Life is a series of curves...

Curveballs, that is! (Somehow I hear Foghorn Leghorn's voice saying that...)






Tuesday. Noon. A hour or so later than I had planned on, but still happy to be at the lake, launching the boat for the first time in 10 or 11 years. Temp is in the mid 60's, the sun is in and out, the wind is light and south. It's an hour into the peak "fishing time" for the month (luck in picking a day off, not planned)!

When I had "her" running in the driveway the 1982 Mercury 50 horse had started easily enough after her long layoff. The rubber in the 25 year old fuel line was very dried out though, cracked and weeping from the fittings at both ends. While I was shopping in one of the big outdoors stores, I picked up a replacement with the ends already on so I didn't have to worry about leaks. I cut the ends off the original in case I needed them, routed the new line, and thought well done.

Back to the story. Hook up the new fuel line; vent the 6 gallon can. Unhitch the tie downs on the boat; loosen the winch a turn. Back her down the ramp; climb in. Tilt the motor down into the water; squeeze the primer bulb in the new gas line. It only squeezes once and stays collapsed..."hmmmm...that's odd, the old one didn't work that way..."

Hit the key, the motor starts. The boat has been on the trailer for so long she's "stuck" to the bunks and doesn't want to back off. Have Dottie back the trailer in further...the truck tires are to the water edge and the trailer is submerged, and she floats off and backs away! Hurray!

About 30 feet from the ramp, as Dottie pulls the truck and trailer up to the parking lot, the motor sputters and dies. Not unusual when they're cold and "on the choke"...squeeze the primer bulb again and she lights right off. Idle to the dock to pick Dottie up, back away, get another 20 feet or so...sputter and die.

Hmmmmm!

Squeeze the bulb again, lights right off, makes another 30 feet.

Switch gas cans, open the vent on the 2nd can, squeeze the bulb one time and it stays collapsed like it did on the other can...30 feet and die. She's sucking the fuel line dry and running out of gas...

I really want to fish...I think about just pulling out of the boathouse cove on the electric trolling motor, but that's a ways and if the wind comes up that could make it really hard to get back, so I do the right thing...I go back to the dock on the trolling motor.

Get the truck and trailer, back them down the ramp. Squeeze the bulb, light the Mercury (the trolling motor is on the front so you aren't going to trailer it with that one down). Get almost to the trailer and it dies...while I pump the primer bulb to relight it the wind takes me past the trailer. Light it and make a circle and get it halfway on the trailer and we're out of gas again. Step over the bow and hook up the winch strap and winch it up...usually she goes all the way up on the outboard...a lot of weight to be cranking up by hand!

Pull her up in the parking lot, fasten all the tie downs and let the drain plugs out. Take a few pictures while I decide whether to drive straight to the retailer I bought the line from (10 minutes away) and have a fit (though I don't have my receipt with me or the packaging) or go home and find a Mercury dealer...

I opt for home. 20 minutes later I'm on the phone with a Mercury dealer, "yes he has a line that works for those years, if I have my original ends to thread onto it." 20 minutes there, while I'm putting my ends on on his counter he tells me how to check the water pump I haven't changed (they are rubber bladed and it's 25 years old as well) without tearing the motor down, and that he will sell me the pump for $26 if I need it (half the online price I found) or change it for $200 parts and labor.

By now it's almost 3, home is between the dealer and the lake, so back by the house one more time to grab sandwiches and throw the other line in the garage...

Finally! 2nd launch as "All Things Considered" is coming on the radio...4PM...

Vent the can, squeeze the primer bulb and it comes right back up, squeeze it twice more (just like the original) and there is a drip from the carbueretors! Hurray!

Launch, pick up Dottie, idle out of the boathouse cove, and run down the main lake a bit, then turn and go back towards the dam to warm the engine like the dealer told me to, then idle her down and see if the stream from the water pump stays steady and it does! Thank you Mr. Dealer! One less thing to worry about for a while!!!

The old lake has changed some since I fished it last, moss growing places it didn't used to, etc.. Tie something on for Dottie, tie something on for me...work our way across the face of the dam with the geese who are nesting on it yelling at us the whole time (they didn't used to live there, either). I get a bite, and since I'm playing with one of those new "super" no stretch lines, I rip it right out of the fish's mouth. Two casts later same thing...

By this time there are already lots of bank fisherman scattered around the edges of the lake, and as people get off work there are lots of boats starting to show up as well. The kind ones swing in behind you to fish where you've already been; the others cut you off in the direction you were headed. That's why we were supposed to be here at noon.

Still, we hang out 'til around 7 and then figuring that by the time we get back to the ramp and get the boat on the trailer it will be almost dark, we head back.

As we run down the lake trying not to "wake" anyone who is fishing, my cell phone rings...never ever thought I'd have a telephone in a boat the last time I was fishing! Life is amazing sometimes!

Still, though it didn't go as planned, it felt pretty damn good!

:o)

The family party for both my sons birthdays (John's 28th was April 16, Bill's 29th is April 30, so we always split the difference on Dottie's off weekend) is this weekend. Some of you might remember photos from last year. Anyway, I'm not going to be around much until Monday. May the Friday be wonderful and the weekend kind to all of you!

alan

Photo Sunday on Monday again...

but a week late...sorry!

When we had our Easter party at John's last week it was decided he wanted his birthday dinner this last Saturday, so I lost most of my week in a mad dash of spring cleaning. I finally uploaded the Easter photos on Thursday; we shopped on Friday while Dottie was off. After I left for work Friday evening, John called and added some things to the menu, so instead of having a leisurely Saturday to cook, I ended up with 4 more hours of shopping.

Dinner went well, with more than we ate left over for them to take home for yesterday. Sunday I slept in 'til noon, and was sitting here with a latte and getting ready to write a post when the phone rang: it was Laura asking if Bill was here yet...he was coming to hang out for the afternoon and evening with us. That being a big hint to go get some clothes on, I did and then went and mowed and never made it back here again 'til now.

Noel tried posing the kids on their front steps to get a traditional Easter photo, and finally did, but since it was "almost warm" outside and sunny for the first time in days, they had other things on their minds!









The Easter egg hunt went on a bit longer than planned as one egg refused to be found. Talia got a bit bored and decided other things were more fun, good clothes or not!



Uncle Bill was busy helping Caleb:



I didn't realize until I was trying to upload things and turn them all the right way I had over 400 frames between the two cameras...lol!

Tomorrow Dottie is off, I have a vacation day, and it's supposed to be partly cloudy, 68 degrees with the wind out of the south at 5-10 mph. So if everything goes according to plan, finally, we'll be...

Gone Fishin'!

alan

Weather or not...

Though I don't mind not sailing into the 90's like we do some years, these last few days of 20's is really wreaking havoc. Farmers are adding up the losses to their crops, some at over 50%. After two days of covering the tulips, we cut them and brought them in. The tulip tree I have written about before seems to have really borne the brunt of this.

It had leafed out starting about the same time the flowers bloomed, and it's leaves were about half grown when the first freeze came. After the second night they wilted; after the 3rd night they've turned brownish and I'm finding some on the ground. If it wasn't pouring I'd slip out and take a photo...I don't know whether it will recover or not.

I know my fate is not tied to it, but after 51 years I'd hate to lose it! Something about my grandfather bringing it and he and my Dad planting it the spring after my arrival makes it very sentimental to me.

Easter went well; when I upload memory cards I'll see what I can put together of the egg hunt from Sunday.

Hope you all had lovely weekends and that the work week is kind!

alan

Everything I've learned...

in my 51 years (along with everything I haven't) wrapped up in 7 minutes!

A friend in Argentina sent me this; it would be an awesome piece just written, let alone spoken with the video added! (Make sure to watch at least until the music starts...)

Happy Easter to all of you; may the Bunny be kind!

alan

Harbingers of Spring

Lori mentioned all the rain we had last week; on Friday, between the pre-April showers and the warmth, I found these when I woke up:




Saturday when I got home from running my errands, Dottie had beaten me home (I slept later than I should have, but it was the weekend!) and I called her outside to see another visitor:



I grabbed the little camera and after I shot this one, it was like this beautiful creature had decided it was time for her close-up:




The tulips always go by too quickly; this time it might be a blessing as they say we're going back down into the 20's later in the week. I hope that butterfly finds somewhere much warmer to hang out by then!

alan

Photo Sunday on Monday...

