Marky Marky And Corey Snowmobiles

Tail Dragging

The Continuing Adventurers of Helen and Dr. Bob

Day 7-

Doctor / Patient relations have become strained.....

so everyone took a much needed break...

and Doctor Bob did a little self-medicating......


And then they had a nice little nap together.....

Hanging with Helen and her Hospital Peeps

Olivia's mom and I decided to vacation in Newburyport, MA. We both checked into this quaint little New England B&B. I only had reservations for 1 day, just laid about the first day, and then went jogging the second. After running eleven and one-half minutes, the inn keeper thought it was good if I checked out. Helen decided to extend her stay and is still there. She is under Dr. Bob's care and he is taking good care of her.

A little Doctor / Patient Love.....

Helen is still bruised as you can see.


Dr. Bob checks for brain activity.....

Wir hatten eine große Zeit - Trip to Germany

Olivia and I took a little trip and went and stayed with a lovely German couple.

(Die Frau war wirklich heiß)

We spent a nice relaxing weekend with them and their 3 children in a chalet in a very remote area. Had wonderful traditional food cooked outdoors in the local style and just hung out for 3 days. It was a nice break and we sure enjoyed their hospitality.

We did watch their oldest child play in a tournament, not sure exactly what the game was but you could certainly see the communist influence was still there, (it was a very socialist affair with no score being kept and everyone being equal), but the cutest part was they had all the children wearing armbands. It was a sight to see all these little good Germans being lined up and handed armbands before marching around. The only part somewhat ominous was the fellow with the mustache who spoke at half time and tried to whip the crowd into a religious frenzy and asked them to commit to the cause. (we tried not to make eye contact and sat with our heads and hands lowered)

Arm-banded Star Player

The other fun thing we did was to watch them develop and fire off these un-maned rockets. They encourage the smallest of children to understand rocket flight, and from the test firing that we observed, the goal seems to be to get them to land on their neighbors. All in all it was a very exciting time and interesting to watch.

Young Rocket Scientist

We did take a side trip to look at one of their riverboats. Not sure how those crew members can take the cramped, smokey, noisy environment but they all seemed eager to join. It seems they only accept the most fit, talented, and beautiful people of the area to serve on the boats.

We also were surprised HOW many people over there smoke. Even the children seem to enjoy a puff in the morning....

Here are some pictures of the German family we stayed with... I just took a picture of the framed pictures they had in their house, as being so filled with nervous energy, it was had to get them to sit still for a photo. The grandfather looks really familiar...

The Nice Young Couple

The Youngest Version ( Who has a really nice salute)


Geholt dir durch die Internets, eine verbundene Reihe Schläuche

Sniff... home alone... didn't get invited on the neighbors trip.....

But here is a photo to cheer her.... Glad to hear your sister is recovering....

Sorry to hear about Janannes Sister, Nell

Rat Bite Fever

• Organism name, and synonyms: Streptobacillus moniliformis, a Gram-negative bacteria. Synonyms: Rat-bite fever, Haverhill fever.
  
• Reservoir: Rats. Commensal in the mouth and pharynx.
  
• Mode of Transmission: Animal bite, direct contact with secretions of the mouth, nose, eye of an infected animal.
  
• Incubation Period: 3-10 days.
  
• Clinical Disease: Initial bite wound usually heals. Sudden onset of fever, chills, vomiting, headache and joint pains, rash.
  
• Epidemiology: Uncommon in North America.
  
• Communicability: Not directly transmitted from person to person.

Interesting things we have heard.....

We really have appreciated all the fan mail... It has been heartwarming.
(and the common theme has been " we don't know what to say...", which is just fine, because we don't know what to say either.)

So much like the disease, where you can only prove what is not, I offer up these bits of tested phrases that may not be just the best thing to bring comfort and consolation.
==============================================================
" I am so sorry that you will have to suffer this horrible thing. So sorry you will have to go through that. It is a terrible way to die and I am so sorry for you"

OR

"Well, it's not the end of the world..."

OR

"We were so worried that Pauline would choke to death, and was so glad that didn't happen. I hope you don't die that way, I will pray that you die like she did"
=============================================================
and we would like to thank the academy for these comedic nominations, and please vote early and often...

always looking on the bright side of life,
ed & o

Well this just sucks....

