Off to the mid-west for the weekend….

Tina and I are off for the weekend… to Detroit... Michigan… Not your most common vacation destination…

Her sister and significant other are holding their annual summer party… on a whim they invited us, on a whim we accepted… Other family members piled on… so now there will be 4 of the 5 siblings, along with a couple the cousins including our daughter…

Off on a red-eye, arriving about 8:00 am… a day visiting the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield village, (they have a research library too…) then an evening at the sister’s, the party the next day, then fly home early Sunday…

Its been hell week at work, summer camps, fire sprinkler replacement (this included moving and tarping the furniture…) a visit by the master gardeners, an advisory board meeting, 3 new volunteers were there today, and we have to give tours too.

We are 4 days into the week and I have put in 44 hours… The time card will say 32 hours. I was doing 90 miles and hour right up until I left the farm… I am tired.

Tomorrow we have two camps, including a performance for the parents by one camp… If I was working I would put in another 10 hours tomorrow…

I need to get away.

Bye for now, Randy

Road Trip - Planning and Dreaming

I am going crazy at work. There is too much to do, no time. The more to do, the less time available to do it.

I need a respite. I have been searching my calendar, but between summer camps, fire watch, and commitments, there is only a single 8 day, 7 night respite, a chance to escape. My fellow employees seem to agree and will cover my section (They noticed not a good sign)

So, I am dreaming, planning and conspiring. Road Trip, a Walk About.. Into the desert. The planning process is significant. It is itself part of the trip, and part of the release.

The Plan

Off to Mesa Verde Colorado, via the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, off via Monument Valley and a stop at the swinging stake house in Mexican Hat Utah to Mesa Verde, finally a visit to Arches and Ely Nevada on the way home.

This is a solo trip, by design. There is something special about making camp, with fire, tent, and lantern, then sitting is solitude, enjoying the moment.

Additionally, I have purchased a new camera… I need to test it, get to know it, make it part of my hand… Maybe that’s the real reason… at least officially.

It’s too many miles, too much driving, too few days, but good nonetheless.

It’s a long reach to get to canyon lands, the Utah high plateau. I figure on starting with a long drive to St George Utah… about 12 hours. The last day, from Ely Nevada to home is likely as long. In between the drives are shorter… allowing time to stop, look, photograph and occasionally explore…

I am likely to take less traveled routes… Google and AAA say I should get to St George via Barstow and Las Vegas. I suspect I will get there via Yosemite, then around the south side of Mono Lake, over Mt Montgomery then south to Las Vegas before turning north-east towards St George.

Similarly, on the way home I plan to stop in Ely, then either Hwy 50, known as the “Loneliest Road” to Carson City then across Hwy 88, or via Hwy 6 to 395, then over Tuolumne Pass in Yosemite…

There is much to do to make it happen… Work… trying to get things in order… The car needs to be serviced… It has 175,000 miles on it, and I have concerns… there are supplies to purchase… and music… one must have music on a long drive…

Once again I have changed the slide show… Now photos from a previous trip, lost in the west, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons… As usual my older albums are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/RandyHees

Fire, or the month from H@&#

It’s been the month from H@&# (its the “h” “e” “double hockey” sticks thing)

The House (the museum, work, not home) has problems… the most immediate with its fire sprinkler system… It’s been a months (years?) old ongoing problem which as now become a crisis…

As I wrote previously, three weeks ago, on a Friday, I was leaving the farm (aka work, home of the “house”) I saw smoke coming out of our garbage dumpster… It was after 6:00… the park employees had left… A park interpreter from a nearby park drove up… We house the park’s fueling station, next to the dumpster… She needed gas… One of the employees from the “Picnic People” our on site caterer was there with his electric cart…Collectively we were the response team…

