Christmas Decorations

The thing that sucks about having Christmas decorations outside is the lights.  We don't have much in the way of decorations, a grapevine reindeer, a couple of grapevine snowmen, and another lighted snowman, and we have had them for years.  Thursday this week as I was driving in from work, I noticed that half of one of the grapevine snowmen was out.  I went out to take a look the next day and I could see right away that there was at least one light that was blown that I could see. 

Upon further investigation, at least half the string was blown.  The lights had the black/silver coating over the entire inside of the bulbs.  So obviously there was some sort of power surge or something.  I tried replacing lights individually, but there were a couple that I couldn't get out, and then I actually ran out of spare bulbs.  I had actually bought a string of 100 and pulled all the bulbs to replace ones that were not lighting up. on both the outdoor lights as well as any on our tree. 

Once I ran out of lights, I decided that since Christmas was only a week away, I was just going to call it a year.  I will take the decorations down after Christmas and mothball them until the summer.  Maybe I'll just throw them out next year and not put any lights out.  It would make things much easier.  In the event I look at using them again next year, I'll have to paint them anyway, so I may just cut off the lights and repaint the snowmen.  It'll be easier dealing with the lights when they are not on the frame.

Drive to Detroit

So as I said, I had to drive to Detroit to attend some training seminars for work.  Aside from the crappy situation with the tollway in Illinois and northern Indiana things went pretty smooth.  I actually got pretty good mileage on the drive.  Had I not run into the traffic in Chicago and then again outside of Detroit, I would have made the trip in a little over five and a half hours.  The traffic jam outside of Detroit was because there was a dump truck broken down on the side of the road and there was a big tow truck there trying to hook up to it and get it out of the way, so the three lanes of traffic were funneled into two.  That wasn't too bad, only about a 20-30 minute delay. 

Also, driving in northern Indiana where I-94 goes north into Michigan, the ramp was closed.  Which would have been fine had there been some sort of notice saying that it was closed.  Instead about 1/4 mile before the ramp there were construction signs saying "Ramp Closed" and there were no detour signs.  So I ended up on 94 west back toward Chicago.  I ended up being able to get around the ramp and back on 94 about 5 miles past the construction, no thanks to the Indiana DOT though!

The big thing that ALMOST happened though was an 18-wheeler a couple of cars in front of me swerved almost off the road.  I saw it start drifting to the left, toward the cement dividing wall between the east and westbound lanes of 94 in Michigan.  It got about 3-4 feet from the wall before swerving back onto the road.  At least that was what it looked like from where I was.  I didn't think much about it at the time since I thought I was far enough behind it.  But now that I think about it more, it could have side swiped the wall and caused a major accident.  And even if it didn't, it swerved quite a bit and is probably lucky it didn't jack knife.  Either way would have been pretty bad as going at 70 mph, I don't know how much time I would have had to react.  Luckily I didn't have to worry about it.  I hope the drive back will be a little more uneventful.

Illinois Sucks

Today I was driving to my training classes in Detroit.  When I mapped out the route, I decided I would take the tollway through Illinois since it was the shortest, fastest way.  I tried to look up what the tolls were so that I could have enough change to pay them, and when I saw about how much each toll was (minimum of $1.90) I thought maybe I should get an iPass.  That way I had it, and whenever we needed to go thru Illinois, we wouldn't need to worry about it.  But in order to do it, i would have to either pay online, in which case I would have the transponder sent to me in 2-3 weeks, or I could stop at one of the Oases and get it in person.

I thought I'll just pay for one toll before getting to the Lake Forest and just buy the transponder for the iPass.  Imagine my surprise when I get to the Oasis and THE OFFICE IS CLOSED!!!!  It says in observance of Veteran's Day, all iPass offices will be closed.  What is the deal here?  The Illinois government doesn't even run the tollways anymore, they contract it out.  So now in addition to government offices being closed, contractors get the day off too.  Then again, Illinois unions are so unbelievably corrupt It shouldn't surprise me.

So I ended up stopping and paying cash at all the tolls, a total of almost $14 at 5 toll booths, and I don't get the iPass.  To say I was mad is an understatement.  I guess I can always get one online and have it sent to me.  There is a deal going where I can get one by the end of the year for $20 less than the regular cost, so it's probably worth it just to have in the future.  But I wouldn't have had to worry about it if they wouldn't have been closed.  So in short, screw you Illinois!  You suck!  I am glad the Packers pounded the Bears silly Sunday night.  Suck it!

It's Mo-Vember

Since November is here, I thought I would get into the spirit of "Movember" this year.  So unless you have been living under a rock, Movember is the male equivalent to the Susan G Komen, pink stuff we have to deal with all October (which basically serves no purpose).  This year I asked Alison if I should grow a mustache for Movember and she said yes.  But Kris wouldn't let me go with just a mustache so Ali had me grow a goatee.  I don't know if I'll be able to make it the whole month.  It has only been a little less than a week and it is already driving me crazy.  Dec. 1st can't come soon enough.

Service Engine Soon

After driving around for a little more than a month, we are finally getting Sarah's car in to get it serviced.  It is at the point where the timing belt is scheduled to be replaced.  We found that out when we got the oil leak fixed back in September.  So as long as it was in getting that fixed, we had the guys check on the service engine soon light that was on. 

The code that comes up is apparently for an oxygen sensor in the exhaust system.  The mechanic explained that it has something to so with the catalytic converter and if we let it go it could allow something in the catalytic converter to melt and cause a blockage.  this would result in the whole catalytic converter needing to be replaced, which would be big bucks to get replaced.  So add that to the list of used car problems.  Man, do I hate used cars!

And while they were getting things ready to have the timing belt and water pump replaced (did I mention the water pump had reached its recommended replacement life too?) the mechanic said he noticed a small coolant leak in the engine.  He thinks it is the thermostat housing, which itself isn't a big deal as far as cost.  But in order to get at it on this engine, they have to take half of it (the engine) apart, which is a half a day job.  All to replace a $70 part.  Yep, those Euros really know how to design an engine.  Argh!  WE are going to just keep an eye on that for now and just monitor the coolant level.  Hopefully it will last thru the winter.

