Where did the time go?
It didn't seem that long ago when I was at my wife Margie's side when the squirming organism emerged from under the cloth covering her lower half after almost fifteen hours and brought into the world from her safe dark haven where she spent the past nine months.
One week ago this past Friday marked the four year anniversary of the event that began when Margie said "I think my water broke".
So much has happened.
Moving from formula to solid food after just getting used to getting up in the middle of the night to give her her bottle. Her first experience with chocolate. Her first steps in September 2010. Her first words and her who-flipped-a-switch talking and interaction that hasn't made her shut up for a moment since July 2, 2011.
Our daughter Savannah has been a rollercoaster ride of laughter, tears, failures and accomplishments all at the same time since her debut in this world on July 19, 2009.
We've been through daycare, pre-school, tumbling classes, swimming lessons, with her latest interests being ballet class and soccer. This little girl has been through so much in the first four years of her life.
One can only help to wonder how much more she'll be through during her childhood years. Even my own childhood memories are fading as I've grown older.
It's amazing how one can grow with their child as well.
You learn to be less selfish, listen harder, gain greater patience, and are more cognizant of every word and action from you having an effect on your child.
Positive and negative, I might add.
With a small child, birthdays aren't celebrated in one fell swoop. Especially if they happen during the week. In this case, it was a three-day birthday extravaganza.
There was her official birthday on July 19th, celebrated with the "July Birthday Club", which consists of my father-in-law, my niece Mia, and Savannah. The club lunch was held at Hardwood Cafe that day.
Then the next day there was the party with her little friends, one of whom celebrated his own birthday earlier that day. Two birthday parties in one day...just about every small child's blood fantasy.
If that weren't enough, there was yet another party the day after, with the extended family members, along with her 'big gift' that came in the shape of a 16-inch Mongoose bicycle, a gift from my parents.
The Berenstain Bears are an important part of Savannah's reading. My wife and I particularly enjoy the lessons taught in these books, especially the ones with the more Christian-themed "Living Lights" series.
One particular story is called "Too Much Birthday".
Sister Bear is overwhelmed by a noisy and crowded sixth-birthday party, though she is the guest of honor. It's proof positive that even kids have their limits. We adults can only internalize our frustrations and reach for the closest 'legal beverage' after all is said and done in order to begin the decompression process.
But a kid doesn't know this. They haven't experienced all the life lessons an adult has and has no other outlet other than acting out emotionally.
If only we could get away with that.
NEXT WEEK: Wheels and Deals
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Staying Afloat
Most of you who are friends with me on Facebook know that I have a boat that's undergone a heavy restoration effort this past spring.
It's amazing what a little money set aside can accomplish if spent wisely, and what results time can also bring.
My wife and I try to do a 'date night' about once a month. Over dinner one night in Pittsburgh, she asked me if I wanted to sell the 1988 Bayliner Cobra that's been languishing near my father's garage in Apollo for close to three years now.
I told her I didn't want to...that the reason was because of money. Unfortunately, when you have a child, you find that you have less and less of it.
Much to my surprise, she told me that she put money aside for repairs. I asked her to give me a number.
$1,000.
That number would likely not fix everything, but it would get the high-priority work done. Not only that, but there was plenty of work that was just that.
The entire floor needed new woodwork, and so did the upper deck in the bow area. New carpeting throughout. Upholstery needed purchased, along with padding to go underneath it.
Time was also a factor. I wanted to get it done before Memorial Day.
I told my dad my intentions. After he saw me buy the first couple pieces of plywood for the upholstered walls, and then cut them out, he knew I meant business.
Then by my next visit back, I saw that he had cleared out some space and moved my boat inside his garage and near his own...a 1990 16-foot tri-hull Bonito. Oh, it was on!
What I didn't have time to do, he did in his spare time. What I didn't know how to do he either did himself or showed me how. Or I watched him once and did the rest myself. Between the two of us, when we didn't have to keep the daughter/granddaughter entertained, we managed to get a lot done.
Carefully watching for sale prices at suppliers (Jo Ann Fabrics, Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Lowe's), we spent the resources wisely and when all was said and done, we had a very impressive vessel that would rival many of the newer products Bayliner is putting out today.
And it would last longer.
Way longer.
Pressure-treated lumber, given additional treatment with linseed oil and paint. Galvanized deck screws. Liquid Nails outdoor construction adhesive. Marine-quality vinyl...even better than what the boat came originally equipped with when it left the factory in late 1987. Pliable outdoor carpet from Lowe's, textured similar to the original. And the best cover money could buy while the boat was stored outdoors during the season.
Even Margie was impressed.
