¶ Confucious say, "Ty get super car": For once the fortune cookie was right.

After dropping Father Ted off at the Portland International Airport (and stopping for an hour to feed and change Jonah outside Car Stereo City at Mall 205), we went to Acura of Portland. I had called last weekend on a 1995 Toyota Avalon and then again Monday on 1992 Acura Legend L, but both were sold to wholesalers after failing mechanical tests. Peter Park, the salesman, called me on Friday about a 1997 Lexus ES 300. (You can read reviews of the 1997 Lexus ES 300 here, here, here, here, and here.)

Initially I was reticent about the 1997 model year for Lexus. On the Toyota Camry, which heretofore had shared styling with the ES 300, the 1997 redesign ruined what for me was a gorgeous car in the 1992-96 model years. I wrongly assumed that because the ES 300 body was the same as the Camry during those years that the 1997 redesign also marred the Lexus line. Instead, the Camry and ES 300 more formally diverged in 1997 with the Camry getting the aforementioned thoughtless makeover and the Lexus getting a redesign that, well, was actually pretty attractive. So I was at least interested in looking at the thing.

Now the problem with buying used—even a Lexus or an Acura—is that you have very little control over (1) what's been done to the car previously and (2) what features the car contains. On the former account we talked about maintenance records with Peter, and other than maybe needing a new timing belt in the next few thousand miles (because it's time not because it looks worn) the car history looked OK. We checked CarFax to make sure this wasn't a lemon, and nothing came up in their database. We felt confident that the 1997 ES 300 was as reliable a car as we were likely to get with 104,500 miles on it.

So we bought it. We're now the proud owners of a 1997 Lexus ES 300 with so many bells and whistles my head continues to buzz at the very thought. Here's what I mean: Standard features for the 1997 ES 300 include air conditioning, alarm system, aluminum/alloy wheels, AM/FM/cassette audio system, antilock brakes, automatic 4-speed transmission, bucket seats, center console, automatic climate control, cruise control, dual front airbag restraints, fog lights, power heated mirrors, intermittent wipers, keyless entry system, lighted entry system, overhead console, power antenna, power brakes, power door locks, power driver seat, power passenger seat, power steering, power windows, rear window defroster, remote trunk release, tachometer, tilt steering wheel, tinted glass, and 3.0L V6 DOHC 24V FI Engine.

The particular car we purchased had several of the options: CD changer, leather seats, leather steering wheel, and power moonroof. It's a two-toned dark green with grey base and gold trim. It wouldn't have been our first choice of color. (Indeed Edmunds.com says there's a pricing discount because dark green is a comparatively unpopular option.) That's not to say that it's an ugly car. Lexus does not make ugly cars.

For those who might care, the car most notably does not have either the optional Adaptive Variable Suspension or the tractional control system. Reviewers raved over these features, and I'm sure they're wonderful. That in no way stops this from being the smoothest riding car I've ever driven.

Anyway, let me talk a little bit about some of the features the car does have. The dual airbags and antilock brakes were essential for us. Safety is now our number one vehicular concern (slightly ahead of reliability even, though Lexus scores huge on that account as well). The 3.0 liter V6 is a 200-horsepower beast that idles, shifts, and accelerates smoothly, quietly, and quickly. It only comes in a 4 speed automatic transmission, which was fine with us since although we can both drive a manual, we're looking for a sedan, not a sports car. (Though having said that, the ES 300 supposedly does 0 to 60 in 8.6 seconds and has a top speed of 140 MPH.)

Air conditioning was important. Global warming is no fluke, and Oregon's hot summer days make having a cool cabin crucial (though more for little kids, perhaps, than adults). The ES 300 automatic climate control is essentially just like the Acura Legend one with which I'm familiar: Spin a knob to set whatever temperature in the cabin you want and the car will do the rest. You can override it if you like, but I'm not sure why you'd want to. A push of the button will also tell you the outside temperature.

I really wanted cruise control. I've taken way too many long trips without it, and let me tell you the older you get the harder it is on the legs. The ES 300 cruise control is neat. It's on a turn signal-like stick. Push it down to set it. Thereafter you just push the stick up or down to accelerate or decelerate. The Acura/Honda cruise control uses push buttons for this. I find the Lexus stick easier, but it's more or less a wash. Honda, Acura, and Lexus' cruise control systems all work like a charm.

