Wed JAN 5

Well, Happy New Year.

I think I found the Y2K bug. It was just another name for the flu bug. Knocked me on my butt Jan. 1 2000. Fortunately, it wasn't the six-day variety that is running rampant, and by Monday morning I was feeling sufficiently chipper to return to work.

Today we visited our friendly neighborhood travel agent and finalized plans for our Alaska trip this summer. Two weeks in the last frontier! Well, the touristy parts of the last frontier, anyway. I'm psyched. We've been planning this for six years (and saving our nickels and dimes). I'm sure I'll be raving on about this as it gets closer.

Check this out: This is me (as photoed by the Husband just after midnight, 1-1-00) in the server room. I nursed those suckers right up 'til midnight, and they didn't let me down. Zero problems. And I'm a hero on the job, once again.

Happy Y2K all.

Sat JAN 15

I've been busy. I really have. Work has been hectic (especially after returning to a 5-day workweek for the first time since mid-November). And we've booked our Alaska vacation. And my nephew just got his driver's license (which boggles the mind since he's aged so much and I haven't).

Today marked a clash with two disparate events in my life. Today we signed a lease for a new summer house at the Jersey Shore ("We" being my brother-in-law and I, representing my sisters and their families. The "clash" being the fact that I'm still removing Christmas decorations from our living space).

Every year my sisters and I rent a house at the shore for one or two weeks. This year it's just for a week, and the best summer rentals at the Jersey Shore are usually snapped up in January, so we had to get it outa the way.

It's a great place -- with AIR CONDITIONING! Air conditioned rentals are not that easy to find at any time. And it will comfortably house me, my sisters, their spouses and the 5 nieces and nephews, with extra space for our parents, should they choose to visit, and the Husband, who is not a shore person, but will visit at least one of the days.

Did I mention the place had AIR CONDITIONING? That will save us from hauling the twelve electric fans we usually bring. I'm excited about that. We had lunch and came home. The Husband and brother-in-law hauled the Christmas tree out while I called the other sisters to tell them we got AIR CONDITIONING!

So I'm packing away Christmas while thinking about the hot summer days we'll spend in the AIR CONDITIONING! Life is so complicatedly interesting, isn't it?

Thu JAN 27

To commemorate the first snowfall of 2000 (or the first snowfall of the final year of the millennium), I picked a panoramic shot of the deck. It's actually three photos blended together. Digital cameras are so cool!

Fri JAN 28

I love snow.

Really. The pureness of it; it's soft, powdery feel; it's huge gentleness.

But if it gets wet, it becomes slush, cold and wet.

And if it gets very cold, it becomes ice, hard and unforgiving.

Today it is hard and unforgiving, bullying me as I try to make it to work.

Tomorrow is my godson's birthday, and I will be there, bullying not withstanding.

But Sunday is my sister's twenty-something anniversary, and we're celebrating it here. And it's supposed to snow again. A soft, gentle pureness, blanketing the hard and unforgiving bully beneath. And I worry for the tiny nieces and nephews out in its element. And the aging parents. There is an equal-opportunity bully hiding beneath the clean, white surface.

Do not take nature personally.

I have to clean the oven.

Mon JAN 31

I can't believe my 2nd godson is 18 already, and applying to colleges (he's already been accepted at Temple). His party was attended by a couple who had taken three months off and driven to Alaska in a motorhome. We pumped them for information; they had quite a time.

Most interesting was the tale of their dog, who travelled with them and their two kids, who swallowed a fishhook on the end of a line. The short version is that they had to hire a bush pilot to fly them to the nearest animal hospital (150 miles away - the wife travelled with the dog, the rest of the family tried to get standby on ferries to get the motorhome there, since there was no direct route by road). The dog came through it okay.

And the Husband found an internet account of a dozen retired folks who travelled to Alaska by motorcycle. Makes our commercial plane/cruise ship excursion seem rather tame. It's a two-week trip; the longest time we've ever spent on vacation. We'll have to work our way up to the three-month cross-country stuff. I know the Husband would enjoy that. Who knows - when we retire we can do a lotta things.

I won nothing in the Super Bowl pools.

Sun FEB 6

We went to the Philadelphia Auto Show yesterday. It's a rather large extravaganza showcasing all the new cars, and ranks right up there with the Detroit and New York Auto Shows.

It was more for something to do than anything else, and it was the last weekend of the show, and it was mobbed. All the nearby parking garages were full, and we ended up at a parking building seven blocks away, closer to the touristy attractions than the convention center.

The show itself wasn't that great. There were a few concept cars, and a handful of classic cars for the Husband to ogle, including a '59 Corvette (he used to own one, and can't help pointing that out whenever one appears anywhere), and two Tuckers (there are only 47 in the world, each worth about $300,000).

But the everyday street cars were boring and all the same. And way overpriced. Even the standouts like the new VW beetle were old news. Despite the crowd, the family cars were almost totally ignored. The sporty wheels got all the attention.

