What a NASTY day ...

... we're getting 40-50 mph winds, and we're expecting 2 to 2.5 inches of rain. It is a nasty day, not fit for man nor beast. Tomorrow we're supposed to have 50 mph wind gusts.

John ... get your truck ready. The oak trees you wanted just might come down today.

At least those CARDINALS won!

And a late update - the SALUKIS (355 enrollment) won, as well, 40-6 over McLeansboro! Next up - the Carmi Bulldogs (443 enrollment), who are 5th seeded in the first round. What is odd to me, in looking at the pairings, why not give the #1 seed home-field advantage, as long as they continue to win? What's up with that? That's the way they do it in the pros ... why not do the same in HS?

As for Nick Evans ... I am both shocked and p-o'ed about that. Red Hill should put up a hell of a dispute about his "transfer" to Carbondale. That is so ... "Ron Felling" ... it's not even funny.

"buh Buh BUh BUH ... BU-bu-BU-bu-BU-bu-BU-bu-BU-BU-BUUUHH ..."

THE CARDINALS WIN THE SERIES! WAAAAA-HOOOOO!!!

What a great win, and while I am a little wistful that it didn't happen in the last year for the "Old Busch", I'm thrilled that the "New Busch" had a great inauguration! Here's a bit of MLB trivia - this marks the first time since 1923 for a new stadium to be the home stadium for a World Series Champion. More importantly, the "New Busch" Stadium is the first stadium to see the World Series won "at home". The Yankees in '23 closed out their win at the Polo Grounds. Pretty neat ... Jane, here's another opportunity for Longaberger to come out with another commemorative basket! Why not a basket in the shape of the "New Busch"?

I talked to Janice, and talked to Billy (Janice's best friend Alice's husband) after the game, and so far only celebratory gunshots or fireworks were going off over Ballwin (where Alice and Bill live - and where Uncle Charles and Aunt Lois used to live).

I'm thrilled ... it's been 24 years ... and this team was so maligned out here on the Yankees / Red Sox - dominated East Coast, that it will be a definite case of "How Sweet It Is" for me for the next year of "World Champion St. Louis Cardinals" talk, at work. LOL

The one thought I had earlier, was of Dad and Uncle Charles, watching up there, and Uncle Charles giving Dad some crap for that game he had tickets for the '68 Series that Dad turned down so I could go to school. Tonight, at 48, I didn't cry for not getting to go to the game since "Gibby" wasn't pitching, like I did when I was 10. I can see Uncle Charles up there saying "You know, I'm happy for them, but 'Gibby' had a better game that day, James." :-)

Khan (in the Star Trek episodes) always said "Revenge is a dish served cold". Well ... maybe this was a chilly World Series, but as long as revenge was served, then so be it.

Time to cue up that Budweiser Song they always play out there ... "buh Buh BUh BUH ... BU-bu-BU-bu-BU-bu-BU-bu-BU-BU-BUUUHH ..."

The other thing I just realized ... our plant at Green Island, New York, makes the felt pennant material for the commemorative pennants. Hmmm ...

In other news ... I have the New York Giants in the "Survivor Pool" at work this week ... I'd already used "da Bears". We're slowly getting down to the wire. Wish me luck.

Many Friday Evening Updates

I just heard from Janice, with her report from the funeral today. Her uncle John, being a WWII veteran of the U. S. Navy, was given a military burial with honors, gun salute and representation from all branches of the service. John's daughter Cynthia was presented with the tri-fold on behalf of our grateful nation. Janice walked up to the Navy representative, after, and while he stood at attention, she grabbed his hand and told him how much it meant to the family and how much of an honor it was for this.

His still-at-attention reply: "No ma'am ... it is my and our honor" as he allowed her to shake his hand (a break from protocol, but understandable).

I'm still a bit choked up on that one. What can I say.

I had a pretty good day at work, today, even with staying up late last night to watch the Cards dismantle the Tigers and being extremely tired from the Ossipee trip. I'm hoping for revenge for '68 tonight. It would be excellent for the Cards to wrap things up with a win in their new stadium ... what a way to cap its inaugural year!

I'm also hoping the Salukis take a win in tomorrow's first-round playoff game at home against the McLeansboro Foxes. Hopefully the McLeansboro team has ugly cheerleaders so none of the Salukis get distracted. (ok ... a bad pun-ish sort of tiny little joke there)

I really sort of hate this time of year. If the Cardinals are in the World Series, then that means I watch baseball and most of those games finish up late. I always watch Sunday Night Football and I always watch Monday Night Football, being the L***** Football League fantasy football "Commissioner". It makes for a sports-induced sleep deprivation that is sometimes hard to deal with.

