Goodnight Peter!

I checked into a Embassy Suites hotel in Cleveland and I was given a room on the 14th floor and it was as far away from the elevator as anyone could go. It was very late when I arrived and thus I groped around in the dark feeling for a light switch. I finally found it and then I could find my way around the suite. About a minute later the phone rang and I picked it up and answered “Hello, Mark Salmon”. The person on the other end of the phone said “Hello Mr. Salmon this is Peter at the front desk, welcome to Embassy suites, how are you doing?. “Just fine, thanks!" I said thinking they are very professional and what a lot of work to call every guest to welcome them to the hotel. “Mr. Salmon are you SURE you are okay?” Peter continued. “Yes I am feeling pretty good -thanks” now I am beginning to think this is kind of weird. Peter then asked “Can you get up Mr. Salmon?”.“I am standing right now” I said and I am now thinking this is a bothersome service they could do without. Peter continued “Mr. Salmon are you able to turn off the alarm?.” "What alarm?" I say with an annoyed tone. “The alarm that is ringing at the front desk - that is coming from your room” Peter explains. “My room?” I blurt out.“Yes you are in a handicapped room and there is an alarm that has been set that is coming from your room” Peter clarifies for me. I said “Oh –okay let me find it and shut it off - do you want to wait?" "Yes" said Peter firmly. On the wall right beside the light switch was a second switch with a long string that hangs close to the floor. I pushed up the little switch and went back to the phone and said “ is that it Peter?” “That is it Mr. Salmon – goodnight Mr. Salmon” “Goodnight Peter” I mumble as I hang up the phone. I wonder why is there a handicap room as far as possible from the elevator and on the 14th floor. I wonder why the the toilets are so high that my feet do not touch the floor when seated upon the “throne” which I suspect is wheelchair friendly thing. Also there is always phone near the floor in the bathroom but I suppose now if I fall I can call Peter to come and help me or just call him to say "Goodnight Peter"

Utterold - What is Utterold?

A few weeks ago I was at a cafeteria in Birmingham Alabama (the deep south) and I ordered an egg and bacon sandwich for breakfast on toasted bread. Just before she handed it to me the lady asked me what sounded like "utterold?" I looked at her with a frustrated look and she said again "utterold?"I just looked at her not comprehending at all what she was saying "utterold?" The fourth time the volume was up now to "UTTEROLD?". I was holding up the line and so I finally had to say " I cannot understand what you are saying!". She looked at me with anger in her eyes, gritting her teeth and said loudly " CUT OR WHOLE?". To that I smiled and said ‘ Whole would be fine!’ and she handed me my sandwich.

Our Dishwasher is taking a break

Almost a month ago our dishwasher started leaving a lot of water in the bottom at the end of each cycle. After a few days it was apparent that there was something wrong so we called to get some service. It took the company a week before they came and then they were only here a few minutes - they claimed a large amount of rice was the problem but they also reset the electronics at the same time. The way I see dishwasher usage is that there are two types of users; those who just place the dishes in without any pre-wash or rinsing and those who practically pre-wash everything and use the dishwasher as a sterilizer for the dishes. We lean heavily to the latter so the rice claim was not convincing and I had already cleaned the filters. We had been steadily increasing our usage of paper and plastic goods to lighten the hand washing experience and so with the dishwasher repaired that trend could now stop. But no such luck the problem came back again after 10 days and this time it was worse so of course I called the same company to come back and make the repairs they forgot to do the first time. I called them Wednesday...I called them Thursday...I called them Friday and they still have not called to schedule another appointment. So officially the dishes, bowls, glasses and utensils we use are all disposable and today we had several family members and close friends over for a large dinner. We needed to make some signage to remind everyone that if they use anything other the designated "picnic-ware" they have joined the dish-duty team and the signage worked very well. We even ate Kenny's Key Lime pie [see December 2007 post] with plastic forks on plastic plates - sorry Kenny I am sure that is an insult but finding people that know how to repair appliances seems to be a real challenge.

Quick little hands

Yesterday I am working from home and Lisa comes over to pick something up and brought Ryan with her. Now that Ryan can open doors he will come in to visit me but since I am usually busy on a computer he does not stay long. I suddenly hear the shredder going and turn around to see Ryan with his hands high in the air like he just won a sporting event by successfully shredding something from my desk. I knew he shredded something I printed earlier in the day so it could be replaced but I needed to find out how he did it so quickly and why his actions indicated that he thought he was a real hero. Also worried about little fingers I turned off the shredder and unplugged it. Lisa told me that he is the official shredder in their home and their shredder even though it is safe for his little hands remains unplugged most of the time as he knows how to turn it on and shred anything he can get his hand on.

