Sagebrush Acquisition

This acquisition obviously affects other people besides just the employees of both companies. Here's a link to a news story from a local newspaper in Caledonia, MN (where one of the Sagebrush offices is based). Some quotes that kinda made me sad for them:

The number of Sagebrush Corp. employees in Caledonia, Minn., has fallen sharply since Sagebrush bought Caledonia-based Winnebago Software Co. in January 2000. Now the future of most of the remaining employees in Caledonia appears to be up in the air. Sagebrush, based in Minneapolis, has sold its library automation business to a competitor, Follett Software Co. of McHenry, Ill.

Caledonia Mayor Michael Morey said he did not know what effect the sale might have on local employment. "“I would hope they would find the employees here are hard working"” and remain in Caledonia, he said.

I try to take Romans 12:15 very seriously, so please pray for all the folks who are going to be affected by our acquisition. Even the people who might not be obvious (like the residents of the little town of Caledonia, MN).

Cellular Phones

There comes a moment in every cellular contract, when we as the consumers finally have the advantage: the day the contract runs out. At that blessed moment, we are free to take our business elsewhere, without the specter of "cancellation fees" hanging over us.

In our case, since we happen to like our cellular carrier (Cingular), we decided to pay them a visit to "upgrade" our phones. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. In order to upgrade the phone, one must navigate carefully through the "sales pitch" minefield, as the sales associates try to convince one to:

1) Add new service
2) Add another line
3) Increase ones minutes

I found it particularly humorous when my salesman began his pitch: "You might be interested in adding a few more night/weekend minutes to your plan. You've only got 600 anytime minutes between the two phones." Remember that Cingular is the carrier that lets people "rollover" unused minutes from one month to the next. So I asked him, "How many rollover minutes do we have on our plan?" He checked the computer, then grinned and said, "I don't think you'll be needing any extra minutes... you've got over 8000 in there." He was a really good sport.

In all fairness...

In all fairness to Mr. James Newton Howard, I must slightly amend my review of "Lady in the Water." His score was, as always, superb! He has scored the last five Shyamalan movies, and they're all extremely well-done. The music was definitely the best part of the movie.

There! Now my conscience is clear.

Saturday Fun

Saturday was my "fun day" with Kathryn. First we went down to Wheeling to Pita Inn for lunch (one of our favorite places). Kathryn always gets the rice, and I always get the shawarma lunch with a bit of hummus. In order to get Kathryn to try the shawarma meat, I started calling it "sausage meat", and she's loved it ever since. Chris and I found Pita Inn back when we were both living much closer to Wheeling. We used to go there for supper every one or two weeks.

In fact, this Saturday we met "uncle" Chris and Emily there. They were in the middle of their own Daddy/Daughter weekend, since Mary and Nathan went out of town.

After that, Kathryn wanted to go to the park (since it was such a nice day). We went to a park in Arlington Heights which has a little playground. We heard some seagulls, and when we went to investigate, we found a little beach. We waded into the water a bit, and Kathryn had a blast running around in the sand and the water.

Then we ran some errands, played at the park a bit more, and went home.

Lady in the Water

Ick! I was decidedly unimpressed with Shyamalan's latest movie. As I sat through it, I found myself thinking, "If this story was in any way believable, I might really like this movie." Unfortunately, it was an almost nonsensical mash of strange creatures, bizarre "rules" (never explained), and overly gullible people.

But the two friends who went with me (Amber and Sadi) both loved it. As we talked about it afterwards, we decided that if you can really suspend your disbelief, you stand a good chance of enjoying the movie. If, however, you ever find yourself saying, "This is stupid," you may as well just leave the theater immediately (because it's only going to get worse). It didn't help that all of the characters seem to believe implicitly in this outlandish fairy tale. If they'd included a few scenes where the characters slowly came to belief, I might have been able to swallow it.

If you want to see a good Shyamalan movie about faith and destiny, go rent "Signs". But if you decide to see "Lady in the Water" anyway, try to suspend your disbelief. If you actually like the movie, please let me know. I hope I'm in the minority on this one... but I doubt it.

Seattle, Washington

Apparently this is the year for everyone to go to Seattle. Bill and Jen went there last month, the Carlisle's were just there a few weeks ago, and the Nelson's will be there next month. Everyone I know has told me that I should absolutely love Seattle (given my hatred of hot summer weather). I'd love to test this theory someday. Until then, I did a small bit of research on my own, with the help of weather.com.

