Ok... now there's something you don't see everyday.

I've tried to think of so many different spins on something cute to say here, but it just defies imagination. It is what it is. Here is a link to a man playing Angels We Have Heard on High on an ocarina made of broccoli.

YouTube - Big Broccoli Ocarina:Angels We Have Heard On High

Yeah I know...

If they develop one that impacts Mobwars I'm up a creek.

Just a quick note for friends and family that Facebook. Aparently the leet haxors of the world have decided that you were having too much fun, and that no internet experience is complete without someone trying to steal your credit card info:

BBC - Newsbeat - Technology - Facebook users hit by virus

It never gets easier :(

We had to say goodbye to some good friends of ours today. They're moving to Grand Junction... new job... their first house. We've known it was coming for a while, and I'm sure everyone has had that surreal moment when you realize that a group of people you hung out with every weekend just pulled out of town and if you're lucky you'll see them once a year.

I was a military brat. I had scores of friends come and go over the years. When you're a military family you learn to make friends quickly, and never take them for granted, because in a year or so they could be anywhere from Korea to Minot, ND. Being a brat I'm not usually a big one on goodbyes. I've made the promises to write, and that we'd meet up stateside somewhere. It's happened with a few friends, but most simply vanished (until they suddenly add me to their Facebook friends list ;) ).

This was the first hard goodbye in a while. Tears and all. Gabe was really stoic until the truck pulled away, then he bawled harder than all of us put together. Just goes to show you, you never know who the sensitive one is.

Hopefully she's not the next Sarah SIlverman.

Just a short update for a quick story.

Kate climbed into bed with us Thursday morning, and while she was cuddling and bouncing on her mom she passed gas. Amaryllis was teasing her about it, and made the comment, "That was a real firecracker," to which Kate responded, "More like a buttcracker."

Amaryllis and I laughed hard for a good few minutes...

And with that, kids around the world decided they don't want to be astronauts anymore

Hmm... even knowing a little bit about wastewater reclamation, this just sounds wrong:

BBC NEWS Science & Environment Urine passes Nasa taste test

Sky diving... oh and a wedding.

We just got back from Dan and Wendy's wedding. It was an incredible vacation, and probably one of the best we've had since we've been married.

The ceremony was simple and beautiful. It was the most touching profession of love I have ever seen. I stood in as the groom's witness/best man. I was so honored to be there. Of course I wish someone had given me a head's up about when to genuflect, and how ;)

My brother and sister-in-law went out of their way to fill the days with fun activities, from Dan teaching the boys how to shoot (and buying them their first rifle), to launching rockets, and jumping on the trampoline. Kate loved her shopping trip with her mom and aunt.

Of course the big kids had fun too. My brother took me on my first tandem skydive. It was SO AWESOME. We jumped from about 14,000 feet, giving about 1 minute of freefall. Of course there were nervous moments. Hanging your feet out of the door of a moving airplane was definitely interesting, and it weirds you out a bit when the instructor starts adjusting the harness (and unclipping a couple of things) after the canopy opens. The first second as you have the sensation of falling, after that it's just a thrill ride.

Bending the tandem rules a little bit, my brother and I met up in the air, "bumped" knuckles, and spent a moment grinning at each other. Per her request, we also dispersed my mom's ashes. They were folded up in Dan's chute. My tandem instructor timed our canopy opening so I got to see my brother deploy his chute and release the ashes. It was an incredible addition to an already thrilling moment. I hope mom was watching, and enjoyed it as much as we did.

I'll post pics later...

My wife has only killed me in Mob Wars

For those of you fervent Facebookers, you might want to remove your homicidal estranged spouse from your friends list before making profile changes. See link below:

BBC NEWS UK England London Man killed wife in Facebook row

Not dead yet...

Amaryllis has been nagging me that I haven't posted in a while. It's been pretty crazy at home and at work. We had a family member in the hospital, and election season has practically made City Hall a "Stop!" "Go!" "WAIT!" war zone. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go in tomorrow to find out that bathroom trips need to be vetted through the mayor's office.



We took the boys to a tae-kwon-do tournament a couple of weeks ago. Jonathan took third place in the patterns competition for white belts. It was really cool, except he beat his older brother to do it. There were some tears, but in the end everyone enjoyed themselves. They test for their next belt in a couple of weeks. It will be nice to see a little color in their uniforms. They started sparring last week, and I sewar Gabe has been wearing his mouth guard to school.



