Friday: Where'd Wednesday and Thursday Go?

That whizzing sound I heard must have been this week going by.

I spent more time than I liked, Wednesday morning, finding out that a Microsoft Windows update and my firewall software hadn't gotten along very well, with the result that none of my browsers could reach the internet. (More about that at "ZoneAlarm Microsoft Update Cuts Internet Access" Apathetic Lemming of the North (July 9, 2008)) and "Microsoft Update and Zone Alarm: a Tribute to Tech Support" Starting a Small Business Without Losing My Mind (July 11, 2008).)

The rest of Wednesday is something of a blur. I know that the household went through its usual routines - including an evening reading of Garfield - but I can't pull out specific details.

Thursday is a bit better, in terms of memory. I got that filling replaced - the one that popped out last week. The process didn't take very long, and was much less uncomfortable than it could have been. Mostly because the dentist didn't use Novocain.

We discovered, several years ago, that most of the discomfort I've associated with dental work came from side effects of that local anesthetic. I'll want it, if I ever have 'deep' work done, but not for something like this.

That process done, I went home, got some work done and discovered that I'd misplaced my appointment book and a notepad that I use. Enlisting my family's help, we didn't find them.

My son asked me, 'could they be by your bed?' I assured him that this was quite impossible. I hadn't been upstairs after the dental work that day. I would have remembered something like that.

Time passed. I had looked in all the sensible places, and some of the not-so-sensible ones. By this time it was too late to call, but I figured that I'd probably left them at the dentist's, that exercise place, or the gas station.

I started to jot that memorandum down in the appointment book - but that was what I'd lost.

Then, a thought struck me. My son had almost quoted advice I give him, when he's looking for something - look everywhere, even places where you know the thing isn't.

And, I'd almost quoted him, refuting the suggestion.

When my son repeats my advice, maybe I should follow it.

I went upstairs.

The appointment book and notepad weren't by the bed.

They were on the bookcase near the bed.

In plain sight.

I took them downstairs. My son was outside at the time, but as soon as he came it, I showed him the two items. And told him where I'd found them. He wasn't surprised at all.

My wife and #3 daughter decided to conserve their strength, so they stayed home from Soo Bahk Do Thursday night. That left me with the opportunity of taking my son, and sitting out a class. He's learned quite a bit, since the last time I saw him in class. And, I had a chance to see some of the dons (teachers) run through part of a cane form that they'd seen.

Soo Bahk Do class in Sauk Centre

One of my hopes is that I'll get exercised and flexible enough again, so that I can start picking up where I left off in Soo Bahk Do. Realistically, picking up somewhat behind where I left off.

Once again, my son and I read Garfield.

Around midnight, I wondered why I was awake, and why someone was doing arc welding outside. As more of my brain came online, I realized that the blueish-white light was lightning, and that what had registered as heavy machinery was thunder.

That got me awake. Computers off and unplugged, I stayed up a few minutes to watch the show. Also, since there was a severe weather alert, to make sure that the storm went by without causing any trouble.

That done, I got back to sleep.

Which brings me to today.

I've resolved the Microsoft update and firewall issue, found out how to contact someone for my former employer (I still do the occasional job for them), and had a conversation with one of the technicians who's been working on my son's computer. We should be able to pick it up next week. My son asked if he could tag along (his phrase) when I get it - which I think is a fine idea.

My wife and #3 daughter, and my son, went out for groceries this morning: and showed his remote-control mover to the Sauk Centre grandpa. Once home, the two ladies got final preparations for the trip to the Red River Valley done.

Around 2:30 or 3:00, one of my sister-in-laws and her daughter showed up, talked a bit, and took off with my wife and #3 daughter.

That left me and my son in charge of the house.

So far, about five hours and one meal later, we haven't done any real damage. In fact, things are going rather well. We hope to see the ladies again, sometime Sunday.

Tuesday: A Nicely Typical Day

#1 daughter showed up today, a little before noon, to help organize books in the attic. She and I talked, too, off and on through the afternoon. A little after noon, she alerted me to a hummingbird at the feeder. That little green bird's bill was longer than it's head.

The Webcam caught a picture of the hummingbird, but the part of the image where the bird is sitting is pretty dark. There's been a big trailer with bright white sides parked on the street, right in front of the Webcam. That throws the brightness balance off more than a little.

