This is Sam telling Curly Lambeau that the Vikings are going to kick some butt this year. We are off to the National Railroad Museum today and then to Egg Harbor. Not much driving.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Green Bay Packers
We made the trip from Dekalb to Green Bay in about 4 hours and got her around 1pm. The Tundra Lodge is about a half mile from Lambeau Field and has an incredible water park attached to it. All indoors with giants slides, lazy rivers and water guns. We played in that for about two hours and then went over to Lambeau for a a tour and to watch the damn Packers ride kids bikes to the practice field. It was entertaining but the Vikings will still kick their butts this season. I have a suspect internet connection right now so I'm not sure I will get any pictures up but I thought I would try a text post anyway.
Tomorrow, Fish Harbor.
We made the trip from Dekalb to Green Bay in about 4 hours and got her around 1pm. The Tundra Lodge is about a half mile from Lambeau Field and has an incredible water park attached to it. All indoors with giants slides, lazy rivers and water guns. We played in that for about two hours and then went over to Lambeau for a a tour and to watch the damn Packers ride kids bikes to the practice field. It was entertaining but the Vikings will still kick their butts this season. I have a suspect internet connection right now so I'm not sure I will get any pictures up but I thought I would try a text post anyway.
Tomorrow, Fish Harbor.
Dekalb
We left chicago this morning around ten and drove out to sycamore/dekalb. We got here around noon and stopped at the cemetary where many of the the Carpenters are buried to say hi to Gladys and Leroy. The boys climbed all over the stones, which their great grandmother would have loved. We had lunch in Mary and Ollies backyard and then went to the brand new sycamore museum where they had a bunch of kids exhibits for the boys to play with. Mary and Ollie are the boys great aunt and uncle. We had dinner with Mary, Ollie and Aunt Carole and now the boys are in bed watching Shrek Two.
The internet connection is down at the hotel so I'm doing this update on my phone. I took a ton of pictures but i'll have to post them tomorrow. Time for bed.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Museum of Science and Industry
Busy Day in Chicago with a visit to the observation deck of the John Hancock building at 9am and then off to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the whole bunch of cool stuff. I visited this museum as a kid and remember the captured German submarine U505. Of course when I was there, the sub was outside and you didn't need a tour pass to walk thru it. Anyway, they moved it indoors and we didn't get in it because you had to reserve a time. The museum was fantastic for kids with a ton of things for them to fiddle with. Tractors, trains, planes and the human heart. Good times... We had lunch at the ESPN Zone so that we could play video games and then the boys had a nice nap.
We found a nice park a block from the hotel a block off Michigan before dinner. We had pizza and pasta at an old pizza joint on N. State Street and then got ice cream again. It's been a nice couple days here and the boys really like the taxi car rides. Sam said he wanted to live here and have Grandma and Grandpa visit and do new things. I posted a collection from the Mad River Railroad Museum on Flickr. I got a good shot or two. Enjoy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594236038261/
Busy Day in Chicago with a visit to the observation deck of the John Hancock building at 9am and then off to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the whole bunch of cool stuff. I visited this museum as a kid and remember the captured German submarine U505. Of course when I was there, the sub was outside and you didn't need a tour pass to walk thru it. Anyway, they moved it indoors and we didn't get in it because you had to reserve a time. The museum was fantastic for kids with a ton of things for them to fiddle with. Tractors, trains, planes and the human heart. Good times... We had lunch at the ESPN Zone so that we could play video games and then the boys had a nice nap.
We found a nice park a block from the hotel a block off Michigan before dinner. We had pizza and pasta at an old pizza joint on N. State Street and then got ice cream again. It's been a nice couple days here and the boys really like the taxi car rides. Sam said he wanted to live here and have Grandma and Grandpa visit and do new things. I posted a collection from the Mad River Railroad Museum on Flickr. I got a good shot or two. Enjoy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594236038261/
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Well, another day and 400 more miles. We arrived in Chicago around 6pm and headed down to Navy Pier for dinner and to look for a video arcade so the boys could play cars again. No luck on the cars but dinner worked our pretty well. We stopped in Bellevue Ohio to see the Mad River Railroad Museum at about noon and had a nice picnic at a local elementary school. The boys were good at times and really annoying at others during the 8 hours of driving today. Fortuneatly, we are not doing anything near 8 hours on the road until the very end of the trip. We have a couple days in Chicago, a 90 mile trip to Dekalb and a couple 3-4 hour drives in Wisconsin. Piece of cake...
