Sam & Shadow – Diplomacy In Action

For those who don’t already know, Sam and Shadow are our two cats.

• Shadow is about 5 years old. We rescued her as a four-week old kitten. She had kittens of her own about six months later, before we could get her fixed. She also took a rock to the mouth which broke out a tooth and required a $1,200 root canal. I’m telling you, I almost had her euthenized over that tooth - $1,200 for a free cat? Well, I’m glad I didn’t because she’s been a wonderful companion for the family.  She’s all black, short haired, has all her claws and likes to hunt.
• Sam is new to us. He’s gray, a male, and 9 years old. His previous owners rescued him as a little kitten. He’s in great health, loves to rough-house with the kids. His front claws have been removed.

The two cats have been engaged in a bit of detente since Sam joined us about six weeks ago. Sam staked out the kids’ rooms as his space; Shadow kept to the main level and lower level. The two – to our knowledge at least – haven’t quarreled at all, just opted to NOT share much space with each other. The stairwell seems to be the demilitarized zone. The two cats each pass up/down the stairwell, but they each seem to make sure they have the stairs all to themselves before they pass.

M rather loves this carving up of the house into territories, because Sam has claimed her room as his territory and sleeps often on her bed. Sam, you see, likes to roughhouse it with M. They’re more compatible than M and Shadow. R gets quite a bit of time with Sam, too. So they’re happy.

Well, over the last week or so, the detente seems to be warming up a touch. Both cats are spending a bit more time in the other zones…peacefully.

Last night, the family –fighting colds, every one – snuggled up on the couch in the family room to watch Coraline  on the newish plasma TV and the brand-new Blu-Ray player. ANNND, I’ve finally (Finally!!!) been able to put the surround sound receiver together with a kick-butt TV, surround sound speakers and great movie source for the first time since …. since…. well, since my apartment back in 1995. I mean, it has been a LOOONG time.

Anyway, we were all sitting there, on the couch, wearing our Coraline 3D glasses, wrappeded by the sound and the thrilling picture, when Shadow quietly hopped up into my lap, settled in and started purring.

About five minutes later, Sam suddenly appeared in C’s lap, on the opposite side of the couch. He staked out a warm spot between C and M, and hunkered down too.

This was a first. Both cats in the family room, on the couch, at the same time. The fact that they’re not competing for the same favored person(s) is definitely making all this easier. I anticipate that the co-habitation will slowly increase, as the cats realize that everything’s safe and that we all love them both.

For me, I just grooved on how low-maintenance the pet situation has been over the past couple months. Oh, I do so miss Aki and Neko both. But they were ready to go. And the family is comfortable with low-maintenance pets who hold their own in the family dynamic – one on each side of the couch.

Oh. Coraline was fun, too. First time we’d seen the movie. Loved the VERY subtle Oregon references.

Closing out 2009

As we started 2009, I wrote a Goodbye to 2008 in the blog. Nothing personal against 2008, but we were ready to see it end. The relocation to SE Portland didn’t go as planned. We’d accomplished something great with the house on Peacock Lane, but the real estate market situation caused us to realize we had to go back to where we started. Health issues for both C and I were worsening rather than improving. Animals were ill and R was having the worst struggle of his life so far with staying focused. It was a difficult time. We had just initiated some choices aimed at cleaning up the situation.  We entered 2009 with a house on the market and hopes that it would sell quickly. It didn’t.  At the end of the year-end post, I wrote:

“2009 will start with further cleanup. It is our supreme wish that we can keep the list ever-shortening. We want things to be much, much less stressful in 2009.”

