Popped nails really bother me

Because I had the Blog disconnected from the internet (the world) for so long I am ending up posting in the past because I had a few items under construction....

I do not know if we are like most people when we make goals and deadlines and then work towards there completion. As the date for completion approaches more time is spent on the task and then even more. Eventually the task is all consuming as the deadline is approaching and every spare moment (including sleeptime) is used up.

Every time our children come home or when we have other visitors scheduled to come we like to (maybe that is just Loraine getting me to work) find a project around the home to complete before they arrive.

The Christmas '08 project was the computer room (is what I call it) or the office (is what Loraine calls it) or the main floor bedroom (is what a realtor would call it) which really needed a painting badly, replaced carpet and new furniture (according to Loraine). Well like most painting projects in this home the first thing was to find all those pesky popped nails. I may have blogged on this in the past but I need to mention that the nails holding the drywall are not even drywall nails as they do not have those little rings that will shred skin if pulled quickly between two fingers. So I removed only 38 popped nails and replaced them with drywall screws (by the way they were invented in the 1970's) from the room. Next was the patching of all the holes. at least three applications needed and several more on few real serious holes. Then priming which needed to be two coats. Finally we were at the painting stage and that is where I get Loraine involved as she is an amazing cutter - because of course she has done it so much over the years. Then two coats of paint and we have completed the walls. I thought at first the paint looked what you see in baby diapers but once it was on the walls and dried it looked like something else and when I figure that out I will let you know.

The carpet was next - except since I don't do carpet I had to call my old friend David - who installed the carpet in our basement a few years ago. David came the very next day after I called him and like always he did a great job. I paid him more then he asked since he obviously needs the work and since he is a perfectionist which is always hard to find.
Last the furniture and that is a real challenge as Loraine wants something that fits in, looks nice and I want something that can hold several computers, does not cost anything and looking nice is not high on my priority list. We will continue to look for a compromising solution.

Blogging and www privacy

One day in September as I worked from home and as I went out to get the mail I met Julie. Julie is our new neighbor who moved in just two doors away late in the summer. She said "oh you must be M... and your wife is L... - your the Salmons?" to which I replied "I have not met you yet - how do you know us... from the Home Owners Association (HOA) phone list?". "Oh no" she replies " I googled everyone on this Cul-de-sac". To which I replied " Oh then you have nothing on me!". Julie then said "aren't you Canned Salmon? and I would say I am scared of spiders and snakes too". Then I ran in the house crying (no actually I was so surprised I forgot to ask her name so I could google her as soon as I went in the house. I went into the house and as I started doing email again I had two emails from people who wanted to be my friend on "facebook" of all things. Those people were not from the US or Canada so I just deleted them and thought that was weird that people were asking to be my friend on facebook since I did not have an account anyway. A few days later I had another request to be a friend on facebook to someone in the UK that I have known for some years through my company and I deleted that as well. The following week I had member of our ward send me an request to be a friend on facebook so then I went on facebook and saw that amongst all the Mark Salmon's there was one that matched me so well it had to be me yet I did not create it. But who did and why did they do that? I was totally freaked out that I had a facebook that I did not create and that my neighbor reads my blog and knows so much about me. And since that day I have not made any post to our blog ( hi Julie) or any friends on facebooks since I have been trying to determine what is the best way to post personal information to a medium that has a possible readership of over a billion. If people are just browsing the web and find personal information who can blame them for doing anything wrong. Mmmm maybe posting personal information to the www is not the best way to let our family know about what is happening in our lives. Maybe there is a best way and if you know it let me know but first I should be more vague in some information. Second I can adjust the settings so search engines will not index my blogging. Next I can say in the profile that we live in Wolf Creek, Montana and if some crazy dude wants to find me and snuff me out because of the poor writing style in my blog then he will have a hard time since Wolf Creek is in the middle of nowhere, and he will likely run out of gas or freeze to death looking for me and maybe I don't live right in the town of Wolf Creek but in the suburbs. And if that is the case I need to be more optimistic about my Field and Stream collection (notice I refer to them as the collection now that I claim to live in the greater Wolf Creek Metropolitan area.)

