Mom, Dad, Zach, Anna & Sunny
8/31/07

Happy Birthday Samantha!!!

I salute the Minneapolis airport bathroom cops! They're going to have to do double-shifts when the Republican Convention comes to MPLS next year. :-) --Gary

Gotta share a Teghan story: She spent a few hours at my place last Saturday, after the slumber party at Donna's and while Tristen was playing her soccer game. During those few hours, she found every possible toy I own, including some things I hadn't seen in years and I had to ask where she'd found them! A returning favorite, though, was this set of pyramid-shaped magnets that can be fit together into a ball, among other shapes. This, along with everything else, was scattered all over the floor while she played. Later that night, when I was picking things up (kinda like clearing your yard after a storm), I tried re-assembling the ball of magnets -- and found about six missing. So I kept looking, and found one here, two more there, etc. But the final two I could not find -- looked everywhere, but nothing. I figured they would eventually turn up, but couldn't imagine where I hadn't already looked. So this morning as I'm getting ready for work, I caught sight of my Homer Simpson jack-in-the-box... I knew Teghan had been playing with it, and I had in fact already checked inside it and found nothing. But for some reason I checked it again -- and found the two missing pieces, not merely inside it, but actually inside the Homer figure! Somehow she had gotten the pieces under his shirt where they were practically undetectable. D'oh! Thanks, Teghan -- you created a five-day puzzle for me, with a great pay-off! :-)

One more piece of news, while I've got the floor: I saw this morning that the city is going to replace the West O St. overpass (or the "Harris Overpass" as it's called -- never knew it had a name before!).

click and drag the map to move it, or click here for larger map

Work begins this November, and the bridge will be closed for a year -- opening October 2008. The project manager said the overpass is "structurally deficient." Hmmmm.... bet there's a lot of this happening in the country right now. Anyway, it's a landmark. An ugly one, but a landmark. Been around for as long as I can remember. This one was built in the mid-50s, though an overpass has been on that site since the 1880s -- the first one had a wooden surface.

No updates here til this afternoon: I'm heading over to the Lied Center for the Chancellor's yearly "State of the University" address, to be followed by a picnic in the Sheldon sculpture garden -- for a couple thousand faculty and staff. Nice day for it!

Interesting week ahead: First football game is this Saturday, for one thing. But in the meantime, Gonzales resigned over the weekend. So now we see if Congress will rush back from vacation to prevent Bush from making a "recess appointment" (which he is legally entitled to do when Congress is not in session). That means he would get to appoint whoever he wants without Senate approval. I am hearing the name Chertoff a lot -- you remember him, one of the heroes of Katrina? Also known as Skeletor? The guy who, as Director of Homeland Security, turned in a balance sheet with 22.3 billion dollars unaccounted for? (Ooops, don't know where that money went -- sorry!) I heard this morning that Harry Reid wants to bring the Senate back early from vacation and convene an Emergency Session to prevent a recess appointment... He'd better! but we'll see.

Erika, I also want to know what Plato lab is?? And Emily, how is dorm room living? Has your roommate moved in yet? I need details!!

Hope you have a great year, Erika! What's Plato Lab?? --Gary

Somehow I didn't notice the evening storm (TV too loud?), and somehow slept through the storm at night (though I do remember hearing thunder once in a while). Yeah, let's make it official: The Heat Wave Is Over! :-) --Gary

We have had nothing but rain here today. Been coming down steady since about 7, also lots of thunder and lightning. At noon we had already had 3 inches and still more to come tonight and tomorrow. Last day of vacation for me and Erika, back to school tomorrow.....

