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TVA power rates going down 6% as 2009 starts

Utility rates will go down about six percent as 2009 begins, Tennessee Valley Authority officials announced Thursday.

The amounts people save on their monthly bills will vary, depending on how much energy they use. However, residential consumers can expect a decrease of about $4.000 to $8.00.

Well, your plaudits and congratulations to me and my family for this rate decrease can start coming in any moment now. It's because of us that TVA has decided to cut back its rates!

That's because our house has been sans heat and heating system for, oh, going on about 3-4 weeks now. The gas heat system's been broken and between getting two different companies to take a look and give us estimates for repair and replacement, we've finally decided to get a whole new system to replace the 18-yr-old dual unit that's been on the house since it was built. And it finally does get replaced tomorrow.

That means no more shivery nights, thank goodness, and no more freezing hands and feet under the covers. I hope.

But anyway, because of our incredibly lower demand for energy this past month - we like it warm - TVA obviously noticed and adjusted its rates.

We'll take tributes in $50's and $100's if you please...

Affection

Doug and Dr. Helen both have good posts today about the tendency in society to demonize men for interacting with children. These days, almost any male is treated with suspicion if they stray too near a child, however innocently. The predatory pedophile has poisoned the potential beneficial relationships some men can have with children to create near paranoia.

In particular, I value the healthy, mentoring relationships I've have with the kids I'm around at my church (preschool on up through high school in teaching music and Sunday School). So many kids today grow up without loving, healthy respectful parental and father-figure relationships we can't just let all that slide because we fear a pedophile is lurking behind every corner.

Here's what I commented on Doug's post:

I work with kids in my church, and have always been apprehensive about the amount of affection I show them. However, apprehensive does not mean cold and distant, so I don’t really hesitate to show the kind of attention any father might show a child. Knowing their parents helps, of course, but I have no problem speaking with, playing with, or even showing fatherly affection to another child as long as it’s in the open and obvious.

We’re teaching our children that every male is a potential predator (which, I suppose technically is true but there’s potential and there’s potential) which teaches them not to trust anyone, especially male father figures.

My Daughter the Hot Dog

Here are a couple answers to the questions a couple of posts ago:




Just call her "Tinker Knievel!"

Incidentally, that's our friend, Dr. Greg the pediatrician.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

BrainyBoy takes a dive

Fun Quiz

Ok, which of the following statements regarding my weekend are true?

• I found out my brother is traveling to Paris to tour with John Schneider
  
• My little girl rode on a motorcycle around the neighborhood.
  
• I fell over a toy car in the floor and sprained my wrist
  
• We had dinner with two pediatricians (not our own) and played kid church songs by the pool on our guitars
  
• I sang "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" to a recently married bride
  
• I watched "Cloverfield" and "I am Legend" back to back, finished the novella "When Sysops Ruled the Earth" about a massive attack that wiped out civilization and saw the mid-season, apocalyptic finale of Battlestar Galactica
  
• One of my cats bit into one of those glowy-phosphorescent kids necklaces and his snout was neon pink for a while
  

Conversations

(We're all shopping at Target. I'm lagging behind with Tink, who spies a hammer hanging on one of the sale racks)

Tink: Look daddy. (Indicates hammer. It's a kind of funky green and caught her attention)

Me: Yeah.... you know what, I would do if I had a hammer? I'd hammer in the morning. Why...I'd hammer in the evening - all over this land! I'd hammer out danger...I'd even hammer out a warning. I'd hammer out love between all of our brothers... All - yes all - over this land. (I end my dramatic monologue with my arms spread wide, encompassing the great and awe-inspiring world around us)

Tink: (pause). What in the world are you talking about?

Tink........In......SPACE!!!!

(You might want to bump up the volume a bit to hear the music)

Bringing Out the Kid in Me

Discovering Dad asks, "What Brings Out the Kid in You"? Winner gets a Wii. Who could resist?

In many ways, I'm still a kid. I still love to watch old Land of the Lost reruns. I'll still read a comic book if I can find one, even from my collection that I still have. I enjoy silly songs and bad jokes and making goofy voices. I can still turn off that little part of my brain that says, "Ok, there's no way Indiana Jones could make THAT jump" just for the fun of it - like we all used to. I can still crawl around on the floor and jump cars and build Legos. I can recite the whole preamble to the Constitution - not because it was taught in school, but because Schoolhouse Rock taught me on Saturday mornings. And not just recite it - sing it. People may also look at me a little strangely when I try to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a solo (all parts included), but that doesn't mean I'm truly off my rocker. It's because I enjoy still hanging on to that part of my childhood.

