Thanksgiving 2008

We had a nice little Thanksgiving dinner at our place this year. It was a smaller gathering than most years so we were able to get all of the adults a seat at one long table. The kids got their own separate table. The menu included: turkey, ham, stuffing, mash potatoes, corn casserole, bok choy and mushroom, green salad, fruit salad, an appetizer platter, winter melon soup, and rice; and then there was sparkling juice, wine, sodas, apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake. There certainly was enough food and even more for doggie bags for those wanting to take a little home.

Oh, yes, and Ryan got the larger half of the turkey wishbone this year.

Tinkerbell

We've had a guest for the past week in our home. Tinkerbell, the pet guinea pig from Ryan's preschool classroom.



In the photo below, Tinkerbell gets a treat on Thanksgiving Day.

What in the World Do I Do?

Friends back home have asked me what I do for a living. Sometimes it's not easy to explain.

Check this out though. Here's a link to a newspaper article on freeway improvements that was forwarded to me by a friend:

Fixing I-880: the never-ending story

So now you know that my work involves freeways. So how did someone who grew up in a small Alaskan town with no traffic signals and traffic signs used more for target practice (are they still?) get to work on freeways?

The Bears Tribute to Pete Newell

The Bears postgame show with Roxy Bernstein featured stories about Pete Newell who passed away yesterday at the age of 93. Here is a sample:

The first 5 times that Coach Newell coached against John Wooden he went 0-5 against the Wizard of Westwood. UCLA was still not quite the powerhouse that they would become, but nevertheless losing to the south state rival Bruins didn't sit too well with Coach Newell. The story goes that before the Bears' 6th match-up under Newell against the Bruins, one of the Bruins' players provided bulletin board material. Something about the Bears not being able to beat the Bruins. Well, in their next 8 games, the Bears went 8-0 against the Bruins. Pete finished his coaching career with a record of 8-5 against Coach Wooden. How many other coaches can say that they finished their career with a winning record against Wooden?

Did not know that former Bears assistant coach (and now head coach at New Orleans) Joe Pasternack held a special spot with Coach Newell. About 3 weeks ago, Joe traveled out to San Diego for a couple days to visit with Coach Newell before the season started. After Coach Newell's passing, if Joe didn't already know it, he learned just what Pete thought about him. One of Pete's sons called and in their conversation, Joe learned that Pete felt especially close to three coaches: Coach Knight, Coach K, and Joe.

A few years ago during a Bears game against SDSU in San Diego, Pete sat next to Roxy who called the game solo. Pete sitting next to Roxy was not planned. Anyway, Pete spent the game scribbling notes that he would pass onto Roxy (who was next to the Cal bench) to pass onto the Cal coaching staff. The notes were about possible adjustments that Cal could make. The Bears would go on to win the game.

Now onto the game...

The Bears won 87-74. Cliche warning! ...but the game was much closer than indicated by the final score. In fact, the Dons scored 11 straight points in the middle of the second stanza to take a 60-59 lead. Fueled by a Randle 3-pointer that put the Bears back up, the Bears ran away with the game on the strength of a 16-2 run.

It was only fitting that the first game on Newell Court after the passing of one the most respected coaches in college basketball history would be a game between two teams once coached by the Coach. Prior to the game, a tribute to Coach Newell was displayed on the video board followed by a moment of silence.

The game ended quite anticlimactically with the Bears up comfortably. The final box score will only show that the final Bears' basket was a jumper scored by Patrick Christopher. What the box score will not show is how and why the jumper was scored. The Dons were not fouling with the outcome of the game decided, and the Bears were content to wind down the clock. At the end of clock, Randle set up Christopher for a baseline jumper. Nothing remarkable on the surface, but it spoke volumes about Randle's command and control of the game - quite a contrast to how the season unfolded last year.

Oh, by the way, Randle tallied 25 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists with just 2 turnovers.

The Bears are going to need to find some toughness inside. Although they are now 2 for 2 with the rebounding battle, it is a little surprising that this is the case. Perhaps, this is because they have been guilty of giving up rebounds that seem to turn into points. Max Zhang will need to be able to play more minutes, especially against the beefier teams. It seemed that when Max was on the floor, USF was quite aware of his presence and made it a point to not challenge on the inside.

Next Game: 11/20 (Thursday) against the Texas-Pan American Broncos.

New King Cove - Cold Bay Roadway

Having flown into King Cove on several occasions, it's understandable why an option to be able to fly into and out from Cold Bay is being sought. However, it does not seem that this is a black-and-white issue.

There have been recent stories on the proposed new roadway in the local papers in Alaska and also in papers here in the Lower 48. It's one of those locals versus outside environmental groups where both sides have valid points for and against the project. The articles have included quotes attributed to: president of National Wildlife Refuge Association (against the project), mayor of the Aleutians East Borough (for the project), and other people of note. The articles have mentioned Shell executives (presumably for the project), Fish and Wildlife Service (for the project), Governor Sarah Palin (for the project), the New York Times (against the project), and others.

So what are the opinions of the local people regarding questions and comments like those below?

1. This is really not about the roadway providing a needed safety valve for medical emergencies. It's about taking one step toward future oil and gas exploration in the area.

2. The hover craft system that is in place is too costly (running a deficit of about $500,000 per year) to operate for much longer.

3. How can the new roadway be a much better option when it could take two or three times longer to drive on the new road than it does to take the hover craft to Cold Bay?

4. The hover craft has limitations like not being able to operate when wind speeds are over 30 mph. Is this limitations of the hover craft really an issue?

5. The new roadway will have detrimental impacts to one of the most valuable wetlands in the world.

6. Locals have traveled the area for years on trails and dirt roads for years without an impact to the local wildlife.

Here's a story from the point of view of project opposers.

Here's story from the point of view of project supporters.

The following is a video from those supporting the project and includes local people that some of you may recognize:

A Historic Election

In his concession speech although John McCain looked a little tired, it was one of his finer moments of the campaign. His speech sounded much more genuine as compared to his campaign rhetoric down the stretch to the finish line. The results seem to indicate that the race was not so close.

Obama's speech was full of hope, but he's got a difficult task awaiting. Here are some steps that he should take:

1. Prepare and implement a plan to move our country toward energy independence.
2. Remake government so that it can really make a difference in the lives of ordinary people.
3. Set a tone of accountability; be willing to own up to mistakes.
4. Offer John McCain a seat in his Cabinet.

And finally...

Ryan says, "You rock Obama! I knew that you could do it!"

The Voters

Tomorrow's the big day. Then there is what kids have to say about what tomorrow means.

Me: Who's McCain? How about Obama?

Ethan: Yeah, they're those voters.

Me: What do you mean?

Ethan: You know, those people that you vote for.

Me: So are you saying they need us?

Ethan: Yeah, the voters need us to win.

Ryan (in the background): Yahoo! Go Obama! (over and over)

Halloween 2008

We had a soggy Halloween this year, but this did not deter our kids from making the rounds. Let's see now... Naomi was Sacagawea, Ethan was a clone trooper from the Star Wars stories and Ryan was Mater from the movie Cars.