A thousand words are worth a picture

Ah another slow day at work means another day finding cool technology stuff online.

Thanks to Wordle I was able to analyze all of this year's posts on the blog and find the 100 most commonly used words I have used in posts. Not only does it create a New Year's resolution to limit the use of the words 'just', 'really', and 'little' - it also summarizes an interesting year.

What did you do on your Xmas Vacation?

I organized my life.

After being away for six months, I had a lot of crap to go through. Although I did not have an incredible urge to repaint the entire house like when we returned from France, I did have an awful lot of stuff end up in the basement. I'm not sure if it was because Patrick had moved everything from the messy side of the basement to the only clean room in the house (on the other side of the basement) or what - but I had to organize.

This picture is just one output from that process - the gallon jar that most households throw all their loose nails, screws, and washers in. I instead had the idea of actually organizing them - I know, Martha would be proud. I think the weirdest thing is that now boxes 1-50 are now on my iTouch - so in the event of a last minute trip to Lowe's and us wondering if we have a certain screw - the answer is just a flip and pinch away.

Ain't she fun

Although I will probably get grief for this post, I'm hoping I do this out of order, and she won't see it.

Yes, that's my mother. No she was not on too much vicodin - just filled with the Holiday spirit. No, this was not her usual response to having a basket on her head, I think she was surprised that I had my camera so handy. Thank you, Sony.

Xmas at the Smith's

 

Ah, aren't they all cute - pictured are my niece Kelly, nephew Andy, and his new wife Jessie. Although I suspect the smile from Kelly was probably due to her upcoming trip to Maine to see the love of her life, it was still a lovely Xmas. Until of course we realized that we had dogs at home that were probably screaming to be walked and had to run out the door.

Panatone French Toast

 

Family tradition has it that Xmas Eve is at Wade and Patrick's with all the Smith's. It's actually pretty low key relatively speaking - and it's nice to see everyone hang out for a couple of hours. Nothing special with the food - just the usual sandwiches, cheese, desserts, etc.

While at the bread store I did pick up a boule? of pannetone - think a sweet bread with bits of fruit things in it. It's an Italian thing. Since we had some left over, I took it over to Mom and Dad's for french toast, which was really quite good.

Ryan's Present

 

Always trying to think of new and fun Xmas presents for the nieces and nephews, Patrick (unknowlingly) gave me this idea for Ryan - go build your own remote control car at Ridemakerz at Castleton.

The big thing for me was the fact that you actually got me to go to a mall during the holiday season (Wade Xmas shopping is about 97% online), but we went during the week before Xmas and it wasn't too bad - thanks George.

So once you pick out your car body, you can customize all sorts of things (e.g. tires, rims, decals, etc.). And then once that's done you register your car online. Honestly, quite a bit of fun.

Xmas in Bradford

 

Back to Bradford for the first time in a long time for Xmas.

As usual we brought the dogs along (Obie and Winston), since this is their one of the few times out of the year that they get to go crazy outside. Considering there were tons of strange young kids running around, they did really well coping.

Always fun to be out in Bradford, and we're not there nearly enough - although I'm not a fan of all the snow. And the new kitchen looks fantastic.

New Puppy

 

OK, not ours - but Tim and Andrea's new Vizla - otherwise known as an Egyptian hunting dog. Cute little thing, ain't he?

Of course, Patrick and I don't think they are prepared for the pains of puppyhood (heck, we're not ready for ours) - but it's better to learn that with a puppy who grows out of it quicker than an actual human one.

Bazbeaux Pizza Night at Mom and Dad's

 

Since all of you have recently gone through the annual holiday experience, you can appreciate how hard it is to get the whole family under one roof. I'm not complaining (OK, maybe a little), but finding a date to do a pizza night with my parents, my siblings, and all their children is a very long email thread.

Fortunately we were able to find a date before the holiday really took off. Nothing much of note to report. My brother Tim has again confirmed that he is burning in hell by again hiding Baby Jesus from the Nativity scene (the shadow box frame was a great idea). My mother continued to be a food pusher like any good Jewish/Italian grandmother. And we all made fun of niece Kelly for counting down the days until she is reunited with her beau in Maine

Puppies !!!

