Lincolnite

Within a one-month span The Missus and I will:

• Pay off RUNRGAL, her 2001 Prism
• Pay off our credit card expenses from our trip to Boston to pick up Robbie last year
• Pay off my laptop
• Stop paying for daycare, since The Missus will be home with Robbie this summer (and beyond?)

Not having to pay for these items each month is going to feel very, very good. With these four liabilities out of the way, that just leaves the house and my student loan, and my student loan debt isn't bad at all considering it covers a BA and an MA. Nevertheless, I'm not going to do a happy dance or anything since I know darn well that debt abhors a vacuum and new expenses have a way of wiggling their way into one's life. For example, my 1993 Ford Tempo needs some potentially expensive repairs and will probably need to be replaced sooner rather than later. And with The Missus no longer working full time we're going to feel a shock when her paycheck stops arriving later this summer. Still, I will allow myself a nice smile and a deep breath while I enjoy the temporary freedom from some of our large regular expenses. I plan to enjoy it while it lasts.

It's the Friday Five "A Few of My Favorite Things" edition. My favorite...

1. ...place to be alone is the prairie at the Pioneers Park Nature Center.
2. ...memory of a Lincoln gone by is riding my bike to Kool Krest and playing golf with my Lincoln Journal paper route money.
3. ...summertime Friday night activity is going to Friday Nights Live at SouthPointe.
4. ...stretch of road is Sheridan Boulevard.
5. ...grocery store is Hy-Vee.

Hey, what's the deal, Journal Star? I tried to flip directly to the restaurant review in today's Ground Zero and it wasn't where it was supposed to be. No fair confusing the tired guy!

The Cable Advisory Board has recommended that Time Warner Cable give customers affected by the Passport/Navigator fiasco a $24/month rebate. That represents approximately 35% of an affected customer's bill. I don't see it happening, especially since TWC has already come to agreements with many individual customers, but hey, stranger things have happened. Frankly, I would rather see TWC put the money into infrastructure upgrades. I could really go for some 20 Mbps Road Runner...

Hey, I think we know that guy... Congratulations, Neal! We're all invited, right?

It's official: Robert is a shrimp. He weighed in at a slim-and-trim 19 pounds 4 ounces at the doctor's office this morning, putting him in the 5th percentile. Sheesh! Height-wise he's doing better, standing tall at the 25th percentile. And as a direct result of everybody giving him a big head by constantly calling him "adorable", his head circumference is right at the 50th percentile. At the other end of the spectrum is my nephew Sam. Sam is 5 months old and he just weighed in at 19 pounds. What a horse!

Happy first birthday, Robert! I wish I had time to write more, but we're getting ready to head to the doctor for his 12-month checkup. I will say this: in some ways it seems like it was just yesterday that we first met him in Boston (and he pooped all over me), and in other ways it seems like he has been a part of our lives forever. Hey, The Missus, remember when we used to go to movies? Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it? As I stand here watching Robbie toddle around the kitchen and look out the back door, I can't help but think the next year is going to be pretty darn fun. Now if I could just stop saying "no" all the time...

Given Time Warner's recent PR problems in Lincoln, and given LES's hints that it is interested in exploring broadband over power lines, and given the City of Lincoln's stated interest in expanding the availability of internet access to more citizens (whew!)... ...wouldn't it be cool if DirecTV were to choose Lincoln for their experiment? Granted, they are looking for a "top 50" city and Lincoln is only the 74th largest. But come on, DirecTV, let's talk!

Kabuki, the Japanese restaurant and sushi bar at 48th and Highway 2 in the Briarhurst Shopping Center, appears to have closed. Sort of. In its place is Oyummy (gag!), a Chinese restaurant and Japanese sushi bar. I wonder if the name change is primarily a marketing move. I think most Lincolnites think Japanese food is scary (ew, raw fish and squid!), but Chinese food is safe. Whatever the case, I still love the fact that there's a sushi bar next door to a bait shop. I still grin when I see those signs side-by-side.

Homer's, long a staple of Downtown retail, is closing its Downtown location. It's not a huge blow for Downtown, but it certainly doesn't help the city's efforts to draw more retail to the area. In place of Homer's Lincoln will get a new sandwich shop, Erbert & Gerbert's, a sandwich chain with stores in the north-central U.S. I hope I don't sound ungrateful when I say "Woo, another sandwich shop!". They wouldn't open up shop if they didn't see an opening in the market. Here's hoping I have a new regular spot to eat, but I'm a little concerned: E&G's uses Jif instead of the far-superior Skippy. I'll try not to hold that against them.

As Mayor Beutler takes office, what advice would you offer him? Here are a couple off the top of my head:

• Lincoln wants a strong leader right now. But please, lead, don't push.
• A large part of Mayor Seng's image problem was that she allowed herself to stay in the shadows. Keep yourself visible. For example, have you considered following Chief Casady's example?
• You're going to have to solve some tricky budget problems this year, and probably throughout your term. I hope you have somebody on your staff who can help you communicate to the public the consequences of various budget scenarios.
• When I referee, my pre-game instructions to my assistants often begin: Don't screw up. Cover each others' back. Make each other look good. The rest of the pre-game builds from there. The folks who work with you might benefit from similar instructions, repeated often.
• Have fun.
• Call me, we'll do lunch. I'm not exactly sure how that will help you as mayor, but it would make this blogger's day.

If you're curious what it's like inside an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition house, you'll have your chance to find out this Saturday and Sunday from 11:00am to 6:00pm. Expect lots of oohs, ahhs, and whispers of "I can't believe they picked this family" throughout your tour.

I received my State Soccer Tournament reffing assignments last night. I ended up with two centers (one today, one tomorrow) and an alternate (today). Everybody received either two or three game assignments. I'm trying to read the assignors minds. Do I still have a shot at centering a final? Let's see... On the one hand, the two centers may indicate that they like me in the center, which would bode well for a final center. Or they could be saying "here are your two centers for the tournament, thanks for playing" and I'm out of luck for the finals. Both of my centers are first-round matches; I think a semi-final center would definitely have ruled out a final center. Hmm. So why the interest in having a center in the finals? For the same reason that teams want to make it to the finals, of course. The four championship matches are the four top games of the year. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? There's a lot of stress involved, but that's part of the fun. I enjoy the game within the game. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the two assessments I will receive after my two centers today and tomorrow. I used to dread assessments but now I enjoy them. The feedback is almost always valuable. The two assessors I'll speak with today and tomorrow are two who haven't seen me work in a while, so that will give me a chance to hear some perspectives I don't get very often. Enough of that referee baloney. Who is going to take State this year? Get your picks in.