Empty Nester lifestyle

This Empty Nester household is quiet ( I assume most Empty Nesters fit into that category) and I have noticed one thing thus far that you cannot really blame anyone for anything. Often in families when something is lost or broken or a mess is created determining WHO DID It seems to be all too important. You know the drill ...it is an all out witch hunt to find out who left the milk out, who put the scratch on the new furntiture or who ate or threw out the personal food item that someone was saving in the fridge (yet it was likely well past it best days). The witnesses are called in and many opinions are shared but often the mystery still is not solved completely. The funny thing is when or if that person is found out and the mystery is solved it ends up being a lot of tension and contention over something so insignificant. But now it is really easy to determine WHO DID IT especially when there is just the two of us. It is either me or Loraine so I am not pointing any fingers and trying to keep my nose clean.

Field and Stream?

We get a lot of junk mail like everyone else in this country and so when I bring in the mail much of it never comes in the door. We received the June '08 Field and Stream that I dropped in the garbage in June on the way in with the mail. When a second copy came in July I noticed it had my name on it and I was alarmed supposing that someone used my credit card to order me a subscription to Field and Stream. FIELD and STREAM??. I set it aside with the intent to get to the bottom of this mystery but the weeks turned into a month and soon I was bringing in the August '08 copy - oh and I did check my credit card statements but no Field and Stream line was to be found so a crisis was averted and the mystery was now a low priority. Next I needed to contact Field and Stream to determine why I was the special guy who had a year's subscription without paying for it and I was sure there had to be a catch. First I am GOTD and now a free subscription to Field and Stream - could a person get anymore lucky? FIELD and STREAM??. So I call and the young lady on the phone tells me that a company named Polsteins Home and Beyond paid for a years subscription for me. I must have asked her what I should do with the magazine and she told me that I should read it. "okay right" I said thinking that is not likely. Polsteins is another whole story but the short version is I bought something on Amazon I tried to return it and Polsteins said no since they would have to pay the shipping and it was over $100. I contacted the Amazon cops and in within days Polsteins was suddenly really nice and would do anything I wanted (I highly recommend Amazon)...so they bought me a subscription to Field and Stream. FIELD AND STREAM? I wonder if they were actually punishing me? Of all the magazines they could give me I wonder why Field and Stream. I do not own a gun. I do not own a fishing rod. I do not own a bowie knife. I do not own a ATV, a bass boat or a 4WD. I do not own hip-waders although I have always thought they were really cool. So let me know if you want to read my subscription because there is only 8 months left of exciting issues on articles such as " The Truth About Scents", "Favorite Firearms", Get More Birds Guaranteed" and my personal favorite " Float, Fish, Camp: Your Perfect Weekend".

We have joined the EN club

If you don't know what the EN club is you probably are not a member. Okay I will tell you just this once EN=Empty Nesters and with the departure of Nathan this year to BYU we have become members of that club -not sure if it is an elite club but it certainly is a growing club. When you are young married with a dozen or so children (so it seems) making messes. complaining about meals, needing just $20 even though they just needed $20 yesterday, requiring new clothes always because the ones they have are used, smashing up cars, staying out real late and the list goes on there are moments that daydreaming about that distant time when becoming an EN seems so relaxing and deserving. Is Champagne (Canada Dry Ginger Ale in our house) wishes and caviar dreams is what joining the EN club is supposed to be about? That is what many people think it will or should be like but with just a few weeks behind us it is bottled water and cold cereal. My first assignment as a partner in this EN household was to clean up the cereal that we old timers would not normally consume. Each of our boys really enjoyed cereal but they would need a lot of variety so many options were always provided to them - many of which would fall into that class of cereal termed " Junk Food cereal". For at least one of them his utter survival was dependent on that cold cereal and eating several bowls at breakfast was sufficient for the entire day until about 11 PM when he loaded up again. There always was one funny quirk with the boys and that was if the box of cereal did not have enough contents to fill a good-sized bowl they were done with it and moved on to something else. Loraine would take care of this problem by adding the contents into the box with larger contents which I thought would be both thrifty and creative but it backfired and the boys would say that the mixing contaminated the cereal and would need to start on a new box of cereal. So I would end up eating the latest mix and it always was an new and exciting experience for my taste buds. I am going to miss those interesting tastes just like I am missing those boys that without realizing it helped to create them.