Oh, well. At least we got to see the hummingbird.

My son spent quite a bit of the day, making a gadget for delivering one of our two remote controls for use: He's justifiably pleased with his efforts, considering the limitations of materials and tools the household had to offer.

My son's remote-control delivery device. "That's my boy!"

Work on Ash Street continues: we'd have had the windows open more, except that sometimes the sound level outside was too high.

Normally, around this time of year, the high school's band would be marching past the house at intervals, practicing for Sinclair Lewis Days. The Ash Street Project's hanged that. They were doing their marching in the school parking lot today.

My day started winding down, as usual, with reading Garfield with my son.

We've got a good life here.

Monday and Tuesday: Last of June, First of July

The first part of this week whizzed by.

I've lost track of how many times the crews have dug up the street outside, filled it in again, and then dug it back up. There is probably a very good reason for doing things this way - and we can use the intersection while the street's filled in. That's quite a convenience, since if the 8th and 9th street crossings are both blocked, we have to drive around the Stearns County fairgrounds and a couple residential blocks to get to the rest of town.

Our son, following my wife's instructions, brought my old HO scale train and tracks upstairs. He built a surprisingly functional bridge of Construx on a counter in the living room: and would have tried looping the track around into the kitchen if #3 daughter hadn't intervened.

I went to Melrose this morning, for a routine X-Ray and talk about my new hips. They're both there, looking good, and working well: so, I'll be going in to another checkup in a year.

Asked how I was doing, with the new hips, I said that I'm ebullient. It's great, being able to move around without the, ah, discomfort I'd gotten used to.

Our son is excited today, because the Bionicles website has been upgraded. I don't understand all the details, but apparently it's even cooler than before, now.

My sessions at Fitness Guru, that exercise place, must be doing some good. I tried a new arm-exerciser Friday, and had sore biceps for the weekend. Nothing serious: but I could tell that I'd done some extra exercise with them.

Back at the exercise place Monday, I talked about the situation, and sketched out a sort of schedule for doing the best job of working my muscles.

More good news: I got another check from the advertising service I use.

Monday evening, my son and I read a list of pithy sayings and a sheet of answers from an elementary-school bible class test. That was a good change of pace. The test answers were funny: one of my favorites is, "When the three wise guys from the east side arrived they found Jesus in the Manager with hey and cow poop all around."

We're back to reading Garfield tonight.

It's getting late, and I've lost a filling. Time to stop.

Wednesday: The Ants are Back

It's a good thing we hung onto that ant killer. Saturday, my wife had a tab set up on the kitchen counter, with a full compliment of ants around the liquid, filling up, and an unusually energetic set of ants whizzing to and fro, around the bait.

Those streaks are high-velocity ants.

It seemed that the ants were zipping around faster than they normally do. Someone, #3 daughter, I think, suggested that they were on a sugar high from the bait.

Today, we've got another wave of ants.This is a different species: tiny things. If they're like the last set that looked like that, we're going to have a hard time dealing with them.

The scene from our front porch.

The Ash Street Project is in our front yard today. The crew is doing a really good job of keeping the dirt and mess as close to the street as possible. And, as far as my son and I are concerned, having a construction site less than twenty feet from the front door is great: we've both been keeping on eye on what's happening.

I picked up the van this afternoon. We've got two new tires on it, and parts for a defective switch should be in Friday. No sense in keeping the van at the garage. I'd intended to go straight to Fitness Guru, but forgot my duffel on the front porch.

Just as well. As I rounded the house, my son asked if I had a little time. He led me over to the south end of the excavation and asked me what a pair of metal slabs was for. I told him that it was almost certainly a sort of caisson, holding back dirt so that the sides of the trench wouldn't collapse on the guys working down there.

A safety device, I think, for the guys who were taking a well-deserved break.
You can see them, up on the grass.

I sorted through more books, read "Garfield" with my son, and so the day ended.

---

There's more about the Ash Street Project at Sauk Centre Journal.

Tuesday: Still Spinning, but I Got a Little Done

The Ash Street Project settled down to making this household's collective life interesting today. We had some momentary water outages this morning: nothing serious, just enough to have the faucets spit at us a little when we turned them on later.

