Blogtinis for Three

Oz is graced this weekend with a visit by Überbloggers ZenPundit and Interact with their families. Martinis up!

Happy Independence Day!

San Francisco Travelog

We're spending the weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area. Posterity of Oz (who too-quickly adapted to Pacific Daylight Time, which will make returning to school on Tuesday morning quite problematic) enjoyed visiting the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39. The photo above is in one of the "tubes" beneath a school of anchovies, and at right they are petting a skate.

We also paid a visit to the USS HORNET (CV-12) Museum at Alameda Point (the former Naval Air Station), but were deterred by their preparations for a conference of more than 3,000 machinists in the hangar deck. On our way off post, we saw the French maxi-catamaran GITANA 13 -- the sailboat that is shattering records around the globe. The crew of 11 had just set a new record for the Route de l'Or (New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn), breaking the old record by more than 14 days. (Yes, *days*.) They should embark for Japan later this week, where they hope to add the trans-Pacific sailing record to their growing list of accolades.

No visit to the Bay Area is complete without a stop by the alma mater -- and, this time, a trek up Strawberry Canyon to the Lawrence Hall of Science. Their special exhibit this month is "SPEED", with throttle-driven drag racers that risk stalling due to slipping wheels, a side-by-side ski slalom simulator, and a build-it-yourself Lego derby track.

But the main purpose of this weekend was to honor (and thoroughly roast) my mom, who retired last Friday after more than 32 years of service to the Alameda County Health Services Agency. More than 140 colleagues, friends and family came to honor her, while I had the privilege of co-MC'ing -- and laying the blame for the soon-to-be-bankrupt Social Security Trust Fund squarely on her shoulders for leaving the workforce. Truly an enjoyable trip.

TDAXP's Reception

Today was Dan "tdaxp" & Fei's wedding reception in lovely Brandon, SD. I sat with some undergrad friends of Dan's from Dakota State U. Sitting with an Air Force pilot, a flight surgeon to be, a teacher and a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science made for great conversation.

The Three 'Blogsketeers (Oz, tdaxp and interact) decided to brave the -10° F. (-23° C.) wind chill for a photo op:

Coldest Day

It's colder now than it was a sunrise -- with a Weather.com "RealFeel" of -10 degrees F., and a projected low (RealFeel) tonight of -37. Yes, that's a negative sign in front of the "37". Nice of Dan and Fei to have their wedding reception on the coldest day of the year... :-)

Winter Wonderland

Rollin' with Sean Meade to South Dakota and Dan & Fei Abbot's wedding reception. The white sandy beaches of Tiffin, Iowa were a little chilly on the toes....

Crossing the Rubicon

To "Cross the Rubicon" is to pass a point of no return -- to commit yourself to something. In late 50 B.C., the Roman senate ordered Julius Caesar (then Governor of Gaul, a military hero whom the Senate feared) to disband his army and return to Rome. Since his term as Proconsul had ended, and the Senate forbade Caesar from running for a second term in absentia, Caesar knew he would be politically marginalized -- and possibly imprisoned -- if he returned to Rome without the immunity of a Consul.

So, on the 10th of January in 49 B.C. (converted to the Gregorian calendar), Caesar crossed the southern border of Cisalpine Gaul and entered Italy with one legion, Legio XIII Gemina. Since armies were forbidden by Roman law to enter Italy proper (primarily to defend against internal military threats), Caesar's actions marked the beginning of the Roman civil war. He is reported to have said "Alea iacta est" ("The die is cast"), hence our modern association of "Crossing the Rubicon" with passing a point of no return.

What's ironic is you can learn far more about "Fiume Rubicone" (literally "River Rubicon") from Webster's Dictionary and Wikipedia than you can from Rand-McNally. On a March 1994 trip to Europe with my then-girlfriend, I harbored a plot to "pop the question" on the bank of the Rubicon -- after crossing it in our rental car while driving from Venice to Assisi. (If there had been 'blogs in 1994, the dawn of the old NCSA Mosaic web browser, I would have probably done like Dan at tdaxp.... :-)

Only by consulting some large maps at the Navy lab where I worked was I able to find the river. And when we saw it in person, I had a brief pang of regret that I didn't ask Renee to marry me while we were on a gondola floating on the Canale Grande in Venice the night before. But since I had a plan, I stuck to it -- the arrow below shows the spot, and the "scenic grandeur" of what was simply an archaic border between Roman provinces (or a ditch by modern standards):

Tagged: Christmas Meme

Local friend Citizen Netmom has been tagged by LissaKay to provide a "Christmas Meme" profile, so I'm following her lead. Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share Christmas facts about yourself.
3. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of "Getting to Know Your Friends."

1. Wrapping or gift bags?
Gift bags - the ultimate convenience in gift-giving!

2. Real or artificial tree?
Artificial pre-lit. (See comment on "convenience" in 1. above.)

3. When do you put up the tree?
Me? Never. My bride? Usually just after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down?
After our annual Epiphany Party in early January.

