compressed air is so passe

Every geek worth his salt is bound to get requests to fix aged and ailing computers. A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, dropped his ancient Dell off in the hopes that I could salvage some of the files off the disk. A few months ago it had crashed so he reinstalled the OS, and got a few more months use before it crashed really hard.

In such cases, I don’t even bother using the ancient computer. I just yank the disk and attach it to my computer using a FireWire ATA bridge. Then I can probe, test, and hopefully extract information from the disk. This is obviously much faster than working with a relic. This evening I pulled the unnamed person’s Dell out from under my desk and removed the lid. The greeting I got was a little unsavory.

656 Click photos to enlarge.

As the inside of computers go, this is not the worst I have seen. Most folks don’t bother to clean their engine before taking their car to a mechanic and they don’t bother to clean their computer before taking it to a technician. My intent in disassembly was simply to remove the drive, which you can see in the lower right hand side of the photo.

To remove the drive, there are two screws beneath the front panel that must be removed. I was thinking I could get the drive out without liberating too much of the dust, but I was wrong. Very wrong. When I partially removed the front cover, my wife, who happened to be watching the dissection, interrupted. With good cause, she insisted I put it back together and take it outside the clean it off.

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Other than age, can anyone at home guess why the drive failed?

I heeded Jen’s advice and took the computer out into the driveway to clean it out. I keep cans of compressed air in the garage for just this purpose. Then inspiration struck. I had just, in the previous 10 minutes, come down off the roof after blowing all the leaves out of my gutters. If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, I need not explain any further.

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and then they were four.

Before committing any impressions of dear little Lucas to print, I wanted some time to elapse. Words committed to print can take on a life of their own so I wanted the birthing dust to settle, external pressures to abate, and just feel a tad more normal before making proclamations.

We are now three and half weeks into Lucas’ life and much about this little man is clear. I find it easiest to explain via contrast. If you might recall, we commented profusely on how wonderful and easy to raise Kayla was. We received a number of baby books, and we bought a few more. We read them and created a synthesis of how we wanted to parent. Most everything we tried “just worked.”

It would have been easy to succumb to The Great Parenting Lie, that it was easy because we are such great parents. However, many a conversation with other parents had prepared us for what the future could hold. Now that that future is the present, the words of wisdom bestowed upon us are embodied in a mass of flesh that can best be described with a single word, needy.

Mind you, I am not complaining. We really do love this little destructor of our tranquility. By comparison to Kayla, there is little comparison. A typical feeding for Kayla was quite easy by most any standard; wake her, insert nipple (natural or synthetic), let her eat until satiated, burp her, keep her awake for an hour, swaddle her and put her back to sleep. Feedings could often be done in 30-45 minutes. Then we had that 1 1/2 hours of blissful peace and calm afterwards. Sweet blessed calm.

With Lucas, everything takes much longer. Waking him enough to eat is a 15 minute ordeal. So far the most successful technique is to uncover him and wait until he gets cold enough to stay awake. Feeding is sporadic, sometimes he eats well and at other times he fusses all the way through. He clings to his burps as if they are part of his dinner that we are trying to take away. Burping often takes 10 minutes.

He has caused us to use words in new ways. For example, we have seldom before farted something, but Lucas needs regular farting. When he wakes up crying at 3AM, we grab his legs and push them up to his chest and he breaks wind. We repeat the cycle and so does he. Sometimes a dozen times. Genetics predisposes him to having a highly active gastrointestinal system and his reticence to belch compounds the issue.

Warming him is best achieved with direct skin contact. Pick him up and hold him and he melts onto us. If it is the least bit chilly, he burrows in burying his head against our neck. We noticed his burrowing nature in the hospital. Even swaddled, he’d find a way to burrow down into his blankets. We could sell Lucas Technology[TM] to the military for use in heat seeking devices. During his warm up, he will invariably drift off to sleep. The problem is that he won’t stay asleep.

It is bitter irony. At 18 months, Kayla is in a stage where snuggling with her is vigorously protested. She is quite independent and has her very own conceptions of order in the universe. Lucas is simply carnal. It warms the heart. We enjoy our snuggle time. But all is not well in the land of snuggles. After he falls asleep, we put him down and within 5 minutes he is awake again. Pick him up, snuggle, and he goes back to sleep. It is all so sweet that he responds to us, but not at midnight, 2 AM, 3 AM, 4 AM, 5 AM, and 6AM.

Because this little man is so carnal, we have tried co-sleeping a few times. The bad news is that he absolutely loves it and sleeps extremely well in our bed. His favorite is either on my chest or between us with my hand atop his head. However, when co-sleeping, neither parent gets any deep sleep. Between the fear of suffocating him and all the little noises he makes, it simply is not possible to drift completely away. This accords with my deep seated feelings that our bed is hallowed ground, not to be encroached upon. Yet, we need a solution. Tomorrow we might be searching online for a bassinet sized electric blanket.

So, if you wonder why there are so few pictures and posts, it is because one of us is preoccupied with a needy little baby. The other is caring for Kayla, making meals, buying groceries, and otherwise tending to the care of our home.

Top 10 list

Today’s “Top 10” list is the best ways to insure you have very attentive medical assistance.

• When your wife wakes you to inform you of labor pains, get up and start making cookies for the attending staff.

• Make sure the cookies give off a powerful and attractive aroma. I recommend peanut butter oatmeal cookie sandwiches. Empirical evidence suggests a high degree of effectiveness.

• Make sure they are fresh and warm upon arrival to maximize odor emanation.

• Give one (or two) to the Doctor just before he leaves your room. This will assure that nurses will see the cookie(s) and inquire of their origin.

