Unacceptable

This morning's been rough. Lily actually slept through the whole night uninterrupted. Went to bed at eight thirty-ish and woke around seven fifteen. This time I was ready with the diaper but she was up for good. A little tee vee while I read some news and email. Then we washed up and got dressed and headed over to breakfast. Mayhem ensues. Screaming over having to sit in the high chair. Screaming over the eggs are too hot. Screaming over juice did not come fast enough. And we're talking screaming. Not crying, not fussing. Screaming. I got down a quick bowl of oatmeal, grabbed two sausages, collected the rest of her breakfast and took Lily out of the dining room. We stopped in the hall by the elevators where I told her in a very firm and fairly stern tone how her behavior was unacceptable and now we will return to the room where she may think things over.

Brought her in to the room after much ado in the hallway and now she is working things out in her bed. When she is not crying I go in and talk to her in a pleasant tone to see if she responds without crying. Nothing so far. I will continue to try until she responds without crying.

I want to go home. Alone.

-------------------------------

After just a few minutes of fussing and such she's laying on her tummy quiet - sleeping-like. Is it possible she's still tired? It's eight thirty now. I would reckon it's time to start the day, but nothing seems certain with her.

--------------------------------

Not sleepy. Dunno what it is. It's now nine o'clock. She's taken off one shoe and will say "My shoe." Then she took off the corresponding sock and said "My sock." When I go over to her and ask "Out?" or "Do you want to eat?" or "Are you hungry?" she says nothing - or she says "My shoe" and points to her foot. I can't tell if she won't say "out" or "eat" or "hungry" or if she truly doesn't understand. I'm not sure how to proceed. I'm trying to not go to her or speak with her when she's crying but rather do so when she's calm and willing to talk. This may be a bit much to ask. I don't really know.

Learning with Lily Pt. 1

Thursday 12 June

1. Going outside means putting on sunscreen and hat

2. 94 F and 34% humidity means I can't operate a bicycle. For now.

Friday 13 June

1. You get one shot at getting dressed. If for some reason you don't like the outfit, too bad. Deal with it.

2. Buy clothes in "outfit" form and keep each parcel clean and together.

3. Cool socks are nice, but clean ones with mates are stellar.

Saturday 14 June

1. Sippy cups are for sipping, not dripping, leaking or opening of their own accord onto the upholstery of the new rental car.

Sunday 15 June

1. Naptime is around 2pm.

Monday 16 June

1. Playing in the grass means wearing shoes with socks and secure staying-on-ness.

2. Playgrounds rule.

Tuesday 17 June

1. Tee vee is for suckers.

Wednesday 18 June

1. Hard Rock Cafe is a great place for lunch.

2. Jammies are a new thing.

3. When sleeping time happens the drapes get fully drawn, cell phones get put to silent and Do Not Disturb signs are to be posted. If someone calls, call them back.

4. You get lots of free cookies when you're a kid.

Thursday 19 June

1. Bathtime before bed is a good thing.

2. If she wakes up at five in the morning and you can't get her back to sleep after an hour and a half ask yourself, "Have you checked her diaper?"

Huge Discovery: GE Announces Printable OLED Breakthrough

ecogeek.org — Imagine a world where your wall glows at a brightness determined by ambient lighting and personal preference. Lamps might soon be obsolete, and the whole discussion about swtiching light bulbs completely moot.

Delicious Library

Sync your cataloged library onto your iPod or print a color catalog and take it with you. Find and purchase new items using Delicious Library's personalized ... www.delicious-monster.com/ - 76k - Cached - Similar pages

Sprint Offers Captions for Hearing Impaired

News by Ricky Cadden on Thursday March 06, 2008.

Note: Sponsored advertising links, if any, are in green.

Sprint yesterday announced a new feature being provided for free to its hearing impaired subscribers. Sprint customers need only their handset and a computer with internet access to login and have their phone call automatically converted to text in near real-time.

WebCapTel, from Sprint, is a free web-based speech-to-text service that not only offers a captioned version of thephone conversation, but also allows users to change the font size, color, and save a transcript of the conversation, for future reference. Given the price and the recording feature, Sprint's new WebCapTel is likely a good feature for business professionals, as well.

        

.

