Are We Still Cool? » reality check

We Ate Steamed Cheeseburgers When We Should’ve Been Packing [photos, video]

Cool Dad — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:13:57 +0000

It was only 10 in the morning, but our Saturday was already a productive one. Our landlord had just come by with a family who was interested in our apartment. (Yes, we’re moving. Again. For the eighth time in the last 4 years. More on that later.)

Now, I was crowing to Cool Mum that we were going to get SO MUCH done the rest of the day. We’d gather up unwanted clothes to take to Salvation Army. We’d buy packing tape from Target and assemble our moving boxes. Then we’d put stuff into those moving boxes. It was going to be a day of responsible and satisfying work. The Cool Fam hopped in the car to get started.

And then the sudden urge for steamed cheeseburgers hit me. You know the feeling. No? Well, it’s a strong one, and there’s only one place to satisfy it: Central Connecticut. Basically, the steamed cheeseburger is a specialty of my hometown, Meriden, CT, and a few surrounding towns. It’s a steamed beef patty smothered in a slab of puffy, melted cheese. I may or may not be drooling right now.

The only catch is that Meriden is over an hour and a half from us. However, I was inspired by my good friends’ dad, Malcolm. I’ve heard stories of how Malcolm would load their family of 8 in the van and drive to North Carolina for breakfast at their favorite place, and then drive home. It was a 9-hour trip one way.

Two hours later, we were eating steamed cheeseburgers.

Then, Cool Mum found us a nice park to visit.

And then, we drove by a church that advertised a Concert happening that night at 5:30. After playing in a Christian band for 10 years, I couldn’t resist the lure of a random concert in a church I’ve never been to that’s almost two hours away from my home. Here’s what happened.

When we finally we got home, we put the kids in their room and collapsed into bed from exhaustion. Or maybe it was steamed cheese overload. That Saturday, no clothes were donated, no moving tape was bought, and no boxes were assembled, but fun was had!

Cool Rewind: Cool Baby Picks the GOP Nominee [video]

Cool Dad — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:30:06 +0000

With the Republican presidential primary elections in full swing, the candidates have engaged in the political traditions of smearing, slamming, and outspending their opponents.

Always having to get a word (like glurbschmidt) in regardless of topic, I’ve turned to our bevy of political-minded posts (one) and brought back this timely and timeless classic from December 2007. In it, Cool Boy (then Cool Baby) offered his pick for the 2008 GOP presidential nominee.

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“Stupid World! Texting, Texting”

Cool Dad — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:49:57 +0000

Futurama Cat Lady actually bears a resemblance to the lady I overheard.

Last month, I was blessed with a free ticket to see a Broadway show called Relatively Speaking. Cool Mum was out of town with the boys, so I went by my lonesome. Not only was the price right, but so was the seat: orchestra middle right, just 5 or 6 rows from the stage.

During an intermission, a woman leaned against the stage and surveyed the audience milling around. Then I heard her declare to a bystander, who may or may not have been with her party:

“Look at everyone, just texting, texting. Stupid world! Texting, texting.”

As she made her anti-technology rant, her cheeks seemed to flush almost as red as her fuchsia shawl. She was genuinely upset. I looked around and confirmed that about half of the audience was occupied with their phones. In the middle of checking Twitter myself, I was already thinking of how to report the situation in 140 characters.

But then I recalled a camp that my band played at a few years ago. I had already moved to NYC, so this was a sort of reunion. During lunch, a few of us were checking our phones, eager to divide our attention between the here and now and the elsewhere and now.

One of my bandmates called us out on it, and I’m glad that he did. It’s something that I often remember when I start wandering online instead of focusing on the present. I still need discipline in that area. Or it’s just that I’m making sure to get my money’s worth for my data plan. Yeah, that’s the ticket…

Do you text/tweet more than you should during social gatherings?

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We Had a Cool Christmas [video]

Cool Dad — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:51:36 +0000

We’re pulling our traditional double duty in Florida right now, enjoying quality family time in the warm weather. Over the last few days, we doubled our caloric intake in case a freak blizzard snowed us under at home. Or maybe it was because there are 154 times as many Chick fil-As in the state of Florida (154) as there are in New York (1).

We essentially completed our shopping before Christmas Eve, which means, of course, on the 23rd. The Cool Bros made out quite well this year, “spoiled” you might say, though I prefer the term “materially blessed.” I could say the same for Cool Mum and me.

