Bill Ryan's Other Blog

This week, I’ve been doing the single father thing. My mom and extended family always get on me about not staying in touch better, so at least if I update my blog they can follow along a little better.

Kim is up at Microsoft working with Sharepoint 2010 so I’ve been here with Sarah. This week has been an absolute blast culminating with a near perfect evening tonight. Kim gets back at 6:00 AM Saturday morning (flying into Charlotte) so I have to get to bed early tomorrow so I can leave at 4:30). So tonight was effectively the last night for us.

• Monday was the “let’s get ahead on schoolwork and everything night” so Sarah and I worked on some housework and then finished her Earth Day project.
• Tuesday was when the fun started..Sarah’s friend Diane is one of the coolest kids I’ve met so I took them to see Kick Ass.  It’s been a good 30 years since I went to the movies with 11 year olds but we really had a blast.  I’ve received a bunch of questions on Facebook about the appropriateness of Kick Ass.  It is rated R for the record.  IMHO, there were two scenes that were a bit much for anyone under 13, but it was borderline inappropriate. By that I mean, there was nothing in the movie they hadn’t seen, hadn’t heard and haven’t talked about before.
• Wednesday Diane’s family took them out for a while then Sarah and came home and finished up the Earth Day project.  We went over to Hollister to do some shopping and then came home and wound things up.
• Thursday (Tonight) was almost perfect. I have a release upcoming so I’ve been putting in a lot of extra time at work.  I owed Sarah a night out and since I was getting out of work late,  I took her to Ruth’s Chris in greenville to celebrate.  My office is about a mile away from the Crowne Plaza Hotel where Ruth’s is located.  I’ve always been a big fan of Ruth’s but somehow, I had worked right around the corner from the one in Greenville for several months before I found out it was there.  We didn’t get there until 9:15 so we missed the crowds (We’ve tried going there a few times before and w/out reservations, getting in can be difficult).  This was Sarah’s first time at Ruth’s but suffice to say, she’s a fan.  We both ended up burning our hands on the 500 degree plates at least once, but honestly, it’s not a bad problem to have.

Tomorrow will be an early night so nothing much is on the radar.  I’ve taken care of Sarah for a day or two before but this is the first time it’s been for a week.  All I can say is that it’s been a complete joy.  We got a lot accomplished, we had a blast, her mom is going to come home to an immaculate house with all the weekly chores already done and all in all, it’s been a perfect week.  I’m a work hard/play hard type and I think it’s safe to say Sarah is moving in the same direction. 

Tomorrow morning is the Earth day ‘parade’ at her school and I’m sure she’s going to make a big splash with her display. She’s been studying about the Great Depression at school and has been asking a lot of questions about it.  We have a deal where she’s to read one non-fiction book for every three fiction books she reads (It’s awesome having a child that reads as much as I do.  She’s a book fiend and well, I couldn’t be more proud). So I’m going to try to encourage her to read The Forgotten Man – A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes which I finished a few months ago. She’s always been a very curious girl but school only goes into so much depth on most subjects.  So we try to encourage her to do some additional learning on  the more significant topics and I hope she enjoys The Forgotten Man as much as I did (As much as we studied The Great Depression in college and then graduate school Economics, I learned a ton by reading it).

While all of this was happening, my beloved wife has been Pimping Sharepoint 2010.  It looks like she’s already surpassed me on it and she’s coming right at my ‘specialities’ – Enterprise Search and Business Connectivity Services.  Then to add insult to injury, she’s been aggressively picking up Powershell.  If she outskillz me on Powershell, it’ll nuke my ego and from the sounds of all the trash she’s been talking, she’s intent on making that happen.  Just to really rub it in she started joking about making herself an admin on our home network, booting me as an admin and then taking away all of my privileges just for fun.  As far as I’m concerned, that’s a declaration of war.  Which will get interesting b/c Sarah wants in on the game.  When the gals team up on me – I don’t usually fare too well.

