Work Friends

Tina pointed out how anti-social I am.

A group of people from my work head out to a local bar on to sing Karaoke. I got a hankering to go and after a couple of false starts we were able to attend. It was fun enough that we were able to go a second time and even stay much longer. (even though Tina has early work the next day.)

Tina commented on how this was the first time, since we moved up here, that I showed an interest in going out with people from work. I was pretty sure this was not true, in retrospect she is right.

I have to go back to Planet Photon (a place I worked) before I can find myself working with work people I liked hanging out with. Well, there are my skate guard jobs. However, I skated there socially prior to working.

So what is so non-compelling about my previous "work friends?" How has this changed?

I have a great group of friends that I have been in contact with, the social network of Facebook has given me the opportunity to re-connect with many others. Moving up to Oregon, did pluck me from my social circle, and I have never felt much of a need to re-establish one.

What a cool time we live in.

A while ago, Connor and I went on one of our bike rides to BK. While I was sitting there, I popped open my smart phone and had a conversation with Robert.

Robert was in Montreal Canada, on a business trip. He remarked at the wonder of being able to connect like this. I had just shrugged it off in a "yeah, so?" fashion. As soon as I did that, I realized how Jaded I was.

It is all too easy to go Luddite and proclaim the evils of tech, going so far as to post it on your blog. We can go the other route and become "one with the machine." Loosing out on the world around us for the joys of too much connectivity.

The yin yang symbol and the lesson of balance comes to mind with Mr. Miyagi accent intact.

a scant twenty years ago I wondered about people I used to know. Today I can check in with them and take part in memory scrubbing. It is great to see where they wound up (sometimes it is not that great...)

There are so many triumphs and tragedies that I get to share.

Weight Controllingness.

Static weight is nigh impossible. Keeping your weight within a certain box is certainly doable. The devil is in the details.

I am having a tough time transitioning from a sloth job to an active one. I used to sit on my butt for a good 7 hours a day at work. That was reduce from 40 hours to 34. The rest of the time I would put my butt on other weight bearing devices. I did walk, then run to and from work, adding an hour of heart pumping goodness. Later I took to running two to five miles in the morning, prior to work and on days off.

Now I am on my feet for eight hours. If I am in early (opening) or late (closing) I spend one to four hours pulling pallets, stacking boxes and moving TV's around. My days off tend to reflect the ass on things. Oh, I am riding my bike to and fro nearly every workday adding 40 minutes of heart pumping goodness into the mix.

You can probably see how my old caloric intake of 1400 to 1800 calories can not fuel me. Getting the right amount of Cals into me has been a see saw of too little and too much. I would find myself exhausted with two hours left on my shift, only to down 200 calories and be back up in fighting shape.

I think I have come up with a gooder plan, but I am still looking for the gooderest.

According to my handy RMR calculator I need 2000 calories on my days off and 2600 on work days. This would be to maintain a 185 pound frame. My kyptonite has been snaking after dinner due to hunger then gluttony?? A want for a taste of something, regardless of its value...

My feeling is that waiting till 10:00 AM to have breakfast then eating every two hours for supplementation of fuel is a good route.

I have my egg burrito (280 cals), then at first break yogurt and Nutragrain bar (80 cals and 140), lunch, sandwich and Lean Cusine (150 and 230 calories), last break nutragrain bar (140 calories). Which puts me at 1020. Leaving 960 or 1560 depending upon the day.

Sounderwordisms.

Once upon a time I noted that sugar does not have an H, yet is pronounced as such. So I took to pronouncing it as Sue-gar. Just because it appealed to my sense of humor, I guess I could say it was my rebeller nature of not bowing the THE MAN. But, really it just tickles my fancy.

Along the weary road I travel there have been several such pronunciations that I have mangled to my dastardly purposes as well. Just as there are words my family has developed as well as inherited.

For instance the rubber spatula used to scrape bowls was commonly referred to as Kiddie-Cheater, when I grew up. Whipped desert topping is Fru-fru.

