Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Planning...

I have had the past two days off. I had three days of vacation I needed to use prior to the close of business on 24 December. Thus, I have had plenty of time to plan the menus for the next few days as well as to procure the items I need to make the meals I plan to make over the course of the next few days. I was fortunate to have the ability to takes these days off as I have been able to purchase everything I need for our Christmas Eve and Christmas Night. Tomorrow, I will drive Deirdre to work, pick up a fresh loaf of bred and wait for her day to end at noon. I will pick her up and then we are having lunch here.

Life is good here in the Enchanted Mitten, just East of the Equator.

Christmas came a little early for us

So, there I was, wandering around D&W picking up the food we need for the next couple of days when my cell phone rings. Pam, our loan officer from NFCU, called me to let me know that the appraisal recently done on the cottage we are hoping to purchase had been sent from underwriting to the mortgage department. The appraised value of the property is $11K more than the purchase price and no repairs are needed prior to closing. This is fantastic news as now we can set a closing date. Yep, Christmas came early for us this year!

Amateurs discuss tactics...

... professionals discuss logistics. I am off the clock with the General until 4 January, 2010, so I am back to being a house husband. Today, I am driving Deirdre to work, then I will be a busy little shopper. Updates to follow as conditions warrant.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Cottage inspection and pulltabs at the VFW

Well, this was quite a day for us here just east of the equator. Deirdre and I dropped Samson off at Whiskers a little after 7AM and he was howling with excitement when pulled into the parking lot. We handed him off to the able and capable Amber and Samson never looked back at us. We went back home to get clean, dress and then we hit the road for Oscoda at 8:30AM.

The drive east from Grand Rapids was a little sporty. We were hammered with over a foot of snot the past 24 hours and then the temperature dropped to the mid-teens. So we were driving over packed snow and ice until we were just west of Lansing. The I-69 was pretty clear and by the time we got to I-75 there was hardly any snow on the ground.

We arrived in Oscoda at 1:30PM, checked into our hotel and met with our realtor at 2:30PM. We left her office a little while later and arrived at the cottage at 3PM. Our home inspector, Dave, showed up a few minutes later and he went right to work. This cottage was a lot older than the first one we tried to buy but after his inspection Dave was happy to report that he had no major findings of problems. There are a few little things we will need to do once the weather gets warmer, but this cottage is in great shape and we will now order an appraisal so we can move forward with purchasing the property.

We got back to our hotel around 6PM and relaxed for a while and then we headed to Tait's Bill of Fare for dinner. We enjoyed a meal at a truly local place and then headed over to the VFW for a pint of Killian's Red and some pull tabs.

For those who are not familiar with pull tabs, they are sort of like an instant lottery ticket issued by the Michigan Lottery Commission that is sold by private clubs as a fund raiser. They are called pull tabs because in order to see if you won, you pull tabs off of the back of the ticket. I bought $10 of pull tabs, and we promptly won $10. I took the $10 we won to buy ten dollars worth of more pull tabs. Here is where things got interesting. From the $10 of "new" pull tabs we bought, there was a $100 winning pull tab! We also won an additional $3, so I bought more pull tabs. I regret to report that those last $3 of pull tabs did not have a winner. I am, however, happy to report that at the end of the evening we are $90 in the plus because of my $100 winner. An image of my winning ticket can be seen to the right of this text.

We are thrilled with the possibilities of this cottage. The home inspection found no issues with the property, so now all we need is for the appraisal of the value of the cottage to be at least as much as the purchase price. I am optimistic that this will be the case and that we will be able to close on the cottage sometime in January.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

We have a sales contract

I am happy to report that we have a signed sales agreement for the cottage we put an offer on at the end of last month. Details to follow, soon, but it looks like we will soon close on a cottage on Lake Huron.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

22 November, 1985


Hard to believe, but it was 24 years ago today I was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy. At the time, I thought that I would serve for 4 or 5 years and then get a "real job." Well, that truth sort of changed and 17 PCS moves, 6 ships and 22 years later I retired from the Navy. I was reflecting on the passing of time since my "retirement" from the Navy as it has been two years this month. It is finally sinking the Navy part of my life is over and my second career with General Electric is well underway.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Cottage Redux

