Around me arose the lamentations of grief stricken girls
Winning Father's Day
I won big with a Father's Day gift for my dad. He had an old Pentium laptop running Win 98 straight (no SE) that he wanted networked, reliably. I found out that a Netgear MA401, a 16 bit PCMCIA 802.11b, has a reputation for working on even the most primitive OS, like Win 95. I found one on ebay, got it installed Father's Day, and my dad is now surfing from the recliner (his ISP upgrade his DSL modem to wireless the last time he called for service). My mom said he's very happy, I think it's about time he left the storage paradigm behind for the internet paradigm (previously he wanted a PCMCIA CD rom for Win 98, no SE, a tough one).
I got shoes that fit (1803 Size 45) from Mrs. Ha and the girls, and coffee from my sister and her partner. We should have coffee until July! Win.
T-day is Friday
Going back a few days, Mrs. Ha's birthday was Friday, and her brother and sister-in-law called to say they would stop by for a short visit. Luckily we were just finishing dinner (a very tasty spicy Thai shrimp I grilled for her), so I was able to clean up the dishes, and wash out my tap to tap a day early to I could serve a glass of stout to her brother. It was a little flat and warm, it's since improved greatly. On the gift front, she got a TomTom GPS that we're having trouble with, but their help line is nice, so I'll get it running or an RMA number.
Last weekend's movie was 51 Birch Street. While a documentary on a parents marriage might seem dull, this ended up very compelling. The producer's mother died, and three month later his dad married a woman he used to work with. Using interviews and his mother's diaries, he ends up with a very different picture of his parent's marriage. The dad is an inspiration, still spry and active at 83.
Next to last picnic
Also on the weekend was the Family Association picnic. Mrs. Ha stayed home, I took the girls, and let eleven year old wander with newspaper_girl. Six year old was upset that AF_girl wasn't there, but she still found friends and spent most of the afternoon swimming. Her swim classes have really paid off, she was the best first grade swimmer there. After the picnic we went to my parents to meet Mrs. Ha and celebrate Father's Day (see above).
Victory in Ride Your Daughter to School day
It looked iffy in the beginning, the bike had sat for a few days, and the starter clutch slipped, leaving me with just the kick starter. A balky, unreliable bike and a tardy daughter is a bad combination, considering her friend had to be to school before 8 am for a presentation.
I got it going, had it stall out once in the friend's driveway, got it going again and made it with a few minutes to spare. Victory! not Viktory (see below)
Evening Passage Ceremony
The six grade class had a special ceremony Tuesday night, just for themselves. It was a bittersweet time, one of the last times the kids would all be together. They each had to buy a secret gift for a classmate, when one girl said her gift was for the most colorful dresser, I knew it was for eleven year old, despite her wearing a black and white dress. Usually she does dress like Cindy Lauper.
The highlight was watching the class dance to a slideshow set to all the songs they had learned in the previous seven years. They were mostly segregated, white girls stage right, boys stage left, black girls by themselves. That should change soon (see below).
I also enjoyed four of the boy playing "Time of Your Life" on guitar violin and vocals, the Green Day one, not the Dirty Dancing one. It was cute, and repeated the next day.
After the ceremony, I drove back to work to help save an install, the customer has had problems for months, so they finally brought us in. I stopped recoding around 1:30, figuring I was close enough. Given that it took half an hour for a print run, I didn't want to wait anymore.
School Passage Ceremony
The school's passage ceremony was the next day, an even more bittersweet time. The first grade teachers displayed a quilt with each square representing one or two students, they would describe the students in each square for next years teachers. I nearly cried when the teacher's got to the last one, it was for six year old and AF_girl, two peas in a pod that were incredibly caring and empathetic.
After the ceremony AF_girl broke down, and her friends clustered around, hugging her.
Last picnic and lamentations
The last school picnic for the year, and for some of the sixth grade parents, was after the school ceremony. Again, I mostly kept an eye on six year old and let eleven year old run loose with her friends. I was able to chat with other parents, and made a special effort to talk with parents of kids going to SOTA, including the mom of boy in the same specialty as eleven year old (his dad has the Harley). We figured about 12 kids in the class started in kindergarten and went all the way through.
The end was very hard, as AF_girl got into her car, and three of her friends (including six year old) started wailing and crying. They're really going to miss each other.
Amazingly we did see AF_girl later in the evening, they came by to give us their Goldfish before setting off down south. We're planning on visiting in late July. Newspaper_girl also spent the night, the three girls and I played a a few hours of Viktory II before everyone went to bed.
really, the last time sixth graders will all be together
Last night was a pool party for the sixth graders at the Principal's (her son is in the class, too). Six year old was discomfited that she couldn't go, so we sent eleven year old along with the newspapers, and we took six year old out to Friendly's. Eleven year old had fun, except she didn't eat anything, and couldn't understand why newspaper_girl wanted to wrestle in the pool with the other kids (including boys) over pool toys. Yeah, she's immature.
It's been an exhausting week.
Weekend plans
The gaming club meets tomorrow, I'd like to attend. I'd also like to work on my bike, the usual idle, oil leak and starter clutch. Sleep and working out would be nice, too.
| < Hello | No, today is day six. > |
