Devry Nerd Hick

Funny times at home

2011-09-11T03:51:00.001-07:00

Last night Mary and I were watching the SNL: 2000-2010 special. It was about 8:30pm

Ethan came downstairs for a snack and blurts out, “I notice your not in bed yet, Mom.”

I immediately say, “I notice your kind of an ass sometimes, Ethan”

Mary says “Don’t call my son an ass, you idiot!”

to which Ethan reply’s “Don’t call my Dad an Idiot, you … (long pause)”

Mary and I almost in unison … “So? Go Ahead! What are you gonna call your Mom!?!?”

The New Driveway’s Here! The New Driveway’s Here! Woo Hoo!

2011-06-29T13:01:00.001-07:00

The new driveway has been completed!

I so enjoyed watching these men work. They not only did a great job, but went beyond my expectations and actually added dirt and planted grass in the areas that the Driveway was not very good before. Now we have 5 days till we can park on it. But they said we can walk on it already…

So after all the work these men put in… we have the new driveway!

The new driveway!

2011-06-29T09:55:00.001-07:00

Our driveway is being replaced! This is so much fun to watch!

As you can see from the before photos, it was time.

This is the patching I did myself… not too good a job but then again I don’t know what I am doing.

Here you can see the cracks and crumbling asphalt that we were dealing with.

Well they got started a little after 7:00am. It is really interesting to see the process.

Next was the saw cut of the curb. No more bouncing up the curb to get home.

Now the prep work has been completed!

I liked the name of the hand run machine. “Wacker”

Now the driveway is waiting for the asphalt!

What is this? Do I live on a Mushroom Farm?

2011-06-28T11:00:00.001-07:00

Saturday evening I was out front hanging around. The lawn looked like it could use a good mowing. There was nothing special to see.

Then the next morning I took the dog out to get the paper and we found these.

Just sitting out there holding water. Like three little wine glasses.

I have no idea what kind of mushrooms they are. but they were fairly large. After one full day in the Sun they started to look a little brown and cracked.

Then on Monday Ethan was going to Mow, so I took some pictures to show the size. These are Ethan’s hands so you can judge size from that.

The last picture shows the mushroom we normally see around here and considered a large… I guess it is not so big anymore.

Ethan being Ethan

2011-06-21T06:54:00.001-07:00

Can I smack him? Really can I? Please?

Ethan – Dad can you get gas for the mower…

Me – OK I have time before work.

On the way…

Ethan – By the way, my Air Conditioner in my car stopped working…

Me – it worked? I thought you didn’t have AC in here.

Ethan – well, all this (He says while pointing to his fan controls for his Vent/Heater)

Sure enough … no fan … nothing.

Me - Lets figure that out later… you have lousy timing dude.

Later I hear clunk clunk clunk clunk. Dammit!

Me – What did you do?

Ethan – I think I owe you a new mower.

Me – WHAT?!?!?!

Ethan – I ran over a stick, a rather large stick, now it sounds like this when I try to start it.

Me – Did I say you have lousy timing? Let me look at it.

Sure enough he jammed a stick between the body and the plastic plug for the Bagger chute. I got the stick out but he ruined the plastic piece.

Now we may have to bag every time till that part is replaced. I told him it was his choice now to bag or use the old mower… Don’t know what he chose … at this point I don’t really care.

At least he didn’t run the stick into his own leg… but that may have taught him to check for sticks 1^st.

Apple Support comes through! ~ follow up to previous post

2011-06-21T06:16:00.001-07:00

Well Sushma of iTunes Store Customer Support has come through. Although it did take more than 24 hrs, I did get my money back on my account this morning! YEAH!

I was able to download my wish list from iTunes

Name	Time	Album	Artist
(It) Feels So Good	3:31	(It) Feels So Good - Single	Steven Tyler
White Room	4:58	The Very Best of Cream	Cream
Sunshine of Your Love	4:11	The Very Best of Cream	Cream
Strange Brew	2:47	Disraeli Gears (Remastered)	Cream
Tip of My Tongue	2:45	Poison & Wine - EP	The Civil Wars
Pressing Flowers	3:13	Poison & Wine - EP	The Civil Wars
Go	2:58	Poison & Wine - EP	The Civil Wars
Poison & Wine	3:37	Poison & Wine - EP	The Civil Wars
Dance Me to the End of Love (Bonus T...	3:05	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
I Want You Back (Bonus Track)	3:15	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
Birds of a Feather	3:09	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
Forget Me Not	2:57	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
Falling	3:58	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
Girl With the Red Balloon	3:50	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
The Violet Hour	3:25	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
Barton Hollow	3:26	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
My Father's Father	3:20	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
Poison & Wine	3:39	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
To Whom It May Concern	3:31	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
C'est la mort	2:30	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
I've Got This Friend	3:24	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars
20 Years	3:02	Barton Hollow	The Civil Wars

Ripped off again by iTunes!

2011-06-20T06:08:00.001-07:00

Hey iTunes Users, How many of you have had this problem...

Get an iTunes Gift Card, scratch off the back of the card to reveal the code, Enter the code in the redeem section of iTunes Store, watch the balance show up for to seconds and then disappear.

You don't get any music, You don't get any notice, Just gone.

How many times does this happen? How much money do they get from these glitches?

And of course there is NO ONE You can CALL on the phone for help with this... You have to send them an email through the Apple Support website and HOPE that someone calls you back within 24 hrs....

Well it has been over 12 hrs... Still waiting Apple! Where is my money?

So far this year… for lack of a better title

2011-06-15T07:26:00.001-07:00

Well a lot has happened so far this year…

I have failed in my attempt to get back below 200 lbs. I actually have remained quite steady at 230 lbs. Ethan has taken on the challenge of getting me moving so far this summer and is taking me out for walks. We walk, he talks. Walking and talking. The talking helps the walking go by much easier. Usually no less than two miles. Sometimes longer, just depends on how my legs are doing at the time.

Mary has a new job. See her post at her blog Always and Forever Mary. (Link to the right) I am still working for Unisys, but now I am feeling like a troll in my basement office. Never leave the hole in the ground. Just throw some food down once in a while. Working weekends now, that has caused me to miss several family events.

Ethan is going to be starting his senior year at Columbia College Chicago. His talent for syncing voices is amazing to me. He also has built the respect of his professors for his little quirks he adds to his animations. So much so that the professor, while doing a demonstration, paused and said, “Now I will pull an ‘Ethan Polte’ here…” We are Looking forward to him starting his animation career.

Jordan has left the Culinary major he has been pursuing for the last several years, and he is changing majors over to Fine Arts. He has impressed the Art instructors with his first renditions. I have been amazed at the details he has been able to put into some of his first works.

Second Amendment question

2011-03-14T05:22:00.001-07:00

The Second Amendment reads as follows:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Recently there have been lots of news reports about possibly regulating what kind of weapons and ammunition should be available for public purchase. And also what a struggle it is to try to pass such regulations.
I see lots of comments on these news sites about how important the last 4 words of the 2nd amendment are and that the second amendment should not be ignored.
Most comments state something similar to the following
"What part of shall not be infringed do you not understand?"
I believe that the right to keep and bear arms is very important. And a person has the right to purchase and use a gun properly.
However, if you are going to comment on the second amendment and stress last four words "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED", Should you not also keep in mind that we should all hold with the same importance the first 4 words of the second amendment? "A WELL REGULATED MILITIA"

First Ride 2011

2011-03-12T13:14:00.001-08:00

Hey I got my Harley out yesterday! Was about 45 degrees so I just dressed for the chill wind and took off.

The bike started up after the long winter nap with no issues.
I took off in the mid afternoon when the sun was still overhead and warmer. I was fine but my legs were cold. The old Jeans were a bit too thin for the task. So I didn’t get to stay out too long.. But boy was it nice to be out riding again!

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-02T09:05:00.001-08:00

Well we have received our first major snowfall of 2011. We have enough snow now to challenge our new snow blower!. The old one would never have been able to get through this.

I got up to let Dillinger out. only to find that this was out the back door.

How we gonna open the door Dillinger?

Well I pushed it open as far as I could. Luckily the drift gave us about a foot from the door.

Backyard Drift looking South

And North…
Then I hooked him up and let him plow his own way through the snow.

Not sure if it shows up but this path through the drift was dug by Dillinger. He was having a lot of fun. Then when it was time to come in he jumped and plowed his way back through the drift again.

Then we started on the front yard.

Yep. that is 17” outside my front door.
Time to start the plow!

Plowing away!

Still Plowing

Hey I found the sidewalk… Jordan shovel in hand.

Ethan with the other shovel.

That is a 6 and 1/2 foot fence!
I plowed our driveway, Then Sandy’s, Then Megan’s, Then Peggy’s. Now it seems that the snow is taking a break.

Now just waiting for round two… supposed to Get flurries late this evening then again on Sunday.
It is now 11:00am and the snow plows have not been by yet…
Oh Well… Have a nice day everyone!

Autism Ride 2010

2010-09-21T18:40:00.001-07:00

Mary and I finally got to participate in the motorcycle ride for Autism Speaks. It was incredible how many bikes were there. I know that when we arrived there were over 400 bikes registered. As we waited for the ride to start, bikes kept arriving. There were over 500 bikes there. I don’t know for sure how many left from our location but adding all sites together they announced there were over 10,000 riders that signed up in advance. With the number that showed up and registered the day of the ride, I would not be able to guess how many riders donated their time and money to this cause.
With two sons that have been diagnosed within the Autism/Asperger syndrome spectrum Mary and I have attended the Walk for Autism Speaks and we had signed up for last years ride. However last year my back surgery prevented us from being able to participate. This year we were able to and it was a wonderful experience.

here are the first 200 bikes lined up ready to go.

There is My bike. The second one in with the helmet by the windshield

The next 100 bikes lined up here on the side of the building.As bikes kept arriving they lined up down the street and around the corner.

This is during the ride The line of bikes ahead of us. and behind us.

This was about 85 mile ride with no stops. We had police escorts the whole way. They blocked intersections for us as we rode past.

Thank you to the State Police for providing their services and also to all the local Sherriff offices and Local Police that also assisted with the traffic.

A thought for 9/11

2010-09-11T06:14:00.001-07:00

For the record, I am NOT a Muslim.
I am an AMERICAN, A Citizen of the United States of America, where we celebrate FREEDOM OF RELIGION.

For many months now I have heard of people demanding that a mosque not be built at ground zero.

From all the details I can find, the site is not to be an official Mosque, but rather a Community Center that has as a feature a prayer facility. http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/steve_chapman/2010/07/the-truth-about-the-ground-zero-mosque.html

Also the location is at least TWO BLOCKS AWAY from ground zero. A person cannot see the building from Ground Zero. From the building you cannot see ground zero.

This is an unwarranted attack on the Muslim religion. An unwarranted attack, that goes against everything that the Unites States is supposed to stand for.

Terrorist DOES NOT equal Muslim.

Should we prevent the building of Churches in Germany because during the Holocaust, many NAZIES claimed to be Christians?

Should we prevent the building of Churches in the United States because many Ku Klux Klan members who were involved in the Lynching of innocent people have claimed to be Christians?

The terrorists were not true Muslims. They did not follow a true Muslim leader. They follow an extremist bastardization of the Muslim religion. They distorted the words of the Muslim religion to justify their own evil acts.

Much as the Christian Church has done over the centuries.

But to blame the entire Muslim religion for the acts of a few evil men is just wrong.

Attacking Muslim Mosques, or Burning the Quran, is not a valid statement. It only adds fuel to the terrorist extremist’s fire. And they use these acts to prove the lies they are perpetrating.

I have several friends and coworkers who are true followers of the Muslim religion. They are good people and do not believe that the radical terrorists follow the Muslim religion.

Please remember to think before you act. Make sure you know your target before you attack. Make sure you know what you are talking about before you speak. Please remember that several Muslim families lost loved ones in this horrible attack. The difference is, during their grief, they have been forced to live through unwarranted attacks, suspicion, and mistrust. Some victims were even falsely accused of being terrorists.

A 23-year-old New York City police cadet was a part-time ambulance driver and incoming medical student. Because he was a devout Muslim, when he disappeared on September 11, law enforcement officials came to his family, seeking him for questioning in relation to the terrorist attacks. They allegedly believed he was somehow involved. His whereabouts were undetermined for over six months, until his remains were finally identified. He was found near the North Tower, with his EMT medical bag beside him, presumably doing everything he could to help those in need. Salman Hamdani was declared a hero. But until his remains were found, his family was treated as suspected terrorists during the time they should have been allowed to grieve in peace.

People forget there were several VICTIMS of the 9/11 attacks that were Muslim. Below is a partial list of those Muslim victims that I was able to find with a simple Google Search.

Samad Afridi
Ashraf Ahmad
Shabbir Ahmad ( leaves wife and 3 children)
Umar Ahmad
Azam Ahsan
Ahmed Ali
Tariq Amanullah (leaves wife and 2 children)
Touri Bolourchi (a retired nurse from Tehran)
Salauddin Ahmad Chaudhury
Abdul K. Chowdhury
Mohammad S. Chowdhury (leaves wife and child born 2 days after the attack)
Jamal Legesse Desantis
Ramzi Attallah Douani
SaleemUllah Farooqi
Syed Fatha
Osman Gani
Mohammad Hamdani
Salman Hamdani
Aisha Harris
Shakila Hoque
Nabid Hossain
Shahzad Hussain
Talat Hussain
Mohammad Shah Jahan
Yasmeen Jamal
Mohammed Jawarta
Arslan Khan Khakwani
Asim Khan
Ataullah Khan
Ayub Khan
Qasim Ali Khan
Sarah Khan
Taimour Khan
Yasmeen Khan
Zahida Khan
Badruddin Lakhani
Omar Malick
Nurul Hoque Miah
Mubarak Mohammad
Boyie Mohammed
Raza Mujtaba
Omar Namoos
Mujeb Qazi
Tarranum Rahim
Ehtesham U. Raja
Ameenia Rasool
Naveed Rehman
Yusuf Saad
Rahma Salie & unborn child (wife of Michael Theodoridis; 7 months pregnant)
Shoman Samad
Asad Samir
Khalid Shahid (engaged to be married in November)
Mohammed Shajahan
Naseema Simjee
Jamil Swaati
Sanober Syed
Robert Elias Talhami
Michael Theodoridis ( husband of Rahma Salie)
W. Wahid

Autism Speaks Charity Ride September 19th

2010-09-11T03:31:00.001-07:00

Mary and I will be riding in the Autism Speaks Charity Ride September 19th. If you ride join us if not you can donate at the Autism Speaks web site if you wish. http://ride.autismspeaks.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=423031&supId=262806362+

Weekend task

2010-05-16T17:41:00.001-07:00

Well this weekend was quite busy.