Yesterday, Deirdre and I dropped Samson off at Whiskers for a few days of R&R while we headed to Oscoda to look at another cottage. We saw the cottage at 3PM on Thursday afternoon, and we asked Missy to schedule another viewing for us today at 1oAM. The viewing today was to confirm whether or not we wanted to make an offer on the property. We spent about 30 minutes at the property and we decided to make an offer. We went back to Heritage House Realty and with Missy's help we made a formal offer to the sellers. Now, all we can do is wait for their response. Updates to follow as this develops.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

GOTCHA DAY

Today is what we call "Gotcha Day." Two years ago today, we brought home a frightened and skittish dog named Danson. He was a German Shepherd Dog, who had been abandoned by his first family, and found living in a park just south of Grand Rapids. We brought him home and the first few days were quite a challenge. He was fearful, food aggressive and afraid of pretty much anything we did. Deirdre and I did not like his name, so we started to call him Samson and within a few weeks he was responding to that name. Thankfully, I was taking some time off between my Navy career and my next career with GE Aviation, so I had time to work with and train Samson. After about 4 months, something clicked with Samson and he became a sweet and lovable companion dog who is nothing but 95lbs of fur and love. Samson likes nothing more than to curl up on the couch for a canoodle with whomever will rub his belly for a while.

Our sweet and gentle Allie, who left us soon after I got home from the Navy, allowed us to be able to adopt Samson and work with him to bring out the good dog that was hidden inside. As I type this, Samson is chewing on a Nyl-a-bone at my side on the sofa. Yes, Samson is a good dog.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veterans Day


Today marks my third Veterans Day since I became one. I am amazed at how many thoughtful notes I received from civilian friends thanking me for my service. As the days have gone by since I retired from the Navy, the sacrifices I made fade from my memory, but I do know I made a lot of them in my career. Looking back, I would not have done it any other way. I appreciate all the kind thoughts and words to me this Veterans Day.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS ABOUT THE COTTAGE

As previously mentioned, we had the cottage inspected by a licensed home inspector last Friday. He found a few minor problems, as well as two major ones. The two major ones were that the electrical system was not properly grounded and that there was an issue with the water pressure from the well. We told the listing agent that all items discovered in the course of the home inspection needed to be addressed and corrected before closing. We communicated the results of the inspection to the listing agent on Monday morning.

Apparently, the listing agent did not understand what I meant when I told him last Friday, twice, "All items identified during the inspection must be addressed and corrected before closing." On Tuesday, the listing agent gave us a counter offer, that we would amend the purchase contract such that we would accept the property "as is" and the sellers would take $2,000 off the price. We communicated, again, that was unacceptable as we could not secure financing unless everything in the inspection report was fixed before closing. The sellers seemed to understand that this was non-negotiable, and on Friday they had an electrical contractor and a well digging company come out and give them estimates to fix the electrical system and the well. The electrical contractor gave the sellers and estimate of $1,200 to bring the electrical system up to code. A little pricey, I thought, but still not outrageous. The real issue became the well. Tait's Well Service inspected the well and on Friday afternoon I received a phone call from Mr. Tait himself and he told me the following:

1) The well is a 1 1/4" hand dug well and it is only 20 feet deep.
2) The current well is not deep enough to be up to code and cannot be brought up to code because of the geology of the property.
3) Drilling a new well would require someone from the county health department to locate a suitable place to drill because at best the water would be labeled as non-potable (not drinkable).

Mr. Tait told me that because of the geology of that area, all wells would be between 11-20 feet deep, which is too shallow for code and tends to have a lot of mineral and ferrous salts. Wells cannot be dug deeper because the water at the required code depth is brackish and not fit for drinking.

Bottom line: The well is not up to code and cannot be brought up to code. Because of this finding, we have rescinded our offer to purchase this property as allowed under the "Home Inspection" paragraph of the sales contract.

