Not so Deep Thoughts ...

So, I decided to take March off … I’ll send refund checks to everyone who subscribes prorated for the month later this month.

Sorry for the blackout. I have been relative busy and other times lazy. I did make a few changes to the blog though and you can now leave comments (be kind) and see the archives listed in a nice menu on the left.

Before I get too into stories tonight, let me just relate one thing.

Bug juice.

Yeah, bug juice. I remember referring to bug juice when were in college living in the dorms. Like, “Yeah, let’s make some bug juice tonight,” thinking we could be like BJ and Hawkeye on M*A*S*H and brew up some killer spirits. Or, when I was in the Navy and we were sitting around the barracks saying, “Hey, let’s make some bug juice.” Pretty much the same thing, at a different time and place, with relative the same guys, if not in name then in personas.

But today. I can honestly say I finally made and had bug juice … lemme ‘splain. No, it takes too long, lemme ‘summup.

When I got back from Munhall on the Mon this week, I noticed there had been a massive die-off of what I generally refer to as ladybugs here. I am sure I have referenced them before.

Anyway, there were bodies all over the cottage. Mostly near the windowsills where the probably beat themselves to death against the windows trying to get out. I am down to probably only about 3 or 4 left at this point, at least that I can easily see.

So, this morning, while I was pouring water into my coffee maker, I noticed something seemed out of sorts in the reservoir. There was something on top of the water as it rose, and it was not a bubble, although it was shaped like one. Yeah, one of the little ladies made her way into the reservoir. I generally leave it open nights to let it dry out for the next morning. So … not being a very good morning person, I did not feel like complete gutting the coffee maker and disinfecting it. I nonchalantly scooped out the carcass (it was dead, is that good or bad?) and pressed the “on” button.

Voila, bug juice.

So, was this my first cup ‘o bug juice? Was the corpse of this bug lying in there for a couple of days or more and I only this morning noticed it? Does the hot water and Starbucks Café Vienna pack enough java to kill off anything me’ lady was carrying.

I may never know. But such is the life of a “bachelor” in the woods of New York. Feels like being back in the dorms at Slippery Rock or the barracks in Okinawa. Except I am sure the kick the bug juice I might have encountered there would have been a bit stronger.

Random thoughts are all I have to share with you today.

There are a pile of Post-It Notes on my desk with scribbled ideas for stories, step counts from my pedometer for the past couple of weeks and reminders of things to do and of things I have seen.

First, no more step counts for you. I am still getting in what I can at work and am up to 8,591 for today, but no need to bore you with every single day’s worth. If I ever hit 10,000 though, I’ll let you know.

Secondly, a rather odd entry on one of the Post-It Notes simply says “deer squatting.” Well, as you know from either the blog or photos, I have quite a herd of deer that traipse across the lawn in front of the cottage heading toward Joe & Magda’s for some bakery-discount-store bread or burrowing into the snow looking for a quick meal of grass hiding on top of the permafrost here in the shadow of the mountain. I counted 14 in all yesterday. I see their hoofprints everywhere and every now and then a big pile of their pellets.

Deer poop looks like rabbit poop, only bigger. It’s bigger than raisins but not quite as big as a dried cherry. Closer to blueberries in size. Well, anyway, the other day, while driving home, I came across the herd a little ways down the road from 23 Maple Road. There were several deer sort of looking at the road, others rummaging for food, and one, half squatting like a dog doing its business and looking very strangely at me as I drove past. It had an almost “Why don’t you take a picture” look in its face.

Sorry for the mental picture that might conjure up, but I had never even thought about a deer having to squat before. I know dogs do and am sure other animals do. But I have seen horses basically stand upright and lift their tails to drop a pile in the stable. I don’t know why I assumed deer were more closely related to horses in this respect than canines.

Life in the country without a TV is starting to take its toll …

Anyway, I went to the Laundromat the other week. I am sure I mentioned it. I only bring it up again because this week, as I did not go home over the weekend, I was due for a return engagement. There is no limit to what some people will do to avoid going to the Laundromat, and that is what this little tale will focus on.

The first trip to the Laundromat here was only slightly traumatic. I had been planning on going to “Steve’s Laundry” in the Target plaza in Newburgh or New Windsor. I had seen it and even walked passed it while shopping at the Target and it looked nice, big and clean. The sign on the window said dryers were 25 cents and if that were true (for an entire drying cycle) it would be well worth any inconveniences to go there.

When I arrived at Steve’s that Saturday, the place was packed with about a dozen round-faced Hispanic children and several taxis were dropping off or picking up people with bags of laundry out front. I decided to look at some of the other places I had seen as this was going to be much too chaotic for me. I ended up at the Laundromat in Vails Gate in the Price Chopper plaza. It’s tucked away in the corner of the plaza and was not too busy when I arrived.

There was a lanky oriental gentleman doing his laundry, a nice Hispanic couple doing their laundry and an elderly gentleman doing his laundry as well. Several people came and went dropping off and picking up their laundry from the cleaning service there (for 85 cents a pound – minimum charge of $8.50 – they’ll do your laundry). They had a television there with a really old western movie on and I walked over to the Price Chopper to get a newspaper after I started the wash. When I got back to the Laundromat, the elderly gentleman was sitting on the seats with a basket of damp clothes next to him. I took a seat and started reading my paper. When a couple of dryers became available, I asked him if he was waiting for one. I realized there was such a thing as Laundromat etiquette and did not want to breach it.

“No, I’m waiting for my wife to pick me up,” he said. “Go ahead.” I guess it is good to have at least a dryer. The washers were $3 a load (two loads) and the dryers were about $1.50 or so. If Steve’s dryers were only a quarter for a full cycle, as I said, it would be worth it. As it was Super Bowl weekend and I do not have a television, I thought I might come back to watch the game and do my laundry a second time. It would have been cheaper than going to a bar and probably less noisy. With my luck the TV only picked up the channel with old westerns. I ended up listening to the game over the Internet on a radio station.

So, in order to avoid the Laundromat this week, since I did not go home this weekend, I decided to take a new approach. I generally have enough underwear and dress clothes to last two weeks, barely, but run short on t-shirts and black socks. So, my quandary the other day at the Target, as I watched the stream of taxis heading toward Steve’s, was head to the Laundromat or pad my wardrobe with sufficient necessities to make it through two weeks here. I have vowed to never even think about going three weeks here without a trip home. So, I left the Target that day with a bag of Haynes black crew socks and stopped by the Wal-Mart for a 5-pack of fresh Fruit of the Loom tees.

So, while I have enough clothes to keep me away from the Laundromat this week, I suddenly have an urge to watch on old western movie …

Anyway, when I was finally done with laundry the week I opted not to buy clothes, I went over to the Price Chopper to shop for some groceries. When I bought the paper earlier, I picked up some Dasani lemon water for my lunches. I realized later that the price I was charged was a little higher than it was listed on the shelf. I went back to check the price and noticed it had a little “with card” caveat on the sign. I realized they, like every supermarket now, had their own “savings card.”

After finding the customer service desk, I quickly procured a savings card for myself – they offer fuel perks at the same rate as Giant Eagle – and started looking for bargains. Luckily I got my Healthy Choice Steamers on sale. Only $2.50 away from my first dime off of gas, so I’ll use that this weekend for the trip home.

So, what have I learned lately … well, it might be cheaper in the long run to buy clothes and make less trips to the Laundromat, but think of all the social interactions you are potentially missing out on. Oh, and never, I mean never, waste your money on South Beach Diet chicken ranch wraps (or something like that). As a microwave food aficionado, trust me on this one. You’d get more nutrition and flavor out of a pile of deer pellets.

