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2 April 2005: Nook's back! Nook's back! Nook's back!! She had a great trip - long haul getting home, though. 24-hour drive! Through fog (so thick, they had to get off the expressway); through icy roads (pull into a rest area until the salt trucks passed by); several "car sick" episodes (probably car-stress from being on the road so long plus "road food") :-P We tried out the "Grand Traverse Pie Company" yesterday - bought an Apple/Raspberry Crumb Pie - oooooh, excellent! Pies, pastries, even pot-pies, are hand-made in the shop! Also, sandwiches & salads....guess we'll have to try out the non-dessert menu someday! 3 April 2005: *Sigh* I took my MSU-related t-shirt off last night before the MSU Men's Final Four game started (hey, it was a late-starting game! PJ's should've been OK)....they lost. It's all MY fault. So, tonight, I'm wearing a different MSU-related shirt until the Women's game is over [no, I'm not particularly superstitious....but, I'm also not taking any chances!!]. 4 April 2005: Ben Franklin has *got* to be doubled-over with laughter - yes, in his grave - at the thought that he's succeeded in pulling off the longest-running practical joke ever. What, pray tell, is this joke?? Daylight Savings Time!! 5 April 2005: I'm wearing my MSU T-shirt. And at the moment, it's not helping the Lady Spartans. They are *failing* to penetrate the defense to get to the basket. Got a [ahem] "really meaningful" call from Valdemort right at tip-off...have no clue if she even said anything - all I heard was the crowd cheering. Then, I get a text msg from her: "That was the percolator"...and at the time she called, we'd been in the midst of a whole string of commercials, so we never saw whatever it was she was talking about... 6 April 2005: Well, the entire world knows by now that the Lady Spartans did not win the national championship....but that's OK! For a team that was not expected to even *make* it through the first couple of rounds of this tournament, these gals are The Champs, in my book!! They've taken down some of the most challenging opponents, but I have to admit, Baylor is quite intimidating out on the floor - probably more so than any other team out there. This one was an honest win by a strong team; Lady Spartans will have another chance (and strategies/tactics to deal with the Baylors out there) next year!! Go Lady Spartans!! Kudos, also, to the Spartan Brass & Cheerleading squad - particularly those who chose to back the Lady Spartans for all 3 weekends - for your spirit and optimism!! Too bad y'all don't get more attention & recognition from the Talking Heads. The Spartan Brass & Cheerleading Team arrived back in E. Lansing this afternoon, about 2:30 - 3PM. Back to tales of the craziness in town over the weekend....apparently the teargas made its way from Grand River into the basement dorm rooms in the West Circle Complex (and the dorms were on "lockdown"). The teargas story is for real - Val's next-door buddy (and next-year roomie) had her window open....she & her room got a snootfull. The Amandas across the hall in Valdemort's *old room* had a major panic session and spent many minutes locking & unlocking their door obsessively..... I suspect that the potential for "unrest" played a big role in keeping the players & support (i.e., band & cheer) overnight in Indy.... 11 April 2005: *Sigh*.....I hear I'm in trouble with my Aunt Roberta C (just kidding!!!!). I got lazy, I'll admit it! Or, maybe more correctly, "diverted": Valdemort came home for the weekend, so that meant a couple of evenings of "special suppers" (break from dorm food); running around town doing errands ("Shorts! I need shorts!" - "Running shoes! I need running shoes!" - etc.); letting V recuperate from 3 straight weekends out of town supporting the MSU Lady Spartans B-Ball team from Sweet Sixteen to Elite Eight through Final Four to Championship Round; dropping Nook off at Pole Vault practice en route to returning Valdemort to the Land of Spartans...only to get a call from her at the border of E. Lansing & Meridian Twp. that 1) her cell phone got screwed up by the [ahem, *unprintable*] at the Grand Blanc Verizon store and it has No Service, and 2) she forgot her kit with her toothbrush...toothpaste...glasses...contact solution...contact case...So, that spawned my trip over there after work today! She'd already taken care of the phone issue herself (thanks to the manager of the Courtland Center Verizon kiosk & Jeff at the Okemos Verizon store...and the #1 CATA bus), I only had to bring her her kit, then took her to "Pita Pit" for supper. Nice day to walk a gorgeous campus (budding/blooming trees, students out walking "en masse", etc.). Nice clear day for the driving, too!! 15 April 2005: Roberta, don't worry....the article in The Detroit Free Press should explain where I've been the last couple of days (those days that weren't affected by good ol' Com-rip-off went as follows: Monday, East Lansing; Wednesday, Flute Choir; Thursday, 2-hours getting hair highlighted & cut). So, I haven't dropped off the face of this Good Earth yet :-D !! Nook has a track meet in Ypsilanti tomorrow - running several relays and either doing high jump or pole vault (I'm not sure which). Good luck to the Grand Blanc Girls' Track Team tomorrow!! Still enjoying my job immensely - as a member of "I's Rack-y Forces", it's really nice to have projects that I see through from start to finish, and have a package I can hold in my hands at the end. AND...[this is the good part]...it's actually bringing $$ IN to the Corp. (selling scrap). 17 April 2005: Eh. Three for three this week. Meaning:
