Haughtypenguin Blog

October 9, 2013October 9, 2013

Hoarding: computer edition

*The picture above is not of my house*

On the tail end of my “Paternity Leave” I realized I have not done much to aid MommyMD. Well I cant really breast feed Juliette, but I suppose I could be more pro-active with diaper changing. Then again I HATE POOP diapers. That I can get over, but everytime Juliette eats, she poops soon after. Talk about gastro-colic reflex. When she is changed, it really ticks her off and she cries bloody murder. Once she gets boobed again, all is good.

I digress. So on the tale end of being off work, I told MommyMD her “push gift” was that I would clean out the basement. A big problem in the basement is the mass amounts of computers I collect.

At the office, we had a ton of outdated PCs that were still functional. I took them home to clean them up. It is odd, even when stripped down from the crap-ware, they still seem to run slow. I dont know if I am just used to faster computers, but I assume the continuous updates require more processing power and memory.

there is more crap than it seems underneath

Suffice it to say, like everything else I hoard, I figure I would be able to find a use for the old hardware. So I keep them. I am finding that I personally dont have any use for these things, and dont know anyone I can give them to to use. I should just sell it! So today I gathered all the outdated, marked-for-disposal equipment in the office, as well as my house. Took it to computerexpress and figured I could maybe get 20$ to buy some pizza at the office.

Well no. Apparently ink-jets are useless (my sentiments exactly), and anything running XP is too old. Most of this stuff pictured is crap from the office. My main contribution is the old P3 from dell pictured above. Now that computer I purchased for my freshman year at Ohio State. At the time it was rather snazzy and expensive. It has gone through many upgrades and had finally become a ghost of a shell for the past 11-12 years. I dont know why I kept it around really. Maybe it’s the hoarder in me. I do hope one day it does not get so bad I end up on A&E’s HOARDERS.

So I had a decision to make. Let Computer Express recycle it all, and not get the bounty I was hoping for, or try to donate it to get a tax write off, or take it to Ohio Drop off where they may give 3cents/lb of a PC. After mulling it over for a while, and being consoled by the associate at the store (he was very empathetic), I figured I’d just recycle it all. I could have dumped it all in a trash can, but I’ve been trying to be environmentally conscious when possible. Also I dont want sensitive data laying around. When I piled it all up, I literally sat and mourned for about 1 minute. I felt I was quitting some habit cold turkey. I had this sensation of guilt. I felt I let someone down (but who?). I was not able to re purpose (or at least make some money) off of these relics.

Now I am home. ViviBear is napping. JulietteBear must be pooping as I hear her crying upstairs. And MommyMD is obviously mommying upstairs. Strangely enough, I actually feel relieved now that I got rid of that clutter. Now what to do about my plants…

**disclaimer – i did pull and thrash the hard drives before dropping them off**

October 5, 2013October 6, 2013

The Aftermath: @ home

10/5/13, 300am

35 hrs in: Juliette is crying her head off. As people tell me when you have two kids you play man2man vs done defense.
I figured I would be managing ViviBear. Stay out of MommyMd‘s way and let her do the mommy infant thing. Sleep outside ViviBear’s room so I don’t have to wait up every hour… Wait. I probably could be helping mommy some how.

This newborn thing is throwing me off. Had not needed to clean a poppy diaper in many months now. ViviBear usually plops in the toilet (for the past year plus). On top of that, what’s with the crying when I change your diaper doode…

Now I can’t sleep and I am writing this. I think I got poop on my thumb…

Realization. If I had a boob shoved in my mouth, is stop crying too.

9ooa:

After waking up (me that is) once or twice, I am amazed ViviBear slept through most of the night. Props to MommyMD that has to be the one that wakes up and shoves her udder into those chompers. No doubt, despite all the tiredness/sleeplessness… this is nothing compared to what the mother of bears had to do before/during/now and later. I still hold the right to wine/moan and search for pitty points.

on another note, since the pushing is over, am I still obligated to find a “Push Gift?”

With a cup of coffee in hand, it is time to take the ViviBear along to run errands. Need hand sanitizer, new formula and… Blanking.

1034a
Just got done with my morning errands after forgetting multiple times why I was there and what I was buying and it being distracted with buying other things I was not supposed to buy

what I was supposed to buy and also what I ended up buying

Can you tell which side is the stuff I am supposed to by versus the stuff I stuff into the cart along the way?

I mean I need more pumpkins. I’ve always had a penchant for pumpkins (not as much as penguins). Something about finding a perfectly round pumpkin. Anyway there is another larger one not pictured.

Not sure how but this trip cost 85$ at Kroger.

As baby Juliette Slumbers, MommyMD gets to eat sashimi for the first time in 9 months.

