Week One of the Basement Project

Well, the professionals at HWC Homeworks have been busy in our home this past week.  They have been working in our basement remodeling and transforming the space.  We also decided to add a 1/2 bath, so there is a lot of demolition and roughing in for the new spaces.


First we had to remove some ceiling tiles...

We were pretty surprised to see some of the electrical issues once we removed the tiles...

And we kicked up some dirt and dust...

It is good to own a shop-vac.


More images of the first week of work:

We have lost a stall in our garage for the duration of the project:

The new 1/2 bath will go here:

Here is that same area after some work.  A lot of work...

Lance from Grandville Plumbing is back doing his magic for us once again...

Roper and Jim are back doing their magic, too...

Look for more updates as the project continues.  The transformation is going to be pretty amazing.

Relay for Life Update

We are less than a month away from the 2012 East Grand Rapids American Cancer Society Relay for Life, and I am happy to report that so far I have raised $690.00.  My personal goal is to raise at least $1,000.00 and I am well on my way to doing just that.


My team, Connie's Crew, has raised $1,115.00, and the team has a fundraising goal of $5,000.00.  Overall, the Relay has 36 teams, 178 participants, and the teams have raised $7,627.00 to date.  


There is still plenty of time for you to make a donation in my name in support of this fight we all must win.  Simple click on this link:


www.relayforlife.org/eastgrandrapidsmi 




On the left hand side of the webpage look for the word DONATE, click on "Support a Participant," enter my name, then click on "Go."  I truly appreciate your support as we fight back against cancer.

East Grand Rapids ACS Relay for Life Update

Activity for the 2012 East Grand Rapids American Cancer Society Relay for Life is picking up.  We have two Committee planning to go, as well as one more Team Captain Meeting.  The Relay will be at the East Grand Rapids High School track from 3PM 18 May, to 3PM 19 May.  If you are in the area that during these times, I encourage you to stop by, say hello, and learn about the Relay.


I have officially joined "Connie's Crew," which is the team my neighbor Rosanne started at the first EGR Relay in 2008.  Connie's Crew is named in honor of Rosanne's Mom, who is a cancer survivor.  Though I am a team member, I will be so busy with the logistics that I won't spend a lot of time with the team.  So far, I have raised $360.00, and I am hoping to raise a lot more!  


If you can afford to send a few bucks my way, please click here.  This link will take you to the EGR Relay for Life website and you can make a donation in my name.  Thanks for your support and any amount you can donate will help fight this battle we all must win.

2012 East Grand Rapids ACS Relay for Life

Gentle Readers,
I am pleased and proud to tell you that once again I am serving as the Logistics Coordinator for the American Cancer Society's 2012 East Grand Rapids Relay for Life.  This is the fourth year that I have served as the Logistics Coordinator and I am looking forward to supporting this event.

The Relay will be held at the East Grand Rapids High School track from 3PM Friday,  18 May until 3PM Saturday, 19 May.  During these 24 hours, relay teams will be walking the track continuously, raising money for the American Cancer Society.  For more information about the Relay click on the link below:

www.relayforlife.org/eastgrandrapidsmi


One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that brings together more than 3.5 million people across the country each year to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that takes too much.    Each year, the American Cancer Society works to raise money for research to fight this disease.  With your financial help, we can help the American Cancer Society raise the money it needs to continue its research to cure cancer.

What I need from you is simple: your money.  I am not leading a team as I will be working the logistics from the start to the finish of the Relay, but what I can do is accept your donations to the American Cancer Society.  No amount is too small or too large to support the fight against cancer.  

The 2012 East Grand Rapids Relay is a little more than 6 weeks away, so there is plenty of time for you to crack open your check book and send me a check.  Again, no donation is too big or too small.  If you can help me by sending me a check (and no amount is too small!) to raise money for cancer research, please drop me an e-mail at plkrat@gmail.com and I will send you more information.

I hope that you can find the time to take a few minutes, make a donation (which is completely tax deductible!) to the American Cancer Society and send it my way.  I will ensure that whatever you send to me will help the fight against cancer.  Thanks again for your help in this fight we all must win.

Paul

Samson 2, Squirrels 0

It happened again.  Samson captured and killed a squirrel.  It has been almost 4 years since he last caught a squirrel.  He has bagged a few rabbits and field mice since then, but squirrels have been beating him at his game for a while.  Until today.





