Friday, February 06, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Santa Pics
Here are the pictures of the kids with Santa. Evan got his hair cut short 2 days later. Michael came home from Iraq, saw short-hair Evan and then I asked him to pick up the pictures of the kids from the Club on base. Michael almost didn't recognize Evan with all the hair!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Weird and Rare Pretzel
Today Mikey found a weird pretzel. He said he wanted to have a picture taken with it, so there he is. It has a lot of salt on the bottom (the pretzel, that is, not Mikey). He's now saving it in the pantry.
mikey: hi i found a cool pretzel! cool ist it? i saving it in pantry.
aj: are you ready for soccer season to start?
mikey: OH!!! YEH!!!
aj: LOL, Mikey fell down on the chair.
mikey: THUMP!!! ow me head me robot boy.
the end
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
UFOs and birds
Mikey tried a new fruit today: UFO peach, kinda flat and spaceship-looking.
He says he liked it.
Our baby swallows are flying!
After the first hatchlings didn't survive their first week, I've been worried about these little guys, but they have made it. At first they are so tiny that you can only see the tops of their head but now they are so big that the four of them just don't fit in the nest.
After the first hatchlings didn't survive their first week, I've been worried about these little guys, but they have made it. At first they are so tiny that you can only see the tops of their head but now they are so big that the four of them just don't fit in the nest.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Paranoid, but in a Helpful Way
So I'm looking out the window this morning and see a small moving truck outside my neighbors' house. They've moved out, but still had some stuff stored in their garage while they are vacationing. Hmm. Kinda strange that someone would be moving this stuff now, but it's probably okay.
I keep watching, though, and the guys are behaving a little oddly for movers. They are going through the stuff--two are while one stands around--and picking out one or two little things and putting it in the truck. That is just weird. It's almost like they are picking through the stuff and finding one or two things to take. Actually, it looks EXACTLY like that and what good reason could there be for that? Well, maybe there is a good reason, but what if there isn't? Should I stand by and watch these guys take what they want?
I had my neighbor's cell phone number, so I called, but it went straight to voicemail. Well, now what? I don't even know if he's still using that phone, since it's a local number and he's moving far far away. After watching more, I decided to call the police. If it's okay, then I'll feel a little silly, but it just looks off and I'd feel horrible if I were wrong.
I call 911 and one of the questions the dispatcher asks is "do you want the officer to let you know what happens"? NOOO, don't come walking over and let them know it was me!! Either way it turns out, don't say it was me.
Two cars come and talk to the guys, make a couple phone calls and eventually drive away. Oh well, I guess it was okay.
Finally, my neighbor calls back. They had given a friend power of attorney to have some of their stuff put into storage. He's amused that the friend had to answer to the police, lol. I explained what had looked so strange and he said, yeh, that's weird and we're very glad you're looking out for us, etc. And I offered to have the garderners take care of his lawn since the weeds are growing like crazy.
All's well that ends well, I guess. I was worried for nothing, but I just couldn't let it go. Now there's someone else there and the guys are actually working and putting things in boxes!
Busy morning in the neighborhood. There are now 5 houses for sale on our block. Both on the corner, one next to the corner that's been for sale for months and the two across the street from us. The one directly across from us has what appears to be the appraiser at work with 3 other cars parked on the street for the realtor and whoever else, there's the moving truck and two other trucks at the house next to that and then someone digging up the yard in the house next to that! I'm not sure I could get out of the driveway if I tried...
I didn't tell the kids any of this. I didn't want them with their noses against the window watching the police come, however it turned out. I'll probably tell Mikey about it later. Maybe. Ah, I can tie it to that commercial about teaching your kids not to talk to strangers, which is so silly when we talk to strangers all the time. It's not the stranger part that's the problem, it's what they do. If someone is doing something strange, don't ignore that feeling.
I keep watching, though, and the guys are behaving a little oddly for movers. They are going through the stuff--two are while one stands around--and picking out one or two little things and putting it in the truck. That is just weird. It's almost like they are picking through the stuff and finding one or two things to take. Actually, it looks EXACTLY like that and what good reason could there be for that? Well, maybe there is a good reason, but what if there isn't? Should I stand by and watch these guys take what they want?
I had my neighbor's cell phone number, so I called, but it went straight to voicemail. Well, now what? I don't even know if he's still using that phone, since it's a local number and he's moving far far away. After watching more, I decided to call the police. If it's okay, then I'll feel a little silly, but it just looks off and I'd feel horrible if I were wrong.
I call 911 and one of the questions the dispatcher asks is "do you want the officer to let you know what happens"? NOOO, don't come walking over and let them know it was me!! Either way it turns out, don't say it was me.
