Boston

Beer, the brewery and not the town is the maker of Sam Adams family of beers. It is located just outside Allentown, PA at the site of an old Stroh brewery. A few weeks ago, the purchased some of my equipment and called yesterday to say that they were having problems with my equipment. This just after I was there last week and there were no problems then.

So I make flight reservations yesterday to fly into Philly, then drive to Allentown for a 7:30 AM meeting at the brewery. With storms in Philly delaying all arrivals and departures, my plane gets in after midnight and I drive the hour plus to the hotel.

We (my local Rep and I) get there and the person that we were to see had not told security that we were to arrive. It takes nearly an hour for "security" to reach our contact, and we are escorted into the facility. We get to my equipment and it is not running, so we stand and talk; stand and talk; stand and talk some more.

About 10:45AM they are just about to use the equipment, an aid to filtering the suspended solids out of their product. About 11:15, my pumps start up and work great for about 20 minutes, and then a loud hissing sound just before liquid starts shooting out of inappropriate places.

We shut the equipment down, quickly and find that a valve has closed in the process, creating no place for the liquid to go. This means that there is a control issue on their part creating problems for the equipment. Once this is discovered, our contact is really embarrassed and thanks us for the assistance.

We then talk with him and a couple of other people about 1) how outstanding our service was for this issue and 2) about an outstanding quotation for $20K worth of equipment. At that point we got a verbal commitment for the additional equipment to be purchased next month.

They do need the equipment, but we helped them and they appreciated that. Breweries are interesting places to go. They smell good (like a fraternity house on a weekend morning) and there are interesting processes. It seems that Sam Adams is taking control of their brewing from Miller. Good for them.

I can tell

That summer is coming, just by looking at my home.

A is already home for the summer from UNC and is dominating life around the house with everything she brought home. She is purely type A, and must have a schedule weeks in advance. (As an example, when we visit family in Toledo, A wants to know exactly what is happening and when, so K and I would make up departure times and activities just to get her to focus elsewhere. When these things did not happen, we said plans changed.)

We have also been over to C's school bringing stuff home for the summer. One van full so far. and we are not close to done. C has 7 days of classes, then finals and will be home on June 7th.

It is OK as when both A and C are at home, they get along quite well and do many things together when there is time.

C

C went before the GS Gold Award committee yesterday to discuss her project prior to approval. She is fearless when it comes to making presentations, which is great. She spent 20 minutes in front of 4 adult GS Council members, explaining her project, how she selected it and what it does for the community. Confident, she answered their questions with knowledge and authority.

In the end, it was approved without modifications. Way to go C. You are truly a member of our family.

Job Latest

I got the news today that I will be covering the New England states beginning in June. This is due to a corporate realignment of personnel. Starting June 15, my territory will now cover Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virgina, North Carolina and South Carolina. Yep, 16 states. Should get more interesting.

Mom

I do not wax as eloquently as some of the rest of my blogger family, but I will try anyway.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Although you are at peace, not a day goes by I don't think of you. Each day, that some little thing reminds me of the joy you had when around your children and grandchildren. You standing by Dad, supporting and encouraging all of your children, and reminding them from where they came. You told the great stories to the grandkids of how your children were just a mischievous as they were, encouraging them to be just like their parents, then read stories to them.

When I am home, I am in the kitchen frequently. There are too many evenings spent in restaurants in towns across America, so that when I am home, home cooking is preferred. K is at home and wants a break from cooking, so I take over. So, when I am in the kitchen, nearly everything I do reminds me of you when you were in the kitchen. You taught me to cook, though I am not as good as you. When cooking together when I was young, you talked about your childhood, your grandparents and your relatives along with the unspoken expectations for each of us. We discussed what was happening from this child's perspective.

Looking back from a 51 year perspective, the only thing that could be better is for you to be here. Thanks and love ya Mom.

