Sunday, November 25, 2007

Lights out!

We experienced at least a dozen, quick power outages on Sunday. While it did interrupt our lazy day of watching football and putting up Christmas decorations, it got a little funny at night.

We had candles lit through the house waiting for the power to go off as the sun had set.

Around 8 p.m. the lights cut off and Stacy and I were on the other side of the house from the kids. Surprisingly, the kids just kind of went on playing and called for us. They did not freak out like I used to when I was a kid.

One time later in the evening, Rigby, Stacy and I were in the kitchen and the power went off. I had a flashlight in my pocket and went to look for Lucy, because she was thinking it was hide and go seek time apparently.

As I turned on the flashlight and headed to the living room, my light caught a small girl face just as she let out a yelp and started to laugh. It scared me a little, sort of like those creatures on the movie "Descent." Lucy thought it was hilarious and just laughed.

The power soon came back on and we enjoyed the rest of the evening. Such random day events that I had to record.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Bill Curry


I spent the majority of my day in a Unum Service Operations leadership meeting at The Chattanoogan today. We covered many great topics, but our session after lunch was special. Our guest speaker was Bill Curry.

Now I always remember Bill Curry as the three-year coach of Alabama and an ESPN football analyst/commentator for ESPN for the past 10 years.

But, wow, I did not realize that he played pro football from 1965 to 1974 with the Green Bay Packers (under the legendary Vince Lombardi), Houston Oilers, Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams, and was an all-pro center with the Colts in 1971 and 1972. Curry was the starting offensive line center for the Packers in Super Bowl I and the Colts in Super Bowl V. He was also the ACC coach of the year in 1985 and the SEC coach of the year in 1989.

After his hour-long, moving speech about leadership development and supporting football metaphors, I had the opportunity to briefly meet him. My time was spent holding his Super Bowl I championship ring, similar to the one in the picture.

Some stats from the game:

Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10
Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles, California
January 15, 1967
Attendance: 61,946
MVP: Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay (Curry was the center!)

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Volvo Milestone

Our 1998 Volvo S70 reached 100,000 miles on Thursday! She's been a great car and is still going strong.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Mocs Homecoming


The power of a great day. UTC brought us together all those years ago, and UTC keeps us together even today.

The day started with a cool morning, beautiful blue skies and participation in the 2007 American Heart Association Heart Walk. We walked through the city with friends from work.

After a big burrito lunch at Mojo, we took it to the house for some siestas.

We arrived at First Tennessee Pavilion at Finely Stadium during the mid-afternoon and what a great turnout of students and alumni for UTC Homecoming.

There seemed to be a couple hundred Sigma Chis in full force. It was great to see so many brothers and pledges. If there is one day each year that we really get to celebrate, it is this day. There were many alumni in attendance, but there were also many we missed and wish had been there.

Rigby and Madison Cope took it to the big inflatable playgound and never seemed to wear out. They kept the energy going all the way through the football game. It was great.

In addition to a packed pavilion, there were several alumni I had not seen in many many years. Two in particular were Levert Threats and Larry Stewart, two of my best Mocs basketball friends from back in the day (15 years ago). Other Mocs ballers there were Tim Brooks, Gary Robb, Damon Woods and Ed "Lover" Snead. (Shane Neal was there, but he is my local boy!).

I spent a good bit of time with Larry and Levert and we enjoyed talking about days of old. It was such a good feeling to see them and pick up where we left off last time. After big hugs and promises of sincere friendship, we went on our way to see the Mocs play.

The Cope clan and GrayStation spent the game time in the Coca-Cola skybox. The Coke folks are great hosts, as always. Thanks to them and drink Coke!!

We all enjoyed a Mocs 39-21 win over Western Carolina. We made it home around 9:30, and settled in for some DVR'ed television shows from the past week. Wow, we are getting old - normally, I would be liver-deep in beer at this time.

GO MOCS

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Road Trip Day 7

Washington, PA. We awoke naturally with no alarm around 8:30. Erik packed the car, Stacy bathed the kids and then we dined on free breakfast at the hotel.

Our last day on the road began at 10 a.m. Our trip home was going to be I-70 to Columbus, I-71 to Cincinnati and then I-75 to Chattanooga. This was different than on Day 1 as we took I-81 through Virginia and into West Virginia.

