Neighborly Fright

Our neighborhood had a halloween parade which had all the kids walking up the main road to the clubhouse. We decided it was probably a good thing to partake in and meet a few more of our neighbors. We weren't exactly sure where the starting line for the parade was but we didn't need to ask for directions because you could a herd of kids decked out in their costumes all migrating towards the starting line. Most of them were 12 and under. It was quite a scene - strollers, wagons, and dogs..oh my! Owen was a bear thanks to pau pau's gift. Fun was had by all and a preview of halloween night. Above is Owen in his costume and more pics can be found on our flickr site.

Monumental Day

We now have something to worry about...out of nowhere, Owen has just decided he can walk on his own without our help. Last weekend, we were noticing that he walked really well when holding one or both of his hands (he preferred to have both held) but if you just set him on his feet, he much rather sit down and crawl rather than walk/lunge to something solid. Today, while Tom and I were enjoying our cup of coffee, I noticed Owen walking away from the couch to the kitchen and made past the kitchen table before falling onto his well cushioned bottom. At that point, in the middle of the floor, he proceeded to get back up to standing position and take off again - heading to the stairs.

Oh, and he also has fast hands - he got a piece of Rocky's dog food into his mouth before we caught him and the only reason why I knew was that he spit half of it out - I think he ate the other half.

A pat on the back

I have a fear of dentists. I'm sure it results from when I was young and my 'traditional' dentist decided to pull my baby teeth (4 of them) that weren't ready to fall out without any novacane. The reason for pulling the teeth out was to avoid needing braces, which was true. There were a few other occasions that followed which didn't help the cause.

Well, I decided I probably it was about time to get my teeth checked (it's been 3 years at least) and made an appointment with a dentist that came recommended. Good news, I didn't freak out and no new cavities. Bad news, I have to go back two more visits to refill the current two cavities for various reasons. Ugh! Small victories.

iResuscitation

Success - my iPod is alive for a while longer. I was directed to a site full of good iPod info (www.ipodlounge.com) - Thanks Deetz! :) where you can look on the forum to see discussions on just about anything with an 'i' in front of it. I didn't have to look hard because my problem is quite a common one (who knew) - When I turned on my iPod, it showed a folder icon with a big exclamation point on top of it and then you can hear the hard drive whirling madly without accomplishing what it really wanted to do....it had crashed. The suggested fixes sounded farfetched but I tried it anyways - jam a screwdriver in it to open it up then shake it a little and replace the top and Voila! You are on your way. I barely jammed the screwdriver into the seam to open it up and did do a bit of shaking as I was trying to get a good hold of it and open up the face. That amount was all it needed and it is fixed - the folder icon went away and I was able to get to my music!!!

iFuneral

My iPod died while on my trip to Germany. It was so sad, a 10 hour flight and no music to listen to other than what the airline piped in. The flight home on Saturday was uneventful. I did see 3 co-workers on my flight home and then about 4 more people when I landed (they took the Paris flight home) - All I could think was how much money we must've spent to send all of us to Europe. I guess that's the downside of working for a global company.

As soon as I landed, I headed to Jon & Kristi's house for a 1 year birthday party for Julia. It was fun, relaxing and I was ready to see everyone. When Owen first saw me, he gave me a look that said 'I think I know you, right?' It wasn't until I started talking to him a bit more that he was excited to see me and then clung to me the rest of the night and most of Sunday as well.

Mastering English

Yesterday, training ended early and most everyone darted out of the hotel relieved that it was Friday and the beginning of Octoberfest in Munich. There were a few of us, mainly me and people from Japan who would not be catching our flights until the following day or Sunday.

While we were taking in the sights and getting to know each other better, they eventually got to a comfortable point that they were willing to ask about some clarification on a concept we learned in our training. The concept was why be good when you can be great - how can you make something even bigger, do it better, faster, cheaper. The trainers termed it 'Being a Waterwalker' or 'Waterwalker Attributes'. For the Japanese, this phrase brought to mind images of old grandmas and grampas who do their daily exercise by walking laps in the pool. They could not understand why the trainers were asking them to be more like grandmas and grampas. One I explained to them it was not about being a grandpa/grandma but more like a kung-fu master, you saw the lightbulb go off it their head!

Always a Researcher!

Although I am here in Frankfurt, solely to focus on this training - I can't help but always observe things to help move my project. I am working on a global product do design products for the bathroom and of course we would love for one product that can fit both regions. I have been told and sent pictures of the western europe bathroom so I can understand the differences from the US bathrooms and it isn't until you are here living it, that you can say 'Ah, I know exactly what they mean!"

One product is a toilet product and so understanding how toilets are different and the mindset about appropriate behavior is needed. Well, it was quite eye opening when you see the true toilet design here as well as the fact that they keep a toilet brush next to the toilet (yes, I am talking about the public ones here in the hotel) so that if you make skid marks, you clean up after yourself! In my US mindset, I hate touching my own toilet brush, much less some public toilet brush that you don't know just how many other people might've used...I'll leave you with that thought.

Now, I'm off to my last day of training.