I looked up the averages for both McHenry, IL and Seattle, WA. For temperature, Seattle wins easily. In McHenry we go from an average 28° high in January, all the way to a uncomfortably toasty 82° in July. Seattle has much more even temperatures: from 46° in December and January, to 76° in August.

Of course, the first thing people think of when they hear "Seattle" is "rain". Surprisingly, the average total precipitation for Seattle is only 37.07", compared with McHenry's 36.50". I can happily live with an extra half-inch of rain!

Someday we'll have to take a trip out there, just to see if everyone is right. But judging from the data, I'm not so sure I should go... I might never come back!

Trip to Shedd Aquarium

Last weekend, Kathryn and I were supposed to go camping with Bill, Jen, Amber, and Sarah. Fortunately, as last weekend was the hottest weekend of the summer, we decided to go down to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. We all met at the train station near Sarah's house. Kathryn and I had a momentary detour, after she uttered those words every parent dreads: "Daddy, I really have to go to the bathroom now!" At that point there's no reason to ask, "Why didn't you go before we left," but we all it do anyway.

We made it to the station in plenty of time, and 90 minutes or so later, we were in Union Station. I'd forgotten how cool that station looks. I normally take the Union Pacific Northwest line, which comes into the newer Ogilvie Center. Union Station is right next to my favorite building in the world: the Sears Tower. There was a time when I used to walk past Sears Tower every other Saturday, but I hadn't been back to Union Station in almost 14 years.

The aquarium was very nice. Kathryn and I both consider the penguins our favorite exhibit. We could watch them for hours. We also saw a few eels during feeding time. Unfortunately, only one of the eels actually ate anything: he snapped up everything they dropped into the tank before the other eel could react. Poor guy!

In the evening, we all came back up north and went to Gino's in Lake Zurich for dinner. Then Kathryn and I went down to Schaumburg, where we stayed for the night. We didn't get there until 11:00, and we didn't actually get to sleep until midnight or so. Kathryn wanted some "music" on, but since we didn't have a radio in the room, we turned on "Command Decisions" on History International. I figured she'd be so tired (and so bored) that she'd fall asleep instantly. Little did I know that "Command Decisions" includes a lot of multiple-choice military questions, which (for some reason) interested Kathryn very much.

The next day we went to Woodfield Mall for a while. I made another mistake by going into the Lego store with Kathryn. I didn't know they had a whole princess-themed set of Legos! "That was an important piece of information, wouldn't you say?" Fortunately, Kathryn doesn't often make a fuss about buying toys right away. She'll just calmly mention, "Daddy, maybe I could get this for my birthday or Christmas...?" in a cute little expectant tone.

Pride and Prejudice

The latest DVD to arrive in the mail was the new version of "Pride and Prejudice". I probably wouldn't have even considered watching it... except that Keira Knightley starred in it. But I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It had some very snappy dialog, and more than a little humor. I was pleasantly surprised that Dame Judi Dench was also in the movie. I always enjoy listening to her: she's got a tough, no-nonsense delivery that adds that little extra edge to all of her dialog.

The story seemed relatively straight-forward, so I'm sure they cut out a lot of detail from the book. Of course, never having read the novel, I have no idea what they changed in the movie. Still, even though it's a romance, I really enjoyed it.

Lady in the Water "First Listen"

I almost forgot! The guy who runs SoundtrackNet just added a "First Listen" for the "Lady in the Water" soundtrack (by James Newton Howard). He has 16 thirty-second clips from the soundtrack up at Soundtrack.net, along with a description of the music on each track. If you think I'm detailed about soundtrack music, you should check out Dan Goldwasser's site. He really knows soundtracks!

Interesting People

About a year ago, I started going to the local health club twice a week. And during that time, I learned a very important lesson. There are two places in the world where you should never, never, initiate a conversation with your fellow man, no matter how friendly you might wish to be: the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the health club locker room.

Now the DMV is a given -- everyone already knows what kind of crazy people live there. But never having been to the health club, I naively thought that it was possible to have a nice, friendly conversation. After many strange (one-sided) discussions involving: alien abductions, the inevitable Communist takeover of the United States, and the general unfairness of life, I decided to simply ignore everyone. The last straw was one poor guy who just wanted to tell his life story to someone... anyone! As it turns out, he was feeling depressed because some woman he barely knew filed for a restraining order against him. I told him, "Life really is unfair," and beat a hasty retreat.

