Cloudy's Cafe, a conversation zone, July 6, 2005

[Bungleau]

Evening, all! Fresh back from the biking, we decided to take the kids to their first drive-in movie last night. It also happened to be my wife's first drive-in, too... and let me just say that expectations and reality are sometimes very different things

To start with, we didn't do good math. Place opened at 8PM, and the movie starts at dusk. We didn't calculate that dusk was two hours away, and didn't think about what we'd do with three kids (one of my daughter's friends joined us) and a dog for two hours while we waited.

Second thing... our dog, being a puppy, likes to chew just about everything... and stones and gravel are apparently really, really tasty. They also happen to be what's on the ground in 95% of the drive-in area.... which makes it really hard to stop him from eating it.

When dusk finally fell, we discovered another problem: the movie was broadcast on FM radio, and when we turned the van on enough to get the radio, the interior lights stayed on! Real bummer for everyone sitting behind us... I kept hoping they'd go off, but they didn't. I ended up jimmying the tailgate to make it think the tailgate was shut.

Before we left, my wife asked if I wanted to bring any warm clothes. I said no, that I was plenty comfortable. It can't get that much colder, right? Wrong! I was freezing, and was using an old towel in the van for a small blanket. It helped...

And ya know, when a movie starts after 10PM, it's not exactly going to be done early! In fact, it was midnight by the time it finished, and one AM by the time we got home. And I had to be up before 7 to play drums at church today.... I'm still missing my nap!

So... anyone else have any more fun?

[Dalamar Stormcrow]

Well, I feel completley inadequate and useless today, I had a tough practice, and the blisters on my heels, which have an inch radius, burst open, and were extremly painful to even poke. I was even barefoot on the erg. So I had to put my feet in a weird position, so I went MUCH MUCH slower. It stole a few thousand meters. After practice, coach put me on the retard team. Now I have to blow my afternoons instead of mornings, so I can't do anything all day. I come home, and I try to play a game or two to make it seem better. MY BROTHER PLAYED FROM 11:20 AM to 8:00 PM. When I did get on, I went to play CS:S. I was doing terrible. Usually I'm not that great, because I run on 22 FPS, and the graphics are terrible. I didnt get one kill after an hour and a half of playing. Then I got really depressed. I went to go play some Warcraft, and theyre were som many asshats on my team. They were either attacking each other, or attacking me. And they always use caps. That really irks me. I just quit. After losing 5 times in a row. My self esteem is shit. I then tried to post this once, and the connection timed out just in time.

[Bungleau]

Bummer, Dalamar! That's *NOT* the way to make a good day!

Here's to eight hours of rest, and a much better day tomorrow... [img]graemlins/cheers.gif[/img]

[wellard]

Originally posted by Bungleau: My son learned to ride his bike without training wheels last week. One session in the park parking lot at the end of the street, and he was ready to go! Start to finish... several hours. When that boy sets his mind to something, he's amazing Oh, well... just a proud dad sharing.

A great moment Bungleau -insert proud dad smiley here- I wish I was in the same boat. My boy turned eight a couple of weeks ago and still cannot ride without training wheels. It don’t help that where we live is very hilly and because he is so asthmatic even just pedalling the bike with training wheels is a challenge! He is also tall and very skinny, all knees and elbows, very uncoordinated the poor thing. I even thought about starting a thread asking for advice a few months ago on learning to ride a bike so any advice is welcome.

[ 07-11-2005, 04:53 AM: Message edited by: wellard ]

[Cloudbringer]

Aww, congrats on the loss of the training wheels, Bungleau! ROTFL! Your description of the drive in movie brings back so many memories for me! We used to go to them alot when I was a kid and yup, it's a chore finding things to do til the movies start! We used to bring our own popcorn in a big paper grocery bag and have to pass that around...usually half the time I couldn't see the movie because the bag was in my way!


Ack, all this mosquito talk....is making me itchy! HAHAHA! LadyZ, yuk! 20 is alot of scratching to do! I use some Off unscented stuff that keeps alot of them away when I'm out after dusk and the nasty things are swarming around.

[Bungleau]

Thanks, guys [img]smile.gif[/img] At the end of the day, I love my kids and what they do... now during the day, it might be a different story

Wellard, here's one hint on bike riding: riding is not the important part; balancing is. Get him to practice balancing on his bike by just holding his shirt while he pedals. I don't hold the kid or the bike, because I provide too much support then. Just hold the shirt, and make sure you won't get in trouble if it rips. Hasn't happened to me, but you never know... [img]smile.gif[/img]

You can also use that hilly area to your advantage. Have him practice just coasting down a slight incline with his feet on the pedals. Be waiting at the bottom to catch him if needed, but let him practice balancing the bike on two wheels. Then let him start pedalling down, and let him just start pedalling. Got that from a newspaper article a couple of years ago.

My son got a head start (I think) by using a scooter. That taught him how to balance on two wheels with little difficulty, and he could then just apply the same knowledge to the bike. At least, that's what I think [img]smile.gif[/img]

Ah well. Time to get some work done this morning. Back in later...

[Ivelliis]

I remember when I learnt how to ride a bike, first having one training wheel (or stabalisers as they are known over here ) and then one, finally balancing on my own. My dad held the back of my seat, not my shirt, when I learnt. I suppose holding the shirt is better because your still safe and have less support, so you will be doing more on your own. Nowadays (I sound so old!) I cannot imagine not being able to ride a bike.

Prepare for a few scrapes though, that all comes along in the "learning to ride a bike" package [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Cloudbringer]

Yup, I recall falling off my bike a few times in the beginning!

OOh, it's lunch time, folks! *hauls out her lunch and sits at a table* Have some more tea and cookies!

[DrowArchmage]

I had to go to work yeterday.I hate my boss,she sucks.Bad. I accidently mixed up two orders in a row and she went beserk on me! *sniffle* But its alright cuz she broke the regular coffee machine and had to go get a new one from her boss!hahahahahahah!

[Sir Goulum]

Wheee! Got my braces off today!