That's really it for the features we wanted. Everything else is a bonus, which means there are a lot of luxury items here. (The definition of luxury being something you don't need.) Keyless entry, whereby you can press a remote button to lock and unlock the doors is nifty. The multiple disc CD changer (and fairly awesome stereo system) means we can finally listen to stuff on compact disc instead having to record our favorite songs on cassette first (though the Lexus cassette player is terrific). I haven't enough knowlege to evaluate the alarm system other than to say it's got to be better than the fake blinking LED we've got on the Mazda. There are heated mirrors, two position seat memory for electronic driver seat, an automatic moonroof, and all kinds of buttons and storage spaces. I dunno. It's going to take me a while to figure out what everything is and to determine how to use it. But I'll bet I have a fun time doing it.

There is a psychology behind most major purchases, and paying $11,000 for a car which sold for $34,000 six years ago is a part of that for me. I am (or perceive myself to be) a value conscious bargain hunter. Another large part of it, though, is that a few weeks ago we were stranded repeatedly by the Mazda 626. Although breakdowns can happen to any car, the Lexus represents my determination to prevent such a thing from ever happening to us again. I also don't mind that the Lexus is for us a massive upgrade to the 626, even more than the 626 was from the junky Plymouth Champ. The Lexus is a car that makes me happy when I drive it, and more happiness in life is always a good thing.

¶ Hanging with Father Ted: Fluent in English, Chinese, Latin, and Greek. A chaplain (and ranked as captain) in the US Navy. Lived for years in China and Taiwan. A Roman Catholic Vincentian priest. Erin's great uncle Ted is a pretty interesting guy.

Erin's great uncle Ted Sullivan—Jonah's great great uncle—came to spend a couple days with us after a US navy reunion in Portland. Father Sullivan served aboard various destroyers during the Korean War, and this latest convention was an opportunity to reacquaint with old buddies and shipmates. Take turns telling lies to one another is the way he put it. He said he had a really good time.

Father Ted is fluent in Mandrin Chinese plus several dialects. As a Roman Catholic priest who worked during the pre-Vatican II days, he's also intimately familar with Latin and Greek. (His native English is pretty good too.) Even at 83, his language skills are formidable and impressive.

Although he's retired, he continues to say a Mass several Sundays a month at various parishes near his residence in Denver. He even said a Mass for Erin and Jonah while he was here. (When he first arrived I took him to a liquor store so he could get a small bottle of wine to consecrate. News to us: Liquor stores in Oregon are prohibited from selling beer or wine. We had to go to Roth's to get the spirit he was looking for.)

We watched some football on TV, swapped opinions, and told stories. His navy years and his time in China were quite interesting. I hope he'll take to narrating them or writing them down. I think it'd be make for very interesting historical reading. Certainly, listening to some of his tales made for a fascinating couple of days. Many thanks to Father Ted for including us on his trip to Oregon!

¶ Surviving the first day back: No, not Erin. I mean me.

Summer is drawing to a close. You wouldn't know it to look outside where it remains a pleasantly sunny 80 degrees. The weather will be fine for a few more months. No, it's the part that matters, the free time to enjoy life, that is ending for now.

Erin went back to school today. She has three inservice days this week. Freshmen enter next Tuesday, and the full student body returns on Wednesday. Erin's at a point professionally that one can expect she'll have a great year without knowing the particulars. Jonah, and her desire to spend time with him, throws an interesting twist into her time management. Assuming Erin's able to deal with that (and I'm confident she can), I think she'll have a fantastic year.

Jonah and I will be hanging out here at home. If he's considerate enough to sleep a few hours during the day then I should be able to handle things with SiteRev.com. Anything I don't get to during the day will simply happen after hours when Erin's able to be parent #1. For those infrequent occasions when business takes me out of the house, we thankfully have the help and support of my parents who can watch after their grandson.

