HAILyeah!

Over the weekend we finished setting up some raised planter beds. I filled them with dirt and planted a few things I had grown from seed along with my booty from the OSU Master Gardener plant sale. When I left this morning things looked good. The plants I had been growing inside were starting to perk up, and it looked like everything was getting the right amount of water from the sprinkler system. YAY!!

Then the storm came. First there was some rain. And then, BOOM! Hail, thunder, more hail, lightning, and a CRAP-LOAD of hail.

My dad would have had a field day with this. Today would have been his 68th birthday, so timing couldn't be better. I can just hear him laughing and calling me a wuss for growing my garden in one of those girly raised flower beds. Didn't he teach me anything?!

Sigh...

Anyhoo, we are planning to celebrate him tonight. Fajitas and margaritas are on the menu. Hopefully the weather will hold up long enough for me to cook the steaks outside on the grill.

Umm... Dad? Do you think you can help me out with that? Thanks, old man!!

Rude

Last night we went to the Jonny Lang concert at the Athletic Club of Bend. Our next door neighbor buddies came with us and offered to drive. So we got there in style - riding in their red convertible Slug Bug. It was a great night for a short ride with the top down. When we got there my hair was a little worse off but hey, when isn't it?

We arrived about 45 minutes early but it was already getting crowded. The last time we went to a show there we sat up on the little hill, against the building. Scott remembered that the acoustics up there are horrible so instead we opted for a nice spot right next to the reserved seats. We spread out our blankets and set up our (required) low-back chairs. Off we went again, in search of beer and food.

We didn't have to wander far - there was a beer wagon next to the stage. Once everyone had a cold Deschutes brew in hand we wandered a little further and found the food booth. The options were good and we were happy. Scott had a cheeseburger and it came with plenty of toppings - fresh lettuce, tomato, onion. We girls each ordered a chicken caesar salad - tasty with plentiful chicken and not "over dressed". Our other friend had a pesto pasta and he seemed happy too.

Before the opening act started I was sure to make a run to powder my nose. The restrooms are located in the Athletic Club locker room. I am not sure how it would feel if I was a Club member, to have all these random concert-goers tramping in and out of the locker room after my workout. But, I guess that comes with the territory. They must have been informed there was a concert that night, right? Anyways I am guessing it must have been stressing at least one person out because the restroom had that unmistakable smell. You know what I mean, right? Those - er - herbal supplements? I guess that's one way to relax after getting some exercise.

The opening act was a local musician named Reed Thomas Lawrence, and he was excellent. He is going to be making some other local appearances soon and I highly recommend checking out his set before he goes on the road. We liked the music so much that Scott went over to his booth and bought one of his CD's during intermission. Very good stuff!

After some announcements, Jonny Lang was welcomed to the stage. And this was when the night really started to go downhill for us. A woman not far away from us took a picture of Jonny on stage, and a security guard came over and harassed her about it. Now, I know there are lots of bands that don't want fans to take pictures at shows for one reason or another. But it is usually made clear at those venues that cameras are not allowed. As far as I could tell there weren't any signs proclaiming "no pictures please". On the other hand there were lots of signs reminding us "low back chairs only" and "no outside food or drink". Is it an unwritten rule now that you are not supposed to take pictures at concerts? If so that is a surprise to me. Recently we went to the KT Tunstall show at the Tower Theater and I took several pictures. The ushers at that show saw my camera and even asked to see the photos. In the interest of courtesy to other patrons I turned the flash off. Since we were outside this time I don't think her flash popped so I don't know what the issue was.

After the security guard walked away five or six people walked up and stood there. Right in front of us. Completely blocking our view of the stage. They weren't dancing or anything. Just. Standing. There. From where I was sitting, it didn't appear that their view of the show would have been any worse if they had sat down. And if they had sat down, then they wouldn't have been blocking the view of the stage for our group, and roughly 50 other people. In case you don't know, the ground at the Athletic Club is quite flat except at the very back, where the acoustics become poor as I mentioned earlier.

