Ross Experience Haiku #2

Baby goes to school
Parents "enjoy" new routine
Days are flying by

Attack of the Catalogues

While sifting through the mail one recent evening between tearing up the numerous offers to get into more debt (what credit crunch?) and adding another Bed Bath & Beyond 20% off coupon to the stack we'll never use (that makes a baker's dozen), a thought occurred to me. Is the Crate and Barrel catalogue the new Victoria's Secret catalogue?

Both are corporate-produced sources of undue trauma on American citizens, invading our homes unsolicited through the mail. The only difference is the type of trauma in which they traffic. Victoria's Secret specializes in creating unrealistic ideals of the perfect body, whereas Crate and Barrel concentrates its efforts on creating unrealistic ideals of the perfectly decorated and organized home.

Our bodies and our homes: these are 2 fairly sensitive subjects for the average American. What's next? I can only assume that right now, someone is desperately trying to gather a bunch of images of children more talented and intelligent than our own and package them into a quarterly catalogue.

Adventures in Corporate World

Today, I had the type of day that we all dread. By "we", I am referring to those of us that spend the obligatory 2,080 hours per year of face time living the corporate life.

The work day started like any other: enter automatic revolving doors in my downtown office tower, grab an elevator from the middle bank & ride it to my floor, say hello to our admin on the way to my desk, put my bag down, hang up my jacket, switch on my desk light, and hit control-alt-delete on my PC keyboard. But then disaster strikes. On my computer screen, a pop-up appears that reads "Your password has expired".

An eerie chill runs through my body as I realize the horror to be endured throughout the day (the same horror endured 30 days ago, the same horror to be endured 30 days from now). I change my password that includes at least 8 characters with at least 1 capital letter, 1 lowercase letter and 1 number. Then the real horror begins.

Each day I am prompted to enter my network password approximately 46 times. This means about 29 times I will subconsciously enter my old password on my 1st attempt. That means about 8 times I will frustratingly and hastily fat finger a mistake in my 2nd attempt. If I get it wrong on my 3rd attempt, I'll be forced to deal with the PC help desk to reset my password, then wait patiently for 15-30 minutes for use of my PC.

So I have to be as careful on that 3rd attempt as a game of Operation. But even when I type my password at rate of 1 character per 15 seconds, I'm never confident that I got it right. All I see on the screen is "********". How can I ever be sure with that helpful display?

Fortunately, I got all my 3rd attempts right today. And there's something strange about the day after a password change. For some reason there are no problems that 2nd day. It's as if it takes my brain takes a full 24 hours to process any changes to my network password. The horror is behind me, but only for 30 days...

Edwin - Mr. Personality

Edwin is a great baby...he is generally in a good mood. He is prone to melt downs when he's hungry, exhausted, or dirty - just like any normal person...

He is really starting to showcase his personality and talk a lot...what a HAPPY BABY!!! He typically sleeps from 10:00pm - 6:30am (sometimes more)...wow, are we lucky or what?

Did I mention that I'm in LOVE?

Farewell, Yankee Stadium

I am currently watching the last few innings of play at Yankee Stadium. Although I have never been a Yankee fan, I've always been envious of their winning ways, their substantial fan base, and of course, their beautiful stadium. (Well, Pirates, 1 out of 3 ain't ba--wait, who am I kidding? Yeah, Pirates, it's bad.)

I was fortunate to attend a game there back in 1993 while visiting my aunt Carol in Connecticut. We made plans to head into the city for one day, and she gave me the option of a Broadway show or a Yankee game. Being the 14-year old boy that I was at the time, I chose the ball game. And despite the spectacular views of the Pittsburgh skyline from PNC Park, to this day Yankee Stadium remains my favorite ball park.

Unfortunately, when I accompanied Mindy on her 1st visit to NYC last year, only the Mets were in town. At least she got to see a game at Shea Stadium before it gets torn down (hey, come to think of it, where's all the hoopla on ESPN regarding the final game at Shea?...I guess retrospectives on Mookie Wilson aren't exactly ratings bonanzas).