I understand cousins Liz & Valdemort got together last night? To see "School House Rock" at The Wharton Center? Hope so!! And, that they had a good time....!! 18 April 2005: "Blimey Limey" is the smoothie flavor of the day! Mmmmmm.... Nook is not understanding *why* the Accord Coupe got traded on a CR-V....as in "why not the Van? I *liked* the Accord!!" Yeah, I *loved* the Accord, and it hurt to turn it in, but it was not working out for my now-very-short-commute lifestyle, where I can haul track-types around as necessary without having to shoehorn folks into the rear seat via one door. Not only that, but if Matt C ever needs a ride again, he won't have to slouch to fit :-) Yep, after signing the paperwork, was asked if I wanted to "putt for a free oil change" - uh, I *don't* golf? But, in the spirit of it all (and with Jim and sales staff Dave, Tony, and another whose name I don't recall O_O cheering me on O_O, I lined up and sunk the ball! Woo-hoo! Free oil change! "Now, would you like to chip for a free tire rotation??" Uhhhhhhh, ummmmmmm, OK? Uh, how do ya "chip"?? You mean *loft* the ball? "Yep." Well, they gave me a Wiffle golf ball for that one, all I got was a skitter off to the right....Oh, well. I got a free oil change, anyway!! 22 April 2005: Earth Day 23 April 2005: Looks like Winter out there, wet snow & all....conflicting readings between my mirror & dash - either it was 36/ICE or 41 when I did a Starbucks run this morning. Off to EL in a while. Give Valdemort a break, start hauling "stuff" home for her, go to the Cyclotron Open House this afternoon, see just how much "stuff" we can stuff into the CR-V (without dogz). 25 April 2005: Saw Elton John last night....the "Peachtree Road" tour....great chorus (8 singers in addition to his band!!) featured! Great concert [except for the injured werewolf behind me - and noone had either a tranquilizer gun nor a taser..... :-( I'm blaming the heavy snow over the weekend on a *certain* freshman meteorology student....hey, "Appealing to the Weather Gods" is something you tackle your 3rd or 4th year, NOT your Freshmen year!! *Something* got overdone and/or misdirected.... 26 April 2005: The answer from The Freshman Meteorologist: hey man, it's all in the kitchen dance. there's no kitchen here, therefore no dance. Jim just announced that he was "crushed" to discover he forgot to pack his oranges this morning I discovered this afternoon that I sold some stuff that may *not* belong to my employer....but was cleared by Containerization anyway. We're sorting that one out. To top it off, AFTER faxing out some 16 bid requests of 3 pages each, discovered that one of the 3 lots contained therein had already been sold off and transported. Last Thursday. Thank you to Containerization again...this time a case of the left hand not knowing what the *other* left hand is doing.... 28 April 2005: Flute Choir yesterday. Good rehearsal - starting to polish pieces for upcoming recitals (May 18 & 26). Unfortunately, never seem to have all of us "there" at the same time (am I the only one who's made every rehearsal? - I don't think I've missed any....). Congratulations to Mary, the director of our Flute Choir - she defended her doctoral thesis on Tuesday afternoon successfully, so is officially a "Ph.D"!! She's giving a "Lecture Recital" on Sunday evening at Hart Recital Hall in the MSU Music Building (her field of study, Haitian Music for Flute). Would like to go, but it starts at 8PM, and we have to go to work on Monday... :-P Roof & de-carpeting/"Pergo-ing" the entry-level floor are part of this Spring's projects. Luv my CR-V! It's a blast to drive, not too big (it's actually a smaller footprint than my Accord), but has a lot more interior space! All sorts of neat pocket-y types of places, even a little "garage" for my garage door opener remote(!)...Alf seems to like it; Ernie likes the seats a lot better than the red car (just doesn't like being all-the-way-back-in-the-WayBack-Hobbit-Hole). Alf was grrrr-ing at 2 penguins in the basement a short while ago..... 29 April 2005: Karen is running out of blog ideas so here goes. [Written by Jimbo, Guest Blogger for a great Friday...] Don't....I repeat...don't try to drive anywhere in the southern I-75 corridor until the next millenia, the construction crews are out everywhere. Even in our sub and on people's roofs. Speaking of roofs, we literally have shingles falling off, they were installed incorrectly, so we have a contractor lined up for a roof job. Yeehaw. Yesterday was "bring your kid to work today" I don't do that (they are too old), but people kept introducing me as "Mr. Finlayson". What is this, was my Dad in the office with me? It's time for a Clyde's, although these days I usually regret it afterward with my bizzare post spleenectomy stomach. The banana and I are planning on a trip up for the old man's 86th in a couple of weeks. What does he want? Probably a boozeburger and cookies or something. Summer approaches and the cabin will be in its 45th year of use. Wow. I read in the Soo paper yesterday about a gray wolf sighting in the 14th street west area and I think I remember someone has seen tracks on the beach. So Alfred's new nickname is wolf bait. I hope he isn't too much of a pain in the ass with all the dogs and people around. Sam will probably spend most of his time on the deck and Ernie will be in the water as much as he can. Hopefully Al will learn to stick with Ernie and settle down....I hope. I also hope it is a warmer summer than last, but that is up to Gitchee Gumee to decide. | ||||||||
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