More Radio HiJinx

Here's "our" UPS guy (Ross) making a delivery to WJTL.

Merry Chipmunk Christmas

The Catchup V.3

Here's a few miscellaneous thoughts:

*What study did the Salvation Army do, to decide that ringing an incessant bell over and over again would produce more donations? Yes, call me Scrouge....I dont' get shopping much, but when I do, I don't want to hear some guy keeping his mind busy by counting to 100 straight bell rings...

* On a work related note, a customer came to me with a concerned look on her face and said there's a bug crawling around. So, I added bug killing to my resume.

* That same morning a guy called on the phone and said that he received a call from someone in my "firm". Well, I didn't know a bookstore could be classified as a firm, but I stuck my chest out a little farther all the same...

* Lastly a thought on the weather. I know it bends to no-one's will, but I really would like a good snow that cancels the day's activities, and lets me go sledding with Dakota. If we're going to get some bad weather...let's really get it...not of this "over-hyped" snow/freezing rain/rain stuff

The Catchup V.2

So, as it turns out a friend of ours from Indiana was part of the recent A's-Diamondbacks deal....see below:

From ESPN.com
The NL West champions acquired Haren from the rebuilding Oakland Athletics and traded major league saves leader Jose Valverde to Houston in separate swaps involving 12 players Friday.


Oakland also sent right-hander Connor Robertson to Arizona and received six players: left-handers Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith; infielder Chris Carter; and outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez.

The last known employ of our friend Aaron was Greencroft, now it looks like it's the Oakland Athletics. I also knew him to be more of a first basemen, now he's an outfielder.

On a more accurate note, the last player mentioned, Carlos Gonzalez was a guy I saw play in South Bend, he and Carlos Quetin. You could tell those two had a chance, because they were putting up numbers then (which you should in Single-A).

The Catchup V.1

Here's another word from our "green" friends...(now it's the good word....did you hear that Jesus's words are going to be printed in green ink?.....just kidding)


HarperOne releases Green Bible.

HarperOne announced it will release The Green Bible (NRSV) in Fall 2008. The Green Bible will specifically focus on creation care, with input from leading Christian conservationists, theologians, and practitioners.

“The Bible carries an important message about caring for the earth,” said Mark Tauber, VP and deputy publisher of HarperOne. “Going green has become a top concern among many Christians as they begin to see protecting all of creation as a biblical obligation. Our Green Bible offers them a new lens to identify how caring for creation comes right out of the Scriptures.”

This green-letter edition of the Bible will highlight verses and passages focused on creation care. It will includes a series of essays by leading thinkers, teachers and writers, as well as a comprehensive “green trail guide,” through Scripture, a survey of Christian historical figures and their approach to creation care, and a green concordance and resource guide.

The Green Bible will be produced using environmentally sensitive materials including special paper and covers.

Local Radio Station Hijinx

So our local christian radio DJ "Radio Friend Phil" stopped by the bookstore this past week for "release Tuesday". Check out the video here:

Eagles-Pats

I've been an Eagles fan for awhile now. Lately I've experienced the "thrill" of the team going to the Super Bowl, the whole T.O. - Donovan thing after that, and then the slow decline of a once great team.

Going into last night, pretty much everyone expected to be blown out by the Pats...including me.

However, once I jumped into the game (after the first quarter), it was the kind of exciting experience I'd compare to the great Notre Dame - USC games....especially the one ND would have won, if not for the whole Reggie Bush push in the back thing.

You knew "your" team was under-manned, you were facing an opponent who had seemingly all the advantages....however, you watched, on the edge of your seat, knowing that one interception here, or one kick return there (Zibby against USC) and it was a brand new game.

For those who want to complain about everything, there were moments in last night's game that could be complained about.

However, there was enough big moments to enjoy. Andy Reid calling for an on-side kick (a-la the big Dallas games in the past) and converting it. Aggressive passing by Feeley, an aggressive pass rush and non-traditional scheme (going with 3 pass rushers?), all making a seemingly once invincible team (Patriots) look beatable.

Like the big ND games, the final outcome wasn't a win, but the in-game ride sure was enjoyable.

Going Green

This past week, NBC has made a big deal about going "green". For example, they turned off their in-game studio lights, right before kickoff, and "somehow" found a way to do the half-time show from the light of their 3-billion in-studio monitors.

I'm all for going green, as the picture below should indictate:

DOWN GOES THE SWEATER VEST!!!

In a day with very little sports joy, it was nice to see sweater-vest get taken care of by the Illini.

What If

Life

Okay, so there's this new TV show on NBC called "LIFE". I had saw it once on a Saturday night, and thought it was pretty good. However, since I couldn't find it on during the week, I assumed it got bumped / i.e. cancelled.

As it turns out, it is on at 10:00 on Wednesday nights. It features a quirky detective who was put in jail under false pretenses, let's say he was framed, and he tries to solve the "case of the evening", while grabbing pieces of his life/case, and trying to tie those threads together.

Now that i've missed a few weeks, it might be hard to get in the swing of things, but if anyone has seen it, and can comment on it, feel free.

More "natural" disasters

I know many of you have heard about the California wildfires. They tend to be a problem, every few years.

Since I'm part of a national chain with Berean, we have a store in San Diego and Temecula, California, both near this area.

Staff at San Diego in particular have had to vacate their homes, and everyone is accounted for, except for 1 person who's is believed to be vacated to a shelter and doesn't have a cell phone.

Here's an excerpt from the San Diego Store manager:

....Camp Pendleton has now caught on fire and is a very large military base in San Diego. This has brought a lot of chaos to the area. The two major freeways are now blocked by fire in some areas and traffic backups are happening all over the rest....

So, if you read this, say a prayer for those affected by this events....

Nappanee, Indiana Tornado

A tornado touched down in Nappanee, Indiana on October 18th. This greatly interest me because we used to live quite close to Nappanee (17 miles). I'd show you a picture of the distance, but mapquest has not been very cooperative.

