Halloween Party

Jon and I attended a Halloween party on Saturday with people from Jon's work. Some of them couldn't figure out who we were - have you yet??
Jon is Michael Vick (he's wearing a prison shirt with Vick's number and his name on the back) and I'm a beat-up dog. A dalmation is the only dog costume we could find, so that's what we went with. Once people figured it out, they thought it was pretty funny.

Halloween Party

We attended a Halloween party at a friend's house on Tuesday. I went as Steve Pederson and Julie wore the Snow White costume that Kayla is going to wear when she works at the Boo at the Zoo event.


Julie receiving the poison apple from the wicked witch.

California trip

Hi, everyone. It's hard to believe that the beautiful area we were in just a little over a week ago is now covered in soot. John, Chris, and kids - we're thinking of you.
Curt, congratulate Christopher! That's great!
Sean is on his very first school field trip today - they went to Fontenelle Forest.
Jon and I are going to a Halloween party on Saturday. Pictures to follow.

Sun Sets on Day Three

I think we're out of the woods. Winds are calm tonight, and consequently the "Witch" fire which threatened us last night doesn't seem to be moving further West. Here are pictures of the sunset tonight (taken about 10 minutes ago) and some of the ash on the driveway. Ash looks like blowing snow on the street, and whereever cars drive they kick it back into the air. All of San Diego County is covered in a layer of this. Everything looks very dirty as a result.

UNL Math Day

I know this seems kind of trivial with everything that is going on in California but wanted to let people know that Chris qualified to be on the Pius Math Competition Team for the UNL math day. He had to beat out several upper-classmen to qualify as they only take the top 8 for the quizbowl.

Tuesday Fire Update

Close call last night, but other than an eighth-inch covering of ash over everything and a couple of damaged trees, we think we're out of the woods. We never evacuated.

However, the fires are still out of control and if the Santa Ana winds come back big today, we could have a whole new ballgame. I'm headed into work, and Chris and I will stay in close contact during the day.

All-State Audition Results

I got the All-State audition results this morning - Tommy was selected to the All-State Jazz Band. The director this year is someone I recommended to the All-State Jazz Band coordinator after seeing him work for several years with Tommy and Paul at the KU Jazz Camp - Tommy is excited to have the chance to play for him again.

Another Fire Update

The fires that were visible from our house to the North around 10:00 tonight seem to have receded. However, Rancho Santa Fe is now burning and they extended the mandatory evacuation through Olivenhain all the way to Rancho Santa Fe Rd, which you may remember borders our neighborhood. Based on visual observations and wind direction, though, I view it as unlikely that we will have to evacuate tonight. The car is packed just in case, and Chris and I will rotate fire watch through the night. We'll keep you posted. Kids are doing fine (Caitlyn gets another day off tomorrow, and Sarah was on Fall break anyway).

Fire Update

Our current situation is that we have two trees that have been blown down or damaged from the high winds, we are entirely inundated with smoke (although the environment in the house is fine since we closed up the house last night in anticipation), and there is ash falling all around. Again, we're not expecting any evacuation due to fire unless a new fire starts nearby. If we evacuate, it will be because of smoke, but this is highly unlikely: I-5 North toward Linda Moorman's house is a parking lot with refugees, so we'll only leave if we have to.

Fire in S. CA

There are at least eight different fires in San Diego County alone. The one which triggered a reverse 911 call to us this morning at 6 a.m. warning us of a pending evacuation was stimulated by a fire which threatened the neighborhood (San Elijo Hills) directly to the NW of us (which remains evacuated at this time). That fire is now under control, and we don't anticipate being evacuated, although the police just drove through our neighborhood on the blowhorn announcing a voluntary evacuation of our neighborhood due to smoke. Here are a couple of pics which show the progression of the situation at our house. Things may get worse before they get permanently better since the Santa Ana winds continue to gust to 60 mph and are expected to last at least through tomorrow, and our humidity remains at 4%, so we'll be carefully monitoring the situation throughout the night. The top picture was taken at about 8:00 this morning, and the bottom was taken a little after 3 p.m. this afternoon.

NSBA State Band Contest

Tommy's band placed fourth in the NSBA state band contest Saturday night - behind Bellevue East, Bellevue West, and Millard West.

Three reasons to cut the cord

This was posted last night on the Journal Star website by Steve Sipple - they have been pretty conservative about printing rumors, so you wonder if this might not happen:

"Lots of rumblings about the possibility of Bill Callahan resigning, effective at the end of the season. Stay tuned.

Callahan said last week he wouldn't resign. But Big Red boosters with very deep pockets could help put together an offer (which far exceeds his buyout) he couldn't refuse. The money's there, if needed.

He wouldn't be quitting, because he would finish out the season.

By resigning now, it would:

1. Take pressure off the players, because it would remove the uncertainty surrounding the situation.

2. Allow Osborne and Company to begin in earnest the search for Callahan's successor.

3. Help minimize the wild scramble to salvage the 2008 recruiting class once the season ends."

NU Football

There is an e-mail making the rounds that declares that Charlie McBride will be appointed interim head coach either immediately or after the game Saturday. It also says that Pelini has been contacted and is definitely interested in the head coaching position. It also says that a few of the Osborne's retired staff will come back to help finish the year. Shawn Watson would stay on as offensive coordinator.

I think it is a lot of garbage. I don't think anything will happen until after the season is over.

Views from outside Nebraska

Here are a couple of interesting stories - the first from the Kansas City Star, and the second from the Dallas Morning News.