Today, I accidentally spoke to someone. As I was just heading out of the locker room to begin my workout, a guy came in wearing a shirt which read (in HUGE letters), "Body Piercing saved my life!" My curiosity got the better of me, so I asked, pointing at his shirt, "How did that happen?" He said, "You need to read the back for it to make sense." On the back of his shirt was a picture of Jesus' nail-pierced hands.

Now, since I'm a believer, I thought that was a really creative shirt, and told him so. Unfortunately, like a good evangelist, he began to quote Scripture at me, attempting to convince me of my need for a Savior. I tried several different times to let him know that I was already a believer, but I think he was on auto-pilot.

First I tried the old standby of finishing the Bible quotes that he'd begin. So when he'd say, "The Bible says that 'He was wounded for our transgressions...'," I'd chime in with, "'... and bruised for our iniquities.'" Nope. He kept going.

So I told him, straight up, that I was a believer. No dice. I let him walk me through the four Spiritual Laws, proclaiming my assent to each point. No good.

By now, he was truly launched and well away. I started throwing the occasional "Amen" and "Yes Lord" into the conversation, thinking that some charismatic display was called for. Not good enough. I eventually escaped only by sticking my headphones on and shouting, "Well, I've had a wonderful chat with you, but I've gotta get to my workout now. See ya!"

Now I've gotta hand it to the guy. He was more bold with his faith than most people who call themselves Christian (including me). He seemed very concerned that I understood my need for a Savior. A bit over-zealous, obviously, but his heart was in the right place, and I admire him for that. So even though I can laugh at the experience, I wonder if he didn't have something to teach me about my own faith. Am I bold enough to present Christ to a stranger, just in casual conversation? All too often, I'm not. Maybe this was God's way of nudging me in the right direction. Tact definitely plays a part, but Christ still calls us to share our faith, wherever we are.

Pirates 2

Kristin and I saw Pirates 2 yesterday (my Mom and Frank were good enough to watch Kathryn for us). First of all, the reviewer I quoted a few days ago greatly overstated the movie's "scare" factor. There were a few really gross scenes, but nothing that was any more disgusting than the things that elementary-age boys will do in youth camps. There's no way I'd take Kathryn, because it's still really scary, and she doesn't like pirates enough to make the scares worthwhile. But somebody like Joshua (a soon-to-be six-year-old, who really likes pirates) might enjoy it... if his Mom and Dad see it first (so they know when to cover his eyes). (By the way, Happy Birthday to Joshua and Kristin, who share a July 12th birthday).

Though it pains me to say it (because I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Superman fan), Pirates is a far superior summer movie than Superman Returns. Superman would have done far better if it had been released around September or October (after the summer movies, but before the heavy Oscar contenders). It just takes itself too seriously for a big summer blockbuster.

Pirates 2, on the other hand, really impressed me. In a word, it was fun! It was the perfect movie for the season. And it had just enough depth to make me want to see it again. Elizabeth's character development near the end of the movie was perfect, the more so because it was foreshadowed earlier in the movie. Oh, and if you hate cliff-hangers, be warned that this film is an obvious setup for the inevitable third movie. I hope they filmed them both at the same time, because I don't want to have to wait years for the resolution!

Megan and Brad's Wedding!

I haven't been able to update my blog in a few days because we've been down in Joliet for my cousin Megan's wedding! We had a great time all weekend, and Kathryn was a wonderful flower-girl. I'll include a few pictures here on the blog, but for a bigger set, you can go here (they're very Kathryn-centric, of course).

We left Thursday afternoon after I came home from work (I only worked a half-day). We were staying with my Dad and Pat, so we first dropped our stuff off at their place. The rehearsal was at the church at 6:00. Kathryn had been anticipating her role ever since Megan asked her to do it, so she was very excited. The rehearsal was a bit of an anti-climax for her -- I think she expected it to be more dramatic somehow.

Then we followed everyone out to the rehearsal dinner at Brad's family's farm in Minooka. I hadn't been out that way since college; back when I had that creepy experience as a intern programmer at the family-owned locomotive company... but that's a story for another time. Brad's entire family is very hospitable. It felt very natural to spend time with them. Brad's nephew, Alex, was the ring-bearer, and even though he's four years older than Kathryn, he was a really good sport about keeping her occupied. Brad has attended many of our family-gatherings, and he's a very friendly person. I feel as though he's been a part of our family forever.