Tornado

As some of you may have seen, parts of Greensboro, NC got hit by a tornado. Fortunately for us, it hit the west side of the county and we are on the east side. It did not even rain here, some 10 miles away while the tornado did it's damage.

In case you were wondering.

So, I'm in Dallas

at a trade show. Staying at the Sheraton in downtown Dallas, on the 36th floor. So other than dirty windows, the view is pretty good. It is Tuesday, and there is nothing to see when looking out my window. Normally there are buildings, planes and cars when you look in various directions, but not today. Apparently the view from my room is going to be gray all day.

Some say I have my head in the clouds, and at least for today, they would literally be true. No sense taking pictures to show you, because how do you show a cloud when you are in it.

Update: It is 9AM here and there is lightening and thunder outside the window and from the 36th floor it is really weird, but also really cool.

Cell Phone Madness

I am in the market for a cell phone. I want to stay with V, so that begins to limit things. I carry a laptop nearly everywhere I go and do not need to be that connected, so a blackberry or smartphone is out, at least to me. I want a good, sturdy phone that will take the beatings that I give. No need for MP3 player, etc. The only thing that I do reasonably often is text message K and the kids.

The kids want EnV phones, but I am not so sure. Any suggestions for me?

Begining tomorrow

I will be in Dallas for a trade show dealing in the Pulp and Paper market. These things bore me, but at least I will know many people at this trade show. Not just vendors or my business associate (with whom I enjoy spending time) either. There are many people from various Paper Companies that will be attending that I know and I have asked many of them to go to dinner on the various nights. Some said yes, some said no due to other commitments, but at least I will be able to see some friendly business aquaintenances.

I will not have a car, so cannot go to Southfork, but may go to Dealey Plaza and the Book Repository, and the grassy knoll as they seem to be close to where we are staying.

Coming back Thursday PM. Cannot wait

I will spare you the pictures

but another thing that happens this time of year is that I get a case of poison ivy. It usually happens when weed eating the lawn, somewhere there is a small growth of the blasted stuff. Even though I wear long pants, work boots, long socks, wash with yellow soap, somehow, there is always some that make it through the defenses. Got it all over both legs.

Just a right of spring.

History

For my Dad and brother. I was traveling in northern NJ recently and decided to visit some old stomping grounds. Yes, I stopped at 23 Corona Road in East Brunswick. The hills were not as big as my memory indicated, but the house was little different. The neighborhood was as I remembered. The road entering the subdivision on the south was now not allowing left turns as it is a very busy road.

The new owners had sided the house, but were not home when I knocked on their door. The school R and I attended had added multiple classrooms, so much of the playground was now classroom.



The picture reminds me of one with Pop and Grandma in front of the house with checker board windows. If I recall correctly, the boy bedroom was the upper right window, the one I threw a toy sword through. (Great story to be told when little kids are not around so there are no bad ideas placed in their heads).

We moved from this house in 1964 to Jeannette so Mom could have my sister C, living with Aunt P for 3 or so months and then on to Toledo where Dad had been transferred.

[Begin Music] Memories, like the corners of my mind...for the way we were...[/Music]

Speaking of Transition

Beginning this weekend, we start to become a family again. C is home for an extended weekend at home. C then goes back for a couple of weekends, then home for Memorial day and then finals for her. Home for the summer by June 6th.

By attending NCSSM, C needs to have 60 hours of volunteer work for some non-profit agency over the summer. No problem you say, but C has a summer full time job at a camp for challenged kids and adults that lasts 8 weeks, and is doing her GS Gold award project his summer. This summer is going to be busy for C and for K.

A has finals next week, so will be home the following weekend for the summer. There will be a huge transition for her from the hectic life of a college sophomore to that of daughter of D and K.

This should be quite a transition for all 4 of us. We miss them when they are attending school.

In Transition

I must be in a generational transition zone. I use email, a lot. I use AIM, some. I have a MySpace page, but my kids think that I am weird for having it. I do eBay (think Weird Al Yankovic) and Craigslist. And of course there is this blog.

