Phantasmic Links 2.12.06

Readers here only for this week's PHANTASMIC LINKS can skip the rant that follows and jump to the section in the usual P-link color. Brave souls with older parents who might offer advice or empathy are encouraged to read on.

Old man winter made up for lost time, and later in the week I'll have the pictures to prove it. Flurries started around five o'clock yesterday and ended about the same time today, but in between we were hit with nearly two feet of snow, at least in my area. I'm beginning to feel very frustrated and helpless when it comes to my dad and snow. Around noon I heard my mom yelling at him, so I went out to see him putting on boots and an extra pair of pants, denying that he had plans to go outside. I chimed in that I'd checked the weather online and there was no point going out for a few hours, until it stopped. The discussion elevated to a shouting match, and at one point he snapped at my mom, “he's in worse shape than I am!!”

I know I'm out-of-shape, but as I mentioned yesterday, I've been working very hard to improve. Even though I knew his words were hurled in defensive misdirection, that he didn't actually believe a 31-year-old who visits the gym regularly was worse off than a 75-year-old man with a heart condition, they still stung. I suddenly felt a strong urge to prove myself, show that I wasn't a kid. He admitted that he wasn't planning to shovel for another hour, but was getting dressed to look for the newspaper. I told him I'd get it, hoping that the Jumble might buy me some time, since boredom was as much a motivation as pride in his desire to go outside. Even though it was still snowing pretty heavy, once I found the paper and brought it in, I remained out there working as quickly as I could. Maybe someday I'll be fast enough, but it wasn't today. Sure enough, he soon joined me, and I'd only done the front sidewalk and a portion of the driveway. It was the same “if you can't beat him, join him” situation that I find myself in every year. Telling him to go inside only makes him raise his voice and say that the neighbors are laughing at me for arguing with him. More misdirection, but he knows the right buttons to push.

And so we worked together, my mom looking disapprovingly from the house as I shrugged. He looked pale even though he was pacing himself, but upsetting him by arguing would only make his blood pressure go up. Earlier in the day one of his sisters had called and given my mom permission to “hit him over the head with a shovel” if he was stubborn and tried to go outside. I wasn't about to try that. After cleaning two of the cars and half of the driveway, he finally went in, and I stayed out for another hour or so to finish up. I don't know if I should take it as a good sign, that he's finally starting to trust me to be a man and handle an adult's task, or a bad one that he hit his own limit and had to stop. Normally, nothing stops my dad, a trait I wish I possessed, so I'm thinking it was the latter. Ironically, as I finished our driveway the 10-year-old boy across the street came outside, climbed on to a small ride-on mower that his father had hooked a plow up to, and proceed to clean his parent's driveway in half the time.

Does anyone have any advice? We borrowed a snowblower once to try it out, and it kept jamming. My dad also didn't like the lack of control. With a shovel, you can deposit snow anywhere but a blower limits you, and you have to be careful to face away from the neighbors. There's a family friend who sometimes plows the driveway for us and he actually did so earlier today, but with the snowfall it filled in again and his tires packed the snow down in some places, making it impossible to separate from the pavement. I work as fast as I can and normally I would have gone out at night while my father slept, but the bulk of this storm was overnight so I didn't bother this time. I'm only human and, heart condition aside, there actually is some truth to my dad's words about me being in worse shape. Years as an automobile mechanic have left him remarkable strong while I still have my limitations. Insisting he stay inside has the opposite effect, makes him go out there to prove he can do it. I'm not sure if reverse psychology would work either. I think he's going out there no matter what, and I just have to accept it and do the best I can to minimize his exertions. I am starting to feel really guilty about entertaining the notion of buying my uncle's house when he moves into a senior apartment. Realistically, unless my mom turns my bedroom into a sewing room, I suppose I could always stay over when there's going to be a storm, so I shouldn't let this deter any plans should I pursue leaving.

If you read this whole rant I thank you, and I now present what you really came for, this week's PHANTASMIC LINKS:

I haven't been able to stop watching Doctor Tran ever since I saw it over at Darrell's. This link comes with a strong language warning and near-lethal doses of hilarity.

Speaking of strong language, you've never heard Barney like this. Skip if gangsta rap offends you, but this certainly paints the purple dinosaur in a new light.

Speaking of offensive, I watched this news item with mixed feelings. The teacher's defense is valid insofar as there is a difference between the two words he cites. Did he actually use the non-offensive version? I'm not sure. Even if he did, there's an unwritten rule that someone like him can't get away with it. There's also the matter of context. I think he deserved the penalty. I'm not sure if it's a fireable offense, though. What do you think?

Finally, the question of what would happen to MCF if he were locked in the trunk of a moving car is answered.

Sometimes turning back the clock explains everything.

This is only a scale model, but I'm excited to think that every day we're getting closer to the real thing. Hat tip to Rey.

Sketch Swap entertained me for quite some time this afternoon. Draw something and get one in return instantly.

Here's another one of those games in which you must click things in the right order, courtesy of Dosetaker.

Can you navigate a maze armed only with bombs and escape in Trapped 5? It took me about a half hour last night, at which point I learned that I'd missed a secret room. What are the odds?

Here's an interesting analysis of the names of the characters on Lost. In case anyone is wondering what I'm doing on a baby names site, I've been using such sites to research names for my writing class stories. It's handy to find out what names mean or look for names with specific meanings that tie in to what I'm writing about.

You might as well face it; you're addicted to Lost.