Heat, Fire, and Nazarenes?

It’s a beautiful, sunny, cool day in Maryland. Perfect football weather, if you’re into that sort of thing. I went out today to price a couple of jobs. The wind a couple of days ago took down two pine trees in a friend’s neighborhood. It is going to take a while to trim them, cut them up and load them. There’s no way to get the truck near the work site without really ticking off the customer and leaving some nice ruts in their respective front yards. I am still tempted … but discretion is the better part of value.

That will keep me busy for a couple of days. I’m also staying on horse duty. I’m taking the morning shift this coming week and switching to afternoon feedings when I start working for Lockheed Martin. I think I have the pleasure of cleaning stalls on both shifts. I’ve often wondered how people have any authority at all with large animals. I can imagine them talking about me. “Oh, him. Don’t mind him. He’s our domestic. He gets our meals and cleans our rooms. But don’t say anything. He thinks he’s in charge.”

Nemi, the mare with a taste for Dave, is going bye-bye. She and Taffy are being sent somewhere. Gunner and Tribby will be staying. They, along with Li’l Bit and Patty will be weaned soon. Also, Image and Slipper, who have been at camp (on loan to a therapeutic riding center in the next county), are coming home today. I’ll miss Taffy. Nemi would make some very nice glue. Or horse d’ouerves.

Tonight we’re going to a campfire. A friend built a fire pit, obtained a permit, and is inviting several families from church out for wieners, s’mores, marshmallows, etc. It should be fun. By then, the heating man who is in our basement even as I type will be through and the house should be warm. Of course, to my way of thinking, the house should have stayed warm after the first and second repairmen came out. The good news is that the technician who is here now is the installation supervisor. Our unit has a brand new blower and is getting a second brand new transformer. Even at 20 years old, it should last at least another five to eight years. Hurrah! That beats the heck out of buying a new one.

Katie’s becoming a Nazarene. I’m just teasing. But she has begun attending their church and youth group. Tomorrow it’s my turn to take her. The church is about 30 minutes away, not far from where Joan used to work in Gaithersburg. There are 40+ kids in the youth group. Somehow Katie prefers that to the two who attended ours. The youth group is called Deep Impact. I don’t know, but I figure if you skip youth group and know that overall attendance has dropped by 50 percent, that’s a pretty significant impact. But we just call ours “youth group.”

That’s the day thus far. I may write later. So long.

Weekend. Yay!

Hello All~The weeks are zipping by.........fast and furious. Well, fast anyway. I actually zipped into the mall to do a little C......... shopping. No, I won't type the whole thing........I don't even like to get ahead of myself like that, but SOMEBODY has to do it and it's always me, so I'm C............. shopping in the hopes that I stay ahead of the game this year. For once. Yeah, right. Actually, I'm enjoying it and ahead of where I usually am at this time. That in itself makes it fun.

My little Em is a karate kid. She started this week and she's actually excited about it. We'll see if it sticks. We waited until she was ready to go on her own and this month she was, so here goes. No, I'M NOT JOINING TOO! That's the first thing she said when we walked out to the car. You should join, Mom! Yeah, right.

We had the same s-n-o-w (don't want to actually say the word yet :) and BLUSTERY winds here for the last two days. It's finally calming down. The s-n-o-w was a riot at school. I noticed it as I headed back to the building after my 30 minute lunch "hour" which I often spend reading in the car. I was amazed and announced it to the office staff. Word quickly spread through the building and in the cafeteria every child rushed to the wall of windows to see for himself. If we were in a boat, we'd have tipped over.


Well, time to go read more of Seabiscuit. I'm enjoying it. Never saw the movie, so I'll have to rent it when it hits Blockbuster. Nope, I'm being distracted. There's a little thing on TV about the making of that new movie Master and Commander....The Far Side of the World. It looks fascinating. I think I'll sit down and let myself be distracted.

Goodnight All!

Making the rounds (like the doctor Mom wanted me to be)

Today is the type of day that leads one to say, "been there, done that."

After the morning feeding (mine as well as the horses), I cleaned up and headed to Puzzini’s. We made the circuit today. I took a shortcut to the credit union first. It’s much faster to go down I-95 to Route 198. There is an exception. Today was one such. Today they took three lanes if 198 and funneled them into one. As is often the case in Maryland, the special people were on the road. You may have met them. When you queue up and merge in an orderly fashion, the special people either speed ahead of the pack on the shoulder of the road or cut into line out of turn. But that’s okay. They’re special. That’s why I save my longest, tallest finger for a solo salute when I wave to them.

