making for a perfect summer
Derek & Kellen exploring nature's wealth at the zoo
translate the ramblings
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The Family - Summer 2007
Left to Right: Derek, Kirstin, Kellen, Dinah, Vince, Cathy, Jason, Dirk, Marcia, Marin, Adrianne, Tevita
The Family - Autumn 2006
L to R: Marcia, Jason, Cathy, Marin, Derek, Dirk,
Kellen, Kirstin, Vince, Adrianne, Tevita
The Family - Autumn 2003
back row: Marcia, Dirk, Adrianne, Marin,
Jason, Cathy
front row: Derek, Vince, Kirstin
Derek & Marin & Kellen & Dinah
our wonderful
grandkids
Recent Wonderful Reads:
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AUDIO - Background Music - click here - All Roads Lead to Cincinnati
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Morning all:
Quote Of The Week: "Ikea: One day you’ll be able to afford real furniture." — faux Ikea tagline Finish this short post, one more refill of my morning coffee, and hit the road! All of this assumes that, very soon now, Marcia begins to stir so that we both can hit the road together.
 We’re off to the cabin for vacation. This means 2 weeks of paint and scrub, interspersed with many hours of Ikea product assembly. Followed by hours of ‘winterizing’ the cabin so that everything can endure the -25 degree temperatures and 7’ snow-banks visiting the area in a few short months—when we won’t be there!
Last week was Marcia’s final swing through Ikea. I finally put my foot down and said I would just wait at checkout while she did the forced ‘rollercoaster-ride’ shopping event – solo. Though accused as being ‘crabby’ I held my ground. When we finally connected she had to admit that she spotted any number of men crabbier than me. I felt vindicated!
Adrianne made it to another milestone – 24 weeks. Still in the hospital she has begun to realize that her current goal is to stay in the hospital rather than counting down how long she’ll be in the place.
Yesterday Marcia hired a hairdresser who visited Adrianne in her room and magically transformed some seriously ‘nappy’ hair into a stunning ‘bob’. Earlier in the week my former employer transformed an older, out-of-service laptop and through the magic of wifi she is again part of the larger world.
Sister Kirstin is flying in for a visit over Labor Day and this visit is eagerly anticipated. Adrianne’s room is being pimped out and we’re hoping she’ll manage the long days without going too stir crazy.
28 weeks seems to be a magic number. 32 weeks and she won’t even be delivering at a trauma hospital. Like the little train of kids books; ‘I think I can, I think I can.”
Keep Adrianne and Tevita in your thoughts and prayers.
Now, let the trip begin. We will stay overnight in northern Michigan and then plan to arrive at Northern Comfort – the cabin - early Sunday afternoon. Travelling a little slower since we’re hauling a U Haul trailer. As the U Haul’s ads state, “an adventure in moving.”
Yea right. The three gallons of sweat I poured out yesterday just loading the beast was an adventure in itself.
Make it a great week. I hope that you’ll search out your own “Northern Comfort” this week and every week.
Cheers,
Dirk
8/16/2008 07:11:00 AM
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Morning all:
Quote Of The Week: "Three little sentences that will get you through life. Number 1: Cover for me. Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss! Number 3: It was like that when I got here." — Homer Simpson Marcia, “because I went to bed early”, was up before me and made the morning coffee (which I am now enjoying). There is something said for having one’s coffee made—I could get used to it. I believe that a place, which only sells coffee, could actually make a go of it.
The first thing Marcia noticed in the kitchen was that the cat bowls were absolutely licked clean – a first for these finicky beasts. It then occurred to her to call up to our house guest – “Shang the scavenger dog”.
I was waking up and noticed that Shang was laying on the floor next to the bed – very quiet, tail making only a very occasional flick. When I got up he was like glue at my feet. A direct order to go downstairs meant five steps towards the stairs and then he lay down to stare at the wall.
Marcia and I are no dummies and quickly put two and two together. Shang is no dummy either, he knew; he’s just a minimalist in self control.
