Jane knows my biggest pet peeve. It's being pigeon-holed and judged on the basis of classic negative stereotypes of a man and/or father. I remember the first day of a child-rearing class when the instructor thanked everyone for being there, especially us Dads. Why especially? Why assume that every Dad had to be dragged kicking and screaming to spend a few hours trying to improve their parenting skills, when they could have been home watching ESPN drinking beer? It makes my blood boil. Jane is good at running interference and cutting people (her friends) off when they head in that direction.

i no longer give people "yes" or "no" confirmation when invited to any type of event
(Beyond my control) [via Being Dad]

Verry Funny:
Please, God, don't let him be a penis grabber

"We're there on the playground (at least I am), but the gaggle of women deconstructing mommy minutiae over by the swing set doesn't know what to do with me/us, so they do nothing." [The New Dad]

It's not just the playground, but parties and almost any get together. My experience is that there are men-friendy women and non men-friendly women. Some women assume that men only want to hang around with other men and talk about sports, barbeque and beer, and rarely give them the time of day. It can actually be hard to engage in conversation with women, especially if they are in a group. Women that make eye contact and reach out to me are a welcome surprise.

Two good articles about Dad's roles in raising kids [Via Being Daddy]

The mama lion at the gate
Fatherhood in flux Emotional closeness with children eludes many dads

New Errant Parenting Entry

Here is some news on the internet about M. R. and his recent debut with the Texas Rangers:

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Carl Everett hit a three-run homer, Mark Teixeira had three RBIs and Mario Ramos earned his first major league victory as the Texas Rangers halted an eight-game losing streak by holding off the Oakland Athletics 7-6 Tuesday night.
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Ramos (1-1) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings to slow the streaking A's, who had won nine of 10.
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Ramos beat Oakland's top winner, Mark Mulder (10-5), who dropped to 8-5 lifetime against the Rangers.

Ramos Sharp as Rangers hold on (great article)
ARLINGTON -- Mario Ramos stood at his locker with a shaving cream pie dripping off his face, and felt great about it.

"Getting a pie in the face probably means that I did something good," Ramos said. "You're probably not going to get a pie in the face if you give up nine runs."

He's right. Unless your name is Moe, Larry or Curly.

So the Rangers can thank Ramos for his part in their 7-6 win against the A's on Tuesday, a victory that snapped an eight-game losing streak and served as a temporary diversion against the Juan Gonzalez trade talks that consumed the afternoon.

For his part, Gonzalez is staying for now. His agent said the player vetoed a trade to the Montreal Expos.

Ramos (1-1) could be staying as well, only for completely different reasons. The rookie's performance on Tuesday might have earned him another start.

"I think (adjusting) is something that can't really happen until you go through pitching at this level," Ramos said. "I'm still trying to navigate my way through those feelings."

The left-hander allowed four hits and two runs in six solid innings for his first Major League victory. He walked two batters and struck out three, logging 97 pitches.

"Hopefully, we can look back on this down the road," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "It's only good if you learn from it."

Ramos ran into trouble early in the game, but retired his final nine batters after allowing a home run to Eric Chavez in the fourth.

"I just wanted the Texas Rangers to win tonight," Ramos said. "I had some family in town tonight and I wanted to make it special for them."

But Ramos did not hide the fact that the victory came against Oakland, the team that traded him away before the 2002 season, made the night even more special. He lost his first attempt at a victory in his Major League debut against the A's last week.

"I really didn't have any room to think about it last time," Ramos said. "But in a way, it's gratifying in itself."
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Jun 23 Ramos has been recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma by the Texas Rangers. The lefthander, who takes the roster spot of the demoted R.A. Dickey, is 6-6 with a 3.13 ERA in 14 starts between Double-A Frisco and Oklahoma in 2003. Ramos is scheduled to start Thursday's game against the Oakland A's.

2002 Prospect Report
Mario Ramos -- LHP -- Middle of the Rotation Starter: With a record of 30-9 over his first two minor league seasons, Ramos has emerged as among the top lefthanded pitching prospects in baseball and was a key component to the prospect-filled deal with the Athletics over the off season.

The 24-year-old Ramos led the A's system with 16 victories and a 3.10 ERA while conquering the two highest levels in the minor leagues last season.

Ramos, who went 14-5 between Class A and AA in 2000, began by going 8-1 in 15 starts in the Class AA Texas League. Ramos was moved to Class AAA at the end of June and won seven of his first eight decisions there. He tossed a two-hit shutout on July 17 and matched a season-high with 11 strikeouts over eight innings of one-hit, scoreless ball on August 23.

