Brace yourself for immediate disintegration!

LOL! Marvin Martian, the old Looney Tunes character, had so many great lines in those cartoons! I'm a bit sad to part with this particular treasure {sigh} but this glass tumbler is up in my online garage sale nonetheless. The auction is ending today, so if you're into this type of collectible, now's your chance!

You can click here to see all the items in my online garage sale.

Thanks for helping me clear out all this stuff before our big move in a couple weeks!

Tags: eBay; Looney Tunes; Marvin Martian; online garage sale

Holy Geometric Shapes, Batman!

The Cassini spacecraft has taken some really interesting pics of Saturn. Check out this one of the planet's north polar region. The clouds seem to form a hexagon shape!

The strange shape has been noticed before, by the Voyager probes over 20 years ago (it is apparently a long-lasting phenomenon), but never with this pic's perspective and clarity.

Simply amazing!

Image Credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona
Hat Tip: SPACE.com
Tags: Cassini; hexagon; JPL; NASA; Saturn

M -18 Days and Counting!

We're moving in 18 days! And I have so, so much to do! Aarghhh!!! I need to buy more packing tape!!!

Tags: moving; relocating

Bake Brownies with Maximum Edge Pieces!

Now this is a kitchen widget I gotta get! The Bakers Edge Brownie Pan is a baking pan shaped kind of like a maze or labyrinth. Which means you get more corner and edge pieces - the best pieces of a brownie in my opinion, nice and chewy! I'd buy one right now if I could find one on eBay!

Hat Tip: Boing Boing
Tags: Bakers Edge; brownies; edge brownies; pan

M -19 Days and Counting!

We're moving 19 days from today! And I have so, so much to do! Aarghhh!!! Now, where'd I put that chocolate?

Tags: moving; relocating

Delicioso

What's that, honey? No, no. It's not junk food. Yes, that is chocolate melting on my fingers, but I'm eating healthy. Seriously, it says it right here... eating 8 ounces of dark chocolate a day is good for you. I'm just doing what the doctor ordered!

Hee, hee! Yeah, they won't have to twist my arm on this one!

Tags: chocolate; dark chocolate; health

M -20 Days and Counting!

We're moving 20 days from today! And I have so, so much to do! Aarghhh!!!

Tags: moving; relocating; time management [or maybe lack thereof]

Psst! Have I Got Some Stuff for You!

Alright, shameless plug warning.... I've been busy listing widgets in my online garage sale. Perhaps you would care to help a blogger/daddy out? You never know, my junk fine merchandise may be just the treasure you've been looking for!

Actually, I am selling some really cool stuff, pack rat that I am. I'm kind of sad to see some of it go, but I can't take at all down to Texas so it's best that I find a good home for it with someone else. {sniff} {sniff}

;-)

Anyway, here's a peek at some of the items I have up for sale right now: [gallery image]


[Update: I removed the gallery - just couldn't get the formatting right. You can check things out over on my garage sale page for an up-to-the-minute listing.]

Tags: eBay; online garage sale

M -21 Days and Counting!

We're moving 21 days from today! And I have so, so much to do! Aarghhh!!!

Tags: moving; relocating; time management

Another (Geeky) Milestone

w00t! My blog had it's 19,000th visitor this morning!

{insert happy geek dance here}

According to my logs it looks like someone from Rhode Island was number 19,000. I believe, whoever he/she is, has been a regular reader for quite some time now and, well, I'd just like to say thanks! Hmmm.... I need some Daily Yak swag or something to give away on occasions like this. I'll have to work on a logo or something, and do some shirts and things on Cafe Press. Perhaps in time to celebrate my 20,000th visitor!

Anyway, thanks to all of you for reading my blog!

Tags: blogging

A Guide to 5 Simple Things

A friend and I were talking about our eBay auctions the other day, and how we could get more people to at least view our listings. The more viewers, the more bids (at least that's what we hoped). Anyway, I came up with a list of five, simple (and free), tools that do just that. These are tools that eBay provides to every member, though most don't take advantage of them. And many aren't even aware they exist!

I typed the list up afterwards and was encouraged to submit it to eBay as a Guide. I did just that, and so far the reaction has been pretty good. So, if you are interested in this sort of thing, you can check out my new eBay Guide here:

5 Simple Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Listings

Also, if you don't mind, scroll down to the bottom of the guide when you're done reading it and click on 'Yes' where it asks if the guide was helpful. If I get 100 votes, I'll geek out a bit and earn my official eBay Reviewer/Guide Writer credential! Thanks so much!

