January 24, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

Shame on me, a whole week without a posting.

It was a fantastic weekend at home last weekend. With the MLK holiday on Monday I was able to spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at home. Need more three day weekends …

It was a weekend of watching numbers though. Starting with the drive home where I was able to listen to some new CDs I burned at the cottage. I could not find any blank CDs around the office so I had to buy a pack of 10 from the bookstore on the 4th floor my building. It’s where I got the sweatshirts for the boys for the holiday.

I sort of reorganized and added to the standard CD I usually listed to on the road, full of ambient beats from Underworld, Leftism, Shantel and others, but added a few new ones from Plaid, The Pinker Tones, Mocean Worker, Ryukyu Underground and others. I also burned a CD of nothing but Ocean Blue tunes. I think I included every song of theirs I own. The ambient mix had more than seven and a half hours on it though, so I did not even get to listen to the Ocean Blue CD on the way home.

The smooth tunes flowing from the stereo and soft glow of the GPS counting down the miles was the intro to the weekend. The rest of the counting was watching Windows XP reinstall on Max’s old computer. His system was being really flaky and I decided it was time to burn it down and start from scratch. Connor will be getting it as soon as I get home again and get a chance to set up the new Dell I bought for Max. I found a system with 2GB RAM, an AMD 5000+ processor, 128MB video card, 250GB HD and regular CD/RW-DVD drive. Clocked in, refurbished, at $339 plus shipping and tax. So not bad. He’ll be running almost as fast as me. But Windows takes forever to install with the updates and the numbers counted down more slowly than the miles on the drive home.

It only figures that the system was delivered Monday (the holiday) probably only an hour after I left. I would have stuck around a bit more to set it up had I known. I have been leaving at or before noon for the drive back to the cottage, which gets me here at about 7 or just after. I stopped for gas and to pick a few things up at the Newburgh Wal-Mart which got me in a bit later.

I bought lots of groceries at the Giant Eagle at The Waterfront before leaving as the prices here are much higher for staples than in Pittsburgh. Yogurt for some reason costs nearly double. I am only basing this on one store I was in but typically things run about 25% higher I would guess. Target seems to be at the same price for things as does Wal-Mart, but food it the exception at both and all supermarkets so far.

There are some notes for entries I want to make from this week that I will hopefully get to tomorrow or over the weekend. The plan is to stay at the cottage for the first weekend since coming up January 4. I am not sure about it though so I’ll have to let you know if I make it home or not. Stay tuned …

What have I learned this week … Given my druthers I prefer to shop anywhere but Big Lots in Newburgh, NY. Yes, that includes the Save-A-Lot in Duquesne. More on that later.

January 17, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

January 17, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

It has been a rather boring week at this end. The days are dragging a bit as I realize I am going to be heading home tomorrow.

Nothing earth shattering happening at the office or at home, so I’ll share some of the boring details.

The Academy has things pretty under control with the Blackboard server, which makes my job pretty easy, but boring. There are occasional problems but nothing too difficult. I should know better than to complain that things are too easy or too boring, I am just asking for trouble.

But I was able to finally meet Rajesh in the SEB section. Jeff had tried to get me over to meet him while I was here in December but it just never happened. He is a little older than I expected and a real nice guy. He made a comment at one point about the size of my head I think, but I could not be sure what he meant by it.

I have been sort of feeling my way around about purchases and am beginning to think Dr. Evans is about as tight as Ruth with money. Not that he has flat out denied anything I have asked for, but he seems to want to be convinced something it actually necessary. He referred me to the Library when I asked about possible subscribing to Lynda.com for a couple of their titles, and when I asked for the upgrade to Camtasia 5, a $90 purchase plus $45 annual maintenance, he said we could likely get it if I thought we really needed it. Wow, how about that. A whopping $135 might just break the Army’s educational technology budget.

Having never had to be directly responsible for a budget, though, I can only guess he is under pressure to keep things as tight as possible. I will probably not need anything else in the short term so I will push for the upgrade and see how it goes.

I was at a Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon with him and we had a great talk. He asked about how the family and I were coping with the separation. He was genuinely concerned and I appreciated his interest. He and Kim are great to work for so far.

Before I forget, because I meant to mention this a few days ago, there is not a lot of airline traffic up this way. But I have on two occasions now seen large Xs in the sky, the result of two vapor trails crossing. I remember over the holidays Connor saw a couple of jets leaving vapor trails and about a small X two of them had made. He would have really liked these displays. Now every time I see vapor trails, shaped as Xs or not, I will think of him marveling over them.

