Gray’s Anatomy — ha ha ha

Mrs. Conductor is thrilled tonight as she gets to watch her show without the kids bothering her. Both are in bed and she’s curled up on the couch. I tried to watch this show as I know it’s big and well, I feel bad that I truly don’t care. I missed the American Idol bandwagon (never seen one show in its entirety). Missed CSI (I mock it regularly. I used to do DNA research. Hey producers, labs are well-lit. No mood lights). So I figured, I’d take one for the team, miss the hated Yankees go to the World Series and watch this show. I quit around 15 minutes.

Look, I am all for fantasy. I am all for shows that defy reality. I love Criminal Minds. I dig Sons of Anarchy. And enjoy Law & Order.  I can’t take Gray’s for a couple of reasons.

1. They are all too pretty. yes, it’s a chick show but come on, doctors who are on call for dozens of hours and nary a hair out of place. Beyond that, they all have great skin.

2. Too much drama. Yes, it’s TV. But man, I have worked in a hospital. Done the ER on both sides of the table. Most of what happens is that doctors are bored. Nurses bicker and the orderlies take bets on who can push the cart down the hall the farthest. Not really but you get the point.

3. It’s a chick show. UGH.

But on the plus side, I did miss the Yankee game. I hate the Yankees. I think it’s the duty of all Americans outside of New York to hate the Yankees. The problem is that it’s hard to root for the Phillies. Problems, Problems.

Comedy Tonight

In my stomach bug haze, I was watching this on TV the other night. Great movie. Why don’t they  make stuff like this anymore. I am too young to have seen it in the theaters but must have watched it dozens of times in Latin class.

I would love to do a local version of this for Peoria… A funny thing happened on the way to the Museum Block?? Hey CJ, here’s your next task!

Frickin’ Flu

I hate being sick. Worse, I hate being sick when you really aren’t sick. What do I mean? Well, I got a stomach bug. It’s not that bad that I have to stay home and mope around Grand Central. But I feel like crap-o-la. So what it does is make the day go longer, work go slower and tonight when I head home, dealing with the kiddies is going to be oodles of fun. Of course, I probably got this from the kids. Day care virus. Screw H1N1. I say that dare cares are toxic breeding grounds of the next pandemic. I figure I got it from the boy ™ who had been having accidents all week. Then the girl ™ kept sneezing in my face. Combine that with lack of sleep from a teething baby and well, you got the picture.

Ugh. I am headed home. I haven’t eaten much in three days. But on the bright side, I am going to hit that weight loss goal I had for myself.

More on the Balloon Boy

First off, once we get done railing on the parents.. what is going to be effect on these children. They have four, according to the pictures I have seen. Some are school age. Others like the boy in question are six. I am sure they are home schooled as it seems all lunatics home school. Not that it’s a bad thing. I am sure there are lots of people who don’t do stupid things and home school. I have nothing against it. Just seeing that some people who home school turn out to be nut jobs.

Anyway, what about the children? Imagine what grief they are getting from their friends? The media is going to probe their lives as they are “celebs” now. Just doesn’t seem worth it to get all that free press and hype for a possible reality show run when it could screw up your kids’ future.

What is wrong with our society

What is wrong with our society. A Colorado family thought it was a good idea to fake the possible death of their six-year-old son. What the hell? A CNN anchor last night asked the question I have been thinking for a few days. “who in their right mind would go on national TV while their son was possible dead or facing death?” What idiots. I am sure they were in their right mind when they hatched this plan.

But remember, this was also the family who was on Wife Swap and named their kid after a Bird of Prey. I don’t know if charges are the most viable option? But someone should pay for the costs of the search. I frankly, am appalled at this family. I’ll write more later but the girl wants “eatsies.” Really.

My adoring fans

Gosh, I don’t know what to say but thanks for the two people who actually wanted to read what I have to say. I mean, it’s nothing great or anything but thanks. I haven’t posted much lately because, well, I sort of lost the vigor. This isn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last time. I like to write and I enjoy putting my thoughts out there. But let’s face it. What I have to say on the city or closing of Woodruff doesn’t matter. First off, I don’t know all the details so unlike some bloggers, I wouldn’t just make blanket statements. Second, who cares. No one reads this and it’s not going to be life changing.

That said, things are good at Grand Central. Celebrated two birthdays since I last posted. The boy ™ is now four while the girl ™ is seven months. Yes, I know, it’s not a real birthday but well, every month at that tender age is a big deal. Makes you wish you could continue that trend as you get older. Look man, I am 360 months old!!

But it’s crazy with kids. Let’s face it. we look at them and wonder what in the hell are you doing? I’ll ask my son why he had an accident in his pants. I don’t know is the answer. I’ll ask the baby why she wouldn’t sleep for us. An ACK or something like that is the answer I get. I find that I often talk to the children as if they can really respond back in an adult manner and at times, wind up frustrated they don’t respond in kind. Yet, every now and then, the boy ™ will say the right thing and it blows you away. Of course, it also makes you wish they do that all the time.

Case in point. This morning. Boy ™ got a sticker on his hand for a being a good kid. It starts to come off after he plays with it, like all stickers do and he throws a fuse. I explain to him that things don’t last forever, that stickers are transient beings in the cosmos. He doesn’t care. He wants the sticker to last. I offer up a new one. Doesn’t matter. It’s this one or nothing. Pikes Peak or bust is his mantra. Well, no, that’s me. I digress. But why the rage over the sticker. Ah, you 12 readers say, he’s four. I know. But the level of anger and sadness was crazy. He wasn’t this mad when he found out he wasn’t going to get a Spiderman web shooter thingy for his birthday.

