With Alison's cheer tryouts coming up next month, Kris and I happened to be talking about Homecoming this fall since if Ali makes the cheer team, she'll have to cheer at the game. Sarah's "Family Weekend" in LaCrosse is scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 14th, and I happened to mention this to Kris and ask if the Falls had their homecoming scheduled yet.
I mentioned something to the effect of "wouldn't it be just perfect if it was the same weekend as Family Weekend in LaCrosse." Kris had to call school for something else and she happened to ask if they knew when Homecoming was scheduled for the coming fall. She didn't know off the top of her head, but they did have the date on next year's calendar, it just isn't posted yet. So the secretary went to look it up and of course, it ends up being on the same weekend. Perfect! So now we'll have to make a choice to make; well not exactly. We are not about to leave Alison home alone. And who knows, maybe Sarah will want to come home in the fall for homecoming to see her friends. I came home my first couple of years I was in college for homecoming to see my friends, and after all, isn't that what homecoming is for? I guess we can always drive up and visit Sarah on a weekend, it doesn't have to be the family weekend. Besides, she probably wouldn't want her parents dragging her down on a weekend. But we'll figure it all out.
Friday, April 29, 2016
Fixed The Grill
I finally got around to fixing the grill when I was outside getting things cleaned up. I was debating whether or not I should actually fix it, or just go and buy a new one. The current grill is something like 15 years old and has seen two burner replacements, a charcoal/lava rock grate replacement, and the cooking grill/surface has been replaced. After evaluating the cost of a new one, I decided to go with the "fix it" option, because I already have the JB Weld to fix the current grill while a new one would have cost a minimum of $200. Not a tough call really. I suppose I will keep the idea of a new one on the "back burner" (no pun intended) and maybe by the fall, I can get a new one when they are on clearance for the season.
So it took a little bit of doing to get the break in the bowl lined up and then getting it set so it will stay in place while the epoxy dries. I got it done and checked a day later. I ended up needing to give it a second coat, or application, because some of what I had put on the crack "dripped" or ran while it was holding. So now there is a bit of a divot at the top of the crack from where the epoxy flowed while it was still in the liquid state and not quite dry yet. So I mixed up a little bit more and this time I let it sit and thicken before I spread it in the crack so I could smooth it out and be sure it wouldn't drip again. So far so good. So looks like I'll get another season of grilling out of it.
So it took a little bit of doing to get the break in the bowl lined up and then getting it set so it will stay in place while the epoxy dries. I got it done and checked a day later. I ended up needing to give it a second coat, or application, because some of what I had put on the crack "dripped" or ran while it was holding. So now there is a bit of a divot at the top of the crack from where the epoxy flowed while it was still in the liquid state and not quite dry yet. So I mixed up a little bit more and this time I let it sit and thicken before I spread it in the crack so I could smooth it out and be sure it wouldn't drip again. So far so good. So looks like I'll get another season of grilling out of it.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
A Bird Exploded
I was at work today when I got a text message from Sarah saying that a hawk got a bird in the backyard. I asked how she knew that and she said it was because there were feathers all over the backyard. At first I thought, "Are you sure it was a hawk?" because we have had neighborhood cats (or maybe feral ones) get birds in the backyard before. I thought that I would just wait until I got home and see for myself what she was talking about. This is what it looked like when I got out of the car:
Yep, definitely doesn't look like a cat got it. The birds that I know cats got left much more of a carcass. This looks like someone stuffed a firecracker in the birds beak and lit the fuse. And after seeing the feathers, my first reaction was good, it was a grackle and not a nice song bird. I hate those stupid grackles and I think we could do without another one of them. I am not sure exactly though where it was eaten. All I could see was the pile of feathers, no other body parts. Maybe it just got snagged in the yard and it flew off and ate it someplace else. Either way, I suppose I'll have to look thru the grass. I wouldn't want to run over a bird head when I am mowing the lawn.
