A Catch Up Blog

Greetings,

Due to circumstances beyond my control (general business and little or no internet connectivity since last Wednesday) I have not been able to blog lately. Due to this, I am deeming this the catch up blog.

Our 10,000 point Uno game is plodding along (also a victim of our business) and after 127 games I have a 3,097 to 2,355 lead. This is my biggest lead thus far but I did have a 500 point lead all but disappear between games 40 and 80 but I have been steadily growing since that one. We have had (3) games where no points were scored at all (the person with cards in their hands at the end of the game were all 0’s). We are on pace to take 466 games to determine the winner so we are not even 1/3 of the way through.

Our internet is back up and running again. It seems the tree that our antennae was pointing directly through had the audacity to grow leaves that started interfering. Now, mind you, the original install guy HAD to know that leaves grow on trees AND I did ask him specifically if leaves growing would pose a problem later AND he assured me that it would not. Anyway, we have a taller pole now and our antennae pointing between some trees toward a different tower. So far so good for the last 8 hours or so. The pole and installation was $60 give or take.

The kids only have a month of school left which means that I just made my last monthly payment and that means that next month we will actually have some spare $’s to throw at those projects that we put off all winter. We have a tree or 2 that needs to come down and we really need some guttering on the house. Also, the back sheds need to be demolished. Beyond that there are the bathrooms to consider and maybe a new dishwasher. Throw in a small vacation and you have the wad all spent. Such is life.

The wife and I did go to a concert last Monday. Michael Roe (of the 77s) was at a bar in Indy and we just could not pass that up. I have been a 77s fan for about 25 years or so and it was a real treat to go and hear him play. We did not get back home until around midnight and even though it is Wednesday now, we are still catching up on our sleep. I had been saving my pennies and was prepared to break my new year’s resolution on no new music and did so by buying 4 CDs for $50 total. Here is a link to one of his new songs that he did in the concert we attended. Great stuff though even I felt uncomfortable with the lyrics while sitting in bar and listening to him.

Another thing that happened is that my work laptop died. It had been acting funny since last Wednesday and finally bit the dust on Friday. Fortunately I had called Dell on Thursday and they were able to next day air the parts to the repair guy and all was well by Friday afternoon. I did snap a photo of the guts of the laptop while Randy (the repair) guy was working on it. So far Dell has had to replace the motherboard (this time) and both RAM chips. Pretty soon I will have a whole new laptop. My lease is up next June so we will see if it lasts until then as is. Also on the work front, I am getting a new manager next Monday. This will be my 11th different manager in a little less than 10 years with the company. I was told late last Friday the name of this new manager and lo and behold it is the same guy who was my 7th manager. This sort of makes him the Grover Cleveland of my mangers (serving 2, non consecutive terms). If things go as normal, sometime less than a year from now I will have a new manager.

We are trudging along in watching the first (5) seasons of Lost in anticipation of this final year. We are just starting year (3) so we are not even half way there yet. Lost ends its 6th (and final) season on May 23rd so I am hoping to avoid reading or hearing anything about it until then.

OK well the kids are in bed now and the wife is home from the final night of AWANA so this catch up blog is taking away from time with her.

Jon

First To 10,000 Wins

Greetings,

The daughter really loves Uno.  Actually the whole family loves Uno but the daughter really loves it.  Lately she and I have been playing a lot of 2 player Uno.  The rules (as we play them) are a little different.  Reverses and Skips are kind of the same (you either Reverse to yourself or Skip the other person back to yourself).  Wilds and Draw Fours work the opposite in that the person NOT playing the card gets to pick the color and it cannot be the color that was immediately under it.  We play “pile on” Draw 2’s (meaning that if a person plays a Draw 2, the next person can play another Draw 2 on top of it for a Draw 4, then Draw 6, etc- our current record being a Draw 10).  We also play a special rule when a 2 is played.  The other person has to take 2 cards of their choosing from other person’s hand.  This means that if you play a 2 with 3 cards in your hand then you are out since you pass the other 2 cards to the other player.

With these rules we usually play to 100 (first person to 100 loses).  We have decide recently to start a game to 10,000.  So far we have played 43 hands and I only have 673 points to her 1,210.  At this rate it will take us 457 hands to find a winner.  This is going to take us the better part of a month.  I will have to keep you posted.

