Perhaps winter’s back is broken in southeast Michigan. The snow is melting fast, and streams are starting to open up. Ice-out on the lakes is still a ways away.
Today I finally got out with my birthday present to myself. It is a Canon EOS 50D Digital SLR. I headed out on some of the muddy thawing dirt roads northeast of Oxford. I was careful to keep an alert eye, as this area is the haunt of the infamous Dirt Road Bicycle Commuter. Running into him could be a problem, as you’d have to put up with the taunts of “where’s your bike?”, “what are you doing in that car?”, etc.
I shot a few photos to get used to the camera controls. It was sunny and about 33 degrees F. The time was just before noon, so there was a lot of glare, and the snow was blinding.
The first two photos are of the old grain elevator in Leonard. The last is the National School (circa 1880). Double click to see the full size photos.
Sorry for the title. I live with two teenage boys, so we don't speak English much any more.
Haven't had much time to post lately. With the addition of pitching workouts, Tyler is up to 4 baseball practices per week, along with 2 basketball games, 3 basketball practices, skiing, bowling, and homework. Zach hangs out with his two neighborhood friends and I see him long enough to respond to "what's for dinner", "I need money for...", and "My school lunch account is at 0".
Yesterday we made reservations to stay in Omaha in June. Tyler is attending a baseball tournament there in conjunction with the College World Series. I guess that will be this year's vacation. Meanwhile, the Dirt Road Bicycle Commuter is taunting me because he's going to Colorado this summer.
Shucks!
I was envious of the D.C. area last week. We need snow here. This is the time of winter where not having snow makes things rather boring. But, now it looks like we will get some. The question is, "how much"? Just to the south, around Detroit, they say 6-10 inches. Here the prediction is for more like 4-6. I think the weather man should continue to be wrong, and we should get about 12. Maybe then work will be closed on Wednesday and I can finally enjoy winter.
Why is it that whenever a battery runs low in a smoke detector, it always happens in the middle of the night? You wake to that incessant "CHEEP". It is not really all that loud, but apparently is at just the right frequency that your ears spark your brain into action. Then you have to make the decision on whether to get up, retrieve the step ladder from the garage and disconnect the detector until you get a battery, or try to go back to sleep. You always opt for the latter. CHEEP! It doesn't work. You have to get up.
Last night, I outlasted it. I remember a few intermittent chirps, but then apparently the dying nine volt managed to procure a final bit of power. When my alarm went off, it occurred to me that the computer thermostat allowed the temperature to go down during the night. When it started the cycle to warm the house for the morning, the battery probably returned to enough life to avoid the chirping. That only means that my task for this afternoon includes changing it.
I need some nine volt batteries that are CHEAP!
For about the last 3 months, things have been relatively quiet and slow. It's January however, and things start to heat up in the Bachelor household.
When I was in high school, there was always some kid in class (especially math class) that asked the question "Why do we need to learn this?" Now that I'm a parent, I know the true answer. You need to know it so that when you grow up, you can help YOUR children with THEIR homework. Mostly there isn't another reason.
I've warned my sons, Zach and Tyler, that they really need to pay attention in school, and work hard to understand. As they get older, they are going to start running into more and more difficult things that I as a parent won't remember. So, when they come and ask for help with homework, there will come a day when I won't be able to help them.
Last night, Tyler, an eighth grader, asked if I would help him with his algebra. I told him that I would if I remember how. He showed me his worksheet. It was equations having to do with slopes and y intercepts. I told him "I don't think I can help you as I don't remember that stuff". He replied "It's ok; I can teach it to you".
"WHAT? If you can teach it to me, why do you need my help?!"
Anyway, I spent a while relearning that perpendicular lines have negative inverse slopes. Once we got that far, I was able to show him that if line A and line B are parallel, and line C is perpendicular to line A, then line C has to be perpendicular to line B.
Then I watched Maria Carey give her drunken "thank you" speech at the People's Choice Awards, and fell asleep.
