Bad breaks

The CFO was in Virginia last week for a conference and then she stayed through the weekend so that she could attend a wedding shower for her brother and his bride-to-be.  I had plans to take care of some small projects on Saturday and Sunday, but I didn’t quite plan for how the weekend played out.  Saturday morning started out very productive, I dropped off a pile of old electronics at a recycling event, went to the grocery store, ate a few donuts, and ran a couple other errands.  I got home in time to watch my bulldogs play auburn… and this is where the weekend started to get crazy.

First off, the game was crazy.  The bulldogs played horribly for the first 3 quarters and then woke up at the end of the game.  I'm not even sure why I kept watching it, but I did.  Then the dawgs came charging back and took a one point lead with 1:45 left in the game.  I couldn’t believe that they had managed to pull off such a comeback.  Now, all the defense had to do was stand strong for less than two minutes.  “Come on defense!!!” I yelled at the TV.  And for the first three downs, they did just that.  They actually forced auburn backwards and we had them at 4^th and long, just one more down to hold them…  and then it happened, the Auburn QB hurled a hail Mary pass towards a receiver who had 3 defenders around him. 

One of the bulldog defenders jumped up to intercept the pass and another bulldog defender knocked the ball out of his hands... and up into the air… and… the ball dropped right in front of the auburn receiver who bobbled the ball and then somehow managed to gain control of it and jog into the end zone for a touchdown.   (insert your best slow motion “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Sound here, because that was me yelling at the tv again) That score gave Auburn the lead with less than a minute on the clock.  Georgia did an admirable job of pushing the ball down the field but ran out of time before scoring again.  So close, but no cigar.

As if watching all of that unfold wasn’t enough, I received a text from my sister at the 1:45 mark in the above story, saying that she was at the hospital with our mom, who had fallen and hurt her ankle.  Like any good son, I am always concerned when I hear that one of my parents is in the hospital… but this time I was especially concerned because the CFO and I were supposed to be going on a cruise with my parents in exactly 1 week!  Was this a minor ankle sprain or was it something more?

It turns out that walking to the mailbox is very dangerous, as she managed to BREAK her ankle in two places.  My mind started to quickly evaluate the upcoming cruise trip… lots of walking (on a moving ship), lots trips up and down to different levels of the ship, and relatively small bathrooms and showers… this did not sound good for someone in a cast with a broken ankle.  Worse yet, we were well within the “lose 100% of the money that you paid for the cruise if you don’t go” period because we were only 1 week away from departure.  Oh crap.  I quickly understood why they offer trip insurance, which we have never purchased in the past.  Because, “What are the odds that something happens?” 

I decided to call the Royal Caribbean 800 number to see if there might be an option for us.  Perhaps there was a room with a tub available that they could move mom and dad into.  After a quick summary of what had happened, the phone rep started by checking if there were any handicap rooms or suites with tubs available.  Nope.  She then offered that we could change one person in that room, so Dad could bring someone else on the cruise.  I laughed.  I don’t think that would go over too well with Mom.  I asked if we could change both people, but she said no, at least one original person has to remain in the room.  Strange rule, but OK. 

I then asked if there was a chance that we could reschedule the cruise… She noted that we didn’t have the trip insurance, which didn't help my case.  However, she then noticed that this would be our 4th cruise with their company, so she went ahead and put me on hold so she could talk with someone else about it.  After a few minutes she came back with this offer, “We will give you 24 hours to pick another cruise of equal or greater value that leaves within the next six months and we will transfer 100% of what you paid towards that trip.” 

I’ll honestly say that I was shocked by the offer.  I figured we’d lose 25%-50% of what we paid if they let us move the trip.  It is nice to see that a big company like Royal Caribbean isn’t 100% set in their rules and that they realize that accidents happen. I told her that the offer was more than I could ask for and that we’d check back in with them on Sunday. 

I woke up on Sunday morning to the sound of howling winds.  The online weather info said we had 35 mph sustained winds with gusts up to 50 mph.  I spent most of the morning researching cruise options and found a few options that might work around the CFO's schedule.  Around 11:00 am, it started to get really dark outside and the wind picked up even more speed.  Then the CFO texted saying that the ISU info system had just sent her a tornado warning text.  I turned on the weather channel and they were talking about central Illinois, pointing out several actively rotating storm cells within 45 miles of us.  I spent the next hour watching the TV and looking out the window at a serious line of storms moving across Bloomington, just to our west.