So, at this point here is a picture of our view of the stage. Nice, eh? I guess... if you are really into looking at people's butts, not the show. Being the shy guy that he is (ha!) Scott walked up after the song and said something like "Hey man, do you realize that some of us back there are having trouble seeing? We would all really appreciate it if you would take a seat so that all of us can enjoy the show." One guy laughed at him and turned around and waved at all of us that he was blocking. Everyone else just ignored him. Scott came back to our seats, muttering about how disrespectful people can be. Everyone around us thanked him for trying. So we were obviously not the only ones who were irritated by the "standers".

Meanwhile a few couples also came to the front and were dancing to the next song. I have to say, I like watching the dancers. They are clearly having fun and give me something to look at other than their butt. Some of them were better dancers than others, but it was still neat to see them enjoying the show in that way.

By about the fourth song I needed to stretch my legs and wanted an ice cream. I figured I couldn't see anyways, but could hear the music. As I was walking over to the food area I saw the same security guard that had harassed the lady with the camera. Here's a recap of our conversation:

Jen: Why, at a concert that requires low-profile chairs, are people are allowed to stand in front of the seating area?
Security Guard: I don't think they are really supposed to do that.
J: Well, there are a bunch of people standing in front of us, and it is really bothering my group and all the people sitting near us. Can you ask them to move?
SG: I don't have time to run around telling people to move. They would just move back. It's not my job to tell them to move.
J: Oh? OK then, what is your job?
SG: My job is to make sure people are having fun at the concert.
J: Interesting. Do you realize that there are about 50 people over there that are not having fun, because they can't see the show?
SG: Like I said, there's nothing I can do. I don't make the rules, the promoter does.
J: I don't understand, you said they weren't supposed to be standing. Is there someone different I should talk to?
SG: There's no one here that is gonna help a sarcastic bitch like you. I am walking away. I am done talking to you.

I stood there in shock - confused and upset. I asked for help, ended up on the receiving end of a bunch of double talk and then just was called a foul name by an employee at the concert. I couldn't help it - tears came to my eyes. I looked over and the security guard was standing a few feet away, watching the show. Not paying attention to the patrons to "make sure everyone has fun". No, he apparently couldn't be bothered to actually do his job, and I was preventing him from enjoying the show.

An Athletic Club staff person was at the ice cream booth and he noticed that I looked upset. He asked what was up and I told him about my frustration over our blocked view and my conversation with the security guard. He looked shocked, but admitted there wasn't anything he could do since he worked for the Athletic Club and security worked for the concert promoter. He did say that he was very sorry, and offered to give me my ice cream for free. I told him that wasn't necessary but I appreciated the offer.

When I got back to our seats, Scott and our friends were ready to go. Everyone else in our area was packing up and leaving too. We gathered our things and headed back to the Slug Bug. While we were walking through the parking lot I heard another couple say that they wouldn't bother going to concerts at the Athletic Club any more - they could hear them just fine from their house and the view was better. We laughed and agreed that it would be much more pleasant to look at our yard than a bunch of butts.

Overall? The main event of our night was an epic FAIL. I can't believe how we were treated by other concert-goers, and I am disgusted that an employee of C3 called me that name. Looking back I am somewhat happy with the rest of the evening since we got to hang out with our neighbor friends, go for a ride in the Slug Bug, and really enjoyed the opening act. But the next time I have an opportunity to attend a concert at the Athletic Club, I will probably pass.

Meant

I've meant to blog about several things lately, but I haven't. If I had found the time to post you might have enjoyed reading about...

...My trip to Ignite Portland 3. Kate and I had a fun time. Afterwards we went to dessert at Rimsky's with Ana's mommy and daddy. But hey, at least you can look at my photos from the event.

...Eating dinner at the new Flatbread Community Oven in the Old Mill District. While the gelato was worth going back for, the pizza was a little "meh!" Oh well...

...Boo's ballet recital. The one that lasted three hours, in a non-air conditioned auditorium. That also featured tap dancers. Which proves that I love Boo. A LOT!

...Hiking the McKenzie Trail to Tamolitch Pool. With Divot and a friend. To see a waterfall that happens once in a lifetime. It was worth the drive.

...Eating Chicken & Waffles in Downtown Bend. But they were a little too classy for my taste. I bet I know who can do better. (And I'll let you know as soon I hear whether they give it a twirl!)

