Because I Needed Another Way To Spend My Time...

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

To all of our friends, I thought I'd send this little St. Patty's day wish.

This is the second year in a row that I have been able to get a picture of Carolyn with Brian, the guy who dresses up like a leprechaun at O'Sheas. He's a great guy, and fun to be around.

To commemorate the day, I thought I'd share a couple of Irish Blessings... and a joke or two:

May you be half an hour in Heaven
Before the Devil knows you're dead.

Jimmy-Joe finds a Genie lamp and rubs it. Out comes the Genie and asks "Master you have released me from the lamp and I grant you three wishes, what would you like"

Jimmy-Joe scratches his head, then answers "A bottle of Guinness that never gets empty. "Granted master" retorted the Genie and produced the bottle. Jimmy-Joe was delighted and got drunk on this one magic Guinness bottle for weeks then he remembered that he had two other wishes. He rubbed the lamp again and the Genie appeared. "Yes master, you have two more wishes, what would you like?" "You know that magic, never ending Guinness bottle" he asks the Genies. "Well, for my final two wishes, I'd like another two of them"

Whenever there is happiness
Hope you'll be there too,
Wherever there are friendly smiles
Hope they'll smile on you,
Whenever there is sunshine,
Hope it shine especially
For you to make each day for you
As bright as it can be.

Joey-Jim was tooling along the road one fine day when the local policeman, a friend of his, pulled him over. "What's wrong, Seamus?" Joey-Jim asked. "Well didn't ya know, Joey-Jim, that your wife fell out of the car about five miles back?" said Seamus. "Ah, praise the Almighty!" he replied with relief. "I thought I'd gone deaf!"

May your pockets be heavy-
Your heart be light
And may good luck pursue you
Each morning and night

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Coping

Copyright 2008 Soderman Consulting

Last weekend, I attended a mandated seminar by the county on parenting through a divorce. Appropriately, these are called COPE classes. These classes are mandatory for anyone divorcing who has a child that will be affected by the divorce.

So here I was, on a warm Saturday morning, sitting in the lecture hall of a library waiting for the seminar to start. Around me were individuals of differing ages, from both genders. Some looked relieved to be there, others like they were being held at gunpoint.

I was surprised by how many people there were in attendance. I don't know if this class was typical, but there were 30-40 people in attendance. This means 30-40 families and at least as many kids were being affected by divorce. They hold this class multiple times each week. Over the course of the month, this means hundreds of families touched by the end of a marriage.

The class was administered by two professionals in social work and psychology, both of whom have also been divorced, and have helped hundreds - if not thousands - of others through the over 15-year-old program.

The stats are staggering. Over 50% divorce rate in the US, many of which involve children. So much so that if current trends continue, single parent homes will surpass the number of two-parent homes. And those kids are what the COPE program is all about.

Their focus, from start to finish, is on the kids. According to their statistics, divorce only really had a lasting effect on 20% of the kids involved. But how do you know your kid is in the 80% unaffected?

You don't. And that's the point of the seminar. You may not see the signs of how they are affected for years. In fact, some folks may not manifest the signs until well into adulthood, when relationships of their own suffer. Such is the legacy of divorce on a child. So the class is designed to help you understand how a child might be affected, what signs to look for, and how to minimize the negative effects of divorce on your kids.

Many jurisdictions now make this type of seminar mandatory, and all should. The information is valuable and a vital to helping us raise our children in a healthy manner in spite of a divorce. But they should go further. The coping skills required are difficult to learn in such an emotional charged and painful situation. They should mandate the adults go through such a seminar to deal with each other in this situation. Many folks go into divorce looking not to separate from their spouse, but to punish them. The only ones that win are the attorneys.

Parents who are considering divorce should really attend one of these classes, whether mandated or not. You don't need to go together, but you should go. These classes, and the great folks that run them, will help you get through one of the most traumatic experiences anyone can go through, and come out ok on the other side.

 

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Rock Lobster

One way I've made the morning commute more interesting is to put some songs on my iPod that Carolyn might like. I figured this would be an easy and fun way to pass the time. The playlist is Carolyn Fun, and it has a wide variety of music. For example, I found an old harmonica of mine and gave it to her, and now she can (basically) play Billy Joel's "Piano Man". She's darned close on the chorus, and it's a hoot to listen to her play along.

Her next conquest - to my surprise, was "Rock Lobster" by the B52s. She not only has most of the lyrics down, but the sound effects as well. When they say "in flew a sea robin", she follows it with the requisite "lalalalalala". And she gets a kick out of the "bakin' potatoes, bakin' in the sun" line.