We had a lot of work to do getting ready for Jordan’s Graduation Party.

I had been unable to work on the deck last year due to my back problems. The deck was looking mighty bad. Sandy let us borrow her pressure washer so we could clean this thing up.

Here is a few samples of before and during the process.

This side of the deck shows what I was starting with, all grey with patches of algae. Pretty ugly don’t you think?

This shows the wood wet before even putting on the cleaner. This is just the pressure washer.

Last one shows the pressure washer in action.

Here is the view after using the deck wash.

Such an improvement.

Well Next weekend we need to get the deck chairs out of the shed and set up the umbrella. Lets just hope that the weather is this good the day of the graduation party… if not… well this still needed to be done.

For you animal lovers worried about Mama Cat and her kittens... She moved her kittens out on her own almost a week ago.

OH NO! CRITTERS!

2010-04-29T13:08:00.001-07:00

Monday evening Dillinger was outside in the back yard enjoying the weather.

Suddenly he started straining against his chain to get to the gap in the deck by the basement window. I had a hard time pulling him back. He was growling, barking and snapping at the opening too narrow to get his face into it further than his nose. Something got him on the nose. He was bleeding a little bit.

Well next morning I look in the gap myself and what do I see?

KITTENS!

and not far away … Mama keeping a watchful eye.

They are very cute kittens, but until she decides to move them, I cannot put Dillinger out the back yard. He is scratching up the wood trying to get at the kittens. I hope he just wants to play, but then again he only wanted to play with the possum, and Mr. Possum is not with us anymore. So now Dillinger is back in the front yard guarding the house.

Oh well…

Kittens….Hmph!

At least she didn’t find a way to have them inside the house.

Denny’s Bike

2010-04-12T16:44:00.001-07:00

My Neighbor and friend Denny Hanula passed away this year.

He and I would occasionally go out for a ride, He on his 100 year anniversary Dyna and me on my Sporty. He would follow me around as he just wanted to ride, and didn’t like taking the lead on a ride. LOL

Well after his passing Sandy (His wife) was torn about what to do with his Harley.

It is one beautiful bike

Sandy could not bare the thought of a stranger taking the bike.

Sandy finally decided to give the bike as a gift to her ex Son-In-Law Craig Ringler.

He was well loved by Denny and when They went out to visit them He and Denny had taken a long ride through the mountains.

Well he is a good man who has had some struggles that were no fault of his own, And Sandy knew he would love and care for the bike. Sandy said he deserved to be given something. So She told him to come and pick up his birthday present. She presented him with the title so he could have it home by his Birthday.

He showed up on his delivery run to pick up the bike. It just seemed to be meant to be. as the truck he was driving had Denny written on the side.

He said the first ride he is going to take will be the same ride he and Denny last took. I wish I could join him, but that is out of my range at this time.

I had never sat on Denny’s bike. So before it left Sandy said I had to get on and take a picture.

I am grateful to have known Denny, and am glad that this bike went to someone who Sandy and Denny knew and loved.

My New Toy!

2010-03-21T16:26:00.001-07:00

I received my new toy this past week. A Dell Inspiron 1764.

also has a 17” wide screen HD display, DVD Writer, a memory card reader, and a full size keyboard. (This means I had to get used to typing with my fingers not in the center of the screen, but I have a keypad on the laptop! So entering all the numbers is easier when doing spreadsheets. And it has a built in camera and microphone so Skype works so much better. I am still working on configuring the applications I need. The challenge of a 64bit O/S with 32bit software is being handled quite will by Windows 7.

So far I have enjoyed it immensely! We ordered it on the Dell 10 Days of Deals promotion. It was a very good deal.

Love my new Laptop so far! Will let you know how long it takes me to screw it up!

So here is what it looks like!

Well. Happy Computing everyone!

Tired today

2010-03-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

Toss and turn all night. No reason. Just not sleeping.
too tired to read. couldn't concentrate on the words. But still couldn't fall asleep.
Then the morning came sooner than expected. Oh well Back to work.

Snow Snow Snow... Where did the nice weather go?

2010-02-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

Had a nice ride just a few days ago it seams. Bike started up and ran great. Drove around a bit and filled up with fresh gas. Drove around a bit more. Then home thinking "This was great"
Can't wait to go out again.
Then ... Snow
Then ... More Snow
THEN ... MORE SNOW! NUBBINS!
I guess I won't get out any time soon.
Today I did see a State Trooper Motorcycle Officer on 294 North bound lanes.
He looked cold... but happy.
Made me wish I didn't have to work... Oh well. Gotta get back to work.

FIRST RIDE OF 2010

2010-02-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

Woo Hoo! Pulled the Harley out and it started right up! Took a ride around the neighborhood and filled up with fresh gas. It was very fun, relaxing, and actually quite warm. I would have stayed out longer but there were too many spots where there was water on the pavement, so I came home... it makes me want to ride more!
should have taken pictures!

Feeling cold and flat today

2010-02-12T04:45:00.000-08:00

So, how is your morning going?
Here is has already been an adventure!
It is Butt Cold Out there and Mary has a flat tire.
She had to take Jordan's van to work.
It is the right front tire...
I was going to put the spare on but there is so much Ice around the place that the Jack goes under the car that it won't lock in place. So I had to pump up the tire and will have to drop Jordan off at school this morning. Then pump it up again when it is time to go pick him up from school.
Two weeks ago I pumped up Jordan’s Right Front tire.
Ethan has to pump his Right Front Tire up regularly, about every two weeks.
Yesterday I came out of the post office to find a flat tire on my truck.
I had to pump up the Right Front Tire of my truck in the Post Office Parking lot.
What is it with our cars and the RIGHT FRONT TIRE?

Avitar - Great Movie

2010-01-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

OK we went to see Avitar tonight. It is a great movie great story. Unbelievably realistic.
Only problem we had is we went to see it at the IMAX theater... It was too much for us. We got dizzy.
Mary and I both had to look away from the screen often.
We wish we would have seen it on a smaller screen.
The IMAX screen was too much for us.

We did really enjoy the story.
beautifully acted.

Now that I am no longer dizzy, I am interested in going to see it on a smaller screen.

Merry Christmas! This is an older post that is worth repeating!

2009-12-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

And I mean Merry Christmas!

Not some generic Happy Holidays.
Now don't think that I don't want you to have a happy holiday season. Far from it.
I celebrate Christmas, and therefore to me this is the Christmas season. So I wish the same happiness and enjoyment I have to everyone. Whether you believe it or not. That is what I mean when I say Merry Christmas.

Even if you are a Scrooge, or a Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, or Atheist.
Even if you are the worst type of person - a Political Correctness Advocate!

If you actually are advocating being Politically Correct, you have to know that your actions are doing nothing but causing more division, more strife, and spitting on the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

So I say if you truly want to be Politically Correct, you should be protecting everyone's rights to put up the decorations they want. Say the holiday greeting they believe in.

If you do not celebrate Christmas, and someone says "Merry Christmas" to you, this is not offensive. Respond in same, say back "Happy Holidays" "Happy Kwanzaa" whatever you believe. If you are an atheist, say back "good day" "Bah Humbug" "Whatever" "Thank you" or anything you want. You don't have to worry about if you believe or not.

So I say again.

Merry Christmas!

The 75th Radio City Xmas Classic on PBS 12/23/2010

2009-12-23T18:42:00.000-08:00

The 75th Radio City Xmas Classic on PBS 12/23/2010
Well here we are watching The 75th Radio City Xmas Classic on WTTW tonight.
We went to see the live version of this show a couple years ago when it was in the Chicago Area.
It was the most amazing show. The Rockettes synchronicity was impeccable.
The show was amazing to watch, so much going on on the stage that was all perfectly timed!

We noticed it was on tonight and tuned in to watch the presentation of the same show on TV tonight.
We were excited to see it again. We remember all the scenes as they came on the TV.

I must say this though.
We are thoroughly disappointed in the program on TV.
Whoever was the editor for this was an IDIOT!
The whole reason to watch the Rockettes is to see all the Dancers in sync with each other.

The show as presented on TV was filled with camera angle changes during the dances every 1 to 5 seconds.
We timed them.
This changing from a shot of half the stage, to close-ups of faces, to wide angle view of the entire stage, to a shot of 4 dancers from behind,
Back to a close-up, to a camera that moves down the line.
The screen was jumping around so much that it was difficult to watch, and kind of disturbing.
It was nearly impossible to see, let alone enjoy the dancing.

I hope Radio City Music Hall will realize in the future that filming a presentation, like this, that fewer camera changes will make the show much more enjoyable for TV viewers in the future. The idea is to SEE the show not jump around and catch fleeting glimpses of what was going on here and there.
The editing of this program actually ruined the show.

And one more thing... Unless it is your family in the crowd watching the show... nobody wants to see the audience reaction in the middle of the number. The audience is not performing. That is not what the TV audience is tuning in for.

Happy Birthday Jordan!

2009-12-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

Jordan is 18 today.
I can still remember seeing him the first time.
So exciting to be there when he was born.
I remember holding him.
I remember his first time meeting his Mom.
I remember his first time seeing his brother.
They have been best friends ever since.
Hard to believe that was 18 years ago.
He is now quite the young man.
He has his whole adult life now laid out before him.

Random Dillinger Shots.

2009-12-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

Been a while since I posted...
Can't think of what to write about right now... so here are a few random picks of Dillinger.

Here is Dillinger Just chillin watching Mary cook supper.

Looks like he is saying... "Hey! My bowls are EMPTY!"

Here is Dillinger trying to stay warm

Brrrrrrrrr, we threw the blanket at him and he just curled up under it and stuck his nose out.

Here he is trying to ignore the camera

No Pictures Please... I Hate the paparatzi.

Here is my old dog just taking a nap with his Pooh Bear!

Pooh usually sits in the rocking chair next to Dillinger's blanket.
He fell off the chair sometime and Dill just used him as a pillow.
We thought it was funny how both of them had their heads tucked down.

This is actually the Pooh Bear that Ethan used to walk around with as a toddler.
He would hold Pooh by the ear and bounce him up and down like he was walking with him.
The ear has a worn spot where Ethan would hold onto him.
Wow I just thought about it and that means this Pooh Bear is about 18 or 19 years old!

Hope you enjoy these.
I will try to update you as to what has been going on with the rest of my family soon.

Have a nice day!

2009-11-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

I have never seen a football pool week this close.
The entire week will be decided by one game.
And then if Grsote is not in first place then the tie will be by who predicted Monday night points closest.

A Christmas Carol -Disney

2009-11-09T18:18:00.000-08:00

Wow Went to see this movie twice this weekend.
It is very well done, and also one with a little more of the Ghost Story feeling than some other versions. I went with Jordan on Saturday. It is not the best version of the story I have ever seen but as an animated version, it is very good movie. The best animated version I have seen.
I did find out that if you go to IMAX theater for a 3D movie, don't wear bifocals. The screen is too big and when things go down on the bottom of the screen the bifocals do not go well with the 3D glasses.
I was surprised how many of the actors had multiple parts.
I went again Sunday afternoon with Mary.
Yep I really did go twice to see this movie. And I will go again if I get the chance. I really enjoyed it.
I would not recommend taking younger children to this version. There are some parts that are a bit too scary.
Yes someone who took a Christmas Carol and treated it like a Ghost Story.
I would give this move 4 stars
I will defiantly add this one to my collection of Christmas Carol movies.

By the way... I was able to sit through two movies this weekend! My back didn't bother me at all! I am so happy now.

Three weeks after

2009-10-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hey I have survived my first week back at work!
Not too hard since I am working from home.
Am able to move around much more now.
I can even ride in Ethan's car!
I haven't been able to sit in his car since August.
All the Steri-Strips have fallen off and the scar is looking like it is healing very well.
I think that this scar is longer than the older one. I think it will be a cleaner looking scar.
The old one had stitching marks. This one is just a line.
(I will add photos after Mary takes a couple)
I am still thrilled that I can stand straight up and put on my own socks.
That sounds funny, but when you can't put on your own socks for a few months it means a lot.
Starting Physical Therapy soon.
That will help me get myself to a condition where I can start doing more normal activities.
Have to go now.
Jordan says I have to take 10,000,000 seconds to help him finish his Jack-o-lantern.
Ethan said, "That's about an hour I think"

1 week after I came home

2009-10-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

Well here we are. I have made it to 1 week after my first walk in the Hospital.
Then I made it to the nurses station and back.
Monday I took a walk with Jordan. I got from the house to the corner and back.
The rest of the week, I was on my own. That meant I was not able to go outside for a walk.
Not supposed to go out by myself.
I got to take a walk with Jordan today.
I made it all the way around the small block in my neighborhood.
It felt so good to be outside, and to get to walk that far. There was one place where the sidewalk was tilted. That was hard to navigate, but I made it.
Now I have till Wednesday to find out if I am able to drive.
Dr. said he didn't want me to work till then. So I have been here sitting or walking around the house.
There are two questions I have for the Dr.
1. how long till I can bend forward. (it makes it hard to put on socks and shoes and a couple other things)
2. How long till my toes start to feel normal. Right now they feel sort of like I have a thread from my socks stuck between all my toes, and a little swollen. They are not really swollen, they just feel that way.
I will post again when I have the answers.

