Cul-de-sac, two days after the storm

A.J. has been spending most of his waking hours playing Webkinz, which is something like The Sims or Second Life for stuffed toys. Each Webkinz toy come with a computer code that, when registered, creates an avatar on the Webkinz site. On the site, Webkinz owners can feed, bathe and dress their Webkinz; read electronic books; or “cook.” The site also has a virtual economy; players can work at different jobs, answer trivia questions and surveys, or play arcade games to earn “Kinzcash” to spend on pet food, furniture, toys, room decorations, classes, spa visits, vacations and “home renovations.”

A.J. pondering a move in Link'd (Connect Four equivalent in Webkinz)

The site is actually quite engaging, which is a mixed blessing. My son certainly has been entertained the past few days, but he hasn’t really wanted to do anything else. He also wants me to play as well. (I bought myself two Webkinz so my son would have someone to interact with on the site.)

I also have mixed feelings about how the Webkinz manufacturers have used the site to encourage future purchases. Access to the Webkinz site expires after a year, and the only way to renew is to buy another Webkinz and register its avatar code. Clever!

In between Webkinz sessions, I have managed to do a few useful things in the real world, but it has been hard to stay focused. Hopefully I’ll do better today. Chris has been doing a much better job than I have of being productive; not only has he shoveled a lot of snow and done laundry, but he has been assembling some shelving units. Good husband!

We’re expecting at least six more inches of snow this afternoon and tomorrow … wow. Guess we’ll be having a few more days of family bonding time!

Oh well. Technically I gave Chris a Kindle for Christmas, but so far I’ve spent more time using it than he has!

1. Peggy needs a vacation. (Sounds good to me!)
2. Peggy needs help selecting some fish. (Is this to replace the office’s dead sea monkeys?)
3. Peggy needs an evil twin. (Hmm.  This has possibilities.)
4. Peggy needs a little help from Laura Bush. (Why?)
5. Peggy needs a home. (I like the one I have, thanks.)
6. Peggy needs to develop a task force to review the assessment to extract specific information and develop specific recommendations. (What do you mean “extract”?)
7. Peggy needs your pearls. (No thanks; I have some of my own.)
8. Peggy needs to talk to the people at “Picture Loans.” (Is this so I can “extract” specific information from them?)
9. Peggy needs a makeover. (Hey, that’s rude!)
10. Peggy needs to calm the hell down. (Sorry, did I overreact to the “makeover” comment?)

1. My nickname is Pegasus. I got this nickname because of the Buddy Holly song “Peggy Sue,” the science fiction show Dr. Who, and the children’s author Dr. Seuss.
2. I am allergic to artificial food coloring (dyes). This means I can’t have most sodas, children’s cereal, candy or frosting, and I have to be careful with processed foods and over-the-counter medicines.
3. I don’t like coffee. I like the smell of coffee, but not the taste.
4. I am terrible with plants; among the ones I have managed to kill are jade plants, a potted chrysanthemum, a miniature pine tree, marigolds grown from seed, an aloe and a cactus. Please don’t ever give me a plant unless you don’t care if it dies.
5. My favorite season is autumn. One of the reasons I like autumn is that I don’t feel guilty about seeing dead or dying plants anywhere.
6. I hate loud noises such as fireworks, thunder, gunshots and popping balloons.
7. I once took a course in belly dancing.
8. I used to take ballet.
9. I have studied karate.
10. I am now several pounds heavier than when I studied belly dancing, ballet and karate.
11. I did not learn to swim until I was 12.
12. I learned to ice-skate at the age of 5.
13. I was born in Buffalo, New York. My family left the city after the Blizzard of 1976, when Buffalo was hit with 14 feet of snow. That’s 14 FEET, not inches.
14. During a student exchange program one summer I lived on a farm in Wales. I realized that I was definitely not cut out to be a farm girl when I tried to help my host father bale some fleece and broke out in hives all over my arms.
15. My first summer job was as a clerk-typist with the U.S. Army Garrison, Okinawa, Japan. It was a lot easier for me than working on a farm.
16. My first language was Taiwanese, a Chinese dialect, but I cannot remember a time when I did not know English. In addition to Taiwanese and English, I know some French, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Welsh, Hebrew and sign language.
17. I play the piano.
18. I used to play the flute. Then I got braces and couldn’t play properly, so I quit.
19. My favorite colors are red and purple. These unintentionally were my wedding colors; red is the traditional color for Chinese weddings, and the only colors that looked good on all four of my attendants were purple and dark green. Since I didn’t want my reception to look like a Christmas party, I went with purple dresses.
20. My parents have been married for nearly 43 years. I hope my husband and I will eventually match, if not beat, their record.
21. I have a younger brother. He lives a lot farther away than I like, but he seems happy.
22. I have 14 first cousins on my father’s side. Most of them live in the United States.
23. I have approximately 12 first cousins on my mother’s side, but I’m not sure. Most of them live in Taiwan.
24. Although I wear glasses, one of my eyes has 20/20 vision. I tried wearing a single contact lens once, but couldn’t get the hang of essentially poking myself in the eye to see properly.
25. I don’t participate in chain letters. I may share a recipe, mail a kid a pack of stickers, or answer a bunch of random questions, but I won’tcontinue the chain. Chain letters stop with me, so don’t ever send me one unless you want it broken.

“Again, the tingling, more like a vibration sweeping over him.” (“The Sleeper,” by Roger Zelazny, in Wild Cards Volume I, edited by George R.R. Martin)

Downloaded and tested various pieces of software onto the new laptop.  I was able to load a driver to access our home printer through the wireless network and loaded two pieces of software I need to update the AAJA-D.C. Web page.  I also successfully tested my access to several work-related Web sites.  So far I’m pleased with the performance of my new machine.  The only thing that bugs me is that the “Delete” key on this machine is in a different place than on the laptop I had to return, so I keep hitting the wrong button.  Oh well.