2007/06/29

Vivian's 3-year old checkup

Vivian had her 3-year old checkup this morning. She is a happy and healthy kids. We went to the Black Forest bakery afterwards and she got a gingerbread cookie and a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips.

How do you tell twins apart?

I had a weired dream last night. In the dream I came up with an idea of selling twin packs of hair dyes for family with twins. They can dye their babies' hair into different colors (say bright green for one and light purple for the other) so it is easier to tell them apart. The business was very successful and everywhere you go you can see a pair of babies with contrasting hair color in twin strollers.

The dream was weired (but sounds like a good idea). :)

2007/06/28

Absurd fund-raising call

I've never said something bad about the schools which I graduate from before (or at least haven't done so in public), but I guess everything has its first time.

Ann got a really absurd fund-raising call from the College of Design at Iowa State University today. To begin with, I don't think it is appropriate to set a "minimum donation" of $500. I thought the way donation works is you go out and ask people how much they are WILLING to give you, NOT to ask people for a minimum amount of money they HAVE to give you. When Ann told them that we cannot afford to give out that much money (considering that our parents are stilling paying for a part of our living expenses), they said we can do this in "five easy payments". This is way too ridiculous, what do they think they are doing? Some TV shopping network selling vacuum cleaners? Why not ask for $499.99 (plus $4.99 for shipping and handling of the acknowledge card)?

Ann was too polite to just hang up the phone or say something that's not so nice and the phone call lasted a good while. They said that they will call back again soon to see if Ann will change her mind. I look forward to getting that call. Usually I try to be nice to everyone but sometime I do want to take it out with someone who deserves it.

2007/06/27

Biofools

Read an interesting post by Jonathan Eisen about how it is a bad idea to grow crops for biofuel and possible alternatives. I left a comment about how the current system in the US that uses corns to make ethanol doesn't really solve the problem.

There is another interesting post in ScienceBlogs that talks about the problems caused by corn-based ethanol.

2007/06/25

KawiDavis Memorial Ride

As a part of the KawiDavis Memorial Ride, I rode to Toccoa, GA to meet up with Hugh (LDBandit) and then went for a short ride around the area. This is my first time to meet Hugh and he is a real great guy. I think I learned a lot just by watching/following him through all the good roads up there. He was very patient with me and did a great job to inform me about the road. There was a patch of gravel spill that could have got me if he didn't point that out for me (Hugh: sorry I forgot to thank you about this earlier). Anyway, I had a great time today and look forward to go for another nice ride like this soon.



On my way to Toccoa I thought a lot about Allen (KawiDavis), how we share this same passion for the freedom of being on a bike, how grateful I am for the good life that I'm having, and what I really wanted to achieve in my life. The tragedy that happened to Allen served as a good reminder for us how fragile life really is and no one should take anything for granted. It is very good for me to take this opportunity for a reflection. Well, I guess just like they said, riding a motorcycle is a form of meditation.

That's my ride for you Allen, Happy Birthday!

Cheers, CH

2007/06/20

Glad that I'm alive (and riding)

Just saw a very sad news. A 71-year old man died in a motorcycle accident in England. This guy has wanted a motorcycle for all of his life but his wife wouldn't let him have it, reasoning that he could get killed on a motorcycle. So after the wife died from cancer last year, he went out and get a motorcycle. On the first ride out, he had a heart attack (possibly from all the excitement), fell from the motorcycle, and then hit by a car.

Some comments to the news are quite interesting:
1. In some ways, what a way to go
2. Could've been worse. He could've had the heart attack at the dealership and die before he can get on the bike.
3. Poor guy, now he faces an eternal "I told you so"

I just thanked Ann for her support of my hobbies.

The new food chain

1 grape => (Alyssa || Vivian) => 1/2 grape => (David) => 1/4 grape => (Nina) => 0 grape

2007/06/19

Unmarked territory

David discovered Nina's corner in our dining room this evening. He had a lot of fun crawling on the carpet we have for Nina and is very interested in her crate. He is very comfortable about Nina being right next to him (I wouldn't want a dog that's twice of my size right next to me). Nina is happy (but not hyper) to have David crawls around her, she was very gentle and just follows him wherever ho goes.

2007/06/18

Happy Father's Day!

We had a busy and very enjoyable Father's Day today. We went for a bike ride this morning at Sandy Creek Nature Center (Ann took David, I took Vivian, and Alyssa rode her own bike). David fell asleep again.



I went for a short motorcycle ride along SR15 in the afternoon. There was a mail box in the shape of USPS truck just south of Watkinsville. Maybe I should go back again to take a picture of it.

After dinner we went to the swimming pool at Memorial Park. All three kids enjoyed it a lot.

2007/06/17

Free standing David

David can stand up all by himself for the fisrt time this morning

In the middle of Nowhere, Athens, GA

I rode to the Nowhere Rd this afternoon and took a picture of my bike with the road sign. Guess this picture can be a good answer to "Where've you been?".

Another good one would be "I'll meet you at the intersection of Nowhere Rd and Nowhere Ln." I did take a picture at this road sign.



