Finding Pillars In Your Life

Last week, I learned that my college choral conductor, Dr. Vernon Opheim passed at the age of 79.  It the big picture of things, I was only with Doc for a few years in college and saw him a few times after college; the most recent being in May 2010 at his home in Tucson, AZ.  Still, I think to how much I learned from Doc about music, about myself and saw how I wanted to live as a man.  Doc was a pillar in my life.  It breaks my heart to know I will never get to see and chat with him again. 

I also look at the time I spent at Hilton Head Health.  So many people there are top notch, loving caring people.  The entire crew there represents a pillar in my life but especially Jeff.  We connected and we celebrated making the change in my life together.  Jeff is a pillar in my life.  I continually look forward to the next race we might be a part of together or the next visit I make to H3. 

My parents are also pillars in my life.  I look at how they started their family at 16 and managed to build an awesome life for us through nothing but hard work and dedication to their work.  There is so much I take from that kind of mentality every day. 

My very own family represents a pillar for me.  Jess for how hard she works and manages things while I am on the road.  Ashlie for her talents and having the best parts of me in her character.  Jake for being the guy that keeps us honest...always being real and honest about everything he says and does. 

Obviously, we have these people in our lives that have touched us.  Some by a lifetime of knowing them and some for brief periods of time recent or not.  These pillars need to be our foundation of strength when times are tough.  As I continue down my weightloss and wellness journey, I find myself looking inward and continually find these pillars holding me up...keeping me strong.  I am doing this for me but I also do it for them. 

Don't let these pillars collect dust in your memory.  Keep them to the front of your mind whenever you find challenges or rough spots.  Keep them to the front when you are succeeding too!  Use them and the values they have brought to you personally to keep you strong. 

The Waffle House

As most of you know, I am anti (cr)apple. Therefore, no iPhone. On the same lineage, I was feeling the same towards the whole smart phone revolution. I admired my co-workers HTCs and Driods. I listen to Howard Stern talk about his change recently and loving it.

I just do not see the value of paying $30 a month to have internet between the places that you have internet. Same goes with texting. It is becoming the blight of our country first with kids/teens and now with the parents too. If Darwin has it right with the evolution bit, we'll be a species that cannot talk within 20 years.

What's with the title you say....

Well, Jessica's phone really was a piece of crap. She'd get an alert to voicemail and they would be over a week old. Some calls would not even ring through to her. Basically, it was time to replace the phone.

Into the T-Mobile store I go. I ask for the phones that do not require data plans. My salesperson, Leah, points me to all 6 crusty old phones in the corner. The conversation goes through the paces where I explain how we really do not need touch screens or data plans but I humor her and tell her to sell it to me.

Inside of 15 minutes, she has me ready to come in this weekend for the big 'free phone 4G event'. All phones (with contract extension) are free - even the HTC MyTouch 4G. But I was still waivering on assuming an additional $30 or worse yet $60 a month for data plans if I included Ashlie. She checks my account, nearly falls over having not seen anyone that had been a customer of T-Mobile as long as I (count time with Arial Communications and Voicestream).

She explains that with the texting I have on Ashlie's phone plus the amount I am paying for Jessica's ad-hoc texts, if I would change to their new promo-plan with the same minutes and cost as the plan I am on, the data plan drops to $20 per line and ends up being a net increase of about $20 a month. Now who cannot afford that? Add in the benefits of GPS to two women in my family that have challenges getting from Hudson to New Richmond. Add in the fun things like the bar-code scanners, video, good pics, etc. SOLD!

I brought Jess and Ashlie by last night to pick their phones. Thinking it might be pretty busy tonight, I stopped this AM and waited amost an hour to get 2 new smart phones (that I would NEVER own, right?).

The story is cute that I waffled....sure. I think what made me the most happy was to see a line for phones that were not filled with iPeople looking for iPhones and that these phones are 4G and (cr)apple is just 3G and we have flash support and so on and so on.

The biggest question is: Should I have bought one for The Orracle too?

A Family Connected By A Place to Meet

Tonight, with my checking account running a bit lower than I wanted, I was hopeful that a flex medical reimbursement check would arrive. We had left work earlier than normal because Ashlie was not feeling well and we wanted to take her into the Doc if possible. We called home and Ashlie confirmed the arrival of the fat flex check. Given the traffic situation, I quickly realized that I would not make it to New Richmond and back to Stillwater before the 6 PM ATM cutoff.