Jon

The Pop Machines of Howard County (part 4)

Greetings,

Just a short walk from my work place is the Kokomo Mall.  This place is so run down and under populated that it does not even have a web site (that I could find anyway).  It is more famous for the shops that used to be there (Goody’s, Phar Mor, etc) than for what is there now (Elder Beerman, JC Penny, etc).  I did hear that they are moving in a Buffalo Wild Wings where the Goody’s used to be.  No matter, I only go there for the $1.00, 20 oz sodas…

This is a better deal than the $1.25 bottles in my own building and you only need to walk across the (usually empty) parking lot instead of dodging traffic to get to the machine across the street at Lowe’s (see last blog).  As you can (almost) see, 12 of the 24 choices in these twin machines is coke.  The right machine does offer (for $2) an energy drink.

On the home front, our tulips are blooming…

These grow under a huge bush that is night near where I park the trusty Buick each day when arriving home from work so I snapped this picture yesterday (note the dandelion and misc purple weeds that are also blooming).

Jon

The Pop Machines Of Howard County (part 3)

Greetings,

The building kind of across the street from my place of work is called Lowe’s Speed Shop. It is located at 1608 East Hoffer here in Kokomo and has one pop machine…

I have used this machine many times as it is only $0.50 for a 12 oz can and it has Cherry Coke (my soda of preference) and it is quite cold coming out of the machine. I do have to risk crossing 4 lanes of traffic but it is worth it. This is also on my way back if I walk to the hot dog place just a few blocks down on the same side of the street.

On the home front, I gave the son a hair cut yesterday. That is a kind description when in reality I took 1/4” guard and put it on the trimmers and had a field day. He is just not quite ready for any length of hair based on his ability to tame it on any given morning. Since the trimmers were out, I had the wife switch over to the 1/2” guard and give me the once over. This now completes the trifecta of breaking all my new year’s resolutions. It was a good run.

Jon

The Pop Machines Of Howard County (part 2)

Greetings,

Continuing on the journey that is the Pop Machines of Howard County…

Today we head down the street from where I work to 1584 East Blvd (just around the corner from my favorite pawn shop) where there are (2) pop machines in the normal flavors (Coke and Pepsi).  Here we see the coke machine in the familiar Nascar theme.  I have never understood the concept of being the “official” something of anything.  I mean, what does “the official soft drink of Nascar” mean exactly?  Are the drivers and pit crews contractually obligated not to drink a competing product (even in their own homes)?  I know it is all advertising but still it seems a little over the top.  This machine (and the Pepsi machine next to it) offer 12 oz cans for $0.50 each.

There is actually a 3rd machine at this location…

…though technically it does not see soda but offers orange juice, water and some other fruity drinks (none are carbonated).  These are $1.00 each.  These 3 machines are outside a liquor store so I am not sure how mush traffic this juice machine generates.  The first 2 machines are low enough priced per ounce that if I want a pop to drink (and the weather does not prohibit me) then I will walk distance to save the money.

Size	Price	Price per Ounce
20 oz	$1.25	$0.063
12 oz	$0.50	$0.042

Today we are heading to Indianapolis to do some shopping so I am preparing mentally for the whining (the kids, not me).

Jon

The Pop Machines Of Howard County

Greetings,

During my few months off from blogging a while back I had an idea for a series of blogs similar to the “Random poor quality photos from my cell phone.” This idea is to document the various soda pop machines that I run into. I thought of this one day while driving the kids to school. We take the same route each morning and one of the buildings that we pass has a pop machine out front. I began wondering what selection of drinks were offered and at what price. Before I ever got a chance to find out, the machine was removed for some reason and only those who worked there (and perhaps the person in charge of filling it up) know the answers. It is with that in mind that I embark on my documentation of The Pop Machines Of Howard County.

This is the Pepsi machine located where I work (1401 East Hoffer). A while back, we changed the service that provides the vending machines at my place of work and the price went from $1 for a 20 oz bottle to $1.25. I don’t think that I have purchased a drink at the higher price yet. Besides, I do have my new year’s resolution to think about.

This is the other machine at work offering the Coke products. It is also $1.25 per drink. There has to be a science behind the set pricing. You would think they would measure the price that is high enough to make the maximum profit per bottle versus the price that is low enough to entice you to buy a 2nd drink later. A long while back there were machines that sold drinks at $0.50 each and I would buy 2 a day since I had 2 quarters left over after the first one. There is something about not breaking a bill that makes another purchase OK in my mind. When they raised the price to $0.60 I only would buy 1 per day. Now if the profit per can is relatively small then adding 10 cents to the price might be a bigger profit with only 1 sold can. However, if the profit margin is high, adding a dime (and me purchasing 1 less per day) is actually less profit. I will expand upon this line of reason in later blog entries I am sure.

