May 2004 Archives

I must say that we don't take enough advantage of the outdoors opportunities in Austin. On Saturday we decided run a bunch of errands (picking up a $100 rebate at Fry's, getting our Bookgroup book at the library, and to take Homer for a long overdue extended hike.

We decided on the Barton Creek Greenbelt and parked at the Loop 360 entrance. We usually hike up the stream towards Sculpture Falls but this time decided to head downstream towards Barton Springs pool. The weather was perfect and the trees kept us in shade most of the way. We had to cross the creek and occasionally ventured into the water to cool down Homer. I really wished we had our bathing suits on; the water was at a nice level, very clear, cool and inviting. We reminisced about our hikes in Arkansas and remembered that aunt C. was in town and that we should have invited her along.

After getting to the pool (about 3.5 miles) we got some junk food and took a break before heading back. We stuck to the trail on the way upstream and made it to the car in about an hour and twenty minutes. By this time Homer was exhausted I could definitely feel the seven miles in my calves. We decided along the way that maybe Cynthia wouldn't have enjoyed it, after all.

I think it would be cool to do the whole green belt, from the Scottish Woods Trail all the way down to the pool. If the water was high enough, we could swim or float part of the way. That's about eight miles one way, so we couldn't do it as a round trip in Jfer's condition. We'd need to cars and carpool between the ends of the trail.

Jennifer and I have the occasional discussion about potential baby names. She's big into Biblical names and I want something that's going to work in both Czech and English -- and preferably a Czech (Slavic) name. We also don't want something that's too popular right now (so Jacob, for example, may not be a good choice even though it would match our other criteria -- it's Jakub or Kuba in Czech). And it would be nice to be pronounceable in English and spelled in plain ASCII.

So what are currently popular names? The Social Security Administration has a site about popular US baby names which you can search by year, state, etc. The Czech Department of Interior has the top 50 Czech boy names and top 50 Czech girl names.

Having gone through this with Homer, I found this account thoroughly fascinating (and very amusing). Here's a short excerpt:

I dropped everything and held my breath. This could not be happening. This was not my life. I began panting, all alone in a locked cubicle in a half-decent restaurant with a dead tapeworm hanging out my ass.

What wonderful prose: the pathos, the suspense, the joy! Needles to say, this essay is right up my alley!

Despite my coworkers' recommendations to "manage expectations" I went out and got Jfer some Mother's Day stuff to help celebrate her pending motherhood. I actually ventured into a maternity store -- by myself -- and picked up a pretty neat tie-died top -- also by myself. I also got her some flowers on Sunday, because the ones that had been rotting on the dining room table from two weeks ago looked rather sad. We had a nice lunch with Carlos and D. and Jfer scored lots of free goodies.

I also tried to call my mom -- but only got to talk to my dad, since she was out. I also tried to call my sister -- but only got to talk to my little nephew (me talking in Czech, him answering in Swiss German) since my sis was out with my mom. And I tried to call my cousin -- but she was out, too (not with my mom and sister, though). My cousin and sister called back, so I got to talk to them and saved some long (and looong) distance charges.

Overall, not a bad day. I now have to come up with some good suggestions for Father's Day, 'cause Jfer owes me one.