Here’s Cool Newbie rocking his favorite gift, a Disney toy electric guitar.

I wonder where he gets it from.

How was your Christmas?

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The Recent Google Searches on My Phone

Cool Dad — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:42:37 +0000

Here are the entries on the ‘recent Google searches’ list on my phone. Each one has a little backstory behind it. I can even recall the different emotional states for each search: frustration, enthusiasm, curiosity, and so on.

short fiction
n+1
more weight or more reps
[unrecognized phone number that called me; turned out to be a business contact]
zelda skyward sword
reset acer aspire one to factory
wii no signal to tv
applu boric acid
kids car seat plane
tsa baby food
do kids need identification to fly
cvs pelham bay
alvin and friends menu
pocketbook

What does your recent search list say?

The Most Random Run-In with an AWSC? Reader

Cool Dad — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:09:46 +0000

There are 8 million people in New York City, which makes this stuff boggle my simple mind. My mom and aunt are visiting this week, and while chillin’ in Central Park yesterday, Cool Grandmum struck up a conversation with a woman nearby. CG talked about why she’s visiting the city, which of course led to a discussion on little ol’ me.

Mom mentioned in passing that I write a blog. What blog? It’s called ‘Are We Still Cool?’ The woman proceeds to freak out a little. It turns out that she’s an AWSC reader! She found us while searching Google for an apartment.

I met up with the group briefly, and it was surreal talking about specific posts and stories with someone I’d never met. Most of my friends don’t even follow the blog. I’ll admit that it was nice validation, seeing that people are out there, reading and remembering my half-asleep ramblings (just like this one! *yawn*).

Have you ever randomly met a fan of your blog?

The Last-Minute Roadtrip Out West [video]

Cool Dad — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:50:38 +0000

As mentioned before, instead of dealing with possible power outages and flooding, we drove west to avoid Hurricane Irene, which had her sights set on New York City.

We debated stopping in New Jersey to stay with my mom’s friend. And then we considered partying at State College, home of Penn State University. Pittsburgh looked promising, given reports of an emerging arts and culture scene, but we steeled ourselves to go on. We had friends further west that we wanted to see, and after someone (not CM) called it a “stupid” idea, my mind was made up.

We left NYC around 5:30am on Saturday, August 27. We pulled into friends’ Indianapolis home at 10:13pm. One car, two kids, 17 hours for what Google Maps asserted was a 12-hour jaunt. Driving with two kids will do that to ya. Either way, I think we were well out of Irene’s reach. (click map to enlarge)

We had a fabulous time with our friends Ben and Polina, who were actually the first (and only, for now) Truly Cool Parents. We felt spoiled, enjoying sunny weather in the 70s while our friends in NYC were soaking under constant clouds and rain. While every grocer and drugstore in the city had a crowd snatching up batteries and beer, we had supermarket megaplexes that we could drive a car through.

While in Indy, we visited downtown, had lots of incredible food cooked for us, went to church, hit a cool playground, and just enjoyed time at home. Ben and Polina’s girls were fascinated by Cool Baby and Newbie. Moment of the week was a question by their youngest before she met CB (he was napping): Is Noah brown?

We were having too much fun to leave any earlier than 9pm on Tuesday. We wanted to drive through the night to minimize stopping for I-HAVE-TO-GO-PEE-PEE! breaks. And it worked! It only took us 16 hours to get home. And that crazy last week of August-slash-first week of September was just getting started.

Here’s a video recap of our drive out to Indy (3m,05s).

Come On, Irene…Actually, Don’t

Cool Dad — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:44:49 +0000

The big news around here is that Hurricane Irene about to barrel up the East Coast with New York City right in her sights. [Insert irony-laden joke about moving from Florida and now facing a hurricane, a rarity for the Northeast.]

Maybe it’s because we don’t get the Weather Channel, but we haven’t heard the term ‘hunker down’ thrown out that much. That was official hurricane-speak in FL. Unfortunately, not getting WC means that we’ll also miss the live coverage of correspondents standing on the beach, confirming that hurricane-force winds and rains are indeed strong while dodging flying tree branches and turtles.

