Gaps In The Deluge

The storms from last night continued through most of today. Sometimes the rain appeared to be going sideways as great gusts of wind caught it.

Escaped our confinement briefly to walk around the neighborhood with Cindy. (Was supposed to run. That didn't pan out!)

During another gap in the deluge, Glenda & Tolar stopped by mid-day. To wake The Edgy Teens and touch base. Happy New Years and tales about growing up in the balmy depths of South Mississippi.

And during a final lapse in the waves of rain, we went to see Star Wars: Nobody Bathes, Interesting flick. Bit predictable. Bit of a divergence from the norm. Better writing. Better acting. Stellar effects. Much enjoyment by everyone involved.

Afterwards, bit of the ol' Guitar Hero for my Edgy Teens. Apparently the position of the mouth is critical to their success. Meg did well. Liam played on a level so difficult that my brain couldn't process the action. And yet they both earned nearly perfect scores. Breath taking to watch these kids in action. "Blessed," is the phrase we use most often. And we continue to enjoy it while it lasts.

Peter Anderson Festival - 2016

Took Cindy to The Peter Anderson Art Festival, in Ocean Springs, this morning. From nearly zero steps on Tuesday to three miles of art festival on Sunday! Over 500 exhibitors. All manner of arts and crafts and tattoos and food and Daisy Dukes and a beautiful parade of slow eclectic Southerns strolling the streets of one of the most laid back towns on The Gulf Coast.

Saw art that reminded us of The Girl. Saw art that reminded us The Boy. Art that reminded us of our parents. Our friends. Shakespeare. Each other. Even... the dog!

Then lunch at Woody's. Bison for He. California Burger for She. Nearly 6800 steps, today. And all is right in the universe. For now.

Stepping Up

First weekend of increased mobility in the wake of The Procedure. Have been increasing my volume of steps each day since ditching The Blue Crutches.

• Wednesday: 1703 steps
• Thursday: 2430 steps
• Friday: 5740 steps
• Saturday: 6383 steps

Very happy with the direct of my recovery. And overall progress. Very little pain. Most of my non-fitness activities have returned to their norms. And once the stitches are removed (on Wednesday) there should be an opportunity to introduce some mobility work and maybe some light training. In the meanwhile, it is just one day at a time.

Covered all the steps today by visiting the Long Beach Farmer's Market, then went to hang out with my parents for a while, and finally had lunch with RPG. Enjoyed catching up with everyone and getting out of the house for several hours. 

Wrapped up the day with a walk through the neighborhood, some MMA on television, and a marathon round of Clean Up Jon's Bookmarks (six years worth!) 

Great day! Looking forward to many more in the future.

Leaving Wells Fargo - Part II - Kids Accounts

The second stage of abandoning Wells Fargo. This time we're opening accounts for The Kids. Somewhat easier because they're young and don't actually have a legal say in the matter. Nor are they legally required to be involved. Slightly complicated by trying to get Navigator to match the exact same setup we' are currently using.  Nothing to difficult or unusual. Each kid has their own account. We're their owners. That sort of thing. But two kids means twice the work. 

How did it go? Good and Bad. 

Good: It was easy. The service person did all the complicate mumbo jumbo. Lots of clickity clackity on the keyboard mostly. Some scanning. Some online entries. We only had to sign on an electronic signature pad. About a dozen times. Per kid! Amount of actual effort required by us? Bring in ID for everyone, sign two dozen times. Done. 

Bad news: It took significantly longer than planned. About half an hour per account. So an hour all together. Based on my initial opening of the count, we budgeted thirty minutes, total. 

What should we have done differently? We should have dropped off copies of the kid's ID, gone to lunch, then come back when all the paperwork was done and spent <5min dance.="" div="" doing="" signature="" the="">

Next step? Setup direct deposits at work. The spice must flow! But we do not know if the funds will flip in two weeks, four weeks, or more. Have to check out the exact timing, then plan accordingly.

Verdict so far? Very easy!  Navigator is modern, quick, friendly, provide superior customer service, and they're all about maximizing value to its members, not maximizing profit for their shareholders at the expense of their customers.

Stay tuned for more. And if you want to help fix the problems with our economy, start looking for a Credit Union in your neck of the woods. We'll get it done, together!

Liam At The Crossroads

Liam visited the Crossroads today. Rosedale, Mississippi. Where Robert Johnson sold his soul to The Devil. Exchanged it briefly for musical genius.

 Man sitting off to the side of the road on a log at the crossroads says, “You’re late, Robert Johnson.” Robert Johnson drops to his knees and says, “Maybe not.”

