TechyDad

My parents visited over the weekend and we all had a blast. First, we went to a local playground. While B pushed JSL on the swing, NHL skipped the usual slides/climbing playtime routines to check out the hedge maze. Soon enough, his brother joined us and we were running through the winding hedge maze paths together. We also checked out the duck pond which seemed short on ducks but loaded with fish and people sailing model boats.

After this, we went to a local ice cream place for a sweet treat. Here we learned three important lessons: 1) Their small is really large, 2) They have huge ears of corn for sale, and 3) They’ve got cows! In fact, JSL seemed more interested in the moo-ing cows than his ice cream. (Sadly, the cows weren’t out on a return trip the next day.)

The next day, we went to the Altamont Fair with my parents, B’s parents, B’s brother, his wife and their kids (aged 2 and 5 months). Here we went on a lot of rides:

We also saw horses and rabbits:

By far the most terrifying experience (for me, at least) was the ferris wheel. You see, I have a huge fear of falling. So why would I willingly go up 100 feet in one? For the photo opportunity of course! My photo geekery did battle with my falling fear and won. In the photos below, see if you can spot B and our families talking. (For a better look, click on the photos.)

All in all, it was a fun, but exhausting couple of days. It didn’t help that the day after this was NHL’s 7th birthday party. But that’s a post for another day.

Growing up, I loved Rubik’s Cubes, but I had a horrible secret: I couldn’t solve one. I could get one side all solved, but that was it. After that, I was just helplessly twisting and turning until another color was solved… and the first one was scrambled. Still, I loved spending time twisting and turning them trying to figure it out.

A while back, I won a Rubik’s TouchCube and I loved it. It was just like the Rubik’s Cube, only with touch-sensitive pads. You could have the cube self-solve too. This was cool, but it wound up not getting used often. The problem was two-fold. First, I still couldn’t solve it on my own. Secondly, I didn’t have much time to spend trying to solve it.

These problems turn into advantages with the Rubik’s Slide. Mine happened to come without a manual. While this mistake was quickly fixed, I was able to figure it out in a few minutes. You basically have six possible moves: Slide Up, Slide Down, Slide Left, Slide Right, Twist Left or Twist Right.

Meanwhile, the “playing surface” has been simplified. No longer do you need to get 54 colors into the appropriate locations along a cube. Instead, you need to get up to 9 lit up squares (either red or blue) to match the appropriate pattern. Not only is this easier, but there are three modes of play: Easy, Medium and Hard. You can find the level that suits you best and play that one without feeling like the puzzles are way too difficult.

Rubik’s Slide has two modes of play. In Free Play, you solve puzzle after puzzle for as long as you like. In Lightning Round, you solve 10 puzzles as quickly as you can.

Here’s a video I shot of me solving a few Easy Free Play puzzles. (It looks more difficult than it is because I was videoing with one hand and twisting/sliding with the other.)

This is definitely a fun addition to the Rubik’s family and I would recommend it to anyone. It’s great for involved puzzle solving sessions or a quick game here or there. I’ll even be bringing mine to BlogHer just in case I get the urge to solve a puzzle or two.

Disclaimer: I recieved a complimentary Rubik’s Slide to review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own.

 

For an explanation on what this is about – check out my wife’s blog post about Disney Every Day here.

Last Sunday, during JSL’s nap-time, I decided to spend some time with NHL and give B some time to herself. So I took NHL to his first game of mini-golf. Now the skies were not bright and sunny. In fact, some raindrops came down upon us as we arrived at our destination. Not to worry though because the place we went to had indoor mini-golf.

After paying for our golfing session, we headed to the indoor mini-golf area. As we got our clubs, I told NHL to look at his shoes. Thanks to the black light, they were glowing. NHL was quite amused to discover that his socks, white stripe on his pants and even my shoelaces were glowing as well.

We entered the mini-golfing area and a nice family of ten in front of us allowed us to play through. Thanks go out to them. I’m sure NHL would have gotten very frustrated if he needed to wait for 10 people to finish each hole before he could proceed.

The first set of holes had an under the sea theme. Here, we shot balls past an octopus and into a shark’s mouth. Next, we entered a jungle and attempted to get our balls past a bear, tiger, and a big purple gorilla. After we exited the jungle, a time warp took us to a prehistoric era. Here, we putted past a triceratops and NHL was almost eaten by a velociraptor. Finally, we launched into space were we faced off against robots and aliens before our balls were sucked into a black hole.

