West Coast Vacation: Staging in Santa Monica

Our first few days were spent in Santa Monica, California, visiting with our daughter Sarah and getting ready for the road trip.

We flew to Santa Monica from Indy on Saturday morning.  It was a 7:15am flight, which meant getting up way early to do the hour drive to the airport.  This meant disturbing the routines of our two Boston Terriers, Beans and Sox. 

If you live with dogs, you know that they develop a sixth sense about your activities.  Beans, our older BT, gets nervous whenever we get out the suitcases.  She starts to shiver and will hardly get out from underfoot until we drive away.  Mary got smart this time and put both dogs in a back bedroom while she got the suitcases out and set them on our bed.  While Beans' radar was twitching while we packed, she didn't get alarmed like usual.  On Saturday morning, Mary took them into the back room while I loaded the suitcases into the car.  That diversion, along with a couple dog biscuits, allowed us to slip away without a lot of drama.  (Don't worry...we didn't leave them alone for two weeks!  Our other daughter, Katie, is house sitting.  She and fiancé Adam came out later in the morning.)

We were on the road by 4:30.  It was a dark drive to Indy, compounded by construction - concrete barriers crowding the shoulders, dim lines, lanes rerouted - and rain.  We white-knuckled it through to the airport.  Not a great start for a driving vacation.

Running the gauntlet through airport security is always a hassle.  Nine times out of ten, my bag gets pulled to the side and the TSA agents have to inspect it.  This morning, though, it was Mary's turn to win the lottery.  Her bag ended up in the bad suitcase lane, and a terse agent (remember -  it's 6:00am and his job is to rustle through peoples' personal belongings) asked permission to search it.  Mary said "Sure, go ahead.  I don't know what you're going to find, though."  As the agent opened her bag, she muttered "Oh, shit.  I forgot!" 

"Forgot what?", I asked.

"My shampoo and conditioner.  I forgot to put them in the bag we checked.  Damn it!"

At about that point, the TSA agent pulled three plastic bottles from her suitcase - shampoo, conditioner and eyeglass cleaner.  "Sorry, ma'am, these are larger than 3 ounces.  You can't take them on board."

Now I'm standing there thinking how much can this cost, five or six bucks?, when Mary says to the guy, "I hope you can take that stuff home to your wife.  It's fifty bucks worth of product!"  (This is why I don't enquire about what a trip to the stylist costs, nor am I ever told.)

"No, ma'am.  We can't keep it.  You can go back out to the lobby and check your bag, if you like."

Mary muttered something, and I stepped in.  "Just let it go", I said, and guided her to the end of the line and on towards our gate.

Thankfully, the flight was uneventful.  I took a nap while Mary read a magazine.  She doesn't sleep on a plane.  Her explanation:  "I can't sleep.  I have to be ready in case the pilot needs me to fly the plane." 

After a couple hours in the air, the pilot announced that we should look out the left side of the plane.  It was a beautiful clear morning and we were flying over the Grand Canyon.  We had a great view.

Sarah and Pearl, her French Bulldog, met us at LAX and drove us back to their apartment.  Along the way we passed what, to us, was a typical crazy California sight - a CVS drug store that had a two story high, three-dimensional figure of an evil looking cross-dressing clown on its façade.  I didn't get a picture because we were anxious to get to the apartment.  "We'll come back later for a photo", I said.  That statement became the basis for our first new rule of the vacation:  If you see something photo-worthy, take the picture now!  Don't plan on coming back to get it later.  You won't...especially if you have to contend with LA traffic.



 

Mary's brother, Eddie, drove up from Carlsbad and met us for brunch.  We don't get to see him very often, so it was a fun way to start our time in California.

 

We checked in at the AirBnB apartment mid afternoon.  It was in an apartment building in downtown Santa Monica, about 7 blocks from the beach.  Nothing special, in fact it was smaller and not as well equipped as the online description had led us to believe.  We quickly discovered that the internet and cable TV did not work.  Yep, we wanted to get away and disconnect.  Be careful what you ask for!

However, the temperature in Santa Monica was in the mid-90's, much higher than normal for them.  Many places, including Sarah's apartment, didn't have air conditioning.  We stocked up with wine and snacks from a nearby grocery store and happily spent the late afternoon and evening sitting and talking.  Yes...talking.  Remember that?

On Sunday I bought an LA Times and enjoyed sitting on the patiodrinking coffee and reading a real newspaper.  (The Columbus Gazette lasts me about 5 minutes on a typical Sunday!)  While I read the book review section, Mary read the real estate ads aloud:  So-and-so director's estate is up for sale for $55M.  Marginally known actress selling her big house for $12M.  She bought it 3 years ago for $9M.  Wish I could get that type of appreciation!

Later in the morning, we walked to the beach and along the walking / skating / biking path for a mile or so til we got to Sarah's side of town. 

 

There was a lot of activity on the beach that morning.  In addition to the joggers and bike riders, there were local surfing schools holding classes near the water's edge and some aerobics classes being held in the sand.  Of course, there was also beach volleyball.  We saw three teenagers doing acrobatics off the concrete curb.  They took turns running across the sidewalk, leaping up onto the curb and doing flips in the air.  Mary asked if they could do it together, and they obliged.

 

Away from the beach, we wandered through the local Farmer's Market.  It occupied almost a full city block and was open all day on Sunday - imagine that!  We sat on the sidewalk and ate delicious burritos stuffed with organic vegetables, rice and feta cheese while we listened to a quartet mangle some otherwise good songs.  You gotta take the good with the bad.

 

 

On Sunday evening, Sarah recommend that we have dinner at Seasons 52  ( https://www.seasons52.com/ ).  It was our first great meal of the trip.  Our waitress, Stacy, had a great sense of humor and was very knowledgeable about everything on the menu.