We hit our first rain of the road trip in Columbus, which was around kickoff of the Ohio State football game. We stopped to get gas just outside Wheeling, WV and Erik grabbed a 12-pack of Iron City beer for home usage.

We landed in Cincinnati around 2 p.m. and made our way to Busken Bakery for four 12-packs of Halloween and Bengals print cookies. The Buskens are the best ever.

After cookie pickup, we drove by Xavier and past University of Cincinnati to Ludlow Avenue. Our stop took us to Skyline Chili. As we walked in, the first words from Rigby's mouth were, "ahhhh, it smells good in here." After wiping the tears of joy from his face, Erik ordered. Chili-cheese coneys and 3-ways were the orders of choice for the family.

After a hearty dining experience, we drove through our second home city reliving the past.

Our final destination was The Party Source in Newport, Ky, just across the river from Cincy. This place has the largest beer cooler ever. They have rows and rows of wines and spirits and almost every type of beer you can imagine, except for Yuengling and Hudy Delight in a can.

We dropped a Benjamin and more, boxed up the goods and loaded the car with tasty treats for future references.

Our journey was nearing an end. We traveled through the 190-mile stretch of Kentucky and welcomed the dark. Erik listened to the Vols-Southern Miss game, since that was about the only thing the radio would pick up. The other choices were deep-woods country and the Kentucky football game.

We took a pit stop outside of Knoxville and then breezed down I-75 to Chattaboogie. We opted to turn off the radio and tell sppoky stories. Rigby told a 30 minute story about every monster he could think of. Seriously, 30 minutes.

We arrived at our home at 11 p.m.

Saturday consisted of:
-650 miles
-four pit stops
-three hours in Cincinnati
-13 hours total door (Pittsburgh) to door (Chattanooga)

Our seven-day journey was awesome. We traveled more than 1,800 miles during our adventure. What a great time.

The car is unpacked and the second load of laundry is already in the washer.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Road Trip Day 6

The cell phone alarm woke us at 7 a.m. in Erie so we could get on the road early back to Pittsburgh. A quick breakfast at Old McDonalds and we were off.

We stopped in Wale Mark (Wal Mart Rigby-style) to get an umbrella stroller. We planned for a trip to a "see" museum and not a "play" museum so Rigby would be sitting in the new stroller.

We arrived back in Pittsburgh before lunch time and went to the Allegheny Cemetery to see Daniel William Cooper's grave, one of the seven founders of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. The cemetery was very old and very expansive, but the grave site found Erik just like the other three he has seen before this one.



We traveled to and parked on the North Shore area to visit our final museum of the trip, the Andy Warhol Museum, seven-stories of Warhol in an old remodeled building. The museum was very contemporary, very Warhol. What a master he was. It was not your usual Marilyn Monroe pop what you would think of Warhol. It was so many different mediums he used throughout the years. The fifth floor held an archive of 600 boxes of memorabilia he had collected throughout the years.

After our museum experience, we ate at Atrias, which was built into the PNC Ball Park. The cheddar burger and reuben were awesome, as were the cold, Iron City beers we enjoyed (Lucy and Rigby had Sprite).

We breathed in the last daytime air of Pittsburgh and headed out to our hotel on the outskirts of the city.



But our day was not over! We freshened up and drove back to the city for our last big event - Pittsburgh Pirates baseball versus the Chicago Cubs. We parked in the city and walked across the Roberto Clemente Bridge, with thousands of other fans. Our seats were 20 rows behind home plate. The view of the Steel City in the outfield and the warm late summer breeze made for an awesome night.



The Pirates won 6-1. We left the ball park as the pirate raised the skull and cross bones in the outfield, signaling a win! Rigby and Lucy got foam pirate swords and swashbuckled their way out of the stadium.

We walked back across the Clemente Bridge looking over our shoulder at a great evening.

As we left the city, we wanted to see one more area of town on the South Side that we had not seen yet. Although it was 10:30 p.m., we drove through the Carson Street area and counted at least 30 bars and restaurants, alive and kicking. What a place for the adults and college students. We scoped that one out for future visits. During our 20 minute driving tour through the area, Rigby talked to Tobi-o-wan (Erik's sister) describing his week.

