Ruby is joining me today at work. She’s been going through a tough transition of some sort, and having a really hard time with my leaving (both for work, and for play). I thought if she could see what my average day is like, she might have an easier time of it.

So we packed up her coloring, and her worksheets, snacks, books, and a puzzle, crossed our fingers, and headed out the door. The morning went alright. Ruby helped me make some helpdesk visits, and I worked at my desk while she did coloring, painting, and play. There were quite a few questions, but I was more productive than I had expected to be.

Dad: “Ruby, its your birthday, do you feel any different?”, Ruby: “Yes, I checked my feet and they got bigger”

“I’m going to get a HUUUUGE piece of cake ‘cuz its MY birthday, and I’m so excited about it”

“I’m 4 right?’, “Yup” says I, “and then I’ll be 5”, “mmm hmm”, “and then six?” “yes” ”.. and then I’ll be seven right?” “that’s right”, “and then… I’ll be a momma” “good grief”

Today is Ruby’s Birthday. I am taking the day off and joining her on her Tiny Treks, then we’re all going down to Santa Cruz to the boardwalk for some rides and possibly something sweet. Then back home for dinner and a cake.

Ruby has requested that her cake have chocolate and flour, and sugar, and “some other things”, and real flowers on top. Of course, she will be obliged.

For my part, I made her a collage.

Happy Birthday Ruby!

Over the last few days I’ve received over ten thousand comment spams. As a result I’ve turned off comments until this bot looses interest and moves on. In a few days I’ll turn comments back on and see what happens.

Ruby joined me last night for a trip to “The Haircuts”. She was so excited, the whole way up she wondered who would go first, and whether she would get a very short haircut (‘like mamas’). This is the result.

I completed the Tour de Cure today. I led the team from the sweep position again and we all finished in good time. After the ride the ADA provided a BBQ, massages, music, and kids entertainment.

I had a great time on and after the ride, and am already looking forward to the 120K next year!

This is an interview that I conducted with Miss Ruby Bradford while she was waiting for her mother to finish fabric shopping. Ruby started expressing her views on wildlife conservation, specifically her desire to safeguard the welfare of the spider monkeys and the pumas.

Unfortunately the genesis was not preserved, but the subsequent conversation paints a fairly complete picture of Miss Bradford’s current leanings on this topic.

Tonight was the Rose Parade in Portland. This is a huge parade (which is currently going on outside my window (at 10:10pm). We grabbed dinner at the Deschuetes Pub, and then headed over to S.W Park to catch the warm up of the parade. As the even got underway, we realized that we were about a block too far West, and decided to migrate East a bit so that we wouldn’t miss all the marching bands. The marching bands were especially important because just yesterday Ruby was telling us that she wanted one… at her birthday party. Staying up until 10pm and watching them out on the street seemed to be an acceptable consolation for her (thank goodness). Unfortunately, Miles doesn’t deal well with over stimulation and sleep deprivation, so its looking like another long bedtime for him and Vick.

Our first night here, and already I’m in love. We had to go to Whole Foods to get some diapers (see my last post for details). On the way back we decided to meander through the Pearl district. We ran into what looked like a street fair, except for that there was a man on a stage giving a pretty elaborate toast.

We asked some nearby standers-by what was up, and they gave us the full lowdown. It seems that this was a dedication for the smallest park in history. To the casual eye, this park looked like a sidewalk, but it did have a neat water feature.

In any case this momentous event was enough of an excuse for Portlandites to celebrate. And celebrate they did, in grand style. Free beer style. After our new friends got done explaining the why, and the what, I headed over to the free beer table to order up what turned out to be a very tasty local beer (name forthcoming).

I enjoyed that, while Ruby enjoyed holding her complementary Izzy (I didn’t want her getting all sugared up), and then we darted back to the car to move it.

G diapers are a tragic hybrid between the inconvenience of cloth and the ecological impact of disposable. In this aboration, the disposable bit is a ”flushable” liner, while the reusable bit is a cloth covered shower cap.

We decided to try out this unlikely setup for our Oregon trip. Our first observation was that normal nethersweat started the biodegredation, thereby limiting its use on our little EC boy.

Later when the diaper had been put through it’s paces, we saw the golden flaw of this atrocious concept. We removed the stinky thing to find that the showercap was also covered in poo… so much for the reusable part. Then upon flushage the real magic began. This biodelight backed up the toilet in a way that I never would have thought possible.

My vote, in case I haven’t been plain, skip the G

P.S. This is my first ever post via PDA