Increase in Altitude
Well Joe is just a hair smaller than Chelsea now. So he is pushing 5'8". He is definitely taller than his friend Cody. Chad has made an offer on a house. The paperwork is in process. Will be visiting Vanessa in 2 weeks that should be fun. Becky bought Chelsea another car - but Chelsea is paying for it. I am not happy about it, but maybe if she pays for it then it will mean more to her.

House
Mood:  rushed
Topic: Chad
Well Chad has made an offer on a house. It is on a 5 acre lot. Plenty of storage space, so no reason not to move out all his stuff. There is still a lot of red tape to get thru, but once this deal is done, I am ready to start hauling.

Vanessa and Eric are moving to a new apartment. We inherit two of their cats. They will go outside of course, one in the house is enough. We plan to go visit sometime soon and see Louisville.

Becky bought Chelsea a car. I am not happy about it, I would rather that she walked. She is still grounded. Her project in school with E. Coli bacteria did OK in judging at Sinclair, but was not good enough to go to regionals. I told her it was learning experience and to use the experience to be even better next year. Joe's grades are improving we are keeping the pressure up on him. He has been shooting his 22 quite a bit as of late, now he wants to buy a scope.

3 strikes
Mood:  accident prone
Topic: Chelsea
Oh bother, Chelsea has had another accident. She got 10 stitches on her forehead. She claims that her brakes gave out and that she rolled thru a stop sign. She was T-boned by another driver. Both cars are pretty much totalled. The other driver just had a bruise or two. That is three wrecks in a year and half. That doesn't count the time that she let off the clutch on my truck and ran it into a building when she was 15. She has had two cars totalled. Sounds like Schwinn time to me. When she gets out on her own she needs to locate a place close to a bus stop.

Joe's grades are gradually improving. Keeping pressure on him and keeping him off of the computer are having an effect. Chad is still house hunting. But he is getting fed up with his job. He is going for his CDL today. It will give him more options at his current employer. But he is fed up with them and is thinking about switching jobs again. We told him to watch switching jobs too frequently, banks don't like that. Vanessa is doing OK. Nothing new to report last time I talked with her.

Joe turns 14
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Joe
Well Joe turned 14 yesterday. Kyle and Cody stayed overnight. We went bowling in Richmond and got something to eat on the way home. Kyle had no success until he used "Bill" the bowling ball. It was a loaner from the bowling alley. And it did have the name "Bill" engraved on it. They also had a good time playing video games on the pc's of course.

The boys are getting older now and have a more adult sense of humor. It was fun cutting up and joking with them on the drive over. Kyle's and Joe's voices have changed, Cody's hasn't - all in good time I guess. Joe shaved the peach fuzz off his lip a few weeks ago, but it coming back even thicker. We may need to invest in a razor for the young man.

Chad is seriously looking for a house. We'll see how this project works out. I hope he gets lots of garage space and lots of acreage so that he can move his stuff off of our property.

Chelsea made the honor roll. She mock rolled her eyes and said jokingly - Geeze, I can finally get Uncle Vaughn off of my back. We are working on getting Joe focused. The grades that we see are finally starting to pick back up.

Elana Jane
Mood:  happy
Topic: Elana
Got a first peek at Elana Jane. Vanessa stopped by this weekend and brought ultra sounds of the baby. You can see the little turned up nose. She had a hand up to her cheek as though she were sleeping. The baby did kick a little and I got to feel it move. I told Becky that if they stick with Elana Jane - that sounds a lot like Eliza Jane, every time I hear that song, I'll think of her.

Did some work this week on building a stool for the baby to use when old enough. I got some old oak from the barn. I was amazed how good it looked when I got it cut and sanded down. The boards are probably 100 years old or so and still look nice with just a little tung oil on them. I did experiment with staining a few pieces to see what they would like. The yellow pine did not age well. It had an odd color to it, so I probably will use for some projects around the farm.

Joe got 2 F's. We knew that the turmoil with Becky having to deal with Earl was probably a factor, but now we are really pushing him. He did get a B on his last math test, so hopefully this extra attention will get him pointed in the right direction. No track this spring.

Chelsea is doing OK with her Burger King job. She is thinking about playing for Shawnee or North next year. Not sure if anything will come of it or not.

Chad took his girlfriend, Sarah, to the custom car show in Cincinnati. She seems nice enough. Chad's longtime friend,Mike, brought his girlfriend, Brittany. They seem to make a couple too. Joe and I tagged along. It was a nice show, but really crowded there were lines to get an autograph from Scooter of Dukes of Hazzard, Eddie Munster from the Munster TV show. Joe is becoming aware of girls. Chad told me later about the comments he made about the girls from Hooters. They were at the Nascar race car that is sponsored by the restaraunt chain.

Chad is also looking at a house inbetween Gratis and Middletown. Sounds like a good deal, it must need some work though. $125k for a 1 story house on 10 acres. But a fixer upper for a single guy wouldn't be too bad. I have all the tools he needs. It's premature to say if he can swing a mortgage or not.