Tom Osborne - A.D.

Tom Osborne will be named A.D. today - not known yet if he will be permanent or interim.

Steve Pederson fired

Interestingly, Chancellor Perlman says that he decided to do this last Thursday - before the game against OSU. Two questions I have:

1) Did Pederson get lucky at Pitt and/or unlucky here? They think he was the best thing since sliced bread at Pitt - and he got great results. I think it has as more to do with his treatment of his own staff (lots of people quitting in the last couple of years), his coldness towards big money boosters, and a cold management style than it does with the utter failure of his football staff.

2) Do they want to bring in a new A.D. because there is a need to hire a new football coaching staff, and they couldn't trust Pederson to do it?

This is Husker Football??

Picture of the stands (you can see Paul if you look really close) during the 3rd quarter of the ballgame Saturday. Notice the empty seats.

Some musings (or ventings) as I sat in the South stadium during yesterday's debacle:

1) Lydon Murtha committed two major penalties (personal foul, then holding) on the first two plays of the game - and yet was not pulled from the game to settle him down and get his head in the game. Would this have happened under previous coaches?

2) Players who cannot make plays either because of lack of effort or mental mistakes continue to play - even when the game is out of control. So called blue chip recruits have given up their redshirt year to be used only on special teams. Ricky Thenarse - one of the few Husker defenders who has actually made a solid hit this season, finally got a little playing time late in the game. Same thing with Quentin Castille - the only back the Huskers have who can make 3-4 yards out of nothing (which is what there usually is, considering the lack of blocking). There is no downfield threat in the passing game - and Maurice Purify touched the ball exactly one time in the game. Let's get some speed and athletic ability on the field - even if they are freshmen, and even if they don't know the whole offense. Other schools seem able to get their best players on the field, why can't we?

3) Remember, a couple of years after Barry Switzer left, when OU would obviously give up in a game? Nobody could understand what the problem was, as most experts agreed that OU had plenty of talent. Sound familiar? OU solved their problem only after having to clean house several times until they got Stoops. What is it going to take here?

4) There were some guys from Wisconsin sitting behind me - they were in town on business and decided to come to the game. In the 2nd quarter (we were already behind by 31 points) they asked me why nobody was booing at the obvious lack of effort. I told them that unfortunately, many people were half expecting this kind of performance.

5) There were only a few times during the day when the crowd cheered - the tunnel walk, the opening kick-off, a good hit by Thenarse on a punt return, when the band entered the field at halftime, and (sarcastically) when the Huskers made their first first down (in the third quarter) and forced OSU's first punt (also third quarter). There was also moderate cheering when we scored in the fourth quarter, but by then most fans had left.

6) The game was completely out of control in the second half - yet there was very little substituting. How are things going to get better if the this year's backups who will be asked to start next year get no game experience now?

7) Things I saw that I never thought I would see at a Nebraska game:

• People turning down tickets at $10 ea. right before the game.
• Fans sarcastically releasing their balloons when the opponent scored.
• Fans uniformly exhibiting stunned silence and depression rather than anger and passion.
• Fans leaving in droves before halftime.
• A Nebraska team quit.
• Fans expecting to be blown out at home by a mediocre team.
• Fans discussing whether there is any Div. I team that could be considered an underdog to NU.
• Fans hoping out loud that we go winless the rest of the year to force the administration's hand in firing the coaching staff and A.D.
  
• Fans wearing bags on their heads ala the old Saints.

Sorry for venting. Rant now over (until next Saturday).

Today at the beach

Da, yup, yup, yup, it's the ocean all right! And it's wet!!

Mom and Dad Visit Carlsbad

Mom and Dad arrived Friday night, Oct 5, around 8:00. On Sat., we went up to Julian to enjoy some of their famous fruit pies, and watched NE get spanked by MO. Today, we at the beach pretty much all day, and had a nice cookout. It was a totally beautiful day in Carlsbad.

Spent the last 2 nights in the Long Beach area, meeting with potential Port of Long Beach and Port of LA clients, selling construction management and sustainability services (the newest wave of environmental consulting). Stayed in a hotel overlooking Long Beach harbor and the Queen Mary (a Titanic look-alike), and had dinner last night on the Queen Mary.

We did an oral presentation to the Port of LB on Wed morning and I just found out tonight that we were selected for the $5 million construction management of an $85 million cleanup and backfill job for the port. It's our first big move toward diversifying the business.

Can't see the horizon in LA, though, due to all the air pollution. Traffic is profoundly bad. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in SoCal other than Carlsbad or Encinitas (just South of Carlsbad), and Knoxville puts even these to shame in a lot of ways.

Our First Surfing Experience

Caitlyn and I tried surfing for the first time on Sept 9. Here I am catching the "big wave" and Caitlyn looking like a pro with Sarah and I watching. Caitlyn caught on very quickly.

John and Chris Anniversary

Chris and I celebrated our 21st anniversary on September 19. Actually, we postponed until the weekend (9/22). But we had a great dinner at a place called "The Beach House" in Cardiff (the town just south of Carlsbad). The restaurant is literally on the beach, and we got some great sunset views (the one shown was outside our dinner window). Much better than our 20th, when Chris was still in Knoxville and I was in Carlsbad. The picture of us was taken by Caitlyn outside our house that same evening.

Sarah and John at the Beach, September 20

Sarah and I took a quick walk on the beach while we waited to pick up Caitlyn from dance practice on Sept. 20, and caught a nice Pacific sunset. There was an aircraft carrier about 1/2 mile off the beach that night too.