Belkin's Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger

Posted Mar 11th 2008 2:20AM by Ryan Block
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It's really about time someone released a portable power strip with USB charging. Really, honestly, we don't know what took 'em so long -- it's frigging 2008, everything's been USB-powered for a couple years now. Hat tip to you, Belkin, for the Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger, which goes for $25 or so.

hiyas

Cheerleading coming to the Wii and DS Lite

I want to feel all indignant about developing a cheerleading game for girls on the DS and Wii, and yet somehow... the... words... just... won't... come... feeling... all... perky... can't... stop... flicking... hair. There are few details currently known, just that it's being developed by Gorilla Games (who made a Hannah Montana game) and will use the Wiimote for an active cheerleader workout on the Wii, and the touchscreen on the DS. It is set at a cheerleading camp, and you're supposed to try to beat rival teams.

Geek chic: Tetris ice cube tray

Hands up who doesn't like Tetris. Anyone? Anyone? No matter how advanced all the latest computer games are, everyone harbours a soft spot for reordering bricks in different ways, and now you can play with them as 3D ice cubes! Simply fill, freeze and pop into your drink/play. It's the coolest way to serve cocktails, dontcha know?

From Martin Zampach [ via Cooking gadhets]

i think we've found it

right now we've been in queenstown for five days. first we stayed at the Peppers Beacon right in town and were terribly disappointed in the accommodations. there was a kickass heated bathroom floor and free laundry, however this did little to make up for the $185 / night rate, lack of in-house dining (read: no room service) and nightmarish parking/check-in situation. we loitered around queenstown for three days, getting haircuts, going off-roading and eating the best burgers in the world from locals Fergberger (HIGHLY recommended). On day four Andy was feeling up to par (after and completely rocked shoulder due to the crazy uneven sidewalks around here) and we got back to researching.

i really dig queenstown. it makes me think of places like sundance; funky mountain town full of skiers and young people. however, i get the impression it's more a corporate-ised / american-ised shell of what it may have once been. there's a starbucks and a louis vuitton if that paints the picture clearer for you. (FYI: just about every major city has McDonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC.) but the tourists love it. did you know queenstown is the home of bungy jumping? remember that scene in the first lord of the rings movie where they're canoing up the river and they pass between those two huge statues of kings? that's right by the bungy birthplace. also, queenstown is the number one destination for adventure tourism in the entire world. that's da whole of de earf, yo.

but i still like the vibe of the place.

today we left our fancy pants lodging and headed out to arrowtown - about 25 minutes northwest of queenstown. we'd booked three nights at this place called Shades of Arrowtown on account of their having wheelchair accessible lodgings and internet (our two must-haves) at the attractive rate of $95 / night. this is cheaper even than the local "campground."

we woke up and stuffed the luggage in the Subaru Forrester (our new favorite touring car) under the hoovering eyes of the housekeeping staff - something that will never, ever, never happen at our establishment - and headed out to have breakfast in arrowtown. we'd intended to kill the morning exploring the very small historic village but those plans were cast aside while looking through the local real estate publishing. it would seem Shades of Arrowtown is up for sale. we hurried over and checked in.

we were the first to check in and took advantage of the down time by falling to chatting with Anne, one of the property co-owners. the three of us chatted about the business and our lives for a good part of the afternoon until more guests started arriving. it would seem that the owners are a family from the UK. they moved here as a temporary stopover while their Australian VISAs got processed - seven years ago. Anne's brother bought the property in partnership with Anne and her husband. The husband and brother then built the entire lodging facilities themselves and have run it ever since. Eventually the brother bought out the whole lot and now everyone is moving on. this property really has everything we're looking for:

- minutes outside a major city
- self contained cottages
- potential for growth (we want to put in a fancy pants cottage and convert the manager's cottage in to a backpackers barracks)
- protected atmosphere / setting

we haven't talked price yet but we're planning to have dinner with Anne and her husband and brother. we're thinking if we can get a taste for it that would help. perhaps running the place while the family goes on holiday. i reckon they're not terribly excited about simply handing over the business to two yank strangers for any amount of time.

wish us luck. if this works...well...don't hate us alex, we love you bunches. and tom and tessa, pack up your stuff and welcome to indentured servitude! muahahahahah!

also, there's a cafe for sale in town. perfect for someone to open up a burrito / tequila joint or a stellar internet cafe. (*cough*tom*cough*estebanbringyourmom'stortillarecipe*cough*)

best. day. evar.