This of course doesn't mean I don't take life seriously. I absolutely do. I have a family, two kids we're trying to raise. Planning for their future is a serious business whether it's school choices, tough homework assignments, discipline or teaching morals and the difference between right and wrong. My job future is always in flux...stable one minute and murky the next. I have many friends and church that mean the world to me, as we do to them. I stay attuned to the issues of the day - politics, world affairs, money... And I'm still working on my 15+ year marriage to a wonderful woman whom I perplex on a daily basis, but still somehow loves me.

Life isn't for children. It's a very adult thing. We have to put our childish ways behind us, to a certain extent. But I don't want to be known as that guy who's still basically immature but means well. I need to present a mature image to deal with mature things.

So what brings out the kid in me? Simple. My own kids. I remember when I was young, and the wide-eyed innocence I had watching Star Wars for the first time. I remember dreaming, making up worlds, situations, stories with my action figures. A 10-yr-old dares to put people in impossible situations, and figures out ways to get them out. They read Robert Heinlen and learn what's possible. They read Franklin W. Dixon and learn how to figure things out. They read Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary and learn how to cope with siblings, parents, friends and the difficulties in growing up. They gaze at the majesty of Cinderella's Castle and hide from scary Pirates of the Caribbean and grim grinning ghosts of the Haunted Mansion. They climb trees and chase butterflies and bat balls, all with the incredible knowledge of there's still more out there. What an incredible awareness, that with all this there's still so much, much more. And I share that with my own kids, and show them what I loved when I was their age. And they love it too, thankfully. I've tried my best to show them that life is what you make it - not what others tell you it's "supposed" to be.

In many ways, I get to relive my childhood through them. In less than a week my son, Brainyboy, will experience (if he has the nerve) his first real roller coaster ride at Busch Gardens Williamsburg). Probably Big Bad Wolf. And I'll be right there with him every curve of the track, knowing that the cycle has begun again.

What brings out the kid in me? Watching my daughter's eyes as they twinkle, mischievously. Watching my son's face as he sobbed real, silene tears when E.T. "died". Because I know that even though one day they will grow up, they will still keep with them an innocence of youth that transcends the cynicism and detachment of many kids today. They will keep with them the memories of glorious possibilities, the endless days of "what's next, dad?" And someday pass them on to their kids.

Our world is so sad these days. And so competitive. And so mean-spirited. Just a casual flip through the cable news and network channels will show you how simple differences of opinion divide our country. Children bring guns to school to protect themselves from bullies, while parents stand idly by. The images of children are endlessly sexed up in the media, from "Bratz" dolls to the latest line of teen clothing. 15-yr-old girls are routinely presented as objects for boy's (and men's) desires. Politicians and pundits give forth hate and sling mud only to gain a little prestige over the other side. People with different idealogies blow up buildings, kidnap boys from their villages to be soldiers in petty, greedy wars none of them understand. Other kids end up wrapped around telephone poles in their cars because mom and dad wanted to sponsor a graduation party with a little free booze. It's a cloudy world out there, and it's up to us to give our kids the wisdom to understand they don't have to feel like their destined to have to buy into it.

That's why I make funny voices at my daughter. That's why we always do the "gimme some fin...noggin...Dude!" from Finding Nemo and laugh ourselves silly. That's why I want Brainyboy to read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or keep practicing with the bat. And the piano. It's up to us as parents to get the kids ready to change the world, like we wanted to long ago in our own backyards.

What brings out the kid in me? Hey, they're already here, and always will be.

Factum, Adeptio

When Brainyboy started middle school this past fall, we weren't sure what to expect. Especially since our school was starting a brand new subject that all sixth graders were required to take: Latin.

Latin?? Why would anyone want to take Latin? I remember in high school some of the brainiest kids took Latin, but I never could understand why. Did they just all want to become doctors? Archaeologists? Anthropologists? I was happy taking French (well, happy as a high school could be taking any foreign language).

But hey, I'm all for progress. All this school year, every night, he's brought home a set of Latin vocabulary words that he's written each onto a half of an index card to study. I can't count the number of flash cards he's made...has to be in the hundreds.

He's since become one of the best Latin students in his class, which makes us proud.

But he saw his greatest factum, adeptio (or achievement) last week.

On March 13, thirty sixth graders took the National Latin Exam. They joined more than 187,000 students world-wide who take the exam yearly. I am pleased to announce that 11 of our 6th graders have earned scores high enough to be recognized by the American Classical League. For those students who missed 9 or fewer questions on the exam, they will receive a certificate of Achievement on the National Latin Exam. For those who missed 5 or fewer, they will receive a certificate of Outstanding Achievement on the National Latin Exam. I would like to say how proud I am of the effort of everyone who took the exam and especially for those honored.

