Ashley's New Glasses

During Ashley's annual physical last fall, her pediatrician recommended that we have Ashley see an optometrist as Ashley's left eye seemed a bit weaker than her right one. We waited a few months since she had not complained about eye problems, headaches, or trouble seeing the board in school. We had never seen her having to squint while looking at things or frankly had any indications (other than the doctor) that there was a real problem with Ashley's eyesight.

So forward to April and the long awaited trip to the optometrist. Cathy and Ryan went mall walking while Ashley and I waited to see the doctor. Up until the we were in the exam, our prediction was that the eyes were a little different, but glasses would not be needed. Once Ashley began the exam and could not read the letters with the right eye closed, I began to get worried. When she couldn't read the second set, I knew glasses would be needed. Oddly enough, Ashley has 20/20 vision in the right eye, but 20/80 in the left. This explains why she had not complained about seeing since her dominant eye was compensating for the weaker one. 

So as we are waiting for the eye to dilate for a retina check, we call Cathy to come back to LensCrafters and begin to look at frames. As I had just had to get new glasses a year ago, the sticker shock was not so great, but the shock of a totally surprising expense was starting to sink in. Long gone are the days of getting glasses complete for $25 as I did as a kid. 

Ashely was apprehensive as to what her school friends would think and say, so we let her pick the frames she wanted and thankfully there was a 50% off kids discount. and with Flex Spend reimbursement, the damage is not as bad as originally feared. Luckily for Ashley, her classmates loved the new specs.

Ashley's New Glasses

Apple Taking Over Our Households?

USAToday (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-03-28/cnbc-survey-apple-products-us-homes/53827254/1) is reporting that at least half of the homes in the U.S. have one or more Apple products. This news, while being pretty impressive, made me think about my family's place in this growing Apple universe. It is no secret that I am an Apple fanboy. This love of apple products began in the late 1980s as an undergraduate at the University of Southern Mississippi who found a couple of small screen, monochrome, all-in-one Macs in a computer lab and began writing Chemistry lab reports with MacWrite and drawing data graphs on McDraw.

I admit that is was nearly 20 years later before I was able to actually own a Mac of my own, but that did not quell my growing obsession with all things Macintosh. I even remember being the only undergraduate student to attend a presentation in which Apple reps were showing off the new family of PowerMacs with the new PowerPC processors running circles around the windows machines setup next to the Macs. 

Fast forward to 2005 when the need for a faster computer at work to run a DNA sequence database prompted me to gather grant funds and convince the IT department to allow me to buy a PowerMac G5. The obsession soon became a lifestyle, but as with so many others, the lifestyle and the budget didn't quite match up. But since then, I have purchased quite a few Apple products with institutional money as well as personal funds. 

So how does the Jones family of Northern Alabama compare with other households in terms of Apple devices. With this week's migration to iPhones, the list includes a PowerMac G5 (that's right, it is still kicking 7 years later), a first generation white Macbook and a Mac Mini for actual computers. As for mobile devices, an iPod shuffle, an iPod nano, an 80gb iPod classic, a 3rd generation iPod Touch (64gb), a 4th Generation iPod touch (8gb) and 2 iPhone 4s's (32gb and 16gb). We also are using an airport extreme router. If my math is correct, that equals 11 Apple devices. while not nearly as many as some people we know, it is a little higher than the average of 1.6 devices per household reported in the USAToday.

Now I am in no way using this post to try and brag about the number of Apple devices we use or show that I have a superior attitude as an Apple fanboy. I am just impressed by how this company has continuously been successful in the marketing of its products and created such buzz. It is true that the products for the most part sell themselves with a high level of innovation and quality design, but the ecosystem Apple has created has been clearly superior to competitors in my opinion. For this reason, when we have "needed" new devices and had the money available, we have and will most likely continue to choose Apple products. I have no malice against those that choose other platforms, but as many evangelist do, I will continue to sing the praises of the products that "just work" so that I can focus on my tasks (and, of course, the Apple news and rumor sites).

How many Apple devices do you own and/or use in your life?

Content to Stay Home

As I was walking through the parking lot towards work this morning, I was noticing how much Alabama and Auburn signage was in plain view from cars, trucks and vans at the school. It made me wonder how many of those vehicles belonged to alumni from either the University of Alabama or Auburn, so I started to look at the parking tags to see if they were staff or student tags. Most were student tags and it was clear that the majority of community college students are not also alumni from four year universities.