I went & got allergy tested today. I should get the report in the next day or two, but I do know that I have 3 major allergies & about 12 less significant ones. They did the back skin test where they do about 50 "indentations" that have the allergen on them. That sat for 15 minutes then they determined which ones caused a reaction & then they gave me 18 separate shots in my arm of each of those & waited another 15 minutes. When the RN came to check on me halfway through she asked if it itched & lifted up the gown on my arm & said, "wow, I've never seen one swell that big before." It was ragweed. So the Dr. came back & rated them all according to size/reaction. The scale is between 1-4 & ragweed was a 4++ which he equated to about an 8! And we are just starting ragweed season! The other two that are pretty bad are dust mites (and I learned about them, YUCK!) and cats. I always had a pretty good idea that I was allergic to cats, itchy watery eyes when I hold them or come into contact with their fur & my skin swells if they scratch or bite me. But, now its confirmed. The Dr. recommended getting rid of Zoe. Strongly recommended it. Said it should obviously help the allergies, but also the asthma & recurrent headaches that have bothered me the last year or two... SO... Not sure what we are going to do yet about that... Teghan thinks Grandma's house would be a good new home for her. ;-)

I am going to start the 5 year process of allergy shots. They will make up my own special concoction of items to be immunized against & I will start in about 2 weeks. I will go weekly for the first year, then biweekly, the less often as I progress. A long haul, but worth it in the end I hope! I know one thing, I am glad to be back on my normal everyday meds now, I was miserable the last 4 days without them while prepping for this test!

I also had my first day of classes today. Fairly easy all around. I'm out this week at 11 everyday so it's not too tough! Picked up Teg and Tristen from school today. Again, Teghan didn't have much to comment on although she only got to play at recess for 5 minutes she said!!!

I'm hearing we had 70-80 mph winds last night. On the drive in this morning, the streets and sidewalks were covered with twigs and leaves. A mean little storm! And another possible for tonight, I understand. --Gary

Thanks for the first-day reports, Teghan and Tristen! (And great pictures, Amanda!)

P.S. Emily: You must have some very good friends, if they moved you into a fourth-floor room on a hot day with the elevator broken.... :-)

First-day-of-school pix are up now! Soccer schedule below. --Gary

Grandma, maybe we will come over for dinner tomorrow night for Tuesday night dinner again so the girls can see you guys? You have the space?

Donna, still on for a slumber party for Friday night? Tristen has a soccer game Saturday at 12 that dad is taking her to, so we will need to get her by 11 at the latest.

I'm working the state fair on Saturday. It's in the State Patrol's building & its air conditioned & apparently slow. But, its a day out of the office & I traded for having today off so I could take the girls & pick them up.

1: english
2: gym--i have it every other day
3: health--i have it every other day
4: math
5: publications
6: science
7: history

Lindsey, do you have to pay for all of your college credit classes?? That really sucks if you do! In SC as long as you're in high school and an equivalent credit class isn't offered at your school the school pays for your classes and books and you get the college credit and a highschool credit. It was really a pretty good deal.

At least the first 2 weeks shouldn't be too bad. The first week, starting on the 20th, I just have 3 classes a day for the "Bridge Program" I am in. Then the next week is "Welcome Week" when everybody else moves in. There aren't even any classes until Wednesday. And, that weekend we can go to the Omaha Zoo and a water park in Lemars along with Art Splash in SC. So, I am taking that whole weekend off of work and I'm thinking it should be a lot of fun.

But, after all that I should get a lot busier and into more of a routine, along with dance try outs! I will also start up with Teen Court again in September. I can't serve as an attorney anymore, since I'm not in high school. But, they are going to keep me on as a "mentor" and I will do trainings and help set up cases.

Looks like you have a good senior year schedule, Lindsey. I still wish I wouldn't have taken so many AP & college credit classes and had more time for fun stuff. And, be careful in choosing your community college classes!!! When I went to register for my classes for this year at BC I couldn't take ANY of the classes I actually wanted to take because I had already fulfiled all of the gen ed/ elective credit requirements and I got stuck with all boring classes I don't even like! And, hopefully you will get your college credits. I remember my Anatomy/Physiology & AP Biology classes last year were supposed to be college credit classes, and were still taught to the college syllabus and grading scale, but once the classes got over we found out the teachers didn't get their certification in time for us to get the credits. My AP Bio teacher wasn't even certified to be teaching AP classes!!! But, we could all kind of tell that already. Yuck. I am glad to be done with that part of high school.