Two cars come and talk to the guys, make a couple phone calls and eventually drive away. Oh well, I guess it was okay.
Finally, my neighbor calls back. They had given a friend power of attorney to have some of their stuff put into storage. He's amused that the friend had to answer to the police, lol. I explained what had looked so strange and he said, yeh, that's weird and we're very glad you're looking out for us, etc. And I offered to have the garderners take care of his lawn since the weeds are growing like crazy.
All's well that ends well, I guess. I was worried for nothing, but I just couldn't let it go. Now there's someone else there and the guys are actually working and putting things in boxes!
Busy morning in the neighborhood. There are now 5 houses for sale on our block. Both on the corner, one next to the corner that's been for sale for months and the two across the street from us. The one directly across from us has what appears to be the appraiser at work with 3 other cars parked on the street for the realtor and whoever else, there's the moving truck and two other trucks at the house next to that and then someone digging up the yard in the house next to that! I'm not sure I could get out of the driveway if I tried...
I didn't tell the kids any of this. I didn't want them with their noses against the window watching the police come, however it turned out. I'll probably tell Mikey about it later. Maybe. Ah, I can tie it to that commercial about teaching your kids not to talk to strangers, which is so silly when we talk to strangers all the time. It's not the stranger part that's the problem, it's what they do. If someone is doing something strange, don't ignore that feeling.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Beef Olives
A big - really big - part of my job deals with communication. What I am talking about now is not in the technical side of computers and telephones and the like, but making sure everyone understands what everyone else is saying. This can be difficult even when everyone speaks English, but is even harder when the people I deal with have trouble understanding English. Here is one example.
This morning I had a problem with our generators. We have two big generators and a smaller one. The smaller one can provide enough power for all the buildings in our complex during the winter months when the load on the system is not as high as in the summer. Today the engineers from one of our contractors needed to take both of the big generators offline for maintenance. This left us only the smaller generator, which can not handle the total load we get in the summer. So, the engineers asked if they could turn off the power in two buildings to lighten the load while the big generators were getting fixed. I said they could this time, but tried to explain to them the importance of keeping the power running all the time. I gave them two examples. First, we hold classes in one of the buildings, and we would have to cancel those classes with no power for air conditioning or lights or computers. Since our job here is to train the Iraqis that has a direct, negative impact on our mission. Second, we have a laundry in the other building. With no power the laundry could not work and people would have to wait longer for their clothes and linens to be cleaned.
I thought this was a clear and simple explanation. Perhaps something got lost in the translation. Later the boss of the company that provides the laundry service was wondering why I was mad at him. He had heard I was upset because the laundry was not working!
I was shaking my head about this while eating lunch, then I had another such experience. During lunch I ate something which I thought was rice pudding (if it was, and I think it was, it was great although very different than any rice pudding I have ever had. Yesterday's bread pudding was absolutely awesome!) Before I left I took a look at the lunch menu to see what it was. I saw no mention of what the desserts were. Then I looked at the menu for tonight's dinner. One item listed was "Beef Olive." I am not sure what a "Beef Olive" is, but I guess I will find out tonight!
This morning I had a problem with our generators. We have two big generators and a smaller one. The smaller one can provide enough power for all the buildings in our complex during the winter months when the load on the system is not as high as in the summer. Today the engineers from one of our contractors needed to take both of the big generators offline for maintenance. This left us only the smaller generator, which can not handle the total load we get in the summer. So, the engineers asked if they could turn off the power in two buildings to lighten the load while the big generators were getting fixed. I said they could this time, but tried to explain to them the importance of keeping the power running all the time. I gave them two examples. First, we hold classes in one of the buildings, and we would have to cancel those classes with no power for air conditioning or lights or computers. Since our job here is to train the Iraqis that has a direct, negative impact on our mission. Second, we have a laundry in the other building. With no power the laundry could not work and people would have to wait longer for their clothes and linens to be cleaned.
I thought this was a clear and simple explanation. Perhaps something got lost in the translation. Later the boss of the company that provides the laundry service was wondering why I was mad at him. He had heard I was upset because the laundry was not working!
I was shaking my head about this while eating lunch, then I had another such experience. During lunch I ate something which I thought was rice pudding (if it was, and I think it was, it was great although very different than any rice pudding I have ever had. Yesterday's bread pudding was absolutely awesome!) Before I left I took a look at the lunch menu to see what it was. I saw no mention of what the desserts were. Then I looked at the menu for tonight's dinner. One item listed was "Beef Olive." I am not sure what a "Beef Olive" is, but I guess I will find out tonight!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
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