After the credit union we went to Sam’s Club. After a repast of VERY large slices of pizza, we began shopping. If you have the impression that my father-in-law is losing a step, forget it. The man is canny. While Anne pushed a cart and shopped, and while I ran through the aisles looking for Anne, John sat in the cafeteria area drinking water and waiting for us to finish. Canny. I have something to which I can aspire. Shrewd, that man.

Following our time at Sam’s we had time for one more stop; Weiss, the local grocery for Anne and John. I’m a quick study. I let them off at the curb, hung the handicapped tag from the rearview mirror and sat in the van listening to classical music while they shopped. It may not have been as quick as if I had helped them locate items in the store, but I’m convinced John is onto something with his Sitting Shopping. Gentle as a dove, but …

Having carted one set of folks, I went to River Hill to pick up Katie. We mailed a package, drove across Columbia to return an item, then hit two more stores. The net gain is that the music in my computer now plays through my stereo. Yeah! And it sounds GREAT when I crank it up. I have to leave the room, because nobody in their right mind listens to music that loud, but even from the next room it sounds pretty good.

Now we’re home. Ahhh. Nothing to do now but relax. Soon my wife will be home and there will be no doubt what needs doing. Meanwhile, it’s kick back, listen to the jams, and chill out time.

And how was your day?

A Day Described by the Sky

Today was interesting in several ways.

The weather seemed to directly reflect my day. It was clear, but brisk. Earlier in the day, the sky was layered with clouds like a person with much to do is layered with concerns. But the light was fantastic. Each cloud had a grey center that gradually became white and fluffy then shone brilliantly at its outer edges.

Breakfast was like that. I met with my friend Danny at Eggspectations. That ‘s a place where you go for strong coffee and expensive staples. The atmosphere is great. Very creative, with hand-forged egg whisks in wrought iron as door handles, and funky menus. The food is very good and nicely presented. At the end of the day, or even at the beginning, it’s still just eggs and stuff. Strangely, I’d go again. Yummy.

That was the clear part of my day. When I got back home, I was on the hunt of all hunts. I was looking for information from what seems several lifetimes ago. Frankly, I was searching for stuff I’d rather forget. But it was stuff my prospective employer seems to need to hire me. Well, I found some of it. Things I had pleasantly forgotten were brought to the fore of my memory and I included them in my updated resume. So there. Now I was ready to send it off.

Did I mention that the day clouded over in the afternoon? No? Well, it did. And it was blustery. No. Scratch that. It was Blustery! Yup, just when I couldn’t get enough of the sunshine all those brilliantly lit clouds I mentioned earlier must have arrived at a cloud convention, because the next time I looked up it was one huge cloud. Like the others it was grey in the center. It’s just that the center went all the way to the edges. As if that weren’t enough of a stark change, that Blustery day apparently dropped trees on power lines, because we were doing without beginning around noon.

No power is good and bad. It’s good in that it forced me to pack up my laptop and get out of the house. That’s always nice. It’s also good because it gave me an appreciation for quiet. In our house there is almost always a hum. Here in our living room is my computer and the Other computer (read: not a Mac). Both are almost always on, humming quietly away. Even when they are off, there is the hum of the refrigerator or the whirring of the dishwasher or the chug and swish of the laundry. But when the power is out, there is none of that. It’s nice. It’s peaceful. It’s annoying. It’s unfortunate. Because today of all days I NEEDED the computer to be working. And it was. It’s a laptop and even when the power went out, the laptop chugged happily away as it automatically converted to battery power. But the modem, the router, the printer and everything else stopped. Dead. That’s when I packed up and headed for the library.

Heading to the library? Yes. I needed to return books anyway, and I simply prayed that they had power. They did. I got a good seat near the window and continued revamping my resume. On the way out, I picked up several compact discs to rip and add to my online music library. And it was on the way to the library that I realized those water spots on my windshield weren’t water until they hit the windshield. In fact, some of them were going up before they came down. They were … swirling …and water doesn’t swirl except in whirlpools and drains. So this must be … No! But it was. Snowflakes. Lovely.

