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Get A Free Quote or Consultation Today

Basement Renovation | Skokie IL

Basement Renovation - Wall Framing

Basement Remodeling Project:

Project Scope: The project requires a complete basement renovation. The final project will have a completed 1Bedroom/1Bath with Kitchen. An inexpensive bathroom remodel was a requirement with this project since the bathroom only requires a ‘spruce up’ to modernize it.

Though much of this project is really an update versus a complete basement rehab this project will be completed within a scheduled time frame of 5 working days. As the project is being completed we will provide more videos and photos to showcase the before and after.

123 Remodeling experts specialize in basement refinishing, renovation and remodeling. IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF A BASEMENT REMODEL CLICK HERE for a Free no obligation In-Home Estimate.

123 Remodeling – Basement Construction Requirements:

  • Bedroom/Kitchen Remodeling/Bathroom Remodeling
  • Remove Existing Basement Bar
  • Convert the basement space into 2 Rooms – 1 for Bedroom, 1 for Kitchen/Livingroom
  • Extend the bedroom crawl space into closet space
  • Electrical and Plumbing
  • Installation of a Entry way with Door
  • Remove and Refinish the Drop Ceiling

123 Remodeling – Bathroom Remodeling Requirements:

  • Remove all vanity sink and replace with new vanity sink w/ storage
  • Fogless Vanity Mirror with New Vanity Lighting
  • Replace the toilet with more efficient unit
  • Replace the existing shower door enclosure with a Glass Shower Door
  • Remove plastic shower base and replace with Tile Shower Base
  • Change Baseboards and Fresh Coat of Paint

Modern Bathroom Remodeling Skokie IL

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Infinity Events & Catering

12th & Porter offers services from Infinity Events & Catering, our full-service, event planning and design company that provides catering services for our four venues: The Bridge Building, The Bell Tower, OZ Arts Nashville, The QuarterThe Harding House, and 12th & Porter.  While working with one of our talented certified event specialists, you will be guided through the steps of organizing the perfect event.

Led by owner and certified executive chef Tabor Luckey, Infinity Events & Catering will create a customized menu for your special occasion at 12th & Porter. Your event specialist will work hand-in-hand with our culinary team to provide you with the premier dining experience in Nashville.

Infinity Events & Catering also offers custom bar packages for your special occasion, from open bar, by-the-drink, and cash bar options. Your event specialist and our culinary team will help pick the package that is ideal for you.  Whether you are planning a wedding, a corporate meeting or a social gathering, their expertise can make your vision for the perfect event become a reality.


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Friday, November 26, 2010

Giorno di Ringraziamento-Thanksgiving in Calabria!

Thanksgiving is just another day for Italians, but we decided that we would try and make it special for our fellow Americans here.  We also wanted to have some Italian friends there...somehow it didn't seem right to have a big dinner in Italy with only expats there. It ended up an International dinner. We had six Americans, a British  mother and daughter with holiday house in Scalea and our two closest Italian friends from here in the village. As you can imagine, there was a lot of fun Italian being battered around the table – some done well and fast, some less so.

Thanksgiving is the most popular of American holidays and 40 million people were expected to travel for the holiday, and check-out TSA’s new security features at some airports. Weather can be an issue with Thanksgiving. I know my brother was expecting -29C at his place in Montana, my daughter had snow in Denver, and Oregon had snow and freezing rain – delightful! We are still in a wet rainy pattern in Calabria with highs around 14C. Regardless, it was a great day with a bunch of good friends just like the holiday was meant to be.

One does not find turkeys in the stores here – just turkey parts, so we ordered a whole turkey, asking for a 10 kg bird. It arrived at the local butcher’s Monday where they mentioned it was a little larger. Yes, it was 16 kg which converts to 35 lbs. So how do you put a bird that big into an Italian refrigerator or oven? Take out all the racks, say a few choice words, push, shove, kick. Every surface in the oven was in contact with the turkey including the door.  Ecco.

I asked Giussepe Antonio at the meat market whether it was really turkey, or perhaps a struzzo (ostrich). Here it is just out of the oven—nicely falling apart done.

For this event, we used the new space in the guest flat because it has a bigger table, and we sat 10 pretty well. Di set a lovely table to go along with all the great food she and the guests were making.

We had to hope for the best with some things given what was available locally. No familiar winter squashes or yams at the market, but we found zucca--it looks sorta like a pumpkin with the same meat, so pie from scratch and baked pieces. Our two guests from England brought a bag of Canadian cranberries that were fun and comforting to have.

We adjourned upstairs for digestivo drinks and more conversation. I think Sofia was bored listening to the adults talking about mold on their walls, water heaters and the Italian bureaucracy in general, but no one fell asleep on the sofa watching football as in the States--just a lively time spent with good friends.

Well you know where to find me for the next couple days--we used real flatware and china instead of the plastic throwaway that is more popular here—I see why. Didja see how that turkey hung over the pan?  You would NOT want to see the inside of this oven!!

Ciao a la festa prossima, Guido

Friday, November 19, 2010

Ecco! Finito! Restoration Fun

Our guest apartment is ready for guests! Of course, we won't have a whole lot of interest this time of year--but it's great to know it is done. We have had a good number of people ask us what we will "do" with the space when there are no guests, which will be most of the time. We have always used the downstairs area for storage, and now the storage is neat and tidy. We use it for ironing (Doug still does lots of this...he even irons his jeans--go figure) and hanging the laundry on the terrace. More importantly, it's a quiet place to relax and read. The wood stove's heat is very very cosy so we will undoubtably start a good fire on those rainy winter days.  It's also now the place with the big table for large gatherings in the winter or in the summer if it's too hot on the terrace.

As promised, here are a series of before and after pictures.  Note that the two walls that formed the kitchen, and the walls around the stairs are all gone now to open-up the whole place. (We really never owned the italian furniture shown in the before pictures. The owners cleared it all out before we moved in):

Friday, November 12, 2010

Raccolta Delle Olive-Calabrian Olive Harvest Old and New

Sitting by the fire at the beautiful Villa Tranquilla
One of the many things I love about my new life is that one minute I can be sitting in the spacious living room at my friends' beautiful villa near Maratea and the next be hanging from an olive tree helping another friend with her raccolta della olive (olive harvest). This is a story of contrasts--Contrasts of weather, way of life, and methods of olive harvest.

Our friend Pina mentioned that she was about to harvest her olives.  Since we are typical expats, we said we wanted to help.  (Most expats in Italy want to help with the grape and olive harvests--probably because the books we read before we come all describe the fun had by all). Remember Doug and I just came from a farm so we figured we wouldn't be too stupid about the work involved.  It wasn't bad at all and the day was perfect.  I can hear Guido right now reminding me to tell you about each step involved and the equipment used and to cut the philosophy in half.  So okay, here it is in captioned pictures:

Pina wouldn't let us climb the trees since she weighs less than we do and the branches break easily--
plus I think she liked it
I honestly don't know what I was doing here, perhaps lowering a branch so I could reach the olives
This olive grove is in our town, Santa Domenica Talao, down off of the hill
Pina helps her friend Franco harvest his olives so she can harvest some oil
These are what the olives look like on the tree
They are very bitter so there is no tasting while you pick
The first thing that is done is the laying of the mesh--Pina said that when she was a girl they just raked them off
of the ground. Doug is holding a long handled rake to rake 'em off onto the mesh.
Note the stakes downhill of the tree to avoid any olives falling downhill off the mesh

The next step is gather in the mesh, then pick all the errant leaves out of the olives, put the olives in the bucket and then in mesh bags for Franco's tractor to pick up and take to the frantoio (oil press)

Here is Franco using his 500 Euro electric rake (works off a tractor battery)
He is happy because he is getting a lot more done than we are
Pina is probably out there again today since we had that one nice day and it has rained for about a week since then. Today is a glorious olive picking day but we have other promises to keep and miles to go before we sleep...sorry Mr. Frost.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Here's one for the Rules and one more for the Roads

It’s time to bring up topics related to rules of the road, laws, and the Italian bureaucracy as witnessed by us here in Calabria.  It’s pertinent because 1) we must, once again, apply for a permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay), and 2) I am getting ready to meet the challenge of seeking an Italian driver’s license.

The permesso story has been told and we are pretty well prepared to run the gauntlet again.  At least the renewal permit is for two years.  The longer we are here, the longer the permit is valid until, at the six year mark, it becomes permanent.  Two documents we needed from the village took me 7 minutes to obtain, so things really are getting smoother and we have yet to pay a bribe to anyone or found a friend of the mayor or anybody else to grease any skids!

My American driver’s license from Oregon expires in December and they do not renew online.  I could spend $900 to fly back to get a license or bite-the-bullet and get an Italian one.  My law-abiding wife says I must do this because “legal residents must have an Italian license within one year of residency.”  Well, residents are supposed to have an EU license from an EU country, but does anyone care? (Di points out to me that she intends to wait five years until her Oregon license expires to jump into this mess, so it's about driving with NO license that is upsetting to her).

I believe the reality is probably something else.  I have been stopped a number of times by the national police – the Carabinieri – at their random roadblocks.  Yeah, the guys in the cute uniforms and a sub-machinegun.  Each time, they heard my stumbling Italian, recognized I was a stranieri and sent me along.  The last time, the guy asked if I was English, so I acted insulted about such an accusation, stating I was an American.  He then started asking why on earth I would move here, where was I from, etc.  No documents were ever requested.  Just a fluke perhaps?