Tags: eBay; selling on eBay; traffic

Do You Do Windows?

As you walk down the hallway, from the direction of the front door, you pass the dining and living rooms on either side and eventually find yourself entering the family room. That's the view in this pic from last month. This large room is open to the second floor and has lots of windows on two walls to let in light and provide a nice view of the back yard and the preserve beyond that. The kitchen is off to the right.

This is roughly the same view as of last week. As in the kitchen pics, you can see that the drywall and painting are done. They've also finished the tile in this area. We decided to have most of the first floor tiled rather than carpeted. At some point we may replace the tile with hardwood floors, but for now it'll make cleanups easier than wall-to-wall carpeting (we do have two young kids). Of course that top set of windows is going to be a challenge. Hmmm.... Think I might need a new ladder!

Tags: home construction; moving; real estate

Pancakes Anyone?

Alright, here's a series of two pics showing the progress on the kitchen of our soon-to-be Austin abode. The first one was taken about a month ago as they were getting the framing and utilities work done.

The second was taken last week. I really like those cabinets! Nice and new and bright and shiny! And... and they're not our old cabinets! Also, the drywall is up and painted. They're actually working on the tile in this pic.

Tags: home construction; moving; real estate

A Story Called Christmas

My daughter has been writing a weekly journal for her first grade class. It is intended to be an "experience" journal, but lately she has preferred to make up her own stories (our lives are that boring?). Our son, who is in preschool and still learning to read and write, is desperate to emulate his big sister. He enjoys watching me blog (especially when I post things like the pics he took - here and here), so I told him that if he wrote a little story he could guest blog here on the Daily Yak.

Here's what he has so far (typed by him too):

Santa came over to our house to drop off some presents.

[to be continued....]

It's not much, yet, but hey, I think it's the first complete sentence he's ever written (though his sister did help him with the spelling). I don't know exactly when the next installment will be ready (this sentence took a good portion of the afternoon), but stay tuned!

I'm a proud papa - my son's first blog post! LOL!

Tags: blogging; kids; writing

Wasn't That Thoughtful!

My wife has a meeting this weekend, so she's stuck at work. :-/ She was picking my brain the other day, trying to figure out what she should give as a gift to someone at the meeting.

You see, the handful of people at this meeting have all travelled here from out-of-state, and they decided, as a group, that they would do a gift exchange today. The gifts are supposed to somehow represent the city or state you call home.

Alright, I thought, something having to do with Maryland... maybe politics too (given our proximity to the nation's capital)... and maybe tie in the Irish as well (since it happens to be St. Patrick's Day)....

Well, I can think of only one thing that meets all three of those criteria!

Celtic Fury!!! LOL!!! For those of you who are not familiar, Celtic Fury is one of the albums recorded by O'Malley's March, an Irish/Celtic rock band from Maryland. The band's front man and leader is Martin O'Malley, who also just happens to be the Governor of Maryland! The band isn't just an ego thing either, they're actually pretty good; I've seen them perform a couple of times.

A perfect fit! Unfortunately, the governor doesn't seem to have a distribution deal with the local Barnes and Noble, so I couldn't pick up a copy in time for my wife's meeting. Instead, she had to settle for a Terps shirt (which, of course, does fit in nicely with March Madness).

Tags: Martin O'Malley; Maryland

Fear the Turtle!

So, picked up my 1st grade daughter from school this afternoon:

Me: "Hey, bug! How was school today?"

Her: "Fine. We did something really special in reading class today."

Me: "What was that?"

Her: "Well, [my teacher], got a TV and guess what we watched?"

Me: "A Dr. Seuss show?"

Her: "No, Dad! That was just for Dr. Seuss' birthday!"

Me: "So, what did you do?"

Her: "We watched a basketball game! And my favorite team was playing!"

Me: "Huh?!?"

Her: "The Terps, Dad! You know, they're from Maryland! And you know what... they won!"

Me: "Really? Wow!"

Me [thinking to myself]: "Hmmm.... Me thinks the teacher just didn't want to miss the NCAA tournament. I wonder if she at least tried to tie it in to a reading assignment somehow?"

Well, at least the Terps won. :-)

Tags: college basketball; University of Maryland; NCAA; Terps

A Yak By Any Other Name

So, what do bloggers do when they have a minute or two to fiddle around with their site? Check their stats, of course! My traffic is fair for a small, personal blog (and it's on an upward trend now that I'm posting more regularly), but one of the funnest stats to check is my search engine referrals.