Yep, definitely doesn't look like a cat got it. The birds that I know cats got left much more of a carcass. This looks like someone stuffed a firecracker in the birds beak and lit the fuse. And after seeing the feathers, my first reaction was good, it was a grackle and not a nice song bird. I hate those stupid grackles and I think we could do without another one of them. I am not sure exactly though where it was eaten. All I could see was the pile of feathers, no other body parts. Maybe it just got snagged in the yard and it flew off and ate it someplace else. Either way, I suppose I'll have to look thru the grass. I wouldn't want to run over a bird head when I am mowing the lawn.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Field Events
Alison is not happy with her "new" events for the upcoming track meet. For some reason, her coaches decided to have her compete in the shot put and in the discus (at least the plan is to have her do them in the next meet). While I am not unopposed to her trying new, different events, you also can't give someone a day of practice in these event and just expect them to compete. There is a particular technique that you need in order to do these events. It isn't like having someone to run the 200 meters instead of a 100 meters.
While Alison doesn't want to do them, I give her credit for agreeing to try them. I wish they had practice a little later in the day so that I could possibly manage my work schedule and maybe volunteer to coach a little bit. Then again, I'm not a teacher, so I don't know how much I would be able to do. It's not in the contract you know.
While Alison doesn't want to do them, I give her credit for agreeing to try them. I wish they had practice a little later in the day so that I could possibly manage my work schedule and maybe volunteer to coach a little bit. Then again, I'm not a teacher, so I don't know how much I would be able to do. It's not in the contract you know.
Senioritis
As the year is winding down, Sarah is starting to come down with a bad case of senioritis, or otherwise known as a case of "I don't care". Her classes this year were fairly easy, except for her two AP courses, biology and calculus. The AP exams are coming up shortly, and after those are done, the classwork gets to be more independent, project type work instead of actually doing work out of the book.
I get the frustration. I remember taking blow off courses my senior year, and actually being very disinterested once I was accepted to college so that all I needed to do was pass. I think Sarah is at the same point, except that she has the AP courses, which could save a little time and money with college. It seems to apply to everything, not just her classes, but scholarship applications, work, etc... It sort of makes me wonder if this will continue once she gets to college, or if this is just a function of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Because when she gets to college, she isn't going to have Kris or me kicking her in the butt to get her work done, which could lead to big problems.
I get the frustration. I remember taking blow off courses my senior year, and actually being very disinterested once I was accepted to college so that all I needed to do was pass. I think Sarah is at the same point, except that she has the AP courses, which could save a little time and money with college. It seems to apply to everything, not just her classes, but scholarship applications, work, etc... It sort of makes me wonder if this will continue once she gets to college, or if this is just a function of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Because when she gets to college, she isn't going to have Kris or me kicking her in the butt to get her work done, which could lead to big problems.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
"New" Computers
After I had my laptop crash I took a look at the other computers in the house. I think that it may be time to upgrade Kris's desktop since it is older than even my first laptop. I remember getting the girls' computer the same time that I bought my first laptop. That was, if memory serves me, the summer before Sarah started 6th grade so she would have a computer rto do her school work on and wouldn't need to fight with Kris to use hers. Kris's desktop is at least a year older than that. I have upgraded her operating system a couple of times, and I think it originally came with Windows 98. I then had it running XP for the longest time and finally upgraded it to Vista about a year ago. Since I have heard the Microsoft is phasing out its support of Vista, and my new laptop has Windows 10, I guess that it is about time to finally get the other computers in the house upgraded.
I am debating whether to get a second desktop for Ali (since Sarah will be gone away at college this fall) or maybe buy a laptop for her to do her school work, She will end up getting one thru the school district next year, but if she ends up having the same kind of problems that Sarah had with hers for the last couple of years, I would just use the "technology fee" toward getting her a laptop of her own. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet. It is just a matter of time while I figure out exactly what is going to work best.
I am debating whether to get a second desktop for Ali (since Sarah will be gone away at college this fall) or maybe buy a laptop for her to do her school work, She will end up getting one thru the school district next year, but if she ends up having the same kind of problems that Sarah had with hers for the last couple of years, I would just use the "technology fee" toward getting her a laptop of her own. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet. It is just a matter of time while I figure out exactly what is going to work best.