Anyway, that’s this week in a nutshell. Everything was as smooth as silk which is good b/c I have a feeling Kim will be doing a whole lot more Sharepoint work out in Redmond. Even though she’s talking smack and taking over ‘my’ areas, I couldnt’ be more proud of Kim, especially with her getting out of the gate so early on Sharepoint 2010. Just a week ago, Sarah came home with another report card full of straight A and outside of school, she’s reading 2-3 books per week consistently.  I couldn’t be any more proud of her if I tried.

I guess that’s why I have the Sausage Dog of Doom to offset all the kick a33ness the ladies are engaging in.

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[tags]The Forgotten Man, Amity Shlaes, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ruth’s Chris, Ruth’s Chris Greenville, Enterprise Search, Sharepoint 2010[/tags]

Like many parents, I have to be careful about bragging about my daughter (M.C. Cuckooette).  As wonderful as she is however, it’s really hard not to.  Roughly 9 years ago, I first met her at Fatz in Spartanburg, when I went to dinner with several coworkers.  Her mother and I were friends for several months before we started dating so I’ve had the pleasure of knowing her for most of her life.  Watching a kid grow up is an awesome experience and seeing the adorable little monster who loved spilling drinks every time we went to dinner, grow into a lovely young lady has been as wonderful as something can be.

It was clear from very early on that she was brilliant.  She was always exceedingly curious and learned remarkably fast.  She’s always been a charmer and can make people around her laugh.  As she got older, her curiousity just increased and so did her love of learning. (Her sense of humor also developed quite quickly too – so in addition to having the smartest and cutest 10 year old on Earth, I also have one of the funniest).

Yesterday started out a bit rough. I had to drive to Charleston leaving at 4:00 AM and it was pouring the whole ride down. It took close to double what it normally takes to get there).  The day got better fast and kept going all day. 

When I called my wife after work, I told her about what had happened and we she was very pleased to hear it (I love my job more and more each day). She and Sarah were heading to church so I told her I wouldn’t be home until 9:00 or so.  Upon entering, i was greeted by my 3 other kids (the 4 legged ones).  Sarah saw I was home and came out to give me a hug.  I asked her how her day was and she said it was great.  She told me about her latest book (which is about 600 pages) and I couldn’t help but smile.   I’ve probably lost my title as the most avid reader in the house, but I’m more than happy to concede the title to M.C. 

It was close to bedtime but before she got tucked in her mom came over and said “Bill, Sarah has something to tell you.” Uh oh” I thought, Sarah and I had just spent 1/2 hour talking about our respective days so I assumed any surprises might not be good or she would have told me already.  She walked over to me with some paper stapled together.  She shyly handed over the papers and at the top of the first page I saw “112%”. 

It had already been a wonderful, albiet long, day but seeing my girl kick butt made it perfect.  100% on the test and 12 points of extra credit on her math test.  (Her mother was her high school Salutatorian and graduated with honors from college but it looks like her academic achievements will be outdone).

So yes, I’m shamelessly doting on her. 

Everyone thinks their kid is the smartest, cutest, funniest etc.  But M.C. Cuckooette gives me a lot to back up such assertions with.  Honey, just in case I didn’t make it clear already – nothing makes your mother and I happier than watching you grow up. Nothing is more enjoyable than just watching you be you.   We’d still think you were the greatest kid on Earth if you flunked every math test, never read a book, never cracked any funny jokes and still watched ICarly.  You could think the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana were the greatest musicians evah, watch comedy shows with laugh tracks all day and only show me lame YouTube videos. That wouldn’t change a thing. (for the record, I’m glad you don’t .  I  We couldn’t be more proud prouder of you kiddo – but you know that already.

The new Cuckoo 1 was delivered last night and Kim and I headed over to pick it up.  The Cuckooette was very enthused by this particular model but didn’t accompany us b/c she was at a sleep over with one of her very cool friends.  (So tonight, she and I will be driving around minus Kim, doing what people do in cars that like to go really fast).  The process was quick and painless and within an hour – we were off:

I wanted a sports car and so did the Cuckooette. Kim wanted anything but a sports car.  My mother seldom inserts herself into family decisions but when she saw the 370z I was originally looking at, she said the following:

Do me a favor would you?  On your way to pick it up, can you stop by the store and buy a really big butcher knife, then stop by and plunge it into my heart.  B/c that’s what buying that stupid car will do to me anyway, but at least it’ll be quick and painless

