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Bryan

Bryan

I’m just not feeling the holiday spirit this year. Both my kids are young and I am trying to show up for them. I even saved up quite a bit of cash to pay for toys and gifts and take some of that stress off us, but I just can’t get in the mood.

I think more than anything, I’m feeling tired of Oregon and feeling the pull to move back to Michigan. We’ve outgrown our house and feel trapped due to prices and interest rates. Looking at real estate back in the Midwest looks like a bargain. The pay isn’t even that different in my field, and we’d have a huge down payment if we sold our current house to buy there. It’s even more appealing to me also because my family lives there. But I can’t convince my wife.

Take for example this house:

It’s in an affluent suburb with good schools, in a major metro area with good jobs in my field. A house like this barely even exists in Oregon, and the ones that do would cost double what this one is listed for. Here in Oregon, we live in a tiny place in a less desirable location despite being in a higher income group. It’s crazy to me what is unavailable to us given our education and income levels. We worked so hard to get where we are and barely feel we can get ahead. Why people stay here is beyond me.

1 min read

Lately, both of my kids have been learning so much and it’s intense seeing them grow before my eyes.

No. 1 is 4 and has known his ABCs and how to count for a while now, but he’s become so articulate, annunciating every letter perfectly (no elemenopee anymore). He’s also counting into the 40s and higher when reminded of the starting digit. Even more impressive are the questions he’s beginning to ask. Existential questions, and reflecting on complex topics, even accompanied by sadness and even anguish when speaking of loss. Wow.

No. 2 is 23 months and is saying short sentences and asserting her personhood by claiming ownership of things and not shying away from telling you what’s up, especially to “stop it” when something is bothering her. It won’t be long until she’s speaking in full sentences and becoming her own person, too. In addition to playing with the magnet tiles and more traditional “boy toys”, she’s dressing up and playing with dolls, unprompted or promoted by us, which is just so different from our son’s preferred toys, even though he had access to all the same things she does when he was her age.

Parenthood is a trip and I love it. Hard, yes, but awesome in all the best ways.

1 min read

I have a theory that eyeglass companies switched to polycarbonate lenses from glass, not because of weight or safety concerns, or because polycarbonate was better, but because polycarbonate scratches easily, so you have to replace your glasses more often.

Even with coatings, they just suck in my experience. I scratch up my polycarbonate lenses a couple months after getting them, without fail. I know I’m hard on them, but it’s still annoying.

Most local shops and labs don’t even offer glass lenses anymore. But I found out recently that eyeglasses.com still sells actual glass lenses. So I sent in my existing pair of Warby Parker frames and had them replace the lenses with real glass. Took about two weeks total to send them in and get them back, but they are awesome. $150, reasonable if you ask me.

A little more weight, but the acuity is a lot better and they’re supposed to have the highest scratch resistance of any material. We’ll see how they hold up.

1 min read