Papa in Tacoma

Today's the day

2009-11-11T08:51:00.001-08:00

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month that we celebrate.

What do we celebrate?

Some celebrate peace, so celebrate service and some celebrate remembrance.

I choose to be thankful for service, pray for peace and remember those who gave their lives.

Funny.

2009-03-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

2008-11-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Kiddo.
You're the greatest.

Are you registered?

2008-10-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

We have only three days.

Fair two

2008-09-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

Riding the airplane.

Fair

2008-09-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

Gosh, he won it!

Happy Tuesday

2008-09-16T14:17:00.001-07:00

Here is an untouched photo from this morning.

Well, bye bye twitter thingy

2008-09-15T15:56:00.001-07:00

I guess it wasn't working as I thought it would.

It has been removed.

How was your day?

2008-09-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Mine? Just fine.

New 'feature'

2008-09-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Who am I to proclaim that this is amazing and exciting. The feature I've added is a twitter feed.

You probably saw it already when you came here.

I update that regularly, well, it's more regular than (fill in your own joke here).

Breakfast at Knapp's

2008-08-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

Enjoyed time with the youngest two over breakfast.

Testing iPhone direct post

2008-07-22T22:44:00.001-07:00

If you are reading this I found a workaround for direct posts to my blog.

Playing in the internets

2008-07-22T14:57:00.001-07:00

About two months ago I purchased a domain name.

And now I'm working to coordinate all the family stuff into various sub domains and other what nots to increase the efficiency of our communication.

Heaven knows with 5 of us we'll be pretty busy in the coming years.

The beauty? I'm learning things, and we'll see how this works.

Berries are in

2008-07-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

Proctor farmers market today.

Picked up 1/2 a flat of black berries.

The kids really enjoy 'em.

Mudroom done for now

2008-07-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

The shelves are done, and I havetaken the liberty of putting in a more
substatial floor.

In the future we will cover this sub flooring with something
meaningful. Bit for the first time since we moved in, I can walk
through the mudroom without the floor bending.

The reason is I replaced the 3/8th subfloor with 3/4 inch plywood.

That with the shelves make it a better place!

Sent from my iPhone, please pardon the typos.

Angle two.

2008-07-06T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ain't it purty?

Mudroom angle one

2008-07-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

I added many many feet of shelves.

Mudroom

2008-07-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Doing some long needed work on the mudroom. Second trip for more
shelves shortly. Will post photos this afternoon when done.

Tastes like Play-doh

2008-06-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

That is the verdict of the three year old as she feasts on a cotton
candy ice cream cone.

Chickadee caught the bug.

2008-06-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

Butterfly garden

2008-06-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

Beautifully pleasant.

The Great IMAX tantrum

2008-06-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

At times, in a family, democracy stinks. Especially when you are 5 and
out voted.

UPDATE: He actually led the charge on this one ... spawning my formula one theorum of IMAX films: IMAX + car racing = exit. Or, I + CR = E. Where E=excruciatingly painful to watch.

Dyson doesn't just suck

2008-06-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

He also invented the air blade. It blows. Pretty neat!

Building 'coasters

2008-06-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Gravity is fun even if you don't know!

Watching the rides

2008-06-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

Off the monorail. And they enjoy the view.

Lunch at Westlake

2008-06-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the great secret adventure of 2008.

Tacoma's own on iGoogle

2008-06-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a great theme for iGoogle by Dale Chihuly.

I recommend it for the transitions between smart phone, desktop and laptop.

Just got off the phone

2008-06-17T09:40:00.001-07:00

A very good friend of mine just received a medical bill.

It has the potential to bankrupt their family.

The procedure was medically necessary, and the bill arrived before her follow up appointment.

Classy.

Thankful

2008-06-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

I was a bit torn up yesterday.

This person, due to the cycles they go through, has estranged their family ... estranged their community ...

I had to watch a neighbor basically in their final throes of what I hope was a manic moment.