I got my work done and returned home. Still no power, but I did have a phone call from the regional recruiting office. I was in, as far as they were concerned. Congratulations and welcome aboard and all that. It was a nice message. But it didn’t get my resume into the right hands yet. So I went across the street to feed the horses. While I was down there, I suddenly realized that I was hearing things. Not mean or nasty things. Pretty things. It was classical music. And that doesn’t usually come from either end of a horse. I then deduced that it must be the radio. It was! We had power again. I watched anxiously as the lights dimmed then brightened. I didn’t think it would hold. But it did. So I finished feeding, went to band practice, returned home, and sent my updated resume to the powers that be.

At its end, this has been a good day, but the flurry of activity, the anxiety, the powerlessness, and the peace were all wonderfully reflected in the ever-changing skies of Maryland.

More and better hoops

I just heard from my prospective employer. They can't get verification from Basssix or Textworks as to my employment. I begin to question the efficiency of bureaucracy. This is the third or fourth time I've told somebody they are "sole proprietorships." Hello!? There are no W-2s, people. It's all done on a schedule C with a form 1040. It's transparent. Hasn't anybody had a business before? Of course not. That's why they're working for somebody else. HireRight, the company my prospective employer pays to snoop and snitch on possible hires can't seem to deal with this.

But wait, there's more. They changed the level of experience required for the position to 10 years. But, *gasp* I don't have a degree, so I must have 16 years of experience. Odd. I don't feel any dumber. I'm not certain what I was supposed to have picked up in those six extra years that somebody was able to soak up in four years while spending Daddy's money at college, but I'll play the silly game. Now my resume is coming back. Again. And I'll have to set the Wayback Machine to Prehistoric and come up with months and years for employment so long ago that I begin to despair about coming up with the information.

Tell me again why I want to work for these people. I need to hear it. Ahh, yes. Filthy lucre. Engorging myself at the public trough. I love government contracts. If this were private sector work, it would be so much simpler. Can you write? Can you edit? How little can we pay you to do so happily? Welcome aboard. Sheesh.

TV for free

The cable guy is just finishing up. Katie will be thrilled. 73 channels of mediocre entertainment for free. Geek alert: It's been a lovely morning. I reformatted my 40 GB external hard drive and created a 22 GB partition dedicated to music. I've transferred all my music files to that drive, freeing 4 GB of the internal drive of the laptop. Now I'm happily grabbing CDs from the rack and ripping them to add to the iTunes library. I've ripped Dave Brubeck, America, the Average White Band, U2, Weather Report, Ron Carter, and the day is still young. So much music, so little time.

The rest of the day will be spent on the run. I'm taking Anne to a doctor's appointment, then getting Katie from after-school tutoring. She will visit a friend from church for geometry tutoring early this evening, then we take her to ballet class. Somewhere in all that will fall homework for her and horse feeding for me.

Less than a week until I start work. Yipee!

dlc

Greek Sing

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2003/11/11-10-03tdc/11-10-03dnews-05.asp

That's a link to the newspaper with pictures from our performance.

I'm back!

Hello Again! This is another update from your favorite college student! :-) I'm dissappointed I wasn't able to make it to this family get-together at my house last weekend. In the scholastic department, I have one exam down and 4 to go in the next week. The one tonight was a biggie...Math 251...differential equations...fun stuff. I'm just glad its over. Before leaving to take my exam, my friends all wished me luck and hugged me goodbye. On the walk over I felt like I was walking towards my death. The walk back to my apartment was great. Relief. Not to say that did well, but the exam wasn't as terrible as I was expecting it to be.

On a more exciting note, GREEK SING yesterday was AMAZING!!!! We were the last group of twenty to perform and we were so pumped! Performing is so much fun! We definitely went all out. And our efforts and hard work were greatly rewarded...we won 5 out of 7 of the awards!!!! We were awarded Second Place in Spirit Points, Most Artistic Performance, Best Scenery, Best Male Lead Vocalist, and OVERALL BEST PERFORMANCE!!!!! Our pictures and an article are on the front page of the Penn State Daily Collegian (even above the football article! -not that that is saying much...our football team isn't exactly in its prime this year) But anyway, it was very exciting considering our sorority placed second to last last year!

