Fri JAN 7

The new year is already a week old, and it's been hectic. I'm working extra hours to make up for the time lost to those pesky holidays. The Wife had a mild dose of The Flu. And the Opie Project has its own domain name.

It was overdue. It's easier to remember, and if we change ISP's, we won't have to post those silly "we've moved!" pages. Okay, there is one out there now for former bookmarkers (God bless you all), but it'll be the only one. The domain is Java-scripted, so we can tell when we get repeat visitors, which is cool, but it hangs up sometimes. If you encounter the opening page but can't seem to get a response to clicking anything, try clicking the Stop Download (the traffic light in Netscape, the stop button in Explorer) to break the hang-up, then click on the page again. Poop happens, y'know?

Our tribute to the final year of the millennium; the little "2000" logo as part of the date at the top of this page. We're working on a links page, too, to access the stuff on the web that we find amusing, enlightening, etc. And having a digital camera now means probably a lot more photos this year. But having a domain is kinda the high point. -- www.opieproject.com -- Tell your friends.

And after six years, we finally booked our Alaska trip. More about that over the next five months.

It's a new year, after all. Enjoy yours.

Thurs JAN 13

The Opie Project was modified somewhat last year. The goal of the Project was to return to the wild any life forms that Opie brought into the house. For three years we managed to achieve that goal. But early last year we began removing mice that we had not seen Opie bring in (and he's never been shy about announcing his captures, even at 4 am). The conclusion was the obvious one; that Opie had brought in a pregnant mouse, or at least a compatible couple.

We purchased more humane traps, and began capturing mice more frequently (much more frequently). In August we captured a record 53 mice. Six in one day. Obviously there was breeding going on, and we worried that we wouldn't be able to keep on top of it.

Note: Mice, when separated, will recognize their kin when reunited. That's why we release them all in the same place, so they can set up housekeeping anew (in the compost heap; a source of food and warmth).

Things began to taper off in December. The last resident mouse was caught and released December 21st. There is at least one more mouse, because food keeps disappearing from the traps, but only every few days (suggesting a single mouse. Multiple mice would not all go foraging on the same day). And he's an interesting character. He likes chocolate; he steals Hershey kisses and leaves the shredded wrappers around. And he has managed to steal food out of the traps every few days without getting caught.

If he is indeed the last resident mouse, he has a place waiting in the Hall of Fame. But it's a bit too early to call that one yet. Still, we've gotten attached to him, thinking he may be the end of the line; we'll miss him when he's gone.

But Opie could still bring home a pregnant female any time. Pardon me while I go bite my tongue.

 Sun JAN 23

Do you realize the similarities between professional wrestling and the local evening news? They both survive on hype; they're overblown and they project a hyper-serious but phony image.

Let's look at the recent weather event, a snowstorm. It was presented as the bad guy, out to get us, with no redeeming social value. It raged and snorted angrily, and was presented cartoonishly with furrowed brow and snorting nostrils, across the weather map. To further cast aspersions on its pending arrival, instances of previous snowstorms were revisited through the magic of video tape, suggesting that the coming storm was not a new event, but a reappearence of evil incarnate.

This is as presented by the purported neutral evening news, which then presents interviews with the salt-and-plow crews -- the good guys (one station referred to them as heroes), again accented with previous-event video tape.

Add to that the footage of long supermarket lines as the common folk (us) stock up on essentials to hold off the coming devil, and to allow us to be eternally grateful that the local news will be sending people out into the maelstrom so that we can be blessedly aware of how our neighbors are coping with this horrible disaster.

The next day we were somehow prepared. In actuality there was two inches of snow in the morning that increased to six by evening. We drove carefully and the road crews kept things clear, as it should be. And yet, despite the evening news, the outcome was a non-event. Like wrestling.

Thu JAN 27

This is the year of the digital camera (well, it is to us), so we are each honoring the first snow of the year photographically. I chose my summer creative project (the truck) as part of the winter scene. It's also a reminder of the rewarding aches and pains of a driveway freshly shoveled.

Mon JAN 31,

For the first time in five years I made it through January without having to take a sick day. It's always been my only sick day all year. If I can make it through the whole year without taking a sick day, I get a plaque. And a large gift certificate to my favorite restaurant. I know there's still eleven months to go, but I might make it this year.

Our mouse population is not growing, but there is at least one mouse still in residence. And a clever guy he is. He manages to eat the food out of the humane traps, and he stays quiet and out of site. He only ventures out every other day to raid the traps, and he doesn't always clean them out, which is the main reason I think he's the last of a year of resident rodents. He just takes what he needs.

He crawls up the power cord at the back of the stove, gets under the cook top and crawls out past the burners. Other than that, we don't know much about him. We've only seen him once; he's very good at being a mouse.

For the first time in a long time, the football game was better than the commercials. It seemed that football was becoming incidental to the Super Bowl, y'know?

Oh, yeah - I've got chills and a slight fever. But a little soup and a lotta Advil will kick this in the butt. January is over!

Stay well.

Wed FEB 9

Thirty six years ago, this date fell on a Sunday. I was in my second year of college. My roommate had fixed me up with a blind date (she was blonde, petite and pretty. Her name was Ronnie), and we went to a Peter, Paul and Mary concert at the Greensboro Colisseum, and out to dinner afterwards.

So what, you say? Well, that was also the date that the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. They had arrived in New York days earlier, and news broadcasts were full of the chaos brought on by hordes of teenyboppers camping outside the hotel and generally wreaking havoc. So by Sunday night there was a huge anticipation built up all over the U.S. of seeing what all the excitement was about. So Ronnie had suggested we go back to her place to catch the Beatles debut.

So now I'm gonna say how my life changed dramatically after that night? It didn't. Not right away. I was a college man now. I was past the rock idol stage (my last idol was Buddy Holly, and he died five years previous). I was impressed with their act, and I was glad I got to see them, but that was it. The influence that the Beatles would have on everyone's lives began after that night.

Ronnie was very nice, and I had fun, but nothing really clicked, and I never saw her again. Still, as the years have rolled by, the Beatles first appearance on Ed Sullivan has become a significant event, and the subject of seeing them for the first time would occasionally arise, and I couldn't help remembering that I was with her in her house on that night. I can barely remember what she looked like, and I don't remember anything we talked about.