Oh and congrats to Amanda on the Who Am I win. I always think I do really well and then I always miss the most! Oh well, they are still always fun to see the results, Thanks Gary :)

1-Psychology
2-College Anatomy/Physiology
3-Lifetime Sports
4-American Lit/Comp

Then second semester:

1-College Composition
2-Student Ambassador
3-College Anatomy/Physiology
4-Government & Politics

My two college classes I will be getting college credit for through Southeast. I took two last year (Statistics and Economics) which I also received credit for. Just trying to get a head start and get some classes out of the way!

As a student ambassador, I'm working in the counseling center helping out with scheduling appointments and working with the counselors. Should be interesting but I really just did it because I had an open spot for a class.

I'm also going to be meeting with an academic advisor from Southeast and try to take a couple college classes starting in October when Southeast's school year starts. Not sure what I'll be able to take that will fit with my schedule but the more I can get done the better!

I have my senior pictures this Thursday. I'm getting them done with Purple Sky (if anyone's ever heard of them?). I'm excited for them but also ready for them to be done so it's one less thing to worry about!

Thanks, Livy! And thanks to Lindsey too for her review that just arrived. All three movies sound great and all are now on my list! :-) --Gary

Well, the best one-sentence comment so far was from John Edwards: "Goodbye and good riddance." But the problem is, he won't really be gone until someone drives a stake through his heart. He can continue to dismantle the Constitution just as easily from Texas as he did from the White House. But yes, the real question is: Why is he really leaving? By default I never believe anything coming from this administration, so none of the three "official" reasons for his departure can be the real one. My first thought was: He's ridden the Bush pony as far as he can, so he was leaving to get involved in Romney's or Thompson's or Giuliani's campaign. But the thing is, none of the other Republicans really like him any more than the Democrats do. Rove's whole career has been getting Bush Jr. into power, and he didn't care who he stepped on -- Democrat or Republican -- to do it. So a new round of campaigning is probably not it. I'm thinking it has more to do with the Senate investigations. His name comes up an awful lot in those hearings, and what we hear is no doubt just the tip of the iceberg of what they know. So Rove may have felt the boom about to be lowered. I'm also reading rumors about Rove's name surfacing in the Jack Abramoff lobbyist-bribery investigation (which is still ongoing), so something may be happening there too. Bottom line, I don't know; but I do know we haven't heard the last of him. Hopefully on that happy day, we will see him being led away wearing an orange jumpsuit... --Gary

School starts in a week, WOW! The girls have all their supplies & new shoes. Not getting much else yet, gonna wait til it cools down, then go shopping for winter type stuff.

Went to Ribfest today. It was HOT outside, but the food was SO good! Sean, Lindsey, Ryan, Tristen & I got ribs from 4 different places, so we all shared. Muy bueno!

We have a busier week ahead of us, Tristen has a birthday party to go to Tuesday night, they both have Open House at school Thursday night & Tristen has a High School Musical 2 party Friday night to go to. Teghan was a little bummed about that, since she LOVES High School Musical.

Actually, Grandma, that reminds me. This Tuesday night, mind if we come over for dinner? Since Tristen is at that party & has the other one Friday it would be nice to let Teghan do something different. So, if you can set the table for 3 more Tuesday night, that would be great! Ryan & I have somewhere to be at 7, but we can leave Teghan & get her when we're done, if ya don't mind?? And did you finish Harry Potter?

I agree that this one was pretty hard. Almost every one of the wrong answers could just as easily be right! Each one of us could be described by two, or three, or four, of those profiles.... But anyway, I hope it was fun for y'all.