As an opening day test of my parenting skills, today went all right. No acts of child abuse committed, and only a few instances of parental abuse by the J-man. Seriously though, Jonah's such a wonderful child for 90 percent of the time, it seems unreasonable for me to ever be upset about the 10 percent of the time when he spouts off.

He was whining more than the normal 10 percent today, but—and this is something I would remind every parent or prospective parent—it's all a single stage in a process. Tomorrow Jonah will be older, and if the generations ahead of me are right, he'll be much older before Erin and I know it. If Jonah is upset in the here and now, well, in another week/month/year he'll have grown out of it. It's a finite stage of development (which, dear reader, hasn't stopped for any of us—don't think you're done just because you're no longer an infant, a toddler, a child, etc. that you've stopped growing). There's no point or reason to be upset over something that's so transitory, a lesson from which I try to continually draw strength.

One thing I've noticed with Jonah is that when he cries inconsolably, he won't look at anyone. He'll literally turn his head so that he can cry without being able to see people. If that's true of all infants, I think it's telling. Could it be a truism that when we complain bitterly we're really ignoring others and thinking only of ourselves? It would not surprise me much if that was a facet of human nature, though perhaps it's a bit much to extrapolate from infant behavior.

The LDS missionaries returned today to work on the park side of the laurel bushes. Elders Jackson, Jensen, McMillan, and Preece cleared all the remaining weeds, grass and roots, tacked down weed block, then put down what little bark dust I had. It's all coming together, and I dare say it will ultimately look terrific. The best part? The weed block and the bark dust should make the area much lower maintenance going forward. I'm very excited about that. Big thanks to the LDS guys for all their hard work.

It's been a delightful run, this summer. While one hates to see it end, new adventures lie ahead. (Tune in next week to see if after a little more time with Jonah I'm still this optimistic.)

¶ Howard Dean for President, part 2: More about my pick for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.

The most exciting thing to me about Howard Dean's rally today in Portland wasn't the candidate. Oh Dean gave a good if slightly shortened and touch more refined version of his standard stump speech (which I'd heard several times before on the Internet). He had lots of interesting and inspiring things to say, and if you're interested you can even hear it for yourself in MP3 format. As stump speeches go, it's pretty good and well worth the listen.

The most exciting wasn't the number of people there either, though Portland turned out some 5,000 (into an area that held about half that many). Dean even remarked it was the largest crowd they'd seen (since surpassed by the 15,000 folks who showed up in Seattle).

No, the most exciting thing to me was the organization that Dean has build in a very short time. Things were well coordinated, and volunteers were in abundant supply. You simply cannot win the presidency without strong organization, and to my eyes, Dean's got it.

There's a long road ahead, and even though Dean's currently the flavor of the month, there's no telling who will be when the actual voting starts. Polling from Iowa, New Hampshire, and California all show Dean either clearly in first place or within the margin of error. If Dean convincingly wins Iowa and New Hampshire, I would not be surprised if it spelled doom for Gephardt, Kerry, and Lieberman. Edwards will live on to fight the good fight from his base in the south. Who knows what the other minor candidates will do. None of them has achieved much traction, and they could drop out tomorrow, and we'd all be the better for it. (Not because they're bad people or candidates necessarily but because they ultimately draw resources away from the fight against Bush.)

I think Dean has what it takes to go all the way, and I think he's exactly the type of fellow we need in the White House. I'd encourage you to check out his web site, listen to his speech, read his policy positions, and decide for yourself. Maybe you'll even do what I've done—and had never done before—give money to a political candidate. If you believe as I do that there may be no more important task in the next year and a half than getting George Bush out of office, perhaps you'll even consider contributing to the Dean cause as well.

¶ Howard Dean for President: The US presidential contender flies into Portland tomorrow.

Dad and I are headed up to Portland this tomorrow to attend the Howard Dean speech at Portland State University. You can follow some of the action at Blog for America. There you'll see a frequently updated graph on Dean's efforts to raise $1 million by Tuesday ($413,552.97 as of noon ET Sunday) to counter the $1 million Bush just raised from fat cat Republican donors (all of whom I'd wager were huge beneficiaries of Bush's tax cut schemes). Should you be so inclined, you can sign-up to receive email updates from the Dean campaign and to contribute dollars to the effort.