The interpreter tried to radio in (she had a park district radio) without success… she abandoned that and called in on her cell phone… She played 20 questions… She finally explained our problem… 8’ x 24’ container, fully involved in flames… fuel tank 50’ away, Eucalyptus trees overhead… (Eucalyptus trees have two tricks… they burn like roman candles, and they fall down and crush things… we were more concerned with the first trick)

As a local I knew there was a hose nearby… as interpreter talked to the fire dispatcher, I ran a hose over to the dumpster… the “Picnic People” guy went out to guide the fire truck in… we started to fight the fire… Interpreter took the hose… I ran a second hose in… We could knock the fire down but couldn’t kill it… The fire truck arrives… they have better hoses with higher pressure… They take over… They are professionals… They have shovels, rakes and implements of destruction… I leave a business card and leave…

Five days later, Janie, the fire inspector arrives… If you have a fire, you can expect the fire inspector…

Janie doesn’t like what she finds at the farm… It’s mostly minor stuff, signs, storage, organization, the park is sloppy… When she gets to the house (she spots the fire connection for the sprinkler connection) she is without humor… “Where is the fire sprinkler riser?”… We have one, door marked by blue reflective tape, local fire house with key to door, so far so good… But we don’t have a “5 year sticker” and have a leak in the riser (complete with bucket to catch the water) Janie is not amused… We don’t have a working alarm… She is less amused… About a two thirds of our sprinkler heads have been recalled by the manufacturer… We have tried to get them replaced for a year… We have not been successful… This is now an issue.

Two hours later I hear from Building Maintenance… and again a couple of hours later… Then again 5 times between 6:00 and 7:00… the poo has hit the rotary oscillator. Conferences and meeting are being held at City Hall… people are not happy… their unhappiness is working its way down the food chain… I an at the bottom of the food chain… Calls will continue tomorrow, but for now, the powers have decided that whenever the house is open we have to stand fire watch… Every 15 minutes someone has to walk about and confirm the house is not in fact on fire… and then sign a log attesting to that fact…

People are running about, they are trying to explain to others why this can happen… people are coming in while on vacation… poo is flying.

On the up side… my backside is not at risk… I have reported the problems to the authorities. I have submitted Quarterly Building Inspections stating we have concerns about our sprinkler system… Others have not responded to my reports…

On the down side I am standing fire watch… every 15 minutes… Eventually I bring in PT staff to stand fire watch… I have camps in session… I come in early and leave late… We have a Girls Camp, we have the neighborhood camp coming over at 3:00 each afternoon. I am thinking of a cot in the office.

Its been several weeks… next Monday the fire guys are replacing the defective sprinkler heads… last week we fixed the leak… Maybe we can get off fire watch next week…

I hope so.

By the way, on a separate issue… on Monday, after the fire… (before Janie’s visit) I am off to visit City Hall… I get on the freeway… I get on the second freeway.. something is going on off on the side of the freeway… it’s a fire. A guy is trying to put it out… I pull over, I have a couple of gallons of water… I have a shovel… a second driver pulls over… He has a large water bottle… Collectively we knock it down and put it out… Fire is haunting me. I smell like smoke. I like smoked food, I don’t like smoke.

Dumpster fires, Miss Bolivia, a murder, and NASCAR, how was your weekend?

I am no longer thinking, just reacting… It has been that kind of week…

We are holding a camp at Ardenwood, 24 children, from 8:30 to 5:30… Making things out of duct tape, exploring the farm (we saw foxes, skunks and snakes…) we made diet coke and Mentos fountains… I have great staff… but I worry… I am responsible for 24 kids… The last kids leave abo9ut 5:30 on Friday…

So I walk out to my car at 6:30 Friday night… as I get close I realize there are two people around the big trash dumpster which is smoking… I get closer and realize it is in flames… I am late for an event… I don’t need this…

One is a part interpreter from a different park, the other the employee of our caterer. The interpreter is on her cell phone and radio… They are watching the flames grow ever nearer to the eucalyptus trees above. (For those of you not familiar with the eucalyptus, it is a large Australian tree which burns with enthusiasm) The district’s fueling station is located nearby…