We knew a few people that lived in that area, and thankfully everyone is okay. The crazy thing is that I had a dream that night/next morning (well after the tornado touched down) that we lived in Indiana, and were experiencing a tornado. I don't remember much, but it looks like my dream was someone's reality.

Apparently it was a category 3 storm, which was 1/2 mile wide, and moved at 162 mph. WOW!

Here are some links to local coverage. Local Cleanup Efforts

Goshen News Write-Up

Some Video Footage:

Pistaccio

I'm a big fan of pistaccio flavored stuff. Kristy and I got ice cream last friday night, and I enjoyed a pistaccio flavored cone. She got some peanut butter/carmel/butterscotch flavor that better suited her. It was one of those 3, I don't think all 3 would be good. Simple things to enjoy!

Smiler

Cole's smiling. It's fun to see him react in that way.

Disappointment

So there I was, watching the Bills and the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Going into the contest I was ahead of Andrew Weaver by 3 points in fantasy football, but he had Tony Romo starting and I had no one....which mean't I was going to lose.

However....Tony threw 4 interceptions in the first half, and suddenly I had a 1 point lead and was hoping for a few more interceptions.

As it would turn out, I fell asleep, as did the Bills, and we both lost...they in real life, me in fantasy.

Speaking of loses, the Phillies did, as did the Cubs, 2 teams I wanted to see meet in the NLCS (National League Championship Series).

Now the "Hot Stove League" begins, at least for the Phils. Except it's 85 degrees, and no-one's thinking of stoves.

NL East Champs!

Down to 3

Jayson Stark wrote a nice article on ESPN.com (click here) about the possible 4 way tie for baseball's post-season.

It's enough to make your head spin.

As it turns out, the Phillies win the last 3 and their in....except if the Mets win the last 3, and then they play a tie-breaker game at Philly on Monday (would love to go). And that's just for the division.

I don't remember being this excited for 3 games before. Other years they were done, and making a last-gap surge to get in that "with a little help" status.

Now they're (basically) in control, and it's the other teams that need a little help. Of course if they lose tonight, and the Mets & Padres win...then we're back on the fence.

Officially the Worst Idea Ever

Okay...that may be a bit dramatic, but it was a bad idea, or at least it turned out to be.

Kristy, Dakota and Cole came to visit me at work, because Cole at a doctor's appointment across the parking lot. (He's up to 12 lbs now!).

I suggested we go to the nearby restaurant to get something to eat.

With 2 plates of food sitting on the table, (one each, for those keeping score at home), Dakota decided to throw a fit.

Then Cole started crying, and it meant "Box-N-Go" time.

Of course if they don't cry, we have a nice meal, and it is a GREAT idea....but as it turned out, Kristy and I had to laugh at our selves and our predictament.

Quick Hits v.4

Finally (for today) it's been a busy sports time of year. The Phillies are really, really, really, really close to making the post-season, for the first time since I was in 8th grade!!!!!

Of course, they might fall short like other years, but I think they might actually do it this year. The Atlanta series will be a big test, come out of there okay, and it might be time to order playoff tickets.

The Eagles finally won in 3 weeks, and did they ever win! It wasn't even close. A great day for fantasy football owners (McNabb, Westbrook, Kitna, Roy Williams).

Not so great a day for merchandisers. The Eagles went with their "swedish" look , with is great for, say, ice hockey....and not so great for the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

I don't see this tradition continuing, 56 points, or not.

Finally, in college sports, Penn State laid an egg in Ann Arbor. With their schedule, they had a really good chance to run the table, and be in the running for the national championship. Instead, a somewhat sloppy loss.

The Irish finally got to the end zone, but they are unfortunately out of options for this year. All the Ty supporters will come out of the "woodwork".

Also, as I finish this, the Phillies have moved into a tie for the wild card!!!! without even playing (Padres lost). It's going to be an exciting week of baseball!

Wait for it......wait for it.....wait........do you see the letdown coming????.....here it co...no wait....maybe not this year......maybe they finally make it.....

Quick Hits v.3

It was quick hits indeed....though some classified as errors.

We're playing a version of softball known as fall ball, except it's not very competitive, to the point that we are actively trying to not run up the score by the 3rd inning.

I got a hold of one Friday night, and had that "giddyup" feeling as I hit it. I cannot remember having that feeling in a game for a long time (practice...sure). As it turned out, I rounded the bases, even doing a bit of a home run "trot".

The trot was because the one outfielder had fallen down. His compadre also fell down laughing, and well, no-one went to get the ball, so I had all the time in the world.

I even did a little pitching...which was a lot of fun. I need to work on it a bit, if I'm going to do it at all during the season.

Quick Hits v.2

After meetings I made a quick trip up to Goshen. It was nice to see the area, drive up 33 from Fort Wayne, as the fields are being harvested (or soon to be in some cases).

I made a quick, nosy, drive around our old home. Looked pretty nice.....still small....definitely couldn't have managed with 2 kids there, thought it was good for us while we lived there.

It was good to see Chris & Heather, Joe & Kris, and all the kids. Had I had more time I would have like to connect with many more....

Friday breakfast was fun. It happened to be my birthday, and Joe had gotten a piece of coffee cake with a candle in it. I'm glad they didn't go the 29 candle route, it would have left me with an icing I wouldn't have liked.....not to mention having enough divets to qualify as a public golf course on welfare.

When I would go to breakfast with the guys, I usually went one of 3 routes: just coffee cake, coffee cake and 2 pancakes (which are like...plate sized), or the "Fritz".

The "Fritz" sounds like something Steve Taylor would be on (good 80's song reference). It's a combination of gravy, eggs, and potatoes. Some places call it the dumpster dish...but after Fritzy, it wasn named the Fritz. (so now you know, if you ever want to go to Goshen, hunt down the County Seat Cafe, find Fritz, and tell her it was recommended on this blog....she might even give you a piece of coffee cake for your efforts).

Quick Hits v.1

So a lot has happened in the 20 days I didn't blog. It's been really busy, my laptop's been funky, and football has started, as well as fall baseball.