We began with appetizers.  We had an Ahi Tuna Tartare that was fabulous.  It was layered with wasabi-avocado mousse and a tropical salsa and was served with Hawaiian sea-salt crisps.  (I could have ordered a second one and stopped there.  OK...who am I kidding!) 

 

 

Along with it we had a flatbread with a trio of roasted mushrooms, garlic confit, spinach, green onions, goat cheese and truffle oil.  Also delicious.

 

 

As an entree, I had Asian-glazed Chilean Sea Bass with organic black rice, snow peas, shitake mushrooms and a micro wasabi.

 

 

Mary had a wood-grilled pork tenderloin with sweet potato mash, saute of bacon, French green beans and Brussels sprout leaves and a zesty jus.

 

Sarah had a filet, which looked delicious, but I didn't get a picture.

All of it accompanied by a chilled Viognier - a crisp white wine we've come to enjoy, but don't find on many menus.

On Monday we got serious about the rest of the trip.  Mary and I started by walking several miles to  to Sarah's place and back.  (We'd left something in her car the day before!)  We then had a nice al fresco breakfast at the Blue Daisy Café (http://www.bluedaisycafe.com/), a block from our rental.  Mary's was the best - a bagel with salmon, cream cheese, capers, onions, tomatoes and cucumbers.  I was tempted by big breakfast sandwiches and benedicts, but opted for some oatmeal with strawberries, bananas, honey and cinnamon.  (Something about the healthy southern California scene must be rubbing off.)

In the early afternoon we took an Uber to LAX and picked up our rental car.  A few minutes of stress as they had difficulty preparing the rental agreement to match the cost we had booked. 

Problem solved, we asked Siri to get us to In and Out Burger for a late lunch.  Mary had been on a previous trip and we said we'd go once on this trip.  We arrived at about 2pm to find the parking lot full and the drive thru backed up 10 cars deeps.  After circling the lot a couple times we found a spot and went inside.  There had to be 12 - 15 people working in the kitchen and front counter.  The place was running full bore and everyone working there was smiling!  (I'd like to know their secret...and share it with employees and servers everywhere!)  Our burgers came out hot and delicious.

On the way back to the apartment, we made a couple stops to pick up a cooler, some ice and a variety of supplies for the trip. 

We had one last dinner with Sarah on Monday night at a local tapas restaurant - Manchego (http://www.manchegosm.com/).  It was a warm night and the place was not air conditioned, but we had a great time trying a variety of the small plate dishes.  (It was also dark - no pictures.) 

We really enjoyed getting to spend some time with Sarah, to talk at length about her work in the law firm, and to see the area where she lives.  We'll have to make it back to Santa Monica again soon. 

We took an Uber back to the apartment and packed our bags, ready to set out on the road trip the next morning.

West Coast Vacation - The Big Build Up

Vacations are to working adults as Christmas is to small kids.  Sometimes it’s more about the anticipation than the event.  And the realization can be a letdown after the visualization.  Let’s hope not in this case.  We’ve certainly loaded this vacation with significance….

I haven’t taken a vacation all year.  I need to get away and unplug.

Mary has been stuck on the farm for three years without a lengthy trip away.  She really needs to get away and see something different.

We’ve started calling this vacation the “trip of a lifetime”.  Sounds like a setup for disappointment, doesn't it?

But we have as much fun, or more, planning trips as we do planning what we’d do with our lottery winnings.  This one got some extra attention.  The conversation went something like this: 

      “Let’s plan a driving trip up the west coast.” 

      "OK.  I think we can make it from LA to Vancouver in two weeks, don't you?" 

      “And let’s plan to stay in AirBnB’s all the way.  The quirkier the better!”

So that's what we're doing.  We started in Los Angeles and in two weeks will end in Vancouver.  We're going to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway in California and enjoy the scenery.  We're going to tour some wineries in Napa on bicycles.  We're going to visit Crater Lake in Oregon.  We're going to explore a bit of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver.  We’re going to stay in some city apartments (probably not that quirky), but also in some places with intriguing names, like “The Secret Garden” and “The Writer’s Retreat”.  Also in a BlueBird bus that’s been converted to overnight lodging in, where else, Portland. 

And of course we're going to eat some great food and drink some great wine.

We busted our asses getting ready to leave.  I've said before that I wish I could maintain the level of activity I achieve in the week before a vacation.  I'm like a mad man, crossing stuff off my “to-do” list every day.  I surprisingly become a much better delegator.  (My staff may wish I'd just stay home!) 

 

Mary had a poster-sized calendar with a list of 20 things that needed done every day of the two weeks before we left.  Most of it got done.  (The other dynamic of getting ready for vacations is that you become crystal clear about your priorities.  Some stuff on the to-do list get reprioritized to be done after the vacation, meaning it may never get done at all if you shred the list before you leave.)

I talked to my staff, peers, and boss:  “I’m going away for two weeks.  I’m not going to read email.  I’m not going to call you.  I trust that you will make good decisions while I’m gone, and I won’t second-guess you when I return.”  Everyone said some variation of “Wow, I wish I could do that!”

Let’s see how it goes. 

 

 

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Place holder page to put some more pictures of the farm house remodel.

The Farm House Remodel - Week 2

Let's see if we can catch up on the action.  Here's a week's worth of updates...


Day 5 - Monday, May 27, 2013

Monday was Memorial Day, which was not a work day for the crew, but was one for us.  More to do in advance of the demolition.  I picked up the river rocks that border all the flower and shrubbery beds around the house and hauled them to the back of the property.  I also spent time salvaging lumber from the demo pile, ending up with a good load in the back of the pickup.  No, it's not new wood.  Yes, it has a lot of nails sticking out of it that I'll have to pull out.  But when it's time to build a new shelf in the barn or another nest box in the hen house, it will be just fine.


