Welcome to Colton! He and Jenny are doing fine, thanks to everyone for your support! He was born at 11:05am on July 29th weighing in at 7 pounds 12 ounces. Here are some pictures from throughout his first day and a quick video I put together:
Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category
Colton Henry Cody! Video & More Pictures
July 30th, 2010Countdown to Baby Delivery Begins
July 28th, 2010So we’ll be heading to the hospital tomorrow morning for a scheduled cesarean section (baby is breach) and hopefully within a few hours we’ll have a happy and healthy third little bundle of joy to join our family. I won’t be posting a play by play from the operating table, but will hopefully have some news and pictures to share tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks to all our family, friends and supporters who’ve been really great during the pregnancy, especially here towards the end when things have been tough. It’s appreciated.
Video From My Morning Appearance on “The Morning Blend” Today
July 23rd, 2010Taking a break from triaging the water in my basement.. I was on WMTJ’s “The Morning Blend” today to talk about the Park People “Run for the Parks” next Tuesday in Humboldt Park. Here’s a link to the video of the segment.
You can register for the 5k run/2k walk at http://ParkPeopleMKE.org/5k
New “Run for the Parks” 5k Run/2k Walk to Benefit Humboldt Park
July 19th, 2010If you’re a supporter of Milwaukee County Parks, or are just looking for a fun time next week, please consider taking part in the Park People 1st annual “Run for the Parks” next Tuesday, July 27th @ 5:30pm in Humboldt Park.
I talk with a lot of people who are concerned about the state of our parks but don’t feel like there’s a whole lot they can do to tackle some of the big issues facing them. I hear “I support the parks, but what exactly can I do to help?” quite frequently from people who want to do something to help out, but don’t know what options are available to them. 
The Park People is having a 5k run/2k walk in Humboldt Park next Tuesday to address just that problem.
We’re having a run/walk that takes place entirely within the confines of Humboldt Park in Bay View and will end in front of thousands of cheering people who are there for the weekly “Chill on the Hill” concert series. The beginning of the music will start with the end of the race, and it should be very exciting for all those watching and participating. The best part is the proceeds we raise from the run through sponsorships and registrations are going to go to repair the bathrooms in the Humboldt Park band shell which are horrid and dilapidated to put it mildly.
It’s really a great way for those people who “want to do something to help the parks” to help out a local park while having a great time. The registration is $25 per person and children under 12 are free, plus you get a t-shirt and a party bad with lots of fun items from our sponsors.
It’s not often that I really push the stuff I do with parks here on my weblog, but this is a very worth event and I’d highly recommend that you participate!
iPhone 3G With IOS 4 Parody
July 14th, 2010Dealt with a bit of this myself. Funny in a “yeah it happens to me too” kind of way:
In Brief: Baby News, Brewers Aren’t Half Through and Buses That Are New
July 13th, 2010Backwards baby: On the baby front, we found out a few weeks ago the baby is still breech (upside down for the non-parents out there). We went in today to see if he could be maneuvered from the outside (using an ECV procedure) by the OBGYN to get his head down. After a good five minutes of trying to get his head down, the surgeon gave up and we’re now scheduled for a Cesarean section. It’s no guarantee that he’ll even wait another couple weeks of course and we could go in at any minute from here on out, but Jenny is doing well and appreciates all the well wishes. The boy on the other hand is already proving himself to be a child who doesn’t listen to his parents by stubbornly refusing to spin for us this morning. So scheduling is good because we can plan ahead a bit with Emerson and Carter, but unfortunately the baby doesn’t yet have a copy of the calendar, so he could just decide to come whenever. We’re still not 100% settled on a first name.
Brewers halfway through are half as good as they could be: So, the Brewers are 40-49 at the half way point of the season. Some are calling for the team to dump it’s best players because the season is “lost” at this point. What??! While 9 games under .500 isn’t anything to brag home about, it’s certainly not bad enough to be raising the white flag on a season only half complete in my opinion. We’re only 8.5 games back in the division for crying out loud! That’s only a four win/lose swing! To all the haters and depressing cynics out there, get over it. The only time you seem to be happy is when you’re bragging about what a great team this was in 1982 and how no other Brewers team will ever compare to that. For the rest of us Brewers fans who pull for them no matter what, there’s a lot to be optimistic about.
