Back

Well, it all worked out in the end. Shaunn's cousin and his girlfriend showed, and the food was just as tasty a day later. It just wouldn't be the holidays without a little mood swing. We got back tonight, now counting down to bedtime probably around 10:30. I haven't seen midnight New Year's Eve in several years. Stay off my grass. Happy 2008 and have a beer for me.

Arrrgh

Shaunn was at his parents for Christmas. Today, I was going out there to celebrate the holiday with his family. I had said I'd like to make dinner for everyone tonight, and they all thought it was a great idea.
So last night, I baked some bread, marinated the pork loin, and bought everything else to bring to PA.
This morning, I was informed that Shaunn's cousin and his girlfriend are fighting, over whether they can squeeze in both dinner and a visit to her aunt's house. So, they decided they can't do dinner. Shaunn's parents decided if they won't be there today, then they don't want to have a big dinner either. (I wasn't coming out to make dinner for his cousin, but I guess that's irrelevant.) So, all my preparations last night were a complete waste of time. Lovely.

The Flying Bra Saga Rides Again

My more seasoned readers may remember the story last year about the 2 hillbillies in Toledo who crashed their car to avoid a bra flung from another vehicle. Well, there's more to the story.

The short version - the passenger in the crashed car is suing everybody he can think of.

The laywer for one of the girls is quoted saying "We're taking the position the two guys were encouraging the girls and that they tried to catch the bra"
Who could believe something like that coming from these two? I'm glad the driver thought enough to put on his best drinking shirt for the camera.

Stay tuned for more thrilling updates.

My First Love

I just saw on of these cars driving up Broad St., and it instantly took me back in time. I was fresh out of High School, and was looking around Toledo for a car for college. I wound up inheriting the old Buick Skyhawk, but I will never forget when I saw one of these in my searching...

It's called an Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV. Great little cars, about the size of a Honda Civic. I remember spying it in the back lot of a local Buick dealer. I must have spent the better part of a weekend walking around and around it. I called the dealer to inquire, and was told the car was a '74 model, was owned by the daughter of one of the salesmen, hadn't been run in at least a year, and the price was $7000 firm. Ouch. On $3.35 an hour as a bagboy at Kroger, the price might as well have been a million. It was completely out of reach.

I still went back a few times to look it over, and eventually noticed that it was sitting on a halo of rust, as it slowly disintegrated from neglect. I realized it was probably my luck that they didn't make a reasonable offer, as I'm sure the upkeep costs would have quickly turned the love affair to hate. But still...what a cool car. And they only look better after all these years.

mmmm...beef

I've got about a pound of the tasty roast from last night at home in the fridge, taunting me, calling me home to make some mashed potatoes and gravy to go along with it. But I think I'l put that off until friday, when I can savor the wonderful flavors without the cloud of work the next day hanging over me.

Christmas Past

So, we had a wonderful time in Cleveland this year with the Barkers. Gifts were exchanged, little Geo did his best to entertain everyone, and we had what was quite possibly the most exquisite meal I've ever had. Really. It started off with homemade Sauerkraut Balls that put the ones at Barley's Brewing Co. to shame. We also had bacon wrapped water chestnuts and chicken livers, which lasted about 20 minutes. Then cheesy potatoes and a strip steak roast that Don grilled. It just melted in your mouth. Wow.
George was mesmerized by the tickle me Elmo that he got for Christmas....he was talking with him, and kept trying to help him back up when Elmo would fall over laughing.
I drove back this morning so I could be here at work bright and early, to count down the time to go home.

Miracle On Imperial Drive

Dad reprising his role as Santa Claus

I think it was 1982 when dad was one of the Santas at Woodville Mall, so this is the 25th anniversary. Several years later, our memory of it was clouded when Homer Simpson did the same thing (And then dad went to the track...no, wait that was Homer). But he loved doing it, and would always tell us about how he'd say 'ow' when kids pulled on his fake beard, and convinced a few non-believers during his stint.

Merry Christmas Pop!