Day 6 - Tuesday, May 28, 2013

On Tuesday, the crew started sometime after 1:00pm.  They built the temporary wall inside that will provide privacy and security for us when they remove the front of the house.  Everything beyond the wall will be gone.

Day 7 - Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Today the power was out from around 9:00am until 3:30 while the temporary service was installed.    We'll be living on 60amps for the next few months.  That's the temporary pole at the right edge of the photo below.

You can also see the other noticeable development - the windows were all removed.  Not as noticeable from outside was the removal of most of the ductwork - the furnace and central air are now out of commission.  

We had dinner tonight with a group at the Pine Room Tavern in Nashville, Indiana.  No cooking in the FEMA trailer today!  

When we got home, we discovered that the power to the window air conditioner in our bedroom was not working.  Something got disconnected during the demo today.  Luckily, an adjacent outlet is still live, so an extension cord is enough to keep us cool.  I'll report this to Greg, the contractor, tomorrow.  

Day 8 - Thursday, May 30, 2013

The good news:  The electrician was on site today and fixed the problem with the bedroom air conditioner.

The bad news:  He cut power to the barn.  Not a major problem, but one we'll have to get corrected later this week.

No picture tonight.  We took off early and went to Indianapolis to join our friends Ann and Alan at the Indiana Historical Society Concert on the Canal.  We enjoyed these open air concerts regularly when we lived in downtown Indy, and it was fun to go back again.  We sit on the grass bank across the canal from the stage and enjoy the show for free.  It was a beautiful evening -  perfect weather to sit outdoors, sip wine, enjoy a picnic dinner and listen to the Tad Robinson band play Motown hits.  If you're looking for a fun outing on a Thursday night, let us know - we're up to go again.  (I'm marking August 1 on the calendar.)

Day 9 - Friday, May 31, 2013

Nothing happened today - all activity was rained out.  We'll hope for more production next week.

The Farm House Remodel - Days 4 & 5

Day 4 - May 23, 2013

Today most of the crew did not work.  Mary worked with Jeff, the electrician, to get the FEMA trailer powered up.  By the end of the day, all the extension cords in the trailer were gone and an new 30 amp circuit was feeding power to the trailer.  This means we can use the toaster,  and the coffee pot at the same time, with lights, and might be able to cook a meal that doesn't involve a crock pot in the dark.

This will be our "summer kitchen" until the new kitchen is completed, sometime in the fall.


Day 5 - May 24, 2013

Today the tree guys came to cut down four large trees around the perimeter of the house.  We hated to see these trees removed - some of them were probably 50 to 60 years old.  But they had not been adequately maintained or ever trimmed.  There was no way to build the new floorplan with these trees in place.

They took out the two large trees to the left of the outhouse.  Better pictures will follow on a later day.

Today is our 37th wedding anniversary and we celebrated by leaving town for Bloomington.  We had a great dinner at Restaurant Tallent - one of our favorite places for special occaisions.  The chef agreed to do his five course tasting menu - normally only available on week nights - for us, because the restaurant was slow this Friday night.  It was one of the top 2 or 3 meals we've ever had!  A great way to end the week.

The Farm House Remodel - Days 2 & 3

Day 2 - May 21, 2013

If our neighbors had not already concluded that we were white trash by now, today's demolition might lead them to that conclusion.  The view when I got home from work today included a toilet in the front yard.

I haven't asked any questions, nor am I drawing conclusions, but the toilet was gone the next morning.  I had already sifted through the debris pile to the right and salvaged about $100 worth of 2 x 4's.  Hey, we're always building something on the farm.  Might as well reuse whatever we can.

Lots of activity indoors today.  Sheetrock from the interior walls and ceilings was torn out.

Ray the plumber did some rework on the septic and water lines to ensure that we still had service from the master suite.  (Thanks, Ray!)  

And after all the work was through, we sat on the back patio and enjoyed a cocktail, followed by a dinner from the crock pot.  It was a beautiful evening, and we expect to enjoy many more as the project continues.

Day 3 - May 22, 2013

Today we were surprised when the crew started cutting the house in two.  This happened earlier than we expected - probably something we'll need to get used to.  

Mary shot a video of a definitive moment.

Inside the house, the crew removed a section of floor across the width of the house - in line with the cuts in the walls - sort of a large perforation through the building.  We could begin to see where the house would come apart, but couldn't yet imagine how it would be done.

All of this work took a toll on the Boston Terriers.  After a full day of supervising the work from the back yard, barking at the contractors and generally missing their naps, they were exhausted!

Stay tuned.  More to follow.

The Farm House Remodel - Day 1

Monday, May 20, 2013

We had spent the weekend clearing out the front of the house - moving furniture back to our master suite, packing boxes of stuff to be stored in the garage, removing doors and wood trim that might be salvageable for later use.  By Sunday night we were as ready as we could be (and worn out!)  There were a couple big pieces of furniture left - a sofa and a dresser - but we figured the crew could work around them until we got them moved later in the week.

Here's the view from the outside at the end of Day #1.  I'll take a picture from the same spot every day.  From the outside, there's not much visible difference.  Everything happened indoors today.

The crew arrived at 10:30am on Monday morning.  This was later than we anticipated - we would have figured on 7am - so we'll have to understand their schedule and approach. This week and next are designated on the schedule as "demo" - as in "demolition" - so we expected sledge hammers to be flying.  They were, and the crew made short work of the interior of the house.

Everyone we've talked to about remodeling had war stories to tell about things they discovered once they started tearing out the old parts of their house.  Our experience was no different.  We had a couple of surprises in our first day.

Day 1 - No kitchen left!

Surprise #1 - The crew discovered that the original part of the house extended further back than we had thought.  In the photo above you can see an old window that was uncovered as the sheetrock was removed.  So the kitchen section probably dates to the 1930's, not the 1980's.  This may or may not prove to be a problem later.  

Day 1 - Kitchen and Dining Room are gone!

I don't have a good "before" picture of the rooms shown in the photos.  Trust me, though, they were not remarkable.

Surprise #2 - Within the first hour, another problem surfaced.  One crew member had started pulling up the floor in the current laundry room.  This is part of the middle of the house that will be gutted and reconfigured, so we were anticipating that there was a good foundation underneath.  The crew member reported that he found four different layers of floor in the laundry room - tile, linoleum, etc. - and that underneath all those layers the wood was rotten.

They stopped work in this room - not sure why, but we'll come back to it later.  I'm sure there are more surprises ahead.

Overall, we were impressed by the amount of progress made on this first day.  We're off to a good start!

Another Crazy Adventure - The Farm House Remodel - Part 1

I started this blog almost 9 years to the day ago - May 25, 2004.  If you look through the list of posts, one conclusion you could reach is that I have been neither prolific nor committed.  You'd be right about that.  Spoiler alert:  That's probably not going to change, despite my good intentions.

I reread the original post tonight and was surprised by how many other things have remained the same.  I still think I'm living the good life in paradise.  Mary still hasn't figured out she got the short end of the deal.  (Though it's been 37 years now, so it's possible she's figured it out and is simply not going to admit it.)  And we're still pursuing crazy adventures together.  Since I published that first post we've put our last kid through college, lived in at least three different homes, toured Europe and moved to a farm.

Which brings me to the latest adventure - the subject of this series of posts.  We moved to Second Act Farm in the spring of 2012.  The house was livable, but we knew it would require some major work.  I could see a major renovation in our future, but we agreed up front that we'd live in it for a year before we attempted any substantial changes.  We wanted to experience the place through four seasons and give some thought to what changes were really necessary.

That was a good plan for a reason we didn't anticipate up front - starting the farm would completely consume all of our spare time and energy.  Stripping wallpaper and picking paint colors never made it to the middle of the priority list, much less the top.  We had our hands full making all the mistakes that new farmers make.  (Some of those are documented at the farm blog, http://secondactfarm.blogspot.com/ .  Same spoiler alert - posts are few and far between.  See a pattern emerging?)

But over the winter we found some time and a good architect, Louis, who helped us refine our ideas into a buildable design.  The plan in a nutshell is this:  We would demolish the front third of the house (everything forward of the dashed line in the photo below).  It contains two small front rooms, and a half story above - ceiling is at 6' - 2".

In its place, we would have a new, larger two story addition, like shown in the architect's drawing below.  It will have a new living room and master suite downstairs and two guest rooms upstairs.  A wall of windows on the first floor will look out over the adjacent farm land, and a wraparound porch will give us extra space to entertain.

The middle third of the house will be gutted and reconfigured to contain a new kitchen, pantry and laundry room.  The rear of the house will remain unchanged.  It's currently the master suite - where we'll be living during the remodel - but in the future will become a combination office and exercise room.

Through the early spring, we talked to several local builders and negotiated price and specifications.  We ultimately selected Greg and his company to do the work.  

They started the demolition one week ago.  Two thirds of the house is now gutted.  There are large saw kerfs in the side walls that mark where the front of the house will be separated.  We're currently living in the master suite (along with half of our furniture) and using a borrowed FEMA trailer parked in the back yard as our kitchen and dining room.  (Yes, that's FEMA trailer, as in one of the thousands that was deployed in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.  But that's a story for another day.)

Lots of our friends and family members have asked us about the project, so we have decided to document our experiences here.  It's not likely we'll post every day, but we will document the entire project from now through completion - currently scheduled for the first week of October.  We hope you'll find it entertaining.  Mary and I went into this with an agreement that neither one of us would complain about the noise, dirt or general inconvenience involved in this project.  So far, we've held up our ends of the bargain, but there's a long, hot summer ahead.  We know that some of our friends have started a pool, betting on which one of us caves in first, and when.  You might want a piece of that action.  

Stay tuned.  Lots more to come!

Dad's new novel - "Sunrise in the Cloud Forest" - launches on August 19

Looking for a great, late summer read? How's this for a teaser:

Dr. Matthew X Landry, organizer and senior pastor of Mobile's Harmony Temple, wants nothing more than to make the Temple the largest Protestant church along the Gulf Coast, counting on the help of his wife and co-pastor, Georgia Landry . . . until that goal and his marriage are threatened by the public confession of a woman who claims to be the pastor's lover. While Private Investigator Lettie Fortenot labors to prove the pastor's innocence, a wounded Georgia Landry flees to Costa Rica in an attempt to carve out a new life for herself.

Is Dr. Matt guilty or innocent?

The couple's own sons, who are themselves conflicted in their religious loyalties, are not the only ones divided on this question. Exploring the depths of ambition, trust and forgiveness, the future of a family, as well as the future of a great church, is at stake in this compelling new novel by Bert Johnston.

I'll admit to a bit of bias here - Bert happens to be my father.  He is a retired Presbyterian minister living in Spanish Fort, Alabama, just east of Mobile.  

This is Bert's second novel.  He has been on an interesting journey for the past five or six years.  His first novel, "Parson Campbell's Breakthrough" was published in 2009, several years after he entered the "National Novel Writing Month" and wrote the first draft.  ("NaNoWriMo" is a worldwide event that encourages would-be authors to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  I've done it for a couple of years. Bert and I did it together one year.  He kicked my ass in word count.)

