RAIN

It’s Friday, Day 5 of our Kaua’i trip, and the past three have been somewhat soggy. In Waimea last night, we heard from the local pizza joint that there are two storms off the coast of the Big Island. The result has been off-and-on showers and strong winds all over Kaua’i.

Poipu (The Sunny Side of Paradise!), our home base for the first week, has not been spared. Located on the south side of the island, it has a track record of typically-drier weather. Not so right now. There have been flash flood warnings all around and even the Allerton Garden had to close yesterday afternoon due to damage caused by water and wind. For us, vacation and rain go hand in hand.

The forecast calls for decreasing and isolated showers over the next couple of days. Then next week, when we are on the north side, it’s supposed to be much more typical this time of year - drier and sunny.

GABRIEL BECOMING A BEACH BUM

We’ve only managed to make it to the beach a few times so far: Tuesday at Baby Beach here in Poipu; last night (Thursday) at the beach in Waimea for a walk; and then this morning at Baby Beach again.

Gabriel wasn’t keen on the motion and noise of the waves when he first tried the water. He’d happily walk along the shoreline where the sand was modestly wet. Then we carried him out to waist-deep water and let him get in a bit more. He learned to relax in it, so long as he wasn’t right near a wave as it hit the beach. Towards the end of our two-hour stay, he learned to enjoy the water.

Baby Beach, hidden from most tourist traffic, is so named because of the many lava rocks out in the deeper water that do a good job of breaking up the waves.

Baby Beach


By the time they reach the shore, the waves are weak with very little current at all. The water is not deep and the sand doesn’t stretch out under the water too far, so swimming for an adult is not great without water socks. But for a little one like Gabriel, it’s fantastic. There’s even a small area of tidepools nearby, so he’s seen little fishes, crabs, and even a sea urchin.

At Waimea last night at dusk, we walked along the beach and watched the large, crashing waves. It was quite dramatic to see the large waves carry big, fluffy white foam across that beach’s black sand. Gabriel enjoyed walking through the foam with his little bare feet, leaving little foot prints all over the place.

This morning, we went to Baby Beach again and he really enjoyed himself. He held mommy’s hands and marched right down to the water to walk around in it, even with the waves. He soaked a while, then walked back out and around to the tidepools to walk on the rocks and enjoy the water. This morning he talked and giggled a lot, so he clearly has gotten the hang of the ocean.

WAIMEA CANYON AND HIKING

Wednesday, in a mostly successful attempt to avoid the rain, we headed to Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park to go for a hike.

Waimea Canyon


We didn’t get there until a little later, but the winding drive was worth it. At the Kalalau Viewpoint – the end of the road - we got an unbelievably clear view of the Kalalau Valley of the Na Pali Coast. The last time we were here, the valley was socked in by clouds and one couldn’t see a thing.

Kalalau Valley


On the way back, we stopped at Koke’e State Park to hike the Berry Flat Trail. It was roughly two miles and was not, unfortunately, very impressive. The vegetation was the most remarkable thing for us: groves of spindly guava trees, much passionflower overgrowth, banks of tall kahili and aromatic white ginger, and a nice assortment of coniferous trees. There were actually groves of California Redwoods that were planted in the 30s, for whatever reason – erosion prevention maybe.

We enjoyed the hike, but our theory is that for the typical Hawaiian, the vegetation is novel – conifers, blackberries and strawberries, etc. It was very much a temperate forest, in some ways like we have at home. But given other hikes that have better views of the canyon, we know we can do better next time.

POIPU: THE VERDICT

We’re having a good time visiting the south and west sides of the island. The west side has been good in particular due to its drier climate in the island’s rain shadow. Yesterday, avoiding the rain less successfully, we got to go to the farmers’ market in Hanapepe to buy tropical fruits and vegetables. And, Gabriel got to try shave ice (cold sugar water – yum!).

But in general, we find Poipu itself to be a less enjoyable location than we would have expected. Unless you’re able to afford $250+ per night at the nearby resorts, traveling independently here is difficult. Everything is spread out forcing you to drive a ways for everything including shopping, restaurants, going to the beach, or anything else, really. Nothing is really a short walk. That’s very different from other places we’ve been lucky enough to visit, like Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo, Mexico or other places in Hawaii – like Waimea. This developed first as a resort area and it lacks the charm that a town would have. Koloa Town is more like what I’m talking about; and at least five minutes’ drive from here.

KOLOA LANDING COTTAGES: THE VERDICT

What a difference it makes to have a child. I think that now with Gabriel, we are far more concerned about certain issues of cleanliness and safety than we were before. Having said that, we haven’t been too impressed with our accommodations. Although we realize this is a rental home after all, the place is still too grimy (what exactly do they do with the cleaning fee at departure, anyway? Off Track Betting?) The gardens outside are lovely and they even have a variegated ginger plant that Jill covets. But unfortunately, we’re not renting the grounds, we’re renting the house.

We found out that the owner has been out of town and will be back today, Friday. I guess we’ll see if management will be a bit more responsive with her return. It took them three days – at $150 per night, mind you – to get a two-burner hot plate put into our kitchen so that we can prepare our own meals. The second night, they provided us with two camp-style stoves that expressly warn against using indoors. Most of the pots and pans they provide are Teflon with much of the coating scratched off or dangling, so it’s not safe to use most of them.

I suppose that given what we’ve been able to buy in accommodations elsewhere for $150 per night, including a Victoria Harbor-view room at the Hong Kong Sheraton (check out the rooftop pool and view.. it's really cool), this rental has honestly been a bit underwhelming – so far. But the view out the window is pleasant and we all are definitely enjoying our vacation, despite the weather and the stove problem. And, we hear that some sort of refund/credit offer will be likely for the inconvenience of an inoperable kitchen. We shall see.

GASOLINE PRICES – YOU THINK YOU HAVE IT BAD?

Kaua’i is presently sporting an average gas price at roughly $3.80 per gallon of regular. That’s right, nearly $4.00 per gallon. I won’t even say what I spent last night to fill up the Trailblazer we rented. Oh, and let’s not forget the $5.00 loaves of whole wheat bread.

Alternatively, Hawaiian Host Caramacs at the Lihue Wal-Mart are half the price we pay at home. Huzzah!

BEST FLIER AWARD GOES TO...

Gabriel Francis, of course. Two flights and nearly 7 hours by plane didn't seem to greatly phase him, even with a somewhat rough landing in Honololu. I arrived feeling sluggish and with a headache; Jill had the same but with a bout of nausea thrown in.

We actually arrived into Kaua'i on an earlier flight that scheduled because we remembered to check with the help desk for seats on the soonest flight after arrival. You can easily change your tickets to leave on any flight between islands... usually. That wasn't our experience last time, of course.

So now we're in our rental home in Poipu. Not all is pleasant here, yet anyway. The stove doesn't work and we haven't yet heard back from them about whether or not they can fix it. The whole point of staying in the rental home was for Jill to be able to cook things without wheat (even soy sauce has it! - not easy to avoid in Hawaii) and fix Gabriel things whenever he gets hungry. So, feeling ill and tired and having the realization that the rental house is defective, it wasn't a pleasant day yesterday.

Ah, but Gabriel is a trooper... literally. He's trooping all over the house on his own, even holding objects in one hand and both. He's really taking to walking very quickly and happily. He still falls on his behind frequently, and he still will wall-walk and crawl, but his bipedal wanderings are longer and more ambitious each time.

It'll take a while for all of us to get used to the time and daylight difference. We're three hours behind Pacific time. We were all basically awake by 4:30am local time this morning/7:30am Pacific. All in good time, I suppose.

Well, we have arrived safely and we're looking forward to daily adventures. We'll keep things updated as time allows. Gotta run.. Gabriel got his head caught in the backpack.

Okay, back. Here's a message from Gabriel:

ug thyvj nbvhy`dub` n hghtyhgbv cdc``n j8h87

Aloha!

GABR-GABR-GABR

Little Boy has slowly been learning to say his own name. His babbling started out as gobba-gobba-gobba.. sounding a little bit like a gobbling turkey. But recently, he's added a distinct "r" sound to the end and he's clearly saying gabr-gabr-gabr.

A skeptic might say he's just babbling random sounds. But what a coincidence that his babbling should be growing in complexity and similarity to his own name, a word he hears us say very regularly. We don't think it's coincidence.. he's clearly mimicking the syllables of his name.

Speaking of mimicking, here's a shot of Gabriel growling back at me and showing off his teeth.



