the DronesClub	the smackdown	Fierce Creatures	Little Blenheim	Barmy in Wonderland	the dernier cri

The unpleasant, acrid smell of burnt poetry.
Young Men in Spats, 1936

June 2008	July 2008	Aug 2008	Sept 2008	Oct 2008	Nov 2008	Dec 2008
Jan 2009	Feb 2009	March 2009	April 2009	May 2009	June 2009	July 2009

 

June 30, 2008

Nothing in the freezer, but on the plus side, it's clean!

8:29 p.m. - Hooray! We got power back at about 2:15. Ahhhhh, sweet recirculated air conditioning. It's like heaven! We went to Mom's house and threw out the remaining contents of her fridge and freezer, which were dee-sgusting. We picked up Jimmy John's for dinner and afterward, I cleaned out the rest of our refrigerator.

10:54 a.m. - Correction to yesterday's post. It was approximately 100-mph straight line winds that caused the damage, not a tornado. I did not know that until Jennifer corrected me. Haven't seen a newspaper or the news in a few days. As of this morning, we still don't have electricity, but I think OPPD was working in the alley when I left for work.

Yesterday I went over to Mom and Mike's house and took as much meat from their freezer as I could, since it was thawed and would go bad. I called as many neighbors as I could to invite them over for a eat-what-you-can barbecue in the evening, and I grilled filet mignons, hotdogs, bratwursts and served potato salad. A lot of the meat had gone bad, and I have a garbage can full of nasty, feculent, rotten meat products. It's really going to stink by tomorrow! 

I called the fence company to re-bid repairing the fence and put a claim in with the insurance company, but I am counting my blessings that it wasn't nearly as bad as other people. Compared to those that lost everything, a few days without power and a few down limbs is a small price to pay. 

Mark's house - there are downed maples & elms everywhere.

June 29, 2008

9:39 a.m. - We got slammed hard by the tornado or whatever-it-was on Friday. We've lost electricity, a substantial slab of our fence, and numerous tree limbs. More people sustained serious damage to their homes. We've been without electricity since Friday which is a major nuisance. Fortunately, it isn't hot outside or this would be miserable. Jennifer has been working 12+ hour days at the Gardens which sustained substantial damage, and she is distraught about it. I've been picking up tree limbs and trying to clean up, though Julie and I went down to the arts fair downtown to do some damage to the ol' pocketbook. The weather is now perfect, and it would have been a shame to miss the arts fair. 

I'll put up some pictures of the damage, which you can see here.

 

 

June 27, 2008

1:06 p.m. - Jennifer planted dahlias in the backyard a few weeks ago, and they are coming up quite nicely. Here's a few pictures. 

8:33 a.m. - Percy began barking at 4:30 this morning to go outside. I took him out and let him do his thing and put him back to bed. He went right back to sleep, but I've been up ever since. Percy brisket or Percy stew sounds mighty fine for dinner, right about now. Meanwhile, I am dragging this morning. Oil has touched a record high of $142, and the market is limping along right now in the 11,400's. 

June 26, 2008

Now you can ignore your kids in more places!

7:30 p.m. - <RANT> So I am watching a bit of television, and one of the commercials features a mother who trundles her two little kids into the auto plant, accosts two nebbish engineers, and tells them that she is taking her two waifs on a long road trip and what do they intend to do about it? So they suggest adding two DVD players to the van, apparently as a way to neutralize the kids for the duration. No mention of mileage or comfort or safety, but the "sell" is shutting up the two children - which is a major draw, if you ask me. And the kids don't even have to share since the 2 units are independent of another! But here is a thought to the parents who park their kids in front of the television: why not engage them in intelligent conversation? Or better yet, stimulate their fragile little minds with books or games? Or expect children to be quiet when they are not reading? The way my parents expected us to behave back when I was a lad on long road trips. No wonder these kids are hyped up on ritalin, needing to be constantly entertained, and requiring massive doses of psychiatric medicine to treat their raging cases of ADHD. </RANT>

 

6:50 p.m. - Can you believe it? The Dow dropped 358 points to 11,453.42 today. New World is at $55.32, thereby dropping 88¢/share in a single day. Jennifer is working late tonight for some lecture or another at the Gardens, and I am holding down the fort this evening. I should have gone out to trim my long, flowing hippie hair, but I am eschewing duty in favor of getting reacquainted with an old friend called television.

