This site is great for vets, or anyone who gives a crap about soldiers and vets. I'm totally late to this party, because apparently the mini-docs on there are a couple years old for the most part, but they're still totally pertinent, and really good. They're produced by vets, for vets, about vets, and there is NOTHING not to love about that!
What I do, since for some reason the video player on that site doesn't work well for me, is go there, find the episode I want to watch, and then search it on Youtube. It works great. Of course, you have to sort through more videos, and there are some which have only small snipets, but the youtube vids that have 8-9 minutes each are generally the ones you want. Each episode takes 2-3 of those to watch all the way. So yeah, it takes a little more work, but it's worth it. This is what I do at night after the kids go to bed and before Thak comes home from school. I watch vetTV! LOL OK, it's really called In Their Boots, but it's Vet TV if ever there was such a thing! It's real, doesn't gloss over jack shit, and minces no words... just like us. Gotta love that.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Buy me this!
Since it seems that a lot of people I've met in the past year assume I'm an elitist snob when they find out I went to Georgia Tech, I thought this shirt was very fitting. I'm totally wearing it to the next spouses' club casual event (barbecue, football tournament, etc). I'm laughing just thinking about it.
The phrase "Give 'em hell, Tech!" just took on a hilarious new meaning.
OK, in all fairness, Thak will insist I get this shirt because it's cute, but I will stop myself short of wearing it when I'm guaranteed to run into the Insecure Jackass Brigade.
The phrase "Give 'em hell, Tech!" just took on a hilarious new meaning.
OK, in all fairness, Thak will insist I get this shirt because it's cute, but I will stop myself short of wearing it when I'm guaranteed to run into the Insecure Jackass Brigade.
Contest hilarity
So I went into the entry album for that one contest I recently entered (which, thankfully, stops accepting entries day after tomorrow) and saw that there were 489 photos. That was the easy part, number of pages multiplied by photos per page. Then came the more time-consuming part. Since I knew that some people had submitted TONS of pictures (one lady submitted 24 of the same kid!! Many others had over a dozen!!), and others had submitted photos of older kids when the company representative managing it asked specifically for babies and younger toddlers, and said that they would not be awarding to any big kids this time, but that a big kid contest may be next.
Honestly, I was just curious to see just HOW good our odds were, so I went through the entries (funny enough, this was quicker than it sounds), didn't count any that were over the age of 2, or whose entries were filled out incorrectly (Again, the company rep said it must be correct to count), and I only counted each kid once. I figured out that there were a total of 164 eligible kids in the contest. Now, the number of eligible families is lower since there can be one prize per family, each contest, and a great many families entered more than one kid (which is fine).
Basically, long story short is that our odds of winning, at this point are 1 in 54!!! Those are AMAZING odds when you consider that ALL winners get a super duper nice car seat that retails for about $300!! Yeah, we already have this exact seat, which we purchased several months ago. So freaking what? I'm still crossing my fingers we win another because then we'd never have to buy another car seat as long as we live, even AFTER the next baby is here. If we win another seat, then it would replace the Britax Marathon in the Dodge (the Marathon is horribly uncomfortable for Orren now that he's so tall and still rear-facing, but the Radian gives over twice as much leg room), and then after the next baby is here, Orren would stay in it, and we'd put the baby in the Marathon and the Diplomat until outgrown, but by that time, Orren will have outgrown the Radians and they can be handed down to little Sirikit/Chaiyo (OK, so the hypothetical boy name is still a work in progress) while we sell the Britaxes, and all we'll have to do is buy Orren a Monterey booster like Erin has. We would totally benefit from winning this contest.
Of course, it's anyone's guess if we will or not, but for something that costs absolutely nothing to enter, 1 in 54 odds of winning are INSANE!!
Honestly, I was just curious to see just HOW good our odds were, so I went through the entries (funny enough, this was quicker than it sounds), didn't count any that were over the age of 2, or whose entries were filled out incorrectly (Again, the company rep said it must be correct to count), and I only counted each kid once. I figured out that there were a total of 164 eligible kids in the contest. Now, the number of eligible families is lower since there can be one prize per family, each contest, and a great many families entered more than one kid (which is fine).
