Hand Sanitizer

I hate being sick! We have all been sick. Everybody I know has been sick. Everyone's been sick multiple times this year. Poor Daniel has been off/on sick since November. He's finally healthy again now and it shows. He's such a happy kid all of the time except when he really really wants something and you won't let him have it, like that time he wanted to use sidewalk chalk on the carpet and I wouldn't let him, or when I wouldn't let him eat the entire bag of valentine candy he got at day care all at once, then there's thrashing about on the floor and gnashing of teeth and pouty faces for the next hour.

He loves nothing more than to be naked. He took off once out of the bathroom naked as a J-Bird laughing and giggling running as fast as he could go. He saw something on the carpet (a dried up baby carrot) and stopped just long enough to point at it and say "Keghy" then took off running again in his awkward bouncing-up-and-down fashion flashing his naked buns giggling the whole time. It was super hilarious, another one of those moments you ask "where's the camera?"

I got sick last Saturday with some Flu thing. I took NyQuil and slept for 16 hours. I love drugs. I think I was delirious part of that time. I remember being soaked in sweat and sometime in the early morning I have a vague recollection of Daniel sitting next me on the bed poking at my face. I finally got past the fever and stuff, but still had a persistent cough. I couldn't sleep last night because I couldn't stop coughing. I got about 3 hours of sleep total. The cough is gone today and I feel great in spite of only 3 hours of sleep.

I guess it could be worse, my co-workers house got struck by lightning last night. Which reminds me I need to review our insurance policy about now.

So everyone use hand sanitizer and face masks and don't come near me if you're sick!

potty training? - maybe later!

I think Daniel has decided that going potty in the seat is too much of an inconvenience. That, and the potty seat happy music just isn't surprisingly fun anymore. I can't blame him really. I mean, why stop what you're doing, run to the bathroom, pull off your pants and sit and stare at the wall for a few minutes while you do your business? He can't even read yet. It's way more practical to just keep doing whatever it is your doing and just go in your diaper. It just makes sense. I wish they made adult diapers. oh wait, they do!

He still hand-signs "potty" but now that means he just finished going potty. So now, he'll come running up to me and sign potty which means, I'm finished going potty in my diaper and I'm ready to be changed now, please, thank you in advance.

Stupid Road

Saturday afternoon on our way to our Niece's baptism we had a small confrontation with the sidewalk. ok, well I did. I was just driving merrily along when my XM Radio beeped at me which means one of my favorite artists was playing on another station so I reached for the radio which is normally right next to me on the console, but it wasn't there. I looked away for a second to find it and suddenly Heidi says Hey! Hey! Hey! and I'm thinking what!? you don't have to shout..., right when I noticed the road had moved to the left and I hadn't moved with it.

The right front wheel slammed into the curb of the sidewalk and if not for my Grand Tourismo skills I probably would have kept going right into the block wall, but I instinctively jerked left and found the road again. I just want to note that I didn't drift, I was driving perfectly straight, it was the road that moved. Obviously it's not my fault.

Well seconds later we had a flat. Because I wasn't already annoyed enough, Luck decided to provide me with the cheapest Jack and Lug Wrench available, the ones that came with the car. So there I am on the side of the road in a white shirt and tie jacking up my car half a rotation at a time with my family looking on. It took about 10 minutes to lift it up and 10 to get it back down on the donut because I could only turn the jack 180 degrees at a time. Daniel of course wanted to help so I let him hold the lug nuts. The only thing we needed to complete this scene was for Daniel to drop the nuts and yell out F-U-D-G-E!!!

Because the tire was ripped on the side it wasn't patchable, so buying a new tire cost $125. Heidi tries to make fun of me but I won't take smack because I seem to remember a $185 speeding ticket she got last year.....

No Soliciting

What good is a blog if you can't vent a little?

What does No Soliciting mean to you? I'm tired of coming home to find papers stuck in the door jam of my front door. Since we've moved in almost 6 months ago I've received about 20 business cards and fliers soliciting landscaping service. I've received well over 50 advertisements for a home security system both as fliers and door to door sales people. 30 of those have been from ADT, 17 from Monitronics and 3 from companies I've never heard of before. Maybe they think that if they pester us enough we'll finally cave in. Um, what else - Softwater, painters, swimming pools, bottled water, Dish Network and a load of other crap.

I finally invested in a $1.99 No Soliciting sign and stuck it on my door. Since then I still get 3 or 4 fliers stuck in my door A WEEK. I have no problem with small businesses and cheap advertising, but how about a little professional respect and courtesy for the consumer? No means no, not maybe. Skip this house and move on.

I called the number on one of these fliers. This one was another home security system and I asked the guy why he left the flier on my door when I clearly have a "No Soliciting" sign in plain view? He said that no soliciting means "don't knock or ring the doorbell, just leave a pamphlet." That's about when I wanted to reach through the phone and put him in a choke hold. I pointlessly argued with him for a few minutes then hung up. I guess I need a no soliciting picture of a stick figure putting a pamphlet in a door, circled with a line through it.

Maybe "soliciting" is one of those tricky grown up words that is so commonly used we can just make up our own version of what we think it means. Any way, I'll keep calling the numbers on these ads to complain. We all should, maybe it would make a difference.

I just came across this article from azcentral.com today. Look what's happening in Gilbert. I'm Jealous!



Gilbert officials to discuss banning fliers

Mike Walbert
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 31, 2008 01:01 PM
A proposed change to Gilbert's code would make it illegal for landscaping firms, pizza shops and other businesses to place unsolicited fliers on certain properties.

The Town Council will tackle the issue Tuesday night at its meeting.

At stake is a proposal that would bar handbill advertising, phonebooks and leaflets from properties where "no soliciting" or "no trespassing" signs are posted clearly.

The proposal would also bar knocking or doorbell-ringing on those same properties and hold businesses responsible for any violations. Subscribed materials, such as newspapers, would still be allowed.

Door-hanger advertising currently is legal in Gilbert.

But the practice came under fire last November, when Gilbert resident Naida Bloch asked council members to ban unsolicited fliers.

At the time, Bloch said she encountered more than 90 advertising/soliciting trespassing incidents at her home since November 2005.

However, the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce has expressed concerns about fairness and the impact such regulation would have on small businesses utilizing door-hangers and fliers as an affordable advertising method.

Under the proposal, violators would receive three written warnings within one year before facing a Class 1 misdemeanor, which carries up to $2,500 in fines and six months' jail time.

Tuesday is the first chance for council members and the public to discuss the proposed crackdown.