Brown Dogs

We got to babysit our neighbors' puppy again last night. He was a terror! Chased M and the cats, pooped on the living room rug, and actually barked. Good thing he's so cute.

The neighbors' other dog is a few years old and he gets along with everyone a little better.

March Madness

It's March and the rabbits have invaded our yard. V is fit to be tied.

Exciting Taxi

This year we launched our new "Radius" model of zero turn mower. It'd aimed at the home owner with acreage and the entry level pro. Last week I was pleased to see it on display in the main hallway at our corporate office in Minneapolis. 

On the way home, I tried out a new place in the Minneapolis airport. On their menu, they have a yummy sounding frittata with an option for griddled SPAM. Not something you see in other parts of the country.

The plane to Lincoln left the gate on time and was on its way to the runway when trouble struck. As the left engine spooled up, it puked out a couple of fireballs. I was sitting on the left side and noticed the flashes and the sound of the engines slowing down - Hmmmm, that's strange... We sat there for five minutes before the captain announced what had happened and a herd of firetrucks rushed out and escorted us back to the gate. Fortunately, we were able to get a new plane and made it home only two hours late.

New Cat Toy

Last night we babysat our friends' new puppy. He is the cutest! The cats and dog tolerated him. Barely. At one point, V was stalking him like a lioness - she didn't know whether to play with him or kill him like a mouse. 

St. Patrick's Day

We had beautiful weather for St. Patrick's Day. We took the boys downtown - the Irish pubs had a street party with green (and black) beer, Irish dancers, and lots of people. 

Bassman

Since GP dropped out of speech, we've been pushing him to do something. He is now taking bass lessons at the Nebraska Music Academy. The instructor there is more about playing for fun than teaching theory. He groups his students together in bands and has them play together around town. It sounds like there's a shortage of bass players, so maybe GP will have a gig in his future.

ConExpo 2017

Last week I went to Vegas for ConExpo - Vegas' largest show. It only comes around every three years. The white part of the excavator boom above was "printed" on a new metal printing machine. The cab was also printed out of composite plastic.

There were thousands of vendors selling everything from o-rings to large forgings like this connecting rod.

There was every type of construction equipment at the show. All shiny and new. We walked about eight miles each day trying to take in as much as we could.

Thunder, Snow, & Hail

A couple weeks ago, we had the craziest weather day we've ever had in Nebraska. The wind blew for 24 hours at 30 mph straight out of the south. It warmed up a little and then the cold front passed. It started raining, then thunder and lightning, then hail (on our new roof!!), then snow. Until this, it has been an exceptionally mild winter. Hopefully we have a tame spring.

Door Prize

We went with CP to the Champion's Club on campus for an intro to UNL event. He met with someone in the engineering department that went over the basics of the learning group he  is joining.

CP had fun overall, but what really made his night was winning a new tablet as a door prize. How cool is that?

New Stove

A few weeks ago, we were wandering through Lowe's and saw the stove we've been looking at for the last two years was on clearance. Now all the appliances match.

Honors

GP made it to the Honors Convocation (again!) this week due to his excellent grades. His best friends did, too. The three of them have been friends for years - it's so cool to see them all do well.

Medal

CP Finished 5th overall at last weekend's speech tournament. He has a whole drawer full of medals from 

Last Year of Speech

This week CP had his last showcase event at LSW. This is where all the parents and family are treated to a smattering of all the types of events in which the speech team competes.

On Saturdays, CP comes downstairs at 6:30 fully dressed and ready to compete. He's a wiz at tying his tie (and shoes, too!). He looks like a business man that's ready to take on the world. His experience with speech has given him such a useful lifelong skill.

NYC & the New WTC

After Connecticut, it was on to NYC for a day of sightseeing. It was a perfect day: 60-something degrees, no wind, no snow, blue sky, and great visibility. We drove in from CT and parked at the northwest end of central park. From there we took the subway down to the south end of Manhattan. I love public transportation!

I tried to convince JP to go on this trip, but she refused. Something about us just buying new carpet and a new roof and sofas and CP starting college this year and us being out of money. Turns out it was a good thing that she didn't go - NYC was hit with a full-on blizzard twelve hours after I left. 

The new World Trade Center is awesome, as is the view from the top. The funky white building in the foreground is the new Occulus transit station. It's really cool inside.

The memorial park is very moving and depressing. It's hard to believe that 2900 people and the old buildings were taken out by a couple of fools that were able to hijack airliners with boxcutters.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church is only a block away from the WTC. It escaped the collapses unscathed and with its 250 year old tombstones intact. It's straight out of an H.P. Lovecraft story. 

Connecticut

One of the benefits of work is a bit of travel to new places. This time I went to Connecticut (never been there before) to visit a supplier. We stayed at the owner's house in Greenwich. It sits on a dammed up river/estuary next to the coast.

TPs BDay

This year, my birthday fell on a Sunday. It was a beautiful day to stay home and do nothing.

Improvised Cat Traps

We all know that the fastest way to round up cats is to put out a cat trap. Any time of day, just set out an open box and within minutes it will contain a cat, even if they don't quite fit.

What if you don't have a box? No problem - just make a fake one with tape on the floor.

The tape trap isn't as fast as the box, but it's still effective. This trap caught GP before the cat. He walked thru the room and stood in the center of the trap and asked what it was for.

If you're out of boxes and tape, then you can use your knitting project. Just set it down for a minute or two, and you will be sure to attract a cat.

JPs BDay

The Gs smoked a pork butt for JP's birthday. We all ate way too much pork, baked mac & cheese, twice baked spuds, and slaw. 

MB sent some beautiful flowers that the cat knows would help her hack up a hairball.

Icy Monday

We had an ice storm come through Sunday night. It stayed at 32° and rained all night and day. The boys already had MLK day off. The prediction was that Tuesday would be just as bad, so school was called and the boys had a free day @ home.

Overall, it was melting as fast as it was sticking. We only maybe a 1/4" on everything. Just enough to make it pretty without tearing down all the trees.

Gibson!

The $350 I made from selling the Dig Dug arcade game has been burning a hole through my pocket like a pound of thermite. I was going to get a fretless bass, but instead found a sweet used Gibson LPJ Pro. It has a couple of scratches and I had to install a new nut, but it's a solid player. The body is all mahogany with a carved mahogany top (usually they're maple) and a maple neck (usually they're mahogany). It's not an actual Les Paul, but it's close enough for me!

It plays like a dream.