Kate is doing ballet (a consolation prize for being too young to do tae-kwon-do, which is what she really wanted). She goes with one of her little friends. It has some tumbling and body awareness thrown in so every once in a while you will see her drop and do a forward roll. Every once in a while she asks me to pick her up so she can practice "jumping." Perhaps someday she will be the only member of the American Ballet Theater with a knowledge of lightsaber combat.

The world, and Brazil, is full of surprises

I know its three posts in a day, but this one was too cool to pass up:

BBC NEWS Science/Nature 'Lost towns' discovered in Amazon

Basically scientists have discovered evidence of "urban" human habitation that predates European settlement in what was thought to be virgin rainforest. Just think of what you'll know tomorrow...

Flyman might have kicked Spiderman's butt.

For those of you knocking down the last of these before fall sets in (well those of us north of Colorado) the following is interesting:

BBC NEWS Science/Nature Fly's brain 'senses swat threat'

Forget "spider sense" the article indicates that a flys brain and reflexs kick into gear pretty much instantly. No wonder spiders use webs. Even they would tire of chasing the little guys.

Quick update

The trip tot he University of Utah wa snice. It was a chance to spend some time with the wife as well. My father came along, and was able to see the grandkids when we got back. For right now no news is good news. The EMG came back as normal. The next step will be for me to get a muscle biopsy to fully rule out a metabolic muscle disease. From there we are following the inflammatory disease route for the time being. I see a rheumatologist in October. I wish I got two months to give an answer on development proposals :)

Uno and the Undead

Amaryllis and I went out with some friends for a date night last night. We saw the Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. It was OK for what it was, a popcorn flick with a kid in a candy store special effects budget (In comparison to subtler CGI effects films like Iron Man, it looks like they might have stretched the buck a little too far).

Brendan Fraser is an interesting one. I missed him in Encino Man, and was introduced to him though more serious works like School Ties, With Honors, and Gods and Monsters. So for me, I have this illusion that he has been slumming for 2/3 of his career, when in reality he has a handful of solid films among some interesting box office fare (Blast from the Past anyone?). The Mummy series seems to suit him, by allowing him to be quirky without downright goofy. For me this entry into the franchise falls somewhere between the first and second. The general story concept is better than the second, but not as good as the first.

What really hurt the film was the absence of Rachel Weisz. Once she decided that she wasn't going to be involved they should have written her part out of the script. That way poor Maria Bello wouldn't have tried to play someone she obviously wasn't, and the movie wouldn't be forcing you to swallow Brendan Frasier having a son old enough to be a college drop out. (Word of advice: the appearance versus actual age difference works for Sean Connery and Harrison Ford. It doesn't for Brendan Fraser and Luke Ford. Maybe Brendan Fraser should have grown a beard.).

Jet Lee and Michelle Yeoh were wonderful, and their fight sequence was too brief for the build up. The sequence is over American quick as opposed to the 5 minute intensely choreographed affair I dreamed of.

INSERT RANT:

Ok I have one real beef with a lot of CGI films these days. Can we have some CGI without the little humorous asides inserted into nearly every sequence? Yes we get it, an animator's life is hell, and director's love the new toys. It doesn't mean that every film has to have a Charlie Chaplain slap stick sequence in it, or that CGI animals have to poke out of every nook and cranny acting like teenagers on an MTV production.

Sometimes I long for the days when CGI was so expensive that if an animation team blew a million dollars making the zombie in the third row pick his nose, someone was getting fired.

END RANT

The highlight of the evening though was picking up the kids from the babysitter. We walked into the door to see Kate in the middle of a very serious game of Uno with Gabe. We watched her play a handful of cards, and she was doing really well without prompts accept for the more complex action cards. A guess soon we'll walk in to find her displaying a full house and raking $5 dollar bills across the table.

Marks of manhood

I went paintballing yesterday. For those of you who know me, it's probably not one of those activities you would imagine me participating in. Although I am not Ganhdian in my pursuit of nonviolence, I do have a habit of avoiding pastimes which involve the use of camouflage. A friend of mine caught me at a weak moment, and with my health I figured, "What the heck, this might not come my way again for a long time."

So I was outfitted with a basic mask and gun, and turned loose on a ranch boneyard that had all kinds of fun nooks and crannies. We played teams, with a kind of kill the other guys objective, which suited me fine. In each match we were granted a certain number of "lives". The first time around I died gloriously by being shot in the head (right between the eyes), my kneecap, and the rear end (we got flanked).

