End of an Era

It's with mixed emotions I have to report that our time in Nebraska is drawing to a close. We have enjoyed the 14 years we've lived here. It has been the perfect place to raise the boys and enjoy the easy life. But... I've taken a position at our parent company in Minneapolis, effective 11/1/19. I'm still tying up loose ends at my current job and working a few days here and a few there until Thanksgiving.

We went up last month to take a look around to see if this was what we really wanted. Last weekend JP came up for my first day and we spent the weekend cruising around the city, looking at neighborhoods and houses. Finding a house there won't be a problem. Selling ours is our biggest worry. When that happens, GP has informed us that he will then be homeless.

We will miss all the friends we've made here.

Fall Walks

One of the things we really love about our neighborhood is the Wilderness Ridge golf course & Lodge. It makes for spectacular dog walks. Too bad you can't walk the dog on the cart paths.

Fall this year was short and fairly colorless. The maples on the street all went red, but not the super electric red of years past.

The only color we had in our yard this year was the burning bushes. The maple in the back was bright orange for a day or two, then it went brown.

Da Bears Turn 100

On my way home from KY, I passed thru O'Hare. The brontosaurus has a Bears jersey commemorating 100 years of Chicago football. 

GIE 2019

I got to go to GIE/Expo this year in Louisville for a whole week to set up and work the show. For a change, the weather there was perfect.

The word of the day for Thursday was NOISE. The event is held in the flight path of the airport. Our space was located between the Stihl chainsaw and a chipper/grinder space. However, I didn't ever notice their noise due to a dozen large commercial mowers driving around in our space.

Friday morning my phone went off with a high wind advisory for my flight home. 25 mph with gusts to 45.

Husker Game on the Deck

We took advantage of a beautiful moonlit night to watch the Husker game out on CG's deck. The next day, we all had chapped lips from sitting in front of the fire for three hours.

Clean Clothes

My overnight trip to Windom, MN, turned into an all-week stay. I ran out of clean clothes and had to resort to doing my own laundry.

Shore Leave

With the boys having their own transportation, they can drive themselves home for a Sunday meal. This weekend we took CP to the Lodge for his 21st b-day.

OSU vs NU Tailgate

We tailgated for the Ohio State game at the office of CG's attorney. None of us could afford tickets to the bloodbath game, but we had fun anyway. Go Big Red!!!

College Game Day @ UNL!!

My favorite Saturday morning TV show that we always have running in the background is ESPN's College Game Day. Each week it's broadcast live from a different school. This weekend it was Nebraska's turn to host it as we geared up to take on The Ohio State University. The show started at 7:00 AM Saturday morning. The crowd started lining up the night before. I got there at 6:30 and there were a couple thousand people there. By showtime, the entire parking lot in front of the stadium was full.

GP's fraternity made their own banner the night before. It's pretty weak compared to most of the signs that were on display. One of the traditions is for people in the crowd to hold up signs. The show is worth watching just to see all the signs. There's everything from "Will you marry me?" to "Send $$ for beer and textbooks" to "Rayn Day Eats Store Bought Corn" (Day is the Ohio State coach).

I was delighted to see Archie - our mascot for Morrill Hall.

 

Recycled Music

The whole stack of amps, speakers, and a guitar condensed down into a small wad of cash that lasted all of a day. Guitar Center had a pair of Gretsch 5420's on super clearance and I couldn't pass it up. The question then became Blue? or Orange?

Both were pretty, but the orange is one of the things that defines a Gretsch. I got my Stray Cats songbook out and quickly realized what a talented musical genius Brian Setzer is.

Music Room Cleanout

My basement music room reached critical mass with too much stuff. Time to clean it out and trade it in. I've picked up cheap semi-functioning amps and got them back to being serviceable. It's fun, and I've learned quite about about amp repair, which will make me more confident if/when I need to dig into an $800 amp. The beauty of music gear is that the stores will actually buy it back. For cash! 

Gear that's going away: 2009 Fender MIM Stratocaster, Peavey TNT 130 SS bass amp (Awesome, but it smells funny), Crate GT-80 hybrid (tube pre-amp) guitar amp, 12" oak speaker cabinet, Crate G10 amp, a homebrew 2x10" sub, and my friend's friend's sweet 1974 Peavey 4x10 hybrid (tube power amp) guitar amp. I will miss them all, but I don't have enough time to play them all and my room is too full.

Also destined to go are the arcade games in the background. If you want one, let me know!

Weird Summer Weather

When we moved here in 2005, we spent every other night hunkered down in the basement due to tornado warnings. The tornadoes have since gone away. This year we have not had any warnings or watches. Now and then, we've had a severe thunderstorm, but no major hail or winds.

This storm popped up out of nowhere the other night after sunset and lit up the neighborhood with a beautiful peach glow. 

NIU vs NU Football Weekend

The N clan came out last weekend for the Northern Illinois - Nebraska game. Their youngest is a freshman @ NIU this year.  

Since the game didn't start until 7, we spent the day wandering around downtown. We stopped at CP's apartment and finally met his roommates. The boys got in a few rounds of ping pong and foosball.

We eventually made it down to the tailgate district proper and took in a live band at the Embassy Suites. Then it got too hot, so we bailed and watched the game @ home.

No More Yellow Kitchen

JP has lived with her yellow kitchen for 14 years. Suddenly it turned on her and was unacceptable. The 25% off sale at Sherwin Williams was a sign that we needed to change the color.

The cat thought is was fun to move the table to a new spot.

Then she was glad to have it back where it belongs.

Dog Days of Summer

We've been overrun with dogs. We babysat the neighbors' two while they went away for a couple weeks. K brought over not only one of her pack, but the two little ones she was babysitting. One night we had SEVEN dogs running around. Thank goodness for hardwood floors!

Dinner

We had the G's over for a sit-down steak dinner last night with the boys. Forgot to take a photo of the steaks - they were yummy!

Reused Chair Cloth

I picked up this little guy for $10 to steal parts from for another amp. The original speaker grill cloth was torn and in rough shape. I cleaned it up and made a new grill out of the deck chair fabric from our old deck chairs. Other than a couple of missing knobs, it looks pretty good. Hopefully I can trade it in for more than I paid for it. Anyone need a nice little practice amp?

Dog Toy Bed

V likes her shoebox so much, she doesn't even mind if it's covered up with the dog's toys.

Elbow Grease

Much to JP's disappointment, I picked up another bass amp. It was listed on Facebook for $35. How could I pass that up?!? 100 watts of classic Peavey power.

Once I got it home I realized that I got what I paid for. The stain on the front was pretty gross, and the dust over the years had filled in the super-textured vinyl covering.

It took the better part of a Saturday, but the amp is now clean and not smelly and it looks great. My plan was to clean it up and sell it, but after playing through it, I'm not so sure now. 

Impossible Whopper

Our empty nest couples activity last weekend was to go to BK and try out the new Impossible Whopper. We didn't know what to expect - how would it taste? How would it sit in our bellies? Is it all fiber? 

It tasted awesome. It sat well after eating. No, it's not all fiber. It tastes just like a normal Whopper, but no cows are killed making it. We are sold on it. Now they just have to get the price down.