Quote o' the day

"Sometimes, even though we love America, with its amber waves of purple mounted majesties fruiting all over the plains, we get a little ticked off at our government." Thank you, Dave Barry. Thank you.

Farm weekend

Katie and I just got back from a wonderfully relaxing weekend in upstate NY. We accepted a generous invitation from our friends Brian and Lindsay, who own over 250 acres of farmland and forest about 2.5 hours north of the city. We hadn't seen them in about 2 years, so there was a lot of catching up to do. Since the last time we were there, they had added chicken, sheep, goats, llamas, and a new pond to the farm (which already had horses, barn cats, peach and apple trees, and gardens). So we had lots of fun getting acquainted with the new critters.

We had fresh food from the garden: yummy tomatoes, summer squash, and all kinds of fresh herbs (basil, dill, oregano, thyme, and mint, to name a few). We also had fresh food from the farm stands along the county road: eggplant, peaches and nectarines, apricots, beets, swiss chard, kale, farm-fresh eggs, etc. So there was good eatin' up there at the farm.

Lindsay took us for a trot around the farm in a horse-drawn cart (only sat two people, so Dan had to stand and hold on for dear life on the back board). We got some shot of Dan climbing pear trees in the orchard (Brian and Lindsay insisted we take this photo)--so now we have documented evidence of a Partridge in a pear tree. Plus, there was a lot of relaxing to be done: laying in hammocks, reading on couches, drinking beer or wine on porches, more reading on lawn chairs, etc. Plus, there were lap dogs who loved to play fetch with Frisbees, chew tows, and tennis balls.

All in all, we were happy return to their farm after a long hiatus to experience their warm hospitality, and we hope to be back before another two years elapse (a bit easier since Katie will no longer be swamped with school stuff).

PS. They MADE us bring a bag of peaches home...probably about 20-25 peaches in all. So many peaches!!

Take a look at our pictures !

Nesting

The stages of pregnancy are pretty clear: First Trimester, Second Trimester and Nesting. In honor of my eight month I have begun the rituals of our ancestors which include such activities as cleaning house and throwing unnecessary items away. Many of you may not think this strays from my typical state of neurotic hyper-cleaning, but I can assure you this is far superior to anything I have attempted in the past. I have vacuumed the oscillating fan. After disassembling, soaking, washing and drying said wind-blower. I used an entire package of Swiffer wet cloths on the kitchen floor. At one time. I have used methods I am not proud of to persuade Dan to get rid of his Mountain View track & field sweatshirt, among other closet-clogging clothing.

Bird (screeching, on the verge of tears): “How many pairs of pants do you need?!”
Dan: “At least one!” This said as he desperately tried to disengage my death grip from the pants he was currently wearing.
Bird: “Think of the baby!”
Dan (obviously missing the point of my plea which was, of course, Think of the Baby!): “Huh?”

And so it goes. I continue to eye the light fixtures menacingly, wishing I could reach them to scour them thoroughly before the baby gets her hands on them. I curse the wainscoting every day for its dust-collecting insubordination. I Clorox wipe our keys. I have pressure washer fantasies…think of the possibilities! And, of course, I find all of this perfectly rational. Think of the baby!

Thanks for the clarification

Bird to Dan: "Why are you yelling?"

Dan: "I'm not yelling. I'm yelling at you."

Things your mother won't tell you: Hitting things solves problems

So Katie and I have this great digital camera: a Sony DSC-S40. We took it to Europe with us and took a ton of pictures, and continued to use it as much afterward. In fact, almost every picture on our flickr account was taken with this Sony camera. So, you can imagine our dismay when the LCD screen just went blank--pure white as soon as you turn it on--when we were on our trip to Charleston last weekend. So, today I was surfing around Sony's troubleshooting website, which was most unhelpful. Most of the hints told you to dig around in the menus to reset certain parameters. I can't see the darn screen, so how in the world is that advice helpful?!

Google to the rescue! I found a discussion group in which MANY, MANY people had faced the LCD "white screen of death." A certain man named Bob from Allentown, PA had posted a "quick fix" for which most of the respondents were professing eternal thanks, since it fixed their camera at no cost to them. I was skeptical at first, but so MANY people claimed that it worked, that I decided to give it a try. Here's the text from the website:

"I fixed the camera myself as follows:

1. Hold camera firmly in left hand
2. Smartly rap front of camera with knuckles of right hand on the 'Cyber-shot' logo.

It worked, now the LCD is working again for free.

Guess I don't need to pay Sony $111.00 for repair service."


Sounds crazy, but I tried it. HOLY CRAP, IT WORKED!! So our camera is back to normal and I only had to hit it to fix it. Apparently, Sony customer service knows about this "quick fix" but understandably does not share it with angry customers. What self-respecting company would advocate violent, but corrective, abuse (at no cost to the customer) to fix its products?

I wonder if fixing children's behavior problems will be that straightforward? Hmmm....