Preble County Meets Japan

Leaving Dayton was a bit of a slow start as the tsa wanted to check something suspicious in one of Becky's bags.  Turned out that Becky was doing a favor for a friend - she collects those smashed pennies where you put a penny and a quarter in the machine, crank the handle and a smashed penny with something stamped on it comes out.  She had heard Japan has these machines too.  So Becky had a roll of quarters and a roll of pennies.  That tagged Becky's bag for inspection.

After the TSA tore through the bag and satisfied themselves that Becky was not a currency smuggler, she repacked and we were on our way.  Later we found that this was partially true.  The machines exist in a few touristy spots in japan, but they use copper discs and you just put in a 50 yen coin.  I was skeptical - seemed odd that there would that there were that many American tourists in Japan that the machines would pay for themselves.

Chicago is where we caught the international flight, thankfully the gate was right next door to the flight we flew in on, so no dashing through the airport to get on the plane in time. The seats were uncomfortable, at least for a couple of old folks like us.  My hip hurt after a spell and I had to keep shifting myself around to stay comfortable,  Becky's back hurt and she was in the same boat as me.  We joked that we should just take sleeping pills and snooze blissfully on the return trip.

The flight itself wasn't bad.  Not much turbulance during the flight and we watched a few movies and I read a little. The landing was a bit much.  Apparently it was windy in Tokyo and we must have ran into some cross winds.  So the landing was a bit rough and we were thankful when we finally touched down.  The pilot actually apologized for the landing. 

Joe and his wife Sam met us at the airport.  It was a little over 2 hours to get to Joe's place. And we had to drive thru Tokyo to get there.  Some of the highways are numbered, and some of the signs have english subtitles, but if you can't read Japanese you have to rely on the GPS.  Which with tall buildings and tunnels - it adds to the level of difficulty of navigating if you lose your signal. Oh and did I mention that they drive on the opposite side of the road.  So Joe did all this on the wrong side of the road - at least according to us.  

We did pass by Disney at night which was really nice all lit up - as was the rest of the city.  We couldn't enjoy the the night view from the plane when we came in, gripping our arm rests in terror and all. 

The next day we spent at a local park.  Joe promised that the first week of April was the best time to see the cherry blossoms.  And he was right, they were all in full bloom that day.

  

There was a light breeze and we stopped on one of the streets on the base to check out the tree's and take a few pics.  It was like being in a gentle snow flurry with the petals falling from some of the tree's.  Sam picked up a handful from curb and threw them on Joe's back.   But was like being in a tunnel of cherry blossoms with all the tree's in bloom on each side of the street.  Very scenic and a lot of people were walking under the tree's and taking pics.

The city park was good sized and lots of people were there to see the tree's and flowers.

We had some ice cream - cherry flavored of course.  We were people watching and snapping pictures.  People love their dogs. The majority had little doggie coats on them, and some were even being pushed around in strollers, pampered pets indeed.

I think the land belonged to a famous person who had a farm,rice mill, and rice warehouse - which had all been restored. There were even a few rice paddies. Close to that was a huge open area where some people were flying kites, and around the perimeter were vendors selling treats, and most of the people were picnicking in the perimeter of this area.  Various gardens were scattered about the property and most were in bloom or close to blooming. So it was very colorful and springlike in the atmosphere, a fun way to spend the first day.

The next day was our trip to Kyoto to see the original Imperial palace and also the temples.  Looking at the map of Kyoto you can see a liberal sprinkling of temples and shrines about the city. So we easily could have spent a week there taking in the sights.  But the plan was to hit the highlights and then move on. 

Navigating the subways, railways, and buslines in an English speaking city is hard enough - figuring out schedules and which line to get on and whatnot. So add to the complexity of all the above - in Japanese, but Joe and Sam have done this before.  Thankfully in Japan they have a lot of English subtitles in their signage.  But we did have to make a few trips to the information booth when all else failed.  They have learned to allow extra time on their trips to allow for getting on a North bound bus instead of a South bound, etc. As always the kindness of strangers helping lost Americans is a blessing and the Japanese that we met were gracious and helpful.

The bullet train ride was surprisingly smooth.  From Tokyo to Kyoto the scenery whips by at a blazing speed.  Sort of like riding shotgun with a nascar driver.  And it's not like they run a bullet train once an hour - while we were there they going about every 10 minutes - so there is an assembly line of these speed demons tearing across the country side.

Maybe it was the rail line attracting the population, or maybe the country is just crowded period, but it felt like every place that you could put a house, there was a house.  There were some plots of ground for farming, but they were small and surrounded by houses. Now the steep hill sides and mountains were bare of houses, but the rest of the countryside we saw on that trip was crowded - at least for a country boy like me. And many of the mountains were pretty with cherry tree's randomly blooming all the way to the top.

It was cool and wet our entire stay in Kyoto - it was t-shirt and shorts weather the week before, but of course when we arrive the weather turns.  Still our stay was pleasant and we were lucky.  They only open the Imperial residences for a few weeks each year and so we got to see buildings and objects you ordinarily do not see.  Just seeing the grounds, gardens, and buildings were impressive enough.

We met a fellow in one of the small temple areas on the Imperial grounds.  Joe knows some basic Japanese and this fellow knew basic English. Together they were able to cobble together a conversation.  He was super friendly - turns he knows where Ohio is as he has a cousin in Michigan.  But we did not hold that against him.  I told him about catching Pike in Canada when we found out that we both liked fishing. Anyway it was fun to converse with him and find our commonalities.

We visited a building where a Shogun Leader lived along with his fellow warriors. And throughout the trip we had been utilizing wheelchairs for Becky in facilities where we could find them. She can get around, but not very well.  So as we are going around the living quarters, I keep hearing squeaks and chirps.  I am thinking that this wheelchair sure could use a little grease.  As it turns out they used what is called nightingale flooring, wood flooring that purposefully is made to chirp when walked on so that no one could sneak upon them at night.  I will have to google how they do that so that no ninja's sneak into our house.

 And the main temple that we wanted to visit had a festival that they timed to go along with cherry blossoms. So vendors were selling food and and woman dressed as geisha's as well as men who wore old style robes. It was like the Preble Country Pork Festival with an Asian twist.  Lots of vendors of all sorts - food, religious items, souvenirs, kids toys and the like.  The food was a bit different - one girl walked by that was eating a whole fish on a stick, another vendor had octopus, and so forth - a bit different by Western standards. 

