Pimp my ride… or bucket?

I wrote this o. Tuesday, but forgot to post it:

Only one more week until the college football season kicks off!  It seems like the football-less run from January to September takes forever and then the season flies by once it starts.  We’ve been hunting for reasonably priced UGA at Missouri tickets, but have been unsuccessful thus far.  People seem to think that doubling the face value is reasonable!  I definitely do not think so.

Last weekend we went to Champaign, IL for an arts show and to roam through some of the shops there.  We bought an abstract painting that was done by an art teacher who was there, but not much else.  We also test drove a Mazda CX-5 for the second time, basically to reaffirm our opinion on the vehicle.  We drove one a few months ago and we both questioned the transmission’s performance.  After reading several positive reviews by automotive magazines, we decided to give it one more chance.  Perhaps we were missing something in our initial drive. We really liked the way the CX-5 looks, but the way it drives is most important since we keep our cars for 10+ years.  After the second drive, our initial feelings were confirmed and the CX-5 was, unfortunately, struck from the list.

As usual, I also spent some time in the yard pulling weeds, my never ending conquest.  Thank goodness for my iPhone and headphones… at least I’m entertained while I work.  When I pull weeds, I use 3 basic tools: a trowel, a set of pruners, and a 5 gallon bucket from Menards.  The problem that I’ve been running into is that I can’t keep the hand tools in the bucket as I fill it with the weeds that I’m pulling.  I don’t like having to dig through the weeds to find them.  That forces me to set the tools on the ground, which I then slowly move away from as I work and then when I need one of them again, I’m halfway across the yard.  It definitely is not the end of the world or very important, but it is frustrating none the less.

I have been kicking around ideas to fix this issue and was considering one of those fabric tool holders that hang on the buckets, but I’m not sure they are durable enough for what I am doing.  I entered into “Martha Stewart” mode on Sunday and added my own tool holder to the side of my bucket.  I butchered up a plastic pot that a plant came in, heated it up to bend it and attached it to the bucket with some rivets.  It isn’t the most beautiful thing, but it will get the job done for me. 

This coming weekend is the "Sweet Corn and Blues" fesitval in Normal, IL.  This event always has the best tasting corn, hopefully this year doesn't disappoint. 

olympic withdrawals

The CFO flew back to town on Friday and we had a nice quiet weekend of running errands, cleaning up around the house, yard work and watching the Olympics. I’m 99% sure that she was glad that she was out of town for a majority of the Olympics, as I had it on the tv all weekend. Between the mountain biking, track and field and other events, I was more than willing to let time pass by while I sat on the couch. However, I didn’t give the closing ceremony much attention, as it seemed way over the top and I didn’t need to watch all the summaries of what had happened during the past two weeks.

I am sure that I'll be suffering from some Olympic withdrawals this week, but at least I have professional football to fall back on.  Besides, I need to start studying up for the fantasy football draft on labor day weekend.

Outside, the high temperatures finally receded a bit over the weekend and we were able to eat a majority of our meals out on the deck and enjoy the peaceful backyard. We shared this time in the yard with a variety of birds, who are all consuming the seeds from our purple cone flowers and the sunflowers. A pair of brightly colored Gold Finches really caught my eye and made me grab my camera. However, my  zoom isn’t long enough and every time I slowly approached them, they flew off. After several attempts, this is the best photo I could get:

While I was out stalking birds, I also snapped a few pictures of the remaining flowers in the yard. The yard, as a whole is still is a work in progress and not very photogenic, but the individual plants were worth a few photos.

Home alone (again)

I’ve managed to survive another 'solo' week in IL while the CFO travels the east coast with her family… of course, I am pretty self-sufficient and able to cook and take care of myself, so it isn't a big deal.  A lot of our neighbors are jealous of her ability to up and leave due to her work schedule… I guess all that education was worthwhile after all. She returns tomorrow, just in time for the nicest weekend, weather wise, that we've had all summer. They are saying the highs will only be in the high seventies to low eighties. That definitely sounds good to me.