Nathan received his mission call

We all thought Nathan might be the first person from our immediate family to break the tradition and go outside of the USA on his mission. I went to San Diego, CA; Aaron went to Sacramento, CA ; Michael went to Las Vegas, NV- so where is Nathan going?. With both Aaron and Michael we were contacted by Salt Lake about our status in the US and were told beforehand they would be staying in the US. Nathan updated his passport so he would not have any issues where ever he was called to go. Nathan informed us that he had received his call and scheduled a date and time to inform the family and his friends. There were 24 participates on a conference call with Nathan after he had walked up to the "Y" in a small blizzard in late March with his best friend from BYU. Once they arrived he opened the paperwork and slowly read the letter as we all listened "Las Vegas" was the location which is different then Michael's mission which was the Las Vegas - West mission. That ensures that we all went to locations in the US, English speaking, in the Pacific time zone, and they all touch on each other. So we sure know where we are needed. Nathan loves the dry heat ;-) or he soon will. We are very happy for Nathan and Loraine is relieved his is not going somewhere considered not safe.

PDT

What is (a) PDT? Well it could be Pacific Daylight Time or Product Development Team but this PDT is PhotoDynamic Therapy. If you know what it is you probably have had one or know someone close who has had one. The purpose is to remove precancerous spots and other blemishes from ones face. It is popular with some people because it can make you look younger by removing fine lines and wrinkles and shrinking the pores. Because my face is loaded with scary looking blemishes I recently had a PDT. I am going to give you my description on what happens and what it feels like.
The night before you wash the face thoroughly and then clean it further with acetone and cotton balls removing all protective oil. The next thing is to take a little tube that looks like cardboard but actually it has a glass cylinder inside that needs to be broken by crushing the cardboard with your fingers. As it is being crushed the glass breaking can be heard and felt with the fingers. Then the little cover is removed and the Levulan is to be applied over the face but NOT on the lips or in the eyes. Levulan is some sort of acid and it releases some fumes that slightly bother my eyes. The levulan makes skin very sensitive to light so when traveling to the doctors office a hat must be worn and sunglasses and anything else to shield the face - so basically you are driving and look like you on the way to rob a bank or have just done so and apparently are not in a rush. I somehow did not do it right (not me) and ended up getting too much in some areas and none in others and so I called Lisa in a panic and travelled all the way to her house so she could apply the contents of a spare tube that was at her home - the right way.
After arriving at the doctors office and removing the face coverings one can opt for the numbing cream but I got straight in the chair and prepared for the laser. After both the patient and the laser operator put on protective eye wear the fun can begin. The first laser feels like a person has a rubber band rapped around their index and middle finger and they are pulling it back about 5 inches and letting it hit your face. At first you first just grimace and bear it but eventually after about 30 times biting down down hard on your teeth and clenching your fists will get you through to the second laser. Now the second laser feels like a small sparkler is being held close to your face and it is a good break before the third laser. The third laser feels like a 100 watt light bulb being held 1 mm from the face and it is passed over the entire face. I was sure I could feel and smell flesh burning - mine. A cold ice pack that is used to follows it takes away much of the pain and then the whole procedure is complete.

So in a day your face will look like you are a careless sun tanner with some puffiness, some loose skin and much redness. In three or four days the new you will emerge and you will look 10 years younger or at least that is what I have heard but have not experienced that part.

Friday the 13th

We received a phone call on Friday the 13th from the local grocery store (Kroger) and the message was " This message is for Loraine Salmon and we are calling to tell you we have your purse and you can pick it up at Kroger customer service". Loraine went to pick up the stolen purse and learned that it was left in a shopping cart in the back of the store. ( I immediately thought lets check the camera's but since the police were on to bigger and more exciting crimes I knew we had to move on)- so much for CSI when we needed it) When she brought it home we checked to see what was missing and what was left in the purse. Remember this is a large purse and it still contained a lot of stuff. The first thing of note was all the glass pieces that we were able to dump out the purse ( I wonder if they cut their hands as they rummaged quickly through the purse) Dozens of other business cards and several plastic cards were still left in the large purse. Some things of note was the Safeway card, the Co-op card and a Smith's Foods card - two of which are from Canada (9 years old) and the third does not exist in the state of Georgia. An old Alberta drivers license for Michael was another odd item. A huge bag of paperwork and bank statements filled one compartment of the purse. Credit Card, debit cards and cash seemed to be the only things missing - 4 tanks of gas (which we did not fund) and less then 20 dollars was all they got and 10 of those dollars was a Canadian ten. Certainly a hassle for us but truly "Crime does not pay."

If "Life begins at 40" what happens at 50?

Sorry another dated post but since it was started it now posted...

First off in December I opened a letter from the AARP folks. I thought "they have the wrong guy! - This is junk mail! - I am not an old person! - how did they get my name?". As I read it and realized they accept members when they reach the overripe age of 50 and I set it aside in frustration since I would be joining the over the hill (OTH) club in about a month. I stil have done nothing with it as I do not really want to feel I fit in with AARP folks (cause their old) and besides I think one of those letters stands for Retirement and the way my retirement savings are dwindling I will be the Wal-Mart greeter when I am 80 (in one of those stylish motorized wheelchairs). Hey - since my middle name does not start with an "L" they really do not have the right person :-)

Next when turning 50 lets see - oh yes the infamous colonoscopy which is not scheduled or completed yet. I actually had a Endoscopy last summer for a suspected ulcer and I ended up having twins (two ulcers) but they were both small and I am working to make them go away. So when I was leaving the doctor told me he hoped to see me for the colonoscopy after I hit the big 5-OH. Well I cannot say I am excited but I am intrigued (a high curiosity or interest in something unusual, new, or strange) okay maybe intrigued is a little strong, lets just say I am willing to do it and I am not scared. I might even go for the "stay-awake-during-colonoscopy" experience but since I tried that with the endoscopy and somehow do not remember a thing it likely will be something I will not have much to say about.