During the inspection, I wondered why there was so much iron staining in the tub in the bathroom and the kitchen sink and now I know. The water coming up from their well had ferrous salts in it because the water from the well was so close to the surface. Also, their shallow well explains why they had a reverse osmosis unit under their kitchen sink. They most likely did not drink the water out of the tap, rather they used the water that had been put through the reverse osmosis unit to purify it. When I was in the Navy, one of my ships used a large scale reserve osmosis (RO) unit to turn salt water into fresh water. It never occurred to me that the RO unit the sellers had installed was needed to purify the water from their well.

While we are disappointed that this deal did not happen, but there is another place out there for us. We just have to find it.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Cottage Update

In the course of the inspection on Friday last, there were a few issues identified by our home inspector. There are about 10 items that need to be addressed and corrected before we can close on the property, per our lender's requirements.

When we were at the cottage, the listing agent (call him "Ed" to protect the innocent and the guilty) was present and to be frank, he was depriving a village of an idiot. He argued with our inspector, until he hit the last nerve of the inspector who told him, "Ed, back off. Let me do my job and stay out of my way." After that comment from our inspector, Ed then started talking to us. He said to me, "So, what will need to be repaired after the inspection? This cottage is in perfect shape!" I said to him, "Ed, everything identified in the inspection will need to be addressed and corrected. My mortgage company will not fund the loan unless all items identified in this inspection are addressed and corrected." Ed bantered on for a while about the fishing in Lake Huron, asking me, "So, are you a fisherman?" I said "No, Ed I am not." He responded, "Well, the fish were down for a while, but they are coming back!" After that, I pretty much I ignored him for a while, but after 15 minutes or so he asked me again "What will need to be fixed?" I stated again, "Everything identified in the inspection, Ed."

Well, after we received the inspection report, on Monday we provided it to the sellers, along with our requirement that everything listed in the report had to be addressed and corrected. On Tuesday afternoon, the sellers countered with a reduction in the price of the cottage and to amend the purchase contract to "As is Condition." This clearly does not work for us. We communicated our lender's requirements, again, to Ed who clearly did not understand what I meant when I said that every discrepancy called out in the inspection report needed to be fixed before we could close on the property. We just heard rom our agent that the sellers are bringing in contractors to give them estimates to repair the issues identified in the inspection report.

We remain hopeful that this real estate transaction happens. I just hope that the sellers are not depending on Ed for sound real estate advice.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Cottage Update

Since my last posting about the cottage, we have accomplished the following:

1) Secured financing
2) Drove to Oscoda/Greenbush for the home inspection
3) Had the cottage inspected by a licensed home inspector
4) Communicated the findings of the inspection to the sellers

Now, Dee and I have to wait and see if the sellers will address the items discovered in the inspection. Updates to follow as things develop.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

My mother did not raise a thief...

Today I needed to get a few things at the hardware store for the house. I went to Lowe's, which is closer to our home than Home Depot. I sort of like Home Depot better, but I was all about finishing my errands quickly this afternoon. I needed to get a fitting for our hot water heater and some cleaning supplies. I quickly located what I needed and went to the check-out line. I showed the clerk my retired military ID and received a 10% discount (Home Depot offers the same discount). The clerk put my things into a plastic bag, I took the bag and headed to my car.

I opened the trunk and put the bag therein. I stopped D&W (local grocery store) on the way home to get some stuff for dinner and arrived back home. I pulled my trusty BMW into the garage, popped the trunk, took the bags out of the trunk and placed them on our kitchen counter. I placed the perishable items recently procured from D&W away and then I started to go through the plastic bag from Lowe's. Much to my surprise, there were more things in there than I had purchased. Specifically, there was weather stripping, a trowel, a tape measurer and some sanding blocks. I realized that these items were potentially purchased by somebody else and not taken away. The clerk simply added my items to the bag with these four items and off I went.

I could keep the items and nobody would be the wiser. However, as the subject line of this post states, my mother did not raise a thief. While I could use the weather stripping, sanding block and the tape measurer, I did not pay for these items. They are not mine and I need to return all the items back to the rightful owner. In the next day or two, perhaps when I am driving home from work, I will stop at Lowe's and return these items. Doing the right thing is not always easy, but it is always the best thing to do.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Cottage update

Since my last post, progress has been made on the cottage purchase. I have started the process to secure a mortgage for the property, and we have the home inspection scheduled for next week. We will drop Samson off at Whiskers, and head up for an overnight trip to Greenbush for the inspection. So far, so good. Everything is progressing along smoothly.