I absolutely fell in love with a BMW Z3 Roadster. It met all the criteria: It was small, it was cute, it was a convertible, it was yellow. And it was only $31,000. Now it's rare that I precede words like "$31,000" with "only," but considering that the Mazda Miata (another small, cute convertible) is now up to $26,000, the step up to a BMW isn't that large.

Then we hiked back to the parking garage, got in my small, cute, paid-for '91 Capri convertible and went home.

Sat FEB 12

Occasionally (i.e. not often enough), when there is a chore to tackle that involves both the Husband and me, we make it an adventure, and thereby, less of a chore.

Case in point: For our Alaska trip, the cruise line requires that we bring either a passport, OR a certified raised-seal birth certificate issued by the state in which we were born, plus a photo ID and two forms of identification. So we each had to write to our respective birth states for the requisite birth certificates (note: I have my original birth certificate, but it lacks a raised seal, so I had to request a duplicate that fit the requirements). We realized that a passport is a more efficient way to travel, documentationwise, and since we're planning to visit England and Australia in the next ten years, we decided to go ahead and get passports.

Which brings us to our adventure. The closest passport agent that wasn't closed when we weren't working was in the next county. So we headed down there and had lunch at a salad restaurant nearby. We then took deep breaths and entered into the Government Office of Such Things, expecting the usual array of surly bureaucrats. We were pleasantly surprised to discover otherwise; everyone was very nice. I was amazed at all the people applying for passports. It was an hour before we were out of there, but it was relatively painless.

To cap off our mini-adventure, the Husband had brought along a Christmas gift certificate with him and we purchased two more DVD movies (the library is growing); Saving Private Ryan and The Thomas Crown Affair.

I prepared a gourmet meal of hot dogs and baked beans, and we spent an evening watching movies. A fun day built around bureaucratic paperwork. :)

Wed FEB 16

This year the IRS encouraged us to file our ‘99 tax return electronically. There was a small charge, but it was quick, and since we were getting money back, the promise of a quick refund deposited directly to the bank of my choice was enticing.

So I followed all the instructions (with the help of Turbo Tax) and off it went, and I was once again impressed with the wonders of new technology.

Temporarily.

The next day it was back, rejected, with a message that my birthdate didn’t match the Social Security records.

"Dummy," thought I, "I typed my birth date in wrong." But I hadn’t. I checked the copy of the file that I had saved; it was correct there also.

So at 8 am the next day I called Social Security and learned that they had entered my birthdate wrong in their records (they had me ten days older than I actually was!) and that had happened when I informed them of my name change when I got married. Fifteen years ago.

The woman on the phone was very nice and suggested that, since a change would take four to six weeks, I should resubmit my tax return with the wrong birth date. So I did. And it worked. I received a confirmation that my return had been received and I needed only sign a summary form (included in the printout when you file electronically) and mail it to the IRS. Next year we will get a PIN number, so we won’t have to do the signing or mailing part again.

Today I received an application for a Social Security card. There was no accompanying letter of explanation, no instructions, just the form. Am I supposed to apply for a new card just because THEY screwed up my birthdate? Am I going to end up with a new Social Security number (and all the years of potential disaster that permits me to look forward to) just because THEY screwed up my birthdate? Is my pending passport application going to be delayed or denied because THEY screwed up my birthdate?

Not wanting to get a runaround on the phone, I’ll will be visiting my local Social Security Office in the immediate future, so I can get the runaround in person. I will bring all the necessary documentation and an attitude.

Stay tuned for updates.

Wed FEB 25

Anyone who drives a car knows that gas prices have increased considerably in recent months. Just business, nothing personal.

Those increases have also spread to the airlines. Although we had already booked our flight to Alaska, we had to pay for it by last Saturday to avoid a $40 fuel surcharge (our original deadline had been next month).

This, fortunately, was not a problem; we’d been saving for this trip for six years, and we had the money sitting in our credit union account. The problem was getting the money from the credit union to the checking account in sufficient time for the check to clear so we could write a check for the balance before Saturday.

Thanks to a Monday bank holiday, it wasn’t a problem either, since the bank would get our check back a day later. So we decided to make another adventure of it (as we had the previous week when we turned the tedium of a passport application into a lunch and gift certificate redemption event).

We still had gift certicates remaining for lunch and DVD’s, so after writing a very large check to the travel agent, we had a "free" lunch at a nice Italian restaurant, then an afternoon of DVD browsing (the gift certificate was only for $15, so our choices were few). But we ended up with a rather ancient 1939 Alfred Hitchcock film that neither of us had ever seen (The Lady Vanishes) -- it was a mere $12.95. And though the packaging claimed it to be one of Hitchcock’s best, it wasn’t. But it was light Saturday afternoon fare.

So, we’re a step closer to Alaska and had another fun day in the process.

Mon FEB 28

I have to credit a friend's daughter for pointing me to this one:

http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/

It's a database of satellite photos from the U.S. Geological Survey. You need only enter a city name or zip code and, if it's in the database, a satellite photo of the area appears. You can zoom in for some terrific details. The photos are all adjusted to the same scale and pieced together, so you can scroll left and right, up and down, for hundreds of miles (this just in from the Husband: If you zoom in to the max on Atlantic City NJ and begin scrolling left, it'll take you 5 weeks to reach California. You can drive there faster).

