There's never a cop around when you need one; but there was last night.
About a year ago I had an opportunity to ride-along with my brother Patrick during one of his graveyard shifts as a police officer at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was a slow, wintry night in late December and we were lucky to find a car on the road, let alone pull one over. About six months ago he changed police agencies and last night I had an opportunity to ride-along again. It was still a wintry night, but his duties as a Santa Barbara Deputy Sheriff proved a bit more eventful than life at the UC.
In a recent closet episode (have I mentioned that K likes to pick out daddy's clothes for him now?), Kaitlyn stumbled upon a rare occasion when Daddy's pocket actually contained some valuable loot. You'll see she's mastered the concept of possession, but also pay attention to how her story changes in the presence of mommy.
I've held off on the updates lately because I desperately did not want to give the haters the fodder they so love. But alas, I cannot hold back any longer. Without further ado, here's the status of life in the Genovese household with two under two.
I started work on March 5, 2004 with the excitement of the unknown and the thrill of a real paycheck. After a few weeks of experiencing big corporate aerospace life, I looked around and swore that I wouldn't stay longer than five years. People laughed at me. On March 5, 2009, I received a certificate from my employer. It reads, "in appreciation of 5 years of valued service". Crap.
A few months ago I wrote about an industry conference I attended in Anaheim, California. One of the presentations was given by Dr. Marlene Law Graham, a senior manager at The Boeing Company in Long Beach, California. Dr. Graham's presentation, “Leveraging the Power of Cross-Generational Teams”, focused on four commonly accepted workplace generations, how their respective views toward “work” differ, and how to effectively deal with those differences to resolve conflict. Allow me to grossly oversimplify Dr. Graham’s presentation.
Want in on the action? There are still plenty of dates available. Click the calendar below to go to the Delivery Date Pool page where you can use your Pay Pal account and make your prediction.
I recently had some interaction with Bank Of America that got my blood pressure up. Due to an admitted error on my part, two transactions hit my checking account over the weekend causing my balance to dip below zero by approximately $15. This resulted in $70 in overdraft fees.
As you might imagine, I have a few thoughts about that, especially how the bank reacted when I contacted them about the issue. What started out as a rant actually segued nicely into some thoughts I've been putting together recently about customer service. For example, it really bothers me when companies reward new customers with incentives that they don't offer to their existing customers. It seems to me this is not driving the type of behavior a company interested in business retention should want.
Expect a few more pieces on the topic in coming weeks. In the meantime, read about me, Bank Of America, and why we're not friends right now (but we are talking again).
Pop Quiz Road Scholars fans: In what year did the United States flag officially display 42 stars?
Find out when you read about my tour of the Washington State Capitol (hint perhaps?) in Olympia.
And no excursion in the Pacific Northwest is complete without the f-word, so Luca and I left the capitol grounds and proceeded to a sketchy little neighborhood just barely on this side of the tracks.
Find out more when you read the rest of the story:
Having said that, let me share with you what I've come home to, and why it's taken so long to tell you about my trip to Olympia, which I did finally take. If you'd rather just read about that, wait until the next update and just skip this one.
Understand that you'll miss a near-death experience story if you do.
Friday, August 14th, we'll be going for the ultrasound that will tell us if Baby G #2 is a boy or a girl. Personally, I'm pulling for a boy this time. With a female wife, a female daughter, and a female dog, I'd like to balance out the hormones a little.
If you want in on the action, visit the Speed Bump Chronicles Web Site and vote on the right hand side. It just takes a moment, and the winners get bragging rights (unless it's a girl).
Touring Seattle: Chittenden Locks and Pike Place Market
Well, I didn't quite make it to Olympia to visit the capital last weekend. Due to a...let's call it a timing issue...the trip was postponed. It's on the docket for today instead.
