July 2005
Tuesday Morning July 5. We had an enjoyable 4th of July weekend. On Friday afternoon I cleaned out the garden in the traffic circle across from our home while Debbie stayed at work. Debbie and I have officially adopted this garden. It gave me the excuse to buy a heavy duty garden wagon that was on sale at Costco. This wagon is big enough for four children and it is cleverly designed to fold up so it can be stored against a wall in less space.
On Saturday Debbie, Ronna, Mikki, and Aimee got up early (funny how they can do that for shopping!) to drive to the outlet mall in Williamsburg, IA. I stayed behind to work on the “honey do” list. Here are the results: Cleaned out the traps under both sinks in the master bath (there was enough hair in Debbie’s drain to make a wig), installed a flow restrictor in the shower, installed a towel rack in the hall bath, hauled a load to our storage unit and cleaned the garage, picked up Mikki’s car keys from the dealer (with a stop at Menards to make copies of said key) and then washed most of the windows in the house. Our windows are the kind that tilts in so both sides can be washed from indoors but it, by far, was the most intense of the projects. I got a call from Debbie to meet them, along with Luis and Joe, for pizza. Saved by the dinner bell.
Sunday we picked up the kids and went to Aimee’s apartment which is only a block away from the West Des Moines parade route. We had stopped at McDonald's before going to Aimee’s and fed the kids “Happy Meals” at Aimee’s. (Cutting out the fast food is one of the on-going tactics for successfully controlling my weight-but I did steal a couple of fries from Allison.) The rain held off and we enjoyed the parade. Allison was really into waving and anytime a person in the parade spotted her they smiled and made the person next to them wave back to her too. We went to our house after the parade got the new wagon loaded up with kids and gear and walked to the new mall. Our timing was perfect and we found a great spot on the lake just as the fireworks started. Jackson and Allison would jump at the bangs, especially the ones launched from a platform on the lake, but were all smiles. By the time the horse (a.k.a Papa) pulled the wagon home, he was tired. The kids spent the night with us so we dipped them in the tub and popped them into their beds.
Tuesday, July 12. Here is the Bwana Bob recap of the last week:
I took Tuesday and Wednesday (July 5th and 6th) off to watch Debbie’s nephew, Joe while Luis and Ronna went to Iowa City to get Amanda registered for classes this fall. Joe is 12 and since the last time he stayed with us he has crossed the line into “teenhood” and thus would rather : 1.) hang on the computer (he installed AOL on one of my computers, which I have since removed with the same respect I give a virus or a worm); 2.) hang at the mall or 3.) hang on a cell phone, then hang with old people. We did make a road trip both days.
Tuesday we went to the ticket office for the Iowa State Fair to get 10 tickets for the Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor concert and McDonald's for lunch. Wednesday we hit a couple of stores, Applebee’s for lunch and the new ice cream shop in Bridgewood Plaza. He had either baseball practice or a game both nights. I am sure he was glad to get home and away from the old people.
On Tuesday night there was a COA board meeting in my basement. It ran over 2 hours as we were dealing with some sensitive landscaping issues and reviewing the outstanding issues list. It was the first time the votes were not unanimous but it was also the first time we had to deal with some difficult decisions.
Wednesday night was the neighborhood town hall meeting. There was ice cream as a scheduled social event. The meeting was enjoyable and the calories didn’t count. We decided to do a potluck at the next meeting.
Thursday night was Katie’s family birthday dinner–the one that we give to each of the kids with their immediate family. (We hadn’t heard from Bill since before the 4th so he wasn’t there.) Katie selected “On The Border” a Mexican restaurant that opened this year on the lake at Jordan Creek. Allison and Jackson were well-behaved and it made for an enjoyable event. After dinner, the Lanes wanted to tour Costco and I was more than happy to oblige.
Friday night Debbie and I went to a movie: The Fantastic Four and we both recommend it. It had a predictable plot due to the fact it was the setup for future installments but it was nonetheless entertaining.