Gasoline and eucalyptus… not a good combination…

The interpreter is in contact with the park’s public safety dispatch… They are asking lots of questions… she is agitated…

There is a hose nearby… I turn it on a drag it over… I knock down the fire but can’t put it out…. I give the interpreter the hose… I grab a second hose, turn it on and drag it over… Its still a couple of minutes before the fire department arrives… The fire is still going, just not leaping flames… They take over… I leave a business card and leave…

My boss was retiring (that day.) We (boss and friends) meet at a local restaurant (http://www.federicoscafe.com) to celebrate… Of course I smell of smoke (not in a good way…)

Dinner is wonderful… It is a seven course winemakers dinner, each course mated with a wine from La Creama… The General Manager and the sales rep are present… The food is good (no great) carefully matched to the wine… It is great… A friend is there with his crew shooting a commercial for the restaurant… There is music, there is dancing… Enter Miss Bolivia… She will be teaching dancing lesions… She is beautiful…

I recommend Fredricos. The brothers, Kiko and Rico are wonderful, the food is wonderful, the atmosphere is welcoming…

Five hours later it is all over… Home to feed the cats and dog…

Up early, too early, then after dealing with the animals, off to work… It’s Murder Mystery night… a blatant attempt to make money to support the house… Its fun, its murder… we get cleaned up and leave by 9:30… used up… Oh, this time the maid did it.

Sunday, I get up late… (the cats complain) feed the massed animals, make coffee and take it easy… NASCAR in on… My mother follows NASCAR… she is a fan of Jeff Gordon… He is in the lead… He finishes second in a rain shortened race. Mom and I talk several times during the race… Having a shared interest with you parents is great.

In am sleepy, I think I will take a nap…

Don't fall down

I went to a funeral Tuesday…

Dick, Richard was my sister in law’s father… Old, Irish Catholic San Franciscan… World War 2 vet, a tail gunner in B-24’s… A nice guy.

He fell, breaking his shoulder, then his kidneys failed, and he died within a week.

Last Friday Tina’s mom, Annette fell… Twice… The first time she hit her head, cutting it… Everyone who saw the apartment and her was impressed by the amount of blood… then went outside to get help… She couldn’t remember how to dial the phone, and forgot she was wearing a Medalert device… When she went outside she fell again and broke her hip.

This morning we got a call at 4:00 am… 4:00 am calls are never good. It was our daughter… She lives in Maryland, where it is 7:00 am… Sig, Tina’s brother had called them (she lives with a cousin, it’s all about family)… Sig was being nice and had not yet called us… (Sleep being important, especially for Tina)

Annette had died…

Now Tina is arranging flights to Tuscon…

Tina had reservations to go in a couple of weeks… One sister was on the way, a brother was planning on going this weekend… Now everyone will go now…

A grumpy crappy day…

Its Monday… not in itself bad but today it is….

I have been sick… For the last month… vasculitis, an inflammation of the vascular system… It causes hemorrhaging under the skin, which in turn, turns to open sores… in my case there is no identifiable cause. Maybe it’s an immune system was stimulated by an infection or virus and now is attacking me… They poke me with needles, the test my blood again… The tests show I am healthy, and none of the “bad” causes are present. I.E. what ever caused it is not what ever they tested me for.

I don’t feel good, My ankles and feet hurt. But the Doctors seem to think I will get over it in a couple of months… I don’t do sick well… They want me to take weeks off work and keep my feet off… I go to work and try to keep my feet up…

So, feeling crappy, driving to work, I stop at a red light… the guy behind me stops… the guy behind him doesn’t… Guy three pushes guy two into my bumper… we exchange information… we go on our merry (or otherwise) ways… A few hours later I call guy three’s insurance company… a claim has been filed, claim agent on another call, will call right back…. Hours later no call, call back… he is in a meeting… calls back a few minutes later… He says “Maybe you should file a claim with your insurance and let them take care of it.” Why don’t I trust this guy?

