It’s been a hell of a week.

I’ve been riding the emotional rollercoaster, given the time of year (I miss my dad). A variable subset of the children have been, shall we say, difficult this week (spring break is coming), though it’s never quite the same problem twice, so it’s hard to nip in the bud. A bunch of changes at work I’ve been kind of expecting (but not quite) are about to start happening, and we still don’t have a good idea of how things are going to shake out; all I know is that my boss is retiring at the end of July, and before that, I’ll probably be re-aligned (this isn’t a bad thing, because it means structure) and really have no idea how that’s going to look. Also, the latter part of this week has involved a lot of the contractors that work for me hustling for money – they make a decent case, but I try to be a good steward of my .00176% of the federal defense budget*, and don’t want to just hand it over unless it’s really necessary.

I’m feeling wrung out, not unlike, as I said sort of poetically on social media, a dish cloth.

I just have to say, thank goodness for my friends, who really are looking out for my best interest. Some folks offered welcome sympathy, and then there’s Ed, who kept the metaphor going, in exactly the wrong-but-right sort of way:

Happy and dry, ready to complete your purpose in existence again!

You can’t help but smile at that. My friends are awesome.

Anyway, I still spent most of the week when I wasn’t at the office hiding in the bedroom with a book; for someone like me, that’s actually comforting and rejuvinating. I think I’m almost ready to start coming out of the shell again a little bit.

Coming up, though, I’ve got some more strange, unsettling pattern breaking. Monday, I have to go to Carson, California (which is the crappy government office area of Los Angeles County) for a week of “mid-year” project planning sessions. Nobody I talk to actually knows what that means, but I’m going. At least I have a hotel on the beach. Looking out at the Pacific Ocean ought to at least be a novelty, and if I manage to find some time, the maps tell me there’s an aquarium near by to check out.

That’s my life right now. Here’s a list of the tunes Pandora kicked out while I was checking emails this morning:

1. “Head Over Feet (live)” – Alanis Morrissette
2. “Glory Bound (live) – The Wailin’ Jennies
3. “Waiting for a Moment to Call Our Own” – The Badlees
4. “Losing My Religion” – R.E.M.
5. “Pumped up Kicks” – Gnarls Barkley
6. “Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen
7. “Crazy Train” – Ozzy Osbourne
8. “True” – Spandau Ballet
9. “Sound and Color” – Alabama Shakes
10. “Renegade” – Styx

Not bad, I guess, though I’m beginning to lose faith in Pandora, as it recommended I add a Nickleback station to my feed. Nobody needs that.

___________________________________________

* – yes, I did the math. It’s important to me to know exactly how non-influential I am; it puts things in perspective.

It was damned cold this Sunday morning while I poked around the Irish Festival waiting for the girls’ show time to come up. Didn’t stop me from drinking Guinness like everyone who wasn’t waiting in line at the Irish Coffee stand.

Anyway, the girls did a masterful job with the performance I saw (they had some hiccups on Saturday while I was handling other things, but I’m pretty sure nobody noticed but them). The biggest novelty was the fact that their performance on the First Day of Spring was blustery and cold, while they were in shorts and tank tops going into the Christmas parade they marched in back in mid-December.

Weather. pffft.

Otherwise this weekend, I did a bunch of laundry, took care of some shopping (where I had a 99 cent dish sponge ring up at $5045.00; we all had a nice laugh), and made a quick drop in at the local library system’s comic-con where I said hello to a few friends exhibiting. they always get a decent turnout at these things (because, I suspect, FREE), but it brings in a lot of the kids, and introduces them to a lot of neat stuff happening in the area.

In between a lot of that, we binged Daredevil season two in a couple of decent spurts over the course of three evenings, and yeah, it was pretty good, if occasionally a little heavy handed in it’s themes (not exactly out of place in comics, though, right?). Some nice touches connecting it to the rest of the MCU, and they didn’t go too overboard on the Frank Miller misogyny, but managed to jam in a metric assload of ninjas, which was par for the course in 80s Daredevil comics, and thus pretty appropriate.

My favorite bit was this line, which I will present completely out of context (though you might consider it a minor spoiler), which made me laugh and laugh:

So yeah. Weekend. Welcome to Monday.

Not huge amounts of stuff to report; life’s been life. Work, life, running kids places. Generally, it’s been pleasant to middling; no huge crises to deal with. Work has been surprisingly okay; the worst has been the ongoing challenge of having to be a loud squeaky wheel at people to give me things (like a stable test environment that mirrors production, and basic considerations like release notes when it doesn’t) the should be providing as a matter of course. It’s office and agency politics, and I hate that crap, but it’s apparently what I do now.

