News from around the house

A couple weeks ago, we took the local ABATE motorcycle training class to get our licenses so we can ride the scooter – and Stephanie and I both passed. It’s fairly intense – Friday after work for 5 hours, all day Saturday and a good chunk of the day Sunday. I was glad to get through it. I still need more practice, though.

I’m continuing to make progress organizing around the house. Our most recent round of work includes cleaning out empty cardboard storage boxes from the basement and organizing packing materials down there. We also got some overhead lights replaced around the house. We had a ceiling fan we didn’t need taken down and replaced with a light fixture in the hallway upstairs, and we had a light fixture installed in the dining room overhead where one has been missing since we moved in. There was one when we looked at the house the first time during our purchase, but when we went back the second time it was mysteriously gone. We bought a fixture to replace it, but it’s been sitting around a couple years waiting for us to install it. So that’s finally done – very nice to have better lighting around the joint.

I’ve acquired a lot of books lately, so I need to amp up the time I spend reading. I’m on the right track with the reduced TV watching, but I need to spend a bit less time on Farmville and Frontierville if I’m going to get any real reading done. Very addictive, these Facebook games are.

I’ve been thinking about and working on a project that combines several of my favorite things to do – writing, photography and web design. I’m making progress on all three fronts for this work and hope to have something to show off for it soon.

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old golf balls

When I was a kid living in Ankeny, Iowa, living on Belmont Street, my dad had a yellow-ish plastic bucket of old golf balls in the garage. Get More Info about the best garage insulation services by reading this post. He kept them for golf practice, I guess – although I don’t know how good they were for that, given that they had gouges out of them and dings from being used. I think my dad must have collected them from the water hazards at whatever golf course he went to, because he also had a golf-ball retriever scoop on a pole. (Did you know there are people who run entire businesses scuba-diving for golf balls in water hazards? I did not.) Incidentally, my dad still retrieves golf balls, only now he lives on an exclusive golf course in the mountains in Arizona, and has trained the dog to pick them up while out on walks.

Paul and I and Todd used to try to steal one or two of the balls from the bucket and cut them open, because we’d been taught by the Schmidt kids (we were taught a lot of shit by those neighbor kids – all good stories for another day) that inside, nested in a tightly coiled bundle of rubber band-like threading, there was a rubber ball we could use as a superball – one of the small bouncy balls that came out of gumball/prize machines that we always unsuccessfully lobbied my mom for at the supermarket entrance. After you used someone’s pocket knife to cut through the white outer shell (or scraped the ball against the ground until you wore through the shell when you weren’t allowed to use a knife) you could cut the rubber bands and they would start to unravel, the bundle bouncing around until it had all come undone. And inside was a rubber ball. It did work – although we were also told by the Schmidt kids that in some balls, the center was a toxic gel that would burn your skin instead of a rubber ball. That may be true, (apparently, some do have gel, but not toxic) but I don’t recall ever running across a ball like that. To keep us from messing around, my dad put the bucket up on a shelf in the top of the garage.

When the tornado hit on 1974, and the swing set slammed into the back of the garage, (at least that’s how I recall it happening; I was six, I think, so my recollection is a bit dim and often I need to consult with my mom on these sorts of things) and the garage tilted over at half-keel, the bucket of golf balls fell off the shelf and spilled out over the garage floor and onto the driveway, mixed in with yellow fiberglass debris and wooden fragments from the roof of the Hy-Vee grocery store behind our house. That was one of the more helpful hints that made me realize that our garage was strong! I have a picture in my mind of that, but that may be informed or reinforced by photos taken of the storm damage on the day after, which I would have viewed much later on.

The other day, I was helping my mom retrieve for disposal some of the junk that had accumulated over the years in the attic above her garage, and I found that yellow bucket of battered, beat-up golf balls. Let me spell out why that was odd – it means that bucket traveled from Belmont Street to SE Fourth Street in Ankeny, where it resided several years, and then got packed up and traveled with the whole family to Canton, Ohio for a couple years, too. Then it got packed up once again and made its way to Noblesville, where my family moved in the early eighties, and its been in the attic for probably all of that time since. Why on earth did we pack a bucket of golf balls and cart it over the country? Maybe my dad and mom used them all that time and I just don’t remember it, but it seems odd. As soon as I saw them, though, I had the impulse to scrape one of them against the sidewalk to peel off the white shell and see the rubber bands underneath. Nevermind that I have a couple golf balls laying around the house that the dog plays with that I could do that to – it’s something about the familiarity of this particular bucket that made remember this long string of associations I’d forgotten.

