I’ve swapped things around a bit on the blog. Longer posts won’t be shown in full on the main page anymore. They’ll only show a short preview with a gray bar underneath with the words “CLICK FOR MORE”. Click the gray bar or the title of the post to read the full article. I’ve done this to clean up things a little–less scroll-y, more click-y. I think it makes the blog more manageable and makes it easier to spot where one post stops and a new one begins. Plus the blog is quicker to load this way. I have to go back and make the change to all the long posts I’ve put up, which will take a while, but for now you can definitely see the effect in the latest few long posts. Love it? Hate it? Let me know.
For those waiting for further installments in the Indonesia Trip 2008 and D.C. Trip 2009 series, fear not for I have not abandoned you. It’s just been a combination of busy with work (and play, if I’m honest) and actually doing things worth talking about on weekends that’s kept those two series behind. Having interesting things to do on weekends with the family is a great thing, but it means less time for the old topics I haven’t finished. I’ll get to them eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later. I’m gonna try to get some recent stuff of my plate first though.
Funny, I originally put up “rewind” posts like the Indonesia Trip 2008 series for fear of not having much to talk about from recent events. Just goes to show that you give any fool a megaphone on the Internet and he’ll find something to yap about.
Ding How's new location
I went to Ding How last week to grab a to-go box of Chinese buffet food and was shocked to learn that they had moved. It hadn’t been that long since I last went, so you would’ve thought they’d have fliers, etc. detailing when and to where they’d be moving. Instead I had to find out by pulling into an empty parking lot during lunchtime and seeing the sign above. I snapped the shot thinking I’d use it for some kind of Ding How post-mortem-slash-retrospective post, since their new location is too far away from my office to go for lunch. Little did I know it would serve a much happier purpose.
Today my friend Scott told me that the owners of Ding How are also opening a completely new restaurant at yet another location. This new restaurant will also be Chinese, but will be unique in the Jackson area because they will serve dim sum! Yes, dim sum in Jackson! According to the same source, this restaurant will also be sans buffet. No buffet at a Chinese restaurant in Jackson? Revolutionary, I tell ya. The lack of a buffet coupled with dim sum really makes me think this will be the first real Chinese restaurant in Jackson. Americanized Chinese is good, but it’s nowhere near as good as the real thing.
So yeah, I’m uber-psyched. Maybe too psyched and will be disappointed when the restaurant opens if it even opens at all. Too many variables right now, and too much hearsay for my taste. I want to see a sign proclaiming this magnificent new restaurant and its grand opening date. Scott said there’s no info on exactly where or when, but that he’d keep me posted as he hears news.
I sounded kind of pessimistic in my last paragraph, but that’s just the way I am. I gotta do something to keep my excitement in check lest reality dash my hopes and dreams. That reminds me of a pessimist vs. optimist story/vignette/analogy/joke/whatever I recently read. A pessmist when put in a room full of delights finds nothing to be delighted about. An optimist when put in a room full of horse dung is later found happily slinging the dung all around. When asked why, the optimist answers, “With this much horse dung, there’s gotta be a pony in here somewhere!”
Thank you, thank you very much. I’ll be here all week.
Beating the rush
We went to the Mississippi State Fair on Monday, despite weather forecasts predicting rain all day long. Figures that the forecast would be dead-on accurate the one day that we really hoped it would be wrong. The photo above was taken during one of the few and brief respites from torrential downpour (I believe it was still drizzling), and shows how few people decided to brave the elements that day. There was almost a week of the Fair still to come, so wiser people probably opted out of going on Monday. We would have too, but some women from Trinity Pres planned to bring their children and meet there for a group outing, and I didn’t want to miss Sofia’s first Fair experience, so I tagged along. In the end only two other women and their children showed up to take on the heavy rain, by which point we were ready for lunch so we didn’t even do anything with them except hang out for a few minutes and chat.
» Continue Reading…
Positive
Not who-does-Number-2-work-for “Number 2″, but baby number 2. It’s official–we’ve got another baby on the way! We wanted to wait until Denise’s first baby doctor appointment before spreading the news, but her first appointment ended up being only a money talk (thanks for nothing, insurance), and she’s already coming along a bit so we wouldn’t be able to keep it under wraps for much longer anyway, so here’s the announcement. Grandparents and other interested parties are already in the know. Don’t worry–they’re not finding out from a blog post.
When we told my mom, she made the astute observation that Denise is always getting pregnant shortly after a trip to D.C. Susie, I don’t think we’ll be back to visit you in D.C. for a while. Visiting D.C. is getting to be very expensive.
Sofia is officially excited about the baby and can’t stop talking about it. She especially loves making a whiny baby crying sound, which we hope is a trend that dies soon.
As with Sofia, this pregnancy was again a surprise. We were already talking about trying for a second child, but I was dragging my feet on looking up pregnancy-related insurance stuff and we hadn’t started seriously trying. God knows when the time is right, that’s for sure. If not for this surprise pregnancy we probably would have put it off for too long. The time really is right. Sofia is 3, and neither of her parents are spring chickens. We needed to get to crackin’. Turns out we didn’t even have to really try.
Our main concern right now is money. We tallied up the costs, and the healthcare will cost around $12,000, give or take a thousand. Hey, what’s another grand when you’re in the 5-digit range, right? But just as God provided the pregnancy, we’re sure He will provide the means to pay the bills. Of course that doesn’t mean we’re sitting on our hands. We’ve already suspended our DirecTV account (No more sports–how will I live???), started watching our eating expenses more carefully, and temporarily reduced student loan payments. It’ll be tight, and thank God for credit cards, but we won’t go to the poor house because of it.