I watch a lot of baseball. I’ve either been at or watched on TV about 75% of the Brewers games. While there have been some truly terrible games they’ve played this year, that’s not something that’s unique to a single team within Major League Baseball over a 140+ game schedule. If you think about it, we’d be a .500 team and right there for the division lead if it weren’t for the 5 blown saves and 4 loses by the formerly unshakable Trevor Hoffman. The starting pitching has come around to be at least “decent”, the bullpen has settled down and isn’t continually losing games for us, and our new closer – hipster favorite John Axford – has been spectacular with a 4-1 record and 10 saves with a 2.8 ERA since given the closing role. Wax that mustache all you want my man as long as you keep striking out opposing hitters!
On offense, it’s good to see Prince playing to where he should be and Corey Hart’s explosive bat has been a nice surprise. While Ryan Braun has been on a bit of a skid lately, it’s good to see that they’re winning despite that because other guys on the team are stepping up, Ricky Weeks and Casey McGhee especially.
The All Star Break means that trade rumors are swirling as well. I think it would be a mistake for the Brewers to trade Corey Hart at this point in the season, when they’re a winning streak away from making a play at the division. I think the Brewers have invested a lot of time and resources into him and they should be enjoying the fact that they’re reaping the rewards of one of their prospects instead of considering cashing him in for another prospect (that I assume we’d develop and then trade away for a few more, like we’re some sort of never ending farm club for teams with bigger pocket books than ours). I do support cashing out on Hoffman though since he’s being paid a lot of money to basically sit in the bullpen and do nothing but watch Axford continue to steal his old job. There’s a team out there I have to imagine who would take Trevor in exchange for a decent middle set up man which is something we can use.
I could obviously write about this all day as it’s one of the few other subjects I have a very strong opinion on, but the bottom line is everyone knows the Brewers are a better team than 40-49 half way through the season. I sure do believe it and I know the players and coaches do as well. With one or two small adjustments, this team can catch fire in the second half of the season, and it will be a heck of a lot of fun to watch if they’re allowed to do that.
New buses for Milwaukee County Transit: On the transit front, the first of the new clean diesel Milwaukee County buses have arrived which is great news. The aging fleet has been needing replacement for some time now, and thankfully there was some stimulus money that came through to purchase the 125 new buses which will be cleaner and more efficient to operate. Stimulus dollars used to purchase equipment that was built next door in Minnesota… good deal. Unless you’re a responsibility free right wing talk show host, then this will be a complete failure and just go to ‘prove’ how the stimulus hasn’t done a lick of good for the economy or jobs!
It’s The Big Things That Matter
July 6th, 2010Much of the focus of this blog tends to be reactionary in that something happens and I comment on it. Outside of the few “big” blogs that have the resources to break news on their own, that’s just how it is for the most part. From time to time the opposite happens, but it’s by no means the norm.
So it’s always interesting to come back after a week of being out of the “news cycle” and see just how much things haven’t changed. For the last week, I’ve been “off the grid” enjoying time in northern Minnesota with friends and family for the extended 4th of July holiday weekend.
As most of you can probably attest, some things that we tend to obsess about on a day to day basis become a little less important when you are able to get away from the TV, computer, email, blogs, facebook, twitter etc… The “big picture” of what really matters tends to take over and you get grounded back in to what really does matter in life.
It’s good to have the opportunity to do that every so often.
That said, things really don’t change much even when you’re not a part of the reactionary world as you’d think.
One thing I did notice on the drive up north were the number of billboards which announced in small type that they were paid for by individuals which advertised their displeasure with the current administration and Democrats in general. A billboard with a picture of President Bush that read, “Do you miss me yet?”. Another with the simple text “How’s that hope and change working out for you?”. Several others proclaiming that “November is coming” in an ominous warning to Democrats that is right on the money 11 months out of the year, much like a broken watch is always right twice a day.
I couldn’t help but notice that things were obviously going so poorly in this county for a certain segment of the population that they could afford to pay for snarky billboards along major highway routes. Obviously the economy is so bad for those folks that they have to choose between putting food on the table, their medication, or buying billboards.
At any rate, laughing at them and the people at the 4th of July parade who were shouting down the stimulus and Pres. Obama just before they started cheering the new fire truck that both provided for their small town was probably just the kind of thing I needed to put it all in perspective.
It really is the “big things” that matter. Friends, family, faith and health.
As we head into the second half of the summer, it’s good for all of us to remember that.
Have a Great Independence Day Weekend!
July 1st, 2010If you’re in Milwaukee over the weekend and want to see one of the better alt/modern rock bands out there today, check out the Silversun Pickups at Summerfest on July 4th. You won’t regret it.
Otherwise, have a great holiday weekend!
