Neighbors

We should all help each other like this guy.



You got neighbors like this?

The Rest? Room

Amid the recent news regarding Senator Larry Craig of Idaho and his restroom adventures at the Minneapolis Airport I thought I might share with you all some of a truck drivers adventures with rest rooms. I promise not to get gross.

You know how when you go into your favorite grocery store and the milk is right where it always is and the meat is right there where you left it last time? And even if you happen to visit that same type store in another city you can count on the milk and the meat being in the same place...usually.

And lets say you are a shopper of the Wally World and you need the rest room. It's always right there in the front of the store near the optical center and the cash registers.

Well, truck stops are the same way. If you go into a Pilot or a Flying J you can usually count on the coffee, sodas, or the rest rooms being in the same place. Usually.

I know. You can probably see where this is going.

In the beautiful town of Terre Haute, IN is a Pilot truck truck stop. Just far enough west of Indianapolis for that soda to being making it's way out of one's system. And so since I was in need of fuel on this particular day anyway, I figured a quick swing into Pilot, empty one tank and fill another.

Inside, back wall, in a rush, Men on the left and Women on the right. In a rush. Wow! This men's room has a big bright mirror with bright lights all around it. Guess it's a new type of shaving area. Except there are no sinks there. Can't stop. Must go. Where are the urinals? Can't find them. No time to think. Get in the stall. Lift the lid. Unzip...Ahhhhh. Much better.

Flush. Wash hands. Dry hands. Leisurely walk out. Pass woman entering the door I just left. Why is she going in the Men's room. Turn around. Oh...I see.

Guess I'll fuel at the next stop.

In Terre Haute, IN be aware. The men's room is on the right and the women's is on the left. Take my word for it. Not like every other Pilot I've been in, but that's ok. Life goes on. But it sure was a pretty Women's room. Ya'll got it nice. And yes, I did put the lid back down.

Next:
Ohio rest area. South bound on I-71. No particular hurry. Just need to stop and "see a man about a dog". So I'm sitting there playing Yahtzee on my phone taking care of business and the stall door next to me opens and closes. I hear the usual noises associated with this type of rest room activity.

And then I here "Hi, how ya doing?"

Now I usually don't carry on conversations with people in the next stall, and if you're wondering why just ask a senator from Idaho. But I don't want to be rude so I answer. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"Doing good, What are you up to today?"

I figured that it was probably fairly obvious what I was up to at that very moment so I assumed that he meant what was I doing for the day overall.

"Just heading to Cincinnati and then on to St Louis."

And then...

"Let me call you back. I'm in the rest area and the guy in the next stall keeps talking to me."

People really shouldn't use cell phones in the rest room.

Really.

And lastly...

It was several months later that I began to remind myself that highway rest areas have become known hang outs for men seeking homosexual activities and so I decided to be a little more aware of the fact.

I-96 heading west at Howell, MI, rest area. I've seen guys hanging around there as if they are looking for something or someone but I go about my business and ignore them.

Again, in the reading room, Scrabble this time on the phone, trying to figure out what to do with the Q and the X and I notice the "signal" next door. the foot is tapping away.

I ignore it. It keeps tapping. I keep ignoring. Tap. Ignore. Tap. Ignore. Taptap. Ignoreignore.

The foot stops tapping. Guess he got the signal. I'm not interested.

Then comes a knock on the wall and I quiet, "Hey, can you help me out?" accompanied by a hand under the wall.

"Look," I say. "If you want to participate in that sort of activity that's your business. But all I'm trying to do over here is use this little stall for what it was made for and try to figure out where to put Q and X, preferably in a double word spot. So will you just leave me alone?"

Nothing.

And then...

"Uhm...I'm out of paper over here....that's all."

oh

"Uh...sorry...ok...well...you know...here's some...here's a lot...sorry...i just thought...you know...what was the foot tapping all about?"

Sheepish. "Mp3 player."

oh.

"Ok."

When you're in the rest room, either turn it down or don't tap your foot.

Really.

New Recipe

Since my wife has been down for a while the shopping and cooking has fallen to me. So I thought I'd cook a ham again. It's been a while. I usually wrap one in aluminum foil and then pour either 7up or Sprite over the ham and cook it like that.

I bought a good ham on sale last Saturday but forgot the soda. All I had in the fridge that might have worked was a bottle of Jose Cuervo margaritas. I thought what the heck. Give it a shot. Can't hurt.

FYI: A ham soaked in margaritas and then cooked is extremely tender but also has a surprisingly tart lime taste to it. I never thought about that as I was pouring the bottle. It was actually pretty good.

Try it. You'll like it.

It appears that I am becoming a "once a weeker". Blogging I mean. But since this is supposed to be a stress reliever for me then I shall not worry about it. Cause I'm talented, I'm good-looking, and darn-it, people like me.

Sheila is doing much better. She had a visit with the surgeon this morning and I really, seriously, honestly thought she was going to hit him. Her arm was coming back for the wind up when some past parental guidance kicked in apparently.

He was explaining to her the angles that he said her knee should be able to reach. He was explaining this by grabbing her knee and bending it to where he wanted it. He told her it's ok to scream and cry, you won't hurt the knee. From the look on her face it hurt like hell.