The reason we’ve got Shang as a guest is that Adrianne was ordered to the hospital directly from a regularly scheduled appointment. So far so good for both her and baby, we’ll gain better perspective later in the day.
Rather than getting into specifics over the web just give Marcia a call. Feel free to call me but since I tend to explain ‘how the watch was made’ when asked for the time, you’re better off checking in with Marcia.
Keep Adrianne in your thoughts and prayers.
The 2008 Olympics started last night. This brought to the forefront a difference in thinking between Marcia and me. She is glued to our (a step beyond Black and White) television set. I have chosen the route of a personal boycott and not watch the spectacle.
I did see small bits of the opening ceremony and agree it was stunning.
However, I have to stick with my beliefs and in this case I agree with the more public boycott of the events by international groups such as Reporters sans frontières, human rights watch, etc.
The Chinese government’s treatment of its own people, their crackdown in Tibet, their support of the Myanmar Junta, especially in light of the recent natural disaster in Burma, religious persecution, all these portray to the world the real picture. Even the Chinese government reneging on a promise of open internet access to reporters covering the Olympics becomes a small piece of the total picture.
As a bit of a news junky, for the past twenty years it’s been article after article dealing with demonstrations of absolute roughshod control over the Chinese individual. Almost like a desperate attempt that to extend the human freedoms we hold for granted will cause a weakening of power of the governing elite.
Hookay, sorry, this morning it’s a bit more of a rant than a ramble, but so it goes.
Make it a great week. Happy birthdays to Kelton and to Nick M., and don’t forget about Adrianne and Tevita.
Cheers,
Dirk
8/09/2008 08:02:00 AM
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Morning all:
Quote Of The Week: "I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match" — Mia Hamm, Olympic gold medalist, 2004 U.S. Women's Soccer Team Yesterday morning, at the crack of dawn, I was sipping coffee from my thermos while sitting next to the Little Miami River. This morning I’m doing the same, only now from a mug and the depth of my leather chair. Both ways it tastes equally good.
Last week I heartily promoted the grandeur of retirement. Even going so far as stating I was having a “grand time.” Today, only a week later, I have to report that there are some serious chinks in this whole retirement thing.
First of all, I worked nearly full time the whole week. Okay, so I was at the office for one solid day, but slaved away from this very chair for waaaay too many hours the rest of the week. All of this business I could take in stride, it’s the other stuff.
What I am talking about is the ‘blurring’ of the calendar. The days sliding in and through and past one another has become an issue. Let me give an example. Mentally I was all this Sunday we’ll take ‘The Duck’ (our little Citroën Deux Chevaux car) to Lebanon, OH for their annual “Blues, Barbecue, and Bumpers” festival. Even Marcia was on board.
I took the time and surfaced my original – bought at the factory in Cuenca, Ecuador - Homero Ortega genuine Panama hat so that I could make absolutely certain the hat band was just perfect for a proper wearing. Today, Sunday August 2nd was the magic day. Well, do you see the immediate problem? Last night it dawned on me that the ‘Sunday’ bit was me. The rest of the world partied hardy at the Lebanon, Ohio "Blues, Barbecue, and Bumpers” festival—YESTERDAY, Saturday, August 2nd.
Then there is the immediate loss of the whole ‘spatial’ thing that comes along with retirement. Let me give an example. Yesterday Marcia and I were both in the kitchen. I had just brought in some Mets from the grill. Marcia was busily putting the rest of the meal together. When we bumped into each other, she was about to place a new 1-pint container of fresh blueberries back into the refrigerator.
We’re both real happy no one came to the back door just as we were scurrying about picking up a few hundred blueberries that had rolled everywhere. From a back door perspective someone could have easily assumed we were hot-and-heavy into an adult version of the old Twister game.
-779893.JPG) The canoe adventure yesterday morning was great. Young Marin did gain some learning and insight into the finer points of canoeing. One being that when paddling upstream the ‘heavies’ go to the back while the lightweights paddle up front.
I should have been as far back as possible – I happened to be near the bow.
