Ps And Q

With the kids back home, it was back to something more resembling the normal march of quarantine monotony on Wednesday. We did the whole morning breakfast routine, arbitrated all the arguments over which cartoon to watch (primarily an ongoing debate between Clifford and The New Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle ), fielded various requests for tablets, snacks, etc. And being Wednesday, it was also...cleaning day! Always a fun day in the Schneider Haus. The kids were actually a little more upbeat about it than they usually were, so I guess the getaway was very good for them as well. After a little early morning shower cleaning, I was off to the office to start tackling some projects that had suddenly picked up steam. Most notably, I had plucking away at creating a presentation that I thought I wouldn’t need to give until late this summer. But that timeline got pushed up when I got a request from the local American Institute of Architects for a presentation on that very topic at the...

It was back to work on Tuesday morning, and while we were certainly missing the kids at this point, it was nice to have a few hours of peace to focus on things. Of course, much of the day was taken up with a conference call and a webinar I needed to deliver, but it was still reasonably productive day. We planned to head over at dinnertime to Grandma and Pop Pop's house for a belated Memorial Day cookout. The kids were excited, and there was definitely some conflicted feelings in the pair. Amelia was bummed that the sleepover was coming to an end, and Henry, while he obviously had a great time, also missed us and missed home a little. He was super cuddly with both of us, which was admittedly pretty great. It was an absolutely beautiful afternoon, and we sat out on their back porch, hanging out watching the sun set and having dinner. Amelia and Henry played in the backyard, and even she commented on the view a few times. Apparently during their visit, the kids had gone out f...

Monday morning arrived and the house was still in an eerie state of peace. The kids were at their grandparents' house for another day, and Erin, Asta and I had our run of the place. We were able to watch actual movies that were filmed with the intention of appealing to grown ups. We were able to watch those on our television sets, and without constant screams for attention or snacks filling the background. Erin was able to get some reading done. I was able to get some writing done. And I was able to have some very rare and valuable couch time. Aaaaaaah... I remember looking outside and admiring what a beautiful day it was, thinking to myself that I should probably take a walk or in some way take advantage of that. Instead... ...I put on TRON and took a nap. I barely moved from the sofa all afternoon. I nodded in and out of consciousness while the movie was on, and then Disney+ just started playing TRON Legacy afterward. If you haven't seen TRON L...

Sunday was a very exciting day for the kids. After we’d made initial contact with Grandma and Pop Pop a little over a week ago, discussions began about the possibility of a sleepover. Like many people out there, Erin and I have been struggling with how to handle quarantine. It was in some ways easier at the beginning when the lines were stark and the idea was just to stay home and keep away from everyone. That was also at a time when there was sort of a nebulous, undiscussed idea that somehow this whole thing would blow over in a few weeks. Then maybe a few months. Now, the reality is setting in that we are going to be living with COVID for some time. I think we’re all trying to figure out what that means. Of course we hear plenty of loud noise from those on the polar ends of the spectrum, as is usually the case. Most of us fall more into a fuzzy middle ground. I personally am at a point on the scale where I think we absolutely cannot just go back to the way things were, nor do...

Another week has gone by, and it was once again time for the Saturday supply run. This week I had a few more stops than usual, since we needed some odds and ends from Target, I managed to drop my phone while running an needed a new screen protector, and we have a dog that really likes to eat and would likely not be happy to discover we had run out of her food. This all followed a week that just seemed jam packed every minute of every day. I woke up a little slow and groggy, and took a particularly uninspired “run” before going to the store. I have to put the word “run” in quotations because any simple fact check of whatever it was I did outside on Saturday morning wouldn’t really line up with any conventional definition of that word. That whole rambling run-on sentence is basically just my convoluted, self deprecating way of saying, “I felt pretty tired.” But I managed to shove on through the whole shopping, unloading, disinfecting process. I am developing a robotic-like effici...