Jess had a brilliant idea. ASHLIE CAN DRIVE! She can meet us there. Knowing that she'd be driving my F150 SuperCrew and her general uneasiness of driving that beast as a new driver, I figured navigating downtown Stillwater was a gamble. We needed a meeting place. What is on the WI side of the river yet near the lift bridge?





THE CAJUN CLUB!

The pic is the best I can find fast on the web. Yes, the Cajun Club is a strip joint. She called as she pulled in saying she wanted us to get there quick....this was not the best place to sit (16 and 12 year olds in truck). I had to laugh. I pulled in and she was literally parked right in the slot (no pun intended) where that car is sitting! CLASSIC!

She said she had to explain to Jake what went on in this place. He was apalled. Apparently the apple fell a little farther from the tree than normal. Then again, if not for Al, I would have never have experienced a place like that before either.

Yes, families with traditions....we have our new tradition. Anyone want to meet us in Stillwater?

iCannot Stand the iPenetration into the iMarketplace

Ashlie wanted a new mp3 player. First stop, Best Buy. They carry Sansa and crapple. No Creative Zen. Sansas are not too bad but I see them on woot about 2x a week selling refurbs so I assume they have a high rate of defective units. Best Buy has a deal with Sansa and their eMusic site hence the reason they carry them.

We wanted a Creative because we have had several previous Creative models and have liked them alot! Plus, the Zen has an SD slot to expand the size of the storage. This way - we can buy a 4 GB and add an 8 GB SD card for $20 more. She can use that for the thousands of pictures she wants to put on her mp3 player without eating up all of the music space.

Our second stop was Ultimate Electronics. For those of you that are familiar with the Twin Cities, Ultimate Electronics is the new name (for the last 3-4 years) of the old local Audio King stores. They changed the name so people would assume they did not carry just audio products. UE is a nice store - and carries both low and high end. Their high end is better priced and better displayed than Best Buys Magnolia store within the Best Buy stores. All they carry is crapple!! I could not believe it!

This shopping happened on 12/22. Best Buy had an overflowing parking lot. UE had 5 cars. When the salesgeek said they only had crapple, I asked if he was aware that there is a large contingent of people out there that hate crapple. He said yes but they still decided to go with the single brand. Unable to hold back, I said, "And clearly the store is thriving!". His answer was that they had $40K in sales that day. OK....40K a few days before x-mas....in electronics? Best Buy did 40K in the Oakdale store between 5 PM and 7 PM and it was probably the 4th 40K of the day.

As we walked out, Jess reprimanded me for being an asshole to the salesgeek. "Why do you have to do that?"

The answer is....I don't know. I love to harasss salesgeeks. In Best Buy, I purposely go over to the cables area to listen to their pitches on why you need an $80, 6 foot HDMI cable and then tell their customers that the same cable is available online for $10. I get such personal enjoyment from this side of myself....but it is bad, I know. I have always been this way. In college, I'd go to Sam Goody just to ask why their CD prices were $4-6 higher.

In the end, we found the Creative 4 GB unit at Target. We bought two....one for Ashlie and I went back to get one for Jessa. They earned my business by carrying more than just crapple.

In Sickness and in Health

No, this is not the announcement that I will be traveling to Saskatoon to see Al venture into marriage again. Sorry.

This is about my sickness and my daughter's health.

WORST FIRST!

I have always had bad ears. As a youngster, they were bad. Tubes helped until I had a SCUBA accident and had to come to the surface without breathing. In 2002, I was diagnosed with a Cholesteatoma. Initially I assumed that meant I had 6 months to live. Technically - it should have had surgery but I was not into the idea. Furthermore, I was told that avoiding infections would prolong the growth of the cystic area. Good enough for me.

Well, I have had a couple of small infections but nothing noteworthy. Until now....it started late August and into my Disney vacation. I came back and noticed some blood in my ear canal every AM. No pain and none of the tell-tale signs of an infection. Logically, I ignored it. I flew to Indy this week and then I felt it coming. By the time I descended into MSP on Wednesday, it was full blown. Thursday AM left me with the most blood coming from my ear that I can ever remember. Doc on Thursday to get my regular regiment of meds including drops, antibiotic and a steriod dosepack to reduce inflamation in the ear canal which is now swelled shut.

It is now 2 days into the meds and draining is high but I am not confident we are nailing the thing. Kind of scary....