Now it is time to sanitize the bottles. MommyMD had them stored away for a while. I think they were boiled prior to being stored, but why not

This reminds me of the beer bottle sensitization step. Still have that bag-full to soup up. Now there is a large rack of baby bottles being dried, and of course ViviBear wants to use them. We were afraid this would happen but so far she has taken it well that she “is no longer a baby and is a big girl now.”

I do remember growing up that whenever my brother got a gift for his birthday I would always be a little sad as well, since I didn’t get anything. This is definitely going to be an issue with ViviBear (and probably Juliette).

I don’t know how feasible it is to always buy them each something when the time comes, like the “gift” Juliette got Vivi on her home coming:-)

Grandparents finally got the TdAP and Flu Shot, and were able to come meet the new Granddaughter Juliette

200p:

Still very tired. Not a whole lot going on really.

It was nice that Grandparents were able to get the TdAP and Flu shot. Being born in October heading right into Flu Season, MommyMD was very adamant about any visitors being UTD on shots. Nothing sucks like a <2month old with a fever. Auto Admit/Lumbar Puncture. Here’s to hoping we have an uneventful winter.

October 4, 2013October 4, 2013

Juliette Day One: journey home

Just after 24hrs, health status excellent. We are on our way home.

Fits in the Graco carseat. Snug as a bug.

Made it back to the house

My pal Stella told me that when they had a second child, they offset the jealousy factor when they came home by saying new baby sister brought a present. So this big box has a gift from Juliette Meimei to ViviBear.

Meeting combo for the first time

Vivienne already is taking on the big sis roll well. She is protective and caring:-) Combo is trying to get a glimpse, but ViviBear puts down the law.

800p: Alas, our family is whole, at home, safe and sound. I am surrounded estrogen. Well Combo was spayed, but you get the point. Thank you everyone for all the well wishes!

October 3, 2013October 4, 2013

Welcome Juliette!

on 10/3/13

Weighing in @ 7 lbs 12.3oz
Noggin size 13.5″ head circ
measuring Length 20 3/4″ (corrected)
@ 431pm

May I present to you for the very first time:

Juliette Shinhui Tsai

aka

蔡欣慧

See the whole play-by-play unfold here

October 3, 2013October 4, 2013

Another day another penguin, but not just any penguin

Why hello blog, it has been a long time indeed.

SO today is a special day, it is the day I start to grow a few more grey hairs. The day that Vivienne becomes as BIG SISTER!!! It will be (ideally) Juliette Shinhui Tsai’s birthday. We anticipate seeing her sometime today. I will continue to update this blog (probably not in real time).

So the first thing I do when I woke up at 530am was try to figure out: what do I wear on this special occassion? The first time around with ViviBear, I was too preoccupied with the thought “holy crap, I will be a dad!” I wanted to make sure I had something suitable for the day, and this is what I came up with—>

Poor Combo has no idea what she has instore for her. First time she met ViviBear she didnt really know what to do with her.

Now she will have two bears to runaway from.

What’s in a name?

We decided a couple months ago to name the next penguin Juliette. After toiling with many different names, we wanted to choose a name that was elegant, and that reminded us of someone that we would be happy to relate with. I can only hope our Juliette will be as smart and successful:-)

MommyMD and I actually had a hard time agreeing with a name. I still think Penelope Gwen would have worked well, or rather I wanted to name #1 Penelope and then #2 Gwen. If I was ever mad at them both, I could yell out PENGWEN COME HERE! Alas, no.

As for the Chinese name, we gave this honor to the grandparents to decide. The name would have to follow the “Generation name” which ViviBear kicked things off with “Shin”, “欣”. Not the “appropriate” romanization but. meh.

For Juliette, my parents came up with Shin-Hui (欣慧) which means “happy wisdom”. I do hope this means she is smart.

蔡欣慧

710am: Just checked in. Apparently a busy day for preggo people. All the parking for expectant mothers was taken. Still no signs of a Juliette.

729am: in the lovely room.

I am trying very hard not to post updates on Facebook, hence I am back to my blog. Reason is MommyMD really does not want to announce to the world we are out of the home since that is inviting strangers to come raid our house. Luckily vivibear combobear and nanny are holding down the fort.
I figured random people do not tend to read my blog these days so I think I am safe to update here for now.

734a: patient hides in bed

750a: still no baby

805a: 4cm!… Just 4…

Looks like vivibear is still asleep. She’s been excited for her baby sister. I wonder if she even knows what that is. Well find out soon:)

900a: Pitocin started

1048a: popping the balloon!!!!

I am not allowed to take a photo of this… so here is a reenactment

is it lunch time yet?