Brainyboy is a winner of a certificate of Outstanding Achievement on the National Latin Exam.

Incredibilis!

Quick Takes on the Traumas of Life

I'm in a big blogging lag, without the will to post much at all. A lot's going on in our life these days and it seems like the more my offline world throws at me, the less I feel like blogging. When things get boring, I'll get back to posting I suppose.

In a nutshell: flu and flu scares, science fairs (Brainyboy 1st place!), Valentine's Day Simple Machine Project, end of basketball and beginning of soccer, church drama, Atomic Horns drama and new opportunities I hope to advertise soon, almost-teenage birthday sleepovers, "Spiderwick Chronicles" quite good, and once again no chips for Lent. No chips, snacks, popcorn, crackers, nothing good. It's starting to make me hallucinate, but I'll get through it. I've lost 7 pounds so far, which is good.

Anything else? Oh yeah, I opted against surgery on the bulging, herniated disk in my neck and will be starting Physical Therapy soon, and will have steroid epidural injections in my neck the first of April. Yeah, there's that little decision that was on me all last week...

One final thought: UT suspended punter Britton Colquitt and revoked his scholarship for his umpteenth DUI and alcohol-related arrest. Critics once again all over coach Fulmer for not keeping control of his players and the program. All I have to say is there's a young man here with a serious, serious substance abuse problem that is nobody's responsibility but his and his family's. That's where the focus should be, getting him into treatment and rehab so he can hopefully live with this addiction. I've seen the tragic, tragic results of alcoholism and the only thing it brings is grief and regret.

My Creepy Daughter

Eight-year-old Tink was under the weather most of this past weekend (a polite way of saying she was yakkin' all over the place, including my parent's house where she was a guest Saturday night. Sorry, mom and dad - I'll make it up to you. How bout next weekend?)

She's much better now, though last night she complained again about her tummy hurting. Probably nothing, she went on to bed around 9pm.

Later, pushing 11pm after everyone else is in bed and I'm at the computer, listening to the UT/Bama basketball game on the radio, I heard voices. Or more accurately, a voice. Coming from downstairs.

Now, a quick bit about the layout of our house. The computer desk is on the landing at the top of the stairs. I can come to the top of the stairs, look down and see the whole living room (there's a vaulted ceiling so everything's very open-air). A bridge/hallway that's also open-air to the vaulted ceiling, goes from the landing, over the living room to Tink's room. Brainyboy's room is downstairs in another part of the house.

Did I mention it was storming?

So I get up, wondering who in the world is talking below in a high-pitched voice... I come to the bridge, look over and there's Tink sitting on the couch watching the UT game with a very blank expression. Ever have one of those moments where you feel like you should literally rub your eyes in disbelief and shake your head (eh-eh-eh-eh-eh!) like in cartoons? For her to get downstairs, she would've had to come down the bridge, walk past me at the computer and then down the steps to the living room. All out in the open.

Kid's so light that barefoot she didn't make a sound and I never saw her out of the corner of my eye so intent was I on my, er, my spreadsheet. Ok, my web surfing. Ok, my World of Warcraft. But that's not important.

I ask her, a bit incredulously, why she's out of bed and if she's ok. She gazes up at me, smiling faintly. Ok, creepy (Have I ever told you how much she resembles little Heather O'Rourke from Poltergeist - "They're here!". I need to film her doing that sometime, it would creep you out, too). I go downstairs, pick her up and carry her back up to her room. I ask her once again if she feels ok, and she says, brightly, "yep!". I lay her in her bed and kiss her goodnight - she gives me a kiss too and settles right back to sleep.

She didn't remember a bit about it this morning.

Creepy dang sleepwalkin' kids.

What I Did On My (Short) Winter Vacation

Since the kids' school was closed today on account of the massive (ahem) ice storm (unlike Knox County schools, which were closed, they were to be open today) I stayed home with them.

Having a laptop and wireless access to work means I can be almost as proficient here as I can there. I don't quite have a dungeon to work in, but the kitchen table filled in nicely.

But what made the day was all of us spending our day watching the Gilligan's Island 1st season DVD I got for Christmas! I think we watched 15 episodes of classic B&W comedy gold...

MONEY!!!

Brainyboy shoots a free throw - and hits!!!

