(psst, Michael J! I had to have additional Ron help since I needed a more hands on instruction to make it work!! Thanks for trying! I am close to hopeless!)
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Day Of Fun
Ron and I had a total goof off day.
We headed south to his hometown of Barberton. From our house, Barberton is just over an hour away.
The first thing we did was hit one of the town's famous chicken joints for some Barberton Chicken. I don't know why this town has the market cornered on fried chicken, but they are famous for it. But I do know why it is so tasty. If you read the link to Wikipedia, there ain't nothing healthy about this meal! They keep out the health, keep in the taste. Anyway, we had a great lunch.
From there we headed to buy flowers. We had a few flower giving opportunities coming up so we were stocking up. But, lo and behold, what was next to the flower store? A Best Cuts! Ok, it's not a top of the line salon, but for real. All I needed was a trim. How can they screw that up?
So, five minutes and three inches later, we were out of there and next door to the flower store. We made our choices and were on our way to Barberton Citizens Hospital to see Ron's Uncle Paul and drop off our first bouquet of flowers. We sure did surprise him! For a sick guy, he did his best to pass back every zinger we threw at him. I thought he looked very good and was on top of his game with the jokes and jabs. Talking with Uncle Paul is always an event as he's a man with a dry wit and a quick verbal jab. We sat with him and his wife and daughter for quite awhile, just catching up and telling stories and jokes. Finally, Uncle Paul was looking pretty tired so we hugged and said our good byes and let him get some rest.
From the hospital we were over to Ron's brother Wes's house. After all, tomorrow is Wes's birthday so we couldn't let this occasion go by without a howdy from his favorite brother! Ok, Ron is Wes's only brother, but I digress! Again, we sat and visited for awhile before he was whisked off by his family for some birthday love. Happy Birthday, Wes!! I won't even tell how many candles are on the cake this year!
After that it was to the cemetary. Today is 12 years since Ron's Mom passed away and we went and paid our respects. After a nice talk with Mom, a little headstone cleaning and some flower arranging, we were heading home.
We had a beautiful day for a drive. The drive home was mostly uneventful. We made it home safe and sound, unpacked the car and raced to be first in the bathroom. Once business was taken care of we went outside to sit and relax a bit on our own front porch.
It was strange weather out there. The sun was shining, but the rain was coming but only in a mist. It wasn't bad until that wind started blowing with it blew with a vengence. We just sat out there and marveled at the strange weather. Then, Ron saw it. If you look closely, you can actually see a double rainbow as the second one is to the right of the first one and a lot lighter, but it is there.
So there you go. A great day followed by a rainbow. You can't beat that.
We headed south to his hometown of Barberton. From our house, Barberton is just over an hour away.
The first thing we did was hit one of the town's famous chicken joints for some Barberton Chicken. I don't know why this town has the market cornered on fried chicken, but they are famous for it. But I do know why it is so tasty. If you read the link to Wikipedia, there ain't nothing healthy about this meal! They keep out the health, keep in the taste. Anyway, we had a great lunch.
From there we headed to buy flowers. We had a few flower giving opportunities coming up so we were stocking up. But, lo and behold, what was next to the flower store? A Best Cuts! Ok, it's not a top of the line salon, but for real. All I needed was a trim. How can they screw that up?
So, five minutes and three inches later, we were out of there and next door to the flower store. We made our choices and were on our way to Barberton Citizens Hospital to see Ron's Uncle Paul and drop off our first bouquet of flowers. We sure did surprise him! For a sick guy, he did his best to pass back every zinger we threw at him. I thought he looked very good and was on top of his game with the jokes and jabs. Talking with Uncle Paul is always an event as he's a man with a dry wit and a quick verbal jab. We sat with him and his wife and daughter for quite awhile, just catching up and telling stories and jokes. Finally, Uncle Paul was looking pretty tired so we hugged and said our good byes and let him get some rest.
From the hospital we were over to Ron's brother Wes's house. After all, tomorrow is Wes's birthday so we couldn't let this occasion go by without a howdy from his favorite brother! Ok, Ron is Wes's only brother, but I digress! Again, we sat and visited for awhile before he was whisked off by his family for some birthday love. Happy Birthday, Wes!! I won't even tell how many candles are on the cake this year!
After that it was to the cemetary. Today is 12 years since Ron's Mom passed away and we went and paid our respects. After a nice talk with Mom, a little headstone cleaning and some flower arranging, we were heading home.
We had a beautiful day for a drive. The drive home was mostly uneventful. We made it home safe and sound, unpacked the car and raced to be first in the bathroom. Once business was taken care of we went outside to sit and relax a bit on our own front porch.
It was strange weather out there. The sun was shining, but the rain was coming but only in a mist. It wasn't bad until that wind started blowing with it blew with a vengence. We just sat out there and marveled at the strange weather. Then, Ron saw it. If you look closely, you can actually see a double rainbow as the second one is to the right of the first one and a lot lighter, but it is there.
So there you go. A great day followed by a rainbow. You can't beat that.
That Had To Hurt
My contact at my current audit is a hoot!
At least once a week, she and I like to head across the street to the Mexican restaurant for a few margaritas to "discuss" the progress of the audit. Hey, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
This week, my boss had joined us at the audit. The only down side to that is when he goes, he picks me up as I'm sort of on his way. It's still a couple of hours from my house, so it's better to take one car than two. Unfortunately, then I am without a car.
Anyway, Thursday my contact stated that we should do margaritas at 4:30 when she gets off of work. While I thought that was a great idea, I knew my boss had made reservations for us for dinner that same night. There is only one fine dining restaurant in this town, and by golly we felt that we needed to eat there.
The boss's view on Thursday evening was that since the restaurant was close to the job site, we just work late and then head over to dinner instead of heading over to the hotel and then come back for dinner. I informed him at lunch while his idea was good, I had a better idea.
I told him about the margarita plan. I said instead of working late, we actually leave 1/2 hour early, head across the street, have a few cocktails and then head for dinner. He said he'd think about it.
At about 4:00, I went upstairs where the boss was working and told him if he wanted to work late, he was welcome to it. I, on the other hand, was going to join the contact for drinks. He could either call me when he was ready or we can just agree on a time and I'll meet him at the car at the appointed time. He thought a second and said that no, margaritas sounded like a much better idea than working tonight! Bonus!
I told him we were leaving at 4:30 so be downstairs and ready!
Then I headed back downstairs to tell my contact we were all in for a walk across the street. However, when I got downstairs, the entire department was in an uproar and my contact was not doing well. Come to find out, she went to walk out of her office when her phone rang. While running back into her office, she kicked the chair that was on the side of her desk.
Now, like most women, she had kicked her shoes off under her desk so she was actually running back in barefoot. Her little toe went on one side of the chair leg while the rest of her toes went on the other side of the chair leg. In the couple of minutes since it happened, her toe was already turning colors.
One of the ladies in the department offered to run her to the ER as the consensus was that everyone heard a "crack" when it happened. So much for our margaritas! She went to the ER and I ended up working late anyway!
Come to find out the next day, she not only broke her little toe, she nearly broke it off. A picture of the x-ray showed that the bone of the little toe down by where it connects to the foot was cracked almost all the way through. Plus, the hit literally ripped the toe. They didn't stitch it back up since the doctor felt that would be a very irritating place to have stitches, under and between your two toes. They cleaned and bandaged the laceration, taped the two toes together and sent her off with antibiotics and pain pills.
So, for once, I talk the boss into leaving work early and actually goofing off for an hour. Then, the contact had to cancel. Dang, that hurt.
At least once a week, she and I like to head across the street to the Mexican restaurant for a few margaritas to "discuss" the progress of the audit. Hey, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
This week, my boss had joined us at the audit. The only down side to that is when he goes, he picks me up as I'm sort of on his way. It's still a couple of hours from my house, so it's better to take one car than two. Unfortunately, then I am without a car.
Anyway, Thursday my contact stated that we should do margaritas at 4:30 when she gets off of work. While I thought that was a great idea, I knew my boss had made reservations for us for dinner that same night. There is only one fine dining restaurant in this town, and by golly we felt that we needed to eat there.
The boss's view on Thursday evening was that since the restaurant was close to the job site, we just work late and then head over to dinner instead of heading over to the hotel and then come back for dinner. I informed him at lunch while his idea was good, I had a better idea.
I told him about the margarita plan. I said instead of working late, we actually leave 1/2 hour early, head across the street, have a few cocktails and then head for dinner. He said he'd think about it.
At about 4:00, I went upstairs where the boss was working and told him if he wanted to work late, he was welcome to it. I, on the other hand, was going to join the contact for drinks. He could either call me when he was ready or we can just agree on a time and I'll meet him at the car at the appointed time. He thought a second and said that no, margaritas sounded like a much better idea than working tonight! Bonus!
I told him we were leaving at 4:30 so be downstairs and ready!
Then I headed back downstairs to tell my contact we were all in for a walk across the street. However, when I got downstairs, the entire department was in an uproar and my contact was not doing well. Come to find out, she went to walk out of her office when her phone rang. While running back into her office, she kicked the chair that was on the side of her desk.
Now, like most women, she had kicked her shoes off under her desk so she was actually running back in barefoot. Her little toe went on one side of the chair leg while the rest of her toes went on the other side of the chair leg. In the couple of minutes since it happened, her toe was already turning colors.
One of the ladies in the department offered to run her to the ER as the consensus was that everyone heard a "crack" when it happened. So much for our margaritas! She went to the ER and I ended up working late anyway!
Come to find out the next day, she not only broke her little toe, she nearly broke it off. A picture of the x-ray showed that the bone of the little toe down by where it connects to the foot was cracked almost all the way through. Plus, the hit literally ripped the toe. They didn't stitch it back up since the doctor felt that would be a very irritating place to have stitches, under and between your two toes. They cleaned and bandaged the laceration, taped the two toes together and sent her off with antibiotics and pain pills.
So, for once, I talk the boss into leaving work early and actually goofing off for an hour. Then, the contact had to cancel. Dang, that hurt.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Charlie Bit Me!
Charlie Bit Me!
This is just too funny! Being the baby of the family, I can appreciate that devilish grin on the baby!
This is just too funny! Being the baby of the family, I can appreciate that devilish grin on the baby!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I Know I’m Gonna Get Blamed For This
I’ve spent enough nights in hotels (and not in a good way!) to pretty much know exactly what to expect when I walk into a room. That way, if anything is out of place, I know it immediately.
I have a ritual of sorts whenever I walk into a hotel room. First I check for unwanted visitors. I heard a story about a friend of a friend of a friend that walked into his hotel room at the end of a work day and someone was hiding in the room. Supposedly this intruder beat the crap out of him and robbed him. Well, tell me a story like this and it sticks with me. Every time now that I walk into a hotel room alone, I have to do the sweep first. That’s looking in the closet, on the other side of the bed and even in the shower to make sure I’m alone in there. Last night, I did that.
Then, I unpack. The first thing out of my bag will be my disinfectant wipes. I wipe down the room from the remote control (huge eww!), the telephone, the buttons on the TV and the a/c, the door handle and lock, the bathroom fixtures, toilet handle, light switches, desk top and the top of the night table. Yes, anal retentive. Then, I unpack my clothes and put them in the drawers or hang them in the closet.
Then I’m ready to go get dinner!
Last night, I went through my routines. However, before I even started, something was terribly wrong with my room!
Every hotel room, be it a Motel 6 or the Hilton, will have some kind of cookie cutter pictures hanging on the walls. That’s what was missing in my room; the pictures. These are usually bolted to the walls (yes, even at the Hilton) to ensure no one packs them as extra items in their suitcases. So, now I have no pictures and some really bad patch jobs on the bolt holes where pictures used to hang.
When I left for dinner last night, I stopped by the front desk. I told them about the missing pictures and that I was afraid I was going to be blamed for stealing the bad art! I was assured that maintenance had removed the pictures as some of the rooms are going through an upgrade which will include a paint job and new pictures on the wall. Whew!
I’m still checking my bill carefully on Friday. I have a feeling that somehow, this will still be my fault!
I have a ritual of sorts whenever I walk into a hotel room. First I check for unwanted visitors. I heard a story about a friend of a friend of a friend that walked into his hotel room at the end of a work day and someone was hiding in the room. Supposedly this intruder beat the crap out of him and robbed him. Well, tell me a story like this and it sticks with me. Every time now that I walk into a hotel room alone, I have to do the sweep first. That’s looking in the closet, on the other side of the bed and even in the shower to make sure I’m alone in there. Last night, I did that.
Then, I unpack. The first thing out of my bag will be my disinfectant wipes. I wipe down the room from the remote control (huge eww!), the telephone, the buttons on the TV and the a/c, the door handle and lock, the bathroom fixtures, toilet handle, light switches, desk top and the top of the night table. Yes, anal retentive. Then, I unpack my clothes and put them in the drawers or hang them in the closet.
Then I’m ready to go get dinner!
Last night, I went through my routines. However, before I even started, something was terribly wrong with my room!
Every hotel room, be it a Motel 6 or the Hilton, will have some kind of cookie cutter pictures hanging on the walls. That’s what was missing in my room; the pictures. These are usually bolted to the walls (yes, even at the Hilton) to ensure no one packs them as extra items in their suitcases. So, now I have no pictures and some really bad patch jobs on the bolt holes where pictures used to hang.
When I left for dinner last night, I stopped by the front desk. I told them about the missing pictures and that I was afraid I was going to be blamed for stealing the bad art! I was assured that maintenance had removed the pictures as some of the rooms are going through an upgrade which will include a paint job and new pictures on the wall. Whew!
I’m still checking my bill carefully on Friday. I have a feeling that somehow, this will still be my fault!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I Met New Friends!
Friday night, July 25th, Ron and I went to dinner with friends of ours, David and Edna. We had reservations at our favorite place, Jackalope's. Jackalope's has some great tables outside, overlooking the marina. However, the outside was all filled up so we were seated inside. We had one of the two tables in the back corner, that had full windows on two sides so we still had a great view of the lake and marina with none of the flies outside.
I was sitting with my back to the other table in this back corner. They were much further into their meal than we were, and after we ordered, they had the dessert tray at their table picking out their dessert. Who can resist a tray full of scrumptious desserts? And, we all know how I love to talk to strangers, so I did what I do naturally. I turned around and butted into their business!
There were three people at the table behind us. There was Tammy, who is about our age, and her parents, Jim and Judy who I am guessing are in their mid 80s. The four of us tossed around the pros and cons of all the desserts on the tray, (I always vote for the cheesecake, just in case you wanted to know!).
We started talking table to table and found out the three of them were there celebrating Tammy's birthday! Ok, anyone that knows me knows how much I love birthdays! How could I stop myself from breaking out into song? I started a loud (and probably not good) rendition of "happy birthday". I guess I was infectious since the two other tables closest to us joined in with the singing! C'mon Tammy girl! This day only comes once a year! Enjoy the adulation of perfect strangers!