The Parmesan cheese that you purchase for dumping onto Italianish food is Shakey-Cheese. Something that Connor coined and Diana's Girl Scout troop adopted. So it is in the wild...

One of our family favorite internet cartoons, Strong Bad, gave us the phrase "No-Probalo" and "I aprekiate it"

A sieve in our house is called the Germanic Siep (read Zeep).

Some Cowboys from Calgary provided me with the wonderful phase "Usta-could." And the equally useful elimination of answer choices "Yes-No?" Added to the end of a question?

"So if I take that road I will make it to Sutherlin, Yes-No?"

"Usta-could, now its a dead end at the river."

Marvelous!

My kids had equally interesting pronunciations for the name Tobias (toby-us) and ambulance (am-bue-lense), and the colonel (Col-o-nell).

Some time ago I noted that wife, could be mis-pronounced weef. Without a thought to correctness last night, I introduced Tina to a co-worker using my dialect. Tina corrected me and the co-worker found it cute.

I'm sure every family has unique sounderwordisms like this. I am not sure they all have as much fun with them.

My Hovercraft is full of eels.

Here is the sight in question.

I am a Python fan (Monty, not the reptile). So when Steve V. utilized this phrase in Facebook the other day I was prompted to search out the sketch. Lo and behold someone created a website with numerous translations of the above phrase!

Connors World

(As stated before in my notes, Connor is my 12 year old son who has Autism.)

We have been informed of our travel plans this summer. The declaration was put forth by our 12 year old, stated in no-nonsense terms. This is what will happen...

School ends June 10th. Then we pack the suitcase, and drive to hotel called Holiday inn. We put on swim suits and swim in the pool, go to sleep. Then have waffles and drive north to Canada.

Pretty straightforward right? It does actually fit pretty well with what we are going to do, with good reason. Connor likes for things to be static, ritualistic if you will. He does not handle change. Everyone has different ways of dealing with ambiguity, some better then others. Connor has been able to see and be comforted by finding the static within the change.

He is adaptive in his reasoning. If we go to a Quality Inn, instead of Holiday Inn, he will accept the difference, because he can see that it is still a hotel. Now if the hotel does not have a pool or the waffle maker breakfast. Things are going to begin to get dicey. Yes, we can work him through the situation and he will emerge from the other side. The thing is this, we will probably have to help him through other things, so why not accommodate what we can, as it provides him a degree of comfort and control.

Communication is something most people overlook when it comes to kids. Imagine someone obviously hurting and crying. This person is not able to relate the problem. It could be physical, it could be mental, it could be emotional. As a parent it is paramount to help and without the knowing what is wrong, the knowing how to help, is nigh impossible. It can be heart wrenching. It is...

When Connor can relate to us something like vacation plans. We engage the communication fully. We will make corrections to his expectations. We have also, purposefully, altered plans in order to teach him he can deal with ambiguity. So when unforeseen events occur he has those skills.

No one is crazy about change. The more draconian the more we push back. It is our nature. Yet, our environment is one of near constant change. I suppose the human condition is one of conflict.

Once upon a Mesa

The suburban housing tract I grew up in provided me with many wonderful memories. One such memory was unlocked yesterday through a series of scanned pictures dating back to the late 1970's.

Getting in front of a group of people and making a fool of myself is not a big deal. While I can get embarrassed I always figure my quick wit will pull me through. However, getting up on stage, pretending to be someone written by someone else and parroting out the lines like they are my own, tends to tie my stomach up. So entertaining good, acting bad... for me...

In my formative years (read: High School), I was involved in, yet apart from the Drama Department. There was any number of reasons. Primarily because I was a willfully distracted student and my folks saw drama as a greater distraction.

They did strongly support and encourage my singing in Choir and Madrigals, without which I might have not attended school as regularly as I should. I guess I owe my parents many apologies for the angst I caused.

So I knew the Stage Crew, I knew the Drama kids, I was the Usher at many, many performances and did swing a hammer and grab a paintbrush or two.

A drama friend from High School posted a group of pictures from those old days on her Facebook page. This lead me to find David, the kid from up the street. An old friend.