Friday, August 11, 2006
Captology Notebook
Oh yeah, I've started posting on the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab blog. I'm starting slow with some examples of products that have persuasive intent for older adults. Nothing earth shattering at this point but it's a start. I should be posting one a day for a week or two. Then, who knows what you will find there.
Check out my first two posts at http://captology.stanford.edu/notebook/
Comments are always welcome.
Oh yeah, I've started posting on the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab blog. I'm starting slow with some examples of products that have persuasive intent for older adults. Nothing earth shattering at this point but it's a start. I should be posting one a day for a week or two. Then, who knows what you will find there.
Check out my first two posts at http://captology.stanford.edu/notebook/
Comments are always welcome.
Here's an interesting drive by shot from the first leg of our trip. 18th century barn, 21st century wind farm and a pro-life billboard. Yes we are in Western PA. We made the 270 mile journey to Cranberry Township PA in around 6 hours due to a car exploding in front of us on 270, just outside DC. It cost us a bit of time to say the least. Our friends arrived at the house to take care of the cats and enjoy DC for a couple weeks right after we left so the kitty's should be fine during our trip. Tomorrow we are off to the Mad River Railroad Museum in Bellevue Ohio and then to Chicago for a couple days.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Washington Photo Safari
I finally took the photography class Nicole gave me for our 5th anniversary on Wednesday. It was a perfect day for it with a high in the mid 80's and almost no humidity. Basically, a group of eight of us met in front of the white house and got some basic instructions on taking good pictures and then went off and hit a number of spots near the White House, on the mall and inside Union Station.
The instructor has the same Nikon D70 camera that I have and taught me how to use all those features I didn't understand because I really didn't read the instructions very closely, or at all.. It was a really useful day and will help me get better shots of the boys and scenery during our summer vacation. I plan on taking a lot of pictures.
I didn't get any spectacular shots but thought I would post them anyway. Among the shots is the White House, Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park, Albert Einstein, the soldiers statue and the Women's memorial at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and Union Station.
It was fun and I may have to take another class or two. Enjoy a taste of DC.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594232106216/
I finally took the photography class Nicole gave me for our 5th anniversary on Wednesday. It was a perfect day for it with a high in the mid 80's and almost no humidity. Basically, a group of eight of us met in front of the white house and got some basic instructions on taking good pictures and then went off and hit a number of spots near the White House, on the mall and inside Union Station.
The instructor has the same Nikon D70 camera that I have and taught me how to use all those features I didn't understand because I really didn't read the instructions very closely, or at all.. It was a really useful day and will help me get better shots of the boys and scenery during our summer vacation. I plan on taking a lot of pictures.
I didn't get any spectacular shots but thought I would post them anyway. Among the shots is the White House, Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park, Albert Einstein, the soldiers statue and the Women's memorial at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and Union Station.
It was fun and I may have to take another class or two. Enjoy a taste of DC.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594232106216/
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Belle Haven Country Club
Having a pretty good round. Nice day for golf anyway. This is looking down the 18th fairway.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Busy Days
I've been falling down on my blogging the last few days. I've been busy with the boys, the Stanford project and the job search. We are also heading out on vacation soon and have a ton of things to do to get ready for that too. I have a photo class on Wednesday morning that Nicole gave me for our anniversary. It meets on the mall and tours the monuments, working on out door shots and then goes inside to Union Station to learn how to shot in door spaces. Should be fun and provide lots of good photos for this blog.
I'm golfing tomorrow at Belle Haven CC with a guy I know who just started a new business in DC. I've been wanting to play Belle Haven for a while now and it will be good to connect again with Barkley.
