Weekend Assignment #338: Space Truckin'

This week Karen wants to know if we would like to visit Goldilocks. Seems like a fun question.

Even as astronomers discover planets that may be capable of supporting life, such destinations remain out of reach of would-be human colonists, even if the world is "only" twenty light years away. But if some science fictional technology were discovered in the next year or two (warp drive, matter transmission or whatever) that made it possible to leave Earth behind and go live on another planet, would you be tempted to do so? If you choose not to relocate, would you be interested in just visiting the place instead?

If you asked me this question as a kid, there would be no doubt, I would have been on the first ship. I'd probably sleep out for tickets. I assume that would be necessary if we really could go out there. The tickets would sell out in 26 seconds and all be bought by brokers who then sell them on Space-Hub for 1000% more than face value. Am I right?

But, yes, as a kid I would have jumped on that right away. Like most boys, I wanted to be an astronaut. I think I grew up in the perfect wedge of time for that aspiration. We had already been to the moon a few times, and in grade school the shuttle started flying. But my mom smashed my dreams. As far as I knew, the best way to be an astronaut at that time was be in the Air Force as a pilot then work your way into the astronaut program. Well, since I needed glasses, as I still do, my mom always told me I couldn't be an Air Force pilot. Another dream smashed.

For a time in high school I wanted to be an astronomer and go to MIT. Well, I found out they don't make a whole lot of money and I wasn't smart enough. Again, astronomical dream smashed.

Now, as an adult with a family, I don't know if I would go to stay on another planet, but I think it would be cool to visit. Maybe like a long vacation or something like that. Or a sabbatical. After reading Packing for Mars, however, I'd be a little nervous. They don't make dramamine strong enough for space flight. Not yet, at least. Not to mention the hundreds of other things that could go wrong.

Extra Credit: If you did go, whether on vacation or as a colonist, and you were only allowed to bring one small suitcase with you, what would be in it?

I would bring a my iPad, for entertainment, and a shotgun. And maybe some underwear. We've all seen the Alien movies. A gun is definitely needed for any planetary visit, I don't care what the sensors say.

Weekend Assignment #335: History

Wow! I actually have something ready on time for the weekend assignment and it even includes pictures. This week the topic from Karen is local history.

We don't all live near the site of a battlefield or other world-famous event, but any place has its own history: political, cultural, even natural history. How aware are you of the past of the town, city or state where you live now? Share with us a story of local history.

This worked out pretty well for me. I've been meaning to get pictures of this old windmill that I had found out about. So I made plans to go out there last week and I figured I'd tie it in with this week's assignment.

First a quick photo of the windmill:

It's called the Fayban Windmill now since it was once owned by a General Fayban who had it moved out to his land back in 1915 after it fell into a state of disrepair in it's original location.

According to what I can find out here, this is an actual working Dutch windmill that was assembled in 1875 in what is now Lombard, Illinois for two farmers. It was Dutch-built prefabricated kit that was shipped out there to be put together. I guess houses aren't the only things that you can buy prefabricated.

It's was bought in 1915 by General Fayban and moved in 1917 to it's current location. Again, it was disassembled and re-assembled. Not unlike a big Erector set. It stood, and was used, in the current location until 1937 when the counter acquired it after the general passed away. Then it just sat there and was a tourist attraction, and still is today.

Back in 1997 the county hired a third-generation Dutch millwright, Lucas Verbij, who declared it to be a great specimen that should be restored. This was completed in 2004. It is open on weekend for tours, which I didn't get to do, but I'd like to now, and they still mill grain on occasion for tours.

I really want to go inside this now. Who's with me?

Weekend Assignment #331: Cake v Pie

I know, I know, I've been bad with the weekend assignments lately. Well, actually, it's been the whole blog. These last couple of weeks have been busy, hopefully things will calm down soon. Probably not until sometime after next week.

Anyway, on with the assignment. Which do I prefer, cake or pie?

It's not contest in my mind. Cake! I don't mind pie, but I only really like apple pie. And even then I need to have it with ice cream to really enjoy it. Cinnamon ice cream if possible.

But, cake! There are so many good cakes, chocolate, devil's food, cake with chocolate frosting, ice cream cake! There are so many possibilities. There is only one cake I do not like -- lemon. Have you ever taken a big bite of a cake, thinking it's just a yellow cake and it turns out to be lemon? It's not a pleasant experience. It happened to me the first time as a kid. I didn't even know there was such a thing as lemon cake at the time. I mean, who wants a cake that tastes like lemon? Now when I see a cake is yellow I take a tiny bite first. Live and learn, as they say.

