Category: Life with Pratts

MA AZ MA

Well, we’re back. We’ve been back for a couple of days, but I’ve been clearing snow and decompressing.

We were in Phoenix with my younger sister’s family, seeing our father and one of our older sisters. We drove down to Tucson to see the Pima Air Museum and Biosphere 2, and we had a wonderful dinner with some old friends, DogRat comment writer Cactus Lizzie and her husband.

The running conditions in Arizona this time of year are ideal! Back home they’re anything but.

Our travels were greatly eased and assisted by a Garmin Nuvi 200. It has a few quirks, but this thing is a tremendously useful tool. The freedom from plotting out a route on a map and the elimination of the stress of searching for signs and exits is worth way more than what it cost — $170 with free shipping from Amazon.com. In fact, it’s on sale right now at Amazon for $177.20.

Eric caught a few seconds of video of the Nuvi 200 from the back seat, when we pulling into a shopping center between Tucson and Phoenix to get lunch. This was taken with another nifty new gadget, a Canon Elph SD-1000.
[flv:/Video/2008/FEB/Garmin.flv 440 330]

Why Yahoo! Is Better Than Google

Ten years ago, Microsoft ruled the roost. But now, thanks to the return of Steve Jobs, Apple is a powerhouse in consumer electronics, and online it’s big, bad Google that’s calling the shots. So Microsoft wants to acquire Yahoo! Does Microsoft need Yahoo more than Yahoo needs Microsoft? Yahoo thinks so, because they’re holding out for more money.

But let’s keep Google in perspective. Its search engine isn’t perfect. For example, here are the results from a search I did a few minutes ago. Click to enlarge the picture, and look at the fourth hit.

Google Search Results

Google doesn’t put the popular Pratt Hobbies Rocket Catalog on the first page, but there’s a link to wedding pictures that you can’t look at, because they’re password protected? What’s up with that?

Now here is the same search, but done on Yahoo! Look at the first site listed.

Yahoo Search Results

There. Much better, don’t you think? Top of the world, Ma!

Run, Run, Run

I am registering for the Boston Marathon. Last year was a no-go because of my ankle injury. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll be in shape to even finish it this year. I’m fifteen pounds over my ideal running weight. Also, I haven’t yet tested my ankle for a distance longer than 12 miles. I’ll be doing that next weekend, when I attempt to go for sixteen. Getting into shape isn’t easy! Staying in shape once you’re there is much easier.

A Visit With An Old Friend

Good Ol’ Mike Dobbs, author, editor, and animation expert, has a new book out called ESCAPE! How Animation Broke Into The Mainstream. Click the picture to read an article about it.

Mike Dobbs - Escape: How Animation Broke Into The Mainstream

On Saturday I drove out to Springfield for a talk Mike gave about animation in general, and the book in particular. He gave a great introduction to the history of animation, providing a clear and concise explanation of how we got where we are today. It was fun seeing The Dobbster (no relation to Lou Dobbs, that I know of!) in person after many years. Mike mentions my visit in his blog, at this link.

Work, Work, Work

Our son will soon be the age I was when I started working part-time in high school. Getting that job was the best thing I ever did. Besides finally having some money to spend, I did a lot of growing up during those two years.

In the 11th grade I worked at a restaurant, washing dishes for $1.60/hour. Then one of the cooks graduated from high school, quit, and left for college. To be sure he wouldn’t be drafted he attended McGill University in Canada. I was given his job, and I was a short-order cook until I graduated from high school.

With that bit of background, The Boston Globe has this news item about child labor in Massachusetts.

New provisions in the laws enacted last year bar 16- and 17-year-olds from working past 10 p.m. on school nights. They also cannot work past 8 p.m. without adult supervision, the attorney general’s office said.

I never worked past 10 when I was 16 and 17, but there was rarely an adult present after 8 pm. Just us high school kids. In fact, during my time as a cook I was often in charge of shutting down the kitchen. There were Saturdays when I worked from 8 in the morning until final clean up was done at 10 pm. Fourteen hours straight! A 25-hour work week was not uncommon, on top of school, homework, drama club, and volunteering at a teen hotline. And the Lutheran church! Let’s not forget about church. I loved my life during that time, but I can’t imagine ever allowing Eric to burn himself out like that.