While continuing to hate all things Yankees, Olivia and I spent the day interviewing and auditioning for a celebrity-sponsored club. It seems that Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and his wife helped set this facility up and the place is very nice. We went to the headquarters in Burlington, MA and met with the director. We talked about what the club has to offer and looked around the place. After a pretty rigorous screening process, it seems that there is a 90% chance that Olivia will be able to join.

The price of admission is very steep, so maybe we could just take a pass.

Here is a link talking about the clubhouse:
RED SOX Pitcher Curt Schilling

Thanks to all of you who spent time filling out and submitting out the virtual anti-membership recommendation forms......

NOT BIG FANS!

Don't like the Yankees....
Don't like any thing else associated with this guy...

First day of School !!

Our daughter is finally going off to school. She spent four years getting ready for this big day.
We have heard that some people go at 6 years old, (or even as young as 5), but anyway,
we are very proud of her and glad that she is going. We hope she likes the teacher and other kids
and think that Manchester is lucky to have her.

Here are the first day of school pictures..
.

Giving Back... Olivia & I join the Senator in on the Presidential Panel for Gamma Studies (PPGS)

Had a very busy day in Boston, MA on Monday. We met with Senator Meyers and attended a symposium on the dangerous health effects of Gamma radiation. As members of the presidential commission assigned to study this health hazard, we were allowed to observe as they tested several subjects,
(lab monkey, cleaning lady, and homeless man), with several doses of up to 300 Rads of gamma radiation.

Unfortunately, the subjects did not get the protective glasses and they wound up in pretty bad shape.

The panel found it conclusive that we need to warn people about the dangers of staring straight into the sun for long periods of time. The general public needs to be warned. We proposed a spending budget of 4.23M for advertising campaigns to get this important message out.

Here we are observing one blast.....


Although it was tragic when the (now) blind cleaning lady fell off the stage, it did make us all smile for a second....

Senator Meyers had a good time.

After the tests and grilling the subjects, we all went to the Capitol and had
a wonderful dinner....

Annoying Litter Left by "So-Called" Environmentalists

How annoying when all these "tree huggers" come over to your house and then leave litter all over the place. Olivia and I grabbed plastic bags and did our best to clean the area up. We quickly took care of the problem, plastic double-bagged the waste and added 6-pack rings, and threw the whole mess in the woods when it wouldn't harm anything. I took the following picture of Olivia with a large chunk of the hazardous waste.

Please everyone, do your part and help clean the environment up and get this trash back in the landfill.

Added new lights to the Hicendia

This weekend Olivia, Maximello, & I added new lights to the Family room. These are really neat Color Kinetics lights that are DMX addressable and each has the ability to produce 16.7 million colors. I had kept these fixtures off the job we designed and installed in London. They were extras that got ordered but were not needed.

(You can see job photos here.... http://www.colorkinetics.com/showcase/installs/londoneye )

I bought the controller wheel off from ebay. We wired this in, and the power supply sits in the basement, with the wire running through the house walls and along the beams. We are very happy with them and they make the room fun. Here are some not great photos (too lazy to set up the tripod) that I took late last night, but they give you an idea how the look of the room changes.

There is also the ability to have the lights transition over settable periods of time, (so the room gradually changes color), or run a chase where the colors pass from light to light and run around the room. There is a dim-able white setting, strobing, and a host of other features in these lights. Since each has it's own address, you can get a computer interface that allows you to tell each light what color to be and at what intensity.



This is the controller interface in the wall.....

We are using these lights more and more, as they are dependable and produce a wonderful effect. Check out what we did with the terminal at LAX and the new Wynn install in Vegas...

Ciao for now....

Hymn Sing at Verizon Arena (or so we thought)

We thought there was a Hymn -sing at the Verizon Arena, so Olivia and I went. Turns out it was the Trans Siberian Orchestra......
The guys rock and really put on a great stage show. Would HIGHLY recommend seeing them if you can. If not, buy the Lost Xmas album. Amazing lights, lasers and FIRE!

Welcome to a complete waste of time and keystrokes

Strongly Suggested That You Read Something Else.....

Many people are far better at these kind of things and are more than willing to open the trench-coat in front of others. Please go read their blogs at once. Nothing to see here people....