5. Do you like egg nog?
Not as much as what you can put *in* the eggnog.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
A BMX bike when I was 12 years old.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes (a small porcelain one).

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
At an office "gag gift exchange", I ended up with a plastic hand pedestal that was supposed to be a remote control holder. We kept it in the closet until the follow year's gift exchange.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Despite my comments on "convenience" above, this is one area where we go all out -- mail is the only way for us. Our family photo is planned months in advance (this year's card was from a February trip to Mexico, complete with Santa hats in the luggage), cards are ordered shortly after Halloween, and labels printed the week before Thanksgiving. We have made a habit (perhaps bordering on Obsessive-Compulsive :-) of mailing them the day before Thanksgiving -- sort of a green flag for friends and family of the start of the holiday season.

10. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Black Friday. My lovely bride, however, starts the day *after* Christmas for the next year.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
My bride's crockpot turkey (never dry!). And my Grandmother's & Aunt Peggy's Secret Toffee.

13. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear.

14. Favorite Christmas song(s)?
Sarajevo 12/24 by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

15. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We usually travel -- we have family and friends scattered throughout the country.

16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Yes (though it might take me a while). Don't forget Olive! (As in "Olive, the other reindeer..." :-)

17. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel.

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
One selected gift on Christmas Eve, the rest on Christmas morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Some people let themselves get too stressed out -- so courtesy seems to be too rare this time of year, ESPECIALLY on the roads and parking lots.

20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color?
Classic white lights, gold trimmed ribbon, with lots of sentimental-value ornaments.

21. What do you leave for Santa?
Milk and cookies, of course. And some carrots on the lawn for his reindeer.

22. Least favorite holiday song?
Anything with "singing" animals.

23. Favorite ornament?
Our Macy's-New York City "Curious George" ornament (showing George climbing the Empire State Building in a clear glass globe) from their 75th Anniversary Parade.

24. Family tradition?
Besides what's already been described here (decorations, cards, gifts), we have an emerging tradition of performances. Both kids play in holiday piano recitals, and Renee always performs with the church choir in their Christmas performances. Also, Shelby has performed in The Nutcracker three of the past four years now -- and Jarrett has said he wants to be a "party boy / mouse soldier" in next year's Nutcracker.

25. Ever been to Midnight Mass or late-night Christmas Eve services?
Yes, a couple times (once in San Diego, when my mother-in-law visited us there; and another time in Minnesota at her church).


I will be passing this "tag" on to the following blogfriends (updated to link to their replies):

ZenPundit
tdaxp
Sean Meade
Critt
Soob
A.E.
Shlok

Can't wait to see what they post... Merry Christmas to all!

[Moblog] Zen and Me

I am having authentic pierogies and brewskis (plus some excellent split pea soup) in west Chicago's Franklin Park / Mannheim Road with Überblogger ZenPundit. My flight back to Tennessee leaves in another two hours, so Zen was kind enough to pick me up at O'Hare (amidst weather reports of freezing rain) and bring me out for a great dinner.

[Moblog] New 'Polar Bear 6'

LTC Richard G. Greene Jr, USA, received the colors of 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, at a change of command this morning at Fort Drum, New York.

If leadership is "the liberation of talent," the 'Polar Bears' are gaining a commander who can inspire them to achieve more than they knew they could.

I was not a distance runner until Rich Greene picked me to join his team for the 1999 Army Ten-Miler - and have run six marathons since. We seldom did family road trips until we drove over 1,000 miles to Rich's wedding in Aledo, Illinois 7-1/2 years ago - and braved the Alaska Highway in 2004 to visit him in Fairbanks, Alaska on the "Mother of All Road Trips".

And my appreciation for the liberties we enjoy, the elegant strength of our Constitution, and the urgent importance of our operations overseas, are stronger for knowing Rich.

PRO PATRIA!

UPDATE: See 4-31 singing "The 10th Mountain Division Song" (45-second .AVI file, 17MB).

[Moblog] Johnny Walker Blue

I'm in Ft Drum, New York for a change of command ceremony tomorrow. My good friend Rich Greene - a man who has inspired me in many aspects of life - is taking command of the Polar Bears: the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment of 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team. HOOah!

Rich's bride Michelle (the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the Division) graced Rich with a rare bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label in honor of this event. And, as a Tennessee Squire (who brought a bottle of Jack's Single Barrel for Rich), I can say unequivocally that JW's Blue is the *finest* whiskey I have ever tasted.

More pix tomorrow from Fort Drum, the snow capital of the U.S.

Pro Patria!

[Moblog] Marathon post mortem

We completed the race! Mike is no longer a "46-year old virgin" in marathoning, and we had *perfect* weather: mid-50s, mostly sunny, with light wind. New Yorkers are wonderful hosts, too, with cheering spectators along virtually every mile handing out essentials like Kleenex and oh-so-tasty-and-salty pretzels. (The tastiest pretzels in the world are found at mile 21 on a marathon course... :-)

Only celebrity sighting was marathon-running Katie Holmes, who finished right behind us with her double-bodyguard escort.

