Subject to Change

Rollin’ With Bob Sagat:

Goodnight, Michelle!

The health department sends us fliers to tell us how Cole should be developing. The latest one told us he should be saying 3-10 words at 15 months old and by 16 months he should be saying 10 or more. Kelly and I knew that Cole was saying a few words, but we weren’t sure how many he knows.

We’ve started writing Cole’s Dictionary, which should be a handy tool to give to anyone we may leave him with. After listing his words we discovered that Cole knew almost thirty already. There are a few, like “goat,” that he doesn’t say often and could easily forget because he doesn’t have much use for them right now.  For the most part our first draft of the list contained words that he uses confidently and correctly. We started the list several weeks ago and have been adding to it as we discover he has learned new words. I believe the list is approaching forty words, and he seems to be learning a new word every day now.

Cole learned to say “book” last week and has been making a clear attempt to understand what books are. I’ve seen him grab books and sit down with them. He even tries to find a suitable reading place, like a couch or chair. He also said “slide” on the same day, which is awesome because the “sl” is a new and difficult sound. Today he learned to say “car” and Kelly tells me that he’s been pointing to cars all day.

I’ve also noticed how much easier communication is getting. Cole understands quite a bit. We may have to start speaking in code very soon, to prevent tantrums. I suggested “The Manhattan Project” or “Operation Overlord” as the code name for his blanket. Kelly wasn’t too keen on that idea.  

This car was stuck in Fairwood Ave. A few brave (or disturbed) souls pushed it out of there after the rain stopped. The sewer behind it was creating a bubble dome more than a foot high.

There was audio for the following video, but it doesn’t seem to have uploaded. The distorted part of the image is the water beginning to swirl down the drain.

A freak storm hit the area where I work in Columbus today. It was highly localized and hit hard. From the look of the radar it targeted the specific building that I was in! We lost power (except the generators) , radio, and phones.

When the lightning strike killed our computers we were already working late. On the way out to the parking lot someone told us there was three to six inches of water out there. The water was up to the bottom of my bumpers before I even got in, and I had to run through a downpour that must’ve been deep purple on radar.

A coworker and I attempted to find a route home. We drove through several deep puddles before giving up five blocks away and deciding to park our cars on higher ground, back where we came from.

I was too busy trying not to die to get any good video of the storm, but here’s a video of a rescue vehicle plowing through the street and creating a wake. There were cars floating on this street. I also saw sewage shooting up from the flood for a while. People from the neighborhood were playing in the water anyway (ewwww!).

We had to wait a few hours for the water level to drop. It’s good to be dry now!

Quaker Steak and Lube
Damn you, “all you can eat” wings.
Damn you all to hell!

The family spent part of this past weekend in The Dells. We may have been among the last people to see Lake Delton.

…The lake, which is where the popular amphibious Ducks travel, has been pretty much all drained.

…

Novotny also represents the Original Wisconsin Ducks and Dells Boat Tours. She said as of noon today, all tours were cancelled on the Lower Dells due to the water conditions. They are still operating on the Upper Dells, she said.

I believe that a lot of businesses in The Dells operate on a very thin margin. It will be interesting to see how this disaster transforms the area. I suspect it will recover, and hopefully shed itself of a few of the eyesores.

We went to Discovery World this week, knowing that it had received many poor reviews. It has been a year or two since the last comment I’ve heard on the museum and we decided to give it a try. They’ve had plenty of time to get things up and running by now. It couldn’t be all that bad, right? Wrong.

First of all, Discovery World will never be a place for children under ten. The exhibits will be too advanced and they plan to have an RFID passport system in place, so you can track your child. A younger child isn’t going to be able to work the passport system, much less understand the exhibits. It’s not really a problem right now, though, because there still aren’t many functional exhibits. The exhibit hall is still under construction and the few completed exhibits already have issues. Some require the RFID tag, which doesn’t exist yet, and others are broken. So, if you’re going to the lake front for Discovery World, save the $16.50 admission and stay home. Spend the money on vinegar and baking soda (or Diet Coke and Mentos) instead. Show the kids how to make volcanos.

On the plus side, the aquarium is nice. It’s probably smaller than the aquarium at the zoo, but it includes more salt water species and a tidal pool for the kids to the touch fish. You can see the entire aquarium in under an hour if you rush. Take your time, because it’s the only thing worth seeing at the pier.