Nomadic Scribblings.....

My employer hasn't even been sold yet, and already the dismantling is underway. Our beautiful New York City office, located at the World Financial Center, with views of Ellis Island, Governor's Island, New York Harbor, and the Statue of Liberty, will close to employees at the end of next week.

Sure am glad Cherie got promoted and transferred!!!!   

...than watching your daughter smile from ear to ear as she plays with snow for the first time ever, shouting, "Papa! Look at me!!!" Pictures to come...

Ten years ago, before Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) existed as a retail telephone service available to the masses, (it represented only about 1% of all voice traffic at the time), I worked for a boutique consulting outfit. The commercial arm of the firm did a lot of work for telecommunications customers, and one of them gave us a single "Internet phone" to use for the hell of it.

We displayed it on a pedestal, and it was a fantastic novelty item, with employees taking turns placing domestic and international long-distance phone calls "over the internet" for free.

Well, fast-forward 10 years, and we have VOIP at work, and VOIP at home, and since 2003, a VOIP service called Skype, which has largely been used by personal computer users to talk to each other over the internet using webcams and microphones. Skype has really blown up in the last 3 years -- as of the 4th quarter of 2008, Skype has 405 million user accounts...which in that 4th quarter generated 20.5 billion minutes on Skype-to-Skype calls.

Skype was created by a polyglot group of Europeans based in Estonia. It now has offices in several countries, including the US, and was acquired by eBay in 2005 for $2.6 Billion.

I've been aware of Skype for years, but really have only tried it out in the last few months. I use it to hold video calls with both sets of grandparents (in Illinois and Maine), chat with my brother in Cambodia, and speak with friends scattered around the country.

I must say, I love me some Skype. The video and audio quality are pretty damn good for a free service. Thus far, it appears that even a cheap webcam/microphone combination (I have the Logitech QuickCam, and I think it cost me $29.99), combined with Skype's software (downloadable at www.skype.com) yields pretty decent audio and video -- certainly I get much better audio over Skype than I do on my Blackberry (Blackberry's shitty audio is a topic for another post).

We experience minimal a/v stuttering (known as "jitter"). and it really helps my family stay connected with family and friends in a way that we could not  previously. My parents and Cherie's parents LOVE being able to see their grandchildren live, and Audrey especially loves to ham it up on camera.

And I have to say, as something of a geek, ever since I watched Aliens, and Robocop, and who knows how many other sci-fi films, I've always wanted a videophone. Skype fits the bill pretty darn well.

So, I love Skype. If you read this entry, and you don't have Skype, you should download it and find me. My account is bchapinsoxfan. This way, you can see my shaved head in person :-) 

Earlier today, Cherie and I packed up the kids and took them to Bender Arena on the campus of our alma mater, American University, to watch the men's basketball team (the Eagles) defeat Patriot League arch rival, the Holy Cross Crusaders, 56-50.

Until today, Audrey had only ever watched basketball on television -- and seeing as AU is rarely on TV of any kind, it has usually been an Illinois game (they're on national TV a lot, and Cherie's brother works for the Illinois athletic department, so there's a family connection), or some random, interesting ACC game (like today's upset win by Maryland over North Carolina). And of course, being 6 months old, Edziu has never watched a basketball game in any meaningful sense of the word, "watch".

I'm happy to report that we had a blast. This being a late-season game between rivals, the arena was packed and filled with the energy of cheering fans from both sides. I was concerned that between the crowd noise and the buzzer/PA announcer, one if not both kids would freak out.

When I took Audrey to Fenway Park this past summer to see the Red Sox play, she loved everything but the loud noises -- which at Fenway meant she was cringing or crying every 2 minutes. But, thankfully, Audrey loved the whole experience -- she yelled and clapped and cheered and clambered over and among the bleachers, smiled the whole time, and at the end of the game, leaned over the balcony railing (firmly in my grip) to wave goodbye to the departing crowd, shouting, "Buh-Bye Eagles!"

Edziu was happy to be held and never once even cracked a frown. 

The game was exciting, AU won, we all left happy, and I could not have asked for a more enjoyable experience.

And, at 3 tickets, 2 hot dogs, 2 Cokes, and parking, the whole experience cost us $40 plus probably a 1/2 gallon of gas. Not bad for a few hours' entertainment for a family of 4.

 

 

This year, for the first time ever, and owing to a desire to take advantage of the Thanksgiving weekend to continue unpacking, Cherie and I stayed home for Thanksgiving. It turned out to be a great decision.

First, it was really nice to spend the day at home with the kids. Audrey was just a peach, and Edziu smiled his way through most of the day. If he learns from his sister, he's going to be a happy kid! Cherie and Audrey spent a good portion of the day in the kitchen, Cherie teaching Audrey the finer points of food preparation for Thanksgiving Day -- at least as much as a 2 yr old could understand! I spent that time holding Edziu and watching football!