I see this as a chance to be a part of American political history. It's my answer to the future question, "What did you do when the Bush Administration curtailed civil liberties, tried to destroy America's moral standing in the world, and issued one tax cut bill after another for the benefit of the rich and to the detriment of the middle class and the poor?"

As I've said before, I will support any Democratic nominee in the general election against Bush. I hope that the nominee is Howard Dean.

¶ Don't say "No take-backs": I may have at some indeterminate point in the past told some of you to slap me upside the head if I ever went and financed the purchase of an automobile. I may want to amend that statement slightly.

A soccer buddy of mine, Dane Tepper, owns a local Honda/Acura repair shop called Valley Specialists. Given all the problems we've been having and continue to have with the Mazda, he volunteered to hook it up to a machine and check out the battery and alternator. Conclusion: Another crappy NAPA alternator. Genuine Parts (GPC-NYSE) might be a heckuva a company and a heckuva good long-term stock, but my experience with their NAPA parts has been dismal. Monday's will be the third(!) alternator replacement on the 626. At only 141,000 miles, the car should be doing much better than it's done. I won't be buying a Mazda again.

As I mentioned last week, I've been scouring the classifieds and online auto brokers for Toyota Camrys, Avalons, and Lexus ES 300s in the 1994-96 era. Of these, I can hardly deny the appeal of the ES 300. It comes standard with almost every imaginable feature, and it's a classy, elegant car. How do I feel about picturing myself driving a Lexus? I'm not sure if I can pin the emotion down exactly, but "giddy" comes pretty close.

Of course Toyota products—Lexus being their high-end line—aren't the only game in town. Although I've long loved the styling of Toyota's 1992-96 model years, during my jaunt to Valley Specialists I saw a very impressive 1995 Acura Legend. Acura is Honda's answer to Toyota's Lexus line, and having actually tooted about town in a Legend before, I can say from first-hand experience that it's a magnificent ride. Like Lexus, the Acura line has a sterling reputation for reliability, longevity, and quality. So I've started looking at the Acura Legend L and LS series from 1991-95. I'd feel giddy about driving an Acura too.

Additionally, Erin and I have decided that we'd be willing to finance the purchase of a car if it's necessary to get what we want. That doesn't mean we're going to drop $50k on a Hummer (which is to my old school eyes a terrifically hideous vehicle anyway) just because we've decided whip out the auto equivalent of the Visa card. There is a line to be walked between paying for what you want in a car and overpaying for what you don't want or need. Of course, there's another line out there someplace that represents the difference between reliable transportation and driving a POS car, and we're evidently busy drunkenly swerving our 626 back and forth across the solid stripe on that one. Not wishing to subject Jonah too many more automotive versions of Gilligan's Island, we're gonna spend what it takes to get what we believe to be a very reliable car. Über reliable even. Or does it have to be German for that? Anyhow, Lexus, Acura, Toyota, Honda—I dunno—but whatever we end up with will undoubtedly do better than our 626 has done.

¶ The amazing, hardworking flipper : What a race! What a landscape improvement! What a cute little boy! And I didn't even mention the Steelers' 15-14 preseason victory over the Cowboys.

Thank GOD Jon and Kelly finished second to Chip and Reichen in this go-round of The Amazing Race. After last year's Flo debacle, I don't think I could have taken it otherwise. Big time bummer that Jeff and Dave, who up to this point had run a solid race, somehow decided that flying to Sydney would help them get to Hawaii faster. Like the computers in Sydney are better connected to the Easy Sabre travel system or Internet or something. That dopey move doomed them to a distant third place finish, which was a shame since they were likeable enough guys.

Admittedly, I could have done without Chip and Reichen's obligatory "this is one small step for a gay man, one giant leap for the queer nation" speech at the end. Honestly boys, none of American viewing public tuned in and thought, "They can't win the race because they're gay." It's much more likely that they tuned in and thought, "That Reichen's pretty cute." At least that's what I did, so why shouldn't the rest of America?