1138a: L4-L5, here we go. guess she is not going natural

104p: lunch was good. MommyMD had a popsicle. I had a Pizza:-)

252p: 6-7cm. Alrighty bets on the delivery hour. I am going to bet Juliette pops out yelling and screaming at 7pm.

305p: It has been a productive day. Went over some labs from work, as well as refill requests and signed off on documents. Updated some websites for the HOA, Practice Website, and of course this one. Catch up on emails. (all while MommyMD is going through her Epidural). Was I supposed to be the one holding her hand vs the nurses? She took it like a champ anyway:) Had to redo the epidural unfortunately since it seemed once side didn’t want to take.

3:39p: normal sinus, no ST changes, normal r-wave. hmm no r-waves, is this lead I or II? where are the rest of the leads? How am I supposed to determine the axis without other leads?

wait… it’s not an EKG

Here is an image of the heating thingy BEFORE it is occupied by it’s future transient tenant.

350p: fully dilated!! Apparently the floor is full of preggos that are in the midst of delivering. Oo lady next door for a s crowning. MommyMD needs to labor down otherwise I may have to resort to my extensive OBGYN training from residency!!!

416p: Omg they are pulling out the blue blood smegma floor catchers. I think it is inevitable. It seems so nonchalant in this room. Ooo doc is here. I think it is happening. This is it. Updates later.

424p: A scalp!!!!!

A lot of hair
Nuchal Chord but she is OK!

weighing in at 7 lbs 12.3oz
arriving at 10/3/13, 430p
measuring 13.5″ head circ
with a span of 20 3/4″ Length (corrected)

May I present to you for the very first time:

Juliette Shinhui Tsai

aka

蔡欣慧

“time for your checkup”

600p: Finally I get to hold her

904p: Vivienne comes to visit and meet Juliette

August 3, 2013October 3, 2013

When the novelty of your 360 month old wears off… if it does

Every now and then I have pondered the question “does the novelty of your child ever wear off?”

I never gave much thought about posing this query to the public, but today I am. Does that sense of awe disappear?

Everday I look at ViviBear, I see this cute little penguin waddling around the house. When I come home she has this big smile, yells out “BABA!” and runs and give me a hug (all at 17mos). I would imagine, she will forever be my little penguin, and I will always cherish seeing her (even when she tells me she hates me, that I am ruining her life, or embarrassing her when I walk around the house in my underwear (with her friends around…well being girls, this may be too inappropriate so better not do that one).

March 6, 2013March 6, 2013

Gummi Bears to Peanuts: The next step

What does a gummi bear and Peanut have in common?

What came first. The peanut or the baby?

They both appear to have been in the womb of my BabyMama MommyMD. With much hesitancy (not from my standpoint), I am proud to announce that MommyMD finally ate one peanut too many! It seems one has lodged inside her womb.

It’s scary to think that it was about over 2 years ago when this process first started with the ViviBear.

I first found out about the Peanut when I came back from my brother’s bachelor party in Las Vegas in early Feb. For those that know me, tt has been difficult to keep it on the DL. Of course it did let slip to one or two people.

I remember when I first found out the ViviBear journey was underway, which was an exciting and frightening. I… was going to be a dad! Again, I get to repeat those those feelings of excitement and apprehension, but I am already a dad. now… I will be a dad with a 2.5 year old and a newborn, going through the crying and poop diapers again. I must say I miss the neonate/baby days where they are so tiny that they cant crawl yet. All they do is lay there. Then start to roll around. Then start to crawl… It’s exciting to see each developmental milestone met. Then I think about how ViviBear can be such a bear at times… I will have two of them crawling on me, yelling, crying at me and wanting to play… as exhausting as I know it will be, it is putting a smile on my face as I type this.

Now the next question is whether ViviBear will have a baby brother or baby sister.

Hear we go… updates to come:)

January 19, 2013March 6, 2013

UFS and Debian: Migrating from FreeNAS to OpenMediaVault

I have been trying to migrate away from freeNAS for the past 2 years now since the advent of Open Media Vault. I’ve come across the issue of accessing data from my UFS filesystem drives ( freeNAS uses has the option to use UFS being based on BSD platform). Suffice it to say it was difficult to access the drive since I did not have any computers loaded with BSD. I had windows/mac and Linux (ubuntu). Scouring the web, there were many options, but I did not have the free time or spare computers to fully explore how to do this. I remember last year I found some info how to do this but did not have the time to follow through. Today I was determined to do it.

Basically, I needed to access and transfer files from an UFS drive and back it up to either an NTFS or EXT-4 drive, then I could re-purpose the old UFS drive.

Simplest way for me was to mount the UFS drive on my Ubuntu computer, and then move the files. Ubuntu does not support UFS out of box, but with the help of this post, I was able to get things working in a Jiffy.

