Gordon's coming home for Christmas - now!

For a few hours you can watch Gordon's plane as it cruises across the southwestern US. Watch it here.

High Tech tracking of Santa

You know "where's Geoff." Now know "where's Santa." At the bottom of the page you'll see a link to a post on the official Google blog called, "Tracking Santa Then and Now." The post describes how NORAD came to track Santa every Christmas Eve, and how you and your loved ones can check on Santa's progress on that new-fangled Google Earth. And if you haven't played with Google Earth, well, my friend, now is the time to start!

I highly recommend you check it out whether you have children under eight or over, well, fifty-something.

Just to make it easier here's the link to the article.

Lauren's piano recital

To the Moon, Alice! or, I wanna be an astronaut!

Well, today is your lucky day. NASA is taking applications for the astronaut class of 2009. If NASA stays its current course successful applicants could well walk on the moon. Details can be found here. Good luck, Ace.

Miss Teen USA 2007 South Carolina

Sorry, but sometimes you just can't turn your eyes away from the train wreck.

Where's Gordon?

A variant of Where's Waldo (remember him?), look for Gordon in the official College of Wooster Orientation 2007 pictures. If you have small children this should keep them busy for hours. Here's a hint, he's in three pictures. Here's another hint, he's really tiny, perspective-wise. More? He's in photos 1, 15 and 19. More hints tomorrow or in a day or two.

http://www.wooster.edu/photography/images/07-08/orientation/

The frantic pace seems to have slowed. Tomorrow, Sunday, is the first day Gordon has had to sleep in for over a week. Classes start this coming week.

Susan's adventure is complete...

Susan arrived back home Thursday night, about 9 PM.

LA Times: Lee? Your party is here

I couldn't resist posting this. I'm flashing on the Chinese family association banquets I used to attend as a kid, and meeting scads of people whom I couldn't understand and wouldn't recognize on the street minutes later? Wow. Now multiply by 20...

Hundreds from around the country who share the Chinese surname descend on L.A. to celebrate heritage, ponder future.
By David Pierson
August 20, 2007

They came from every corner of the United States to Los Angeles' Chinatown on Sunday to celebrate their kinship and their surname.

Hundreds of Lees from Boston, Oakland, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, to name a few places, marched down Broadway and officially commenced the 19th national convention of the Lee Family Assn.

Formed nearly a century and a half ago in San Francisco, the group flourished for more than 100 years, like many other Chinese family and village associations, by providing members a place of refuge in a country that long shunned and discriminated against the Chinese. They anchored the Chinatowns across the United States by offering members loans, securing burial plots and helping settle business disputes for a community denied access to most mainstream institutions.

But in modern times, with their aging ranks and challenges from newer and more prosperous Chinese communities in the suburbs, family associations such as the Lees face an uncertain future. [more]

Gordon is into his dorm room

Thought I'd share these words from Susan about getting Gordon into the dorms. I've edited out some for brevity, marked by "[...]".

Just a note to let you know that we have truly appreciated all your prayers for us. Also to let you know that Gordon is finally moved into his room at 226 Wagner. He has a corner room on the second floor (a guy floor; girls are up one floor; I think the hall is 4-5 floors tall). On one side of his room, he has a maintenance-only parking lot, another dorm, and a green & beautiful view. His door opens up to the 2nd-floor hall and the stairwell. His window across from the door looks out on a tarred roof, with the door going out to the roof being on the final side of his room. This position can either be a blessing or a curse, depending on how Wagner Hall's personality turns out. :-)

One blessing is that the girl in the COW marching band that he's been in touch with is on the next floor up. She's really sweet, organized, and cute -- esp. at 4'10", I think Gordon said. Another blessing is that the guy he stayed with in February(?)/March(?) is Wagner Hall's student director or Resident Director.... JaQuan Bryant. [...] He also met JaQuan's friends and like them. And JaQuan is from Oakland, CA!) I met JaQuan today, and he is JUST as tall as Gordon! [...]

Gordon will be going 24-hours a day now, from his dorm. [This is an exaggeration, of course. Not to worry, Mom. The schedule is busy though, but more like 7:30 AM to 11 PM. - gsl] The Scots Marching Band will be claiming all his time for the next week, and when they aren't claiming his time, the Freshman Orientation schedule will be. Apart from dropping off his fresh laundry tonight, I won't see him until Wednesday morning for a couple of hours (~maybe!~); that afternoon, he'll be with other Freshmen, and I won't see him until the 4:00-4:30pm "Goodbye to Parents". All parents must leave the college at that time, so Thursday, I'll be flying home. In the meantime, I'll be reconnoitering around Wooster, and attending meetings Gordon and I signed up for before we knew he'd been in the band.