The English language version of the driving test goes away next month, so I’ll have to take the written test in Italian and the driving test is given in Cosenza, the provincial seat.  None of this can happen until January at the earliest.  In fact, I cannot even get a copy of the driving study book until November 20. The good news is that for €450 ($630), I get the privilege of skipping the class work with teenagers and to take the test in Italian. More truly good news is that some online samples of the test are pretty easy, even in Italian. Va bene, eh?

Sounds easy and customer-friendly right? I should add that one of the documents I must provide is a health certificate from the “officials”.  Well, that could be okay cuz the same office issues the national healthcare card that I’m eligible for as a resident. But, I’m told that that test will show I need glasses to drive, so I’ll have to go to an optical doctor for some other document. Ah, the never-ending Italian document chase is on.

You’ve probably already heard many hair-raising Italian driving stories.  Posted speeds, stop signs, centerlines on the roads, any safety measure at all--just suggestions.  Abide by the rules if they are convenient at the time is the reality of these roads. Last spring a young woman who tailgated me out of town (24 inches is typical), passed me as we hit the highway to Scalea. She blew past me AND the Carabinieri car in front of me at 80-90kph in a zone posted at 40. The two cops didn’t bother to put down their mobile phones or cigarettes when she went by. But hey, I know the rules and can really follow them with an examiner sitting next to me!

The condition of the roads in Calabria caused me to reflect on tax evasion – the national pastime of Italy. When I asked a mechanic and tow truck driver to show me the bill I paid for in cash, he told me it would cost an additional 20% for an official receipt from the cash register which is inspected by the tax police.  Well, I have decided (being a non-Italian American Democrat) to pay these taxes as often as I can.  Imagine what the roads COULD BE like around here if everyone paid the taxes they should!! I have paid the builders with bank checks this year in lieu of cash and no one has complained. It’s my contribution and bid for a sane system—but the fact that this empty gesture will never light the fire of the Italian heart takes away a bit of the sanity of it, I fear.

Saluti to Bureaucrats Everywhere, Guido

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August 29, 2009

Roger & Me

Director - Michael Moore

Genre - Documentary/Comedy/Drama

This is Michael Moore before Columbine happened. Before 9/11. We realized all at once when we viewed this documentary, Moore's appeal lies in being contemporary. In being right in the eye of the hurricane when all hell has broken loose. Maybe it is partly our fault for watching this too late but we feel that the subject matter is itself too personal to the filmmaker and not at all to us. As usual, Moore goes after a big corporation and this time the target's on Roger Smith, chairman of General Motors. Roger is depicted like a demonic, soulless prick out to rob the poor out of their jobs in order to fill his own coffers. When Moore takes on the United States of America and paints it as Satan, the entertainment level is lava-hot. This Roger guy and our own boss don't differ much.

2.5 STARS!

All about Roger & Me

Ben said...

Roger and Me is just as relevant today as when it was released. Corporate behaviour has only gotten worse in the interim years.

northierthanthou said...

This was Moore's best work.

1minutefilmreview said...

Not as good as 'Bowling For Columbine' but still has its moments.

afilmaday said...

Reading notes about this movie, it's interesting how he has always been a manipulative documentary film-maker for he had indeed managed to get into some direct contact with Roger but chose to edit it out for dramatic effect.

1minutefilmreview said...

You're right. He doesn't care about being fair. He wants his opinions heard loud and clear. Could be a good thing, could be bad, depends on where you stand. They're more like movies than documentaries anyway.


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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

200' Fall Clean-up - Sat. Oct. 27@1:30 pm

Dear 200' Garden Blog Readers and Gardeners,

I have both good and sad news. The sad news is that the 2012 garden season is coming to a close. All are welcome to come help put the garden to bed for the winter. Fall Clean-up begins Saturday October 27 @1:30 pm. We'll have some snacks and  apple cider.

We still have green tomatoes, salad greens, kale, and oregano. Here's a sampling of last weekend's haul. Can you say Tomatillo Salsa!? (Does anyone still have cilantro ...).

The good news is that it is time to plan for 2013. If you have suggestions for next year and/or  feedback on 2012, we'd love to hear from you (all feedback is welcome). For example, some people would like larger cucumbers and tomatoes. Got it! At National food day this evening I tried some sage lemonade and it was delicious! Sage is another one for 2013. Feel free to email me at

Hope to see you Saturday!

1 comment:

  1. Garden hoses are made of vinyl, rubber or a vinyl-rubber composite. Vinyl's cheaper and lighter than rubber, but it's also less durable.


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Gray Watson Personal Thoughts 2002.11.05
Gator Is Evil

[ I wrote this at the end of last year as a person opinion paper. My company Lycos.com was doing business with these scumbags and I was trying to garner support to stop the deal. In general I was listened to but we were too desperate to pass up the deal. Sigh. ]

Gator and such software is evil and they must be stopped by any means. Their software is basically viral with their main user base created without user authorization and usually without their knowledge. 95% of their user base was gained by unfair business practices which they are now being rewarded for, even if they have "changed".

Free Spam Protection   Eggnog Recipe   Android ORM   Simple Java Magic   JMX using HTTP   OAuth 2.0 Simple Example   Great Eggnog Recipe


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Monday, July 25, 2016

To Start The Week Off...

I won't lie, today I don't have much. My picture today is quickly retouched from the original...but I think the article is well worth a look
The film, “A German Life,” tells the story of Brunhilde Pomsel, who was a secretary to the Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. In it, Ms. Pomsel, who is 105 years old, offers an unflinching glimpse into the mentality of a “normal German” during the Nazi era, someone who worked within the system for personal advancement and now wrestles with her complicity.
It wasn't just a case of depraved was also a society of mostly ordinary people willing to let them be that way.

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Code Of Practice For Approved Driving Instructors

The DVSA and the driving instruction industry place great emphasis on professional standards and business ethics.

A revised version of the ADI Code of Practice has been jointly published by DVSA and the National Associations Strategic Partnership (NASP). It has been updated in 2017 to reflect modern practices in the delivery of driver training and the management of a training school business.

You can see if an Instructor has signed up for the code if they display this logo:-
Support ADI logo
The logo can be used on promotional materials only by those instructors signed up to the Code. It should be noted that anyone found using the logo, who has not agreed to abide by the code may be libel for prosecution for misuse of this logo.

Whilst the Code remains voluntary, it is reasonably expected that the majority of professional ADIs will sign up to it and endeavour to comply with its key principles and practices.

Many ADIs already deliver to these standards, but setting out the stall for what 'professional conduct' should be for an industry is valuable, not just in terms of providing a framework for driver trainers themselves, but also in educating the public as to what they should expect from a driver training provider.
And reflecting that desire to use the code as a way of promoting professional trainers to the public, a special logo has been created for ADIs who wish to promote to pupils that they support the Code. The 'ADI Code of Practice - I've signed up!' tick marque is available to download from the NASP website and can be used on trainer's websites and other promotional literature as a sign of their commitment to upholding professional standards.

An accompanying 'Continuing Professional Development - I'm taking part' logo is also available for those who wish to demonstrate their commitment, as a training and education professional, to continually developing their own skills and knowledge.

This code is endorsed by the following NASP member associations:

Personal Conduct

Driver trainers will be professional, comply with the law, keep clients safe and treat them with respect

The instructor agrees to:

Business Dealings

Driver trainers will account for monies paid to them, record client’s progress, advise clients when to apply for their driving tests and guide them fairly through the learning process

The instructor agrees to:

Driver trainers will take care to advertise and promote their businesses in a clear and fair manner

The instructor agrees that:

Driver trainers will deal promptly with any complaints received and aim for speedy resolution of any grievances

The instructor agrees that:


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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Repeated Addition and Multiplication

Grade: 3-4
Pages: 5

1 comment:

  1. This is a great blog! I would love love love to be a regular contributor, but I couldn't find the email address! Please let me know!
    Buzzing with Ms. B

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If you’re traveling as a couple, with your friends or solo, Three Apples is definitely the right choice for you. We’re located at the heart of Istanbul’s entertainment paradise; Beyoğlu, Galata and Karaköy… They are all in here. We are in the center of the most romantic venues, clubs, restaurants and cafes.

We offer you a comfortable and large room to relax, enjoy and have fun with your loved ones. Our careful staff will be delighted to assist you.

Are you planning to visit Istanbul between November 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016? We have very special offers for you at all our properties.

50 % OFF: If you stay for more than 7 days at Taksim Suites or for more than 15 days at Taksim Residence or Elmadağ Residence properties, you can get up to 50% off the Standard Price.

This offer is valid only for bookings made through our website.

Three Apples Direct Advantage. No better way to book.

We are so confident that booking direct is the best way to book with Three Apples, because if you find a lower rate elsewhere on the internet within 24 hours of making your reservation on www.3-apples.com and the rate is for the same date(s), same room type, same number of guests and same rate terms or restrictions, we will honour the lower rate and offer you a 10% discount on the lower rate and a complimentary upgrade to the next best available room type, if available.