Mom isn’t above throwing out a bitchin guilt trip here and there when it comes to something she views as life-death. And she was pretty convinced that the 370z would be a continuation of the last Cuckoo 1, and that I’d inevitably get myself killed. Kim’s sentiment was pretty much the same, although she was a little more clever about hiding it

You’re a few years away from being 40, you’re married, with a wife and daughter that need you.  2 Seat cars are for non-married men, or inconsiderate men, and you’re neither.  So you can get whatever car you want, as long as it’s not a 2 seater and as long as it’s not some ridiculous sports car. And yes, a RX-8 is off the list of acceptable vehicles

Then one day, my wife called and said she found the perfect car for me, it was an Infinit G something or other.  I thought, God not only answers prayers, he’s quick to hook a brotha like me up.  My swagga already included:

• Da Dough
• Da Paypah
• Da Hoes (Kim, dear, if you’re reading this and I hope you’re not, I only pluralized Hoes for grammatical consistency, and don’t believe what all those people tell you, Ho is an abbreviated form of ‘Honey’, honest)
• Da Gats (Da feds ain’t the only ones that can Pimp Sigs and Glocks, I pimp a Sig P250 and a Glock 23 and trying to figure out how the hell I can mack around a H&K MP5 like evil movie villains do)
• Da threads (who other than OJ has more Bruno Magli’s then me. Who other than has more Ferragamo’s then me? If Imelda Marcos was a silly fuzzy teddy bear with a touch of gangsta swagga, her name would be Bill)

So now I can add

• Da Whips – as of November 24.  You simply can’t pimp in a Malibu. Period.

You see, for all of her objecting, Kim called one day and had the ‘Perfect’ car for me.  She was pulling up next to it and would let me know what it was.  ‘Oh, it’s a Porsche Cayman, never mind’.  What a bummer that was. So I was bumming, thinking I was about to head straight into dorkville for a while (at least they weren’t demanding a Minivan. So no matter how lame it was, I could at least still have my manhood.  Yes, there’s no such thing as a man that drives a minivan – that’s right.  In fact, if you’ve ever even thought about driving a minivan, then you get kicked out of the club)

A few days later I got the same call, but this time she said “It’s an Infiniti something or other”

Me:  “You mean, the G35 or G37? “

Kim:  “I think so but I’m not sure, its really cool though, I know you’d like it”

Me:  “2 doors?”

Kim:  “Yes, its sporty but looked mature and professional not like something some teenaged hotrodder would drive around. HINT HINT HINT”

Me: “So I can get one?”

Kim: “If you like it and want one, yes, I think that’d be ok.”

Me: “Will you tell my mom that you approve so I can get her off my back?”
Kim: “Well, yes.  Like I said, it looks refined, it’s not a hotrod but it’s still sport”

Me: [Thinking to myself – Will I burn in hell for not pointing out to her that this is the same damned car she and my mom hate, but with 4 seats?  Maybe I should tell her. No, that would be patronizing. She’s a big girl and a hell of a lot smarter than me. She knows what she approves of or not. I don’t need to say a damned word about it mwuahahahahahahahahaha. Behold my Patrick Duffy Leg dammit!”

Me: “Can we go look at them tonight”

Kim: “Well I look for some online but yes, we need to get this taken care of”

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Three days later I was driving home in it.  I wanted to hurry up and buy the thing before she realized it was just a  4 seated version of the 370 because I was renting a car and the period that the insurance company covered it had just run out. So I didn’t check it out very much.  I knew I’d like it so if she was cool with it, I’d be cool with it too.  Upon getting it though – I realized how unbelievably high tech it is.  And I was fully intent on adding to the list.  There’s a little more cabin space and a ton more dashboard space than the previous Cuckoo1 so my dreams could be realized. The following is being as we speak or tonight:

1. Kyocera KR1 – Mobile Travel Router
2. T-Mobile webConnect ™ usb 3G Travel Router
3. Vehicular AC Power Supply
4. Gateway Netbook (and yes little Cuckooette, unless you change your mind and want to go on another super trip to Hollister, I’m sure CuckooClaus will have one of these for you)
5. U2500 Vehicle Laptop Stand

So when Kim and I drive to Fripp Island tomorrow to see Mom and the family, Kim will be able to surf the net in 3G, on a Netbook instead of her Android. Since the Netbook has Windows 7 instead of Vista, it’ll actually be a good experience for her).

