Texas-Oregon-Louisianna

This past weekend saw a major event:  For the first time in nearly a decade, all of my siblings were together in one place.  Brenda from Scappoose, Oregon; Connie from Dallas, Texas; John (me) from Palestine, Texas; and Steve from Baton Rouge, Louisiana... all in Dallas for a visit.  We had seen each other separately but not all together.  It was a lot of fun.  We reconnected.  Plans were laid.  Many things, both serious and silly, were discussed.

A little grayer, but still a colorful group!

Political diatribe

Once again the 13 year olds in congress are playing pissing games with our future. Though they've had years to work this out, they always wait till the last minute then blame each other for not agreeing. It's like an abusive parent or spouse saying, "Look what you made me do!" I'm tired of being abused by these monkeys. Dems want the 'nanny state" to protect everyone from consequences. Republicans want everyone to behave their way or else. Tea Party are half a step from anarchists who don't care who suffers for their selfish arrogance. Libertarians don't have the balls to get their message out strongly or widely enough to even matter. Congress has become an ineffective, squabbling group of children on a playground fighting over who gets control over someone else's ball.

Re-united in Leona

The Palestine Lamb's are headed to Leona, Texas this Saturday (September 28) for a family reunion.  Family is so important, and I've lost track of so much of my extended group.  I will be posting pictures here for the first time.  I may even throw a couple of remembrances from some of the older group, if I can write 'em down before I forget 'em.

Labor of Love (and wine)

What a Labor Day weekend!  My 2 closest siblings and their spouses met in Dallas for the 4 F's:  Food, Fun, Family, and Fermentation.  I spent half the day on Saturday in the pool, between a wonderful lunch a la Italian deli and the grilled steak dinner by grill-master Jim.  We in turns serious and silly.  Breakfast the following Sunday morning was at Cafe` Brazil.  Now, back to work.

Texan's Independence

It's been a long time ago now, but we did go to San Antonio, and... We had a great time.

We made no plans other than the hotel (on which we got a fantastic deal).  We walked around a lot, we rode bicycles, we even took a tour bus.  We ate good food and listened to good music.  We ate high, and we ate low.  The Tower Restaurant at the Hemisfair was very good.  A little pricey, but good.  So it was high in both ways.  Down on the River Walk, we also had good food.

I think one of the highlights of the trip was Kathy on a Segway-- Segs in the City! She was tentative at first, but she really got the hang of it quickly.  We took a Segway tour of the downtown area, and toward the end, we hit an area for "free play".  Kathy was just zooming around with a big ol' grin on her face.

We finished off our stay with a side trip to Natural Bridge Caverns, just Northwest of the city.  It was a lot of fun.

You know how you come home from most vacations tired?  needing to rest from your rest?  Not this time.  We both came back rested, invigorated, and ready to face the world again.  Thanks, Kathy, for making me do this.

Historic Occurance

Historians will argue about it for generations.  Pundits will gleefully misinterpret its significance.  Heads of state will ponder their measured responses.  What is happening?

KATHY LAMB HAS ASKED TO BE TAKEN ON A VACATION, and has asked off from work on a non-holiday time slot!

Yes, we are going to San Antonio, Texas for a few days starting Sunday night.  The only thing we have planned is the hotel.  Other than that we're going to wing it.  "Oh frabjous day, calloo callay, he chortled in his joy!"  Kathy Lamb does not like to take days off.  Kathy Lamb does not like to travel.  Kathy Lamb does not like to go someplace with no detailed plan in place.  Kathy Lamb has fallen victim to pods in the basement.  The trip was the idea of "she who must be obeyed".  (scifi fans or Masterpiece Mystery fans will get that one).  I will post more as the getaway progresses, until then... the Silence has Fallen.

Nick Whitten: SCUBA Boy!

Last Saturday, Kathy (mi esposa) and I travelled to Dallas to see family.  They were gathering at my sister Connie's house.  When we got there, the little ones were in the pool.  Well it just so happened that I had picked up my newly serviced SCUBA tank and regulator on the way to Dallas so it was still in the trunk of the car.  After swimming a bit, I had the idea of bringing it out to let the little ones see.  No one wanted to use it except Nick.  He took to it like a pro.  I've seen grownups have more trouble with it.  After only a couple of minutes, he was able to go face-down in the pool with no qualms.  He didn't want to stop.  We finally had to make him get out because he had been in the pool for literally hours and was shivering.  I see a future diver in the making!