So that started it. I am a nosey person and I like strangers. We kibitzed over their dessert and then they gave their commentary on our dinner choices. (which were one rack of lamb, two lobster pastas and one pork loin with apple chutney) We just had a nice time interjecting opinions and comments throughout the evening with these people.
It really was a fun evening not only with David and Edna but with our neighboring table as well. After our dessert was served (yes I got the cherry cheesecake!) Tammy and company were getting ready to leave. We were all talking and decided that we should do this again! Introductions finally went around and we decided that we are going to meet up again on the 25th of next month! So, on August 25th, we have a reservation for all of us to sit at one table and enjoy a meal together!
See what I get for talking to strangers? We get dinner reservations at my favorite restaurant and hopefully a great new tradition of dinner with new and old friends. It doesn't get much better than that!
I was sitting with my back to the other table in this back corner. They were much further into their meal than we were, and after we ordered, they had the dessert tray at their table picking out their dessert. Who can resist a tray full of scrumptious desserts? And, we all know how I love to talk to strangers, so I did what I do naturally. I turned around and butted into their business!
There were three people at the table behind us. There was Tammy, who is about our age, and her parents, Jim and Judy who I am guessing are in their mid 80s. The four of us tossed around the pros and cons of all the desserts on the tray, (I always vote for the cheesecake, just in case you wanted to know!).
We started talking table to table and found out the three of them were there celebrating Tammy's birthday! Ok, anyone that knows me knows how much I love birthdays! How could I stop myself from breaking out into song? I started a loud (and probably not good) rendition of "happy birthday". I guess I was infectious since the two other tables closest to us joined in with the singing! C'mon Tammy girl! This day only comes once a year! Enjoy the adulation of perfect strangers!
So that started it. I am a nosey person and I like strangers. We kibitzed over their dessert and then they gave their commentary on our dinner choices. (which were one rack of lamb, two lobster pastas and one pork loin with apple chutney) We just had a nice time interjecting opinions and comments throughout the evening with these people.
It really was a fun evening not only with David and Edna but with our neighboring table as well. After our dessert was served (yes I got the cherry cheesecake!) Tammy and company were getting ready to leave. We were all talking and decided that we should do this again! Introductions finally went around and we decided that we are going to meet up again on the 25th of next month! So, on August 25th, we have a reservation for all of us to sit at one table and enjoy a meal together!
See what I get for talking to strangers? We get dinner reservations at my favorite restaurant and hopefully a great new tradition of dinner with new and old friends. It doesn't get much better than that!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Christmas in July
Yesterday was July 25th.
In honor of this auspicious day, one of the local radio stations here, WDOK 102.1 FM celebrated Christmas in July.
I'm not much for listening to the radio. The only time I listen is in the car. And, in the car, I'm a channel flipper. I listen to a song on this station then if I don't like the next song or if it's time for a commercial, I move on to the next station.
I was flipping through the Cleveland stations yesterday and I came across the song, "I'll Be Home For Christmas". As one living away from home for awhile, that one always makes me cry. I'm wondering what the heck is going on that this song is playing now. So, while I'm not one for Christmas carols, I decided to listen a little longer to see if someone just f-ed up or if that song was playing on purpose.
Sure enough, when the crew started talking after the song, it was time for the intro into the weather. The DJ that was introducing the weather girl and he started with "wow! way to go! You are the only weather forecaster in the area to get last night's weather correct!"
To which the weather caster replied "Yeah, no one else saw this blizzard coming. It hit fast and it hit hard. The current temperature is 20 degrees with it expected to drop tonight to below zero. And, don't bother checking with the TV, I'm telling you now, ALL SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED!" I was howling in the car!
So, it was a Christmas in July gag. But, I gotta tell you, I gotta give out props to WDOK. They kept with it all day as Christmas songs were still playing on my way home from work last night.
Then again, this is the same channel that plays nothing but Christmas carols from Thanksgiving day to Christmas day. I haven't listened to the radio this morning, but I'm hoping it was just a Christmas in July prank and not that they are starting the carols earlier than Thanksgiving this year.
In honor of this auspicious day, one of the local radio stations here, WDOK 102.1 FM celebrated Christmas in July.
I'm not much for listening to the radio. The only time I listen is in the car. And, in the car, I'm a channel flipper. I listen to a song on this station then if I don't like the next song or if it's time for a commercial, I move on to the next station.
I was flipping through the Cleveland stations yesterday and I came across the song, "I'll Be Home For Christmas". As one living away from home for awhile, that one always makes me cry. I'm wondering what the heck is going on that this song is playing now. So, while I'm not one for Christmas carols, I decided to listen a little longer to see if someone just f-ed up or if that song was playing on purpose.
Sure enough, when the crew started talking after the song, it was time for the intro into the weather. The DJ that was introducing the weather girl and he started with "wow! way to go! You are the only weather forecaster in the area to get last night's weather correct!"
To which the weather caster replied "Yeah, no one else saw this blizzard coming. It hit fast and it hit hard. The current temperature is 20 degrees with it expected to drop tonight to below zero. And, don't bother checking with the TV, I'm telling you now, ALL SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED!" I was howling in the car!
So, it was a Christmas in July gag. But, I gotta tell you, I gotta give out props to WDOK. They kept with it all day as Christmas songs were still playing on my way home from work last night.
Then again, this is the same channel that plays nothing but Christmas carols from Thanksgiving day to Christmas day. I haven't listened to the radio this morning, but I'm hoping it was just a Christmas in July prank and not that they are starting the carols earlier than Thanksgiving this year.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Here's Another One
Yes, one more thing on the list of things I'm afraid of. And, taking a page from the blog book of my brother Michael, I must post pics!
I just got done doing an audit this week. The ladies room at this facility has like six or seven stalls. It's a large bathroom. The last stall scares the crap out of me, no pun intended!
Here's a picture of the toilet.
It's a pretty basic toilet. There is a thingie on the wall with a tube that comes down and under the toilet seat. It looks pretty harmless, right? Well, let's look a little closer at this one, shall we?
What the hell is that little tube coming from under the lid and what is it doing going up my ass? Is there a camera on the end of that thing? Is there a knife in there to do an ass biopsy or something? None of the other stalls have the little thingie pointing up like this.
Yes, this scares me. I refused to pee in here.
If you think I'm scared, you should see the other people in the bathroom as I'm taking flash pictures in this stall.
Yeah, well, whatever. It needed doing. This needed to get out to the public. This almost deserves it's own "that's just wrong" page. Just one more thing to scare me.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Fish Update!
It’s been at least a couple of weeks since I’ve updated on the fish tank and I thought I was due!
Awhile back, we were down to one male silver molly. We started with black mollys, silver mollys and dalmatian mollys. He was our lone survivor out of all of them. Eventually I thought he was lonely and needed a girlfriend. We searched and searched and if we found any silver mollys at all, they were boys not girls. Finally, we found four little girls that we thought our male would love. We were excitedly awaiting babies!
When you buy the mollys they are very young. It takes a few months for them to mature and we were waiting patiently, as was our male. We were finally rewarded a couple of weekends ago with our first sighting of tiny silver molly babies! It seems that when our platys have babies, the babies are very good at hiding. Our first sightings of the platys are when the babies are about ½ inch long or so. These mollys were tinier than that! And they were everywhere. That didn’t last long as we spent that first weekend watching all of our other fish feeding on the babies. The first one was is hard to watch. After that, it got to be "oops, there went another one". We had to lose about 40 or 50 babies that first weekend.
I don’t want to do breeder tanks. I want nature to take its course and what survives was meant to survive. So far that has kept our tank in some sort of check (as well as keeping our angel fish, the biggest baby eater, fat and happy!) as we end up with maybe one baby per hatching or whatever you call it.
That might have changed. While the molly babies are very brave and out into the middle of the tank to get eaten easily, somehow a bunch of them have survived. We now have at least eight babies in the tank right now! And they are fast little suckers and getting bigger every day. We’ve watched other fish chase them but so far, these new babies are winning.
All of that fish loving must have been too much on our original male as he curled up under a rock and died before we noticed the first babies. What a way to go though, huh? We did get one male along with the four females so now the girls won’t be lonely.
Recently, we’ve been talking about more fish. I kind of want to try to put more angel fish in there as I think our one angel needs a companion. Ron’s not so sure about that idea. We put a lot of money into angel fish that didn’t last a week. Luckily, I was on travel that week so I didn’t have to see Ron take all of those fish out of the tank.
We’ll see what happens. For now, the tank is still bringing us a lot of enjoyment. At least enough enjoyment right now to make it worth cleaning all of the poop out of the tank! Once that joy is gone, you can bet the tank will be gone, baby fish or no baby fish.
Awhile back, we were down to one male silver molly. We started with black mollys, silver mollys and dalmatian mollys. He was our lone survivor out of all of them. Eventually I thought he was lonely and needed a girlfriend. We searched and searched and if we found any silver mollys at all, they were boys not girls. Finally, we found four little girls that we thought our male would love. We were excitedly awaiting babies!
When you buy the mollys they are very young. It takes a few months for them to mature and we were waiting patiently, as was our male. We were finally rewarded a couple of weekends ago with our first sighting of tiny silver molly babies! It seems that when our platys have babies, the babies are very good at hiding. Our first sightings of the platys are when the babies are about ½ inch long or so. These mollys were tinier than that! And they were everywhere. That didn’t last long as we spent that first weekend watching all of our other fish feeding on the babies. The first one was is hard to watch. After that, it got to be "oops, there went another one". We had to lose about 40 or 50 babies that first weekend.
I don’t want to do breeder tanks. I want nature to take its course and what survives was meant to survive. So far that has kept our tank in some sort of check (as well as keeping our angel fish, the biggest baby eater, fat and happy!) as we end up with maybe one baby per hatching or whatever you call it.
That might have changed. While the molly babies are very brave and out into the middle of the tank to get eaten easily, somehow a bunch of them have survived. We now have at least eight babies in the tank right now! And they are fast little suckers and getting bigger every day. We’ve watched other fish chase them but so far, these new babies are winning.
All of that fish loving must have been too much on our original male as he curled up under a rock and died before we noticed the first babies. What a way to go though, huh? We did get one male along with the four females so now the girls won’t be lonely.
Recently, we’ve been talking about more fish. I kind of want to try to put more angel fish in there as I think our one angel needs a companion. Ron’s not so sure about that idea. We put a lot of money into angel fish that didn’t last a week. Luckily, I was on travel that week so I didn’t have to see Ron take all of those fish out of the tank.
We’ll see what happens. For now, the tank is still bringing us a lot of enjoyment. At least enough enjoyment right now to make it worth cleaning all of the poop out of the tank! Once that joy is gone, you can bet the tank will be gone, baby fish or no baby fish.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
That's Just Wrong, Page 15
There is a side story about taking Ron to the ER last night.
You have no privacy at the ER. You are put in a room with two or three stations with curtains separating each station. In our room was another gentleman, a few years older than us, also there for a Workman’s Comp issue. He and Ron got to be fast friends, swapping injury war stories back and forth. Unfortunately, in our three stations room was a mother with a two year old little girl.
The little girl was just cute as a button. Unfortunately, her mom wasn’t. Again, with no privacy in the ER, we heard her story. As the story went, her two year old had a difficult night sleeping the night before. With a night full of coughing, hacking and congestion, I guess that 7:00 pm the following night was the perfect time to take this baby to the ER to get that checked. Perhaps her pediatrician was busy all day for a sick baby. Yes, there is sarcasm here. This mother was FAR from a candidate for Mother of the Year.
We sat and listened to her yell at and berate this baby for hours. From "shut up" "be quiet" "stop crying, there’s nothing wrong with you" "stop acting up" yeah, you get the picture. That was all also coupled with quite a "SMACK" sound we heard. And then those awful words "you want to cry? I’ll give you something to cry about." My heart just went out to that little girl. She wasn’t bad at all. She was two, sick, and bored in the ER. I think with all that into consideration, she was perfect. It was her mom that was the problem with all of the yelling.
They took the little girl for a chest x-ray and then pretty much discharged her with a prescription for antibiotics. Then the horror really hit home. Suddenly mom informed the nurse who was signing them out that her water just broke. Holy crap, she’s procreated again? Some little child was coming into a very unfair world.
Now I know that with this information you could make the argument that mom wasn’t having the best of days either. She was probably tired, cranky and uncomfortable. I tried to think of that as well. Regardless, there was no reason to treat her child the way she was treating her.
You know, just because you CAN get pregnant, doesn’t mean you should. You have to pass a test to drive a car. You have to pass a test to be able to cut someone’s hair. Unfortunately, there is no test to say someone is fit to be a parent. That’s just wrong.
You have no privacy at the ER. You are put in a room with two or three stations with curtains separating each station. In our room was another gentleman, a few years older than us, also there for a Workman’s Comp issue. He and Ron got to be fast friends, swapping injury war stories back and forth. Unfortunately, in our three stations room was a mother with a two year old little girl.
The little girl was just cute as a button. Unfortunately, her mom wasn’t. Again, with no privacy in the ER, we heard her story. As the story went, her two year old had a difficult night sleeping the night before. With a night full of coughing, hacking and congestion, I guess that 7:00 pm the following night was the perfect time to take this baby to the ER to get that checked. Perhaps her pediatrician was busy all day for a sick baby. Yes, there is sarcasm here. This mother was FAR from a candidate for Mother of the Year.
We sat and listened to her yell at and berate this baby for hours. From "shut up" "be quiet" "stop crying, there’s nothing wrong with you" "stop acting up" yeah, you get the picture. That was all also coupled with quite a "SMACK" sound we heard. And then those awful words "you want to cry? I’ll give you something to cry about." My heart just went out to that little girl. She wasn’t bad at all. She was two, sick, and bored in the ER. I think with all that into consideration, she was perfect. It was her mom that was the problem with all of the yelling.
They took the little girl for a chest x-ray and then pretty much discharged her with a prescription for antibiotics. Then the horror really hit home. Suddenly mom informed the nurse who was signing them out that her water just broke. Holy crap, she’s procreated again? Some little child was coming into a very unfair world.
Now I know that with this information you could make the argument that mom wasn’t having the best of days either. She was probably tired, cranky and uncomfortable. I tried to think of that as well. Regardless, there was no reason to treat her child the way she was treating her.
You know, just because you CAN get pregnant, doesn’t mean you should. You have to pass a test to drive a car. You have to pass a test to be able to cut someone’s hair. Unfortunately, there is no test to say someone is fit to be a parent. That’s just wrong.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
He'll Do Anything To Get Out Of Shopping
The plan for tonight was to head out to dinner after work followed by an exciting trip to Sam's Club and maybe the grocery store as well. Yes, we are wild and crazy people over here.
Ron got a late service call so I actually got home before he did. I asked him to call me on his way home and then we could decide on where to meet up for dinner.
I did get a phone call but it sure came with a change of plans. Ron was on his way home but he needed a ride to the hospital, not to a restaurant. Oh crap!