Saturday morning we met several neighbors in the traffic circle in front of our home. Debbie and I have “adopted” the circle and have cleaned up weeds, trimmed lower limbs from 20+ trees, moved some plantings and, of course, planted some daisies. We needed help to spread 10 yards of mulch around the trees and flowers. It took us three hours to get the job done. We ran a hose from the house to the middle of the area and watered it the rest of the day. I manually ran the irrigation system on the grass but it does not quite reach the flowers and trees. There has been no rain since then and none in the forecast (thanks to Hurricane Dennis-we are on the dry side of the wind rotation) so I guess we will have to water a few more times.
Saturday night I went to another poker tournament and brought Mike Robison to his first poker tournament. In the first game, I finished 1st!! In the second game, Mike finished 2nd!! Not a bad night. This group continues to improve and it is very hard to consistently finish in the money although with my winnings for the last two tournaments will cover my buy-ins for the next two years.
While I was out with the boys, Debbie went to a movie with Aimee (believe it or not there was a movie that Aimee had not yet seen–Cinderella Man). Debbie described it as a believable drama that explores the entire extent of emotion and endurance with the omnipresent pitilessness of poverty in the Great Depression and infused with the boorish brutality of professional boxing. It is a movie she recommends and wants to buy it when it is available.
Sunday was a “David” day. We picked him up in the morning and drove to Ames, Iowa. There is a store there (Hastings) that sells books, tapes, CDs, and DVDs both new and used. We made a dent in our wanted list and David picked out a Clifford VHS for himself. Lunch was at Culver’s with our standard order: David a grilled cheese kid’s meal, Debbie a grilled chicken sandwich with no cheese and me with a double butter burger and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Both Debbie and I sampled a few of David’s French fries during the meal. We took the old (and never used) computer and computer table out of his room and threw the computer in the trash. Next, we are replacing his dresser with a lower chest of drawers that is more stable and harder for David to tip over.
That night I finished my 3rd Paul Theroux book, The Old Patagonian Express. It is another in his series of travel books and I am quite engrossed in them. Reading these books has been the push I needed to start this blog and attempt to keep a travel journal. I do not have the notes for NYC typed up but I have quite a bit written out longhand in a journal. This coming weekend Debbie and I are going to Minneapolis for a getaway weekend (Saturday is our 4th wedding anniversary) and maybe I’ll get the journal caught up!
Monday, July 18. Another week since the last post–time flies when you’re busy I guess. Tonight we are meeting Mike and Linda at the new Iowa Events Center for a rock concert: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers along with the Black Crowes. Mike will be looking for the places they could put slot machines to bail out the taxpayers on this one too. I figured it will require horse stables in order to get the approval for slots via deal-making in smoke-filled rooms (a la Prairie Meadows) under the guise of creating jobs — hey! there is a good use for the Polk County Convention Center: stables. On to last weeks review:
Last Monday, July 11, I left work early to go to the Past President’s Club for the local CPCU chapter. This is always an enjoyable time even with a table of type “A”s all wanting attention! I was surprised to see Judy Brannon there, cane and all, still in the earlier stages of her recovery from double knee replacement. She has to have something similar done to her ankles. As young as Judy is she will experience a whole new life when all of these surgeries are behind her.
On Tuesday night Debbie and I want to the Valley View Aquatic Center near our house for the adult swim (first time this year). We didn’t really swim but we did walk a few miles against the current in the winding river area. After a few trips around we switched direction and walked with the current and followed that up with a few lazy trips around on a raft. All-in-all it was more fun than laps in a pool and a heck of a lot cheaper than owning a pool.
Michael Edwards and I went to Mike Robinson’s new house over lunch on Wednesday. Michael was supposed to bring his new Lexus to work that day but apparently didn’t get Danielle’s permission to drive it. Linda was home with Mike and was just getting over being sick. Michael toured the home — he impressively noticed and pointed out all of the upgrades and then the guys went to lunch down by the lake.
On Wednesday night Debbie and I picked up Jackson and Allison at their home. First things first: we took them out to eat. Jackson selected the restaurant: Perkins because he wanted pancakes with rainbow sprinkles on them. I got my usual: a “Build Your Own” Omelet made with Egg Beaters, garden mix and sausage, hash browns (nature’s perfect food) and pancakes. Debbie gets the same thing with ham instead of sausage and dry toast instead of pancakes–oh, and I eat all of her hash browns too. We fixed Allison a plate from our food but she didn’t have much of an appetite. After the meal, we went to Merle Hay Mall and walked a few miles and let the kids play in a padded play area that the malls installed last year. Allison kept bringing me books to read to her which I found to be very charming.
