They Call Me Fletch

Gratuitous Picture Post

2011-11-28T01:59:00.004-06:00

Lots going on around here, but little time to write about it... they say that a picture's worth a thousand words...

Thom Thompson Painted our house... no, Really!

2011-11-09T22:22:00.004-06:00

When we bought the Natchez house we fell in love with the lines, the woodwork, the flow... but not so much with the dingy grey stucco exterior. Stucco is a great material for houses up here in the frigid tundra, as it does a good job of sealing out the cold winter winds... but it can get to looking a little shabby. Especially if you firmly adhere to the 'if it ain't broke' school of property maintenance.

Well, a short burst of landscaping work, as well as a successful kitchen renovation (it's almost, really close, just about there) convinced us that the biggest impact that we could make would be to finally get around to painting the outside. We figured

, ehh, it's a few cans of paint, a few days of work, how expensive could it be?

Trust Laura to hire one of the Group of Seven to do the work. She could have settled for Rembrandt, Michaelangelo, Monet - (well, the last one sounds right, anyway), but no - she had to go and solve one of the great Canadian

mysteries instead. Namely - what REALLY happened to Tom Thompson?

For those of you unlucky enough not to have experienced his work, Tom Thompson was a Canadian impressionist painter, famous for his interpretations of the Canadian wilderness. His works sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Here are a few favorite examples...

"The Pool"

"Northern River"

"Natchez Ave. S"

Seems that Tom faked his untimely demise to launch a lucrative career as a house painter. You know how I know it's him?

Well, the impressionist spelled his name 'Tom Thompson". Add an 'H' for house, and what do you get? "Thom Thompson"

And his paintings are still Canadian (insofar as I'm part owner of the house) and will sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I hope.

At least it's a step in the right direction... next project - replace that eyesore of a barn door that serves as a storm with something more appropriate... we'll keep you posted...

William Irvine Armstrong, 1922-2011

2011-10-16T20:02:00.011-05:00

Eulogy delivered October 12th, 2011, St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church, Picton, Ontario.

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Drew Dundas, and I have the honour of being one of the grandsons of William Irvine Armstrong. I work as a medical researcher, and in my work it is part of my daily life to read, and listen, experiment, and attempt to better understand the World around us. In my readings, I have always been struck by the impact that can be made on our understanding of the world by great men - Men whose lives leave an indelible mark on the people and societies around them. Some men, by the examples set through their lives, stand as symbols for others---My grandfather was one of these men – not perfect, not a saint. Few of us are. Like many veterans he wrestled with his share of personal demons. Yet he was a man whose principles guided those around him to better themselves and the world around them. We are gathered here today as family and friends not only to mourn the loss of one so dear to us,--but to praise him, to celebrate him and to eulogize him for all that he accomplished, all that he aspired to and all that he dreamt possible for all of us. To list his many accomplishments would take me away from what it is I really want to say---it would take me away from what I truly feel in my mind and in my heart.

My Grandfather grew up in the middle of the great age of aviation. Imagine a time when seeing an airplane fly overhead was so fantastic, so far beyond the range of the ordinary, that children would gaze out of school windows, dreaming of the opportunity to one day explore the skies. Bill dreamed of being an aeronautical engineer, or as we would say today, an aerospace engineer. At that time the only aeronautical engineering program available in North America was at Cal Tech and clearly beyond the financial resources of the family. Unfortunately, a minor economic downturn that we now refer to as ‘the Great Depression’ had made it difficult for his father, a fire captain in the city of Toronto to offer more than his moral support in the endeavor. Still, he aspired to greater things for himself and for the woman he had met and fallen in love with, my wonderful grandmother Joan. When war broke out in September 1939, my grandfather saw not a romanticized adventure, and not just an obligation to stand for the right, but rather an opportunity to better his life. He was fond of telling us of how “If I couldn’t design airplanes, I could fly them.” He volunteered, not once, but twice, after being rejected the first time due to his affliction with that dreaded medical condition - ‘flat feet’. He was accepted for service with the Royal Canadian Air Force and became a flying sergeant, serving with distinction in The United Kingdom, North Africa, and the Pacific before returning to Canada in late 1944 via San Francisco, sailing under the Golden Gate on the deck of a troopship. He continued to serve with maritime and transport command until 1947. My Grandfather’s faith in God must have been tested many times during these days, surrounded as he was by the horrors of war. Yet he never flew a mission without a dogeared copy of the New Testament stashed carefully on the main spar of the wing of his bomber - and he returned safely even after many adventures and misadventures from hundreds of missions over those long years of service. I thanked him once for what he had done for his country, for his family, for all of us during those years. He seemed surprised, uncharacteristically at a loss for words, and humbly noted that he had only done what he thought right, what he thought would result in a better world for his family and his potential descendants, that he had seized an opportunity and that I should not think of him as a hero or unique in any way. I shook my head and smiled, recognizing that this was not false modesty. Rather, quiet recognition that in his years of service he was a part of something bigger than himself, and that his life and actions were part of God’s plan for him. I never saw him in a uniform, he never applied for his medals, he never glamorized or minimized the horror that is war. His love of flying and the skills honed in service to his King and country led to a long and distinguished career as a pilot for Air Canada, a career that he often spoke of as a privilege, a challenge and a joy.

Bill became father to three, Lynda, Bill and Paul, grandfather to my brother David William and I, and great grandfather to my son Fletcher William. It is a testament to his character that now three generations of his family have named sons in his honor.