Guess what the number one search term is for this blog? I'll give you three guesses....

Nope, that's not it.

No.

OK, I'll give you a hint. It has just about nothing to do with stay-at-home dads.

Sorry, that's not it either. Alright, here it is. The number one search term used to find the Daily Yak is... space ship!

LOL! The largest number of referrals from search engines are actually linking to my posts (and pics) about watching the space shuttle launches or going to the Air and Space museum with my kids! Who would have thought?

Tags: blogging; search engines; search terms

They Didn't Save a Slice for Me

Happy Pi Day everyone!

I was going to celebrate as I did last year, but when I came back home from a meeting last night, I discovered that my wife and kids had finished off the cherry pie I was hoping to have for the occasion.

:-(

Ah, well. Guess I'll have to find some other way to honor that most interesting of numbers, at 1:59pm. Do you have any special plans for the day?

Tags: 3.14159; Pi Day

Feeling Weird

Our real estate agent (here in Maryland) called yesterday to see if we would mind if the buyers came by the house to take some measurements and things. I agreed (I mean, why not?), so they showed up this afternoon with their agent and a contractor. They poked around a bit, talked about taking out a kitchen cabinet here, adding a new appliance here, building a pantry, putting pull-down stairs in to access the attic and a few other things.

It felt kind of weird listening to them talk about changes to my house. I had to keep reminding myself that it's not going to be my house in about 6 weeks.

Yesterday we also checked another item off the things-we-still-have-to-do-before-we-can-officially-sell-our-house list. The appraiser for the buyer's mortgage company came out and did his thing. I don't know what final value he placed on the house, but he told me "everything looks good" and that "we shouldn't have any problems." I took that to mean that the house appraised for more than the buyers are paying for it.

Tags: appraisals; real estate; selling a house

Power Concedes Nothing Without A Demand

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will," said the famed 19th century abolitionist Frederick Douglass. It is a sentiment that Saul Alinsky took to heart in the 20th century as he taught people in communities across the US to organize, rise up and take back the democratic promise the founders of our nation fought and died for. In his first book, Reveille for Radicals, the fiery Alinsky sought to reach out and introduce community organizing to a broader audience. Decades later, the principles Alinsky propagated continue to be taught in community organizations worldwide through the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), which he founded in 1940.

Alinsky, dead since 1972, has even been inserted into the 2008 Presidential Race, as it was recently revealed that Senator Hillary Clinton chose the controversial organizer as the subject of her senior thesis in college. One of Clinton's chief rivals for the Democratic nomination, fellow Senator Barak Obama, also has an Alinsky connection. He worked with Chicago-area IAF affiliates on a variety of community organizing projects before entering elected politics.

Now {shameless plug warning} I have a 1969 edition of Alinsky's Reveille for Radicals up for auction in my online garage sale. This is your chance to read what all the fuss is about!

We're moving in 6 short weeks and I really need to get rid of some stuff before the movers get here! So, thanks for helping me thin out my bookshelves!

Tags: eBay; online garage sale; Reveille for Radicals; Saul Alinsky

Was Seuss at Newport?

My daughter's first grade class celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday a week or two ago by reading Gerald McBoing-Boing. Here's a little something for us older kids: Dylan Hears a Who.

:-)

Hat Tip: Whatever
Tags: Bob Dylan; Dylan Hears a Who; Dr Seuss; Whatever

Colbert Tackles the SAHD "Problem"

A couple weeks ago, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert took a hard look at those social deviants, stay-at-home dads. Here's the clip (if the embed doesn't work for you, here's the link):



ROFL!

Also, Peter Baylies, over at the At-Home Dad Newsletter, has a behind the scenes look at the dads featured in the clip. The best part, the dads are from Austin! I'm really looking forward to joining the Austin SAHD group when we move!

Hat Tip: Rebel Dad
Tags: Colbert Report; comedy; SAHD; stay-at-home dads

Strike One, You're Out!

Well, our first scheduled meeting with a moving company rep didn't go as expected. We were supposed to meet with a guy this morning around 9:00am. We got a call from him about that time asking if he could reschedule. We asked why, and he replied that he couldn't find the paperwork.

Um, do you really expect us to trust you with all of our worldly possessions when you can't even keep track of the paperwork for an estimate?!? We told him we would have to get back to him later.

:-/

Tags: movers; moving; packing; relocating; shipping

You Are Reading a Blog That Is Banned...

