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My enthusiasm toward the political process has ebbed as of late.  I still back Obama 100%, but the last couple of weeks have been difficult and saddening.  It makes me feel… meh.  If Clinton would just drop out.  As thousands of others are saying, she is not doing what is best for the party and for the country.  Please Hillary, call it quits.

I installed Leopard on my home PC this week.  Everything seems to work except the sleep and shutdown functions.  But, I am typing this in Vista.  Leopard doesnt like my PS/2 keyboard.  I suppose I should find out why?? Not feeling very enthused about anything right now, especially kext replacement and fucking with Terminal.  I am quite tired.

I just finished reading four novels by Robert Charles Wilson.  “Spin”, “The Chronoliths”, “Axis”, and “Darwinia”.  I like all of them, but “Axis” seemed the weakest (it is the sequel to “Spin”).  I haven’t read sci-fi novels written with such attentiveness toward the human condition since Ursula K. LeGuin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness.”

So, take my advice and pick up some of his books.  You will enjoy them.

A bit sleepy

I am beginning to get tired.  Jason – I went to the store, I got back.. we ate.  I didn’t call.  Sorry.  Now it is late.  Soon I will sleep.

Thank you both for the beard-love.  I shaved it off the day after I took the picture, having hair around your mouth is not something I find to be pleasant.  Typing on a regular keyboard on top of a laptop is lame.  I will sign off now.

Yes, I know this post completely blows.

Jesus H Christ

Hey, I havent posted in almost a year.  Well, we have broadband again so, here I am.  All I want to say right now is that I really hope this new bullshit from the Clinton campaign goes over with Texas and Ohio voters as I see it… a weak attempt to make Obama look bad, apparently over nothing.  Please, Texas… vote for Obama.  Finish Hillary off so that she can concede and we can start focusing on November.

Also, our new apartment is very nice.  I am glad to live in a non-rural area again.

Blank

I haven’t posted in a while.  We have a lot going on, preparing to leave, going away parties, souvenir buying, cold weather clothes buying.  I think though most of what we are doing is preparing ourselves mentally for the change.  It’s going to be huge.  Weather aside, the amount of freedom that we are going to gain from having a car is going to do a lot for us.  It will affect our health, too.  On one hand, food in the US is not as healthy for you, generally.  On the other hand, outdoor exercise is potentially dangerous in Brazil, at least where we live.  I look forward to walking on country roads, breathing in air not filled with pollution from plastics factories.  Working outside in the garden, playing with Raquel in a yard covered in grass, these things don’t happen here.  I am going to lose weight, and I am going to get fit… at least to May 2004 levels.

Emotionally though, I am not sure how to explain what I feel.  I am not really thinking ahead to beyond getting on the plane.  Once we land, it is New Life for us.  Scary, a little bit.  I cannot deny that even though I have not enjoyed my experience in Brazil 100%, I have grown comfortable here in a sense.  I guess I am trying not to think about it.

I know that everything will be ok for us there though.  We will be ok.

Whoo Yeah!

Our plane tickets are bought and paid for, as of yesterday. We will arrive at O’Hare on April 20th. Awesome? I think so!! Ahh yes, it is grand. So, for y’all 5 people that read this site, fill your hearts with gladness, you will soon get to meet Flavia and Raquel!

YAY!!!!!!

Virtual Baby Shower?? What the hell, we can try, can’t we??

SO!!!!

You’ve read the good news!! Our visa interview is on the 28th of March, and we will fly back to the US on April 19th or April 26th!! Yes people, assuming everything goes well at the interview, (which it will, this is only a formality to present financial documents) we will be back very soon!!

This is the part where I ask for your help, my gentle people. Yes, since we did not have a traditional wedding, nor a baby shower, I request the assistance of my good friends with certain items we will need upon our arrival! We have a stroller that we will bring with us, and we have a car seat and crib, but unfortunately the car seat is too small, and the crib is way too big! We need these things!

Car Seat

Toddler Bed

Mattress

Bedding

Now these are the most important things. We don’t need this exact car seat. We just need one that fits a baby weighing 22 lbs and 30 inches tall. If you can help, let us know!! We just want to make sure that Raquel has those things she needs.

Thank you very much.

Updates, Updates!!

I have not posted in a while, sorry about that.  I know you all are dying to read my incoherent ramblings and self-pitying nonsense…. but here I go!

Flávia had her surgery over the weekend, everything went great!!  I had to spend most of my time outside of her room though.  The hospital has a policy where 1 person can accompany a patient in their room, all hours of the day.  However, that person has to be of the same sex as the patient and the other patient in the room.  My wife’s roommate was a woman who had just had a nose job.  So I hung out in the corridor reading The Two Towers for the third time in 4 weeks.  The hospital was very nice, I was pleasantly surprised.  Quiet for reading.

Today we were given our interview date for Flávia’s visa.  March 28th!!  We should be in the states around April 12th.  Yay!!!  After all of the drama and waiting, our arrival in the US has not been delayed as much as I thought possible.  When the State Department said it would take 4 weeks to re-approve the petition, they meant it!

Here we come, USA!!

Life and such

Since nothing seems to be happening (at least that I have heard about) in regards to our immigration, I have had to turn my thought to other things.  Luckily I found out about the Firefox plug-in Stumbleupon from a friend’s blog.  What a beautiful tool to find new content.  Each day I see something new that blows my mind.

Flávia is going to have surgery next Saturday.  She is nervous about it, she has never had surgery before.  I am a two time surgery champion, with a black belt in anaesthesia.  I am not so worried.  She will be okay.  I do look forward to waiting there for her to come out, and be with her.  After she gave birth to Raquel, I was not allowed to see her immediately, and she was intensely traumatized by the way that she had been treated by her doctors.  Hopefully this time it be better, as she will be in a better environment and having to worry about little things like if the nurses are going to come and clean her up shouldn’t be a concern.  I must say, never have anything done in a public hospital in Brazil.  They are a mess.  People regularly die on the floor waiting to be attended.  On the other hand, most private hospitals in Brazil that I have seen are better, but only one had modern day equipment (like in the US) and it was the most expensive hospital we looked at.

The shittiest part for me is that Brazil doesn’t have vending machines.  What am I supposed to drink and eat while I am waiting for her to finish her surgery???  Dammit.

I laughed so hard I pooped

I found this at TUAW.

Wow.

The Penis Tree

This is for all of you who heard about it, but never saw the wonder that it was.  My landlord made it in our back yard, which happened to face a heavily used section of US 151 in SW Wisconsin.  A few days afterward the sherriff showed up.  I was glad that it was my landlord who made it, not me.  Quite a few people who had not had sex in years were rather upset about it.  On the other hand, quite a few people thought it was awesome, and would drive past our house slowly and park in our driveway to see it.

Revel in its proportions… The Monument to the Average Sized Man.