Coffee anyone?

I was in a Starbucks this morning and I overheard something that made me chuckle. ".... we'll have a fresh batch of Christmas up in a minute!"

Hmmmm...

I hope you all are enjoying a big ole batch of Christmas!

Schmucks!

Marilyn and I braved the deluge in Philadelphia this week an went to the Wilma Theater to see Schmucks. It was a play of Groucho Marx meets Lenny Bruce in a diner in Manhattan. It has some good laughs and on liners but most of all it was a mess. I could care less about the Lenny Bruce character and all of his problems. The play ended and I'm not sure what the heck it was trying to tell me. I enjoyed it as an evening out but the play is not going win any awards.

Long awaited pictures.....

Here are the pictures form the summer and the all important Thanksgiving pictures. Click on this link.

Made it......

Finally made it home in the Thanksgiving crush. After a three hour delay in Saint Louis we made it into the air. Philly however had other ideas. There was heavy weather around and we were really getting bumped around in the air. I mean so much so that the stewardess were strapped in. When we popped out of the cloud on approach to the runway. Well there was a plane on the runway!!!!! The pilot took off a again and diverted to Long Island. After refueling and taking off again we bumped along back to Philly where at 2 in the morning there was no one on the runway thankfully. By 3:30 we make to our door.

Happy Thanksgiving

Marilyn and I are at Stacey and Jay's home for Thanksgiving. We've been doing a bunch of rushing around and visting. Mostly playing with the nephews and niece. Thanksgiving dinner is done and everyone is watching movies on the DVD player. I've been typing away on my computer on a work problem and getting the weather station on weather underground site. Marilyn has been a good aunt and wrapping presents. Just another enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving travels...

On Saturday I jumped on an airplane going east and Marilyn jump on one going west and braved the thanksgiving travel rush weekend 1 to make it to Mid Missouri. SouthWest is a great airline to travel on provided you check in early enough to get a good seat. I was reading a Clive Cussler book " The Chase ". It's about a turn of century detective and his exploits in 1906 San Francisco to catch a notorious bank robber. I actually left the book on the plane on the way out while I was in the middle of it and I had to buy the book again in order to finish it on this leg of the trip.

Rockstar?

One more night of team building. The interface team went to Juile's home ( our group lead ) and played another round of rock band. Bon Jovi and the Talking Heads songs were massacred for the evening. It was fun to let out you inner rock star. The class I went to take was going well. I was there with a bunch of fellows from the Philly office. On Thursday we wanted to go out for dinner. These guys were not what you call dainty eaters. They were looking for a steak house, not little plates. We had dinner at a Brazilian steak house. The kind where they walk around with grilled meat on a sword and cut it off for you at your table. It fit this group well.

Team building

This week my teammates fro around the country have converged on San Leandro. We had meeting on weathering the current economic storm. Our leaders telling us what they want to do and asking for our input on what we can do. After many power point slides it was time for teambuilding. The team, about 20 people headed to le mans karting. It was90 minutes of fuel driven, tire screeching, yelling and screaming way to blow off some steam. We then went to Alex's ( our boss ) house for a bbq dinner. It was a great time then they broke out the rockband video game. Now the bad singing came out! We all took turns singing and playing instruments and generally looking silly in front of one another. A really good time and great team building exercise.

Back in San Francisco

On the left coast again. . I was strapped into a middle seat all the way here! At least I had a direct flight.

One more class and lots of meetings this week. Just have to get through it and then its off to Thanksgiving! Tired, Jet lagged, Need sleep.......

Paging Al Gore... Paging Al Gore....

Wow, got our first power bill for the winter after putting in the new insulation, heatpump and heater. Al l I can say is Wow! Here it is by the numbers.....

Average temp this year is 13% colder than last year.

Used 8% less electric than last year.

And the big one.... Used 30% less gas than last year!

Wow I'm using the same temp profile on the thermosthat and all else is the same. So we are keeping warm, saving money and keeping the planet green!

Thanks for the thumbs up Al!!!!!!

Weekend Wrapup

Another busy weekend. At least not a travel weekend. Started by tweaking the weather station. I put up the rain bucket on the shed roof and the sensor plug had come out. Had to go up on the shed roof to plug it back in. Cleaned up the basement and darkroom. Before the install of the new heater and A/C unit all the basement STUFF had to be moves somewhere. No it all had to be moved back. The up side is my workshop is now working again and I was working on my crashed radio controled helicopter. Mike had a beer party on Saturday night. About 50 people crammed into his house to feast on wings,cheese, little wieners, and taste beer. The hit, kiltlifter, both in name and taste. The cantaloupe sorbet was super too. Sunday, I hit the gym for the first time in a while. I bought a Garmin heart rate monitor which is a super little gadget to monitor and log your workouts. After the gym I was gripped by an incredible urge to nap. One of those naps that you are telling yourself to get up and your body is not listening. When I finally got up we went to see Madagascar, it's a kids cartoon but I think the penguins are hilarious.