No worries, nothing violent, just so many emotions and events that I am having difficulty processing ... but maybe it is not for me to understand.

Maybe it is just for me to observe and learn.

Learn and understand yet another person in our county could benefit from either universal or single-payer health care. Understand that I am able-bodied and can take the energy to change my position with some work.

In some follow up phone calls, I found a good friend of mine has done all in their power to help this person ...

This morning, after some rest, I am thankful for the family I have and my friends. Community makes us strong and healthy.

Yes, Father's Day was Happy

2008-06-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Father's day. And I have to say it was wonderful.
It started with the paper and moved into a huge breakfast consisting of fresh fruit, bacon (mmm bacon), waffles, eggs and beans.

Oh, and there was a starter that consisted of donuts and coffee.

After the spare child when home and a wee bit of finagling, we made the decision to head to IKEA.

All the kids are old enough for the kid place now, so we ditched them and set out to find the really neat things to put some vertical storage in our living room. We found it, and found something for the basement as well.

Though the trip took two hours longer than expected, it was a success!

We got home, go rid of some old plastic kitchen range and other assorted thingy, as well as the shelves from the basement we were going to replace with previously mentioned IKEA things.

So, I became one with the allen wrench and assembled all but one of the units we purchased, and am very pleased with the outcome.

Oh! And the boy helped put them together, which was a very nice and pleasant way to work the day!

That plus the time with tacomachickadee was wonderful.

I am very blessed.

Thank you, honey!

Ladybug by the eldest and friends

2008-06-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, heading home from...

2008-06-12T21:19:00.001-07:00

Wow, heading home from many meetings and lots of good work today. Really enjoyed all that happened, so I miss my family terribly. I am also just testing out Jott from Jott.com to see how it works with putting up a blog post. listen

Powered by Jott

Great sets!!

2008-06-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you Deborah!

Deborah Page. LIVE

2008-06-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday John!

Determination

2008-05-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Because you really want to pull your brother at Chambers Creek.

Puget Park

2008-05-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Kids and I headed down the street to play, but went on a hike.

Fireworks finale

2008-05-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Game fin

2008-05-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

8 to 4 us. Two kids asleep. Fireworks soon!

Attendance tonight

2008-05-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

2560.

Good turnout.

Still ahead.

2008-05-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Seventh inning stretch.

4 to 6 Rainiers

2008-05-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

All the kids?

Still happy.

4:5 Rainiers

2008-05-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

Bottom of the 6th.

Cotton candy time!

2008-05-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

Yummy

Happy child

2008-05-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best things about Tacoma.

This photo proves it.

Oh, bottom of the fifth, 5, 1 Tacoma.

Ruhbarb

2008-05-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

May at the Rainiers

2008-05-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Rainiers time!!!! Love the sun, smiles and game!!

All thumbs

2008-05-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to watching the tutorial video on the iphone.
Mainly on the typing part.

I have been doing the majority with just one finger.

It's easier when driving.

But today I took the step to go all thumbs.

It's different, and a wee bit faster than one finger.

But I have to not drive when doing it.

Noise

2008-05-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

I am not trying
To run from the comforting
silence.

It is
NOISE that finds me

Distracts me.

Shhhhhh.

Feeling good about that one

2008-04-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

That is the maple stump; the one I was not sure about taking down.

The darkest areas are just wood mush.

New back yard

2008-04-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

You saw it here first.

Bye bye birch

2008-04-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

This birch tree, which I am allergic to, and the maple in the
background will be gone today.

We'll replace them elsewhere in the yard, and have a larger garden.

Land ownership is fun.

Not so subtle warning

2008-04-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

From Sixth and Fife Ave comes this warning:

Last post note

2008-04-27T06:50:00.001-07:00

Caption contest!

Postcard that is needed around here

2008-04-27T06:40:00.001-07:00

Books over first class

2008-04-27T06:38:00.001-07:00

Just a few minutes to board.

Nixed the upgrade option and spent half the amount on books for the
family.

The bonus? One is by GK.

MN and GK and tacomachickadee all in one day, great things. Great,
great things.

Minnesota sunrise

2008-04-27T04:35:00.001-07:00

Here is the view over my shoulder this morning.

I am just a bit shy of six hours away from being in my own time zone.

What have you seen for the last two hours?

2008-04-25T10:39:00.001-07:00

My view:

Delays

2008-04-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

I am told that there is a weather delay at O'Hare, and airtraffic
control issue with one of their three runways for landing... United
has put us on the runway since noon, there was no prior announcement
of these delays, so I am unable to reroute my path to MN.

Free market? Phht. Captive monolopy.

Bye bye PA

2008-04-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am waiting' for the class based seating system to permit me to board.

Ah brotherly love.

2008-04-25T07:29:00.001-07:00

Well the airport at least.

Nice, quick flight.

1.5 hours to find the next gate...or those pieces of the Triforce.

I'm heading home

2008-04-25T02:51:00.000-07:00

Thus begins 7 hours of travel to get 1/2 way home.

But it is to go home...back to family and childhood memories.

In a way it is both too soon and too late.

Thank you

2008-04-22T14:03:00.001-07:00

For the memories.

I will miss you, Grandpa.

Laundry-lanch! Another trip ... maybe two

2008-04-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

Mount Laundry was scaled yesterday. Sans a sherpa. We started about 6 a.m. and are just now mopping up the last few sort and folds.

It's been like that around here since Grandma passed away in January. There are still some bags to unpack, or at least some things hiding in bags that we need to find. Laundry has been done between those times, but some was hiding hither and tither.

I head out tomorrow morning for the other Washington.

I've never been there.

It'll be the farthest east I've traveled (sans the jaunt to Russia ... the Golden Ring around Moscow ... which, ironically covered more national capitals and principality capitals of Russia well before me going to DC). I've been to Philadelphia, PA, but that's about it.

Coming back will be interesting, though. Mom tells me that two days ago, or thereabouts, Grandpa decided that it was time to stop eating. He's 91, he served in WWII ... was on the beaches of Normandy, and did a tour through France. He married Grandma when my mom was about the age of my eldest daughter.

His favorite prayer:

I Jesu navn gar vi til bords,
Spise og drikke pa ditt ord.
Deg Gud til aere, oss til gavn,
Sa far vi mat i Jesu navn
Amen.

It's a Norwegian table prayer. I'm blessed to have it above my table. I don't know how to say it, but I know he liked it.

When I was about my daughter's age (!), Grandma and him took us in. Me, my three brothers and my mom. There was something about a mortgage not being paid in the course of my parent's divorce, so we moved the hour, hour and 1/2 south to live with them.

For the past 32 years, I could pick up the phone and dial the same number ... even to this day, and get him on the phone. I haven't recently, because he is hard of hearing.

All I can do is pray.

Pray that he is loved.
Pray that he as done good work.
Pray that he will find peace soon.

Happy Birthday, Joel

2008-04-13T18:37:00.001-07:00

In tribute to you ...

Yup. Busy.

2008-04-10T23:14:00.001-07:00

Caucus. Convention, and other things inbetween.

Good year. Great year.

Oh, and I'm working now.

Happy Easter.

2008-03-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

During one of the most stressful weeks of my life: the copious number of events, planning and stresses compounded by a new job beginning and another ending; the Easter message rings through.

Somehow, in this furious series of events and compounding stress, one last thing was added this week.

It could have broken the proverbial camel's back.

But rather than crush; it strengthened me.

Late in the week, I was asked to essentially be a ... to be a, um Godfather.

A Godfather to a friend that I have known since 1996 ... someone who I worked closely with in college, and saw on occasion over the past 10 years.