I now have a fifth roommate...a very small, furry one. My one roommate Allison apparently decided she wanted to buy a cat about a week ago and its been living in her room for a week...and my roommate Julie and I had no idea! The other two roommates (Allison and Courtney) decided not to tell us about our new housemate for over a week...the only reason we did find out is that she (Bella...but we call her Kitty...or Stupid Cat) broke out of their room. That was interesting. So now we have this annoying furry thing running around everywhere making a mess. And of course she loves our room the most because we don't want her there. Funny how it always works out that way. (i.e. Wendell and me) Needless to say, she is cute and can be fun...even though I'm not much of a pet girl.

Someone please tell me what exactly is going on with this weather!?!?!?! OK...last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I was able to lay out on a blanket at the park and read the third Harry Potter book in the 80 degree weather in shorts and a tank top. Saturday night I came home and the WeatherBug said it was 19 DEGREES!!!! How does that happen????? WHY??

Well, I hope you all have a great week, I'll be back soon!


"Some family trees bear an enormous crop of nuts. "
--Wayne H :-)

The Heat is On ... no Off ... no On.

Some very strange noises began emanating from our basement. That's not so unusual. Everybody knows there are creepy things in the basement. And the fact that we're all alive is testimony to our intelligence. We don't need to see the creepy things, just hearing them is enough. But this creepy thing in our basement made a noise suspiciously similar to metal rubbing against metal. And that only sounds proper at a demolition derby. It sounds very improper within the confines of one's utility room. So we called the experts.

The experts had been here on Sunday. They'd done some expert stuff and then left. Well, this is a new, thinner expert who does not smell of cigarette smoke and seems to know what he's doing. Somehow, his story goes, the blower assembly came apart. The motor was going and the doohicky (*my word, not his) was rubbing against the thingy (*ibid.) and making a noise like two cats doing whatever it is that two cats do when they make that noise. You know. THAT noise. So it's nearing 10:30 and weve been hearing ratchetings, and clinkings, and bangings, and, surprisingly, very little creative treatment of the King's english. That's why I think he's competent. I know what I'd be saying if I had MY head in that dirty old furnace and things weren't going according to plan.

So that's our story. Things seems to be progressing nicely and we hope to have heat moving smoothly through the ductwork again in a very short time. Which is about the length of time I'll probably have to sleep. Because I'm almost certain to get another call from the road around 7:30 tomorrow morning either reminding me of something so important it can't wait until somebody gets to work, or for my own good because it is slothful to sleep in, or for God only know what other reason. My suspicion is that it chafes to see somebody at rest when one knows that option does not exist in one's present reality. But it feels good to interrupt such an idyllic state. But I could be wrong. If so, she'll let me know. :-)

dlc

THE QUIET PLACE

Just returned from THE QUIET PLACE as it is going to be used tomorrow morning at 6:30. A group of friends that meet weekly are going to begin their day there. There will probably be six or seven of them. My prayer is that more groups such as this one will feel free to use it. I made some pumpkin muffins and will arise early to take out a coffee pot and some hot water for tea. This is the perfect place to begin (or end) your day.

Wake up and Write!

I got a call at 7:20 am that I hope was well intentioned. The voice on the other end said there was frost on the ground and the sun was shining. The inference was that if I were any kind of wordsmith worth my salt I'd be up taking a picture and writing about it. I'm not sure what I missed, thankfully. Probably the opportunity to describe a world awakening with glittering, ephemeral diamonds adorning each blade of grass and the sun taking the opportunity of this morning to create a work of art that would be noticed by few but would hold those few spellbound and create a moment of awe that would sustain them through the rest of the day. Maybe. I don't know. I was slowly awakening and reading a good book at the moment, so I blew it off.

I just provided a potential employer a sample of my body fuids. Isn't it odd that based on that they will decide whether I merit further consideration as an employee? I can't imagine having one of the neighbor boys show up anxious to rake leaves and me telling him to piss in the corner over there and I'd think about it. But then, I can't imagine any of our neighbor kids being anxious to perform yard work for us under any circumstances.

