Subway and 5K

After my Friday evening rest, I decided I would try running the 5K on Saturday morning since my muscles weren't feeling all that bad.  As I mentioned previously, it's my employer's 100th year of doing business this year.  As part of that celebration they were having a 5K and 10K walk/run on Saturday, and I couldn't resist being a part of history and getting my "free" T-shirt with my registration fee.  Plus Jared Fogel "The Subway Guy" was going to be on hand for the event.

There were almost 400 race participants, and I think most of them were people from work, or family and friends of people from work.  It was kind of fun.  My time was 31:31, which again was not real stellar.  It was mostly fun except that my knees started hurting almost right away, probably because of all the exercise the day before even though they hadn't been hurting before the race.  It wasn't so much my knee joints as it was the something-or-other-band (iliotibial band?) that runs on the outside of your knee.  My brief internet search tells me it's from faulty pelvic mechanics and that the gluteus maximus can also contribute to the issue.  Anyway, I ran through the pain (my PT Ananias would probably yell at me for that) and never walked, although my jog was pretty slow in some cases.  Needless to say, I decided to take it easy today since I'm having difficulty going up and down stairs due to my ITB(s).

To give you an idea of my slow pace, I'll give you some illustrations.  Right after mile one, a lady pushing two kids in a stroller passed me.  These kids weren't 10-pound newborns, they were probably 2 years old.  A dad pushing a stroller passed me too.  I was keeping pace with a 50-something guy in my building.  He was doing a run-walk type of thing, so we took turns passing each other.  He said if he runs fast enough where his legs feel good, it's too fast for his heart, so he alternates between running hard and walking that's about equal to my jogging pace.  Even one of the software engineers in my group passed me around mile 2.5, and he's not what you would consider extremely athletic, although he has been doing the couch to 5K program there at work.

Here are a couple pictures from the event.  And yes, they had Subway sandwiches for the participants after the race.  I ate some even though I wasn't feeling all that hungry at 10:00 AM after running three miles.

Jared "The Subway Guy" and I

J-Kac - A friend from work finishing the 10K in 45 minutes.

PJ - another friend from work with his girlfriend Amy.  I kept pace with him until Mile 1, when I started to fall behind.

Hard Day At The Office

Yesterday was our department outing at work.  That's usually a good time - fun with a bunch of goofy engineers.  There was a large selection of activities to participate in.  Here are a few of the highlights:

1. The software engineer manager was telling a story at breakfast and described his wife as very anal.  Now that's a very big accomplishment (if you want to call it that) to be more anal than a software engineer.
2. The morning activity I chose was to do my annual shooting.  Things available to shoot included the usual .22 pistol with a scope, a single shot .22 pistol, a .22 rifle, derringer, 9mm Glock, Colt .45, a .40 pistol, an old school revolver (maybe a .45?), an SKS rifle, and a crossbow.  Many thanks to all my co-workers who shared their arsenals.
3. After a delicious lunch of roasted pig, lots of us played a good-natured game of softball that involved many jokes and giving others a hard time about their bad knees and bad backs.  We even had a few heckling spectators.
4. The last inning of softball included Dilly Bars.  I was pitching for my team, and it was kind of distracting to pitch to batters who would hold their dilly bar in their mouth while they took a swing at the ball and then ran the basepaths holding their ice cream.  One of our outfielders was also super-talented as he managed to field the ball and throw in from the outfield without letting his ice cream hit the grass.
5. I took a quick drink of water, and then some of us played a rousing game of ultimate frisbee.  We were breathing hard after about 5 minutes, but we played another 30-45 minutes until it was time for volleyball.
6. Our boss (hardware engineer manager) had issued a volleyball challenge to the software engineers for a best 2 out of 3 games with the loser supplying donuts to the other team.  One of my software engineer friends wasn't really impressed with the challenge because he said that kind of challenge was unfair given the typical athleticism of software engineers.  But, somehow the software engineers managed to squeak 2 wins out of us hardware engineers.  No donuts for the hardware engineers.  I think they had some ringers.
7. After the main challenge event of volleyball, we played a few more games and managed to get the volleyball stuck in a nearby tree.  In the process of trying to knock the ball out of the tree, we managed to get some other things stuck up there:  another volleyball, a pop can, and a small piece of plywood.  The weapon of choice that was most effective for getting everything down was water bottles.
8. After that strenuous day, I went home, took a shower, and then chilled out the rest of the evening and debated whether to be a part of history and run a 5K the next morning.  I also spent some time stretching and hoping I wouldn't be too sore for the next couple of days.  More on that later. 
9. During the shooting I was able to use my rec specs for something other than racquetball.

All for now...

Focus on Grapes

A guy in the cubicle quad across the hall has relatives in the blueberry and vineyard business, so the last couple of days he's been bringing in fresh grapes.  They're not your usual grocery store seedless grapes.  They're actually juice grapes.  They're an acquired taste, but after the first one or two you get used to the thick skin and seeds, and they taste pretty good.  That was my afternoon snack for a couple days.

A couple days ago I got a business card from a component rep that was unusual (the card was, not the rep).  Sometimes on the back of their business card people will have their info in Chinese or Japanese if they're from one of those countries.  Or, they might have the company logo or a solid color.  This was an extreme case of the company logo.  See the picture below.  I laid the card on a magazine so that you could see the picture was in focus.  It's just the text on the card that's making your eyes wig out.  It's even worse in real life.

Irony on the back of a business card.

Hodge Podge and Mish Mash

This year there will be sista woikas in this field, which we haven't had for about six years I think.  With only brothas for so long, my housekeeping skills have gotten really rusty.  I'm trying to decide whether I should sharpen my own skills, or if I should just hire a maid to clean regularly for me.  Hiring a maid would have two benefits.  It would both keep my house clean and stimulate the economy.  The obvious drawback would be the extra cost.

Most of my readers probably know this already, but North Dakota lost good ole Frances F. last week.  We don't mourn her passing since her quality of life was minimal this past year and she has much better things to go on too.  I'm sure it will feel different for Mom and Dad now as they drive past the care center Sunday morning without stopping.  I was trying to remember if I had one very distinct memory of her, but I don't really think I do.  I have several memories of her, but not one that sticks out clearly.  She could be blunt as a baseball bat, but she sure had a love for souls.

