Monthly Archives: March 2009

I am not sure how he got through that one

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(My family with Grandpa)

We went to PA a few weeks back for my Grandpa’s 95th birthday. I thought I would share a few stories about him in celebration of his 95 years!

– My grandpa was a great story teller. He wrote tons of things and I have copies of many of his writings. His stuff is so clever and I cherish it. His stories tell of all sorts of things from when he was a kid. His tales were tales of adventure or romance or insight into living through tough times.

– He was one of 8 children. The older ones were often tasked with watching the younger ones. Apparently at some point grandpa became too much trouble so the older ones strung him up in the barn. I am not sure how he got out of that one.

– He told about getting on top of train cars (which he hopped) and rocking them to confuse the winos and hobos.

– Grandpa was rebuilding the rear end of a tractor (not too long ago) when a gas leak tangled with a pilot light and blew him up. Actually, more through a wall than up…but anyhow, it melted his shoes to his feet somehow. I am not sure how he got out of that one.


(My new cousin with Grandpa)

– Grandpa got a motorcycle when he was in his 60s. I figure my first motorcycle ride was on the back of his bike. I got a motorcycle later on and loved it. I am not sure how either of us got out of that one.

– He often tinkered and built all sorts of stuff. He let me monkey in his garage and we tried all sorts of stuff. He was a genius with stuff like that though nothing ever had a safety guard. I am not sure how he got through that one.

– He went target shooting with some buddies and afterward, while enjoying the camp fire, threw a bunch of blanks into the fire. People scattered everywhere. Not sure how he got through that one.

_Grandpa loves to whistle and he whistles constantly.  I am sure that more than once, he has whistled and some husband turned his head to see who was whistling at his wife.  I am not sure how he got through that one.


(Click here for a different version if you have trouble with the above)

The stories go on and on and it’s hard to know how he survived many of his escapades. Isn’t that what makes a life well lived though? I am so proud to call my grandpa my inspiration. I certainly don’t want to ever look back and say that I only took the safe way through. I guess no one gets through life alive, but my Grandpa has spent every day of his life living it to the fullest!

We had a blast!

Fun, WV,


Charleston has a long history as a major chemical manufacturing and research center with more than 80 chemical facilities in the area.  Like everything though, we are seeing many companies move their facilities to other states and countries. 

As part of that trend, in 2001, Union Carbide, which owned Building 82 and used it for administrative space, merged with Dow Chemical which quickly gutted the workforce and facilities in Charleston.

In 2005, Dow decided to sell Building 82, but donated the building to the University of Charleston the next year when no buyer was found.  UC was going to rennovate the building for dorm space but the cost was too great.  Instead, they decided to demolish the building and sell the land  (here’s an interesting read on special features of the building and how they brought it down).


So, that’s where the fun started for us.  We had planned to drive into the area near the building and watch from as close as we could.  We drove in a back way that parallels the interstate and found a tremendous crowd already.  We decided that we wouldn’t likely find a better spot so we watched from 1000 feet or so away.  So we waited and watched and finally heard the initial blasts that weakened the structure.  A few seconds later, several incredible blasts went off and the building came down in a flash and a cloud of smoke.  

(Here’s some additional video taken by news crews in case you weren’t awed enough by my pics! Video 1, Video 2)

We all cheered and danced a bit along the road with total strangers.  It was pretty weird but it reminded me of what this whole thing was about for me…it  was about blowing junk up.  As a kid, I had pretty easy access to gasoline, black powder, fireworks, and firearms.  I shot, burned, or otherwise blew up anything that I could.  I shot tvs and watermelons.  I made blackpowder zip guns and napalm-like jelly and did all sorts of stuff that I shouldn’t have survived.  (For instance, once I made a homemade rocket out of junk I found around the house.  I packed the head of it with a lot of fireworks and pseudo-napalm.  It was super top-heavy so when I launched it, it tipped over and headed straight for me.  It blew up just shy of me thankfully!)