Thursday night Debbie had a Finance Committee meeting for our homeowners' group at Tom Sepic’s home. They are going to put a little money in a reserve fund. but it looks like we will need to raise dues to get it done right. When Debbie was ciphering I packed my bag for the trip to Minneapolis and then headed out to the traffic circle to weed the plantings and water the flowers that had been transplanted. The area is looking great but I am already tired of unwinding two long hoses and then dragging them 150′ to the island standing then dragging it all back to the house. A little rain would really help. We found out from Katie that Allison was sick and had been to the doctor. This explained the lack of appetite Wednesday night at Perkins. (By Saturday she was back to normal.)
I went to lunch with a group from work on Friday to celebrate our successful creation of claims inquiry on the Internet for our agents. An agent can now look up the status of a claim while a client is on the telephone or in their office. Should save a lot of calls to adjusters and eliminate a lot of “phone tag” too. The lunch was at the Tex-Mex chain “On The Border” just a few blocks from our home.
Debbie and I left for Minneapolis late Friday afternoon. It was a short get-a-way weekend as we celebrated our 4th anniversary. We reserved a room at the Residence Inn (via Expedia) about a mile from the Mall of America. The only planned activity was to visit the Walker Art Center near downtown. The center was worth the visit and we plan to return again.
Of course, we stopped at a couple of book / CD / DVD stores while we were in Minneapolis and found a few items on our buy list. The buy list keeps getting shorter as we find items to buy and have nothing new to add to the list. I will have to find another obsession, I suppose starting with obsessing on what obsession I should pick.
Tuesday, July 19. Where do we park? That was the question thousands had to answer as they traveled to the first concert to be held at the Wells Fargo Arena of the Iowa Events Center featuring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (along with the Black Crowes). For some reason (money) the county did not add parking to the support the new larger venue. Future taxpayers will get to foot that bill (Des Moines Register headline November 2009: Wells Fargo Arena Unable to Book Big Acts Due to Parking Shortfall. Polk County considers a bond issue to be paid with gaming profits from Prairie Meadows to add a 3,000 car parking garage) not to mention that it will be built with a “labor agreement” meaning it will cost twice as much as it should.
The chances of forming a regional government in the Des Moines area are about as attractive as the Class of ’63 in spandex. I have noticed that when a city hits about 150,000 in population the decay starts with deferred infrastructure improvements and higher taxes (relative to the nearby suburbs) for fewer services. The slow and steady move out of the city by those that can begin. This has a subtle impact on the school system as they lose too many students and parents that would help improve the city’s schools. In insurance, we call this adverse selection. Only after the first ring of suburbs hits the wall (deferred infrastructure needs, declining tax revenues, and a bloated payroll) does a core city start to have a chance again. The public schools are still a mess so the first ones back are the young (childless) hipsters looking for lofts and the empty nesters that work downtown. I am convinced (i.e., I have convinced myself) that school vouchers would be the best thing to encourage families back to the city.
Enough of that, back to the arena. The arena itself is first class. The seats are padded and comfortable for anyone under 250 lbs, your basic coach seat on United. Perhaps the seat cushions could be used as a flotation device in the unlikely event of a flood. The lighting and sound systems are of “state of the art” quality. There is a moving display (like in Times Square) around the entire balcony that is most entertaining.
The only negative design issue was the shortage of restrooms–there were lines for the men’s room for crying out loud. As for the source of the lines: I can’t remember ever being around so much beer consumption. There were large numbers of wasted people before the concert that continued to drink throughout the evening. The crowd was reported in the Des Moines Register at 8,500 or about half of capacity. (Debbie already plans not to drink any fluids on the day of the sold-out Paul McCartney concert in October.)