At the rehearsal dinner, Megan and Brad gave gifts to all the attendants. Megan gave Kathryn a cool little Barbie "Fairie-topia" toy (she said Kathryn could bring it with her to the wedding so she wouldn't be too bored). She also gave Kathryn a beautiful cross necklace to wear for the wedding (you can see it in some of the pictures). By the way, this was just one of the many examples of how well Megan planned her wedding. She was extremely thoughtful the entire weekend. I've never attended a wedding that was better planned than this one!

The day of the wedding, we ran into our first little snag. At first, Kathryn didn't want her hair done. But that minor problem was very quickly resolved. We developed a little mantra that we would mention whenever Kathryn looked like she was going to be obstinate. We'd ask, "Who's special day is it?" Then she'd answer, "Megan's." It was an easy way to remind Kathryn that she was there to make Megan's day special, not to whine about little things. And that was the only time Kathryn showed a hint of impatience with the wedding proceedings. She was very well-behaved all weekend, and we were all very proud of her.

I hadn't seen the full-effect of Kathryn's dress, her hair, the necklace, and the flower basket until I saw her coming down the aisle. No, I didn't start thinking about walking her down the aisle someday (those thoughts came later, at the reception). But she was so beautiful! She walked very slowly, placing a petal with each step; first with the right hand, then with the left. She had a very determined look about her; very focused on her job. When she got to the front, she just walked back over to the fourth pew to sit with us, and that was it.

Unfortunately, we forgot the "fairie-topia" toy. But fortunately, a Catholic service is much more interactive than our dry Protestant services. In our Protestant churches, we might have an awesome worship time at the beginning, but after that we just sit around and listen to someone else talk. In the Catholic Mass, there are all sorts of responsive readings, candles being lit, elements being prepared, bells ringing, alter boys carrying things around, kneeling, standing, etc. Kathryn was enthralled the entire time!

After the wedding, as with most weddings, the picture-taking was a bit tiring. Kathryn's little smile kept looking more and more forced with each picture. By the time we went outside for the outdoor pictures, she barely acknowledged the photographer anymore.

But she was really looking forward to the reception. She'd been told that there would be dancing, and she couldn't wait to show everyone her moves! She had us all cracking up! One bridesmaid in particular (Emily, I think, pictured behind Kathryn here) really took Kathryn under her wing. I was delighted to see how friendly everyone was to Kathryn, and how they went out of their way to make sure that she had a wonderful time. As you can see in the pictures, Kathryn absolutely loved the dancing!

It was at the reception, when Megan and Uncle Bill were dancing, that I finally remembered that I'll probably be in Uncle Bill's shoes in twenty-odd years. Not soon enough to worry about, obviously, but still soon enough to make me get all sentimental. So when a slow song came on, and Kathryn took a break from her frenetic dancing, I picked her up for a little dance.

Trying out G-Mail

Google is expanding again, this time into the Web mail arena. Like yahooMail and hotMail, Google has a Beta version of G-Mail. I'm trying it out, and so far it looks really sweet! I'm not sure yet if I'm going to make it my primary e-mail or not. But just in case, if you think about it when you're sending me an e-mail at the normal address, could you also send a copy to MervinBunter@gmail.com? Thanks!

Meeting New People

Bill and Jen invited us over to their place for our annual 4th of July Cookout At Bill and Jen's. They also invited a family from their Sunday School class. It was really great to be able to meet them. They have four children, all four-years-old or younger. Since Kristin and I are currently the only couple up here who have children (at least of those friends that we see on a regular basis), it was a great thrill to be able to spend time with another family with kids. It also helps to give Kathryn some time with other kids her age.

Today, I was again amazed at Kathryn's willingness to discuss overly analytical topics with me. We talked about:
1. Whether "zero" was a number, since it means "nothing" (Kathryn asked this one).
2. Whether it was correct to ask for a "sip" of ice cream, if it's already melted (I asked this one).

I think we decided that, yes, zero is still a number; and that you can ask for a sip of ice cream, but only if it's completely melted in a bowl, not in a cone.

Looking Forward to Pirates...