Hopefully, sometime in the future, we'll get to take Edwin to the new Yankee Stadium so winning baseball isn't something he only hears about on Sports Center.

Well, I hear Sinatra blaring over the stadium's PA system, so the Yankees won. Congratulations to them, and let's hope this October remains interesting without their involvement.

The Ross Experience: On Location

WILMINGTON Ohio -- Tonight, Mindy and I had the pleasure of attending a Division III football match-up between 2 longtime OAC rivals at Williams Stadium. My cousin, wide receiver Marty Mueller, and his Pioneers of Marietta College made the 150-mile journey to take on the Quakers of Wilmington College.

This was my 2nd time seeing Marty in action (things didn't go so well last year at Mount Union), so I brought Mindy for her first time to see if she'd bring better luck. We were both pumped after reading Marty's stat sheet from the last week's win: 157 yards on 8 catches.

Well, the Rosses just aren't good luck for Marty (that includes my mom who joined me at that Mount Union game) as tonight the Quakers were just too much for those scrappy Pioneers. Despite the loss we still would like to post some pictures, if for no other reason, to show off Mindy's great photography skills!

Marty (#85) and the offense anxiously wait to take the field in the first quarter:




Marty, with rapt attention, listens to coach:



A ball sails over Marty's arms in the end zone, a microcosm of the entire game:

P.S.: This being my first time visiting quaint Wilmington, I received a bonus site-seeing experience: the location of Mindy's birth nearly 30 years ago, Clinton Memorial Hospital.

An Abacus for Edwin!

The Johnsons, our next door neighbors, have decided to give up the countless adventures offered by Newport (e.g., high speed car chases, evenings at The Brass Ass, and the daily parade of litter that is Newport High School kids walking to school) for the greener pastures of the suburbs. They've been kind enough to give us some of their kids' old belongings that won't be making the move.

We definitely hit the jackpot with one item in particular: an abacus. With any luck Edwin will be reducing fractions by Christmas.

P.S.: That comment about "reducing fractions" was in no way some sort of subliminal joke about the trend of my current employer's stock price since I joined in 2002...

The Week That Was on Wall Street

The happenings this week in the financial markets warrant some comment from The Ross Experience (especially since my current employer is highly sensitive to the recent developments...by the way, did anyone notice said employer was mysteriously missing from the SEC's financial stock short selling moratorium list?).

However, since Mindy and I can only do so much reading on the subject in between cleaning pump components and singing about a dog name-o'd Bingo, we're going to defer to the experts. The best write-up I could find (in the simplest to understand verbiage) was posted on the Freakonomics blog yesterday. You can find it here.

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati Facts

Average consumption at Oktoberfest based on previous years:

87,542: Metts

80,500: Bratwurst on buns

64,000: Sauerkraut balls

56,250: Sausages of all sorts

24,640: Potato pancakes

23,004: Soft pretzels

20,000: Cream puffs

16,002: Hunks of strudel

6,000: Jumbo pickles

3,600 pounds: Sauerkraut

1,875 pounds: Potato salad

702 pounds: Limburger cheese

History of the Chicken Dance

Widely known as the Chicken Dance, this dance song was composed by Werner Thomas in the 1970s in Davos, Switzerland, and was originally entitled Der Ententanz, which means The Duck Dance, but became known as the Vogeltanz, Chicken Dance, and also as Dance Little Bird. There were many versions of this that became hit songs, but the song and dance have had the greatest longevity in the U.S., where it has become a popular German heritage song.

The Chicken Dance has become an annual tradition at Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. In 1994, the Crown Prince of Bavaria attended Oktoberfest Zinzinnati and helped the event set a world record for the World's Largest Chicken Dance, with 48,000 participating. This achievement was documented in the Guinness Book of Records, 1995-97 editions.

The Future of NFL Quarterbacks

My second 2008 use of an arbitrarily-established list from a national sports website to justify what I already believe: per ESPN.com declares "Big Ben the NFL's heir apparent to Brady and Manning".