Here is what I remember the Dr said about the surgery

2009-10-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

Dr. D said that when he opened me up and was checking out the disc, one nerve was so compressed that it was twitching. He started on the other side and when that was cleared out the other nerve settled down. Then he was able to go in on that side to clear that out. There was some old scar tissue above one of the joints but was not impacting any nerves so he was able to leave that small bit. He cleaned out some other scar tissue that could have caused problems. He had said that the scar tissue could be the most difficult part of the surgery because that could most easily cause tears in the lining of the nerve.
If I recall correctly what he said, this bulging disc was worse than the original surgery I had in 2001. He seemed surprised at how much the disc was bulging considering how much had been removed in the previous surgery.
The nurses and PCA's were wonderful. They were very positive and made every effort to make sure I was comfortable. Thank you ladies.
I am now able to stand up straight. It feels so good to be able to do so.
No more leg pain! so happy about that.

Home from the hospital

2009-10-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Had a rough night had to get up about 4 times to go to move around. Was having some tummy trouble from just laying there...
But then this morning I got to sleep in.
Mary came and picked me up about noon.
When I got home Mom and Dad were here, Mom had made some homemade tomato soup. It was very good. Mary made me a grilled cheese....
Grilled cheese and tomato soup just go together so well.
Marvin was working with Jordan to put in the new water heater. They needed a tool so were waiting for me to get home to tell them where it was.
I told them it was in the tool box they were using.
Dad said he hadn't looked there yet.
Now Marvin and Jordan are off getting fittings at Home Depot to finish up.
Mary is at the pharmicist picking up my perscriptions.
Phyllis has stepped out to go to the store for something or other she needs.
So here I sit. Just so happy to be home.
Now the dog is leaning on me. But now it doesn't hurt to have him lean.
So happy the leg pain is gone. I am still a little weak but that will pass over the next few weeks.
Thank you to everyone who has said a prayer for me.
I don't think I will be able to go on the Autism Speaks ride this year.
It is tomorrow. I am not supposed to drive for two weeks, so I guess Mary is going to drive over and pick up our kits. The donations have been made so we should still be able to get our kits for participating... hopefully.
Oh well.
Just happy to be home.

Day after surgery.

2009-10-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Well I am in my room now the day after back surgery.I have very little pain in my legs now. I have some strange sensations as the nerves that have been shut down for a while are waking back up. I don't have very good balance yet but that will come as I get back used to walking straight up and down rather than leaning over at 2:30 angle.Dr says I may be able to go home Saturday or Sunday. All depends on how well I do over the rest of today.
Ok now the funny stuff.I told them that every time I have come out of anesthesia it has been sooner than they expect and I am a jerk and irritable.Well I woke up and started to pull out tubes and tried to get up. It took two nurses to hold me down. (they said I am very strong) After they got me settled down and resting they said I started singing. OK not so strange to have me singing.But it is what I was singing.
I sang "The Scotsman's Tale"
A song about a drunk Scotsman lying by the side of the road.and the two girls that find him and leave him a surprise.
of course i don't remember that.
I got up and walked a little this morning, then before lunch, I was able to walk around a great deal further. Now Mary and I have just finished lunch.And I thought I would put up an update.

OK Now it is official

2009-10-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have to go back under the knife again for my back.
Scheduled for OCT 8th.
Next Thursday... Seems so close.
I am not happy about it but the MRI does not lie.
It shows a definite bulge of a disc pushing on the nerve.
here are a couple of the images from the MRI with the different contrasts

According to the Dr, it is fairly severe. Looking at the images I think I can agree...
But on the good side, it is not as severe as the last time I had to have this done.
The bulge is in the middle of the disk so they cannot go in from one side this time.
They have to go from both sides to get at everything.
It will be open back and full on removal of the bulging material.
Dr. says there is plenty of disc left so that fusion will not be needed.
But I may loose another 1/4 inch.
Lost 1/2 an inch on the last surgery.
I am looking forward to being able to stand up straight again.
Also to not having pain in my legs anymore.
Also the Surgeon said it is rare for the disc to bulge out again like mine did.
But he did say it will be extremely unlikely for this to happen a third time.
During the procedure they are going to check the disc between the last vertebra and sacrum, as there was indication of swelling there also, but if it looks OK they will do nothing there.

Well here it is... The results

2009-09-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

First I have to say we have some great news.
Mary had a biopsy on her Thyroid and everything came back clean.
So Mary was so happy she wanted to dance with me.
Bad news... I couldn't dance...

Now my turn
Had the MRI on Friday.
They gave me a copy of the MRI on CD.
I looked at it... I don't know for sure what I am looking at but it did not look good.
Then I get the call Saturday.
Dr. H. called and said I need to make an appointment with a Neurological specialist to see if I need surgery.
Not happy about this because I don't want surgery again.
But with the discomfort I am going through now I need to keep an open mind.
I will wait and see what the Neurosurgeon has to say and try to decide what is going to be the best choice for me.
Luckily I have changed positions at work.
I now am working from my home office so I may be able to continue working during recovery if I go with the surgery.
Oh well, I guess that will have to wait till I can call and set up an appointment.
I will try to do better at keeping this blog updated.

I have said "Never ignore pain." But do I listen to myself?

2009-09-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

OK Last post says I was feeling better.
That was a premature assessment.
I am paying for ignoring the warning signs I guess.
Last year I had a stiff back while moving servers for a client from Chicago to Salt Lake City.
The flying back and forth was the worst part I think.
But after I moved around a bit it would be alright.
Then this year we were cleaning up the last few servers packing and shipping.
so I was stiff. Moved around and all was ok.
Then after vacation I was sore and it didn't go away.
I should have started seeking treatment sooner.
Now I have this... Days of very bad pain followed by a few days of not so bad pain.
I am waiting for the call early next week to say when to go in for an MRI.
The treatment is not going as well as expected. They are afraid that there is something there that they cannot see in the X-Rays.
This is all very bad timing.
Mary will be having her appointment Tuesday. (for more information see http://alwaysandforever-mary.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-bobopsy-is-scheduled.html)

I am being moved to a new position in my work. In training online. Hard to sit in the chair long enough to do the work. But I am managing. I should take a picture of how I have to sit to keep working longer. I am sure it would be funny for some of you. I have one good thing though, my work has moved me from being an on-site engineer to being a work from home office employee. I don't have to ride the train anymore. The sad part is I won't be riding the train with Ethan when he comes home from school.
Oh well.
Just have to take my own advice next time.
Don't ignore pain. It is saying something is wrong.

Feeling Better

2009-08-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well for the last roughly Month and 1/2 I have been fighting with a strained back.
(See earlier post about doors)
I think I twisted my back wrong putting up the trim for the doors. Note to self, Don't bend sideways to swing a hammer. Posture Posture Posture!
Oh well this last weekend was very good.
Nice weather,
Good friend dropped by on his new Harley. (Glad your doing so well Mark!)
Ethan proved he can live on his own (sort of, he house sat for Gary and Raelynn)
We made Zucchini pancakes last night for supper! MMmmmMmmmm! So Good!
And on top of everything else my back seems to be finally on the mend. I have been able to get out of chairs and walk without being stooped over to the side. (Mary says I am either at 2:30 or 10 to 6 depending on if I am coming towards you or going away.
Still have a few issues in the morning, but I am hoping this is the turning point where it all starts getting better.

23 Years! Now I have been Married longer than I lived single!

2009-08-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

Mary and I celebrate 23 years of marriage today!

I have to say through all the ups and downs I could not have had a better partner.
(She is my Kemosabie, and I am glad to be her Tonto)

We celebrated last night with dinner at Tapalpa's Restaurant in Elk Grove Village.
Oh My what a good restaurant! Unbelievable food, Wonderful Atmosphere, and very authentic Mexican food.
We then went to the theater to see Julie and Julia.
Meryl Streep and Amy Addams were very good.
Meryl made you feel like you actually knew how Julia Child felt at the time. Amazing performance!
Well worth going to see!

This morning I was still struggling with back problems so Mary went to the Grocery store alone.
After she left I had Jordan take me over to the Jewel and I got a beautiful rose for Mary.
I had been working on a long poem for this day and I wanted to leave it out for Mary to find when she got home. (The rose was to help her find it)
When I re-read the poem, I realized it was somewhat familiar... Very familiar... it was very close to an old George Strait song... I had to rewrite quickly. She was going to be home in less then 10 minutes!
This is what I came up with. Not nearly as long as the original, but this one is much more original.

23 years ago, I was standing in a small room waiting,

Not really nervous, just listening to the music play.

Then it was time and we walked out.

I watched everyone coming in, and was now a little nervous.

Then I saw you coming in on your fathers arm and you took my breath away.

23 years of friendship,

23 years of love.

23 years together,

And still, you take my breath away

I Love you Mary!

Movie Review

2009-08-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well we watched the movie "Miss Potter" last night.
We enjoyed it very much.
This movie is about the start of Beatrix Potter's career as a writer.
It was a very interesting story. I never knew that she had painted her own illustrations for the books she wrote.
As a period movie, it was not on par with "Sense and Sensibility" or "Pride and Prejudice" but it was good.
And one of the few movies that I would ask Mary to hit pause when I leave the room.

OUCH

2009-08-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have had a very bad July.... Well not the whole month... the the first week was great.
After that, my back went out.
I have been hurting bad but am working hard at trying to get over this and get back to life.
I have had so much pain in the mornings that it takes me about 5 minutes to get up out of bed.
Then the first few steps are horrible.
The more I move around the better it gets but still not able to do everything I want too.
Oh Well

As the Grinch said in the Ron Howard Movie

OWEEE!

Oh in all my updates below I forgot! Ethan got another car...

2009-07-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Maybe this car will be the one that lasts through till he graduates. He has gone through two so far.
The Probe has gone to the... ? where do dead cars go? I don't know.

I guess you could say it has become an organ donor for other cars.
I am sure it is being parted out to make other Probes work again...

The Mercury had failed and it would cost more than we paid to buy it to fix it.

But it has found a new life.
The mechanic bought it from us so he can rebuild it for his own car.

So now he has his first car that is not black.
A Ford Escort.

Fair Oaks Ford in Naperville had this car on the lot.
And they were willing to deal so we were able to get a very good price for this and it is running very well.
Rides nice and seems very solid.
And it it the first car he has had that is not missing a hub cap!

I haven't told him yet that red cars are more likely to be pulled over.

OK now that is three cars... the next one Ethan buys for himself.

New Doors! Yeah!

2009-07-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well I said I would post pictures when I had the doors completed...
So here you go.... Not quite done yet, but this is the new doors!

This is the Bathroom and Mary and my bedroom doors.

This is the boys bedroom doors!

Ethan and Jordan both helped me put up the trim today to finish up the outside of the doors.
Now I still have to put trim on the inside of the doors and fill the nail holes, so not quite finished yet, but Don't they look nice?

Catching Up 1

2009-07-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

Wow More than a month and I have not posted... Well Gotta fix that.... so here is a bunch of updates in one. Hope this is not too much to read all at once!

Let me see now.... have a lot to remember...

On Fathers day I received several gifts that I was extremely happy with and surprised!
I was given the third Prophecy movie (Christopher Walkin as the Angel Gabriel in this creepy series! now I have all three movies!)

The three books in the Bourne trilogy.

I am so looking forward to finishing reading them!
Also two music CDs from Trace Adkins!

I always liked his music but had never purchased a CD from him yet. I have them on my IPOD now and am very happy with them!
Yes. I am extremely happy with these gifts from my boys.
The Surprise I received from Mary, I received a Derby Cover for my Sportster!

This is something I pointed out to her and said that it would be the only type of change to the bike I would make... I had mentioned that a long time ago and I had completely forgotten about it. So this was a big Surprise!

This is how it looks on the bike!

I went for a long ride on Monday 29th. I was part of the Million Mile Ride! It is an annual event that many dealerships participate in. They host a ride and total up the mileage and add to the other dealerships totals to try to reach a minimum of 1 million miles.

This is just just a few of the bikes that went along.

This was the first stop in Wisconsin. This is where we all met up to make sure everyone was still together before we finished up the final leg of the trip.

Here are a few more of the bikes at the broken spoke while we were waiting for the rest of the riders.

They said last year that the total was over 5 million miles and this year rumor had it that there were more participating. I never did hear the total but the dealership I rode with had 40 bikes and we went over 100 miles up into Wisconsin. We were very near Madison.
We stopped at this restaurant Anchors Away on the Rock River

Very good food!
The bikes ranged from an old Honda shadow to a tricked out chopper!
Very interesting.

This is the chopper next to my sporty!

By the time I got home I had ridden over 225 miles. Some sites were taking longer rides, and had many more riders going. So total that up for all sites and it should add up great.

Catching up 2

2009-07-10T14:34:00.001-07:00

We went to see UP finally... in 3D ... it was a very good movie, but the 3D work was not quite up to what was done with Monsters vs Aliens. The story was excellent and Ed Asner is the perfect choice for Carl. We all enjoyed the movie... I liked Doug, the dog. He was very enterta... SQUIRREL!!! ... I liked Doug, the dog. He was very entertaining!

During this past week I have been on a Staycation... I was away from work but we didn't go anywhere. We stayed at home mostly.
We had guests over on the 3rd. We grilled a whole turkey, that was so good!
Played bags and sat on the deck all afternoon. The weather was beautiful.
Gary was the odd man in the last games and had no partner... and he won....

We went to Six Flags, and that was a lot of fun. ( I have to upload the pictures later) Ethan took his friend Jerry, they insisted that we meet for lunch at 1:00pm, then went off on their own to go ride the Superman ride.
Mary, Jordan, Raelynn, Nikolas, and I went the other direction. We enjoyed the morning and rode many rides and had a lot of fun. We went back at 1:00pm.
Ethan and Jerry? Nowhere to be found... we waited... and waited... and waited...
Finally I went out to the car to see if they were waiting there.... nope.
I called Raelynn's phone and let them know. Mary said she would wait for them and sent Jordan Raelynn and Nik out to eat lunch. I ate and went back so Mary could go eat.
Still no Ethan and Jerry...
At about 2:00pm they come strolling up... "Sorry, when we went to Superman the line was too long so we went and rode other rides, then on the way back the line was shorter so we got in.. we thought we would have plenty of time."
I looked at them and said... "Well, You didn't" we went out so they could eat too.
The afternoon was fun as we rode a few more rides. I went on the American Eagle with Ethan.... It was his first roller coaster he had ever ridden at Six Flags, and that was with me, so we had to go and ride it again... It was fun.
All in all a very good day.