The new SS brake lines worked really great, they are simply amazing.

2007/06/16

Brake upgrade

Finally find the time to install the stainless steel brake lines on my Ninja this evening. It was a bit easier than what I've expected and now I feel very accomplished about being about to this by myself.

2007/06/15

The second batch of the year

The second bird family that moved in on top of our motion detector have their chicks hatched. They got two hatchlings and we are very happy to see them.

2007/06/14

Chicken blankets, big and small

Alyssa and Vivian are very exciting about that Ann's dad is coming this August. When grandpa will come and what are they going to do are the topic that they talked all the time now. Before I send Vivian to bed today, I asked whether she will be willing to share her little chicks blankets with her grandpa. Her answer was "No! He should get his own! And he should get some big chicken blankets because he is a grownup."

What's wrong with grandpa?

I found the DVD of our wedding and showed it to kids today. There was a part that Ann's dad gave a little speech. After watching the DVD, Vivian's question of the day was "Why grandpa won't talk to me?" I asked what does she mean that grandpa won't talk to her and she replied "I kept talking to the grandpa in TV and he never respond to me."

2007/06/11

My 2nd GRR meet

I had my 2nd Golden Rule Rally meet with another Ninja250 club member today. I met with Chris (s0meguy) in Athens and rode to Hard Labor Creek State Park together. The scenery on the way there was good/interesting. This is probably the first time that I looked at the small towns in Georgia that closely. I guess I wasn't paying much attention to roadside scenery while driving. Riding is indeed a much better way to explore.



There is an old grave on the way that is very special. I'll have to go there sometime and take a picture of it.

2007/06/10

Bike ride with the whole family

Ann and I took all three kids out for a bike ride today. It is amazing that so much prep are involved, I've to get the bike carrier, two bikes, three bike seats, and FIVE helmets on the minivan before we go. Ann has David in the front and Vivian in the back while I take Alyssa with me.

David was very happy about the ride this time, possibly because he can see Alyssa the whole time. Apparently the ride was too comfy for him, he fell asleep on the way. The baby bike seat has a good design that David has some place to put his head...

2007/06/08

Bike ride with David

We got a bike seat and helmet for David and I took him out for a spin today. He was happy at low speed and kind of nervous when we go downhill.

2007/06/07

Fuel filter for my motorcycle

I installed a fuel filter for my motorcycle today. It is a pretty straight forward process with some unexpected difficulties. The fitting was really tight and extremely difficult to get the fuel hose off/on. I accidentally broke the filter when I tried to push the fuel hose back on. So I had to go back to the store again and get a new filter. Fortunately it only costs $2.

A date with Vivian

Recently I have a funny feeling about going out with one of the girls alone. Being the first-born and all, I unconsciously see Alyssa as a "successor" to me. Every time I take out out I feel like doing a field training. In contrast, Vivian is this silly little girl (kind of like Ann), I feel more like dating with a lovely girl when I go out with her.

I took Vivian out this evening to buy a stroller for her baby doll. Having told Ann about this feeling yesterday, Ann dressed Vivian up real nicely and we had a great time out.

2007/06/06

Tomato harvest

We had the first batch of grape tomato today (the whole two of them). Alyssa and Vivian both had one and enjoyed it a lot, we also had a couple of really good pictures too. There are some more on the vines, hope we will be able to get them before other animals do.



2007/06/04

A bike ride for my birthday

We went to the Sandy Creek Nature Center for a bike ride as part of my birthday celebration. Vivian rides in the bike seat on my bike and Alyssa rides her own bike. We had a great time and the speed/distance Alyssa can go really surprised us.

The precious little chicks blankets and the super power of ice cream

Vivian has two "little chicks" blankets from Ann's parents since she was a little baby. These two blankets are probably the things that she treasures the most. When I woke up this morning Vivian and Alyssa brought me a whole bunch of their toys as my "birthday presents". When I asked Vivian if I can have one of her blankets, she took my request very seriously and thought long and hard about it. Finally she replied "Dad, I love you very very much but I cannot give you my little chick blanket". It was very interesting to see her facial expression.

The funny thing is that when we had some ice cream for celebration in the afternoon (after we all forgot about this), Vivian suddenly said "Dada, you are very nice to me and I can share one of my little chick blankets with you now". Ahh, you can never underestimate the power of ice cream

2007/06/03

David said "No-No!"

David, like all other kids that I know, learn to say "no" well before "yes". However, his use of "no" is very interesting. At first, he shakes his head and say no to say that he had enough to eat or to tell us that's the toy he doesn't want. Now that he is very mobile and has the ability to go anywhere/grab any thing he wants, he learned a whole new way of using "no".

At first when he grabs a toy that he shouldn't have, either us of his sisters will tell him to put it down. Now he learned to pick up a toy that he shouldn't have, such as his sisters hair bands, say "No-No" (don't know if it's to himself or to the toy) and then put it down. The most funny thing is that he looks very serious for the whole time when he is doing this.

2007/06/02

A ride to Woody Gap

As a part of the vacation for myself, I rode to Woody Gap today. The twisty road between Dahlonega and Suches is very fun to ride.