I really need to catch up on the last 6 months, but maybe I should start with the most recent events since those are fresh in my mind.
Due to the bad economy, we decided to drive to North Carolina for Thanksgiving this year instead of flying. This was the first time we drove there with the kids. We gave Anna an early Christmas present, a Nintendo DS and some games.
The kids occupied themselves with their games, books, and DVDs. We spent some time sitting in the back with Anna and keeping her busy. The first day was an easy one, a 5 hour drive to Bloomington, Indiana to visit Kevin, Amy, Carter, and Archie. We hadn't seen them (I think) since our 20 year reunion in August 2006.
We arrived around 2:00 and stayed until after dinner. Ben and Carter were excited to see each other, almost as excited as Sweetness the attention-starved (or so he would have you believe) beagle was to see us. The kids (that sometimes includes Kevin) ran around and had fun while the adults (that sometimes includes Kevin) caught up. We had fun playing Wii Rock Band and hanging out. We had a great time - thanks Kevin and Amy!
We spent the night at a hotel in preparation for our 6:15 wakeup - because I didn't want to hit the mountains in the dark that night. We did wake up on time but didn't leave quickly due to a leisurely breakfast. It had been beautiful and sunny the previous day. This day it was dark and rainy.
We drove on some winding roads back to the freeway. It seems like Bloomington is up on a hill. This was the start of hilly driving which continued for the next 7 hours until we past Asheville, North Carolina. We did get some daylight in the mountains. And mostly is was drizzling, so the drive wasn't too bad. We arrived in Clemmons around 7:30 PM.
The kids were excited to see Nana and Zadie (and Tigger and Eeyore, their cats), and vice-versa except for the cats. After a day or two, an adult would be able to rub the cats into a purr-induced coma so that the kids could pet them. The cats referred to Anna (or at least we imagined they did) as the "Pink Thing". They would take off whenever the kids were moving.
We went to Sci Works in Winston-Salem with Zadie on Tuesday. It's a nice science museum for kids and we enjoyed it. On Wednesday, we went swimming at the YMCA with Nana. Debi and David arrived with Genevieve that day. On Thursday, we visited a couple of Zadie's homes for sale and had a big Thanksgiving dinner at home. Of course, that was not much different from every other night that we had a big dinner, except that Nana did all the work on Thursday. We ate and drank too much the entire week. On Friday, we went hiking at Pilot Mountain. It was a nice sunny day and maybe 50 degrees up there. In fact, it was sunny and warm the entire week. Near the end of the hike there was a lot of grumbling, but we had fun and needed the exercise.
Nana and Zadie were gracious hosts as always - it's not easy to have a houseful of people for a week. Nana's brother also came on Wednesday and left on Friday, so they had 8 guests! I think everyone had a great time. It was fun to add Genevieve to the mix. The kids liked having another kid around and Anna really liked doing things with her.
Now that we were leaving on Saturday, of course the clouds and rain came back, although it only rained for about 3 hours on the drive home. We left before noon and drove straight back home. We spent about 12 hours driving and 2.5 hours on stops. Anna fell asleep around 8:30, but Ben was so excited to go home that he didn't fall asleep until about 9:30. We took turns driving and it went fine until we hit the wall around 9:30. The next hour or two were excruciating until the caffeine set in. The last 4 hours were tough. We were really sick of being in the car and ready to get home. We arrived around 1:30 AM. We were all happy to be back in our own beds!
Airfare was about $425 each, plus we needed to rent a car, so it would've cost a minimum of $1900. With the price of gas as low as 1.54 (in Indiana) and an average of about 1.79, we only spent about $150 on gas. We spent one night at a hotel and had some meals. The whole trip cost less than $400. Good deal. I did have one splurge - I bought a Garmin Nuvi 650 GPS before the trip. It worked very well and I left my stack of maps at home.
- schneid
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Hanging out with Tim M
Tim M just became a Green Beret! He passed the Selection last year, and just finished the Special Forces Qualification Course which is almost a year of training. Not only did he complete it, he did a fantastic job. And it's not easy for an old man like Tim. Bahaha! Congratulations Tim!
