FTF

Hey! We went for a ride and wound up being the First to Find a new cache. That's always fun. The cache was at the Acme Park.

It was also fun to drive around downtown and watch the St.Paddy's day pub-crawlers crawling from pub to pub. The craziest thing was that even though the temperature was in the 30s, these folks were walking around with no coats on - and some of the pubs aren't that close together! Oh well, everyone looked to be enjoying the activity, especially the girl with the foam beer mug for a hat, and the people with green everywhere - necklaces, leis, hats, and clothes. We were there quite early, and I can just imagine how things picked up afterwards! We came home and staidly ate our corned beef and cabbage.

Michigan State was blindsided by George Mason U.(?) in their first round tournament game - it's really a shame because State has the talent to go farther in my opinion. It's upsetting everyone's brackets, too. It's a big shock. This from msuspartans.collegesports.com:

3/17/06
Michigan State Falls To George Mason, 75-65
George Mason sure proved it belonged in the NCAA tournament. Despite critical comments by some experts that it should not have gotten an at-large berth, the 11th-seeded Patriots used hot shooting, a balanced attack and a surprising rebounding superiority to upset sixth-seeded Michigan State 75-65 Friday night in the first round.

Morale Booster

My High School girlfriends keep in touch by way of a round robin letter. It takes almost a full year for the letter to make the rounds. There are 13 in our group, and the name of our club was the SLGs. This time, Freda emailed her letter in addition to sticking it in the mail, and the first paragraph really got to me - Freda always did have a way with words! Anyway, these are words that mean a lot to me on the eve of my 70th birthday! Please pardon my sentimentality.
Here's Freda's first paragraph:

I was really struck this time, even more than usual, as I read the wonderful Robin letters, by just how awe-inspiring you all are! And what a fascinating privilege it has been and is to witness and participate in the life journeys of the SLG’s -- girlfriends still, after all these decades. Our letters show deep interests, vibrancy of living, compassion, love, caring, diligence, lots of humor, appreciation of all that we have, and a mental balance and depth of character that get us through the really tough times in our lives (these seem to increase as we age). Three Cheers for the SLG’S!!!

A Day for Errands

Just a few good errands to run today - recycling, library, cruise downtown, visit Mother, Staples, and groceries. It might not sound like much, but it took all afternoon!

At the library I got a passel of genealogy books - I'm working on the Geib family tree - and I can't go back farther than Nicholas. I think I'll have to visit Germany.

It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny late winter day. The bay was deep, deep blue, with whitecaps - a beautiful sight.

Mother's world is shrinking before our very eyes. She sits in her chair in the corner of her room all day long every day. She has no interest in socializing or venturing beyond her door. Her conversation revolves around which caretaker is on duty, who is out in the hall, and how horrible the food is. She's not interested in very much else.

Dick fixed ribs for dinner - what a treat. I think that was the end of the ribs from the last use of the smoker. When the weather gets a little more spring-like I hope he'll do some more.

It's fun watching the first round of March Madness. I'm watching the Michigan game on my laptop. They're leading by 10 at the half.

Update: Final - Michigan 82 UTEP 67

Michigan plays Notre Dame Monday @ 7 p.m. @ Crisler.

This from mgoblue.com:

Chris Hunter scored a team-high 20 points, Dion Harris added 18, and Daniel Horton had 14 as the Michigan men's basketball team handled Texas-El Paso, 82-67, in the NIT first round Thursday, March 16, in Crisler Arena. With Harris and Horton each hitting three triples and combining for 21 points in the first half, the Wolverines owned a 44-34 lead at the break, and Hunter took over in the second half, scoring 14 of his points. Brent Petway added 10 points for U-M, which will host Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Monday, March 20.

Clean and Shiny

My dental hygienist did her thing today, so my teeth are in pristine condition. It was fun to hear how her family is doing, and her plans for St. Patrick's Day. Dr. Kevin wasn't there today, but fortunately we really didn't need him.

Dick had a Medicare presentation this afternoon at Central Methodist. This group seemed more informed than any other group we have seen. There were 25 people there, and most of them were very elderly. One lovely lady was 95 years old. Dick is still feeling the effects of his heart cath somewhat, but he did a great job, and he's glad to be home now!

Jana called on her way to Philly for a conference. She wanted directions from mapquest.

Yippee!

Dick had the angioplasty today with the best possible results! He has a slight enlargement which can be treated with medication - so no surgery and no stents! The Doctor said that he had a strong heart. Yippee!

He's happy to be back home,and he's feeling well. He has to avoid exerting himself for the next week, so we'll be taking it easy.

I picked my brackets this morning. The team I picked to win the championship is not really my favorite, and the Big Ten didn't fare too well in my brackets either, so I'll be making some adjustments - probably right up until the last minute.

Michigan is a #1 seed in the NIT (see link above). Their first game will be Thursday
at Crisler @ 7 p.m.

Blue Sky Day

Right after lunch we went to visit Mother. She's fine. I got her to talk a little bit about some family history - mostly Aunt Nellie Geib and Uncle Frank Geib - siblings of my Grandpa. She has such a good memory of days gone by.

We had a chance to visit with Julius, the 102 year old who lives across the hall. He wheeled in to say hello. He was reminiscing about the big flu epidemic of 1918! He would have been 14 at the time. Margaret, who we think suffers from dementia, wandered in to say hello - she wants to go home to West Salem Ohio, which she says is only 4 miles away. I told her that this was Michigan, and she looked at me like she doubted my sanity. She said, "My mother dropped me off here, and I'm as mad as the dickens." Or maybe as mad as the March Hare.

It was a gorgeous day - temp was 45+ most of the day - blue sky and lots of sunshine. We did a couple of caches in town and then went out on the peninsula to check out the Peninsula Twp. Park and to do another cache. Dick is checking out all of the local parks which have pavilions to help prepare for the MIGO Fall Fun Day next October. He thinks that Chad has already decided to use Camp Greilick though.

We tried to find a cache at Muncie Lakes, but we struck out. We found a decoy cache that said "You're getting warm", but we couldn't come up with the real one.

By this time we were getting hungry, so we went to Peegeo's and had the steak special - it really hit the spot. We were sitting where we could see the TV - I was stunned to see that Iowa had beaten Ohio State this afternoon to win the Big Ten Championship. Those OSU fans are probably crying in their beer.

The brackets for March Madness were just chosen, and Michigan is nowhere to be seen. (See link above.) Oh well, it's just as well - we figure they wouldn't have gone far at all. So now we're crying in our beer, too! Maybe they can win the NIT. (heavy sigh)

Third Weekend of Socials

For the third weekend in a row we were off to a geocaching meet and greet. Today's event was in Houghton Lake (see link above). This one was particularly fun for me because eight of our favorite geocaching buddies were there - four terrific couples -Tim and Susie, Marty and Don, Frank and Peggy, and James and Sheryl. There were lots of other really great old friends there too and several new (really young!) friends.

The potluck lunch was enjoyable and delicious, the kids were cute, the babies were adorable, and a great time was had by all. Dick especially enjoyed watching everybody bowling, or trying to! I think he had more fun than anyone!

We found five caches on the way home, and we were back here by 6:30. A very pleasant day.

Jan Howard

Our old camping "buddy" has passed away. When our kids were little, many Belleville teachers and their families went camping with us in the Smokies every Easter vacation. We sometimes had as many as 25 people from 4 or 5 families walking down a mountain trail. Our funniest stories, memories, and campfire reminiscences almost always involved George and Jan. George had the ability to crack everyone up with his dry wit ("How are we going to torture ourselves today?" and "Throw some Coleman fuel on that fire and we can all spend the night in a nice warm hospital!"), and Jan was amusing in her own way. She will not be forgotten. This obit is from the Cheboygan newspaper:

Janet L. Howard, 65
CHEBOYGAN - Janet L. Howard, age 65 of Burt Lake, passed away Wednesday, March 8, 2006 at Cheboygan Memorial Hospital.

She was born Feb. 3, 1941 in Gary, Ind., to Henry and Doretta (Rasmussen) Irving. On March 14, 1964 in Saginaw, Janet married George H. Howard, who survives.

Janet worked as a teacher's aide for the VanBuren Public Schools for 13 years, retiring in 1994. She and George then moved to their home on Burt Lake where they had summered since 1979. She received a bachelor of science degree in occupational therapy from Western Michigan University, where she was a member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. Janet enjoyed swimming, sewing, woodworking, restoring wood furniture, upholstery, caning, camping and traveling.

Besides her husband, George, Janet is survived by her two children, Kevin (Cathy) Howard of Willis, Mich., and Kristen (Eddie) Antkoviak of Cheboygan; two sisters, Jean (Dr. Wesley) Jackson of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Melissa (Fred) Marria of West Bloomfield, Mich.; one brother, Dr. William (Lori) Irving of Los Altos Hills, Calif.; and three grandchildren, Jack, Ella and Maci Antkoviak. She was preceded in death by her parents.

A Memorial Service will be conducted at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 at the Nordman Funeral Home in Cheboygan, with the Rev. Jeff Dinner officiating. Visitation will be held two hours prior to the service at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions in Janet's name may be directed to Hospice of the Straits.

Tournament Loss

Yesterday's Big Ten Tournament results for Michigan could really amount to two losses - the game, and the tournament bid. We watched the whole sad thing. Dick gave up on them with 12 minutes left in the second half. I didn't give up until 38 seconds remaining. The team gave up long before that. This excerpt is from the msn.com home page:

Most painful loss: Michigan

Twenty-one turnovers and 18 percent shooting cost the Wolverines an NCAA tournament bid. The loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Michigan's seventh defeat in nine games, guarantees Daniel Horton and Dion Harris will play in the NIT rather than the NCAA tournament. Some would like to believe that wins over Illinois and Michigan State keep Horton and Harris on the bubble. But the selection committee strongly prefers clubs with records of better than 3-8 against RPI Top 50 competition and a 5-7 tally away from home.