Busy weekend; the boat didn't get wet, but only because yesterday saw 30 mile an hour winds and somehow the idea of whitecaps didn't enthuse me! It's to the point now where we can hook it up and go, and after 11 years or so, that's something!

A week ago on Sunday afternoon while Dottie was at work, I met John and Noel at our county lake's "children's pond" so the kids could bank fish a bit.

I rigged a "bobber rig" for trout, but no one had the patience for bobber watching, they wanted to "cast and crank" so this is Dillon watching me rig a "Beetle spin" for him...



Caleb wouldn't give up his litte "catch-em kit" to let me tie a lure on for him; it may have been safer that way!



Talia may turn out to be the most intent of the three grandkids...




Though it was only in the 50's and the wind was fairly strong, everyone seemed to enjoy the outing!



Which is about as good as it gets, really, in this life!

alan

TGIF!

After playing hookey on Tuesday, when I went back to work one of the girls I stock for asked me if I was "one of the felons". I asked what she meant and she said that the company made anyone who was a convicted felon take Tuesday off (with pay) because they couldn't be in the building when Bush was! I told her no, I had a vacation day; I'm not sure she believed me...

Yet I wonder, how many convicted felons are among the appointees in the White House?

The place still smells of sulfur...

Finally though, it's Friday; Dottie is off this weekend, and if the weather cooperates I'll be shaking down the boat tomorrow afternoon or Sunday. We are in a cycle of daily thunderstorms right now (so far no hail or tornadoes), and Sunday they are predicting wind along with the rain, so we'll see how it all works out! I have about half of the reels cleaned, oiled and respooled with fresh line; by the time the weekend is over the rest will be done.

It's been a race; the grass is greener and getting close to needing mowed, and I've been trying to get the boat to the point I can "get it wet" before I have to mow for the first time. Silly, I know, but it's something that never happened even back in the "good old days".

Last Sunday I got the grandkids out to bank fish at the children's pond at our county lake. Before I had the first rod baited the 3 year old was chunking rocks; the wind was up and it was cool that afternoon, mid 50's, so I knew they wouldn't last long. We stayed about an hour and half, and they didn't catch anything, but they did have good time. One of the highlights was a Canadian goose who seemed to think that 3 year old Caleb was a rival for his two "lady friends"; everytime the boy moved the gander raised to his full height, glared and "talked" to him. Had we left him alone, I'm not sure he might not have tried to "herd" him away from his harem!

I haven't uploaded the memory card from the little camera yet, but if there is anything good I'll get them posted Sunday or Monday!

May your weekends be wonderful!

alan

Did you vote for Karl Rove?

Because I know for sure I didn't!

If this man gets to make decisions that result in illegal activities, yet we didn't elect him, he can't be subpoenaed or forced to testify under oath, how exactly is he supposed to be held accountable?

I'm sorry I left my last post up for so long. For the first few days every time I came back and read it I got upset all over again. Then when I had finally calmed a bit, I found out "W" was coming to my workplace to take credit for something he had nothing to do with...

It didn't get much play on CNN, I don't know about elsewhere, but if any of you noticed King George visiting auto plants yesterday to tout "his energy program", the Saturn plant he spent 20 minutes in was mine. Walk in, look at a car, and leave...

He spent longer at Ford's Claycomo plant because that was where he made his speech at. He was home for dinner. I wonder how much jet fuel he burned in his 747?

I'm glad I had a vacation day already approved before this was known!

One of my co-workers was working at Shreveport's truck plant several years ago when Bill Clinton came for a visit. From what I was told, he spent 6 hours there, splitting both shifts and actually walking the line and talking to people while they worked.

I never thought I would live to see such hypocrisy in action!

alan

Disgust...

is getting the better of me. I'm so tired of people rationalizing their prejudice and discrimination!

I read an article yesterday in which a noted Baptist minister said that if there was a way to genetically modify a fetus to make sure that it was heterosexual that his church would support it enthusiastically. Not even considering that his statement means his acceptance that genetics and not choice are at play here, how would he feel if the word Catholic or (your choice) were substituted for "heterosexual"?

In medieval times people were told that only the clergy needed to be able to read because the populace wasn't smart enough to interpret scripture on their own.

In the 1700's Americans were told that only male landowners were capable of determining who the leadership of our nation should be. They were also told that slavery was a good thing, that it helped civilize savages and make them productive members of society, and that scripture supported those facts!

When railroads were beginning men said that if a woman traveled more than 15 miles per hour she would die because her heart couldn't handle the stress!

Scripture was used in the arguments against giving women the right to vote throughout the world; women should be subservient; men are the decision makers...

People look back on all of these now in dismay and disgust that their ancestors could actually believe all of these things. Yet after the "Chairman of the Joint Chiefs" voiced his views on morality the other day, I heard a "viewer comment" on CNN in which a woman said "I've been told me whole life that homosexuality was wrong, and a sin. It's nice to have someone stand up and say it..."! Does that mean that she's ready to give up her right to vote, to travel, or to read?

People use their upbringing and their religion to support their views of things rather than think about what they truly mean. There are others far more qualified than I to determine whether it's a need to feel superior, or a need for control and power, or just pure cruelty!

People speak of the "founding Fathers" and what they felt and wanted. They mean of course, the Pilgrims (who weren't the first). They say the country was founded as a Christian nation.

The country was founded by people who were not being allowed to worship in the manner they wanted to. How dare anyone try to say a mosque shouldn't be here, or a synagogue? How dare anyone say that I have to attend church, or that should I choose to worship Bast or Brigit or Buddha I am less than they are?

The America I thought I grew up in was one that saw discrimination for what it is, and was dedicated to eradicating it in all it's forms!

The America I thought I lived in was one where you were allowed to determine how you live and I was allowed to determine how I live! Beyond that we would come together for the greater good, be it building schools or roads or libraries, and to defend ourselves from those who wish to enforce their wills upon us! (That would include lobbyists and shareholders, btw!)

Pardon the rant, friends...I've spent months trying to look beyond "the fool on the hill" and the myriad of ills that his "crew" have released on us! I've spent months trying to remain positive in the face of all the negativity that surrounds us like the dark of a moonless night!


That someone can die for this country, yet not be allowed to love and marry the person he or she wants to; that they can die for this country and yet be prosecuted for making love to the consenting adult of their choice ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTS ME!!!!

alan

The whirl...

The weekend was a blur...there are usually too many things and too little time, but this time it just didn't slow!

The grandkids and casting practice went well Saturday morning. We also weighed them and tried on life jackets; we had two from my sons when they were small, nothing fancy, just bright orange Coast Guard approved flotation. Caleb was a bit small for the weight rating and since they didn't have the under the crotch straps, we went to Cabela's partly for one of those, and partly for the things on my list that Dottie didn't know about (I've only done that a few times in 30 years). Of course, you can't buy one pretty new vest for the youngest, so the older two got to pick one as well. We couldn't find one that fit Dottie comfortably there; they were more like a straight jacket than something you'd want to wear.

My $150 trip was over $300 when we left...there's an old adage about a boat being a hole in the lake to pour money into...sometimes it feels that way, and that's a lot of why mine stayed dry for over 10 years!

I wanted to take them bank fishing at the freshly stocked kiddie pond at the county lake that afternoon, but their parents said they'd like to be there for that, so we went home for lunch and some more casting, this time not only with their little Shakespeare "Catch-Em" rigs (Spider-Man, Barbie and Superman) but one of the 10 foot panfish rigs I bought with an under the rod trigger spincast reel as well. The older two did well; at 3, Caleb isn't quite ready for that one yet.

That evening brought a trip to Krispy Kreme to get doughnuts for breakfast, dinner and then bedtime as they were supposed to get up for church the next morning. Sadly, some of the computer system John is responible for didn't like the time-change, so he was programming all night and part of the morning and they decided to get a few hours sleep before my nephew's birthday party in Lawrence Sunday afternoon.