But the picture is bigger than this.  We’ve got a few extra notebooks at the house and some tablets too.  The back seats are really small and fitted specifically for function as opposed to space.  The router and webConnect™ enables the car to be a Wi-Fi hotspot and if I understood correctly a full T-Mobile hotspot as well.  Between now and Christmas, the Cuckooette and Kim along with anyone else we may be taking with us can surf the net in relative comfort while driving around town or on trips.  Sure, longer trips may have some down spots but on the whole, the trips we usually take have solid connectivity for most of it.  The Cuckooette's finally coming of age and I’m sure would jump on an opportunity to shed her DS in favor of browsing YouTube with her cumpys.

Two more Zune HD’s have been requested for the remaining members of the household (in the interim, they’ll have to suffer through using their current Zune’s, or borrowing my Zune HD) which can be used to surf the net while driving as well.

At the end of the day, watching YouTube clips is no more value added than watching Hannah Montana or whatever else but I feel  a lot cooler/better about having computer access for the wife and daughter than DVD or movie access. Maybe that’s just my mind trying to rationalize buying more computers and more gadgets but since I’m not the one who’ll be using the stuff primarily (not the computers anyway), I think I can still try to pass off the altruism routine, right?

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If you’re interested in vehicle computer systems, the best place to start is probably Geek My Ride. The book provides several links to a companion site and enthusiast sites as well as vendors who sell the various components.  There is also a lot of other coolness you’ll find in the book (I mean, what’s cooler than a computer geek who drives a RX-8, and a black one no less. Not sure but I know that a computer geek that drives a techhed out G35 has to be right up there). And if you want to check the book out before buying it, It’s available on Google Books.

There are several computers specifically made for cars, most of which are just the case and stuff inside.  Depending on your car and what you’re trying to accomplish, this may or may not be desirable.  Netbooks are so cheap now though – that I highly recommend them for such projects(just make sure you install Windows 7 instead of Vista). You can get Netbooks in all shapes and sizes so from small to large, you’re covered.  What’s more, you don’t have to deal with having a monitor and a computer (although you’ll probably have to work out some sort of fastener for the Netbook including a seatbelt equivalent – unless of course you don’t mind leaving heavy projectiles sitting around your car).  There’s a lot of simplicity here and consider this – I’m about as unskilled when it comes to drilling and installing stuff as a man can be yet I pulled it off without a glitch – I promise you, you can too. Think about this too – what are Netbooks targeted to do?  Browse the web, check email and light editing of office documents (You don’t want to write multiple best selling computer books on a Netbook unless you get yourself a much better keyboard).  That’s exactly the sorts of things you’d primarily due as a passenger in a car – or need in a pinch when you’re driving.  So b/c of price, weight, battery life etc, a Netbook is probably a great choice.

If you’re on a low budget, you can do away with some of this stuff too.

You can do away with the Notebook mount for one thing.  You could build your own or get a small lap based laptop desk. You can also do away with the router. If you don’t have two lovely ladies driving around with you that you want to keep entertained, then you can just Roll Fo Dolo and skip the router.  Save roughly $150.00 on the project

If you don’t need/want to power multiple machines you can do away with the power supply (although you still want a surge protector) as well.  I always have devices that need powered (and now that my wife turned into an Android junkie, she does too) so I got a power supply that could charge multiple items at once. My thinking is that with multiple people actively surfing, I was pretty sure battery life would die more quickly. Save roughly $100.00 on the project

Or you could be completely lame and just skip the internet connection, but I can’t think of much fun in that case. Save roughly $50.00 on the project up front, and then monthly costs of the plan

I’m going to ask Kim to post a review of the experience after we get home this weekend.  The Cuckooette will likely want to provide a review of her experience as well – with a little luck I may be able to provide that this evening. Sure, I’m going to write about how cool the stuff is, b/c I’m a gadget geek and I went through all the trouble of setting it up (which honestly, wasn’t much trouble at all – I was shocked at how easy it was). However the end users (Kim and the Cuckooette and maybe some of her friends once they’ve had a chance to see it in action) are going to be less tolerant of things that don’t go well and will have a different perspective altogether.  I think their reviews will be particularly insightful.

