Note: Short version as blogger ate my stuff.


Ex-Hurricane Ivan
Well, yesterday everyone was freaking out. The radio people were trying to freak everyone out. The TV people were trying to freak everyone out. And generally, I think about 18% of people were freaked out.

Others, like me, were irritated that people were driving very slowly on the interstate, very slowly on the parkway, and it was only sprinkling all day. Heck, I had bought into the doom n’ gloom weather forecasts the day before had had myself all mentally, and DVD, prepared to do my stormwater sampling, with my new laptop with the DVD drive keeping me entertained. But no, it rained too slow.

Ivan Hits...Like a Girl
During Survivor last night, Ivan hit us. We’re about 400 or so miles inland, so we just got rain and wind. It did manage to shake our dish enough that Survivor hiccupped when they were doing the pig dance stuff. All my neighbors, after being warned by the media that fire was going to rain down from heaven, did take their garbage cans into their garage so we didn’t have any projectiles flying around. I did see two downed trees. One was a bradford pear, so it might have been the case that some car’s headlights had hit on one side more than the other and the extra mass of the photons wrenched half the tree off. Or a baby bird broke wind on it. Bradford pears are like that. The other was a rotten pine stalk, a very formerly pine tree, which basically fell down into tiny rotten pine chunklets all over Slaughter Rd.

I also saw a rat run across Vermont Rd on my way into work. I brake for fat, dark brown forest rats. I never would have suspected.


Reinforcing a Slipping Baba Mmm
Since Alison is working four days a week, and Alison’s mom who babysits Nina isn’t 100% what with the wheelchair and all, Nina’s toilet usage habits have been in steep decline. In fact, Alison can’t remember the last time Nina actually pooped in the toilet.

Now, I’m sure most of you would think that for a 14 month old, them not being able to use the toilet is fine and good. But Nina was taught by her Chinese foster mother to use the toilet. We continued that, but I think the reinforcement they used, however you do that, we aren’t continuing. Plus, Alison’s so busy, I’m so busy, and Alison’s mom’s so limited in her movement. And, I don’t think the little potty seat that Alison’s mom put on the floor since she can’t get to the toilet with both Nina and her wheel chair is percieved my Nina to be a real toilet.

So, yesterday, without Nina needing a change, I walked her into the bathroom that’s been set up for her, unsnapped her romper-thing, and helped her take her diaper off. Nina then walked over to the toilet, put her hand inside it, and peed on the floor.

We’ll have to work on that.

- posted by Nick Postagulous @ 9:05 AM