I wanted him to pull over and I'd go pick him up but he said he had cut his finger and he could make it home on his own. Fine. I'll just play chauffeur to the hospital. I grabbed our books, a cold soda and waited for him by the door. Good thing I grabbed the books. Have you been to the ER lately? Holy crap. Makes me afraid to have a heart attack. but, I digress.
On the way to our neighborhood hospital, I found out the story. He was lifting a floor tile to see if there were some coax cables running under the floor. (don't be too impressed, I just asked him again what he was doing! I never would have used the word "coax" in a sentence of my own free will.) Anyway, he lifted the one tile which was very heavy. Unfortunately, the tile slipped out of his hand and smashed his finger between two tiles. Something had to give and it wasn't going to be the steel tiles. Unfortunately, it was his finger that had to give.
The security guard at his client's office did a good patch job wrapping up his finger. It got him home with no more blood on his pants. This is where I took over and to the hospital we went.
The wait was horrendous. I couldn't believe so many people were in the ER at 5:30 in the evening. And to be honest, not many of them looked like they needed an ER.
The final score was three stitches, one dressing and 30 antibiotics. Since his finger actually got smashed and not just cut, it sort of exploded. Unfortunately, they didn't deem him worthy of something for pain. So, right now, the Lidocain is starting to wear off and he is feeling the pain.
So, send your get well wishes to Ron. Poor guy is not having a good week!
Ron got a late service call so I actually got home before he did. I asked him to call me on his way home and then we could decide on where to meet up for dinner.
I did get a phone call but it sure came with a change of plans. Ron was on his way home but he needed a ride to the hospital, not to a restaurant. Oh crap!
I wanted him to pull over and I'd go pick him up but he said he had cut his finger and he could make it home on his own. Fine. I'll just play chauffeur to the hospital. I grabbed our books, a cold soda and waited for him by the door. Good thing I grabbed the books. Have you been to the ER lately? Holy crap. Makes me afraid to have a heart attack. but, I digress.
On the way to our neighborhood hospital, I found out the story. He was lifting a floor tile to see if there were some coax cables running under the floor. (don't be too impressed, I just asked him again what he was doing! I never would have used the word "coax" in a sentence of my own free will.) Anyway, he lifted the one tile which was very heavy. Unfortunately, the tile slipped out of his hand and smashed his finger between two tiles. Something had to give and it wasn't going to be the steel tiles. Unfortunately, it was his finger that had to give.
The security guard at his client's office did a good patch job wrapping up his finger. It got him home with no more blood on his pants. This is where I took over and to the hospital we went.
The wait was horrendous. I couldn't believe so many people were in the ER at 5:30 in the evening. And to be honest, not many of them looked like they needed an ER.
The final score was three stitches, one dressing and 30 antibiotics. Since his finger actually got smashed and not just cut, it sort of exploded. Unfortunately, they didn't deem him worthy of something for pain. So, right now, the Lidocain is starting to wear off and he is feeling the pain.
So, send your get well wishes to Ron. Poor guy is not having a good week!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Me And My Big Mouth
Friday night Ron and I went to one of our favorite Friday night dinner places. Yes, Popeye's Chicken, up on the Turnpike!
Since this is a rest stop, there are actually about five places you could choose to order dinner from, and then common seating in the middle where you could sit and enjoy your food.
Ron and I picked up or chicken dinners and grabbed a table. As I love Popeye's spicy chicken, before my meal was over, I was heading back up to the counter for a soda refill. There was a gentleman just getting his food from the Popeye's counter and heading to the soda machine. I waited for him to get his soda and said hi just to be friendly. He looked at me with this huge grin on his face and told me a story.
He said he was from Indiana and he and his wife were just returning from a trip to New York. (I don't know if it was the state or the city, but I digress.) He told me that he had purchased some scratch off tickets in New York and had just scratched them off while he was waiting on his dinner. He told me he just won $1500!! He had a grin that a plastic surgeon couldn't have taken off his face, he grabbed his soda and went to find a table.
I am a very empathetic person, so I am thrilled for him! The more I think of it, the more I want to tell him to turn his butt around, he's only about 2-1/2 hours from the state of New York, he should go and turn that ticket in! So, now I grab my refilled soda and heading back to our table I see this guy sitting in the next table from ours. On my way to our table, I had to stop at his.
I apologized for interrupting his dinner with his wife and I offered my congratulations again on his good fortune. Before I could say anything else, he got a wide eyed look on his face and said "um, she doesn't know yet!" OOPS!
So, to the fellow at Popeye's Chicken at the Turnpike rest stop: Sorry for ruining your secret! I guess now you have to share it with your wife thanks to me and my big mouth!
Since this is a rest stop, there are actually about five places you could choose to order dinner from, and then common seating in the middle where you could sit and enjoy your food.
Ron and I picked up or chicken dinners and grabbed a table. As I love Popeye's spicy chicken, before my meal was over, I was heading back up to the counter for a soda refill. There was a gentleman just getting his food from the Popeye's counter and heading to the soda machine. I waited for him to get his soda and said hi just to be friendly. He looked at me with this huge grin on his face and told me a story.
He said he was from Indiana and he and his wife were just returning from a trip to New York. (I don't know if it was the state or the city, but I digress.) He told me that he had purchased some scratch off tickets in New York and had just scratched them off while he was waiting on his dinner. He told me he just won $1500!! He had a grin that a plastic surgeon couldn't have taken off his face, he grabbed his soda and went to find a table.
I am a very empathetic person, so I am thrilled for him! The more I think of it, the more I want to tell him to turn his butt around, he's only about 2-1/2 hours from the state of New York, he should go and turn that ticket in! So, now I grab my refilled soda and heading back to our table I see this guy sitting in the next table from ours. On my way to our table, I had to stop at his.
I apologized for interrupting his dinner with his wife and I offered my congratulations again on his good fortune. Before I could say anything else, he got a wide eyed look on his face and said "um, she doesn't know yet!" OOPS!
So, to the fellow at Popeye's Chicken at the Turnpike rest stop: Sorry for ruining your secret! I guess now you have to share it with your wife thanks to me and my big mouth!
Monday, July 07, 2008
For Once, I Knew The Answer
Sunday, Ron and I went to the local grocery store for restocking. When we were about 1/3 of the way through the store, I decided I should pull out my list to make sure I didn’t forget anything. This was a lesson in pulling out the list sooner than 1/3 of the way through.
On the list was potatoes and of course, that is way in the front of the store. So, Ron kept going while I ran back for a bag of spuds. I take my spud buying very seriously. Once you decide on which price you are willing to pay for potatoes, the sniff test begins. I will pick up each bag, put my nose up to it and sniff. My sister Barb taught me this trick years ago, and I still abide by it.
So, I start smelling bags of potatoes. When I finally find one I like, I grab it and go to put it in the cart. Suddenly behind me is a kid, who in my estimation is 18 or 19 years old. Very shyly, he tells me that he’s never bought potatoes before and was wondering why I was smelling them. Aha! Time for me to pass along the knowledge torch!
I told him that a bag of potatoes should smell like good fresh dirt. He got that look on his face like I am nothing more than another crazy adult over 30 and he said "No, really. What are you smelling in the potatoes?"
I explained to him that since the potatoes came from the dirt, a good bag of spuds will smell like that good clean dirt. If a potato is going bad in the bag, you will sure smell it. In my opinion, once one goes bad, they all will go bad quickly.
I must have sold him on the idea because he then picked up a small bag of potatoes, brought it to his nose and gave it a good strong whiff. I asked him what it smelled like. He smiled and said "dirt"! I told him that he chose well then and that was a good bag of potatoes!
I know I’ve stopped people in the store before when they were picking out something I was unfamiliar with. One thing that comes to mind is pineapple. No matter who is buying it, they all have their own way of judging ripeness. But, I digress. For once it was my turn to impart a little wisdom to the younger shoppers.
So there is my tip for the day. If it smells like dirt – buy it!
On the list was potatoes and of course, that is way in the front of the store. So, Ron kept going while I ran back for a bag of spuds. I take my spud buying very seriously. Once you decide on which price you are willing to pay for potatoes, the sniff test begins. I will pick up each bag, put my nose up to it and sniff. My sister Barb taught me this trick years ago, and I still abide by it.
So, I start smelling bags of potatoes. When I finally find one I like, I grab it and go to put it in the cart. Suddenly behind me is a kid, who in my estimation is 18 or 19 years old. Very shyly, he tells me that he’s never bought potatoes before and was wondering why I was smelling them. Aha! Time for me to pass along the knowledge torch!
I told him that a bag of potatoes should smell like good fresh dirt. He got that look on his face like I am nothing more than another crazy adult over 30 and he said "No, really. What are you smelling in the potatoes?"
I explained to him that since the potatoes came from the dirt, a good bag of spuds will smell like that good clean dirt. If a potato is going bad in the bag, you will sure smell it. In my opinion, once one goes bad, they all will go bad quickly.
I must have sold him on the idea because he then picked up a small bag of potatoes, brought it to his nose and gave it a good strong whiff. I asked him what it smelled like. He smiled and said "dirt"! I told him that he chose well then and that was a good bag of potatoes!
I know I’ve stopped people in the store before when they were picking out something I was unfamiliar with. One thing that comes to mind is pineapple. No matter who is buying it, they all have their own way of judging ripeness. But, I digress. For once it was my turn to impart a little wisdom to the younger shoppers.
So there is my tip for the day. If it smells like dirt – buy it!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
What’s In A Name?
The 21st of this month is my five year anniversary at this job. You would think that after five years at a job, the company I worked for would know my name, wouldn’t you?
Yesterday afternoon, my boss called me. He stated that the corporate office contacted him about how to spell my name. Hello? Have I not been here for the last five years? So, since he said he wasn’t sure, he called me to verify. Now, it’s not my last name they are having trouble with (and yes, it’s a doozy in and of itself). They wanted help with my FIRST name.
Five years. Valued employee, huh?
Yesterday afternoon, my boss called me. He stated that the corporate office contacted him about how to spell my name. Hello? Have I not been here for the last five years? So, since he said he wasn’t sure, he called me to verify. Now, it’s not my last name they are having trouble with (and yes, it’s a doozy in and of itself). They wanted help with my FIRST name.
Five years. Valued employee, huh?
It’s Been A Good Week For Visitors
I have been very lucky this week!
Tuesday night, my brother Jim came to Ohio to spend a few days with us. If that wasn’t great enough, Mary Jane and her grandson, my great-nephew, Evan came over for family fun time Tuesday night as well! Now, Evan is six and full of energy and spunk and fun. He’s also way above me in just about anything that has to do with technology. I was apprehensive, but excited, to play Wii with him! He did let me know that his Wii is better because he has a large screen HD TV and I don't, but he'd try to make do with what we had.
The first thing you do the first time you play Wii is you have to make a Mii. A Mii is a little icon version of yourself to represent yourself in the game. You can customize it from the size and placement of your eyebrows to a mole on your face to what hair style and color, eye shape, nose shape, just everything! So, Evan made his Mii and actually, it looks remarkably like him. So cute!
Well, Evan and I played a quick game of Mario Brothers (my games are always quick when I’m playing Mario Brothers! I suck at it, that’s why!) Then, we bowled a game. In spite of my previous 297 game, Evan gave me a run for my money at bowling and I was lucky enough to beat him. Just by a few pins, but I beat him! It’s hard to get too excited over about winning – against a six year old!
After that, Evan and Uncle Jim were going to play some Wii. Now, Jim has never played Wii before, so Evan was going to show him how. The first thing to do is it make a Mii for Uncle Jim. With Evan at the controls, he made an Uncle Jim Mii aptly named UJ. Now, this was all Evan’s doing. He picked the features, and even chose to put a hat on UJ since Jim almost always wears a baseball cap. Cool that Evan noticed that.
Then, he got to the body shape of the Mii. There are two parts to this. How tall is your Mii and how wide is your Mii. Evan made UJ as tall as it would go. But, as far as wide goes, Evan left UJ just where the Mii was – skinny as a rail! We asked Evan if that’s really what UJ looked like and Evan very seriously said “Sure! UJ is very tall!” How awesome is that?! Through the eyes of a six year old!
I think Evan is our resident Wii expert. He kicked UJ’s butt while playing tennis. The kid has an impossible to return power serve! Then they switched to baseball.
In baseball, one person will pitch while the other bats. When you’re batting, you bat for all the players of your team coming up to the plate. When you’re pitching, you only pitch and the computer takes care of the players in the outfield.
When pitching, the pitch comes as fast as you can throw your arm. If you throw slowly, the pitch will stay in the 60s in regards to mph. Should you put some force behind that throw, your pitches will go up into the 90s! We gave UJ the basics about throwing your arm and he started the game against Evan. Evan promptly had to admonish UJ to not pitch over 86 mph as that was as fast as he could hit a ball! (and he wasn’t kidding!) If the pitch speed went over 86 mph, UJ got an earful from Evan! If it was below 86 mph, Evan swung and if it went into play, fine. If it went foul or he missed it, he took it in stride as part of the game. As long as it was thrown in his range! You should have heard him yelling respectfully at UJ to slow it down! Too funny. I should have run up and gotten my camera but I was having too much fun watching this to leave the game.
So, this was our fun Tuesday night. After dinner, Grandma and Evan packed it up and headed for Elyria and Ron, Jim and I sat around the table shooting the breeze for a few hours. It was nice to just sit and talk and catch up and laugh and giggle and bullshit for the evening.
Last night after dinner, Jim and Ron took over the Wii! The guys played all evening until Jim had to leave for Erie. When Ron came upstairs, he said his arm was a little Wii sore after all that playing! I can only imagine how Jim feels after his first night of playing!
So, we had a great time with our visitors. Now, it’s peace and quiet for the holiday weekend I think. I know I could use a little R & R.
Tuesday night, my brother Jim came to Ohio to spend a few days with us. If that wasn’t great enough, Mary Jane and her grandson, my great-nephew, Evan came over for family fun time Tuesday night as well! Now, Evan is six and full of energy and spunk and fun. He’s also way above me in just about anything that has to do with technology. I was apprehensive, but excited, to play Wii with him! He did let me know that his Wii is better because he has a large screen HD TV and I don't, but he'd try to make do with what we had.
The first thing you do the first time you play Wii is you have to make a Mii. A Mii is a little icon version of yourself to represent yourself in the game. You can customize it from the size and placement of your eyebrows to a mole on your face to what hair style and color, eye shape, nose shape, just everything! So, Evan made his Mii and actually, it looks remarkably like him. So cute!
Well, Evan and I played a quick game of Mario Brothers (my games are always quick when I’m playing Mario Brothers! I suck at it, that’s why!) Then, we bowled a game. In spite of my previous 297 game, Evan gave me a run for my money at bowling and I was lucky enough to beat him. Just by a few pins, but I beat him! It’s hard to get too excited over about winning – against a six year old!