A sixth-round pick in the 1999 draft after helping Rice University to the College World Series, the 5-11 Ramos is a heady pitcher with great control and a solid curveball. Though his fastball only hits as high as the upper 80's, he does a great job of keeping hitters off balance with an exceptional changeup.

KFTY Santa Rosa
Arlington, TX (Sports Network) - Mario Ramos pitched six solid innings for his first major league win, as the Texas Rangers held off a furious Oakland rally to earn a 7-6 victory over the Athletics in the second of a four-game series at the Ballpark.

Jamey Newberg's Texas Rangers Minor Leagure Report (perhaps worth checking back on)
The Newberg Report -- June 25, 2003
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I want to talk eventually about what Mario Ramos did last night, but it will have to wait for the next report. Encouraging work.
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The Scaramento Bee (Another great article)

OAKLAND - Mario Ramos has been looking forward to today since he signed with the A's as a sixth-round draft pick in 1999. It just hasn't worked out the way he expected.

Ramos, a former Oakland prospect who starred with the River Cats in 2001, will make his major- league debut for the Texas Rangers today - against Mark Mulder and the A's. A year ago, he would have been among those betting he'd never make it.

"He's had a tough time of it," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "It's been a tough pill for him. But he's a tough little hombre. I'm glad we can reward him."

In Sacramento, the 5-foot-9 Ramos posted an 8-3 record and a 3.14 ERA. A's first-base coach Bob Geren, who was the Cats' manager at the time, marveled at the 180-pound left-hander.

"He could throw it by people that guys with more velocity couldn't," Geren said.

During the winter, however, Ramos was packaged with three other minor-leaguers and shipped to Texas for Carlos Pena and Mike Venafro. The Rangers hoped the native Texan would flourish.

Instead, he struggled from Opening Day. And "struggled" is being kind.

A former star at Rice, Ramos went 3-8 for the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks. After 19 starts, he was demoted to the bullpen, and when the final tally was taken, opponents had batted a lusty .321 against him, sending Ramos home with a 7.40 ERA.

"He was pitching very well when he left us," Geren said. "But when we went to Oklahoma City (in '02), he wasn't the same pitcher. He'd skated through the minors to that point without hitting a bump in the road.

"But everybody hits a bump at some point. It's how you handle it that decides whether a guy's going to make it or not."

Rangers assistant general manager Grady Fuson, who had been the A's scouting chief, said Ramos was "devastated" by the trade and as the struggle got worse he "completely lost his confidence."

Back at Double-A this spring, Ramos posted a 3.32 ERA in 13 starts. And though he lost his one Triple-A start, he pitched well enough - five hits in eight innings in a 2-0 loss to Nashville - to earn his assignment today.

"He never wallowed in it," Showalter said. "He never felt sorry for himself. He just went back and did what he had to do to get here."

Because he won't be officially added to the roster until today, Ramos was forbidden from being at the park and had to watch Wednesday night's game from the Rangers' San Francisco hotel.

Fantasy Baseball Realm
SP-Mario Ramos(25) Brought over in exchange for ultra-hyped Carlos Pena, Ramos was supposed to contend for a rotation spot after the break but instead endured a horrific season at Oklahoma in which he lost command of his pitches, primarily his fastball.

Fantasy Baseball Headquarters
Season Prognosis: Ramos does not throw very hard; his fastball tops out at 88 MPH. He has great control, however, and is very smart on the mound. He will contend for a spot in Oakland's starting rotation this spring.

Message Board
Stats

TV Purchasing choices

Horrible Time to Buy a TV [What do I Know]

World's shortest stories

[W6 Daily]

(Sample. My set doesn't have a box)

I'm so excited. My mom found my Renaissance Chess Set that I grew up with. And as a bonus the box also held the Stratego game pieces. Didn't have either of the boards but that's okay, I made some. We don't have a large chess board and the Stratego uses a 10x10 checkerboard rather than the standard 8x8.

They say chess is the best game to play with your kids. I've looked but couldn't bring myself to buy any of the boards I've seen. Especially, with young kids, I don't think there is a better set than the Renaissance set with the real-life figurines. I've played with Cassidy, David AND Kristen. So far they seem to like it. Strategy will come later, they are just learning how to move the pieces.

I had a friend that nicknamed me Milton Bradley because of all the board games I had. I'm happy to pass along my love of board games to my kids.

We just had 8 swing sets (2 bucket) with kiddie cushion added to our small park. Nicely done.

