#43 - A whole family again - July 15, 2012

I woke up early for a weekend today, put my stuff in the car, wrote a thank you note to my hosts, put the sheets and blanket they loaned me in the washer, and left to pick up Katrina and the kids. The drive was uneventful. I ended up at Aki’s place at 9, with a parking spot right in front of the front door. The day was hot and damp. At least 80 by 10am. We started carrying things downstairs about 10:30. We finished around noon, and around 90 degrees. We all worked together, and got the van loaded.

When Katrina took the other kids to Queens, Aria and I left for girls camp. The van was packed to the gills. Of course, as they’ve been here for 3 weeks, they’ve purchased some things they needed. So the van would be even more packed. But now we had Aria and me as well. I packed as tightly as I could, but I did not see a way for Katrina to come back with us. In the end, all of us hot, sweaty, tired, and whiny people piled in the van, and left Katrina in Queens to do the final clean up and chat with Aki.

Aria's shot of the Whitestone Bridge as
we crossed it.

We stopped somewhere for lunch, I don’t recall where, and hit the hotel at 2. Check in was at 3, and they were not ready for early checkins today. So we went to Consignment Monster and window shopped for a while. The store is a mix of retail Craigslist at high prices and discount mattresses. The store was in final liquidation, closing its doors forever. I pulled them out of the store at 3, and we went to check in.

A storm had rolled in as we drove and shopped, and now it was raining, thundering, and there was lightning. We got into the room, brought in backpacks and air beds, and settled in. The kids found the Disney Channel. And rain started to pour. It felt like a true tropical rainstorm. Beautiful. I found no one in the pool, but felt it unwise to get in with the lightning going on. But our room was on the inner courtyard, ringed by only hotel rooms and 1 entrance to the hotel lobby.

The kids had been locked up all day, and I needed to give them a chance to play. So I offered to go outside in the rain with anyone who wanted to go. Aria stayed inside, the rest of us went out. The rain poured down, the shelter leaked, the boys got soaked completely through their clothes. It was perfect.

Boys.  Completely soaked, having a tactical
conversation on the rules of chasing
each other.

We went back inside, got the kids changed into dry clothes, discussed dinner, and then I went to pick up Katrina from the 6:10 train. We called in Domino’s pasta and pizza, and ate together. It was a lovely day. We ended up in our crowded room, Katrina and I on one bed, the girls on another, and Jake and Christian on blow-up twins on the floor. It was wall-to-wall people.

Expecting to hear tomorrow that we can close on Wednesday.

#42 - Tiiiimmmmmbbeeeerrrrrrr!!! - July 14, 2012

[Once again, Blogger uploads these with the wrong orientation.  My apologies.]

I woke up this morning ready to go. I caught up on some blogging, and when I heard my landlord get up, I asked him about the plan for the tree for today. He said his friend would be over in a few minutes. I hung out a bit, we talked about stuff, and then we went in the back when Jerry showed up. The tree was a 40’ tall maple. About 4’ off the ground, it split into 3 trunks, 2 of them in his neighbor’s yard, and 1 that overhung his yard. Today’s task was to try to get the one that overhung his yard down into the yard. That was the goal. Anything beyond that would be gravy.

Jerry scoped the tree. It looked hard to get into, but we pulled the extension ladder out. At its full height, the ladder touched the trunk just a few feet below where it would make sense to stand and cut the upper branches down. Jerry climbed up, pronounced that it looked pretty easy from where he was, and asked for a chain saw. My friend held the ladder, and I carried a 2-ft chainsaw up the ladder. It was probably the most serious case of vertigo I’d had. The ladder was not convincingly against the tree, and I was acutely aware of the extra 35 lbs around my belly I carried as well as the chainsaw.

But I did it. I gave him the chainsaw and carefully went back down the ladder.

Once I was on the ground, Jerry fired up the chainsaw and started to cut. He is an artist with the chainsaw. He takes care of smaller branches to clear his way, then, like spreading frosting on a cake, he cuts the larger branches. He cut the upper branch from the bottom. We were worried it would hit the house. Because he cut a notch in the bottom first, the branch swung down instead of out, and missed the house by 5 or 10 feet.

In just a couple minutes he was done. The trunk rose 20’ in the air, but the top 20’ was in the yard. He had ridden the tree like a bull in a rodeo as it rose and bucked when the weight of the leafy branches fell off. He was “shaking like a leaf” he said. Standing up there with no rope or harness and a running chainsaw. It was one of the gutsiest things I’ve ever seen.

We tossed him up an extension cord. He tied the chainsaw to it and lowered it down. We reset the ladder to a more stable location and he climbed down, happy to be on the ground. A few minutes later, he cut a notch in the base of the trunk, and my friend and I ran for it. The trunk followed swiftly. Suddenly, we had a log instead of a tree.

I went into town and ran some errands in preparation for tomorrow (because I have to move out of the room in the morning, and go get my family in Queens), and when I got back some of the tree had been chopped up. For the rest of the day, off and on, we worked on the tree. I used the chainsaw a bit, he used it, we cut and hauled and stacked. Jerry came back eventually, after we had thought we were stuck because one chainsaw wouldn’t start and the other’s chain came off. He got the chain back on, and we went back to work, the three of us making solid progress. Soon enough, the work for the day was done. Wood needed to be hauled away, and some neighbors asked if he was giving it away. He said he was.