It's limited mostly to the lower 48 United States, although there are isolated patches beyond U.S. borders.

Here's an example. It's OpieWorld (our housing development) as seen from outer space. Too cool.

Fri MAR 3

Hakuna Matata!

This is one of the hottest tickets on Broadway. And you will note that it was for last night. You may also note the purchase date in the lower left corner - 8th of January, 1999. This show is sold out 14 months in advance.

I saw it over a year ago, and it was so off-beat, so clever, so original, that I knew the Husband would love it, but I avoided saying anything to him; I didn't want to "poison the well." I immediately ordered more tickets (my sister wanted to see it too), and convinced the Husband to join us. Which was no easy task.

The Husband hates New York. Or rather hates having to drive, park, take taxis, subways or buses. But he likes trains. So we took the local commuter from Princeton into New York and made an easy connection to Times Square (there was a subway entrance right in front of the theater). It all went so smoothly it was scary (the Husband gets really frustrated with crowds or delays, and the two together are inevitable in New York).

I would tell you about the show, but it's just too incredible even to try to describe it. Suffice it to say that the Husband enjoyed it (I knew he would). It had amazing costumes (the animals actually moved like the real thing), African rhythms and chants, modern dance, amazing staging (try to imagine a Wildebeast stampede coming at you from on stage!), full-size elephant characters walking down the aisles past you. The entire production was unlike any Broadway performance. It was the Best Musical of 1998, and deservedly so.

So instead I'll tell you about dinner. We decided to eat early, but had no idea where. My brother-in-law asked 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, so there we went. Fantastic place! If you're looking for a restaurant in Times Square, this is it. Carmine's, 44th Street, between Broadway and 8th, across from the Loew's Theater. The entrees served two to four people, and since there were six of us, we ordered the Porterhouse steak with chicken and the lobster and shrimp in linguini. What we got was a 2.25-pound steak smothered in peppers, onions, seasoning, and nine large pieces of chicken. The linguini bowl, loaded with lobster and shrimp, was a foot-and-half in diameter and half a foot deep. We stuffed ourselves happily. Even the Husband, who is a picky eater and avoids red meat, had a good time with the chicken and salad.

And in keeping with the perfect day, the show ended on time, and we caught the subway back to Penn Station in plenty of time to get the train back to Princeton, with NO hassles. It went so well, I may get the Husband to do this again!

Thu MAR 9

Did I ever mention we were going to Alaska in a couple months?

:)

The cruise line required either a passport or a certified birth certificate with a raised seal as their policy when traveling to any foreign country (in this case, Canada). So we opted for the passports; we made getting them into a fun day out (see Feb. wife notes #2).

They arrived today. A word about passport photos: they're like driver's license photos on an international scale. Mine looks like an ad for a slasher flick; the Husband's is in the mug-shot category. They will be posted on this website over my dead body. If we actually looked like those pictures, we'd probably be denied entrance to most countries for that reason alone. But they're good for ten years, and we are considering Europe and/or Australia during that period (having cleaned out the travel fund for Alaska, the new travel fund is already underway).

We just learned that Iceland offers a weekend getaway during the off-season. Round trip flight from NY (from which we are not far), one meal and one night's accommodations, taxes, transfers, etc. for $299. Not bad for a weekend in Iceland.

But all future travel is on hold 'til return from the 49th state.

Two months to go. :) :) :) :) :) :)

Sat MAR 18

Our feline friend and housemate gave us a bit of a scare the other night. We were watching Law and Order (a repeat), when Opie comes hobbling into the living room on three legs, the fourth tucked against his chest in bird-like fashion, paw dangling and covered in blood. At first glance it looked like part of his leg was missing. Scary, but not the case.

We rushed to his aid, and he was very accommodating as the Husband and I wiped off the blood and treated the wounds with hydrogen peroxide. There was a definite bite pattern on his upper front leg; something had gotten a good grip. It could have been a cat, but I suspect something more tenacious, like a racoon. At 18 pounds, Opie is a pretty domineering presence in the cat world, and fears no intruder. Maybe he should start.

There is a 24-hour animal hospital with an emergency room about 30 minutes away, but once we got him cleaned up and realized he still had use of the leg (albeit gingerly), we decided that a trip to the local vet the next day would be sufficient.

The vet said he should heal up fine, gave him some shots and us a bottle of pills to keep infections from complicating matters.

Like getting a cat to take a pill isn't complicating matters.

The next day the limp was almost gone, though some swelling remained. Opie had no trepidations about going back out into the night and patrolling the perimeter.

But I'll bet he thinks twice about future contact with the locals.

Sat MAR 25

I have a wonderful staff charged with keeping downtime to a minimum on more than 300 personal computers, laptops and servers. We are kept busy during the day with hardware, software and user problems, plus upgrading, planning for the future, and keeping our systems up-to-date while maintaining a set budget. One person works nights to support the skeleton crew (a pretty hefty skeleton crew). Fortunately, she prefers nights, because the rest of the staff doesn't.