I have six years to prepare myself for the teenage years. Lily and Amy are in the thick of it now.
Granted, this is pretty mild, considering: Playboy's Bunny Hops Into Teens' Closets

Our four day trip to Port Aransas was lots of fun. Definitely the most enjoyable for me. Mainly because the kids had so much fun and I enjoyed watching them. The pools at the Mayan Princess are so great for the kids. The large 2-3 foot kiddie pool allowed Kristen to go without water wings. I could not believe Kristen's enthusiasm for wanting to swim on her own. I can't imagine a better way to spend Father's Day than to be in the Pool with Kristen and walking backwards like a crab as she kicks furiously over my chest with her face in the water being so proud of her ability to "swim". David impressed me as well. He took his thumbnail shaped floatie and "rode" the waves on his own.

We took about 13 minutes of video. I'll try to edit it and post clips on our website.

Celebrity Prank Calls [Joe Grossberg]

I just finished reading The New Gender Gap, the May cover story of Business Week.
Also read "Commentary: Why Can’t We Let Boys Be Boys?"
I suppose I can believe that boys are falling behind, but it doesn't concern me.

What is happening out in the general population doesn't have to effect what happens to my kids. Only if schools and teachers are the only educational influences would I be concerned. There is still lots of boys achieving, there is just more girls than ever also achieving. I only care about David so the fact that there is a widening gap doesn't necessarily have to affect David.

School IS tougher than it ever has been. So much more is expected at an earlier age. I worry more about the social aspects of growing up and going to school than the academic ones.

I think boys will always be squirmier than girls, which is to their learning detriment. Just this week I played Monopoly with Cassidy and David and David, although he enjoyed it and was involved, spent half the time standing on his head! Girls have their own challenges; one of them being they are far more concerned with appearances and "being liked" than boys, which could hender their educational process.

Thanks, Aunt Martha for the link to the article. I'm always interested in child-rearing, educational articles.

Kid's Portal

Engrish.com [What Do I Know]

Being intelligent in finding ways to save money is a valuable skill. It is, I would argue, an equally valuable skill to know when you're better off just paying a premium to not have to think about a project so that you can focus on things that will bring in a greater turn on investment.[Joe User]

I often work hard to save money in areas I am knowledgeable in. Othertimes I'm willing to spend extra to avoid the extra effort to save money. You have to decide for yourself what those times are.

Kristen hasn't worn a diaper in a week. A few accidents but we are on our way to a poop-free environment. Yeah!

What is a Weblog?
This is actually my favorite article explaining what a weblog is

Business card origami

A Theory of Everything
An opinion piece on why the world hates the US

Wireless real-time photo blog
This guy has a cell-phone that takes pictures and blogs them to his website.
Kinda neat.

Leasing
I have to admit we are big-time leasers.
We've leased 5 of our last 6 cars. Currently both the Odyssey and the Murano.
In the end I'm sure it is more expensive but there is a value to leasing that we enjoy that people focused only on numbers only don't always appreciate.

Frankly the value of being in a new car and the flexibility of being in the RIGHT car at the right time almost makes it worth it.

All our lease terms have been for 36 months. It's a sweet spot since many warranties are that long. Often leasing companies will extend it to 39 to reduce payments. Three years also turns out to be a good length because three years seems to be the time our eyes start roaming for a new car. We also always get a 15,000/yr contracts rather than 12,000/yr. You pay a little more for 15k but we find that is how much we drive. Going over 12k and paying per-mile excess fees would be worse.

Our first lease was an Explorer. Jane wanted something bigger so she moved up to an Expedition next. Then she felt it drove too much like a truck so we moved to an Odyssey. Now she doesn't like the mini-van stigma and may very well move back to an SUV late next year. We'll most likely get a car with a DVD player next as well.

The Explorer, she claims, is actually her favorite car so far. I'm thinking the Honda Pilot (which I considered) might be sweet next time around but believe it or not she keeps mentioning a Suburban! You see how fickle consumer's are? It's fun though, to have choices.

My first leased car was an Acura Vigor. I loved it. It was my chick-magnet car (for me) and was what I was driving when I met Jane (see it worked). After three years and a new baby, I felt I should be in a more "practical" car so I walked into a Chevy dealership and negotiated a good deal on a Lumina. Negotiations actually included having them purchase my Vigor for more than the residual value! Of course I lied and told them it was paid for. In the end they didn't care, but I got the price-difference.

I missed my Vigor. I realized that I had been spoiled and in the future would be happiest only in at least a "near-luxury" car like the mid-line Acura. Jane loved my Vigor too and never liked the four-door Lumina. She said it was a Grandfather car. Ouch! On the other hand, her comments paved the way for my next car; the new Acura CL. The CL was a sportier version of the Vigor. We loved it. Three years passed and my car was growing up and starting school, oops that's my kids; anyway my lease was about to expire. Each year the bank that "owns" the car and holds the title tries to get you to buy the car. I didn't really consider it.