With that, the day was over. I did my last load of laundry at the house, packed up my suitcase, and headed off to dreamland. Tomorrow I bring my family home. We close on the house on Wednesday. The end of this road is almost here.

A friend's band was playing at a local restaurant, the Rambler's Rest.  Great venue, great food.  Good band.  I ate dinner, but I was beat.  I didn't stay long.  Here is Guy's Night Out (the name of the band). 

#41 - 2 more down - July 13, 2012

Today was a slow day at the office.  I finished all of my work, all of it, by noon, and spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what I could do that would be helpful.  I have a long list of things that need done, but I know that next week I'm in charge of production, and we're closing and moving.  So I don't want to get in the middle of something I can sustain.

BUT!!  Today was a big day for the house.  The survey came through this morning, so that is done.  I also got the oil tank documentation from the seller today, and sent that on to my lender.

I also got on email with our lender, and our attorney, and we all agreed on closing on Wednesday.  We all expect the last piece of paperwork to be done by then.  So we can close.  The day has been more a series of joyous texts, tweets, and phone calls than it has been about work.

And I forgot something I did last night.  Back in April, we got a cashier's check for earnest money on the house we ended up not buying.  The bank never cashed it, and according to our old attorney they sent it backto him.  But he never told us he got it, he hasn't mailed it to us.  He's just kept it.  Inexcusable.  So I went to the bank and asked them to put a stop payment on the check.  I love our local Chase branch.  They are awesome.  The teller who was helping me worked me through the issue for nearly an hour, and promised she'd finish it today and call me.  She called me today at 11.  The check has been out for nearly 90 days, and once it reaches 90 days, we can claim a "not used as intended" thing, and the bank will give me my money, and I can deposit it.  I've very excited to have that chapter completed as well.  So next Friday I can do that, but I'll probably wait until Monday because we're moving in on Friday!!

I stopped by Namco after work today, and was happy to see 50% off on patio furniture.  There is a definite advantage to moving in the middle of summer.  There is also a consginment funiture store going out of business.  So that may be helpful. 

I came home to an empty house, blogged for a while, and then got hungry.  There were leftovers in the fridge, so I had dinner and then sat down to blog some more.  And I'm all caught up again!

Whew!  Here's to hoping I don't get behind like that again.  That was too much work.  And not enough photos.  Sorry, mom.  Katrina has the kids now anyway, so I don't have any cute pics to share.

So to recap:
There is 1 document left to close, and it is not our responsibility to provide.  It will probably be done on Monday.
We are closing on Wednesday unless the title doesn't come through.
Movers are confirmed for Thu-Fri next week
Tomorrow I clean out the van and pack up all my stuff from the room I've been in.  Sunday morning I go get the family, we spend 3 nights in a hotel, and then we're going to be HOME!!!

#40 - Tenterhooks - July 12, 2012

Today was at last a well-rested day at the office, and I was able to think for a while.  It's quite nice, that sometimes I can just think about things at work and at home while at the office, and do a little writing.

We made no progress on the house today at all, but we did finally make concrete plans for Katrina and the kids to come back upstate on Sunday.  I'll go get them Sunday morning, and leave Katrina in the city.  She'll catch a train later in the day, after finishing clean up at Aki's.  I'll meander North with the kids, and we'll end up at a hotel somewhere.  I don't know where yet.  We're still waiting for a response back from the seller on us staying at the house next week.

We did set up a final walkthrough for Monday evening, but that's all really.

After work, I went to the house to see what was going on.  The dumpster out front is overflowing, but the oil tank looks much better than I expected.  There is no hole - they must have filled it.  But they also must have used a large piece of equipment on tracks, because there is a path through the trees where the vegetation is completely crushed and dead.  And the meadow is a little muddy.  But the garage is mostly empty, and the sun porch is empty.  I wanted so badly to go inside, but I didn't know if someone might be there. 

So I took a couple pictures, sent them to Katrina, and we talked for a few minutes.  Then I drove to the mall to kill some time.  I went to Best Buy and Old Navy, and I found that a lot of manufacturers are now selling passive 3D TVs.  So now I'm more entused about it.  I think we'll see 3D TVs come down another 20-30% by Christmas.  I've been waiting for 3D for a couple years, and it looks like it's finally time.  We got a Blu-Ray player less than a year ago.  Not that we've ever watched anything in HD on it, but we could.  I'm still not sure that was a good purchase, but we'll find out soon enough.

So still waiting for 3 things for the house.  Waiting.

#39 - The anticlimactic climax + drinking! - July 11, 2012

Today I met a guy 3 levels above me who used to work with a guy I hired 6 years ago.  Weird how many people get recycled in this small industry, a different company and most of a continent away.

I had a meeting with the guy, and the phone started to ring.  House progress!!   Finally!!!  It was my attorney.  The title had come back.  It was 5 days earlier than I had expected it.  There were a few problems with it that the seller needed to fix, but the report was back.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  Then the seller called me.  The oil tank was out and done.  She said she'd have the receipt to me later today.

She still hasn't sent it.  But I believe I'll get it soon.  So we are working on 4 things:
Survey - due Friday
Title - modifications due tomorrow according to my attorney
Oil tank paperwork - the seller will send that over soon, not sure when
Motorhome proof of ownership.

