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For those of you who thought Uno was just a game – it can also be an introductory math lesson! You don’t make it into a lesson, of course. You just play Uno and ask the child about the numbers as you play.

The box says “Ages 7 And Up”, but our 2-year-old likes to play. He does not know all the numbers quite yet, but I have found that Uno is a good way to teach him the numbers. He knows a couple of them, and I figure that after a few more games he will have learned all his numbers. He already knows colors, so we’re all set on that point. We don’t play with any of the special cards, but if things keep progressing, then he will be able to read words like “draw”, “two”, “reverse”, and “skip”.

Do not be fooled by the other Uno options out there. They sell some sets with something other than the numbers as the prominent identifier. Stick with the original set. Otherwise the child will concentrate on the other thing, such as movie character, instead of the number. Eventually he will learn the number than goes along with that character, but I’d say move to those themed cards after he knows all the numbers.

“So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”
– Psalm 90:12

At a recent public event that my family attended, there were some sponsors with booths. My son grabbed a freebie bag from a sponsor. This particular sponsor happened to be a food manufacturer whose main products are sold in jars – the standard glass jars vacuum sealed with metal lids. The bag contained a few small jars of various stuff, some promotional literature, and a jar gripper helper pad. The gripper pad is just a round piece of rubber that you place on the jar lid to help you maintain a better grip on the lid when trying to open stubborn lids.

When my son was going through the contents of the bag, we didn’t know what was in it. We just heard him announcing what he got: “I got some jars!”, “I got some papers!”, and “I got a mouse pad!” We tried to explain what it really was, but he was convinced that it was a mouse pad instead of a jar gripper. He has complained that it is too small for the mouse, so he still uses the existing mouse pads instead of his new one.

“He said, ‘Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.’ So they brought {it} to him.”
– 2 Kings 2:20

As if the water enhanced by minerals is not enough, now some company has come up with water that is infused with positive energies and powerful mantras. I wonder how those appear on the ingredients list.

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”
– Luke 6:45

Due to the many activities of life, I have not been able to mow the lawn as often as other people – mainly my neighbors – mow. The other night we got home shortly before sundown and I figured it was my best chance to mow.

So I started mowing and kept mowing, turning on the headlights, until shortly after sundown. There was still a little light – it was probably officially dusk when I finished. It wasn’t always easy to see while I was mowing. Most of the time I noticed the sticks and branches but some I didn’t, so I ran over a few things. That is not good for your mower blades, so don’t mow at night.

After I finished, I saw some bits of glass on the driveway. I thought that was odd, as we don’t use glass bottles for anything. And I knew that plastic water bottles don’t shatter like that. But some people had been over earlier in the week, so I thought maybe they brought some glass with them.

On my way back from stowing the lawn mower, I stopped to look at the shards of glass in the driveway. They happened to be right next to my car, the Buick. My gaze left the driveway and traveled up the side of the Buick, stopping at the hole in the rear side window. For a few seconds, I stood there, trying to comprehend what I was seeing. I knew what I saw – the window was shattered – but I was thinking “Is there any way that what I’m seeing is not really happening?”

After I opened the door and some pieces of glass fell on the driveway, I figured it was real and there was nothing to do but clean up. I was wearing gloves, so I started picking the pieces out of the door handle. It wasn’t working very well, so I tried to think of a better way to get the hundreds of pieces of glass out of the car. I am glad I have a Shop Vac. I brought that out and it sucked all the glass shards out of the car with no problem. I never found the projectile that caused the damage, as the vacuum probably took it along with all the glass. I did remember one particularly hefty ka-chunk sound while mowing, and that was near the car. I don’t normally run over items on purpose, but as it was dark, I didn’t see whatever it was in the lawn. I think it was a rock. Don’t mow in the dark, and keep your lawn clear of objects.

After the car was cleaned, I inspected the driveway. As there was glass scattered around the tires, I knew I didn’t want to move the car without cleaning up that glass first. So I started vacuuming the driveway too. The problem there was that it is a dirt and gravel driveway. So I vacuumed more dirt and gravel than glass. But I think I got the driveway all cleaned, eventually.

Another problem was that this was slightly after dusk now, so the mosquitoes were out in full force. They are bad enough normally at that time, but I had a vacuum hose in one hand and a flashlight in the other, so I couldn’t really react quickly. Plus I had picking up glass shards with my gloves, so I didn’t want to be smacking or scratching myself with those gloves.

The next day, I took the car to the Buick dealership to have the rear side window replaced. There was no glass left, so it was more like having a window installed. I expected that, of all places, a Buick dealership would have a replacement window available. The car is only a few years old, but they did not have those windows in stock. They could order a part from GM, but it would take a few days to arrive. Or, the option I took, they could have a local glass company come and replace the window. So I paid the dealership to contract out the work. The final bill was around $150, not as bad as I thought when I first saw the damage. But it is a lot more than $0, which is what I would have paid if none of this had happened.

Here is my first Java applet. For those who don’t know what a Java applet is, it is a little program.

Just click on the square below to start. I think everyone should be familiar with the concept. The goal is to get the numbers in order. Click on a number next to the blank square to move that square into the now formerly blank spot. To reset the grid to a new random order, use your browser’s reload button.

“But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.”
– 1 Corinthians 14:40

It is the end of May, and I have not received my economic stimulus tax rebate check. According to what the IRS said, I should have received my money a few weeks ago. But I did, last week, receive a letter from the IRS saying that I will get some money. Not the money itself, just a letter describing the money.

Lewis Black had a comedy routine about this the last time there was an economic stimulus rebate thingy (around 2001). And I have to agree with him. Why not, instead of mailing people letters telling them they’re going to receive checks, just put the checks in the letters? That would save people some annoyance and save the government some money. How much money? It cost the IRS $42 million to send letters without checks in them.

“For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.”
– Romans 13:6

Some misguided countries are banning or considering banning the good-old incandescent light bulb (GS) to force people to use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). That is a bad idea. Not that CFLs are a bad idea, but banning GSes is a bad idea.

The article linked in the ‘bad idea’ phrase above recommends taxing incandescent bulbs instead of banning them. This would have a similar effect of forcing people to CFLs, but people could still choose GSes if they wanted. I agree that a tax would be better than a ban, but I disagree that the recommended action for governments is to add taxes. I do agree that if you want less of something, tax it, and if you want more of something, then subsidize it.

But I believe the government shouldn’t need to do anything in this case. CFLs should have to earn their place in a competitive market like any other product. If they are truly worth it (“a CFL can save you $45 in energy costs”), then people will use them. Most people don’t want to spend more money on things than they need to spend. But if they are not worth it (“but a CFL won’t work in my unheated garage, in my refrigerator, with my dimmer switch, etc.“) then people will reject them. If CFLs are worth being bought, then advertisers are fully capable of getting the public to buy them.

“But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet {them} and take some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.”
– Joshua 6:18