I feel like I haven't spent a whole week in the office for weeks on end now, which is making me feel a little bit discombobulated and like I'm falling behind.  The reason is because I haven't spent an entire week in the office for several weeks.  First I went to Iowa for the build that wasn't.  Then we had holiday the Friday before Labor Day.  Last week we had Labor Day off, and then I was also on vacation Thursday and Friday.  This week one day will be lost to the annual team outing at work.  Next week I may be out of the office for a brief trip to a supplier for a day.  Busy busy I say.  It keeps life interesting.

The sinuses are slowly clearing up with a dry cough kind of lingering too.  It's better than last week.  The fall exercise routines will soon be kicking in.  I went to the grocery for the first time in several weeks today.  Life goes on.  That's all I have for today for riveting reading folks.  Buena sueño.

Convention C & C

Assignment:  Compare and contrast the conventions from the last two weekends.  To keep them straight for the purposes of this essay, call the one in Iowa M, and the one in the center of this state A.

Similarities:

1. An overabundance of food for the soul.
2. Helped with preparation of natural food.
3. Morning walks.
4. Middle of the night treks to the bathroom with a great view of the stars.  I'm not getting that old that I have to make lots of trips in the night.  But, the problem is that I drink less during the day so I don't have to go out during meeting.  Then at the end of the day I feel really thirsty, so I end up drinking a bunch of water at night lunch.  This results in the late night bathroom treks.
5. Seeing some special people - both woikas and non-woikas.  Some of the special people at A included JC, Myra, Dana, M&M, Kim, Tim&Kate, and of course all the people that I meet with on a regular basis here at home.  It's sad the list is that short after living here for more than eight years.  It really wouldn't be that short if I actually listed all the "regulars".
6. Sore posterior by the end.
7. Very nice clear blue skies for a couple days.
8. Tent dwelling.  That's right - I tempted the forces of nature and braved the tent again.
9. Helping with clean-up.  I would highly recommend it - I consider it a good way to ease out of the convention life.
10. Stew!

Differences:

1. Social interactions.  At M, there were several people of similar age and station in life present to hang out and visit with.  At A...not so much.  I had my pick of young married couples with children to visit with - or middle-aged and older people.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  There were a few single people in their mid to lower twenties, but I'm starting to be ancient compared to them.  The weekend also brought a couple more people my age, but still not a lot.
2. Horizontal resting hours.  Jack-E and I stayed up past 11:00 PM several nights talking at M.  At A, I regularly broke the Crafty Ducky rule of not heading to bed before 9:00 PM.  I think one night it was even as early as 8:30.  I wasn't sleeping by 8:30 by any means, but I had already started the nightly teeth brushing routine one night around that time.  In my defense for being so lame, the allergy stuff was making me feel a little bit draggy.  Plus, when you have stuffy sinuses and you're trying to talk amidst a din of other people, it makes conversation a bit of a challenge, so I gave up on it.
3. Walking companions.  I had some at M, but not at A.  There are benefits to doing it either way.  When you have less social stuff going on, it does make more time for God if you can manage to quiet your mind.
4. Food preparation.  We mixed the veggies and put the dressings on at M.  At A, I was on the other side of the coin preparing the veggies.  After the experience at M, as I ate at A I can tell you that I paid much closer attention to the salads and how the dressing was mixed, etc.  It was also interesting to observe how long it took for the veggies to go from our processing until I saw them appear on the table.  Often it was a day, but not always.
5. Tent situation.  No rain at A except maybe a small sprinkle one night that I'm not sure was even a sprinkle.  As previously mentioned, that certainly was not the case at M.  Another difference in tents was the size.  Jack-E's tent was very spacious with plenty of room to stand up and walk around.  My tent on the other hand is.....tiny.  There is barely enough room for my single air mattress and my small duffel bag.  To put my clothes on, I pretty much have to lay down.
6. Temperatures.  M was first unbearably hot, then rainy, then on the cool-to-cold side.  A was more moderate.  It was only slightly cool on Thursday, and then Friday through Sunday were very pleasant with each day getting a little bit warmer.  The nights were pleasantly crisp at A.
7. Corn on the Cob.  As can only be expected of Iowa, the corn on the cob at M was delicious, and we had it twice.  I dare to be blasphemous to Uncle Walt and say the corn on the cob there was as good as it is in ND.  I suspect they plant the same brand and variety of seed.  Now A wasn't bad and it was better than some years, but it wasn't up to the same standard as M.  I would give M an A+ in the corn on the cob department, and I would give A a B+.
8. Empty places.  Not being a "regular" at M, I had no way of knowing if people were missing.  I certainly noticed a few people missing at A.  The biggest gap I noticed was in the veggie room.  It used to be that the space at the sink to wash the buckets, knives, etc. after all the chopping was done was never open.  This year though, it always seemed to be open.  I can't remember exactly who used to do it, but I think it's a combination of one of the helping ladies dying and several of the men getting older and not being able to help as much as they used to.  Since school was already in session, I think the benches in the meeting shed at A were more than half empty for the first two days.
9. Phases of the sun.  At M., I noticed the beautiful sunsets.  It was the beautiful sunrises that I saw at A.  It could be related to which way the tent was pointed and to which direction had the most unobstructed view.
10. Smells.  M was kinda heavy on the chicken poo smell occasionally.  A didn't have any real strong smells, but one day I think I did smell horses or cows.  It wasn't quite strong enough to know for sure.

We heard so many good things, I don't think I can narrow it down enough at the moment to leave you with any single special thoughts.  One story I enjoyed that we heard and that came to mind this evening was a little boy who was having a struggle.  He came to his mother and was wanting to talk to her a little bit.  She asked the boy if he had shared his trouble with God.  He said he had.  But, he also said, "I need someone else with skin on them."  It is nice to walk in the way with some other people, isn't it?  I should be clear that neither convention was better than the other, they were just different.  It's kind of amazing how they can be so much the same and yet different at the same time.

Did I already mention the beautiful sunrises?

That's all for now folks....I should start heading for bed now, what with my newfound early bird to bed tendencies and all.

I Owe A...

Well, as the post title implies, I went to Iowa for the long Labor Day weekend.  Mostly I was at 'vention, but on the way home I made a stop.  Let's just get right into the highlights list.  I took a few pictures (not many), and even fewer are fit for public consumption, so it's only text today.

