Alex’s New Bookmark

Yesterday we bought Alex a bookmark with a small stopwatch on the end of it. He's supposed to be recording his reading time, and this will help. In addition, it might mitigate some of the awkward nights when he goes to bed to read for 15 minutes, and we find him 2-3 hours later still reading. "You forgot to tell me when 15 minutes was up" is always his story. Yeah, but it's been 3 hours!

McDonalds Trouble

We had some McDonalds in the Lloyd Center Food Court this afternoon just before watching a movie. When I saw the guy behind the counter, I knew this was not going to be an easy exchange. He was about 18 years old and had a vacuous stare with an all-around drugged-out look; it was pretty obvious there was not much going on behind his eyes. I ordered a Double Cheeseburger Mighty Kids Meal with no pickles. He took 20 seconds to stare at his register and punch some buttons then asked if I'd like that in a meal or by itself. I told him that I wanted it in a meal, and repeated myself . . . "it's a Double Cheeseburger Mighty Kids Meal with no pickles". Again, the guy punched buttons for 20 seconds, looked at me, and asked what kind of Meal that was. I said "What?"; he asked if I wanted Chicken Nuggets in the meal or a Hamburger. We were now at least a minute and a half into this exchange, I had more food to order, and this guy couldn't understand "Double Cheeseburger Mighty Kids Meal with no pickles". And we hadn't yet gotten to the drink.

That was more than I could take. I remember thinking to myself that in this economy it's incredible that this idiot has a job, then I looked at a manager standing at the next register and asked if there was someone else who could take my order. The manager told me that this guy was new. I said I don't care – he's an idiot. The manager came over and helped the guy put in the rest of my order. By the time he finished with the register and gave me my total, the food was already prepared and on a tray at the counter.

Perhaps my expectations are too high, but until you can understand "Hamburger Happy Meal", you have no business working a McDonalds cash register.

School Skate Night

We all went to the Fisher's Landing School Skate Night at Golden Skate. Alex and I skated; Tiffany watched. Alex also played Lazer Tag.

Kaleb, who in Mrs. Gallo's class with Alex, was there.

It was a lot of fun for everyone, especially Alex.

Grandpa Harold died

My Grandpa Harold died today of emphysema. He was in his 80s . . . 88, I believe. He lived in Bremerton, and the last time we saw him was in July when we stopped by his house on the way back from a Soap Box Derby race. Before that, it had been a few years.

I'm glad Alex got to see him.

Moby Dick

This is just scary.

Tiffany's Uncle and Aunt Rick and Sherry sent Alex a copy of Moby Dick for Christmas. It's not the original version – it's a "Great Classics for Children" version, edited to a 176 page, simplified novel. (If you've ever read Moby Dick, you would understand that the original version is extremely difficult for even literary adults to read and comprehend). I thought that it was a very nice gift, but did not expect it to be read soon – it went on Alex's bookshelf.

A few minutes ago, we were discussing Alex's reading homework. He is supposed to read 15 minutes each day, but we know he reads much more than that, often sneaking books under the covers late at night. His reading homework has been changed so that instead of simply reading 15 minutes, he is now supposed to record how long he did read, and write a few sentences about the reading. He told us that the new format would be easy, and said to us "Tell me any book that you think I didn't read." That one's easy, I thought . . . "Moby Dick". He insisted that he HAD read the book, so I quizzed him a few minutes (I've read the original version twice). Sure enough, he read it. He knew about Ahab and his wooden leg; Moby Dick the white whale; the Pequod (although he couldn't pronounce it, he knew how it was spelled); Queequeg and his tattoos (again, he couldn't pronounce the name); and Ishmael, the narrator. He also knew the relationship between Ishmael and Queequeg (they were friends who had met just before the voyage), and how the book ends . . . including the name of the sole survivor.

My jaw dropped. I thought he was up there reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid for the 15^th time, or Garfield comics. I'm proud not so much that he could read the book, but rather that he chose to read it and stuck with it. He says it took him three days, and he read it between Christmas and New Year.

RISK

Tonight I got to roll out the new RISK game that Tiffany and Alex gave me for Christmas. We played a simplified version of the game that makes it easier to understand, and quicker to play. It still took about an hour and a half. Alex loved it, but I think he was ready to quit by the time I crushed both him and Tiffany. Tiffany has never liked RISK, and did not pretend to like it this time . . . but she played, since it cannot be played by two people.

I wish Tiffany would play it more; it's a great game for kids. It reinforces math, and teaches geography and strategy. I love to see Alex playing purely strategic games, instead of the chutes-and-ladders-type pure chance games that kids so often play.

Where The Wild Things Are

This evening we went to see a movie. The choices were 'Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel', which just came out; or 'Astro Boy' or 'Where The Wild Things Are', which are playing at Vancouver Plaza 10, a second-run theater. Alex decided to watch the movie that had been out the longest, 'Where The Wild Things Are', because Alvin and the Chipmunks will be in theaters for a while.

I was disappointed in the film. It's a nice book, but there's not a whole lot of plot, so I knew that they were going to have to add storyline for the film. Because it was produced by Tom Hanks, I guess I was expecting magic. I thought the whole movie was way too deep for a young audience, confusing, and extremely depressing. Although the story was too confusing to get depressed over, the character's voices, the soundtrack, and even the character's faces and gaits were enough to depress everyone.