Trick Or Treaters

2013 was the last year for trick or treating for the Hahn children.  Alison had actually wanted to go this year, but none of her friends wanted to go with her, and the friends that did want to go don't live by us.  So she settled for helping me to hand out candy.  I had thought we were going to be close on whether or not we would have enough candy to last the for the whole trick or treating times.  In the past I had gone out and gotten an extra bag, just in case we needed it on my way home from work.  This year I didn't do it.  Partly because the weather was going to be so cold.  But in the end, we were left with nearly an entire cauldron of candy.

I don't know if it was the cold weather (it was 34° with about 20 -25 mph winds) or just that the kids in our neighborhood are getting old, but it sure seems like there haven't been as many trick or treaters the last couple of years.  I remember taking the girls a few years ago, and there were all sorts of kids out trick or treating, running up and down the streets, having fun...  this year the streets just seemed empty.  Which I guess is good for me because then I get the left over candy.  yummmmmmm!  But I also miss taking the girls around.  Ahhh, the good old days.

Jack O'Lanterns '14

As is tradition, Sunday night we started carving pumpkins for Halloween.  This year Sarah had us get a pumpkin for her boyfriend, so I got to carve an extra one.  I was rushed for time so I did three Sunday night, and the final two tonight (Tuesday).  That is borderline with how long they had to last but I think we'll make it.

First, Ali wanted to do an owl this year.  She had one picked out that I had to tell her was more of a sculpting picture than an actual cut out, jack-o-lantern.  I didn't think there would be enough rind left to support the weight of the pumpkin, so we found a different owl design that she liked.

Sarah picked out a design from the Disney movie Frozen, Olaf.  I actually liked it and it was pretty easy to do.

Caleb didn't have an idea of what he wanted so I searched around and found a cool design of a calavera (sugar skull for the celebration of Dia de los Muertos).  But both he and Sarah thought it was pretty girly, so he found a design of a grim reaper.  I wasn't so sure about it, and looking at it in the light I didn't really like it.  But when I turned out the light, it wasn't too bad.

Kris had a design picked out for hers, but she changed her mind when she saw the calavera she decided that was he one she wanted.  This was may favorite one this year.

Finally, we come to my pumpkin design.  Mine was the last one to be carved and I was running out of time as it was getting close to 10:00 and I just wanted to be done with it, so I just picked out a semi-scary face, though I wasn't wild about it.

And there you have the Hahn jack o'lanterns for 2014.  SPOOOOOOOOOOKY!

Tired of Leaves

It has only been a week since the leaves started falling and I am already getting sick of it.  I should be glad because the leaves are dropping quickly this year.  In prior years the leaves took so long to drop that one of the trees still have about 30%-40% still on the branches when the snow started falling.

This spring, I took off all the screens from the gutters because I needed to get all the crud cleaned out and it was just easier to do so.  But without putting them back on, every couple of days I need to go up and clean them out, because they get filled with leaves.  And in addition, I can't just take the leaf blower and blow them out, because with the rain we have had, there is water in the bottom of the gutters and the first time I tried it, I got splattered with dirty water, dead leaves, and other mud/decomposing material.  It was quite gross.  So now I have to go up and scoop the stuff out by hand. 

Just getting them out of the gutters is half of it too, since they are also getting blown into the flower beds and window wells.   So then I have to go around the house with the vacuum sucking them up being careful not to suck up any of the cocoa mulch.  Though I am sure I'll need to add more in the spring anyway.  I have been bagging them up to take to the landfill for composting just because it is easier, plus I have the permit to do it.  But with all the neighbors around me just dumping them in the street, whenever we get a good wind, they all end up in my flower beds.  So the village had better get around here quickly and pick them up, because I am not about to take all of the neighborhood's leaves to the landfill.

With any luck all the leaves will be down in a couple of weeks and I can be done with it for the year.

Dying Shrubs

While in the process of getting the leaves up, I decided to quickly trim out the shrubs in the front of the house.  The yews had a few fresh sprouts, and so did the barberry bushes.  Since it was still warm, I figured that it would still be OK to cut them back. 

But in addition to that I have noticed that over the course of the summer, two of the barberry bushes have been slowly dying.  It started with a branch where all the leaves were shriveling up, and I ended up cutting the dead branch off.  But every couple of weeks I have noticed another branch that was starting to shrivel up and die.

At first I had thought that the cause was from the rough winter we had last year.  So I thought that after cutting the dead stuff back it would take care of it.  But as it keeps getting more and more branches dying off, I am beginning to wonder if they have picked up some kind of disease.  The bad part would be that since all the bushes were planted at the same time, I don't know if I could find a replacement bush of the same size.  And if I can't that would mean having to cut down and dig up all six of them to make things look right. 

So I have done all the cutting back on the barberries (or would it be barberry bushes?) that I will for the year and we'll see how they manage the winter this year.  But I don't have a good feeling about things and that come springtime, I'll be deciding how to improve my curb appeal.

Started Winterizing

I have begun the annual tradition of prepping the house/yard for winter.  It started yesterday as just going up on the ladders to clean the leaves out of the gutters since I removed the gutter screens this year.once I finished, I had a small pile of leaves about two feet high, so that lead to the first raking of the year.  Then, once I figured I would rake, I decided that since it was pretty nice out that I would start getting all the flowers and hostas cut down.  Once all the plants were cut back, I thought I had better put the covers on the basement windows to keep all the falling leaves out of the window wells.  Unfortunately, I need to get one more for the window where the dryer vents out.  Every year that one needs to be replaced, and I think that it is because of the heat it gets exposed to.  The plastic becomes very brittle and will crack at the slightest bend or pressure.  So that is on the list of things yet to do.