Basically, long story short is that our odds of winning, at this point are 1 in 54!!! Those are AMAZING odds when you consider that ALL winners get a super duper nice car seat that retails for about $300!! Yeah, we already have this exact seat, which we purchased several months ago. So freaking what? I'm still crossing my fingers we win another because then we'd never have to buy another car seat as long as we live, even AFTER the next baby is here. If we win another seat, then it would replace the Britax Marathon in the Dodge (the Marathon is horribly uncomfortable for Orren now that he's so tall and still rear-facing, but the Radian gives over twice as much leg room), and then after the next baby is here, Orren would stay in it, and we'd put the baby in the Marathon and the Diplomat until outgrown, but by that time, Orren will have outgrown the Radians and they can be handed down to little Sirikit/Chaiyo (OK, so the hypothetical boy name is still a work in progress) while we sell the Britaxes, and all we'll have to do is buy Orren a Monterey booster like Erin has. We would totally benefit from winning this contest.
Of course, it's anyone's guess if we will or not, but for something that costs absolutely nothing to enter, 1 in 54 odds of winning are INSANE!!
Thou shalt not get out.
I could swear I remember with lucid clarity, the day I took my oath of enlistment. I must have missed a part, though... you know, the line where it says, "Til death do us part". No, last I knew, there were three ways to get out of the Army, only one of which is to die. Of course, the other socially acceptable way out of the Army is to retire, but I'm pretty sure it's still totally legitimate to let your contract expire, and just not serve anymore. In fact, I'm 100% sure that deal is still going on since it has been as long as there's been an Army, and will until the end of time, and NOWHERE in the oath of enlistment or commissioning does it EVER say that you swear to stay in the Army forever.
I was told today that someone is sorry for me because my husband is getting out of the Army. Seriously? You're SORRY for me because my husband loves me and our kids enough to choose us over the Army? Back assward logic if I've ever heard it. No, please do not be sorry for me that I am married to someone who recognizes that he'll never get back the years spent away from us, and that three is two too many. On a more professional level, I'm glad he knows when to walk away. You have NO IDEA how many idiots I served with who were probably great soldiers 10 years ago, but just wouldn't walk away when it was time. I respect Thak for not wanting to become that, and for making sure he won't.
People forget that I got out of the Army, too, once upon a time. Is it hard getting set up in the real world after having everything handed to you by Uncle Sam for however long? Yeah, it definitely is, but I'll tell you one other thing. There is NOTHING hard enough to negate the feeling that comes with living FREE after being so much less free while serving in defense of the freedom of others. Freedom tastes a lot sweeter when you don't take it for granted, and no vet does. I guess that's something military wives who have never served know little about.
I'm happy for Thak to be getting out. I'm tired of people asking me how I can support that decision. I look at them like they have lost their minds. These people all know I used to be in the Army, but am not currently (and am not old enough to have retired), therefore it's not a huge leap in logic to see that I got out. Why wouldn't I want that for Thak, too? Why wouldn't I want him to be free? I DO want him to be free. It is my greatest wish for him. How could anyone who claims to love someone NOT support their goal of living their way? Wives who pressure their husbands into reenlisting, when it's so obvious that he's just done with it, really irk me. I say if you're so attached to your military benefits, go enlist. Let him get out if he wants to. Making someone stay in the Army for years after they should have gotten out does nobody any favors, not that person, not the people above and below them, not anybody. It makes everybody miserable.
I'm also sick of the assumption that I think it's going to be easy on the outside. If I have to hear one more horror story of life on the outside from some wife who's never served, and whose husband has never gotten out, I'm going to scream. I know first hand that it's not easy out there, that the things that are guaranteed to every military person, are hard-earned on the outside, but they can still be had. It's not like the military has a corner market on half decent pay, health insurance, and youth activities.
I get the feeling that a lot of people (who should know better!) are making the assumption that we're going about this blindly, and will make the common mistake of figuring the world will fall at our feet the day we leave post with Thak's discharge papers. I say they should know better because they KNOW I've opted out of a lot of activities because as we approach the year-mark, we're putting more money into savings than any other family we know. They should REALLY know better because everyone who knows me knows that Thak has been going to school at night for the past year, and has another year to go before he graduates. They KNOW he wasn't an ASE Certified mechanic this time last year, but he is now. If that's going about this blindly, then I must be nuts, because I surely don't see it that way.