On The Way
Well the new computer is on the way. After thoughtfully searching out exactly what I wanted, I ordered my new Dell laptop. I never really liked the last one I had. I got it when the previous laptop died (just like this one) and I ended up ordering one the same day without doing a lot of research on it. With this one, I checked into the O/S, RAM, processor, figured out what I would be using it for, etc. and actually made an informed choice this time. Hopefully it will pay off. So it is on the way, and according to the Dell site, should be here in two weeks, though they usually arrive in less time than that.
Monday, April 25, 2016
New Events
At the end of last week, Alison came home from track practice to inform us that her coach was going to have her do the shot put and the discus. I asked, "what happened to doing the hurdles?" and she said that none of the girls wanted to do the shot put or discus, so Ali was just sort of "chosen". I suppose ti would be fine, but Alison has never done either before in her life, and they don't get a lot of instruction on proper technique. the funny thing is that she still hasn't done either, because even though they were supposed to try out every event, Alison didn't get around to doing shot put or discus (in addition to a couple of other events). I don't know exactly how that will end up working.
I told her that I put the shot (yes, that is how you say it) when I did track, and that it isn't all that hard, but if you don't put it right and you do more of a throw, you can end up messing up your shoulder. there are a couple other things that you can do to help get a little more distance on your puts, but for the most part there isn't any sort of complicated style or system to it. The main thing is the push, not throw. I do think that your attempt will be DQ'd if you throw it (in addition to screwing up your shoulder).
The discus is a little more difficult in that you need to time your spin and get your footwork down properly or you'll end up tossing it out of bounds. I would bet that no one wants to do it because they are looked at like "moose" events, meaning you have to be sort of a brute to do it. But if she can get the technique down Alison could be OK at them. But as I said, it appears that there isn't a lot of one on one coaching so I am not sure she'd get any sort of help with it. She doesn't find out what she'll be doing, or if she is competing or just doing exhibition until the day of the meet, so we'll see what happens. For her sake, I hope they put her on the hurdles.
I told her that I put the shot (yes, that is how you say it) when I did track, and that it isn't all that hard, but if you don't put it right and you do more of a throw, you can end up messing up your shoulder. there are a couple other things that you can do to help get a little more distance on your puts, but for the most part there isn't any sort of complicated style or system to it. The main thing is the push, not throw. I do think that your attempt will be DQ'd if you throw it (in addition to screwing up your shoulder).
The discus is a little more difficult in that you need to time your spin and get your footwork down properly or you'll end up tossing it out of bounds. I would bet that no one wants to do it because they are looked at like "moose" events, meaning you have to be sort of a brute to do it. But if she can get the technique down Alison could be OK at them. But as I said, it appears that there isn't a lot of one on one coaching so I am not sure she'd get any sort of help with it. She doesn't find out what she'll be doing, or if she is competing or just doing exhibition until the day of the meet, so we'll see what happens. For her sake, I hope they put her on the hurdles.
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Staring the List
Since we finally had a nice weekend I was able to get outside and finish raking the backyard. However, in doing so, I was able to start the list of tings to do before Sarah's graduation. Between getting the yard and patio ready and the projects in the house that Kris wants done. I am pretty sure that every free moment from now until mid-June will be spent doing something or other around here to get the yard, or the house ready to have guests over. I guess it's goodbye to actually sitting on my butt when I get home from work until the 4th of July.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Home Improvement Projects
Of all the projects I need to do around the house, there are two that I am simply dreading having to tackle, and both are plumbing related projects. The first is replacing the water softener. That is going to be a chore and a half mainly because I'll need to solder as well as shut off the water to do it. Whenever the water gets turned off and then back on, sediment always ends up clogging up faucet screens. Additionally, I worry I'll mess up a joint which will result in water leaking all over the place.. But that can certainly wait in the overall scheme of things. It has need to be replaced for the past two or three years so a little while longer isn't going to hurt.
The more pressing issue is replacing the drain pipe from the downstairs bathroom into the main sewer line. On the surface it looked like an easy fix. However, the more I study what I need to do, I realize it will require busting a hole into the wall and breaking out the sawzall to cut off pipes. the current set up has two 90° elbows in the wall, and in order to get them out I will need to cut the pipes into a couple of sections. Putting a new pipe in looks to be easy on the surface, but I have found that is usually never the case. hopefully I can get it pretty much assembled ahead of time so all it will take is sliding the pieces together and gluing the joints. I plan on going to PVC pipe from the old steel pipes. I think that will make it go easier too. Then I will just need to worry about patching the hole in the wall. But as I said, with almost every project I have ever done around the house, unforeseen problems always come up which leads to what was planned as being a one hour project taking an entire day (if not more).