I still regularly pine for the days of being an analytical type again – system design/engineering problems are so much better to deal with than people problems; with computer problems, there’s going to be a(t least one) definitive solution, even if not immediately apparent. People, unfortunately, aren’t so cut-and-dried.

Otherwise…a few minor things, I guess:

I put some new plants and fish in my fish tank. I’m trying to grow water wisteria; I’m hoping it works; most of the stock I got is seeming healthy enough, but we’ll see. The fish certainly like knocking it around.

One night this week was “Literacy Night” at the elementary school. Part of this year’s effort was having all the kids read Beverly Cleary’s “The Mouse and the Motorcycle”. The evening program involved a makeshift motorcycle show (they reached out to parents with bikes to do a little show-and-tell on the paved part of the playground) and a screening of the television adaptation from ’86 in the cafeteria. The kids were largely bored with the movie (admittedly, it’s a little slow), though they liked the motorcycles. Also, a handful of moms with japanese racing bikes got into a bit of a competition to see who could rev the loudest. It seemed oddly fitting in the more redneck portion of the metro area where I live.

I also got lucky (HEY-YO!) yesterday and won a couple of tickets to Chris Cornell’s solo show at the local downtown theater for June from wnrn’s weekly VIP member list email. It’s a great station, which always hooks me up with a couple of good shows every year which usually more than make up for the donation I make every year.

Finally, the girls have been doing the dance thing – given the fact that yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, Irish dancers are in high demand. The eldest and her company did a performance (during happy hour) yesterday at a nice drinking establishment down the block from the dance school (and as far as I know, no one got beer spilled on them); this weekend, they’re booked in the annual Irish Festival one of the gentrified neighborhoods downtown put on as a fundraiser for several local charities, but also as an excuse for people to wander around the neighborhood half-sloshed on Guinness eating potatoes and cabbage. It’s a good time. Hope the weather holds out this year.

…on that note, as they’re currently scheduled for Sunday, my friend Mikey’s song below is oddly appropriate, and for the moment, available for download for free (or name your price); so you have no excuse not to listen and enjoy:

Oh, and here’s some music randomly pulled off of pandora this morning, which totally justifies the title of this post:

1. “Little Lion Man” – Mumford & Sons
2. “You Shook Me All Night Long” – AC/DC
3. “Long Island” – that dog.
4. “The One I Love” – R.E.M.
5. “Lose” – Fastbacks
6. “Carry on My Wayward Son” – Kansas
7. “Talk Like A Pirate Day” – Tom Smith
8. “(I would walk) 500 Miles” – The Proclaimers
9. “Avila” – The Wailin’ Jennys
10. “Starlight” – Muse

Oh when we’re not doing all that stuff, Daredevil Season Two pops up on Netflix today, so that’s where I’ll probably be otherwise, as one would expect.

Among the other adventures this weekend, the boy and I took a couple of hours on Saturday morning to pop over to Cars and Coffee Richmond, the local branch of the popular informal automotive enthusiast get-together phenomenon. I’ve been meaning to check this sort of thing out for a while; as I’ve heard good things.

I’ve always thought car shows were cool, but so many of them that I’ve been to have been all about old boomers showing off how original/clean/modified/perfect their particular money pit is while making snide comments about everyone else’s door weatherstripping not being original enough and thus invalidating the restoration.

Cars and Coffee, however, isn’t like that. It’s more informal and certainly more welcoming; it’s just a bunch of people who like cars enough to get up really early on a Saturday morning to hang around in a mall parking lot, talk about cars over warm caffeinated beverages and look at each other’s rides; no classes, no contests, no prizes. It’s pretty cool.

What struck me the most was the variety that showed up; it’s not just old Corvettes and Mustangs (though there a bunch that showed up), but everything from exotics…

…to neat and occasionally quirky japanese performance cars…

…to yes, American classics as you expect them…

….and how you might not…

…but mostly, there’s a pretty nice sense of variety you might not get at another kind of car show; it’s not all fancy stuff; there are just as many faded Miatas, quirky European roadsters, half-finished projects, stock BMWs, and torn-up track cars mixed in with the Mustangs, Camaros and Porsches. Everybody’s welcome, and just as many people were geeking out about the Subaru SVX as they were the perfectly restored numbers-matching 70 Chevelle.

These were my people, appreciative of the tremendous variety out there in the world of motoring.

