Cutting the cord

Well, it is official, we are cable/satellite free.  How long we will be is the question as I cannot recall ever not having cable.  Even in college, it seemed a necessity of sorts.  And yet, in the past 2 weeks (well, close to anyway), it has not been missed.  I still have a satellite dish to take down (it is evidently 'ours' as Direct TV will not remove them nor accept their return) and an antenna to install in it's place, but for the past few weeks we have been using the ROKU and watching TV online, if watching anything at all.

Now I won't profess now (or likely ever) to be anti-television.  I still have shows I really like and will try to find online (Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Parks & Rec, Top Chef) and will want to watch at least some live football, but I honestly think I can find those shows through other means and for far less than the nearly $70/month the second year of our two year deal was costing us.   In fact, paying that much for as little time as we spent watching TV seems patently absurd in retrospect.  Like all other things, it comes down to cost/benefit, and the cost was outweighing the benefit for now.  I hope it stays that way for awhile.

Work is at least somewhat better now that I don't float as much (thanks to my manager for intervening on my behalf).  I have 2 more float days this schedule (3 total over 6 weeks), but it is less than half what I was originally scheduled to do.  The last few days (and most of the last week honestly) things have been really slow with a pretty incredible 'no show' rate.  Even my float out to Mt. Hood yesterday resulted in little more than a few PIV placements and not much else.  It has been a nice lull, but it makes the days and weeks seem so much longer than they are.

We are in the contemplation stage regarding moving......again.  This time to Milwaukie.  The idea is that the schools are better, the houses somewhat less expensive, and we could procure some more space for Q to roam about.  The reality is that it will not be easy to do.  But, if we find the right fit, maybe.  Per our Realtor, and with what we are seeing around us, our house has appreciated quite a bit since we purchased it over 2 years ago.  Something in the neck of 20%.  This is somewhat astounding to me, but also pretty awesome.  However, that is happening around us as well.   So, Milwaukie homes are not proving to be all that much cheaper.  The taxes are also about the same.  Oh yeah, and Q won't be going to school for another 4 years and, in the interim, we will both be losing our easy commutes, proximity to Parks/restaurants, and our house which we both really like.  So, again, I think it will have to be a near perfect storm.  But, it is fun to look in the interim.

Gotta run.  Q will be awake again soon enough.

1 year

Quinn is now 1 year old.  1 year removed from that night that is still seared into my memory for its general confusion, borderline hysteria, and a gnawing fear that we wouldnt all make it out okay.  Mercifully we all did. 

 

What followed was 4 months (plus probably a few weeks) that remain somewhat fuzzy in retrospect.  Did I really stay up nights until 330 in the morning with him?  Did we really sleep as little as it seems?  Was it as bad as I remember?  All I can be sure of is that it wasnt pleasant and at times, perhaps much of the time, it seemed like it wouldn't ever end.  

 

And then, slowly at first and then with increasingly alacrity, it did.  The 'formula' that changed everything.  Yes there was still reflux.  Yes there were still times of screaming with seemingly no cause, but it was less and less and much more manageable because of it.  He started putting on weight and stopped needing to be bounced up and down trampoline style following each meal.  The world began to be more or less 'right.'  

 

Since then things have rarely been easy and have become constantly different.  There is no more 'sleeping in' on the weekends.  There is no such thing as a 'quick run to the store' nor a few hours spent going from place to place.  Our house is always 'messy', even when it is not.  Our pets, our yard and our house are much harder to maintain for lack of time (and often fatigue).  Alternately, there is a lot more smiling and laughing.  A lot more adventure.  A lot more experiencing the world in a way I havent since I was a kid myself.  Plus it is fascinating to watch him 'become' a little person.

 

As for whether or not we will opt to repeat this experiment, I still have no idea.  I would say I lean heavily towards 'not a chance in hell', but that would be disengenuous.  Honestly, I don't know.  And, even if I did, time has a way of blunting the edges of resolve.  3 years ago (hell, probably closer to 2 than 3), I would have said that there was not a chance in hell we would have Quinn.  And now I can't imagine it any other way.   

Warehouse deals and at least all kids are pretty much the same

Who doesn’t love a bargain?  Clearly pretty much everyone does or there wouldn’t be so many ‘sales’ going on all the time (I am looking at you Macy’s).  No one wants to pay retail.  However, with something like a shirt, it is hard to really compare the prices, especially when companies sell their own brand(s).  As such, I am claiming my love of Amazon Warehouse Deals. 

For reasons that defy easy explanation (at least to me) Amazon sells ‘used’ goods for as much as, if not more than, 50% off.  I have purchased quite a few things through that service and, thus far, the discount is almost exclusively due to damaged packaging.  Buoyed by my recent spate of small purchases, I decided to go all in and buy something I have had my eye on for some time, a Dyson vacuum.  I know I am a bit obsessed by vacuums (much to my wife’s chagrin), but am starting to see them the same way I view shoes.  You can buy a few pair of cheap shoes or one pair of really good ones and, over the long term, the good pair will outlast the cheap ones and eventually save you money (even if you were reluctant to spend 3 times the price of the cheaper shoes at the time). 

I waffled a lot on my vacuum purchase.  Reviews (opinions) are like assholes after all, everyone has one.  So, for every few glowing reviews on (insert whatever vacuum), there was a scathing one.  No matter if you were talking about a $70 basic vac or a $1499 Miele (I shit you not, they literally can cost that much).  After visiting a vacuum store and nearly convincing myself and Tia that we needed something in the $700-$800 range (though we didn’t want to spend more than $500), I opted for the Dyson because of the availability of expansion tools,  the cost of those tools, the certification from the asthma and allergy foundation, and the low maintenance costs (no bags, reusable filters). 

Dyson’s are not cheap, the retail price was $470, and you can pick up a refurbished model (something I did with my Ipad, though that was through the manufacturer) for about $350, but that cuts the warranty from 5 years to 6 months.  Or, you can buy a ‘used’ model that comes in the original packaging (albeit damaged packaging), unopened, with full warranty for about $320.  Since this isn’t an action figure and I have no intention of displaying it and keeping it ‘in mint condition’, the condition of the surrounding box is of little consequence to me.  So, in summation, the box that the Dyson comes in is evidently worth about a full third of the cost of the machine, or around $150 dollars.  Gotta love Amazon Warehouse!  

I am super excited to use the vac (I realize this is pretty lame but honest) and will write more once I get the opportunity to use it. 

To kind of liven things up, I am compelled to write about an experience we had this weekend with some friends.  They have 2 kids (there was another couple with a child there as well), the oldest of which is their 3 year old daughter.  We all met up at a park for a picnic.  In the middle of the park is a large fountain that, I would guess, no less than 30 kids were running through.  After our picnic dinner, the kids all went to play in the fountain for a bit before this exchange:

Dtr: “I have to go poop”

Parent: “Okay the bathroom is……

Dtr: (pulls bottom of swimsuit down and poops on the concrete next to the fountain). 

I am sure it was mortifying (they seem like really good parents), but I told them they needed to write it down because it will be something to absolutely laugh at later on.  Really puts in perspective Mr. Q taking his dump on our living room floor (and this morning urinated on the hardwoods in his room in the minute between cleaning up his dirty diaper and getting out a clean one after I set him on the floor so he wouldn’t fall).