Random Tuesday Thoughts: Long Wait

I have been working on these random thoughts for two weeks. You would think that they should be really good, but they are not. The thoughts aren't that plentiful either. I haven't been putting that much time or thought into them. They only lasted because I had to go out of town last week and didn't have time to post them. So here are this week's random thoughts after a long wait in the hopper.

• I was writing an outline at work trying to keep up with all the tasks I had to complete. I wrote down a, b, 3. I am losing my mind.
• I just saw a study on the Internet that says NY drivers have been found the angriest, most aggressive drivers in the US. Way to put our money to good use. I have been doing some studies myself. I found that the sky is blue. Alaska is cold. Frenchmen are rude. And the government wastes my money on funding stupid studies.
• Arica and I went to see our local minor league baseball team play last week. We had a great time. The only drawback was the fact that we apparently were placed in the kiddie section. We were at the end of a row that had about 10 kids. They crawled over us every single inning. I wanted to punt them down onto the field.
• If I were a snake I would pray every night that I went to Louisiana when I died. That place is snake heaven.
• Right now Cajun food ranks right up there with Italian food, and a big juicy steak as my all time favorite.
• Arica watches "So You Think You Can Dance." That Mary chick has big teeth and screams way too much. It just needed to be said.
• Lately I have noticed in my posts that I have used a lot of numbered lists. Apparently my inner engineering nerd is trying to get out and kill my inner blogging nerd. It should be a fun fight.
• We went to the lake on Sunday and the water was hot. There is nothing like going to the lake for a refreshing dip and jumping into water that feels like a hot bath.
• Random thoughts are a great way for the bad blogger to get a post up with minimum use of his time and his brain.

The Bad Blogger

I want to tell the story of the bad blogger. Let's call him Otter. Otter led a simple life. He went to the office five days a week and did his engineering chores. Often times he didn't have too many assignments for the day. One of those boring days he began thinking of new ways to spend his time. His son had just been born, and all Otter's thoughts revolved around the wee lad.

Perusing the Internet for all types of activities Otter continually kept coming across the topic of blogging. Of course this topic has been mainstream for some time, but it never seemed to appeal to the bored engineer. This time, armed with the newness of fatherhood, it made more sense.

With that our new blogger set out to start a running commentary on the Life of a New Dad. Ideas were never hard for this blogger. His mind is a raging torrent of thoughts every day. He had plenty of time to pound out a post or two on most work days. With posts usually on stand by Otter never had to miss a day. What's better he was able to read all his favorite blogs and comment every day. He made new friends and his blog grew by leaps and bounds.

Then business picked up at the the engineering office. Being the entire engineering office on his own this meant much work for our up and coming blogger. He soon became swamped with orders, drawings, phone calls, emails, and banging his head on the desk. The latter of those tasks is only undertaken to help with ones tolerance of the others.

This is when the bad blogger appeared. No longer did Otter have time to type a post a day. Some days he barely had time to drink his coffee. Otter hates nothing more than to work so long that when he gets back to his coffee it is cold, inducing the spit this crap out reflex. Spitting coffee on anything is a bad idea.

So here we are in our hero's journey. Blogging has taken a back seat. Work is work. Home is caring for little Braden. Blogging is lost in a forest of real responsibility. Hopefully all you readers out there in internetland will bear with me. Hopefully things will slow down a bit soon. Then I can return to posting more regularly. Also I can return to reading all your blogs. I have not quit on any of you. I just haven't been able to find the time.

For now I am the bad blogger, but some day soon I will return triumphantly to my throne as king of this space. My hits will again grow. The content of this blog will thrive and flourish like the flies in my back yard.

Now I have to go. My phone is ringing again.

Tips for Traveling with Wife and Baby

We are back from our trip to the Crescent city. Some things on our adventure were great. Others were not so great. Cajun cuisine is one of my all time favorites. I love shrimp, oysters, crab meat, etouffee, gumbo, and just about everything else they cook down on the bayous of Louisiana. That part of the trip was amazing. We got to visit the French Quarter. We got to do some shopping as well. It was just a bit more difficult to mix business and pleasure than I imagined.

I haven't had time to put together a deep thoughtful post for this week. I just got through driving all day long. My only thoughts were to avoid all the crazy drivers and to find my exits. Much of my day was spent thinking things like...exit171...US65N...exit 171...did you see that new Camaro...I love the return of the American muscle car...What was that exit again?

With all that excitement going on my only choice is to share something about our trip. I decided to share a list of things that can help other's who dare to take their wife and baby on a business trip. Some of these things I learned by screwing up. Others I learned by making good choices. I won't tell you which are which. That is up to your imagination. Here is my list of tips for mixing business with pleasure and with your wife and with your baby.