I wonder if she ever thinks about me whenever the subject comes up. As dates go, it was nothing memorable, but I shared an historic event with a person I knew only briefly. Are you out there, Ronnie?

Tue FEB 15

After 25 years together, the exchanges of Valentines between the Wife and I have gone from heart-shaped boxes of fatty foods to items of a more material nature. Having acquired our first DVD player this Christmas past, we are endeavoring to build a respectable DVD library, so the appropriate gifts were inevitable.

I gave her "Rebecca," a 1940 Alfred Hitchcock gem that she counts as one of her favorite films. I went looking for it specifically and not really expecting to find it, so imagine my surprise when I did.

I received "Summer of Sam," which I had almost bought at the video store just days before, but opted for "The Thomas Crown Affair" instead.

Opie supplied the necessary nod to tradition by presenting a heart-shaped box of chocolates to the Wife. It was the world's smallest heart-shaped box, containing but four standard-sized chocolates.

He also gave her two "N" batteries. Really. Somewhere we acquired a small bathroom clock than ran on "N" batteries. I had never heard of "N" batteries until the clock quit running, and I plucked them out and gawked awkwardly at them for a while.

Romance is what you make of it, folks.

Tue FEB 22

With some of my Christmas cash, I bought a Surround Sound receiver for our new DVD player. The problem thereafter was that the new receiver could not be turned on and off with the remote. Dumb, but that's the way it was. We had to get up just to turn it on whenever we wanted to watch tv. I realized that with the addition of a coupla cheap speakers, I could use the old receiver with remote on/off (which was currently used only to power the subwoofers) for tv duty.

And lo and behold, Radio Shack was having a speaker sale!

Sunday at 11:00, I went to the mall for speakers; the mall was open, Radio Shack was not. Didn't open 'til 12. Went to K-Mart for a trash can instead. They only had one. With no lid. Refused to go to Wal-Mart. Went to Home Depot. Remembered I had $30 worth of Home Depot Gift Cards. At home. Screw it, I'll use them later. Their trash cans were atop a 20-ft high shelf. I requested assistance; they said someone would be right over. Fifteen minutes later, I left. Went back to Radio Shack and got the speakers. Came home, hooked them up. Now we can watch tv without having to activate all the Dolby Pro-Logic Surround Sound equipment.

Took a shower.

Grabbed my Home Depot Gift Cards and marched back into battle. Snagged a guy who dropped everything and climbed up to get me my trash can. Stopped for a head of lettuce coming home (I've been eating lots of salads lately). Chicken helper for dinner.

Sunday in OpieWorld.

Sun FEB 27

Wednesday night, the kitchen faucet exploded in the wee hours of the morning. Quietly. We weren't aware of anything until the morning, when I walked into the kitchen and discovered a fountain spraying from the base of the faucet. Most of the water was going right into the sink. But a lot was everywhere else.

I fumbled for the shut-off valves under the sink (tucked inaccessibly behind the garbage disposal) and turned them off. So I was a bit confused when I re-emerged from under the sink and observed the fountain continuing unabated. I returned to the shut off valves and gave each an extra turn to assure they were off, but the spray continued. I was overlooking something.

I called my father-in-law; a home-repair guru, and asked advice. He presumed two failures for the price of one: the faucet and the shut-off valve. Great.

Which meant I had to shut off the main source to the house. Which meant we had no water. Which meant I had to fix the thing that night.

Twenty minutes later, my father-in-law is at the door with tools. He had the shut-off valve fixed before I had to leave for work. And when I got home, the faucet had been dismantled and the pieces to be replaced were laid out. So I headed over to Home Depot (I was wondering what I would do with that last $10 Gift Card), and found what I needed. When I got home, my father-in-law was on the phone, asking if I got everything and did I need help. I conceded that I did, and he came over and had everything working before the wife got home.

I thanked him profusely. Left up to me, we'd still be without water.

Tue FEB 29

This weekend past, Opie awoke us by pursuing a mouse around the bedroom in a non-quiet fashion. It was cornered, retrieved and returned to the great outdoors.

Since then, I've been wondering if Opie hadn't managed to flush out the final mouse.

Some background, for those who just came in: For the last year, a family of mice has been living and reproducing in the kitchen walls. We've manage to capture dozens of them and release them to the compost heap (a source of food, shelter and warmth). Mice will recognize their kin when reunited at a new location, so we always release them in the same spot.

For the past two months, the humane traps have gone unsprung, although the bait has been disappearing every few days. My theory is that we are down to the final mouse, or two of the same gender at most. The food would be disappearing more frequently if there were more of them or if they were reproducing. And it's more conceivable that one mouse could steal food from the trap without setting it off, rather than several.

Since the mouse last Saturday, the food has gone untouched in the traps. I even put out some "free" food (outside the trap), but it just sits there. Did we unceremoniuosly release the final mouse without realizing it? It's still too early to know for sure, but I suspect we have. If the "free" food remains undisturbed for more than a week, we will declare our home mouseless for the first time in over a year.

Stay tuned :)

Sun MAR 5

I am a true believer of Murphy's Law. Especially when applied to New York. So when the wife wanted us to go see The Lion King on Broadway with her sister and family, my response was "okay, as long as I don't have to drive," meaning I'll ride along with somebody else and let them cope with the hassles.

As the day approached, no one had discussed how we were getting there. The sister-in-law's family filled their car, and that left us in a separate vehicle, which meant I would end up driving. I finally spoke up, and the wife said we'd take the train. Not that she had made any plans. That fell to me, by default. So I asked around. The Princeton train station was recommended; it had ample parking in a nice neighborhood, and the station was only about ten years old.

At the other end, Penn Station in New York is 9 blocks from the theater, but there is a direct subway connection. So that took care of the logistics. But I needed more. So I spent days (literally) on the Internet, looking up everything. Amtrak did not make frequent stops at Princeton. And it was $66 round trip when it did. However, NJ Transit had an hourly local from Princeton to NY, and an excursion rate of $13 round trip during off-peak hours. The NY Subway's website is confusing, but I did manage to determine that we wanted the Number 1 train headed uptown, and it was the next stop after Penn Station, and tokens were $1.50.

Being the eternal pessimist about unfamiliar situations, I began to imagine everything that could go wrong. The mind boggled.

