Un-freakin’-believable. What is the likelihood that we could get three flat tires on the same car within three months? How about two flat tires in the same month? Isn’t this getting statistically improbable? And yet, here we are. Tire #1 in early June. Tire #2 in early September. It’s crazy.

This week, another flat tire on the Highlander. Thank goodness for AAA, because they have changed each tire in record time, and no additional fees. The 1st time in September was in the rain. The 2nd time this month I wasn’t getting home until late. Again, I had to use the Toyota Road Hazard warranty (good for two years), which meant all I was stuck paying for was $22 for tire balancing. Here’s a question for you. This Road Hazard warranty is good and all, but what kind of tire quality is there when the smallest road debris could cause a tire puncture?

7th Wedding anniversary dinner

Seven years went fast. This year we celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. We decided to make our somewhat annual dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Princeton, though we didn’t go last year for our anniversary. While we love the kids, there are a few restaurants that we like to keep exclusively to ourselves. Ruth’s Chris is one of them; the other is Mahzu, a nice sushi restaurant that we reserve for date nights. We timed the dinner with a monthly Kids Night Out program at the daycare center. We dropped off both kids, and went on our way to dinner in Princeton.

Dinner was good, and we had our fill of mojitos and Jack Daniels, “crabtinis” and soup, cowboy ribeye and filet mignon, and creme brulee. All very delicious.

Seven years went awfully fast. I believe our marriage has had various eras or phases:

1. From 2003-2005, it was the newly-married honeymoon phase. We’re working and figuring out the whole marriage dynamic. Some nice times, some good fights. We were both younger, thinner, and more rested back then!
2. From 2005-early 2010, marriage and life got a little tougher. We experienced shock and awe moment #1 when Joshua was born, and we had to figure out how to manage a child. We bought our first home. We experienced shock and awe moment #2 when Lly was born, and we had to figure out how to balance two children, housework, and our careers. We got new cars, did some work on the house. Money was tight, and we had fights, but we had a lot of laughs. We spent more time to better understand each other, and I think I matured a little bit.
3. We’re in the next phase now. Both kids are little older, and (somewhat) easier to deal with. Lily is almost potty-trained (almost), and Josh has started kindgarten. Finances have lightened up with one less kid in daycare, and we’re making a better attempt to have date nights and spend less time focusing 110% of our attention on the kids.

I give this song only for a rapping Seth Green, and appearances by Stan Lee and Katee Sackhoff. Stan Lee is a cameo machine!

Geek and Gamer Girls Song – Watch more Funny Videos

I’m not a prude by any means, but couldn’t Katy Perry wear something a little less revealing for her appearance on Sesame Street this season? I mean, was anything else available? I suppose the stay-at-home fathers aren’t complaining.

I have no words to describe what I have seen in this article, and the embedded video clips that go along with it. Hollywood has always seen fit to drastically alter source material to suit “the suits”, but some of their decisions border on the remarkably insane. io9.com published this article, The 10 strangest creative liberties ever taken on superhero TV shows, and truly, it boggles the mind.

• The Human Torch replaced by a floating robot?
• Wonder Woman needs a husband?
• Wonder Woman is a ninja?
• Spiderman fights giant monsters in his giant robot (of course, only in Japan.)
• The Brady Brunch spun off a Brady Kids animated show with pandas and a magic-wielding bird?

The clips are priceless, so please, view the clips. My favorite is the Fantastic Four clip featuring a bizarre Magneto. Please, please, please. Otherwise, Magneto will get angry!

How did I forget about this? Last month, Josh and I watched Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths, a direct-to-video animated film release this February. This is a DCAU film, but not connected in any way to any of the animated series that have come before it (Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS, Justice League, or Justice League Unlimited.) I consider it fairly standalone, in so much that even the character drawings are different.

The basic story is that our heroes travel to an alternate universe to fight their evil counterparts who have formed the Crime Syndicate to rule the world. It was an okay story, good voice cast, but nothing earth-shattering. Parallel universe crossing, but not earth-shattering.

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths (2010)

When you fall behind on your updates, and you want to catch up, I guess there’s no time like the present. A few weeks ago, Josh and I watched Superman Doomsday, a 2007 animated DC Universe film. It’s a direct-to-video film, and we watched it a la Netflix streaming. This movie is a kind of one-off in the DC animated Superman films. Although Bruce Timm helped write and direct this particular film, there’s no continuity with Timm’s late 90′s animated show. Different voice actors (Adam Baldwin, Anne Heche), a different rendition of Superman, and a modified Fortress of Solitude. It’s PG-13, with cartoon blood, and lots of ancillary characters dying in the background. I fast-forwarded through some of the violence for my 5-year old’s sake.