Also now that I am 50 I need those glasses that I have been putting off for quite some time. I think that most of my siblings had glasses before they left high school and so for years I have been really lucky to not need any extra help. Just in the last two years I have had real challenges reading fine print. Instruction manuals, prescription containers, some phone keypads and normal size scriptures all give me real problems. I was in a Church book store last summer in Utah and checked out the large-size scriptures that are so huge they really should come with a Sherpa to help you carry them to and from church but I am sure and investment in glasses would be an lesser investment and a better option - Sherpa’s need to eat..but he could sleep the yard and protect the home - see last post. For a while now I have been pulling out a makeshift monocle that is nothing more then a salvaged lens from an old slide projector that has helped me read serial numbers on a computer, instructions on a few prescription containers and several more tasks. I suppose I could just keep using the monocle but everything must be done with one hand and I keep forgetting where I have placed it…hmm maybe my memory is going too as I am fifty. Now those old librarian ladies that walk around telling everybody to shh…wearing glasses on a string around their neck so they are not lost don’t look so funny anymore…wow I am really getting old.

So life begins at 40 and at 50 it carries on for a while – hopefully.

CSI: At the Salmon home

So I was sitting down in Columbia, SC on the morning of January 30th having breakfast in a hotel and Loraine gives me a call. She tells me that she was just letting me know that my debit card and all my credit cards have been cancelled along with our bank accounts. Also Sara's and Nathans debit cards and bank accounts as well. Obviously I am very concerned about what actually happened and Loraine tells me somebody hurled a rock through the drivers side window of her van in the night and took her purse that was between the seats. I knew it was a huge purse that can hold a lot of stuff but did not know that it did have everything. When I asked for more details she simply said " Oh I gotta go as the police are here". I was to find out more when I arrive home...

So I arrive home midday on Friday and the car is already repaired and the only evidence of the crime is the large rock, still in the car and the shop vac full of glass pieces. Nothing worth taking a picture of except maybe the rock. I also learn the police did not want to do any finger prints on the van or on the rock and figure they have no leads and expect to not solve the crime hmm...television makes CSI seem so exciting, sophisticated and always able to find the person in about 40 minutes or less. Now I know more details...

About midnight on January 29th somebody saw Loraines' purse in her van while it was parked in our driveway and decided they wanted it real bad. One or more persons (probably just one as it was not that big) threw a large rock through the driver side window shattering the glass all over the front seats, dashboard and every little compartment a small piece of glass could travel. Loraine thought she heard a noise around midnight and woke up but heard nothing further so she went back to sleep. When she went out to get in the van to go to work it was apparent that we had uninvited visitors that didn't clean up after themselves. She just walked into the house and started calling our banks and credit card companies canceling all the cards and accounts. She then called 911 and the p0lice arrived in 15 minutes to investigate the crime. The police told Loraine that desperate times call for desperate measures and they have seen a lot more crime recently with higher unemployment rates. He figured it was someone in our own neighborhood that did the crime and since we have a fence-less yard that is a pass-through between streets he suggested we put up a high secure fence. We now need to get approval for a fence from the Home Owners Assoc and I am not sure they will approve the foot high razor-wire I want along the top. The real hassle was canceling all the accounts and cards and those direct withdrawal items that need attention. When we went to the bank we learned that Loraines card was used 4 times in 15 minutes at two gas stations for gas purchases..hmm.. that is a lot of gas or gas for 4 buddies which if they were on foot are also running around with large gas cans but they likely have vehicles and need gas for their next crimes. I know they did not get much for cash except a purple $10 Canadian bill and a few US ones. We did a little of our own CSI and visited both gas stations and looked for the purse in the garbage and asked the attendants about their cameras (which they both do not have) and the actual transactions. The case has already gone cold. I know if I was home I would have woken up since leaves falling to the ground wake me up (ya that is a little extreme on the exaggeration but I am very light sleeper) but Loraine pointed out I might have gotten mugged as I chased them down the road - now that I know it was 4 tanks of gas the chances of a one on one confrontation was not likely. I also have been looking at cameras for the exterior of the house and if I get something it has to be better then those terrible low resolution b/w ones you see on television news where you can barely tell the escaping criminal is something running on its hind legs and they expect you to call CrimeStoppers if you know anything.

I asked Loraine why the rock is still in the car and she told me that it is a reminder for her to remove her purse from the car when she parks it.

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.