We’re a boutique hotel with 3 properties in Taksim area, the heart of Istanbul. We’re close to all Istanbul has to offer; culture & sightseeing, entertainment & night life, shopping, festivals and conferences. As a couple, in group or solo, for leisure or business, we offer friendly and professional service in a homely atmosphere for value concious guests. Our rooms are 1+1 suite apartments with separate living areas and fully equipped kitchens.

Istanbul is the heart of Turkey and Taksim is the heart of Istanbul. Millions come here every day to meet, share and enjoy. There is no better place to feel Turkey than Taksim. Stay with us and feel how it vibrates.

Getting a large suite apartment with a separate living room, in the center of Istanbul, with a reasonable price from a very friendly team is not a dream. Just Three Apples.

Even the most seasoned party lovers are surprised with the number of new bars, clubs, cafes and restaurants opening every day in our area. Pick your favorite or just go hopping, we’ll be your home.

With all the things that you will see, feel or experience in Istanbul, you will have a lot to share with your loved ones. So Wi-fi better be free! Three Apples offers it free with good quality.

We are @ Taksim Square, the epicenter of Istanbul.

Our favorite offers, hand-picked for you


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Friday, May 13, 2011

date #10: the record breaking Australian

there’s something about Australia that has embedded itself in me over the years. i think it originally started because of some sort of silly rebellion. while growing up, whenever anyone would talk about going overseas, it was always France, Italy, Rome… possibly Ireland or Spain. i had never really heard Australia come up, so it became my thing. As time went on, different pieces of the country began showing itself in random places and planting seeds in my head. then, a couple of years ago i started talking to an Aussie (who had been working in the states when he first wrote me) and unfortunately became pretty important to my heart. i say “unfortunately” because, well, look at the circumstances. but through the long talks he helped fuel my desire to travel and live a more daring life. i still have a lot to learn and a million things to see (i still have yet to leave the country), but i now know that things like backpacking in the land down under is a possible feat, even for a poor artist. i just have to problem solve creatively. recently i’ve been looking at getting a work visa or volunteering in exchange for shelter and i definitely don’t mind looking for hostels or campgrounds. in fact, i would prefer that. think of the people you’d meet! not to mention the money you’d save to keep moving…

now that i’ve given you a little smidgen of back-story on how much OZ means to me, hopefully you have an idea of how thrilled i was to find a native that said yes to a date and how personal it became for me, even if it was indirectly. and let me just add my not-so-secret secret: i adore Australian accents. typical maybe, but i accept it!

i actually met #10 at the Highball during SXSW. Bright Light Social Hour was playing the URDB World Record Break Cancer event and since my cousin and i have this wacky affinity for them, it was on the top of the “must see” list. i had briefly heard about the two Aussies that were breaking the record of traveling the most miles for a URDB event and spontaneity like that always impresses me. after the show, i introduced myself, told him about my idea and asked him to be a part. i actually tried persuading him to fly back in; i was thinking maybe date #30 could just be me hopping in his carry-on and we could have had our date on the plane. i’m sure i could have unzipped the bag a little so that we could converse! have a nice meal of pretzels and peanuts? it sounded good to me. he suggested skype. i’ll take what i can get.

since my computer is a great-great grandfather and doesn’t have video capabilities, i drove up to my crew-girl’s place to use hers and right as i arrived a delivery vehicle pulled up. date #10 had ordered food from Zen for me! from a different country! since they are 15 hours ahead, he had made himself a small morning brunch so that we could have a meal together. what a cool idea.

the whole Skype thing was a little rough to deal with because of some technical difficulties with the audio cutting out and the delay of transferring information. plus, being able to see myself on the screen just didn’t seem right. being reminded of my weird quirks right in front of my face as i was doing them started to really mess with my brain. i felt like i was talking to myself… at least he was okay with it on his end; he said that he loves being in front of the camera. i, on the other hand, am still getting used to it.

so what do i do to break the choppy fumbling and redirect my attention? pull out a game! when i was young i used to love watching Matlock and i thought i was going to be a lawyer or a detective when i grew up. i couldn’t be farther from that kind of career now but i do still love a good game of Crack the Case. i can’t seem to recall how i had acquired it but i will never get rid of it.

basically the game is full of murder stories and one side has to figure out whodunit or whytheydunit by asking the other side yes or no questions. i sat out on the balcony while my camera girl read the case to my date, that way he had all the information necessary to be able to answer my questions. i should’ve had him guess first; i did terrible. but in my defense, nobody in their right mind would have figured out how these three people were killed. nobody in their right or crazy mind would have even come up with this way to murder someone: rigging a VHS tape to electrocute someone once it’s ejected? really? sigh.

then of course he did very well for his first shot at case-cracking. kudos, sir. but i warn you… when i finally make it to the great outback, you better be ready for a rematch.

worst part of the date: not being able to have that personal interaction worst part of the day: skype cutting out best part of the date: the feeling of excitement and adventure that i get when i talk to him about traveling and life goals/opportunities. best part of the day: i’m on a bloody date with my favorite type of mate, what do you think?

1 comment:

  1. he seems really nice and interesting. Kind of seems like you hit it off... maybe there could be a good outcome from going on 30 dates... you'd definitely know the type of guy your looking for and what you want out of life!


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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

No Comparison

Today I found a blog by a mom whose sons are the same age as mine. She uses the same curriculum that I do also. I found her post about the same unit we covered last week. I looked at it for a few minutes before I realized she does this way better than I do. WOW!

Here is her link, Monarch Room.

Here is our version.
We didn't do the art project because we do art at co-op.
Here are our trees.

We won't bring up the FAIL that was supposed to be our Johnnycakes.
We didn't do the cool pirate ship thing.
Here are our fox prints.... Minus the foxes..
 (image missing)
Our flowers turned out okay.... Right?
We just read the poems. We have a separate writing program.
We write the vocabulary in composition notebooks with pages labeled in alphabetical order.
Here is one of Skittle's words, skirmish.

Here is Twizzler's word, duel.

I love the muscles on the big guy.

I love the notebooking pages that she uses on Monarch room. I literally use notebook paper. Her children clearly have inherited her artistic abilities and neatness. My kids have inherited my simplicity? LOL. Let's not go there. They do a good job though.
  1. Twizzler tried out a new app for math today, Splash Math. He liked it. I started him off with something easy to boost his confidence. He did great.
  2. Skittles made brownies for dessert basically on his own. I stood in the kitchen and told him how to approach each step and to keep him safe. The brownies were delicious!
  3. Hershey can say "thank you" and "you're welcome" but he gets the two mixed up. When I handed him his cup tonight he said, "Bow come." I corrected him, "No, YOU say, 'Thank you.' I say, 'You're welcome.'" He looked at me puzzled and said, "Tay too, bow come" I let it go. He will get it.

1 comment:

  1. Go Skittles! I wish I could try them!
    Also LOLing about Hershey getting confused about that.


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Monday, January 26, 2015

Alpha Beta

Today we took our school work on the road again. Hershey had a doctor appointment out of town. Carschooling is great for me. The kids focus better in the back seat. Skittles read the history lesson aloud to us all while I drove.
Greek Alphabet

  • Both boys are copying a poem each day this week in Language Lessons.
  • I only had the kids do a half day of math because we had to hit the road and also they are really ahead of the game in their lessons. Twizzler is learning about long division.
  • In history we read about the Greek alphabet. We learned that we get many of our letters and phonics from the Greeks. I had Skittles write a quick narration about the ways in which the Greeks became more civilized. Twizzler copied some of the Greek letters into his journal page. This lesson came at a great time because one of Twizzler's Awana verses is about God being the Alpha and the Omega.
  • In science we are still learning about Dinosaurs. Twizzler is learning about what species are. He did research to compare a buffalo and a bison. Skittles is trying out a new science book. He is also studying dinosaurs and fossils. Today he learned some new vocabulary words.
  • Twizzler finished his reading book today. He was very proud of himself. I am proud of him too. Skittles is still reading Robin Hood and loving it.

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05 March 2012

Karatepe Kilim Ko-Operatifi

Karatepe Kilim Kooperatifi is about 30 minutes down the road from the Karatepe Open Air Museum. This is a women’s cooperative of weavers who make original Turkish Anatolian kilim motifs based on designs woven for centuries using natural root dyes. Tour the weaving workshop and watch them weave. Then, sit down have a cup of çay and purview the selection of artwork around you. If you can make a return trip you can even order a custom made kilim of your very own.

Entrance Fee - NONE
Bring Turkish Lira for carpets.
Difficulty Getting There - EASY
Continue down the road about 30 minutes from the Karatepe Open Air Museum.
Physical Difficulty - EASY
Single story store.

Language of the Kilim
According the Karatepe Kilim website, each design has a meaning:

The weaver wants to marry a man who’s strong like a lion and will make a strong showing the world.

Çiçekli (Flowering)
Love and affection - highlights the beloved.
Küpeli (Earring)
Young women weaving earring report that the family has decided now is the time for marriage.

Merdivenli (Ladder)
The weaver is a young lady who wants to get rid of tent life and wishes to go to a two-story house.

The desire for young girls to marry in the future.