More exciting, we were without natural gas for a while. A crew from the gas company came around noon, setting up to lay our new gas line. This one is plastic, replacing the old metal one - which ran straight under the garage. The former owners made some interesting decisions when they remodeled this place.

I think someone cut this little trench by hand.

I'd asked the technician from the gas company if we needed to move things out of the way, when he was here earlier in the month to check the place out. He assured me that there would be plenty of room.

He may have been an optimist. Or, he may not have realized just how big the machine that his company sent would be.

That was precision driving, getting that thing back here.

The crew that was here today did a really good job of cutting a trench down the east side of the garage, then running a slit westward toward the street. The guy on the trencher modified the slide a little, but as our son said, "maybe now it will work better."

That was a tight squeeze.
You can see the slide, to the left of the trencher.

Next step, cutting a slit in the sod, and pulling the gas line through it.

This gives an idea of how deep the gas line is.

So, now we've got a filled-in trench about five or six inches across, an untidy line of sod running toward the street, and an embossed yard where the tire treads sank in a bit. Nothing that a season or so of natural growth and raking wouldn't take care of.

But, one of the guys told me that there contractor has a restoration company come in and fix things up after they're done. Great! The only thing is, I suspect that strips of our yard will look better than the rest, where the restoration guys did their work.

One of the great side-effects of the gas line work was that my son and I had some time together, watching what was going on and talking.

My wife tells me that #2 daughter made the Dean's List at Concordia during the last academic session. #2 daughter's pretty happy about that. So am I. "That's my girl," and all that.

Apart from taking some photos of the Ash Street Project, I got some more writing done, did a few errands downtown, and put in time at Fitness Guru, that exercise place.

And, once again, topped off the day by reading Garfield with my son.

Monday: Definitely Monday

I spent most of the day catching up on what I'd normally have been doing over the weekend: writing posts for blogs, that sort of thing.

#1 daughter came in the morning, presenting me with a storage tin she'd picked up at a rummage sale: one printed like the old animal cracker circus wagons. That was a very thoughtful Father's Day present. As a child, I loved playing with those boxes, and still remember cutting out and adjusting the wheels.

I forgot to mention this: Yesterday, my wife and all gave me "Time Tunnel" DVDs. We all enjoy that old show, so it's a good family gift, as well as a Father's Day thing.

It's been a beautiful day, but I haven't been outside. I'll correct that omission tomorrow.

And, as usual, I closed the 'family' part of the day by reading Garfield with my son.

It's been a good day.

Sunday: Back at Home

I've been out of town for the weekend, seeing my father for Father's Day, and to get some more stuff moved out. Actually, it was #2 daughter and my son who did most of the moving work.

Let's see what's happened:

Friday, June 13, 2008. I got up after a rather late night of preparation. I'd gotten ready for one of the usual up-Friday, return-Saturday trips, then learned that our son and I would be staying through Sunday. For Father's Day.

Obvious, when I thought of it.

So, I tried to get the late-Saturday and Sunday stuff done, too. Finally realizing that it wouldn't happen, I decided to get some sleep. Not the worst decision I've ever made.

That brings me up to Friday morning. I did some more last-minute work, then our son and I started off, about half-past noon. We picked up #2 daughter in Moorhead, and I indulged in a drive through Fargo-Moorhead as a way to get back to the Interstate, northbound to Hillsboro.

We had a pretty good talk with my father. Also, #2 daughter and our son got his Father's Day present set up: a TV/DVD/VHS we brought with us.

Back at the farm, #2 daughter fixed supper, we watched a movie, and so to bed. It had been a big day.

Saturday, June 14, 2008.

After a good night's sleep, my son, #2 daughter, and I went into town, talked with my father as long as his breath lasted, went to church, then returned to his place. I was feeling pretty tired by then, so I took a nap - not something I usually do.
Supper and the start of the first Lord of the Rings movie followed. We also paid attention to the weather, as a line of thunderstorms passed through.

We got quite a bit of rain, and wind. And, later saw a rainbow that made a full arch. It was the first time that my son had seen a rainbow.





We also finished the first Lord of the Rings movie. My son was impressed with it: he seems to think it's in the same league as the Bionicles movies. Which, for him, is high praise.

Sunday, June 15, 2008. Father's Day.

Back to today.

It took a bit of time and effort for #2 daughter to wake me up this morning. She would get a response out of me and then I'd start snoring again, she tells me.

