From Brad.
I was always annoyed by the number of lawsuits that are filed in the US each year. It has led to a irresponsible attitude on the part of many Americans. Suing tobacco or fast food companies because the products I chose to put in my body are harmful to me. However, for the first time I realized that despite the excesses, a litigious society is probably better than the alternative. In our society, lawsuits are not too common. People are generally not held responsible for their foolish decisions, and things as a result are not always designed well. For example...
During a recent earthquake, many, many buildings crumbled in an instant because there was no re-bar (steel) strengthening the concrete structure. This actually might have consequences because it is such a 'high-profile' mistake.
Closer to home (our home)...
You might remember when the kitchen guy ran our plastic gas tube right over the top of our oven which caused a malfunction. After my friend helped me to get him to fix it, I asked my friend what recourse would I have if it exploded and hurt someone. My friend basically said absolutely no recourse. If there is no recourse, they why would the 'kitchen guy' spend extra time ensuring safety or a job well done? Bottom line, he has no reason so he doesn't.
Last week on vacation, while Amy was walking down some outside stairs to get to the subway (it was raining), she slipped and had a nice fall (she's okay, just a little bruised). However, once again the designer really doesn't care that much about putting down those little 'friction-producing strips' because he would prefer saving money and time over ensuring the safety of those who use his stairs. This would never happen in America where the designer is more worried about someone slipping and suing for big bucks.
Many, many other examples could be cited, but the bottom line is the next time you hear about a ridiculous lawsuit in America, although you should be upset at the excess, you should be thankful for a society that holds its workers responsible for their decisions and thus protects its people.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
More Birthday Details
By AmyAfter opening presents on the boys' birthday, we headed to the "lake park." The boys requested to spend their birthday there. This park is fun for several reasons:
a.) we have a membership to all the parks in the city, so it's free to get in.
b.) it has fun carnival rides for the kids to enjoy for a minimal fee.
c.) it has grass!! that's a rare find in our concrete city.
d.) it has a lake, which is a great place to practice your sling-shot skills.
So, I packed up a picnic lunch and we headed off to the park! After slinging a thousand rocks into the lake, riding some fun rides, and playing on a jungle gym, we ate a yummy lunch complete with tootsie pops! (Thanks Grandma!) Then, we explored a bit and headed home for some cake and ice cream. It was a fun-filled morning! After naps, we spent the evening playing with new toys, eating volcanoes (a taco-salad type thing that my kids all LOVE!) and leftover cake, and packing up for our vacation! More vacation details to come....
(I had a few more pics to upload, but blogger is rejecting them....sorry!)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Birthday fun!
By Amy
Well, it's only 8:30 am on the boys' birthday and we've already had enough fun to last for another year! And, since we're heading out of town tomorrow, I thought I'd take a quick second to post a few pics for your viewing enjoyment....
After breakfast, we opened gifts....
New SpiderMan dress up clothes....
Alex requested a football and Pedo, of course, wanted a baseball cake. Don't worry....They didn't have cake for breakfast. They just got to see their cakes. We'll dive in to them tonight after dinner (volcanoes-- their favorite!) For breakfast they enjoyed double chocolate muffins -- not cake! ;)
This is first thing this morning. They slept in their new Lighten PJs from Grandma. Aren't they cute!
Last night, as Alex was heading to bed, he very seriously looked at me and said, "Mommy, will you have to buy me new shoes tomorrow? I'm going to be so big, I bet my tennis shoes won't fit me anymore."
Now we're off to the lake park for a picnic. We're taking the new soccer ball and the slingshot! It should be a fun day!
Well, it's only 8:30 am on the boys' birthday and we've already had enough fun to last for another year! And, since we're heading out of town tomorrow, I thought I'd take a quick second to post a few pics for your viewing enjoyment....
After breakfast, we opened gifts....
New SpiderMan dress up clothes....
Alex requested a football and Pedo, of course, wanted a baseball cake. Don't worry....They didn't have cake for breakfast. They just got to see their cakes. We'll dive in to them tonight after dinner (volcanoes-- their favorite!) For breakfast they enjoyed double chocolate muffins -- not cake! ;) 
This is first thing this morning. They slept in their new Lighten PJs from Grandma. Aren't they cute!
Last night, as Alex was heading to bed, he very seriously looked at me and said, "Mommy, will you have to buy me new shoes tomorrow? I'm going to be so big, I bet my tennis shoes won't fit me anymore."
Now we're off to the lake park for a picnic. We're taking the new soccer ball and the slingshot! It should be a fun day!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Birthday Money
From Brad.
It's birthday season in the Morello home. Three will be celebrated in the span of 3 days next week and Savannah's is next month. My Mom still loves to buy things for me, but the past few years she has generally sent a check and told me to do something fun with it. In the States, that would typically meant buying some new books or attending a baseball game somewhere (Houston, Denver, Cincinnati, or Chicago over the past 5 years). But both of those options don't really exist over here. So we made plans to go to one of the largest cities in our country. Its a relatively modern city that we've never been to and have some exciting places for the kids to play/swim. Moreover, it has exciting eateries like Burger King (yes...very exciting for all of us though it may seem a bit odd/dull to you), TGI Fridays, Tony Roma's, Starbucks, etc. What is amazing is that we just bought 5 round trip tickets (this city is about 800 miles away) for about $375 (tax added on another $200). How they can afford that with oil prices the way they are, I'll never know. Also, our hotel is pretty nice (so the reviewers say...cross your fingers) and is $38/night which includes all taxes. Needless to say, compared to America, it is quite inexpensive to travel in our country.
We continue to grow in our grasp of the language here. It has been a slow, uphill climb, but we do continually see progress. I've read from 'communication experts' that in the most ideal of situations (same language, background, close relationship, etc.) that communication is only 80% effective. You can imagine what happens to that figure when someone crosses cultures. A funny story I came across recently said that when Kentucky Fried Chicken first expanded their business here, they inadvertently translated 'Finger Licking Good' to 'Eat Your Fingers Off'. Not good for business you can imagine.
A recent picture revealing Savannah's favorite activity these days...
It's birthday season in the Morello home. Three will be celebrated in the span of 3 days next week and Savannah's is next month. My Mom still loves to buy things for me, but the past few years she has generally sent a check and told me to do something fun with it. In the States, that would typically meant buying some new books or attending a baseball game somewhere (Houston, Denver, Cincinnati, or Chicago over the past 5 years). But both of those options don't really exist over here. So we made plans to go to one of the largest cities in our country. Its a relatively modern city that we've never been to and have some exciting places for the kids to play/swim. Moreover, it has exciting eateries like Burger King (yes...very exciting for all of us though it may seem a bit odd/dull to you), TGI Fridays, Tony Roma's, Starbucks, etc. What is amazing is that we just bought 5 round trip tickets (this city is about 800 miles away) for about $375 (tax added on another $200). How they can afford that with oil prices the way they are, I'll never know. Also, our hotel is pretty nice (so the reviewers say...cross your fingers) and is $38/night which includes all taxes. Needless to say, compared to America, it is quite inexpensive to travel in our country.
We continue to grow in our grasp of the language here. It has been a slow, uphill climb, but we do continually see progress. I've read from 'communication experts' that in the most ideal of situations (same language, background, close relationship, etc.) that communication is only 80% effective. You can imagine what happens to that figure when someone crosses cultures. A funny story I came across recently said that when Kentucky Fried Chicken first expanded their business here, they inadvertently translated 'Finger Licking Good' to 'Eat Your Fingers Off'. Not good for business you can imagine.
A recent picture revealing Savannah's favorite activity these days...
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