After that, Evan and Uncle Jim were going to play some Wii. Now, Jim has never played Wii before, so Evan was going to show him how. The first thing to do is it make a Mii for Uncle Jim. With Evan at the controls, he made an Uncle Jim Mii aptly named UJ. Now, this was all Evan’s doing. He picked the features, and even chose to put a hat on UJ since Jim almost always wears a baseball cap. Cool that Evan noticed that.
Then, he got to the body shape of the Mii. There are two parts to this. How tall is your Mii and how wide is your Mii. Evan made UJ as tall as it would go. But, as far as wide goes, Evan left UJ just where the Mii was – skinny as a rail! We asked Evan if that’s really what UJ looked like and Evan very seriously said “Sure! UJ is very tall!” How awesome is that?! Through the eyes of a six year old!
I think Evan is our resident Wii expert. He kicked UJ’s butt while playing tennis. The kid has an impossible to return power serve! Then they switched to baseball.
In baseball, one person will pitch while the other bats. When you’re batting, you bat for all the players of your team coming up to the plate. When you’re pitching, you only pitch and the computer takes care of the players in the outfield.
When pitching, the pitch comes as fast as you can throw your arm. If you throw slowly, the pitch will stay in the 60s in regards to mph. Should you put some force behind that throw, your pitches will go up into the 90s! We gave UJ the basics about throwing your arm and he started the game against Evan. Evan promptly had to admonish UJ to not pitch over 86 mph as that was as fast as he could hit a ball! (and he wasn’t kidding!) If the pitch speed went over 86 mph, UJ got an earful from Evan! If it was below 86 mph, Evan swung and if it went into play, fine. If it went foul or he missed it, he took it in stride as part of the game. As long as it was thrown in his range! You should have heard him yelling respectfully at UJ to slow it down! Too funny. I should have run up and gotten my camera but I was having too much fun watching this to leave the game.
So, this was our fun Tuesday night. After dinner, Grandma and Evan packed it up and headed for Elyria and Ron, Jim and I sat around the table shooting the breeze for a few hours. It was nice to just sit and talk and catch up and laugh and giggle and bullshit for the evening.
Last night after dinner, Jim and Ron took over the Wii! The guys played all evening until Jim had to leave for Erie. When Ron came upstairs, he said his arm was a little Wii sore after all that playing! I can only imagine how Jim feels after his first night of playing!
So, we had a great time with our visitors. Now, it’s peace and quiet for the holiday weekend I think. I know I could use a little R & R.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Puffs Of Air – Activated
I am home safe and sound from vacation. We had a great time (aside from me cheating at Yahtzee, right Maura?!!) and even got to see quite a few sights in Florida. Aside from the heat which got the best of me on Saturday, I have no complaints.
I do have a good story about coming home on Sunday morning.
I did have an early flight on Sunday morning so I am with little sleep and a lot of sadness that vacation is over. Maura dropped me off at the Tampa airport then she headed back to Kissimmee. Meanwhile, I made my way through the airport and over to security. Did I mention I was half asleep?
I am in the security line to get through x-ray. One by one, we hand our boarding passes and our drivers licenses over to the security guard, and he tells us which x-ray line to get into for the next step. The closer I get to the guard, I more I hear a female computerized voice saying “puffs of air – activated” followed by a few sounds like “puff, puff, puff, puff”. At first I am blaming lack of sleep. But sure enough, every couple of minutes, there it is again, “puffs of air – activated.” Finally, I see x-ray line number six starts with this phone booth like contraption. People walk into this phone booth; you hear “puffs of air – activated” then the “puff, puff, puff, puff” while you see the person’s hair flying every which way and their clothes billowing like crazy. A minute or so goes by and the front of the phone booth contraption opens and the person walks forward to the actual x-ray.
Being the nosey person I am I had to ask about this. When it’s finally my turn to hand over my boarding pass and license for inspection, I asked the guard what’s with the puffs of air. He tells me that the air puffs will reveal any explosives on the person. Being naïve about so many things, I looked at him in wide-eyed wonder and said something like WOW! He asked me if I’d like to try it! Proving that I wouldn’t make a good terrorist, I said “Sure!” (Then again, if I said no at this point, would he have made me go through a full body cavity search? I wasn’t taking any chances!) So, he tells me to wait in line number six.
I wait for a few people to go through the phone booth and it’s finally my turn. My shoes and my laptop are already on the belt being x-rayed. I step into the phone booth, put my feet in the little painted feet on the floor and wait. Suddenly, I hear it. “Puffs of air – activated” followed by “puff, puff, puff, puff”.
My hair goes flying, my shirt flies up and I can’t do anything but start to giggle! The more I giggle, the harder I start to laugh. Since laughter is contagious, when the phone booth finally opened to let me out, I am laughing so hard that this caused the security guard outside of the phone booth to start laughing too.
I showed him my boarding pass and while he’s inspecting it, I thank him. He asked what I was thanking him for and of course I told him because that was the most fun I’ve had at six in the morning in a LONG time! So, he got a laugh out of it and I sure got a laugh out of it and everyone found out that I’d make a terrible terrorist. No poker face.
The flight home was uneventful except for the landing. Once we were getting down to the altitude of lowering the landing gear, the weather was really rough. I was starting to look for the airsick bag when he finally put the plane down. We were all safe and sound, but it was a heck of a final descent into Cleveland.
I got to finish my vacation over Mike and Mary Jane’s house, who were hosting an early 4th of July party.
The house was full of their kids and spouses and of course, their grandkids. Aside from a few showers that insisted on coming through, it was a great party. Then again, with this bunch, how can it be anything but a good party!
So, that was vacation. Now I am ready for the next one!
I do have a good story about coming home on Sunday morning.
I did have an early flight on Sunday morning so I am with little sleep and a lot of sadness that vacation is over. Maura dropped me off at the Tampa airport then she headed back to Kissimmee. Meanwhile, I made my way through the airport and over to security. Did I mention I was half asleep?
I am in the security line to get through x-ray. One by one, we hand our boarding passes and our drivers licenses over to the security guard, and he tells us which x-ray line to get into for the next step. The closer I get to the guard, I more I hear a female computerized voice saying “puffs of air – activated” followed by a few sounds like “puff, puff, puff, puff”. At first I am blaming lack of sleep. But sure enough, every couple of minutes, there it is again, “puffs of air – activated.” Finally, I see x-ray line number six starts with this phone booth like contraption. People walk into this phone booth; you hear “puffs of air – activated” then the “puff, puff, puff, puff” while you see the person’s hair flying every which way and their clothes billowing like crazy. A minute or so goes by and the front of the phone booth contraption opens and the person walks forward to the actual x-ray.
Being the nosey person I am I had to ask about this. When it’s finally my turn to hand over my boarding pass and license for inspection, I asked the guard what’s with the puffs of air. He tells me that the air puffs will reveal any explosives on the person. Being naïve about so many things, I looked at him in wide-eyed wonder and said something like WOW! He asked me if I’d like to try it! Proving that I wouldn’t make a good terrorist, I said “Sure!” (Then again, if I said no at this point, would he have made me go through a full body cavity search? I wasn’t taking any chances!) So, he tells me to wait in line number six.
I wait for a few people to go through the phone booth and it’s finally my turn. My shoes and my laptop are already on the belt being x-rayed. I step into the phone booth, put my feet in the little painted feet on the floor and wait. Suddenly, I hear it. “Puffs of air – activated” followed by “puff, puff, puff, puff”.
My hair goes flying, my shirt flies up and I can’t do anything but start to giggle! The more I giggle, the harder I start to laugh. Since laughter is contagious, when the phone booth finally opened to let me out, I am laughing so hard that this caused the security guard outside of the phone booth to start laughing too.
I showed him my boarding pass and while he’s inspecting it, I thank him. He asked what I was thanking him for and of course I told him because that was the most fun I’ve had at six in the morning in a LONG time! So, he got a laugh out of it and I sure got a laugh out of it and everyone found out that I’d make a terrible terrorist. No poker face.
The flight home was uneventful except for the landing. Once we were getting down to the altitude of lowering the landing gear, the weather was really rough. I was starting to look for the airsick bag when he finally put the plane down. We were all safe and sound, but it was a heck of a final descent into Cleveland.
I got to finish my vacation over Mike and Mary Jane’s house, who were hosting an early 4th of July party.
The house was full of their kids and spouses and of course, their grandkids. Aside from a few showers that insisted on coming through, it was a great party. Then again, with this bunch, how can it be anything but a good party!
So, that was vacation. Now I am ready for the next one!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Congratulations, Mr. Phil!!
Today is the big day. Today is the day that someone has been waiting on for a long time.
My brother Philip is officially RETIRED!!
His last day of "work" was last Thursday and today he went in to sign the final papers. That's it. No more grind of employment. No more schedules. No more deadlines. No more work travel. No more blowing things up and getting paid for it.
All kidding aside, congratulations, Phil. You worked long and hard to get here and you definitely deserve hitting this milestone in your life. May you enjoy a long and prosperous retirement.
Next stop - LORAIN! C'mon home!
My brother Philip is officially RETIRED!!
His last day of "work" was last Thursday and today he went in to sign the final papers. That's it. No more grind of employment. No more schedules. No more deadlines. No more work travel. No more blowing things up and getting paid for it.
All kidding aside, congratulations, Phil. You worked long and hard to get here and you definitely deserve hitting this milestone in your life. May you enjoy a long and prosperous retirement.
Next stop - LORAIN! C'mon home!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
I’m On Vacation, Day Two
We had a slow start today but once we got moving, we sure did move!
The first thing we did was headed over a BIG bridge over to St. Petersburg. Here is a picture of us getting to the bridge.
From here we went to St. Pete’s Beach. It is hotter than Hades down here, but when you’re this close to the Gulf of Mexico, you HAVE to stop to look at it! Maura actually took her shoes off and went walking in the water a little but since I head sneakers on, I just left them on and passed on the dipping of the toes.
It was pretty overcast today but it was still gorgeous to be out on the white beaches watching the majesty of the water. Here are a couple of pictures of the Gulf, and on one of them you can even see the parasailers out over the water.
Coming back across the bridge after our day at the beach, you can sort of see downtown Tampa in the haze of the overcast day towards the left of the frame.
The first thing we did was headed over a BIG bridge over to St. Petersburg. Here is a picture of us getting to the bridge.
The bridge spans Tampa Bay and St. Pete’s is on the other side of Tampa Bay from the city of Tampa. It’s a big bridge, about 10 miles long. When you start seeing all of the warning signs to check your gas level before entering the bridge you should worry! But I went out of the box and agreed to go over the bridge!
Maura and I, aside from being friends, are also distant cousins. We have another cousin that lives in St. Pete’s. As soon as we crossed the bridge, Maura called Joe to see if he was working. Unfortunately, he was, but we didn’t let that stop us from stopping at his work to say hi! Luckily, he was able to spend a little time with us and we exchanged hugs and had a nice little chat. He was booked up for tonight, but we are going to try to hook up tomorrow for lunch.
Since Joe had to work, we went back to our adventure. After all, we were on vacation!
We stopped for lunch, then drove around and looked around town. We came across the beautiful park in the middle of town that was small but so quaint. There was a round pond in the middle of the park that had a gorgeous fountain in the center. For as many pictures as I've taken today, I didn't take any of the fountain. Duh. But, as we were looking at the water, we noticed things sticking up from the water. There was one thing that between the two of us we can’t decide what it was. But, we did see quite a few turtles in the water! Here is a picture of the turtles:
Maura and I, aside from being friends, are also distant cousins. We have another cousin that lives in St. Pete’s. As soon as we crossed the bridge, Maura called Joe to see if he was working. Unfortunately, he was, but we didn’t let that stop us from stopping at his work to say hi! Luckily, he was able to spend a little time with us and we exchanged hugs and had a nice little chat. He was booked up for tonight, but we are going to try to hook up tomorrow for lunch.
Since Joe had to work, we went back to our adventure. After all, we were on vacation!
We stopped for lunch, then drove around and looked around town. We came across the beautiful park in the middle of town that was small but so quaint. There was a round pond in the middle of the park that had a gorgeous fountain in the center. For as many pictures as I've taken today, I didn't take any of the fountain. Duh. But, as we were looking at the water, we noticed things sticking up from the water. There was one thing that between the two of us we can’t decide what it was. But, we did see quite a few turtles in the water! Here is a picture of the turtles:
You can see the both of them about in the middle of the picture, one right over the other. The lower one you can kinda see the outline of the body in the water, but the shadows hide the body of the upper one.
This park had a gorgeous tree on the one side. This tree had to be a good 30 feet around and 80 feet high. The top was full of green leaves but hanging from the branches were these rope like growths. Some of the “ropes” would twist themselves into knots and some would grow straight down. It was awe inspiring just to stand beneath this tree. Here are some pictures of the tree trunk and the ropes coming down. Unfortunately, I couldn’t back up far enough to get a picture of the whole tree.
This park had a gorgeous tree on the one side. This tree had to be a good 30 feet around and 80 feet high. The top was full of green leaves but hanging from the branches were these rope like growths. Some of the “ropes” would twist themselves into knots and some would grow straight down. It was awe inspiring just to stand beneath this tree. Here are some pictures of the tree trunk and the ropes coming down. Unfortunately, I couldn’t back up far enough to get a picture of the whole tree.
Here is a picture of a lizard on the tree! He is pretty much right smack dab in the middle of the shot. Anywhere there is ANY vegetation, you will find these lizards. They range from about three inches in length from nose to the tip of their tail to maybe six or seven inches. They are awesome! I keep catching movement out of the corners of my eyes which is scaring the crap out of me but they are still awesome little things!
When we walked to the back of the tree, we saw what I think was an Ibis. It was digging into the vegetation at the bottom of the tree for bugs. He wasn’t camera shy and he wasn’t too people shy. Here’s a couple of what I think is an Ibis.
From here we went to St. Pete’s Beach. It is hotter than Hades down here, but when you’re this close to the Gulf of Mexico, you HAVE to stop to look at it! Maura actually took her shoes off and went walking in the water a little but since I head sneakers on, I just left them on and passed on the dipping of the toes.
It was pretty overcast today but it was still gorgeous to be out on the white beaches watching the majesty of the water. Here are a couple of pictures of the Gulf, and on one of them you can even see the parasailers out over the water.
Coming back across the bridge after our day at the beach, you can sort of see downtown Tampa in the haze of the overcast day towards the left of the frame.
We took a rest at the hotel and got our legs back under us and got some air conditioning all around us. The hell with Al Gore, after a day at the beach in 90+ degree weather with HIGH humidity, we turned the A/C down to 65 and cooled off.
Before the day was over, we had another rousing round of Centipede then went out looking for dinner. We even found time to stop at Pier 1 and Wal Mart! Is this a great vacation or what?!
For now, that is it. I will be back to blogging when I get home and am able to write about our next adventure. And, believe me, there will be more adventures!
For now, that is it. I will be back to blogging when I get home and am able to write about our next adventure. And, believe me, there will be more adventures!
I’m On Vacation!
My best friend lives just outside of Orlando Florida. I live just outside of Cleveland Ohio. That is just too far apart for two people that have been best friends since we’ve been in diapers.