The night ended in Washington, PA, 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh. Stacy and Erik lugged two tired kids in the hotel (and a couple fountain drinks and apple pies from Old McDonalds).

What a great week. It's time to head back home. The road trip back home begins tomorrow.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Road Trip Day 5

Day 5. Erie, Pennsylvania. Went out to the car early morning and discovered the sun casting a shadow on a piece of tire on the passenger side. The tire was not flat, but it was injured. Luckily, the Avis store was about 3 miles away at the Erie International Airport.

Upon our arrival to the Avis counter, I informed the Avis representative that we had an injured tire. He questioned me why I had not noticed it early. Sorry, I thought, I am not vehicle inspection man. At first I thought he was not going to assist me, but he told me he could trade the car out if we felt it was unsafe. Of course I said yes.

So a 30-minute delay switching cars and kids and we were on our way to breakfast at a local establishment called Taki's. It was a good ole local establishment with omelets, hot cakes, bacon, sausage and coffee.

After breakfast we began our tour of Erie. We are not too sure what to make of the place. There is a nice area through town with tourist markers showing where the art museum, the maritime museum, the beaches, bayfront, etc. were, but it looked like this once bustling town of the 1900's was forgotten along the way. There are some awesome old churches and buildings and signs of prosperity from years past.

We went back to the hotel and changed into our beach gear for a trip to Presque Isle on Lake Erie. Upon our arrival to this serene state park, we drove to the end of the isle and beach 10.


The lake was nice and quiet - there were only about 10 other people in the area we were at. We dipped our feet and bums into the chilly water and collected cardboard-thin, smooth rocks, some of the best we have ever seen for skipping across the water. We soaked in the sun, walked along the shore and Rigby sat atop a lifeguard stand.




Sleepiness set in and we headed back for naps in the hotel. And then it was hungry time!

Stacy had read about this local restaurant downtown called the Pufferbelly Restaurant, housed in one of the oldest fire stations in Erie. The Pufferbelly recalls the nickname given to the steam pumpers and engines of the late 1800s.

The Erie Fire Department became an organization in 1816. Construction on the firehouse that is now the Pufferbelly Restaurant, was begun in 1907. It was built at a cost of $14,889.00 and was completed in 1908. Fire House No. 1 enjoyed a long history of fire protection and the department stopped using the station in 1979.

We enjoyed appetizers, dinner, dessert, drinks and really full bellies.

We ended our day at a city playground as the sun set and then in the hotel pool. The GrayStation soaked in the hot tub, Lucy floated around in an inflatable car and Rigby laid on his back in the pool dressed in a life jacket. Rigby even asked to go to the bathroom while he was in the ool. He has learned there is no "p" in it.

On to Day 6 - back to Pittsburgh for Pirates vs. Cubs at PNC Ball Park.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Road Trip Day 4

Hello from Western Pennsylvania. They do not sell beer in convenience or grocery stores. You have to buy from a package store, and if those are not open (most close at 10 p.m.) you have to buy from a bar. So Erik bought a six back of Yuengling from Rocco's Tavern in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Now on with the first of the day and what a fun-filled day it was.

We woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning to walk down to the market district. We had breakfast around 8 a.m. and then started on our trek. The market area is where all the fresh produce and meats are brought into the city. The area opens before dawn and closes by lunchtime. We went in and out of local shops enjoying and wishing we had the cheap prices at home.

After a couple hours in the market area, we went back to the hotel to take a mid-morning swim. Erik and Rigby dipped into the hot tub and Lucy latched onto Stacy in the pool.

After the swim we packed up and went across the street to the Heinz Pittsburgh History Center, a massive seven-story museum. We could have stayed there all day, but Lucy and Rigby were ready to go after two hours. Inside was a chronological history of the city, complete with a lifesize cabin, city street, and house. It was awesome.

Also housed in the center was the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. Housed on two floors, the area featured the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Steelers and Penguins pro teams as well as high school sports and Olympic sports.

Rigby even through a football to Steelers football players!

The interaction throughout the museum was great for young and old. We were as impressed with this museum as we have been with any other we have ever been in. Definitely worth the trip and for a revisit. Rigby, Lucy and Erik had their picture taken around the Three Rivers Stadium goal posts which stood from 1970-2000 and saw many championship Steelers teams.

