Who was it that posted about the lake in their front yard...Monica? We feel your pain. Tom has been working many hours/week since February. He already worked a lot, but now it's a ton! Sunday morning, he woke early as to go to Sarah's and get our food order done early and arrive home before we all got up to begin our relaxing/family day. He went down to his bathroom around 6:45am and what to his amazing eyes should appear...but, water coming out of his shower drain and flooding the entire bath room/storage room and seeping into the family room/office. We began the process of, "damage control," around 7am. We spent almost an hour searching for our brand new submersible pump. Finally, found it in a toy box. Sigh. Big, big mess. Our HUGE storage room was filled with boxes of stuff and laundry piles on the FLOOR! I thought water was suppose to be cleansing and spiritual...not so much at 207 Timberline Trail...ha! Our leech field had a broken pipe (Redding's were to come out and repair) and the ground around the well cover was saturated. The heavy rains made the water pour in through the top of the well, which caused the back up. The good news: We worked well together and got it under control before the end of the day. God saved my bookwork, on the office floor, as water was all around it, yet never touched the ever-important, "pile." Our floors are bleached and beautiful. Our computer and PS2 are fine. Our plumber came out *Sunday morning* and gave me the all clear to begin the laundering process. I found things, that I had been looking for, while cleaning. Our storage room has been purged and is in the process of being wonderfully organized with everything UP on SHELVES! All in all...we were lucky in some areas and a little good came out of it. :-) Anyone else get water?
Sorry about the flooding, T&N. It sounds like you made lemonade out of lemons.
Started my INTENSIVE Spanish course today. Hay de mi! (no upside-down punctuation available on the blog) The guy walked in the door speaking Spanish. I bet about half the people won't be there tomorrow. He said he doesn't expect us to do more than about 2 hours of homework a night; the class is every day from 9:00 to noon. We're covering about 2 semesters worth of Espanol in 5 weeks. My textbook is about 8 x 10 x 1/2", paperback, with 2 CDs, and cost $143.00. Que pirateria! Several people did not remove the wrappers on theirs.
Yesterday we participated in our Corpus Christi procession (yeah, I know it was 2 weeks ago) from Queen of Apostles to Holy Family, about 1 1/2 miles, with several stops along the way to pray at decorated altars in people's yards. The Santa Lucia band from Omaha played holy songs at the stops but sprightly marching music in between. Very Italian. Lisa's girls (and Lisa) and Catie and Mia came along. Mia waved the entire way, the Pork Queen wave, with both arms. Catie pulled the wagon the whole way, with either Mia or Mary Laurel or both riding in it. Catie and Mia both had fun, but their arms were tired. They chowed down on the free Sloppy Joes at Holy Family.
If you want to buy reusable grocery shopping bags, but you buy them at WalMart, is there inherently something wrong with that? They're only $1. They don't say Walmart in big letters, but they do say "Paper or Plastic? Neither." I don't want my eco-friendly shopping bags to be sanctimonious. But, you know, $1.
The appliance guy is here...'cuz the dryer stopped getting hot this afternoon...sigh. Good news is...that he's gonna clean out our ducts ($15) and I've been intending to have that done for a while! :-)
P.S. The one bad thing was that I had a Straub beer box (from our wedding reception) filled with a bunch of wedding keepsakes. It had been on a shelf for years and the other week I grabbed it down to look over a wedding letter from my cousin who died mysteriously just after we married. I placed it upon the floor and now some of the contents are ruined. That made me sad.
Cathy~ Ever thought of Muzzy? May be cheaper and more fun! :-<> :-)
TOm, you pulling tomato from your dishes? Also, just wondering, though it's none of my business - are the high food prices cutting into your profit? Food and gas prices are really getting ridiculous.
I went to www.muzzy.com, which is a "Muzzy Brothers Bad to the Bone" bowhunting website. Didn't find any reusable grocery bags there but they have a great deal on 30-grain 3-bladed arrows.
so Jim and Eric are in the Dells this week.... i wonder if they took the kids on the duck ride up the wisconsin river... they'd have to navigate around the houses floating down now...
Just a reminder. I liked Lisa's suggestion that you all try to send me a check to bring to Uncle Bob for his 50th anniversary. The only ones who have responded so far are Pat and Josh. We are leaving here on June 24. To be deductible, checks should be payable to Mission Helpers of the Holy Savior. Dad
Mary, I had a dream last night that you and I were basketball players on opposing teams. I was average, but you were this fierce guard everyone feared. Figure that one out.
My neighbors all keep telling me what a wonderful gardener Bernice (the woman who lived in my house for 50 yrs) was. I have a lot of plants all around the perimeter of my yard, but I don't know what they are. I was talking to my neighbor and telling her that I think I have to pull up two certain spots that just looked like overgrown weeds and she shrieked in horror, "Those are beautiful hydrangea bushes with huge purple blooms!" I guess I'll just leave everything and see what happens this year before I make any moves. Also, my linen clost upstairs smells like Granny's house.
That's a good smell. It wouldn't hurt to wait to see what comes up, bearing in mind that some stuff doesn't bloom until late summer. But you could always throw in some annuals somewhere to satisfy your urge to dig.
Em, they will look like big weeds until they get flowers. I would wait before digging up anything. In our last house I dug up a bunch of poppies thinking they were weeds but realized later they weren't. I did the same with some Purple Cone floweres. Give it a year or at least a season. I don't mean to be preachy. I just love flowers.
Downtown Waterloo and downtown Cedar Falls are being evacuated as I type. Stupid rain.
Dad, thank you for the Uncle Bob reminder. I totally forgot.
I agree...I would always wait a season before removing any plantings...and a year before removing physical structures! Tom and I almost removed our front porch. When we bought our house it was used as a storage area and was painted an awful yellow-green...it looked like an appendage. Thank God we didn't as it is the best part of our house and NEVER gets flooded! :-)
Happy Birthday Danny! Two of my favorite songs are about Danny..."Danny Boy" and "Daniel" by Sir Elton... Funniest moment...your haircut at the AmericInn bathroom at 3 a.m...after Pat and Josh's wedding!!
On the TODAY SHOW this a.m....a man had a nail shot into his head from a nailgun while building his deck...at the hospital the E.R. doctor called up the hospital maintenance guy to bring a regular hammer to the E.R., he then sterilized it and pulled the nail out!!
Thought I would brag...on Donny's behalf. As you may know, Donny has an IEP to help him with some needs he has as it relates to his Asperger's diagnosis. His Teacher just shared with me that due to his strengths in reading...the *Gifted and Talented* Teacher is going to invite him, next year, to work with her class on an, "Inventions Unit!" WooHoo! :-)
Good for him! I hope he can sort of find a niche where he can use his gifts as well as address his needs.
Em and m.e., your dream inspired one I had last night where you guys were somehow represented by two giant coffee pots leaning toward each other as if the spouts were going to collide. Silver ones. I woke up with a stomachache. What's up with that?
Emily, was the Bernice who lived in your house BERN-iss or Ber-NEECE? I only ask because of the fun I've had over the years telling people that my middle name is not Ver-NEECE, which sounds nicer than VERN-iss, but they think I must be mistaken.
Regarding VerNEESS or VERNiss: Ever since we named her I have been getting Emma's middle name pronounced Caroline, not Carolyn (although the spelling is Caroline) and people imply to me that I am mistaken.
I have another new cook who is a graduate of our nation's correctional system. I just discovered he has a "white power" tattoo. Should I find an excuse to let him go?
Betty and I ended up in the basement for a while when the tornado siren went off here in Algona around nine or so. Lots of lightening and thunder. The flooding south of Mason City is terrible. I know a nurse (two kids, new baby) from Greene--I heard they lost their home and belongings to flooding. We need a dry spell.
Ditto that. I think I'm going to have to take out a home equity loan and install window wells on my basement windows (the bottoms of the windows are at ground level now) and then build up the ground around my house. Every spring we get water in our basement.
Not what one wants to do with equity but it beats riding a shop vac every spring.
Clarification: NOT every Spring. Once, about 4 years ago when our yard was all torn up from the leech field installation from November...we rec'd 7" of rain, the following Spring before they had a chance to finish the yard, and the water came in. Second, 6 weeks ago due to our sump pump not working properly. Now, this last week twice as our leech field had a broken pipe AND our land was not grated properly back when they put the leech field in. Sigh.
We had to move our cars out of the garage and over to the nearby school. If any of you have seen our drivway you know how it dips in the middle well that is about 4 1/2 feet deep right now. At this moment Joe is out in the canoe floating around in our yard. I'll try to send a picture to Pat so she can post it. We are trapped in our house at the moment. If it quits raining it should go down fairly quickly. Huge sections of CR have been evacuated and curfews are in place. I think more rain is predicted for later today and then dry for a few days. The only bridge over the river that is open is the interstate all others have been closed because of flooding. I don't think the river is supposed to crest for another day or two. I'm really getting tired of this.