MEETINGS MEETINGS MEETINGS

I was in Cincy for the fall version of Berean's management meetings. It was 4 days away from Kristy and the boys, but a chance for some more interaction with other managers, and some fun.

We stayed at a Sheraton, and had meetings in 2 rooms there, and used a third for eating.

I stayed on the 10th floor, which usually is 8 floors more than I like...I'm a casual traveler...give me a hotel with 2 floors and I'm fine. Make me ride elevators with minds of their own....not so much fun..

I sharpened my poker skills (I had only a very, very, very basic knowledge of the game) and by the 2nd night, won the whole thing. Sure, it's a lot of luck....I beat the last guy with a flush (King high card) and he also had a flush, with a ten as the high card. We had gone 2 nights without having a flush, (well not in the card sense), and so it was pure luck that we both got them, and I had the higher run.

Know to find some players around here...

Commercial Break

Penn State 24, Notre Dame 10.

So far you have to be pleased with 7's performance. He's highly accurate, even if only on short passes. As a true freshman (what...18 or 19 years old) he is going into Happy Valley (110,000 +) and showing a lot of maturity.

Penalties have killed the Irish tonight, some on scoring drives, some in giving Penn State just a little more momentum. You needed a somewhat perfect game tonight to beat a good Penn State team at home....and well, they're showing they are young and inexperienced, especially on offense.

The defense has played surprising well. A few tipped passes falling into ND defender hands, and this could be a different game.

Morelli has looked average at best. He's efficient, in a Jake Delhomme sort of way, but not the kind of guy who will lead you to a national championship. I expected a more lopside game at this point.

Also, Carlson hasn't been a factor in either of the first 2 games, but I assume that's because most defenses will take him out of the equation because he's the only returning weapon.

Well the break is ending.....need a big play from Zibby...

Seven Gets the Start

Who is "7" you might ask, and what's he starting.

He is the next prodigy QB for Charlie Weis and the Notre Dame football team. Toasted as one of the top recruits in the country, this TRUE FRESHMAN will start against the PA favored Nittany Lions in Happy Valley.

Check out his latest article here, where you will learn his name is not John Elway, who also was a famous "7".

If he does well, he may be referred to as "7" from this point forward, in honor of George Costanza's love of the name. If he doesn't do well, I may call him Powlus (just kidding...WAY to early for that).

Wow, they could really use Darius Walker right now....the dude didn't even get drafted...what a waste, could have been a senior. Besides, I miss the obligatory NBC shots of big dad Jimmy in the stands, and the rest of the family. After Brady's sister, and the Walker family, NBC will have to find some new favorite "fans".

Phillies

For Phillies fans, this is a familiar article. A Chicago sports writer is puzzled with the pitcher commonly known as Gavin Floyd. Click here for the article.

Exciting 2 games against the Mets....makes you get "greedy" and want 2 more...

Big Brother Dakota

He likes to hold his lil' brother...if just for a few moments.

Immediate Love

It's awesome to think about how God's love can so easily be reflected...even to people we've first met.

There are many examples of Jesus doing this...to the people he healed, to the woman at the well, etc.

I had to think of this when Cole was born. Kristy and I were experiencing the emotion of the baby being born, and the excitement of finding out if the baby was going to be a boy or girl. However, the minute we saw Cole, we had immediate love for him. It wasn't something we needed to think about, process, analyze....it was "Wow! Our child....he's precious and we love him".

You have to think that just a small picture of God's love for us... "not because of who I am, but because of what you've done, not because of what I've done, but because of who you are..."

Adjustments

As expected, this baby has brought about a far amount of adjustments...some expected and some that are a surprise.

Cole has gone from a rather stable environment on the inside, to one that is not so stable on the outside...but he has really followed the S-E-P mantra (sleep, eat, poo-pee).

Dakota has done remarkedly well for now having to share attention. He really has a lot of affection for his little brother, and often wants to help Kristy with diaper changes, comforting baby, etc.... He is pushing the limits, but that could be because Kristy and I were m-i-a during weekend.

I've been staying up later, waking up more during the night, and have totally disrupted my sense of "schedule", in terms of work and family life. On the other hand, I've been eating really well with people bring great food, and great desserts.

Kristy..... Obviously her body went through a lot with childbirth...but she's also walking around with 10 fewer pounds...or close to it. So add her sleeping, or non-sleeping schedule...that factors in too. However, she's been doing less house work since her maid...err..husband has taken over some duties.

The biggest adjustment....well it has to be Kristy. Think about 10 lbs going anywhere in the body... it's an amazing...yet painful experience (as I've witnessed).

It's a Boy!!!

It gives me tremendous pleasure to announce the birth of Cole Jaxon on Thursday, 8/23/07.

Cole is BIG boy, weighing 9 lbs 15 oz, and is 20.5 feet, no make that inches, in length.

Dakota met Cole last night, and gave him a present of soft,chewable barn animals. Cole, ever the gracious brother, left Dakota play with them right away.

Kristy is doing well, after a "short" 12 hours of labor (Dakota was 22 hours). Like with Dakota, she had 15 minutes of hard labor....but was aided well by the efforts of her husband/coach, who valiantly held her hand and encouraged her on.....and occasionally winced at her pain....and his own, before he took his wedding ring off the "squeeze hand".

All that being said, what an amazing process. I got that "WOW" feeling in me when I knew that we were moments away from meeting our new son or daughter. We praise God for this incredible miracle of new life.

You can see Cole's baby picture by going to http://www.welcomenewborn.com/ and following the instructions with the password "baby".

Weird Sicknesses

Okay, so I'm sure someone just made this up to give other people something to worry about. A guy talked at church about stewardship of time. In that talk, he gave an example about how some people are always feeling "hurried" and it's actually being classified as a sickness (hurried sickness to be more specific).