 

Yep - they're here !!!

Venus gave birth to 7 . . . no wait . . . 8, 8 little wet ratlike things - I mean puppies. They're really cute now and make really cute sounds, but they were a bit ugly at the beginning.

So starting at the beginning . . . from a previous post you'll know that Venus is a dog we're fostering from the Humane Society for Hamilton County. Venus' previous owners gave her up for adoption a few months ago, and a few week after she arrived, the staff saw that she was pregnant. Since there is 0 chance for her to get pregnant in a shelter, she was partially full with pups when she was released by her owner. Regardless, we've had Venus for two weeks now - thinking that she was going to blow as soon as we got her - but she took her time.

On Friday morning I got up to take a shower, and by the time I was done, Patrick had run into the bathroom to say that "puppies!" Despite our original plans for her to give birth in the extra bedroom, Venus had other plans and gave birth in our bedroom. By the time I got slightly dressed, she had given birth to one puppy and another was literally on its way. She had one pretty regularly every ten minutes and stopped at 7. In the middle of all this I called Andrea, and she came over.

It's a pretty painless process (well, painless for us) - Mommy does basically EVERYTHING. I mean she eats EVERYTHING, cleans up EVERYTHING - if you're getting my drift. I think she didn't stop licking until a week later.

So I went to work, and Patrick moved the new family into the extra bedroom. My sister came over to visit a couple of hours later and said, "Hey, can you guys count? There are 8 puppies here." Apparently one was a little bit slower than expected, and she was born in the other bedroom.

But they're all doing well - making those puppies sounds, nursing, etc. Mom is a bit hormonal and let Winston and Obie know it in no uncertain terms. She basically runs outside to go to the bathroom and then straight back upstairs.

Venus

On the ever increasing road to 'Crazy Dog People', Patrick and I are fostering a pregnant American Pit Bull Terriet, named Venus.

Her previous owners had turned her into the Humane Society (for Hamilton County), and it was after a month or so the staff realized that she was indeed pregnant. Knowing that giving birth in a shelter is perhaps not the smartest, safest, or easiest process for mother or pups, our friend Rebecca asked if we could help out. So after a few tussles with pecking order with Obie and Winston (Obie is still Omega dog - shock, Winston still doesn't care as long as he's fed regularly), the family has settled in nicely and await puppies.

A little OCD before the Holidays

Nothing quite says "Holy Crap" more than to come home from Ireland and find the one room of the house you thought was organized (east side of the basement) a complete disaster. Granted it wasn't anyone's fault (we had to move out the other side of the basement, which was a disaster for the new furnace). But it was definitely the motivator to organize ALL the boxes in the house from top to bottom - Martha would be so proud.

To give you an idea of how insane it was, at one point I collect ALL the nails, screws, small metals tools, etc that had been collected in various jars and drawers throughout the house, and organized them in a small drawer filing system. The pictures of each drawer are now sitting on my iPod touch, so the next time we're at Lowe's and about to buy another small bags of screws, I can prove where and how many we actually have.

It doesn't end there - all the books in the house have had their barcodes scanned and entered into the MacBook. Every rubbermaid huge plastic container has been indexed and contents photographed. I think it's make anyone with OCD a little weepy.

Thanksgiving

That time of year again to kick of the holiday season - which means Thanksgiving.

I think we have the holiday down to a science now, where we have it at my sister's house, and then head over to Patrick's sister's later in the night. Besides the usual stuff, I did make this simple pureed broccoli dish with mint leaves (had to do something to get rid of them). Other than that it was a pretty mellow day . . . thankfully.

Wine Tasting in Southern Indiana

I realize that wine tasting and Southern Indiana is a bit of an oxymoron, but hey, any excuse to drink and spend time with friends.

Patrick and I headed down to Nashville, Indiana with the Hagans, Webers, and Whittakers. The premise was to do the wine tasting thing, but after the third stop, we were over it. The wines themselves weren't that bad, what was funny was what they were trying to sell them for. At one place, they were trying to sell a red for 65 smacks - and this is a wine that they don't even buy the grapes for, they supposedly just ferment.