Well, it took a lot of work, but the things that were stressing us did indeed clean up over the course of the year:

• N had his hernia surgery in February. Things got a LOT better for him after that.
• C’s tumor-site cancer scare turned out to be nothing. But her fatigue and joint pain worsened throughout the first half of the year.
• R quit gymnastics after placing second in the State Meet. He immediately took up fencing. This simplified a lot of things for us, logistically and financially. Fencing also allows the whole family to participate, something that gymnastics did not accomodate.
• Our renters in SW asked for an early termination to their lease. We granted it and moved back in. Though this project has been a lot of effort and continues to require some work, it’s for the best over the long haul.
• We were unable to sell the SE house, but did find ourselves blessed with AWESOME renters come October/November.
• NO car crashes and insurance hassles in 2009.
• R’s mental place was really pretty bad at the end of 2008; it’s much better now, as we finish 2009. We switched R’s ADD meds in March. The changes we saw at that time have reached a plateau, but we still see him growing and maturing dramatically as he catches up to his age group.
• We put down two elderly pets in 2009, compassionately helping them end their lives with dignity. We can now see how much maintenance Aki and Neko  required, after having gone a number of weeks without that hanging over us.
• In summer, C was diagnosed with a ‘polyp’, and ultimately ended up having a major surgery. Short-term hard; long-term good. After this surgery, C was able to dump her cancer meds entirely, resulting in a dramatic improvement to C’s chronic joint pain, memory abilities and overall positive attitude – an upward trend that she speaks openly about, and which continues.
• For this school year, the kids’ school offers bus service, allowing C to ferry the children a mere 3 miles to the bus stop, rather than the previous 11 miles each way to NE Portland. C now spends 30 minutes per day doing the school shuttle instead of the old-style two hours.
• We have a space for an international student to stay with us. We’ve already had a couple short-stays in the short time we’ve been back in SW. Looking for a longer-term student as soon as one comes up.

So, it took all of 2009 to get the work done, but we enter into 2010 with things better than we entered 2009. In today’s issue of The Oregonian newspaper, they’re running an article on how Americans thought 2009 was bad, and that 2010 will be better. The Typhoon was a year earlier than the trend; we got it out of the way with 2008 and have been trending up throughout.

Back To Work Tomorrow

A three day weekend over the Christmas holiday was truly enjoyable. Tolerable weather at the Oregon Coast made for a low key, low drama, low effort time. No tire chains and road closures this year. In fact, Christmas Day was a beautifully sunny day.

Children were delighted to receive a bunch of books, a few well chosen new toys, and netbook PCs from Grandma and Grandpa to help them with their schoolwork.

R is now the proud owner of his own internal frame backpack,  ready to grow with him through most of his Boy Scout career. Oh, there’s a new Boy Scout uniform for him as well.

 

 

M’s new friend is a Femisapien programmable robot. If ever there was a non-technical but credible robotics toy meant to appeal to a technically-minded ballet dancer, this is it. M spent most of  Christmas day teaching her new robot how to dance.

My sister, P, was there with her guy, C. That’s the whole family on my side – Grandma and Grandpa, the two kids, and one kid’s two kids. Contrast that to the eleven cousins I grew up with, and its a different dynamic for my kids – they have LOTS of quality time with their grandparents.

R and I stayed over at the beach until Sunday. C and M made the trip  back to Portland on Saturday, so M could turn in her last two performances of The Nutcracker. As I’m writing this, C and M are attending The Nutcracker, sitting in the audience for the last matinee of the season. After all this, M still hadn’t seen the production as an audience member would. So, today’s HER day to watch!

Tonight, C will meet us halfway between home and the Beach, so as to trade me for M. It’s the infamous Johnson family ‘hostage swap.’ M and R will spend a couple days with Grandma and Grandpa, I’ll work Monday through Thursday. C will spend a day or so in Portland, then come back down to the Beach house as soon as her Portland duties are complete.

It’s a quiet, low-key holiday, as planned. Nice.

Saab Shutdown

 

You know, I loved my Saab 900 Turbo. It was a thinking man’s car. The engineers weren’t afraid to follow reason, even if it meant overriding tradition. I like that about the car.