Back to the concert: the Black Crowes were the warm-up band and like most warm-up bands they were in no danger of stealing the show. I like all kinds of music but the kind of stuff they did is near the bottom of my list. Tom Petty put on a great show with an incredible light and video backdrop that put everyone in the arena in a front row seat. He did his “best of” playlist (my favorite is Free Falling (“it’s a long day living in Reseda, there’s a freeway running through my yard…) along with a two ballad-like songs from the Wildflower album (we just bought this album Sunday in Minneapolis), a cover of a song by the Animals and a song from the Traveling Wilburys. I plan to dig out the one Traveling Wilburys CD we own and maybe add the rest of them to the buy list.
Mike and Linda arrived during the Black Crowes set and Linda seemed uncharacteristically upset. Debbie guessed that it was the stress of getting ready for a 12-day vacation starting the next day but I just figured Mike did something to tick her off. Turns out she brought Debbie a birthday present and the security guards made her leave the bag it was in with them. They got Linda’s bag but apparently missed hundreds of bags of marijuana based on the smells wafting through the arena that night.
Thursday, July 21. We went to the Farmers’ Market in Valley Junction. I went directly there from the CIC seminar, Debbie and Mikki came from Weight Watchers. Mikki bailed (it was in the high 90’s -smart move). Debbie and I met Bill there. As we were walking along the sidewalk a woman approached Debbie and asked, Ronna? Debbie was “deer in the headlight” frozen as the women then queried Greenwood? By then Debbie recognized her as someone that attend Rainbow with Ronna and her over 30 years ago. They visited for a while sharing information like she had 9 children and everyone comes home on Sundays for a family meal. We sweated for a while then took Bill to the grocery store then back to his apartment.
Friday, July 22. The topic at the CIC seminar on Friday was Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance. Debbie and I bought paid-up LTC policies a couple of years ago when there was a unique opportunity to do so at work. They were very expensive and I have occasionally wondered if it was a good use of our money considering our age at the time (only 50 and 48). This seminar reassured me that we did the right thing. The odds of needing the coverage during a lifetime are great and the premiums are continuing to significantly climb (but not ours!). Friday night we got the grandkids and stayed on the west side letting Katie have a short break.
Saturday, July 23. Early in the morning we went to get David and brought him to our home. He was in a great frame of mind and nice to be around. Aimee, Mikki, Bill and Katie and the kids all turned up during the day. I am not sure the last time I had all three of my kids together but it had been at least a year. Aimee, along with Katie and the kids, went to church with us at the 6:00 “come as you are” service. We did a major feast at Culvers after church then took David home. Debbie, Aimee and I stopped at the taste of Des Moines event going on downtown on the way home from David’s. Not many vendors and the food was not bargain priced as I expected. We listened to a band playing in the Simon Estes Amphitheatre and decided they were good. Aimee wanted to get their autographs so we bought a CD and got in the autograph line. The band is called Epic Hero’s and their music was good– with a break or two they could become a big deal. The band is out of Minneapolis and I mentioned that Debbie and I were there last weekend. One of them said; “Did you go to Minneapolis (with deliberate emphasis) or did you go to IKEA and Mall of America (with deliberate contempt)”. I said we went to IKEA and Mall of America but our main destination was the Walker Art Center and Goring Park. He immediately lightened up and acted as though we were okay for a couple of old geezers.
Sunday, July 24. This was a significant chill out day for Debbie and me as we cleaned the house, paid bills, did laundry and got in lots of deferred reading.
Monday, July 25. I was out of the office for three days (Wednesday – Friday, the 20th – 22nd) while attending an update for my Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation. It was a graduate level seminar that is rarely held in Des Moines. Debbie will have her designation by the time the graduate seminar returns to Des Moines (she only needs two more classes and has them both scheduled) so next time we will be able to attend it together. These seminars typically are boring, but only in the sense of being strapped to a seat and not having any control over the content or level of the material. However, on Thursday the entire day was outstanding due to an expert on agency valuations and workflows who knew his material and involved our smaller group in the discussions.
The meeting was held in downtown Des Moines and it reminded me of what a suburbanite I really am. I detest paying for parking and it was $6 per day to park! To my previous rant about the signs of meltdown as a city grows, add the lack of, and charge for, parking. Hmm-do I go to Jordan Creek Town Center and park for free or go downtown, find an open parking ramp and pay to park so I can shop at Younkers downtown. Oh wait, Younkers is closing the store–never mind.
