mccullochblog

San Mateo Police Hunt Christmas Thief

Authorities in San Mateo County were tonight on the hunt for the cold-hearted thief of a family's Christmas gifts.

The thief apparently struck early this evening. He was seen taking presents from under a Christmas tree, and loading them directly into a yellow truck.

Witnesses described the suspect as almost three feet tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information about this crime should contact San Mateo Crimestoppers.

Christmas is Fantastic!

I am a big fan of Christmas. What's not to like?! 

Everyone dresses up their homes to be festive and welcoming; old friends who haven't been in touch with each other all year send at least a card, and, inexplicably, people are friendlier to neighbors and strangers alike. Like I said...what's not to like?

Christmas officially kicked into full swing today with the arrival of the Christmas Train in Burlingame.  I've never seen anything quite like it...a crowd of several hundred parents and children welcoming Santa's carriage! Now THAT's some Christmas spirit!

Anyway, it was William's first brush with Santa, and so of course it's here for you on video!

William and the Snakes!

As soon as William is old enough, Uncle Ron has promised to take him hunting for beasts in the English countryside. 

If you don't know my brother, this is the same Uncle Ron who once caught a venomous snake in Zambia and accidentally threw it at his sister-in-law, Bella. 

It is also the same Uncle Ron who once dived down to give a white-tipped reef shark a "pat on the back" when we were snorkling around the Galapagos Islands. 

And yes, it is the same Uncle Ron who sliced off a large piece of his knee when, as a teenager, he dived to catch a lizard in the long grass of a field opposite his school which just happened to be littered with broken glass.

Anyway, recognizing that Ron may not want to wait terribly long before he takes William on his first adventure (Christmas in the UK is just four weeks away) I thought I'd better start introducing our son to some of the dangers his Uncle is likely to spring upon him. What better way to get acclimatized than to visit some snakes at the Coyote Point nature museum.

Note to Ron: William appears to have a well-developed sense of fear!

   

Like Father, Like Son

After scuffing my knees on the living room floor, I might have considered taking credit for teaching William how to crawl (at the tender age of 7 months!) if it wasn't so obvious from this video that he needs very little help from his dad in crossing great distances in short moments!

Dad's Day Off

Life's been a wee bit work-centric the last few weekends, so I took a day off today to enjoy a swimming lesson with William. 

In watching this video, it struck me that this was the first time in living memory I can recall seeing anybody in a swimming pool with less of a suntan than me! 

Well done William. Keep it pale and pasty!

 

McCloud.

Have you seen Tag Clouds? They're text-based graphics which capture the essence of whatever's happening in a Web community.

The one on the right is a tag cloud of the content of a President Bush state-of-the-union speech.

Anyway, citing writers' block as my excuse, in lieu of a proper blog, I thought I'd share my current mental tag cloud. Bigger words = bigger time/energy focus.

Thinking about a trip to Australia in the Spring.

Listening to The Big Sleep.

Picking dried baby food off my clothes.

Penguin jigsaw puzzle.

Commuting

WAKING UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO THE SOUND OF CRYING/SCREAMING.

Looking forward to Santa Barbara at Thanksgiving.

EARNING EVERY PENNY

Watching William sleep. 

Attending children's birthday parties.

Thinking: Can we afford Hawaii too?

Fantasy Premier League.

Planning Steak Night.

Remembering I need to send Poddy a check for Glastonbury (sorry mate).

Reveling in Emma's nightly dinner surprises!

It's Been A Hard Day's Night

and I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you I find the things that you do
Will make me feel alright

Musical Loons: Burlingame's Halloween Parade

"Trick or treat?"

"What?"

"Trick or treat?"

"What does that mean? Why are you standing on our doorstep wearing odd costumes?"

That was pretty much how Halloween used to go at our house back in late 70s when we first moved to England. Halloween wasn't celebrated in Holland, and so far as I can recall, it wasn't much of a big deal in England either all those years ago.

Since 2001 though, when I first sat next to a 'Snow White' on the 38 bus to work in San Francisco, it's been hard to avoid the delight that all of the Bay Area seems to take in celebrating Halloween.

Burlingame is no different, of course.

Come to think of it, it is different! Each year the Burlingame Mothers Club organizes a fantastic parade of literally hundreds of costumed children and their parents, fronted by a colorful and chaotic band. At that, I'll leave it to the video to explain the rest:

Oh....and watch out for William's informed opinion at the very end.

Someone Tells Me There's a Storm Coming...

Whenever I hear that phrase, I invariably think of two things.

First, that Far Side cartoon of the two pilots simulating turbulence for unknowing passengers.

Second, the scene from either Terminator 1 or 2 when John Connor stares wistfully at a picture of his mother, Sarah, knowing that cyborgs created by Cyberdyne systems are about to wreak havoc on planet earth.

Anyway, I've heard on good authority that a "strong storm is about to move into the (Bay Area) region on Monday" and some officials are saying "We want people to be prepared for flooding."

Now I don't want to tempt fate by repeating the foolish denying utterances of an infamous British weatherman, but when Bay Area meteorologists predict a storm, it typically means that we residents can switch off the sprinkler system for 48 hours, and that three or even four-dozen leaves will need to be swept up in the morning.

On the other hand, those same Bay Area residents, it should be noted, are completely inept at coping with what people in Britain would call "inclement" weather.

Motorists are prone to improbable swerves and skids at the first sight of rain drops on tarmac.

Electricity supplies are interrupted. 

Neighborhoods are plunged into darkness.

And one is led to wonder what would actually happen around here if we experienced, say, Gulf of Mexico weather.

Anyway, all of that said...I do remember reading something about a "flood plain" in the documents when we bought the house, so I might just lift a few things off the floor of the cellar before bed.

Oh, and that deck that I just spent the weekend sanding...and which remains naked and unpainted pending another dry weekend....I just wrapped it in plastic, just in case.

Tune in on Tuesday for first-hand reports of the great storm.

nonpublic

Rubber Ducks Rule!

I imagine most parents would tell you that parenting is a voyage of discovery, but the untold joy of parenting (which we're enjoying discovering) is that some of those discoveries make you laugh so hard you get tears rolling down your cheeks! 

William discovered the joy of rubber ducks that squirt water this week. More words than that are pointless....you have to watch the video.