I called the DMV again today.  This time the operator checked the file and confirmed that it had been processed, and went out snail mail Tuesday morning.

Then I went to our monthly customer meeting.  It was exceedingly easy - I'm more comfortable there.  I feel like I belong, and I haven't felt that before.  It was nice to be the guy doing the thing, and for my boss to just sit there and watch.  My comanager does most of the presentation.  He is very good at the details needed to pull it together.  He's actually encyclopedic in how much he studies and retains from day-to-day operations.  I don't know that I'll ever be able to be quite so sure of myself going through specific technical issues as he is.  But we had a cordial conversation, asked each other for help, and adjourned.  We spend at least 40 hours a month preparing for this meeting.  Maybe more.  And when things are going well, the meeting seems very much not worth it.

And at a certain level, the meeting is not.  But the prep we put into the meeting impacts all the other things we do, and when we do well at everything else, the meeting is easy.

After the meeting, I noticed a sign on the FAX machine: broken.  Then I noticed a recent FAX that had Oregon DMV along the top.  It was the first 4 pages of the 35-page report I ordered.  I immediately took pictures of it, put them in a PDF and sent it to my lender.

Half an hour later, I got an email back:
"you are cleared to close"

Hallelujah!   Now we just need 3 things:
clear title,
survey
oil tank docs.

I sent the email confirmation to the seller right away, so she would understand that the ball was solidly in her court. I also sent her a note asking if we could stay in the house for a couple nights before closing.

No response yet.  Hopeful that tomorrow brings more good news.

After the work day, the management team went out to dinner.  It was a good place - a mix of Japanese and Korean, good food, and lots of it.  The team is lots of fun, positive, experienced.  Much of the humor belongs in an R-rated movie more than the dinner table, so I'm pretty reserved, but it is what it is.  Everybody recognizes what my standards are, so I don't have any alcohol pressure, and nobody drank anything but beer.  That's a first for a business dinner.  Nobody got drunk, and that was excellent.  We finished about 10, and I came home and crashed.

A good and fulfilling day.

#38 - My last late night this week - July 10, 2012

Some thing today.  I got home around 1am, went to sleep, and woke up too early.  I couldn't make myself work on work stuff until I hit the office just before 11, and then I had a marathon from 11-5 of no breaks.  I had 20 minutes to go get a sandwich, but it sat for half an hour before I could touch it because I had to finish up my data.

I had a nice chat with HR about some things I was curious about, and then my regular work day was done.  I was exhausted.  But I had to go back in to work from 9-midnight again.  I met with some of our newer employees for the first time.  I spent an hour with one of them, and 2 hours with the other.  Really impressive people.  I feel privileged to have them on my team.

After the meetings, I had to stop by the office and finish my work on the presentation for tomorrow's meeting.

So I got home at 1:30am and went to sleep.

The last few days have just left me no time to think, relax, or otherwise work on the housing stuff either.  I did call the DMV to see what was happening with my records, and the guy told me to wait, and that there was no way to track it.  Patience, Tommy.  Patience.

#37 - A career of talking - July 9, 2012

Today's schedule was all locked into work.  I slept until 7 or so, then I woke up and couldn't sleep any more.  I got up, got ready, and hit the office about 9.  I usually hit the office about 9 when I don't have to deal with production equipment, so the fact that I was at work until after midnight was frustrating for me.  I had intended to put in a normal 8 hours but be on a weird schedule.  Instead I was in at a regular time.

So I decided to work on some personal finance at the office.  It worked out all right.  I built a spreadsheet for our finances to help me track things and understand them better.  I haven't been in charge of our financial data for a dozen years, but that has changed, so now I get to make sense of it and see what our opportunities are.  Things will calm down once we are living in a home again, and I'll end up watching the data until the end of the year, and then I'll be able to start making changes. 

I sat at my desk almost all day, sorting through various issues, and trying to make progress on some financial analysis for work.  But I left the office without having made much progress.  I got home, and my hosts made a salad for dinner, and that was great.  I hung out for a bit, and then it was back to the fab for another round of meetings.

All I've done is talk.  Granted, it's important talk.  What's more important than finally getting to know your team, set goals, and find out what their goals are and what they need from you to move forward?  Not much if you're a manager worth your salt.  I intend to be worth a little more than my weight in Morton's. 

The UPS package with my request for the motorhome records arrived on Friday.  No FAX yet.  I'll have to call the DMV tomorrow.

Random pic for the day: this pic actually came from later in the week (I'm in catch up mode tonight) but I couldn't hold out any more.  This was just too good.  I think Jakers may think that 2 sets of glasses are funnier than 1 set.

But really, what message does this send our kids?  That glasses, big noses, and mustaches are funny.  What a terrible thing to burden them with!  Jakers makes a good Groucho, though.

#36 - A muddled inflection point - July 8, 2012

I had bought ingredients for mom's "egg stuff" recipe yesterday, so this morning when I woke up I had work to do.  I got up at 6, cut up and fried zucchini and onions, and put the quiche together and put it in the oven.  When I had finished, I went into the sleeping room.  Katrina had me turn off the alarm, let the kids sleep, and we talked for about 3 hours.

