Arrival at LAX Nov 2014

[onlyFSU4me]

Happy Anniversary Doug and Larissa! 


 It's great to see the success stories, I am really happy for the both of you! 

[Anotherkiwi]

Congrats from me too!  Gee, Lisa is growing up quickly!

[BillyB]

Happy Anniversary. It seems like a small stream to fish in. Did you catch anything?

[calmissile]

Thanks for the congrats.   

Yes, it is a small stream.  Larissa had a pan size trout on her line but it got off when she tried to pull it out of the water.  Still have some fishing lessons to teach.    It is a popular campground and stream that is frequently stocked by Fish and Game.  Was primarily a day for Lisa to run off some energy and try her luck at fishing.

[Hammer2722]

Happy Anniversary Doug. Wish you guys many more to come. 

[JayH]

Happy Anniversary Doug. Wish you guys many more to come. 

add me to that! Congrats to Larissa & Doug.

[Wayne]

I remember your trip reports about going to Ukraine and Crimea with a lot of photos. Some people here gave you a hard time! It seems like everything turned out for the best for you and your new family.

I hope you have many good years to come.

[HoundDaddyLee]

Happy Anniversary to both of you. Wonderful photos also...


HDL

[calmissile]

A beautiful Southern California weekend.  Perfect temperature for frolicking in the pool.
Should alleviate any concerns about our daughter leaning to swim.   

FSUW make such awsome wives.

[HoundDaddyLee]

Heartwarming video Doug. Such a beautiful family.


HDL

[calmissile]

It's been a busy summer.  Larissa continued her TOEFL English program through the summer and Lisa went to the YMCA summer program while we were busy between work and college.  Larissa has almost straight A's throughout the program.  I am proud of her.  The $4K every ten weeks is beginning to get old however.   

As all men married to FSUW can tell you, occasionally they come up with some gems that make you scratch your head.  I was working in the lab the other evening and Larissa came in and asked if we had any expired Aspirin bottles.  I told her it really doesn't expire, but what does she want it for.  She responded "FOR THE LAUNDRY".   I wondered if she was tipping a few when I wasn't looking.   

She indicated that putting 6-7 Aspirin tablets in with the laundry wash makes the underwear and white shirts come out very white.  She indicated that she does not like chlorine bleach because it attacks the fibers of the clothes.  She also indicated that the clothes come out feeling soft.  At the time I did not know if she was pulling my leg, but found her some Aspirin and was happy to get back to my project in the lab.

When it was time to retire, I went into the bedroom and was shocked.  A large pile of underwear was on the dresser and I was practically blinded by the whiteness.  Seems she was not pulling my leg after all.  I asked her how she found out about using the aspirin this way and she said that it was in college (Ukraine) in chemistry class.  She also said that it makes colors brighter and does not cause them to fade.

I took the story to work and as you might expect, everyone thought I was nuts.     Several said they were going to try it and let me know the results.  I did look it up on the Internet and low and behold there are many postings about this.  I would be curious if any other members knew about this or have tried it.  Seems like in America we fall victim to advertising for all the fancy chemical compounds when something as simple as this will do the job.

Until her next surprise........ have a good day.

[Anotherkiwi]

When it was time to retire, I went into the bedroom and was shocked.  A large pile of underwear was on the dresser and I was practically blinded by the whiteness.  Seems she was not pulling my leg after all.

Such a shame that they were actually blue, green and red before that wash! 

Seriously, that's an interesting story.  I don't have any aspirin (expired or otherwise), but I will certainly pass on the tip.

[SANDRO43]

An uncle of mine was a hospital department head. For some forgotten reason we were talking about methylene blue - a histology stain - and he told me it was also used by their in-house laundry on bedsheets and pillow cases: very effective to restore their whiteness.

Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is very easy to produce synthetically: IIRC from my organic lab days at school, we just added acetic acid to benzene, heated and stirred the mixture and voilà.

BTW, what aspirin dosage per washer load? Before or after meals ?

[Gator]

Wife sometimes uses baking soda.  She never heard of using aspirin.

[calmissile]

An uncle of mine was a hospital department head. For some forgotten reason we were talking about methylene blue - a histology stain - and he told me it was also used by their in-house laundry on bedsheets and pillow cases: very effective to restore their whiteness.

Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is very easy to produce synthetically: IIRC from my organic lab days at school, we just added acetic acid to benzene, heated and stirred the mixture and voilà.

BTW, what aspirin dosage per washer load? Before or after meals ?

She said 6 or 7 tablets per load.

[BillyB]

She said 6 or 7 tablets per load.

For the guys that leave brown spots on their underwear, go with the higher number.

[SANDRO43]

For the guys that leave brown spots on their underwear, go with the higher number.

I don't recall if I told this before - a joke about our Sardinians, who used to live in one of our most backward regions, isolated from mainland Italy and mostly in the island interior, many occupied with sheep- and goat-herding:

An old Sardinian shepherd tells his young assistant: "Tonight is Saturday and we hit town, put on your underwear"
The assistant replies: "I forgot how"
Old Shepherd: "Simple, yellow in front and brown at the back"

[ML]

I don't recall if I told this before - a joke about our Sardinians, who used to live in one of our most backward regions, isolated from mainland Italy and mostly in the island interior, many occupied with sheep- and goat-herding:

An old Sardinian shepherd tells his young assistant: "Tonight is Saturday and we hit town, put on your underwear"
The assistant replies: "I forgot how"
Old Shepherd: "Simple, yellow in front and brown at the back"

So the sheep and goats got the night off ?