Oh, wait. I forgot about French silk pie. I like that. But still, I like more cake than pie. So, I'm keeping cake as my final answer.

Go over to the Weekend Assignment page to see what others think of this important question.

Weekend Assignment 327: It's Too Hot

Okay, this week I'm doing the assignment and I'm going to remember to leave a message on the Weekend Assignment page so they know I did it. Karen wants to know how we stay cool when the temperature gets high.

Summer is well underway now. If you live in the northern hemisphere, the days are long and the sun is on its way to being about as hot as it gets in your particular climate. How do you stay cool when the weather gets hot?

The best way for me to stay cool is to stay inside with the air conditioning cranked up. It may not be the most fun, but it's better than heatstroke. See, in the Chicago area when it gets hot, it gets humid. Those two combine to make a hot day unbearable very easily. I think just a few days ago the temperature was about 92 and the dew point was at 76. That's like rain forest type weather, without the rain. It wasn't a fun day. There's nothing quite like walking out of work into a wall of humidity, across a baking blacktop parking lot, then getting into a car that could cook and egg on the dash. Well, maybe walking across hot coals over an active volcano, but that would be stupid.

I know a lot of people like to go to a local pool to cool off, but that is not my idea of fun. Think about it, you're basically taking a both with 100 other people who may not have the same hygiene standards you do. I don't even want to think about the little kids in the pool. Having said that, I did put my disgusting thoughts aside for a weekend so we could take the kids to a water park a few weeks ago. Oh, the things we do for our kids.

So, in short, I stay indoors. It doesn't have to be in the house, just inside somewhere with air conditioning. A movie theater works!

Extra Credit: If you've ever relocated hundreds of miles to a new home, did the climate play a role in your decision to move?

I've never relocated for a job, but I've often wondered if it would be better to live in the Pacific Northwest. I know they have hot days, but I don't think they are as common.

Weekend Assignment #322: Product Placement

Carly is in charge of the assignment this week. It's an easy one for me.

Okay, let's shift gears to something very commonplace. Product Placement. We all have a certain product in our lives we simply couldn't live without. Tell us about your favorite product. How long have you used it? Why is it the best? If it were no longer on the market, what would you use instead? Give us all the details!

Without thinking twice I know I couldn't live without my iPhone. Yes, I know, not very original. And, no, I'm not saying that the iPhone is the best thing since sliced bread...but it's close.

I'm sure Jenn will agree, I use the thing all the time. I can easily check Twitter, Facebook, email, and my blog at anytime. I use it sometimes to double-check directions when I go somewhere unfamiliar. Occasionally, I'll snap a photo of something goofy I see to post to Twitter, or send to Jenn. I do that a lot at grocery stores and Walgreen's. There are some wacky products out there, you know.

Also, I have been know to play a game, or two, when I'm bored. Especially Angry Birds. That game is so infuriatingly addictive.

I don't know what I'd do without it. I'd get some other kind of smartphone, I guess. But I wouldn't be happy.

So, there is my lame answer. Go check out the blog to see what other people can't live without.

Weekend Assignment #321: Ancient Technology

Karen has the topic this week, and while I can't say I've heard the saying, "X has gone the way of the buggy whip," I certainly have some things that fit the expression.

We sometimes hear the expression, "XXX has gone the way of the buggy whip." In other words, technology and society have moved on, and something that was once commonplace barely exists anymore because it's no longer needed. Do you still have something in your home that has become essentially useless? If so, why do you still have it? If not, when did you get rid of it?

I have two things that fit with the topic this week. First, is my cassette deck. Jenn hates that it is sitting with our audio equipment since it doesn't work well and just takes up space, but I'm having trouble giving it up. I can't remember the last time I played a cassette in there, but I know I dragged it out of the garage a couple of years ago when I found a box of cassettes that I hadn't heard in a long time. See, many of them are not in CD form, or are hard to find.

This particular cassette deck I got back when I was in high school, so it's not exactly new, though it was slightly advance for it's time. I loved making tapes on it, usually by hooking my brother's boombox up to it, and I liked the cool blue light it used for it's display. I thought I was pretty cool with this thing. Now it sits and collects dust in the family room. Such a sad way to go.