10:47 a.m. - Nothing much to report in the intervening few days. The rain seems to be unending, and I feel like laying out 300 cubits worth of lumber and collecting 2 of each of the tastiest animals for a 40 day barbecue. I am looking out of the window of our office, and its as dark as evening outside. That's okay, though, since Pat came by and mowed last night. 

In worse news, the market is truly in le crapier. Down 238.73 to 11,573.10 at the present moment. That means the 1.779 shares of New World I bought on the 20th have lost even more value! I still have $100 remaining to make up for the IRA contribution I skipped in April, and maybe I'll pick up another 2 shares or so today. Hopefully the market won't keep going down and taking my beloved New World with it. Let's hope those emergent markets the fund keeps hyping continue to emerge. 
 

June 22, 2008

7:40 p.m. - I grilled burgers and brats this evening, as well as grilled asparagus and a side of fried onions. Delicious! I am so stuffed right now.

3:50 p.m. - If Jack Black ever surfs the web and comes across my webpage, this one is for you: one big, fat apology for slighting your talent. After nearly wetting myself over School of Rock and Be Kind, Rewind, you hit the homer with Kung Fu Panda. I laughed until I nearly fell out of my seat and rolled down the stairwell of the theater. Downside first: the plot is worn thin as the carpet at the Route 6 Motor Lodge. Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, David Crane, and Seth Rogan were paid more money for quite literally just a few lines than I'll earn if I work until I'm a million years old, and they are thoroughly unused. Any voice talent would suffice, so why pay 100 times more for A-list voices? The fortune-cookie cliches are there, of course, and we even get the standard training montage we've come to know and expect from the movies.

But so what?

This movie hangs on Jack Black's ability to make Po the Panda a Joe (or Jack) Everyman who finds himself in a heroic situation and has to find the ability to rise and meet that challenge within himself. He know he's no matinee idol, no genius, or athlete. But he'll work his strengths and succeed in the end, laughing at himself as he bumbles his way through. Kung Fu Panda is well worth seeing. I read a few reviews that panned it for not developing the 5 warriors, Master Shiftu, or Po, but it will repay you with some great laughs.

June 21, 2008

Arabella's shirt says: I am the grandchild!

9:54 p.m. - I think I managed just enough industriousness today to avoid the rap of being lazy. Laundry, dishes, changed 2 light bulbs, a bit of vacuuming, and groceries. Around 8:00, Arabella and I went to get Jennifer a burger from King Kong - too weary to grill - we'll grill tomorrow. I promise. 

6:11 p.m. - How can Saturday be nearly over? Where did the day go? I have pottered the day away without accomplishing anything interesting. I even skipped the Elkhorn Days parade. Jennifer and I went to Gaeta's last night for dinner and then relaxed in the evening. She slept in today until about 9:30 or 10:00, and I loafed around in the morning. When she went to work at 2:00, I went to Hy-Vee and bought groceries. I've been alternating between extraordinary laziness and mild industry ever since, doing some laundry and dishes, and watching movies or playing on the computer.

June 20, 2008

3:13 p.m. - The market closed at 11,842.69, the lowest since October 11, 2006 when it closed at 11,852.13.

The Dow Jones: October, 2006 to present. E.T. the Financial Advisor says: Ouch!

2:10 p.m. - The Dow Jones came a purler today, and is languishing down among the wines and spirits at 11,847 at this moment. That feels like the lowest its been in a while. We have officially given up every gain the market has made since late Autumn, 2006! Yikes! Except for a few isolated days here and there over the last few months, the market has not been this low since October 11, 2006 when it closed at 11,852.13. Remember when the market dropped 416.02 to 12,078.85 back on February 27, 2007? This is more painful just because the market is even lower! I feel like the boy in that Abraham Lincoln story: I'm too old to cry, but it hurts too much to laugh! One day I may look back and laugh at this. But not today. 

I splurged and bought $100 worth of New World Fund since the market is down. I may drop another C-note on New World, just to catch us up on our April Roth contribution, which I skipped at the time. I've been making it up in fits and starts ever since. I suggested to Jennifer that we go out and enjoy a night downtown in the Old Market. Having just contracted to repair our fence to the tune of $375 and spent another Ben Franklin on that American Fund, maybe we ought to stay home and eat baloney and ramen noodles.