Vanessa
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Vanessa
Well Vanessa found out that she is going to have a girl. She seems very happy. As are Becky and I. Baby looks healthy and is on track for June 10.

Trying to get Joe interested in something. We are hoping that track is it. Chelsea is thinking about maybe playing basketball at Shawnee or North next year. We'll see if it really was the coach or that she is just lazy.

Christmas 2005
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: General
Well it was a good Christmas for us. It was just our family and we had a quiet morning together. Becky used part of her inheritance to make sure that everyone was taken care of in the present department. We had plenty of Christmas food and cheer.

We took some of the engineers from the phillipines to see the Whispering Christmas. They all had a good time. They snapped a ton of photo's and the women got their pics with Santa. It was fun to see the kids interacting with them at Taco Bell afterwards, both sides learned things about the other. I think that Chad was kind of sweet on Guen.

Looks like Vanessa may not lose her job after all. She pointed out that although she was among the last hired, she was one of the better performers. So her boss is going go bat for her. Vanessa has a device for listening to the babies heartbeat. Becky got to listen.

Chad has been seeing someone named Toni. He is still adament about getting another job. Joe has spent most of his vacation on the PC. Playing games. Chelsea has spent a good of time with Ron. They seem to be quite the item. Oh, I guess that he is trying to catch up to her in the wreck department. He totalled his car when he rear-ended a pickup truck. He wasn't wearing a seat belt, so he was lucky to escape with cuts and bruises. What a couple, they should buy matching crash helmets.

Went to grandpa jacks over new years. We watched Ohio State beat Notre Dame. One of the cows knocked the satelite dish off line. So we had to hook up the rabbit ears to watch the game.

Last thoughts on Trip; return to normal
Mood:  special
Topic: General

Last thoughts on India and then I'll return this blog to it's original purpose - keeping track of the kids and their activities.

On the flight back the plane passed over the Caspian Mountains in Iran. They were various shades of brown. In the valleys you could faintly make out the roads. Some of the mountain tops had snow on them. It was quite a sight, mountains as far as the eye could see.

Many of the Krishna temples had swastika's on them. It is a symbol of good luck. It is hard not to think of Hitler when you see them. Odd that a symbol has one meaning in one culture and almost the opposite in another.

Temples are sprinkled all over. At one point we parked to stop at a restaraunt and a large tree across the street had fixtures for incense, flowers, and a bell. When I asked what was up with the tree, they told me that it was used as a temple. I guess god is where you find him.

Vanessa will lose her temp job soon. They are keeping the 11 temps that have been there the longest. I told Vanessa that it sounds like management took the easy way out. They could have put some thought into it and kept the 11 best workers. So she will be looking for a new job shortly.

Chelsea is doing OK at Wendys. She got a good report from school, she seems to be doing well.

Joe is studying nightly although it takes some prodding. Hopefully his grades will come around.

Chad is starting to actively search for a new job. Both of the positions that he is looking are for delivery. Maybe he is getting burnt out on being a mechanic.

Getting close to the end of the trip
Mood:  energetic
Topic: General
Tanmay brought in his coin collection, mostly Indian, but also singapore, hong kong, and Arab countries. Several of the coins predate British rule and are very valuable. One of his uncles travels and that is where all of the non-Indian coins came from.

Some random info:

Traffic lanes are few and far between - turn lanes are seldom marked and most drivers face a broad expanse of pavement. However that helps during rush hour. The flow one direction expands to take up 2/3 of the width of the road. And during rush hour the maximum number of cars can fill the road with motorcycle rickshaws, motorbikes, cars, and delivery trucks in a random order somehow fill every square meter so that there is scarcely room for pedestrians to cross.

Women wearing sari's will ride on motorbikes side saddle. Quite unnerving to me to see this on the flyovers where they go zipping by. The younger women wear a pants suit type of outfit. They ride on back of the motorbikes western style, the way we are used to seeing women ride on back of motorcycles. Seems like that would be safer and more balanced. Oh, and it is not unusual to see a family on a motorcycle. Child on gas tank, Pop driving, a another child followed by Mom. Although helmets are required few wear them. One bad accident and a branch of the family tree is lopped off.

Speaking of pedestrians, walking along a street is semi hazadous. Many times the sidewalks don't exist, are under construction, or are filled with shops. So most walking is done at the edge of the street. Of course there are no crosswalks and few traffic lights. So crossing the street is quite an undertaking. I cheat and wait for a native to make a move. Then I move along side of them. I figure they know the traffic - and maybe their body will provide a cushion if we are hit ;- ) You can generally make it to the median where you have to stop and wait for a break in the flow from the other direction. The concrete medians are generally 2-3 foot wide, so you dare not lose your balance as you wait to make a break for it.