Dick had his echocardiogram this morning at Grand Traverse Heart Associates. They have a beautiful new building across the street from the Hospital. We'll be doing our bit to help pay for it! :)

Public Schools

For once, here's a rational view of education in the public schools. Some factions love to blame the public schools for all of our nation's ills - it's the fault of the schools, it's the fault of the teachers, etc. Whenever someone acts stupidly, "He's obviously a product of the Public Schools."

Yet how often have we said - my students just don't seem to care. Many parents didn't seem to care - they regarded the school as a babysitter. Dick and I used to say to each other - "I think we care more about these kids learning than anybody else - including the parents, and the kids themselves."

I love this article because it says what we know to be true after spending a combined total of over 50 years in classrooms:

For once, blame the student By Patrick Welsh
Wed Mar 8, 7:08 AM ET



Failure in the classroom is often tied to lack of funding, poor teachers or other ills. Here's a thought: Maybe it's the failed work ethic of todays kids. That's what I'm seeing in my school. Until reformers see this reality, little will change.


Last month, as I averaged the second-quarter grades for my senior English classes at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., the same familiar pattern leapt out at me.


Kids who had emigrated from foreign countries - such as Shewit Giovanni from Ethiopia, Farah Ali from Guyana and Edgar Awumey from Ghana - often aced every test, while many of their U.S.-born classmates from upper-class homes with highly educated parents had a string of C's and D's.


As one would expect, the middle-class American kids usually had higher SAT verbal scores than did their immigrant classmates, many of whom had only been speaking English for a few years.


What many of the American kids I taught did not have was the motivation, self-discipline or work ethic of the foreign-born kids.


Politicians and education bureaucrats can talk all they want about reform, but until the work ethic of U.S. students changes, until they are willing to put in the time and effort to master their subjects, little will change.


A study released in December by University of Pennsylvania researchers Angela Duckworth and Martin Seligman suggests that the reason so many U.S. students are "falling short of their intellectual potential" is not "inadequate teachers, boring textbooks and large class sizes" and the rest of the usual litany cited by the so-called reformers - but "their failure to exercise self-discipline."


The sad fact is that in the USA, hard work on the part of students is no longer seen as a key factor in academic success. The groundbreaking work of Harold Stevenson and a multinational team at the University of Michigan comparing attitudes of Asian and American students sounded the alarm more than a decade ago.


Asian vs. U.S. students


When asked to identify the most important factors in their performance in math, the percentage of Japanese and Taiwanese students who answered "studying hard" was twice that of American students.


American students named native intelligence, and some said the home environment. But a clear majority of U.S. students put the responsibility on their teachers. A good teacher, they said, was the determining factor in how well they did in math.


"Kids have convinced parents that it is the teacher or the system that is the problem, not their own lack of effort," says Dave Roscher, a chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams in this Washington suburb. "In my day, parents didn't listen when kids complained about teachers. We are supposed to miraculously make kids learn even though they are not working."


As my colleague Ed Cannon puts it: "Today, the teacher is supposed to be responsible for motivating the kid. If they don't learn it is supposed to be our problem, not theirs."


And, of course, busy parents guilt-ridden over the little time they spend with their kids are big subscribers to this theory.


Maybe every generation of kids has wanted to take it easy, but until the past few decades students were not allowed to get away with it. "Nowadays, it's the kids who have the power. When they don't do the work and get lower grades, they scream and yell. Parents side with the kids who pressure teachers to lower standards," says Joel Kaplan, another chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams.


Every year, I have had parents come in to argue about the grades I have given in my AP English classes. To me, my grades are far too generous; to middle-class parents, they are often an affront to their sense of entitlement. If their kids do a modicum of work, many parents expect them to get at least a B. When I have given C's or D's to bright middle-class kids who have done poor or mediocre work, some parents have accused me of destroying their children's futures.


It is not only parents, however, who are siding with students in their attempts to get out of hard work.


Blame schools, too

"Schools play into it," says psychiatrist Lawrence Brain, who counsels affluent teenagers throughout the Washington metropolitan area. "I've been amazed to see how easy it is for kids in public schools to manipulate guidance counselors to get them out of classes they don't like. They have been sent a message that they don't have to struggle to achieve if things are not perfect."

Neither the high-stakes state exams, such as Virginia's Standards of Learning, nor the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act have succeeded in changing that message; both have turned into minimum-competency requirements aimed at the lowest in our school.

Colleges keep complaining that students are coming to them unprepared. Instead of raising admissions standards, however, they keep accepting mediocre students lest cuts have to be made in faculty and administration.

As a teacher, I don't object to the heightened standards required of educators in the No Child Left Behind law. Who among us would say we couldn't do a little better? Nonetheless, teachers have no control over student motivation and ambition, which have to come from the home - and from within each student.

Perhaps the best lesson I can pass along to my upper- and middle-class students is to merely point them in the direction of their foreign-born classmates, who can remind us all that education in America is still more a privilege than a right.

Patrick Welsh is an English teacher at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.




Copyright © 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Dr. Dino

For me this was a day of sorting through pictures, reading, playing pogo, and watching TV. And for the sorting through pictures part, I was actually sitting in a rocking chair - which kind of adds to the leisurely retirement flavor of my day.

Dick went to see Dr. Dino Recchia, his cardiologist. Dick is scheduled for an echocardiogram on Friday, and a heart catheterization next Monday. We're playing the wait and see game for now. Dr. Dino thinks that Dick may have a blockage, but I'm putting the emphasis on the "may". Dick doesn't have any restrictions, curtailing of activities, or anything like that - so he's just going ahead as usual.

The Good Life

This is a sunny, blue sky kind of a day - we still have a foot of snow on the deck, but I think winter will be over this week. Rain and higher temps are predicted for the end of the week. I went out walking with my ski-walkers, and it was lovely outside. It's fun to see the bunny tracks in the snow criss-crossing the yard. Things are melting - icicles are dripping and falling off the eaves because of the strong sunlight.

Sharon and Kevin have organized another GenFamily NCAA basketball bracket competition - I signed up for it right away. It's one of the most fun things ever! Now I have to research my picks - I don't think that either Michigan or State will be in the sweet sixteen. John W. always picks State to go all the way no matter what - he might be sorry this year.

Update: 9:15 p.m.

Dick worked all day at the Agency - from 9 to 4. When he got home, he said he wanted to crash and then go out to eat at the Olive Garden! Well, we tried - but evidently it's the most popular place in town these days. There was a long wait, so after about 10 minutes we gave back the beeper because we decided not to wait the estimated 25 minutes. We went to Auntie Pasta's, and had a wonderful dinner. The food was yummy and the restaurant was not crowded.

Tomorrow morning Dick has an appointment with the cardiologist.

Sugarbush

We had great weather today for the Geocaching Event "Sugarbush Pancake Brunch" in South Branch at the home of James and Sheryl. (See link above) It was a sunny, windfree, mild day. There were around 40 people there - new caches, a campfire, 4 horses, and home made maple syrup. I enjoyed talking to Ann Arbor Connie about quilting, and to Mrs. Capt. Bud (Marty the First Mate). New friends are always a Good Thing.

Last year I sat on the bench and waited for Dick to go find the cache. This year I walked all the way to the maple syrup cache with the ski-walkers, and I did fine! Then I returned to the campfire while Dick and the Buds found the event cache and the beaver dam. It was fun watching Clatmandu and Sunshine feeding carrots to the horses. The pancakes were terrific, but the meeting afterwards was the most fun because of the auction and the raffle and the door prize and all of the associated jokes and comments.

The Trip Home

Another cold, crisp day. We did 6 caches this morning before 11 a.m. in the Alma/Mt. Pleasant area. It was a really fun time despite the chill.

Uneventful drive home - OK, I slept most of the way.

Stopped to shop in Kingsley. Northland Foods has become a great place to shop - nice selection of things and great meats.

MiGo Winter Social 2006

This was a very enjoyable 12 hour day! We began by finding 9 caches in the Alma/St.Louis area. It was very windy and cold here today. In a couple of cases I was afraid that the cache contents would blow all over the surrounds. Once we almost lost the lid of the cache container - it blew across the bridge and narrowly missed falling into the river. We were very successful, and found so many so fast it was almost a new record. I'm sure it was a new record for 2006 because we haven't been out caching much at all so far this year.

I used my new ski-walking poles and that was successful too. I enjoyed it, and the poles enabled me to walk along the paths just like a real person. I love it when I can be there to sign the logbook. I look forward to using them more often when the weather is a bit more spring-like.

The Winter Social was well-attended. (See link above) We overheard numbers like 190 adults and 43 children. That's not official. Note to Jana: I wasn't the fattest or the ugliest, but I think I just may have been the oldest. (Family Joke) There were so many darling babies and toddlers there - it's delightful to watch them. WolverineWarriors brought baby Alexis, who is seven weeks and one day old! How much fun is that?!

The main event was a two-hour scavenger hunt consisting of 6 loops - 3 walking loops and 3 driving loops. We opted for driving loops because of the bitterly chilly weather. We did really well, I thought. We did two complete loops and had a lot of fun doing it. We didn't win anything but we really enjoyed it. Dick was especially happy to notice that while we were out driving around, the price of gas in Alma dropped by 2 cents a gallon!

We enjoyed talking to Coychev, Trashcan, Radman, Sleepy Weasel, GeoHills, and UsTwo among others too numerous to mention. We missed DinoDuo - her mom's funeral was today at 1:30. We collected some things for them as souvenirs. Lydia and I had fun cruising the silent auction. All of the items that appealed to me had final bids that were too high. The giant geocoin went for over $160.00!! We were the high bidders on two small items. Both of them were cache containers.

I noticed that there were more men than women interested in the auction, which was amusing to me. At one time I glanced over there and almost everyone at the auction tables was a male wearing a navy MiGo tee shirt and a khaki MiGo hat. There must have been a dozen of them. I think that even the great MiGo quilt had a male high bidder. I kind of wanted the tea set but the other bidder talked me out of it by saying that she wanted to buy it as a wedding gift. I'm such a softie for weddings!

By the time dinner and the business meeting were over it was after 8 p.m. and we were happy to head back to the Comfort Inn, which, by the way, is described as the "upscale" motel in Alma!