1. wake up next to my honey and not be in a rush to check out
2. take advantage of the day's short two hour drive from Haast to Queenstown by taking an off-road, muddy, cow-poop-filled detour along the sea shore
3. pull off the freeway for an hour to drive down to the banks of a very large, very shallow and unrealistically clear river in order to fill up the water bottle and take the risk of drinking right from the earth (it was really good and really cold)
4. decide the river bank is a great spot for a midday break by making a small fire in the stone and smoking half a j
5. pull off the freeway to investigate "Thunder Creek Falls" only to find the entire path is wheelchair accessible, the sub-tropical/alpine (yes, you heard right) forest is breathtaking, to find a brilliant waterfall that makes you wish it's summer and you can wade across the river and sit under the waterfall. after watching the water fall down the cliff for what turned out to be twenty-five minutes we realised we were completely stoned.
6. consume an entire large bag of apricot oatmeal yoghurt cookies in five minutes
7. take in the river views of haast pass
8. pull off the freeway to witness brush fires being tended to by a helicopter. the copter would dip his ginormous bucket in to the lake, fly over us to the fires and dump the lot. he gave up about fifteen minutes after we started watching. the poor guy hadn't accomplished much.
9. arrive in to queenstown just as the sun is setting against the mountains, check in to the lovely peppers hotel and enjoy our lake/mountain view.
10. have a delicious supper of "wengyu" (the new zealand version of kobe) and porterhouse accompanied by the world's best potato salad at Beefeater Steak House
11. take in a screening of the most excellent action extravaganza Bourne Ultimatum 
12. hurry home in the freezing wind to curl up in snuggly bed comfort with my honey

shoot me now

photos found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaearhart

christchurch

we were supposed to be in christchurch for a few days. we arrived on the 28th i believe and it's now the 1st. looks like were' here till the 3d. going to check out akaroa tomorrow - IF we doint stayo ut too late again. we've lost two days here on account of that!

not much going on these days. with tom here we are mostly doing touisty things like flying downhill in giant plastic bubbles, taking ferry rides and hitting local markets.

i was pretty grouchy - well, out of sorts - the day we went zorbing. there were two sorts of zorbing one could do:

wet: you get in the ball with a bit of water. enough to slosh about in, but not enough to drown you.

dry: you sit inside the ball in a harness-style contraption

tom went wet, i went dry. it was freezing that day and the notion of sitting in public water like that, well, it didn't appeal to me. besides, with the dry balls (giggle) you got tossed around more. upside down, sideways, bouncy, etc. with the wet balls (giggle) you kinda slide the whole way. slosh about like.

i wasn't too excited about it at first, but i'm glad i ended up going.

the perfect meal

View Larger Map
so we had a kind of quiet day today. we're settled in to wellington, new zealand for a few days and slept in till eleven. after dumping the washing on the hotel staff, we headed out on a mission:

tom wanted some cool shoes
andy wanted a sweater
i wanted some of the trendy skinny jeans all the kids are wearing
check out the local photography supply place's stash of crumpler bags

so we headed out down cuba street in search of coffee and brekkie. found both along with a fantastic lemon meringue pie at revive. after bowls of flat white we were ready to brave the freezing wind.

i'd forgotten how fat shopping for pants in new zealand makes me feel. back in the states i am a size eight. here, i am a fourteen - twelve if it's stretchy. it's enough to drive a girl to cut. i tried explaining this to the boys by saying, imagine someone's given you a box with a hole cut in the side. they expect you to put your dick in the box, filling the hole cause that's the same size hole everyone else your size uses. however you find your dick barely fills it at all. no go be happy with yourself and that knowledge. i take solace in the fact that there are very very few women with slender builds and big round asses here.