Frankly, I don't know anybody who's put more thought into getting out than we have. We stayed in Savannah long enough for our son to be born there because we liked our birth center a lot, and then we had to move somewhere that would not have him deploying again, and the reason we turned down the Korea assignment we were offered is because we didn't see him being able to go to school in Korea, so as much as we'd have loved to live there for a couple years, it was impractical under the circumstances. We took the orders here because the unit wouldn't be deploying until after he got out, and it's a big enough city that they'd have schools he could choose from. One of the first things we did upon arrival here was to find Thak a school. We'd decided before leaving Georgia that when he got out of the Army, he would be a mechanic, so we already knew what we were looking for. Before he even officially reported to Ft. Bliss (basically, after we were out here, but while he was still on leave) we went around, visited schools, and got him enrolled at Western Tech. It was a gamble, but he was betting he could get command approval for it retroactively, so it was a gamble we were willing to take. As we approach his ETS from the Army and his graduation from school (the two dates are very close), we have done tons of research on what it's like on the outside for mechanics, or more accurately ASE Master Technicians, supervisors, shop leads, and other positions he's qualified for. I will say, a lot of what we've found is extremely hopeful. Depending where we end up, and what type of job he gets, we may actually see an INCREASE in total income. We've budgeted for a substantial decrease, but our research tells us that may not be what happens at all. Sounds good to me. His instructors at school tell him that he's the type who gets hired very quickly, and nobody in his school thinks he'll have ANY trouble finding a great job once he graduates (and they assist with job placement, so they know what they're talking about). There are scouts from dealerships that come to his school to find new employees, and they practically stalk him. If we were willing to stay here, he'd have 10 job offers by the end of the course. Hell, he already got one job offer the other day!! We're hardly being overly optimistic by thinking that Thak will find work on the outside.
I guess it just feels kind of like a big slap in the face when people who should know better act like we're being unrealistic to think that Thak can get out, that we can live a better life in the real world than we have been in the Army, and that we're unprepared. I dislike being told we're going to fall on our faces when we're working our asses off to make sure that doesn't happen. Our schedule is pure hell, and I don't know anybody else who does this, especially not for a couple years on end.
I'm not saying I'm 110% sure that nothing bad will ever happen to us on the outside. I cannot be totally sure of that, as I wholly lack the ability to predict the future. What I can say, though, is that we're giving ourselves the best chances, and even the senior NCO's and Officers tell Thak how smart he is to have such a solid plan. By this standard, I believe it is fair to say that we are anything but haphazard, that we're genuinely trying to prepare ourselves as best we can. I know tons of people who weren't half as prepared as we are, even now, who got out and did fine despite the rough start. Who is anyone to say we're setting ourselves up for failure? I don't usually do this because I'd really hate to be wrong about it, but I call jealousy. I think these individuals wish their husbands would do for them what Thak is doing for me, and they have to be mean and say ridiculous things to make themselves feel better. At the end of the day, though (and the end of the day is late around here...) we're doing better than most, and NOBODY can deny that without straight-up lying.
I was told today that someone is sorry for me because my husband is getting out of the Army. Seriously? You're SORRY for me because my husband loves me and our kids enough to choose us over the Army? Back assward logic if I've ever heard it. No, please do not be sorry for me that I am married to someone who recognizes that he'll never get back the years spent away from us, and that three is two too many. On a more professional level, I'm glad he knows when to walk away. You have NO IDEA how many idiots I served with who were probably great soldiers 10 years ago, but just wouldn't walk away when it was time. I respect Thak for not wanting to become that, and for making sure he won't.
People forget that I got out of the Army, too, once upon a time. Is it hard getting set up in the real world after having everything handed to you by Uncle Sam for however long? Yeah, it definitely is, but I'll tell you one other thing. There is NOTHING hard enough to negate the feeling that comes with living FREE after being so much less free while serving in defense of the freedom of others. Freedom tastes a lot sweeter when you don't take it for granted, and no vet does. I guess that's something military wives who have never served know little about.
I'm happy for Thak to be getting out. I'm tired of people asking me how I can support that decision. I look at them like they have lost their minds. These people all know I used to be in the Army, but am not currently (and am not old enough to have retired), therefore it's not a huge leap in logic to see that I got out. Why wouldn't I want that for Thak, too? Why wouldn't I want him to be free? I DO want him to be free. It is my greatest wish for him. How could anyone who claims to love someone NOT support their goal of living their way? Wives who pressure their husbands into reenlisting, when it's so obvious that he's just done with it, really irk me. I say if you're so attached to your military benefits, go enlist. Let him get out if he wants to. Making someone stay in the Army for years after they should have gotten out does nobody any favors, not that person, not the people above and below them, not anybody. It makes everybody miserable.