First was the Princeton train station that I had never seen. It was recommended by a friend in Princeton. I asked her about parking and safety factors. Because Princeton is used by daily commuters to NY, the commuter lots are huge and filled early. I imagined having to park a mile away and having to walk that distance back to the car at 2 am. But she said there is a small lot right in front of the station for non-commuters, and if we go in the afternoon, we might luck out and find some spaces there. I ended up downloading an aerial photo of the train station that showed the full commuter lots (with available space at the far reaches) and the small lot in front that was only half full. A spot of optimism crept in.

The NJ Transit website listed the stations operating hours and use of the automatic ticket vending machines. The unfamiliar was becoming less so.

Next I tried to find a floor plan of Penn Station in New York. Penn Station is a whole city block. Maybe more. I wanted to know where the arriving NJ Transit line was in relation to the #1 Subway. No luck there. But we would be arriving hours before the show, so we had time to meander around the station and look. Then we'd know exactly where to go when we returned around midnight. So not a big deal. Just something to take note of.

I downloaded maps of the entire Manhattan Subway System, in case we thoroughly screwed up and ended up miles from where we were supposed to be. I wondered if cell phones worked below street level.

The big day arrived. I spent the morning looking over the various websites again, in case I had overlooked something. I never thought about looking up area restaurants; they were everywhere around the theater district.

I went to the bank to deposit my paycheck and get cash, so we could eat when we got there. The bank was short-staffed and there was a line out the door. At noon on a Thursday. Hassles already, and we hadn't even left home. I left and picked up lunch instead. I went back to the bank after one. Same line. So I got what was left in the account through the ATM ($50) and came home.

The sis-in-law's family decided to go with us on the train. Then arrived at our house at 1:30, and off we went. The directions to the station were accurate, and it was as advertised; clean, new and suburban. It was actually on the edge of a nice residential area (the only kind in Princeton; it's a very upscale town). And we found parking spaces in the small lot out front. Murphy's law had not yet come into play.

No hassle purchasing tickets at that time of day, and the train's arrival was clearly announced. The train itself was clean and not crowded. We sat together and chatted the whole way.

We got into Penn Station at 4 pm. Once off the train, our only choice was to follow exit signs down a long tunnel to a flight of stairs, which put us into Penn Station without a clue as to where to go next. Along the tops of each wall were directions, a sort of industrial kitchen stenciling. Tracks 16-19 with an arrow, 8th Ave. with another arrow, subway and an arrow. We followed the arrows until we got to what looked like a main concourse. No arrows. We stood there confused, and the choices were but two. An elderly native saw our confusion and asked if we were going uptown or downtown. We said Times Square, almost in unison, and he pointed up a flight of stairs that said 8th Ave. Subway over them. We thanked him and headed UPstairs to the subway. The token booth was right there, and the turnstiles. But the only directions were for the A,C, and E trains. This isn't right, said I. We want the #1 train. There aren't any trains with numbers, said the wife. Which was the point I was trying to make. The brother-in-law bought the tokens and asked the guy how to get to Times Square. He pointed to the A train turnstile.

I know something's wrong. But of course no one will believe me, 'cuz the nice man in the token booth pointed and grunted this way. So $9 in tokens went into the turnstiles and there we were on the wrong platform. I consulted my subway maps and discovered that we were at the wrong end of Penn Station. We wanted to be on the 7th Avenue side. This train went to the Times Square Bus Station, which was two blocks from Times Square. Which was no big deal; not worth buying another $9 in tokens. Except that we wouldn't know where the #1 train arrives at Penn Station for the return trip. This is important, because there isn't much time between when the show lets out and when the first train back to Princeton leaves; the less time we have to spend figuring out where we are and where we have to go, the faster we can get outa town. I already was resigning myself to taking the late train and getting home at 3 am and having to work the next day.

So we hike the two blocks to Times Square and stand there looking at each other. The 17-year-old wants to visit the WWF Super Store. The sisters wanna go to the Warner Brothers Studio Store. The brother-in-law wants to eat. The 9-year-old wants to go to the bathroom. I want a nap.

We vote on eating early, to beat the crowds. So again we stare at each other. Do we walk around until we bump into a restaurant? The brother-in-law asks a cop, who proved to be so friendly you'd think we were long-lost relatives. He couldn't stop raving about Carmine's on 44th Street, and he wasn't exaggerating. The entrees served two to four people, and the food is served family style. They bring the entree and plates for everybody. Since there were six of us, we ordered two entrees, and the food was wheeled in in vats (not literally, but the portions were somewhat humongous). We stuffed ourselves happily and made a respectable dent in it all. The bill was $255; not bad for six people in New York.

Then we visited the stores and headed to the theater around 7:00.

The wife had seen the show in '98, when it was voted best musical, and she knew I would love it, but she avoided saying so, fearing that she would over-hype it. So she said nothing. And she was right. It was totally unconventional, very artistic and clever. Nothing like a typical Broadway performance. I was amazed from start to finish. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Check out their website. (Clicking here will open a new browser window; close it to get back here. But hang on, although a bit long-winded this time, I'm almost done).

The theater was amazing too. Art Deco, marble staircases, fresco ceilings, two bars and a lounge.

The play got out on time, and the race for Penn Station began. All we did was cross the street and go down into the subway, using the tokens we had bought that afternoon. The train (the correct one) arrived within two minutes, crowded but not full. And in five minutes we were in Penn Station, following the top-o-the-wall directional arrows to NJ trains, and there we were, in the NJ Transit waiting area, when only ten minutes before we were seated in the theater. We were a half-hour early for the early train.

The trip home was uneventful and I was in bed by 2 am. Murphy's Law was not a significant factor this day. Suffice it to say I enjoyed myself. :)

Oh, yeah. The "final" mouse? He's still here, swiping Tender Vittles under cover of night.

Tue MAR 14

This weekend I was going through some photo albums and found our trip to the Knoxville World's Fair in 1982. Besides the World's Fair, we visited friends in Cincinnati on the way, an old college friend in Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, the Parthenon replica, and we got a map to the country music stars' homes and drove around to check them out.

I had forgotten much about this trip. I studied the photo album a bit more, and decided this could be worth a try at Lucid Dreaming (something I've succeeded doing occasionally). I tried remembering everything I could about each particular photo. Then I laid awake in the dark and quiet, going over every detail I could recall about that trip.