Final time: about 5:43, with lots of fun along the way. Congrats, Mike, for successfully completing your first marathon!!

Marathon Weekend

I'll be offline for most of the weekend. In a few hours my bride and I will be flying to NYC for a 40 hour visit, during which time we'll eat, drink and help our friend Mike finish his first-ever marathon!

Now if only "Noel" will keep moving toward Nova Scotia -- and away from NYC!

Middle School Football

Yet another benefit of living in Oak Ridge: Middle School football! In Oak Ridge, our two middle schools are four-year schools for grades 5-8 (ages 10-13). Both middle schools (Jefferson and Robertsville) feed into Oak Ridge High School, and both boast student bodies of about 600.

They also have organized football teams. The photo above is from this month's City Championship, in which my daughter's school (the Robertsville Rams, in red) thoroughly trounced Jefferson. In fact, Jefferson's net offensive production for the final three quarters of the game was minus-six yards. Final score: Robertsville 38, Jefferson 6.

Add to this an outstanding music program (starting with 4th grade strings), a phenomenal science curriculum (including not just one, but two Advanced Placement physics classes -- along with 17 other AP classes offered -- at ORHS) and national recognition for sustained excellence in education, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better public school system anywhere else.

On the topic of education reform, Überblogger ZenPundit has begun a two-part blog entry on "building an innovation-intersectional idea society" (Part I of II is linked here). I'm doubly pleased that my review of John Kao's latest book Innovation Nation helped catalyze such an outpouring of creative synthesis of a variety of ideas from the ZenPundit.

Rollin' on the River

Man-cub Jarrett (aka "Wind Runner" to the Indian Guides Tribe in Oak Ridge) and dad (aka "Eagle Claw") joined the Tribe for a rafting trip down the Hiwassee River in southeast Tennessee this weekend. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was running both generators upstream at the Apalachia Reservoir's hydroelectric plant, so we had good flow on the river.

However, the lack of rain this past summer meant the water levels were particularly low -- so many of the lips and crests in the river meant a lot of abrupt halts for our raft. That, and the fact that Chief Big Trout and I were among two of the heaviest guys in the tribe (and therefore had the deepest draft of all the rafts...).

On the return trip home, my truck's new Optima battery began to fail. Since it was less than 24 hours old, I began to suspect my old battery (which was running just 9.6V after I exchanged it last night) was not the only problem... So, after tapping this new one out entirely (so that not even the spark plugs had enough current) and stalling a few miles south of the town of Etowah, we needed a short tow truck ride to the Advance Auto Parts in town to (a) buy a new alternator, (b) install a new alternator (a feat I haven't done in nearly 20 years), and (c) replace the now-dead less-than-24-hour old Optima battery. At least that battery was still under warranty....

I arrived home in time to watch the final three minutes of Cal's 45-27 victory over Arizona. ROLL ON YOU BEARS!

Alabama Capitol

After yesterday's persistent rainfall, today is a beautiful day in south-central Alabama. Temperatures in the high-60s F., and not a cloud in the sky. After dropping MSgt Tom off at the airport, Grandma and I turned north to drive to Buffalo Valley, TN (near Al Gore's hometown of Carthage) where my aunt Kathy and other uncle Tom have a farm.

Across the street from Montgomery's capitol is the "First Confederate White House". Before Jefferson Davis moved his capitol to Richmond, Virginia, he lived in Montgomery, Alabama. The flag flying in the yard is the Confederate "Stars and Bars" -- the first national flag of the Confederate States of America. Since this flag was difficult to discriminate from the Union flag during battle conditions, the more familiar "Southern Cross" (with 13 stars instead of the original 7, accounting for the four additional states that seceded from the Union as well as the divided states of Kentucky and Missouri) was adopted for military operations.

After a pleasant drive back into Tennessee, Cal is leading Louisiana Tech 42-12 late in the 4th quarter while Dan at tdaxp's Cornhuskers are holding a precarious 10-7 lead over the trojans of 'sc...

Battle of the Cheesesteaks

During a brief jaunt to Philadelphia yesterday (for the company's annual summer party at our CEO's place), I arrived early enough to determine -- once and for all -- which cheesesteak is really the best in south Philly.

At the intersection of 9th Street and Passyunk, about two miles south of Independence Hall, two cheesesteak titans are squared off. On the south corner of the intersection, Pat's King of Steaks has stood since its humble beginnings in 1930 as a hot dog stand. On the north side is relative newcomer Geno's Steaks (founded in 1966).

While Pat's is subdued, Geno's is full of neon and glitz. I began my early lunch at Pat's, ordering a "whiz with" (cheesesteak with cheese whiz and onions). Then, in a feat of unmitigated gluttony, I crossed the three-way intersection and got the same at Geno's.

The verdict: Pat's steak was more flavorful, while the bun at Geno's was a bit softer. Also, the sides and beverages at Geno's take a slight edge (especially since Geno's features Birch Beer -- kind of like a cross between root beer and Mountain Dew Code Red).

Bottom line: You can't go wrong at either place! These are without doubt the best cheesesteaks anywhere!