ON TO BETTER THINGS!

New Richmond has a rich history of marching bands. Currently, the middle school is perceived as better than the high school for a variety of reasons. The MS director is the former director of the HS bands that won national awards.

Ashlie has a dream of pursuing music. Her piano and guitar abilities are great. Her sax is second nature. She felt she needed something to boost her resume and when they announced tryouts for the future Major/Majorette, she wanted it. As a ninth grader, this was a lofty goal. This would mean she would begin learning it yet this year as the current Major is a Sr. She as been in this band just since June.

Of course, the reason for the post is that Ashlie was selected Majorette of the NR Tigers Marching Band beginning her learning from Andy this year and taking over next summer. This is huge and he competition was tough. She will have 3 years to help refine this band to the quality it once was. I could not be more proud of her. This is a great achievement.

CONGRATS ASHLIE!

This one time, at band camp....

Well, we are back from our week at band camp. Technically, not band camp but close enough. Jess, Jake and I played chapparone to the 103 middle schoolers of the New Richmond Middle School Marching Tigers on the 9 day journey. The itinerary looked like this:

Day 1: Depart NR, drive all night to Cleveland.
Day 2: Perform field show and march in 3 mile parade. Visit Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Drive all night to Jacksonville, FL.
Day 3: Perform for Mandarin Middle School (1568 students) in Jacksonville, FL. Bring kids to Blizzard Beach where I am certain we left an oil slick. We all were starting to stink!
Day 4: Drive to St. Petersburg. Do a field show and perform again on the field for the Tampa Bay Rays. Awesome! Head back to Orlando to get to the Magic Kingdom. March in Spectromagic Parade for 55,000.
Day 5: Magic Kingdom all day with another parade, the daytime Share a Dream Come True with roughly 38,000 onlookers.
Day 6: Drive East to Kennedy Space Center. Perform field show and tour center. Go to Cocoa Beach for fun, sun and a BBQ.
Day 7: Load busses at 6:30 AM. Character breakfast at Animal Kingdom. Leave AK for EPCOT at noon. Stay remainder of day at EPCOT with the 1 mile+ parade around Showcase Lagoon. Approximate viewers was 45,000. Load busses at 11 and leave for Memphis.
Day 8: Memphis - with performance for Elvis and tour of Graceland. See Mud Island in the Mississippi River. Head to Interstate BBQ (Best in Memphis and has been on every food TV show) for BBQ and peach cobbler. YUM! Drive all night to Madison.
Day 9: Perform at Wisconny State Capitol in Madison and tour. Head for New Richmond

I have to say, despite the smelly people, 4 nights on busses and very little sleep, it was a fantastic trip. Here are 2 of my favorite photos. The first is a lucky chance that I saw Ashlie on the big screen at Tropicana Field as the jumbo screen was behind us. The other is the band at Kennedy Space Center. This was a once in a lifetime trip for many of the kids. It showed on their faces and I am so proud to have been a part of it. GREAT JOB New Richmond Tigers!!

Juno

We finally made it to the theater to see Juno.

l l l l

Four Stars!

l l l l

I think this is a great movie (obviously)! I think the writing was fantastic but the real star is Ellen Page. This girl played the part perfectly. Cindy (sister) said, "It is Ashlie". Others have said that it reminded them of Ashlie. I have to agree. It is Ashlie (except for the preggers part). Even Ashlie said it reminded her of her!

This movie is very funny and entertaining all the way through. It hits home with a sad and scary thing that happens to teens all over. For all of my shenanigans at the resort, it could have been me although I am way cooler than Paulie in real life.

I do not think former co-worker of mine, Diablo Cody nee Brooke Busey will get the Oscar, although it would get my vote. I do think Page could be given the award for her role as actress. This is a great movie. I think it was done in a way that bringing a teenager to it might actually make them think twice about sex. Let's hope so!

Suite Dreams

Most everyone knows that I actually enjoy the travel time I get for work. Many also know that I have a certain affinity to Hilton hotels. This is primarily because of their Hilton Honors program. Points AND miles. Double Dip as they say. From my experience, it is the best program for hotels.

I think the best part of the Hilton stay is the bed. Many hotels have "a bed" to advertise now. Radisson has the sleep number beds (I own one and it is good, but nothing compared to Hilton). Marriott has "The Marriott Bed" and Hilton has the "Suite Dreams". It really is Suite. Their Hampton Inn brand has "The Cloud 9 Bed", and it is awesome but not as good as the Hilton Bed.