Anyhow, seeing that building blow up was just like being a kid again…only better…nothing came flying at me this time…and I didn’t have to answer to my dad for burning his car up and no one is going to jail this time…  

Maybe I am growing up…

49 things – give or take

Fun


(Wow!  Our first shave?)

I don’t usually do these things that seem to float around the net, but I thought it might be a fun change. Here’s some random junk about me!  Btw, the pictures have little to do with any of this but seemed pretty fun nonetheless!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
I was named after my Dad. His/my first name is a grandparent’s last name and our middle name is another grandparent’s last name.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
December 16, 1999

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
HA! I always had great grades in school but the only C I think I ever got was in handwriting in 6th grade. My handwriting sucks.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
I pretty much always eat turkey or chicken breast. I like all the flavors especially…honey baked, maple, jalapeno magic, anything. My least favorite would likely be liverwurst. Liver is compostable but not edible!

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
I have two monkeys – Isaac and Abigail.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
What’s not to love? I mean, I am the most awesome person I know!

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Only when I am talking.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes…but I am missing my virginity and my dignity…if you’ve seen either, please contact me asap

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I would bungee jump while wearing a gorilla suit singing My Sweet Valentine. I would not bungee jump naked however. I could be tempted to drive across town naked but I would not likely walk across town for pancakes.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
I really like Captain Crunch. I don’t often eat it though as I am all about my fiber muffins lately


(This was circa 1995…I shaved shortly after this and never went back)

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Velcro baby! Just kidding…I always untie my shoes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
I don’t like ice cream. I think it is because I dipped a lot of ice cream while I worked in the general store in my home town as a kid. I dipped bait from tanks one minute and ice cream from the freezer the next…too closely associated in my head I think!

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their smile and eyes…

15. RED OR PINK?
red though I rarely paint my fingernails any more

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I don’t know what that would be..maybe my dang blood pressure.  I also have two really ugly scars on my back.  They suck too.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My grandma


(this is my brother and me – shaved and at the rodeo!)

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Yes – but I’m not counting on it.  The internet is fairly sizeable…

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
no shoes…I am barefoot! I still have my work pants on….they are khaki brown.  

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
My cat snoring…and my wife too

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Black..like the color of my heart…or green…like my teeth

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
daffodils, wood smoke, lilac, bacon, spring rain, rodeo

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My pal Greg – I call him buttercup…don’t tell his wife.  But seriously, I call him that. 

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
I don’t have to…I am married to her

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH:
Jello Wrestling

27. HAIR Color?
No idea…it used to be blondish brown when last I saw it…that was around 1996

28. EYE COLOR?
blue

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Nope, not yet. I prefer to squint!

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
Homemade pizza!  Mexican

31.SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings for sure.  

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
The Twilight DVD last night.  I have a man-crush…

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
White t-shirt

34.SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer. I hate winter almost as much as I hate lima beans

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
hugs, but both really. Although, I am not a hugging greeter. I don’t like to hug people when a handshake will suffice. Actually, I don’t like to touch people so I would rather wave than even shake hands.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
I dare not say what’s on my work mousepad. I don’t have one at home

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
The movie Twilight

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S)?
My kids’ laughter, rushing water, a really good burp

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? ?
Probably Cancun Mexico although Los Angeles may be farther

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I can anti-cross my eyes…instead of both eyes going in to my nose, I can send both eyes outward

46 WHERE WERE U BORN?
Manassas, VA in a taxi cab along the interstate…delivered by a blind truck-driver.

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?
My current wife and I met  the first day  of class in a college literature class during our freshman year.

49. WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT DRIVE YOU CRAZY?
Sounds like a high school year book question…”um, haters, people who cheat and that weasel Billy Smith”
Naw…I hate intolerance, hate, bad attitude and the little tiny salt packets they serve at Wendy’s

 

Ok, so play along.  I think it will  be fun to see how crazy some of you all are too!

Visited by a fairy

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Abigail has had her first visit from the tooth fairy.  One of her bottom teeth has been loose for a few weeks and yesterday it just fell right out of her head!  The school has plastic tooth necklaces that the students use to bring the offending chomper home.  

