¶ Two cars in every garage: And other tidbits from my life at the end of September.

Perhaps I'm overstating the importance of this, but I'm certain those of you who've seen our garage interior will be suitably impressed when I tell you that I've cleaned the thing, and we are now storing both the 626 and the ES 300 in there. Cleaning the garage was neither easy nor quick, but I got it done over the weekend thanks to my parents' willingness to come over and watch Jonah. We still have a lot of junk stored in the garage, but it's neatly piled here and there. Since our garbage can is only so big, I'll be carefully stuffing the living bejeezes out of it every week until we've got a little more room to maneuver.

Speaking of cars, does anyone else want to shoot the Volkswagon exec who names their autos? Toe-rag? Excuse me? You couldn't come up with another something palatable to Americans like Beetle or Jetta? We didn't have enough trouble with Cabriolet? Pretty name, but if you use the same French convention doesn't that make the Passet passé? Has nobody at VW studied the case of the Merkur, a fine European auto name that was virtually unpronounceable for North Americans? (And whose flag ship was the XR4Ti, presenting consumers then a combination of unpronounceability and meaningless techno-babble.) I can already see the VW advertising company folks beating their heads against their desks when they heard the name of the Toe-rag. Why? Thump. Why? Thump. Why? Thump. Any time you see ad campaign where they're having to educate consumers about how to pronounce the name of the product, you're seeing a product starting with one foot in the grave. It's worth noting that I've seen the VW ad several times, and I can't tell you if the Toe-rag is a station wagon, minivan, SUV, sedan, or sports car. I think it's an SUV, but I've been so distracted by the name thing that I can't tell you squat about the vehicle. And yes, I know it's pronounced Tour-egg. Not much of a step forward.

I tried out some Meguiar's Endurance Tire Shine on the 626's tires the other day. These are 100,000 mile Z100s with about 50,000 on them. They're excellent (and recommended, btw). The Tire Shine stuff lives up to its billing. The things look like new. It's only been a few days, but so far the results have been incredibly impressive, and I would guess that once-a-month treatment with this stuff would keep things looking spiffy. Check it out.

We've not even made our first car payment, but I've already refinanced our auto loan. USAA bent its rules to give us a 4.5 percent rate and since there's no escrow account for them to screw up this time I figured it was worth saving the interest. Like every refi this is going to mean me juggling some money for the next month or so until we get into a regular payment schedule, but I seem to excel at such juggling, so lucky me. I'll be happier once we've got the autopay running, things are being drafted from our checking account, and I can see exactly what our budget looks like. I've a good idea, but I like seeing the reality of it anyway.

Speaking of refinancing and escrow accounts, our Oregon property tax bill hits the fan next month. Depending upon the amount, our escrow shortfall will be somewhere between $2000 and $3000. I'm not keen on having to pay that out of pocket when our account is reanalyzed in early November, but I'm consoling myself by considering it an interest-free loan since USAA will be fronting all the necessary tax dollars in the interim. Also buoying my mood considerably is the loan itself. By my calculations we've got just 7.5 years to go before we own the house free-and-clear.

Turning to day-to-day news, Jonah continues to monopolize the headlines. He's working on his eye-hand coordination a lot nowadays, and it's starting to get to the point where you have to be a little careful what you put him in reach of. He's smiling, laughing, and gabbing a fair amount. He's started to get a little ticklish around the ribs. His head seems bigger to me, but then again, he's not exactly shrinking elsewhere. We're having a little trouble getting him off to sleep at nights, but barring perhaps one wake-up in the 10-11 PM range, he's still out for the night. He's eating like a horse, and keeping him fed is one of every day's big activities. He travels in the car exceedingly well. He's teething, with his two lower front teeth poking up. No more toothless grins!

Erin's school year is off to an outstanding start. It can't be easy, but she's done an amazing job balancing work and home. Somewhere over the course of the last couple years she hit her stride as a teacher. At this point, she's just great at what she does. Kids in her classes who are willing to work come away with a solid if not spectacular educational improvement. It's early yet, but even with our responsibilities to Jonah, I think this has all the earmarks of another terrific year for her.