June 19, 2008

10:09 p.m. - It's raining cats and dogs. No, not dogs, Arabella. She got concerned when I said that. Just cats. We sat for a while on Tim and John's porch and enjoyed the cool weather. Otherwise, we've had a quiet evening. Jennifer went straight to bed when we came back and I've been pottering around the house.

Interesting note: The Summer, 2008 Plum Lines mentioned the DronesClub.net among its list of Wodehouse-inspired e-mails and website domain names. I think mine was the only website with overtly Wodehousean flair, though sadly, I never did make this website into a tribute to P.G. Wodehouse. Seemed like a good idea at the time, when I was thinking of domain names. I may as well picked snugglebunnies.com or FunkDaddy.com. On the other hand, I have based my life on the philosophy of Jeeves and Wooster (or rather, Psmith's practical psocialism), so perhaps it is a tribute after all.

 

7:17 a.m. - Jeremy had a great trip to San Carlo, Mexico. Raved about the beaches and the water and whatnot. Not quite my cuppa oolong. My preference is somewhere with cool weather - the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina spring to mind - where I can sit on a porch with a carbonated beverage and a stack of novels. But the lad had fun, and that's the important part.

A couple of views of San Carlo from Mom's house

June 18, 2008

Construction downstairs at Mercer Lodge

9:45 p.m. - Little of interest to report. I spent too much money online buying those shirts I like from Eddie Bauer's clearance sale. Went to Templecraft at Mercer, which was very good. They are going to give - quite generously - Florence Lodge a bigger office just off the mens' reception room and use of the building on 2nd Mondays. Not a bad haul! I am quite pleased. I may have a door plaque made for the "new" office that says Florence Lodge #281. Otherwise just chillaxing at home this evening. J. is in bed and the dogs are fast asleep. I should do likewise. Fortunately, no other evening meetings this week, but I have several things next week on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Yergh.

8:17 a.m. - My ample tum is angry with me this morning for last night's gastric abuse. I did not sleep the sleep of the just last night. I vaguely recall getting up around 3:00 or 4:00 and tossing feverishly until about 5:30 when I got up.

 

June 17, 2008

Don't look! Look away!

10:07 p.m. - I promised I wouldn't obsess over this, but I am this evening. If you take the value of our American Funds, which includes a not inconsiderable amount of contributions over the last 7 months, the whole goram thing is worth LESS than the whole thing was worth in mid-November '07! Sheesh! Yes, yes, yes, I know. My financial-wallah scolds me for taking a head count, and he is paid to be right about these things. But nevertheless, the DJIA has some nerve to languish when I have my retirement a mere 31 years away.

8:04 p.m. - These teasers for Mad Men on AMC are driving me crazy. Season 2 begins in late July, and I can't wait that long! I am more eager for Mad Men than I am for the final season of Battlestar Gallactica. Mad Men is a great show!

 

Food fight!

7:56 p.m. - I grilled burgers for dinner. I tried mixing the hamburger meat with bleu cheese. It was hard to cook, but they were really good burgers! I wish I had an onion to have fried up to go with the burgers. . . Jennifer is upstairs in bed. I'm watching Animal House on AMC and the dogs are sleeping on the floor.

2:39 p.m. - Brief updates. We celebrated Father's Day with Dad & Deirdre on Sunday afternoon. I picked up a cake and friend chicken, and we had a great dinner. Jennifer was a great trooper. In spite of being dead tired after a long Saturday and a longer Sunday at work, she joined us and we all had a grand evening. I know she was dead tired, and no one would have minded if she had gone right to bed, but she soldiered along. I had the most intense heartburn ever in the wee hours of Sunday night after that. I think the spicy Cajun rice disagreed with me. Or I ate too much. Maybe both.

Just the kind of thing that brings up property values.

Florence Lodge yesterday. I managed to get through an EA in reasonably good shape. I was Senior Warden, so I only had two small parts. Randy was WM and was wonderful. Of course one of the older members came stumping up to me to gripe that the supply closet was a mess, my command of ritual was less than perfect (true, but its not my strong suit), I needed to do this, I needed to do that. I think I've had a reasonably good year in spite of minimal support from several Lodge members. 