In Brief: Home Run Balls, Neighborhood Updates, Sen. Byrd Passing
June 28th, 2010Who’s looking forward to a holiday shortened week? This guy. I bet you are too! Happy 4th of July!
- As I mentioned the other night on the Twitter tube, Carter and I were at the Brewers game on Friday night which in itself isn’t something I’d write about. But with a tie game in the 4th inning, Carlos Gomez hit a towering home run to left field that bounced off the stands and back onto the field. Milton Bradley of the Mariners tossed the ball over to the security guy and he motioned for Carter to come down and then gave him the home run ball. You can watch the video of the homer here. Classy move by the security guy. Needless to say Carter is thrilled although a bit overwhelmed as you can see in this picture as everyone around us was cheering for him. That makes two home run balls we’ve gotten so far this year and I don’t know how many foul balls. The problem now is he and Emerson expect to go to games and get a ball having no idea how big a deal it is to be lucky enough to get one.
- Back in the hood, I’m now serving on the Board of my neighborhood association, the Washington Heights Neighborhood Association. We’re lucky enough to live in one of the best neighborhoods in Milwaukee and I’m looking forward to helping out to make it better!
- On a sad note, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia passed away over night. While most of his 50+ year history is unfamiliar to me and many others, he really made a name for himself to my generation with his vocal opposition to the Iraq War. He accurately predicted that winning the war wouldn’t be the problem, but that “winning the peace” would. I was lucky enough to have a copy of his book “Losing America: Confronting A Reckless and Arrogant Presidency” signed by the Senator himself back in 2004.
In Brief: O’Donnell Park Tragedy, Get Serious About Infrastructure, Lakefront Land Grab Off For Now
June 25th, 2010Happy Friday… Hard to believe the days are now getting shorter and we’re nearly half way through summer!
- Tragedy at O’Donnell Park yesterday. Thoughts and prayers to all those involved in this horrific accident. It put a very somber note on an otherwise great day in Milwaukee.
- While now is not the time to get into the blame game about what happened yesterday and why, it still needs to be addressed. We live in a place where sinkholes abound, concrete is falling off the County Courthouse, and the Hoan bridge is literally falling apart. If you need to put nets under the bridge to catch falling concrete, there might be a problem outside of getting a big net!! This constant punting of putting serious money into our infrastructure is sickening and starting to impact the safety of residents. Elected officials of every party need to get off their butts, stop worrying about how it will play in the next election, and get something done. Now.
- We filed “Notice of Claim” against the Milwaukee County Board on Wednesday and held a press conference to alert the media and public about the War Memorial Corporations plans to pave over park land on Milwaukee’s lakefront. Thankfully, litigation has been averted (for now) as the County Board wisely decided against taking the matter up at their monthly meeting yesterday by a vote of 10-9. The fight is probably not over, but I’m very pleased with the outcome thus far. Thank you to all of you out there who contacted your County Supervisor to ask them to vote no against this important issue.
On a lighter note, this is one of those weekends where Milwaukee really is one of the greatest cities in the Country to live in. First weekend of Summerfest, Greek Fest, Brewers home series, Bradford Beach, etc… Enjoy it!
MPS Cuts Hit Home
June 15th, 2010My wife Jenny was one of the 482 laid off “teachers” who got pink slips over the weekend and are reported on in today’s paper.
While I think there is an obvious need to debate the amount of money paid by workers for health insurance (none at this point for teachers, and we personally don’t use it), how about talking about the inappropriate amount of money being sucked up by the central office “administration”? There are literally thousands of people who work for the MPS administration located about a half block from my house on 52nd & Vliet, and I’ve heard nothing about any cuts taking place with them.
Just look at the top. You have Superintendent Andrekopoulos who makes $260,000+ a year and for what? Some of the worst reading rates in the Country and a graduation rate of around 50%? That hardly seems like the kind of performance that would demand a salary of over a quarter million dollars per year.
Why not start the cuts with him and his staff? Why not trim the fat in MPS administration?
And let me tell you, if the number of Cadillac’s and Lexus’ that roll out of MPS administration at 4:30pm on the dot is any indication of the amount of fat being spared in MPS administration, there’s plenty of fat to be cut. Apparently, cutting first and second year teachers is more important that interrupting the luxury car payments of the folks in the administration building, or heaven forbid, cutting the salary of the people at the top!
For what it’s worth, Jenny has been a school counselor for the past two years and works in a very challenging high school on the north side of town. She’s given two years of her life for those kids and that school and has been promptly rewarded by MPS with a swift kick to the rear.
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and son Carter.