Lunch was “on your own’ and I wandered up to the East Village and into a used record shop called Zzz Records and found a Best of the Doors CD and a Bob Dylan CD that was on our buy list. During lunch on Thursday, I went to the eastside furniture store where we bought the bookcases that hold our CDs and DVDs to get a couple of extra shelves but the sales clerk was not too helpful and, being on a tight schedule, I didn’t get it done.
Sunday, July, 31. This is the last report for the month of July. The year is just speeding by and the next thing you know I’ll be writing about Christmas. Last week, on Tuesday, Debbie and I had our hair “done”. (I like to think I get a haircut, not have my hair “done”.)
Wednesday was our Habitat for Humanity day. We met a group of about 15 GuideOne employees at a location in Des Moines that, if you were smart, would not venture into at night and only with a group during the day. It started out slow as the coordinators needed some time to assess the situation and to assign us work. Once it got going we were like a swarm of locusts working in reverse, i.e., we tackled an area and in a short time, we created an order of chaos. We cleaned up after the previous day’s drywall mudding by emptying the entire house of trash and sweeping it out. Debbie joined a group that finished building a shed while they applied primer and a finish coat of paint. I helped measure and cut sub-flooring and the trim for the closets and stairs. The trim was primed by the paint crew and installed after the paint dried.
The family that is moving in made a visit while we were working. They are immigrants from Africa (Sudan) and were gushing with an appreciation for the work we were doing for them (e.g., you don’t even know us but you help us!). It was a rewarding experience.
Saturday morning we picked up Mikki and went to the Farmers’ Market in Des Moines. We got there before 8:00 but the crowds were already thick. We jostled our way around and picked up some Iowa sweet corn from the same people that run the old roadside stand on Highway 5 near Carlisle. Mikki found a few Missouri peaches and I scored some kettle corn. On the way home, we decided to go garage sale hunting. We easily found a few sales and made a few purchases. I found a new 4-piece set of Tupperware oval modular mates for $3.00! Debbie found a doll with a car seat and playpen that was very clean (Debbie did disassemble it and sanitize everything of course) for $8.00! Allison was thrilled and kept playing with it after she and Jackson came to our house later that same day. It was a planned sleepover. We took them to 6:00 church (Aimee went too), fed them (Culvers again!) then went home to play.
I got out the monorail track for the “little” Legos that my kids played with when they were younger. I thought Jackson was old enough to enjoy playing with it and boy was I was right. Actually, we have two sets of the monorail track and a couple of add-on kits so I made a layout that quickly filled the sunroom. The sunroom (for some unknown reason called a porch by the builder) is the designated room for the little Legos because we can shut the French doors thus keeping Allison from ingesting small plastic pieces.
There was a space in the middle of the track layout where Jackson could sit and in there he could reset any of four switches. He quickly learned (self-taught) which combination of switches it took to get the train to go to a specific part of the layout. It was impressive to watch him reason it out and then do it. He would confidently announce where he was sending the train, flip the appropriate switches and it would happen.
The next morning everyone enjoyed a big breakfast made by “Papa”. We took the kids home around 10:30. The Rivas family is on vacation. Ronna and Amanda are shopping near Philadelphia while the boys went to Cooperstown to see an induction ceremony at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Luis called just before we left to take the kids home to ask if we would record the ceremony on ESPN. Debbie and I stopped at the Best Buy near our home to get some blank VHS tapes. Wow, is VHS going the way of the 8-track or what! We had to ask a clerk for the location of the blank VHS tapes and the display was small, almost hidden. Back home, Debbie tried to set up the recording session and couldn’t find the event on either of the ESPN channels we get on cable. Turns out it was on ESPN Classic and even if we had all of the cable channels it is not available in the Des Moines cable market. Debbie called to let them know about this and they had just found out themselves. (Personally, I am still boycotting baseball going back to the strike of ’91.)