I got home from Lodge late last night after the EA to find my neighbor's truck up on blocks in the side yard. How charming. Just what I want in my neighborhood. On the plus side, they spent a long afternoon mowing, picking up trash and yard implements that have been lying around since April. But somehow, the idea of a truck on blocks with the week-old burnt hole in the side of the house just detracts from my ideal of the neighborhood. At least, they have a vested interest in getting the car up and running. They have a second driveway behind the house. Couldn't they have jacked the truck up there? 

 

June 14, 2008

8:35 p.m. - So after a couple of well-earned naps, we emerge to run the clock on what's left of Saturday. I picked up a pizza from Don Carmelo's which thankfully re-opened their Farnam Street location. We gorged on their New York style meatsa pizza. Ahh, Don Carmelo's. They earn a space on my speed dial.

Afterward, we watched a bit of DVR, re-watching Battlestar Gallactica and then Doctor Who. Jennifer is still exhausted and went to bed. She has to be at work tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. for the Father's Day brunch. I am planning to chillax tomorrow. I think I got too much sun today. I am not sunburnt, but definitely got more than my share of vitamin-D for the day. I always feel tanned and bronzed, and then I wind up standing next to one of these leathery old cowboys down at Scottish Rite, and realize just how pasty and pale I really am. Cold doses of reality sometimes bites in that way, don't it?

For the rest of the evening, I am watching whatever crap is on cable before retiring on the early side.

3:49 p.m. - And thus, another weekend is nearly half over. Dinner with Julie, Spencer, Mark and Lisa, and Julie's parents was fun. We looked in on Dario's Brasserie, which is a French-Belgian Parisian-style cafe. All of which means nothing to me. But it was really good, and I had crepes with brie, walnuts, and pears for dinner and creme brulee for dessert. It was a great dinner - and expensive - but I would like to go back with Jennifer sometime. We poked our heads in the Dundee Art Gallery afterward to admire more Pluhacek paintings.

Jennifer left for work by 7:00 a.m. and I left for the KSA meeting by 8 am. As usual, we didn't have a quorum but that never stops us. I presented the VM with a traveling master's jewel, and he presented me with a quaich for my year as VM last year.

I can has corvette?

Fun at the Papillion Parade

Came home by 11:00 and relaxed for 2 hours before heading off to the Papillion Days parade. I had originally intended to drive Larry's mini-'57 Chevy, but its in the shop, so he surprised me by throwing me the keys to his cherry red 'vette. Sweet ride, if I do say so myself. Me want! I drove that baby as if it was on egg shells. I was terrified I'd rear end the guy in front of me or scratch the paint, but I made it through the parade with no mishaps! Papillion Days is a fun parade, and the crowd is huge, stretching from the beginning all the way to the end, 15 people thick. The kids have so much fun - though maybe not as much as the Shriners have riding in the parade! Larry's wife was kind enough to drive me back to the start so I wouldn't have to walk 2 or 3 miles back to my car in 90-degree heat. I should have gone back to Tangier Shrine with everyone and had a few drinks or burgers, but 3 hours in the sun is my limit, and I called it a day. Next week is the Elkhorn Days parade. Who knows what I'll be driving next week!

Jennifer was napping when I got home at 3:30, and I am going to just take it easy today. We'll probably have a laid back evening and not do anything special. Maybe I'll grill burgers.

June 13, 2008

4:12 p.m. - After a meeting this morning, I took the afternoon off. I needed a day off! I went to see Iron Man (again) at AMC, which is a fun movie. Afterward, I took a nap which did me a world of good. I sleep so poorly at night that an hour's nap leaves me feeling so much better. I've spent the afternoon pottering around the house and doing laundry. I am roasting a chicken for us to take to work for lunch this week. Tonight we'll go to dinner with Julie and her parents.

June 12, 2008

Something you don't see every day: a couple of stray cats "getting busy" in the neighbor's yard. I hated to ruin their fun, but it merited a picture.

9:59 p.m. - Quiet evening. Jennifer worked until about 7:30 and then I met her across the street at Julie's house, where Julie's parents had come to visit. We sat on the porch for about 2 1/2 hours, though I came and left after a while to let the dogs out at home. I took a bit of time and finished - at extreme long last - updating the opening and closing for the KSA meeting at Scottish Rite.