It seemed an innocent enough act.  Samson was at the slider in our Back Room and he was squeaking.  Samson makes a high pitch squeak when he wants to go out, and his squeakiness is attenuated when there are squirrels in his yard.  I saw two squirrels running around near a large tree in our yard.  I thought that Samson would have no chance whatsoever to catch either of these squirrels.


I was wrong.


I did not see him bag his quarry.  It was Deirdre who looked out into our yard and said to me, "Oh my!  He got the squirrel!  He got the squirrel!."






I went outside and Samson was proudly standing over his prey.  The squirrel from my vantage point did not have any obvious wounds, but it was clearly not moving.  I called Samson away and he did walk away, but he kept looking back at the squirrel, as if it was going to get up and play again.


We got Samson in the house and Deirdre said to me, "You know, I am not taking care of the squirrel."  I acknowledged her comment.  I went into the garage to get a shovel and gloves in case I needed to humanely end the life of the squirrel.


I walked up to the squirrel and he was clearly dead.  I rolled the animal over and there were abrasions in his fur, most likely put there by Samson's canine teeth.  The squirrel also seemed quite limp, so I am suspecting that once Samson had the squirrel in his mouth he shook it a couple of times and broke its back.


I disposed of the squirrel's lifeless body, returned my tools and gloves to the garage and I came into the house.  I praised Samson for his efforts.  His tail was wagging wildly as I patted his head and gave him a puppy treat.





Be forewarned if you are a squirrel or other varmint and you dare cross into Samson's yard. You do so at your mortal peril.

From the Archives: Happy St. Patrick's Day

From the archives.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Those of you who know my heritage know that I am half Irish and half German. My mother's family came over from County Mayo in the 1800s and settled in easter Pennsylvania. The Irish did not stray far away from other Irish when it came to marriage, so I come from a long line of Hastings and Clancys. My father, however, is a first generation German. His mother and father emigrated to the United States in 1921. My parents met when they were both stationed at Parks Air Force Base in California. They married and moved back to Michigan where I was born and raised. Well, my mother is quite proud of her Irish heritage and when I was growing up, St. Patrick's Day was always a cause for celebration. We would go to the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Detroit, we would wear green clothing and sometimes put on silly hats and pretend to be leprechauns. One part of the celebration was the evening meal, which invariably was Corned Beef and Cabbage. For the life of me, I think that the reason why so many Irish left the Emerald Isle is because like me, they could not stand this vile cut of seasoned meat.

Each St. Patrick's Day my family would look forward to eating what was essentially boiled shoe leather. My mother would fill a cauldron with water, throw in a hunk of corned beef, some potatoes, cabbage, maybe some salt and pepper, perhaps some celery for flavor. How one could ever flavor shoe leather is beyond me, but she would try nevertheless. The aroma of this dank cut of meat would fill the house, so I would try to spend as much time as possible outdoors whenever this "dish" was being prepared. After my father came home from work, the table would be set and the the carcass of beef would be removed from the pot, along with the soggy vegetables and potatoes. My siblings would rejoice at the thought of the meat, while I could barely keep myself from retching at the stench of it.

So, we would then take our places at the table, grace would be said and then my parents and siblings would relish in the consumption of this thoroughly proletarian dish. I was forced to eat this wretched excuse for a meal, so I would slather as much mustard as possible between two pieces of bread, then put a slice of this offensive meat there as well. I would then try to gulp this down, chewing as little as possible so that I would not have to taste it, much.

So, while I applaud the celebration of the birth of the patron saint of Ireland, to this day I cannot stomach the smell, taste or appearance of corned beef. I will probably have a beer or two, maybe even a green one. I will leave the consumption of corned beef to the peasants.

Farm Living

Yesterday, Deirdre and I spent a few hours on a local dairy farm.  One of Deirdre's former co-workers, Jessica, is married to a diary farmer, whom she affectionately refers to only as Dairy Man in her blog.  It was quite an event to spend some time at a functioning dairy farm in western Michigan.


First off, it is the size of things.  Everything seems larger than life.  Large barns, large cows, large equipment.

From 10 Mar 2012

Did I tell you that the cows are large?

From 10 Mar 2012

Everything runs on a schedule.  The cows are milked three times a day, every day of the year.  What was amazing to me was how the cows just seemed to know what to do.

