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I am a big fan of Halloween. I would still trick-or-treat if the police would not haul me away as a "person of interest." Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It is a night to be whatever you want to be, to go from house to house and beg for candy. How could anybody not like that kind of holiday? The past few years, I have been known for my pumpkins. This year, I carved a vampire. His name is Vlad. Look for photos of our pumpkin soon. He will look something like the image to the right of this text.
Tomorrow night, we will wheel out the fire pit, set out a couple of chairs and wait for all the EGR ghosts and goblins to arrive. What could be more fun than that?
On Friday when I was out shopping for last night's meal, I thought that Sunday might be a good day to try out the griddle on our new stove. Thus, I picked up some Jiffy Mix, maple syrup and some thick sliced bacon. For those of you who who read this blog and are not from the Enchanted Mitten by birth or by marriage, Jiffy Mix is made in Chelsea, Michigan, by the Chelsea Milling Company. Since 1930, Jiffy Mix has been a staple in a lot of homes in Michigan but also around the country. Jiffy Mix is similar to Bisquik, but made here in Michigan. Thus, when given the opportunity on Friday to purchase a baking mix, I opted for Jiffy Mix.
This morning when I started to to gather the things I needed to make pancakes, I realized this morning that since we 
brought Samson home last November, I had not made pancakes. Thus, we would be able to continue to investigate foods that Sammy likes. Deirdre started to cook the bacon in one of our non-stick frying pans and started to heat up the griddle. Samson certainly noticed the aroma of the bacon as it sizzled and cooked next to the griddle. He decided that the best place for him to be in case a strip of bacon or pancake fell to the ground was to lay down just in front of the stove. Please see the photo to the left of this text to see the space Samson was occupying while we cooked breakfast. The base of the stove is just a few inches from his nose. Yep, if gravity was going to work in his favor, he wanted to be ready.
We were thrilled with the performance of the griddle. It heated up quickly and the heat was evenly spread in the cooking surface. The pancakes were golden brown and complemented the bacon and maple syrup perfectly. We had a few snitches left over and we shared some bacon and an pancake with Samson. We can now unequivocally say that Samson likes pancakes and bacon.
Today is the last Saturday in October. We are well past the Autumnal Equinox, and each day we get closer and closer to the Winter Solstice. The leaves in this area of the Enchanted Mitten are just about past peak. Pumpkins adorn many front porches and Halloween decorations are out. Yep, fall is in full swing. This is my favorite time of the year. The grass
no longer needs to be cut, the nights are cool and the days are, for the most part warm. The fall leaves are starting to gather on the now dormant grass. I woke up first this morning (no surprise there) and Samson followed me from his crate to the back door. I turned in the outdoor light (it was still as dark as night at 0715) and it was raining. Not a gentle rain, but a vertical, cold deluge. I threw on a jacket and walked outside with Samson. He immediately ran to the back of our yard, looking for a squirrel or chipmunk or any other vermin foolish enough to be seen by him. Samson did not find anything to eat, so after attending to his business he came back towards me on our back patio. I was taking in the feel of the morning as Samson trotted back to the house. While I did not particularly enjoy getting wet waiting for Samson to return from his hunt, I did enjoy the feeling of this fall morning.
As for 
Samson, he has eased into his life with us. It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since we brought him home. Not only did he make great progress as a companion animal, we have made great progress as pet owners. Dee and I often felt that we merely existed in Allister's world. She did not care too much for other dogs and people and she basically ignored everyone except for me and Deirdre. Allie was more like a person than a canine. She ignored most other dogs, and tolerated people. Samson, however is a dog. There is absolutely no doubt that he is a dog. He likes to chase small animals, barks at other dogs and seeks the companionship of humans. When we brought him home he was 
an aggressive, fearful dog who did not trust us. He was abandoned by his first owner, found in a park by animal control and then placed into a shelter. He lived in a cement kennel, alone for the better part of two months. What happened to Samson was one of the worst things that can be done to a dog: he had no pack. Dogs are pack animals. Their instincts are to be a member of a pack, as a leader or a follower. Regardless of their position in the pack, they need to be in a pack. Thus, when we brought him home he was fearful, food aggressive and generally a handful. Thankfully, I was able to dedicate some time and effort to training before I started working for the General. Now, Samson is a sweet and loving member of our pack. He seeks out our companionship. A perfect moment for him is to sit by our feet and look up as if saying, "I am so happy to be here." Samson is a good dog.
And as for the table & chairs update as requested in a previous post, please see the photo of Samson enjoying the floor by the aforementioned table and chairs.
