Family Life: Unglamourous, Maybe; Boring, Never

Having a family has very real rewards. For example, I haven't been bored since my wife and I started this one, about a quarter-century back.

Today, one of my daughters decided that her laptop's performance had become so execrable that the only reasonable thing to do was to back up all her data, re-format the hard drive, and re-install what she needed.

I think of that as the 'nuclear option' of computer maintenance.

Everything went smoothly until an activation code was needed. To be mercifully brief, she's now waiting for word to come back from a California warehouse. There may be news for her tomorrow.

Meanwhile, another daughter came home from her job of painting a barn with a two-foot-long splash of oozing red running down her right leg. Since she was walking as well as could be expected, after getting an uber-charlie-horse yesterday, I decided that it wasn't blood.

There had been an incident involving a ladder and a can of paint. An intense session with mineral spirits and some other ingredients my wife and daughter discussed seems to have dealt with the issue. At least, she says she won't be smearing paint onto things now.

I spent part of the morning, learning that last year's hip replacements are doing okay. Meanwhile, my father-in-law got his knees replaced yesterday. Part of this family is minding the shop while he's recuperating.

As for my son, he's been keeping a fairly low profile since starting me on a voyage of discovery on Monday. (Details in Computers and Kids: Home-Based Business vs Bionicles (June 25), Computers and Kids: the Sequel (June 26) and Computers and Kids: Return of the Sequel (June 27).)

News commentary on Paris Hilton's release from jail included another assertion that Ms. Hilton was a role model for many teenage girls in this country.

As the caveman in the commercial said, "what??!!"

I have nothing against Paris Hilton. I believe that, given the opportunity, she could grow up to be a responsible and productive adult.

However, right now, the really astonishing thing in the Paris Hilton mess is this repeated claim:

That about half the teenagers in the USA
are ditsy enough
to regard a woman with Hilton's public image
as someone to emulate.

It's not as if there weren't women with a successful public life to consider. A short list of women who are now, or have recently, made a difference in public life includes:

• Condoleeza Rice


• Margaret Thatcher


• Mother Angelica


• Mother Teresa


• Ruth Bader Ginsburg


• Sandra Day O'Connor


• Shirley Temple Black

So, with people like this to consider, and with due respect, how can Paris Hilton, the girl famous for lavish wealth and skimpy clothes, be in the running for top role model?

Maybe I can't understand. I've got two daughters who passed their teens, and another who's still serving time in adolescence. One of the older ones told me that Ms. Hilton is popular because she's pretty and skinny. When I asked what that had to do with choosing a role model, my daughter told me that teenage girls and logic don't mix. Especially when it comes to their appearance.

(Why Shirley Temple Black? After her childhood film career, she was: ambassador to United Nations, Ghana and Czechoslovakia; the first female chief of protocol of the United States (1976); and foreign affairs officer with the State Department. In my opinion, a non-trivial career.)

Helping Around the House

After supper today, I noticed a pile dishes, bowls, and things I don't know the name of, sitting on the counter between the sink and the dishwasher.

The thought flashed across my mind, "I can wash this!"

One item in particular seemed to call for special attention: what I discovered later was a crock pot. I filled it with a mix of water and detergent, and left the mixture to work its chemical magic on the baked-on grease.

A little later, my wife came to the kitchen, looked at the pot,and said "you probably shouldn't have immersed that."

She's right, of course.