David M. lived a few houses down from an outlet from our tract that was supposed to be a cul-de-sac. His backyard was next to the drainage ditch and the layout of his home matched my own. We both liked Sci-fi, and played Wild Wild West in his backyard. He was always building, forts and stages and other wonderful sets. He made a tropical paradise at one point, complete with Hammocks. We both started doing magical illusions around that time.

Still it was one of those friendships that lacked consistency. Every few months we would hang out then time would pass between.

Come High School things changed. He did hang out with a different crowd then I. However, I would catch up with him when I was hanging around the Drama folks. He was an artist, the best one I knew. Come graduation divergence of life paths occur and like so many others, I never really kept. track.

It is one of those things you wonder "whatever happened too" followed by the hope that they made themselves a good life.

Dave Wilder did just that and kept. very true to himself as well. He changed his last name (from Meek) to something fitting and as you can see on his link, is still very much an artist. He is also a cowboy, which fits his nature.

Autism and World of Warcraft

Autism and World of Warcraft. Meet Merve he is Eight years old and has Aspergers. This is of great interest. Both of my boys having Autism, Trevor on the Aspergers side of the scale.

W0W.com ran a feature on him which explains much better then I would in writing.

As parents we let our children play MMORPG's back when we were running around Asherons Call. Our kids would watch and hear the tales, naturally they wanted to give it a try. Both of them learned how to touch type and got to have their own adventures. We monitored them quite carefully and used every opportunity to teach them safe interaction skills.

"So where are do you live?" was answered with "Hebian-To in Dereth of course"

"How old are you?" was "level 26 now, should be 27 in a little bit"

Eventually we moved on to a superhero genre game City of Heroes. Connor was old enough to want to play. So we would let him explore the virtual city. Sometimes with surprising results. Once we found him leading a super team in a 'dangerous' warehouse raid, despite them warning him to "slow down" and asking "what are you doing?" he was surprisingly successful.

The group had a laugh to find a five year old Autistic boy was their erstwhile leader. Now it is a standing reward system for our boys, depending upon work done or activity earned. Connor still loves exploring and his ability to get a weaker character to the middle of a very dangerous zone baffles the mind.

The linked blog and write up is a great example of how autism can work.

Online Games

I found out that Warhammer Online has an endless free trial. Which means you can create an Avatar and run around doing the quests up to some level.

Further Dungeons & Dragons Online is now free to play (and you can purchase stuff as you go).

This gives anyone who is curious about MMO's a couple of quality options that they can immerse themselves into without laying out hard earned cash.

And you go camping.

Connor got really excited about spring break. He wants to go camping.

So we booked a Yurt at a nearby campground. Not very expensive and close enough to home in case his idea of camping and the reality of camping collide. Not that I think that will happen. We have had situations in the past where a good exit plan is required.

Autism builds rituals which can become tradition in short order. When we celebrate advent, we have the candles and readings followed by holiday songs. Connor has assigned us which song we are to sing. The elder two are not happy about the song choices thrust upon them. However, when pressed for an alternative, they cannot think of any. So they acquiesce to the request.

Last week he started making our summer vacation plans. We have a tentative Canada trip planned to see Omi, Aunt Connie and the cousins. Along with other sorted outings. Although, in Connors mind an important part is making sure we drive North and stop at a motel with a swimming pool.

Connors Birthday Party at School.

Keep in mind that at 12 years of age certain social attitudes can prevail. Unless your Connor.

We got the following e-mail from his teacher:

Hello! We just had a little party for Connor. He wanted to dance for his party so we did! We had the party from 9:25 to 10:05 so that our PE and literacy helpers/peers could be here also! They all had a blast! I think it went well. Michael, our literacy peer, taught us how to do the moonwalk, the worm, and breakdancing! Connor loved the "spinning" that I did with him. I was taking his hands and sort of showing him how to swing dance and he turned in into a spin! It was fun but boy was I dizzy!