My car hates it here.

How do I know? Well, take into account that almost every time I arrive at the cottage after driving 400+ miles from Pittsburgh without incident, the “Service Engine Soon” light comes on as soon as I pull onto Bellwood Lane, if not sooner after pulling off of Interstate 84.

I have been chalking it up to the car’s voracious appetite for oil. The 1996 Saturns, as I read when researching them before I bought this one, seem to like to go through oil. It does not burn it, leaving a trail of bluish smoke behind me, or leak it, leaving puddles of black gold wherever I’ve park it for more than 10 minutes. It just goes through it.

One of the last times I came back from Pittsburgh, the light came on when I got to the cottage, after I had checked and filled the oil before leaving home, and I figured it could not be that. Well, before heading back to Pittsburgh at the end of that week I checked and sure enough, the light had been on all week probably because nothing registered on the dipstick. I apologized to the car (yeah, I talk to it) and gave her almost two quarts.

Does not prove that the car hates New York, right, only that it hates not having oil. Wait, there’s more …

Upon arriving back in New York after my week home, again after having checked the oil situation in Pittsburgh, the light promptly came on as I pulled into my parking space near the cottage. “Here we go again,” I muttered as I unloaded the car. The next day I figured I needed to add a quart after the drive back. Well, I was surprised to see that it was only down about a half a quart or three-quarters of one at most. I poured in a little more than what I thought it needed the next day and after checking the dipstick, it was nearly full. I finished off the quart and figured that would do it.

The car basically thumbed its nose at my efforts. The light remained on. Yesterday, I figured it might be something more than an oil deficit – or maybe I had put too much in. I think I remember reading somewhere not to overfill the oil. Anyway, while at the Wal-Mart in New Windsor or Newburgh, not sure where it is actually located, I bought a 92 cent bottle of fuel injection and carburetor cleaner. The shelves were loaded with confusing bottles claiming all kinds of things. To be honest, I am not even sure the car has a carburetor. But the same bottle of fuel injection cleaner that did not boast of cleaning the carburetor, was also 92 cents. I am cheap (big surprise), so I figured I’d get the most for my 92 cents and got the combination bottle.

I always love pouring essential fluids into my car in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart. Oil, windshield washing fluid, fuel additives. Makes me feel like I really belong there. So I opened the gas tank and added the bottle of cleaner to the 4 or 5 gallons of gas I had in there. It is supposed to treat up to 20 gallons, so I figured it would really have a chance to do its thing with significantly less fuel.

Even after driving the rest of the day (OK, only about 8 or 10 miles), the light remained on. Still not proof I suppose of the car’s hatred for its new home away from home.

While at the Wal-Mart yesterday I also bought some Starbucks for my coffee maker. When I got home I realized I had bought whole bean and not ground, which is what I need here. Whole bean is fine for Munhall On Monongahela as I have a grind and brew, but in Cornwall On Hudson, it’s ground only for my caffeine rig. So I had to go back to the Wal-Mart today to exchange it. What a joy, two days in a row to the Wal-Mart.

The light of course was still on when I started out for the Wal-Mart. After getting my refund and deciding I would go to the Target down the road a bit to get the new bag of Starbucks I needed there, I realized that at some point, the light went off.

Now, when I leave here to go back to Pittsburgh, I take the same roads I took yesterday and today. The Target takes me closer to the interchange for I84, which is the first leg of the trip back. It’s my theory, that the car, thinking we were heading back to Pittsburgh as we had gone further than the Wal-Mart, was happy and figured it would drop the charade with the warning light. Yeah, sure, the extra 10 or 15 miles on it with the carburetor cleaner flowing through it could have been the cure, but I have my doubts.

A final word about 1996 Saturns and carburetors. I was serious about not knowing if they have them or not. If anyone knows if they do, pass that along. I say this because I am never afraid to admit if I do not know something about cars or anything else. Anne Marcinko told me once how she was embarrassed when someone told her that even though she had a manual transmission she still needed to check the transmission fluid. I laughed, as she did, but when I checked the manual for the Saturn, I was mortified that you do, in fact need to check the fluid on a manual transmission on a regular basis. The dipstick for them is really hard to get at, but when I checked, I was relieved to find there was enough there and it looked cleaned.

So, in short, my car hates New York, never assume you know everything there is to know about your car and the preventive maintenance you are supposed to do on it, and when you buy Gala apples at Wal-Mart that are $1.94 a pound, and the Fuji apples are selling for $1.38 a pound, go through the self-checkout line and ring the Galas through as Fujis. Until they put scan codes on produce, this will save you a bundle over the long run. I said I was cheap …

Sorry for the long communication blackout. The first full week back home was extremely fulfilling and energizing. The few projects I worked on that week were enjoyable and getting to see friends and family makes it all seem worth it.

Until I got back here of course. The first few days back were lonely and confusing. I missed Lisa and the boys so much I almost packed it in a couple of times to drive home. Luckily work became more and more interesting as the week went along and Connor and Max are both reading me books (a chapter a night from each of them) so it became less and less lonely as the days progressed. And it is a short week as well (President’s Day), with the possibility of becoming even shorter as a huge storm moves in and threatens a “Code Red” for tomorrow at some point. Regardless, I am ready for only the second weekend away from home with lots of videos to catch up on and blogging and scanning to do.

So, I know you are dying to hear some more witty or at least fresh observations of my new surroundings. There are a few that are general to the area and some unique to West Point I’d like to share.

First of all, I don’t really know anyone here. Of course I know my landlord and a couple of the people I work with, but not beyond a face and a rare name. Whenever I see someone I recognize off post outside of work it is generally very gratifying. For instance, the week I was here in December, I met a guy named Dave. Hell if I knew his last name at that point, and remembered his face more than his name. A friendly guy.

While Kathy from Smitchger Realty was showing me around the different apartments and cottages available that week, I was in downtown Cornwall On Hudson, and making some kind of observation about how I did not know anyone around the area yet, and low and behold Dave goes jogging by and tosses out a smiling “Hey Mark!” Kathy kind of looked at me funny. “I just met him today, really,” I said. I mention this because I was in Dave’s cube today as he helped me with some technical things and remembered this from my first week here.

Besides Dave, though, I know that one lady I keep seeing in different places. OK, so I don’t really *know* her, but it is weird to see the same person a couple of times in different places. I first saw her in the Subway in Cornwall. Might be Cornwall On Hudson – I am still learning where one starts and the other blends. It was a particularly nasty, icy day and I did not feel like a Healthy Choice Café Steamer. I have been living on them and they are really good, but even I need some variety now and then.

As I carefully skated across the parking lot at the Cornwall Plaza (now that I think of it, it probably is in Cornwall, although the Homestead Library is in Munhall, but I digress …), I was glad to see there was only one person in line at the Subway. I made my way in and started examining the menu. Nothing different from what’s at any other Subway, but you never know. To my annoyance, the woman at the counter had one of those lists. You know the one I’m talking about, the list of 4 or 5 sandwiches she is ordering for who knows who. A little of this on that one [checks the list], some of those on that one [checks the list again] and some mayo on that one, not too much. And some more lettuce on that one.

She was a shorter, darker woman, maybe Hispanic but she did not have an accent. She did have a necklace on though, and I only remember because it looked like she had been wearing for years. The skin around her neck was a little discolored, not by the metal turning it green or anything like that, but it looked as if she had a rash or a history of rashes where the necklace was. It did not really take too long for her to finish getting her subs, and I ordered and quickly made my way home. I think this was the night I bought the New Zealand wine.