1. Make sure you get a large hotel room. Your family does not want to feel like they are waiting in a prison cell while you are at work.
2. Plan some activities for them. Again they don't want to feel like prisoners while you are working.
3. Don't come back to the hotel talking about work. If every minute is going to be about your job then you might as well stay home and invite them to your office.
4. Try not to invite them to a job when you will have to start really early. If you come home tired and grumpy everyone loses. Especially if you have failed on any of the first three items.
5. Give serious consideration to the sleeping arrangements. If the baby doesn't sleep then nobody in the hotel room sleeps. Neither does the guy next door.
6. If you are driving be sure to have a flexible time schedule to allow for stopping to feed, change, or just play with the baby.
7. Bring plenty of drinks and snacks for the car ride so you don't have to stop and wake the baby if they are sleeping. On a long car ride a sleeping baby is the ultimate goal.

Those are just some ideas. Spending time with family is always a great thing. Taking a little time to get things just right makes it even better.

Mixing Business with Pleasure

Last week my boss returned from an extended trip to Europe. He called me from Chicago O'hare and asked me what I was doing next week. I knew this was not an invitation to play a round of golf. This was the let's send our engineer somewhere next week conversation.

Of course as any good employee would do I replied that I was doing nothing. Boss man said he wanted me to go to Louisiana and supervise the loading of our equipment into a container for shipment overseas. This basically means I watch and make sure everything goes into the container. My only other job is to make sure the crane operator doesn't kill me with any wildly swinging steel members.

The surprise was that I was offered the option to either fly or drive and take my family. It took me all of a milisecond to make that decision. Here are several reasons why I chose to take the family with me.

1. I am going away for some time this summer already, so I don't want to be away from Arica and Braden any more than necessary.
2. The plant is just outside New Orleans so it would be an opportunity to let Arica see the Big Easy.
3. I always believed that you should expose your children to Bourbon Street before they reached one year of age. Any later is just bad parenting.
4. I finally had the opportunity to mix business with pleasure.

So we are off to New Orleans in a couple of hours. We are throwing caution to the wind. Nightmares about a 7 hour car ride with a baby are nowhere in our thoughts. Plans of stopping 20 times to feed, entertain, and change our little boy are no worry to us. This trip will be as simple as putting on your pants.

I probably won't be posting until later this week. All my free time will be spent enjoying a mini vacation with my family. We are taking advantage of the opportunity to take a break. I hope this opportunity doesn't in turn break us.

First Father's Day

With Father's Day upon us there is much talk about what Dad means to you. My Dad means a great deal to me. If you have read much of my blog you will find all kinds of references to things we did together when I was growing up. That is one unexpected thing I have gained from blogging. I realized how good a Dad I have. Thanks for always being there and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!

Since this blog is about my life as a new dad it would make sense to post something about me. What would be my perfect Father's Day? What makes me a good Dad? Am I a good Dad? How does it feel to celebrate your first Father's Day? All of these questions could be answered or attempted anyway. Of course I am not going to write about myself. Instead I decided to take a different route.

I am very close with Braden. I spend hours each day trying to decipher his facial expressions, grunts, and cries. I feel I can read his mind most of the time. Since I can read his mind I know that he approves of this idea. I will attempt to convey a few of Braden's thoughts about his Dad on this first Father's Day we will share together.

1. Dad is the big guy with hair on his face. That hair really tickles when he tries to kiss me. I laugh and scream and he thinks it's funny. I really just want him to stop. Can't he remember when he was a kid and people tormented him. I can't wait until I can talk.


2. Dad is the guy that makes a lot of noise. He is either talking really loud or dragging his feet around the house. He stomps and runs into things very gracefully. I can't tell you how many mornings he has woke me and Mommy up.


3. Dad is certifiably crazy. He is always making crazy faces and saying silly things. This man just breaks into song at any time. You never know what he is going to do next. I have repeatedly given him the stink eye but this does not deter him.


4. Dad likes to take me outside. This is a big plus because as a baby I am unable to work the doors. If I could work those things I would be out there in a minute. Stuff is always happening outside. Last time I was out there I saw winged creatures travelling through the air above me. It's crazy. How do they do that? I must find out.


5. Dad takes naps with me sometime. One minute he is sticking a pacifier in my mouth and the next thing I know two hours have passed. I know he has been sleeping too. I can see that half asleep look in his eye. He doesn't fool me.


6. Dad put up that obstruction between the soft floor and the hard floor. I feel like a caged animal in here. I have been banging around on it. Dad thinks I am just clumsy, but I am checking for the weak spot. I will find it and exploit it.

I think these are probably some things that Braden thinks. I know for sure that he loves me as well, but I am not going to write a love note to myself from my 7 month old son. From my side of the story I will say that being his Dad means everything in the world to me. Seeing him smile is the light of my world.

The first Father's Day is kind of surreal. It doesn't feel right that I am being included in this tradition. This Holiday has always been about my Dad. Of course it still is about him too. He doesn't stop being a Dad just because I became one.

Unfortunately the luster of Father's day is sometimes lost behind all the bad jokes about beer, golf, and remote controls. Now being a father myself has put a different light on the holiday. Not because I think I deserve recognition. I don't. I do nothing more than any other good Dad. It looks different because I have a different appreciation for what it means to be a Dad. Every son or daughter sees things differently after becoming a parent. You can never understand it until it happens to you.

Since I have been blogging I have met a lot of great Dad's. With the pride and understanding only found through living the Life of a New Dad, I want to wish them all a very special Happy Father's Day.