I'll keep climbing

Thank you INXS.

For everyday that seems harder to walk, I'll walk a little further, I'll look a little higher and I promise, I'll follow in my way.

"The Stairs" INXS

In a room above a busy street
The echoes of a life
The fragments and the accidents
Separated by incidents

Listen to by the walls
We share the same spaces
Repeated in the corridors
Performing the same movements

Storey to storey
Building to building
Street to street
We pass each other on the stairs

Storey to storey
Building to building
Street to street
We pass each other on the stairs

Listen to by the walls
We share the same spaces
Repeated in the corridors
Performing the same movements

The nature of your tragedy
Is chained around your neck
Do you lead or are you lead
Are you sure that you don't care

There are reasons here to give your life
And follow in your way
The passion lives to keep your faith
Though all are different, all are great

Climbing as we fall
We dare to hold on to our fate
And steal away our destiny
To catch ourselves
With quiet grace

Storey to storey
Building to building
Street to street
We pass each other on the stairs

Listen to by the walls
We share the same spaces
Repeated in the corridors
Performing the same movements

Storey to storey
Building to building
Street to street
We pass each other on the stairs

The Open Road

Yeah the open road it calls to me

not sure what I'll see,

Don't care for any kind of store

warehouse discounts I deplore,

Show me where the skies are free

just miles of breathless infinity,

Show me how the pipes are laid

the effort it takes to get these roads made,

Let me glance to the left

where endless grasses by winds are swept,

I move my eyes to the right

and see how the sunlight shifts to night,

This is where I am happiest

I have nothing to fear or conquest,

I let go of my watch and maps

and all the daily human traps,

My senses are heightened and I'm enamored

sure my lips are red, I still love glamour,

But I'm an open road girl yesiree

won't you come and ride with me?

A tank of gas and my favorite songs

this is God's gift, it's where I belong...

Hi Dad

Hi Dad,

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. I think of you everyday. An in fact, I wish you were here more than ever, because you might laugh at how my interests have changed lately. Remember how much I loved hearing about the chemical plants you worked at? The projects, the engineering drawings, the complexities of power plants massive in size and power? Building design, power plant design and the distribution of energy via coal, chemicals and electrical power? Okay all that stuff! I wish you shared more about your day, but I'm glad I learned what I did. So along those lines, guess what I've been learning and studying? The intricacies of building design. I loved studying it at UCI - remember my classes in urban and regional design, architecture, social ecology...oooohhh, it's all coming back now. 

I've been studying site planning, building inspection, building codes and what goes into making a building a building (as elementary as that sounds). I find it so fascinating. I don't think everyday people know what goes into making a slab of concrete a beautiful house. We moved into a new development in a neighborhood called Tamaya in late February - I love it. So let me explain how I fell into learning so much about home infrastructure. As mom taught us - say hello and talk to everyone - you just might learn something. Well, you and me being the Saggitarians that we are, we talk to everyone! And getting to know the builders (also known as superintendents), the inspector and the related building staff has been awesome. I learn so much just hearing about their day, what they have to manage, what they have to follow per house and city codes...wow, it is quite the job. 

I have a profound respect for their professions. They not only have to be meticulous, well-read and caught up with ever-changing building design codes, they have to manage a sea of workers from plumbing, electrical, stucco, water, gas, sewer, concrete, flooring, drywall and appliance companies (I know there's more). On any given day, a builder might oversee 11 different homes with 110 different issues. And an inspector may inspect anywhere from 25 to 50 homes in various stages of development...in one day and in completely different corners of town. That simply amazes me. And oh, let's not forget the homeowners that are calling them or rather chasing them down! 

Thanks to you dad, I take a lot of interest in what they do. It's built a deeper love for the home we live in. It's made me smile knowing how many different chemical engineering plants you have managed and are still burning brightly. I am amazed how professions such as yours and theirs touch so many lives yet no one gets to thank them. I'm making sure to thank them every chance I get. 

I miss you Pappa. But my new-found love for engineering, building and design makes me feel like you are here on earth more than ever. I picked up the latest copy of Road & Track magazine (I haven't changed my taste in cars!) as it had the newest Ferrari models on the cover. I just know that'd make you smile...