Knitanon

Christmas Wishlist 2008

It appears that with my participation in Facebook this year, my previously sparse blogging has completely dried up.  With that said,  here's my wish list for this year:

[edited after first Christmas]

GPS under $120 (pref. Garmin) Thank you, my love!
Clear Converse hi-tops size 10 (http://www.journeys.com/catalog_detail.aspx?ID=89095)
kilt belt black (3"Wx30"waist)
dress belt, jeans belt (black, for 30" waist)
Levis 559 relaxed fit jeans 30Wx32L Thank you Helena and the Lucks!
SDHC memory cards 8GB or 16GB
Dell Mini 9 mini-notebook PC w/webcam & Windows XP

Why I love craigslist

Not for the surfeit of stuff for sale/barter/giveaway, nor the sometimes nonsensically unrelated titles.  No, it's the random juxtaposition of ad titles.  My current favorite (click for full-size):

If the image doesn't appear, one ad says "Preschool Teacher (IMMEDIATE OPPEINIG) (los gatos)"

The very next one: "Personal English Tutor Wanted (san jose downtown)"

Um, yeah.

Wishin' and Hopin'

By popular demand I'm putting up the Christmas wish list here so that all my people can see it whenever they like, but I can also update it w/o sending a huge email update every time I think of something new.

Here goes...

--iPod Nano 

--Apple gift cards (not iTunes cards) toward purchase of a Mac Mini for the whole family

--Bar Hopper bicycle cup-holder 

--Jupiter Slide Trumpet/Soprano Trombone ($389 at Woodwind & Brasswind.com or $315 + tax at World of Music in Cupertino -- 408-252-8630).  I have this crazy dream of a trombone quartet someday -- Bb soprano, Eb alto, Bb tenor, Bb bass or maybe F or BBb contrabass...

--Winning lottery ticket (a fella can dream, can't he?)

More later as things slide into my brain.

New:

--AM/FM shower radio (something along the lines of this or this)

--Clear insulated French Presse coffee cup (Starbucks has a nice one for $10)

--A manly-looking diaper bag?!? No clue about where to find this one.

TV Stuff

I've been watching the Law & Order:CI  marathon on the USA Network today as I spent a day alone around the house.  N worked at the shop and then stopped by the house for a few moments on her way to a friend's for the evening so it's been just me, the animals, and the TV.  The Law & Order franchise has been a staple of my TV watching since high school; guess it feeds my frontier American fantasy of justice and the bad guys getting theirs in the end.   I finally got annoyed after six episodes that every time the detectives elicit a confession at the end of the show--no matter their location--a pair of uniformed officers materialize to conveniently whisk the suspect away to holding.  Out of nowhere.

Yes, I know, it's TV.

Still annoying.

Get On Your Bad Motor Scooter...

...and ride!  I've been riding the electric scooter all over the place since I bought it last Monday, even nine miles each way to San Jose and back Monday night for a rehearsal.  Top speed on flat ground remains 30 MPH, no matter the load.  Acceleration varies with load & remaining charge.
Found one annoying bug for which I'm still thinking about a fix.  The main breaker for the motor is located in the under-seat storage area which, while spacious, is not well-ventilated.  It's a well-protected place for the breaker and easily accessible for reset should it trip.
Which it did on my way to San Jose Monday.
Twice.
Being sealed up inside the storage bucket means it doesn't cool easily; re-mounting it under the body outside the bucket means subjecting it to splash & splatter from the rear tire.  Maybe venting the bucket would work, but I'd like to explore more options before slicing louvers in the plastic.

Apart from that, I love my scoot.  It's quiet, looks cool, and covers about 75% of my daily driving around--and never stops at a gas station.

Lost & Found

Wednesday night N & I got home from the shop close to 10pm.  She took Bud, our chihuahua/terrier mutt inside & took his collar off, thinking he was in for the night and would soon be crated for sleep.  I set up on the back porch with some tools to affix my new license plate to the scooter, then came inside to the kitchen where N was baking.  I was only coming in for a moment, so I lazily left the back door open.
Once in the kitchen, I became distracted by our cute little rats and a spill that happened as I walked in. Ten or more minutes later N walks out to the livingroom and notices the back door open--and Bud gone.  We walked all over the neighborhood calling and whistling for him to no avail.  N made "Missing Dog" posters and I called the emergency number on Bud's microchip tag to update our contact info, then realized there was nothing more to do that night.  He was gone.
Thursday morning he had not returned, so I asked my students for help.  They were eager to assist and many volunteered to put up flyers and pass out info sheets for Bud.  The outpouring of support on campus was phenomenal--by the end of the day, students I didn't even know were asking me if I had found my dog yet.
Later a colleague from another school in our district called.  We had arranged to get together after school and talk shop; when I told him I'd have to cancel so I could put up Bud flyers, he insisted on coming to help.  We split up and covered a lot of ground and then had our meeting.  Thank you, Charles!
N visited the closest animal shelter Thursday and Friday mornings but no luck.  She spoke to our city's animal control officer there and was pleasantly surprised to learn that she had memorized all of Bud's details from the initial report!  The officer was making extra patrols in our neighborhood too, but even with that and support from friends, we were feeling low.  How could we tell the girls our dog might never come back?
This morning, one of my students came racing into my classroom all out of breath.  There had been a sighting the previous afternoon in the neighborhood around our school!  I rushed out on my prep period to search.  Just after noon, my phone rang.  It was the same shelter--someone had just brought Bud in!