It was probably the most important discussion we've ever had.  I think we both learned a lot, and we kinda decided together that Katrina was going to go back to school.  So come this fall, the kids and I will take care of the house and each other.  I agreed to take over bills and other paperwork.  Katrina wll be able to focus on school.  Starting now lets her finish before Aria hits 11th grade, so it's not great timing, but it's certainly not bad, either. 

I ignored the stuff I had baking.  Katrina finally asked if it was all right.  It was very brown but not black.  We ate it anyway.  We had already missed church, so we hung around for a while.  We talked in the kitchen, did dishes, I set up the Wii, and Katrina mentioned that she wanted me to drive the van home.  So that changed my plans, and I left about 1.

I got out of the city with only 1 wrong turn (because I had 2 split-second decisions to make, and the GPS didn't mention either of them) and got home about 3:30.  I parked the van in the neighborhood where I'm staying and walked the 2 or so miles to the train station to pick up Gortja.  No tickets, very handy.

I hung out with my hosts for an hour, and went in to work at 6.  I met with some of my team from 9-midnight, came home, and went to sleep at 1.  An odd day.  Not sure what else to say about it.

#35 - An exercise in futility - July 7, 2012

Today we slept late and hung around for a while.  I stepped out to get groceries and pick up Aria's dress from the dry cleaner.  We left Aki's place at 3:30 or so and took the train to the Transportation Museum.  We got there at 4:36.  It closed at 5.  We decided against going inside.

So we went to Wendy's instead and got Frostys.  Then we had to figure out what to do with out evening.  As we wandered to a train station, I saw the Manhattan Bridge in the distance.  I thought it was the Brooklyn Bridge, and convinced the family to go a little closer.  So we got on the pedestrian walkway and walked for a bit.  It was hot.  And about everybody was tired.  So after we turned the corner and could actually see the Brooklyn Bridge, we turned around.  There is a park with a ground fountain at the High Street station, so we went there and the kids got soaking wet and had a ball.  We got them out of the water eventually and gave them about half an hour to dry before heading home.

We got to Astoria-Ditmars about 8, and went to dinner at Los Amigos again.

Then home to sleep.  It was not a very eventful day.  But I'm very glad that we went to a park.  The kids were just itching to run for a while, and it was very nice to see them get to do that. 

#35 - Closer and closer - July 6, 2012

I got to the office this morning at 5 to find the lights off, the alarm screaming about a loss of AC power, and the breaker box ok.  The email server was running, so I sent a quick email off to some people who may know what to do about it, and went into the factory to start my day. 

Nothing major in the fab in the morning, and I went back to the office to find the power still out.  An hour later, I heard an explosion.  And the rest of the lights went out.  No power, no AC, no water (the building is on a well), no email, and no internet.  Not much I could do.  So, like the rest of the office, I went home to work.  I got a bunch of stuff done there, and also set up electrical and garbage service for the house, paid our last bill from our Oregon house, and confirmed that a couple more things had been reviewed by the lender and approved. 

Just a couple things left - a survey, the title, a receipt for some work the sellers are doing, and a title report for the sale of our motorhome.  The hard copy of the title report request arrived UPS today (I checked it), so I expect to have the report in hand on Monday after it is FAXed to the office. 

That's it.  And then we can close.  And this interminable wait and limbo-ness will be over.  It has been stressful being a nomad.  For me, sure, but more so for Katrina and the kids.  I've had 1 thing constant since I arrived here: I work M-F.  They have been switching lives every couple months, from suburban Oregon, to hotel in rural NY, to urban NY.  In school, out of school, in school, out of school.  The pressure of having to constantly readjust to new surroundings (where is the grocery store?  Where is the bank?  Where can we go for fun?) is steady.  After so long on the road, it seems that everyone has become accustomed to it.  It's no longer a big deal for us all to sleep in the same room or to live in very close proximity.  We're all used to minimal privacy at this point.

I think the only thing I have left to arrange to move in to the house is for oil.  Hot water is necessary.  I really think that's it.  And I have to make sure that we close before July 19th.  We need to own the house before we move in.

I stopped the work stuff at 3, packed for the weekend, went to McDonald's for lunch, and caught the 4pm train out of New Hamburg.  After catching the express subway out of Grand Central by mistake, I met up with Katrina and the kids at 103rd St.  She's been taking them to different parks inside Central Park this week, and today's plan was to go to the Tarr Family Playground.  It was cool. 

After the playground, we chased fireflies (we all caught at least 1) and got home just before 10.

Here are some pictures.

"The Lake"  We saw a turtle in the water and some frogs
and dragonflies. 

"You see, dad, when I put on my glasses I can stare
in the water and it doesn't get in my eyes!"

Aria spent most of the time chilling with the parentals.
She ran around with the other kids for the last 45 minutes or so.
Aria is in the space where she wants to run and play
and also wants to sit and talk.  Choosing which
place she wants to be in is a constant choice for her.

This pyramid has a tunnel underneath that feeds a ladder
to the top.  Christian spent most of his time on or around
this concrete cone.

Liberty found a place to kick off her sandals,
shoes, and pants.  And then the ran to climb
this thing.  She got up to the top of it with
some teenage boys, and I got this shot as she
came down.

#34 - A Second Monday - July 5, 2012

Today was Thursday, of course.  And a work day, of course.  So after paying no attention to work at all yesterday, I found myself having to catch up again.  On the bright side, both the customer and us have a ton of people on vacation.  So after a couple hours of the normal routine, I was able to hunker down and work on something that has been on my to-do list for a few months.  My boss was going to teach me how to do it, but she had to take off for something urgent.