He also now has 11 teeth, can stand on his own without assistance from object or person and is taking a few steps in between furniture. He's learned how to make the Indian tremolo sound with his hand and mouth.

UNCLE TOM & AUNT KATE VISIT

Gabriel got to visit with his favorite aunt and uncle, Kate and Tom. They flew up from Sacramento to visit for a long weekend. Activities were a bit limited with Gabriel's nap schedule and the fact that Kate unfortunately caught the cold that was passing around up here. I was knocked out by it and didn't make it to my company's summer barbecue as a result.

But when they were here, Gabriel quickly reacquainted with Tom & Kate and had a great time playing with them. We had smoked red (sockeye) salmon on the grill before they left, so the weekend wasn't lost.

Thanks for coming up!

FUNDRAISER UPDATE

We recently received another $300 donation and a $35 donation, bringing the grand total up to $1,835.

Thank you everyone for your generosity. We greatly appreciate it. We urge you to also give to charities helping with Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS?

I certainly do - my undergrad years in Waco and my friendship with Bryan Moore, then of Covington, LA, allowed me a handfull of trips to New Orleans. I have yet been to a city of more distinct character and flavor... and the home of Ignatius J. Reilly.

Which is why it saddens me so greatly that the City has taken the hit that it has. So, I urge anyone and everyone to donate money to relief efforts for that wonderful town and the surrounding areas deveastated by Hurricane Katrina.

My charity of choice was The Salvation Army. You can designate that your money goes specifically to Hurricane Katrina relief.

Instapundit has a nice round-up of various charities that one can send money to and be confident that it gets spent efficiently.

The Times-Picayune has bravely weathered the storm and its resulting dangers to provide crucial reporting of conditions and events. I urge everyone to give it a read.

Craigslist in New Orleans has turned their Lost & Found classified section into a Missing Persons page where people are able to post inquiries about lost relatives and other loved ones. Give this a read, too.

Our prayers go out to the victims and the relief workers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

By the way, for those interested, of the two retailers below, one has already donated $1 million to the Salvation Army for early hurricane relief and invites customers to donate and one has offered no donation and only directs customers to a website to donate their own money.

Costco
Wal-Mart

GABRIEL HAS A (MOSTLY) HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY

Gabriel's 1st birthday luau was a fun time and his cake was definitely a hit as he demonstrates below. He's begun to eat wheat now, and the cake was his first major intro. He did not complain.



We thank all of those who attended - even Grandpa Dave was able to be here - and Gabriel thanks you for his birthday presents. He did seem to have forgotten all about the bee sting he got two days before his birthday, so all was well.

So for fun, and to prove the old cliche "they grow up so fast," here's a side-by-side of his first photo ever posted to this website, taken the morning of his birth, and a photo taken right before his birthday (and minutes before the bee sting).



As for my birthday, it was fun turning 29. I've enjoyed it so much, I've done it four times. I highly recommend it. Plus, among other nice gifts, I got a great DVD collection of the Yes, Prime Minister BBC TV series from Jill.

WEBSITE SABBATICAL

Yes, I've not updated in a long time. I'm not going to bother writing about everything that has happened, so fuggedaboudit. I've been a bit busy, much of it with work.

Now that I'm driving into work, though, I have to say I see some crazy things along the freeway. There's been a lot of construction lately on the Sunset Highway.. like this:




FUNDRAISER UPDATE

We received another donation for $35, so now we can send on another bit of money to the Quilas. Thank you all!

TOM AND KATE ARRIVING FRIDAY

Aunt Kate and Uncle Tom will be arriving to visit this Friday. They'll be staying the whole weekend. Gabriel will be delighted to have four new arms to help him walk around.

WE'RE HALFWAY THERE!

This is just an update to say that we have hit the half-way point on our fundraiser. We received another generous, firm $200 donation, so we are now at $1,500 firm and are awaiting a $100 pledge.

Thank your for your generosity! You know who you are!

You'll get a personal thank you also, of course.

Gabriel says Thank You, too!

FUNDRAISER UPDATE

I'm happy to announce that of the $3,000 we hoped to send to our Guatemalan family for materials for their new house, we've received $1,300 firm and have a pledge for $100 that hasn't yet arrived.

Thank you all for your generosity!

But I have to plead: we're not yet half way there. We did, however, receive an email from Vivi yesterday. We sent an advance of $1,000 based on what was generated through Wednesday. Vivi wrote to say that her family is incredibly grateful and overjoyed at being able to build a new, bigger place that's safer for their family.

I recall the last time we were there, they had a rat problem (the cheeky rodents scurried across the roof, visibly, while we ate dinner). I imagine it hasn't gotten much better in the meantime. But that didn't stop them from being gracious hosts to us while we visited Guatemala City.

Hopefully this weekend we'll have some photos of their family on-line so everyone can see who we're helping and learn a little about life in Guatemala.

Thank you all again! You know who you are!

And if you haven't already, please consider donating to help this very brave and warm Guatemalan family we've been privelaged to know for more than ten years now. Just click the Paypal button to the left and a secure credit card transaction/purchase can be set up if you don't have a Paypal account already.

GUATEMALAN FAMILY FUNDRAISER ALMOST UNDERWAY

As you can see in the margin to the left, I have added a Paypal Donate button. We are in the early stages of raising funds for our Guatemalan family, the Rucuch Quila's in Guatemala City (Villa Nueva, actually).

Vivi wrote Jill to say that their ramshackle home is finally about to give out and they desperately need to build a new home. As many of you know, their current home is made up of corrugated metal, cardboard, 2x4s, blue tarps and some cinderblock masonry they've managed to put together over the past few years. We have sent them money occasionally over the years, but its mostly been for other big expenses, including emergency medical care and college tuition for Vivi.

We hope to post more extensively about Vivi and her family, many of whom still work for CONAVIGUA, a human rights organization of Guatemalan civil war widows. In the meantime, we invite anyone and everyone so inclined to help us with our goal of $3,000. That's all that's required to build a home big enough for 5-6 people where they live. Vivi insists on an interest-free loan, but we'd really rather just send them the money as a lump-sum gift.

You can donate by clicking the Paypal button to the left - it's secure.. EBay owns it and uses it - or you can contact me directly with questions and/or further instructions.

Thank you for your time and generosity!

FUN WITH THE LOONY LEFT PART II

Well, I got some response to my comments yesterday at the website I mentioned, BlueOregon.com

Someone responded that Wal-Mart creates sprawl, but when pressed they couldn't give a satisfactory answer to how sprawl, defined as uncontrolled development, is controlled in Oregon by a UGB, even though one might not like the type of development that's occurring.

It's clear that by "sprawl," at least in Oregon, opponents of Wal-Mart really mean "development I personally don't like." UGH.

Here's the link for a continuation of the dialog. I made the point this morning that since the Supreme Court has ok'd governments taking private property to benefit a private developer (under the thin veneer of "economic development"), and since our urban growth boundary has helped push land prices sky high, lower-income individuals living in mobile home parks are threatened with homelessness because their largest asset - their homes - are in jeopardy.

So I pose the question, what's worse: more traffic from a Wal-Mart OR hundreds of people threatened with being homeless because of too-restrictive land-use rules in Orygun?

FUN WITH THE LOONY LEFT PART I

I'm not pleased about today's Supreme Court decision that allows municipalities to seize private property for the purposes of economic development that benefit private parties. It's terrible interpretation of the Constitution and frankly, it just emboldened powerful land owners and their corrupt city partners.

So, to get rid of some of my frustration, I'm going to have some fun with the unhinged opponents of "Sprawl-Mart" or as normal, thinking people call them, Wal-Mart. Yeah, they're big, cheap and buy a lot from China. So what? We all do. But a meme has gathered steam to the effect that Wal-Mart is the root of all evil. In some places they've accelerated the decline of the local economy, but in other areas they're just like any other big box retailer if you really look into it.

Well, a local website BlueOregon.com had one of these unhinged Wal-Mart activists talk about how a proposed Wal-Mart in Gresham, Oregon needs to be opposed because Wal-Marts cause sprawl. That's clearly impossible as Oregon cities literally have lines drawn around them, called Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs), that restrict development outside of the boundary. So how, exactly, does Wal-Mart cause sprawl with a store well within the boundary? Who knows.. but the guy who wrote this screed apparently does.