:: sigh::

so i find a pair of stretchy size twelves at jay jays and go merrily about my day. andy finds a great sweater and some shirts at Hallister, tom buys a jacket there but never scores on the shoes.


around five the shops begin shutting down (on a saturday even) and we begin the trek back to the hotel. we'd noticed the Floridita on the way out and stopped to peruse the menu posted out front. while discussing wether to go in or head up to the sushi joint three doors away, a passerby enthusiastically recommends we eat at Floriditas and further that we order up an elderflower martini. that was enough for us so we headed in.

yeeeee ummmmmm!

the atmosphere was great. kind of french provincial meets diner decor. and there it was at the top of the menu
Elderflower and
Rose Martini
$14

"One, please."

the boys ordered a starter of a sharp goat cheese, mustard fig and homemade crackers. the goat cheese was predictably repulsive but the boys loved it. the fig was soaked in honey and mustard grains, very nice. the crackers reminded me of pita chips.

andy ordered up an $8.50 bottle of organic apple juice - no added anything, just pure squished apples - and let me tell you it was worth every penny. kind of like apple water only lighter. tom had a local cabernet and then my martin arrived.
2 parts bombay sapphire
1 part elderflower cordial
1 part dry vermouth
the smell of it was incredible. a sparse sprinkling of dried rose petals gave it a very light fragrance that was superb if you smelled it up whiles sippin. i don't particularly care for martinis and i despise gin so you can bet i was surprised when i found out what was in it.

i ordered another when the entrees came. for dinner i wasn't too hungry. i ordered a side of wilted kale in garlic ginger and a dessert of eccles (a sort of phyllo cookie with fruit mince inside) and irish cheddar. after the meal i ordered up some candied orange and dark chocolate macaroons and a muscat. i didn't feel terribly stuffed but very satisfied.

best meal in a long while. thank you, floriditas.

---

Elderflower Cordial and Other Elderflower Drinks by Andy Hamilton

Sky City Casino Story

So we were really sleepy Friday night and although we'd talked about walking over to Sky city's Casino, it looked as though we would stay in and wow. but around ten i'd gotten bored killing mages and elementals in Dalaran and said, Yes, I want to go over to the casino now. so we rallied and got freshened up. the walk over was chilly without my parka, but not enough to pout about it.

Sky City was a freaking zoo. even at ten thirty. I was so glad we didn't stay there as per my initial suggestion. we hit the atm up for $400 and took the lift up to the casino. the place was flooded with japanese ladies and maori kids. andy sat at one $25 blackjack table that i didn't really like - i wasn't feeling it, as we say. too many sour faces. no one having fun. he lost $150 in about fifteen minutes. so i encouraged him to move on. doing so, we found a better table. one japanese dude in the last seat and two drunken australians in seats one and two. we sat at three.

At Sky City blackjack you have some "Perfect Pair" options. If you get two of a kind off-suited, it pays out 6 to 1 - IF you bet on it to hit. If you get two of a kind suited, it pays out 25 to 1. again, IF you bet on it to hit.

when we sat down, the two aussies were down and eventually out. i'd asked them if this "Perfect Pair" thing had ever hit. they said they'd never seen it. shortly they left. shortly after that, our japanese fellow at the last seat hit the suited perfect pair on a $25 bet. raked it in. he hit it again about five minutes later. a crowd was starting to gather. the off-suited perfect pairs started rolling in for him. about one every sixth hand. two other people were betting on his hand. after a string of losses we bought in for another $100 (yes, now in for $300) and our luck started to turn around.

they has the magic set up. andy was at seat three buffering the cards and the japanese guy was last and raking in it. we were having a ball and up $200.

then andy had to pee.

so i sat in for him, nervous as hell. first hand lost. second hand busted. third hand i bet on the japanese guy's perfect pair and my own hit with off-suited sixes. i hadn't bet on it. fourth hand blackjack, so i let that win ride and bet $50 on the japanese guy's hand and $25 on both perfect pairs. we both won hand five. andy was gone not five minutes and i'd turned his $500 in to $800. i quickly colored up that $300 profit before his return and shoved it in to my pocket.

when andy returned there was a reasonably sized group gathered around us betting on both our hand and the japanese guy's hand. we couldn't loose. i lost track of how much was being won by those around us when i downed my third jack n diet. the perfecet pairs kept coming and the dealer kept busting. when we had $1500 i convinced andy to walk away. we felt bad cause of all the money we were winning for everyone. but the japanese guy's luck had failed the last two hands and i knew we were next.

we won a lot of people a lot of money and we went out on top. turned $300 in to $1500. not too shabby.

