An Open Letter to July

Dear July,

We need to have a talk. I feel like we've always had a good relationship, and in the past, we've gotten along just fine. I don't remember any quarrels or issues, and you have even brought me some joy. Remember all those BBQ's over the 4th? And fireworks! We had some good times. Plus, you bring with you the meat of summer, and along with that, summer vacation. One summer brought me to Ghana, and on the return trip, i spent the month of you traveling Holland and Belgium. That wasn't so bad, why can't you always be like that?

So what happened? What did i do to anger you so? This time around, July, it just seems like you aren't even trying. Worst of all, you seem to be going out of your way to make things difficult. My four largest projects at work were all scheduled to ship during you, yet you couldn't let me catch a break on any of them. Long, late hours at work every week, frustrations, set backs, multiple trips every week... seriously. What gives?

July- i'm done with you. See me next year and we'll try again, but you need to be over so i can get on with my year.

August, please be gentle.

~Kev

The Updated Cuteness of Turtles

So.... our turtles are really cute. There, i said it.

They are also living with us now, permanently. We decided it was too stressful on them to keep moving back and forth between classroom and our sweet pad. We are going to keep Sprink/Splish and Sprunk/Splash, and buy new ones for the classroom.

We have been reading about them a lot, and learning all about the quirks and habits of the Red Ear Slider. Did you know they are avid baskers and need a UV lamp and a heat lamp over their basking area? We didn't! Did you also know you need about 10 gallons or aquarium per inch of turtle shell? Us neither! We figure we have about 5 inches of turtle, between the two. Right now, we have a 10 gallon tank. This weekend, we will buy a 50 gallon tank, water filters, lamps, and some stuff to build a sweet basking area.

Some Red Ear Sliders are territorial and do not share space well. Ours do not have this problem.

Right now they have a tequila bottle and some bricks as their accoutrements. They seem pretty happy.

~Kev

Singapore

This has been a pretty exciting week so far, but Very hard work: new projects reaching their prime, a trip to tianjin, and long hours. But outside of work, i finally made a commitment to the Singapore tournament in August.

Beijing and Shanghai are (for the first time ever?) combining teams to send one China team. It's going to be long 6-hour haul to get there, but it should be worth it. I've cleared the time with work (thanks scarlet!) and i'm about ready to buy a ticket. I hear the tournament is great, and even though it's smack in the middle of monsoon season, it should be fantastic.

I also hear they are predicting rain.

I've been helping a little with the logistics too, in my spare time... settling up on-line polls to decide on a team name, helping with rosters, and designing the Jersey logos. I made two designs and let people decide which they wanted. Check 'em out:

People liked both of them so we are putting the sock on the light jersey and the chick on the dark. Awesome... thanks to Zahlen and Five Ultimate.

The team name is China United Ultimate Party, a throwback to the communist-era CCCP, PLA, or USSR. I've never made a jersey design before, but i'm pretty excited with how they turned out and i'm looking forward to my next project. I do a lot of photo touch-ups at work so i'm getting pretty good at it.

So yeah, three weeks til game time. I can't wait, i need a vacation.

~Kev