That started me thinking about traveling and how it seems like almost everywhere I have lived, the majority of people living there where natives. Growing up in a military family has made me curious about those who have lived in one place all of their life. There are those that have always lived in one city/town, many with generations of their family living within blocks of their homes and, most shocking to me, there are many of these people that are happy about it! 

I cannot begin to imagine having lived in one place all my life or having family close enough to "chunk a rock at".  These are foreign concepts which make me wonder again about how anyone could be happy without traveling the world and seeing what else is out there.

I don't get to travel much anymore and in many ways would like my kids to have a stable foundation for a home, but frankly, I would be disappointed if I was unable to offer them the opportunity to travel and see what else is out there. Most importantly, I would be heartbroken if they lost the desire to see more of the world. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it is bad thing, just a different way of thinking. 

I treasure the fact that I have been able to experience different places and cultures and believe that the person I am today is largely related to experiencing diverse people and places.

Parallels of Nature

When I look around me...no really look around carefully, I notice the simplistic geometry of nature. As with these trees which grow next to the kid's school line the horizon with parallel lines gracefully reaching for the sky, nature is full of symmetry which tends to induce a calming affect. Take a note of the geometry of nature and tell me which type of scene brings you more peace: the flowing concentric circles after a pebble has broken the surface of a pond or the explosion of spray as a speedboat races by? It is not always at the top of our minds, but really look around you some time as you are chilling in your favorite spot and see what the parallels of nature have to offer.

Decatur Mardi Gras Parade 2012

The city of Decatur Alabama hosted its first annual Mardi Gras parade last Saturday night and we decided to go at the last minute. It was a little on the cool side, but the kids had their jackets so why not. We were able to drive onto the parade route and park about midway before the barricades were placed. We only had to wait about 5 minutes before the parade started and the kids became quite excited when the flashing lights from the police cars came into view. The parade didn't last too long so the kids (and the adults) had a good time while collecting a plastic shopping bag full of beads, doubloons and even moon pies. All in all, it was a good time and not a bad 1st attempt at a parade.

Our Journey on the Road of Life

It was 2 decades ago today that we packed the bags, topped off the tank and headed out on this journey. We said we would stay on the road for the rest of our lives and enjoy all of the sights and sounds waiting for us. Now 20 years later, we are still moving along in wonder of the things life has shown us. We have experienced a few flat tires, some unwise shortcuts and the loss of a bag or two along the way, but we have also found many uncharted side roads which lead to adventures we can call our own. We have relished life and even searched desperately for the next gas station a few times. We have added a couple of eager new passengers and lost some long time travelers. We have traveled, toured and tired, but I hope there are more adventures ahead than behind and I look forward to experiencing them with my best friend and our new backseat guests.

Happy Anniversary Cathy, it has only been 20 years, so let's not stop the car. The new luggage is packed, there is a fresh tank of gas and the car has a few hundred thousand more miles left in her. Let's hit the road and drive and drive and drive and drive and drive and drive and drive and drive and ...

There's a Bee in Me Kilt

I discovered that it is the Scottish Bee that makes its home in the ground and wears the black and gold tartan for I have just met the William Wallace of bees.

It was a day like most others while pillaging and plundering the green country side of JonesLawn, when I came across the village which was presumably home to the rebel Wallacebee. As good English tend to do when stumbling across a Scottish hold, I leveled the village with the rotating blade of my superior war machine and proceeded to murder the villagers with a hardy dose of insecticide.

I proceeded on with my travels through the countryside and upon turning towards home was bee-seiged by a lone freedom fighter crying out for liberation from the oppression of the royalty. I felt the sting of his attack and knew the time to flee was upon me. Upon arriving in the security of the royal dwelling, I looked back to see that his fight was a lone one and with only a slight blemish on the face of the nobility, I realize that the supremacy of the kingdom was intact.

As I gazed across the blighted lanscape, I wondered if the self-sacrifice of Wallacebee would lead to a larger uprising among the Scottish Bees or would be a verification of the power of the Monarchy. We will see when next I wander out to pillage and plunder the mighty yard.