uncommonly feeble and random thoughts

We have reconstituted as a family. Linda is in the family dining room on her iPad. James is on the couch in the family room on his iPhone. I am in the formal dining room on my MacBook. Ahh, togetherness!!! But I have finally gotten James's pix from Christmas dinner. 4 lbs prime rib roast, 2.5 hours at about 225 on the BGE. Then, a reverse sear on the Grill Grates, 6 or 7 minutes each on about six flips. I ended up with a 130 exit temp. A little on the rare side, but with James and me, it's perfect, and there was a slice to Linda's liking. Feast your eyes!!!! We begin with the finished product, reverse-seared, uncut and no photoshoppin'... then a series of "cut" views:

James shot the pix for the dinner last night and he's out and about today, so here's a little filler. A Christmas morn tradition, fresh-squeezed orange juice and champagne:  (picture by James) And of course, to accompany the above, a wee bit o' breakfast: (picture by James) Hash browns, crunch cake, broccoli-spinach-cheddar quiche, mango, and (oops) we went right to straight champagne. And as a teaser for the dinner about to be reported, we brought out Grandma's crystal: (picture by James)

We've had a wonderful Christmas, thanks to James coming in from Chicago for a few days. Loads of fun surprising Linda with his arrival time (5 hours earlier on Thursday than she had expected). He engineered the whole deal. Gotta love him! Epic foods, like everyone else on Christmas morn, and we are now in the midst of preparing dinner. I have placed the beef on the barbie and am working very, very hard on dinner prep (bwahaha!!!). This tie-bars to gifts, which of course mine are BBQ-heavy. For starters, I needed a new chimney to get my fire lit, so to speak: Thanks James!! And just so you know how badly it was needed, here's what 8 or 10 years does to a Weber chimney: Next, thanks to George Brookover for steering me to the MSU Meat Lab . It's located west of (that would be, behind) the MSU Dairy Store. Which pretty much explains why I never knew it existed... never got past the Dairy Store! So the Meat Lab sells a huge menu of beef, pork, and lamb. T...

Well, it is that time of year. We've had some "events", warnings and advisories and such. The current one extends through 7 am Sunday morning. Let the pictures do the talking! First up: the mailbox shot!!! (I know. Exciting, right?) Next up: the plow driver glanced over and was on to me, chronicling the day: So, he parked to pose for this shot. We call it "Unplugging the Driveway", because we are very creative: And what would your day be without a video tour. Narrated, no less:

(Author's note: The following is based on my own recollections coupled with some limited research into the historical record. Please feel free to email me any fact revisions.) In 1970, the Michigan Educational Assessment Program was first administered to assess student achievement in Michigan public schools. William Milliken, a Republican, was governor of Michigan. The MEAP was proposed by the Michigan State Board of Education (a traditionally Democratic body). The MEAP grew out of collaboration among curriculum advocates at local districts, ISDs, and at the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). It is important to note that MEAP was founded, and created, by educators. The intent of the MEAP, initially, was to determine, for individual students, their progress toward standards set by the Board. Since testing of every student every year was not economically feasible, students at grades 4, 7, and 10 were tested. The test was standards-based and found to have high content val...

All right! First good one of the year. Shut down all area schools, Clinton-Eaton-Ingham counties and beyond. That, Virginia, is seven inches:

I don't have to worry about stirrin' up trouble with this post, either personally or professionally. Because, I have no readers. Let this tree fall in the woods. This essay could be subtitled "Foundations of Public Education". I've been challenged in my career to say, well, what's wrong with charter schools? Private schools? Home schooling? In and of themselves? Pretty much; nothing, nothing, and, well, next-to-nothing. The problem is who should pay for them. If we start with a premise that public schools are failing, then perhaps we ought to be about finding a way to educate our youth that is successful. We need a literate society, right? To be able to compete with whomever. American ingenuity and all that. Or, to ensure our elected officials are the best (oops). So let's find, and fund, an alternative that works. This makes sense. Of course, the premise is flawed. Public schools work. Just not for everyone. It's sort o...