The other piece I wanted to mention was my Laserdisc player. I did move that out of the entertainment center, mostly because I didn't have a cord long enough to reach the back of the TV, but at least it's out. This is a little newer than the cassette deck. We bought this just before we got married as I was leaving my job at Circuit City. Still, that was at least 15 years ago. DVDs weren't around at the time, and from what I remember, it seemed there was a format war going on, so I thought it was going to be a long way off. I don't believe it turned out that way. Oh, well.

I still have some cool stuff on Laserdisc. I have The Abyss: The Director's Cut, Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Criterion Edition, Star Trek:First Contact, a RUSH concert video, and best of all, Star Wars: The Definitive Edition. The last is the complete trilogy in original form (no added CGI) in CAV format that came as a box set with a book on George Lucas. Jenn bought that for me a long time ago. I should sell it on eBay.

Anyway, yes, I have some old stuff that is out of date and should be out of this house.

Extra Credit: Have you ever worked in an industry that has gone the way of the buggy whip, or is in danger of doing so?

As I said, I worked at Circuit City. Does that count since they went belly up?

Go back to the main Weekend Assignment site to see the other responses.

Weekend Assignment #317: Let's do lunch

This week Karen wants to know how we meet up with friends in person.

Weekend Assignment #317: Merry Meetings
People used to socialize with each other on street corners, at cocktail parties, at club meetings, and in a later era, at shopping malls. These days, however, we seem to do most of our socializing online. Where do you go most often for face time with friends and acquaintances?

Unlike the title suggests, I almost never meet people for lunch. For one, I don't get a lunch break like most people do. Also, I work a lot of weekends, so my friends that work a normal week are not available for lunch the same time I am. However, there have been times when I've met Jenn and a friend or two for lunch on one of my days off.

Actually, the place where we meet up with our friends most is at someone's house. We all have kids, so we don't get to go out to the bars very often. At least not like we used to. Sure, there are times when one of us have gone out to meet a friend or two while the other stays home with the kids, but that isn't all that often either. Again, see my work schedule above.

This is one thing Jenn and I try to work on. We really want to get out with our friends more often.

Extra Credit: Do you ever hang out with co-workers after hours?

No, I don't go out with co-workers very often. Usually I need to go get the kids at school if I'm working the early shift. If I'm working the later shift, I need to go home to go to bed so I can get up early to get the kids to school. Maybe when the kids are older this will change. Of course I'll be older and need my beauty sleep, so I don't know.

Now, go to the Weekend Assignment site and see what others had to say. They probably aren't as boring as I am.

Weekend Assignment #316: Poetry Month

This week Carly is the professor and she wants us to talk about poetry since April was National Poetry Month.

As April wraps up, let's not let it get away without celebrating National Poetry Month. For this assignment, please share with us something about poetry. Tell us about your favorite poet, or quote us a few lines of your favorite poem, or if poetry doesn't happen to be something you enjoy, tell us why!

You know, I don't have a favorite poet. I'm not really a poetry fan, actually. Not that I'm knocking it, not at all; it's not poetry, it's me. Really. Maybe I've never found a poet that really speaks to me, or maybe it is due to the way was forced into reading poetry in school. You know what I mean, right? It's your sophomore year in school and you come to that point in Lit class where you study poetry and the feeling of dread washes over you. See, the teachers I had never let us enjoy them, or find something we liked. Instead they picked out what they liked, or thought was important, then forced me to read them and figure out the deep, underlying meaning of the poem. It was not fun for me since I was never able to do it right.

So, yes, poetry isn't my thing. But, that's okay, nobody say you have to like it, right?

Two years ago Karen had us do a similar assignment where we had to write our own poetry. My post that year wasn't too bad, but I'm glad Carly didn't have us do it this year. I don't think I could do anything else. But, Carly did ask us to write a haiku for extra credit. I won't even attempt it, but I saw this shirt on Threadless and I laughed pretty hard the first time I saw it. In case you don't want to follow the link, here is the haiku on the shirt:

Haikus are easy

But sometimes they don't make sense

Refrigerator

That is exactly how I feel about haikus.

Anyway, go check out the Weekend Assignment blog for other people's homework.