That meant our trip to the box stores and Best Buy, planned for after the kids left turned into one trying to get it all done with them. By taking two to the car while the other person "checked out" we managed and ended up with time to hit the new "Bass Pro" store in that area and get Dottie a vest that actually fit. Wal-Mart on the way home, Dottie fed the kids while I unpacked everything, then their Mom and Dad picked them up to go to Jordan's party while we went and picked up Mom at the nursing home and took her.

My sister has been playing on Ancestry.com and I had a copy of a typewritten family history done in the early 80's by one of my great-uncle's kids for his 93rd birthday.
I took it so she could copy it and she was ecstatic to skim some of the stories in it as well as have the data. Dinner, presents, a game of Scrabble and it was almost 8 and time to head for home. By the time we returned Mom and settled her in and got home ourselves it was 10. Then I got to start the weekend's laundry...

Dottie showered and we watched "Battlestar", by then it was midnight and though she wanted to stay up another hour, I talked her into going to bed as neither of us had gotten enough sleep through the weekend. I had planned on sorting tackle and being in bed by 2 myself; by the time I got to a stopping point it was 5am!

Now I have more laundry running, trash to gather because tomorrow is our trash pick-up, tackle boxes to return to the boat and work to get ready for. I'll be blog hopping a bit when I come home tonight and tomorrow and trying to keep my hours more towards the early side (trying to get up around 11 instead of noon like today) because that way it's not such a shock on the weekend, lol!

Dottie's off on Friday, and though I've got a wicked case of fishing fever going, there's an RV show she'd like to go to, so that will probably be my before work activity that day.

May the week be kind to you all!

alan

It's Friday...

O.K., it's 2:30AM and I should be heading to bed, but it's the end of the work week and I'm ready...I've had enough...! If only I didn't have to get up and go to have it be over with!

3 grandkids spending the night tonight and tomorrow. Saturday will find Grandpa in the backyard holding casting practice (better in the driveway than the boat) and letting them climb around in the boat one at a time to let them get used to the idea-and teach them to stay away from the edges! When they tire of that Grandma has some seeds she wants to have them help start in planters for later in the spring, and I will start cleaning and rebuilding reels.

Jordan's birthday party is on Sunday, so we'll be springing Mom from the nursing home and taking her to my sister's for the afternoon.

Hopefully you will all forgive me if I'm not around much 'til next week!

Meanwhile, I keep thinking of an old "friend" who left us a couple of years ago: Harold Ensley. He was "The Sportsman's Friend" and had the first "fishing show" I ever saw. Harold became so well known that he went national. In one episode he took Milburn Stone (Doc from "Gunsmoke") fishing, which led to him appearing on "Gunsmoke" as one of "Festus" cousins. As a boy watching him, I never would have dreamed he would warrant a piece on NPR when his time here was done! Something about 48 seasons of broadcasts, and inventing a genre does that I guess...

He came and spoke at our high school when I was a junior, of growing up and his Mom teaching him to fish; of getting in trouble for coming home with his catch in his pockets and forgetting to take them out when he was 5 or 6...

He was injured in a plane crash in Costa Rica several years ago and that ended his television days, but not his fishing. When Dottie was going through therapy for her hip and knee replacements we were in line at the hospital, she was using a walker and I heard a familiar voice call out that he'd like to trade her out of those pretty new tennis balls (on the feet of her walker). It was Harold Ensley, using a walker himself, and while I stood there awestruck and speechless this wonderful man stood there and talked to her for a few minutes about her surgeries and therapy and making sure she did what they told her to so she would be 100% again. She had no idea who he was until I told her after he walked away.

Harold's theme song was (of course) "Gone Fishin". He would close the show by talking about how his fever was starting to rise and get the best of him and when that happened there was only one thing to do. Then he would put up a wooden sign that said "Gone Fishin"...

I'm almost there...and in my mind I'm gone...already!



:o)

alan

'Tis a Lovely Day!

Things seem much brighter today; mainly due to my not being so bright...

Saturday after hanging upside down and pulling old battery trays and charging new batteries, I put the cranking (starting) battery in the boat. After so many years of sitting, the Mercury 50 horse cranked right over (I was afraid it might be locked up, though there was no real reason for it to). It was getting late, and hanging upside down like a bat and dealing with my bifocals is a new experience. When I connected the rest of the wiring, the bilge and livewell pumps all worked, the running lights, the feeds for the sonar units, the horn, everything. The only problem was that the pretty blue LED I had wired in years ago to tell me the bilge pump was on (because sometimes you can't hear it) came on when the switch was turned off! Puzzled, frustrated, tired and aching, I gave up for the night and disconnected everything from the positive terminal, put one of the new trolling motor batteries on the charger and came in the house to eat and spend time with Dottie.

Sunday morning I started a bit slower than I had planned on. I turned on the heat in the garage (it was 30 outside) and then played in the house 'til it thawed a bit. When it did I went out and started connecting one wire at a time to figure out what I had screwed up. I didn't get anywhere at all that way, so I went in the house to get a multi-meter. I had laid my bifocals down somewhere, so took a pair of reading glasses with me. This time when I stuck my head under the deck, I figured out that although I had connected the cables to the outboard correctly, I had reversed the 4 terminal bundles that run everything else! "DC" current being very forgiving, nothing was damaged, thank goodness!

I could hear Fred Sanford's voice (or my Dad) saying "Big Dummy"...

Wiring fixed, it was 50 something outside now, so I swung the two 6 gallon gas cans into the boat behind the batteries and rolled it back out the door. I have a "muff" that you connect to the garden hose and slip over the lower unit to give it cooling water so you can run them if you have to. This was the next test, since the rubber-bladed water pump is 25 years old as well, and I wasn't sure it would still be intact after sitting so long. Turn on the wather, pump the bulb in the gas line to prime the motor, choke it and crank...it took about 5 seconds for it to light off, it ran and died twice, then idled like it was new (no more hours than are on it, it practically is)! After about 15 seconds the water pump started spraying out it's little port just like it should; all seems fine! If it makes it through the summer I promised it I will replace it next winter, either learning how to do it myself or paying a Mercury shop to do it...the pump is $60, there are 4 or 5 different manuals in the $30-50 range; I am sure in the shop it would be a $200 job at least. I looked at a new 50 horse Merc at Bass Pro the other night, they are about $3500!

So today, though I'm going back to work, the world is a brighter place! I'm going out now to vacuum all of the dust and debris from the carpet and rewire the trailer connector to hitch to the new truck. After that it's rebuilding reels and respooling them and picking up licenses and permits for us, the vehicles and the boat.

Summer is beginning to look awfully good this year!

:o)

alan

Sunday afternoon...

and I'm in from the garage for a cup of cofee and to thaw a bit. I've been lying upside down under the rear deck of the boat trying to sort out wiring, and I'm beginning to feel like a bat!

The other day it was 70 and I was washing the boat and rearranging the garage; that night we had tornadoes just south of here; the next day it went to freezing and yesterday morning we had snow.

Back to work tomorrow after my week off; it doesn't feel like I've accomplished nearly as much as I should have...somehow things never go smoothly as you hope!

Hope the weekend is being kind to everyone!

alan

6 movies, 26 hours...

My nephew Jordan came to spend the weekend for the first time since he started working last summer. We made a movie weekend of it, starting Saturday morning with me getting up on 5 hours sleep for breakfast and then an early show of "Letters from Iwo Jima". He and my sister had just seen "Flags of Our Fathers" earlier in the week, via "Netflix", and so with it fresh in his mind he wanted to see it as did we. I haven't seen "The Departed", but I think Clint was robbed!

We went back home for a few minutes after that for lunch and to let Angel outside, figuring out in the meantime he had lost his wallet in the movie with his freshly cashed paycheck in it. Calling the theatre, they didn't find it, so we went back and hung around 'til the next show got out; he got it back, money intact! "Ghost Rider" was next on the agenda; I was already holding our seats while he and Dottie rescued his wallet. Dottie is a big Nicolas Cage fan, and we both like Sam Elliot in anything; it was a good movie. I'm looking forward to the extra stuff on a DVD down the road...

"Wild Hogs" was previewed here last weekend, and that was the 3rd movie for the day. The funniest thing I've seen in ages, from beginning to end! If you are lucky you might get to stop laughing long enough to catch your breath before you can't help but start again...