Another way of dealing with the loneliness and isolation so far has been to try and keep in touch with people back home. I called Jeff Schwartz the other day to ask him a question about Blackboard logs and really just wanted to BS to him. Jeff’s a good guy but I fear he has gone over to the dark side as Joe mentioned. He sent me a note the day after I chatted with Jeff complaining I had not called him. I tried to call him today, only to get his voice mail. He never called back. Now I can whine to him.

After heading a few nights back to shop, I was excited to find a replacement double burner griddle for Lisa at the K-Mart in Vails Gate. I was looking for storage containers for taking lunches to work and luckily went through the kitchen section. There is was, a Kenmore model with decent handles and really sturdy. I thought it was only about $20, but when I checked out I realized it was almost $40. I looked it up on their website and they had it listed for the same $37.99 I paid. It must have been hanging on the wrong hook when I read the price.

I stopped by the Price Shopper (Chopper) or Shop Rite (can’t remember, but it was not the Hannafords) and could not believe how much they wanted for apples ($2.29 a pound for Galas) and yogurt (99 cents each for the Yoplait Light). Buying my food in Pittsburgh for sure and hauling it here. Fella could go broke at these prices, even living the modest life of a bachelor in the woods …

Finally, the other night I was poking around my hard drive out of boredom, and came across a folder of files I have passed along from machine to machine, hard drive to hard drive, and originated on a 5.25 inch floppy about 20 years ago. They were the articles, letters and journal entries I made using WordStar on a dual floppy Zenith computer in Okinawa.

I was able to get Word 2007 to open them in a readable format after figuring out ASCII was the best option for this. I read letters I wrote to Marcinko (probably while he was hitting on Lisa), articles I wrote for the Windjammer, journal entries I made on Okinawa and transcribed from handwritten notes I wrote in boot camp, and letters I wrote to Bryan Luptak.

Without having his letters to put things into context, I was able to figure out that he was one of the few people who wrote (or wrote back) to me while I was in Okinawa. He was a really good friend and we had a lot in common – photography, the music we liked, the women we liked (he made a move on Lisa once – never let her forget it but never held it against either of them).

And I started thinking about the last time I saw Bryan. It was at his funeral. Bryan died March 6, 2003 at age 39. He committed suicide. We had lost touch so long ago despite one of my letters predicting we would be friends throughout our lives. I know he had problems with the women in his life, but never really was able to find out from anyone who knew exactly what was the final straw.

When I think of him, I remember the good times. The days and nights we spent together in the produce room at Shop ‘N Save, tormenting George Spong, getting wasted at parties, in the parking lot during breaks, talking about the newest cameras coming out, etc. Everyone at the funeral (Rege and Pam, Barb and Bob, Kevin and Caroline) could not believe it. I could. He was creative and had sensitive and I could see where this would leave him vulnerable. And his taste in women, as I remember it after we only saw each other at ‘reunions” at Flaherty’s house, somehow took a strange twist. He was always dating women much older than him, mostly already with kids. It was sort of a running joke at one point.

I guess this is one of the reasons I am compelled to keep writing this journal, no matter how mundane it might be some days. It is a snapshot in time for me, to look back on 20 years from now and reflect on how the decisions in my life nudged me one way or another, and the relationships in my life. If I had kept in touch with Bryan, would it have changed anything? How much did our friendship mean to him and did leaving the area for the Navy set in motion anything that could have change the paths of our lives forever?

So, what have I learned this week … that it is important to never forget your past, and the best way to do that is to find a way to document it. Through a blog, a journal, photos, videos, whatever. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Someone someday will find what you have to say or show fascinating, even if it is you 20 years from now, sitting in a cottage in the middle of the woods somewhere.

January 14, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

I was able to get home this weekend and see everyone. Zach was finally able to come over and he and I had some time together Saturday as Max had Zach Bisch and Anthony over for Yu-Gi-Oh battles. Zach is talking about cyberschool so we’ll have to see how that might play out. Alyssa went through it and seems to have done well, although she does at times seem to lack social skills.

The drive to Pittsburgh Friday was not bad and I found a new route to take which will likely become my default route. It takes me north a bit to I-84 to Scranton, Pa., then south on I-81 to Harrisburg/Carlisle and onto the PA turnpike and over to Pittsburgh. It still is a $10 charge for the turnpike, and I do cross over I-80, which I could jump onto and catch I-79 south to Pittsburgh to avoid the toll, but it would add some time and mileage. Might take it once just to clock it.

Friday at the office, Dr. Evans let me know they were closing down the CTE at about 3 p.m. and if I was all caught up then to take off as well. Very cool of him. I had packed the night before and was ready to head out as soon as I got off. At about 3:10 I started getting changed and in my haste I locked myself out of the office when going for a bathroom break. I could not believe it. My laptop(s) and other necessary items were locked away. I panicked a bit. I wondered the first floor of Thayer Hall looking for an open door and asked a faculty member if he knew who to contact. No luck.