Yesterday was her last day.

Now I've become the Mean Ol' Boss because not only we do have to take up the slack, but everybody has to take a turn on the night shift.

The good news is that this is temporary. I am authorized to hire a new person with all deliberate speed.

The bad news is that I've never hired anyone before. My wonderful staff was already in place. But I wanted this job and all that goes with it. And I know I can accept this new experience as well.

Trouble is, there are lots of day jobs out there for the kind of person I need (someone who can work unsupervised troubleshooting Macs and PC's and their software apps). I have to find the right person who also will work nights. So far, zip.

The really bad news is that this woman who is leaving was so good and so reliable, and a friend. I wish her the best, and I'm going to miss her.

Fri MAR 31

Springtime. A time of renewal and rebirth. Except in our poor yard.

There is not enough topsoil to support a healthy lawn, despite years of trial and error treatments by two different lawn services. Add to that the overwhelming presence of brown thumbs in this family, and spring doesn't have a chance.

When we first moved in fifteen years ago, we had a freshly-sodded green carpet of grass. We purchased shrubs to line the driveway, and added thirteen young trees to our estate. The Husband added day lilies, forsythia, chrysanthemums, and no less than 56 bulbs to bring natures' color scheme close to home.

Two years later the lawn was sickly and thatched with dead grass. Following all the formulas for a decent lawn proved futile. Weeds marched through all our defenses. A group of neighbors sued the developer for removing topsoil before putting down sod and they settled out of court.

Before long, the lawn services came calling, promising to nurse our lawn back to health. Six years and $1200 later it's no different.

But fifteen years later the evergreens are doing fine. Three of the 13 trees have grown considerably; though rest have shown barely perceptible growth. The day lilies and the forsythia still brighten up the warm days.

And I can always count on four of the original 56 bulbs (all daffodils) from fifteen years ago to come back every spring. I guess there's renewal and rebirth after all, even for us brown thumbs :)

Thu APR 6

I knew it wouldn't be long before the first robin of spring was brought into the house by Opie. I just wasn't expecting him at 5:30 this morning.

I was awakened by the distant flapping of wings, and I knew just what to do. I woke up the Husband :)

He grumbled a bit but he knew his duty and he did it.

The bird had perched himself precariously on the molding above the front door. There are two small windows at the top of the door, and the bird was trying to figure out how to get to the daylight on the other side.

The normal procedure is to close the blinds and open the door, so the only source of daylight is also the exit. But this morning, since the bird was right there by the door, the Husband was trying carefully to edge his way to the door to open it without startling the bird. I was peeking around the corner at the whole spectacle.

Birds are my least favorite encounters with Opie's critters. They're too hyper and unpredictable. The other animals just hide docily and wait for you to come get them. But the birds are constantly fluttering and griping about their situation, and it just gets worse the closer you get to them.

So the Husband managed to turn off the alarm, unlock the door and crack it open without scaring the bird off the door molding. But as he opened it wider, the bird spied the daylight and took wing and tried to fly out the front door. But the storm door was closed. To make matters worse, the sudden movement and spread of wings and the dive toward the Husband caused an involuntary screech from me and scared the bejeebers out of the Husband, and he dived to the floor. He recovered to pop open the storm door before the bird totally panicked and it was gone into the early morning.

After about one second of stunned silence, we both broke out laughing. Further attempts at sleep would have been futile, so I made breakfast (and I never make breakfast on a weekday).

Opie season has begun :)

Mon APR 17

Okay, I’m calling it: We are officially mouseless.

Apparently the mouse that Opie cornered a coupla weeks ago was the "Final Mouse" (the last of a family of mice we’ve been relocating to the compost heap over the past year). We weren’t sure if it was him or a mouse that Opie had just brought in.

Over a year ago, Opie brought home (a.) a pregnant mouse or (b.) a compatible pair who set up house. We have caught and relocated over a hundred mice since then (we release them in the compost heap, a source of warmth and food. Mice recognize their own kin after being separated, so the extended family has been reunited at their new outdoor location).

Opie had brought home a mouse a coupla weeks ago and we thought at that time that it was the Final Mouse that Opie had flushed from his hiding place. To test the theory, we had placed some crackers and tender vittles within easy acess of his favorite hiding spots, and sure enough, they disappeared a few days later. So the Final Mouse was still with us.

When it happened again recently, we assumed the opposite; that this was a mouse Opie had brought home for our amusement, and not the Final Mouse.

Again, for proof, we put out a mix of Tender Vittles, Cheerios and swiss cheese chunks. And again we were wrong. It’s gone untouched since sending the little guy on his way several weeks ago. So our past year of mice are now all out in the real world.

Good lucks guys.

Sun APR 23

Easter Sunday. We used to exchange Easter baskets of sugary goodies, then switched to baskets full of non-edible stuff for amusement. This year we decided to skip the baskets altogether and have dinner out instead, on a date to be named later.

So this morning I found an Easter card with the above sitting on it. It's a cloth ball, about 3" across, with a smiley face and bunny ears. When you toss it around, it giggles. I love it.

