Tim's Favorite Things 17

Though I suspect few have missed it, the blog is back with my favorite things I discovered or experienced for the first time in 2017. Enjoy.

1. Home ownership--I now have only one hobby: being a home owner. I suspect the novelty will wear off at some point, but I have very much enjoyed Saturdays of yard work, learning to change shower cartridges and leaky faucets. Raking leaves and shoveling snow was less awesome, especially since I have trees that lose leaves at different intervals. So on my third pass of raking up leaves I apprehended the necessity of a leave blower. Similarly, minute 138 of shoveling brought a revelation about snow blowers.
2. Living in a neighborhood--My kids ride their bikes unsupervised! Friends drop over spontaneously! We rode around in the back of a firetruck singing Christmas carols! High-rise living was not for us.
3. Hillbilly Elegy--It even taught me about my own life in unexpected ways.
4. iOS 11--The AI-generated slideshows set to music are just the best. But I am somewhat less committed to the Apple ecosystem than I have been.
5. Dunkirk--Best film in years, IMHO.

The Idahoan Harts of Boston

I've been thoroughly pre-occupied by my new job, house hunting, car shopping, furniture shopping, moving in to new home, watching eclipses, lawn mower shopping.

Here is the house:

All told, I feel like we have been expert shoppers. We held out at the Toyota dealer until they offered $5k off a brand new 2016 Sienna to make room for soon-to-arrive 2018 models. Now they are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our 2014 Highlander from Manila and are talking like they want to make me a very good offer for it such that I could walk away with a 5- or 6-year-old Camry (or similar) without any debt (to accommodate my 7 mile daily commute).

Meanwhile, we got the house at about 5 percent below comparable per-square-foot prices in the neighborhood. It has an "unfinished" basement that is already framed, wired, and plumbed. So we can easily add two more bedrooms an entertainment room. We paid no closing costs and received a $5k cash rebate from the seller at closing, which converted one bedroom from old, hunter green carpet to new hardwood and bought a very nice washer/dryer set with enough left over for the upcoming purchase of a very comfortable couch.

I bought a Honda lawn mower. Brought it home, set it up. Pushed it from garage to grass, decided I hated it, returned it, drove to my parents' house, put dad's lawn mower in aforementioned Sienna, mowed my lawn for free. I don't like self-propelled lawn mowers but apparently that's all they sell in Idaho Falls.

We watched the eclipse.

It was better than advertised. The difference between 99 percent and total eclipse cannot be overstated. Whatever you were planning to do on April 8, 2024, change that plan and get to the path of totality. Worth it.

Michael likes his new backyard.

Indeed, we all love it. The peace and quiet of Idaho Falls is such a welcome contrast to the noise and crowded bustle of Manila. We just love it.

So Much Grateful

As the Filipinos say, I am so much grateful for our year here. There were stressful elements, to be sure. Traffic in Manila is truly a nightmare. No, seriously, you have no idea. I work five miles from home and have a 90 minute commute, 3 hours if it's raining. Walking is not a viable option for reasons I will leave to your imagination.

But Filipinos, as a group, are really the best; optimistic, hard-working, respectful. And they are always so much grateful for everything.

Katie and the kids are gone. As of Friday, the house is packed out and completely empty except for a couch, a bed, and two suitcases of basic living items. Just me and the cat (who is turning out to be a pain to get back to the states). Lots of time to reflect.

With the house empty, as it was when we first arrived, I recall all the excitement of those early days here. And it reminds me of what we liked about this lifestyle that we are leaving behind. I enjoyed the constant excitement of a new place and a new challenge. I will miss that. I will miss getting to know new peoples and cultures.

And in this case, I will miss specific people. Katie hired Tin as a household helper. Katie hired her over more experienced candidates because she felt right about her. A year later, Katie and Tin wept as they said goodbye. When the others were gone, I thanked Tin for taking care of my wife this year. She wept again. At the end of each day she would say, "I go-wing now, sir."