After picking up some goods from the history store, we traveled across town to experience the Carnegie Science Center, a five level feast for the senses on the banks of the Ohio River and next to Heinz Field, home of the Steelers.

In the Science Center, Rigby and Lucy experienced their first planetarium show in a digital theater dome. We watched a 30-minute presentation on the Pittsburgh night sky. Lucy did great and Rigby really enjoyed peering at the 360 degree view of all the stars and constellations.

After a quick bite to eat in the cafe, Rigby and Erik went to the waterfront to hop aboard the USS Requiem, a cold-war era submarine. What a tight fit!

We finished up our visit seeing the other three floors of the museum, entering a wind tunnel, experiencing an earthquake, playing in water games and seeing the largest model train set display we have ever seen.

The center closed quicker than we wanted so we left and jumped into the car to go get some University of Pittsburgh Panthers gear on campus. Erik got a sweatshirt and Rigby got a Panthers cap. We then walked among the thousands of college students and had sushi at a small streetside shop.

Finally, to end the day, we loaded up the car and drove 126 miles to Erie, Pennsylvania, where we arrived around 9:30 p.m. We checked in at the Clarion Hotel, located just a half mile from Lake Erie. We plan to stay a day or so here and then go to where the road takes us.

See you tomorrow! Time for sleep - note below, this was right after midnight as Lucy FINALLY fell asleep. She was an evil hornet and having a good time staying up late.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Road Trip Day 3

Tuesday morning sleep in! We woke at 9:30 a.m. and Rigby and Erik headed down for some complimentary breakfast and to pick some up to bring back to mommy and Lucy.

After baths and showers, we headed to the North Shore to visit the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. The museum is inside old post office and planetarium buildings, connected by a new modern glass structure. The entire building runs off of hydroelectric, solar and wind energy.

The museum was quite large, spanning four floors. We started in Mister Rogers' neighborhood. Mister Rogers is a Pittsburgh native. There were props and sets from the TV show.



We continued into the a room with ghosts, shadow makers and a gravity room with tilted floors. Rigby climbed into a two-story "limb bender," a maze that fit inside a wall. It was awesome and Erik wished he could have climbed in.

The next room was a garage, complete with a Mini-Cooper car. This room was inside the old planetarium dome.

We visited the second floor with train sets and Lucy-aged items. The third floor was a waterworks area where we could build boats and sail them across pools of waters. Rigby and Lucy had full rain gear on so they would not get soaked. When they were done, there was a wall of dryers to dry off the kids.

The basement housed Clifford, the Big Red Dog. After some Clifford action, we stopped into the old planetarium lobby, which had been transformed into a cafe and rest area.

It was a great children's museum - completely different from Chattanooga's.

Lunch was taken at Lula's near the University of Pittsburgh campus. This Asian cuisine establishment was voted "Best of" for several years and it did not disappoint. Rigby stabbed cucumbers with chop sticks and Lucy ate curry noodles!

We chose the zoo to visit next, but discovered that it closed at FOUR when we arrived at 4:03. We were all pissed, so we took some quiet time at nearby Highland Park. There was a large fountain, super playground and lots of green space for all to enjoy. Rigby ran like a wild horse and Lucy picked flowers.

A stop back at the hotel to freshen up was needed, and we watched a little TV.

We got back out on the road near sundown to drive up to Mt. Washington to see the city and rivers immediately below. The view was breathtaking, and we walked up and down some hilly roads to the Duquesne Incline, in operation since 1877. For $7 for the family, we rode down the incline and back up watching the city skyline and spotting deer on the hillside.

Night fell and we enjoyed the night sky on a mountain overlook. We reluctantly got back in the car, not wanting to leave the beautiful views, but we were ready to get something to eat. As soon as we got in the car, Rigby grabbed a "sippy cup" of Sprite and proceeded to spill the drink all over him - a faulty lid was to blame.

After driving around looking for something to eat, we settled on a local favorite establishment, Primanti Brothers in the Strip District near our hotel.

At 9:30 p.m. the proclaimed area that does not sleep was snoring. Nothing appeared open but Primanti's and it is open 24 hours. ROCK ON. Erik went in to get to go orders since the kids were asleep. After ordering steak and cheese, corned beef and cheese and bacon and cheese sandwiches, Erik enjoyed an ice-cold Iron City Beer.