Despite the setback, last weekend was hardly a loss and, in true TRS fashion, a plan B was quickly concocted. After a long lunch with fellow Road Scholar Luca and his girlfriend Tabi, we drove to Ballard, a suburban Seattle neighborhood north of downtown and home of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and the Carl S. English, Jr. Botanical Gardens. It was the quintessential TRS excursion.
Speaking of long lunches, Luca and I took one yesterday, venturing to Pike Place Market where we took in the world's first Starbucks, gobs of runaway consumerism, and the biggest concentration of weirdos I've ever seen in a city block. Yes, that includes both Austin and San Francisco combined. Read All About It
Week Two In Everett: A Heat Wave and Designing Inside Your Airplane
I know from past experience the Pacific Northwest is a gorgeous place when the sun is shining, but that same experience has shown me those days are few and far between. It's only rained one day since I've been here, and that was brief at best. There have been some days that started out overcast and dreary, but every one has ended with the sun shining and barely a cloud in the sky.
Since I have been basking in the glory of the recent weather, I've been highly amused at how the locals have responded to it.So is it really hot in here or are they just pansies?
After my somewhat eventful morning I departed for a fun-filled Oregonian weekend. The drive mapped out to about 300 miles and Vicki was estimating five hours. Puget Sound is notorious in my experience for perpetual traffic, so I left the factory about 12:30 PM hoping to keep the drive in the five to six hour range and be in Eugene in time for dinner.
I didn't mistweet, it really was raining in my kitchen this morning. Why is it every time I leave on a business trip all hell breaks loose? Read the Things K Does: #5 if you want it to rain in your kitchen (or if you want to find out how to make sure it won't).
With partners and suppliers all over the world, technology plays a huge role in allowing us to communicate requirements and status. There is no true substitute however for hands on experience. So for the next four weeks, I am here in Everett to meet our teammates stationed here, get first hand experience with the various systems I will be using in San Antonio, and hopefully to actually see and touch the airplane.
In the spring of 1999 I got the travel bug, an unawakened passion for visiting new places and experiencing life "on the road". Before that first trip with Medinet, I had never even flown on an airplane. Now, ten year later, I have frequent flyer accounts with nearly every domestic airline in the United States. As I sit here preparing to share the itinerary for my latest adventure, I realize that in ten years, almost without fail, I have been "on the road" every summer. That's something I never expected or even realized until now. In case you missed it, here's a quick recap:
Lately I've been craving a forum where I can share ideas unencumbered by a particular theme or topic. I'm having a blast with The Road Scholars and The Speed Bump Chronicles, but I'd also like a place where I can share ideas and articles even if they aren't about children or travelling.
This is a place where my passions will come together--writing, technology, innovation, music, entertainment, humor, travel, family, politics, religion--no limits. There's no need to sign up (although I recommend subscribing to the RSS feed), and this isn't a social networking site, so you won't receive a notification every time my online "profile" changes. Come by when you can and read what I'm sharing--and share your thoughts with me as comments are always welcome.
I've already put together a collection of interesting articles ranging from the next generation U.S. power grid to a bar in London that serves gin and tonics as a mist you breathe. It's going to be fun. Check it out.
As our precious princess matures, I have witnessed a return of "the haters". When friends, family, and coworkers inevitably ask about the Fuzzy Headed Oracle, the recent response from us has been "she's almost walking!". I use an exclamation because my wife and I are excited about this developmental milestone.
The haters, however, respond with "you don't want her to start walking!"
Ugh, these people.
Regardless, I am excited. It may be more challenging to keep up with her now, but at least I can come home from work, sit outside on the porch, and enjoy a Spring evening with my daughter without worrying what her hands and knees are trudging through.
Every year, immediately after New Years, my wife and I begin an annual tradition. It has nothing to do with black eyed peas. Once the dust settles, the lights are packed away, and life as we once knew it begins to resume (say around the first week of February), we each lay down the law about what we’re absolutely not going to do next year. During the course of what is often “heated discussion”, neither of us thinks to write any of it down. As a result, nine months later we start arguing about exactly how and where we’ll be miserable for the upcoming holiday season.