Anyway, the next day, I was off to do laundry [so that tells me it was the same weekend I stayed here and had the bottle of wine] and while the loads I had in were drying, I went shopping at the Price Chopper [think Giant Eagle – more on these stores later] in the same plaza as the Laundromat I was at. I was walking around the store and who should I run into but neck lady. Not a nice name I admit, but much like “Mitch” it will likely stick in references down the road should she resurface at the Subway or Price chopper. Anyway, when I saw her, she looked up at met, and I was not sure if she recognized me, but I almost said, “Hey! How are you?”

My point is, when you don’t know anyone even a familiar face is welcoming, no matter what distracting physical anomaly might frame it.

One other general observation is the ferocity in which drivers here park. Strange term to use to describe how someone might park, but I can’t think of anything more appropriate. I think I first noticed this at the Woodbury Commons Outlet, maybe the Target. But it seems that when people park here, they are doing it with such anger. I am not sure what might prompt this type of behavior. I have seen people do it with no one else around that might be looking to snipe their spot. Maybe I missed something and they were involved in some road rage before getting to the parking lot and are still hopped up on adrenaline. Maybe they are sexually frustrated and this is a manifestation of their desires (I notice it is mostly men who practice this but have also seen women doing it on occasion).

For whatever reasons, I make very sure not to cut between cars when I am walking through parking lots and take extra caution to give drivers the right of way whenever on foot here.

For my last observation [finally! I feel ‘ya] I’d like to take you behind the gates of West Point. Still being a recent addition to what I am learning is a rather unique culture, I feel sometimes I am doing things that are traditionally outside of the norm, or even acceptable at times. Seemingly innocuous acts like using an umbrella appear to draw unwanted attention to me.

So, maybe I am just being a little paranoid, or feel a little out of place when I am walking on post with an umbrella popped open to keep the mist off of me. We get more of that (mist and drizzle) than anything else. And generally, I am not the first to whip out a bumbershoot and battle minimal precipitation. But when there is a steady stream, no matter how light it might be, I am going to keep the ever-growing bald spot on my head as dry as I can.

In space, no one can hear you scream, and in the Army, no one carries umbrellas. I have never seen a cadet or an officer walking under an umbrella. I am sure there is a protocol for it, or at least some type of evasive maneuver for keeping oneself dry when it is raining (camouflage poncho, etc.), but I have yet to even see that. They all walk around like it is a badge of honor to get wet going from one building to another. The cadets I am sure hate it, but the officers seem all “Hoo rah!” about it. Could just be me …

And I feel just as out of place when I am walking around post wearing sunglasses. While there is usually more often a need to brandish an umbrella, there is an occasional need to don sunglasses during my afternoon walks or even in the morning or evening when going back and forth to my car. One thing I noticed is that hardly anyone wears sunglasses. I am sure this is due to uniform restrictions for the Army folks, but even the civilians do not seem to favor shielding their eyes from the sun when common sense tells them otherwise.

Again, maybe I am just being a little too sensitive to this, but I think I can count on less than two hands the number of people I have seen with sunglasses on. Do they think it makes them look suspicious? I worry a little about this when I pull up to the gate on sunny mornings and have my sunglasses on. But the guards have never said anything or given me any damning looks. Until they do, I’ll keep wearing them.

And maybe, just for the hell of it, the next time it rains, I’ll grab my umbrella, throw on my sunglasses and take a nice long walk. That ought to really freak them out. I might not even wait until it rains. That would definitely get me tossed into the psych ward or Gitmo.

Well, what have I learned this week … the Healthy Choice Café Steamers General Tso’s Spicy Chicken is pretty good, but Max might not like it, and I need to call Zach and thank him for loaning me “Hot Fuzz” once I get a chance to watch it this weekend. I have been saving it for a lonely night when I can curl up with a Subway and some New Zealand wine.

Also, I learned that Sink is just as funny with a 4-inch scar on his neck and a brace on as he ever was, and Rich plays a mean Martin.

Thanks for tuning in.

A pretty good day at work. Several new projects popped up and I am very excited about working on them next week while at home. I am more excited about being home than anything though.

Right now I am experiencing the first real thunderstorm since arriving. It is a good one too. This mountain lives up to its name, “Storm King.” I have a small skylight and it is getting hammered pretty good. I turned the lights off and opened the blind on the front window. (I knew I’d get glare from the lights.) About 7 feet wide or so. Just wanted to see if I could actually see the rain. Well, if you have a fear of the dark, you do not want to live here. It was pitch black. There were some lights from the houses across the road, about 120 yards or so away. This is deep, deep seclusion. I half expected to see some weird form of deep sea life float past the window with a bioluminescent lure bobbing off of its nose like in Finding Nemo. Would not have surprised me in the least. So this is what it feels like to be in a submersible …

I have been carefully crafting a new playlist in iTunes for drive home Friday. I was just clicking and dragging song after song into the list and figured I’d have to do some weeding out when I was done. Well, I ended up with nearly 1.5GB, more than double what a CD would hold. I had a lot of work ahead of me. Started the process before talking with the Lisa and the boys last night on Skype, then painfully dropped off some Beatles and XTC tonight. I was just about to drop a blank CD into the drive when the blood flow to my brain resumed. If you have been keeping up with the blog, you’ll note from the last extended rant my friggin’ optical drive on the computer is dead. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

So, thanks to USMA (United States Military Academy) and CTE, I checked out a 60GB iPod and sync’d my entire library (about 50GB to it). I resync’d it with the new list and will try to burn a CD on my USMA laptop. I love having a backup in these situations …

So, I’ve been meaning to write about some of the stores, towns and other elements of my new surroundings I am exposed to on a regular if not daily basis. Mostly wanted to compare what I see and do hear with things any of you who know me would be able to understand. If you are an “outsider” who has stumbled on my blog, some of these might not make much sense unless you are also from Pittsburgh.

We’ll start with Pittsburgh. There is really nothing within 40 or so miles that compares to Pittsburgh. Most of the towns are really pretty small. More on the order of Munhall, West Mifflin or smaller hamlets (Whitaker, west Homestead). Although there is a ‘burgh here, it’s Newburgh. Strange though it does have the “h” at the end, unlike most other city or location names ending in just burg.

Newburgh is a scary little place. There are some good shopping areas on the fringe of the town (village, city, not quite sure). Those shopping areas are OK, with a Wal-Mart, Target and other stores conveniently located within 20 minutes or so from Cornwall on Hudson. But driving through the residential and old central business district is simply sad. It reminds me more of Braddock or McKeesport. Someone told me that it was a pretty good place to live at one time years ago, but is a railroad town and business in the area has dried up, much like Braddock and McKeesport. I had been looking at apartments at one point there, before I visited, and am glad I did not set my sights there. The rent was generally cheaper, and for a good reason it turns out.

My daily commute to work and back from the cottage takes me onto New York Route 9W. Most roads here are designated with some kind of letter. There is 17K, 9E, etc. As for 9W, the part I drive is from around Highland Falls to Cornwall. It goes up and over Storm King Mountain. And let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart. Not only does it have substantial grades up and down the mountain, it is as windy as a mountain stream. And many days, like today, the top of the mountain, and therefore 9W, are shrouded in fog.