Below the article, I wrote a critical comment and I'm curious to see what kind of response to this I get:

Posted by: Bill | June 23, 2005 03:57 PM

Can someone please explain to me exactly how Wal-Mart causes sprawl in Oregon when it must abide by Oregon's land-use planning regs, including urban growth boundaries which restrict expansion, among other things.

Since technically you can't have sprawl when there's literally a line drawn around what can be developed and keeping everything else off-limits, what exactly does the unhinged opposition mean by sprawl?
Traffic?
Development in general?

It seems to me that if individuals support a UGB and all related planning to make a place more "liveable" (whatever the hell that means), one needs to get used to the idea that things are going to be crammed in more densely - including Wal-Mart.

Here goes nothing!

HAPPY BELATED 30TH BIRTHDAY TO TOM

It seems he had a nice birthday on the 30th. Here's his summary of the festivities:

Yeah, we had a pretty good party. Most of Kate's family, some friends from work and Chris were there.. We got to meet some of the new neighbors too, so that was good. We have two retired people, a stay at home mom and her husband, and a veterinarian and her husband living next door to us. Yeah, i talked to mom and Andi yesterday morning. They called around 8am just as I was getting up. And dad called me yesterday (seems mom reminded him it was yesterday and not today!).

YES, I'VE BEEN BAD ABOUT POSTING

I've been quite busy. To the left is a new photo of Gabriel, courtesy of his Gramma Dianne. As time allows, I'll post.

GABRIEL A FUSSY EATER

He's just coming out of a fussy eating phase where all he'd eat was either milk or little rice-based snack crackers flavored with juice. The doctor wanted to see him, but ended up not being worried because he's still gaining weight. Just a phase I guess.. lately he's been blowing out the cabinet of food of all sorts.

Lately, though, he's enjoyed fresh strawberries and boysenberries from our garden. Last night, we sat down and ate a peach together. He opens wide and bites right in and gnaws the thing to death, but he loves it.

He's in the beginning stages of trying to stand. And when assisted by holding an adult's hands, he'll walk all around the house non-stop until your back gives out. Plus, he loves to give kisses - but sneaks a bite in every now and then <NO BITING!>

Other developments: he's pulling himself up in his bed or by grabbing a table. He's pulled himself up by grabbing my hands for a long time now. He sits up on his own and loves to roll all around the floor after Nino.

Finally, and most impressively, the little guy is already demonstrating a fascination with bugs. When held in front of his bedroom curtains, decorated with all manner of colorful, cartoon garden bugs, if he's asked to pick out the ladybug he'll grab for it every time. Smart little guy.

Just remember this when you watch the Olympics in Beijing.

ANYONE IN SACRAMENTO NEED RAILROAD TIES?

Free Railroad Ties

TOM REID PASSES THE CALIFORNIA BAR

Tom called yesterday to break the news that he had passed the California Bar exam. He apparently found out late Friday afternoon and probably had a very celebratory weekend. Currently employed at E*Trade, Tom can now pursue positions with District Attorney's offices statewide, as well as a position in the California Department of Corrections if he chooses. He still apparently has a contact in the latter, where a job reviewing either parole appeals or death penalty verdicts (I can't remember) might materialize soon.

CONGRATULATIONS, TOM!

He can now breathe a sigh of relief and turn 30 with no regrets next week!

CORRUPTION AT LOCAL CHURCH BENEFIT AUCTION

That sounds a bit dramatic, but we had an evening of intrigue and disgust at an auction at a local church here in Hillsboro friday night. A dinner, silent auction and vocal auction was held at the Calvary Chapel Worship Center, located behind the Goodwill on Tualatin Valley Highway. Many local businesses and individuals donated items to be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to fund missionaries and relief work all over Africa.

Making the rounds, there were a few items that Jill and I took a shine to, particularly for putting in Gabriel's room: a Noah's Ark wall hanging, several quilts, and some original watercolor paintings of various scenes in Africa. One in particular had a homemade frame of Hawaiian hardwoods. It was quite a nice little item; very colorful for Gabriel's room.

Anyway, long story short, after rebidding on the item after anyone else bid to make sure I got it, the clock ticked down and as the bidding was publicly announced "closed," I noticed that my name was the last on the sheet with the highest bid. Woohoo!

The volunteers descended upon the table to circle all the final bids and make them official for later payment and pickup. As I waited to ask the volunteer handling the watercolor when/where pick-up was, she glanced around, hunched over and wrote her name & number below mine, circled it and, therefore, became the winning bidder on Gabriel's watercolor well after bidding ended.

Jill was nearby, also saw it, and we were both angry and disgusted. A volunteer. At a Church. Abusing her position of trust to violate the accepted rules of bidding. Stole away Gabriel's watercolor painting. How pathetic. If this were Christies or Sotherby's, her actions would be have been a felony.

I don't mind being beaten fair and square. In the grand scheme of things, the item was a small watercolor painting of minor value. And truly, the whole evening was for the benefit of those less fortunate than us.

But petty greed, and in my view more seriously, abuse of entrusted duties were demonstrated by a church-member volunteer right before our very eyes. That says paragraphs about that individual - the experience put a bad taste in our mouth about the church itself. If this woman was doing it, how many other member volunteers were as well? And how exactly does this help grow the church?

Neither of us were keen on the rest of the auction thereafter, much less the church itself. Most members were nice and we still think highly of our neighbors Greg and Sandy, who invited us to the event. I chatted with Greg a bit and he was the model volunteer. But it was a black eye on what was our date night for the week.

At the end, we managed to walk away with a different watercolor, though not as nice as the other, and a homemade baby quilt.

SUNDAYE NOT DOING WELL

Little Sundaye Korynasz, our 18-year-old long-haired cat, has undergone a serious decline in health lately. A kidney infection (what's left of her kidneys), weight loss and no appetite have made it next to impossible for her to take medication for the infection itself, her kidney function and her arthritis.

We will likely have a final consultation with her vet tomorrow- the one that helped her to have three more quality years of life after her traditional vet gave her 6 months due to kidney failure - and then will likely have Sundaye put to sleep.

Days are not happy of late at our house, understandably. I will have an update of the situation as soon as any development, positive or negative, occurs.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

I have been a bit busy lately and haven't had time to put together what I want to update. Long delayed items are still on my plate (Mother's Day, Gabriel's 9th month, Steve's wedding, etc.) but it's been a bit difficult to carve out the time. Soon enough.

GRAMMA REID IN THE HOSPITAL

I spoke to Gramma Reid on Mother's Day. She was in the hospital still with pneumonia in one of her lungs. She was feeling better than the previous two days and managed to have a decent conversation with me before getting tired.

I can honestly say I don't know of her current condition, but based on my experience talking to her she was on the mend. We keep her recovery in our prayers.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Our Mother's Day celebration was good.. Gabriel gave his mom a very nice gold locket not shaped like a heart and I gave Jill her favorite hot cocoa powder from Moonstruck Chocolates.

Then we went with Gramma Dianne, Gramma Judy and Grampa Koke to the Raccoon Lodge for a surprisingly good brunch (some of the other, fancier places were not good for scheduling around Gabriel's nap). Then we went to the garden of Barbara Blossum Ashmun, a well-known garden designer that leaves in Beaverton. She opens it up the public only on special occasions, including Mother's Day.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY WILL GARDNER (BELATEDLY)

Boy did I screw up the date. Will Gardner, the son of our Seattle Principal Matthew Gardner, celebrated his first birthday on Wednesday. Here's the most recent photo I have of him, from Christmas 2004.



Apparently, Will's mom and dad Dana and Matthew threw a nice party for Will Wednesday night. Will's Godfather even flew in from Paris for the occasion - apparently hand-delivering some very good champagne. Congrats to Dana and Matthew.

The Gardners have been extremely busy lately with Will's birthday and selling their home in Bellevue. I can't even begin to imagine the stress. But they have a new home picked out and look forward to the move and the new space for Will to cruise and then run around!

Happy Birthday, Will!

WEBSITE IS (SORTA) GLOBAL

Here's a graphical report of who reads this website by worldwide time zones. Readership is obviously biggest in U.S. Pacific time, but then it gets more interesting.



U.S. Central time is second, followed by U.S. Eastern, Mountain, Alaska and then Central Europe (or Africa - Nigerian scam artists?) and Asia.

So, to everyone, Hello from Oregon!

GUEST BLOGGER THIS MORNING

Below is a photo of this morning's guest blogger. He might look a little familiar. His entry onto the website is below his photo.


