Mental Junk

I am in the middle of trying to merge a blog into our church's website.  I already wrote a blog for anotehr site for Michelle, so to get things running quickly for the church, I just grabbed that one.

Now, I want to embed a full featured blog into the site – that would allow more blogs for anyone who wanted one in the church.  Now – I am embedding an existing package into our existing site.  The challenge – to make the two programs act like one.

 Always fun for a challenge!

Why is it when a simple thing like adding a new light in the basement always turns out to replacing an entire hydro run?

As soon as you open a wall and see exactly what is behind it – you have to fix whatever has been there for years, even if it has never caused a problem before – as soon as it is spotted – it now has to be fixed!

I used to think this was the realm of car repair only – you take your car in for a simple oil change and the technician says that you *absolutely* need new ball joints, tie rod ends and struts.  The first thought that always jumps to mind is that they are out to make more money for themselves by doing uneccessary work – or at least work that can be put off for a while yet.

The truth may be close to that, but these things probably do need to get done.  As we as a society develop new technologies and as more and more of us die off from the implementations of previous technologies, we start to review some of our design decisions.  I'm basically ranting right now about aluminum wiring.  The feed line for the basement lights is still old alumnium which is clad in crumbling rubber and some sort of fiber cloth.  As soon as I moved the damned thing it fell apart.  Now I have to buy copper hydro wire.  ARGGG!

The good thing is that I got the genius idea to add a new light above the fireplace and that may have stopped an electrical fire since this old wire was about to go anyway.  That is also how I have begun to feel about the technicians who look at my car.  It's all about perspective.

Just trying to figure out how to get an OSK to work properly in a touch screen.

Today is family photo day.

First thing this morning we are all going to have showers, primp and preen and head over to get our photo taken.

We do this, so years down the road we can look back to see how we looked.

Uh… wait….  we don't go around wearing monkey suits every day, so this is a false sense of history, isn't it?

Oh well.  I know it will be nice to actually look back to see the pics, I'm really just moaning until the picture is taken.

UPDATE: Here is one of our mug shots:

Just disposed of the Dodge Spirit this afternoon.  In fact – just walked in the door from doing so.
I am a little down over getting rid of the car, but I am still in a great mood.  We still have one car!

When we first started looking at buying a car – I had expected to have to take the Spirit off the road, I even looked up how to Get A car Loan for this.  We were able to handle the financial burden of both cars for just over three years.  This is, in my mind an amazing accomplishment.

I don’t expect that we will be able to afford an additional car for another couple of years – not until we have paid off the Intrepid, at least.  It will be tough – only because we haven’t had to manage it, but I am sure we can.  After all, there are many families out there that have no cars.

In the end, the Spirit served us well. It wasn’t perfect, but it got us where we needed to go—through work commutes, grocery runs, unexpected errands, and even a few road trips. It’s hard to say goodbye to something that’s been such a reliable part of our daily life. There’s a strange kind of attachment that builds up with a car over time—it quietly becomes part of the family’s routine.

I keep reminding myself that simplifying can be a good thing. Fewer vehicles means fewer maintenance bills, insurance payments, and logistical headaches. And now that we’re down to just one car, I think it will force us to be a bit more intentional with how and when we travel. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. We’ll learn to coordinate more, plan smarter, and perhaps even walk or bike more often when possible.

Looking ahead, I’m hopeful. Life throws curveballs, but we’ve proven that we can adapt. I believe this next chapter—navigating life with just one car—will come with its own lessons and unexpected positives. Maybe it’s not just the end of the Spirit, but the start of something more balanced, more thoughtful, and more rewarding for our family.

There was a train derailment 1km from our house.  Friends of ours were evacuated for fear of chemical contamination, but were permitted to return after a few days.

Amazingly, no one was injured or killed.Train Wreck

We're home

I will be heading downtown first thing tomorrow morning to pick him and
Michelle up.

Rob.

They are talking about releasing Nate from the hospital either today or
tomorrow.

Awesome!

Yesterday Nate had his NG tube removed (tube into his stomach through his nose
to drain his stomach) and all IV's.  He is now eating (drinking ?) breast milk
and since his 7am feeding yesterday hasn't thrown up.  They are slowly
increasing the amount that he can eat at each meal and his is able to handle
it.

He is off the heart monitor and morphine – he is only taking Tylenol and
ibuprofen – and both are through his mouth.  The only thing he is connected to
is the catheter – which is expected to be removed later today.

Yesterday afternoon Michelle took him for an hour long stroll through the
hospital to the Library (I believe) and he was chatting up with the nurses and
other staff/patients.  He is feeling a lot better.

He even gave a few giggles for Michelle last night – so we are really happy
about that.

There is no word as to when he can come home – we are still waiting to make
sure everything is doing well.

Will keep you posted.

Rob.