Running SiteRev.com while providing primary care for Jonah has proved challenging. Thanks to my parents' occasional help, I've been able to keep the business running without issue. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, the tough thing for me has been recording music. I can (and do) play a lot of piano during the day, but getting down into the studio has proved near impossible. Maybe I'll be able to swing it on a weekend or something. Presently I don't have a plan, and I need to get one. But otherwise, life is grand, and I can hardly complain. Not with two cars in the garage.

¶ Translation: Such is life: I spend the morning hanging out with Garr then spend the afternoon gimping around the soccer field.

Since Jonah arrived on the scene most of my out of city trips have been soccer-related. Today's was no exception, but I did manage to combine it with a morning detour to see Garr. His band loligo has been on hiatus for about the last year and though I don't think there has been any (more) personnel turnover, each band member has had his or her own life to attend to. For all its musical greatness, loligo isn't a financially thriving concern so it's not like people have been able to quit their day jobs. It's sort of a bummer when real life intrudes.

Garr's got his music rig out and running again, and has been writing stuff for, presumably, album number three. He contracted with a fellow who teaches Digital Performer, the music software we both use, to come out and help him get everything working. I may do the same. DP is easy enough to get started with on the software side, but the initial hardware setup and figuring out how to use the more advanced features can both be tricky. I might benefit from a quick tutorial from somebody who's in the know.

After a nice brunch at Zell's, a local eatery, I updated some software on Garr's G4, and we talked politics, art, music, and so forth. It's always enlightening. As I always seem to have to do, I left before I would have wished, thanks to my 2:30 PM soccer game. C'est la vie. A good time, short as it was.

The soccer game was a less than good time. We won 1-0, but I've severely strained my left calf muscle and my effectiveness was hampered considerably. I slathered it in Icy-Hot and that got me through the game, but I'm on a regiment of Advil probably for the next few days. We've got a bye next week, so I should have time to recover, but it means I'll be missing my regular Tuesday and Thursday kick-arounds. That's a bummer, too. Again, c'est la vie.

¶ A day at the grandparents: I do some painting. Jonah does some waving. The most fantastic apple (not Apple) ever. Jonah's baptism class, part 1. All the hubub, bub.

I spent several hours painting my parents house today, in part because it needed doing and I'm willing to climb up ladders and paint stuff, and in part because I owed them for coming over a few days ago and watching Jonah while I did some of my own yard work. Well, all that plus I'm a nice guy. I'll be doing some more exterior painting for them in weeks ahead. 'Cause I'm a really nice guy.

After Erin got off from school, she came over and fed Jonah. Man, does he get excited to see her. Since we're together all day, he's not nearly so enthralled with me, though in the mornings when he wakes up and in the evenings when both Erin and I are around he does a lot of smiling, giggling, and yelping in my direction. While Erin was holding Jonah today, he started waving back at Grandma Carol. He also appeared to respond to his name, but it's more likely that he just heard somebody talking and turned his head to see what the noise was. I'm gonna try testing this a little more in the next few days to see if I can figure out if he's really picking up on his name or not. As an aside, Jonah's bottom tooth number 2 is coming in, and I can tell you from personal experience that they're both sharp.

While we were at my folks' place, they gave me one of the best apples I've ever had. The variety is called Honeycrisp (which sounds vaguely like breakfast cereal). It's large, crisp, and yummy. It's also outrageously expensive at about $3 a pound. But there it is: One of the best apples ever. They bought the apples at LifeSource, an organic store here in Salem, so the produce might be hard to come by. But if you get the chance, check it out.

We attended the first baptism class for Jonah in the evening. It would have been more useful perhaps if both Erin and I were less versed in the rituals and traditions of Catholic Christianity. After a bare-bones introduction amongst the attendees, we all watched a lame 1980s video that with a few tweaks could've just as easily come from an evangelical or fundamentalist protestant church. I was unimpressed.

The hour-long gathering ended with the coordinator reading a list of broad demographic information and repeatedly applying it directly to everyone in attendance. Setting aside that this is a huge fallacy to begin with, it's also annoying to be told by someone you've just met not only who you are but who your child is and will be. It'd be infuriating as well if there were any validity to taking general statistic evidence ("kids in this generation are more compliant toward authority...") and applying to individuals ("...therefore your children won't be troublemakers—isn't that great?"), but there's not, so instead it's just well-intentioned dimwittedness. On the brighter side, Jonah didn't seem to mind one way or the other.

