Lookin' Fine-a in Carolina

Thanks to Will for this picture - not bad!

Our dear friends Austin & Shanda McKeehan and their chitlins have been in North Carolina for 4 years or something, and I haven't made it out to visit them once... even though Austin's owed me a ticket since USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl several years back. I suppose I could have gone by myself all this time, but I've been hoping to have someone to take with me. Wait, what's this? I'm MARRIED now?! Well, why don't we go then?





We left last Friday at 6AM, after I got home about 1AM from a business trip to Denver. So I pretty much just stayed up and did laundry and work until I needed to wake Jessica up at 3:30AM for our flight and take Pixie for a decent-sized run to tire her out before our flight. By the tugs on the leash I was getting as I tried to rev up the early-morning engines, I think Pixie was saying, "Geeesh! It's 3:30 AM in the morning! You're never up at this time of morning, let alone running. So WHAT IS THE DEAL?!" Well, we dragged ourselves and our tired dog onto a 6AM flight, landing in lovely Charlotte about 7PM that night. Austin greeted us with his trusty sidekick Will, who successfully pulled Jessica's bag off the conveyor belt in Baggage Claim and, after a few minutes of warm-up time, also successfully began charming my wife with his perceptive statements and tokens of devotion. We were feeling quite at home in Charlotte.





We polished off the evening with Five Guys Burgers. It was tremendous. If you haven't been there, they just opened one up in Beaverton and I highly recommend a trip (we already went again last night), and stayed up late like we were back in college.





Saturday was spent hanging with the kiddos, and watching Coop's baseball game before we headed to the National Whitewater Center for a tremendous adventure there (see Jessica's blog, she certainly does it more justice than I could). It doesn't do it justice, however, to just say that we went there; we were actually running way behind schedule, and Austin had to practically beg the box office personnel to let us on the last run of the day, pay over the phone and bypass half of the orientation (if you've read Jessica's description of the orientation, you'll understand how great that was for us). After thoroughly soaking through our clothes, we sloshed our way to a splendid sushi joint where we dined on rolls and Doctor Dave's Sauce (shhhh! it's secret).





We spent Sunday at church and in naps/football trances before taking a fun walk to see their neighborhood (so perfect it looks like a big movie backlot), polished off with a fantasy basketball draft for me and Austin (I love my team!), and a fun dinner with Shanda's mom there and Shanda on the grill.





We took off Monday afternoon, but not before being treated to some Carolina barbecue and picking up Will and Cooper from school. Earlier in the day I watched Paris for a while, and amazingly she and Pixie got along swimmingly; Paris even got some licks on the palm from Pixie, which made me a bit jealous since it took me about 10 months to get so much as a sniff of a lick from Pix.





Thanks to the McKeehans for being such great hosts! We're amazed that we had such a great time, and that Austin & Shanda (not to mention their kids) showed no signs of being sick of us. I'm particularly pleased that Jessica and Shanda were practically inseparable, even if part of their bonding was the common struggle of dealing with their budget-conscious husbands. And now I will close with my Senior Will-type ode to the McKeehans:





I, David Parker Fuhriman, hereby bequeath to the McKeehans the following:

• To Paris: the key to the heart of our firstborn son.



• To Will: a black t-shirt to cut down the middle - because really, what else could you askf for? Well, perhaps a candy-bar sandwich (my bad).



• To Cooper: More soy butter and more quality time with Jessica.



• To Shanda: Two more hands for crocheting (or you could go Bonnie Consolo with your feet -- just ask Austin about that).



• To Austin: My Spring trip idea -- Vegas. Stay gold.

Shameless Plug: O.REGON S.CIENTIFIC WAREHOUSE SALE

SATURDAY -- TOMORROW!

10AM -2PM

19861 SW 95th Ave.

Tualatin, OR 97062

One of our favorite shows is "The Biggest Loser." I tend to make it up to go to the gym on Wednesday morning a bit easier because the night before I saw a bunch of people in worse shape than me get their collective butts kicked by Bob and Jillian. For those who follow the show, we particularly enjoyed last week's show when what'sherface did the slo-mo "Truffle Shuffle" after her weighing.

But one thing we always roll our eyes about when we watch the show is the pseudo-planted meetings between trainers and Losers (not sure what else to call them) to pitch products. For instance, suddenly Jillian is in the kitchen helping someone prepare their meals for the week. Wow! These Ziploc Zip n' Steam Microwave Steam Cooking Bags are so great -- they really do combine the convenience of microwave cooking with the freshness and healthy eating of steamed foods!

So I'm not going to do that to you - I'm not going to pretend I have some other motive than for your to spend money on my company: I work for O.regon S.cientific, and it was my bright idea to have a Warehouse Sale this Saturday that offers products at 50-80% discounts from our suggested retail pricing. Some of the product is old or in old packaging, but with prices ranging from $5 for pedometers and clocks to $125 for high-end weather stations (that are normally $300), you could find all sorts of holiday gift items and stocking stuffers at the sale. I'll just go ahead and list two of my favorite products you may want to consider:

SmartGlobe: This was the 2007 Educational Toy of the Year, and my nieces and nephews love it. You use a SmartPen to play games and learn about different countries of the world. You know those statistics about how most American kids can't find the world on a map? Miss South Carolina really captured the real problem when she eloquently stated that it's because "some people don't have maps... such as." Well said! But I can tell you that I played the "Find It!" game on this globe against my nephew, and he was able to quickly find places like Sudan, Romania, Singapore and Indonesia. Now the kid's related to me so he's an uber-genius, but still... a GREAT, FUN product for kids that is normally at $130 and is selling Saturday at $60.