Yesterday, I had to mail a letter. Mailing that missive caused a bit of turmoil for me here in the western edges of the Enchanted Mitten. It has
been so long since I had to mail a letter that I did not know how much a first class stamp cost. Thankfully, the U.S. Post office has a wonderful website and I was able to quickly determine that a letter mailed first class would set me back 42 cents. Dee and I went digital in paying all of our bills so long ago that I cannot recall when we started. The ease, simplicity and security of web bill pay has literally transformed the way in which we live. We pay our mortgage, gas, electricity, water, cell phone, cable TV & internet, credit cards, etc., on line. I have not written a check to a creditor in literally years. Most of the communications I send to others are electronic. I have done my best to embrace the digital age. Have you?
There is a philosopher who lives in Canada and his name is Red Green. He is in charge of the Possum Lodge and he is full of such wit and wisdom as the subject of this post. Over the course of the past few weeks, I like to think that I was pretty handy in supporting our kitchen remodeling project. As followers of this blog can attest, I spent some time staining all the trim that was used in the aforementioned kitchen. The remaining stain was to come in handy as I still had to stain the following:
1) The handrail leading to the basement
2) The pub table
3) The stools
4) The door to our main bathroom
When 
we had our main bathroom remodeled last year, we had the professionals at HWC Homeworks replace the door. The extant door was old and tired and needed to be retired. Well, the new door was 
installed, but it remained unfinished. I kept thinking to myself, "I need to do something with that door." With all the new found staining knowledge I gained working on the trim, I felt that now was the time to take the door off its hinges, stain and then seal the door. Since Deirdre was going to be away for a couple of days for a conference, the timing to stain the door could not have been better.
I removed the door from its hinges and started to stain it on Friday night. Since I had to stain both sides of the door, I projected that it would take me 3-4 days to complete the task. It would take this long because I needed to stain one side of the door, let it dry (which usually takes 24 hours), then stain the other side and let that dry. Once the stain was dry I could apply some clearcoat polyurethane to seal the door. Well, the weather the past few days was quite supportive of this project because the stain dried very quickly and in a little more than a day I was ready to apply the clearcoat. I am happy to report that the door is back in place and it looks great.
On 
to the other staining projects. As part of the kitchen project, we replaced a swing door with a pocket door. The installation of the 
pocket door required that a new handrail be installed. The new handrail looked great, but it, too, needed to be stained. The morning I removed the handrail, took it into the garage and went to work. The handrail has essentially two sides, so completing this project is also probably going to take me 3 days. The weather is currently quite amenable for staining outdoors as the high temperature here in the western edges of the Enchanted Mitten was 81F. I plan on using the garage to complete the staining and sealing of the handrail. If everything goes as planned, the handrail will be installed on Tuesday before Deirdre returns.
The final 
part of my staining evolution consists of the table and chairs that will 
fit nicely into our breakfast nook. We purchased the table and two stools last week at the Wood Source, and they were unfinished. The table is made of adler and the stools are made of parawood. I did a little prep work to rough up the wood for the stain and I applied the first coat of stain to the top of the table and the stand. I will have to flip over the table top and stain the underside of the table. The wood seemed to take the stain well and I am hoping to have the table completed in a couple of days. My plan is to start on the stools tomorrow.
Yep, as Red Green says, "If the women do not find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
I read somewhere that everything you ever need to know you can learn from your dog. The longer we live with Samson, our rescue GSD, the more I agree with that statement. His life revolves around the following events:
- Sleeping
- Walks
- Chasing hoppy things in the yard
- Eating
- Sleeping some more
This morning I woke up first (no big surprise there) and Samson followed me out of the bedroom. As is our usual routine, I took him out for a walk around the block. For Samson, each walk is like a completely new adventure, full of interesting sights, sounds and aromas. For me, it was just a little early morning exercise, but to him, this is the highlight of the morning. He is so much calmer now than he was just a few months ago. It is as if he is finally comfortable with us and realizes that we are members of his pack. Samson used to get quite agitated when runners or other people walking came by us. Now, he hardly pays any attention to people coming and going. He is all about the walk.
Frequent visitors to this blog know that I started working for General Electri
c the last week of April. Since I started working for GE, I had not take 
any time off. However, this past week I had an opportunity I could not pass up: to attend a conference in the Upper Peninsula with Wife. The conference ran from 1-3 October at the Kewadin Casino, Hotel and Convention Center in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. This is the tale.
