Hello from “The Ranch”

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I’m back in Tex-ass, and as usual, it’s been a craaazy transition back to the USA.  “The Ranch,” by the way, is the term of semi-endearment for my in-law’s house in a small city on the Rio Grande River. It used to be far removed from most vestiges of civilization, but the little town is economically booming to the point where it’s more and more doable to stay for extended periods of time with the new stores, restaurants, etc.

Regarding the trip back, it was nice spending time w/Claudia alone. We had a flat tire 3 hours into our trip and the densest fog I’ve ever seen about 3 hours from the border in the mountains outside Monterrey, NL.  By the time we crossed into the US–4 hours late after a 16+ hour trip–I gotta say: Mexico never looked so good than in the rear-view mirror. It’s precisely for this reason that I shock myself when I admit that a part of me wants to go back.  I hate calling myself a homebody, but the truth is that I need my own private space, a refuge, a Bat Cavetm if you will, to be happy and collect my thoughts to not feel so scattered.  Most classmates, being of the younger, 20-something variety, make the transition home with ease, sinking back in their old, comfy bed with their rooms just as they left them.  Others may have moved out some time ago, but being single, they find a good spot in the house and call it theirs.

Married with a kid sharing a bedroom for almost a month with nowhere else to go in the house except to commune with the parental units?  Pass the Xanax, please.  Add to that the fact that we have to share time with both sides, and packing baby gear every time gets, um….old.  Simple checks like ”Honey? Did you remember to bring the Orajel for her gums?” quickly turn into “What the hell do I have to do, tattoo ‘ORAFUCKINGJEL’ on my forehead?!  The crying and 3 fingers in her mouth wasn’t enough of a reminder?!?”  Of course, I exaggerate (mostly) but you get the idea.

Internet connectivity has been spotty because of all the moving around and no wireless at either house, so I haven’t written on the blog and was in email read-only mode for the most part. If you’ve sent me email, you’ll get a reply shortly.  Otherwise, as soon as I get my RSS reader on my laptop updated with my .ompl files from my desktop which stayed in Mexico, I’ll be back commenting on the blogs.

P.S.  If anybody has any suggestions for offline newsreaders for Windows (ick), I’d appreciate the help.  Bloglines and other excellent online aggregators don’t help with the spotty connectivity I have here.  Danke.

categories Computing/IT, Fatherhood, Personal, Travel | enrico | datetime December 10, 2006 7:04 pm

  • By Sid Schwab, December 13, 2006 @ 3:19 pm

    Hey, Enrico: I just saw your review of my book at Amazon. Really wonderful, and deeply appreciated. I can’t seem to find your email, and I can’t figure out the “domain you see above” thing; so I’m communicating here, with the message that I’d love to send you one of my fancy bookplates inscribed just for you. If you’d like one, email an address to send it to. If you can’t find mine, either, it’s jschwab at gte dot net.

    Meanwhile I hope you have a restful and restorative holiday. You deserve it, my friend.

  • By Jon Mikel, December 14, 2006 @ 1:42 am

    You could use FeedReader

    Hey… stay in touch and drop me an email.

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