I accepted the call ... and tonight with chickadee, with love and patience we sponsored our 30-year old nurse friend into our church family. Through baptism.

Wow.

Frankly, I'm speechless ... and we sponsored her husband through his affirmation of faith.

We're proud to serve them as we grow together in faith.

New Tacomic!

2008-03-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

First for you!

Keep your eyes peeled, please!

2008-03-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

I'll let chickadee take the time to explain on her blog ...

But keep your eyes out for our blue 1989 Toyota Camry, license plate 459 WSO.

It was stolen from a large parking lot this afternoon.

Everyone is okay.

Thanks for your help!

Conversations with the 2 year old

2008-02-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

Me: Honey, please keep your fingers off of that car, it's not ours.

She listens, then proceeds to scribble in the raindrops on our van.

Me: Honey, what are you doing?

Her: I'm collecting raindrops.

/ooooookay/

From a fifth grader

2008-02-27T05:59:00.001-08:00

Them: Are you superman?

Me: No.

/it's getting a little old/

Exchange with the white-haired guy at the party

2008-02-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

Him: There's wine over here?

Me: Yes. Here's a nice one I'm drinking, it's from oh-three.

Him: (picks up the bottle) Oh-three? Huh. That's about as old as me.

Me: I said oh-three not aught-three.

/thank you, I'll be here all night!/

Rember that post in January?

2008-02-25T07:50:00.000-08:00

Here.

Yesterday was the day.

Chickadee and I are both geeks.

BIG time geeks.

Just a link ... okay some commentary

2008-02-23T09:31:00.001-08:00

When I was in the second grade we moved in with Grandma and Grandpa. Mom and Dad had gotten divorced, and *oops!* didn't figure out the mortgage payments, so Mom lost the house.

In one big huge swoop, uncles and aunts descended on the house, packed it all into a U-haul, and we moved about two hours south.

We lived there for the school year.

My second grade teacher, Ms Fredrickson (wow, that flowed easily, I've been trying to remember it for years), would reward our math and spelling homework/class work with little Garfield cutouts.

These were run on the ditto machine, a large press with a drum that was noisy, and printed in blue ink (cutting edge for the day). And, mostly, they were on goldenrod paper. Sort of a simple sticker, except it involved Scotch tape on the back of the paper.

Being that Garfield was our unofficial mascot, I became slightly obsessed with the desire to order all the Garfield books that came in the book orders. I picked up about 8 or so books that year (thanks, Mom!).

All this to post one of the funniest links that I've seen in awhile: Garfield minus Garfield.

Certainly worth the time.

Sears Refrigerator Model Number Guide

2008-02-23T06:35:00.000-08:00

I'm in the process of cleaning my room (it's a beautiful day to do this).

I came across a handy-dandy, trusty-dusty guide to refrigerator models manufactured for Sears.

Back story:
In 2005 we went to my Dad's house for Thanksgiving. The fridge went out. Repair guy came up to see how things are. It couldn't be replaced ... had a pump that was recalled 20 years ago, but it worked better than the ones that were exploding or something.

Anyhow, here's who manufactures what for Sears. It's the first three digits of the model number:

106 Whirlpool
253 Frigidaire
363 GE
596 Amana
795 LG

Well, at least I don't smell like a bathroom today

2008-02-21T15:51:00.001-08:00

First grader: *sniff* "Yummmy. What smells so exquisite?"

Me: "Chili, for dinner tonight."

First grader: "Wow, dad."

/she normally throws a fit with my chili/

With the Jiffy Lube lady

2008-02-21T11:45:00.000-08:00

Deb: Say, did anyone ever tell you that you look like the actor from Superman?

Me: Nope.

Losing to the just about 3 year old

2008-02-20T09:40:00.001-08:00

Me: "So, do you want to come with me or stay here with (your uncle)?"

Her: "Ahhhhhhh. I stay here."