After getting some blood drawn I took her out to Ruby Tuesday's for lunch. Her first outing in two weeks. It was nice, just the two of us. She had some Ruby Mini's (mini burgers) and I had the Smokehouse burger. I'm on a diet so I only had one Smokehouse burger and some fries. Well, we did get some Wisconsin Cheddar Fries as an appetizer, but I kept the desert down to just one order of Strawberry Cheesecake, Ice cream and a Fudge Brownie Chaser.

I went grocery shopping saturday. Either I'm way too picky or...well, I'm way too picky. I was in that store for four hours. I just can't bring myself to pay more than $2 a pound for meat. It drives me nuts. Overall I did good. And after I got home and took some Valium everything was fine.

Preston went to see the Lion King on Saturday at the theater, or theatre, depending on where you're from, and apparently he had a good time. I asked him how he liked it and he said it was ok except that they had real people as actors instead of animals. What a bummer.

Tuesday morning we were expecting Noah to come back. 6 inches of rain in about 5 hours. It was really coming down. My brother-in-law's car was flooded out at the post office while he worked. A total loss. Water over the roof of a Saturn. the shut down the post office when water started rising OVER the loading docks. That's about 4 feet, folks. That was in Mansfield. Findlay, which is in Hancock county went under a level 3 emergency meaning if you were on the road and you were not a member of an emergency crew, you could be arrested.

Galion, where we live, didn't do too bad. A lot of water for about half the day but by 3 in the afternoon it was mostly gone. Here are some during and after pictures from my neighborhood.

This is between my neighbors house across the street

During the flood.

After the Flood

Closer look at ball field behind neighbors house. During

After
From the corner. My house is right behind me. During.

After
Down the street facing west. The road bends and follows the creek.

During

After

My house is elevated across the street. We had about an inch of water in our basement which is what we normally get in a heavy rain. My neighbor across the street had water chest deep in his basement. I couldn't believe how fast it was gone.

More Adventures of the biarnacle woman

Sheila is progressing well. There is a nurse and a physical therapist that comes to the house three days a week and they both say that they are very very pleased with her progress. If anything, they say, she is doing too much. The PT said that her knee got to 95 degrees when bending and they don't look for that until two weeks or so after surgery.

She made me help her up the stairs this evenings so she could get a shower. She said she was tired of sponge baths and she wanted to pick out her own close. About 14 steps, my shoulder in her butt, boosting her up. She got back down by just sitting on her rump and scooting down the stairs. Hana then proceeded to put her hair in many small braids. Wonder what that'll look like when it comes out.

We decided to not get that house in San Fransisco. We figured that after the kids had been in it for a month the value would probably drop by about $10,000,000.

So we found another one near Tucson like seems more to our liking. The price is much better. Only $22,000,000.

That's all for now. Back to work tomorrow.

I think I'm getting sick. Sore throat, stuffy nose, headache, and my eyes burn. I'm either getting a sick or I'm smoking coke. Right now, not sure which one I would rather have happen.

She's home

Well, Sheila's home. Came home Friday evening. She's got a long scar all stapled together down the front of her knee.

The bed's up in the living room and we're both sleeping downstairs.

We stay up late watching movies. Well, as late as her drugs will let her.

Her mom is hard at work keeping me in line. God love her.

The kids are a big help.

Sheila has been moving her leg and walking some, mostly to the bathroom.

We found the perfect house for us in a magazine called Unique Homes.

It's in California and only costs $55,000,000.

Hopefully we can move in soon.

The day after yesterday

It's Thursday afternoon and I'm officially on vacation. I just wish it were the kind where I could get away but alas, that is not to be. Sheila should be coming home from the hospital either tomorrow night or Saturday afternoon depending on how she is doing. I'll be around all next week to help her around the house and then it's back to work running local stuff. Actually, I looked at my schedule today before I left and my boss has me in the factory for the week after I get back from vacation. I hope she heals quickly. I can't stand that factory all day for a week. I don't know how those guys do it.

I need to be behind the wheel.

A friend of my sons who went to church with him for a long time has just decided that he's an atheist. Not sure what to say about that. Personally, I hope at some point he changes his mind. We all have different opinions sure, but this guy just spun 180 degrees in a heartbeat. We'll see how things go.

The kids have been a lot of help the last couple days around the house. I hope they keep it up.

The steps on the porch are almost done. May be finished today. My carpenter is a woman that I go to church with. She doesn't appear at first glance that she would be interested in that sort of thing when you see her at church, but man, does she do good work. Much better than I could.

But then I can pee standing up, so there.

That sure sounded insecure.

Oh well. Life goes on.

Hope ya'll are having fun. I've got laundry to do. Let's see, red goes with white and...what else was it?

Wednesday's coming

Well, Wednesday is the big day. Sheila gets her new knee wednesday morning and hopefully all will go well. I'm wondering if she's gonna be making that sound from the bionic woman from here on whenever she runs.

I'll be home on Tuesday, and I'm taking off on wednesday, working thursday since she'll be in the hospital, and then taking my vacation time friday through the next thursday. I've got a carpenter rebuilding the porch steps right now so it'll be easier for her to get in the house when she gets back on her feet.

Other than that, life has just been work.

So I guess I'll say goodbye for now.

Goodbye.