The second time around I was a lot more cautious, and even managed a couple of kills (Ha ha, nothing like pegging someone in a bright shirt who thinks he's being sneaky in the grass. Oh and desert cammo only works in... never mind, it just doesn't work.). I was surprised by how much I enjoyed myself, though I will probably never pick it up as a hobby. My friends gun, which shoots something like 10-15 balls a second (at what point do you just start throwing cans of paint at each other) ran him $600, and I'm told you can shell out quite a bit more. You might catch me out there a couple more times though.

UAlbany makes Princeton Review

Well my graduate Alma Mater made the Princeton Review. I'm glad the quality of the academic program distracted me from the fact I was supposed to be miserable the entire time :) Here's the link:

Top 10 Schools with the Least Happy Students - MSN Encarta

I think part of the problem is that the UAlbany campus is pretty isolated (even with the free bus service), and the tower dorms are pretty bleak. For an undergraduate without cash or a car, you have to be creative to keep yourself entertained. The campus itself is a modernist concrete creation, so it lacks some of the warmer charm of a more traditional campus with ivy and quad. The challenging layout spills into the student center, where even high traffic areas like the book store and food services feel, "out of the way."

Still, I loved my time there. The academic programs are excellent. The faculty in my program would bend over backwards to help and work with students (Which was especially impressive given the size of our program and number of candidates). The adjunct faculty were knowledgeable practitioners, and my fellow graduate students were a fun eclectic bunch who knew how to work and play hard. I grew attached to the campus architecture, even though I could never give anyone directions to anything other than the student center and the library (UAlbany alums now what I'm talking about, though while I was there they made a handful of attemtps to distinguish a couple of the central buildings from each other.).

My kids liked the fact that, unlike certain stuffier institutions, playing in the fountain was allowed and encouraged.

New York Times covers Sheridan

Oh... I almost forgot. The New York Times did a piece on Sheridan. Actually it was a historic piece on the attempt to create a new state of Absaroka in the 1930's, but there is some multimedia coverage (check the left hand side of the page) that covers the rodeo and street dance. Here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/us/24wpa.html?_r=2&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1216908557-HGNsxO0yyE8L9kTKAh1BdA&oref=slogin

Hellboy Redoux

I finally got a chance to see Hellboy 2 last night. If you enjoyed the first one, you will more than likely get a kick out of this one as well. The movie is both funny and thoughtful, and the visual presentation is nothing short of fantastic (Makes me excited for Del Toro's take on the Hobbit.) Luke Goss is certainly a scene stealer as the prince of the elves, and is one of the few recent tragic villains that I actually felt empathy for (SPOILER: His last lines to Hellboy were delivered with such polished grace that I found myself less moved by the relationship tragedy they had been building up for half the film.)

Although the bulk of the movie is safe for the young teen or squeamish, the auction house investigation was pretty gruesome, and I found myself catching little macabre details that showed that somewhere (probably a dark warehouse in California) the are CGI animators desperately in need of psychiatric intervention. I will never be able to think of the "tooth fairy" in the same way again.

Get in touch with the inner geek.

Amaryllis and I spent the last several evenings drilling through episodes of Firefly. For those of you not familiar, Firefly was a space western that didn't even make it through a full season on Fox. A lot of it had to do with running up against the nascent reality TV craze, where execs questioned spending 10 million an episode for a sci-fi show when they could get idiots to provide more dysfunctional drama than you ever saw in high school for free (Yeah sure, I guess someone technically wins a prize, but we all know the "entertainment" comes from the psycho that makes it 75% of the way through the show. That or you get to marry Joe Millionaire).

The sad thing was that Firefly had one of the best ensemble casts I've ever seen (when you compare to Star Trek spin-offs and Sci-Fi channel fodder where there is always one or two characters whose acting completely gets under your skin, and you wish would just put on the red shirt and DIE ALREADY!). Considering there were only 14 episodes made, its telling that you actually cared about the characters at key dramatic moments (Spoilers: Jayne betraying River and Simon, and how Mal dealt with it; Inara deciding to leave the ship; etc...).

The show also catered to my quirky style humor, and the timing was dead on. After the series was cancelled they made a pretty accessible feature film called Serenity (named after the ship). It's one of my favorites in the genre.

Amaryllis and I have very different tastes about some things, but share some interesting likes that highlight what eclectic people we are. One of our shared likes is Firefly, but I will also pop a bowl of popcorn and watch the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice with her (ironically, because I like Colin Firth).