...Going to a Bend Elks baseball game with Occidental Girl and her family. RHPB bought OC a sno-cone which quite possibly made him a new best friend, but might also have made her head spin around from the sugar rush. Oops!

...Our family trip to da beach. It was windy but still fun. We hiked, played in the sand, and found geocaches. Oh yeah, and I got older while we were there too.

...How sore I was after walking (at 6:30 in the morning) with Chubby Mommy and Speedy Kate.

Sorry folks, I meant to do better. Where the heck is this summer going, and would someone please hit the pause button?!

Paper

Since it's almost my birthday AND my name changed, I went to the DMV today to renew and update my license. They gave me this:

Yeup... it's a paper card. With a black & white photo and the word "INTERIM" stamped across it in huge letters. I also had to surrender my current/expiring plastic "permanent" license. The nice DMV lady warned me that only a friendly OREGON police officer will accept this flimsy paper card as ID. No one else is required to accept this as a legitimate form of identification. So if I am planning to fly, rent a car, purchase alcohol or cigarettes, or go to an R-rated movie I am SOL. Well, not completely, I have a passport so I can fly or rent a car. But no alcohol, cigarettes, out-of-state traffic stops, or "grownup" movies for me for the next couple weeks!

I wonder what will happen if I need to write a check, go to Costco, or am otherwise asked to provide ID? This should be an interesting little experience to see what I can and can't get away with. And Scott will have to buy his own Coors Light for now, since I still get carded! (Yes, now I am just bragging.) I wonder if I can convince him to pick up some groceries while he is out buying beer? (Kidding...) It's a good thing that there isn't a minimum cupcake age, or there would be some big trouble!

Here's some more information about Oregon's new "central issuance" and answers to some questions about temporary paper driver licenses. For example, What happens if my dog eats it? and What if it is confiscated by law enforcement?

**********************************************

p.s. The lovely art in the background is by Miss Boo. She was nice enough to hang out with me on Election night and decorated my office white board for me. Kind of reminds me of when I used to go into my mom's office to visit/irritate her and drew on her chalkboard... I was right about the same age too!

Beer

I think I am overdue for some relaxation. We have been in crazy-kid-schedule-holidays-coming-up-omigod panic mode for way to long.

Tonight was a good start. Beers with some of the girls, at McMenamins. Lots of chatting, laughing, and very laid back. My kinda night!

We started with a great bartender - then her shift ended. Really friendly gal, with a GREAT frog shirt and perky braids making her look waaaay to young to serve alcohol. She was a little distracted and completely missed one of the girls when she came in, so she wasn't as happy with her and wrote to me this morning:

I came in and made a big "hi girls", hugs all around, very loud entrance and STILL sat their for 5 minutes before I got her attention for my first beer. Then she said "oh, I didn't even see you." ya kidding?! I think the only people that didn't hear us were the folks sitting in court across the street at City Hall!

I think she tried to make up for it by bringing several tasters. And selfish me, I already had a beer so I didn't notice!

After she left we got the world's snarkiest bartender. If there are four women at the bar, and three of them have empty "first round" beer glasses then what would you do? Hmmm... if you said "ignore them" then you must have been our bartender. He wasn't all that busy, either. We waited patiently for a while, but how long can you patiently for another beer when the bartender is right there?! Finally, one of the girls hollered, "Hey bartender we need more beer." Barely any reaction. And just in case you haven't seen the bar at the McMenamins main restaurant? It's tiny. Really hard to ignore your customers. But he managed to do so... which earned him taunts and disdain from our barstools.

The final insult? When we asked for the final bill he grunted that it was already there, in the glass in front of us. But guess what? It wasn't the final bill, so the second round of drinks wasn't on it. So when the bill was paid... he then brought the final bill, with the credit card slip.

Jerk.

Other than that... the beer, the company, and of course the Cajun tots were all great!!!!

Railroad

What is the deal with the railroad crossing on Reed Market Rd? I know all the recent fuss has surrounded the Hwy 97 & Cooley intersection.

But from someone who drives through BOTH of these "problem areas" on close to a daily basis, the railroad crossing bothers me more.

Hwy 97 & Cooley is fairly consistently bad. I can count on the delay to be the same every day, every time. And it's not that much of a delay - not more than 2-3 minutes per trip.

