Aaaand She's Off

The big news since the last posting is KyKy earning her driving privileges. On Thursday afternoon we headed down to Chaska, where it is rumored the people giving the road test are a bit more lenient. I couldn't tell you if they are or not, but KyKy passed on her first try. She could think of only one other friend who had passed on one attempt. She's been driving around with us since November, and she isn't a risk taker or all nervous behind the wheel, so her passing was not a huge surprise.

Yesterday was her first "solo" trip, although it wasn't truly solo. She ferried her sisters to softball and karate. This is the big, big upside of her getting her license, TOYH and I can have her make the annoying trips for us, other than going to the liquor store get daddy his beer and mommy her red wine. She's still keen on running an errand without anyone with her, that day will come.

I remember how incredibly liberated I felt when I finally got my license. Living out in the middle of nowhere, we were completely auto dependent, and until Terri got her license mom had to cart us around. I'm sure she was happier than Terri when Terri got her license. Because dad was commuting up to Moose Lake for work, we became a 3 car family - 1 truck, 1 sedan, 1 high milage commuter car for dad. There was usually a vehicle available for any driver who needed to get into town, even when there were four licensed drivers in the house. I think my first trip by myself was to play in the pep-band at a basketball game, taking the old Dodge "Wimpy Wagon" truck. I felt so free, not having to depend on anyone to get me to and from practices or "social engagements."

Things are different for me now. Driving is a chore and getting in the car to go somewhere by myself makes my brain crazy. I'm not sure if that's a function of the aftermath of the accident or if it's because I can't stand the thought of putting more miles on a car that is closing in on 180,000. When I think of my dream job, a big part of that dream is being able to commute by bus or bike. I know KyKy doesn't share my disdain for driving....yet. On the bright side, she sees the environmental and health benefits of taking the bus or biking for some trips. She took the bus to and from work on Saturday despite having a license.

Speaking of dream jobs, I'm not at mine right now. This job should be easy, but somehow I seem to find a way to screw up something almost daily. In fairness to myself, I think the instructions I get are sometimes ambiguous, but the fact remains that this isn't rocket science and I shouldn't have so many problems. I've always thought that I could be content doing just about any job. I'm not sure I think that anymore. For better or for worse, work plays a huge part in how we identify ourselves, and I suppose by extension, determines our self worth. I'm not strictly defined by my job. I have other interests outside of work I think make me a semi-interesting person to be around, but I'm embarrassed to say that when I meet new people or catch up with old friends, I dread the inevitable question, "What are you doing now?" - in other words, "What kind of work are you doing?" or really, "Who are you as a person?" Job as identity. I can never give the simple answer, "I stock shelves." I'm always qualifying what I say by adding that its transitional or some such thing. In short, I guess I'm kind of ashamed by my work, and thus my identity as a person. I tell myself that this shouldn't be, that I'm bigger than my job, and that I'm good enough, I'm smart enough yadda, yadda, yadda. Oh well. I'll just have to buck up and not let it bother me.

But Can I Still Respect Them The Next Morning?

Yesterday morning at work I was sent to a different section of the store to help get ready for the day's opening. In the course of conversation with one of my coworkers I found out that he is a "Mixed Martial Artist" and that one of my female coworkers is a big fan of "MMA" and attends matches at the Mythe nightclub in Maplewood. This rising sport used to be known as ultimate fighting, which appears to have started as a brutal near fights to the death. In the past 15 years or so, the sport has evolved and instituted some rules. In a striking fit of common sense, the powers that govern the sport thought it best to make kicking someone in the head when said person was splayed down on the mat illegal. Whew. Since I don't watch MMA, I will let others pontificate about this sport being a barometer pointing to the end of Western Civilization. I simply have no interest in watching. None. Not even to be able to pontificate about how this is the end of Western Civilization. I'm more interested in why these two people I work with, who seem entirely rational and well-adjusted, are smitten with this sport. The guy I worked with is very pleasant, doesn't have a chip on his shoulder, and I've never seen him act or pose as a tough guy. The woman is a sporto type, (she went to the Twins' opener). I never would have guessed that she was into this kind of human carnage, although I was told it might be because of the drink specials at the Mythe.