Properties Spotted

Paihia Waterfront $110 800


Houhora Lodge and Homestay


Fantastic Property $2 700 000


Hideawy Lodge $


Paihia Surrounds: Tio Bay $


Mangonoui $


Paihia Surrounds


Paihia Backpackers


Russell Flagstaff Lodge $2 000 000


Russell Bay Lodge

hectare

 
1 hectare = 2.47105381 acres

Seatofour Pants Air, First Class

I had booked us to stay a week in Taupo [map] at the lovely Lakeside Villas. A bit of a bore aesthetically, but ideally located, allegedly accessible and an apartment-style suite. We are considering Taupo because it is a time-tested holiday destination already with local activities to suit our accessible needs. We'd pretty much be buying in to an already successful, tried and true venture. However, I find the whole thing very boring despite its proximity to Rotorua [map] where We had a great time taking in the smells and colors our last visit.

Champagne Springs of Wai-O-Tapu.

You may tell by my tone, I wasn't too excited about this. However, it was a sound destination, it was accessible and ... well, that's it. In true follow-up fashion, I phoned the Villas the day before our arrival. Actually, I attempted to phone them for an entire day, but their line was engaged so I sent off an email. A representative from the Villas phoned me the next morning, the morning of our arrival, and, long story short, we learned that not only was our suite not accessible, it was on the second floor. After struggling with schedules and the prospect of refunds, I was surprisingly unnerved by the whole deal whereas Andy was stressed to the max. After a few hours exchanging phone calls and speaking to many resort staffers, the resort liason called us back with an alternative. He asked if we'd be amenable to staying up in Paihia [more here for my reference] [map] at the Bishop Selwyn (link later).

Paihia is MUCH farther up on my list of Great Areas to Scout in New Zealand. Nearby is Kerikeri, my first love of the North Island, Mangonui and Russell. Also, the resort liason (Ken) got us a much better apartment at the Bishop Selwyn than we would have had at the Lakeside Villas.


All in all, I'm very happy with this bit of serendipity.

---

List of Cities Areas of Interest
and Why

• Northland - North shore area of Auckland. Close to airport, major city and countless attractions
  
• Bay of Islands - Reasonably priced property, more rural, more options for our own resort activities.
  
• Wellington
• Taupo/Rotorua - Established holiday destination, Volcanic and historic activities.
  
• Coromandel Peninsula - Beautiful. Remote and loads of outdoor activities.
  
• Perth
• Southwestern Australia - Wine country
• Sydney
• Melbourne
• Gold Coast - Great Barrier Reef
  

NOTE: Ask me about the "Gimp On The Go Alliance."
Yet to come: Photos so far at Flickr

potential fun

Thu 02/08/07 08:00 PM	Christina Aguilera	Find Tickets
Fri 03/08/07 08:00 PM	Christina Aguilera	Find Tickets

Tue 14/08/07 07:45 PM	The Cure (Allocated Seating)	Find Tickets
Tue 14/08/07 07:45 PM	The Cure (General Admission)	Find Tickets

Martinis for Monkeys
August 18: Auckland Zoo hosts Martinis for Monkeys, raising money for orang-utans through the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project (SOCP). There will be special monkey cocktails, tiger beer, live music and an auction. Tickets $25 (includes glass of bubbles, nibbles and discounted cocktails), available from the zoo, ph 360 3805.

---

Minus 5 Degree Everything is made of ice the walls, the bar, the sculptures, the seats and even the glasses that you enjoy our famous vodka based cocktails in. Once commencing the tour, guests are kitted out into ice gear which includes sheepskin lined jackets, gloves and booties.

the flight went by incredibly fast. felt more like flying to cincinnati than the opposite side of the planet.

finally got to see hot fuzz and man did it bring the silly. i really like edgar wright's style of direction. edgar wright is to the quick-cuts montage as john woo is to slow mo and doves. i giggled and giggled. then i checked out pathfinder. while the sotry was very interesting (abandoned pale viking boy, the son of brutal savages, finds an adopted home among the peaceful brown natives. bloodthirsty vikings return years later to slaughter said natives and find a mighty warrior who knows their ways, language and weaknesses.) poor cinematography, really dark, high contrast filters and overused dramitc embelishments. oh and the natives speak a flowery english-as-we-know-it, yet the vikings speak, well, apparently viking. this should have been shot like the new world. would have been much more effective.