His sons followed in his footsteps, building careers with Air Canada - ‘the company’ as we called it, while his daughter became a physiotherapist. He was preceded by his beloved wife and our incredible mother and grandmother Joan; a blow that he described as something that he would never get over, so he supposed that he’d just have to learn to live with it. He did learn to live with it – but his love for Joan, Mom, Nana was deep and unfading. His stories of her were as full of joy when I spoke with him last week as they were fourteen years ago shortly after her passing. His love for all of us was exceeded only by his generosity. But with Grampa, there was no such thing as a free lunch. Each of us has followed our own path through life, but as father and grandfather he asked and expected that we aspire to excellence in all that we did and all that we do and that we serve others where possible, respect others always and act with honor, dignity and respect for all people, at all times.

When my grandparents moved to Picton from Toronto, they actively sought membership in this community by reaching out to help others and seeking to serve the neighbours and friends they knew, as well as the friends they did not know yet. They did this through service to St. Mary Magdalene Church and involvement in the Meals on Wheels, or, ‘Wheels on Meals’ program, as they referred to it. While they never expected anything in return for their time and work, on behalf of my grandparents and my family I thank all of you now, as members of their community, for the caring, support, prayers and assistance that you all provided first my grandmother and now grandfather in their times of need. Your actions mirrored his personal ideals, demonstrating again that you get exactly what you give.

In another part of my life I was what some would refer to as an elite athlete. I remember sitting around a holiday dinner table waiting for dessert and a family member asking me why I spent so much time training, when I could focus on more important things like school and family and work and a career rather than on winning some succession of trinkets. Attempting to remain a respectful young man, I avoided a smart or mean spirited remark, but was at a loss for a way to explain what competition meant to me. That reaching the pinnacle of sport; the Olympic games – was not something that I sought because of the prospects of fame or fortune, but rather for the joy of knowing that I was doing something with as much intensity and focus and drive as I could possibly muster, and that the result – whether I succeeded or failed - was something that was both measurable and tangible. I remember feeling incredibly frustrated that I was unable to articulate this. He sat beside me, waiting for me to articulate the feelings that were boiling inside me. When he could wait no longer, he turned and quietly stated, “It’s simple. For Andrew, swimming is an opportunity for excellence, and he should accept nothing less in his life.” I was struck by his intuitive grasp of why I did what I did, why I sought what I sought, and his sensitivity in letting me try to explain before so succinctly articulating what I could not. He could make sense of the things that are explainable, communicate with those who were willing to communicate, and simultaneously accept that there were mysteries of life and the universe that are beyond our understanding.

Of course, I would be remiss if I did not also note that not five minutes later as I mentioned that I had achieved a 97% on a neuroscience exam, he gruffly asked “What happened to the other 3%?”

Great men, --men who have embodied the principles of moral action and virtue---these men deserve praise. They are the men who have set examples for all of us. They are never forgotten. They will forever be admired and revered as models of fairness, justice, honesty, duty, service and sacrifice. The example that my wonderful grandfather set for me throughout his fruitful and prosperous life, and the thirty-seven short years that I had the honour of learning from him will neither be forgotten nor his ideals abandoned. I challenge all of you to aspire to his ideals of service, honour, faith, love and excellence. In that way, his spirit will reside not only within me, but within all of us forever and beyond. He was a giant, a leader and a champion among men. His was truly a life well lived.

Cold? Uff da. You don't know from cold!

2010-12-13T14:01:00.004-06:00

This past weekend I took a quick drive up to Winnipeg, Manitoba to attend the funeral of my great aunt Julie. My dad (Sir Richard) was flying in to help handle some of the estate issues and to represent the Toronto branch of the family so I thought that I'd join him.

My timing was impeccable.

A few hours after I left Minneapolis it started snowing. Really, really snowing. Hard.

Sunday morning, this happened.

Which led to this:

Actually, there are probably a whole buncha things that led to that, but anyhow...

When I arrived home, here's what I found.

There were 16" of snow on the ground at home, conservatively speaking. The driveway had not been shoveled, but some enterprising neighborhood kids had knocked on the door and offered to clear the sidewalk for $10. Great deal for Laura. Fortunately for myself, I had stopped in Fargo, ND and purchased a brand-new, secondhand refurbished snowblower.

In about an hour, the rest of the work was done.

On the positive side of the coin, it's nice and warm here in Minneapolis at -10F this morning. As Einstein said, everything's relative... it was -40F in Winnipeg yesterday morning. That's why they plug in their cars there. No joke. This is a public parking lot with free plug-ins for your block heater.

Awesome. My dad rode back down with me to minneapolis, and will be here for the week. maybe we'll be dug out by then... and maybe Brett will stop crying...

Truth in Blogging Chronology act of 2010

2010-12-06T20:39:00.008-06:00

Sponsored by Dr Laura Dundas, (Independent, Minnesota)

...it has been brought to my attention that I missed some significant events... and as usual, the auditor is correct.

Anyway, let the record reflect... during September, Nana Lynda came into town and spent the better part of a week with us. Then I headed to Harvard, UCONN and Salus Universities on a speaking tour with Jason, Jerry and Barry... and when I got back, Grandad John and Grandma Nina were here for the week. We crossed the mighty Mississippi at the site of St. Anthony Falls... the reason that Minneapolis is where it is.

We also went to the World's largest corn maze with Kim, Jeremy and Jameson. It's not Indiana, but Minnesotans are serious about their corn.

There was a 'corn pit' that was a hit with the kids. Probably the best pics from the day too...

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

2010-12-06T18:42:00.008-06:00

...so we're going to eat him.

Anyway, no posts since September!! That's embarrassing. Well, maybe not embarrassing, but definitely a poor showing.

Since we last posted, more than a few things have transpired...

1. We went to Canadia for Real Thanksgiving - which was a great visit. We flew into Buffalo (disaster - the airline didn't bother to bring our luggage with us from JFK), and drove up. Dave was in town for work, so we all got to hang out. We went to see Grampa in Picton, who had never met Fletch, spent lots of time with Owen, Dom, Parker, Chace, and Skylar, and had thanksgiving with Pete, Sara, Avery and Cole Kendall. I was excited to meet Kai Shibata as well when Beck brought him to Mom and Dad's house- amazing - he's a perfect mini Shibby! Great weekend. We even managed to sneak a trip to the Chicken Ballet in.