"Sunrise in the Cloud Forest" is available as a paperback or a Kindle book.  For a brief moment a few weeks ago, it was in the top 30 bestsellers on the Amazon.com UK site for Kindle books.  You can help influence its ranking in the US by buying your copy on the official launch day, tomorrow - August 19.  

More information about the author and sample chapters from "Sunrise" can be found on Bert's web site - www.bertjohnston.com .

Let me know what you think of the book.  I'll pass any comments along to Bert.

Successful surgery on the MacBook in 94 steps!

Two things I haven't done much of in the last few years are:

1. Publish anything on this blog.  The last post was in October, 2009.  (There was actually one in November, an embarrasing rant about reality TV - the only post I've ever deleted from the blog.)  Lots has happened since then, but most of it will have to wait for another post.
   
   
2. Repair a computer.  We haven't had a desktop computer in the house for at least 5 years, and my primary platforms have been a laptop issued by work and most recently, an iPad - neither of which I can tinker with.  

But today I spent about 3 hours doing a repair on Mary's MacBook.  Here's the story:

Mary has had her MacBook for about 5 years.  Several months ago the display started going black when she moved it.  In order to use the laptop, she would have to pivot the display slowly, sometimes getting it to 90 degrees, sometimes not.  After a couple of months, it got to the point where she could only raise the screen about 45 degrees.

I did some research on the Internet and found a description of a likely cause and a procedure for repairing it at ifixit.com.  The procedure had 47 steps, and that was just to get to the point where the old part was taken out.  You had to repeat the same steps, in reverse, to put the machine back together - a total of 94 steps.

It was rated "difficult" - not a surprise.

I passed on the chance to repair it myself.

Another month passed, and the problem got worse.  I called a repair shop in Indy and was told they would gladly diagnose the problem for $90 and then would give me a quote me on the repair.  It seemed silly to drive to Indy for the chance to pay several hundred dollars on a 5 year old computer.  I went to the Geek Squad counter at the local Best Buy, but was told their company policy prohibited them from opening the case on a Mac.

I went back to the ifixit site for another look.  The 47 steps didn't look so daunting this time.  Plus, the site suggested the tools I needed, including a coin which had a face value of 25 cents that they would sell me for $2.95.  There was a button to add all the tools to my cart.  Easy.

After a few minutes review, I figured "What the hell, how hard can it really be?" and sent in the order.  To their credit, they didn't add the coin to my cart.  With an online coupon code, I got the part and the necessary tools, including something called a "spudger" that I thought might be a British screwdriver...I was wrong, for $30.

I reserved a Saturday afternoon for the repair.  I printed out the 47 step procedure, cleared off a work space, readied the spudger and took a deep breath.

Over the years I've disassembled and updated a lot of Windows / Intel desktops.  I've added memory to a Dell laptop.  But I've never cracked a Macanything.  The ifixit instructions proved invaluable.  It took about an hour and 45 minutes to go through the 47 steps, with only a few minutes set aside for head scratching.



The thing that amazed me the most was the tiny size of most of the hardware components.  To keep things orderly, I took the screws from each step and taped them to a piece of paper.  These were some of the tiniest screws I've ever seen.  Here they are, next to my 25 cent tool.
















Not surprising - the interior of the MacBook is tight and tidy.  There were some of the smallest connectors I've ever seen.  I needed a magnifying glass to see some of them.

I got a kick out of seeing the speakers...smaller than my 25 cent tool!

After an hour and 45 minutes, I had done all the disassembly and had installed the replacement part - a 3 inch long cable.

Working backwards through the 47 steps took another 55 minutes.  Surprising that it went back together faster than it came apart.  When the case was all back together and the battery was reinstalled, we held our breath and pushed the power button.  

After a few seconds we heard the familiar sounds of the MacBook booting up.   A minute or so later, the desktop appeared.  I pivoted the display, hoping it wouldn't black out.  

It didn't. Success.  Woo hoo!  Probably should have cleaned the screen before we took the last photo, but who really cares if there are a few fingerprints?  

If you've got something at home that needs fixed, I highly recommend ifixit.com.  Their website is easy to use, they bundle the tools you need, and most importantly, they give you the step-by-step instructions.  Yes, this one probably was "difficult", but it worked!  Thanks, ifixit.com !

Hydrogen = Teachers...Wow!

My younger brother, Bobby, works for Gensler, the multi-national architecture and design firm. Bobby has an interesting job with interesting clients...and he's really good at what he does. I heard today that he's in China, picking out tile and other components for one of his latest projects. I'm in Amsterdam, finishing a week of work on my current project. Our younger brother, Thom, has an ongoing gig in Korea, so the Johnston boys have clearly gone global.

What got me started on this riff was an item I saw tonight at fastcompany.com. Some Gensler folks have proposed an innovative project in Chicago - converting an abandoned rail line into a greenhouse to grow food for local consumption and also including a "hydrogen generator" that would split water into oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen could be sold for use by alternative fuel vehicles, with the profits being funneled back into the Chicago school system to pay teacher salaries.

Hydrogen = Teachers.

It seems inadequate to call this "out of the box thinking". Sure, it's a design concept, and some of the infrastructure doesn't yet exist. But it represents an approach to problem solving that is clearly not encumbered by the traditional.

I've spent much of today talking with my project team about how we approach our work with new eyes - challenging assumptions and looking for the breakthrough ideas that get us to our goal faster, better, and smarter.

Hydrogen = Teachers.

What's our equation?

One More Airline Horror Story - This Time About Delta Airlines

About six months ago, Mary and I decided to take a vacation over the Labor Day week. We had an invitation from Mary's brother, Eddie, to join him, his wife Susan, and some friends at a house on the Jersey shore. We've never been to the Jersey shore, and we haven't had any real contact with Eddie and Susan over the years. It seemed like a great opportunity. We said "Yes!".

