Cooking with Radar

The new stainless dishwasher and fridge are making the white appliances look pretty shabby. We were out shopping for a new stove and found a new microwave instead. It took most of the day to install it - none of the new mounting screws matched the old locations. It doesn't feel right having to drill a new 1.5" hole in the cabinets.

The search for a new range still continues...

Halloween Friends

Jenny's BFF from IL came out with her daughter for Halloween. We took them on a short tour (it was chilly) on the UNL campus.

JN and CP have known each other for the last 15 years - they had a good time hanging out together. 

Kentucky Fried Mowers

Each year there's a huge convention/show in Louisville called the Green Industry Expo (GIE) where every manufacturer that produces anything to do with turf care converges. It's three days of Gump-like discussions talking about how to make grass look better.

One of our minor competitors prides themselves on making the world's fastest mowers. They have a twin-engine mower, a jet engine powered mower, and a WW-II tank. Not sure how the tank relates to cutting grass, but it was cool to see.

The highlight of my trip was a day spent in the Louisville airport where they have the Colonel sitting on a bench.

Swollen Cheeks

The boys have a 4-day weekend - a perfect time for GP to get his wisdom teeth pulled! He went in Thursday morning and has been swollen since. 

Fortunately, all the animals can sense that he needs sleep and comfort. They have all been fighting over who gets to sleep on him.

No cotton balls - that's all just swollen cheeks.

Pulling Plugs

Last weekend I brought a 30" stand-on aerator home. It only took about 30 minutes to do the whole yard (double-plugging the front, too) and zero effort. These machines are awesome!

It didn't take long for the neighbors to wander out to see what I was doing. M from across the street is a part-time landscaper - he really appreciated the deep plugs that were being pulled. He really got excited when he was able to do his whole yard in 30 minutes without breaking a sweat. 

The house is looking pretty good as we leave summer behind.

Office Upgrade

Last week I traded in my cube for an actual office with a door. I'm going to miss the casual conversations with my cubemates, but it will be nice to be able to have a bit of privacy.

Sweatshop

JP has enlisted everyone to make craft objects d'art for her LSW Speech Team fundraising.

JP was trying to lay out Scrabble tiles to make Christmas ornaments and L thought it was fun to bat all the tiles off the table. The extra room upstairs is now craft central with a cat-proof door.

The reading glasses had to come out yesterday to cut out a paper house with an x-acto knife.

Birthday Sushi

For CP and CG's birthdays, we all went to Blue Sushi down in the Haymarket. CP LOVES sushi and all things Japanese. He even tried some tako (octopus).

GP on the other hand, does not like sushi, fish, or anything that smells like fish. He moaned and groaned the entire time until his Kobe-beef steak arrived. Then his discomfort magically disappeared and his attitude improved.

New Fridge

After we got the new dishwasher, we realized how out of date our other kitchen appliances are. The white plastic on our old white fridge had turned yellow. When we purchased it ten years ago, we didn't realize that there is such a thing as a counter-depth fridge.

Our new fridge is 6" less deep than our old one. This makes a HUGE difference in the kitchen! The narrow space between the fridge and the corner of the island is no longer a bottleneck. JP is very happy! It's looking like a whole new kitchen. The stainless is much more compatible with the color of the countertops that she's been wanting to replace.

Next: sell the old fridge and get a new microwave with the proceeds. After that, save money for a while and get a new range for our birthdays.

Land of Enchantment

I spent this last week on the road between here and Juarez, Mexico. We were supposed to fly down on a Sunday afternoon, work at our Juarez plant on Monday, and return home on Tuesday.

Instead, we missed our connecting flight in Dallas by two minutes and spent Sunday night there. There were two later flights out, but both (and the first two in the morning) were sold out and over-booked. We spent our time in Dallas trying to locate a hotel and rental car in El Paso. Our original hotel reservation went from $130 to $200 per night when we requested to extend our stay two nights. There are not enough hotel rooms in El Paso. Not enough rental cars, either.

Our plant had its "Owner's Day" fiesta on Tuesday, so we couldn't work there that day (hence the two-day trip extension for a 2-minute delay), so we visited some of our suppliers without a rental car. We used a cab, bummed a couple of rides, and finally were lent a car from a sympathetic supplier in New Mexico. 

We finally had our chance to go to Juarez and assist with the launch of a new model that we moved there this year. It was nice to go home on Thursday.

Christmas Crafting

JP has been working on making trinkets for the holiday wreath auction fund raiser for the LSW speech team. So far, she has a bunch of knitted coffee cup sweaters...

... and a stack of wooden snowflake ornaments, ...

...and miniature Buddy the Elf  sweaters (with matching hats).

Homecoming 2015

The boys didn't have dates this year, so they went together for homecoming. They were both sweaty messes when they returned from dancing all night. GP met a cute girl he's been watching and discovered that they had gone to elementary school together.

Return of the Monarchs

This year we've seen quite a few Monarch butterflies flitting about. This one was tired and thirsty.

Make Lincoln 2015

Both boys were excited to hit this year's Make Lincoln event. This year it was moved to a city park so that there would be some parking and it wouldn't be crowded like it was last year. The highlight for both boys was The Oculus Rift - it's a virtual reality headset that senses where your pointing your head. I was more impressed with the video game they were playing that was written by some local kids.

Final Pool Day?

We continue to have summer weather into September. Can't pass up an afternoon at the pool. We watched a thunderhead pop up 80 miles away as the sun set.

Death in the Kitchen

Our 10 year old dishwasher finally gave up its ghost. We've repaired it several times over the years and I wasn't in the mood to do it yet again. JP has been complaining that it just doesn't get the dishes clean. 

The new dishwasher is SILENT!! We didn't realize how loud the old one was until we ran the new one and had to check to see if it was actually running.

All our old appliances are white on white. The new stainless dishwasher really makes them look out of place. Time to start upgrading the kitchen. 

Game Day!

For the Husker's season opener against BYU, we spent the day at the G's pool with our next door neighbors and their girls. GP spent Friday night at his friend's house after they all went to the LSW game. They must have stayed up all night, because he spent most of the afternoon asleep on a floating chair in the pool.

The game was a good one; we were ahead by one point until the last second of the game when BYU connected with a hail Mary.

New Strings

The strings on CP's bass were getting nasty so I broke down and got him a new set. I still don't understand why six guitar strings are $3 and four bass strings are $20. 

CP learned how to clean up and condition his fretboard. 20 minutes later he was back in business belting out some tunes.

Sun Deck is Done!

Last weekend we shoveled 8,000 lbs of granite chips from the driveway to the sundeck and then hooked up some lights. We are done!

JP's mums have really taken off and filled out.

It Runs in the Family

L has been losing weight and not looking well the past couple of months. We've been dreading taking her to the vet. A blood test confirmed our suspicions: she's diabetic and will need two shots a day. My insulin is $60 for five vials; hers is $140 for one. I get to use cheap insulin pen needles; she needs full-on syringes. 

My friends at work raised their eyebrows when I told them we had to take our cat to the vet. When I told them she needs shots, they all offered to give her a shot of a different kind out behind the barn. Caring for a cat is not part of the native Nebraska way of life.