June 11, 2008

8:51 p.m. - We've had about an hour of very heavy rain. The street was about half flooded and I could see the sewers were entirely backed up and the water was running down Pacific Street to Turner Blvd. We had a good five to ten minutes of pea-sized hail. The nasty weather passed to our south in Sarpy County, but there may be more bad weather heading our way from Lancaster County. Yech. The weather-wallah is predicting 3 to 4" of rain. Fortunately, I don't see any particular damage around the house. Pat mowed this morning, so we won't have a jungle in the morning.

Taken from our backyard, facing north. Some nasty clouds are forming over head.

Unfortunately, they are reporting that 40 Boy Scouts sustained serious injuries. There was no basement or secure area at the camp grounds. That is absolutely horrible and my heart goes out to all of them and their families.

7:45 p.m. - I ran out to Mercer for the Templecraft meeting at 7:00, even as the tornado sirens began to go off. Since the bad weather was considerably far west of us, I figured it would be okay. Of course, no one showed up other than a few guys, so we gave up after about 20 minutes. I got home just as the weather was getting nasty. The tornado hit a Boy Scout camp, and I hope they are okay, and it's heading east toward Ashland and Gretna. Omaha is under a super cell thunderstorm and the sirens are blowing. Looks like we are right in the path, so we're naturally a bit worried. We're monitoring the news, and getting prepared to go to the basement if we need to at a moment's notice.

2:46 p.m. - The thunder and lightning began around 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, loud enough to wake me up. And once I was good and awake and getting back to sleep would be difficult at best, it stopped. I am dragging today, more so than usual. Tonight is a Templecraft meeting at Mercer. What fun. Tomorrow is the business meeting at Tangier, and I am debating whether I want to go or not. I haven't been to a business meeting at the Shrine since about 2005. 

 

June 9, 2008

Here is a shot from the bedroom window a few minutes ago.

9:18 p.m. - Durm und strang. The thunder and lightning begins. I let the dogs out just as the rain began to come down in buckets. It seems to have let up - only after the dogs have been dragged outside to get wet. Jennifer says another storm is a-coming (why does she make it sound like Quint or Ahab predicting the coming of a Great White?), but its north of here. We spent a few minutes admiring a deep orange sunset (which my camera really doesn't do any justice to) and the pouring rains in the distance.

Jennifer's 1991 Nissan Figaro

6:56 p.m. - Jennifer has suggested that I show off the car she is "going to get." The 1991 Nissan Figaro. She fell in love with this car after seeing it on the Sarah Jane Adventures on SciFi. SJA is the childrens' spinoff of Doctor Who. The 1991 Figaro was a Japanese retro car that became popular with celebrities in the UK.

Jennifer is committed to having a Nissan Figaro. Unfortunately, I've just learned that they weren't imported to America because they don't meet emission and crash test standards, and unless she is willing to buy two to crash test, she won't be able to import one. Only 20,000 were made and are apparently wildly collectible in the UK and Canada. Sorry Jennifer. I think it's more plausible that I shall have my mini-'57 Chevy for the Shrine parades first.

Jennifer is full of some strong sentiment about the United States government and it's emission standards. "Does the U.S. government not realize who I am?" - "Dear George. I want a Nissan Figaro. [expletive deleted] Why can't I have one?"

Crookshanks enjoyed the ribs! And the dogs enjoyed the bones

2:19 p.m. - I am trying to get back into the swing of periodic updates about my latest adventures. In retrospect, perhaps I ought to have put up snippets of my comings and goings over the weekend rather than burden you with it all at one sitting. 

Mutual of Omaha's 14 story banner. Really an interesting eye-catcher!

Be that as it may, here goes:

Thursday 6/5. I grilled ribs in the evening, which were rather good if I do say so myself. It's that mixture of secret hobo spices that does the trick. That, and low heat on the grill. In spite of my special attention, the drippings managed to catch fire, but I think the char-flavoring added rather than detracted from the whole thing. Bobby Flay would probably turn his nose at the "let-the-grill-catch-fire" approach, but it worked.