We asked a passing geisha girl and her boyfriend if they would hold Ryker for a picture. Turns out the couple was from Thailand.  They both spoke fluent english and were in Japan studying for several months.  I felt like the dumb American - I speak only one language and my abilities with it are questionable.

The next day got an unexpected start.  We got to the subway station and Becky had to use the lavatory.  So Joe and I waited nearby and chatted while waiting.  Suddenly an alarm went off nearby.  A guard rushed by -"Wonder what all the ruckus is about?  Say, it couldn't be Mom could it?  No I wouldn't think so..."  And about that time a red faced Becky emerged.  Turns out that some toilets in Japan have multiple buttons - a spray of water like a bedoit (sp), perfume, and of course an emergency button - all written in Japanese and poor Becky selected the wrong one.

She was a good sport through it all and we got a good laugh about it later. We made to a temple complex where the theme was about foxes.  And there were thousands of orange wooden arches that went up the hillside. They straddled the path and made an orange caterpillar circling the hill. We did not do the full circuit but did an abbreviated trip.  A bride and groom having wedding pictures taken inside the Torii gates were on this leg.

We visited some small shrines, then a Buddhist temple.  One thing to mention - if you plan to visit temples in the orient, then wear slip shoes.  Most temples will not allow you to wear shoes inside.  So its a bit of a hassle. but an easy price to pay for admission. One of our most relaxing experiences was going to a Buddhist temple and in the middle was a garden with small tree’s and a pool.  It was a place of quiet and tranquility in the middle of this city. There was something inexplicable there that made you feel at peace with the world.

Our last night in Kyoto we ate at a restaurant about a block from the hotel.  Some of the restaurants have English descriptions in their menu’s, but many times we just pointed to a picture on the menu to place our orders.  The place we chose had both Japanese and Western style cuisine – so that each could order to their liking. Still we had communication problems and it took like 15 minutes to get our order in, much to the amusement of the two Australian women the next table over.

Then after all the ruckus, the waiter comes back and gives us English menu’s!  We could have saved 15 minutes if he had brought them out in the first place.  We then looked at the English descriptions of what we had ordered, it turns out that Joe ordered snake!  He promptly changed his order and we sat back and chatted with the Australian women.

Turns out that they were teachers that taught Japanese in their schools and they were there for a conference.  And by a remarkable coincidence the one women’s husband was in the Australian air force.  So she and Joe talked shop a little bit. They kept on telling Joe and Sam that they needed to move to Australia!  Sounds like they do pay their people better and the duty is not so hazardous.  And the one speaking with Joe could mimic the call of the kookaburra bird to the delight of Ryker.  We thought they pushed a bit too hard as to how Australia was so much better than the US, but we didn’t make much of it.  Any way it was a delightful evening.

The next side trip was to Shimodo – a town by the Pacific ocean.  We took a wrong turn and so we had to turn around.  We took the first exit and found that there was no ramp to get back on at the toll gate.  We looked at the map and saw that we  could drive forward and there was a ramp at that exit.  But the operator said that it had been shut down.  So you could get off the expressway in that area, but you couldn’t get back on.

We figured it was the redneck area in the mountains of Japan and they wanted to keep it  isolated from the rest of the country.  We actually saw our first rusty cars and actually saw a car on blocks in the front yard of one home.  So the area definitely was not the best socio-economically.  If you have ever driven to Cade’s Cove in Rocky Mountain National park that gives you an idea of the two lane road we had to take back to the next entrance for the expressway.  Plenty of curves, cliffs, high bridges, but Joe managed it all.  We even saw a highway sign to watch for monkeys!  Finally though, we were back on track.

As we were coming out of the mountains and getting closer to our destination, Joe pointed out a sign, “Hey look guys they named this bridge ahead the spiral bridge – whats up with that?”  We found out in about 10 seconds when we began descending on a real spiral bridge.  I was joking that I was getting dizzy from going in circles. It was almost like some kind of ride.  And Joe had to pump the brakes when we smelled them getting hot. 

But the trip was worth it as we drove by the jagged coastline to the beaches. Reminds of some of the pics that I have seen of some of the California coastline. Very beautiful to view and there were a couple of pull offs that we kept in mind for our trip back home to stop and get pictures.

And the Hotel was a very nice one, right on the beach – it had a beautiful view.  The rooms were bigger than in Kyoto and more western sized.  Joe said that the rooms and beds in Kyoto were ‘Ryker sized’ but here the beds and rooms were more proportioned to our size.  I think I mentioned before about vending machines are everywhere in Japan – our floor had vending machines for both pop and beer!  And the first floor had all this and also the hot coffee vending machines and finally one that did food – including some heated rice dishes and even hot French fries!

We visited a temple or two, but the highlight of the trip had to be the aquarium.  It was off season and kind of  drizzling off and on, so the place was not crowded.  When we pulled up I figured we would go thru it in an hour or two and be gone.  Boy was I wrong. It was like a smaller version of Sea World – less the killer whales. They had the shows timed very well so you could see the local dolphin show, then the seal act, the penguins (at the end of the show, they held up a penguin egg), the sea lion, the bottle nose dolphins, and watch the guy feed the fish in the big 50’ tall tank. The guy in the tank actually hugged a Moray eel, we all shuddered thinking he would lose a finger or something.  There has to be an easier way of making a living.  Of course there was some time to look at some of the fish, jelly fish, sea turtles, etc.  So we were there until early afternoon. 

Joe wanted to get some flip flops and we stopped at this sea side surf shop.  It had surf boards, wet suits, and the like. The owner was very nice and allowed us to park there to visit the shrine across the road by the sea. He and Joe had a conversion, again Joe knew some Japanese and the fellow knew some English and so they were to converse well enough.  We wanted to find a good local restaurant and he gave us a recommendation that we went to later that night.

But first up was the shrine by the ocean.  We walked across the road and visited the small temple that was right there, but you had to walk around a couple of buildings and there was a torii gate on a sloped rock rising from the beach.  Then there was a huge rope that went from that rock with the torii gate to a sea side clift about 50’ feet away.  It had to be symbolic, but we were not sure of the meaning. On the clift was a rock with inscriptions on it. 