Marvin came up and helped us put in new doors. He was a tremendous help! Thank you Dad!
We really needed them as the doors we had were going bad.

they were over 40 years old and were splintering.
So we bought new doors.

This is the doors as we bought them.

I stained them over the last month so they would be ready for when Marvin arrived.
He did the bathroom door to show us how it was done correctly....
We removed the old door (Jordan enjoyed the demolition) and found that this house had another surprise for us. Non Standard Stud sizes! What joy!
This meant that we had to cut almost 1/2 inches from the new door framing, and not the easy way. Marvin did the measuring and most of the cutting, I did a few cuts after he showed what was needed. Of course he did the measuring... I am not going to go into how many times I measure 4 times and then cut wrong anyway.... But we got all four ready then did the installing.

Here is Jordan and I helping Marvin on the Bathroom Door.
I then worked with Jordan to put in my door...(incorrectly of course, but Marvin has already told me how to fix it, so no big deal.) Then we did Jordan's door. Then we broke for supper. I had recieved some Lake Trout from my neighbor, (Thank you Bob!) Mary seasoned it up and also preped some chicken breasts. Jordan took to the grill and grilled up the fish and chicken.
This was a very good meal! Jordan has taken over the grilling for our family... I guess I have to admit that he is better at it than I am now... but that's ok as long as it keeps coming out so good!
After supper Marvin went home and Ethan and I worked on putting in his door. It was more difficult to get it as his walls were a bit more out of square then the rest of the openings, but with effort we were able to get them all in... All I have left to do now is put up the trim. I am still varnishing it now but it is looking so good!

Today we took a trip up to Kenosha for breakfast... If you read my older posts you will see a post from a motorcycle trip that Mary and I took up to Franks Diner in Kenosha.

This time we drove up with the boys and had a very good trip.
We stopped at the lake on the way back to look at the boats and enjoy the views.

Boats

Mary and I in front of the boats

Jordan enjoying the view

Boys on the rocks!

That gets us fairly close to being up to date. Sorry bout the long pause!

another dead car

2009-06-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well,
After yesterdays post I kind of expected this.
The Mercury is no more.
Let us bow our heads for the car.
It will live again, but not by my $
I am going to remove Ethan's Stereo and plates, then give the mechanic the title.
One of his technicians wants to fix it up for his own car.
It is not unrepairable but it is out of my budget.
We will see if we can find another car for him.
Good thing he is off from school and works close enough to walk.

Aw NutZ!!!!!

2009-06-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

Taking Etan's car in to get it checked out for a possible alternator problem. I was driving Ethan's car and he was following me in the Escape.
Well we got about 1/2 way to the Automotive Services shop when the car decided to take a nap.
Sputtered shuttered belched out some blue smoke and died.... right in the left turn lane at 63rd and Main street Downers Grove...
Well Ethan was behind me and he had his flashers on. I had the flashers on with the car. So do people go around us... Nope... They pull right up behind the Escape and sit there honking when we don't move. Well people the flashers being on should be a hint!
But nope they back up so they can pull around us. Honking shaking fists, and fingers...
Wow... Like I broke down there on purpose just to mess up their drive home...
Stupid people... the flashers on both cars mean that there is a break down.
Don't pull up behind a disabled car WITH THE FLASHERS ON and get angry because it doesn't move!
Did I mention that the Flashers were on?
Oh well
The tow truck showed up and while he was hooking up to the car (yes the emergency lights on the tow truck were on, oh and the flashers on both cars were still on) some young chicky pulls up and starts honking because the light was changing.
So we start moving finally and she pulls out storms past waving her finger and with the other hand holding down the horn... (not sure how she was steering) and then she cuts in front of the tow truck to turn left. The same way we were going....
some people....
Oh well. Now we wait to find out what is wrong with this car... Hopefully it will be repairable. It only has to last another three years. (he only drives it about 2000 miles a year so that is not unreasonable to think it could last that long)
Keeping our fingers crossed...

Well... no movies this weekend. But we had fun anyway!

2009-05-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ethan had to work so we are delaying our trip to the Theater to go see Disney's UP!
So instead we just did some shopping, grilling, I was in a draw down raffle, and we did some riding!

Friday and Saturday Mary and Raelynn held a garage sale at Raelynn's house. We did very well, Jordan and I both sold bicycles that we no longer use, Jordan sold several of his toy snakes and a few board games, Mary sold some old stamping supplies, and the old car amp and speaker we found in Ethan's car when we purchased it. We don't know if they were any good or not so we sold as is. Someone made an offer and they are gone.
We did well enough that we opened a new savings account for our vacation fund. We are going to put our extra money we get from Prez. Obama's stimulus into this account. Should be just about the right ammount for our next vacation!

During the garage sale, I was over at Heritage Harley Davidson for a charity draw down raffle.
Only 500 tickets were sold. Every 25th and 75th ticket would win a T-Shirt, Every 50th or 100th ticket would win $50.00 The 499th ticket would win $500.00 prize.
The last ticket drawn will be the winner! What to win? A Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail Classic!
Beautiful bike!
Well I was there sending Mary text updates of the status.
100 down still on the board!
150 down still on the board!
175 down still on the board!
200 down still on the board!
225 down still on the board!
250 down still on the board. They are taking a break, I made it past the 1/2 way point!
275 down still on the board!
300 down still on the board!
325 down still on the board!
350 down still on the board!
375 down still on the board!
Somewhere between there and 400 my number was pulled.
So I didn't get the new bike...
Oh well It was a lot of fun anyway!

Here are the winners!
(Picture from http://www.fvhog.com/)

Later Mary and I rode over to Westmont on the motorcycle and had dinner at J. Flemming's Absolutely Delicious.
It was a nice restaurant and they have an outdoor dining area between the buildings so we were able to eat outside. It was good.

Today we rode over to Ace Hardware to shop for some sanders and lawn adornments.
We also took the truck over to Menard's and purchased 4 new doors for our bedrooms and bathroom upstairs.

Very nice doors but I have to stain and varnish them before we put them in. We are going to pick up the stain next week and I will get started.
We purchased the molding for the doors and realized when we got home that we only purchased enough to do one side of the doors.... we will have to go get another 4 molding kits for these doors... Oh well, I was never all that good at math... LOL
Marvin said he would come up after the beans are in and teach us how to put in a new doorframe. Then he will supervise while the boys and I put them in to make sure we don't screw it up.

For supper we grilled!

Mary had a recipe for BBQ Chicken Packets from Kraft.com and she put them together.
I had received a gift of salmon fillets from my neighbor Bob. Bob is a very talented fisher. He has given me Tuna steaks from a tuna that he caught on one of his trips. He never comes back from a fishing trip without any fish. Usually enough to give away to the neighbors.
He told me to marinate in 7UP, so I did. I also had some McCormick Salmon Seasoning that I used. I placed the salmon in the grilling basket that I had purchased for the Tuna Steak.
We grilled the Chicken in the packets we made, and I grilled the Salmon all at the same time.

Everything turned out great! Wow! that Salmon was Sooooo Goooooood! MMmmmMMMmmMMMMMMmmm!
The Chicken packets had BBQ sauce on the chicken, topped with a pineapple slice (sorry Marvin) and a slice of green pepper. Those came out very good also. Mary gave me a taste of hers and it was like sweet and sour chicken, but grilled with a nice smokey taste!
Very good!

So for the rest of the week I have salmon fillets for lunch!
And Mary has Chicken!

I have set up my tractor sprinkler today. I know that there is supposed to be rain for the next few days, but the new grass down by the street was looking dry. We want that to keep growing. Plus I wanted to see my tractor go again. I just replaced the broken wheel on the front so now it will follow the hose unsupervised and will not go off track as often. It is almost done now, when it finishes I will have to put it away. That is a pain. picking up all that hose and coiling it back up. But that's OK. It is such nice weather today!

Have a good week everyone!

Movies!

2009-05-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Well I went to see Star Trek. Gary and I were going to go on Saturday night last week, but when we arrived at the Cinemark Theater we found it was blocked off from traffic by several fire trucks and police cars.
They had noticed smoke on the second floor so had shut down and called the fire dept.
Well needless to say, they were not showing the movie that night.
They gave us rain checks.
So Gary said, "Do you have to go home?"
I said no so he said he was kidnapping me. We were going to go out. He was angry that the theater was closed and wanted to go do something.
So he took me to Clementines. A nice little bar. No food other than chips or salty snacks behind the bar. We sat and talked for a couple hours.
We went back to Cinemark on Wednesday and used our "rain checks" to go in and see the movie.
Ethan went with us this time... I guess he was good luck because they were open this time.
We saw the IMAX presentation. 5 story tall, 7 story wide screen! Wow the space scenes felt like you were falling through the screen! It was a very good movie. We all enjoyed it.

Then just last night, Ethan Jordan and I went to see Night at the Museum - Battle of the Smithsonian,
This was a good movie, we all three laughed through the movie.
But really two movies in one week... Don't do that very often!

But it was fun!

Fraidy Dog

2009-05-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

My dog sounds real tough when someone walks up to the door. But if there is thunder? even if it is far away, he runs and hides in the boys bedrooms.
Well today while we were at work, there was thunder...
Dillinger tried to get into the bedrooms. But the doors were shut.
So does he lay down as close to the bedroom doors as he can get like usual?
Nope!
The dumb dog tries to dig his way under the door.
Ripped the carpet and the padding right off the floor for about three feet back from the doors.

Now we have to figure out how to fix this carpet.
I was able to lay it back down, but it is lumpy and the padding under it is destroyed. I can't get it all the way back down to where it will lay flat across in front of the doors. Now when the boys leave there rooms they have to be careful or they are going to trip.

He is not the big guard dog he pretends to be... he is a fraidy dog...

Bob Evan's for Breakfast!

2009-05-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hey! We found an open Bob Evan's Restaurant!
OK this may not be a big deal to most of you, but ever since the Bob Evans restaurants near our house closed down, we have not had a place where our whole family could go for breakfast and everyone would be happy.
We have tried Cracker Barrel, IHOP, Sand Piper, and a few others. Always someone was left with not getting what they wanted.
(Occasionally one of us would not even get edible food - but that is a different story)
Mary was told that there was still a Bob Evans Restaurant in Planefield. Not too far away!
So this morning for Mothers Day breakfast we all went over to Bob Evans!
Mary had her omelet with hash browns and biscuits with honey.
Jordan got his French Toast!
Ethan got his Cinnamon pancakes with chocolate chunks throughout (cooked in and sprinkled on after)
and I got my biscuits and gravy with eggs, sausage patties, and hash browns!
It has been so long since I had GOOD biscuits and gravy that was made with sausage gravy. Sausage (that tasted like breakfast sausage, not like ham)
MMMMmmmmMMMMmmmmMMMMMMMMMmmmmm!
So Good!

What are these flowers?

2009-05-10T09:37:00.001-07:00

We have some ground cover flowers we were given that are very pretty and actually are doing a great job covering the ground where we needed it ... behind our shed.

However we have noticed that they are taking over... We are trying to find out how to stop them.

(1)

Here they are where we wanted them. Behind the shed

(2)

Here they are in front of the house spreading

they are choking out the other flowers here.

(3)

Here they are taking over my Strawberries.

(4)

Here they are in the Grass near our neighbor’s yard, after I mowed them off.

Anyone know what these flowers are?

We can't remember!

Now I had a ... ID10T moment

2009-05-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

I was having breakfast and forgot my coffee.
So I went to get my coffee.
In the few seconds it takes to get to the kitchen from the table, I forgot what I was going for and I went to the fridge and grabbed a soda...
I sat down and remembered I wanted coffee.
I took the soda back to the fridge and came and sat down. Without my coffee.
So I had to get up and go get my coffee.
This trip was more successful.
I have my coffee! Maybe now I will wake up!

Falling Down! The Sequel

2009-04-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

If any of you follow my blog you will remember a blog from January 1st called Falling down.
http://devrynerdhick.blogspot.com/2009/01/falling-down.html
This, I guess, is the Sequel!

OK... I guess the best way to do this is to just tell you all what happened....

I am sitting watching TV, with my laptop browsing the internet and the phone rings.
Mary is upstairs, so I look over and see Toll Free Call....
I put the laptop down, stood up and walked over to the end of the couch, reached over the dog and picked up the phone.
Before I could press the talk button I started to slowly fall down.
And I mean slowly. I was sort of stumbling backwards, but not really fast enough to call it stumbling.
I fell so slowly that it seemed like I would catch myself before I went all the way to the floor.
I don't know what I tripped over.
I just kept falling backwards.
I ended up on the floor in front of the TV.
All the way across the room.
I fell so slowly that I could look around the room and see what was going on.
I noticed the dog was watching me fall with a confused look on his face.
I saw Mary and Jordan watching me fall. Jordan had time to come over and was almost there in time to catch me before I finally hit the floor.
Dillinger had gotten up from the floor and walked over to meet me when I hit the floor.
So there I am on the floor, and I realize I still had the phone in my hand, and it was still ringing. So I answered it.
It was a recording.
Jordan was right there asking if I needed him to help me up...
I said "No, I'm on the phone... "
Now about an hour later, I am thinking... I must have hit my arm on something on the way down...
My arm is throbbing from my elbow to my wrist, and my shoulder is sore...
Oh well... That is my new falling down blog

Ethan is very intelligent, but he was born blonde. Even if his hair isn't blonde now, he still is.

2009-04-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

Ethan is a very intelligent person. He has always done very well in school, better than I ever did. But how can I put this other than Ethan has been having some blonde moments...
This happens from time to time and Mary and I just have to laugh and laugh.