It was a day for reflection. While we were doing the scavenger hunt, Susie was at her Mom's funeral, Michigan was losing to Ohio State in basketball, and the price of gas plummeted - all of these concurrently. My mind was pre-occupied by all of it.

This from mgoblue:

Sims Records Double-Double in Road Loss to Buckeyes
Courtney Sims records his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 64-54 loss at No. 13 Ohio State (February 25).

On the Road Again

Dick worked at the Visitor Center this morning, and I went to visit Mother. She cracks me up sometimes - it's hard to keep a straight face. I asked her if she had watched the Olympic figure skating last night. She said, "Yes. A lot of those girls are foreign." Oh please!

Then we got all packed up to head for Alma for the annual MiGo Winter Social. The drive was generally uneventful, although there was kind of a heavy snowfall beginning in Cadillac.

We couldn't find a really good-looking place to eat. We decided that we'd go to Ponderosa since we hadn't been there for ages. It served to remind us why we don't go to Ponderosa!

Outing

The librarian at the East Jordan Public Library wanted to learn how to enroll people in a Part D Drug Plan, so she called the Agency and made an appointment with Dick to meet with her this morning at 10:00 at the library in East Jordan. He told me that if I went with him, he would take me out to lunch! Who could resist? It takes us a little over an hour to drive there, and we had to stop for gas, so we were a little late arriving. The library is on the same grounds with their wonderful new High School that we visited on the evening of November 30.

While he was closeted with the librarians, I was out in the reading room reading magazines. They had some great ones - cooking, quilting, scrapbooking, and antiques roadshow for example. I copied recipes - apricot chicken, buttery garlic potatoes, three beans and sausage in the slow cooker, and rich creamy macaroni and cheese for example. The scrapbooking magazine yielded many websites for me to research, some cyber coupons for nice discounts, and sites for free fonts. I felt it was a very productive 2 hours.

Lunch was at the LumberJack Grill - I just had a burger, and Dick had a taco salad. By now the sun had come out, and it was beautiful for the drive home. It's 35 degrees today - almost feels like spring. Not really.

W for Michigan

Michigan played Illinois tonight, and we never expected a win, especially after the poor showing on Saturday. (Once burned, twice shy.) We were pleasantly surprised - it was a good win - well played and fun to watch. (Daniel Horton, Daniel Horton) This from mgoblue.com:

In a matchup involving two of the top point guards in men's college basketball, it was Michigan's Daniel Horton who earned the spotlight Tuesday, Feb. 21, scoring a career-high 39 points to lead the Wolverines to a 72-64 upset of Dee Brown's No. 8-ranked Illinois squad in Crisler Arena. Horton scored 25 points after intermission as Michigan overcame a 34-30 halftime deficit to post its first win over a Top 10 team since 1998-99. Courtney Sims added 11 points and Graham Brown had 10 rebounds for U-M (18-7, 8-6 Big Ten).

Mothers

Susie's Mom died this morning - we are so sorry for their loss. She was 81 years old. (Only 11 years older than I am!) They had just gotten her comfortable at home with hospice care, and it seemed unexpected to me, even though it was expected. Does that make sense?

It serves to remind me how fantastically lucky we are to still have our Mother at age 97. Mother does fade in and out of drowsiness, but when she's lucid, she's very much on top of things. Yesterday I took the finished quilt up to show her - she was highly impressed. (She's easily impressed.) She wanted me to show it to everyone, which I politely declined. It would be just my luck to show it off to someone who's a master quilter! Anyway, the point is, that even at my age, I still want to please my Mother.

Anne May Metters
` Anne M. Metters, 81, of Coldwater, died Monday, February 20, 2006 at her home. She was born March 10, 1924 to Earl and Doris (Bois) Price in Gratiot County, Michigan. She grew up in Ithaca, Michigan and graduated from Ithaca High School in 1942. She married Paul Metters on May 3, 1946 in Ithaca. They moved to Coldwater in 1962. Anne was a homemaker for most of her life. She worked as a L.P.N. for a short time in Dr. Mooi`s office in Coldwater. She enjoyed playing bridge, square dancing, and golfing. Anne was an avid swimmer and even water-skied into her late 40s. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church where she served as a volunteer with the Church Circle group. They served charities such as Meals on Wheels and various others. She was a Cub Scout Den Mother as well as a Sunday School teacher. Anne is survived by her husband Paul, sons Jerry (Vicky) Metters of Bloomfield Hills, Joseph Metters and Peter Metters, both of Royal Oak, daughter Susie (Tim) Swedine of Jackson, half sister Connie Reed of Auburn, Indiana, 4 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and 3 brothers. Visitation for Anne Metters will be held on Friday, February 24, 2006 from 2-4 and 6-8 P.M. at the Putnam Funeral Home in Coldwater. Services will be held 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, February 25, 2006 at the funeral home. Rev. Dr. James Troust of the First Presbyterian Church in Coldwater will officiate. Memorial contributions may be directed to CHC Hospice or The American Heart Association. `

Olympic Thoughts

During the 2006 Winter Olympics we have had two athletes who have let down their respective teams by virtue of being typical American "hot dogs". Bode Miller was the favorite to win a gold medal in downhill skiing, and he finished out of the medals. He shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't care, and that it saved him a trip all the way down to Turin to attend the medal ceremony. He crashed in another event, and straddled a gate in the slalom. He's currently 0 - 4 which is fine, except we keep hearing rumors that he stays out late and parties before competing.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Jacobellis had the gold medal locked up in the women's snowboard cross, and by doing a special tricky method right at the end, fell and got the silver medal instead. She shrugged her shoulders and said the equivalent of "Oh well". They are both extremely cute, talented, athletic, cool, cocky, full of attitude and probably lots of fun at parties. You just have to love them. But they don't seem to be taking the Olympic Games all that seriously.

In addition to Lindsey and Bode, there are two other members of the USA Women's Ski Team who seem bent on expressing their individuality as they compete. Julie Mancuso skis wearing a tiara on her helmet. She says it's her "good luck charm". Resi Stiegler skis wearing a pearl necklace. Try that in the NCAA!

I guess I really like the attitude of other athletes from home and abroad who just seem somehow more "Olympian". Maybe it's a sign of my advancing age - I just have to go tsk tsk and shake my finger at everyone.

This author from the LA Times says it much better than I could:

X mars the sport
One spectator has had enough of those 'extreme' athletes at the Winter Olympics.
By Kevin Drum
KEVIN DRUM writes the blog Political Animal at www.washingtonmonthly.com.

February 22, 2006

AM I THE ONLY one who's finally had it with all the recent X Games additions to the Winter Olympics? You know the ones I'm talking about: the "sports" that seem to be more about demonstrating a politically correct hipster attitude than about antediluvian concepts such as competing to win. The current hall of shame includes aerials, moguls, halfpipe, parallel giant slalom and a ratings-friendly newcomer called snowboard cross.

I know it's probably bogus to be harshing on these sports — and vaguely unpatriotic as well — because without them the United States would be doing only slightly better than Estonia at Torino. But I can't bottle it up anymore. Call me stodgy, but it's not a sport if the competitors aren't serious about winning, and the X Games crowd just isn't serious about winning.

Don't believe me? Start with the outfits they wear. Serious athletes wear clothing that maximizes their freedom of movement and therefore their chances of winning. Say what you will about the full-body spandex suits worn by speed skaters, but they stuff themselves into those suits because the outfits help them shave tenths of a second off their time.

But the snowboarders are having none of it. Instead, they wear the same faux-urban-chic-meets-Nanook uniforms that they'd wear for a day of casual shredding at Mammoth. Can anyone pretend with a straight face that these uniforms are the best possible choice for athletes who are serious about winning a competition? Or for judges trying to decide whether a competitor deserves a 9.1 or a 9.2?

And then there's the iPod thing. Last Monday, when Hannah Teter won her gold medal in the halfpipe competition, I was gibbering at the TV set as usual when I suddenly noticed a couple of strings floating around Teter's head. "What's that?" I asked my wife. "Is a faux iPod look part of the uniform too?"

Nope. Nothing faux about it. Teter was wearing a real iPod. During competition. And the official NBC Olympics site informs me that this is common. I don't know if anyone has ever lost a competition because his iPod suddenly shuffled to a song he didn't like or because his earphones fell off during an inverted cab 900, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The final nail in the X sports coffin, though, was last Friday's travesty during women's snowboard cross, a latter-day mash-up of downhill skiing and roller derby. After the usual couple of wipeouts at the top of the course in the final run, American Lindsey Jacobellis was more than 100 feet ahead of the field and ready to coast to an easy gold medal.

But she didn't. In the world of X, demonstrating the proper I'm-just-here-to-party pose is more important than winning, and Jacobellis, who has apparently thoroughly absorbed this ethic, decided to demonstrate her mastery of ripper 'tude with a "method air" on the next-to-last jump. As all the world knows, she biffed the landing and then watched helplessly as Swiss snow-crosser Tanja Frieden passed her by.

And Jacobellis' explanation? "I was having fun," she told reporters afterward. "I messed up. Oh well, it happens."

In a real sport, "I was having fun" wouldn't cut it as an explanation. But then, in a real sport you'd dress to win, you'd ditch the iPod and you'd concentrate on the finish line instead of showboating for your homies. Bottom line: If they don't care about winning — or even if they're just pretending they don't care about winning — why should I care whether they win?

There. It felt good to get that off my chest. Please direct all hate mail to t.j.simerslatimes.com.


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Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times

My English friend Mitchy is more understanding about this topic than I am. (see comments) Maybe my attitude and Kevin Drum's attitude stem from the Vince Lombardi influence: "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."

EXPO

Because we're thinking about putting new counter tops in the kitchen, we went to the Home Builders' Expo today to gather information and get free pens (!). It's a very popular event - it's held at East Junior High, and when we got there, the parking lot was totally full. Luckily for us, they have shuttle buses (school buses) over to the parking lot at nearby Cherry Knoll Elementary School. What a great idea! We enjoyed walking around and talking to all of the Corian/granite/quartz/engineered products people. Right now, we seem to be leaning toward one of the engineered products because of ease of maintenance.

