargers - the late games in the NFL took place on the west coast, and San Diego's uniforms were very cool for the younger me. The lightening bolts on the helmet and pants were the best.
Now, a few teams I hate -- besides the Dallas Cowboys, which everyone who reads this blog should already know I consider the anti-Christ.
The Oakland Raiders - I don't mind people being passionate about their teams, but these people are just annoying. I hate watching the silver and black face paint, the shoulder pads with spikes, the skulls, outfits and general mayhem of the fans. I admit, part of this hatred is due to the spanking the Redskins took in the Super Bowl from them -- I am adult enough to admit it.
The NBA teams as a whole - I really just don't like much of the NBA at all, including the Jazz and the Heat, as their league is made up of wannabe "thugs" with their full sleeve tatoos, wearing their bling on the court, and the fact they allow teams to draft kids right out of high school. That just irks me for reasons that I have a hard time articulating without sounding partially racist, so I'll leave it at that.
Detroit Red Wings - they are the Yankees of hockey. They buy the players they want, and have a great team year in and out. Succeed breeds animosity, I guess. Plus, they always seem to beat the Blues - even when we had a great team a few years ago and were ranked higher in the playoff seeds. Fetchers. *mutter* Plus, they ended up signing Brett Hull and CuJo to contracts, which tainted their image in my mind ... Hull more than CuJo, though.
And there you go.
Pro Football - Washington Redskins - number one in my heart. 'Nuff said.
College Football - I don't have a specific team that I root for all the time. If pushed to make a decision, though, it's between Michigan and Tennessee. Michigan because I liked their helmets when I was a kid, and Tennessee because their mastcot reminded me of Davey Crockett.
MLB - Chicago White Sox - I used to watch TV on an old black and white TV in the basement when I was a kid. Channel 20 (WDCA) would show Oriole games at night sometimes, and the first baseball game I watched was the White Sox/Orioles. Greg Luzinki hit two home runs, and the Sox beat the Orioles. In addition, I was a kid and I liked their uniforms better.
NHL - St. Louis Blues - I thought the name was clever, and Brett Hull was a scoring machine with Adam Oates feeding him the puck. Curtis Joseph came along later and cemented them as my team.
NBA - Utah Jazz - Pro basketball was the last of the four sports that I started watching, and I found out that Grandma Haslem was a big Jazz fan. I had no idea that Utah had a professional sports team, and it seemed like as good a team as any to root for.
A gentle nod of appreciation to the following teams that I subliminally root for:
Pittsburgh Penguins - that's all living with Jim for six years, then hanging out with him and his family in the space between then and now. I saw many a Pens game at the Cap center, and almost got into a few fights for cheering too loud. This is the main reason I hate the Capitals now, and their fair weather fan base.
Anaheim Ducks - Chris Pronger became my favorite Blues player, once Curtis Joseph and Brett Hull both played for the hated Red Wings at some point in their careers. Why not?
Washington Nationals - I still hate the name this many years later, but figure I can root for them since I wanted baseball back in the Nation's Capital for years.
Miami Heat - I liked Glenn Rice when he won the National Championship for Michigan, and he was drafted by the Heat for their inaugural season. I also thought their marketing department came up with a really sweet logo that survives to this day. Dwayne Wade is my favorite NBA player, anyhow.
San Diego Chargers - the late games in the NFL took place on the west coast, and San Diego's uniforms were very cool for the younger me. The lightening bolts on the helmet and pants were the best.
Now, a few teams I hate -- besides the Dallas Cowboys, which everyone who reads this blog should already know I consider the anti-Christ.
The Oakland Raiders - I don't mind people being passionate about their teams, but these people are just annoying. I hate watching the silver and black face paint, the shoulder pads with spikes, the skulls, outfits and general mayhem of the fans. I admit, part of this hatred is due to the spanking the Redskins took in the Super Bowl from them -- I am adult enough to admit it.
The NBA teams as a whole - I really just don't like much of the NBA at all, including the Jazz and the Heat, as their league is made up of wannabe "thugs" with their full sleeve tatoos, wearing their bling on the court, and the fact they allow teams to draft kids right out of high school. That just irks me for reasons that I have a hard time articulating without sounding partially racist, so I'll leave it at that.
