It was the best of sleep. It was the worst of sleep.

The past couple of weeks Oliver has not been napping and has been having a hard time getting to sleep at night. He's been uncharacteristically cranky. Tantrums, screaming - as you can imagine, this has made life at home a lot of fun. Oliver has been dealing with some changes in his day care. He recently moved up from the lower level to the two year old room. So new teacher, new environment, new kids, new schedule.

But the last couple of days we've concentrated on getting him back on schedule. We focused on a consistent routine and an earlier time. It wasn't a lot of fun during the first couple of scream-fests, but the past couple of nights have gotten much better and naps are improving. And not coincidently his behavior is improving. And we couldn't be happier.

Blogging honestly

In the beginning, when I created the blog, I had intended to write whatever I wanted to. But I made one fundamental mistake. I told people about my blog. I started thinking about metablogging and adjusting my content based on the fact that I knew that people I knew were reading what I wrote. I didn't write about all of the things that I wanted to because there are just something that you don't talk about in public. So I didn't write about the times when I was frustrated with my wife or any other personal issues. And I started censoring myself on the things that I did write about when I staryed running into people who read my blog and wanted to continue the argument that I started on the blog in person. And then I ran into trouble when I was an idiot.

Recently, a friend of mine blogged about the fact that she and her husband were having marital troubles. It was a revelation for a number of reasons, but the one that is germane to this post is that it was just so honest and personal. I aspire to be able to post like that.

Just bear with me while I work up the courage.

Casting about on TV

So far, the only show that my wfe and I watch regularly is the Amazing Race. We haven't really picked up any new shows to watch since the demise of most of our shows last season. Since I have some spare time, I've been sampling different shows to see if any would stick. So far, for good or ill, no luck.

I've watched a couple of episodes of Heroes. You'll notice that I didn't say that I've been watching since the beginning. Lacking cable and the ability to see previous episodes, I'm going to have to pass on that one since I have missed a lot of the early world building.

I've watched a couple of episodes of Studio 60. I like the dialogue. I like the actors. But it just isn't coming together for me. I guess it is because it lookes and sounds so much like the West Wing. But now all of the elements from the West Wing are being used in support of an SNL-from-when-it-was-good clone instead of in support of the fate of the free world. I just can't care that much.

I caught an episode of Show Me the Money. What a piece of crap! Contestants are given so many outs that no question is really suspenseful. They are told to choose between A, B, or C, when the actual choice doesn't matter. They answer the question and then pick the dollar amount and then Shatner stalls until they go to the reveal of up or down. Yay - there are dancers. Other than a blatant appeal to males, why? It suffers markedly in comparison to Deal or no Deal.

Deal or No Deal is another game show that has beautiful babes for no apparent purpose. The offer from the banker is never really suspenseful if you understand probabilities - the banker offers something like expected value. Howie is a good host and the game is simple enough to rival even Wheel of Fortune for simplicity. I just can't get into this one either.

Any recommendations for someone without cable? if not, that's okay too. There's always books.

Jonesing for some Magic

The past few weeks I've really been jonesing for some Magic. Basically ever since I got back from the prerelease I've wanted to go out and play. But there are several problems with this. One, since I already have one night a week out by myself, I feel guilty about wanting to go out on another night, leaving my wife alone with Oliver. Two, I don't actually know of that many places to go play. For a while there was a website that kept track of where to play and when for the St. Louis area. But a couple of months ago whoever was playing for the domain and hosting let it slip. So now there aren't any good ways to find some where to go play. Three, I could call a friend or three and see if anyone wants to play but most of the people that I know who play are in similar situations to me in terms of family commitments. In the end my real life Magic experiences end up being limited to infrequent get togethers with friends and semi-annual trips to the prereleases.

I'm seriously thinking of getting into Magic Online. In some ways it fits with where I find myself. I don't necessarily have the freedom to buy enough cards, spend enough time, meet enough people, or travel to enough tournaments to be competitive. When I do have the time, it is usually between the time that Oliver goes to sleep and I call it a night. Whether I'm watching TV or playing Magic, it shouldn't make that much of a difference to anything else that I'd be doing.