I was actually planning on getting the trampoline taken down too, but I ran out of time since we had to get ready for a going away party for Kris's god-daughter who is shipping out to air force boot camp on Monday.  I thought I would get it done today (Sunday) but I took a break to actually watch the Packers game and by the time it was over I just didn't feel much like it.  I guess it will have to wait until next week.  I still have four or five other things on the list of things to do to prepare for winter, but at least I got a start on it.

PowderPuff Football

This year Sarah got to play in the annual girls powderpuff football game during homecoming week.  Apparently it's a big deal.  Every year the juniors play the seniors in a "flag" football game, but it is more like full contact flag football.  Sarah has been practicing for the last couple of weeks, and she actually is the starting nose tackle for the juniors.  I have no idea how they ended up deciding she should be the nose tackle, but she is.  And the girl she was supposed to split time with another girl, but she isn't playing now because she got a concussion in one of the last practices before the game.

The juniors actually ended up winning 21-20 for the first time ever.  Of course the seniors all cried and whined that the game was rigged against them, but the juniors all played very hard, and I think they deserved the win.  Sarah actually ended up with a fat lip on the deciding play of the game.  The seniors were trying for a 2-pt. conversion that would have put them ahead 22-21, and Sarah helped stuff it, which is how she got hit in the mouth.  It's a good thing she had her mouthguard in.

Note the name on Sarah's shirt.  They got it wrong.  It should say "GET IT HAHN", not "GET IT HANN".  Next year I'll have to come up with some better suggestions for her.

That's Holding!

This was the games deciding play.  Note Sarah getting a good push up front the help stuff the run.

There was a little pushing and shoving after the play that required the teachers/coaches who were reffing the game to get involved.

This is Sarah dabbing the blood from her fat lip.

Celebrating after the final gun.

Yep, that is definitely a fat lip.

Homecoming Week

This week is homecoming week in the Falls, so that means special, theme days at school all week. The middle school does the same thing as the high school so both Alison and Sarah will be dressing up this week.  Today, Alison has to dress like a boy. I forget what they are calling it but she I wearing basketball shorts, a football shirt, knee high athletic socks, etc.  I actually forgot to look an see what Sarah was wearing.

This year since Sarah is a junior she is going to be taking part in the annual Powder Puff football game.  It is a "flag" football game between the junior girls and senior girls and it is apparently a big deal.  From what I have heard about it, it is more like full-contact flag football.  

She has actually been practicing a couple of nights a week to the last two weeks.  Tonight she came home in tears because she is getting her butt kicked.  Initially she told me that she was playing middle linebacker but I found out that she is really playing nose tackle.  The girl she is going up against in practice I rather large and as at least 100 pounds on Sarah (though probably more like 150).  The girl is pretty much assaulting Sarah (and any other girls who get in her way) so she (Sarah) is getting really upset.  In fact, after practice tonight, one of the girls on defense went home with a black eye.  I can truthfully say that I would not be happy if my daughter came home with a shiner, especially during homecoming week.

It was also pretty rainy so Sarah was slipping and sliding all over on the wet grass with her tennis shoes.  When she told me about it I decided we needed to take a trip to the shoe store to get her some cleats.  It took a little bit of running around to find a pair that 1) weren't $80, 2) fit, and 3) were a decent color (meaning no neon colors).  It is a little late in the year to look for/buy cleats so there wasn't much of a selection, especially in girls' shoes.  But at least now she has a pair and since her feet have stopped growing she can keep them for a while.  Hopefully this will allow her to dig in a little bit and keep her from being pushed around so much.

Political Polling

You know it is election season is officially here when you start getting all the polling calls.  In the last two days we have gotten two calls, both asking for Kris, to poll who she was going to vote for and what issues are important to her.

Why am I not getting called for polls?  They always ask for Kris.  I wonder if they even care that I live in the house?  It's the whole war on women thing I bet.  We are just over a month out from the election and I am going to go out on a limb and say that Walker wins, by roughly the same margin as the recall.  Hopefully I'll get a call where I can tell them that.

It's Homecoming Week

A Bird Exploded

As I was sitting at the table tonight, I was watching the cats sitting in the windows watching the birds at the feeders and there was also a squirrel and a chipmunk eating all the seeds falling.  I looked away for a minute, and when I turned back, the shepherd's hook was shaking violently and all the birds were gone.  I figured that the squirrel had climbed the shaft and then had jumped from the feeder to the tree, so I didn't think too much about it.

Later I had to go out and put more suet in the woodpecker feeder and I noticed a load of feathers all over the ground.  It seriously looked like a bird had exploded.  So the shaking of the feeders must have been a hawk swooping down and grabbing one of the big mourning doves that was sitting on top of the cardinal feeder, at least I hope it was a mourning dove and not a woodpecker.  I didn't see any pieces, or guts strewn about anywhere, and I looked up in the trees and fence posts, but didn't see any hawks enjoying a fresh meal, but I have to believe that is what it was.

Windows

I finally got the replacement window situation straightened out.  When I was cleaning the windows this spring I had noticed spots between the panes where it looked as if the vapor seal had failed, and since they were warrantied for life I had called to have them replaced.  I had called in June to get them on order and the window company told me they would be sent to the Home Depot where we bought them, and I would be getting a call when they were in.  So around the end of July I got a message that my window was ready to be picked up. I called Home Depot to set up a time for it to be delivered and installed.  It was then that I found out that Home Depot didn't cover the installation of the new pane of glass.

After speaking to a manager, I found out that while the windows had a lifetime warranty it was only the window, not the installation.  So now I had approximately a 5' square picture window that I 1) couldn't get home, and 2) didn't have the expertise on how to install.  So I had to figure out what to do about that one, but I figured I could at least get the double hung for Sarah's room home and figure out how to get that one installed.  The manager then said, what double hung?  He only had one window there for me, the picture window.  I then explained that I had called to get a replacement for the double hung in Sarah's room that also had the vapor seal fail.  He looked it up and told me that one was never ordered.  PERFECT!  