I never enjoy photography so much as on Easter Sunday. I have all these adorable nieces and nephews all dressed up in their Easter finery, and I make use of them. Of course the under-threes tend to get a bit fidgety, so I have to get the good shots early. But I usually succeed. :)

And it was Sunday dinner at the sisters, and her husband's relatives were there also, so it was quite a turnout. Lots of food was consumed, lots of stories exchanged, lots more pictures taken, and lots of fun was had by all.

Happy Easter everyone.

Fri APR 28

I have a cold. :(

Sun APR 30

We were attacked by the infamous 24-hour bug a few days ago. My 24 hours were up before the Husband's. He spent half the weekend in bed, while I cleaned, surfed eBay, and entertained my three youngest nieces and nephews, who dropped by for a while.

I'm getting good at this eBay stuff. Meaning I'm spending money. I bought a coupla new DVD's at less-than-retail (not that much less), and a new memory card for my digital camera. And I found a cheap laptop case for the Husband's eBay-purchased laptop computer.

But today I found and successfully bid on a 3Gb hard drive for his laptop (the present HD is only 810 Mb and it has hundreds of bad sectors that make it annoying to use). That will be his birthday present, which will be presented before we leave for Alaska so we'll have that much more HD space for downloading digital pictures (the actual birthday event will occur at sea between Ketchican and Vancouver).

We occasionally use an old version of Adobe PageMill (HTML editor) for the Opie Project, alternated with straight code for some special effects. I didn't want the Husband spending hours during our vacation writing code to upload from the road, so he went to eBay and purchased the newest version of PageMill to use on the laptop. Good boy.

A little over three weeks to go. I'm ready, but I'm not, y'know?

Mon MAY 8

Hectic weekend. But fun.

Saturday: First Communion for my eight-year-old nephew. He took it all in stride, despite the overwhelming attention he received. We, of course, had a party in his honor, although throughout most of it, he was in his room playing his new video games. We coaxed him out for a present-opening and cake-cutting ceremony, then he was gone again.

It was HOT!! TGI Air-Conditioned. Spring doesn't last too long in these parts. The period between heaters and air conditioners is usually less than four weeks.

And then there were the twins (their mother doesn't like them referred to collectively; she prefers their individuality). It was their birthdays Friday, but the weekend was reserved for the nephew and communion. But the following weekend is reserved for mothers. So we had to split this weekend among the nieces and nephews.

So Sunday was the official party for the twins. Lots more gifts and food. And fun. And HEAT! TGI Air Conditioned there too.

Saturday's occasion attracted in-laws, as did Sunday's (different set of in-laws), so we socialized with lots of people these two days.

I love it. But then all too quickly it's Monday.

Happy Monday. Pfft.

Sun MAY 14


Happy Mother's Day, where applicable.

My sister-in-law called yesterday. Her house is falling down. Literally. They live in a bi-level (like us); the downstairs is just a huge family room and a two-car garage. Everything else is upstairs. And everything else is supported by a long wooden beam running lengthwise through the center of the house. It's only support is the wall between the family room and the garage. And it's sagging. Badly. The downstairs ceiling is noticeably bowed, and an inspector said the beam is cracked in several places and could fail at any time. Meaning the second floor could fall into the first floor. Not a preferred condition, structurally.

So they've arranged for a crew to come in, jack up the second floor, remove the old beam, and replace it with a beam of "engineered lumber" (purportedly ten times as strong). But that won't be for another week. So temporarily there are four 6x6's wedged in between the downstairs floor and ceiling, making sure the upstairs remains up.

Repairs will take a couple weeks, and they have to vacate the premises. And by fortuitous happenstance, those couple weeks coincide with our vacation.

This is an ideal situation of convenience. I didn't hesitate to invite them to housesit for us while we're in Alaska. It would be to our benefit to have people around for Opie (Opie loves people; the more the merrier), and to mind the house, and the four of them wouldn't have to endure cabin fever for two-plus weeks in a motel room. So in return for free room and board, they feed Opie and take us to the airport. The only snag is that they'll be here for three days before we leave, which should inject a fair amount of chaos into our departure. But I was happy to help.

Of course, now I have to clean the whole house before we go (and I was sooo looking forward to avoiding that). :)

Fri MAY 19

Well, everything’s starting to come together. Sort of like an implosion.

Vacation has officially begun; I don’t return to work for three weeks. So I now have three days to pack and remember everything I forgot. Actually, I only have two days; my sister-in-law’s family is moving in Sunday to housesit while we’re in Alaska (and while their house undergoes structural repair).

I’ve picked out all the clothes I want to take, but there’s no way I can fit them all into the suitcases. So I have to pick and choose wisely. The bedroom looks like an explosion in the garment district.

All the e-Bay purchases have arrived that I bought except one: I got a new battery for the Husband’s laptop (the old one only lasts about a half-hour), but I don’t think it’s gonna make it in time.

Opie gave us a scare. We found two lumps under his skin the week before we were to leave. They turned out to be nothing (inflamed areas where he received vaccinations). They’ve already disappeared. But when I mentioned them to a friend at work, she didn’t hesitate for a second to offer to take care of him if he needed surgery or anything else while we were gone. What a relief to have such friends!