The Expo is very well organized and it's arranged so that it's easy to visit all five of the areas and see all of the displays and pick up everybody's free pens! The Junior High is a beautiful venue - clean and shiny and well designed. We've enjoyed the Expo every time we've gone.

The sun is shining brightly today, with a beautiful bright blue sky. This morning at our house the temp was 4 below zero. As we were driving to the Expo, the temp had shot up all the way to 6F! When we left, we headed toward town, and East Bay was a gorgeous turquoise color - a nice change from the gray waters of January.

Downtown was jammed with people - and I had thought everybody was at the Expo! We went to the U&I for lunch, and it was packed too. Then we realized that after all it is Saturday, which probably accounts for the crowds everywhere we went. Note to self - go out to lunch during the week! The food was luscious, and we had a great time, even though we had to park over on the other side of the river! It was crowded downtown is what I'm telling you.

The University of Michigan men's basketball team is playing State in East Lansing this afternoon at 4 p.m. (shudder)
Update:

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team dropped a 90-71 decision at No. 16 Michigan State, Saturday (Feb. 18), at the Breslin Center to split the season series. The second match-up between these intrastate rivals was a shoot-out with the Wolverines (17-7, 7-6) edged slightly from the floor, shooting 51.9 percent (28-of-54) overall compared to the Spartans' (19-7, 7-5 Big Ten) 54.7 percent (35-of-64). While both teams shot in similar fashion, Michigan State's pressure inside and advantage on the glass helped them overtake the Wolverines.

Some Good News, Some Bad News

I finished the quilt this morning! I finished the quilt this morning! I finished the quilt this morning! Yippee!! It looks OK as long as you're not expecting perfection! All that's left is to cut off the stray threads, press it, and clean up the quilting area.

We've had winter storm after winter storm. We're buried. Dick has been out all morning with the snow blower and the tractor trying to dig us out. Snow is still coming down. More snow is predicted, and low, low temperatures. Tomorrow is supposed to be the coldest day of the year. It seems as though winter came about two months late this year. This is not a complaint!

Dr. Lambert called Dick yesterday to say that the stress test shows some heart damage from a previous event, we don't know when. He says there's no evidence of a current problem, but the previous damage has decreased the output of the old pump. The Doctor is going to hook us up with a cardiologist for evaluation. (In my crystal ball I see testing in Dick's future.)

Mary Luanne McManus Peoples Van Avery reports the passing of another SLG husband. Cuyler Miller, husband of Sandy Youker died last Wednesday at his home in South Bend. So far we have lost Mary's husband Glenn (Digger) Peoples, Sandy N.'s husband Gene Neibaur, and Margo's husband Sherm Janke. So now there are four gone out of thirteen. Too many, too soon, too young. Mary emailed to remind me that Donna has also lost her beloved companion Bill.

Cuyler's obituary in the South Bend Tribune:

Article published Feb 17, 2006
Lloyd Cuyler Miller
July 8, 1934 - Feb. 15, 2006


Cuyler Miller, 71, of South Bend, passed away at 9:05 p.m. Wednesday, February 15, 2006, in his home.

Cuyler worked for the Bendix Corporation right out of high school and then after college he worked in the summers for the South Bend Parks Department while teaching school and coaching for Greene Township, Lakeville, and many of the South Bend schools. He retired in 1991 after spending his last 10 years of 34 at the original Nuner Elementary School in River Park.

Cuyler was born on July 8, 1934, in South Bend, to the late Lloyd “Gus” and Thelma (Nye) Miller, and had lived in this area most of his life.

On February 2, 1957, in Traverse City, MI, he married Sandra Youker, who survives. Also surviving are one daughter, Judy Lynn (Kelly) Low of Niles MI; one son, Michael (Laurie Jo) Miller of Warren, OH; five grandchildren, Andrew, Kyle and Emily Low, and Ryan and Christopher Miller; a brother-in-law, Alan “Bud” Schwalm of Mishawaka; a sister-in-law, Sharon Dean of Traverse City, MI; and several nieces and nephews.

Two sisters, Donna Schwalm and Betty Lou Miller, preceded him in death.

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, in the Palmer Funeral Home, 2528 Mishawaka Ave., South Bend. Rev. Kathy Miller will officiate. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger, IN. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. today in the funeral home.

Cuyler was a 1952 graduate from John Adams High School and attended Ventura Junior College in Ventura, CA. He earned his BA and master's from Western Michigan University where he played college basketball.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care, 111 Sunnybrook Court, South Bend, IN 46637; to the Humane Society of St. Joseph County, 2506 Grape Road, Mishawaka, IN 46545; or to the charity of choice.


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Let It Snow

The world is a beautiful place when you get the kind of snow that covers every branch and twig. All day yesterday I felt like I was driving around in some kind of a snowy fairyland - like Narnia. I had a perm in the morning while Dick was at the Agency. We met for lunch at Bubba's, a most enjoyable experience. We brought home enough food for supper - and it was still delicious at supper time.

I went to visit Mother - we had a nice conversation about the residents and the helpers at Concord - it's really all she's interested in anymore, although she does love to hear the Dylan stories. She seems much improved since her bout with the flu.

Barb is also feeling better and has gone back to work part time. Such good news! And Laurie's biopsy was benign, so things are looking up in all directions.

We have more snow predicted for the next two days. There is a winter storm watch (warning?) for today and tomorrow - today all of the Traverse City schools are closed. Dick has prepared to be snowed in - we have all the ingredients for his patented veggie-beef soup which we call "Too Good to be Soup", and two wheelbarrows full of wood outside the back door. So bring it on - let it snow.

Deadeye Dick

Last weekend our esteemed and exalted (not) vice-president Dick Cheney shot his friend while quail hunting. This is such an unbelievable story...it will blow over quickly I think, especially now that Cheney has acknowledged that it happened (on the fourth day after the event). The humorists are having a field day - it just invites satire and irony. My favorite "report" about the shooting is this blog that Dick found in a newspaper on line. I especially love the first sentence! (And the last paragraph!)

Deadeye Dick Cheney

As you know, quail hunting is what passes for military service in the upper ranks of the Bush Administration. Dick Cheney knows what it is like to fire a weapon in anger, particularly when the birds flush from the bracken unexpectedly. George W. Bush has flown airplanes, many of them folded from his personal stationery. Donald Rumsfeld has piloted boats and submarines through seemingly impenetrable mounds of suds. And so on.

Now, as you have surely heard by now, the Vice President this weekend had a slight mishap while hunting , in that he committed the faux pas of pointing his shotgun in the direction of a friend of his. Also he pulled the trigger. Sort of, you know, shot the guy. In the face. "Peppered" him, in the quaint vernacular of the sport. The fellow is doing fine at the hospital. But right here's what's wrong with the mainstream media: The stories don't tell us whether Cheney managed, in the process, to bag the bird. Seems to me that our sense of the man's overall competence pivots on that crucial unreported factoid. Who cares about his friend, did he hit the target???

I find the story reassuring. Cheney is a man who doesn't just talk the talk. No, if he's going to send American soldiers into harm's way, where they might be shot at any moment by a deranged fanatic, he's also going to do the same thing to his close personal friends. He's giving his hunting buddies a taste of life in the Cheney Era, when you count yourself lucky just to get out alive.

Torino 2006

Dick and I worked on measuring and squaring up the quilt today - we only had one melt-down (me). I was a nervous wreck because it involved cutting...eeek! But the quilt is square. Hooray!

The winter olympics are in full swing. Thanks to TiVo, we can watch most of the coverage with no commercials - a real time-saver. I've enjoyed the skiing, the speed skating, ski-jumping, luge, and to a lesser extent the figure skating. I never expected to be so fascinated by the snow-boarding, but it was intriguing, and so much fun to watch.

The Opening Ceremonies were fantastic. I've heard critics say that the ceremonies were a bit over the top, and maybe some of it was, but it was so much fun to watch the flaming skaters, the alpenhorns, the acrobats on the rings, the 4th grade girl singing the Italian national anthem, the "living" ski jumper, and Luciano was the icing on the cake.

Dick and I both enjoyed watching the march of the athletes - in my opinion France won the good-looking uniforms award. The hats of the USA team are a little silly this year.

Happy Valentine's Day! We went out to dinner at La Senorita. Also, we got a darling valentine from Dylan - a big hug by mail.

Inscrutable Islam

Amazing trivia about the inscrutable religion of Islam:

Did you know that:

*in Islam it's OK to blow up ancient gigantic statues of Buddha in Afghanistan, but it's not OK to draw a picture of Mohammed.
*in Islam it's OK to behead living people on video but it's not OK to draw a cartoon of Mohammed.
*in Islam it's OK to bomb mosques filled with the faithful on holy days, but it's not OK to caricature Mohammed.
*in Islam it's OK to blow up buses filled with school children, but it's not OK to express an idea in pen and ink.
*in Islam it's OK to bomb public transportation such as subways and trains during rush hour, but it's not OK to put Mohammed in a cartoon.
*in Islam it's OK to fly commercial airliners into tall buildings filled with workers and kill 3000 people, but it's not OK to draw Mohammed, not even a stick figure.
*in Islam, it's OK to blow holes in navy ships in port, but it's not OK to imply that Mohammed is associated with terrorism.
*in Islam, it's OK to burn, loot, and destroy embassies of any country with whom you disagree, but it's not OK to draw a beard on Mohammed.

Does Islam seem like a stable, respectable religion based on centuries of civilization, culture, and reverence?
That's enough - my brain is ready to explode.

First Finder!

We drove out to Old Mission to search for three new geocaches which have just turned up. We found all three, and on the first one, we were first finders. When you're a first finder, you're obligated to do the first finder's dance! It was a creative hide and we had fun with it. After three successful finds, it was lunch time, and we were very near the Peninsula Grill. I remembered how yummy their mac and cheese was at the mac and chee bake-off earlier, so that's what I ordered. It is still extremely yummy. Dick had a salmon BLT.

Back in town we went to visit Mother. She's still a little shaky from being so sick, but she looked good, and we had a nice visit. We told her about Laurie's "birthday party" last night at Outback Steakhouse. Dylan had "co-co-nut shrimp" and his birthday treat was Thunder from Down Under for dessert.