First example
Ethan has one key for his car... you buy an auction car and you get one key. We have to go to Ford or a locksmith to get a new key made, because of the chip in the key. They can't just make a key at the hardware store. You may ask, what is the Blonde moment here? Well here you go...
He went to the store to purchase some video game... When he got home he went straight to his room to play the game.
Then when it was time to go to work, he could not find his key. He looked all over his room, the kitchen, Jordan’s room, the bathroom, and even in the basement.
Then he didn't have enough time to look for it so borrowed Mom's car and went to work.
So Jordan says "I'll find 'em."
5 minutes later from Ethan's room we hear Jordan yell out.. "Found them!"

Where were they?
On his bed, UNDER HIS FITTED SHEET!
Don't ask me how he did it, but that's where they were Under the sheet.

2nd example.
Ethan drives to the Train Station and rides the train downtown. Then he and I ride home together and he drives me home. He has always parked at Belmont station. I showed him where to park at Downers Grove Main street. He has parked there and then I rode home with him.
Friday he was going to get off early so was not going to be able to give me a ride home.
I got off early and meet him at the train.
He says, "I parked at Belmont today, I wasn't sure that I could find my way home without you there....
Now... he has driven there a few times and parked there... He knows how to get there but not how to get home? Are you kidding me?

And the third happened today.
He was fixing his supper. He got the left over Pizza out of the fridge and put it on the pizza stone, and put the Pizza in the oven. He set the timer, and then sat down to wait for his pizza.
The timer goes off and he steps into the Kitchen... We hear him say, "Aw Nuts, I forgot to turn the oven on!"

Yes... my boy may now have dark hair... but his is still blonde once in a while.

Now all you easily offended blonds, please note the first line of this blog.

Behind in my posts

2009-04-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while... Been too lazy. So here for you all.... multiple posts in one!

I have an update on my workouts.... been hurt, so haven't been going to work out. Gotta start over.

I went to watch the Golden Gloves Semi-finals. I was very happy to be able to go, and we had a very good time!

Took my bike in for the annual service. But now I have an oil leak.. I have to take it back and see what they can do about it... It is leaking at the oil filter so it should be easy for them to fix.

But it has been barely warm enough to ride anyway... of course, I still go! But it has been cold.

Sunday Ride!

2009-03-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well it was great weather today.
I spent the morning rotating the Tires on the Escape. Then came in for lunch.
Weather was so good I had decided to go for a ride. I asked Mary if she wanted to go but she said no. Her knee is hurting too much.
I Rode up Route 53 up to Butterfield road.
I then cut east over to Finley. But that was slow going. Butterfield did not hold up to the winter this year. Finley was very good. I rode down Finley till it turned to Belmont. I cut over on Prairie to Downers Grove Main Street and rode down Main Street Downers Grove.
I always like riding through Downers Grove Main street. It is so nice going through there. Wish it was longer but it is still nice. I then rode down Lemont road and took the frontage road just north of 55 over to Woodridge drive. Then I came home.
When I got back Mary said she wanted to go so we both went out for a short ride. Just a quick ride around Woodridge till she said we had to go back because of her knee.

Now the house is filled with a wonderful aroma.
Jordan is making us some French Onion Soup!
I love that he is taking Culinary at TCD!
Can't wait till supper!

Great Weekend

2009-03-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

The weather was great. Clear Sunny and above 45 most of the time.
Saturday we took Jordan for a college visit to Robert Morris College for the Culinary Dept. It was very impressive. The chef was very clear on the goal of preparing all students to be ready for a career with the capabilities of filling every function required in the industry. It was so impressive that I started thinking I would like to go. But Jordan was his usual self and kept his thoughts very close and did not really say what he thought.
I think he is set on going to College of Dupage first then transferring to a different school to specialize. Then I was able to go out for a ride. I went over to Heritage HD and looked at the new models and checked what it was going to run for the annual checkup for my sporty. I still have to put a little bit more on my account.

Sunday, I went shopping with Mary, Sometimes this is our time together all week to chat without interruption from the boys. We talked about Jordan. We agreed that we just couldn't really tell what he thought of the Robert Morris College. We know he was impressed but no details.
Later I was able to get my truck cleaned out.
For the last few months whenever doing work on the cars in the driveway I had left tools and parts in the truck cab for easier access.
Now that the brakes are fixed I cleaned all that out so I can drive around without the rattle.
I also had to replace the spring that locked the hood latch shut. I went to Auto Zone and asked if they had a spring like the one I had in my hand and the Nylon rivets that I had to remove to open up the covers so I could get at the hood latch. The guy said yes then walked me over and showed me the nylon rivets. We then went to the front counter and he looked up my truck to see what the spring part number was. He said... we don't carry that part. Go to Loews or someplace like that. They will have a spring.
I walked back to the shelf and a couple places down from the nylon rivets was a universal spring. (cut to length and bend out to hook up. I took that and the nylon rivets home and fixed my truck... funny how that guy was willing to send me to a different store just because he didn't think about the universal spring.
Well anyway. I fixed the hood latch and then had plenty of time to go riding after. Went for a good long ride but there are a lot of potholes on the roads I use for a short ride. Had a lot of dodging and weaving back and forth in my lane to stay on a smooth surface. But other than that it was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to a long summer of riding.

Expensive couple of weeks here.

2009-03-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have had to spend spend spend this last few weeks.
New Refrigerator... Old one works well as a Freezer. Just don't like frozen veggies and milk all the time so we got a new one.
The day it was delivered the Cloths dryer broke down.
New one arriving ... Friday.
Got my truck fixed (see previous post)
Now last night my son's van quit working....
It is in the shop now.
haven't heard back from them yet, but come on!
Stop already!
Everything else better keep working!

Hey good news just hit. The van starter is still under warranty. They just fixed it! Cool!

I have my truck back!

2009-03-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of work done on my truck. I had to have a brake job but was not able to get the repairs done earlier.
I had had a brake job done a few years ago and when I was in Wisconsin not 1 month later the brakes locked up on me. I had to force them back out on the side of the road to get going. I drove home and parked the truck. It was less than 1000 miles from the brake job and I had to park my truck. This was a painful situation for me. I have missed my truck. I had taken it for a few estimates and every shop had quoted me well over $1000.00 for the work. A couple actually quoted me over $2000.00
We got our tax return and decided to fix the truck.
I had to replace the battery, It was the first new battery for this truck. But still where to take it was the question.

Last year we had taken Jordan's van to get some work done. We took it to Automotive Services in Downers Grove because it was convenient for picking it up after work. They are right by the train tracks.
They did excellent work and for a fair price.

So I took my truck to them this week. Well they called me and stared listing all the things that were wrong. Calipers, Pads, Rotors, and the busted brake line going to the back. There will be a lot of labor involved. So I was waiting for the worst.
and he quotes me $700.00.
Really? I said.
"Well, I could charge you more if you want me too, but I just wouldn't feel good about it." He said.
No I will take that go ahead and fix it.
So I went to pick it up.
"Sorry, we ran into a bit of trouble with the brake line. It would not pass any pressure test as soon as we replaced one piece, the next one would burst. Essentially you have new brake lines all the way from the front to the back but we were waiting for the final part. ."
So here I was expecting a huge difference in the bill. Guy working on the truck showed me the parts.
The rotors were toast. The pads had shattered. The Calipers as you can see are in terrible shape.

Then he showed me the brake lines.
First he fixed this section,

and then this one,

then this one,

Then this one,

then this one was the one that we were waiting for.

Well they finished up and the guy says... "Well it will be a little more labor then I quoted you... But I am not going to charge you for the extra brake line sections.
Just the original one I quoted you. But I have to charge the labor."

"Really, So what is the final damages?"
$800.00
I about fell over.
Now I have my truck back! Yea!
And I don't feel like I was ripped off at all!

I am very proud of my boy

2009-03-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

Jordan came home from school on Friday with some interesting news.
At TCD where he is taking culinary school, Jordan has been very happy taking the hospitality classes. These are the classes that teach the students the customer facing rolls. Taking care of tables, taking customer orders, preparing their food and delivering to the table. He seems to really enjoy this hands on portion. He has come home with stories every day of what they have done that day.

The Chef called each student up to his desk to show them their current grade.
He showed Jordan that his is getting a 93 in the hospitality portion of Culinary School.
The Chef then told Jordan that he has been chosen to be a server at the banquet on March 12th. Only 8 student where chosen from the afternoon session to be servers at the banquette.
He was chosen because of his good grades he is receiving in culinary classes.
Yes he has been so intent on doing well at TCD that now he is already getting recognition for his accomplishments.
Yes we are very happy for him.

Beautiful Weather, but I was a bit sick.

2009-02-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

NUBBINS! BEAUTIFUL WEATHER ALL WEEKEND!
But I could not go riding because I was not feeling well....
Now the weather is going to be bouncing back and forth from nice to lousy till spring.
This may have been the best opportunity for the month.
Oh Well. It won't be long.

Warm Weather?

2009-02-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

The snow is melting again... Temperature got up to 38 today.
getting colder now that the sun is down, but the weather report is calling for a high of 57 tomorrow.

Maybe that is why last night I dreamed of getting my bike out and going for a ride.

Yep dreaming bout riding.

Can't wait till it is bright and sunny again....

I'm not obsessed yet, am I?

Workout Part Two

2009-02-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

OK So the first week had a lot of trouble keeping up.
But I did see some results already...
Up to 20 minutes now on the Elliptical.
at the end of the week I weighed 204 lbs... down two pounds.

Unfortunately I over did it on the chest exercises so I have a very sore chest.

But still I will try to keep it going.
Wish me luck!

Workout statistics

2009-02-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

February 2nd 2009 Starting weight 206 lbs
I started today..will try to keep track here.
Goal weight is 185 to 190
Should be able to get there...If I keep working out.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!!

2009-02-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

There I posted about the super bowl.
even if the Bears didn't make it...

Well I didn't get it done...

2009-01-31T06:05:00.000-08:00

I was going to go workout yesterday....
Didn't get it done... should have done it... Didn't do it.
Maybe I will get started in February.

I know it took a long time to get started last time, and when I started I felt better. and I dropped from 226lbs to 198 and I felt so much better all the time.
But I lost access to that workout facility.
Now I am back but I just can't seem to get started...
When I do get started it will be easier to keep going. I know I will enjoy it when I get started. But I just cannot seem to give myself the time to go to workout.

I know there are a lot of people out there who will read something like this and say something like "It is easy to go work out, your just lazy!" but people like that don't know anything about anyone but themselves.
Everyone who is not an "expert", or who has always been just a bit out of shape for most of their lives, knows it is hard to get started.

I will get started.
I am determined not to let another Month go by.
I have to get ready for Motorcycle season!

What? I Missed a whole day here somewhere!

2009-01-30T06:23:00.000-08:00

Been fighting a bug this last week or so. Actually longer than that I guess.
Sinus issues causing a night cough.
Finally Mary could not take it anymore (I guess I am not much fun when I am sick)
so she went and got the store brand equivalent for NyQuil.
I have been sleeping ok now this week and waking up feeling better.
but I am sitting here and realized that today is Friday not Thursday....

Woo Hoo!
It’s Friday!
I just thought of something… I need to turn off my alarm tonight…
I just thought of something else… I could have worn jeans today and been warm…
Oh Well… still

IT’S FRIDAY! WOO HOO!

Wait… What day did I miss this week?
I blame the Nyquil

Well then, I am going to be trying to start again today on my workouts… Gotta keep myself in shape… Now that it one month into the New Year!
I have my stuff with me… I just have to break away from my desk and do it today….

Lost and Found!

2009-01-26T19:28:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had an empty CD Case that you can't throw away because you KNOW you will find that CD someday but it just sits there on the shelf, practically screaming at you for losing the disc that it once held.

I have had an empty CD Case that used to hold a CD that I enjoyed. I lost the CD over 3 years ago. Every once in a while we go to put in music to listen to just for hanging out at home...
We pull out this case. Wow we havn't listened to this in a long time! Open the case to be reminded that it is empty.

I knew I had played it here at home, But just could not remember what CD player I had used. I could not find it. I looked in every CD player I had. Every PC CD drive every CD folder I had. I finally slipped the case to the back row of the shelf because it was too sad to see it and be reminded of the music I could not listen too.

Then looking through old un labeled CD-R cases to try to figure out what they were, I open a case and there are two CDs in the case... The first was the CD-R that had nothing spectacular. Even almost put it back down without looking under it. Then I caught the sight of the yellow CD and Red lettering.... Could it be? No Way! Can't be! Might Be! Could Be! IT IS! I FOUND IT!

Cyndi Lauper Twelve Deadly Cyns!

I was so happy. Now it is in my itunes and on my ipod!

I am listening to her now! Such a range from Fun and flippant to serious ballads..
such a unique voice...
I am so happy I found this after so long.

I have only one problem now.

I have to find that case... the one I put away so I wouldn't have to look at it and know it is empty.

Hmmm now where did that thing go?

Rough week.

2009-01-24T12:14:00.001-08:00

Been a few rough days.
Spent several days at work trying to cope with server patching and virus issues. Then since Wednesday we have had 1 family member have oral surgery, 1 struck with Stomach virus, and I have had a bad sinus infection for the last few days.
On top of that My Dad had to have another stint put in his Heart and another artery ballooned.
But he is ok now and was cleared for their annual trip to AZ.
So far 2009 has had a rough start, Lets hope that the rest of the year goes better.

Facebook

2009-01-20T16:44:00.000-08:00

I joined facebook...
Don't know how that will work. But so far my Sister has made it fun!

WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT!

2009-01-20T16:42:00.001-08:00

Maybe now someone will be there who cares about WORKING people more than the top 1% of the wealthy

Back from 'bamma'

2009-01-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

I went to Auburn Alabama for a week.
I spent the time with my family. I wish it could have been for just a visit, but it was far more serious. My brother in law Scotte Hodel has passed away.
The memorial service was amazing. The number of people he influenced in his life and everyone who we met was blessed by knowing him.
The celebration of his life was wonderful.
Friends and neighbors were stopping by all week to offer support and bringing food.
I would suggest you either search youtube or google for "hodelas"
This will give you a slight idea of the man and his beliefs.