Whirlwind tour for Liam & The Blue Notes: Rosedale, Tunica, Memphis. Cotton fields. A juke joint. Grave sites. Historic grocery stores. Lonely back roads. All too present in the thick social airs of Mississippi. Some things never change. Not down here. Time doesn't touch us in certain places.

Liam's goup passed a sign commemorating the site where 14yr old Emmett Till's body was pulled from the river. The sign was riddled with bullet holes. And never repaired. Sadness and hate in a long embrace. 21st century and this is how we show our respect. How we come together as a culture and try to overcome stereotypes. Or do we just wear these scars a little too proudly? Some things never change. And we wonder why The Aliens won't talk to us?

But hopefully Liam and his generation can leave behind such petty differences. Learn from the mistakes of all our previous generations. Start new, productive conversations. And maybe he strike one up with a higher intelligence, one my generation was willing, or able, to meet.

Teachers & Anniversaries

August 20th marks Parents' Day at The MS School of Math & Science. Wake up early, more meetings, more reassurances that our students are in good hands, and ample appreciation that we were willing to send our offspring "off to school" two years early. One kid has already gone home. A couple more are on the watch list. But Liam is doing well and he is settling into his new schedule with surprising ease. Hoping Meg sees the value, gets past her inherent fear of the unknown, and she could be the second McDougal to land here, in a couple of year.

After the formalities, we went from class to class and met each of Liam's teachers. Each one of them was amazing. It's pretty much a guided tour through college for Juniors & Seniors in High School. So many opportunities and challenges. Projects and expectations. Most (if not all?) of the instructors have post-graduate degrees. And many of them have their doctoral degrees. If things work out, Liam will have several high-value projects under his belt, lots of official research experience from internships at MSU, and a ton of college credits from two years of AP classes. We were excited about his possibilities before today, but we're even more excited now.

August 20th also marks an interesting anniversary: Jon Met Cindy in 1994. Eight thousand, thirty six days ago. Or, is slightly harder to believe terms: twenty two years. A hot August night. Her last one before nursing school. My first one after finishing Spring Semester at the University of South Alabama. We quoted Shakespeare and had too many drinks and a nearly vulgar amount of kissing. And more than two decades later: here we are: sitting the classroom of our oldest kid, thinking it may be the future for our youngest kid.

Whoddathunk?

Happy To Be Reunited

Four hours to Columbus. Side quest: install a new firewall and smart power at a certain local donut maker. (Double dark donuts, mmmmmm!) Main quest: Visit with Liam for the first time in three weeks!

The work went well, despite doing most of it while precariously balanced atop a step ladder, having to one-handedly cut through a dozen zip ties, and being bombarded by a Divatastic cacophony of mutated pseudo-English from angry, unseen employees. Couple of brief scares while the cable modem slowly awoke from its digital slumber. But otherwise, mission accomplished!

Afterwards, Cindy parked half away to Georgia and BOOM Liam surprised me by walking in alone! All lanky and relaxed, like his Old Man, rapidly approaching six feet tall, and (hopefully) happy to see me. 

Our first official meal together was at our favorite Columbus dive: Little Dooey! Spectacularly flavorfull. Surprisingly lowbrow. You order at the register and then they "holler it" to the kitchen. Twenty minutes of killing flies along the window sill later, the deliciousness arrives. Wraps and shrimp and pulled pork, oh my! Really scary how good it is versus the quality of the facility. But we're not going to ruin the secret by telling anyone, other than you.

Afterwards, we were tired from the drive. And Liam was tired from a tough week at school. Unpacked at the hotel, management rolled in a giant coffin-like bed, for Meg, and we proceeded to work from our digital addictions to sleep at our own pace. Happy to be reunited, for however long it will last.

Monday Night Jams

Aside from the new-normal late start, the ad hoc band was in rare form, tonight. (As opposed to last Monday, which was canceled!) The first song was a crazy wild jam that originated in some odd guitar modulations from Diggs. Then they moved into some blues. And some old familiar tunes followed. All along the way, the spirit had clearly descended upon Liam and he was cranking out funktastic bass licks with brisk authority. The realization of what is happening never ceases to amaze me. The guitarists are mostly just strumming, but Liam doesn't have that luxury. He's not only constantly providing the rhythm,  improvising as he finds openings, often unexpectedly changing the tempo, and watching for subtle queues to end the song or extend the song, or lower his volume for somebody's solo. Anyone up there doing this would earn my respect. But it helps that he's my son. And the kid is just 16!