OTTER Team 1: Mission update

Mission accomplished.  Well...sort of...

Got out to the dive site ( a small spring-fed lake north of Palestine, Texas) and met up with the client, we'll call him Mr. B, and his crew.  It turns out that the blockage was not a bunch of wood stuffed in by beavers.  It was a dead beaver!  He came shooting out of the pipe when its valve was opened up to its max.  The water began to flow like three fire hoses.  Mr. B still wanted me to locate and buoy the sluice pipe, as well as finding the contractor magnet he had lost trying to find the pipe.

I found the magnet fairly quickly and returned it to the shore party.  Then came the fairly long search for the drain.  There was ZERO visibility after the first 10 inches of water, so it was all "grope along in the dark" time.  After several minutes of searching I felt something hit my arm.  "Damn log!" I thought.  Then the "log" started clutching at my arm with little hands.  Now I was the one being groped...by a beaver!  When I moved my hand toward him, he took off.

About halfway through the dive, I found that my vest (buoyancy compensator) was leaking.  That meant that I coudn't stabilize my depth with air.  Not too much of a problem as I was mostly on the bottom anyway, but made staying at the surface a pain.  I was using a wedge-shaped search pattern with a line tied to the shore.  I would grope my way back and forth taking up a loop each swing.  I finally found the opening to the pipe.  It was NOT "sticking up about a foot off the bottom" as they thought.  Instead it was buried about 18 inches under the bottom in a hole.  I had to reach deep into a hole in the darkness to find it.  *cue scary music*  Once found, I attached a home-made buoy to it with a metal clip and we're done.  Everybody's happy, but no one took pictures.  Too bad.  Anyway I got paid and packed up and gone.  All is right with the world.

OTTER Team 1 leader: out

OTTER team 1

OTTER:  Old Teachers Taking Energizing Risks

Okay, here's the story-
Last week, my best friend, Jim Vincill, got a message on his voice mail from a man asking him to do some SCUBA work for him.  No more details.  Jim was not interested but he sent the contact info to me.  Mr. B, I'll call him, needed someone to dive his upper lake to unblock a sluice pipe that had apparently been blocked by beavers, but was now under 10-15 feet of water.  I have been trained in underwater salvage and rescue (thanks Don Brode), so I agreed to meet with him, survey the situation, and give him my price.

I decided to quote him half the going rate since it had been a while since I had done much other than sport diving.  The actual job seems simple enough- maybe not easy, but simple.  Dive down, find the pipe end, mark it with a buoy, and unblock whatever the beavers used to blocked it. When I saw the lakes (upper and lower) however, I had to ask a less than obvious question, "Are there any alligators in these lakes?"  You'd think they would have mentioned it when the answer was "Yes, we saw one in the lower lake."

There's no such thing as "one alligator".

Now contrary to common perceptions, alligators will avoid people whenever they can UNLESS the people have been feeding them.  Mr. B's family assured me that they had not.  I'll be fine, but Jim is coming along with his side-arm just-in-case.  So this coming Saturday I will don the gear and once again be employed under the surface.  I've been calling it "underwater demolition", which it is, but no explosives will be used.  Pictures will be posted here and on facebook.

You're in Hot Water!

      A Carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee


 A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
 
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.  She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.  She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.  She did and noted that they were soft.  The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.  After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the
daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ... boiling water.  Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however.  After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. 

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"



       Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

  Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and
 change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.
 
       It's easier to build a child than repair an adult.
      

Remember the...uh...um...Alamo

This coming week, I will be spending 5 days at the National Science Teachers' Association convention in San Antonio, Texas.  Last year, it was held in New Orleans.  I get a huge amount of benefit out of this conference.  I will report each day on it here.

Natal Anniversary

So much to say:

For my birthday- December 30- Kathy and me and Jim and Jan went to Dallas for the day.  We went to Norhtpark Mall, Sam's club, Cabinets to Go, and finally to Ali Baba's Restaurant.  We ordered three times what we needed for dinner, but, well, live and learn.  The food was delicious and bountiful.  All in all it was a really fun day.

Now however, Kathy is sick.  Type 2 Flu that's been kicking her butt for a few days now.  You know how I love to say "I told you so"  so there, I've said it.  She went to the Doctor today and confirmed what I have been telling her for a while.  But what do I know?

Happy New year, by the way!  Hope you all have plans for a fabulous 12 months.  Or at least are existential enough not to need plans.