2. We sold the house in Nashville. Which we have very mixed feelings about. On the plus side, for once, I'm not just putting all of my paychecks into paying mortgages, but on the minus side, it feels like we've cut a cord with East Nashville that we really didn't want to cut. Laura teared up when we signed the papers. So our Nashville friends better come and visit, 'cause we miss you and the weather here is awesome. If you're a bear.

3. Miraculously, a lifelong dream came true when a Porsche 911 Super Carrera showed up in my driveway. Okay, I drove it there after I bought it, but that's why you bust your hump for seven years rehabbing two houses, getting a PostHoleDigger... right? the car arrived (fortuitously, I

think) during Dr. Spencer's Halloween visit. Fortuitously, because it meant that Laura couldn't actually kill me until AFTER Beth left, by which time she had calmed down a bit... I jest. Sort of.

4. I've been out to Portland, OR to present research at the NCRAR (National Center for Research in Auditory Rehab). What a cool spot - the NCRAR is in the Portland VA hospital, which is on a mountaintop (well, it would be considered a mountain in Minnesota, anyway) and is accessed by road, and GONDOLA. How cool is that? I stayed right downtown in the Pioneer Square district. Portland is a cool city - it has the most breweries per capita of any city in the Western Hemisphere. Also the most crackheads, but I digress.

From Portland I hopped on the 2010 version of the Wright Brothers flyer and took the hop up to Vancouver, BC to visit Dave and Nikki. We had a great time in Vancouver - I really enjoyed it this time around (Vancouver that is, I always enjoy hanging out with Dave). He had blown up ridiculous mustache pictures from our last sailing trip and nonchalantly put them into frames all over the apartment. I shudder to think about what Nik must have thought of me before I arrived!

5. While I was in Portland, Laura and Fletcher headed to their home away from home, on the river in Connellsville. They stayed there for almost three weeks, leading up to Thanksgiving. I flew in to the 'Burgh on thanksgiving day (which incidentally, has to be the best day to travel in the USA EVER - the airport was a ghost town). Nick Sandusky picked me up at the airport (thanks Nick!) and delivered me to Connellsville in style in Glen's MB E430. Nice. We had a great visit with the family, and were excited that Cassie made the trip up from Blacksburg to hang out as well.

6. Finally, Laura and Fletch decided to come home, and Laura has started a part time job with Starkey doing qualifying exams for our research participants. Fletch is hanging out in daycare two days a week and seems to be adjusting okay, although walking in to pick him up on his first day was a heartbreaker. He was sitting with his back to the wall holding a teddybear that he'd adopted, while the other kids were running around and playing. I guess that it'll take a few days to adjust...

7. Christmas arrives in St. Louis Park! And Chaunahka too! In our house though, we're sticking on the gentile side. Decorating the house is going well - it's a great canvas to start with, but having a great decorator like Laura sure helps!

Well, that's about it for today... I'll try to post more sooner, rather than later!

Deep Fried Fruit...on a stick

2010-09-11T21:30:00.005-05:00

Where else would you put fried fruit? Or candy bars? or spaghetti and meatballs?

Nowhere. They belong on a stick.

Or so we learned, when Nate and Bri came to visit and we all went to the Great Minnesota Get Together along with 210,570 of our closest friends.

(seriously, that was the attendance for the fair on ONE DAY) Technically, I guess that we were with 210, 565 of our closest friends... but anyway...

It seems that Minnesotans have made a game out of putting things on a stick and frying them. Here's short list of the things I can remember:

Pronto Pups (corn dogs... on a stick)

sausage, peppers and onions... on a stick

cheese (big stick-of-butter-sized hunk of Velveeta)... on a stick

pork chops... on a stick

Turkey legs (the stick is integral - no wood required)

roast corn... on a stick

deep fried fruit... on a stick

spaghetti and meatballs... on a stick

italian sandwiches... on a stick

deep fried bacon... on a stick

mac and cheese (seriously, on a stick)

burrito - on a stick

Scotch Eggs.... on a stick (but not as good as Brit's Pub's, despite the stick disparity)

...the list goes on and on. I wonder where they get all the sticks?

Nate and Bri made the trek up from Orlando - quite a hike on the map -

View Larger Map

As always, we had a great time. The weather was reasonably nice - not too hot, not too cold, and there was lots to do throughout the weekend. Credit for the pictures goes to Bri - ours are embarrassingly poor in comparison...

(see? No joke!)

Come visit again soon!!

Henry 1, Fuzzy Bunnies 0

2010-09-11T21:08:00.002-05:00

Tonight Henry decided to go all 'Lion King' on the backyard, and started exploring the circle of life. After weeks (months?) of being taunted by the myriad rabbits and squirrels in the yard, (seriously, it's like a critter farm out there) Henry finally managed to exact a measure of revenge on the four-legged competition.

We walked outside tonight and found the front end of a rather large rabbit... I don't mean to be gross, but that was it...

I scooped Bugs up while humming a little Wagner...

'Kill the WAAAABBBIIITTT!' and thinking of Elmer Fudd.

Poor Hen looked so sheepish, but I mean Jeez... it's what he was made to do. Well, except for the eating it part.

Watch out fuzzy bunnies... there's a new Sherriff in town.

Maybe we need to up the kibble rations...

Family's Back!

2010-08-06T09:25:00.007-05:00

Reuters - Minneapolis

The Dundas family completed the epic drive from Connellsville, PA to Minneapolis, MN on Sunday and Monday, arriving in MPLS uneventfully after 18 hours of paying tolls. The trip was punctuated with brief spurts of driving from tollbooth to tollbooth, and tollbooth to gas station.