Scotte, our lives are better to have known you. We will miss you, and look forward to seeing you again.

Falling down

2009-01-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

Well, Today we went to Mary's sister Raelynn's house for brunch.
It was a nice visit, but that is not what this post is about...

I fell down...
I wore my cowboy boots today. I like my cowboy boots, but they have no traction in the snow.
As we were leaving to come home I was walking down their steps.
The steps go down around a curve, and each step you have to step down walk a bit then step down again.
I was stepping down to the third step when I felt my right foot starting to slide.
It seem like I was in slow motion.
I almost caught myself when I brought my left foot down to that step, but then both feet were sliding.
I had time to think "don't put your hand down or you will break your wrist or have snow all up your sleeve of your jacket."
So I did sort of a half pirouette and was sliding backwards. Then my heels dropped off the step and I went over on my back. I was laughing as I hit the snow.

Mary turned and saw me in the snow and thought I was making snow angles.
Apparently Raelynn saw the whole thing from the window. I wonder if what she saw was as funny as it seemed to me as it was happening. Mary was disappointed that she missed the fall.
I got up and walked around to the car to get in and then realized that my back was still packed with snow. So I brushed it off and then sat down. We were on the way home when I realized I had snow packed into my pants. It was cold. Jordan started laughing at me again so I reached back and pulled some snow off of my belt and tossed it over my shoulder at him. He stopped laughing. I think I hit him.
So that was my falling down post.... I'm OK... Just bruised my ego a little bit. But it did give me something to laugh at.

Scotte Hodel

2009-01-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

This was a very sad morning.
My brother in law had been fighting cancer for a while now, and on Jan, 9th at about midnight he passed away.
I had been planning to take a vacation in June to ride down to Auburn Alabama to go riding with him. This was to be in celebration of his recovery.
I am at a loss for words right now.
My son Jordan has summed up much of my feelings when he said "I wish I could have seen him one more time."
Jordan and Ethan liked Uncle Scotte very much. They have many good memories of the fun they had with him at family events. As do I.
I genuinely appreciate that when Scotte and Viva found out that our boys were diagnosed as autistic that he took it upon himself to learn about their condition. He would send us articles to read and was very patient with our boys and dealing with their unique means of communication when they were young.
I will miss the MAC vs PC conversations we would have. (me being PC) and also many other conversations we would have that would often leave me in awe of his ability to explain very complicated things in ways that I could understand.
Beyond that I cannot say anything more than my sister and their son Adam have said. The following is the email I received today.

From Viva Hodel -
"Scotte Hodel passed away last night about midnight. He had started to get increasingly weak, fatigued, and not breathing well about a week ago. Wed he was admitted to the hospital.

I will let you know when we have made arrangements for his memorial service.

Adam wrote this note (see below) last evening, and I will leave you with that for now.

Thank you all so much for your love, concern and prayers. We will miss Scotte greatly, but are rejoicing for him.

Love to you all,

Viva

Concerning my Father

by Adam Hodel

People have asked me, "How do I feel?" I feel like I can't express it. It's a mixture of so much. I'm sad. Obviously. I'm missing all the times I could have had with my dad. He won't see me graduate. He won't be there to go on camping trips. He won't be there to tell me that he's proud or tell me that he loves me.

But I have something above that. My hope was never set on the people of this world or in the joys of it. My hope was set on Christ alone. The one who I love most is still there, and will always be. And my dad gets to go meet him.

I am less sad about the time I have lost with my dad, than I am happy about the eternity to come later. I am missing but a passing shadow with him. I will walk the mountains and valleys with him one day. I will look him in the eyes and say, "I love you daddy."

So I am sad, yes. But how can I despair when faced with the present joy of knowing Christ. Not to mention the future reunion with my father. I love Christ. Death to me is life to my whole being. For those who also love God with their whole heart it is merely a temporary separation.

How am I? In Christ alone my hope is found. It is well, it is well with my soul."

Working on a different wavelength.

2009-01-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

Artists just think differently.
Ethan has developed a habit of leaving us little items all over the house just to see if we notice them, or if we do, how long it takes. He has done things like this for a long time.
For example, during high school he would place a nickle in the tree near the school to see if anyone would see it. He said it took two weeks for someone to see the nickle. Then later he tried a quarter. That only took three days.
Around the house we have been finding things all over.
Like this he placed next to the Dog's food bowls

It fits so well with our dog. Especially the last frame where the dog says,
"I like the sound of my own voice"
Another was more subtle. We have a professional wrestling action figure sitting on a shelf.

Don't ask why we have this out as decoration... I think it was Ethan's

He took its head off and set it in it's lap.
So apparently this was like this for a couple weeks before we all noticed it.

His latest was this.

He set this up with pretzel pieces he found in the bag.
He just left it on the counter in front of the Microwave.

I like to think that we all noticed this the same day he put it out...

Artistic minds just work on a different wavelength...

FLOOD!

2008-12-27T07:40:00.000-08:00

HOLY THAW OUT BATMAN!
The rain is coming down now. Started last night and is still coming down.
Sort of glad it is not snow. but then again with the rain and suddenly warmer weather all the snow melted down. Now the storm sewers are not keeping up. The snow plows had piled all the snow from the streets over the drains. The street is flooded past the neighbors driveways and past our properties.

I tried to clear the drain with a shovel. That small path of white ice on the right. I walked down the middle of that to get to the drain. I had to climb over the top of the frozen snow packed by the plow. a foot or more of water on each side. I then had to try to find the drain under the ice I was standing on. I dug in from the side till I hit metal. Then I dug around that till the water started flowing. While doing this, some idiots were coming down the street in their cars. I am there with my shovel waving it like a maniac to get them to slow down.
One stopped in time. Two looked at me like I was an idiot and hit the water at about 20 Miles per hour. Of course this caused a large splash. Luckily the flood water was far enough away that the initial splash did not get to me. but the mini tsunami they created did come up over my perch up to my calves.
The guy with the Cadillac will be angry when he realizes his plastic bumper probably cracked when he hit the floating chucks of ice.
Well here are the rest of the pic's.

Well Now I don't even want to look in my back yard... I know all the other yards drain into mine.

I had to look. Not as bad as it could have been, but still.. not good.

By the way. We will have two days of weather in the upper 40's and possibly the 50's, then it is supposed to drop again and snow some more.
I think in my past posts I may have mentioned that I don't like Winter in the Chicago area.
Well... I still don't.

I went back out an hour after my ice balancing act and saw the following results of my endeavors.

Last Ride! (of the season)

2008-11-30T07:23:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday was the last ride of the season... (Unless the Global Warming Myth actually comes true)
I waited several days till it was warm enough to take my Sportster out to get a full tank and put in the Fuel Stabilizer. It was cold, but not freezing. Just over 40 F - I spent about 10 minutes riding around to get the fuel stabilizer down to the carburetor and then came home.
Boy did I get funny looks from all the people driving around in their cars.
I think I may have been the only motorcycle they saw yesterday.
But it was still fun.
Now the bike is put away.
I polished it up and covered it up.
Can't wait for the weather to warm up in the Spring and get back out riding again!
Oh well.

Tough Truck

2008-11-29T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hey, who has the toughest trucks?
I have a Ford F150. It is a '98.

Some people look at me and say. Do you really like the Ford?
Well the resounding answer is YES!
I have enjoyed owning this workhorse.
What have I done with my Truck?
My home has 10 railroad ties as decorative highlights.
I am not talking about those store bought small diameter logs that the garden centers call railroad ties.
I am talking real full size, 8 to 10 foot long, takes two or three normal men (or one Rob Allen) or a forklift to get them into a truck, used to hold real train tracks railroad ties.
Did I pick them up at a store? NO
I picked them up from the side of the tracks. (with permission of course and help from Rob)
They were the old ones that the railroad had pulled out to replace. Each weighed between 300 and 500 lbs. Drove them over 120 miles my home. My sister asked me if I wanted her to get some old blankets to put in the bed to protect it.
I said, "Nope I bought a Ford."

I have also hauled everything from Cement mixers to computer equipment.
I am proud of every dent and scratch in that truck bed.
One other large move was everything needed to build this deck!

Some have said that Chevy makes a tougher truck, or Dodge, or even now Toyota...
I say to those people... you are very wrong.
Just look at these videos from Mike Rowe. (click the link then click "replay video")

http://www.fordvehicles.com/2009f150/?page=/durability/

http://www.fordvehicles.com/2009f150/?page=/towing/

http://www.fordvehicles.com/2009f150/?page=/hauling/

http://www.fordvehicles.com/2009f150/?page=/fuelefficiency/

The new F150 is just awesome!

If I could do it now I would be at Ford today to buy one.

I have entered two "Enter to Win a Ford F150" at the Ford Web Site!

The first is the contest where you could Win an '09 F150 and a weekend on tour with Toby Keith.

The second contest to Win an '09 Ford F150 and a trip to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

The following is a real answer I gave to a survey I took.

The Question was something like - What would you do with your new Chevy Silverado if you were to win?

My answer - Trade it in for a Ford.

I still feel that way!

Do I like my Ford? Yes I do!

One of the happiest days will be when I get my new Ford F150.

But it will also be sad, because I will have to trade in my '98. But that won't be for a while!

Birthy Hapday! ... Ethan is 19 today!

2008-11-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!
19 years old today!

I now think about the last 19 years and I think...
Where did they go?!?!?!
How did he get to be a college student already?!?!?!?
How did this happen?
I still remember holding him in one arm with his head fitting in my hand.

That seems to be just a moment ago!

And as a young toddler

I remember him as a little boy!

Now he is a handsome young man

Now he is in college!
And he has a job!
It seems like it has taken forever to get to this, and yet just a moment ago he was born.
Time drags on but the years fly by.

Football !!!!

2008-11-15T14:50:00.001-08:00

Today I went to watch my home town school play in an IHSA Quarter Final football game.
Bureau Valley vs Immaculate Conception
My sister's son is a member of the team.
This was the first time I have been able to go see them play since the late '80s.
This was a cold day for a football game. I was happy that Amy was there with a large blanket.
Although Bureau Valley put up a great effort the scoreboard did not reflect that.
41 - 8
The game had many points where the score could have turned out differently but all the breaks went one way it seemed.
But all in all it was a very enjoyable game to watch.
Immaculate Conception football team was very dominant on offense.
Bureau Valley was able to move the ball against their defense but had a few bad breaks that stopped the drive.
I just wish it would have been warmer.
I am still cold!

Halloween Continued

2008-11-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

OK so here is all I had left to type yesterday... but didn't have time.

The boys made their own Jack-O-Lanterns.
Mary and I helped very little.
(We just picked out the pumpkins and then let the boys cut them up)

You can see the daylight pictures in the previous post.
Here are the night views!
With Flash

Without flash

Jordan's is on the left, Ethan's on the right

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween
I was off today so I didn’t get to go to work in my costume. Oh well. I just wore it all day anyway.
Let me know if you can guess what I was dressed up as!

Here I am at a different view, in case you need more help figuring it out.

We have been sitting outside waiting for the trick or treats to come up. There have been a few, not as many as usual.
I don’t know why but we had just about ½ as many as the last few years.
Here is what our house looked like this year.

We had a girl tell us, " I love your man, and your ghost, and your homer, and your pumpkins! You get an award for one of the coolest houses!"

We did have one kid that came by on his own, then came by again with a group of friends, then later came back with a different costume. … Mary noticed he was carrying the same bag… He seemed very surprised that he got caught.
Oh well. Soon trick or treat time will be over, and then Mary and I are going out to play cards. That should be fun.

I can't finish this blog; Mary says we have to hurry. I will have to finish up later.
Happy Halloween Everyone!

Football ...

2008-10-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

OK so I had a couple days to think about it.
The Bears lost.
Well, the way I figure it, they were in the game and they were 1 second away from winning.
The offense came through in the 4th quarter and got the touchdown when needed.
Then the Defense had to hold them out of field goal range till the time ran out. two plays.
Go after them play tough! Attack Attack Attack! What do they do???
Stupid Prevent Defense. Too much time given to the QB to find a receiver way too open and on the sidelines to boot!
So far this year it seems that All the Prevent Defense can do is prevent the Bears from getting a win.
They now start a home stand that could put them firmly back in the Central Division lead.
They just have to start playing DEFENSE in the final two minute drill.
They have to get away from that stupid "Prevent Defense" mentality.
They need to stay in the Defense that has gotten them where they are in the game.
Keep the pressure on. Keep fighting. Soon as they step back and go to "Prevent Defense" they can't seem to prevent anything.

Hey! A Post that is not about the motorcycle!

2008-10-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Ethan's first car died. Very sad to say goodbye to a first car.

But he handled it fairly well.
It was hauled away while he was at school.

So he didn't have to see it go away.

I don't think he has seen these pictures before I posted them.
I think I missed driving it more than he did. It was a very fun car to drive.
Now as sad as it was to see the Probe go, we can't complain.
We paid only $900 + tx + license.
We had the car for just over two years. That was a pretty good deal.

Well we have had to spend a few weeks doing the car shuffle trying to figure out schedules and get everyone where they needed to be with some help from Mary's sister, Raelynn and her husband Gary, we successfully kept everyone on schedule.
Jordan was a trooper as his van became the loaner vehicle for whoever needed a car at that particular time.
We were planning on getting another car for Ethan after the first of the year, but were not finding anything in that price range again.
Well yesterday Mary saw a sign that there was a municipal vehicle and equipment auction.
We went today and looked at all the cars. We tried starting them and looked at several that we thought would be good cars.
Well we have never been at an auto auction before. We were a bit surprised as the cars were going through and which ones were being bid on and what were going for less. Except all of them seemed to be going for a bit more than we could stay in. We just kept getting close then they would go out of our price range. Well this kept going on and we thought we were going to get one of the Crown Victoria Police cruisers but there was someone there who kept bidding them up till we had to give up. That guy bought about 8 Crown Victoria's. Most other vehicles there started bidding too high for us. We were having fun though as the cars came through. Then one came up.
A Mercury Mystique. 1998 with 89000 miles on it. The driver yelled out the window that the AC was not working. Well that right off gave every one pause. No-one was bidding so when the auctioneer dropped down to 500 we jumped in and started the bidding. We almost had it at 500 when the someone behind us jumped in. we went back and forth a couple times then we won!
$700.00 + 10% auction fee. So this car cost us less than his old car. What a deal!
On the way home, I was playing with all the dials switches and heard a click. And the AC came on and was COLD! AWESOME! AC works!