NHL loved every minute of indoor mini-golf and it was over all too quickly. After a quick call to B to make sure that everything was alright at home, NHL and I stopped by the soft serve ice cream stand right next to the mini-golf. (Talk about convenient!) Luckily, by this point, the sun had fought off some of the clouds. We both had chocolate and vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream, though we had to put our quickly melting conefuls into cups to eat them less messily.

After a quick peek at the outdoor mini-golf course that they had (and protests by NHL that he wanted to play more mini-golf), we headed home hoping to soon head back for more mini-golf fun. Maybe next time JSL will join us.

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12►

It was 13 degrees out today.  Before the wind chill.  So what does B decide she wants to do for her birthday?  Go to Cold Stone and get ice cream!  (Ok, that wasn’t the only thing we did and the reason for that choice was a free ice cream coupon she had for her birthday.)

B got the cake batter ice cream with cookie dough mixed in.  NHL got the gingerbread ice cream with Oreos mixed in.  I, being a big dark chocolate fan, got the Dark Chocolate Peppermint ice cream with marshmellows mixed in.  JSL is also a fan of all things chocolate and wound up eating about half of my ice cream.  He actually got upset when I dared to move the spoon to my mouth instead of in his.  How dare I!

After ice cream we did some shopping.  Then, after a quick stop home to drop off our goods, we headed to B’s parents house.  There we dropped off the kids and went out to eat in a Japanese Steakhouse.  (Sushi… yum!  Especially Sweet Potato sushi made with warm sweet potato tempura.  *drools*)  After dinner, it was back to B’s parents for dessert:  Chocolate Chip Cookie cake.

Here are a few photos:

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Happy Birthday B!

As I said in my last entry, Palin Bingo was such a success that I decided to make another run of it for the upcoming Presidential debates.  I’ve removed the Palin-specific words (like "Trig", "Todd", and "Alaska") and added in some words that we missed the last time around.  In fact, we’ve added 71% more words.  There are actually 20 quindecillion (2 * 10⁴⁹) possible Bingo cards.

I also added in some cool effects using jQuery (my favorite JavaScript library) and two plugins for it – the jQuery Corner Plugin and the jQuery Gradient Plugin.

Finally, I changed the center Free space.  You can now to choose Obama or McCain in the center (or opt to have it randomly filled).  It’s up to you whether that means that the Bingo game is only in play if Obama is talking, McCain is talking, or either one.

The debate is in a couple of days (as I post this), so spread the word.  Tell your family and friends.  Print out your Debate Bingo cards, pop some popcorn, and play Debate Bingo!

Palin Bingo was such a success (984 Palin Bingo cards created) that I decided to modify it for the upcoming Presidential Debate.  I’ve stripped the list of “Palin-specific” words (like Trig, Todd, Alaska, etc).  I’ve also added some Obama-McCain words (“Change” and “Hope”) as well as some words that my wife and I can’t believe we missed.  (How could we not have included “Main Street” or “Economy”?)

I’m sure there are words that I’ve still missed, so here is your chance to contribute.  If your word is accepted, you win a Free Debate Bingo board.  (What?  I’m giving them away for free anyway?  Shhh… Some people might think it’s a prize!  )  The only rule to word selection is that it had to be something that one (or both) candidate might realistically say.

Also, it can’t be a word that I already have.  Here’s my list so far:

Bridge to No Where, Russia, Maverick, Alaska, Washington outsider, Pro-Life, Oil, Obama, Clinton, Community Organizer, Executive Experience, McCain, Taxes, Drill, Pork Barrel, Earmarks, Wall Street, Canada, Media, Conservative, Foreign Policy, Georgia, United Nations, Iraq, Iran, Bail-out, Terrorist, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, Ahmadinejad, Polls, President Bush, Lobbyist, Washington Insider, 9-11, Putin, Reformer, Main Street, Economy, Meltdown, Military, Negotiations, Washington Outsider, Energy Independence, Biden, Palin, Hope, Change, Liberal

So let’s hear those Bingo Words/Phrases everybody!