We had another talk with my father, I washed dishes while #2 daughter and my son got the van packed. I dropped #2 daughter off at her place in Moorhead. Next stop was Fergus Falls, where my son and I had a meal at Debbie's Homestyle Kitchen: that's been a bit of a tradition for trips up to the Red River Valley.

"And a good time was had by all," as my father would say. It was a good trip, all around.

There'd been rain in Sauk Centre, too. It's going to be a muddy Monday to work on the Ash Street Project.

My son brought in all of the stuff they'd packed, after I parked the van in the back yard. He explained that he was looking for a particular item that #2 daughter had packed in the van - an alarm clock/radio with an alarm that can be set to two times, I'm told.

There's quite a bit of stuff piling up here, by this time.

Thursday: Ash Street Project Takes Trees

It's been a hectic week, but I don't feel like I'm getting anything done. I think that's partly because I've been bouncing back and forth between tasks. Take yesterday, for example. I got off to a good start, updating blogs, when I heard thunder.

That stopped any work on the computers. The lightning that goes with thunder doesn't mix well with electronics. So, I picked up a pencil-and-paper project, before going through about a half-dozen books about Julius Caesar, Herod, and Hannibal. Then back to the blogs.

Today was off to a good start, although I got distracted in the morning. Our son and I spent quite a bit of time watching the three old elms in front of the house get cut down. I'm going to miss those old trees.



On the other hand, we've got a much better view of the western sky, and probably avoided a very unpleasant surprise. The guy who was using the saw told me that when he got through the tree's hard shell, a few inches thick, there wasn't any resistance. And, water started pouring out. That tree was rotting on the inside. At least this way, we had a skilled crew to bring it down in a controlled way.

#3 daughter had a good idea this morning. She realized that the young man out front was doing heavy work in what was shaping up to be a hot summer day, so she decided to start a batch of cookies. With some assistance from my wife, they got made, along with a pitcher of lemonade.



My wife's the one who actually took a small fold-up table with the fixings on it out, got the young man's attention with a definite "hey!" and let him know that there were snacks available.



Somewhat later, he told me, "good food," with a cookie in one hand. His enunciation was a little muffled, since he was getting the words out around another cookie. I'm glad this household was able to put out some food. Those guys work hard.

I spent over an hour at the small publishing house where I used to work, sorting out some software and data handling issues they had. Next stop was the post office, to get some things mailed.

The rest of the day and evening was punctuated with severe thunderstorm watches and warnings: none of which did more than drop quite a bit of rain on us, happily.

Now, I should start finishing yesterday's entry in the Sauk Centre Journal.

Monday: Here Comes the Heavy Machinery

Our son and I had a good time this morning, watching the curbs being pulled up on our block. We were both taking pictures. He's expressed the opinion that "it's so cool." several times now.

I could feel the ground bounce, when the oversized backhoe tapped a particularly recalcitrant bit of concrete, near the corner. The operator really knows his stuff, handling the bucked as if he could feel with it.

In fact, the way the bucket moved, when moving a section of concrete into a better position for lifting, reminded me of the way some dogs will push things around with their muzzle.


I spent most of the day either writing or working on a graphics project, punctuated by a visit to that exercise place. Our son got more lawn mowing done, my wife has been bringing order to the apparent chaos of the stuff that she and the others brought last weekend, and #3 daughter has been doing homework.

One of the characteristics of home schooling, at least the way we do it, is that you're never really away from school. Not a bad way to work things, I think.

Tuesday: I Overslept

My body's probably trying to tell me something. I overslept this morning.

But, once up, I got some writing done. After lunch, I went to the place where I used to work and sorted through a few cubic feet of papers - part of an effort to clear unnecessary stuff out of the building. That left me with some time to check out an item at Wal-Mart, and get photos of the Ash Street Project.

That street and utilities replacement and improvement project is coming along well, as far as I can tell. Today's obvious bit of progress was a long stretch of sidewalk getting poured on the west side of the Stearns County Fairgrounds.

Our son got home before I did. He spent most of the day at the Arrowwood Water Park, up in Alexandria. Near Alexandria, actually, if it's the place I'm thinking of. I'm told that he had a good time. This has been a big week for him already: two major go-and-have-fun field trips in a row.