We’ve got our tickets, passports, passage documents, etc. We are ready!

I think.

 Sun JUN 4

Happy Birthday, Husband.

Our last full day on the ship. One of our new acquaintances on the ship was eager to have a birthday celebration for the Husband, and it was no problem convincing him that we should all get together for lunch. It came off well. I'm going to miss these folks when it's all over.

We brought too much. Between the two of us, we have almost two full suitcases that we never touched. But it's better to bring too much than not enough. The folks we met from Massachusetts have made the whole two weeks with one suitcase each. More power to 'em.

But we managed to get everything safely packed in time for dinner (the deadline - they stowed everything "below" to be off-loaded first thing in the morning).

We had our final shipboard dinner and returned to our room and watched the lights on the mainland go by 'til after midnight.

Tue JUN 6

After a hectic (and lengthy) disembarkation (that's what they call it), we got another bus tour, this time of the city of Vancouver. It's a wonderful city, but I wanted to get to a hotel with hip and elbow room.

The hotel room was wonderful with a single exception: one of our suitcases was missing. I called the desk and they said they would track it down. I was a bit concerned; there were souvenirs in that bag.

About an hour later there was a knock at the door. Sure that it was the missing luggage, I leapt from the bed and immediately fell on my butt. The Husband answered the door; it was just a maintenance guy replacing the battery in the electronic door latch. Still on the floor, moaning in pain, I watched the Husband approach, presumably to help me up. Instead, he grabbed the digital camera and took my picture! He assured me that I would want this memory in the future. That was then - help me up now! He did so.

The missing bag arrived that evening.

And a very short list of people will ever see that picture :)

Wed JUN 14

I have a natural affinity for photography; I always manage to get the good shots by instinct, more than by anything else. I've lost track of how many cameras I've acquired over the years, but I have a favorite; the Canon AE-1. It's fully programmable and/or fully manual, or any combination in between, at my discretion. It's not auto-focus, which is fine with me. It's a nice balance of easy-to-use with full creative control, and using it is second nature now.

Over the years I've acquired numerous lenses, filters, flashes and other peripherals. I have two huge camera bags stuffed with ... stuff.

So when a great photo opportunity like Alaska came along, I spent considerable time selecting what equipment would be traveling with us. I have a small camera bag that everything I chose would be going into, and I packed it judiciously before the trip. It included a wide-angle lens, a wide-angle zoom, and a long-range zoom, plus the regular 50mm lens. I opted for the Canon automatic flash over my Vivitar 283 all-purpose do-everything flash because it was more compact, and I expected most pictures to feature Alaska's amazing outdoors under 22 hours of daylight.

And of course I made room for the digital camera and its newly-acquired 1.5 magnifier lens.

When I got to Alaska, I realized I forgot my polarizing filters. These can get rid of haze and glare and unwanted reflections and really make the blue sky blue. They're a must for landscape and scenery shots. I wanted to kick myself. I could have bought new ones in Alaska, but I rationalized that I could get along without them. I could kick myself again.

I got 17 rolls of film back last night, and they were fine. If you like fine. But all I could see were the hundreds (yes, hundreds!) that could have benefitted from the polarizing filters. I should have kicked myself.

There were lots of pictures that were great; I'll probably even enlarge and frame a few. And everyone that looks at the pictures will ooh and aah over Alaska, and not give a poo about the technical quality of the pictures.

But I'll be kicking myself every time I look at them.

Mon JUN 26

How long have we been back? Almost three weeks? Amazing.

I'm still wrapped up in the day-to-day of Alaska as I continue to sort through hundreds of photos for the albums. I've finished the basic album assembly. I touched up and printed out (on the fantastic HP 1220 inkjet) several of the digital photos that actually came out better than my efforts on film. I will be inserting new pages as I sort through the two bags of documentation that evolved from this trip (receipts, boarding passes, customs declarations, our certificates for crossing the Arctic Circle) that will ultimately be added to the photo albums, but I've got a working photo album that I can show people (folks have been demanding pictures). Nobody's really seen the edited-down video either. We have to make amends.

Like Nike says, Just Do It. Go to Alaska. You won't regret it.

And like the Husband says, How're we ever gonna top this?

Fri JUN 30

The routine work-a-day world that we left behind over a month ago to lose ourselves in the wilderness of Alaska is beginning to creep back into my life. And to creep me out. Alaska is finally beginning to fade. I suppose much of the impact came from years of planning and anticipation. Add to that the fact that we were away from work for three consecutive weeks (more than twice as long as any previous vacation), and getting back to normal routines became more of a drawn-out process.

But back to normal is inevitable. There is less to talk about that hasn't already been covered, and the number of people who haven't heard it all already has dwindled to nil. That just leaves working, paying bills and our own private memories.

The new guy we hired just before I left is working out great. And the operation of the entire company did not grind to a halt in my absence. There was, nevertheless, a worthy workload waiting for me when I returned, which only served to hasten the return to the everyday routine.