For my part, I had a great discussion with a couple of guys about their cars, including a gorgeous Fiat 500 Abarth, the Tesla Model X (with the weird but ingeniously designed rear gullwing doors), and this nice unassuming Vista Cruiser that shows up occasionally. I even had a couple of people ask about my car, which I parked politely on the fringes – seems the Scion iM is, at this point, kind of a novelty; a lot of folks were asking “what’s that?” and a couple of others were very interested (more interested than in the late model 911 parked next to me!) because they hadn’t seen one in the real world yet.

And yes, I plan on going back…they do it bi-weekly around here, as long as the weather’s good (“if you have to cut your windshield wipers on, C&CR is off”), and it’s a good time (plus, Sugar Shack Donuts is righ across the street!). If you’re into this sort of thing, or know someone who is, get thee to google and figure out if there’s an event in your area and check it out.

wait for it…

Taking a break from the politics and cars* for a bit…

In comics/movie news, this week the embargoes started lifting on the Captain America: Civil War press and set visit reports; it’s been trickling out – lots of vague interviews (though Anthony Mackie‘s stuff was particularly entertaining); some neat discussion of Black Panther, and tacit confirmation of what we’ve all expected; that being Ant-Man going the other way and pulling out at least a little bit of Giant Man action.

Today, another trailer for the film is supposed to hit the internet aether, and rumor has it, we might see Spider-Man.

Huh. It is Thursday, and the general pattern with big Marvel news is that things tend to slip out on Thursdays right around lunchtime on the east coast. The timing works, if nothing else.

Now, I’m pretty excited about this rumor; I really want to see what Marvel’s going to do with Spider-Man, though a good bit of me doubts it’s actually going to happen (at least no more than that Vision eyeball reveal from that later-stage Age of Ultron trailer last year). I don’t actually expect to see Tom Holland (or more likely a stuntman) in the Spider-Man costume in the marketing materials today. The Marvel marketing machine, and it’s impressive skill at controlling the message has been absolutely airtight thus far; nothing has slipped out – not the tiniest bit from any cast or crew member, or in leaked marketing materials, or spy photos. It’s eerie how good they are; the message is totally controlled.

Part of me has half a feeling that nobody’s going to see Spider-Man until the first late-night showings before the May 6 release date. I think that would be pretty badass actually; Civil War is already going to win it’s release weekend; that’s a given; as word trickles out to the larger population who doesn’t pay attention to internet rumors that Spider-Man is in the movie; that might actually guarantee that the film’s second weekend beats the first.

That said, I don’t think Marvel’s going to want to sit on it that long. The reason some sort of Spider-Man reveal might happen today has everything to do with the Distinguished Competition. Batman v. Superman comes out in two weeks. That marketing machine is really starting to spin up right now. If Marvel slips Spider-Man out into the larger public consciousness this weekend, even just a little bit, they’re going to own the entertainment news cycle for the next week, probably enough to slide right into the bump they’re going to get from Daredevil hitting Netflix next weekend, which is going to be huge (so big that there were rumors of B v. S slipping a bit to not cross over with the weekend when all the superhero fans are going to be home for some Netflix and Chill. DC Comics marketing machine short-circuited; given that Batman and Superman (and Wonder Woman) are DC’s big guns all hitting at the same time; despite the misgivings a lot of people have about the movie, I would also not be surprised if Marvel doesn’t let slip the only hero out there with the marketing might to topple DC’s Trinity.

Oh well; we’ll see. If Spidey shows up today in hi-res official photos and video, you’ll know.

________________________________

* – I finally saw my first iM on the road that didn’t have me behind the wheel – a nice clean example in Electric Storm Blue. About time.

On my way over to the dance competition Saturday morning, I turned over 1000 miles on the new Scion iM. Also of note, I got passed by my old Yaris on the same trip*, it looked good, and the driver looked happy (and hauling a whole bunch of stuff); I hope it serves him as well as it served me for three years.

What’s also of note is that in the nearly a month I’ve owned the car, I’ve not once seen another iM on the road. And, as anybody who has ever bought a new car can tell you; once you’re behind the wheel of one, you’re at least subconsciously on the lookout for another member of the club to give that little hat tip/wave of acknowledgement to.

I’ve run into several people online who’ve purchased them, though I might be self-selecting for exposure (I read a couple of car sites regularly, and had been researching the particular model), and while I know Scion (even before the announcement that Toyota was killing the brand and absorbing the product line) has only sold about 8000 of these in the states since they hit the market at the end of the summer, I also know that my chosen dealership has released at least half-a-dozen of them in my immediate neighborhood (or at least the south/west side of this metro area where I tend to be out and about) in the last few months (talking to the guys at the dealership, and in doing my shopping research). I guess it’s not really odd that I haven’t seen one, given the probabilities, but it still kind of feels weird that I haven’t, when one considers Baader-Meinhof.