When we got home Jordan came out and thanked us for getting Ethan another car. (He gets his van back!)

This car had been stored outside for quite a long time.
it was COVERED in dirt and Maple Tree seeds.
We had the feeling that it was seized by Police in some sort of raid.
We were cleaning it up and found several surprises.
I found a ring in the change holder in the dash.
It fit Ethan so he gets a nice ring.
I popped the trunk and found a Sub Woofer box with two 12" woofers.
There is an amp there and all the cables and wires were disconnected so we don't know if it works. But wow. As soon as he gets a Stereo we can hook that all up and find out if it does.

Ethan came home from work to find a car.
He was very happy.
Almost as happy as Jordan!

After we cleaned it up and got the License and Title and insurance taken care of, Ethan took it out for a drive and to get gas.
As we drove around he was very happy to have AC... hope that keeps working!

I can't believe we got Ethan another black car. Oh by the way... this car has LEATHER SEATS!
and the Drivers seat is a power seat.
Ethan gets all the Luxury!

If we get two years from this one we will be very happy!

OK another Motorcycle post... But really it is more a breakfast post. sort of

2008-09-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

Mary and I went on a ride.
We saw a diner on the Food Network "Diners Drive-ins and Dives"
This is the shows host's website
http://www.guyfieri.com/the_man.html
We always said we wanted to go to one of these places on the show.
So we chose this one. The place was Franks Diner in Kenosha WI.
Mary did not want to ride the highways so I went to Google Maps and found a route up there that did not involve any highway riding.
We got up at about 5:00am so we could get on the road by 6:00am.
It was cold so we both bundled up and took off. Mary was wearing the backpack with our phones, camera, and maps.
We rode all the way up route 83 (much bumpier than it used to be) to Dundee Road and took that over to 21 north.
Well we were supposed to get onto 41 Next but we hadn't found it yet. I thought we missed it so we stopped at a gas station and while I was borrowing their map, a gentleman asked where I was headed.
I said Kenosha by the back roads.
He said. Take this road (Grand) East almost all the way to the Lake. then turn left on Sheridan Road. Take that all the way up. Only about 30 miles on Sheridan.
Well we go that way and found we were right there on the right road to make only one more turn and there we found "Franks Diner"
This place is an old railroad dining car converted to a diner.
The place is small and you have to stand in line to get a seat, even though they have built onto it to add booths for seating. There was about 10 feet from the back of the grill to the next wall. They fit a counter with barstool seating all the way down. You have to stand behind the people at the counter waiting for either booth or counter seating.
They are yelling at the standers (not meanly just to be heard)
"Move all the way down! You will get seated when we have room!"
Well we stood there waiting for our table and watched everyone going about in this tiny space. It was very entertaining. The cook yelling out orders that were ready, everyone telling everyone to move down, or how many are you? Take the table over there? Move on Down.
We saw the waiter was taking a families order next to us.
We over heard him saying. "You don't want the short stack. You want the full stack. Unless your mom says no." The wait staff was very funny. The cook (Spiky blond hair with a T-shirt that says ORDER WHAT YOU WANT, EAT WHAT YOU GET!) was constantly extremely busy creating what they call Garbage Plates and Omelets so much going at once that I couldn't figure out how she knew what was what on the grill. She would have something ready dump it on a plate and slide it down the back wall counter to the wait staff and yell out "'Table 6 two meat cheddar!" or something like that. The waiter would say "Is this all?"
She would shake her head and say "Not yet."
The waiter took the plate and went to table 6 dropped off the plate as he rushed by and said "Here is some of your food"
Anyone who picked up the coffee pot had to walk around the entire diner and fill everyone's coffee.
Well we started to order and the guy asks us what we want and Mary and I both started ordering at the same time and he kept jumping back and forth between us asking what we each wanted. Then stopped us and said... "Now one at a time."
So Mary started ordering her garbage plate.
she ordered a 1/2 Garbage plate with Jalapenos, one meat, cheddar, everything but no onions.
the waiter asked so you don't want Jalapenos?
Mary said "Yes, I do want Jalapenos"
You don't want Jalapenos"
"YES I DO WANT JALAPENOS!"
He said OK! turned to me and said, "Now what do you want?"
I pointed at Mary and said, "I'll have that"
He looked at her and said. "You came in with her, I don't think I can help you with that. You are already leaving with her."
I will have the same as her but with Swiss Cheese.
He said OK then and ran off to put in the order.
While waiting for our food I read the newspaper article that was posted in the booth. It said the place had been recommended as a Historical Site in the County, State, and National levels.
It is the oldest railroad Dining car still in operation and the longest continuously in business.
It also stated that Liberace had eaten there as well as several members of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra.
We got our food and it was HUGE! This is a 1/2 plate!

Oh My goodness!

How were we going to eat all this!

But it was so good and we both ate the whole thing!
After that we went out and took a couple pictures of the outside.

It is so small you wonder how that many people can get inside and have room to work and dine without falling all over each other.
After that we went over to Uke's Harley Davidson. The oldest Harley Davidson Dealership in Wisconsin.

This place was very big. We went in and I purchased a T-Shirt.
They had so many to choose from I was having trouble deciding till I turned the last corner and there it was. The shirt I wanted.
I also purchased a bungee cord net to hold things on the back of the bike. But I couldn't figure out how to hook the backpack to the rack. I should have spent the time to figure it out, because by this time it was almost 80 degrees out and we had put the coats in the backpack and it was kind of heavy for Mary.
Well we rode back and too 94 down to 41. The road we couldn't find before.
We found it going home and after riding on it about 4 miles we found the Gas Station where we stopped for directions. We hadn't missed it! We were so close, it was so funny. Well the ride home seemed to take much less time, doesn't that always seem to be the case? After we got home Mary was kind of sore from the heavy backpack.
while at home I finally figured out how to hook up the cargo netting... too late to help Mary but it will be fine for next trip.
Over all a very fun trip and a very good breakfast!
Hope to do it again soon!
And maybe have some of our friends who ride come along next time.

See Mary's view of the day at http://alwaysandforever-mary.blogspot.com/

New picture

2008-09-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hey I put a new picture of me up for my blog.
I thought I should have a more current picture.

August was a blur September is stormy

2008-09-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

I spent almost the entire Month of August in Salt Lake City.
Working.
I came home on weekends.
The best part was seeing Mary and the boys.
The worst part was getting up every Saturday morning and waiting for the Cab.
Then I was gone till Wednesday most of the time. Late evening flights.
Well that was August.
I also went back from Saturday September 6th through Wednesday the 10th.
Now It is Saturday and I do not have to go back till October. I have the chance to relax and maybe ride a bit. But I can't. Mind keeps buzzing so I can't relax and the rain is coming on weekends.
Whatever. I will try to enjoy it with the rain and all anyway.

FOOTBALL!!!!!!

2008-08-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

We got to go to Soldier Field Friday night to watch the Bears practice under the lights.

This was “Bears Family Night” so tickets were very inexpensive.

We drove downtown and went to the attractions they had set up for families to do.

We saw a lot of radio stations that were set up outside the stadium. Ethan's favorite station was there so he posed in front of their Hummer.

After that we walked around and participated in a field goal kicking attraction.

If you open the picture you see that my kick sent the ball going through the goalposts.

Jordan got to have his picture taken with one of his favorites.

Our seats were excellent! At the start of practice they introduced the players like they would at a game. We were able to get some good pictures of several players. But I can't remember the names but even so these are a couple of pictures.

The practice was interesting. First they ran drills to warm up. The offensive line worked hard as they ran drills. There were no slackers on the line. Hopefully they will protect the quarterback better this year.

The defense looked very sharp and they worked very hard. I was impressed with how good they looked. They were sharp and I saw no slackers. Mike Brown looked very good. Having him back at Safety will be outstanding. Urlacher looked strong and healthy. Hunter Hillenmeyer looked good. We should have an outstanding defense this year!

We got several good pictures. Although we were using our camera first. We discovered later that Ethan's camera would zoom in a lot closer. So we got some very close pictures of them.

I saw the Quarterbacks going through their drills at the other end of the field.

Kyle Orton and the new Quarterback, Caleb Hanie were going through the drills working hard.

They were lifting their knees high as they could.

Rex Grossman? Just lazing through the motions. Didn't seem to want to be there during warm ups.

One of the drills after that was a passing and receiving drill.

Orton and Hanie's passes were sharp and accurate for the most part, and very few were such that the receivers had to stretch or leap out to catch except the sideline passes that needed to be.

Grossman was sharp on shorter passes but the longer passes kept overthrowing or under throwing them so they had to stretch or reach down.

Later they separated out and took turns on the field.

First the kickers, then special teams.

We got to watch Devon Hester receiving punts and kickoffs.

Then first string offense against first string defense. First string quarterback? Kyle Orton! Yeah! I always liked him.

Although I don't think he is a super bowl quarterback yet, I do think he can do a better job managing a game than Grossman.

All in all it was a great night.

Great weekend for riding!

2008-07-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well I feel funny typing another blog about riding but boy this was a good weekend for riding!
Saturday Mary and I went for a ride in the morning and went up to Villa Park to the Wild Fire Harley Davidson. They were having a tent sale. We went up there to see what they had available. I saw a couple of things that would be nice, but they were all cash only. We didn't take any cash with us. No bother, we stopped for lunch and then headed home.
Later we were over at our neighbors house and he said he was looking to ride. He hasn't been able to ride much since he is waiting for heart valve replacement on August 8th.
Well I said I would be willing to ride again. So I went over got back on my bike and we went out and rode. I led he followed. I could see him in the mirror. He had a huge smile on his face.
He was calling out Turns at the next light or stops sign. It was a fun ride and he enjoyed it very much.
Later I went out again and had another good long ride. About 75 miles total for Saturday.

Today Mary and I went out heading down Route 66.
We went through Romeoville, Joliet, and Wilmington

In Wilmington we saw the Muffler Man/Gemini Giant.
Wilmington was having a parade for Catfish Days or something like that.
We got through and continued on. We stopped in Braidwood for a couple soft drinks.
There we asked directions back so we would not have to ride back through the Catfish Days traffic. He told us to go back up Route 129.
Route 129 we found turned into Route 55 North.
We didn't want to ride on 55 so we took the first turn off we could find so that we could take side roads back. Well we found we could not find where to go, but we turned on a road back north. It went over a very long covered bridge. It was fun. But that road ended up going to a Marina. No outlet so we had to turn around. We tried a different road, it also dead ended at the water. So we ended up going back to 55 North.
Turned out that was the smoothest road we were on all day. So we took that all the way back to Webber road, then across town back to home.
Over 90 miles today.
Now we are very tired.

Long ride today!

2008-07-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Been very busy with work lately. Have been flying to Salt Lake City for work.
So far it has had been difficult because the project is being rushed by the customer. Leaving little time to ride.
But this weekend we finally had good weather on Sunday.
I took a ride after supper.
and I got lost!
Not real lost because I found my way back... but still.
I expected to be back a lot sooner.
I went thinking it would be nice to ride up Cass avenue. Well I was riding and found I had ridden right past Cass avenue and had already hit Route 83. So I figured why not just go down 83?
I mean I went down route 83. I had ridden that way before with my friend Mark. (I thought) but after I got down past the bridge I realized it was not 83 that we went down. I kept going hoping to find something familiar. I saw a sign that said Lemont ---> So I am thinking, "OK I have been through Lemont before, so I turn right. Well it was a beautiful area to ride through. It was almost a canopy of trees. The road had a few rough spots but it was wonderful to ride through. Well I must have missed a sign or something because I never saw Lemont. I just kept riding till I saw the overpass for 355. So I figured I must have missed the turn off for Lemont. But I didn't want to turn back so I kept going. Finally I came to a road called Romeo Rd. So I turned right. I kept going on that road. I came to Route 53.
(At Last! A road I know!)
I turned right again! I found I was in Romeoville and was able to figure out where I was. I realized I was low on gas.. Romeo has HIGH gas prices right now. The regular gas in Romeoville was the same price as the premium gas in Woodridge. So I went through and made it to the Amoco in Woodridge. Then I came home.
I will take that road again in the Fall.
Those trees will be beautiful then.

Am I that old? (Don't answer that - it's rhetorical)

2008-07-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while something happens that makes you realize your a long way from 20 years old.
I was on a business trip and with a co-worker. While we were at dinner after a long day we were discussing movies we had seen.
I spoke about how when I was 18 or 19 I went to see "Poltergeist"
I thought it was the funniest movie I had seen that was not a comedy. I talked about how my friend and I laughed through the whole movie and probably ruined the movie for those unfortunate enough to sit near us. (if any of you were in that theater, sorry)
After I finished talking about it, he looks at me and said,
"I thought it was a very scary movie...of course I was only 7 years old."
I just looked at him and said... "Thanks a lot"

My dog is OLD

2008-06-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

Dillinger had a vet appointment today. Almost $200.00 so that we can know our dog is oOK.
Well almost OK.
There was a chart there that showed for his weight and age he is the equivalent of a 65 year old human. ( I hope I have this much energy when I am 65 )
The vet walked in and looked at him for about 3 seconds and asked if he was having trouble seeing.
I said, "Not really, why?"
She said. "Well, he has cataracts."
I said, "He has no problem seeing the squirrels in the back yard."
Well I guess that might explain why he ran into the bricks while chasing one of the squirrels a few months ago. He didn't see them!
He will have to slow down now and take it easy.