On the other hand, you just never know when the railroad crossing is going to slow you down. It could be a train. It could be a really slow train. It could even be a train that stops on the road. Or it could be the worst of all - a crossing malfunction.

And you just never know how long one of these delays will last. There are ways around the crossing, but how does one know if that will actually save time? It could be a short train. It could be a minor, less than a minute malfunction. Or it could be 20 minutes.

Today I got to experience my least favorite of these delays - the dreaded crossing malfunction. Twice. Heading to the store to pick up two items, I turned the corner and then down went the gates. So I waited. Then the gates went up briefly - just long enough for me and maybe two other cars to get across. When I came back from my quick shopping trip there was a backup, but the gates were up. Sure enough as I crept towards the crossing (traffic was also backed up due to the light at 15th and Reed Market) the gates went back down. Overall I probably waited almost half an hour between my two delays.

Unpredictability - not my favorite thing. Unpredictable traffic delays - even lower on the list.

Reasonable

I tend to think of myself as a fairly reasonable person. Scott says a lot of the time I am "too nice." Maybe that's the case, and maybe that's why I put up with his sh**. ;) Yes, I do manage and help with a couple of groups here in town. I am not paid to do this, but I still try to do the best I can to make sure events, times and locations are appealing to as many people as possible. But I can't make everyone happy all the time, so I figure if I have a large number of people who think I am doing a good job (translation: people who show up and/or participate in some way on a regular basis) then that is good enough.

And honestly... if something reasonable is asked of me and is within expectations of what I should do, then I will do it. If it's small, I will generally take care of it immediately. More to get it out of the way than anything, and usually because it means I am going through my email anyways (since that's how I receive requests) and that directly translates to fewer items on my "to do" list.

I also tend not to question reasonable requests. If it's a straightforward request, then it will be done without much feedback from me. I don't think simple requests require discussion or for me to question the requestor's motivation. And I generally don't attempt to talk people out of them. That is why I would describe them as "simple" or "reasonable" requests.

In short, don't ask me to do something if you don't want me to. And don't expect me to feel bad if what you asked for wasn't really what you wanted. And don't worry, if this pertains to you then you probably know who you are.

I feel better now.

Marginalized

Interesting... I wonder what this guy's back story is? He comes across as very intelligent and well spoken. He isn't alone in his ideas but I wonder what motivates him...



"My freedom is more important than your faith." ~Pat Condell

Any thoughts, Internets? Do you agree or disagree?

Lucky

This post inspires me to say...

Thank you, Scott!!

I tend to be the keeper of the schedule at home. I try to keep track of all the kids events - and there are many. Between school sports, birthday parties, conferences, and everything else it seems like we are always on the run. But somehow the homework still gets done, violins are practiced, the kids get their showers, and generally everyone gets to bed "on time".

And then there are the rest of the evenings - the ones when I am not home for one reason or another. I try to limit my after work commitments, but not to the point where I never, ever get out. Those are the nights that I can come home to... just about anything.

This week in our crazy kid-schedule - we only have Stinky at home. Last night, when I arrived home from the COWPU meeting I was greeted with...

QUIET

Scott texted me when Stinky got home from his XCountry meet in Sunriver (at about 6:30pm). When I walked through the door at 8pm:

1. Stinky was finished with his homework (except for reading - but that's part of the bedtime routine)
2. Stinky had eaten dinner (and it wasn't cereal - he ate some leftover ribs and vegies from the other night)
3. Stinky had taken a shower and was dressed in PJ's
4. The house was relatively picked up - daily mail, homework, and clutter were put away.

So instead of rushing Stinky through homework, forgetting about the shower, and wondering what to feed him at 8pm... I got to sit and relax with my family (well, the ones that were home) until bedtime. After I got a bite to eat we sat and watched "Survivor" together. (Yeup, it's that time again!)

I am such a lucky girl!

List

Girls out there on the Interweb, all y'all have a "list", right? You know the one I am talking about. The one your significant other knows all too well.

Shawn Mullins is on mine.