"Not only was the drive horrendously long, we also paid tolls equal to the GDP of Ghana!" said Laura 'Iron Weinerbutt' Dundas.

"It wasn't the tolls that got me, "said Drew 'Steel Cheeks' Dundas, "it was the tollbooth worker that tried to rip us off by hiding half a dollar bill in a carefully folded stack of change. That was malicious and intentional. Was that redundant?"

Fortunately, quick thinking coupled with a near eidetic memory saved the day (and another dollar) as the couple remembered the name of the tollbooth operator and had obtained a receipt for their toll. Accordingly, they were able to complain about this unfair treatment approximately 30 seconds later at the next Illinois toll booth, 20 feet west of the first.

"We ratted his ass out." said Iron Weinerbutt. The navigator, Fletcher 'my legs are asleep and I don't know if I'm dreaming or they are' Dundas agreed "Oi??"

When asked for comment, Second officer Henry 'you think having two numb legs is bad, you should try four' Dundas remarked "Woof! Snarl..."

The foursome traversed Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota while dragging a uHaul trailer full of assorted detritus before arriving home in St. Louis Park. For our Canadian friends, these names refer to what are called 'States' - small, (typically only a few hundred 'miles' wide) but politically independent versions of 'Provinces', where interesting differences are commonly observed. For example, in Pennsylvania, one must go to a 'beer distributor' to purchase beer, in a minimum quantity of 24x12 oz bottles. This may have led to the State motto, "Drink 'em if ya got 'em, 'cause the distributor's closed". A short drive away in Ohio, however, one can drive their car through the living room of a former house to buy a six pack or a nice bottle of Mad Dog, which in an absolute fit of convenience, is handed through your window to be safely buckled into the passenger seat, again leading to the Ohio state motto, "Birthplace of libations". or something like that.

"The uHaul trailer was a whole story in itself." remarked Steel Cheeks. "To start with, we had to drive 30 miles out to the middle of nowhere to 'Jolene's Pack and Post' to get the trailer, where the proprietress proceeded to make fun of MY name, but that was just the start of it."

Upon arriving back at the Ponderosa in Connellsville, Nina 'Grandma Hawkeye' Ivey noticed that the license plate on the trailer had expired a mere five months previously. Of course, 'customer service' was unable to provide any service besides poor service, resulting in the decision to drive the trip under threat of ticket. "we even followed their directions and reported to a uHaul location on Monday morning, where we were promised that was could have a copy of a current plate faxed. After wasting another 30 minutes trying to make this happen, we were told that was could drive 45 miles out of our way to pick one up, or we could take our chances. Finally, when we got back to Minneapolis, we tried to return the trailer, only to be told that we couldn't drop it off where we were told to. Needless to say, it stayed right where it was. I'd had enough." said Steel Cheeks.

Along the drive, the intrepid adventurers visited the Wisconsin Dells area to purchase yet another tank of foreign petroleum products. This area is well known in the upper midwest as containing the largest concentration of indoor and outdoor water parks in the world. yes, that's right, INDOOR water parks. It seems that solid water is a less than desirable setup 10 months of the year, so they just put them inside. While no actual waterparks were observed during the stop, the family stopped at the Moosejaw Pizza and Brewing Company, named after the city of Moosejaw Saskatchewan. The company was located in an enormous timberframed lodge building, and served great pizza. Amazingly enough, no comment on the quality of the beer was possible (no, seriously), but the adult couple agreed that given the opportunity, both would have selected the 7.5% ABV IPA. Fletcher loved the various stuffed moose heads on the walls and carved moose outside, commenting "Oi?"

Interestingly, several vehicles in this area were observed to have replica moose pre-mounted on their roofs. The group speculated that here in the Northwoods, these may serve as a moose deterrent, designed to signal to other moose who are looking for a ride, that "this vehicle is taken! Keep off!"

More good Pics from Bri

2010-07-16T12:07:00.002-05:00

Well, Laura, Fletcher and Henry are still in Pennsylvania living the jet set lifestyle between Connellsville and Punxsutawney while I'm in MPLS. We were all there for 4th of July, however, after a heck of a week of work in Nashville.

We managed to get a whole bunch of work done on the house, and wrapped up all the bits and pieces that the whiny buyers had been complaining about.

We managed to put in the newel post and railing:

and built a deck as a bonus

and spruced up the outside:

and got rid of the nasty old garage:

Anyway, hopefully something'll happen and we can get it off our hands and into someone else's soon.

There's an open house this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

In more interesting news, Bri took some cool pics of Fletch again while we were in PA - I've borrowed a few for our viewers without access to her pics...

Picking fruit at Granny's house...

Saying grace before a delightful ration of...peas and toast? Jeez, I'd be praying for something better too...

anyway... did I mention that I'm here in MPLS to work? Better get back to it...

Best Headline Ever

2010-07-16T12:06:00.000-05:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6622I420100703

Seriously? Was the editor drunk?

Hilarious.

Like Father, Like Son...

2010-06-22T22:22:00.006-05:00

We had some friends over for dinner the other night, and smoked some ribs... they turned out pretty well, but not great... Fletcher, however, thought that they were great.

In other news, yesterday was the longest day of the year... in Minneapolis, that's serious.

This picture of the house was taken at 9:45pm!

We're heading to Nashville again in a few days,this time to try and accomplish all of the things that people (who shouldn't be buying an old house anyway) say are holding them back from putting in an offer. Things like putting closet rods up. Trimming the bushes. putting up crappy closet stuff. argh. Not my first choice of how to spend a week. I'd prefer to hang out in the honky tonks with Craig, on Kingsley's deck, or at Sam's with Scott. Hmm.... maybe it I work hard enough on the weekend...... on the PLUS side, we ARE going to get a chance to hang out with our homies - unlike the last couple of trips when we've been working or otherwise engaged the whole trip.