Six more weeks, though. Then he is off to Columbus. Will happen before we know it. Far before we're actually ready for it. So we're enjoying every performance, while they last.

Start Of Hurricane Season

June 1st leaves a sour stomach taste in my mouth. From now until November, a constant background noise behind our thoughts: tick tick tick. We have to pretend the heat doesn't make us miserable. The sweat on everything. Mosquitoes and gnats and squirrels and road kill littering our lives. And all this is just a backdrop for what we're fearing the most: another hurricane entering the Gulf of Mexico, with its crosshairs on South Mississippi. Is this year? We all just have to wait and see...

On a good note, today Liam received The Call. His first paying music gig! One of the guys from the Monday night jam sessions needs a bassist. And Kidd Maestro goes up to bat in a couple of weeks. Every parent dreams that one day their children will do better than the parents did. And our kids are making our dreams a reality on a regular basis. At sixteen, my son is going to be paid to bring the thunder! How damn cool is that?? We're all proud of his progress and numerous accomplishments.

On an unexpected note, my Mo-In-Law had been fighting her way through an issue with her digestive track. Minutes from spinning down my day and heading to bed (since the alarm will ring @ 0500!) a message hits my phone. It's Cindy: Mom's going into surgery. Can you come be with me? Apparently there was a severe blockage and nothing could go past. And it was not going to get any better. So they made the decision to remove the problem, immediately. Which means Your Humble Narrator goes from thoughts of bed to dashing to the hospital in the span of a few minutes...

The surgery took about an hour. Closing up took about half an hour. Ten people (family, friends, doctors, pastors, children, and grand children!) waiting on the inevitable phone call. But it was all good news in the end. No cancer. Only a small section needed to be removed. Everything else still looks very healthy. And Cindy's Mom will be with us many many years to come.

And, my friends, was June 1st, 2016.... on to the rest of Hurricane Season!

Corks & Cleavage

Cindy's 49th birthday again. Bottle of wine. Couple of cards. Bag of her favorite chocolates. Could have gone a lot better for her. She should have received better presents. She should have stayed home from work. Gone for a spa day! She should not have needed to deal with my recent issues. But she accepted the situation for what it was and we'll make it up to her... down the road... somehow...

After work, she wanted to go somewhere quiet and try something new. We headed over to Corks & Cleaver, in downtown Gulfport.  We wanted to go on MY birthday, a couple of weeks ago, but that didn't happen. So we picked up some BBQ wings for the kids and went off, on our own.

Sat inside, out of the setting sun. Pleasantly rural/rustic decor . Comfortable seating. Good service. Cindy had an almost-glass of white wine. And some Mystery Romp for Your Humble Narrator. We wanted more but the price and the drink portions did not excite us. Couldn't agree on appetizers but some of them looked awesome. Uncertainty versus the price was the likely villain. Cindy had a smoked salmon BLT which she thoroughly enjoyed. My hamburger was very flavorful and cooked perfectly. Wanted a bit more, though. 1/3 of a pound didn't quite fill me. The fries were just average.  But the dessert (a dark chocolate and cheese cake invention) rocked!

Not sure if we'll go back there, or not. Corks & Cleaver was a nice treat. Maybe my belly is too big and my wallet too small.  But the end result didn't entirely satisfy us. We'll have to play a return trip by ear.

Driven Solo

Liam: Can I drive to the Quick Stop?
Me: Sure. Here are the keys.
Liam: Really?!?!?
Me: Yes. Just don't wreck. And take the back way.
Liam: Whoa...

And that is the first time he has ever driven solo.

Fortunately there were no wrecks. Except the one in my head during the long delay before he returned.

Thus it begins.

Interviews & Tamales

Cindy & Liam made the trek to Columbus, MS, last night. MMeg stayed home with me. In case my back didn't get any better. Rained on all of us, even though we were four hours apart. Their trip went smoothly, otherwise.

Liam had to schedule the visit to interview with The MS School of Math & Science. He made it past the application phase and was invited up for the next one. First, they had some essay for him to write, on the spot. He said he KILLED it. Then he had some standardized math and/or science tests to take. He said he KILLED it. Then he had to do an interview with staff and alumni. Cindy was on the phone with me as he walked out, and she said he was all smiles. So we took that to be a good sign. Overall, they had a great trip. And Liam feels he did very well. By my guestimate, he has a 90% chance to get accepted. Good grade, great ACT, lots of extracurricular activities, and a rockstar personality. Oh yeah, they're gonna want him there!

