Sleep has become an issue of contention in our household. I'm now the primary earner. Kodiak took time off to raise Ender. I need to keep my job, which means I need to be able to do my job, which means I need a certain amount of sleep. Having said that, Kodiak is sleeping in 2 hour shifts because the little man has a voracious appetite. We're trying to find a balance, but it is tough. At most I get 4-6 hours of sleep. Kodiak might get the same amount, but it is broken up throughout the day making it not very fulfilling. I try to give her a nice chunk of un-interrupted sleep every few days, but it is tough during the week. Her mother has been helping out during the weekday mornings, but she will be going back to work soon as the summer comes to an end. We'll figure something out, but I'm hoping that Kodiak doesn't go crazy first.

Baby Ender has been doing well. He is feeding regularly and sleeping a little too well. His sleep schedule is about 180° off from ours, so we spend all night awake and all day sleeping...in two hour shifts. It occurred to me that it is strange that fathers are so proud of having a child. I'm happy, but I don't think that I can take much credit for it, certainly not enough to be 'proud'. The only part of the process that I actively participated in was the step at the very beginning of the rollercoaster ride, you know, the part that was fun and enjoyable for everyone involved. After that my wife did all of the work. The only thing that I contributed was ample amounts of fear and nervous anticipation. She grew a person inside of her body. She grew a new organ that didn't exist before. She managed to pass a 3.8kg child out of her body after 22 hours of contractions. She is now providing nourishment for the child from her own body. What have I done for the kid so far? I've cleaned his bottom a few times and held him while she went to the bathroom to attend to the stitches in her bottom, the result of passing a 3.8kg child out of her body. I'm proud of my wife for not only accepting this enormous task, but for wanting to undertake it. I don't think that I would have been so willing. God bless you dear. I'm proud of myself for choosing you. For that, I'll take the credit.

Andrew Rainier Hieber was born at 03:57 on 7/26/09. He weighs 8lbs 9.2oz. He took his sweet time joining us, but he is here now.

We're up to about 4-5cm dilation. Kodiak is a trooper. She is pushing through the contractions. It isn't easy, but she seems to be doing really well. I'm impressed. Our doctor says that fewer than 5% of her patients do it this way anymore. I'm just in awe of my wife.

MapMyRide.com - General Road Cycling: iMapMyRide Jul 19, 2009 3:57 PM on 07/19/2009

MapMyRide.com - General Road Cycling: iMapMyRide Jul 19, 2009 3:57 PM on 07/19/2009

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6 years ago today I married my wife. I don't remember things the way my wife does. She remembers details. I remember the moments, moods, the big picture. It was blazing hot and time stood still. 1 guy passed out from the heat in the back. That is about the sum of the details that I recall. I remember that she was beautiful, but I can't explain why. My family and friends from afar were frolicking on the lawn of the arboretum, but I don't remember who. I felt like I had tunnel vision that day. Everywhere I looked, my wife was in the center of my field of vision. Even with my head turned I caught her reflection in the glass as she danced with her father. Someone talked to me and I watched her in the reflections of their sunglasses. She looked tall and ethereal as I watched her dancing through the bottom of a wine glass. Not much has changed since then really. We're still in love, and everything I see is framed by how she fits in the picture. She's going to need to move over a bit to the side though. Our baby is due TODAY. I'm not sure what I did to deserve her, but I'm glad she thinks I'm worthy of being her partner in life. I can't imagine it any other way.

MapMyRide.com - General Road Cycling: iMapMyRide Jul 15, 2009 7:28 PM on 07/15/2009

MapMyRide.com - General Road Cycling: iMapMyRide Jul 15, 2009 7:28 PM on 07/15/2009

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My poor wife has been pregnant for almost 14 consecutive months. We had a miscarriage after about 3 months the first time. She is about 1 week from her due date so any day now there will be a new 'little me' to blog about. I'm anxious, nervous, scared, and just about every other emotional adjective you could think of to describe how a feel right now. We're really looking forward to the rest of our lives.