Jon

On To Season 8

Greetings,

Ever since Christmas morning, the kids have been looking forward to cracking open season 8 of Little House on the Prairie. The first episode title was The Reincarnation of Nellie. The picture below captures the essence of Nancy (the daughter that Nels and Harriet adopt).

At the end of season 7, Charles and Caroline adopt 2 more children (one of which is played by a very young Jason Bateman). I guess with Mary and Adam moving away, Nellie and Purcival moving away Albert getting older, some younger kids were needed to keep the show going. I am a little surprised that the kids both still beg to watch this show whenever we have enough time before bedtime.

Well, it is about time to see if Butler can beat Duke for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Jon

Movies From The Pawn Shop

Greetings,

With the kids being out of school on spring break, I knew they would need something to occupy their time. They really enjoy watching movies together and having grown bored with the 1/2 dozen or so I bought for them at Christmas it was time to head back to our favorite pawn shop to see if there were any new DVDs that we needed. When I bought movies for Christmas they were running a special of 10 DVDs for $20. Yesterday DVDs were the normal, $3 price (still a pretty good deal). They try to put the kids movies in a separate rack so we were able to grab the following for under $20 total including tax.

• Chicken Little
• First Daughter
• Freaky Friday
• Like Mike
• The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
• The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian

I have seen Freaky Friday and the 2 Narnia films. I have not seen the others so I should also get some enjoyment out of this purchase.

After we got back from the pawn shop, the wife made some homemade ice cream. We seemed to have too much milk in the house and this was one way of getting rid of some of it.

This is not a great picture but trust me, it was good. The wife tried to use some baker’s chocolate we had to make a fudge topping and add that to the strawberries and whipped cream (actually I think it was non dairy topping) and you have a mighty fine dessert. We enjoyed it while watching the Butler Bulldogs win their way into the NCAA Men’s Basketball finals.

Today should be a lazy day with nothing on the agenda but lunch (and maybe some left over ice cream for dessert).

Jon

Our First Problem

Greetings,

I am sitting in an eye doctor’s office in Lebanon, IN as I type this blog. I brought the new HP Mini with me so I could kill some time. I am now rethinking allowing the wife to pick the hot pink net book case that we bought with it though. It is not apparent based on the shape of the case what it is that I am carrying so I feel a little self conscious.

We have never been to this doctor before and I am not familiar with this city so I thought this would be a great time to try out the HP Navigator software (with GPS) that we bought as an add-on when we configured our Mini. Try as I might, I could find no trace of this software nor any installed GPS hardware. I tried Google and the HP Support sites but could not find any information so I have an email into HP tech support. I am a little disappointed as this was one of the features that steered me toward buying this thing. Hopefully this will have a happy ending. It does have a built in web cam…

…that is pretty high quality based on past web cams that I have owned. Also, I am impressed with the battery life too. We did upgrade to the bigger battery and theoretically should get 9 hours on a single charge.

Just before we were heading out the door this morning I was calling in the dogs from outside to put them in their cages. The Doberman was a little too interested in eating something on the ground in the back yard to heed my initial call and after using my mean voice she dutifully trotted in towards the house. Once inside she began to show signs of needing to head back outside to “export” whatever it was that she was eating on the ground outside as it was not agreeing with her. She made it outside OK and since we were in a hurry I stayed out with her to ensure that when the episode ended, she would come right back in. Now I have not really studied a dog while vomiting but I will say this, they really put their whole body into the expelling process. I mean it is like one big rhythmic spasm. Being a dog, they are of course immensely interested in the new thing that is before them once the spasms end. This is the real reason I was out there, to dissuade her from starting the cycle over again. Anyway, once back inside and safely in the cage, we were able to head out without much delay.

I am taking a 1/2 day off work to be here at the doctor’s office. Since this is my 10th year with my company, I get something like 20 or 21 days of vacation and have no idea how I will use them all. I think we need to save 8 of them for forced vacation during the last 2 weeks of December and I have used 2 or 3 days when we went to Texas in early February. This leaves me about 2 weeks left to spend and 9 months to spend them in. Maybe I will take every other Wednesday afternoon off for the rest of the year.

OK, just noticed something that I am missing on this Mini, the END and HOME keys. I use these keys a lot but based on the look on my wife’s face when I mentioned this, these are not keys that she will miss. Well, it is about time to close the lid and head back home.

Thanks for reading my Random Thoughts.

Jon