On Wednesday morning, we dropped Handsome Boy off at Whiskers, the pet resort and spa where he spent a few weeks of doggy daycare during our kitchen remodeling project. We had not take Samson there since the end of the aforementioned project. To say that he was excited to be back at Whiskers would be quite an understatement. Samson hopped out of the kennel when we arrived at Whiskers and he immediately began squeaking. His was talking to us, saying, "Hey! Thanks for taking me back here! All my friends are here. Let em in! Let me in!" We took Samson inside and the squeaking became more pronounced and frequent. Samson immediately ran over to the door heading to the kennel and play area, and then he started to bark at the door, then look at me and bark, then bark at the door again. Clearly, he was ready to catch up with his friends. Sensing Samson's desires, one of the handlers took him back to the play area while we sorted out the details of his stay. Samson did no even look back at us, when he left, so we were pretty confident that he was going to enjoy his stay. This was the first time we have boarded Samson since we took him home from the shelter, so we were concerned that he might be anxious that we were leaving him there for good. We would not know how Samson would adapt to his stay until our return a few days later, but the initial indications were that he could not wait to get back to the play area and catch up with his friends.
A little before 10AM Dee and I started our drive to the Upper Peninsula. The weather when we left GR was clear and cool, with the threat of rain. We were hoping that the drive would be uneventful and for the most part, it was. We did run into a little rain, on and off, during our drive. We stopped for lunch, grabbing a quick bite as our drive and final destination were a lot more important than stopping for lunch. A few hours after we left Grand Rapids, we were at the sounthenr approach to the Mackinac Bridge. This bridge connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of the Enchanted Mitten and it just celebrated its 50th birthday. The simple elegance and grandeur of its desing and presence makes anyone who sees it stop and say "Wow."
Dee and I stopped at Fort Michilimackincac to take a few happy snaps of the Mackinac Bridge and stretch out legs. I looked at the bridge and thought about the dreams of people to build such a bridge for over a hundred years, while many people today take this modern wonder of the world for granted. Did you know that during the four years it took to build the bridge that work was only 9 months out of the year? From December to February, the weather was so harsh that all work was halted. Dee and I took a few photos of the bridge and then headed north to Sault Ste. Marie.
For the non-Michiganians, Sault Ste Marie is a city located at the northern end of the Upper Peninsula, and it is pronounced "Sue Saint Marie," as apposed to "Salt Saint Marie." We arrived at the Kewadin Casino, Hotel & Convention Center at about 4PM. We checked in, and immediately went exploring. We went to the Soo Locks (yes, they are spelled Soo, not Sault), drive around downtown Sault Ste. Marie, and generally were tourists in our home state. We found time to stop at the VFW Post 3676 to have an adult beverage before we headed back to th
e hotel in time for the "Welcome Party" got MI CUPA-HR. This Welcome Party was heavy hors d'oeuvers, and we washed them down with oat pops. And wine. We ended up at the bar in the hotel where we watched some of the Cubs loss to the Dodgers.
Dee had to work on Thursday, while I spent some more time poking around the city. However, the weather was nothing to write home about. Actually, it was raining, windy and cold all day, plus the leaves had not yet started to turn, so there was really not much to see.
On Thursday night, we had dinner with our friend Scott. We had dinner at a local restaurant, and on the way back to the hotel we stopped at American Legion Post 3, which was conveniently located right on the water by the Locks. Scott had never been to a Legion Post and I think that he had a good time. I showed my Legion ID card, which allowed me to purchase a round of drinks. Follwoing our stop at the Legion, we headed back to the hotel where we tried our luck with, well, Lady Luck!
I do not enjoy gambling. As a math major, I know that the numbers are simply not with the gambler. The House makes the rules and the rules and the probability of winning are against any bettor. The only game where the you have an advantage is in Blackjack. Armed with a few dollars in chips, me and my aforementioned friend Scott and I hit the tables and I did pretty well. After 20 minutes or so, I was up $40. I knew it was time to leave with my winnings and call it a night. While I was playing Blackjack, Dee was having similar luck playing nickel slots. At the end of the night, we were up about $80, so it was a good evening for us. Following our winning, Dee, Scott and I retired to the bar to watch some baseball and listen to what had to be the worst karaoke singer the world has ever known. We sipped on a few more adult beverages and called it a night by 11PM.
We left the UP on Friday morning, and had a pleasant and easy drive home. The leaves in the upper part of the Enchanted Mitten showed more color than those in the Upper Peninsula. Go figure. All in all it was a great trip and we had a great time.