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Weekend Update 2010-08-23

We spent a good chunk of Saturday at my mom’s helping her clean out her garage and get rid of stuff that needed to go to heavy trash. I’m pretty happy at what we were able to accomplish there. It seems much easier to help other people organize their stuff for some reason than it does for the stuff at our house.

Sunday we went to the last day of the Indiana State Fair and rode rides on the midway, then attended the Demolition Derby. I haven’t seen a crash-em up derby since I was a kid; I think we went to one near my grandparents house in Iowa. That was pretty entertaining although not exactly environmentally sound. The crowd was definitely red-state – there wasn’t any overtly political talk from the hosts “onstage” but there was long and heart-felt salute to the troops and extended discussion of the wonders of Wal-Mart.

I’ll have to see how my photos of the event came out; I missed the huge flaming fireball when one of the cars caught fire, but I think I have decent photos of the firemen putting it out. I took some fun photos of the food booths, but skipped the fried balls of death therein.

Deep Fried

Continue ReadingWeekend Update 2010-08-23

26 Things

Back in 1999, people on the internet were trading the meme called “100 Things” where you wrote 100 things that people might not know about you, and you posted them on your site. I started my list but never got beyond 26 items, so I never put it on my site. In cleaning out some of my old writing today, I found the list, and chuckled at some of the now out-of-date items. You might get a kick out of them, too.

  1. I daydreamed my way through elementary school. I would have done better on the tests, except that I was reading ahead in the book and not doing the exercises, because the story was really fascinating.
  2. Salman Rushdie is one of my favorite authors. So is Jane Austen. I’m not always sure I understand Rushdie, so I have to read the criticism and analysis. I do understand Austen.
  3. As a kid, I took piano lessons and clarinet lessons. The only thing I can play now is the right-hand introductory part of “The Sting.”
  4. I grew up Catholic. I quit going to church in college. I started going back a few years ago, semi-secretly, because I didn’t want my friends & sister to make fun of me. I quit again when the priest scandal hit last year. I’m officially a secular humanist now.
    Unitarian Universalist. Although we never go to church, because we’re not awake that early on Sundays.
  5. I only keep in touch with one friend from high school – Cate. Most of the rest of my friends I met in college or recently at work.
    This is no longer true due to the wonders of Facebook.
  6. I didn’t really understand everything about sex until I was 16. I knew the “tab A, slot B” part, but I didn’t know the “arousal, orgasm” part. I thought that people had sex solely for the purpose of makin’ babies. I found out the truth from my friend Linda Griggy on a sleep-over.
  7. In high school, I joined the drama club not because I wanted to be an actor, but because I had a crush on a girl that was joining and she talked me into it. She ended up being my first real kiss.
  8. The only boy I ever kissed was Doug Knox, a kid from Junior High. I kissed him in Linda Griggy’s basement. This was before she explained the crucial details of sex to me, and I finally understood that it was girls that turn me on.
  9. Years ago, I was in a wet t-shirt contest at The Ten, the lesbian bar in Indianapolis. I was dating Peg at the time. I was very drunk. I didn’t win.
  10. I’ve been single for quite a long time. It feels normal to me. I don’t know if that’s good or not.
    So not true now.
  11. My favorite board game is Clue. Because of the house. I love houses. Also, I love board games.
    Different house, same love of the game.
  12. I am a fan of Amy Grant. Because she’s HOT.
  13. I lived in Canton, Ohio for two years; eight grade and my freshman year of high school. It was hell and the kids at school were evil. Although we lived next to Hershbergers, who were really cool. Mike Hershberger was a retired major league ball player, and a really cool guy.
  14. I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I’m only getting about 4 hours of sleep a night. I don’t know why.
    Wow, that’s stil true, but I didn’t realize how far back the insomnia problem went.
  15. Places I’ve been on vacation: New York City. Tucson, Arizona. Las Vegas, Nevada. Atlanta, Georgia. Madison, Wisconsin. A roadtrip around the mid-west. Washington, D. C. Munster, Germany.
    Cambridge, England; London; Toronto, Canada; Mexico, Route 66, California, Phoenix, Arizona; Durham, North Carolina; Luray, West Virginia…
  16. Places I’ve never been: California. Florida.
  17. I’ve worked for the same company for almost 8 16 years.
  18. I’m not a fan of Mexican food. It tends to make me ill.
  19. I’ve forgotten how to cook. I used to be able to make things, but now I eat right out of the refrigerator and heat everything up. This is ironic because people use my recipes every day, and send me new ones.
    I Still hate cooking.
  20. I’m mostly German, but also Irish, Polish, and native American. I’d like to find out more about my native American ancestors.
  21. I like to collect things. Many of my recent collections are influenced by my friend Doug.
  22. Jobs I’ve had: Baby sitting. Reshelving books at the public library. McDonalds. Chicken restaurant. English Tutor. College food service. Pizza Delivery Driver. Factory worker at Maxon Corporation. Assembly line worker at Vita-Chlor. Ticket sales at a movie theatre. Graphic artist at Laser Graphics. Graphic artist at Western Newpaper Publishing. Graphic Artist at Macmillan Publishing (now Pearson Education). Document conversion at Pearson Education. Web design at Pearson Education.
  23. I “came out” in 1987 in college. I’ve been honest about being gay for 15 23 years.
  24. My favorite movies are the Wizard of Oz, Auntie Mame, and Fight Club. I don’t know what that says about me, but it can’t be good.
  25. I think a great deal of psychology is complete bull.
  26. When I was in high school, I sprained my ankle really badly and had to undergo cryotherapy and walk around on crutches. This was my worst injury.
    Wimp. Nothing compares to having your chest cracked open.
Continue Reading26 Things