Meanwhile, my back decided to stop having muscle spasms and walking was possible today. Meg & Molly went with me to visit the Farmer's Market in Long Beach for groceries and then pick up some lunch. Molly met some friends. Meg had a quesadilla that somehow ended up across the front of her shirt. And Your Humble Narrator reveled in his freedom from the sofa by scarfing down some of the finest tamales on the Gulf Coast.

Good time for everyone involved. But now we have to wait a week to hear from MSMS... ...and learn of Liam's fate.

First Jam

Monday. Work sinks its teeth into soft soft neckmeat. Temperatures drop. Forecasts say: Nearly freezing by morning. Ran my first mile since The Knee was "fixed." Didn't suck. Quick workout: 100/50, 80/40, 60/30, 40/20 on jumps/situps. Couple of weighted Good Mornings. Helped coach a large class of sweaty Argonauts. The Bride is nearly delusional with fever after her third day of The Crud. And like rude, neo-urban ninjas, Your Humble Narrator & Son are off to Irish Coast Pub for the first jam session of 2016.

Lo and behold, Kidd Maestro leads off the very first song! Diggs joins on the drums. Then Zach tickles his keyboards and crafts some vocals. Just the three of them, with Liam at the helm of the FunkBoat. Few things can exceed the beauty awe of witnessing one of your children unleash their natural talents upon the world.

Despite the long hours and frequent shortages of appreciation for my efforts, in this life, my blessings are numerous. They shall be enjoyed while they last. Until there is silence.

Under Pressure

 A pressure cooker appeared under our tree. Experimental kitchenware. Courtesy of the Jolly Ol Fat Man Himself. The Bride didn't trust it. Thought it would explode. Wanted to send it back. To the North Pole. Your Humble Narrator, however, saw his opportunity to shine!

Grass fed, bone-in shoulder roast from Country Girl's Creamery. Some giant carrots. Purple sweet potatoes (yes, PURPLE!) And an onion from the Biloxi's Farmer's Market. Seared the meat in some coconut oil. Kids pealed cut up the veggies. And away we went! Of course, being the maiden voyage, it didn't go eeeexxxxacctly right the first try. Meaning SOMEBODY only set the timer, and neglected to pressurize Ye Ol Beast. But we got past that without pointing any fingers and it didn't take long before everything was firing on all cylinders.  And THEN away we went...

Normally, when a fine fine McDougal Roast is crafted, it spends eight hours in the crockpot. On this glorious day, the total cooking time was a mere forty minutes. Roughly 10% of the normal endeavor! And it came out every bit as succulent and tasty as the traditional method. Actually, we should have cooked the meat for the first 10 minutes, by itself, and then added the veggies for 30 minutes. The carrots and onions were SUPER tender, but the poor sweet potatoes ended up as mashed potatoes.

The Bride cobbled together some bacon & green beans as well as a batch of rice. Mom brought Dad and a carrot cake. And we all feasted.

Wonderful contraction, this new pressure cooker. New recipes must be discovered! And we're all happy nothing exploded. Except our taste buds. And there're more to come.

A Busy 2016

Started off a busy year with a busy day. Despite the weather and a terrible mood. drove by Long Beach to visit my Grandparents. Weird tangle of emotions visiting them "together," for the first time nearly a decade. Today would have marked 96 years for G'Pa. And G'Ma crossed over exactly a year ago. Brought flowers. Couldn't breathe for a while. Finally put them on his grave. Something bothered me about marking her passing with flowers. Next year, one for each of them!

Skipped lunch, picked up Kidd Maestro and headed to our local 3rd Annual Polar Bear Plunge. Couple of dozen folks: Luke, Jack, Onnie, Lisa, Dean, and Rachel, to name a few. Air temperatures in the high 40s. Water temperature in the low 60s. Actually warmer than last year. And good to have a Sherpa with me for a change. Video below as proof of my stupidity.

Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch at The Dock (good sammiches but the water tasted like melted plastic) then went to see a 3D viewing of Star Wars. Better character development than I thought. Less campy. Great special effects but not overwhelming. Couple of loop holes that bothered me, but it was a good start. It pleased more folks than it disappointed, and that has to count as something. 

And here's hoping the rest of the year is as fulfilling!

Mothers Day 2015

Sleeping late these days means 0730. Kids kept to their beds until much later. Card for Cindy. Mani\Pedi Gift Certificate. Hugs and such. Whatever she wants today. Turned out to be a late lunch with her Mom while the rest of us hit the theater to catch a thankfully-uncrowed showing of The Avengers.  (Fairly good flick despite some flimsy plot moments but the effects compensated.) And the  day continues as a long lazy Sunday with Liam playing his new bass and Meg alternating between her ukulele and her violin.