We took the food and sleepy kids back to the hotel and got on the food. To note, these sandwiches were topped with slaw and fries and must have weighed a pound each. Rigby's bacon and cheese must have had 12 pieces of bacon on it. He did wake up and is eating the bacon right now, actually.

So time for bed and on to Day 4.

Spinning!

Monday, September 03, 2007

Road Trip - Day 2

Day 2 began with baths, showers and a full breakfast at the Beckley, WV Fairfield Marriott. After packing the car back up, we headed back out to where the road will take us, as Rigby keeps saying.

We detoured 30 minutes into our drive to look for the New River Gorge National River. We ended up going through some old towns and looped back around to Highway 19. We crossed the New River Gorge Bridge (longest steel arch span in the western hemisphere) and found the national river visitors center. We had never been to a national river, but it is park of the national parks system.



We discovered the striking size of the gorge with one of the world's oldest rivers at the bottom. A short hiking trail took us into the gorge on a wooden boardwalk. The boardwalk has two observation decks which offered great views of the bridge and the mile-wide gorge it spans.

We soon made our way back on the road, stopped at an Old McDonalds (of course) and headed north to Morgantown, WV, home of the West Virginia University Mountaineers. We just drove through the campus area and went on our way.

After driving 260 miles, we traveled through the Pennsylvania hills and as we neared Pittsburgh, we passed through the Fort Pitt tunnel. As soon as the tunnel ended, the Steel City appeared. It was a great way to enter the city.

We drove around and got the lay of the land, driving around and through the city. We stopped into a coffee shop on the University of Pittsburg's campus for milk, coffee drinks, muffins and wi-fi access. We then settled in at the Hampton Inn & Suites downtown next to the Convention Center and across the street from the Heinz History Center.

After unpacking and throwing the kids from bed to bed, we got dressed and headed out on foot to explore the city at sundown. We walked a dimly-lit path to Point Park, the area where the three rivers meet at the point of the city. To our dismay, the large signature fountain was off and the park was closed for a $35 million renovation.



We walked away from the way we came and traveled the other side of the city looking for access back across the highway and into the city. At this point we had walked about two miles and were a little frustrated, and in the dark.

We found our way back in to the city and walked to the PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) campus. This place was awesome, with its tall black glass buildings. It looked like a medieval fortress. The center of the quad had a large fountain and Rigby and Erik made sure to get a little wet.

Back on track, we took Penn Avenue back through the city and to our hotel.

Note that Rigby walked almost all three miles (at least), Lucy stayed awake in her stroller and we had nothing to eat. Being Labor Day and we were in a blue-collar city, nothing was open at 9 p.m. It was a little strange.

So we hopped in the car to look for some grub. We ended up on the University of Pittsburgh campus and found the Original Hot Dog Shop, which we discovered was ranked the fourth-best hot dog in America by Gourmet Magazine.

What great college food and atmosphere. We walked in at 10 p.m. with a hungry Rigby and completely asleep Lucy.

This place opened up in 1960. Walk inside, and we're assaulted by the sights, sounds and smells of urban Americana. Signs everywhere offering various dogs and a man behind the counter with half a head of hair, half a beard and one eyebrow - and he was very congenial.

Stacy got an Original Hot Dog with ketchup, mustard, onion and relish. Erik got the Super Dog - a hot dog with two pieces of crunchy bacon and melted cheese, plus mayo, ketchup, onion and relish. Rigby had pizza from a counter on the other side of the shop.

The fries were awesome and served in mass quantities - they're bright yellow-gold -- some twisty, some tiny, some crunchy -- and cooked tasty.

There were coolers all over the place with 12-packs of beer and 40 oz. bottles of malt liquor which you could purchase to go with the meal. We had sodas.

Bellies full, we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night. On to Day 3.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Road Trip - Day 1

Labor Day Week Road Trip 2007 has begun!

We left Chattanooga around 1 p.m. and pulled into Beckley, West Virginia at 11 p.m., 450 miles away. But we had some good pitstops along the way.

Exit 407 on I-40 - Aside from all the tourists and straight-up rednecks (I know, it is my stomping grounds), we enjoyed a quick bite to eat at Old McDonalds.

As we toured up I-81, we decided to take our first detour and travel about 100 miles out of the way to Blacksburg and Virginia Tech.