Yesterday my employer was sold by the parent corporation for a paltry sum of money. It was more or less a confirmation of what we've long felt that the parent company's true opinion of our business was. They provided no support, never took an interest in our operations, and never listened to our requests for improvements. Though we were always profitable in Yakima, we were never extremely profitable as a group. The new owners purchased seven manufacturing facilities in North America for $115 million. That's not exactly chump change, but it is also a bargain for what they received. The single building in Yakima WA cost $11 million to build in 1998. The product mix is extremely profitable, and the revenue stream is stable (with exceptions for things like 9/11 or global economic meltdowns...even then we were profitable, just less so). I'd guess that the Yakima site alone is worth $30-40 million for the land, structure, materials and equipment. If you consider that it is an already established, and profitable business, it is probably worth more. That is one site out of seven. Where the heck did they come up with $115 million for the whole ball of wax? If you look at the amount of money generated by the 7 businesses, the deal will likely break even in 2-3 years. That is pretty good ROI for a $115 million investment. The new owners are a consortium of private investors who claim to specifically seek out under performing companies in the $50-$250 million range. They then provide management and capital improvements to grow the businesses. I suspect that at least one of the 7 sites will ultimately be closed, but that should have happened years ago anyway. You'd think that selling the company during the worst recession since the Great Depression would make me nervous, but I actually think that it is an improvement in the situation.

I think that I've been nesting. I've been cleaning, doing yard work, cooking, repairing things around the house, etc. Kodiak doesn't seem to really be doing much of anything out of the ordinary.

Blogs are strange. It is almost like a journal, but you kind of want people to see what you're doing. That is awkward. At any rate, things have changed and things have stayed the same since my last post. Obama is president. Kodiak had a miscarriage, then she became pregnant again, then she had another miscarriage, now she is pregnant again. The economy is in a death spiral and not looking to improve any time soon. eek.

Life as I've known it for the last 30+ years ended a few days ago. Kodiak told me that she is pregnant. The long and winding road just got a bit longer and windy-er. I've already got an architect working on designs for our home. I've changed my 401k plan so that I have more cash available. I'm meeting with a friend to discuss refinancing our home or getting a line of credit. Next I'll start looking for contractors.

Musings on the Female Species


I had an A.P. English teacher in high school (thanks Ted) who spent much time trying to explain to his students why much poetry and other literature is devoted to explaining the close ties of women and the natural world. I realize now that his hands were tied because he couldn't (wasn't allowed to) properly explain much of it. It wasn't until years later that I started to understand. Women's bodies are so much more intertwined with the natural world. It is all about the proper execution of things going into and/or out of their bodies. Male bodies are all about trying to remove the influence of the environment on their existence. Women's bodies are the exact opposite in that respect. They are reminded monthly of their role in the existence of the species. Food is taken into their bodies, while food is also drawn from their bodies in two different ways. They are the vessel that carries the most precious part of the human race...the future. Pregnancy does not end with the cutting of the umbilical cord. The mother's body is designed to be paired to the child for quite some time after birth. She is still carrying the child, just not internally anymore. As my wife and I come closer to the time when we want to start our family these thoughts begin to weigh more heavily upon me.

OK, it is official. Our government has gone completely bonkers. AT&T just bribed their way out of bankruptcy for $500k. They trampled the rights of US citizens by allowing the NSA to eavesdrop on their conversations and then the Bush administration declared the action a national secret after it was disclosed in multiple national newspapers including the USA Today and the NY Times.
AT&T should have been liable for an enormous sum of money from each offense, instead they buy their way out of trouble, admit no guilt, ride off into the sunset.




Edited (7-9-09) to remove dead link to news article.

OK, These are some of the best photos that I took on the hike a few weeks ago.

A couple of weeks ago I went hiking with Dana, Kodiak, Eric, and Mel. There were some really impressive flowers, fields, hills, trees, ticks (didn't know about them until later). I took quite a few shots and I really like them. 

Photo test

Apparently, the photo test didn’t work.

Im trying this blogging thing again

I’m trying this blogging thing again.  This time I’m doing it from with MS Word.

Today, I'm trying to do some laundary. I hope to finish in time to vacuum the floor. I can't vacuum until the laundary is done though.

My first blog post...