Today's Guest Blogger 

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j,k,kuj;.....................0IomkzxpZNHJZK8K80j,.'l/,m kuyuj kj,, bjnjmj, j, cvcv vgbers

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY HENRY JOHNSON

Today is the birthday of Henry Johnson, the son of my employer Jerry Johnson. Henry gets to call the shots on food today, and apparently insulin is one of them - Krispy Kremes and cupcakes were part of this morning's breakfast. Way to go, Henry! Here's a repeat of his recent photo with his new baby sister, Margaux.



Henry's birthday is also a milestone because it was five years ago that Jerry split from Hobson Johnson & Associates (where I was formerly employed) and started Johnson Gardner, my current place of employment. So it's a dual celebration of sorts.

Have a Great Day, Henry!

TOM'S TRUCK TROUBLES

Tom's been having more truck trouble lately.. yes, he owns a Chevrolet. Here's his update:

After being quoted roughly $150 to fix the muffler (based information from auto part catalogs and the internet), mom called Amigo and discovered, through Rick, that the part I need, instead, runs around $700. So I called another couple of muffler shops, and they both quoted me around $200 to fix it (again, relying on the same info).

Today, he called me back after looking at my truck and discovered that my truck (and I assume all 1995 S-10s) actually have the 1996 part on it. So to make a long story short, Chevrolet decided to improve thier automobiles by adding roughly $600 to the cost of a catalyic converter. Can you say "TOYOTA!"?

I recommended to Tom that he check out the Car Talk MechanX Files and find himself a good, trustworthy, independent mechanic. The website is a huge database of mechanics all over the country for all sorts of makes (skews towards imports - the website is for the extremely funny Car Talk radio show on public radio) with detailed user opinions of trustworthiness, quality, price, etc.

Not to bash dealerships, but they cash flow on financing and service and unless you know the dealership well, they likely don't have your best interest at heart. No one can be fully trusted, but in my experience independent mechanics have more to lose with a bad service track record: fixing cars is all they do, so all their eggs are in one basket. Good luck!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREAT GRANDMA REID

Today is the 80th-plus birthday of Gabriel's Great Grandma Betty Reid. I called Farmington this morning and chatted a bit, but my phone died out on me. Turns out the battery was damaged, so I'll have to call later today.

She was in good spirits and looking forward to her sister Kathleen's arrival from Florida later in the day. I haven't seen her since Gramma's 80th birthday party blowout a few years ago. I hear Florida living has been very good for her.

Anyway, have a very Happy Birthday!

TOM AND KATE MOVE INTO NEW HOME

Less than two weeks ago - yes, I'm late on all of this - Tom and Kate moved into the first home that they own themselves. They had much of the stuff moved for them, then had a big painting party to get the house in shape. Kate took some time off and they got everything squared away.

New Info:

xxxx Ackerman Way
Fair Oaks, CA 95628
(916)966-xxxx
Tom's Cell - (916)342-xxxx
Kate's Cell - (916)342-xxxx

Our cell phones work now at the house.. WOOO HOOO!!

You'll have to email him to fill in the numbers: thomas.reid1@etrade.com

BAYLOR LADY BEARS ARE NATIONAL CHAMPS

Also in old news I've been meaning to document, Baylor's women's basketball team won the national championship with an 84-62 humiliation of Michigan State on April 6th.



Congratulations Ladies on a hard-earned victory!

Longer-time readers of this lousy website might remember that Baylor's men's program had the kebosh put on it by the NCAA after one teammate murdered another, and in the ensuing investigation, recruiting and other violations and a cover-up by the then-coach were discovered.

The victory by the Ladies was a very much needed boost to a campus shocked by the scandal. Particularly shocking, since despite all the apparent cheating, the Men's program still stunk.

HAPPY 56TH BIRTHDAY TO GRAMPA

Grampa Dave Reid is 56 years old today. Born in a barn in rural Colorado, Wyatt Earp was the local sheriff at the time and dirt wasn't yet invented. And don't forget that to get to his one-room school house, he had to walk 5 miles in the snow, barefoot, uphill both ways.

Here's a link to other major news stories that occured on April 25 in past years, courtesy of the History Channel. Befitting an engineer, groundbreaking on the Suez Canal was today in 1859.

And here's a photo of Grampa meeting Gabriel for the first time last summer, followed by them in Farmington playing together in March.



Happy Birthday!

THE WELFARE GAMES REVOLUTION

A quick Googling of my 1999 Urban Economics paper about Welfare Games (well, my paper with David Figlio and Van Kolpin) has turned up quite a bit on-line at other academic journals, as well as government write-ups and classroom curriculums in a number of universities across the country.

Google Scholar: Welfare Games.
Google General Search: Welfare Games

Specifically, my paper is in the bibliography of at least 48 other studies in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. The paper is now standard reading in a number of political science and economics college classes. There's even a powerpoint presentation (link goes to the class syllabus - scroll down) by a student at Brown University outlining the paper for fellow students. The guy gets an A- in my book because he needs to spell Van Kolpin's last name correctly!

So now, six years later, the Welfare Games theory - or fact, as our paper and others have empirically shown - is called the Race to the Bottom (RTB) and the paper is being used as a methodological model in showing negative government competition on public health care in the U.S., as well as tax policy in Italy, Switzerland and other countries.

Looks like the hard work paid off and has taken off, even internationally. I'm proud and humbled at the same time.

I always wanted to make my very own permanent mark that lasts well after I'm gone. Looks like I've managed that, and in a very constructive way!

Source: despair.com (many like this for sale there...)

GABRIEL'S FIRST AIRPLANE TRIP

I'm only now getting around to posting photos and information. But Gabriel had a very good experience travelling to Las Vegas/Pahrump and then to Albuquerque, Farmington and then back home, all on his first airplane rides back in March. Once he got settled in, he definitely enjoyed looking out the window.



OVER THE HUMP TO PAHRUMP

After a great crab buffet at Green Valley Ranch, we headed to Pahrump, about an hour west of Vegas through the mountains.

The town itself is small, surrounded by a ring of dramatic mountains - more impressive than Las Vegas in my opinion. The town is definitely Red State. I saw nothing smaller than an SUV while there, and certainly nothing made in Japan. A Wal-Mart marked the end of town.

Local color was everywhere. In fact, while walking into the Smith's (which carried Tillamook Cheese, by the way) a sixty-year-old fella sitting outside, face carved by too much smoke and too little sleep, was bragging to his friend about how he had "kicked her a$$ out last night." Lively neighborhood he lives in, I'm sure.

Sue and George have a nice, big house with great views of the mountains from their back patio. George was gone at work much of the time, but Aunt Suebee and Me-Ma got to spend a lot of time with him. We had a good visit, even though Gabriel decided to not sleep so well our second night there. Following are a couple of pictures.



We didn't have a lot of time there, so we didn't get to make a day trip to Death Valley and see the 100-Year bloom. They had much rain earlier in the spring, even while we were there. The result is that Death Valley has been in full bloom, a rare sight indeed. Below is a photo taken by an amateur photographer I found by Googling.



But as this website attests, Pahrump is about much more than the gateway to/from Las Vegas and Death Valley. (Note: This is actually a well-done website by a resident of Southern Nevada, with details of the ins, outs, and hidden bits of Vegas in great detail. This particular page I linked is her description of actually touring a brothel in Pahrump out of curiosity. Funny stuff...)

The town has carved out a market niche for sin that Vegas doesn't seem willing to serve: prostitution and fireworks. Brothels are well-known and common in Pahrump, with the subtlety of a belch. Billboards advertise the establishments, as well as where to get your hands on bottle rockets, roman candles and other incendiary devices.

In fact, Pahrump even has a brothel museum that is apparently quite good, though we I didn't get to go. There's a winery, too, but we'll be saving that for another trip as well.

ONWARD TO FARMINGTON

The trip to Farmington via Alburquerque was good. Gabriel got to ride with his grandmother on the plane, though slept much of the way. Waiting for us were Dad, Tom and Kate. We all loaded up into the Blazer and headed northwest for Farmington. Not far along, a Good Samaratin did his level best to run us off the road trying to warn us that our tail lights were out. Nice fella, though blocking us off right in front of the I-25 onramp was probably less safe than the aforementioned tail light problem.

After stopping and fussing with the fuses - not the problem it turned out - we headed for Farmington, anyway, though much later than planned. After a stop at El Bruno's in Cuba - great New Mexican cuisine, but don't be afraid of capsicum if you go there - we arrived in Farmington rather late. On the plus side, we were able to visit with Casey, Pony, her husband, son and newborn daughter before they headed off for Austin. I hadn't seen them in over ten years, so that was a nice visit.