So, this weekend, Maura and I have decided to both run away from home for the weekend. We left our men and home and she and I met up in Tampa Florida! I flew in on Thursday morning and Maura picked me up at the airport. From there, the fun has begun.
The first thing we did was went to lunch. We laughed, we giggled and we ate. We went to the hotel to try to check in but we were early. Had our room been made up, we would have been let in but unfortunately, housekeeping didn’t make it that far. We needed to wait about an hour and a half for our room to be ready. Fine, I’m sure we can find something to do.
We are in one of the nicer hotel chains so we decided to just walk around the hotel and find what is where. The first thing we found was the game room. Believe it or not, there was an old Atari game in there called Centipede! Now, way back when in the olden days, when Maura and I started on our road to ruination, we realized that bars had great games. You could find Pac-Man at Brother-In-Laws right on 29th and Reed and you could find Centipede at Smugglers down at the dock. Ok, the fact that they also had beer there along with the games also became known to us. But, that is a story for another day. Just let it suffice to say that we learned about beer and we learned about Centipede. With so many memories rushing back to us, we had to turn a few dollars into tokens and play some Centipede! It’s a good thing there were no other people in the game room. We were loud and obnoxious and were having a great time! Yes, the vacation sure started out well.
From there we found the bar that just opened and was having happy hour. Well . . . WE were happy so we stopped in there! And yes, that’s all I’m going to say about that one.
We finally made it up to our suite. We have a very nice suite with living room (perfect for playing Rummikub!) and a separate bedroom. There is a balcony off of the bedroom but the bad thing about that is our view is the wall of the building next to us. The good thing is that no one can look in our room so we don't have anyone complaining about seeing us. Here is our balcony and our view but looking way to the side.
We rearranged the furniture in the living room for perfect game playing space. We do have our Rummikub and we have Yahtzee and Sequence. We started playing yesterday and never stopped. Finally, we did get hungry and just didn’t feel like going back out. Here is a picture of what was left of our first vacation dinner!
So, this weekend, Maura and I have decided to both run away from home for the weekend. We left our men and home and she and I met up in Tampa Florida! I flew in on Thursday morning and Maura picked me up at the airport. From there, the fun has begun.
The first thing we did was went to lunch. We laughed, we giggled and we ate. We went to the hotel to try to check in but we were early. Had our room been made up, we would have been let in but unfortunately, housekeeping didn’t make it that far. We needed to wait about an hour and a half for our room to be ready. Fine, I’m sure we can find something to do.
We are in one of the nicer hotel chains so we decided to just walk around the hotel and find what is where. The first thing we found was the game room. Believe it or not, there was an old Atari game in there called Centipede! Now, way back when in the olden days, when Maura and I started on our road to ruination, we realized that bars had great games. You could find Pac-Man at Brother-In-Laws right on 29th and Reed and you could find Centipede at Smugglers down at the dock. Ok, the fact that they also had beer there along with the games also became known to us. But, that is a story for another day. Just let it suffice to say that we learned about beer and we learned about Centipede. With so many memories rushing back to us, we had to turn a few dollars into tokens and play some Centipede! It’s a good thing there were no other people in the game room. We were loud and obnoxious and were having a great time! Yes, the vacation sure started out well.
From there we found the bar that just opened and was having happy hour. Well . . . WE were happy so we stopped in there! And yes, that’s all I’m going to say about that one.
We finally made it up to our suite. We have a very nice suite with living room (perfect for playing Rummikub!) and a separate bedroom. There is a balcony off of the bedroom but the bad thing about that is our view is the wall of the building next to us. The good thing is that no one can look in our room so we don't have anyone complaining about seeing us. Here is our balcony and our view but looking way to the side.
We rearranged the furniture in the living room for perfect game playing space. We do have our Rummikub and we have Yahtzee and Sequence. We started playing yesterday and never stopped. Finally, we did get hungry and just didn’t feel like going back out. Here is a picture of what was left of our first vacation dinner!
It was just a great first day of vacation. We watched crap TV, played games, laughed, cried, caught up, told stories and just got to be face to face friends which is something we don’t get an opportunity to do often enough. Next up, day two!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I Am The Champ!
Let's talk about Wii bowling!!!!!!!!!!! Do you love our Miis or what? By the way, that's me on the left!
Can you see who bowled a 297?!??!? ME!!! That's who!!!!
I was on FIRE! We obviously were playing a little Wii after dinner and we decided to bowl a game. We're both on a semi injured list from this damn game. My shoulder isn't getting any better and now Ron has Wii elbow but at this point, it's worth it!
Anyway, I was playing this morning before work (yeah, I'm addicted) and I thought I figured out something about bowling. You know it's all about finding your mark and figuring out your swing. Like I said, I thought I figured out what I was doing wrong.
So, after dinner tonight, I'm going to try it out. Sure enough, I started with a strike. Then another. Then another! Next thing I knew Ron was just shaking his head and I had 11 strikes in a ROW. Unfortunately, I choked on the last ball and only got 7 for a total of 297!
The first thing we did was grab our phones and take pictures of the scores. The picture I took is somehow lost in my phone as I don't have a clue where it goes when you take it. Ron on the other hand was nice enough to get it from his phone to my desktop so I could put it on the blog.
I have finally found a game I can kick Ron's ass in! (Can you tell we are competitive?!) Now, there is a thought in my head here. I may never bowl again! How the heck can I beat that score?
For now I will revel in . . . being the champ!
Can you see who bowled a 297?!??!? ME!!! That's who!!!!
I was on FIRE! We obviously were playing a little Wii after dinner and we decided to bowl a game. We're both on a semi injured list from this damn game. My shoulder isn't getting any better and now Ron has Wii elbow but at this point, it's worth it!
Anyway, I was playing this morning before work (yeah, I'm addicted) and I thought I figured out something about bowling. You know it's all about finding your mark and figuring out your swing. Like I said, I thought I figured out what I was doing wrong.
So, after dinner tonight, I'm going to try it out. Sure enough, I started with a strike. Then another. Then another! Next thing I knew Ron was just shaking his head and I had 11 strikes in a ROW. Unfortunately, I choked on the last ball and only got 7 for a total of 297!
The first thing we did was grab our phones and take pictures of the scores. The picture I took is somehow lost in my phone as I don't have a clue where it goes when you take it. Ron on the other hand was nice enough to get it from his phone to my desktop so I could put it on the blog.
I have finally found a game I can kick Ron's ass in! (Can you tell we are competitive?!) Now, there is a thought in my head here. I may never bowl again! How the heck can I beat that score?
For now I will revel in . . . being the champ!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Wii've Got It
Yes, Ron got us a Wii! It arrived yesterday and since then we've already made a trip to Best Buy to get another game controller and more games.
It's really a scary game system. It is yet another wireless connection to the Internet so from our Wii in the living room, we can download updates for the game as well as buy new games, we can check the weather or find the latest news stories. A scary feature for a game!
One of the cool features is the Mii. That is a little animated figure you create in your own or your imagined likeness. Mine is similar to me, less a few pounds! You pick our your own facial features, hair style and colors and you name your image. Then every game you play, your little person is there in the game. Yeah, a fun feature!
I've learned a few things too. I can knock a full grown man OUT in three rounds (Boxing game). I can beat Ron in Bowling most of the time! I take second place in the rest of the games, but in Bowling, I am the bomb. My highest game so far is 212. However, for someone with a newly injured right shoulder, this perhaps wasn't the brightest thing I've played. Bowling might just have put me back a few days in recovery for sure. Oh well. I beat Ron so it was worth it!!
The 9-ball game is going to take some learning curves. We have the idea down but the view of the table in the game is taking some getting used to. Just when I think I have a shot lines up, I am waaaaay off.
The Golf game, on the other hand, I think has made me a believer in the game! I haven't exactly been tearing up the links, but I have been having one heck of a time trying.
The Boxing game may be just what I need to work off a few work tensions. And, for some reason, Ron has been a little wary of me since he watched my knock out performance! Fear me, people! PMS and a Wii can probably be a dangerous combination!
So, slowly but surely we are heading into the technology of the 21st century. While I'm climbing up to the new status of Wii owner, I think I'll make sure my insurance payments are current. After all, I'm bringing my old and tired muscles with me into the Wii generation.
It's really a scary game system. It is yet another wireless connection to the Internet so from our Wii in the living room, we can download updates for the game as well as buy new games, we can check the weather or find the latest news stories. A scary feature for a game!
One of the cool features is the Mii. That is a little animated figure you create in your own or your imagined likeness. Mine is similar to me, less a few pounds! You pick our your own facial features, hair style and colors and you name your image. Then every game you play, your little person is there in the game. Yeah, a fun feature!
I've learned a few things too. I can knock a full grown man OUT in three rounds (Boxing game). I can beat Ron in Bowling most of the time! I take second place in the rest of the games, but in Bowling, I am the bomb. My highest game so far is 212. However, for someone with a newly injured right shoulder, this perhaps wasn't the brightest thing I've played. Bowling might just have put me back a few days in recovery for sure. Oh well. I beat Ron so it was worth it!!
The 9-ball game is going to take some learning curves. We have the idea down but the view of the table in the game is taking some getting used to. Just when I think I have a shot lines up, I am waaaaay off.
The Golf game, on the other hand, I think has made me a believer in the game! I haven't exactly been tearing up the links, but I have been having one heck of a time trying.
The Boxing game may be just what I need to work off a few work tensions. And, for some reason, Ron has been a little wary of me since he watched my knock out performance! Fear me, people! PMS and a Wii can probably be a dangerous combination!
So, slowly but surely we are heading into the technology of the 21st century. While I'm climbing up to the new status of Wii owner, I think I'll make sure my insurance payments are current. After all, I'm bringing my old and tired muscles with me into the Wii generation.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Friday The 13th
I'm not usually a superstitious person, but I have a bad feeling about today.
I've written before about my OCD and having to look out of my bedroom window whenever I am getting in or out of bed.
This morning, I woke up before my alarm since my bladder was calling me. I looked out the bedroom window and there was one of the neighborhood cats laying out in my driveway. I think it's a feral cat as most of the time I see it up in the pine tree in the yard next door. He's always around somewhere. I also believe this is the cat that has been using the corner of my garage as a scratching post.
Anyway, this cat was laying in the driveway, kind of next to Ron's van, in a weird way. He looked like he was kinda in a "splat" position. He didn't look comfortable, he just looked like he collapsed in my driveway!
Crawling back into bed after relieving that bladder problem, I looked again out the window. Sure enough, the cat was still there; it wasn't a dream.
Ron was also awake so I told him that I think we have a dead cat in the driveway. He wasn't too thrilled with the idea either! I lay there thinking - who do you call for such a thing? I didn't think I could just grab a shovel and put him in the trash before the garbage guys pick up. That would just be all kinds of wrong. I also didn't want to take said shovel and dig a hole in the flower garden. But I obviously didn't want to leave him where he was either. Do you call 911? Animal control? I was getting myself all worked up over here!
About 15 minutes later, my alarm went off. Getting out of bed, I looked out the window again. The cat is gone. The neighborhood large dog was still tied up so it wasn't him!
So, I got all worked up over nothing. The cat was just taking a nap in my driveway.
While I may not be superstitious, I still think this is a bad omen. I have a feeling today is just going to go down the crapper from here!
Stay tuned.
I've written before about my OCD and having to look out of my bedroom window whenever I am getting in or out of bed.
This morning, I woke up before my alarm since my bladder was calling me. I looked out the bedroom window and there was one of the neighborhood cats laying out in my driveway. I think it's a feral cat as most of the time I see it up in the pine tree in the yard next door. He's always around somewhere. I also believe this is the cat that has been using the corner of my garage as a scratching post.
Anyway, this cat was laying in the driveway, kind of next to Ron's van, in a weird way. He looked like he was kinda in a "splat" position. He didn't look comfortable, he just looked like he collapsed in my driveway!
Crawling back into bed after relieving that bladder problem, I looked again out the window. Sure enough, the cat was still there; it wasn't a dream.
Ron was also awake so I told him that I think we have a dead cat in the driveway. He wasn't too thrilled with the idea either! I lay there thinking - who do you call for such a thing? I didn't think I could just grab a shovel and put him in the trash before the garbage guys pick up. That would just be all kinds of wrong. I also didn't want to take said shovel and dig a hole in the flower garden. But I obviously didn't want to leave him where he was either. Do you call 911? Animal control? I was getting myself all worked up over here!
About 15 minutes later, my alarm went off. Getting out of bed, I looked out the window again. The cat is gone. The neighborhood large dog was still tied up so it wasn't him!
So, I got all worked up over nothing. The cat was just taking a nap in my driveway.
While I may not be superstitious, I still think this is a bad omen. I have a feeling today is just going to go down the crapper from here!
Stay tuned.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I Need A Ride Home
The worst part about working for a living is the driving. I am to the point that it is taking everything in me to be in a car any more.
I hate driving. I hate it. People are idiots whether they are in Fords or not. I hate driving to the grocery store, to dinner, or on the highways and freeways. The car was the worst invention we have had to date.
This morning, coming to work, I was driving in on the Turnpike. In the right lane, is a car carrying semi. You know, the ones that load two stories worth of new cars on the backs of the semis? One of my many fears happens to be these semis. I'm always afraid a chain will snap and the last car that looks like it's barely on there anyway will come crashing down onto the road and into me. Whenever I am behind one of these semis, I will do my best to go around and get away from him.
So, into the middle lane I went and got around him. Shortly after that, I came to the construction sign that read left two lanes will be closing in one mile. Fine by me, I am back in the right lane anyway.
The closer I get to the one lane section, the more the traffic slows down. As we are crawling on in single file, the traffic suddenly stops. I can't see why we are stopped as there are so many vehicles in front of me, I just know I'm not moving. So I start looking around. I happen to look in my rear view mirror and what do I see bearing down on me? That car carrying semi. And he is coming up fast. I have nowhere to go as the barrels to the left of me won't let me go left and the car ahead of me is stopped like the car ahead of him, etc etc etc.
I start pumping my brakes so that hopefully he will see the red lights flashing and realize we are stopped. It doesn't seem as if he's paying attention. He is getting closer and closer and very quickly. When they say that right before you die you see your life flash in front of you, they aren't lying.
I left my lane, drove onto the berm and then on to the grass heading for the woods. I thought that was better than getting creamed by the semi. Sure enough, as I start moving over, I hear the screech of this idiot's brakes. I'm into the grass and he heads onto the berm so as to miss the car that was ahead of me. We are now three wide on a one lane road as the semi ended up pulling up along side me on my left, and to the right of the car that was in front of me.
Needless to say, I cried the rest of the way to work. Now I'm here and for once, I don't want to leave. Putting my life in danger for this job is so not worth it.
I know, I need to suck it up and get over it. Or I need to win the lottery. But in the mean time, can someone come pick me up? Or better yet, send a helicopter for me?