The best part was hanging out in the cabin and drinking to excess. Food wasn't too bad either - first night was Fondue, second was baeckhoffe. It's a 'do again next year'.

French Dinner

Yep, the french were back in town for work - which means dinner at the Smith abode. Bonus points this time around, since Patrick Emanuel's wife, Virginie, was in town to visit as well.

Dinner menu was the usual:

Soup: Pumpkin (was going to serve it in a pumpkin, but it was losing structural integrity)
Appetizer: Poached egg (the real way) with wild mushrooms and toasted cumin
Main: Grilled Aged Ribeye
Cheese and Salad: Mostly from Capriole
Dessert: Standard Chocolate Coulant (too easy not to make)

And in case you don't recognize everyone . . . (seated from the left) Laurence Galocha, Theresa Weber, Patrick, Virginie Emanuel (standing from the left) Jim Weber, Philippe Duhau, Yours Truly, and Patrick Emanuel

Cider

Cider is done.

Frequent readers of the blog will remember that back in October, the gang all made some pressed cider and started fermenting it. Right before I returned to Ireland I bottled it up, and now it's all done for drinking.

Actually it's not too bad - a bit on the dry side. So I think next year we won't use the champagne yeast and find the proper apple cider yeast. The nice bit is that if I'm in the mood for a little carbonation, but not wanting the Sahara dry feeling of the cider - a little Cassis sweetens it up nicely.

New Heater

I know, not the best picture of a heater - but let's be honest, once you've seen one heater, you've seen them all. So I thought I'd throw in a picture of Patrick sitting on top of the heater vent.

The old heater needed to be replaced - quite frankly, I was surprised it last a month after I first bought the house and that was almost 10 years ago. And as far as efficiency? Basically the HVAC guys wouldn't even hazard a a guess on how bad the old furnace was - general thoughts were less than 30%. Now we just need a new redone kitchen and bathroom, and then this place is ready to be put on the market. Well, a little recovery of the real estate market wouldn't hurt either.

What did I miss most about the US?

Dude, it's the library.

Granted living in Ireland had the advantage of being able to find english books easily, I didn't make it to Kinsale's library. In fact, I wonder if they had one. Regardless, getting back to Indianapolis and being able to check out any book you want to free online just makes you wonder how Amazon has become so successful. The only issue now is that my online waiting list is a little out of control.

Notes from the past

Amazing what you can find when you're cleaning your entire house from top to bottom. After going through piles of crap in the basement (which deserves its own post someday), I found this travel itinerary from my grandmother's trip to Europe 40 years ago - complete with her own notes.

She apparently landed in Paris (I wonder if the airport was that horrible back then too), and then she immediately headed for of all places . . . ALSACE. Kind of weird to learn that your grandmother visited the same places back in the early 1970's that you lived. She went to the same restaurant that Patrick and I went to on our last day in France, the Crocodile - she had rack of lamb. She went down the wine route and found Riquewihr charming - shocking. And she made some passing comments about the huge Cathedral - no surprises there. Best part was that she was totally dissing on the other people on the tour with her traveling companion - so catty, I loved it.

Yo something Taco Bell

The rumors are true.

Despite trying to be a foodie, I still have my weaknesses - namely, Taco Bell. So on the way from the airport back to the house, we did stop at the Mecca of "All things Mexican food, but not really having anything to do with Mexican food at all". Had the typical grilled stuffed burrito without the meat product.

Missed it by one flight

The new "international" airport in Indianapolis opened up the day I arrived back from Ireland. Unfortunately, I ended up not landing there by one flight - we were actually the last flight to land in the Indianapolis airport - I guess that's probably pretty cool too.

My only dream now is for our airport to actually have a direct flight to some European city, so I won't have to keep on going up to Chicago to get anywhere.

Packing

Time to pack up to go home for good. I couldn't remember the exact size of our air shipment, but I didn't think we were in too much danger of going over. We only used one container coming over, and we really buy that much additional stuff to take back home.

Kind of amazing that you can go live someplace for six months with about 10% of your stuff and still be perfectly happy.