The more pressing issue is replacing the drain pipe from the downstairs bathroom into the main sewer line. On the surface it looked like an easy fix. However, the more I study what I need to do, I realize it will require busting a hole into the wall and breaking out the sawzall to cut off pipes. the current set up has two 90° elbows in the wall, and in order to get them out I will need to cut the pipes into a couple of sections. Putting a new pipe in looks to be easy on the surface, but I have found that is usually never the case. hopefully I can get it pretty much assembled ahead of time so all it will take is sliding the pieces together and gluing the joints. I plan on going to PVC pipe from the old steel pipes. I think that will make it go easier too. Then I will just need to worry about patching the hole in the wall. But as I said, with almost every project I have ever done around the house, unforeseen problems always come up which leads to what was planned as being a one hour project taking an entire day (if not more).
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Shaking Things Up
After the first track meet of the year, it looks like things are being shaken up a little bit. The team didn't get much practice before the starts of the meets, so I think the coaches still don't know what everyone's best events are. So Ali told us that everyone was going to get to try every event this week so they could evaluate and place the kids in the events that they were best at. Somehow, Alison got put into the 100m hurdles. She has never, ever done hurdles before. She also got timed in the 200m and got 35 seconds. Not too bad I guess, but supposedly her friends were all in the 28 second range. Like I said earlier, I don't think Alison is a sprinter. I think that she might be good at middle distances if she could get a handle on her breathing and her pacing. Then again, what do I know, I'm not the coach.
I guess we'll see where she ends up in her next meet. I think of the two events, the 200m (as well as the 4 x 200m relay) and the 100m hurdles, the hurdles might end up being a better event for her.
I guess we'll see where she ends up in her next meet. I think of the two events, the 200m (as well as the 4 x 200m relay) and the 100m hurdles, the hurdles might end up being a better event for her.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
First Meet of the Year
Alison had her first track meet today. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting since I haven't been to a track meet since I did it back in 1983, but they have a huge team! Ali didn't even know what events she was going to be doing until the day before. She wanted to do the high jump, and long jump, but was told she wouldn't be "competing", and would rather be doing an exhibition. I suppose that is the code for letting the not so good kids participate, but their results wouldn't be counted toward the final score of the competition.
She ended up running the first leg of 800m relay, or as they call it, the 4 x 200. I thought she did pretty well overall, but after the first 100 to 120 meters she sort of started to die. I don't know if it was the fact that she has trouble breathing from asthma or she is just not in shape for running 200m. Overall though, her team finished first in their heat for the girls. That was the other thing that I found strange. They ran the boys and girls together, and mixed 7th and 8th grade. I suppose it makes sense since there are so many kids and it would take forever if they didn't. I remember when I was her age running track, we combined the 7th and 8th grade into one team score, there was no 7th grade team or 8th grade team. Also, boys and girls competed separately. I'm not sure if that changed somewhere along the line, or is just because our teams were so much smaller competing for a Catholic school.
Also, the Falls' team was about twice the size of the school they were competing against (Slinger). So they should have won by mere numbers alone. And what was originally scheduled to last from 4:00 - 6:00 lasted until almost 7:00 in order to get everyone's events completed. The Falls did end up winning, so that was good. Next week they have two meets scheduled, one in West Bend, and one in Sussex. Hopefully Ali will get to actually compete for points next week. Her attitude is not so much that she wants to win, but at least get better. So regardless of whether she gets to actually compete, or wins or not, we're proud of her for just going out to give it a try.
She ended up running the first leg of 800m relay, or as they call it, the 4 x 200. I thought she did pretty well overall, but after the first 100 to 120 meters she sort of started to die. I don't know if it was the fact that she has trouble breathing from asthma or she is just not in shape for running 200m. Overall though, her team finished first in their heat for the girls. That was the other thing that I found strange. They ran the boys and girls together, and mixed 7th and 8th grade. I suppose it makes sense since there are so many kids and it would take forever if they didn't. I remember when I was her age running track, we combined the 7th and 8th grade into one team score, there was no 7th grade team or 8th grade team. Also, boys and girls competed separately. I'm not sure if that changed somewhere along the line, or is just because our teams were so much smaller competing for a Catholic school.
