No bread, cookies or ice cream? What's the point of existing? The funny/sad thing is that, despite the explicit ban on bread, people show up with whole bags of rolls to throw to the bison. I've never seen anyone toss in a cone, though.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Don't feed the animals
I'm glad I'm not an animal at the Kyiv Zoo. Check out the yummy stuff they aren't allowed to eat:
No bread, cookies or ice cream? What's the point of existing? The funny/sad thing is that, despite the explicit ban on bread, people show up with whole bags of rolls to throw to the bison. I've never seen anyone toss in a cone, though.
No bread, cookies or ice cream? What's the point of existing? The funny/sad thing is that, despite the explicit ban on bread, people show up with whole bags of rolls to throw to the bison. I've never seen anyone toss in a cone, though.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
American traditions
I'm a baseball fan, but I'm also a bit of a softie when it comes to public humiliation. So, when a pitcher has given up six runs in the first, there are no outs and the bases are still loaded, it breaks my heart to watch him struggle. "Yank him," I think. "Put him out of his misery."
That's basically how I felt watching the Ohio Clinton-Obama debate on YouTube today. I'm sure Clinton is a smart woman, but I winced over and over as she misspoke, made humorless attempts at humor, whined about how the moderators were treating her, and failed to produce the name of the next Russian president. I pitied her, and I really doubt that Hilary Clinton wants my pity.
That's basically how I felt watching the Ohio Clinton-Obama debate on YouTube today. I'm sure Clinton is a smart woman, but I winced over and over as she misspoke, made humorless attempts at humor, whined about how the moderators were treating her, and failed to produce the name of the next Russian president. I pitied her, and I really doubt that Hilary Clinton wants my pity.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Take it to the bank
This morning, I went to the bank to pay our bills. The 20th is the due date for most bills, so usually I encounter long, long lines. But today, I walked in to the bank just after it opened at 9 a.m., and no one was working at the bill-paying counter. I went outside to wait for Eric, who was around the corner picking up our Internet bill from the Internet company.
A few people walked into the bank so, worried about the line I thought was forming, I went in, too. Still no one was at the counter, but I walked up to it anyway.
After a few moments, the bank teller appeared and said, "I don't have any change, so you can only pay if you have exact change."
Well, I was about 80 cents off, but I thought that was a small price to pay to avoid the line I would have faced later in the day, so I told her to go ahead. After a few minutes, Eric came in with the other bill, and after she added that one in, we were able to rustle up enough small bills between the two of us to overpay by only 10 cents. What a deal!
A few people walked into the bank so, worried about the line I thought was forming, I went in, too. Still no one was at the counter, but I walked up to it anyway.
After a few moments, the bank teller appeared and said, "I don't have any change, so you can only pay if you have exact change."
Well, I was about 80 cents off, but I thought that was a small price to pay to avoid the line I would have faced later in the day, so I told her to go ahead. After a few minutes, Eric came in with the other bill, and after she added that one in, we were able to rustle up enough small bills between the two of us to overpay by only 10 cents. What a deal!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Some things fishy
Perhaps Dietrich's first word was "bo-ehll" because of his love of fish. Who live, of course, in a bowl. Alas, last night, three of our four grown-up guppies died. One baby was born, but he/she and his/her mamma aren't looking too lively. The other two babies were in a different bowl and seem healthy. I don't know what killed them, but I cleaned the bowl and we shall see how things look tomorrow morning.
But, even if we lose all the guppies, Dietrich will still have fish in his life. The little guy doesn't know it, but he's in training -- one of my goals is to have him walking really well on the street by the time another Baby O enters our life. (No, that's not an announcement.) I'd like to be able to push baby in the stroller while Dietrich and I walk to the grocery store down the street. On my own, it's about a 5-minute walk. With Dietrich, hmmmm ... 30 minutes? An hour? It depends on how many birds walk by and must be chased, how many buses drive past and must be pointed at, how many stairs he notices and must beg to climb.
Anyhow, the finish line for which we aim is Dietrich's Aquarium, also known as the fish tank at the grocery store. From my perspective, it's a sad sight: Way too many fish crammed into too small a space. (Though one day there were tiny crabs in there, and that was pretty cool.) But crustaceans or not, Dietrich LOVES it, runs full-force toward the tank, and makes fun "oooooo" sounds of delight. The other day, he was so happy that he turned right around and tried to hug a 6-ish-year-old girl who also had her nose pressed up against the tank. Dietrich just wanted to share the fishy love, but she was having none of it.