The dealer

So, I didn't mention the car yet...when I went to pick it up on friday, the service rep who met me was reviewing the invoice, and read from it that the tech's 'diagnosis' of the nav system's voice static was because it was using an older software version, and I needed to order and install the latest updated dvd.
I said that was interesting, because I had installed the new dvd a week prior, and it was the latest version, copyright 2007 - and didn't affect the issue at all.
He went back to talk to the service manager. He came back and said if that wasn't the trouble, it may be the whole nav system itself.
I explained that if the supposed diagnosis was that I needed the new software dvd, than it appears that the problem wasn't even checked, as the software version is printed on the disc label (this is tricky, as you have to follow the complex process of hitting the 'eject' button and glancing at the dvd label). The installed version can also be accessed on one of the system's info screens, if you bother to look at it. Obviously, even these simple things weren't done.
I was trying to be as nice and patient as I could be, knowing that the service manager was lying about checking the problem at all.

So, now I have to make yet another appointment, so they can actually diagnose the problem that they didn't even bother to check into. I guess that's what I get for scheduling an appointment on a friday. I think I'll do something like put scotch tape over a couple of the connectors, to see if they actually do something more than park my car in the back lot all day. I can't say this recent visit garnered any trust in their service department.

Columbus, Oklahoma

Yesterday while taking care of a few errands, I saw something rolling along the side of Rt. 315 by Broad St. As I passed I saw it was a large tumbleweed, and scattered pieces of another, just blowing around on the shoulder. When did we start getting these in the downtown area? Maybe they were placed by the Chamber of Commerce as some sort of symbolic statement about City Center.

The wonder of Tali

So I fell asleep last night with the tv on, and woke up to that painting show with Bob Ross...which is entertaining enough, but made me remember that wonderful public access show we used to have here...Painting With Tali. So, a googling I did go.
He appeared on our public access, between the local pro wrestling knockoff show and Damon Zex, who deserves his own entry.
Tali was...specially talented. He set out to teach the world to paint...but was challenged by many internal and external demons along the way. You often wondered what medication he was supposed to be on, and why he refused to take it.
He would usually start off reasonably focused, but within minutes he'd be off on tangents where he'd be bitching about the suburban idiots who didn't buy his art...or the gallery owner who refused to carry his work. This would then discourage him and make him question whether the painting he was working on was any good.
This would usually disgust him and he'd finish the last several minutes of the show in total silence, because he was sick of talking and didn't have time to explain what he was doing anyway. But no matter how unhinged he became, he always signed off with his very best Norma Desmond impression.

Here's a brief sample of one of his more sedate shows. You've been warned.

Sadly, Channel 21 lost whatever meager budget it had, and stopped showing shows like Tali several years ago.
But his spirit lives on...In the world of TV painters, if Bob Ross was the Monet, Tali was the...well, let's just say he'll always be Tali.

Anticipation

So, when I dropped off the car for the 70k service, I asked them to look into an issue with the feedback voice for the Nav unit. The voice coming thru can be very distorted and full of static. It's done this off and on for a few months, but a relatively minor issue.
Naturally, when I dropped the car off this morning and described the problem, the voice was coming through as clear as a bell.
I did bring a printout of a troubleshooting procedure I found from an owner's website, to help them find the trouble - from the printout, it looked like it was an issue with improper grounding of a wiring harness. The car's still under warranty, so any needed fix should be covered. Now I'm just waiting for their call.

Braaaaaaaaaaains

I got up early to drop the car off at 7am for her 70k mile checkup (Things I learned from dad, number 264 - preventive maintenance trumps the unknown every time)...and I'm a sleep-deprived zombie now that the coffee has worn off. Ugh. At least the weekend is here. How my friends get up at 5:30 every morning I will never know.

Festivus 2008

My goal is to have Festivus take over completely as the official December holiday in our house. To be everything that Christmas is not, and more.

General guidelines so far:

-Do not mention Christmas
-There is absolutely no gift exchange of any kind
-Drinking is encouraged -nay, enforced

I think that's about it. I don't think the planned events can really be called 'traditions', as they haven't been done yet. The Wiki entry on Festivus is chock full of ideas.