For some reason Becky felt compelled to walk up the incline to cliff.  Mind you there was no safety fences or anything.  And she wanted to power walk up – almost dragging me along.  And Joe was telling her to slow the heck down and take her time.  It was a long fall if any of us took a wrong step. And the path up was narrow in a couple of places. We had to walk up a ledge to get to the cliff face. But it was a nice view once we arrived at the top and the opposite end of the cliff had a cave.  The tide was coming in and each wave boiled into the cave making all kinds of churning spray.

Last stop of the night was at the South Surf – a local restaurant, the one recommended by the shop owner.  It was a small place, but had an ambitious menu – Japanese, Italian, American, and Indian dishes.   We were skeptical – were they over reaching, trying to do too much?  We ordered a variety of things, each according to their taste and it was all good.  And the prices were reasonable. So we were impressed, even my Samurai Surfer beer tasted great. 

Oh, at some of the nicer Hotels in Japan they have hot spa’s.  Sort of a public bath.  And by bath, that means everyone goes naked – but at least there is segregation by the sexes.  They do have a shower area where you rinse off before going in the water.  So we figured when in Rome… 

Joe and I had the place ourselves when we first got there.  It was roomy area and the bath area was made of marble and there was hot water constantly running thru the bath which was like 10 feet wide and maybe 50 feet long.  About 15 minutes after we got in some more guys came in and I would imagine that there were 7 or 8 of us in there at one point. It was pretty warm so we had to sit on the sides to cool off and after about a half hour, we were cooked. But after a day of walking, it did help to relax tired muscles.

We compared notes with Becky and Sam, Joe’s wife.  On the women’s side there were a lot more patrons and not much modesty.  They were walking about openly.  I told them they should have taken pictures to verify this…  Also Sam said that they were ‘all A-cups with gorilla bushes.’  Well anyway we can say that we have been there and done that – went skinny dipping with the Japanese.

The pace of our explorations changed the second week, we went on shorter day trips in the area.  Sam and I went to the Tokyo fish market which bills itself as the largest in the world. Joe didn’t like seafood and Becky didn’t want to travel that day.  The market shuts down early, so we had to leave during rush hour to get there in time.  And we definitely felt like sardines during the trip.  Sometimes the subway cars are so full that at some stops the new riders turn their backs to the crowd and push backwards to force their way into the cars. You get very familiar with your travelling companions.

Sam was a magician with her smart phone.  It has the Tokyo subway and train system and so she mapped out our route and kept us on track as we had to change lines several times – again just like the roads, some of the info is in Japanese and some in English. So she has become quite the navigator while overseas.  Google maps is a great travelling companion.

By the port side, there are larger warehouses, but by the city are rows of narrow streets with all kinds of vendors.  Mostly fish and seafood of course, but also some small restaurants, and other types of food.  And to add to the chaos there is the occasional fork lift or motorcycle zipping by, so you have to be nimble of foot.  

About everything that could swim was found in the market.  Huge shrimp that you could almost saddle up and ride.  Ok, maybe not that big – but some were easily as long as your hand.  Every species of crab. Tons of fish of course, some of the vendors had tubs full. Octopus, squid, shellfish of all sorts. One display had a huge tuna head – bigger than a horses head, and on display were cuts of meat from that fish.  One of the cuts of meat was a huge chunk as big as a thanksgiving turkey – I was impressed.  

Well the goal was to get some seafood for Becky and prepare it for Becky.  Most seafood in restaurants is sushi but she did not want to try it. We found some decent sized shrimp, some crabs, and some salmon so that she could sample it.  Sam cooked it all up and we had a feast.  All was good – I would imagine that it was caught that morning and it tasted great.

Becky wanted to see the statue of the dog from the movie where the owner dies and the dog loyally shows up every day by the station waiting for an owner that will never return.  It was a popular attraction, there was a small crowd around it and you had to wait your turn if you wanted your photo by it.  That is also close to an intersection that is billed as the busiest in the world, well at least the busiest in Japan.  The sea of people walking by rivals what we saw on Time Square.

We stopped at a Brazilian Steakhouse for lunch that one of Joe's friends had told him about.  It had a very nice buffet for your salad and veggies.  Then the staff came around to your table with different types of beef, pork, chicken and would slice off a portion for you.  Quite the feast, we finally had to wave them off after we were all stuffed. Then they had a several desserts that you could indulge yourself with.

Our last full day there was the most demanding as far as walking.  Joe had warned us coming in that there would be a lot of walking and I am glad that we had the first week and a half to get us somewhat in shape for this last day trip.  First up was a giant bronze Buddha statue that was created like 750 years ago.  It survived a tidal wave – which must have been a giant one as the statue is up a good 150 feet (or more) from the sea. It has also survived massive earth quakes and there was also a fire which burned down the original temple.

Next Joe had done some research and there was an island (connected to the mainland by bridge) where they had built some shrines and temples inside the caves.  Now to reach the caves you had to climb up to the peak of the highest point of the island and back down again.  I am guessing it was like 200 feet tall.  But it was scenic and there was a smattering of statues and shrines sprinkled around the island.  So we could stop and rest at each one.  In other words, we did not have to make the round trip in one long sprint.

Again Ryker was a rock star, Joe and Sam got a new back pack carrier and I soon volunteered to carry him around for a bit to give Joe a rest.  I had a couple of people stop me for pics and I saw people out of the corner of my eye taking pics of me and Ryker several times. So I got a small taste of the Ryker effect - Japanese cannot get enough of light haired, blue eyed babies. 

The descent down to the caves was steep and twisted.  It took its toll on Becky, she had to stop several times to rest and catch her wind.  But the caves were interesting with ancient statutes and shrines within.  Hard to imagine that a lot of it has been there for hundreds of years. 

On our way out we were going downhill and all of a sudden Ryker started laughing, and laughing – he must have laughed for a good 5 minutes.  He seemed to be looking off to his left steadily, but we couldn’t spot anything that could be cause.  We kind of looked back in bewilderment and wondered if maybe some playful spirits may have somehow had him laughing with joy.

That night Joe took us to a nice restaurant close by the base, this was our last night in Japan.  In this one, you cook your own meat. There are actually burners built into the table with a small grill on top.  You order your raw meat and sides, then you cook your meat and then they have 3 types of sauces if you want to spice things up a bit.  I found that the food tasted very good.   And they didn’t gouge you on the beer – I ordered a $5 (ok 590 yen) beer and I got a $5 sized bottle – about twice the size of an average sized beer bottle.  It was a good way to end our visit.