I'm also sick of the assumption that I think it's going to be easy on the outside. If I have to hear one more horror story of life on the outside from some wife who's never served, and whose husband has never gotten out, I'm going to scream. I know first hand that it's not easy out there, that the things that are guaranteed to every military person, are hard-earned on the outside, but they can still be had. It's not like the military has a corner market on half decent pay, health insurance, and youth activities.
I get the feeling that a lot of people (who should know better!) are making the assumption that we're going about this blindly, and will make the common mistake of figuring the world will fall at our feet the day we leave post with Thak's discharge papers. I say they should know better because they KNOW I've opted out of a lot of activities because as we approach the year-mark, we're putting more money into savings than any other family we know. They should REALLY know better because everyone who knows me knows that Thak has been going to school at night for the past year, and has another year to go before he graduates. They KNOW he wasn't an ASE Certified mechanic this time last year, but he is now. If that's going about this blindly, then I must be nuts, because I surely don't see it that way.
Frankly, I don't know anybody who's put more thought into getting out than we have. We stayed in Savannah long enough for our son to be born there because we liked our birth center a lot, and then we had to move somewhere that would not have him deploying again, and the reason we turned down the Korea assignment we were offered is because we didn't see him being able to go to school in Korea, so as much as we'd have loved to live there for a couple years, it was impractical under the circumstances. We took the orders here because the unit wouldn't be deploying until after he got out, and it's a big enough city that they'd have schools he could choose from. One of the first things we did upon arrival here was to find Thak a school. We'd decided before leaving Georgia that when he got out of the Army, he would be a mechanic, so we already knew what we were looking for. Before he even officially reported to Ft. Bliss (basically, after we were out here, but while he was still on leave) we went around, visited schools, and got him enrolled at Western Tech. It was a gamble, but he was betting he could get command approval for it retroactively, so it was a gamble we were willing to take. As we approach his ETS from the Army and his graduation from school (the two dates are very close), we have done tons of research on what it's like on the outside for mechanics, or more accurately ASE Master Technicians, supervisors, shop leads, and other positions he's qualified for. I will say, a lot of what we've found is extremely hopeful. Depending where we end up, and what type of job he gets, we may actually see an INCREASE in total income. We've budgeted for a substantial decrease, but our research tells us that may not be what happens at all. Sounds good to me. His instructors at school tell him that he's the type who gets hired very quickly, and nobody in his school thinks he'll have ANY trouble finding a great job once he graduates (and they assist with job placement, so they know what they're talking about). There are scouts from dealerships that come to his school to find new employees, and they practically stalk him. If we were willing to stay here, he'd have 10 job offers by the end of the course. Hell, he already got one job offer the other day!! We're hardly being overly optimistic by thinking that Thak will find work on the outside.
I guess it just feels kind of like a big slap in the face when people who should know better act like we're being unrealistic to think that Thak can get out, that we can live a better life in the real world than we have been in the Army, and that we're unprepared. I dislike being told we're going to fall on our faces when we're working our asses off to make sure that doesn't happen. Our schedule is pure hell, and I don't know anybody else who does this, especially not for a couple years on end.
I'm not saying I'm 110% sure that nothing bad will ever happen to us on the outside. I cannot be totally sure of that, as I wholly lack the ability to predict the future. What I can say, though, is that we're giving ourselves the best chances, and even the senior NCO's and Officers tell Thak how smart he is to have such a solid plan. By this standard, I believe it is fair to say that we are anything but haphazard, that we're genuinely trying to prepare ourselves as best we can. I know tons of people who weren't half as prepared as we are, even now, who got out and did fine despite the rough start. Who is anyone to say we're setting ourselves up for failure? I don't usually do this because I'd really hate to be wrong about it, but I call jealousy. I think these individuals wish their husbands would do for them what Thak is doing for me, and they have to be mean and say ridiculous things to make themselves feel better. At the end of the day, though (and the end of the day is late around here...) we're doing better than most, and NOBODY can deny that without straight-up lying.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
I've been called a MILF before, but never a NILF
...until today. So what is a NILF? Well, according to a recent study on employment and military spouses, conducted by the Rand Corporation, NILF stands for "Not In Labor Force".