Picture me and Scott. From the second row, center - with no one between us and the stage until the end of the show when the "crashers" appeared. (EM, my friend Laramie was in the third row. With her hubby. Dori called me this morning offering the second row. Could I say "no"? After all, he's on my "list". I still owe you a beer! Or two... or three!) It felt like it was a concert for Scott and me alone, listening to music from someone who sang every word from. the. heart.

Blue
Beautiful Wreck
House of the Rising Sun

...and so much more.

There was one guy on the stage with an acoustic guitar. But you coulda fooled me... he sounded soo amazing there should have been more. He is that good.

And it was good to see friends there too... Laramie & John, Adrienne & Tyler, Tom, Bonnie... I hope everyone loved the music as much as we did.

Shawn Mullins... storyteller and poet. Scott had almost as much fun as me. When he comes back to town, I will find a way to be there. (Hey Shawn, we have a great guest room and even Scott says you are welcome any time!!!) Maybe I am not his most well known stalker in Bend... but total respect for his music, and I am a big fan.

Burn

In case you haven't heard yet, there's a fire burning near Bend. Actually, not far from our house. Which means the 'hood is really hazy. Made me glad to go into work this morning, just to get away from that icky burnt smell^*.

On the other hand, all I really want to do is go home and lie down. My throat is itchy, my sinuses hurt, and I am sneezing forcefully. Seriously, I almost deafened the Sherpa with the last one. I tried the curry method^** of getting things flowing, and while it tasted awesome (yeah! I could taste it!) it did nothing to help stem the tide of the oncoming headache.

Keeping mind focused on one good thing - vacation next week. It will be good to see the Mouse. Four days and counting...

^*While I love the smell of a good campfire, the smell of forest fire smoke over a period of 12 hours is just not the same. sigh...

^**Red Curry Chicken from Thai on the Fly. They use a little bit of coconut milk and some pineapple. Yummmmm... so good!

Flagger

If you live anywhere near 15th Street, and south of Reed Market Road, then this should be a familiar sight to you:
(Apologies for the crummy phone-camera image. I don't haul the Nikon with me on my daily drive.)

Yeup, that's right. We have road construction. In fact we have had road constructions for months. I know the traffic flaggers and they know me - so well that when I saw one at the store he said "hi" to me. All part of upgrading the utilities and infrastructure for this 90-home Pahlisch development. (At least that's my best guess!) Because, ya know, we don't have enough big empty houses in Bend. Let's build more!

They have been in the process of tearing up one section of road at a time, doing something mysterious and important that involves lots of heavy equipment and six or seven guys standing around staring into the pit, and then patching the road surface. Lather, rinse, and repeat... all the way from the canal to Reed Market.

It's been hellish.

I have waited for flaggers for up to 25 minutes at times. Sometimes I give up, turn around, and go further down Reed Market to 27th Street, just to avoid sitting and waiting. I have found alternate routes through the "Biblical King" neighborhood just north of us. But NONE of them seem to go all the way from Ferguson to Reed Market, so I usually get stuck anyhow. And I can only imagine the wear and tear on my car by driving over the uneven, patchy "surface".

But it's almost over.

The end is in sight.

They are paving 15th Street right now! And they wouldn't dare rip up a freshly paved road, would they?

Or would they?

Moderation

Dear Omar,

Regarding your comment on my blog:

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Thank you for your feedback and your praise of my blog post. Especially nice to hear that you thought is was "good written"... nice of you to say. However I really don't appreciate your attempt to use my blog to advertise your condos. I am sure they are beautiful, but that just isn't what this blog is about.

Therefore, due to an increasing volume of comment spam like yours, I have enabled moderation on this blog. Don't get me wrong... I love hearing my readers' reactions, thoughts, and best of all praise! ;)

However I am not interested in links to real estate sales, time shares, and other unrelated material.

If it's a legitimate comment I will make every effort to approve your comment in a timely manner. Heck, I will even approve comments that link to similar content on other sites. But if the link is totally unrelated, don't even bother.

Thanks for your understanding.

Sincerely,
me

Shame

This dishwasher apparently escaped from captivity and met a bad end. This particular species is rarely seen in the wild, but is more often found in suburban kitchens nationwide. I know that sometimes it's nice to let your dishwasher out to get some fresh air. But please, as a responsible dishwasher owner please consider using a leash so that they don't suffer the same fate as the one seen above.