Before I detail the trip home, some random observations of Japan.  There are many Western brands there.  7/11 and Lawson stores feel like they are on every corner.  And unlike here in the US where you have to be brave to eat a sandwich or a hot dog from a convenience store, the sandwiches and heated up foods actually taste good and have flavor.  Oh, yeah and they allow open containers there.  So you can go to a 7/11, buy a tall one, and walk down the street sipping on it.  Which Joe and I did a couple of times. I drank the main local brews – Kirin, Sapporo, and Ashahi and liked them all. 

We ate at a Frisches – but the menu is definitely oriental.  No hamburgers (they do have a hamburger patty with sauce on rice), but lots of curries and rice dishes. I liked it.  Denny’s is there (also has oriental menu), but Joe said that it isn’t good.  McDonalds was pretty much the same there as here. Saw KFC but did not stop in, but Joe says that it is popular.

I did eat some mystery meat on a stick (it tasted good)  and squid (so-so).  Ya gotta expand your horizon’s and not get stuck too deeply in a rut. Several times we were travelling by subway and wanted something to eat – you spotted something that looked edible in a vending machine or a small food stand and took your chances.

We felt safe where ever we went and the streets did seem to be pretty clean. I like the culture, a blend of oriental and western. On the subways the dress code for workers seems to be a dark suit and tie and the women wear dark dresses and heels.  So apparently it is very formal in the work place.  Oh and the subway trains are ghostly quiet as far as chatter – people are quiet out of respect for their fellow passengers is what Joe told us.  Now we did hear some noise, several of the trains had braking systems that sound like a distressed cat.  The first couple of times I heard it, I was looking around to see if someone had a cat on their lap and was twisting its tail.

There are enough Japanese that know English that you can find someone to help out. They do have some restrooms with squatters – oriental style toilets that are more or less a hole in the floor.  And you can find western style food, but obviously you are not going to find it everywhere.  I had to talk to Becky after the second day – we are wasting too much time trying to find the right food to eat and the right restroom, we just need to go native or we won’t be able see half the stuff we want to see.

The timing was right for the Cherry Blossoms.  The first week of April is the time to go.  By the time we left the blossoms were pretty much gone.  

Well now we are ready for the trip home.  Of course it was a tearful goodbye, Becky was happy to be going home but was going to miss the 3 of them.  I got a little misty eyed myself, we won't see Joe again until next summer. Sam and Ryker will be taking a trip stateside later this year, so we will be looking forward to seeing them.  The base runs a bus to the airport and there was room for us and although we had to pay a fee, it beat trying to catch trains or subways to get there.  The driver though went strictly by the speed limit.  And many stretches are 60, that is 60 kilometers per hour which is like 37 miles an hour.  Even 80 kph works out to about 50.  So the drive seemed to take forever.

We got thru the airport alright, went thru the exit process, and got on the airplane.  The trip went fairly well.  Still couldn’t hardly sleep, so we both arrived in Chicago exhausted.  We had to go thru the lines all over again. We were waiting in one line and a USDA lady with a beagle walks up to us and asks if we have any fruit.  Turns out that Becky got a banana from the stewardess to eat during the layover.  And the beagle alerted on that.  We turned in our contraband banana and were dismissed. 

Next up was the TSA.  We were herded into line – ‘go on down, down to the next one, keep going… yes go in line there.’  It was a line where we didn’t have to take out laptops, take off shoes for some reason. The guy says ‘don’t take anything off, don’t take anything out of your bag.’ OK fine, I think. But it was also a line where they ended up inspecting both of our bags and I had to have a pat down.  Thanks guy.

Becky had put a bottle of water in her bag and had forgotten about it.  So yet again we had been caught with contraband – I am sure that we are some list somewhere by now.  Not sure what the deal was with my bag, they went thru it quickly – it had the laptop, tablet, and camera in it. 

Next up was me – I had some change in my pocket that I had forgotten about.  So I had to have a pat down.  A female was running the station and apparently I needed a male for the pat down.  It took like 5 minutes of her hollering to finally get someone over.  And the guys feels my left pocket, the outside of my left leg and I am done – it took like 2 seconds.  No probing, so I felt a bit disappointed.  I was going to complain to his supervisor but I thought better of it.

We make our flight to Dayton and we were home sweet home.  Still recuperating from the jet lag of course. But it was great trip and well worth it.  Joe and Sam were excellent hosts, tour guides, and travelling companions.  We are hoping that Joe gets assigned to Europe next go round, maybe we have recovered from our jet lag by then!

Annual Christmas Card

Looking back at 2014 - it will be remembered as the year of the boy.  For the longest time Cash has been our only grandson.  Well he is not flying solo any longer.  Joe and Samantha had young Ryker in May and then Eric and Vanessa had Elliot in June.  To complete the trifecta, Heathers daughter Callie had a son - Wes.  It is Heather's first grandchild.

All in all it has been a good year.  Joe got a 30 day leave from Japan and so he was stateside for an extended period.  He said it was like being in school again and getting a summer vacation.  We got to actually see young Ryker.  He is very energetic and expressive.  Some of the time was spent lazing around and we had a few bonfires. Both Joe and Sam found out who their real friends were.  Joe had one friend was like 15 minutes away in Middletown, but couldn't find an hour or two to drop in and catch up.  But he had good times with his real friends.

Chelsea's husband, Dan, is back in school. He is taking classes to get a certificate to be an employee in a jail or prison.  Chelsea is working crazy hours at a plant in Franklin.  They do packaging for all sorts of products and she does quality control. She has been getting overtime, which is good.  But the long hours give her less time to spend with her family.  Hopefully 2015 will be year where they can reverse roles.  Dan can go to work and the Chelsea will be the one in school and finish her 4 year degree.

Vanessa and Eric moved back to Ohio.  She wasn't happy with the direction that her old company was going in at the Louisville office. So she made a radical career change - she is working for a tractor dealership just North of Covington.  Eric was able to transfer to the Coke distributor in Huber Heights.  By all accounts the move was the right one. Elaina likes her new school.  Eric actually got a pay raise, and Vanessa is happy with her new position and is learning the farm equipment business.