 

Their support for Bowling just doesn't have the same appeal

Afterward, Jennifer and I drove by Mutual of Omaha to admire their 14 story banner promoting their sponsorship of the Olympic swim trials. It's rather impressive in it's way, if giant signage is your bag. I am curious where you find a silkscreen printer that big! Must be a million megapixel machine! I guess I'm glad they are not supporting the world bowling federation, or they'd have a 245-foot high big dude swinging a bowling ball. Somehow it's not just as eye catching.

I took a half day on Friday and spent the afternoon relaxing. Got the dogs to the groomers - they weren't long or shaggy, but they were really stinky. As always, Mel does a fantastic job and they came back clean, shiny, and adorable. Arabella is Daddy's little angel when she comes home so clean. I forget how tiny she is under all that fur.

Masters and Wardens met in Bellevue on Saturday morning. We would not have had a quorum except that we decided to give proxies to non-voting members present for Lodges that weren't present. The fellow visiting from Alliance was given a proxy vote for Victory Lodge, and by such  legerdemain, we had a quorum. I'd tell you what we accomplished, but I'm not entirely sure myself. I felt bad about it, but I skipped the LaVista parade afterward. I'll be at the Papillion parade next week, I promise.

The Iris - sounds like a Dharma station on Lost.

Jennifer and I went out for a bit afterward. We stopped at Old Chicago for lunch and then looked in on Anderson O'Brien gallery to admire some Pluhacek paintings. Jennifer and I particularly liked "the Iris," but we held off. I think we both want something larger to hang over the stairs. Her art is very colorful, and Jennifer has a good eye for this. I would surprise her with the art, but I seem to be batting .0001 at judging what Jennifer says she wants and what she really wants, so I told her that if she wants it, she can get it herself and I will make myself readily available for the carrying part and handiwork with the checkbook. This way, I can't be held liable (again) for making the wrong choice! 

During the wee hours of the night on Sunday, a tornado touched down in Millard. Jennifer was up and prepared in a flash. I'd've slept through it except that Jennifer rousted me up out of bed, declaring us to be in mortal danger. She'll deny it, but I suspect that she loves me to wake me up and bring me to safety downstairs. The danger passed to our northwest soon enough and we had no particular damage at Casa de Evans. By the time we were ready to crawl back into bed, she had to look in at work to shut off an alarm due to a door that blew open. I went with her, and mostly sat in a daze in the truck while she and Laura poked around shutting doors and checking for damage. We got home around 4:00. Despite our sneaky efforts, the dogs woke up and Arabella and Percy whined a bit in their kennels. I couldn't get back to sleep but Jennifer slept the sleep of the just until 10:30ish.

We missed the excitement of a fire next door on Sunday! I hope they fix this soon.

 

We had a fairly lazy Sunday thereafter, stopping at Home Depot and Aldi's for groceries. I think I took a nap around 4:00 and we didn't do too much thereafter. As an interesting side, when we got back from shopping we noticed the neighbor's house caught fire. The neighbor's kid insists they "found" the garbage can burning, but I suspect one of them flung a cigarette butt on top of the carpet that was feculating on top of the garbage cans. Unfortunately, I think that they will never get around to fixing this burnt hole in the side of their house, and I also suspect that the melted and charred remains of the garbage can will sit in back of their house for a few weeks. It proved to be a veritable smörgåsbord for the stray cats in the neighborhood. I counted 4 feral cats feasting on the rotten remains during my morning ablutions today. I'll give them a few weeks to make progress, and then I'll pester the city relentlessly about this. Unfortunately, code violations - particularly in this part of town - seem to be low priority for the city.

 

June 6, 2008

8:00 p.m. - So here's the deal, my little chickabiddies. Way back in the dawn of time, two things happened:

• I had to move from a Linux server to a Microsoft server. It's all fairly complicated, and I don't understand it myself, but the long and short was that I lost my entire website moving it from point A to point B. I recovered most of it, having had the clever foresight to download the website to my hard drive, and I finally got the rest of it restored today.
• A variety of reasons necessitated my removing the entire 'blog, never to be restored.

That part is ancient history. At the periodic urging of Pythias, I have decided to bring the 'blog back on a limited basis. So check back for updates on the wee beasties, house projects, and other middle-of-the night musings on Life.