Had Donna's official going-away party this past Tuesday night.
Had a houseful of guests, a mountain of chow... Call it the Feeding Frenzy Special for 20. I rotissed a filet on the grill, oh man that's the way to go. Get it spinning for just a little while, darken the outside, cut the steaks while it's still mooing... then finish on the grill to each person's specific liking.
Aug 25 is the BIG DAY... so think of Donna at 5:50 p.m. eastern as her plane pulls away from the gate at Newark, bound for Frankfurt, a turn to Gay Pareee, then a ride to Tours. We know she's excited about that, as she has departure pegged to the minute on her Google countdown calendar. I think as the days-to-go count dipped below 30, it really started to sink in for all of us... she'll be outta here for 11 months. We'll hit single digits here real soon, and that's when the pulse will really rise...
Donna will be keeping a journal, and Rotary Youth Exchange requires posting to their own page once every month, I think... so we'll be able to keep track of what's going on, even though we're usually the last to know, well, everything. In the OLDEN DAYS, Rotary would tell the kid to give a call once they arrived in-country, then NOTHING for a month, so they could get settled in. Nowadays, of course, there's int'l texting, IM, webcams, Facebook, and of course stodgy old email. So v. little chance of her losing touch. I think this way's better...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Disney and Shuttle STS-127
Just arrived home from a trip of about a week and a half to Disneyworld and the eastern beaches of Florida. Had a blast... including several firsts... first plane rides for Katie & Jay, first surfing for all 3 kiddies, first time to Florida (in memory) for all 3. We had had Donna there when she was about 18 mos. old but of course she doesn't remember that trip. Hopefully all 3 will remember this one!
The first (if I do say so myself) bright thing we did was to rent a house instead of staying right on Disney property. Yes, we had to forgo the ability to buy the Disney meal plan (at like $70/day/person), but it was quite a good trade off. Rented the house through Vacation Rentals By Owners (http://www.vrbo.com/2205), and the whole experience was absolutely awesome. Huge and spotlessly clean 4 BR home on a corner lot complete with plenty of bathrooms for everyone, 3-car garage, swimming pool, hot tub, TV's in every room. Kate & Jay each could've had their own room, but they both wanted the top bunk in the room with the bunk beds, so they alternated bunks each day.
The home was absolutely the way to go... after a day of walking 50 miles at Disney, it was a total joy to jump into that pool! We even took a day and did much of nothing... just stayed home and read and swam.
Got out to Cocoa Beach, where Donna took a surfing lesson and did quite well! I'm sure her focus was sharpened by the fact that her instructor was Sam the Surfer Dude... kolij kid on summer vacation teaching surfing (tough life, that). The next day we went to Cocoa again, and Donna taught Kate & Jay how to surf... so they all managed to get up & stay up... Woo Hoo!
One of the reasons for all the trips to Cocoa Beach area was that STS-127, the Endeavour shuttle was set to go off, and Cocoa is just a half hour or so south of NASA. So we went to the beach, then at the end of the day (liftoffs were scheduled for 7 p.m. ish, and moving earlier each day of no go) headed up to Titusville for the scheduled launch. Trip #1... no go due to weather. Trip #2... no go due to weather. Trip #3... a SPECTACULAR liftoff! We were at Spaceview Park in Titusville, about 12 miles away from launch pad 39A, and right across the causeway so we had a perfect, if distant, view of the shuttle from the get-go. No trees, buildings, or anything else but haze blocking the view of the launch pad.
At 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 LIFTOFF... the sound (delayed) was not as loud as I'd hoped (didn't have to plug our ears or anything) but there was, once it arrived once the shuttle was well up in the sky, a nice satisfying subwoofer feel to it. The thing that surprised me most was the BRIGHTness of the launch. Like a welding torch headed up and up... you couldn't look straight at it for more than a second or two. And of course the speed... that baby is 365 miles downrange before you know it, just incredible. Fortunately, our friends recorded the liftoff from HDNet so we'll be able to see it from that angle, too, the next time we get over there.
Back to Disney...
Had to totally marvel (as a sales/marketing-oriented geek myself) at the extreme skill and precision Disney uses to lift you by the ankles and shake every possible nickle out of your pockets. Every ride... gift shop at the end of the ride. Walk down the street... gift shop to the left of me, gift shop to the right of me. Disney pins for trading. Want a hot dog? That'll be $6.95.
Yes, they have to make a living, and make a living they do!
So we're back home now, much more tired than when we left. But isn't that what vacations are for?
