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Old 09-06-2009, 09:30 AM   #2201
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Wednesday we took a day trip to Tyrone, PA to see my paternal grandparent's town and stop by Gardner's Candies for some white chocolate. I hadn't been there for 25 years or so and DW had never been there. She was curious to see the town, having heard stories about it for years. Spent $90 on candy. Gotta be a kid sometimes.

Stopping by the library we found that they have a genealogy section and have the HS yearbooks going back to the early '20s. Photocopied Dad's yearbook page (1927) and his brother's (1928) and found that in HS Dad was known as "Preacher". After E-mailing family, we learned that this was not because of his character, but because he worked in a drugstore after school and had to wear a suit. Apparently "business casual" had not come in vogue then.

We drove past the grandparent's house and took a couple of sneak photos but since there were "Keep out" and "Beware of dog" signs on all four sides of the house we figured it would not be productive to knock on the door.

All in all, a nice day trip.
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Old 09-06-2009, 10:22 AM   #2202
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Walt, what fun!

One of the most enjoyable aspects of our frequent trips to Springfield, is seeing that my paternal grandparents' home (828 sq ft, built in 1897) has been restored, fixed up, and painted a cheerful green instead of white. It looks much nicer now than it did 50 years ago. The neighborhood is still quiet and peaceful. Like you, I didn't knock. It is apparently a rental right now and I didn't want to disturb the tenants. But it was fun to see and brought back many happy memories.
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Old 09-06-2009, 06:15 PM   #2203
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Oh what a wonderful day I had. Breakfast was made for me, I got a Kindle and a lap rest for my laptop, then we went for a loooooooong Mustang ride including a crazy man doing 95 mph for a short stretch . Next was shopping but not buying 2 recliners & new mattress. Finally it was off to Endless Shrimpland for dinner at Red Lobster, with choc cake and ice cream for dessert.
Stuffed to the gills and feeling really good at 51 years young.
My Mom would have been 82 today (yes same birthday). In her memory, I always do something that she would have done - and that would be having a full day of simple fun.
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Old 09-06-2009, 06:30 PM   #2204
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Happy Birthday Freebird !
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Old 09-09-2009, 08:14 AM   #2205
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Feeling good about my new daily treadmill habit.
Sunny day, mid to high 70s predicted, no rain. I feel some wanton fossil fuel burning coming on...
vroom vroom...screeeeeech.
I'll kidnap my adopted bro and go fresh apple hunting at the farmer's market store.
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Old 09-09-2009, 12:45 PM   #2206
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Bought my "mother of the bride" dress today. After trying on many dresses at a local upscale department store, I narrowed it down to two. Then I looked at the price tags. One was well over $400 . The other one was on sale for $30. So, would you believe it? I ended up with a $30 mother-of-the-bride dress. What a deal!

It is a long two piece dress in muted fall colors, with a print jacket in brown, beige, tan, and a little soft orange, and I love it. The wedding is going to be fairly casual, since my daughter chose to have it outdoors at a brewhaus in Oregon. Still, Frank is wearing a suit and I wanted to look nice. This dress is just perfect.

After buying the dress, I stopped off at the gym and worked out on the weight machines. The rest of the day is mine, since I took this week off.

Love listening to the heavy rain that just started. Life is good.
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Old 09-09-2009, 05:55 PM   #2207
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I've been lost in spreadsheet hell the past four days at w***. My last process run yielded fifteen samples; took six measurements on each. The resulting data came out in .csv form, which had to be converted, then copied/pasted into another program, which I had never used before, but did have the intensive, two-hour training course. Then, all that output had to be copied/pasted/formatted into PP...

I love my j*b!
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Old 09-09-2009, 06:55 PM   #2208
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Sure sounds like PP to me...
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Old 09-11-2009, 08:17 AM   #2209
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I got my flu shot yesterday. The one for the dangerous seasonal flu, not the wimpy swine flu.

Interesting conversation with a guy my age while waiting. He was about to go to the federal penitentiary for flying a plane with an expired physical. A one-year sentence. "I've been there several times in the past, and it's better than being in the service 'cause you have more room." he said. He had been a special ops guy in Vietnam and Somalia. He had a monitoring bracelet on his ankle, and was picking up his "anti-drug" pills, which he was required to take: "With these I couldn't get high if I tried."