Mounting UFS file systems in Ubuntu should be straight forward. Follow these simple steps to make sure that your are mounting your FreeNAS disks properly in Ubuntu:

Load the UFS module (or make sure its loaded)
sudo modprobe ufs
Make a directory where to mount the files on
mkdir ~/ufs_mount
To find out which device holds your UFS file system use the command fdisk -l, note which device you intend to mount.

Mount the file system to the directory your previously created
sudo mount -r -t ufs -o ufstype=ufs2 /dev/sdb1 /home/<your_username>/ufs_mount
(where: sdb1 is the UFS partition you want to mount and <your_username> is the your current username where the intended mounting point was created previously.

(Credits to Bruno Pereira user on AskUbuntu.com)

The “fdisk -l” did not seem to output what I was looking for, but I just used Gparted to figure out the partition name in question.

Just wanted to share this tid bit.

January 13, 2013March 6, 2013

Farewell Pierre: A fallen goldfish, friend, and family member

In my dreams of having an indoor pond, I started out with goldfish in a large bowl. Not just a fish bowl, but one of this water garden bowls. I started out with two that got rather large in a course of a year, but they met their untimely death by an ill fated water change. You really should not change more than 25% of the water at a time. It was either that, or the fact that was spraying Seven (insecticide) outside prior to doing a water change. After giving up on the indoor pond, I tried yet again with the mini-pond/gold fish. My replacement fish, Pebble and Pierre lived and thrived.

At this time I did have an outdoor Koi pond as well, but with the colder weather, I needed to over winter them indoors, so I built that large indoor pond in the basement. I figured it was time to consolidate ponds, so I plunked the fancy Ryukin gold fish (Pebble and Pierre) into the large koi pond. Little did I know that this was not advised. Prior to starting my new career, I had a bit more time on my hand and tended to the fish more often (fed them). Actually I think it was because my mother was here that the fish were fed more often. I started to notice Pierre was floating weird (still alive). His posterior would be constantly floating up. I figured his air bladder had to be damaged some how (no signs of trauma though). This went on a few weeks, then one day I noticed he had most of his fins bitten off: tail, dorsal, lateral what have you. Not sure what to do, euthanize or try to heal/save (hanks to ChunJaegirl for the link to Kevorkian-ing fish). I went on Dr. Google and found that #1. do not put koi with fancy gold fish. #2. feed the fish.

I think one problem was my first koi (Fat Boy) may be getting a bit large for the pond. Supposedly they get more aggressive if they are much larger than the others. I decided to try to save the poor fish, as I could not bare ending his existence (I assume my fish are males). I separated him and used my pond salt tonic to try to help heal him. He seemed to do well the first 3 days, but he did not seem like he was eating. I did notice the pond water overall was evaporating/getting low, so I started to add more (of course airing it out overnight). Unfortunately I may have added too much at a time to the isolation tank, as Pierre (instead of floating) was non-mobile at the bottom… he had passed.

Now Pierre (named because he looked like he had a mustache, so of course I correlate that with a french name) was laid to rest in the flower bed near the outdoor pond. He will probably be dug up next time MommyMD gardens, or if the coyotes or even combo decide to dig him up.

Alas, farewell my fancy fish friend.

Background image was adapted from the creation found on this site:

http://nick-f.deviantart.com/art/River-Styx-Version-3-89170068

November 23, 2012January 13, 2013

Doppelgangers

By special request, Clement has been asking side by side comparisons throughout the years. From what I could dig up, here you go. I tell you what I hate calculating backwards to figure out ages based on dates. Too much brain power for me. (always makes it tedious to input immunization data and make sure people are up to date/on schedule with shots.

So do you think VviBear will grow up to be as pretty as her daddy?:)

Haughtypenguin Blog

Posts

Hoarding: computer edition

The Aftermath: @ home

Juliette Day One: journey home

Welcome Juliette!

Juliette Shinhui Tsai

aka

蔡欣慧

Another day another penguin, but not just any penguin

What’s in a name?

Juliette Shinhui Tsai

aka

蔡欣慧

When the novelty of your 360 month old wears off… if it does

Gummi Bears to Peanuts: The next step

UFS and Debian: Migrating from FreeNAS to OpenMediaVault

Farewell Pierre: A fallen goldfish, friend, and family member

Doppelgangers

19 Months

18 Months

16 Months

12 Months

Newborn (my original post)

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Juliette Shinhui Tsai

aka

蔡欣慧

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What’s in a name?

Juliette Shinhui Tsai

aka

蔡欣慧

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19 Months

18 Months

16 Months

12 Months

Newborn (my original post)

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