Say What?

Tammy and Rachel have been volunteering time at Hosanna on Tuesday nights. It seemed to start out primarily as a night devoted for outreach to Hispanics in the community but it's grown into much more than that. Earlier in the day, a time is set aside for people to drop off items no longer needed but still of value. The goods are set up in the gymnasium for the hundreds of people who will be attending the evening service and those in need are encouraged to take whatever they can use. There is also a meal served in addition to free hair cuts and nail painting. Painting nails is what Tammy and Rachel have been doing. They've got a table set up with hundreds of bottles of nail polish and people both young and old line up to have their nails done. It's quite a sight...especially the little ones as they're so excited to have somebody do their nails. Last night I offered to be the tattoo artist. The boys aren't so interested in having their nails polished but they do app...

For weeks the upper winds were unchanging in their direction driving frigid air out of Canada into the Midwest so it was nice to come into work last week and see that they'd become more zonal and were bringing more moderate temps our way. Biking in zero degree weather is doable but not nearly as fun as something, oh, say 20 degrees warmer. But you know what? I'll trade the warmer temps for the cold stuff again if it means fewer snowstorms. We got hammered this weekend and they say there's another storm developing and due to hit us later in the week. I'm not much for long-range forecasts but they were all over this last storm. I woke up yesterday morning to 8-10" of heavy wet stuff to dig out from. It was pretty, no doubt but unless you're a kid out playing in it there isn't much use for it...but that's just me. Anyway, I got out my video camera and caught some footage to add to my YouTube account— here you go . I was driving into work this morning and...

Tammy and I had a date-day last Friday. She mapped out a tour of the parade of homes which runs for the next few weeks and we spent the afternoon touring homes we'll never be able to afford. We were mostly just looking for ideas for flooring as we're planning to do wood floors where we currently have linoleum. I've got most of the month of August off so we'll be looking to take the project on then. We're also planning to replace the carpet on the main level. I can't say that we found a wood floor that stood out for us but we saw several which were very bleah. I think we'll know the right floor when we see it. It was a fun way to get out and spend some time together. One thing I found which I thought was pretty cool was a mosaic inlaid in some flooring. It looked to be a combination of glass, ceramic and resin. I could see myself being good at doing something like that but there really isn't any place in our home for it. Tammy and I have been talking ab...

Tammy and I went out for dinner Friday night with some friends from a neighborhood I lived in until 1992. Jim and Luan were the kind of neighbors you come to appreciate more and more over the years. I've had other neighbors who were as nice but none that were better. How it became that we lost touch with each other save for the yearly Christmas card I don't understand. Jim and Luan stayed in the old neighborhood until '98 when Jim was diagnosed with MS and had to opt for a townhome with less demand on matters about upkeep. I remember before I moved how they had just purchased a boat and were really enjoying their time out on the lakes during the weekend. Jim had also built a model railroad set up in his basement for something he and his son, Frank could do together. They truly knew how to relax and I always admired that about them. I'm the type who has a hard time staying still for very long. I'm getting better but I'm still not there. Anyway, this past summe...

I came really close to shooting our new washer this week...not really...but I wanted to. We replaced our old washer and dryer about a month ago and lately, I've developed a strong dissatisfaction with the washer. When it's in the spin cycle it shakes a lot and moves around to where I have to relocate it after every load. That's not right. I called the folks at Whirlpool and they were quick about getting a tech out to look at it. He decided that the tub was out of round and ordered a new one. A different repairman came by yesterday morning to install it...so far so good. We've done three loads and each time the washer stayed put. I can't tell you how much that made my weekend. The last thing I wanted to do on my days off was mess with it any more than I already have. I've got no monkeys on my back and it's nice. Usually, I've got at least one or two projects which need my attention but not at the moment. I spent my weekend laying around and being as laz...