Quick update

For those of you who follow Amaryllis's blog, you should check out the new header. A friend made it for her and did a snazzy job.

We all had fun at the rodeo parade yesterday. Mom and boys road on the Intermountain Labs float, while Kate and Daddy caught the parade from street level. Sheridan's parade is probably the best you'll see in a town of this size. There were 116 floats this year. Main Street is packed, and many people set out their chairs the night before, chaining them to lampposts and benches and such.

Kate and I watched the parade from Gould St. The backdrop isn't as pretty as the historic Main Street stores, but Daddy is claustrophobic :)

Everything went smoothly (How can any little girl not be impressed by dozens and dozens of horses) until Kate saw Mom on the float, then of course she wanted her right then and there. She may be Daddy's princess, but when a girl wants her Mommy, well you know...

Now everyone will know you watch stupid pet videos.

Sorry for another link post. I promise I will try to update with something on the family end later. This link is kind of scary:

BBC NEWS Technology Google must divulge YouTube log

It's not so much for the YouTube end. If it turns out to be worth the money Viacom will probably end up chasing the video posters (unless Google succeeds in keeping the logs anonymous). Naw, the tidbit that got me was at the end of the article when it mentioned that up until last year Google kept a copy of every IP address logged with its particular search.

Do you really want everyone to know you have been looking for the David Hasselhoff fan site?

Bean Town and Concrete

For those of you who know and love Boston, here is an article providing one perspective on the debate regarding City Hall Plaza.

LAND online - Landscape Architecture News Digest

For those of you who have never lived in an urban area with a monumental modernist civic project the hub bub can be baffling. These sweeping concrete monoliths and wide expanses are often despised and cursed by architects, planners, and families with strollers (stairs... never ending stairs...), but also have their defenders.

When we lived in the Albany area, I helped organize a conference on the Empire State Plaza and other urban renewal projects. The Empire State Plaza consisted of a massive 1.7 billion dollar project that demolished about 98 acres of of working class neighborhood, replacing them with a raised plaza that now houses about 13,000 government workers. The family used to visit the complex to go to the State Museum, the archives, or the ear popping elevator of the Corning Tower (New York's tallest building outside of NYC). We usually didn't do much strolling on the plaza itself as it tended to be windy and lacked cover. We normally would grab a hotdog at street level, and head to the park area of the nearby State Capitol Building.

4th O' July

We had a lot of fun this 4th of July, including doing something that I was told may have been a felony (Not going to post it here ;P... You can e-mail me for the incriminating details).

We went to a friends house that gave a decent view of the creek valley to see snips of the various shows and personal displays. We just picked up a handful of sparklers and some snakes (Yes, bro snakes, and not even the largest one in Colorado either). The other families had shelled out a hundred dollars or so each in rockets and assorted explosives. I felt kind of bad because the neighbors were on their deck enjoying a quiet evening, and no matter where we set the fireworks they seemed to hit their house. They were good natured about it, but I bet they go away next 4th o' July.

We took some family photos, which Amaryllis has posted a handful on her blog. Family members do not despair. I'll get you some without Amaryllis's copyright on the corner (5 dollars for an 8 x10... 2 dollars more gets you some Kate original fridge art. She's going through a blob man phase that's cute right now, and very detailed for her age. Just scares me she might be drifting into Salvador Dali territory, or at least here creations have a Lovecraftian edge... "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn." If you understand that you need to stop right now, and get some air. I love parenthetical comments. A complete justification for disconnected near stream of consciousness writing. Faulkner, eat your heart out).

One day at a time.

For those of you who follow Amaryllis's blog, she left a pretty detailed post on the last few months. It would make a for the Hallmark movie of the week, except we don't know how it ends yet.

The boys have been enjoying taekwondo. Since they made it through their first session, we went ahead and got them their uniforms. The last class of this last session the instructor paired them up to practice dodges and punches with the gloves. It was a kids dream come true. A responsible adult actually put two brothers together and told them to wail on each other. The instructor is wonderful gentleman, who does an excellent job of mixing technique with philosophy and integrity. At $35 for 15 classes (1.5 hours each) its a pretty good deal too.