The 48 mile ride (rt) to the pharmacy was eventful with four flats, and getting stuck in a herd of cows being moved along the road. I had to just stand there next to my bike as they squeezed around me, hoping that they stayed docile. I didn't have the camera, but it was like this, but with brown cows:

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Old 09-11-2009, 08:50 AM   #2210
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Four flats! Why do you think so many?
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Old 09-11-2009, 09:12 AM   #2211
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I am relaxing a bit today before two massage sessions this evening, a meeting, and dinner with my friend.
Tomorrow, I work at Massage Envy and then start my Neuromuscular Therapy class....I LOVE trigger points!!
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Old 09-11-2009, 10:44 AM   #2212
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Four flats! Why do you think so many?
The first was a staple. One I don't know what happened. The other two were caused by my cheapness. Someone offered free punctured tubes on craigslist, and I got them and patched them up. One had two holes, and I'd only patched one, the other had an old patch that had a leak. The price of frugality.
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Old 09-11-2009, 01:49 PM   #2213
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The 48 mile ride (rt) to the pharmacy was eventful with four flats, and getting stuck in a herd of cows being moved along the road. I had to just stand there next to my bike as they squeezed around me, hoping that they stayed docile. I didn't have the camera, but it was like this, but with brown cows:

What were those cows eating that made their cowpats so sharp?
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Old 09-11-2009, 01:52 PM   #2214
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Originally Posted by Want2retire View Post
Bought my "mother of the bride" dress today. After trying on many dresses at a local upscale department store, I narrowed it down to two. Then I looked at the price tags. One was well over $400 . The other one was on sale for $30. So, would you believe it? I ended up with a $30 mother-of-the-bride dress. What a deal!
Now that's what I call a bargain!
A long time ago I was a bridesmaid for my friend. The bridesmaid's dresses cost more than the bride's. She found a fabulous dress for the equivalent of $25, because she was very petite and it was last year's style. The photos still look gorgeous!
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Old 09-11-2009, 02:21 PM   #2215
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Tough day today...started off with housecleaner making the abode look beautiful. This young lady is still w*rking very hard to get her LPN in a very accelerated study program.
I went downtown for lunch at a small and very noisy (that's the whole charm of it) Italian family restaurant.
I had provolone cheese on fresh bread with medium hot peppers and a nice big fat cheeseburger. I'm just an occasional beef eating carnivore.
I visited 2 former colleagues outside the old penitentiary w*rkplace building and had a lively discussion about COLAs, health care, SS, CSRS vs FERS, and the like. I mostly listened. These guys are so close to CSRS retirement they can taste it.
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Old 09-12-2009, 06:32 PM   #2216
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Al:
Flatted out on the bike a couple of weeks ago about an hour before sunset. My CO2 cartridge didn't work. Borrowed a pump and got going only toflat a 2ed time.It was now dark and I had 20 kms to home. Had to call for a ride home ( rescue ) for the first time EVER.
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Old 09-12-2009, 07:13 PM   #2217
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Now that's what I call a bargain!
A long time ago I was a bridesmaid for my friend. The bridesmaid's dresses cost more than the bride's. She found a fabulous dress for the equivalent of $25, because she was very petite and it was last year's style. The photos still look gorgeous!

When my daughter got married we had the opposite happen . We were in the bridal shop to pick up her dress and take a quick look at Bridesmaid's dresses and we lucked into two Bridesmaid's dresses on clearance in the exact style she liked and the exact size of the Bridesmaid's so we bought them for less than $75 for two dresses with matching wraps and gloves . The Bridesmaid's were happy to be off the hook for the cost and they looked great in the dresses . Of course we made up for it on my daughter's dress but that is what Mothers are for . Buying my daughter's wedding dress was a priceless Mother & daughter moment .
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Old 09-13-2009, 03:11 AM   #2218
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Read another chapter in a novel before I got out of bed. I'm in an area without any good place to exercise walk in the morning, so passed on the usual. Got cleaned up then settled down to study Spanish. Ate breakfast, then hung out until a friend showed up as planned. After he left I hit the net cafe where I spewed bile in a long running political forum argument, balanced 2 of my 3 bank accounts, chatted with a woman I'm going to meet in the town I'm headed for (Dumaguete) and continued my email exchange with a man who has an apartment for rent there.

Back at the hotel I went through the stuff my friend brought me, deciding what to keep and what to toss. Took a taxi to the mall that had only one of two decent selections of vitamins and minerals in town (Cebu City) to stock up. Had lunch and read a couple of the local daily collections of short fiction more commonly known as newspapers then went home to watch some US Open. Took a nap then went back to the net cafe to see if the guy with the apartment for rent in Dumaguete responded.

It's 5pm. I'll do some texting to see who's up for a beer later.
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Old 09-13-2009, 04:37 PM   #2219
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Did some yard work, digging up the septic tank covers and distribution box in preparation for our Title 5 inspection, which is required before we can sell the house next Spring. Still had enough energy left over to get out for a brief 2 mile trail run in the local state forest.

Tomorrow, a crew is coming in to do a big makeover on the 1/2 acre in front of the house, digging up all the scrub and trees and putting in an actual lawn. Soon it won't look like this:

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Old 09-13-2009, 04:51 PM   #2220
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What were those cows eating that made their cowpats so sharp?
Coulda been hardware disease - should have thought there was a pediatric equivalent!

Actually i don't think much hardware gets passed through the various stomachs and such on a cow.....



Today i sweated mostly. Did random away from the MIL house for 6 months upkeep. Out in the desert in the middle of nothing upkeep is a bit more extreme, having to do with keeping the water supply going, growing things alive, vehicles & cooler & roof & road functional. Amazing what the desert sun does to plastic, rubber, and insulation on wiring!
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