Now, that might seem cliché. I have been in fog before, but what I drove through this morning was like pea soup. Solid, frozen pea soup. Those of you who know me know I am not one to exaggerate, so imagine visibility of about 20 yards or less. Traffic travels at between 50 and 60 MPH and there are twists and turns to deal with on top of that. It was somewhat fun, somewhat scary, only because these people are a little on the crazy side. You have half the drives who want to go 65 and the other half going 35. Trying to maneuver around the slower ones without bringing the wrath of the speed demons down on you is a true art form. I am slowly learning to master it though.

Anyway, 9W could probably be most closely compared to a combination of Route 51 and the Parkway North. It is much more windy than Rte. 51, but it is only 4 lanes, two each direction always separated by a median or guardrail. At least the section I drive twice a day. The comparison to the Parkway North is for the important channel it provides for getting someplace and the light traffic on it. I never wanted to live in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, but always envied to a degree those who do when listening to the morning traffic reports. “Parkway East backed up to Penn Hills, Parkway North, well, damn near empty.”

Beyond 9W is the Palisades Parkway. Beautiful drive, not much more crowded and leads almost all of the way to NYC. Could go all the way there, but until I take the leap to head into the city with my car, I won’t know. It does go to the Palisades Center though (via one or two exits nearby this mall, touted as the second largest in the country – really look it up on Wikipedia).

I decided to go to the mall Saturday as I was both bored and wanted to stay away from the cottage for fear the loneliness of not being home over the weekend would out me over the edge. OK, it was not that bad. But too many of them (weekends without getting home) could be.

This fear was valid as I bought my first bottle of wine Friday night at the liquor store in the Cornwall Plaza. It was a nice little pinot noir from New Zealand! Could not believe it. It was more than I like to spend for a 750ml bottle (only about $15), but I had to have it. Another deciding factor was that it had a screw top. I’ve bought too many corkscrews while on vacations and at conferences that I really did not want to pick up yet another one. If I remember I will grab while I at home this weekend.

I came home that night with my bottle of wine and my 6-inch Black Forest Ham Subway (also in the Cornwall Plaza) and broke out my finest Dixie cup to enjoy a lonely but tasty dinner while watching The Simpsons Movie. It was then, by the way, that I first got a notion that my DVD drive was failing.

Luckily I did not have a hangover from the half or more of the bottle I downed that night and was ready to head to the Laundromat the next morning … but that will have to wait for now. Getting late and I want to try and burn that CD before Lisa and the boys call.

Sorry to leave you hanging. I will finish this up tomorrow night as it might be a while before I get back to this as I’ll be home.

Just an update on the steps as reported by the pedometer:

Friday 9,480 steps
Saturday 6,637 steps
Sunday 5,868 steps
Monday 8,194 steps
Tuesday 9,407 steps

Now, what did I learn the last couple of days … not to sweat the small stuff at work. The people I work with are genuinely nice and seem to trust in what I am doing and that I can handle things without them having to worry about me or check in on me. I’ll tell you a little more about Kermit Allen later as a polar opposite (perhaps, but I may never know). More thunder outside. Sure is dark out there …

I hope you like this one from this rather interesting jazz trio. First heard this on WDUQ and they play it a lot, so if you listen, it might sound familiar.



Also, still more photos. Take a look at the first link on the left for photos of the Cottage from the outside. Hopefully a new posting coming up a little later tonight.

Before I start my rant, make sure to check out some new photos linked on the left. They’re the “West Point” ones …

Technology so vexes me. While it has provided a good living for me and my family, it seems as if given any chance it will screw me over at the same time. Nothing major, like power grids failing around me (yet), but minor irritants, like a gnat buzzing around your head on a humid summer night. It will not harm you, like a west Nile infected mosquito, but it sure enjoys seeing you squirm. Technology likes to see me squirm.

I called Comcast yesterday to see about switching packages as a note in their last bill informed me that the service level I had been enjoying would be going up about $15 or more per month starting in February. That was unacceptable. So, after speaking with a seemingly competent salesperson on the other end, I agreed to a new package to maintain most of the channels we watch, DVR service and an Internet connection.

All seemed well and we went our separate ways. Later in the evening, I realized something was not right though as I was trying to connect with Max on Skype. Turns out all attempts to connect to the Internet were being turned back at the modem level. I called customer support several times after trying to troubleshoot on my own and by the end of the night I was at least able to teleconference with everyone on Skype. But any browser trying to access the web was met with a Comcast screen asking if I was a technician or customer. The customer path lead to a software download and install that always failed. One technician at some point said the modem had been “deactivated” and we thought he had reactivated it, but after several attempts to get beyond a Skype connection, I figured it was time to get to bed.

So … getting back online with them tonight was a truly maddening experience. The technician was nice enough (all of them have been) but he kept saying something about my modem not responding or being seen and also being listed somehow as a “lease.” I have not leased a modem for about 5 years now. When cycling the power for the modem and router still did not show at their end, I had to have max crawl under the desk and fiddle with cables. Cut to the end everything works now.

But how making a simple switch in plans from package A to package B necessitated screwing around physically with cables under my desk, which have not been trifled with in 4 or more years and worked fine up through Sunday morning, I’ll never know.

Then … my DVD drive on my computer simply died Saturday night. Right in the middle of a Venture Bros. episode from season one, it quit. I had a problem with The Simpsons Movie the night before and figured it was the software I was using. That resolved the issue with The Simpsons Movie, but now all disks inserted are just completely ignored. I already ordered a replacement from Newegg and it will be home when I get there.

And … the stupid “Service engine soon” light came on in my car over the weekend while I was sitting at a McDonalds waiting for my lunch, two snack wraps. It usually goes off after a day or two and only comes on when it is damp. Well, it’s still on and still damp though. I don’t care. I am going home Friday night whether the light is on or not.

Finally, with the incredible speeds at which websites can take and process orders now, you would think they would have updated their backend processes a bit. Some have. I ordered the replacement DVD drive yesterday and it’s on its way. I ordered my futon frame from Target Jan. 28 and only today received a note that it finally shipped. Estimated delivery date? Why, Monday, Feb. 11 of course, when I’ll be in Munhall. Grrrrrrrrrr. Yeah, it’s not a DVD drive, it’s a friggin’ large box of more than a hundred pounds of futon frame parts in it, but c’mon, a week to process that and get it onto a truck!

OK, so that’s about it on that front … does not sound like a lot and I guess it really isn’t. Just that damn gnat buzzing me again.

So, I have a lot to write about and have been jotting down notes. I did not want to add to this already drawn out posting. I promise to write about more substantive and interesting things for the next installment. Soon I hope.

Well, what have I learned in the last couple of days … while a super Bowl MVP, Eli Manning was a horrible fantasy start most of the year. I would still take Brady over him any game with fantasy money on the line. Except for maybe a Super Bowl …

Before I get too far into my post, here’s a song I’ve been wearing out lately in iTunes. I heard it first on WDUQ on Tony Mowad’s show, then picked up the CD on Half.Com. Hope you like it. The song is “All One” by Oscar Castro-Neves.



I have another one I hope to post soon too by a band called The Bad Plus. Same deal on where I heard it and picked it up. If anyone is interested in getting copies for themselves let me know.

January 31, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

Music is becoming important to me here. I have been very generous in spreading the wealth for the outlets I use. I am currently sponsoring WDUQ (for my jazz and NPR fix and because Max listens to Tony Mowad every night before going to bed) and SomaFM. If you don’t listen to any of the SomaFM stations, you are missing out on a lot of good music. They stream a lot of their stations to the iTunes radio area and you can check out their website too at somafm.com. I pledged $2.99 a month (barely a Starbucks anymore) and now have no guilt when I listen to their commercial free stations (Groove Salad under the heading of “Ambient” in iTunes radio is my favorite).