So I told her I would give it a go and send it to her later.  It took me most of the day, but at the end I had a good product and I sent it out.  I also met with my banker.  There was a mix up of some retirement funds, and she helped me fix it. 

Then I went home.  I read a little of Time.  There was a good article on the military's power in Egypt, despite the recent election of Egypt's first president.  The family was still gone at 8, so I went to my room and conked out.  I slept well.

Random pic for today is from earlier in the week.  I had occasion to go to dowtown Wappinger's Falls.  Like New Paltz, it's pretty, old, and quaint.  As far as weird public works projects goes, I think this is my winner.  I don't know what the pipe is for, but it sure is large.  It goes along Wappinger's Creek, then crosses at the bridge, then crosses Wappinger's creek again.  The creek is beautiful, by the way.

#33 - Independence Day - July 4, 2012

My steed for the day.

Today I slept in as long as I could, caught up on the blog, and got ready for my ride today.  I checked maps, and it looked like my route would be 60-70 miles.  Hard to say exactly.  I mounted the pump and water bottle cage I bought on the bike, pumped up the tires, got my food together, put the bike in Gortja and left the house about 10:30.  I had to stop at the storage unit for some supplies, and then at the office to fill the water bottles.

The Dutchess County Rail Trail looks like this
for nearly 16 miles.

I finally hit the Hopewell Junction end of the rail trail at 11:20, and at 11:30 I rode away.  The maps show an uninterrupted trail for 20 miles, from a little town, over the Walkway Over the Hudson state park, and then continuing West.  The trail is broken in 2 significant spots that I had to find my way around.  The non-broken parts are very pretty.  But not very scenic, as the scenery doesn't change. 

The ride over the Hudson was no problem.  It's always pretty, but I'm used to it now.  I took my first break and watered up at the Highland stop.  There was a nice restroom there, running water.  I drained my bottles, rinsed off the sweat, refilled them, hit the restroom, and got back on the road.

The rail trail ends about 3 miles West of the Hudson, and you find yourself on Hwy 299.  It has an exceptionally wide shoulder for out here, and is a comfortable, flat ride.  It takes you over I-87 and right into the town of New Paltz.  There's a university campus there, and the downtown is a little of what you'd expect: reasonably prices eateries mixed with art shops and antique shops.  Very nice, very old, really cute.  I'd like to actually spend some time there sometime.

Just before the bridge over the Shawanagunk River, you take a left to hit the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail.  It's hard packed gravel.  Not terrible to ride on, but not nearly as nice as the pavement I was spoiled with before.  This is about 22 miles in.  Once you get on it, it's very consistent, but is more scenic than the East side.  Here are a few pictures from the trail.

Most of the trail looks like this around 12:30 on a summer day.

With the occasional bridge over a creek or road.

What can you say?  Looking West from the trail.
Those are the Shawanagunk Mountains.

You pass through some nice farms and orchards along the way as well.

I got to my expected destination, a little town called Gardiner, about 2:00.  Pretty good time.  I was happy with it.  I was also tired, and ready to turn around.  The town was mostly shut down for the 4th of July, so I fished my lunch out of my back pocket (literally).  Apricots, a Clif bar, water, and watered-down Kool Aid.  It was a little lighter than I like to go for a ride like this one, but I was limited with storage space.  My jersey had 1 pocket for water, 1 for ID and equipment, and 1 for food.  I checked in with Katrina, and then noticed that a cute store across the street was open.  When I had finished, I went inside, looked around, and filled my water bottles. 

Then it was time to get back on the road.  The trail back looked exactly the same as the trail coming.  I had to consult the map less, and it seemed I was back in New Paltz in no time at all.  The ride down 299 was easy, and I was over the Hudson again around 4, which was my goal when I had started out the morning.  The Walkway is evidently a great place to watch fireworks.  They sell tickets to it, though, and the gates were going to close to people like me at 5:30.  I made it with plenty of time.  Because there is no dirt under it to keep it cool, and no shade at all, the deck gets pretty hot.

By this time in the ride, I know I'm about 15 miles to go, and I'm ready.  I had refilled water again at Highland, but wishing I had drunk a bit more there.  I'm tired, strarting to get a little sore, and would love to take a long break in the shade.  But it's 90 degrees out, so even a break won't be very comforting.  I'm very glad now that I didn't go for a longer ride today.  Without a formal lunch in between, a longer ride woud have been more difficult. 

As a warning to cyclists, everywhere, these signs are posted about every half mile along the trail.  It seems that alert pedestrians pass slowly.  Sleepy pedestrians must pass quickly.  No pedestrians passed me, however, so I didn't experience either of those things.

With 10 miles to go, I ran completely out of gas.  I had nothing but straight pathway in front of me, and I had water and food at the end.  So I mixed up another bottle of Kool-Aid, drained my last water, and started cranking pedals. 

At times like this, I'm glad I've bonked before.  I know exactly how it feels to have low blood sugar during an exercise like this.  The Kool-Aid and water gave my rational mind some peace, and I rode.  Slowly but steadily, seeing the miles chug.  At 6 miles to go, I could feel the Kool-Aid had kicked in, and I had energy in my tired legs.  It lasted for 20 minutes or so, and I slogged out the last 2 miles, knowing it was only a few more minutes to go.