Almost as fun as seeing Chip and Reichen win—wait, let me amend that—even more fun than seeing Chip and Reichen win was seeing Jon and Kelly lose. The best news of last week's episode (and there was little to be had seeing Jon and Kelly's third place finish was in a non-elimination round) was that Kelly declared she and Jon wouldn't ever have kids. Please let that be true. The idea that Jon and Kelly are voluntarily removing themselves from the gene pool is a happy thought indeed. But then again, so is not having to witness their bickering, whining, boorish behavior any more. Jon and Kelly, you guys deserve each other. Happy trails.

Speaking of making happy trails—what a segue! what a segue!—the path down to the park continues to look great, and the Mormon guys who helped in that task were back again today to help clear stuff on the park side of the laurel bushes. It was hard, sweaty work, but Erin and I fed them well at the end of it, so I didn't hear any complaints. They'll be back on Tuesday, also Erin's first day back at school (though without students), to finish up the work. I dare say the park side of the laurels will see a vast improvement over what was there before.

News on the Jonah front is this: He did not contract the chicken pox. We've seen no evidence of them. Instead, we've seen a happy, giggling, smiling little boy who for the first time today turned himself over front to back and back to front. This would be more impressive if (1) he had been awake when he went back to front; he was literally asleep at the time he catapulted himself both over and awake, and (2) when he went front to back he hadn't thwacked his head on the ground; he was none too happy about that! Nonetheless, it's all proof that Jonah is making developmental progress and will, very shortly, pass the turtle—who can flip in neither direction—on the food chain.

¶ Hoping music takes flight: How can the news that I need to spend $1000 be a good thing? Consider that the alternative is that I scrap everything and start over.

Mark of the Unicorn (aka MOTU) announced an upgrade path for owners of their recording systems. Anyone with a 424 card (the PCI card which connects to the Mac) can, for $69, upgrade to the new 424/G5 card which will be necessary to run in one of Apple Power Mac G5's PCI-X slots. This benevolent policy was unfortunate not extended to include people like myself, owners of 324 card-based systems. The bottom line now is that I can either sell my MOTU 24i recording system (which is one avenue MOTU tech support recommended) and start over afresh, or I can spend $1000 on a MOTU 2408mk3 core system to which I can connect my 24i.

I'll probably opt for the latter, though spending another $1000 on recording equipment wasn't really in the cards. It will inevitably delay my G5 purchase, probably until next year. But seeing as how there is no other upgrade path and the alternative is, well, buying a MOTU 2408mk3 core-like system anyway, I might as well just build up my studio to include the 24i I already have.

All of this is not to say, however, that I've not been making progress on getting my recording studio back together. As you may recall, my G3/300 PowerLogix accelerator crapped out in the late spring turning my Power Mac 7600 from a G3 back into, well, a Power Mac 7600. That's too slow to record much of anything, in case you were wondering.

I installed a Sonnet G4/700 accelerator yesterday, and I'm happy to report that it has been rock solid. Speeds are clearly better than my G3/500 PowerBook (aka Trinity) and on some Altivec-based tasks, a great margin better. MP3 encoding, for example runs at about 3.5x on the PowerBook and 10.2x on the G4/700. A G4/700 will be more than enough juice to record multiple tracks of audio and MIDI data—especially since everything I've done up to this point has been on a G3/300. So the Power Mac 7600 (aka Zephyr, or Zeph for short) is looking good on the processor speed front.

I'm also in the process of upgrading the RAM. The machine only has 96 MB at present; I've got another 256 MB coming on Tuesday. That'll give me 352 MB of RAM with four open RAM slots to go should I need to juice up the system even more.

The hard drives have proved problematic. I've got a 9.1 GB IBM SCSI drive internally and I was hoping to upgrade the second 1 GB Apple drive to a 9.1 Western Digital. Thus far using the IBM and Western Digital drives together hasn't worked. I get system lock-ups requiring a hot restart, and that's never a good thing. I tested the IBM drive with different 1.2 GB Apple drive last night, and it worked fine, so I guess I'm sending the Western Digital back unless tech support has a solution for me. I'd guess it was a SCSI termination issue, but I'm not sure why since it looks to me like everything is terminated properly. Anyway, I'm still messing with this end of things. Regardless, even 1.2 GB is enough space to record a song or two before dumping down to a Jaz cartridge or CD-RW.