I've been falling down on my blogging the last few days. I've been busy with the boys, the Stanford project and the job search. We are also heading out on vacation soon and have a ton of things to do to get ready for that too. I have a photo class on Wednesday morning that Nicole gave me for our anniversary. It meets on the mall and tours the monuments, working on out door shots and then goes inside to Union Station to learn how to shot in door spaces. Should be fun and provide lots of good photos for this blog.
I'm golfing tomorrow at Belle Haven CC with a guy I know who just started a new business in DC. I've been wanting to play Belle Haven for a while now and it will be good to connect again with Barkley.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Golf yesterday
I played a hot round of golf yesterday and shot a decent 88 but Brian ocheljeck shot an 84 and beat me. He's been practicing so I don't feel bad.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Video of Strasburg
I posted some video on Google of our train rides in Strasburg last weekend. It's not very good quality and I'm still trying to find the right video compression settings that Google will accept and produce a good picture. Oh well, maybe next time or I might try to upload a better version later today. Anyway, it's hot outside and I've been staying inside as much as possible. Have a golf game tomorrow but it's suppose to be cooler, so I have that going for me.
Enjoy
I posted some video on Google of our train rides in Strasburg last weekend. It's not very good quality and I'm still trying to find the right video compression settings that Google will accept and produce a good picture. Oh well, maybe next time or I might try to upload a better version later today. Anyway, it's hot outside and I've been staying inside as much as possible. Have a golf game tomorrow but it's suppose to be cooler, so I have that going for me.
Enjoy
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Why Navigation is a Good Thing
So our trip to Pennsylvania Dutch country was a successful test of our longer vacation yet to come and the first outing for the new mini-van. I've had navigation on the last two Acura's I've had and have learned to rely on it to get me to golf courses and other new destinations but the last van didn't have it. The trip to Hershey was the first time I left the metro area with navigation and the kids and I must say, it was a relief.
First of all, I love the ability to not have to plan routes so carefully in advance and the ability to watch the progress of the trip in real time. You can easily spot the next gas station, restaurant or way side rest without worrying how far the next stop will be if you go past this one. But the best part of navigation is the release of navigation stress. Yes, relying on technology to free your mind from worrying where to turn next or constantly checking your map to see if you were suppose to go through a particular town or not. It's technology at it's best when the technology takes away stress and lets you take in the scenery or listen to your children in the back seat as they see new things.
After the Strasburg Railway stop on Saturday, we started home to Virginia. I came up Interstate 83 to get to the are and assumed we would go back that way. I told the system to go back home to Alexandria and it came with another plan, one that would take us through more Amish country and to the shores of the Susquehanna River (or as Dylan and Sam say it, Susquemomma) and over to Interstate 95. Pennsylvania roads do not go north, south, east or west. They go all sorts of diagonal ways that would have had me checking the map constantly, either while I was driving or pulling off the road. It was beautiful countryside and I would have missed a lot worrying about the right turn to take or if I would have just gotten us back to 83 and headed south. I simply let the car tell me what to do and talked with Dylan and Sam about the scenery or with Nicole when the boys started watching a movie.
The system would talk with me about a mile before I had to do something and I had the visual queue in front of me at all times which reassured me I was doing the right thing. The end result was seeing a whole new part of Pennsylvania and being much less stressed during the trip. I highly recommend navigation to traveling families. New routes, no wrong turns, no arguments about wrong turns, more time to enjoy the ride. Take a map just in case...
So our trip to Pennsylvania Dutch country was a successful test of our longer vacation yet to come and the first outing for the new mini-van. I've had navigation on the last two Acura's I've had and have learned to rely on it to get me to golf courses and other new destinations but the last van didn't have it. The trip to Hershey was the first time I left the metro area with navigation and the kids and I must say, it was a relief.
First of all, I love the ability to not have to plan routes so carefully in advance and the ability to watch the progress of the trip in real time. You can easily spot the next gas station, restaurant or way side rest without worrying how far the next stop will be if you go past this one. But the best part of navigation is the release of navigation stress. Yes, relying on technology to free your mind from worrying where to turn next or constantly checking your map to see if you were suppose to go through a particular town or not. It's technology at it's best when the technology takes away stress and lets you take in the scenery or listen to your children in the back seat as they see new things.