Stay tuned to this channel for future updates.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Back in Battery

The subject of this post is a phrase taken from my time in the Navy. Warships carry large caliber guns to shoot at people and things we do not like. These guns are known as a battery, and they have such fancy titles as "Mount 51" or "Mount 32." From time to time, maintenance needs to be done on the guns, and when the gun system is taken off line, it is known as being "out of battery." When the repairs or maintenance is completed, a report is made to the Tactical Action Officer that simply states, "Mount 51, back in battery." That simple report means that the gun is ready for action again.

Well, I am happy to report that I am "back in battery." I last updated this blog almost a month ago. Between work and a few projects, I just did not have the time or the inspiration to write. Well, my motivation is back and a few things have happened my life. Now for the update to the goings on here just east of the equator...

Work has kept me incredibly busy the past few weeks. Despite the tough economy out there right now, the General has kept me incredibly busy. GE Aviation here in Grand Rapids has been chasing new business and I have been busy assisting in the pursuit. I am also now a group manager, so I have additional responsibilities in overseeing the work of seven reliability engineers.

Last weekend, Deirdre and I made a road trip to Oscoda, Michigan, where our friend Steve has a cottage on the shores of Lake Huron. We went there for the specific purpose of searching for a cottage of our own. We visited Steve at the end of August and we got the bug to look in earnest for a cottage. Subsequent to our visit in August, we located a realtor (her name is Missy) and we told her what we were looking for in a cottage. Missy looked at some listings for us and arranged for us to see five different properties. Each one had some different to offer, and all of them were beachfront property.


I am happy to report that we have located a property and made an offer to purchase it. The seller has accepted our offer and now we have to work out a few details of the purchase. We will need to have the property inspected and appraised, and start the process to close on the property. We are expecting to close sometime in late November. The property is a two bedroom, one bath cottage on a lot that is 50' X 175' with a great view of Lake Huron.



The inside of the cottage is pretty typical of most cottages in northern Michigan: varnished knotty pine. The kitchen was recently updated and there is even a garage which blocks the sounds from U.S. 23, a road that snakes around the eastern shores of Lake Huron. This real estate transaction is a "work in progress," and there are a few milestones we will need to meet before we get the keys to the place. Look for updates as evolution this progresses.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Old School

Deirdre and I went on a sort of roadtrip stay-cation over Labor Day weekend. We drove east to spend a few days with my parents. My father is about to turn 80 and he has slowed down a little the past few years, and I know he appreciates it when we can make it back to spend the weekend with him and my mother. We left for my parent's house a little before 3PM and I was caught up in an 80 mile per hour parking lot. There was a lot of traffic on I-96, but it was moving along. We arrived at my parent's house in a little less than two and a half hours, which was darn near record time.

The
weather for our visit could not have been better. Warm, cloudless and sunny days, with cool, clear nights. My plan was to make dinner each night for my parents (and Deirdre, too!) and work on any chores my father might have around the house. My father marinated a flank steak for Friday night's meal, and we made some rice, steamed green beans and a tossed greens salad. My father enjoyed the company as well as having somebody else make him a meal. We picked up the ingredients for this meal from the Village Market. The Village Market has been in business since 1939, serving the best in meats, seafood and groceries. It is an old fashioned butcher shop, something that has all but disappeared with all the Wal-Marts and chain grocery stores.

The
subject of this post, old school, is about Deirdre and going back to the town where I was born (Detroit) and raised (Grosse Pointe). I have not lived in either place in almost three decades, and in the course of all of those years, there are a few places which seem to never change. Mack Avenue has had a few changes along the margins, but certain places have changed little since I left. We had lunch at the Irish Coffee on Saturday. It menus has been the same since it opened four decades ago. There are darn few watering holes in my home town, and the IC is one of the best known. Sure, you can go to Little Tony's Lounge in the Woods, or maybe Telly's Bar & Grill on the other side of 8 Mile. Each has its own feel, but when I walk into any of the aforementioned places it is as if I had never left.