1. Pleasant surprises in the form of seeing George, Charlie, Jim, Bob, Karen, and Ronda.
2. Pleasant non-surprises in the forms of Jack-E, Jen-E, Uncle Becks SSPHCD, Share Bear, Windy, Swanny, and others that I can't remember but I'm sure are important and will be disappointed I forgot them.
3. Meeting new people (including J&J-E) and re-acquainting myself with a few others in the area.
4. For much of the weekend I felt kind of in disarray.  This was due to extreme heat followed by rain getting in the tent, resulting in much wet stuff.  I had stuff dwelling in the tent, my car, J&J-E's camper, and the bunks.  Then I had to try to keep track of it.
5. Contributing to the disarray was the fact that my roof rack had a major malfunction.  Thank goodness Bernie wasn't injured in the process, although he did have to make the trip home in the trunk instead.  Herman also escaped from the mishap with only minor cuts and bruises.
6. A beautiful cerulean sky on the drive home and while bicycling.
7. Did I mention Bicycling?  I did that on Monday with Jack-E and Ducky.  Eating was also involved.
8. My "job" at 'vention was to help make and dish out the salads.  I don't believe I've ever really had a job actually in the kitchen before, so that was a first.
9. Beautiful sunsets.
10. Food for the soul.  Three days.

That's all folks.  Except to say that whether this is severe allergies or the beginning of a cold today, I'm not impressed.  I'm pretty sure it was just allergies all weekend, but today there is a worsening of the symptoms.

Snippets

When I bought my house many years ago, as I was diligently reading all the paperwork and signing it, I can clearly remember asking about how the escrow account worked.  They explained how it would be evaluated yearly, and if the account was slightly short, I would be charged more for the next year, and if there was any overage, I would get a check back.  I also distinctly remember them scoffing at the thought of ever getting a check back because "that never happens."  I'm here to tell you folks, that it does happen, and the sum was sizable (more than $1000).  I'm not saying it's a good thing, but it can happen.

I am thankful the boil water order lasted only about a day.  It's very difficult to remember not to rinse your toothbrush with the tap water.  The internet said there had been a break in the water pipe, and my house was in the "danger zone".  Apparently it wasn't too dangerous.

That's really all I've got here.  The Labor Day weekend is coming up, which I'm excited for.  That's about it.  Later peeps.

Starting Line-Up

Few things feel ickier than walking smack dab into a spider web you didn't know was there.  That feeling of those fine strands sticking to your face and hair is not desirable.  Usually I hope that the spider wasn't in the web, which would hopefully mean he's not crawling around in my hair somewhere.

Moving on to better thoughts, I forgot to mention in the raccoon excitement that it was myself and the older folks in our meeting yesterday. I was the only person there under the age of 65.  I was also the person elected to start the hymns this particular day.  Before this summer I probably had only started them two or three times, and now this summer I think this was the third time I've had the dubious honor.  It's getting to be such old hat that I forgot to be nervous and accidentally let my mind wander during a chorus, which meant I barely remembered which verse was next once the chorus was finished.  I used to be #4 or #5 on the starter roster, but now I'm about #3.  Plus, #1 and #2 are husband and wife, so if they're gone and I happen to be home, then it usually falls to me.  Maybe I am maturing a little bit.

That's all I've got today.  Toodloo.

Mundane, Yet Not

The weekend wasn't real exciting, but it was still good.  I didn't go anywhere this weekend, so it was a big deal to get caught up on some errands and chores.  I went to Target (twice), Lowe's, Staples, the cash machine at the bank, and the grocery store.  I did so much yard work that I ran out of lawn bags, hence the trip to Lowe's.  I did so much laundry that I ran out of detergent (hence the second trip to Target).  I got part way through the mountain of junk mail that has been accumulating for months.  And then there is the rest of the story...

I attempted to go kayaking on the lake today, but after my first attempt at getting through the large waves, I decided that was not the best idea.  I had to admit defeat there, but Kermit and I were not calling it quits that easily.  We trekked (using Herman) over to a nearby river to put in there and had some great views along with seeing some very nice wildlife.  We saw turtles, ducks, a great blue heron, and butterflies to name most of the memorable ones.  See the photo below.

Living the Wild Life

The score as of today:
MelBMarvis:  10
Raccoons:  -0.5
Chipmunks:  0

Before we went to the river, I noticed that I caught a 'coon in my live trap.  I'm not sure if he was there yesterday or not.  He may have been and I didn't notice, but that might explain all the frantic dog barking I heard yesterday morning that I didn't check out because it stopped before I went out there.  I left the raccoon there until I returned from the kayak excursion.  Then I proceeded to dispense with him.  Unfortunately my large garbage can wasn't quite large enough, so I had to waterboard the poor thing even though he didn't have any secrets to tell me.  Thank goodness I didn't feel as remorseful as I thought I might during the process.  I hardened my heart and got on with it.  On a relative scale, it was less daunting and produced less stomach churning than killing baby pigs or killing baby birds.  Hopefully he won't haunt my dreams tonight.  And, I also hope that one day Gary the Groundhog follows this raccoon's lead in walking into my trap.  I sure do hope Gary isn't able to climb the side of the cage as well as Rocky.  Or, I could buy a taller garbage can I suppose.  We'll see - that would involve another trip to Lowe's.

Quick Trip

As part of my work responsibilities, I was one of the lucky ones who traveled to lovely Iowa this week.  I had been there before, so it wasn't like it was new or anything, but it was still good if a bit silly.  The trip was cut kind of short, so here's the lame list of memorable things:

1. Welcome to Iowa.  Fields of Opportunities.  Mostly I saw fields of corn and soybeans, but maybe the opportunities hide amongst all the other plants.
2. A little snippet heard on the radio:  "It turns out I don't have as many thoughts as you might think."
3. My travel companion was Kadmium, so I had more hours of travel time alone with a married man who's the age of my father.  Our political views are similar, so we were able to listen to a lot of talk radio without inciting heated arguments.  Our taste in food is also eerily similar.
4. I missed having a meal with Uncle Ducky because of silly stuff at work.  They schedule a build and insist people be there to support the build, and then twelve hours before it's supposed to start they finally face the facts they probably knew for several days that not all the critical parts were there to even begin the first steps of the build.  I suspect pride gets in the way somewhere in that decision making process.  So more travel may be in the near future.  Oh well - it may work out well for me.
5. Stopped at the town with the world's largest truck stop.
6. Lots of windmill blades on the road.
7. Lush, green rolling hills of fields with few trees to block the lovely view.  I'm telling you, it gives the interstate a whole different (good) feel.
8. Pizza at the Wig and Pen.  I heard from a colleague that they had really good pizza.  I would give it an average rating.  It wasn't terrible, but it didn't compare at all to Silver Beach Pizza.
9. Seeing some of my "babies" from last year go down the production line.  This was one of the ones that was rated a best buy this year.
10. Humidity so thick it forms a haze over the land.