Also, the Falls' team was about twice the size of the school they were competing against (Slinger). So they should have won by mere numbers alone. And what was originally scheduled to last from 4:00 - 6:00 lasted until almost 7:00 in order to get everyone's events completed. The Falls did end up winning, so that was good. Next week they have two meets scheduled, one in West Bend, and one in Sussex. Hopefully Ali will get to actually compete for points next week. Her attitude is not so much that she wants to win, but at least get better. So regardless of whether she gets to actually compete, or wins or not, we're proud of her for just going out to give it a try.
Family Ties
A couple of days ago I got a phone call from a "long lost" relative. Well, not so lost really, more like long, or just distant, I guess. One of my hobbies, on again and off again, for the last 15 years or so has been working our family tree. I am hardly even an amateur genealogist, but I find it interesting when I come across new names. It all began years and years ago with a handwritten tree that was made by my aunt with more or less immediate family members on one side of the family. I started with a family tree program that I got when I bought my first computer and have just been adding on ever since. With the ever growing list of resources via the internet and adding in Kris's side of the family I have slowly gathered 600+ names in our tree.
Late last year when I had some time, I decided to start searching down some of the dead branches of the family tree and managed to find the name of a cousin of my grandfather. This was a name that was on the original handwritten tree, but had been one of those branches that never went anywhere because I could never find anything. I was searching it again, and I forget what i managed to put into Google this time around but it churned up an old obituary from 2010. Her husband had died but the obituary listed her maiden name, Hahn. it said they were longtime residents Menomonee Falls, and I thought the name looked familiar for some reason. I asked Sarah if she knew the last name, and she said, "oh yeah, that's Evan's last name". So after a little bit of digging it turns out that this cousin of my grandfather is actually the great grandmother of one of her friends (who now turns out to be a cousin, albeit distant, 4th cousins).
I had asked Sarah to ask her friend if he could get his great-grandma's address for me since I thought it would be interesting to possibly meet her. Well that never happened, but I was able to find an address for her right here in the Falls, so I ended up writing a short letter and about a week later now, I get a call from her. She was so excited to find out that there were Hahns living right near her. We only talked for a few minutes; she was rushed and I didn't want to keep her, but she did invite me to come over and offered to show me all kinds of old family photos. Unfortunately, we're a little bit swamped as well getting ready for graduation, but as soon as things settle down a little bit, I'll be calling her back to set something up. How exciting to find new family members!
Late last year when I had some time, I decided to start searching down some of the dead branches of the family tree and managed to find the name of a cousin of my grandfather. This was a name that was on the original handwritten tree, but had been one of those branches that never went anywhere because I could never find anything. I was searching it again, and I forget what i managed to put into Google this time around but it churned up an old obituary from 2010. Her husband had died but the obituary listed her maiden name, Hahn. it said they were longtime residents Menomonee Falls, and I thought the name looked familiar for some reason. I asked Sarah if she knew the last name, and she said, "oh yeah, that's Evan's last name". So after a little bit of digging it turns out that this cousin of my grandfather is actually the great grandmother of one of her friends (who now turns out to be a cousin, albeit distant, 4th cousins).
I had asked Sarah to ask her friend if he could get his great-grandma's address for me since I thought it would be interesting to possibly meet her. Well that never happened, but I was able to find an address for her right here in the Falls, so I ended up writing a short letter and about a week later now, I get a call from her. She was so excited to find out that there were Hahns living right near her. We only talked for a few minutes; she was rushed and I didn't want to keep her, but she did invite me to come over and offered to show me all kinds of old family photos. Unfortunately, we're a little bit swamped as well getting ready for graduation, but as soon as things settle down a little bit, I'll be calling her back to set something up. How exciting to find new family members!
