Fun

Another wonder of the modern world I stumbled upon… Stocking stuffer idea!

TOOTH TUNES Theme Song from Rocky (Gonna Fly Now) – Soft Bristle Toothbrush

Rock your teeth clean - and encourage better brushing habits! - with this exciting toothbrush that lets you hear one of your favorite songs while you brush! Sound vibrations stream from the bristles through your teeth - so you can actually hear music inside your head! To increase the volume, simply increase your brushing pressure! If you brush well, you get great sound and you actually hear two full minutes of the theme from Rocky!

Okay I had a great entry written that got lost in the ether. But the real intent was that I add some links to my new site about the exciting topic of garage storage, garage storage systems, garage organization, and garage cabinets.

This gadget sounds neat. Too bad it’s $299. I think it would actually work…

The StressEraser provides precise, moment-by-moment HRV feedback on how your breathing, thoughts, and emotional state are influencing your stress levels. You use this feedback to boost the calming effect of your parasympathetic nervous system (your body’s “relaxation center”).

• The StressEraser tells you how to pace your breathing with your heart cycles to induce optimal HRV in a very short amount of time (5-10 minutes).

• The StressEraser gives you a 0-to-3-point relaxation score for each outbreath (great for fine-tuning your breathing and thoughts).

• At the end of your session, the StressEraser adds up all your relaxation points, so you can see if you “dosed” yourself sufficiently.

Papa Razzi Restaurant
What a great place. I keep getting more and more impressed with Papa Razzi and its sibling restaurants such as American Joe’s. The basics are that the one in Hanover, MA as well as the one off Newbury St in Boston have interesting food, but not pretentious or dull. Plus, it’s food that Maggie can eat, with her limited food choices. Even better, prices are pretty low–especially when you consider some of the overpriced junk out there.
The restaurants themselves are classy but not stuffy. They’re kid-friendly but not in the overt way that say Olive Garden and other big chains are. Those places are dumbed-down for children who couldn’t function in a regular restaurant. But Papa Razzi manages to have an environment that has those kid features (like crayons, coloring pages) but still have an adult feel to it.

But these things are not why I’m writing this. What’s amazed me is the quality of the people who work there. How do they get such great people? Every time I go I’m perplexed. In any workplace it would be hard to staff well, but I’d think a restaurant would be especially challenging. I bet they have incredible training and hiring.

* Every single person has been friendly, every time we’ve been. And friendly in a down-to-earth way.

* There’s often a senior-level hostess or maitre’d, but there are also quite young people also greeting people, and it shows that the younger ones are being mentored or groomed for leadership.

* Now that we have young kids, it can get crazy at the table, as hard as we try to stay normal. But they’re always accommodating and never seem to flinch at things flying, food spills, or the disaster area we leave behind.

* They have a rewards program where you pay $25 or so to start, but you accumulate credits as you spend. They were great when they even mailed in the forms for us because I said I just never get around to signing up. They even credited me for a previous meal since I had the receipt.

And finally, I just got a hand-written thank you card in the mail today.

“Mr. James Prickitt,

Thank you for choosing Papa Razzi’s for your dining ‘on the road.’ I hope your trip home to Truro went well. Please, join us again.

Thank you, Julie. “

How’s that for personal attention? I doubt they outsource that overseas…

I wish I could buy stock in Back Bay Restaurant Group!

I added a new wish list at Amazon called “James Nov 2006.” As of this minute it’s empty, but I’ll transfer some things over from the main list. I’m thinking of doing that in the future: Creating dated lists so you can tell what’s new. One could probably go back to the old ones for ideas. Find similar things to what has been on the list in the past.

Let’s see if this button works to link directly to my new list:

Also, I started using GiftTagging.com. Sounds great and hope it pans out, but it has had a couple of hiccups. The benefit is that it can have things that aren’t at amazon. If you like, take a minute and see if you can get to my list. If you go to “Find Member”, use james [at] prickitt dott com.

A couple items that are on my mind are:
- machete for chopping in the garden
- “Blik” brand wall stickers/graphics: they stick to the walls and can be removed. Nathaniel might like some too, maybe the airplane one.
- better computer microphone or computer headset so I can sound better when I’m using my internet-based phone (If you buy one from HelloDirect.com or get a gift certificate from them then I can change it easily.)

It’s late for my birthday, but these are ideas for the future too.

You can post comments after this post if you’d like to share items on your wish list or directions where to find yours!

I groan every time I read a blog and the writer says “I haven’t written in a long time, please forgive me, I’m going to do better, really, I promise…” Bloggers worldwide have to let go of the guilt. It’s also very boring to read about someone apologizing. It’s like a presentation where the presenter gets onstage and messes around with his equipment for 5 minutes. So having said that, I won’t apologize about the long time between posts.

Now, I had a new idea to keep the effort of a new post low, which would make a new post more likely to happen. I’ll take some snippets from recent IMs, make them readable, and voila, an update. So here goes #1 in a multi-part series.

From a conversation with Mom on Monday, Nov. 20, 2006.

Mom ordered a name puzzle for Sophia for Christmas. Thanks! I think it helped Nathaniel know the letters of his name. In the first days of preschool they tested to see if he could write his name, and they showed it to us at the recent parent/teacher conference. Poor kid has too many letters. He knows what letters are in his name, and even how many of each. But the order is the challenge. He got halfway through his name and stalled out. Also, he did like doing the puzzle even before he knew letters.

We went to TRU and Nathaniel rode on real bikes with training wheels. Very cute. He hasn’t done much with real bikes, just a bit in his friend Milo’s basement. But he did quite well. Maggie and I were impressed. We’d like him to have a bike for Christmas. There were a couple that fit him for about $70-$90, which isn’t bad. A Schwinn that says “Safari” and a Spiderman bike. We preferred the Schwinn because it’s a good brand and it doesn’t have a character on it. Please let me know if anyone wants to “sponsor” this gift!
Mom: How are you and your daughter getting along these days?

Well the cold has been a problem at night still. She does seem happy during the day, full of energy, likes to be involved in whatever the kids are doing, laughs at that. She did have to be held a lot yesterday, and actually most of the time, still. She sits in her chair and on the floor though, so I guess it’ s not all the time

Mom: How about the eating?

She still gets distracted while breastfeeding, but boy does she love to eat. Her weight is good–although because of regular food, which isn’t as good as from milk….? At the 6-month checkup she had only gained a few ounces, but she gained a couple pounds by the 7-month checkup.

We’re still wiping noses a lot the last few days… These colds started before our trip in October… When will they go away?!

Copied from this week’s parish bulletin:

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

The first Native America to be declared “Blessed” who died in 1680 at the age of 24 said:

There are two dogs inside me. One dog is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. Which one usually wins? The one I feed the most.

What are Mouseskates you ask? They are teflon slices designed to stickto the “feet” on the bottom of your mouse to decrease the frictionbetween the mouse and the mousepad.

Gotta have ‘em!

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