I brought my car in on Wednesday morning. I had some maintenance that needed to be done, change fuel filter, flush coolant and get a tune up. I also expressly mentioned that the car was [...]]]> I have some mundane news that is slightly humorous, but mostly it’s just annoying and I wish to conclude this episode.

I brought my car in on Wednesday morning. I had some maintenance that needed to be done, change fuel filter, flush coolant and get a tune up. I also expressly mentioned that the car was experienceing an issue starting when the car was cold and the temperature outside was hot! The maintenance work took 3 days, and they called on Friday afternoon to say the car was fixed. When I got to the shop they said it wasn’t running 100%, but it should be fine for now. I asked what that meant and the mechanic tried to show me, but the car would not start! I guess they decided not to listen to me, the car really just needed basic maintenance! Sigh, so I am still without a car.

I have also gotten a gadget fixation again, specifcally I have been wishing I had two things to make my life easier, or at least more fun!

I wish I had a laptop. It would be a modern one, but it certainly doesn’t need all the bells and whistles. I would settle for a Netbook, but I think something like this Gateway Laptop or even better this Toshiba Laptop would be amazing!

I am also looking for an inexpensive digital camcorder. Something like The SVP T1000 or the Kodak Playsport should suit my usage perfectly fine.

Yes, there are plenty of other neat gadgets I would love to pick up, but since I do not have everfull pockets of money, I will list these two and try and work toward them. I would use both of them to do more updating on my current blogs and also to launch some new ones.

I guess I have enough writing here for now, I will do some more updating when I can.

There are a lot of imbalances in my life, things that I need to inspect and reevaluate.

Specifically, this means my career and the choices I have made for one reason or another.

I kind of like helping people, particularly with their computer/network issues. I seem to have a [...]]]> I have been doing a lot of introspective thinking.

There are a lot of imbalances in my life, things that I need to inspect and reevaluate.

Specifically, this means my career and the choices I have made for one reason or another.

I kind of like helping people, particularly with their computer/network issues. I seem to have a knack for it, and I started learning a lot about it.

However, it seems that more and more I am not satisfied working in the IT field. There are too many reasons not to be satisfied with it. I still like working with computers, but the field is not one for me. It does not satisfy me anymore. I am not sure if it ever really did.

I was happiest, particularly in college, when I was taking Philosophy and History courses. I loved Medieval Studies as well.

Now I find that I like reading and writing, and books in general, much more than anything else. I love reading, owning and otherwise handling books. I love reading to Nathaniel, even though it seems that he has so many other things to interest him at this time. Such are children, he will come back to me soon, at least he has not abandoned books.

I feel as if I lost my way. I have Melissa and Nathaniel, and I would not trade that for anything, but I need to figure out the rest of my life.

Is there a way I can make my career focus more on Books, writing, reading or Philosophy? I hope to find out. I am going to try lots of things, as long as I can.

I also think a large part of my problem is that I am not really living my life, I am existing. I think I let my like for Computers and Networks translate into a form of escapism where I stay on the computer so long that I don’t do anything else. I fear that I am instilling that, at least in part, to my son. If we are going to get lost in something I feel it would be much better for it to be a good book.

This is a bit of rambling, something I needed to write. I hope that I will come back to this, take some parts of it, focus on those parts and be much more clear about it in future posts. I need to learn so many things, and no one ever has enough time. I certainly don’t. I must try. I have to take more control of my actions and do more to live and enjoy things.

I hope I succeed. I hope I bring enthusiasm to everything I do from now on. Even some mistakes. I am tired of being tired, it’s time to come alive again!

Blogging will hopefully increase, and I will look to make it much more efficient for me and my life. I don’t want to ditch the internet altogether. Hardly! Instead I want to make a personal social web where I can not only enjoy my time more, but I can also show others how much I enjoy it as well!

Look forward to Terence 2.0. I hope the upgrade goes much better than those put out by Microsoft =)

I am being a bit cagey, but really I think this is very workable and I am very excited. I will [...]]]> I think I had a eureka moment. I had some characters that I developed, but I could never really get the feel of the story I wanted to write. I think I have that now.

