http://www.thenoosphere.com Taking Community to the Next Level ... Forums, Galleries, Blogs and much more en Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:10:51 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.thenoosphere.com/images/skilltest/misc/rss.jpg http://www.thenoosphere.com http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37229&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:37:24 GMT With November's midterm elections less than two months away, a new national poll indicates that the Republicans' advantage over the Democrats in the battle for Congress is on the rise.


More... ]]> Political News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37229 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37228&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:37:24 GMT In a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, President Obama will outline a plan to spend more on roads, railways and runways.Image:... In a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, President Obama will outline a plan to spend more on roads, railways and runways.


More... ]]> Political News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37228 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37227&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT Image: http://www.pbase.com/bobfloyd/image/109124474/medium.jpg “Fix it, Daddy.” Her grief stricken face appears at my elbow. That’s all I can...

“Fix it, Daddy.”

Her grief stricken face appears at my elbow. That’s all I can see. She is, after all, only 2 and a half yeas old so not tall enough yet for me to see more.

“Fix what, Cuteness?”

“Dis!” She replies holding up the Slinky she got for Christmas. The Slinky I incorrectly thought she was too young for just yet. The Slinky I incorrectly thought would be boring in a single level ranch home that has but one step in the whole place. The Slinky that has now become one of her favorite toys. The Slinky that is now “broken.”

I looked from the Slinky to her face, seeing nothing but blind trust and confidence.

“Mommy said Daddy fix it” she intones solemnly. No preacher or priest ever spoke about their faith with more conviction. At this moment she could give the best of them lessons.

The Slinky is a tangled mess. Anyone who ever owned one knows exactly of what I speak. No matter how careful you are this is how they end up. Period.

When I was a kid, I turned more than my share of them into three dimensional renderings that would make Escher proud. As far as I remember they were, every last one of them, unrecoverable. Didn’t make a difference if it was the original metal versions or the new fangled plastic ones, I was death in a pair of Sears Toughskins to Slinky’s.

Maybe at her age I had taken one to my father to fix. I really don’t remember. I know when I got older I didn’t. I would fix it myself or it wouldn’t get fixed.

They never got fixed. Not past a certain point and this was definitely past that point.

Little, earnest blue eyes stared at me, pleading silently.

Options ran through my head.

I could take it to “fix” it and after she went to bed make it go away. After all, she is 2 and a half, with a mountain of toys. It will be forgotten by tomorrow morning and she would never know.

Ah…but I would know.

I could hide this one and go buy another tomorrow. Or tonight even! Yeah. Then she would have a brand new one and she would never know.

But of course, I would know.

The blessing and the curse of growing up in my father’s house are the words “I will know.” I heard them a lot. Looking back now it seems like I heard it daily, usually when I suggested a shortcut to doing some chore. It was then and remains today one of the mantras my father lives by and it is what allows me to work from home with no direct oversight today. It is what would fix the Slinky.

I had tried to fix them when I was a kid. I was, and still am, good at fixing things. I love puzzles and this was a hell of a puzzle she had. But I had never succeeded with the Slinky and I was pretty sure it wasn’t happening this time either.

What to do?

“Give me the Slinky, Cuteness. I will see what I can do.”

She handed me the toy, beaming, turned and walked out with these final words “Mommy, Mommy, Daddy fix it!”

I stared. What had I done?

The Slinky went up somewhere till I had more time. I gave it a couple of days then got out some tools while my wife put our daughter down for the night. I figured I would work on it while I watched Fringe on the DVR.

First I got out my trusty Leatherman Supertool. I was a theater technician for over 12 years and went everywhere with one. I figured if I couldn’t fix it with one of those it didn’t need fixing. It took a while but I got it with the Leatherman and then promptly broke it again…with the Leatherman.

Off to the garage for more gear. This time a very small flat head screw driver and an honest to goodness pair of needle nose pliers.

I tinkered and played and worked and weedled. It did not want to come back together. It was laughing at me. Taunting me.

By now I was through Fringe and onto The Menalist.

Failure was not an option. Her shining face, so trusting, kept popping up in my mind and the words rang in my ears…“Mommy, Mommy, Daddy fix it!”

