PhoneBoy Says

While I'm personally sick of hearing Gov. Richardson's opinion on what we should do in Iraq, the fact is, he's the only one willing to actually do what the American public wants in this regard--get the heck out of Iraq. The other presidential candidates, well, they can't commit to a complete withdrawl. Sounds like our current President.

Spend a few minutes watching this video and pass it around.

The Choice on Iraq

I admit, this seems strange. But you have to understand, I've had this trusty old alarm clock since I was a small child. It's a piece of history in more ways than one.I've told this story a couple of times already. It's amazing I can come up with a third version of it. :) This clock, made by the legendary Fairchild Semiconductor, has been a part of my life for about as long as I can remember. My mom bought it in either 1976 or 1977. At some point, it became my clock. It's been in more or less continual service since it was bought.Until I walked into Jaden's room to wake him up Tuesday morning. I had given the clock to him so he could see what time it was from his bed. It was sitting there showing 12:00 like it's showing in the picture. It only does that when the power goes out. I tried setting the clock. No dice. It wouldn't budge. It was emitting an usual humming sound. Something went wrong.After the kids went to bed, I opened it up and looked inside. I couldn't see what's wrong with it, and I don't think it's worth trying to fix. Maybe for sentimental reasons, but I've got enough other things that I actually know how to do to keep me busy. Electronics repair was never one of my strong suits.30 years of faithful service is probably more than anyone expected thisalarm clock to last. It was looking ugly in it's old age, and evenfalling apart somewhat. But it was mine, damn it, and it worked.Even though it makes me sad to do so, and it's probably a collector's item--even broken--the clock that has been the one constant fixture in my life to date is now in the trash. That clock has a lot of personal history associated with it. Throwing away the clock is a symbolic gesture towards putting history where it belongs--in the past.Goodbye, old friend. I will miss you.

When we moved to the new place, my wife decided the pinball machine should go in the living room. Now, of course, she wants it fixed. Apparently, it will be something cool for the neighborhood kids to play with.

The problem with getting pinball machines fixed is that not a lot of people actually fix pinball machines. I called the place that owns/services a lot of the amusement machines at a local arcade. They referred me to one of their techs who does it "on the side." I called to see if/when he could come out. He's busy this week, but hopefully we can work something out for next week.

The first step is getting all the wiring reconnected. I had to disconnect all of the wiring between the head and the base so that the machine could be moved from my office in the old house. Now that the machine has been moved, I need to reconnect it all.

I also ordered a set of rubbers for the machine. No, not the prophylactic kind, but the kind that goes around the slingshots, flippers, and whatnot. They are starting to get worn and cracked. One of the slingshots is already missing it's rubber ring due to this. Fortunately, the sets are cheap and easy to get on eBay.

Here's hoping I can get this thing back online soon.

Mr. Rogers certainly made this six year old man of the house. One of the few truly good human beings to have walked the face of the earth.

Mr. Rogers talks to the US senate

Having grown up playing Donkey Kong, I thought this was funny to see it acted out. In a Jackass kind of way, of course.

Other than a few loose items at the old place, the move is finally over. Escrow, however, is another matter. A few more weeks, I think.

The moving truck showed up at the old place this morning. They took our remaining furniture to the new house. The fridge needed to have the doors removed in order to get into the kitchen, which significantly added to the cost of the move. Our armoire almost killed the two young bucks who were trying to heave it up the stairs.

Other than those two things, and the extra fridge in the kitchen that we need to figure out what to do with, we're finally all in. We still have lots of unpacking to do, but at least my wife and I can sleep on our own bed finally!

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