All this lead to a fevered insomniacal hour last night, consumed with thinking about the appeal of MMA and of other sports. Let's see what I can recall:

American Football - The unmasked truth about this sport is that it is deadly dull. I just don't see where people get off calling this game exciting. A play normally lasts 5-6 seconds after which there is, at minimum, a 45 second period before the next play starts. This is soooo much a teevee sport. Why? To fill up that 45 second gap, the previous play is reviewed, dissected, telestrated, replayed ad nauseum. If teevee watchers were forced to sit and watch the teams huddle and substitute players after every play instead of replays, the ratings would take a nose dive. Booooorrring. The only attraction left for the game would be the "big hit," that is, waiting for someone on the opposing team to get shellacked, and hopefully injured, by someone on your team. I think I watched about a total of an hour of football in 2008. I think I saw 4 serious injuries. Dumb. And boring.

NASCAR - Three words. Watching. Paint. Dry. Similar to American Football, I think the popularity comes from the suspense in hoping there could be a high speed car wreck, the equivalent of a "big hit" (with injury!). This sport has had the unfortunate consequence of making NASCAR's yahoo fans think that 35W is Daytona and that they are Jeff Gordon. Morons.

Basketball - Boring on the pro level only because the athleticism is so great that the game does not look challenging. Raise the basket 3 more feet and widen the foul lane 10 more feet and it might be more like women's basketball, which looks much more interesting to me.

Hockey - Interesting because it has nonstop action due to the line changes and the zipping around on ice skates. On the pro level, the stupid enters in through the constant ticky-tacky clutching, grabbing etc. which has the effect of dampening the thing that makes hockey interesting, the speed. Also, pro hockey has idiots like Derek Boogaard who runs a hockey camp for kids to teach them how to fight. 'Nuff said.

Soccer - I've truly enjoyed watching World Cup soccer on the teevee. Ironically the problem with the game is not actual violence and injury. It is the appearance of violence and injury. In my observation, one only has to look at an opponent cross-eyed to get him to flop down on the turf holding his leg as if his achilles tendon has snapped and rolled up like an old fashioned window shade. From what I gather, the team trainer comes out, kisses the boo-boo and everything is all right since the player, more likely than not, finishes the game showing no ill effects. (Note to self: suggest magic lipped soccer trainers move to NFL. Millions could be made.)

Here are two gross generalizations for you. For the most part the pro sports I've watched have been so filled with chest-thumping bravado and in your face intimidation that I simply turn them off. The other thing I generally find bothersome in most all sports are players testing the limits as to how much they can get away with without being called for a penalty or foul. How much grabbing can an offensive lineman get away with before getting flagged? How hard can a basketball player push off before the ref calls him out on it? Gotta test those limits, and when it becomes epidemic, the leagues change the rules to reign in the scofflaws.

Which brings me to baseball. This sport at the pro level is not without its problems, but it is the one game I can sit down and watch on the teevee and not feel like I am wasting an afternoon or evening (o.k. I could watch World Cup Soccer for a few hours).

I'm not sure what the greatest appeal of the game is for me, but I do know that the intimidation and trash talking doesn't seem as prevalent, A.J. Pyrzynski excepted of course. Sure there are brush back pitches every once in a while, but honestly I think the pitcher and catcher and the hitter are all trying so hard to outsmart one another that they can't be bothered with overt intimidation. Second, baseball has no clock artificially imposing drama. Third, game is played out in the open with no silly scrums that can hide rule breaking behavior. I realize pitchers trying to paint corners of the strike zone may be attempting to get away with something, but he expects to be scrutinized on each pitch, he cant hide anything. O.K. Joe Neikro using a nail file and Kent Hrbek lifting Ron Gant off of first base were trying to get away with something. One was successful one wasn't. Like I said, the game is not without its problems, but the fact remains that the league doesn't have to tinker with rules constantly to refine the game, other than cracking down on steroid use. It'll be a cold day in hell before the NFL gets serious with performance enhancing drugs.