Even with the news that my purchase of G5 is now delayed by the need to buy another MOTU system (which admittedly does have it's own advantages), I'm very close now to being able to record music again. The long, tuneless summer is coming to a close.

¶ "Regime change" starts at home: Howard Dean, M.D., comes to Oregon, and I lay out my case for Dean and against Bush.

My main man for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, Howard Dean, M.D., will be in Portland on Sunday, August 24 at noon at the Portland State University Urban Studies Plaza (5th and Mill downtown). I'd encourage any and all to attend.

Some folks have asked me the pertinent question of "why Dean?" and I'd like to elaborate a little on my standard answer of "he can't possibly be any worse than Bush." Here's what appeals to me about Dean:

He's a fiscal conservative. He balanced Vermont's budget every year he was governor—elected a record five times, by the way—and Vermont is one of few states without a balanced budget law. By contrast, Bush is running record deficits and early estimates for next year come in at $600 billion. We now pay more than $1 billion a day in interest on the debt.

He's a family medical doctor and understands the need for a national wide overhaul of the healthcare system. In fact, Dean would reverse Bush's rich-get-richer tax cuts to pay for universal guaranteed health insurance, a trade I dare say that most of us would be happy to make.

He opposes the Bush Doctrine which calls for unilateral, preemptive military strikes against any country the president thinks may be a threat in the future. The Bush Doctrine, if applied by other countries, would have us instantly at war with most of the world because presently there is no greater threat to peace than the United States.

He opposed the war on Iraq. Now that the situation is becoming the quagmire most thinking people knew it would become, other candidates (except the soon-to-be out of the race Lieberman) are now trying to so soft pedal their previous support of the invasion. Dean, like Graham and Kucinich, opposed the war from the outset.

He's as angry as I am at what Bush has done to the country.

And while I'm on the topic, what has Bush done to the country?

Spent the biggest surplus in US history to give us the biggest debt in US history

Ran the largest deficit in US history (though next year's projected $600 billion will take the cake)

Set the record for most private bankruptcies in a one year period

In the first year, vacationed more days than any president in history

Set the record for most foreclosures in a one year period

Presided over the worse energy scandal in US history (Enron's Ken Lay being a huge campaign contributor)

Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and within two years sent every economic category straight down

Withdrew from the World Court

Refused to allow access to prisoners of war in Guantanamo in violation of the Geneva Convention

Helped create, with a policy of "disengagement," the most hostile Israeli-Palestinian relations in years

Became the first US president to make the US viewed by most of Europe (86%) as the biggest threat to world peace

Passed an education bill (the inaccurately named No Child Left Behind) based on a model from the Houston, Texas school district. Turns out that Houston lied about the number of dropouts.

Well, I could go on and on. (I mean that seriously, Bush's underachievements and outright disasters are quite extensive.) Suffice to say that I believe we have never had a worse president. Clinton was a cad, lied under oath, and I would have impeached him, but Bush is a far worse president in virtually every regard, and even those things which he does right (and I can literally think of none off the top of my head), he does for the wrong reasons. Another four years of Bush would be intolerable.

Dean, a thinking man who's angry about what Bush has done, is my kind of candidate. He's a straight-shooter, and not your typical politician. You don't get the sense in listening to Dean that he's wondering how what he says will play to different constituencies. Somewhat like Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), Dean's gonna call it as he sees it, and happily, he sees it much the same way as me.

That's not to say that we agree on every policy position, just that I respect his candor and willingness to stand up for what he believes. I think Dean would be a very good president. Certainly compared to the present office holder it's inconceivable that he could be worse.

¶ A wedding, a party & a think: Nice wedding on Saturday. Nice neighborhood party on Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday, a nice long think about which car to buy.

Jonah's somewhat uncharacteristic fussiness kept me from observing up close Saturday's wedding of Erin's former student teacher Pam, but Erin, Matt, Ginger, Kathy, and Leif got a good view of it. I was out back swinging Jonah in his car seat to try to induce him to sleep. Got a wave from Pam just before she walked the aisle—kind of a fringe benefit for having to hang with the boy. I finally got Jonah settled, but I didn't dare move him back into the nave since his cries would've been like a bomb in an echo chamber. From the back of the church, it appeared to be a very nice wedding. Congratulations to Pam and Dave!