Chad is chugging along, still doing maintenance for Montgomery County. Cash is doing OK at school - still enthused about anything mechanical.  When I visit the house - if there are any projects from school to show me, invariably he has weaved a car, a truck, an airplane into the project.  They have a big Yukon now to pull the travel trailer they purchased.  Not much time to do camping this summer, but next year should be a fun year for that.

Work is going OK for me.  5 years now at Luxottica Retail. Working on a big project that is due this spring.  So a busy winter to get it all done.  Becky just got back from a trip to Wisconsin to visit her niece.  She had an operation on her eye and needed some assistance.   It was a break from the routine for her.  We are actually going to Japan this spring to visit Joe and Samantha.  So that is the next great adventure.

The week before Christmas

Dixie might be better than I thought, although they seem to rely on one scorer in the game that I saw.   So a box and one or a tough defender might make it hard for them to score. But I can see them getting to .500 or beyond. South will probably have a winning record from the game that I saw.  But I don’t think they will be challenging for league.  Tri Village just has too much and Miami East is not far behind.  And North is a bunch of football players playing basketball.  The game I saw they had a 4 out and 1 in offense – pass the ball around the perimeter, finally throw up a forced shot and let the other team get the rebound.  Not a recipe for success.  No cutting to the basket or driving to the hoop.

My camera croaked.  It is over 10 years and a sensor went out.  When I went online to check for the value – it is worth less than $100 working.  I paid about $600 new.  So it isn’t worth trying to fix.  I found another one new online and got the camera body for about $760.  My lenses will work with it.  So this weekend I will take it out for some real pics and see how it does.  Of course on paper it is way better than the old one.  We will see how it does in the gym.

Chelsea wants to see the new Hobbit movie that just came out.  Dan is not interested in going.  With her work schedule it is hard to find time to do anything with her.  But she is off the day before and the day after Christmas.  We are thinking that Christmas eve everyone will be with family so that will be a good time to see the movie and maybe take her out to like O’Charlies, Applebee’s or something similar.  She has been working hard, so she deserves a treat.

Eric, Vanessa’s husband, got a compliment from his boss.  He has only been working at Coke in Huber Heights for only a few months – but he has impressed his boss.  He is getting a lot of hours since he is low man on the totem pole and if anyone takes off, he is likely to be called upon to fill in.  But anyway it is good to be wanted, it made him feel good that the boss took some time to talk him up.  Elaina is doing well in school and that is a positive as well.

Chad is working on my Suzuki.  A check engine light is coming on.  He tried a few things this week end, but no luck.  I told him to keep it until next weekend, that I would just drive the truck this week.  Sarah is getting some substitute teaching.  But it is sporadic.  Oh and they don’t make things like they used to – he had some problems with his car running rough.  After doing trouble shooting his spark plug wires were bad – only 10,000 miles on them from NAPA.  NAPA is usually good quality, so that is disappointing.

Joe and Samantha have a tree up, so they are ready for Christmas.  Young Ryker is getting his first tooth.  They post videos online, so it is fun to watch him develop.  Years ago there was no way to see how the kids are doing. They are still doing dental work on Samantha, but hopefully things are stable for the holidays. 

Merry Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving went well for us.  Vanessa hosted this year, since she has moved to Covington and has the big farm house.  So Vanessa was the one that had to stay up late and get up early to get the meal prepared.  Becky made a pumpkin pie and a cherry pie – so she still did some cooking. Chelsea and Dan could not make it, they were both sick with some sort of bug. We did pick up Annabelle so that she could see her cousins and Chelsea did look pretty rough.

Chelsea has some time off this weekend and she gets sick – go figure the luck. She said that she is supposed to go to 2^nd shift.  Which I prefer since there are too many stories about people falling asleep at the wheel on the way home from work and wrecking from working 3^rd shift.  Chad and Sarah had to leave early as they were going up to Michigan for the rest of the weekend to see Sarah’s relatives that live around Ann Arbor.  I am watching their critters for them.  Their outside dog does not like me one bit.  Fortunately he is chained – but I wear thick clothing that he can’t bite through in case he decides to make a go of it when I feed him.

On the plus side I get to keep the eggs when I feed the chickens.  11 of ‘em the first day. So that is an extra dividend that I wasn’t expecting.  I did not realize that they had so many chickens.  Talked with Vanessa after everyone had gone.  She said that even though she makes less money right now, that they are ahead of where they were at in Louisville.  Childcare is a lot cheaper for one.  And the house they rent is still cheaper than the apartment. So it sounds like the move was a positive.  Oh, and she says she now knows more about combines that she ever thought that she would.

Apparently you never want your combine to get rocked – that is it picks up a rock and it tries to go thru the combine – tearing up everything along the way.  They had one repair bill that was for over $28k.  An expensive rock that one. Both Vanessa and Eric worked on black Friday, so we watched the kids for them since the sitter was not available.  The girls helped me with some of my chores.  A good time all in all. Oh and Thanksgiving must not have been traumatic. Vanessa is thinking of hosting Christmas.

Covered the North and South girls basketball teams last night at Northridge.  They were in a tip off tournament.  North looked better than South.  But I don’t see either team doing very well this season.  I guess that North was down 2 starters due to illness and injury, so that might have been a factor – but from what I can see they will have a long season.  And South has more players this season, but still not much experience.  Their road will be even longer.  Next week the boys start up. South has no height this year, but good guards.  North does not return much. We cover Dixie and they are in the same boat as North – not returning much talent. 

cute kids 1999 edition

Attached is cute kids 1999 a summary of the kids antics for the year.

Y2K project is going OK so far.  One minor glitch, a subsystem is stamping
documents with MM/DD/1920   Looks like someone is trying to cram a
4 digit date into a 2 digit date field that has '19' prepended onto
it.  Anyway, that is the only 'gotcha' so far.

Vanessa got to start against Stivers.  They are a pretty poor team,
that we beat handily 43 to 20.  Vanessa has yet to score a point.
Her hip is giving her problems again.  X-rays show that her growth
plates on the top of her hips haven't fused yet.  She hasn't hardly
grown in the last year.  Doctors say it is just a manner of time
until they fuse.  They play Tri-County North on Thursday.  Tom Steck,
a former classmate of mine, is coaching their team.  Vanessa's boyfriend,
Mark, broke up with her so she was in a grouchy mood this weekend.