Laurie's procedure was today - she's back home and feeling fine. I'm so glad she had that done. Now we wait for the report.

Speaking of waiting for the Doctor's report, we still haven't heard anything from Dick's Doctor regarding flunking the EKG on Tuesday. Heavy sigh. Well, we take that to mean that it's nothing super critical, so that's a good thing.

Laurie says that Dylan's class is talking about family trees, and so he's going to take the Kanitz Family Tree Project Book to school and share the pictures and some of the information - for instance, Dylan's great-great-great-grandfather came from Saxony (Sachsen) in Germany. Achtung! Makes me proud.

Unfortunately, we watched Michigan basketball tonight. Oh dear, oh dear - now they've lost two in a row - first time all season. Another heavy sigh. This from mgoblue.com:

A monster game by Courtney Sims went for naught Thursday, Feb. 9, as the No. 22-ranked Michigan men's basketball team dropped a 94-85 decision to No. 19 Ohio State in Crisler Arena. The Wolverines jumped out to a 21-8 lead before the Buckeyes' shooting heated up, leading to a 49-43 OSU edge at the break. The game was tied 70-70 when U-M's Dion Harris left with an ankle injury, and Ohio State embarked on a 14-5 run that proved to be the difference. Sims finished with 26 points on 13-of-16 shooting and added 16 rebounds.

Intermittent LBBB

We reported to Munson at 8 a.m. for what was supposed to be a three hour cardiolite stress test for Dick. In actuality, we didn't leave the hospital until 4 and one half hours later at 12:30! His doctor prescribed the test just as a precaution before sending Dick to physical therapy for conditioning. As it turned out, Dick never performed the treadmill part of the test because he flunked his EKG.

He had the nurse write down what was wrong with his EKG because he knew that I would ask a million questions. What they noticed was an Intermittent Left Bundle Branch Block (electrical pathway). He either has blown a fuse or he has a short circuit. (Just kidding.)


They continued the stress test minus the treadmill by using Persantine, which stresses the heart without exercise. So they were able to get the before and after pictures of his heart. We should get a report from Dr. Lambert sometime this week.

We ate lunch at the Omelette Shoppe.

More than you want to know about LBBB (see link above):

BBB occurs when one of the bundle branches becomes diseased or damaged, and stops conducting electrical impulses; that is, a bundle branch becomes “blocked.” The chief effect of a bundle branch block is to disrupt the normal, coordinated and simultaneous distribution of the electrical signal to the two ventricles.

In contrast, LBBB usually indicates underlying cardiac pathology. It is seen in dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hypertension, aortic valve disease, coronary artery disease, and a variety of other cardiac conditions. While occasionally LBBB occurs in apparently healthy people, its appearance should trigger a thorough search (as opposed to a simple screening) for underlying cardiac problems.

It sounds to me as though Dick may be in for a series of tests to prove that he's healthy. I firmly believe that he's in good health, strong, and full of stamina. He will turn out to be one of those healthy people, especially because his block is intermittent. (Dr. Nancy)

Monday, Monday

Happy Birthday Roger!

Mother reports feeling very ill. We spoke on the phone - she was not totally coherent. She's up and dressed and has been attended to. I'm sure she'll be fine. Aunt Ruth is home from the hospital.

I'm working on the quilt. I'm at the point of stitching the long lines along the squares in the "quilt sandwich". It's a lot of fabric to work with. I'm working in Dylan's playroom, which is always a little chilly in the wintertime, but the quilt keeps me warm because a lot of it is on my lap while I'm sewing. I have finished the "north/south" lines on half of the quilt, and I'm almost finished with the "east/west" lines on the same half. So far I have gone through two machine needles, but I went on a search and found about a dozen more, so I have plenty of back-ups.

Dick was super busy today. He worked at the Agency for hours and hours. Came home and ran the snow blower for a couple of hours more. Then Tom B. came over to discuss the Boardman River dam closings. Tom is interested in having us attend the dam meetings, since we are riparian property owners. It's an issue we're all concerned about.

We introduced Tom to Bessie, and I showed him my Kanitz Family Tree Book since he was my inspiration!

Super Bowl

A veritable blizzard visited us this morning - very snowy and blowy. It's quite a novelty this winter - it's been very mild and snowless here since before Christmas.
McLenithans have gone to Florida for the month. Evidently he hired a snow plow person to plow out the main access road while he's gone. The snow plow hasn't showed up yet. There was a snowfall of 8 or 9 inches in our driveway, but when we got to town the snowfall was considerably less - maybe just 2 or 3 inches.

We went to the library because Dick was out of books - then we visited Mother - not much happening these days at Concord Place. She's fine. Up to the hospital to visit Aunt Ruth - she was drowsy and resting - she should go home tomorrow after a weekend of x-rays and tests.

We watched Super Bowl coverage from 4:00 until it was all over around 10 p.m. The Steelers did a fine job - the score was 21-10. My favorite commercial was "A Little Help" in which the baby Clydesdale pulls the Budweiser wagon with a little help from his parents.

Oh Well

Off to the grocery store to get treats for the Super Bowl tomorrow - oh yes, and something for supper. It's very easy to spend $98 at the grocery store even for 2 people - but now I have lots of supplies for the next 4 or 5 days.

The quilting is moving along slowly. Today I sewed 2 lines the complete length of the quilt BUT - that Michigan State Spartan fabric has kind of a rubbery texture (thanks, Kevin) and it broke the needle on the sewing machine. I don't need much of an excuse to stop sewing, and that was the perfect excuse. As Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day".

Poor old sad Michigan played a poor sad old game tonight. We couldn't even watch most of the second half. It was dismal. The other shoe has dropped. This from mgoblue.com:

February 4, 2006

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Carver-Hawkeye Arena)
Score: #23 Iowa 94, #21 Michigan 66
Records: U-M (16-4, 6-3 Big Ten), Iowa (18-5, 7-2 Big Ten)
Attendance: 15,500
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Feb. 9 -- Ohio State (Crisler Arena), 7:00 p.m.

Michigan's Win Streak Ends With Loss at No. 23 Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 21 AP, No. 20 ESPN/USA Today) was stunned with a 94-66 loss at Iowa, Saturday (Feb. 4), at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Wolverines (16-4, 6-3 Big Ten) seemingly had full control over the contest in the first half, but the Hawkeyes (18-5, 7-2 Big Ten), who have not surrendered a victory at home in 15 games, shot 65.3 percent (32-of-49) overall compared to the Wolverines' 41.5 percent (22-of-53) to cut off Michigan's winning streak at five games.

I hope the Super Bowl is a much more inspirational game, and I hope the Steelers WIN.
Go Steelers, right Chip?

Avoidance

In order to avoid quilting, I decided to go to the mall and take a walk. Dick was planning to spend most of the day at the Agency. I walked around the mall a little bit - not really much at all, but it was hard anyway. It was so hard that I arranged to go to Thirlby and have a hemoglobin count taken. I'm almost positive there's nothing wrong, but maybe they'll come up with something. Maybe I just have to try harder. Go Nancy, go Nancy.

I had a really nice visit with Mother - she sleeps most of the day, but when she's roused, she's focused and alert - just not for long periods. I did some "chores" for her (trim the amaryllis, enter the SS into the checkbook, etc), and we talked about Dick's volunteer work, Laurie's biopsy, Jana's cold, and how Dylan is the cutest boy that there ever was.

Consider the quilting totally avoided - avoidance is one of my strong suits. Before I begin, I have to check with someone about the invisible thread - does it go on the bobbin too, or do you put some other kind of thread on the bobbin. These are the eternal mysteries of the "sew sheen".

First Date

Fifty-four years ago today, on February 2, 1952, Dick and I had our first date. I went to the dance with Delores, and Hermie went with Dick. During the dance, Hermie asked Delores if he could take her home from the dance. She said, "Well, I came with Nancy..." and Hermie said, "Well I came with Dick so let's all go together." So that's what we did. We had burgers and fries at what is now Round's, and they took us home. And that was our first date.

I thought it would be fun to go out to dinner to celebrate this auspicious anniversary, but I didn't think of it until after 5 o'clock, and the first martini had already gone down the hatch, so I didn't mention it.

Today I pinned together one half of the family quilt - I decided to baste with pins instead of thread. Then I ran out of pins. So now I'm thinking I'll quilt the half that I have basted, remove those pins, pin the other half, and then finish the quilting. I'm too cheap to go spend big bucks for more quilting pins. I'm kind of avoiding beginning the quilting - I have no confidence, and I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I think I'll probably avoid it until later this weekend.

A Few Glitches

We're still getting used to our new computer set-up. Let's just say that not everything is running smoothly...some things are fine, but other things are very frustrating. Dick is having mega-trouble trying to hook up his Palm to the hot sync. That's crucial for geo-caching. The air in the computer room was very blue all morning.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to adjust to the new HP digital camera and software. It's not quite as nice as the Kodak EasyShare. For instance I haven't figured out how to brighten the pictures. Plus - instead of using ofoto.com, the HP system uses Walmart (oh dear). I'm seriously considering just reloading the EasyShare software and doing it the old way. It would involve moving pictures all the time, but it would most likely be worth it.

Computer glitches are so frustrating - we decided to take a break and go geo-caching in the afternoon. Drove over to the Manistee Bridge area and Dick found 3 caches - it was fun and relaxing.

Michigan's basketball team did it again tonight, beating Penn State. They are playing so well, it's almost unbelievable. (Dion Harris, Dion Harris) The Michigan basketball program has been so bad for so long....I'm still kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. This from mgoblue.com:

Another big game by Dion Harris and clutch shooting from Daniel Horton helped make the No. 21 Michigan men's basketball team's debut as a ranked team a success Wednesday, Feb. 1, with a 71-65 win over Penn State in State College, Pa. Harris connected on a career-high seven three-point field goals en route to a game-high 23 points, while Horton hit a triple with 58 seconds left to put U-M up six and made two clinching free throws with 0:13 to play. Horton added 12 assists to his 13 points, and Ron Coleman chipped in with 10 points.