Monday, April 18, 2016
AP Exam Time
In a couple of weeks Sarah will be taking her AP exams. If scores high enough on the tests, she'll get college credit for the classes in high school. However, she is also going to be taking her UW placement tests in a couple of weeks too. So I don't exactly know how that will work if she gets credit for her math class, but then gets placed into some other math class based on her placement tests. She had to schedule her placement tests ahead of time and I think she is going to take Math and English, at least that is usually what you have to take. She also registered to take the Spanish placement, but I don't know if she'll actually take it or not.
It would seem to me that if she scored high enough with her calculus test that she really wouldn't even need to take the math placement test. I suppose it is something that we don't need to worry about until she actually gets her scores. It would really stink if she had to take the exam and still gets placed in algebra when she would get credit for a higher level class.
It would seem to me that if she scored high enough with her calculus test that she really wouldn't even need to take the math placement test. I suppose it is something that we don't need to worry about until she actually gets her scores. It would really stink if she had to take the exam and still gets placed in algebra when she would get credit for a higher level class.
Friday, April 15, 2016
Laptop Issues
I recently stared having problems with my laptop. The week after Sarah got home from Spring Break and back to actually doing school work, she asked if she could use my laptop. Her school one apparently kept crashing (so glad we paid the technology fee for that piece of crap). About a day or so later, I started getting the same sort of problems with my laptop, i.e. the dreaded Microsoft "blue screen of death". I would just shut down and restart and then it would crash again 10-15 minutes later. I initially thought that it had something to do with the school website since Sarah's school laptop was doing the same thing.
I did a little digging around online and found a suggestion that recommended doing a system restore, which I decided to try. When I did it, a window popped up that said there were errors, or damage. Basically something that needed repair. So I ran that option, which took about 8 hours, and then restored the laptop to approximately a week earlier.
It then ran great for about the next week or so. Then Kris used it to do a presentation for work. When she got home and plugged it in, it wouldn't boot up and just kept making beeps. Not good. I waited a day or two while I tried to research online what the problem might be. After a couple of days with no luck in getting it to reboot, I called a guy. I had used him previously when I had a crash that I couldn't recover from a couple of years ago, so I figured whatever was wrong was over my level of expertise and it was probably time for a professional to have a look.
I told him what was wrong and he took it with him to, I assume, hook it up to whatever equipment he needs and run whatever tests that will tell him what is wrong with it. Then I get the call. Apparently the motherboard is bad and really is not feasible to repair. The good news, however, is that the hard drive is recoverable. I didn't have a whole lot left on it, because after the first few crashes I started moving data (pictures, home movies, important files, etc.) onto flash drives, just in case there was something seriously wrong. So now I had the computer guy just move the data over to an external hard drive. So now I get to start shopping for a new laptop. This time I am going to take my time and figure out exactly what I need in terms of memory, processor, etc. And I may just move all the pictures I have onto that external drive since I'll have almost 1TB of free space on it to use once that data is moved back to the new laptop, if I decide to move it back at all.
I did a little digging around online and found a suggestion that recommended doing a system restore, which I decided to try. When I did it, a window popped up that said there were errors, or damage. Basically something that needed repair. So I ran that option, which took about 8 hours, and then restored the laptop to approximately a week earlier.
It then ran great for about the next week or so. Then Kris used it to do a presentation for work. When she got home and plugged it in, it wouldn't boot up and just kept making beeps. Not good. I waited a day or two while I tried to research online what the problem might be. After a couple of days with no luck in getting it to reboot, I called a guy. I had used him previously when I had a crash that I couldn't recover from a couple of years ago, so I figured whatever was wrong was over my level of expertise and it was probably time for a professional to have a look.