Fruit of my labor from last year.  Don't mind the missing handle.  They add it later.

We fueled at the Pilot station next door, but we were very close.  I think that counts as visiting.

Cheesin' Again

You'll be shocked I know, but I was over in the cheesy state again for the weekend.  Jack-E and I had signed up for a mud run called Dirty Girl, which includes obstacles.  It really wasn't quite as muddy as I thought it would be, but that could have been because our wave was in the afternoon, and the sun may have dried out the mud some.  If we had gone in the morning, it definitely would have been much dirtier and wetter because it rained in the morning.  Before I give the whole weekend details, I better do the highlights list.

1. Did a 5K run for the first time in several years.  I didn't really do any running as part of my training (because I didn't do any training), so it was kind of pathetic.  I think we finished in just under 40 minutes.
2. I think doing the 5K was mostly an excuse to get together and hang out.  As always, I enjoyed spending time with Jack-E and Share Bear.  Many laughs were had by all.
3. Bicycling on a Sunday afternoon after eating chocolate truffles - good times, good times.
4. Did you know you can eat crepes with non-breakfast food?  I did that for the first time this weekend.  Ham, asparagus, and a swiss cheese almond sauce.  I couldn't really tell where the almonds came into the picture, but that's what the menu said.
5. Dishing out and receiving some good-natured teasing about male prospects.
6. A rousing game of Phase 10.
7. Tentative ski/snowboard trips plans were formulated.  Anyone interested in going with us?  If so, let me know.  The plan is to go to Montana.  Males or females are welcome.  Must be 18 or older.  Ask your doctor if this trip is right for you.
8. Texas Roadhouse - with a sirloin steak and some ribs.  Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm.
9. I know I had several things to add to this list, but they escape me now.  Really, the highlight of the weekend was fellowship.
10. Driving and thinking time with an opportunity to listen to my Atomic Trance CD from beginning to end.
11. Learning how thick the concrete walls are in the linear accelerator vault of a hospital's cancer center (7 feet).  I didn't have occasion for any treatments - the hospital was under construction. 
12. Making good use of my rec specs (they're not just for racquetball).

Not So Dirty Girls - After a Quick Rinse

Sweet Summertime

It's been beautiful weather here this week - perfect for volleyball, softball, and tennis.  It still feels like summer, but you can hear fall approaching with all the cicadas singing at night.  It reminds of sleeping in a tent at convention, which is coming soon.

This weekend is looking like it will be fun and dirty.  You'll understand later.  As part of some training at work today, I demonstrated how to use parts of our CAD program today for two hours straight to about twenty engineers.  It went really well, but I guess I must have been a little bit nervous about it because I felt like I didn't sleep well last night, and I woke up long before my alarm went off this morning.

Other than that, it's pretty mundane.  Dishes need washing, the lawn needs mowing, bushes need trimming, flower gardens need hoeing, and I plan to ignore most of it for the next week or so.  Like Grandpa used to say, it's called "carefree housekeeping."

Farm out, peeps.

Weekend Shorts

I can see you're all busy, so I won't take up too much of your time today.  I thought I had some comments to make on my weekend, but they escape me at the moment.  The weekend was only moderately busy.  However, I predict the next four to six weeks to be busy, both at work at in my personal life, partially because work will be crazy like a fox.

The weekend was kind of busy.  I got so engrossed at work on Friday night that I lost track of time and had to ride my bike home in the twilight.  For those that don't live here, twilight is around 8:45 PM.  Then I quick packed an overnight bag and drove half an hour north to stay with some friends overnight because we were leaving early for bee/work day.  On the way to their house I had to make a quick Wally World stop to buy some bread and jam and Cheetos and blueberries for lunch the next day.

This was the third annual car pool event to bee day (before that I drove by myself).  The past two years there's always been three of us on the trip, which helps share the conversational burden.  This year there were only two of us in the van, so I had to do my part to help the conversation along.  I didn't do too bad - the pauses weren't too awkward and neither were the topics we covered.  It was slightly weird to spend five hours in a vehicle with somebody else's husband when it wasn't a work trip, but really he's more like a second dad, so it was cool.  We were the only ones willing and able to go from around these parts, so that's what we did.

Sunday was pretty much easy street.  I took a three hour nap if that tells you anything.  That's all for today folks.  Thirteen hours until you're halfway through the work week.

Century of Innovation

As I mentioned so long ago that I probably can't find the post, I've started reading a coffee table book I have called A Century of Innovation - Twenty Engineering Achievements that Changed Our Lives.  Yesterday I covered two inventions as I will describe below.

With #1 and #2 being electrification and the automobile respectively, #3 is the airplane.  I think this one is pretty obvious.  It caused the world to go from taking days or weeks to cross the ocean to crossing it in hours.  Of course you know the Wright brothers:  Wilbur and Orville.  What you may not have known is that several people knew how to fly gliders before them and had several published works on aerodynamics and suggested next steps for flight.  What the Wright brothers did that was breakthrough was to gather more accurate data on cambered wings.  The biggest thing they figured out though was how to control the roll of an airplane.  Most people thought you should avoid it, but Wilbur figured out that instead of fighting it, you should use it in the same way you do while turning a bicycle.  In their first prototypes they actually moved the wings.  Someone who came later figured out how to do it with ailerons.