Guest of the Day

Wilkesboro, NC is about 2 hours north of Charlotte and as far as I can tell there is only one real hotel in this town. I usually stay in Marriott properties but the 29 mile drive was too far away. When I checked in they asked for my last name and immediatly they told me I was " The Guest of the Day" and they gave me a bottle of water and told me I can park in the special parking slot reserved for the GOTD (my new acronynm). I wanted to ask why I was chosen but figured that might spoil the excitment of the moment and I will assure you I was not the only guest in the hotel. I went up to the room and on the bed was a little shrine to the guest of the day on one of those trays used to serve food in bed which included a letter, resturant discount coupons, chocolate bar and another bottle of water. By this time I was feeling pretty special but to feel the full sensation of being GOTD I needed to park my car in that special spot reserved for GOTD. Upon leaving the hotel I noted the GOTD spot which was located as close as one could get to the door without parking in one of the two handicap spots. I walked to my car, which really was not that far away, and carefully parked it in the GOTD spot shortly after a lady had moved her vehicle to the next spot over. She had realized that she was parked in the GOTD spot and she was certainly not the GOTD. She was still sitting in her vehicle when I parked and she gave me a long glare which made me think she either thought I did not respect the GOTD program or she wondered why I was chosen as the GOTD. I smiled back because I was the GOTD and of course I respected the GOTD program but I am still wondering why I was chosen.

old story - new pictures

We developed most of the basement over two years ago now and when we started I need to get power down there for the air conditioning unit. A quote of $2500 just to get power down there seemed ludicrous even though it included all parts and labor so I took on most of the project myself. I had to break up the drywall by the existing panel in the garage, drill a few holes through the wall, install a new breaker panel in the basement and then run the large wire between the two. I even installed a large breaker in the main panel and two breakers for the A/C in the sub-panel. My material costs were $178.70. Because I am not a certified electrician I then got a second quote to "connect the wires" on both ends so a certified professional would be making the actual connections. The new quote came in at $500 and so I agreed to have it done. As I watched over the shoulder of the older guy (yes older then me) doing the work I just had to ask " Are you a certifed professional electrician?". He replied "No I am a carpenter but my son is a certified electrician". So the old carpenter guy connected the three wires on each end which took about 17 minutes and I guess that was as professional as it was going to get. It is still working today so he did a good job and now I finally finished the job by patching the holes I made to fish the wire in the first place. I learned one interesting thing - that if you paint in a garage in Georgia, in the summer, the paint dries almost immediately.