OK, well, I think NILF has a far nicer ring to it than "unemployed". Have I ever told you how much I hate when people say I'm unemployed? I REALLY hate that. I'm home with my kids. I'm NOT unemployed. I'll take "Stay-at-home-mom", "SAHM", "housewife", or really ANYTHING besides "unemployed". For one, by definition, to be unemployed means to not have a job, but to want one. I don't want a job. It's completely different. Now someone apparently understands that, and we get a new category, NILF. I could get used to that classification. It's rather innocuous.
Of course, the true gem in all of this is the findings of the report. What needs to be done in the face of all this NILF-ness? Build more daycare centers, of course. Talk about totally missing the point.
In the face of high unemployment rates, and the most difficult job market ever, I think they should send single-income families a handwritten thank you card for only occupying ONE job, thus allowing the hypothetical second job to go to someone else who probably needs it a lot more, not telling us to throw our children into newly constructed daycare centers, and flood the job market even further. Are these people idiots? A popularization of a single-income lifestyle for families would help the unemployment numbers to come down because more people who wanted/needed a job could get one more easily than if all people were stuck in the two-income trap, and are occupying two jobs per couple rather than one. That's an impossible change, of course. It makes sense in a way, though, doesn't it? At least a little? I don't know, but that's what occurred to me when I read that the solution to NILF military spouses was to build more daycares. Backward logic at its finest, if you ask me.
OK, well, I think NILF has a far nicer ring to it than "unemployed". Have I ever told you how much I hate when people say I'm unemployed? I REALLY hate that. I'm home with my kids. I'm NOT unemployed. I'll take "Stay-at-home-mom", "SAHM", "housewife", or really ANYTHING besides "unemployed". For one, by definition, to be unemployed means to not have a job, but to want one. I don't want a job. It's completely different. Now someone apparently understands that, and we get a new category, NILF. I could get used to that classification. It's rather innocuous.
Of course, the true gem in all of this is the findings of the report. What needs to be done in the face of all this NILF-ness? Build more daycare centers, of course. Talk about totally missing the point.
In the face of high unemployment rates, and the most difficult job market ever, I think they should send single-income families a handwritten thank you card for only occupying ONE job, thus allowing the hypothetical second job to go to someone else who probably needs it a lot more, not telling us to throw our children into newly constructed daycare centers, and flood the job market even further. Are these people idiots? A popularization of a single-income lifestyle for families would help the unemployment numbers to come down because more people who wanted/needed a job could get one more easily than if all people were stuck in the two-income trap, and are occupying two jobs per couple rather than one. That's an impossible change, of course. It makes sense in a way, though, doesn't it? At least a little? I don't know, but that's what occurred to me when I read that the solution to NILF military spouses was to build more daycares. Backward logic at its finest, if you ask me.
Monday, April 26, 2010
What makes a good picture?
I was looking through the entries for one of the photo contests I've recently entered, and just got to thinking. What makes a good photo? Now, I'm not one who edits my photos half to death, and makes my family look any more like supermodels than they already do. I do edit my photos, though. I crop out junk in the background, adjust lighting and contrast, make sure the focus is where I want it, take out red-eye, and just do basic stuff like that. I've posted plenty of unedited photos on this blog, and I've also posted plenty of edited ones. I'm sure you can tell the difference in most cases. I believe in editing. I think it makes an ok photo good, and a good photo great, and it's definitely NOT cheating.
In that photo contest, there are roughly 400 photos, three of which are mine. They allow multiple entries. They have in previous contests, too, although the spammy wheel has never gotten the grease, so to speak. In other words, in last month's contest (same contest as this month, but for girls, while this month is for boys) the people who won had anywhere from one to three photos entered, and the photos were good pictures, but not professional (except one, which I believe may have been professional, that or mommy's one hell of a photographer). I looked through the photo entries for the girls' contest, and specifically sought out the winning photos, just so I could see what kind of thing they were looking for, and sort of take my entry in that direction.