He also informed me that the picture window he had was a solid pane of glass.  I told him, uh, no, there are supposed to be grates in it, but he said, nope, it was a clear window.  So not only did the window company not get Sarah's replacement ordered, they sent the wrong picture window.  He looked up our original order from 12 years ago said he would take care of getting the one he had returned and make sure the right ones were ordered. 

So about a month later I get a call saying the new windows are in and ready to be picked up.  In the mean time I had to call around and find someone to install it for me.  The HD manager said any glass company should be able to do it, just call and say I had a window that needed glazing, and they should be able to take care of it.  After calling around the cheapest quote was in the $400 range, which I thought was high, but it was all I had to go with.  Kris sent me a link to a handyman network site and we ended up finding someone who would take the old one out and put the new one in for about half of what the other places were quoting us (the picture window that is).  So we got it all scheduled.  Home Depot dropped it off and the handyman guys showed up and took care of business.  So far everything looks great.  

Now I just need to figure out how to get rid of the old one.  The landfill will allow me to dump it for a couple of bucks since I am a Falls resident, but I don't have a way to get it there.  Their website says window glass is not recyclable, but it is allowed to just be thrown in the trash and picked up.  The question is how to do that.  As the handymen were taking the old window out, they cracked it, so I think I should be able to get it apart and just throw the chunks of glass in the regular garbage.  I just have to figure out to to do that exactly.

Finally, I have to get the double hung window installed.  The window company didn't send a whole window, just the lower sash.  They said it is an easy thing to do to just take the old one out and slip the new one in.  The person I spoke to said that he would send me the instructions via email and if I had any questions I could call and he'd talk me through it.  The problem is that I never got the instructions.  I need to call and have the guy resend them (if he ever sent them in the first place) because I want to get it done before the snow starts falling.  But at any rate, it looks like we're almost done with the window problem. so that's one less thing I need to do.

Brewers Game

Sarah is starting to get to be pretty independent.  The Brewers are home this weekend against the Reds and Sarah was invited to go with one of her friends.  Except that they are meeting members of her friend's family downtown, which means that Sarah is going to drive by herself.  Kris is freaking out about her driving alone.  I am cautious, more because of some of the roads downtown and not being exactly sure where she is going.  I don't want her taking a wrong turn and ending up in a bad neighborhood not knowing where she is.  I took a few minutes to try and sit down with Sarah and map out exactly where she needs to go.  Hopefully she'll remember.  It isn't that hard to find where she needs to go and as long as she has her friend with her, I think she should be ok, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to worry.  I will probably stay awake until she gets home, just in case I get a call or a text message.

Cheer Tyrouts

This year's middle school cheerleading team tryouts were Monday and Tuesday.  Monday they went over the routine and moves they would be doing, and Tuesday was the actual tryout.  Up until last week we weren't even sure there was going to be a middle school team since they didn't have a coach yet.  But we found out at the first Jr. Indians game that they were very close to hiring a coach so we had a clue it was coming.  There was also an announcement at school.  Which was a good thing, because the new HS cheer coaches didn't let the Jr. Indians coaches know anything until Friday/Saturday.  We got an email from her on Saturday saying there would be tryouts on Monday.  Nothing like having some notice, right?

Then on Monday night Ali came home and showed us some of the routine she had to learn and Kris and I just sort of looked at each other with our mouths open. There were a couple of moves that I felt were definitely not appropriate for a 12 year old girl to be making. If that is what the girls end up doing for a routine, then I am going to say right now there will be a problem. I do not want my daughter learning how to be a stripper when she is 12.

Alison also wanted to try out to be squad captain, which meant she had to perform her routine alone rather than with a group.  And unfortunately she went first.  She messed up a little bit, and didn't get selected to be captain.  She was pretty upset about it.  Then Kris told me that afterward, Alison was told that she made the team, but she wasn't going to be doing competitions.  Kris went to talk to the coaches about that fact and the coach's helper first asked who her daughter was, and then reacted like "oh nooooo, she was fine" and some other BS.  I am not impressed with the amount of communication and organization so far. Afterward when we were at home, Kris asked Alison about the music they were using too.  I forget who she said it was, I think it was some Britney Spears thing, but it was, just like the cheer moves, inappropriate.

Practices begin on Friday followed by a parent meeting, so we'll see what the coach has to say about things, but so far from what i am hearing, I am not impressed with the direction the new cheer team/program is heading.

Start of the Year

It is time to start another school year.  This year though, neither Kris, nor I, were home to get the girls off.  This was the first year since Sarah started school that either Kris or I weren't there to see them off and take a photo.  Plus, this year, both Sarah and Alison had a late start because all the underclassmen were having their orientations first.  That meant Ali didn't need to be to school until, I think, 11:00, and Sarah started at about noon.

So this year Sarah took the traditional first day picture of Ali before she left.

Then however, there was no one to take Sarah's picture.  Luckily she was able to have the next door neighbor take her picture before she left.

The one thing that I realized later (actually Kris pointed it out to me) that we didn't get a picture of the girls together.  Which as I pointed out earlier is the first time since the girls started school.  Actually it would have been the first time since Alison started school.  I feel bad about it, but I suppose I can live with that. Then again I really don't have a choice in the matter.

Pothole Patchwork

As it is getting late in the year it is time that I looked at prepping the driveway for winter again.  There were lots of pieces of blacktop and crack-filler that cracked and fell apart with the rough winter that we had last year.  In looking at all the cracks, as I do every year, things look a lot like a jigsaw puzzle.  The one part of the driveway that actually looked like it was still in good condition was the area that I dug out last year and replaced with pothole patch.  There were no big cracks or pieces that broke off at all.  So my plan was to go and get some more bags of pothole patch and spread it out and compact it on the areas of the driveway that are low or are all cracked up. 

I had to get it down as soon as possible because the long range forecast is for some cold weather right around the corner.  So I spent the last two days going back and forth to Menards (they had the bags on sale) to get enough to cover everything.  So now, the driveway surface is at least 50% pothole patch, probably more like 60%-65%.  In another year, it will all be pothole patch.  Now I just need to wait about a week or so to seal it and it'll all be set.  Here is hoping that the cold weather holds off long enough for me to get the sealer on.

