deebeedee

I picked up my new glasses yesterday from the optometrist. I needed new ones for my herculean eighteen-month old wrenched apart my eyeglass frames (I knew I shouldn’t have handed them to him as an appeasement gesture). When I had my eye exam a couple of weeks ago, the optometrist told me that my vision has actually gotten better! So yay!

The wife and the two younger kids are sick but I’m thankful that I haven’t been afflicted so I’m able to care for them (thanks also to my understanding boss who had me have the day off). The wife is also well enough to attend classes. The eldest is fine as well. He would have been majorly disappointed if he had missed this week’s school and church activities.

When I brought the baby in to the doctor’s yesterday, he was diagnosed as having bad ear infections and pink eye. He was prescribed meds to take care of the bacteria that may have caused both infections. I’m happy that he’s getting treated for it but I came away from the doctor’s office with even better news.

A couple of months ago, the doctor found the baby to be dangerously underweight. It was little surprise to me for he had rejected cow’s milk and other substitutes after having been weaned off my wife’s milk. The doctor devised a plan of action: to feed him as much fatty foods as we can and to continue to encourage him to drink milk and juice. The good news yesterday was that he had gained 2.7 pounds since that visit. He’s on his way to normal growth. I was able to successfully get him to drink a 6 oz. cup of chocolate milk a day. I think it also helped that he saw that his older brother loved the stuff. Even at this young age, he already looks up to his brother!

Now this is what I’m talking about. Free wi-fi on the train. This particular line runs through our city to Santa Clara where I work. This may just convince me to take the train to work again.

Christdot.org acquires a new look as it joins the Gospelcom network.

Update: Eep! At this very moment Christdot is being defaced by Brazilian hackers (could they possibly be from the Cidade de Deus? naah).

Update 2: Okay, looks like everything is back to normal.

Update 3: Here’s a screenshot of the defacement.

I went in knowing I was a little wet behind the ears but I didn’t know I was coming out a sucker. I guess I was too eager to scoop up the “rare find” DVDs. Maybe it was the rush of winning my very first bid. In any case, my first few purchases at eBay a couple of weeks ago did not go down smoothly.

I first bid on the Light Years DVD. What a great find, I thought. This animated sci-fi movie was previously only available on VHS. I outbidded everyone else on the item. Final price: $8.02. Cool.

Then I checked out what other DVD gems I could find on eBay. The DVD version of Time Masters, a 1982 French animated feature directed by Rene Laloux (the same guy who did Light Years) and designed by my favorite artist Moebius, was too good to pass up — especially since Amazon was selling it used for $174.95. eBay had it for $19.95. I didn’t even bid for it. I just hit the “Buy it Now” button.

The seller’s credentials looked good. He had a Positive Feedback rating of 99.7%. I checked out the other items he sells. Oooh, he had Fire and Ice on DVD. That’s the animated fantasy adventure that Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi collaborated on. I had seen it previously on VHS but I didn’t know it was on DVD. I bought that too.

Next, I hunted down some classic cartoons I remember fondly from my childhood. I looked for The Happy Prince and The Selfish Giant. Someone was selling a compilation of these Oscar Wilde classics (along with the Little Mermaid) by Reader’s Digest on one DVD! I scooped that one up too.

But soon after purchasing the DVD I get a notification from eBay stating that the item was removed for violating eBay policy. I contacted the seller and he said that eBay cancelled the item for being an “unauthorized copy” but he was still fighting it. He offered me a refund but said that he’ll send it to me if I still wanted it. I declined.

That was an omen of things to come. I finally received the Fire and Ice and Time Masters DVDs in the mail. They arrived pretty quickly. The first thing I noticed upon opening the package was that the sleeve covers were ink-jet printed. The same goes for the disc labels. I popped in the Fire and Ice DVD. It looked like crap. The guy basically just burned a bad VHS reproduction of the movie onto a DVD disc. I checked out Time Masters. It was a pretty decent copy. But it was a copy nonetheless. They’re both on their way back to the seller as we speak (to a place called Burnsville!).

There was a delay on the arrival of the Light Years DVD. I contacted the seller. It’s on its way over she says. Let’s see how that turns out. If it turns out as badly as the other purchases, my decision to avoid eBay forever will be absolutely final.

From a flyer that my son brought home from school the other day:

FLIP FLOP A-THON!

My name is Jennifer, I am a 6^th grader here at Brookvale. I am trying to make a simple wish of an American Soldier in IRAQ come true. His wish:

To put a pair of flip-flops on every child in Iraq.

Due to the war, they don’t have anything to put on their feet! Please help me by, donating ONE pair of NEW flip flops…

I’ll have my son bring a pair of tsinelas to school but I just can’t help but snicker at the flyer’s unintended(?) irony. A scan of the original can be viewed here (note the superscript ^th. heh).