I’ve had it for about a month now and have read three books on it. It is a wonderful ebook reader because of the epaper technology. I am on a computer for 8-13 hours a day. Reading on the Kindle does not affect my eyes and can easily be read anywhere. Battery life is excellent but overrated. I don’t get a month out of a charge even with wifi disabled but is does last for weeks. No complaints there.

I have been lucky enough to find sufficient books to read for free. I have only bought one book and it was on sale for $1.99. Sue finds a lot of free ebooks through dealnews and I grab all of them. They are only free for a shirt time and space is not a concern. I sort them out when it comes time to read something new.

The biggest source of books for me has been the Gutenberg project. All of the out of copyright classics are free to download. I am finally able to read all of the great books from the past. There are a number of more modern books for free on this site but I found many to be lousy reads.

I am a big fan of Manning publications technical books. They have a great policy where you can download soft copies of any paper book book you buy. You can also buy soft copies. Everything is available in PDF and MOBI formats. I keep these on the Kindle in case I need them.

Another decent source of ebooks is the local library our library system has a decent collection of ebooks but unfortunately they don’t have any of the big fiction writers. Most of their ebooks are nonfiction. I like to read at my own pace without the pressure of a due date so I limit what I borrow from the library.

The kindle has some other features that others may like. The text to speech is decent. The MP3 player is lame but it is not why you buy a Kindle. The web browser feature is neat considering this is a ebook reader. My favorite feature is the built in dictionary. I use it often.

In my opinion if you like to read and don’t want to always carry multiple books this is a great choice. The lightweight and cheesy feel of the device is actually a benefit. It is easy to hold while reading. The touch version is nice and there is less chance of accidentally hitting buttons.

Two rooms done and I was out for the count. Had to take an hours rest. A few hours later I spent about 15 minutes trying to finish up and I was done in again.

Time to rest and eat my soup. Can’t wait for my next dose of pain meds. I could use then now. Thankfully I have time off from work to rest. Too bad it looks like I am better. I don’t feel that way anymore.

This time last year I had my consultation with a dental surgeon. He said two have to go. The other two could stay or they could take them out. He would not advise me either way. It was my choice. I left his office completely undecided.

A mixture of procrastination and plain ole family business lead to nearly a full year delay. Thankfully, the doctor didn’t see the need for another consultation. Today was the big day. Sue took off the day to drive me in and to take care of transporting the kids. I scheduled the surgery for a Tuesday morning to allow for a few days of recovery so that I could be functional by the weekend. Weekends are busy in our house with the kids’ classes. I need to be available to help.

I will be honest and say that I was less than eager to get it done, but I knew it would be done eventually. Better to take care of things now while I am relatively young rather then when I am much older when complications are more likely. I chose not to think about the mechanics of the surgery and to run on auto-pilot for the day. By the time I reached the chair I started thinking “I must be out of my mind doing this!”

The nurses noticed that I was uncomfortable and hooked me up with the nitrous oxide immediately. That was new for me and I will say it is good stuff. It was much less stressful for me after a few minutes. Although I learned quickly that IV sedation didn’t mean I would be out completely, like I was lead to believe. I was told I might doze off, but that I would be conscious the entire time. They said I will know what is going on but that I won’t care what is happening. This added to my stress levels despite their explanations.

I was hooked up to a heart monitor and despite the nitrous oxide I heard my pulse rise the second that the doctor entered the room. I was also told that the IV sedation would kick in immediately. I saw the nurse add them to my IV but I spent a few minutes asking myself if they made a difference. I am still not sure when they kicked in.

The whole procedure took about 45 minutes. It went very fast for me. The nurses were right in that I was conscious and I could tell what they were doing the entire time, but I really didn’t care. At the end I asked if he was going to take the fourth one out. He said he already did it. I don’t recall it happening so maybe that was when I dozed off. I think it was the first one that he did.

After the surgery I chatted with the nurses and even asked for my souvenirs. They bagged up the pieces and let me take them home. I walked out without any issue. If it were safe I would say I was good enough to drive, although, Sue took care of driving me home. I got some mess for pain and antibiotics, then set up camp on the couch. I was to do nothing for the rest of the day.

I had four teeth removed. Three were fully erupted. The two top ones were small and easy to take care of. One of those two developed a small cavity a few years ago. My dentist would not fill it since I had that. Tooth removed. The third erupted one was on the bottom and full size.

The last one was angularly impacted. It was stuck next the the first molar for years. Bone developed and covered it. This can cause trouble as you get older. A pocket will develope next to the molar beneath the bone. This can collect bacteria and eventually get infected. I did have this problem but the potential to start soon was there. Another reason to get that one out.

All of the teeth came out easily. The impacted one was more difficult. The bone had to be removed so thAt the tooth could be accessed. Once it was visible he had to break it into pieces and take it out a little at a time. It came out in four pieces. I think he got most of iy, but likely he had to leave in some roots because of how it was situated.

Recovery so far has been good. I have to ice my jaw every 15 minutes which helps keep the swelling down. The pain killers are good and take the edge off. I feel much better than this morning when the sedation wore off. However I am limited to soft, cold foods. That doesn’t bode well for a big eater like me. Wednesday I get to move on to more foods. Hopefully I will be fully back in action very soon. I have the rest of the week off to recover. No need to be at work uncomfortable and stressed out.

Saturday was busy, but in a good way. She made some egg sandwiches for Emelia and me, which we ate on the way to Emelia’s piano class. I took care of some food shipping and then ran Emelia to the school for her swimming class.

Sue and Caitlin came to the school to see Emelia swim for the first time in this class. A quick lunch at Amy’s house and I brought Emelia to a friend’s birthday at the bowling alley.

We finished off the evening with dinner and dessert for my birthday. I wanted some Chinese take-out for dinner from our favorite place. Dessert was cappuccino pie. I would rather have that than cake. It is coffee ice cream mixed with walnuts molded into a pie plate with Oreo cookie crust. You take a slice of pie and top or with whip cream, mini chocolate chips and warm hot fudge. Awesome combination.

James stayed over for the night and Caitlin stayed over Amy’s house. So we got a chance to work in the puzzle and we got to sleep in since we didn’t have Caitlin there to wake us up early.

Today is looking to be much calmer and less hectic. Emelia has Chinese school but after we will hear to Amy’s house for pizza and wings as well as some football. I am hoping to make the whole weekend without working. So far so good.

We started the day out early after a much less than ideal night of sleep. Amy, Mike, James and Olivia spent the night over so that we could get out early. Unfortunately, the big kids were very excited and the little kids didn’t want to sleep. We finally got them all to sleep, but we didn’t get to sleep until nearly midnight. Sue and I got up at 5am to prepare and get the big kids ready.

Our plan was to get out of the house early and pick up a nice breakfast from D&D. I’m not sure what world we live in, but D&D was not open at 6:30am. We ended up buying coffee and semi-palatable breakfast foods from Cumberland Farms. A gas station breakfast for the four of us.

We ended up at the meeting place early and got a chance to meet the driver. The woman in charge of this pick up spot had the nerve to ask us to get off the bus so that she could count us. WTF. There was only four of us and we were already settled in. She was late, not us. Not a great way to start the day, but we were still happy to be getting out.

The bus trip was relatively short and uneventful until we reached NYC. The kids had a good time and we well behaved. Thankfully the bus had a bathroom, which Emelia took care to use multiple times on the trip. Shortly into the trip the “leader” of the group announced that she had some movies that we could watch. She allowed the youngest on the bus to choose, which was Emelia. Out of the more recent Christmas movies she chose Elf. It ended up being a good choice, which the group enjoyed.

The only real interesting part of the trip was when we got a chance to watch a woman get out of her wheelchair, pull her pants down and piss on the side of 42nd street. The only thing that probably kept her bottom from being see was that she hid it behind the side of store door. The more amazing part was that there were two cop cars, with cops immediately right next to her. She just pulled up her pants, got back into her wheelchair and left. I was so stunned I didn’t even think to post a video. It could have gone viral!

None worse for wear, here are the kids posing in front of the New York Library. Just about ready to head out to see the sights.

Our first stop of the day was Times Square. It was only a few blocks from Bryant Park. At nearly each intersection were people dressed up as Elmo and other monsters. The kids enjoyed seeing them, but Emelia didn’t want to go near them.

Times Square was busy, but not so much that you couldn’t walk around. M&M’s World was our first stop. Toys R Us in Times Square was too busy to event think about going in. From what I heard they were giving out numbers so that you could shop at a scheduled time.

The M&M’s World store was pretty nice. It’s pretty much what you would expect. Three floors full of people and M&M’s branded merchandise. We checked out nearly everything and decided to buy a little bit to remember the trip. James is really interested in baseball so we bought him an M&M’s baseball and bought us all some Pretzel and Almond M&M’s for the day. They were of course overpriced, but we bought a few as a treat. It’s hard to resist when the walls are literally made up of huge bulk contains.

Emelia waited on line with me to pay.

Afterwards we made our way back down Times Square to the subway station. We took some token pics on the way through.

We had a lot of trouble getting a decent picture. The kids were too happy and giggly to stand still. Tickling them while we posed may not have helped either.

We bought a Metrocard and got on the subway for a short trip uptown. It was too cold and too far of a walk for the kids. This was to be our only trip on the train for the day and it was James first time ever on a subway. Emelia was accustomed to taking the subway after our trip to Toronto last year. He got quite nervous on the platform, but loosened up once we boarded the train.

Our next stop was to be FAO Schwarz. However, we were all hungry and needed sustenance. After seeing just how long the line was to get into FAO we figured that it would be best to eat first and then go shopping. Having not had time to plan ahead we spontaneously chose the only restaurant in sight and ended up having lunch at a place named Pop Burger.

It’s a small, expensive burger joint. The food wasn’t bad, but not great either. I had a burger, the kids each had a hot dog and mom had a caesar salad with chicken. I think we were all satisfied except for Sue. The chicken on her salad was very dry and hardly edible. I traded the last of my burger and tried to get her salad down. Blah. I’m not one to complain about food in a place, but I am one to give a less than good online review if a meal is bad. Other than that it was an okay meal. The place was small and busy, which means little seating.

After eating we headed over to FAO Schwarz to wait in line. I’m not sure what miracle happened, but it only took about 5 minutes to get in the building. I was expecting something like 30 minutes, but was pleased to be in the store so quickly.

It was our first time in FAO Schwarz. None of us have been there before. It was well worth going into the icon store, but I am surprised at the lack of holiday decorations. I expected the store to be bigger and better decorated. If it were not for the scores of people I would never have known it was the pre-Christmas season.

Emelia and James took in story time in the book section, which I scoped the place out. It was absolutely packed and difficult to get around. I figured it was best to find the places where we wanted to go without the kids. James was in love with the puzzle section and I found the Butterfly Container toy very cool. Emelia had a great time checking out the books and the dolls. We were liberated of a few bucks to buy a book for Caitlin and a Christmas toy for Olivia.

In the doll section the kids played with a Barbie themed foosball table. It was a custom made table and only cost $24,000 to buy. It made for a great place to take pictures with the kids (look for the kids posing).

Untitled from xiaoniu on Vimeo.

While we waited to get out of the building one of the guards entertained James. He had quite the personality and took to the kids quite well despite his age. It was unexpected. We got a nice surprise on the way out of the store. MasterCard had a deal where you would get a complimentary taxi ride if you bought anything in FAO with your MasterCard. We bought the book using ours and gratefully took advantage of the free taxi.

It isn’t much monetarily, but having a free taxi ready and waiting was a very nice treat. No running around to find and flag one down. We just hopped into a warm car and were off to Rockefeller Center. The kids both got a kick out of it. This was another first for both of them. They got to ride in a taxi in NYC traffic for the first time. The driver was nice and joked around with the kids too. Nothing but high spirits filled the car.

Our next stop was Rockefeller Center to see the tree and to check out a few other stores. It was amazingly busy as you would expect. Since it was only 2pm we were able to move around and actually get close to the tree. It’s nothing but a huge tree in the daytime, but amazing to look at when the sun goes down.

The crowd on the side where the angles are located was much thicker. I didn’t know it at the time, but that was where the entrance to Lego World was located. That was our next stop. The crowd on our side was thick, but maneuverable.

I love the architecture of the area. I may have to bring my grandma back here just to see this area. From what I’ve read the view from the top of Rockefeller Center is amazing and not as busy as the Empire State Building. I wish we had time to do it on this trip, but it wasn’t to be.

Trying to get a picture of the kids on the angel side. The couple behind them were damn near making out the entire time. I think he may have hit second or maybe third base in the few minutes we were there.

Angels and the tree. We are at the complete opposite from where we were earlier. Only took us 20 minutes to get there with all of the people.

We finally made it down to Lego World. It wasn’t bad, but I thought it would have been crawling with Lego kids. The big drawn were the bulk bins of Legos. You can buy a small or large cup of them for a lot of money. James is fascinated with the Star Wars sets. We had an extremely hard time getting around in there. Emelia got fed up and asked to be held. Bending down to her level I can see why. She sees nothing but crotches and butts at her height.

After losing Sue in the crown I had enough and tried to escape. Some poor woman was trying to get out of the store and people kept tell her to take her stroller through the revolving door. I’m not sure how that made sense. I told her there was a real door, but she couldn’t get there. Being a little pissed myself I made way in the crowd for her. Being large and having a big jacket on myself I had no issue parting the way and blocking the entrance so that she could get out. She was very grateful and I felt good to get some frustration out on the crowd.

I didn’t take many pictures after this, but we did plenty. We headed over to Nintendo World just to check it out. The kids took the opportunity to try out the many Nintendo DS’s all over the place. Sue and I got a chance to sit and rest. Afterwards we headed to the NBC store for a quick look and decided to get a warm drink. We bought some Starbucks coffee for us and hot chocolate for the kids. It was also another chance to rest. Mom and the kids were getting tired of all the walking.