Detroit Red Wings - they are the Yankees of hockey. They buy the players they want, and have a great team year in and out. Succeed breeds animosity, I guess. Plus, they always seem to beat the Blues - even when we had a great team a few years ago and were ranked higher in the playoff seeds. Fetchers. *mutter* Plus, they ended up signing Brett Hull and CuJo to contracts, which tainted their image in my mind ... Hull more than CuJo, though.
And there you go.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
For the LOVE!!
Okay, I just noticed that iTunes has raised the prices on their songs to $1.29 ....
That BLOWS! Yet another price increase on something. I'll just chalk this up to the recession, I guess. Just like Edy's and Breyer's Ice Cream now coming in 1.5 quart containers, down from 1.75 quart, down from a half gallon. This sucks.
Whatever happened to Customer Service?
Recently, as I was on my way home from work, Rachel called me to let me know she was going to place an order with Domino's for dinner. It was the end of a long week for the both of us with work/school, so ordering pizza just sounded nice and easy. They were running a special, the 5-5-5 deal, where you could order any combination of one topping medium pizzas and their new sandwiches. We've used their online ordering service previously, and never had an issue. So, Rachel place the order while I was en route home. They gave an estimated delivery time of 35 to 45 minutes, and an hour later we still didn't have our order. The oldest two were complaining they were hungry, which started to grate on our nerves the longer it took. Rachel and I both called the store on our cell phones to try and ascertain why our order still had not arrived, but due to their automated answering service, were stuck on hold. The door knocked, and an hour and a half later -- our food had arrived. I signed the credit slip, and the driver apologized for the time it took saying, "We had no orders, and then within minutes we had 40 orders at the same time." I gave him my standard 10% tip and he left. Upon review of the receipt, I noticed that they had three bottles of soda listed on the ticket, but I had no soda delivered. I asked Rachel about it, and she went ballistic. The only way to get the 555 deal that day was to order three sodas, and the fact they were missing in addition to the severe lateness of the food was frustrating. Rachel tried to call the store to find out what happened, but became mired in the same holding zone of phone calls experienced earlier in the day. She had to get to work anyhow, so she grabbed and jetted to work.
Here's where the problem came in -- we had paid for soda that we never received, and all calls to the store were met with no resolution. Rachel decided to send an email complaint via their website to see if the issue could be resolved. Since the Domino's account we use to order is in my name, the very lackluster response was sent to my webmail addy. Basically, the response stated, "Sir, we're sorry you had a bad experience. This store is a franchise, and we're sending your problem to them with the hope they will contact you to resolve the issue. Thanks for sending us an email. Leave us alone now." I was pissed, but since I've worked in retail I decided to allow the local store to contact us and make things right. A week went by, and I was done. I sent a follow up email to Domino's corporate telling them that I was completely unsatified with the lack of concern on their part to my complaint. I paid for product that I never received, albeit $3 of soda, but that shouldn't matter. I was working on the "it's the principle of the matter" at stake, and not the amount of money. I was less tactful in my mail than Rachel was, and ended up having to edit portions of the email since I had exceeded the 1000 character limit. I just informed them of my unresolved issue, and that since the local store was unconcerned about my issue that I expected corporate to take care of it. Monday I received a response from them that is paraphrased, "Sir, we're sorry that your problem wasn't addressed by the local store. We're sending you some gift certificates to placate you, even though we still don't admit fault. Our franchises act independantly of corporate, so I'll again pass your concern onto them for training purposes. Go away once you receive your certificates, which should arrive in 7-10 days." I swear, if they're $5 off an order of $25 dollars coupons, I'm going to go ballistic.
It just seems that companies these days could give a crap about their customers once they have your money. If you've paid for a product or service that is consumable, tough crap if there turns out to be an issue. I'm waiting to see how this turns out, because I'm not going to take my father's line of "FINE, I'LL GO SOMEPLACE ELSE YOU JACKA--!" Sure, there's plenty of places that offer pizza, but Domino's oven baked sandwiches (bacon ranch chicken especially) are so good. *sigh*
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