One Week In

I am now one week in at my new job and I am really enjoying things.  I feel like this is a position where I am actually going to get some help in advancing my skills, not just stagnating.  The company actually encourages continuing education and training classes which is something I was looking for.  However, one thing I have realized is that I am way behind in where I should be with respect to my engineering skills.  I am having to learn things that I should have picked up years ago.  Unfortunately, the previous job I had didn't do much with trying to stay current with industry trends and advancements. 

So I think it will take a little bit of time, but I think I will eventually get up to speed sooner than later.  I already have some projects I am working on and areas I am going to be responsible for, which is good.  And the fact that I need to review the whole casting process to become familiar with what we are doing will keep me very busy.  I haven't had much in the way of casting experience since I graduated, so it will take all of my spare time reading up on things and reviewing other materials.  But overall I think things are going good.

Sarah's Car

Sarah is the proud owner of a 2002 Saturn L300.  It actually has pretty low mileage for being twelve years old and we got a good deal on it pricewise (no thanks to our wonderful government).

Well about a week after picking it up, we had it back at the dealer because it is leaking oil.  Not a lot, but there are large oil spots on the driveway and the dealer told me that he had replaced all the valve gaskets, so I want to know if this is where the leak is coming from.  So he put it up and looked at it and saw that it was leaking from the gaskets that were replaced, so now he is having those changed again, along with some oil filter gasket.  Hopefully this will take care of the problem, because I don't want it leaking oil all over the driveway constantly.

First Day Hooray!

After a long and frustrating summer, I started my new job today.  I sure hope this one works out for a couple of reasons.  Number one, getting laid off royally sucks, but two, and more importantly, I think I am really going to like this place. 

The people are great to work with, at least the ones I have met so far, and it looks like I am going to be doing a lot of the things I tried to get implemented when I was working for KBI.  They know what it means to be an engineer here... the systems, methodology, etc.  It is very refreshing to be around people who share the same goal.  It isn't an ideal situation at the moment, but I think it will evolve into a very good position.  From what I can gather a lot of it is stuff that is coming down from the corporate headquarters, which is one reason it took so long for them to offer me the job to start with.  I'm glad they did though, because of all the places I interviewed, this was the one company I was hoping would make me an offer. 

Today was long in that I had paperwork and orientation materials to go over, and then when that was done I had a lot thrown at me.  It was a little overwhelming at times, but I think I will get the hang of things, I just need to get in there and get my hands dirty (so to speak).  It is quite a relief to be back doing engineering work.

Runaround

Three and a half years later, Kris is still dealing with the fallout from her mom's death.  At the time she died, Kris had to go around and get all of her parents' accounts changed over to be in her dad's name only.  Most places she had to go were very freindly and helpful.  Then there were others that were more of a hassle.  One in particular was a savings account at a credit union in Milwaukee.  The closest branch was on 76th street near state fair park (there was another branch somewhere in the 'da hood too, and we didn't want to go there) but they wouldn't do anything over the phone.  The amount of money in the account was minimal so Kris just left it alone.

So last month we got a notice from them saying that we needed to convert to a "paperless statement".  If we didn't and they had to send us a paper statement they would charge her dad $2.00 per month.  Kris called to try and rectify the problem, but they wouldn't help her over the phone, they said she had to come into the branch to take care of it.  So then she figured she would just go online and register the account for a paperless statement.  Unfortunately, there was some problem preventing her from doing that when she tried.

After a lot of frustration she finally figured we should just drive down there and take care of it, though she didn't know if they would accept the paperwork showing that she had POA for her dad.  We got all paperwork from the lawyers when her mom died and brought it along, not knowing exactly what was required. 

When we got there it was lunchtime so there were only two tellers working, and one was in the process of helping a man who was trying to close out his accounts.  When she asked why, he said mainly it was the hours, that they weren't open late on any days or on Saturday mornings, so they were never able to get to the bank to do any of their banking, so he was closing all of his accounts and moving them to a more convenient bank (boy that sounds familiar).  I looked at the hours on a small advertising leaflet and it said their lobby hours were 11:00-4:00.  That sounds like it might be hard to get there unless you weren't working.  The other teller was running between the guy in front of us and the drive thru, looking like she was a little overwhelmed.  I figured we weren't going to get anywhere with her. 

To my surprise, she was actually very helpful.  Kris explained the situation to her and took all over her paperwork and made copies of it.  Kris then had to fill out a couple of forms and then the woman said she was going to submit it all and they should be sending Kris a check for a grand total of nine dollars and change and the account would be closed.  She also said she was going to make a note on the paperwork to refund back the $2.00 service charge.  I think that is the least they can do, though it remains to be seen.  Hopefully this will finally take care of it. 

Summer Is Ova!

Yep, summer, it's sad to see you go.  We hardly knew you. 

This week marks the start of school prep.  We have already done the back to school shopping and I think the girls have almost everything they need.  On Monday Alison had her registration at North.  We got all her fees paid and her pictures done.  Tuesday Sarah had her school registration and photos, but this time we didn't need to go since she could drive herself.  It was nice not having to worry about that, even though we had to deal with a little bit of a meltdown because Sarah was having a bad hair day, or didn't know what to do with her hair.  That didn't sit well with me, or Kris.  Luckily she got her act together before registration was over. 

So now we have a little over a week before the school bell rings again and we can really stick a fork in summer.  Though I wouldn't be surprised if once school starts we get a two week stretch of 90° heat with Florida-like dew points.  That's just the way this summer had gone.

War on Squirrels

It's on now!  I am talking about war being declared on the squirrels, and to some extent the chipmunks too.  Recently, the squirrels have taken to eating Kris's hibiscus flowers and buds.  I can't remember how long she had been getting hibiscuses for the summer, I want to say as long as we have been in the house.  But this is the first year I have actually seen the squirrels eating them. 

