Buchan family Update

I am not sur how much mom has shared with everyone but I wanted to let the Milicia family know to keep Gram Buchan in their thoughts and prayers.

Like cousin Wendy's stuff, I do not want to spread info that is personal and not mine to share. At the sametime, I want to let the extended family know that Gram B is recovering from a procedure and it would be nice to say a prayer for her.

Busy Busy

I think are dislike of the dentist is genetic. I don't know what happened, I never dreaded going to the Dr Petti, but now I really don't want to go. I need to go for a cleaning which is free, well I pay for it (dental plan), but mostly free. Ending this subject on the note that Grandpa must have passed on his bad luck at the dentist to Uncle Mike.

I have been extremely busy with work. Catawba Nuclear Station (CNS) started its outage a little bit ago. I went down there for a couple days to see how welding is done at the site level. In short, more paperwork than you could ever imagine gets generated on a weld per weld basis. Everything is tracked in a nuclear plant, everything. Traceability is a most. Anyways, that's good and bad, but because I support all three of our nuclear stations, I end up dealing with paperwork from all three sites. It really gets old quick let me tell you. I will be going down to Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS) tomorrow for their pre outage meetings. Oconee is right next to Clemson University in South Carolina, about a 3 hour drive. It is pretty country down there, but I am dying for the weekend.

The house has its drywall, I would have taken pictures but my camera batteries died. So new pictures when I get them this week.

I finally purchased my bike. I went to order my bicycle from the bike shop, and they had a sale on better model, one up from the one I wanted. In short I got a $800.00 bicycle for $600.00 bucks. I was going to spend $586.00 on the lesser model, for a couple bucks more got an awesome bike. Here is one picture, other pictures will be at my photo album online. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/nickmhr/my_photos

Friday, thank God.

I am beginning my last day here in Toluca, Mexico. It is beautiful here. This area is mosting farming so the land is very lush. The horizon is dotted with large mountains. I wasn't sure what to expect of mainland Mexico, but I am pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it is.

I am travelling with two of the Victoria's Secret managers. This trip was to visit a large Mexican manufacturer called Intimark. They make mostly panties for VS. Everyone has been very nice and it would be great if this trip resulted in a relationship between me and Intimark directly. We'll see.

The traffic is so heavy in Mexico city, our plan is to leave the office almost 4 hours before our flight. I will get home around 11:00 pm tonight. Hopefully Jason will remember to open the bottle of Zinfandel. I have been waiting to try it since it was more expensive than I am used to. I can' remember the name if it is good I will let everyone know what is it.

Recapping

Well it has been a while since my last post also. We had a good weekend and thank God the weekend is upon us again. Paige's friend came in from out of town. We really just hung out and relaxed, nothing real fancy. I BBQ'd out with some Burgers (I made three varieties of burgers Terriyaki, Roasted Red Pepper and Feta, and Roasted onion and Worcestershire). On Sunday we had a Lasagna, my first time making it and it came out real good. All in all it was nice for a visit, and we had a good time. St Patty's day was fun, got a little too wasted and felt bad on Sunday. Oh well.

I think I finally know what bicycle I want. It took some internet browsing to find what the best deal was. It turned out that a summer sale helped to make my decision for me. The salesmen at the bike shop we visited told us to watch the website for the sale announcement. Anyways, we get 10% off bikes and merchandise and there is a lot of deals. So this is a link to the bike I will probably get and to the bike store that we go to. It is amazing how much getting a good bike costs. We really are on the low end . However, I think Paige and I will really enjoy biking. I am getting the Marin Fairfax, I think Paige likes the Trek 7.3 FX. http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycles_2006/html/bikes/bike_specs/specs_fairfax.html
http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike.php?bikeid=1327010&f=26
http://www.charlottebikes.net/pages/379119/index.htm

Once you start adding in the helmet, tube repair kit, etc. It's alot to start with.
We will see how much I enjoy it once I have the bike.

On the house front, The house is coming along nicely. All the siding is up, which I posted pictures to my photo album online (look at my old posts for the link). I think substantial progress will have been made when I take more photos tomorrow. I am also going to go talk to my insurance agent about homeowners insurance tomorrow. Any advice on coverage, mistakes, etc.?

Work front. I will be a traveling man this upcoming month or so. A new add to my schedule is ASME code conference, I think in Florida. This will happen sometime soon, in addition to The week in Canada, and multiple other trips to plants. Traveling isn't all that it is cracked up to be. I think Paige minds more than I do. She misses me a lot, but can you blame her. Maybe it's the other way around too. I'll be sad when she goes to Duke U.. That's it for now.

Nick

The first flowers of 2006

The first flowers of 2006

Watch the video

Here are my brave and beautfiul crocuses.

Duke Energy News.

Duke has finally announced its site location for the new nuclear plant (Cherokee County, S.C) and three other early site permits (ESP). This is great news for the company and for me. Upcoming construction will offer great opportunities for advancement and also personal growth. This is also a big step for America, since our youngest nuclear plants are around 25 - 30 years old. The new reactors offer new advancements in passive safety and efficiency (They had 30 years time to make improvements).