Seen on our hike today, off China Hat Road just south of Bend, OR.

Shoot

Actual banner ad, seen on MySpace:


Is it just me, or is this in extremely poor taste?

Dumb

This just seems dumb (geek alert)...

I am working on a big project at work. We are building a RIA using Adobe Flex Builder. Both my co-worker and I are learning Flex as we go, with a little training here and a lot of googling there.

We were having problems with combo boxes populating correctly. The data was coming back fine, and it seemed like things should have been working OK. But on a form with 3 combo boxes, only one would have the "currently selected" item, as populated from a database.

After changing the format, re-ordering the fields, and double and triple checking just about everything... a-HA!

When you fetch information from a database, Flex uses something called a RemoteObject. This connects to the code with the db queries and tells it what to do after the data is returned. In this case we are using RemoteObjects to connect to Coldfusion Components (CFC's) that contain multiple, uniquely named functions. You can add more than one function in a CFC to each RemoteObject.

I noticed that the order in which I fetched the list of items for the combo box was important. The first call resulted in a combo box with the proper value selected. The others just had the default value. I noted that all three were getting their data from the same RemoteObject.

BUT... apparently the system is limited to one instance of the RemoteObject at a time. Since the three combo boxes were being returned from the same RemoteObject we were having a latency problem. I divided the work between three RemoteObjects (one for each combo box) - and it worked.

Note, I pointed the individual RemoteObjects to the SAME back-end Coldfusion Component. So that file can be opened by multiple RemoteObjects at once, I guess.

Why is this dumb? Because now instead of one RemoteObject code block that references a CFC file... I have to have three that are almost identical. Clutter, clutter, clutter!

Hassle

For some time, Stinky has been saving money for a video game called "Guitar Hero". This game comes with a special controller, and simulates the experience of playing guitar for a rock band. Recently "Guitar Hero II" was also released, but he wants to get them in order.

In exchange for shoveling the snow on our sidewalks and the driveway, he got a little bit of extra cash. Also he still had a gift card from Best Buy that someone had given him and had saved about $30. He added it up and figured he had $60 and wanted to know if he had enough to buy the game. I checked the price on Best Buy's website and found that it was on sale for $59.99 - he had just enough. There was a link to see if the item is available in the store, and it verified that the Bend store had the game in stock. I made a screen print of the page and emailed it to myself (since our printer is not working). I told him that we would go that evening.

He gathered his cash and the gift card and we headed to Best Buy. They had a large stack of the games. He picked one and we headed to the cash register. The game rang up at $69.99 - and Stinky gave me a look of panic as he realized he did not have enough money to pay for the game. I mentioned to the cashier that we had checked the price online from home, and the website said it should be ten bucks less. She called a supervisor over.

The woman that came back said she just checked the Best Buy website and it said $69.99. I asked her to show me. She led me to a little computer that had the Best Buy website up - and the screen showed the price as she said. I asked her if I could show her the picture that I emailed myself - and she replied that the store does not have Internet access. How could they have the Best Buy website up if they don't have Internet access? She started saying that I must have been on some other site, like a price comparison site, that showed an old price. I disagreed - and pressed the issue mentioning that posting one price on the website and charging a higher price in the store was false advertising. She replied, there was no way I could prove my claim so she didn't have to honor the price.

At that moment the Store Manager came over. (They must have PO'd mom radar in that store.) I explained to him that the Best Buy website had one price, and the computer in front of us had another - higher - price. He started to tell me that the Best Buy website is a different company. I explained that on the webpage there was a link to check availability in the stores, and the Bend store was listed. I then asked if I should have my kid put the item back on the shelf and we would leave...

He looked at the supervisor, said "it's only ten bucks - give it to her", and he walked away.

Now, I am not sure if I am mean enough that we would have left. I probably would have made some bargain with Stinky for extra chores in exchange for the extra ten bucks, since the store issue wasn't his fault. But I am really glad it didn't come to that.

So, to give Best Buy credit they did eventually honor the price advertised, but only after arguing with two different employees and threatening to leave. I felt like the supervisor was accusing me of being a liar. The cashier did a great job of talking with Stinky while this was going on though - she seemed very nice.

