Why don't you wake up...

Why don't you wake up and smell what you shovelin? I've always liked that line. Both from Ned's, and the movie they took it from. But, like so many things that were "so cool" when they were new, time has eroded it's coolness. For example: Top Gun. THE coolest movie ever. ...in '86. In '08: cheese ball, fun to watch and basically laugh at. Cool? no. So goes the quoted line. The movie it came from was really cool when it came out, but has lost its luster over the years. Still, I guess for nostalgia's sake, it still "has it". If I don't know what's cool, will you call me a loser? If I don't bend the rules, will I stay a loser?

Which brings me to 70mph on the freeway. Apparently this speed limit does not apply on a Sunday afternoon in the summer. For almost all on the road, 75 was way too slow. There were a few like me, keeping the speed limit (but over by 5mph), and there was even an occasional "lets go back to the '30s and drive 45mph". (well they were going slow, I don't know how slow. Do you think I have a calibrated eye? It sure seemed like 45) The thing that surprised me the most was that I did not see anyone pulled over by the police. I did see a well placed "trap", though it seemed unmanned, as there were a few in a hurry who were not stopped. I did not notice the car until I was right in front of it. (I had a similar situation during Purple Dragon in '96 -but that is a completely different story) I noticed most of the cars passing me had West Side dealerships on the back, so I could assume that these people had a long way to go and a short time to get there. Look at bandit run. Got any Coors? I thought it was a nice evening for a drive, and I suppose the faster you are the shorter the time on the road, thus less people for me to deal with.

While I was away at Summer "camp", it seemed the kids missed me. They were happy to see me home, and the past few days they have asked if I am staying here. They are not too confident in me leaving the house. Even if all I am doing is crossing the alley to go to the gym. They go to the park almost every day with "the nanny". Swimming has seemed to be too difficult for Sarah or myself to pull off. The library has a puppet show every Tuesday evening. I went with them on the last showing, and afterwards the kids and I went for pizza. The kids need to open up more (surprised? Hello Halsted genes), and hopefully these scenarios will help. Rileigh pointed out, to me, all the kids she knew. But she stayed sucked in close to me. Neither one liked it when the other kids screamed/laughed when the puppets would do funny startling stuff. And apparently, Rileigh does not like pizza. She ate garlic bread period. I ordered lasagna for her, but it was not spaghetti, so she would not eat it. Ethan was happy with two slices of the Hawaiian. The fact that the Mariners scored in the 8th was lost on them as well. True northwesteners, in the baseball sense, I guess. It is pretty cool that we walked from the house, to the library, to pizza and back. It was no trek, merely a pleasant meander.

I missed the VA wheelchair games, but caught some of it on the Internet. Makes one miss all the shenanigans. The kids enjoyed watching "daddies Friends". The broadcasts were on xable.com, and the link was on the wheelchair games website as well. I thought it was really cool that this was broadcast, as the hardest part about what we do is getting people educated. Of course, this was not all that easy to see, as not all participants are "athletes" -and I could go into a half baked tirade here, but I won't.