Read More
About the Karatepe Kilim on their website at

1 comment:

  1. I don’t waste my free time that’s why I read the informative things when I got this blog I really enjoyed reading this.Visible Display


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Stereogram Explorer 2.4 free download
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PixMatrix 2.1 free download
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  • Rapid Gallery Creator - instant generation of SEO-friendly image galleries — When you accumulate a certain number of photos, you may want to share them with your friends, family and colleagues on the web. If you already have a website and prefer to complement it with custom galleries instead of using a third-party solution, you will definitely need a tool that will allow you to generate these galleries in a fast and efficient manner. That’s exactly what Rapid Gallery Creator was intended for…
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Consumer Social Media Engagement with Brands Leads to Increased Sales, Study Reveals

Posted by:

“Research released today by LoyaltyOne and two leading North American academic institutions provides the long-awaited proof that social media interaction between a customer and a brand drives immediate and long-term sales increases. The results establish the accountability link long sought by brands that have showered dollars on social media marketing while attempting to prove the return on investment to members of the C-suite.” More>>>

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wrestling / News

WWE News: Goldberg’s Journey to WrestleMania, Hall of Fame Red Carpet Special Returning, Balor Teases Return

March 21, 2017 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

– During Monday’s Raw, it was announced that there will be a WWE Hall of Fame Red Carpet special. The special airs at 7 PM ET on March 31st directly before the live induction ceremony.

– Finn Balor posted the following screenshot from Raw, teasing his return to the show soon:

– WWE posted the following video looking at Goldberg’s return to WWE and journey to WrestleMania 33, where he will defend the Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar:

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Miss Young

Hello, I am Miss Young. I received the following email. It is a socalled "Advance Fee Fraud" letter, where I am promised millions for my assistance. These stories are all lies, and if I respond, sooner or later I will be asked to pay a fee. If I pay, another fee will quickly come up, and it will continue that way until I give up or run out of money. I will never see the millions, because they never existed.

If you received a similar email, you should go to the homepage to read more about 419 fraud.

Mr Date: Wed 16 Mar 2011 04 30 31 -0800
Subject: From The United Nations
From: United Nations Organization <NOREPLY.UN.COMP.UNIT@live.com>
To: undisclosed-recipients ;

Our Ref: CP/UK/UN/XX2011

ATTN : Dear Beneficiary,

You may not understand why this email came to you.We have been having a meeting
for the passed two months on the Global Economy Crisis which ended two days ago
with the UNITED NATIONS BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND AUDITORS with new secretary to the
United Nations Mr. Ban Ki-moon.This email is to all the people that have been
scammed in any part of the world. UNITED NATIONS has agreed to compensate them
with the sum of US$500,000,00 each and any other fees owed to them if mentioned.
These includes every foreign contractors that may have not received their
contract sum and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international
businesses that failed due to Government policies or the Global Economic Crisis

We found your name in our list and that is why we are contacting you, this
have been agreed upon and have been signed. You are advised to contact Mr. David
of MORGAN EXCHANGE COMPANY, LONDON as he is our representative.
Contact him immediately for your ATM CARD of USD$500,000.00. These funds are in
an ATM
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Therefore, you should send him your full Name,Age, Residential/Mailing
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send the ATM CARD or CASHIER CHECK to you.

Contact Representative with the email address below:

David Morgan

Hoping to hear from you as soon as you receive your fund . Making the world a
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Ban Ki-Moon,
Secretary General(United Nations).

If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more....

Copyright © 2004-2011 419.bittenus.com. All rights reserved. Updated 17-Mar-2011


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Monday, June 8, 2009

Nancy Reagan and the Great Communicators

Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.
--Ronald Reagan

What a moving sight it was last week when 87-year-old Nancy Reagan returned to the White House, her former home, on the arm of the current president—a man whom, according to her son, Mrs. Reagan very much admires. There to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birthday of her beloved “Ronnie,” Mrs. Reagan clearly enjoyed the company of another “great communicator.”

Ronald Reagan was a likable guy. His public persona, which he honed as an actor and adapted to his role as a politician, was one of sincerity, conviction, and optimism. However, he was very much a product of his time, seeing the world as it was during World War II, divided into two great camps: good and evil, right and wrong, “us” and “them.”

For the most part, Reagan aimed his considerable rhetorical arsenal exclusively at the American people, talking about but rarely to the leaders (and never to the people) of other nations. Reagan got a lot of credit for the eventual détente and arms reduction treaties between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. However, it was Mikhail Gorbachev—winner of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize—who first extended the hand of friendship.

President Obama communicates with the world. Within hours after his meeting with Mrs. Reagan, he was abroad again—this time in Cairo, Egypt—speaking to an audience largely composed of young followers of Islam. His words of respect and understanding resounded throughout Muslim countries, greatly diminishing the distrust and animosity that have enabled terrorists to recruit new followers. Then, as always, this great communicator did not speak down to his audience but shared with them human hopes, dreams, and aspirations for a new world order of peace and prosperity.

Today we are in the midst not of a revolution but rather a cultural evolution. As with the evolution of species, change and adaptation of society does not occur at a measured, geologic pace. Things happen that cause a society—like a species—to leap forward. The change that has come to America in the past several months is such an event. For those willing to let go of the old paradigms, it is now possible to envision a world in which people of good faith can work together in harmony toward common goals.

Despite all the work that remains to be done, it is now possible to relinquish old habits of hatred, fear, and despair and genuinely embrace the notion that life everywhere—everywhere on Planet Earth—really is “one grand, sweet song.”

Idna said...

Much of what Obama said in Cairo last week was the same as 8-years of President Bush's foreign policy statements with a little "me too, me too, I have Muslim roots" added in.

The Wall Street Journal had an article titled 'Barack Hussein Bush' which talked about Obama basically restating what Bush used to say. Here's a short excerpt:

"One benefit of the Obama Presidency is that it is validating much of George W. Bush's security agenda and foreign policy merely by dint of autobiographical rebranding. That was clear enough yesterday in Cairo, where President Obama advertised "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world." But what he mostly offered were artfully repackaged versions of themes President Bush sounded with his freedom agenda.

So there was Mr. Obama, noting that rights such as "freedom to live as you choose" and "the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed" were "not just American ideas, they are human rights." There he was insisting that "freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together," and citing Malaysia and Dubai as economic models for other Muslim countries while promising to host a summit on entrepreneurship.

There he was too, in Laura Bush-mode, talking about the need to expand opportunities for Muslim women, particularly in education. "I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles," he said. "But it should be their choice."

Mr. Obama also offered a robust defense of the war in Afghanistan, calling it "a war of necessity" and promising that "America's commitment will not weaken." That's an important note to sound when Mr. Obama's left flank and some Congressional Democrats are urging an exit strategy from that supposed quagmire. On Iraq, he acknowledged that "the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein" and pledged the U.S. to the "dual responsibility" of leaving Iraq while helping the country "forge a better future." The timeline he reiterated for U.S. withdrawal is the one Mr. Bush negotiated last year."

Some of the things that Bush did NOT do was constantly apologise for the US on foreign soil, make an enemy of Israel and believe that merely "nice talk" will make our enemies LIKE us and give up trying to destroy us.

Anonymous said...

So, if I'm reading this right, 1) not everything Bush did in terms of foreign policy was wrong, and 2)there is some overlap between the policies of the 43rd and 44th presidents. Agreed.

But to the rest of the world, that "artful repackaging" seems to make all the difference.

Sue said...

Indeed, many of the things the current president is saying are similar to those the previous president said. There are a few significant differences. The most important one is the attitude that we are all in this world together and we all need to work together for the common good. The Americans under Obama are not out to impose their system on the world, and there is a recognition that the American way may not be the only, much less the best way of doing things.

As to Israel, 60+ years of supporting the Israeli position in the Middle East has not resolved the problems there. It is time to try a different approach, one that recognizes the rights of all people in the region. If that "makes an enemy of Israel," so be it. The Palestinians have rights, too.

It was an early president whose motto was "walk softly and carry a big stick." We still have the stick. Maybe it's time to try "walking softly" again.


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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Y is for Are YOU HERE.....

I must admit Y was the hardest letter and I almost chose You, Me and Dupree as one of the absolute worse movies I ever got dragged out to see.  As I looked through lists of movies with the letter Y I feel I may have missed something, but if anyone has suggestions I would love to hear them!

I ended up choosing a movie I watched recently on HBO  and cheated a bit. but as so many of the films I chose began with THE and I took a liberty there to use the second word I am going to do that with Y .

This movie has some very strong bonds and friendships, it explores certain things with outrageous humor and others with depth, I though the ending as much as it was not uplifting, it certainly was realistic.

ARE YOU HERE is not great BUT it was certainly better than  any other choice I found, and the characters grow, change and develop, while I did find some very entertaining moments,  I would not have given it the paltry two stars every review has given it, but unless you can see it at no cost to you, I would not spend my money either.


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Monday, May 03, 2010

Optimism Feels Good...

I've had kind of a kooky week with no time to blog. Last Wednesday my RA (rheumatoid arthritis) had me in so much pain that I called my doc begging to be seen. She fit me in the next day. I knew that the powerful drugs I was taking took a long time to work but I was in tears every day. Thursday she changed all my drugs around to stronger stronger stronger. I was going to have to learn to give myself an injection and I was soon going to have to start infusions. I was so relieved to be taking a step forward but there was a lot of "Holy Shit" thoughts as well.