I chose the photo of Orren at Minnesota Children's Museum, did some minor edits (just a crop and red-eye removal), then submitted it. It's a good picture, and I have confidence in my entry. I believe that with that picture, I have as good a shot as anyone else. I was one of the first people to enter the contest when it opened a couple weeks ago. Since then, the entry album has been practically spammed by dozens and dozens of pictures of the same exact kids, and not even good pictures either! It's as if some people have just emptied their "My Pictures" file into the submission box, crap and all. I am shocked at the things people think are contest-worthy photos. There are pictures that are so busy you can hardly pick the baby out of it. There are pictures that don't make a single bit of sense. There are some which serve as more of a showcase of a messy house than of a kid (have you not heard of cropping the photo? My house is a wreck, too, but I try to edit out the mess in pictures!). Still others are absolutely disgusting (think "see food").
With this influx of new photos, Thak thought our entry might get buried, so we decided to enter one to two more photos (it ended up being two), just so we have entries at the beginning and the end of the submission album. They had to be good photos, though. I don't see the point of just uploading random crap for the sake of uploading it.
This all brings me to the question of what makes a good photo. Obviously it's in the eye of the beholder. For me, I like pictures that are not terribly busy, or if they are, the focal point of the photo is sharp, while the remainder of the activity is a bit out of focus. I like there to be somewhat of a color scheme, but not too matchy-matchy, like if it's a dark photo (a nighttime street scene, for example), then bright colors could have a place, but pastels would not. I like photos that don't look staged, and this is the primary beef with my children. The minute I get out the camera, Erin plasters a big fake smile on her face and freezes in place, and Orren has picked up the habit. I like photos that have somewhat of a theme, but not overkill. Basically, things have to make sense. For example, if the kid is dressed a bit West Texas Punk, I don't want to see that next to a flower garden. I want to see it sitting on an amp, or in front of something kind of rundown, or in a car.
Here are my rejected photos of Orren from yesterday. These are the ones I did not submit to the photo contest for various reasons. I do like them, though. I think our rundown back door area goes with Orren's ripped jeans. His 80's-inspired shirt and shoes sort of go along with that also. The color scheme is a lot of gray and black, but I like how the bright colors in his shirt sort of punch it up just enough.
To me, these are good photos. Of course, they won't be to everybody. To a professional, they may be garbage (and no, I don't trust my professional photographer friends to tell me the truth on that! They say my photos are good, but I know they're just being nice.) To someone who just picked up a camera for the first time in their life, they may be outstanding. To someone with different taste than me, they may not like my choice of background, or think I don't edit enough, or they may like them just fine. Personally, I think that I am getting good results from simple equipment (Nikon L20, 10 megapixels, point-and-shoot camera, and Picassa 3 and Irfanview, both free editing programs), and that with continued effort, can probably improve substantially.
I'm finicky about pictures, maybe more so than a lot of people. Thak gets onto me about it sometimes. I only hope that my pickiness, and effort to take decent pictures of my kids whenever I can, will pay off for us in at least one of the photo contests I have entered. Even if it doesn't, though, I'm going to have a lot of scrapbooking to do once I get these pictures printed!
In that photo contest, there are roughly 400 photos, three of which are mine. They allow multiple entries. They have in previous contests, too, although the spammy wheel has never gotten the grease, so to speak. In other words, in last month's contest (same contest as this month, but for girls, while this month is for boys) the people who won had anywhere from one to three photos entered, and the photos were good pictures, but not professional (except one, which I believe may have been professional, that or mommy's one hell of a photographer). I looked through the photo entries for the girls' contest, and specifically sought out the winning photos, just so I could see what kind of thing they were looking for, and sort of take my entry in that direction.
I chose the photo of Orren at Minnesota Children's Museum, did some minor edits (just a crop and red-eye removal), then submitted it. It's a good picture, and I have confidence in my entry. I believe that with that picture, I have as good a shot as anyone else. I was one of the first people to enter the contest when it opened a couple weeks ago. Since then, the entry album has been practically spammed by dozens and dozens of pictures of the same exact kids, and not even good pictures either! It's as if some people have just emptied their "My Pictures" file into the submission box, crap and all. I am shocked at the things people think are contest-worthy photos. There are pictures that are so busy you can hardly pick the baby out of it. There are pictures that don't make a single bit of sense. There are some which serve as more of a showcase of a messy house than of a kid (have you not heard of cropping the photo? My house is a wreck, too, but I try to edit out the mess in pictures!). Still others are absolutely disgusting (think "see food").
