January 15, 2009

  • Dear Folks,

    I am taking a programming course via distance learning from a U.S. university.  I like it.  That does not mean it's not "kicking my posterior," but yes, it is a pleasant way to spend time, and I get little jolts of adrenalin whenever I realize I got something right on the remote server with my program.  

    I took my oldest son on a bike ride today.  I'm teaching at a school pretty far away, 45 minutes each way on the bike, and I get my beard frosty each morning.  It was -12 celcius this morning, whatever that means.  It is below 32 F

    4 January 2009 019

    Father and Son Biking Way Out of Taejeon  5 January 2009

    My third son sits beside me now, making explosive noises rather well.  He has a small punch-out tree in his hand, which goes with a house his oldest brother made.  I should take a photo, but as happens everytime I buy some of those Double A Four Dollah Batteries, they get usurped by some battery hog in my home and are gone, never to be found again.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I can find rechargeable batteries, but only the ones which do not work any longer.  What do they mean by "can recharge 1000 times?"  That's baloney. 

    I get maybe ten before they are in the hands of my children, stashed away in their toys and personal battery caches, and then they get maybe 20 or 30 more.  I really don't think we've ever had a battery get 50.  But I should keep a count on a pair, putting them back in a special drawer and marking a pad each time, before I denounce the makers of these batteries so hastily. 

    I am teaching at a public school camp in Taejeon.  I get some exercise by riding my bike there, though it is cold in the mornings.  I was fortunate to have an excuse to buy some biking "booties," which keep the old dogs toasty.  I've been here 13 years without booties, as I gave my old ones to my brother, along with my bike, cleated shoes and some biking clothing.   My wife would not have cottoned to me buying winter gloves (10 smackers from the local knock-off of your basic K-Mart, Target or Dollar General, called "E-Mart" here) or the twenty dollah booties ... if it had not been that I use them to get out to my work for free.  Taking the subway and then a taxi would have cost me about 16 dollars a day.  Hence, her easy consent. 

    The upshot is that now I am "in the booties way," and warm feet make for a happy biker.  Frozen toes make me want to not venture out of the humble abode.  So, I'm getting plenty of exercise.  And I've got the booties to keep as long as they hold up, unless I lose one of them. 

    Love, Padooker