Vacation

A couple weekends ago my boss, Duane Jensen, took all his employees and their families to Fun City in Burlington. We left on Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. It was such a fun group to go with and i think everyone had a great time. Duane was very generous to take everyone and pay for it all. Thanks Duane!!

Fun City is a very large recreational place with indoor swimming, arcade, bowling, laser tag, go-carts, a casino, and lots of restaurants and sports bars. We were each given a swipe card that could be used anywhere except the casino. It was fun playing a bunch of silly games with a lot of fun people.

It was just employees and spouses the first two days, and then everyone's kids came the last two days, which made for all sorts of fun. Allison's birthday was Thursday night and everyone went out to eat at a very nice restaurant overlooking the Mississippi river.

I broke my record in bowling, getting a 174 one game. Allison broke her record too rolling a 134.

Here are a couple pictures from the trip.....

Oops

I was changing the oil in my truck today while the engine was still quite hot. Somehow i got my hand kinda stuck next to the engine exhaust manifold and "branded" myself. If you look closely, you can see a backward 94. Nice huh?

Happy Birthday a month late

Our friend Spring threw a great party last month. I am now finally getting a picture up. We ate cake, set up DVD Jeopardy, and after two hours of set up time, finally played DVD Jeopardy. We all had a lot of fun though, so thanks Spring!

Mike Huckabee

It has been an interesting last few months on the political trail. Each candidate has had some good and not so good moments happen to them. But all politics, issues, and agendas aside, I have really enjoyed watching and listen to Mike Huckabee. He is interesting, funny, and doesn't sound "political" when he speaks. Here he is poking fun at himself on Saturday Night Live.

What a relief

Kitten found after 25 days in NYC Subway

NEW YORK - A skittish kitten that scampered out of its carrier on a subway platform has been found after 25 days in the underground tunnels.

Transit workers tracked down 6-month old Georgia under midtown Manhattan Saturday. Police reunited her with owner Ashley Phillips, a 24-year-old Bronx librarian.

After hearing that the black cat might have been spotted below Lexington Avenue and East 55th Street, track workers Mark Dalessio and Efrain LaPorte went through the area making "meow" sounds.

Georgia responded, and they found her cowering in a drain between two tracks.

Georgia had lost some weight and scratched her nose but was otherwise unhurt.

(story courtesy of Yahoo news)

Happy Valentines Day

I love you Allison!!!!!!!

It is Worth the Time

Many of you have heard me talk about this blog that I read daily. Well the reason I mention it today is because this week she along with several other bloggers (who apparently have thousands of people read their blogs daily ) have been chosen by the organization known as Compasion to spend a week in Uganda, Africa. Their purpose while there is to inform their MANY readers about Compasion and give us "Mzungus" a glimpse of Uganda and what Compasion does from their point of view.

If you have time please read some of these blogs. I have never been to a third world country so maybe I am more drawn to these stories than others. But if you are bored they really do have some good things to say!

Here is the link to the bloggers. Shannon, Shaun, Anne, and Carlos are just a few that I have read.

What the kids are watching

you have probably heard of Hannah Montana or her real name, Miley Cyrus. unless you have elementary kids you probably haven't heard much of her music. i hadn't either til i happened to catch this song on the radio recently. i was impressed..in an awkward, junior high kinda way.

impressive beat, catchy sound....odd lyrics and shamelessly predictable chord changes.

overall kinda cool song. what do you think?

wealth in america

Allison found this blog and i'm glad i took the time to read it. a little perspective about how we value our wealth is really good to hear.

to read it, click here.

if only i had a picture of this one...

i was really looking forward to going to the iowa state basketball game the other night. not because i was expecting a good game (we go killed) but because it was snowing. and that means people park like idiots. its amazing how just a few little lines can keep people in rows, but when you take them away, all sense of reality is gone.

its really not that hard to park in snow. if you think about it, the light poles all line up and the front of your car just needs to be in the same plane as them....not with the rear bumper of the car next to you. cars park headed one way, and the car next over will park a different direction. then someone will parallel park next to that one. i've seen cars parked 3 wide, ensuring that middle person can't get out. i've seen people completely block the drive areas with their car. its amazing.

i guess the saying is true..."the problem with common sense is that it isn't that common."

car repairs

i bought my truck when i graduated college in 2001. It was two years old already, making it 9 years old now. I've been blessed that it has run so well for me for this long. Even so, it really stinks when it is time for repairs.

Today i was parked at Kum and Go getting gas. as i went to leave, i immediately thought i was sliding, but it was snowing and i had it in 4 wheel drive, so i didn't think much of it. well, about 30 feet later, i knew i was driving kinda sideways so i got out to look for anything obviously wrong, like a wheel off. Nothing out of the ordinary so i tried driving again. now i knew there was a problem since it wouldn't go forward. nuts.

luckily i still had reverse, so backed up out of the way and contemplated my options. one wheel wasn't turning so i could (a.) try to fix it myself even though i really don't know what was wrong (b.) call a tow truck (c.) drive it to a repair shop - its slick, that wheel can just slide (d.) rig some sort of contraption that would allow for the wheel to be elevated and let the other 3 wheels drive and brake.

i ended up decided a tow truck was my best option. 30 minutes and 100 bucks later, the truck and i were at the repair shop. a friend gave me a ride home and soon i got the analysis...broken axle drum, leaking brake line, bad rear master cylinder, bad johnson rod, blinker fluid was empty and i needed a new muffler belt. or something. "it will be at least 645 dollars, but we'll get you safe again...." great. fantastic. no coupon to trickles auto repair.

yeah, it wasn't a great day, but at least it didn't happen while i was driving down the interstate or in the middle of the night. right?