There's just nothing like that feeling that everything truly is going to be all right.

Check Yer Calendar, Matey

It's a busy day.  International Talk Like A Pirate Day, Sandi's birthday, and the 25th birthday of the Emoticon.

Sunny & breezy today; putting mileage on the new scoot.  Realized yesterday that the odometer is displaying kilometers, not miles. Got over thirty km on an overnight charge; the last six or so there was a noticeable drop in acceleration and upslope speed, but still around 25mph on level ground.  So far very pleased with my investment.  Already exploring ways to add a battery & kick up the voltage for better top speed; can't decide yet between that and increasing range.

This Is So "California"

I did it.  I bought an electric vehicle.  A friend recently bought one as a third "car" in a family of four working adults and raved about how cool it was to never visit a gas station and fill up anywhere with 110v AC power, so I've been looking too.  Most of the ones I saw were expensive (friend paid just over $3K for his, but it goes 40+mph w/40-mile range), but I lucked into a place in Santa Cruz that had one for cheap.  I drove down to check it out and got out for just over $700.  It goes 30mph and has an advertised 20-mile range; I'm testing that claim this week.
If it works well, it should save me $30-40 a month in gas, plus there's the added bonus of no insurance and a permanent registration (no renewal, no smog tests).  It's also quiet and bike-trail legal as long as you obey posted speed limits (or so I'm told).  I'm every excited.
Plus it's stylish as hell.

A (Little) Death in the Family

Sept. 10, 2007--The smallest member of the family here at Chez Schiepple, the Rex rat known as Reepicheep, has passed away tonight athe age of eight months after a long battle with respiratory illness.  Though she had a place in all our hearts she belonged most completely to Karin. 
At times Reepicheep, named for the valiant mouse swordsman in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia,  embodied her namesake's courage in the face of great challenges.  In the end, though, even nebulizer treatments and pina colada-flavored antibiotic syrup could not stay the cold hand of death.
Reepi, as she was affectionately known, is survived by her person, Karin, her rat cage-mate Elle, dog Bud, cat Alice, and humans Kaelyn, Nathania, and Kevin.  Condolences should be delivered to Karin especially.

***********************************************
OK, so it's like this: Reepicheep died in my hands tonight.  And I was OK when we told the girls (their Dad happened to be by to drop off a few things so we asked him to stay while we told them).  After Karin started to really cry and we all sat down together, I fell apart--a grown man crying over a pet rat we've had for all of six months.  I didn't cry this hard when Mom told me they'd had our dog Taffy put down (at sixteen--an old dog). 
When reassuring Karin that Reepi hadn't died alone, I realized as the words dropped from my lips that I had never actually held a warm furry creature as the life passed from it.  It's not an experience I'll be seeking out anytime soon and I think it may have tapped into something inside me.  Not sure what that really means yet.

We'll miss you, sweet rat.  Sleep well.

More Tired and Happy

A long day.  Went to see The Police last night at Oakland Coliseum and, while it was a good concert (Stewart Copeland is incredible!) the sound techs mucked it up by overdriving the hell out of an admittedly gargantuan system.  We were in the upper deck and it was thumpingly loud, but quite often Sting's vocals came through all crackly and cut, like a garage-band PA at a junior high dance.

Only mind-numbingly louder.

Aside from that one detail, it was a fabulous evening.  N jumped around like a 14-year-old, breaking into mile-wide grins at the opening chords of her favorite songs (which were almost all of them).  I haven't seen her this wildly happy for several months now and it was a welcome sight.  Wonderful light show with huge LED nets and great variation in styles, themes, & colors accompanying each song.  Worth every penny and then some.

While rushing about the Coliseum looking for food, I bumped into an old college friend.  Nate -- who did a double take on hearing N's name -- was my nextdoor neighbor for a time in Old Town Eureka.  We hung out at various places there, including the Lost Coast Brewery.  When he started pulling taps at LCB, I was one of his first customers.  Happy to see he's successfully employed in his chosen field and has a lovely companion to share his life and cats (hi, Arianna!)

Today was graduation at the school where I teach and, after making it home from the concert just before 1am, morning came early.  The ceremony went well after four or five rehearsals and as I write this, the 8th-grade grad dance party is winding down.  I'll miss this crew most for their incredible energy and oft-annoying "But really, why?"  Young almost-adults who will not just be satisfied with the status quo but keep pushing and asking again and again, "But really, why?" Some of them may change the world--or at least their corner of it.  As teachers, that's what we really want for them anyway.