• Dan saved Grocery Store Musical as a favorite video on Monday, October 26, 2009
• Dan shared ? Pound the Quality from Daring Fireball on Tuesday, October 27, 2009
• Dan dugg the link idGettr-tool to find your Flickr userid or groupid number on Wednesday, October 28, 2009
• Dan shared Phil Coffman on iPhone Photography from Daring Fireball on Thursday, October 29, 2009
• Dan shared One-handed computing with the iPhone from kottke.org on Friday, October 30, 2009

This entry contains a poll. If you'd like to vote in it, visit the entry.

Many people have asked about baby names. Dan and I originally made our own lists, then combined them, and have now slowly been vetoing/pairing down the list. Below are the boy names. I do not feel any inspiration at this point to pair them up with middle names, so if you have suggestions, please post them. :)

This entry contains a poll. If you'd like to vote in it, visit the entry.

Since then, we’ve tried to convince Brady to re-enact the “call” for us, just so we could laugh like that again. Finally, after weeks of begging, he did it again. And we were ready: three of us pulled out our phones and recorded a video of it. Here’s mine:

Jeff planned two work days (which had an amazing turn-out of help—20+ people each day), plus spent several other days after school and in evenings working with others to get the gravel and sand placed, as well as cutting all of the wood for picnic tables. I don’t know what the total number of man-hours spent on the project was, but by my math is has to be over 400, perhaps 500 man-hours! This is definitely one of the biggest projects I’ve seen in a long time!

Some fun numbers:

• 20 two cubic foot bags of mulch
• 4 cubic yards of gravel
• 1.5 cubic yards of sand
• 1200+ bricks
• and about 350 pieces of wood to build the picnic tables (I think)

…all moved through the school. You see, the courtyard is in the middle of the school, so everything needed to be carried, carted, and wheelbarrowed through the school hallways to get to the courtyard. A gigantic piece of the labor of the project was simply moving everything over that distance!

Awesome job, Jeff.

When we were in Kittery, Maine, I bought some flip flops at the Kittery Trading Post. Due to my pregnancy, my feet were very swollen and would not fit into my shoes. When we came home, Pinball attached herself to them. She laid on them for hours as well as rubbed her face all over them. We still occasionally find her all over them. I can see liking a smell like leather that much, but not my stinky foot smell!

Well, I suppose this needs some clarification. I have actually been working for myself full-time since somewhere around February, 2008, and I was also working for my previous employer full-time then, too. Now, it’s hard to imagine how I managed to work two full-time jobs! September 12, 2008 was my first day of working only one job full-time!

It has been a good year. I’ve been able to work a manageable schedule, typically 40-50 hours each week (though there have been some scary late-night exceptions). I’ve been able to see a constant flow of work from new and existing clients. I’ve been able to balance challenging new tasks and comfortable, familiar tasks.

I won’t lie and say we haven’t felt the tough economy — we have. There are always struggles and successes, and I feel like our little company has stood up to it all very well and even thrived a little. In fact, we will definitely exceed one of my 2009 financial goals!

What does the next year hold? I honestly don’t know. I need to sit down with the business plan and review it. From there, I can make some new goals, better priorities, and generally figure out how to turn 2010 into another successful year!

It turned out to be an enjoyable time. I liked that this zoo has some unusual animals that you don’t usually see, like Patagonian Cavy. As well, there were a number of young animals, including a baby chimp and a baby babboon that were a lot of fun to watch. Because of its size, the zoo is pretty well spaced out. There is also a Deer Forest that you can walk through. Away from the food dispenser areas, it was a peaceful walk through some shaded areas with deer walking all around.

Besides the obvious animal exhibits, I should mention that we ate lunch at Clarice’s Cupboard, one of the dining opportunities. Our expectations were not too high for zoo food, but we have to say that the sandwiches that we got were really good! I had a chicken wrap and Dan ordered a panini. The prices were decent, and the food was delicious! You can, of course, picnic, but I would recommend picking up a zoo sandwich!

I’ve been a member of NSTA for a few years and I’ve accumulated lots of discussion board e-mails, most of which I still haven’t read. But, I started there looking for ideas. I can’t give credit to whoever came up with this because I don’t have the e-mail anymore, but it’s fantastic! The idea is to create a sort of crime scene of a lab accident and allow students to evaluate it. Off I went to the dollar store to pick up supplies.