The film retells the Death of Superman from the 1992-1993 comics storyline. Growing up, I actually never had the opportunity to read those comics when they were published. When those Superman replacements came out (Superboy, Steel, etc), I was very confused. In this film, the writers merged the various replacements into one Superman who appears after the funeral, but has very different morals and ethics. The animation was good, but I didn’t like the lines on Superman’s face. What’s the deal? Is he supposed to be older? I didn’t mind the voice acting, but I missed Tim Daly as Superman.

I thought the film was okay, as it went quickly from Doomsday’s release from incarceration, the big battle, Superman’s death, and then a quick rush to the end. There’s an unusual amount of cartoon violence related to Doomsday’s rampage on his journey to Metropolis. If you intend to watch with your kids, do some fast forwarding. While I understand that the writers could not realistically shoehorn the Reign of the Superman storyline, and condensed it into a questionable Superman replacement, I would have liked to have seen the various Supermen in action.

Side note: I like the Netflix streaming option. I’ve watched a number of films using streaming, and it’s a good alternative if you don’t mind the 720p video quality, and stereo sound. The 720p video doesn’t bother me at all, but the stereo surround needs a serious upgrade to 5.1 surround sound.

Superman Doomsday (2007)

Dismantled crib

This week, I dismantled the crib. Five years and two kids later, we say farewell. There are two prime reasons why we finally did it. We didn’t decide this lightly, as we prefer Lily contained at night time. She has a tendency to walk around all night long.

One, we’re attempting to get Lily potty-trained. Towards that end, she can’t go to the bathroom if she’s stuck behind bars. One too many accidents in the morning where we really wished she had gone potty. I’ve had enough of handwashing stains out of the crib sheets.

Two, she’s 2.5 years old, and we could use the extra room. The crib takes up space, and we could use it for storing their arts & crafts, toys, and other junk, instead of having them in the dining room.

It’s been a few days, and she’s still walking around at 11pm at night. I don’t know why she doesn’t want to sleep at night, but then again, she has my insomnia genes.

Both kids are sleeping in the same bed now.

I’m nearly apoplectic here. This summer, we purchased four new Bridgestone tires for the Highlander @ $200 each to replace the original Toyo Open Country tires that came with it. I’m still incensed that the original tires didn’t last the first 50K miles.

This is all old news, so what’s my beef? As we were leaving a party Saturday night, the low tire pressure sensor went off. I checked the tires in the dark, but all looked fine. Next morning, the rear driver’s side tire is looking a little flat, but there’s some air. 30 mins later, even flatter. What’s the deal, a slow leak? Maybe a small nail? Can it be patched?

It was raining, and I had the kids with me, so I called AAA to have someone change the tire for me. Yeah, I wussed out, but I didn’t feel like bothering to do it in the rain for the first time. This is the 2nd time we’ve called AAA in the past 3 months. Unbelievable bad luck.

Nobody was open Sunday afternoon, so I went to a local STS tire center early Monday morning to try to get it patched. 30 mins later, no can do, there’s a cut in the sidewall. I was annoyed, but in hindsight, I should have been thankful that we didn’t have to deal with a totally flat tire in the middle of the night Saturday. How did it last me 30 mins all the way home from South Brunswick? Divine intervention, perhaps.

STS didn’t have the Bridgestone tire in stock, but regardless, it would be potentially out of pocket another $270. I told the STS guy my plight about these being new tires, and he recommended that I give Toyota a buzz, and find out if there was any sort of road hazard coverage on new tires.

On the way to the office, I reached James Toyota in Flemington, and Eureka! there is a 2 year road hazard warranty. Two years! All I would have to pay is mounting and balancing fees. I made an immediate appt, took a 1/2 day, and went to James. Two hours, a 1/2 vacation day and $32 later, and a complimentary car wash, we had a new rear tire.

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Our friends Pradeesh and Sona invited us (and other friends & family) to their house to celebrate their son Ethan’s 3rd birthday party. A lot of the gang attended, which was nice. Do you know what else was nice? All the kids (including ours) stayed in the basement playing with each other and all the toys, and left the adults alone. It was fun. What a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Ethan's 3rd birthday party