I concede that positive attributes exist among the other members of their top 5 (Romo, Rivers, Cutler, and the other Manning) that make selecting Roethlisberger not an obvious choice. However, I agree with their ultimate conclusion that Big Ben is the best of the bunch.

What I find interesting (read: hilarious) is that conspicuously missing (or inconspicuously, maybe) from the 5 finalists (or even the others mentioned in the article that didn't quite make the cut: Anderson, Edwards, and Rodgers) is any reference to the quarterback that plays his home games in Paul Brown Stadium.

Nasty Neighbors, Hurricane Ike, and Karma: A Guest Post

Ryan Scalf is a friend of mine that would like to get share his life lessons from turmoil that he and his family underwent recently.

Nasty Neighbors, Hurricane Ike, and Karma
By Ryan Scalf
A Guest Post

Hello all and special thanks to Dave and Mindy for the opportunity to attempt my first Blog Post in these modern times.

Those that know me and are reading this post are probably afraid to continue as my e-mails are famously despised by those unlucky enough to be on my e-mail list. These folks will be happy to know that the ideas I will try to portray are politically benign and are meant with the best possible intention.

Those that don't know me, I wish to say hello and that if you are friends of Dave and Mindy then you are by default a friend of mine. (Now to the meat and potatoes):

My wife and I have a large, inherently stupid Boxer/German-Shepard mix named Tonic. He is loving, loyal, clumsy, annoying and HUNGRY, but by no means vicious or aggressive to people or dogs. A few weeks ago Tonic damaged a neighbor's 20 year old privacy fence by knocking out a plank in the fence while jumping against the fence spurred on by the neighbors dogs barking and lunging. I was home at the time and stopped the behavior ASAP.

Later that afternoon, my neighbor came over accompanied by a Hamilton county Sheriff saying that while trying to separate the dogs through the small 4 inch opening that she was bitten by my dog. (The "bite" did not break the skin but, in the state of Ohio there is precedent on the books that a bite need not break the skin to be a bite.) I was obviously very concerned and offered to pay for damage and repairs to the fence and the neighbor was sweet as pie and did not want to cite me for the "bite". I thought the major issues were avoided and all was well. Boy, was I wrong...

The next Day I received a call from the neighbor cursing and threatening me and my family. She said that she had pictures of the damage to the fence, the “bite”, and had to get shots from her doctor and missed a week of work because the shot made her sick. She wanted my homeowner’s insurance contact info for the fence because she felt entitled to a brand new fence due to the one plank that fell off from both of our dogs jumping on it. She threatened that she would sue us for the fence and the “bite” so the dog could be taken from us and we would have a huge civil suit unless we cooperated with her fully. (I now know I should have let her sue (NEVER GIVE ANYONE LIKE THIS YOUR HOMEOWNERS INFO, MAKE THEM SUE YOU!!!)

My wife and I had never dealt with an issue like this before so we gave the neighbor the insurance contact info in hopes that the issue would be settled as amicably as possible. We installed an electric fence to fix the problem and hoped for the best. (Bad Mistake). In the two weeks following this issue, the woman called the police several times and it was always the same officer that responded. The last time he came over dressed in a bike cop outfit and he threatened me with arrest. I asked him for his business card and badge number and he refused only saying he was Officer Rusk. He asked me what time I worked in the morning and I told him 8:00AM, he said he would be over at 7:00AM to cite me which he never did, but it got me thinking. Why not cite me right then? Why wait until 7:00 AM the next day? Why was he in a bike cop uniform and not in every day patrol gear? After he left, I got angry at the realization that this officer may be a friend of the neighbor and was harassing me due to the relationship with her. (Her ex- Husband was a Hamilton county Sheriff and she watches his child in her home daycare business) I asked around and the other neighbors around me said she has sued 3 or 4 other families in the past few years. For me, this was the end of playing nice.

