Autobiography, up to 2007
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| At the Dubliner in
Copenhagen, February 1998 |
Our Wedding Day on
Seychelles, April 1995 |
Like everyone, we're a bit strange. Like
everyone, we weren't born that way, instead it's taken a lot of
practice.
Frank's hobbies are collecting hotel pens,
and going to as many baseball parks as possible. So far, quite a
pen collection (although quite transient). For ballparks visited, see Ballparks.
Favorite TV show is SG1. Dian likes gardening, watching the birds who visit
her feeders, reading books (especially
mysteries), and is an avid crossword puzzler. Favorite TV show is anything on
PBS mystery theater. Dian is an avid grandmother to Riley,
Shannon, and Jake.
As Frank & Dian have moved around a bit, their friends tend to be a bit
spread out, with most not being local. An evening out with familiar faces
is normally spent at their favorite watering hole, the Old Court Pub. A
cheap date night is spent at home (where you can still smoke
cigarettes), watching video on demand, and drinking Bud
Lights. Why Bud Lights, after all those great German beers? Don't
know. Just haven't warmed up to all those boutique American beers
-- too syrupy. We got used to pilsner -- where a little bitter
taste leaves a fresh taste. As far as we're concerned, if you're
going to have more than one, make it a Bud Light -- where it's
the taste of tap water that leaves a fresh taste. The best beers?
Depends on the time, and your mood. Our small set: Warsteiner,
Bitburger, Budvar Budweiser (Czech), Pilsner Urquell, any
Bayrische Hefe Weissen beer (the breakfast beer), Guinness, and
Bud Light.
We try to visit Doolin, Ireland every year. We try to
visit Germany about once every 3 years. The rest we take
it as it comes.
We're like those obnoxious friends that send boring Christmas
recap letters. Here's past letters (for the daring):
2005 (80 kB),
2006 (5 MB).
Here's a tapestry of our travels through time and space...
The start of the OBCM years
In April '04, after getting encouragement
from a number of contacts, Frank started his own consulting
company, OBCM, providing regulatory support services for medical
device manufacturers. The garage was remodeled as an
office and product safety testing laboratory, with a 5 kVA
service, HVAC controlled environment, plumbing, and exhaust
ventilation. Life is good. The commute is good, and
all is equipped just the way Frank likes. Imagine that.
Customers have been forthcoming, and hopefully business will
continue to grow. The Boston area is one of the top 3 metro areas for medical
device firms (the others being northern and southern CA).
Starting a company takes many hours. Sadly too many
hours to continue Frank's efforts helping CASLsoft, the RAD tool
development company. It's at this time that the company
was transferred to 2 new owners; with lot's of energy to
continue. Frank still uses a Treo phone.
The start of the Lowell years
We arrived in Lowell, MA in Sep '01. Frank transferred
from UL, Santa Clara, CA to UL, Chelmsford. House prices
in Santa Clara were a bit discouraging, so the Boston area
actually offered some relief. For more on this, see Dian's
house hunting report. We're also
closer to our daughters who live on Long Island, NY. Having come
from NY, we were also looking forward to 4 seasons again.
California basically has 2 seasons, nice weather and rain.
We wanted to check out the land of white steeples and red
bricks; otherwise known as New England.
In early July 2001 we completed a home hunting
visit. Having looked in Chelmsford, Billerica, and the
surrounding locales, we didn't see much we liked. Pretty
suburban. We prefer more the village setting where one can walk
around a bit, rather than drive everywhere. Lexington would be
nice, but a bit expensive. Lowell, being an old mill town has
some dodgy parts, but once we discovered the nicer revitalized
parts as well, we could see this would be the place for
bargains. We looked at a new townhouse development with 12
units, near some historical houses, including a round stone one,
and we fell in love.
The townhouse was new construction, so it was nice and new. No maintenance, no grass mowing, and no snow removal are big pluses. Frank has anxiety fits when in Home Depot. Since it wasn't built yet, we were able to select the flooring. We got some nice oak flooring for the living room, and some tan carpet for other rooms. The kitchen, dining, and bath rooms will have a tan simulated-stone tile linoleum. The foyer will have a gray simulated-stone tile linoleum.