¶ A mid-September review: Take the quick reading test that everybody's sending me. Read about how Jonah and I are doing together. Marvel as Erin jumps another salary column at work. Pinch me I'm dreaming.

A couple different folks have sent me this, so I thought I'd reproduce it here for giggles. See how well you can read the following:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Now I don't know about you, but I didn't slow down in the least. I read the paragraph at least as fast, though hopefully not faster, than if the words had been spelled correctly. I've not studied reading (or speed-reading) so I was surprised by this phenomenon. I have no idea how this sort of knowledge is useful or can be applied. If you can give me a heads-up, shoot me an email.

We're mid-way through my second week with Jonah. Thus far no cases of patricide or infanticide. (But stay tuned! Haha.) The kiddo is usually mellow in the morning, grows increasingly restless through the afternoon, and almost leaps with joy upon Mom's arrive home from school. That's not to say that he and I don't get along, because we do—swimmingly. But he's figured out where the milk is coming from, and it's obviously not me. The bottle feeding of the breast milk that Erin's pumped is going terrific, but it's a rather pale substitute for the real experience. At least that's what I'm inferring from his behavior. He also might have a touch of a cold.

I've managed to be relatively productive in the periods when he sleeps and again after Erin gets home and can take care of him. There are a few things, notably music recording, that I've been unable to do, but for the most part it's full-speed ahead (thanks in large measure to my parents in some cases).

I even got Erin's college transcripts delivered across town to the district office so that she officially bumped over to the next pay column at work. She needs another 18 credits before she's at the last column, and we'll be working on that in the years to come. No sense in getting paid anything other than the most possible for the same amount of work. The salary change should be reflected in September's paycheck. Here's hoping we notice the difference.

¶ Quick take on the Demos for prez: Wesley Clark should be an interesting candidate, but he's gotta do a whole lot in a big hurry. Hmm...sounds like John Kerry.

I find the entry of Wesley Clark in the Democratic presidential field interesting. From what I hear, he represents the last shot of the Clinton contingent to retain any sort of power in the Democratic party, Clark's campaign staff being overloaded with Clintonistas. I do think this spells the end of John Kerry's bid. The confidence that party power brokers once had that Kerry could run the board in the primaries has vanished, and those in control are petrified of a Dean-led Democratic ticket. Frankly, though, I think Dean/Clark sounds heaven-made.

¶ Lexus = OK; Not so the nation: A brief update on the car. Extended thoughts on 9/11.

Mere moments before I was going to start wearing a placard reading "I kill cars for free," Dad came over with his Accord, and we were able to get the Lexus jump started. Turns out that the original 1997 battery hadn't enough cold cranking amps to get the car started anymore. Hard to complain about a battery that lasts seven years. Especially hard to complain when it could have been the alternator or the starter, either of which would've been spendy. As was, I just drove down to Les Schwab, got a new battery and drove away. Automotive life is good again.

Turning to issues more national and global in scope, this is of course the second anniversary of that horrible terrorist attack against the United States. The warning I issued on the day of the event has sadly gone unheeded: Our civil liberties are increasingly under attack, with the Bush administration jailing US citizens and foreign nationals without trial, counsel, or charges. The hastily passed so-called Patriot Act is not being viewed as much as a problem as it is something to be expanded upon. We are in grave danger of becoming a country where freedom is just a buzzword for politicians and has little practical legal meaning.

As if this weren't bad enough, the war on terrorism has almost completely fallen apart. Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network almost certainly did not exist in Iraq prior to the US occupation. There is little doubt that they are there fomenting rebellion now. Saddam Hussein, as evil a dictator as he might have been, had no role in the World Trade Center attacks. Why we've squandered our military, economic and political resources—not to mention the good will of the civilized world—to pursue an illegal if not immoral invasion of a country that was so far outside US national security interests that Mexico was probably a bigger threat, I have no idea. What I do know is this: George Bush is losing the war on terrorism, and it's just one more reason he must be defeated in the next election.