The next morning we headed over to La Plata Drive - Did you know you have a spruce tree in your front yard? - to visit Gramma and Grampa. Below is a photo of everyone there but Dad, who's taking the photo.


Gabriel's Farmington Trip 

We had a fun visit and Gabriel clearly enjoyed visiting his Great Grandparents and Gus, who was nice enough to cook us a fried turkey dinner without overboiling the bird and firing it in the air like a cannonball. It was quite good and he's 2-0 in the times I've been there. Below are photos of Gabriel with his Great Grampa George and Great Gramma Betty.



We headed back to Albuquerque that night and left for Portland the next, very windy day. Gabriel did quite well on the three-hour direct flight, sleeping most of the time. So much for fears of a screaming baby! ...this time

Postlogue: Gramma went into the hospital for a brief visit due to complaints of heart palpitations recently. But after examination, it turned out her oxygen unit was not functioning properly and all was remedied. She's reportedly doing well now, just as she was in good spirits during our visit.

STILL WORKING ON THE POSTING

But in the meantime, here's a great little story out of Soldotna, AK - my birthtown.

A local biologist was mauled by a brown bear (cubs nearby - bad sign) while jogging on Monday and has become the first recorded survivor of two bear attacks.

Not the most enviable distinction.

UPDATE ERASED

That's right.. I had something ready yesterday afternoon but when I went to save, Blogger was undergoing maintenance so I lost it all. I'm still fuming.

But in the meantime, here's a bit of fun for the voyeur in you. This link goes to a site called PostSecret, where people mail deep, dark personal secrets written on a postcard to a website and they post them anonymously.

Here's an example..

HAROLD & CHIQUI BAHR's 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Harold & Chiqui recently celebrated their 50th anniversary in Anchorage. This is a link to the Anchorage Daily News Together story on their marriage.


Source: Anchorage Daily News

For fun, I Googled some of the locations in the Philippines. Here are a couple of photos of the church where they were married 50 years ago, the Malate Catholic Church in Manila.


Source: VirtualTourist.com

Congratulations on a Well-Lived Life Together!

MAJOR UPDATE PLANNED.. SOON

It's been an extremely busy few weeks.. much to write about, and very soon.

HAPPY EASTER!

It was for Gabriel until his cold relapsed in the evening. Below is a photo of him with his Easter basket from Gramma Judy and Grampa Koke. He's ready to dive right in.


Gabriel's First Easter 

We enjoyed dinner with his grandparents - leg of lamb and steak (for Jill). Very tasty food.. cute animals are the best. Gabriel was a pretty good sport and enjoyed himself, but then started coughing more and began to run a fever... even with the house like a furnace with all the cooking going on.

He was up every hour or so last night coughing and restless. I slept dead to the world while Jill woke up every hour or so... even after she moved him into our bed later in the night. All we can do now is comfort him, get him to eat and wait it out.

GABRIEL'S AIRPLANE TRIP A SMASH

I have several photos and narrative to write.. I'll get to that tomorrow hopefully. I've been a bit busy.

More later...

TRYING OUT "HELLO" PHOTO POSTING PROGRAM

Below is a photo of Gabriel on the day he turned 7 months. I posted the photo with a new program called "Hello" (click the quotation box icon below the photo for details) and I'm pleased. The photo is hosted for free, they resize it for me and when anyone clicks on it, a larger version comes up that you can print yourself.

The program also has a messenger service intalled so that people can share photos instantly. I also recommend another program in Google's empire, Picasa2. It's free and a really nice way to store, organize and edit/enhace any photos you have on your machine. Anyway, enjoy!


Gabriel at 7 Months 

WATER BABY

Mom generously contributed these photos of Gabriel and Jill enjoying swim lessons recently. Apparently, her digital camera has a better flash.

I'd say they were enjoying themselves!

7 MONTHS OLD

This past Sunday, Gabriel turned 7 months old. It's astonishing that it's already been 7 months.. I'm going to blink and he'll be asking me for keys to the car.

But his seventh month was indeed a busy one. I already wrote about his first meal of rice cereal. Here's a bit of an update of latest developments:

-He enjoys a variety of fruit and vegetables now, including pears, apples, bananas, peas, sweet potato and avodado. He's not a big fan of squash.

-He now has his two bottom teeth. They're still emerging, but they flash when he smiles really big. He touches them and has started to get used to them.

-He sits up marvelously, though isn't able to pull himself upright from laying down yet.

-He enjoys time on his tummy far more now, propping his head and shoulders up high off the ground. He's not yet figured out how to move his knees up under himself to crawl - all in good time.

-He's presently in swim classes twice each week. No underwater swimming, but he's learned how to kick his legs and enjoy floating around in the water, even submerging his eyes. He's also learned how to keep his mouth shut under water and not gulp. I hope to have photos of this soon.. mine were all too dark as my flash is weak.

-He's babbling more and more now, copying noises and sounds. The other night, Great Grandma Charlotte was over playing cards and exchanging noises with Gabriel. Her oxygen unit makes an occasional puffing sound and he began imitating it.

-He's now sleeping for 7 or so hours each night reliably, though he does occasionally wake up hungry.

-He enjoys going outside and playing on his blanket when it's sunny.

And finally, he's grown to have an interest in the cats. Here's a succession of shots of Gabriel sitting next to Sundaye. He sat there for a while clinching her hair with slobbery hands - and she remained pretty calm. But clearly here, she gets a bit tired of his enthusiatic affection.

ME-MA UPDATE

Me-Ma has been out of the hospital and back in Pahrump for a while. She is able to take new heart medication and apparently is gaining strength every day. She still gets tired more frequently, but with a new wheelchair, she's getting around and feeling better about each day.

I haven't reached her yet, but we'll be visiting her in Pahrump from March 17th to 19th. I'm sure she'll enjoy seeing Gabriel - he certainly enjoys visiting.

GRAMMA UPDATE

I talked to Gramma Reid yesterday and she sounded like she was feeling better. She does get more exhausted during the day, but she seemed happy and we had a good conversation. We'll be visiting Farmington from March 19th through the 21st.

Tom and Kate will be joining us on that leg of the journey apparently.

TOM & KATE: NOT TOO EXTREME MAKEOVER-HOME EDITION

It looks like Tom and Kate will soon be proud homeowners. After shopping around in the Sacramento area for a house, they found one in an established Fair Oaks neighborhood and made a slightly low-ball offer. Here's a link to the listing. A photo of the house with the pool and spa is found below.



The current owners are going through a divorce and wanted to sell quickly and it looks like they're getting their wish. Interestingly, the house is just a few blocks away from Kate's parents' home.

It apparently will have fixer-upper projects, mostly updating, but they're excited to get in and make it their own.

Congratulations on the big step!

*SPOILER* (highlight after the dash with you mouse) - I predict a cousin for Gabriel within two years.. there's just something about owning a house. Nesting is inevitable!

MARGAUX JOHNSON ARRIVES

The Johnson True family welcomed their third addition on Monday, February 21st. A roughly 7 lb. baby girl, Margaux Johnson is happy, healthy, and apparently sleeping much better than Gabriel did at that age. Here are a couple of photos of Margaux, the first with her big sister Emma and the second with her big brother Henry.

Congratulations! It looks like the balance of power has shifted back to the ladies.

PASS THE MAALOX TO MT. ST. HELENS

Mt. St. Helens put on quite a show yesterday afternoon around 5:30. After several months of small steam plumes barely escaping its lava dome (see the VolcanoCam in the left margin), the mountain emitted a rather grand "ash burst" - an apparent vulcanology term (link goes to a photo of a fascinating team of French vulcanologists).

The plume reached over 36,000 feet.. or roughly 6 miles high! Photos of the event are below. Both are from viewers of the local TV station KATU via their website. Viewer descriptions of the shots are included in the .jpg.





As you can see, it was quite an ash burst. I guess this means St. Helens is currently the biggest ash hole in North America. Sorry - I couldn't help myself.

TOM TAKES THE CALIFORNIA BAR EXAM

Tom took the California bar exam last week, beginning on Monday the 2nd I believe.

Good luck, Tom! Sounds like you were more confident this time based on your studying.