I've rented a house at the Jersey shore for a week with my sisters (and all the nieces and nephews), and I've got to start planning for that. Fortunately, that will be simple after the Alaska experience.

So it's time to catch up with life and bid a fond farewell to Alaska. At least outwardly. But I will still be back there in the occasional quiet moments. :).

Thu JUL 6

This Fourth of July did not go by partyless (as if any occasion could in my family) - my sister (with the pool) hosted the traditional festivities. Although they weren't very traditional. Except for the pool, there were no outside activities (it was oppressively hot and humid). The sister's husband did endure cooking over a hot bbq grille, but all eating took place within the air conditioning. And the traditional hot dogs and hamburgers were nowhere to be seen. They chose to grill up some shrimp and steak instead. Which was very good, btw.

Our get-togethers generally follow a pattern - after eating, the womenfolk gather around the kitchen table and gab. The males of the species migrate to some televised sporting event, and the kids go off to play video games. The Husband either joins the kids or naps on the couch.

But this time the Husband was being introduced to the Harry Potter books by our eight-year-old nephew (who has read them all and can quote whole passages). The nephew handed him the first book and the Husband began reading, to see what it was all about. He didn't put it down until 130 pages later, with the nephew offering running commentary the whole way.

We chose this time to razz the Husband about his picture on the website's bio page. It was taken in 1987, and his hair is much grayer now (and longer!), and he rarely wears contact lenses any more. So as soon as we got home, he updated the picture with one from last year :)

Nobody's getting any younger around here.

Wed JUL 12

I was going to mention that Opie has been slacking off this summer, critter-wise. It had been over a month since any small creatures were brought home. But yesterday morning I awoke to find the Husband in the kitchen, trying to coax a mouse out from behind the refrigerator and into an old Cheerios box. He eventually succeeded.

Then last night we discovered bird feathers in the dining room. Just a few of the downy variety. The kind shed by a fluttering bird, once it has been released from Opie's firm but gentle grasp. We began to search the usual bird hideouts (under furniture, on windowsills). Nothing. We sat very quietly for several minutes (birds are the nervous type and don't stay still very long). Still nothing. A mystery. Had he been injured and succumbed in his hiding place? I don't even want to think about that. Could he have found his own way out? Not likely. Is he hiding in some remote part of the house where we can't hear him?

Then, while making dinner, I saw a mouse dart out from behind the stove, hop into Opie's Tender Vittles dish, grab one for himself, then scurry back behind the stove. So the humane trap has been called back into action.

Okay, Opie, you can go back to slacking off now. Please.

Wed JUL 19

Wow, deja vu. Another report from the road.

Except this time I'm only 75 miles from home instead of 5,000. I'm down the Jersey shore with my sisters (we do this every year), and I discovered that my isp back home has a local dial-up number down here too. So I dragged my laptop along and here I am.

We rented a different house this year; this one is much roomier. And air conditioned. And all my nieces and nephews are here too, keeping things lively.

The husband is back home, keeping Opie company. This is his busy time of year at work, and he can't get time off. But he's not a shore person anyway, so he's not complaining. He was down here for the weekend. We tried out a couple of excellent restaurants and drove up and down the island, checking things out. He left late Sunday night. He drove the Bronco because it's short (parking is at a premium down here).

We have a two-car driveway here, into which we can cram four short cars (we had six cars over the weekend), but the others didn't have to park more than a block away.

It's still pretty crowded during the week, but two of the weekend cars have gone home, and we've got the rest of the vehicles crammed in our driveway. We're right on the beach, and there is a supermarket, a video store, a playground and several restaurants within walking distance, so for the most part the cars can just sit there.

As far as the kids are concerned, every day is beach day, so that's pretty much what we did yesterday and today. I'm into the second Harry Potter book, and reading is a lot easier when it's air conditioned.

And we end up staying up late playing cards or watching movies we brought with us. So far that's all we've done. And it's great!

Sunny beaches, everyone.

Wed JUL 26

Last night was my grandmother's birthday. She lives in Pittsburgh, but this week she is visiting my parents. So we (me, sisters and spouses) kinda dropped in for an impromptu party. It was fun, and she loved it. We barged in with cake and ice cream and good times. And the newest great-grandkids were there (they always love a party). My grandmother is 98. We're gonna have a heckuva party in two years.

Back on July 12, I mentioned having noticed a mouse scurry out from behind the stove, grab some cat food, and hustle back into hiding. We never saw him again. 'Til last night. When the Husband and I returned from my grandmother's party, we heard a scuffling noise. But when we paused to listen more intently, it had stopped. The mouse possibility wasn't even considered. But the Husband checks the trap every night when he feeds Opie, and there he was. He has since joined the growing mouse community out at the compost heap.

Mousewise, you are up to date.

Happy birthday Grams.

Mon JUL 31

My Grandmother headed home to Pittsburgh today (she was here with my uncle, whom she lives with). Last night we took her out to dinner for her 98th birthday. We reserved a private room at the local classy joint and everyone was there (meaning all her kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, plus their significant others, where appropriate). That would be dinner for 18. It was chaotic, as expected, but we've done this before. The waiters handled it well. The twins were very well behaved, considering their attention span, and conversation was reasonably successful for being spread around a 25-foot long table.