But before we could take our maiden voyage as a family, my Dad suggested that we take it out to Crooked Creek Lake for a test run, as the engine hadn't been run for so long and in case something did go wrong, he was able to find it.
I had a bad experience (well, a couple) with Crooked Creek a few years ago, but thought, Margie and I had learned our lessons as boat newbies, so we'll give it another try.
So Dad and I launched the boat off the dock, and given a high temperature of close to 90, off we went. Remembering that my dad had never been on this boat before while it was on the water, I offered him the opportunity to take the wheel.
He didn't hesitate to take the wheel nor be conservative with the throttle. All 125 horsepower of that Force/Mercury engine was going to be taken to the max, with the fuel pump screaming for mercy after it all.
The look on his face said it all. It was more than just a construction project. It was the chance to see a masterpiece in action. What weeks of extreme attention to detail and patience manifested in on that hot June Tuesday. A labor of love would have been an understatement.
While we weren't as lucky weatherwise with our 2013 season family maiden voyage, we still called it a success. There were few mishaps (loading and unloading), and the boat ran well.
After all, as any boater may tell you, the worst day boating is better than the best day working.
NEXT WEEK: Four More Years
It's amazing what a little money set aside can accomplish if spent wisely, and what results time can also bring.
My wife and I try to do a 'date night' about once a month. Over dinner one night in Pittsburgh, she asked me if I wanted to sell the 1988 Bayliner Cobra that's been languishing near my father's garage in Apollo for close to three years now.
I told her I didn't want to...that the reason was because of money. Unfortunately, when you have a child, you find that you have less and less of it.
Much to my surprise, she told me that she put money aside for repairs. I asked her to give me a number.
$1,000.
That number would likely not fix everything, but it would get the high-priority work done. Not only that, but there was plenty of work that was just that.
The entire floor needed new woodwork, and so did the upper deck in the bow area. New carpeting throughout. Upholstery needed purchased, along with padding to go underneath it.
Time was also a factor. I wanted to get it done before Memorial Day.
I told my dad my intentions. After he saw me buy the first couple pieces of plywood for the upholstered walls, and then cut them out, he knew I meant business.
Then by my next visit back, I saw that he had cleared out some space and moved my boat inside his garage and near his own...a 1990 16-foot tri-hull Bonito. Oh, it was on!
What I didn't have time to do, he did in his spare time. What I didn't know how to do he either did himself or showed me how. Or I watched him once and did the rest myself. Between the two of us, when we didn't have to keep the daughter/granddaughter entertained, we managed to get a lot done.
Carefully watching for sale prices at suppliers (Jo Ann Fabrics, Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Lowe's), we spent the resources wisely and when all was said and done, we had a very impressive vessel that would rival many of the newer products Bayliner is putting out today.
And it would last longer.
Way longer.
Pressure-treated lumber, given additional treatment with linseed oil and paint. Galvanized deck screws. Liquid Nails outdoor construction adhesive. Marine-quality vinyl...even better than what the boat came originally equipped with when it left the factory in late 1987. Pliable outdoor carpet from Lowe's, textured similar to the original. And the best cover money could buy while the boat was stored outdoors during the season.
Even Margie was impressed.
But before we could take our maiden voyage as a family, my Dad suggested that we take it out to Crooked Creek Lake for a test run, as the engine hadn't been run for so long and in case something did go wrong, he was able to find it.
I had a bad experience (well, a couple) with Crooked Creek a few years ago, but thought, Margie and I had learned our lessons as boat newbies, so we'll give it another try.
So Dad and I launched the boat off the dock, and given a high temperature of close to 90, off we went. Remembering that my dad had never been on this boat before while it was on the water, I offered him the opportunity to take the wheel.
He didn't hesitate to take the wheel nor be conservative with the throttle. All 125 horsepower of that Force/Mercury engine was going to be taken to the max, with the fuel pump screaming for mercy after it all.
The look on his face said it all. It was more than just a construction project. It was the chance to see a masterpiece in action. What weeks of extreme attention to detail and patience manifested in on that hot June Tuesday. A labor of love would have been an understatement.
While we weren't as lucky weatherwise with our 2013 season family maiden voyage, we still called it a success. There were few mishaps (loading and unloading), and the boat ran well.
After all, as any boater may tell you, the worst day boating is better than the best day working.
NEXT WEEK: Four More Years
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Career Workout
It's a jungle out there.
If you're out of work and hunting for a job, you don't need me to tell you that.
I've long held the belief that it's not a matter of the jungle itself, but how to cut the brush in your path. With a machete, or a pocketknife?
Trying to find a job these days, especially if you've been 'involuntarily outplaced', is not an easy task. It's not just isolated to my home base in the Pittsburgh area, but anywhere.