I wrote a letter to the Lieutenant in charge of my area explaining the issue and asking for help to resolve it. The next morning I got a call from Officer Rusk offering to “clarify the situation”. He clarified that just because he knew the neighbor that he was not giving her any special treatment. He also said he was off duty at the time and he was sorry if I felt anything was amiss when he threatened me with arrest. I think the officer got a lesson from the lieutenant as to what Police Collusion is and how illegal (and actionable) it is in the state of OH. Amazingly enough, the officer said that the neighbor just wants to pretend nothing ever happened and said he would mediate a meeting with us to solve the issue. (After she got a settlement for the fence from my homeowners insurance.)

I am sorry for the long post, but to make my point it felt necessary for those that read this know the whole story.

NOW TO THE POINT...

I have for a long time been a firm believer in Karma, or “What comes around goes around.” And I have really made an attempt to be as positive as possible in any given situation. I don’t always succeed but I do make a conscious effort everyday. This past Sunday during Ohio’s Hurricane Ike experience I saw Karma in action and I now truly am reinforced in my belief in this powerful and ancient force . I am still in awe of the coincidence on what happened so closely in time to the situation I was involved in above.

A tree fell down in this woman’s yard that must have been 90 feet tall. The root ball was unearthed when the tree fell and was sticking 15 feet out of the ground. Her entire back yard was demolished. It took 7 large trucks and 40 or so workers to remove the tree and the root ball. I have to say I was a little amused at the bad luck that had found this neighbor after our issues and I felt obliged to take some photographs through the hole in the neighbor’s fence to ensure no further lawsuits or claims could be concocted to my family’s detriment.

I guess one lesson here is to protect yourself from these predatory people by having the number of a lawyer handy just in case this kind of thing happens to you. Get your animals all their shots and licenses, a person has no better ammo in court then a dog that has not been kept up to date on shots or licenses(remember that the dog need not break the skin for it to be a bite in OH!!). Be a little protective and standoffish regarding the people who live around you. They may seem nice but they also might just be looking for a reason to attack you and your family by any means necessary for their own personal gain. I was unaware of these types of folks were around, and I am chalking up this whole experience to personal education and I harbor no hard feelings (or at least I am trying not too) regarding the actions of this neighbor.

The most amazing thing is that the Universe, or God, or whatever is more vindictive than a nasty neighbor could ever be regarding negative energy. I certainly had vindictive thoughts and a vengeful mindset because the emotional stress caused from this negative energy of this woman’s actions. I decided to remain positive and try to go about my business like normal and I am sure glad I did.

Be positive, loving and diligent about your family’s security and be rewarded richly. Self-centeredness, anger and negativity will net you far worse damage than you can inflict on a victim with the worst of intentions. Thanks for listening, and much love, peace and respect to all.

Edwin's First Trip to the Ballpark

To reward Edwin for his stellar performance during his first 2 days at school , Mindy and I took him to his very first Cincinnati Reds Game.

Hanging out with Dad before the game:



In the stadium:



Edwin's favorite player:


Down 1-0 in the bottom in the 6th, moments before he puts the Reds ahead for good with a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double:



Time for bed:

Edwin's First Day of School

All parents can probably indentify with Mindy and myself today. A day when we had to face facts and admit our child isn't 2-months old anymore...he's an independent-thinking 3-month old, ready to commence his formal education.

Mom and Sedona get Edwin ready for class:

Dad and Edwin kick back after a long day:

Wind Damage

Greater Cincinnati had quite the windstorm yesterday, but the trusty Lumina survives (just barely) to drive us around in American-designed, Canadian-assembled luxury for at least one more day:

Edwin - Growing Up (New Pics)

We're preparing for Edwin's first day of school tomorrow...

I've labeled everything from diapers to extra clothes and filled out the mountain of paperwork. All of the material items are ready - but MOM sure is NOT! I can't believe it is already time to send him to daycare.

Dave put together some of the things we received at showers...check out how big Edwin is getting! (For more Sept pics, check here.)

