Current mood:	relaxed
Current music:	Yes - Union

Henry and Sam
First I will start off this evening with this: http://www.cafepress.com/phco1.33581016
If you'd like an explanation, then read this: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_402b.html

We had a relaxing weekend. One interesting thing is that we have a minor mouse problem. Since our family is vegan and all that, we got humane mouse traps. The idea is to catch the mouse and release it to someone else's house. Have any annoying neighbors? I have some mice for them. Actually, that wouldn't be a good option because that's a good way for the mice to die anyway.

So we set the traps Friday night. Saturday I realized they were set in error, apparently there was a little misunderstanding resulting in the conclusion that no, the mice "can't push open the little door" - it is spring latched and is the basis of the trap. So last night after running the dishwasher I heard a little "click" in the cupboards. After some discussion we decided to keep the mouse in a plastic bin overnight with some newspapers etc. No problem. Everyone went to bed, and I went to help mistergrumpy fix a little plumbing mishap. (This was about midnight). We got the plumbing fixed, got some food, drank some beer, and then saw some trains. Not bad. Bed at 2:30.

I woke up this morning with "we got another mouse". By the time I was conscious the kids had named them "Henry and Sam". The neighbors across the street gave us an aquarium to transfer the mice. That process resulted in one mouse's freedom - no, I don't know if it was Henry or Sam - and boy am I glad I did that outside. All the while I thought my wife was crazy, but as it turns out the remaining mouse is actually pretty cute, and it's been fun to see the kids get a kick out of it. We've decided to set the traps repeatedly to gather as many mice as possible, and we will then take them all to the nearest farm for depositing. I'll post some photos later on.


Another thing worth sharing... I started off last week very well, taking lots of advice from that book my boss got for me. Somehow by the end of the week I was completely insane. I'm not even sure why. I guess I'm going through what I'll call an "emotional growth spurt" which I'll describe as a cyclical period of re-evaluation of different things. Mostly this phase is focused on self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-improvement. Yes, you can see I'm a self-ish bastard. ;)

Well anyway, I got word that there was a relatively rare railroad movement south of Butler on a line that is very interesting that I've not paid much attention to. Circumstances allowed for me to take my youngest daughter for a ride "to find a train", and I was able to catch up with this Buffalo & Pittsburgh move near Bakerstown (along Route 8). Here are some shots: http://www.jalexlang.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=86

And with that, I'm going to hit the sack now. This is my last week of freedom before my final semester of MSIT classes. In five months' time I'll finally have a Masters' which is something I've wanted for a long time...