And there are so many other aviation accomplishments too.  WW I and WW II greatly sped up the development of aviation.  We're lucky the Germans weren't a little bit faster in their engineering since they invented the all-metal airplane near the end of WW I.  One other interesting tidbit of information is that the DC-3 (Douglas Commercial 3) was in production in 1936, and there are still DC-3s in the air today.  The first jet plane was flown in 1942 by a German - thank goodness they didn't have that perfected by the end of WW II.  Boeing has also been a big player for more than 50 years in the aviation industry.  The final thing that allowed a huge leap in aviation was electronics.  Weight could be greatly reduced by replacing many of the mechanical systems with electronics that even had redundancy.

Invention #15 is household appliances.  You can understand why this one had particular fascination for me.  However, I was not particularly impressed with this section.  My company only got one passing mention (for the first top-loading automatic washer).  This means one of two things.  Either my company isn't all that innovative - we're just really good at designing and making quality appliances (not necessarily inventing new ones), or else the people who wrote the book were biased.

This one is fairly obvious as far as how the invention of household appliances transformed the last century.  Instead of slaving over a cast iron stove that had to be fed on average with 50 pounds of fuel in a day, now you can tell your stove to turn on in two hours, bake for three hours, and then turn off.  Instead of slaving over a washboard and boiling pots, now you just toss your clothes in the washer.  One thing I was surprised by was that the electric clothes iron was a huge hit.  Instead of weighing 15 pounds like it used to, now it could weigh 3 pounds, and you didn't need multiple ones you could rotate in and out of sitting on top of the stove.  Another invention at the turn of the 20th century that we still use today is the good old automatic pop-up toaster.  The underlying invention that supported many of these things was the invention of electricity and the invention by Albert Marsh of a nickel-chrome alloy.  The special thing about the alloy is that it could take the heat without rusting.

There are many other household appliances and I could probably go on and on.  How can we forget the vacuum cleaner?  The coffee maker?  The microwave is another interesting one.  An engineer at Raytheon who was working on radar development during WW II noticed that microwaves heated up water, fats, and sugars.  This spawned the creation of the microwave, which at first was a behemoth at 5.5 feet tall and 750 pounds for the small price of $5,000.  Last but not least, did you know that the first patented clothes dryer was invented by a man from North Dakota in 1935?  J. Ross Moore built an oil-heated drum in a shed next to his house so his mother didn't have to hang wet laundry outside in the winter.  He had both an electric and gas model.  Due to financial difficulties the next year, he sold his invention to the Hamilton Manufacturing Company.

OK, I think I've bored you enough now.  Have a good inventive week people!

Theories of Massage and Engineers

I was at the massage therapist today, and it was a different therapist I'd never had before (her name was Nikki).  Her touch was kind of light.  I told her she could use more pressure, and she did, but it still wasn't at the firmness level I prefer.  Occasionally she did get to the level I prefer, and then she would always ask if it was OK and I said it was, but then she'd back off the pressure again.  But that got me to thinking that maybe there are conflicting theories out there on how much pressure should be used.

I'm more from the school of thought that I prefer to be a little bit sore the next day.  If I'm not, I feel like I didn't get my money's worth.  No pain, no gain, I say.  I don't like brother-torturing-me kind of pressure, but I don't mind a slight amount of pain.

Is there a different school of thought that says you shouldn't try to wig your muscles out quite that much in one laying?  Also, I went and played tennis after the massage.  Is that bad?  Did I ruin all the effects of the massage by doing that?  I have submitted these questions to a professional for her opinion, but I'll take some amateur opinions too.

On a different topic, at work we reviewed this joke again.  It's a good engineering one and is reminiscent of Dilbert too I think.

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The woman below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground.  You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is, technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The woman below responded, "You must be in Management." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air.  You made a promise which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

Interesting Things

The study for BS tonight was I Corinthians 7.  I don't know how familiar you are with that chapter, but it's one of those where after you read it you wonder if you'll have anything to speak about because it seems to be filled with landmines and subjects that you might feel a bit uncomfortable discussing with mixed company or with people who are your parents' age.  Fornication is one of the big topics of the chapter.  Anyway, it was still good.  It was one of those special times when somebody who spoke before me expressed much better than I could what I was trying to get my thoughts organized to say.  One of those real "amen" moments.  I stumbled through my own thoughts when I spoke, but that other lady said it much better.  I know it can't always be that way because you need variety to feed everybody, but it's nice when it happens every once in awhile.  The thought for the day is that each one of us needs to be content in the place where God puts us because it's the best place for us.  It's not a new thought, but it was fresh again today.

The ride home from BS was very nice too.  It's probably the best one yet since the car pool dynamics changed a couple months ago.  Don't get me wrong - the change in dynamics has not been for the worse.  In fact, I'm sure it's for the better.  It's just that we've been going through an adjustment period, and tonight it felt like we were over the awkwardness hump.

On a lighter note, I sprung for the big commitment and purchased an entire Zac Brown Band album on iTunes.  Oddly, this is a first for me on iTunes.  I liked Zac Brown Band before, but now I'm an even bigger fan.  They have almost everything you need:  good singing harmony, acoustic guitar, fiddle, a little steel drums every once in awhile, and the occasional banjo, steel guitar, or piano.  Plus, they're a little off-beat and goofy.  The only thing that would be better is if they swore a little bit less.  I'm a big fan or their newer songs "Knee Deep" and "Colder Weather", and for a lesser-known one, I recommend "Quiet Your Mind."

Everyday Days

Yesterday my legs were getting kind of itchy and blotchy with a rash kind of thing, and I was really hoping it wasn't the start of another long uncertain diagnosis scabies / poison ivy / bug bite session.  It still itches a little bit, but not too much, and it doesn't seem to be spreading wildly and it's not seeping, so I guess I got off lucky this time.  All three times this has happened, it has been in late July / early August.  I wonder if there is a certain kind of bug or plant that's prevalent at that time that I'm allergic to?

Life goes on here.  Volleyball in the gentle rain left me sopping wet last night.  Softball this evening though was almost perfect conditions.  Work is heating up with some excitement.  I'm working on a quality issue.  It's fun because I'm learning a bunch of new stuff like how to try to measure something you can't see (infrared light).  It's also nice because it's a change of pace.  The only down side is the high pressure where sometimes you get a lot of managers breathing down your neck.

Have a good rest of the week!

Reunions Part 3 of 3

Just a little bit redneck with a few campers and tents on the front lawn.

