We’re back from almost a week at Corolla Beach.  It was an absolutely outstanding vacation, with four full days of absolutely perfect sun, sand, and surf.  Pictures soon, we promise.

We left on Friday instead of Sunday as planned, however, because of Tropical Storm Hanna.  We didn’t drive away from the beach house until the first drops of rain arrived.  By the time we made it down to the bridge back to the mainland, we’d already driven over sections of Route 12 (the main north-south road on the Outer Banks) nearly covered in water.  So we were quite happy to have left when we did.

After a long, rainy drive back, we found the basement just starting to take on water.  It’s been a long day today cleaning out gutters, redirecting downspouts, and putting the new shop vac to work (thanks, Dad!).  But it’s still good to be home.

Randy passed away yesterday.

The world is a lesser place without you, Randy. We’ll miss you.

Dear Randy,

I’ve been working on a letter to you literally for months. And finally I realized: formality and perfection was getting in the way of saying ANYTHING at all. The essence of what I have been trying to put down into words is this: thank you for everything you did for me. I am where I am today in large part because of the opportunities and guidance you provided.

So, a rousing Happy Father’s Day to you, Randy. My family wishes all the best that this world can provide to you, Jai, Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.

Love and Gratitude,

Brian, Carolee, Liam, Evan, Cara, and Lori
The Stearns Clan

We’re trying to reduce our energy consumption.  The first step was to teach the kids to turn off lights as they leave their rooms.  As you can imagine, Liam is excessively zealous (”Hey, I’m still in here!”),  Evan means well but rarely remembers, and Cara can’t generally reach any light switches.  But it’s a start.

The local power company came in today to install new thermostats in the house.  It’s a pilot program we volunteered for.  We get two new  programmable thermostats, which can even be controlled via a private web site (all the geeks out there say “sweet!”).  The power company gets to bump up our thermostat setting temporarily in order to prevent brownouts during the worst summer peak demand times.  Everybody wins!

I just ordered compact fluorescent (CFL) spotlights for the recessed lighting in the kitchen and dining room.  I also just managed to connect the house server to the powerline controls, so that the smart switches I’ve been installing around the house can start acting smart.  Both together ought to be a winning energy-saving combination.

I also just bought a battery-powered (rather than gasoline) lawn trimmer.  I hope to soon power the battery charger with solar panels.  Near-future plans involve putting all of our battery charging needs on solar.  Medium-future includes more panels and an AC inverter to run some lower draw devices.  Who knows, maybe full-blown grid-intertie is a possibility.

We’ve got a long way to go before I feel like we’re approaching “greenness,” but every little bit helps.  Now I’m gonna knock off this typing thing and go help plant the new vegetable garden.

Ten years ago today Carolee and I were married.  Insanity!

Happy anniversary, hon!

Evan and I both tested for our next taekwondo belts today. Evan got his “Tiger Red” belt, the highest belt in the children’s program at our dojang. Note:  Evan would, at this point in a live conversation, solemnly inform you that he also received a medal. Next he’ll jump straight to testing for his gold belt, the tenth level (”gup”) along a 12 level path to black belt (count down from twelve to one). It’s always fun to watch the younger kids in class, there’s always so much well-directed enthusiasm.

After Evan’s test I tested for my green stripe (seventh gup). And I was surprised and oddly encouraged to discover that for the first time the instructors were actually failing a few of the students. I have had a number of minor beefs with our dojang in the year we’ve been going. However, the only significant issue that has consistently bothered me is my perception that the instructors often wave students along to a higher belt than their ability really supports. Today there were some tears from a few of the more disappointed students (and a really unfortunate and unnecessary post-test moment where a 12 year old girl’s dad chastised her in front of one of the instructors for “also slacking off at home”). But somehow I felt like my weekly efforts are suddenly more… valid. I feel like it actually means something to get that cursed back hook kick down cold, because my progression towards black belt suddenly depends upon more than simply attending the requisite number of classes.

Is that mean and curmudgeonly to leap straight to the silver lining within an emotionally-vulnerable pre-teen girl’s mortal embarrassment? Yes, I think it is. I’m a bad, bad man.

But I’ve got a mean back hook kick to show for it.

We had a really excellent holiday weekend.  Any objective observer would have predicted in advance a high stress level and a NON-relaxing time:  cleaning the house, hosting 12 people PLUS our own sextet for Thanksgiving dinner, etc.  But somehow the house got cleaned, dinner was simply no big deal to prepare or host (huzzah potluck!), and the weekend was very enjoyable.  AND some of our guests had an itching for home improvement, so quite a few of my outstanding renovation projects got some well-needed attention.

To everyone who passed through our house over the last few days: thanks for a wonderful weekend!  I hope that the holiday went over as well for everyone whom we DIDN’T have the pleasure to host.  Happy Turkey Day!

Liam, Evan, and I had an absolutely fantastic (if exhausting) day yesterday. In the morning we went and helped the Chesapeake Bay Foundation plant bushes and water grasses along a streambed through a local golf course. There were at least 100 people there by midday, along at least a 1/2 mile stretch of the stream. The boys learned all about erosion, watersheds, healthy streams, rivers, bays, and oceans, and most importantly community service. New: here’s a picture the CBF organizer took of us:

After the CBF event we went over to Ted and Esther’s to build an absolutely enormous piece of play equipment for Lucas. Ted had acquired this thing off of Craig’s List, and had subsequently reconstructed fully a quarter of the structural pieces (due to plenty of rot and a little insect damage). Ted had every piece labeled and prepped, with the necessary tools all laid out and ready to go. It’s always nice to do things for friends, but it’s even nicer to do things for friends who are so organized.

I’m looking forward to a slower day today, but only because it feels so rewarding to slow down after having been so helpful!

I’ve been trying to rebuild my presence online recently. Getting back in touch with people who I care about (hi, Kelly, thanks for hosting Evan and I!), reminiscing on old times, looking ahead… somehow it’s all motivated me to try to raise my profile and make myself more… available. Maybe that resonates with you, maybe it doesn’t make a lick of sense, but it is what it is, I guess.

So, here are some links for you: my Facebook page and my LinkedIn page. I’m also back online on instant messaging (email me if you want that new screenname).

Randy’s full talk is now online:

http://wms.andrew.cmu.edu/001/pausch.wmv

He was also on Good Morning America:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3633909