Car that Chad worked 2 jobs to pay off.

Chelsea has 2 games this weekend.  One against an undefeated
Brookville - should be a barnburner.

Joe said that it was his best christmas ever.  He is really enjoying the
Rollercoaster Tycoon pc game we got for him.  It was a good investment.
We have been playing Starcraft head to head on our 2 pc's.

Chad is putting another engine in his pickup truck.  Still has a ways
to go.  Has a new girl that he is seeing, she is 16.  She called several
times this weekend, so she is serious anyway.

Becky and I will be celebrating our anniversary this weekend.  21 years...
----------


Jan 6  Children are on an extended winter break.  10 inches of snow over the weekend.  All the schools
       have been closed since Monday.  Christmas was good this year.  Joe got a hotwheels volcano
       race set, XV racers, numerous hotwheels tool set..  Chelsea got clothing, porcelein doll.  Chad and
       Vanessa got mainly clothing.  Got a used street fighter game for the super ninintendo.  It
       has got the most use of any of the gifts.  That was $10 well spent.

Jan.7  Still no school.  Chad got tractor running and scraped away some of the snow.  Called in sick to
       work, but still found time to go running around this pm.  Vanessa's ankle is still giving her
       problems.  It was injured like the first game and still isn't completely healed.  We are worried
       about track season.  Chelsea has practice tonight & a game on Friday.  Joe has practice on Sat.
       It keeps them busy. Chelsea and Joe helped me get a pickup truck load of hay yesterday.  They
       were able to slide on the crust of ice on top of the snow and Chelsea was able to scoot some of
       the hay across the ice.  

Jan. 12  School is still out.  Chad helped me get some firewood and hay over the weekend.  Chelsea went
         to Desma's today for girl scouts - time to sell cookies.  Vanessa's ankle is still in bad shape
         so we may take her to a sports medicine clinic to be checked out.  Saw Alien III last night on
         video tape & Joe said that he never wanted to go into space - he covered his eyes during the
         scary parts.

Feb.  2  The telephone situation is only going to get worse.  The phone rang and we had the usual mad
         scramble for the phone.  Joe was by the computer and answered.  Chad was tapping his foot
         impatiently, "Well who's it for, Joe?"   "It's for me", answered Joe smugly and he proceeded
         to talk to a girl from down the road, Jessica. Joe played some good defense last Saturday
         at the YMCA,  got a couple of good rebounds and made some good bounce passes.  Vanessa
         now has a weight bench to use to stay in shape.  She is still playing great defense, so-so
         offense.  Chelsea is getting some points, but is also playing great defense.  Chad is going
         to be measured for a cap and gown in a few weeks.  He is thinking about looking for another
         job at another dealership.  Slemkers isn't willing to participate in the GM program at
         Sinclair + they are still paying him minimum wage...

Feb. 17  Had a good surprise for Joe's birthday.  We told him we were going to McDonalds.  Then after
         we left, we headed to Hara Arena for a Monster Truck Show & Bad Boys of Wrestling.  Joe
         really had a good time.  Vanessa is on the tourney team - next week is the state tourney.
         Chad had his stomach scoped - no obvious problems found.  Chelsea scored 8 points at her
         last game.  Vanessa and Steve are on the rocks.   Oh, Vanessa is doing interesting experiments
         in Chemistry class.  Apparently they dropped a substance on the floor and it ate a hole in it.
         So far she hasn't lost any fingers.
       
Feb. 24  Vanessa got to play with the Varsity in the last two minutes of the tournament game against Jackson
         Center.  She did OK, got off a shot, but it wouldn't drop.  They lost the game, but it was nice
         to see Vanessa get to play.  Chelsea had a good game against Carlisle last week.  She had 10
         points, 5 rebounds, and 6 steals.  Joe got frustrated at his last game.  He missed two foul shots.
         Told him to wait until next year when he is bigger, then he will do better.  Chad coaxed me into
         taking him and Joe to the Monster Truck show at the Nutter Center this Saturday - better buy
         some ear plugs.

Feb. 28  Vanessa went to a 'tune up' meet in Cincinnati.  She ran a 2:34 800m - not bad for not doing any
         distance work.  Vanessa also got a '87 Dodge Dynasty.  It is a very clean car with a transmission
         problem.  Chad thinks that he can fix it, if so it will be a real bargain.

Mar. 8   Vanessa ran at an indoor meet at Cedarville College.  She ran 1600 meters in 6:09.
         Put down a downpayment on a tuxedo for the prom for Chad.  It is going to cost around $80.
         Chelsea has AAU basketball tryouts tonight, she is looking forward to them. Joe made an
         interesting paper airplane.  It has a fusilage, nose, wings, and rudder.  He says it is
         the space shuttle.  Hey and it flys fairly well too.  

Mar. 30  Vanessa ran at the preble county kickoff.  They did not score the meet,it was a warmup meet.
         She was first in the mile, first in her heat in the hurdles, and the 4 X 400m relay got 1st.
         Chelsea's AAU has started.  Practice is going full bore this week.  Everyone is home on
         spring break.  Vanessa is taking her drivers ed class this week. Soon we will have 2
         teenagers driving.  Chad is getting ready to junk out some old vehicles.

Mar. 31  Chad is going to a state competition.  He and a friend were one of the top 15 teams in
         Ohio for automobile troubleshooting.  They are headed up to Cleveland for a state competition.
         MVCTC is receiving a brand new Ford motor for the school to use.  Good luck to the gearheads!

Apr.  6  Vanessa ran a 17.65 in the 100m hurdles.  A 2:34 split in the 800m X 4 relay.

Apr. 12  Chad had a rough go of it at the MVCTC prom.  Melissa was upset because she had broken up
         with her boyfriend.  Chad finally got fed up with her being so glum - left her at the prom
         and took off with Matt.  Vanessa did OK at the Anna Invitational.  She hurt her knee on the
         hurdles and got no points.  But managed a 3rd in the mile (5:53) & a 5th in the 800m 2:40 -
         a bit slow in the 800, but her knee was getting sore at that point.  Chelsea played paintball
         with us this weekend, she is improving as a player.

