Saturday, October 20, 2007

Fargo

It was a big day in Fargo, with the hometown Bison trampling the Big 10 (11)'s Golden Gophers of Minnesota. I'd rather think about this game than my team's game today, another in a string of humiliating and arguably emasculating losses by the Nebraska Cornhuskers, to the likes of Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M. If it were Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado, that's one thing, but these guys? Nebraska can only take pride in still being in today's game at halftime, being down by a score of 16-14. Then the second half played out like their prior two entire games, as they ultimately lost 36-14. Against Oklahoma State, with venerable three-time national championship coach Tom Osborne and his 1997 champs looking on for homecoming, the Cornhuskers returned to their status as Bug-Eaters (their original designation) as Oklahoma State utterly skunked them and led at halftime, 38-0. For forty years (longer than I can remember), something like this was unthinkable. I read in the ESPN article about North Dakota State's victory today that Craig Bohl is their head coach. He is mentioned as a candidate for Nebraska's opening as Bill Callahan's seat is on fire it's so hot. However, if memory servers, Coach Bohl was on hand as defensive coordinator for an infamous 62-36 loss at Colorado in which not even Eric Crouch in his Heisman prime could save us from a complete defensive collapse. That year they still somehow backed into the BCS National Title Game but that 37-14 defeat by Miami was the beginning of the end. I was thinking Coach Callahan had reversed Nebraska's obvious inability to recruit that first surfaced under Coach Frank Solich, post-Tom Osborne, but now it looks like we are stuck in a combined recruiting and coaching vacuum.

So, why am I paying attention to college football in Fargo, anyway? Well, utlimately it's because I owe a promised post to my dear aunt, uncle and cousin who call Fargo home. We got to spend a lovely weekend with them during our trip this past summer, just at the beginning of July, which is the time to visit. Fargo has been known to dip into the 30s in the winter. The MINUS 30s, that is.

Here is a picture of me with Julia and my cousin Matthew, aunt Vel Rae, and uncle Keith. Currently, Vel Rae is recuperating from bypass surgery, and Keith from cataract surgery, while Matthew is a recent cancer survivor. Matthew is an active and excellent actor and director in community theater, while Vel Rae is a retired Food and Nutritions professor. and Keith is the retired City Planner for the city of Fargo. He was on TV plenty back during the Red River flood of 1997.

Friday, October 12, 2007

GA Alumni

GAAlumni is short for General American alumni, which is a site for us refugees from there to keep up with each other. I worked at General American from 1989-2003, which is when MetLife, after acquiring GA in 2000, decided to close down our operation in St. Louis.

Yesterday I had lunch with a couple of other refugees, Steve D and Susan K. Steve has been working at AT&T for several years now, and Susan is contracting in our group at Bank Of America. She was just let go from MetLife early this year.

The old General American NHQ (National Headquarters) is right across the street from where Susan and I work. That's where I started in 1989. And, there's a photograph on the wall in my department of part of this unusual building. For me this is very weird. The NHQ is vacant with for sale signs up, and Steve said he heard it was cheap.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

On The Bus

I'm on the bus, on the way home, here on what may turn out to be the last day of Indian summer in St. Louis, 2007. Over the weekend, they removed the Jefferson Avenue bridge over Highway 64/40. The mornings are already getting a bit more congested, but this afternoon we made it out fine. In January, the powers that be are going to close Highway 64/40 from Ballas, near 270, to 170. I don't think any of us can quite imagine it.

Metro St. Louis has responded with increases in numbers and frequency of the express bus I take to and from work downtown at 8th and Market. At the end of November, we will go from buses for two hours every half hour in the morning and evening, to buses for three hours every twenty minutes. I may be out for paternity leave once that kicks in, but it will be nice to know it's there when I get back. To those of you who know St. Louis, this bus will start and end at Clarkson and Chesterfield Parkway, finding its way along New Ballwin, and then along Big Bend all the way between its western endpoint and Elm. I get it in Crestwood, which usually works out to a ride between 25 and 40 minutes in length. I can barely park and walk in that amount of time when I drive my car down.

Additional news for us right now is that ma belle-soeur (sister-in-law, techincally, or beautiful sister, literally) will be arriving to spend several months with us on next Monday, October 15. We are very excited for her to be able to come and spend this special season with us.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

October 17: FORTY!


My dear wife created this startling image and message which shows how much a person can change in 35 years. Most of it actually occurred between age 10 and age 14. At 10, blond, just over 5 feet tall, and often mistaken for a girl (with a name like Chris) if my hair was too long. At 14, 6' 3", dark, wavy hair, and never considered the slightest bit feminine or even a minor again. But somehow, while I was creeping into my 30s, at least the Mauritians all thought I was 28.

Anyone care to guess what the most famous event to take place on my birthday was? Check out wikipedia...it involved baseball...

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Time, Gadgets

Finally finding time to post here...speaking of which...

Time is beginning to fly by for us. In two weeks, Isabelle's sister Medgeé will arrive to be with us until February. Two weeks after she arrives, she'll visit Aunt Monique and her clan in Quebec for about two weeks. Then, after she's back with us for about two weeks, we are expecting Chloe to arrive. My dad will join us for Thanksgiving, and my mom, who will be newly retired as of November 1, will join us for Christmas and probably more than that.

And now for some truth about a time saver that also has wasted plenty of time along the way...

Last night, one of our most interesting gadgets, our robot vacuum, cleaned our living and dining room floors. When I first got this guy, a Roomba made by iRobot, I expected them to take over the world. But by now I have learned why they haven't. What's the opposite of a perfect storm? Conditions have to be just right for our Roomba to succeed. Maybe it's a little like flying a blimp. Isabelle can't understand how I can have enough patience to put up with all the little gotchas we've discovered. In order to have a successful vacuuming, we must have charged the Roomba no less than about 36 hours, and no more than about 72 hours. If we're outside this window, then, irrespective of the green light battery indicator, we will find that the battery becomes suddenly depleted. Also, we have to clean the long hairs and debris out of the brushes. Battery operation requires that brushing rather than suction be the primary source of collecting dust and debris. The latest discovery we made was that sometimes the Roomba would suddenly act like the battery wasn't there even when it was. So our final requirement is that we have to remove the battery, hold the power button for 20 seconds to recycle the battery charging mechanism, and place the Roomba upside down and on an incline to insure that the battery gets charged fully.

There are also periodic mechanical cleanings that have been necessary. I found out from iRobot that now that I'm outside the warranty, about all they offer is a discount on my next Roomba. I have had to blow forced air so the cliff sensors don't constantly go off and cause the Roomba to start, jerk backward, stop, start, jerk backward, stop, start, etc. I also had to open up the whole case and clean the leftover beagle hair out of everywhere. The dimensions of the filter and collection compartment seem to have been designed without pet hair on the radar.

However, there is nothing quite like having a robot do our chores for us. We set it to work in a room every couple of days, and it cleans every inch, including under the bed and certain other low riding furniture.