[tags] Geek my ride, Car Computing, Mobile Computing, Android, T-Mobile Hot Spot, Netbook, Kyocera KR1, Mobile Router, Gateway Netbook, Netbook, Bill Ryan, Kim Ryan, Cuckooette, Windows 7, Windows 7 vs Vista, Infiniti G37 [/tags]

Did a quick inventory trying to plan out some networking issues – I decided to lock down the network. To do that, I needed to first do an accurate inventory of everything in the house that connects to the internet.

• Notebooks | Netbooks – 7 total
•      Windows XP Pro – 2
•      Windows XP Media Center – 2
•      Windows Vista – 2
•      Windows 7 – 1
• Desktops – 3 Total
•      Windows XP Pro – 3
• Servers – 1
•      Windows Home Server – 1
• Routers | Switches – 3
•      Wireless N – 1
•      Wireless G – 1
•      Gigabyte Switch – 1
• Video Game Systems – 2
•      XBox 360 – 1
•      Wii – 1
• VOIP Adapter – 1
• Misc Devices – 3
•      Wireless Printer – 1
•      Zune HD – 1
•      Tablet PC – 1

Doing a nice clean inventory (Mrs. Ryan dear, I can make LISTS TOO – W00T!!!!!!) sure puts things in perspective.  B/c when I look at the networking area – All I see is some glowing neon and a bunch of cables that look like they’re trying to strangle the dogs or anything that comes near them.

(Great, I just heard the Router complaining about me again Having to serve a secondary router is already difficult enough, but how do you as a primary router deal with pressures that are unnecessarily created by secondary devices, obnoxious humans and doom spreading canines who don’t understand that Cisco/Linksys/Netgear != Dog Toy, that wants to destroy your available bandwidth, and will continue to do so until one way or another they break you? (When we just had the Netgear Router everything was fine – but once the Linksys moved in – it’s been nothing but headaches, whining and a whole lotta butthurt)

I’ve been having a  ton of problems recently with dropped connections. There’s a wall separating the kitchen and living room (where the routers are located) so using the microwave usually causes some problems.  But things are much bigger than just this.  The Netbook drops the connection constantly  and is the one usually located closest to the routers.  If I am on it for an hour – it will drop at least once.  Kim’s Mrs. Ryan’s media center and work notebook seem to be the most robust and seldom drop irrespective of where they are.  There’s a desktop that connected over BPL and whenever that was used, we’d have immediate problems with other computers.  The problem was in part that the assigned IP Address would often be one already in use – so that was easy to correct.

Frustrated (b/c I can’t download anything new like Office 10 without a trillion attempts), I decided to fix it this evening.   Brilliant idea on my part.

No matter how hard I try, no matter what I buy to help alleviate the problem, my network cables gain self-awareness and decide that all carbon based life forms inhabiting our house need destroyed.  I’d like to be a man about it and blame my wife but no one would believe that.  But we use velcro wraps, plastic ties, a special octopus power strip and UPS that has fasteners to hold each incoming power chord.  Even with all of this, it looks like I hosted a beer funnel and Graphix Bong contest at my house before attempting to install everything. Then I realized something really disturbing – I have this complete mayhem of a situation and every one of our computers (as well as the video game systems) are wireless. I can only imagine what kind of clusterf*** would be in place if we were wired.

Anyway, I changed things around a bit though and basically had the configuration go from the modem to the switch where I plugged in each of the routers and BPL Adapter.  I plugged the Tablet directly into the N Router and did the same for the VOIP Adapter.  Since the Home Server is sitting next to the routers and I couldn’t possibly make things any more convoluted, I decided to plug the Windows Home Server box directly into the switch.