And I will miss my Boy Scouts. I almost didn't accept the new job out of loyalty to these great young men. We had them over every Tuesday night and they comprise a uniquely outstanding group.

I am so much grateful. I go-wing now.

Annual Hart Family Brand Relationship Post

You can see the top 100 brands here: BrandZ. 

Since many of the brands are American icons, I figure it is appropriate to post this on the 4th of July as part of my celebration of America. Instead of a list, I tell the story of our year in brands.

One year ago today, we got caught in a crazy rain storm on our final day at Disney (18) World. We spent about 30 minutes hiding under the faux rocks near the Animal Kingdom entrance before deciding to just run for it. We got drenched and five minutes later, the rain stopped. Life, right?

Disney World to us is more like a competition than a vacation. We gained considerable advantage this year with Katie's new iPhone (2). We knew all the wait times and scheduled our fast passes through the phone. And we totally owned Disney World.

We had a devil of a time getting to Manila last summer, with visa complications and flight confusion. And of course, as vanity demands, we posted it all to Facebook (5). I got to take a crazy same-day round trip from Boston to New York via Amtrak to resolve our visa fiasco. It was during the return trip that I discovered Stranger Things on Netflix (92). We are big fans. A few days later I got to fly to Manila without Katie because of the "how pregnant are you" disaster with Cathay Pacific. Loved that so much.

The kids attended The International School of Manila (ISM), which uses Google (1) as its primary teaching platform. Caleb especially took to the Google user interface and became the first member of the family to question our loyalty to Apple's walled garden. As the year progressed, Caleb's gaming interest picked up. And now he talks of owning a device with a Microsoft (3) OS. I mean, he is a Broncos fan, but Microsoft?

We added Manila (several locations), Tagaytay, Subic, and Tokyo to our impressive list of cities in which we have eaten McDonalds (10). Amazon (4) and Walmart (31) provided steady shipments of comfort food--and Pampers (42)--from home. Yes, Pampers. I almost forgot that we had another child this year. Katie sometimes says to me, "Tim, can you take this?" as she hands Michael to me. As far as I can recall, he is the first child to be regularly referred to as "this."

I fully embraced LinkedIn (79) for the first time this year with the happy result of a new job in my hometown. So I guess I like LinkedIn.

With such bad traffic in Manila, our outside time decreased. Thus, this was the year of YouTube (65). I could live without ever hearing DanTDM's voice again. It got to the point that I was begging my kids to actually play a video game instead of watching YouTube videos of other people playing video games. I think I actually said out loud at one point, "You should do something real, like play a video game."

Homeward Bound

I'm coming home. Katie and the kids depart Manila tomorrow with a 10-day stop in Boston en route to Idaho Falls. I will stay behind for 10 days to finish pack out and exit procedures. We will all be in good ole IF by July 15. It is crazy.

I am very excited about my new job as Internal Audit Manager with Melaleuca. I enjoyed the interviews so much. Really great people. Great opportunity. And I loved growing up in Idaho Falls so I figure my kids will as well. Idaho Falls is really good at 4th of July (thanks in large part to my new employer), Halloween, and Christmas.

On the other hand, I love my current work. I have really taken on the identity of "Guardian of the Taxpayer" as I audited US government programs overseas. We enjoyed living in Cairo, Frankfurt, and Manila. I am thankful for so many wonderful friends and experiences.

Caleb Hart News

Memorial Day

We woke the kids up at 5:30 am to go place flags at the Manila American Cemetery in honor of Memorial Day. Henry, understandably, was disagreeable. "We're doing what? That's stupid."

We were able to persuade him. Indeed, he and I departed before the rest of the family. As we entered the cemetery, which Henry had not seen before, I started to explain what we were doing. We have to place flags at all of these burial markers.

"What even are burial markers?" he asked. By then, we were on a hill and could see thousands of markers spreading in all directions. I explained that each marker was someone who died fighting for his freedom. He looked around for a moment. Then his jaw dropped and he said, "This place is amazing. There are so many of them."