Me: "Please go ask your uncle if he will watch you"

Her: "No, I stay here with you, and (uncle) go."

/sigh/

Woah.

2008-02-20T06:05:00.000-08:00

So, apparently it's really scraping the bottom.

I'm not officially anything (and have schedule things to clear up today and tomorrow), and the phone was ringing this morning trying to woo me to go teach.

Dang.

I'll be up and running early next week with this thing.

Morton Salt

2008-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

It's been since 2005 that I've been on a formal payroll. 2006 was the last year I worked for money.

Dang.

Well, today was one of those days.

I finished my district training to be an emergency substitute teacher. What does that mean? It means I have a degree in a subject, and I passed the background check. Ultimately it means that when they reach the bottom of the substitute barrel, and they scrape a little off, they can then call me.

I suppose there might be exceptions, but that sounds like how it's going to be.

It's $105 a day (not too bad). And a full day means anything beyond 4 hours.

It should be pretty nice.

No sooner do I get home, when potential future employer mentioned a couple of weeks ago let me know that I've been asked to fly to MD at the end of April for a week-long training program.

So, it's shaping up to being a busy spring.

Very busy.

What's for dinner

2008-02-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

I was at Costco a week or two ago, and fell in love with its meat.

Actually, it was a simple 8 pound roast. It looked all meaty, with just enough fat and marbling through and through.

I just had to have a reason to make some.

Today is that day.

Chickadee invited jcbetty over for some dinner. They're obligated (as it our tradition here) to bring a dessert and a bottle of wine. The wine's the tradition.

So, in the roast went to cook at 250 for most of the morning. I just jacked it up to 350 for a few hours (it'll go to 375 when I go to bake the challa).

Oh, yeah. I'm baking my own Challa today. I find it to be a simple, tasty bread that is good to break with new friends. We'll see how it goes.

My heart broke when I learned that our friends are not garlic people, as I was going to roast the garlic before putting it into my mashed potatoes.

It'll be okay, I might break for the store for some shallots or something that would offer a similar, but less intense flavor. Though, I'd be tempted to caramelize the shallots to serve just on top of the potatoes.

Oh, I'll also cook some carrots. I"m thinking I might be up for jullian carrots, but depends on how much time I want to spend cutting.

In all, it should be good to go by this afternoon when they get here.

Conversations with a 7 year old

2008-02-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

Her: You smell good, daddy.

Me: Thanks.

Her: You smell wonderful ... a bit like grandpa Tom and grandma Susan's bathroom.

Me: Uh, thanks.

5 year old speaks

2008-02-11T08:14:00.000-08:00

Me: "Please stop blowing bubbles in your milk"

Him: "Dad, do you know what's making me do this?"

Me: "Uh, you are deciding to do it."

Him: "It's my bad germs."

/I give up/

Two weeks in brief

2008-02-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago:

I received word that after 93 years, 15 days of good life, my Grandmother passed away.

It's hard. She's the furthest back I can go for knowing who my ancestors are personally. She and my mom's dad divorced back in the 'good old days' of the 1940s (when 'nobody' did that type of thing). It's kind of a secret that slowly eeked into common knowledge. So much so that I was out of college before I had been able to place most of it together.

She's the one that hosted elaborate dinner parties, with name cards for each guest ... good silver ... and good cooking.

I'm sad she never met my niece. But, very fortunate that each of her cousins, my children, were able to meet her, at least the oldest will be able to remember.

One week ago, I sat in a retirement community with Grandpa.

In February, he'll turn 91.

Last year, the youngest and I flew to celebrate his 90th birthday.

He and grandma were married for 57 years. Genetically, there is no direct relation. But you know, that doesn't matter. At all.

He opened his home to us when mom lost the house to foreclosure in the early 1980s. We lived with the two of them for about 8 months straight, and then again for three months in the summer.

We sat and we chatted about those times ... the massive amounts of popcorn we ate ... the, the, generosity of his heart.