My wife and #3 daughter moved at least half of the furniture in the north room around this morning. She tells me that it's in preparation of more stuff coming in.

That gives me quite an incentive to get busy at organizing my stuff - and getting rid of the extra/outdated/useless papers.

Monday: Rain, Work, and a Little Thunder

Our son left at the regular time today, but after touching base at school he and his class went to ValleyFair. He got back, as expected, a little after 7:00: and surprisingly un-tired.

He told us that he'd gone on one roller coaster, for the first time in his life, and some other rides. And, had a good time. On the way back, he told me that those kids who had a seat to themselves lay down and rested. He was one of those kids.

Tomorrow, it's the Arrowwood water park in Alexandria.

I've no clue how these trips are "educational," but our son is enjoying them.

I spent the day getting a bulletin that I edit ready for printing, brought it to the printers, and managed to get most of my online writing done before supper time. While downtown, I noticed that Winter's Corner Drug had a 'SALE' sign up in the window: quite a substantial reduction, too.

It's a little surprising that I got so much done. Thunder and lightning obliged me to shut down the computers for a while this morning.

My wife and #3 daughter don't have any scheduled activities until Soo Bahk Do on Thursday evening, so my wife is setting up a schedule of chores to get done.

My wife and I were talking about my dad's place this evening. She tells me that one of her brothers says he's found out that it's cheaper to rent a U-Haul, than to use his own truck. Also, that with the rig he's found, he figures that he, his wife, my wife, and #3 daughter can get the house emptied in one trip.

I believe it. Marrying into a German family, I've gotten used to witnessing rather high levels of productivity.

It's a good thing, too: the goal is to get the place ready for rental by August.

Sunday: An Unexpectedly Long Visit

#1 daughter showed up earlier than usual this morning. We generally meet up with her in church, but today she came walking up the driveway about an hour before that.

She spent a great deal of her time with #3 daughter, and some with me, too. The two ladies seemed to be catching up on what #3 daughter had been doing on her computer - putting together a music video, I take it.

Having grown up long before personal computers existed, I'm still impressed with how much one person, with relatively little equipment, can do these days.

I grilled lunch, enjoying the bird songs in the back yard. Aside from the pleasure of turning a few slabs of frozen burger into part of a good meal, that weekend routine gives me a chance to relax for a few minutes, and just enjoy being around here.

After lunch, I got some writing done, and then took a nap. My wife woke me before supper.

Our son has told me, several times, that his class is going to ValleyFaire tomorrow. Each time, he's apparently forgotten about the previous times. Repetition is a good learning technique: I am unlikely to forget that he expects to be back around 7:00 tomorrow evening.

Back in my day, we had field trips: but not to amusement parks. I doubt that there's much educational value in this trip, but I hope he has a good time.

After my wife, our son, and #3 daughter left for Soo Bahk Do, after supper, #1 daughter and I had a chance to talk a little. Then, it was time for her to go - at which time the other two ladies and our son showed up.

While #1 daughter and I talked, at the 'main' computer, I saw a hummingbird flit in to the feeder, check it out, and leave. That's the first time I've seen one there.

Inspired by the sight, #1 daughter and I went out, retrieved the feeder, and brought it in. Ants had found the feeder, too, and had an impressive column or two marching up and down the support pole.

I washed out the feeder, mixed another batch of formula, and set it outside again. If all goes well, I may see another hummer tomorrow.

Saturday: Backyard Grilling, Kids and Computers

The Ash Street Project reached our house this morning. A 'street-chewer' went back and forth, slicing up the pavement and dropping dirt in its place, while another machine with a scoop smoothed out the dirt's surface.

I was as excited about our son, but I think he had more fun. He exchanged a few words with one of the drivers during a break, and told me that he was very friendly. "This is so cool!" is the way our son summed up having the street work in front of our house.

My wife and #3 daughter were out, getting groceries and visiting the Sauk Centre Grandpa, when the street work started here. Happily, they were able to get back into the driveway.

Despite the weather forecast, Sauk Centre didn't have wild weather today. I understand there was a tornado watch near Brainerd, and more severe thunderstorms south and east of here: and I don't mind missing the excitement, or Brainerd's 3/4 inch hail.