With this influx of new photos, Thak thought our entry might get buried, so we decided to enter one to two more photos (it ended up being two), just so we have entries at the beginning and the end of the submission album. They had to be good photos, though. I don't see the point of just uploading random crap for the sake of uploading it.
This all brings me to the question of what makes a good photo. Obviously it's in the eye of the beholder. For me, I like pictures that are not terribly busy, or if they are, the focal point of the photo is sharp, while the remainder of the activity is a bit out of focus. I like there to be somewhat of a color scheme, but not too matchy-matchy, like if it's a dark photo (a nighttime street scene, for example), then bright colors could have a place, but pastels would not. I like photos that don't look staged, and this is the primary beef with my children. The minute I get out the camera, Erin plasters a big fake smile on her face and freezes in place, and Orren has picked up the habit. I like photos that have somewhat of a theme, but not overkill. Basically, things have to make sense. For example, if the kid is dressed a bit West Texas Punk, I don't want to see that next to a flower garden. I want to see it sitting on an amp, or in front of something kind of rundown, or in a car.
Here are my rejected photos of Orren from yesterday. These are the ones I did not submit to the photo contest for various reasons. I do like them, though. I think our rundown back door area goes with Orren's ripped jeans. His 80's-inspired shirt and shoes sort of go along with that also. The color scheme is a lot of gray and black, but I like how the bright colors in his shirt sort of punch it up just enough.
To me, these are good photos. Of course, they won't be to everybody. To a professional, they may be garbage (and no, I don't trust my professional photographer friends to tell me the truth on that! They say my photos are good, but I know they're just being nice.) To someone who just picked up a camera for the first time in their life, they may be outstanding. To someone with different taste than me, they may not like my choice of background, or think I don't edit enough, or they may like them just fine. Personally, I think that I am getting good results from simple equipment (Nikon L20, 10 megapixels, point-and-shoot camera, and Picassa 3 and Irfanview, both free editing programs), and that with continued effort, can probably improve substantially.
I'm finicky about pictures, maybe more so than a lot of people. Thak gets onto me about it sometimes. I only hope that my pickiness, and effort to take decent pictures of my kids whenever I can, will pay off for us in at least one of the photo contests I have entered. Even if it doesn't, though, I'm going to have a lot of scrapbooking to do once I get these pictures printed!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Britax, Britax, Britax...
We used our Britax Marathon for the first time in weeks, if not a month, just now. It's in Thak's truck, which we normally don't drive when we're going somewhere as a family. In my car, we have the Radian XTSL. To recap, the Marathon is the Mossy Oak camo print car seat, and the Radian is the red one. The Marathon has a 35 pound rear-facing weight limit and 65 pounds forward-facing, and the Radian has a 45 pound rear-facing limit, and 80 pounds forward-facing.
Of the two, the Britax is the better looking seat, style-wise, but the longer Orren's legs get, the more I see that the Radian is the better of the two seats over all. See, the Britax sits as close to the seat back as any other car seat, so for families who extended-rear-face their kids (oh, and we've been EXTENDED rear-facing for 4 months today! Yay us!) that won't work too well. There's just not enough leg room. Contrary to the "forward-face at a year and 20 pounds, or be damned!" idiots, long legs do not present a safety hazard while rear-facing. There has never once been a documented case of injury stemming from that. On the contrary, it's just a comfort and convenience thing. It's just so much easier to have more leg room for the kid who's rear-facing to 2 and 3o, or beyond.
This is just yet another way it is different raising Orren due to his height. We have to look for tall car seats that will accommodate him (since he's all torso, as is very typical for boys), but he's also got longer legs than most babies his age, so he really does benefit from more leg room that he gets with our Radian car seat. In the Britax, he's been completely cross-legged for about 5 months now. In the Radian, he can comfortably prop his feet on the seat back that's in front of him, and ride all day long if that's the plan. Also, the Radian has lower sides in the seat portion, so it's more comfortable to sit cross-legged for kids who are 3-4 years old, and still rear-facing (and with a 45 pound rear-facing weight limit, that's very common!).
Radian did a really good job with this seat. It's not that I don't love our Britax seats. I do. However, I think it's fairly obvious to say they have been completely usurped as the preferred car seat for the Extended-Rear-Facing family. Unless they change their designs a lot, I would say this family has probably bought our last Britax seat.