Emily’s mom had recently sewn a tooth fairy pouch in which to place the tooth until the tooth fairy comes.  This pouch has a nice feature where it can be hung on the door knob so the tooth fairy can easily remove the tooth and leave her present.

In our house, the kids seem to have the same tooth fairy.  We figure they are unionized and the local shop sends a common fairy to our place.  She always leaves a gold dollar coin and gives the kids a big kiss on the cheek with her red sparkly lipstick.

When the tooth fairy visits your house, is she from the same shop as ours or does she work differently?

She’s ear-resistable

Family

Emily and I were married a long time ago…back when she was young.  She had good teeth, clear eyes, and a shiny coat….I checked her out pretty well before signing on the line.  As she approaches middle age however, stuff appears to be failing.  The week she turned 36, she went to the doctor complaining of being unable to hear out of one ear.  The doctor did various tests and discovered that she has otosclerosis .  The Cliff-notes version of otosclerosis is that the bones of her middle ear are calcifying and fusing. So far, it is only occurring in one ear but has left her with only 50% of her hearing in that ear.

So the doctor diagnosed her and, trying to reassure her, said, "It’s most commonly diagnosed in middle aged white women who have had children." Oops…not a smart move.  Doctors before this one have made the mistake of tangling with this woman.  "Excuse me?", she said.  That poor man is still stammering…

Anyhow, she was not a candidate for hearing aids since she is losing her hearing so quickly.  She had to visit a surgeon to evaluate the possibility of a stapedectomy which is what we are doing today.  Basically, if all goes well, Emily will be having a prosthetic middle ear installed today…she’s gonna be bionic!  She’ll be ear-resistable!

UPDATE #1 :  12:00 pm – we are in the room and Emily is all buck naked except for the gown they gave her.  We have the only room with a window.  Unfortunately, the room looks right onto Chapman’s Mortuary…that doesn’t seem too great to Emily.

UPDATE #2 4:45 pm – Emily is back in the room.  She went back to the "holding pen" at 1:30 and they did the magic they do back there I guess…I suspect they must have run her through a car wash, just to de-coot-ify her.  She made it into the OR at 2:35 and the surgery actually started at 3:00.  Around 4:15 the doctor reported to me that all went well and that she has a plastic and nickel piston installed in place of her stapes – a bone of the middle ear.  The best thing is that I get a warranty card for her bionics!  Anyhow, she is awake and aware and doing fine!  She reports that she can in fact hear better already!

So, anyhow, here is a video of what this surgery looks like if you are interested:

If seeing surgery isn’t your thing, check out these dancing monkeys:

If dancing monkeys aren’t your thing, check out this guy dancing:

You really gotta check out this video…seriously!

Bonbon Jovi

Food, Fun,

It all started with a banana.  A banana very much like this one.  Emily usually gets bananas to eat on her cheerios.  She is very particular though and will only eat them if they are green or perfectly yellow.  I am quite the opposite.  I prefer mine yellow to 50% brown.  Anyhow, the bananas had crossed the line and I could not eat half a dozen bananas in a single day so Emily decided to make banana pudding…you know, the old standby banana pudding that can raise the dead and heal the lame.  

 

So she pulls out the ingredients and starts to work…vanilla wafers, sugar, vanilla sweetened condensed milk, etc…except the can of sweetened condensed milk was actually evaporated milk.  Rats…first we are trying to do something with the bananas so we don’t waste them, and now we introduce something else we don’t need into the mix.  I couldn’t see wasting the evaporated milk while trying not to waste bananas.

I pulled out my old friend the glorious world wide web (thanks Al Gore!) and searched for a recipe for something sweet and gooey that uses evaporated milk….and I came upon Bonbon Jovis!

Bonbon Jovis

Prep Time: 15 minutes  Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup evaporated low-fat (2 percent) milk
  • 1/2 cup margarine (be sure it’s non-hydrogenated)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa , evaporated milk , and margarine. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla . Add rolled oats , and coconut and mix well. Drop by tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or at room temperature.

