Thoughts From an Engineer

2010-08-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

Well my traveling days for 2010 have not happened. Just before Christmas I had surgery on my right foot to fuse two bones at the top of my arch. The bones never fused, so I went back under the knife on June 30th and had the operation repeated. The doctor put my foot in a hard cast this go around and attached an electric bone growth stimulater, like a TENS unit to assist in getting the bones to fuse. I have two screws in the foot and they took bone marrow from my heal I'm pretty much bed bound with strict orders from the doctor to stay off my foot. My bos is letting me work from home as I can. I hope to get the cast off by mid-August and then back into the air-cast boot, otherwise known as a Robo-cop boot. I don't know how long recovery will take by the doctors all seem very pleased.

January 2008 visit with Bethany

2008-09-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

Between Christmas and the first week in January we visited with Bethany and Mike in California. We had a wonderful time and of course time went by to fast. Grandpa taught Amanda al about cookie monster, and all-la peanutbutter sandwiches. Just a few shots of our time there.

April 15, 2008 Juneau, Alaska

2008-09-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

In April 2008 I flew to Juneau, Alaska to inspect two of the hydroelectric project that are under construction, on in Juneau and one in Skagway. While I was there an avalanch knocked out one of their primary transmission lines and they had to switch over to their backup power, desiel. At the current cost of desiel, the utility told people to conserve as much as possible, but to expect power rates to go up 300 to 500 percent a month. This was expecially annoying since they were working on a new plant that could have carried the city in this case. The new hydro plant wont be finished until August 2009, but the damaged line was fixed in a little over two months. The weather was great for my inspections, but the morning after we woke up to see the trees across the parking lot covered in snow. This is at sea level and as you can see my car was covered pretty deep. We wern't able to go anywhere that morning, but by the afternoon the sun was out and the countryside was beautiful. The roads cleared very quickly and the fresh snow on the hillsides was spectactular. The following shots were taken looking both north and then east of town. Juneau is getting to be a big time city with its own walmart, costco, and homedepot. The urban sprawl has hit even Alaska. Actually when all the comercial fishermen come into to town those Costco carts get pretty full and the crew members from the cruise ships load up on all kinds of things to take back home duty free. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the hills around Juneau.

2008-06-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

In January 2008 work took me back to Washington, DC for a meeting with my boss and one of the utilities that we regulate. We stayed out near Dulles airport and when we ended up with extra time before we flew out we decided to go an visit the aerospace museum near the airport. The museum has a shuttle bus that runs every 15 minutes from and to the airport for 25 cents. There are also storage lockers at museum for 50 cents, which you get back when you check out. The display is really incredible from the first in flight to some of the latest.

It was great to see the famous SR-71, which Donna's dad worked on when she was a kid, but never knew about until after she was married.

I highly recommend this side trip to anyone who have a couple of hours to spend at the Dulles Airport. The museum is a work in progress and a major addition is planned in the future to bring more of the stored planes out for the public to see.

Amy and Prom 2008

2008-05-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Last night was Amy's prom night. Amy and Donna got her prom dress back in February after only 15 minutes of shopping at Macy's. That has to be some type of record. Before Prom, Amy was hit pretty hard with the news that she was going to have back surgery again. Her boyfriend, Justin, went to the build a bear shop in the mall and made up a teddy bear with Tux and a voice box that said "Amy will you go to the prom with me?" and delivered it with a dozen red roses. Talk about points. Justin's dad is a chef and he had a friend of his, also a chef, do dinner for them. Amy had a beautifil dinner dress. After dinner they both ran home an did a quick change and then the dreaded parent photo session. Then they were off in a town car with two other couples to the prom down at Portland State University. Why is it that most proms don't have air conditioning? How can you possibly get that many warm bodies in one place and not expect to impact global warming?I'm not sure how anyone stayed on their feet after a while. After prom, Amy went over to one of her friends house where they all had breakfast. She ended up back at home at 2 am. It is really hard seeing your daughter grow up and realize that in a few years she will likely be off on her own. It was very hard when Bethany left, and it will be equally hard when Amy leaves. Dad just might not let her go. Well enjoy the photos.

News for the Family

2008-05-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Amy has had a rough time with her back since the rods were removed over a year ago. The doctors finaly found out what the problem was; two cracked vertibrae. This means she will have to go back in for surgery and have the rods installed again with all the associated hardware. I know how hard this would be for me to do, but to ask a seventeen year old to do it again is a lot to ask. Amy has been dealing with it as best one can, but it is still quite the burden. Since she already had her prom dress we told her she could wait until after prom. She wants to have the maximum amount of time to heal so she can be ready for her senior year, so surgery will be on June 9, 2008. It is hard for a parent to see their children suffer, and we would gladly trade places, but we all have our own roads to travel. All we can do as parents is to stand by the side of the road and offer encourgement along the way. Keep you posted as things develop. Amy and Donna probably made a record for the shortest amount of time to find a prom dress. They walked into the store and found one in less than 10 minutes. Will post some pictures when the time comes.

Alaska

2008-05-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

I sometimes feel like Alaska has become my second home. Last year I had two hydroelectric project under construction to keep an eye on and went up to Juneau about once a month through the summer and fall. My most recent trip was the week of April 14th to Juneau and Skagway when I thought that most of the winter weather was over. The first part of the week started off wet, then dry, then snow, and then clear and sunny. There was no snow at sea level when I arrived, but all that changed on Thursday when I woke up to 10-inches of new snow. It covered all the landscape and painted a wonderful landscape everywhere. See the photos.

.

My first Blog post

2008-05-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

I am a civil engineer and have spent most of my life looking at things in an analytical manner. As I have passed down the road of life I have often been reminded that how we view or solve a problem depends on where we are, what we know, and what we hope to be. This can be looked at in the realm of so called cold hard facts, or with eyes of understanding and compassion; A mountain peak can be granite diorite or El Capitan.

Judy Collins said that she had looked at life from both side, what if there are more than two sides to a problem or issue. Life is not just 0's and 1's; black and white; it is an infinite variety of color. As in most things in life, balance is often required or desired. Some colors balance or complement each other, others clash. Each, however, has a role.