TAR: I'd chalk it up to killer fatigue... stuff that you'd think through if you were working on 8 hours of refreshing sleep instead of whatever they've gotten. I'm surprised that nobody lost a paddle.

I've been having cable issues all day, Jesse.

Bah.

True that, Theodosia.

So today's my dad's birthday. He spent the day disassembling the Pathfinder with my brother (who is in town with D, the nephew.) It is so perfect, it made me laugh. Dad and brother had a rocky, near non-relationship J's last few years at home. And now, J bought jacks and lifts for dad's birthday so they could spend it figuring out why the 4wd wouldn't engage.

Both parents can't shut up about how much fun D is. From mom, I expect that. She's kinda grandmazilla. But dad? He's really enjoying the little monkey. Makes me smile.

Dad's teaching a class he informally calls Revolutions in Science. I'm picking the hell out of his brain, and wishing I could take the class. He's doing Galileo, Copernicus, general relativity, Darwin and hopes to be able to hit quantum by the end of the semester. He's really enjoying it, which I love to see. He so often is burnt out by this point.

Question for the hivemind: can you help me remember the web site we discussed and explored a year or so ago where we looked up houses around the country and found out about assessed values and sale prices of property recently sold in the same neighborhoods? My Dad and step-mother are starting to get serious about relocating away from the N. Va./DC suburbs, and are researching how much their current house is worth as well as prices in the areas they are thinking of moving to.

Thanks.

I think it begins with a z. . . that's all I've got.

Question for the hivemind: can you help me remember the web site we discussed and explored a year or so ago where we looked up houses around the country and found out about assessed values and sale prices of property recently sold in the same neighborhoods?

Zillow

And it is a z!

Aha! Thanks!

That's really cool, sarameg. I wish my father could find something like that.

So I went to one of the strangest weddings I've ever been to today. It was, in fact, held at the Port of LA down in San Pedro amidst lovely steamer ships off-loading containers and Fire Dept. scows sailing past. The groom's father was wearing a forest green tux (with velvet lapels). The priest kept having to tell the happy couple to stand closer and look at each other as if they were in love. The bride's vows included a sincere hope to continue to deconstruct the issues of the day with her soon-to-be husband. They jumped the broom, a ritual which half the guests didn't understand (I guess they've never seen Roots), and that led to an impromptu lecture from the Bride's mother about the customs adopted by African Americans after our "involuntary immigration" from the Motherland. Two guys whom I swear were the singing dudes from There's Something About Mary sang "In My Life" and proceeded to forget 75% of the words. And then the bride and groom used Stevie Wonder's "Golden Lady" for their recessional. Then came the toasts, where the bride's father complained for three minutes about the fact that the wedding was taking place on his birthday and that he was being robbed of feeling special on his day. The groom's brother told stories about how he and the groom used to wait for his mom to bend over to turn the heater on so that they could measure her rear end with a tape measure and proclaim "That's a whopper!" The groom's mother told a story which ended with "And that's when [groom] smacked me! But I couldn't complain because I guess I deserved it." And one of the bridesmaids broke into song during her toast and exhorted the whole crowd to clap and sing along even though it was a song she had clearly just made up on the spot. And then the bride's grandfather led a group of nubile young women out onto the floor to groove to "Atomic Dog".

Good times.