Why I Oughta...

At the Renegade Craft Fair last year (2009), we sat for a photobooth session and came up with this image.  The 2009 post is here - but included below for comparisons sake.   This year, the Babe played a starring role.  They're certainly not as formal as some family portraits. But, for us, they're much cuter!

Nat had some shopping to do in Bolingbrook and I wasn't interested in trouncing around Macy's and Janie and Jack, so I decided to take the Babe over to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa.  This time, it didn't go as well as the first time she met the Big Guy . She freaked.  Poor girl.  When I went to pick her up, she was shaking and tears were streaming down here face.    Kind of felt nice to be needed so much by her. 

We went on our annual pilgrimage to the Tammen Tree Farm down I-57 the weekend after Thanksgiving and came back with a tree.  Like in years past, we chose a Fraser Fir - and it looks great.   The tree drank and drank and drank (like 3-4 quarts a day) and then pretty much stopped drinking.  We're down to drinking about a quart of water a day - which I'm thinking is enough.  So far, so good - no needle drop, so I'm thinking it isn't parched.  We've lost a tree before - back in 2006 when we went on a trip and the tree dried out.   Sure, it stayed green until Christmas Day, but if you got anywhere near it, let alone breath on it, needles went everywhere.  With the Babe's First Birthday Party this weekend, I'm certain we've made it through. We have 9 foot ceilings, so I'm thinking this tree is just about 8 foot tall.  We picked a different location in the living room this year - and I think it is working out better.  Just 10 days until the Big Guy co

Last night, on a tip from my friend Eric , we went out to Pollo Vagabundo - which according to Google Translate means " Bum Chicken ".   The reviews on Yelp and elsewhere are extraordinarily strong, but I'm withholding judgement.  While the staff were VERY helpful and nice (they gave me samples of EVERY kind of meat they have), they were sold out of Carne Asada by the time we arrived.  This place seems to be a lunch joint - based on both the fact that they were sold out of the top-billed item and when we arrived at 6 pm, the place wass dead. Nat had chicken tacos and said that they were some of the best tacos she's ever had.  We also shared 4-5 salsas from their bar (they have probably a dozen to choose from), and they were all tasty.  Spicy, but tasty.  (thinking now....if they named the place after the chicken, perhaps I should have gone with chicken, too!) The only hangup was the carne asada shortage.  You see, about 10 years ago, I was introduced to La Pasad

Look what showed up in the mail over the weekend!   My press pass for the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.  I'm lucky enough to be able to staff our execs during the press days in early January.  (and...if you look closely...you'll see the dreaded 1 R!) This *has* to be one of my favorite things I get to do -  this "early" peek at the show during the press days - ahead of the general public. While it isn't as cool as CES , the Detroit auto show is plenty geeky for me.

Having been through the prototyping process on Penny Hockey Boards , I made a few modifications.  First, they shrunk in size considerably.  From 12" wide and 16" long down to 12" long and 8.5" wide.  After the side rails are attached, the playing surface will be 12" long, 8" wide.    The name of the game is also being changed from Penny Hockey to Topper Hockey (more on that later....). Also, because the board shrunk, the space behind the goal also was squeezed.  It started at 2.5" from backline to center of the goal and now with the production units, I've cut that distance in half. The final change comes in regards to the pegs - I've changed the configuration a bit and removed some.  The "guard" pegs - which are located just outside the goal mouth were widened, and one of them were removed.   The peg modifications were made to simplify and enhance gameplay.  My intended audience is my nephews who are all under the age of 10.  Scori

With the Heisman Trophy being awarded tonight, the race doesn't even look close at this point - both in listening to the experts on ESPN and looking at the Google Insights for Search Chart.  Google has Andrew Luck edging both Kellen Moore and LaMichael James for second place.  Will these results hold up?  Stiffarm.com ranks them (from first to last) Newton, Luck, James, Moore.   We have the last two flip-flopped - but it seems that Google Insights for Search and the "experts" agree on the top two.  Computational prowess, FTW!