So now that he's unpacked what did we forget? Well, no coax cable to connect the TV to the cable service, no remote (maybe these were deliberate on our part? Nah!), and no Ethernet cable for a wired connection. Fortunately he can get a wireless access point from his room.

The Road to Wooster, the final stretch

Before we start on today's installment, this special announcement: Happy Twenty-Fifth Anniversary, Susan!

Gordon and Susan alighted in Sandusky, OH today. I'm still not sure why Sandusky since it's only about 5 hours from South Bend and it's only another 1-1/2 hour to Wooster. It wasn't to stop at the Cedar Point amusement park, though. However, Susan made contact with her old boss ("boss of long acquaintance") from Campus Crusade days and will be able to meet up with him and his wife tomorrow. When Susan was in Crusade she was very close to them and even volunteered to babysit regularly. Now the oldest of the children is a full professor of English literature at Wheaton College.

The Road to Wooster, Day 7

Gordon and Susan made good time today, driving all the way to South Bend, IN. They're staying just a stone's throw, by Gordon's arm, away from the University of Notre Dame. As close as I can figure it, they drove over 9-1/2 hours today. Wooster is the next stop, about 4-1/2 hours away if Susan stays at the speed limit.

And I want to wish Susan a happy anniversary. We celebrate 25 years of married life tomorrow, August 14! I think I'll take myself out for a candlelight dinner....

The Road to Wooster, Day 6

At least I think it's day six. Gordon and Susan pulled into Lincoln, NE yesterday and stayed the day today to rest and to visit. Susan reports that she's had no bouts of fibromyalgia, meaning no pain. Gordon reports that it's a good thing he's along to make sure Susan finds her way.

Lincoln was forecast to have extreme heat index values this weekend but fortunately thunderstorms today quashed that. Susan and Gordon are relaxing and rehabilitating aided by Steve and Kate's lovely and gentle dog and a cat who takes to Gordon.

Tomorrow they're on the road again. Next stop - somewhere in west Illinois.

The Road to Wooster, Day 4

Today was a rest day for Gordon and Susan. They must be having a great time with Jo Ellen and Rembrandt - we haven't heard a peep for over 24 hours.

My brother asked why Susan and Gordon took I-70 rather than I-80. I'm not sure of all the reasons but I know that Susan reeeeally wanted to drive US 50 and that she had the rendezvous worked out with Jo Ellen in Fort Collins. Choosing I-80 after US 50 (via I-15) would have meant backtracking south on I-70 to reach Ft. Collins and maybe longer time over all.

Wanna test my hypothesis yourself? Curious about the route? Check it out on Google Maps. Use the new route altering feature to see which route takes longer, at least as far as Google is concerned.

Keep them in your prayers. Steve in Lincoln, their next stop, reports that the heat index (temperature plus a factor for humidity) will be 110 degrees over the weekend.

[8.10.07 10:38 PM - Edited to fix link to the Google Maps page with the route information.]

The Road to Wooster, Days 2 and 3

The Great Adventure continues. Yesterday Gordon and Susan traveled from Eureka, NV to Grand Junction, CO. It was a longish trip depending on whose standard you use. I think it was almost 10 hours of driving. Today was a much easier trip from Grand Junction to Fort Collins. They met up with Susan's "friend of long acquaintance," Jo Ellen, and her son. They'll stay an extra day in Fort Collins to have more time to yak, er, talk. The next travel day will be Saturday. They'll be headed for Susan's brother's house.

Gordon is off to college

Gordon and Susan left this morning for Wooster, OH, in a rental SUV. They left this morning at 8 am with the back of the SUV full except for the top 12 inches of the volume. They arrived in Eureka, NV at 6:30 pm. Wait, you say, Eureka, NV isn't on Interstate 80, is it? No, it's on US Highway 50, otherwise known as the Loneliest Road in America. It's a road Susan has wanted to drive on, and so she did. She said it was busier than she imagined, but there were still stretches where they didn't see another vehicle for half an hour.

Next stop is probably somewhere in Colorado. Watch for a silver Kia Sportage. Stay tuned for progress reports.

Free SJ Giants tickets

The kids and I went to see the San Jose Giants' game Wednesday and the tickets were on them! You can go free, too! The SJ Giants have a Merchants' Night games promotion. You can get these free tickets at OSH (Orchard Supply) stores through out the South Bay. Check out their website for more details. There are four games remaining.