WeatherNow: I could tell you stories about this product and the many sleepless nights I spent a few years ago on the phone with Hong Kong talking about this thing. But in the end, it turned out to be a pretty cool product that sits on your countertop and constantly updates with the 4-day forecast for your metro area, including: Hi/Lo temperature, chance of precipitation, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure levels, UV levels, severe weather statements, sunrise & sunset, air quality, and even visibility. Pretty cool! In stores you'd pay $130 bucks, but it's only $50 at this sale.

You also get a 15% of coupon to use as many times as you'd like on our website or in our Bridgeport store before the end of the year. Yes, I am that awesome for offering that to you.

So, another reminder about the Sale Information:

October 25th (This Saturday)

10AM - 2PM

19861 SW 95th Ave.

Tualatin, OR 97062

If this thing isn't a success, I think Hong Kong is going to transfer me to our Ugandan operations, so I beg for you to come and to spread the word to your friends and family.

We now return you to your scheduled blog programming. Thank you.

One Growing Job Market In A Recession...

I'm in Denver for customer meetings, and I just flipped on CNN during their debate coverage.

I counted 14 different people on the sound stage. 14. FOURTEEN! Each with a laptop, presumably half of them preparing for their fantasy basketball drafts.

There weren't even enough seats, so two people stood on the edge of the stage, leaning against the 12-person table like they're picking up ladies at the hotel sports bar.

Assuming 15 minutes of commercials an hour, you have 45 minutes of actual debate coverage. With the host (Anderson Cooper) getting a few extra minutes of talk (let's say 6), that leaves an average of 3 minutes per remaining analyst.

I am so ready for this election to be over.

Slater Fuhriman?

So one thing nobody prepares you for about marriage is discussions about baby names. You think you know someone until they start telling you the names they love for your own kids. Let's just say Jessica and I have different tastes (and different memories of names).

Slater is a perfect example. Jessica loves this name, to the point that if the name itself were a man I believe she would annul our marriage and marry it and have its own babies.

When I hear that name, this is all I can think about:
Oh, and this:

That's not to say that some of my own favorite names aren't "out there" a bit, but how am I supposed to expect anything more from my son named Slater than to hang out at Max's and wrestle? Oh, and date Elizabeth Berkeley and call her "Momma."

Jessica likes that when she asked on WikiAnswers what the name "Slater" means, the response she got was, "Cool." I hate WikiAnswers. To me, we may as well call our son Screech Belding LisaTurtle Bayside Fuhriman.

So what do you think, friends? Am I being unreasonable? Should I work to get over my fear that with the name Slater our son will be born with a greasy mullet? I ask for your help this fine day...

Free Advice: Don't Da-Do What I Don't Da-Do

I was a Child of the 80's, and this great montage of old commercials proves it -- I think I recognize at least half of these beauties. CAREFUL -- this is 10 minutes long, and once you pop you can't stop... Some comments to guide your video adventure:

• The "how many licks" Tootsie Pop commercial is a classic, but kind of depressing... that was our best available animation?
• He-Man Cups -- Had 'Em, Collected 'Em All, Bought the T-Shirt.
• The "Karate Kid" action figures commercial is just as wise as Mr. Miyagi himself: "True strength, come from HEART (No, not the "Barracuda" Heart)"
• Ronald McDonald, Grimace and Birdie: Are they, along with the rest of McDonaldLand citizens, banished from television forever? Hamburglar? Fry Kids? Whither Mayor McCheese? Let's put an APB out... and yes, I still feel bad for chuckling when kids at school called the librarian in the purple dress Grimace.
• Nintendo: OK, I didn't have one of these puppies (I was the mooching next-door neighbor, nice to see you again) -- but what in the samhill was Rob the Robot?! Was this thing real, an actual robot that shipped with Nintendo systems? I just remember the gun for "Duck Hunt."
• Tony Danza -- great in his time. Now when I hear his name I think of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."
• Need evidence we were low-maintenance kids in the 80's? Check out the free Play-Doh "Fun Flier." Yup, that's a super-small Frisbee, too small to ever actually fly, so two kids need to stand about 5 feet away from each other and huck it. And yes, this was FUN.
• "Simon" -- this game eventually won me and my friends about a dozen orders of breadsticks at Little Caesar's -- they had a "simon"-type machine where if you got enough points you won free breadsticks. This was huge, since we were already traveling a half-hour to get to Little Caesar's on Highway 99 in Tigard (why? I have no idea), so we'd better win breadsticks to make it worth our while. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the band in this commercial is supposed to be Sting and The Police, given the "De Doo Doo Doo" type melody and the singing style of the lead guy. C'mon, "don't da-doo what I don't da-doo?" RIPOFF!

Baby, We Were Born to Run

First of all, I'm excited to find a reason to use this title, since I love old Bruce Springsteen songs. Back during the BMG "12 CDs for the Price of 1" days, I picked up the Springsteen Greatest Hits and the "Tracks" box set to get my fix of Bruce, and I recommend both of them. Top hits on "Tracks" include "Roulette," "Dollhouse," and "Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own." Any Bruce Springsteen song reminds me of driving down the Gorge Highway, and then over to Highway 97 through Goldendale and up to the Gorge Ampitheater. Great memories!

So why the Bruce song title, Dave? Why the Forrest Gump image? BECAUSE I CAN RUN AGAIN. I spoke to the orthopedic surgeon this week, and after more than 4 months of pain, limping, crutches, Roll-A-Bouts and rehab, I have been cleared to do everything but soccer, basketball, football (tennis, racquetball, chess...) and I'm working on running at full speed. For now, I just jog a bit when I take Pixie for a walk and that's enough for now.