WORD FROM BRYAN MOORE

I heard from Bryan Moore, my old Baylor friend and roommate. As poor graduate students, we managed to attend each others weddings in Dallas, Texas and Eugene, Oregon, respectively. I'll quote him directly:

We (Bryan and Renee -ed) have a 2.5 year old little girl named Sydney. She was born in Chicago and since then we have lived in many states like Maryland, California, and now Indiana. I took a new job last year with Roche Diagnostics and it is going very well. I think we will be here for a number of years. We like the town, our house, and my job...a rare combination.

Sounds like things are going well for him. I did some digging and he has a website. Pictures aren't up (yet).

LEANER, MEANER ME

After two-and-a-half weeks on the Atkins diet, induction phase, I've managed to lose 13 pounds. I still haven't reached my target weight yet (195 lbs.) but I'm only five pounds away.

I work out in the exercise room in this building every day for an hour to an hour and a half. Most of it is aerobic training on a machine that looks a little bit like a stairmaster crossed with an x-country ski machine. It works is the bottom line.

PAUL THEROUX: 1994 EYEWITNESS TO GERMAN VIOLATION OF IRAQ SANCTIONS

I'll admit that I'm a big fan of Paul Theroux's non-fiction writing about travels in various parts of the world. Many who are not familiar with him might be familiar with movies made from at least two of his fictional works: The Mosquito Coast and Half Moon Street.

I've read nearly all of his travel books, starting with The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific. His body of nonfiction work basically starts with The Great Railway Bazaar: through Asia by train, chronicling his journey by train, ship and caravan round trip from London over to Japan via India and Southeast Asia and then return through Russia. His most recent, Dark Star Safari, is about his travels from Cairo, Egypt to Capetown, South Africa by any means available except airplanes.

I got the latter from Jill for Christmas and I just cracked it - he's wandering through Cairo waiting for a visa to Sudan at the present moment.

But in the The Pillars of Hercules, his tour of most of the Mediterranean in the early 1990s - foreigners were being robbed and executed in Algeria at the time - Mr. Theroux makes an interesting observation while held up at the Syrian/Turkish border while trying to get into Syria.

The delay at the border today was caused by a group of Syrians smuggling shirts and pants in large suitcases. The absurdity of it was that while these smugglers opened their cases, revealing stacks of shirts in plastic bags, huge trucks rumbled past. They were German, and they were loaded with crates of German machinery, from a firm called Mannesmann. The crates were stamped For the Ministry of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq. Six of these vast flatbed trucks. They were headed towards Iraq, through Syria-and they were waved through by Syrian soldiers. It seemed to make little difference to anyone that Iraq was subject to U.N. sanctions and such a shipment of German machine parts was illegal. In the meantime the shirt smugglers were bullied and denounced.

Theroux is a stickler for honest observation - if sometimes characterized as cranky. But I'd say this is extremely reliable documentation of German and Syrian complicity in Saddam Hussein's abuse of the U.N. Oil-for-Food program. I suppose it isn't if you dine on military telecommunications equipment.

The book was particularly fascinating for these observations, as well as others as he sees activities and hears reports along his travels that provide foreshadowing of the names and events all too familiar since September 11, 2001. His account of travel through Croatia, Slovakia and Albania during the Serbian war is worth the price of the book alone.

SERVER BACK UP - PHOTOS BACK ON LINE

Jerry got the server online this afternoon, so as you can see, Gabriel's photos are also back on line again. Huzzah!

I'll update with more info and photos at my earliest opportunity.

JOHNSON GARDNER SERVER DOWN

My company's server crashed yesterday, Tuesday. Why is that notable? Well, all of our personal photos that are posted on this website are hosted on the company server. As you can see, the photos are temporarily gone. Things will hopefully be back to normal soon.

ME-MA UPDATE 2/16

Me-Ma was moved out of the intensive care wing of the Spring Valley Hospital yesterday and is now in the normal care wing of the hospital. She's still recovering slowly, but making progress and the doctors are satisfied with her condition that she doesn't need constant monitoring. Any progress, even slow, is greeted happily. The doctors continue to discuss her ability to go back to Pahrump after she's stabilized a bit more and her heart treatment details are worked out.

Everyone will be happy about that, but certainly no one more than her.

JOHN KORYNASZ'S EYE SURGERY TODAY

John, or Koke to many of you, will be having eye surgery today to continue to improve his eyesight. His vision hasn't quite been the same after his cancer treatment, but good doctors in Medford, and seemingly here in the Portland area, seem to have helped his vision with various surgeries over the past few years.

Prayers for success and a quick recovery are with him.

BIG SEATTLE PRESENTATION: ECONOMICS & HOUSING BUBBLES

I'm headed to Seattle to co-host a major presentation tomorrow morning at 7:30am. I'm starting off, to be followed by my employer Jerry Johnson and then Seattle partner Matthew Gardner will finish up. I'm to talk about the national and Seattle regional economies, current and outlook.

One of the points I will be making tomorrow has to do with whether or not we have a housing bubble. By housing bubble, I mean whether or not housing prices nationwide have escalated due to normal market forces or by a bubble - "irrational exhuberance" by homebuyers and speculators - sort of like the internet firm stock market bubble that "burst" in 2000.

The issue has been of much interest in the press off and on, really for no better reason than a irrational prices driven by irrational buyers, seems to be one of the few concepts journalists seem to think they understand.. they don't. The following link is to a .pdf copy of an economic research paper out of Harvard University's Institute of Economic Research, which basically finds that when you control for land values, one of the major recent drivers of higher home prices is actually regulation, zoning and other government hurdles to development and construction - only making housing affordability for first-timers and lower income people all the worse.

In other words, planning, smart growth and growth management polices have become a larger and larger tax on actual construction costs, thus making home prices escalate nationwide, substantially in some areas known for aggressive land use policies.

Oddly enough, Seattle is one of the worst according to some of the statistics they employ, and I plan to make the point tomorrow!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Don't forget to give your sweety a big smooch!



ME-MA UPDATE

Me-Ma has had a series of good days lately and has made progress, though quite gradually. The doctors are now talking of her being able to leave the hospital fairly soon as her systems are stabilizing to their satisfaction.

On the fun side, she's had her sodium-restricted diet ended so that she can raise her sodium levels. She now gets to salt all her food, so the enhanced flavor has definitely helped increase her appetite.

All in all, she's progressing and gaining strength, so that's great news.

GRAMMA REID UPDATE

I spoke to Gramma and she's feeling better and, in her words, "behaving herself." She's taking it easy, putting her feet up and feeling alright. Betty went to Farmington for a week to help out - I got to speak with her for a while. It was good to catch up.

Steve and Jim are expected to visit soon, as are Kathleen and my father. That should be a shindig if they all visit at the same time.

SOLID FOOD

Well, after a 6-month Well Baby checkup at his pediatrician's office, Gabriel was given the green light to try solid foods. Here are a couple of the photos of his first non-milk meal: rice cereal.

He started off a little awkwardly thinking the spoon was something to just chew on for relief of his gums; he has two little bumps from growing front teeth on his bottom jaw.

But once he tasted the rice cereal, he quickly got the idea and ended up eating quite a lot of his food. Some dribbled onto his bib, but surprisingly little actually. As you can see in the second picture, he got a bit impatient with his mom, grabbed the spoon and sucked the food off all by himself.

He's now eating two to three tablespoons of cereal at a time. He's tried little bits of banana mashed up, so we'll do that soon in larger quantities with the spoon. He's sure to love it.

So begins the gradual snowball effect on our grocery bill. It's a good thing Costco is building their largest store ever about three minutes from our house!

ME-MA UPDATE 2/3

Dad called today and reported that the doctors are getting a better idea of the various issues keeping Me-ma's recovery on the slow side. Apparently, she is having complications with low blood pressure, weak heart rate, and low sodium levels.

Different combinations of treatment are being used, though she's been taken off of the heart medication because it was having advere effects on her blood pressure.

Meanwhile, she's visiting with family that have made it to Las Vegas as she rests when not prodded by the doctors.

GRAMMA REID UPDATE 2/3

Gramma Reid is home from the hospital, since Monday as I am aware, and seems to be doing alright. She's more comfortable at home, but is still being monitored carefully by her nurse for any sudden changes in her heart rate or other systems.

We keep both of them and their recovery in our prayers.

GABRIEL AN INTERNET PHENOMENON

It seems Les Hardison has posted a photo of Gabriel and his great-grandmother Charlotte on his estimable website. Scroll halfway down for the entry if you click the link.