Life. Good.

Enough Adventure

One pint too many last night and paid for it this morning. Most unpleasant swimming 1200 yards without a wetsuit. Then we hopped on the bikes for a HR Zone 2. 17.9MPH but only 124BPM. Then a crazy sweaty ten minute run. All three pieces. Good times with good friends. Approaching 21 weeks until The Main Event. We're probably half way there already. Will build up the rest across the next 4+ months. In the furnace of South Mississippi....

After training and getting lunch, hit the road with Kidd Maestro. Checked out some different jazz bass guitars. First music place had a Fender and a second hand amp at a reasonable price. Second place (actually our favorite) had the same Fender but a bigger selection of guitars and we were able to noticeably hear the difference between some of them. In the end, the owner (a bassist himself) convinced us to pick up an Ibanez  (that Liam absolutely loved) and a new 300W amp. Took it home and it is night and day different than his old bass. Much better sound and far greater range of versatility. So we took it back home and he played for hours, looking forward to the jam session on Monday.

Then an unexpected surprise: Nenna (Kimmer's Wife) had a kidney stone flare up and they decided to head to the ER to get it checked out professionally. They dropped off Ethan and we all hung out for a couple of hours. SUPER sweet little boy. We'd have quick, cute conversations and talk about his favorite cartoons. He decided he wanted to watch Thomas The Tank Enginer, like Liam used to. Then one by one, every except me & Ethan went to sleep. First Meg went to her room. Then Liam went off to his. And finally, Cindy fell asleep on the sofa next to me. Approaching midnight, Kim & Nenna made it out of the ER. Us boys were still awake and able to get everything packed without any drama or concerns.

That's enough adventure for one day, methinks.

For A Monday

Normal nerdy adventures at work, at least for a Monday. Not too much debris lingering from the near-explosion last week. But enough to spin up a figment of a headache and chew up enough energy to make training all-the-more challenging.

What was on the agenda today? Biking! 21.0 miles on the trainer with an angry (ANRGY!) instructor barking at me for just under 54 minutes (23.4MPH average!) Much sweat created. Great workout.

Afterwards, me & Kidd Maestro hit Irish Coast Pub. Ben's birthday. The Pub's birthday, too.  Couple of new musicians, and Liam. He's getting the feel of performing live, winging it, playing from instinct rather than set music. Does my heart good to see him up there, driving the rhythm and improvising with subtle nuances of his own creation. Plan B, we call it. Something to earn him some money and maybe help get him through college. We'd much rather have him playing for a couple of hours to earn $50 than to take food orders all day. He's a great musician and really shines once he lets his guard down and just goes with it. Hopefully we'll look back on these nights and they'll be good memories. They are already, for me.

Gulf Coast Youth Symphony - Spring Concert 2015

Liam's been practicing a couple of hours per week for several weeks and we finally get to see the fruit of his late-night labors. The Gulf Coast Youth Symphony had their Spring Concert today. All the grandparents went. Should have taken a picture for posterity. But my brain wasn't firing on all cylinders. As you can imagine, everyone enjoyed it. My favorite was The Barber Of Seville. Liam enjoyed Duke Ellington. Cindy & Meg loved the violin soloist in Praeludium & Allegro. And my Mom could barely control her excitement during Hoe Down. All in all, a great show for the whole family. Proud of that kid. We're all blessed.

Meg At 13

What to say about Meg at 13? She enters her teen years nearly as tall as her mother, as crazy-talented like her brother, and far more creative than her father. She's moved past pink and My Little Pony and ballet to focus on theater and violin and her artwork. Sure, she gets moody and sometimes dramatic. But she is the music that keeps me moving and always brightens my day in the morning or after work. Thankful to have her in my life and continue to enjoy my time with her while she's still into hugging her Old Man.


Cindy put together Meg's party. All of Meg's favorites: Cane's Chicken, French Onion Dip, small cans of coke, vanilla ice cream, and (of course) cake. On top of putting all those pieces together and straightening the house, Cindy also made some crockpot lasagna that super double delicious.

Joined today by: My parents, my brother & Morgan, Cindy's parents, Cindy's brother plus Aunt Amy, Alex, and Tolar.

So now we have two teenagers. Liam's driving and trying to find his own edges. Meg's approaching high school and still trying her hand at as many different hobbies as possible. There are so many possibilities, for both of them.We're enjoying watching them grow up. It just happens too quickly sometimes. And has its prickly moments. But none of us are ever bored.