We went home and I had rented one Jordan wanted to see, "Proof" with Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow, and another that we had seen in the "arthouse" "Keeping Mum" with Maggie Smith and Rowan Atkinson. It's one of those "dark humor" comedies that sneaks up on you and you are enjoying before you realize it. Jordan was quoting some favorite lines from it all day Sunday. Since we had seen it already, I put it in first and cooked a batch of stir-fry chicken for dinner, we ate and then I loaded the dishwasher while it was on. Then we put in "Proof".

I was amazed at Gwyneth's performance. She matched Hopkins at every turn, no mean feat considering his experience in film and on stage. I didn't realize this had been a stage role for her before it was made into a film, and that might account for her astounding performance; all I know is I was impressed by the movie and the acting!

Jordan was pretty well exhausted by that point; he went to bed while we took showers and I watched deleted scenes and making of stuff off the two discs. I went to bed between 3 and 4, then was up at 8:45 again for the next early movie "Bridge to Terebithia". I had read enough to know what to expect, Dottie was a bit disappointed it wasn't more of a "Narnia", but still it was a good movie.

On the way home we stopped to pick up balloons and plate and stuff for a surprise birthday party for my Mom at her nursing home that afternoon. She turned 77 on Monday, and we were expecting cold and rain mixed with snow which makes it fun getting her around in her wheelchair, and knowing we could surprise her by having a party there instead of taking her out, we had been working out times and such through e-mails for a week, finally settling on 3pm Sunday.

Cindy had kept my grandkids over the weekend, so they got to pick out Mom's cake:



I had called on Friday and asked to reserve the table in the lobby for 3 on Sunday, but asked them not to put a name on it. Cindy and the grandkids went down to her room to get her and told her they wanted to go back to the lobby to look at the birds that live there.

The surprise worked wonderfully:



Left to right are my nephew Jordan, Cindy's younger son; my sister Cindy; Mom; Dottie; my younger son John; and my grandaugher Talia.

These were shot with my little Fuji digicam; the quality isn't what the Nikon would be, but we had enough things to take with us I "wimped out" and took the little camera.

Last but not least, since Boo had asked what I look like now:




Sandy pointed out that "only a man would say 20 pounds wasn't that many, lol". I have to confess, I wasn't looking at it in that light, but that having lost 100 that having a bounce the other direction of only 20% wasn't so bad; I know I can walk them off again. The part that was irking me was that 20 pounds was 6" and I had to go dig out some jeans I swore I'd never wear again!

I spent yesterday recovering from the weekend, doing a few little things around the house and trying to track down some Delco Voyager batteries for the bass boat. It seems I can't find them in town anymore, so ended up ordering a set in St. Joseph this morning that will be in tomorrow morning. In my cars I always put in "Die Hard" from Sears because I've had them last 6 or 7 years at a time, but the maintenance free aspect of the Delcos is nice when they are under deck, and some guys I know that fish tournaments say they are getting 5 seasons out of them, so an extra season or two is worth the premium over the lesser ones I can buy here.

Now I'm off to the garage to pull the 25 year old tires off the boat trailer and go replace them. They don't "look" bad, but I don't want to be that guy on the side of the road everyone feels sorry for...

alan

The week is rapidly escaping...

and not a bit too soon!

Tuesday I played hooky, my first vacation day of the New Year. It was Dottie's day off, and after a leisurely morning and breakfast, we went down to look at a power plant lake an hour south of here we used to fish, checking the price on their ramp permits and such. The roads to the marina are all paved now; the free ramp at the north end has been redone as well. It was in the mid 50's, and felt like perhaps spring was trying to get it's foot in the door! Since it's a cooling lake for a generating plant the water is a bit warmer there and there were 8 or 10 tow rigs and trailers in the parking lot, though we only saw one boat on the lake.

On the way home I tried to find another smaller lake a friend, now retired, took me to once about 10 years ago. After some backtracking I found it, but by that point it was getting late in the afternoon and plans for movies slipped away in favor going home and fixing dinner.

I got my unemployment paperwork tonight; there are so many of us that the state gave it to the union to give to us rather than try and process us at their office or send people to the union hall like they used to. I'm beginning to look forward to this next week, it's coming at a good time for getting some things done uninterrupted by work!

And though sweet Boo thinks I should be looking pretty good right now, I've actually slipped the other way a bit. Too many things have been going on for me to get my gym time, and the list has seemed endless at times. I'm up about 20 pounds from where I was last fall, but though it's not that many pounds, the inches are scary!

I'm slowly getting a handle on things though, and these down weeks will help. They've told us we'll have another the end of April; by then the boat and trailer should be ready to go and it will be time to take some grandkids fishing!

Hopefully the week is being kind to you all, and the weekend will bring rest and relaxation for you!

alan

Not the Sunday post I had planned...

but yesterday was spent yet again shoveling snow, then shopping and fixing dinner while Dottie was at work. Caught up with some TV, then after she went to bed I worked on that video game some more, lol!

Today started later than I planned, shopping for some things I couldn't find yesterday, then I came home and downloaded the medical forms I have to fill out for the colonoscopy I've been supposed to have since I turned 50. I'm only a year behind...

Normally I have my physicals in July during my downtime, but last year we were in Vermont. When we came back I put mine off to make Dottie go do hers (she has to have annual exams on her replacement joints as well). By the time we got through those, I had figured out how bad my Chrysler really was; then we bought the truck and since then things have been a bit tight, between paying off the things that weren't covered on hers, paying the regular bills and then throwing in the holidays on top!

I called this last week trying to schedule this for next week when I am laid off, thinking I might want a day or two to recover, but of course the soonest they can get me in is late March or April! I'm betting this won't be the last of my downtime, so hoping if I go for the last week of March I won't have to give up any vacation days!

Daytona is on in the background at this point...scary how few names I recognize in the field anymore!

Somewhere back East I know Tony Stewart's number one fan is having a party!

Off to sort out the 1600 things in my inbox and fill out these (endless) forms!

A great week to you all...

alan

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had intended to get this up last night when I came home...sorry!

NPR's "All Things Considered" said last night that the first recorded Valentine's Day card was sent by a Frenchman from the Tower of London where he was being held, and that it was a note with a drawing of Cupid firing an arrow that pierced a heart. They didn't say what happened to him...

There are so many times a day when I think of the friends I have here- so many times you've each "helped me make it through the night" or day or deal with some obstacle I found in my path through this screwy world! I am grateful to know all of you and to count you among those I care deeply about.

The Happiest of Valentine's Days to all who find there way here!

alan

February 13, 1927

My Dad and his brothers; seated from left to right are Harvey, the oldest, born in 1922; Roudet (Rudy), born in 1930; Bill, born in 1924; and standing behind them is my Dad, Kenneth Ray (Kenny) born this day in 1927.



Dad in the late 50's or early 60's in the living room of this house I still live in. Sometimes the memories here make things easier, then there are days like today...what should have been his 80th birthday.



Dad and the "apple of his eye", my sister Cindy somewhere around 1970. No kidding, she was always his favorite, and never did anything wrong! Uncle Rudy used to tell me that it was always that way; that the oldest never does anything right, and when a parent sees how that works then they do a complete reversal on the next kid...



Dad, Harvey and Rudy are all gone now, in that order.

Most years it doesn't bother me so much, but something about this being his 80th has been weighing heavily on me. The grandsons he'd be so proud of; the great grandkids he never got to see. Though he would be pissed at me for saying it, I'd trade Mom for him in a heartbeat! I know in many ways I would still be a disappointment, and that we would have our disagreements; I know there are times he would infuriate me.

But damn I sure miss him!

alan

I left my last post up...

for some extra days hoping desperately that someone else might go badger the Forest Service a bit. Hopefully they did!

I remember reading somewhere in the last few years that when the "old growth" was being cut in the Northwest last time that it was all being shipped out of the country; we couldn't even afford to buy the timber ourselves! That may have been back when Julia Butterfly Hill was sitting in "Luna" to save her from the axe.

(Sometimes things that happened last week seem a very long time ago; other times things that happened 40 years ago seem like yesterday!)