In the end, it was a good ride.  Enjoyable, very taxing, very educational.  Most of the things a ride on a free day like today should be.

I drove home, rinsed my head, changed clothes, and went out to a buffet to eat.  I ate a lot.  It was good. 

Then I went home again, spent some time chatting with people, and then I went to my room and slept.  I heard some fireworks, but it is illegal to buy, possess, or sell fireworks at all in New York, so the neighborhoods are much quieter than in Oregon.  Rather nice, actually.

I enjoyed my Independence Day immensely.  Independent.  And working hard.

#32 - Are we there yet? - July 3, 2012

Today was another productive but shorter day at work.  Nothing special really, except that there was so little going on.  I worked on scheduling.  And I got an email back from the lender.  They needed a "transfer of title" for the motorhome.

Argh.  I had already given them a billl of sale, an insurance card, and a cancelled check showing the motorhome sale transaction.  All this was not enough.  I asked 2 weeks ago what exact paperwork they needed.  The person handling the transaction is completely incompetent.  My loan officer is great, and I think the underwriter is ok, too.  But the person gathering information and being the go-between is a poor communicator and very inefficient. 

So I went to the Oregon DMV web site.  It was pretty much down or broken, depending on which page you needed.  I had no luck at all finding what I needed to find.  Not even a phone number to call.  Nothing.  Next was a Google search for Oregon DMV phone, which gave me a number.  I called it, and a very pleasant woman answered the phone.  I explained my situation, she gave me some information, then went to ask someone else about a certain detail or another certain detail.  She explained the entire process very simply and clearly, gave me the number of the form, and was worried that the fee I might have to pay would be too high. 

I read back the record ordering process as she had explained it to me, assured her that the $22.50 fee was minor in my quest to buy a house, and thanked her for being so helpful.  It was my very first pleasant interaction at a DMV in 22 years of driving.  I downloaded the form (the web site was down, but a Google search let me get past the broken parts to download it), filled it out, and went off to get send it before the holiday.  Shop Rite does not do money orders (I don't have checks with me), so I had to drive to Walmart next.  That was pretty nice, as well.  I got the money order and headed to the UPS store.  I got the form and money order sent 2nd day.  Total cost to get a single piece of paper: $52 + gas.  But it's done.

I also got our mail.  It had been a while and the box was stuffed.  I need to go down there more often. 

So I think that's the last piece of financial stuff they need from us.  Still waiting for the underwriter to confirm the appraisal, and I haven't heard back yet on another deposit they needed to document.  I called my attorney's office to follow up on the survey and title.  That is starting move, finally. 

I also stopped by the house yesterday.  The garage is filled with stuff, and the house is mostly empty. 

After work, I had to go shopping.  I plan a long bike ride tomorrow, but Tim's bike is not set up for it.  So I bought a frame pump, a water bottle cage, a spare water bottle, some bananas, a spare tube and tire levers, and came home to an empty house.  I cooked up some dinner - Caribbean rice, to which I added hot Italian suasage, fried bananas, and chopped apricots.  It was excellent.  Except for the apricots.  They really were incongruous with the rest of the subdued flavors in the meal. 

Also, in the mail: Aria's report card.  She earned high honor roll, which is the equivalant of a 3.5/3.75 GPA.  Her art teacher says she should pursue further enrichment.  My daughter has talent as a visual artist!  The first ever in my family. 

I don't know why Blogger rotated these pictures, but they are both supposed to be 90 deg counterclockwise from how they posted.   I checked the original files.

#31 - Life is Work - July 2, 2012

Today I woke up at 4, hit the office at 5, and didn't leave until after 7.  I got a ton done.  It was a very productive day.  And I spent about 5 hours of it in the fab with my team, which was nice.  It turns out that spending time in the fab is absolutely the right thing to do.  Every time I go in, the team makes comments that they appreciate that I am there.  And they have noticed that my comanager is in there more as well. 

I hit Wendy's for dinner and went home.  Then I had to do laundry. 

You don't think of laundry as a blessing.  It's really a chore.  But tonight it was a blessing.  For one, I was completely out of clean pants.  And underwear.  And I didn't have to pay for it!  I used the house's washer and dryer.  Put it in, put in the soap packet, "look ma!  No quarters!", turned it on, and went upstairs to chat.  Went down half an hour later to put them in the dryer.  45 minutes of chatting later, I got my clothes out, folded them in 3 minutes, and went to bed. 

It really was a long day. 

Random pic of the day:

This is the 50th st subway station.  I have been noticing lines and taking pictures of lines when I see them.  The support columns in the middle of the tracks that allow this tunnel to be so wide provide a nice perspective vs the straight yellow line in the offset-right of the frame.   This is the uptown-bound side.  The downtown trains are way off to the left.  The middle set of tracks is for express trains that bypass this station entirely. 

#30 - Improv in the park - July 1, 2012

Katrina's Facebook is a much better photo resource than this blog is, in general.  She posts most days, and she posts more pics.  I write more, and mine stay chronological, so that's my gig, I s'pose.

I slept like a rock last night.  The night before, we had left the AC on and we both froze with 1 small and thin blanket to share.  Last night, Libby went looking for blankets and found a sleeping bag.  2 toasty parents who didn't have to wake up to shut off the AC were very happy. 