To me, these looked a lot like no-bake cookies (no bake fudgies we call them).  They are pretty close in taste to no bake cookies but are excellent at using up extra evaporated milk if you find yourself in such a predicament.  I give them a thumbs up with an additional half-thumb if you get to lick the pan and spoon!

Sprouts!

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We started seeds about 2 weeks ago according to the signs.  Some folks may be naysayers but it seems to work (as do rain dances and adding a little eye of newt to the watering can…don’t be a doubter!).  Anyhow, we found a bunch of sprouts this weekend for just about everything we planted.  This first pass, we were heavy on tomatoes and cabbage though there is more to come!  I know most gardeners feel incredible excitement at the sight of seeds pushing through the dirt, but it can’t possibly compare to how excited I am this year. 

Winter is always a real drag for me so any signs of spring brighten my days and make me do a little garden dance…well really, a big barefoot, hobbit-feet-in-the-dirt garden dance.  Ok, picture this…me..barefoot, hollering and bounding through the dirt, rolling in the compost pile, gliding over the newly furrowed lines in the garden…yeah, that’s me!  Actually, come to think of it, the garden dance is not unlike the dance I do when I get a bee in my beesuit…but that’s a different dance altogether really.

Emily’s granddad always gets the itch pretty early too so we set seeds just as soon as we possibly can…but according to the signs.  He nurses the sprouts every day and talks to them.  We all sort of check on them as much as possible, but these sprouts are his babies. 

It’s a delight to watch him as he hums a tune or looks at the soil, trying to will the first head to pop through the soil.  We’ve all got the garden bug, thanks in great part to him.  Once the sprouts get in the ground, the tough work begins, and Emily and I love to rise to the occasion…but we always think of the simple joy of starting seds in the spring

Oh yeah…and for all of the doubters…here’s proof of spring in the South!

Maple sugar time!

Food, History, Nature, ,


We were in PA this weekend at my childhood home to visit my parents and celebrate my grandpa’s 95th birthday.  We got into all sorts of things with cousins and aunts and uncles, but one of my favorite things we did was help my dad make maple syrup.  Sometime a long time ago, when my brother and I were kids, we decided to make homemade maple syrup.  We lived in the woods and had ample maple trees all around and Dad had made syrup as a kid with his dad so we were set to start tapping our trees.

Sap begins to really flow in the late winter when the days are above freezing but the nights are still cold.  We usually tap trees in early to mid February and pull the taps when the trees begin to bloom (about now this year in PA).  Of course, sap will flow after that but one risks taking too much from the trees I suppose.  Maybe we just got too tired to go on at that point.  Anyhow,  to tap our trees, we would blunt the end of 1/2 inch pvc pipe, drill a hole slightly upward 1.5 or so inches into the tree and pound the tap (aka the pipe) into the hole in the tree.  It sounds pretty ugly I guess, pounding a pipe into a tree, but I promise it isn’t that bad or hard on the tree.

Sap will begin to drip from the pipe almost instantly.  Now when my brother and I were collecting the sap, we had 25 gallon barrels strapped to the side of the tree to collect it.  Well, maybe they weren’t that big but I truly believe some were 5 gallon pails.  I guess it makes sense when one has child labor to do the work.  My brother and I finally unionized.  It got pretty ugly there for awhile…you may have heard of the maple wars of 1983…yeah, that was us.  But we won and now my dad uses 1 gallon milk jugs that he ties to the trees.

We used to save the sap (it was always cool there…like a giant refrigerator) until the weekends.  Every Saturday, we would build an enormous and very hot fire and start the sap cooking.  Dad had a 55 gallon drum that we set on its side.  The lengthwise edge was cut off so we had a large trough in which to boil the sap.  I don’t remember how much we had in a typical week but we always had the barrel very nearly full and we added more as the sap cooked down.  If I recall correctly, 50-60 gallons of sap will cook down into about 1 gallon of syrup.  Wood cooked syrup has a definite maple, but somewhat smokey taste that is pretty awesome.  We saved it in mason jars and it typically lasted all year.