Other faves include Smashmouth's "AllStar" (it was featured in Shrek), "Cuban Pete" by Desi Arnaz, and "Banana Boat Song" by Harry Belafonte. Of course, she gets on one and I have to play it two or three times before we get to school, but it just makes for a happier trip.

If you've got a fair commute each morning, try coming up with your own set of faves to get your energy up. It's hard to listen to Rock Lobster without at least tapping your feet!

"Look out for that piranha!"

(By the way, click on the fun image above. If you know the song, you'll find the images perfect!)

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Something Interesting While Googling

I was putting together a bio for myself, for a freelance writing application. I was looking to see the earliest reference I could find of myself on the 'Net (1994 , if you're curious), when I came across an interesting hit.

Apparently, there's a ship in the US fleet named the Soderman, a Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on, Roll-Off ship used for transporting an Army Armor Task Force including 58 tanks, 48 other track vehicles and more than 900 trucks and other wheeled vehicles. Basically, it's a converted supercargo ship.

It's named after US Army Private First Class William A. Soderman. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for risking his life to save others during World War II. This intrigued me, so I decided to do a little more digging. This is what his citation reads:

Armed with a bazooka, he defended a key road junction near Rocherath, Belgium, on 17 December 1944, during the German Ardennes counteroffensive.

After a heavy artillery barrage had wounded and forced the withdrawal of his assistant, he heard enemy tanks approaching the position where he calmly waited in the gathering darkness of early evening until the 5 Mark V tanks which made up the hostile force were within pointblank range. He then stood up, completely disregarding the firepower that could be brought to bear upon him, and launched a rocket into the lead tank, setting it afire and forcing its crew to abandon it as the other tanks pressed on before Pfc. Soderman could reload.

The daring bazookaman remained at his post all night under severe artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire, awaiting the next onslaught, which was made shortly after dawn by 5 more tanks. Running along a ditch to meet them, he reached an advantageous point and there leaped to the road in full view of the tank gunners, deliberately aimed his weapon and disabled the lead tank. The other vehicles, thwarted by a deep ditch in their attempt to go around the crippled machine, withdrew.

While returning to his post Pfc. Soderman, braving heavy fire to attack an enemy infantry platoon from close range, killed at least 3 Germans and wounded several others with a round from his bazooka. By this time, enemy pressure had made Company K's position untenable. Orders were issued for withdrawal to an assembly area, where Pfc. Soderman was located when he once more heard enemy tanks approaching. Knowing that elements of the company had not completed their disengaging maneuver and were consequently extremely vulnerable to an armored attack, he hurried from his comparatively safe position to meet the tanks.

Once more he disabled the lead tank with a single rocket, his last; but before he could reach cover, machinegun bullets from the tank ripped into his right shoulder. Unarmed and seriously wounded he dragged himself along a ditch to the American lines and was evacuated.

Through his unfaltering courage against overwhelming odds, Pfc. Soderman contributed in great measure to the defense of Rocherath, exhibiting to a superlative degree the intrepidity and heroism with which American soldiers met and smashed the savage power of the last great German offensive.

To me, this sounds like movie stuff. The guy stood up to a tank not once, not twice, but three times. It really reads like a movie script.

It's quite possible that he is related. And if so, it's an honor.

A Good Laugh...

Baby's First ROFL - More amazing videos are a click away
Baby's First ROFL I was stumbling around tonight for one more to thing to write about before going to bed and came across this. I defy you not to laugh along with this kid. He has one of the most infectious laughs I have heard in a long time. If you aren't grinning from ear to ear by the time this video finishes, you either have no heart, or you're Dick Cheney. Which, come to think of it, is redundant.

Watch the video, giggle along, and smile.

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Adventures in Roadtripping, Vol. 5 - Heading Home

We woke up on Thursday morning to find it snowing - and to a phone call from Melissa's dad telling us we should get on the road.

It didn't look bad from the hotel window, but we fired up Google Earth and could see the storm was big and moving down from Montana. We got packed up, got everything ready to go, and I started moving bags out to the car. That's when I saw what we couldn't see from the hotel window - It had already dropped 1.5-2 inches of snow.

While Melissa got Carolyn and the bags ready, I made the trips out to the car, brushing off the powder and loading up the back. We checked out of the hotel, and headed over to Melissa's folks to repack the car and load the pups in.