We
went to an even older school place for lunch on Sunday: Sinbad's. Sinbad's is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. If you walked into Sinbad's tomorrow, it would look very similar to how it looked 30 or 40 years ago. The long wooden bar was refurbished a few years ago to its look and feel from 30 years ago: polished mahogany. Ask almost anyone who was raised on the east side of Detroit and most of them have been to, if not heard of Sinbad's. I had a cup of their chili, the recipe for it has not changed, ever, as far as I know, a burger and Stroh's. I also saw something I have not seen in years: a cigarette machine. Hopefully, Michigan will soon join the ranks of the majority of states and ban smoking in most public places, but until then, there will be cigarette machines at Sinbad's. If you have a spare $7.50, you, too, can buy a pack of Marlboro cigarettes.

Yep, it was an old school weekend.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Gravity and Celestial Mechanics

I work for GE Aviation. We make avionics for civilian and military aircraft and I like to think that we are the best aviation company on the planet. I am the Reliability Group Manager, which means I supervise the work of seven reliability engineers. These talented folks are electrical engineers by education and they are darn good in what they do. My people look at electronic schematics, circuits and analyze the reliability of these systems. They are the best at what they do.

In the course of my career with GE, my coworkers have learned that I am not an electrical engineer. Rather, I was trained in chemistry and mathematics. In order to understand the chemistry I studied, I had to take a lot of physics classes. They also understand that I served as a Navigator of a destroyer, so I have an understanding of celestial navigation and celestial mechanics. Also, these aforementioned electrical engineers are very focused on, well, electrical engineering. Few of them took classes outside of the mathematics needed to take "double E" courses and they certainly did not take courses in celestial mechanics. This is where I come in...

One day at lunch, my friend Greg asked me, "Paul, do you know anything about how gravity works? Specifically, do you understand why a planet is used, sometimes, to increase the speed of a deep space probe?"

I answered, "Why yes, yes I do." I explained to Greg that the reason why gravity is sometimes used to increase the speed of a deep space probe because there is essentially a "well" that is created by the mass of a planet in space-time. NASA has used planets to increase the speed of deep space probe, and this is known as a gravity assist.

A gravity assist or slingshot maneuver around a planet changes a spacecraft's velocity relative to the star around which the planet circles, even though it preserves the spacecraft's speed relative to the planet—as it must according to the law of conservation of energy. To a first approximation, from a large distance, the spacecraft appears to have bounced off the planet.

Realistic portrayals of encounters in space require the consideration of two dimensions. In that case the same principles apply, only adding the planet's velocity requires vector addition, as shown below.

Thus, to a stationary observer measuring the velocity of the spacecraft, its velocity increases relative to the observer. NASA has used this on the Mariner, Voyager, MESSENGER and Cassini missions. I have certainly learned a lot from these electrical engineers, but is is refreshing to share a bit of the knowledge with some really bright people.


Saturday, August 29, 2009

My new red shoes

Well, made a quick get-away to Lake Huron for the day and Samson had his first exposure to a real lake. We know that he loves playing in the pools at Whiskers, but he had never seen a natural body of water before today. Samson was a little tenuous when he was first exposed to Lake Huron, but after a few minutes of barking at the waves, he absolutely loves the water.



















In the course of our visit to Lake Huron, I bought a pair of Crocs. A couple of my friends have them and I was always interested in getting a pair. Well, I found a pair that fits that were on sale (half off). How could I refuse a deal like that? I will tell you, these Crocs are comfy and they are the best beach shoes ever. They give me great support and they rinse right off. These will be my beach shoes for years to come.


Publish Post

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

18 August, 2007

For those of you who were with me two years ago today when I had my change of command and retirement ceremony, thanks for being there for one of the most important events in my life.

















It was a memorable day shared with friends and family. For those of you who were not able to attend, you missed a heck of a party!


Sunday, August 16, 2009

Final staining has begun

On Friday, a replacement closet door was delivered and I set right to work to stain it for installation. It takes about 3 days to properly stain and seal the door, so I am hoping to have the door ready for installation by Tuesday at the latest. I had no idea that this project to upgrade the closets would take close to three months!




Look for some final images after this door is installed. The transformation has been pretty amazing.