The last week was pretty uneventful… I watched the olympics, played a little golf, watched more olympics, practiced golf at the driving range, watched more olympics, pulled weeds out of my native grass plantings, watched more olympics, harvested vegetables, watched more olympics, and went for a couple bicycle rides.  I followed all of that up with watching more olympics... I told you I was addicted. I thought about tackling a garage project, bought the wood for it and then ran out of motivation because it was so darn hot out in the garage (and the olympics were on). I opened up the doors in the evening to cool the place off, but couldn’t turn on the lights due to them attracting insects. Since I can't work out there in the dark, this has sparked a new project idea that involves a fan in the ceiling to suck out the hot air and draw in some cooler, evening air from the window.  Maybe I'll tackle this later, after the olympics.

As always, I’m full of project ideas, if only I could come up with an idea that would be of interest to millions of people so we could benefit financially from it! I’m continuing to consider the idea of going back to school for a masters. I think I have ruled out getting a masters in Landscape Architecture since it would keep me pigeon holed in my current profession. If I can get accepted to an online program so that I can continue to work during the day, I might just go for an MPA or MBA.  I just can't seem to decide which would be better for me... The Masters in Public Admin would be beneficial for government/non-profit jobs and the Masters in Business Admin would be better for private sector work. It would definitely help if I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up!  The other thing that bothers me about going back to school is that I would be 38-39 years old when I graduate, which seems really old to be graduating and looking for an “intro” level job in a new field. I guess it is better than the current mental suffering, though.

I’ll leave you with this photo, which I took in our yard as the sun was rising… I had to get up at 4:45 to take the CFO to the airport and then headed out to the garden to water as the sun was coming up over the horizon.

Photography: another thing that I enjoy, but don’t see a realistic way to make any money off of it.

summer 2012

If you need me over the next few weeks, you'll be able to find me sitting on my @$$ watching the Olympics.  I don't know why, but I just can't stop watching it.  I'll watch just about any of the sports, it doesn't really matter.

Last weekend, Karen and I made a quick beach trip....  in Indiana.  Yes, it was a great lake instead of the ocean, but it has a sandy beach, water as far as you can see and waves (not really tall, though) so I'm counting it as a beach trip.  On Saturday, we went to the Indiana Dunes State Park and the beach was packed, full of families enjoying a hot (90 degree+) summer day.  On Sunday, we went to the adjacent Indiana Dunes National Park.  We got to the National Park at about 9:00 am and beat a lot of the crowd.  We walked the beach, hiked up some of the dunes, and stood in the water.  Here are a couple photos from that trip:

The view from the top of one of the dunes, all the trees you see are growing in sand, which is pretty amazing considering the wind that comes off the lake.  The tall dunes were over 130+ feet above the water level.

Beach level view, with a steel mill's smoke stacks visible in the distance.  It looks just like the ocean!

Me enjoying the waves.

And, the CFO found a cupcake shop (her favorite), so we split a "Big Texas" chocolate cupcake with a chocolate cream in the middle, chocolate frosting with chocolate chips on top. 

Unfortunately, the big city to the north of us made some news this week when a council member targeted my favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-a.  Several people have brought up the topic to me and it is definitely getting me wound up a bit.  Everyone knows that company is, and always has been, a Chirstian, religious based company.  Hence the fact that they are closed on Sundays and many locations play Christian music inside the restaurant.  Based on the fact that we know it is a southern, faith based, privately owned company, are we really surprised that the owner said what he said?  I sure wasn't.  I'm pretty surprised that it is creating such a stir.

Do I agree with his opinion?  No.  I have many gay friends and I totally support them being able to get married, adopt kids, share benefits, etc.  What ever makes them happy.  While I do disagree with his position, I'm still going to eat there.  Why?  Because they sell a great product, they put a lot of their young employees through college with scholarships and they allow their employees to be off on Sunday for church and/or family time.  They could make a ton of money if they were open on Sundays (I, for one, always seemed to crave it the most on Sundays), but they are following their values and are sticking to them.  I am not sure when believing in your religion suddenly became such a negative thing and makes you a huge target. I don't think this is a good thing.

 If you disagree with him and feel like you need to make a statement, then don't eat there.  Go get a crappy chicken sandwich at McDonalds instead.
Do I think his statement is something that a city can use as a reason not to grant a business a permit? Absolutely not. It is totally, 100% anti-religious, against our right to free speech and it isn't the American way.  Allowing them to reject a permit based on this would be a huge step backwards and would open the door to other opinions becoming factors.  If they do reject a permit, I expect that it would get overturned in a court of law. 