 

Yes, I probably should have gone to the basement, but I’m a bit of a weather junky, so I just stood there and watched the front pass through.  Luckily, we didn’t have any tornados in Blo/No, however Washington, IL, just 30 miles west of us, wasn’t so lucky.  This got me thinking that we really need to enclose a portion of our basement so that we have a safe place to go in the event that we need to take shelter.  Since our basement has 3 big, west facing windows, I don’t think that it is the safest place, but it is our only option right now. 

Then the power went out and stayed out for the next 5 hours.  I spent the afternoon on the phone sorting out the details of rescheduling our trip… which eventually sent me out into the garage so that I could plug my phone into one of our cars so it could recharge.  Note to self:  If the weather predictions say a storm is coming, make sure that your cell phone is charged!

This is a photo of a neighborhood in Washington, IL, just 30 miles from our town, after a tornado on Sunday...  Scary.

Happy Veteran's Day

A few weeks ago, the wind snapped the metal flag holder that I had attached to one of the columns on the front of our house.  It wasn't a huge priority at the time, so I didn't worry too much about it.  Fixing it finally pushed it's way to the top of my to-do list last weekend since today is Veteran's Day.  I had to be able to put our flag out on Veteran's Day!

I picked up a new mount Saturday night and planned on installing it on Sunday. As is typical on weekends, we got busy finishing other projects (things that had to be completed before the CFO heads out of town again) and I didn't get around to installing the mount until the sun was starting to  drop below the horizon Sunday evening.  The loss of daylight savings time sucks... I do not like it getting dark at 5 pm! 

Of course a simple task of undoing four screws and replacing the old with the new wasn't going to be that easy.  After taking off the old mount, I realized that the screws that came with the new one were smaller in diameter than the ones that I used on our old mount, so they wouldn't tighten up in the existing holes.  No problem, I thought, I'll just use the old screws.  Wrong... The new base plate is thicker than the old one, so the screws that I had used before were too short for the new base.  Seriously?  I quickly sorted through my container of extra screws and found that I didn't have 4 that were the right size with matching heads on them.  Of course the screw heads had to match, even if no one else would probably ever notice if they didn't.  I would know and it would drive me crazy. 

In need of new screws, I decided that it was time to run to make an evening run to Lowes.  I hopped in the Miata and dropped the top, even though it was below 40 degrees outside.  I got a lot of strange looks driving around with the top down when it is "cold" outside, but it isn't too bad with a hat on and the heater on full blast.  Not to mention that winter is closing in and I'll have to put the Miata away for the winter.  After returning home with the proper screws, I put on my headlight and finished attaching the new flag holder in the dark.  Mission accomplished.

Since today is Veteran's Day, I thought that I would mix it up by posting a couple pictures of the ship that my dad was on when he was in the Navy (images borrowed from the ship's website, a link is provided below).  He was on the USS Horne DLG-30/CG-30, a ship that was commissioned in April of 1967 (my dad was part of the original crew) and decommissioned in 1993.

Here is a shot from the commissioning ceremony, dad should be in there somewhere:

 

And here she is sitting in San Diego Bay, where the CFO and I were last week (we drove over the bridge in the background)

And here is a random crew photo from the website that just happens to have dad in it (in the back, in case you don't notice the resemblance):

 

The heading under the photo said that they were "punching tubes" in the boiler, so I did a little bit of googling to see what exactly that meant.  I found this explanation on the website for the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt:

 

Cleaning watersides required draining the boiler, isolating it from the rest of the steam plant (with two valve security, chained and locked) and then climbing into the big water drum and “punching tubes.” It is not for the claustrophobic or even the faint of heart.

 

“Punching tubes” means putting a circular wire brush driven by an air rotor down each tube as far as the apparatus would reach. It was dusty, dirty work and the sound was reminiscent of a visit to the dentist.

 

That does not sound like fun...

 

After being decommissioned in 1993, the Horne went into storage until 2008, when she was used as a target during a training operation. After sustaining multiple missile strikes, she eventually sank to her final resting place, 3 miles deep at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. There is a video of the missiles hitting the ship here: http://youtu.be/jCkf3ogkFxo  

 

If you are interested in reading more of the history of the Horne or want to look at more photos of the ship and crew, the ship's website is: USS Horne

Happy Veteran's Day!  Thanks to all of the veterans out there.