• Make plenty of cookies. You’ll need enough to satiate the immediate attending staff and the “scavenger” staff who come strictly for the cookies.

• Plan ahead and have a list of “niceties” you can ask the scavenger staff to supply in exchange for cookies. You won’t think of this “in the moment” because there are too many other things to think about, so keep a list. Examples: parking tokens, WiFi access, a wheelchair for daddy to wheel himself around in for amusement, etc. Be creative! Once you have them in your room, the cookie odor is intoxicating and they will be quite motivated.

• Did I mention the need to make many cookies? The scavengers crumb trail will attract other hospital staff.

It’s a boy!

Due: Today.
Arrived: Today, 2:49PM.

7 pounds, 14 oz.
20.5 inchesl

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We are still hunting for a first name, something that suits a boy and begins with the letter L.

Unlike Kayla, who gave one cry upon arrival, Junior has been a fairly steady stream of small cries, squeaks, and chatter. It’s quite interesting, and one thing is certain; Junior is much more vigorous.

Junior arrival

We had a checkup this morning. The doctor inserted a tin can and string to Junior and handed us the other tin can. After a short conversation, we learned a few things.

1. The quarters are quite cramped. Momma would say we already knew this, but hey, this is “insider info!”

2. He’s in no hurry to get out. Unlike Kayla, who just couldn’t wait to arrive, Junior is chillin’. Apparently he likes the warmth and moisture, which bodes well for him if we stay in Texas. It could also be that he likes seeing his food arrive in a tube. The string wasn’t very tight so we had to guess at exactly what he was trying to say.

Doc says we’re 50% effaced and 2cm dilated. What does that mean? Not a whole lot. Being half effaced means the cervix is getting ready, but arrival is not imminent. It could be later this week, or next, or even the next…unless we choose to induce.

It could just be that Junior 2.0 likes to be on time and is waiting until Saturday. We shall see.

Texas weather & Junior 2.0

In response to Martha’s “it’s snowing” post, I find it timely to point out that summer is finally over in Texas. The 100° days are behind us and from here through most of December, we’ll have the windows open each day and night, enjoying the cool fall weather.

A neighbor (Barry) and I are getting out and walk/jogging since is has finally cooled off. Our friends and family back in Michigan are getting ready to hole up inside for the winter, and we’re finally emerging from our air conditioned abodes. Texas is not all that different.

Junior 2.0 is due in 8 days. We’ll see if he is anxious to see what all that noise outside his cocoon is.

Kayla Update

Sorry folks, but we just have too much fun playing with Kayla to spend time writing about it. She is too much fun!

At just over 16 months, her personality is really starting to develop. She displays a surprising number of emotions and jabbers incessantly, unless someone else is around, or we are videoconferencing with grandpa and grandma, in which case we can’t get a peep out her. She has 5 pair of shoes now, well on her way to becoming an American woman. Except that she really has a thing for daddy’s tools, and is quite curious to see how things work. When she has decided it’s time for our daily walk, she brings her socks and shoes to us. Once shod, she stands by the door and makes pitiful little sounds until one of us complies.

She has learned most of her face parts by name and is just starting to learn the names of colors. At the top of her reading list is 101 Dalmatians, Goodnight Moon, and her touch and feel bedtime book. Her two favorite objects are the moon and birds. Both are quite thrilling to see in real life and in pictures. Two evenings ago we were walking around our cul-de-sac and had to pause to see the moon. And we paused, and paused, and paused, and paused….

She very much enjoys baths but disdains a wet face. That makes rinsing her hair challenging. Mommy tries the delicate approach. Daddy just dumps handfuls of water over her head. Neither way prevents her from recoiling but one method only lasts for 5 seconds, which is not quite long enough to work up to a cry. Despite the aversions to a wet face, the wading pool Grandpa & Grandma Ruby sent home with us continues to be a big hit. We would toss that pool onto our back porch on 100° days (Aug-Sep). The very instant she could see it, anxious cries of excitement ring out.

We are also learning a lot from her. For instance, we did not know the primary reason why bathrooms have doors. Jen and I have lived in a fairly “open” environment. We never bother closing any doors except the ones that keep the hot Texas air out (or the Michigan mosquitoes). This has changed. It might have had something to do with the toilet paper Kayla loves to unroll, but I doubt it. It was the sinister news I received one night while I was in Atlanta.

While talking on the phone with Jen, she told me that she had forgotten to close the guest bathroom door. With the two of us in the house, one of us always catches that detail. It slipped by unnoticed until Jen heard the sound of the toilet lid closing. Not content to simply play in the conveniently placed pool and drench herself from head to toe, Kayla decided that her stuffed animals would like to play in the mini-pool as well. That door remains closed now at all times.

We have also given Kayla a new nickname, “harm.” We spend a part of each day making sure anything that she could hurt, or might hurt her, is out of “harm’s” way. She is at the point where she knows no limits, but she is very smart. It only takes whacking her head once to dissuade her from doing “that” again.

She has taught us to be fastidious housekeepers. Anything within 12 inches of the edge of a desk is subject to relocation under the Kayla World Organization Plan. We haven’t entirely deduced the logic behind the KWOP but the results are quite predictable. One, or often two, adults walking around the house, checking the trash cans, toy bins, and anywhere else about knee-height for something that was too close to the edge of a desk or counter. Being quite wise, mommy has taken to planting decoys to help distract her.

Bedtime has become somewhat ritualistic. Late in the evening she starts getting tired and silly. Then we play and be silly until she crashes. Tonight I recorded a couple minutes of us being silly.

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If you’ve got the bandwidth, click here to see the Kayla-Go-Round movie.