I will be doing a pre drywall walk down of the house today. I will put new pictures and details about it soon. For the rest of the day I plan on drinking. Happy St. Patty's Day all.

Nick

The Corned Beef Dilemma

I just did a little research on the rare occurance of St. Patty's Day on a Lenten Friday. Here are some links that I found on the topic.
The Patriot News
Catholic Online
Nettopix

From what I can tell, this issue is on a Diocese basis. Dispensation has been given for Irish Dioceses. Hmmm? No Irish blood in these veins. Well, we did get married at St. Brenden's Catholic Church. That sounds Irish. Jason's family is Irish and we are married now. LOOPHOLE! LOL, sorry for making light.

Question.

ARe you allowed to eat Beef tomorrow since it is Friday and all. What are we supposed to do since it is lent. Any help before tomorrow is over would be nice. I don't want to miss out tomorrow if it's alright to eat meat.

Video is on the horizon

Well, family, I am learning lots while here in Austin. I just registered for a video blog account. I don't want to overwhelm anyone with too too new technology but I think I may give putting a video on our blog this week. Tommorrow I plan to sit in on two different sessions related to uploading video to a blog. We'll see.
Happy Monday!

Bike Trip

I think Paige and I are going to start getting into Biking. They have a 100 mile coastal bike route. I was thinking it would be fun thing to do. Ride bikes along NC. It would take a couple days no doubt. Any takers????????? There is also a 300 mile cross NC bike route. Yes we would love to have company. Luckily Paige's family and friends visit her enough to keep us busy. I also have outages coming up, so I'll be busy into middle May. Paige and I ran on a trail/bike path today. I'm exhausted. The trip is 8.5 hours to NC, not 12 my dear Sister.

Ahem, Wake up and plan a trip to N.C.

Ok, so Nick would really like us to visit his new home state. Nick, I feel awful that we haven't gotten there yet! I've watching airfare. Then I will have a series of trip for work: NYC, Mexico next week, Georgia in April, this conference in Texas... Things get real busy. I was planning to run with Paige there. Well, we all know how happy I am that that can't happen. Bottomline, getting there to see you is certainly on my list of priorities.
I have an idea! Maybe Kris, Pumpkin and I coud take a roadtrip to visit you. That way neither of us would have to worry about the animals because the husband can sit for them. I am not sure how good the pumpkin pies is during a long roadtrip but I am up for the challenge. Sounds like a Win, Win to me. Jo?
Basically, I've gotten the subtle hints at visiting. I promise we/I will get there before summer.

Start of the Weekeeeeeeeeeeend

TGINF. Thank God it's Nuclear Friday. What a beautiful day today. 76ºF and sunny. Paige and I visited the house, which is coming together nicely. Expect new pictures on Sunday. Paige's friend Erica is coming down next weekend and then her Mom and Sister are coming down April 4-8. I think everyone is ready to have some of our nice weather.

Work updates. The first part of outages are coming for our 3 nuclear sites. I hopefully will be a part of all of them. After the first outage, I will be going to a welding seminar in Canada April 24-27. The seminar is in Edmonton, home of the worlds largest mall. If you have any wants let me know and I will try to get them for you. Things are starting to get busy, I am just trying to do the best I can.

Tonight's menu:

Ranch steak fries (Yukon golds, they are our favorite taters, baked not fried of course).

BBQ Tofu- we have been experimenting with this white crap, so far not too bad.


Tomorrow we are going to go run, if it doesn't rain, and then to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit.

Hope all is well, glad to see Jason has made his first blog. Later all and have a good weekend.

Peace Out

Jason and I will be leaving for the big blog conference and film festival tommorrow. We will be in Austin, Texas. I am really looking forward to it. At this juncture, I will be representing several blog populations: running blogger, family blogger, rookie blogger, female blogger. There will be so much to learn. Wouldn't it be cool if we could share video clips with eachother? That is around the corner! I will try to take some good pictures. Have a great Friday! Both Jason and I will probably be online over the weekend. I may post on location.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!


Newest wine: got a bottle for Nicole as a thanks for checking the cats while we are gone. The wine merchant said that his favorite varietal is the Zinfandel grape. I got one for Nicole and a cheaper one for Jay and I. I haven't opened it yet but I will let you know when we get back, how it is.

Another Day, another dollar.

Not to much to say here. I got a new pair of eye glasses over the weekend. They were kind of expensive, but I haven't had a new pair in about 7+ years. We bought a couple bottles of Chianti.

Paige didn't like the Farallon, she said it had a metallic aftertaste. I agree it did have one on the first couple drinks. I kept at it though and actually enjoyed it, it was smooth had a little oak, a litte sweet. All in all, pretty good. I still like Maple Ridge better however.

Kris glad to hear your cabinets are still on the wall. Tell Jay we said good luck. Gramp glad to see you made it on alive.

Hello to all and will write soon.

Nick.