I "heart" S D

After many months of being stuck within the borders of Illinois, I was finally able to get away for a long weekend.  The CFO left Thursday morning to attend a conference in San Diego and I flew out Saturday morning to meet her.  

I much prefer to see snow out the window of an airplane than in our yard!

The CFO was presenting research with one of her co-workers on Saturday morning, so I was on my own to do as I please.  The UGA/FL football game was scheduled to start shortly after my arrival, so I hurriedly picked up our rental car, swung through the In-N-Out Burger drive thru for a tasty lunch and high tailed it to the hotel.  I missed the first 8 minutes of the football game, but was able to watch the remainder of the game while enjoying a burger and fries.  I hope there wasn't anyone staying in the adjacent rooms during the game, as I did a little bit of my usual yelling at the TV when my Dawgs tried to give away the game in the third quarter.  Luckily, they were able to hang on for the win!

I wish this company would expand to the midwest, their burgers are so good!  We probably would have never stopped here if a friend of mine hadn't suggested it.  Now we are addicted and look for them when ever we are on the left coast.

On Sunday morning, we got in the rental car and headed north along the Pacific Coast Highway to La Jolla.  We ate a delicious breakfast on the porch of the Brockton Villa Restaurant that overlooks the bay.  This has become one of our favorite spots and we have gone there for breakfast all 3 times that we have been in the area.  The CFO loves their fresh squeezed orange juice and the sweet bread basket and I always order their “Coast Toast” French toast.

The CFO enjoying the views of La Jolla

 

After we ate, we drove to the glider port north of La Jolla, hoping to watch hand gliders jump off the cliff and fly out over the ocean.  I guess that we got there too early, as there wasn't a glider to be seen.  We decided to continue north and ended up stopping in Encinitas to browse some stores and check out the beach.  While on our way to the beach, we found a modern house for sale that we both liked.  However, we were quickly disappointed when I found the listing on my phone… the  price was $2.8 million.  Even with the income from the rentable attached guest house, it would be difficult to come up with the $11,000 per month estimated mortgage.  Ouch!  Not to mention that if I’m going to spend 2.8 million on a house, I would hope that it would be on some acreage, not a postage stamp lot (albeit a postage stamp that was 1 block away from the beach!).

In case you are interested, here is the link with more photos:  House

One of the shop owners that we talked to told us that there was an art festival further north in Carlsbad, so we continued along the PCH until we found the festival.  Even though the festival covered at least 10-15 blocks, we didn’t find anything that caught our eye… it was more of a random stuff that we could live without show than an art show. After that, we headed back towards San Diego, stopping at In-N-Out for lunch (two days in a row for me!) and a few small stores along the way.

Of course I had to take a photo of a miata with a surf board riding shotgun.

 

On Monday morning we ate breakfast on the roof of the hotel before heading west across the bay bridge to Coronado Island.  Unfortunately, the morning started out a little cool and overcast (yet still better than Illinois weather!)

The view from the breakfast terrace on top of our hotel.

We spent the morning on Coronado walking along the beach and sitting on a bench while naval ships sailed in and out of the bay.  It is interesting to see the naval base where my dad was stationed when he was in the navy...  We also roamed around the shops at the Hotel Del Coronado, a place that the CFO would like to stay, but doesn't fit our current budget.  They have some beach front villas with fire pits on patios that overlook the beach and she thinks that would be a nice place to spend a few days… keep dreaming I say!  We spent the rest of the day roaming the island and downtown San Diego.

The CFO all bundled up in front of the Hotel Del Coronado.

We flew back home at noon on Tuesday, arriving home around 8pm… leaving just enough time to go to Moe’s for “Two Taco Tuesday” before they closed for the night.  Then it was back to work on Wednesday… it was a quick trip, but well worth it. 

While we were out roaming the stores in San Diego, I kept seeing this shirt: 

 

 

After seeing it a few times, I pointed to it and told the CFO that she needed this shirt.  She looked at me funny for a second and then it clicked... while the SD implied San Diego, my initials just happen to be S.D. too...  Sadly, she still didn't buy one...