The good news for our family is that Madster is playing park rec softball this spring and is really jazzed about it. This gives me an excuse to take her down to the Metrodump for a game or two this summer. Woohoo!

On Busyness And Sleep

Once again there was a weekend of activities that kept us from all being together. For some strange reason I thought that as a family we would be under the same roof at the same time more often, but I guess I that was wishful thinking. KyKy and Madster have this week off from school so they spent the whole weekend with the Evil Grandmother doing camera club things. 'Nika, not to be left behind alone at home, had her old school chum from Emerson, Sophia, stay over night on Friday for a day and a half of giggling and movie watching. TOYH went to a "tea" at church on Saturday afternoon and we both attended a birthday party for a neighbor on Sunday afternoon. This evening Madster starts Park/Rec softball, along with karate. More running around, although she vows to ride her bike to softball when she can.

In between all the comings and goings, we had a couple of guests. On Thursday, TOYH's sister-in-law from China came over for dinner. On Saturday my long lost sister from Atlanta showed up for a chat and a visit. Both of them are on whirlwind tours of the motherland and were able to squeeze in face time with us at our humble abode.

I continue my work at everyone's favorite warehouse-type store, still pulling the 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. shift MTWFSat. I've grown accustomed to the 4 a.m. wake up calls. The nice thing about this schedule is that I'm home by 10:30 in the morning and I have the afternoons to myself. Not having two days off in a row hardly matters because I get home from work so early. Granted, as soon as I get home, I'm back in bed for an hour or two, but it still feels like I've got so much day left that I hardly feel like I've been to work at all. The quality of sleep has been varying. For reasons unknown, I've been waking up at about 3 in the morning, and then dozing off and on until the alarm goes off. Maybe my body is telling me that it's time to start riding bike to work, which I really should do for a bunch of reasons. There was a stretch last week where I was waking up before the alarm, and then not really napping well, yet not being a total wreck the rest of the day.

It's probably because I spent so many years as a swimmer hauling my butt down to morning practice that I remain a "morning person." Waking up and getting out of bed is never fun for anyone, but I think it must be less traumatic for me than for others. Staying up late always gives me a twinge of anxiety, most likely because I think, rightly or not, that I'll be getting up early the next day. Or perhaps it's because sleeping in past a certain time, say 8:00, always makes me feel like I've wasted half the day. This is not so with KyKy. This morning when I rolled out of bed for my daily ablutions, there she was sitting in bed watching DVDs on her computer at 4 a.m. She did not wake up early to do this. Today her day started at about 1:45 p.m.

Had my 60 day review at work today. 180 degree difference from my 30 day. My supervisor is actually happy to have me working for her, which is a nice change. After 30 days, I think she was ready to let me go. I thought she was misunderestimating me, and she was a little bit. I have improved the quality and quickness of my work quite dramatically in the past 30 days, but I still maintain that I wasn't as pathetic as she thought I was at the beginning. This is not to say that I'm set on making a career out of stocking shelves. I'm still working toward getting some computer skillz at MCTC. To that end, I've started an algebra review. The math anxiety has not set in.....yet. I just wish I had put more effort into math from about 4th grade on. For some reason, I have a copy of my 11th grade "Holt Algebra with Trigonometry" in my possession. I started on page one and am working through it page by page, actually enjoying myself, which is the biggest surprise. Ask me about that one later

My (Supposed) Reading List

When I finally get down to reading books, I'm working through two right now. "Working through" is overstating it a bit though. The first book I'm mostly ignoring is "The Left Hand of God" by Adolf Holl. This book is what Tom and Matthew and I work through at our "Book Club." (Book Club is another a bit of overstatement - we mostly drink wine, catch up with each other, speculate theologically and sit around a fire out back. Wednesday nights are partly why I am not a total bitter crank.) I started the book a while back and was not terribly impressed.