Henry gets it

It is totally amazing. It is a sacred place. We proceeded to place hundreds of flags, including on behalf of friends and family with relatives memorialized here. It was a beautiful morning.

Meet Pascual

I wrote this little Easter story for my kids. They got a kick out of it. Perhaps your family will like it as well.

Meet Pascual, Order of the Lagomorph. He’s a rabbit. Well, technically, he’s a hare, but he thinks that sounds too fancy. In fact, most people call him a bunny, which is fine with him.

Pascual, like any rabbit, enjoys hopping and eating vegetables, but he is not any rabbit. For one thing, unlike other rabbits, Pascual is more than two thousand years old, but I’m hopping ahead.

When Pascual was born, he was a normal animal. Only he was, perhaps, a bit more curious than a typical rabbit. He didn’t always run away, as rabbits do. He would watch things.

One day, his curiosity brought him to a most curious scene: a woman atop a donkey, led by a man. The woman’s belly was big and round. Pascual decided to follow them.

They stopped first at a busy house and it was very loud. Then they ended up in a manger. The man helped the woman down. He was very careful with her. Pascual was very curious.

You may have already guessed what Pascual saw that night in the manger. You see, the lagomorph is a kind of rabbit that lives near Bethlehem. The woman was Mary. The man was Joseph. And a special baby was born that night.

Yes, Pascual was there for the first Christmas morning. It was a magical morning. And, it turns out, a bit of that magic got into Pascual. He was no longer just a rabbit. He understood who the baby was and he loved him.

Pascual stayed by the manger, more curious than ever. Soon, there were visitors. They brought gifts, as you know, of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A gift, of course! Why didn’t he think of it?

So Pascual, knowing little of what humans value in a gift, found an old basket that had been left in the road. He filled it with the most interesting rocks he could find and placed it in the manger for Mary.

When she saw the basket full of rocks, Mary threw the rocks out and kept the basket. And so it became Pascual’s tradition to bring the family a basket every year for the child’s birthday.

As Jesus grew up, Pascual watched him. He watched him learn Joseph’s trade as a carpenter. He watched and listened when Jesus taught. One day, Jesus, still a boy, was teaching in the Synagogue.

Mary and Joseph didn’t know where he was. They were looking everywhere. Pascual saw that they were worried but, being a rabbit, he couldn’t tell them where Jesus was.

So he decided to show them. Pascual gathered berries and made a trail to the synagogue. Mary and Joseph followed and found Jesus teaching the grown ups, which Pascual found very amusing.

Pascual observed miracles from Jesus. His rabbit heart leapt with joy when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, and healed the sick, blind, and deaf. What a joy it was to be a rabbit in the days of Jesus.

But all was not to remain happy. Confused and heart broken, Pascual watched as Jesus died on a cross at Calvary. There was such sadness all around. Such despair. What could a rabbit do?

Three days later, Pascual was still wondering what he could do when Jesus appeared, risen from the dead, to Mary. His little rabbit heart leapt with joy again to see his friend, and to learn that death was not the end.

And then Pascual decided what he would do. You see, there is a little part of the story that I left out earlier, and that it took Pascual himself a long time to realize: Pascual had become a magic rabbit.

Pascual didn’t get old. He didn’t die. And he had other magic as well. So every year, on the day when Jesus was resurrected, Pascual delivers baskets to the kids of the world, like the baskets he used to give Mary.

And he leaves jellybeans because they remind him of the berries he used to help Mary and Joseph. Pascual wants us all to find our way to Jesus.

He replaced rocks with eggs in the baskets because he realized humans don’t have much use for rocks. And the eggs, a shell from which life can emerge, remind Pascual of Jesus breaking out of the tomb.

Yes, as you have surely figured out, Pascual is the Easter Bunny.

You might wonder how I know all of this. Well, Pascual wasn’t the only animal in the manger on Christmas morning.

Peanut

He's already so huge compared to these two-week pictures.