He gave examples of the "symptoms". Do you get agitated while waiting in line (check). Do you observe others and then notice when leaving if they left before or after you (check). Do you rely on technology and feel lost without it (check). Do you read quickly, but not thoroughly. And so on....

I guess some people are like this. I feel I have a handle on all the things I checked above...I can exist without my cell phone, wireless internet, laptop computer...but it makes my life easier when i have use of them. I feel I have it balanced (what's that dear....a river in Egypt? de nile?)

I should google hurried sickness.....okay 510,000 articles in .16 seconds...maybe someone didn't make it up.

On a weird note...did you ever stop to think about why we use rats for medical experiments. I know, I know...it's probably the whole similar cell structure thing....

I had to think of a "Seinfeld type" observation...you hold a rat up to your friend... and ask the question above then say "you know, I think I see the resembelance". I mean really, we don't have tales (editors note: we may have tales, but we don't have tails), while we like cheese, it's not our main affection/affliction. I guess a few of us might get caught in huge traps if we say a box of Krispy Kremes in the center, unguarded...but really, whoever thought up the whole test on mice/rats?

Also...I think I have a sickness that I made up called "phantom cell phone vibration". I think my cell phone is vibrating, but I go to pick it up, and there isn't a call there. Now...for those who are really mischevious, they could call me hang up, call me again a few seconds later, hang up...and that would do the trick...but it would also register on the call log.

Anyways, I don't know a cure, except to remove the vibration option, but then I'm stuck with just a cell phone ring which may or may not annoy those around me. At least with vibration you can get the call before it alerts EVERYONE around you that you are receiving a call.

Of course, there was the time in Goshen when I had a cell phone that responded to voice commands. So, I would say "Kristy" and it would dial Kristy. I would say "Ken" and it would dial my boss. After awhile my assistant manager in the cubicle next to me thought it was weird that I would just be saying random names out of the blue... Kristy..... until she associated it with the cell phone.

At least she wasn't delusional...

Chincoteague, VA

This weekend is the annual trip to Chincoteague, VA. Last year Kristy and I (and Dakota) went for the first time in 5 or so years.

This year we are staying home (for obvious baby related reasons). Though we are quite envious of everyone "down there".

For those who have never been there, the neighboring island is where everyone goes swimming, and occasional "wild" (use term loosely) ponies are spotted. I'd give you the name of the island, but I don't want any family friendly filters to block my page...let's just call it but-ateague.

Last year I spent a good portion just sleeping. I think one of Kristy's cousins said "why would you go on vacation and sleep". Why indeed. Actually it was quite refreshing, and relaxing.

Dakota loved camping, and for the most part the sand, and waves. Though one in particular took him down, and then it was building sand castles for the rest of the day.

Hopefully next year...

Babies & More Babies

While we eagerly wait for little one to enter the world (Dakota put his claim in for a brother) we are excited about the baby news from Goshen! Congrats Joe & Kris, between you, Chris & Heather, Micah & Angie, & ??? (other unknown expectants) the church shouldn't have any trouble sustaining it's incredible growth.

Kristy and I commented about how our drive has quintupled (emphasise drive...not babies), since the last time we had to go the hospital. From 5 minutes to 25. It's good Kristy doesn't tend to have fast labor! We already know a couple who had a baby in the car because they didn't get to the hospital in time, but I'm sure it won't happen to us.

On a side note, nice murals Angie! They looked really great! I'm sure Lilly could have a pretty awesome room at home, if she doesn't already...

Another Dakota Moment

Recently, in the middle of the afternoon, Kristy said to Dakota "I Love You Dakota".

Dakota replied "I don't want to go to bed yet!".

Poor guy thinks we only tell him we love him at bedtime.

There's been too many times he makes us laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

Mapquest Gas Prices

I found it interesting that Mapquest now offers users a place to compare local gas prices. I don't know how accurate it is, but I was able to compare prices in Lancaster to prices in Goshen, Indiana.

You can check out this feature by clicking here.

Ouch....36-1

So last night we had another church league playoff softball game. Our previous opponents (UZ) ended up playing 12 innings...before losing by a run to the #1 overall seeded team. They played them tough...and for those scoring at home, that's an additional 4+ innings of softball.

We on the other hand, played the last place seeded team, # 16. Of course we liked our chances.

It ended up being a game where you could derive very little satisfaction.....except if you were Sheldon, who hit a nice towering home run, and then almost hit another when we batted around that inning.

Let's put it this way, we almost batted completely around twice in an inning (i.e. one batter would have been up to the plate 3 times). That's almost unheard of.

We got 8 quick runs, before 2 outs were recorded, and went into "pull-back" mode. We still hit the ball hard, but we didn't take extra bases in running, or send in extra runs to pile it up....and we STILL ended up with an embarrassing 35 extra runs.

We called off the "dogs" but it looks like it wasn't enough. However, to everyone's credit...what could you do?

You try and not show up an opponent by being overly aggressive when the game is at hand. However, to camp at one base while the ball rolls into the fence doesn't seem classy either.

That's why there was very little satisfaction in winning this game.

Quiet Strength

Okay, I admit. I was one of the doubters. I knew Tony Dungy was a great coach....the man took a boring Buccaneers team, and made them into a formidable, NFC contender....who would often lose to the Eagles in the NFC playoffs.

What I didn't know, is if he would ever win the "big one". People theorized about how, since we hasn't your typical "screamer" coach, that perhaps he could never win the Super Bowl....to "get over the hump"....from good to great.

After reading his latest book, I came away thinking "wow, this guy doesn't want to be defined as a football coach". He believes in the striving for excellence in his job, but he doesn't limit his self-worth to the football field.

Another theme that he had in the book is trusting/relying on God, at all times of life.

I recommend this book to the sports fan an non-sports fan alike. It was a great read because I'm a football fan, but the principles discussed in the book go far deeper than the gridiron.

Trade Deadline

It would figure that 3 contenders in the NL East all made moves. One team got Mark Texeira (a BIG time player), one team got Luis Castillo (a nice consistent secondbasemen) and one team got Kyle Lohse.