Paddy loses the bet

Remember back in mid to late September when Sarah Palin was just announced as McCain's running mate, and Obama had dropped even with McCain in the polls? Democrats started to panic, 3 of the 7 signs of the Apocalypse had been seen, etc? Well, during this temporary moment of pandamonium, Paddy bet me at lunch that the Republicans would win.

Of course, I took that bet - and the wager was dinner at Ivory Tower for the winner. Since it's not in my nature to rub it in to anyone that I won and someone else lost, we decided that Paddy could just take Jamie and I out to Kirby's pizza one last time instead. Unfortunately, Mr. Kirby was actually adopting a child or something in South Africa, so we had to settle for the White Lady instead.

Nice time had by all.

Daily Commute

As we approach the American holiday of Thanksgiving, I thought it appropriate to take a moment to be thankful for those things in life we sometimes don't fully appreciate. Granted I may find Kinsale's lack of a movie theatre a bit annoying or the fact that potatoes are as common at meals (including breakfast) as salt and pepper, but I can't complain about the view from the balcony or (as you can see now) the commute to work.

Seriously, I'm looking at a stint in Mexico City for 6 months, so a 7 minute commute to work with no stoplights in Ireland is something that I need to appreciate now - because it ain't ever gonna happen in my lifetime.

Wales

Not sure how I can make this entry without doing justice to 25+ years of work by a distant cousin while not boring friends to death, so if you're not into the genealogy thing, you might wanna skip these posts. If you've ever done a little research on your own or ever wonder who your great grandfather was – keep reading.

I've had a couple of posts on my genealogy research – to recap . . . we learned that Patrick's 6th great grandfather probably knew my 7th great grandfather, since they lived in the same small Massachusetts town of 100 people 300 years ago. And the family story that my great grandfather was actually an orphan was proven false, but this genealogy on my mother's side has to take the cake.

Here's the cliff notes version up until this point . . . after a bit of research (OK, a lot of research), I found one of my cousins, who also had the genealogy bug. He is technically my 4th cousin twice removed, which means that my 5th great grandmother, Jane Watkins, was his 3rd great grandmother. I'll spare the details on how we found each other, but the short answer is: The Internet - thanks Al Gore.

This breakthrough is kind of important, because up until this point the only thing I knew about my Mom's Welsh ancestors was that they were sheep farmers (not a rare occurrence in northern Wales), they left from Cardiganshire (not true), and they liked to read a lot (again, helpful if you're a librarian, not if you're actually trying to locate one person in a country of 5 million).

So after a couple of emails, I got in touch with Roy Watkins, who is basically every family's dream if you're trying to find out something about your distant ancestors. And it wasn't too much later that I invited myself over to Wales to see all that can be seen (I had to get back to Ireland somehow). Roy has spent the last 25 years researching the Watkins family line, and it really hasn't been easy at all.

Fortunately, it seems that for every stroke of bad luck (baptismal records for key family members no longer exist), fortune smiled on him with a little good luck (original marriage and legal documents from 300 years ago crossed his path all because he left his coat at an Archive and had to go back for it – more about those later).

So we pick up the story where my 3rd great grandfather left Wales for the New World around 1840's . . .

Wales: Hotel

Kind of quaint, huh.

Fortunately, the place I was going to in Wales was in its off season for tourists. Which meant great scenery, nice country hotel, cheap price. Ended up staying at Dolserau Hall, which I'd recommend to others. They do a nice breakfast, the place is totally secluded, but close to everything, and they even have a complimentary bottle of Sherry in the room, for a little drink at night.

Wales: Getting There

I know that I said I would never fly Ryanair again, but I've come to peace with them - basically you don't want to do anything more than a one stop flight. If (and they do) end up running late, then you're basically screwed - and all the savings you made on the ticket is wasted.

But backing up a bit - I left Indianapolis around 3PM Eastern Standard time, fly to Chicago, fly to Dublin, fly to Cork, and after a quick nap (thanks again Donal and Ellen for picking me up), I flew Ryanair to Liverpool.