The holiday season has come and gone and here I am realizing that it's been over a month since my last update. I really have no excuse except that I've been too busy collecting experiences to write about (and trying to put Christmas away) that I haven't had a chance to sit down and tell any of the stories. There is no shortage of stories.
Two weeks ago we returned from our holiday adventure to California; 20 days driving around, visiting family, and fighting the dog for the driver's seat (as you can see above). I'm putting together a few thoughts about all of that. Anyone who thinks Christmas is about Jesus will want to take notes.
Fans of the Fuzzy Headed Oracle, ten months old today, will be pleased to hear that she is about to release an album of photos from Christmas. She's also planning to fight the dog for the driver's seat on our next road trip.
Rounding things out, I would never come to you empty handed, so I have the next installment of Meghan's Ghana adventure. I apologize for the long delay in sharing her story, but her email that I received about the trip is 10 pages long when pasted into Word--that's single spaced, 10 point type. You can understand why I'm trying to edit it into more readable chunks. In this segment, Meghan tries the local cuisine, sees some sights, and shares a few pointers about Ghanian culture. Enjoy.
Last Wednesday, as I wrapped up the week at work, I looked forward to the four day holiday weekend as an opportunity to catch up on my writing. That didn't happen. While I'm not "caught up", I'm certainly not coming out of the weekend empty handed.
I finally concluded three weeks of painstaking festive illumination installation. There are over 4,000 lights on the exterior of the house alone and, once we get the real tree decorated this week, probably another 1,000 lights inside the house. Of course, there's also the flood lights, the inflatables (we're up to three this year) the projector, and Santa's landing strip. We were going to install a helipad, but I was trying to keep it low key this year.
With the task of holiday decorating behind me, I was able to get a little writing done. I think you'll find there's something for everyone. Here's how it breaks down:
A new video from the desk of the Fuzzy Headed Oracle celebrates a major milestone in her life. See it here.
If you are pregnant, plan to be, or have recently given birth, you'll definitely want to read my step-by-step guide on "How To Bathe A Child". Helpful pictures and illustrations are included (no extra charge). I'm interested in your feedback on this one. Please utilize the "comments" feature of the blog to let me know if I've missed anything. Read it here.
Here's something for all you gamblers. Kaitlyn continues to grow by leaps and bounds. In addition to her "major milestone", we are expecting her seventh tooth to cut through any day now. You'll note the addition of a poll on the topic on the right side of the Speed Bump Chronicles. In light of the poor economy, this one won't cost you a thing. View it here.
Finally, the next installment in Meghan's adventures in Ghana is available. In this update, she finally arrives in country. Find out what didn't in "Crazy American Arrives in Ghana". Read it here.
Dublin had not panned out the way I expected at all. Although I could have thrown a stone and hit Trinity College from our hotel, we never actually set foot on campus or even took any pictures from the outside. We didn't see St. Stephen's Green or visit the President's house, as my brother did on his previous visit. We took in the city with a local, as locals (drunks) might, which is the way I prefer to travel, as you know. But as a tourist, I felt a little, well, like a failure. I travelled all this way, there was one thing I was not going to miss for all the beer in Ireland: a visit to the Guinness Storehouse.
I could ramble on all about the tour, the factory, the brewing process, etc., but I have a feeling you'd much rather hear about a valuable lesson I learned and how I nearly shit my pants.
My first thought was "No bloody way!?! THEY ACCEPTED ME?!?! AWESOME!!!"
My second thought was..."What the hell am I doing??"
And of course the third thought was "How the hell am I going to pitch this one to the parents without someone having a breakdown??"
A few weeks back, after I had already applied, and NOT told the parents, I met them in Washington D.C. for a mini family reunion/vacation. At dinner, with an alcoholic beverage in all of our hands, I spilled the beans.
The following is from Road Scholar Meghan. It is the first in a series of posts about her recent humanitarian aid trip to Ghana. It has been edited for content and length.