Based on my personal experience on helping businesses get  building permits, I don't think the city of Chicago can keep them from getting a permit based on this.  It isn't like there is a series of check boxes on the application for your business's opinion on gay marriage, guns, the death penalty, ObamaCare, etc.  That would be ridiculous.  If someone can afford to, and wants to, open a business then the government shouldn't stop them.  If they get enough traffic, they will stay in business.  If they don't have a great product or piss off everyone, they won't make any money and will close down.  Welcome to the free market, the basis of what made the USA what it is today.

After all the bad press, I guarantee you that the council is wishing this issue would just disappear.  If they do reject the next permit for a Chick-fil-a, they will try to say it is because of "traffic" or some other Bull-$hit excuse, but we'll all know the real reason.  

Just Say No

Hello all, I hope this post finds you well. There wasn’t much going on in Blo-No this week, so I don’t have too much to report…. Since I spiraled down a hole of self-pity last week, I’ll try to spare you and stick to the facts this time. How about this crazy weather? It has been hotter and dryer up here than back home in Georgia. This is not the way this relocation was supposed to go. I was supposed to be able to look at the summer temps in Georgia  and laugh, being grateful for the moderate temps and nice breeze…


The high temps and lack of rain has all of the farmers concerned about their crops and, judging by my small planting of corn, I can see why. Some of my corn is less than 24” tall, but it is tasselling anyway. Who knows if we will get any ears out of this planting or not. Even the sweet corn that we’ve bought at the farmer’s market hasn’t been nearly as good as it was the previous two years. The rest of our veggies are still doing well and we’re continuing to harvest more than the two of us can consume. In fact, I just picked two zucchinis and a cucumber this morning while I was watering.

Last Saturday evening, we went to a country music concert at the Corn Crib (the baseball stadium) and had a good time. The area was hit by a big rain storm about an hour before the concert, but it blew through by the time we found a parking space and got ready to walk to our seats. The good news is that the storm cooled the temps down into the low 70’s, which was perfect for an outdoor show. Of course, that meant that the CFO was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt… I swear that there is something wrong with her internal thermostat!

The “people watching” at the concert was particularly entertaining, as we had seats on the isle that everyone with floor tickets had to walk down. I really wish that I had the nerve to take pictures of total strangers, this blog post would be WAY more entertaining for you if I did. The movie title, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” would definitely apply to what we saw. The Good: My wife (of course) and some of the college students/young professionals. The Bad: some crazy hairy biker dudes and Larry the Cable Guy look-a-likes. The Ugly: well, just keep reading…

I’m no fashionesta, but there were a few instances where I really wanted to stand up and exclaim, “Just because you can squeeze (vacuum pack?) yourself into it, doesn’t mean that you should wear it.” It is a known fact that Americans, on average, are getting fatter. Not that I’m calling any of you fat, I’m just saying on average our society is getting a bit plump. Evidently some people just aren’t willing to accept that fact.

I am sure that, in everyone’s mind, we all know where the limits are. Unfortunately, some people decide to ignore them… I’m not quite sure how these people don’t realize that they crossed the line about 10 sizes ago, but they do.  Is what I'm saying unfair and somewhat discriminating? Yes it is. Does it promote a healthy figure? Yes it does. (by the way, I don’t understand why promoting a healthy, in shape figure has recently been so heavily demonized by the media, but thats a rant for another day)

Heck, even I know, and accept, the fact that there are limits that apply to me. For example: I don’t walk around outside without a shirt on; for fear that the glare of the sun reflecting off my pale skin might blind an oncoming driver, causing an accident. I fully understand my personal situation (redhead with pale skin), therefore I dress accordingly by wearing a shirt. I also know that I don’t have muscular, “gun show” arms; therefore I don’t wear tank tops or sleeveless shirts. Easy enough, right? Do I ever wish that I was tanner and more muscular so that I could strut around at concerts shirtless, showing off my “guns” and tattoos? Of course I do, but what guy doesn’t? (laughing) However, I accept the fact that, unless I seriously hit the gym and the spray tan booth, I shouldn't do it.   

In order to stop this issue before it becomes an epidemic, I have decided that it is time for us to bring back an old anti-drug slogan: Just Say No. If the person dressing themselves won’t think their outfit through all the way, then I believe that it is the duty of their friends/husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/parents/siblings/grandparents/children/pets to save the rest of us from having to look at their muffin top and rolls.  We really, really, REALLY don’t want to see them, so please, Just Say No.