Second, the two of them pulled off a fantastic Thanksgiving feast. We had a turkey -- the juiciest, tastiest I've had in years; we had mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, sweet potatoes, the ever-present green bean casserole topped with fried onions, fresh "whole berry" cranberry sauce made from scratch from fresh cranberries (not that gelatinous awfulness that comes out of a can in a red-purple cylinder and never loses form), and fresh cornbread. We had apple pie and vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. It was all quite tasty.

We watched some of the Cowboys' 34-9 whooping of the Seattle Seahawks while we digested, which of course, put me in a good mood!. Then, we went for a family walk along a path that runs from our development into a local park. After some playground time for Audrey, we retired for the evening. We gave Audrey a bath, got her, Edziu, and ourselves ready for bed, and were enjoying some family time in our bed before putting the kids down in their beds. Cherie ran downstairs to get a bottle for Edziu....

...and then Audrey began projectile vomiting.

It was straight out of the Lard-Ass Hogan scene in Stand by Me. One minute, she was sitting quietly but happily next to me in our bed in the master bedroom. The next, her mouth was open, stretched as widely as possible, vomit jetting out of her mouth like pressurized water out of a firehose.

She got everything -- me, the dog, the comforter, herself, our pillows, the sheets...and then it all soaked through to the mattress pad and down to the mattress itself.

Eventually, we got her, the dog, the bed, and me cleaned up and got her off to bed. Then she vomited again. And again. After about 4 a.m., things calmed down.

Friday, she seemed totally back to normal...until we started eating an early dinner, during which she vomited macaroni and cheese and milk all over the dining room floor, her booster seat, and herself. The most disgusting part of that event occurred when, while I was kneeling on the floor wiping up vomit, the dog moved in to lick up the bits of partially digested food. I almost lost my own cookies right there on the spot.

Today, no vomit. No, now it's diahrrea time. Ugh. That's all I have to say about that....

1. A week ago Friday, we moved into our new home in Alexandria. It's beautiful, and it's located in a beautiful patch of land. Several mornings, I've watched the sunrise through the french doors and windows in our living room. I've been surprised by the intensity of colors in the autumn leaves here. I don't recall northern Virginia autumns being so colorful, and it's been a pleasant surprise. We left Connecticut just after the peak of fall colors there, so it's been nice to still have fall here. Last night, our dog, Sam, flushed a whitetail deer out of the woods about 20 feet from our front door. Nice.

2. Our movers did a great job packing us in Connecticut but a godawful job unpacking us here. We'll be unpacking boxes and straightening out confusing jumbles of household goods for weeks if not months to come. I hate moving.
 
3. Audrey has had a lot of trouble making the adjustment to being here -- which shouldn't surprise me, seeing as Connecticut was the only home she'd known in the first two years of her life, and we pulled her out of a daycare facility with teachers she loved and deposited her in a new place that however nice, doesn't measure up to the old place. This "trouble" has manifested itself in a refusal to sleep in her own bed. Every night for the past 9 days, upon being put to bed, she has screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed until one of us breaks down and carries her into our room. Upon being deposited in our bed, she promptly falls asleep. Even this isn't positive, as she turns sideways in our bed and kicks me all night long. A few nights ago, I gave up, went down to the living room, and slept in a recliner. Last night and tonight, we've made some progress, and as of tonight, she finally went down and hasn't awakened screaming in the last 4 hours. Awesome.

4. Otherwise, she's been a peach. She's such a helpful, happy child -- I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but she comes up with new ways of making me smile just about every day. Edziu is doing just great, he's a happy, cute baby, with big, blue eyes, and a developing laugh that makes me laugh every time I hear it.  

5. To my everlasting annoyance, my Cox bundle of services (telephone, internet, HD cable) has been performing terribly. I already wasted nearly a full workday waiting on a service tech who was supposed to show up between 0800-1000, was late, and then stayed at my house working until 1500, and now the equipment he set up is malfunctioning in a serious way. I'll be calling Cox in the morning.

6. To top things off, both of the kids brought home bugs from the new daycare facility, and I got sick in the middle of this past week.

7. On the plus side, my commute to work is about 15 minutes. Love it.

Moving sucks. That's all.

The constant whirlwind that is our family life continued this week. My parents visited last weekend and left on Monday. My brother came for a 24-hour visit Tuesday. Wednesday morning at 5:45, both of us left -- he for Boston, me for Washington. I spent 3, very busy days in Washington. Wednesday and Thursday I performed work on my new project, which, compared to working for NYPD, feels like moving at the speed of sound. Friday, I conducted the "pre-move in" inspection at our new home, and when that went well, took possession of the townhouse.