The new Pirates movie is coming out next weekend, and it's going to be great fun... but according to at least one early review, it's not for the faint of heart. I know at least one family who will probably want to see it on opening weekend. So, just as a word of warning, I wanted to share some excerpts from one reviewer. He feels that the PG-13 rating doesn't quite go far enough:

...parents whose tiny tots are eager to see this movie ought to know what's in store for them. Here there be monsters. And not the happy, fluffy Pixar kind either; not even the scary but relatively agreeable skeletons from the first Pirates movie. This time around, they're the stuff of real nightmares: oozy Lovecraftian terrors borne in dark drowned places undisturbed by the tread of man. They scuttle with alien purpose across landscapes doused in seaweed and slime. Their visages speak to every goose walking over your grave, every clammy hand on your shoulder in the dark, everything that makes you close your eyes and pray to make it all go away. While the special effects that create them are both impressive and believable, their presence is not for the faint of heart. Nor are the film's more mundane examples of depravity: torture, cannibalism, decorative body parts, and one Mickey Mouse-approved instant where a raven plucks a man's wandering eye from its socket. Rarely has the PG-13 rating seemed more extreme (this film really deserves an R and shame on the MPAA for again caving in like the tools they so clearly are). Moms and dads looking for a fun family outing should give serious pause before exposing their kids to these, the Happiest Old Ones on Earth.

Of course, since I haven't seen the movie, I can't verify any of this for myself. Kristin and I are definitely going to see it very soon after release, but it's definitely not a "family" film. You can read the whole review here.

Public Speaking

According to Seinfeld:

People's number-one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Now, this means to the average person, that if you have to go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.

I'm such a baby about public speaking. I was a nervous wreck this morning at church, and all I had to do was pray a couple times, make some announcments, and introduce the guest speaker. True, I didn't need to preach the message this time, but like most people, I absolutely detest standing up and speaking in front of anyone! Thank God that's over! I don't know how sales people, marketing folks, presenters, or professional speakers can stand up in front of people, day in and day out. I'd go totally bonkers.

A friend of mine recently asked about my least favorite college class. It was a tie between Hesselgrave's Sociology class, and that one business class I had to take with... some retired Army general (or something like that -- does anyone remember that guy?) But worse than both of those was Speech class in high school. God, I hated that class!

I've only really felt comfortable with public speaking in two cases (and neither one is really "public"): at work (when presenting code designs to the team), and during Bible Quizzing in high-school (when presenting my team's "contests").

So, does anyone have any horror stories about public speaking you want to share? Or if you're one of the lucky ones who actually enjoys public speaking, how do you do it? E-mail me at MervinBunter@comcast.net. I'd love to hear about your experiences!

Baby's Name, Hint #1

We think we've got the baby's name picked out. There's obviously still time to change our minds, but we're starting to get used to this one. Of course, as with Kathryn, we're going to try to keep it a secret until she's born.

But for my own entertainment, I wanted to give you a hint. Kristin said it's OK to give this first hint, but nothing is guaranteed after this one: at least one of the baby's names (first and/or middle) can be found in the Bible.

There. That should be just enough to drive my mom absolutely crazy. This is just a little payback for all the times she tortured Tracy and me with hints about our birthday/Christmas gifts when we were kids. (Love ya, Mom).

Home Alone, Night One

Well, Kristin and Kathryn are safely in Iowa for the weekend. Those of you who know me understand that whenever I'm home alone, I get freaked out by every little sound. I keep imagining that there's someone creeping around in the house. It doesn't help that Kristin packed up a bunch of boxes for me to take into storage tomorrow. I keep forgetting they're there. They've already startled me once, when I went out to the front room to investigate a "strange sound". The lights were off, and all I saw were these shadowy shapes on the floor. I'd just finished watching the new preview for "Lady in the Water" and in that instant I thought, "Zounds! Why are there three big, square-looking hellhounds sitting in our living room!" Of course, once I flipped the lights on, I was fine (and the "strange sound" was just the sound of my green hat falling off the shelf onto the floor). But I've got my trusty wooden Excalibur with me, so I'm sure I'll be able to deal with any heffalumps that come my way.

Which reminds me of our Great Household Defender. Because Kristin's allergic to almost every type of animal in the world, we can't have a watchdog. So we've got the next best thing: "Big Momma." Big Momma is a spider who lives outside our front door. For the last two or three summers, she's done an admirable job keeping most of the insects outside, where they belong. The first summer we were here, everytime we opened the front door, a handfull of bugs would fly inside. That doesn't happen now that Big Momma is on guard. We have an understanding with her. I don't destroy her webs, and she stays outside and guards the door.

Unfortunately, now that we're trying to sell the house, we need to relocate Big Momma. She likes to leave the remnants of her webs all over the place out there. And though we've become used to her, most people would probably be turned off by the sight of her handiwork. So I think I'm going to have to break our side of the bargain. I only hope she understands why I'm asking her to leave. The last thing I want is for Big Momma to get angry with me...