Stationary Entertainer:



Jeep Stroller:



High Chair:

One Reason I Should Cancel My Esquire Subscription and Switch to GQ

From the September 2008 issue of GQ in an article entitled “73 Reasons We’re Living in a New Golden Age of Football”: reason number 8 is “because the Cowboys may be America’s Team, but the Steelers are God’s Team”.

Sept 08 Pics of Edwin

Make a Smilebox photobook

Edwin - September 12, 2008

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Loco OchoCinco

My dad bought me my first Bengals jersey last year and guess what what it says?

OCHO CINCO

I'm so glad I already have my OchoCinco jersey...looks like things are going to get crazy!

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080910/SPT02/809100365&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

Back To The Real World

So, I'm back to the grind...luckily, Dave was able to stay home this week to watch Edwin (with the exception of today - Grandma Nikki is watching Edwin). Next week we'll add the stress of daycare to our daily ritual. This week hasn't been too bad, but I'm preparing myself for next week's routine change and "strangers" watching Edwin all day.

I took some of my favorite pictures of Edwin into work and hung them in my office - so he watches me work all day. I don't think more than a couple minutes have gone by where I haven't wondered how he was doing...it is hard to be away from him. Next week I plan to visit him at school a few times...to feed him and to check on how he is doing with the transition.

I haven't posted new pictures in a while...I hope to post some new ones this weekend. Grandma Nikki is hosting a "Meet Edwin" picnic and Edwin will enjoy another event being passed around like a football. We're looking forward to it!

Entertaining Edwin

After spending my first full day alone with Edwin, I am learning that he would much rather listen to the nursery rhymes Mindy downloaded on iTunes than my reading aloud of economic news. I tried to explain to Edwin that the recent performance of bank stocks is a modern-day telling of the "Itsy Bitsy Spider", but he just stared at me blankly until "Old MacDonald" came on.

P.S.: One song I'd never heard before but now can't get out of my head is "Apples and Bananas".

Happiness

Happiness is a Steeler victory and the being off work the next day. This means Edwin and I will be watching every Steeler highlight the ESPN family of networks can air tomorrow from 6am until Mindy gets home from work. (Well, considering Edwin's not allowed to watch TV, he'll have to settle for listening to the highlights plus my reading of every Steeler-related item posted to the web tomorrow.)

P.S.: An enhanced state of happiness is experienced with a Steeler victory, being off work the next day, and losses by the Bengals and Browns. A Ravens loss would have further enhanced this happiness; however, the NFL schedule makers prevented that (see the Bengals loss).

P.P.S.: Good luck to Mindy on her first day back to work!

It's Football Season

My first 2008 use of an arbitrarily-established list from a national sports website to justify what I already believe: per ESPN.com's NFL Fan Base Rankings, the Steelers have the NFL's best fans. The Carolina Panthers (est. 1995) just edged out the Bengals for a spot in the Top 25.

You paying attention, Edwin?

Ordinary Experiences...Entry #5...Baby School

For most young professional parents, working is a way of life...and we are no different. In preparation for my return to work (9/8), I took Edwin to school (daycare) yesterday to meet his teacher (babysitter). I am using terms like school and teacher to convince myself that this is the right thing for our family to do right now and that Edwin will be learning new things from this experience. His first day at school will be on Monday, September 15th. I'm sure I will be a mess...so if you have time to say an extra prayer for me that morning...please do!

As for his school, it is nice. It is 3 blocks from my office and I'm hoping to visit him most days to nurse at lunch. His teacher (Ms. Linda) is really nice and has been working with children for a long time. Edwin decided he'd introduce himself by having a blow-out on my jeans - fabulous!

Dave is staying home with Edwin next week...with the exception of Wednesday - Grandma Nikki is coming down to watch him on Weds while I work and Dave travels for work. I'm nervous about going back to work...but I'm reminded by everyone that this is just an ORDINARY EXPERIENCE for most...so I guess we are just joining the club!

A Ross Experience Haiku

Spring a baby born
Summer mom and child enjoy
Autumn back to work