I told him what was wrong and he took it with him to, I assume, hook it up to whatever equipment he needs and run whatever tests that will tell him what is wrong with it. Then I get the call. Apparently the motherboard is bad and really is not feasible to repair. The good news, however, is that the hard drive is recoverable. I didn't have a whole lot left on it, because after the first few crashes I started moving data (pictures, home movies, important files, etc.) onto flash drives, just in case there was something seriously wrong. So now I had the computer guy just move the data over to an external hard drive. So now I get to start shopping for a new laptop. This time I am going to take my time and figure out exactly what I need in terms of memory, processor, etc. And I may just move all the pictures I have onto that external drive since I'll have almost 1TB of free space on it to use once that data is moved back to the new laptop, if I decide to move it back at all.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Turning Up the Stress
As the year is winding down, things are starting to get a little stressful for Sarah. She has her finals in about six weeks, and her AP ones in a little more than two as well as her placement tests for UW-LaCrosse. Additionally, she has scholarship applications that she needs to finish as well as work, which will be ramping up as the spring planting season approaches. Working at a garden center means that this is the busiest time of the year, which doesn't work well with school exams and finding time to study. Lately she has been working at least one full day on the weekend (A full 8 hours) as well as three days during the week for 4 or 5 hours (usually 4:00 or 4:30 until 9:00). I think the stress is starting to get to her. Maybe it is good since she'll have a taste of what time management will be like for her next year at college. But I think things will ease up a little by mid-May.
Monday, April 11, 2016
Track and Field
With the end of cheerleading and the start of the Spring sports season, Alison has been hemming and hawing about trying out for the track team this year. And when I say "try out" I mean actually running track since n o one ends up getting cut from the team. To that end, the North Middle School track team has over 100 kids participating from 7th and 8th grade. I think that part of it is the fact that there aren't any other sanctioned school sports for the spring, such as baseball or softball, so if you wanted to participate in something, track is it. The only question I have now is what events she'll be doing. I can tell that she is no sprinter, so those events are out, and she doesn't want to run long distance, so those are out. I'm not sure exactly what that leaves.
I know she was talking about wanted to try the high jump, and maybe the long jump. Those were both events that I did so maybe I could help her out a little bit. With over 100 kids, I am not sure about how much actual coaching they will end up getting. The school had asked for volunteers to help out, and if the practice times had worked out with my new work schedule, I would have loved to have helped. Unfortunately, they have practice immediately after school, and I don't think leaving work at 2:30 would fly.
I know she was talking about wanted to try the high jump, and maybe the long jump. Those were both events that I did so maybe I could help her out a little bit. With over 100 kids, I am not sure about how much actual coaching they will end up getting. The school had asked for volunteers to help out, and if the practice times had worked out with my new work schedule, I would have loved to have helped. Unfortunately, they have practice immediately after school, and I don't think leaving work at 2:30 would fly.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Spring Has Sprung
After what seemed like a wet few weeks, I was finally able to get outside and start to work on raking the grass. As much as I like the way it looks after it is done, I absolutely loathe doing it. I am sure I say that every year, but it's true.
I didn't have much of a window of opportunity because I had other things to do and there was rain on the way, but I was able to get most of the front yard done in about 4 hours. My arms are aching, but at least it's done. Plus, it is much easier to try pulling weeds now (such as clover and dandelions) before they get growing and I have to start spraying weed killer. I try not to use weed preventing fertilizer because as I found out years ago, it also inhibits grown of new grass. And I have found quite a few dead and thin spots that will need to be seeded. But at least it felt good to actually get outside and do something after being cooped up in the house for the winter.
I didn't have much of a window of opportunity because I had other things to do and there was rain on the way, but I was able to get most of the front yard done in about 4 hours. My arms are aching, but at least it's done. Plus, it is much easier to try pulling weeds now (such as clover and dandelions) before they get growing and I have to start spraying weed killer. I try not to use weed preventing fertilizer because as I found out years ago, it also inhibits grown of new grass. And I have found quite a few dead and thin spots that will need to be seeded. But at least it felt good to actually get outside and do something after being cooped up in the house for the winter.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Another Repair
Since Sarah is away and doesn't need her car, it is the perfect time to get it in to have the thermostat and fixed. I did get some potentially good news however. When the mechanic got in to have a close look at things, he thinks that one of the problems may be causing the other. Apparently, the thermostat is never really getting up to "operating temperature". As a result, the on board computer doesn't know that the the engine is running in the proper temperature range and is mixing the fuel improperly. So that could be the problem with the oxygen sensor. The hope is that once the thermostat is fixed, that the correct signals will get sent to the computer and the fuel mix will be adjusted correctly without having to replace the sensor. So that can potentially save us a couple hundred bucks. Finally some good news about that car.
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