The first (if I do say so myself) bright thing we did was to rent a house instead of staying right on Disney property. Yes, we had to forgo the ability to buy the Disney meal plan (at like $70/day/person), but it was quite a good trade off. Rented the house through Vacation Rentals By Owners (http://www.vrbo.com/2205), and the whole experience was absolutely awesome. Huge and spotlessly clean 4 BR home on a corner lot complete with plenty of bathrooms for everyone, 3-car garage, swimming pool, hot tub, TV's in every room. Kate & Jay each could've had their own room, but they both wanted the top bunk in the room with the bunk beds, so they alternated bunks each day.
The home was absolutely the way to go... after a day of walking 50 miles at Disney, it was a total joy to jump into that pool! We even took a day and did much of nothing... just stayed home and read and swam.
Got out to Cocoa Beach, where Donna took a surfing lesson and did quite well! I'm sure her focus was sharpened by the fact that her instructor was Sam the Surfer Dude... kolij kid on summer vacation teaching surfing (tough life, that). The next day we went to Cocoa again, and Donna taught Kate & Jay how to surf... so they all managed to get up & stay up... Woo Hoo!
One of the reasons for all the trips to Cocoa Beach area was that STS-127, the Endeavour shuttle was set to go off, and Cocoa is just a half hour or so south of NASA. So we went to the beach, then at the end of the day (liftoffs were scheduled for 7 p.m. ish, and moving earlier each day of no go) headed up to Titusville for the scheduled launch. Trip #1... no go due to weather. Trip #2... no go due to weather. Trip #3... a SPECTACULAR liftoff! We were at Spaceview Park in Titusville, about 12 miles away from launch pad 39A, and right across the causeway so we had a perfect, if distant, view of the shuttle from the get-go. No trees, buildings, or anything else but haze blocking the view of the launch pad.
At 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 LIFTOFF... the sound (delayed) was not as loud as I'd hoped (didn't have to plug our ears or anything) but there was, once it arrived once the shuttle was well up in the sky, a nice satisfying subwoofer feel to it. The thing that surprised me most was the BRIGHTness of the launch. Like a welding torch headed up and up... you couldn't look straight at it for more than a second or two. And of course the speed... that baby is 365 miles downrange before you know it, just incredible. Fortunately, our friends recorded the liftoff from HDNet so we'll be able to see it from that angle, too, the next time we get over there.
Back to Disney...
Had to totally marvel (as a sales/marketing-oriented geek myself) at the extreme skill and precision Disney uses to lift you by the ankles and shake every possible nickle out of your pockets. Every ride... gift shop at the end of the ride. Walk down the street... gift shop to the left of me, gift shop to the right of me. Disney pins for trading. Want a hot dog? That'll be $6.95.
Yes, they have to make a living, and make a living they do!
So we're back home now, much more tired than when we left. But isn't that what vacations are for?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Things they say
Kiddies wanted to watch a movie in the theater last night. Sure, no problem. Short discussion over what to watch. Girls wanted "West Side Story," little buddy wanted pretty much anything else. But Kate wasn't sure about West Side Story. Couldn't remember what it was about. She asked "Is that the movie about when black people were given the right to dance?"
Had to crack up over that one.
. . .
Then today, I'm driving Donna to work. She's not speaking, as usual. I ask her why so quiet? Said she was thinking about a couple things ahead at work and also "AND I'M DOING ALL THIS!"
I asked that by "doing all this" did she mean sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window, being driven to work? Even she had to laugh when she thought about that.
ESK
Had to crack up over that one.
. . .
Then today, I'm driving Donna to work. She's not speaking, as usual. I ask her why so quiet? Said she was thinking about a couple things ahead at work and also "AND I'M DOING ALL THIS!"
I asked that by "doing all this" did she mean sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window, being driven to work? Even she had to laugh when she thought about that.
ESK
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A first in history!
So we left for the French Embassy (yes, you apply IN PERSON for a French visa) at 3:15 a.m., and arrived in front of the building at 7:30... plenty way ahead of time for our appointment at 9:00. Great parking spot, right outside the gate. I took a little nap in the seat. Donna, having slept the ENTIRE way there, read a novel.
At about 8:35 we walked over to the gate itself, arriving about 2 minutes later... call it 8:37.
"We're here for our appointment at 9 o'clock," we say.
"No. No one is permitted past until eight forty five," says the woman at the gate.
There's nowhere to sit, and we're clearly not welcome to loiter at the gate. A car with diplomat plates drives through. We've got a few minutes to kill. We return to the truck.
I mention to Donna on the way that we've just made history!
Huh?
Yes, this is the FIRST TIME in history that France has ever successfully repelled an invading force! Woo Hoo!
Of course, 7 minutes later we waltz right in.