It’s been relatively nice the last couple of days here. Cold, but sunny. So my lunchtime walks have at least been enjoyable. The pedometer that I bought the other week to replace the crappy one I got for free with my Brita pitcher works so much better. It was only $4.99 at Target. I am trying to log 7,000 or more steps a day and with parking a little further away from my building and getting in a good half hour walk at lunch, that has not been a problem.

A breakdown on my step counts the past week:

Wednesday, 1/23: 9,176
Thursday, 1/24: 8,870
Friday, 1/25 – Sunday 1/27: Unmeasured, in Munhall On The Mon
Monday, 1/28: 7,717
Tuesday, 1/29: 7,039
Wednesday, 1/30: 10,070 steps thanks to a trip to the Newburgh Target, Wal-Mart and some supermarket.
Thursday, 1/31: 7,869

I was picking up a few items Thursday, groceries for lunch mostly, and sort of looking around for a Laundromat. I hate the thought of having to go to one this weekend to get my laundry cleaned, but it needs to happen if I am not going home. That’s still the plan. At the little complex at the Target in Newburgh, which is a huge store, well stocked and clean, and as a bonus has a Starbucks in the front where the photo place is at the one at The Waterfront, there is a place called “Steve’s Laundry” tucked away in the corner between a Rent-A-Center and pizza joint. Yeah, this should be fun.

The last time I remember being in a Laundromat was when we were on vacation in Universal Orlando. The Royal Pacific had a laundry room for guests. We took a boatload of quarters and a couple of bags of dirty clothes down and spent a couple of hours in there. Lisa and I took turns watching and switching loads while the boys were swimming. That was at least scenic. Doing laundry while on vacation was actually fun. Doing it this weekend at “Steve’s” while I’d rather be home will really suck.

A few more things to add but I’ll wait until tomorrow or over the weekend. I have not gotten around to trying a wine and spirits store here (the beer is right there in the grocery stores), and have been avoiding the temptation. But being stuck here might just be the final straw on that front. I’ll be sure to let you know how that goes. I think there’s a little store in the Target complex. If not, there’s one in the Cornwall Plaza. Not that I have been making mental notes of all of these locations or anything …

What have I learned the last day or two? Walking is great exercise, none of the stores in the Target plaza in Newburgh have Dasani lemon flavored water, and Steve’s Laundry supposedly has 25 cent dryers. We’ll see if it lives up to the hype … better brush up on my Spanish.

I just thought I would add a link to this article in the PG as it caught my eye this morning. For the longest time I have envisioned an afterlife for me that consisted of a quick trip to a crematorium then being sprinkled over New Zealand. While not ruling out that option, I think this is a much better way to look at signing off for good. After seeing way too many movies that depict embalming (“Revenge of the Living Dead” quickly comes to mind), I am pretty sure I don’t want to go through that, even if I am dead at the time.

Not exactly being interred in a shoebox in the backyard of 3710 McWhinney Street with Mya and half a dozen other animals or ending up as soylent green, but somewhere in the middle I suppose and closer to how I would prefer to romanticize my physical remains being disposed of when the time comes.

Eternally green: Woodland burials are a natural alternative to an embalmed afterlife

Well, I know you’re dying to know … so yes, I went home last Friday. It was real last minute too. I was at work and was a little distracted since Lisa and the boys did not call the night before (Thursday). I was talking to them on the phone and wanted them to call me later on Skype so we could videoconference. They never called.

So the next day, mumbling to myself all day, debating on whether to call and vent a bit, I decided at about 3:30 to make the trip home. So after work I zipped to the cottage and packed up what I needed and was on the road a little late. My phone was dead so I charged it with the converter I bought for the Universal Orlando trip, but even when it was done charging, I did not turn it on. I knew Lisa would be calling and being a little mad still but also not wanting to give away my location (car noises in the background), I left it turned off.

Anger? Loneliness? Love? Lust? What drove me to drive that day? I am still not sure. But I am glad I did. The trips aren’t getting any shorter, but they are getting a little less tedious. I have it down to a formula at this point.

Fill up in Vails Gate, drive 5 hours to the Bedford Service Plaza on the Turnpike, gas up and grab a grande half-caf at the Starbucks there, and it’s about an hour and 45 minutes to home. Reverse that on the way back to the cottage.

Connor was probably the happiest to see me, followed by a close second between Lisa and Max. I know Max misses me more often than Connor, but when he (Connor) misses me, I feel the worse. It was great being home and the bonus was having Zach come over too. I was able to set up Max’s new computer and that’s working out very well. Left Vista on it for now so we’ll see how it works out.

Lisa was not feeling good, another reason that compelled me to head home, but she was able to go the family wedding over the weekend. Aunt Helen Detorre’s granddaughter (Jerry’s daughter) was getting married. Lisa got to dance, dress up and see her brother. A great night for her. I got to hang out with the boys, a great night for me.

But, I’m back at the cottage now …

The week at work has been good so far. A few new things going on and able to help a lot of faculty in a bind this week as classes are a good two weeks into the term and the late starters are desperate. So when I can help at the last minute get them up and running, they really appreciate it and I fell like I am making a difference.

But I’d rather get into some stories about things I have been experiencing, mulling over, and otherwise observing at this end outside of work.

When I got back from home the weekend I was there for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, I got a call from Mr. Fusillo while I was at work. I did not know this until I went for my lunchtime walk and my cell intoned that I had a voice message. Thinking it was Lisa, I called to check and it turns out it was Joe who said he needed to talk to me. He mentioned something about one of the neighbor’s cars. I was hoping they did not think I hit one of them. When I called him back, he said there had been a party somewhere on Maple Road over the weekend and some cars had been tampered with or broken in to. I did not notice anything amiss at the cottage when I got back, so I reported that to Joe.

However, I did see something strange that morning on the way to work. It was cold that morning, very cold. Cold enough for a heavy coat, gloves and a head wrap. But as I was leaving Bellwood Road and driving down Maple toward Mountain Road, I saw a young man sort of walking, standing on the road in front of Joe’s house. He was mid to late teens at the oldest, I guessed, and wearing jeans, tennis shoes and only a blue hooded sweatshirt. Very odd I thought. What was he doing out in this cold with only a “hoody” on. Did he live on Maple Road? Was he heading for a bus stop for school (he was not carrying a bag or anything to indicate he was making his way to school)? Was he at the party the night before and wondering around still sort of drunk? I could see he was looking at my car as I drove past him and I did not worry about the cottage as I had double locked it for some reason. Normally I only lock the door, but had also locked the deadbolt that morning.

I thought nothing of it after that until Joe called and reported this to him, which he said he’d pass along to the police. Turns out several other cars around the area had been broken in to as well but not much was taken in our area. Details of these are at the Cornwall On Hudson newspaper site.

Anyway, the young man’s face haunted me for the rest of that day most likely because of two things. Joe’s call about the break in to my neighbors car (not much was taken – maybe some loose change), and the fact that my boss sent around a note that a cadet was killed over the weekend. No details, just a name: Mitchel Tisdell.

Being the curious type and having the power of Internet available to me, I Googled the name and set up a Google News Alert to see what, if anything, would be reported about this young man. Turns out he was from Colorado and was apparently hit by a commuter train while in New York City. The details of the accident are available at this link.