The photos on the right are the “ships wall” in Skagway Alaska. At least 4 of the ships who’s name is included have since sunk…. Ghosts of ships past… as usual other photos may be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/RandyHees

Bye for now, Randy

Alaska, Part 6, going home

Friday, May 15, At sea, 54.45 north, 134.13 west

Today its overcast, breezy, and cold. The seas are calm, a 5’ swell with no white caps. The passengers are taking their time wakening… the pool deck and other public areas are deserted. Of course the Lido, home of the buffet, is crowded.

We find that this ship is short on public space that looks outward… There is no enclosed area looking forward. At the stern there is “Skywalkers” bar, set high above the deck, much like a tail wing on a souped up car, accessed via a glassed in ramp, the whole thing having a strong resemblance to a hamster cage. It has a wonderful view to the rear but today it’s closed for a private event. It feels funny to be at sea and not have a view of the sea… particularly forward…

Tina and I are taking the “Grand Tour” today… 12 people, 3 hours, visiting the bridge, the engine control room, the crew space, the kitchen…

We met in a hall way outside the theater… Boogie (sp?), from Romania, one of the cruise directors staff lead us on the tour, along with a ship’s photographer, and a security officer (we promised to behave, mostly). We were lead downstairs then forward though a doorway into the theater, along one side, then up onto the edge of the stage and into the backstage area, all while the naturalist was talking about ears, or the lack there of on seas…

First we met the stage manager, in charge of the technical side of all their theaters… The Cruise director, Lee Childers, joined us there and took us to the dressing room, where two dancers were in costume, along with the stage director, a young woman, who also dances, and has filled in as a singer in an emergency (by lip syncing… generally singers sing live, dancers with singing rolls always lip sync ) Lots of questions ranging from how they dressed between sets, to how the ships staff was organized. Of course there were lots of photos, then off, though crew's berthing, and on to the foc’sal…

The officer in charge of the foc’sal started with a quick history of the idea of and the word foc’sal, from “Forward Castle” or raised fighting area to today’s room to manage mooring lines and anchors… The room was spectacular, with heavy wenches with anchor chain attached, overhead cranes, mooring housers on wenches and spares in bins. He spoke of how the ship is moored, how lines break and how they stay safe, about rats (the ship doesn’t have any) and spare anchors. He pulled apart a rope to show how it was assembled, talked about the Housepipe, the rollers used to prevent chaffing, and the forces involved in mooring a ship.

Back into the crew berthing area (they reserve the forward most cabins for the crew on this ship) and on to the kitchen…

In the kitchen we were met by the head chef, Remo Bolis, and the food and beverage manager, Riccardo Capraro… Mimosas and chocolate covered strawberries were offered. They took information for our chef’s jackets (included in the tour) Then off through the kitchen (one of several on the ship) seeing the bakery, the soup area, before heading downstairs to the prep areas… passing the crew dining room on the way. First the food receiving area, with its pallet jacks and loading doors, then down a passage way to the vegetable prep area and inside the vegetable refrigerator (12 on the tour, the guide, the photographer and 3 or 4 others… Tina specifically noted 150lbs of tomatillos, along with chicory, sage , and other herbs… Across the hall was the butcher area… they purchase their meat in large sections and butcher it on board.

Back up stairs to level 4? (by now we are not allways sure where we are) where there is a crew passageway fore and aft the lenght of the ship, known as the A1A. We crossed the ship to the photo and print shops… Here we were met by Andrew Wurz, the “First Purser Administration”. Throughout the tour we frequently had the “boss” present, but they all encouraged their staff to answer questions. It was good… I hope the folks stuck down below understood that we really wanted to see what they were doing.

The photo shop shoots digitally but prints on silver based paper for permanence. The photo printers were each named, Sausage, Billy and a third we don’t remember. Much of the discussion was on chemical disposal and how it was done… nothing dangerous or dirty goes overboard, ever.

