This is the most impressive tsunami video yet. Incredible. The video starts with the water just coming in. The guy with the camera is still standing on a dry street. Six minutes later buildings are being washed away.
March 16, 2011
December 9, 2010
It’s Declan’s birthday today.
After changing his diaper and getting him into his clothes for the day I started carrying him downstairs for his breakfast and I wished him a happy birthday. I told him how two years ago this morning Mommy and I were lying in bed when Mommy suddenly said “Oh no!” and ran to the bathroom from where, in a few seconds, she called out “I think my water broke” to which I thought “Yay! I don’t have to go to work!”
I put him in his high chair and put his bib around his neck. As I was getting his milk I explained how it was snowy that day just like it is today and we were so excited driving to the hospital because we knew that after all this time we were finally going to meet him.
After giving him his milk I went back to get him a banana and I continued on saying that we knew Mommy was going to need an operation because he was upside right in Mommy’s uterus when he was supposed to be upside down. I knew he didn’t understand what I was talking about so I didn’t worry about which details were appropriate. I was just enjoying remembering the event with him.
As I cut up the banana onto his tray I described the moment where they cut open Mommy’s tummy and pulled him out and how thrilled we were to see him and how from that day on we love him more and more and how fantastic it is to have him with us and that it all started two years ago today.
Swear to god, Declan looked up from his milk at me standing in front of him, furrowed his brow and put his left hand up as if to shake hands but instead he swept it to his right as if to shoo me back into the kitchen and said at a measured pace: “Walk away Daddy”
True story.
June 18, 2010
Why Having a Toddler is Like Being at a Frat Party
From an email going around
10. There are half-full, brightly-colored plastic cups on the floor in every room. Three are in the bathtub.
9. There’s always that one girl, bawling her eyes out in a corner.
8. It’s best not to assume that the person closest to you has any control over their digestive function.
7. You sneak off to the bathroom knowing that as soon as you sit down, someone’s going to start banging on the door.
6. Probably 80% of the stains on the furniture contain DNA.
5. You’ve got someone in your face at 3 a.m. looking for a drink.
4. There’s definitely going to be a fight.
3. You’re not sure whether anything you’re doing is right, you just hope it won’t get you arrested.
2. There are crumpled-up underpants everywhere.
1. You wake up wondering exactly how and when the person in bed with you got there.
June 14, 2010
My New Favorite Beer
May 18, 2010
Wow a Year?
Look like it’s almost been a year since my last post. At this rate I may make 25 more posts before I die – assuming an average life expectancy.
I suppose I should make them good then.
Better than this one anyway.
May 24, 2009
February 15, 2009
Yesterday we tried to make a curry …
… The house smelled great. How the food could have come out so bland, I don’t know. Even this morning the place smelled like an excellent Indian restaurant.
What a let down
December 1, 2008
I can’t believe I haven’t posted since Pittsburgh
And I’m only posting now to try out this offline blog post editor.
May 3, 2008
Pittsburgh
It’s a rainy weekend here which is bad news because when visiting a city I tend to want to walk around a lot. We’re mostly hanging around the Shadyside-Bloomfield-Lawenceville areas. They seem to be relatively poorer areas of Pittsburgh.
Much of the housing is row-housing and many of the shops are closed. Walking around the streets at night it looked like many of the houses were empty too. Many, maybe most of the houses had no lights on. Although the neighborhoods were very walkable, and it was a nice night, we saw very few other people walking around.
We went to a delicious Indian restaurant last night called “Taste of India”. Doesn’t every city have an Indian restaurant called that? Then we went to a brew pub built in an old church. Although it was impressive to see. It was large and fairly full, but I didn’t think the beer was all that good. We got a sampler and couldn’t get really excited about any of the beers.
Today we’re planning on seeing the strip district. I’m hoping to try one of those Primanti Brothers sandwiches. And tonight we’re going to see something known as OUTrageous bingo which is some kind of bingo/dragshow hybrid.
April 1, 2008
Are you kidding me?
I save for retirement, I invest and I take a pretty active role in my savings. However I’ve never seen a good method for determining what I will need. I recently received an ad from Fidelity, which holds the vast majority of my retirement savings, about a retirement calculator that is supposed to tell you if your on track for a comfy retirement.
I couldn’t answer all the questions but look at this, can I be this far off?
They say I will need almost 6 million to retire? And that I have to increase my savings by 10 to 12K per month – well over my take-home? I didn’t even specify what I thought I’d need to live on, I let them estimate it for me.