So, why does the passing of Cadet Mitchel Tisdell, whom I had never met, to my knowledge, command so much of my attention? Why do I have this uneasy feeling that maybe, just maybe, I did meet him. And maybe it was that morning on Maple Road, after he had already passed, and was wondering around looking for passage to the other side. Perhaps the young man, who was poorly dressed for the weather and did not seem sure of where he was or was supposed to be heading, was looking to me for help when I passed him, which was why he followed my car not with menacing eyes, but with a somewhat sad but hopeful look. Was I supposed to stop? Was I supposed to ask him if I could help him or offer him a ride?

Later I thought he was likely on his way to school and, like most kids I remember seeing while walking Connor and Max to Park School on my way to the bus stop, just did not like overdressing for the weather. And if I had stopped and asked him if he wanted a ride I would be appearing on the police blotter as someone trying to abduct a child along Maple Road. I will probably never know for sure as I have not seen that young man again. I’ll just call him “Mitch” for now …

More action at the cottage as I was forced to physically evict a visitor yesterday. Seems as if my place is very popular with the ladies. Ladybugs that is. I don’t think they are actually ladybugs, but an Asian beetle of some kind. I remember there were times at DU when the wall of Rockwell Hall would be covered with literally thousands of these beetles, which look like ladybugs, but turns out they are seasonal or not native. Could be the same ones I have as roommates or these could be the real deal. Anyway, I find carcasses of them here and there and there is one who calls my kitchen home. I left a small piece of bread and some orange for it last night because I was worried I am not sloppy enough for it to survive otherwise. Yeah, I am that desperate for company.

But while I was working on the computer last night, low and behold some bug began flying around my lamp. Very distracting and I was a little afraid it was going to fall into the lamp and get killed. It was a beetle and I figured the one that lived in the kitchen. I grabbed a newspaper and was able to knock it onto the food ad and tossed it out the front door. I would miss him, um, her. Not sure of its gender.

But when I went back into the kitchen, low and behold, there was my little friend still crawling along the counter. I had sent a different beetle out into the cold. But now I had guilt. Was it a friend of the one in the kitchen? A bother? Spouse? Sibling? I could evict the one in the kitchen so it could join the other one in the frozen hell that is the shadow of Storm King Mountain, but I think I’ll let him/her stay as long as he just chills in the kitchen. Hope he eats the bread.

One last observation for the day … I stopped yesterday to check mail. Joe, bless his heart, put my name on the mailbox for the cottage. He did his best, but it read “Veche.” Oh well, I think anything destined for me will get here. One things that is arriving each week now is food ads. Now, you would think they would go right into the garbage, especially since I shop in Pittsburgh where I find it is generally cheaper for food, but I read each one from cover to cover. I don’t know, it made me think of home. Anything to make the connection is comforting.

OK, another last observation. Kitchen sponges. I find it really strange to pick up a dry kitchen sponge. Why? Have I lost it to the point where I need to write about dry kitchen sponges?

Here’s my observation. When, at night, when I finally get around to washing the spoon, knife, fork, Starbucks travel mug and Martha Stewart reusable food containers I take for lunch every day, the sponge I use in the kitchen is dry and stiff. A little water softens it up and usually there is still enough soap on it to get the job done.

So why is this significant? I don’t think I can ever remember a time at home when I picked up the sponge in the kitchen when it wasn’t still damp and soapy from cleaning dishes throughout the day. There is always something that needs cleaned at home. Dishes from breakfast, cups from the boy’s room, sippy cups from Connor. That sponge never gets a chance to dry out. Lisa and I must have used it 8 times a day, and even the 6 or 7 hours over night when it goes unused while we’re in bed was not enough time for it to become the light-as-a-feather brick I pick up every night here.

Yeah, it is just another indication of how lonely it can be here. There is no one to use the sponge throughout the day (unless I train the ladybug or Mitch needs to clean up a bit), but at the same time it is extremely reassuring that my powers of observation are still honed to pick up on small things like this and find meaning and significance in them.

So … what have I learned the last couple of days? Maple Road could possibly be a path to heaven (or hell, depending on how you might have spent your life), ladies love MAV (ladybugs at least) and the deer, while still skittish around me, will let me toss them bread from the kitchen window. Too cool.

Shame on me, a whole week without a posting.

It was a fantastic weekend at home last weekend. With the MLK holiday on Monday I was able to spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at home. Need more three day weekends …

It was a weekend of watching numbers though. Starting with the drive home where I was able to listen to some new CDs I burned at the cottage. I could not find any blank CDs around the office so I had to buy a pack of 10 from the bookstore on the 4th floor my building. It’s where I got the sweatshirts for the boys for the holiday.

I sort of reorganized and added to the standard CD I usually listed to on the road, full of ambient beats from Underworld, Leftism, Shantel and others, but added a few new ones from Plaid, The Pinker Tones, Mocean Worker, Ryukyu Underground and others. I also burned a CD of nothing but Ocean Blue tunes. I think I included every song of theirs I own. The ambient mix had more than seven and a half hours on it though, so I did not even get to listen to the Ocean Blue CD on the way home.

The smooth tunes flowing from the stereo and soft glow of the GPS counting down the miles was the intro to the weekend. The rest of the counting was watching Windows XP reinstall on Max’s old computer. His system was being really flaky and I decided it was time to burn it down and start from scratch. Connor will be getting it as soon as I get home again and get a chance to set up the new Dell I bought for Max. I found a system with 2GB RAM, an AMD 5000+ processor, 128MB video card, 250GB HD and regular CD/RW-DVD drive. Clocked in, refurbished, at $339 plus shipping and tax. So not bad. He’ll be running almost as fast as me. But Windows takes forever to install with the updates and the numbers counted down more slowly than the miles on the drive home.

It only figures that the system was delivered Monday (the holiday) probably only an hour after I left. I would have stuck around a bit more to set it up had I known. I have been leaving at or before noon for the drive back to the cottage, which gets me here at about 7 or just after. I stopped for gas and to pick a few things up at the Newburgh Wal-Mart which got me in a bit later.

I bought lots of groceries at the Giant Eagle at The Waterfront before leaving as the prices here are much higher for staples than in Pittsburgh. Yogurt for some reason costs nearly double. I am only basing this on one store I was in but typically things run about 25% higher I would guess. Target seems to be at the same price for things as does Wal-Mart, but food it the exception at both and all supermarkets so far.

There are some notes for entries I want to make from this week that I will hopefully get to tomorrow or over the weekend. The plan is to stay at the cottage for the first weekend since coming up January 4. I am not sure about it though so I’ll have to let you know if I make it home or not. Stay tuned …

What have I learned this week … Given my druthers I prefer to shop anywhere but Big Lots in Newburgh, NY. Yes, that includes the Save-A-Lot in Duquesne. More on that later.

January 17, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

It has been a rather boring week at this end. The days are dragging a bit as I realize I am going to be heading home tomorrow.

Nothing earth shattering happening at the office or at home, so I’ll share some of the boring details.

The Academy has things pretty under control with the Blackboard server, which makes my job pretty easy, but boring. There are occasional problems but nothing too difficult. I should know better than to complain that things are too easy or too boring, I am just asking for trouble.

But I was able to finally meet Rajesh in the SEB section. Jeff had tried to get me over to meet him while I was here in December but it just never happened. He is a little older than I expected and a real nice guy. He made a comment at one point about the size of my head I think, but I could not be sure what he meant by it.

