Roadside America

It was a beautiful autumn Sunday here in the Old Line state, with a sky that was the reason someone invented the word azure. Leaves were falling, while here and there whiffs of wood smoke meandered through the air, letting all those with a sense of smell know that fall had well and truly arrived.

We packed The Kid into the family conveyance, met up with some friends, and travelled to visit a little slice of the not-so-distant past up in Ellicott City.

Before the days of Disney, King's Dominion, Busch Gardens, and the Interstate Highway System, America was dotted with small amusement parks and theme villages along the by-ways. Some were simple attractions like the world's largest ball of twine, or a back-room oddity museums, precursors of the modern-day corporate amusement park. While some of these have endured, most have lost the battle for vacation dollars to the larger, flashier attractions. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for a good high-tech roller coaster, but there is something to be said for the simplicity of these smaller sites.

The Enchanted Forest first opened in 1955, but closed in the late 1980's. A small and dedicated group of volunteers began raising money to re-open the park, but to no avail. In the early 2000's, they began to relocate and restore some of the attractions to a nearby farm and petting zoo. It's a shadow of its former self, but walking through the small vignettes gives you an appreciation for what we used to do when we went on vacation.

But did The Kid have fun.

I have pictures, of course, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow because the camera's memory card is safe in The Wife's work computer...

Rookie Mistake

So The Wife had a networking function last night, which means I had to take care of The Kid all by my lonesome. It's been a while since I had to do it, and as she gets older, it becomes more and more challenging. In addition to the basics (feeding, cleaning, changing) we now have the added complication of entertaining the wee one for the 3 hours between getting home and bedtime. The simple solution to the entertainment issue is to acquiesce to the cries of "mowie, mowie" followed by "gooins, gooins". For those unable to translate Kid to English, this means "movie, movie" and "penguins, penguins". These are in turn translated as requests to watch Dreamworks' magnum opus "Madagascar".

Madawhoo-ha?

No, not whoo-ha. gascar.

I digress.

I resisted the urge to take the easy road and we watched The Science Channel instead, in a hopefully not in vain attempt to get The Kid as interested in cosmology as I am. It hasn't stuck yet, but it's still early.

We had the usual dinner and a bath, followed by story time and going to bed. Giving a bath solo is always a challenge, but I somehow managed to pull it off without a) letting The Kid spend extended periods of time underwater, and b) not getting completely soaked myself.

You: Where is this mistake of which you speak?
Me: I'm getting to that.

Since The Kid is all about routine (wonder where she got that?), not having half of the parenting team there left her somewhat out-of-sorts when she went to bed. Notice how I didn't say "to sleep". The Kid was in bed at about 7:30, and The Wife arrived home at 9:00 or so. Since The Kid was still more or less still awake, we decided to go on up to her room so Mommy could say goodnight.

Anyone else see where this is going?

Yeah. That went over like a lead balloon. There were tears, crying, lots of hugs, and a steadfast refusal to get back into the bed. We finally just put her into the crib and let her cry it out.

Funny thing, though. As soon as we closed the door to her room, it was as though she had been shot with a tranquilizer dart. Out like a light. Still, I don't think we'll be trying that again.

Just like Alex the Lion in Madagascar, but probably without the Sammy Davis Jr. soundtrack.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Things have been pretty busy around Casa del Jeopardy these days.

Easily the biggest event of late was my 20th high school reunion. I remember when my folks went to my dad's 20th, and I'm nowhere near as old as he is. Someone must be messing around with the time-space continuum again.

Anyway...

Here we are all gussied up for the party:

And to give you some indication of how people change over 20 years, here are 3 good friends then and now.

Then:

Welcome to Mullettville, population:3

Now:

We had only been at the party for an hour by the time the 10th person asked "Why aren't you on facebook?"

I may be a tech guy, but I think I am slowly evolving into a high-order Luddite. My new cell phone can only do one thing: make phone calls. No camera, no Internet, no GPS, no frills. I think it was designed for old people. Long story short, I caved to peer pressure (just like high school) and signed up for facebook the next day. I've heard from friends that I have neither seen nor heard from on decades. When I left college in '92, there was no Internet, and by extension, no email. keeping in touch with far-flung friends was difficult, and if you lost someone's phone number, you'd likely never speak to them again. Facebook may have it's faults (it's a stalker's paradise), but I'm enjoying catching up.

I'd be remiss if I didn't note one old friend who couldn't make it. He was born with a heart condition and was always living on borrowed time. It ran out some years back. I remember he and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on opening weekend. As I recall, he wasn't too fond of the scene where the evil priest removed the still-beating heart from the sacrificial victim. He was a great guy with a terrific sense of humor and I was really hoping to get to see him again.

Taking the Threat Seriously

As most of you probably know, I'm a computer security guy for my week-day job. I know a thing or two about viruses and such. I also know about the numerous "forward this to everyone you know" emails that always turn out to be hoaxes.

This one is real. Got it today:

A warning to everyone about some dangerous emails that are making the rounds...

If you receive an email with the subject: "Nude Pictures of Sarah Palin!", Do not open it-- it may contain a virus.

If you receive an email with the subject: "Nude Pictures of Hillary Clinton!", Do not open it-- it may contain nude photos of Hillary Clinton.

Consider yourself warned...

Uncopyrightable

is widely acknowledged as being the longest word in the English language that does not repeat a letter.

Why do I care?

Well, as a consumer of all things trivial (helloooo. what's my name?), I also have a practical reason for knowing as many non-letter repeating words as possible.

A few months ago, as soon as The Kid was old enough for baths in the big tub (vice the kitchen sink) The Wife bought a set of foam letters that stick to the side of the tub. The only problem is that there is only one of each letter. Needless to say, that makes the number of words I can spell rather limited. It doesn't help that I have a compulsion to spell a different word every night.

Before you say it, I am well aware that OCD does not repeat a letter.

Another post, but somewhere else

I posted on The Flight Deck for the first time in quite a while. You can check it out here.

In My Inbox Today

From: HPAULSON@treasury.gov
Subject: INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU
To: Jeopardy
Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 10:52 AM
DEAR AMERICAN:

I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.

I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER, IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.

I AM WORKING WITH MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS A SENATOR, YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S. THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE.

THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.

PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@TREASURY.GOV SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION, I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON