@Torben indeed! Very quiet.

Mornin, @Beofett :)

@AarthiDevanathan good morning! :)

how was your weekend? How's Hunter?

The weekend was okay. Nothing special, aside from upgrading from infant seats to forward-facing child seats (its sad how something like that qualifies as the highlight of the weekend!). Hunter seems to enjoy the improved view, though.

how was yours?

@Beofett I'm sure he does; windows > the upholstery.

@Beofett Mine was sedate; I'm nursing a cold, alas.

So I spent most of my weekend under the covers, reading and watching movies.

Ugh :( I hope you're feeling better!

@Beofett I am! But I was particularly cough-y and sniffly this morning, so I figured it would be better to wfh today.

@AarthiDevanathan probably a good idea. Rest up, and feel better!

:D Hopefully I will, @Beofett. Til then, work from home it is. :D :D

I'm debating going out to get some tea.

I feel like tea would be a Really Good Idea.

So would breakfast for that matter. Hmmmm.

@AarthiDevanathan get well soon! Tea doesn't help, but it does make you feel better!

Feeling better helps!

plus drinking tea == getting more fluids, and staying hydrated is good

Hee hee hee.

Working from home is only frustrating in that....I'm home alone. :O

I'm so used to being around people.

What about y'all? @Beofett what does your day look like?

@AarthiDevanathan tweaking the configurations on my new server, and participating in a demo of some software. That, and counting hours until I go on vacation! :P

@Beofett Oh ho vacation? :D Where where?

@AarthiDevanathan We're visiting family in Chicago. With stops along the way to break up the long drive

Chicago! :D

@Beofett that's awesome! Road trip with a wee one, though. Hoo boy.

is that why y'all switched the carseat?

yeah, that and the model we had decided on was 30% off :P

Nice! :D

Hunter can still grow another inch or so before we'd have to switch, but this seemed like the right time

That's totally the best part.

@Beofett Absolutely it is; I was like 5'8" by the end of middle school, so my parents were like, "Eh, forget it, she can sit in the front seat."

yeah, the seats aren't cheap ><

@Beofett Nope. Neither are prams/strollers, from what I've seen.

@AarthiDevanathan yeah, although the strollers and infants seat (plus extra base) weren't a problem, since we were lucky enough to get them from baby shower presents

Toddler showers would definitely be much better.

The kid might actually participate, for one.

OH WAIT.

They do exist -- 1st birthday parties.

@AarthiDevanathan from my (limited) experience, 1st birthday parties tend towards much less... practical gifts. Which I'm fine with (although he certainly isn't hurting for toys at this point!)

@Beofett laughs Fair enough. I think we should just, from now on, call 1st birthday parties Toddler Showers.

@Beofett @Torben, how good/right is this? dadlabs.com/The-Lab/how-to-choose-the-best-pacifier.html

@AarthiDevanathan I can't listen to the audio here. I'm also not sure how competent I would be to evaluate it, as Hunter never showed any real interest in pacifiers

huh really?

interesting.

shrug i figured it was worth a try.

whenever I see a kid of 5-6 with a pacifier, I remind myself how glad I am that Hunter didn't want them

eek that's LATE.

i was on thumbsucking by then.

probably not much better.

I'm interested in opinions on this...

yesterday we went out for lunch. At the table next to us, there was a little boy about a year old, give or take a few months.

His parents put him in a high chair, and then set up a portable television in front of him, turned it on, and then enjoyed their meal while the child stared at the screen

am I some sort of Luddite for finding that to be unsettling?

Nope, that's terrifying.

Kids that age shouldn't be staring at screens for protracted periods of time, full stop.

They don't process images properly.

If they'd given him a lava lamp, that'd have been one thing.

i'm all for following the AAP's recommendation of "absolutely no TV before the age of 2", but I recognize that I'm in the very small minority with that

however, the really annoying part was that Hunter kept turning around in his seat to watch the TV, too

although he may very well have been more interested in the other kid

Quite possible. I know I have trouble concentrating on anything but a TV, even if I'm in a bar or something.

To quote one of my favorite songs, by the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy: "Television: the drug of a nation. Breeding ignorance, and feeding radiation!"

wow those are depressing.

yeah, none of their stuff is remotely up-beat. It is all very heavy with social commentary, but their commentary is, imo, very perceptive and accurate (and not at all flattering)

I...okay wow.

that's too heavy for me, man

the irony is that I'm very much looking forward to watching TV with Hunter when he's old enough

<--- full blown TV addict (in remission)

TV! I love TV. I miss TV so much.

same here :(

we get in about 4-6 hours a week

considering I used to watch about 30-40 hours a week.... (when I was employed... we won't even mention my TV consumption when I was unemployed!)

@Beofett gasp even i didn't manage that.

it may be some mitigation that it was largely background noise, while I played 30-40 hours of WoW a week :P

fair en---no wait what.

bananas

yeah, there's a reason I quit :P

eek yeah i can see why

ever watch The Guild?

An ep here and there. :D

let's just say it hit a bit close to home :P

one of my best friends met his ex-wife through EverQuest!

hahaha i'm sure.

oh man

wait but ex-wife bodes ill

yeah, she was, um... I believe the expression is "bats%&t crazy"?

shakes head lunch, then thinking /waves

@Beofett yes

that is the phrase

and oh dear.

enjoy lunch! And don't sign up for any MMORPGs!

tbf, they did meet via EverQuest

@Beofett Skyrim's just an RPG, right? ;)

tbf, he's about as far from normal as anyone I know, too

@AarthiDevanathan yep! It is 50% less harmful (at least)!

I'd sooo love to start playing that....

i started and it was awesome

i'd need a gaming keyboard and a better computer tho

my graphics card is crummy and my processor speed leaves much to be desired

I need to build a new PC... I built mine to be a gaming PC, but it's out of date now

Wait til the flood in Thailand is over; harddrive prices doubled

which is probably good, because my getting Skyrim would probably result in my getting a divorce :P

@AarthiDevanathan yeah, I heard. Unfortunately, China is also increasing their minimum wage, so it seems possible the prices won't go down very much

omg nuuu dnw

@Beofett funny how those things affect us so much and omg hungry going afk for real now

back!