Us on the way to church.  Aria's dress was still at the
cleaner's, so she went casual.



Morning came too quickly.  The extra-long church commute meant we had to get up at 6:30 instead of 7.  The preparation for church keeps getting easier.  Jacob needs to be reminded fewer times to get dressed, puts his shoes on the right feet, and wear his pants front-side forward.  Christian has learned to do an excellent job with his hair.  Not a style I like, but certainly a style that he chose and maintains.  Which beats the "I just woke up.  Can't you tell?" look that he's been sporting for a few years.

The girls are on 95% auto-pilot, with just a little hair touch-up before heading out the door.  We left at 8:30, plenty of time according to Google Maps, which does not realize that you may have to wait 15 minutes for your train to leave. 

But the ride was fine - we transferred at Time's Square, hopped on the 3, realized it was an express, hopped off at the next stop, and rode the 1 to 66th st, Lincoln Center.  The church is right there.  We sat in the foyer, because we were half an hour late.  Church was cool - it's built to accomodate visitors.  About half the people there were visitors.  Consistent in all the kids' classes, Relief Society, and Elder's Quorum.  Nobody seems to mind, the ward is just generally supportive and ready for visitors. 

After the block, we walked to Central Park.  It is hard to grasp the scope of Central Park.  It is massive.  It is a planned, designed wilderness area with cafes and drinking fountains.  It has dozens of playgrounds and parks, none of them visible from another one, massive open fields for picnics and sunbathing, cricket wickets, horshoes pins, jogging paths.  It does not fit the definition of a city park as I have come to understand it.  It's completely different. 

Today, for instance, we walked for a bit.  The kids wanted to play on a rock formation they had played on before because they knew it was fun.  We almost gave in, and then saw a wedding taking place on the top of the rock.  So we sat on some benches, watching some guys playing catch with a softball while Jake chased pigeons.

When we had relaxed a bit, we went off in search of a fun place to play.  We wandered.  We did not know where we were going.  We knew we were heading East (the church is on the West side of the park) because we could hear traffic.  We walked under a bridge and found a rock formation that looked like fun for the kids.  They usually play Agent Zero (in homage to a little part of a video game we all like) or Star Wars.  Then Jake separated himself from the group and tried to slide down the rocks.  It was pretty smooth.  And a pretty good slide.  So he did it again.  Then Libby noticed and she started sliding. 

Christian had been standing in the path of the sliding, and I had to tell him to move a few times.  And then he realized that it might be fun and went up to try it.  After a couple tries, he came down to the day bag looking for something to slide on.  No luck.  He found a trashed water bottle and decided to try it.  It worked perfectly.  Much faster, and he went further down the rock. 

While they slid, I found a nearby water fountain (the rock is with sight of the Dairy visitor center) and got water.  It was 90 degrees, and water was a primary concern for all of us.  As the kids are sliding, another family comes by and the kids see that sliding is fun.  So they join in for a few minutes.  Dad, at least, is from another country, somewhere German-ish by his accent.  They leave, and shortly after it is time for us, too, to move on.  Katrina has found a cool-looking park on the map she bought, and the plan is to go play there, we'll go to the subway station together where I'll see them off, and I'll head to Grand Central to go home. 

On the way, I'm bring up the rear and am stopped by a tourist.  She is from Salt Lake, and is wondering where the zoo is.  I show her my best guess with my phone, tell her that church is nice here, and move on.  Hard to settle into the role of a local.  But I suppose when you're from Utah, that anyone who lives in NY must be a local.  I certainly would have thought that before a month or 2 ago. 

We ended up at the park Katrina had picked out.  It was heaven on a day like today.  Dual spraying water features, a water fountain, sand, a stone pyramid and a rope pyramid to climb on.  We walked into the park and didn't see Libby up close for half an hour.  It's fully fenced, largely shaded by 50-foot trees, and benches line the inside of the fence. 

The boys had squirt guns and a grand old time shooting each other and running around.  Jake needed the "if you squirt someone, he's going to squirt you back.  You can't be mad about it.  That's how you play the game."  talk again.  He relaxed and had fun after that. 

The playing lasted another hour or so.  Katrina had a crappy experience with a pigeon.  I have photos but alas, cannot share them on a semi-public forum.  Pretty funny, and she took it with grace. 

We all got drinks and dressed and walked out of the East side of Central Park to 5th Avenue.  Yep, that one.  The one named in the candy bar, the one that comes after Saks.  Eventually the feeling of wonder will subside, but for now NYC is still extremely surreal.  We headed downtown to Columbus Circle, and I dropped the family off.  As they descended into the subway and I walked back up into the sun, I wondered for a moment just what I was going to day at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon in the city.

I elected to do the kind of thing I usually do when I have free time and no family to watch after.  I did something nobody would want to do with me: walk a mile or so in the heat from Central Park to Grand Central, just to see what was there.  I had walked Madison Ave for 15 blocks on Friday.  I thought 5th Ave might be similar.  Nope.  5th Ave is a temple to materialistic hedonism.  The first half mile from 59th st to 50th st is crawling with tourists.  Up to the eyeballs with tourists.  I've been one of those tourists.  Now I see that experience with different eyes. 