Found out when I got up today and checked my e-mail that for the first time in 5 years, I'm getting laid off due to lack of car sales. Only a week at this point, but it's a financial reverse I really didn't need right now!

Meanwhile "the Shrub" is out there touting how well the economy is doing under his watch. Housing sales have tanked, all the other car manufacturers have been fighting this (to the point Toyota is offering 0% and rebates on the Prius). Somehow our sales had stayed strong enough I hoped we might avoid the same fate.

The first 15 years I worked I was laid off almost as much as I worked, barely keeping my seniority at times. There are a lot of those I work with who hired in as little as just two weeks after me who did "break time" and now have 1982 or 1983 "seniority dates", meaning they lost 4 or 5 years towards whatever retirement we'll end up with when the time comes. This was always a bad time of year as people are trying to pay off their Christmas debt and waiting for their IRS checks, but these last year we had been very lucky. A lot of my financial woes come from living on plastic back then...

To more pleasant subjects...we're finally above freezing for the 2nd time in a month! Of course, it's raining and at sundown the temperature is going to start dropping until it hits 21 sometime in the middle of the night with the rain freezing then turning into snow. 2-4 inches tonight, continuing tomorrow with a high of 22!

"Lovely weather we're having..."

(from an old Louis Armstrong song)

At least my friends up north get enough you can really do something besides just shovel!

:o)

alan

Way too important to let slide!

A friend put up her first post in a while and in the links she included was one for this. Apparently Bush and friends are after our natural resources again, this time it's the old growth timber in Alaska! If you click on the title above, or here it will take you to a page that explains what they're up to, and how to attempt to stop it.

At some point in my life, like Will Rogers so many years ago, "I gotta see that Alaska". It would be nice if it was still there when I get to!

I spoke to one of the new transferees at work as we were walking in last week and found out she had lived there, and she spoke of catching 30-35 pound salmon 'til her arms ached. I can't imagine!

Please help if you can!

alan

Monday comes again...

much too soon! By the time I finished my movie and laundry last night it was 5AM...

But it's nice to have the movie playing again in my head as I rethink scenes! The music had stuck with me all these years, and some of the scenes had, but it's not like "Casablanca" where I know every frame by heart...yet!

Off to run errands before work. May the week be kind to each of you!

alan

Love and Kieslowski and...

I can't remember how many years ago I fell in love with a movie named "The Double Life of Veronique". I had read something about the director, Krzysztof Kieslowski in a film magazine, and when the movie came on HBO or more likely Cinemax, I made a point of catching it. I was amazed, awed, stunned, and moved to many thoughts. The beauty of Irene Jacob, the gorgeous and haunting score by Zbigniew Preisner (I will acquire some discs of his scores this year, somewhere along the way). I then devoured Kielsowski's "Three Colors" trilogy, along with most of "The Decalogue" and some of his earlier work before the art house that also rented movies moved and that video rental was no more.

I bought "the trilogy" when it became available on DVD a few years ago, but hadn't collected anymore of his works. Off and on this past year I had been looking for my
"off the air" copy of "Veronique" because like re-reading "Wuthering Heights" or "The Passion" or "Orlando", I have felt like I needed to revisit it.

Either through Amazon or through Video ETA I had figured out that not only was it going to be issued on DVD finally, but in a deluxe package with interviews and extras...

So after we had our taxes figured today, since I had a coupon and we had some certificates for Borders, I used them. Sometime this weekend, family permitting, I'll be curling up with I friend I hope is as dear now as it was then!

Apparently in the transition from the "old" to the "new" my e-mail address got dropped off my profile- it is back again. Things seem to be settling down a bit I think. I do miss being able to use my phone to check my blog to read comments on the "awful" nights at work, but for some reason it doesn't like "the new". Good reason to come home sooner I guess...

May your weekends all find you warm and toasty!

(cuz it's awfully cold here right now!)

alan

Waking up to snow...

again, just a bit this time. Enough to make things look nice in a world that isn't always.

Last week NPR's Bagdad correspondent did a long interview with a Sunni man who lived in a Shiite neighborhood. The militia had driven out most of the Sunni and were trying to force him to leave, but he told them he had nowhere to go. Apparently as all of the "new deal" was announced, he had been visited by the militia commander and told that he didn't have to leave, that they weren't going to operate that way anymore, and that they were even going to ask the people who had been forced out to return.

I thought perhaps, finally, there is a glimmer of hope!

Last night they announced that the man had been executed on Monday by militia...

alan

Blue Monday...

Sometimes it all just goes "screwy"!

Laura's birthday dinner turned out, in spite of it being 20 outside with a 35 mph wind while I was grilling. I split the salmon into halves because one was so much thicker than the other and put the thin one on the "cool" side of the grill, but between the marinade dripping from it and the mushrooms, the thin one caught fire once or twice...still edible, but not perfect like I hoped for!

Dottie was exhausted Saturday morning so we slept in, no movie that morning. With Bill and Laura we watched "The Lake House" and "Robin Williams Live". "The Lake House" we had seen in the theatre, and I loved it (sucker for romance, sorry!) as did Dottie after she saw it. The "Robin Williams Live" was a DVD I gave Dottie for her birthday that we hadn't seen, and though parts were a bit embarassing to watch with your kids, it had me in tears from laughing so hard...it was an HBO special from early in George the 3rd's administration. Made me really look forward to my first colon exam...now overdue by about a year...(not due to fear of the exam but fear of co-pay).

Sunday morning her stomach was "queasy" so we didn't dare do an early movie again. I had hoped to make it to "Pan's Labyrinth" at 10 that morning, then "Volver" at 4 in the afternoon. By then she felt better, but John was coming by to borrow a cord for Noel's laptop, and it's seldom we get to sit and talk to him anymore, so we stayed home and watched TV yesterday. Dottie was actually happy not to have left the house all day...

Sometimes when your "blogfriends" are going through a rough time it's very hard to not want to jump on an airplane just to deliver a hug...

alan

Last Weekend...

Talia enjoyed her birthday thoroughly! The actual day was Friday, and Mommy and Daddy took her and her siblings to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant that night, then Saturday she had her party. It was already beginning to snow by the time this was taken, and after she was done opening gifts the boys went outside to play touch football in the snow, followed by some sledding. When they decided they were cold enough, they came in and we had ice cream and cake.

Dottie took a vacation day for Saturday, so she had to work on Sunday. I got up at 7:30 to clear her car and shovel before she had to leave for work. This is the view that greeted me-




I cleared the sidewalk to her car, then her car and warmed it up, then started on the driveway itself. I wasn't through with it yet when she had to leave. I shoveled for 3 hours by the time I had my truck clear, the driveway back to the garage and the sidewalks behind the house. They still hadn't melted all the ice off from the last "go round" and I knew it would never melt with 6 inches of snow on top...

Of course, Angel loves it!




Between what I shoveled, the salt and the sand, the front driveway melted down pretty well. I heard the plow go by early during the Bears game, of course it filled the end of my driveway back in, so I went out at halftime to clear it again before Dottie came home.




When I got out there I found that the ice on the back sidewalk and patio were lifting enough I could clear them, so I spent another hour doing that. I finished just in time to peel potatoes to go with the roast I had in the oven and make gravy.

Dottie is off this weekend, and Bill and Laura are coming for dinner on Saturday. Since it's Laura's "birthday dinner" she wants salmon and portabellas on the grill, so you know where I'll be Saturday afternoon. I'm hoping to do a movie early both days, and after that we'll see what transpires! "Letters from Iwo Jima", "Babel" and "Volver" are on my list; we'll have to see what's on Dottie's!

Hope everyone is doing well!

alan

I had planned...

to put up some photos of the weekend, both Talia's party and our Sunday snowfall. Overtime on Monday (needed it) and a long day yesterday put that off. Dottie was off Friday, so we went and saw "Eragon" then she had yesterday off and I got up early and we went to "A Night at the Museum". No way was I missing out on Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney on the big screen; everything else was just an added treat!

Then I went to work last night and wasn't smart enough to turn my radio off at 8pm. Amid all the other b-s, I heard W. say he wanted to create a civilian corps with specialized skills to augment the armed forces.