For more about our townhouse, see the
Kelsey's Way
website. The Great Crossing
What follows is the unillustrated, abridged version of Frank and Dian's
journey from Campbell, CA to Lowell, MA. This journey was our way of relocating
to our new townhouse in Lowell, and a job nearby in Chelmsford. Frank is hoping to have time to scan in a few pictures, and
also get more of Dian's input, but this will have to wait.
| Day
| Route and Happenings
| Overnight Stay
| Approx. Daily Mileage
| Approx. Cum- mulative Mileage
| States Visited
|
1,
Saturday, 11 Aug 01 |
After the moving truck arrived 4 hours late,
we made our way up Rt 680 to Rt 80 east. If you're
wondering why we wouldn't take the much prettier
route through South Lake Tahoe, don't worry, we did that
in April, so we figured we'd take the faster route. |
Motel 6 on the eastside of Reno, NV |
230 |
230 |
California, Nevada |
2,
Sunday, 12 Aug 01 |
We continued on Rt 80 east. The plan was
to proceed to Salt Lake City, and then proceed
north on Rt 15, making our way to Yellowstone
Park. But on reaching Winnemucca, NV for lunch,
we heard that Rt 80 was closed further east due
to forest fires! Well, change of plans. We headed
north on Rt 95 and then Rt 55 to Boise, ID. Took
a quick drive through Boise. Nice little city
nestled in the middle of the beautiful Rockie Mountains.
Lot's of flower boxes and red brick cafes. |
Motel 6 on south side of Boise, ID |
432 |
662 |
Nevada, Oregon, Idaho |
3,
Monday, 13 Aug 01 |
From Boise, we headed east on Rt 84, then took
the Rt 20 branch more through the mountains. This
took us through the "Creators of the Moon"
area, which has fields of black lava rock. Very
neat. |
Super 8 Motel in West Yellowstone, MT |
517 |
1,179 |
Idaho, Montana |
4,
Tuesday, 14 Aug 01 |
Saw the geysers, and took it easy at Lake Village.
No TV, no telephone, no internet. |
Lake Lodge, Lake Village, Yellowstone Park, WY |
51 |
1,231 |
Montana, Wyoming |
5,
Wednesday, 15 Aug 01 |
A second day in Yellowstone, saw lot's of buffaloes,
and the Canyon area with waterfalls and colored flows.
We left park and headed east on Rt 20/14 until we reached
Rt 90 east agian. We made it about half way through
Wyoming. Ate a a great little steak place across from
hotel, called Winchester's. Lot's of cowboys about. |
Motel 6 in Buffalo, WY |
289 |
1,519 |
Wyoming |
6,
Thursday, 16 Aug 01 |
Continued east on Rt 90. Saw lot's on big sky
and long straight stretches of road. Before reaching
South Dakota we branched off on Rt 16, so once entering
South Dakota we'd take in first the Crazy Horse memorial,
then Mount Rushmore. Had a great big steak for dinner,
and hung out with more of the cowboys. |
Super 8 Hotel in Chamberlain, SD |
450 |
1,970 |
Wyoming, South Dakota |
7,
Friday, 17 Aug 01 |
Continued east on Rt 90. Took a stop
at Mitchell for the corn palace, a one of a kind.
Proceeded to Sioux Falls and headed south on
Rt 29 along Iowa and Nebraska border. This brought us
into Kansas City in time for a dinner at Gate's
for BBQ ribs with sister Sue and Michael. |
Sister Sue's place in Kansas City, MO |
623 |
2,593 |
South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri |
8,
Saturday, 18 Aug 01 |
Saw Shrek at a movie theater in Kansas. Had
susi and shabu shabu at a Japanese restaurant |
Sister Sue's place in Kansas City, MO |
0 |
2,593 |
Kansas, Missouri |
9,
Sunday, 19 Aug 01 |
Left KC proceeding east on Rt 70. Made it to
the StL Cardinals game by 1 pm start. After game,
took in the Anheuser Busch tour at world headquarters.