...in China. I'm, I'm hurt! I'm outraged! I'm... curious! Why the heck would a blog like mine be banned anywhere? It's those darn communists! They're trying to suppress the words of all of us slightly geeky, book-reading, eBay-loving, stay-at-home dads!

Want to find out if your site is banned? Just check out the Great Firewall of China.

Hat Tip: Clicked
Tags: banned; censorship; China

Where Did You Say We're Taking This Stuff?

I've been contacting moving companies this week to set up appointments to get packing and shipping estimates. I've contacted a half-dozen movers, and don't meet with the first one until tomorrow morning, but the company at the top of my list at the moment is Able Moving and Storage. Why? Simply because the post card they sent is fantastic!

I am assuming, of course that they don't actually show up with a bunch old, beat up pickup trucks to move our stuff to Texas.

;-)

We'll see how the meetings and estimates go.

Tags: movers; moving; packing; relocating; shipping

We Passed!

We just heard from our real estate agent and our radon test came back fine! So, we can check another item off the things-we-still-have-to-do-before-we-can-officially-sell-our-house list.

Yeah!

Tags: radon; real estate; selling a house

A Little eBay Gold In Your Pocket?

It appears the US Mint has goofed. In a statement released today, Mint officials announced that and unknown number of the new George Washington Presidential coins have been put into circulation without the new edge-lettering (which was to include the year, mint mark, and the words "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum"). Doh!

The mint produced 300 million of the coins and they apparently are not sure exactly how many effected by the production error. Some reports state that it may be as many as 50,000.

On the bright side, if you happen to have picked up any of the dollar coins, pull them out of your pocket and check to see if the edge-lettering is missing. If so, you can pocket a tidy profit by selling them on eBay, where the coins are selling for over $50 $100 each. Nice!

Photo Credit: US Mint
Hat Tip: MSNBC
Tags: coins; eBay; error; George Washington; US Mint

Speaking of Cheese....

Mmmm! Cheese Balls! Another pic from my son. I asked why he took this particular shot, and he said (in his serious, little man voice):

I took this picture because I really like cheese balls and they're one of my favorite snacks, but after you eat them you have to wash your hands because they make them all orange. I just like them, and that's why I took this picture.

Well, you really can't argue with that... cheese balls are pretty good.

;-)

Tags: cheese balls; digital photography; kids

Say Cheese!

My 5-year old asked me to teach him how to use our digital camera the other day. I volunteered (or was drafted?) as one of his first subjects. I'm not quite sure this is the best angle for me, but he did a pretty good job of trying to center me in the frame and all.

Maybe I should use this pic in my profile, instead of the one of me in the tux. What do you think?

Tags: digital photography; kids

Not Merely a Conceited Jerk

I picked my wife up at the Metro station this evening and she handed me a page from the Express and pointed to a short blurb under the heading of Hypochondriac: What You Could Have but Probably Don't (apparently a regular feature in the "Fit" section):

Do you have totally awesome abilities? Is everyone around you just so pathetically inferior? Do you not understand why some people don't praise you constantly and give you special treatment? You could have Narcissistic Personality Disorder and, if you do, everyone probably hates you. NPD does not mean you're merely a conceited jerk - that's just a narcissistic personality. You have a serious problem that prevents you from functioning in the world. The disorder is difficult to treat, and you may never be able to acknowledge you have it. The best-case scenario is that therapy can help you eventually view yourself in a more realistic way.

ROFL! Sorry, it's a serious condition no doubt. I wonder if bloggers are disproportionally affected?

Hat Tip: my wife (thanks, love!)
Tags: Express; humor; Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Kid Meds

I have often wondered about the effectiveness of over-the-counter medications for children. Our kids are 5 and 6, and we have given them doses of allergy, cold and cough medicines, as well as acetaminophen for fevers and that sort of thing. I am not sure if some of them really helped or kids feel better or not, and I would really rather not give them something they don't need or that doesn't really work. Anyway, I found a couple of recent articles of interest.

First, a few days ago it was reported that the FDA is investigating the safety and efficacy of children's over-the-counter cold medications. They are focused on children younger than ours, but am still interested in reading their findings once they are available.

The second article, describes the results of a study involving the three most common pain-relievers (acetaminophen, codeine and ibuprofen). I don't know about you, but sometimes I am at a loss as to which is more appropriate in a given situation. Well, this report would seem to indicate that ibuprofen is best suited to deal with trauma or injury-caused pain. That's good to know.