As the news that Saab is shutting down, I reminisced on the car and my experiences with it. It came to me that I had always wanted to own one of these:

Its the Saab Sonett III, their two-seat sports car from the mid 70’s. This car, believe it or not, has a 55hp motor in it. Only about 8,300 were manufactured. I’m sure just  a handful remain.

I wonder should I ever be able to get my hands on one? That could be a thrill.

Keeping the Peace – Encouragement, not Enforcement

You know, C is doing better and better each week. Her health is better; she’s happier. That’s enough. She does really  well when she remembers her thyroid meds. With the holidays approaching, it seems harder for her to remember; she forgets more often. By dinner time, we can tell whether she had her meds or not that day. This is not a complaint. This is actually good news. The once overwhelmingly complicated reactions to all the meds have simplified until I can simply tell if her thyroid is up-to-date or not. It’s a part of the doing better, and I’m glad for it.

If you’ve watched the video at the OPB website detailing the children of The Nutcracker, you’ll notice they spend the lion’s share of the piece concentrating on the angels! And, surprisingly, a lot of angel time is spent on the dress. Except you need to say it like this:  The Dress.

M had been feeling some frustration (as manifested by a couple good cries) because the dress wasn’t performing right. Some other girls seemed to be having some struggles, too. So today apparently was fine-tuning day. M said the matinee went oh-so-much-better, dress-wise. She was happy and proud. It was clear that the dress is once again her friend.

R had makeup homework to complete. No, no, let me try that again. Ryne had homework to make up. He would not have liked the sound of the first try…he’s getting really gender sensitive lately; he must be an emerging adolescent. Anyway,  He hammered it out today, leaving him worry-free for the rest of the winter break. Good for him! He’s been really, really helpful around the house, too.

Me?  Umm… just serving the family. Keeping the Peace. Refereeing.  Thanks for asking. Working hard not to incite drama, myself, but to help calm down the dramatics should they erupt (and appear without provocation the drama will). Oh, I don’t mean to paint my family as fighting. They’re not. We’re getting along really quite well overall. It’s just that I’ve  got a hypothyroid surgery rehabber, a pubescent WII-niac with an emerging sense of sarcasm, and a budding ballerina with a bit of  a diva complex when she feels intimidated. These are just the foibles of my family. They’re each dear in their own way. I’m just deciding – choosing - to be as calm and level headed as I can be.

So, nothing’s happening for me. By design. I’m must gliding smoothly along the placid surface of the lake that is my life. Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be? I’ll just keep all the foot-paddling going on underneath the surface  to myself right now, eh?  <GRIN>

The next couple weeks are going to be delightful. We’ve intentionally under-booked in comparison to previous years. This slower pace will be great. After all we’ve done or gone through in the last four years, we need the healing of a slower life.

Assistant Patrol Leader

At the troop meeting tonight, R was elected to the position of Assistant Patrol Leader. Not bad for a Second Class Scout (nearly First Class) in his second year of scouting!

R’s walking a bit taller tonight. Good for him.

M's Debut - The Deets

M had two performances yesterday in The Nutcracker. As an Angel. I've blogged and facebook'ed about M and the Oregon Ballet Theater's Nutcracker already this season. But the evening show last night just happened to be the one for which the Typhoon got tickets -- something like 10 months ago. Before M was even the inkling of an idea of a candidate for the cast. But, as luck sometimes has a way of panning out, we all had seats for M's first evening performance.

On hand in the audience were:

• Grandma G
• Grandpa J
  
• Grandma M-A
• C, Mom
  
• Brother R
• me, N, Dad
  

Grandma G and Grandpa J made the trip in from Pacific City a day early. Grandpa J took the opportunity to do some duck hunting on Sauvie Island - he doesn't get to do that very much any more. Grandma M-A motored her way down the I5 corridor from north Seattle the evening before. So, come Saturday morning, we had a houseful of relatives sending M off to her first OBT public performance.