With school now out for the year, it’s official summertime for the kids. Early Friday morning, we heard a racket upstairs and quickly realized that our kids were jumping in on a longtime American summer tradition: forming a rock band. That gathered their instruments from the play room and spent the better part of the morning jamming. Here is the world premier video from Amelia and Henry: “Rock N’ Roll. I think they’ve got something there. Amelia has the driving punk rock Ramones-esque stance down, and Henry is definitely at home pounding the drums. He has a kind of elastic, post-bop Elvin Jones rhythm going on. After their morning session, the two went on doing their usual thing for the day, playing around the house, eating and running around. Erin and I had packed days of work and other odds and ends that kept us occupied. Nothing blogworthy, per se, but man it was another hectic day in a hectic week. This was one of those weeks that had so much in it, on both the work...

Thursday was Amelia's last day of school. She had been excited for this day, and we tried to make it as special as we could for her. We let her do class in her pajamas, which I figure is great preparation for going to college someday. Her homework all done, all that was left was to log on to the final class and say her goodbyes. It has obviously been a strange last few months, and I know it's been super hard on teachers and students as well as on we parents. But the school was great and Amelia's teacher did a great job making that last day fun and exciting for them. There was music, singalongs, and heartfelt goodbyes. Lots of smiles and waves and wishes of "have a great summer!" We of course hope that the fall brings something of normalcy back for the kids the community. It's hard to imagine any scenario where everything goes back to being as it was, but we are at least hopeful that there will be some kind of spaced or staggered return to ...

The summer-like weather is about the only thing that makes it actually feel like the last week of school. I know I've mentioned plenty of times in this blog that time seems to have no real meaning anymore, and it definitely feels that way right now. On the work front, I was trying to line up meetings and fully went all in trying to schedule a meeting with a few people on Monday. Of course, Monday is Memorial Day, but I had no concept of that in my mind whatsoever. The people on the other end of that invitation must have thought I was some kind of an Ebenezer Scrooge type character from a much, much less popular Dickens novel about a bitter man who didn't appreciate the true meaning of Memorial Day. But I got my head on straight, actually looked at the words in my calendar, and got all of that straightened out, thankfully. Also on the work front, I listened in on a panel discussion of architects talking about how COVID has affected and continues to affect their firms. ...

Life slams us with ups and downs and mixed emotions during even the best of times. It follows that those ups and downs would be enhanced during a time when a pandemic rages, people have been inside for months, lives and livelihoods are in danger, and basic concepts of reality seem to be defined by opinion, belief and who is yelling the loudest. A good indicator of how far down the rabbit whole we are is the fact that the Air Force released honest to god footage of UFOs  and it barely made news. I suppose at this point an alien invasion might be a nice change of pace. Particularly if they were cool and funny aliens, like from planet Ork. So yeah, we're all dealing with a lot these days. The main reason I started this blog what seems like ages ago was that I wanted to at least capture at least my perspective of this time. Indeed, what parents are having to carry right now is unprecedented and difficult. Simultaneously being a parent, and a productive employee, and a teacher a...

Monday was pretty hot. Like summertime hot. Like, if someone came up to you said, "Hey, is it hot enough for ya'?" you'd actually say, "yes, it is." This was good news to the kids, who have been asking for a while when it would be summertime and when it would be hot enough to play outside in the sprinkler. While both of those conditions were not met, it was certainly warm enough for the sprinkler. Henry calls it, "The Sprinkerator," which I really think sounds so much cooler. He should really patent that. Anyway, they laughed and screamed and had a blast playing in the Sprinkerator  ®. And hey, it was a good day for me too. With warmer temps on tap, I pulled out my shorts for the first time in quite a while. Lo and behold, I found a nickel! Pretty great, huh? I feel a little bad, like I'm robbing five cents from the me of Fall 2019, but it could also be that if I was able to explain the world of 2020 to that version of myself, h...