I turned on several of the computers and hit the internet on each of the ones I turned on.  I’ve been sitting here for about 2 hours and all is good.  Sure, it’s not *really* long enough to say for sure that I fixed the problem, but I fixed the problem. If I get 45 minutes of net time on the Netbook without dropping a connection I’m shocked. It’s been two hours.  And each time I used the power line networking – I always had problems with the other computers.  I fixed it temporarily by assigning an IP address but I undid that for the test – just to see if things were really fixed.  So far, so good.

Then I thought about it and maybe I shouldn’t be so happy yet.  You see, earlier tonight I upgraded the Netbook to Windows 7.  It’s like I stuck another 2GBs of RAM in it and fixed everything else that was wrong with it (it’s a high end Netbook so should have decent performance but froze all the time, had driver problems constantly and just overall worked like crap – all of that went Bye Bye 1 second after Windows 7 Showed up.

Either way – I should know soon what’s driving what but first thing tomorrow – all the Vista machines are going to be Windows 7 machines and unless my wife and daughter say otherwise, the XP machines are going to Windows 7 as well.  The wife and daughter both want Santa to bring them new laptops and Santa  couldn’t possibly say “No” to such charming gals.  Hopefully Santa has gotten with the program and is ensuring Windows 7 is running on any laptops he’s delivering

[tags] Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Bill Ryan, William Ryan  [/tags]

Without getting into the gory details, the Bot that shall not be named, and all others have been temporarily deactivated. I do apologize for the inconvenience but I kind of have to – have to in the Tony Soprano sense of the phrase   I’m confident however that I’ll have this resolved and will be able to have all the bots up and running within the next month.

• If you have any code updates or contributions, Source Control is still active. I’ve turned off all the statistics so when you go there, you won’t see stats about your contributions for now (I do have them internally and will be glad to give them to you if you desire).
• I can’t accept new contributors until I turn things back on.  Yep, it sucks but my hands are tied.  I wish I was one of those kids with a “Life is going to be fair” guarantee when they were born, but I didn’t get one.  If someone drops out though, I’ll be glad to stick you in their slot if you’re interested.  I’ll do this on a straight first come first serve basis just to be fair/safe/ yada yada
• In the interim, I’ll use the downtime to get some important things accomplished. The small stuff includes the Exchange server and porting the databases to Sql Server 2008.  But I’ll have the new Speech Server up and running to. That means when you come back, you’ll be able to send calls to the Bot that shall not be named, you’ll be able to receive calls and SMS messages from the Bot that shall not be named, you’ll be able to send/receive emails with the Bot that shall not be named, and much more.  I’m even going to get an “As Seen As TV” graphic for the project just b/c that’s how I roll
• Please don’t post any snarky questions or god help me, snarky comments about this on this blog.  You can send them to me privately or post them in the Forum over at CodePlex – make sure you only post in the private forums for now.
• Please feel free to contact Kim and tell her that as wonderful as she is, she’s being cruel.  Keeping a Cuckoo from a fast car is just plain mean. And the Big Cuckoo and Little Cuckooette both want to the 370z!

I got the bad news on Friday, but my beloved RX-8, aka the Cuckoo1 is a goner.  My insurance agent called me and said that there was some serious damage done to the suspension of the vehicle.  While everything looked cosmetic, he said the suspension was a big deal and would pretty much ensure that the car was never ‘back to original form’.  He said this would greatly affect resale value but more importantly, it would be unsafe (b/c amazingly enough, he said that cars of this sort tend to be driven really fast.  Go figure     ):

Here, you can see the little guy with a dinged front fender.  Behind me, you can see the F250 (driven by a completely innocent victim in all of this) pinning in the Pontiac Solstice. Amazingly, no one was hurt, and there were no air bags deployed.

As you know, my mother and wife hated the Cuckoo1 ever since they realized how easy it was to do130 mph or to break 100mph down I-85,  ,I got him.  Well, even though this was not related to my driving or any failure of the car, I can’t get another one.  I guess technically I ‘could’, but not without really angering my beloved wife and wonderful mother.  So far, I’ve resorted to every form of bribery and coercion I know but there’s no bending. My mom insists that Kim “sign off” on whatever the new car is.  And Kim has ruled out all 2 seated vehicles.