From 10 Mar 2012

From 10 Mar 2012

From 10 Mar 2012

The trundle into the milking parlor and quietly take a position in the row of of milking machines.


When the milking is done (it takes about 10 minutes I am told), the cows trundle out of the parlor and the next set of cows enter for their turn at the milking machine.  Repeat.  Repeat.  And clean.  Every time the cows move, something is cleaned.


And can these cows eat.  Lots of hay and hominy and alfalfa.

From 10 Mar 2012

These cows are gentle creatures who at first back away from you as you approach them.  However, after a few minutes they sense that you are no danger to them and the seem to snuggle right up to you.

From 10 Mar 2012

Cow 1851 seemed to like the fact that I was there taking her picture.  


Thanks you, Jessica and Dairy Man for showing us a little bit of your world.  next time we visit, we all need to go to the Blind Squirrel.

From 10 Mar 2012

I have shoes older than some of my co-workers...

I am almost four years into my second career following twenty-two years of service in the Navy.  I started working for GE Aviation in April, 2008.  It has been quite an experience making the transition from the military to a civilian employer, and I have learned a lot.  


For the most part, I am older than the people who work for me.  I have a couple of employees who are my age, but most of my direct reports are younger than me.


Here was a conversation I had recently with a co-worker:


Me: I was so disappointed when my cobbler moved.
Co-worker: What?
Me: There was a a cobbler near my house and he moved to Byron Center (Byron Center is about 10 miles away from where he used to have his shop).  I have been going to him for almost 10 years to work on my shoes.
Co-worker: You have a cobbler?
Me: Yes.  I have had some of my shoes for over a decade.  
Co-worker: Really?  I don't think I have ever owned a pair of shoes more than a couple of years.
Me: I have a pair of shoes I have re-soled more times than I can remember.  The shoes I am wearing today I bought in 1978.  I wore them for my high school graduation ceremony.
Co-worker: I was born in 1980.


Then, it hit me.  I have shoes older than some of my co-workers.  


I must admit that I am a little funny about my shoes.  I keep them clean, I polish them about once a week.  More often when needed.  Which is why, I suppose, I have shoes I wear to work that are older than some of my co-workers.





The tassel loafers above have been part of my life since 1990.  I purchased them just before I started graduate school.  I have no idea how many times I have had them re-soled.


I picked these loafers up last weekend from my new cobbler.  He did a great job with my old friends:







I wore them to work today and one of my other co-workers asked me, "How often do you polish your shoes?"





I replied, "Once a week, maybe more if needed."


His shoes looked like they were last polished with a rock.


Yep.  I am kind of funny about my shoes.  I suppose that there are worse vices to have.

A lazy January Sunday...

As forecast, it is gently snowing here on the western plains of the Enchanted Mitten.  It is a few degrees below freezing, so the snow heavy and the flakes are large.  The prediction is 2-6 inches, though I can tell you that well more than 2 inches have already fallen.





Of course, Samson is loving every minute of this semi-blizzard.








The branches on this now dormant bush are outlined by the snow.





And who would not want to be outside throwing a frisbee for Samson?





Samson would spend all day outside if we let him.





It is very quiet and very white outside right now.  It is a perfect day to curl up in front of a fire and do as little as possible, which is precisely what I am going to do next...

Winter is here

On the western plains of the Enchanted Mitten we have enjoyed a very mild fall and winter.  We had a couple of dustings of snow on November and on Christmas Eve, but other than that, the white stuff has been conspicuously absent.  That changed on the evening of 12 January.  It rained for most of that day, then before nightfall, the rain turned to snow as the temperatures dropped.  It snowed through the night and well into Friday, 13 January.  By the time I went into work Friday morning, about 8 inches of snow had fallen.

By Saturday morning, it was time to take stock of things and, of course, take some pictures.  The image above is a bush that straddles the property line between out home and our neighbor's home to the east.


This is a view looking to the north, through our backyard.








This is an image of our wood that was covered to protect it from the elements.






With weather like this, we were bound to have a fire in the fireplace during the day, so I had to shovel a path to the wood...










This image shows how much snow had fallen.  It was well over half a foot.






Of course, what images of the snow in our backyard would be complete without a few happy snaps of Samson.








I think that he would live outside all winter if we let him.










Of course, Deirdre had to get out there, too, and snap a few images.  Look for her pictures here.





I will get a few more images later today.  The snow is really beautiful right now.