Lucid Dreaming does not always work, but it is amazing when it does. It can be scary. But you remain in control of the dream to varying degrees.

But not this particular night.

In 1982, Pac-Man was just coming into its own. The Wife (Pre-Wife then) and I both loved it, and it was only in arcades then (no home version). The World's Fair had an arcade full of Pac-Man machines, and we spent a whole afternoon there one day. You bought tokens with a World's Fair logo on the front and Pac-Man on the back to use in the machines. We kept several as souvenirs.

I don't know if I was not in control of this dream, or whether this was where I wanted to go, but the entire dream wouldn't get off Pac-Man (please, just one more game!). I haven't played Pac-Man in an arcade in fifteen years, although I have it on my home computer. But the strategies are different in an arcade, and they were all coming back to me in the dream; I was playing complete games in my dream. It had all the aspects of Lucid Dreaming (the games were very real and detailed), but I was not in control; I couldn't move on. But then that was Pac-Man in the early days; you were not in control.

So it was like a Lucid Dream, yet it wasn't like a Lucid Dream.

Strange. And strange.

Wed MAR 22

It was a week ago when Opie encountered whatever it was under my truck in the driveway. He is all healed up and is his same old active self again (thanks to all who asked). We finish up with the antibiotics tomomorrow and get on with our lives (Opie had put it all behind him an hour after it happened).

It was cold, rainy and miserable last night, and I wondered if there could be some long-lasting physical damage that might cause Opie to become a gimpy old cat when the weather changed. But this morning he was chasing a wad of paper all over the house like a kitten. I worried for naught.

I, on the other hand, have been enduring a pain in my back for several days, and I haven't even encountered any strange life forms under my truck or anywhere else. So I'm dosing myself with the requisite Advil and waiting for it all to pass. But it's really annoying.

The machines are winning at work, this week. Our best pc has refused to recognize its CD or Zip drive, the imagesetter (which produces film negatives from Desktop Publishing programs) has taken it upon itself to jam up without warning (and after devouring 15-20 feet of none-too-cheap film). And today the copy machine quit working.

And today I got my credit card bill, and it proudly announced that I had been awarded a "Payment Holiday." That means I don't have to make a payment this month. That means the credit card company gets to charge me an extra month's interest. I seem to be getting these "holidays" more and more frequently. What a scam. Holiday my butt.

Such are the tidbits that make up my life.

Mon MAR 27

Well, here we go again. I got home from work today at the usual time, and more often than not, Opie is waiting on the front steps. But today was a not.

I didn't think much about it, and I retrieved the mail and let myself in. Opie was curled up on the floor with all fours tucked catlike beneath him. But he was facing the chair in the corner of the living room.

I greeted him, and he nodded prefunctorily and stayed concentrated on that chair. This usually means there is an unannounced visitor within his gaze.

When I walked into the kitchen at Opie's dinnertime and he didn't follow, that pretty much confirmed it.

So I stretched out next to Opie and struck up a conversation while peering under the chair with him (I can be a real challenge to Opie's general understanding of the human race), and sure enough, there huddled a mouse.

The chair is next to the railing over the landing, so unless he was part Lemming, he wasn't going that way. That meant his choices of departing were left or right. I got an empty cereal box from the recyclables and placed it along the right side of the chair and filled the space around it with my jacket. Then I moved around to the left, while Opie covered the front, and I began sliding a magazine under the chair. The mouse was not comfortable with these surroundings and sought shelter elsewhere. Namely, the empty cereal box.

The rest is as usual; he was released at the compost heap. Mice are not the brightest of bulbs.

So once again, the question arises. Was this the Final Mouse (see Feb. entry #5) that Opie had caught away from his kitchen shelter? That's what we thought last time, but we were wrong. This time I'm more inclined to think it was not; that it was a fresh capture from the spring-like outdoors. Am I wrong again?

Tune in next time :)

Fri MAR 31

Opie cornered a mouse on Monday, and he was summarily captured and released (the mouse). But the age-old question remained: Was it the Final Mouse? (do I still have to explain the Final Mouse? Okay, see Feb. entry #5).

I assumed this was a mouse Opie had just brought in from the sunny outdoors (sunny days are always good mouse days). Nevertheless, I was curious. So I placed some "free food" (food outside the humane trap) out for the mouse (6 cheerios and a broken-up saltine) and checked it periodically. It has gone untouched since Monday.

But mice are great for storing away food (particularly long-term stuff like cereal and saltines), so he may not feel the need to expose himself to danger as long as his private pantry remains stocked.

So we wait.

Updates to follow (got awfully parenthetical today, didn't we?)

Wed APR 5

As a former advertising person, I still view advertising with an analytical eye. Or, in this case, ear.

The local home heating oil dealers periodically run radio spots that are slickly produced. They may run nationally with local sponsorship, but I have only heard them locally.

To me, they are annoying and insulting, and border on political ad negativity. There are usually two or more people discussing how happy they are with their home heating who end up laughing at those losers who don't heat with oil. But that's hardly a new approach. Make the consumer feel left out if he disagrees with your position.

When oil prices began their relentless climb last year, the oil heat spots were conspicuous in their absence. Until the weather warmed up, that is, and people were no longer shelling out big bucks to keep warm. Now the ads have returned with a new message. They now suggest the extra cold winter -- and the gas companies' inabilitity to meet demand -- are to blame for the price increase. The gas customers allegedly had to turn to backup oil heaters, the demand for which caused prices to rise. There is no mention of OPEC's intentional production cutback for the sole purpose of driving up oil prices.

The gas companies have totally ignored these ads. Deservedly so.

Sat APR 15

Tax day, when we render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. Actually, we have 'til Monday to render this year.

Money is the root of all evil. That's a misquote. It's actually the love of money is the root of all evil.

I hate money. It's a necessary evil. Does that make me eponymously virtuous? No, it just makes me poor. I don't like buying on credit unless I know I'll be able to pay off outstanding debts in short order. And CD's and 401(k)'s are about as financially risky as I get.

When the Wife and I married fifteen years ago, I was an advertising executive, she was a secretary. I took care of the household expenses on the Keep-It-Simple plan -- don't spend what you don't have.