I hate driving. I hate it. People are idiots whether they are in Fords or not. I hate driving to the grocery store, to dinner, or on the highways and freeways. The car was the worst invention we have had to date.
This morning, coming to work, I was driving in on the Turnpike. In the right lane, is a car carrying semi. You know, the ones that load two stories worth of new cars on the backs of the semis? One of my many fears happens to be these semis. I'm always afraid a chain will snap and the last car that looks like it's barely on there anyway will come crashing down onto the road and into me. Whenever I am behind one of these semis, I will do my best to go around and get away from him.
So, into the middle lane I went and got around him. Shortly after that, I came to the construction sign that read left two lanes will be closing in one mile. Fine by me, I am back in the right lane anyway.
The closer I get to the one lane section, the more the traffic slows down. As we are crawling on in single file, the traffic suddenly stops. I can't see why we are stopped as there are so many vehicles in front of me, I just know I'm not moving. So I start looking around. I happen to look in my rear view mirror and what do I see bearing down on me? That car carrying semi. And he is coming up fast. I have nowhere to go as the barrels to the left of me won't let me go left and the car ahead of me is stopped like the car ahead of him, etc etc etc.
I start pumping my brakes so that hopefully he will see the red lights flashing and realize we are stopped. It doesn't seem as if he's paying attention. He is getting closer and closer and very quickly. When they say that right before you die you see your life flash in front of you, they aren't lying.
I left my lane, drove onto the berm and then on to the grass heading for the woods. I thought that was better than getting creamed by the semi. Sure enough, as I start moving over, I hear the screech of this idiot's brakes. I'm into the grass and he heads onto the berm so as to miss the car that was ahead of me. We are now three wide on a one lane road as the semi ended up pulling up along side me on my left, and to the right of the car that was in front of me.
Needless to say, I cried the rest of the way to work. Now I'm here and for once, I don't want to leave. Putting my life in danger for this job is so not worth it.
I know, I need to suck it up and get over it. Or I need to win the lottery. But in the mean time, can someone come pick me up? Or better yet, send a helicopter for me?
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Faux Pas
Ok, GPS unit or no GPS unit, I am still getting lost.
Saturday we had given the fish tank a good cleaning. That's some hard work since it's a 65 gallon tank. We are climbing up on chairs in order to reach down to clean the gravel and to put the plants back in the tank. When all is said and done, we were both wet, sweaty and hungry.
While Ron was putting away the cleaning supplies, I was going to run and get us lunch. Ron chose from our book of menus a restaurant called Gyros and More. I know that's what he chose since he handed me the menu, told me what he'd like and I ended up calling our order in. I was told lunch would be ready in 10 minutes, so I rushed to put shoes on and I was out the door.
I walked into a restaurant, and asked for our order. I was told they had no order under my name. C'mon now, I called it in myself! I talked to a girl just 10 minutes ago and asked for a couple of sandwiches. Of course, I was told no women were working in this restaurant at this time. Now I'm freakin' out. Of course, I have no cell phone with me as I rarely carry it when I'm out. That might have to change!
I look down at the counter and see their menus sitting there. "Cruisin' Chicken". Yeah, close but no cigar. I was supposed to be at Gyros and More! DUH! How do you back pedal that one to a kid that doesn't want to be at work anyway that without sounding like I'm the idiot. You don't. I ate my crow, apologized for the brain fart and I was back out the door. I pulled out of Cruisin' Chicken and moved on down the road to Gyros and More who of course, has my order ready for me.
Not only did I eat some crow with a kid at the first place, but now I have to face the music when I get home and Ron says he was starting to worry about me since it took me so long to get back.
Yeah, I gotta learn how to lie. I came right out with the story of going to the wrong restaurant first and arguing with the Cruisin' Chicken employee, and how I may not be allowed back in that place for awhile! One little faux pas. Maybe next time I'll make Ron go get lunch. I shouldn't be allowed out alone!
Saturday we had given the fish tank a good cleaning. That's some hard work since it's a 65 gallon tank. We are climbing up on chairs in order to reach down to clean the gravel and to put the plants back in the tank. When all is said and done, we were both wet, sweaty and hungry.
While Ron was putting away the cleaning supplies, I was going to run and get us lunch. Ron chose from our book of menus a restaurant called Gyros and More. I know that's what he chose since he handed me the menu, told me what he'd like and I ended up calling our order in. I was told lunch would be ready in 10 minutes, so I rushed to put shoes on and I was out the door.
I walked into a restaurant, and asked for our order. I was told they had no order under my name. C'mon now, I called it in myself! I talked to a girl just 10 minutes ago and asked for a couple of sandwiches. Of course, I was told no women were working in this restaurant at this time. Now I'm freakin' out. Of course, I have no cell phone with me as I rarely carry it when I'm out. That might have to change!
I look down at the counter and see their menus sitting there. "Cruisin' Chicken". Yeah, close but no cigar. I was supposed to be at Gyros and More! DUH! How do you back pedal that one to a kid that doesn't want to be at work anyway that without sounding like I'm the idiot. You don't. I ate my crow, apologized for the brain fart and I was back out the door. I pulled out of Cruisin' Chicken and moved on down the road to Gyros and More who of course, has my order ready for me.
Not only did I eat some crow with a kid at the first place, but now I have to face the music when I get home and Ron says he was starting to worry about me since it took me so long to get back.
Yeah, I gotta learn how to lie. I came right out with the story of going to the wrong restaurant first and arguing with the Cruisin' Chicken employee, and how I may not be allowed back in that place for awhile! One little faux pas. Maybe next time I'll make Ron go get lunch. I shouldn't be allowed out alone!
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Happy Birthday, Brother Jim!
Yeah, I know, I'm a day late. Sorry about that brother. Doesn't mean I don't still love you!
Someone in our family officially turned old. I can only say that because no matter how old I am, everyone else is still older than me. Sometimes it helps to be the baby! Anyway, brother Jim left his 40s behind him. And we tried to help him send out those 40s like the family that we are.
Jim took a few days off from work and came to Ohio to have a little family time vacation. Now that I think about it, we probably suck in the excitement department. He came out on Tuesday night and so we celebrated with Ron pulling out the grill and cooking us some great picnic fare. We had sweet Italian sausage and hamburgers. The best part is that I didn't cook! Bonus for all of us!!
Wednesday was boys day. Jim and brother Michael had a guys night and it took everything in me not to call Jim like Dad would have and said "where are you and why aren't you home yet?" just before 11:00 at night!! I was the bigger person, realized Jim had his own key to our house and just left a light on for him and went to bed. He was here sleeping in the morning when I got up, so he must have made it home in one piece. He said that he had a good time, so that was a good night.
Thursday, Michael, Mary Jane, Jim, Ron and I all headed to dinner together before Jim headed back to Pennsylvania. The best part was that I bribed the waitress to make a huge scene for Jim's birthday! This restaurant unfortunately didn't do birthday ice cream or balloons or anything like that, but she said she would grab a bunch of servers and come over and sing really loudly. I thought that sounded like a great idea!
Sure enough, a little while later, she comes over with about four or five other servers, announced loudly that Jim over here was turning 50! The best part was a couple at the table next to us decided to celebrate with us. They kept up the singing after the servers finished their rendition of Happy Birthday! Jim was in the spotlight, much to his dismay! Hey, happy birthday brother.
And, thanks for coming to spend a few days with us. It's always a pleasure to see ya! Even if you are old! ;-)
Someone in our family officially turned old. I can only say that because no matter how old I am, everyone else is still older than me. Sometimes it helps to be the baby! Anyway, brother Jim left his 40s behind him. And we tried to help him send out those 40s like the family that we are.
Jim took a few days off from work and came to Ohio to have a little family time vacation. Now that I think about it, we probably suck in the excitement department. He came out on Tuesday night and so we celebrated with Ron pulling out the grill and cooking us some great picnic fare. We had sweet Italian sausage and hamburgers. The best part is that I didn't cook! Bonus for all of us!!
Wednesday was boys day. Jim and brother Michael had a guys night and it took everything in me not to call Jim like Dad would have and said "where are you and why aren't you home yet?" just before 11:00 at night!! I was the bigger person, realized Jim had his own key to our house and just left a light on for him and went to bed. He was here sleeping in the morning when I got up, so he must have made it home in one piece. He said that he had a good time, so that was a good night.
Thursday, Michael, Mary Jane, Jim, Ron and I all headed to dinner together before Jim headed back to Pennsylvania. The best part was that I bribed the waitress to make a huge scene for Jim's birthday! This restaurant unfortunately didn't do birthday ice cream or balloons or anything like that, but she said she would grab a bunch of servers and come over and sing really loudly. I thought that sounded like a great idea!
Sure enough, a little while later, she comes over with about four or five other servers, announced loudly that Jim over here was turning 50! The best part was a couple at the table next to us decided to celebrate with us. They kept up the singing after the servers finished their rendition of Happy Birthday! Jim was in the spotlight, much to his dismay! Hey, happy birthday brother.
And, thanks for coming to spend a few days with us. It's always a pleasure to see ya! Even if you are old! ;-)
Monday, June 02, 2008
Serves You Right
After a long time not blogging, what story do I have to come back with? A story about a dumbass driving a Ford!
I'm coming back from lunch today, and I'm driving in the right hand lane. The car that is two cars ahead of me is slowing down to turn into a parking lot on the right. This car can't turn right away since a pedestrian is walking on the sidewalk across the entrance to the lot. In my book, the pedestrian always has the right of way, so I have no problem waiting on the pedestrian to finish crossing the entrance for the first car to turn right into the lot.
Unfortunately, the truck in front of me didn't feel the same way. As soon as the first car started her turn into the lot, the truck decided to swerve to the left around her and screech out as fast as he could to let everyone know that he wasn't happy about being held up in his busy day.
Here is a word of advice to this idiot in the blue Ford truck.
Before you get a good case of road rage building up in you, either close the back gate to your pickup truck or don't have boxes of stuff right there at the edge in the back.
Yeah, you guessed it, he punched the gas and a huge box fell out onto the street. This is an extremely busy five lane street. He has now tied up the two westbound lanes with crap out of that box plus some short two by fours. The items in the box appeared to my untrained eye to be some plumbing parts of sorts or perhaps some couplings. They were definitely metal though so we're all lucky that box did miss my car as it came jumping out of the back of the truck!
Unfortunately, now we have two lanes of traffic going through one lane at a time to try to drive around all of the dangerous debris scattered across the road! Dumbass.
This idiot proceeded to turn into the second entrance to this lot so he could go pick up his crap. Yeah, served you right just for being an idiot.
I'm coming back from lunch today, and I'm driving in the right hand lane. The car that is two cars ahead of me is slowing down to turn into a parking lot on the right. This car can't turn right away since a pedestrian is walking on the sidewalk across the entrance to the lot. In my book, the pedestrian always has the right of way, so I have no problem waiting on the pedestrian to finish crossing the entrance for the first car to turn right into the lot.
Unfortunately, the truck in front of me didn't feel the same way. As soon as the first car started her turn into the lot, the truck decided to swerve to the left around her and screech out as fast as he could to let everyone know that he wasn't happy about being held up in his busy day.
Here is a word of advice to this idiot in the blue Ford truck.
Before you get a good case of road rage building up in you, either close the back gate to your pickup truck or don't have boxes of stuff right there at the edge in the back.
Yeah, you guessed it, he punched the gas and a huge box fell out onto the street. This is an extremely busy five lane street. He has now tied up the two westbound lanes with crap out of that box plus some short two by fours. The items in the box appeared to my untrained eye to be some plumbing parts of sorts or perhaps some couplings. They were definitely metal though so we're all lucky that box did miss my car as it came jumping out of the back of the truck!
Unfortunately, now we have two lanes of traffic going through one lane at a time to try to drive around all of the dangerous debris scattered across the road! Dumbass.
This idiot proceeded to turn into the second entrance to this lot so he could go pick up his crap. Yeah, served you right just for being an idiot.
Friday, May 23, 2008
How Much Is A Key Worth?
Wednesday I started on site at a new audit.
Most of the work for this audit can be done in our local office, but for a few days, we will need to be on site at the client’s location pulling information.
Every company I’ve been to has its own quirks. I’ve been on the 10th floor with a window overlooking the lake and I’ve been locked in a room with three other women that don’t talk to each other and I’ve been relegated to a basement with the rats and spiders. You can see why I love this job, right?
Anyway, I was talking about quirks. This company has its own share of them. I went to the supervisor to ask a question Wednesday afternoon and I walked into her cubicle while she was “at lunch”. What was she doing at lunch? Playing Pogo! You just have to love anyone that plays Pogo. Heaven knows I spend my share of time playing on Pogo myself.
That wasn’t the quirk though, just an observation.
The quirk is their bathrooms.
You need your key card to get into the bathroom here! Since we are not going to be on site long, they have not issued us any security passes. We check in with the receptionist when we get here and she lets us in. Pretty easy except for the bathroom situation. Since we do not have key cards, we were issued old fashioned metal keys.
What possible reason could there be to have security locks on the bathrooms? The only scenario I can come up with is that they actually track who goes into the bathroom and when. There is no security pass to get out of the bathroom, but they sure do know when and how often you are in there! That is just wrong in my mind on so many levels!
Today my money making idea is this: I stand outside of the bathrooms with my assigned key and charge a fee to unlock the bathroom door. C’mon now - $5 just so Big Brother doesn’t know you have the runs or that you were retaining water or just need to walk away into a quieter environment! How much could my key possibly be worth in a day?
Most of the work for this audit can be done in our local office, but for a few days, we will need to be on site at the client’s location pulling information.
Every company I’ve been to has its own quirks. I’ve been on the 10th floor with a window overlooking the lake and I’ve been locked in a room with three other women that don’t talk to each other and I’ve been relegated to a basement with the rats and spiders. You can see why I love this job, right?
Anyway, I was talking about quirks. This company has its own share of them. I went to the supervisor to ask a question Wednesday afternoon and I walked into her cubicle while she was “at lunch”. What was she doing at lunch? Playing Pogo! You just have to love anyone that plays Pogo. Heaven knows I spend my share of time playing on Pogo myself.
That wasn’t the quirk though, just an observation.
The quirk is their bathrooms.
You need your key card to get into the bathroom here! Since we are not going to be on site long, they have not issued us any security passes. We check in with the receptionist when we get here and she lets us in. Pretty easy except for the bathroom situation. Since we do not have key cards, we were issued old fashioned metal keys.
What possible reason could there be to have security locks on the bathrooms? The only scenario I can come up with is that they actually track who goes into the bathroom and when. There is no security pass to get out of the bathroom, but they sure do know when and how often you are in there! That is just wrong in my mind on so many levels!
Today my money making idea is this: I stand outside of the bathrooms with my assigned key and charge a fee to unlock the bathroom door. C’mon now - $5 just so Big Brother doesn’t know you have the runs or that you were retaining water or just need to walk away into a quieter environment! How much could my key possibly be worth in a day?
Monday, May 19, 2008
Weekend Update
In my humble opinion, I think we had a really great weekend.