Speaking of sirens, we don't have sirens that can be heard here in Woodlyn Hills...which is technically Cresco Township not Algona. Perhaps, we don't get tornadoes here? Just water.
We had water in our basement due to the window well filling with water... I think we need to put some kind of cover on them?
The storm didn't move - it hung over the metro area for hours. But considering the boy scouts we are very lucky.
As we were getting things together to camp out in our harry potter room in the basement, our somewhat high-strung Mary said something to the effect of are we going to stand around being distraught or are we going to get in the room to hide?
Mom and Dad had water coming up thru the toilet in the basement. They had to knock a hole in the wall to feed the water towards the sump pump hole. This is all a huge bummer but others have it worse than us.
Yeah...Whittemore received 7" in a short time, felt like we were on the Titanic. But we put down old blankets etc and created a damn and with the hole we created in the wall of the bathroom we swept (shoveled) water toweard the hole for 3 straight hours...I now hate sweeping...we finally gave up on that at 1 a.m....the water was still gushing this morning, but the hole thing saved the new carpet and the water is clean and clear...so not all is bad!
Also yesterday....the car I delivered to Caitlin (Mike's Volvo, 'cause the gas mileage is much better than the Jeep)...she only had it one day and at 93rd and Dodge it died, she coasted into a parking lot. It started smoking (we called AAA) she then phoned and said it was REALLY smoking, and she was staying a distance from the car...next call was the Omaha fire dept, the car was in flames and totalled!! The fireman said it was an electrical fire...the day before we had paid a mechanic $225. to "fix" a wiring problem, we stopped payment on that check!
Things to be thankful for: Everyone is safe. :-) God turned the electricty back on in short order (it's usually out for long stretches here in Cresco Township) which allowed the submersible pump to run. Our Plumber *answered* the phone at 11pm and helped Tom discern whether or not the sump pump was working...it was. Our Managers' husband came by around 11pm with another and BIGGER submersible pump to work alongside ours. This morning...our neighbor, Melanie, brought over a HUGE crisp & cold Diet Coke for me, juice for the boys and fancy bagels/designer cream cheese for all. My folks are coming today to help with the clean-up. "It feels better to sip on lemonade than to chew on lemons."
I would think twice about stopping payment on that check if you had no real net loss. I've learned that in a small town a business person needs to always be "nice". Maybe you should find out with certainty the cause of the fire. Was it really his fault? The car was old and had issues aside from it's latest fix. There are a lot of people around here with that mechanic's same last name. Is it really worth it (stopping the check) without being certain it was his fault?
There is a student of mine who is an eagle scout and his dad is a scout leader. This family (mom, dad and Jeremy) are the backbone of my crew whenever we have a Generations night. They are so nice and so dependable and helpful. He's a really good kid. I was up all night waiting for the names of the boy scouts who died because I was convinced he would be one of them. (He's not.) They still aren't answering their phone so I don't know anything more. Some kids have spinal fractures and concussions, etc. I feel so bad for all those families.
Any more news on Louie? Sorry to hear about the Volvo! When m.e. says she doesn't like sweeping any more....say it ain't so!
I have my first examen en espanol tomorrow. This course is going to destroy my GPA.
It was Omaha...I would not do that in Algona...also when he talked to me about the car (because I had it towed to his garage) he said "well, she started the car on fire" I said "what do you mean she started it...you were the last person to touch ANYTHING under the hood" then he said, "it was a gasoline fire" and I said "the fireman said it was electrical" (he has just done electrical work) it was at that point I quickly got off the phone and stopped payment on that check...I'll negotiate with more power now!
Monica...has Joe caught any fish in your yard? Send pictures! Have all activities stopped (swimming, ballgames, etc...) Do you have water coming into your house?
Tom, you should tell your new cook to give all those body parts back - it just ain't right. About letting him go: ask yourself if you think he would spit in someone's food if he hated them.
I also think that when the basement bathroom wall is repaired, Mom & Dad should leave a permanent opening there; just a nice discreet horizontal slot at the bottom. I think of water as a sort of elemental force - once it finds a path it will use it over and over to fulfill its function, which is to fill things.
Funny - today I was on Craigslist and I saw our apartment for rent. We like our location, love Lake Worth, and being in easy distance of mom and dad, but there are bugs to contend with, and more importantly, we have one car. Josh's commute is 30 solid interstate minutes. My job search is severely limited by proximity. I mentioned to our previous realtor that we wish we could get out of our lease and she jumped on it. We'll pay 200-300 more per month, but I just checked what we've paid to fill up the car so far this month and it was about $100. And the car is about at a 1/4 tank. I know we'll save at least $175 a month in gas. P
Happy birthday Danny. Sorry to hear about all the water problems. Makes complaints about a wet vacation sound pretty lame. We are sitting in a lakeside hotel room, except the dam broke and there is no lake. Probably not bad because the lake was getting very close to the hotel. We have been able to get outside for one day at the waterpark and a couple nights making smores out on the beach. Otherwise it has been a lot of time at the hotel pool. Hope our house is dry when we get back. I checked the sump pump and battery about a month ago and both were working.
Just a reminder. Until now there has been some uncertainty about the dates of the family reunion. The reunion will be Saturday and Sunday, July 26th and 27th, although we will probably get there on Friday, July 25th and we assume some others will be getting in that day also. We want to emphasize that even though everyone is encouraged to come, some will not be able to come to both the reunion and the wedding. If that happens,we really encourage people to skip the reunion and come to the wedding on Sept. 13th. Also, we know that some of you had planned to go to the Iowa State game on Thursday, Aug. 28th and from there to the farm for the reunion weekend. Well, we are sure the bride and groom wants to encourage you to go to the IA State game but there will be no reunion the following weekend. However, if anyone who goes to that game wants to go to the farm for the weekend, that's OK, however, we don't encourage going to the farm and missing the wedding. Also, if you do go to the farm after the ISU game you will have to make arrangements ahead of time to get the keys. Please contact us if you have any questions about the reunion. Mom and Dad
I had Chuck Reding (Reding Gravel & Excavating) come look at our yard. Him and his right hand man seem to think that an "inlet" is in order. Essentially I would have a storm sewer in my back yard connected to the street's storm sewer. I want one of those cool looking dome shaped cast iron inlets you used to see in old neighborhoods and farms.
Anyway, that and window wells are a possibility. They will know more when they come out and "scope" it with surveyours (spelling?) tools.
Tom, Your post about an inlet in your yard reminded me of the one in Deb's parents yard. It drains into a ravine that runs from behind their back yard to the Des Moines river. The metal pipe it is connected to corroded and broke this spring. Now a large hole about six feet deep has opened in their back yard and is growing back toward their garage. Basically the yard is washing down into the ravine. I talked to Genevieve yesterday and she said the rains this week caused the hole to swallow her rubarb patch. For the last two months the city has said they will fix it in a couple weeks. If the pipe does'nt get repaired eventually their back yard will end up as silt on the bottom of Saylorville Resevoir. They have lived in their house for fourty years and never had water in the basement untill the last two years. Anyway, if you have a drain installed make sure it has a plastic or concrete pipe on it.
We are all good here in Cedar Rapids. Luckily we are on a well so we have plenty of water. Our basement problems are nothing compared to the loss of homes that many have. They interviewed some poor young guy on TV yesterday who had moved into his first home last Friday and now it it is flooded up to the roof. How depressing would that be?! Our sump pump is running more than twice a minute but it is running. We did move some furniture up to our second floor yesterday but it didn't become a problem.
Ellen is supposed to go to Kentucky on a service trip to build hused forr the poor on Sat. It seem ironic that she is going there when it is so terrible here.
The river is supposed to crest today at 33 feet and 12 feet is flood stage. What it all means I don't really know but it's almost triple the flood stage. I think it's predicted to stay high for quite a while. I know they evacuated Mercy hospital last night. There is only one bridge open to the south side of town so traffic is horrific.
Monica - do you have any Ice you can sell to those around you? Ice is always a bit ticket item in situations like this and I saw recently that the US gov. had recently disposed of most of its ice reserves it had built up after Katrina. I am just thinking here that you could make a lot of money and move to some higher gound - maybe somewhere that is 34 feet above the flood stage.
Tom I did check out Thulco and I am afraid. Afraid of what may come from the mind of someone who comes up with stuff like this:
"Example, “the sky is blue”. “No, sometimes it appears white and other times reddish with a sunrise”. If you were to convince someone about the sky’s “blue-ness”, you may get a group of people together who agree with you and then go to the disagreeing party and convince him or her that the sky is definitely blue. The group would have a large influence on getting the individual to agree with the blue color of the sky. The fact is scientifically that the sky is a refraction of light and could be most any color - purple for another example."
