Bad parenting

Today, Shlomik asked me for a cookie. A big cookie, at least 4" in diameter. I gave it to him and I'll give him another one later. Why would I give my 2 year old a big, not healthy cookie instead of something that's good for him? That's because I'm a bad parent. I've managed to convince him that rice cakes are cookies. Who needs a small cookie, when you can have a cookie that's at least twice the size and is always soft!

I don't have soda in my house or any of those sugar filled snacks that parents so love to give to their kids. The group that my son goes to has home cooked meals and snacks, a big reason for why he's there considering the price they charge. No sugar snacks at home and no sugar snacks in day care and when my dad picks him up from group and they go for a walk, the cookie is a saltine.

Right now, he's sitting on my lap and eating another one of his favorite snacks, raisins.

Summer Special from Bank of America

From June 1st through August 31st, Bank of America will be giving 3 points per dollar on groceries and gas for its WorldPoints customers. Starting from 25,000 points, this becomes 3% cash back. Time to put away your other 3% back credit cards and start using your WorldPoints credit card.

Some of my friends say that it's too much bother to juggle cash back credit cards, going for that top dollar return. I get over $600 back per year, they get nothing.

Digital picture frames on shabbos

I was looking through the google analytics stats for my sites and noticed something very peculiar. Someone ended up on my main site by searching for "digital picture frames on shabbos". What I really want to know is the reason someone might search for this. Did some frummy decide that for some insane reason picture frames might be a problem on shabbos? Why would it be a problem? I can't even come up with a bad excuse, forget about a good one. Air conditioner is not a problem, neither is the crock pot or water urn. So what's wrong with a digital frame?

I have a digital frame which I turn on specifically for shabbos. Once I started using a digital camera, I don't make prints anymore. After everyone's been complaining on and on about no pictures of my son from the day he was born, I decided that a digital picture frame is cheaper and more innovative than printing pictures. After I bought the frame, I bought frames for our parents so they would also get off my back and stop asking me to print pictures for them.

A digital picture frame is a great gadget to have. Buy one, at least 7", loaded with pictures and place it within view of your shabbos table!

I'll be nicer if you'll be smarter

I get a call Saturday night at 10:45PM, that's almost 90 minutes after shabbat was over. It's a woman from shul and someone told her that I know something about tomorrow's BBQ. What BBQ?

Now this woman has called after 10 before and I told her that she's not to call even after 9 and if she wants to reach me or my wife, we both have cell phones and email. I tell her that I don't know anything about any BBQ and why is she calling me at 11 when she knows I have a 2 year old kid and when I specifically told her last time not to call after 9. She has the nerve to tell me that it's not actually 11, it's 10:45. I was pissed off when I picked up the phone, now I'm pissed off more. It's been 90 minutes since shabbat was over, why is she calling now? Why is she calling at all about something that will be tomorrow night and no I don't know any details. So she gets all defensive and is like "well, I made a mistake but you shouldn't talk to me that way." FU, if you're stupid and inconsiderate and do things without thinking, I'll talk to you however I want to make sure you never call here again.

There's a shirt I'm always planning on buying and never manage to, maybe next time there's a sale. On the shirt it's written, "I'll be nicer if you'll be smarter."

Cured Salmon

Here's a quick, fun recipe for making your own lox.

You'll need fresh salmon, make sure it looks nice and red and not spoiled when you buy it. Kosher salt and sugar for salting and for spices, I'm currently using dill and dry mint.

Remove skin from the salmon pieces. Mix together 3 parts salt and 1 part sugar and sprinkle on both sides making sure there's a nice even layer. Very sparsely sprinkle dill on both sides. For each side, crumble 1 dry mint leaf with your fingers and sprinkle on top of the dill. Cover with another plate and refrigerate for 24 hours. Check the salmon occasionally and remove any liquid from the plate.

To make the cure salmon resemble lox, place a 1lb metal can, for example, of tomato sauce, on top. The sugar to salt ratio can be varied as long as there's at least 2 parts salt to 1 part sugar. For flavoring you can also use parsley, crushed black pepper or any other spices you like.

Stewie annoys Lois

Every time Shlomik sees this, he wants me to play it over and over and over and over...
In the end he also says "hi" and laughs.

Colorful dreams

There's an urban legend that most people dream in black and white. Why an urban legend? Because everyone I asked said they dream in color. I'm pretty sure that all my dreams are in color and I don't recall ever dreaming in black and white. Supposedly, you would be unable to read in your dreams and the letters would appear as gibberish. I don't remember seeing books or newspapers in my dreams, but I do remember signs with numbers and letters and they were quiet legible.

One weird thing about my dreams is how I fly. I once dreamed I was able to fly by flapping my ears. No, this was not after watching Dumbo and it was actually very difficult to do. My usual way of taking to the skies is gliding like a ninja. I would jump up and kinda glide forward and downwards as if I had a glider attached to my back. Ironically, these dreams were before I watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Naruto.