By this time I had been traveling for about 30 hours, so I decided to spend the night in Liverpool before doing the 2 hour drive down to Dolgellau, Wales. Good thing I did, because like Ireland - Wales doesn't have a straight road in the entire country.

Wales: Pantgwyn

So this is basically Ground Zero as far as the Watkins family is concerned.

The homestead is called Pantgwyn, and this is where Gaynor Watkin married her husband Ellis ap Rhys on June 10, 1613. How do we know that? It's all in the original marriage contract that Roy has. Since the naming traditions in Wales are different than England, the family name would have switched to Gaynor's last name because she brought the land to the family. Ha, the feminists in the family are going to love that one.

Although the video doesn't do justice to the area, it's a pretty cool site. It basically sits nestled in a slight depression on top of large hill. At the time, all that could be seen in the valley belonged to the Watkins. The really cool bit was that if you weren't looking for the house - you'd never find it - since it is completely hidden from view unless you're 100 feet away from it. Kind of handy when you consider at the time, Wales was not the most stable area at the time (see 'Cromwell').

The house is in ruins, but you can see where the family would have hung out - remember, no TV or Internet to keep you entertained. And yes, the place is still surrounded by sheep . . . and cows . . . which we successfully avoided, and we were not required to make an emergency hop over a barbed wire fence.

Of all the places we visited (and there were a lot), this was my most memorable.

Wales: Ty'n ddol isaf

Not to even think that I understand the Welsh language, this is Ty'n ddol isaf, which means 'lower meadow'. Makes sense, since Ty'n dool is just at the bottom of the hill from Pantgwyn. Both houses were occupied until the late 1700's, but Panygwyn eventually became a cow house. Ty'n ddol did end up being restored in the 1860's, so that Roy's Great Grandfather Griffith could move there after suffering from TB - he was living at another homestead called Hendre Bach.

The Watkins family would never lose either Ty'n ddol or Hendre Bach until 1937. Now Ty'n ddol has been purchased by an English couple, but I'm not sure what they are going to do with it.

Wales: Nanthir

This is the birthplace of Anne Morris Watkins (1787-1866), who was my fourth great grandmother. She eventually moved to Newark, Ohio to be with her three sons that were the first to move to the US; and she is buried in Newark.

As you can see this house is still being lived in today, but not by any relatives of the Morris family. The woman who was living there was extremely nice and kind of excited that I had come from the States to see where my relatives had come from. That is really a common theme in Wales, they are fascinated by the family connections.

This would have been the same architectural style as Llwynon, so you can see that many of these houses have definitely stood the test of time.

Wales: Llwynon

So I must admit my head was spinning a bit from all the houses and farms that we ran around to over two days, but a couple definitely stood out. All of these places were marked on my GPS, and they're on my new Watkins Google Map – but here are some of the highlights.

Llwynon, which (I think) means "Ash Grove", was the last homestead of my 3rd great grandfather, before he left for the New World. And it had been in the family since 1697 until recently - I saw the original vellum Deed that proves it.

Unfortunately, the current owners have left the house deteriorate even though it is on the National Register; but there's no telling what will end up with the house – it's hung around this long, and many of the houses in the area of the same age have been restored and are amazing buildings. The deterioration is also quite recent, in the last generationl since Roy remembers the house being in much better condition not too long ago.

Fortunately the partridge hunters in the immediate vicinity didn't shoot us either.

Wales: Hendre bach

Hendre bach was essentially the Watkins homestead for the early part of the 1800's. They started to refurbish Ty'n dool in the 1860's so Roy's Great Grandfather Griffith could be moved away from the dampness at Hendre bach. He would die at Ty'n ddol in 1871. Both Hendre bach and Ty'n ddol stayed in the family until 1937.

Wales: Plasau

This was interesting.

It's actually Plasau, which would have been the last place that Anne Morris Watkins would have lived in Wales before moving to Newark, Ohio - where she eventually died. It's definitely a newer house - in fact, it would have almost been new when she lived there.

Roy had actually never been there before, so it was new to him as well. When asking for directions, people were a little bit more suspicious - but once they figured out we were pretty harmless, it was fine.