My, how things have changed. She is now the executive; I am the poor but happy graphic artist. She manages retirement bucks in long-term investments, juggles the credit card payments and does the income taxes. I still believe in paying off debt quickly, but $5,000 worth of recent dentistry is still appearing monthly on my credit card bill, and once a balance like that gets entrenched, it's tough to care about how soon it'll be paid off. It's easier to worry about it "later."

In short, we have a disposable income that's more like an allowance.

How do we get ourselves into these things?

So we sat down and worked out a master plan that gets the credit card debt under control, while allowing us to save for our next major vacation (Australia!). It's all a matter of discipline and patience.

The key to the plan is to avoid purchasing a new car until the house is paid for (2 years or 24,000 miles from now). The Wife's car has 80,000 miles on it. Mine has 104,000.

Should be an interesting two years, motor vehicle-wise.

How do we get ourselves into these things?

Sun APR 23

Happy Easter Sunday to all with a Christian background. Happy Bunny Day to the remainder. It's guys like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus that allow the whole world to join in the annual festivities. :)

In a coupla weeks we begin our Alaska Adventure. Fifteen days of exploration (guided tour-wise). And fifteen days without a computer to download our digital camera's pictures. The camera has a 32Mb SmartMedia card that allows for 150 medium-res shots. Not enough for two weeks. So we planned to buy a couple more SmartMedia cards (at $100 each) so we wouldn't run outa "film."

Then I thought that for the same coupla hunnerd bucks, we could get a used laptop computer to take along so we could download all we wanted. It wouldn't have to be much; it just had to have a serial port and a working hard drive.

I'm sure everyone's heard about eBay. I never really checked it out 'til I started looking for a used laptop. I began bidding on a 486 100MHz laptop, but it passed the $200 mark and I backed out. I looked for another and found an IBM Thinkpad 100MHz Pentium with a bigger hard drive, more memory and a CD drive. I knew this was gonna exceed $200, but I wanted it, so I hung in there and got the winning bid at $315. It arrived in four days, and it met all our needs.

So now I can even do an update on the website from the road. And I can e-mail photos to the folks back home as we go. There has been a whole buncha free isp's popping up lately, and we found one with local dial-ups in Anchorage and Juneau. The land portion of our trip ends in Anchorage, so we'll have lots to upload by then. And five days into the cruise we'll be disembarking in Juneau, and we'll have lots more to relate about the cruise portion. I just hafta find an available phone jack somewhere in the city.

And when it's all over, and we're back home, and we have hundreds of digital photos and tons of memories, ... we'll still have a laptop!

Cool.

Fri APR 28

I have a cold :(

Sat APR 29

This has been a swell weekend. Thursday I had a scratchy throat. The Wife had the same. Friday it was a cold, just in time for the weekend. Saturday, when I wasn't busy sleeping, I wasn't particularly awake either. The Wife, however, was feeling much better.

I tried getting up long enough to make coffee and read the paper. Then I felt compelled to lay down for a while. Three hours. Then I got up long enough to get undressed, take a buncha Advil, crawl into bed, and suck on a cough drop. Although not necessarily in that order. But it probably was. I slept, then didn't sleep, then slept, then didn't sleep again.

It was a beautiful spring Saturday that begged my presence outdoors. I could have mowed the back yard or weeded the sad excuse for a garden, or worked on the truck (there is still much to do there). It was a beautiful day for any or all of that.

Instead, I was in bed, with the shades shutting out the beautiful day. Considering all the yard work and truck work I could have accomplished, all I succeeded in doing was sleeping through a gorgeous Saturday.

Come to think of it, what am I complaining about? :)

Thu MAY 4

Well, I knew we wouldn't stay mouseless for long. This guy arrived late Sunday night, transported by Opie to the bedroom, where we were just retiring for the night. A brief pursuit led to the Sanctuary Behind the Stove.

I put out the recently-retired humane trap and went to bed. Opie didn't understand why I didn't want to join him on his stakeout of the stove, and he eventually abandoned his vigil and joined us.

The next morning, the food in the trap was gone; only emptiness remained. We've got above-average-intelligence mice in this neighborhood. I cleaned out the trap (checking for sticky parts, etc.) and made sure it was functioning optimally.

The following morning (Tuesday) I awoke at 4:15 a.m. and was lying quietly in the darkness, wondering why I was lying there awake in the darkness at 4:15 a.m. Then I heard it. The old familiar but not heard in a while scratching in the plastic box. I didn't even go check. I just got dressed, turned off the alarm, opened the door onto the deck, and then returned to the trap. And there he was.

And he was a two-tone brown-over-white mouse. Most local wild mice are an overall dull gray. The only two-tone fellows we encountered were of the family that was living in our walls for over a year. Was he homesick and sought out Opie to bring him back? Sure, that was it.

Anyway, he's back with his siblings at the compost heap.

Look for this scenario to be repeated in the near future.

Mon MAY 15

You’d think after planning this trip for six years we’d be ready by now. A little over a week ‘til departure, and we had a major change of plans. My sister is having serious construction work at her house, so her whole family will be staying at our place while we’re gone. Opie will appreciate the company.

And less than two weeks before the Vacation of a Lifetime is about to commence, I decide to switch web hosting (my current contract runs out the day we get back).

So sometime in the next two weeks, the Opie Project will have a new web host. The new host offers cgi forms processing, which will allow the site to be more interactive in the future. If all goes well, the change will go unnoticed. The domain name remains. If you have some inside pages bookmarked, they will probably disappear, but you can find them again at www.opieproject.com.

The new site is already active, but it’s still being tested (unlikely as it is, we may have screwed something up in the transition process. We test because we care). Once we’re comfortable with it, the transition will be re-linked to the domain name, and the Opie Project will continue uninterrupted. You’ll never feel a thing.

The old site will continue until June 8. If you suddenly can’t find us after that date, try typing www.opieproject.com in the location bar of your browser.

The Opie Project begins its third year online next month, and we are trying to come up with something new and interesting. Any suggestions?

Ain’t technology a kick?

Mon MAY 22

Sixteen hours to go, and we're still not ready. We're stuffing last minute details into the already bulging suitcases (tums, spare sunglasses, the cell phone battery charger...)

The Opie Project, on the road ...