Festivus is Coming

This year, Festivus falls on December 23. Don't roll your eyes. It's got as much legitimacy as quite a few other holiday observances, like Christmas. Christmas today is little more than a combination of clever marketing and slipper socks in the wrong size.
Everyone is sick of Christmas. Go ahead, ask them. The obligations for cards and presents, the music, the distracting tinsel everywhere. So why celebrate something you look forward to about as much as paying taxes?
This year we've missed the boat. But next year, as Joe Pesci is my witness, we'll have the pole up, the airing of grievances, the feats of strength, and all the spaghetti you can eat.

* I feel I should add that this is not meant to be simply an emulation of Seinfeld. It's meant to be a celebration without the commercial aspects of that other holiday. So there is a purpose behind it. Really.

Bulb Planting

I changed the last of our non-dimmer lights to cfl bulbs this weekend. I had changed about half of them last year, and we noticed our bills dropped about $20 a month - I guess that's probably more than most people would see - figuring that since someone is home all day, the lights are on more, and are a bigger chunk of our electric usage. So now we can extend that gain a little more.
The only thing to get used to is the warm-up cycle, when turned on it takes them a couple minutes to get to full brightness. But I've found that first thing in the morning, that can be a real benefit, as my eyes have a little time to adjust without being blinded by full intensity. The outside floods suffer this dim problem more, but after a couple minutes, they're as bright as incandescent ones.
There were a few spots where incandescent bulbs would frequently burn out - the front porch light would only last about 3 months on a bulb, and the kitchen light had a short life as well. Both have now used the same cfl bulbs for over a year.
Of course, it's not all rosy - cfl bulbs contain mercury, so I can't just toss them in the trash when they burn out. I think local supermarkets offer some type of recycling drop-off. But none have died, so we haven't had to worry about it yet.

Serenity Now

Minor updates...
-I got the Christmas Tree put up last night. One of those types with the lights, and only 4 pieces, incluidng the stand. Took all of 10 minutes. Now for the decoration phase.

-Shaunn's sleepwalking seems ot have resolved itself for now. He hasn't done it since I blogged about it last week. (I just spoke to him, he thinks he did a little last night, but it looks like the most he did was pull a towel off the bathroom rack and place it on the counter)

-The new Navi dvd should arrive today, according to the delivery bot at UPS.

Looks like it'll be fairly calm around our house this week. Yes, I'm tempting Fate by stating that.

Basement part XVIII

Normally, a blog entry after the storm we had yesterday would be full of tidbits about how many times I emptied our shop vac, or how deep the water was in the downstairs bathroom.
Our backyard by the rear fence is a (quickly freezing) lake this morning. This has happpened two or three times since we moved in...when the ground is wet enough for that, it's time to call off work, roll up your pant legs, and head downstairs for Operation Vacu-Suck.

However, the basement is, for all intents and purposes, dry. There was a little water by the wall, but I wiped it all up with one bath towel, so no need to roll out Megamaid. A cup of water, instead of few dozen gallons. The tide is turning...

Hmmm

Shaunn has recently started sleep walking. This week, I've found him changing the kitchen garbage bag at 1am, moving things around in the basement, and last night, he was busy breaking the legs off of a decorative elephant candle, by banging it on the coffee table. (I've got a picture I took a couple days ago...he'd taken my shoes from by the back door, placed one next to the cat's food dish, and the other on top of the fridge.)
It usually occurs within an hour or so of him going to bed.
Every time he's intent on whatever he's doing, and it takes calling his name loudly once or twice to get him to stop and go back to bed - but he will usually get up later and do it again the same night. His nurse feels that it could be temporary, or could be long term. Not a lot of help there, but there's no answer without knowing the cause.
I'm not sure what to do, or if I'm just worrying about it too much. The obvious fear is that he'll injure himself somehow. But what can I do, short of belting him to the bed?

Holy Crap

it's been a pretty wet week around here...we've had 2.5 inches of rain since saturday, plus more last night and today. That's on top of the 5 inches of snow that melted over the weekend. Shaunn just checked the basement...and it is bone dry. I must be onto something with the fixes I've done. I hope I don't jinx it, but we'd always get at least some water with this amount of rain. And we've had nothing. Sweet.

- Update - the NWS recorded 1.05" yesterday, so that makes over 3.5" of rain, and over 5" of melted snow. Booyah.
I have one downspout left to redo, which is on the opposite corner of the basement from where the big problems usually are. This area by the bar leaks a little occasionally, but generally, if there's any water over by the bar, then the other side of the basement is a lake.
There was a little water by the bar last night, but that was the only damp spot in the whole basement. So it's definitely improved. Once I replace that downspout and run it out into the yard, we shouldn't have any more water problems over there.