My first experience was at the new Omaha Hilton a few years back. The only way I could explain the bed was that I wanted to turn the heat down, strip completely naked and roll around amid the down comforters and pillows.

After very limited research, I have found the Hilton site where you can buy these items. WOW! How soon can I get it is the question. Oh wait, like my daughter, I need a loan. If anyone out there has some spare cash, please send it my way. The total amount needed is listed below.

Imagine how good you will sleep, knowing you have helped me with my Suite dreams.


Mattress - $1,450.00
Mattress Topper - $90.00
Feather Bed - $235.00
Pillows - $75.00 each (2 for starters) $150.00
Duvet Cover - $215.00 (covers the down comforter)
Down Comforter - $230.00
Sheet/Pillowcase Set - $165.00
TOTAL: $2,535.00

Face towels (8) - $8.00 each - $64.00
Hand Towels (6) - $22.00 each - $132.00
Bath Towels (12) - $40.00 each - $480.00
BATH TOTAL: $676.00

GRAND TOTAL: $3,211.00

I've Been Outdone

Hey everyone~

I asked Ashlie if she had read my blog at all. Mainly I wanted her to see the happy birthday to her on there but it never hurts to go and promote for new readers...

She apparently liked the idea because she created one of her own. The title surprises me since she is more of an instrumentalist than a singer. What instruments you ask? Well, Alto Sax, Soprano Sax, Piano very well. Newly added are Clarinet, Flute (no comments from the American Pie crowd, please) and guitar.

At any rate, take a look over to her blog and leave her a comment if you can. Her first post is great. I should just retire or have her write my posts I guess. On second thought, she gives me the credit in her header, so I'll stick around.

Introducing A Capella Ashlie

Over and out,
The Orracle.

Fresh Thoughts and Prognostication

Hey everyone!


2008 is underway and not a minute too soon. So much to do and look forward to this year. Bush will finally finish his term although concerns are abound with the "crop" of Prezzie wannabees we have right now. There is still time to get your "End of an Error" merchandise.


First things first....starting with tomorrow....Ashlie turns 14. What a great kid (except for that cell phone bill). I cannot believe she is 14.


Then continuing into the spring - yes, even though it is only January, winter is on a downward spiral from here on out. Sure, it will still be cold. Yeah, we'll still get snow. But the days are getting longer (or is the Earth spinning slower?? Thanks, Jake). We are in the middle of the beloved January thaw which is great except for the countless mounds of dog crap that have been exposed (more proof of 'global warming'...always cracks me up). 14 years ago, we took Ashlie home from the hosptial in -25 temps! Yes, nothing to look forward to except the end of winter.


Vacation planning. The urge has kicked in. Traveling alone to Texas did not cure me of the urge to travel. I know what the other one will say, "We have to pay for a band trip!" I know, but if you consider tax time, potential bonuses and a general lack of desire to save money, we could take a trip! NWA sent some great deals for Mexico and Jamaica. Hmmmm. Better lose some weight.

That brings me to the next topic for 2008. Weight loss. My success in 2005 doing Body for Life was good. The problem was the intensity and knowing it was done in 12 weeks. Once I hit 12 weeks, I wanted to take a break.....that is going on 3 years. Bad plan. I have a new plan now. No end date. Wish me luck.

SPORTS
What does 2008 hold for sports. Well, for starters, I'll say that the Vikings ended well. I still don't think Brad Childress is "The One" but they did finsh pretty good. The Timberwolves. Ouch. Can we fire McHale yet? Let's see....do we need Garnett? Season to date: The T-Wolves are 4-29 and The Celtics are 29-3. Naw....we don't need him. If I did not know any better, I'd think someone fired McHale and hired Jeff Diamond (architect of the infamous Herschel Walker trade for all of you except The Rube). The Twins are probably washed up too although they find a way to play and win under Gardenhire. I think their luck of playing a bunch of AAA players and getting into the playoffs (or even close) is about over.

On the bright side, our New Richmond Tiger Boys Basketball Team is ranked #5 in the state. Who needs the rotten t-wolves?

I leave you with the wishes for a great 2008. Don't take life to seriously. Have some fun. Spend some money. Take a trip. Be spontaneous. Bluff more than normal (for you Al).

To quote Billy Joel, "Don't take any shit from anyone!"

--The Orracle