That may not be the tenderest of sentiments on a day of remembrance, but on this anniversary of pain and grief the saddest thing of all is that leadership of the country has made the world a more war-torn, dangerous place.

¶ Surprise! Car won't start: I seem to be in some kind of space-time continuum loop. Every car I drive stops working, I get it fixed, then it stops working again. Somebody shoot me now.

I don't know which circle of Hell I'm in, but now the Lexus won't start. It just gives me a machine gun-like noise when I turn the key. All the electrical systems check out OK, but the engine never catches. Presumably this is a starter issue, but honestly, I wouldn't it be just jolly if it were the alternator? That'd be like 5 alternators in less than two months. You could declare me the man with the magic touch at that point. So it's not a situation without its humor.

Lexus tops the consumer satisfaction and quality rankings (including the J.D. Power initial quality surveys) and has long been considered one of the most dependable makes of auto you can buy. They are renowned for the quality of their vehicles (some transmission issues in the '02-'03 models aside), and by all accounts the 1997 era cars should last literally hundreds of thousands of miles. The maintenance history of this car shows both regular servicing and no major issues, so Jobian "why me, God?" may be in order.

At any rate, the car's under warranty so we'll be hauling it into the shop tomorrow to see what's up. What a life.

¶ Jonah's four month checkup: The doctors and nurses at Kaiser change the oil and check the tires. Looking good for at least another 100,000 miles.

We hauled Jonah down to Kaiser for his four month "Well Baby" Checkup. No problems at all. He's 16 lbs. 2 oz., 26.5 inches long, and cute as a button. He's a huggy little monster too, which is really fun. He's a very happy little boy, although perhaps he's a little too playful and squirmy on the changing table. Getting those diapers on can sometimes be a bit difficult if you don't distract him first. (Speaking of which we've switched to the large cloth diapers for regular use and 18 to 24 lb. disposibles for trips.)

They gave us printouts of his EpicCare Growth Charts and he's right where he should be on things (which is to say that he's between 0 and 100). Head circumference continues to bop between the 45 and 55 percentiles depending on the visit, weight remains close to the 70th percentile, and height—Jonah is long waisted like his mom—is in the 90th percentile. In fact, it's height that's causing us difficulties in clothing: Jonah is already wearing some six to nine month outfits simply because he's too tall to fit into a lot of the three to six stuff.

Jonah handled his four month shots just fine, though it didn't hurt that Mom was there to breastfeed him immediately afterward. If they had this kind of inducement for shots normally, you'd have lines of men miles long at medical clinics around the world. Anyhow, good check up for tall-boy Jonah. All systems "go."

¶ Jonah's first camp out: We put his portable crib in the tent, and stuck him in that. What does he care where we are? Answer: He doesn't.

We snuck away this weekend to join Dennis and Maria on a camp out at the spectacular Yellowbottom campground. The camp sites are relatively unpopulated, there are nice bathrooms, the river has a good swimming hole. One could hardly ask for more (except perhaps more time to enjoy it). We will be back!

Dennis brought his new GPS unit and though he and I were repeatedly mocked for our love of such gadgetry, we had a very good time playing with it. It's got a lot of cool functions, but my favorite thing is what it enables. I'd love to take a GPS and go Geo-caching. That'd be a blast.

Jonah handled his first camp out very well. Erin and I set up his portable crib in the four-person tent we borrowed from my parents, stuck him in that, and he had no problem sleeping through the night. In fact, Erin and I, unaccustomed to sleeping on the ground—Thermarests or no—probably had a harder time of it. Jonah was his normal, happy self. That includes the two hour car rides to and fro. Yes, a very good outing! His first camp out a raging success!

¶ Exterior car care 101: What I've learned about car detailing in the last week. Maybe it'll be useful to you.

I've been a complete ignoramus about car care. (Those tempted to send me a email saying, "Ty, don't limit yourself to car care" should fight the urge.) My awareness of automotive maintenance has been more or less confined to knowing that oil needs changing every 5,000 miles. (Yes, that 5,000 not 3,000 as the Jiffy Lubes of the world would have you believe. Check the manufacturer's recommendations if you don't believe me. Changing every 3,000 is a waste of time and money.)