If it wasn't for the gift card, I wouldn't have gone there anyways. This visit didn't do much to encourage me to return.

On the bright side - Stinky is loving his new game. He is sharing with the girls and there has been a lot of shrieking and lauging and singing coming from the bonus room, where the PS2 "lives".

Baby

What are the ad agencies in Central Oregon smoking? Who are the ad wizards that come up with this hogwash?

Yesterday I posted Stinky's reaction to the Jerry's Outdoor radio spot for snow blowers.

Then I heard the new ad for Norwalk (the Furniture Idea).

A woman is welcoming her hubby home from work, with the announcement that she is pregnant. Very pregnant. Yes boys and girls it's a miracle, she went from skinny jeans to a seven month belly in a matter of hours.

She indicates that now that she is preggers they need a newer, comfier bed. And more calming decor. They need the best for their baby, after all. And where can they get all this? At Norwalk, of course!

But there is no baby. She has stuffed a pillow into her shirt in order to trick her hubby into buying the new furniture. But don't panic! It turns out that the hubby happened to see the bedroom furniture and likes it too, so they can run right down to Norwalk and buy it.

After he reminds her to remove the pillow.

Oh but that isn't the worst part of this ad folks. Not by far. After hubby agrees to go, the woman asks:

"While we are out, can we get a baby too?"

I can't tell you how loud this ad makes me want to scream. They have got to be kidding, right? Not only does this ad not inspire me to visit the Norwalk store... I avoid it altogether!

Costumes

Apparently Halloween is "banned" from schools because it might offend someone. Also a claim has been made that the costumes are "distracting" in the classrooms. There is no educational value, they say. I remember back in Elementary school, we were allowed to wear costumes... but they had to be based on a book character or an author. Did I have the only creative teachers out there, that could turn this "traditional" Halloween activity into something educational?

Trips to the pumpkin patch are still around. Last year Boo's (1st grade) class went to learn about "harvest" and collect pumpkins so they could measure them as part of a math lesson. I have no clue how running through a corn maze teaches anyone about "harvest"... but OK... whatever works. Butthead's (4th grade) class went last year too... but then we had to pick her up from school because (get this) the kids are not allowed to take pumpkins on the school bus. EH?!

Whether a holiday is celebrated by their family or not... does it harm a kid to learn about traditions practiced by others... be it at home or at school? I would have no problem with the kids learning about traditions from other countries and faiths. It seems like that would serve to promote the understanding, respect and tolerance that are sorely missed!

Tease

I was elated last week when Adobe released a beta for the Mac version of Flex Builder 2 (FB2) on their "labs" site. As I mentioned in a previous post the team I work with has been "getting Flex-y" and this was one of the compelling reasons for our attendance at MAX last week. I have been using FB2 on my PC for a couple of months... but I really prefer my Mac for development.

So... as you can imagine as soon as I returned to work yesterday, the first thing I did was download and install the Eclipse plug-in on my Mac. It's not a small file either, and it took about an hour to pull down.

After I finished installing I noticed that the follow up "Do you want to install extensions for Coldfusion?" message that came up when I installed FB2 on my PC didn't appear. So I naively assumed that they were installed automatically.

I launched Eclipse and switched to the Flex workspace. Looks good so far. But then I noticed that the additional tabs and features for building Coldfusion apps was MISSING. Hmmm...

Next I guessed that this had something to do with being a plug-in instead of the full product, so I downloaded the full version. Again - not a small download. And installed it. And launched it. And... still no Coldfusion goodness.

So I turned to my good buddy, Google. I searched for information and found the following, which was buried on the Adobe website:

Will the ColdFusion Extensions for Flex Builder 2 also be available for Macintosh?
Yes, ColdFusion Extensions for Flex Builder 2 will be made available simultaneously with the Flex Builder 2 for Macintosh release. There is however one functional difference in the Macintosh product. The query-builder will not be available on Macintosh.

Which tells me one thing.

Adobe is a TEASE.

The official release of FB2 for Mac is scheduled for 2007. And in order to develop at a good pace... I really need the Coldfusion extensions. (I really don't need the query builder... it was just nice to have.) SO... I will be developing Flex applications on my PC for a few more months I guess.

Sad...