This blog is really a way to keep distant family and friends up to date on what is happening in our lives. Some of my posts are ridiculed by my family, some not seeing the point of blogging. It is a public diary, sharing happenings.

I am trying to figure if I need a MySpace page and how to integrate it into my routine if necessary. We shall see

Also this weekend

After taking pictures of C for her prom, K and I went to Smithfield to see B and K. B was asking for help on how to install some trim on windows in his dining room. The old sills had rotted from condensation from single pane windows that were installed in the house originally, but are now long gone, replaced by vinyl.

Since the window trim is now unpainted, there was nothing great to see. I promised B that I would not post pictures of the work until after the painting had been done. It took us all day to replace 3 sills, put a finish edge on a floor and fix an electrical outlet.

B is generally a good student when it comes to doing work around the house. It was tough for me to let B do the work as I am a hands on kind of guy and like the doing, but like everyone else, B learns best when he does the work and I supervise.

B and K are doing well.

It was Junior Prom Time

For C this past weekend. Being reasonable parents, we took many pictures of C. All of the pictures were taken at the Duke Gardens on the campus of Duke University. There were sooooooo many people there taking pictures for various proms that it was difficult to keep other people from showing up in the pictures.

C was a good sport because I took 17 pictures of her in various locations and backgrounds.













C went with a group of 10 students from her school. They went to dinner at Carrabba's, then off to the prom. They had to be back on campus at 1:30AM unless they had parental permission to stay in a hotel. There was a 2AM breakfast catered in by a local restaurant for all the students. As is typical for proms, C made a full night of it by viewing movies, etc until 5 AM.

All in all, C said it was fun and I am glad she went.

Another one gone

I just learned of the passing of my Aunt N from Minnesota in February. She was 84. While my family and hers were never super close because of them being in MN, she and Uncle D were fun people to be around, as were my cousins. Uncle D passed away a only a year or two ago, and Aunt N suffered from the ravages of Alzheimer's.

God speed Aunt N and my condolences to T, T and D.

Randomness

Sorry for the volume of posts in a single day, but when they come, they come.

K and I are now the parent of a 20YO college student. When did I get so old. I just celebrated the 22nd anniversary of my 29th birthday a few weeks ago, so I cannot be THAAAAAT old.

Pray for A

A is taking Organic II with a new professor. This professor has not taught at the college level before and is causing many of the Organic Chemistry students anguish. So much so that the average on a recent test was 34, with no one scoring higher than a 50.

A has put lots of work in for this class, appears to understand and can apply the materials presented in the text, no all night cramming sessions. Just solid study habits for 2 solid weeks before the exams, along with keeping up on the day to day work for this class.

The Professor gave an in class assignment for the students to work and not a single student had the correct answer (according to the Professors statement in class after reviewing the work).

A is currently managing a "C", but is getting frustrated at the Professor for giving tests worthy of graduate studies. Pray that she can focus for the next 3 weeks and finish the class with the "C".

Oh No, it has started.

The cycle has started. K and I mowed the grass tonight for the first time. Dueling riding lawnmowers to get the job done in a reasonable time. K started about 3 after weeding some of the flower beds, and I came out after dinner was prepared, post work. We worked until about 8PM, slightly after sundown.

Based on normal happenings, this cycle will be repeated every two weeks from now until November.

It was nice while it lasted.

Usually

I am a relatively high energy type of laid back guy. I guess that means (to me anyway) that I am frequently in motion but sometime lack specific direction. That said, I have been doing slightly less travel this year as the Agents that I direct are fewer in number and in a different geography, making organizing effective travel more challenging.

With all the travel that happened late last year and early this year, there is a mental fatigue that has set in, to the point of not really wanting to travel. Maybe I need to take a week off for vacation and not pick up my phone or email.