not quite arachnophiba but some phobia

I was on a plane heading to Miami last week when I was visiting with the lady beside me. I asked her what she did to her leg as she had an interesting looking cast from the toe all the way up to her knee. She told me that she was bitten by brown recluse spider about 7 months ago. So then I needed to listen to her story about doctors not knowing what it was or how to deal with it. She was bitten at work in Miami while moving some cardboard boxes. Because it was not taken care of properly she now has no muscle control on her foot and will walk the rest of her life with a limp. Then the guy beside her shows us his scar from "his" brown recluse encounter some 10 years ago on his right forearm. It was a nasty scar that was 2 inches wide by about 4 in length and was quite obvious as it did not tan at the same intensity as the rest of his arm. He was just working in the garage and felt a piercing in his arm and saw the spider. Next it was my turn to tell a story but I did not have much of a spider story to share - how could I tell something more exciting then being bitten by a brown recluse but I did tell them about driving on the freeway and seeing a spider walking along the inside of the roof a few inches from my head. I eventually had to pull over as the suspense was killing me thinking the brown recluse would attack me at anytime - was it a brown recluse? well it was brown and he had secluded himself in my car and thus he was a bit of a recluse.
I have always been one to wear long pants [I figured it was a Canadian thing - some years ago we were in Las Vegas in July and I was watching the children in the pool. Loraine came up to me and told me that I looked weird in the blue jeans and long sleeve black sweatshirt] since I do not want to get bitten, scraped or burned when I work in the yard but on Saturday I had been working out in shorts and T-shirt and ended up getting the water hose from the bushes and I felt something crawling on my leg - of course I figured it was my turn for the brown recluse encounter and I frantically ran through the bushes rubbing both my legs all over and then looked to see if there was anything still hanging on. I left the hose in the bushes and went inside and put on the long pants, socks, shoes and the long sleeve shirt and went back out to complete what I started - maybe I have a phobia of some sort but it covers much more then spiders and its the fear of anything crawling on my arms or legs.

St. Augustine, Florida

In late June we drove to St. Augustine with Nathan, Sara and her friend Spencer. The first mistake I made was thinking it was a 5 hour drive and it was more then 6 1/2 hours from our home. We used Garmin to assist us in finding our condo and he failed us when he told us " You have arrived at your destination" about 5 miles from the actual location. When you depend on a GPS and it fails you it is frustrating and the only option is going back to the old fashioned method of asking people for directions - Loraine is the queen in that category. So we finally found the place very late at night and the young man at the guard station was not much help getting us to the actual unit. I knew we were close but for some reason I decided that it was behind us and started going backwards at a good pace when suddenly BANG followed by a sliding along the pavement noise which made me scared, Loraine to scream and me to stop immediately. Okay that was my second mistake driving backwards... The midget speed limit sign in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD took a hit but we were able to put it back together and it ended up being right by the condo we were renting...which meant it was a sign - that is a joke - of course it was a sign and it was in the middle of the road.
We were all very hungry and started to do some quick research for something to eat in the St. Augustine area- the wireless internet was nice. At 1:30 AM the options were Denny's or eat at a 24-hour gas station. I have done the later in Paris once so we chose the former and I am not sure if it was any better then the gas station option. We were in sort of a giddy mood as everything around us made as laugh but really it helped us deal with the dirtiest Denny's I have ever seen - I actually looked for the cleanliness rating system that is commonly used in Georgia but I could not see anything posted and that is probably a good thing as it would have been in single digits (out of 100) and I have a personal goal not to eat at something less then 90.
We ended up seeing all the sights over the next few days...you know some of these tourist things are really reaching but I guess we are as dense as the next tourist as we would pay to see the oldest jail, the oldest school house, the oldest home (with a lot of caveats) and several other sites that would not have been missed if someone just burnt them down. We went to the fountain of youth that Ponce De Leon discovered which has water bubbling out of the ground that tasted terrible which is pretty much the same taste of water everywhere else in St. Augustine. My favorite things were the Castillo de San Marcos which was the fort that Spain used to protect its empire in the new world and the alligator farm which showed numerous gators in various sizes, shapes and colors from all over the world.
I usually enjoy drinking water when I eat but we all had a problem with the drinking water and had to either get bottled water (which some places do not carry) or drink soda so we were lucky that we had a cooler with us that held a lot of cold water bottles.
One night the kids were playing in the ocean and a couple came by walking with flashlights and as they shined it in my face they told me that it was the sharks feeding time. I causally told Loraine that it was the shark feeding time and she had them out of there in an instant - I did note however that there was nobody else in the water on the beach. I wonder what made those people shark experts? Loraine has a serious fear of flying over water, crashing and getting eaten by a shark. I have told her on several occasions that if the plane ever crashes there will be no survivors and sharks may be eating all the dead bodies which has never consoled her.
We spent the last night in the Casa Monica which is right in the heart of St. Augustine and is considered a pretty nice hotel. It was nice alright but not the type of accommodation that I feel most comfortable with - a little stuffy. I was impressed with the crown molding in our room as it had a round ceiling and looked like a real challenge to custom fit.
Being that we were by the ocean Loraine hoped to have some good seafood a few times while we were there but that did not happen. Everywhere we went claimed to have good seafood but only if you like deep fried shrimp or fish-sticks or something else from the sea deep fried...hey I can get Captain D's in Topeka, Kansas. That was a major disappointment but I still think such a place must exist in St. Augustine but we did not find them or it.
On the way home we had to stop so Spencer could try boiled peanuts and he was not impressed as shown on his face. They actually were not good boiled peanuts as they had probably been boiling since early spring and were water-logged. I would not say I like boiled peanuts but I have had them enough to know that there are tolerable boiled peanuts and we did not have any of those. Nathan did not even try them as he has experienced BP's in the past.

