Basement Wall No. 5

Today was absolutely gorgeous outside, so we worked on the basement as fast as we could in order to get outside and enjoy the windless sunny day.

Even the cat & dog helped do their parts.

So far we have four days labor and $260 for five walls. That's $52 per wall. Not bad. We only have 8 to go.
Plus electrical. Plus HVAC. Plus plumbing. Plus insulation & drywall. We have a long way to go...

Basement Wall No. 4

Saturday we framed up wall number 4 in the basement. The whole family got involved pushing it up into place.

The shape of things to come is becoming evident. Check out the duct tape TV screen. 120" of HD! The TV wall is next on the list.

Blue & Gold

This year JP volunteered to put on the Blue & Gold banquet for cub scouts. She put together displays for all of our activities throughout the year, and the scouts voted for their favorite. My single vote for rockets was not enough (despite the really cool display I made). Laser tag won by a landslide.

Next year at this time will be GP's last cub scout event. JP wanted to do this year's banquet in order to set a precedent for next year, when GP will be moving on.

In all, we had about 200 people and the whole shindig went off without a hitch, thanks to JP's planning and attention to detail.

Blizzard of 2011

The great blizzard of 2011 that pounded most of the US just missed Nebraska. We only received a few inches of snow, but with it came 40 mph continuous winds. Having no trees between us and the north pole, the snow blows and blows and blows around and all over. I had to get in on the passenger side of my car due to the snowdrift that piled up during the day. 10 deg and non-stop 40 mph wind - Yuk! It was total whiteout at times on my way home from work.

Old Friends

While in the SRQ area, I hooked up with some old highschool friends. Here are F & B.
Also saw MAL, who is now MAG. She has a 13-year old son with a brain tumor that has just started to undergo chemotherapy. Check out her blog: theNathanReport.blogspot.com.

Florida Trip

I hate business travel, and I really hate going to warm places in the middle of winter. I had to go to Florida for a few days to check on some of our test mowers. Flew into Ft. Lauderdale, then drove up to Tampa, spent the weekend in the SRQ area, and then on to Orlando. Rough.

My coworker and I started Sunday in Venice and worked our way up to the northern tip of Ana Maria Island. We found three sharks' teeth at Venice. I was surprised to see that the pier I used to love to fish from is alive and well after being away for 25 years.

The pier at Bradenton Beach is also alive and well and much cleaner. I couldn't believe how clean Sarasota Bay has become. It's beautiful now!

We stumbled across a Packers playoff party in Florida. Go figure.