Work hours are interesting in the office. I generally arrive shortly after 9 and stay until about 7. There are few early risers in Mumbai. The office fills around 10. Then there is an ebb and flow thru out the day. They go to the canteen for lunch, then have an afternoon tea. When I leave at 7, the number of engineers has trickled down significantly.

My workday routine is this. Up around 7am to workout in the gym at the Hotel. 10 minutes or so in the steam room and then a shower. Back to the room to get dressed and have breakfast. Work in the office and have lunch courtesy of Datamatics. The driver takes me back to the Hotel shortly after 7pm. Some days the drive is quick and I am back at the hotel in 15 minutes. Other days for no apparent reason the traffic backs up and the drive can take up to 45 minutes. Supper, then a night cap in the lounge. The food at the Hotel has been great. I have to pull myself away from the dessert section. Back to the room by 9, watch a little TV and drift off to sleep.

During lunch today one of the Indians made an observation. When we make food he can detect the cheese, but in India they use yogart and creams made from milk along with their main courses. Just a difference in the two cultures.

Oh and although arranged marriages are still the norm, the process has changed. Where before the bride and groom could be almost strangers - maybe having a chance to meet each other for a few hours during the process. Now it is more often the prospective bride and groom talking to the parents saying this is who I want to marry, then the parents meet and give their stamp of approval. One single engineer here said that his parents told him to go out and just find a girl and bring her back, we'll give our approval.

Aliba
Mood:  happy
Topic: General
Spent the weekend in Aliba(sp) it is a seaside resort about 5 hours from Mumbai. 3 Datamatics engineers went with me. On the way up I saw monkeys by the roadside in a couple of places. The roads and driving are something else. The driver took things as a matter of course, but you have to watch for stray dogs and cattle wandering onto the road. Once we passed a motorcycle rickshaw and a motorcyclist came at us head on. the motorcycle went to the shoulder to avoid a collision. The bigger vehicle rules here. At times it is like a video game as you weave to avoid cows, dogs, motorcycles and people.

In the smaller towns the roads are narrower. I joked that we needed some butter on the sides of the SUV to squeeze thru a very narrow street. Oh and horns here are a way to communicate, not to express anger as they are used many times in the US. So a quick toot is a way for the driver to let another vehicle know that 'hey I am overtaking you on your blindside, don't change lanes.' Or get out of the fast lane, I am overtaking you. This weekends driver was very liberal with the horn. I'll bet we did not drive 10 minutes without the horn sounding at least once. So much for a quiet country drive.

On the way I also saw my first water buffalo and miles and miles of rice patties. Also saw a few poor people with grass huts. The majority of the population seem to have regular housing, but the poor are very lacking. Once at the resort we ate and watched some of the people dance. They played Indian music and also music with a disco beat. It was a family resort so there were not many singles for the Datamatics engineers to dance with. They stayed up until about 1:30am - I told them that I was old and tired, I went to bed shortly after 10, I am not a party animal any more.

At the resort, I noticed a higher percentage of Indians in western dress. I sat on my balcony and watched the people pass by. A boy got to ride on an Indian horse(about the size of a pony in the US), children with ice cream, a young couple collecting their bags to depart.

The next day started with a massage - 22 herbs according the massagist. They start at the belly button and work their way out. Then we went to the ocean. We played some beach volleyball, then went for a swim. I have now swam in the Atlantic, Pacific, and now Indian oceans. We ate before heading to the fort. I tried the mutton, and found it tasty. I remarked to the engineers that my grandmother would sometimes make leg of lamb. They told me that sheep are not very common in India and that mutton is actually goat. It was my first time eating goat - and it actually was not that bad.

The fort was about a quarter mile or so offshore. The town at the shore was a muslim town. I saw burkas, but also western dress - blue jeans. We sailed out on a 30 foot ship. they pushed us off with bamboo poles. Then when we got out far enough to catch the breeze they unfurled a triangular sail. The fort was made in 22 years in the 1500's, it had survived the Mongul invasion without being taken over. There were huge cannons on display. The bigger ones were a series of rings soldered together with lead. The biggest was big enough that a small man could crawl inside. There were 3 muslim and 1 krishna temple inside. A muslim holyman was buried there as well. There was a huge 60 foot well and in its heyday the well was covered with a dome made of pieces of various colored glass.

On the way home we visited a very nice Krishna temple made of marble. It was on top of a hill. Quite a walk up, but the statues with gold decoration were worth it. Sadly they did not permit photographs. We were hungry on the way back and stopped at a McDonalds. They do not serve beef, but only chicken. The fries were very similiar, the big mac was very different. It was had a sauce and lettuce, and of course was made with chicken, it reminded me of some of the Indian food that I had eaten - still it was rather tasty. Also in Mumbai you can find Domino's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Baskin Robbins, and Ruby Tuesdays.

When I got back to the Hotel I talked to Becky on the phone, then lay back in bed while watching TV - I must have dozed off and slept soundly, I awoke the next morning with the TV still on.