Alaska Marathon

Our trip to Alaska was quick, beautiful, and exciting. To begin with it’s a longish 7 hour direct flight. That airline seat gets pretty tiresome in that length of time. Our flight was relatively uneventful with only a few minutes of choppy air. We left about a half hour late, landing in Alaska at 5pm local time. Alaska is 3 hours behind Houston time, so this was about 8pm Houston time.

Pat and Glynda Allen (Melissa’s mother and aunt) were on the same flight with us. We rented a car took them to their hotel. Their room was not ready, so we left the luggage and took them with us to find the Quyana Bed and Breakfast. I had booked this over the internet with little information, except that it was run by a local named Wilburn (“Will”) and it only had four rooms. Out of 35 B&B’s I contacted, Will was the only one that sent me a brochure in the mail and wrote a long email describing himself and his B&B. Besides, it was cheap ($65/night including breakfast!). This is unbelievable for Alaska during the height of the tourist season.

We found the Quyana (Eskimo word for “Thank you”) without a problem. It was located in a local neighborhood and stood out with its neat little yard. Will had left a note with a phone number to call, because he had gone out to dinner. I called him and he directed us to the room key in a box on the side of the house. We unlocked the front door and went in, not knowing what to expect. We were greeted with an immaculate, cute and inviting living room and huge kitchen. The Quyana is 3 levels, counting the basement. Our room was in the basement with a small window in one end. This turned out to be a real blessing, since sunset is at 11:30 p.m and sunrise around 4:30 a.m. We could close the blinds and curtains and the room was relatively dark.

We all went to find a restaurant for dinner. We ended up at the Sourdough Alaskan restaurant. It was very picturesque with all kinds of Alaskan artifacts and decorations. The food did not match up to the scenery. In fact, my Alaskan seafood sampler platter was awful. Put this restaurant on the “not recommended” list. After dinner we returned to our rooms, ready for bed.

The next day, Pat and Glynda had booked a train ride. Anne and I wanted to take the train to Seward but it left too early. Will recommended that we drive the highway to Seward. He said it was a very good highway and we could control our schedule if we drove. Adventurists that we are, we left without any planning. We were delighted with gorgeous scenery and a very easy drive with low traffic. When we got to Seward, we found a picturesque seaside town with an active commercial and recreational harbor. The harbor was filled with boats of every size and description. We ate at the Chinook restaurant right on the harbor and the food was pretty decent. The view of the harbor was very worthwhile.

The drive back to Anchorage had more traffic and I was pretty tired by the time we got home. Will recommended the F street station restaurant. Its an Irish Pub motif that has been in business since 1944. It was busy and nearly full. We had a seat at the bar right in front of the grill, where Carlos did the cooking. Carlos is from Guatemala and Will said he really knew what he was doing. We watched as Carlos expertly prepared 7-8 meals at once. Anne asked him if the shrimp was Alaskan. He said no, it was Australian. She asked him if it was any good and he turned up his nose, making a face that told us not to order it. The scallops were Bering straight (not Alaskan). Will had indicated that native Alaskan seafood was excellent but sometimes in short supply. They did have wild Alaskan salmon from the Copper River. The menu prominently noted that they did not serve farm raised salmon. We both decided to have a salad with grilled salmon. We were delighted with crisp greens and a wonderfully grilled piece of native salmon with subtle spices on top. It was delicious. We wish Greg and Melissa could have been with us. Greg would have delighted watching Carlos cooking with occasional two foot high flames leaping from his grill.

Greg and Melissa arrived at around 11:15pm. We took Pat with us to pick them up. It was exciting to see them, even though everyone was tired.

Glynda had broken her foot just before the trip and she was not up to a lot of walking. She stayed at the hotel on Friday. We took Pat, Greg and Melissa touring. We had a late breakfast at noon, and then headed out to the Matanuska Valley. The early part of the drive was a bit tedious and not all that pretty as we drove neighborhoods along the river. After we crossed the river past Palmer, Alaska, we were delighted to come to a scenic overview that was high and showcased this beautiful valley. It was breathtaking. Everyone scrambled out with their cameras. We drove far enough into the valley to see some snow covered mountains and get small taste of the growing beauty of the scenery. We did not make it as far as the glaciers because we were out of time. We had to get back to the hotel for the pre-race pasta dinner.