Weekend Update 2010-06-15

We managed to miss out on pride this weekend – I didn’t feel well due to something I ate on Friday (or Thursday) and I didn’t want to spend the entire festival in a port-a-let, or trying to find a port-a-let, or thinking about poo.

I felt enough better by noon to visit the INDIEhandicraft Exchange at the Harrison Center, although I still made about 5 trips to the restroom. But we got presents we needed to procure, and a few things for ourselves, and lots of ideas for creative projects.

We intended to go to Pride after, but we headed home and I continued to try to recover.

Sometime on Saturday our DVR died. I noticed it early Saturday morning, and did a reboot, but it didn’t fix itself. Boo. Now I need to grab some time to take it in and exchange it. Fortunately, we had watched most of what we had recorded and only had a few figure skating episodes and the last 3 Johnny Weir shows left.

On Sunday we had a bunch of work to get done around the house in the morning, and it was already blazing hot out. We managed to get lots of stuff checked off our to-do list, then went to see Sex and the City 2. It was silly and fun. Some of puns were too over the top, and some of their treatment of international relations was goofy – I doubt there are women wearing designer fashion under their traditional religious garb in Abu Dhabi – but it wasn’t as terrible as some reviewers frothed at the mouth about. And frankly, Samantha’s sexual proclivities (fictional though they are) are 100% fine, and the Islamic religious reaction to them (fictional though they are) was probably pretty accurately portrayed, and also dead wrong, from a moral standpoint. So there!

And we visited Alcatraz after and came home to do some serious reading.

Continue ReadingWeekend Update 2010-06-15

The Queen says hi!

Despite my whining about seat assignments, we ended up together on the plane. The first leg of the trip was on a tiny jet but the Boeing 757 wasn’t bad at all. It was an overnight flight, but we didn’t get much sleep on the plane, so we’ve been catching up here.

Once we landed, it was Friday here. We had a hired car to take us up to Stacy’s house in Upwell, and we visited with Stacy and the girls. After lunch we took a walk up the road and I took photos while Annabelle played a bit in the play park. Then we went and explored the Church yard and I took pictures of the gargoyles and gravestones.

Later we checked into our bed and breakfast (Bury House in the village of Little Downham) which is a lovely place with a nice room. After getting settled, we walked down the road to The Plough, which is an quaint English pub that serves Thai food. Roger mentioned that lots of pubs are closing, so it’s possible they added the restaurant portion to supplement their business.

On Saturday, we went to Ely and walked around the river, through town and up to the Ely Cathedral, an 11th century construction called “the Ship of the Fens” because it could be seen on the hill out across the marshy wetlands that surrounded it. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region.