The short list of replacements were:

• Another RX-8
• A used Lotus Elise or Exige
• A Used Porsche Cayman
• A 350/370z

At first Kim was lukewarm but open to the Lotus or Porsches.  We got so far as the Porsche Dealership and kicking it in the Caymans.  But the lack of a back seat was a deal breaker, especially since we just adopted another daughter (that makes one two legged daughter, 2  4 legged daughters and 1 four legged son).  Kim’s stated objection is that a 2 seat car is what adolescent or unmarried males drive, ones without families.  I have a family and am married, hence it’s not an appropriate choice for me.  I countered simply that we have a wonderful family vehicle.  But her real reason is that each of the 2 seat cars is fast, and corner well, and stop quickly (which by male logic means “safer” right?  And what family guy wouldn’t want a safe car).

The daughter is infinitely cooler more reasonable on this issue. She has approved each of the above vehicles and has been a loyal ally in the “Convince Mom and Grandma Carole” effort. (As such, a direct Quid Pro Quo was put in place with me directly handling communication with Santa to make sure such generosity is properly awarded).  Testimony to how cool mature, level headed and reasonable she is, she told her mother that I deserved a Ferrari or a Lamborghini – at a minimum a Maserati. Sadly, even if her mother capitulated on the 2 seat aversion, financing would be a bit of an issue with the latter 3 vehicles, but at least it shows a really great outlook on the issue.

Kim is very keen on a few SUV’s.  She had a Mountaineer (which was without a doubt one of the ugliest and most unpleasant to drive vehicles ever created) which she hated and for years, that kept her anti-SUV.  But with the dogs and daughter heading into teen years (a daughter who has a whole bunch of friends), Kim things a SUV is our best bet. We’ve agreed on a narrowed down list of:

• Toyota FJ Cruiser
• Land Rover

We all went shopping yesterday and everyone really liked the FJ. The upside of it is that it’s cheap enough that I can really trick it out (tricking it out meaning, onboard computers (a tablet and a laptop), hot spot, wireless broadband and some advanced AV Stuff).  I’m thinking of going the Hoss Route, although I’m nowhere near as smart or talented as old Hoss (I mean, the only thing cooler than a guy with an .ashx homepage is a guy with a completely tricked out computer system in his Expedition).

Tonight we’re going shopping again.  Kim said she’s probably green light an Infiniti G35/37 is they had a rear seat (and they sort of do).  Another Jaguar XJ is a possibility too and she said she’d at least entertain a test drive in a Corvette (which is going to be me and the Young Cuckooette speeding safely driving around without wife b/c there’s no back seat. From there, the plan is to have Young Cuckooette convey to Wife what a safe and ‘family friendly’ vehicle the Corvette is.  If that works, then it’s only a quick step to having Wife convince mom and viola’!

I need to make up my mind quickly so I should know something by Thursday at the latest.

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For anyone that’s been married a long time, I need some advice.  I know that if I come home in a 370z I’m going to pay for it (and I don’t mean sending money to the bank).  That was my initial plan – you know, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission or however that goes.  I have a wonderful wife who’s nothing short of an angel and I don’t want to take advantage of her benevolence.  I mean, even if she got mad at me, it’d last a whopping hour or two. But that’s why I won’t do it.  So how do I pull off the 370?  The Young Cuckooette is 10000% on board –she loved the look of the car, and she thinks it’d be cool getting dropped off in it. Her mom’s car is nice but kids aren’t impressed with sedans no matter how nice they may be.  They are impressed with Big and/or Fast.  She loved getting dropped off in the RX-8 and the 370 scores even higher in the looks cool category. Democratically then, 2 out of 3 should be enough to push through the vote.  Rumor has it that the dogs are all voting with Kim, so that changes the calculus to 4 against , 2 for.  But I should be able to bribe them with some bones and a steak if necessary. Besides, I was the primary advocate in getting both of the two female 4 legged kids – so they should remember that

Stay tuned, same CuckooTime, Same CuckooChannel – and if me and the pri

ncess can pull it off, we’ll see a picture of me and her tooling around in the 370 before long.