For the last few years I have worked at Boston Medical Center in Boston, MA in the Emergency Room as a nursing assistant, ED tech, whatever p.c. term they use nowadays. I love it. Lots of trauma, fast pace, lots of teaching, lots of experience, lots of amusing stories to tell my friends when they're felling sad (really, they call and ask me to "tell me one of your ER stories, I need a laugh"). The hospital serves mostly lower income families in the city, the homeless and the immigrant communities. The staff, on their own, is very committed to serving this population and, as a result, have joined or formed some outside, non-profit organizations. One of which, Unified for Global Healing, was co-founded by one of our ER Doctors, Thea James. For the last several years, she, along with other people, have traveled to underserved populations and given free medical care to those communities. Well, this year the trip is to Ghana.
Every year, two of the local Air Force bases, Randolph and Lackland, take turns hosting an air show. This year it was Lackland's turn, which happens to be the one near where I work. I have never actually officially been to an air show, at least not in the sense that you drive a distance in traffic, park far away, take a crowded shuttle bus and stand out on the hot pavement looking into the sky, trying not to blind yourself by the sun or pass or pass out from heat exhaustion. That's why I've never bothered going. Usually, if I'm going to "go", I watch from a distance, be it the home of a relative living nearby, a close-by park, or a freeway I happen to be driving on that goes by the base at the right moment. And after all the visitors we had last month, and all the drama, I was looking forward to spending a weekend sitting at home doing absolutely nothing. Fighting crowds in the hot sun was not in the cards.
On Thursday they parked a NATO AWACS jet on the ramp right next to the street I use to drive to work every day. That piqued my curiosity. Then, Thursday afternoon, the Blue Angels began practicing and I found myself in a golf cart parked as close as I could get to the runway without getting shot...a front row seat to the weekend aerobatics to come. On Friday when the F-22 was flying ear shattering, window rattling, car alarm triggering maneuvers 1000 feet off the ground with afterburner, I was sold. I came home and told Jen we were going to the air show on Saturday. I am an idiot.
After the last post, I got no sympathy for the fact that my new cell phone now swims with the fishes, but I got a couple of nasty emails from folks wanting to know if the baby is OK, as if that was the point of the story. I wasn't intentionally leaving everyone in the dark. When caution is thrown to the wind, you don't readily know what the outcome is going to be. Now, a week later, I can tell you that the child is fine. I took medical school pass/fail, but in my professional opinion, it was the four teeth that recently appeared causing most of her symptoms.
Since her discharge from the ER, Miss K has maintained a normal temperature and is pretty much back to her usual self, chasing the dog around the house and working on the manuscript for her book: Physics and You, a Babies Guide to the World. This past weekend she went Trick Or Treating for Halloween and took in an air show on Saturday afternoon, which you will be hearing all about tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the Halloween photos.
It's been over a month since my last Speed Bump Update, which I'm sure you've correctly deduced by now means we've hit more than a few speed bumps since September 15th. I think I mentioned in a previous post somewhere that I tend to be a little obsessive compulsive about things I can control. One of those things is usually my writing, which is why I like to take the time to publish polished, well thought out updates. I am now conceding here publicly that polished well thought out updates will net zero updates when speed bumps are present. So I'm throwing caution to the wind in an effort to increase the frequency of writing. Bear with me.
It was about noon when I finally succumbed to the pesky daylight streaming into our room. Amazed that on a Sunday morning I hadn't yet heard from my parents, I picked up the phone and dialed their room. I woke them up. No mass today, this would be a Godless heathen Sunday.
Back in January, my brother accompanied my uncle to Ireland to begin making arrangments for what would turn out to be a second funeral for my grandmother. Patrick couldn't say enough about how great the trip was and how much he was looking forward to his return trip in August. In addition to drinking lots of beer, he was able to meet the scores of family members scattered throughout the country and experience their good natured hospitality. One of those relatives was Harry, a kindred spirit for Patrick, although perhaps in title only.