Later on Sunday, Mike and Linda came over for a walk to Jordan Creek and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Linda bought a pedometer at Scheels followed by a brief book browse at Barnes and Noble. It still does not seem real that we can just walk to so many different restaurants and stores from our home. Later that night we had a homeowners association meeting in our basement while Debbie worked on a 2005 pro forma and 2006 budget for the Finance Committee.
August 2005
Wednesday, August 3. During the first week of August, we spent a lot of time working on the homeowners association. I did the board minutes and followed up on tasks while Debbie continued to fine-tune the 2005 pro forma. We had a neighborhood potluck on Wednesday as part of the monthly meeting. As always my salsa was a smash hit, and by popular demand, the recipe is on the BridgewoodParks.com website. We quickly got a newsletter out following the neighborhood meeting. This was the plan all year but we didn’t have the right volunteers until this month.
Friday, August 5. On Friday we picked up Jackson from the Blank Park Zoo (last day of “zoo camp”) and then swung out to get David before heading to the hot air balloon field in Indianola. We got there almost two hours before the balloons would take off –weather permitting. The field is just that–a field east of town with minimal improvements. Parking is in a field, food vendors are in a field and seating is in a field. It was dusty and the roads in and out were rutted. Without better leadership and a few dollars for capital improvements, this event will not grow in attendance and there is a high possibility that it could decline.
None of those observations mattered in the least to David. David insisted on a getting a calendar from the souvenir stand that was full of hot air balloon pictures. This calendar was of more interest to him than the real thing.
We staked out our spot by setting up our chairs. We brought the type of chair that is made of nylon and folds up to fit in a bag that can sling over a shoulder. What a great invention these are! The type of chair people sat on was as revealing of personal information as a background check on the internet. Here are my generalities: People older than 60 still used the aluminum frame chairs with the woven webbing indicative of thriftiness, i.e., why replace a chair that still works and it still works because it was taken care of. In the middle were people with simple fold-up chairs (like ours) usually more than one style indicating several purchases over a period of years. Then the younger people with designer branded, fold-up, feature-loaded, nylon captain’s chairs with the purchase adding a fresh wound to a never-paid-off-credit card balance. (Q. When is a bargain not a bargain? A. When the price is doubled by interest!)
Back to the balloons: The weather was perfect and a light wind was blowing from the NE. The balloon pilots were tasked with dropping a marker in the field in front of us so they left (in an enormous cold of dust) for launching a few miles to the NE. In the meantime, several novelty balloons and a few paid balloon rides set up in front of us. One of the balloons was large enough to carry 8-10 people and that day it was carrying a wedding party. The sight and close proximity of the balloons were too much for David. He would not look directly at them and started chanting “let’s go”. Later he adds a jab on my arm for emphasis as he said “let’s go” as if that would help me understand the words better. The jab is not a new behavior, I had bruises on both of my arms for about 15 years when David was younger and lived at home.
Just after these balloons passed overhead the first of an armada of balloons appeared on the horizon. (“let’s go”) There were over 35 balloons and the colors were incredible. We watched a few drops (“let’s go”) as the balloons made attitude adjustments to find wind patterns that were more favorable. (“let’s go”). David won and we left but and found several balloons starting to land in a field by the road. While Debbie waited in the car with David, Jackson and I walked up by the balloons as they landed and dropped the balloon to the ground. Jackson got to touch one of the balloons and greatly enjoyed the experience. He had touched an alligator earlier that day at zoo camp and wasn’t sure which was “cooler”.
Saturday, August 6. On Saturday Debbie and I did our chores, chilled and watched War of the Worlds at the mall. The movie, which we enjoyed, was a real twist on the story but at least the ending was true to the book.
Sunday, August 7. Today was our “First Sunday” gathering at our house. Debbie and I have tried various versions of this before but have settled on making the first Sunday of the month an open house for the kids. It was a nice day and we had Katie (and her kids), Mikki, Aimee and Bill for lunch. I picked up three roasted chickens from Costco (turns out we only needed two) and some corn on the cob.
Friday, August 12. Looking back it was a work week, both for the work we get paid for (GuideOne) and the volunteer stuff. I had more follow up on association items, a board meeting for the CPCU chapter ( I continue on as webmaster) and Debbie was tracking down documents to do an audit for the Insurance Association of Greater Des Moines (IAGDM). Friday morning we attended a leadership breakfast near downtown to kick off the United Way Campaign. We got a few good walks and a bike ride this week too.