Now she bought a couple of perennial hibiscus and before I could get them planted a couple of squirrels climbed into it and broke off half of the branches.  So now she has to try and salvage them.  I am hoping that if I get it planted it will at least grow and be able to survive until next year.

After they were planted we went to Stein and used Sarah's discount to get some spray that is supposed to repel chipmunks and squirrels.  Hopefully it will keep them away from eating the flowers and digging in the dirt to bury the seeds they steal from the bird feeders in the backyard.  If I didn't like watching the cardinals and woodpeckers, I'd get rid of all the feeders and save the hassle.

Rock 'n' Roll All Night

Before the unfortunate events of the past few months, Kris had bought tickets for the Kiss/Def Leppard tour this summer.  We actually had two sets of tickets because Kris had found "better" seats a few days after she got the first ones.  I thought, no problem, I can just sell the extra set before the show.  So about two weeks before the show I went to sell them to a scalper and was informed that he wouldn't buy them from me because there was a  glut of tickets on the market.

So next we tried to find someone to sell them to, but everyone we knew either didn't want to go, or couldn't go.  So rather that eating the cost of the tickets, we got the girls to come along with us.  Kris had been saying that they should go for a while, but when we couldn't get rid of the tickets we tried to push the issue.  I tried to convince the girls that seeing Kiss in full make-up is sort of a once in a lifetime experience, since the band is in their mid-60's and who knows how much longer they'll be performing.  So in twenty years they can tell their kids they saw Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in full make-up.  Ali didn't want to go, and Sarah was waffling up until the day of the concert.  But then Alison decided she wanted to go, but only if Sarah went with her.  After a lot of prodding, she convinced Sarah to go.  I didn't get any pictures of them, but I think Kris took a few with her phone, so if I get them from her I'll post them.

Alpine Valley was almost exactly as I remembered it, except that the hill seemed much steeper than I remembered.  It had been 22 years since I had been there, and even longer for Kris.  It looked sort of old and run down, though the days of stadium rock concerts is long past, so with only a few concerts per year it doesn't surprise me.  And the crowd was quite an eclectic mix of freaks.  Lots of old, overweight people all tatted up who looked like they were still living in 1987.  And the number of them that were completely blasted to the point of barely being able to walk was quite high.  Something I wouldn't expect from people who are as old as my parents.

Now, the review... the concert itself was pretty good.  Even though it was the same mix of songs I have seen Def Leppard perform several times they were very tight and kept things moving along.  And Kiss was very good as well.  The pyrotechnics and theatrics were exactly what I would expect from Kiss.  Even the girls said they liked the fire, and Gene spitting blood, and Paul flying out over the crowd on a trapeze.  They also sang along with a lot of the Def Leppard songs.  So even if they don't admit it, I think they had fun and now they have a story to tell.  My only complaint was that the gear on the stage was obstructing our view somewhat.  It would have been better if some of the video screens weren't there and the gear was pushed farther to the sides.  But then again, I suppose I shouldn't expect that much from a venue that is virtually unchanged for the last 25 years.

Freedom!

Free at last, free at last....  I don't know if that is more for me, or for Sarah.  But today, Sarah got her driver's license.  She was very nervous going up to the DMV in West Bend, but I think it got easier when the examiner came out to take her on her road test.  He looked like he might have been 24 years old at most, so he was able to put her at ease.  Sarah said that he was talking to her while they were driving about things like what school she went to.  I don't know what the point total is that you start with, but she ended up getting three points off, so I guess that is pretty good.

Then we had to go wait to have her picture taken for her license.  It was actually not very bad.  Usually you would expect the DMV to be packed with people, but there was only one person ahead of her.

So she got a photocopied sheet with her picture on it to serve as her license until her actual, laminated card comes in about a week. Here she is about to drive us home as a fully licensed driver (probationary of course).

Which also means my insurance rates are going to get bumped up.  So now she is free to go do things with her friends, or go to work by herself, and Kris and I don't have to serve as chauffeurs anymore.  And we also get to have her take some of the load off of us by driving Alison around to her activities.  So I guess Kris and I have more freedom than she does.  Although I am sure we'll be the ones filling the gas tank.

Here We Go

We are heading out to take a driving test.  Good Luck Sarah!

A Dose of Reality

During our final round of driving practice, we decided to go by a few used car lots so that Sarah could see some cars.  She had been talking about saving her money for a car and Kris and I thought she should see exactly what they cost.  We went to a few dealer lots and I have to say, even I was a shocked at some of the prices on the cars we saw.  The problem is that there aren't that many older cars around since the President decided to destroy them all, so now Sarah has to suffer.

We did actually find a couple of decent looking, older cars at a "corner" used car lot.  Though I am not really sure that I would trust a place like that.  It really doesn't matter because Sarah doesn't have enough money yet, but I wanted to just give her an idea of what kind of money she was looking at if she wanted to buy a car.  And I think it was an eye opening experience.

Final Day of Practice

Tomorrow is a big day, Sarah goes to take her road test for her driver's license.  So we spent a few hours today driving around letting her get some final practice in.  There was a list of skills that they are supposed to know, so I assume that is what the examiner will be testing her on, so that was what we focused on today.  The big thing that I noticed was making sure she uses her turn signals, and making sure she is over as far as possible when making her turns.  The parallel parking might be an issue.  Her driving instructors taught her a different way of doing it than I taught her.  When she tried doing it the way she was taught, she ended up way too far from the curb.  So I went over it with her again how I learned to do it.  She did it that a couple of time and was able to slide right in where she should be.  Hopefully she can remember that way tomorrow.

So check back tomorrow and see if she is a licensed driver.

Fore!

After driving around Saturday doing stuff for Sarah's birthday, I promised Alison that we would go mini-golfing.  Sarah has actually been mini-golfing a few times this summer with her boyfriend, but it has been a year (at least) since I took Ali.  So after our lunch and checking out the lakefront, we headed back to the Falls, and Swing Time for 18 holes. 