Wales: Meurig ap Ynyr fychan

Sorry about the picture quality, but this is Meurig ap Ynyr fychan which is in a local Church, Saint Mary's of Dolgellau. You know you're lucky in genealogy when you can go back to someone relatively famous. Once you get back far enough and hit the right people, you benefit from some well-accepted pedigrees by some pretty famous genealogists long passed. And time check here - it looks like we're talking 14th century.

It's not like filling in the empty dates of ancestors is the end all be all of genealogy, Roy and I both agree that it's the mundane stories of how people lived that are sometimes the most fascinating, but getting back to the 14th century is pretty cool.

In this case, the Watkins are related to this guy by Catherine Anwyl, wife of Watkin Roberts. (His complete pedigree is in Griffiths' Peds of Anglesey & Carnarvonshire Families.) The other interesting thing (and you can't make it out in this picture) is that his shield is the same family crest/heraldry that was on Robert Watkins' legal documents.

Wales: The White Lion

This was probably the second coolest place that I went to, once I realized it's significance.

This is actually a Pub in Bala called the White Lion. Although relatively new as a hotel (1700's), it has been a pub FOREVER - and certainly as long as the Watkins were living in the area. Although towns apparently were not a big thing in Wales (they were more an English invention), they did have the central pub - and this was it.

Kind of interesting to realize after all the Pubs I've been in while living in Ireland, that this one was the place where my ancestors actually would have hung out and known.

Wales: Landor Chapel

Although the original Church that the family would have gone to was replaced by this one, here is basically Sunday Central for the Watkins for the better part of two centuries. In case you're wondering, it's in Llandor.

We know that our ancestor John Watkins was not baptized in this Church (more on that later), but it is where everyone would have gone.

Wales: Build a bridge, get to Heaven

This is the bridge that Robert Watkins (1734-1811) built. I know it doesn't look like much, but it can't be too bad if it's still around and they built it before diesel engines.

Apparently, multi-billion dollar road building projects were not commonplace in Wales around the 17th century - so people had to pole vault over rivers and streams in order to get somewhere - most notably Church. I think this would be fun for a 10 year old, but a 70 year old grandmother would be a bit challenged.

Therefore one of the guaranteed ways to get to heaven was to actually build a bridge.

Wales: Heraldry

You know, I've always wanted one of these – a heraldic symbol to call your own. Well, it's not all ours, it's been around for awhile – but it's still cool that the family has one. I'll spare you the genealogy research – it's all on geni.com – the cool thing is that my 5th great grandfather, Robert Watkins (1734-1811) left some legal documents around that are fascinating in their own right. It also turns out that there is an intact seal with the heraldry symbol.

I think it's also kind of cool that the symbol is so close to a stuffed animal that I had as a child (giving a shout out to Rocky).

Wales: The Documents

Not sure if this came through in all the posts, but I have to do a quick entry on the Watkins' documents. Not only did they prove to be almost the Rosetta Stone of figuring out so much about the family history, but they're just plain cool.

Something about seeing the marriage agreement between your ancestors from 400 years ago. And the idea that your ancestors signed those documents. I've put a lot of the documents out on Picasa, but I'll add more as they come up.

Wales: Roy and Eve

Also another quick note to say thank you to Roy, and his wife, Eve. Again, an amazing trip and opportunity to see all these sites, documents, and learn so much - and completely 110% not possible without the long and hard work that Roy has done over the years. I think the family can look back decades from now and know what really happened to the Watkins in Wales thanks to Roy.

What also probably hasn't come through the posts is that they are fascinating people in their own rights. We shared a lot in common - from living in France to not understanding George W. Bush - so it was nice just to spend time with them. They handled the vegetarian with aplomb too ;)

More illegal international trade

At the risk of being on some sort of Homeland Security Watch List, I did do one other questionable international trade deal recently.

Like the french realized years ago when we were there, Donal and Jamie realized that Apple doesn't really try to keep the prices of their products in sync with current foreign exchange rates. That makes the new iPod Touch about $150 smacks cheaper in the US vs Europe. No doubt people will start screaming about the cause being European Socialism, but it's really has more to do with European Communism - so don't worry.