Tim was in town for the weekend to see his parents, so I drove up to Woodstock to partake in some beverages and lively conversation. We went to some dive bar in Woodstock, and I didn't know the Bears game was on...but believe me, when I walked into the bar, I knew it. The place was jammed with rowdy young people wearing Bears jerseys and face paint. They didn't look old enough to be in a bar. Guess I'm getting old. We were able to find a quiet spot to talk. I always enjoy our social and political discussions. Tim will move back to Chicago in January. He's in the National Guard, so despite being a Green Beret, his military commitment is still only a few weeks a year unless he gets called to active duty.
- schneid
Tim was in town for the weekend to see his parents, so I drove up to Woodstock to partake in some beverages and lively conversation. We went to some dive bar in Woodstock, and I didn't know the Bears game was on...but believe me, when I walked into the bar, I knew it. The place was jammed with rowdy young people wearing Bears jerseys and face paint. They didn't look old enough to be in a bar. Guess I'm getting old. We were able to find a quiet spot to talk. I always enjoy our social and political discussions. Tim will move back to Chicago in January. He's in the National Guard, so despite being a Green Beret, his military commitment is still only a few weeks a year unless he gets called to active duty.
- schneid
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Why is spam always about this
I can't be the only one who gets this much spam and it's always about the same topic.
- schneid
- schneid
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Rob's wedding
I used to play a lot of volleyball in the early years B.C. - Before Children. After Ben was born, I didn't play much and saw my volleyball friends a lot less. Getting laid off didn't help, and then I didn't see those old friends for about 3 years. Plus people moved, changed jobs, etc.
Rob called my up on a Friday night recently, asking what I was doing the next night. "Something with you, I guess" was my reply. "Come to my bachelor party", he said, and it took me a minute to realize that he was getting married. "Oh yeah, you're invited to the wedding too", which was in a couple of weeks. Rob said he couldn't reach me because Tim hadn't given him my contact info. But Rob and I work at the same company! Which he had forgotten, I guess. I had only run into him twice since I came back to Tellabs, and not in the last 6 months.
I wanted to be there to hang out with Rob, but I'm not big on going into the city, so I'm glad Tim was going so I could hang out with him. I had managed to see Tim in the last couple of years, once taking a VERY long lunch (from Mt. Prospect to downtown) to hang out with Tim, Eric, and James.
To make a long story short, we played poker for about 4 hours in a hotel room downtown. The structure was awful and you just had to get lucky. We played two tournaments and I am not exaggerating that Rob got all in with the worst hand preflop 7 times and RIVERED the winner 6 times. The other time, he turned a set, but then his opponent rivered a set. I would've thought it was a setup to let the bachelor win, if I hadn't dealt some of the hands myself. We probably only played 70 hands all night. The guys were getting extremely drunk drinking Red Bull and Vodka (blech!) and assorted other crap when that ran out. I had a few beers but didn't really feel like getting drunk. Guess I'm getting old. In the group, I had been married the longest by far.
Tim arrived around 10:00, having been at a work dinner function. We all hit the bars around 11:30. Rob was quite plowed and starting a routine of "You know what's wrong with you..." which was pretty funny. After telling it like it is (according to Rob) to a few guys, I yelled "Do me! Do me!" and everyone cracked up. The guys did some karaoke and the party broke up about 3:30.
Tim and I took a cab to the north side where he wanted me to meet some of his friends at a bar. A gay bar. Tim (although straight) plays in a gay volleyball league. So we went to this bar, did the rounds, couldn't find any friends, and left. Then we did the only logical thing to do at 4:00 in the morning and ate a gyro. I slept in Tim's guest room and listened to the pitter patter of cats running up and down the hallway. Tim's place is now a bachelor pad featuring two wide screen TVs and a terabyte MythTV server. Tim has always been envied by geeks everywhere. I was really glad that we were able to spend some time together.