New window images

I am happy to report that my hot, dirty manwork paid off. Chris, the expert installer from Window World of West Michigan, arrived a little before 9AM and he set right to work. I showed him where the window was to go and he said to me, "Wow, thanks for clearing out the egress space for me. It will make my job a lot easier."


There are a lot of shady window sellers out there, who peddle low quality windows for high prices, or will use a bait and switch technique to sell you a window you don't need. Window World is not that kind of window seller. With this final window installation, we have replaced every window in our home with Window World Comfort windows. We also have greater comfort indoors and lower energy bills to boot!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Hot Dirty Manwork

Tomorrow morning, the professionals from WindowWorld of West Michigan will pay us a visit and replace the egress window in our basement. An egress window is one where you can escape from the basement in the event of an emergency. The current window is drafty and as part of our overall maintenance plan, we decided to replace it with a new double paned window.



Before the new window could be installed, I had to clear out the debris that had collected there. Over the weekend, I removed all of the leaves and I was surprised to see how much organic matter and gravel still remained in the egress space. Thus, I had some hot dirty manwork to do when I got home from work.

This egress opening is a virtual magnet for leaves and other debris, so I was hoping that once I remove the leaves and other stuff, that there would not be too much else that needed to be removed. Well, I was wrong. Whomever installed this egress window must have added a couple cubic feet of gravel and stones to the bottom of the egress space. In order for the window to be installed, I needed to remove enough gravel and dirt to allow open access to the window sill. A coworker gave me a post digger, so I was able to clear out a lot of the dirt and gravel, as the egress space is too small to effectively use a shovel.

After approximately 30 minutes of digging and removing gravel and dirt, the window sill is now clear of all obstructions so the installation tomorrow should occur without a hitch. Updates to follow on the new window as conditions warrant.

Yep, it was hot dirty manwork tonight!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

SAILING, METAL FATIGUE OR JUST A COINCIDENCE?

It was a busy week at work for the General, so I let my blogging lag a bit. I will endeavor to dedicate at least a few hours per week to writing. I also feel strongly that if I have nothing to say, I should do just that: say nothing. That being said, I do have a few updates on the happenings at this magical place just East of the Equator.

Last Sunday (8/2), Deirdre's colleague Dorothy invited us to go sailing with them for a few hours. Dorothy and her husband Daryl own a 30 foot Catalina. The weather was perfect for sailing, with a strong southern wind, little to no chop in Lake Muskegon, and a clear blue sky. We drove to Muskegon where they keep their boat, and soon after we arrived, we got on board and left for a few hours of sailing. Growing up, I learned to sail at the Detroit Yacht Club, and I kept sailing on and off, ever since. I suppose my 22 years in the Navy helped a little, too! Dorthy and Daryl's son, Braden asked me to take the helm, which I happily obliged. In addition to ourselves, there were some of Deirdre's co-workers aboard, and none of them had any experience sailing, so it was up to me and Braden to keep on an "even keel" and allow the land lubbers to enjoy themselves.

Most of the 90 minutes or so we spent sailing were uneventful. With the strong southern winds, I was able to guide the boat to a respectable 4-5 knot speed through the water, and only once did things get a little interesting. I was in a broad reach heading west when a gust of wind filled the sails and in a matter of a few seconds, the sailboat went from having 0 degrees of heel to 25 degrees of starboard heel. This gust was unexpected, and my aforementioned land lubber passengers were a little startled when the boat suddenly heeled over. I steered the bow into the wind to right the sailboat, and as quickly as the heel came, it went. However, it was fun to see the look on the faces of the people in the cockpit with me as a few of them thought that the boat was going to capsize. I tacked back and forth a few times, gave Braden some lessons about the Nautical Rules of the Road and generally had a great time. We returned to the boat slip, and we then settled in for some grilled burgers and conversation. It was a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon and evening.

