Monday, January 12, 2009

The P.O.S. 4000 snowblower

I'm guessing that you probably have at least one thing in your home that is a P.O.S. model. Most people do, although they may not be aware of the "P.O.S." designation. It's a French term. Yep, goes back a century or two. "P.O.S." stands for Piece of Shit. (Those French are so clever.) It's such a handy label because you can slap it on anything you like when you're complaining about it, and you don't have to use vulgar language. Even better, if the person to whom you're talking also has a P.O.S. something or other, s/he will smile and know exactly what you mean.

We are fortunate enough to be able to boast being the owners of not one, not two, but several P.O.S. models. The focus of this post is our early 19th century snowblower, seen here.

I'd like to tell you that Joe is just making his way through a foot- high bank of snow, stirring up a nice white cloud of powder, but that gives way too much credit to the P.O.S. 400. Those are really just exhaust fumes.




We bought the P.O.S. 4000 from a neighbor after our first winter here. We'd had enough with shoveling the driveway and the sidewalks. Seemed like a good idea at the time. We were thrilled to be so "high tech" and to not have to expend the effort on all that shoveling.

But the "high tech" snowblower turned out to be a joke, and the joke was on us. One thing we've learned since becoming home owners is that we need a good sense of humor. Our home, as much as we love its charm, often feels like a money pit, and that goes for many of the appliances and tools within our home. There's always something that needs to be fixed and that means shelling out more money.



Here's Joe still trying to start the snowblower after 45 minutes.





And, here he is again clearing our sidewalk, while my car sits in the neighbor's driveway across the street. Note, the the neighbor's snow removal guy has to work around my car! Something's wrong with this picture. Ironically, his snowblower is also 100 times better than ours.



So for kicks, Joe thought it would be fun to create an "ad" of sorts extolling all the virtues of our got-to-have-it p.o.s. snowblower. Take a look for yourself. It's got some amazing features, and it's guaranteed to make you laugh.

(Note, you may need to double click on the image to blow it up so that you can read the fine print.)


Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Stand

It's awe-inspiring how fast kids learn. This week, Jonas figured out how to stand up. Sunday, we watched in disbelief as he finagled his way to standing from kneeling by the bathtub. He's been working at this for months. It took him a few minutes to pull it off, but he did it. Then, Monday he did it on six times. Daycare reported on Tuesday that he was tried to stand every opportunity that he got. By Thursday, he's a pro--up in seconds.


Hmm, what do we have here?
The look of raw determination. Hmm, wonder where he gets that from.
Look at those meaty thighs!!
Here, I am, Mom. Let's do it again.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Check me out


Here's our boy demonstrating one of his newly honed skills, sitting cross-legged.

He also just cut the 5th tooth and is working on #6.

We started signing with him. We're working on the signs for "eat", "more", "drink", "sleep", "dog", and "gentle". Despite his mother's vast talents for language, Jonas hasn't produced any signs yet (since Sunday when we started this). What's wrong with this kid?? He must have gotten the math brain. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait another week...

Lest you think I'm serious--I'm not. It could take a month or more for him to sign back. We're cool with that. It's just fun to do, for now.

Monday, January 5, 2009

2008: A retrospective

I thought it'd be fun to create a top ten of our “most momentous events” of 2008.

Despite the economic woes, 2008 was great year for us, mostly thanks to Jonas, but we had a few other exciting moments along the way.

(If I wrote an entry about the event, it’s hyper-linked, so that you can visit that specific post.)

#10. Hernia surgery – Not exactly the news I wanted to hear 3.5 months post partum: "You've got a hole in your abdomen, lady."

I'm going to spare you the photo on this one. Let's just say it's not pretty.

#9. Our first family race on Thankgiving – Important for me, because I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever really enjoy running again.

#8. July 11, 2008 – crude oil hit a record high, over $147.00/barrel. It’s the beginning of a new era in the discussion about conservation, energy independence and efficiency.

#7. New windows installed in our house - And from #8 we get this. It was actually phase 2 of the windows project, which cost us nearly half of the infamous "bail out package". We weren’t sure if we were going to get to phase 2 this year, but the skyrocketing fuel prices, sealed the deal. Now, we get to stain and seal all those windows! Get your masks out.

#6. Jonas' first holidays: Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.


#5. The launch of ThinkFast Multisport, Joe’s new business venture.


# 4. The election

#3. Joe qualifying for the Boston Marathon

#2. Our fifth wedding anniversary – All of our romantic getaway plans were foiled, but we still had a good time. We're still married!


#1. Birth of Jonas!!!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone the best for the new year. Hope 2009 is filled with much happiness, peace and good health. And, thanks so much for taking the time to read our blog.