Hat Tip: MSNBC
Tags: kids; medication; pain relief; parenting

WMD Help for SAHDs

Ron Simandl, a scientist at the federal government's nuclear weapons lab in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has developed what may be the world's best cleaning rag. He created a treatment that when applied to cloth, allows even microscopic bits of metal, plastic, and other materials to be picked up without leaving a residue. He intended it to be used to clean up minute amounts of radioactive beryllium at the lab, but has also tested it on his car's alloy wheels to great effect.

Hmmm... I could use something like that around the house. Kind of like a super-duper Swiffer! I expect it wont be long before the "Negligible-Residue Non-tacky Tack Cloth" makes its way to the cleaning supplies aisle of your local store. Who says weapons of mass destruction don't benefit us stay-at-home dads?

Hat Tip: MSNBC
Tags: cleaning; Oak Ridge; Ron Simandl; tack cloth

Have a Cold One on Me!

Hey, doesn't that brilliant blue Texas sky look great? I can't wait to gaze up at it from the comfort of our own front porch, perhaps while kicking back in a comfortable rocking chair, with my feet propped up, while I quaff an ice cold pale ale! Yes, I think that would do nicely!

The construction seems to be moving along at a steady pace. The brick is about done, and work on the drywall should start in earnest once all the electrical, phone, cable and ethernet {insert happy geek dance here} wiring checks out. If the builder's time line holds true we may be moving in by the end of next month!

Tags: home construction; moving; real estate

Those Shouts of Joy...

...you just heard were my wife and I celebrating the sale of our home! Finally!

Well, almost.

It's been over 9 months since we first put our home on the market here in Maryland, and we've been getting increasingly anxious as the construction of our new home in Texas has been progressing all too rapidly! Now, over the space of about 36 hours, we actually received offers from two interested buyers! We considered both, made a decision and have signed a contract to sell our home! The home inspector hired by the buyers has already done his walk through and we have come to an agreement with the buyers to address the few items that required attention.

Of course, our joy is tempered slightly as our agents continue to remind us that it's never a done deal until you're at the settlement table. And, truthfully, we do still have to pass radon and termite inspections, the house need to be appraised, the buyers need to finish securing their loan, etc. Still... we've sold our house!

The timing really couldn't be more perfect. Closing is scheduled for next month and a few days later my wife is flying out of town for a week-long business trip. Following her trip, she will have some time off of work (long enough for us to make the trip to Texas) and within a couple weeks our new house should be ready for us!

We're all excited! The kids are making lists of what they plan to pack for the trip. My wife has started going through closets and drawers and organizing things for packing. I'm getting the house itself in order for the new owners (a few minor repairs, cleaning, etc) and researching moving options. I am also preparing to post the remaining items (and there are a lot of them - probably 100+) that I had previously mentioned I was going to sell in an online garage sale.

And of course, I plan to blog all about the packing and moving process! 'Cause, I just know you want to read all about it!

;-)

Tags: blogging; moving; online garage sale; real estate; relocating; selling a house

Ups and Downs

Well, my apologies for the prolonged absence. What? You didn't even notice that I was gone? Hmph!

;-)

Alright, let's see.... There have been a number of ups and downs here in the household since my last post:

Up: We had ourselves another decent snowstorm -5 or 6 inches of nice, packable snow that was just right for snowballs and snowmen! The storm was quickly followed by warmer temperatures which succeeded in melting almost all of the snow that had been covering at least a portion of our yard for most of February (though the ruins of our snow fort/cave are still hanging on in the shade).

Down: Everyone in the family was hit by some type of respiratory/sinus infection. Everybody seemed to shake it in a day or two, except me. I was miserable for nearly a week.

Up and Down: I sold almost everything I posted on eBay this last go around, but then got sick and haven't posted anything since.

Down and Up: My brother and his family left Texas for the Pacific Northwest. We knew they were going to move at some point (such is life in the military), but had really hoped that we would be in Texas before they had to leave. My brother and I haven't seen much of each other since the late 80s (other than occasional vacations or family get togethers of some sort). On the plus-side of my brother's move, we now have an excuse to visit the west coast!

Up: We saw a real flurry of activity with regard to the selling of our home, with a number of agents bringing clients through. We were pleasantly surprised to have two families come back for second, and in once case, third looks!

Down: All the people coming to see the house meant a lot of work keeping the house clean, neat and tidy (not fun to begin with, but even worse when you're sick and still have to scrub the floors).

All-in-all, not a bad couple weeks, though a bit of a roller coaster. So, what have you been up to?