C did the chauffeur thing for the afternoon matinee. C and M came back home between shows. While they were gone for the matinee, the Grandmas put together a nice salmon dinner, perfectly timed so the ballet dancer could sit down and eat as soon as she got home. It wasn't a strictly formal family dinner, but we were all dressed up, and we did use the dining room.

And, we were all right on schedule to make the jump downtown for M's scheduled time at the stage door, and for the rest of us to settle in to our seats.

Now, those of you who know my dad, Grandpa J, the ballet is definitely NOT his thing. We're lucky to get him into a movie theater, let alone the opera house. Remember, he went duck hunting in the sub-freezing weather the day before. Of the two choices, hunting frozen ducks in the marshes is much more fun than watching a holiday dance extravaganza. BUT... his granddaughter is up there... so he's there too.

We had a couple benefits for Grandpa, though. Through good fortune, our seats were in a box along the side of the auditorium. Box seats have a private lobby, restricted access, and a quiet hallway to the seats. So, while it was a mad crush and pandemonium in the lobby, we had a quiet and peaceful view from the side. Perfect for the ladies in the party who were all nervous wrecks. The free-standing chairs in the box meant that we could stretch out a bit, without feeling crowded or crushed...a very different feeling than the orchestra level, to be sure. The sacrafice, however, is that the sight lines from the box are a little limited, but for Grandpa J, the tradeoff was undoubtedly a good thing. Much less pressure and crush from other people, and two shows to watch: the one on stage and the one down in the orchestra level!

Act I was great. Now, I must confess. Back in time, I thought of the OBT prtoduction as the epitome (See? Here I am, showing my west coast redneck roots!) In the past few years, M has had parts in a Nutcracker highlights Christmas program from her old dance studio. I'd go to those shows, and I'd know all the kids in the cast. It felt just a little like a high school play in which everyone knows everyone else and the back stories from the school cafeteria that overlay the play being delivered on stage. I had NONE of that awareness for OBT's Nutcracker, so I was always just a blissfully-ignorant audience member and, as a result, even the children in the cast struck me as amazingly proficient and gifted dancers. I still feel that way about OBT, but after last night, I see a whole new level. Let me explain a bit.

See, the young blonde boy who plays the 'prince' (who later becomes the hero in the girl's dream sequence) was played last night by a young man who just happens to be in the same third grade class with M. He also happens to be in MY beginning fencing class. His Mom is one of my fencing tutors. There are other cast members with whom we are now acquainted. M is being taught by some of the dancers who have major parts in Act II. C has been a chaperone and stage hand on a couple occasions. So now, when I sit in the audience, I feel fully acquainted with some of the cast, and pasingly acquainted with a handful of others. I watch the Prince pantomime the battle scene, and when he culminates the dance with a fencing lunge, I think to myself, "Oh! Z (the instructor at fencing) will be so pleased with the form!"

It was about that moment that I realized that - for me - OBT's Nutcracker had become a lot more like the old high school play filled with classmates. Portland got a lot smaller there for a few minutes, and felt more like Mayberry RFD than 'the second biggest city in the Pacific Northwest.'

During the intermission, the grandparents commented on how nice it was to be in the box. They also commented on R, who - at twelve - could easily be a behavior problem at a stuffy thing like a ballet. But he wasn't. And he hardly ever is. The dance starts and he's immediately plugged in. He knows the story and even more, he knows some of the cast. We're on the fringes, but these are becoming our 'people'. Afterall, R is the real fencer. The fencing connection is because of him.

After the break, Act II starts with the curtain rising to reveal a stage full of Angels.

BOOM!!!

Just like that. There's a wave of "ahhhh, oooohhhhh" contentment from the audience, and the Angels perform their gliding number that makes them seem to float over the stage.

There she was. M. Right there. Hard to pick her out because they all wear identical costumes and wigs. But we knew where to look. Didn't even have the chance to get nervous - no time to cry or get worked up. That was great, for a nervous, overwhelmingly proud Dad like me.

The Angels did wonderfully. The show moved on. Everyone performed well. Everything went smoothly.

