With the baseball season over, most excellent that it was, it's time to resume my grandparental training. Last night I watched SpongeBob SquarePants. I also eagerly await the movie. The younger generation calls me Iso, short for Isoisä, Finnish for grandfather (old father, really). Sandra is known as Buppy, aka the Bupster. Lily used to call us buppyandiso, even when talking to us individually.

Lately I've wrestled with software problems that ought to take about 15 seconds and, instead, use up the better part of a day. Some of it is my own doing as I resist the most obvious solution - uninstall and reinstall the software. If we had to take out the engine and put it back when our car wouldn't start, we might get more than a little upset. Imagine if doctors treated us that way when we came in with a headache. With software, however, we have an incredible tolerance for bad design and worse support.

Friend T. finished the New York Marathon this past Sunday, her second time running New York and third marathon overall.

The weather forecast for Friday afternoon are suggesting that we might get our first substantial snow of the season. Our snowblower is still in the back yard. Last year I had to pour gasoline into the carburetor to get it started. My commute is much shorter than in years past, but there are still plenty of opportunities for adventure in the season's first snow.