I am being a bit cagey, but really I think this is very workable and I am very excited. I will hopefully be writing a little more about it soon.

I now have to finish ‘The Windup Girl‘ which is an awesome book. I thought it was going to be a steampunk themed book. It isn’t, but the book totally rocks anyway!

Let me backstory a little. On Mondays and Tuesdays the Missus works as a nanny for my Aunt’s children and watches AC while she works. [...]]]> Today I woke up and saw my son do something in a new light today, something he has done countless times before but I never really saw how special it was.

Let me backstory a little. On Mondays and Tuesdays the Missus works as a nanny for my Aunt’s children and watches AC while she works. AC sticks around two of the children pretty much the whole day. The first one is Em, a girl who is a month older than AC, and Nick who is about 6 months older.

They constantly play together, or fight together at some times. Pretty much like brothers and sister.

Today I was saying goodbye to go to work. I reached Nick first and said goodbye and hugged him. Then I hugged and said goodbye to AC. Em was a ways away and didn’t want to come to me so I just waved goodbye. AC then said ‘Em’s turn!’ He was telling me that Em should get a hug as well.

I didn’t think of it as particularly special cause I heard him doing that alot. It only occured to me today that Em and Nick do not stand up for anyone except themselves! Out of all three children he is the only one who is consistently exhibits considerate behavior! I wasn’t even sure, because I only see all three together for an hour per day for two days in the week, so I asked the missus. She confirmed that the other two children are rather inconsiderate overall.

I was doubly proud of AC today! He so rocks!

Milk turned out to be easy, as Silk Soy milk is [...]]]> Ok, now that I got that information out in the open the real reason for this entry. I am trying to find substitutes for certain foods that contain the above allergens so my son can eat cool foods and not scratch himself bloody or worse.

Milk turned out to be easy, as Silk Soy milk is readily available in my neck of the woods, and there is even an enhanced version that contains  Omega-3.

Butter is fairly easy also, we use Smart Balance light which contains no milk products but otherwise is a great butter substitute.

Wheat is an ongoing issue, it is in so many things. I have found a good gluten-free pasta substitute, a good gluten-free bread and Betty Crocker even has gluten-free Cake, Brownie and Cookie Mixes.

Eggs seem to be the hardest one to work around. There is no one egg substitute. I keep on looking online to see what people did in certain circumstances. My current experiment is Betty Crocker cookies, and what to use in place of the one egg needed. I was hoping to pick up Ener-G Egg Replacer and see how that works, I was not able to find it locally yet.

There is no eggless mayonnaise. I have to examine and test what Alpha Cub will like and he is not allergic to. I am thinking that a good Guacamole would be an excellent mayo substitute – heck I would love it if N enjoyed Guacamole. It’s healthier than mayo on average and I love it as well. I looked around for a simple recipe so I can learn how to make it.

I am sure that there are other obstacles that I will reach and have to overcome so Alpha Cub can have a wide range of foods that he can enjoy. It used to be a chore, but it’s getting more and more enjoyable as he gets older and his tastes develop.

For my loyal readers, any advice is welcome. New products, old recipes and anything in between so I can prepare fun food for my son. Extra points if it’s cheap, easy and if I like it as well.

I know that it will just take a little practice, and that I will get better the more I write reviews. [...]]]> I guess I am just a little down. I write my Book Reviews partly through stream of conciousness process, and it shows. I can tell at least. I am not exactly happy with the outcome.

I know that it will just take a little practice, and that I will get better the more I write reviews. It does not matter that I know that, my feelings are still bringing me down. I want to be great the first time around, no questions asked. It just doesn’t change my feelings when I know that the world does not work that way.

I just wanted to get these thoughts down. I am trying to get them in the blog so I don’t keep them in my head. I hope it works, and I can move on and write more posts and reviews and get better and better at them.

I can also use a good typing tutor program, if anyone has any ideas. I type ok, but I want to type much faster than I do now.