Anyway, you might ask: How do you feel about the car?, since this is, inherently, the thesis of this post, and I’ve wasted almost 300 words talking about sales figures and obscure psychological phenomena…

To answer that implied question, I like it quite a bit.

Specifically, A lot of my favor comes from how remarkably it feels like my old Pontiac Vibe, which I loved. This isn’t surprising, given the fact that the iM/Auris is a direct decendant of the Corolla/Matrix/Vibe line; it is pretty much the same car, with a few more modern touches. It feels comfortable and familiar, with almost all the controls in the right place (again, not surprising, as I’ve been driving Toyotas and Toyota derivatives for the last ten years), and I got comfortable with things very quickly.

Over the last 1000 miles, much of which has been relatively short trip city commutes and one reasonably long road trip up to the DC metro area for a gig, I’ve found that it handles really well (it’s got slightly upgraded/sportier suspension than it’s Corolla brethren), is quite a bit of fun to throw into corners when the opportunity presents itself, and even when doing that, it’s remarkably efficient – I’m beating the EPA rated 27/26/32 on both short trips (I’ve not dipped below 31mpg) and on long-haul highway trips (I averaged over 40mpg on that trip to DC), even when I’m tossing it around a bit; which is not all that different from the Yaris, especially considering the added benefits of having more space and being able to fit the entire “small” bass rig (5 string Fender Jazz bass, small 35 watt amplifier and various and sundry cables and pedals – it looks like the big 200 watt amp will fit as well) in the car without having to put seats down, or indeed, disturbing the position of the rigid rear deck:

It did take me a day or two to get used to the clutch, but I blame that more on not having a manual transmission around for most of three years than on the transmission itself; once I found the engage point of the clutch (and got used to reverse being next to first, given that six gears is an even number), I’ve been having a blast. There’s just something so much more fun and engaging about a manual transmission, and I’ve really missed having one.

I’ve not struggled with power (almost all the reviews out there tend to whine about the iM having *only* about 140 horsepower, but all those reviews also compare it to other more powerful cars like the Mazda 3 and that ridiculously overpowered – but but insanely fun-looking Ford Fiesta ST); I can downshift and pass with more than enough spunk, and at highway cruising speed, I’m finding myself creeping up toward 80 occasionally without realizing it – that’s plenty for me. The sporty tC bits in the suspension out back make it plenty fun to toss around corners> Like they say, “It’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow”, and this particular car exemplifies that adage pretty well.

So, I’ve got no complaints thus far; I hit 1000 miles and then some on less than three tanks of gas, I’ve been having a lot of fun tossing the car around corners, while still being able to haul all my stuff, and the “infotainment system” (with the big 7 inch screen and no CD player, but plenty of other inputs) sounds pretty great and is capable of reading my texts and emails to me in a pleasing contralto voice (that was weird the first time). Plus, I get the joy of rowing my own again, the pleasure derived from doing so is without measure.

So yeah, I like it.

___________________________

* – I know it was mine because there are very few examples of the SE trim level on the road at all (most people at that price point jump to the Corolla, unless, like me, they need a hatch), let alone in bright Absolutely Red with the slightly askew dealership badge slightly askew in exactly the same way, and sporting the very tiny little ding in the paint along the rear bumper near the hatch that I specifically looked for and found when he passed me. I know my cars, people.

Hey folks, today I announce to the three of you who care that I’m done with primary predictions; at this point, they come so fast and furious that I can’t keep up with them (totally missing the ton of them this weekend – why did nobody call me out on my 3/2 post? I know, nobody’s reading!) and still, you know, life.

That said, I can’t say I’m all that upset with this weekend’s results. It’s keeping things competitive, which I think is good for the Democrats overall, and continues contributing to the beautiful trainwreck that is the implosion of the Republican party.

But yeah, I’m going to officially stop posting predictions, although I’ve kind of been doing that anyway unofficially.

Otherwise, the weekend was not awful – it was busy, but it was a pretty good experience. The girls had a really good weekend dancing, especially Mary, who came home with a fistful of first place medals and bumped up divisions on more than a couple of dances. Also, my lovely wife had a good perforance and stressed out a hell of a lot less than usual, because she cut back on things, only competed the stuff she really wanted to do (the family ceili event with all three girls doing a nice three-hander was pretty sweet); and didn’t sweat anything else.

For my part, I did my usual volunteer wherever they needed me. This time, I handled admissions, some concessions, general running around, and score tabulation on the open competition (the only one I could do without compromising the process, since my girls are spread all the hell over the place), which was interesting – it was pretty simple data entry, though i got to geek out a bit with Mark, the developer of Feis Keeper, the online tool WIDA uses to track events and scoring.