Yep, while the Braves and Mets, well, especially the Braves, made huge upgrades to their team, the Phillies got Kyle Lohse.

To their credit, they did get Iguchi, who may turn out to be a better option than Luis Castillo.

And some baseball people said they should get some credit for being the only team to get starting pitching. To me, that's like saying to a someone at the buffet table, looks like we all got omelets, hashbrowns and pancakes...but hey...good job for getting a piece of toast.

Of course I don't think their playoff chances are, the, um, aforementioned..."toast" ....yet.

Also, they gave up still another minor leaguer to get Mateo from the Mariners (another Gillick special). There's a reason we don't have a very good farm system.

I saw Ryan Franklin's having a pretty good year for the Cardinals...as a reliever. I guess he finally came around to that idea.

Oh well, should be for another interesting end of summer for the Phillies. Like Joe has said, the baseball season usually winds down (in his case, the Cubs) in time for football season (Notre Dame). With the past few years being the exception, we've followed the same patterns...Phillies falling out of contention in August, Eagles starting pre-season games, and by September, Eagles-Redskins on Fox beats out Phillies-Nationals on CW in terms of must-see Sunday afternoon sports.

Maybe this year will be different .... history says otherwise....

Mail-o-rama

Then there's now a mailbox on our property.

After confusing our mail-person for a few days, we now have a post and mailbox in place.

Perhaps it was a sublimal resistance to getting more bills :)

Dakota Fun

Dakota's been a lot of fun recently. He's come up with some funny sayings or responses.

I found a book that Kristy had made for me, with pictures of Dakota and I called "10 reasons I love my daddy". I told Dakota I wanted to read it to him and he responded "I don't want to go to bed yet". We usually read to him before his nap.

He's also become a bit more opinionated, which we are dealing with. Someone taught him (Walmart crowd) to say things a bit more forceful (NO!), and so we need to teach him what is acceptable in speaking to others.

Last night we moved the rest of the shed things to the basement, so we're full to the "gills" but enjoying everything being under one roof.

We even survived our first plumbing issue...a check value needed to be replaced. That explained why the toilets were making a "glug, glug" sound when we flushed it.

Now to get things done before Dakota has a new sibling....

Phillies Pfun

Okay, so it was unexpected, but I ended up going to a Phillies game just 4 days after I attended one, and said it was the last of the year (unless they make playoffs).

It was rainy, I wasn't exactly sure if it was worth going...but it was free tickets, and so I went.

When we got there it was steamy and humid, but we sat in the shade, got some breezes, and had a good time.

The guys behind us sounded like they had an even better time. Two quick "hits" from the afternoon: after the PA system played the trumpet sound (du-du-du-DU-du-DUUU...CHARGE!) they one guy said "C'mon Ruiz, we gave you a du-du-du" (repeated sound). That one made me laugh. The other one was, "Man, they must put a chemical in this food to keep you hungry". I heard that a few times that afternoon, as they scarfed down food. Between them and the family to our right, there were a lot of $$$ flying around for food and beverages.

A few thoughts from the game: I was surprised to hear the loud booos when Alfonseca entered the game (he replaced Madsen who was injured). One strike later (a strikeout) everyone cheered. I hope "Alfie" has thick skin.

Same for Iguchi. He's the first Japanese born player to play in Philly. The guys behind us thought it was funny to say "c'mon mitsubishi" or whatever Japanese sounding words they could think of.

Replacing Utley is hard, but if he plays anything close to the 2005 form when he was with the White Sox, then all will be well. I'm not opposed to the Phillies acquiring the rest of that team...they already got Rowand, Garcia and Iguchi.

Moving Moving Moving

Thanks to some fantastic help from family, we moved in 3 days (Thu-Fri-Sat). We certainly haven't decreased our possessions/keepsakes/junk/stuff any. In hindsight, we should have had a big garage/yard sale, but I really thought we were in good shape.

Now the fun begins. The basement is pretty much covered in stuff that was storage, shed stuff, etc.

At least the upstairs looks fine (to me).

The Marathon

This week has been crazy, and it's only Wednesday. Most of it has been self-inflicted.

Monday we had inspection on the house. The inspectors found a few minor things. Monday night there was a softball game, but I worked on the house. (We won!)

Tuesday I went to Provident, and worked on some house things in the late afternoon. Then had a softball double-header, where I played the first game (lost) and left part-way through the second game (a win). I came back to finish up some for house things.

Today was a 2nd inspection, on the things I needed to finish from Monday's inspection. All went well, and we're finished with the inside inspections. Then we had a landscaping inspection and retention pond inspection. The "pond" passed, though if it ever is a pond for more than 72 hours, we'll have to replace sand, sod, etc. It's really kind of crazy, all it does is clean the water, and then drain the water out the back....which I guess is supposed to be a benefit to everyone. An expensive "benefit". Perhaps land engineers just find ways to spend other people's $$, but I shouldn't talk/write...I'm not an expert on engineering or the environment.

There are a few minor changes that need done with the "grading", so hopefully Dave will have that done in the next day, and we can still move in this weekend.

Tonight I should be raking topsoil, and seeding the lawn, but the Phillies are calling, and this may be (what's that Kristy...okay...will be) the last game I attend this year. Unless they make the playoffs.....

Christmas Pines

While it sounds like a place in a "Jay-Jay the Jet Plane" dvd/video, it's actually a campground that Kristy's family went to this weekend. Kristy and Dakota went up on Friday, and I came up after working at the store and house on Saturday.

It was a nice campground that featured a lot of people driving golf carts. Here's where I found it ironic, these people seemed to be pleasure riding, while my pregnant wife was walking a few hundred yards to the bathroom.

Dakota enjoyed the playground, where there was a "crawler" mini-excavator, and some diggers to play on. He also like swimming, though preferred to spend as much time out of the pool, as in the pool.

It was a nice fun weekend, for the most part relaxing, and really the deep breath before a stressful (hopefully last) week before we move.