Connor never brought up dancing for his birthday at home. However, for the last week, in anticipation of his birthday, he has broached the subject at school with regularity. Most classes have parties in the afternoon. Connor, no doubt, pushed this agenda and God Bless his teacher for understanding and getting the helpers/peers involved.

Helpers/Peers are your typical everyday Jr. High students who have a period where they assist the special needs room. The fact that they enjoyed and participated above and beyond really speaks to the infectious nature Connor wields. (Just come to a family function where we pray before meals and Connor has us do a wave, to which my family lovingly complies)

New toys!

Mary Kay moved to California from Ohio. This was quite some time ago. Close to 40 years to be approximate . This was pretty cool, because my family had moved to California sometime pior to my existence. To me, extended family was a long car trip and a confusing array of faces and places.

I kid you not, the Schafer family reunion in Payne Ohio was quite a gathering of humanity with everyone knowing who you are.

Anyways, Mary had two kids, Amy and Billy whom were my first babysitting clients. They would come over to the house at various times. She started making some stuffed animals for people, all from the 1000 acre woods collection (just made that up). My sieve like memory recalls a conversation I had with my mom, sad that I had not been graced with one. My mom, being my mom... passed the info to Mary Kay, who asked me which of A.A. Milne's creations I would like to procure.

I had considered Tigger, but kept coming back to my favorite little Roo. So I requested Kanga and Roo. I suppose this was one of those times as an adult you wonder what you got yourself into. As a kid I had no concept of how difficult it is making a stuffed joey and mom, let alone any stuffed toy!

A few years of life and priorities lead to Mary moving away. Only to be seen on vacations spent in the mid-west. Whenever I did see her, I would jestingly wonder how my Kanga and Roo was progressing.

Over the summer Rocky and Jennifer (cousins of mine) had a wedding in Oregon. All us Kiester kids attended. Mary Kay was there and mentioned she had considered surprising me at this event with my long ago request. However, she had recently opted to move across the country and was in the middle of such. It was a fond, fun time at the Wedding and I wish I had more time with my cousins.

As you can see in the photo above. Mary created and shipped my a Kanga and Roo. Which is great fun and oddly wistful. As if some inner kid that I was\am had been waiting for small shard of wish fulfillment from all those years ago.

I love my Kanga and Roo...

No Divorce for you!

I caught this AP release: Movement under way in California to ban divorce

It is a stunt centered around the audacity of those "unenlightened" of us who feel marriage is something that should be preserved. My first reaction was a small chuckle and a pang of appreciation for the cleverness of the protest. Then I started pondering the implications of such a ban.

Personally, it would be a non-issue. I have a Till-Death arrangement. However it would change the current statistic for divorce rates in America. First marriage divorce is 41%, second marriage 60%, third marriage 73%. It would certainly make marriage less likely overall, which may be a good thing given the current climate. The courts and lawyer time would be freed up from divorce proceedings.

Would it be a good thing, bad thing or just swap various good and bad? Personally I think that getting married is much too easy. The concept that getting married is proof of love and devotion makes anyone who has been married for a significant length of time burst with laughter.

Trust me when I say that marriage requires much more then feelings of love to have any degree of success. Among my many ideas that would make the world even more perfect is the legally required pre-nuptial agreement. A pre-marriage divorce settlement that would really open the eyes of those not ready to be fiscally intertwined. Hardly romantic...

Chasing Corporations Out Of The U.S.

This was a disturbing read for me.

"But it is not just taxation that is chasing corporations out of America. Another top consideration is access to talent. The U.S. now spends more per capita on public education than any other OECD country, but its students test in the bottom decile."

"A culture that turns a blind eye to government failure, but is quick and unrelenting to blame society's ills on business, will naturally and subliminally embrace socialist solutions. The problem is that when one intervention fails, the government attempts to fix its errors with yet more intervention"

As taxes become more punitive for the rich, those who can will relocate to a more hospitable local. A liberal blogger I know, when confronted with this stated that "The rich will not leave the US, they never had it so good."

This is not the world of the 1950's and 1960's. Well educated workforce's are luring businesses to their locations in a siren song of business friendly government. Our administration seems content with pressing forward with the idea that business needs to earn less and pay more to the government and workforce.