Fortunately, down the hall is the office of MAJ Chike Williams. He was a CAPT when I met him in December and must have just been promoted. He was on the phone when I gingerly knocked on his door. He made several calls and walked down to the ATCL (the outer room for my office) and made sure he got a hold of who he needed to in order to get the room opened.

Mr. Scott showed up several minutes later, and at about 3:45 I was on the road. Got home at about 10:30.

I was starving and Lisa made me a hoagie while I enjoyed my first glass of wine in over a week. Connor was the first to grab me and I was playing Madden 06 with him within a half an hour of hitting the door. It was so good to see and be able to hug Lisa and Max. Zach looks good and it was especially great to see him after so long. I am glad he came over this weekend and hope he gets back into the visiting groove.

Saturday was a day just to kick back and relax. I called Mom and talked to her a bit. Generally it was a chance to unwind and veg a little in front of the TV.

Sunday I took Max down to the Waterfront for a Starbucks and some shopping. I bought him his own copy of “Snatch” since I brought mine with me. I know he misses the “dad” time like that and hope he adjusts OK to everything. I will need to make sure everyone gets their own time alone with me while I am there.

After getting back home from the Waterfront, Lisa said there was no reason to wait until later in the day to head out. She was right. I hit the road at about 1 p.m. and took the same route back here. Almost the same time in getting back. Traffic was light but the trip from I-84 back to Cornwall On Hudson goes through Newburgh, and I really do not like that town. Depressing and dark.

Lisa had mentioned snow we were supposed to get here. I looked at the weather.com site and they were calling for lots of snow. When I woke up, I was greeted with about 8 inches of the fluffy white stuff covering the car, driveway and everything else. It was actually very beautiful. You can see some photos of it by clicking here.

There was a Code Red on post due to the weather, and civilians were excused from work until 10 a.m. I called Lisa to tell her and logged on to work. I was really thinking about staying here at the cottage for the day, but after things warmed up and I could see the roads were plowed, I felt a little guilty and cleaned off the car and drove to post. It was about 11:30 or so when I finally got to the office. I think it would have been OK to work from here, but I think it was better to show I am responsible and can handle a little adverse weather. Also, I was afraid that if I stayed here, I would start getting into a habit of missing or opting to work remote more than I think Dr. Evans might be comfortable with.

When I got back to the cottage, the deer were rummaging for food. I tossed out a loaf of bread and some old hot dog buns. There were only about 5 as the photos above showed, but the nearly charged the cottage trying to get to the stale bread. I’ll be able to pet one soon, I’m sure.

What did I learn the last couple of days … that the nearly 7 hour drive, each way, even it means only a little more than a day and a half of actual visitation time, is worth every minute and mile to be with my family.

January 10, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

Work is still busy and I am getting a good feel for the needs of the faculty here. They are very polite and patient, which I could say for most of the faculty at DU as well. Dr. Evans has been busy since the beginning of the week and I have been working more with Dr. Bonura for the past couple of days on anything outside of Blackboard.

I have been wearing a pedometer that came with the Brita water pitcher I bought the other day. It was working fine the first couple of days as I racked up close to 6,000 steps each day thanks to walks at lunch and parking a little further away from my building than most people would I think. But the pedometer kept falling off and I think at some point broke. It only recorded about 2,500 steps yesterday and I know that was wrong. When I got home yesterday I dug out Connor’s jeweler’s screwdriver set he got me at the Santa’s Workshop sale at school. I brought them along on the outside chance I would need them and within a week I was glad I did.

I took apart the pedometer and fiddled around with a wire that holds the magnet or weight that records the steps. I think I was able to fix it because I was back up over 6,000 steps today. Eating healthier too, so hopefully I will shed a few pounds while I am here. Will check the scale when I get home tomorrow …

After leaving work yesterday I got a little brave and figured I’d try a new route home. I found my way to “Washington Gate” I think they call it and jumped onto Route 218. I have heard a lot about this road. I basically hangs off of Storm King Mountain (I think, there are a lot of mountains here), and is very windy and narrow. It has some spectacular outcroppings along the way, which is why they close it quite often when the weather gets bad. It has a history of rock slides. It also has a great view of the Hudson River Valley. There are a couple of places to stop along the way so I hope to get some photos soon and add them to the collection online for people to see.

Connor’s screwdrivers were the second time yesterday I was connected to him via Santa’s Workshop. My predecessor left a kayaking calendar in the office. It had expired in December and I really am not into kayaking. Connor had bought me a “Scenic America” calendar and I replaced Jeff’s old calendar with Connors. I still need to hang Zachary’s at the cottage. Need to get some of those cool non destructive hangers as the walls here are brand new and I don’t want to leave any of the security deposit behind.