Holl is not saying anything I haven't heard about or read before, but the manner in which he says it is a bit, uhhh, unique. The subtitle of the book is "A Biography of The Holy Spirit." Holl starts with the baptism of Jesus. In the beginning of the book, he generally follows the New Testament timeline with side stories from the 20th century that illustrate the movement of the Spirit. His general thesis is that the Spirit is unpredictable, and what we claim as indwellings or manifestations of spiritual possession (tongues, etc.) are by in large indistinguishable from psychosis. Meh. That's not new or terribly interesting to me. When discussing the book with T & M, I couldn't tell them if I found the book edifying or merely titillating. His idea that the Spirit might simply be psychosis is reflected in his rather scattershot, throw-something-out-and-see-if-it-sticks style. I must say that Holl does a nice job of giving a brief description of Wesley/Finney/Azusa Street holiness movement without any snobbish European dismissiveness of American sects and praxis. I actually should be reading the book now instead of writing this drivel.

The second book I'm currently reading is "Crabgrass Frontier" by Kenneth Jackson. Once again, I'm not really reading it carefully. I'll bite off a few pages before falling asleep or as in the case on Monday, I took it to karate and tried to read while 'Nika was screaming and punching at air. The problem with Mondays is that more often than not, there is parent there in the sitting area who is constantly complaining to another parent about the liberal agenda that is hiding behind every bush and coming out to get her and her family. Help! Help! I'm being repressed. If you don't like it, move. Perhaps you could find happiness and succor in Riyadh, Singapore or least Salt Lake City. I'm all for everyone holding their own opinions, and I realize that democracy needs to have all kinds of ideas to thrive, but lady, your constant stream of complaints in a shared space like this is simply, utterly annoying. Next time I'll bring my iPod to tune you out. Literally. Anyway, back to Jackson. He writes about the suburbanization of the U.S. He's been referenced in a lot of other books, so this not terribly new stuff for me. He reaches back in history noting that suburbanization is not a 20th century phenomenon. He compares city growth in the U.S. with British and the Continental cities. Lots of interesting tidbits that I'll have to reread since I've been so distracted or tired when I read it the first time.

Mostly though, I spend a lot of time on the computer reading political blogs, transit forums and blogs and to a lesser extent bike stuff. Too much time on the computer? Yeah probably. A waste of time? Mostly no. Do I feel like a more informed citizen? As a matter of fact, yes.

A Family In Full

KyKy arrived back in God's country this morning at 5:30 a.m. Who knew there was a red-eye from Honolulu to MSP? I didn't bother to ask, but my guess is that plane was a pretty depressing place to be. Not only were people crammed into an aluminum tube overnight, these warm-weather loving, beach laying, whale watching vacationers came back to upper 20's and the chance of a couple of inches of snow in the next few days.

I, of course, went to the airport alone to get KyKy. 'Nika wanted to tag along but things got a little out of hand last night. TOYH and I were invited to a friend's 50th b-day party. All evening long before we left for the party, we promised ourselves we would get home early. We dropped 'Nika and Madster off with Charlie and his dad, went to the party, and came back to pick up the girls at.....1:30 a.m. That's some good parenting there, folks. Actually, a good time was had by all. TOYH and I got to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while, and Madster & 'Nika had fun with Charlie. 'Nika was not disappointed at all when I told her she would be staying home in bed this morning. KyKy was pretty dazed coming off the plane and she went straight to bed when she got home.

Later on this morning the Evil Grandmother and Dreadful Man showed up for a combination happy birthday E.G. and welcome home KyKy brunch. TOYH whipped up some extremely not too shabby grub and we had a lovely time eating and chatting. Afterwards, I went back to bed for the second nap of the day.

I've been pondering a few things this last week. Last night at the party and today with D.M., I had some conversations related to what I've been turning over in my head. My skill set, as far as employment goes, is a mile wide and an inch deep. I've done a bunch of different things - driving, clerking, bookkeeping, tutoring, studenting, taking care of folks with disabilities - none of which resembles or has led to a "career."

A full life, yes. A life of conventional middle class ease? Not really. Along the way I married TOYH, my superior in every way, (except for maybe finding one's way around town in the car), and we have three incredible, unbelievable daughters. We scrape along enjoying each other immensely as we just get by. I've got some rich friendships that I wouldn't trade for anything, except my family of course. These things keep me from turning into a bitter old crank. Yeah, money is a pain in the ass and I would certainly like more of it, but nearly everyone I know feels the same way.