Tuesday, August 7th @7:00 PM vs. Stockton Ports
Tuesday, August 21st @7:00 PM vs. Visalia Oaks
Thursday, August 23rd @12:20 PM vs. Visalia Oaks
Sunday, September 2nd @5:00 PM vs. Bakersfield Blaze

This is Class A minor league baseball and a lot of fun. If you've never been you'll wonder why you never did it before. It's not too crowded but there are enough people to get some spirit going. There's fan participation entertainment between innings (too corny to describe and very funny!) and truly great baseball. We saw a pitchers' duel and the Giants' pitcher had at least 11 strikeouts. And of course the home team won 4 to 0.

I can't say enough about it, especially at this price. Go Giants!

Not just another panda...

And of course it's dedicated to Richie and Judy. This panda is a little different than your run-of-the-mill stuffed panda. I dunno, this one is just a little creepy for my tastes. Check out the WooWee Robopanda.

A new look for Where's Geoff

Since I can't change my hair style much anymore I thought I would change my blog style. Seriously, I was looking for a way to make the Flickr slideshow display more cleanly. I think the problem was that the other canned blog template I was using was too narrow in the main text column and was cutting off the pictures.

Well, this isn't optimal either but it's better for what I want it to be. You're probaly saying to yourself, "Too much information!" Okay, let's move on.

Yes, we're back

Hi Rick. Yes, we're home.

My former really good friend, Rick, tweaked me in his blog about not posting that we actually arrived in the U S of A, following my post that we were on our way. Well, we did get back just fine and dandy and suffered few ill jet lag effects. Thanks for asking.

I actually procrastinated the announcement of our return, hoping that I could put up a Flickr slideshow of my pictures. However the culling of the pictures hasn't yet been finished and the immediate opportunity to blog about getting back slipped out of reach. The slideshow is still coming so stay tuned. If you want to see all 1000 plus pictures (and those are only mine, not including the kids') you can drop on by the house and plan for staying for a few ... days.

(By the way, does anyone know of a way to force Flickr to order pictures in the way you prefer?)

The trip was all I hoped it would be and more. Best was singing in the old Austrian and Swiss churches with the choir in tip top form. I've never sung in churches with such favorable acoustics and maybe I never will again. Best was getting a Liechtenstein country stamp in my passport. (Okay kids, how big is Liechtenstein?) Best was walking on the shores of Lake Luzern (Lucerne) on a postcard picture perfect day. Best was eating a delicate Swiss pastry and drinking a strong coffee while sitting next to the fountain in the public square. Best was clowning around with the family at the Sound of Music filming locations. Best was the choir singing Let Thy Holy Presence (Tschnesnokov) in the Marble Hall in Mirabell Palace in Salzburg, the same place Mozart and his children performed. You get the idea.

Our Tahoe Vacation

Okay, so I'm a little behind in my posts. Here are pictures from our Lee family Lake Tahoe trip in early June 2007. These pictures are hosted at Flickr, a subsidiary of Yahoo. Click on the picture to see my caption. Mouse over different portions of the frame to see other options. Let me know if the slideshow doesn't work for you. You need Flash Player to have it work properly.

[Fri, July 13 - sorry about the weirdness in the slideshow rendering. I'll have to go find another way to embed Flickr slideshows. Sat July 14 - I changed the embedded code in hopes the slideshow displays more consistently. Your feedback is appreciated.]

Questions for the presidential candidates - on YouTube?!

Here's some eye candy to keep you interested in coming back here. Apparently YouTube invited people to submit questions for the July 23 Democratic presidential candidates. Computerworld sorted out the ones they thought funniest and here's a taste of one. These guys are from "redstateupdate.com".

On our way home!

We`ve arrived in Zurich at an airport hotel. Our flight departs tomorrow about noon. Looking forward to seeing zu, er, you all.

Wish zou were hier

Greetings from Luzern (Lucerne). Internet access has either been difficult or pricey so I haven`t posted recently, as you have noticed. This post is coming from a public terminal and the time is ticking down by the minute, .20 francs per min, or 16 cents per. Having a great time though things are busy. Weather has been great making a picture postcard of Luzern. However things are expensive in Switzerland. Lunch yesterday cost 100 francs and dinner was 130 francs for nice but not superb.

More from Sound of Music country

Click on image for bigger picture.


This is from the Mirabelle Gardens, a location from the Sound of Music.


Remember this location?



We sang in University Church this evening.


What great acoustics tonight!

Travels with Geoff

Click on the pictures for bigger pictures.


Lauren can't resist playing with my new wide angle adapter.


We made it to Neuschwanstein (Crazy King Ludwig's Castle).


Susan takes time to smell the flowers.


We found a green grocer market behind the main tourist district in Salzburg old town. This is also Gordon's new crush.

The hills are alive ... in Salzburg!