Didja see the link to the Alaska page when you arrived? There's nothing there yet. We’re gonna be playing this by ear. It’s gonna be determined by phone availability, time availability and cost. Just click that big ol’ map of Alaska on the welcome page. It all begins tomorrow!

We'll still be checkin' e-mail. Keep in touch!

We found a couple free isp’s that had local Alaska dial-ups, and we figured we’d use them to get on the ‘net in AK. But they spend all their time downloading ad banners. You hafta work your mouse clicks in between the downloads. About as much fun as paint scraping. We decided instead to buy a 100-minute phone card, and we spent the whole evening trying to figure out how to program Windows dial-up networking to use a phone card. We succeeded. And it’s cool.

We’ll be outa touch on the ship (5/29 - 6/4), since phones at sea are scarce. We will be making stops at different ports on June 1, 2 and 3. Maybe we can find an available phone jack somewhere at those spots. Maybe not.

We spend the last two nights on dry land in Vancouver BC (in a phone-equipped hotel), where we’ll wrap it all up.

That’s the plan anyway. And you remember what Robert Burns said about best-laid plans.

Wed MAY 31

We've been on vacation for nine days now, with another week to go. Most of our vacations don't last more than nine days. I think we splurged once on ten days at Disney World. But here we are, having completed our usual allotment of vacation time with lots more to come.

Even though we have a well-planned itinerary that we have studied in detail 'til we mumble words from the brochure in our sleep, every day is a new experience that exceeds our minds' limited expectations. Magnified all the more by the experience of continual daylight, which only serves to intensify the experience. The beautiful weather hasn't hurt any either.

Ever dropped an ice cube into a drink and heard it crack when it met the room-temperature liquid? Well imagine a mile-wide ice cube (a glacier) sliding into the warmer salt water inlet. When it cracks, it gets your attention. You don't get that from brochures.

And now we're on a cruise ship, where a mere few thousands of dollars gets us all the food and attention we can stand. A week ago we were enduring a brief but blinding snowstorm near the Arctic Circle. We are definitely enjoying ourselves.

Vacations are frequently referred to as "Getting away from it all." That certainly applies here. This is how vacations should be.

Tomorrow we venture into the Yukon; another new experience. And I'm expecting to be dazzled.

Sun JUN 4

I celebrated my birthday at sea today. A list of birthday gifts presented by new-found friends on board the Dawn Princess on this date:
===============================================================

A full-color ceramic dish featuring the Dawn Princess in bas-relief and signed on the back by all in attendance.

A beaded salmon-colored elastic ponytail tie for formal occasions (and a rubber band for everyday).

A 6 Musketeers bar with a Bullwinkle (moose) promotion.

One ounce of "Salmon Eggs" (bubble gum) in small milk carton type container.

Evidence of moose (squashed Tootsie Roll)

1999 Indianapolis Colts crying towel

Official Ketchikan Alaska deluxe pencil with eraser.

A genuine White Pass and Yukon Railroad refrigerator magnet.

Two St. Vincent Hospital safety blinkers (one functional).

All the above presented in a bag with a tag labelled "We go to the ends of the Earth for you."

Tue JUN 13

Okay, back to reality.

We're trying to keep the vacation buzz going, but there's nothing like dental surgery to bring you back to Earth (I have a nasty habit of breaking teeth). I've lost track of how many caps I have, and considering what they cost, that's just as well.

I just finished unpacking last night. There's a bag in the corner of the bedroom filled with souvenirs that we have no idea what to do with. We have such a mess of paperwork (receipts, documents, tour brochures, etc.) from this trip that a huge scrapbook seems to be the way to go. They're in another bag.

I still haven't been through all the video tape yet (nine hours worth), but I've seen enough to be real proud of myself (close-ups of whales, bald eagles, bears, glaciers) that still pictures don't do justice.

The Wife will challenge me with the quality of her pics, though. She manages to get amazing stuff with her film camera (and its bazillion different lenses). We are awaiting the return of seventeen rolls of film.

I will ignore the television routine and settle into my editing mode tonight and lose myself in the remaining video tape. Juneau, Ketchikan and Canada remain.

The temperature dropped from the 90's yesterday into the 60's today. Kinda feels like Alaska :)

So I'm not ready for reality yet.

Wed JUN 21

This is a 1988 Ford Bronco II, the precursor of the Ford Explorer. And while it bears no current resemblance to my '88 Ford Ranger (with the '56 Ford front end, '65 Mustang bumper, '58 Cadillac rear, '55 Chevy quarter panels and plexiglass roof), it is mechanically the same vehicle, with two notable exceptions: it is 4-wheel drive, and the driveshaft is attached at both ends.

Does any of that need clarification? The driveshaft part? Okay ...

Last Wednesday, as I was driving home from work, with only a mile to go, the car began chattering fiercly, as though the clutch was not fully engaged. There immediately followed the painful sound of fractured steel, and an abrasive clanging sound. I coasted to the curb and peeked beneath, noting that the rear end of the driveshaft has lying on the ground. I'm no gearhead, but I knew instinctively that that wasn't right. The yoke (the part that attaches the driveshaft to the rear axle) had snapped in two (and part two was absent).

What does all that have to do with the above Bronco II? It belonged to a co-worker of the wife, and it was for sale, at a good price. It was in very good shape for its twelve years, and the wife had discussed buying it as a "winter rat" (her little Capri convertible does none-too-well in the snow), since we are holding off buying new cars 'til the house is paid for (2 more years). So Thursday morning I used one of my precious remaining vacation days to take delivery on a new old car, get my truck towed to the dealer (it certainly got their attention - the tow truck driver was amused also), braved the Motor Vehicle Department indignities, got the above vehicle insured, and had lunch. A productive morning.

It's fun having a new vehicle (remember when they were all cars?), even if it is in its declining years. It runs great. And everything works. Except the air conditioner. Hopefully it only needs a recharge. I heard from the car dealer Friday, regarding the driveshaft. They were "sending it out." Any time a shop has to "send it out," you know it's gonna cost. This time $350 to have it balanced. They haven't even gotten to the broken part yet. No news since then.

Yesterday was the summer solstice, the only day that the sun never sets on that sign we posed in front of at the Arctic Circle four weeks ago.

*Sigh*

Tue JUN 27

What the heck is that? That's my shiny new driveshaft yoke. I got my truck back from the shop.