Brother Jim drove in from Erie and we had a wonderful visit! This time he didn’t pop in and pop out a few hours later. We actually got to enjoy his company for most of the weekend.
In honor of this occasion, I made a big batch of orange spaghetti (anyone in our family knows that dinner!). We were having a little get together on Saturday, so we went out for a bit after dinner just to pick up some supplies. Other than that, I guess it was a quiet night.
Saturday, we took Jim to one of our local restaurants for breakfast. Chello’s isn’t going to be a five star restaurant in anyone’s books, but the owner, Jorge, is really nice and friendly and always comes out of the kitchen when he has time to say hello to everyone. Nice guy, good cook. And, one of the waitresses is really funny. We always ask for her section when we go in to eat and she is never disappointing. We get our food, a few laughs and even some local gossip. Can’t beat that.
We did get a little sightseeing in as we took Jim to the Black River Landing after breakfast. It’s just above where the Black River empties into Lake Erie. More times than not when we’ve been there, we get to see the road that spans the Black River go up to let any tall ships in. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it thrills the heck out of me! It could be a big freighter coming in or going out or it could be a tall sail boat. I just love watching the traffic up and down the river. Unfortunately, when we stopped by Saturday, all was quiet. No bells and whistles going off that something was coming up the river.
I was making a batch of Hungarian Goulash for our get together that evening. I had everything I needed but the meat. We have a local grocery store in our neighborhood called Fligners Market. While I think some of their prices on items are high, you absolutely can’t find better than their meat counter in any grocery store chain around. They move so much meat, that there is no fancy packaging behind the counter. There are bins and bins of meat that they sell in such quantity, everything is always fresh. You will wait in line to buy anything, so be prepared. No matter how long you will wait, it will be worth every minute.
Since I am not a great cook, and have a limited focus when it comes to cooking, I’m not afraid to ask for help. The woman that waited on us told me she had worked there for over 25 years. If she doesn’t know about meat, no one does! I explained to her what I was cooking and asked for her suggestion on what meat to buy. I thought I was looking for a nice piece of chuck or round, whatever I could get cheaper. After all, this dish simmers for three hours, so that’s a lot of time to make even a bad piece of meat taste good.
She suggested this big roast that was really close in weight to how much I wanted. I told her that might be ok, but that was going to be hard to cut up into cubes. She offered to cube it for me. What? Where do you get this kind of service? She added that at no extra charge, she would cut it up into cubes for me, bag it up and I’d be ready to go. She verified that I was making something similar to a beef stew and that stew chunks should work. I was thrilled! Less cutting for me! And, the roast she picked out was $.20 cheaper a pound than what I would have ordered on my own. Bonus!
As another added bonus about Fligners, it’s one of the last places that the bagboys will take your groceries out to your car for you. Some days, that does come in handy. Nice piece of personal service.
After the store, Jim and Ron worked on Jim’s computer (sometimes I think Jim comes to see Ron more than he comes to see me!) while I worked on getting dinner going. We had the Hungarian Goulash over Slovak halushki (similar to spaetzel) and I made a nice big mixed salad on a bed of baby spinach. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer dinner. To top this off, I even made raspberry margaritas! I’m telling you, I was the hostess with the mostest, as someone called me!
Everyone left about 10:00. Made me realize we are not the crazy party people anymore. If your party breaks up before midnight on a Saturday night, that can’t be good. Hmm. I think everyone had a good time!
I threw one load into the dishwasher and headed up to bed. Sunday, Ron had to go to fix someone’s computer, so I had some quiet time to recover from the past two days. I lounged around, played Pogo, did some laundry, put the second load into the dishwasher, and just had quiet time.
For dinner, Ron and I were scooping up some leftovers from over the weekend, so no problems in cooking dinner. It really was a great weekend. It may have been busy, but it was great to spend the weekend at home. As the saying goes, there’s no place like it.
Brother Jim drove in from Erie and we had a wonderful visit! This time he didn’t pop in and pop out a few hours later. We actually got to enjoy his company for most of the weekend.
In honor of this occasion, I made a big batch of orange spaghetti (anyone in our family knows that dinner!). We were having a little get together on Saturday, so we went out for a bit after dinner just to pick up some supplies. Other than that, I guess it was a quiet night.
Saturday, we took Jim to one of our local restaurants for breakfast. Chello’s isn’t going to be a five star restaurant in anyone’s books, but the owner, Jorge, is really nice and friendly and always comes out of the kitchen when he has time to say hello to everyone. Nice guy, good cook. And, one of the waitresses is really funny. We always ask for her section when we go in to eat and she is never disappointing. We get our food, a few laughs and even some local gossip. Can’t beat that.
We did get a little sightseeing in as we took Jim to the Black River Landing after breakfast. It’s just above where the Black River empties into Lake Erie. More times than not when we’ve been there, we get to see the road that spans the Black River go up to let any tall ships in. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it thrills the heck out of me! It could be a big freighter coming in or going out or it could be a tall sail boat. I just love watching the traffic up and down the river. Unfortunately, when we stopped by Saturday, all was quiet. No bells and whistles going off that something was coming up the river.
I was making a batch of Hungarian Goulash for our get together that evening. I had everything I needed but the meat. We have a local grocery store in our neighborhood called Fligners Market. While I think some of their prices on items are high, you absolutely can’t find better than their meat counter in any grocery store chain around. They move so much meat, that there is no fancy packaging behind the counter. There are bins and bins of meat that they sell in such quantity, everything is always fresh. You will wait in line to buy anything, so be prepared. No matter how long you will wait, it will be worth every minute.
Since I am not a great cook, and have a limited focus when it comes to cooking, I’m not afraid to ask for help. The woman that waited on us told me she had worked there for over 25 years. If she doesn’t know about meat, no one does! I explained to her what I was cooking and asked for her suggestion on what meat to buy. I thought I was looking for a nice piece of chuck or round, whatever I could get cheaper. After all, this dish simmers for three hours, so that’s a lot of time to make even a bad piece of meat taste good.
She suggested this big roast that was really close in weight to how much I wanted. I told her that might be ok, but that was going to be hard to cut up into cubes. She offered to cube it for me. What? Where do you get this kind of service? She added that at no extra charge, she would cut it up into cubes for me, bag it up and I’d be ready to go. She verified that I was making something similar to a beef stew and that stew chunks should work. I was thrilled! Less cutting for me! And, the roast she picked out was $.20 cheaper a pound than what I would have ordered on my own. Bonus!
As another added bonus about Fligners, it’s one of the last places that the bagboys will take your groceries out to your car for you. Some days, that does come in handy. Nice piece of personal service.
After the store, Jim and Ron worked on Jim’s computer (sometimes I think Jim comes to see Ron more than he comes to see me!) while I worked on getting dinner going. We had the Hungarian Goulash over Slovak halushki (similar to spaetzel) and I made a nice big mixed salad on a bed of baby spinach. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer dinner. To top this off, I even made raspberry margaritas! I’m telling you, I was the hostess with the mostest, as someone called me!
Everyone left about 10:00. Made me realize we are not the crazy party people anymore. If your party breaks up before midnight on a Saturday night, that can’t be good. Hmm. I think everyone had a good time!
I threw one load into the dishwasher and headed up to bed. Sunday, Ron had to go to fix someone’s computer, so I had some quiet time to recover from the past two days. I lounged around, played Pogo, did some laundry, put the second load into the dishwasher, and just had quiet time.
For dinner, Ron and I were scooping up some leftovers from over the weekend, so no problems in cooking dinner. It really was a great weekend. It may have been busy, but it was great to spend the weekend at home. As the saying goes, there’s no place like it.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Vacation Photos!
Sunday our day was filled with being tourists and family fun.
We started by going to the parents of the bride from the wedding the day before for a housewarming party. We had a nice visit with everyone without everyone rushing around like at the wedding. Aside from two dogs in the house which had me cowering in a corner, the visit was wonderful!
After the housewarming, Ron and I headed to Coon Rapids Dam. We got to walk over the dam, right across the Mississippi River! Here is a serene picture looking upstream at the Mississippi River:
I really can't tell you how beautiful this spot was. It has quickly become one of my favorite spots to see. Here is the actual dam:
And, then of course, the picture downstream after all that:
I truly couldn't capture the magnificence of this site in these pictures. It was just awe inspiring to see the power of the water rushing through the dam. Here's a picture of Ron! Hey, I was the photographer which means I'm allowed to take pictures of anything I want to! Hi, honey:
After a great walk all over the dam, we headed to pick up Ron's youngest son Vince, for some family time. We started with a late lunch then on to Taylors Falls which is half in Minnesota and half in Wisconsin. I wish I would have taken a picture of the sign at Taylors Falls explaining the lava flows and the potholes because this place is really hard to describe. To start with, the gorgeous St. Croix River runs through this park. The park is formed from lava flows from years and years ago. Somehow, the water sitting on the lava has through the years, formed "potholes". These are almost perfectly circular holes in the lava rocks that really are hard to believe are not man made. The largest one there that has been explored is 63' deep and about 20' across. It's absolutely massive. Here are pictures of some of the smaller ones.
We hit the site late in the afternoon so sometimes the light was against me in taking pictures of some of the potholes. These two came out the best.
The fun though was climbing all over the rocks. What the hell do I think I am? A kid? Well, I found out really fast just how much of a grown up I was when Vince was standing on the edge of some rocks and instead of just freaking out on him, I quickly snapped a picture and then climbed down so I wouldn't have to see him perched so precariously on the edge! (I know, I am a wuss.)
This area was again, some of the most gorgeous land around. Here are some pictures of the St. Croix River going up and down stream:
Some of the rock formations here at Taylors Falls also are popular with real rock climbers. In this first one, you can see the girl climbing and at this point she is maybe 20 feet up. You can see her towards the top right of the picture:
We walked away for what I thought was a few minutes, 15 at the most, and when we came back down the trail, the girl was off of the rocks and this guy was taking his turn. Again, he is in the top right corner:
Keep in mind, he is close to the top which I'm guessing is about 80 feet up. It was scaring the crap out of me watching them too! There were a few groups of rock climbers out on that path, practicing their hobby. It takes all kinds, I guess.
We left Taylors Falls and hooked up with Ron's middle son, Derick and his wife Amanda. Here is a nice partial family photo:
Yeah, I'm not the greatest photographer and I was even using a flash.
Ron's oldest son, Alex, had to work. Since he is a server at one of the nicer chain restaurants, Mother's Day was a day he definitely could not take off from work. He was stuck there until closing, so the group of us headed to that restaurant to see him! Since it was late by the time we showed up, we were his last table for the night. The good thing about that is, Alex then had a chance to sit and relax with us a bit after taking care of the last of his customers. It was nice that all of us could be together around the table. Here is a picture of Ron and Alex:
After the late dinner, and after an extremely busy day, Alex begged off of more festivities that night as he did have other plans. So, Ron, Vince, Derick, Amanda and I headed out for fun. What fun you ask? Why midnight bowling of course!
Now, I haven't been bowling since I lived in Texas and even back then I was never that good! Since then I've had back surgery so I was a little apprehensive about this undertaking. But, since none of us were out for blood, heck, none of us were particularly good at bowling, I gave it the ol' heave ho down the lane. I ended up with a 108 and a 95 for my efforts! I don't think that's too bad for someone that doesn't know what they are doing! So as not to be embarrassed alone, Ron's scores were 105 and 95! Yeah, we both sucked! But we had a ball. While we are obviously a lot older than his kids, we were both showing our age when all was said and done. I don't know who was hobbling more out of there.
We almost need a vacation to get over a vacation trying to keep up with the kids!
It was all worth it though. We really did have a great time.
Monday was going home day; always a sad day. All of us met up one more time for lunch at Rose Garden. What a blast! I know I'm definitely going to miss the food there. We finished lunch and still had time before we had to head to the airport for the ride home. We decided just to be able to spend more time together, we all headed back to the Mall of America which is basically right next door to the airport.
We walked, we shopped, we gabbed, we laughed. Then it was time to head out. We all walked out to the parking lot and hugs were passed around.
It was a strange event at the airport. There were two scheduled flights from Minneapolis to Cleveland. Our flight which was scheduled to depart at 4:55 pm and the next flight was scheduled to depart at 6:30 pm.
When we checked in at the airport, they told us our flight was going to be delayed but not to worry, they'd get us home. That did not make me feel the warm fuzzies! When we made our way back to the gate, all it said was our flight was delayed.
Finally, a gate agent came and filled us in on the scoop. Our plane due to depart at 4:55 pm was coming from somewhere on the east coast and had gotten stuck in bad weather. The weather delayed it so much that now it wasn't due in until after the 6:30 flight departed! Since our flight and the 6:30 flight were both light on passengers, they ended up cancelling our original flight and put all of us on the 6:30 flight, which did leave on time. The sad thing is, with two flights now combined, we had only about 20 passengers on a 50 passenger plane. We had a lot of stretching out room! It was definitely a quiet flight back, especially since I slept most of the way home.
It's a good thing Ron and I took yesterday off as a recuperation day since we sure did need it. Like I said, the kids had us running and gunning the whole time and I wouldn't have had it any other way!
Today was back to work. Ugh. Vacation is definitely over.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
It WAS As Good As He Said
We had a nice quiet morning on Saturday.
The wedding started at 2:00 and our hotel was less than a mile from the Church. So, we did a little shopping then decided to have an early lunch.
For as long as I've known Ron, one of his famous sayings is "well, it's good, but it's not as good as Rose Garden". If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times. Really, how good can one restaurant be? I love Chinese food as much as the next person but can this place really be all that?
I was about to be indoctrinated into the nirvana that is Rose Garden. Just to antagonize Ron, I really didn't want to like it. I planned on ending with "it was ok. Not all that, but ok". You have no idea how I hate it when he's right. Which by the way, is all too often!
Rose Garden is small. There might have been 10 tables, maybe 12 tables. After a little reunion with the owners (who are good friends of Ron) we took one of the last empty tables. Keep in mind, this place just opened for the day and it was already almost full. By the time we were done there was a line of people waiting on a table.
Ron told me it was a buffet but I didn't see any buffet tables. They do what they called "buffet" but it's not like a buffet I've been to before. You sit at the table, they bring you your beverage and then one at a time they come out with the bowls of food and they go table to table offering portions. Remember, I didn't want to like it. In the end, I can't tell you which dish I enjoyed more. I can tell you I didn't care for the egg rolls but aside from that, holy crap. Right then and there I told Ron he was right, and trust me, saying those words hurt!
From the steak and onions to the chicken and broccoli to the best sweet and sour pork I ever had. On the side was absolutely the best fried rice and lo mien in the world. This truly was one of the top three restaurants I've ever been to.
After all that, we ended up back at the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It was now raining like heck, but I've heard that's good luck on a wedding day. The wedding went very well with a gorgeous bride and a handsome groom and crying parents and grandparents and lots of smiles and hugs around.