Good morning from Austria! We're on vacation with our church choir in Bavaria. After being up 33 hour straight we've had 7 hours of sleep and are ready and raring to go (apart from my body thinking that it's only midnight, and typing on a German keyboard on the free terminal in the lobby). Saw King Ludwig's castle yesterday - fantastic! And the countryside is amazing - like Indiana with hills, and even better! Will try to post pictures later.

Love to all!

Tip: A better way to track your passwords

If you're of a certain age you can remember a time when you only had your ATM code to memorize. Now almost everyone has at least a half dozen passwords and secret codes to track. And with new security standards sites are beginning to require passwords be changed every few months. What to do, besides keeping your passwords on Post-Its on your computer screen?

Today I share a tip about computer tools to help you keep track of your passwords. These are both on-line and off-line tools, much more secure than your yellow sticky. And the best part is, they're free!

Talk is cheap, especially with prepaid wireless phones

In response to the many inquiries, yes, I am on vacation. Okay, so no one asked why I haven't posted on a while.

Be that as it may, here's a tip that may save you lots of money if you're a light cell phone user, but still find it necessary to pay for a cell phone. Using the right plan you can pay just $2.50 a month for the privilege of carrying around a (working) cell phone. Yup, you can carry around a cell phone for cheaper but only if you can't use it to make or receive calls.

Here's the tip. Run, don't walk, to Page Plus Cellular. They buy cellular airtime from Verizon Wireless in bulk at a huge discount, then resell them to people like you. You have to pay up front at about 14 cents a minute, but that works out to be a lot cheaper than the regular cellular pay-by-the-month plans if you don't make a lot of calls.

Here's more on how this works. If you don't already have a Verizon phone lying around you'll need to by one from Page Plus or from one of the resellers that are a part of their reseller network. (My favorite is Babblebug. Great name, eh?) I think this can be $40 or cheaper. It won't be the latest phone with the latest bling but you're not a fashion plate now, either, are you? If you by a phone from Page Plus or a reseller you'll also get about $10 worth of minutes, or about 71 minutes. Now, if you don't use up all the minutes, the next time you'll have to lay down money is in four months. That's how ofter you must buy minutes. You'll have to buy a minimum of $10, but you can buy more, too, at a little better rate than 14 cents a minute. A bonus is that unused minutes just roll over.

There are other prepaid plans but Page Plus seems to be the best. Don't take my word for it. There's a guy in the northeast who has researched and used many of the plans. If you want to get all geeky and engineer-like about the analysis check out the CellGuru.

Yes, I eat the dog food. All four of us are on prepaid plans. Yeah, the kids suffer because they don't have RAZRs like their friends. They say they have the oldest phones of any of their friends. I tell them fine, suffer. I had to borrow cars from my folks, and that orange Datsun 1200 was no chick magnet! It's a character builder, that's what it is.

As always, no charge for this money saving tip.

Lake Tahoe here we come!

We're off to Lake Tahoe for a few days. This is an extended family trip - Mom and Dad, Gary and his family and us, all in one big house near Zephyr Cove. Anyone have favorite buffets that we shouldn't miss?

Lauren's graduation video

Lauren graduated last Friday afternoon and I was there with my new digital camera. I set it to take a video and let it roll.

However, the result is unfortunately in the "just because I can" category. The video is low-res and jerky because I messed up my settings. But whatever the case isn't it fun to see friends and family on TV?

New header today

I think a blog is a little like moving into a new house. Today's change is a personalization of my blog with a new header. This is from our western US driving trip a few years ago. This was taken at Independence Rock in Wyoming.

Tip: Drinking the Web through a straw

If you (try to) read more than a half dozen websites every day you should really think about using a "newsreader." A newsreader is a single computer application or a web page that automatically collects the content of your favorite web pages (like Where's Geoff) and presents it to you in a single place. It strips out much of the formatting unique to each web page (like the advertising!) and just gives you the text, pictures and sounds. As one writer put it, "It's like an Inbox for the Web." What's more, most newsreaders are free! Really!

There is some magic that websites have to do to allow reading via newsreaders, but most mainstream sites with frequent updates you'd care to read support newsreaders.

My favorite newsreader, by far, is Google Reader. The screenshot is from my page. You can see all the sites I want to follow on the left, and the articles from the sites are in the wide column on the right. Reading the stuff is as simple as scrolling.

Here's a nifty intro to Google Reader. The interface has changed since the intro was created, but the principles are the same.

Ready to start? Click here!

Bragging on Gordon

About a week ago Gordon was recognized at The King's Academy awards ceremony for a notable accomplishment and an award. Gordon was one of five seniors at TKA to be named by the National Merit Scholarship Program as a Commended Student. Of the 1.4 million students who took the PSAT exam in 2004 Gordon is one of about 50,000 high school seniors of this rank. And we were surprised and delighted to see Gordon receive the drama department award! If you came to any of the TKA productions you know he was up against stiff competition. Congratulations Gordon! We're very proud of you!