I have been sort of feeling my way around about purchases and am beginning to think Dr. Evans is about as tight as Ruth with money. Not that he has flat out denied anything I have asked for, but he seems to want to be convinced something it actually necessary. He referred me to the Library when I asked about possible subscribing to Lynda.com for a couple of their titles, and when I asked for the upgrade to Camtasia 5, a $90 purchase plus $45 annual maintenance, he said we could likely get it if I thought we really needed it. Wow, how about that. A whopping $135 might just break the Army’s educational technology budget.

Having never had to be directly responsible for a budget, though, I can only guess he is under pressure to keep things as tight as possible. I will probably not need anything else in the short term so I will push for the upgrade and see how it goes.

I was at a Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon with him and we had a great talk. He asked about how the family and I were coping with the separation. He was genuinely concerned and I appreciated his interest. He and Kim are great to work for so far.

Before I forget, because I meant to mention this a few days ago, there is not a lot of airline traffic up this way. But I have on two occasions now seen large Xs in the sky, the result of two vapor trails crossing. I remember over the holidays Connor saw a couple of jets leaving vapor trails and about a small X two of them had made. He would have really liked these displays. Now every time I see vapor trails, shaped as Xs or not, I will think of him marveling over them.

Another way of dealing with the loneliness and isolation so far has been to try and keep in touch with people back home. I called Jeff Schwartz the other day to ask him a question about Blackboard logs and really just wanted to BS to him. Jeff’s a good guy but I fear he has gone over to the dark side as Joe mentioned. He sent me a note the day after I chatted with Jeff complaining I had not called him. I tried to call him today, only to get his voice mail. He never called back. Now I can whine to him.

After heading a few nights back to shop, I was excited to find a replacement double burner griddle for Lisa at the K-Mart in Vails Gate. I was looking for storage containers for taking lunches to work and luckily went through the kitchen section. There is was, a Kenmore model with decent handles and really sturdy. I thought it was only about $20, but when I checked out I realized it was almost $40. I looked it up on their website and they had it listed for the same $37.99 I paid. It must have been hanging on the wrong hook when I read the price.

I stopped by the Price Shopper (Chopper) or Shop Rite (can’t remember, but it was not the Hannafords) and could not believe how much they wanted for apples ($2.29 a pound for Galas) and yogurt (99 cents each for the Yoplait Light). Buying my food in Pittsburgh for sure and hauling it here. Fella could go broke at these prices, even living the modest life of a bachelor in the woods …

Finally, the other night I was poking around my hard drive out of boredom, and came across a folder of files I have passed along from machine to machine, hard drive to hard drive, and originated on a 5.25 inch floppy about 20 years ago. They were the articles, letters and journal entries I made using WordStar on a dual floppy Zenith computer in Okinawa.

I was able to get Word 2007 to open them in a readable format after figuring out ASCII was the best option for this. I read letters I wrote to Marcinko (probably while he was hitting on Lisa), articles I wrote for the Windjammer, journal entries I made on Okinawa and transcribed from handwritten notes I wrote in boot camp, and letters I wrote to Bryan Luptak.

Without having his letters to put things into context, I was able to figure out that he was one of the few people who wrote (or wrote back) to me while I was in Okinawa. He was a really good friend and we had a lot in common – photography, the music we liked, the women we liked (he made a move on Lisa once – never let her forget it but never held it against either of them).

And I started thinking about the last time I saw Bryan. It was at his funeral. Bryan died March 6, 2003 at age 39. He committed suicide. We had lost touch so long ago despite one of my letters predicting we would be friends throughout our lives. I know he had problems with the women in his life, but never really was able to find out from anyone who knew exactly what was the final straw.

When I think of him, I remember the good times. The days and nights we spent together in the produce room at Shop ‘N Save, tormenting George Spong, getting wasted at parties, in the parking lot during breaks, talking about the newest cameras coming out, etc. Everyone at the funeral (Rege and Pam, Barb and Bob, Kevin and Caroline) could not believe it. I could. He was creative and had sensitive and I could see where this would leave him vulnerable. And his taste in women, as I remember it after we only saw each other at ‘reunions” at Flaherty’s house, somehow took a strange twist. He was always dating women much older than him, mostly already with kids. It was sort of a running joke at one point.

I guess this is one of the reasons I am compelled to keep writing this journal, no matter how mundane it might be some days. It is a snapshot in time for me, to look back on 20 years from now and reflect on how the decisions in my life nudged me one way or another, and the relationships in my life. If I had kept in touch with Bryan, would it have changed anything? How much did our friendship mean to him and did leaving the area for the Navy set in motion anything that could have change the paths of our lives forever?

So, what have I learned this week … that it is important to never forget your past, and the best way to do that is to find a way to document it. Through a blog, a journal, photos, videos, whatever. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Someone someday will find what you have to say or show fascinating, even if it is you 20 years from now, sitting in a cottage in the middle of the woods somewhere.

January 14, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

I was able to get home this weekend and see everyone. Zach was finally able to come over and he and I had some time together Saturday as Max had Zach Bisch and Anthony over for Yu-Gi-Oh battles. Zach is talking about cyberschool so we’ll have to see how that might play out. Alyssa went through it and seems to have done well, although she does at times seem to lack social skills.

The drive to Pittsburgh Friday was not bad and I found a new route to take which will likely become my default route. It takes me north a bit to I-84 to Scranton, Pa., then south on I-81 to Harrisburg/Carlisle and onto the PA turnpike and over to Pittsburgh. It still is a $10 charge for the turnpike, and I do cross over I-80, which I could jump onto and catch I-79 south to Pittsburgh to avoid the toll, but it would add some time and mileage. Might take it once just to clock it.

Friday at the office, Dr. Evans let me know they were closing down the CTE at about 3 p.m. and if I was all caught up then to take off as well. Very cool of him. I had packed the night before and was ready to head out as soon as I got off. At about 3:10 I started getting changed and in my haste I locked myself out of the office when going for a bathroom break. I could not believe it. My laptop(s) and other necessary items were locked away. I panicked a bit. I wondered the first floor of Thayer Hall looking for an open door and asked a faculty member if he knew who to contact. No luck.

Fortunately, down the hall is the office of MAJ Chike Williams. He was a CAPT when I met him in December and must have just been promoted. He was on the phone when I gingerly knocked on his door. He made several calls and walked down to the ATCL (the outer room for my office) and made sure he got a hold of who he needed to in order to get the room opened.

Mr. Scott showed up several minutes later, and at about 3:45 I was on the road. Got home at about 10:30.

I was starving and Lisa made me a hoagie while I enjoyed my first glass of wine in over a week. Connor was the first to grab me and I was playing Madden 06 with him within a half an hour of hitting the door. It was so good to see and be able to hug Lisa and Max. Zach looks good and it was especially great to see him after so long. I am glad he came over this weekend and hope he gets back into the visiting groove.

Saturday was a day just to kick back and relax. I called Mom and talked to her a bit. Generally it was a chance to unwind and veg a little in front of the TV.

Sunday I took Max down to the Waterfront for a Starbucks and some shopping. I bought him his own copy of “Snatch” since I brought mine with me. I know he misses the “dad” time like that and hope he adjusts OK to everything. I will need to make sure everyone gets their own time alone with me while I am there.

After getting back home from the Waterfront, Lisa said there was no reason to wait until later in the day to head out. She was right. I hit the road at about 1 p.m. and took the same route back here. Almost the same time in getting back. Traffic was light but the trip from I-84 back to Cornwall On Hudson goes through Newburgh, and I really do not like that town. Depressing and dark.

Lisa had mentioned snow we were supposed to get here. I looked at the weather.com site and they were calling for lots of snow. When I woke up, I was greeted with about 8 inches of the fluffy white stuff covering the car, driveway and everything else. It was actually very beautiful. You can see some photos of it by clicking here.

