Category: Daft Musings

I have come to the conclusion that one of the worst things you can do as a host is let your guests sit on near-death chairs. To date, two of our guests have sat on chairs that fell to pieces underneath them. They were embarrassed; we were embarrassed; and nothing we could say could convince…

I have to say, despite all the ongoing grim economic news, I have a hard time accepting the fact that my country, and my countrymen in particular, are in difficult financial times. What: the American consumer stop spending? That seemed about as likely as Congress deciding it doesn’t need a raise this year! Furthermore, the…

In our ongoing sub-conscious efforts to make our children unfit for contemporary American society, we’re currently watching all Monty Python episodes on DVD. It’s not the least bit odd to them, and they’re already familiar with some of the main players, who have gone on to parts in some of my children’s favorite movies, like…

On Friday afternoons, I like to hang out with a homeschooler’s group at a local park, and it’s really something for me rather than for my children, since all the other children in the group are considerably older than Neil and Kelly and rarely play with them. The other parents, though, are experienced, and always…

On Friday, I tried for a hail-mary pass to try to get Kelly into the presumably (but not guaranteed as such) better environment of the magnet school she was waitlisted for. Peter, ever the optimist, thought there might be merit in keeping Kelly within the district until after Christmas, when more places at the magnet…

On Friday, I came to the horrible realization that my daughter is spectacularly unpopular, and I got to wondering. Is it me? Is it her? Or is it factors out of our control? Still a bit discombobulated from our incredible vacation, I was a wee bit late in getting invitations out for Kelly’s birthday party,…

After we dropped Kelly off at school, Peter and I went to vote since our polling place is conveniently located at Kelly’s school. I’m the self-designated household designated voting nerd. I’m one of those people (supposedly rare) who looks over the ballot and all the propositions several days before the vote, reads them over, together…

In May, I wrote about my neighbors, who despite having low-end blue-collar jobs, had managed to pay $869,000 for the gorgeous house across the street. As it turned out, they didn’t pay at all, because they’d been given a loan with no money down and no questions asked by the underwriting genius I dubbed Happy…

The Santa Clara Valley used to be known as Valley of the Heart’s Delight for its great farmland and rich orchards. They’ve pretty much been taking over by business and housing, but when summer time comes, I look forward to August, because that’s the time of year my neighbors come knocking on my door carrying…