We chose this restaurant for the private rooms and the rather extensive menu. There was something for everyone, from the always-picky Husband to the nephew's vegetarian girl friend. They brought Grams a cakes with a bunch of candles, and she had no trouble blowing them all out. I think the restaurant staff was impressed.

Family get-togethers are always fun with my family, and rare when everyone participates (three states were represented by this gathering). But we'll be doing it again next year, for Grams 99th birthday, and planning a major bash for the big 100 the next year. Now that's going to be a family get-together!

Tue AUG 8

It's party time!

We're in the second week of Party Season (which begins at the end of July and runs through the end of September), when every weekend has at least one party (and two in most cases) celebrating a birthday or anniversary or, as was this weekend, graduation (one high school, one college, same family). This party was of a different generation, and I felt weird (but that might have been the margueritas too).

This was about the kids (one was my godson) that we had babysat, educated and watched over. They had all their friends in attendance, all starting out on their own together. We, the wise elders, sat at separate tables and shared remember whens.

Three other nieces and nephews graduated this year, and another graduates from high school next year. This fall is a wedding. I've only attended a few weddings of friends' children, but they'll be coming along with increased regularity now. And after that will be baby showers and a new generation of little ones.

Watching them all come of age reawakens my own growing pains and pleasures. Are they experiencing the same things, or are the pleasures and pains different for each generation?

There are thirteen birthdays to celebrate in the next eight weeks, and all but two honor more than forty years. Life is a great parade, isn't it? I just wish it would slow down a bit so I can keep up :)

Mon AUG 14

The party season continues. This past weekend was my mother's birthday and my parents' anniversary. Like last week's parties, celebrating recently-graduated youth that made me aware of my own aging, my mother's advancing years reminded me of my own destiny. It's the same view from a different perspective. I hope my father's genes predominate; he hasn't aged in twenty years.

So the party was a sit-down dinner at my younger sister's house (the one with the twins). I was looking forward to an evening of playing with the kids, but no sooner had I walked in the door than I got beeped from work. The storm (it was raining profusely) had briefly knocked out power and some of the computers wouldn't restart. I desparately tried to resolve things over the phone, but it was not to be. I had to bid farewell to everyone minutes after arriving (the twins were still asleep - I didn't even get to see them).

I never returned to the party. My sister made up a plate for me that the Husband brought home, and I managed to get away from work around 9:30 to hurry home and eat it (I was starving by then!), and it was delicious. Well-fed, I returned to work after ten.

I think it was 3 am when I finally crawled into bed.

Happy birthday, mom.

Tue AUG 22

And the parties continue. This time my niece celebrated her fifth birthday. It was a pool party at my sister's house, and it was well-attended. Relatives from both sides of her family were there. We got her one of the My Twinn dolls, which are supposed to resemble the child (but they never do). We had to plan the cake, ice cream and present-opening around a golf match on tv. Tiger Woods was facing an unexpected challenge from a relative unknown, and we couldn't get the guys away from the tv set.

Also significant last week is that I managed to get home at a relatively decent hour most nights. That hasn't happened in a long time. I even made dinner most nights. Things are not quite as insane lately. Here's to that continuing!

I sometimes wonder if I'm working myself harder than I have to. That place would probably survive if I didn't work so many hours. Why should I feel guilty if I don't put in more than fifty hours a week?

Then I stop thinking about it 'cause it gives me a headache.

Next week is my sister's birthday. Party! The beat goes on ...

Wed AUG 30


This is Zeb.

A couple years ago we stayed at a bed and breakfast in the shadow of Pike's Peak in Colorado. Every day they would make up our bed and have this cute little stuffed bear sitting on it when we returned.

When we were checking out, we learned that we could take him with us, as a memento of our stay. For $35. I decided he would be an excellent memento, so I agreed. We had to sign "adoption papers" and give him a name for the record. So we named him Zeb, after Zebulon Pike, for whom the peak is named. He was then stuffed unceremoniously into a bag because we had to drive ninety miles to Denver to catch a plane.

Zeb has sat perched on the headboard of our bed since.

Last night I awoke in the middle of the night with terribly stuffed sinuses and wheezy breathing. I fumbled my way to the bathroom for suitable non-prescription relief and returned without having fully awakened, and tumbled (yeah tumbled) into bed, dislodging Zeb. He rolled silently down onto the bed and came to rest against me. I thought it was Opie, making himself comfortable, and I began petting him in the dark. This went on for several minutes until Opie actually did come into the room and jump up on the bed. Imagine my moment of instant terror when I realized that the furry thing I was petting was not Opie! But it was only an instant. I realized quickly what had happened and returned Zeb to his perch.

The Husband slept through the whole thing. But I was now wide awake. And it's much harder to get back to sleep when you're feeling stupid.

END OF PHASE ONE

c.c. would arrive less than a week later, and nothing would be the same after that.