Google Maps from the street!

Now you can walk the streets of Oakland Chinatown without ever leaving your computer! Take a look at this new feature inside of Google Maps called "Street View." The feature is in pilot mode so only a few locations are in Street View. These locations include San Francisco Bay Area (is my house there?), Las Vegas, Miami and New York. Look for the camera icon on the large scale maps, and look for the streets outlined in blue on the small scale maps. Have fun!

Lauren's graduation Friday, 6 PM

Same deal as for Gordon's graduation - same place, same seating arrangements. Note that it's Friday late afternoon, running from 6 PM to about 7:15 PM. Let us know if you're coming and we'll figure out what we'll do for hospitality!

The King's Academy
562 N Britton Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085

Gordon's graduation Sat - Y'all come!

Gordon graduates from high school at a ceremony this Saturday morning at 10 AM. Details are below. Please come if you are of a mind.

I had been under the mistaken impression that each The King's Academy graduate was limited to a small number of reserved seating tickets. Turns out that each graduate was limited in the number of seats on the field, but the football stands are open to any and all.

Let us know if you're planning on coming so that we can make arrangements for lunch. It will be an informal affair - maybe a high school boy's favorite lunch - pizza!

The King's Academy
562 N Britton Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085

Exit 101 at Fair Oaks. Go west. Turn left on Duane. Look for the school sign at the first intersection on the right.

Memorial Day, 2007

We remember.

This is the division insignia of the 104th Army Infantry Division, the Timberwolf Division. My dad served with this unit during World War II. On this Memorial Day I want to recognize the service and sacrifice of those men and many, many other men and women who served in all our nation's wars.

In addition, I hope you will pause today to remember those who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, including their families. I think that President Bush and his advisers have grossly mismanaged these conflicts. And now we are entangled in a mess that will resolve only at great cost to American lives and Iraqi and Afghani lives. As a result many service people have been asked to make sacrifices in great disproportion to their stations in life. At the least we owe them our deepest thanks.

The cutest food you've ever seen!

Check this out!

Original blog source can be found here.

It's made of "fondant," which as Wikipedia has it:

"Fondant is a confection used as a filling or coating for cakes, pastries, and candies or sweets. In its simplest form, it is sugar and water cooked to a point, specifically soft-ball stage, cooled slightly, and stirred or beaten until it is an opaque mass of creamy consistency....Fondant is commonly used to decorate wedding cakes. This gives the cakes a smooth look."

I'll be looking for someone to make some for the family Christmas party!

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

I think everyone should write to her and wish her a Happy Eeyore Birthday!

Scientific study on the five-second rule

The person arguably the American authority on food science, Harold McGee, writes in the NY Times about the famous five-second rule. Are you listening, young parents?

You Can't Take It with You - but you can video it

For those of you who missed it here's a sample of the chaotic fun of Gordon's play this past weekend. (This is also my first edited movie and my first YouTube upload!)

Happy Birthday Susan!

Happy birthday my dear one, my love. Here's to many more!

Ten Questions with Richard Stearns

Today's notable News and Notes is an interview with Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, the Christian relief and development organization. The interview appeared in Guy Kawasaki's blog, "How to Change the World."

"Today, we live in a world that tolerates extreme poverty much like racism was tolerated fifty-plus years ago. We can all become people determined to do something to change the world. We can speak up, we can volunteer and we can give. Ending extreme poverty will take money, political and moral will, and a shift in our value system. When enough ordinary people embrace these issues, things will begin to change."

I don't mean to point the finger anywhere but at myself. I have a lot of work to do in my life to come to the place where I truly believe this and act on it.

More News and Notes

Two new posts today. The first, "Womb-based SEO" is funny if you know that SEO means "search engine optimized." In other words, picking a name for your kid so that they stand out in a Google search. The other, "Creating Your Own Foolproof Chinese Stir Fry" might be helpful in figuring out what's for dinner. It comes from another food blog I read, Tigers and Strawberries. So, what's for dinner?

You Can't Take It with You - TKA performances

The dates for The King's Academy play have snuck up on me. As far as I know the performances are this week, Wed through Sat. There are 7:30pm performances all four nights and 3 pm performances Thur and Fri. I don't think there's a Sat matinee. Tickets are free!

I don't know which performances I will attend but they'll be toward the end of the week. Susan will probably be helping backstage at most. Let us know if you can come and we'll try to have an escort for you!

New feature: "News and notes"

In the right column you should see a new section, "News and notes." Here you'll find interesting (I hope) bits and pieces from the Web that I come across. The entries might be news, recipes, blog entries from friends, or how-to's about Internet stuff. I'd love to hear what you think!