The pasta dinner was really tasty, but I think everyone was tired and apprehensive about the marathon the next day. We all left early with promises to cheer the next day. I wanted to drive the course and scope out the viewing places. I think Pat had doubts about the value of spending this time. Boy, were we glad we did it! It was difficult finding the locations and some were just downright inaccessible. It took us about two hours of driving and walking to scope out our plan.

Saturday arrived. We picked up Pat and headed for the first viewpoint. Our reward was to see Greg looking happy and good at mile 9. He looked amazingly strong and confident. Melissa was running a slower steady pace. We saw her about 20 minutes later and she looked great! We had some trouble figuring where to be when because of the difference in Greg and Melissa’s paces. I finally set up a spreadsheet on my PDA/Phone to forecast when they would be at each viewpoint. This proved to be very valuable and and accurate. Even with the known pace and forecast, I felt like I had to drive like madman to get everyone around to catch Greg and Melissa. We all saw Greg at mile 18, but missed him at mile 22. I hustled Anne to the finish line, then looped back to pick up Pat. She had cheered Melissa at mile 18. I determined we had to drive to the finish line. While we were hauling, Anne called and tearfully proclaimed that Greg had finished!!! I was so excited and so was Pat. I predicted when Melissa would be at mile 22. Pat’s friend Sharon was there and was watching. Sure enough, my forecast was within 3 minutes and Pat got really excited as she heard Sharon exclaim that she saw Melissa!

We arrived at the finish line and hugged Greg, who had already downed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He said he wanted to support Melissa finishing, so he walked back to about a quarter mile before the finish and waited for her. I planted myself at the finish line and waited. Sure enough they came running down the lane and crossed together! What a team!

During the day, Lisa and I were sending text messages back and forth as I kept her posted on the progress. This was fun and I know she enjoyed her virtual participation. Here is the transcribed set of messages we exchanged:

Lisa 7:14am Can you send me updates on how Greg and Mel are doing?
Me 7:17am Will do.
Me 9:02am Marathon course is nice. (picture of the trail)
Me 9:05am Greg passed 9+ miles looking good and happy. Looking for Melissa now.
Lisa 9:53am Great!
Me 10:15am Mel looked wonderful at 9+mi. Greg 12 min pace. Mel 14.6 min pace. We are at mile 17 waiting.
Me 10:26am mile 17 Temp is 54 degf. Long uphill at this point – a real challenge
Me 11:02am Greg@17.5mi 13.6 min/mi looking tired but grinning big.
Lisa 11:18am That’s cool! Sounds like perfect weather. Thanks for keeping me in the loop. Where else are you going to get to see them?
Me 12:39pm Missed Greg at mile 22 hope to catch him at finish. Last few miles of course are faster (downhill).
Lisa 1:02pm What a relief!! That’s cool they are almost finished.
Me 1:03pm Greg finished!!!!!
Lisa 2:09pm Woohoo! Tell him CONGRATS!
Me 3:14pm Melissa finished!!!! Lots of hugging and crying. Wish you were here. Love Dad
Lisa 3:15pm Yeah!! That’s wonderful!
Me 9:45pm They actually danced at the victory party!!!! Love. Mom

Yes, we all went to the victory party that night to enjoy a good dinner and celebrate. Greg and Melissa were moving very slowly, but they did get up on the dance floor and kind of move around.

It was a fast paced wonderful trip. Anne and I left and headed for the airport to catch our red-eye flight back to Houston, so Anne could go to Lisa’s baby shower on Sunday. We arrived home safely around 9am Sunday morning. It was good to be home.

Father's day 2008

It was good. It was love.