Making Friends At the Lumber Yard

It's been another week of trips to Musselmans, Lowes, etc.

I found it amusing that when I was at Lowes, the song by U2 "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was playing over the in-store music. That seemed pretty appropriate at the time.

I've also been there at Lowes when the store opens at 6:00. It's interesting that around 6:15 they call everyone to the front of the store for a staff meeting. I'm pretty sure one thing they say is "serve the customers in your department".....hmmmm, kind of hard, isn't it? Bad time for a meeting.

If I felt like being belligerent, I would walk around and push those buttons that are for customer assistance in ____ department. The ones that cause an overhead announcement "Customer assistance needed in the tool department" Now those buttons are a nice feature, they tend to get employees out from the woodwork pretty quick.

Praise the Lord

We got electric at our new house! PPL came out Monday, and did their work.

Now we have a few things to wrap up, and hope to move in July 27-28.

What an answer to prayer! I was preparing myself mentally for electric in early August....Kristy was not ready to be that pessimistic. Everytime I saw a utility pole laying along the road, I would think to myself, I wonder if they're ahead of us on the "list" or behind us.

Lighting strikes Twice.....sort of

Thanks to some creative church softball scheduling, we got to play "Bethany" 3 times in 4 games. There's a lot of "background history" when it comes to softball, so we really wanted to beat them at least once in 3 (they're stacked with power hitters).

Friday night we got smoked, they were prepping for a tournament the next day, and were hitting the ball really well. Monday night they were missing a few guys, and we played a close game, until the 6th inning when went up 3 runs.

Not to be denied, we came back with 5 runs in the top of the 7th, and then lighting flashed, and flashed, and flashed, and we had to vacate the field. Being solid in the brain that we are, we then went on the other side of the fence, and stood around there.

So the field is empty, and no one is holding a metal bat in the air, but we're still standing together out in the open. I stood next to Linford and Sheldon, hey...they're taller :)

After 30 minutes they called the game, and we won! .....oh, wait....what?....I guess there is a rule that states if the inning is unfinished, and the game is called, it goes back to the score of the previous inning (or so "Bethany" claimed).

Regardless, we came back the next day, without any lightning storms, and played against them...again.

At the end of the game, we had won! Getting 3 in the bottom of the second to win!

A fun, slightly nerve-racking at the end, game.

Dakota and Stuart Little

This past Thursday, Dakota was sick. So, Kristy held him for most of the afternoon, and they watched Stuart Little......from here-on known as the "cat-mouse movie" by Dakota. This ranks closely to the "baby chick" movie (Happy Feet) which he enjoyed watching.

A quick note from it, it was funny to see the "House" main character (Hugh Laurie) play an upbeat, positive dad in Stuart Little (Hiddy-High, Hiddy-Ho). It's about the exact opposite of the cane-wielding, sarcastic, smirking doctor on "House, MD".

Friday the 13th

I guess it's a sign to how superstitious I am, I didn't realize it was Friday the 13th. The Phillies made a minor deal about it, they won 13-3, on the 13th, and had their 13th sell-out of the season.

Dakota Dictionary - Cubbers

Cubbers [cubbers] noun. plural.

1. Something that covers or is laid, placed, or spread over or upon something else, as:
a. a bed cover

When used in a sentence:

Daddy, more cubbers please? I want cubbers.

-
Dakota is a big cubbers guy, even in the summer. Thankfully he has kicked them off into the night. It would be hot and humid outside, but he would want a thin cubber, to cubber his body, when laying down to go to sleep.

Slammin Sammy Sosa

On one particularily humid night in June of '03, I was driving to Nappanee, Indiana for one of Kristy's softball games. As I was driving, I was listening to Pat Hughes and Ron Santo call the Cubs game, turned out they were playing the D-rays that night.

About 2 miles from the softball game, Sammy Sosa came to bat, and shattered his bat, with cork flying everywhere. I remember thinking it was a pretty big deal, a superstar slugger getting "caught" with cork in his bat. During a commercial break, I switched to ESPN Radio 1000 and they were all over it.

4 years later, Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune writes about the story and how Major League Baseball told the Cubs that they had 1 hour to get rid of any other corked bats, and apparently clubhouse personell rounded up 70 such bats, used by a bunch of players (no names given).

Interesting story. Reminds me of the Albert Belle story, where Jason Grimsley supposedly crawled through a crawlspace into the Umpires locker room, and replaced a corked bat with the conventional model.

Also reminds me about how our opponent last night was using a harder core baseball, and thus was hitting more home runs than normal......hmmmmm....

Sky, Shadow, Boss & Friends

Recently our church held it's annual summer bible school. It was interesting, this year, to experience it through Dakota.

I spent most evenings working on the house, but Dakota would come home, with one of his "bible buddies" and we'd talk about it.

There was "Sky" the eagle, "Boss" the steer, "Shadow" the cat, "Buck" the bronco, and one other one that I cannot seem to remember.

It is a nice experience to hear Dakota talk about sunday school, bible school, bible stories, etc. Often you're not sure how much he picks up....but he is almost always listening.

If the Amish can do it....

So today my dad and I framed a few walls in the basement, and to frame up the 2nd floor stairway area.

In terms of time and ease, I could have rented an air compressor and nail gun. Instead, I went to the old fashioned, nail-by-hammer-in-hand method.

Why you might ask?

Well, for the most part, I thought it would be manageable. It was, but I have a few blisters forming, and my arm is tired. Also, I wanted the experience of framing a few walls this way.

Oh well, if the Amish can do it....so can I. Now when it comes to farming or making electricity out of unconventional methods.....they have me there...

Weaver All-Star?

Last night I had the privilege of playing in our church softball league all-star game. I say privilege, not to over-glorify the event, or my participation, but rather to point out that any number of other guys from my team could have played in it as well.

It was a good night. I had 4 hits in 5 at-bats, 2 run scored, and 3 RBI's.

Now, before you think I am bragging, let me be quick to add that last year I went 0-3, so combine the 2 years, and I'm right on .500 (4-8), right in line with my "career" average.