Mercenaries, anyone?

alan

I like this one much better...

You Are An Apple Tree

You are quiet and shy at times, but you have lots of charm and appeal. You are quite attractive: your pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, and adventurous spirit draw people in. Sensitive and loyal in love, you want to love and be loved. You are a faithful and tender partner - who is generous in sharing your many talents. You love children, and you need an affectionate partner.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

We're melting!

Finally, a bit of warmth!

It's been so cold that the ice on the hood of my truck has never melted loose. I opened and shut it the other night when I got to work, and the edges came off but the middle is still stuck.

Still watching and listening to too much news for my own good...so many things I wish I knew how to fix!

My grandaughter turns 6 tomorrow; her party is on Saturday afternoon and I'm really looking forward to it. She is the first girl born into our family since my sister in '59, and is being spoiled appropriately. Not that the boys don't get most everything they want, too...lol!

Hoping to bloghop some on Sunday; may the weekend be wonderful for you all!

alan

Courtesy of a Friend...

You Are 44% Abnormal

You are at medium risk for being a psychopath. It is somewhat likely that you have no soul. You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at high risk for having a social phobia. It is very likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement. You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

Crust, but no glaze...

yet! It's so cold that the sleet "grained" quite a bit, with a bit of snow over that, into a rough crust about and inch and half thick or so at this point. They kept the freeways pretty clear, the sidestreets they haven't messed with, so at this point it's not bad "going". Dottie went to work today, I'm off for MLK day, so I took her car in for it's oil change. There were some rollovers on the news early, and I saw one. Just because you can drive 60 doesn't mean you can take the ramp at that speed...

For those who have a holiday today, I hope it's enjoyable; for those at work, may Monday be kind!

alan

Ice is us!

Knowing that this storm was coming our way, I went to Lowe's on Monday and bought extra sand and ice melt for my house and John's. Since he's out of town 'til 10 tonight I'm planning on going by there on my way to work to work on his driveway a bit if it gets as bad as they seem to think it will. If I can get out of my neighborhood, lol!

Laptop is charging, just in case. I can always go to Borders or Panera Bread to pay bills...

But before I shut down my desktop until this is over (in my old neighborhood, the lights tend to go easily) I wanted to wish each of you a wonderful weekend! Dottie is off, and I think we may actually cozy up and spend this one quietly!

:o)

alan

In Shock!

"Yeah, men in position are backin' away:
Freedom is stuck in reverse.
Let's get out of Iraq an' get back on the track,
And let's rebuild America first.

Why don't we liberate these United States,
We're the ones who need it the most.
You think I'm blowin smoke? Boys it ain't no joke.
I make twenty trips a year from coast to coast."

Merle Haggard

When I heard that tonight on the BBC I almost fell off my forklift! They didn't play the whole song, only a few snippets; I came home a tracked down the lyrics, of which these are the last two verses.

Times they are a'changin'!

___________________________________________________________________

Addendum, Wednesday night/Thursday morning-

As the article the header links to attests, the rest of it is an "isolationist" anthem...
My first memories of hearing about Merle Haggard were during the Vietnam era, when he was singing against the protests, so I was quite shocked to hear him come out against the "2nd Iraq War".

I'm not a huge country music fan though I'll listen if it's on. When "the Chicks" came out with their new one I went and bought it to support them; to say thanks for standing up in spite of the flak.

I do have some Jerry Reed and Ed Bruce discs running around; also some Red Sovine and Dave Dudley. On album I have some Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins duets that are mind blowers!

But when I got in her car tonight to drive home I turned off the BBC and hit play on the CD player to listen to Glenn Miller and the Andrews Sisters, live airchecks from 1939-40.

Within a minute or two "King George" was forgotten, along with my night at work.

I was smiling!

alan

"Early" Sunday...

when you live my schedule...not quite noon yet, I've been up about 6 minutes, lol!

Friday evening at work I spent writing a long rant (in my head) that I had planned to title "No Warrant Needed" for King George; like my thoughts matter to him anyway! Rather than waste my effort, we'll see what transpires in D.C. this next week!

By the time I felt like doing anything yesterday, the massacre in Indianapolis had begun (Colts 23, Chiefs 8). Somehow I know it must be my fault, as it's the only game I've seen all of all year...all night at work Friday people would ask if I thought they would win (this is a team that made the playoffs because 3 other teams lost games they should have won last week) and my reply was that "I will hope, but I won't hold my breath".

When Dottie came home from work last night we went out and found a coat for Talia to make up for the one that was too short at Christmas. Hooray, it's finally over!!! The last Christmas exchange has been made! Just in time, of course, since Talia's 6th birthday is in two weeks; most of the shopping is done thanks to the extras we picked up through Christmas, only a few odds and ends to find now!

I'm really having a hard time not commenting on the world and national things, but I'm trying to focus on the ones I can have an effect on and let the other ones go...feeling guilty the whole time of course...

May this next week be kind to you all!

alan

It was a dream...

Back to work last night; after the initial round of "Happy New Years" and "Welcome Backs" and "was Santa good to you", it was like we never left!

New Year's Eve we did the November, December and January birthdays at my sister's house, along with a New Years Eve party. My Dad used to sit everyone down and show the family slides, and last year my sister and I tried to revive that, much to the chagrine of some of our kids. We only went through 2/3 of them last year; this year we did the other 1/3. I quit playing with photography after Dad died, partly from expense and partly because there were just too many memories, so this 1/3 was the slides of my boys and our family from when they were born 'til Bill was 5 (Dad died in '83). We hadn't seen a lot of these since then; some my sister had never seen. It went much better this year...

My mother didn't go; as she said her legs were bothering her and she'd rather stay at the nursing home. We didn't argue...

We buy gifts for each other and the kids from her; the DVD she bought Noel it turned out Noel had bought herself (The Lake House). Since we didn't buy it for ourselves, though we liked the movie, we kept it and spent New Years Day going back to the antique mall she and Dottie had been to last Saturday to look for a wooden grain bucket she had put back but really liked. Dottie had bought herself a Fairbanks scale that day (she is a descendant of the Fairbanks family), and gone back on Sunday to look for a piece that was missing (no such luck) . So the shopping continued though the holidays were technically over, lol! Tonight Dottie's doing the 2nd round of returns on my mother's clothes, then all we have left is finding a jacket for Talia, as the 6 I bought her was too short (growth spurt!) and they didn't have it in a larger size.

I would have never dreamed when I thought we were so far ahead this year that this would still be going on!

:o)

Time for some coffee and to finish waking up!

alan

Playing with a deck of 51...

One of the earliest songs I remember playing on the radio as a child spoke of playing solitaire with one of those...I still have that mahogany cased Motorola. "How Much is that Doggy in the Window"... Peggy Lee's "Fever"...they all take me back to boyhood instantly.

51 has snuck up on me; 50 didn't bother me, there was kind of a top of the world feeling to it that I loved! Now there's some "going down the other side" of the "hill" involved. Knowing that I may outlive the polar ice cap doesn't help a bit; I never in my life dreamed that would happen in my grandkids lifetimes, let alone my own!

So as I sneak up on 2007, I reflect on the past 50 years and hope that in another 50 we are all still here gathered in our cyber circle. May 2007 bring you each Joy, Hope and Happiness!

alan

I'd rather fight than switch...

if that's what getting into "the New Blogger" is going to be like! Things have been in limbo for a while here!

Hopefully it was just the transition and all will settle down now!

The 2 days of Christmas went well; 1 coat that was too short for Talia and none of the things we bought for my Mom fit (kept telling Dottie 3X, but she didn't believe me). The coat we already tried to exchange, but the only ones left were smaller, so now we get to shop for a different one.

The worst of it was that John only asked for one game, Final Fantasy 12. I bought deluxe editions back in November, the week they came out, and put them away for both boys. Bill and Laura asked for theirs last week as they were on winter break at college; that was fine. Christmas afternoon at his house, John opened his deluxe two disc special edition in the pretty metal case and the game disc was missing!

Needless to say, I was crushed. The only place that sold them was Gamestop; I was there when they opened the next morning, the store I bought it from and was told they were sold out of them and the manager put a used one in our case and couldn't understand why I was upset!