My father will be 89 this year. As my brother said this year "I don' t know how many more father's days we will have with him". We mutually wanted to make it special. My father is a simple man who enjoyes simple things. Jo had the right idea. They had recently purchased some good home-grown tomatoes. Jim and Jo brought the fixings to have bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches.

We gathered at the grandparents' apartment in Galveston on Sunday afternoon. I knew this was going to be good when I saw my father's reaction as Anne walked in the door first and he saw her. He lit up and was smiling. He seems like he rarely smiles these days. He returned her hug with appreciation and he hugged me with joy as well.

My mother came in the room and was just glowing.

Minutes after we arrived, Jim, Jo and Amanda walked in the door. ...more hugs and smiles.

We gathered in little conversation groups, the women on one side of the room and the guys on the other. We talked about Lisa's pregnancy. We talked about my new job opportunity. We talked about the woodpecker in Jim's backyard.

The U.S. Open golf tournament was on TV. The sound was muted and the closed caption narration scrolled across the screen. We could follow the tournament without the noise and still carry on conversations. The guys groaned when Tiger Woods hit a ball into the tree and it dropped straight down into the grass.

After a while, it was dinner time and Jo began putting things together for the sandwiches. Amanda sat on the couch next to Jim. She put her head on his shoulder and looked at me and smiled. "This is the only day of the year you'll see this", she said. "Most of the time, I'm like a dog and snap at him."

Oh, dinner was just wonderful. You would think this was the gourmet delight of kings. We all expressed our appreciation and delight in the freshly made sandwiches. Afterward, we had a piece of chocolate cheesecake. It was all good.

Eventually it was time to leave. We had lots of hugs and affection expressed. My father was smiling. My mother was smiling. We had honored my father in the way that he most appreciated. It was a good day.

Later that evening, Greg called and sang happy father's day to me. Then Lisa called and wished me a happy father's day.

It doesn't get any better than this.

New Job in Houston

By now I have told many members of the family that I've been offered an opportunity for an IBM job in Houston. This is the answer to numerous prayers over the years. IBM is a place in which its easy to get lost and have no meaning. Its also a place to travel hard. I've done both.

In September 2007, I got an email from a partner in IBM asking me if I was available to help with a client in St. Louis. I responded back quickly and said I was. At the time I had been "on the bench" for a couple of weeks and was pretty stressed about finding another assignment. So it was off to St. Louis to do an audit of a project that was deemed as "troubled". Three days later, I presented my results and was offered the job to manage the project to completion.

Over the next few months I would have the opportunity to meet and work with client executives and IBM executives that showcased my best side and capabilities. I discovered an area in IBM where I felt valued and could do some good.

In December, 2007, I approached a manager about transferring into his practice. He said he would welcome me with open arms, if my current manager agreed. To my surprise, my current manager did not agree and said he would consider transferring me in six months. This conflict provided a seed for substantive discussions about my role in IBM and what I was important to me. I expressed that the highest priority was to find a position working with large petroleum clients in Houston which would reduce my travel and allow me to be at home more. My manager offered to introduce me to the leader for petroleum business in the U.S. and ask him to talk to me. I agreed, though I was set on transferring and did not think much would come of the introduction.

It took three weeks, but I finally arranged to have lunch with the petroleum leader in Houston. To my surprise, he said they actually had a need in Houston that fit me like a glove. He said it would require the cooperation of my current manager to allow me the time to get up to speed and do the job. So I made several phone calls and wrote several emails. Everyone was so busy and it was discouraging. I finally got a lunch appointment with another manager in the Houston area that I thought was key to the potential role in Houston.

Fast forward.... my persistance looks like it may finally pay off. Everyone has agreed to give me the chance to work in the new role - developing business with key petroleum clients in Houston. They specifically want me to work in the area of custom application development and systems integration. This is something in which I have years of experience.

I am excited. I am blessed. I've asked everyone to pray for me to do my best for this opportunity. If I do that, I will succeed and I could be working in Houston a long, long time.