I'm still waiting to find out when I go to the University of Utah Medical Center. After finding out it would take 4 months to see a specialist in Billings. I just went ahead and asked my neurologist to refer me to the U. I don't want to wait four months to discuss one or two possibilities, when I can spend a week in Salt Lake and run through a dozen or so. It's not the Mayo, but we should be able to get to the bottom of it. Right now I just cruise around on maintenance meds that don't resolve anything, but allow me to function enough to work an 8-10 hour day. I can live with the odd twitching and cramping for now, its the fatigue that knocks me flat (In case you're wondering, Provigil is a nice light alternative to amphetamines. Kind of like eight cups of coffee without the bitter aftertaste or cream).

For those of you who no longer contemplate the one handed clap

Here is a link to a blog where the wirter discusses the relative size of different measurements of digital storage. Apparently google pushes 20 petabytes a day. I think my first PC had a 24 meg hard drive (Yes I remember playing around with the config.sys and autoexec.bat files to get some games to run... Must squeeze few more K of expanded memory...). Anyhow, food for thought (Ah that was a bad play on words. You'll see hat I mean when you click the link.).

I never knew Google was THIS massive!

Green Rage! Well at least really angry.

Went to see the new Hulk film with the wife last night. It was pretty good. Lots of good CG moments, and the story line was more straightforward than Ang Lee's offering. Not quite the same caliber as Iron Man, though. I think it was the casting. Jeff Bridges just made for a much better "clever" bad guy than Tim Roth who was more of the traditional man/monster type. The chemistry was much better between Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow as well.

That being said the latest Hulk film is not a "reboot" and assumes you're going to get a lot of the nods to both the comic books and the old TV series (of which I was surprised that there were quite a few: the gamma radiation chair setup, the green eyes in the dim light, Banner walking in the rain, Bill Bixby on the TV set, Lou Ferrigno as a security guard, etc...). If Stan Lee's cameos get any larger they're going to have to start paying him a lot more than usage rights.

I don't know if they are going to make any more (who am I kidding), but they did set up for a major Hulk villain by introducing Samuel Sterns and his gamma experimentation (SPOILER: I'll save you the google or wikipedia hunt. The professor who tries to help cure Banner of being the Hulk is Samuel Sterns, who due to gamma radiation exposure becomes the hyper intelligent "Leader." Its a reverse on the classic hero outsmarts the bad guys through superior ingenuity and intelligence. Here the hero beats the nerdy smart villain using brute strength). Good popcorn flick, but there is a little violence that might be too much for the kiddies, particularly in the Hulk/Abomination fight at the end.

Quick Update

Wow it's hard to believe that it's been so long since I posted. Still, I made a promise to myself when I got into blogging that I wouldn't make it something to stress out on, just to enjoy. It's been a rough week. I haven't really spoken with many people outside of the immediate family about this, but I have been wrestling with some significant health issues for some time now. My body just hasn't recovered from the blood infection, and now we are worried that I am having a neurological or auto-immune response (May not even be related to the blood infection). Muscle weakness, twitching, trouble swallowing... yeah scary stuff.

It's ironic that this is coming to a head rolling into my tenth anniversary celebration with Amaryllis. I've committed to myself that hell (sorry Mom) or high water, I am going to enjoy the special moment with my wife. It's amazing to think that I have spent a third of my life with the same person. I can remember lasting three weeks with my first girlfriend (bonus points for any of you out there who remember her... double bonus points if you can spell her name properly :) ). When you start growing together its amazing how little you can imagine being apart. I remember the first time I every saw her, wet hair, sunburned, gringo Portuguese (well mine never got that good).

I asked her to marry me overlooking Bear Lake, near Garden City, Utah. It was Easter Sunday. No eggs, no basket, yet it was certainly one of the best ones I've ever celebrated.

This is what happens when mechanical engineers drink.

Link: BBC NEWS Americas Florida's hurricane simulator

Oh I'm sure this piece of technology will never be abused during rush week.

One of those weird days...

I spent a good chunk of the day tinkering with the 4Runner. Thankfully, pretty much everything was solved with a good cleaning of the terminals and a new battery. There are still a couple of things I would like to sort out, but that brings me into the realm of electrical systems, and there is some voodoo even I won't mess with.

After that, the whole family went over to a friends house to help them build a retaining wall in the garden as a surprise for his wife (Someday sweety...). The kids had a ball playing in their yard, and Kate petted a bald spot on their cats. The wall turned out pretty sharp. He is a surveyor/civil engineer, and his son has just about finished up his civil engineering degree. We put in a rounded corner as opposed to a square one, and his son trimmed the capstone with a masonry saw so it all fitted together beautifully. Not so handy, I was manual labor...

