Odd Couples

My niece, Calvin, is getting married next month. I named her Calvin when she was just a toddler (after Calvin and Hobbes) as she was that kind of trouble. She was fun to have around to teach terrible things then send her home to my sister. She has a very good man. I know his parents and grandparents and he comes of good stock.

They have a wedding website. First I heard of such but it is sure cute and covers the waterfront. A place for RSVP, a place to ask questions (like when do we eat?) and even specify special meal needs (Halal, anyone?), a wish list of gifts rather than a registry and a brief description of the couple.

He is a geologist. Not a problem. Easily understood. He has rocks in his head.

She is an Actuarial Analyst. Actuarials work for insurance companies, calculating the risk and therefore the premiums on various insurable hazards. Steroetypes have them as brainy but odd people who inhabit the bowels of high-rise insurance offices and have food delivered so they don't actually have to interact with people. An extroverted Actuarial is one who looks at your shoes instead of theirs when they talk to you.

This is NOT my niece. Beautiful, outgoing, gregarious, mischievious, ace ball player, student and all that good stuff. How she chose actuarial mathematics over a normal career is beyond me. I assume she has calculated her marriage to the nth degree and figures it a safe bet.

I'd love to know what she has calculated as risk for her brother and his wife. He is an Engineer and she is a Cancer Radiation Tech. Normal enough you say...They jump out of airplanes. With parachutes. Which open. So far. They met while jumping out of airplanes. Both have been injured, though to be fair, my nephew smashed his leg while base-jumping off a cliff not out of an airplane. His aunt said he had injured himself free-basing.

They hook novice jumpers to experienced jumpers harness to harness so anyone can try it, My nephew said he could not take me on as they don't make parachutes big enough. Now don't give me that, they throw tanks out of airplanes with parachutes. Well, OK, there is a guy in BC who might have a big enough chute. Someday...

I love my family. We are all strange.