Don't worry Ed. If he does become your boss and you allow him to convince you of the skies wonderful array of colors you will be fine.
That and when you go out for beers after work make sure you tell him your are amazed at his process. How he can reveal to you the magic of his insights and all that his brilliant mind can see the things mere mortals cannot.
good luck Pat...but, I'm surprised you're only paying $100/month...you must get good gas mileage. What do you drive? Used to be a Saturn...is it a toyota?
I have indeed had beers with the tool man recently...he gave me an application for Ed to fill out, has the logo/crest on it...instead of drug-testing he does "poker-face" testing!
When I was little I used to hypnotize myself into seeing the snow as pink or green, until it was hard to see it as white again. If I think of some long boring way to say this, do you think I could some day work for the tool man?
Everyone keep an eye on your Wyeth stock. They are due to release Phase 2 results of the alzheimers drug trial they are working on in conjunction with Elan.
Yesterday I told the local Edward D. Jones guy who I have my rolled over 401k with to move some of those mutual funds into Elan. Today Elan jumped 6%.
I called my Ed Jones guy today and asked him if he had seen what that stock did. Then I found out I didn't realize any windfall because it takes 3 days to move the rolled over 401k into an actual Ed Jones account.
Happy Father's Day! I hope all the Dad's had a wonderfully relaxing day! :-)
Re: Smoking on the Patio. Unless something drastic changes it looks as though our Patio will be smoke-free...which is okay. People *will be* allowed to step out the front door and have a smoke, if they like. A local Restaurant/Bar is building what appears to be a deck-like Patio in their parking lot. I wonder if they think Guests will be able to smoke there? Hmm. Doesn't sound like it.
It seems that since the new ban is not well-defined it would be worth it to try smoking (on the patio) and see what happens. Israel is building a deck and I bet he thinks it will be for smokers...there is just a "servers" door on that side, though. He owns 4 of these restaurants....he better check the law!
Phelan plays in Millenium Park today at noon (good time with all the downtown office workers) name of this band is BIRD NAMES...she then leaves on a month long tour with them.
I have the feeling that Bars where food is incidental to the sale of liquor...will be able to have smoking on Patios. Incidental meaning fried mini-tacos, cheese balls and such. We do not qualify in that regard. Now if a Bar, as I decribed, has entertainment...then, smoking outside is *not* allowed. The law has only been drafted and it could change to include us...unlikely though.
It sounds as though they will be enforcing the ban as the legislature passed/Gov signed into law. It will just be a matter of time until the casinos are smoke free as well. The treatment of smoking related disease is just costing society too much. Kelli
Possible idea for The Games: yesterday for Father's Day Stevo bought himself a 20-foot-long dual racing slip 'n' slide. You know, for the kids. But hey.
We had a nice grill-out in the back yard with the Richardsons. Mia taught me Spanish. She really knows how to r-r-r-roll those r's. She says a keeno bleedo porr-r-r-rreeno means a cute baby tiger, or a rhinoceros.
So far I have talked to three different people from our parish who told me they saw Mary Laurel and family at Target Saturday night and that they were buying a dehumidifier.
I just got back from Millenium Park seeing Phelan's band. The music was kind of hypnotic, but had all sorts of diff. rythems (Phelan played percussion most of the time but also played bass and guitar while I was there). A group started a train and was daning throught the rows in the seated portion. There were probably about 250-300 (best guess) people there. The weather was great!
Ed...did it feel like Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Except you had to go back to work! Great that you went.
Sister Sarah...why not just have smoking outside untill such time that they can enforce? There is such confusion, I bet cops won't even know...I just remembered I don't think that cops are the enforcers of this law, is that correct? Someone from the Dept. of Health has to witness an offense, right?...
Or, just create a nice little area with benches and ashcans or something, that is easily accessible from the patio.
article: Bar owners are protesting the way the state plans to implement a smoking ban on July 1, 2008. The Iowa Clean Air Act approved by lawmakers this spring included a loophole which would allow smoking on outdoor patios at bars, but new rules drafted by the Iowa Department of Public Health classify nearly every bar that serves hot food as a restaurant, which means no smoking on the patio.
Larry Barry owns bars in Indianola and Des Moines and he says serving an occasional hamburger doesn't make a bar a restaurant. "I think it's ridiculous to say we can serve only popcorn, peanuts and a frozen pizza and if you take these outside areas away, there'll be more businesses going out of business," Barry says.
Barry, along with half a dozen other bar owners, testified Wednesday before the legislative committee that's reviewing the public health department's rules. Joe Sturgis owns a bar in Davenport called the Rusty Nail. "Already our businesses are down because of the economy and this law is going to crucify a lot of businesses," Sturgis told lawmakers in Des Moines. A rusty nail, the drink that's the namesake of his bar, is made with scotch, drambuie and a twist of lemon.
Bill Duncan, who owns a bar in Fort Madison, was considering construction of an adjoining patio, but may abandon that if smoking won't be allowed on it. "Eighty to 90 percent of my customers smoke and they are good, hardworking people," Duncan told legislators. "You guys are forcing me with this law to commit financial suicide."
Several lawmakers also expressed concerns about the health department's proposed rules for the state's anti-smoking law and urged the agency to consider redrafting their definition of a bar and present an alternative next month to the committee for review. Representative McKinley Bailey, a Democrat from Webster City, accused state public health officials of ignoring the legislature's wishes. "These emergency rules make us liars because we went home and these small business owners came to us and we told them, 'Yea, go ahead and build a patio because we passed a law that says a bar can have a patio that people can smoke on,'" Bailey said.
According to Bailey, any place that sells more alcohol than food should be classified as a bar, not a restaurant. Bailey lectured public health officials who drafted the proposed rules which classify any establishment which sells hot food as a restaurant. "This is an absolute perversion of the legislative intent, period," Bailey said.
Iowa Department of Public Health officials cite problems in other states after some proprietors were caught doctoring their sales receipts to indicate they sold more liquor than food.
I cannot knowingly break the law regardless of the ability/inability to be enforced. I do think it's ludicrous to have no smoking in the great OUTdoors, additionally I think it's ridiculous to say that people can smoke around mini-tacos but not around chicken sandwiches...ha! I also think it's crazy that people can be fined $86 for not wearing their seatbelt while motorcyclists drive around, legally, without a helmet. Oh well.
Tim Russert always had a rosary in his pocket. I watched the re-braodcast of Meet The Press. Tom Brokaw actually broke down and couldn't finish his sentence.
WE are all fine. The pool sare all closed so no swimteam there was no baseball last week haven't heard about this week. Things are starting to get back to normal. The interstae will open tomorrow morning but there is still no easy way to get to the south side of town. Still only one bridge open.
Ellen's trip to Kentucky was cancelled but they are doing it here. She is in town but stays with the group and I'm not sure what they are doing. I think they were distributing cleaning supplied to people today.
I know property owners are getting very angry because they aren't being let into their houses but it really isn't safe. Floors are collapsing and foundations. One of Joe's nurses lost everthing. Also the janitor at the the kids school.
This is from an article I read today about the IOWA smoking ban:
"Locations where smoking is NOT prohibited: Fairgrounds; institutions administered by the Dept. of Corrections; facilities of the Iowa national guard; private residences; hotel and motel rooms that are designated as smoking rooms; retail tobacco stores; private and semi-private rooms in long-term care facilities; outdoor areas that are places of employment that are not in areas that prohibit smoking; private clubs that have no employees except when used for a function to which the general public is invited; limousines under private hire; enclosed areas within a place of employment that provides a smoking cessation program; farm tractors, trucks and implements of husbandry; gaming floors; the Iowa veterans home and unenclosed open patios."
I wonder if you could buy an old limousine and park it right next to the door for smokers to go into and smoke. Here's one for $500:
Or you can somehow convince the city to make the land around Sarah's an official Fairground. Just put a Moonwalk out there once a year and they might buy it.
Or, you could add on a small room and call it "the matchbox private club" that has no employees. You could charge smokers $5 for an annual membership. Members will receive an introductory pack of cigarettes and a membership keychain.
Another option may be to get a separate sales tax licence for the restaurant. Food sales served in the bar would be considered as delivered from another vendor (like a pizza delivery) and rung up on the restaurant's cash register. This may also require splitting the business in two and filing separate income tax returns. The bar would have to pay rent to the restaurant or vice versa.