It was a beautiful day, we got a lot done, and were feeling pretty good about the world. Amaryllis popped off to the store, and called me while she was in line. Our niece is in the hospital right now with some type of stomach problem that is causing her both to vomit and have diarrhea (thank goodness for spellcheck, I never get that one right) at the same time. I hope everything works out. She's a precocious little gal, and life is tough enough when you're three. After that, Amaryllis told me that an acquaintance of hers fell off a ladder while helping paint a house, and is now in a coma. Don't think this would be a good time to read the news.

Lucas channels von Däniken

The kids finally convinced me to take them to Indiana Jones 4. I had been avoiding it because the trailers had me worried that yet another memory from my childhood would be piddled on. I'm going to throw some pretty significant spoilers in here, so consider yourself warned.

I really wanted to like the movie. There are some classic Indy moments, and some good chuckle spots. They also did a pretty good job of visually throwing out the late 1950's cliches. Still, I could not shake the Chariots of the Gods plot. Pandimensional aliens? A psychic villianess? It kind of throws all of the supernatural elements of the previous films for a loop. In the end it's genre camp that takes itself too seriously by forgetting to wink and nod at the camera. The last quarter of the movie reeks of midichlorians. Without millions of dollars in special effects, and the nostalgia factor of an iconic character, this would have been a plot worthy of the early days of the Sci Fi Channel.

Sigh... I need to just get off my soapbox, pop some popcorn, and watch some classic Jones.

"When I wore a younger man's clothes..."

I've been spending the last little while going through photograph's left by my mom. She was an avid scrapbooker, so there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of them. It's like an endless nostalgia factory. My brother would tease me endlessly about doing it. I am one of those people who never lets go, fueled by a powerful memory for people and places (but ironically not for directions ;P). Still there were pictures of events I barely recognized, and events I could only piece together base don who was in the photo. It's strange to watch yourself go from a chubby naked baby to a chubby hairy dad with a whole lot of goofy kid, awkward teen, and ambitious college student in between.

The thing about the digital world is that you are free to sift through the past present and future and portray yourself however you would like (much to the chagrin of online daters). It's interesting to compare people you know in real life with the pictures and personas they present online. Some people will throw up a recent picture warts and all (some lucky people don't have any warts), others will use photos from years ago. Some don't use photos at all. No judgement, just observation (the sociologist in me will never die).

The picture attached to this post is of Amaryllis and I shortly after bringing Gabriel home from the hospital (Note: If my wife caught my using this picture of her completely exhausted after her first, roughest, and longest labor she would beat me. Thankfully the couch in the picture is long gone, so there is no risk of me sleeping on it.). I was a junior in college. Gabe was born during finals week. Boyish grin, woman that I was passionately in love with, my first child, and ready to kick the whole world's butt. I even loved that shirt (Amaryllis, what ever happened to that one...).

The reality is that I am not that person anymore. I'm a bit heftier, balder, and surlier on a Saturday morning. However, I love my wife more deeply (ten years on the 24th), I would do anything for my children, and there are some are some things I will never ever say in a public meeting again. I've lost some of my naivety, crusted a little bit more with cynicism, but have a much richer hope in the next generation. My back and neck hurt. I've made pancakes enough to perfect them as much as I will in this lifetime. I get to cheer my kids in Tae kwon do, and I usually know exactly how far I can tease my wife and which pranks are off limits (No cold water over the shower curtain.). By the time I go I hope I make many more memories without regretting too many of them.

Governing: Water/May 2008

Link: Governing: Water/May 2008

This makes me glad I live in a small community where we are primary users of a mountain source, i.e. we flush our toilets and they drink it in Montanna. Raises an interesting point that few people ponder: Many communities have sources that include effluent from their own or other communities. It's all a question of time and distance from toilet to glass.

My rear end is falling asleep

In local government there are few things more painful than budget hearings during an election year. Everyone wants to appear both simultaneously generous to special interests, and fiscally responsible to the average voter. The result would be entertaining if it didn't involve hours of meetings.