We have two options for dealing with Irene:

Hunker down. Load up on fresh water, batteries, non-perishable food, and red velvet cupcakes. Prepare to deal with power outages, blocked roads, and possible flooding.
Get outta town. Pack our stuff and head west to somewhere safely out of Irene’s path like, say, Indiana.

We’re definitely not assuming anything, storm tracks included. A few years ago, Hurricane Charley rumbled in the Gulf of Mexico and was predicted to make land in Tampa. However, it quickly jumped from Category 2 (110 mph winds) to Category 4 (145 mph) and landed further south. It hit my hometown with devastating force. Thankfully, the Cool Grand’rents were okay, but their property was wrecked.

So, we’ll see what we decide. The one sure thing is that we’re not taking Irene lightly.

Men vs. Women: Who Are the Better Drivers?

Cool Dad — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:30:57 +0000

TeleNav surveyed over 600 men and women to find out their differences when it comes to driving. Let’s see how we compare to what popular opinion says. (click to enlarge)

Who is a better driver?
Men and women disagree on who’s the better driver, though 85% of men think they rule compared to only 57% of women who claim the wheel as theirs.

CM and I both agree that I’m the better driver. I handle all of the driving around the city and the extreme lunacy that comes with it.

Who requires more pit stops?
Results are even here, with either women needing more stops or an equal split. It’s pretty balanced on our end, too, but with the two kids, the breakdown is more like this:

|| cool dad
|| cool mum
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| cool boys

Who has a better sense of direction?
Both men and women believe that men have the better sense of direction. I’m losing Man Points here, but CM has the far better sense of direction. I have Google Maps GPS on my Droid X phone, but it frequently reports us in the wrong place – like in the middle of the East River – or just crashes the phone. (It’s ironic/infuriating that Google Maps works so poorly on my Google Android “smart”phone.)

So when Google Maps has us Springfield, IL instead of Springfield, MA, I can depend on CM to “feel” how to get us back on the right path.

Who drives more during long trips?
Both genders point out that men drive more during long trips. I definitely do the majority of driving for road trips. Confession: It’s not because I love cruising the open road. It’s just that Cool Mum is SO much better at handling the boys’ needs for food or someone to complain to than I am, amirite?

Some other fun (or frightening) facts

> Twice as many men than women admitted that they have driven a vehicle with their knees at one point.
My friends do this. I never do. I wouldn’t dare risk driving in such a hazardous manner, especially given my lack of knee-fingers. And I’m so short that I can never get my knees to reach the wheel.

> When asked if they had ever groomed themselves while driving (put on make-up for women or shaved for men), four times as many women answered yes than men.
I’ve never seen CM do this. I wouldn’t. The shaving cream would be murder to get out of the upholstery.

> 21% of all respondents have eaten a meal that required a fork or spoon while driving.
This is just crazy. I’ve had my fair share of handheld eats while driving, but come on. What’s next? Crock pots that plug into your lighter? As good as in-car Swedish meatballs sound…

OK, I think I need to drive to IKEA.

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An End to Our Dependence on Laundromats?

Cool Dad — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:41:33 +0000

We love NYC, but there are definitely things about Florida that we miss. Our family and friends. The temperate February weather. Chick fil-A.

And how deeply do we miss those massive whirring, banging, leaking boxes of metal: our washer and dryer.

When we lived in a 3-bedroom house with a washer and dryer in the garage, I never realized how good we had it. Even though the occasional black widow would be hiding behind our washing machine, I look back upon laundry times with utter fondness.

That’s because none of the 8 apartments that we’ve occupied in NYC have had laundry. For a year and a half, we carried back-breaking bags of clothes to and from the laundromat. For the 6 months that we lived in the Cool One-Bedroom, we also lugged those loads up and down 4 flights of stairs.

Our friend gave us a granny cart last year, and that helped tremendously. The task was still hard, especially in cold or wet weather.

Once Newbie started blowing out his diapers with regularity (and how regular he is!), something had to give. As much as CM loved the social aspects of laundromats, we couldn’t go as much as needed, so CM turned to her superpower, online research.

And she may have found our answer in the form of the WonderWash. It’s a portable, hand-powered washing machine that is made to fit in small places. It was only 40-something bucks on Amazon, so we ordered it, along with some other accessories.

This could be a real gamechanger. Stay tuned as we find out just how wonderful the WonderWash can be.

photo: muffet