The Verdict

Friday was the long awaited appointment with the Orthopedic Doctor. The facility is huge, almost like a mini hospital. I was quite surprised by this. Also surprising was the efficiency uncommon to most medical experiences.

Here’s how it went: Check-in 10 minutes prior to the appointment. Walk to waiting room. Wait 5 minutes. Nurse calls my name. Shown to the xray waiting area. Wait 2 minutes. Escorted to the Xray room. Total of 4 Xrays taken. Shown to exam room. Wait 4 minutes for the Doctor. Doctor arrives. We discuss my issues. Diagnosis given. shown my film. sent on my way. Total time taken, 30 minutes, max. I wonder if this is common for this office. Amazing!
Anyway, the xray showed normal, healthy looking bones. No evidence of a stress fracture at this time. More likely than not, I am experiencing hip bursitis, the natural cushion in my hip area is inflamed. The treatment for now is taking anti-inflamtory meds twice a day, stretching 2-3 times a day and icing 2-3 times a day. I am only allowed to participate in low impact activities. No running for at least 3 weeks.

Today, I swam for the first time in awhile. Mostly I did laps of kicking both in freestyle and breaststroke. I mixed this with some walking, lunges and side lunges in the pool. Actual laps using both my arms and legs are difficult, my arms are totally not used that type of work. Later in the day, I worked shoulders. My warm up was on the bike. Slight hip pain towards the end of the workout.
I still have some exercise specific questions to ask the Doctor.

Bummer that I won’t be able to run in Austin like I had hoped. I was so looking forward to doing that. I suppose the good thing is that the third month of 2006 is only beginning. There are still many months left this year. My Spring goals will just have to become my Summer/Fall goals.

TGIF

Friday is upon us and the question of what are you going to do this weekend pops up more frequently then expected. With that, what are we doing this weekend.

Today's plan, Get Fish Oil; for reasons explained in my previous blog. We are then going to look at the house. I think it should have the roof and all the outsides up. I'll have pictures to share. Then we are going to go to some eye glasses places and get me some new glasses. I am still wearing the ones I had in high school. Only at night before bed. However, it is time for a change.

I also renewed my Verizon cell phone contract (Duke employee get a discount, awesome.) and picked out a new phone. The phone is a samsung, and the main reason I got it was for it's bluetooth "wireless" headset. So now I can leave my phone anywhere and as long as I stay within a 15 ft radius I can talk. It was free with my phone so that made choosing easy. So far I love it, and I got a 50 mail in rebate. Excellent.

Might open the bottle of Farallon tonight, who knows.

Coughing, Seeing and Smelling

WEll having an enlarged nose is good for sense of smell. Grandpa however, does not folllow that logic.

-Kris, glad to see that brooke is eating solid foods. Or if she is like her uncle, waits until the cereal is soggy. Excellent anyways, wish I could see her.

-Favorite cough remedy. Green tea with honey, and a little Jack or Jim Beam Black. Regular whiskey doesn't work for this one, it needs the sweetness of Jack or the new Jim Black. Oh if you aren't drinking green tea, you aren't getting all the antioxidents, so you are killing germs and relieving the cough with green tea.

-Lenten sacrifice, sweets and deserts. I have been eating much more Dark Chocolate than I ever have before. Paige's influence I suppose.

-Went to the eye doctor. In efforts to relieve my dry eyes. He said, I indeed had dry eyes and that just switching out contacts and solution would not work. However, we did swithch to new contacts (Acuvue Oaysis), and Solution (Clear Care), and eye drops (Blink). And he recommended taking Flax Seed or Fish Oil to relieve any inflammation. This was the first out of three solutions. The others I will give later. Have to go to work now.

Nick

Magic Bean

Jason got me some unique gifts for Valentine's Day: a Slanket and The Magic Bean. My Magic Bean is growing very well, it's really neat. Here are some pictures of it. I didn't know they could write on seeds!

The Milica Family Cough

It will be 2 weeks this Monday for my cough. Today I was given a Fisherman's Friend cough drop. That helped for a few minutes. Like a Milicia, I enjoy talking. Talking without coughing? Forget it. Both Mom and Nick were so disturbed by my coughing that they asked to get off the phone with me. Kristan, I have been trying to give you your turn to hear my cough. I haven't been successful at reaching you this week.

Following this train of thought, there has been some discussion lately as to whether or not being a Milicia is indicative to having coughing problems. Assuming this trait is passed from mother to child, I am only 27 and already I can see signs of a chronic cough beginning. Seriously, I hope this cough and the crap in my lungs go away soon.
Here is what I have tried:
Recipes to Cure Illness:
Peanut Butter Toast
Herbal Tea (my favorite is Peppermint) with honey
Warm whiskey with lemon and honey
Chicken noodle soup
Crackers
Vicks vapor rub slathered on to cheeks,nose and chest
GNC zinc tablets
Vitamin C drops
The things that didn't work
Shower Vaporizing Tablets from Sudafed (smelled like toilet cleaner)
Bath and Body Works fizzing bath tabs for congestion (didn't care for the smell)

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