However ... it was an interesting day, actually, as well as it being productive. One of our customers, Siemens VDO, has a new shipping compliance requirement that presented a few small challenges, and I think as a result, I've discovered where a lot of the Nazi war criminals may have escaped to - Mexico! (just kidding - I know Siemens and VDO both originated in Germany). I've been trading emails with that company's shipping label compliance officer, a certain Elizabeth Zitselsberger, and that hardly seems to be a Central American name. Anyway, there have been a number of other German names on some of these emails ... so, it sort of makes one wonder. LOL

However, I wish I could have recorded the conversation I had with "Guillermo", who has been performing the testing on this particular label's PDF-417 barcode. Not to get "geeky" but think of one barcode that contains not only the part number being shipped, but every other piece of information regarding the shipment of that part ... like 20 pieces of data in this case ... that is a PDF-417 barcode. Anyway, "Guillermo" had two or three very minor issues with my first sample label I sent (because their documentation was in Germexican), but he added "Gheee ... jhurs have bean eesy to check! Jhu mus have a lot of esperiens weeth doing dees 2D barcodeenks! Mos' of dee time, we mus take weeks weeth our suppliers." I didn't ask what side of the new fence he would end up on, but I appreciated the compliment.

Tomorrow, I have two implementations of new requirements to place into our Production system. That will mean taking a few minutes out of my busy "honey-do" day to do some L***** work. I'll be "the good soldier" and knock it out as soon as possible.

I only have a few things on the "honey-do" list to take care of here tomorrow ... it seems to be heading for a bit of a crappy day tomorrow, so I'm going to concentrate on some indoor chores. I'll put another coat of paint on the downstairs door, since I can keep the new storm door closed. Next, I'm going to try to find my sander, and rough up the steps going down into the basement for the next chore of putting down a coat of a sealer called B-I-N. Hopefully that will seal any sort of odor left over from the prior owners' dogs. We took care of accepting the bid from Home Depot for the carpet order and installation order on Wednesday night before Janice left, so we're just waiting on when they call to arrange the actual installation date. Hopefully this will be before Thanksgiving.

Quick question for you all ... where did you buy your smoker online? I think Marion found his online, and am just wondering if anyone remembered where this might have been found.

GO CARDS! GO SALUKIS!

Thursday Evening Update

I'm glad the sibs had a good time here. We sure had a great time hosting. You are all welcome to pop up whenever you have the chance, you know that.

I didn't mean to push you all into a Weightwatchers scenario ... I just thought we'd have some good meals! LOL Now ... a "Gamblers Anonymous" meeting, perhaps that might be more appropriate, based on your "just having" to gamble that found $20 bill. LOL

Janice is safe and sound in St. Louis, and had no problems with our American Trans-States crappy "connection airline" going out to STL from BDL. She got there well enough in time to be sure she didn't have to check her bags then wait to take a later flight, like we did last February.

I am, as you can probably imagine, watching the Cards and the Tigers tonight. So far, it's been pretty quiet, but now the Tigers lead 3-1. Perhaps it's a Card's rally! But I really think it's time for LaRussa to dig into the Card's bullpen ... but of course that's not why I'm a MLB Head Coach. :)

I don't know how long I'll last tonight. As you know, I had to go to Ossipee, NH, this morning and got up for a shower at 4:00 AM for a 5:15 AM departure to get there by 9:00 AM ... I was there by 8:30 AM, since traffic was light. I ran into a bit more traffic on the way home, so I didn't get in until 7:05 PM. It's been a long day and about 420 miles on the road (round trip). Oh well ...

I love you all. I thank you all for coming up, and thank our lucky stars we have the opportunity to do weekends like we just did. Anyone reading this right now is always welcome up here ... just let us know ... we love company, especially when it is family.

Updates

(1) What a terrific visit from the siblings! We had a great time, and hope you all did, too. As they say, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home" but we were so ecstatic to share our home with you. The "boys" are still walking around wondering where their new-found humans went. We hope Jane's newly-found $20 bill didn't go in vain at Delaware Park tonight. We also hope you all had enough to eat ... God know WE did. :)

(2) John, round 1 will be the Mcleansboro Foxes at home on Saturday. Second round could include a home rematch against Marshall, according to the Daily Record.

(3) Janice got word from Joyce tonight that Janice's uncle John (also Janice's god-father) passed away last night. We are greatly saddened by this, as John was Janice's last uncle / Joe's last brother. Janice has lost three uncles in the past year. Being her god-father, I urged her to head home for the funeral, and she is. I think having Janice around will be a great help to her father. With Joe's having lost three brothers in the past year, I can't imagine what his thoughts might be.

I hate to end this on a "bummer", after we had such a great time over the past few days.

So with a bit of a smile, I'll say something Janice's Uncle John would have said ... "GO CARDS!"

