Disney's Pixar studios know their stuff. Seriously.
Jack is a hge fan of Cars. Not the play items (although that as well), I am talking the movie, Cars. He will watch that thing time and time again. We dont' let him watch a lot of TV, but this is the exception.
So he is, as you know, about 20 months old. That's it. In Cars there are about 15 characters...and he can rattle them all off verbatim.
And they say you can't market to kids!
The boy knows his shit!
Some people are givers.
There really isn't any other way to say it.
Neal Bauer is one of them.
Hard at work as always
Saturday he volunteered...yes that's right, VOLUNTEERED...to leave his wife with two screaming kids, a mountain of work, and cleaning, and dinner to cook, to come and help me move a piano into my house.
This ordeal was made worse when, despite his new fitness regimen of jogging 2 miles every other day since January 1, he threw out his back lifting the piano into my house. Then, he crushed a toenail sliding it.
This makes me think that I am so lucky to have friends like that.
Well, that and the fact that I need to get movers with coordination.
Nim is starting to get older and older. Well, I guess she isn't 'starting' to get older...I just didn't want to believe it!
It kind of hit home this weekend though when she asked for computer for her room. Now, I know she isn't about to bust out spreadsheets and such, but it was still a shock to us.
Poised for a future of cubical work
Right now she just wants to get on the internet and check out the Disney site, and the Nickelodeon page, which is cool, but she is learning so much at school, and it is so different to what I was learning at that age.
We have the older laptop, and are thinking about just putting that in her room. It is wireless so the web could still work. Only one problem...Jack! If he gets a hold of it, the laptop is history!
This is what daddy looks like at work!
She even asked to play her Gwen Stefani CD in the laptop while she was playing. Headphones of course...for privacy!!
Oh crap, the boss is looking!
Ahhh...technology!
The aim wasn't there at the start...
..but it started to get better...
...and better...
...until eventually...
...everyone was happy.
I have a new title. Sure, most of you know me under a number of guises (most of them good!) but I officially have another one now: President/CEO.
Help for Daddy was officially kicked off today. By this I mean filed with the State of Oregon, and ready to roll. We got confirmation of the receipt and are good to go!
What is Help for Daddy? Well, it is my new non-profit group started up to help divorcing fathers get a jump start on a new life...one where they are able to enjoy something I don't...equal custody of their children.
There is a lot to talk about, and this is something that I am unbelievably passionate about, and you will be able to read all about it on our new website. The site isn't up yet, as I am planning all the marketing and web design to launch at the same time.
Soon though, http://www.HelpForDaddy.com will be coming to a neighborhood near you!
Stay tuned.
For original context, click here.
CINCINNATI - Customers at some suburban pizza parlors are getting something extra with their pepperoni and mushrooms — wanted posters for parents accused of failing to pay child support.
The idea came to Cynthia Brown, executive director of the Butler County Child Enforcement Agency, while she was ordering pizza.
"It suddenly dawned on me that most people running from the law don't eat out, they order pizza," said Brown, whose county is north of Cincinnati.
Enforcement agencies across the country use a variety of methods to locate support scofflaws and collect past-due payments. Virginia has issued subpoenas to cellular phone companies seeking addresses and phone numbers. California's Kern County seizes and auctions parents' vehicles, with proceeds going to the children, said Kay Cullen, a spokeswoman for the National Child Support Enforcement Association.
State child support agencies collected more than $23 billion in child support for 17.2 million children in 2005, but the cumulative past-due child support since the agencies were first formed more than 30 years ago is $106 billion, Cullen said.
"While we have made progress, putting the wanted posters on pizza boxes is an example of the innovation and commitment that we need," she said.
Other Ohio counties put posters on their Web sites and work with local Crime Stoppers programs, and a few contract with companies that can track people through rental and cell phone records, according to the Ohio Child Support Directors Association. Some include fliers in water and sewer bills.
Butler County has printed posters with mug shots of its 10 most-wanted parents, placing them in post offices and other government buildings and sending them to Ohio's 87 other counties. The lineup, chosen by prosecutors, is changed twice a year.
The Butler County sheriff's office served 1,224 nonsupport warrants last year, said sheriff's Sgt. Todd Langmeyer. The county has about 350,000 residents.
Brown approached several restaurants and chains with her idea of affixing the posters to pizza boxes, but so far only three pizzerias are participating.
Since the first pizza posters appeared in August, they have led to one arrest, Langmeyer said. "It's a good idea any time you can put the faces out there," he said.
The owner of Karen's Pizzeria hasn't heard any complaints about her participation in the poster program.
"Some customers joke about it and say they're glad they aren't on it," Karen Willis said. "Most seem to think it's a good idea."
An attorney who focuses on fathers' rights cases called the tactic "horrible."
"It's just a way of shaming people," said Maury Beaulier, whose firm is in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Many circumstances can cause people to get behind in support payments, but that doesn't make them deadbeats, he said.
Widespread public shaming also can devastate the children, said Michael McCormick, executive director of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children.
"Think how children feel to see a parent on a wanted poster and know their friends might see it," he said.
Brown said her agency tries to work with parents by trying to help them find work and seeks most payments through civil court. Criminal charges are a last resort. Conviction on a felony count of failing to pay child support brings a prison sentence of up to 18 months, with fines usually set in the amount of the support owed.