Everything has a price. Every choice has repercussions.

In a large group meeting, at a previous employer of mine. One of management was asking the crowd "What is it you want?" in my typical clownish style shouted anonymously "More Pay for less work." Which got a laugh and the management response of "Me too!"

Talk about human nature in action. If you took a paper and pencil out right now and started a list of things that you should be doing around your home. I am pretty sure that list would grow a life of its own as each item conjured up another. If you were to do the same exercise three months later, I bet you will list many of the same things.

As a thought experiment, what if you were to assign some compensation to the top five items on the list, a reward, if you will...

Human nature.

Music from on Highschool.

Leave it to the ulta-capable Krista (Schlesinger) Kausen, who somehow, someway tracked down Mr. B. Mister Edward Brahams has the distinction of being a molding influence on my life. As a music teacher at Costa Mesa High School he earned respect and, to me, was an example of what a teacher can be. Trust me that bar is set very high.

Krista sent me a message asking if his location was near mine, geographically. Sure enough he was living in the next town north, or 15 miles as the bike rides. It turns out he and his wife had fifth wheeled it up to a town called Cottage Grove and started looking for roots to set. He got a teaching position in Drain Oregon and eventually retired. Until recently he has been doing substitute work.

After my wife found his phone number I gave a call to his wife. Who recalled who I was, not that I am particularly memorable or anything. Well, Steve Vircsik and I did camp on his front lawn once, tent and all. The return phone call was very nostalgic as those synapses that recognized his voice re-activated. Along with have a dozen memory centers. We made tentative plans to meet.

My history with Mr. B is an nine year span. From seeing my sisters concerts, and finally seeing Steves last pops concert in 1980. My sister lives a good 90 miles to the south and she was eager to re-acquaint as well.

Some coordination of effort took us forward to today. A brisk October afternoon at a local Sizzler (his choice). You might recall a time when you were waiting to meet someone and that anxious feeling, eyes darting every which way trying to gather in that first glance. That was me, in the parking lot.

Through the wooden door and lo and behold. A very familiar face and beard! You can tell when someone recognizes you. Thank goodness I lost weight! It was a handshake with that toothy grin with an eye twinkle that hints of mischief.

The normal platitudes were given, we ordered and sat. Thirty years of memories started flowing and it was all I could do to pick and choose what to talk about. Myrna has kept in close contact with several Mesa Teachers, Art Viterelli(sp) and Don Utter to name a few. I went over several HS people who I am now face booking with, yes Dale Tracy was featured.

His recollection of the Mesa Years is filled with fun. He really enjoyed his students. He was very excited about Kathy Harbor's upcoming visitation. I had a wonderful feeling inside each time I got a laugh. Either recounting old stories, or new commentary. A few things that had nagging me came out in question. One of which was his impression of the 1979 pops concert. Todd Knipp, Steve Vircsik and myself had been the Masters of Ceremony. It was my first and last attempt at on stage comedy. My own dad had hated it. Mr. B had thought it was wonderful.

In retrospect what an amazing opportunity Mesa High provided. Heck, I think I knew it at the time!

Bus trips, Concert competitions, Knotts, Disneyland, Jester Harrison(rest in peace), the horrible treatment of anyone daring to substitute. It just goes on and on.

As the evening wore down we set up an invite for our Christmas Open house (anyone reading this is invited). He and his should be coming, which will be awesome. He proffered me a gift. A music CD recorded from our chior and madrigal days. Including a great outtake.

I had the tape but it had, alas, worn out. Now I have a CD and oh so many memories. The mind does swim.

Raining Ma'am

Twenty-nine or so years ago I bought myself a rain-coat. In the interest of full disclosure I wanted a long black coat, and found one at Banana Republic that filled that particular want.

The picture here is close except mine is black in color. This was probably one of the more expensive items of clothing I have ever purchased. It was listed at $189.00 and I got it at $149.00 on sale.