Today's entry, " A confession for Mother's Day," was written by a long-time friend of mine. Rick Lindholtz is Director of Communications at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Kingwood, TX, a suburb of Houston. You can learn more about Rick at his personal blog. (Hi Rick! With this link I've just boosted your Google-ness an infinitesimally small amount!)

And the answer is... (what was the question?)

My parents are back from Greece and have heard the news about Gordon's college choice. So now I can share the news with you. Gordon picked the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH. Freshmen orientation starts August 22 and the first day of school is August 27.

By the way, one distinction of COW (as they like be known and frequently use as the source of school humor) is their men's baseball team. In fact, much of this season they have been ranked the number one Division 3 team. Go Fighting Scots!

Happy Birthday Richie!

Happy Birthday Kody!

Gordon's on TV!

The King's Academy's spring mission project, Servant Safari, was
featured on KGO TV's Friday salutes spotlight. Yes, Gordon was in the
video, but only his flip side. You can see him at 33 seconds and 46
seconds into the piece.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=abc7_salutes&id=5252552

You Can't Take It with You

That's the play, of course, The King's Academy spring play selection. You're all invited to see the production, which includes Gordon as Mr. Kirby. Yikes! It's coming up fast, May 16 through May 19, and rehearsals have just started! Put the dates on your calendar. I'll let you know when tickets are available.

From Wikipedia:

"You Can't Take It with You is a Pulitzer Prize winning comedic play in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, and was the basis for the 1938 Academy Award winning film directed by Frank Capra. The original production of the play opened at the Booth Theater on December 14, 1936 and played for 837 performances.

"At first the Sycamores seem mad, but it is not long before you realize that if they are mad, then the rest of the world is madder. In contrast to these delightful people are the unhappy Kirbys. Tony, the attractive young son of the Kirbys, falls in love with Alice Sycamore and brings his parents to dine at the Sycamore house on the wrong evening. The shock sustained by Mr. and Mrs. Kirby, who are invited to eat cheap food, shows Alice that marriage with Tony is out of the question. The Sycamores find it hard to realize Alice's view. Tony knows the Sycamores live the right way with love and care for each other, while his own family is the one that's crazy. In the end, Mr. Kirby is converted to the happy madness of the Sycamores (particularly because he happens in during a visit by the ex-Grand Duchess of Russia Olga Katrina, who is currently earning her living as a waitress)."

The college choice - and the winner is...

Gordon made his selection for college last night. Sorry, I'm not going to reveal it to you, the world, until I can tell my folks who are still in Greece. I'm sure you understand!

Live from Santa Barbara - it's Westmont College!

On the road again. I can't believe it.

Gordon and I are on the campus of Westmont College. It's a liberal arts Christian college in the hills above Santa Barbara, frequently named to US News and World Report's annual top 100 list. If you ever have the opportunity it's worth a visit just for the beauty of the campus. This is one of Gordon's three top choices and one of two to offer a hefty scholarship. It was also the only one of the three that we had not yet formally toured.

I think that Gordon has had a good impression of the school and perhaps has a more favorable view of it than he did before. Stay tuned for "the decision," which must be made by May 1.

The other two schools being considered are St. Olaf in MN and College of Wooster in OH.

A new feature: this week's menu

One of the more challenging, yet rewarding, tasks of the week is to plan menus. I thought I would share mine for your entertainment, but also for future reference for me, when I get stuck. Without further ado...

Sunday - Beef stew in the new pressure cooker. Used chuck from Costco, Guiness, thyme, oregano, bay leaf. Added carrots, celery, potatoes and pearl onions. (I think I'm the only one who eats the onions.) Should be enough leftovers for a dinner later in the week.

Monday - Catfish, pan fried in a cast iron pan, coated with rice flour in deference to Susan's wheat gluten sensitivities. Also - artichokes - four for $2.60 at Trader Joe's.

Tuesday - Spaghetti the easy way - bottled sauce from Costco, turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's. Probably wouldn't use TJ's meatballs again - too soft and unnatural! Susan had some of the leftover stew because the meatballs had wheat flour added. Veggies was fresh broccoli, microwaved.

Wednesday - Rib eye steak. Ellie will get some for her birthday the following day. Veggies will be fresh carrots.

Thurs - Gordon and I will be visiting Westmont College. Susan and Lauren may have ham steak from Costco (sense a pattern here?).

Fri - Beef stew for Susan and Lauren.

Sat - I dunno.