That night we called to see about visting brother Mike
in Syracuse, and discovered that he and the family
would be in Maine, so we decided the proper course
would be to see Wild Bill in Toronto. |
Motel 6 on east side of Saint Louis, in Collinsville, IL |
260 |
2,853 |
Missouri, Illinois |
10,
Monday, 20 Aug 01 |
We crossed IL, IA, and parts of OH on Rt 70, then took
Rt 75 north towards Detroit. Made it about half
way, to Lima, OH (like the bean). |
Motel 6, Lima, OH |
389 |
3,241 |
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio |
11,
Tuesday, 21 Aug 01 |
Continuing north on Rt 75 we made it to Detroit
and crossed the bridge into Ontario to Hwy 401 east
to Toronto. |
Wild Bill's luxury pad in Toronto, Ontario |
446 |
3,687 |
Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, |
12,
Wednesday, 22 Aug 01 |
From Toronto, we intended to go through Niagra
Falls, and then into NY along Rt 90 through Buffalo,
Syracuse, since Mike wasn't around, stop somewhere around
Utica, leaving the final home stretch to Lowell for the
next day. Instead, the radio in Toronto informed us that
the SF Giants were playing in Montreal, so we changed course,
and proceeded further east on Hwy 401 to Montreal with
intentions to make the 7 pm start time. We made it barely,
(actually arriving at start of 2nd innings, but we managed
to get through Montreal rush hour traffic, and book our hotel
room before the game. |
Travel Lodge, downtown Montreal, Quebec |
346 |
4,034 |
Ontario, Quebec |
13,
Thursday, 23 Aug 01 |
We made our way out of Montreal and headed south
on Rt 15 towards Rt 87 south through the Adirondack
region of NY. We stopped at Frank's dad for our camping
equipment we'd left on a prior visit to the Jazz Fest at
Saratoga. Hearing that our furniture would be late, we
were happy to have sleeping bags, an air mattress, 2 extra
folding chairs, a side table, and a real cooler. Our
Styrofoam cooler, bought at 7-11 about 4 years ago, was starting
to leak, so it was retired with honors. After the stop,
we proceeded on Rt 90 east to Rt 290 at Worcester, and
then the final stretch on Rt 495 to Lowell. We looked at
our new town house, and it didn't look too ready. |
Motel 6, Tewksbury, MA |
403 |
4,437 |
Quebec, New York, Massachusetts |
14,
Friday, 24 Aug 01 |
Although we were ready, including a few phone calls
to Wells Fargo, and a trip to our new bank, First Mass
to open an account and secure a bank check for the closing
costs, the day of the closing was not to happen. We left a list
of items that needed doing with the builders, and then decided
it made more sense to sleep in Maine for free than to stay at
Motel 6. We slowly navigated through the weekend rush hour
traffic to Maine by taking 495 north to Rt 95 north to the
Portland area of Maine. Met Mike and family, and Mom at
beach in Old Orchard. |
Aunt Jane's Crescent Lake Cottage |
111 |
4,548 |
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine |
15,
Saturday, 25 Aug 01 |
Taking it easy in Maine. No word on actual closing date yet.
A last dinner with Mike and family, 2 lobsters each. |
Aunt Jane's Crescent Lake Cottage |
31 |
4,579 |
Maine |
16,
Sunday, 26 Aug 01 |
Taking it easy in Maine. No word on actual closing date yet.
We had a nice lobster bake dinner for 2, complete with steamers
and corn on the cob. Ummm. |
Grandma's Raymond Pond Cottage |
31 |
4,610 |
Maine |
17,
Monday, 27 Aug 01 |
Another easy day in Maine, although we'd rather be closing
and moving in, we talked the real estate agent into checking
whether the list was completed, and found out the closing would
be 1pm in Lowell. We saw 7 loons at one time, and heard the
"call of the loon" all day and night. Great with echoes. We
also saw 2-3 wild turkeys 3 times while driving to little general
store for supplies. And cute little chipmunks were everywhere.
We rowed out to a little island for a bud light at sunset. It was
great to have a quite place to relax after a long trip. |
Grandma's Raymond Pond Cottage |
31 |
4,640 |
Maine |
18,
Tuesday, 28 Aug 01 |
Made our way back to Lowell, for closing. Who cares if
the list isn't done. We're ready to sign anything. Saw
Grandma and Mom on the way down in Scarbourgh, ME. |
Our new place!!! |
111 |
4,751 |
Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts |
Other reflections?
- To cross this great country takes only a Rand McNally Map of North
America, a Motel 6 Directory, and as a backup, a Super 8 Hotel directory.
The Rand McNally map book is great, it's got all you need, including city maps.
For us, Motel 6 was a comfortable enough bed, a good shower, free ice, free
local telephone (for email), and when needed a laundry room. All you need
at a reasonable price. Super 8's might be a little nicer bed, but they're
also about $20 more expensive. Since there's not always going to be a
Motel 6 where you need you, Super 8 is a good backup. Both hotel
directories contain maps, rates, and telephone numbers.
- Boy did we zip zag around. From San Jose to Lowell is about 3200 miles,
if you just take a straight shot using Rt 80 to Chicago, and then Rt 90
to Lowell, but we ended up driving another 1200 miles, 37% more than needed
(not counting side-trip to Maine).