Highlights of the Y-reunion

1. See #1 of the B-reunion.
2. See #2 of the B-reunion.
3. Fresh food.  Green beans, blueberries, juneberries, red raspberries, and mulberries.
4. Homemade food.  Fresh homemade pies (7 different flavors), tacos, cheesy potatoes, roast beef, homemade jam, homemade buns, crepes, pork burgers, bacon, rhubarb punch, scotcheroos/Special K bars.
5. Slip N' Slide!  It's not just for kids.....
6. Helping one celebrate a significant age milestone
7. See #7 of the B-reunion.
8. Jam sessions (of the musical variety).  Mostly I did the listening part.
9. A few final keepsakes from Grandpa's stuff.
10. See #10 of the B-reunion.

One of the jam sessions.

'Nuff said.

Super long Slip N' Slide.  We eventually got the grass wet enough that I could make it all the way to the cattails.  My abs and triceps were sure hurting a couple days later.  Notice how low the water by the bridge is in this picture compared to the one shown in Part 1 of 3.

Reunions Part 2 of 3

Wahpper, the largest catfish in the world.

 
Highlights of the B-reunion

1. The thing about family reunions is that when you go there you know everybody loves you and accepts you.  Even though they might know that you're a bit odd or strange and you have your struggles, they still support you and want the best for you.
2. Another special thing is the double bond I have with many of my relatives.  Not only are they my brothers, sisters, etc. by human blood, they're also brothers and sisters in spirit by the blood of the Lamb.
3. Speaking of blood (or not), it was also a pleasure to welcome some new ones into the family, whether by blood or marriage.
4. We saw the best zoo in North Dakota and rode the old time carousel.
5. We're always up for an adventure and willing to try stuff, even when it seems as innocuous as a bus tour of a town that is less than 10,000 people.
6. We had water fights.
7. We played volleyball.
8. We showed our creativity and humor at the program where we had some major video editing and dubbing, family trivia, and displays of talent.  We heard a "real" opera singer (not Mom) perform.  I wonder what my niece thought of that?
9. There was a special guest who came to honor some extinguished guests.  I'll post a picture, and if you want to see the full videos of the special guest, leave a comment or e-mail me and I'll send you the link.
10. Some relatives are going through heart-breaking times, but they're keeping a good attitude and their chins up.

Delighted with the petting zoo portion of the zoo.

 

Monkeys escaped from their cages.

Male monkeys escaped too.

Excited for a carousel ride.

Carousels:  Not just for the little kids.

Special Guest Elsie Jensen, ready to honor some extinguished guests.

A lot of pushing and shoving to get on the bus for the tour of Wahpeton

Reunions Part 1 of 3

It was kind of difficult to finalize this post since I was waffling about how much I should respect the privacy of others.  What happened was I went on vacation for about ten days.  Here are the basic mechanics of the trip.  Started from home after work -- drove a few hours -- spent the night at a Formerly Anderson hotel in the cheesy state -- drove the next day to the home of Muggles and BIL-Dan -- hung out there a day or so -- went to Fargo -- hung out there a day or so with some old friends -- went to the 'rents and spent a few days there with the nieces and Ananias -- on to Wahpeton for a lovely family reunion -- home again for another lovely family reunion -- to MSP for the night with one of my cousins and his wife -- another long drive back home.

A sure sign you're in North Dakota - the word lefse on a T-shirt.

There were no major adventures, but it was still a great time.  I will break it up into three lists/posts.  There may be some crossover between topics, but that's OK.

Best things about the non-reunion time of my vacation:

1. Fresh food.  New potatoes, green beans from the garden, blueberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, and juneberries.
2. Home cooked and comfort food.  Fried potatoes, tater tot hotdish, and that five bean dish thing with hamburger and bacon.
3. Learning about steel cut oats (although I haven't tasted them yet).
4. Meeting the young child (also my cousin) at the Formerly Anderson hotel.  She even wanted to stow away for the trip to ND.  That would have been a good idea for about three minutes, and then she would have changed her mind.
5. Seeing some old friends from college (Alli, Suz, and Weeds).  My favorite magnet seen on a fridge at one person's place showed a bed upon which sat a plate holding some seaweed-and-rice rolls.  The caption was "Wake Up Little Sushi."  That totally cracks me up.
   
6. Playing Super Mario Brothers Nintendo DS with my nieces.
7. Herman suffered a minor injury in a bad wind storm.  He was lucky it was only minor.
8. Through observation, I have determined one of the big keys to being a parent is patience.  Your three year old wants to do it himself?  You sit on your hands while it takes three times as long as if you did it for him.  Your five year old wants to help you cook?  You bite your tongue and hold your criticism as they "help" you with some tasks.  Your two year old wants to watch you make pancakes?  You give her a chair to stand on within arm's reach of the hot pan and hope she remembers it's hot and she shouldn't touch while knowing if she does touch the pan she'll learn a lesson the hard way.
9. Good talks and discussion with a cousin on a drive of more than four hours.
10. A good long drive with some "thinking time" after a week of being around a whole lot of people.
11. A visit to the care center to see a dear lady who perks up when kids come to visit her.  She wonders why God hasn't taken her yet.
12. My bicycle needs a name.  I'm thinking Bjorn (nice and rugged), Bernard (Refined yet friendly), or maybe Baxter (sounds tenacious to me).  What do you think?  I drug him along on the trip and he suffered through at least three thunderstorms, but I only actually rode about two miles on him.  Oh well.
    
13. Of course the one day we had big plans to tube down the river, we had strong thunderstorms, cloudiness, and wind.  Thus, we cancelled that plan.
14. Except for that one day, lots of heat and sunshine.  That's a good thing in my opinion. 

Thunderstorm near St. Cloud.

Trying to avoid going stir-crazy by doing some yoga.

 

 

 

Herman's storm damage.

How high's the water mama?  Aftermath of big rain and wind storm.

Return of the MelB

Well folks, I'm back.  I know Linda is happy to know that.  I'm not sure if the rest of you care.  I took a nice long vacation back home to North Dakota.  Summary post(s) are being formulated and are coming along nicely but not complete yet.

Until those are done, I'm not sure I have much else to say.  I'm still buried under a pile of unread e-mails at work, and it felt like I had meetings all day today.  It's nice to be fresh from vacation though - nothing upsets you when you have that nice lazy vacation glow.