Back here in Sauk Centre, I had clear skies for grilling lunch. And, did a pretty good job with the burgers. I also, while walking around the back yard, encountered my first mosquito of summer.

I set up the webcam in a north window so that people could see through it again, swept the three main rooms on the first floors, and found out that I've still got problems with one bit of software. Oh, well: there's probably a way around that last point.

Monday, Memorial Day (Observed): Steak on the Grill, and Kids in the House

My wife, our son, #3 daughter and #2 daughter, spent most of the day at the Sauk Centre granpda's place. I remained here, to get work done on a laptop - that's a great deal slower than the computer I hope can be in working order after tomorrow's appointment.

Part of the extended family was there for the weekend - including an assortment of cousins. Actually, they're my nieces and nephews, but I think of them as "the cousins," since that's the relationship they have to our kids.

Apart from a few tasks done, it's been a pretty calm, quiet day for me. Having the house to myself is a bit of a treat - although I'd never trade the calm of solitude for the noisy, hectic blessings that a family gives.

My wife let me grill steak for supper tonight. She, our son, and #3 daughter came home for the evening meal. i had a good time grilling the steak - and got them properly done this time. (I learn! I learn!)

#2 daughter came home, after being called by my wife and reminded that she needed to leave, if she was going to get back to Moorhead in time for a good night's sleep. She goes back to work tomorrow. She came, we saw her off - and she called when she arrived. I really appreciate that check-in.

While grilling, I noticed that over half of the dandelions in the back yard had gone to seed since yesterday. It's rather pretty - the array of yellow dots against a green background is now a mosaic of white puffs and yellow disks. The dandelion is an attractive flower - but grows much to easily here in North America.

Later in the evening, I had our son help me disconnect the main computer, so I could have it ready to go tomorrow morning. When he disconnected the monitor, he noticed that the status lights start a left-to-right repeating scan. I agree with him: it's a cool effect.

Friday: Busy Day, Quiet Evening

My wife and #3 daughter are in the Red River Valley of the North tonight. One of my brothers-in-law picked them up around noon. The three of them will be spending most of tomorrow up at the farm, getting some fixing-up done, and - I expect - visiting my father.

While they were getting ready to go, I got a call from the case worker who's taking over with my father. The lady I've been hearing from is taking maternity leave. The call got wrapped up in time for me to talk with my brother-in-law, and say my goodbyes.

My wife left detailed instructions taped to the kitchen table. She also, looking me straight in the eyes, emphasized particularly important points. Mostly, she wanted to be sure that I picked up our son at 6:00. And, that I eat what I'm supposed to in her absence.

During the day, I did some organizing and cleaning, started a writing project, and remembered to pick up our son.

He'd been at the birthday party of one of his friends, and had thoroughly enjoyed himself. He told me so several times on the way home, along with detail about an air hockey table his friend's family has.

After we got home, he spent an hour putting a party favor together: a clip-together race car made of cardboard, with a friction motor. It was a complicated model, and when works pretty well. One time, it even did a 180-degree skidding turn.

#1 daughter called three times this evening. She'd decided to stretch her food budget by fishing, and had caught a fish. She'd never cleaned a fish before. She was rather non-plussed at the way the fish's head kept moving, after being removed. No calls after that, so I assume that she enjoyed her meal.

Her rabbit, Giol, was in fine shape, although wanting a bit more attention than usual.

Thursday: Getting Ready for Family Business

Our son learned that a highly-favored teacher is retiring. He's okay with the news, although disappointed. #3 daughter managed to annoy me with the music she was playing today. I'm pretty sure the problem was at my end: I'm trying to get three day's work done by tomorrow noon, so that I'll have a free schedule for dealing with some family business over the weekend.

Happily, #3 daughter and her music were in one room, and I could get my work done in another.

I created a sort of mini-poster, advertising one of my webcams, before going to that exercise place. I put one of them on the bulletin board there. We'll see what, if anything, comes of that.

My wife, #3 daughter, our son went to Soo Bahk Do class this evening, so our son missed a call from one of his friends. By the time I get involved in that again, my wife will be so far ahead, that I'll never catch up. Which is okay, of course.

And,of course, our son and I read Garfield - and talked - before his bedtime.

Monday: Field Trip for Our Son, a Walk for Me

Our son went on a field trip to the Minnesota Science Museum today, getting home about 5:00. He had a good time, and was impressed by the Omnitheater. They had something on the Alps, I gather.