Sunday was an exciting day in the Schneider Haus. Pretty much every day since this whole thing began, the kids have been asking when we can see Grandma and Pop-Pop. And every day we'd have to do the usual parental dodges of saying things like "Oh, soon," and "we'll see." Every time I say "We'll see," which is pretty often, I get a little reflexive choke in my throat because it was something my dad used to say to us all the time. It was the stock response to a wide range of questions, ranging from typical kid nags like "can we get candy at the store" and "do I really have to do chores," all the way to the absurdities he didn't care to address like, "Do you think Destro would beat Starscream in a fight?" The choke comes both from the little kid inside remembering that often disappointing response and also from the grown up who now totally understands why he said it all the time. Any parent can attest to the f...

Saturday began as my Saturdays generally do: making a list and going out for the weekly supply run. Some weeks are more challenging than others, but I’d have to say that this week’s went very smoothly. The lines were short, and I got everything I needed pretty quickly and efficiently. Riveting, right? The best storytelling comes from conflict, so that first paragraph fails on all levels. Let me try a little harder. Hmmmm. Oh, I know! I was looking for a particular brand of gluten free angel hair pasta. I looked and looked, but...they only had spaghetti! Expectations dashed! Disappointment! Our meal will have to have ever so slightly thicker noodles! Yeah, that’s not really tracking either. Well, I gave it a shot. While a lack of conflict may make for an extra lame blog post, I’ll at least say that a smooth day here and there after being locked in for a few months is a welcome change. So I’ll take it. In other news, we had some backyard sports to enjoy. Amelia started to g...

On Friday, Amelia’s burst of homework diligence the day before paid off in that she didn’t have very much left to do for the week. She mainly had to do some reading, which is mostly delivered through an online learning service that awards stars for different books read and quizzes completed. In my job, I often have to deliver courses to architects and engineers, who also are then incentivized to complete quizzes. Except instead of stars, they get the continuing education credits necessary to keep designing buildings. Pretty much the same, though. Anyway, Amelia loves getting those stars and was very proud of the fact that the day’s work raised her total to 1,625 stars. I have no idea what the scale is or what that means, but she was really proud of it, so I think it’s awesome. And she was actually asking us to do more homework, which was the opposite of our experience the day before. Stars are powerful things indeed. Beyond that, the day was somewhat uneventful. Let’s face it,...

Here at the Schneider Haus, which, along with a residence, has also become a working office and the site of Amelia E. Schneider Elementary School, we have moved to an open office/free addressing system. Amelia has her "classroom" set up in her bedroom, but sometimes that drifts downstairs to the kitchen table or dining room table. I have an office, but sometimes my laptop is stationed on the counter while I'm making lunch, or I'll do Zoom presentations or conference calls in our back guest/play room. On nice days, I'll even move the work outside to our back deck. Thursday morning, it was very nice outside and Amelia and Henry decided to follow suit and set up their workstations outside, as well. Amelia clearly had a lot going on. Important calls and what have you. Henry prefers the workability of the tablet over the laptop. It was a productive morning for all. Amelia had school, I had a few conference calls, Erin was getting some things done...we w...

Editor’s Note: Amelia had an assignment to write an opinion piece about whether she would rather have a pool or trampoline at her house. She was struggling to find the motivation to do it (who can blame her...talk about a Sophie's choice), so I told her that I could post her essay on blog. Below is what she had to say on the topic, faithfully transcribed from the original handwritten edition. Do you like pool's? I like pool's. In my opinion I wood rathr have a pool. I want a pool because I like to swim and to play in water. Wood you want a pool? --Amelia Schneider

On Wednesday, I had another big Zoom call. This time it was the monthly meeting with my board of directors. So I spent the previous afternoon and that morning getting all my notes and things together, getting prepared. This group does like to do a video call, so I got cleaned up. I opted to skip the shaving this time. But I was inspired by one of my board members last month, who was wearing a tie and said he still wears one every day to feel more focused and in the game. So I put one on, too. Of course, I wasn't going to go as far as putting on dress pants or tucking in my shirt. That would be lunacy. It occurred to me that I was sporting the Steve Dallas from Bloom County look. Full disclosure, this is probably the natural quarantine progression of how I'd ideally like to dress, and not just because I was a huge Bloom County fan in the day. I like wearing dress shirts, but hate tucking them in. I like ties, but hate tightening them up all the way and, as previously men...