But, even if we lose all the guppies, Dietrich will still have fish in his life. The little guy doesn't know it, but he's in training -- one of my goals is to have him walking really well on the street by the time another Baby O enters our life. (No, that's not an announcement.) I'd like to be able to push baby in the stroller while Dietrich and I walk to the grocery store down the street. On my own, it's about a 5-minute walk. With Dietrich, hmmmm ... 30 minutes? An hour? It depends on how many birds walk by and must be chased, how many buses drive past and must be pointed at, how many stairs he notices and must beg to climb.
Anyhow, the finish line for which we aim is Dietrich's Aquarium, also known as the fish tank at the grocery store. From my perspective, it's a sad sight: Way too many fish crammed into too small a space. (Though one day there were tiny crabs in there, and that was pretty cool.) But crustaceans or not, Dietrich LOVES it, runs full-force toward the tank, and makes fun "oooooo" sounds of delight. The other day, he was so happy that he turned right around and tried to hug a 6-ish-year-old girl who also had her nose pressed up against the tank. Dietrich just wanted to share the fishy love, but she was having none of it.
Monday, February 04, 2008
D's big week
Two significant events in our little bug's life this week. First, on Wednesday night, he said his first grown-up word. For a while now he's been saying syllabic baby words that are recognizable, but aren't quite all the way there pronunciation-wise. (Da-da, du for duck, ni-ni for night-night.) He makes some awesome animal sounds. And now, he says "bowl." That's right, Dietrich's first word is bowl, a word we rarely use and have never tried to teach him. (Unlike mama. "Dietrich can you say mamamamamama?")
The scene: Eric was making him vitamin-fortified baby pudding (baby cereal made with 6 percent milk and vanilla sugar -- try it, it's yummy) while I was giving my testimony at small group. He said, "Ok, now I'm going to put the pudding in your bowl," and Dietrich repeated "bowl." Except it was more like, "bo-ehlll." Again and again he said it while Eric cheered and swung him around the kitchen. The next morning, he woke up yelling, "Da! Da! Bo-ehll!" Yesterday I put a bowl on the counter and he demanded, "Bo-ehll!" He's totally fluent in bowl.
So, that's the happy news. On Saturday, however, we had our first emergency-room visit with Dietrich. He slipped, hit his chin on a plastic stacking block, and required two stitches. I think the most traumatic part was trying to figure out whether to go to the doctor. I'd never thought through which wound attributes require a trip to the clinic. Anyway, this one wasn't too bloody, but it was wide and only got wider when Dietrich, you know, moved. At all. And I didn't think I could keep him perfectly still for the next week while it healed, so off we went. We are thankful for our friends here who served as advice nurse and ambulance service so we didn't have to take public transportation. And the doctor was calm and unflappable, despite Dietrich's screams, which were audible down the hall in the waiting room. And that was after the anesthesia. But it was worth it, because when we took the Spiderman band-aide off last night, the wound already looked so much better. We'll go back Thursday or Friday to get the stitches out.
As a side note, I'm so glad we didn't have to do an emergency-room visit before we knew Russian. It was so convenient to be able to talk to the doctor fairly freely ... although we did have one funny moment near the end when we thought he was telling US to take the stitches out on Friday.
The scene: Eric was making him vitamin-fortified baby pudding (baby cereal made with 6 percent milk and vanilla sugar -- try it, it's yummy) while I was giving my testimony at small group. He said, "Ok, now I'm going to put the pudding in your bowl," and Dietrich repeated "bowl." Except it was more like, "bo-ehlll." Again and again he said it while Eric cheered and swung him around the kitchen. The next morning, he woke up yelling, "Da! Da! Bo-ehll!" Yesterday I put a bowl on the counter and he demanded, "Bo-ehll!" He's totally fluent in bowl.
So, that's the happy news. On Saturday, however, we had our first emergency-room visit with Dietrich. He slipped, hit his chin on a plastic stacking block, and required two stitches. I think the most traumatic part was trying to figure out whether to go to the doctor. I'd never thought through which wound attributes require a trip to the clinic. Anyway, this one wasn't too bloody, but it was wide and only got wider when Dietrich, you know, moved. At all. And I didn't think I could keep him perfectly still for the next week while it healed, so off we went. We are thankful for our friends here who served as advice nurse and ambulance service so we didn't have to take public transportation. And the doctor was calm and unflappable, despite Dietrich's screams, which were audible down the hall in the waiting room. And that was after the anesthesia. But it was worth it, because when we took the Spiderman band-aide off last night, the wound already looked so much better. We'll go back Thursday or Friday to get the stitches out.
As a side note, I'm so glad we didn't have to do an emergency-room visit before we knew Russian. It was so convenient to be able to talk to the doctor fairly freely ... although we did have one funny moment near the end when we thought he was telling US to take the stitches out on Friday.
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