We chatted as we sat, both avoiding the fact that it would, very, very likely be the last time we saw each other. It was only a half hour, but I relished each second.

He loves each of our grandchildren. He holds family and those relationships as the highest priority.

He complimented chickadee's and my children for being well behaved ... well mannered ... and just good children.

The weest one gave him a hug and a kiss ... the middle one slept ... the eldest took pictures.

I took in the conversation, the precious minutes and seconds.

Then, he nodded a bit, ready for a nap.

We hugged, the only type of hug a six foot tall man can give a nearly 91 year old who is weak from losing his spouse of 57 years ... the type of hug where you're afraid to squeeze too hard because you think someone might break ... but the type of hug where you don't want to let go, so you memorize the roughness of an unshaven cheek, the light peck on the cheek, and the "thank you" repeated two or three times as you pull away, and look in their eyes.

We left and he stayed.

It was difficult.

Happy moment!

2008-02-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

As of today, I'm the bottom of the list.

It was hard work to get that far.

You see, since Oct. 24 I've had my application in to be an emergency substitute teacher in our school district.

Today, I got the call, drove the 70 miles round trip to turn in the proper form and pick up my temporary permit.

Wednesday is my orientation.

It'll be a great little supplemental income project.

I'm looking forward to it.

And today ...

2008-01-22T11:39:00.000-08:00

It's only maternal fathers that are left in our families.

Bacon .... again.

2008-01-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

During the great "get this s&!t out of the house" movement this weekend, I paused and could hardly believe my ears.

I was listening to The Splendid Table on KUOW.

Sure enough, the second time it was mentioned, I did hear it correctly. Not only was Lynne talking about bacon. She was talking about truffles ... chocolate truffles. TOGETHER.

I give you the recipe that will be tried in the near future:

Makes 18 to 20 truffles
These addictive truffles were inspired by some served at the prestigious Magnolia Grill in Durham, North Carolina, a restaurant known nationwide for its innovative desserts. Whereas the chef there uses dry-roasted peanuts, I much prefer the large, toothsome, regular goobers I order routinely from Aunt Ruby's in Enfield, North Carolina (1-800-843-0105), and for even smoother and richer texture, I do add butter to the chocolate. If ever the affinity between bacon and peanut butter and/or chocolate were questioned, these truffles serve as undeniable proof. Stored in an airtight container, the truffles keep in the refrigerator up to about a week and are best served slightly chilled.

6 slices lean streaky bacon
4 ounces salted peanut (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
Six 1-ounce squares semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup cocoa

1. In a large skillet, fry the bacon over moderate heat till crisp, drain on paper towels, and let cool completely.

2. In a blender or food processor, combine the bacon, peanuts, and sugar and grind to a fine texture. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the peanut butter, and stir till well blended and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill about 1 hour.

3. Roll the mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter, place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and chill about 30 minutes longer.

4. Meanwhile, combine the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan and stir over very low heat till melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool till warm. Sift the cocoa into a bowl.

5. Coat the balls completely in the melted chocolate, dredge thoroughly in the cocoa, and store in the refrigerator till ready to serve.

They came with a chopper

2008-01-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

So our little 'hood was invaded by a chopper today. It went slowing up and down the blocks ... block by block, slowly.

The first concern, due to the prevailing presence of news choppers ... could be bad news ... then there' s proximity of the military bases ... as well as the perpetual police protection ... it could be anything ... Google or Microsoft maps ...

Could also be a neighbor just flying by.

Either way, I found the company they are registered to ... and they contract for all those things.

Ah, wonderful to be secure and paranoid today ... just great.

Bears repeating

2008-01-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

On the homefront, having kids means entertaining them.

Once again, SeeqPod has come through.

Try it. Search for your favorite tunes.

The kids have been dancing with and without me to: Dare to be Stupid; Sing, Sing, Sing; Yoda; Fish Heads ... you name it ... TMBG has a great presence, too.