Thanks for playing, Sam. Check back this weekend to see how you did! --Gary

Well, Amanda has joined the party, bringing the number of players up to seven. Tomorrow is the last last last last last final day to get your answers in, if anybody is still listening! Results will be up first thing Saturday morning. --Gary

I guess this "Who Am I" was too hard -- nobody wants to try it. It has been up for nine days now, and only you six (Emily, Erika, Grandma, Karen, Lindsey, and Tristen) have joined in. Even Livy -- who requested it! -- has been a no-show.... --Gary

I just this morning noticed the problem with #8 and #10. Ah well, the Dalai Lama has other problems on his hands right now, like China declaring reincarnation illegal in Tibet. Sheesh... --Gary

Certainly you've got this weekend. Responses are coming in pretty slowly, so no doubt it will go into next week. Howsabout if we set a deadline for one week from today -- next Friday, August 10 -- for all guesses to be in? Okay with everyone? Let me know. --Gary

Thanks for clearing that up! I thought it might be you, but only because it arrived just a little after Teghan's "Who Am I" arrived.... Very funny! I liked the time machine part. :-) --Gary

Hagel's staffer did tell me her (first) name, but I'm afraid I've forgotten it. She called between 6:30 and 7 (or 7:30 and 8, Washington time). I mentioned she was putting in a long day and she said yes, but I was the last item on her to-do list. And yes, I have called Hagel's office at least once before, and no, I was not so much a fan then... So I will be a bit of data in that research project. When I get Hagel's letter, I'll post it here! :-)

And for the record, you told his staffer (did you get a name, by the way?) that you weren't a Republican & you never voted for Hagel... If you have ever called there to voice an opinion they already know all that in their little file... So, it would be an interesting research project for his office to assist in his presidency run decision to look through old comments to his office vs. what the old naysayers think now.

I just heard that Bush said this in the Rose Garden this morning: "We in the federal government must respond, and respond robustly, to help the people there not only recover, but to make sure that lifeline of activity -- that bridge -- gets rebuilt as quickly as possible." I'm sure that's a relief to the residents of the Twin Cities, unless they recall what Bush said on September 15, 2005, just a few days after Katrina: "And tonight I also offer this pledge of the American people: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives." Ha.

Actually, though, I'll bet that this bridge does get rebuilt fast. The Republican Convention is in Minneapolis next year, and they will want all the news cameras to photograph the shiny new bridge.... Someone on one of the Democratic newsgroups said this morning, "If the Republican Convention had been scheduled for New Orleans, it would look like Paris by now."

He stated that America's infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate, giving the examples of the underground pipes in Manhattan that exploded a few weeks ago spewing asbestos-laden steam all over the area, the failure of the levees in New Orleans when Katrina hit, and now this Interstate bridge in Minneapolis. He said that many of the bridges that you or I will be driving on today have the same safety ratings as the one that collapsed, and it would take billions of dollars to fix them all. But, he went on, when you're spending billions and billions in Iraq, there's nothing left for America, so now we've given up our own public safety for a war in another country.

Again, I don't know who that was, but a clip should be showing up on YouTube soon. Actually, one could go even further on that line of thinking: It may just be a Bush/Republican strategy to let things fail and fall down, just to put it in peoples' minds that the government is really inept at maintaining the infrastructure and therefore it should be privatized -- by turning it over, for example, to Halliburton....

And if you think it is unfair of me to assign the blame for this bridge collapse to George Bush (as I so predictably do), be aware that Bush this morning is blaming ... wait for it ... the Democrats! He said he would have authorized funds for infrastructure maintenance, but the budget the Democrats gave him was "fiscally irresponsible" so he wouldn't sign it. Never mind that the Democrats have only been in power for little more than six months; the Republicans were making the budget for the past six years and they included such gems as the "bridge to nowhere." The money to build that would have come in handy in New Orleans, or Minneapolis.

So, even though we're all a little distracted right now, let me just record here a phone call I got last night. The speaker identified herself as a staffer in Sen. Hagel's office in Washington, and she wanted to convey a quick thank-you from Hagel for my recent letter to the Journal-Star. We had a brief conversation where I pointed out that I was not a Republican and had never voted for Hagel but I nevertheless appreciated his opposition to the Iraq war and his willingness to not march in lock-step with Bush. She confirmed my address and told me I could expect a "personal note" from Hagel. I gotta say (and I'm sure Amanda will attest), a very nicely-run outfit Hagel's got there. :-)

P.S. Only four players in the Who Am I contest so far -- Emily, Erika, Karen, and Lindsey. Hope the rest of you will take a few minutes to send in your guesses soon. The sooner your guesses arrive, the sooner I can reveal the answers!