Weekend Assignment #313: Meet a fictional character

It's been a little while since I've participated in the weekend assignments (sorry Karen and Carly), but I'll try to get back on schedule. Most of the time I've forgotten what day it is and missed the deadline. Think I'm making it up? Today, Wednesday, the kids get out of school 30 minutes early and I forgot. I pulled up to school and wondered where everybody was going. Luckily, I was early and was going to wait in the parking lot. I think I was about five minutes late. Not that my son didn't notice.

Anyway, on to the assignment!

Weekend Assignment #313: Through some miracle of colliding realities, you have the opportunity to meet a fictional character, face to face. Which character would you most like to meet, and why?

I've been thinking about this for a while. Who would I want to meet? I like Die Hard, and watch it whenever it is on, but would I want to meet John McLane? Probably not, he seems like he'd be hard to get along with. He's too much of a loose cannon you know.

I thought about Mulder and Scully from the X-Files, but I would think Mulder is a wacko and Scully is too annoying and has to be right all the time. Her and her so-called analytical thinking.

KITT? Ugh, even more annoying than Scully. I don't know how Michael Knight didn't drive KITT off a cliff and end it all. Oh...so that's why the car is indestructible. I understand now.

So, I was thinking I should go back further into my childhood. I was thinking about Mork, from Mork and Mindy. That would be an interesting conversation. Though I would think I'd come away with the thought that Mork was the stupidest person on Ork. Am I right?

So, I'm going to go even farther back (Jenn can probably see where I'm going) and say I'd like to meet Lt. Columbo. Wasn't he the best. He was great at playing dumb and allowing the bag guy (or girl) to think he had know idea what was going on then let them hang themselves, so to speak. It's still on of my favorite shows. I wanted to go as him one year for Halloween, but Jenn thought nobody would get it. Maybe she was right. I need to find an old Peugeot to drive to complete the outfit.

I would ask him what made him to decide playing dumb, or was it an accident. (Actually I don't think it was always that way. If I remember correctly, in the first movie he was quite a bit more direct. I think he even pulled a gun! Sorry, for the Columbo geek-out).

Extra Credit: What question would you most like to ask that character? Extra extra credit for posting the character's likely reply!

I imagine his answer would be something like this: "Oh, it just kind of happened. You know, when your clothes look like mine people tend to look down on you and not take you too seriously. I decided to use that to make them feel at ease. Like I wouldn't notice if they changed their story, or their answers didn't make sense because I was too impressed y how important, or rich they were. I worked out pretty well for me." Then he would turn and walk away, stop, turn halfway back to me, raise his hand in a slight wave, and walk out of the room; cigar smoke trailing behind him.

Anyway, go check out what others had to say over at Karen's blog.

Weekend Assignment #309: Get in Line!

Ugh, Karen wants to know how we like standing in line.

Weekend Assignment #309: Nobody likes standing in line, generally speaking, but sometimes you have to wait around to get what you want. Are you one of those people who avoid lines as much as humanly possible, even if it means doing without? Or do you accept the need for queues, and simply try to make the wait as painless as you can?

No, just like most people I don't like standing in line, but you can't always avoid it. If you go to the grocery store on the weekend, go to a concert, pr the DMV, you are going to have to wait in line. I'm okay with it to a point. I get irritated when the people in front of me make it much longer than it needs to be.

I'll give you an example, (this happened to Jenn, but it would kill me) a person is in the front of the line at the grocery store. Now, imagine this is the only lane open. To make the experience so much better, the person at the front of the line decides she wants to break up her purchase into several transactions to be able to use more coupons. Wouldn't this drive you a little crazy? You can admit it, we won't judge you.

On a related note, I hate when you are in a major traffic jam because one lane is closed just ahead, but some idiot decides to drive all the way up the barricade, then try to squeeze into the line of cars that were smart enough to merger earlier. Let me tell you, when this happens I wish I had a Hummer or some major beater car. You know why.

So, yes, I love waiting in line. Can you tell?

Extra Credit: Do you see the problem of waiting in lines as getting better or worse in recent years?

I don't know if it is getting worse. I think there are so many things you can do online now to check into things that the waiting can be much better.

Weekend Assignment #306: Famous Author

Carly is running the weekend assignment this week, and she wants us to pretend we are famous authors. Interesting.

So, the deal is it has to be something we don't normally read, or aren't known for. Since I'm not known for anything, I decided to have a little fun. I hope that is okay.