i flipped on the first lord of the rings movie and fell asleep before bilbo's birthday party. but then, that's precisely why i loaded the movie. sometime during my sleep, the steward tried to rouse me and get me to eat something in the way of a blueberry smoothie. while that sounded amazing, i couldn't be bothered. a bit later he came by with some eggs and bacon that smelled wonderful, but still, i couldn't be bothered. when the captain came on and insisted everyone wake up, sit up and collect their things cause we're about to land in auckland, i was quite surprised. felt like maybe four hours had gone by. i'd slept like a stone.

the spirit is quite different here. a sort of happy peace. almost a silly peace. the morning sky was beautiful. we got in around 7am and there'd been storms all night. the clouds were pink and the sky was gold and blue. the lights of the airport were brilliant and the lighting in general couldn't've been better. my camera was buried in the luggage.

done

1. Garmin nuvi received
2. pants picked up
3. billy litter boxes changed
4. medicines picked up
5. amelia all packed
6. andy allpacked
7. jessica visited the beach - and mexico
8. finally got a confirmation number for the rental in auckland
9. phoned our first hotel to request an early check in. our flight gets in at 6.30 am. boooo

got horribly terribly miserably frustrated driving home from rosarito today. after four reroutings we'd lost forty-five-ish minutes of driving time, wandering about tj. with all the accumulated stress, i freaked. it flet as though i'd never make it home again. i wanted to get out and walk.

lots of stress lately. crazy amounts of it, really. bringing me to fits, tears and general hysteria. the lack of sleep is the matter that cements all this insanity. never before in my life have i so looked forward to a twelve hour flight. i'm going to sleep so soundly for twelve hours. i get so wound up it feels like part of me actually leaves - checks out. i can't be reasoned with, i can't be forced in to anything, i don't even respond to andy being sweet. part of me shuts down and the rest of me freaks out. unpleasant.

i wish i could get a facial in tomorrow morning, just to get some calm before the trip.

maps

google: auckland
http://www.google.com/maps?q=Auckland,+Auckland,+New+Zealand&ie=UTF8&ll=-36.854042,174.764585&spn=0.02129,0.032358&z=15&om=1

Travel Notes

 Mobility for Independence

24 Jubilee Ave, Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland, New Zealand
p.: + 64 9 4458401
f. +64 9 4458403
@. info@mobility.co.nz

The Monarch Mark 1 - A
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&geocode=&q=hotel&near=24+Jubilee+Ave,+Devonport,+Auckland,+New+Zealand&ie=UTF8&mrt=kmlkmz&start=80&mpnum=0&ll=-36.887859,174.830933&spn=0.340496,0.510864&z=11&om=1

Hertz Car Rental
Confirmation Number:  D7120494531
Pick-up: Auckland Airport
  Thu, Aug 2, 2007 10:00 AM
Return: Auckland Airport
  Wed, Aug 29, 2007 10:00 AM


Rydges Auckland
Accommodation in Auckland New Zealand
011 (+61 2) 9261 4929
011 649 375 5900

How to get here
From the Auckland Airport - 25 kilometres Northwest:
Turn left onto the George Bolt Memorial Drive which becomes the South Western Motorway.
Turn Left at the the Queenstown Road Interchange and then right onto Queenstown Road which becomes Pah Road.
Continue on Pah Road which becomes Manukau Road and then turn right onto Alpers Road.
From Alpers Road turn right onto Gillies Avenue and then left onto the Gillies On Ramp which places you on the Southern Motorway.
Turn left at the Wellesley Street Off Ramp and then right onto federal Street.
Rydges Aukland is on the corner of Federal Street and Kingston Street.

Google Map 

early morning

to do today: 
1. mexico for medications - back by 2pm
2. pick up pants from tailor
3. change rabbit litter boxes
=4. get UPS package= should be delivered around 5pm
5. work on andy's bearings w/ alex @ 2pm
6. long shower
7. sleepytime