“It is just a toy” I thought to myself. “Easily replaced.”

Ah...but I would know.

Finally, it comes together. Everything tightened down just right. Metal smooth so it is safe for little hands and back to one long coiled spring. Her Mom reaches for it to inspect the work. It passes the Mom test.

In the morning it is waiting for her in the kitchen, all fixed. She blows in, a bundle of energy, dressed for the day, hair in pigtails carrying the ever present pink “bankie” and looking for her milk.

I hand her the Slinky.

“Sinky!” she cries. Then stops and nods at me wisely, an action much more suited to a person nearing the end of their days than one as yet so close to their beginning.

“Daddy fix it.” She says in the same solemn tones as before, as though there had never been any other option or doubt.

“Tank you, Daddy.” And she is off with her milk and her Slinky to see what this day will bring.

I grin stupidly while I fix my coffee. As she gets older things will get harder and harder to do this with. I am not completely stupid. Sooner or later it will be something I can’t fix.

But for right now, I realize with a sudden burst of insight, this is what it feels like to be Superman.

Cool.


More... ]]> Entertainment News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37227 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37226&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT More...... More... ]]> TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37226 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37225&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT Movie attendance was down, but some films ? like ?Toy Story 3? and ?Inception? ? made out very, very well. Image:... Movie attendance was down, but some films ? like ?Toy Story 3? and ?Inception? ? made out very, very well.



More... ]]> Entertainment News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37225 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37224&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT At the All Tomorrow?s Parties festival in the Catskills, Iggy and the Stooges played ?Raw Power.? Image: http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 ... At the All Tomorrow?s Parties festival in the Catskills, Iggy and the Stooges played ?Raw Power.?



More... ]]> Entertainment News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37224 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37223&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT Existential concepts like authenticity and selfhood, and people?s ability or inability to apprehend reality, lie at the heart of Tom McCarthy?s... Existential concepts like authenticity and selfhood, and people?s ability or inability to apprehend reality, lie at the heart of Tom McCarthy?s disappointing and highly self-conscious new novel.



More... ]]> Entertainment News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37223 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37222&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT As devastating floods appear to widen divisions, Pakistani officials, some accused of ineptitude and favoritism, are trying to repair the political... As devastating floods appear to widen divisions, Pakistani officials, some accused of ineptitude and favoritism, are trying to repair the political damage.



More... ]]> World News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37222 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37221&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT There’s something strange going on around the red giant star CW Leonis (a.k.a. IRC+10216). Deep within the star’s carbon-rich veil, astronomers have... There’s something strange going on around the red giant star CW Leonis (a.k.a. IRC+10216). Deep within the star’s carbon-rich veil, astronomers have detected water vapor where no water should be. CW Leonis is similar in mass to the sun, but much older and much larger. It is the nearest red giant to the sun, and [...]

More... ]]> TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37221 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37220&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT [More]



Carbon - Environment - Carbon Cycle - Carbon Management - Carbon dioxide

More... ]]> TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37220 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37219&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT One of the key drivers of human evolution and diversity, accounting for changes that occur between different generations of people, is explained by... One of the key drivers of human evolution and diversity, accounting for changes that occur between different generations of people, is explained by new research.

More... ]]> TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37219 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37218&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT AP - Craiglist's "adult services" section has been shut down in the U.S., but prostitution on the Internet is alive and well — even, quite possibly, on Craigslist.




More... ]]> U.S. News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37218 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37217&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT AP - A suicide bomber detonated a car in an alley behind a police station in a strategically vital town in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least 17 police and civilians in an explosion that shattered the station and neighboring homes, police said.




More... ]]> World News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37217 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37216&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT Quarterback Matt Leinart might find a landing place with the Houston Texans. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Texans have expressed... Quarterback Matt Leinart might find a landing place with the Houston Texans. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Texans have expressed interest in the former USC star, who was released by the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday.

More... ]]> Sports News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37216 http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37215&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:25:42 GMT After a seven-month stalemate often marked by acrimony, Darrelle Revis and the New York Jets reached an agreement in principle.

More... ]]> Sports News TN http://www.thenoosphere.com/showthread.php?t=37215