See you soon Nash Vegas!

Weekend Fun

2010-06-21T10:11:00.007-05:00

This was a big weekend for the four of us... Saturday morning Kim Smuda and Jameson came over for some playdate fun - we went to a great playground and splashpark here in St Louis Park - it was a little overcast and cool, but that didn't seem to slow down the kids as much as it did the adults. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that... so, moving on... later that day my Coworker Kelly and his Family took us to the 'Rock the Garden' music festival at the Walker sculpture garden. The Walker garden is right on the edge of downtown and is full of... you guessed it... sculpture! The ubiquitous Minneapolis sculpture "Spoonbridge and cherry" is located there.

Fletch was a trooper through the whole thing - laughing, dancing and loving life the whole time.

It was a little challenging for him to stand up on the steep grass slope we were sitting on, so he figured out how to wedge himself against either of us or Kelly's daughter Ada to keep upright.

There were four bands playing - we saw three of them before heading home for night-night time.

Sunday we went for a Fathers' Day walk around Lake Calhoun - it's just over three miles of good walking trail and we enjoyed the exercise - then it was home to prep the house and food for 'Gribs on the Rill' with some friends. Justyn, Mark and Brianna and their kids Skylar and Ada came by for some southern deliciousness. We made crackerbarrel casserole, ribs, wings, broccolislaw, cornbread and Strawberry Rhubarb pie. it was a feast!

The next few weeks are looking like they'll be interesting. We're heading to Nashville on Friday (by car) to work on the house -

the complaints from buyers have been that there are finishing touches that need to be applied, and they don't like the looks of the rickety old garage. So, it's bye-bye garage - we're going to demo it and do some landscaping and those 'finishing touches' that are so critical... get the last permits closed out as well I guess. It's frustrating, but not as frustrating as two mortgage payments... From Nashville we'll drive the familiar route to Connellsville for the 4th of July picnic at the Iveys' River house. Laura, Fletch and Henry will be staying there for a few weeks, and I'll be flying back to Minneapolis to work. Then, finally, I'll turn around and fly back to Connellsville so that we can all drive back to Minneapolis at the end of July. Phew. This could be interesting. Better pack the earplugs... :)

FFFA

2010-06-08T23:01:00.002-05:00

(Future Fire Fighters of America)

Okay, I admit it. That's a good picture.

Thanks to Uncle John, Aunt Linda and Ross for the super cool firetruck!

Now let's get the heck outta here. Hit it!

Okay, It's official...

2010-06-08T21:15:00.005-05:00

...no more school for Drew. unless I do that MBA. Which is not exactly improbable... hmm.

Anyway, as requested, here are some pics from graduation at Vanderbilt. Stinkin' hot that day, but I'm glad that we all made it down.

Whose idea was it to wear the medieval gear on a 95 degree day, anyway?

(Did I mention it was hot?)

Anyway, thanks to Dr Jacobson for pushing when I needed to be pushed, and sticking up for me when I needed the help... for teaching when I needed to learn, and listening when I had something to teach. I couldn't have asked for a better mentor.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for understanding why I wanted to do this... for accepting that I was staying in another country, and for coming to love Nashville as much as we did.

Thanks to John and Nina for supporting student status for so long - for understanding the frustrations, and for letting me move their daughter away, in search of a better life for us both.

Thanks to all of our family and friends for never asking 'What's taking so long?'

Thanks to the faculty, staff and students at the VBWC who taught me so much.

Finally, thank you to Laura for the motivation, support, faith and love that was in never ending supply over the last 10 years. I owe you a debt that I'll never be able to repay. I'll start with shoes. Lots and lots of shoes.

Scary days in Nashville

2010-05-04T19:18:00.003-05:00

For those of you who don't live in Nashville, you may be surprised to hear that there is a very serious situation that has developed there over the last few days. Nashville received 16 INCHES of rain over the course of a 24 hour period during the weekend, causing widespread flash flooding. As the flash floods drained into the Cumberland river, the river level rose, peaking at over 52 feet, that's right, FEET above the normal level. As the storm and sanitary sewers filled beyond capacity, downtown nashville and many surrounding areas near the river flooded. At last word, the Schermerhorn Symphony hall had more than 15' of water in the basement and sub-basement, the Predators arena was flooded, Titans stadium was flooded, the Opryland Hotel had almost 10' of water in it, Opry Mills was flooded, along with many neighborhoods. We heard of people being rescued from their homes in the middle of a subdivision by boat.

The saddest part is that they are calling this a 500 year or even 1000 year flood... and the levels of the flood far exceeded the 100 year floodplain, so many of the people who lost their homes did not have flood insurance... meaning that they will get absolutely nothing from their insurance policies.

On the upside, our friends and neighbors are okay for the most part. A few have water in their basements and minor storm damage, but no devastating damage. A weird sense of guilt is overwhelming both of us... guilt I guess that we aren't there sharing in the hardship with the people we've shared so much with over the past 7 years. Our hearts are with you.

All we can say is, wow...

1st Birthday and Uncle Dave

2010-04-18T21:59:00.006-05:00

Last weekend we had a visitor - Uncle Dave came to visit from Vancouver, BC to hang out for a few days. We were lucky enough to have good weather and were able to enjoy some exploration and a great visit. We celebrated Fletcher's first birthday a few days early as I was heading to San Diego on business on the big day. A few pictures follow...

Jason and Liz dropped by to grill out and eat cupcakes...

happy kid...most of the time...

wow, blogging is easy!!

2010-04-02T19:33:00.002-05:00

"Says who?" Laura asks.

"Says Me!", I said, and with that, I pass the feebly glowing torch of blogging to Laura.