Next door was the print shop… two offset presses, printing the Princess Patter, all the port guides, shopping guides and the ubiquitous offers for the spa and the art auction. Plates for the presses are printed on a special computer laser printer.
From there it was around the corner to the engine control room… The crew in charge was much more comfortable with their engines that with guests, but we warmed up fast and answered our questions. We couldn’t take photos here, but they ship’s photographer took a group photo.

Back to the A1A, past the damage control dunnage and fire control lockers, then upstairs to visit the medical facility…

The ship’s doctor, Nikolas Hoffman, was a blast… He is German, loves German cars, thinks American cars are lacking, but loves the American medical equipment produced for our armed forces… He was clearly proud of the facility and what they were capable of. There were three single and one double hospital rooms (all empty), a lab, a pharmacy, an X-ray room, a nurses station, separate waiting rooms for passengers and crew (passengers get carpet, crew linoleum). You may be better off having a heart attack aboard than ashore… quicker response, care as complete… There were no patients so we saw everything… there is a passenger side and a crew side but in reality they use whatever space they need for the patient. The highlight was the morgue… shown at the request of one of our group…

Downstairs to the laundry, where Andrew Wurz joined us again… there are 5 washing machines each with a capacity of 350lbs, 5 dryers, and the “mangler” (actually two) the folding machine. The mostly Filipino staff was at first shy (of course their boss’s’ boss’s boss was giving the tour, but warmed up as we looked about… I suspect they think it strange that the passengers want to come visit the laundry. As promised the manglers were mesmerizing… one was folding towels, the other bed sheets… at one end they feed in the damp towel, it passes through rollers then if neatly folded and emerges from the other end… the sheet folding machine was especially entertaining… in it goes, it is quickly spit out the far side, then sucked back in, laid on a flat table then sucked down through the middle of the table, only to emerge neatly folded. They were quite busy… they try to limit the laundry done while in the inside passage to minimize the water (treated) dumped overboard, so now that we were in the Pacific they were trying to catch up.

Finally, up (via elevator) and forward to the bridge.

The ship’s captain, Bob Oliver met us personally and lead the bridge tour. The bridge was beautiful, with teak cabinets lining the back wall, and live palm trees on each of the flying bridges, which extend far beyond the ships side for visibility. There were hors d’ oeuvres and juices laid our for us. The skill, knowledge and resources to manage the ship are amazing… He showed us the radars, the GPS maps, the engine management systems, and spoke of using sextants and dead reckoning if needed. There are two officers and two quartermasters on each watch, plus more if there is poor visibility or in congested waters. They have four cadets on board, and were using Safety office for classes while we were on the bridge.
We took individual photos with the captain, while wearing Star Princess crew caps, we took a group picture with the captain, we were allowed to take pictures of the bridge, just not the computer control system. The captain fielded questions, and more questions… he spoke about changes in the rules for Antarctic cruises, about the navigation in South America, about his standard joke answers to questions (“If you are here who is driving the ship?”… (pulling out his pager) “I have a remote control”)

The tour over we ran for our room, dressed in our formal wear, and joined a party with our travel agent, Lori up at “Skywalkers”, Had a beer (Tina had wine) then dashed downstairs to the Captain’s returning cruiser’s party… Tina said “long time no see…” He said “you certainly cleaned up fast” More drinks, the standard speeches by various staff followed by a quick talk by the captain… and more photos afterward (it’s not vacation if you don’t take pictures, or is it…)

Saturday, May 16, Off Vancouver Island - 48.41 north, 125.49 west, heading 102 degrees, speed 24.2 knots. We have turned east towards the strait of Juan De Fuca.