Is it going to be an awkward conversation? Probably. Will there be tears and hurt feelings? Maybe. Just remember, this is for the greater good of the general public. Besides, deep inside these people already know that they shouldn't be wearing it, they just need confirmation.  From this point forward, anyone who sees a friend preparing to go out in something that they probably shouldn’t is responsible for stopping the atrocity before it happens. It is up to you America, Just Say No!

I must also add that this also applies to older people who still try to dress like they are teenagers. No grandma, we really don’t want to see you in those short jogging shorts and a tube top. Sorry, but we really, don’t.  Unfortunately, there comes a time in everyone's life when you just have to hang up the short shorts.

I can only hope that this catches on before we go on our cruise this fall, please, spread the word!

AHHH… so much for not going off on a random tangent, sometimes I just can’t help it.

Work & Family

Over the fourth of july holiday, my sister +family and my mom visited us… our house is normally very quiet, except for the TV or radio that I typically have on, so it was been a big change to have two young children running through the house.
For those of you who always seem to be hoping that experiences like this might change my “kid free” life plan, I’m sorry to say that it has not. My nephews are good kids, but I still don’t see the appeal in being a parental unit. Sorry. Luckily, there are plenty of other people willing to populate the planet, so, in the grand scheme of things, this choice isn’t a big deal… Plus, I’m saving some poor kid from the possibility of growing up as a redhead. Why subject someone to that? Speaking of people with big families, Karen and I saw this horrific sight in the Moe’s parking lot Monday night. Can you imagine? This will haunt me for a while…

With the kids around, especially the super smart 6 year old, I did take notice of how they look at things differently than adults do and it made me wish that I could remember what I was thinking about back then. Unfortunately, my memory is crap and I can barely recall what we had for dinner last night (actually, it was chicken casserole with green beans from the garden). More specifically, I wish I could remember more about what I wanted to be when I grew up and compare that to where I am now. I know that my parents say that, when I was little, I always wanted to drive a garbage truck. Big aspirations, I know. Sometime around high school, that changed to wanting to be a Landscape Architect. It was a fairly unusual profession selection, but since a family friend was an LA and I liked a lot of aspects of the field (design, plants, being outside, etc.), it made sense.
I followed that “dream” through a college degree in Landscape Architecture and I’m closing in on the 13 year anniversary of graduating from UGA. I can’t honestly remember what I imagined my career would be like at this point, but I am 100% sure that I’m not where I thought I would be. Over those 13 years, I have been fortunate enough to work on some interesting projects but now I feel like I’m in a bit of a professional funk. My current position isn’t exactly ideal and the job market around here hasn’t been very fruitful. The only thing that is keeping me halfway motivated at this point is the professional development work that I’ve been doing. I’ve gone to two conferences that reminded me about what is cool about this profession, but then I return to work and realize that what I’m doing isn’t what I want to do.
It is official, I’m in a professional “midlife crisis” or perhaps a more friendly title would be “a professional crossroads.”
Do I keep slogging through where I am now, hoping it improves and/or something better comes down the line, or do I jump ship to venture out into another realm and basically start over? 36 doesn’t seem like it is too old to start over, but is that wise? If I did start over, what the hell would I do??? I had a 9 month foray into auto sales right after we moved up here, and, while I enjoyed parts of it (and was salesman of the month twice), I don’t see that as a career I’m willing to commit to for the next 20+ years.
So, where does this leave me? Maybe I should go to my original plan of being a garbage truck driver?! I drove a bus while in college, so why not? Realistically, I know that neither of those would tap into my potential, so let’s rule them out for now.
The CFO suggested going back to school to get my masters in LA, so that I could be a professor too. That sounds like an interesting idea, until you look at college prices… Then you add in the fact that it would be nearly impossible to find two teaching jobs close together geographically. I don’t think that is realistic.
I could go back and get a teaching certificate and teach younger kids, but part of me would consider that only because of the schedule. It would be nice to be off when the CFO is off, that way we could spend more time traveling. It’s kind of like my own little version of the movie “Bad Teacher,” where the main character proclaims, “I thought that I was doing it (teaching) for all the right reasons. Shorter hours, summers off, no accountability…”
Other ideas that have come up are getting a paralegal certificate, applying at the insurance company that has a huge presence in the area, or possibly something in the medical field… but, I’m not sure I could handle being around blood and stuff, so that is off the table for now.
Enough of that for now… In other news, while our grass is brown, dry and crispy, or garden has been doing pretty well. We’ve collected several pounds of green beans, and probably 9-10 each of zucchinis and squashes. We’ve made several batches of zucchini bread and probably should make another batch tonight. We’ve also started giving stuff away because the two of us can’t eat it all. My corn is suffering pretty badly, so I’m not expecting much out of it. The tomatoes have had some blossom end rot, probably from inconsistent watering, so I’m trying to be more methodical about watering. I’m also mentally designing a drip irrigation system for next year.