I bought a little teddy bear and decided he was the focus of my investigation. I also bought it a shirt and wig. At home I collected things out of my medicine cabinet like vitamin E pills and iodine. In addition, I brought in food coloring. I was trying to focus on all of the lab rules we were covering throughout the week. (We use Flinn’s Safety Contract.) I set up the scene, and re-covered it before each class. After the kids arrived, I told them a story that I had bad news- our friend Bob the Bear was found dead this morning in the lab. I don’t know what happened. I left the lab locked when I went home last night, and then this morning I found him. The students automatically come up with conspiracy theories involving the custodians.

I pass out clipboards with a sheet on it (What happened to Bob the Bear.pdf), and allow students to approach the uncovered scene to make observations (also practicing science skills). They are also asked to make three predictions as to what caused the death. It was so much fun, I’m doing it again this year!

As with others, I made a simple book out of cardstock and ribbon. I used coordinating scrapbook paper and embellishments to make it cute. It took little time and money, but makes a much bigger impact!

The book is set up in a series of essays primarily focusing on the dreaded symptoms of pregnancy, such as frequent urination, breast swelling, etc. but Jenny tells everything with a funny story. Besides, it’s going to happen to you- if you can’t laugh about it, you’re not going to make it through 40 weeks! It’s comforting to know that all women go through the joys and disasters of pregnancy, and someone like Jenny is brave enough to share.

Honestly, in the beginning reading all of this stuff scared me stiff, but then once symptoms arose, I also felt more comfortable with it all. Granted, Jenny had a much more rough time than I’m having, but after reading the book, I know how hard it can be and I feel for women that do have it that badly!

If these kayaks all sat side-by-side, the most obvious difference between them would be the colors, followed by length. There’s a little curve here and there that is different, but they all seem pretty similar — until you try paddling them! The differences jump right out and it becomes obvious that so many different brands and models exist to fit so many different people’s requirements.

Having tried several of them, I’ve been able to form some opinions and create a clearer picture of what I want in a kayak. I’ve also been able to form at least one clear opinion: I don’t want a recreational kayak. These all have some significant limitations when I consider how I want to use a kayak. A rec kayak is great for just hanging out on the water and having some fun, but it’s just not designed for paddling a fast-moving river or as a fitness tool. There’s nothing wrong with them; they’re just not what I want. But, I basically knew all of this from my previous experience (Buying a Kayak, Part 1: Some Research).

The kayaks are listed in the order I tried them.

Perception Prodigy 10

The Perception Prodigy 10 is a 10-foot long, 29-1/2-inch wide plastic kayak. There’s a very minimal keel to it and the bottom of the hull is pretty flat, with a soft chine.

• The Prodigy 10 turns pretty fast and easily with a wide sweep, turning 180-degrees in about three strokes. This kayak has very, very little lean — it’s not even worth trying to lean, I’d say.
• This kayak feels just stable enough while stopped and moving on calm water. Taking this onto a lake with power boats would likely result in me rolling.
• It doesn’t track particularly well, though it certainly doesn’t track poorly, either. The kayak’s speed is on the slow side.
• The cockpit opening is huge, and entry/exit is easy. The cockpit is so large, in fact, that after each stroke water drips down the paddle and off of the drip rings right into the cockpit. Water splashes in easily.
• The seatback height is just barely low enough to not push my PFD up and off of my shoulders.
• The width of this kayak means the thigh braces are more like knee-cap braces. I had to keep readjusting my legs to keep from pushing my knee caps sideways off the knee joint.

Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100

The Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 is a 10-foot long, 30-inch wide plastic kayak. There’s a small keel to it and the bottom of the hull is pretty flat, with a soft chine.

• The Pamlico 100 turns very fast and easily with a wide sweep, turning 180-degrees in as little as two strokes. Leaning into a turn feels a little scary because the kayak shape doesn’t really allow for leaning. Conversely, keeping my weight centered, the kayak feels very stable.
• This kayak felt very stable while stopped and moving. Even getting hit on the side by a relatively strong current didn’t make the kayak feel too tippy.
• It doesn’t track particularly well, though it certainly doesn’t track poorly, either. The kayak’s speed is on the slow side.
• The cockpit opening is huge and very easy to get into and out of; water also splashes into the cockpit very easily. The cockpit is so large, in fact, that after each stroke water drips down the paddle and off of the drip rings right into the cockpit. The dashboard provides enough protection to keep the drips out, but not the splashes.
• The seatback is too high, pushing my PFD up and off of my shoulders. The seatback is only a little higher than the Prodigy 10, but it’s enough to push the PFD up.
• The width of the Pamlico 100 cockpit means the thigh braces are more like knee-cap braces. I had to keep readjusting my legs to keep from pushing my knee caps sideways off of my knee.

