Halfbrown

Evan is rolling over from back to front and front to back like crazy lately. And he’s so close to getting up on his hands and knee’s that I’m just sure he’s going to be crawling soon. Of course that means a whole new world of responsibility for us since we have to make sure everything is baby-proofed and all of Lily’s rawhide chews are picked up. Evan’s already found her pink squishy bone and had a little taste of it.

For the last week or so he’s been having trouble staying asleep at nights; sometimes waking up 4 or 5 times before he’s fully asleep in his crib, and that’s unusual for him. I think that any minute now we’re going to see a little tooth popping out of his gums because not only is he not sleeping as well, but he’s been pretty cranky lately and chewing a lot more.

Poor little guy.

Evan just rolled over from his back to his stomach about 5 minutes ago. This has been a struggle for him, so it’s kind of a big event around here. He’s been going from back to stomach for a while now, so this kinda completes the rolling over cycle. Now we’re on the lookout for him crawling! To celebrate, Kimberly and I fawned over him (even more than usual)… and then he puked on me.

The scene: Surreal conversation between strangers in the downtown Seattle Bon Marche Macy’s, just outside of the women’s restroom.

Homeless person: Hey bro… got any money for my sister-in-law so she can get some jo-jo’s or something?
Me: Sorry buddy. I don’t have any cash on me.
Homeless person: Then how are you buying all that stuff? (the bags under Evan’s stroller.)
Me: Um… why?
Homeless person: Never mind. How do I look?
Me: Um… you look OK to me.
Homeless person: I’ve been drinking since I woke up and I’m fucked up. Hey, did you see my sister-in-law? She’s kinda cute, I’d like to date her but she’s my sister-in-law. You gotta take care of the women in your life, y’know? Do my eyes look bloodshot? I’m fucked up right now; drunk.
Me: *silence*
Homeless person: *awkward smile*

Crisp: So what kind of quality do you want for these steaks?
Me: Angus, baby… Angus.
Moe: Dude! I want some cows that had the grass chewed for them while they sipped martini’s!

We had a birthday party-slash-mothers day get together for Kimberly tonight. Our friends Joe & Betsy, Ken (and his new boyfriend Mike, who was very charming), Rachel and Spencer, and my favorite sister-in-law Angela, were all in attendance with Kimberly, Evan, myself, and the animals. It was quite interesting and fun with a house full of guests, a spastic Whippet running around, and a cat that freaks out when there are too many people around!

This was the first time we had seen Ken since we had Evan so he got to finally see the baby. Funny thing: while Ken was holding Evan, Mike started playing with Evans hands, and as he did Evan took his finger and popped it right in his mouth (as all babies do), slobbering all over Mike finger. Mike took it in stride though, saying (since he’s a cop) that he’s had a lot worse happen to him. We really liked Mike and hope to see lots more of him and Ken.

It was really nice to see everyone since we don’t get to see them so often anymore; especially with Evan now, and the fact that Ken and Angela both live in Seattle. Rachel works with Kimberly so we see her lots, and Joe and Betsy are kind of in between as far as how often we get to see them. We need to throw more parties so we can see everyone more!

I just bought a KVM switch (Keyboard Video Monitor) online from Belkin last night. That and 3 sets of cables for it ran me close to $300. But that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the level of help at so-called technology/electronics stores.

I called up no less than 6 different companies in my local area: “Best Buy“, “Circuit City“, “Staples“, “Office Depot“, and a few local computer shops. During each and every call I had to be transferred to at least two, and in one case four different employees, each trying to figure out not only what a KVM switch is (even their “computer experts”), but also to tell me after much deliberation and apparently continued confusion on their part(s), that they do not have any.

Is it too much to ask that an employee know what different parts and supplies their employer sells? Is it too much to ask that at least some semblance of competance in an employee is available to potential customers? I can almost understand not knowing what a KVM switch is; but in each instance they got it confused with a network switch, and the guy on the phone from Circuit City actually argued with me that what I wanted was a network switch. No it isn’t…

The only store to even stock a KVM switch in any way, shape, or form, was Best Buy; and that was only a 2-port. They suggested I try using their website to order it and get it shipped to the store but a) they didn’t stock any 4-port versions and b) why would I get it shipped to the store and not my house?

I just bought my first Macintosh. I just won an auction on eBay for a Mac Classic… it was $24.95. By time I pay for the shipping it will cost me ~$45, but that’s OK because another guy on eBay was selling a Mac Classic for $300?! Talk about crazy.

Anyhow, it’s an interesting toy, but I’m mostly using it as a night light for my office since it’s of no other practical use (though it does work).

A local used computer parts store was selling some old Acer P-133’s with a 1GB HDD and 32MB of RAM for $17. That’s right… $17. I know this because a co-worker of mine picked up about 8 of them (don’t ask). I was fortunate enough to get the skinny from him though, that certain models of the computers were actually P-166’s with 64MB of RAM and 2GB HDD’s. So I picked one up (along with a 14″ Gateway monitor for $19), scrounged for an old copy of DOS (you do remember DOS, don’t you?), slapped in an old CD-ROM drive and now I have a classic gaming machine for my old copies of the Ultima series, Zork, and whatnot.

Evan’s got this new screaming/crying/raspberry sounding thing he does when he gets cranky. It’s quite disconcerting after getting home at 3AM and waking up to a hungry baby at 8AM. But he’s just so cute when we go in his room to get him… he hears the door open and if he’s not too cranky he starts to laugh when he sees us. If he’s cranky he usually starts to laugh but then sort of goes “hu-hu-hu” before he starts the crying again.

Evan always sleeps with at least one of his little hands up to his head, even in his swing.

Notice the blue and white rattle underneath him… he’s learned the game “throw everything on the floor and mommy or daddy will get it”.