Saturday, August 13. Saturday morning was “clean the house time”. Mikki came over at noon to walk with Debbie while I weeded the traffic circle. We picked up Jackson and Allison at 4:00 pm, brought them to our home for a quick snack then off to church at Hope. Allison saw the nursery and wanted to immediately go in. Jackson stayed with us during the service and played with Legos when the proceedings were not sufficiently entertaining for a 5-year old.
After church, we went to Culvers and had the usual. By the time we got the kids back to their home, Katie was home from work. She is working at Carlos O’Kelleys again and seems to be enjoying it.
Sunday, August 14. Sunday was our day one of the 2005 Iowa State Fair (a.k.a. one of the thousand places to see before you die). We dropped tickets off at Luis and Ronna’s on our way to meet Mike and Linda. The Rivas’ were in a frantic mode as it was the last day before Nick went to ISU and Amanda to U of Iowa. In fact, they postponed the birthday party brunch that was to take place at their home for Nick and David to have time to get ready.
We drove to the fair with Mike and Linda. Mike, now a savvy east-sider, knew where to slide into the right lane at the right time for a good parking place. We explored the fairgrounds a little but it was much too crowded to be fun although a large dish of “Dippin’ Dots” mitigated the pain. Still, it was like being on the set of Soylent Green and so I kept looking over my shoulder for the people-scoopers.
We met up with the concert posse at the restaurant near the horse barn and had a nice dinner together. The next challenge was to get to the grandstand, find some ice cream and visit clean restrooms not necessarily in that order. We found restrooms in the administration building and ice cream under the grandstand. The Rivas’ joined us just as we got to our seats.
The seats were a little disappointing considering I bought them on day one and ordered “best available”. But they were not the worst seats and besides it was the state fair, not Carnegie Hall. The performance was enjoyable. Garrison sang a lot more than he does on the radio. He seemed a little distracted which was explained when he dedicated a song to a sister that was in the hospital and apparently quite ill.
Monday, August 15. Debbie, Mikki and I picked up David and took him to Wal-Mart and Applebees. We bought David some polo shirts, Debbie and Mikki bought generic shampoo at Sally’s Beauty Supply and I bought a 16″x25″x5″ air filter to fit in the space where we have an electrostatic air cleaner. I find cleaning it is a chore and so it doesn’t get done as often as it should. The 5″ filter is rated almost as good as the electrostatic cleaner and is probably better since it requires no maintenance just replacement in 12 months.
Wednesday, August 17. Debbie went to the Iowa State Fair for the second time. She went with a group from work (the CGA Crew). Meantime, I was browsing the aisles at the Half Price book store.
Sunday, August 21. Debbie, Mikki and I picked up Jackson and Allison and took them to the Iowa State Fair (Debbie 3rd tip this year!). The weather was perfect, the crowds were light and we had a great time. We visited the “Little Hands on the Farm” exhibit, a very clever series of activities for children to teach them the farm to market economic cycle. Of course, we went through the livestock barns (cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and horses). We watched a little bit of a horse show in one of the arenas. The day at the fair was topped off with some Dipping’ Dots ice cream!
Monday, August 22. Debbie and I picked up Jackson and Allison and took them to an Iowa Cubs baseball game. We met Mikki and Aimee at the ballpark. The promotion that night was “bring your dog to the game night” and there were hundreds of mutts in attendance. Once we got into the park we didn’t see much of the dogs as they were all in one area out by the bleachers.
Tuesday, August 23. Are we devoted grandparents or what! Debbie and I went to get David after work and we met Mikki, Aimee, Chris, Katie, Jackson and Allison at Pizza Hut for a family birthday celebration for the boys. David is 29 and Jackson is five. Everyone had a good time and nobody left hungry. The boys seemed to enjoy their presents.
Friday, August 26. Debbie and I went to an IT social event ( picnic ) Friday afternoon at the Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines. This is the same park we have been going to on Mother’s Day. There were about 45 of us there and everyone had a good time. Most of us have worked together for so long we can comfortably go to the taboo topics of religion, politics, and sex without causing problems. Sure makes the conversations more interesting.
