An Open Letter to Don't Kick the Baby

Dear Don't Kick the Baby,

We, The Frumpy Index, have some issues. The first, and most pressing, is that one of our bandmates is suffering from a ganglion cyst (don't click this link if you don't want to see an example of a ganglion cyst out of the wrist). This makes it virtually impossible for her to play guitar, and slightly painful to bang on the drums. Her singing, of course, is still spot on perfect, but nobody wants to sing on Rock Band all the time. In short, our Rock Band time has suffered.

The second issue is that Mario Kart rocks. Wouldn't it make a lovely Valentine's Day present for Eryn? I think it would.

We did catch up a little bit last night, but it's slow going.

When would you like to have a jam session? Friday night appears to be free for us.

Sincerely,

The Frumpy Index

And, since this is a Photo Blog, I give you a picture of The Frumpy Index:

Lego Tournament

Yes, I'm still alive. Barely. It's been cold, it's been snowy, there have been sick kids, and my blogging has suffered. Hopefully this post will restore your faith and hope in humanity.

Last Saturday Koleman and his Lego team participated in the State Tournament. It was a long, mostly good day. Their robot didn't do exactly what it was supposed to all the time, so they were disappointed with peformance scores. Here's a picture of one of their performances. The fact that you can see gray balls on the table means the robot was naughty.



However, on the plus side, they got a cool trophy for winning the Innovative Design award. Their robot was one of only two that attempted to pick up the balls (as opposed to pushing them). They had a cool cage with rubber bands that slammed down on top of the balls, capturing them.



It also used light sensors to track along the purple in the rainbow, and a touch sensor to know when it hit the wall. The problem is that it never did what it was supposed to. That's why they have an Innovative Design award - it rewards teams who take interesting approaches to solve problems, even if that approach ends up not working.



Here's the team (one member is in Australia, so they had to replace her with a remote control car):



And here is Koleman, sporting a FLL Participation Medal and lovingly holding the nifty trophy. Much cooler than the trophies I used to get.

Wordle

Scooter clued me in to Wordle, which is a fun little tool. Scooter has drawn the ire of the creator of Wordle by claiming that it isn't accurate. I have to disagree, because my Wordle results are perfect:



Right now my entire life revolves around becoming an Italian barista who makes espresso drinks. Right now I'm having the basic espresso. But later I'll make a cappuccino, or a latte macchiatto, or a mocha. And who knows - tonight I might make my brilliant espresso martini. Why do you think I don't post anything about the kids anymore? It's because they're not espresso drinks!

Another stop for Unemployed Gary

Once my dad is unemployed, he's going to be driving around trying to find people who will give him free coffee. I wonder if St. Peter will make his list if he knows that somebody has mastered the fine art of making a mocha.



Yum.

For the Scooters - Rock Band 2 Fail

Hey Scooters! Do you think you're the only family that can fail at Rock Band 2? We can fail too!