Companies that were well-established here for decades are packing up and moving elsewhere. Or being absorbed into other companies altogether.
Over the past three decades, Pittsburgh has managed to transition itself from a smokestack-based economy that earned it a less than favorable reputation (who remembers those Pittsburgh jokes?) as the dirtiest city in America, to a corporate center attracting highly-educated professionals and high-tech companies that eventually led it to earn the title "America's Most Livable City".
More than once, I might add.
But Pittsburgh is seeing a new set of challenges now.
Crumbling infrastructure that only recently has gained attention, yet little funding to change its fortunes. A tax base that continues to shrink. Companies not properly incentivized to not just build here, but stay here as well.
We have people with graduate degrees who are having a hard time finding work here, never mind those with education levels at or below the four-year degreed level.
I had learned of one particular company where hundreds lined up for a small number of part-time jobs, and most of them were college graduates.
We have people willing to work. We don't have enough jobs for them.
And that's wrong.
I learned of this firsthand when I visited the local Pennsylvania CareerLink office earlier this year. Not as a visitor, but as a client.
I was surrounded by degreed professionals at a career education class. Some of them willingly jumped at the chance of a $12 an hour overnight security job at several Marcellus shale drilling sites in the area.
Most employment recruiters tell job-seeking candidates not to settle for just any job out there, and that employers tend to look at those who stay within their fields.
Staying within one's own field should never stand in the way of feeding one's family or sustaining one's self, and why any HR person should feel otherwise, I'll never know.
I know a person who left the engineering field for a job with a car rental company. Another who left ministry to work in retail. One more who left the graphic design field to run his family's farm. I'm married to someone who left teaching for criminology.
Hey, child actors don't stay in the business for life. They've gone on to be great successes outside of show business.
Mike Nesmith. Ken Osmond. David Doremus. Jeremy Miller. To name a few.
If companies are trying to be more family friendly by offering options like telecommuting or flex-hours, why can't they accept the fact that not everyone is content with sitting on his and her duff and willing to go the extra mile to get up in the morning and do something with their day?
To me, working hard and having a job is far more admirable than waiting for the phone to ring.
NEXT WEEK: Boat Trip
If you're out of work and hunting for a job, you don't need me to tell you that.
I've long held the belief that it's not a matter of the jungle itself, but how to cut the brush in your path. With a machete, or a pocketknife?
Trying to find a job these days, especially if you've been 'involuntarily outplaced', is not an easy task. It's not just isolated to my home base in the Pittsburgh area, but anywhere.
Companies that were well-established here for decades are packing up and moving elsewhere. Or being absorbed into other companies altogether.
Over the past three decades, Pittsburgh has managed to transition itself from a smokestack-based economy that earned it a less than favorable reputation (who remembers those Pittsburgh jokes?) as the dirtiest city in America, to a corporate center attracting highly-educated professionals and high-tech companies that eventually led it to earn the title "America's Most Livable City".
More than once, I might add.
But Pittsburgh is seeing a new set of challenges now.
Crumbling infrastructure that only recently has gained attention, yet little funding to change its fortunes. A tax base that continues to shrink. Companies not properly incentivized to not just build here, but stay here as well.
We have people with graduate degrees who are having a hard time finding work here, never mind those with education levels at or below the four-year degreed level.
I had learned of one particular company where hundreds lined up for a small number of part-time jobs, and most of them were college graduates.
We have people willing to work. We don't have enough jobs for them.
And that's wrong.
I learned of this firsthand when I visited the local Pennsylvania CareerLink office earlier this year. Not as a visitor, but as a client.
I was surrounded by degreed professionals at a career education class. Some of them willingly jumped at the chance of a $12 an hour overnight security job at several Marcellus shale drilling sites in the area.
Most employment recruiters tell job-seeking candidates not to settle for just any job out there, and that employers tend to look at those who stay within their fields.
Staying within one's own field should never stand in the way of feeding one's family or sustaining one's self, and why any HR person should feel otherwise, I'll never know.
I know a person who left the engineering field for a job with a car rental company. Another who left ministry to work in retail. One more who left the graphic design field to run his family's farm. I'm married to someone who left teaching for criminology.
Hey, child actors don't stay in the business for life. They've gone on to be great successes outside of show business.
Mike Nesmith. Ken Osmond. David Doremus. Jeremy Miller. To name a few.
If companies are trying to be more family friendly by offering options like telecommuting or flex-hours, why can't they accept the fact that not everyone is content with sitting on his and her duff and willing to go the extra mile to get up in the morning and do something with their day?
To me, working hard and having a job is far more admirable than waiting for the phone to ring.
NEXT WEEK: Boat Trip
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