These are all marvelous and wonderfully creative ideas (Thank you!) and although I would love nothing more than to find a legitimate loophole...I think it's moot. I gotta say...it's annoying. OUTside...come on! Serve mini-tacos and smoke...serve a burger and yah can't smoke? It's just dumb. I think they should either ban it across the board or allow smoking OUTdoors regardless of the food served or not served. I was also wondering...what about after kitchen hours...when we're still open and serving liquor, but not food? Could people go outside then (9pm-close) and hang-out and drink and smoke? Hmm. One would think. I should ask. The IDPH (Iowa Dept. of Public Health) representative was clear that IF you serve food...other than cheap/greasy bar food...no smoking on the Patio...or, at least as it is written today and that may change, although unlikely. If it's deemed unsafe for people to smoke outside, than what you're eating/not eating shouldn't matter...it's still unsafe. Yes? Sigh. I would totally be cool and understand if they simply said no smoking...no matter. However, they are not and that's the stupidity that irritates me. On to awesome things...Liam played against Graettinger(sp?) tonight at Central Park. They lost miserably...however, in the extra inning that was not needed to be played (due to the five point rule) Liam hit a pop fly and created two RBI's...our only points in the game...woohoo...go Liam! I jumped up and yelled, "My kid rocks!" Others agreed. :-) Donny and Nadia come on Sunday...she's crawling (almost walking)...yIkEs! :-<>
I spoke to Aunt Doris today. The Alaskan cruise ended Saturday in Seattle. On Wednesday Uncle Bob had to be taken to the ship's hospital. No appetite, very tired and 104 degree temperature. He was diagnosed with pneumonia. He insisted on leaving the sick bay Thursday so that he could give his regular mission talks, however he concelebrated Mass with another priest. He sat throughout the Mass except for the consecration and sat during the talks that he gave. He'd visit the sick bay twice each day for medications. When the ship finally docked in Seattle on Saturday he left in a wheelchair. Your aunts and Uncle Don tried to talk him into resting in Seattle before going home but he insisted on going to Reno. His administrative assistant in this country, Mary O'Brien lives there and he had promised to baptize her granddaughter on Sunday. He was so weak after the baptism that he slept for a whils but then Mary and her family decided they should take him to the hospital. He was admitted Sunday night and spent much of today being tested. He has congestive heart failure and his Type 2 diabetes is out of control. Even without eating, his blood sugar is very high. They determined he has problems with his kidneys and still has the pneumonia. I finally got through to him about 6:30 tonight (4:30 in Reno) and I thought he sounded awful but he said it's because of congestion in his throat. The doctors have told him they want him to stay in the hospital at least 3 or 4 days. We were planning to go to Mexico Wednesday but I have a feeling that he will have to postpone the anniversary celebration. But at this point I do not know for sure, so we are still planning on going so if you have not sent me a check yet to give to him for his anniversary, you'd better do it right now because we will be leaving Whittemore on Tuesday, June 24. If I hear any more news I will let you know. Dad
Diabetes can cause your kidneys to fail. Constant high glucose levels can cause a condition where the kidneys stop filtering wastes and eventually you have to have dialysis, but if your blood sugar is held low that doesn't have to happen. His kidneys are probably throwing off some proteins that alarmed the docs, or some other symptoms like the tiredness, or swelling or nausea. Getting sick can cause your normal blood levels to do weird things if you're diabetic. Hopefully with some real rest and careful monitoring he will be OK.
Jim, I keep meaning to ask - when you say there is no lake... was it just a big muddy hole with fish flapping weakly in the mud? What did it look like? Did you tell your kids that they were priveleged to witness something few kids have ever seen? Could you see the lake bottom? Was there any interesting stuff there?
An update on Uncle Bob---I spoke to him this afternoon. He sounded a little better. He is still very weak and needs help for any movement, like moving from bed to a chair. His blood sugar is still very high but his oxygen level is much better. The doctors have not yet indicated how long he will remain in the hospital or when they will let him go back to Mexico. Two of the nuns flew in from Mexico so that someone is always with him and he'll have them with him when he flies back. I'll keep you updated. Dad
Thanks for the update on Uncle Bob. I remember when Ed was sick and throwing up it messed up his blood sugars so much he was hospitalized for a few days.
Last night when we were remembering him in our prayers the girls couldn't get it out of their minds that we were praying for my brother, Bob. I explaioned that there were two uncle Bobs and that one was my brother and one was my dad's brother and was a priest... but I still think their prayers were directed to my brother... so Bob, you must feel especially blessed today.
Mia is always hatching plans. Now her plan is to catch a rabbit. Molly explained that rabbits are pretty much hard-wired to be afraid and to run away from any animal bigger than them, even little girls, and that they're very fast. Mia asked if they would be afraid of a carrot. Molly said well, if the carrot was held by a human hand they probably would be. Mia said, "What if it was held by a fishing pole?"
Mom and Dad are off to DesMoines for Judges School and also a day trip down to the farm on Thursday, on Friday there is a luncheon in Des Moines honoring Dad and other lawyers who have practiced for 50+ years!
I was there last year during a poo incident (wasn't me). The teenage life guard making the announcement to clear the pool could hardly get out the words "fecal discharge" without laughing.
Emily, our house is fine. Cedar Rapids is chaotic, but improving. We had five of the six bridges crossing the river out for several days and only two lanes open on I-380 so traffic was gridlocked. Driving to work was sobering as you could see the water only a few feet below the road and up to the eaves on so many homes and businesses. Driving home Tuesday was weird as there were no lights, no activity as I drove past rows of houses and the downtown district. The estimates are that there is $1 billion in damages, 6-7000 people unemployed and 12000 people homeless. Our clinic's previous high number of patients was 186; but Tuesday we saw 475, mostly for tetanus shots. Mercy Hospital was closed as are a few other practices that had built nice new offices downtown. There are many other communities in Iowa that were also severely damaged and it may continue downstream on the Mississippi. It's depressing.
139 comments:
Happy Birthday Danny! Hope it's a good one.
Happy Birthday, Danny! What did you do? Hope it was a great day! :-)
Who was it that posted about the lake in their front yard...Monica? We feel your pain.
Tom has been working many hours/week since February. He already worked a lot, but now it's a ton! Sunday morning, he woke early as to go to Sarah's and get our food order done early and arrive home before we all got up to begin our relaxing/family day. He went down to his bathroom around 6:45am and what to his amazing eyes should appear...but, water coming out of his shower drain and flooding the entire bath room/storage room and seeping into the family room/office. We began the process of, "damage control," around 7am. We spent almost an hour searching for our brand new submersible pump. Finally, found it in a toy box. Sigh. Big, big mess. Our HUGE storage room was filled with boxes of stuff and laundry piles on the FLOOR!
I thought water was suppose to be cleansing and spiritual...not so much at 207 Timberline Trail...ha!
Our leech field had a broken pipe (Redding's were to come out and repair) and the ground around the well cover was saturated. The heavy rains made the water pour in through the top of the well, which caused the back up.
The good news:
We worked well together and got it under control before the end of the day.
God saved my bookwork, on the office floor, as water was all around it, yet never touched the ever-important, "pile."
Our floors are bleached and beautiful.
Our computer and PS2 are fine.
Our plumber came out *Sunday morning* and gave me the all clear to begin the laundering process.
I found things, that I had been looking for, while cleaning.
Our storage room has been purged and is in the process of being wonderfully organized with everything UP on SHELVES!
All in all...we were lucky in some areas and a little good came out of it. :-)
Anyone else get water?
Happy Birthday Danny! I hope you didn't have any flooding to deal with.
Sorry to those of you that did. No flooding here, though we're supposed to have a busy hurricane season this summer....
p
Are you hurricane ready? Is there anything you can do?
Mainly you are supposed to have bottled water and canned goods ready, and an evacuation plan.
p
Happy B-day Danny! Hope you're still celebrating.
Sorry to hear about all the flooding troubles.
Did you all know there's a bob straub state park in oregon?
p
Happy Birthday, Danny! Hope it was a good one.
Sorry about the flooding, T&N. It sounds like you made lemonade out of lemons.
Started my INTENSIVE Spanish course today. Hay de mi! (no upside-down punctuation available on the blog) The guy walked in the door speaking Spanish. I bet about half the people won't be there tomorrow. He said he doesn't expect us to do more than about 2 hours of homework a night; the class is every day from 9:00 to noon. We're covering about 2 semesters worth of Espanol in 5 weeks. My textbook is about 8 x 10 x 1/2", paperback, with 2 CDs, and cost $143.00. Que pirateria! Several people did not remove the wrappers on theirs.
Happy Birthday Danny! Hope you did something fun.
No rain today and it's not too hot out. Yeah!!!