It's funny, but I missed that truck. I created it strictly from an idea, and when it was gone (for repairs), it was like a piece of me had been taken away. It is by no means a masterpiece of skilled handiwork, but it is my creation, and mine alone. But it's back, and maudlin sentiments are hereby banished.

I still have work to do on it that I never finished last summer. This summer it was put on hold while we made our Alaska plans (betcha thought I was gonna get through a whole entry without mentioning that state, didn'tcha? Soon). But right now it's hot 'n humid and not conducive the physical labor. But it's gonna get finished this summer.

Then I get to take it through the New Jersey inspection process this November. That should be fun.

Fri JUN 30

On Wednesday evening last, out in rural Lancaster PA, some klutz inadvertently cut a fiber-optic cable that disrupted phone connections all over the east. Including the Opie Project's server. It was rectified in the wee hours of Thursday morning. For those who tried to access the Orange Pussycat's Internet Experience on Wednesday without success, we are sincerely apologetic -- not to mention blameless. :)

But now we're back.

I'm still inspecting all the 400 digital vacation photos, highlighting dark areas, increasing/decreasing contrast where necessary, cropping; all in preparation for printing out 1200 dpi copies on the HP 1220 inkjet that the wife has at work. These will go into our ever-bulging photo album along with the film prints. That fine line between film and digital photography is melting away with this photo album.

It's the end of the month; time to move on from Alaska. It was definitely one of the most memorable experiences we have shared, and it will stay with us forever. But that doesn't mean we hafta keep talking about it forever, y'know?

But the Alaska pages will remain accessible for a while. Until we need the space. I know I'm gonna go back to 'em every so often.

Six more months 'til the new millennium :)

The FOURTH of JULY


Happy B'day, USA

It's a new month, and, for the O.P.I.E. Project, a new year. We have recently begun our third year on the 'net, and we are now using a new isp that permits cgi forms processing (that's the Opie Survey you passed on the way in) which will give us lots of chances for interactivity. We also have more web space, so we'll be adding more goodies, just as soon as we can think of some. Probably more pictures, for now. :)

If the Opie Survey looks like a marketing survey, it's because I used to be in that line of work. Old training never dies. Y'know how the supposed purpose of those marketing surveys is "to help us serve you better"? Bull. It categorizes respondents, and the most respondents that can be served at the lowest expense are the ones who are served, and not necessarily better.

But that is not the purpose of the Opie Survey. We're just nosy. We want to know what the people are like who feel compelled to check out our web cat. This is our first shot at a survey, so we're keeping it simple. We want everyone who logs on to participate, to give us a better picture than a digit on a web counter.

We plan to keep the survey up for the month of July. We have no idea what we'll do with it after that.

The last question on the survey is your soap box. Add anything you care to expound on, including sex, politics or religion (the big three). Get something off your chest and send it to New Jersey. Describe your pet(s). Express yourself.

Or don't. Skip that or any part of the survey. But do try it. To help us serve you better :) The O.P.I.E. Project thanks you.

Fri JUL 14

Happy Bastille Day

A few days ago we returned home to find bird feathers in the dining room. But no bird. And Opie wasn't talking. He wasn't even paying attention.

We have learned from experience that birds do not adjust well to indoor spaces. They want out. And they will flutter and screech and swoop and complain until they succeed. But there was no bird muttering to be heard. We sat quietly for several minutes with nary a peep, so to speak.

We figured he had to make himself known eventually, and we really didn't worry about it. Until bedtime. There had still been no sound. The Wife feared it had crawled into something and died, and she would find it at the least favorable opportunity.

The next morning I was checking my e-mail, when I thought I heard something. Opie, lying next to me, heard it too. I followed his nose, which lead to the partially-opened closet door. Instead of opening the door, I went to the window, opened it fully, and removed the screen. Then I returned to the closet and slowly and quietly slid the door open. And there he was, on the top shelf, not moving, and facing away from the window. I think it was either a wren or a sparrow (I hafta sharpen my bird id skills). My next move was to remove Opie from the premises; his eyes were much too wide for comfort.

The bird was on top of a blanket, so I gradually rotated the blanket until the bird faced the wide-open window to freedom. But he didn't seem to understand what it was. I left the room and let him make up his mind in piece.

I peeked in five minutes later and he was on the window sill. He turned to look at me when he heard the door open. "You can go," I said. And he did.

"Bye," said I, post-departurely.

Tue JUL 18

This is my busy time of year at work, and it's been even busier than usual. I spend tedious hours in front of a computer, then come home and spend tedious hours in front of a computer.

Life is good.

Thu JUL 20

I am without the Wife this week (she's at the shore for the annual week away with her sisters). I think Opie likes it when it's just the two of us; he makes sure he keeps me company.

Opie went on a mouse and bird spree last week. We thought he was done for a while. Last night he brought home a pigeon. A big one. It was lots of fun. It was waiting quietly by the living room window when I came home, but whenever I approached it, it started fluttering like crazy. I opened the sliding glass door to the deck and tried to shoo him in that direction. But birds have no concept of glass. He wanted out the (closed) front window. I finally had to get a towel to throw over it (not totally successful; it continued fluttering maniacally under the towel).

Opie was impressed. He sat quietly by as I hustled an armload of crazed pigeon across the living room and dining room and out onto the deck, where I wasted no time throwing open the towel and giving him full freedom to the outdoors. He flew two feet to the railing and sat there and looked at me. Briefly. Then he was off, headed for the tallest tree.

How did Opie get such a large flustered bird through his trap door (barely big enough for him)?

The rest of the evening was tame; I petted him continually, and he purred his appreciation. We make a good pair.

 Mon JUL 31

Dying to hear the results of the Opie Survey, huh? The most important result of the survey was the lack of response. Only one in ten hits responded. But the Wife pointed out that those same people could have returned ten times in those three weeks and would not answer the survey questions each time.

Which I suppose is true. Most of the responses indicated that they had bookmarked the site. Maybe we get more repeat visitors than we realize.

Also, the survey was not that compelling. We'll try to spice up future surveys. :)

So it goes like this:

The females outnumber the males two to one.

The most indicated age was "Young Adult" (second was "Ageless").

All but two respondents have at least one cat (most had more than one).

Only 10% had kids.