Home... for a while

Well, we finally got home yesterday, though a little late. First we were delayed in St. Louis because of the low cloud cover at SFO. Then, after a 45 minute delay they put us on the play but once we pushed back from the gate we were held for another hour on the ground. And then, finally, on the ground at SFO, we were delayed once again because the delays had fouled up the gate assignments. We got to our gate about 2 hours and 30 minutes after our original arrival time, most of that spent on the airplane.

Susan's dad has slowed down considerably since last year. His legs are weaker - he needs a walker and shuffles. He was having some pain in his lower back, a recent development. Those two factors combine to make him housebound. The doctors were still trying to figure it out the cause of the pain when we left, but the operative theory was fractured vertebrae. There is a metasticized lesion in the area, too, as seen in an MRI, probably spread from his prostate cancer, but the oncologist thinks it's not a problem right now. We'll keep you posted.

Looks like one more trip in the near term. I think I'll be taking Gordon down to Westmont College in Santa Barbara the latter part of this week for one final close look. Anyone know of nice, reasonable hotels down there?

Coming Home

It's almost a tradition - Cinnabon's at the airport as we're on our way home. More later...

One trip ends, another begins

Well, we were home and then we weren't.

First things first - We got home Sat. from The King's Academy East Coast Trip and arrived safe and sound, if a little tired. I think we left Boston at 4 PM and finally arrived home about 10 PM local time.

Sunday I sang with the church choir for our usual Easter services. Three services is the usual and that's what I did.

Yesterday we were on the road again, traveling for our annual Indianapolis family trip. Since we arrived a little late today, Wed, was the first chance we had of seeing Susan's dad. Sadly, the last couple of days he's had some setbacks. First some weakness in his legs so that he needs a walker to get around the house. Then a few days ago he started having some serious pain in his lower back but no other leg pain. He had an MRI yesterday so we're waiting to see what the professionals think.

Will keep you posted.

-g-

Roast Mastadon

From NYC to Boston today, and boy, was it cold! At least it was cold for these Californians. I suspect that Bostonians were enjoying the balmy spring day. Arrive in Boston about 3 PM and got the Hah Vahd tour. Was great - what an amazing campus. Hadn't realized that it covers 500 acres! But with the 40 degree weather and 15 mph breeze it was cold enough. Fortunately snow flurries or rain did not materialize.

Dinner was at Durgin Park - just adults - and what a disappointment. Four years ago it was stop for all the group, kids and adults. It was four entrees and they were all bad. I felt they were just marking time for unsophisticated kids. They served foods like pizza, dried chicken breasts, and etc. However, given their reputation I went with most of the aduts intent on experiencing the real thing. Well, I'm here to tell you the real thing is nothing to write home about. I had broiled scrod, their specialty. Hrumpf, I can do better, much better. Harried wait staff, slow to refill humongous water pitchers. I paid $16.95 for the scrod, mashed yams, and french fries. A cup of fish chowder (not bad, not notable) was $3.95. Bottom line, two stars out of five.

Oh, the mastadon. The picture doesn't do it justice. Must have been a two pound rib. As presented the bone hung over the edge of the plate at least 5 inches. Couldn't have been a cow, unless it was genetically mutated. I mean, modified.

Tomorrow - Lexington and Concord. "Listen my children..." Wonders what a press agent can do. There were actually over a hundred riders sent out that night. Longfellow was actually trying to convince civil war recruits to be all that they could be.

Home in a couple of days!

Change in posting comments

I've changed the requirements for posting comments. Anyone can comment - you won't have to deal with the pesky request to register for blogger. However you will have to enter a "capshaw" (sp?) - those floaty text strings that try to filter out spammer robots. I look forward to hearing from more of you now.

The Dobbins House

This was our Gettysburg dinner stop. The Dobbins House was a way station for the Underground Railway. There's a small exhibit showing how the fleeung slaves were hidden.

A stop on the Underground Railway

[4.15.07 - Had to fix the typo in the subject.]

Door detail

Dobbins House exterior

Random fuel stop en route to NYC

Apple Store in NYC

Californians in the Big Apple

I've lost track of the days of the tour, but here's a recap of what we've done the last couple of days. That assumes that I can remember...

Tuesday - New York City
- Viewing of Ground Zero from the Winter Garden. The rebuilding of Winter Garden is quite a story in itself. You ought to look it up.
- Shopping on Fifth Avenue. My guys and I wandered all the way from Rockefeller Center to Central Park South to 42nd Avenue in Times Square.
- Tour of Radio City Music Hall. You've seen my picture already, eh?
- Dinner at Dallas BBQ. Maybe someone can tell me if it's just a NY establishment (several branches) with an evocative name, or truly out of Dallas?
- Surmounted the Top of the Rock, the rooftop viewing from the top of Rockefeller Center, all 68 stories of it.