Friday I had to go back with Matt and kids in tow to learn how to stick myself with a needle. It ended up being wise to have Matt do it for the foreseeable future. I'm adjusting to lots of strong medication and my hands are shaky which isn't really conducive to getting a needle ready and sticking it into my body. I'd make a terrible drug addict. He and the nurse had a grand old time with the instructions (Matt can have fun anywhere) and it all was far less of a big deal than I thought it would be.

I couldn't believe it but Saturday was a good day. I haven't had a good day in months. Doc had me try a couple of different drugs to see if we can get the pain and swelling down and something is working. Whew. SOMETHING is working.

Today I had to go back in for a TB test. I can't remember why but it had something to do with the infusions I'll be getting soon.

Today I feel some optimism. I had gotten pretty down and pessimistic for awhile there. I'm hoping this is more than a placebo effect.

Wish me luck!

ps - Friday was such a crazy busy day that I didn't get a chance to tell my Mom about all the changes but I did quickly post to facebook that I was "learning to give myself injections". My Mother's neighbor asked her about how I was doing with the shots and Mom had to fake that she knew what she was talking about. OOPs. Sorry Mom. Facebook is the new telephone!

  1. So glad you've found something. Hope this continues and gets even better. Breaks my heart to think you're suffering physically like that!!

  2. Sounds like such a nightmare, glad that you have something which is working but I'm sorry you have to go through it at all. There's a program here called Grow Your Own Drugs, it's about using things in your garden or that you can buy to make food which can help certain ailments. There was one on arthritis recently which made me think of you, something about Turmeric, I didn't really appreciate how painful it could be before.

    I started wondering if there's something you can do to help prevent RA - I don't really know much about it other than what I've read here.

    I hope the injections work well for you.

  3. Jade - it's so neat for me to connect with other bloggers around the world. It's fun to think that we think of things to help one another.

    I don't know much about Turmeric but I'm going to look it up. I've also heard that cherries are good but I haven't had any luck finding any yet.

    I'm not sure if there's a way to avoid RA. It's a systemic disease that is at least partially genetic. It runs in my Mom's side of the family. I have a cousin who is five years older than I who lives in Australia who is going through this as well. My Mom's sister had it as a child. I have suspicions that my Mom has it but not bad enough for her to mention it to a doctor. :-)

You're fabulous for leaving a comment!

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Friday, May 28, 2010

Go Cup Crazy!

Do you know what you can do with $500?

You can buy a new TV. You can get twenty new hardback books or sixty paperbacks at retail, and several hundred books used if you know where to go. You can get a new DVD player and every movie worth watching that was made in the last thirty years, which, granted, is not a large number of movies, but work with me here.

Or you could get one - one - nosebleed seat ticket to see tomorrow's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Chicago between the hometown Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers. That doesn't include parking, gas, tolls, refreshments, souvenirs, meals, or taxes. Just the ticket.

I've been a Flyers fan for most of my life, with varying degrees of intensity. It's a sport I enjoy watching no matter who's playing, and they are by far my favorite team in it. I can remember the last time they won the Stanley Cup, in 1975 - my brother and I were in the bedroom we shared as kids, not sleeping at all, when all of the sudden horns started blaring and it sounded like the Russians had invaded Philadelphia in search of cheesesteaks. We didn't find out what the story was until the next day, by which time I might have been writing in Cyrillic had things gone differently. I've actually gone to a few games, too - once as a kid when my dad scored some tickets, and twice courtesy of my brother's in-laws, who gave me a game from their season tickets a couple of years' running. Both times they beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime, oddly enough. And when Tabitha was born I put a Flyers pennant (and an Eagles pennant, which was a leap of faith at the time) over her crib, in the fond hopes of raising another fan. It sort of worked, as much as she follows any sport.

Part of the effort, way back when.

This year I've been following the Flyers' improbable march through the playoffs as best I can out here in the nation's tender midsection. It has not been easy.

For one thing, there is the fact that NHL hockey in general is not exactly a major draw out here. The local newspaper does not regularly print standings, let alone scores or stories, during the regular season, and while you can often get video of high school girls basketball on the local news they rarely give you NHL scores even on the bottom-screen crawl.

For another thing, the Powers That Be were not all that interested in showing the Flyers on their little television network when the playoffs rolled around. There were eight playoff series in Round 1, and they televised some 35 games, not one of which included the Flyers. We were the only series that didn't get a minimum of two games. Some got seven.

On one level I can sort of understand that, since the Flyers qualified for the post-season literally on the last shot of the season, winning a shootout on the last day of the regular season just to get in, and very little was expected of them. But their opponents were a 2-seed, the division winner, and you'd think that would count for something.

But you'd be wrong.

So I listened to them on internet radio as they beat the New Jersey Devils. And when the network finally decided to show some of their games, I watched them go down three games to none in a best of seven to the Boston Bruins, only to pull off the fourth ever comeback from that deficit in North American sports history to win in seven. This despite going down 3-0 fifteen minutes into that seventh game. Apparently they like a challenge, this team. I then watched them take care of the Montreal Canadiens with some efficiency, because there are only so many challenges one's heart can take in one season.

And now it is the Finals. In Chicago, a city within easy driving distance.

Kim told me I should go see a game. "It's not like they do this every year," she said. "You may never get this chance again."

So I looked into it.

There is just nothing appropriate for a married man to spend that kind of money on for three hours of entertainment. I've thought about it and the only things that qualify as worthwhile on that scale of dollars-per-hour involve large quantities of alcohol, several new acquaintances of questionable virtue, and fevered attempts to reconstruct events from police reports over the following weeks. This might conceivably have worked when I was 22, but even if it sounded attractive to me now I don't think I would survive it.

So I guess I'll watch from home this year, which is just fine.

Go Flyers!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Run, Tabby, Run!

Tabitha comes from a long line of people who run in circles.

When I was in high school I ran track for a season and a half, before the coach cut about half the team one day. We were never sure why, as a group, but I can't say it crushed me, not being the star of the team even in my fevered imagination. I was a "c - heat" sprinter, one of the extra guys too fast to ignore and too slow to win anything, though I was quick off the mark. If there had been a 4-meter race, I'd have been state champ.

Kim also ran track back in her high school. They took one look at this 5' 3" woman and said, yes, folks, here is our hurdler. She also ran unimpeded races.

Grandpop was another hurdler, back in the day.

I've always been impressed by people who could do that. As a friend of mine once put it, "It's bad enough they make you run all that far, but then they put things in your way."

Today was the city-wide fourth-grade track meet, and Tabitha was entered into several events representing Not Bad President Elementary. So we trekked down to the town football stadium and settled in to watch our girl give it her all.

It was a beautiful day, bright and sunny, and not as hot as it had been recently, though after a few hours sitting on metal benches facing the morning sun it did get a bit warm. I now have sunburned knees, which is not something I get to say very often. It's hard to imagine a context in which it would naturally come up, in fact.

Not long after we got there the buses carrying the NBPE team came and the place was suddenly filled with buzzing children wearing vocal-yellow tee shirts. It certainly made them stand out against their competitors, who were attired in more sedate colors such as red, blue, and orange. They gathered out on the track in front of us and sang the University of Iowa fight song in honor of their departed gym teacher, a UI grad. I had never heard that song before, not even when I was a student there.

And then it was down to business!

After you haven't done it for a while you forget the barely controlled chaos of a track meet - the milling athletes, the droning announcers trying to get people to where they need to be, the incessant gunfire from the starter's pistol, as if you're in downtown Baghdad. It was an entertaining morning, with all of the runners doing their best and getting cheered on from the sides.

Tabitha's first event was the long jump, and here she scored her greatest success - taking second place overall in this city-wide event! She got a nice red ribbon and the admiration of her parents and friends - she's already exceeded my win quota from my entire career - and then she moved on to other events.

She competed in the frisbee toss and the fifty-yard dash, both events featuring wild excitement all around.

And finally at the end there was the 4x50 relay, which took place on the infield - conveniently marked off in yard lines already. They lined the teams up from sideline to sideline - there must have been a dozen teams in each heat - and let them rip.  Chaos doesn't begin to describe what happened next, but they had a good time running and (speaking as someone who was single-handedly responsible for almost three hours of team baton practice in my ill-fated track career) I was impressed with the baton passes. They did a really nice job.

It was a great morning.

Congratulations, Tabitha. We're proud of you.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

A Bridge to the Future

Wanna buy a bridge?

Last night was Bridging Night over at the Daisies. This is what Girl Scouts call their graduation ceremonies, and really it's a nice little metaphor. Graduation and commencement are all about leaving one place but not really about landing in another - that's up to you. Here's your diploma, what's your hurry, don't let the door hit you as you leave. But bridging implies that somewhere on the other end is a place for you. This is yet one more reason why the Girl Scouts are better than real life.

Lauren has been a Daisy for two years now, and it was time for her to move on to the big, exciting world of Brownies. So we wrapped her up in her bright blue vest and headed off for Greatest President Elementary, there to bridge.

These ceremonies are nice, simple and short - key qualities for events scheduled on hot, muggy days in elementary school gyms. The parents and siblings gather in the audience, having deposited all manner of treats in the school cafeteria for after. The scouts parade in - and there were a lot of them on this night, since not only does Lauren's troop of Daisies number around three dozen but there is also a Brownie troop that meets at the same time and they were there too. There are a few words from the troop leaders - brave women all.