The store fronts are gorgeous - Abercrombie is fronted by 2 shirtless lifeguards, hanging out with sunglasses on and whistles on their necks.  Dolce and Gabbana, Saks, Tourneau, Gucci, Coach, hundreds of high-end brands I had never heard of lined the streets for half a mile.  My thoughts: Yuck.  And This is what other cities try to emulate when they say "great shopping"?  That's why I had those places!

And when I felt hemmed in by both the crowds, the billboards, and the buildings, across the street was a construction zone.  That's an old building.  That's a church!  And there's a sign that says it's open.

I crossed the street and walked into St Patrick's.  Alec Baldwin had gotten married there the day before.  Today it was mostly empty.  Beautiful.  And refreshingly cool.  And calm.  And dark.  I was tired, sweaty, and overdosed with commercialism.  I sat in a pew at the back, watching the vibe of the place.  The worshippers meditating, the flash of tourist photos, candles burning in the saints' chapels off to the side, the stained glass so high up you can't tell what it is, but you assume it's beautiful because of the brigthness of the colors.  I sat with a devotional book and read the devotional for today and tomorrow, drinking in some of the historical monumentousness that belongs to Roman Catholicism.  I then opened up my phone, went to the church's web site and read about its history.

A church service started up, out of nowhere.  The sign out front has said the last service was at 11am on Sundays, and it was manifestly past that.  The service was in Spanish.  There was some music - an arrangement of "Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning".  Ironic, that.  I didn't know the lyrics being sung, but the tune and chord progression was unmistakeable.  Maybe it's our hymnal version that's ironic in the end.

I was refreshed.  I had decided to not do the full walk around the pulpit, but I noticed lots of other people doing it, so I put the backpack back on and started walking, enjoying the art and the music.  I reluctantly left the church behind.  I needed to get home.  The tourists had either thinned out because of the heat or time of day or area, and my progress to midtown went faster than before.  I saw the terminal building and contemplated eating lunch.  Again, the phone.  My train was due to leave in 6 minutes.  They only leave hourly.  This was my chance.  I picked up the pace, for once not stopping to enjoy Grand Central.  I was all business, finding my track, hopping in the 2nd car about a minute before it left the station. 

The rest of the day was uneventful - a train ride home, filled with Yankee fans.  A short drive, and a night of little sleep as I had to turn off the AC unit in my window before I slept.  The unit is tipped back to the inside a little, and condensation drips into the room.  The mug that I had placed under it would have overflowed, and that wouldn't have been nice, so I turned it off and slept fitfully.

#29 - We're locals. In Queens. - June 30, 2012

Today I woke up early, and caught up blog entries for the past few days, did some TV shopping on line, and generally hung around until Jake woke up.  I was sitting in the kitchen and heard voices in the living room.  Jake had crawled into bed with Katrina.  We spent a few minutes in there joking with each other. 

The other kids woke up one by one.  We discussed our plan for the day - get breakfast, go to the huge pool at Astoria Park, chill out at home, then go get Mexican food for dinner.  We left about 10:30, in our swimsuits, ready to go.  The morning was already hot.  The kids all did really well with the 3/4 mile walk.  The pool is massive - 4 Olympic-size pools put together, and has a capacity of 3,000 people at once.  The line to get in is impressive.  We waited for 10 minutes to get in, while I bought a couple of padlocks.  Then we split - Aria and Libby went into the locker room, I took the boys.  We put our stuff in a locker, got the boys in the cold shower.  Jake was very reluctant, but eventually he did it. 

We went out, to get into this lake of Caribbean-blue water.  The bottom is exactly right - not rough enough to hurt, not so smooth that you'll fall.  It's a very pale blue.  It's perfect temperature as well.  A little cold for the kids, but perfect for me on a 90 degree day.  I told the boys to stay in a large rectangular roped-off area, and went to find the girls.  I waited for 10 or 15 minutes, and then went to ask security to check on them.  They came back to tell me the girls weren't in there.  And then Aria comes walking up to me.  She had had trouble with her lock. 

We got that sorted out, and swam and played for a good while, then we got out and waited for Katrina in the viewing area.  Aria and Christian and I played a word game; Libby and Jake played something else nicely together.  It was relaxing and nice for a while.  And then we got antsy.  And then we went out to find Katrina.  I didn't think I could leave my wallet and cell phone inside the locker room, so I gave them to her.  And I wasn't clear on where we were going to meet.  So I decided, without any money or any way to contact her, that we'd take a guess and go to Aki's.  If she wasn't there, then we would ask somebody with a cell phone.  As we walked along the pathway in the park, Libby piped up: "I know where mom is!  She's in a playground!"  I thought she might be right.  So we all went down to try to find her.  No luck.

So we walked to Aki's.  No answer.  No landlady to let us in.  We're all hungry, tired, and thirsty.  It is time for plan C.  I woman walks by with her teenage son.  I explain that my wife has my cell and wallet, and ask if I can use her phone to call my wife.  She asks if it's a local number, and I tell her it is.  She lets me us her phone.

Katrina is still at the playground (Libby is a genius!), but she says she'll come and meet us.  I thank the woman and return her phone. 

Katrina had been laying down.  We didn't check the benches that closely.  We had lunch, and vegged and napped and put together puzzles until 6, then we went to Los Amigos for dinner, right at the subway stop.  Great food. 

Then a stop at the grocery store, then home, and bed.  Sweet sleep.