Here she goes. Hang onto your hats, it's gonna be awesome.

T-minus 6 days until Uncle Dave comes to visit!!

We'll Miss You Pappaw...

2010-03-13T19:47:00.006-06:00

Well Henry and I are here in Minnesota while Laura and Fletcher are in Pennsylvania with the Family... unfortunately they are gathered for a less than happy reason. Laura's grandfather Robert Sandusky passed away on Wednesday night after a long illness. I'm glad that he was able to meet Fletcher. (credit for the picture above goes to Bri...)

Bob was quite a guy. He was born in Western Pennsylvania during the heyday of the coal, coke and steel era... a heyday that came to a screeching halt during the great depression. I remember Bob telling me stories about working even as a kid to help his family. When the United States entered WWII he joined the Army Air Corps and flew B-25 Mitchell bombers across the Atlantic to supply the Allied Armies in North Africa. I remember his description of the uncertainty of every flight... of the crewmembers refilling the fuel tanks while over the middle of the atlantic from five-gallon jerry cans, and of always wondering if the navigator was on track... When the war ended he returned to Connellsville and started a family with 'mommy' - a family that is his greatest legacy. Bob was father to four, grandfather to ten, great-grandfather to four(so far) and was loved and respected by all of his kin by marriage.

I could go on and on, but I'll simply say that he will be missed.

This one's for you Papaw.

October, November, December...

2010-03-10T17:07:00.005-06:00

...January, February, March!

Okay! it's DEFINITELY time to post again.

So, what's happened since September 22nd... let's see.

um, well let's see. Canadian Thanksgiving, American Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, New Years, Alan & Dan came to Nashville and worked their butts off, Valentine's day, Canada won hockey gold at the Olympics... oh yeah...Drew finished his PhD and started a new job in Minneapolis. Laura retired from her job in Columbia, we sold our house in Nashville, moved Laura, Fletch and Henry to Minneapolis to a NEW house...

And here we are.

Anyway, 'They Call Me Fletch' is supposed to be about Fletch, so here goes.

Fletcher is almost 11 months old. He is pulling up on pretty much anything, and cruising from one location to the next by hanging onto the coffee tables, end tables, couches, Henry, Drew's pants, you name it.

Leaving Nashville was tough on all of us. I think that this was because of a number of different things, but the biggest part had to be leaving the friends that we'd become so close with over the past few years. It really does seem like they were sad to see us go too, hard as it may be to believe! Kim and Craig had a party for us and invited the whole neighborhood. Kingsley & Jessica, Nicole & Jim (and Caramante), Patrick & Melissa, Chris & Leigh... the whole fam-damily really. What a great send off. We miss them all! Same thing with our work friends and students at Vandy and the MTHAC crew- it's still kind of weird not to see all of you everyday.

On the upside, the transition to Minneapolis has been relatively smooth. The house is SOOO roomy compared to our old house, and actually having storage is awesome. Walk in closets in each bedroom (2 in the master), a finished basement, a pantry, built in book cases and china cabinet... if not for the work that i have to do to take this place to Laura Standard S3.22 R2 (sorry - scientist joke) I'd be ecstatic... but I guess that once I start working, I'll be ecstatic anyway, because let's face it, I like getting dirty.

Anyway, Laura is an administrator now, so no more excuses. What could she possible be doing all day while I'm at work? Hmm? :)

More to come...

D & L

Fletcher Warhol

2009-09-22T23:18:00.005-05:00

Okay - it's Laura's birthday tomorrow - here's a sneak preview of her birthday present...

See? Bri and Dave aren't the only artsy ones...

Happy Birthday babe!!

Okay, I admit it...

2009-09-22T19:12:00.004-05:00

...I'm freakishly large. But I would swear on a stack of Bibles that nobody larger than an Oompa Loompa would fit in the front seat of the Subaru with that new car seat behind it. There is absolutely no way within this time space continuum that I'm going to be able to shoehorn myself into the passenger seat of the car. Here's the only solution I can think of...

..."Paging Dr Who... Dr Who to the Tardis please."

Remember the Tardis? That amazing space/time travel machine from the 70's and 80's that was an unassuming police box on the outside, but was opulent and spacious inside. It was even the color of the Subaru!!

Here's the inside...

we need this option for the next vehicle... which in true Tardis fashion, will remain stuck in the appearance of a minivan, but be a cool SUV, or even a sports car on the inside. But have a beverage cooler and maybe a DVD player. hmm, maybe that won't be so bad.

Safe travels, whatever dimension they may be in...

Speaking of interesting stuff...

2009-09-10T21:51:00.008-05:00

...that's been happening around here, a few weeks ago we went to the Nashville BBQ festival. We agreed that it was a little light on the BBQ, but had plenty of festival.

In a rare, non-humid evening, we had a wonderful time sitting outside and hanging out with the Kennedys. Even the parking situation was pleasant as we found free spots at LP Field and walked across the Shelby street pedestrian bridge.

Craig designed this new building - I thought this was a cool shot...

Here We Go....

2009-09-10T21:39:00.005-05:00

...Steelers? Titans?? It depends who you ask!

Laura, Fletcher and I joined the Kennedys tonight for an NFL kickoff party. Kim whipped up some awesome homemade pizzas (barbeque chicken and buffalo chicken)... oh, and then she topped it all off with homemade ice cream. Phew. I'm stuffed.

Fletch & Laura suited up in Black and gold. In fact, he even wore the outfit to school today. I'm surprised that they fed him...

Congratulations Dr. Spencer!

2009-08-18T06:33:00.003-05:00

Congrats to Beth on successfully defending her dissertation entitled "Part term word learning in low SES children". Or something like that... After numerous frustrations (typical of these things, trust me) Beth managed to convince her committee that she deserved to graduate. We were convinced all along.