So how do you tell venomous and non-venomous snakes apart?

I was just pulling out of the driveway and out of the corner of my eye saw something moving on the road. I stopped quickly to see a large black snake crossing the road obviously to get to the other side. At first I thought I would pick it up but I was not sure if it would hurt me so I was a wimp and used a broom handle to bring him closer to me without touching him. He seemed friendly enough but Sara thought I should not pick him up or rap him around my neck for the picture so the broom handle will have to do. I just let him go and he crawled quickly away into the neighbors yard and I far as know he was a Black Racer out for a training run.

small room - LOTS OF WORK

The main floor bathroom was always a project waiting to happen ever since the day we moved into this house. The problem was the dark green wallpaper which made the room look small, dark, dated and totally tacky. After speaking with neighbors with homes of the same age that had wallpaper removed and the serious drywall problems that were encountered because of inadequate priming I was not looking forward to all the extra work. However I was excited for the challenge of removing wallpaper as I had not experienced it up to this point in my life. We were having a visitor come in about a month so I started the job thinking I had lots of time to spare and the pressure of a coming guest would help keep the project on schedule. After trying a few methods from the internet to remove the wallpaper without chemicals or scoring it was still all in place. Our wallpaper was impermeable and I needed to get the chemicals under the wallpaper so the glue could actually let go. So with a wallpaper scorer I made lots of holes in mostly circular patterns all over the walls – the tool broke 2/3 through the operation on such a small room which did not impress me. I carried on with a broken tool which proved to be a fatal error in a later stage. The instructions that came with the tool say "The more holes you make, the faster and easier the paper will come off" and if you know me you know I always go to the extreme - there was a lot of holes. Once the scoring was complete I used different chemicals on different areas so I would be able to determine what worked best. For me the spray DIF worked exceedingly well but it made my wrist tired but still everything else paled in comparison. As the paper starts to come off it leaves the backing and the more holes does make it come off easier BUT too many holes makes each piece that comes off small so there is a trade-off. A second application of hot water on the backing proves to work very well as it slides off the wall in most areas. When the paper and backing is gone then washing the wall with hot water removed all the glue residue. Also chunks of drywall mud came off in areas where the priming job was weak and the broken scorer made gouges in one wall that needed some drywall mud applied. The drywall mudding stage took a long time with all the holes and gouges plus I had to rebuild two corners as the tape was installed by a blind man but hidden by the wallpaper. The pedestal sink proved to be the biggest pain as the wallpaper hid a opening created for the plumbing that was not taped yet. I could not remove the compression fittings so I "feathered" an area 3 feet square under the sink with a small knife that took literally hours to get it right. Because it is a small bathroom I primed the walls and ceiling with three coats to protect the drywall from excessive moisture. A few self-inflicted challenges (dropped open primer can in tub, lid flew off the paint when I shook it covering walls and fixtures and needing to get another can to complete the job) made the project last even longer but it was great to get in the home stretch. Now the biggest problem for the rest of the family was that I had removed the tank from the toilet and for almost a month the bathroom was out of service. A few times family members were running upstairs and under their breath mumbling " when is that bathroom going to be done? Would I do it again? Sure - I would get a spare scorer tool, make less holes and get a few bottles of DIF.