Birthday. Oh yeah, that was a crazy thing. Imagine being inside a gym, 15 three and four year olds running around with balls, hockey sticks and scooters. Yes every kid wound up crying at some point due to an boo-boo or a ouchie. But it was crazy fun. One of the best things about four year olds — and the worst thing — is they live in the moment. There’s no worry about tomorrow or the ramifications of their actions. They are thinking right here, right now. And that’s cool to see your son having the time of his life, so far, just before some kid wacks him in the shin with a stick. Crying and then back to the heat of playing. Truly amazing.

The girl ™ is going through another famed “growth spurt,” (read: the answer for any unexplained change in behavior). She used to sleep through the night. Now, she’s up every few hours and wants to eat, a lot. She has pretty much rejected baby food and at seven months, that is bothersome to me. Our boy took baby food well, so we aren’t pretty sure what to do now. It’s not the end of the world but it is annoying and possibly harmful as we don’t know what she is allergic to. But man, I forgot what the lack of sleep is like. The past few days have been terrible. She’s waking up at 1, 3 and 6, wanting a full bottle and refusing to go back to bed without said bottle. Even then, it is a challenge. Mix that with the teething issues and well, Grand Central is a noisy place.

But it’s fun. The girl ™ has a huge gummy smile and the boy is as impish as ever. He has declared that he wants to be Spiderman when he grows up.  Not the black one but the red one, he said. I can be the black one. I tried to tell him they are the same thing but well, he’s four. Girl ™ is about ready to crawl and then we’ll really see how the two kids play together. Right now, boy ™ loves his sister and there’s no rivalry. That will likely change when she eats one of his toys. I’ll try to keep you up to date on it.

So there, that’s it. that’s my past month in a nut shell. Nothing really but a whole lot of things at the same time. It’s just not newsy so I didn’t post and didn’t have a pressing need to make up something. I’ll try to get more stuff up soon.

Alter egos

Well, it’s been established for a while now so I have to share some of the bizarreness that goes on at Grand Central. First off, the boy ™ thinks he’s a cross between Spider-man and Wolverine. So what does that mean. He likes to jump on me and “shoot webs” by tangling his body around my feet so I can’t move. Or he likes to rake his “claws” i.e. fingernails across my back or arms like the comic hero of old. The girl ™, on the other hand, clearly favors her own fingers, hands and bibs. Everything goes right into the mouth. Of course, she’s six months old so it’s no biggie but it’s quite amusing to watch. She’ll get a little stuff toy that she likes, look at it with a puzzled look as if to think “what is this being’s place in the universe?” and then shove it right into her mouth. We gave her a chew toy for teething babies. She wanted nothing to do with it. Give me a cold wash cloth, nope. Give her an old bib with food stains that even Oxy Clean wouldn’t get out? Nirvana.

Family pictures

Well, the wife wanted pictures of the kids so we trucked down or over depending upon how you look at it and had the pictures taken. Mind you, the girl ™ was up most of the night with a runny nose and we were up with her. Still, we forged ahead.

We had some pictures taken but of course, they weren’t as super as the wife wanted them. Mrs. Conductor wasn’t happen with how the girl ™ was smiling therefore. I must say that one of the funniest things on the planet is watching grown adults — myself included — try to get a six-month-old to smile or behave the way you want. We do the damnedest thing. Thank goodness there wasn’t a camera on us or some video show taping.

It all worked out but afterwards, the wife wasn’t happy with the pictures. She (we) vowed to have new ones taken. Of course, once they went into the picture frames, she was thrilled. Personally, I think our candids are every bit as good and far less money. But I am a guy. I am wrong no matter what I say.

Odds and Ends

I have to say this about Hertz Car Rentals. They are pretty cool. I was supposed to go out of town and rented a car as mine are, well, clunkers. Anyway, the girl ™ was sick and our plans went to crap. So we took the car back early. The guy at Hertz worked to get me a good deal given I had the car less than 24 hours. Props to him and Hertz. Maybe they aren’t that way at other cities but here, they did me right. I’ll go back.

Beyond that, I am doing well. Loving the nice weather and the new show on PBS, Dinosaur Train. This is a great show in the vein of Super Why and Sid the Science Kid. It’s about a family of dinosaurs and how they learn about other species. It’s interested. Fun and I love it. The boy ™ loves it as well. He brings his T-Rex toy downstairs and roars with the other dinosaurs. Super.

And last night, while our camping trip was shot, the boy ™ and I spent the night in the tent. Yes, we pitched the tent in the yard and well, had a boys night out. We waved our flash lights, looked at the stars, ate s’mores. It was a good time. who said memories can’t be made when things go to crap.

Congrats to the Chiefs and wither the Pirates

Well, I guess we are the sixth best minor league city in the United States. We get lousy attendance for the Rivermen, the Pirates fold and the Chiefs are on the verge of the playoffs. I really hope the Pirates come back in some form. Indoor football was hokey and the game wasn’t that good but it was something to do in the winter and springtime when Peoria is severely lacking in entertainment for kids that doesn’t bankrupt you. Tickets were cheap and the game was quick-paced. My son ™ used to love going to the games. Granted, he had no idea what was happening and didn’t know which team was ours. I told him it was a NFL franchise. However, it was our little fun time.

I still don’t get what people in this city do for fun in the winter or early spring. Yes, people say museums, shopping or whatever, but you can only do that for so often. I’d love to see an indoor Jumpy House place or an indoor putt-putt or Gymboree-type of a thing for my children who are all under the age of 5. Give me something that I can do for fun.

Of course, I know that when the Downtown museum is built, it will be the end of my worries. However, until that day, I need something and losing the Pirates is just one less option I can fall back upon.