So, one of my co-workers is in school right now at MCTC taking computer programing classes after he pulls his early shift at work. This got me to thinking that I should maybe do the same thing. I needs me some skilz. Since gainful, career-like employment has not come up and introduced itself to me as I shuffle through this mortal coil, I had better chase something down, grab it by the back of the collar and make myself known. I applied online at MCTC for computer network administration. Will this turn into something? Eh. I don't know, but it's a start.

In The Hospital Again

Dad went in yesterday for the second time in a month. It looks as though he'll be staying up there in Cambridge rather than being carted down here to Abbott. Yesterday he went in for his pre-defibrillator check and told mom he wanted to go to urgent care because his right leg was feeling so weak. They were concerned enough to keep him overnight to rule out anything serious, and are keeping him another night, at least, until he can see the cardiologist tomorrow. Along with weakness in his leg, the atrial fibrillation is back, and mom said his INR level is still a bit low. So here we are. He's been off the booze since his first stay at Abbott at the beginning of the month. Mom reports that he's now fun to have around home again, which I can see, since he's a charming guy, when he isn't drinking. Unfortunately when I talked to him on the phone today, he sounded kind of hazy. He said they've been pumping him full of painkillers since his back is bothering him so much. I think the pain is related to his spinal stenosis, which they are guessing is the cause of his leg weakness.

I called KyKy in Hawaii to update her and give her the hospital phone number. Dad's itching to talk to her, but he wants to have his suitcase full of memorabilia in front of him so he can tell her what sights to see. KyKy says they may try and go whale watching today, since they could hear whales from their hotel room last night. That never happens in Minneapolis, at least in March. It's been rainy and gloomy all week and will continue to be rainy and gloomy through the weekend when we could get some snow. I should have told KyKy that she may see whales from her hotel, but I'm looking at the chickens and ducks next door as I write this. It's not so bad here.

Bachelor Weekend Almost Over

I'm now awaiting the return of my beloved OYH, Madster and 'Nika. The weekend went pretty much as described. I did finally get out on my bike and rode back out to work on Saturday just to see how long/far it was. I took me about half an hour to ride 7 miles. 15mph isn't too bad for someone as old, fat and out of shape as me. On the way home I found a couple of shortcuts that will lop nearly a mile off the commute. Now it's a matter of getting up the gumption to get up early enough to ride to work for a 5 a.m. start.

I really want to start up bike commuting again. I can't tell you how much it grates on me to be sitting alone in a car driving to work. It seems so wasteful. That old beater of a car has 177,000 miles on it and it feels like every trip is bringing it's demise more quickly. Unfortunately, I probably won't be biking to work this week. It looks like rain and crappy weather nearly every day I work.

I ended up going into work today, my day off. They needed extra help, and since everyone else in the fam is gone, I figured, "Why not?" Plus, time and a half isn't too bad either.

TOYH is going to stop on the way home and pick up some charcoal for grilling tonight, mmmmmm.

One last observation I want to get out there. A week or so ago in the Strib there was an article about the drop in traffic congestion during rush hours due in part to the rise in unemployment. Part of the article talked about traffic reaching a tipping point, whereby a small decrease in actual cars on the road results in a rather significant drop in commute times. My own observations will attest to this. Twice last week, I had to be out in rush hour traffic and planned according to how long it typically takes to get somewhere at this time of day. Eastbound Hwy 36 and southbound 35W were a breeze. The article in the paper also had testimonials saying the same thing about people's commutes. Now when the economy picks up again, how can the number of cars on the road be kept at the same level so traffic will be just this much smoother in the future? It would be nice if some folks were able to carpool or take transit, but I doubt that smoother rush hours will be a feature of life around here. Once people start working again, and see in the beginning that their commutes are relatively easy, the roads will fill up and we'll be back to being stuck in traffic all over again. Tipping point the other way.