Then each girl walks across the bridge and underneath the raised arms of the other, nonbridging girls, to receive her certificate.  At that point there is an explosion of camera flashes trying to capture the moment - unsuccessfully, it turns out, because it happens at warp speed (they redo it later for the parents to take pictures that are in focus) - and then the cycle repeats for the next troop.

And then there is food - lots of it, mostly sugar that has been dyed colors not found in nature - and a fair amount of energy being burned off through motion and noise.

Congratulations, Lauren!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

This is one of those “friend of a friend” stories, the kind that are invariably jokes, hoaxes or viral marketing campaigns but are just too good not to pass along. I’d like to think it’s true, but then I’d like to win the lottery too. Could happen; not likely.

My friend Josh used to work for the National Park Service, and this is the story more or less as he told it to me.

A friend of his in the Park Service was leading a group of tourists through a historic site that dated back to colonial America, sometime in the 1600s or so as I recall. One of the buildings was a frame house, and the guide was explaining the various features of the building when one of the visitors spoke up.

“This is a reconstruction,” he said.

“No,” the guide replied, “this is the actual building, constructed in the 1600s.”

“No,” the tourist insisted, “it is a reconstruction. This is not the original. It cannot be the original. It has nails holding the boards together. They didn’t have nails then, only wooden pegs.”

“Well, sir,” the guide responded, “it is true that wooden pegs were sometimes used in construction at the time, but there were also nails. They were expensive, but people at the time did use them to construct their buildings.”

“No they did not,” said the tourist. “They did not have nails then. Nails were not invented until the 1800s.”

“Sir, nail-making has a very long history. I assure you that they did have nails.”

“Now you see here. I know these things. They did not have nails that long ago.”

“Look,” responded the guide. “Jesus Christ was not Scotch-taped to the cross.  Trust me, they had nails.”

I really hope this story is true.

Monday, May 24, 2010

It's Not What It Seems

I am surrounded by liquor boxes.

It’s not that I am a heavy drinker. There are times when I’d like to be, but I’ve just never made that leap – not even in college, when I was supposed to be doing such things. Most of my visits to bars back then were because I was with the band (a handy way to get around being carded, I found), and at parties I was usually the other sober guy next to my roommate.

Beware of two smart-alec sober guys in a room full of drunks. That’s all that needs to be said about that.

No, this week is when I try to get my office cleaned out for the big carpet switch. There’s a lot of stuff in that office, and it has to get packed up somehow. And being from Pennsylvania, my first thought was: “Boxes? Liquor store.”

The rest of the country thinks we’re all lushes. We roll up in our moving vans, throw open the back doors of the truck, and start unloading boxes with proof content clearly stamped on them. This impressed my neighbors in Iowa no end, when I showed up there.

But it’s not that.

Pennsylvania has some of the most bass-ackward liquor laws in the United States, which is saying something. I once had a friend in Pittsburgh who moonlighted as a stand-up comic, and he had an entire 20-minute routine that was a 100% factual question-and-answer session on the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Laws. It was side-splittingly funny – “I want to buy a beer.” “Well, you can go to the bar.” “But I want to buy a six-pack.” “Then you have to wait until closing time and buy them one at a time, unless they serve food.” “Can I go to the store and buy one?” “No.” “But that store sells beer!” “That’s a distributorship, not a store. You can buy a keg there.” “Not a six-pack?” “No.” “A case?” “Maybe...” And on and on.

The key thing to remember is that all alcohol except beer is sold by the state (or was – it’s been a while since I lived there). Beer is sold at distributorships and some convenience stores. You go to the State Store (really – that’s what they’re called) for everything else. The Stalinist overtones of that are not coincidental – when I was a kid, the way it worked if you wanted a bottle of wine was you would go into the store – a grim, grey, soulless place with fading posters of wines being held by heroic workers tacked on the wall – walk up to the counter and look through a book. You’d point to the one you wanted, and the clerk would disappear into the back and return with your wine. It was part of the Commonwealth’s plan to curb drinking by making the experience unpleasant. It was about as effective as you'd imagine, and eventually they decided that making money from sales was a better way to go. When they set up a State Store as a regular store – with aisles full of merchandise that you could select from yourself – it was front page news.

When I got to Iowa in 1993 I went to the grocery store and there, on the shelves, were bottles of wine. I found this deliriously exciting and bought some just because I could. I may have still had it when I moved out in 1995, but the important thing is that I could buy more if I wanted to. One must have one’s victories in life.

The one nice thing about Pennsylvania’s system was that you could go to the State Store and get all the empty boxes you wanted, any time you wanted. Really, I had paid for them with my tax dollars (not that I paid many taxes as a college student or younger) and they were mine anyway. So every time I need boxes, I think liquor. It makes my stuff just that much more interesting.

My boxes will be filled with paper and gadgets rather than wine or whiskey, but I can dream.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

A Break In The Action

There is nothing left to grade.

This is a difficult concept to wrap my mind around right now. There’s always something that I should be grading. There is always an essay or a quiz or some other example of the poor transmission rate of my teaching to my students’ learning that needs to be slogged through, commented upon in the fond hopes that maybe this time it will work, and returned. Sometimes it does work, which is one of those things that teachers live for. And sometimes I don’t even need to comment – once in a while, they just get it. Hail, happy day.

But the semester is over, and there is nothing else to grade.

I find myself searching my office for more. It does not seem likely that this burden has been taken from me. In truth it will be returned to me in a few weeks when the next cycle comes up anyway.

And really, that’s a good thing – it means somebody’s paying me to teach history, which is an all too uncommon thing to have happen in today’s job market. The Great Recession of 2008 was nothing new for people in my field. Historians have been in recession since the late 1980s. I remember when I first got to graduate school in 1989, the word was that soon the post-WWII wave of PhDs would begin to retire and new opportunities would arise for historians, opportunities the likes of which had not been seen since the Johnson Administration.

But those people did not retire right away, and when they did they were not replaced by full-time tenured faculty with any great speed or in any great numbers. The 90s were tight, the 00s remained so, and the current economic unpleasantness coupled with the relentless sustained assaults by modern conservatives on history (ironic, really) and education in general (who needs facts and expertise when you have paranoid fantasy and faith-based reality?) have rendered any general hope of improvement in that situation rather forlorn.

So any time someone is willing to hire me to do what I was trained to do – what I have spent an inordinate portion of my life working to be able to do, and what by most accounts I am very good at doing (I don’t believe in false modesty, since I have so much to be genuinely modest about) – it is a good day.

Grading still sucks, though, no matter how you slice it. It’s the cloud that goes with my silver lining.

But it’s over. For now.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Change is Good

I am not sure what it says about me that I managed to scrounge up four dollars in change out of my car this afternoon.

Probably just that they were selling ice cream at Not Bad President Elementary and the girls were hungry. It is amazing what you can do when there is ice cream at the other end of it, especially here in Wisconsin. This is a state where the ice cream section of the average grocery store is bigger than all of the grocery stories combined that I went to in the UK when we visited a few years back. But that is a country with warm beer, so what to they know about ice cream?

They also have coins that double as manhole covers, so removing enough coins from your car to pay for two ice cream cups would probably increase your gas mileage (kilometerage?) by nearly 40%. It was kind of a let down to spend a week or so carrying around the slag heap that is a pile of pound- and 50p-coins and then return to the United States and be handed a dime. How can we in the US even consider ourselves an economic powerhouse when our coins are that flimsy?

But it was walkabout day down at NBPE, in honor of the gym teacher who passed away last fall. They're trying to build a track with his name on it, and this was one of the fundraisers - most of the kids spent the day walking around the field surrounding the school to raise money, and the process continued after school let out as well. One of the local ice cream vendors showed up as part of it, with half the proceeds going to the track. So it was worth digging around in the car a bit.

I actually spent most of the day over at NBPE, which was a nice break from a hectic week of grading, exams, and other end-of-semester heartache.

A couple of months ago, Tabitha came home and said that her class was discussing the Underground Railroad and the local UGRR site. Now, it happens that I used to run that site, so I volunteered to come in and talk to her class about it. And then one thing led to another, and it morphed into two separate hour-long presentations, one to the fourth grade and one to the fifth, though in the end they were only 45 minutes each and the PTA chipped in to make a nice donation to the UGRR site, so it all worked out well.

Tabitha said I did not embarrass her any more than usual.

But I got there at noon, and with the walk-a-thon on top of everything I didn't get home until nearly 4:30, by which time my blood sugar levels had reached Kelvin-scale lows and I simply sat in my chair for half an hour eating until I felt better. That's not a bad way to spend time, really.

If only I'd found another eight quarters in the car, I could have gotten an ice cream for me too.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Home Improvement, More or Less

I need new carpeting.

Not in the whole house, really. To be honest, most of the house has been headed the other way for the last few years. We've got hardwood floors in all of the main rooms, so far as we can tell, and Kim has been on a decade-long campaign to bring them to the surface. I resisted this when the girls were little and learning to walk, but this hasn't been a problem for some time now and I expect that by 2013 there won't be any carpeting left in the house except for one or two rooms.

Of course by then the world is scheduled to have come to an end - on my birthday, no less - so I suppose changes to flooring is just one more thing I don't really have to plan for.

But my office is another matter.