The next issue of the week had to deal with our corkscrew. On Wednesday night, I made Chicken Cordon Bleu, and I wanted to serve a bottle of Chardonnay with the meal. I cut the foil off the top of the bottle and proceeded to work the corkscrew into the cork so I could pull it out. While I was inserting the corkscrew into the cork, I noticed that the corkscrew seemed to be twisting in an unexpected way. Undaunted, I then tried to extract the cork, but instead of removing it, the corkscrew broke off inside the cork. Thankfully, I had a back up corkscrew, so the cork was removed without incident a few moments later and we enjoyed the Chardonnay with our meal.

However, I was deeply troubled by the failure of the corkscrew. Was this failure attributable to operator error, metal fatigue from use, or was it all just a cosmic coincidence? Upon further review, I determined that the corkscrew failed due to metal fatigue. The corkscrew failed due to repeated cyclic loading. Of course, I needed to find a scapegoat, so during our visit to see Amy at Art of the Table, I confronted her with the failed corkscrew and said to her, "It is because of all of the wonderful wines you have sold to us that my corkscrew failed!" We all got quite a laugh out of it, and Amy handed me a brand spanking new corkscrew, emblazoned with the Art of the Table logo. All in all, it has been a good week.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

And another thing...

24 years ago today, I joined the Navy. My recruiter called me the day before and asked if I could be in Newport, Rhode Island in about a week to start Officer Candidate School. I told LT Greg Connor that I could, so I drove downtown to Navy Recruiting Office Detroit, and Lieutenant Dawn Wells had all the paperwork ready for me. I arrived at theoffice and a few moments later, after reading the documents and signing a few documents, she told me to raise my right hand and told me to repeat the following:

"I, Paul Kratochwill, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

I thought I would join the Navy, serve for 4 years and then get a real job. Well, as Forrest Gump said about a box of chocolates, "You never really know what you are gonna to get."

More staining...

Wood has a feel unlike any other natural material. A properly treated chunk of it will live on for centuries. In the right environment, it will not rot or decay for literally a thousand years. While I do not expect to live here East of the Equator for a millennium, I wanted to stain and seal the soon to be installed closet doors such that in my time here that I will never need to work on them again.

















I am happy to report that all the trim has received two coats of stain, as well as two coats of clear coat polyurethane. In the next two days, I will complete the staining and application of the clearcoat polyurethane in preparation for the installation of the jambs, doors and trim next week. Life is good here, just east of the equator.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Our next project has begun

Frequent visitors here know that in the past 18 months or so we have done the following:

1) Remodeled two bathrooms
2) Replaced every window in our home
3) Remodeled our kitchen
4) Remodeled our closets

When we found the right contractor to remodel our closets, we were sort of surprised to find out that they did not do closet doors. When we decided to remodel our closets, we asked the pros at HWC Homeworks if they could to it, and after a formal review, they recommended the contractor we eventually used to do the work. We had new closet inserts installed last month and now it was HWC's turn to step up and install new closet doors.
















Earlier today, Steve from HWC delivered all the lumber, trim and doors for our project. Our friend Deb was on deck to help and we immediately started to work. I am using the same stain color that we used to stain the trim and doors in the kitchen:













We also have fie doors to stain and seal before Persnickety Jim can come and install the doors in the openings which contian our closets:















Updates to follow as this project progresses.

Yep, never a dull moment here just East of the Equator!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

"It does not always turn out this way"

Yesterday, we took our dog Samson to our veterinarian, Dr. Rick. Samson needed to have few inoculations updated for him to be able to enjoy doggie day care at Whiskers Pet Resort. We had an appointment with Dr. Rick at 5:25PM, which worked out perfectly for us. I worked a little late, while Dee was able to get home, let Samson out to play a little, then pack him in the car and take him to Dr. Rick's office.



I arrived a few minutes before Deirdre did and I was able to catch up with our favorite vet tech Jen, as well as Dr. Rick. A few minutes after I arrived, Deirdre showed up with his handsomeness and we were escorted to a treatment room where Jen was able to check Samson's vitals and prepare the inoculations for him. A few minutes later, Dr. Rick came into the room where we told him how well Samson was doing, and that he was a well adjusted 2 1/2 year old German Shepherd Dog.