Friday night, I returned home to focus on the many pre-move tasks left to finish before the movers arrive on Tuesday. The good news is that most rooms of the house are ready for the movers -- the basement, kitchen, living room, dining room, kids' bedroom, both baths -- all are fairly ready for the movers to arrive. Our bedroom is a disaster, and we still have to do things like file change of address notices, turn off certain utilities, etc. I can't wait until next Friday, when we're moved in down in Virginia. It can't come soon enough.

Today, I am depressed. I had, no doubt like many Red Sox fans, hoped to be gearing up for the World Series. We were all on a high coming into last night -- the Sox, wounded and depleted, had willed their way to an astonishing comeback in Game 5 and a solid win in Game 6. I think we all felt like Game 7 was in the bag, especially when Dustin Pedroia lined a home run into the first row of bleachers in left field at the Trop in the first inning to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. I had only a little doubt, saying to my dad earlier that day, "the one thing that worries me is that the Sox have had trouble putting together 3 consecutive, solid games all year long."

Sure enough, they just couldn't put everything together last night. Jon Lester pitched an outstanding game, but the Sox couldn't pick him up, and the Rays hung around, then made the most of a small number of opportunities to take the lead. It was a tight game all night long, and Tampa was just a little better on the mound and at the plate. The Sox had several opportunities late in the game but never capitalized on them.

When Jed Lowrie bounced out to Akinori Iwamura, it was the Rays and their fans, not the Sox and the Nation, jumping for joy. In a way, it was fitting. The Rays had the Sox' number all year long. They deserved for things to play out this way.

Still, when you follow a team as passionately as we members of Red Sox nation do, and when a team takes you to such heights as occurred when the Sox came back to tie the ALCS at 3 games apiece, you can't help but feel a crash when it all breaks down. I will say this feels monumentally different than 2003. When the Sox lost in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS to the Yankees, I hurled my remote control at the wall, shattered it into several pieces, and was angry for days, and depressed for weeks.

After two World Series championships in the last 5 years, it's just a mild sort of hurt, and a sense of early optimism -- there always IS next year! Thanks, Sox, for a wild ride this year, and if it ended just short of heaven, well, you gave it your best, and true fans will always love the 2008 Sox for a spirited defense of the 2007 title.

And, April can't come quickly enough. I can already smell the brick dust and freshly cut grass.

Thursday, before the Red Sox pulled off an improbable and nearly incomprehensible comeback in Game 5 of the ALCS, I enjoyed my final day as a member of my employer's New York City public sector account team. It was a microcosm of everything I've come to love and hate about New York City. It left me both grateful for the time I spent there, especially in lower Manhattan, and grateful to be leaving.

I got up early, intent on arriving at work early on my last day...only to be thwarted when the terminally overburdened 4/5 "express" subway line took 28 minutes to move 3 stops. NYC subway, how will I miss thee, let me count the ways...zero.

After turning in a large proposal late in the morning, a few colleagues and I met in Brooklyn for lunch. The company picked up the dime for us to munch at a place where a plain hamburger cost $18. I love and hate that about New York.

After lunch, my workday complete, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan. I loved doing that. I've wanted to do it ever since reading David McCullough's "The Great Bridge". And I finally walked the bridge on my last day. The Brooklyn Bridge represents something I love about New York City, and particularly about lower Manhattan -- the palpable presence of history. Be it the Brooklyn Bridge, Federal Hall, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island -- both within sight of my employer's office in lower Manhattan -- or the history being made every day at the NYSE and other local financial institutions (though not much GOOD history the last few weeks) -- there is history everywhere one turns in New York City, Manhattan especially. For a history buff, it's good times.

I then took the 4/5 uptown to Grand Central, then walked west on 42nd Street to its intersection with 7th Avenue...aka, Times Square. What a carnival for the senses -- a freaking neon, LED, technicolor extravaganza. I fought my way through the crowds, which for a mid-day afternoon in October, were staggeringly large. I won't miss the crowds in Manhattan. They make DC at its busiest appear a ghost town.

One heavily tattoed fellow leaned into me to try to give me a shoulder block, but he didn't know I wasn't a tourist. I leaned back into him and delivered my final dose of "full contact walking", New York Style.

Then, I was accosted by a guy trying to lure people to a Comedy Central Comedy Showcase...and would have gone except that I needed to turn around and hoof it back to Grand Central to catch a train.

Back at Grand Central, I bought a lemonade from Zaro's , enjoyed the view from the first landing on the steps at the east end of the Great Hall, then boarded a train to White Plains, where Cherie, Audrey, and Edziu picked me up. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day.

So long, New York City. I will miss you after all............