Morbidity among curmudgeons is higher than averages for other subgroups. Call it a mean rate.

Puck on the deck, and the back yard ... a video. A quick impromptu shoot. The camera did not refocus after the closeup of the ribs, but here's our post-op puppy. A month ago + he had a laparoscopic procedure to ascertain the source of his inability to process protein. MSU Vet Clinic grabbed some tissue samples from his small intestine. Prognosis is guarded. His seven days in the hospital were hard on him, but the month prior to admission wasn't exactly power prep. We'd been working with our DeWitt vet to pull him through some intestinal issue, what we did not know, except his excrement was liquid. He's now on the mend, eating a totally prescription diet, but not putting on the weight we'd like. But he's getting around better than post-op, and goes up and down stairs, and urinates with lifted leg. So we're hoping things will continue to improve. It's always about quality of life.

I am not the grammar police. I am but a lowly rent-a-cop. Mall police. Retail security. I carry adjectives and adverbs in little pouches and dangle participles from my belt, my pants tucked into my boots and my aviator sunglasses shielding me from the dangers of fluorescent and incandescent wavelengths alike, allowing me to covertly survey the masses for signs of the nefarious and despicable among us. Yes, they're everywhere. I have a dog-eared spiral notebook, and pen, part of my talisman tchotchke awarded at my graduation ceremony. I got them from a real English Teacher. High School. And just as I am poised to assimilate "conversate" into the common lexicon, jamming my baton back into my belt to menace no one ever again who utters that epithet, along comes "woah". I know. In 2013. So my enforcement lags in a temporal fashion. It's an artifact of the work to be done, and the part-time nature of the profession. Nonetheless, I must profess... O forc...

I posted on FB earlier today that folks should get out and walk. Here's my morning. 5.47 miles, average just under 18 min/mile. 37 degrees, wind chill 31:

A year ago today I was released from the hospital with a new knee. So we can start with that celebration. And meander through family, and loss, and gain, and around pets with the same themes, from Oregon to Virginia, across all ages, seeing so many and being with so many and missing those we can't see. Missing them when we most wish to see them. The ups, and the downs, as the river we call life wends its way ever onward. Cancer. Presenting everywhere. Some bullets dodged; others, well, the battles go on. The struggles are real. Casual thoughts, moments really, come and go, when we think of someone we lost; in a particular context, wanting either to say something to them or hear from them, and just as immediately realizing, no. They are gone. But the legacy... who we are, who we have become, has been shaped either gently or not so gently by our parents, first. Some genetic predispositions inhere in us, some givens that define stature, or mannerisms, perhaps more. I heard m...

I went to home games forever. As a kid, second grader, walking past the fire station and little grocery store, the only brick-and-mortar structures amid all the barracks and quonset huts that were south campus back in the day; selling programs as a teen (thanks Jim Bowers!); as a student; later tailgating with my parents for a long, long time... parking in the library lot, just across the Red Cedar from the stadium. Then things got busier and we relocated to Hort Building lots. Then... well, my folks got old and it was me and Linda. Then Linda got less and less... enthusiastic. Then James and I picked up. Parking on West Circle between the Virgin Islands and the band practice field, hard by Cowles House. Later still, parking behind the dorms, and when that got too busy, parking across MI Ave. in an alley. Always one step ahead of fees and parking tickets... Great times, watching the band warm up and such with James. Then, when he got into percussion, walking with the drum line as t...

Yee haw!!! It's not often you get a chance to attend a real life barn-raisin' hootenanny. Perhaps I'm over-hyping the actual events. So un-American! But when friends get to a certain point in the construction of their utility shed, aka pole barn, and want to share it with friends and neighbors... this is what you get. In DeWitt. Tie your horse to the hitchin' post... or park your Suburban in the grass. Hey, nice mow job, Tony! (note the construction crew center frame) Amble up to the outside (crossing a treacherous mud road... on a wooden path crafted by Tony's girls, depicted above... there were candles lighting the way!). Behold the south-facing porch. Sit a spell. Have an adult beverage. Tell some lies... I'm told it may have happened already, once or twice. Then proceed inside, to the main salon. We're told a car collection is soon to occupy this space. But first, the band!!! The Garage Sale Band. Yep.  And just to be ...