After checking out the skating rink and waiting in line for a lifetime to pee we headed out. My plan was to walk back down to 42nd street and maybe stop at the NBA Store on the way. Either the directions on Google Maps were way off or the store is closed because we didn’t find the NBA store. When we reached 42nd street I decided to make our way down to Grand Central Terminal. The kids have never been there and it is an impressive building to see for the first time. I think it was a bit lost on the kids, but we went regardless.

Our next and final stop was dinner at Hunan Manor on Lexington. We were in the mood for Chinese and this was the closest of two places in the area. It ended up being a nice find. It’s a small restaurant that specializes in Hunan food. It’s across the street from another Chinese food place that seemed to have American Chinese food than Hunan Manor. We were looking for more authentic food.

To keep the kids happy we opted to get them some basic sweet and sour chicken. They were not really hungry and ate half of the dish. Sue ordered me some 五香牛肉, which I’ve come to like. It’s a five spice flavor beef/beef tendon that is formed and then served thinly sliced and cold. It’s a simple appetizer.

The second dish that I chose was smoked pork with leeks. It was also good, but Sue didn’t eat much as it was made with a piece of fatty pork. The smokiness is strong, but with the leeks and some good white rice it is a nice dish.

The last dish is one that Sue picked out. I don’t know the name of it and I couldn’t venture a guess. The three primary ingredients were hot red peppers, pork and cilantro. I have never eaten chili peppers like this. There must have been a ton in there. We usually cook a dish with 6-8 of these and never eat the peppers themselves. This dish contained dozens and they were a main ingredient. Cilantro is also there is large quantities. I’m not a big cilantro fan. The pork was minimal and very thin.

I cannot say that I liked the dish much, but I did eat it. It wasn’t terrible, just not to my liking. It was definitely spicy, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The peppers were still dry and tough. I’m not sure if this is normal for Hunan food or not as I have no experience with it. Since the other dishes were done well I assume that this is normal for this dish. On a plus side I can say I ate it.

After dinner we took a stroll back towards Bryant Park. It was still one hour before our pick up time so we decided to try and reach Rockefeller Center again. We really wanted to see the tree in the dark where you can appreciate the lights. Emelia was beat and kept asking to be held. I kept her going by playing her favorite game where we run away from a monster. We ran most of the way back with James and Sue bringing up the rear.

We made it back to see the tree in 10 minutes flat, which is not bad considering we had kids with us and they were winding down. The crowds were as bad as you would expect, but we found a nice place to take in the tree from a distance. We didn’t even think about trying to get up close. It was a madhouse and not worth the fight.

Having still yet more time to kill we started our walk back and ended up and Barnes and Nobel. The kids wanted to check out the books and toys they had on sale. It was super busy, but the kids got to pick out some nice books. Both of the kids are at reading age so the store is fun for them. With 30 minutes left we trotted the rest of the way back and waited for our bus.

It took us a bit to get out of the city with all of the traffic trying to get back to the Lincoln Tunnel, but we got out in decent time overall. The trip back was quiet for the most part. We watched The Santa Clause and the kids both crashed. By the time we reached the car it was 11:15 or so. We were able to get home and get everybody into bed by 11:45.

As expected it was a busy, but a very fun day. The kids both did well despite the normal issues of not listening well. Nobody got hurt and nobody lost anything. We all got to eat well and took a few things home to remember the trip. We gained a lot of new memories and checked off some of life’s todo’s. The city was busy and crowded, yet people were polite and not annoying as you would expect. I even chatted up a few strangers while waiting.

One last thing about the trip. We all noticed that there were hundreds if not thousands of people dressed as Santa while we were there. You usually get a few eccentrics doing it, but not that many. Most were in their early twenties. According to the news they were dressed this way for SantaCon. Around Grand Central we found that there were even some drunk folks carrying OWS signs. There large groups of police officers armed with nylon handcuffs in the area too. According to SantaCon NYC the event is not political. This didn’t seem to stop some from showing some OWS love at the same time.

This is pretty much how the streets looked for most of the day. By the time dinner rolled around you saw some small groups, but still plenty of red outfits.

I have to be honest piano keyboards have always intrigued me. I never understood the madness that is the mess of white and black keys. Now I know how to use those keys to find the appropriate notes. Yes, you could say that I am easy pleased.

Emelia enjoys the class and is learning a lot. Practicing at home helps out tremendously. Catch her at the right time and get her in front of her piano and she can play three shirt songs already.

The class covers the basics of music. The kids (and parents) get to learn all of the notes and where to find them on a keyboard. Reading music is a must as is learning about tempo and pitch. The kids are challenged with games and get to dance as a group each week. It is fun and most of the kids clearly have fun.

I am looking forward to next week. She is learning more notes and we may learn a new song soon.

Sue and I cooked the lions share of the food. It was a good and tasty meal. We stuck with traditional food and it turned out good.