Weekend Assignment #306: You're A Famous Author, Whats The Name Of Your Book?

My book is a young adult romantic fantasy novel. I named it "We'll Meet Under the New Moon at Harry Potter's House." I figure this might draw some attention on the shelves at the bookstore. Not a bad idea, am I right.

Extra Credit: Write the opening paragraph of your best-seller!

Here is a taste:

Katie wanted Harry Potter bad. Really bad. It was like that time when she saw the

commercial for the new Porsche and wanted it but couldn't have it. But even worse. Much worse.

Even though she never talked to him, she new she loved him. Maybe it was the cute scar on

his head, or the fact that he turned Evil Sheila into a newt. She wasn't sure, but whatever

it was, she loved him for it. Sure, it could be a spell he cast on her, but that didn't matter.

What mattered was she loved him and she couldn't have him. In other words, she was sad.

Also, she thought her life seemed a little like that Romeo and Juliet thing she had to read

for Mrs. Johnson's class. Ick. She hated that class. And Mrs. Johnson. She hated them both.

Also, her parents, she didn't like them much either. They always made her do stuff. Ugh, stuff!

Riveting, no? Makes you want to go out and buy it, doesn't it?

(I apologize to all the women out there. I'm not making fun of teenage girls. Really.)

Weekend Assignment #303: To Tweet or not to tweet

That title seemed more clever in my head.

This week's assignment comes from Carly this week with Karen putting in the extra credit. It was a true team effort.

Weekend Assignment #302: Do you Tweet? Why or why not?

Yes, I do tweet. See over there on the right? You can read all the clever things I have to say right on this very page. Well, you'd have to re-load the page a lot since it only shows the last two. Maybe it would be better to actually follow me, but that is your choice. I'm not as interesting as the great Ashton Kutcher, but if you like to read stupid comments about TV or the occasional 80's reference, come on over.

I started back in 2008 when Florinda convinced me to join Twitter. She had been thinking about it for a while as well. By letting her go first I had a guaranteed follower. I didn't want to talk to myself on the thing. (As a side note, I think that is the first time I've ever spelled 'guaranteed' right on the first try. I always screw it up.)

Now that I've been on Twitter I'm kind of addicted to it. (I can hear Jenn saying, "Kind of!?" in my head right now.) I follow a lot of behind the scenes people from TV shows, some authors, and other blogging-type people I've met through this place.

I know there are a lot of people who think Twitter is stupid or only for self-important people, and they can be right, but it can be useful at times, too. I've learned about several things first through Twitter; earthquakes, plane crashes, etc. Not to mention that J.D Salinger had died. I've never read Catcher in the Rye, but still, it was important. If used right it can be fun and informative and full of spambots, but there isn't much you can do about that.

Extra Credit: If you do use Twitter, how many people follow you? How many do you follow?

I don't follow too many people, about 150, I don't think I could keep track of many more than that. I have about 80 followers, which probably turns out to be 12 real people. Maybe 15.

If you 'll excuse me, I need to see if anyone has posted anything good on Twitter.

weekend Assignment #301: Eyes or Ears

Simple enough; Karen wants to know if we are more satisfied with our eyes or ears. I'm assuming she's not talking about who they look.

Weekend Assignment #301: Which are you more satisfied with, your eyes or your ears? Why?

I'd have to say my ears. I need glasses, so obviously my eyes have failed me. The thing about my eyes is I remember being able to see the bottom line of that stupid eye chart at the doctor, the next thing I know I'm in the nurse's office in sixth grade because my teacher says I'm squinting. What the hell? Needless to say, I wore them as little as possible until I finally got contacts in high school. That's a lot of squinting over the course of a few years. No wonder I have a permanent crease in my brow line.

My ears, at least so far, are much better. Sure, they suck after going to a concert, but I've never had a problem hearing anything. Ask Jenn, she'll tell you how quiet I need it to be in order to sleep. The thing that drives me crazy is when there is a car outside idling. That noise drives me nuts.

A sign that my ears are doing well so far, is that I can still hear high pitches. I can't really describe it, but at work our computers beep when you have an incoming message. Imagined it like an IM. I have mine set at a higher pitch so I can hear it anywhere in the office, but there are a lot of people who can barely hear it when they are ten feet away. I can hear it when I'm in the little kitchenette area. Not too shabby. We'll see how long it lasts. I need to remember to wear ear plugs at the rest of the concerts I go to.