Christmas for the car

Our car's navigation system has proven to be indispensable over the 4 years we've owned it. Like a lot of technology, once you have one, you don't know how you managed without it before. Be that as it may, it does have some limitations. The maps and business directory/points of interest are stored on a dvd, which needs to be replaced every so often to keep current. Roads don't change very often, but businesses do, making the circa fall 2003 database less than perfect. (Case in point - Radio Shack recently shuffled all of their local stores, closing some, relocating almost all others. This made finding a location a recent exercize in futility, as the navi directed me to three separate locations that were no longer there.)
Plus, some local roads have changed - the I-670 redesign was finished about 6 months after we got the car, so the current 315/670 routes aren't shown - the map shows us driving off the highway and apparently flying through the air to certain death - it would be cool if the car's voice would scream when that happens.
So, time to bite the bullet and get a new dvd. These cost a little more than, say a movie - the normal price is $185 for the annual updates. Theyr'e on sale for $149 right now, so i jumped. But I can't complain, as the navigation service is free, and $149 over 4 years is less than my train magazine subscription.

Bussy McBusalot

In our family, the summer trip to Disney World in 1984 is forever burned into our dna. I've probably recounted this story more times than you've had hot dinners, and here's one more...
The entire trip revolved around the problems that our VW Bus gave us. On the drive from Toledo to Orlando, the starter died just north of Cincinnati. It would only work when the engine was cold. This doesn't happen very often on a long summer trip. So we became very adept at the 'push start' procedure, which was needed every time we stopped and the engine was shut off. When we'd pull off into a rest area or wherever, the driver would reach for the key out of habit. If someone didn't yell "Don't turn it off!" in time, it was up to us. I can only imagine how many people still tell the story of the family they saw pushing their VW Bus out of the rest stop.
( I learned a couple years ago that VW Buses starters were prone to this type of failure - on long drives, heat would build up and prevent the starter solenoid from working. But a lot of good that did us on the road.)
The rest of the trip passed by(Disney was just kind of a break from car pushing), and we were on our way home. It was late, and raining, and we had just pulled off the road in Savannah Ga to find a room. As the rest of us half slept, dad went into the lobby of the hotel we'd stopped at.
A few minutes later, dad came flying out, jumped in the driver's seat (he had left it running this time) and drove off like a bat out of hell, without saying a word. we found another hotel a couple exits up the highway. He later told us that while he was standing at the hotel counter, two people in there started an argument, when one pulled a knife, slashed the other person's arm, and ran out the door. The hotel manager's reaction was to lock the doors. Dad screamed at him that we were out there, along with the attacker. The manager let him out, and off we went.
The next morning, we came out to discover a flat tire. (I always wondered if dad ran over the knife!)When we started the job, right away we noticed the jack, which had never been used before. VW had made it out of what seemed to be heavy-duty aluminum foil. But dad said they must know what they were thinking. So, my dad, George and I jacked up the rear of the bus. We were parked on a very slight incline. This wasn't an issue until we had the van up, and had taken the flat tire off. Right at that moment, the jack decided it had done enough work for the day and bent itself in two. Somehow, we jammed the bad tire under the fender before the whole thing came crashing down on the ground. Dad ran off to quickly borrow a jack from a nearby garage, and we just leaned our weight into the van and prayed. He retrieved a jack, and we finished the job.
The rest of the trip home was relatively uneventful, peppered with push starts at every stop. But we will never forget that trip. My parents got rid of the Bus a few months later.
At any rate, this is my little recreation of the VW Bus at the center of it all...enjoy.
(The paint finish is, well, rough. I wanted to see how the colors looked, and was so stoked after the first trial coat that I had to put up a pic. It'll get better, really.)

Sappy

I know you've hardly been able to sleep without any layout updates, so here you are. Rainy days are usually my most productive.
OSHA has been sending letters regarding the high number of people who wandered around the station and fell onto the tracks behind it, because of no safety barriers. A railing has now been added to address that minor issue, along with sidewalks so Faceless Freddie can now enjoy the view in safety.


