The mobile hairdresser paid a visit today. She tidied the girls' fringes and hair at the back, did something with my wife's and, rather odd this; dropped a load of greying hair on our kitchen floor after she'd cut mine.
I feel a lot less scruffy now. Maybe I should shave; back to a goatee?
This Mothering Sunday (aka Mothers Day) we went to church – it was the Brownies' and Ladybirds' Flag parades too.
I thought about my dear departed mum and the sacrifices she and dad made to keep us comfortable and to support me until I started to work…
During the service the choir sang Psalm 127, and the temporary vicar asked us, with a smile, to follow along too – if we could.
Yeah, it's impossible without choral training and a safety net, so I simply traced the words with my index finger. I was lucky that I could read the words; I'd taken my reading glasses along this time!
So, here it is, Psalm 127, from the King James Version:
1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
I occasionally have dark thoughts about the results of my quivering arrows, but overall, in a non-spiritual sense, I've been blessed by my 2 girls.
The thing is, I don't really care if I've misinterpreted the Psalm; I took something good away from it.
I got married late in the third quarter of 2006, but this isn't about anniversaries, family, lazing about in a tropical paradise, no; it's about technology. Again.
I gave away a phone; I don't recall whether it was before or after my wedding, I just know when I got married I no longer had it as a daily driver, and I know what I replaced the phone with.
The chronology of all this isn't particularly important.
What is, is the fact that around 9 or 10 years after I stopped using the device, the lucky recipient sent his first SMS. Not first on that phone, but first ever.
Last week.
I'm someone who believes it's an absolute necessity to be always connected to the Internet, or at least a mobile network. Always able to communicate with family, friends, people who can do jobs for me, my girls' school, etc.; so it's not an overstatement mentioning it was quite the revelation.
A life without convenience.
I don't intend to change the way I approach my current state-of-the-art portable computing device on the strength of this new understanding of our modern life, but it's an interesting concept. A life without alerts, without beeps and blurps and bloops; it sounds relaxing.
But could I cope?
I'll probably never find out, not unless the power and phone grid fails.
Another short one today; it's been a 'nothing' weekend outside my ongoing Raspberry Pi playtime.
Here's a repeat link to what I wanted to do with it, what I've done, and what I've actually accomplished so far – which is actually now 2/3 of the total.
My Raspberry Pi Setup – at GitHub.com.
So, what else have I accomplished?
In-short, underperformed.
Daughter 2:
"Mummy, daddy's good at tossing!"
My wife, deadpan:
"Yes, he's a born tosser."
It is of course Shrove – AKA Pancake – Tuesday.
I haven't lost my touch.
Apart from the last, the one poured too thickly, the one I burned.
Another summary post, this of a wasted day:
The lady who was supposed to visit my oldest daughter today didn't show up on time. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I rang 1-1/4 hours after the scheduled start time.
"Oh, she's been off sick for a week-and-a-half, can you give me your daughter's name please?"
I did so.
"I'm just looking at her diary, it seems we missed you."
I then launched into a rant: 'I took the day off, my wife's stayed awake after her night shift, you've got a disappointed little girl here; tell the manager we're yet again dissatisfied by your lack of organisation…'
A local tradesman tasked with a simple home visit 'around teatime', to fit his schedule, to quote us for 2 new radiators failed to show or call or text.
(The dog this time!)
She's chewed her second pair of my Gore-Tex walking shoes. The girls leave the shoe cupboard door open, have no concept of…
My wife seems to think the total destruction of one side of the heel padding is fixable. I'll hover a finger over the Amazon 'buy again' button.
(Yeah, computer stuff.)
Another day, another Raspberry Pi reset; the fourth in 4 days. Rather than do what I wanted to with the computer, it's perhaps a good time to re-evaluate my single purpose; blogging support.
It would gave been sustainable, there's enough scope in setting up a web site to fiddle with, fine-tune, break and fix. But problems with Ruby (computer program dependencies) are getting tiresome. Next step though: check out @mlv's 'strings (1)' comment.
Luckily the Raspberry Pi community has a huge amount of imagination and skill, for example Jonathan Duerig's (@duerig's) book scanner.
I went shopping on my own while my wife slept and the girls watched streaming films. I didn't miss much either. The best thing to happen all day.
Not exactly a perfect storm of events, not by any means; nevertheless, we ran out of:
It's Ruby Dog's first birthday on Wednesday; a visit to the pet superstore is perhaps in order.
This, though I might refer to it in the store, is not a shopping list.
In a couple of weeks time it'll be Valentine's Day. I'll be buying a card and some flowers for my wife, and maybe even a small gift?
I really don't know what to buy; maybe the two things'll suffice? Heck, I'll be second-guessing myself with that one until the day. And afterwards.
The problem is simple: I peaked in 2006.
We found a bona-fide Scottish castle* to spend a couple of nights of romantic whatever-we-used-to-do-before-the-girls-arrived at. A typical utilitarian design externally, set in extensive grounds, with its own lake.