Deep breath...

Wednesday - New York City
In the rain, ranging from light to driving, we saw:
- Ellis Island;
- Statue of Liberty;
- Back to the hotel to get gussied up to go to -
- Dinner at Dominico's (I thought they had said Delmonico's!); and
- A Broadway show! Most of the group went to see Phantom of the Opera, but Lauren and I had arranged to peel off and see Wicked. We were so glad we did - it was positively fabulous with everything about the production being terrific. Lauren also had her first NY taxi ride.
- Arrived back at the hotel at 11:30pm.

Today we're headed out to our last city Boston. Cool weather is in the forecast (low 40s) with chances of precipitation.

Day Five - Woo-hoo!

Radio City Music Hall tour was on the agenda today. Here's some eye candy - both the picture and the subject of the picture. She's not bad, either.

Going part 2

Finally, dinner (all you can east or want to eat at Chevy's) then the Lincoln memorial and the new Air Force memorial. Are you tired yet?

But these guides are pros and there is balance. We just left Ford's Theater (but didn't get in - too long a line) and are on the road to Gettysburg, about a two hour drive. After lunch, tour and dinner we'll drive to New York. So, this is generally a day of rest.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm napping.

Going and going and going

It's day four. Whew! What a couple of days it has been. Sat we left the hotel at 7:45am and returned at 9:30pm. Yesterday we left the hotel at 9am and returned at 9:45pm.

And what a day it was yesterday. We started at the WW II memorial, walked to the Korean War memorial and then to the Vietnam War memorial. Then we boarded the buses and drove to the Air and Space Musuem for lunch (McDonald's - yum) and a couple of hours to see that museum and others in the area - our choice. At 3:30pm we walked to the Capitol where our guide gave us a historical perspective of the Capitol and nearby buildings. The group was quiet, but it was either attentiveness or sleepiness by then. Then off to the National Archives (on foot) where we waited an hour in line until admitted in to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. One lucky child was chosen to brush lemon juice on the back of the DofI to see the secret code. (Just kidding - seen "National Treasure"?)

Day Two part two

Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home (though he lived there just a fraction of his life) was our afternoon's activity. If you've never been there it's a bucolic yet impressive estate. At its height it included 7,000 acres. Unfortunately for me my charges were rowdy and of short attention span so we only saw the minimum of the estate - the interior of the main house. An amount of time was wasted, too, because the wait for the main house was over 45 minutes.

The rest of the evening looks like food court food and tours of two monuments - maybe Lincoln and Jefferson?

More later!

Day Two - Our first full day

Whew! Almost doen withour first full day of tour. We started the day early, boarding buses at 7:45am. We were off to Arlington National Cemetery.

Most people traveling on their own will take the tram. Students, being of limited budget but unlimited energy, went sans tram and walked first to the tomb of the unknown soldier. There four of our students had the honor of laying a wreath at the tomb. I found out they had won the honor by writing essays and having the essays selected.

Lunch was on our own in Old Town Alexandria. The weather was pleasant and folks scattered fund food, ice cream and souvenirs.

Day One - the fun begins!

No picture today - sorry.

A pretty slow day for us. We got a late start at Richie and Judy's.
After playing with Juliana for a bit and helping Judy where we could
we headed into DC. Checked in to the hotel, realized we were tired and
so grabbed a nap before joining up with the rest of the King's Academy
group. We met up with them at the Union Station food court. Dinner,
window shopping, then back to the hotel (Embassy Suites, Alexandria).
I knew I was back in the saddle when the whole ride back in the bus
was loud off-key singing, including Barney songs.

The blessing was that we are running earlier than stated in the
itinerary. Instead of a 11:15 PM lights out the kids are already in
their rooms (9:35 PM now) and lights out will be 10 PM. Good thing,
too, because we board the buses for a full day starting at 7:45 AM! On
tap are Arlington National Cemetery and Mount Vernon. I see that Mount
Vernon has added an authentic distillery to their campus, but I don't
think we'll be going there.

Oh, and the cherry blossoms are to hit their peak on Sunday! Hope we
can at least drive around the Tidal Basin.

Visiting with pandas

Can you tell where we are? The pandas should be a huge hint if you know our family. Yup, visiting Rich and Judy in the DC area. We spent the night here, arriving a day in advance of Lauren's eighth grade east coast trip.
Judy, Rich and Juliana are all well. We've found Juliana to be a wonderful baby - placid, quiet, and low in the volume category even when she does fuss.
Had a great evening here and a good night's sleep despite having to share a room with two hundred bears.

blogging from my phone

This post coming to you from my phone! Watch this space and excuse the typos!

--

Geoff Lee
geoff@gslee.com