As soon as I send this off, I'm heading across the street to turn out the kids. Their "Mom" gets back on Wednesday and my evenings will be my own once again. Grace was limping yesterday. I think she may have pulled a muscle. She's the largest mare, but that doesn't hold much value. She gets picked on the most too. She may have been responding to a nip or kick and just didn't warm up first. I rarely see them stretching or doing any kind of calisthenics. It's a wonder they all don't limp more. Somehow the picture of nearly a dozen horses standing in a line, reared up on their hind legs and doing jumping jacks strikes me as funny. I don't think I'll share that with them, though. They can be sensitive about public perception and wouldn't appreciate my irreverence.

It's another sunny day! Ya gotta love it. High in the 40's. Wanna come up and visit, Susie?
Love to all,

dlc

I Found It Again :)

Well, I found it again............with some fedoodling! I'm feeling really techy here. Enjoyed the visit with the Marylanders the other day. As usual, they put up with my ill-preparedness (trans. Winging Through Life). We plan to do it again in a few weeks on their end.

Nice day here. Bob made it back from the Boy Scout campout at Cape Henlopen. He had a gorgeous weekend and all went well until the Boy Scouts got caught by the ranger as they were digging away at an old war bunker. I'm guessing he figured out they knew EXACTLY what they were doing as they had explored it last year and returned this year with SHOVELS. Some example those leaders set!!! :)

Em got her ears pierced last night..............again. The first time she panicked when it was time to change earrings, but this year she insists she's ready to do it, so there's a heads up for all you Christmas shoppers. She likes/wants EARRINGS.........anything blue, sparkly, dolphins, little hoops, whatever. She's into white gold, not yellow gold,--and little, not big. Wish us luck in the switching them in six weeks.

Well, my oven beeper is calling me. Love to all, Beth

Now that I am officially in, definitely the "oldiest but the goodiest" I want to check things out. Okay, I pressed B thinking I could make something BOLD.......drats! it did it again. That's the first thing I don't understand. Well, I'll go on to I (italics) Pardon me but DANG, that doesn't do what I thought it would. Now, would someone please explain how this works. I'm scared to press spell check for al of this might be erased. Maybe I'll do the insert link things. Hold on.......here goes...... Well, I see it did something or other, I'm not certain what. Oh well, in time it will all make sense.

Time for supper. I'm going to enjoy some barbequed ribs that Luisa, the mother of Maria, gave us when I took Maria home. Dad doesn't like having flames coming out of his mouth so he gets some leftover ham. Their seasoning can tear you up. While I was there Maria was eating something and I made the mistake of asking what it was. She said it was the cow's stomach and would I like to taste it. To be polite, I did just that but I had to be impolite and tell her please, don't send any of it home with me! It was pretty bad and I'm still wondering what it was.

Howdy!

And welcome "mom, mamaw, sue, mrs. colbert (or whatever)." We're glad you were able to get through. Alright, here's my vision for this log: all topics are open. If you're having a great day and want to crow, do so. If you're having a lousy day and are in the mood to either vent or troll for pity, by all means do that too. If you see something you'd like to comment on, you now have a place for that. Feel free to comment on comments. As far as I'm concerned, this is like a telephone party line (sorry for the obtuse reference, Amy. If it's too out there, ask the list. I'd love to see how people explain it.). Count on somebody listening in, so whatever you say may evoke a response. In fact, I hope it will. It's a family place. We want to celebrate, commiserate and encourage one another. That's about it. It's a work in progress, so we'll form this thing together.

dlc

I made it!!

Sun. Nov.9 almost 5 pm

Gee, I'm not sure how I got here......failed first attempt. Hope to be able to find my way again. I've loved reading each and every submission to 'brain candy' via David Colbert. Thanx David for inviting us.

Love
mom, mamaw, sue, mrs. colbert (or whatever)

O What a Beautiful Morning!

It is sunny and clear this morning. Weather.com says it's 33 degrees and feels like 26 degrees. We can vouch for that. Our oil heater flooded and the pilot light went out. It is 58 degrees in the living room. That's where the thermostat is. I don't want to imply that the whole house is 58 degrees. When my dear wife awakened me at 1 am to have a look at the heater (which by the way is all I did. I couldn't do a darn thing with it and was just proud of myself for not using a candle to locate the pilot light), it was something less than 58 degrees where I stood. The very good news is that the temps outside are supposed to climb to 65 degrees by Wednesday and the heater repair man is supposed to show up shortly. The girls are off to church and I'm waiting to cross the street and feed the horses. I love sunshine!