Home Sweet Home

The culmination of two year's worth of work I've been doing here in Japan has finally arrived. The USS George Washington arrived in Yokosuka, Japan this past week and it was quite the party! Many of us from the Carrier Program Office spent the day up on the roof top watching the arrival. A few pictures to share and a few more next post.

Oh, and a quick update on the ankle: I'm now at 100% weight bearing with a brace and make short trips around the house without the brace. The healing seems to be going well though there is a small bit of pain from the screws in the bottom of my heal. It's a huge relief to be off the crutches and every day is a noticable improvement. I go in the week after next to get a (hopefully) final set of xrays and to establish some physical therapy.

Without further ado, the USS George Washington:

100 Days Old

There are certain inalienable rights as a parent, those solitary moments of joy and victory when you just know that the picture you've taken will be shown in giant 20 foot by 20 foot glory at your child's wedding reception. Yeah, the above is definitely one of those wondrous moments.


It's hard to contemplate that it's been a full 100 days. Or maybe it's hard to imagine it has ONLY been 100 days.

Who Would Have Believed It?

PLUS

EQUALS

(!)


ISN'T THAT SO

(?)


EVERYBODY SAY

(.)

What I Learned in School Today

Customer Service: (The Ugly Truth About Customers)

• The customer is self-centered


• Customers often do not notice good service; but they always notice bad service.


• Satisfied customers tell, on average, only one other person about their positive experience; dissatisfied customers will tell up to twenty others about their poor experience


• The customer is not concerned with, and does not care about, the day-to-day problems inside the organization.


• Customers are usually not interested in whether you are "trying hard"


• Customers do not want to have to learn your "organization chart" to interact with your organization.


• There is no such thing as long-term customer loyalty (unless your Apple); it is circumstantial, fragile, and fleeting. (take note Steve Jobs)


• The customer is always carrying an invisible, often unconscious, "report-card" on your organization around in his/her head; but you'll rarely know what it says unless you ask.


• It is not enough just to give good service; the customer must perceive the fact that he/she is getting good service.

- Karl Albrecht and Ron Zemke, Service America

A Customer is the most important visitor on our premises.

He is not dependent on us; we are dependent on him.

He is not an interruption to our work; he is the purpose of it.

He is not an outsider to our business; he is a part of it.

We are not doing him a favor; he is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.

- Mahatma Gandhi

Good stuff to ponder.

Nothing Yet

Is it just me? Sure, that's a loaded question so let me explain. Being back in the States I've been watching some TV in my off hours working on my SRF leftovers and I saw this Ford commercial for some new cross over something or another - that part isn't important - and they were touting, no bragging, nay PROUD to emphasize their 24 miles per gallon fuel efficiency. Someone is definitely not getting the message. I point out the Ford vehicle because I like Ford so I was drawn to pay more attention to their product than say the top 10 best fuel economy automakers:

Mini - 27.66 MPG averaged from 12 vehicle models
Honda - 23.81 MPG averaged from 27 vehicle models
Chevrolet - 23.36 MPG averaged from 88 vehicle models
Lotus - 22.33 MPG averaged from 3 vehicle models (Lotus makes sports cars)
VW - 22.21 MPG averaged from 28 vehicle models (Bugatti not included here)
Pontiac - 22.20 MPG averaged from 24 vehicle models
Saturn - 22.14 MPG averaged from 21 vehicle models
Kia - 21.80 MPG averaged from 20 vehicle models
Suzuki - 21.77 MPG averaged from 18 vehicle models
Toyota - 21.60 MPG averaged from 55 vehicle models

Is anyone else worried about these numbers? Heck the worst of the worst, the world's fastet car, the Bugatti Veyron get's 10 miles per gallon or roughly half that of the 10th best the industry has to offer.

Okay, so sure, these are fleet averages and companies like GM and Ford are weighed down by their "Huge Honkin' Trucks" (- a technical term.)
So let's look at the "Best of the Best" individual cars: Hybrids included.