It is at the very end of the heating duct runs and isolated on three sides from the rest of the house - it's a kind of architectural peninsula sticking out of the northwest corner of the house, and as such it gets very cold in there. I have learned, on those nights when I stay up late working, not to touch Kim when I climb into bed, lest I end up peeling her off the ceiling. It's the little things that make a marriage work, I've found. So removing a layer of thermal insulation because there's hardwood underneath just isn't going to happen in there.

But the rug has got to go.

For one thing, it is criminally ugly. It is the kind of carpeting that gets installed in prisons to remind inmates of the heinous nature of their crimes. It can leach the beauty out of poetry in closed books and achieves its remarkable effectiveness at hiding stains through the simple tactic of being uglier than anything I can drop onto it. It was there when we moved in, almost 14 years ago, and one of the first things we said to each other was, "That rug has got to go." Naturally, it remains.

And it would probably still remain except for the fact that I have now worn a hole in it where my desk chair wheels around. At the moment the pad underneath still holds it up, but that won't last. Eventually the hole will widen until I fall into the basement, where it is even colder in the wintertime than it is in my office and then I won't be allowed back into bed at all until summer.

That cannot be good.

So Tabitha and I went over to the local Home Improvement MegaMart this afternoon, for to order up some carpeting.

Sweet dancing monkeys on a stick but there are a lot of different kinds of carpeting out there. There are loops and twists and assorted other kinds of fabrics that also sound like aerobatic maneuvers. They come in colors that range from sort-of beige to beige to more beige to even more beige to electric drug-induced hallucinations, without going through any of the steps in between. And they all come with reduced price installation, simply because the stores know that installing the carpeting is the least stressful part of the job.

It's getting the room ready for installation that will kill me.

Remember what I said about this being my home office? I'm a historian by trade. This means that my tools are books. And I read for pleasure, which means even more books. There's a whole lot of books in there.

Ah, you might say, books are just paper - they should be no problem to move! This would indicate that you are illiterate and have never tried to deal with books in quantity. If you had, you would know better. Those of you who have ever moved large numbers of books are already shaking your heads, thinking, "This idiot thinks he's going to move large numbers of books! I hope somebody is filming it."

Because books are not paper, not really. They are finely sliced lumber. Lumber that has been so finely sliced, in fact, that all of the air has been removed and all you are left with is the condensed essence of wood covered in heavy-metal ink.

So I have three weeks or so to figure out how to do this without causing undue strain on my back, my bank account, or my relationships.

But in the end, I'm sure it will be worth it. I will have new carpeting.

I went with the sort-of beige. It seemed appropriate.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Everybody Wants To Get Into The Act

Now everyone's got a blog of their own.

I don't mean that in the usual, "all the cool kids are doing it" sort of way, since very few of us bloggers are all that cool to begin with. Well, maybe YOU are. You, dear reader, are indeed cool, a veritable mountain of icy hipness, and good for you, I say. But I am not. I wasn't cool when I was young and cared about such things, and at this point in my life I am not even going to pretend. Soon my children will be teenagers and will let me know, in ways both subtle and profound, how uncool I am, and I will say, "Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know."

So no, that's not how I mean it at all.

When I started this blog, I was the only one in the family who had one. I was vaguely famous, in an anonymous, minor league kind of way. Kim and the girls would look at me in wonder - the sort of wonder that said, "I wonder what boneheaded thing he'll say next" or "He wouldn't be stupid enough to put that online, would he?" It wasn't much, but it was mine.

But eventually Tabitha decided she wanted her own platform to tell stories, and since telling stories is something we try to encourage around here we figured it would be okay. It was a bit tricky to set up, given the privacy restrictions that we ended up layering onto her blog (at least for the time being it's strictly reserved for family members, for example), but eventually she was happily blathering along on her own just like her dear old dad.

Recently Kim started one as well. It's fun to read, and you should ask her for the URL. I'm sure she'll give it to you.

And then Lauren felt left out, so she decided she wanted one too. We'd have to layer it with the same sort of restrictions that Tabitha labored under, but since we'd already done that once we figured how hard could it be?

Harder than we figured, it turns out. It became a digital odyssey, fraught with all of the pitfalls of well-meaning security in the digital age.

First, she needed a unique email address. My original plan was to add her to my blogroll, since theoretically I could make infinite blogs here online that way, but this meant that she would be posting as me all the time and that she would not accept. It's bad enough she has to listen to me in meat space. And as you can't open up multiple Blogger accounts with the same email, a unique email address it would have to be.

Ah, I thought. I've got an email address that I do not use - it came with the cable television, many years ago, along with the similarly useful Hallmark Channel. We could use that.

Well, we could if I remembered what it was.

Finding that out took nearly two hours and involved several phone calls, an internet chat session with a help-desk representative who is probably still snickering about me to his buddies, and a deep and abiding need for seriously adult beverages afterward. And that was just step one.

We still had to set up the actual blog.

My initial effort at this ran afoul of the FCC.

One of the steps you have to take when filling out the application here on Blogger is that you need to fill out your age. Lauren insisted that I use her real birthdate. It turns out that even if the blog is, for all practical and legal purposes, mine (everything she writes I approve before it is published), the internet powers that be don't recognize this. And once you make this mistake, it kills your email address forever. I tried entering my birthday, and all I got was the notice that I was too young to blog. Other than Social Security I don't know that I'm too young for anything these days, so it was an honor of sorts, though one I'd just as soon have lived without.

So a new email was needed. And that's where things exceeded my admittedly limited technological capacity.

Fortunately Kim stepped in and took care of it, through a mysterious process that might have been less mysterious had I been in a less cable-company-and-Google-inspired mood and been able to watch without wanting to hurl bricks at random passing cars. That sort of thing opens up vast realms of trouble that I'd prefer not to explore, thank you, and so I let the mystery be.

But now everyone has a blog around here.

All the cool kids are doing it.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Making Omelettes

The Big Egg went away yesterday.

We're a book-centric household. There are books in every room of the house, with the possible exception of the mud room - and that only because there's no place to sit down there. Not that this same fact keeps the kitchen from having a few books in it that we can breeze through while standing around waiting for something to boil. You can't have too many books.

But sometimes it is time to let things go where they can be better appreciated.

The Big Egg was the first book I bought for Lauren to read all by herself. It's a fairly simple tale of cuckoldry (if you think too hard about kids' books you find yourself in all sorts of places where you probably didn't want to go) and loving the one you're with, spun as a morality tale about accepting people despite their differences. The most complicated word in it is "egg" and the pictures are bright and cheerful.

Lauren was just so thrilled when she read it. Everyone else in the house was reading books on their own, and now she could too.

We read it a lot.

But now she has grown past it, and The Big Egg sat gathering dust in the living room. It was time for it to go back into the Kid Stuff Jetstream that makes it possible for everyone to afford to have children. The girls are actually pretty good about that - they pick the things that they want to pass on to other kids, and it feels good for them to do that. I like that they're generous with their stuff that way and don't try to hoard it. Stuff should be used.

So yesterday I took The Big Egg and a couple of other books over to the Montessori school where Tabitha and Lauren spent so many happy days before graduating to Not Bad President Elementary. I like to think that even now some other kid is working their way through it, and discovering why books are good things.

And that's a very big egg indeed.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

There are times when even the simplest task gets weighed down by unexpected complexity.

I usually am the one who picks up the girls from Not Bad President Elementary in the afternoons. My schedule is considerably more flexible (and less lucrative) than Kim's, for one thing, and for another I really do enjoy seeing them come out of school and asking them how their days went. And if a small subsection of the other parents who also pick up their children at NBPE would only consent to get some driver training on the etiquette of waiting in a "swoop and scoop" sort of line (or agree that their vehicles should be taken to the dump and compacted into end tables, possibly with them still inside), then there would be no worries at all.

This semester I am on campus on Mondays and Wednesdays for my one face-to-face class, which means that most of the time I am coming to NBPE from home on the other three days. And Thursday was one of those days - I had gone out to run some errands that afternoon, and when I got back home I figured there was no need to pull the car into the garage since a) I would be leaving shortly anyway, and b) Kim would still be at work and would not need to get past my car if I just left it in the driveway.

It was also a fairly warm day on Thursday, as memory serves. It certainly wasn't sleeting, as it was today in Our Little Town, but that is another story. Thursday. Warm. Warm enough, in fact, that I had rolled the windows down on the car.

Our Little Town is a pretty quiet one. You can leave the car in the driveway with the windows down and be pretty confident that it will still be there when you want to use it. It's one of the things I like about living here.

So I got back from my errands and went back inside to get some work done on my online classes before I had to go pick up the girls. And it being warm, the cat shot out the door as soon as I got home. Fortunately the one neighbor who objects to this has been fairly quiet about it recently, and the cats are duly registered these days so I figured it wasn't a problem.

After putting out a few brush fires online, I looked up at the clock and realized that I had better get a move on, since NBPE was about to let out. So I dashed out to the car, backed out of the driveway, and headed off.

It was shortly after this that I realized something was different.

I'm not sure what tipped me off. The angle of the sun. The foreboding soundtrack music that swelled up out of nowhere. The total loss of all radio contact with the outside world (although I'm used to that, really - we live in a radio dead zone). The swirling winds. It could have been anything.

Although if I had to put my finger on it, I'd say it was the fur-bearing missile that shot up from her nap in the cargo area and was ricocheting around the front seats.  It's those subtle cues that generally tip you off, I find.

There was an interlude of crisis.