Extra Credit: Which would be easier for you, being nearly blind or nearly deaf?

I have no idea how to answer this. I want to be able to see TV, movies, my family, etc., but I'd also like to be able to hear them. I don't know if I can give an answer to this.

Weekend Assignment #292:The Oldest thing

This week Karen wants to know what kind of old stuff we have in our houses. It's kind of like that show where you find old stuff in your house and hope it's going to make you a millionaire. That's not going to happen here.

Weekend Assignment: #292: What is the oldest thing in your house or apartment?

By far the oldest thing in our house is one of my coins. I'm not a big collector, but I have a few things I've picked up since I was a kid. A few I got through the mail, but most of what I have I got through the regular money circulation channels. I used to wait tables, that is the best way to get a lot of change. Especially when you work in a restaurant that caters to old people. It was not unusual to get a tip of 78 cents. At least this was the before people had easy access to tip calculators, I probably would have been given pennies cut in half if that were the case.

Anyway, my oldest coin is a 1895 Indian Head Penny. As you can see, it has seen better days; about 41,600, or so. Exciting isn't it? Imagine, this coin has gained about 5000 percent in value since it was made. Of course, since the value started at 1 cent it's not that big of a deal. I wish I had a ten dollar bill laying around that had gained the same value.

As I was looking through the coins I have, I found some I had forgotten about. Don't worry, I won't bore you with the all of them. I found a few from other countries that I forgot I had. I have some from Israel, Mexico, Sweden, Italy, and the tiniest coin from the Netherlands. Look how small this is compared to our old giant silver dollars.

Isn't it cute? It's like a tiny baby coin. Can you imagine carrying around those tiny things and trying to find it in your pocket to buy a Coke?

Extra Credit: Is there anything from your childhood that you've managed to hang on to all these years?

I have a lot of things from my childhood at my mom's house. The kids have brought a few of them over here. My son had brought my old Star Bird spaceship toy home a long time ago. I loved that thing as a kid.

Weekend Assignment #291: It didn't work

I don't like when things don't work. I get very angry when I spend my time putting something together and it doesn't work. Especially since it takes me ten times longer than the average person to put anything together. Much like Peter Brady, I'm not mechanically inclined. Karen wants to dredge up bad feelings in this week's assignment:

Weekend Assignment: #291: Sooner or later, everyone buys, is given or otherwise acquires something that just doesn't work as expected. Tell us about that useless, broken, fraudulent, glitchy, disappointing acquisition.

Extra Credit: Did you eventually end up with something that worked?

I had some trouble coming up with a good story for the week. I know I've had many things not work, but I couldn't come up with anything good. I have several examples of kid's toys that didn't work as advertised. (When did Hot Wheels stuff becomes so poorly made?) But, nothing of mine; until I looked into the yard. Then the anger flowed back into my memory banks.

A few years ago I bought a new lawn mower. I won't mention the brand, let's just call it a "Zorro." I bought the new Zorro because the lawn mower I had was a little old and didn't cut very well. Or run very well. So, I brought home the box that the Zorro was in and set out the parts. There weren't many things to put together, just the handle and maybe the wheels. I think that is right.

I checked the instructions to see what needed to be added to make it run. All it said to do was put gas and add the oil that came in the box. No problem I can do that. I think I was done and ready to go in 20 minutes. I was feeling good about myself. Now it was time to cut grass and try the sucker out.

I pulled the handle to get the motor purring. No dice. I expected that, though. The thing was brand new and I expected it to be a bit difficult to start. Pull again, and again, and again. Each pull was raising my blood pressure a little higher. Not because of exertion. I can't remember how many times I pulled that stupid cord, but it did start eventually, but it didn't stay running. No, why would a brand new Zorro start and stay running on the first day? That's silly.

I don't know how long I kept working at it, but I eventually gave up and used the old mower. The one that didn't cut well or run well, ran better than the new Zorro. I was not a happy camper.

I can't remember now how I figured out the cause of problem. But it boiled down I followed the directions. See, for whatever reason, there was already oil in the mower. I over-filled it and messed it up. It had about double the amount of oil it should and it wouldn't run properly. I was able to get some out and get it going eventually (not the same day of course) but I was still ticked off. My guess is, someone bought it and put the oil in and returned it, though I could be wrong. Maybe the company was trying to screw with me.