Model ---------------------------- City (mpg) -- HWY (mpg) -- Combined (mpg)

2008 Toyota Prius ---------------- 48 ---------- 45 -------------- 46
2008 Honda Civic Hybrid -------- 40 --------- 45 -------------- 42
2008 Smart Fortwo --------------- 33 ---------- 41 -------------- 36
2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid ----- 35 ----------- 33 -------------- 34
2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid ----- 33 ----------- 34 -------------- 34
2009 VW Jetta TDI --------------- 30 ---------- 41 --------------- 34
2009 Ford Escape Hybrid -------- 34 ---------- 30 -------------- 32
2008 Toyota Yaris ----------------- 29 ---------- 36 -------------- 32
2008 Mini Cooper/Clubman ----- 28 ---------- 37 -------------- 32
2008 Honda Fit -------------------- 28 ---------- 34 -------------- 31

So yeah, some of those numbers are respectable as a basis for the new fuel paradigm. But realizing that the new Congressional fuel economy numbers for 2020, a mere and pitiful 35 mpg, exceed 7 of the top 10 fuel performers... it's enough to feel a little doomed.

I'm an engineer and I just don't get it. The US automakers are going bankrupt; the price of gas has widely impacted the economy in addition to reducing the overall "miles driven" by record margins impacting our nations highway funds, the ecological impacts of carbon emissions on the environment are at world wide crisis levels ... and Ford, my Ford, First On Race Day, Ford is proud of 24 miles per gallon? Really? Huh.

How about plug in Hybrids? The technology is there; commuter traffic would benefit hugely from the plug in technology, mpg numbers would soar.

Newer and lighter materials? Do we still need 4000 pound cars and trucks? Where's all that carbon nano-tube technology when you need it?

How about some of those newer desiel technologies... or hey, how about a hybrid desiel combo?

What about something radical like computer assisted driving that could couple cars in long aerodynamic chains, reducing wind resistance - one of the largest opponents of fuel economy?

Why not offer fuel credits for carpooling? Maybe half price gas for validated carpools of four or more people.

My guess is that there is no shortage of fuel economy ideas out there; but who's going to be the company that implements a real change?

Catching up is Hard to Do

The foot, or should I say ankle, is good and I'm partially weight bearing now. If all goes according to plan, I'll be crutch - free in about three weeks. I'm wearing a supportive brace and that will be on just a bit longer, but all in all the doctor's prognosis was that things were doing very well.

More later; I gotta run to work.

:j

And the Beat Goes On

Some recent photos of Cadence. Much more to share, but not a whole lot of time. I'll be traveling next week and will have a little extra time on my hands. Until then, here's some of our favorites.

I'm so Hungry I could eat a...

All right, but next time I pick the show.

Where's Waldo?

This is my princess face.

This is my angel face.

Do these pants make my legs look long?

This is my movie star (incognito) face

I'm ready for my close up, Mr. De Mille

The Aftermath

So I'm catching up on a wealth of blogging opportunities. I don't know that I'll be able to get them all down in electronic ink tonight, but here's the update on the leg. The stitches came out a week ago today. At the same time I was put into a hard cast; my first "hard" cast of life.







Not to experience a life event without my new camera in hand, I enlisted the help of both Lilah and the RN to get in close to get the shot! RIGHT after getting my shiny new cast installed, Lilah and I headed over to the SRF Bon Odori - the single biggest part of the year. It was a great deal of fun and even though I really extended the amount of time I should have spent on my crutches without elevating my leg, the pictures were worth it.






Finally, the baby is doing fine and getting so big! Lilah still hasn't headed back to work, but she's identified that this could be changing in the very near future.

First Bon Odori of the Year

Our local area, Uraga, held a bon Odori this past weekend and Lilah and I managed to make an appearance. It was a short one because my limitations on crutches and the baby's limitations on feeding were both challenging to a long term visit, but we were able to put in about an hour or two in the late afternoon and caught some friends of ours there, Dusty and Tomoko.

As usual the baby got a ton of attention, and well deserved if you ask me. We ate some Yakisoba and drank fruit juices while we watched people and some non-traditional dancing events. It was a significantly different experience than last year's bon Odori in Mabori Kaigon, but much fun none-the-less. This Friday is the SRF-JRMC bon Odori, which I also attended last year; this year will probably be a little more meet and greet and less stay and play because of the aforementioned limitations - but this is always the biggest party of the year here at SRF, so we'll do our best to stay as long as possible. Lilah has even purchased a Yukata (summer weight kimono) and is taking dance lessons! I'll be sure to bring an empty memory card for the camera for this event!







Anyway, that's all for now. The temporary cast is coming off on Friday and I'll get my first look at the damage (pictures to follow... you've been warned.) The new crutches I've been pining for are on their way, but I won't go into too much detail on that, because this story deserves it's own post in the near future.

Take care and keep the comments coming. We love to hear from our friends and fans!