Now I'm unofficially in the "deferment" stage of All-Star games. Those of us who have played in a few games, and now will defer so that others can participate.

This year was a lot of fun. Last year, I tried too hard, and well, 0-3 pretty much sums up trying to hard in softball.

Oh...and fearing my power (which I, um, don't have any) they put me in the cleanup spot in the lineup.

Paint by Number

Last night I did something kind of risky. A lot of the "final" decisions on the house have been made by Kristy, on what I would consider "littler things" but bigger in Kristy's eyes. Case in point, I bought a bathtub from the store, and was taking it home (a harrowing experience driving on Route 222 with a bathtub/shower on the back of my S-10). Long story short, Kristy didn't like it, and so I returned it and bought another one.

Well, we decided to paint our bedroom (it was mutual). I didn't really care what color, so Kristy picked out some paint samples, decided on a color, and I picked it up at the store. Last night I went to paint, and had this horrible thought....what if it's the wrong color.

Fortunately she was next door, and came over and confirmed that it was correct.

Whew!

It's a dark olive green...and looks pretty cool with the white ceiling. We'll revisit this opinion in 10 years.

Dakota Dictionary - Shoefly

Shoefly (SHU-fly) noun.

1. any of numerous two-winged insects of the order Diptera, for example the common housefly.

When used in a sentence:

"There's a shoefly"

"Daddy you hit the shoefly?"

--

At one point Dakota saw me swatting at flies, and went and got me the fly swatter from the bedroom. Apparently I wasn't doing a good enough job :)

Happy 4th of July

I think it's great that the 4th of July fell on a Wednesday this year. Last night I was working at the house, and it felt like today (Wednesday) was going to be a Saturday.

Now for those going back to work on Thursday and Friday, that might feel kind of weird, like a second Monday or something. Me, I'm taking off those 2 days to work on the house.

Initially I had hoped (rather optimistically....which I guess is what hope is) that we could be in a position to wrap things up this week, and move in next weekend. It looks like we're 2-3 weeks off that schedule, depending on PP&L. Crazy monopoly....I'd be content to get a utility pole and hookup from "savemart utility company".....where's a discount utility company when you need it :)

I need to tell myself, it will all work out, and when it does, we'll be in the house for a long, long time. However, even 2 weeks feels like a long time to wait right now...

New Basement Floor

Recently, John, Jason, Sheldon, Linford & Ervin lent a hand on a Saturday morning to pour concrete. The first issue that needed to be resolved was "how do we get the cement trucks to the back of the house?"

I assumed they could drive down the dirt ramp Dave had made, and pull up to the house. The drivers didn't think that would work, as the ground was soft in the area the would be turning around in. As they put it, "you'll have bigger problems than cement if we get stuck".

So, Ervin went and borrowed a neighbors tractor, and scooped away some of the top soil pile. This allowed drivers to drive straight across the lot, and avoided getting stuck.

With 3 wheelbarrowers, and John and Jason "floating"/leveling , it all got poured in 2-3 hours.

That's when the waiting process began. Unfortunately, because it was metered concrete, it took awhile to set up. However, half a day later, John and Jason were putting on the finishing touches with the trowler, and the job was done.

Then began the 48 hour period where I didn't want to walk on it, get dirt on it, have others walk on it, etc. It was like something that is brand new, you want to preserve the "newness" or something. Kristy, Dakota and I even ate supper off it Saturday night (okay, no we didn't).

After John Ray and I did some plumbing, and a few puddles from the storm, I felt a little different, as it lost it's newness, and became a regular basement floor.

Let me rephrase that, a really nice regular basement floor. My dad, and subsequent friends/workers/subcontractors all commented on how nice the floor looked. John and Jason did a great job.

Now to get those steps finished....

Interesting Baseball Articles

Phil Rogers, Chicago sports columnist wrote an interesting article on White Sox picture Mark Buerhle.

At one point Buerhle talks about proposing to his wife in a deer stand, and dealing with the redneck jokes the followed. His logic....I like the outdoors, and I like to hunt. Kristy said "I hope his wife does too..."

Also...

As the Phillies near 10,000 loses, no other professional sports franchise has more loses, there are a lot of articles being written about that. Sports Illustrated did a short piece, and some Philly papers have done some articles as well.

What's interesting is not that they've lost so many games, it's who's next on the list.......the Atlanta Braves. I would have never guessed that. Granted, the Braves have a 325 game lead in that category, and have been in existence 7 years longer, but still....after the past 15 years of record-setting division titles....they are seen as a winner.

So I guess it gives some hope....maybe by the time I'm 45-50, the Philles could be seen in that same light. History on the other hand tells us.......

Progress

Progress has been steady. At times I'm sure Kristy wishes it would be faster. Today the Heating and Air Conditioning guys are going to work at installing that system.

As it turns out, I went to the same grade school as one of the workers, Brian. His brother Merlin was in my class.

Right now, aside from the many items on the to-do list, we're waiting, hoping, praying, that PPL can get their portion of the job done in a reasonable time period. For now we press ahead, with the hope that it all comes together sooner rather than later.

Dakota Dictionary

Twips [TWipps] noun.

Def. A thin slice of potato fried in deep fat until crisp and then usually seasoned. Often used in the plural.

When used in a sentence : "More twips please!" "Mommy, Daddy, more twips please!" "Dakota please don't climb on the chair to get more twips".

Goshen

From what I've heard, today is the last day for Christian Light in Goshen, Indiana. There were a lot of memories in that building. I spent 4 years working hard (with the help of great staff) to try and make that location and buisness a successful one, as a Provident Bookstore.

I still think the decision to sell the store was a good one. However, I also think the community would have supported a christian bookstore, if in a better location.

I wonder what will be done with the building? Just think, my old office area might turn into a living room, kitchen, etc?

Stairway to ???

What kind of stairway do you get when you pull together a bookstore guy, a farmer and an appliance repair techncian?