I had to call Fred (company president) yesterday morning too. He had e-mailed me the night before asking me to call. I hoped it was for an online meeting I was to attend yesterday but it sounded a little more important. I was hoping I had not angered a Lt. Col. or anything.

Fred started the conversation with something like, “We got a court order …” and I was expecting some bizarre incident from my past to jump up and bite me in the ass. Well, it was a past incident, but nothing unexpected. “An order to withhold child support.”

“Oh yeah,” I explained. “I let them know about the new position and they take the necessary action in contacting you.”

“That’s fine, we’ll arrange the withholding, just wanted to make sure you knew, when the next payday rolls around,” he said.

“Thanks for the heads up. I knew they would be contacting you.” I debated on letting the company know, but did not have an HR contact to call. Did not sound like it was a big deal, so no problem there.

Spent most of the day thinking about going home tomorrow. Stopped for gas on the way back from work, gathered laundry, figuring out a route home without going through friggin New Jersey …

What have I learned the last couple of days … work is a great distraction, Skype stinks as a video tool and AT&T’s coverage in Cornwall On Hudson really blows. May have to look into Verizon as a new cell provider.

January 9, 2008, Cornwall On Hudson, New York

Yesterday was pretty busy at work and busy afterwards as well. I am taking a lot of calls to get faculty set up in their courses for the spring term (2008-2 as they call it), most are easy. Tomorrow will be a little more difficult I think as problems are now arising and faculty are returning to post.

When I got home yesterday though, the deer were right outside my window. I changed and decided to see how friendly there were. I opened the bag of baby carrots I bought and gently tossed one to a yearling. It was not too interested or was too hesitant. I threw one to an older female, about 8 feet from the deck, and she nervously bent down to eat it. It was so cool to hear her crunching it. I tried to convince her to come closer and take another from my hand, but she was not going for it. I bet I can make that happen within a week or two though. I tossed it to her and she quickly gobbled it down.

I decided I would run out to shop although the light fades here quickly after 4 p.m. I ran over to Vail’s Gate and found the K-Mart there. I wanted a mesh laundry bag for trips home (or to the Laundromats here) and finally found them. The store was a mess as they were doing inventory.

Right next to the K-Mart is a ShopRite. I would equate it to Shop-N-Save or Foodland. I was eager to check out the other big name in supermarkets here though. There is a Hannaford’s in Vail’s Gate too. I stopped there and found the store to be big, clean and have a good produce section. I picked up a few things and went to check out. There was a young tattooed couple in front of me. Reminded me a little bit of the Hardesty’s. They had a loaf of bread, a jar of sauce, a pound of ground meat, some pasta and a few other things. Dinner was on the conveyer belt. They seemed high, happy and in love. To be young again …

When I got back, Mr. Fusillo called. He had the smoke detector and wanted to give me the keys and deal with the lease. I had a Subway (I think, I might have had that the night before – they have a “Black Forest Ham” trial going on and they are pretty good) and walked over to the house, checkbook in hand.

When I closed the deal with the real estate agent (Kathy from Smitchger Realty in Corwall), she said I owed her a broker fee of $800 (one month’s rent), the first month for Joe, a security deposit (one month), AND the last month’s rent. It was going to cost me $3,200 just to get into the cottage. I sent her $800 and another $1,600 for Joe and would pay him the other $800 when I got keys. I only got $3,000 for moving expenses, so that wiped that out. And it turns out the moving expenses were less taxes, so I only really got about $2,400. Oh well …

Joe and Magda were happy to see me and I sat at their kitchen table to chat and deal with the paperwork. Joe insisted I have a coffee. He has an cappuccino machine and loves using it. I insisted it be decaf. I sipped away as we chatted and Magda made sure I had a big plate of cookies. One of the three varieties on the plate had lots of chocolate and some raspberry preserves. Yummo.

Magda and I chatted about shopping, Pittsburgh, directions to different places around town, and Joe fussed with a set of attachments for his compressor. They are really nice people. He said I could pay the last month’s rent over a couple of months so he did not need anything from me that night. I appreciated that. It will be easier to spread it out.

When I mentioned I had fed the deer some carrots, they made sure to send me home with two full bags of bread for them. It was like visiting my parents. Eat, drink and take some food home with you.

I did not like driving home in the dark though. Traffic in this area gets busy after 5 p.m. and the roads leading to the cottage are not very well lit. Will make whatever trips I need directly from work from here on in.

What did I learn yesterday … always accept an invitation to your landlord’s house, especially if he has a cappuccino machine and his wife always keeps exotic cookies on hand.