[SANDRO43]

So the sheep and goats got the night off ?

Just for that particular Saturday, unless the two came back disappointed from their foray into town and needed something warm and fuzzy for consolation .

[calmissile]

Just a few  photo updates from the past few months.

1.  70th Anniversary party for our company held at Chino Airport museum
2.  Halloween
3.  Selfie
4.  Lisa School Photo  2nd Grade

1/2 glass of wine and Larissa becomes an instant model (helicopter and antique car photos)   

[BillyB]

Looking sharp. Thanks for sharing.

[calmissile]

Thanks Billy,

Life is always exciting and often humorous with two blonds in the house.   I forgot to tell a story that happened a couple weeks ago.

I got a call from Larissa while I was at work.  She told me that her car had  broken down.  It was a little difficult to understand exactly where she was but I could figure it out within a few blocks.  On my home from Ontario, I called AAA and told them to have the tow truck driver look for the car.

When I arrived 45 minutes later, the tow truck driver had just arrived and I had the tow truck take the car to the house so I could evaluate what happened.  It turned out the engine blew a head gasket and overheated.

Later that evening I heard the whole story which cracked me up.  When the car came to a halt, she was on an uphill off-ramp from the freeway and she had planned to turn right on the arterial going to our home.  As it turned out the car was 'broke' and she did not know what to do other than call me.  People were honking behind her since she was holding up traffic for blocks for people on their way home from work.

So what does a blond do?  She pulled out her University English books and started studying for her exam the following day.   
   She said 5 guys finally came up to her window and asked what she was doing.  She told them she was studying for her exam.  They asked her why she was doing it in the middle of traffic?  She replied that the car was 'broke' and she needed to study while she was waiting for me.

Nice guys, all 5 of them pushed the car uphill and around the corner, where she was when I arrived.  I can imagine these guys going home and telling their wives about the crazy blond they had to rescue. 

She did end up with a newer, nicer van out of it so she is all smiles.

[abashka]

She said 6 or 7 tablets per load.

I use it too for the white clothes:))) It is not common though, and I found it out only several years ago somewhere in internet:)

[BillyB]

It turned out the engine blew a head gasket and overheated.

It's hard to do but we got to teach the ladies to pay attention to the gauges. When the head gasket blows, usually the coolant leaks out the block or into the cylinders and temperature rises. For future reference, tell Larissa if she sees steam come off the engine or white smoke come out the tailpipe, she needs to pull over immediately. She may save the block from cracking or head warping if she prevents the engine from getting too hot. Of course that's not necessary if the wife is wanting a new car.

Later that evening I heard the whole story which cracked me up.  When the car came to a halt, she was on an uphill off-ramp from the freeway and she had planned to turn right on the arterial going to our home.  As it turned out the car was 'broke' and she did not know what to do other than call me.  People were honking behind her since she was holding up traffic for blocks for people on their way home from work.

So what does a blond do?  She pulled out her University English books and started studying for her exam the following day.   
   She said 5 guys finally came up to her window and asked what she was doing.  She told them she was studying for her exam.  They asked her why she was doing it in the middle of traffic?  She replied that the car was 'broke' and she needed to study while she was waiting for me.

That's funny and smart. Being productive while broke down in traffic. Reminds me of a story years ago of a friend who became a reborn Christian. If he said a bad word while driving down the road, he'd immediately stop the car and pray for forgiveness. I told him he also needs to pray for forgiveness for increasing chance of accidents and pissing off the people behind us.

[calmissile]

From the Wilson clan, we want to wish all of our RWD friends a very merry Christmas.

Here it is Christmas eve and as usual there has to be a funny story as is the case for most days with a UA wife.  Larissa and I talked a little about Santa Claus and preparing for Christmas.  I thought she already knew the drill and I didn't give a thought to asking any questions.

Lisa (age 7) has become 100% Americanized in the two short years she has been in the USA.  She knows the whole drill about leaving cookies and milk for Santa.  We had a little trouble with Lisa getting to sleep.  She kept saying she was nervous and was worried that Santa might not find our house.  Larissa told me that she was also worried that she was not a good girl all year and would be better next year.    The innocence and honesty of kids this age can bring tears to your eyes. 

I was finally able to go to the car and get Lisa's gifts from Santa and have Larissa to put them under the tree.  A short time later I noticed the cookies and milk on the kitchen counter and asked Larissa what she is going to do with them. After I got the 'deer in the headlights look', I told her that we needed to pretend that Santa had eaten them.  Her response had me rolling on the floor laughing....

"Santa is an old man.  Why would he eat cookies and milk"!!  So much for making sure you educate your FSUW as to all American customs.

A few weeks ago our Orange female, loving cat dissapeared.  She was either taken by someone or became dinner for the coyotes that roam the neighborhood.  Lisa was devastated  She wanted a orange kitten for Christmas.  It took several days of work to find a female orange kitten. As it turned out I finally found a orange brother and sister pair of kittens.  I swear, it is probably easier to adopt a kid than to adopt kittens.  The interviews, forms and contracts you have to sign are unreal!  At any rate, Lisa got her two kittens as an early Christmas present.

When working in my lab, one evening Lisa opened the door and wheeled in a baby carriage with one of the  kittens wrapped up in a blanket.  It makes us feel good that she has taken a loving, responsible care of the kittens.

In finding that photo, I accidentally ran across another photo of Larissa doing the traditional cleaning exercise that folks talk about whenever a FSU woman comes to your country.

I hope all have a very merry Christmas this season.