Our last high school graduation

As high school graduation approached Nathan told us that he had no interest in "walking" with his class or attending the event. It became a discussion item a few times and eventually we coerced Nathan into doing it or at least that is what Nathan would say. We bought a cap and gown but we could not get Nathan to put them on to take a picture at any time leading up to the actual event. The event was at an outdoor theater that is not far from our home and in normal fashion we ended up getting there later then most folks so we were close to the back - just where the edges of the canvas roof were blocking the hot sun - we had John with us and he choose a good place to sit based on the Sun's eventual movement that quickly was in the shade. After all the speeches and as the graduates started to march up to the stage I wandered up to the front left of the stage in the hopes of getting a picture or two of Nathan. I could see him sitting down but could not get his attention and so the best pictures I got were of him sitting there looking the other way. As I waited patiently for the S's to approach the podium I realized that I was surrounded by people with digital SLR's with huge lenses, tripods , monopods. I overheard one man say to a man who had a very expensive looking camera around his neck that he had a bigger lense at home but did not bring it because it was too heavy - like anyone believed him. It kept getting more crowded on the little triangle we were required to stand in and I saw some people look at me as though I should just sit down because my camera was not expensive enough (just a point and shoot) to be taking up space. It eventually got so crowded that I got hit in the head and shoulder by other people pushing for some picture taking space. Then it happened I saw someone with a camera phone, then another and a third one and possibly a fourth. I clutched my little point & shoot a little tighter and pushed out my shoulders to take up the room I deserved as the R's rolled across the stage. Before the S's were started I even saw one guy with a disposable film camera and he apparently did not see that he was now at the bottom of the camera owners food chain. As the time came to hear Nathan Salmon I was ready with the camera and attempted to take a picture just as he began to come down the stairs and the point and shoot completed the picture when he was on the third step and I knew that even the disposable film camera would not fail its owner like that. So I slipped out from the camera crowd and heading back to my seat disappointed with my picture (ya a single picture) and figured I would get some others after the whole event. Since Nathan left immediately after the event I did not get any other pictures nor have I got Nathan to put on the robe since. (PS the whole experience was so traumatic I have upgraded to a digital SLR)

Do noses become less tolerable with age?

On our recent trip to Utah to attend Aaron's graduation we took the MARTA to the airport. I take MARTA often and usually enjoy the interesting experiences that only can happen on MARTA. Loraine and I were sitting in a car that was almost empty and because we had luggage with us we sat right adjacent to our bags. Two stops after we got on the train two people entered the car and one sat across from us and the other sat directly behind us. Immediately we both noticed the most foul smell and knew that one of the two was the source of the most foul smell. I looked intently at the young man across from us and he looked clean-shaven, new clothes and that he likely had a shower that morning. I mentioned quietly to Loraine that the problem was behind and we could move if she wanted to but she just shook her head and I could see that she was focused on survival as she was taking deep breaths similar to the final stage of labor. She said "Do not look back!!" with a mouth that did not move (at times I think she could be an ventriloquist). The smell was so rank my esophagus was going into shock and minor reverse peristalsis had set in so I just had to look back - I had to see what was causing so much stress in my life because of the intense foul smell. I turned slowly to my left far enough to see two feet that were about mens size 9 protruding into the aisle with light blue socks and more holes then I have fingers and toes. The feet were on the end of two crossed legs and two old running shoes were sitting empty on the floor. I had certainly found the source of the most extreme stress my nervous system had experienced in recent memory. We then went through a tunnel and using the windows as a makeshift mirror I discretely looked across from me and noticed the person who owned those feet was reading a newspaper and I thought I saw him doing a crossword puzzle with his back against the window. So I turned around again looking to see what he looked like and how a person could actually emit such a putrid odor. It was a short man in his late 40's who looked like he had not shaved for just few days and the rest of his clothes looked a little worn but not like his socks and certainly not like his shoes. He was actually doing the crossword puzzle or some other type of challenge and he looked like he was enjoying it with his feet up on the seat towards the middle of the train. Loraine elbowed me to turn around and stop looking and I did so with out delay. I told her we need to move before I throw up but she said "no" as she continued with the long drawn out breaths with her eyes obviously focused on something that was going to get her through this. I suddenly had an idea and I asked Loraine if I could offer him 5 bucks if he would promise to get off the train - the answer - no - again without any lip movement. Then I asked - okay how about 5 bucks for him to move to the other end of the car - No was the answer and it was louder then the first but still there was no lip movement. Just then the young man got up and waited a few seconds until the doors opened and he promptly left the train. Immediately Loraine got up and went to sit in the spot where the young man was sitting which was on the other side of the train but facing me and the smell behind me. Loraine looked sick and she was covering her mouth with her arm which I assumed to filter the smell but afterwards she told me she was trying to mask the foul smell with the smell of fabric softener. I got out my camera to take some pictures of Loraine and the smelly feet but she could read my mind and shook her head at me taking a picture of the feet that caused us so much stress in such a short time. Well I did get a shot or two of Loraine one showing her sniffing her sweater and a second of her trying to look at the smelly little man without being noticed. Suddenly the little man sat up, put on his old shoes and quickly left the train carrying his paper and plastic shopping bag holding a few prized possessions. Now looking back I have smelt a lot of things in my life that have caused me to feel sick but that was the worst ever coming from another human. Now I know what I should have offered him was some clean socks and new shoes - I think the smell was in the shoes and probably has been there since the early 80's.