Dottie was livid! I ended up going to another store and buying a 3rd one, giving it to John and keeping the used one...

Speaking of which, I had avoided my PS2 since I hurt myself last year, knowing how many hours I can lose in a good RPG, but last week I picked up one of the games I got last Christmas I hadn't played...I've logged 75 hours at this point...(Dragon Quest 8; I played all of the "old" Dragon Warrior games along with the boys as they were growing up).

Off to run some errands and then meet Dottie at Sears to return Mom's clothes. Border's is across the street and I got a gift card for Christmas...I think I'll be going there while I wait for her to get off work!

Tomorrow I guess I have to re-write my profile, as the half-century mark becomes 51!

I hope all your holidays were wonderful and the New Year brings each of you the joy, happiness and love I wish you all!

alan

Wow!

I'd have never believed a week could fly by so quickly!

Noel's birthday went well. Dottie took her "antiquing" to Atchison as a surprise while I waited for the grandkids to come home from school and fixed dinner. She had a great day, as did we.

Monday and Wednesday there was lots of shopping-more than we had planned on having left at that point! Some things weren't available until last week, others hadn't been put on the list yet...

Our 30th anniversary was Thursday. Dottie's sister Jane and her husband had enjoyed our being in Vermont for their 25th this last summer, and our 25th slipped by in the fog of Dottie being told she had terminal cancer (she didn't, but we were lucky!) when they found the cyst on her kidney, so they made a point of making sure we enjoyed this one. They arranged with our younger son to get us a gift card to somewhere we'd never ever go to eat! Valet parking, the whole bit! We've never gone anywhere like that since we've been together...we just don't do things like that, lol, always figuring we should do something else with that kind of money! John got the card before he left town, Noel gave it to use on Tuesday but with instructions not to open it until our anniversary. Not knowing what was up, we opened it, along with our cards to each other and the gifts I got her at midnight on Wednesday, then she went to bed because she had to work that day.

I had roses delivered to Dottie at work that day as a surprise. They were (and still are) gorgeous! Being between sizes again (going the wrong way, sadly) I called the restaurant to ask about dress code (there are places on the Plaza that are coat and tie only) and they said jeans were acceptable with a nice shirt or sweater, thank goodness! Dinner was wonderful, and it was a great evening until it was time for her to go to bed.

I had known Noel was fighting a cold the day we were there; I didn't know the grandkids had been fighting a stomach bug for days before that. The bug caught up with me about 2AM on Friday, and I'm still not quite over the aftereffects. I hadn't "hurled" in 28 years (for me things always go the other way) but I did that day! I thought I was better on Saturday, and we did some more last minute shopping along with the weekly trips I didn't get done on Friday while she was working; that almost became a mistake.

Sunday I didn't dare go anywhere, so we started wrapping gifts. For once, everything is pretty well done except for a few things awaiting some more last minute things we'll pick up tomorrow. After years of promising we won't be wrapping on Christmas Eve, we might actually not be!

In the "whirl" of it all though, the Chrismas letter didn't get written until last night, and just finished printing because it had to await editorial appproval this morning, lol!

I'm very disappointed in myself for not getting around to check in with everyone last week; I hope you all forgive me!

Just a quickie...(ahem, not that kind)

Dottie's foot is doing better, though if she spends too much time on it it still swells. She worked this weekend, and they had their Christmas parties, 3 per day, plus their normal routines to deal with, so she was pretty wiped out last night. She met me after she got off and we did a bit more Christmas shopping; a few odds and ends left and a box to ship to Vermont. I still need to write "the letter" to go in with the cards...had planned on having it ready to go at Thanksgiving.

In February I had put in for 4 days vacation this week, because Thursday is our 30th wedding anniversary (don't know how she's put up with me for so long!) and I had planned to beg her boss to let her have a couple of days off for it (they aren't supposed to take vacation between Thanksgiving and New Year's). She wouldn't let me do that, telling me she doesn't want to owe them any favors.

Tomorrow is her day off to make up for the work weekend (she had last Friday as well), part of her usual schedule. I had planned a movie and dinner as an early anniversary; she wanted to take me to a jazz club and we were in the process of debating which; then, as always, life intervened...

My sister had planned to have my daughter-in-law to her house for a birthday dinner tomorrow night as my son is out of town on business. Turns out my nephew has a concert, so Cindy's dinner got moved to Wednesday, so tomorrow Dottie and I are entertaining Noel and fixing her "porcupine meatballs" for her birthday dinner. Since she has a link to here I can't divulge more...

By Friday last week I was so tired and frustrated (work has been getting to me a bit as well) that I spoke to my "foreman" (actually a woman who just transferred from Production to Material, and who I've been stocking teams for this last year; she's very good and I'm grateful to have her for my boss now) and she said put in for Monday as well so I did. She brought me back the paper with "OK" signed by our General Foreman an hour or so later!

So, this afternoon marks the beginning of the first time I've taken a week off when the plant was running since I tore my back up almost two years ago!

It feels GOOD!!!!

:o)

Hopefully later in the week I can catch up with all of you...

alan

Slings and arrows of outrage...

At the beginning of the year we had to change medical insurance because our plan was discontinued. Only two options, an HMO or "traditional" were available; our benefits rep recommended the traditional one so we had more control over our doctor choices. We knew it would come with a higher co-pay for office visits and have dealt with that through the year.

Thursday, on the ice, Dottie went to pick up a veggie platter for a party at work on Friday. Some kid in daddy's 4-wheel rolled up alongside her in the grocery parking lot and lit the tires. It slid sideways towards her and she jumped to get out of the way. This is right after she stepped out of her car with the handicapped plate and was walking away from the handicapped parking place (she has a replacement hip and and knee).

Friday her left foot was tender. Saturday it started to swell. She stayed off it most of the day after that. Sunday it looked like someone had slipped a third of a baseball under the skin on top of it, but she wouldn't go to the ER, not knowing how much that would cost us. She wanted to wait for Monday to go see our regular physician.

She called in sick, then called the doctors and got in. They sent her to the lab on premises for an x-ray. The lab said they had gotten an e-mail from our carrier and that they would only pay for foot x-rays done by "National Foot Care" and told her go back to the doctor's to find out where they were.

The doctor's office had no idea. She called me, and I went through 5 phone books and couldn't find them, then went online and Googled and came up with that name and that Ford, Chrysler and Delphi are participants, but there is nothing listed for GM employees.

So the doctor's office sent her to the emergency room...

It wasn't broken, they offered her a "boot" and she turned it down because she knew it wouldn't be something "clean" to wear at work. They offered her painkillers, she turned them down because with only one kidney, she avoids any "extra" things to make it work harder when she can. They were a bit worried about her blood pressure, as it was in the 170/ something range...she is on meds for it and usually it's in the "normal" range. She pointed out to them what she had been through that morning and they didn't seem so worried!

So besides working my 9's 6 days last week and this I've been trying to make sure that there's absolutely nothing for her to do when she comes home except put her leg up.

I will be checking in with you all as I get time...sorry I haven't been around more!

And just so you all can grin a bit, the ornaments are slowly climbing the tree as the ones on the bottom get carried away by Frankie and rehung higher and "deeper" in the tree, lol!

alan

The Weekend Cometh!

Not that I get more than one day of it, lol!

We survived the ice storm, and the heaviest snow missed us by a few miles, starting about 5 miles south of us and getting heavier the further you went. Where my wife works, they had 4" so some of them went out and made a snowman and the rest took residents to the windows to watch. About 40 miles southeast of us they got 18"!

Though I work tomorrow, all 3 grandkids are spending the night tonight. The tree has been up since Tuesday and Frankie hasn't tried to climb it yet, so when I get up tomorrow we're going to decorate it. Hopefully our curious kitty still leaves it alone! (Dottie's plants that have moved to the basement for the winter aren't faring so well; we're going to have to wrap the plant stands in hardware cloth I think.)

I'm trying very hard not to be depressed by man's treatment of fellow man...Litvinenko, Lebanon, Iraq...if I was smart I would turn off the TV and the radio but somehow I can't!

alan

Happy Holidays!

I can hear that old Irving Berlin song echoing around inside my empty head...from "Holiday Inn" for those who don't know it.