But I don't want to do it regardless. I feel like it would invalidate the money that
I've already spent on Magic the Paper. I don't like their Wizard's pricing model which prices digital cards at the same price as paper cards. And it would take a lot of money to get me to the point where I am with the paper cards I own. Or really even near it.

Ideally, if I could get my wife to play with me, that would be perfect. She enjoys games, is very competitive, and has a quick mind. It would be another thing that we could do together and an occasional game fits the time between Oliver's and our bed times. But she has categorically stated that she has NO wish to EVER learn how to play. So i'm looking for another option. Preferably something that won't bankrupt me.

Sacrifice Mypetrock

When I first learned about patterns in software, it was a revelation. Patterns are a way of describing the underlying template behind software design. A number of the algorithms that I used suddenly fit into a common framework. The work that I've done since has been better since I have more precise language to describe what I'm doing.

After we got back from the training course, my manager told us about another group of patterns that occur in management. One of them is called the Sacrifice One pattern, where a manager assigns a potentially big time sink or terrible task to one employee so that the rest of the team doesn't get effected. In my later work at that company, our group renamed that pattern to be Sacrifice Mypetrock as I was the assigned sacrifice for task after task. It fot my personality as I enjoyed taking on new tasks, but I just wanted someone else to be the sacrificial lamb just once.

After a while it occurred to me that I find myself being the sacrificial lamb a lot. When I played roller hockey, I volunteered to strap on the pads and play goalie. I wasn't very good at it, but everyone let me play because being goalie more or less sucks. I told my new project manager about it during my interview and I'm finding myself again being the sacrifice. It's not quite the same in my gaming group where I purposefully sought the role of DM but the idea is the same - one person taking on a time-consuming task in order to save the rest from having to do it.

I find that it also happens in my little family. "I'm sure that Daddy wants to go outside with you." "I'm sure that Daddy would like to give you a bath." "Ask Daddy to change your diaper." It's not that I don't like spending time with my son, but it doesn't seem that the fun parts get delegated with the same frequency. And I feel like I'm a terrible person if I don't want to be sacrificed at the moment. To be fair, I've done my share of sacrificing my wife, but it never seems that she gets sacrificed as often as I do.

Results are in

I feel good about the results of yesterday's election. Just about everything I went there to vote for passed. The voters of Missouri only missed an option to pile on the smokers. For the rest, McCaskill won, stem cell passed, minimum wage hiked, and it looks like the Democrats will get a chance to hold Bush's feet to the fire for a year or two. Good times. Good times.

My voting experience was mixed. I ended up waiting about an hour and a half or so in order to get in to vote. I passed the time talking with some of the people who were around me. My wife dropped Oliver off at the point at which I got in to the polling place, so I needed to vote while holding a screaming toddler. TGI-touch screen. In retrospect, I should have let him do some voting on the touch screen in order to calm him down. For all I knew about the judges that I was voting for, he wouldn't have been any more or less informed.

After I voted, we headed to Bread Co for dinner. Mommy joined us after she finished voting. My little man must have been hungry because he polished off his kids meal and a healthy chunk of my wife's soup before he was finished. Then home and off to bed with him. Then off to bed with me to calm the screaming toddler. I'm beginning to notice a trend.

Joke Grenade

Sometimes the funny stuff comes with a time delay. Some times you don't see the funny stuff until much later.

Says my female coworker with a broken arm, "Pretty soon I'm going to be really good at typing with one hand."

A couple of minutes later I'm giggling at my monitor.

Go vote!

I don't really care what your political persuasion is (well, that's a lie, but I don't care for the purposes of this post) - tomorrow is Election Day. Go Vote!

The 10 second update - Great times

My brother came to town. Oliver, my brother, and I went to the City Museum and had a great time. I went to a couple of Halloween parties on my own due to munchkin maladies and had a great time. Oliver got to go out trick or treating on or about Halloween twice and had a great time. This past weekend, we sat for a friend's child. She and Oliver had a great time hanging out together. Saturday we went to a friend's wedding while Oliver got to be with a paid sitter for the first time. Then later that night he went to a friend's house for his second time with a sitter. Sunday night we went to the Magic House. Oliver had a great time sliding down the three story slide.