Go ahead ... try it out ... before it is gone.

First number

2008-01-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

Last night we went down to see our favorite local artist, who is still very local: Deborah Page.

She was performing as part of the third Thursday art celebration that Tacoma hosts every month on, get this, the third Thursday.

We'd seen Deborah perform at First Night, and fell in love with her sound, beats and voice.

Eldest one was not very excited until she saw a picture of Deborah on a business card.

Because the venue had these all over the place, Eldest picked a couple up, and after the show got an autograph.

Of course, middle one was set on doing the same, and so was the little one.

Well, middle one, on a venture down the stairs of Sanford and Son (a wonderful antique dealer in Tacoma) began to examine his card.

He said:

"Daddy! I found her phone number on this card! Tonight, I'm going to call her."

April 2000 redux

2008-01-16T07:09:00.000-08:00

Well, for those of you in the know ... those of you who aren't, this isn't about the kids, they are doing well.

Everything went smoothly yesterday. The total surgery time was well longer than the 8 hours they estimated, but he is in recovery and stable.

I'm taking the kids up today to visit, don't know if I'll have the opportunity to seen my brother, but at least I can see my dad, step mom, and others.

"A dark, meaty snow"

2008-01-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

A BBC reporter on the campaign trail in Iowa writes:

I left Ireland promising myself that I would demonstrate self-control in this country which refuses to practise portion control.

I do not want to become the latest in a long line of European settlers who arrive looking like Laurel and leave looking like Hardy.

But of course my first meal was a cheeseburger the size of a dartboard.

When I ordered bacon on it, eight slices arrived. I was learning my first lesson about US cuisine.

Bacon is no longer really a meat; it has become a garnish served alongside or on top of other foods, as though it was a kind of porcine salad vegetable.

Occasionally it even comes ground up and sprinkled over your dinner like a kind of dark, meaty snow.

Yes, sir it certainly is a delightful garnish.

For those who missed it ...

2008-01-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

My son, 5, just stood upon his chair and announced, "Three and one still equal four."

Thank you.

The call

2008-01-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

I interrupt phone calls for very few reasons. I don' t like call waiting, and only in the last two years have I actually had possession of devices that permit such a thing.

If I'm on a call that isn't particularly interesting or I have to get going and I get a call from, say, high elected officials in the state, or their respective offices, I bag the call I'm all and go for that one coming in. Don't be offended if it has happened to you, these are typically urgent calls.

Even those calls have the ultimate call-waiting trump card.

The elementary school.

I had to pull the plug on one today for the dreaded elementary school call.

These can be anything from "thanks for thus and that", "your daughter is in the sick room", "snow day", anything whatsoever.

But I wasn't greeted with an adult voice on this one, and that is weird.

It was the eldest.

Through her sad, oh so sad phone whispering voice (note to self: tell her to speak up on the phone), I was able to discern that she was sad. That's about it.

I then used 'gentle dad' voice to ask her when lunch happens, and told her that I could come back to school and give her a hug.

That was acceptable to her, and she got off the phone.

I walked back up to school and gave her the hug moments before lunch.

Not to Count Chickens or Anything

2008-01-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

It's ALL speculation.

Every.

Last.

Bit.

But PE (potential employer) indicated that if everything goes through, there a possibility of maybe there being a certain device that I use for my possible job that might occur should it all fall into place.

Vague enough?

Disappointed

2008-01-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

There was a series of Christmas week vandalism in our little neighborhood.

You know, car dented and spray painted upon, garbage dumped near people's garages ... cases of beer stolen from front porches.

I walked past a young man and his dad patching up some tail lights the other day.

My comments were about the string of vandalism plaguing a few blocks.

"You should probably report it." I said.

"What good would that do?"

"Well, it lets them know it happened."

I was disappointed at the "what good would that do?" comment.

