Michael - We woke up yesterday a bit early so that we could get the family to Mass. The girls were particularly looking forward to it because their was going to be a breakfast afterwards in honor of St. Patrick's day. As I was getting dressed Michelle announced that Michael had thrown up overnight. It's always amazing to us what these guys put up with. You'd think that they'd be motivated to use the toilet so that they wouldn't have to walk around in soiled pants, but no. You'd think we'd have heard a peep from Michael since he was sleeping in the same bed he threw up in, but no. While Michelle cleaned up the boys' room, I gave Michael a bath. Overall, except for the forced bath, he was in good spirits so we continued to get everyone ready to go. I packed a bucket in the van "just in case".
About a quarter of a mile from the church (about 15 miles away) he started throwing up again until there was nothing left. I turned the van around and head home. Thanks for waiting till we were almost there! Again, the strange thing was that he was in a good mood, right up until the incident and immediately afterwards. Usually if someone has a stomach bug, they have that blank nauseated look on their face. Shortly after we returned home, Claire and I headed to Dunkin' Donuts to bring home some breakfast since we weren't going to be at the parish breakfast. Ironically, Michael ate ravenously. Usually you don't have an appetite when your stomach is sick. We kept an eye on him for the rest of the day and he was fine. We have our fingers crossed hoping it's over and not something that will spread to his siblings.
Timothy - Today is technically Timothy's last day of taking antibiotics. He seems fully recovered now. Hopefully his little cousin, Kyle, is OK this week as he stays with his grandparents.
Zorro - This weekend Claire and I watched "Zorro, the Gay Blade" on DVD after it was recommended to me by my mom. I was a little nervous since it is rated PG, but most of the adult themes went right over Claire's head. This movie is a comedy satirizing 'The Mark of Zorro', 'Don Q, Son of Zorro', and 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'. The movie is detailed here with plot and movie photos. George Hamilton does a funny job acting as both twin sons of the original Zorro: Don Diego Vega and Bunny Wigglesworth. Bunny, as you might imagine, is Don's flamboyantly gay twin. When Bunny substitutes for Don (who is injured midway through the movie) he disdains the plain black outfit and sword of Zorro and instead vies for colorful ensembles of plum, lemon, and scarlet together with a whip. "Remember, my people, there is no shame in being poor, only dressing poorly." If I didn't know better I would have almost guessed it to be a Mel Brooks movie. If you are looking for a good laugh, pick it up.
Piano - Soon after getting our piano I registered with an online community called the CVP Users Group. It seems that there is an online community for just about anything these days. A recent post pointed me to the fact that Yamaha had recently sponsored a piano e-competition. The competition brought out some very world class pianists. The great thing was that their entries are all captured as MIDI files available for free download. I downloaded several and played them on our Clavinova piano. Amazing! I know it's a bit cliche, but "if I could play one tenth as good as they do...". We played several of the songs in the background during dinner last night. It was like having these professionals playing in the next room.
India - I was thinking recently about all the talk of outsourcing to India. There are cities in India that have more technology workers than the San Francisco bay area -- all ready to work for a fraction of their US counterparts. The thing that I wondered is, why do they need to outsource labor from us? If they have such a large pool of highly skilled labor, why aren't they just building their own cell phones, computers, PDAs, operating systems, software, etc? Why are they subcontracting US, European, and Japanese firms? Perhaps it's just a matter of time. After all, 20 years ago the names of Nokia and Ericsson were unknown here in the US. And 30 years ago, Japan was often just a manufacturing and assembly house for US companies.
Artificial - Another thing that I was contemplating was the recent scandal in the news surrounding the use of steroids in sports. Isn't it ironic that we have no problem with movie stars and fashion models who have lyposuction, implants, botox, etc. to enhance their natural "abilities" and draw more viewers, but we are outraged at the use of steroids used to enhance athletic performance and make the games more exciting? I'm not advocating steroid use, but it seems like an odd double standard.