Work Work Work

2008-06-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well I am flying for work again.
I have a new project that has me flying 1 to 3 times a month for the rest of the year.
I used to like flying. But after working a few years ago installing wireless networks, flying all the time sort of took the charm out of it.
I now work for a different company and have not had to fly for over 4 years.
Well I am back at it now.
I can say I did go somewhere I had never been before.
Salt Lake City.
It was very interesting to see how it is flat but surrounded by mountains.
The scenery was gorgeous but there was very few buildings that were tall.
Very spread out.
The flight in was so bumpy that the attendant had to push down on the cabinets to keep his feet.
Lots of turbulence.

Flying back we had a stop in Denver. Landing in Denver was strange. It did not feel like we were descending. It seemed more like the airport appeared at the same level we were flying and came up to meet us. Seemed very strange to me.
Didn't get to deplane, just sat on the plane till the transfer people got off and on.

Well I got home Tuesday and the next day I was asked to schedule my next flight. Monday.
Not even home a week and gone again.

Oh well.

Smokey Mountains 1

2008-06-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our 5 day vacation we went to the Smoky Mountains. We left Sunday morning and drove for about 9 hours to get there. We were staying in a cabin in Sevierville TN, and were just up the mountain side from Pigeon Forge TN.

The cabin we rented was beautiful.

We had unbelievable views that I am afraid that pictures will not do justice.

The drive up the mountain to get there was amazing and scary. There were blind curves that when you came around you could not see the road till the car started down the other side. We were looking out the front of the car at tree tops as we turned. Then we would go down a little and have another curve back the other way and back up. Like a roller coaster with just enough room for two cars to pass. Then when we came around the last corner our driveway was there on the right. It was very steep.

I could not have ridden my motorcycle up the driveway without flipping over backwards. We were very scared that the Escape could not make it up.

The engine worked very hard and the transmission was sounding like it was struggling. When we got to the top we had to be careful not to turn too soon. It felt like we would roll back down the hill if we turned too soon.

Then we went inside the cabin. Oh my! How wonderful it all looked! And it smelled like fresh cut wood… so beautiful.

We unpacked then fixed supper over a hickory fire. I have never cooked over an open flame wood fire so it was interesting grilling the burgers. But they were GOOD! The first night was gorgeous. We spent a lot of time just sitting on the porch watching the mist in the mountains. Then we went inside and spent a whole lot of time playing pool. (I think I played more pool this last week then I ever played. Now I want a pool table.)

The next morning we got up early. The sunrise was spectacular with the morning mist out there coming up between the peaks it was easy to see why they are called the Smokey Mountains.

We got ready and went to Dollywood! What fun! We got there early about 9:30 and the park wasn’t supposed to be open till 10:00am but they opened the gates and we were allowed in early. We were met at the gate by an old gentleman who was like a hospitality guide. He asked us if we had ever been there before. Of course we said no, and he proceeded to explain the map to us. He told us where to catch the best shows and where to go for the best rides. He said, “Go right along here and we have the Thunderhead. It is the #1 wooden roller coaster in Tennessee. It will pull two “Gs” and turn you around. Then you should go up the path to the Mystery Mine. It will turn you around and upside down. Then go to the Tennessee Tornado. That one will turn you around, upside down, and inside out. After that I would recommend you go on all the water rides.”

It was still off season for them so we had a very light crowd.We never had to wait more than 15 minutes to get on any ride. Ethan and I started out on the Thunderhead wooden roller coaster. It was very fun, and it started with a 100 foot drop. I laughed the whole way! Ethan thought I was nuts.

Mary and I went on the Mystery Mine coaster. It was so fun. The ride started in the dark. A direct dip and went back up so it was dark except for the glowing jewels in the side of the “Mine” Then there was a 90 degree drop in the dark it felt like we were just falling. (Well at 90 degrees I guess we were.) We went through several tight turns that led us outside again for a couple loops. We then went back into the dark and a 90 degree climb. There was a giant screen at the top of the shaft that played a movie that made it seem like we were climbing much higher and faster than we were actually going. At the top we were met with a pile of dynamite and a big fire. (Fake dynamite – Real Fire - very hot) Then we dropped off again at 90 degrees down and outside again and back up into a roll then a slow motion upside down loop, just crept along till we got to go down again and back in to end the ride.

The boys went on ahead while we were on the mine ride and were on the river battle ride. They rode in boats that had big squirt guns on them. They were shooting at targets and at people at the side watching the ride. Some of the people had squirt guns and were able to shoot back. After that we met up and Jordan and I went on the river battle. Cranking the pump for that water gun hurt more than anything else I had done. Ethan stayed on shore and was shooting back at us. Jordan and I both got him square in the chest as he was shooting us. Mary got a picture of them next to the sign.

Mary and Ethan rode the Tennessee Tornado. And Mary was turned around upside down and inside out. She could not walk after that and said her eyes were spinning so bad she couldn’t see for a few minutes. Ethan loved it. I didn’t ride it.

After riding a few more rides we rode the steam train they have there.

The engine was used for transporting troops in WWII and was retired in 1962. It was restored for a different amusement park in the 70s but then was abandoned.

Dollywood has an ironworks right at the park and they restored it again and are working on restoring another one. The ride on the steam train went up out of the park and up the mountain. Very loud going uphill the engine worked very hard.

They had scenes setup along the way and we were able to take pictures .

I tried to get shots of how steep the sides were as we went by. But I don’t think they do justice.

After that we went to the GAC show. (Great American Country cable TV channel)

They had a very good band and the singers performed songs from the top 10 lists. Half way through the show they announced how they really loved doing the shows at Dollywood because every week they have a real country music star come and perform with them in their show. Then they announced that they had Jimmy Fortune the tenor from the Statler Brothers. He came out and spoke about how he enjoyed being in the Statler Brothers and how being a member of the group gave him the opportunity to write several songs. We were in about the 5^th row and we were able to get a few really good pictures while he was singing.

Then after the show he was out front signing autographs and taking pictures. Jordan and I got pictures and I got his autograph.

I told him I saw him the first year he was with the Statlers when they performed in Princeton IL. He said “But, your not that old!” to which I said. “Well, yes I am.”

We were there about 9 hours and were able to take it at a very leisurely pace. We shopped for souvenirs and I found a Civil War hat that was on sale for less than $8. Jordan wanted a hat but could not find one that he liked that would fit his head. But all in all it was a great day. Then we went back to our cabin and watched the mist and the light fade as the sun set behind us over the mountain. I noticed that my Civil War hat was all leather. I thought it was part leather and part wool. But it was all leather. Then I played more pool. Jordan said “Mom, Dad’s playing pool again!” Mary said, “Yeah, I know.”

Smokey Mountains 2

2008-06-08T14:56:00.001-07:00

The next morning we got up early. The sunrise was spectacular again with the morning mist out there coming up between the peaks again, just stunning.

After breakfast, we drove to the Pigeon River. This was about an hour of driving up one side of the mountain and down the other and through Gatlinburg. We went by the Bush Bean plant and the Ball Jar Plant on the way. Why go to the Pigeon River? Why to white water raft of course! We spent about a half hour of instruction talking about how not to get killed in the rapids. The instructor was funny and at the end he said if any of you try to be stupid and prove me wrong by trying to prove that you can stand up against the current in the rapids I will not come back for you so we can be sure to remove you from the gene pool of the human race.

We rode in a van up and up and around and around to the launch site. We received some more instruction from our guide on how to stay in the raft. Then we went off down the river. We started with a class 3 rapids. Very fast and bumpy not huge waves though. We then had a short stretch of calm water before we entered our first class 4 rapids. At about the last big wave of this set of rapids Jordan’s side of the boat went straight up and he fell. Luckily he fell into the boat. And it was at the end of that rapid so he was able to regain his seat.

We had about a 2 hour ride through 5 different sets of rapids ranging from class 2 up to class 4. Now we all want to go again and we recommend it highly. We asked our guide about how they rate the rapids. She said class 1 is calm water. Class two is fast moving with little waves and few rocks then class 3 is twice as bad as class 2. Class 4 is twice class 3. Class 5 has large waves, very fast moving water, lots of eddies or rocks or waterfalls of about 10 to 25 feet. Class 6 is like Niagara Falls. You could try to ride them but you would have no control and would more than likely die. She said a lot of experienced river riders are injured or lost because they scout out a new river and everything indicates that they are going on a class 5. But they can never really tell till they actually go down and find themselves getting caught in a class 6 or go over a hidden waterfall. Well we all still want to go white water rafting again. Mary has started looking at sites in Wisconsin. I think we will go again.

After that we went back to the cabin and watched the mist and the light fade and the whole stunning view thing again.

We played a little more pool then started an UNO game that just kept going and going. We played for almost two hours till we decided to set our cards aside and go to bed.

Day three dawned with an amazing view of the blue mists against the green forest of the next mountain peak. We went to the Smokey Mountains National Park. This park is one of the last free admittance national parks left in the U.S. We went on a 1 mile hike into the woods following a trail that led to the Cataracts waterfall.

The whole trip was under a canopy of trees and the scenery and the falls were very beautiful.

This fall was about 30' high.

While walking back we saw one of the guided tours going by. I overheard the guide answering one of their questions about the black bears. She said that if a bear touches a person even just with their nose to sniff their shirt then that bear has to be put down. They cannot risk any of the bears getting familiar with humans as that is where the dangerous bears come from. They said the bears usually will not be seen because they are good at hiding. You may hear them shuffling away in the brush before you come around a corner.

After that we drove down one of the roads through the park to a different path that led to the Laurel Falls. This was a 1.3 miles up the mountain. I am not talking a gradual up the mountain. I am talking UP THE MOUNTAIN. The path was paved but much of it was on a very steep climb. Some of the areas would have been served better by steps. The boys went on ahead. Ethan took a picture of Mary and me at one of the few places it leveled off.

Some of the people we passed said that they heard something above us and looked up and saw some bears. The bears didn’t stay around long enough for us to see them. And Mary and I had to take frequent rests. We can walk for miles around the flatlands, but climbing is hard on the joints. We were about ½ ways there and were thinking of turning back when we saw a group of people ranging from 65 – 80 years old walking down the mountain. They saw us and said it is quite a hike but well worth the effort. Mary and I thought well if they can make it we better not give up now. So we kept going and started seeing signs that said “DANGER Falling deaths have occurred. Closely Control Children”

How encouraging! Well we made the final peak and the path turned back down. And we were there at the falls. They were beautiful. Well worth the effort of the climb. There was Ethan standing on a bridge over the stream taking pictures of the upper part of the falls about a 30 foot drop from above us.

Where was Jordan? He was sitting out on the cliff that the waters were pouring over the lower part of the falls next to him. About a 50 foot drop onto rocks. He was just sitting there with his legs hanging over the side.

Sitting next to a bright yellow warning sign bolted to the rock next to him. “Dangerous Hazardous Ledge”

Mary was taking pictures of upper falls and wanted Jordan to take a picture of us next to the falls. So he gets up and steps around a man that was there. And I mean around on the cliff side. As he is stepping around him he does that arm waving balance almost falling kind of step. I had my heart jump into my throat. He calmly walks over to Mary who didn’t see this. And takes the camera, Mary and I step over to the falls and he snaps the picture.

We spent about 45 minutes there watching the falls. Then we start walking down the mountain.

Going down I saw the scenery that I missed going up because I was working so hard to climb up. I realized that the trees I was looking at I was looking at the trunks on my right that were about 10 feet from me but when I looked I realized I was looking at the trunks about 50 to 100 feet from where they were rooted in the cliff below me. I had to take pictures of the ledge hoping that they would show the steep drops.

What fun. Mary and Jordan went on ahead. Ethan and I walked slower because I had the wrong shoes on for a hike and I had to go slower. We heard the shuffling in the brush up above us but never saw anything. Oh well.

We looked for a hat for Jordan. Never found one he liked. Mary and I found hats that looked great on him but they were not what he was looking for. So he showed a little frugality and did not buy something just to buy it. He did not buy the hat he didn’t like. I was proud of him. Mary dropped us boys off at an outlook mall and went to a scrapbooking outlet down the road. When she came back we went and got some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. We stopped at a Christmas store and got some ornaments.

That night we went back to the cabin and watched the mist and the light fade and the whole stunning view thing again. We played a little more pool then we finished our marathon UNO game. It took us almost another hour till it was over.

The morning we were going to leave, about 4:00am Chicago time Mary and I heard a knock on our door. It was Jordan. He was standing there kind of looking scared and said that he was going to take a shower but found a scorpion in the shower. Of course I say Really?! Cool! And go running down to look for it. I can’t find it so I am asking Jordan if he is sure. He said he knows a scorpion when he sees one. It was on the curtain when he closed it. So I get in the shower and close the curtain. Yep there it was, an inch and a half long scorpion just sitting there on the curtain.

I tried to knock it into a garbage can to take it outside, but not being brave enough to touch it I had to leave it there. We showered upstairs. Then searched all our luggage and shoes before we left to make sure we didn’t have any uninvited guests.

On the drive back home I came up with a great idea that I should have done. I should have stopped in the Harley shops and got a keychain from Pigeon Forge Harley. Then I though I should have gotten one from the Harley in Gatlinburg also! And all the ones along the way there! Oh well too late we were already almost through Kentucky when I thought of it.

Now we are back home and trying to recover in time for Ethan’s graduation party Saturday. Had to mow the lawn and clean all the Maple tree helicopters off the deck.

It has been a wonderful vacation and I highly recommend you all go there.

New Years Resolution Updates...

2008-05-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Well here is my update on my New Years Resolutions.
1. Take a Family vacation! - Scheduled and coming up soon! - will blog it when I have pictures!

2. I am going to ride to Manlius (or maybe farther) - Did that! Rode to Mom and Dad's to deliver Mom's get well card. (Get better soon Mom!) The ride was fun but a few of the roads were very bumpy.

3. Start singing again - Sang at Amy's Church. (see previous blog - it was a fun trip) Still could be doing more singing though. Gotta keep working on this.

4. Start practicing guitar again. (Not doing as well at this as I would like. )

5. Record some more original songs. - Haven't got any ready to start recording yet. (Need to get the last two up to speed to get this done)