How many Junior Highs can they have

This weekend, we are staying Leavenworth for a competition in Wenatchee, Washington. The competition is being held at Eastmont Junior High School in East Wenatchee.

It turns out that there are two campuses, both labelled with Eastmont Junior High - Home of the Bobcats. They are about 1/2 mle from each other.

One of the campuses is very old and tired looking. The other is a really nice new school.

However, the Garmin navigation system, Google and MapQuest all give directions to the old school. That isn't where the competition is.

On top of being at a school where the only other people were some kids skating, our suspicions of being at the wrong place were confirmed when we got a call from one of parents on the team saying he was at the front of the school and we were too.

In order to get to the right "new" school, you had to drive right past the "old" school. It could have been mentioned in the directions.

Now, if you did your lookup by the address (which they did give in the directions), Google, MapQuest, Yahoo and the Garmin navigation all took us to the right place.

Three fifths of our team ended up at the wrong school. So did others, so I don't feel too bad about it.

Cake

Pretty big slice of cake. Any bets as to whether or not he'll eat it all?

Bavarian style

We've arrived in Leavenworth and are heading out for a snack at Kristall's. Living it up Bavarian style.

69% Nerd

So this is how stuff travels through the blogosphere. A blog I read, Welcome to MY World, mentioned this Nerd, Geek or Dork test. She had read about it on her friend’s blog, took the test and posted it. Now, I too, took the test and posting my results.

Check out the The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test

Now, for what you were either 1) waiting for or 2) already knew:

Pure Nerd 69 % Nerd, 30% Geek, 4% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations! This might actually be true, because I noticed that the totals don't add to 100 percent. But since I also noticed that I was 69% Nerd, I might actually be somewhat of a dork! Go ahead, post your comments that say you already knew this!

Apple releases software for volume limits on iPods

Digital Living Part IV

Apple has released new software for iPods to limit the maximum volume, most likely in response to people complaining about the potential for hearing loss due to the high (in excess of 100 decibels) volume an iPod can deliver.

The story has been carried by CNN, ZDNet, CNet, Reuters, Fox News, the San Francisco Chronicle and probably more feeds that I don't get.

This is not another blog about the great new software.

I downloaded the update, a 45 MB download, which is much larger than the previous updates have been. When I ran it, I quickly scanned over the readme and installation instructions and ran the update. Following the directions, I connected my iPod and it told me "You have the most up to date software."

Upon re-reading the installation instructions, the update is only for iPods and iPod Nanos, not for iPod Photos.

I don't get it. Am I not an iPod owner, if I play it loud, do I not have hearing loss?

I don't really want the volume control (I need to play it at full volume to use it with my crappy FM transmitter in my MINI), but I like the idea of having the latest software updates.

As a parent, I like the idea of being able to set a maximum volume on my kids portable music devices (although none of them have iPods). I have had to tell them, more than once, to turn it down - not because I don't want to hear their music (they actually have good taste in music), but to protect their ears.

Where is the update for iPod Photos?

Music soothes even the savage beast

I'm listening to Ministry right now. Loud. It makes me smile. It helps me relax.

Specifically, I'm listening to The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste.

When stuff gets to me, music helps me clear everything out.

so what.

Hanging out!

Just me and P hanging out before swimming. It was such a nice day today!

Ice Cream in Jane's

I'm not a Jane's reader, but if I were female, I bet I would (another topic altogether), but there is a quick blog posting on some Haagen Dazs Ice Cream.

JANE's Editors Blog in JANE Blog on JANEMAG.com

I know it is a shameless plug, but I'm doing it. It helps pay the bills.

There's no shame in my game!

The internet contributes to the softening of the brain

In previous entries, I have sung the praises of using Safeway.com for grocery purchases. One of the nice features is that if you place your order prior to 9:30 they have same day delivery available. Actually, if you place your order prior to 9:30 and if they have available delivery slots, you can get same day delivery.

Well, this morning, I got up early, planned menus for the week and got the order in. When I went to check out, not only were all of the Tuesday slots taken, but all of the Wednesday slots too! I've never seen it booked that far in advance - though the $10 coupon they emailed me probably triggered a lot of people to order this week.

I was at a loss - I really didn't have time to go shopping, but we needed food. We had less than a cup of milk and no bread - cereal and peanut butter and banana sandwiches are pretty popular amongst the under 5 foot crowd in my house. Plus, I really like cooking and cooking with my kids, which I can't do with out food.

This evening, after eating dinner (yes, we went out to Panera, since Chipotle wasn't open yet), I went to Safeway. This is the first time in probably two months that I've been to a grocery store to buy a full week's worth of food. Yeah, I've been in for a block of cheese or chips and soda before a kid party, but shopping for a week's worth of food takes organization.

You buy the canned food first, then the produce (so it isn't smashed by the cans) and then the refrigerated and frozen foods (so they don't get temperature abused). You need to have a list that is organized the way you think about the shopping trip. I had my print out from the online shopping - it was organized alphabetically, not the way I think about shopping (hard stuff first, then smashables, then cold stuff).

I found the shopping trip difficult. I couldn't find anything and had to wander all over the store. I think the kids were being rambunctious, but I also attribute a lot to the fact that I'm out of practice shopping. I've gotten used to the weekly shopping trip being a 15 minute sit down in front of the computer - not wandering through the store for an hour...

This is one of the negative side affects of the internet - I'm losing my grocery shopping skills!

I did a good job!

Check out the stylish way I did my daughter's hair this morning!

This hair style got a "Good job" from my wife. This is such a rare occurance; I can't remember the last time it happened!

They're back!

A few weeks ago I blogged an article about stolen artificial legs, evidently the stolen prosthetics have been returned.

Hopefully this is the case of someone doing the right thing - not setting her up for later.