Now THAT's more like it!
As it turns out, her 15 minute appointment, from 9 to 9:15, was done right on the button. They have 15 min. time slots for the visa appointments. You show up, they call your name, you walk up to the window, hand in some basic papers. They then call you again a few minutes later, you hand them the rest of the papers (including the form saying that they require a vaccination that is not available in the U.S.), and you're out the door in 15 minutes.
Heaven help you if you don't have ALL of the required paperwork, notarized signatures, photos.
Heaven help you if you miss your time slot by even one minute.
Heaven help you if you don't have the funds (charged whether visa is approved or not) with you.
Go back home, reschedule the appointment on the web (it'll be in a few weeks) and try again.
Fortunately, I think everything was in order, and we're expecting her visa in another week or so. No one has called yet to complain about anything, so we're hoping/expecting success. Sadly, up until June 1, 2009 they did issue visas on the spot... now it takes a week. Whatever...
Of course, I also mentioned to Donna that the French Embassy has two stamps for the visa approval department. One is heavy, about 8 inches in diameter, has a giant red ink pad that is kept full, and says the word NON!!. They love using the big red stamp.
The other stamp, about 1 inch in diameter, uses a little green ink pad that always dries out, and says the word Oui.
So we're not out of the woods yet...
. . .
So now it's 9:15 and we've got a few hours to kill. My bro would've been proud. Wanted to do the Washington Monument, but they meter out the tour tickets, and we were too late, even at 9:45 when we got there, for any tour earlier than 8 p.m. Bummer. But we did the National Aquarium, the Smithsonian Natural History museum, and Air & Space. Natural history was AWESOME... I called home while standing under T-Rex, we checked out the Hope Diamond, and we saw another exhibit "Written in Bone... Forensic Files of the 17th Century Chesapeake" that was absolutely FASCINATING! We wandered into the exhibit and there's a guy with a crowd around him... very interesting guy and clearly knows his stuff. Turns out he's the curator of the exhibit, and the group around him is a bunch of social studies teachers from San Antonio, there on a teacher learning trip. They didn't mind if we hung out & listened, and listen we did. Except for the invasion of France, this http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/ was the highlight of the trip.
. . .
We had to leave around 1 p.m. since I had to be back for a concert.
Yes, my bro would've been proud of that trip. One day, one embassy, three museums, ~9 hrs. of driving, and a concert. THAT's good efficiency!
ESK
At about 8:35 we walked over to the gate itself, arriving about 2 minutes later... call it 8:37.
"We're here for our appointment at 9 o'clock," we say.
"No. No one is permitted past until eight forty five," says the woman at the gate.
There's nowhere to sit, and we're clearly not welcome to loiter at the gate. A car with diplomat plates drives through. We've got a few minutes to kill. We return to the truck.
I mention to Donna on the way that we've just made history!
Huh?
Yes, this is the FIRST TIME in history that France has ever successfully repelled an invading force! Woo Hoo!
Of course, 7 minutes later we waltz right in.
Now THAT's more like it!
As it turns out, her 15 minute appointment, from 9 to 9:15, was done right on the button. They have 15 min. time slots for the visa appointments. You show up, they call your name, you walk up to the window, hand in some basic papers. They then call you again a few minutes later, you hand them the rest of the papers (including the form saying that they require a vaccination that is not available in the U.S.), and you're out the door in 15 minutes.
Heaven help you if you don't have ALL of the required paperwork, notarized signatures, photos.
Heaven help you if you miss your time slot by even one minute.
Heaven help you if you don't have the funds (charged whether visa is approved or not) with you.
Go back home, reschedule the appointment on the web (it'll be in a few weeks) and try again.
Fortunately, I think everything was in order, and we're expecting her visa in another week or so. No one has called yet to complain about anything, so we're hoping/expecting success. Sadly, up until June 1, 2009 they did issue visas on the spot... now it takes a week. Whatever...
Of course, I also mentioned to Donna that the French Embassy has two stamps for the visa approval department. One is heavy, about 8 inches in diameter, has a giant red ink pad that is kept full, and says the word NON!!. They love using the big red stamp.
The other stamp, about 1 inch in diameter, uses a little green ink pad that always dries out, and says the word Oui.
So we're not out of the woods yet...
. . .