Monica
Yesterday we participated in our Corpus Christi procession (yeah, I know it was 2 weeks ago) from Queen of Apostles to Holy Family, about 1 1/2 miles, with several stops along the way to pray at decorated altars in people's yards. The Santa Lucia band from Omaha played holy songs at the stops but sprightly marching music in between. Very Italian. Lisa's girls (and Lisa) and Catie and Mia came along. Mia waved the entire way, the Pork Queen wave, with both arms. Catie pulled the wagon the whole way, with either Mia or Mary Laurel or both riding in it. Catie and Mia both had fun, but their arms were tired. They chowed down on the free Sloppy Joes at Holy Family.
If you want to buy reusable grocery shopping bags, but you buy them at WalMart, is there inherently something wrong with that? They're only $1. They don't say Walmart in big letters, but they do say "Paper or Plastic? Neither." I don't want my eco-friendly shopping bags to be sanctimonious. But, you know, $1.
The appliance guy is here...'cuz the dryer stopped getting hot this afternoon...sigh. Good news is...that he's gonna clean out our ducts ($15) and I've been intending to have that done for a while! :-)
P.S.
The one bad thing was that I had a Straub beer box (from our wedding reception) filled with a bunch of wedding keepsakes. It had been on a shelf for years and the other week I grabbed it down to look over a wedding letter from my cousin who died mysteriously just after we married. I placed it upon the floor and now some of the contents are ruined. That made me sad.
Cathy~ Ever thought of Muzzy? May be cheaper and more fun! :-<> :-)
TOm, you pulling tomato from your dishes? Also, just wondering, though it's none of my business - are the high food prices cutting into your profit? Food and gas prices are really getting ridiculous.
What's Muzzy?
I went to www.muzzy.com, which is a "Muzzy Brothers Bad to the Bone" bowhunting website. Didn't find any reusable grocery bags there but they have a great deal on 30-grain 3-bladed arrows.
Also scrape juice.
Muzzy is a second language program geared towards children. I always wanted to do it for, like, 6 easy payments of $49.95. :-)
Muzzy:
http://www.early-advantage.com/
so Jim and Eric are in the Dells this week.... i wonder if they took the kids on the duck ride up the wisconsin river... they'd have to navigate around the houses floating down now...
Just a reminder. I liked Lisa's suggestion that you all try to send me a check to bring to Uncle Bob for his 50th anniversary. The only ones who have responded so far are Pat and Josh. We are leaving here on June 24. To be deductible, checks should be payable to Mission Helpers of the Holy Savior. Dad
We will give ours to you when you come here
cathy
Tom will give you ours, at Sarah's, on Thursday.
You all are so lame.
p
Thanks for the reminder, Dad.
Mary, I had a dream last night that you and I were basketball players on opposing teams. I was average, but you were this fierce guard everyone feared. Figure that one out.
My neighbors all keep telling me what a wonderful gardener Bernice (the woman who lived in my house for 50 yrs) was. I have a lot of plants all around the perimeter of my yard, but I don't know what they are. I was talking to my neighbor and telling her that I think I have to pull up two certain spots that just looked like overgrown weeds and she shrieked in horror, "Those are beautiful hydrangea bushes with huge purple blooms!" I guess I'll just leave everything and see what happens this year before I make any moves. Also, my linen clost upstairs smells like Granny's house.
That's a good smell. It wouldn't hurt to wait to see what comes up, bearing in mind that some stuff doesn't bloom until late summer. But you could always throw in some annuals somewhere to satisfy your urge to dig.
Em, they will look like big weeds until they get flowers. I would wait before digging up anything. In our last house I dug up a bunch of poppies thinking they were weeds but realized later they weren't. I did the same with some Purple Cone floweres. Give it a year or at least a season. I don't mean to be preachy. I just love flowers.
Downtown Waterloo and downtown Cedar Falls are being evacuated as I type. Stupid rain.
Dad, thank you for the Uncle Bob reminder. I totally forgot.
Monica
I agree...I would always wait a season before removing any plantings...and a year before removing physical structures! Tom and I almost removed our front porch. When we bought our house it was used as a storage area and was painted an awful yellow-green...it looked like an appendage. Thank God we didn't as it is the best part of our house and NEVER gets flooded! :-)
Check this out:
http://www.deutsche-klassiker.de/beruehmtheiten/042f0b9ab30b8d901.php
P
looks more like webster...
That's not Barak. Its wearing a flag.
Barak is not that shiny.
Did Jim and Eric have a good time in the woods?
Emily, did I wear my hair down and BIG while playing fiercely? I love your dream...what color was the uniform?
Happy Birthday Danny!
Two of my favorite songs are about Danny..."Danny Boy" and "Daniel" by Sir Elton...
Funniest moment...your haircut at the AmericInn bathroom at 3 a.m...after Pat and Josh's wedding!!
On the TODAY SHOW this a.m....a man had a nail shot into his head from a nailgun while building his deck...at the hospital the E.R. doctor called up the hospital maintenance guy to bring a regular hammer to the E.R., he then sterilized it and pulled the nail out!!
Thought I would brag...on Donny's behalf. As you may know, Donny has an IEP to help him with some needs he has as it relates to his Asperger's diagnosis. His Teacher just shared with me that due to his strengths in reading...the *Gifted and Talented* Teacher is going to invite him, next year, to work with her class on an, "Inventions Unit!" WooHoo! :-)
Good for him! I hope he can sort of find a niche where he can use his gifts as well as address his needs.
Em and m.e., your dream inspired one I had last night where you guys were somehow represented by two giant coffee pots leaning toward each other as if the spouts were going to collide. Silver ones. I woke up with a stomachache. What's up with that?
Is anybody flooded yet?
Emily, was the Bernice who lived in your house BERN-iss or Ber-NEECE? I only ask because of the fun I've had over the years telling people that my middle name is not Ver-NEECE, which sounds nicer than VERN-iss, but they think I must be mistaken.
Happy birthday, Danny!
Don't look so surprised!
Love,
lisa
randy
emma
mary laurel
Regarding VerNEESS or VERNiss: Ever since we named her I have been getting Emma's middle name pronounced Caroline, not Carolyn (although the spelling is Caroline) and people imply to me that I am mistaken.
Lisa
It's probably the only time they ever use phonics.
Isn't Caroline Kennedy enough proof???
It's all Neil Diamond's fault!
I have another new cook who is a graduate of our nation's correctional system. I just discovered he has a "white power" tattoo. Should I find an excuse to let him go?
Tom
Oh...he has the arms of Arnold Schwarteneger, the abs of The Rock and the thighs of Lou Ferigno.
Tom
So how's everyone doing up there? Did the flooding get anyone? How about the tornados?
p
Betty and I ended up in the basement for a while when the tornado siren went off here in Algona around nine or so. Lots of lightening and thunder. The flooding south of Mason City is terrible. I know a nurse (two kids, new baby) from Greene--I heard they lost their home and belongings to flooding. We need a dry spell.
Kelli
Ditto that. I think I'm going to have to take out a home equity loan and install window wells on my basement windows (the bottoms of the windows are at ground level now) and then build up the ground around my house. Every spring we get water in our basement.
Not what one wants to do with equity but it beats riding a shop vac every spring.
Tom
Clarification: NOT every Spring. Once, about 4 years ago when our yard was all torn up from the leech field installation from November...we rec'd 7" of rain, the following Spring before they had a chance to finish the yard, and the water came in. Second, 6 weeks ago due to our sump pump not working properly. Now, this last week twice as our leech field had a broken pipe AND our land was not grated properly back when they put the leech field in. Sigh.
We had to move our cars out of the garage and over to the nearby school. If any of you have seen our drivway you know how it dips in the middle well that is about 4 1/2 feet deep right now. At this moment Joe is out in the canoe floating around in our yard. I'll try to send a picture to Pat so she can post it. We are trapped in our house at the moment. If it quits raining it should go down fairly quickly. Huge sections of CR have been evacuated and curfews are in place. I think more rain is predicted for later today and then dry for a few days. The only bridge over the river that is open is the interstate all others have been closed because of flooding. I don't think the river is supposed to crest for another day or two. I'm really getting tired of this.
Monica
Speaking of sirens, we don't have sirens that can be heard here in Woodlyn Hills...which is technically Cresco Township not Algona. Perhaps, we don't get tornadoes here? Just water.
We had water in our basement due to the window well filling with water... I think we need to put some kind of cover on them?
The storm didn't move - it hung over the metro area for hours. But considering the boy scouts we are very lucky.
As we were getting things together to camp out in our harry potter room in the basement, our somewhat high-strung Mary said something to the effect of are we going to stand around being distraught or are we going to get in the room to hide?
Lisa
lisa
Mom and Dad had water coming up thru the toilet in the basement. They had to knock a hole in the wall to feed the water towards the sump pump hole. This is all a huge bummer but others have it worse than us.
Tom
Did their new carpet get ruined?
