April Peanuts

• Buick had major engine problems. Bad rod bearing or something similarly catastrophic. Under warranty, but the dealer we took it to said we didn't have sufficient documentation of oil changes (we let it go about 10k miles without a change at one point) and wanted $7000 to fix it.  Fortunately we tried a second dealer who just fixed it for free.  (This took weeks from start to finish.)
• Melissa just absent-mindedly called my sister Christine "Dad." At least when I mix up my kids' names I keep it within gender boundaries.  Update: this has become something of a habit.  She slips up about every other visit from Christine.
• Dad is in town. That means he's fixing things.  Up first: new in-wall microwave whose mounting kit didn't quite mount it. I think the remediation plan involves an angle grinder.
• Dad: "Why is your internet so slow?" Well. Time to upgrade.
• I spent way too much time this month playing Dungeon of the Endless.
• Took family pictures in a fire-ant infested clearing. I woke up at 5 AM the next morning because the dozen ant bites on my feet itched so intensely. Next year: indoor pictures.
• Ate ramen every day on my Tokyo trip. I call that a success.
• Also in Tokyo: There was no gym in the hotel, and it was a small Japanese-style room with not much room to exercise. There was barely room to get down and do push ups, but not enough to do sit-throughs. So I asked myself, "What would David do?" And I put the desk and chair on the bed to make room.
• Corinna, 3, likes to sing along with the Teen Titans theme song. I think she knows more of the words than even Let it Go.
• How to stop smoking, according to Melissa (10): "Keep a lollipop in your mouth."