After the Strasburg Railway stop on Saturday, we started home to Virginia. I came up Interstate 83 to get to the are and assumed we would go back that way. I told the system to go back home to Alexandria and it came with another plan, one that would take us through more Amish country and to the shores of the Susquehanna River (or as Dylan and Sam say it, Susquemomma) and over to Interstate 95. Pennsylvania roads do not go north, south, east or west. They go all sorts of diagonal ways that would have had me checking the map constantly, either while I was driving or pulling off the road. It was beautiful countryside and I would have missed a lot worrying about the right turn to take or if I would have just gotten us back to 83 and headed south. I simply let the car tell me what to do and talked with Dylan and Sam about the scenery or with Nicole when the boys started watching a movie.
The system would talk with me about a mile before I had to do something and I had the visual queue in front of me at all times which reassured me I was doing the right thing. The end result was seeing a whole new part of Pennsylvania and being much less stressed during the trip. I highly recommend navigation to traveling families. New routes, no wrong turns, no arguments about wrong turns, more time to enjoy the ride. Take a map just in case...
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Yes, we bought one of those 10 dollar ride shots because the look of terror on the boys faces was too hard to resist. I posted two groups of photos up on flickr. One from the Hershey Park and Counting Crows show and one from yesterday in Strasburg and Lancaster County. Nicole and I are really tired now but I guess we are off to the pool at some point today.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Comforting Look
We got home around midnight from the concert on Saturday and all the parking spaces near our room at the Hershey Lodge were full. I dropped Nicole and the kids off at the room and took the van to a spot in a nearby lot. When I got back to the room I opened the door and the boys were in their bed looking all sleepy and Sam gave me this look and smile like he was sooo happy that I came back. I told him I'd be back in a few minutes but I think little things like me actually returning, re-assured him that he could trust my word. We all slept pretty well last night.
We are back in Virginia tonight after a full day of trains and Dutch Amish people. I have a ton of pictures to post tomorrow and some video I will try to add to Google later this week.
We got home around midnight from the concert on Saturday and all the parking spaces near our room at the Hershey Lodge were full. I dropped Nicole and the kids off at the room and took the van to a spot in a nearby lot. When I got back to the room I opened the door and the boys were in their bed looking all sleepy and Sam gave me this look and smile like he was sooo happy that I came back. I told him I'd be back in a few minutes but I think little things like me actually returning, re-assured him that he could trust my word. We all slept pretty well last night.
We are back in Virginia tonight after a full day of trains and Dutch Amish people. I have a ton of pictures to post tomorrow and some video I will try to add to Google later this week.
Landmine
Ok, I'll try not to mis-spell anything this time but hey, it's tough writing with rug rats crawling all over you. The boys didn't sleep at all last night during the show. They actually behaved fairly nicely during the crows set and were excited to get on stage for Hanginaround. They both got tamborines and did a little dancing for the crowd. Here we are doing a landmine shot with uncle Adam on his bus. We all had a really fun day and will be heading down to Strausburg PA to see a bunch of trains today.
Ok, I'll try not to mis-spell anything this time but hey, it's tough writing with rug rats crawling all over you. The boys didn't sleep at all last night during the show. They actually behaved fairly nicely during the crows set and were excited to get on stage for Hanginaround. They both got tamborines and did a little dancing for the crowd. Here we are doing a landmine shot with uncle Adam on his bus. We all had a really fun day and will be heading down to Strausburg PA to see a bunch of trains today.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Goo goo dolls
The boys watched two songs from this band. They are waiting to rock with adam I guess.
The best thing about hotel rooms is bed jumping. Don't get to do that at home. We just got back from the park and are taking a little nap before the show. It started to pour the minute we got on the bus back to the hotel so we lucked out there. We ended up spending three and a half hours at the park and got a lot of ride in. It started getting crowded the last hour we were there and the boys were getting fussy, so we left. On the bus ride to the park at nine this morning, the bus driver was driving past the Giant Center where the concert is tonight and said on the loud speaker that the Calling Crows and Goo Goo Gals where playing there tonight. The bus driver wasn't so hip..
