Steve Fischer's Random Blog

Random thoughts from a random technology guy

  • Something new

    This blog, from two major VC guys, could be very interesting…

  • Tubes In

    So Victoria got the tubes put in her ears today. It was a very interesting experience.

    We get to the hospital and go through the obligatory paperwork. Then we end up in the pre-op area. Here a doctor a nurse and an anesthesiologist ask us basically the same questions and give us basically the same briefing on the surgery. OK, nothing wrong with some redundancy and saying the same things over and over.

    Then they give Tori an oral sedative. At this point they tell us that in 15 minutes she’ll be going in. Of course 15 = 30 at a hospital. But we get to watch Tori get drunk.

    Can you remember the first time you were drunk? Me neither, but try to imagine it. Tori starts slurring her words. And she’s aware of the fact that she’s slurring. Which is hilarious to her. So for about 15 minutes straight, she’s just cracking herself up.

    20 years from now, if I ever go out drinking with Victoria, I now know that she’s a very happy drunk.

    It was the funniest thing ever. And finally it really is time for her to go in. I have to carry her because she is in no condition to walk.

    So then we wait.

    Thankfully not for very long (especially since they had declined to heat the waiting room). The doctor came to tell us that everything went well and she’d be ready for us to go see her in a little bit.

    Then came the hard part. We were warned that kids come out of anesthesia very agitated and can be upset for the next hour. I was assuming that they were giving us the worst case scenario.

    Maybe not.

    Tori was upset, wanting nothing except to go home, and cried for about 45 minutes. At first we tried to figure out things that would soothe her, but it clearly became clear that this was just about waiting it out. And when it finished, it was like night and day.

    We had Tori back.

    She suddenly shifted gears and started joking and laughing. It was fairly instantaneous when the anesthesia finally worked its way out of her system.

    And that was it. She is already saying she can hear better. She is totally fine. Ready for school tomorrow and a flight to Florida the next day.

    So an interesting day.

  • Tubes

    My daughter Victoria (5) has had a history of ear infections. She saw an ENT specialist last January when it seemed a bit bad and he was concerned. But after a dose of hard core antibiotics she was OK.

    This fall, she had another run of ear infections. She’s a classic second child. Social, very independent, and extremely stubborn. So it’s generally hard to tell when “not listening” is deliberate or medical. But regardless, her ENT specialist determined that her hearing is compromised and that’s no way to raise a kid.

    So tomorrow she gets tubes in her ears.

    It’s super routine. Apparently after well checkups, getting tubes is the #2 reason for a kid to go to the hospital (I haven’t confirmed that particular statistic, so don’t take my word for it).

    Regardless, having your 5 year old go under is still a bit nerve wracking. She was such a good girl today talking to the anesthesiologist and the surgeon. And she generally is very brave with this stuff. But at the end of the day, tomorrow she has to leave me and go into a room with strangers and be put under.

    She’s probably been compensating for this her whole life so this should be a big deal for her going forward.

    But I’m still nervous for her. Welcome to parenting…

  • One World Trade Center

    I was having a drink with my wife a few days ago at the River Café in Brooklyn, enjoying the sunset views of Manhattan. Looking across the river, I saw a tall building going up and without thinking said, “hey, what’s that building?”.

    OneWorldTrade

    (click to enlarge)

    Well, well, well, it’s getting big. The steel is up to 90 floors and they lit it up for the holidays.

    Nice to see the Trade Center impacting the skyline again.

  • The Train

    We have now existed without owning a car for three years. It’s become pretty normal. It’s obviously a lot easier to do in Brooklyn than in other places. I’ve mentioned many times how well ZipCar has worked for us.

    But there’s another interesting element in this transition. The train.

    I’m not talking about the subway, which is frankly always better than a car in New York. I’m talking about a train ride for an hour and a half to visit my wife’s sister. They are our closest really close family. It’s an easy hour and 45 minute drive (depending on traffic out of the city).

    Without owning a car, we would often get a ZipCar for a visit. But more and more we found ourselves taking the train. The total door to door time is a little bit more. A cab ride to Grand Central (20 minutes), 80-90 minutes on the train (depending on whether it’s an express) and then a 15 minute drive to their house.

    But it’s so pleasant. In Grand Central we pick up snacks. On the train, I’m not driving, so I can do stuff with the girls. Or just read. We can move around, play cards, draw. I can have a beer if I’m so inclined. The train ride follows the Hudson River and is quite pretty. The views are like this:

    FromTheTrain

    I realized that we had become a train family when this weekend I offered to do the ZipCar instead of the train. We were spending New Year’s up there and we wanted to get up there a bit early to see both of our nephews playing in a soccer tournament together. So I was thinking the added flexibility of a car would be useful.

    But my wife just said, “but I like the train so much more”.

    And I had to agree.

  • December 30th, 2011–Gone

    I love this kind of political calendar wackiness. Like the fact that Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar way later than the rest of the world (the Gregorian calendar being a Catholic plot after all). So the Russian “October Revolution” is now celebrated in November due to the two week discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

    Oh, honestly, look it up. I’m not making this stuff up.

    So now American Samoa is going to eliminate 12/30/2011. Awesome. Samoa is within 20 miles of the international date line. In 1892 Samoa flipped the other way, trying to align with American time. That year they had July 4th twice.

    This year they have decided that they do more trade with Australia, New Zealand and China, than with the US. So they are switching back. To align themselves with those countries they are switching to the other side of the international date line.

    So December 30th will be skipped. Bah, who needs it? Let’s go straight to New Year’s Eve. An entire day will not exist for an entire country.

    Now, can we just skip Mondays? Please?…

  • The Dumbest Idea in the World

    I think I need to read this book…

  • My Packers

    First of all, beating the Bears on Christmas is a nice present. But I got a different Packers present on Christmas. From now on, when I refer to “my Packers”, I am being somewhat literal.

    I am now a Green Bay Packer shareholder, owning exactly one share of the Packers.

    For those not aware, the Packers are the only NFL team that is publicly owned. But it’s not like the shares are really traded. This isn’t like stock. I cannot sell this share to anyone and can only pass it on to family. I can attend the annual meeting and I get one vote.

    The Packers are looking to expand their stadium and they need financing. So this stock sale is how the small town Packers finance a major improvement. It’s marketing genius (what a coincidence that it started just before Christmas).

    Get a bunch of crazy Packer fans to, in effect, pay too much to be allowed to have a framed Packer certificate on their wall. Because let’s face it, that’s the net effect here. I won’t make it to Green Bay for the annual meeting and my one vote is largely pointless.

    But you can bet that thing is going on my wall…

  • Ho, Ho, Ho…

    We were completely lame this year with no Christmas card. We didn’t have a nice picture of both girls and I didn’t have time to pull off the montage concept with multiple pictures that looks artsy while masking the fact that you don’t have one good picture.

    What can I say? We’ve been busy.

    Anyway, happy holidays to all. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. And a sincere wish that 2012 is a great year.

    I needed a visual, so we did this picture today. Not great, but Merry Christmas from Danielle and Snow White Victoria…

    DSC03895

  • Amazon in the Christmas Mood

    As Android users know, Amazon does a free app every single day in their market. The last two days have been holiday kids interactive books.

    Yesterday’s was an interactive Charlie Brown Christmas and today is the classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

    Which my girls are currently watching on my Kindle Fire.

    Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas…