Winter's come

Looks like we're having the first real winter in any clear memory. Started icey, never really recovering with a warm spell like it has in recent years.

Now we're snow covered. Slow accumulation over a few days. The predicted, and predicatably dependable, winds to blow it all into the river did not come. Yet.

Summertime Riverfront Kids Fountain

Observations

Inspired by another blog I occasionally read, what follows is about nothing in particular.

"But how do I get the experience?"
Gary is currently looking to advance. Tried at current employer and fell just short. Trying at others and falling just short. Seems the weak spot is not having experience in the position he's applying for. Sound like a kid just starting out looking for his first job? Well, at least that's what the decision makers are telling him. So now he's lleft to ponder how can he gain that experience at work while spending week after week after week, 8.5 hours a day, training newhires for the Delta/Peerless account. Or spend a few thousand dollars enrolling in a college to study behavorial sciences, corporate dynamics, ... and all the stuff he's experienced in the past 15 years.
Another thing he's found challenging is how to make what is "just doing my job" special. Yes he's done some pretty cool stuff, been innovative, a leader, but it's just part of doing the job. It's what you're supposed to do. So when asked, nothing stands out in memory.

Well wellness?
Frankly I'm tired of hospitals moaning about folks coming to the emergency room for a cold. And tired of doctors saying they have such a raw deal. Ember had a fever for three days - running between 101 and 103. We went to a hospital's branch office. They have Saturday hours. Our doctor does not. Our previous doctor, retired and then returned, had to close his Saturday and evening hours because a hospital bought his group. MOnday, we noticed another issue develop so we called our doctor. Without seeing her, he referred a specialist. She still had the fever. We called several of these specialists. Only one could see in a reasonable time - the next day. All others were 2 to 4 weeks out. If we felt we could wait 2 weeks, do you think we'd be calling you? Really now. The fever lasted through the week The specialist treated the other problem but did not think them related. Nor could she explain the fever. Nor was our doctor concerned. Call us doting parents, sympathetic hypochondriacs, whatever. It may be time to interview a few new doctors.
And our insurance is changing again. Seems Gary's work will pick one and then change every couple years. Just as well as the current one has a pretty limited network.
While still on the insurance topic - copay for prescriptions. Gary laughed out loud when he picked up a prescription for two tiny pills and the copay was $40. He asked if the pills really cost $20@. The clerk sheepishly claimed to not know. Taking another tack, he asked what it would cost without the copay. She'd have to actually have a prescription to ring it up and see. Okaaay. Then what if the script said 40 pills. She said with a grin, $40. She finally undertood what I was getting at - $20 a pill is ridiculous.

Something Positive
Was thinking to post this last weekend. Pop-pop visited several weeks back. We had some fun, got some work done, and just hung out. One excursion we went on was brought about by the luck of the weather. LST325 was docked on the Illinois River in Peoria. We had some rain which caused the river to rise. The rain continued to the north of us which kept the river up and LST325 couldn't make the planned trip upriver or return home downriver, being to high to pass under some bridges. So we were able to tour the ship with Pop-pop. Aspen had visited thru school so she played tour guide. The girls got to imagine living in such tight quarters, see guns, lifeboats, etc. Pop-pop enjoyed talking to the men that served on her. Happy Veteran's Day.

Die Gedanken Sind Frei

Was going though some old songs recently and came across this one. Leave it to Pete to knock me off my feet with a short, simple song.

Something I never want to hear again.

Call 911!

There's a car in the picture. There's a full size truck in there too. A refrigerator and freezer. Various toys. Woodworking equipment. ...what you'd find in the typical garage and more.

A couple Saturday's ago, we were going about our normal Saturday putzing in the yard, working on the house when we heard the frantic shout from two house away.
"Call 911!"

It only took a glance on the way to the phone to know what was wrong. A column of black smoke rising from Pat's garage. Pat is also known as Rocket Man.
Rocket Man is headquarters for the Peoria Area Rocketry Society. These guys don't just assemble model rocket kits. They build full scale replicas and original designs from the gorund up. Even making their own engines. This could be real bad.
While on the phone to 911, all I wanted to do was get off the phone and run. The call probably took all of 30 seconds and the operator let me go. I could give you the play by play but I won't. Let's just say we had a tense moment or two (who's in the house, locked door, where's Pat, where's the hose outlet, not going to fight it directly, spot fire across the street, too damn hot outside, ...) and that everyone is okay. Despite what a stupid cop said, nothing left the confines of the garage but for the smoke and ash. No big booms beyond aerasol paint and gas/diesel cans. Even the truck and car just burned up. No big fiery gas tank explosions.
The cabinet with the rocket engine fuel components was in the only corner still standing above six feet. You don't see it in the picture because it was moved away. Despite what the deputy fire chief commented to the newspaper (a good friend of ours by the way) rocket fuel had nothing to do with the fire. Or it's intensity.
But Pat's garage is gone.
Ember said it seemed like two Saturdays. The one that happened before the fire, and the one that happened after. Two long days in 18 hours.
We saw more traffic that evening than we'd see in a year's time. Our one block street has four houses on it. The only reason people were driving down it was to gawk. We thought "we ought to charge admission".
The girls thought, "we ought to do something for Pat and Karen."
So they put out a gate of sorts. Anybody going down the block would have to pass two sweet, smiling girls with a sign and a basket. That evening went well enough, they were up and out before Diane and I got out of bed Sunday. A very respectable sum was collected.

The girls are looking forward to building rockets with Pat in his new garage when it eventually gets replaced.

Moving Up the ranks (Learning along the way.

Two part post here - Ember Rocks and the Program slumps.

Ember is now officially part of the Shuri-Ryu system having earned her Yellow belt. At that level they don't consider you a dabbler any more. She takes the whole thing seriously and practices every day. She had the skills but it took a couple weeks for somebody to officially advance her.

Which relates to point two. Gary and Diane had a little "discussion" with the head of the school. Just a misunderstanding of where we can get necessary equipment. Shihan referenced a non-existant part of the contract. So sorry for him that we know how to read and enforce contracts. So we believe he purposely overlooked her, despite Ember doing exactly what he said to advance, and repeated inquiries by her. We found a way around that to - go ask another black belt that has the right frame of mind.
As much as we love the sport, and as much as Ember is enjoying things, it's hard to complain about karate. It's really the head of the school we have the problem with. He's no longer a black belt or instructor or leader. He's a business man. Everything he offers has a dollar sign attached. You can't earn a patch or belt without paying a fee. Even the in school tournament had a regional level type fee AND spectator charge. It's frustrating us but we're learning to take in stride.

I see orange

We have an orange belt in the family now. We are quite proud of her. I think she's proud too.
She completed her kata (series of required movements) with grace and power. And after watching the gold belt group go through their kata - the one she is practicing now - she could have jumped right to gold. But there's no hurry here.

Listening and Laughing together

I've been playing around a bit listening to some of the old music. Some of the roots. It is funny how one song leads to another, one musician brings to mind another, and on and on and on. Spent a little time with Aspen enjoying some of that history.
And then we came across this video. And had a good hearty laugh together.

"When you pray ,
move your feet."
African proverb


climatecrisis.net

A letter

So we have a few items we considered not quite done with regard to our builder's work. Things just not quite right. A couple months go by with no contact from the builder. Up to that point a couple months ago we made phone calls every couple weeks to keep it moving. The ball sat in their court until we walked over and picked it up.

Well a new year and a new expectation. So we wrote a letter just to get some things documented - dissatisfaction and expectation. Since phone calls can be ignored/denied and in this case apparently required followup, it seemed the prudent thing to do.

Unfortunately, we like our builder. He's a great guy. His wife is nice too. We appreciate their hardwork. Even thought about calling him to let him know the letter was coming and why. Didn't do it tho. Dang it, we weren't satisfied. And it demanded to be said.

We got a reply. Not unexpected. It's an outstanding example of two sides to a story.

Crunch

The accumulation of ice over the weekend had the expected effect. Branches and trees down in every yard and on every street. Our own "wildlife tree" decided to loose a limb. Right into the middle of some lawn chairs.
Tossed a line up into the tree to see what else would shake loose. The cars are be safe now. And the birds and squirrels still have a hang out.

Icey Art II

This dogwood is a bit of conflict between Diane and I. Its beauty saves it yearly. A bit of extreme pruning helps also.

Icey Art

We had some freezing rain Friday night. Chipping the ice encrusted cars Saturday morning, I wondered what works of art were created. There had to be a picture somewhere in the yard.
A couple weekends ago, we went to Lakeview Museum here in Peoria for a perhaps once in a lifetime (convenience-wise) opportunity. Anne Adams loaned 72 photographs of her father's thru March.
What would Ansel do in our yard this morning after an ice storm?
It was midafternoon when I walked around back to dump some water. The pattern of the tree rings, textures of the wood and ice, near natural black & white reminded me of my thoughts that morning. Here's my poor attempt.. Olympus D-520 digital camera. Unaltered.

Gift Wrapped?

I won't say exactly where this is. The top sheet was added this year. The walls we see wrapped every year.
At least they know what a waterproof tarp is.

Holiday Push 2

And here are views of the girls' rooms and a peak into the bathroom. Hard to capture without a wide angle lens.

Holiday Push

Kendall and Sharon visited over New Year's weekend to get the drywall out of the way. We worked hard but made time to visit and play games too. First pics are the hallway with the closets at the end -one of Gary's favorite features. Angles are from both ends of the hall, and the closets viewed from Aspen's dorrway. The left hand closet will have the clothes hamper, with a trap door to the laundry room below. The smaller closet to the right provides access to the mechanicals and will be a place to put the upstairs vacuum and other cleaning stuff.

Flat Michael continued

Over New Year's weekend, we visited Lakeview Museum. But first we stopped at the center of the solar system (or a model of it). The museum had an Ansel Adams exhibit that Uncle Gary wanted to see. And of course, cousins Ember and Aspen showed Flat Michael the discovery center.

Flat Michael stayed up late with us on New Year's Eve. He had a little trouble with our wish balloons.
Happy New Year!

Flat Michael

We have a guest for December and January. Flat Michael is the creation of our nephew Michael. (Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown, is an excellent children's book Michael's school project is based on.) He's been enjoying hanging out with the girls and going on adventures.

In this set of pictures we have Christmas dinner at the girls' Uncle Dale's house with an explosive game of Battleship. Dinner was Nueske's applewood smoked ham, green beans, homemade apple sauce, lefse, cheezy potaotes and a tall glass of cold milk.