In order to compete in today's marketplace, Britax, you must do the following:
1) Offer higher rear-facing weight limits in at least some of your models. 35 pounds across the board used to be revolutionary, but today, it is not enough!
2) Redesign your seats to offer more leg room for rear-facing toddlers. For a company which prides itself on being the leader in extended rear-facing, you sure don't make it as easy as it should be.
3) Make more seats that suit compact cars. Nobody drives gas guzzling SUV's anymore. OK, that's not true. Lots of people still do. That number is declining, though. Most of us moms today don't want to upgrade to a vehicle the size of a school bus just to accommodate a few car seats. If you want to keep my business, Britax, you must give me a seat that fits 3 across in a compact car, and has at least a 50 pound forward-facing limit. The Diplomat fits great in my car, and has the standard Britax 35 pound rear-facing limit, BUT it's only got a 40-pound forward-facing limit. Plus, it's the shortest car seat I've ever seen! Orren outgrew it in height at 13 months! For $280, that's ridiculous. If Radian can accommodate 45 RF and 80 FF, and still fit 3-across in a compact car, not to mention cost exactly the same amount of money, then the Diplomat can be improved in such a way as to be competitive.
Come on, Britax. I used to love you, but I fear the spark is gone. My Radian may be ugly, but it's got one hell of a "personality". Wink. Nudge.
Gimme a 45 pound RF limit, a tall seat, and some leg room, or I walk!
Of the two, the Britax is the better looking seat, style-wise, but the longer Orren's legs get, the more I see that the Radian is the better of the two seats over all. See, the Britax sits as close to the seat back as any other car seat, so for families who extended-rear-face their kids (oh, and we've been EXTENDED rear-facing for 4 months today! Yay us!) that won't work too well. There's just not enough leg room. Contrary to the "forward-face at a year and 20 pounds, or be damned!" idiots, long legs do not present a safety hazard while rear-facing. There has never once been a documented case of injury stemming from that. On the contrary, it's just a comfort and convenience thing. It's just so much easier to have more leg room for the kid who's rear-facing to 2 and 3o, or beyond.
This is just yet another way it is different raising Orren due to his height. We have to look for tall car seats that will accommodate him (since he's all torso, as is very typical for boys), but he's also got longer legs than most babies his age, so he really does benefit from more leg room that he gets with our Radian car seat. In the Britax, he's been completely cross-legged for about 5 months now. In the Radian, he can comfortably prop his feet on the seat back that's in front of him, and ride all day long if that's the plan. Also, the Radian has lower sides in the seat portion, so it's more comfortable to sit cross-legged for kids who are 3-4 years old, and still rear-facing (and with a 45 pound rear-facing weight limit, that's very common!).
Radian did a really good job with this seat. It's not that I don't love our Britax seats. I do. However, I think it's fairly obvious to say they have been completely usurped as the preferred car seat for the Extended-Rear-Facing family. Unless they change their designs a lot, I would say this family has probably bought our last Britax seat.
In order to compete in today's marketplace, Britax, you must do the following:
1) Offer higher rear-facing weight limits in at least some of your models. 35 pounds across the board used to be revolutionary, but today, it is not enough!
2) Redesign your seats to offer more leg room for rear-facing toddlers. For a company which prides itself on being the leader in extended rear-facing, you sure don't make it as easy as it should be.
3) Make more seats that suit compact cars. Nobody drives gas guzzling SUV's anymore. OK, that's not true. Lots of people still do. That number is declining, though. Most of us moms today don't want to upgrade to a vehicle the size of a school bus just to accommodate a few car seats. If you want to keep my business, Britax, you must give me a seat that fits 3 across in a compact car, and has at least a 50 pound forward-facing limit. The Diplomat fits great in my car, and has the standard Britax 35 pound rear-facing limit, BUT it's only got a 40-pound forward-facing limit. Plus, it's the shortest car seat I've ever seen! Orren outgrew it in height at 13 months! For $280, that's ridiculous. If Radian can accommodate 45 RF and 80 FF, and still fit 3-across in a compact car, not to mention cost exactly the same amount of money, then the Diplomat can be improved in such a way as to be competitive.
Come on, Britax. I used to love you, but I fear the spark is gone. My Radian may be ugly, but it's got one hell of a "personality". Wink. Nudge.
Gimme a 45 pound RF limit, a tall seat, and some leg room, or I walk!
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