Married In Ohio

As you probably figured out, our recent absence in the world of blogging was due to taking The Boy to college. After the commotion of getting up early, packing the car and the ensuing drive, the time to say goodbye was suddenly on us. No tears were shed; but it was clearly a significant moment. He’s been away from home before; but we always knew exactly when he was going to return. It was always I’ll be back to pick you up on Saturday or the bus gets back to school at 6:00 P.M. Never, I’ll see you around; but I don’t know when. The emptiness in the house the next day after we returned was palpable. No music playing. No Doom monsters growling. Just silence and an empty chair. People say kids grow up fast. Now I truly know what that means. I can’t believe 18 years has gone by since that day in June that I held him up to the window and let him take his first glimpse of the world. Now he’s out in the world all by himself without a safety net (me). I’m sure that he’s doing fine; but I’m not sure that I am.

We had the last pizza night for The Boy today. This time next week, he’ll be college bound. California Girl and I really didn’t think about it until The Girl mentioned that today would be his last family pizza night for awhile. The current phase is ending and a new chapter is about to begin. We’re proud that he’s ready to take the next step and think that he’ll do fine; but we’re still going to miss him.

I ordered The Boy a laptop for another company this morning and though that everything was good. Then, when I checked my email after watching the Bengals beat the Packers, I had an email from Dell notifying me that they had shipped my computer and it should be here on Wednesday. So, now I have two computers on the way. As I mentioned in my previous post, I couldn’t reach them on the telephone to verify that my order was cancelled; but they should have done it anyway in accordance with FTC requirements.

So, now I have a conundrum. Do I send the Dell back for a refund and keep the system that I bought when I didn’t think that I was going to be getting it? Or, do I keep it and sell the unneeded substitution on EBay? The Dell is faster/better with more memory, a bigger hard drive, etc. since it was custom configured as opposed to a standard system. But it’s the only one that can be returned. The replacement was purchased from a site that does not allow laptop returns. I won’t be buying anything on my credit card until I get things sorted out.

Your order is further delayed and we need your permission to… This was the email that greated me when I check my email when I got home on Friday. When your son is leaving for college in less than two weeks discovering that the vendor still can’t ship his laptop after waiting for a month is not a pleasant surprise. California Girl and I will have to scramble and try to find one locally. Now we’ll end up spending more money, getting him a system that is not as good or both.

I tried to call themFIVE times about the order andthe firstfour times I called I got mysteriously disconnected when I was being transferred to a “supervisor”. I finally reached someone’s voicemail on the fifth try. I doubt that they will ever call me back. They’ve had plenty of time to call me back so far and have yet to return my call. Sometimes, I wonder how companies with such disregard for their customer stay in business. The only thing that was “good” was that they didn’t even try to pretend that they were American. Instead of Saying their name was “John” through a heavy accent; they gave obviously foreign names.

If anyone has any suggestions for retail locations to purchase a good laptop for a college student please let us know. The college will be providing all of the software he needs; so the laptop itself is the only thing that is important for us.

The Girl and I were involved in a philosophical discussion until the early hours of the morningon Tuesday/Wednesady. It was a “good” conversation, especially considering the last few posts where I lamented that she wasn’t learning the lessons of life. She seems to have a better outlook and a better understanding of things. And, she has resolved to make some positive changes in her behavior. Sometimes, things happen when you least expect them to.

P.S. Because it is so late our “Tuesday” post will be delayed. Look for it sometime on Wednesday.

The Girl stayed out too late and got herself grounded. That was hard to do since I was flexible in what time I expected her to be home. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t return when she said she would. Doing things that she says she’s going to do when she says that she’s going to do them seems to be a hard lesson for her. It wasn’t the time that she got back so much as the fact that she was late. Not being finished on time is not good when it comes to schoolwork or a job when she reaches the age when she has to work for a living. We don’t want to take her childhood away; but, the day will soon come when she asks for the car keys. And when that happens, we want to be comfortable that she’ll be home when scheduled and we won’t be worrying about what might have happened because she’s late.

P.S. for those of you who are younger, Mickey Mouse used to be a popular watch design for kids.

After a week of unsuccessfully lobbying us to pay for a bigger share, The Girl finally got a new mobile phone. She had been holding out for a model which was much more expensive; but we declined to increase our contribution. I think it was a good financial lesson for her. Her choices were to make due with a partially working phone that can only place and receive calls and save her money toward a new one with a lot of nifty features. Or get a more affordable model and go back to texting her friends a gazillion times a day. That’s a choice that we as adults make quite often; but it’s one that she really needed to think and reflect on. Hopefully, she’ll remember the lesson.

The Girl had a party 16^th birthday past this past Saturday. It wasn’t her actual birthday yet; but it was the best day for it. It was a HUGE event. Even bigger and better than the one she had when she turned 14. The kids were surprisingly well behaved. A few kids got wet that didn’t want to; but there was very little horseplay. Her friends have really grown up. I think I’ve mellowed a bit too. I remember remarking how “skimpy” the girls’ swimwear was a couple of years ago. On Saturday, quite a few of them wearing string bikinis and the rest of them were wearing two piece suits; but I hardly even noticed. I’ve learned not to worry about such things. Just like with adults I’m a lot more concerned with what is on the inside rather than what is on the outside.

It rained off and on during the day but it cleared long enough for the party to be a success. Pool parties can be great fun but not if it’s raining. It was warm and the sun was shining except when there were a few brief showers. We had been considering having a friend DJ the event (free except for tip). Ultimately, we decided to buy and download all of the music from iTunes instead. That way, The Girl could play all of her favorite songs whenever she wanted. It was just a birthday party; but, in many ways, it seemed like planning a wedding. I know that day is far away; but, The Girl is starting to seem really grown up.

I helped The Boy set up his first web site today. I recommended that he use a content management system like WordPress or phpBB; but he insisted on doing it in hand crafted HNTL. I looks “primitive” compared to what you get with sophisticated CMS software, and the colors are kind of garish; but its 100% his. From checking the logs, it looks like he’s the only one who has accessed it; but it seemed like an appropriate supplementary birthday present. What better present for someone who enjoys doing things on the computer than their very own home on the web.

And, speaking of technology, I got a new gigabit switch to upgrade our home network. It’s not very exciting technology; but I was still waiting anxiously for the package truck.

Observant readers will have noticed that one of these sentences in About Us section of the side bar recently changed to “We have two kids, a son, 18, and a daughter, 15.” Although he is still a kid to us, The Boy is technically an adult. Things don’t seem much different now than they did before his birthday; but it seems strange to call someone who is 18 years old a “kid”. About the only change now is that he’s old enough to sign forms for himself. California Girl and I are amazed at how quickly the time has passed. He’ll still be at home for another couple of months then it’s off to college at which point we’re sure things will be totally different. We’re not looking forward to that day.