Fortunately, Jonah was much more with it by the reception. I held him much of the time, but this proved no real impediment to enjoying either the conversation at the table or the reception buffet. Good times!

On Sunday, we held a neighborhood party at Fred and Jeff's next door (since theirs is the perfect backyard for this sort of thing). Attendance was very good, and we enjoyed meeting folks new to the neighborhood and talking with people we see frequently but don't chat with much. One other item of note: We have some seriously good cooks in the area. It was a potluck affair, and at least a couple folks around here know their way around a kitchen or BBQ or both. We're already looking forward to the Christmas party.

Erin and I have been in discussions about what car to buy. We were already planning a second car in September before the recent series of catastrophes with Six, our Mazda 626. It's already a given that a second car will roughly double our car insurance. Having run several different vehicles by our insurance company, it appears that what vehicle is unimportant. The price roughly doubles, end of story.

Here's what we're looking for specifically: 4 door mid-size sedan, AT, AC, dual side airbags, and under 120k miles. Antilock brakes, cruise control, and a V6 would be nice bonuses. Anything above that is really a bonus, but probably one for which we don't care to pay. I'm sure power windows, power door locks, keyless entry, power mirrors, power brakes, power steering, etc. are all great, and I'd be happy to have them, but none of them are anything which sets my world on fire.

What does set my world aflame is the 1992-1996 Toyota Camry. As many of you know, I've long been enamored with this car. Prior to '92 the styling is much like our somewhat boxy 626 and while that's OK, it's not nearly as attractive as the '92-'96 era in my opinion. After '96 Toyota messed with the simple lines and elegant styling of the car and, for me at least, visually ruined the car.

My research thus far shows that I need to go with at least a '94 Camry LE to get the dual side airbags. Other possibilities here include the Toyota Avalon, sort of a biggish Camry which Toyota introduced in 1995, and, believe it or not, the '94 Lexus ES 300, sort of like the most elegant Camry ever containing every feature you can possibly imagine. I was very surprised to find that neither the Avalon nor the Lexus had an insurance cost appreciably higher than the Camry. Additionally, these cars all share the same basic engine. A quick call to the mechanic this morning confirmed what I suspected: Repair costs are virtually identical for all these vehicles.

All of which does not mean we're going to run right out and buy a Lexus. It does, however, expand our pool of options, and I'm an option-loving person. Although I wouldn't rule out a Honda Accord or an Acura Legend, I'm guessing that within the next 60 to 90 days we'll be driving a Camry, Avalon, or Lexus. We'll be keeping the Mazda 626 as a second car but, as I've said previously, only for around town driving. Regardless of what we end up with, it'll be a step up, and one which is unlikely to leave us stranded in 100 degree weather outside of Arlington, Oregon. (Yes, Six, I'm glaring in your direction.)

¶ A pox upon my first born?: Chicken pox, specifically. Jonah doesn't necessarily have them, but he's been exposed.

We received word earlier today that one of the friends we visited in California has come down with chicken pox. Both Erin and I have had them—I still have a scar on my wrist from the episode—so there's no danger for us, but Jonah might be a different story. Chicken pox are potentially contagious up to five days prior to their appearance, and they show up typically 10-14 days after exposure. Since Jonah is still breast feeding he's probably picking up Erin's own immunity through the breast milk. The doctor thought it unlikely that Jonah would come down with chicken pox even if exposed.

Jonah's had a few crying fits in the last couple days which are similar to what colic must be like in other infants. Let me tell you that I absolutely feel for those parents whose kids are colicky. To have some inconsolable baby wailing away is just the worse thing. It's unusual behavior in Jonah, so that coupled with the pox scare led us to call the Kaiser advice nurse, who of course told us to bring the kid in. I guess it's better to err on the side of caution, but since all tests came up negative, and we didn't really glean any information that couldn't have just been acquired over the phone, I'm not sure how useful it was. I suppose we got some peace of mind from it. That's probably worth the $10 co-pay. Anyway....

