Bluesfest

For the first time since we moved here, we finally made it to Famous Dave's Bluesfest. We missed the first band, but caught the other two. Both boys whined about going "...but I don't like the blues!!" and complained until the band started. Then they started getting into it and tapping their feet. By the end of the night, they were on their feet in front of the stage having a good time. They came to the realization that maybe they actually like blues.

Last week, CP and I took a free bass lesson at Guitar Center. It was good for CP to talk with a real musician and get some tips and pointers. He really paid attention to the bassists in the blues bands. One of them had a bass like the one he plays, which made the music all that much better.

Speech Camp

CP finished up his summer speech camp yesterday. It ran for a week at the high school from 9:00 to 5:30 every day. He worked with some college coaches on a humorous piece. 

CP has really enjoyed the forensics program. All of his friends are involved as well as most of the cute girls in his class. It's fun to see them all in their suits up in front of an audience speaking with confidence and vigor. 

Silk

Our neighbors spent two weeks in China. While there, they visited an official state-run silk factory, where they got to see the process from cocoon to finished product. JP is busy looking for patterns for the yards of beautiful fabric she now has. 

I am enjoying my embroidered silk robe and shiny underpants. 

Selfie Saturday

Our favorite activity is relaxing on the deck in the afternoon. 

Cloudy Day

In addition to our beautiful sunny weather, we now and then get clouds and rain. 

Formula SAE

Lincoln plays host to the Formula SAE event. This is the third year of five, and we're hoping to get it for another five years. Teams from around 80 universities built 600cc mini indy cars and competed in all sorts of categories. I took a day off work and judged the business case presentations for the electric cars. Some of the teams were amazing! Over 200 people from the area volunteered to judge events and help run the event. Here's more info on the event: http://students.sae.org/cds/formulaseries/west/

The teams are judged for design, cost, weight, straight line acceleration, skidpad acceleration, endurance (15-mi race), handling, noise, and a business case. Most of the cars will do 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds. The electric cars run 300 volt batteries and most have 100 hp motors and weigh about 400 pounds. With their sticky tires, they can pull 2 G's on the skidpad!!

Friday was sunny and hot at the airport. The drivers all had to wear firesuits under their racing coveralls. We were hot sitting in the stands. My friend volunteered as a starter - he stood out in the sun all day at the starting line. 

The boys had fun for about 20 minutes. Then GP started asking "Can we go home now?" "How much longer are we staying?" 

Roses of Summer

Nebraska is blessed with the perfect climate for roses. We have two bushes out the back door that produce 50 new blossoms per day. They keep JP busy. You can tell that it's summer when her arms are all scratched up from pruning. 

Dogs

We babysat our neighbor's dogs for a few days. The girls next door helped us by taking them for a walk every day and brushing their fur. We're used to M with her non-shedding poodle hair. Our house is now full of orange hair that isn't J's. 

Hungry Mouths

This year we had a pair of robins build a nest in the backyard spruce tree. They had a brood of four chicks that all made it out of the nest. It was fun checking up on them every day. By the end, there wasn't enough room in the nest for four fledglings. 

New Project Bass

A friend up at corporate knew I enjoy playing bass and lent me an instrument he no longer used. The neck needed more adjustment than Grampa's back and it had paint drips and a thick layer of grime on it. A little bit of TLC and some new strings brought it back to life and it plays like a champ. It's fun to try out different instruments. When I started, I couldn't tell the difference between a $200 instrument and one that cost $2,000. I'm finally beginning to be able to discern what makes up the difference in price. 

Stringy Helper

One of V's favorite pastimes is helping me change strings on a guitar. She is very helpful keeping track of where all the loose string ends are.

OK Gaduation #2

JP, Nana, and GP went down to OK City for our nephew's graduation. Hard to believe how fast these kids are growing up.

The graduation was on a Sunday afternoon. Cam had finals starting on Monday, and I had a midterm to complete on Sunday, so we stayed behind and ate tater tots and fish stiks until we felt ill.

Study Buddies

The boys next door came over to help me study for a test. They were more interested in the effects of Heteroskedasticity (Chapter 8 of my class) than I.

JP took them in the car to drop off our boys at school. They were a bit worried, as the only time they go for a ride is when they go to the groomer or vet. They didn't realize car rides could be fun.

First Pool Party

We officially hit 98 degrees last weekend. Nothing but sunshine and wind - time for a pool party! The humidity was only 10%, so despite the warm air and 80-something water, getting out of the water was like jumping into Lake Michigan.

Fortunately, a storm blew in and gave us an excuse to get out of the sun.

Gulf Sunsets

No trip to FL is complete without a Siesta Key sunset.

We spent a night at a beautiful little resort on Siesta Key. 

My best friend from high school stopped by and we caught up on our lives. He's running his own computer business in SRQ.

After looking at mowers in SRQ, we headed north and spent the remainder of the week in Tampa, working on more mowers. There, we stayed in Clearwater Beach. We intended to stay in a dive hotel on the beach, but they had recently shampooed the carpets (due to a messy spring break crowd??) and the place smelled like sockless sneakers. We were able to find a place across the street that was clean and didn't smell.

Dolphin Fingers

While JP was having fun with friends on the deck at Wilderness Ridge, I was enduring a week-long business trip in FL. We have a bunch of prototype and pre-production mowers being tested there - someone has to go and check on them now and then...

The corporate travel agency only has boring hotels that are usually somewhat creepy. I spent some time online and located what I hoped would be creepy hotels, but in better locations. The first was in Pompano Beach directly on the ocean. This is my associate's room with a private deck on the beach. For under $100!

Between our hotel and the water was a sea turtle nest. I never realized that they laid eggs on the east coast - I guess I just assumed it was a gulf coast thing.

The gulf coast put chicken wings on the map, so the east coast answered with dolphin fingers. Tasty!

Deck Season at the Lodge

One of our favorite places to go is the deck at the lodge of Wilderness Ridge. While I was out of town, JP and the old neighbors went over. While there, the new neighbors called and asked JP if she would be interested in going over to the lodge - "We're already here!" Everybody was thinking the same thing that day.

Dishwasher Guardian

The dog helps pre-wash the dishes so the dishwasher can finish the job with the phosphate-free so called "detergent" that has trouble on its own. She usually licks the silverware in the basket while JP loads the dishwasher. Since L was awake, she decided that she needed to hassle the dog by blocking access to the silverware basket. 

Once the dishwasher gets going, L's favorite nap spot (other than a laundry basket full of warm clothes) is on the counter above where it's nice & warm.

Catnap

It's so difficult being a cat. Those dumb people leave their shoes in the middle of the sunny spots. Have you ever tried to sleep on top of a pair of sandals?

Opening Day @ the Pool

Our old neighbors were tired of life in the urban center of Lincoln: too much traffic, crime, and the ills created by the liberal attitudes of a big city. They built a beautiful place out in the hills above the city where the air is fresh and clean and windy. The snow melted and we helped them christen their new pool!

Their dog LOVES the water. He rides the floating chair around.

The lizard and I enjoyed catching some rays.