P
Yeah...Whittemore received 7" in a short time, felt like we were on the Titanic. But we put down old blankets etc and created a damn and with the hole we created in the wall of the bathroom we swept (shoveled) water toweard the hole for 3 straight hours...I now hate sweeping...we finally gave up on that at 1 a.m....the water was still gushing this morning, but the hole thing saved the new carpet and the water is clean and clear...so not all is bad!
Also yesterday....the car I delivered to Caitlin (Mike's Volvo, 'cause the gas mileage is much better than the Jeep)...she only had it one day and at 93rd and Dodge it died, she coasted into a parking lot. It started smoking (we called AAA) she then phoned and said it was REALLY smoking, and she was staying a distance from the car...next call was the Omaha fire dept, the car was in flames and totalled!! The fireman said it was an electrical fire...the day before we had paid a mechanic $225. to "fix" a wiring problem, we stopped payment on that check!
Things to be thankful for:
Everyone is safe. :-)
God turned the electricty back on in short order (it's usually out for long stretches here in Cresco Township) which allowed the submersible pump to run.
Our Plumber *answered* the phone at 11pm and helped Tom discern whether or not the sump pump was working...it was.
Our Managers' husband came by around 11pm with another and BIGGER submersible pump to work alongside ours.
This morning...our neighbor, Melanie, brought over a HUGE crisp & cold Diet Coke for me, juice for the boys and fancy bagels/designer cream cheese for all.
My folks are coming today to help with the clean-up.
"It feels better to sip on lemonade than to chew on lemons."
I would think twice about stopping payment on that check if you had no real net loss. I've learned that in a small town a business person needs to always be "nice". Maybe you should find out with certainty the cause of the fire. Was it really his fault? The car was old and had issues aside from it's latest fix. There are a lot of people around here with that mechanic's same last name. Is it really worth it (stopping the check) without being certain it was his fault?
Tom
I think the Volvo was fixed in Omaha, not Algona.
Is there recourse beyond the cost of the check would be what I would wonder.
Lisa
There is a student of mine who is an eagle scout and his dad is a scout leader. This family (mom, dad and Jeremy) are the backbone of my crew whenever we have a Generations night. They are so nice and so dependable and helpful. He's a really good kid. I was up all night waiting for the names of the boy scouts who died because I was convinced he would be one of them. (He's not.) They still aren't answering their phone so I don't know anything more. Some kids have spinal fractures and concussions, etc. I feel so bad for all those families.
Any more news on Louie? Sorry to hear about the Volvo! When m.e. says she doesn't like sweeping any more....say it ain't so!
I have my first examen en espanol tomorrow. This course is going to destroy my GPA.
It was Omaha...I would not do that in Algona...also when he talked to me about the car (because I had it towed to his garage) he said "well, she started the car on fire" I said "what do you mean she started it...you were the last person to touch ANYTHING under the hood" then he said, "it was a gasoline fire" and I said "the fireman said it was electrical" (he has just done electrical work) it was at that point I quickly got off the phone and stopped payment on that check...I'll negotiate with more power now!
Oh, and no water in our house, but our office bathroom has about an inch of clear water in it.
Monica...has Joe caught any fish in your yard? Send pictures! Have all activities stopped (swimming, ballgames, etc...) Do you have water coming into your house?
Tom, you should tell your new cook to give all those body parts back - it just ain't right. About letting him go: ask yourself if you think he would spit in someone's food if he hated them.
I also think that when the basement bathroom wall is repaired, Mom & Dad should leave a permanent opening there; just a nice discreet horizontal slot at the bottom. I think of water as a sort of elemental force - once it finds a path it will use it over and over to fulfill its function, which is to fill things.
Pretty soon floor squeegees will be standard housekeeping equipment in Iowa.
Funny - today I was on Craigslist and I saw our apartment for rent. We like our location, love Lake Worth, and being in easy distance of mom and dad, but there are bugs to contend with, and more importantly, we have one car. Josh's commute is 30 solid interstate minutes. My job search is severely limited by proximity. I mentioned to our previous realtor that we wish we could get out of our lease and she jumped on it.
We'll pay 200-300 more per month, but I just checked what we've paid to fill up the car so far this month and it was about $100. And the car is about at a 1/4 tank. I know we'll save at least $175 a month in gas.
P
Monica, do you guys need help sandbagging or moving things or anything?
Right now, a lot of Cedar Rapids looks like a post-Katrina scene.
Go to DesMoinesRegister.com to see pictures from all over the state.
Gosh, Pat, I sure hope the price of gas doesn't go down because then you woudn't be saving sa much money.
Happy birthday Danny. Sorry to hear about all the water problems. Makes complaints about a wet vacation sound pretty lame. We are sitting in a lakeside hotel room, except the dam broke and there is no lake. Probably not bad because the lake was getting very close to the hotel. We have been able to get outside for one day at the waterpark and a couple nights making smores out on the beach. Otherwise it has been a lot of time at the hotel pool. Hope our house is dry when we get back. I checked the sump pump and battery about a month ago and both were working.
Just a reminder. Until now there has been some uncertainty about the dates of the family reunion. The reunion will be Saturday and Sunday, July 26th and 27th, although we will probably get there on Friday, July 25th and we assume some others will be getting in that day also. We want to emphasize that even though everyone is encouraged to come, some will not be able to come to both the reunion and the wedding. If that happens,we really encourage people to skip the reunion and come to the wedding on Sept. 13th. Also, we know that some of you had planned to go to the Iowa State game on Thursday, Aug. 28th and from there to the farm for the reunion weekend. Well, we are sure the bride and groom wants to encourage you to go to the IA State game but there will be no reunion the following weekend. However, if anyone who goes to that game wants to go to the farm for the weekend, that's OK, however, we don't encourage going to the farm and missing the wedding. Also, if you do go to the farm after the ISU game you will have to make arrangements ahead of time to get the keys. Please contact us if you have any questions about the reunion.
Mom and Dad
I had Chuck Reding (Reding Gravel & Excavating) come look at our yard. Him and his right hand man seem to think that an "inlet" is in order. Essentially I would have a storm sewer in my back yard connected to the street's storm sewer. I want one of those cool looking dome shaped cast iron inlets you used to see in old neighborhoods and farms.
Anyway, that and window wells are a possibility. They will know more when they come out and "scope" it with surveyours (spelling?) tools.
Either way it sounds like a fair chunk of change.
Tom
Tom,
Your post about an inlet in your yard reminded me of the one in Deb's parents yard. It drains into a ravine that runs from behind their back yard to the Des Moines river. The metal pipe it is connected to corroded and broke this spring. Now a large hole about six feet deep has opened in their back yard and is growing back toward their garage. Basically the yard is washing down into the ravine. I talked to Genevieve yesterday and she said the rains this week caused the hole to swallow her rubarb patch. For the last two months the city has said they will fix it in a couple weeks. If the pipe does'nt get repaired eventually their back yard will end up as silt on the bottom of Saylorville Resevoir. They have lived in their house for fourty years and never had water in the basement untill the last two years. Anyway, if you have a drain installed make sure it has a plastic or concrete pipe on it.
Bob
We are all good here in Cedar Rapids. Luckily we are on a well so we have plenty of water. Our basement problems are nothing compared to the loss of homes that many have. They interviewed some poor young guy on TV yesterday who had moved into his first home last Friday and now it it is flooded up to the roof. How depressing would that be?! Our sump pump is running more than twice a minute but it is running. We did move some furniture up to our second floor yesterday but it didn't become a problem.
Ellen is supposed to go to Kentucky on a service trip to build hused forr the poor on Sat. It seem ironic that she is going there when it is so terrible here.
The river is supposed to crest today at 33 feet and 12 feet is flood stage. What it all means I don't really know but it's almost triple the flood stage. I think it's predicted to stay high for quite a while. I know they evacuated Mercy hospital last night. There is only one bridge open to the south side of town so traffic is horrific.
Monica
i think Jim and Erin are pretty much stuck in the Dells. a lot of the roads are washed out and closed, at least as of this morning.
Monica - do you have any Ice you can sell to those around you? Ice is always a bit ticket item in situations like this and I saw recently that the US gov. had recently disposed of most of its ice reserves it had built up after Katrina. I am just thinking here that you could make a lot of money and move to some higher gound - maybe somewhere that is 34 feet above the flood stage.
Ed - did you ever check out thulco.com ? This guy could be your next boss.
Tom
Mary, what's up with your family and car fires???
p
Tom I did check out Thulco and I am afraid. Afraid of what may come from the mind of someone who comes up with stuff like this:
"Example, “the sky is blue”. “No, sometimes it appears white and other times reddish with a sunrise”. If you were to convince someone about the sky’s “blue-ness”, you may get a group of people together who agree with you and then go to the disagreeing party and convince him or her that the sky is definitely blue. The group would have a large influence on getting the individual to agree with the blue color of the sky. The fact is scientifically that the sky is a refraction of light and could be most any color - purple for another example."