So now it's 9:15 and we've got a few hours to kill. My bro would've been proud. Wanted to do the Washington Monument, but they meter out the tour tickets, and we were too late, even at 9:45 when we got there, for any tour earlier than 8 p.m. Bummer. But we did the National Aquarium, the Smithsonian Natural History museum, and Air & Space. Natural history was AWESOME... I called home while standing under T-Rex, we checked out the Hope Diamond, and we saw another exhibit "Written in Bone... Forensic Files of the 17th Century Chesapeake" that was absolutely FASCINATING! We wandered into the exhibit and there's a guy with a crowd around him... very interesting guy and clearly knows his stuff. Turns out he's the curator of the exhibit, and the group around him is a bunch of social studies teachers from San Antonio, there on a teacher learning trip. They didn't mind if we hung out & listened, and listen we did. Except for the invasion of France, this http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/ was the highlight of the trip.
. . .
We had to leave around 1 p.m. since I had to be back for a concert.
Yes, my bro would've been proud of that trip. One day, one embassy, three museums, ~9 hrs. of driving, and a concert. THAT's good efficiency!
ESK
Monday, June 22, 2009
Getting ready for France
It's... almost... time. Our daughter Donna is getting ready to hit the trail for France, as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange. She's spending her senior hear of high school there, and we've spent a lot of time the last few days getting everything together. There are papers from France, papers in French, papers that she needs to fill out in both French & English. A trip to Triple-A for more passport photos for the visa, notarized this and notarized that. Purchase a plane ticket. Fund her debit card. Many copies of everything, and it all must be perfect.
Tomorrow we drive to Washington, DC to apply for the student visa. Yes, this is done in person, and yes, if you live where we do, you drive to DC and show up at the French Embassy. The good news is that they say that if everything is in order, they'll issue a visa on the spot. That would be way cool indeed...
Tomorrow we drive to Washington, DC to apply for the student visa. Yes, this is done in person, and yes, if you live where we do, you drive to DC and show up at the French Embassy. The good news is that they say that if everything is in order, they'll issue a visa on the spot. That would be way cool indeed...
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Scammers
Got a call on the home line today from caller ID 786-333-0000 / Eric Corrales. Female prerecorded voice says "we can lower your credit card interest rate to 6.9%" or something like that. Smelling a rat, but with a little time available, I pressed 9 to be connected to a live human. Sounded like a call center in India, but maybe it was just a couple knuckleheads in a basement in (anonymous city here). Immediately asked them for their company name (first he said "MCS" then when pressed "Master Card Services") and address (fake... Calypso Cay Way, Orlando FL 25230 is what they said), and they gave me a callback number of 800-943-3250. I talked with one agent, then a "supervisor" then they disconnected.
The 800# they gave me answers at:
Mutual Consolidated Savings
1215 Earnest S. Brazil Suite 33
Tacoma, WA 98405-4025
I spoke with an actual American human being, Mandy at MCS, who said not only was it OK if I record the call, but they haven't called anyone in this state in 5 years... too much trouble with the do not call list, getting registered to do business here and all that.
She also mentioned that MCS has a cease & desist order against an Orlando, FL company called JPM & Associates, which may or may not be the knuckleheads mentioned above.
Reported all this to donotcall.gov... who knows, they may be able to do something with the info someday.
Moral of the story... if someone calls you looking to "help" you with your credit cards, or especially for credit card info, don't waste your time. It's a scam.
Scammers / phishers / spammers... may they all rot.
The 800# they gave me answers at:
Mutual Consolidated Savings
1215 Earnest S. Brazil Suite 33
Tacoma, WA 98405-4025
I spoke with an actual American human being, Mandy at MCS, who said not only was it OK if I record the call, but they haven't called anyone in this state in 5 years... too much trouble with the do not call list, getting registered to do business here and all that.
She also mentioned that MCS has a cease & desist order against an Orlando, FL company called JPM & Associates, which may or may not be the knuckleheads mentioned above.
Reported all this to donotcall.gov... who knows, they may be able to do something with the info someday.
Moral of the story... if someone calls you looking to "help" you with your credit cards, or especially for credit card info, don't waste your time. It's a scam.
Scammers / phishers / spammers... may they all rot.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Office cleanup time
So I decided to do a little spring cleaning here in the office the last couple days. Ran into trouble when I couldn't fuel the flamethrower (ran out of napalm, unfortunately). Had an old buddy/roommate from college mention that he cleans out his car with a leaf blower.
Now, that would beat the heck out of my Plan B... and I couldn't figure out how to get a backhoe through the door anyway.
If I could just pull one of those trucks with the leaf-blowers mounted on the back right up next to the office, then reach in through the window with a hose... Hmmm...
Now, that would beat the heck out of my Plan B... and I couldn't figure out how to get a backhoe through the door anyway.
If I could just pull one of those trucks with the leaf-blowers mounted on the back right up next to the office, then reach in through the window with a hose... Hmmm...
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- Ed Kmetz
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