I've received several phone calls over the past couple of days from people concerned about us and the impact Hurricane Ike is having on us. We are fine, thank you all for your concern. Three days ago we were smack dab in the center of Ike's projected path and we were preparing for high winds and lots of rain. By preparing I mean I turned off the sprinklers and toasted to a free lawn watering. On Thursday, when I saw Ike put his right turn signal on and head more towards Galveston and Houston, I made a prediction: we wouldn't see anything but sunny skies and the hottest temperatures we've had all summer.
Typically the wrath of a hurricane is unleashed on the eastern side of the storm while the western side is almost sedate by comparison. When Hurricane Rita struck the Texas coast back in 2005, San Antonians cleared out the shelves at the supermarket and drained the pumps of every gas station in the city. The impact to us: sunny skies and warmer temperatures (and higher gas prices). So although I took meteorology pass/fail and the professionals still have the little rain icon in our forecast for the day, it turns out that my prediction was correct; the only water we're seeing is coming from my misters on the back porch. There's a few clouds floating about in the sky, but my thermometer just hit 100.7 degrees, the highest I've seen it all summer. Tomorrow morning my sprinklers will go on, no free lawn watering this weekend. And the only hurricanes at our parties this weekend will be served in a glass.
I wouldn't consider my recent trip to Ireland a "vacation". I would say that it was a good "trip", but not a vacation. Between the circumstances that brought us there to all the things we tried to accomplish (600 miles in 11 days), there were just too many "to-do's" on our travel list to really consider it a vacation. As I mentioned before I left, it was a historic opportunity for my siblings and parents to travel together...outside the United States...for a really long time. Along those lines, we asked 100 people on the street to name the #1 source of friction on a Genovese family vacation.
What Happens In Texas Was Lucky To Get Here In The First Place
Ever since we moved to Texas, we've noticed a bit of a lag in receiving mail from the United States Postal Service. It's most noticeable with greeting cards. An event will pass and a family member will call to ask us if we got the card. We'll say "no" and then about a week later the card will show up.
This lagging mail phenomenon (LMP) was most apparent earlier this year when my grandfather sent me a check. Actually, he ended up sending three checks. I have yet to receive two of them. Then, in May I went on a business trip to Macon, Georgia. Preparing for the trip, I noticed my corporate credit card was about to expire. I called the credit card company to find out when I would be receiving my new card: "Oh that would have gone out in March". They ended up canceling the card and issuing a new one.
Here's the letter printed on the outside of the plastic bag they sent us our mail in. I've added my comments in parentheses.
Dear Postal Customer:
The enclosed was found loose in the mails or has been damaged in handling in the Postal Service (no kidding).
We realize your mail is important to you and you have every to expect it to be delivered intact and in good condition (I would certainly hope so!). The Postal Service makes every effort to properly handle the mail entrusted to it. However, occasional loss or damage may occur (ya think?).
Our organization handles over 177 billion pieces of mail annually, (and sometimes fire happens) and depends on mechanical systems to process this large volume. Loss and/or damage can occur if envelopes are not sealed, mail is insecurely enveloped, or envelopes contain bulky enclosures (did they just blame this on me?).
The Postal Service is committed to the improvement of our processing methods to minimize occurrences such as the enclosed (so do they carry fire extinguishers on their trucks now?). We appreciate your concern over the handling of your mail (concern? this isn't concerning, it's outrageous!) and sincerely regret the inconvenience you have experienced.
Sincerely,
MANAGER DISTRIBUTION OPERATIONS San Antonio Processing & Distribution Center
I'm back from Ireland and, as expected, thirteen days with my family in a foreign country gave me plenty to write about. I'll be posting Ireland updates soon. You can always access them here at www.theroadscholars.com by clicking on the Ireland 2008 link at the bottom of the page.
There is a new post to the Speed Bump Chronicles entitled "What's That Smell". It provides an explanation of why it's taking me so long to write about Ireland. Check it out...
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