An All New Bachelor Weekend!!!

Sorry if I got your hopes up, but this is not some kind of teevee show. KyKy left for Hawaii today to go visit her cousins, who are vacationing there from China. It really pays to have a cousin who you are very close to who, in turn, has a dad who is a member of an airline's plutonium club and can fly you anywhere in the world. In a sadly pathetic attempt to make things up with the younger two girls, TOYH took them up to a friend's cabin for a weekend on the Brule river in northern Wisconsin. She put together a semi-elaborate ruse so that they would be surprised. They were, apparently. In the end though, northern 'Sconny doesn't really hold a candle to Honolulu in the middle of March.

So that leaves me home alone until sometime Sunday afternoon. What have I done so far since I'm unfettered by filial or spousal obligations? Let's see. I took a nap. I rode the bus downtown to the library to return some books and pick up another one. I called Madster's school to tell them she wasn't playing hooky. I petted the dogs. I drank a beer. That pretty much brings me up to date. Tomorrow holds the promise of a 4 a.m. wakeup call to go to my oh-so-fulfilling job. Then there will be a nap. Maybe in the afternoon I'll hop on my bike and go for a real ride. I'll probably drink another beer. All of this is a testament to the level of trust between me and TOYH. She has no qualms about leaving me for the weekend despite my on the go, risky, hip beyond belief lifestyle. As you can see if my weekend alone was a teevee bachelor show, I'd be beating off those silicone injected babes with a stick.

Is It Really Spring Now?

We've had some glorious weather around here for the past few days - highs in the 50's and even a 60 yesterday. The snow is gone. All that's left are the dirty ice berms, the remnants from the snow plow's work on the sides of the street.

This time of the year always appeals to me more than just about any other time. The days when the snow is melting and the sun is out take me back to Paul's Lake when dad would finally get the bikes out from the basement. The promise of riding bikes around the neighborhood after a few months of trudging through snow, and the idea that summer was not too far off always gladdened the heart.

It may seem odd, but I find the angle of the sun at this time of year simply lovely. The light is filtered through more atmosphere and that atmosphere is bit more dingy so there is not the blast furnace effect of summer or the cold clarity of a January sun. (I like fall for the same reason.)

Spring also makes me think of the end of the swim season. From 8th grade through my sophomore year in college, I spent many winter mornings and every winter school evening in the pool, often getting to school before dark and then leaving after the sun had set. The beginning of March was always State Championship time, so the taper was in full effect and one felt invincible in the pool. After months of hard, hard training, coming out into the light of spring in the best shape of one's life makes an indelible association of weather and physical well being.

Unfortunately, I won't be getting the same spring rush this year as I have in the past. The last couple of years I've been riding my bike through the winter, as much as practicable, so the warm weather and lack of ice on the streets in the spring were a source of excitement. This winter was more harsh than the last two, and I kinda fell off my bike, as it were. Now that the weather is warming up, I'd like to start riding to work again. My commute is down from a 27 mile round trip to about a 16 mile round trip, but since I start at 5:00, it would mean getting up at around 3:30-3:45 to get there on time. We'll see. I need to figure out just how long it will take me to get there and plan accordingly.

Now That I Have Absolutely Nobody's Attention.....

I'll start posting again. Mucho happenings in our household since July.

For all intents and purposes, I'm not working at the bike shop anymore, although I still have a key to get in. I spent a couple of months unemployed until Costco answered my bleatings and hired me. Two laptop computers have died in our family. TOYH is working full time as a nurse and also part time as a nurse. KyKy quit swimming at SWHS and joined the fly fishing club. Madster and 'Nika started at new schools in the fall, both finding great happiness and satisfaction in their respective moves. So that's it in a nutshell. Oh and I embarked on a unfocused, amateurish historical study of my house, neighborhood, and city with respect to transportation issues surrounding their growth.

So when the muse descends, I'll write. It will be to no one in particular since everyone has given up on me. If you, for some inexplicable reason, decided to check in on this piece of crap, welcome or welcome back. Feel free to comment. I'll try not to be controversial, since I really don't like internet pissing matches.