But we loved seeing Yellowstone, friends and family along the way, and
all the rest, so have no regrets.
- Traveling 4400 miles in 13 days (not counting Maine side-trip), means
we averaged 340 miles/day, about 5-6 hours/day. Our longest
day was 623 miles in order to make it to KC in time for dinner. This was
a 9 hour drive (we went pretty fast).
- Our first thought was to rent a U-Haul van, complete with trailer for
the car. Boy are we glad we didn't do this. Who knows what break-down
type problems we might have had, but even discounting this, traveling in
a Honda Civic allowed us to get around and through cities so easy.
We got about 40 miles/gallon, making our gas costs probably about
1/4 what driving a U-Haul would have been. This easily paid for our stays
at a Motel 6 (keep this in mind for those considering an RV for the big
vacation trip). The moving company we hired hasn't delivered the
furniture yet, and maybe they never will, but a week late seems likely.
The fee for the movers was about the same as the U-Haul with trailer, and
the movers loaded and unloaded. (We -- actually Dian -- did all the packing,
and unpacking). And considering the extra gas expense, we would have lost
money, in addition to the extra aggravation, if we'd used the U-Haul approach.
With the Honda Civic we had cruise control, and a radio and tape player we
knew worked.
- Speaking of tapes, Dian rented 3 novels on tape from the
Campbell library, and we enjoyed these along the way. Dian mailed the tapes
back to the Campbell library with pre-paid postage envelopes she'd organized
with the post office before she left. Worked out great.
The Campbell, CA years
We landed in Campbell, California in Jan
'97. It seemed like a good idea. California looking out on the
bustling Pacific rim. And being originally New Yorkers, it was
time to find out what California was all about. So we went west,
very west. We relocated from Frankfurt, Germany.
Many friends were made, mostly from work and neighbors,
but a few others as well.
It was here Frank started his obsession with the Palm OS.
He started programming games and selling them on the side.
The income was very modest, but just seeing sales from all
over the world was exciting. He began providing so
much voluntary support to the programming tool he used, CASL,
that the makers, CASLsoft, hired him. More modest side
income, but it was the fun of programming and helping other
programmers that was satisfying. Frank provided the
marketing, website maintenance, and customer support
functions. Being in Campbell had it's advantages since
Palm was right up the road in Sunnyvale. Frank
attended many Palm meetings at Palm offices. There was
also an annual developers conference in Sunnyvale.
Frank would attend these, including one in Germany, as the
CASLsoft representative. CASLsoft was headquartered in
Philadelphia, but it's amazing how a company can cohesively
operate over the internet.
The Neu Isenburg, Germany years
We arrived in Neu-Isenburg in Jun '90, just
outside of Frankfurt. It was an opportunity Frank couldn't pass
up. His company offered him a position working in Offenbach. What
started out as a 2 year position, turned into 6-1/2 years. After
2 years in Frankfurt we found suitable accommodations at the White
Lodge. Life was good in Neu-Isenburg. Much prefer the village
where you can walk or bike where you want -- restaurant, pub,
shopping, or beer garden. We were married in Apr '95 on
Seychelles, an island nation off the west coast of Africa, north
of Madagascar. While in Europe, work took Frank everywhere, and
Dian went along. It's always more fun traveling together. We left
a lot of friends behind, which of course we'll now visit as
obnoxious house guests.
The Long Island, NY years
Before Jun '90 Frank and Dian lived for
about 8 months at the Love Shack, walking distance to the beach,
near Crabmeadow, Northport, NY. Before that we were neighbors at
Burger View Estates, in Huntington Village, for 6 years or so. It
was here that the tradition of a Saint Paddy's Day Fest was born
on the first Saturday before 17 Mar '84. Good friends were made
there. We became know as the Great League of Fruitful Fisherman
Bunker Club -- Leo the mural artist, Dian the caterer for the
rich and famous, George the bass player, John the model, Loretta
the aerospace engineer, Charlie king of the clammers, Karen the
bank clerk, and Frank the safety engineer.
The early years
Dian grew up in Huntington. A village where
you can walk everywhere, and the bay is nearby. Dian had been
married, and has two beautiful daughters, Jackie, and BG
(Martha). Jackie and BG are both on their own, working in
Manhattan. Frank arrived on Long Island in Jun 80, after
graduating from Clarkson University (a college then) in Potsdam,
NY. Before that Frank grew up in Marcellus, NY, a small village
outside Syracuse, NY. He was born in Fall River, MA.
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