We picked M up at the stage door after the show. We had roses for her. And cheesecake & cocoa at home for dessert, with family all around her.

Not a bad way to have a debut in the family.

Not Just Football has Daily Doubles

M is midway through her two-dress-rehearsal day. I haven’t heard any details, but I’m sure to get the story later tonight. C is chaperoning.

She’s going to be there until 10pm tonight. And she’s going to dance her part in dress rehearsal tomorrow night. Then twice on Saturday.

Stable Oil?

Really?

CNN/Money has an interesting article on the Oil Industry. If you buy in to what they’re saying, the message is that we’ve reached a stable point in the oil industry, but we’ve learned anew the lesson not to depend upon petrochemicals. [link to article]

“The energy intensity of the U.S. economy has actually dropped by about 2% a year every year since the early 1980s. In the next couple of years Deutsche Bank expects it to decline by around 3% as people buy more fuel efficient cars and respond in other ways to the high prices of 2004-2008 and as government conservation measures kick in.

“With economic growth expected to remain at a sluggish 2.5% or so over the next couple of years, that translates into an actual drop in U.S. oil consumption.

Apparently, this is what the US Government is saying, too.

The article raises the question about countries like China, who are emerging as first-world contenders. There’s an interesting take on that, too:

“by the time hundreds of million of Chinese are buying cars, the fleet could very well be all-electric.”

Could there be a softening of the geopolitical situation around petroleum?

“geopolitical flare-ups in oil-rich nations are much less apt to affect prices now that the world has the ability to produce much more oil than it is using. Indeed, this lack of spare capacity was an underlying reason oil prices got so high in 2008. That year, spare capacity hit a low of 1 million barrels a day, a mere tanker load away from demand exceeding supply.

“Now that number is almost 4 million barrels a day, and expected to grow to 4.5 million barrels a day by the middle of next year.

"There's so much spare capacity right now," said Armstrong, noting that oil prices in the $70 range are still high enough to insure new supplies are being brought online. "It's very difficult to see prices much higher."

A mere super tanker away from exceeding supply? Whoa. That’s some SERIOUS Just-In-Time manufacturing. No wonder the Somali pirates were getting $10M ransoms for hijacked tankers. If the supply now exceeds demand, the going rate for a hijacked tanker has just gone down, too, I bet.

Over at www.gasbuddy.com, I used their charting tools to show US gas prices (and my local market) over the past 72 months. The presumption is that we could expect prices to hold steady at 2005/2006 levels for a while.

Just in Time for Holiday Shopping…

Lifted, with credit, from epicwin.net

Here’s proof of what can happen when a woman drags her highly disinterested husband or boyfriend along when shopping. This letter was sent by a British hypermart to a customer in Oxford:

Dr Mrs Murray,

While we thank you for your valued patronage and use of our store loyalty card, the manager of our store is considering banning you and your family from shopping with us, unless your husband stops his antics.

Below is a list of just some of the offences over the past few months, all verified by our surveillance cameras:

• 15 June: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's trolleys when they weren’t looking.
• 2 Jul: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at five-minute intervals.
• 14 Aug: Moved a “Caution – Wet Floor” sign to a carpeted area.
• 4 Oct: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror to pick his nose.
• 3 Dec: Darted around the store suspiciously, loudly humming the Mission Impossible theme.
• 18Dec: Hid in a clothing rack and yelled, “Pick Me, Pick ME!”
• 23 Dec: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, then yelled very loudly: “There’s no toilet paper in here!”

Yours sincerely,
Store Manager

Do I LOOK Like a Francophile?

Sometimes, I have to step back and look at myself from the outside. I’ve had occasion to the that in a number of ways lately, in work, in family life, as a husband…

So I guess it should come as no surprise that I’d find myself going through an unprompted review of what someone might conclude about me by looking at my bedside items. One word would describe the person who inhabits the area surrounding where I sleep: Francophile!