We're Networked

Today the Nice Man came and installed Dick's new computer (a marvel of Western Technology), brought back my cleaned-up tower, hooked up printers, and just generally got us back in business. My computer works like a dream now - it had been very slow and sluggish. Dick's new computer has so many bells and whistles that he's only been able to toot on a couple of them so far. He has the new flat screen monitor, which gives him tons of extra desk space - it's really nice.

I went back to the quilt shop for more goodies to help me put the quilt together. I got a thinner batting, and some quilting pins (outrageously expensive), ready-made quilt binding, and invisible thread. It sounds like a joke, but I had a hard time seeing the invisible thread! The quilting lady at the first store said with her nose in the air, "We don't carry quilt binding - we always make our own." Well the last thing I want to try is making my own binding on the bias! So I went to JoAnn Fabrics - they have lots of ready-made items. Whew! I may just be postponing the inevitable with all these shopping trips - sooner or later I have to go try to pin this thing together! Wish me luck.

Mother needed more Tylenol and Kleenex, so I went to Tom's and picked up those items. At JoAnn's I found an attractive arrangement of fake roses that was reasonably priced - so that will be Mom's Valentine decoration. We had a nice visit, she liked everything - especially the Arthritis Tylenol which has a cap on it that even she can open with her arthritic fingers! She was thrilled. She now has 5 boxes of Kleenex in her cupboard - she's afraid of running out!

Picked up a computer cable at Office Max and headed for home.

Nanny McPhee

Talked to Dylan this morning - yesterday he went to see the movie Nanny McPhee. I told him that I had tried to see it, but that it was sold out. So he began telling me the story, but then he had to jump out of the car to get to school.

I went to the quilt shop and got batting and backing for our quilt. It remains to be seen whether or not I can actually put it all together. The quilt top is finished. Looks OK - not perfecto, but OK.

Then I went to the mall and finally saw the Nanny movie. I enjoyed it, mostly. It would have been more fun with Dylan. Emma Thompson was great, and a couple of the children were outstanding. I liked the boys better than the girls. Loved the donkey, hated the food fight. I wondered if the bizarre colors and costumes were aimed at amusing small children....or what. Of course it was a fairy tale, after all. See link above.

Dreary Day

Rainy, foggy, misty, damp, foggy, dismal foggy day.

I went to visit Mother - Dick gave it a pass this time. We had a nice visit - she's becoming so immobile that she didn't even want to stand up from her chair. I put name labels on her new chest of drawers, her walker, and her commode.

I planned to go see Nanny McPhee at the mall after visiting Mother. The line was very long, and filled with small children. By the time I got to the box office, the movie was sold out. There was nothing else playing that I particularly wanted to see, so I just came home.

Dick had a load of firewood delivered yesterday - he's already begun the stacking process. This wood will be for next year. Our last propane fill-up was $750, which makes the firewod look cheap.

Looking Forward to September 23, 2006

Kevin Washington's wedding will be Sept. 23, 2006 in San Diego. Sharon says
that Kevin and Amy intend to invite all the relatives to the wedding. If we
all want to attend, it looks like Tom is prepared to put us all up at his
home!
(Quote: We can all fit here, I think. Dylan & Co. in my room, you and Mom in
the guest room, I'll sleep on the futon in the office, and Jana can
sleep on the couch downstairs (it's very comfortable). Or you can get a
room ... whatever you want. Unquote)

It will be a great weekend for our branch of the family - Sept. 21 will be
Jana's 40th b-day, and Sept.22 will be Dick's 70th b-day - so it will be a
good time for us all to be together.

Barb is home from the hospital, and Jim is home from Texas. Her radiation
continues on Mon. She had 2 blood transfusions on Friday. The battle
continues.

The Michigan basketball team actually beat Wisconsin today. It was a really good game. Wisconsin only had one loss, so we really weren't expecting a victory. Hooray for those guys. (Daniel Horton, Daniel Horton) This from mgoblue.com:

On the strength of a 15-3 record and two wins over nationally ranked teams last week, the Michigan men's basketball team moved into the Top 25 of both national polls released Monday, Jan. 30. Coach Tommy Amaker's squad is ranked No. 21 in the Associate Press poll and No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, marking the Wolverines' first appearance in the Top 25 since March 10, 1998. U-M, which is in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten at 5-2, will get its first test as a ranked team Wednesday at Penn State.

Dick and I are fine. Mother is fine. The weatherman is promising more
snow.

Dick's Version

Dick's version:

We are back and pretty much recovered. We got to the house about 9
Wed. night and crashed. I didn't wake up until Dylan called at 7:30.
Yesterday we spent visiting. Your grandmother got through the week in fine shape. Fritz visited or called every day so she had some company. Her bumps from her last fall are almost gone and we had a nice visit. She didn't need us to do anything but she is relieved to have us back in town.
We learned that Barb is in the hospital. When she went in for
radiation/chemo on Tues. her blood levels were not quite right and
they put her in for IV's and observation. We visited there for a
little while. She's hoping to come home today.
With Jim out of town, Shelly took a couple of days off and Mel was
going to come up yesterday for the weekend. Unfortunately, she slipped
on the ice and broke her arm. Sharon came up instead. She came out
here last evening for dinner and to bring us up to date. If Barb comes
home today she is on her way back to Lansing tomorrow. Otherwise she
might be out here for a night or two. Jim is coming home today and she
wants to give him his space.

The Sun is Always Up There

When you fly in a commercial airliner, you're always above the clouds - up there with the blue sky and the sunshine. On the ground sometimes the clouds are dark and the days are gloomy, but the sun is always up there just on the other side of the clouds.

J. H. has been in Texas since last Saturday because his 38 year old daughter Natalie has died suddenly. Her memorial service was Tuesday.

Meanwhile, here in T.C.Barb was put into the hospital Tuesday
to try to stabilize her system which has been affected by the
radiation and chemo that she's been undergoing. Shelly has taken the
week off work to be with her Mom.

Melissa was coming up from Kalamazoo, but she fell and broke her
arm... Sharon is here from Lansing for a few days to be with Barb.
Sharon is coming here for dinner tonight. Latest word is that Barb
may be able to come home tomorrow (Friday), and Jim may be flying
home tomorrow heavily medicated with anti-depressants.

I'm so glad that we had such an idyllic week in San Diego - we loved
every minute of it. Now we have returned to the Real World with a bang and a jolt.
We're fine - and there's not that much snow here.

Up in the Air

Today we flew home on the Hospital Ship - Flight 400 from San Diego to Chicago.

There was a man on board who coughed and sneezed incessantly for the entire flight. He was joined at times by another man who only coughed and sneezed intermittently. But the first man never stopped - he was even coughing and sneezing the whole time we were sitting at the gate waiting to taxi for take-off.

Two seats behind us, a woman developed a monster nose-bleed during the flight. The flight attendants brought her tissues, towels, large trashbags, and ice packs - and eventually they all said she was doing much better.

We sat at O'Hare for four hours waiting for the flight to T.C. We both had good books to read, and there was terrific people-watching. The people ranged from the Hassidic Jewish man with full hair and beard, dark hat and long coat to the Sikh with the red turban. I saw collegiate sweatshirts for Indiana, Iowa, Gonzaga, and the Maryland Terps. We must have seen 14,000 adorable toddlers - such cute little ones, and so well behaved. Air travel doesn't seem to be a problem for young families these days.

We got up at 4:30 a.m. Pacific time and we landed in T.C. at 8 p.m. EST. It was a long day. But the travel went exactly as planned - no hitches and no glitches. I really wasn't ready to leave San Diego, but all good things must come to an end.

Tonight Michigan beat MSU 72-67 at Crisler Arena. It was quite a nice surprise for us. The State fans are blaming the outcome on the officiating. We know how that is - we always blame the officiating too. Welcome to the club, State fans.

Last Day of Vacation

The Last Chapter, in Which We Geocache in Poway in Tom's Porsche.

Here is what Dick wrote:

Our final day of our San Diego visit. I read my email and learned about two deaths that have occurred since we left Traverse City. On Thursday, Jim Hardy’s daughter Natalie passed away unexpectedly in Texas and then on Sunday, the mother of a former colleague and close friend, Sam Vicchy had a heart attack and died in Pennsylvania.

Both Tom and Conni had to work so we were left to our own devices. Also, this is a “Ride Day”. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Tom and a crew of about 6 other nuts take a mountain bike ride during their “Lunch Hour”. Now that we have seen the “trails” that they ride there is no other conclusion than that they are certifiably NUTS! These “trails” were made by goats. No four wheel drive vehicle could navigate them. The parts that are not vertical cling to the side of what can only be described as a mountain. Yeah, I know, they call them mountain bikes, but they should come with shoulder straps, no sane individual would actually try to ride on or in something while trying to navigate those goat tracks.

Anyway, this was a day for it and unfortunately, only the Subaru has the bike rack. Oh well! We got stuck with the Porsche again. For our last day, Nancy decided to humor me and go geocaching. There are so many caches in this area that deciding where to go is somewhat akin to choosing a Medicare Drug plan. We decided to head for the nearest real “town” Poway. There are 130 caches within a three mile radius of the downtown. For the sake of comparison, we think we are cache rich because there are 50 caches within 3 miles of the Visitor Center in Traverse City.

All went well on our Porsche cachemobile expedition until I managed to toss a cup of iced tea into Nancy’s lap. I quick, ran inside and grabbed napkins to mop up the car, then I took Nan home to change clothes.

For the day we found 10 caches. We also drove around and did a bit of sight seeing. We ate lunch at Wong's Wok in Poway. It was authentic (we couldn’t communicate with the waitress or the cooks) and good. Dinner was Mexican at a place named Chevy's, the same place where we ate lunch the other day.

In reviewing our stay, Nancy felt the whale watch was #1. I, on the other hand, leaned toward the Porsche cruise and geocaching. Poor Tom, he was such a great host he’ll probably have to have us back.

Altogether, we found 10 geocaches today - all in one small area. Two of them were in really nice parks, one was another fountain cache, one was one of those light pole things, one on a bridge, and several in bushes. It was a glorious day for it. Actually, it was a glorious day for anything!