Unfortunately, this accomplishment closes a very happy chapter in our lives, as Beth will be moving to Columbus, OH to start a very prestigious post-doc at 'THE' Ohio State University. She will be working at the Schauenbaum Center, in the area of word and language learning in the low SES child population. We have no doubt that we'll always be close friends, but will dearly miss hanging out on the weekends, ducking to the office next door for an opinion on a study design, grazing at Costco on saturday mornings, playing with the dogs, running sewer pipe, installing siding, painting... I'm detecting a sweat equity issue here, I'd better cut this off... In summary -

Good Luck Beth!! We'll miss you!

Shots!!!

2009-08-18T06:21:00.002-05:00

Fletch visited Dr Walters yesterday for his 4 month check up - here are the stats...

-Height- 85th Percentile

-Weight 60th Percentile

-Head Circumference - 85th Percentile

The innoculations elicited screams of an unprecedented fury. These screams were the equivalent of nuclear weapons. Unbelievable. Fortunately, the sound and fury signified nothing. By the time we got downstairs, he was back to his old happy self.

Baby Thudd

2009-08-07T10:03:00.001-05:00

Here's a pic of Alastair shamelessly stolen from the Baby Thudd website!

A Welcome to the Family Notice

2009-08-07T09:56:00.003-05:00

Laura, Fletcher and I extend our congratulations to Steve and Sarah Thornton-Budd (Thudd) on the safe arrival of their son Alastair Peter Thornton-Budd. Mom, Dad and Baby are reportedly doing well!

Cheeseburger in Paradise

2009-07-27T08:59:00.006-05:00

Laura and I were taking a break from working around the house on Saturday and playing with Fletcher. We were watching a DVD of pictures taken on a patient/friend's sailboat while sailing in the Gulf. The pictures were set to music, and when "Cheeseburger in Paradise" came on, Fletch just lit up! Check out the video below. Hopefully it's not a giant file -

Summertime In Nashville

2009-07-23T17:51:00.009-05:00

Lots of things have happened since we last posted... hmm, where to start?

Soon after our last posting congratulating the Kennedys we traveled to Memphis, TN for our Green Card interview. After all of the mental buildup, then entire process took about 20 minutes. My favorite part was "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of a terrorist organization?" I was pleased to be able to answer honestly with "NO", but was more than a little perplexed about whether the Feds really think that anybody is going to say, "Okay, you got me. I've spent ten years developing my cover, vacations in the desert training for the big day, and geez, if anybody had just asked me this sooner, I'd be in Gitmo for sure!!". Weird. That said, there were lots of good questions, and despite the fact that Laura said that we had met in May of 2009, they gave us the all clear, so now I can stay here!!

A few weeks later, Laura and Fletcher flew up to Pittsburgh to spend the week in Connellsville with Grandma and Granddad Ivey. Sounds like they had a good time. I spent the week running subjects and working, and hopped in the car with Henry a few days later and drove up. We had an uneventful trip and enjoyed a day or so at the river house before hopping in the car and driving to Mississauga to visit Nana and Didi Dundas. Great Grandma Dundas (We call her Gigi) was very excited to meet the Fletchman.

Travel plans being flexible, we made a last second decision to head to Goderich Ontario to visit Pete, Sara and Avery Kendall at their cottage on the shore of lake Huron.

The weather wasn't ideal, but we enjoyed hanging out, and even tried to take Pete's new sailboard out for a spin. The wind wasn't quite strong enough to really rip it, but at least we know that the thing still works. It amazes me to think that I'd had that sailboard for almost 20 years! I'm sure that it's more than a little bit archaic as far as windsurfing technology goes!!

Mom and Dad Dundas threw a big Canada Day party on July 1st, and we were lucky enough to have most of the family (Sue and John Budd, Steve and Sarah Thudd, Chris and Tara, Mike, and of course, Gigi) come over, as well as Pete, Sara and Avery, Owen, Dom, Parker, Chase, Gerry and Lucille, and Rebecca and Andy Shibby. It was a great afternoon/evening. It was the first time in my memory that there were 4 generations of Dundas'es' in the same place at the same time.

We then headed back down to PA for Independence day and enjoyed the traditional 4th of July picnic that the Iveys throw each year. A large crowd of family and friends gathered for a fun day of games, food and fun. And beer. Lots of beer. It would be Un-American to not have so much beer. I defended my 3-legged race title from last year with yet another Sandusky - Matt and I crushed Pat and Britney. Maybe we should play the Turkeybowl as three-legged teams this year....

Sunday the 5th, John and Nina organized a family float trip down the river to Phil's Nite Club and beyond. Fletcher stayed with John during the first half, then came down to visit us at the bar for pizza, wings and beer. Drew took him back to the house, while Laura and Emilie continued down to Adelaide. Fletcher, Frank, Linda, Judy, Jenny and I played music all afternoon - working on a few favorite tunes - "Folsom Prison Blues" and a contemporary worship song that Linda was learning for church. She's really rocking out the Bass these days - Frank and I were teaching her to walk between chords for that Geddy Lee sound. Okay, mostly it was Frank.

We headed back to Nashville and had an uneventful drive - Fletcher was awesome in the car as usual, and with a minimum of stops to feed him and run Henry, we made it back home in time to start work.

I think I'll finish this post off and come back a bit later with more... somebody wants a little attention :)

Congrats to Kim and Craig...

2009-06-09T18:52:00.002-05:00

... on the safe arrival of Brynn Simmons K. A healthy baby girl, weighing in at 7lbs, 9oz. Mom, Dad and Big sister are doing well...

