Sunday, March 06, 2011

The Power of Smartphones

I was at CVS last night when an older man came up to me and asked the name of the battery manufacturer in Pawcatuck (CT). I didn't know off-hand (though I was a good choice to ask, given my appearance and age). "What kind of batteries?" I asked him. "Batteries for submarines, and like that," he told me, and turned away. "Hold on," I said, and pulled out my trusty iPhone. A quick Google of "pawcatuck batteries" gave me the answer. "Yardney?" "That's it!" he exclaimed. "What is that magic device?" "An iPhone," I showed him. Interesting-- I couldn't tell if he was unfamiliar with the idea of an Internet search, or just unaware that you could do one from your phone.

Rent-A-Kid

During the week of President's Day, the local schools had snow-day makeup classes during what was originally scheduled as a winter vacation. My grand-nieces from NJ still had off, though. My wife and I both took vacation from work that week, and I drove down from Hartford after work Friday and picked up the two oldest, eight and six. The 3-yo was sick, and still not potty-trained, so two strikes and she's not coming.

Saturday while Sue was working we went to the Submarine Force Museum and USS Nautilus, which doesn't really interest her. The kids had a blast, and it was free! Touring the boat was cool, and so was seeing a 688i submarine heading out to sea (unusual for a Saturday), though it was so cold and windy on the pier we didn't linger to watch.
In the museum proper there was a President's Day scavenger hunt (find these specific  exhibits for the USS George Washington, USS John Adams, and USS Thomas Jefferson). They made an instant friend or two and played on the steering and diving station, the BCP, and fire control station while I chatted with the resident SubVet, another former QM. They launched torpedos and missiles, and rescued men overboard, and had a grand time flipping switches and pushing buttons.

I gave them a two-wheeler lesson, starting with the 6-yo. I tried pushing her, while exhorting her to balance. She oversteered and we took a dump; I managed to avoid landing on her and she was unscathed but refused to try again. The 8-yo did better, since I learned my lesson and took it a bit easier. We are on a big hill, but there is a fairly level spot in front of the house. I am not up to running around too much, so I pushed her up the slight slope while she pedaled, and she coasted back with her feet down to practice balancing. It is something you have to practice, but the poor weather precluded any more sessions. Eight is pretty old to not ride a bike, to my way of thinking, and I would have liked to have had her zooming around on her own before they left. Maybe in the spring. I'll bet once the younger girl sees her sister having such fun she will be anxious to ride herself.

We hit the Mystic Aquarium, too. I am not a big fish person, but the kids enjoyed it. It was just under $80 for the four of us, with a discount of a few dollars courtesy of our supermarket loyalty card.
We saw the blue lobster that was caught last year in the mouth of the Thames River, and the sea lion show, and saw the beluga whales getting trained. The African penguins interested the 8-yo, since she was studying penguins in school. She had told me that King penguins could dive to 400 feet. I didn't believe it (that's pretty deep) but looked it up, and sure enough she was right. Learn something new...

The rest of the week the weather was cold, windy, rainy; we went to TJMaxx (twice!) so Sue could show the girls off to her co-workers, and to Macy's at the mall so her friend at the makeup counter could meet them and give them a little work-up. Then downstairs for a bit in the play area. The next day we went to the park, a really nice one, but it was so blustery for those of us not running around that we went back to the mall and spent another hour and a half in the play area again.

The girls each had new Webkinz, and together we set up their online accounts. I have my old computer in the (finished) basement set up for them, safely isolated from my network, and the older girl went to town on it: you earn "money" to buy your Webkinz food and items by winning points in various arcade games. She monopolized the computer to such an extent that I let her sister play "Angry Birds" on my PC upstairs. She had trouble mastering my trackball but it kept her happy.

They got plenty of exercise running up and downstairs while playing. We don't care to keep them inside in front of the TV or the computer, but the weather dictated they stay in. Come summer we just throw them outside, in the old tradition.

To the astonishment of their mother, both girls were well-behaved. I took them to see Mr. B, the resident cat of a local insurance agency, and they were perfect angels. They had to come with us while we had our taxes done, and they played quietly with some activity books they brought. The only downside to having them is what incredibly picky eaters they are. One likes this, the other doesn't. We went for Mexican; one had a taco with just meat. No lettuce, no tomato, no sauce, nothing. They like pizza, but one doesn't like cheese: she picks off the pepperoni and eats it, then picks off the cheese and eats just the crust. She also doesn't like cold sandwiches. No PB&J for either. One likes hamburgers, not the other. At least this time they both like hot dogs: last time we had them the hamburger girl wouldn't eat hot dogs. They are lucky they have Aunt Sue around, because if I had my way they would still be sitting at the table with the food I made for them congealing on their plates. At some point I believe in giving a choice: eat it, or starve.

We took them home on Sunday. We had planned for their mother to bring the youngest up on Friday and then bring them all home herself, but she was still sick. It is a 2.5- to 3-hour trip each way; not horrible if you don't hit any traffic. We hope to have them up again in the summer: they love to visit our local beach.