This is why I need a handy man to live in our shed. It would make my life much easier.

Weekend Assignment #290: Sick Call

My Internet connection as been spotty today, so I hope I can finish this and send it out.

Anyway, Karen wants to know how often we get sick.

Weekend Assignment: #290: Are you one of those lucky people who hardly ever get sick, or do you tend to catch every cold or flu or virus that comes along? And when you do get some infectious disease, do you stay home, or try to keep going?

I don't think I get sick that often, but my frequency has increased since we've had kids. They are little bacteria and virus factories. When I do get sick, though, I get sick. Like, incapacitated sick. I don't know why, but I'm useless. I just want to curl into a ball and die. My head will hurt, my back won't let me stand up straight, basically I look like an 80 year-old man who was born without a spine.

There was one time when I was sick as a kid, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and I passed out and smacked my head on the linen closet door. I wasn't sick when I went to bed, and I didn't realize anything was wrong when I first woke up, but as I was standing there the room was growing dark and I knew something was wrong. I tried to get back to my bed, but, obviously, I didn't make it. The door still has the dent on it. I should have taken a picture of it to post along with this. Just imagine one of those doors with the slats on it, and the bottom 1/6th are a bent into the shape of a head.

Extra Credit: Are you getting a flu shot this year?

I usually don't get the seasonal flu shot, but I will probably get the H1N1 shot, if it's available for my age group.

Weekend Assignment #285: Lost and Found

Since I was a slacker and didn't get to Karen's last assignment in time, I making sure to get this one done quickly. Karen's assignment of the week:

I'm going to combine the main question and the extra credit all into one. I hope that is okay with you. Too bad if not.

I can't remember exactly when this happened, but it was close to ten years ago. At least eight. I think. Anyway, it was a cold and snowy January (maybe February) night. Jenn and I had just gotten home from a dinner at Chevy's and I just come in from taking our puppy, Cosmo, out. I noticed something was different as soon as I took my gloves off. May hand, more specifically my left hand, felt weird. The usual rubbing of the wedding ring on my pinky wasn't there.

Since I'm a typical guy, I didn't say anything to Jenn at first. I went up stairs to check my dresser. Maybe I forgot to put it on this morning, I thought. Nope, not there. It wasn't in the bathroom. Not in my coat that was hanging up. It didn't take Jenn long to figure out something was up. So I confessed, my wedding ring was missing. I looked around the house. I looked as best as I could outside where I took Cosmo out, and out around the car. Nothing.

We both figured I dropped it outside the restaurant when I took my glove off to get my car key out of my pocket. I don't remember if we called the restaurant, but we probably did. Jenn wasn't mad. She knew it was an accident. Somehow, all those times I played with my ring, I never lost it. That would have been bad, this was understandable.

Since I had recently finished my second round at school, and we were paying bills back, we didn't rush out to get it replaced. It's not like I went out to bars a lot anyway. Nobody was going to think I was available.

Well, since the title gave the climax of the story away, I'll jump to what happened.

Sometime in March we were doing some spring cleaning. The place we were in was pretty small, and we didn't have kids yet, so it wasn't a tough task. As I was moving some stuff around off to the side of the patio door, something shiny caught my eye. Yep, my ring. See, I was right about it coming off with my glove, just wrong about the location. This was the patio door I always took Cosmo out, and when I took my glove off by the door it must have flew behind the speaker that was right there. See, sometimes it pays to procrastinate when it comes to replacing things!

At least it was a happy ending, right? I've never lost my ring again. But, I have forgotten to put it on at times. Usually when I've hit snooze one too many times before work.

Weekend Assignment #283: Major Purchase

Karen wants to know what big purchases we may have made recently. Well, we've made two, so it's an easy one for me this week.

Weekend Assignment: #282: What was your most recent major purchase, that is, of a durable good worth $400 or more? (Yes, cars and houses count.) Was it something you researched and agonized over for weeks and months, or did you go through the whole buying process in an hour or a day?

First, about two months ago we bought a new car. Jenn's car was getting old and getting to a point where, even though it was paid for, we were spending about the same amount of money on repairs as we would a car payment. So, we decided it was time to replace hers and get something a little more reliable and save some money on repair costs.

