The difference between having a kid and not having a kid

First things first. This morning. I called the police. Oh, snap, that's right. I left the apartment to walk over to the car and saw a guy, shirt pulled up over his face, sitting on the grass, likely sleeping off a hangover.

So yes, I'm that guy.

But the thing is, if I were single, I wouldn't care. But as I now have a kid and some spare time to read articles in the New York Times about serial killers, I'm going to call the police to report "suspicious people." I don't know who the guy was or what happened (I hurried off to work after the nice policeman showed up) but hey, at least I know he's not roaming the halls of our apartment. Also, the police showed up about five minutes after I called, so I'm pretty happy about that. The best part of course was that the 911 dispatcher was -- I sweartahgahd -- from Australia. Great accent.

Anyway.

This past weekend we went to visit the brother and family up in Akron. Friday night we got there, barbecued (yay!) and then Saturday didn't do too much save go to the mall and a nearby park. The weather wasn't all that great. However, on Sunday, we managed to get up to the Cleveland Zoo on a brilliantly sunny day. There are quite a few photos on the Flickr now from this event.

About that zoo ...

I'm not going to hate on the Cleveland Zoo just because it's in Cleveland. Because I have a feeling that many small zoos are like that one. Which is to say filled with depressed animals in small spaces. I'm no zoologist, but I'd like to think that maybe the animals would at least like a little more room to roam. Three elephants in a space the size of a large house? Two lions crowded on a bunch of rocks across from the food court? C'mon. And the polar bears and seals were on hiatus as well. I hear the San Diego zoo is much nicer and larger. And has an additional land area a bunch of miles away with wide open spaces.

I think this weekend we shall try the Indy Zoo. I feel that it has to be better. If nothing else, it's got an aquarium!

Asim sort of enjoyed the zoo. He looked at most of the animals quite intently but didn't get really worked up over anything. He was really happy when we brought him back to Indy and into his apartment. You'd think he'd just ate at Pat's Steaks or something.

The house.

Right, so still haven't heard anything more on the insulation. I will have to start cracking the whip on that one. And we're starting to reconsider some of the options that apparently aren't as set in stone as I thought. Like a brick front and three-car garage. I'm thinking that while a three-car garage might be nice for extra space and resale, we'll just likely fill it up with junk and hopefully the next residents will appreciate a simpler lifestyle. Or something.

As for the brick, it's not that important to me or Maria. They would put up colored siding instead. But not vinyl siding. No, no. Cement fiberboard. So it'll actually last. I have to find out how the color works on that -- if it's painted on or the board is just that color.

In other news, I'm "running" a half-marathon -- the country's largest! -- this Saturday. I just want to finish in under 2 hours.