Samson needed a heartworm test, which required a blood draw, which can always be a challenge. However, Samson took the blood draw in stride, as Deirdre was bribing him with puppy treats as I held his collar and Dr. Rick and Jen drew a small sample of his blood. Following the blood draw, Dr. Rick gave Samson a wellness exam and declared him fit as a fiddle. Following the exam, Dr. Rick then proceeded to give Samson 4 inoculations, which barely fazed our pooch. Following the inoculations, we were able to talk a little about how far Samson had progressed since we brought him home.

We adopted Samson from a shelter in November, 2007. He had been abandoned by his first family, dumped in a park north of Grand Rapids, living on the streets for a while before he was picked up by Kent County Animal Control. Samson ended up in a shelter, alone and afraid. He spent a few weeks there, living in a cement kennel, waiting for somebody to adopt him. Along came me and Deirdre.

To remind readers of this blog, in late 2007, my life had undergone some tremendous changes. In a span of just a few months, I underwent three of the top four stressors in life: I retired from the Navy (left a job), moved back to Michigan (moving) and had to put our beloved Allie to sleep a week after I moved back to Michigan (loss of a loved one). All I needed was a divorce and I would have hit the four greatest stressors in life! Then along came Samson. He was a little rough along the edges, but at his core, he was a good dog. The first few weeks were a challenge. Samson was fearful, a little food aggressive, and tried to be the dominate member of our little pack. Thankfully, I had the time to work on these issues and in a few short months, Samson was a well adjusted, though thoroughly energetic puppy.

As part of our first few weeks together, I took Samson to the aforementioned Dr. Rick and Jen for a wellness check, as well as some inoculations. Dr. Rick and Jen took great care of Allie for the last half of her life, so they were the only people we would trust with Samson. The first time I took Samson in for a check up and a few shots, he was pretty much all over the place. Samson had been with us for 10 days and he was darn near feral. It was a bit of a struggle for Dr. Rick to examine Samson, though the inoculations went without incident. A few months went by and I had to take Samson back for a booster inoculation, and by then Samson was a well adjusted, lovable dog, who only wanted to please his master. Following a few shots and another wellness check, Samson was good to go for a year. Before I left, Dr. Rick said to me, "It does not always turn out this way. Sometimes, rescue dogs never recover from their ordeal. They become and remain aggressive and never trust a person again. You and Deirdre have done great things with Samson."


I think that Samson has found his way with us. He is a good dog.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The aliens are closing in on me...

It has been a busy week East of the Equator. This past weekend, we hosted Super Mom and the Tot for dinner, and contrary to popular reports, Samson behaved quite well. The General has been keeping me extremely busy and that is a good thing.

However, I have made a chilling discovery. The aliens have moved in across the street. I have photographic evidence that they are there... watching my every move. However, I will remain on guard and do my best to keep them and their plans of world domination in check.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

You don't see this every day

As the saying goes, think globally, drink locally. There is a fantastic microbrewery here in Grand Rapids called Founders. They make the beer that we like to drink. I prefer their Centennial IPA, while Deirdre likes Dried Hopped Pale Ale. In preparation for the 4th of July weekend, I bought a few six packs to tide us over. Well, last night at Cocktail Hour, I noticed that there was something amiss with the labels on my beloved Centennial IPA:


It would appear that the people bottling the beer that day started their happy hour a little early. I am happy to report that despite the labeling issue, the contents of the "upside down" bottle passed a taste test.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Independence Day

Every once in a while, you should take a few minutes and read the Declaration of Independence. It is an amazing document to read, even 233 years later. The thirteen colonies here in America were standing up to the Great Britain, who at the time was the greatest land and naval power on the planet. Every signatory to this document knew that they were committing treason by standing up against the Crown, and that if this "declaration of independence" failed, that they would all be put to death. As history showed, these men were able to defeat King George's army and navy and give birth to one of the most amazing countries the world has ever known.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Does anybody recognize this woman?

I zipped east to Grosse Pointe to visit with my parents this weekend and while there, a mysterious woman approached my car and started dancing. Concerned for my safety and the safety of my car, I quickly left the area.






















If any of you know the name of this person and have any idea why she was dancing in front of my car, please let me know so I can alert the proper authorities... and get her some dancing lessons.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Father's Day

Nothing says "Father's Day" like buying a headstone, in advance, for your Dad.