The Arby's on Exit 69 in Virginia has clean bathrooms.

As we arrived on the campus, the sun was setting. We walked across the field to a new memorial dedicated to all those that lost their lives in April on the VT campus. There were 32 Hokie stones in a semi-circle with memorablia and flowers adorning each one. It was quite a moving and sobering experience.

Nearby, students were playing soccer, football and enjoying their lives. How could something so horrible have happened on that campus - or anywhere?

We finished the Blacksburg evening at Backstreets, a great little pizza place. Lucy ate parmesan cheese off the table, Rigby scarfed down pizzinis and pizza slices and Erik and Stacy finished off a NY style pie.

Since we had gone out of our way, we took old highway 460 through the mountains in total darkness to Bluefield, WV, then the I-77 toll road and into Beckley, WV, where we are staying in a Courtyard Marriott with speedy wi-fi access. We did stop on the side of the toll road so Rigby could pee-pee on the rocks.

On to sleep and Day 2!

Saturday, September 01, 2007

FOUR YEARS


Four years of joy.
Four years of happy times.
Four years of tearful moments.
Four years of time flying by.
Four years of learning.
Four years of seeing life grow.
Four years of listening.
Four years of laughing.
Four years of teaching.
Four years of hugging.
Four years of waking up.
Four years of playing games.
Four years of friendship.
Four years of following.
Four years of fun.
Four years of running.
Four years of cleaning.
Four years of protecting.
Four years of smiles.
Four years of buying toys.
Four years of watching.
Four years of sharing.
Four years of love.
Four years of our son.
Four years old.

We love you, Rigby Wilder Gray. Happy Birthday.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Retreat Man

August has been a busy one. Aside from work, I traveled to the University of Missouri for five days to participate on the faculty for Sigma Chi's Balfour Leadership Training Workshop. It was an awesome experience yet again with 1,500 Sigma Chis from all over North America.

I spent two days in mid-August at Fall Creek Falls State Park participating in my first Leadership Chattanooga retreat. I made some friends for life with 39 other LC classmates. That was two days of learning, sharing, building, strengthening, swimming, eating, drinking, talking, listening and becoming a better person. I am really looking forward to the next ten months of LC.

My last retreat of the month was the UTC Alumni Retreat. We spent a day together discussing UTC, what it means and how we can make our story better.

I am fortunate to be a part of great organizations.

Monday, July 16, 2007

An iPod Day

What a great day for the GrayStation. Thanks to our new Apple MacBook Pro and Apple's massive ease to fix things, our 3-year-old 40GB iPod has come back to life. We were on the cutting edge buying an iPod years ago, until it died some time ago and our Windows-based PC had compatibility and fix issues.

So today, I dusted off the old iPod and hooked it up to the MacBook. The laptop immediately discovered problems and identified fixes for its counterpart. Ten minutes later, we were jamming to an initial catalog of 1,700 tunes.

ROCK ON

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Leadership Chattanooga

I have been accepted as a member of the 2007-08 class of Leadership Chattanooga!

Entering into its 23rd year, the program is a 10-month leadership development program that identifies people in early- or mid-career, familiarizes them with community issues and services and develops their leadership skills to prepare them for prominent business, cultural and political roles.

Some 750 people have graduated from Leadership Chattanooga since it was established by the Chattanooga Chamber Foundation in 1984.

Needless to say, I am very excited about this opportunity.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

John Legend

Stacy and I went to Nashville on Monday to see John Legend at The Ryman Auditorium. We had great seats directly beside the stage. This being the third time we have seen him (Birmingham and Atlanta were the other two), he put on a great show that included several remixed versions of his hits, as well as a Beatles' tune, "I want you," from Abbey Road.



Friday, April 27, 2007

Charlotte



The family drove to the Queen City to enjoy some time away and visit with Erik's dad, grandmother and other relatives. Upon our arrival on Friday, we visited the the Hendrick Race Shop and the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Race Shop. It was awesome to see where they build and work on the cars, as well as seeing Jeff Gordon's four Winston Cup Trophies and Dale's seven trophies. The Dale memorabilia was special to see.