So much for freedom of the press

2009-06-06T08:50:00.003-05:00

So I've been studying for my Green Card interview...The first amendment to the US constitution guarantees the freedom of the press. Apparently the founding fathers never met my wife. After posting the last writeup on our weekend with Nate and Bri, she started bugging me to change things... "I don't like this picture of me." and "We didn't go there... that was with my mom and dad.", "Will you put up a better picture here? I don't want a picture of my fat pasty self"

Next it'll be "Eat your broccoli, you love broccoli." Sheesh.

Watch out, Americuh, Big Brother (Sister) is alive and well!

:)

Good Times Come to Nashville.

2009-06-06T07:35:00.012-05:00

We were lucky to have more visitors last weekend as Nate and Bri flew in for a few days. Bri brought along her photo gear, which of course resulted in a multitude of awesome pictures of Fletcher, Laura and Henry. Her photoshop powers will be severely tested, however, making me look more like a combination of Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Weekend fun included a trip to the Yazoo Brewery - a local legend for delicious and effective beers. Check them out at http://www.yazoobrew.com/

Yazoo is located in an old car factory called the Marathon Motor works building. Marathon built cars in Nashville that were considered to be superior to the competition in the period leading up to WWI. Apparently, however, the managers were the same guys who now run GM, as they went under as quality slipped, market share shrank, and production technologies outgrew them. Also similar to GM, there seems to be a great nostalgia for this problem plagued product... weird.

Anyway, the brewery is in a very cool building, and there is a taproom and beer garden (courtyard) where you can sample the wares during selected hours. We took Fletcher on his first Brewery tour on Saturday. The tour guide thought it was pretty cool to have a baby in a Bjorn learning about beer. I'm still not sure how I feel about that...

It seems that Nate and Bri enjoyed hanging out with Fletch. Bri continued giggling even as she was drenched in spitup from shoulder to the toes of her right foot... an event that inspired Nate compose one of his trademark original musical hits, "The purple burpasaurus". Fletcher enjoyed that one a lot!

Beth came over to hang out and have dinner on Saturday, and helped Laura and Bri prepare a delicious dinner of shredded beef tacos, some sort of corn salsa and Kim Kennedy's famous spicy pineapple 'vegetable'. It seems that Laura misjudged the type of hot peppers to add, however, as my face melted off when I ate it, which has never happened when Kim made it. (Food promo shots unashamedly stolen from Bri)

Sunday we managed to squeeze a fair bit of work into a busy (and hot) day. Drew scraped and painted a soffit and finished up some cedar shingle work while Fletcher, Laura, Nate and Bri headed to Star Bagel for breakfast then coffee sipping shopping for used books and assorted baby parephenalia at such favorites as 'Target', 'Costco' and 'McKays'. Since I'm always working, I hear talk of these places, but forget what they are actually all about. Ask Laura. She makes the money, she spends the money. It's only fair.

After cleaning the paint debris up, (and cleaning Drew up), we headed to the Rosepepper Cantina for a late lunch. After sampling delicious Sonoran cuisine, Bri had a big smile on her face and headed for the airport in good spirits.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2009-05-20T21:57:00.001-05:00

Fletcher and Drew were enjoying some quality time on the deck...

Then we thought that we'd have some Key Lime Pie, 'a la Bri'

A strictly pictures post...

2009-05-14T06:36:00.000-05:00

...is all I have time for.

Okay, maybe a little bit of editorial. Here's the first bath at home.

Henry says, "Dude, How come you get your own sheep? Do you have any idea much work it takes to catch one of those yourself? Sheesh..."

Big brothers are so much more fuzzy and comfortable than dads...

I wonder if we can save on daycare this way?? hmm.

Laura Says....

2009-04-25T20:46:00.000-05:00

... that Fletcher's fans want another post.

Well, here goes. The day started early for the little guy as we dumped him into the open arms of Nana Dundas at 6 am, so that Laura and I could sleep. We snoozed in peace until almost 9am after being up for a good chunk of the night. Seems that we've produced a nocturnal infant (I think that he takes after Grandad John, who seems to be able to fall asleep anywhere, anytime.)

Fletcher is working on his reputation of being a ladies' man, as he was swarmed by four eligible (okay, three eligible - sorry Raz) young ladies clad in their post-music city marathon sundress finery). It has not yet been ascertained whether post race celebratory alcohol was involved in the attention.

Pics to follow-

We're Heading Home...

2009-04-17T09:35:00.000-05:00

...soon. Supposedly.

Fletcher was checked out by his pediatrician, Dr. Walters, and Laura was checked out by an OB, so we have the green light to take the little guy home.

Fletcher is a little on the yellow side today, but Dr. Walters thinks that the jaundice should start clearing up as he gets more breastmilk through him. He's not quite a hyper-bili baby, so there's no need for the bili-blanket or bili-light yet. I think that we'll just spend some time out on the deck this afternoon soaking up some rays. That'll help.

Well, it's time to get some stuff out to the car, and the infant seat in here for fitting (Thanks again, Kim and Doug), so I'd better get moving.

He's Here!!!

2009-04-16T16:51:00.000-05:00

We were proud and excited to welcome Fletcher William Dundas April 14th, 2009 at 12:54pm. Fletcher weighed in at a healthy 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and measured 21 inches from head to toe.

Laura is doing great. She made it through her surgery without any complications, and is resting comfortably.

Grandma and Grandad Ivey were here in Nashville for the birth and have taken lots of pictures. We'll try to post a few of them over the next few days and will do our best to keep you updated as we get ready to head home and get into a routine with eating, sleeping, and all that baby stuff. We should mention that Fletcher and Nina share a birthday! What are the chances? (actually, about 1 in 365.25, but still pretty darn cool.)

Big brother Henry was very interested in sniffing Fletcher's blankets and tells me that he's looking forward to their introduction. At least, that's what I think the madly wagging tail meant...

Thanks for all of your visits, flowers, emails, texts and phone calls. We truly appreciate being in your thoughts. We'll keep posting if you keep reading!