On tap for this week. Dental appointment, I chipped my front tooth and it's cutting my tongue. I need to get it fixed in such a way that I don't look like Sponge Bob Square Pants!

Where were you when.......

Where were you when JFK was shot?

Where were you when they landed on the moon?

Where were you when Obama was announced president elect?


There was a small earthquake centered in polling places all over the United States that was felt all over the world. I don't know how to characterize it. A giant leap in race relations. A breakthrough in leadership. An inspiration. A movement. All I can say that I'm glad I was here to experience this national moment. But I think this moment is not just ours but a world wide moment. A moment where we show the world that anything is possible in this country. That the United States stands for fairness and decency.

So where were you?

Yes We Can.......

Best Political Picture of the Day

I think Biden's tights are a little too tight!

Hey What Are You Doing Here???

GO VOTE!!!!

Home again

Home again. Big bout of jet lag and time change. It's Monday night and I'm still not quite right. The contractor finaly finished the siding outside this weekend. I'm not looking forward to any more home improvement for a while. I put up the new weather station. The thermometer is on the blog. Also, I put up some blinds in Marilyn's sewing room. I finished reading a Clive Cussler book on the plane and I finished that James Bond book " Devil May Care" too. I had a chapter to read and I could not find the time to read it. Just think two more weeks and an other big road trip. San Francisco, Saint Louis, Philadelphia triangle.

Working like a Dog!

Cramming more stuff into my brain today with this course. More that I ever wanted to know about tech support and call centers. I feel I'm going to start to get comfortable with this and then go back to my real job. In six months I'll do it again and I'll have forgotten everything ( or they will change procedures! )

Cramming all information

The visit here is going ok. The course is taught by one of the tech support staff. This course is more of a cram course it was not well designed as the last course that I took. I'm holding my own except that I'm next on the list for support and I'm getting support items coming down the pipe. This is because the other guy is in Europe and can't get to the phone. It would be ok but I need to research the problems but I have no time as I'm in this class...... It's Ok I have a handle on most of it.

Going to rush back to the hotel tonight to watch the Phillies tonight. Watched the game the other night saw the Phils go up 2 but the fell asleep for the rest of the game....Jet lag again!

Major weekend wrapup....

Sorry for no updates. It's been a crazy weekend. Marilyn, Meg and I went out to the 1812 production. " This is the Week That Is" the election special. With this election it just gave them a target rich environment. No politicians were save from the barbs and jabs that were lobed at them. The 2008 Presidential Election Beauty Pagent was a scream.

On Saturday we meet Marj and Roy down at the boat. They were helping us put the boat to bed for the winter. Saturday the wind was screaming at 40 knots and the rain was going sideways. We got all of the inside work for the winter done. It calmed down enough for us to go to the Harbor Shack and have the last crab cakes of the season. Sunday it was beautiful! 60 degrees sunny and no wind. We dropped the sails and the rest of the canvas. I finished the temporary structure for the solar panel. The we packed up and went home.

At home we unpacked the car and then I packed my bags again for San Leandro. I have a week long course here for tech support. It's a little cool here in San Francisco and I did not bring a jacket.

Getting the boat ready for winter

Marilyn picked me up at the airport and we drove down to the boat. I packed my bag last weekend which was 80 degrees. It was high in the 50's this weekend. I wish I packed some long pants! The heater on the boat worked well. It was low in the 40's last night and our dock neighbors were wrapped up in their sleeping bags. We just cranked up the heat pump to 70 and were perfectly snug. Scott finished the new companion way doors. They look fantastic. I'll try and put up a picture before we put the boat away for the winter. The really did their job as we did not have to wrestle with the boards getting in and out and it kept the heat in. In the summer it will keep the cool of the A/C in just as well. We took off the the main sail and folded it up and bagged it and then the wind wipped up and we could not take down the jib. Next weekend for sure and we have to winterize all the water systems on the boat. After Nov 1 Imagination is hauled out of the water and put on land. The old boat was huge when it was out of the water and you were looking up at it, this one is even bigger. Next May we'll be right back in the water and having fun again.