About 75% of the responses came from the U.S., 18% from Canada, 5% from Europe, 3% from the rest of the world.

The average cyber-social index was 5.1, and question #8 was all over the place. What a diverse group you are!

Thanks to all who participated; it helped put a face on the figures reported by the counter. In that respect, it was a success. :)

Fri AUG 4

Oh?

Thu AUG 10

It's getting to be a ritual. Opie is under my feet from the moment I awake until I feed him - which is a matter of minutes if I know what's good for me - but that's not the ritual; that's just the cat being a cat. The ritual occurs upon completion of breakfast (his, not mine - I'm still trying to make coffee at that point). Even though he has his own door at the back of the house, he sits by the front door and waits for me to leave for my morning walk (which is next on the list after making coffee).

So I head out on one of my pre-arranged courses around the neighborhood, and Opie wanders over to the neighbor's yard and sits in front of their living room window. For those who just came in, the next-door neighbors got not one, not two, but three cats. That was two months ago, and only one of them ventures out on occasion. But in the morning, all three eventually will come to the front window to exchange stares with Opie.

I've tried to get a picture of this ritual, but whenever I walk close enough to the window, the cats all run. But this morning there was just the one tan cat in the window, and I was heading out to work when I walked over to pet Opie, and the tan cat stayed put. So I figured what the heck, I'll be late for work, and I'll go back in and get the camera, knowing that the cat would have vanished upon my return. But he was still there. Even Opie was cooperating. So I finally got the shot.

That's it here, as I'm sure you have surmised.

Thu AUG 17

This is the interior of our recently-purchased Bronco II. Notice the console between the seats. That's not original; it's an after-market product added by the previous owner. It is unattached; it just sits between the seats. Looks nice, doesn't it?

Voracious visitors to this site may know that last year, when I added the custom body work to The Truck, the wooden nose piece did not hold up well, and that I planned to replace it with plastic this summer. This summer is here and waning already, so I decided to get to work on it. I needed a five-foot long sheet of acrylic plastic for the project, and I would normally take The Truck, but it was raining, and yes, that homemade roof does leak, and the bed is open to the elements, so I took the Bronco. There was sufficient room with the rear seat folded down.

So I got the sheet of plastic, and some other around-the-house goodies to use up my $50 gift card that I had won at the company picnic and wheeled everything out to the Bronco. When I tried to fold down the rear seat, it was blocked by the console (that piece of non-factory equipment). Since it wasn't bolted down, I shoved it forward, out of the way, and the seat folded nicely. I loaded in all my purchases, and climbed in the driver's seat. It was then that I noticed that the console was now pushed up against the gearshift (it's a stick-shift).

So it was a case of unloading everything, removing the console and finding someplace for it in the back, or driving home using only 1st, 3rd and 5th gears. Guess which I did.

It was kinda awkward without the intermediate gears, and I must've looked like a driver-training student lurching my way home, but it beat unloading the back of the Bronco in the rain. :)

Thu AUG 24

Yes, I know Opie already related the story of the glass table top. This is the sequel.

The Wife asked when I was going to clean up the mess. I replied that I was just going to wait for it to melt.

Humor.

So I dragged out a large push broom, a dust pan and a sturdy cardboard box and headed out on the deck. The easiest way to approach this duty would be to move the table and chairs outa the way. But I noticed that a spider had built a rather extensive web between the table and the two nearest chairs. That's the second and somewhat crappier picture above (hey, they can't all be gems). Furniture moving would have meant its destruction. Not that the spider would care one way or the other; he has a pre-programmed mindset. Destruction of the web just means build another. But to humans, destruction of effort is a negative factor. So I swept up all the glass I could without moving the table.

In my efforts to avoid getting glass particles into my knees while sweeping under the table, I affected a particular posture of which my back did not approve. Ever been on the verge of back pain, where you knew the slightest wrong move meant excrutiating unpleasantness? I avoided sudden movement as I carefully backed myself out from under the table. I had collected slightly over half the tabletop in the cardboard box, and I figured that was good enough for a first attempt. I'd come back later.

It rained last night, and I figured the spider web was history. But it wasn't. Marvelous little bit of engineering. Robert Bruce should be proud. So should the spider.

Tue AUG 29

This weekend I added chromed side exhaust pipes to The Truck project. They're known as Lakes Pipes 'cause they were used to bypass the muffler when racing stock cars on dry lake beds (it's a California thing).

Anyway, they're just for looks. The whole truck is just for looks.

So I was lying on my back in the driveway, wedged under the truck's limited ground clearance, trying to get these eight-foot long pipes hung reasonably straight. I'm holding the pipe's rear end up with my foot, while trying to manuever the front end in place under a pre-drilled hole, while gravity is doing its annoying best to thwart my efforts. I got the first screw in place, then had to be careful not to let the pipe drop at the rear or I would have some twisted brackets to replace. So holding the pipe in place, I inchwormed my way down to the other end. As I was doing so, I caught a glimpse of Opie crawling under the truck from the opposite side. I was twisted around in a rather awkward posture at this point and couldn't see him directly, but I was sure he had something in his mouth. I was equally sure it was something alive. And he was bringing it to me.

He brought it right up to my face. It was a mouse. And a large one at that (in retrospect, any mouse two inches from your nose will seem large). Opie just stood there with the mouse in my face. My free arm was effectively pinned under me (therefore, not free), or I would have gently pushed him away. After what seemed like an eternity (four seconds), I yelled "Opie!" Confused somewhat, Opie slowly placed the mouse on the ground. It immediately sought refuge in my armpit.

So I'm lying on one arm, holding an eight-foot chromed steel pipe in the other, there's a mouse in my armpit and a cat in my face. All wedged under a truck. Unable to come up with a course of action, I began unintelligibly muttering Opie's name over and over.

The mouse had his own plan. He abandoned the armpit sanctuary and was hellbent for daylight. He escaped into the shrubbery before Opie even noticed.

I shifted around a bit 'til the pipe was supported on my hip so I could drop my arm (which by now felt like lead). I managed to give Opie a pat on the head and mutter "good boy." Opie stretched out next to me and took a cat nap. I didn't move for quite a while myself.

END OF PHASE ONE

A little more than a week later, c.c. would enter our world, and the Opie Project, and our lives, would be forever changed.