On Friday we said good bye to Skipperdee, our Australian Shepherd. Our son Andrew and our soon to be daughter-in-law Jill had to take him to an urgent care vet after he began having seizures and could no longer walk. At almost fifteen years, he was ready and he had a gentle death for which we are very grateful.

Skippy with one of his many hedgehogs. He loved to be inside the Christmas Cave, our version of a Christmas tree.

Our dogs have played such an important part in the life of our family. We have had three dogs since we were married almost 36 years ago and the family’s collective memories of our lives together are laced by our time spent with Abby, a little spaniel, Francesca and Skipperdee. While we have mourned all of their deaths, I think this one may hurt the most. Skippy is the last dog that all of us had together, as a family. The kids were still kids, more or less, when this little puppy wriggled into our lives. Now, Claire is in Ecuador, Melissa and I are in Mexico, and Andrew is in Washington. We miss Skippy and in missing him, we realize that we miss the old us. We miss the family, dogs and all, that we were.

Aboard our Cal 34.  Andrew encouraging Skippy to love the sea lions. Alas, he did not. Nor the boat.

These are the times where our Little Cunning Plan doesn’t seem so cunning. We could not be there with Andrew and Jill to ease Skippy out of this life. When Francesca died, we all gathered around her as she went. We shared that pain together and it made us realize the great love that we share for one another. Now, scattered to the winds as we are, we share our pain via Skype and Facebook. It’s better than nothing but it can never be the same.

Skippy guarding the tent.  One of his less desirable traits was his intense hatred of the mailman.

Skippy and Franny and our Claire. Just having fun.

Skippy helping me build the Puddler Pram

And as parents our roles have changed. Making the hard decision to call the vet would have been left to Melissa or me. Now it is Andrew who must make that call. We can offer support and advice but more and more, we must step aside as Claire and Andrew create their own families. And that means they must make hard, sometimes painful choices. That is what good parents do though. Watch with pride and some sadness as their children become good, kind, loving adults.

Franny and Skippy shaking me down for treats.

Franny and Skippy under the Daffodil Rhody

Like Abby and Francesca before him, Skippy made all of us better people. Dogs show you how grateful you should be just to have a bit of kibble, a fresh hedge hog toy and a good belly rub. And scattered or no, we are all grateful for the love and beauty that Skipperdee brought to our family.

Today is Melissa's birthday so give her a little shout out.

We are anchored off of Waldron Island in dead calm water. What better time to make a coconut birthday cake. At least that's what I was shooting for.

I tried my hand at some cake sculpting the way Melissa did for the kids when they were little. Have a look.

My attempt at a cake based Galapagos. The headsail looks pretty
much like our real genoa, flaky and moist. I wonder if West Systems makes a fairing batter.

A bit more traditional. All we have are square pans.

It's the thought that counts, right? Please say it's true.

As if those cakes weren't enough, I am running the engine to make hot water so Melissa can have a shower when she returns from kayaking. Happy Birthday Baby.

To all my Boeing friends and colleagues,

You might think the title of today’s post is just some sentimental drivel as I say farewell to all of you after twenty years of faithful (mostly) service. This would be incorrect. In 2002 I said these exact words to a man who showed up at my hotel room door, dressed only in a towel. This man, in fact:

Michael and Chris enjoying a pic-a-nic on Lake Washington. I’m sure we were also thinking weighty thoughts about how to increase Boeing’s shareholder value at the time.

I’ll leave that to your lurid imaginations. Or, if you you know Chris, ask him to tell you the story. I count it as one of my signature achievements in this life.

But I digress, as usual.  On May 4th I will spend my last day working at Boeing.  After twenty plus years with the company it is a bittersweet goodbye to so many people who have enriched my life.

One of the best teams at Boeing Capital. Bruce , in the lower right hand corner, is the kind of leader Boeing needs more of. Jon , in the fetching salmon shirt, says we can do laundry at his casita in Loreto ($500 a load). Chris , wearing a tie instead of a bath towel for this photo, is now the lead developer at BCC. Murli, in green, is the only one who understood the math behind the code we created.

It is easy, perhaps even commonplace, to bludgeon huge corporations like Boeing.  I’ve certainly done my fair share of bitching and moaning about the petty bureaucracy, misanthropic executives and other forms of corporate pathology at Boeing and any other large business.

Some of the gang from Boeing Capital at the Whistle Stop in Renton.

But I can tell you that in spite of those frustrations, my time at Boeing has generally been spent in the company of many kind, generous, and smart (really smart) people. Without exception, my managers have been understanding of family commitments and have encouraged my education and professional advancement.  My co-workers have become friends and confidants. When you spend half of your waking hours with the same clowns for a few years, they start to grow on you.

Some of the gang in Structures Instrumentation. The guy with the comely ankles hired me into the company. Clearly his fashion sense wasn’t his only blind spot.

So thank you, Boeing, for twenty good years.  When I consider what I and my family have gained, twenty years of my time seems like a pretty good deal. We have put two children through private school and college debt free. Our medical insurance has covered more than one serious accident and illness. And I actually have a pension and retirement plans upon which to launch this next great adventure.

The IT crew from Auburn’s Emergent Manufacturing Facility.

The Auburn gang thoughtfully decorated my bike for my birthday.

Multitasking during a pressure test sometime around 1998.

And thank you to all my friends and colleagues, past and present who have made a giant corporation something much more personal.  Together, in ways large and small, we have created products that have transformed our world. Plus, we had a few laughs along the way. I think that’s something we can all be proud of.

When I was a young geek. Like the pocket protector?