Kris didn't play since she doesn't like mini-golfing, so it was just me and the girls.  And after a few holes the girls apparently told Kris they didn't like playing with me because I was keeping an accurate score.  It came after one hole where there were a couple of hills leading to holes that sent the ball down a tube toward the hole.  I counted all the strokes it took to get the ball over the hill and down the tube.  Apparently when Sarah and Caleb play, they don't count strokes if the ball rolls back.  I guess that makes me too competitive?

But overall I think it was fun.  Ali came close to a hole in one a couple of times, hitting the pin twice and putting her ball about two inches from the hole one other time.   Sarah even got close once or twice. 

 

The final scores were 50, 56, and 58.  So it really wasn't that bad.  Everyone was over par, so I don't even consider my score good.  

Happy Sweet Sixteen

Today Sarah turns 16.  She was out with her boyfriend the night before, so we didn't get to actually see her at the exact moment she turned 16.  In the past Sarah would stay up until 12:47 AM which was the time she was born.  Friends would send her text messages in the middle of the night...  This year Kris thought it would be fun to have her go to midnight bowling with some friends and we could celebrate with some of her friends at the exact moment she turned sixteen, but she didn't go for that idea.  So we just let her do her own thing.

Then just like Alison, we let Sarah sleep in.  She got up early for her, at about 9:00.  We gave her her gifts, and then we had to go run an errand in Milwaukee, so the plan was to go do that, then maybe take Sarah out for some lunch and go check out the lakefront.

Kris even got Sarah a "Sweet 16 Tiara" to wear for the day, along with a sash.  I didn't think she would actually wear it, but she did (the tiara, not the sash...  that she refused to do). 

It took forever to get where we needed to go because there was a lakefront triathalon going on and the cops had a bunch of streets closed.  But when we finally finished, Sarah wanted to get Mexican food for lunch.  Since her favorite Mexican restaurant is located across the street from State Fair park, and the State Fair was in full swing, we suggested a different Mexican restaurant.  It just happened to be down the road from where Kris and I used to hang out when I was in college, and a place we would go frequently.

And when we finished, we were only a block away from St. Mary's Hill So we went over to check out the lake.  There was a baby picture of my dad that they had seen at one time and I pointed out to both Sarah and Alison that was the hill where grandpa's baby picture was taken.  Though I think Milwaukee was a little cleaner sixty some years ago when it was taken.  But anyway, it was a beautiful day so I snapped a couple of pictures of the girls looking out over the lake, and with the old St, Mary's Hospital in the background.

I wanted to take a silly picture of Sarah holding up the North Avenue water tower, but she wouldn't play along.  So much for being fun on her birthday.

So when we were done down on the lake, we came home and had birthday cake.  Kris made a red velvet layer cake, and mmmm, mmmm, it was good!

Happy Sweet 16 Sarah!

Turning Twelve

Today Alison turns twelve.  No party, no fanfare, just a few gifts and some cake.  Since Alison was still recovering from having her friends sleepover and staying up all night, we let her sleep in, which was until about 10:30.  She opened her gifts, and then we went to do a little shopping to use some of the gift cards that she got from her friends.

While we were out we went to get some lunch, and we let Alison pick where we went.  Kris mentioned something to the waitress about it being Alison's birthday, and when it came time to leave, the waitress surprised us with a complimentary piece of cake for the birthday girl.

Unfortunately, we had to end our fun early because Ali had to go to cheer practice.  But before she left, we made sure we had cake.

Hopefully, the cake didn't make her feel too full while she was working on her routine. 

Party Time

Alison wanted to have a sleepover for her birthday this year, so we gave her the go ahead to invite a few of her friends.  Well that ended up as seven of her friends (I think) plus Ali.  We cleared everything out of the basement and let them spread out sleeping bags and blankets. I think this was the largest number of little girls we have ever had in the house at one time. 

They started outside, then came in to do whatever they were going to do.  Kris and I just sort of left Ali alone with her friends.  She's at the age where having your parents around is just sort of uncool.  The only thing that we did was take a couple of pictures of everyone and get a couple of power strips set up to charge all the electronic devices.

The only thing Kris wanted was one picture with all of Ali's friends, which she got when they all had their birthday cupcakes.  It was much easier than getting a cake.

After that picture, the girls were on their own all night.  I got up the next morning at about 6:30, and Alison was awake.  Apparently she was up all night, the only one who actually stayed awake.  A couple of her friends made it until about 4:00 AM, but that was as close as anyone got to an all nighter.  She got a little emotional because one of her friends had me take a picture of them all with her phone, like the one with the legs up above, except I had better lighting.  She was supposed to send it to everyone, but accidentally deleted it instead.  It really wasn't a big deal, but the fact that she hadn't slept had Alison a little high strung. 

After everyone left, she got in the shower, and Kris and I had to go run some errands.  She parked herself on the couch, and after ten minutes, this is what she looked like:

She was still sleeping when we got back a little over an hour later.  Let's just say it was pretty much a wasted day for her.  At least she had a fun time.

Cheer Schedule

This year, the 7th grade Junior Indians football team has only one team.  That means that Alison won't have games to cheer for a couple of weeks this year.  In the past, there would be two teams, and whenever one was playing on the road, the other would be playing at home.  But with only one team, that means there are going to be weeks where the 7th grade team is away, and since the cheerleaders don't travel to away games, they get a break from cheering.

However, since there are only five or six 8th grade cheerleaders, a lot of the 7th grade cheerleaders were asked to cheer 8th grade games when the 7th grade team wasn't playing a home game.  I think Alison is going to do most of them, because it almost doesn't seem worth it to only sheer three games this year.  It makes me wonder what things are going to be like when her class gets to be juniors and seniors.  I have a feeling their team is not going to be very good.  But they have a few years to work on it I suppose.