It goes without saying, we love you all. God bless you.

When You Get Off 384 ...

Remember ...

Get off at Exit 4. It's weird, in that the signs say first "Highland Street" then it says "Willys Street".

At the end of the off ramp, make a left.

You will come to a light. Highland Park Market will be "catty-corner" to the left when you stop at the light.

Make a right turn at the light.

Follow this until you have passed under the second overpass on this road.

IMMEDIATELY after passing under the second overpass, you will barely see "Birch Mtn" road on you right.

Turn Right.

Make your second right, onto Dennison Ridge Drive.

Follow for roughly .8 mile through 1 stop sign, to 469 Dennison Ridge. (The number is on the mailbox).

Well ...

... our weather here sucks today. We got a boatload of rain, and a great deal of wind (sorry, John and Marion, you might have to help me wrangle a downed tree in our "left yard" down into the "wetlands", that we had blown over today). Although, I'm a former Saluki ... I might be able to just toss that sucker down there. :-)

I am HOPING to get the grass cut / leaves blown tomorrow, if the weather cooperates. Otherwise, you'll just see a bit of grass poking up through the leaves, in the back yard. Damn ... I'd love for things to look perfect for you all. It may not happen, and I'm sad for that. There is a great "look" to the yard when the leaves are peaking and the grass is so green ... wish you had all been here this past Monday. It was awesome after I cut/blew ...

I think, as far as bedroom assignments go, it will be John & Sandi in the "Green Room" and Jane & Marion in the "Burgundy Room" (as we call the spare bedrooms).

Jane & Marion will have the honor of Mom and Dad's bed, since they are the oldest. Trust me, it sleeps very well. That bedroom set served us until we moved here.

John & Sandi will have the honor of Janice's former bed, and trust me ... it also sleeps very well. :-)

I just don't want to be awakened in the middle of the night. I wake up with leg cramps often enough anyway. LOL

We can't wait to see you!

S-Day Minus 6 1/2 or 7

Well it was great yesterday, to read in the Vincennes Sun-Commercial about "Friday football: Unbeaten Salukis are dominant again" in their 56-18 win over Oblong. 8-0 ... I can only imagine how Sumner and Bridgeport must be "buzzing". Way to go, Salukis - keep it rolling!

Once again, it was predictable to see not one mention of last week's 56-0 spanking of Lawrenceville in The Sumner Press. I have, thus far, not taken the bait and written a letter to the editor ... perhaps I'll wait on that until Red Hill takes both home and away games from Lawrenceville in hoops later this winter. :-)

We are in the final stages here of preparation for S-Day (Siblings Day) and our first of many visits from you all.

Yesterday our new Larson EasyVent storm door was installed. Wow, what a difference this one is compared to the piece of crap the prior owners had down there. Bruce, the installer, did a great job and the door looks and works great. One thing I will need to do is add some weatherstripping behind the frame ... I noticed a little bit of light peeking through between the storm door frame and the house door frame. I don't really want to caulk that, but I think a little rubber weatherstripping pushed in there might be a good thing.

Janice has applied the final coat of "Posh Red" paint to the entry door of the garage, and it looks really good. What a change from the crappy teal color these doors were. She added a fourth coat to the front door and sidelight frames, and will add the final coat to that today, along with starting on the downstairs walkout door.

Yesterday, I put up four 8 foot x 16 inch sections of wire shelving to help organize the unfinished section of the basement. We will need every inch of it, as we prepare "The Dormitory" for our Thanksgiving onslaught. That was quite a job, but it turned out quite nicely. The area of the basement where I mounted them is a perfect spot for having shelving for stuff to get stacked and off the floor. I even improvised a system for holding up the front of the wire shelving level, before putting the wall bracket arms on ... a rope, suspended from one of the floor joists, to hold the shelves at the correct level height, while putting up the wall bracket arms. Pretty ingenious, if I don't say so myself.

Friday night, and last night, we've done additional artwork hanging. One thing the siblings will notice (probably) is that there is a dearth of "Hazel" art. This is due to Janice wanting to have those pieces reframed and put under glass to preserve them. We have the "Turkeagle", one of the famous "Poppy" paintings, and Mom's "Study of Fruit" paintings. All will have a prominent spot in the house, but I must say the "Poppy" painting needs a little work. I'm hoping our local Michael's experts will be able to repair the slight tear in one section of the canvas that happened during the move. We were very upset to find that this was damaged during the move. :-(

One other thing that is a bit upsetting is finding out that Elwood has developed a dangerous and destructive habit that we are working to break ... jumping up onto the top of the railings of the balcony/hall and staircase coming down from upstairs. I caught him last night as he was clinging for one of his nine dear lives, and gave him a bad scolding that sent him scurrying under our bed for a good twenty minutes. So pardon the cat claw scratches on the railings ... I'll get around to fixing them, but probably not for a while.