Today is our son’s 21st birthday…

We are about 15 miles off Vancouver Island. Fishing boats are seen occasionally. I have hopes of seeing more whales. I assume fishermen mean fish and whales eat fish… It’s my story and I believe it. At about 10:45 we pass a Hyundai bulk carrier headed north off our port side. By 11:00 we can make our Cape Flattery in Washington off the Starboard bow. (we never saw any whales…) 11:50, 48.28 north, 124.48 west, heading 70 degrees, speed 20.8 knots, in the strait of Juan De Fuca

At 4:00 we picked up the Victoria harbor pilot.

We were docked and cleared a bit after 5:00… We went ashore soon after. The graffiti ship followed us in (the NCL) We were docked away from downtown, so we took the port shuttle in to town, walked towards the Empress. The Darth Vader violinist was playing nearby… we took pictures. Near the Empress we found the Miniature Museum, a cheesy local museum of models of historic and literary events. We went in, we enjoyed it, on the other hand, your mileage may vary…

Back up Government street… we found Trounce alley, home of the Tapa Bar… we had found it on a previous visit, and loved the place, particularly the dates stuffed with almonds, wrapped in bacon… We had dinner, two plates of the stuffed dates, four bean salad, crevice, garlic prawns, and two bottles of wine and desert… It was wonderful. It was probably the most romantic dinner we have enjoyed in years.

We walked back along the harbor front… I was taking pictures of lights and such… back on the bus, back to the port. The souvenir stand on the end of the dock has a sign saying this way to the ships, pointing either to the right side of the building or into the building… Into the building which is full of shot glasses, snow globes, post card, cheap tee shirts and the like, then outside to find the ships… to the right… More pictures as we board, then the packing starts… The vacation is now officially over. We stick our bags outside in the passageway about 11:00… Outside It’s noisy. The garbage trucks are picking up the bins of rubbish… Service trucks idle. It’s not easy to sleep. But to bed we go… The alarm is set for 6:00 am… Not vacation time…

Sunday, May 17th, Seattle

A bit after 6:00 am – I have showered, now it’s Tina’s turn. We are slowly moving towards the dock… The sky is clear, the Olympics, covered in snow, are visible for their entire length. Off to breakfast, then back upstairs to watch the long shore men unload the luggage while we gather the carry-ons….
The disembarkation was problematic… down to the theater to wait for them to call our group… they call three groups at once, ours included… the line goes from the bow to the stern to get “scanned” off… once off we are told that our luggage is along the far wall… or not… ours was in the center of the room… in a small island of cream luggage surrounded by other colors…. Then as you look, they bring more luggage down and mix it in, I suspect they planned that the cream would be gone, but no one checks, and it appears that no one is in charge… porter with their carts bump into people… they push their way ahead. It was chaotic… Then you schlep your stuff across the road to the bus for the airport… that works well. This could have been handled much better…

Once at the airport we are at mercy of United airlines again… They have lines to get into lines…. Then informal lines to get into the line to wait to get in line… There is one agent bravely trying to maintain the order, with limited success…. Soon the informal line is out the front door and down the sidewalk… It takes us an hour to get though the check in line and head to security, with its own lines… After only 20 minutes in line we clear security and head for the gate… the gate sign says our flight is delayed…. I check the status on line via my phone… The United web site says the flights on time… maybe no one told Chicago… We find seats in the terminal, they are calling a Chicago flight, asking for volunteers to be bumped… the offer gets better as no one steps forward…

They man the desk for our flight… it will only be 45 minutes late… they blame air traffic in San Francisco. Of course the plane for our flight doesn’t arrive until 11:20, 5 minutes before it was scheduled to depart… the last passenger deplanes at 11:29, so maybe it isn’t traffic in San Francisco… They announce our flight is oversold, so no standbys, no seat changes… but so far they haven’t asked for volunteers…

At 12:00 they tell us the pilot has not yet arrived… we can load as soon as soon as he gets here, or not. But the delay is still San Francisco’s fault… The FAA site says they have delays of about 25 minutes…. So why are we delayed an hour… it is the pilot or the late plane??? Or not. Maybe it’s the United Airlines curse.

Finally, on the plane and headed for home...