"We aren't trying to penalize these people," Brown said. "We are just trying to help the kids who have a right to be supported."
I actually have a legitimate reason for not blogging this last week. Seriously.
I was in Las Vegas!! That's right, practically the whole week was spent in Sin City for an event called Globalshop. Long story short, it is a POP show that is the biggest one of the country, so I was there with some work people from Tuesday through Saturday.
Anywhere else you wouldn't need the sign!
I could bore you with all the details of the show, but I won't do that. It was cool, but not earth shattering like last time. There were a few good ideas that came out of it, but we shall see how it pans out in the grand scheme of things.
The coolest part though was the dinners. We had a lot of big vendors there, and so we got wined and dined like fools! It was awesome.
First up was the Mandalay Bay which was cool. The view from the bar called Mix on the 64th floor was spectacular to say the least! We saw the whole strip. Awesome!
We drove to the Hoover Dam, which is in Arizona technically...by about 1/2 mile!
We went to Bouchon in the Venetian, a very fancy French restaurant. That was cool too, but a little too stuffy.
We ate at Nine, which in the Palms Hotel, and we went to the Playboy Bar in the same hotel. That was not all it was cracked up to be, but I will take it anyway. I was only there for the articles!
Steph flew out on Thursday, and that was cool. We visited the Hoover Dam (second time for me, first for her) and that was nice. I keep forgetting simply how massive that place is.
Hard to believe James Bond made it down there!
I got upgraded by Hertz which was nice. I was supposed to get a minivan (due to our group size) but because I rent so damn much from them, I got an automatic upgrade to a 2007 Lincoln Navigator! Sweet ride. I felt like Royalty!
We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, which was nice. Very musical theme as you would imagine, but the hotel is nothing special. It was our choice, and I think that next time I will stay on the Strip. The Hard Rock is a few blocks behind the MGM Grand.
I could see the iconic guitar from my hotel window.
The high light however, came with one of our vendors. They took myself, Stephanie, and one of my coworkers to the "Gun Store" (actual name!) to go and shoot machine guns. That's right. Not little hand guns which you can do practically anywhere, but real live machine guns!
It was like a menu at a restaurant. You literally picked you weapon, and went and shot it!
I picked an AK-47 as my weapon of choice, and shot 100 rounds with it. Damn! What a rush !
Steph had an UZI as hers, and we did pretty good I thought. So much fun, and I can totally see why people get addicted to it. I will be back for sure next time I am in Vegas.
Steph was a much better shot than me, and it showed from her final target groupings. Mine were all over the place, where as hers were really all around the head. I blamed it on the power of my weapon.
Clearly you wouldn't want to mess with her!
So, in summary, Vegas kicked ass. 5 days was too long, but all the events and the goings on were well worth the wait! Can't wait for next year!
This book is horrific.
I cannot believe that this lawyer is so openly blatant about it. The words they use etc are disgraceful.
Click here to see.
If you can't read the link, just read the excerpt below...
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Ladies, when it comes to supporting their kids, some men are downright clueless. They just can't understand the bank-breaking costs involved in raising children. The guy could be rich and famous, like former New Edition band member Bobby Brown, whose ex-girlfriend Kim Ward reportedly lost her home in 2004 when he stopped paying her $5,000 a month in child support for their two children, LaPrincia and Bobby, Jr., or poor and nameless, like the man next door who's got a regular nine-to-five job. It makes no difference who he is. Some daddies are definitely deadbeats.
I am not trying to call all men dogs. In fact in the ten years I have been practicing family law, I have had the honor of representing dozens of good men. They are proud fathers who put their kids first and will freely endure any sacrifice if it will somehow benefit their little ones. Still, the sad reality is that for every "do right daddy" out there, you can find at least one other guy who would rather die than support his own offspring.
You may have seen these half-stepping men before-you can't miss them. They are usually the ones profiling around the neighborhood in pricey cars they can't afford, with gold-digging women they can't maintain. From their attitude, you would think they are made of cash, but let their baby mamm ask for a few dollars for some Pampers or milk, and all of sudden Mr. Money has a cash-flow crisis and is full of excuses: "Um,um,um, I didn't get paid this week. Catch up with me next Friday" or "Didn't I give you ten dollars last month for milk? What did you do with all that money?"
Over the past decade, I have waged vicious child support battles on behalf of many emotionally worn-out woman who have struggled alone to make a way for their children because Daddy suddenly decided he needed all of his money for himself-or better yet his new family. I have witnessed the spirits of women crumble under the humiliation of being forced to appeal to an often cold and uncaring court system to make their men take responsibility for their own flesh and blood because the men refused to do so on their own. My years of labor with these mothers has birthed each of them into the priceless and empowering knowledge that crying can depress a woman and getting violent may land her in jail, but gaining a keen understanding of the child support system and the rights of a baby mama will get her that much-needed child support check every time.
The legal knowledge I have used over the years to collect thousands of dollars for my clients had been stuffed into this book. I am confident that after reading it, you will be armed with the tools you need to get that child support.
'Get His Money Before His Other Baby Mama Does'
Find out how to:
~Prove he's the father of your baby
~Track down a deadbeat
~Win an increase in your current award
~Get money from an employed baby daddy
~Create an agreement with terms that benefit you
~Get other assistance from him along with your child support award