It seems Gabriel's penchant for singing has raised Les's eyebrow - and while Gabriel's not yet following in the footsteps of his grandmother Judy in ably singing Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod, not Schubert), he certainly impresses us with his jazzy riffs on melodies whose identity only he knows. Here's a copy of the photo on Les's site.

ME-MA UPDATE

Leigh (Marquez) emailed with an update about Me Ma:

Rick and Libby called me last night after getting an update from Sue on how Me-ma is doing. As of 10pm last night when Sue was leaving the hospital she said that Me-ma was feeling better, the nausia is easing up a little as well. She found out that the reason Me-ma's cardiologist hasn't made an appearance is because he doesn't have a contract to practice at that hospital, but has been contacted by the cardiologist that is currently treating Me-ma and the two of them are working together to care for her. They feel that her heart rate is a little slow so they have given her a medication that will increase her heart rate to help the blood flow a little faster to carry the much needed fluids and help bring her sodium level up. They are going to monitor this closely as they don't want to over work her heart or cause any other problems.

Sounds like things are slowly improving - good news - despite hospital red tape.

ME-MA ADMITTED TO LAS VEGAS HOSPITAL

Me-Ma has been admitted to a Las Vegas hospital due to serious health complications resulting from flu-like symptoms over the past several days. Upon arriving, it was determined that her fluid and sodium levels were shockingly low, apparently to the extent that she had a mild heart attack.

I'll just post the contents of the email Mother sent earlier today. She and Jim Ed are driving down to Las Vegas beginning this evening.

hi, just heard from sue. here is the latest.
they did a ct scan on her stomach this morning. seems they were able to get the dye to stay down for 15 minutes. no results back yet.
her urinalysis came back okay.
dr. seems to think her infection is in her lungs, but not certain, as no tests have been taken to confirm. meanwhile he is treating her with an antibiotic that takes care of pretty much all infections.
her sodium level is up to a whopping 115, from a 102. remember that the lowest level is a 139. this new count is after two days,(of a faster drip, not enough to cause any brain problems). they have since slowed it down today. before they can run an angiogram on her heart, the count has to be up to 140 at the lowest. has a ways to go in my opinion, unless this last day really adds up.
she is talking, but rests most of the time. i did get to say a quick hi to her this a.m. on the cell phone.(and i mean a quick HI)
seems cell phones are allowed in her room.Sue monitors that pretty good.
according to the doctor that sue talked to this a.m. the heart attack was brought on from dehydration, and not the low sodium count. guess those two dont go hand in hand. now, on the other hand, the cardiologist that told sue the heart attack was brought on by the low sodium count. sue will be seeing him later on today, and will tell him what the other dr said, and get to the bottom of the difference of opinion. she is also going to contact mom's cardiologist and find out why he is not making an appearance. seems he just wants to take her money in his office, and not make hospital calls. will keep you posted on that attempt.
they are waiting till they get mom's blood count stable before attempting to put in the central artery "tap". dont want her to bleed profusely. guess they have to numb the area before inserting the needle.
sue has an appointment tomorrow with kilpatrick. she will be asking him to have mom's file pulled so she can go over all of the misdiagnosises with him, and ask why fremont hires incompetent drs.
will keep you posted as soon as i hear from sue. hope this is clear enough for all to understand.
love, dianne

Our prayers for a speedy recovery are with you, Me-ma.

UPDATE: GRAMMA REID NOT YET RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL

My information the other day was not accurate; doctors in Farmington had not yet released Gramma as her heart rate did not stabilize as soon as I originally thought. She is expected to be released today. I have heard that Jim, Betty and Kathleen will be making visits to Farmington in the next few weeks.

GRAMMA REID HAS EMERGENCY TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL

An accelerated heart rate was alarming enough to Gramma's nurse that she was escorted to a clinic (incorrectly it later turned out) and then to the local emergency room. She stayed there for a couple of nights to be monitored, but now all seems to be doing better.

We're glad to hear that things are going better and keep your health in our prayers.

NOISY NEIGHBORS

Well, it's odd, but my boss Jerry was right about becoming a father. One suddently gets an incredible protective instinct that causes one to be more bold than expected.

Take just ten minutes ago. It's 12:20am Saturday morning (Letterman's on and I'm also surfing websites about the TV show LOST - two new episodes we've missed due to baby massage classes). The neighbor across the street, the one that bought the two-story that Glenn lived in, has thrown a party and his friends are outside drinking and smoking and being entirely too loud.

Now, before I would likely have sat inside and groused about the noise knowing that they'd eventually go home or be quiet. Not this time. I put my shoes on, walked over into his yard and confronted a group of about 8 of them about their noise being inappropriate for the neighborhood. I didn't want Gabriel and Jill to wake up.. Gabriel for obvious reasons, but Jill because she suffered a headache most of the day and she really needs her rest.

Anyway, goofy little experience. Funny.. the information St. Vincent's hospital sent home with us didn't say anything about testosterone surges. But then again, there's a lot that it didn't say anything about.

BABY MASSAGE - YEAH RIGHT!

For the past three weeks, we've taken Gabriel to a baby massage class Wednesday nights. The class is sponsored by Providence Health Systems and is taught by an occupational and physical therapist named Ruthanne.

We and eleven other babies and family sit in a circle and learn different massage techniques for different parts of our littel bundles of joy. Some help with relaxation, all help with circulation, some help with digestion and cholic. Gabriel truly enjoys the class, but only because he's the class clown. He's the oldest by two days, though all the rest but little Ian are fewer than 12 weeks old. They lay there like rag dolls and submit to their parents awkward massage techniques.

Well, not Gabriel of course. He's too busy squirming, wiggling, turning, trying to sit up, fussing, cooing, yelling, laughing, staring, grunting and smiling to be bothered with lying quietly and being massaged.. oh, no, indeed. The rest of the parents, and the instructor, chuckle at him and his boundless energy. He's just very stimulated during the process, even though he's supposed to relax.

Well, the class ends at 8pm and all the stimulation keeps him up until well after 10pm those nights. But this past week, he slept all night Wednesday night and we're hopeful the class helped.

One interesting aspect of the class is getting to meet Melanie & Karl and their son Ian. He's just four days younger than Gabriel, born August 10th. The truly fascinating thing is that she's from Indonesia (Jakarta - family were unaffected by the big earthquake) and he is from the Czech Republic.. and teaches tai chi. They met here and romance blossomed. ONLY in America. They're a very nice family.

LOTSA GOOD FAMILY DINNERS

There have been some very good meals had lately. Mom started it off a couple of weeks ago with Moroccan Halibut at her place. We were joined by John, Judy and Charlotte. Then, when Dad got into town, we went to Jin Wah for more great Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. Last night, Mom and Dad came over for Alaska Coho salmon filets on the grill. And tonight, we went to John and Judy's for pork chops and rice.

I'm never going to lose weight.

ISLAND AT WAR

I know most folks out there aren't quite the PBS fiends that Jill and I are, but I encourage everyone that remembers to catch "Island at War" on Masterpiece Theater Sunday nights to do so. It's a five-part fictionalized account of the Nazi occupation of Britain's Channel Islands, the only British territory to fall under German control during WWII. As can be seen in the map below, the Channel Islands are actually far to the southwest of the English Channel and look more like they should be (and were) French territory. Jersey and Guernsey are major islands there.



The movie is not gratuitoiusly violent, but it certainly doesn't pull punches about attacks on civilians by the Nazi Luftwaffe prior to invasion. The locals are also particularly upset about the fact that Britain left them high and dry before the Germans overran the place.

Anyway, the first episode was exceptionally good.. check it out.

BIRTHDAY & WEDDING CONFLICT?

It's rumored but unconfirmed that Chrissie Happe has set her wedding date for August 6, 2005. Congratulations, Chrissie. But that makes it likely that Tom and Kate will not be able to be up here for Gabriel's first birthday party. I would think, unless Ron hands her a check upon condition of eloping, that Tom and Kate would figure prominently in the ceremony.

So, we'll see how things evolve. How much does teleconferencing cost?

HOW DEAD IS HE?

I personally think Carson would have liked that joke. I like this cartoon, as well.


(By Daryl Cagle of Slate.com)

UPDATE - COMMENTS WORK, THOUGH NOT AS EXPECTED

If you care to make a comment, you need to go to the end of the post in question to the data stamp and "Posted by Bill." Click the pound sign - # - and it will take you to a page with that post alone. You can then add a comment on that page, which will display later.

Good luck!