In the morning, I took a cab back to where my car was parked and headed home to watch the Bears game. Later I looked at Google maps and realized that Tim lives directly next to the cemetery where my birth mother is buried. I've never been there (well, I guess I've been there once but that was 31 years ago and I don't remember), and if I had known, I would've stopped by that day. I really should plan to go another time.
So a week or two later, we went to Rob's wedding. Tim drove out and left his stuff and our place. He was going to spend the night so he wouldn't have to drive home, plus he conveniently had a volleyball tournament the next morning not too far from our place. We headed to the wedding and got there about 20 minutes early.
Joe and Kary came in from Santa Barbara and we hadn't seen them in about 4 years. Joel and Ginger were there; I run into them occasionally at work. Jay and Geoff were there too although I didn't get to talk to them a lot. There were some product planners and sales guys from Tellabs, most whose names I don't know, a couple that I do, and one guy who I had heard about a lot but had never actually seen until that day. We hung out with our old volleyball friends.
Rob's best friend performed the ceremony. In fact, I think Rob asked him to do it, and he became certified or whatever you need to do just for the ceremony. He kept things light (for example, "Repeat after me, I, Rob, am a big nerd"). It was funny but heartfelt, and he did a good job. He used the Irish Blessing (May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back...) and the Apache Wedding Prayer, which was recited at our own wedding but sounded different this time. The vows were nice and the ceremony was short.
We ate some good food, had a few drinks, danced just a little bit, and had a good time. It was really nice to hang out with old friends after such a long time. I'd like to think that we'll do a better job of staying in touch in the future, but you know how it goes.
- schneid
PS: I didn't take those pictures at Dark Lord Day and I can't remember where I downloaded them, so if they are yours, thanks!
Rob called my up on a Friday night recently, asking what I was doing the next night. "Something with you, I guess" was my reply. "Come to my bachelor party", he said, and it took me a minute to realize that he was getting married. "Oh yeah, you're invited to the wedding too", which was in a couple of weeks. Rob said he couldn't reach me because Tim hadn't given him my contact info. But Rob and I work at the same company! Which he had forgotten, I guess. I had only run into him twice since I came back to Tellabs, and not in the last 6 months.
I wanted to be there to hang out with Rob, but I'm not big on going into the city, so I'm glad Tim was going so I could hang out with him. I had managed to see Tim in the last couple of years, once taking a VERY long lunch (from Mt. Prospect to downtown) to hang out with Tim, Eric, and James.
To make a long story short, we played poker for about 4 hours in a hotel room downtown. The structure was awful and you just had to get lucky. We played two tournaments and I am not exaggerating that Rob got all in with the worst hand preflop 7 times and RIVERED the winner 6 times. The other time, he turned a set, but then his opponent rivered a set. I would've thought it was a setup to let the bachelor win, if I hadn't dealt some of the hands myself. We probably only played 70 hands all night. The guys were getting extremely drunk drinking Red Bull and Vodka (blech!) and assorted other crap when that ran out. I had a few beers but didn't really feel like getting drunk. Guess I'm getting old. In the group, I had been married the longest by far.
Tim arrived around 10:00, having been at a work dinner function. We all hit the bars around 11:30. Rob was quite plowed and starting a routine of "You know what's wrong with you..." which was pretty funny. After telling it like it is (according to Rob) to a few guys, I yelled "Do me! Do me!" and everyone cracked up. The guys did some karaoke and the party broke up about 3:30.
Tim and I took a cab to the north side where he wanted me to meet some of his friends at a bar. A gay bar. Tim (although straight) plays in a gay volleyball league. So we went to this bar, did the rounds, couldn't find any friends, and left. Then we did the only logical thing to do at 4:00 in the morning and ate a gyro. I slept in Tim's guest room and listened to the pitter patter of cats running up and down the hallway. Tim's place is now a bachelor pad featuring two wide screen TVs and a terabyte MythTV server. Tim has always been envied by geeks everywhere. I was really glad that we were able to spend some time together.