When the girls dove into this new hobby, I didn’t think I’d find so much enjoyment in learning how to run these type of events. The fact that I get along swimmingly with the folks who run the school (Aliese, you’re exactly the right kind of deadpan snarker I need in my life) helps tremendously.

Anyway – this week: I’ll keep my eye on Michigan (of course – calling it for Bernie and Kasich, because why not), but am going to otherwise be focused on getting through the test cycle at work I’m in charge of, and, you know, trying to be a decent husband/father, and maybe, if I have a little time, finally coming up with a decent bassline to back up Scott on this…Concarolinas is just around the corner:

Happy Friday, friends. This morning, we wake up in a world where Presidential candidates use actual time in televised debates to brag about how big a dick they have, and get frenzied applause for it. Yes, I’m aware of the whole “Jumbo” business with LBJ, but that all happened behind a veneer of respectability inherent in the Office. Now we’re through the looking glass.

At least it’s entertaining to watch, if you can momentarily distance yourself from the fact that this is all really happening.

Other than the occasional antibiotics fuzziness, it hasn’t been that bad of a week. I got all my stuff lined up for testing at work next week, solved a big lingering multi-agency problem that has people thinking I’m a superhero, and yesterday, I engaged in a rational, logical, and respectful discussion of politics on social media.

I should probably quit while I’m ahead.

The snow we had predicted for this morning was a bust, which I’m okay with. Of course, after being at the office for two hours, I got an email telling me that the office is on a two hour delay.

I definitely should have quit while I was ahead.

This weekend is another big dance competition in town, with the girls dancing and me running all kinds of volunteer jobs, be they bouncer, sound guy, sales, or data entry. I think I’m on the books to tabulate scores this time, but who knows how it’s going to end up, but it’s always interesting.

Anyway, here’s some music, followed by a link to one of the most 80s music videos I’ve ever seen. Enjoy.

1. “Damn Good Times” – TMBG
2. “Your Love” – The Outfield
3. “Head Over Feet” – Alanis Morrissette
4. “Re: Your Brains” – Jonathan Coulton
5. “Heaven” – Warrant
6. “Alleyways” – The Neighborhood
7. “Left of the Dial” – The Replacements
8. “One Voice” – The Wailin’ Jennys
9. “Wheel in the Sky” – Journey
10. “Prolog Auf Erden” – Equilibrium
11. “Head Bangeeeer” – BABYMETAL

Had to happen eventually. I didn’t do so well in my predictions (other than the fact that Trump and Clinton had a good day, but everybody knew that).

I voted for Sanders, and so did a bunch of people (and not just in my social circle, where he was huge). The math isn’t great for a Sanders ballot in November, but the spread isn’t that far off (especially if you discount the superdelagate hype, which isn’t really in play yet), but either way, Sanders in the race and winning around 35-40 percent of things like he’s been doing is going to keep normalizing the more liberal positions and pulling Clinton a little further to the left, which I think was at least part of Sanders’ plan all along.

I’ll take it.

I spent part of my lunch break today poking through my county’s election results to see how things worked out (and partially because I love digging through statistical data for some reason). Although Virginia ultimately went to Mr. Trump, Senator Rubio did really well here, losing by only a little more than two percent. He actually won my county by a few hundred votes, and both Rubio and Trump each doubled Cruz’s total.

And five people out in the West side of the county voted for Rick Santorum. Huh.

The county as a whole (and historically, as part of the 4th congressional district, which is changing up this year) tends to split about 60/40 in favor of Republicans, and the breakdown between the participants in each primary split about that way.

Because I’m nosy about my neighbors, I always like to dig into my individual precinct. The R/D split was about the usual, 57%/43%.

Trump killed it killed it here, however, getting 40% of the Republican total (Interestingly, he pulled almost as many votes as the entire Democratic field); this doesn’t surprise me, as the only yard signs I’ve seen in the area are Trump signs, and the village where I live was one of the original Tea Party hotbeds a few years back. Also, the demographics fit Trump’s base to a tee (low-education, low-income white folks). Rubio came in second, Cruz a distant third, and one person, bless their heart, voted for Mike Huckabee.

On the Democratic side, Clinton won handily, but I was encouraged to see that Sanders beat both the state (35%) and county (33%) spreads, pulling in a little over 40% percent of the vote in my precinct.

Going forward, we’ve got a week off before the next contests on March 15; plenty of time for the momentum to slide around a bit depending on what strange things the candidates say, however, at this point, it’s going to be much harder (though not entirely impossible) to knock Clinton or Trump down at this point, but I know I’ll be watching.