Don't worry Ed. If he does become your boss and you allow him to convince you of the skies wonderful array of colors you will be fine.
That and when you go out for beers after work make sure you tell him your are amazed at his process. How he can reveal to you the magic of his insights and all that his brilliant mind can see the things mere mortals cannot.
You would the Dwight to the Michael.
Tom
good luck Pat...but, I'm surprised you're only paying $100/month...you must get good gas mileage. What do you drive? Used to be a Saturn...is it a toyota?
I have indeed had beers with the tool man recently...he gave me an application for Ed to fill out, has the logo/crest on it...instead of drug-testing he does "poker-face" testing!
No, that was as of the 11th of June. We'll spend another $100 plus I'm sure.
Yes, a toyota.
p
When I was little I used to hypnotize myself into seeing the snow as pink or green, until it was hard to see it as white again. If I think of some long boring way to say this, do you think I could some day work for the tool man?
Tom,
Would that mean I would be the Assitant Regional Manager or the Assitant TO the Regional Manager?
You could be the vice president in charge of horses.
Actually I admire his aspirations and sense of romance.
WOW! Tim Russert just died - heart attack. 58 years old.
Tom
Assistant Regional Manager. :-)
I really liked Tim Russert...
I can't believe it about TIm. Now that makes me really sad.
What will Sunday mornings be like without Tim Russert?
Everyone keep an eye on your Wyeth stock. They are due to release Phase 2 results of the alzheimers drug trial they are working on in conjunction with Elan.
Yesterday I told the local Edward D. Jones guy who I have my rolled over 401k with to move some of those mutual funds into Elan. Today Elan jumped 6%.
I called my Ed Jones guy today and asked him if he had seen what that stock did. Then I found out I didn't realize any windfall because it takes 3 days to move the rolled over 401k into an actual Ed Jones account.
Bummer.
Tom
Monica & Joe~ How are you guys? What's going on?
Jim & Erin~ Have you made your way safely back home? Sorry about your vacation.
Mary & Mike~ Sorry about your car. :-(
When my folks were here...they gave Tom his Father's Day gift...a weather radio...very cool and appropriate.
i'm thinking it's a bad sign when all your cleaning product containers are covered in dust....
It is.
SO how was Father's Day for all the dads?
Happy Father's Day! I hope all the Dad's had a wonderfully relaxing day! :-)
Re: Smoking on the Patio. Unless something drastic changes it looks as though our Patio will be smoke-free...which is okay. People *will be* allowed to step out the front door and have a smoke, if they like. A local Restaurant/Bar is building what appears to be a deck-like Patio in their parking lot. I wonder if they think Guests will be able to smoke there? Hmm. Doesn't sound like it.
It seems that since the new ban is not well-defined it would be worth it to try smoking (on the patio) and see what happens. Israel is building a deck and I bet he thinks it will be for smokers...there is just a "servers" door on that side, though. He owns 4 of these restaurants....he better check the law!
Phelan plays in Millenium Park today at noon (good time with all the downtown office workers) name of this band is BIRD NAMES...she then leaves on a month long tour with them.
I have the feeling that Bars where food is incidental to the sale of liquor...will be able to have smoking on Patios. Incidental meaning fried mini-tacos, cheese balls and such. We do not qualify in that regard. Now if a Bar, as I decribed, has entertainment...then, smoking outside is *not* allowed.
The law has only been drafted and it could change to include us...unlikely though.
Way to go, Phelan! That's awesome. :-)
It sounds as though they will be enforcing the ban as the legislature passed/Gov signed into law. It will just be a matter of time until the casinos are smoke free as well. The treatment of smoking related disease is just costing society too much.
Kelli
Possible idea for The Games: yesterday for Father's Day Stevo bought himself a 20-foot-long dual racing slip 'n' slide. You know, for the kids. But hey.
We had a nice grill-out in the back yard with the Richardsons. Mia taught me Spanish. She really knows how to r-r-r-roll those r's. She says a keeno bleedo porr-r-r-rreeno means a cute baby tiger, or a rhinoceros.
So far I have talked to three different people from our parish who told me they saw Mary Laurel and family at Target Saturday night and that they were buying a dehumidifier.
I just read that Matthew McConaghy's nephew's name is Miller Lyte.
P
I just got back from Millenium Park seeing Phelan's band. The music was kind of hypnotic, but had all sorts of diff. rythems (Phelan played percussion most of the time but also played bass and guitar while I was there). A group started a train and was daning throught the rows in the seated portion. There were probably about 250-300 (best guess) people there. The weather was great!
Ed...did it feel like Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Except you had to go back to work! Great that you went.
Sister Sarah...why not just have smoking outside untill such time that they can enforce? There is such confusion, I bet cops won't even know...I just remembered I don't think that cops are the enforcers of this law, is that correct? Someone from the Dept. of Health has to witness an offense, right?...
Or, just create a nice little area with benches and ashcans or something, that is easily accessible from the patio.
article:
Bar owners are protesting the way the state plans to implement a smoking ban on July 1, 2008. The Iowa Clean Air Act approved by lawmakers this spring included a loophole which would allow smoking on outdoor patios at bars, but new rules drafted by the Iowa Department of Public Health classify nearly every bar that serves hot food as a restaurant, which means no smoking on the patio.
Larry Barry owns bars in Indianola and Des Moines and he says serving an occasional hamburger doesn't make a bar a restaurant. "I think it's ridiculous to say we can serve only popcorn, peanuts and a frozen pizza and if you take these outside areas away, there'll be more businesses going out of business," Barry says.
Barry, along with half a dozen other bar owners, testified Wednesday before the legislative committee that's reviewing the public health department's rules. Joe Sturgis owns a bar in Davenport called the Rusty Nail. "Already our businesses are down because of the economy and this law is going to crucify a lot of businesses," Sturgis told lawmakers in Des Moines. A rusty nail, the drink that's the namesake of his bar, is made with scotch, drambuie and a twist of lemon.
Bill Duncan, who owns a bar in Fort Madison, was considering construction of an adjoining patio, but may abandon that if smoking won't be allowed on it. "Eighty to 90 percent of my customers smoke and they are good, hardworking people," Duncan told legislators. "You guys are forcing me with this law to commit financial suicide."
Several lawmakers also expressed concerns about the health department's proposed rules for the state's anti-smoking law and urged the agency to consider redrafting their definition of a bar and present an alternative next month to the committee for review. Representative McKinley Bailey, a Democrat from Webster City, accused state public health officials of ignoring the legislature's wishes. "These emergency rules make us liars because we went home and these small business owners came to us and we told them, 'Yea, go ahead and build a patio because we passed a law that says a bar can have a patio that people can smoke on,'" Bailey said.
According to Bailey, any place that sells more alcohol than food should be classified as a bar, not a restaurant. Bailey lectured public health officials who drafted the proposed rules which classify any establishment which sells hot food as a restaurant. "This is an absolute perversion of the legislative intent, period," Bailey said.
Iowa Department of Public Health officials cite problems in other states after some proprietors were caught doctoring their sales receipts to indicate they sold more liquor than food.
I cannot knowingly break the law regardless of the ability/inability to be enforced. I do think it's ludicrous to have no smoking in the great OUTdoors, additionally I think it's ridiculous to say that people can smoke around mini-tacos but not around chicken sandwiches...ha! I also think it's crazy that people can be fined $86 for not wearing their seatbelt while motorcyclists drive around, legally, without a helmet. Oh well.
Could you install a plexi-glass enclosed smoking area, like at the airport?
Oh yeah, that would be neat. I love the hazy, smelly fishbowls at the airport. People would come to Sarahs to see and be seen in the fishbowl.
Monica, how's it going there? Is Ellen's job affected? Are all sports and lessons cancelled? Are you going nuts? What does your yard look like?
Yah, I was wondering that too in my earlier posting. Where are they and are Jim and Erin back safely? Anyone talk with either of them lately?
Veteran's Park is still under water.
i saw Jim and Erin and the kids on Saturday, went to the zoo and then dinner. they survived the week. they headed home yesterday.
don't know about the Krazy Kennedy Klan. oh, whoops, maybe shouldn't call them that....
Tim Russert always had a rosary in his pocket. I watched the re-braodcast of Meet The Press. Tom Brokaw actually broke down and couldn't finish his sentence.
WE are all fine. The pool sare all closed so no swimteam there was no baseball last week haven't heard about this week. Things are starting to get back to normal. The interstae will open tomorrow morning but there is still no easy way to get to the south side of town. Still only one bridge open.