Arriving in their neighborhood we could see that the snow was getting heavier. Plows hadn't gotten out yet, and any tracks in the snow were quickly filled up. We pulled the Hummer into their garage, where her dad David had turned on a heater, and started the process of final packing. The jigsaw puzzle of bags and blankets was fit together, and we loaded Carolyn and the dogs in to start the trip home. We said our goodbyes and pulled out.

The road was fine at first, but blowing and drifting snow got heavier. The snowfall itself wasn't bad, but the wind was driving the snow strongly. The patterns of blowing snow across the road were almost hypnotic, and gave the illusion of traveling across a stream. Melissa drove all the way to Casper, and a little farther. The weather seemed to be clearing up, and Melissa's hip was hurting a bit, so we stopped at a rest area to switch.

I've driven in some pretty nasty snow before, which was a good thing, because we were about to hit some ugly stuff.

Just outside of Rawlins, we hit some strong winds and heavy blowing snow. Click the play button in the middle of the video to the left to see what it was like. The truck in front of us would completely disappear, then reappear, even when it was only three car lengths ahead of us. We were travelling at about 25 mph.

Temperature outside was 0 degrees and the wind was about 20-25 mph, so it made for a very cold very unfriendly arrival in Rawlins. We stopped at the local Taco Bell to gas up and get some grub, but even the dogs had no real desire to get out. They jumped out, did their business and high-tailed it back into the car.

Once we left Rawlins, the road improved dramatically. Sure, there was still blowing snow, but the wind lessened and the snow got lighter. We were 15-20 minutes away from Evanston, WY, where we planned on staying the night, we Carolyn announced that she needed to go potty. The wind is still blowing, it's still colder than a witch's you-know-what, but she can't hold it.

We pulled off the highway at the next exit, found a wide spot in the road, and Melissa proceeded to help Carolyn pull down her pants for her first experience in dropping trou for an emergency potty stop.

Carolyn had picked up the phrase "freezing my butt off". Here, she put it to practice. It was blowing and cold, and her naked bottom was out there. Not even the dogs wanted out.

We made our way into Evanston, and stayed at a hotel that Melissa was familiar with and that would not involve dodging the anti-pet commandos. We grabbed a bit to eat, and settled in for the night with a light snow falling outside.

The next morning, Melissa called her mom. Looks like we left at just the right time, as they had received about 2 feet of snow in the past 24 hours, and had closed the roads after we left. Has we stayed until Friday as planned, we likely would not have been able to leave until Saturday. We loaded up, grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed out.

On the way up, Melissa had mentioned about the Olympic ski jumps at Park City, and we decided to shoot by there on the way home. As we pulled onto the road for the Olympic Park, I noticed a sign that let us know that the World Junior Luge Championships were in progress. This is a sport that has always fascinated me, and this was an opportunity to see something few people get to see.

We pulled up to the park headquarters and museum, and Melissa let the dogs out to run while I got some information. While we may have dodged the pet militia in Evanston, the leader of the stormtroopers must have moved to Park City. This guy came out of the building very forcefully alerting Melissa that pets were NOT ALLOWED on the property. Melissa wrangled them back in, and we gathered Carolyn and headed out to the luge track.

The luge track is the same as the bobsled run, with different starting points. These are juniors which mean teens who are flying down the ice track at about 50-70 mph at about 1-2 inches off the ice. These guys whiz by you in the blink of an eye. I was able to catch one guy zipping by with my digital camera (just click the play button in the middle of the video)

After watching a few lugers make their run, we headed back to the museum. The luge competition would be on break for 1/2 an hour, and the dogs were still in the car.

The museum had some great exhibits. Upstairs, the exhibits were specifically related to the Olympics. Carolyn was especially interested in the headdresses and costumes that were worn during the opening ceremonies.

In one case was a display of the different medals awarded. They really are beautiful, and you don't get to see them up close like this very often.

Downstairs, the museum had exhibits on skiing, with explanations of why the powder in UT is so light and great for skiing. There were a couple of displays we all played with, like the ski jump simulator and the simulated downhill ski run. There was one that really had the potential to get your adrenaline flowing - the avalanche simulator. You stood in front of a display with the image of a canyon, and when you pressed a button, you saw what happened when an avalanche came roaring down. Even though you knew it was a simulation, it still got your heart to race a bit.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, just a simple run down I-15. As we got further south, we had to keep stripping layers off, with the temperature at the start of the day at 15 degrees, and by mid-afternoon, in the 50s. Carolyn watched her videos, Melissa and I talked, and we made our way home.

All in all, this was a great trip, and Melissa's folks are good, kind people. With any luck, we'll be able to make the trip again in the summer, and see what the area looks like in warm weather.