This means about $5.00 a year and dropping. While using it as a rain coat in Southern California is fairly laughable. Using it as a raincoat in Oregon is quite handy. (It rains here).

It doubles as a great Halloween costume with an appropriate mask as well. So it is a multi-use garment. I got a nice Balley cowboy hat a few years back, basic black as well. With the two of them I stride the inclement weather quite dry.

Ridin' de bike mon!

This AM I opted to go on a bike ride. I have a goal in the back of my mind for riding up to Eugene. So this was the start of that, if you will. It was cloudy and cold but not threatening. The weather appeared to be cooperating. Dressing for success I went with the sweats with windbreakers and my handy gloves. I had a backpack in case I needed less layers. I filled a flagon of H20 and loaded the bike into the van. My route was pretty simple, start at Tinas work and ride home. I like the concept of going home better then a destination as it seems more relaxing at the end.

The drive was quick enough, we kissed goodbye and I mounted up. Immediately my eyes must have gotten very sad, as the tear ducts started flowing. This was followed by my nose. I made sure I was not crying with a quick mental check and continued onwards. I abated the flow of mucus from said nostrils by circling my breathing. In through the nose out through the mouth. This produces an amusing amount of steam. It was 42 degrees, so thats to be expected. Soon my various body parts figured out crying was no good and they settled down to a less embarrassing, internally containable flow.

My scientific mind would attribute the change in environment from the warm car to the cold air required biological adjustments, and as my body preformed them that particular function was running as required.

The town of Sutherlin quickly vanished as I rode past houses with increasingly sized yards in various states of tidiness. There was one sculptured lawn that gave me some mental notes for my own wild overgrowth. Soon I was on the lonely highway. Just me my bike and those few vehicles. I was actually moving along more quickly then I had considered. I was keeping a good 16 mph pace. At the 15 minute mark I stopped and drank some water, as I understand hydration is very important.

The hills were not difficult but they did require some effort and reduction in gearing. As I have not a clue what the shifting is supposed to be (as I am sure there are a multitude of opinions and facts on the subject) I kept the left gear on 2 (options being 1, 2, 3) and the right gear on 6 (options being 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). For the hill I dropped down to 4 and on the flats got back up to 6. My MPH suffered a bit. The all to brief downhill did not play too much of a part in the entire trip.

Near our community collage is the bigger hill. At the top is a rural fire station. This gave me pause to drink more fluid. In anticipation of the next hurdle. The Umpqua bridge. This is a narrow two lane bridge that Trevor had much angst about the crossing. He recounted there being a near impossible turn, I myself was unsure of the height of the siderails, the thought of having a mishap over the edge was a minor consideration, but a consideration nonetheless.

As it turns out the rail was high enough, the sidewalk was single file narrow but ample for a deliberate rider. The turn at the end was easy to ignore with a bunny hop back to the pavement. This took me into the town of Winchester (don't blink!). I pit stopped for some calorie intake and found my legs stiffened up. Not sure if that was a good or bad idea, sitting there like that.

Back on the bike I started the gradual climb into Roseburg. I opted to have ear coverings, I hate when my ears get really cold. With the humidity in the air and the colder temperature they would have been aching. My toes got cold through my shoes. I have considered getting bike shoes that lock into the peddles. I need to make sure they are not vented in the front. Along the zipper of my jacket I noticed the cold creeping inwards.

All in all nothing uncomfortable or unmanageable as I crossed into the annexed city line. In hindsight I should have continued my 15min ride couple min break. but, I forgot.

As I headed down the last stretch I got fatigue. I geared down to my hill climbing 4 and still was having a tougher time riding. This was VERY noticeable, as I ride this way to and from work and I do so at a very brisk pace. It was then that my mind kicked me and said (DRINK DUMMY).

I stopped in front of the former nudie bar and finished off my liquid. It is astonishing how much that little break helped. I was in better form and even made the climb back up to my driveway.

Trip was 15.12 miles taking 1:08:13. This puts me around 15 mph (which is above goal! yeah me!). I burned around 890 calories.