Apr. 26  Chelsea had a good weekend at basketball, got at least 6 points that I remember.  Vanessa got
         a 1st in the the 800m run(2:32) and 2nd in the mile (5:45) at the Eaton Invitational.  

Apr. 28  Vanessa had a great performance at the county meet.  She got 5th in hurdles, 1st in 800m & 1600m,
         and most importantly got 3rd in the 2 mile run, which helped score enough points to win the
         Preble County for South!

May  03  Chad got 11th place at the state competition for Automotive trouble shooting.  When he got back,
         he went to the South prom and had a good time.  Chelsea went to COSI in Columbus.  Vanessa
         had a so-so performance at West Milton.  2:32 or so in the 800m; 5:45 in the 1600m.  Joe got
         a card from his girlfriend, Jessica.

May  10  Vanessa went to her first prom with Mark.  She looked sharp.  Vanessa had to drive and on the
         way home, they got lost.  Stopped at a gas station and about 15 minutes later they ended back
         at the same station.  Finally found their way home and it was a good time all in all.  Chelsea's
         team was 1-3 over the weekend.  She played fairly well overall.  Chad mowed grass at grandpa
         Jack's house.  We ordered graduation announcements for him today.  Joe made a nice Mother's
         day present at school - a key chain with his picture.

May 23   Vanessa has a had an injury to the growth plate of her hip.  It was painful enough that it
         slowed her down for track.  So this season is ending early.  Hopefully, it will heal OK over
         the summer.

June  7  Chad graduated last week.  Smoked his first cigar at Jason Hora's graduation party.
         Seemed to be in good spirits last weekend.  Today he starts work at a Buick Dealership
         in Middletown.  Chelsea's basketball season is over.  She played pretty well over all.
         I think that her shot is starting to come around.  Vanessa is playing softball. Her team
         won 19-13 in their first game.

June 13  Chelsea had a slumber party over the weekend.  Things got a little of hand when the adults
         went to sleep.  The girls got back up and Jessica decided to get the fire going again to
         make smore's.  She used rubbing alcohol, motor oil, etc. in the fire.  It will be a long
         time before Jessica is invited back over. I wonder what the smore's tasted like. Joe stayed
         over at Bradleys house + got to see a demolition derby.  He had fun at the demolition derby,
         but did not have fun at Bradley's.
       
June 22  Chad took his Dodge to the drag strip in Hamilton.  He made two runs and after the second run,
         he tore up his rearend - what an expensive hobby.  Vanessa's softball team had a good first game,
         but have really gone south since then.  They have lost 3 in a row and got run ruled at least once.
         Chelsea is having a blast at basketball camp.  She has gone thru all her spending money and tried to
         coerce me to send more.  The other day Chelsea and Vanessa were standing in their sock feet and
         Chelsea is only an inch or so shorter...   Joe has been building small forts and a homemade bow and arrow.
         He is tired of watching TV and playing video games, we are not even out of June yet - Summer vacation
         is just getting started.        

July 8   Vanessa is getting fitted for a dress.  She is going to be Maid of Honor at Jeanies wedding.
         Went to Juniors for the 4th of July.  Nice fireworks display, the youngsters had fun riding
         4 wheelers.  No one lost any fingers so it was a successful 4th. Vanessa's softball team is
         doing better, they are around .500 right now.  She goes to Cross Country camp next week, hopefully
         the softball has not aggrevated her hip injury.  Joe had fun at the YMCA basketball camp.

July 12  Dropped off Vanessa at Cross Country camp.  She is excited about attending.  Chelsea won two
         trophies at basketball camp.  She shot a ground hog with a pellet gun and it took several shots
         but she was able to kill it.  Another Annie Oakley I guess.

Aug  23  Had a good time at vacation.  Broke down just once this year - Chad had to put a fan belt on.
         Chelsea and Joe went with me to visit the aircraft carrier in Charleston.  We all had fun riding
         the waves.  Vanessa was in Jeanies wedding.  It went very nicely.

Aug. 30  The family went to Amber Skiles Wedding.  Had a good time at the reception.  Joe fell down
         and chipped a tooth.  He didn't want to leave, so we stayed and danced the night away.
         Vanessa is doing physical therapy for her hip still.  Her first meet is this week.
         Had to put a new radiator & also fix the heater in Vanessa's car.

Sep. 13  Vanessa had a good run on Saturday.  Still having problems with her hip, but is getting decent times.
         Chelsea stayed overnight with Allison Johnson.  They did each others hair at her mothers beauty shop.
         Chad is getting ready for Sinclair - job one is getting a working alarm clock.  Joe is signed up
         for NFL ultimate football at the YMCA, he is anxious to play.  

Sep. 16  Joe got a note sent home from the principal -  he popped a kid in the eye.  They were scuffling over who
         was in line first. Discussed this with Joe on the way to cub scouts.  Toward the end of our conversation
         Joe told me that when he has kids - he hopes that they do not get in as much trouble as he does...
         Vanessa ran well at Preble Shawnee.

Sep. 22  Vanessa got 4th at league meet & 4th at National Trail Invitational

Sep. 29  Becky had an interesting situation in Miamisburg.  She was pulled over in the van by the police.
         Seems that someone called on their cell phone and reported that someone was throwing stuff
         out of her van.  Further investigation found that Joe was the culprit.  He had been throwing
         buckeyes out of the side window.  The cop gave Joe a good talking to, and sent them on their way.
         Chelsea is pushing to play the saxophone for band.  The transmission on Vanessa's car is shot,
         am going to buy her another one.  

Oct. 28  Grandpa Freedman died earlier in the month.  At the memorial service some balloons from a celebration
         earlier in the morning descended from the ceiling.  One landed in front of Uncle Vaughn and one
         landed in front of Joe.  One Joe saying goodbye to another. Vanessa had another poor finish at the
         district meet. She got the dry heaves during the final mile and finished 21st.  Basketball
         conditioning has started. Bought Chelsea a saxophone.  She has been practicing - much to the
         chagrin of the rest of the household.  Joe has been playing ultimate football and doing OK.
         Chad finished first session at Sinclair, he is back to working full time.  So he will have some
         extra cash now.  He is really getting into the internet - because a girl that he met at
         Burger King is...   May have to get another phone line if this keeps up.  Bought Vanessa a
         Ford.