With the sudden inundation of veggies, we’re starting to experiment with other ways of preparing them. My favorite so far came from good ol’ Paula Deen: fried green beans. They were very tasty, but I’m sure the frying negated any health benefit. We also fried some squash medallions that were almost as good as the green beans. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

This picture didn't do the frying justice, for some reason the green really shows up in the photo.

Games & Hiking

I wrote this last week, but forgot to post it...  better late than never!

Another weekend has flown past and the month of June is about to pass us by… where do the days go?  Saturday morning and afternoon were a whirlwind of running errands, grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning in preparation for some friends coming to the house for dinner.  I fired up the trusty kitchen aid mixer and made some garlic bread dough (from scratch, of course) and Karen made lasagna with meat and zucchini in it.  I continued my battle against the weeds in the yard and constructed a stack of wood in the fire pit for lighting after dinner.  I also harvested our first veggies out of the garden, I came inside with a decent pile of green beans.

Our friends came over Saturday evening and we dined on fresh baked bread, lasagna, salad and laughter.  After dinner, the laughter continued as we played a few games and sampled a few different bottles of adult beverages (local beers from Wisconsin breweries and a couple different Moscato wines).  The local beers didn’t alter my general dislike of beer, but the wines weren’t too bad… I definitely seem to prefer the sweet stuff to the bitter/tart bite that most wines have.  After the sun set, we set fire to the wood pile and sat around the fire roasting marshmallows.  I continue to be amazed by how many adults have not had smoores before…  I guess everyone didn’t grow up camping and came fires like I did.  We did them in the traditional graham cracker and chocolate style, next time I’ll introduce them to my way of doing it:  Roasted marshmallow between two soft bake chocolate chip cookies.  That is way better than the graham crackers.

On Sunday morning, we decided to hop in the car and head north to the banks of the Illinois River.  Our friends had told us about a couple parks there, so we went up to Starved Rock state park and walked around a bit.  The place was packed with people, but the further we walked away from the parking lot, the less people we saw.  It was nice to see an area of trees and walk on a trail with some grade change; however I got a good laugh when I found out that the “high point” was only 125 feet above the river.  I couldn’t help but think that it was tiny when compared to the Tallulah gorge in Georgia that is almost 10x as high.  Snarky “this isn’t very tall” comments aside, it was nice to see the river and walk around in the trees.  Evidently this area has a lot of bald eagles in the winter time, so we might have to do a fall/winter visit and see if we can spot some eagles.

 A barge waiting to go through the lock at a dam across the river.  There are a series of 8 locks that must be navigated in order to go from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river, which can be taken down to the gulf of Mexico.  Sounds like an interesting road... errr make that "Boat Trip." 

A view of Starved Rock, a high point where a group of indians retreated to for safety after being attacked by another tribe, but were surrounded and held there until they eventually died from starvation (hence the name Starved Rock).

I’m still suffering from the rib/chest injury that I sustained while playing paintball two weekends ago… I still wince every time that I sneeze, lay down or sit up or try to do too much with my left arm.  I am almost ready to go to a doctor to see if it is something more major than my “self diagnosis” of bruised ribs, but I’m pretty sure that will just be a waste of time and money.  Past experience with rib issues showed me that there isn’t much a doctor can do for rib injuries, other than to lighten your wallet a little.  I’m not convinced a lighter wallet will help my situation, so I might just stick it out another week.  I’m going a little stir crazy though, as I haven’t hit golf balls since it happened and I’m missing that.  Looks like I’m officially hooked on the sport of golf.