Another Perfect Day

We headed out early for San Diego Bay and the Hornblower Whale Watching Cruise. (See link above.) There were only 41 people on the ship, and so it was like having a private tour. One of the crew said that yesterday they had 200 people on both tours. The time passed so quickly because we saw numerous blows, and the ship steered right for them, so we were able to see a lot of the whales up close and personal. Perfect day, good sightings, good company - it was almost my favorite activity of this trip, although it's really hard to pick a favorite. I loved the whole thing. The docent on this trip recommended driving out to the Cabrillo National Monument in the afternoon.

We had lunch at the Top of the Market at Seaside Village.

Cabrillo has a breath-taking view of San Diego, Coronado, and the whole Bay. The view is really the main attraction. My family humored me by watching 2 short movies - one on grey whales, and the other on Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo - both very enjoyable.

We had a great drive home through all types of San Diego scenery - from the ocean shore to the lush green of Balboa Park to the flat plains of Miramar to the rocky hills near Tom's house.

Here's Dick's version of our perfect day:

Monday both Tom and Conni had the day off and we all went whale watching. In the winter, the California Gray whales migrate south to their calving grounds off the coast of Mexico and can be seen just off San Diego Bay. We joined about 40 other “watchers” on a large (150 ft) vessel and sailed out of the harbor in search of whales. It was chilly in the shade but warm if one chose to sit in the sun out of the wind. We saw 6 whales up close, one came within 50 feet of the boat.
One group of four were displaying what we were told was courting behavior. They were swimming in a close pod with a great deal of pushing and rolling. Unlike the other group of two or three that we had seen, these four stayed pretty tightly bunched and would breath nearly in unison.
This was our second whale cruise, the first was a number of years ago off Maui. Based upon our two experiences, we believe that it is required that the ship have a hyper enthusiastic young female guide on board. Today it was Leslie. She really enjoys her job and was very excited at the prospect that the whales might be mating. Someone asked her what the other one was doing.The cynical crewman answered for her “He’s taking pictures”.
The cruise lasted nearly four hours and we were hungry when we docked. Tom took us to the “Top of the Market” at Seaside Village for lunch. He and I had clam chowder and then a sea food linguini, Nan went for pasta capelli with bay scallops and Connie had a yummy looking salad.
Following lunch, we drove out to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument, the most southwesterly point in the continental US. The drive takes you through multiple naval facilities and the remnants of coastal defense batteries left from WW II. The views of San Diego are spectacular and once again we had the perfect day.
We were back at the house fairly early, five or so but Tom’s offer to take Nan out to the movies was politely declined. The day out in the wind and the sun had taken its toll. We didn’t even worry about dinner. Cheese and crackers, a couple of episodes of Monk and the senior citizens were counting sheep.

Wild Animal "Peck"

Here's Dick again with his review of our day:

This morning while Tom joined a group of Europeans who work/worked at Cymer to go mountain biking, and Conni went to church, we hung out, read and used the internet.

Nancy and Conni packed a picnic lunch and we loaded the car and set out to the Wild Animal Park.

The major event in the huge park was the tram ride, our driver was Alex, a young man of Japanese descent with a great line of patter. He was both informative and entertaining. It is great to look off across the valley and view various herds of African and Asian antelope, deer, giraffes, etc.

After a picnic lunch we visited the Lorikeet aviary and had our only injury. One of the lorikeets became jealous when Nancy was feeding another and so it took a chunk out of her hide. The keepers assured Nan that all the birds were inspected and were disease free. [To see a lorikeet, see link above]

We also enjoyed the gorilla exhibit and the lion areas but got tired and were ready for our tour of Cymer and Tom's lab.

We discovered that a lab at Cymer looks just like a lab at MIT/UofM/U
Dub. We also got to see what the heck an excimer laser looks like. We now know where Tom is when he goes to work even if we still don't know what the devil he does.

Dinner was grilled steaks, beef and salmon, with sweet corn and Tom's Famous Margaritas.

We are happy for Chip that Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl.

Roppongi's

Dick has been really prompt in writing up our days in San Diego, so I'm just using his - no need for me to reinvent the wheel!

Dick wrote:

This morning, Tom and Nancy started the day learning how to download songs onto her laptop and thence into her new Ipod. Tom kicked me off his computer to finish the preparations for a “surprise” for us. A little after 10, when the Ipod lessons were complete, he ordered us to get our shoes on and report outside for our “surprise” In the street outside was his Porsche Boxster named “Raven”.

Although I haven’t driven a stick for 35 years or so, it came back pretty quick and soon we were rocketing down the road. I don’t remember ever driving a car in which you can actually feel the G forces all through the gears.

The route he sent us on was down winding twisting hairpin turns and the car clung to the road like it was on a track. On one hair pin, we met a semi hauling a bulldozer right in the middle of it. He was over the line but our car swung through the turn with no trouble. As we were flying through esses and over dips, Nancy was yelling “Yee Haa!”

We even took a brief side trip to find a geocache. Although it doesn’t have the best ground clearance for two tracks, a Porsche makes an acceptable fair weather cache mobile.

In the afternoon, after Conni arrived, we took the more conventional Subaru and found a half dozen more caches after a fun lunch at a Mexican restaurant. [Chevy's].

Dinner capped off a perfect day. We got dressed up and drove to downtown La Jolla where Tom slipped the valet a $20 to park the car. It is good that we had reservations because the place was packed. As with just about every other restaurant we have visited out here, there was a party in progress in which the guest of honor was a young guy in full dress Marine uniform.

For our dinner we all ordered three appetizers or tapas. Tom and I leaned toward the exotic and seafood, Nancy looked for more traditional fare and Conni was true to her vegetarian tastes. The wait staff was outstanding! They were attentive without being obsequious. The young woman who was our waitress was genuinely friendly but none of the “Hi, I’m Peggy and I’m going to be your waitress”. Glasses were filled and refilled and used plates and silver were replaced with clean in a completely unobtrusive and seamless manner.

Tom and I could not agree on our favorite dish but agreed that it was either the shrimp and crab pot stickers or the broiled sea scallops on potato pan cakes. We both placed the calamari steak with hazelnuts a very close third.

Nancy placed the egg rolls with sweet and sour sauce in her number 1 position closely followed by the duck quesadilla. She and Conni both liked the kefir cheese and flat bread combination and Conni maintained that the tofu was as good as any she’s ever had. I was glad to hear that because now I know that I’m not a fan of even great tofu.

Tom picked up the tab and was pleased that 12 tapas and wine came in under $200. It was certainly one of the most memorable dinners Nancy and I have ever enjoyed. It capped off a fantastic day.

[The restaurant in La Jolla was Roppongi's, a pan-Asian/Asian fusion restaurant. See the above link]

Old Town, Coronado, and PB

Breakfast at Denny's is pretty much the same nationwide. But once you step outside the door after breakfast, then you know that you're not in Michigan anymore.

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is filled with historic buildings and displays of the way life used to be in southern California. We saw the McCoy House Interpretive Center, the Wells Fargo Historic building (Colorado House), the first Anglo school in San Diego (the Mason Street School), and the Casa de Estudillo - a reconstruction of a "middle class" Spanish home. (See above link)

There were several groups of school children visiting the park this morning. They were all very well behaved, and seemed to be attentive to the presenters. I was impressed with their behavior. At the school building, it was fun for me to watch the "teacher" explain the history of the school to the visiting kids. She was very good at her job, and the children were fascinated. The school was extremely small even for a one-room schoolhouse. We were surprised at how narrow the building was.

My other favorite was the Wells Fargo stagecoach in Colorado House. It was a big, beautiful coach painted bright red and yellow with the Wells Fargo logo on it. It was said to have carried a grand total of 18 people - nine inside and nine outside - but it didn't look possible! I enjoyed the Hints for Travelers immensely (spit to leeward).

Tom took us on another great tour of San Diego - we took the scenic route from Old Town to Coronado, through La Jolla. It's a perfectly beautiful day, and the drive was most enjoyable, especially with such a good chauffeur! Coronado Beach was gorgeous - Dick and Tom walked the beach but only came up with a couple of shells to keep. The new (to us) Coronado Bay Bridge is quite an experience. It's one of those flying bridges sort of like the Zilwaukee Bridge, but twice as high and three times as long. The view of Coronado Bay was spectacular.

Then Tom drove us to PB (Pacific Beach to those in the know). We sat and watched the surf pounding the shore, and joggers enjoying the beautiful surroundings. We parked right by Joe's Crab Shack, and so it seemed logical to eat lunch there. It was upstairs, so there was a great view of the ocean, sun, sand, and surf. It had plenty of local color and good food, a great combination.

At lunch Tom and I decided to go see Memoirs of a Geisha this evening. I don't mind at all seeing it for a second time! So we came home to take a nap, because certain people in this family tend to nod off in the evening without a nap. (!)

A lovely day...

Museum of Man

It's a beautiful day in San Diego! Balboa Park was on the schedule for today, and it was the perfect day for it. We started out at the Visitor Center, which turned out to be just a gift shop - I was disappointed. The Japanese Friendship Garden is just behind the Visitor Center - the bonsai was especially interesting and attractive. We found the Cymer, Inc. donor plaque - they've donated over $100,000!

My special desire for today was the Museum of Man, and there was no disappointment there. San Diego should be really proud of this museum and its great displays. The Pleistocene Era, the Mayans, Evolution, Primates, and the Kuna of Panama. My favorites were: the gigantopithecus blacki (for picture, see above link), the Mayan stela, and the fabric work of the Kuna - (it was indescribably fantastic.)

We ate lunch in the sculpture garden of the San Diego Art Museum. I've never had lunch at a place where you can eat outside on the grass and have chilled wine at the table. We didn't have the wine, but the two tables on each side of us did - the server came and added ice to the ice bucket during lunch. A new experience! There was also a Mobile sculpture at the side of the garden - we sat and watched it and watched it and it was fascinating.

After lunch we went across to the Reuben Fleet Museum of Science to watch IMAX. Before the show started, we all had a good time with the hands-on science displays. The movie was Mystic India. Very mystic indeed.