Later that evening, we went uptown and viewed the local flavor. We finished the evening at South Park Mall - Apple Store, Crate and Barrel, Sephora, Nordstrom and many other upscale and out of our price range stores. We filled our bellies at Cheesecake Factory - salmon herb salad, pulled pork sandwich, chicken tenders, some sodas and a tasty 22 oz. Yuengling.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Hello, I'm a Mac

April 2007 - A month that saw GrayStation convert to a Mac. The past couple Dells and the Sony Vaio had served us well, but Microsoft was seriously bogging us down with security updates and the like. So here we are, a MacBook Pro with a 15.4 inch widescreen, 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo, 120GB hard drive, gigabit ethernet, built in wireless and bluetooth, magnetic power adapter and a cool illuminated keyboard.

The power of advertising does work. What you see in the Apple commercials is what we feel like between the PC and Mac comparisons.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Gene

Everyday for the past several years I have seen my friend, Gene, walking the halls and floors of the Unum building. For the past who knows how long, Gene's the man who walked through two massive buildings emptying all the recycling bins, and lighting up the face of most everyone he connected with.

Everyone knows Gene - Eugene for proper, Geno for fun. He just bought a new Cadillac. He already had a nice Caddy with a license plate on the front "Single and Loving It," but this new one had it all.

Gene's a big man, a bear of a man. He's definitely a man you wanted on your side in a fight.

Gene and I officially met several years ago talking about our love for Southern cooking - bar-b-que ribs to be exact. We always had a food story for one another. He would tell me that if he were younger he would get him a bottle of "The Bull" and have at it - or maybe some "Voka."

I saw Gene almost every morning. If I walked into the Atrium cafeteria early enough, he was sitting down eating oatmeal and raisins, biscuits and gravy, eggs or some other breakfast treat.

If I saw him later in the day, he always made it a point to take off his work glove and shake my hand. I would catch up behind him sometimes and throw my arm around his back, barely reaching the other side. He would say "what's up, youngblood."

When I saw him, I was usually on my way to a meeting, but time stopped around him and the next meeting did not seem as important. If it was football season, we were talking about "dem Gawja Bulldawgs." If it were the summer, we were talking about "dem Hotlanta Braves."

I never spent more than five minutes at a time with him, as he would not let me and made sure we went on back to work.

When Gene saw me near a vending machine he would buy me a drink or offer me one. I soon made it a point to beat him to the punch and buy him a drink before he could get to me. He got the best of me one day and brought a can of Dr Pepper to my desk. I actually saved that can for a month or so because it brought a smile to my face. I bought a drink for him a couple weeks ago, when I saw him looking through his pocket for money - "Hey, man, I owe you one."

Last Thursday, I was getting ready for our weekly staff meeting. On my way to the meeting, he came around the corner and we gave our customary "pound" handshake.

As I entered the meeting room, he popped his head in and told everyone, pointing at me, "that's my main man." He proceeded to tell my fellow managers and me about his twin, Eugene - that he was NewGene and his twin brother was in the other building.

We all laughed, and he proceeded on, pushing his large cart on down the hall.

I took Friday off so Thursday was the last time I would see Gene alive.

Eugene Johnson was 71-years-old when he passed away Saturday.
Rest in peace, my man. God has the NewGene now.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Opening Day in Cincinnati

The 28-hour Opening Day Road Trip to Cincinnati

April 1 - 9:20 p.m. leave Chattanooga for Cincinnati

April 2 - 2:30 a.m. arrive in Cincinnati, sleep at a Motel 6 ($35)

8:00 a.m. wake up, it's game day!

9:00 a.m. drive through Mt. Adams and remember some good ole days

9:30 a.m. arrive on University of Cincinnati campus to tour new varsity village athletic complex -with assistance of one of Erik's Xavier classmates

10:30 a.m. standing on UC's basketball court

10:45 a.m. eat in UC's UC

11:10 a.m. visit Mark Jorgensen, Stacy's former boss at the UC Foundation

11:40 a.m. arrive on Xavier's campus and tour Cintas Center basketball arena. Met an admissions director who lives in Chattanooga, but works for X.

12:30 p.m. stop in to Busken Bakery to pick up some Reds cookies!