I've actually gotten of the hook easy this year. I was out of town with mom when the division budget was presented, so a member of my staff made the pitch (and did a good job too). Our budget is straightforward enough that we escaped without too many questions. The Council is also changing as the city grows and the budget becomes more complicated. There are a lot fewer line item questions ("Mr. Briggs, do you really need $6,000 dollars a year for office supplies?" "No, I suppose we could go back to stealing pens from the bank again."), and a lot more programmatic and policy questions. There is also a lot of collaboration with the Treasurer's office in

As a manager the most painful part is the slash. We were a little more than three million short in requested allocations versus revenue this year. After the tally is made, all of the departments and divisions are asked to trim. Every manager slides in a little slush (cushion, conservative estimate, Cayman island fund... whatever your little heart wants to call it) into the division budget. Part of these contingencies are practical and ethical. Bids rarely match estimates, emergencies happen, and unforeseen opportunities emerge. What kills is murdering darlings. Realizing that your pet project or piece of equipment may be really cool, but does it really outweigh replacing the 1978 Ford that some poor guy in the Utilities division has had to drive?

Still you do have to reward your division from time to time.

Not Forgotten

No I haven't abandoned my blog already, just trying to get back to the grind at work. Spring has finally made it to northern Wyoming, and the construction season is heating up. That means the planning director may not get a break until the hell or northern Wyoming freezes over again.

Wyoming's housing market, with the exception of Cheyenne and a couple of other locations, is still in pretty good shape, and by good shape I mean completely schizoid crazy. The energy and natural resource extraction industry plays a big part of it, as well as the "just because you were a stockbroker or doctor doesn't mean that you can't try to be a rancher as well" crowd. The sad thing is that the prices have gotten nuts all across the board. In the town we live in this is partially because of nice vistas of the mountains, good schools, and recreational opportunities. The other part is we built all of three and a half homes in the late eighties.

Right now just about everyone dabbles in real estate. A joke one of my friends tells is that there are two questions of the Wyoming real estate license exam:

1. What is 5% of $100

2. What is 5% of $1,000

Truth be told, I know some pretty nice real estate agents (including a couple that work very hard to try to match people with housing they can really afford), but it doesn't help the insanity much. Keep in mind that this was a community where in 2000, $150,000 could get you a pretty decent pad. Now it can't even get you into many of the subsidized "affordable housing" projects popping up around town. Believe it or not the three bedroom house in the picture (on a 6,150 square foot lot) is listed for $310,000. No, you don't get the ranch, horse, or view of the mountains with that...

Mom's Obituary

I posted a briefer death notice on my facebook page, but here is the obituary I wrote for Mom. It's amazing to think that she passed away on the same day that her father was killed in light plane crash 39 years ago. For those of you who knew my Mom and wish to honor her, information on the Unit Scholoarship Fund is found in the last paragraph of the obit.

Deborah “Debbie” Lynn Briggs

Deborah Lynn Briggs passed away Saturday May, 17, 2008, at Logan Regional Hospital after a courageous struggle with cancer.

Debbie was born on January 9, 1954 in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Her family moved to Phoenix, AZ where Debbie grew up graduating from Sunnyslope High School in 1972. She attended the University of Arizona, and as the spouse of an Air Force Serviceman had the opportunity to travel extensively. She lived in Izmir, Turkey; Washington D.C.; Glendale, Arizona; Lakenheath, England; Mountain Home, Idaho; and Logan, Utah.

Debbie was a lifelong learner, and in 2006 she graduated magna cum laude from Utah State University with bachelor’s degrees in Education and Geography. She loved reading, travel, photography and scrapbooking her many adventures.

Debbie is preceded in death by her father, Robert Dean Tietjen. She is survived by her mother and stepfather Patricia and Daniel Broderick; by her sons Robert and Daniel Briggs and their wives; her grandchildren Gabriel, Jonathan, and Kathryn; by her siblings Robert Tietjen, Beth Paschal, Daniel Broderick, David Broderick, John Broderick, and Karen Bartholf; and by her niece and nephew Brianna and Brandon Paschal as well as several step nieces and nephews.

At Debbie’s request, no funeral services will be held.

The family would like to thank a number of friends, acquaintances, medical personnel, and hospice workers who made Debbie’s illness easier for her to bear.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Debbie may contribute to the Unit Scholarship Fund; PO Box 43211; Fayetteville, North Carolina 28309-3211. This organization provides funding for the college education of families of military personnel who are killed while in the service.

Made it

My brother and I arrived yesterday, and found my mother and grandmother in good spirits. Mom told us that she has decided to stop chemo. We want her to talk to her doctor before she makes the final decision, but honestly if right now represents the quality of life she will have and she makes an informed decision, it might be for the best. Her oncologist gives her 6-12 weeks is she ceases chemo. I will update more as I know more...