There was a Code Red on post due to the weather, and civilians were excused from work until 10 a.m. I called Lisa to tell her and logged on to work. I was really thinking about staying here at the cottage for the day, but after things warmed up and I could see the roads were plowed, I felt a little guilty and cleaned off the car and drove to post. It was about 11:30 or so when I finally got to the office. I think it would have been OK to work from here, but I think it was better to show I am responsible and can handle a little adverse weather. Also, I was afraid that if I stayed here, I would start getting into a habit of missing or opting to work remote more than I think Dr. Evans might be comfortable with.

When I got back to the cottage, the deer were rummaging for food. I tossed out a loaf of bread and some old hot dog buns. There were only about 5 as the photos above showed, but the nearly charged the cottage trying to get to the stale bread. I’ll be able to pet one soon, I’m sure.

What did I learn the last couple of days … that the nearly 7 hour drive, each way, even it means only a little more than a day and a half of actual visitation time, is worth every minute and mile to be with my family.

January 10, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

Work is still busy and I am getting a good feel for the needs of the faculty here. They are very polite and patient, which I could say for most of the faculty at DU as well. Dr. Evans has been busy since the beginning of the week and I have been working more with Dr. Bonura for the past couple of days on anything outside of Blackboard.

I have been wearing a pedometer that came with the Brita water pitcher I bought the other day. It was working fine the first couple of days as I racked up close to 6,000 steps each day thanks to walks at lunch and parking a little further away from my building than most people would I think. But the pedometer kept falling off and I think at some point broke. It only recorded about 2,500 steps yesterday and I know that was wrong. When I got home yesterday I dug out Connor’s jeweler’s screwdriver set he got me at the Santa’s Workshop sale at school. I brought them along on the outside chance I would need them and within a week I was glad I did.

I took apart the pedometer and fiddled around with a wire that holds the magnet or weight that records the steps. I think I was able to fix it because I was back up over 6,000 steps today. Eating healthier too, so hopefully I will shed a few pounds while I am here. Will check the scale when I get home tomorrow …

After leaving work yesterday I got a little brave and figured I’d try a new route home. I found my way to “Washington Gate” I think they call it and jumped onto Route 218. I have heard a lot about this road. I basically hangs off of Storm King Mountain (I think, there are a lot of mountains here), and is very windy and narrow. It has some spectacular outcroppings along the way, which is why they close it quite often when the weather gets bad. It has a history of rock slides. It also has a great view of the Hudson River Valley. There are a couple of places to stop along the way so I hope to get some photos soon and add them to the collection online for people to see.

Connor’s screwdrivers were the second time yesterday I was connected to him via Santa’s Workshop. My predecessor left a kayaking calendar in the office. It had expired in December and I really am not into kayaking. Connor had bought me a “Scenic America” calendar and I replaced Jeff’s old calendar with Connors. I still need to hang Zachary’s at the cottage. Need to get some of those cool non destructive hangers as the walls here are brand new and I don’t want to leave any of the security deposit behind.

I had to call Fred (company president) yesterday morning too. He had e-mailed me the night before asking me to call. I hoped it was for an online meeting I was to attend yesterday but it sounded a little more important. I was hoping I had not angered a Lt. Col. or anything.

Fred started the conversation with something like, “We got a court order …” and I was expecting some bizarre incident from my past to jump up and bite me in the ass. Well, it was a past incident, but nothing unexpected. “An order to withhold child support.”

“Oh yeah,” I explained. “I let them know about the new position and they take the necessary action in contacting you.”

“That’s fine, we’ll arrange the withholding, just wanted to make sure you knew, when the next payday rolls around,” he said.

“Thanks for the heads up. I knew they would be contacting you.” I debated on letting the company know, but did not have an HR contact to call. Did not sound like it was a big deal, so no problem there.

Spent most of the day thinking about going home tomorrow. Stopped for gas on the way back from work, gathered laundry, figuring out a route home without going through friggin New Jersey …

What have I learned the last couple of days … work is a great distraction, Skype stinks as a video tool and AT&T’s coverage in Cornwall On Hudson really blows. May have to look into Verizon as a new cell provider.

January 9, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

Yesterday was pretty busy at work and busy afterwards as well. I am taking a lot of calls to get faculty set up in their courses for the spring term (2008-2 as they call it), most are easy. Tomorrow will be a little more difficult I think as problems are now arising and faculty are returning to post.

When I got home yesterday though, the deer were right outside my window. I changed and decided to see how friendly there were. I opened the bag of baby carrots I bought and gently tossed one to a yearling. It was not too interested or was too hesitant. I threw one to an older female, about 8 feet from the deck, and she nervously bent down to eat it. It was so cool to hear her crunching it. I tried to convince her to come closer and take another from my hand, but she was not going for it. I bet I can make that happen within a week or two though. I tossed it to her and she quickly gobbled it down.

I decided I would run out to shop although the light fades here quickly after 4 p.m. I ran over to Vail’s Gate and found the K-Mart there. I wanted a mesh laundry bag for trips home (or to the Laundromats here) and finally found them. The store was a mess as they were doing inventory.

Right next to the K-Mart is a ShopRite. I would equate it to Shop-N-Save or Foodland. I was eager to check out the other big name in supermarkets here though. There is a Hannaford’s in Vail’s Gate too. I stopped there and found the store to be big, clean and have a good produce section. I picked up a few things and went to check out. There was a young tattooed couple in front of me. Reminded me a little bit of the Hardesty’s. They had a loaf of bread, a jar of sauce, a pound of ground meat, some pasta and a few other things. Dinner was on the conveyer belt. They seemed high, happy and in love. To be young again …

When I got back, Mr. Fusillo called. He had the smoke detector and wanted to give me the keys and deal with the lease. I had a Subway (I think, I might have had that the night before – they have a “Black Forest Ham” trial going on and they are pretty good) and walked over to the house, checkbook in hand.

When I closed the deal with the real estate agent (Kathy from Smitchger Realty in Corwall), she said I owed her a broker fee of $800 (one month’s rent), the first month for Joe, a security deposit (one month), AND the last month’s rent. It was going to cost me $3,200 just to get into the cottage. I sent her $800 and another $1,600 for Joe and would pay him the other $800 when I got keys. I only got $3,000 for moving expenses, so that wiped that out. And it turns out the moving expenses were less taxes, so I only really got about $2,400. Oh well …

Joe and Magda were happy to see me and I sat at their kitchen table to chat and deal with the paperwork. Joe insisted I have a coffee. He has an cappuccino machine and loves using it. I insisted it be decaf. I sipped away as we chatted and Magda made sure I had a big plate of cookies. One of the three varieties on the plate had lots of chocolate and some raspberry preserves. Yummo.

Magda and I chatted about shopping, Pittsburgh, directions to different places around town, and Joe fussed with a set of attachments for his compressor. They are really nice people. He said I could pay the last month’s rent over a couple of months so he did not need anything from me that night. I appreciated that. It will be easier to spread it out.

When I mentioned I had fed the deer some carrots, they made sure to send me home with two full bags of bread for them. It was like visiting my parents. Eat, drink and take some food home with you.

I did not like driving home in the dark though. Traffic in this area gets busy after 5 p.m. and the roads leading to the cottage are not very well lit. Will make whatever trips I need directly from work from here on in.

What did I learn yesterday … always accept an invitation to your landlord’s house, especially if he has a cappuccino machine and his wife always keeps exotic cookies on hand.