Back to Tom's house - take my shoes off - big glass of diet Pepsi - put my feet up - feel great - I love San Diego, I love Tom's place, and I can't wait for tomorrow!

**********

And here's Dick's version of our day:

Our first day at the Tom Steiger residence and we were greeted this morning by Conni before she had to get back to work. She told us of her planned trip to the Galapagos Islands later this spring. Tom took the day to escort us to Balboa Park. He dropped us off at the Visitors Center, (A gift shop with a small help desk attached) while he parked. We toured the Japanese Garden which is supported in part by Cymer. It was fun but we had to do a fast shuffle to get ahead of the guided tour.

After the Garden we went to the Museum of Man. It is a great display which currently features an extensive exhibit of evolution through the Pleistocene as well as an excellent series of exhibits on primate evolution. We also enjoyed an exhibit on the art/clothing of Panamanian Indians.

My favorite display was a modern shop tool cabinet with human tools from various epoch's. The tools ranged from a hammer and screw driver in the top drawer to assorted stone scrapers and hand axes in the bottom.

My favorite overheard comment was from a boy of about 10 who was with his mom. He was looking at a series of models on childbirth. Looking at the next to last, he was saying in a shocked and disbelieving voice, "You mean they grab the baby by his head and pull him out?"

We had lunch in the sculpture gardens. It is set up so that you order and pay and reeive a large number to place on the stand at what ever table you select. The staff brings the food to you. I don't know how they did it, perhaps it was chance, but the server, a different person than the order taker, brought out three different plates and set them in front of the proper customers.

Folowing lunch, we scouted out the miniature train, (closed, it looks like what the TC train could become at a different venue) and then visited the Science center and Imax theate Mystic India was a "documentary" of a young yogi of the 19th century.

California, Here We Come!

Today's entry has been written by my favorite guest author, Richard B.
Here is what Dick wrote:

After a long travel day, Tom picked us up at the San Diego air port at about 6 Wednesday evening.

It was a fairly typical day for airline hitch hikers (stand by passengers). Our flight from TC to Chicago was scheduled for a 9:30 departure but when we had freezing rain followed by 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow the day before, we knew there might be delays. Our plane was coming in from Marquette as the first flight always does in the winter. Its arrival kept getting pushed back until eventually, the empty aircraft pulled up to the gate at 11.

The flight to Chicago was quick and uneventful but we missed our connection at O'Hare and had to be rebooked on the next flight. That gave us 4 1/2 hours of book reading and people watching in the terminal as we made our way from gate G 12 to K15.
For once we were not the last standbys called for the San Diego flight, our seats were an aisle and a middle, over the wing on a Super 80. After buckling our belts and observing the flight attendant, we settled back to "enjoy" our flight to the coast.

My seat mate on each flight was a young man in the 18 - 21 age group and each was headed for his great adventure. Each is embarking on a journey of three months duration which will, at it's culmination, find them both in San Diego.
On the flight from TC to Chicago, I sat next to a young white kid from Leelanau County who is a student at MSU. This semester he is enrolled in a program through Pitt. that is college on a cruise ship. He is joining 700 other students plus faculty and crew. They sail from the Bahamas down to Brazil, thence to Capetown, on to India, Thailand, Japan, and then across the Pacific to San Diego. There are a variety of classes offered, this young man will be taking 12 credits.

On the flight from Chicago to San Diego, I sat next to a black kid from Chicago. He was fresh out of High School, the oldest child in the family. He was going to Camp Pendleton for three months of boot camp followed by a five year hitch in the Marines. He told me he was going to be placed in the Presidential security detail and therefore would not have to go to Iraq "or nothing' like that".

**********
Me again:

Tom drove us downtown to the GasLamp District looking for a place to have dinner. There were many lovely looking places to choose from. We went to Wyatt Earp's, which turned out to be a very posh gourmet type of a restaurant. We all ordered sea scallops, and everything was yummy.

Then we went to Tom's lovely home on Tivoli Park Row, and hopped right in to bed. We can unpack in the morning. (yawn)

The Sixties

This is Martin Luther King Day. Thinking about Rev. King and his untimely ending brings back a whole flood of memories of that dramatic decade of the sixties. Wow - what an intense decade! Our three children were all born in the sixties - and it seemed at the time to be kind of a dangerous world to introduce them to. There was the Cuban Missile Crisis, the three major assassinations - two Kennedys and a King, a couple of major race riots, the war in Viet Nam, Civil Rights, an end to segregation in the South, the Cold War, the Six Day War - it's an unending list of monumental events. The Manson Family, the space race, Woodstock - welcome to the world, kids! Things seem intense now in the 21st century but it will really have to go some to equal the sixties.

The race riot in Detroit seemed right next door to us - we lived in western Wayne County at the time. We heard rumors and innuendos, but there was a news blackout, and everyone was nervous. We saw dozens of State Police cars heading down the freeway towards Detroit, and couldn't imagine what was going on. I remember driving through downtown Ypsi and seeing large groups of people congregating on the corners, and it seemed so ominous because we were kept out of the loop.

See the link above for more about the sixties.

***************

We are both feeling better today. We actually got out of the house and did things, just like real people.

Dick went into the agency from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. to work at his volunteer position helping people with Medicare.

I went to visit Mom, and took in the new chest we bought to replace her chairside table. I lucked out and found a dolly waiting in the parking lot - it must have been predestined. So I borrowed it temporarily, and it made moving the thing upstairs unbelievably easy. Ah yes, homo sapiens, the tool user! Mother loves the chest - it fits right in with the decor, and it has drawers for extra storage.

At home, we are getting ready for our trip to San Diego on Wednesday. Our beds are changed, our laundry is totally done, and we are partially packed! I have lists of my lists - we'll only be gone for a week, but I don't want to forget anything! I'm taking my laptop and my new nano iPod - Tom is going to download more goodies into it.

Happy Martin Luther King Day

Thanks Mitchy

I came across this fascinating little device while reading Scribblings from the Mitchy Side, and I just stole it outright. Thanks, Mitchy - I've had a bunch of fun!
See the link above for Scribblings.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Nancy!

1. Europe is the only continent that lacks Nancy!
2. Some birds use Nancy to orientate themselves during migration.
3. Nancy will become gaseous if her temperature rises above -42°C!
4. Nancy can taste with her feet!
5. The state nickname of Iowa is 'The Nancy state'!
6. Contrary to popular belief, Nancy is not successful at sobering up a drunk person, and in many cases she may actually increase the adverse effects of alcohol.
7. Nancy kept at the window will keep vampires at bay.
8. While sleeping, fifteen percent of men snore, and ten percent grind their Nancy!
9. Snow White's coffin was made of Nancy.
10. The original nineteenth-century Coca-Cola formula contained Nancy.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Dick!

1. All shrimp are born as Dick, but gradually mature into females!
2. About one tenth of Dick is permanently covered in ice.
3. Dick kept at the window will keep vampires at bay.
4. Dick can't drink - he absorbs water from his surroundings by osmosis.
5. Dick is the sacred animal of Thailand.
6. In his entire life, Dick will produce only a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.
7. Dick has three eyelids.
8. Dick is the smallest of Jupiter's many moons.
9. A thimbleful of Dick would weigh over 100 million tons!
10. Scientists believe that Dick began billions of years ago as an enormous ball of dust and gas.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Friday the 13th For Sure

Dick came home from the Agency reporting that Coord 2 has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She will not be able to do office work for some time. She's expecting a regimen of chemo followed by surgery. We are wishing her the best as her treatment goes forward. Dick told her not to give it a second thought - her health has to come first. She's very dedicated, and I know she feels horrid about walking out at this point, but she has no choice.

Coord 1 is in Florida, so the MMAP office is woefully understaffed.

Dick thinks he may be coming down with whatever bug I have which is still making me feel ill. I hope not!

See the above link for interesting information about Friday the 13th.

Better Things Ahead

Here is the letter we got from Tom about our trip to San Diego next week. Now that's something to look forward to!!

TOM'S LETTER

My plan is to go in early on the 18th and work til about 1:00 then
come and get you and take the rest of the day off. That way I won't
get charged a vacation day. I'll take Thurs, Fri, and Monday as
vacation and leave you to your own devices on Tues. The Wednesday
you leave I'll just be a little late to work ... no big deal.

So the plan is shaping up like this: the Wednesday you arrive we'll
play by ear, although I'll be hungry so maybe we'll grab some lunch
downtown before heading up to my place.

Thursday and Friday we'll cover Balboa Park, Coronado, and Old Town
in whatever order our mood and/or the weather suggests.

Saturday morning I'll send you off on your Porsche tour and Conni
will join us by about lunch time. Then we'll do the Wild Animal Park
in the afternoon. Saturday night we have reservations at my favorite
restaurant (http://www.roppongiusa.com/).

Sunday mornings Conni usually goes to church and I usually go
mountain biking, so I don't really know what to do with you. Sunday
afternoon I thought we could do a little geocaching to show Conni
what that's all about.

I thought we'd do the whale watching on Monday since Conni will be
able to go and it's liable to be less crowded than on the weekend.

Tuesday I'm going back to work so you're on your own. Maybe more
geocaching. Or there's always Legoland :-)

Still feeling quite sick with no appetite. Dick has gone into the Agency for more overtime with Part D.

Warmed Over

The worst is over, but I've lost my voice, and I feel like death warmed over. This morning we took the Subaru in for repairs, and then headed right back home to the recliner. Slept fitfully - not happy and not able to talk. Not hungry - can't even think about food, which for me is a symptom of something majorly wrong.

In the afternoon I went with Dick to the Eye Center for his eye exam and new glasses. I sat in the waiting room and kind of faded in and out - still feel terrible. There was an obnoxious man in the waiting room using his cell phone seated right next to the sign that said "No cell phone use in the building". He was loud. It's really not fair, when I can't even squeak at the moment.

Still no appetite - can't even listen to food ads on TV or radio. Had some toast and tea, and Dick made some scrambled eggs around 8 p.m.

Woof Woof

Sick as a dog. In bed all day. Nausea and related gastro distress. Not good. Darn little bugs anyway.