Stacy and I have a deal. She carried/birthed/feeds Zachary, and I wash the breast pump every night. I don’t quite remember how the details got hammered out, but clearly I had just read a very good book on effective bargaining techniques.
The pump is a fantastic invention for the working mom. Baby gets fed on the cheap, once you negate the steep $250 in start up-costs. It even comes with a fashionable carrying bag. Stylish and practical.
What the pump is not, however, is tough. You’re not supposed to put it in the dishwasher. Technically, you can steam sanitize the thing, but it doesn’t hold up well to the constant barrage of micro-waves. That leaves washing by hand. Every…single…night.
So washing the pump is my job. Bottles too. It’s the least I can do (quite literally).
I really don’t mind the throwback of doing dishes by hand. The ashy hands are a bit of a drag. The main upside is that it’s given me the chance to rediscover one of my first loves: listening to basketball on the radio. Now by “radio” I mean “radio broadcasts streamed over the internet to my iPhone”, but still.
Growing up I listened to just about every Blazers game on the radio. 620 KGW or 1190 KEX, depending on the era. The Schonz would croon me to sleep on the nights I couldn’t quite stay up late enough to hear how the boys did.
Then I grew up and moved halfway across the country. For some reason, there are not Blazers radio affiliates in Kansas. I strongly considered dropping the 100 bones on the NBA broadband package this year so that I could watch all of the games. In the end, I decided not to because (a) it’s pretty much the busiest year of my life and (b) there were enough games on ESPN/TNT/ABC/NBATV to get me by.
Enter Plan B. There is an official NBA iPhone app that streams all of the radio broadcasts. At $10, the price was so right. And as an added bonus, I am now not subject to the Blazers terrible, horrible, no good, very bad TV announcing crew. There are four commas in that last sentence, but absolutely no hyperbole. They might be the worst TV crew in all of pro sports.
If you can’t find me on game night, just check the kitchen. I’ll be the guy at the sink, washing dishes by hand and listening to play-by-play on the radio (sort of). I’m retro. Back in time. A throwback to a bygone era. Old school.
All thanks to the wonders of modern technology.
Renew and Restore
Posted by dashiellc 