What is KC known for?

I spent much of last week in Kansas City and other then passing through via automobile I had never spent any time there. I find it fascinating how most people in the mid-west really love the places where they live plus they are extremely proud of the local customs, culture, amenities and the food. They are always claiming to be the biggest, the best, the tallest, the oldest or something else that gives them a moment of fame. Often their claims cannot be substantiated since they are the ones making the claim and not someone with a vast knowledge of their competition. KC is one of several cities that claims to have exceptional BBQ in fact they call themselves "The BBQ Capital of the World" which is quite a bold statement. So I had to try some BBQ while there but when I asked what was the best everyone has a different opinion or more like the best pork is one place, the best sauce is another, the best fries are still another and the best slaw is at a fourth location. So I went with the one that was closest to the hotel - Jack Stack Barbecue. I was still full from the lunch BBQ so I figured I would just get a small portion but that was not an option. I got the Burnt Ends meal and it was best that I had all week. It was very good ..so good in fact that I enjoyed the whole thing. When Delta canceled all their MD-88 flights on Thursday and I was compelled to stay another day I decided I would try something other then bbq as I was almost BBQ'd out. But I will be back to Jack's even if it is ordered online :-)

Preheat oven to 120°F and bake for 2 hours

Not exactly what you would expect to do with a new cell phone but that is what I did to get it working again.
After filling the font I could not locate the keys I had earlier in the day to the curtain so people could actually see into the font. Of course I knew that would be a big problem so I became more agitated as the time ticked away and then I attempted to open the curtain from the inside stretching over the water-filled font in an effort to reach the latch. I heard a soft plop and watched my cell phone that was less then a month old sink quickly and lay on the tile step in about 2 feet of water. The water probably broke the fall to the tile that might have taken its life prematurely but then again I would not be doing the Ninja Warrior stretch if the water was not there. I reached down and pulled it out in a few seconds getting quite wet and quickly took out the battery. I did eventually locate a second key but 5 minutes after the meeting was supposed to start. (mine had fallen out of my pocket and was on the seat of my car when I left the meeting)
Being that the cell phone was only a month old I had a lot of hope that I might be able to keep it alive. I know that Sara had a phone that was less then a month old which drowned - never to work again - when she went for a short swim in Las Vegas. That was a Motorola phone with a submersion indicator that is designed to go red once immersed in water to remind you that are having a really bad day and you should have bought a Nokia. After perusing the Internet for ideas I concluded that my new phone would be spending some time alone in the oven. After removing the sim card I baked it for 2 hours at 120° F and let it cool for another 2 hours. I made a few calls that night and it has worked fine since which has been 3 weeks so it has had no health issues after taking a dive in the water and a 2 hour sauna session.