Dillon's turkey is something he and Grandma made when the three kids were here last weekend; they each cut, glued picked out their own feathers.

Thanksgiving was wonderful, as was gathering the clan again the next afternoon to go see "Happy Feet". Grandpa started something a few years ago when he bought a round of tickets for everyone to go see "Polar Express" the day after Thanksgiving; even though we are a few less this year, it was still great fun!

Also fun was keeping Dillon overnight that night by himself, as he and I had picked up a few models for his first projects several months ago, but those are hard to do when others are around. So that night we put together a "monster truck" and an F4U-Corsair...photos later (if I'm lucky)!

John and Noel have discussed putting in a dishwasher over the years; this year they decided they wanted that for part of their Christmas and birthdays, so I spent Saturday working on that and hauling sheetrock for them as they are insulating and re-rocking the older grandchildren's rooms.

Sunday I hauled sheetrock for the next room and then tried to do our shopping for the week, finishing just in time to get home and fix dinner for us as Dottie got out of the shower after work. A bit of TV, and my four day weekend was gone!

So now it's back to that 6 days in a row thing for two more weeks...my mind says ouch but my wallet is smiling, lol!

Missed you all, hope things are great; I'll be trying to catch up for the next few days, though Dottie is off tomorrow and we're talking about trying to go pick up our tree!

I feel guilty every year when we do that, especially with my Grandma's artificial downstairs, but Dottie loves the smell and it reminds her of home, so I try not to think about it. If I had more yard I'd buy ones I could plant after...maybe someday!

alan

It's really hard...

to go back to work after 3 days off, especially when you know your spouse is still at home!

We managed to get some things done, made it to a couple of movies, then we spent Monday driving around Hillsdale Reservoir, a place we fished a lot before my last truck died. New ramps, lots of new campgrounds, and a new marina with a floating heated dock (maybe a place to take the grandkids fishing after the holidays) that also sells bait and tackle and has a sandwich shop, etc.. The roads that were almost all gravel are now mostly paved; houses are going up at all around it now. We had looked at a place there 15 years ago that had 25 acres and 5 ponds on it; it's been broken up for a subdivision now and only one pond is on the property now. Had I been smart enough to buy it, breaking it up would have paid it off!

At the time though, I was going into the last long layoff I had from GM, before I had enough seniority to stay when they go to one shift. (Before I had 15 years in I was laid off as much as I worked.) The hour drive each way on a dry day would get awfully long in winter weather as well, not to mention the vehicles I'd have worn out doing it, so all in all it's probably good we stayed here. 7 or 8 minutes to work has a lot to be said for it!

"A Good Year" was awfully good (my kind of movie). "Stranger Than Fiction" was good as well, though a bit disturbing as well.

Monday after we got home we went out and rented "Click" and "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift", and enjoyed them both. Somehow the sacriege of dropping a Nissan motor in a classic Mustang disturbed me, but in the "making of" stuff you could see the Ford script on the valve covers and the big 4 barrel on top of the Ford V-8 in the car they said was "the hero car".

The real treat was the surprise at the end of the movie...

:o)

I'm going to try and catch up with you all before the weekend; Dottie's off both days, I work Saturday again, so it's one of those one day weekends for me. Her birthday is next Monday, so I have a vacation day that day. She's taking her last 3 vacation days and between her weekend off, Thanksgiving Day holiday, and her normal Friday off, she gets 7 off in a row. Needless to say if I get here it will be just for a few minutes, lol!

I hope life is treating you all wonderfully!

alan

Sunday evening...

Where my wife works you aren't allowed to take vacation during "the holidays" so she took the days she had left for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, between her normal Friday and Tuesday off. I get Monday for Veteran's Day from GM. so she has 5 off and I am in the middle of 3.

Sorry I haven't been to visit you all, but we have been enjoying some of our time and tryihg to get some things done while we're both off as well. I'll explain more later...

Hope you are all having lovely weekends!


alan

The exodus from Washington!

No, not really...not until January, anyway! But in the spirit of the coming holiday...lol!

When we came off one of the dirt roads and back onto pavement last Tuesday, I heard something scratching in the leaves. I stopped the truck, and on Dottie's side we saw these wild turkeys. I'm pretty sure when this park was built in 1938 there weren't any wild turkeys left in Kansas; I don't remember ever seeing one as a kid. Their repopulation started in the last 25 years, and seeing them further out "in the country" isn't unusual anymore, but finding them here was a real treat!

Hope you are each having a good week!

alan

Photo Sunday escaped 'til Monday!

Last Tuesday before the frivolity we took a ride around our closest lake; having a truck now we revisted some gravel roads I haven't been on since my boys were little.

The color is a bit past peak, but the worrisome thing is that this was Oct.31st and the trees still have so many leaves; the color has turned even more to rust now, but not many more have dropped...if we get any kind of an ice storm, it's going to be a major problem, and we're getting to that time of year!








I worked yesterday; this morning I rolled out at 9, cooked breakfast and we made it to see "The Prestige" at 10:40. From there, we worked on filling Santa's sleigh, since we don't get too many shopping days together, and now have the sleigh about 3/4 full.

Tonight we cleared 5 hours of "Supernatural" we were behind on, along with me fixing dinner and running laundry, then after Dottie went to bed I caught up with "Battlestar Galactica" from Friday night since she had watched it with Bill and Laura. I also watched "30 Rock" since she doesn't care much for that one...

Now the clock is ticking towards 3 and I should really crawl into bed!

I'm off Tuesday and she took a vacation day, so after we vote I'm thinking about trying to talk her into going to "Keeping Mum". So far I've only told her Maggie Smith is in it...I should mention Swayze as she loves him; if I mention Rowan Atkinson I'll be lucky to get to rent it on video, lol!

I have my fingers crossed for Tuesday, but not enough courage to hold my breathe...

alan

A "Toy Story" kind of day...

I had planned to post this before work on Wednesday, but went Christmas shopping instead...so before another day slips away:



John is wearing a pair of my old bibs from 2 years ago with a pillow to fill them out...I think seeing how big I really was (he was afraid to drive because his stomach was in the way) may have given him more motivation to watch his own weight than anything anyone might ever say!

:o)

4AM, off to bed...thinking of you all!

alan

Happy Halloween!

A few weeks ago all 3 grandkids spent the night, and Grandma wanted to make a scarecrow with them. A good time was had by all, though I got in a bit of trouble when I came home at 2AM (kids long since in bed, of course) as she was putting the finishing touches on him and pointed out he looked a bit like he might have been at Roswell!

alan

Blogger and it's snits...

I wrote a Saturday post, but Blogger wouldn't let me upload it and I didn't have hours to keep trying as it was a work day again...if you'll forgive me I'm going to drop it in here:

Ssturday!

For some reason I keep "hearing" an old "Chicago" tune rattling inside my empty head, but with the sun out, errands to run, my truck to wash, and work to go to, I don't think I'll be taking their suggestion today!

Tomorrow Bill and Laura are coming from Lawrence so we can change the oil in their Neon, put on the Blizzaks that I had bought for Dottie's Neon before we traded it for the Malibu and some winter blades, then I have some steaks to go on the grill and a couple of pounds of mushrooms to fry in time for Dottie to come home. My plan is to have her Malibu washed and waxed before 2 when the kids arrive. We have a 60 degree day today, and a couple of 70's tomorrow and Monday, so trying to make use of them, especially after all the cold and rain this last week!

I'm almost afraid to say anything about the national political scene for fear I'll jinx things for next week...

But I can't help wondering what happens if you waterboard a guy with a pacemaker, since that's obviously not torture?

alan

____________________________________________

Now it's Sunday morning; thanks to the time change I got a bit over 9 hours sleep and am waiting for the kettle to boil to make some oatmeal and a latte.

Bonnie Raitt was on Prarie Home Companion last night; at one point she was telling Garrison how nice it was to have someplace on the radio to find some sanity once a week, that she and her band always listen while they're on the road. She said that at least at Halloween there's an excuse for "scary", unlike the rest of the time as of late (me paraphrasing)!

That thought has been stuck in my head ever since...

Have a wonderful Sunday, each of you!

alan