We thought we'd be smart and plan ahead, so we got online and booked two tickets with Northwest Airlines. At the time we did it (March, 2009), we were shopping for convenient flight times and low cost - no different from any of the millions of people who buy airline tickets every year. We found what we thought was a good deal, and were even able to cash in part of a flight we had to cancel last year. We carefully looked at each leg of the flight and selected seats side-by-side. We coordinated with Eddie to arrive in Philadelphia at about the same time, so we could share a rental car. It was all coming together nicely.

We made a mistake, though. I imagine it was a mistake that most of the other millions of ticket buyers make.

We didn't read the fine print.

I don't even recall seeing the fine print - the "rules" associated with the tickets. It was probably displayed - we were booking through Northwest Airlines web site, nwa.com - and they probably gave us the option to review it all. And I probably didn't review it. Tell the truth, now. How many times have you read all the fine print on a web site when you're conducting a routine transaction? You don't , do you? You hit "Accept" and move on.

You probably think that when you select a seat on an airplane, it's yours. It's not. You probably think that if you and your wife select seats side-by-side, that you'll actually get to sit together. You're wrong. You probably think that if you pay what the airline asks for the seat, that there will be some integrity in your reservation, even if the airline merges with another. Ha Ha HA! Foolish mortal!

I bought the seats from Nortwest Airlines six months ago. Paid for them. Selected the adjacent seats. Since then, I have received multiple emails from Northwest advising me of changes in the reservation. Most were innocuous, even inscrutable. There was an initial change in arrival time - getting in an hour later than we originally planned. (Sorry, Eddie, you'll have to wait an extra hour for us.) The others didn't appear to change much. Last night (Thursday evening before Labor Day), we looked at the reservations online (at nwa.com). We were still together on the same flights, still in the same seats. Our departure on Saturday was confirmed, according to Northwest.

Tonight (Friday), we checked in on line. The first sign that something had gone wrong was when we had to switch from nwa.com to delta.com to check in. I know the airlines combine flights - selling tickets on a delta flight, a northwest flight, and maybe somebody else's flight - each with different flight numbers, but all really being the same plane. We bought a ticket on Northwest. Delta would deliver. OK. They bought Northwest...or Northwest bought them. I don't care too much...just get me to my destination, safely.

After a couple of false starts, I got us checked in. Then I printed the boarding passes. I though we were all set.

But, wait a minute...the seats are different. The seats we were assigned in the Northwest confirmation were not the same on our Delta boarding passes. We were sitting in different rows! WTF?!

So I called Northwest. I spoke to a customer support rep who told me, politely, that he couldn't see our seats on the Delta flight and that we'd have to contact Delta. Thanks a lot. I paid you for the tickets. Why should I expect customer support to be helpful?

So I called Delta. I spoke to Donald. He couldn't help me, either. The flight is full. You'll have to talk to the gate agent. There was nothing else he could do.

What?! So it's MY problem now? No way. I asked for a customer service number where I could lodge a complaint. He gave me one: 1-888-286-3163.

Guess what? That's a fax machine! I'll grant him this: Donald did a nice job of getting rid of me.

I searched for Delta customer support number on line. I found a number for Delta in Atlanta. The answering machine said that their office hours were 8-5 and I should call back. I found another listing for customer service - 1-800-221-1212. I called it and kept hitting "0" until I got a live human. I don't know where she was physically located, but her accent suggested somewhere in India. She was polite, and looked up my reservation, and politely told me that there was nothing she could do. She recommended that I talk to the gate agent.

Thanks, I said, but that's not an answer. Get me your supervisor. She put me on hold for an extended period...probably about 10 minutes. When she came back on, she told me that her supervisor could not help me, but that she'd talk to me anyway. Great. Put her on.

Debra, the supervisor, was from somewhere in North America. She, too, was polite, but reiterated that she couldn't fix the problem.

Why, I asked, would I get confirmation of adjacent seats from Northwest, but be seated in different rows by Delta? Debra calmly replied that when I agreed to purchase my tickets, I agreed to the airlines' conditions that I only had a seat, not a specific seat. There were no guarantees that I would have a specific seat. Its all spelled out in the agreement for your ticket - that pesky fine print!

Then why, I asked, did the airlines perpetuate the charade of allowing us to select seats on line? Why waste our time and the airlines' computer bandwidth? Good question, she replied. But she didn't have an answer. She repeated that should talk to the gate agent.

I'll admit that by now I was pissed. No thanks, I said. Here's what I want: I want you, Debra, as a customer care manager with Delta Airlines, to notify your people in Indianapolis and have them sort it out, so that when I arrive at the airport tomorrow afternoon, they say, "Hi, Mike. We understand there was a problem with your seats. We've fixed it for you." That, I said, would be real customer service.

To her credit, Debra didn't laugh. Instead, she told me that she could document my request, but there was no guarantee that the people in Indianapolis would read it.

What? You mean that Delta Airlines goes to the trouble and expense of maintaining a 24x7 Customer Support line, but that the rest of the organization will likely ignore what customers say?

Oh, no, said Debra. They'll pay attention if I call to request a wheel chair or some other special assistance. But a complaint about how Northwest / Delta mangled my reservation? Sorry, they probably won't read that.

Whether I ever buy another ticket on Delta or Northwest again will have absolutely no impact on the financial performance of either/both/the combined airline. I know that, and so does Delta / Northwest. But maybe the one or two people who read this blog will tell a couple of their friends, and they'll share the link with others. Maybe our combined voices demanding better service will influence how Delta / Northwest handle their seat assignments.

Maybe sooner or later, somebody at Delta who is empowered to actually solve a customer problem will give me a call and offer a solution.

Maybe I'll pick up the phone.