More Like It

Anxious to redeem the Philippines from my prior vacation post, I am pleased to report that Calatagan is fantastic (with photos to prove it).

Valentine's Lip Sync and Other Updates

I don't have permission to post all pics and videos, but here is Katie doing "It Takes Two" by Rob Base, with Michael attached. And since I felt the decoration team did an excellent job, I have posted some pics of their work. And a few other pics for good measure. If/when I obtain permission, I will add some excellent video.

This guy flew by my head at our Scout camp out last night. Picture doesn't offer scale. About one inch long. Hyrum Liddicoat expertly knocked him out of mid-air with his iPhone, missing my ear by mere inches.

Force Awakens via projector = best camp out ever.

Katie at work

Valentine's Playlist 2017

Songs from another great year with Katie Hart.

1. The Eye, Brandi Carlile--This song makes me thankful Katie had the patience to stick with me early on.
2. Try Everything, Shakira--Like, for example, having another baby.
3. Getting Ready to Get Down, Josh Ritter--I just think it's a fun song.
4. I Lived, OneRepublic--Pretty much our family theme song. "I owned every second that this world could give; I saw so many places; the things that I did." We listened to this about 15 times while driving from Charleston to Orlando last summer.
5. O Mio Babbino Caro, Renee Fleming--One of these things is not like the other. But Renee is just the best.
6. Astronauts, Rachel Platten--"Let the world disappear, there are places up here we can hide. Somewhere only we can find."
7. I Fall To Pieces, Patsy Cline--No explanation necessary. Just so great.
8. Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash--Ditto Ms. Cline.
9. We Know the Way, Opetaia Foa'i and Lin-Manuel Miranda--Another one made poignant by our frequent travels. "We keep our island in our mind."
10. Cupid, Sam Cooke

They Arrive

We watched Arrival last night. Such a great film. Shot straight into my all-time favorites list. Mild spoiler alert ahead: As Louise had her brain rewired by learning an alien language, I feel that my brain is being rewired by learning 12-year-old female offspring language.

But seriously, as I approach middle age, time has changed. The past is a bigger part of my present and, increasingly, I can predict at least the major trends of the future. Time becomes compressed. In the film, Louise sees the future. She sees pain and heartache. However, knowing that there is also joy, she makes the decisions that lead to the painful end. This resonated very much with my religious beliefs. Similarly, I have found great spiritual peace in accepting my place in the universe. Make no mistake, I am not resigned; I am consecrated. I interpreted the movie in this way. Louise "arrived" at spiritual peace by proactively choosing the path that was already laid out for her.

It is joyful to arrive, and to watch the arrival of my children.

Speaking of, here is a nice pic of Michael

I Have ADD

I'm not being funny or ironic. I officially have it; professionally diagnosed. I take medication for it. I am sharing in this forum with a small audience in mind. Maybe this will be helpful to them. If it is of interest to others, bonus.

I don't really love talking about it. Of all the mental health problems out there, I feel like my ADD probably has the least stigma, yet it totally has a stigma. Such as when a potential employer, upon learning that I take medication, said to me, "We don't hire people like that." Or, less seriously, but still not awesome, when people casually comment about how ADD is a made up thing.

On that point, for the sake of conversation, let me concede that it is a "made up" thing. That said, college is a made up thing. Sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day as a child is a made up thing. Placement tests are made up things. Personality screens used by employers are made up things. All of those made up things systematically work against people who have brains that work like mine. So when I get diagnosed with "made up" ADD, and I can take medication that allows me to pass those screening tests and become gainfully employed, I am thankful. So I don't even care if it's made up. The diagnosis describes me accurately and the treatment is effective.

Seeking professional help, even if a formal diagnosis does not follow, is not a sign of moral weakness. Accepting a diagnosis, including the taking of medication, is not giving up.

Of all the books I've read in trying to understand my own condition and other issues in my family, I like The Explosive Child the best. The prescribed solutions are not even as useful as the underlying premise of the book: That we all want to be good and useful to society, just some of us are unable without extra help. It is so charitable. And really it applies to all of us, not just those with problems that put us on one spectrum or another. We all have difficulties we are trying to overcome.