Nov. 5  Joe has been sent to the principals office 4 times this year.  One more time and he will not be
        able to go to camp Kern.  Joe's Ultimate football season ended.  He did OK, did a fine job of passing and throwing.  Vanessa was honored by getting first team all county and first team all conference for Cross Country. Chelsea is working hard at basketball.  Games start next month.  The Country Cafe has
        been calling in Chelsea the last few Sundays to help with dishes. Somehow I think that they are
        violating child labor laws, but Chelsea enjoys the extra cash.  Last Sunday she cleared more than
        Vanessa.  Chad is working 2 jobs to pay off the '57 Buick he is buying.  Don't know how he is going  to keep it up.  He wants me to co-sign a loan for him.  I am reluctant to do so, but I don't want
        him to fall asleep at the wheel either.  

Nov. 23 Chad had all 4 of his wisdom teeth pulled at the same time.  He was still a woozy from all the medication.
        He was saying how he was going to stop taking the pain killers, he was forgetting where he put things,  felt like he was in a fog, and couldn't concentrate.  Chelsea said, "Now you see how it's like in my shoes!"
        Anyway Chad seems to be recovering faster than what we thought he would, maybe he won't have to eat his  turkey thru a straw after all.  Vanessa's team has had 3 scrimmages.  They did not look as sharp as they should, it may be a long season.  Took Chelsea and Joe to see Pokey Mon, the movie.  They had a good time.

Dec. 10 The Varsity girls have gotten off to a so-so start.  They are 1-2.  Vanessa has gotten some playing time, but hasn't scored a point.  Chelsea's team is 1-0, she scored about 10 points.  Joe is having fun with cub scouts.  They practiced for the Klondike Derby that is coming up.  One contest was to use a huge  rubber sling to shoot water balloons at a wheel barrow about 100 feet away. He hit it once on the bounce and another time it landed close and sprayed it.  Not bad when some of the other fellows couldn't pull it back far enough to get the water balloon out that far.  Joe's boat didn't do too well at the raingutter regatta, he was mad about it.          

Dec.15  Joe helped make a dirt cake last night for the cub scouts charity auction.  He was excited about making his first 'cake'.  He wanted to know when we were going to add eggs and put it in the oven - had to  explain that it wasn't that kind of cake.  Chelsea has scored 26 points in her first 3 games.  The  team is 2-1, the one loss was by 2 points.  Vanessa' hip is giving her some pain - hope we don't have to go thru all the physical therapy again.  Chad took Joe to his first practice at the YMCA.  The boys had some time to kill so they played some arcade games, then Chad took him out to eat at the Jug in Middletown. They had a good time together - despite the difference in ages (19 and 7).

Dec. 20 Chelsea won a drawing that the DARE program had.  She won a $125 shopping spree at Kmart in Eaton.
        She got some stuff for herself, but was nice enough to get presents for her sister and brothers.
        Varsity girls are 3-3 going into the Holiday Tournament.  Chad got an engine from Slemckers for the
        pickup truck. Vanessa has an appointment with a doctor in Cincinnati about her hip.

prep for holidaze

Getting ready for the holidays.  Vanessa is hosting thanksgiving and I am making a table for her.  Part of the wood is from one of our Maple trees from the front yard.  It died when we had drought the summer before this one and I had a local guy saw it up for me.  The plan is to have it done this week and deliver it this weekend.

Joe’s wife, Samantha has had a lot of work done with her teeth.  She had some infection and they figure that the pressure from the air travel caused it to spread.  So she has been spending time in the dentist chair. And with the swelling the anesthetic wasn’t working as good as should have so that first visit she had a lot of pain.  Anyway they are doing several root canals. So she is having some misery too.  But she needed dental work anyway so they are just speeding it up.

Chelsea is still working tons of overtime.  She is getting some extra time off later in November and I am glad – she needs some time off to decompress.  Dan is not much help.  I don’t quite understand the whole story but this is what I was told by Becky.  Apparently he went to Sinclair like 2 years ago and flunked out.  He was put on academic probation (suspension??) at that time.  He started taking the latest round of classes  – but I guess he wasn’t supposed to be allowed to take them.  Now he can finish up this latest term but can’t take any more classes until next  fall.   Confused?  Yeah, so am I – it doesn’t make any sense.  But I guess that he is hoping to get a job in the meantime.  And Chelsea is mad because she won’t be able to back to school this fall like she planned.  I tried to tell her to finish her school first…

Went with Chad’s kids to a toy train show at National Trail last weekend.  There were some impressive layouts.   Cash and Serenity both got to operate a train and have it switch tracks and so forth.  So they had a good time.  Sarah is back to substitute teaching again.  She has been getting some gigs here and there.  Chad has been working some overtime to get all the snow plows ready to go for this winter.

We bottled some raspberry and white grape wine from what we grew here on the farm.  Both turned out fairly good.  The raspberry we have been doing for years and so we have that figured out, this is  the first year we had enough grapes to do a batch.  My work is keeping me busy.  Big project that is due next spring.  Getting my deliverables done on time, so things are on track.  

November

Vanessa has been the job less than a month and she is already earning her pay.  So happy that the move back to Ohio is going the right direction.  Eric has a job with Coke and Elaina is happy with her school - Covington.

Joe is back in Japan, and his wife Samantha is making a stop in California now on the way back to Japan herself.  She is staying with uncle Richard for a few days while she waits for the next military flight back.  So Joe won’t be able to enjoy the bachelor life for much longer – he will need to get the dirty dishes done and won’t be able to spend his off time playing computer games.   And who knows maybe she will grow to like California and will want Joe to get stationed at Sacramento AFB!

Chelsea is working third shift for the foreseeable future.  She would like get back on first, but it doesn’t look like it will happen anytime soon.  She said that she would like to give the company an ultimatium, but I told her not to make any moves unless she has another job available.  The old don’t burn your bridges deal.  She is working all kinds of overtime, but no time off to enjoy it.  I think that she has only had 4 days off the last 2 months.

Chad’s wife Sarah did not enjoy the teaching job at the Dayton public schools at all.  She turned in her resignation.  I guess that she is going to go back to substitute teaching in the short term.  Too bad that she couldn’t get anything locally.   Oh with Vanessa back in the area, the cousins are seeing each other more often.  Cash, Serenity, Elaina, and Violet all went bowling in Richmond last weekend.