My Dad still taps a few trees each year though, now that the child labor is gone, they are closer to the house and far fewer in number.  He also cooks his sap in a turkey frier over a propane flame.  They used to heat the house with wood too…my brother and I chopped a powerful lot of wood growing up…funny how that changed too.  Anyhow, propane fired syrup has a much more mellow taste and the maple flavor is very pleasant (and wholly unlike the artificial stuff you buy in the stores).


It was such a thrill to once again go maple sugaring and this time, to take the kids along with me.  We tasted the sap, we ate some syrup, and we loved walking in the woods.

Old school

Thoughts

Last weekend I visited my hometown and I decided we needed to check out where I went to school as a kid.  I knew the kids would be delighted to see all the places from my history.  Uh…yeah, right.  But I made them endure anyhow and they played along somewhat.  Anyhow, here is a little trip down my memory lane.  I hope you pay attention at least as much as much as my kids did!


(this ain’t it!)

So…I was always an exceptional child.  I started kindergarten far too early…you know, at age 5…but I didn’t cry.  I rode an old bus for half an hour to Endeavor, PA where I attended the afternoon kindergarten.  Back then, kinddergarten was only half a day and we always took naps…but I never cried…remember that!  Anyhow, there were two elementary schools in Tionesta when I started but all kindergarteners went to Hickory Elementary.  I went there through 3rd grade when they closed the school and sent us all to Tionesta Elementary.  


(this is it!  YIKES!)

The old Hickory school was heated by coal so we were always covered in soot.  My second grade teacher used to call us her “soot babies”.  It was filthy and cold but was also very old and very cool.  I have no idea when the school was built and could find no information on it, but the steps were well worn from all of the foot traffic.  The place had a smell all its own.  Not necessarily a bad smell…but a smell that is locke din my head and associated with the school.  Anyhow, Hickory school was an interesting place.  It was 2 stories tall plus a basement and had 12 foot (?) ceilings so was enormous and fairly imposing…when I first arrived, I had not seen any horror movies, but I instantly knew what horror movies were made of.  We were never allowed to run behind the school for some reason.  I was never tempted though as I knew I surely  would be devoured by whatever it was that lived under the school and made that unusual smell.  But still, it was a great place and I associate much of my time there with fond memories.

 I drove by this weekend and took this picture…it’s a shame how the old place has fallen apart.  I couldn’t find any pictures of the school when I was there so you’ll have to imagine this place in good shape…and how it looked to a 5 year old with an active imagination.

We aim to catch one

Fun


We made a leprechaun trap to leave out for our Irish sprites last night.  You know…we have all sorts of gold laying around here and Abigail was concerned that our loot might get ransacked if we don’t protect it!  It was either the gold or else the fact that the best bait for a leprechaun is shamrock sugar cookies with extra green icing.

Abigail knows that leprechauns are quick and smart and tiny.  They also like shiny stuff and are pretty wary of people.  Apparently they are often full of whiskey too (I might have added that part…sorry to my Irish friends).  We worked hard to keep our construction secret and whispered our plans,  and I finished off all of the Irish whiskey we had laying around as we made her trap.

So, we baked around 25 dozen of the leprechaun bait cookies and set our trap.  I might have eaten a few of the cookies but there were at least 3 cookies left for inside the trap.  We placed it carefully in her room hoping to nab one of the leprechauns.  We know they live around here as they seem to steal socks and Emily’s car keys on a fairly regular basis.  They also nab her sanity now and then too…but that’s another story.

Anyhow, I’ll be darned if that little rascal didn’t take a bite from one of the cookies as if to snub his nose at us.  He made a real mess of Abigail’s bedroom, apparently looking for the gold.  She was so surprised at the mess in her room this morning and ran right away to check her trap.  Apparently we weren’t crafty enough though as there were no leprechauns in our trap!