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