After some soccer down at Bush Park, I returned home to watch my favorite team, the Clowns, lose on The Amazing Race. A tremendous disappointment, that. Especially since the loathesome Jon and Kelly made the final three. If they win, I may swear off the show altogether. It's hard enough to believe I'm watching it again after last year's travesty with Zach and whiny little Flo. Fortunately, I'm OK with Dave and Jeff or Chip and Reichen winning, so the odds are in my favor. (In the final three last year, I only had one team for whom I could cheer.) We'll see what happens next Thursday at 8 PM.

¶ Ty's good and happy day: For some reason, not every day is this good. I'll take 'em when I can get 'em.

Despite the week of family, friends, and fun, this is actually a business trip for me. Thanks to the referral from a friend, I'm now doing Internet work for a San Jose restaurant, Habana Cuba. Named in 2002 one of the nation's top 50 Hispanic restaurants and featuring a man who was chef to the two Cuban presidents before Fidel Castro came to power, Habana Cuba is a fantastic dining experience. I can now attest to this personally. The lunch I had was terrific. If you're visiting the South Bay area or if you live there already, let me highly recommend Habana Cuba as a fantastic place to eat.

In the mid-afternoon, I met Michael for a quick game of tennis. I'd played Bernard late last week, so I wasn't quite as rusty as I might have been. (Still, including this match that makes only two games of tennis this year.) I'm very excited to say that I did not embarrass myself, a primary goal for me in whatever athletic endeavor I take part. I got a decent workout as well, Michael having the nasty habit of using the drop shot to cruel effect. Anyone in the Salem area wishing a tennis match with an aging and out of practice player should drop me a line.

We dined this evening with Jennie. She cooked up a really yummy meal for us, and like so many others took to Jonah like a fish to water. After dinner, we talked politics, technology, music (iPods!), movies, etc. into the late evening until sleep started overcoming us all. It was a fun way for me to end a really good day.

¶ Something I really like: Oh sure, a new car would be nice if we're talking objects. But as a thing to do, I'll pick hanging out with friends just about every time.

We introduced Jonah to our friends Michael and Marilyn this afternoon and to our friends Brian, Debbie, and Erin this evening. All were thrilled to meet him, and I dare say he appeared similarly happy to make their acquaintance.

Jonah's babbling a lot now, and he and Michael carried on a hilarious extended "conversation" in which Jonah sold Michael a big screen TV with extended warranty. At another point Jonah was experiencing some discomfort—probably gas or a bowel movement—and Marilyn flipped him around in half a dozen positions in short order until she found one that made him feel better. I was so impressed that I asked her if this talent resulted from professional training. No, no, just motherhood (which is kind of the same thing).

We visited with our friends Brian, Debbie, and their daughter Erin for dinner. All were smitten by Jonah who, I do confess, is at a particularly adorable stage right now. He's smiling more frequently, he usually enjoys being held (and we've been handing him out to folks far and wide), and he'll hold babbling conversations. He's a pretty cool squeak toy. Brian happily carried Jonah about the house, singing Irish love songs to him which was touching. Debbie got some of the nuzzle treatment from Jonah, which is always cute (and rather enjoyable).

So lucky are we to have such good friends.

¶ Bernard's big birthday bash: Lots o' folks show up to wish Erin's dad a happy 60th.

The Lillys took over part of a neighborhood park from 11 AM to 5 PM and invited all manner of Bernard's family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors to come help celebrate his 60th birthday. Although the drop-in nature of the event made it difficult to get precise numbers, I'd guess over 100 attendees stopped by during the course of the day for fun and games.

Erin and I got the chance to see family and friends which was great, of course, but we also had the opportunity to observe kids in various stages of development. Hopefully this will give us a better sense of what to expect with Jonah, though it goes without saying that each kid is different and develops at their own pace.

Last night, Jonah met Ben, the 9 month old of Erin's cousin Diana and her husband Mike. Jonah and Ben spent a good long time eyeing one another and chatting much to the bemusement of the assemblage. At nine months Ben is in full exploration mode, crawling hither and yon to see what he can see. It's very cute, and if he's any guide, we've got some excellent times ahead with Jonah—as do Jonah's grandparents.

Happy birthday, Bernard!