So now for Ibuprofen, water and not moving all that much for recovery. My abductors felt thrashed and the connecting tissue on the right outer thigh (medial collateral ligament?) seems a bit distressed. Oddest of all my sternocleidomastoid muscle (left side back of neck from behind the ear down to the shoulder), is stiffer. I guess it is from bearing body weight from the handle bars. Not sure.

Good first ride!

Where in I discuss my thighs.

My T-shirts.... *snif* my T-shirts are much to big. They have a good 12 inches of girth around them. That means they are destined for the rag pile before their time. Sad really, few things are better in life then donning a soft, comfortable, T-shirt after a good days work.

It is one of those I-lost-weight-observations that I had not considered prior to said observation occurring. Odd that...

Previously I observed my fat head, now my old hats fit without inducing a migraine. Also, it takes a substantial change to notice you "feel better" and that is a mental, not physical state. Also, riding a bike sans 60+ lbs is much more fun.

My river sandals no longer fit tight. I would be out of pants if not for my buddy Jack who lost weight as well, sent me a care package of his "fat clothes" (he went from 210 to 148).

I think my hockey roller skates will fit again. Need to test that theory out.

My shirts that fit are now being confused with my son Trevor's on laundry day.

People only give you compliments to a certain weight, then they start cautioning you. It goes from "Wow, your looking good!" to "Your wasting away."

Then the oddest observation yet thus far. Leg hair. To be specific inner thigh leg hair.

At a certain point the fatty deposits around the upper thighs can lead to a "meeting in the middle." This provides a near constant friction that will lop off the hairs at skin level. It can also lead to chaffing and other unpleasant details I opt not to elucidate upon.

Lo and behold while doing a biological function on a porcelain decedent of John Crappers lifestyle changer. I made note of a hirsute addition to my previously shorn abductors.

I pondered for a moment, as one does. Finally coming to the aforementioned conclusion.

This overall event left me both curious and fearful of what will be next.

About Autism

Tina and I noted Connor had stopped talking very early on. We, at first, dismissed this as kids being different. As time moved forward it became more and more apparent that he just was not typical. We noticed the time of his "shut down" was around his immunization. Several reports came out showing parents had come to a similar conclusion.

We joined in a law suit that was put on hold by the white house. Part of the qualification came from the batch numbers from the immunization shots. We qualified. There is a certain degree of horror that comes from being a "good parent" and hurting your child.

There have been several studies that show no relationship between Thimerosal and Autism. So it is safe and we might all be conspiracy nuts, yet today, all routinely recommended licensed pediatric vaccines currently being manufactured for the U.S. market are either thimerosal-free or contain markedly reduced amounts of thimerosal.

Since 2000, we’ve learned several key lessons about autism:

The epidemic of autism is real, and it not a merely a product of better diagnosis.

A study by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute on California autism rates found that less than 1/10th of the increased number of reported autism cases could be attributed to the inclusion of milder cases of autism (so called “diagnostic expansion”), and less than 1/25th could be attributed to earlier age of diagnosis. (see “Hertz-Picciotto Jan2009 – The Rise in Autism and the Role of Age at Diagnosis”)

Latest indications are that perhaps 6-7% of autism cases are purely genetic, meaning that the child has autism solely because of the genes inherited from the parents (if they have these genes, then they have autism).

Analysis of the Autism Genome Project Consortium findings concludes that the largest autism-genetic study to date found no association other than one slightly-associative one that would have been expected to be found by statistical chance.

OSOTEN "Original Source of the Estimated Number describes how the widely-reported 10-15% number of autism cases from genetic causes can be traced back to an estimate by a single group of researchers that did not have valid supporting data for their assertion. It asserts that the real number is probably around 6-7%.

