first day k pictures

OK, so a good night's sleep makes the pictures upload the very first time. Well, it would've been a good night's sleep if kcrazorback daughter had not wakened him at 1:24 AM to show him what the tooth fairy brought. Here, 15 minutes before first bell, daughter is excited about first day:

School is about 1/2 mile uphill from home so we walked on first day. There is one street to cross without a crossing guard so the kids hold bright yellowish green flags:

After transferring the backpack to the student, Dad got to walk her up the school's front walk:

Once inside, the reification of full-day kindergarten brought a sad, pensive look to the face of the previously excited first day-er.

Five minutes later, however, she would be sitting front and center while teacher covered calendar issues for the day. All in all she had a great day and was actually observed hugging teachers before going home at the end of the day.

can't upload pictures

Sorry, I've tried for 30 minutes and can't get the first day of kindergarten pictures to upload. I'm giving up, but only temporarily.

Meanwhile, check out the school here.

first day of kindergarten

Those of you that know kcrazorback daughter well know that tomorrow (less than 12 hours from now) is her first day of kindergarten. I am certain the waterworks will flow after her mother and I drop her off at 8:10 in the morning. Her mother may even cry as well. Tomorrow I plan to post a first day picture and tell you more about her school, etc. in time.

There's something special about starting formal education. If she's like either parent, she'll be getting out of school in about 19 years. I'll be in my 60's when that happens so I hope I'll be able to remember these first five years. So, upon this important commencement, let me honor her first five years with this blog post.

Actually, you're five years old, but God made you almost exactly six years ago. During those almost-9 months before birthday, you were the life of the party. You danced if there was music, twirled if Mom had cake, loved the voices of friends and family and had a special bond with your mother. Even before you were born we got little peeks into your personality which is much like hers.

You were injured at birth during a traumatic delivery and fought for your life for about 30 minutes. You won that fight and have lived life more passionately since then than anyone I've ever known.

I remember so many things about you when you were a baby. You were such a good sleeper. You were a daddy's girl from the start. Your smile was contagious. You made a guttural click when I walked in the room and to say 'goodbye' and 'I love you.' When you could eat real food, you did. And you still eat with a passion. What's funny about that is you're still skinny.

You stole our hearts at the very beginning, but you kept them with your bouncy-seat bouncing, dancing, singing, 'running and reading,' Noggin, praying, talking (and talking and talking and talking), gymnastics, piano, ice skating and many other activities. There are so many other reasons as well: baseball, cotton candy--wait, those are the same activity. And, the big one, of course, swimming. You are the best swimmer for your age. We have a video of you in the swimming pool saying you're training for the Olympics (shot about an hour ago)--I plan on showing that video 16 years from now when you get your Olympic medal.

Of course, by then you'll still be in school. So, enjoy the next 11 hours because a super huge adventure is just about to begin. (I'm glad you're still a good sleeper.)

which cat engineer is real?

OK, so one of you forwarded me a funny video. Don't do that. Anyway, this time I clicked on it and watched the first minute or so before getting tired of it and shutting it off. In that first minute or so, though, a hp calculator made the cut. Stay tuned.

Here is the video. It is about two engineers explaining what cats are. Now, if you happen to like engineers or (dare I say) cats, you might find this video amusing. I don't like either and I did not care for the video. (OK--I kinda do like some engineers--I don't like cats.)

But note the two calculators in the calculator duel scene early on. The guy on the left (an engineer?) appears to be holding a TI graphing calculator.

But, look closely at the other calculator--the one on the right. It's one of the late '80s clamshells--the hps without a family name. I'm not sure exactly which model it is, but I'm guessing 28S (orlando for you guys that know your hp names) or 28C (paladin). These first RPL programmables are super-cool. I've got a couple.

Obviously, the guy on the right is the coolest cat-explaining engineer this side of Palo Alto. Moral: Cat engineering can be done with any old calculator, but...um, ok, so maybe I don't know the moral, but it's nice to see an hp in the movies.

my very hard decision

When the family gets a new dog, it seems to bond with exactly one family member in a special way. In June of 1997, six-week old Polly picked me. This is the only family pet that has ever picked me.

On Tuesday, I made the decision to put her to sleep. It was a difficult decision because most of the time she seemed to be a perfect cute little dog just laying on the floor. Unfortunately, she laid on the floor almost all the time to avoid respiratory distress caused by congestive heart failure and tracheal collapse. It was a very difficult decision because she could have lived on for several more years.

If you knew her, you knew that this little active dog would never have real quality of life when forced into inactivity. I will always remember a very vivacious dog who greeted each day with zeal. So, I'll honor that life by telling you just a few things about her:
1. One of my nicknames for her was Discount Dog because we got her from a dealer for much less than the going rate for purebred Pomeranians because her ears curled over instead of standing straight up. Susan saw her the first time and said "you watch, those little ears are going to pop right up." They did, almost immediately when we got her home at 7 weeks old. They stood straight and pointy until the moment she passed away. See her ears in the picture above taken with newborn Olivia in 2003.
2. Cottage cheese. Her early diet involved a lot of cottage cheese. I remember looking at this little blonde face covered with cottage cheese every time she ate.
3. We drove up at our Walnut St. house with her the first time, set her in the grass where she peed immediately. From that point on she was essentially potty trained.
4. She was truly kennel trained. The first two years of her life she slept in a kennel on the floor right next to my side of the bed. Her job was to wake me up.
5. She adored our first Pomeranian, Niki (Niki just died in 2007 at almost 18 years old) but Niki only tolerated Polly.
6. My other nickname for her was Double Dog. Because our only other dog at the time weighed about 5.5 pounds and then came Polly at a whopping 11 pounds.
7. A couple of months after she came to live with us, Polly broke a leg. I'll never forget her little pink cast. When it came off, the leg was atrophied--half the size of the other front leg.

I'll miss Polly. She was a good dog. I wish the decision had not been necessary.

best price on 10bII

Generally speaking, the hp site is the best place to buy new hp calculators, but I happened to walk by the calculators in the local Walmart store tonight. If you're looking for a good deal on 10bII, this $29.99 calculator is available at one Walmart for only $20. Can't beat that anywhere else.

pricing update for new models

I told you in this recent post about all the new calculator models that hp is going to market with. Seems that they have rolled out their prices. Couple this with the earlier post and start buying:

1. 20b $39.99
2. 40gs $99.99 (note: check the earlier post, I guessed $99-110, that's right--I'm real good)
3. OfficeCalc 100 $14.99
4. OfficeCalc 200 $19.99
5. PrintCalc 100 not yet priced
6. QuickCalc $5.99

IMHO, these are great prices. Start buying. Oh yeah, send me one (of each). I'm still waiting.

If interested in buying, start here.