One with plenty of head scratching, what if we did this, and erasing of pencil lines.

I started the stair building process by doing some measuring, and deciding that if we could make the "rise" of each step a certain length, and we knew the height, that the length could be calculated.

Darren joined me, and we found out that my calculations were off. It didn't hold out well for length (we had a mini-step).

Linford wandered over after waking up, and gave help in the calcualtions, followed by Ervin, and Grandpa Eberly, and in the end, we have something that will work....

WOW! Here's where my optimism got me in trouble. I assumed that I could figure it out. It would take time, but I would figure it out. I did appreciate the help, and the cookies brought by Darren for a quick cookie-break, but in the end, I probably should have just bought a stairway from Musselmans.

This afternoon, I saw that there a few calculators on the Internet that could calculate the "rise" and "run"....but in the end, I tried to make it work for a specific height of steps (rise) and thus, it made it more difficult and time consuming.

In the end, it was an unusual day, but a memorable one, even if for the wrong reasons.

Tale of 3 Lumber Yards

Kristy and I spent part of our tax refund on Lowe's gift cards, anticipating the future house, and all the costs involved in that. You might know the deal, spend $90 of your refund, get $10 free for a total of $100 in gift cards.

To be completely honest, even though it's now almost 2 years later, I still miss the Menards in Goshen. They had this really cool rebate program where you got stuff "essentially" free, it took a mail in rebate, and the use of the follow-up gift certificate post card to make it free. It was a nice cycle, buy something, send in rebate to get gift certificate to buy other building supplies. Over time, I came to know where everything was located, who would know the answers to my questions, etc. The only complaint I had with them was their obnoxious jingle they played over the store system (it included banjos).

However, when it comes to pricing, which right now ranks pretty high, I noticed that Lowes isn't always the Lowest price. Musselmans Lumber has been getting our business because they have better prices and seem to have better lumber. Lowes is the classic "do-it yourself, find-it yourself" store. Sales associates don't seem to have a clue how to answer questions or find stuff, now if you can be lucky and get the department manager (as I did last night), then that's a different story...otherwise it's "yeah, that's in Aisle 12" .... okay, is that a guess, or do you know for sure.

Musselmans is set-up to serve the customer. They are smaller (obviously) and have a open office area right inside the door. It's almost the direct opposite of Lowes. For the most part, you go to them, and they get it for you. Billing and customer service are all tied together in that office area. So far, no complaints. Now let's talk after the bills come due....

Raise Da Roof!

Fascinating process...after the 2 units were set, the next step was to start "raising the roof". The workers cranked up the boom box, started doing a Jamacian dance and someone got out the "limbo" pole.

Or, the crane lifted the first piece of hinged roof in place, and the workers, instead of dancing, started nailing the "knee wall" in place, as you see in the picture. Notice on the top of the raised roof, that the "peak" is still hinged back, and will lift into place when the roof is almost finished.

Here you see the last of 3 wall pieces for the "gable" end. The 2 triangles round out the corners, and the hexagon forms the middle. Wonder of wonders, it all fit!

It was a HOT HOT day, those guys worked their butts off. We sat in the shade and watched. At least we offered them lunch, which probably doesn't happen at every job.

Up, Up, and Away

Perhaps, after seeing the basement walls get craned in place, we lost our "anxiety" over the whole process. I know I enjoyed seeing the 2 halves get moved into place. However, if you really think about it...it's just one cable-break away from having MAJOR problems. That being said, the heart rate was normal, and anxiety was surprising low.

The event drew quite a crowd. All the Zeiset cousins were present, as well as a few aunts, great aunts and grandma's & grandpas. The neighbors (not ERA) even walked over for a closer inspection.

All in all, it was an exciting day, and we were happy to walk through our new home for the first time!


I'll post pictures of the roof process soon, that was pretty cool as well.

Stones

Dakota has loved / is loving this building process. He's played in the stones, and has climbed the dirt piles outside the house. Since he likes the Bob the Builder characters, he gets a chance to see "them" in action. At least its not the "wiggles" :)

Operational Efficiency

I love the idea that, instead of making 2 trips, why not just load up to trailors and make one trip. Makes sense to me.

I think everyone should have access to a personal crane.

Cucumber Cola

I hear that Pepsi is introducing a new cucumber cola drink? At first impression, I didn't want anything to do with it, but it might be okay? What's the next step for test marketing, Europe, then the U.S?

Apparently the Japanese are buying into it.

Here come the Walls

The pre-cast guys and I had an interesting exchange. They wondered if the foundation was too close to the road, I said I thought "that" stake was the set-back. To which they replied "You think! We don't want to have come back to move the house". "Obviously" I replied. (DUH! I don't want you to have to move the house either). So, I re-measured the set-back from the road, and we were fine.

Here's a picture of the walls/crane in action.

A diversion from building

Okay....so I gave Kristy a hard time because when she and Elizabeth went out for lunch, their order took an extra long time, and the waiter/waitress asked if they wanted anything "free" to make up for the extra long wait. So, they chose a broccoli salad. "WHAT!" I said, of all things free, you got a broccoli salad.

So, then last night, Kristy made a tangy broccoli salad...and after a hard day of work in the sun, working on our house, I actually ate some. And enjoyed it! Wow! Who knew? I always called broccoli that foul weed, stemming (yes stemming) from a childhood experience with hot broccoli. Who knew cold broccoli, with the right dressing, could actually be good?

Dave at Work

After a night of staking out, Dave got

the "ball" rolling with some excavation.

Dakota did some rollin'. (he's doing his best Bob the Builder impersonation).

The Beginning

Thanks to Joe Miller for introducing me to Google's version of the blog. When we lived in Indiana, I was a big emailer of info, stories, events...as that was a great way to tell anyone who had time to read, what was going on.

I like this format better, because it is less intrusive to the reader (you come to visit me), and allows people to "catch up" on blogs, if they choose to.

So....I present "the blog".... and the pictures of our house and projects, stories, links, etc that follow.