Kate

We busted it out to get the house a little cleaner for my brother's arrival. Kate came down and was impresed with the results and said, "Now my house is clean... Thank you Daddy," and gave me a big hug. She is such a sweety, and yes she has me wrapped around her finger (Although she has picked up some of my quirks... She loves Hellboy and is as excited for the sequel as I am.).

Fun Times

My brother rolls into town today. The nutter crossed the US is 2.5 days, and I'm pretty sure there is nothing coursing through his veins but Red Bull and sugar. This will be my first real road trip with him. I wish we had time to do more of a linger longer, but mom is not doing well in the hospital. Not sure how our presence is going to change that, but I know that Grandma is worn out and just wants us there.

I think we're going to take the Highway 14 so we can can catch the beautiful view from the top of the mountain (You can see Devil's Tower on a clear day.). I'll have to check though because it might be snowing up top. Extracurricular activities with my brother can be interesting to say the least. He's the type of kid that gets excited by high places, no trespassing signs, and things that go boom. Contrary to what you may have seen on Myth Busters, even though a compressed air cylinder won't explode when you shoot it, a cylinder of pure oxygen when using a metal tipped round will. I must also offer my sincere apologies to a couple of Public Works Directors... I understand now. I truly, truly do.

It's going to be interesting closing out Mom's apartment, if that's what she wants to do. That is the one thing we need from her is a decision. That's probably going to the most difficult part of this trip. I don't think there's going to be a right answer that satisfies everyone, but we can't keep doing this.

Transitions

Next week my brother and I will be heading out to Utah to sort through Mom's stuff in preparation for here leaving her apartment. I don't really know what to think or feel. More than likely she will be going to live with my brother and sister-in-law in North Carolina. I don't think anyone in her family realizes what a tremendous strain it will be on them. My sister-in-law will more than likely have to quit her job at a time when my brother's career is still in flux due to a personal injury. Everyone assumes since they do not have children and both work that there is gold buried under the floorboards.

In the middle of it all I feel the worst because I live the closest yet don't seem to be able to help beyond visiting Mom two to three times a month and coordinating with friends and associates who check in with her daily. The salt in the wound comes into play from other family members who feel that I am failing her as a son.

The tricky part of it all is that Mom may yet live for several years. The chemo has been very effective, and Mom's CA-125 levels have been dropping. She has an excellent oncologist in Logan (affiliated with Huntsman, published, and able to try new regimes on top of being a compassionate man whose practice is two blocks from Mom's apartment) who has even waived all charges not covered by insurance or Medicaid. Once she is in a location where she will receive 24 hour supervision, and have a medic and a nurse monitoring her and making sure that she doesn't skip chemo or misuse medication its likely that her health will improve dramatically. Then what? She will have been moved cross country hundreds of miles from other family and friends... No answers... no witty responses... just frustration.

Entering Blogspace

Robert might be the gadget geek, but Amaryllis rules the net in our house. I thought I would have the reigning title having started with e-mail in '94, and still getting a nostalgic glow talking about using gopher back when the only meaningful things BYU had on their servers were scripts for The Princess Bride and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (I went to Utah State by the way, Aggies all the way :P).

I spent many an hour NannyMud in a telnet window when the phrase MMORPG referred either to a a pyramid scheme or a really crappy health care plan. I used UNIX for ArcInfo when I started learning GIS. I got twitterpated when USU actually created a navigation system for the academic databases (pre-Jstor even).

Amaryllis is part of the new generation. It started innocuously at first. She asked what I thought about having her own web page for her Close to My Heart (c)(tm)(lic.)(Oh gosh have I violated the terms of use in my first post) ventures. I thought it was a good idea, I mean how much trouble could be caused with a templated web page that you could drop in a little html for finesse now and then. Then I noticed the Google Talk icon in the menu tray. "Gmail what's Gmail sweetheart. What do you mean I have to be invited to join?"

I have been a longtime lurker on a number of forums, but the day I walked into the living room and caught Amaryllis posting on one made me white with fear. I was losing my grip. Soon she would be telling me shortcuts in MSOffice, and giving me that little look as she leaned over the keyboard to find a command nested three menues deep.

Facebook broke me, and I finally had to wade into the water. Why was everyone trying to hug me, poke me, sell me, and invite me to play Frogger? After I got the hang of Facebook, Amaryllis thought it was time for me to think about my own blog... "It's easy dear. It's all templated, but you can insert html if you want..." I cried like a child.

So here I am. My own little presence on the web. Amaryllis, how do I attach a photo to this thing...