Ellen's trip to Kentucky was cancelled but they are doing it here. She is in town but stays with the group and I'm not sure what they are doing. I think they were distributing cleaning supplied to people today.
I know property owners are getting very angry because they aren't being let into their houses but it really isn't safe. Floors are collapsing and foundations. One of Joe's nurses lost everthing. Also the janitor at the the kids school.
Monica
This is from an article I read today about the IOWA smoking ban:
"Locations where smoking is NOT prohibited: Fairgrounds; institutions administered by the Dept. of Corrections; facilities of the Iowa national guard; private residences; hotel and motel rooms that are designated as smoking rooms; retail tobacco stores; private and semi-private rooms in long-term care facilities; outdoor areas that are places of employment that are not in areas that prohibit smoking; private clubs that have no employees except when used for a function to which the general public is invited; limousines under private hire; enclosed areas within a place of employment that provides a smoking cessation program; farm tractors, trucks and implements of husbandry; gaming floors; the Iowa veterans home and unenclosed open patios."
I wonder if you could buy an old limousine and park it right next to the door for smokers to go into and smoke. Here's one for $500:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lincoln-Town-Car-1993-Lincoln-Towncar-limo-6-pass-low-reserve_W0QQitemZ180253542097QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item180253542097&
Or you can somehow convince the city to make the land around Sarah's an official Fairground. Just put a Moonwalk out there once a year and they might buy it.
Or, you could add on a small room and call it "the matchbox private club" that has no employees. You could charge smokers $5 for an annual membership. Members will receive an introductory pack of cigarettes and a membership keychain.
Bored a work.
The old limo is a good idea...maybe plant flowers around it...
Nance, Sarah's could be an implement of husbandry, don't ya think!
Another option may be to get a separate sales tax licence for the restaurant. Food sales served in the bar would be considered as delivered from another vendor (like a pizza delivery) and rung up on the restaurant's cash register. This may also require splitting the business in two and filing separate income tax returns. The bar would have to pay rent to the restaurant or vice versa.
Bob
I know in Salt Lake City, all the bars are "clubs" since otherwise you can't sell liquor. We had to pay a $5 entry fee everywhere we went out.
P
These are all marvelous and wonderfully creative ideas (Thank you!) and although I would love nothing more than to find a legitimate loophole...I think it's moot.
I gotta say...it's annoying. OUTside...come on! Serve mini-tacos and smoke...serve a burger and yah can't smoke? It's just dumb. I think they should either ban it across the board or allow smoking OUTdoors regardless of the food served or not served. I was also wondering...what about after kitchen hours...when we're still open and serving liquor, but not food? Could people go outside then (9pm-close) and hang-out and drink and smoke? Hmm. One would think. I should ask. The IDPH (Iowa Dept. of Public Health) representative was clear that IF you serve food...other than cheap/greasy bar food...no smoking on the Patio...or, at least as it is written today and that may change, although unlikely. If it's deemed unsafe for people to smoke outside, than what you're eating/not eating shouldn't matter...it's still unsafe. Yes? Sigh. I would totally be cool and understand if they simply said no smoking...no matter. However, they are not and that's the stupidity that irritates me.
On to awesome things...Liam played against Graettinger(sp?) tonight at Central Park. They lost miserably...however, in the extra inning that was not needed to be played (due to the five point rule) Liam hit a pop fly and created two RBI's...our only points in the game...woohoo...go Liam! I jumped up and yelled, "My kid rocks!" Others agreed. :-)
Donny and Nadia come on Sunday...she's crawling (almost walking)...yIkEs! :-<>
I spoke to Aunt Doris today. The Alaskan cruise ended Saturday in Seattle. On Wednesday Uncle Bob had to be taken to the ship's hospital. No appetite, very tired and 104 degree temperature. He was diagnosed with pneumonia. He insisted on leaving the sick bay Thursday so that he could give his regular mission talks, however he concelebrated Mass with another priest. He sat throughout the Mass except for the consecration and sat during the talks that he gave. He'd visit the sick bay twice each day for medications. When the ship finally docked in Seattle on Saturday he left in a wheelchair.
Your aunts and Uncle Don tried to talk him into resting in Seattle before going home but he insisted on going to Reno. His administrative assistant in this country, Mary O'Brien lives there and he had promised to baptize her granddaughter on Sunday. He was so weak after the baptism that he slept for a whils but then Mary and her family decided they should take him to the hospital. He was admitted Sunday night and spent much of today being tested.
He has congestive heart failure and his Type 2 diabetes is out of control. Even without eating, his blood sugar is very high. They determined he has problems with his kidneys and still has the pneumonia. I finally got through to him about 6:30 tonight (4:30 in Reno) and I thought he sounded awful but he said it's because of congestion in his throat. The doctors have told him they want him to stay in the hospital at least 3 or 4 days.
We were planning to go to Mexico Wednesday but I have a feeling that he will have to postpone the anniversary celebration. But at this point I do not know for sure, so we are still planning on going so if you have not sent me a check yet to give to him for his anniversary, you'd better do it right now because we will be leaving Whittemore on Tuesday, June 24.
If I hear any more news I will let you know. Dad
Oh no...I'll send this note to my Mom and have her place him on the prayer chain. :-)
Thanks Nance. Where is everybody?
Well that is really too bad, and I hope he's careful about when he tries to get back to regular business again.
What is meant by "kidney problems?"
p
Any update on Uncle Bob?
Lisa
Diabetes can cause your kidneys to fail. Constant high glucose levels can cause a condition where the kidneys stop filtering wastes and eventually you have to have dialysis, but if your blood sugar is held low that doesn't have to happen. His kidneys are probably throwing off some proteins that alarmed the docs, or some other symptoms like the tiredness, or swelling or nausea. Getting sick can cause your normal blood levels to do weird things if you're diabetic. Hopefully with some real rest and careful monitoring he will be OK.
Jim, I keep meaning to ask - when you say there is no lake... was it just a big muddy hole with fish flapping weakly in the mud? What did it look like? Did you tell your kids that they were priveleged to witness something few kids have ever seen? Could you see the lake bottom? Was there any interesting stuff there?
An update on Uncle Bob---I spoke to him this afternoon. He sounded a little better. He is still very weak and needs help for any movement, like moving from bed to a chair. His blood sugar is still very high but his oxygen level is much better. The doctors have not yet indicated how long he will remain in the hospital or when they will let him go back to Mexico. Two of the nuns flew in from Mexico so that someone is always with him and he'll have them with him when he flies back. I'll keep you updated. Dad
Thanks for the update on Uncle Bob. I remember when Ed was sick and throwing up it messed up his blood sugars so much he was hospitalized for a few days.
Last night when we were remembering him in our prayers the girls couldn't get it out of their minds that we were praying for my brother, Bob. I explaioned that there were two uncle Bobs and that one was my brother and one was my dad's brother and was a priest... but I still think their prayers were directed to my brother... so Bob, you must feel especially blessed today.
Lisa
Mia is always hatching plans. Now her plan is to catch a rabbit. Molly explained that rabbits are pretty much hard-wired to be afraid and to run away from any animal bigger than them, even little girls, and that they're very fast. Mia asked if they would be afraid of a carrot. Molly said well, if the carrot was held by a human hand they probably would be. Mia said, "What if it was held by a fishing pole?"
Mom and Dad are off to DesMoines for Judges School and also a day trip down to the farm on Thursday, on Friday there is a luncheon in Des Moines honoring Dad and other lawyers who have practiced for 50+ years!
It's the second day in a row that someone has poo'd in the Algona Pool.
Do they close the pool down for the whole day?
Tom and Nance, you really should tell your kids to stop doing that.
Monica
I was there last year during a poo incident (wasn't me). The teenage life guard making the announcement to clear the pool could hardly get out the words "fecal discharge" without laughing.
Tom
They wait about 20 minutes after they're done searching and scooping. :-<>
Monica - how are you guys doing? And Jim - what about you?
Jude wants to be a drummer and a garbage man when he grows up. Not good professions for someone who does not like loud noises.
Emily, our house is fine. Cedar Rapids is chaotic, but improving. We had five of the six bridges crossing the river out for several days and only two lanes open on I-380 so traffic was gridlocked. Driving to work was sobering as you could see the water only a few feet below the road and up to the eaves on so many homes and businesses. Driving home Tuesday was weird as there were no lights, no activity as I drove past rows of houses and the downtown district. The estimates are that there is $1 billion in damages, 6-7000 people unemployed and 12000 people homeless. Our clinic's previous high number of patients was 186; but Tuesday we saw 475, mostly for tetanus shots. Mercy Hospital was closed as are a few other practices that had built nice new offices downtown. There are many other communities in Iowa that were also severely damaged and it may continue downstream on the Mississippi. It's depressing.
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