And getting them back into Ireland was a non-event. Thanks to Apple's green packaging that makes minimal waste, those puppies were small in my luggage.

Heading Back to Ireland

Now I know why rich people have two homes - it is just so much easier to pack for a trip, when you already have your clothes over there.

I do remember a book called Acquired Tastes, where the author talks about having all the advantages of a second without the disadvantages (he basically makes a deal with a nice hotel to store his stuff there for the year). Anyway . . .

With no need for clothes except the weekend trip (more on that later), and no need for the illegal trafficking of cheese - I got by with just one small suitcase. Sweet.

Maggiano's with the Family

Well, since it had been awhile since the entire family (Mom, Dad, sister, brothers, their spouses) had been out to dinner - we decided to do the Maggiano's thing - family style. Nice little Italian place that's been replicated across the country.

Although it did take a spreadsheet and an algorithm that I later patented to figure out the optimum day to have everyone go - we did have a lot of fun.

Come to Daddy

OK, so several weeks back, I go visit a cheese farm in Ireland and decide to try to import them into the US.

So I pick up two 10kg (44 pounds total) of cheese from them and shove them into my suitcases (minus the writing that said made with raw milk). Needless to say, I was a bit overweight on my luggage flying home, but I digress. I did try to figure out from my government whether the importation of said cheese was legal or not. Of course, the bureaucratic web site, "customer service representative", and general Googling yielded nothing definitive.

So I arrive in Chicago, fill out my entry form to say that I had "cheese". The first guy before getting my luggage, doesn't even ask about it. I grab my bags and fight the urge to play with the cheese sniffing beagles. And then I walk to the final checkpoint. The woman says, "You have cheese? What kind?" I was tempted to go into something about "Irish farmhouse cheese made in the Swiss Gruyere style", but I thought it better to just go with 'cheddar' no matter how inaccurate.

I'm sure she was thinking a couple of slices leftover from lunch in Dublin, and would have freaked on seeing the two wheels - but ignorance is bliss.

Gaby in Town

I think Gaby was invited to a party to celebrate CAPA Go Live, so she was back in town for a week.

Fortunately, we were able to head down to the south side with the Webers and Gaby and do the Japanese thing. Ireland is not really known for their sushi, so it was a welcomed change from potatoes and potato soup.

Yes, she's as crazy as every - but in a good way.

Patrick sees Barack

You know I've never really done the politics posting thing (I'll leave that to Drudge and Huffington), but since the polls and pundits are everywhere right now - I have to put in my two cents worth . . .

My personal opinion before this election was that it's easy to figure out who is going to win a close Presidential election, and you don't have to stay up all night waiting for the returns for southeastern Ohio or Dade County Florida to come in . . . just see how badly the Republican candidate won Indiana. Since Indiana is called 3 nanoseconds after the polls close, you got to go to bed early on election night if you follow this simple rule:

If the GOP wins by over 56%, then they're going to win the whole thing - see Reagan, Bush I, Bush II. If the GOP wins by less than 56%, then the Democrat is going to win - see Carter, Clinton. So even though there are a lot of wild cards on the table and every election is different - here's the critical factor - both candidates are campaigning in Indiana. Dude, they don't even bother to fly over Indiana airspace to get from Ohio to Illinois in prior elections.

So due to the rare instance of Indiana again being part of the Presidential election for the first time in 100 years (again, don't forget about the primaries), Patrick took off work and headed down to the State Fair grounds to see Barack baby. Unfortunately, I had too much going on that day, which I knew I was going to regret not canceling - but Patrick said that he was amazing. It was just after the second debate, and Patrick said he just energized the crowd. And I'll leave it at that.

Is this wrong?

Thanks to a recent order from MyTailor, I am 'off the rack' free as far as my work shirts are concerned. What this means that you will no longer see me wearing a shirt that has enough fabric at the waist to make a sail for a small boat. Let's be honest, the US has basically one shirt size for men for 80% of us - large.

Anyway, due to multiple reasons (few pants in the US, biking to work which requires clothes at work, etc.) - I am now taking pics of my outfits for the week in order to avoid duplication - is that a bit strange?