There is a greater risk of autism for children born to families with certain family medical histories (Brimacombe M, Ming X, Parikh A. Familial risk factors in autism. JChild Neurol. 2007; 22:000-000), indicating that certain sub-groups are particularly susceptible to autism. 1 in 7 children born to families with thyroid disorders develop autism

Many studies indicate that children with autism are less able to excrete toxins. For example, children with autism are less able to excrete mercury via hair and thus have lower levels of mercury in their hair versus a control group. (Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children Holmes AS, Blaxill MF, Haley BE. Int J Toxicol. 2003 Jul-Aug; 22(4):277-85)

Autism is a whole-body condition, not merely one affecting the brain. Children with autism have multiple organs with adverse health issues, typically including the gastrointestinal tract and endocrine system. Clinical research indicates that children with autism share serious underlying metabolic imbalances

Auto-antibodies and impaired immune system function, Methylation disorders, Low glutathione levels, High metal toxicity, Mitochondrial dysfunction, Thyroid dysfunction, Demylenation,

MBP “Myelin Basic Protein” antibodies, Gastrointestinal disease, Seizure disorders, Chronic neuroinflammation, Chronic bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, Disordered serum chemistries, Altered metabolic profiles, Impaired brain connectivity, Gastrointestinal abnormalities including impaired digestion.

The Bruce!

My IM (instant messenger) sits fairly dormant, it is far from a networking social tool. It is more quick access to my wife and kids and vice versa. I like it that way.

Lo and behold Robert (my childhood chum) IM'd me last week with a proposal; meet for Dinner in the PNW (pacific north west). Good Stuff! Life long friends are the blessing of my life. Growing up in post 50's So Cal Suburbs was, in retrospect, ideal for being a kid.

I joined cub scouts and boy scouts and Met Robbie and Robert. We have been friends ever since. Even though decisions made have moved us to various places on the continent, two facts allowed us to re-establish contact. The first being we are Computer mavin's, the second is we enjoy gaming as a pretext for socializing. Over the last 16 years or so face to face meetings have been few and far between, so RBG's (Robert) proposal was enthusiastically accepted.

A few caveats were included, this may not occur and the timing may require flexibility. As Tina and I are most familiar with eateries along the I5 Oregon corridor I opted to hammer down the details. A quick chat with my better half afforded us maximum flexibility and a call to my sibling produced locations for the epicurious. The Taprock (pictured on the blog entry below) is a grand log cabin affair that is drenched in the best of Oregon. Even the sidewalk mimics a stream of copper salmon, various statues grace the grounds, Elk, Bear. It is perched along the bank and there is a warmth to even the cavernous interior. The staff is efficient but seemingly neophyte in confidence. It is a new restaurant, so you can give allowances. The double Decks overlook the Rogue river in a tranquil setting, the far side has a park with plenty of green and trees, which gives the effect that you are indeed in the country. The river itself makes small wet sounds that you need to be quiet to hear. The setting was a simple iron table with less then plush chairs.

RBG was able to confirm his sojourn into our realm and agreed with time and date. All systems ready for launch T-minus... Flash forward about a week and we head south in our conveyance towards the foggy town of Grants Pass, home of my Sister and various questionable civic organizations. We arrived early and scouted around a bit and was a bit surprised\worried that RBG had not arrived. The hostess confirmed she had received a phone call from someone lost. Next a cell phone call confirmed he was pulling into the drive. Curiously with a car from Idaho...

We got a place on the deck overlooking the river and got some pictures. Ordered food and set about several years worth of conversation, family, work, life, liberty, happiness (or said pursuit). The waiter was easily confused which provided me with some enjoyment. The food was good and the company was excellent. There is a degree of comfort that takes some time to develop, you are never quite sure where hidden bombshells or tripwires are, conversationally, that might lead to awkward pauses or worse the decision to become offended. When you have been around someone for 40 plus years, on and off. The foundation is pretty much solid and acceptance and tolerance is a given. Add to that 1/2 a lifetime of memories and commonality, you just "get along famously".

And so we did.

The dinner ended all to soon and Tina and I forced Robert into an after dinner death march, over the river and through the woods, through town as well. As time ticked on parental duty kicked in and it was time to depart. A bit of salesmanship could mean a few more catch-ups. So I hope he lands the contract for several reasons.

On a mixed note, I fully intended on getting the bill, but the expense account won over my frugal nature.