Back to the Oral Surgeon

First thing Monday morning I ended up calling the oral surgeon.  Sarah came and woke me up at 2:00 AM complaining that her mouth hurt.  She was in tears, it hurt so much.  I asked if she had taken a pain pill (Vicodin) before she went to bed.  She hadn't.  So now she was going to have to wait 40 minutes to an hour for it to take affect.  In addition, she was told not to take any of the pills on an empty stomach, so she needed to eat something before I could give her one.  When I told her this, I got "but I don't want anything to eat".  Well then you don't get a pain pill!  I had her just eat a cup of pudding quickly, and then gave her a pill, and sent her back to bed.

She was awake by 7:00 AM (which is completely unlike her) so I knew something was still wrong.  She said the Vicodin didn't help at all and she was awake most of the night.  So after hearing that and conferring with Kris, I called the oral surgeon as soon as they opened at 8:00.  When I descried the pain she was having, they said it sounded like a dry socket.  We went in at 10:00 and the doctor was going to have a look and if it was a dry socket, he would just pack it quickly and she'd be done in 15 minutes.

We got there and she went in by herself, but I could hear the nurse asking her about what was going on.  Then the doctor came in, and got the same story.  He apparently didn't even examine her mouth, he just went right in and started packing her lower left jaw.  She was done in 10 minutes and he said she should feel better in 10 to 15 minutes, but that then she may notice the other side more and be back to have that side packed the next day (with a smile of course). 

He was right, after about a half an hour she was out of pain, though she was still a little bit swollen.  She kept ice on her face most of the rest of the day to get the swelling down, so we'll see how much that helps now.  Hopefully that will do the trick and when she goes for her follow up on Friday everything will be hunky dory.

Called Back

As Sarah was sitting on the couch watching TV icing her face she got a call on her cell phone.  It was set on vibrate so I didn't hear it ring, only her say "Hello?".  Then a few other things, and when she was off the phone she put her arms in the air and said she didn't need to look for another job anymore. 

The call was from the manager at Stein asking if she would be interested in coming back to work.  Apparently there are a few girls who are going to be going off, or back, to college, so they need to have some regular part time people.  And since they liked Sarah her boss gave her a call to see if she was available to come back.  She is going back in tomorrow to get her paperwork back into their employee payroll system.  She is pretty happy about it because it means she'll be working more hours than she had been, which also means more money for her.

And on the plus side, if she is still there in November maybe we can get a discount on a new Christmas tree.

They're Out

Sarah is now four teeth lighter.  Her wisdom teeth were extracted this morning and now she is recovering.  All four of them were impacted so the oral surgeon had to put her out.  It was a pretty quick procedure.  Her appointment was at 8:00, and she was done in about a half an hour.  With recovery we were back home before 9:30. 

At first she was crying when we were getting ready to go because of the anxiety.  I tried to take a picture, but she wouldn't let me.  This was as good as it got.  I told her that it was no big deal, but she has friends who had theirs out and they were telling her all about the pain, and she has heard stories of the other things that could happen, like infections and dry socket.  But once we got there it was a piece of cake.

The oral surgeon's nurse said she is going to be a happy drunk, because as she was coming out of the anesthesia she was giggling and laughing.  I took some video of her sitting in the chair in the living room giggling and feeling her face.  Apparently her face was numb so she kept pawing up her face in awe.  When I get the video converted I may post a clip.

A little later in the day a couple of her friends stopped by to see how she was doing and bring her pints of ice cream, which was nice.  Her boyfriend actually brought her a couple of cartons of ice cream the night before.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize it until the next day that she couldn't eat any of it.  The flavors were mint chip, and butter pecan, and she can't eat anything crunchy, like nuts, or the chocolate chips.  At least she'll be able to eat it a few days later, but it's sort of like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, teasing her with the ice cream because she knows that it is here and that she can't have any of it.

The doctor said she should be out of pain by Monday, so hopefully things will go well over the weekend.

Final Driver's Practice

Sarah has finished her final session of on the road driving practice.  Now we wait for a little over a week until we go take her for her driver's test.  Since she is having her wisdom teeth out tomorrow, hopefully she won't need much more practice.  She told me that her instructor told her she should be just fine and shouldn't have a problem passing.

The final on the road apparently is like a mini road test.  Sarah said she went over all the skills they will be testing her on when she goes for her license, and according to her she did pretty well.  There were only a couple of suggestions he had for her, thought she wouldn't tell me what they were.  Not that it matters all that much, but I want to make sure whatever it is/was, I don't want her doing it in my car, especially when my insurance rates are already going to be exploding.

Stupid Squirrels

This year has been very strange in that we have had so many squirrels and chipmunks running around our backyard.  I started by placing the chipmunks traps near hostas, and I ended up catching about 10 or 11 in three weeks.  Like always I end up driving them about a mile away and letting them go in the Tamarack Swamp. 

Now usually, I trap them because they would  be digging up Kris's flowers burying seeds.  However, I noticed that for whatever reason the chipmunks were collecting the seed that the birds dropped on the ground from the bird feeders and they weren't digging in the pots.  So I thought, why should I trap them?  If they aren't bothering me, or digging up Kris's flowers, then I really don't care, and I just let them be.  So that gets us to the squirrels.

The chipmunks have been fine...  not so much the squirrels.  First, they managed to get at the bird feeders, both the seed and the suet.  And once they did get at them, they started chewing the feeders apart.  Every time I saw one getting at the seed, I would go outside and chase it away.  Once they stopped doing that, I noticed that they had started sitting in Kris's flower pots, eating their seeds that they got either from the feeders, or from the ground.  And then they began to start breaking off the buds from Kris's Hybiscus plants.  I have never seen that before, so it was very strange that they would start tearing the flowers apart.  Luckily, they only got at about 5 or 6 buds before we got them scared away.  So now I am going to have to monitor the plants to make sure they don't kill all of Kris's flowers.  And I can't really trap them, because the chipmunk traps are not big enough for them.  I did catch one in a chipmunk trap once, and before I could let it go, the squirrel pretty much went nuts running around inside of it until it had knocked the trap over, which ended up releasing the door, and it got away.  I am at the point where I am considering a pellet gun and shooting them from the window.  It won't happen, but I am thinking about it.