We visited the market and the yarn shop and toured the Cathedral until we got kicked out because there was a mass going on. Oops. Mom and Stacy and the girls headed back to Upwell, and Stephanie and I visited a pub – The Lamb – and had dinner and a pint. I have British Beef and Ruddles Ale Pie – which is not as odd as it sounds – just a beef pie with gravy made with ale. Very tasty.

Sunday, Roger and Stacy drove us all up to Sandringham, the queen’s winter home in Norfolk. We took a tour of the grounds and the children’s play area, then saw the house and the museum. The queen said hello, of course, and that we were her favorite guests and should come back often. (that is completely not true.) It was a long day, so Roger and Stacy and Mom and the children went home and we stopped back in Ely for pizza and a nice glass of wine before heading back for and early evening in.

Here are a few of the photos I have so far.

Continue ReadingThe Queen says hi!

Wheel of Fortune Tryouts

Last weekend, there were Wheel of Fortune tryouts locally, and Stephanie and our friend Melissa decided to go see if they could get on the show, and I tagged along to take photos. This is definitely Stephanie’s game show – she’s very good at it. Watching the show with her is fun, if a bit disconcerting; her “I know it!” comes so early that she occasionally has the answer before there are letters turned. While we were waiting for their turn, we chatted about various topics, including our recent experiences with online casinos. Melissa mentioned her excitement about trying out the UFABET คาสิโนออนไลน์, and Stephanie shared some tips on how to make the most of the games. It was interesting to hear their perspectives, and it added an extra layer of excitement to our day at the Wheel of Fortune tryouts.

So we hopped in the car and drove to Shelbyville to the Indiana Live! Casino where tryouts were held. 800-some other folks had the same agenda; there was quite a long line. Here’s how they run it: Two days of tryouts. Each day, there are 3 hour-long blocks of tryouts. During each hour, they do about six puzzles. For each puzzle, they have 5 contestants doing the “speed” round. Contestant names are drawn at random from a bin.

If you calculate all that out – about 180 people get on stage out of 800 or so folks who apply. Getting on stage is no guarantee of being picked for final tryouts, nor is solving the puzzle, but both of those help.

The “set” for tryouts is pretty lo-fi – the turning blocks don’t light up – they’re just dry-erase letters that the “Vanna” for the show turns around and writes the letters on. There’s no real “wheel” except a spinner that picks what kind of schwag the contestants get if they get on stage. And the host was way too enthusiastic. Melissa had planned to hip-check him if she got on stage, just for fun.

But it was pretty entertaining to see, and the folks who got up on stage were a fun cross-section of Indiana. I didn’t go back for the second day of tryouts, so I missed it when Stephanie got on stage and actually solved the puzzle, unfortunately. Melissa said she did really well.

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Our friend Judy’s Obituary

Our friend from knitting class, Judy Morris, died on April 2nd after a long battle with cancer. She was a warm, sweet, funny person and a very talented knitter.

Judy from our Knitting Class

Here Judy is modeling a sweater she just finished, along with a Santa she made in a photo I took in December.

Her Obituary from the Indianapolis Star:

Judith Ann Morris 53, Speedway, passed away on Friday, April 2, 2010 after a long courageous battle against cancer. A graduate of Speedway High School, she attended Butler University and St. Mary of the Woods. She was a self-employed bookkeeper and tax preparer. She cherished time spent with family and friends, especially in Alabama and Florida. She loved pets, knitting, music, and motor sports, especially the Indy 500 which she attended 38 times. She was preceded in death by her parents, James H. and Helen M. (Huber) Morris. She is survived by her sister, Kathy Morris, of Naples Florida; a brother, David (Joy) Morris, of Mobile, Alabama; nieces, Hannah, Monica, and Jessica; aunts, Marjorie Morris, and Rosemary Huber; uncle, Kenneth Huber; several cousins; and her cherished cat, Mr. Danny-Doodle. Memorials can be made in Judy’s memory to the Embrace Program at Wishard Hospital, or the Abbie Hunt Bryce Home of Indianapolis. A memorial mass will be held at a later date. “Do not grieve for me, but live every day to the fullest and cherish one another.”

Continue ReadingOur friend Judy’s Obituary