The boys favorite ride
Go figure, a race car ride is their favorite. That and the coal cracker, a log flume type thing. Its hot here and time to head back to the room.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Made it to Hershey
We drove up to Hershey PA at around two and got here at 5:30. We checked in at the Hershey Lodge and took a bus over to the world of chocolate building where we took this weird advertising laden ride that described how chocolate is made and is a super food. Not really on the super food part but it was a fun ride for the boys but sam was afraid that he may get sucked up in a tube like augustus clump from willy wonka. Here we are getting some dinner at the hotel. We are going to hit the park early and then see the crows tomorrow night. Wish us luck, its almost 9 and we haven't eaten yet. The boys could explode.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Dinner and a Show
Jimmy T, or now also known as T Dog took Nicole and I out to dinner and to the Shakespeare Theater last night to see Love's Labor's Lost. I fairly modern redition of the classic play about a king and three companions (in this play, some jiggy rock group) commiting to three years of study and foregoing bodily pleasures and the company of women. Then four french chicks show up and the rest is madness. It was a little slow in parts but the music was a nice touch and got things rockin a bit. We had a couple drinks and ate at IndeBlu.
Kumie and Joseph watched the boys and seemed to have a good time with them. I don't think they got to bed until around 10pm but that's ok, they slept much later this morning. I guess at some point last night, the boys decided to pee in the hallway to show off but it seemed to be all cleaned up now.
Jimmy T, or now also known as T Dog took Nicole and I out to dinner and to the Shakespeare Theater last night to see Love's Labor's Lost. I fairly modern redition of the classic play about a king and three companions (in this play, some jiggy rock group) commiting to three years of study and foregoing bodily pleasures and the company of women. Then four french chicks show up and the rest is madness. It was a little slow in parts but the music was a nice touch and got things rockin a bit. We had a couple drinks and ate at IndeBlu.
Kumie and Joseph watched the boys and seemed to have a good time with them. I don't think they got to bed until around 10pm but that's ok, they slept much later this morning. I guess at some point last night, the boys decided to pee in the hallway to show off but it seemed to be all cleaned up now.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
I wanna be a cowboy baby
Grandma bought the boys cowboy outfits in Santa Fee a few weeks ago. Here they are sporting the new garb with delight. I don't know why mothers and grandmothers like to see grandsons dressed up like cowboys but the kids sure like it. I used to have cowboy gear when I was the boys age I believe but I never had a horse.
I got home real late last night and I'm dragging today. I was bumped from my original red eye flight from LAX for some reason and my only choices were to get on an earlier 4:45pm flight or take one Monday morning. I didn't like the Monday morning option so I scooted up to LAX and made the 4:45. I missed the beach party but I got back to Virginia around 1am. The beach party would have been fun but I did get a bunch of time to hang with my council friends on Friday and Saturday.
I attended a customer experience council planning meeting on Friday, had dinner with the council board and family on Friday night, went sailing with some council members on Saturday and had dinner with a larger group of council members and some of Phil Terry's high school friends on Saturday night. (Phil is the owner of Creative Good and founder of the Customer Experience Council concept)
All and all it was a good trip and I posted a few photos from it on Flickr. Nothing all that interesting but it gives you a flavor of Oceanside California. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594210236973/
Grandma bought the boys cowboy outfits in Santa Fee a few weeks ago. Here they are sporting the new garb with delight. I don't know why mothers and grandmothers like to see grandsons dressed up like cowboys but the kids sure like it. I used to have cowboy gear when I was the boys age I believe but I never had a horse.
I got home real late last night and I'm dragging today. I was bumped from my original red eye flight from LAX for some reason and my only choices were to get on an earlier 4:45pm flight or take one Monday morning. I didn't like the Monday morning option so I scooted up to LAX and made the 4:45. I missed the beach party but I got back to Virginia around 1am. The beach party would have been fun but I did get a bunch of time to hang with my council friends on Friday and Saturday.