Wilderness Systems Pungo 120

The Wilderness Systems Pungo 120 is a 12-foot long, 29-inch wide plastic kayak. A small keel and slightly “V” hull bottom, with a soft chine. This is definitely my favorite of these four kayaks.

• The Pungo 120 turns pretty fast and easily with a wide sweep, taking about 3-4 strokes to go 180-degrees. The slight “V” of the bottom means a little lean is possible while turning.
• This kayak felt very stable while stopped and moving. There’s definitely a little extra secondary stability when the kayak is moving, but it’s minor. Even getting hit on the side by a relatively strong current didn’t make the kayak feel too tippy.
• The Pungo 120 tracks pretty well. It’s not a fast kayak, but not slow, either.
• The cockpit opening is huge and very easy to get into and out of; water also splashes into the cockpit very easily. The cockpit is so large, in fact, that after each stroke water drips down the paddle and off of the drip rings right into the cockpit. The dashboard provides enough protection to keep the drips out, but not the splashes.
• The seatback is too high, pushing my PFD up and off of my shoulders.
• The width of the Pungo 120 cockpit means the thigh braces are more like knee-cap braces. Not quite as bad as the Pamlico 100, but still not a good fit.

Heritage Kayaks FeatherLite 12

The Heritage Kayaks FeatherLite 12 is a 12-foot long, 30-inch wide plastic kayak. Its hull has no keel and a flat bottom, with a soft chine. Despite what the web site says, I see no skeg.

• The FeatherLite 12 turns very fast and easily with a wide sweep, taking about 2 strokes to go 180-degrees. Its flat bottom lets it spin easily. I was also surprised by how much I could lean this kayak — despite the flat bottom it was easy to lean the kayak to make course corrections to help track straight.
• This kayak felt very stable while stopped and moving. When being hit by heavy wake it still felt good.
• The FeatherLite 12 does not track well. Its speed isn’t fast, and the flat bottom meant it required constant course correction.
• The cockpit opening is quite large and very easy to get into and out of. The “V” shape of the front of the cockpit keeps dripping water from falling into the cockpit.
• The seatback is very high, reaching up past the middle of my back and nearly touching my shoulder blades. It was easy to lean against and did not push my PFD up like the other seats do. However, when paddling I heard a constant rubbing sound as my back twisted and the PFD and seat rubbed together.
• Pushing my knees against the sides of the kayak for stability worked pretty well. Despite being roughly the same width as the other kayaks I tried, it’s obviously a different design: my kneecaps weren’t being pushed.

Conclusion

I have a lot of fun each time I go out in any of these kayaks. It’s nice to go out on the water, splash around, and see where I can go. As I said in the beginning, there’s nothing wrong with these kayaks, they’re just not what I want.

The difference between the small-keel design and the no-keel design is obvious: the Pamlico 100 and Pungo 120 tracked straighter than the other two kayaks. The longer (12-foot vs 10-foot) kayaks displaced more water, and therefore felt more stable. Based on those two ideas alone, the Pungo 120 jumps out as the best.

The Pungo 120 still has some shortcomings that highlight why I think a light touring-style kayak would be better for me. My biggest problem with these wide rec kayaks is that pushing my knees against the sides of the kayak is very uncomfortable: a narrower kayak is less likely to push on my kneecaps directly. Plus, it will be a bit faster. A smaller cockpit would let me keep more water out of it, and a harder chine would have more lean to it.

The natural place to start looking is at touring-width (roughly 24 to 27-inch wide), 12-foot long kayaks. However they displace less water than the wider rec kayaks, so to make up for that I’ve been looking at 14-foot kayaks. I think that’s the sweet spot for me.

I found this spider that had constructed a web on our back patio. I don’t know if I’ve seen one that big in a while, so I was intrigued by it. Plus, I could stop working on my unit plan and stuff that just seems boring at the moment. So, I was able to get this photo of it. Not very good, but the little booger kept running around. I have identified it as a garden spider. If I’m wrong, let me know.

So, we found out that we are having a VERY active baby. It would not stop moving around, which is cute to see, but makes for awful, blurry ultrasounds. I have to have another round of ultrasounds next month (9/14) because baby would not cooperate. There are still things to check like the face, lower GI tract, spine, and extremities. Other than that, all is good- weight, blood pressure, baby’s heart rate, etc. :)