In the morning, I took a cab back to where my car was parked and headed home to watch the Bears game. Later I looked at Google maps and realized that Tim lives directly next to the cemetery where my birth mother is buried. I've never been there (well, I guess I've been there once but that was 31 years ago and I don't remember), and if I had known, I would've stopped by that day. I really should plan to go another time.
So a week or two later, we went to Rob's wedding. Tim drove out and left his stuff and our place. He was going to spend the night so he wouldn't have to drive home, plus he conveniently had a volleyball tournament the next morning not too far from our place. We headed to the wedding and got there about 20 minutes early.
Joe and Kary came in from Santa Barbara and we hadn't seen them in about 4 years. Joel and Ginger were there; I run into them occasionally at work. Jay and Geoff were there too although I didn't get to talk to them a lot. There were some product planners and sales guys from Tellabs, most whose names I don't know, a couple that I do, and one guy who I had heard about a lot but had never actually seen until that day. We hung out with our old volleyball friends.
Rob's best friend performed the ceremony. In fact, I think Rob asked him to do it, and he became certified or whatever you need to do just for the ceremony. He kept things light (for example, "Repeat after me, I, Rob, am a big nerd"). It was funny but heartfelt, and he did a good job. He used the Irish Blessing (May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back...) and the Apache Wedding Prayer, which was recited at our own wedding but sounded different this time. The vows were nice and the ceremony was short.
We ate some good food, had a few drinks, danced just a little bit, and had a good time. It was really nice to hang out with old friends after such a long time. I'd like to think that we'll do a better job of staying in touch in the future, but you know how it goes.
- schneid
PS: I didn't take those pictures at Dark Lord Day and I can't remember where I downloaded them, so if they are yours, thanks!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
There are still some good people
Usually I'm a cynic and believe there aren't many generous people left in the world. But occasionally, I'm surprised.
At work, I met Soren, a very animated and interesting guy from Denmark. For a couple hours, we talked about software development and the process that they use at our Denmark facility. He was only in the US for a few days, having just attended an Agile conference in Minnesota. One of the topics that came up was wikis, in which he has a great interest.
Later, I remembered that my good friend Kevin was going to Denmark for a Wiki conference. To put it mildly, let's say that Kevin is only extremely interested in wikis. I assumed that Soren would attend that conference, so I put them in touch with each other. It turned out that Soren would not attend the conference but would like to meet up with Kevin if he was traveling through Copenhagen.
Now I've heard that Soren is going to pick up Kevin from the airport in Copenhagen, take him home, then drop him off at the train station later in the day. We're not talking about a friend of a friend here, but a bare acquaintance of a friend! This is so generous, and I'm sure much of a relief to Kevin. I recall how confusing European mass transit is to us non-city dwellers. Maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, since Wikis are essentially about sharing and community, something I believe is sorely lacking in the US lately. Maybe it's karma too, since Kevin is exactly the kind of nice guy who would do something like this for someone else.
- schneid
At work, I met Soren, a very animated and interesting guy from Denmark. For a couple hours, we talked about software development and the process that they use at our Denmark facility. He was only in the US for a few days, having just attended an Agile conference in Minnesota. One of the topics that came up was wikis, in which he has a great interest.
Later, I remembered that my good friend Kevin was going to Denmark for a Wiki conference. To put it mildly, let's say that Kevin is only extremely interested in wikis. I assumed that Soren would attend that conference, so I put them in touch with each other. It turned out that Soren would not attend the conference but would like to meet up with Kevin if he was traveling through Copenhagen.
Now I've heard that Soren is going to pick up Kevin from the airport in Copenhagen, take him home, then drop him off at the train station later in the day. We're not talking about a friend of a friend here, but a bare acquaintance of a friend! This is so generous, and I'm sure much of a relief to Kevin. I recall how confusing European mass transit is to us non-city dwellers. Maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, since Wikis are essentially about sharing and community, something I believe is sorely lacking in the US lately. Maybe it's karma too, since Kevin is exactly the kind of nice guy who would do something like this for someone else.
- schneid
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