I attended a customer experience council planning meeting on Friday, had dinner with the council board and family on Friday night, went sailing with some council members on Saturday and had dinner with a larger group of council members and some of Phil Terry's high school friends on Saturday night. (Phil is the owner of Creative Good and founder of the Customer Experience Council concept)
All and all it was a good trip and I posted a few photos from it on Flickr. Nothing all that interesting but it gives you a flavor of Oceanside California. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594210236973/
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Hot day in socal
So i drove down 101 to see some sights and get something to eat this afternoon and then went sailing with some folks from the councils at 4. Just got back from dinner and going to bed soon. I met Rachel's boss at dinner tonight. Kind of ramdom but Phil knows her from when she lived in NY and Room and Board is on one of his associate councils.
This is a shot of the beach in Carlsbad. Its hot here.
This is a shot of the beach in Carlsbad. Its hot here.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
Oceanside marina suites
The flight went well and I'm at the hotel. I have a meeting now and dinner later. Beautiful day here. I wonder how cold the water is?
Tower off the wing
Ive never seen the airport this busy. It's just nasty but i used my United status to get me past all the lines. Their are going to be a lot of people missing flights this morning. The curb side baggage check had a 50 person line and that's never busy because they charge two bucks a bag. Anyway, i'm on the plane and hope to be leaving soon. Miss momma and the boys already.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
New Favorite
So the boys new favorite DVD is the Honda Odyssey feature overview that came with the new van. I got back from the gym this morning and Grandma, Dylan and Sam were learning all about the features and functionality of the Honda Odyssey. They probably know more about the engine performance and the eight way adjustable seat than I do. I guess if I can't figure out the voice commands for the navigation system the boys will help me out and set it up for me. It reminds me that the boys also seem to like the box a toy came in more than the toy itself. Think about it, a box for a car would be awesome.
Grandma Linda and Grandpa Gil are both here now and I'm off to Oceanside California in the morning. Should be a good trip. Just a planning meeting tomorrow afternoon, some sailing on Saturday and a beach party Sunday. Oh yeah, a dinner each night as well. Lots of good networking opportunities all weekend long. I'm bringing the good camera, so I hope to have "good" photos from the whole trip.
So the boys new favorite DVD is the Honda Odyssey feature overview that came with the new van. I got back from the gym this morning and Grandma, Dylan and Sam were learning all about the features and functionality of the Honda Odyssey. They probably know more about the engine performance and the eight way adjustable seat than I do. I guess if I can't figure out the voice commands for the navigation system the boys will help me out and set it up for me. It reminds me that the boys also seem to like the box a toy came in more than the toy itself. Think about it, a box for a car would be awesome.
Grandma Linda and Grandpa Gil are both here now and I'm off to Oceanside California in the morning. Should be a good trip. Just a planning meeting tomorrow afternoon, some sailing on Saturday and a beach party Sunday. Oh yeah, a dinner each night as well. Lots of good networking opportunities all weekend long. I'm bringing the good camera, so I hope to have "good" photos from the whole trip.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Ouch!
We went to get the new momma car today at Sheehy Honda and it turned out to be really painful. Not only did they "mis-quote" the residual and money factor, we ended up spending two hours in that pathetic dealership. We ended up going home with the car but if I had more time to spend shopping and we didn't have to have it taken care of by next Thursday, (and I'm gone most of the rest of the week) I would have walked away. Basically, I got the same deal another dealer offered yesterday and basically what a couple people quoted me on the Internet.
I went back to Sheehy because I had a good experience last time and they had a slightly better deal than the others. I'm all about simple buying experiences and if you make it pleasant, I'll buy from you again. Sheehy is dead to me now. The deal ended up costing me a few more hundred dollars and I will NEVER do business with them again. They lost a customer forever for a few hundred dollars. On top of that, they get paid by Honda for positive surveys that they send out after the sale. I have names and examples of poor service, so they can kiss that money goodbye.