My next door neighbors, and five others, all neighbors but one, decided it was a good idea to, well, what else, swim the English Channel. Bucket list? Mid-life whatever? An excuse for the wives to shop in Paris? All that shall remain a mystery. The fact of the matter is, six guys trained for months, and their shot came last night. The crossing has been planned for a long time, and requires joining the Channel Swim Association, finding domicile in Dover, and arranging for a boat. How hard could all that be? Well, let's start with the CSA. The rules are, no wetsuits. Yup. So notice I'm not on the trip. Sixty-seven degrees at the warmest. Kuh-razy, am I right? Well, and then you have to have swim chops, and again, I'm not on the trip. I did get invited to be the vid guy, but our budget isn't structured in that way. As in, Linda in Paris? Once again, kuh-razy, am I right? Back to the swim. They selected an award-winning captain on the Viking Princess . They pl...

Yes the boating is wonderful. The boat, the lake, the family, the friends... until Captain Crunch takes the helm. James went down wakeboarding, and I began the 180 turn process to retrieve him. I knew where the sand bar was and knew I should have turned right. But nooooo, I turned left. Ran aground. Prop damage, no powertrain damage. And Linda slammed into the handrail on the sink. Second time I've done this, second time she's been the vic. And yet she hasn't left me. Hey, she still gets on the boat! I had the upper prop on hold to send in for remanufacture. The bottom one took the hit: Neighbor Bruce talked me out of getting a stainless. He recommended a second aluminum. Much cheaper and you always can swap the other one in. Not sure they can really remanufacture this one. We'll see.

Can't get enough of the place!!  Labor Day 2016. Good friend Brooke, her bf Joe, and Danielle joined the merry Hecker band for two days of sun and booze. Day 1, Joe had to work: For more fun in the sun, just add Joe!! Fishing is an obligation. Dang. Gotta do it. James is the Absolute Angler: Got one!!! Joe had the moves too, but came up empty: Time to move on and Snapchat. Or Instagram. Or whatever... Let's head in for a bathroom break and ... ice cream!! Don't miss the wakeboard video... posted on Instagram and Facebook... And then, since we've been wakeboarding, tubing, sunning, fishing, and drinking, we need to hit the sand bar and take it easy... And of course, top it off with a little football. It is September after all:

Moved James from Hoyne to Oakley. 90 degrees plus. Thunderstorms. Hailstorm. Proof: This stuff had to go from old to new (not everything by any means!!):  Luke helped tremendously, so why not have a little food in the new place: And, we discovered Pete's Fresh Market where even the fruit behave properly: Then a couple weeks later it was time to build the booth in BR 2 (of 2) in the new place. A single wall with the door and window to isolate the talent. Here's the chief architect checking everything out. Yep, the fan clears, dad... : Just add drywall: And the finish, a panoramic shot (works best on a mobile device). Time to invite over JR and Shaheem, without whom the move never would have occurred, to see the completed booth and for burgers and brews: James tends toward artistry in sound and food. Behold, the burger creation of the evening: The day after, have to make the trek to Dark Matter  for the brew of the ...

Linda and I love Indian River, Burt and the Chain O' Lakes, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Mac City (sorta)... in short, the Tip of the Mitt. We try to make it yearly. We did this year. First up, our original cabin. Two queen beds, sofa... nice. We had Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights there, but had to swap out as another guest had booked it for the weekend. So... we moved here:  One queen bed, barely enough space to walk around the bed. Would've been much better to do this in reverse! Also, the neighbors were having a family reunion and were super, super loud. Paper walls. Every word, we could hear... Luckily, one could escape... Little Traverse Bay from Sunset Park in Petoskey, looking east to Petoskey State Park: And, a panoramic shot of the park (works best on a mobile device)... Then we went from the bluff to the marina as the storm moved in... and this was the view across the Bay northward to Harbor Springs: During the...