Anyway, today our agenda includes:

• Mowing / blowing leaves
• Switching out the Twin-size beds in the "Burgundy Room" with Mom and Dad's Queen-size bed and dresser and side tables
• Hanging additional artwork
• Going to Home Depot for some additional stuff we need (a recurring weekend theme) ... LOL

We are very excited to see you all ... get here as soon as you can, OK? Janice is looking forward to winning big at Mohegan Sun on Monday! You guys will have a great time!

It's Sunday AM ...

... and I've read the Vincennes Sun-Commercial's "Friday football: Red Hill rolls Lawrenceville under", their account of Red Hill's 56-0 pounding of "Hellville" in their own house.

Way to go, Salukis! This seems to be a special year for them. Maybe Roscoe will see the light, someday, and realize there is more to life than everything east of Country Club Road. Or not, knowing him.

We had an interesting Saturday. Janice had a hair appointment and on her way back from Glastonbury, she took the "back roads". Around the upper point of Birch Mountain Road (less than a quarter mile from us) there is a farm. They are selling pumpkins, gourds, corn sheaves, etc., to the local gentry. We needed to run a few errands, so when she came home, we decided to go over there.

What we didn't expect is that they are also keepers of Hanoverian horses. The Hanoverian is a huge German breed, close to the size of a Clydesdale in height, but is used in European dressage and jumping competitions.

Good Lord ... these horses are immensely tall. Nick Evans has nothing on them. The Hanoverians these folks have are extremely well adjusted and very friendly. I forget the name of the biggest one there, but he was just so happy to have a neck/face/head to nuzzle with (mine). As he stood, his head was at least at 9 feet ... I think the farm owner said he is around 20 hands, which as measured at the shoulder, is around 6' 8". Anyway, he was a very gentle and very friendly giant. As I said to Janice as we drove away with our three cornstalk sheaves, "That horse was gi-normous!"

From there, we went for some lunch at the Main Street Pub here in town. There we met the shortest entity of the day, the mom of the bartender. Marsha (the mom) is in her late fifties, and is roughly 14 hands tall from head to toe. For those of you without a calculator, that's approximately 4 feet 8 inches tall. We had a good lunch there, and I kidded the mom about how she should stay in her seat because it made her look taller. She took it all in good stride, and made some "tall" jokes about me.

We ran our errands, got what we needed at Lowes and Home Depot, and came home for a quiet night.

Today, it is beautiful here. There's not a cloud in the sky, and the early morning sun is streaming ribbons of light through the woods behind us.

We have a lot of things on our agenda for today (one of which is my watching the Redskins play the Giants), but also many of which are targeted for our upcoming sibling visit.

Weekend Update

Salukis 55, Martinsville 20 ... 6-0 is quite an achievement - I'm sure everyone is happy out there. Everyone should be ... I told Janice I'd love coming home next week to see them trounce Lawrenceville. I'm a little concerned, though ... one of the pictures of the Homecoming I saw showed some kid who ... well ... looks like he's doing HGH or some other form of steroids. Jesus ... what a huge head! What a big freakin' noggin!

Anyway, I hate missing Homecoming, and my 30th Class Reunion, but it just didn't work out. It was tough, but I had to tell Melissa's mom that I couldn't make our "date". LOL

I'm watching the Bears play the Seahawks. I feel a bit of James Otis touching me on the shoulder here tonight ... I don't like the Bears, typically, but it seems he's watching over them this year. They are playing some pretty good football this year. Urlacher is amazing as always, and finally they have something at QB with Grossman. Urlacher reminds me a bit of Butkus, although he's (Urlacher) a bit less of a beast than Butkus was. While he plays like a monster of the midway, I've never yet heard Urlacher say his goal was to take a player out of either a game or his career, like Butkus.

"My" Redskins pulled one out today ... I'm a happy camper. Jacksonville is supposed to be an elite team in the AFC this year, so seeing the 'Skins whip them in OT was a good thing. Brunell gives all of us hope, who are all in our advancing years. LOL

Anyway ... I don't know if you get this, but I llove this time of year. The air is crisp, and it's time for FOOTBALL.

Also ... by the way, our leaves are really starting to turn. I hope colors are going to stay around when my siblings are here. We are really looking forward to your visit!

We have also celebrated a momentous occasion here today. While the boys' birthday is 7/22/2004, they became a part of our home on 10/1/2004. Today is our second anniversary having them with us.

While many of you would not perhaps be so bonded, these "boys" have changed our lives, and we feel blessed by them. They are so amazing, and they are such big parts of our lives. Wait until you meet them, and then you will "get it". :-)