The Honeymoon Suite. You know?
I rang, booked, sat back looking at my wallet. Easy. Girlfriend-as-was was happy.
Then the phone rang.
"Hello Mr Turner, we made a terrible mistake with your booking…"
Me: "?"
"Well, we completely forgot you booked for a stay including Valentine's Day and, unfortunately, the room rate is double for that one night."
Me, hand over phone, looking over at my girlfriend after a brief summary which ended: "Do you still want to go?"
Her: (big doe eyes, soppy smile)
Me, back on the phone: "Are you ready to take my credit card details again?"
"Yes, and can we say how sorry we are for…“
Me: (sighs)
It was worth it.
*Culcreuch Castle, Fintry, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
If you're not following me on App.net you're missing out on the occasional post about Ruby – our dog.
Ruby's lovely. Approaching her first birthday, as she's grown she's lost none of her puppy enthusiasm; as she's become more accustomed to our commands, we've tempered none of that quivering anticipation of awesome things about to happen.
Here's a flavour of her impact on our lives, just my posts:
Planning required:
"@pme Aren't the little buggers great? A good thing it's nothing like Ruby 'Chomp-all' Dog. The rest of my family hadn't quite understood the importance of putting things away. But there is an expectation that adults can put stuff in a safe place, right?"
Not quite according to plan:
"@indigo @rabryst I made sure that, if my wife was going to get a dog, said dog would be hypoallergenic, smart, and would not shed fur. Ruby has not let us down once, she's awesome. A mutant compared to all the others round here, but awesome. :)"
Conflict:
“@matigo The cat woke me, I went downstairs to feed him and his sister – and Ruby dog – only to find she'd emptied out the contents of a box all over the living room floor. Hairbrushes, broken crayons, spectacles, pencils, paper, card, sticky tape, lipgloss…
… a plastic troll too! All chewed, damp. :/
My wife can sort it out when she comes home from work; she's the one who leaves stuff out, allows the girls to, then complains when the dog chews.
Yeah, I just threw it all back in & stomped upstairs. :/"
Striving for an uncomplicated existence:
"@hazardwarning @hutattedonmyarm I didn't go looking deeper, Ruby dog wanted me to play with her ball. Simple things… :)"
And, this self-referential #QuoteSunday post:
'"Ruby dog, GET OFF MY PENIS!!!"*
- @bazbt3
Slightly* disconcerting #QuoteSunday quote.
*I mentioned my hedonistic lifestyle earlier in the evening, never thinking it'd come to this!'
True joy arrives unbidden in life, often unexpectedly, and in many different forms. Whilst bent over cleaning the cats' litter tray, wearing a gaping dressing gown with the dog nuzzling one's man-bits, trying to not startle Ruby 'Chomp-all' Turner though‽
Yeah, why not.
FYI: I am @bazbt3 on App.net.
My youngest daughter is a Ladybird (a member of the local Rainbows – pre-Brownies.) Every week her mummy takes her down to the church hall, she participates, and then I collect her at the end of the session.
Just like did with her sister, now a Brownie.
She's usually made something, like a hat or a hanging thing, or a paper plate with paper poppies stuck around its periphery – for Remembrance Sunday.
This evening the things on the table at the end of the room defied my attempts to categorise. Unusual.
The leaders explained, for the benefit of the more dim-witted parents, what they were.
Sock monsters!
Not one alike, each the product of a child's imagination, all amazing.
Ah, but glittery glue. Lots of it.
It gets everywhere, no matter how carefully it's applied. I hate slimy sticky viscous things. But the inevitable beckoned so I picked the thing up, and immediately an antenna dropped.
Oops! I never was the most graceful individual. Clumsy, though age is improving me.
I was more circumspect when we left for the car park, not trusting my littlest offspring with the task of moving the monster from hall to car.
Me: "Er… can you please reach into my trouser pocket and get my car keys?"
We chose a safe spot on the back seat for the glue and sock, and waited for her big sister to finish Brownies.
All the while I gave a running commentary, ostensibly for my daughter's benefit but a safety blanket for me. The pressure inherent in such situations is probably beyond the understanding of a non-parent. I'm sure it would have amused any adult within earshot.
We always chat about stuff during lulls between life and life, my daughter's and I. Stars & planets, cars, condensation, school lunches and their friends and creations. Today not much chat, aside from a few words about her new thing. It's got rice and lavender inside it and smells lovely. We'd best not let Ruby dog anywhere near lest…
Daughter 1 emerged a few minutes later, we buckled up and drove home.
Home, tea, change, ready for bed, tidy, teeth, night-night…
Though I know she wants to take it to school tomorrow, I'd forgotten if she'd told me the most important thing, so I just woke daughter 2 to ask her what the sock monster is called.
A frown, obviously. "I haven't named it."
And that was that.