Helpless

My girls both have assorted sore throats, fevers, swollen glands, and other general malaise. On top of that the boy left a pen in his pocket and inked a whole laundry load of his school uniforms. I feel like I'm being slowly made obsolete at work and my other personal responsibilities keep mounting. I need to help get the house clean, and help fix the clothes and all that. I feel helpless. And at times kind of useless. I'm trying...

A Flickr of Light

I've added some photos to our Flickr account, including pictures of my suite at the Venetian Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas. Take a look, if you like...

Welcome, Foolish Mortals...

Trunk or Treat 2007

Tink Takes a New Job

Short Interlude for Baseball Update

Here's a quick update to the BrainyBoy baseball situation. We missed his game last night (Thursday) so called him from Pop Century this morning to check up on how it went.

He played outfield for 2 innings, and third base for 2 innings. According to him nothing was hit his way, but he tagged a man out leading off of third. Good for him! More progress, hopefully, in impressing his coach.

I'm encouraged.

Thank you to all those who offered helpful suggestions - they're appreciated.

One of THOSE Parents

I have a dilemma.

A couple years back I suddenly became on of THOSE parents - you know the ones, that argue with the umps at a Little League baseball game because a call didn't go my son's way?

That's almost the Cardinal Sin of Little League - a parent interfering with the flow of the game, especially because of some real or imagined slight against their child. Of course my reasons were perfectly valid and just, at least to me.

But that's not the point. The point is I'm considering committing the REAL Cardinal Sin of Little League, which is interfering with the coach regarding playing time for Brainyboy, and more precisely where he plays.

BB plays what they call, "Fall Ball", which is less intense, less competitive than the leagues that play in the spring, which should allow more participation and greater opportunities for the kids to learn about the game of baseball. It should either prepare them for the more competitive leagues, or at least instill in them a love and enjoyment of the game.

In my humble, parental opinion, BB is not being given a fair shake.

Now, he's not the greatest player in the world I admit. There are a number of kids on the team who are more skilled both at baseball in particular and athletics in general. But he's improved this year dramatically and has succeeded way beyond my expectations. I'm really proud of his progress, and have told him so several times.

Yet while the coach allows a brand-new player, another boy on the team, to play 2nd base the whole game last night, BB is stuck in Right Field. And every game before that he's been stuck in Left Field. He's played 3rd for one inning (making an unassisted double play, I might add) and 1st base one inning (picking a runner off the base), but in 7 games all other times it's been in the field.

Now, typically Little League teams are pretty static - you play one position and generally stick there most of the season. But this league moves kids around - you might have an inning where the entire infield has shifted around. So there's huge precedence for it.

Last night he was highly upset at not being given a chance to play infield, even for a couple innings, in situations and positions in which he's excelled and done everything the coach's asked in the past.

So that's my dilemma - do I speak to the coach, ask him why he's not playing BB in other positions, try to use some influence to get him to move him around some more?

Just that is not that big a deal. You see, earlier in the season I sent the coach an email suggesting that BB might be ideally suited for 1sy Base (just like his old man). The coach obliged for that one inning - BB did a fantastic job - and that was it.

So a subsequent email or conversation would seem to me to be excessive parental griping and tampering. At least that's how I might consider it, were I the coach.

Now, my dad coached me and my brother in baseball and continued coaching Little League for a long time. He's told me many stories about kids who had no talent that believed they could pitch, and how they and their parents would lobby him to "Put The Kid In". These situations are ridiculous, because it should be obvious to some people that their kid's skills has a limit. But it doesn't apply in this situation because the skills are there, the heart is there - he's just being completely overlooked.

What do I do?

UPDATE (09/27/07): I decided not to say anything to the coach, and let matters play out as they will. I urged BrainyBoy to mention something himself about wanting to play the infield, but he vigorously refused. He's become somewhat jaded about the process himself. We'll just wait and see what happens.

He has a game tonight, but we won't be there as we'll almost be in the air at the time, plus we'll miss his games next week which is disappointing. There's not much more I enjoy than watching my son play baseball...

My Car, My Pal

Remember my car? It's a 2005 Ford Focus (long term readers might recall my run-in with a deer)

I just got an email from the dealer where I bought my car--

--addressed to my car...

Dear Focus:

"Happy Anniversary" from your friends at *Dealership Name*!

I hope you and Barry are getting along well and that Barry is taking good care of you. If you have any bumps and scratches, aches or pains, just come in and see us. We are here to care for you. As always if there is anything I can do, please call me at *Dealership Name* at 865-abc-defg.

I hope you and your owner have an excellent day!

Respectfully,
*Manager's Name*
General Manager

I just thought it was nice my car has a friend out there. Maybe we'll invite him for a sleepover in the garage one day.

I don't know, the van might get jealous.