All for now peeps.  Keep the bugs off your glass and smokies off your.....tail.  Ten-four, over and out.

Lame

OK, I'm frying other fish right now, so you'll have to make do with this e-mail forward I received today that made me laugh.

Angels Explained By Children

I only know the names of two angels, Hark and Harold.
--Gregory, age 5

Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it.
--Olive, age 9

It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to Heaven, and then there's still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes. 
--Matthew, age 9

Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else.
--Mitchell, age 7

My guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for science.
--Henry, age 8 

Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows!!! 
--Jack, age 6

Angels talk all the way while they're flying you up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead.
--Daniel, age 9

When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath again, somewhere there's a tornado.
--Reagan, age 10

Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go south for the winter.
--Sara, age 6

Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good carpenter.
--Jared, age 8

All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go for it.
--Antonio, age 9

My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth.
--Ashley, age 9

Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don't make the animals get better, they help the child get over it.
-- Vicki, age 8

What I don't get about angels is, why when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them. 
--Sarah, age 7

Summer Sunday

There's not a ton more to report than the last time I posted.  However, Avis did remind me of a topic that I meant to cover a couple months ago.  That subject is about sheets.  First, let's cover my guest sheet policy.  I always wash them between guests, so don't get all freaked out about what I'm going to tell you next.  When it comes to my own sheets, I'm not as diligent.  You see, I have two sets of sheets.  My "summer" sheets and my "winter" sheets.  The difference is the color and the thickness of the flannel.  I change the sheets when the new season comes around whether they need it or not.  I also usually change them if I've been sick, which I was recently.  So now I need to change my sheets.  I think I may need to briefly *gasp* use my winter sheets in the summer.  Horrors!

This afternoon I went to a concert at the local festival going on in town.  The opening act was a local band that's on the verge of making it big called the Bronk Brothers.  They've been the opening act at the festival's country concert for the last three years, and they're the best opening act I've seen in smaller venue concerts.  One of the reasons I like them is because one of the guys plays a mean harmonica, and he runs through the crowd while playing his harmonica solo rendition of Orange Blossom Special.  My favorite song of theirs is called "Tan Lines".  If you want to hear an acoustic version of it played in a radio station, go to this link.  If you want the slicker concert version of it, go here.

The main headliner at the concert was Jack Ingram.  He was decent.  His hair was cut a lot shorter than all the pictures on the internet show of him.  It was military cut style instead of the shaggy look he used to sport.  I think I prefer his new look.  Overall, he was good.  If you go to his website, listen to his "Barbie Doll" song (if you can't tell, I like songs with some wit or a bit of a twist).  He's been performing long enough that he has good stage presence and some hits to play.  My only issue with him is that I prefer my country performers to have one or more of the following:  piano/keyboard, fiddle, or harmonica.  He didn't have any of that - just guitars and drums.  That's why he gets a decent rating instead of a good rating.

I saw a friend from work at the concert who is pregnant.  She was telling me that she usually doesn't get much sunburn, but while she's been pregnant that she does get sunburn badly.  Weird, huh?  She also said she gets sick when she eats her favorite foods, but she's fine when she eats her husband's favorite foods.

The second batch of robins for the year is hatched.  See below.

Peace out people.

Off My High Horse

I must have done too much bragging on Monday because Tuesday through Thursday were a bit miserable.  It wasn't anything too serious, but it wasn't really a very fun bout of enteritis either.  I was thankful it made me thankful for "relatively" good health and most of the time great health.  It was serious enough for me to go to the doctor.  Lucky me, it appears to be a virus, so I get to tough it out.

I realized yesterday that I totally missed a critical bullet point in my previous post on my trip to Florida.  I have now added "seeing dolphins at sunset" to the list.

The doctor (actually it was the PA) did a blood test on my white blood cell count to determine if my malady was viral or bacterial.  Apparently a common unit of measure for them is in cells per microliter, and the count is usually in the thousands.  Can you imagine that?  A milliliter is a cc (cubic centimeter) of liquid, so a microliter would be one thousandth of milliliter, which is a very tiny drop of water.  It's amazing to think about thousands of white blood cells being there along with red blood cells, platelets, water, and other viruses and bacteria and stuff.  How does it all fit?  Science and the human body truly are mind-boggling.  When I asked, the PA told me something interesting.  A "normal" person has a white blood cell count below 10,000 (mine was 8,000 yesterday) - of course you don't want it to be zero or anything, because then you don't have an immune system.  He said typically for viral infections the count might be up around 12,000-13,000, but if you have a bacterial infection it can be 15,000-20,000.  I should have asked why they are different for different types of invaders, but I didn't think to at the time.

The PA also told me you can get the chills from being sick without having a fever.  I guess I had never really thought about that before and had usually assumed when you have chills it's because you have a fever.  What is the physical mechanism behinds getting the chills when you're sick?  I didn't think to ask him that at the time either.

I saw the new (and last) Harry Potter movie tonight.  Overall, I would give it a thumbs up.  It didn't stray too far from the book, but of course they had to cut out or take a few liberties with some things.  Now I feel the urge to re-read the books, but I may have to save that for winter because I've still got lots of summer things that need to get done.

MelBMarvis: 9
Chipmunks:  0
Raccoon:  0.5
Gray Squirrel:  1

Yesterday while I was working from home, I saw a chipmunk hanging around again, so I went out and set my trap.  At the end of the day when I emptied the trap, I counted five bodies.  I could hardly believe my eyes, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't counting any previously trapped carcasses.  The gray squirrel gets a point because he ate a big lunch out of the chipmunk trap without getting caught in it.

Lunch for some, death for others.

Guess what I ate right before I brushed my teeth.

 It's all over now.

Magnificent Monday

Magnificent may be going a little too far.  But it was a pretty good day.

• Garbage day switched from Tuesday to Monday today.  Luckily I heard the truck and ran out there with my trash can before they got to my house.
• Fresh blueberries and peaches in my oatmeal.
• Only worked 7.5 hours today.
• Volleyball on the beach with heat and sunshine (we didn't win either match, but that's OK)
• Strong thunderstorms
• Lunch at the local grocery store deli
• More blueberries and peaches for a snack
• Biking down to the beach to play volleyball

A good summer day all around.