It's a really cool car with Navigation, dvd player, rear view camera and all sorts of other techno goodies not to mention all the new safety features to keep the kiddies safe. I just hate that dealership now. If you live in the Northern Virginia area, stay away from Sheehy Honda.
We went to get the new momma car today at Sheehy Honda and it turned out to be really painful. Not only did they "mis-quote" the residual and money factor, we ended up spending two hours in that pathetic dealership. We ended up going home with the car but if I had more time to spend shopping and we didn't have to have it taken care of by next Thursday, (and I'm gone most of the rest of the week) I would have walked away. Basically, I got the same deal another dealer offered yesterday and basically what a couple people quoted me on the Internet.
I went back to Sheehy because I had a good experience last time and they had a slightly better deal than the others. I'm all about simple buying experiences and if you make it pleasant, I'll buy from you again. Sheehy is dead to me now. The deal ended up costing me a few more hundred dollars and I will NEVER do business with them again. They lost a customer forever for a few hundred dollars. On top of that, they get paid by Honda for positive surveys that they send out after the sale. I have names and examples of poor service, so they can kiss that money goodbye.
It's a really cool car with Navigation, dvd player, rear view camera and all sorts of other techno goodies not to mention all the new safety features to keep the kiddies safe. I just hate that dealership now. If you live in the Northern Virginia area, stay away from Sheehy Honda.
The boys got some Pirates of the Carribean toys from a happy meal or somewhere today and hid in the closet to to scare me. They really like the first movie and talk about Captain Jack Sparrow all the time. They also now love Pee Wee's Big Adventure. I recorded it last week and they've watched it a half dozen times now. They don't seem as thrilled about Pee Wee's Playhouse but maybe they will warm up to it. I like it when they want to watch things that I find entertaining. Even the 20th time I've watched it. Baby Einstien videos were getting a little old.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
My life and the car wash seem to be linked in some very odd way. In this article from the Washington Examiner, you can see me watching the minivan getting its last wash with me being the owner. It seems I'm either taking pictures of and at the car wash or someone is taking a picture of me there. Anyway, we are getting a new mama car tomorrow with better gadgets on it. Should be fun.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
So I took my cheap ass water proof digital camera to the pool this weekend and got some interesting shots. The camera was a freebe at a conference last year and is only produces like one mega pixel images but hey, I can't bring any of the other cameras I own in the pool. The boys are really learning to swim and I think we will have to get rid of the swim muscles later this summer. I uploaded the images to a flickr gallery since I got 16 worth looking at. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594201394028/
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Typical Saturday
Took the boys to soccer practice and then to the gym this morning. Picked up bagels and headed home for a nap. We went swimming after a quick thunderstorm rolled by and found that the boys are becoming good little swimmers. They are both wearing swimming muscles (inflatable arm floats) but they actually used a kick boards and kicked their way across the whole pool. Dylan is a little faster than Sam but they both seem to get the concept of kicking, means moving in water.
The other interesting thing is that Dylan, who was afraid of the slide a few weeks ago can now slide down and swim to the edge without assistance. He just plops in and kicks his way back to the edge with his swimming muscles providing buoyancy. Sam seems to want a little help but can basically do the same thing. They are growing up fast.
Took the boys to soccer practice and then to the gym this morning. Picked up bagels and headed home for a nap. We went swimming after a quick thunderstorm rolled by and found that the boys are becoming good little swimmers. They are both wearing swimming muscles (inflatable arm floats) but they actually used a kick boards and kicked their way across the whole pool. Dylan is a little faster than Sam but they both seem to get the concept of kicking, means moving in water.
The other interesting thing is that Dylan, who was afraid of the slide a few weeks ago can now slide down and swim to the edge without assistance. He just plops in and kicks his way back to the edge with his swimming muscles providing buoyancy. Sam seems to want a little help but can basically do the same thing. They are growing up fast.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Video wall
This museum is really nice. Lots of different stuff and the building is fantastic. Will have to come back another time. I want to correct my initial post and give you the actual name of this place. Its the National portrait gallery and the American art museum all rolled into one.
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