It didn't take too long to find a car we wanted, though we did change the vehicle type after our first round of searching. We starting off looking for a crossover/SUV, but after looking at a few we decided to replace Jenn's small sedan with a mid-size sedan. It made more sense. I'm not a big fan of SUVs myself and Jenn doesn't like to drive the station wagon we have, so I don't see her enjoy driving a bigger car.

We ended up on a Toyota Camry. It was cheaper than the SUVs and has heated seats, so we're all happy.

The other big purchase just came the other day. We got a sectional couch for the living room. We are in the process of doing some changes in the way things are set up in the house and this seemed to be a good time to change the couches out. We ended up taking out the dinning room table and China cabinet and turned that area into an office. The computer is here now, we've moved in one of the love seats from the living room and now we have the new sectional in the living room. Now he have four reclining seats. How could we not be happy? We got them on sale and don't have to pay for them until next year, which is nice.

Extra Credit: Are you generally an impulse buyer, or do you prefer to take lots of time to consider your options?

I wouldn't say I'm an impulse buyer. I do check things out a little bit and think about what I want to get for a while. We did move pretty fast on the couches though.

Weekend Assignment #282: I can has LOLZ

First, let me say thanks to Karen for letting me do this a bit late. I didn't have time yesterday before work and I sent her a comment pleading for an extension. She was nice enough to tell me not to be stupid since she won't post a new one until later today. Cool.

The subject this week is LOL cats. If you don't know what that is, go here to see. I'm sure you've seen some things like this around. Karen says:

Weekend Assignment: #281: Create a LOLcat (or a LOLdog, or a LOLpig, a LOLhorse or whatever). If you can do it with your own pet photo, great (I'm looking at YOU, Sara and Sarah), but alternatively you can just describe what it would look like. Don't forget the humorous caption! Here's a "lolbuilder" to help you out.
Extra Credit: Do you like "lolspeak" and other Internet slang, or mostly find it annoying?

I will admit I do check these out. I'll even go farther to say that I have an app in my iPhone for easier access. I can't explain it, cats are crazy and they crack me up. The app does have some of the other sites associated with the I Can Has Cheeseburger site, like Graph Jam, I Has a Hot Dog, and other funny things. I hope you don't think less of me.

Since Quincy wasn't a good sport today, I'm going to put some other animals up this time. That will teach him to cooperate.

First is a bird from back when we were at Disney World.

Here's a squirrel that was hiding from the rain in my wheel well. The car has never driven the same.

For the extra credit, no. I don't LOL speak. An occasional LOL is fine, but I don't do anything else normally. Luckily Karen put up a handy LOL dictionary up for us to use.

Edit: Seems the LOLs didn't like my layout. had to re-crop and resend a few times. sorry about that.

Weekend Assignment #281: Writers or Actors

Karen asks a good, but tough, question this week.

Weekend Assignment: #281: Who has a greater impact on your decision to go to a movie or watch a tv show, the actors you see on the screen, or the behind the scenes writers, producers and/or directors?

I've been thinking about this since I first read Karen's post this weekend. I don't think I have a real clear-cut answer.

I am leaning towards the writers and directors. As Karen says, they bring the idea to the show or movie. They create the world, the characters and most everything about a movie. Without them you would have people walking around and making stuff up the whole time. It would be the world's worst improv session.

Now, I'm not saying actors don't bring anything to a movie or TV show. I've watched plenty of movies where it would fall completely apart without the actor that was involved. Think about it, can you imagine anyone else besides Sigourney Weaver as Ripley? Try to imagine Kevin Kostner as Indiana Jones. It's doesn't work, does it? So, yes, actors can bring something to the table, so to speak. There needs to be the right chemistry to make the character work that was originally created on paper.

See, it comes back to the words. It always comes back to the words. So, my final answer is I pay more attention to the writes and directors. (Sorry, Millionaire is back on TV.) Now, can a writer or director make a bad movie? Oh yes, I think we all know that. I'm thinking of a few movies right now. Some that are pretty recent and made by legendary directors and writers. Can you guess? Search your feelings, you know the answer.

Extra Credit: Who is your favorite actor?

Wow, this is a tough question. I don't really have an all-time favorite. There is no actor out there that will make me see everything they have done. I will list a few that I like and have seen a few of their works. (Yes, I said works.) Let's see, Harrison Ford, Bill Murray, John Candy, that's all I have right now.

Now, go see what the others had to say over at Karen's site.