The reception was at a golf course country club. I guess in Minnesota the golf playing days are a lot fewer than in other places. I guess that accounts for the fact that there was a ton of guys playing golf in the rain! Maybe they were just happy it wasn't snow.
The reception was very nice with champagne for everyone. Gotta love that! We met a lot of new people and had a very nice time. By the time that was over, we had definitely had our fill of food for the day. The rest of the evening was spent resting at the hotel.
The adventures for today are still in the works. Here's to day two of our vacation!
The wedding started at 2:00 and our hotel was less than a mile from the Church. So, we did a little shopping then decided to have an early lunch.
For as long as I've known Ron, one of his famous sayings is "well, it's good, but it's not as good as Rose Garden". If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times. Really, how good can one restaurant be? I love Chinese food as much as the next person but can this place really be all that?
I was about to be indoctrinated into the nirvana that is Rose Garden. Just to antagonize Ron, I really didn't want to like it. I planned on ending with "it was ok. Not all that, but ok". You have no idea how I hate it when he's right. Which by the way, is all too often!
Rose Garden is small. There might have been 10 tables, maybe 12 tables. After a little reunion with the owners (who are good friends of Ron) we took one of the last empty tables. Keep in mind, this place just opened for the day and it was already almost full. By the time we were done there was a line of people waiting on a table.
Ron told me it was a buffet but I didn't see any buffet tables. They do what they called "buffet" but it's not like a buffet I've been to before. You sit at the table, they bring you your beverage and then one at a time they come out with the bowls of food and they go table to table offering portions. Remember, I didn't want to like it. In the end, I can't tell you which dish I enjoyed more. I can tell you I didn't care for the egg rolls but aside from that, holy crap. Right then and there I told Ron he was right, and trust me, saying those words hurt!
From the steak and onions to the chicken and broccoli to the best sweet and sour pork I ever had. On the side was absolutely the best fried rice and lo mien in the world. This truly was one of the top three restaurants I've ever been to.
After all that, we ended up back at the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It was now raining like heck, but I've heard that's good luck on a wedding day. The wedding went very well with a gorgeous bride and a handsome groom and crying parents and grandparents and lots of smiles and hugs around.
The reception was at a golf course country club. I guess in Minnesota the golf playing days are a lot fewer than in other places. I guess that accounts for the fact that there was a ton of guys playing golf in the rain! Maybe they were just happy it wasn't snow.
The reception was very nice with champagne for everyone. Gotta love that! We met a lot of new people and had a very nice time. By the time that was over, we had definitely had our fill of food for the day. The rest of the evening was spent resting at the hotel.
The adventures for today are still in the works. Here's to day two of our vacation!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
From Pathetic To VIP
Ron and I are on vacation!
We are now in the cool and breezy vacation wonderland of Minneapolis MN. Yes, Minneapolis MN. You vacation your way, we'll vacation ours! Actually, the daughter of a very good friend of Ron's got married today. We came to town for the wedding and for Ron to get some family time here. Let me tell you, so far it's been a whirlwind!
Friday we flew out of Cleveland on a regional jet that is the kind of plane I always seem to fly. Since I am the one that made the reservations, I got to pick out our seats on the plane. I happen to love the last seat on the plane so that's where we sat. This is however, the very first time I've been in a plane that was this empty.
The plane seats about 50 people and I don't think we had 20 on this flight. While I may love the last seat in the plane, it seemed that no one else liked to sit back that far. We had the entire back of the plane to ourselves. To the flight attendant, we were affectionately called "the trouble makers in zone five"! I love it when I am recognized and accounted for! Well, she was joking, sort of. Yes, we were in zone 5 but aside from her having to walk all the way to the back of the plane to check on us, we were pretty quiet. Then again, I tried to make an agreement with her that if she just stayed in the front of the plane, we'd try to be REAL quiet in the back of the plane! ;-) Yes, she caught my drift and wondered to the back of the plane as often as she could. Oh well, I went to plan B in which I napped all the way over here.
We left the airport in our rental car and headed over to the Mall of America. The biggest damn mall I've ever seen! Aside from the usual mall type stores and kiosks and stuff, this mall has a huge amusement park right smack dab in the middle. This is complete with at least two different roller coasters, plus a Ferris Wheel and a ton of other rides. We did sit for awhile to watch the faces of the riders of one ride. This coaster type ride started by going straight up to the glass ceiling. The ride then went over the crest and came screaming straight down almost to the floor before it went upside down through the loop da loop. All that inside of a mall. Crazy!
We also went to a few stores in the mall. One of the most amazing was Lego Land. This ain't your mama's legos. They sold all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors of legos. They had dinosaurs built from legos, they had people built from legos. The lego pirate ship and bi plane were indescribable! They also had a kit for you to build a scale model of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars! For a mere $499.99 the pieces needed and the instructions were yours with a wish good luck! Regardless, to see what they've built with legos and to see all of the possibilities and the kits, it was an amazing store.
Ron then called his son, Derick to let him know we made it to town. Derick asked if we had plans for the evening. As we were pretty much playing everything by ear Friday, we said we were free should he have something in mind. Boy, did he have something in mind! For the first time in my life, I can say I actually had connections! I finally knew people! Big time score for us!
Derick happens to be the manager of Acme Comedy Club! This club has been featured on last year's season of Last Comic Standing and will also be featured on this season of the show as well. Since Ron and I are both big fans of comedy, we definitely took Derick up on his offer. Not only did Derick give us free tickets to the show, but we got VIP seats (that means right next to the stage!) and free drinks for the night. Can you believe it? VIP treatment! Too bad our timing wasn't a day sooner since the Comedy Club hosted Robin Williams the night before. While we didn't get to see Robin Williams, we did get to see Greg Warren who still had us rolling in the aisles. It was a great night.
Today was another stellar day. We had a great time at the wedding, but that will be the next blog.
For now, rest and relaxation time. After all, I AM on vacation!
We are now in the cool and breezy vacation wonderland of Minneapolis MN. Yes, Minneapolis MN. You vacation your way, we'll vacation ours! Actually, the daughter of a very good friend of Ron's got married today. We came to town for the wedding and for Ron to get some family time here. Let me tell you, so far it's been a whirlwind!
Friday we flew out of Cleveland on a regional jet that is the kind of plane I always seem to fly. Since I am the one that made the reservations, I got to pick out our seats on the plane. I happen to love the last seat on the plane so that's where we sat. This is however, the very first time I've been in a plane that was this empty.
The plane seats about 50 people and I don't think we had 20 on this flight. While I may love the last seat in the plane, it seemed that no one else liked to sit back that far. We had the entire back of the plane to ourselves. To the flight attendant, we were affectionately called "the trouble makers in zone five"! I love it when I am recognized and accounted for! Well, she was joking, sort of. Yes, we were in zone 5 but aside from her having to walk all the way to the back of the plane to check on us, we were pretty quiet. Then again, I tried to make an agreement with her that if she just stayed in the front of the plane, we'd try to be REAL quiet in the back of the plane! ;-) Yes, she caught my drift and wondered to the back of the plane as often as she could. Oh well, I went to plan B in which I napped all the way over here.
We left the airport in our rental car and headed over to the Mall of America. The biggest damn mall I've ever seen! Aside from the usual mall type stores and kiosks and stuff, this mall has a huge amusement park right smack dab in the middle. This is complete with at least two different roller coasters, plus a Ferris Wheel and a ton of other rides. We did sit for awhile to watch the faces of the riders of one ride. This coaster type ride started by going straight up to the glass ceiling. The ride then went over the crest and came screaming straight down almost to the floor before it went upside down through the loop da loop. All that inside of a mall. Crazy!
We also went to a few stores in the mall. One of the most amazing was Lego Land. This ain't your mama's legos. They sold all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors of legos. They had dinosaurs built from legos, they had people built from legos. The lego pirate ship and bi plane were indescribable! They also had a kit for you to build a scale model of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars! For a mere $499.99 the pieces needed and the instructions were yours with a wish good luck! Regardless, to see what they've built with legos and to see all of the possibilities and the kits, it was an amazing store.
Ron then called his son, Derick to let him know we made it to town. Derick asked if we had plans for the evening. As we were pretty much playing everything by ear Friday, we said we were free should he have something in mind. Boy, did he have something in mind! For the first time in my life, I can say I actually had connections! I finally knew people! Big time score for us!
Derick happens to be the manager of Acme Comedy Club! This club has been featured on last year's season of Last Comic Standing and will also be featured on this season of the show as well. Since Ron and I are both big fans of comedy, we definitely took Derick up on his offer. Not only did Derick give us free tickets to the show, but we got VIP seats (that means right next to the stage!) and free drinks for the night. Can you believe it? VIP treatment! Too bad our timing wasn't a day sooner since the Comedy Club hosted Robin Williams the night before. While we didn't get to see Robin Williams, we did get to see Greg Warren who still had us rolling in the aisles. It was a great night.
Today was another stellar day. We had a great time at the wedding, but that will be the next blog.
For now, rest and relaxation time. After all, I AM on vacation!
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
I'm Not Fighting It Any Longer - I AM Pathetic!
I was driving home from work yesterday when I realized that somehow I had picked up a hitchhiker.
Right there on my windshield was a huge BUG! I don't mean that he went splat on my windshield, but rather he was actually sitting there hitching a ride. Or else he was eyeing me through the windshield wondering how much fun I'd be to terrorize or to bite. I started driving like I was in a Ford or something when I saw him! Not that I'm an expert on bugs, but I don't think I've ever seen something like this before. His body was about 1-1/2" long. At first I thought it was just a bee because I saw the striped body. But his hind legs looked like grasshopper legs. And his antenna were at least as long as his body! Weird looking thing. Scary too.
Of course I called Ron. (I did use my hands free blue tooth via my Garmin to do it though!) I must have been in a slight panic since he did have to ask me to repeat myself. I told him there is a huge freakin' bug on my windshield and it's lookin' at me! When he stopped laughing, he suggested perhaps my windshield wipers would do the trick. Ok, yeah, I never thought of that. But then again, the more I did think about it all I could see was smearing it all across my windshield. Besides, it is in the outdoors where in belongs. If he was in my house, all bets are off. But outdoors, I can't just kill him for being on the outside of my car.
I told Ron that I had planned on stopping at the store on my way home, but now I'm not sure if I can get out of my car with that thing looking at me. The good man that he is, he suggested I pull into the driveway at home, he'll get the bug off of my windshield and then I could pull right back out again and go to the store! Now THAT sounded like a plan!
Then I thought that sounded kinda pathetic. Yeah, Ron did have to save me from a spider last night, but hey! That was in the kitchen and he was right over my sink. How's a girl supposed to do dishes with a monster right in front of her? But I digress. I'm talking about the bug on the windshield.
I didn't want to be so pathetic that I had to go home for bug control on my windshield. I told Ron that hopefully in the three miles or so I had to go, maybe the bug would leave of his own volition. Then I could get out of the car safe and sound at the store. Yes, I was going to be an adult and be brave and head right to the store.
Big mistake.
If you hear of any news reports of a woman having a seizure at Walgreens or just acting crazy, that was me.
The bug was still on my windshield when I pulled into the parking lot. I sat there and stared at him while he stared right back. Then I got the bright idea that he was content on my windshield, he's been there at least for the last five miles, so perhaps he'll just remain content on there while I go to the store. Not.
As soon as I got out of my car and shut the door, he comes after me. He's flying/jumping around my head while I'm doing my best to duck, cover and slap the crap out of him. My arms were flaying overhead, my legs were kicking and I'm not sure, but I think there might have been a scream as well. The store manager happened to be outside having a smoke and was nice enough to watch the whole thing. From a distance. Go figure.
The bug left me no worse for the wear I guess. I lost some dignity, and burned off quite a few calories I'm sure with that bug fighting exhibition. I then straightened my blouse, and headed into the store like a pseudo-professional woman and did my shopping. I paid no attention to the fact that the store manager continued to follow me through the store, again from a distance.
But, from now on, I'm going to accept that I am pathetic and go home and make Ron take care of my bugs! Otherwise I may no longer be welcome at Walgreens!
Right there on my windshield was a huge BUG! I don't mean that he went splat on my windshield, but rather he was actually sitting there hitching a ride. Or else he was eyeing me through the windshield wondering how much fun I'd be to terrorize or to bite. I started driving like I was in a Ford or something when I saw him! Not that I'm an expert on bugs, but I don't think I've ever seen something like this before. His body was about 1-1/2" long. At first I thought it was just a bee because I saw the striped body. But his hind legs looked like grasshopper legs. And his antenna were at least as long as his body! Weird looking thing. Scary too.
Of course I called Ron. (I did use my hands free blue tooth via my Garmin to do it though!) I must have been in a slight panic since he did have to ask me to repeat myself. I told him there is a huge freakin' bug on my windshield and it's lookin' at me! When he stopped laughing, he suggested perhaps my windshield wipers would do the trick. Ok, yeah, I never thought of that. But then again, the more I did think about it all I could see was smearing it all across my windshield. Besides, it is in the outdoors where in belongs. If he was in my house, all bets are off. But outdoors, I can't just kill him for being on the outside of my car.
I told Ron that I had planned on stopping at the store on my way home, but now I'm not sure if I can get out of my car with that thing looking at me. The good man that he is, he suggested I pull into the driveway at home, he'll get the bug off of my windshield and then I could pull right back out again and go to the store! Now THAT sounded like a plan!
Then I thought that sounded kinda pathetic. Yeah, Ron did have to save me from a spider last night, but hey! That was in the kitchen and he was right over my sink. How's a girl supposed to do dishes with a monster right in front of her? But I digress. I'm talking about the bug on the windshield.
I didn't want to be so pathetic that I had to go home for bug control on my windshield. I told Ron that hopefully in the three miles or so I had to go, maybe the bug would leave of his own volition. Then I could get out of the car safe and sound at the store. Yes, I was going to be an adult and be brave and head right to the store.
Big mistake.
If you hear of any news reports of a woman having a seizure at Walgreens or just acting crazy, that was me.
The bug was still on my windshield when I pulled into the parking lot. I sat there and stared at him while he stared right back. Then I got the bright idea that he was content on my windshield, he's been there at least for the last five miles, so perhaps he'll just remain content on there while I go to the store. Not.
As soon as I got out of my car and shut the door, he comes after me. He's flying/jumping around my head while I'm doing my best to duck, cover and slap the crap out of him. My arms were flaying overhead, my legs were kicking and I'm not sure, but I think there might have been a scream as well. The store manager happened to be outside having a smoke and was nice enough to watch the whole thing. From a distance. Go figure.
The bug left me no worse for the wear I guess. I lost some dignity, and burned off quite a few calories I'm sure with that bug fighting exhibition. I then straightened my blouse, and headed into the store like a pseudo-professional woman and did my shopping. I paid no attention to the fact that the store manager continued to follow me through the store, again from a distance.
But, from now on, I'm going to accept that I am pathetic and go home and make Ron take care of my bugs! Otherwise I may no longer be welcome at Walgreens!
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