(this is) durkin.org

A couple of weeks ago, I watched the LSU/Alabama game, and Reilly watched part of it with me.  We are not fans of either team, and he knows that, so I think he was a little confused as to why we were watching it in the first place.  Add to it that we are Auburn fans (Auburn Tigers, LSU Tigers, ??) and the confusion mounted.

Reilly: Daddy - we don’t like the Elephants, right?
Me: Right.  But we do want them to win this game.
R: Who are they playing?
M: LSU.  (pause as I think through the Tigers, Tigers problem)  They are also called the Tigers, but they are not the Auburn Tigers.
R: (…thinking…)  So, we don’t want the LSU¹ to win?
M: Right.
R: But we do want the Elephants to win?
M: Today we do, yes. 

He sat and looked at me for a while as he processed this situation.  It seemed like minutes passed.

R: Then I will say War Eagle Elephants!  Because we don’t say “Roll Tide,” right, Daddy?
M: Right!

He spent most of the first half shouting “War Eagle Elephants” at the television.  Priceless. 

1. Ever since then, he refers to LSU as “the LSU,” which cracks me up. «

Add this comment to the signs that I’m getting older: When I was in high school, $10 worth of gas in my Dad’s Datsun 210, and later the Toyota Corolla, held me for weeks.  In college, I could fill up my Nissan Sentra¹ or Honda Civic on the first of the month and not worry about gas again for the rest of the month², road-trips aside. 

This morning, I stopped to put some gas in my Trooper; and I wondered how far $10³ would go.  Less than a quarter of a tank, it turns out; which should roughly translate into about 80 or so miles.  Hopefully enough for the week.

1. What about it? «
2. Granted, I lived less than a mile from my classes for the majority of the time there, but still… «
3. Gas was at $3.05 for regular unleaded, compared to $.80 or so when I was in high school. «

File this under crazy things you don’t expect to hear from your agent - we were robbed at one of our open houses.

He called the Wednesday after the house was held open on Sunday to say that he had received an email from another agent stating that there were reports of people pretending to look at houses while they were actually going after medication.  And, he said, that one woman who was so interested only left a six digit phone number and no last name, and she did ask if she could use the restroom before she left, and she was in there for what seemed like a long time…

Sure enough - the medicines that MR had left over from her whirlwind day `o surgeries were all gone.  The bottles were still there, but not so much the contents.

I checked the rest of the house, and nothing else appeared to be missing - no jewelry or electronics or anything like that.

I can’t decide if I am angrier that (1) we were robbed or that (2) the person our agent thought was most likely to purchase is apparently not really interested in the house.

The other day, while leaving the men’s room at work¹ , the CIO of my company wondered aloud how automatic flushers are powered.  It seems, he continued, that running electrical circuits in such close proximity with the water (and in so many toilets) could be dangerous.  I replied that I had never really thought about it, but that his observation did make sense.

Great - so now I was curious, too.  So as not to abuse corporate internet-use policy, I did a search at home and discovered the secret - battery power.

I called him today, to tell him about it, and he laughed and laughed and laughed.  He was, I think, genuinely amused that I had not only looked up specifics and facts and figures, but also that I actually called him to tell him.

1. OK, OK, it wasn’t actually “while leaving,” it was while inside; but I really don’t like talking in the men’s room, especially at work.  It just doesn’t seem right. «

After four years (last month!), we are ready to move on; with three boys and a home-based business we just need more space. It’s a 4 bedroom, 2 bath rancher in the walking district¹ in Homewood; a great house, priced to move!

So tell everyone you know.

In other news, our house has a website, too.

1. From our house, you can easily walk to two shopping districts, two parks, the neighborhood pool and gym and the library. «