Blast Off

This week marks an end of an era - the final space shuttle mission after around 30 yrs will happen July 8th.  Sniff sniff..

Every time I see that footage of the space shuttle taking off it takes my breath away. The raw power of the rockets, the speed of the acceleration - even the crisp aesthetics of the black and white shuttle.  Its unreal, to think that humans are being blasted into space, and after 135 missions that era will end.

To be sure, there will be a next generation of space travel, but THIS is the program that "launched" it, in my opinion.  When you step back, it is a bit extravagant - spending boatloads of money and burning up fuel just to send some people into the sky, for what?  My wife and I are on different sides of the coin here.. I am a space junkie, and she can't understand the fascination at all.

But the exhiliration! Imagine feeling the rumble and thrust of multiple g-forces as your world (literally) drifts away to the point where it seems insignificant.  I've read that viewing the earth from space triggers a sense of euphoria, utter calm and peace.  Talk about getting away from it all.

Its tragic that there have been casualties in the space missions, disastrous ones.  I remember as a kid watching on the news as the Challenger exploded upon ascent, and I called out to my mom.  Space flight continues to be a challenge and a desire - its exciting to see that Virgin Galactic is planning to start in 2012 its sub-orbital flights for people with tons of money (ticket prices start at $200k I believe, and they've sold over 400 so far).  The dream is still alive and thriving!

I am a space child, and I love to be spaced out.  In due time, in due time..
Blast on

Happy fathers day

What a feeling... All the cliches are true.  You really don't know the feeling until you experience it. My first fathers day was a day filled with awe, emotion, and unrivaled pride.

Weird though, sometimes it still doesn't sink in that I am now a daddy (although every day I ask my daughter, ' who's your daddy?').  It's a state of perpetual bewilderment and amazement that after nine months of baking in mommy's tummy you are actually a real, live human being that we created out of love. Wow.

It us an indescribable feeling of victory and satisfaction, and to be honest right now she's seven weeks and every day feels like fathers day.  And every day when I look into her eyes I feel that same awe and amazement.  I hope it never changes.

Happy fathers day to all the new and old dads out there.  Relish every moment and make it last.

Baby wonder

We're into the fourth week of new baby, and the wonder of newborn baby is still here - I hope it lasts for quite a while.

it's the joy of taking about it.  I went around to my coworkers, with a box of timbits and I had this glow upon my face.  Now every day at work I just can't wait to go home!

It also helps that she's a really good baby - only cries when hungry, and otherwise a good eater and very friendly.  And very very cute.  Mom and dad made a beautiful baby (I'm sure every one does!)

As for a status update, I've had 3 dumps and 2 pees on me, the wife's got none.  Hrmm who's really winning this one?

A new perspective on priorities, and newfound respect for all parents.  This is the life.

One week of amazingness

My daughter was born just over a week ago - wow, just saying "my daughter" wil take some time to get used to. It's like when you get married and you first transition from calling your girlfriend your wife.  Different, but gratifying.  Takes a while to get used to, but I love it.

I wanted to document the first week because there were a lot of firsts this week, and a whole lot of learning:

Night 1- hospital, setting alarms to wake up every three hours.  This was a rough night because we were running on fumes being up all night, and meeting with visitors all day. It was tons of fun butt wer were exhausted! But we managed to get up and feed and stuff. Whew.

night 2- now we're at home, things are a little different.  figured out how to change a poopy diaper at 3am!

Night 3- ok, now she's crying, the breast feeding isn't working as well as hoped.. Need to use the syringe, don't want baby to have nipple confusion.  Oh man she keeps crying!

Night 4- oh ok so maybe we weren't feeding her enough...jackpot!  Parent win!

Night 5- difficulty falling asleep, how come? I see, she's a little cold.. Ok lets swaddle her up, hit the mitts and hat, she's our bundle of joy!

Night 6- still crying, but fully fed. Hrmm, wait, what's that sound? What's that smell? Great looks like she's got gas.  Ok I heard that you can have skin to skin tummy time to help pass the gas - awww man she just pooped all over my chest! Help, help!

Night 7- ok now what- she's warm, fed, burped, peed and pooped-or is she? She's quasi latching on but breastfeeding isn't working right.  Awww no, now she won't take the syringe. Still wailing! Mommy and daddy are going nuts!! Aright honey you win, for your 1 week bday you are getting a bottle.  Ahhhh what a beautiful sleep that night was...

So it took us a week but we've kind of got it figured out now...so far.  But what a journey; however every night the wife and i hit the sack with our bond closer than ever- teamwork, you know?

Can't wait for week two.

Gett Smartt!

Whew! So it finally happened but I took the dive and got a Smartphone - now this may not sound like much, but I've been hesitant (for some reason I can't really explain) on the mobile phone scene.  Here's some history:

- late to get a mobile
- late to get a colour screen
- late to get on the txt'ing scene
- late to get a smartphone

So now what? Well I took a great leap and jumped into the fastlane with the Atrix - aka the brand new superphone.  Yep, now you're talking to the Early Adopter!

What a change, this is one of my coolest toys ever, and a definite game changer.  I guess one of my hesitancies with phone upgrades was that the world kept changing too fast and your device would be obsolete - but now it looks like the plateau of stability is here and any phone now will last quite a while with great features.  I'll save the drab about the features for one of the millions of phone blogs out there.

So what's next? I think it means I'll be more active on this blog and on my tweets!
Now I actually feel smarter too.

On Egypt

The power of the People is phenomenal.  I must admit that I was skeptical, but seeing it in action in Egypt showed me that people can really rule the country, not just the statesmen.

Persistence, dedication, good reason, throw in some good portions of civility to get the global backing, and you have the foundations of a ripe revolution.  Not to mention some momentum, from Tunisia.  The Egyptian people have been at it for weeks now, and the movement is growing stronger now that public servants are on sporadic strike.  In effect, I suppose this is holding the country hostage, but isn't that what Mubarak was doing?

I'm not very much into politics or policy but this has really piqued my interest, especially seeing the sentiment of the global leaders.  Can they push to have a leader step down? Isn't this like a political takeover?

The way that everything came together, and the speed, is a sign of the times.  Here the internet, specifically Facebook of all things, was a catalyst to help mobilize and communicate the masses.  Then the government chops the internet (What??!) and so google allows a mobile phone app to continue the messaging.  Wow, now you have web companies starting to pick political sides..

Sign of the times - get with the programs.  Lets see how it all pans out, all the best to the Egyptian people.

The Paint is Dry!

Chalk up another line in the victory column - the paint is done, and the stickers are up!

We went for a "woodland animals" theme in the room, so we painted it a soft yellow, and i stenciled on some light green grass at the bottom.  And we went to town with some cool stickers of trees, leaves, birds, curious bunnies and funky-plaid porcupines.  Don't forget about the giraffe growth chart behind the door!

It looks great, and now its become our Fun Room!  Pics to come!