Finally, to my fellow ADD afflicted, and those married to such, I recommend Brandi Carlile:

I am a sturdy soul
And there ain't no shame
In lying down in the bed you've made
Can you fight the urge to run for another day?
You might make it further if you learn to stay

National Lampoon's Subic Vacation

We wanted to get out of the city for a few days. Manila is a massive concrete jungle and with the baby, we hadn't yet had a chance to get to any of the world famous beaches of the Philippines.

All the top rated beaches, even though still in the same country, require either a boat or a plane ride from Manila. With the baby, we were hoping for just a reasonable road trip for our first time out. For various reasons, I had procrastinated the reservations. So the main resorts were all booked up. Thus, I looked for a house through Airbnb.

Based on conversations overheard here and there, I had Subic Bay in my head as a reasonable place to go within a few hours drive of Metro Manila. I booked a house that looked nice online and we headed out. Upon later reflection, I was able to recall that those overheard conversations said only that Subic Bay was "a place" that a person "could go." No actual recommendations.

The drive was  nice. No problems there. As we rounded a corner and made the final descent over the hills and into the bay, I started having my first apprehensions. We could finally see the water, and it was full of massive tankers.

We rounded another corner and were greeted by the sign: "Welcome to Olongapo Home of the Most Beautiful Women in the World." At first we found this charming. Before long, I was realizing less virtuous reasons a town might label itself thus. Think Bourbon Street, but less classy and totally impoverished.

We pulled in to our neighborhood and Katie just started laughing and saying, "It will be fine. It's totally fine. This is an adventure. This will be fine." Imagine that being said in a kind of hysterical, Shutter Island sort of way. If you've seen any films by Eli Roth, you should be able to imagine the neighborhood perfectly.

Our house was indeed nice. Once inside, it was totally nice. Our hosts met us. They were kind. They made some recommendations. The kids, very good sports, were eager to get to the beach. So we quickly settled in and then reloaded the car in beach mode and headed out.

At the beach, my pattern recognition radar sent up immediate warnings, but it took a few minutes to process and act. There were no families at this beach. There were no children, except mine. Up and down the beach there were middle-aged (and older) white males and young native females. No families. Huh, that's weird.

There was a party barge about 50 yards out in the water with a restaurant on it. My kids were just getting into the water near the barge when Katie asked me how they might flush the toilet on the barge. Indeed, I could see the barge had a bathroom. So I walked to the water and told the kids that the barge might be discarding human waste so let's move away and please, don't put your heads under water.

That's when I noticed that the water was black and viscous. I pondered that for a moment as we walked down the beach away from the barge. The kids got back in the water. I saw a sewage drain from a beachside hotel draining directly onto the beach, the sludge being absorbed by the sand. I looked down the beach from that sight and saw that the sub-sand sludge would be entering the bay exactly where my kids were swimming.

So I did a Google search on my phone of "can you swim in Subic Bay." When the results came up, I ran to the kids yelling, "Out! Everyone out right now!"

Oh, Internet. You only find what you Google for.

On the bright side, when we returned to our rented house, we discovered Settlers of Katan as the first board game the entire family loves to play together with minimal fighting. So that's a major win, frankly.

Next day, we tried a nearby water park in order to enjoy water while avoiding the bay. We were almost literally the only ones there. It was like one of those post-apocolypse movie scenes at the abondanded amusement park.

Here is the view from the top of the water slide ladder:

We enjoyed the slides. I still told them to keep their heads above water and mouths shut tight. We enjoyed the clean private beach area.

Here you can see the local kids, wearing their school uniforms, sitting on top of the rock watching my kids in the wave pool.

The kayak ride in the bay, below, ended it for me. It was a clear kayak, meaning I could see below. As I paddled through and over garbage, I just couldn't take it. We returned, earlier than planned, to Metro Manila.