Monster Shelf III

I needed a certain shelf unit that would have dozens of little compartments and would have a depth of only 6 inches. I could not find anything like that online or in any store so I concluded that if I really wanted it I would need to make it myself. I have not been able to locate my dado blade so it was going to be constructed by some other method. It was to go under the stairs in the back of the workshop so I decided to make it fit the contours of the room to fully utilize the space. So why is it called the Monster shelf III - well I and II were pretty big and they both reside in the garages of the last two homes in which we lived but this can now aptly be named Monster shelf III simply because of all the time it took to build the shelf. For each individual shelf there are 5 screws, 5 pre-drilled pocket holes and a bunch of glue holding it in place which does not sound that bad but many of the screws had to be installed with a tiny ratchet holding a Robertson bit since all usable screwdrivers are too long to fit between those nice little shelfs. It might be considered a flaw in the design by some but the finished product is exactly what I was looking for so my sore wrist and a few huge splinters were worth it.

The Snow Day that came on the wrong day

In the latter part of January we had a forecast for snow several days in a row. The school systems did not seem to believe the weather man, as in the past since a snow day would be called just in anticipation of snow. Many rural school districts close every time snow is forecasted but Metro Atlanta counties held firm this year and kept school in session each time snow was predicated. We even had flakes coming down a few times but they were not able to stay frozen as they hit the ground or car windows. The air was cold enough several times but on those days the moisture just was nowhere to be found. One day they canceled Seminary in the anticipation of a morning of freezing rain but school never was canceled or even given a late start which is what the local private schools often do. Then the snow finally started to fall late in the afternoon of January 18th it was a FRIDAY. It snowed all night and we could hear laughter and yelling outside much of the night as children and teenagers were playing in the snow, making angels everywhere and having snow ball fights. Youth Conference was canceled as was all community sporting events but we were surprised to see people driving in the snow on Saturday. I was nervous to drive but only because of the other people on the road. Nathan and his friend played outside much of the day and he called me in the afternoon to come and take a picture of their snowman. I figured it must be an enormous snowman or a caricature of someone well known. When I arrived I saw a very traditional snowman (except the snow top hat) built on the corner of a busy 4-way stop intersection and before I could get parked there were two cars that stopped to take pictures and one that stopped to make a comment to the young men. The snow stayed on the ground and we had a late start with Church on Sunday with a large Sacrament meeting shared with the other two wards but by Sunday afternoon the only snow that remained was in the shade or found in snowman or snow creatures and the roads were dry. Not enough snow remained to have a snow day on Monday so hoped faded and it looks like it will have to be next winter for the next snow day.

TSA thought they had a terrorist

We had my Mom and Dad with us for almost a month and they just left last week. We had a good time with them and the time just seemed to fly by so quickly. We really did not do anything to exciting so I guess they need to come back if they want to do tourist-type things. When I took them to the airport I figured that I should assist them to their gate and so I got a pass to do so especially when they did not want assistance from the airlines. I went through security first, followed by Mom. Dad was changing his shoes to some of those Croc's (or the knock-offs) so he could put his real shoes through the security scanner. Both Mom and I were on the one side as he tried to go through the metal detector with the Croc's on his feet. I did not hear what was said but I know the local TSA thought they had found their latest terrorist. Several agents converged on Dad and one yelled at him "TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES NOW!!". Dad did remove the shoes and he walked slowly and painfully through the metal detector and I could tell his feet hurt with each step. After the ordeal the TSA person in charge told me Dad had refused to remove his shoes. I told her that he figured that he already had removed the shoes as they were still on the belt. After some discussion we determined there were some communication issues and in the future all he needs to say is that he cannot walk without his shoes and they will scan them after he passes through the scanner.