Saturday at the Races

Indianapolis is known in some circles as "The Racing Capital of the World", with most of that motorized activity taking place a few miles from where we live. This weekend, though, we got a close-up look at a different type of racing just a few blocks from home. The 2009 "Mass Ave Criterium" took place on a 2/3 mile triangle of city streets just a few blocks from our condo.

According to Nuvo Newsweekly, criteriums are the most common type of bicycle races held in the US. They are road races, typically run on city streets that are closed to other traffic. The race format is simple - each race runs for a set period of time (at Mass Ave it was 35 to 60 minutes) followed by 2 or 3 additional laps. During each race, extra prizes called primes (pronounced "preems"), usually cash, are given to the winners of specific laps. Speeds on the course may average 25 - 30mph during the race, with sprints of 45+ mph to the finish line.


This is the 2nd year that the criterium has been run on Massachusetts Avenue. Mass Ave is lined with shops and restaurants. It's a popular destination downtown, and makes a great venue for the Criterium.

The start / finish line was at 435 Mass Ave, just outside the Three Dog Bakery, one of Beans' favorite haunts.














The racers proceeded southwest on Mass Ave, then turned left on Vermont St., right in front of the Old Point Tavern and Julian Opie's animated LED artwork "Ann Dancing".










(I always get a kick out of watching Ann dance. You can see a video taken during the winter of 2008 when she was first installed.)

The route continued east on Vermont, past St. Mary's church. Riders then turned north on East St. and finally turned back onto Mass Ave.












Some spectators enjoyed the view from a safe distance...
















...while some of us wanted a close-up view of the action.















Many of the participants were highly-skilled athletes, but they made room for a few others, too. Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard, a former participant in the "Little 500" cycle races at Indiana University, led the parade lap for the final event, the men's professional race.









There was also a race for younger cyclists, many of whom demonstrated the same level of intensity as their older counterparts.












It was a beautiful Saturday in downtown Indianapolis, the racing capital of the world!

Squatting in Newark

At about 7:45am EDT this morning, I boarded a plane in Amsterdam - yes, that Amsterdam - in Holland, or "The Netherlands". (There is a distinction between the two, according to people who live there. ) I had been in Holland for a week on business, with a day trip into Belgium. It's the first trip of many over the next year. I'm leading a business process transformation project for our company, and our first pilot locations will be in Holland, Belgium, Norway and Sweden. It's a big project, with high visibility - good if we're successful, not so good if we're not. My motto for the team is simple: "we have no option to fail".

I enjoyed my stay in Holland. Our office is in Dordrecht, one of the oldest cities in Holland. It is an island - surrounded by the inland waterway. It was good to get acquainted with the local team, to see their facilities, and even to meet some customers. The next year will be challenging, but everyone I've met so far is enthusiastic and ready to get going.

That was the good part...and it extended through the trip back to the US. I had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel this morning, did a few emails, and caught a cab to the train station. The trip from Dordrecht to the Amsterdam Schipol airport took about an hour, giving me plenty of time to read the International Herald Tribune - almost the first news I'd seen all week.

The flight left Amsterdam a few minutes late, but we had smooth flying throughout the day. Once on board, I set my watch to Eastern time - 6 hours earlier - and effectively started my day over. The 8 hour flight gave me time to get a lot of work done and still have time to finish a novel on the Kindle. The flight was smooth and the food was edible - thanks, Continental!

Things started to change, though, when I got back to the states. Due to bad weather, we were put in a holding pattern over Albany, New York, waiting for the Newark airport to open up. We landed an hour late. I took my time going through Customs, knowing I had at least 3 hours before my flight back to Indianapolis. But when I checked the "Departure" boards, my flight wasn't listed. That's always a sign of bad things to come.

The bottom line: the last leg of my trip is delayed at least 2 hours, so instead of getting home at 10:30 tonight, it will be after midnight. Mary and Beans will be asleep. For now, I'm sitting on the floor in the Newark airport, tethered to a power outlet that's charging the laptop and the Kindle. I'm surrounded by fellow travelers, all trying to sort out their plans. One couple is stretched out on the floor across the aisle, asleep. Others are in various states of repose, resting on backpacks. For the moment, no one seems too stressed. Let's hope it stays that way. It could be a long night.

Ain't travel fun?

Playing for Change

This afternoon I stumbled on some of the most fascinating and moving music videos I've ever seen - products of a project called Playing for Change. The videos were created by a recording engineer named Mark Johnson. Over a four year period, Johnson traveled around the world filming and recording dozens of local musicians performing the same songs. He then edited the performances together, creating a series of "songs around the world" - virtual group performances that are compelling to watch and wonderful to listen to.

Johnson talks about the project in this video clip that also features snippets from the videos of "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "War/No More Trouble" and "One Love".




Several of the songs have been released as individual videos on YouTube, Vimeo and the Playing for Change web site. (I've linked to the YouTube versions because they seemed to play smoother - with less delay.) Two of my favorites are embedded below. "Stand By Me" begins with film of Roger Ridley, a street performer in Santa Monica, California who was the original inspiration for the project.



The performance of Bob Marley's "War/No More Trouble" weaves together voices and images from Africa, Ireland, Israel, India and the United States.



As a technical feat alone, these videos would be tremendously impressive. As a vehicle for illustrating the unifying power of music in a divided world, they are tremendously powerful.

Watch, listen. Visit Playing for Change on the web at http://www.playingforchange.com/ .

The "Staycation" - Part 7 - Wrapping Up

We've had a great time on the "staycation", but, sadly, all good things must come to an end. Here's a quick recap of the last few days.

Thursday - no planned activities. One of the best parts of a staycation is the ability to decide to do nothing special. Its tough to do that when you're away from home and paying for hotels, rental cars and meals out. We took Thursday as a day to run errands and stock up the pantry.

