Good morning all:

“The idea of an election is much more interesting to me than the election itself…The act of voting is in itself the defining moment.” — Jeff Melvoin, Northern Exposure, Democracy in America, 1992

The first thing I heard this morning was the furnace cranking away. It was a sound so foreign that I almost ran to get the coffee started with the hope that the noise of coffee percolating would override—it did not. The combined end result is wonderful though.

Now that the weather is turning I thought it the perfect time for a hot bowl of oats from a secret stash of Oatmeal I have quietly kept throughout the summer. Turns out Marcia discovered the canister and finished it off while madly making batch after batch of apple-crisp. She claims it had to be done to use up the bags of apples we picked a few weeks ago. I think she’s addicted.

Talking furnaces, I am suggesting that furnace filters be replaced immediately after an election – old dirty out, new clean in. Sort of like changing the batteries in smoke detectors when the time changes. However, I do think my idea makes more sense and is more pertinent. Go ahead and change those filters.

These are serious times as ours and world economies are in turmoil. I was glad to see President-elect Obama address this major issue in his first – post election – press conference. And, I have to say that I was impressed with his demeanor and statements. The single light moment occurred with his failed attempt at humor – the supposed Nancy Reagan joke – which sank like a brick. But, it was the absolute glee on Biden’s face as he stood in the background behind his boss that was priceless. I think he must have been thinking, “oh goody, a gaffe, a gaffe, and it wasn’t me!”

Little Vai turned 4 pounds and 10 weeks yesterday. She is now the star of the micro-preemie unit at Good Sam hospital. And she knows it! Our little bundle with her newly acquired chipmunk cheeks and double chin has developed personality. It is amazing how a little being that sleeps 23-hours per day can creep into your heart.

The other day Marcia and I visited with her. I was informed by Marcia that it’s a male thing to want to do things with kids. I therefore left the little toy make-up kit at home, as well as a doll and the pom-poms. Marcia can stand crib-side by the hour and make gushing comments about the raising of an eyebrow. I believe that she expects that my single purpose for going to visit is to hold Vai by the hands to see if she can stand yet.

Also, Happy Birthday to these ”Welcome to Dirk’s Ramblings” – today is the anniversary of the first post which now has been going with a weekly update for 6 years: 312 continuous weekly postings. To everyone who is a regular on these pages – thanks – and eat a virtual cupcake. I have script embedded into the code to keep Google and other browsers from grabbing content. This means that the readership stays small and everything here is a bit more personal – just the way it started out.

The history of this blog began with Grandpa, who at about age 80 was given a computer and with it access to e-mail. Since I was traveling almost constantly I started writing him update mails. It was a great way to keep him informed on family stuff and the kids happenings and made my hotel stays a bit more connected. He never did figure out how to reply to these letters but that didn’t matter.

Brother-in-law Paul saw one of the notes and asked that I mail to others and so a weekly family letter was written. Then Vince introduced me to a brand new way to manage the whole thing – a web log. At that time there were only about 200,000 of these new web logs world-wide. What made it all easy for a non-geek like me was a piece of freeware with the name of Blogger; a more colorful version of the family letter was underway.

Make it a great week. Now that we’ve got a new president you know who to call about the idiot timing on the corner traffic light, or those pesky neighbors. And, don’t forget to mention the neighborhood kids riding bikes without helmets. Also, be sure to get a word in about that broken curb. The new guy will get right on it.

Cheers,

Dirk