Tria was not happy to be in a moving car. Moving cars almost always mean veterinary appointments, and those rarely end well as far as she is concerned. I was not happy to have Tria in my moving car. For one thing, five of her six ends are pointy and this is possibly more distracting than talking on a cell phone when driving. For another, I really did not want to take the cat to school with me, which meant turning around and taking her home. And I was already cutting it close as it was.  It was not a happy carload of creatures, is all I'm saying.

All this time I'm moving forward, by the way.

So I grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her to the front seat, made a quick three-point turn in someone's driveway, and went back home, hoping that the yowling would not shatter the windshield. Not my yowling.  My voice is pitched too low.  But success was achieved, and the cat bounded out of the car as soon as I stopped, and I was off again.

Cats - nature's way of reminding you how little brainpower it actually takes to get through the day.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Awards and Presentation

I'm not doing well with technology these days.

Oh, the new microwave is just wonderful. We probably should have taken a sledgehammer to the old one years ago, now that we know how great the new one is. That's not the issue.

The issue is a DVD. Or, more properly, how to copy one. This is not a commercially-available DRM-protected DVD that I would probably be hounded unto the ends of the earth and well into whatever purgatory I end up in by copyright lawyers intent on extracting their fifteen cents in royalties - no, this is a DVD that I made on my own camera. You would think this would be relatively pain-free to copy, but then you would be wrong.

I have to copy it because in its current form it won't play in either of the nice new computers that we ended up with over the last year or so and I need it to be in a more congenial form. This is not because of any software difficulties but because the camera records on mini-DVDs, which are about as big across as most coffee mugs, rather than the normal sized DVDs, and the DVD slot on the computers is vertically-oriented rather than horizontal, so you can't just put a small disc in and expect it to work. It will gum up the computer, causing it to grind, smoke, judder and otherwise void its warranty with maximum prejudice and minimum recourse. So, my task is to find a way to copy it onto a big disc.

Score one for the engineers. I'm sure the vertical slot looked really cool on the blueprints.

But I'm working on it, because copies of the Not Bad President Elementary performance of The Granny Awards are not easy to come by.

The Granny Awards are pretty much exactly what they sound like they would be - a parody of the Grammy Awards, only starring fairy tale characters. I haven't seen the Grammies since ... well, never, not even when I actually recognized the names of the bands they were giving those awards to. But the Grannies? This I had to see.

Tabitha tried out for this sometime in the spring and won the part of Little Red Riding Hood, which required her to attend rehearsals after school and Kim to craft a bright red cape to go with her costume. There was a lot of work gone into this, and it all came together on Wednesday.

The show started at 9am, because this is rather off-off-Broadway and that's how we do things here in the nation's tender midsection. There was another showing at 1pm for the parents of 5th-graders. Two-a-days, just like the pros.

It was actually a very enjoyable show, full of sight-gags, actual comedy, and the musical stylings of most of the upper two classes at NBPE. Tabitha's scene came toward the end, and it must be said that she nailed it - a real trooper, she is.

She also knew all of the other lines, and we could see her in her spot in the chorus reciting along with the other actors while she waited for her chance in the limelight. So if a freak dodgeball accident had wiped out half the cast, the show could in fact have gone on.

It was a great show, and we are very proud of Tabitha for her part in it.

And now I'm trying to figure out how to spread the good word to the grandparents. Someday.

Monday, May 3, 2010

One Must Have Standards

When I am Grand Vizier of Creation, things will be different. Not necessarily better, but certainly different.

Among my many edicts will be a demand that manufacturers of common household appliances get together and standardize them. I'm not talking about having everything have the same features or colors. Hey - you want your fuchsia toaster to provide real-time updates to your Facebook account and you're willing to pay for the technology and take the chance that your bagel will start playing Mafia Wars and bump you off, you go right ahead and do that. No, my edict will be about more mundane aspects.

Common household appliances will come in a standard array of easily differentiable sizes, for example. Refrigerators will come in maybe three heights and three widths, each no less than six inches different from the one above or below so you can tell in the store which one you're looking at. Toaster ovens? Large, Medium, and, well, that's it. There is no point to having a Small toaster oven.

Don't even get me started on charging devices for portable electronic gizmos.

Further, anything that has to be screwed into the wall will have a standard placement of holes, both on the bracket holding them to the wall and the appliance itself, so that once a bracket is in place it need not ever be removed. You can just remove the appliance and put a new one in its place. Nor will manufacturers be allowed to put holes in places other than those already specified. No new holes will have to be drilled into cabinetry to accommodate dimensions that vary by less than two inches.

And while I'm at it, they can all use the same size and thread for bolts and screws, too.

We finally got all of our technology straightened out here, and not a moment too soon. I have no doubt that the recent uptick in the stock market was solely due to us replacing our router, DVD player, electric teakettle and microwave oven, all of which died in the space of about four hours. It was an expensive week.

The router wasn't all that hard to replace, even if our security code for access jumped from a manageable 384 digits to an unwieldy 1,938,830 digits, all of which have to be entered by hand into each device we want to connect to the internet. It's a bit unwieldy, true, but on the plus side, we figure this will slow down an enterprising hacker by almost half an hour, giving us time to get rid of the really juicy stuff on our computers like saved Internet memes that were funny in 2003. Because you never know when those things will come back.

The DVD player was a bit tougher, as the model we wanted - the one that had enough buttons on the actual machine that you could conceivably operate it without a remote - was not available in this year's version. Apparently that was too convenient, so the manufacturer did away with it. I kid you not. So now we have another remote.

The teakettle was even more of a trick, since electric teakettles are hard to find on this side of the Atlantic apparently. I have no idea why, since they are convenient, cheap and useful. Or maybe that's it, I don't know. But we found one, and it is all shiny and new and it boils water in a most expeditious manner and that, as they say, is that.

Which brings us to the microwave.

We went shopping for one of these last week - a process that basically amounted to walking into the local Sears and saying, "That one, please" when we found a model with a price we could afford. There really aren't a whole lot of choices when it comes to microwaves. There are countertop ones, which are small and come in a wide variety of black and white colors, and there are under-cabinet ones, which are larger and come in black, white, and stainless steel. So, to that point, the standardization thing seemed to be working in our favor. We picked out one of the under-cabinet ones - a white one, since a) the one we already had was white and it just made sense, b) black would make the whole kitchen look dark, and c) stainless steel doubles the cost - and they told us we could have it on Tuesday.

I got it home Tuesday evening, and it sat in its box until the weekend, when we had time to deal with it.

When we pulled it out of the box (which has since gone on to lead a productive second life as a lemonade stand, so if you are thirsty you need to stop by our driveway and see Tabitha and Lauren about a glass of something), we measured it against our old one.

On the one hand, it is exactly the same size as our old one, only a little deeper since the vent is on the top facing up rather than facing out. So it fit nicely into the space being vacated.

On the other hand, the screw holes on the top where you fasten it to the cabinet were off. Well, the left one was exactly where it should have been, and there was a hole in the microwave where the right bolt needed to go, except that this hole had no threads for a bolt to use. I am not sure why there was a hole there, in that case, other than to mess with our heads, but the functional hole was another inch and a quarter to the right, which was exactly where the jamb of the cabinet began. This made drilling a new hole in the cabinet somewhat problematic.

And the bracket was wrong.

Now, I'm used to brackets being wrong - it's how I spend my March every year. But in this case, it was a crashing nuisance since putting the new one up meant drilling through the tile backsplash that Kim put up during a romantic weekend of home repair one fall shortly after Tabitha was born.

Fortunately Grandpa was down to see the girls do their concerts, so he took over. He shaved off some of the cabinet jamb and - after an emergency trip the hardware store for some anchors and a tile bit - managed to get the bracket up with only a minor cloud of tile dust circling the kitchen. And now we have a nice new microwave, ready to go.

We figure we're good for technology now, at least until the next cycle starts.

Wait, what was that noise?

Bring on the Noise, Bring on the Funk

Yesterday was recital day here in Our Little Town!

Tabitha and Lauren have been taking music lessons for some time now, and every spring their teacher rounds up all of her students and rents out the hall where Kim and I had our wedding reception. All the families show up with goodies for afterward, and we go upstairs for the show.

This does require preparation.

The girls have been diligently practicing their recital pieces for weeks now. Tabitha had a selection of "Ode to Joy" for her violin, and Lauren had two piano pieces - one a short, minor-key piece entitled "Russian Sailor Dance" that turned out to be Ukrainian (who knew?), and the other a bouncy little thing called "Hot Popcorn."

That last one was a duet. With me.

It's been a while since I was last on stage with a keyboard in front of me, and it's been an even greater while since I had my year of piano lessons way back in high school, but Lauren and I worked it out.

Grandma and Grandpa came down for the show, and after a last minute trip to the dollar store to find Tabitha some nice-looking shoes that a) fit and b) were not sneakers we made our way to the recital hall. We've been there many times in the last fifteen years, but I still picture it the way it was when Kim and I got married and I'm always vaguely surprised not to see the paintings of tractors on the walls. Instead, there was a raft of other, less agriculturally-centered art on the walls and rows of chairs on the floor.

And the show began.

Both girls did a wonderful job with their pieces, as did all of the performers really. I even held up my end of the duet, which was a relief.

And then there were cookies. Mmmm. Cookies.