Saturday, August 27. Debbie and I spent the morning going around to garage sales. One of the results is we have another “Des Moines is a small town” story. We were at a garage sale about 3 miles from our house. The sale items included a lot of craft items. Turns out these people are opening a store in the Bridgewood Plaza by our house to sell yarn and fabric.
That night it was the 4th WPT (Wicket Poker Tour). I did not finish in the money this time but I still remain about 2 years ahead. One good thing about not winning is getting home at a decent hour.
Lots of hot news items (and a tangent or two):
Katie is waiting tables part-time at Carlos O’Kellys again.;
Mikki has quit her part-time customer service job at GuideOne to work full time for West Des Moines Schools (she loves it) while finishing up her education at Upper Iowa University (she is on the Dean’s List for a high GPA!).;
Ray and Debbie, along with Eve, are planning to “load up the truck and move to Beverly”, err- make that Michigan; and Dan and Bonnie along with Rick are planning to do the same. All of them have benefited from the run-up in west coast real estate prices and are cashing in. As far as we know Bill and Toni are staying in California as are Danny K. and Dennis;
Merge had an episode of high blood pressure that required medical attention. It has been brought under control with medication that she will need to take for the rest of her life.;
Donna and Mike are back from her annual trip to Lake Superior and Donna is already back to full-time work at Broadlawns Hospital and is on the schedule into October.;
Amanda and Nick are both off to college. Amanda is at Iowa and Nick at Iowa State.;
Aimee is almost two weeks on her new job. She is doing clerical work for a Farmers Insurance Group district manager in West Des Moines. Aimee has good computer skills and is an incredible typist so this is going well for her.;
David turned 29 and Jackson now is 5 years old.;
No news from Bill for a couple of weeks.
But probably the hottest news (ha-ha) is that I have taken the plunge and am now a “verified” member of e-Bay. No doubt the phrase “he was a member of e-Bay” will be part of my obituary similar to the “he liked to vacuum” that was in an actual obituary in the Des Moines Register a few years ago. Along with the Robinson’s, we have referred to that epithet whenever we feel that our lives have become a little too routine.
It is also useful to think about this when actually vacuuming or other required but not necessarily fun task. Any such task can be tolerated just by maintaining an awareness that it can be a source of joy if you want it to be. Besides, compared to “he liked to vacuum” as a summation of an entire human life, and presumably by his loved ones, our most boring moments are full of wonder and joy. (See what I mean about tangents.)
This e-Bay adventure was triggered by our promise to supply The Homestead with two adult tricycles, one for David and the other for a staff member to ride with him. Our Internet research took us to a wholesaler in Las Vegas that was clearing out inventory for $100 a bike on e-Bay. It was $119 for shipping per bike but the total price was still less than half of anything we found in Des Moines. The bikes are due to arrive next week so I will let you know how this adventure evolves.
The E-bay purchases did not stop with the bikes. I found 200 assorted DVDs being sold as a lot and I got them for $125. They should arrive any day now. This could be an excellent purchase or turn out to another version of “Bob’s Folly”. If this goes poorly I probably will not write about it.
It goes on as I bid on some bulk Legs too. It was a 25 lb. assortment but it ended up going for over $180- more than I was willing to pay. So far, I continue to be outbid on an Eagle Creek backpack–but there is a day to go before this item closes.
Sunday, August 28. I had a Bridgewood Parks board meeting at my home. We keep delaying making some tough spending decisions as the budget is really tight. After next month we should have an extremely accurate proforma.
Monday, August 29. We watched the grandkids while Katie worked and Chris went bowling.
Tuesday, August 30. David’s two bikes have arrived. The boxes looked a little beat-up but everything inside was well packed and seems to be okay.
Wednesday, August 31. August has come and gone. Debbie and I have not made our regular trek to the mountains this year and it appears that as the rest of the year unfolds it doesn’t look like it will happen. Next July we plan to go to Rocky Mountain National Park for our 5th wedding anniversary. I figure that gives me another year to get into better shape for the high altitude hiking.