Mind you, I have nothing against the lovers of French culture. I just never felt drawn to it over any other European culture. In fact, I feel drawn a bit more strongly to Greek and German culture than I do French. But you wouldn’t know that from looking in my room. At least, not right now.

The evidence. On my nightstand:

• A book, titled Ballet 101, on loan from Oregon Ballet Theater
• A book, titled The Art of Fencing, on loan from The American Studio of Fencing
• a left-handed foil on the floor, near the bed
• a clock radio
• a lamp

So, the area is relatively spare. Not a whole lot of clutter going on. BUT, what is personalized is ‘strong with the Force’ of  French culture.

Now, in my defense, I’m reading Ballet 101 so as to learn more about the art form  my daughter is pursuing. I really know nothing about ballet except the spectacle of the finished product. M is deeply engaged in the process of learning/making the art, not consuming it. There’s a big gap here between what I know and what she knows, and I need to bridge in order to maintain a connection with her going forward. That explains the primer on Ballet.

Now, Fencing started out for R as a sport of his own choosing. Last night, though, with the start of my first lesson, all four members of the family now suit up and study swordsmanship. R is currently the most committed and most skilled, followed by M, then C. While everyone else has been taking lessons since June, I’ve been the last holdout. The Art of Fencing has been a supplemental read for me, as I figure out the basics of the sport.

The first lesson was not so much Fencing as preparing. I showed up pretty-much on time, but didn’t get involved in the class until halfway through. I had to find a pair of knickers that fit me. Then I had to try on fencing jackets until I found one that fit me too. Work through the bin of gloves for the elusive lefty glove big enough for my hand, and – finally. I was ready (I already have my own lefty foil and my own mask, thanks to C’s diligent shopping for high-quality used equipment).

Now, C was at the Fencing studio, too. It was a crowded night, actually. Class had double the normal number of fencers! I stepped out of the changing room in my gear all white canvas, cradling my black wire mask in my right elbow, and holding my foil in my left hand, and C sort of gasped, “you look really hot!” she muttered out loud, but to herself.  While I was glad to hear she liked the look, I was feeling rather lost and a little silly in all the new, unfamiliar gear. I was just thankful I didn’t look as out-of-place as I felt.

It only took her a few seconds, though, before her thoughts moved on to more competitive thoughts much more in line with how I felt. In that same self-muttering delivery, she next said, “I can’t wait to see how THIS goes!”

Well… it went.

With all those students at the same time, there were two classes going. R was sparring in the more advanced group (R is one of the youngest in this group); M was working on basics with the beginners (where her age is about normal).  The head instructor waved me over, and I joined the beginners – the only fully grown person in that group.

When M realized that I’d just joined her class, she squealed and hugged me. We settled in to drills right after that. While all the other beginners were running drills, Z (the instructor) started me with the very basics. Stance. Advancing footwork. Retreating footwork. Grip.

I don’t know if I moved faster, slower, or the same as any other rank newcomer, but I do know that Z only drilled me on footwork a couple times before he paired me up with another adult to make a third group away from the beginners. Together, we drilled on advancing, retreating and basic lunges until the end of class.

I enjoyed it. I have absolutely NO fluid motions in my technique. It’s like learning to ride a bike, or learning to swing a golf club. The body has to learn the new movements. My feet keep getting rotated all wrong; I don’t angle my foil correctly; I grip the foil handle too tightly…

Oh, I don’t know if I’m an accidental Francophile. I’m probably just over-reacting.

There is, after all,  Italian ballet, German ballet, American ballet. There’s German fencing grips, Spanish fencing gear, and the like. Neither of these disciplines are wholly French. I’m just building knowledge bridges between me and my children, as they pursue passions of their own. That is why, I’m sure, Catherine Fences. It’s fun, but I suspect she wouldn’t Fence just for herself; she Fences because the kids like to Fence. I’m not loving these things because they’re French; I’m learning these things because they’re my kids’ loves. And that process enriches my life too.