You know what I thought waxing a car was good for? Appearance. I had no idea that it actually protected the paint. Sure, it makes sense if you think about it. I just never did. I was surprised to find that waxes and sealants did more than make cars shiny. I thought that appearance was all waxing and such was good for. What did I care about such trivialities like how the car looked? Yeah, you know what's coming: I care a heckuva lot more now.

I've been skulking around the Inside & Out Detailing Forum of the Lexus Owner's Club, trying to figure out what I need to do to care for the ES 300. I've learned an awful lot. I'm not quite finished assembling the chemicals or equipment I need to pull this off, but I thought I would list the stuff that's been recommended because it should be applicable to any car that one wants to maintain.

Note first, however, that I'm talking about really spiffing things up. Your car should look awesome at the end of the process. Now this is a bit of work and a bit of an expense (roughly $50, I think), but you should only have to do it once every six months or so and the $50 you spend the first time will probably get you enough stuff to last you through a couple years.

Here's the materials list: sheep skin mitt, Dawn dish washing liquid, Clay Magic bar, Meguiars Scratch X, microfiber towels, terry cloth towels, PoorBoys EX Sealant, P21s Concours-look Carnuba Wax, Invisible Glass by Stoner, Novus Plastics Cleaner #1, and Meguiars Endurance Gel.

Here are the steps. Using:

Water, a sheep skin mitt, and Dawn dish washing liquid wash the car to remove any old wax.

Clay Magic bar and using the car wash as a lube, soap a panel, clay it, and rinse until all the ground in dirt is removed and surface glass smooth.

Meguiars Scratch X spot remove any large scratches.

Some type of car polish. Klasse is recommended, but there are others which may be equally good. P21s makes a fine one from what I read.

PoorBoys EX Sealant to lock in all the work you've done. You can use the sealants on the rims as well from what I've read.

P21s Concours-look Carnuba Wax, wax the car and buff it using a microfiber towel. Do this about 24 hours after the sealant.

Invisible Glass by Stoner, clean all the windows.

Novus Plastics Cleaner #1 clean any exterior plastics (like headlights and tail lights). Highly effective if the plastic has developed a "haze." You can use #2 or even #3 if necessary, but they get increasingly more abrasive so you've got to use them with care.

Meguiars Endurance Gel wipe the tires.

For what it's worth, the products I've listed are those I've compiled from the Lexus Owners Club. If you go to Autopia.org you find detailing guys with any number of other recommendations. (Note, however, the consensus that Armor All and Turtle Wax suck.) Interior care comes next. I'm working on it.

¶ No-doze Labor Day weekend: Did somebody spike my drink? I feel all funky-like.

Holy moley has mine been an extended weekend of sleep deprivation. For whatever reason, Jonah's been up once in the middle of the night for the last couple nights, and though Erin's been the one handling the put back, once I'm up, I'm up. In other words, Erin can get back to sleep, but I've been padding around the house in the wee hours. This has left me incredibly tired, but, unfortunately, unable to sleep. I've never had insomnia, and I usually sleep soundly, but this has been a rough weekend.

Last night I was up late helping Bret on an employment application then I woke up early (3 AM) to drive Mom and Dad to the airport. (I probably don't need to mention that we took the Lexus. I'm still in the new owner stage, and therefore eager to drive it at almost every opportunity.) Bret got a very good application put together and the folks made the airport with no problems, but I'm a zombie. I got a little nap in the late afternoon after dropping Jonah off at school with Erin, but then it was up again to take care of munchkin while Erin went to indoor soccer. I'll bet I sleep OK tonight; I haven't been this exhausted since college.

Speaking of Jonah, he's teething. It's a little earlier than one would expect, but if you feel his bottom gum you can feel a little tooth starting to pop through. A lot of the teething toys are bigger than he can handle presently, so we're helping him hold them. Bibs are in fashion as well, a trend that's unlikely to change for at least a few years. In fact, maybe I should get one too given all the saliva he's wiping off on me.

Jonah's almost effortlessly rolling over back to front now to either the left or right as it suits him. He's not gone front to back other one time a week or so ago, and who knows if he mean to do it then. At any rate his physical development seems to be marching forward at a steady pace. We'll have a well-baby visit at Kaiser here in a few days, but I don't anticipate anything other than continuing good news.