Our one nod to exploring Indy on Thursday was lunch at Roscoe's Tacos in Greenwood. We had seen an article in the Indianapolis Star about several good places to eat in Greenwood. Roscoe's was one of the places. It was plain and simple, low priced, and good. Mary tried their soft tacos - one chicken and one ground beef. I tried the "Son of Sampler" - three corn tacos (one ground beef, one shredded beef, one chicken) and a side (I had black beans and rice). We were surprised that the ground beef tacos were the best of the bunch. There were seats for about 20 people, and all were full - even at 1pm on Thursday. Maybe the newspaper article helped, maybe they are always this busy. Lunch was about $15.

On Thursday evening we met our neighbors Ann and Alan for hors d'oeuvres and wine on the roof. We had a delightful, relaxing evening - swapping stories and watching the sunset over the skyline. Our neighbor Richard joined us on the roof midway through the evening. Richard works in state government and always has a good story or two to share.

Friday - A light day in the city. We had lunch at King David Dogs on Pennsylvania Ave.


This is "the" place to get a hot dog in Indianapolis. Like a lot of our staycation destinations, we had walked past King David's numerous times, but never during their business hours. (They're only open from 11-4, Monday through Friday.) On Friday as we walked to lunch, we encountered a steady stream of people carrying plastic cups with the King David logo. It seemed like everybody on Pennsylvania Ave. had been there for lunch.

King David Dogs is run by Brent Joseph. He's the grandson of William Hene, one of the founders of the Hene Meat Company, which developed the King David brand of meats, including all-beef hot dogs. They sold them through delis and grocery stores in Indy from the 1940's through the 1990's. Brent uses the family recipe and serves all his dogs on steamed poppy seed buns.

It's a small place inside - maybe 10 or 12 tables, and at 1pm on Friday it was packed.

Mary ordered a chili dog (chili with beans, brown mustard, cheese and onions). I got the "Chicago Dog" (onions, tomato wedges, neon green relish, yellow mustard, sport peppers, a dill pickle spear and a dash of celery salt). We both also got tater tots. (Where else can you get tater tots?) We enjoyed every bite!

While we ate, we compared notes on lunch spots with the man sitting next to us. He told us he worked at the NCAA headquarters and had tried practically every lunch place downtown. His recommendations:

• The Workingman's Friend (also recommended by our neighbor, Alan)
  
• The Tip Top Tavern
• John's Hot Stew
• The Ice House

While we won't get to all of these this week, we've added them to our list for future outings.

Later on Friday afternoon, we went back to the Otte Golf Center for their "twilight" special - 18 holes for $10 (walking). We got there about 4:30 and had the course almost completely to ourselves until the very end. It was hot for the first 9 holes, but the evening turned very pleasant for the back 9. An added bonus - we were both hitting the ball well. The course is open until 10pm. We're planning to go back regularly throughout the summer for more twilight golf.

Saturday - We hadn't planned any activities for SaVturday, but the staycation spirit stayed with us, anyway. The big event downtown on Saturday was the Indy 500 Festival Parade. It started at noon, just a couple blocks from our condo. People were walking past in groups by 10am. We had attended the parade for the past two years and decided to skip this one. We decided to drive south, away from the crowds downtown, to run some errands and try someplace new for lunch. I checked the "Dining Out" listings in the Indianapolis Monthly and got the address for the Ice House Restaurant on S. West St. It was a warm day and we figured the a place called "Ice House"would be a comfortable spot.

The Ice House was described as an "after work hangout for generations of clock-punchers". It is located in an industrial area a couple miles south of downtown, with a freight yard behind it. It looked like the kind of place where a man (or woman) with a powerful thirst might be found after the quitting time whistle blew.

On Saturday afternoon, however, we had the place almost to ourselves. A couple of tables were occupied by groups of men in town for the race.

The place had a well worn, comfortable feel to it. At one end of the long bar was a jukebox, a couple of video games, and a cigarette machine. How long has it been since you've seen one of those?

The menu was on the table as a laminated place mat. It didn't take us long to make up our minds. Mary got a club sandwich. I went for the tenderloin - another recommendation I'd picked up somewhere.




Portions for both sandwiches are best described as "ample". In the finest Indiana tradition, the tenderloin nearly covered the entire plate!

While we enjoyed the sandwiches, Mary flipped through the Indianapolis Monthly City Guide. She found a short note about Garfield Park, the oldest city park in Indy. What got our attention was the fact that the park has a "formal garden like something you'd see at Versailles". We were intrigued...even more so because I remembered seeing signs for Garfield Park on our way to the Ice House.

The waitress confirmed that the park was nearby, so we headed that way after lunch. We drove into the park past the public swimming pool and several large groups having picnics. I was about to conclude that we'd been led astray, when I saw a sign for the Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens.

Sure enough, it was a large formal garden, laid out in a very symmetric fashion. We can't compare to Versaille, since we haven't been there, yet, but it was a surprising find in the middle of an urban park.


Adjacent to the garden is the conservatory - a 10,000 square foot green house.

We wandered through the garden, out a back gate and through a portion of the larger (136 acre) park. The grounds were neat and well maintained. We saw the MacAllister Performing Arts Center - an outdoor ampitheater that feature pops concerts on Thursday nights and "movies in the park", all summer long. We also saw the Garfield Park Arts Center that offers a wide variety of programs in the visual and performing arts to the broader community.

Looking back, this was possibly the best way to end the staycation. We've had a week of fun, at very low cost, that did not require the expense and stress of traveling. And best of all, we discovered several new places that hold lots of promise for future activities, right here at home. We'll still travel, of course, but we'll do so with a much better appreciation for all that we have in our back yard.