This past school year, I was taking David and Kristen to preschool three days a week and was doing the car-seat fire drill moving car seats between my car and Jane's car. Eventually we left one in my car and had David in a seat-belt only. It was still a bit of a hassle getting David and Kristen in the backseat of my 2-door. And I certainly couldn't ever use my car if I had all three kids since it wasn't safe for Cassidy to be in the front-seat with the passenger air-bag.

The Murano on paper and in practice was the perfect car for me. It had the performance and luxury of the Acura's I was accustomed to. It has 245/hp! I loved the styling, it was spacious and I could fit my whole family! Talk about getting your cake and eating it too! I can see myself purchasing this style of car, but being a brand new model, I felt leasing was the way to go. In my mind, if I'm pretty certain I want to keep a car more than three years, that's when I'll switch to buying (not if I want to impersonate a Grandfather ;-) ). Right now there are lots of "cross-overs" like the Murano so in three years the choices should be interesting.

Our first lease was with D&M Leasing out of Austin. I really liked the guy we worked with (Jeff) and even after moving to Austin we continued to get cars from him. He has relationships with banks and dealerships and I feel the Dallas area offers more choices. He personally delivers the car and drives the old car back to Dallas!

Leasing can be kinda complicated but be assured there is still room for negotiation. The price of the car, the interest rate of the loan, the residual value assigned by the bank giving the loan (or the dealership), the mileage allowance, free oil-changes (offered by some leasing agents, not D&M), all allow some wiggle room in the final monthly payment. Jeff is always forth-coming in sharing and explaining all the data in the lease contract. I really trust him.

I try to have several model cars in mind and consider the residual value when making my decisions. Hondas have great residual values which of course means our payments are lower since we're basically "paying" the difference of the car price and the residual value after three years. I always call Jeff for advice and his insights on cars/values are always valuable. I never put any money down (capitalization reduction) to lower my montly payments. I think it kinda defeats the purpose of leasing and the fact I can leave that money somewhere else (or spend it) is one of the big advantages of leasing. The lower payments of course is the other obvious benefit. We simply would not be able to afford the cars we want (both of us) had we had to purchase.

After contacting Jeff a few months before my CL's lease was up and researching what car I wanted, I decided to go visit a Nissan dealership to drive a Murano to see if it lived up to it's expectations. It did. My intent was to simply go back home and give Jeff the go-ahead to find the Murano with the options I wanted. The dealership of course was not going to let me go without trying to sell me. They succeeded, but only because I had done my homework and recognized a good deal when they offered it to me. I had already gotten a quote from Jeff and knew that the Murano was going to be a little more than the Acura CL. The dealership was able to beat Jeff's quote but only after I rejected their first two offers. Actually, I had a figure in mind that I set low which I didn't think they could meet but they did, with a little negotiation. I rejected their first offer because they matched my target monthly payment by extending the lease to 39 months. The second concession I asked for was to increase the mileage allowance from 12k to 15k. The sales guy was young and the fact he didn't point those two items out gave me the ammunition to reject their offer (you know how it is, they make you sign a paper stating you agree to a price so they can 'take' it to their manager).

I felt bad about having to tell Jeff I wasn't doing the Murano with him. He may very well have been able to match the lower offer if given a chance, I'll never know. The dealership valued the Murano more than the bank, however, and was starting with a higher residual value than I think Jeff was getting quoted.


Benefits of leasing (I put a lot of value in the "service" and time-saving benefits):
1. Lower monthly payments (about $200-$300 lower though it depends on interest rate and downpayment used for purchase)
2. No down-payment
3. Enjoy new cars every three years
4. I can easily switch to a different car when I get tired of my current car or it doesn't fit our lifestyles.
5. Don't have to hassle with repair bills or the HASSLE of taking cars into the shop for repairs
6. I love being able to call Jeff, tell he what I want, and he delivers it. I trust I'm getting a good deal. Though I'm confident of my negotiating skills and have experience buying cars, I'd just rather not hassle with it.
7. I don't have to worry about selling any cars.
8. I know ahead of time what I'm paying for. Buying a car and selling it later, you don't know what it will be worth. The Expedition was a great deal because Banks overestimated what Expeditions would be worth. We probably could have bought it from them at below the residual value.

Downside of Leasing:
1. You have to watch your miles
2. You have to take care of your cars or you'll be hit with "excessive-wear" charges
3. You pay more compared to buying and keeping a car many years

Yesterday was the yearly Capital City Mortgage appreciation shrimp/crawfish boil. Last year it was on the Large Marge; this year they held it at the Common's Ford Ranch. I didn't realize it was an Austin PARD facility. It is very convenient to us and has lake access; we'll have to take the kids there to run-around. We didn't bring them to the party.