Here's the sappy bit...I've been keeping an eye out for a dark blue Karmann Ghia for the layout. Mom and dad had one identical to this when they got married, and I found one yesterday at a train show here in town. Ta-daa!
I'm also repainting one of my VW buses (not the one above) to match the one we had back from 1978-84...it's not quite ready for prime time - I'll probably finish that later this week.

In related news, the layout now has more Volkswagens per capita than Wolfsburg, Germany.

Side Benefits

Living on a side street off of a not too important primary street means we have never seen a snow plow within a half mile of our house. However, that changed today.
Shaunn has a home nurse, and she shared with him that if a street has a disabled person living on it, with certain other qualifying criteria(housebound, home care), the city has 48 hours to plow that road after a major snowfall, so that the docs and emergency services can get there in an emergency.
So, armed with this knowledge, he called the mayor's action line. And within 2 hours, our street had been plowed and salted. So long, sheets of ice!

Early Christmas

I forgot to mention in the last post...when I shut off the outside spigot last night, I had to move several storage totes that we placed in that room over the summer. As I moved the totes, I opened them to see what was inside. One of them contained - woo hoo- the eyepieces to my telescope, which I've been looking for since moving here in mid 2005. Just in time for those still winter nights which are perfect for stargazing.

Oops

Well, the weather reports were...conservative. We had about 5.5 inches here. So they were closer to correct than me. So I'll stop with the fraud lawsuits.
It did give me an excuse to winterize. so when I got home tonight, I put the storm windows in the screen doors, and shut off the water to the outside spigots. This is to avoid a repeat of our first winter here, when the pipe for the rear spigot burst, turning half our patio into a skating rink.
The snow let me again appreciate how effing great our Accord is in the stuff. Shaunn's nurse came by today, but had to park in the street when her Explorer couldn't make it up our driveway. When I got home, I just drove right up, the wheels slipping for just an instant in the snow ruts she created. Why do they sell suvs again?

Layout trivia

When I designed the layout, I used a design program to rough out ideas until I came up with something I liked and would fit in my available space. When I built it, the track was laid out using the eyeball process. I always wondered how much track was on the layout. I had a rough idea, but I never had added it all up. So, I measured out the track...
The mainline run, not including dead-end sidings, consists of 1177 inches of track, or a hair over 98 feet. In HO scale (1:87), this is a track distance of 8533 feet, a little over 1.6 scale miles. No wonder it took me so long to get it all down.

First snow

We got the wood last night. It was an exciting time. Wood. Giga and I went to the place, loaded it, drove home, and had it unloaded all in the space of about 30 minutes. Simple. Unfortunately, the wood had apparently sat in the rain we had over the weekend, so lighting it last night was kind of a non-event.
Tonight and tomorrow, we're supposed to see about 4 inches of snow. But I'll never understand how the local weather can accurately tell you what they'll get in New England or Nebraska, but always be completely off for the local snow forecast.
So, they're stating 4 inches here...this means we'll see some flakes in the air, and maybe - maybe - about an inch on the ground. I think we need the weather predictors in Nebraska to tell us how much to expect.

Warm house

We love using our fireplace. Last year, we went thru most of the scrap wood from the train table, and then started buying those compressed-sawdust logs from the store. they burn nicely, but the price works out to about $3 a log, which isn't very cost effective. So today at lunch, I did some checking around for firewood sources, and found a place near the house that sells seasoned firewood pretty cheaply.

I caleld them to inquire, and the salesman cheerfully said that their price is $40 for a 'rack' of logs, which he explained is about 1/4 cord. For those of you not familiar with these terms, a 'Cord' is about 85 Furlongs, or 19.5 metric Cochranes of wood. At any rate, it's enough to see us through most of the winter.
Giga has offered his truck and help in getting it home, we're going after work tonight. One problem, the temperature has been dropping all day, and is going to keep going. So I think we'll just stack the wood in the car shelter for the time being, and I'll move it to its permanent home later this week. That'll also give me time to throw together a rack this week to store it on, so it stays nice and dry for the burnination. This will also give the wood from the tree we had removed a place to dry so it'll be ready for next winter.