1:00 p.m. park in Newport, Ky and walk Purple People Bridge across the Ohio River to Great American Ball Park

1:30 p.m. enter GABP

2:05 p.m. see worst ceremonial first pitch ever - Cincinnati Mayor

2:10 p.m. Play Ball! Reds vs. Cubs

2:20 p.m. Adam Dunn 2-run HR

2:55 p.m. Adam Dunn 421 ft HR shot!

4:40 p.m. Reds 5, Cubs 1

5:30 p.m. jaunt back over Purple People Bridge

6:15 p.m. arrive at Party Source in Newport, Ky - the most alcohol in one place

7:00 p.m. arrive at Skyline Chili - regular 3-way, cheese fries, chili-cheese coneys

7:30 p.m. leave Cincinnati

April 3 - 12:40 a.m. arrive back in Chattanooga

Saturday, March 17, 2007

St. Patty's Day!

Bring on the green beer!

It has been and fun and challenging four weeks at work for me. I was temporarily removed from my day-to-day managerial duties and was involved in a project that affected my entire department (100+ employees) and our customers (5,000 accounts and 1.4 million policy owners. It was challenging and a great learning experience. It gives me further confidence that I work on a great team for a great company.

That has been my life.

Rigby continues to evolve into a little man. He pee-peed in the potty three times yesterday, asking to do so each time. He was so excited to tell me about it when I picked him up at school on Friday. What genuine joy it would be to get that excited each time you did something I see as being so simple.

Lucy has been under the weather this week with a double ear infection, but she still sneaks a beautiful smile in every once in a while. She is not walking yet at 13 months, but she can motor around on all fours.

Stacy has been hard at work as well. She spent the day in Portland, ME using the corporate jet to get there and back - ah, luxury. She continues to thrive at work and make significant improvments for our company.

Well, back to the green beer!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

The first of the hated Celtics has passed

My favorite memories of the NBA lost a basketball legend today.

The 80s were the greatest years of the NBA. Celtics vs. Lakers. Magic vs. Bird. All the hype.

But there were not many men that could contain Magic - and one of those men, Dennis Johnson, 52, passed away today.

During his 14-year playing career with the Seattle SuperSonics, the Phoenix Suns, and the Boston Celtics, DJ established himself as one of the best defensive guards in the league.

DJ was on five all-star teams and nine straight all-defensive teams. He was a member of three NBA championship squads, including being named the Finals MVP in 1979 with the Sonics.

In 1984, his first year in Boston, the Celtics won their 15th NBA title, and in his third year they won their 16th.

Johnson's postseason heroics -- shutting down Magic in the 1984 Finals; his buzzer-beating jumper to win the 1985 Finals Game 4 against the Lakers; and his game-winning basket off Larry Bird's steal in Game 5 of the 1987 conference finals against Detroit -- placed him among the most-loved Celtics (and most hated by Lakers fans).

It's just too bad this great guard did not make it to the Hall of Fame before he passed away.

Rest in Peace, DJ.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Barack Obama 2008!

It is time for Barack Obama - the next President of the United States.

Let's set high standards for education.
Let's strengthen our economy for everyone.
Let's always remember our veterans.
Let's end our dependency on the Middle East's oil supply.
Let's give everyone the chance to see a doctor when they need one.
Let's end the war, but still fight terrorism with a smarter, firm hand.

Obama said today:

"Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done. Today we are called once more - and it is time for our generation to answer that call.

For that is our unyielding faith - that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it."

Read the full text: http://www.barackobama.com/2007/02/10/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_11.php

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Lucy's 21?

Rigby exclaimed as he ran around the UTC Children's Center, "My baby sister is 21! Lucy is 21!"

Naturally, the teachers and I thought this was quite funny, knowing that Lucy will be one year old on February 8. I just went with it, and said we were indeed putting the Kahlua in Lucy's formula bottle tonight since she was 21.

I later discovered that the other day Stacy had been telling Rigby that Lucy was "turning one." Well, it sounded like "twenty-one" to me.

It is hard to believe our daughter is a year old already. It seems like just the other day, we were taking our first picture with you. Here's to you, little Lucy.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Missing Hair

So I was recently changing Lucy's diaper, while Rigby, age 3, jumped on the bed peering over my every move.

Rigby is always questioning and commenting - it's cool. He proceeds, "Daddy, you are missing hair."

"Where?" I ask.

"There and there," pointing on both sides of my forehead. "Where is it?"