CP has been wanting to play his bass, but it has had issues with the Rocksmith game. I've always passed it off as technique, but we started looking into it and discovered that his bass needed some attention. After setting the intonation (way off) and neck action (not too bad) and installing some nice new flatwound strings (silky smooth), it sounds like a champ. We ended up going through two sets of strings - even though it's a short scale instrument, short scale strings don't work on it due to the strings running thru the body at the bridge. He played it for hours last night.
The cabinet we ripped out of the laundry room had some nice oak doors and trim on it that was too nice to use as firewood in the firepit, so I turned it into a speaker cabinet. I had a set of four matching 6.5" speakers that have been waiting for a home and I used the mesh from one of our deck chairs that had split. It came out nice, but it's HEAVY! There's a reason that stuff isn't made out of solid oak.
JP took the boys to IL for a long weekend. I stayed behind to work and relax. Saturday morning I pulled out the boxwood that has been growing for the past 12 years. JP has been complaining about them for a while, so I made it so.
The boys put down some fresh mulch, and JP planted some new purple flowers in the blank space. It really opened up our front walk.
Last year, the arched window above the door cracked the inside pane. We've been trying since then to find someone to repair it. One of the things about home repair is that with each project, you learn the tricks to fixing things. The thing I learned when we replaced the big rectangular window above the door was this: hire someone to replace big windows.
JP contacted the window company and found that the glass was still under warranty, so we got a new window no problem. Six months later, Elmer the window guy come to replace it. He started getting into it and then realized that our replacement window was the wrong size. The glass company had shipped us a window for the upstairs bedrooms. Three weeks later we had the correct window and Elmer returned and installed the new window (before 8:30 AM!).
We went to The Home Depot yesterday to find a new blind (the old one died) for the rectangular window. Should be here in two weeks.
Coming back from Indianapolis last week, I had the chance to give up my seat on the 3:45 flight and take the 7:00 flight for $300. Sure, why not?
Within a couple hours, the sky turned black and a huge storm blew through. The 7:00 flight turned into a 9:00 flight, then 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00. I finally landed in Lincoln at 1:00 and got home by 1:30.
JP painted the laundry room and the new fridge was delivered in time for the holiday week. The plan is to install some cabinets above everything and replace the utility sink with a vanity.
We would have hit Zoofest for day 2, but GP's band Momma Bird was playing at Ceresco Days. GP had to get there early to help set up the equipment, so we had time to explore the festival and downtown area of Ceresco (30 minutes north of us, pop. 850). That took all of five minutes. However, there's a furniture store there called Ernie's that took 40 minutes to walk through. Next time we're looking for furniture, we're going to go there.
It was scorching hot, and we were all cranky, so we went to "That Place" and chowed down before the show. JP & I split a Rueben that was out of this world with in-house smoked corned beef. CP had a cheeseburger, and GP loaded up on pulled pork mac & cheese.
The stage was a flatbed trailer. I think there were more parents and friends of the bands there than Ceresco residents (especially once the music started playing). GP's band had their first drunk heckler - he was giving them a hard time about not playing country music. They are going to need to learn at least the "Theme from Rawhide" if they are going to continue to perform in Nebraska.
The video is of one of their original songs called Worm. It's in D drop C tuning, and it sounded awesome in person! This was the first time they performed it live.
This video has the heckler stumbling towards the stage at the end of their second song. If I had known how entertaining his exchange with the band would be, I would have kept filming.
When the boys were little, Zoofest was different. It was at the Milwaukee County Zoo and it involved strollers and lots of walking. Now in Lincoln, Zoofest is a different event entirely. It's a 2-day blues music festival on 14th street in front of the Zoo Bar. We caught three bands Friday night: Evan Bartells, Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials, and Los Lobos.
Lil' Ed was AWESOME! He's a true Chicago blues performer. He and his band put on an incredible performance. See more about him here:Lil-Ed-and-The-Blues-Imperials. Our favorite song was "Chicken, Gravy, and Biscuits"
CG & DN had a good time, as usual. CP was hating it until we got a burger & fries into him and Lil' Ed started playing.
This year the 4th fell on a Wednesday. Bleh. Our old neighbors from IL, the N's, came out for a visit. We spent the day @ the pool and then returned to our own hood for a cookout with the D's next door and, of course, fireworks all night.
This weekend was slow, so JP got us started on remodeling the laundry room. Step 1 was to remove the cabinets. Step 2: Stack the dryer. Yesterday we ordered a new fridge from The Home Depot (Hooray for 4th of July appliance sales!!) Now it's time to paint and find a cabinets and a utility sink/vanity before the fridge comes next Friday.
This week we celebrated our anniversary with the boys at our favorite neighborhood lodge. Hard to believe how quickly time flies when you're having fun!
CP & I spent two long days at this year's Formula SAE event in Lincoln working as Technical Inspectors for the electric cars. It was a blast!! There were teams from universities all over the world competing in a dozen categories: design, cost, acceleration, braking, skid pad, fuel consumption, etc.
I've been trying to get CP interested in joining the UNL team. They don't have an electric car, but they still need all sorts of electronics gear.
I wasn't paying attention to the weather the other day and got caught off guard when I walked out of work to go home. There was a storm stretching from Beatrice to Lincoln that looked nasty. Fortunately, there was no hail.
Last week I spent a few days in Michigan doing some mower testing. Everywhere we went had fresh lake perch on the menu. In three days, I probably ate 4 pounds of fried fish.
GP's new band Momma Bird performed last night at UPCO Park (North Lincoln). It was 91° and steamy. When we got there the stage was in the sun. By the time they played, they had some shade, but they still each lost five pounds of sweat.
Their setlist was Your Decision and Would by Alice in Chains, Fudge (original), Plush by STP, and The Trooper by Iron Maiden. The Trooper is a forearm buster on the bass - it has a FAST gallop all the way through.
Another of our beloved animals left us this week. L had struggled with diabetes (it runs in the family) since we got her six years ago from my friend at work. The vet thinks she had pancreatic cancer.
She always had to be in the middle of whatever you were doing. And if she noticed that you have a free hand that is not petting her, then you'd get a bite.
She slept with us every night and got up with me every morning. Although she slept most of the day in the sun, she was there and ready to help in the morning and nights.
JP put the sofa pillows on top of the sofa to try to block the cats from sleeping there. L accepted the challenge.
This week I had to go up to Windom, MN, to visit one of our factories. The only way to get there is to drive north. It was a beautiful day, and I was in no rush, so I stopped to see the sights along the way.
Stop #1 was LeMars, IA, where JP's best friend MN grew up. It's home to Blue Bunny ice cream and Bob's Hot Dogs.
Stop #2 was Hawkeye Point, IA - the highest point in all of Iowa. IT's at 1,670 feet above sea level.
The last stop of the trip was the Phat Phheasant in Windom, MN, for a tasty slab of walleye.
Friday night the boys and I took in a show at the Bourbon: Stone Temple Pilots with The Dirty Hooks. The Hooks are a startup band from Vegas - the boys really liked them.
Stone Temple Pilots was an awesome band 25 years ago, and they still sound awesome today with their third lead singer.