UPDATE - NO COMMENT FUNCTION YET

I guess we'll get it figured out. All in good time..

UPDATE - OKAY, NOW COMMENTS ARE WORKING

I think comments are working.. are they?

SUSPICIOUS HACK JOB

It seems that yesterday, someone - Jeff K? (warning: site frequently NSFW) - hacked my blog, though didn't do any damage. I think I might have left access to the blog editing function open by accident and someone had fun.

COMMENT FUNCTION ADDED

Assuming things go correctly, I've added a comment function to my posts. From now on, one should be able to add a comment to one of my posts.

Comments must be SFW-Safe For Work/Family Friendly and appropriate. I'll delete anything I deem profane or inappropriate.

So, if you stop by, say hello and make any comments you like.. such as how cute Gabriel is!

OREGON ICE STORM

We're in the middle of a big ice storm in the Portland area, but nothing as severe as last year.

Local news is all over it - to excess, as usual. Here in Hillsboro, the ground isn't cold enough to have allowed much of an ice glaze, but a lot of objects such as outdoor furniture, cars and other cold objects have a slight layer of ice. Apparently, closer to the Columbia Gorge, ice has been far more severe with major traffic closures.

But, with the National Figure Skating championships here in Portland tonight, the show must go on. Maybe there'll be coverage during the show. It's always fun seeing how clueless most Oregon drivers are.. or stoned, rather.

WELL WELL WELL, IT SEEMS AS IF A CERTAIN SMARYTY MAN DID NOT PROTECT HIS COMPUTAR MACHENE FROM A CLEVAR HACX0R, ADN NOW SI PLAYING TEH PRICE!!! HELO MY NAEM SI JEFF K. AND YUO MAY REMAMABAR ME AS A INTARNET CELEBRIDY BECUASE MY AWARD WINNIING WEDBSITE HAS WON MANEY AWARDS FOR QUALIETY IN A FIELD OF EXAMPLES!

I GOT TIRED OF WRITEING FOR MY WEBPAEG SO NOW I HACKED INTO THIS WEBSITE AND DECIDED TO WRITE HEAR BECAUSE I AM A RENISANCE MAN!!!

UPDATE: NOT HEADED FOR ORANGE COUNTY

I just learned that I will not, in fact, be headed to Orange County tomorrow AM. The project had the plug pulled, though I may have to go at a later time when the client decides the new format and scope of analysis they'll need.

In N Out will just have to wait.

(IT'S NOW A) HAPPY NEW YEAR

Though things are now going well, the new year did not have an auspicious start. Jill, Gabriel and I all contracted a strain of the Norwalk virus on New Year's Day. We're not completely sure of how we got it, but we have theories. The critical issue is how frighteningly quickly and stealthily it passed on to others. I can see how this virus would wreak serious havoc on a cruise ship, the commonly associated venue for infections.

Gramma Judy, Gramma Dianne, Andrea and Jim Ed all contracted the illness due to their contact with us, most likely Gabriel, immediately after our New Year's Day exposure. The virus is passed through vomit or feces and, well, Gabriel is quite the manufacturer of both. Contact with him and his spit-up is what likely passed the virus onto others. Luckily, Charlotte and John were spared the malady.

In all, it took roughly three days to near-fully recover from most symptoms. Dehydration was the longest-lasting problem with associated headaches and weakness. Some have reported residual intestinal distress several days following, but mildly so. I missed two (and a half) days of work and worked from home another full day just so I wouldn't possibly pass it on to coworkers, particularly Jerry because Sue is in her third trimester, plus Emma and Henry are particularly vulnerable.

All is much better now, though, and things seem to be normalizing. We're now hand-washing Nazis when it comes to contact with food (we were that way before - 3rd world travel!) but particularly before and after playing with Gabriel.

Happy New Year!

MOM & DAD MOVE INTO HILLSBORO

The move from the Vancouver apartment was quite a success and a day early to boot. The biggest bonus, however, was the fact that Jim Ed and Andrea volunteered to help with the move and contributed greatly to its speed and ease.

Between 9am and 3pm, about 95% was loaded and moved to Hillsboro, though we did run into heavy rain during the drive over. Unloaded was a cinch, but we did get the tail end of the showers moving through. The wettest part was loading our nice, Tigard washer and dryer set into the UHaul. All in all, it was a great success. We had a barbecue dinner (Reo's Ribs - good pork ribs, shoe leather chicken) that night, but unfortunately, that is likely when the virus was passed. Sorry!

Mom's still moving in, just got her Dish Network yesterday and is waiting on Dad's return for more heavy lifting. Congrats on the new home!

I still don't have the new address (SE Maple in Hillsboro, OR 97123) and neither have I their new phone number immediately handy.

FAMILY DINNERS

We had a very nice dinner Monday night at Jin Wah in Beaverton courtesy of Charlotte Wachdorf. Jin Wah is our favorite Chinese restaurant.. The owners are an ethnically Chinese couple from Vietnam, so fresh Vietnamese and Cantonese style food, particularly seafood and all day dim sum (yum cha, actually), is on the menu in addition to standard Szechuan and Hunan cuisine. Their dim sum is the closest in quality and variety to what we enjoyed on our trip to Hong Kong last year.

After dinner, we returned to our house for a game of Rummy Dum-Dum (Wachdorf tradition). Koke managed to win, apparently his second in a row "Boston Redsox win again!"

We'll likely all return to Jin Wah in the near future: Charlotte admitted that even though they didn't have Egg Fu Young on the menu, she enjoyed everything about her meal. That's saying something.

Last night, Gramma Dianne came over for Shepherd's Pie (Cottage Pie, technically) and to visit little Gabriel. She had endured an all-day satellite TV installation - was he union?

We had a nice dinner and Gabriel enjoyed his Gramma's visit. He giggled and laughed quite a bit for her, so that was fun.

HEADED TO THE O.C.:
MAKE THAT A 2X2 ANIMAL STYLE WITH A SHAKE

I've been given a quick job to do in Santa Ana, Orange County and will be down there at the end of the week. I'll overnight Thursday and head back on Friday evening. I'm looking at the residential market in Santa Ana. Should be fun, though I'm interested to see how many stops at In N Out I can make.

JILL HEARS FROM VANESSA

Jill's old friend and matron of honor Vanessa called last week to chat and catch up. She's starting a new career in Los Angeles working her way up to do make-up and fashion design, a long-time ambition. Jill was quite excited and hopes to talk to her more in the future and do more catching up. They go way back, the extent to which there are photos from high school that Jill won't even let me see.

Congratulations and best of luck on your new endeavors, Vanessa.

ANOTHER ROOT CANAL

Tom emailed to say that pain and suffering have not been monopolized in Hillsboro. He had to have a root canal redone because of infection risk to his jaw. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say he's happy it's all over with and recovery is ensured.

GAY MARRIAGE AND PARENTING

Although Mass. and San Francisco get a lot of gay marriage press, the fact is that Oregon, specifically Multnomah County (Portland) issued many gay marriage licenses prior to the November election. Our own Measure 36 abolished the practice. People flew in from all over the country to take part in the County's politically corrupt experiment.

Who marries whom is an important debate, but I find it a bit of a distraction from the real issue: children and child-rearing. I firmly believe that a male father and a female mother is the God-ordained and biologically-intended family structure for reproduction of our species. Arguments to the contrary are, in my opinion, nothing more than self-absorbed claptrap disguised as a humanist, egalitarian civil rights movement (ask the Black community what they think of the civil rights comparisons!) that has nothing to do with the welfare of children and everything to do with the politics of homosexual self-esteem.

But aren't there studies that suggest homosexual parents are either just as good or better than heterosexual parents you say?

Why yes, but as this article so ably explains, those studies have come under harsh criticism from not only conservative critics of homosexual family structures but also noted social scientists that support alternative family structures.

The bottom line is that respected social scientists from both camps on the issue find previous research on welfare of children with gay parents to have no real scientific merit (read: not objective, not reliable, likely designed to have a pre-determined outcome) and must be viewed with strong skepticism.

In fact, "research" to date has focused on male-female parents where one was actually gay and pursued that sexuality after marriage and the children came along. Disclosure, participant bias, absence of control groups, unreliable data and unreliable resulting analysis predominate. There is also little to no real study of the effects of out-and-out same-sex couples, the hot topic of the marriage debate.

Check out the article and decide for yourself.. at the very least, the real debate is in extremely early stages and pro- arguments have extremely little merit even in the eyes of sympathetic scientists.