One final note: it’s a really sick violation of the spirit of the law when health insurance can get away with not paying anything for pregnancies because they’re considered “optional”. Health insurance should be there to help you with the cost of having a baby, and it would be in the best interests of the government to make sure that happens. Just ask some of the countries with increasingly older demographics whether babies are optional or a necessity.
Pursuit of happiness
Guys Night Out at Paul Anthony's Market
No, the smoke is not Paul Anthony’s Market on fire. It’s the fragrant smoke of delicious meats on the grill during the Guys Night Out event at Paul Anthony’s Market. As previously noted, this was an event to benefit the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital. Food, drink, cigars, and wrestling were the main draws. I had some free time, so I thought, “Why not?” Take some photos at an event for a good cause and enjoy some good food while I’m there. Sounded good to me. » Continue Reading…
I was at Paul Anthony’s Market today grabbing some lunch (report on said lunch coming soon, natch) and was invited to come to their “Guys Night Out” event on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. They’re yet another local business not fully utilizing their website so of course there’s no info about the event on their site, but I grabbed a flier on my way out of the store. Here’s some info on the event from the flier:
Guys Night Out
Monday, October 12 at 6:30 p.m.
Big bullet points:
- Drawing for Prizes all night
- Chuck & Doug 620 Sports Talk Radio
- Wrestling Match: Doug Colson vs. Bull Bariola
- Donations Accepted for Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital
Exhibits & Displays:
- Ben Nelson Golf Cars
- Watson Quality Ford
- Vans Deer Processing & Sporting Goods
- Mississippi Beef Council
- Edwin Watts Golf Shop
- Buffalo Peak Outfitters
Food & Beverage:
- Brown Bottling Group
- Sysco Foods
- Calistoga Wine & Spirits
- Country Pleasing Sausage
- Evans Meats
- Inland Seafood
- Desserts by Crumb
It’s called “Guys Night Out”, but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind some ladies showing up too. After all, what do guys like besides food, booze, and sports? The womenfolk, of course. On second thought, maybe that’s not such a good mix after all.
When I asked where it would be held, one of the guys at Paul Anthony’s Market pointed right outside the store, so I’m assuming it’ll be in the Highland Village parking lot or somewhere thereabouts where Paul Anthony’s Market is located (their store is actually on Old Canton Road/Ridgewood Road close to Northside Drive, sharing a parking lot with Highland Village). That’s where I’d look for it.
Anyway, fun and for a good cause (Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital), so swing by if you’ve got some time this Monday night. I haven’t decided if I’m going yet, but if I go I’ll be there adorned in full photographic regalia. In other words, look for the Asian guy covered in camera stuff.
Don’t forget: the 2009 Mississippi State Fair starts tomorrow, October 7th, and runs through October 18th. The Mississippi State Fair Commission has a comprehensive but very cluttered page dedicated to fair-related info, so give that a visit to find out everything about the fair. A few nuggets I found interesting/helpful:
- Admission and parking are free on weekdays from 11 a.m. through 1 p.m. I think that’s for the lunch crowd. Elsewhere on the page it says admission is free from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., so maybe parking isn’t free before 11 a.m. and after 1 p.m.? Safest thing to do if you want both free admission and parking is to get there between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
- Regular admission is $5, kids under 6 get in free, and kids under 12 can get in free by coloring a coloring page you can download from their site and bringing it to the fair. Regular parking is $5.
- Ride coupons are 4 for $5, 22 for $25, and 55 for $60. Different rides cost a different number of coupons. I’ve been told even kiddie rides require 3 coupons, so take that into account when figuring out a budget for your fair visit. If you’re big on rides, there are a few family nights and ride-a-thons where you can get all-you-can-ride tickets for $20 or $25.
- Rides open at different times on different days, so check the schedule.
- There are lots of free activities for kids, so many that I won’t mention them all here. Just a few examples: “Circus Maximus”, talent shows, petting farm, antique car show, stockdog trials, horse and mule pulls, and more. I’m assuming those are free since there’s no mention of admission for them, although some of them do explicitly state free admission.
I haven’t been to the fair since college in the 90s, so I’m excited. Sofia is old enough to appreciate the fair now, so it ought to be lots of fun for her too. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ll be going for the food. Mmm… deep fried goodness. And the pics of course. Yes, there must be photos.
"C" is for "cookie"
Last year as Denise was driving back to the house she spotted an airplane doing stunts in the sky. She promptly searched and called around to see what the deal was and found out about the Hawkins Field Airshow. We were too late to go to it last year, so we put it on our running fun-things-to-do calendar for this year, and since it was held on a free day for us we were able to go see it a couple days ago.
For those looking for airshow photos apologies ahead of time for the boring personal family pics, and for those expecting Denise and Sofia pics apologies ahead of time for all the boring airplane shots! » Continue Reading…
Oriental East
Actual date: August 14, 2009
Sorry for the lull in posts. See, the version 2.5 update of Lightroom came out, allowing me to process all my RAW E-P1 files instead of relying on the JPEGs, and firmware updates came out for the E-P1 and lenses supposedly improving autofocus performance that I had to test, and… Ok, so all of that is true but not at all the reason for the lack of posts. Laziness is, as usual. Plus the English Premier League and college football seasons have started up in earnest, and I have to dedicate my customary hours to making sure I fulfill my man duty to know as much as possible about sports, especially the ones I claim to follow, but even those that I don’t.
In my semi-defense, this post is a doozy as I’m going to totally and utterly geek out about this dim sum, so that and my natural laziness combined and reacted to form an impenetrable wall of dread and reluctance to post, which I’ve only now been able to overcome. Warning to all: if you don’t care about food just skip this one, as it’s a total food fest and will be quite the long post to boot. » Continue Reading…