It's not like it'll DO anything. The bad guy probably won't get caught and won't be forced to pay th $100 to fix the taillights. It DOES help in seeing vandalism trends in the neighborhood ... something that your police department pays attention to when assigning community liaison officers ... beat officers ... and other resources.

But it's beyond that, the tone was very much ... hopeless. Very hopeless. Like there was no ownership in the place where this occurred. He had a key to the house, so either he lived there, or his parents did. I'd assume that's enough ownership. Maybe it isn't.

We live in communities. The communities are ours, at the block, neighborhood and city level ... county, state, regional and national. We are all a part of it. It is OURS, it's not 'theirs'. We each own a bit of all of it.

So what good does it do?

You're empowered to make change, the first step is thinking you can, and you will.

I heart a corporation

2008-01-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

I'm big on buy local. State, community, regional ... whatever the case. National is in a few instances is okay. Take Costco. Treats employees decently, the CEO caps his salary at a percentage of the highest-paid manager (which keeps him at about 300-400K per year).

So I buy some organic milk at the local Costco. One of the 3 1/2 gallons gets stuck to the bottom of the box when I'm at home, and leaks all over the place. I call, they say to come back with the receipt and the box, they'll refund the money.

On my way back to do the return (about 2 weeks later), I prep myself with 'the story.' You know, running the facts through my mind and out my mouth so it's easier when the task is performed. I do this often. Yes, I'm the guy talking to himself at the stop light, practicing gestures and flow. Very often the kids will say, "Daddy, who are you talking to?", I tell them I am practicing.

Story ready along with the boxes requested (a second 1/2 gallon went bad, so I assume there was a packaging error) and the receipt, I wait in line. When I get to our turn. He scans the my card, scans the receipt, scans the milk ... hands me my money.

No story. Just me saying, "here", him saying, "card?". Then me saying "thank you".

Wow.

*******

Oh, from time to time I question my heritage. Maybe or maybe not Norwegian (some divorces and stuff a generation or two ago plus adoptions ...) but today lunch determined that I probably am. What did I have? Pickled herring on crackers with some cheese.

I think that cinches it.

Nice weather for music search

2008-01-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

On one of the regular intertubes filters I view, there was a link to SeeqPod Music.

Not only can you search, but you can build a playlist right on the main page.

It'll probably be killed by those fools at RIAA (those that think they can kill creativity and take on 1 billion + users of international networking ... they should read up on Napoleon). But, please enjoy it while it lasts.

Oh, and it links to videos. Here's a family favorite:

The results

2007-12-26T19:17:00.000-08:00

Borscht: Rave reviews from the friend whose parents immigrated to the US from Belarus in the early 1900s. Family also enjoyed. Must be something about there being a pound and 1/2 of butter in the recipe (I held back on that one).

Ham: It was ham, and it was appreciated.

Prime Rib: Excellent reviews for my first time out. The biggest challenge for me is paying attention to the muscle grains to be sure to cut against it. Only a few slices were in error. Today, wonderful sandwiches. I need to take better watch of the time and temperature of the center in the future.

Potatoes: Great reviews. Secret: like apple pie, the key is diversity in species of potatoes, usually three different types ... butter and cream (not milk, but cream). I also use Kosher salt in my cooking, but I don't know if that makes a difference.

There you go. A good small dinner party of about 11 people, and all went well.

Oh, and the pumpkin bread worked out great as gifts and something to have around.

Christmas memory

2007-12-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

It's been seared into my memory, and this is the voice I hear when I read the KJV of the Christmas story.

My gift to you this Christmas Eve day.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Made yesterday

2007-12-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

2 normal loaves of pumpkin bread.

16 mini loaves of pumpkin bread.

1 large batch of borscht.

To make tonight:

Caramel pull-aparts using freezer rolls.
Rub for prime rib

To make tomorrow:
Prime rib
Ham
mashed potatoes

Oh, and to straighten up the living room