My wife and #3 daughter went to Alex this afternoon, to get information about laptops, among other things.

There were the usual telephone conversations between #2 daughter and my wife, and #3 daughter.

As for me, I got the household chores done, put in about 10 hours of work, and took a walk. That walk was unplanned. Around 2:45 in the afternoon, I noticed quite a bit of fog collecting in my mind, and decided to see if an extended walk would help. Besides, walking is a bit of a treat for me, now that I got the original equipment swapped out and replaced with two new hip sockets.

The evening proceeded quietly, and I'm going to cut this a bit short: It's time I start getting more sleep.

Sunday: Getting Back to Normal

One of the perks of weekends is that Saturday and Sunday is when my wife lets me grill burgers. I hadn't expected to have that experience today, but since my wife got home about 24 hours early, I was out around noon, grilling up a storm.

Or, more precisely, grilling up smoke. Also three burgers, nowhere near as scorched as I sometimes get them.

I learn, I learn.

It was a beautiful day: our son was outside, enjoying it, for a fair percentage of the afternoon. I spent most of the day relaxing and enjoying being with family.

My arms and back have been aching: no doubt due to my working them harder than usual on Friday. I had to get the exercising done in less than the usual time, to get the van back for my wife to use, and had chosen a rower that I can run through (I'm not going to try to fix that metaphor) very quickly.

After starting, I noticed that I had a little more time than I thought, and rowed for a bit longer than I usually do.

I'll be doing some other sort of exercise tomorrow. No sense overdoing things.

We didn't see #1 daughter today: she's got a cough, and prudently stayed in Alexandria. She called in the evening, though, so I had a good talk with her. She told me that she's discovered something new about her rabbit: three raisins make him 'hyper' for hours. Today, he seems to be resting up from his Saturday jitters.

Toward the end of the day, our son and I talked, read Garfield, and so to bed for him. He thanked me - again - for walking to Wal-Mart with him yesterday. We had a good time on our own, us two guys.

Saturday: Age of the Bachelors, Second and Final Day

Our son and I have had a fine time together, while the ladies went off a-visiting.

We've fixed meals (more or less on time), using the detailed instructions left by my wife - and the prepared food she left behind. And, we maintained the household maintenance schedule, for the most part.

The two of us walked to Wal-Mart this morning. It's about a half mile south of where we live. Our son explained that he'd found am MP3 player in his price range there, and had earned enough money to buy it.

Fair enough. We got a good walk, and a good talk, out of it, and stopped by Coborn's on the way back to pick up some groceries that we needed.

It was a beautiful day for that sort of an outing, too.

Our son fixed the French fries this noon, and did a pretty good job of it. They were a little less than fully done, but quite edible.

I got a little writing and other work done in the afternoon, as well as a sort of nap.

Our son spent some time on the other computer, and quite a bit of time outside. With his new MP3 player, of course.

I joined him for a while, after supper, and we had a pretty good talk while playing catch - topics ranging from mosquitoes and gnats to space aliens and why other planets exist. That was fun.

The two of us were inside, when my wife and #3 daughter returned home. They arrived about 24 hours before I expected them back. The ladies had decided that it would be better to come straight back, instead of leaving a van full of interesting-looking, if not particularly valuable, stuff out on display overnight. And, they were getting a bit pooped, I gather.

It's good to have more of the family under this roof again, although our son and I enjoyed our time with the place to ourselves.

Tuesday: Taxes; Family; Beautiful Blue Skies

Minnesota: We don't have climate, we have weather.

Today, it was wind that reminded my of my native Red River Valley of the North, with a beautifully blue sky, bright sun, and temperatures in the sixties. I had an excuse to get outside twice: and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm applying for a job in town: maybe this one will pan out. Being one's own boss is a fine thing: but even with this year's improvements, I'm still not paying myself enough.

Our son's first pimple is going the way of all flesh. #3 daughter claims, in a friendly way, that my wife and I never made so much fuss over her pimples. She may be right. I think she's enjoying being a big sister to our son.

Our son and I did our usual "Garfield" routine, and briefly discussed pimples. And, I demonstrated that I remembered his 'log off' tip from yesterday.

I need to get a good night's sleep tonight, so this will have to do for now.