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I explained all this to Marin, on shore, after we stopped to dry off. And Cathy, Marin’s new life preserver gets full marks for doing its job.
Make it a great week. Should you lose your ‘paddle’ its best to try and retrieve it. It makes the rest of the journey much easier.
Cheers,
Dirk
8/03/2008 06:56:00 AM
Friday, August 01, 2008
Evening all:
Quote Of The Day: "Children are the most desirable opponents at Scrabble as they are both easy to beat and fun to cheat.” — Fran Lebowitz Sincere apologies should you have gotten up extra early to read the Saturday rambling - and found this instead.
There is a reason.
Saturday morning - before dawn - Jason, Marin, and I will head out to one of our local rivers for a great morning canoe trip. We wanted the peace, the quiet, the time before beer drinking party boats hit the water, and the best reason of all - we'll be done before the heat kicks in.
In the meantime, pour an extra coffee, then study what exactly Lebowitz meant when she discussed Scrabble and kids.
Later
8/01/2008 09:51:00 PM
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Morning all:
Best Opening Line Of The Week: "I'm in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies.” — opening line from a long forgotten SciFi work Quote of The Week (part deux): "The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.” — Casey Stengel I guess that it’s a bit strange to be enjoying my morning java while wearing headphones blasting Jimmy Buffet’s Feeding Frenzy CD. Actually, if you think about it, it’s not so strange, Marcia would be grumpy all day were I to wake her to the sound of his A Love Song (From a Different Point of View).
July 1st I retired from my employer of nearly fifteen years. I held off mentioning this because I was unsure whether or not I’d be suffering from any of those newly discovered ailments discussed in medical depth in thousands of advertisements and on spectacularly educational programs such as Dr. Phil, Oprah, and The View (just too bad they’re only deep and not entertaining at the same time).
I wasn’t certain which ailment I’d get pegged with, but I had assumed it would probably be the retirement version of something akin to Post Partum Depression. Instead, I am discovering that I am having a grand time.
Oh, one thing I should mention is that the day after my retirement I started as the company’s new consultant. So, the real difference being that now I work from home on my schedule and I get paid to commute should I have to go to the office.
Earlier this week I did have a meeting at “the office”. Amazing how quickly even the building’s exterior started looking just a bit different. My old digs were already newly pressed into service (without even a fresh coat of paint). People, huddled over my old conference table (no doubt discussing the important ‘stuff’ of the day), turned their heads with big smiles on their faces and gave little waves. I must say that the whole thing was kinda strange and disjointed.
Wearing my own version of proper corporate attire, my very best light-blue 100% pima cotton summer Guayabera shirt, I wanted to shout “I just love my freedom!”
Only I didn’t.
Last Monday I patrolled with Citizens on Patrol. To date my patrols have been spreading goodwill and noting “quality of life” issues. This patrol was a little bit different in that our little group got sucked-up into drug bust. In training we’d been advised that a major event, specifically one that is violent or has that potential will start without warning and be over in seconds. Very true!
We advised dispatch that we’d be on foot patrol specifically to perform a walk by targeting three known drug houses. As we came up to the third a van pulled into the drive with police converging at the same time. Guns drawn, orders were given to the drug dealers. I saw the van’s sliding door open –this was facing away from the police – and ‘paraphernalia’ was tossed into an adjoining yard.
By this point our little group had moved clear and formed a peripheral observation post. Once secure I had the privilege of assisting with the ‘combing of the yard’ as we searched for drugs. This particular drug house was only a handful of city blocks from our safe and secure neighborhood. It’s good to see the nefarious activity at that place has been stopped cold. This week we’ve been dog-sitting Shang for Adrianne and Tevita, so several times on my evening walks I have routed myself past the place, now feeling perfectly safe. Thank you Shang.
Make it a great week and stay involved to make your own neighborhood even better than it is. Okay Shang, time for your walk, "let's go boy!"
Cheers,
Dirk
7/26/2008 07:44:00 AM
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