Sorta Lazy Weekend

So you wonder what I've been up to.  Since last weekend, mostly work.  Well, not entirely.  I played my first tennis of the season.  Today was a beautiful weather day outside, and I didn't do anything with it.  You see, I have a self-imposed deadline on a project again that involves being hunched over a computer, so that's what I did today.  I'm trying to finish a certain scrapbook, and I'm getting close.  I wrote on about 65 of 100 pages today, and I have less than 20 left.  I'm thinking maybe by Wednesday it'll be ordered.

For the first time in a month, after work on Friday I didn't have to rush off to catch a plane or drive through Chicago or finish cleaning my house for company, so I actually had time to take a leisurely trip to both Target and the grocery store.  I hadn't done that in a long time.  It's the little things in life that make it so special.

I did get something done yesterday.  I didn't do any yard work like I should have.  But, I did have good fun.  Some nice people from the state and field just south of here invited me to go on an annual kayak/canoe excursion with them and a bunch of people from that area.  So I loaded Kermit onto Herman and went down there.  It was nice.  Part of the adventure involved plowing through about 200 feet of lily pads with our canoes and kayaks.  That's my kind of adventure right there.  After the paddling, there was a potluck followed by some croquet (super amateur style this time - the grass was patchy with twigs and uneven ground) and dominoes.  It was a good day and nice to get to know those people better that I occasionally see at GM or SM.

I always appreciate those people who host those types of things and invite me to them because I'm so terrible at doing that kind of thing myself.  I'm kind of a doofus though.  Communication snafus were involved.  The communication I had with the hosts about this event didn't explicitly state there was a potluck (they just said they were grilling afterward) and I didn't catch on to any subtle clues, so I didn't realize it was potluck.  Therefore, I didn't bring anything and felt bad about that.  I'm not going to lie; I sure did eat anyway!  I also left there with a bunch of leftover snickerdoodles and home brewed iced tea.  That's extra mooching skill there.  Some day I'm hoping to figure out how to start giving instead of always taking.  Below are some pictures from Saturday's paddling excursion.

One of the woikas in my field is donating a kidney to one of the other woikas in this state.  The donater happened to be at the paddling thing, so that was interesting to discuss the prospective surgery with him.  You might want to send some good surgery vibes this way this week since they're going under the knife on Wednesday.

Just Getting Started

The Lily Pad Challenge

Turtles, Turtles, and More Turtles!  We saw all shapes and sizes.

Sparkling Good Weekend

I guess you could say the weekend was well-rounded.  It was the 4th of July weekend, and my employer gave us two days off (Monday and Tuesday) in addition to the weekend.  For those playing along at home, that's four days off from work total.  I spent most of it in the cheesy state.  It seems like it has almost become my second home, although I believe in reality it's still only my third home.

So I was saying something about the weekend.  I did a big loop up to that skinny peninsula northeast of Green Bay (Door County for those in the know) and back home.  I went from living in a tourist trap to going to someone else's tourist trap.  I made a pit stop at Jeff and Mowla's on the way there and at Brudda Jeddles' on the way home.  Here's the list of highlights from the trip.  Not necessarily in order of importance.

1. Camping.  In a tent.  But that was about the extent of our roughing it.  The rest was pretty cushy.  On my camping scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being very rustic and 5 being luxurious, I give it a 4.
2. Bicycling.  With a new trail I hadn't been on before, how can I complain, even if one of the travelers with me had a flat tire?  I can't complain Bob......can't complain.
3. Kayaking.  Buddy Jack-E was present, so we took a spin from the State Park around a nearby island and saw a little bit of wildlife and scenery.
4. More kayaking.  We entertained some nearby boaters as we practiced capsizing and re-entering our kayaks.  One nice older man even came by in his boat to offer to tow us to shore since it looked like we were struggling with our re-entry (and we were), but we didn't accept his offer.
5. Fireworks.  Seen from the car along the side of the road because kayaking and the meal afterward ran a little bit long, so we missed part of the fireworks.
6. Traffic.  The drive through Chicago on the way there was pleasantly nice without any slow-downs.  Ironically, the worst traffic I saw on the drive there was in Door County itself.  However, the return trip was a different story.  Back-ups due to road construction near Fond du Lac.  Interstate closed near the MKE airport.  This caused unfortunate delays, leading to slow traffic on the "Edens" and "Kennedy", which is kind of unusual since that was on the inbound leg.  The only break was clear traffic on the "Ryan" and the "Skyway".  You can tell I'm an expert when I use the big city code names for the highways.  Travel time to Door County:  approximately 7 hours.  Travel time from Door County:  approximately 9 hours.
7. Seeing Brudda Jeddles and his family.  Yes, trampoline jumping was involved (in our swimsuits with the sprinkler underneath).
8. Sunshine.  It was great to have such an awesome weekend weather-wise.  It was nice and hot, no clouds, and that sun sure was powerful.  No sunburn occurred (on me anyway - not sure about the others).
9. Cousin.  I saw my cousin's son at my other cousin's house (even though the other cousins weren't home).  It's interesting to see kids growing into adults with their adult personalities when I can really only remember them as kids.
10. Fellowship.  With friends, family, and strangers.

I think I'll leave it at an even ten like that and end with a few pictures.  I forgot to say who I camped with:  Sharin' (hereafter known as Share Bear just because it makes me laugh), Jack-E, and Jen-E.

Herman bearing a big load on the trip.

For those in the know, I'm told you may recognize the building on the shore.  You may not recognize Jen-E since her back is turned.

Jack-E cheesing in the cheesy state after eating cheese curds so fresh they were extra squeaky.

Jack-E's rig - not sure if he/she has a name.  He/she puts Herman to shame by carrying two kayaks, three bicycles, three people, and their luggage simultaneously.

While you're up, could you get me that bag chips?  Thanks....

 P.S. Special food bullets:
11.  Cheese curds.  Made that day, and extra squeaky, the way they should be.
12.  Several attempts at making Jiffy Pop over the fire, all failed.
13.  S'mores.
14.  Cherry rhubarb pie.
15.  Specialty bakery bread.  Door County Bakery.  Very original, huh?
16.  Czech roast pork loin served by our Romanian waiter.

Checking In

Well people, I'm back.  You probably didn't notice my absence since you were likely gone yourself.  More on the weekend tomorrow (or at some later date this week).

My 4th of July weekend was great, and I hope yours was too.