tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71749850784009866962024-02-19T03:13:56.429-07:00Baby Blue BicycleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger370125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-84430008176219495942020-03-22T19:52:00.002-06:002020-03-22T19:52:18.094-06:00Spring breakWe had some medium-sized plans for spring break. First a few days in the Shawnee National Forest with my parents. Then a trip up to Chicago on our way to Jackson, MI to visit the cousins. The virus scrapped the latter plan first and eventually the former plan. So, we stayed in Urbana, literally.<div>
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It's amazing how little one can do when one sets one's mind to it. I spent many moments on my couch watching the rain fall. Today was totally different; I sat on my couch watching the snow fall.</div>
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Janny and I found our previously stashed bag of bird seed. We've been putting some in a cup hanging from a small tree. Initially, only the cardinals were aware of it. Now the squirrels have figured us out. Janny chased them away periodically, but they always came back. So we wise humans planned a trick for them. I put a 'Hot Flavored' chip in the cup, ready to laugh uproariously as the squirrel ate it coughed up the burn [they are rather hot]. The first squirrel to the cup dropped in on the ground. Hmmm... Then, another squirrel picked it up. I was already laughing so hard. He patiently ate it up. He walked away. </div>
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I'm practicing bonzai with the shrubs around the house. My goal is to have elegant cloud patterns instead of the current blocky shapes. For now, yes, practicing. I hope the plants will approve of the plan.</div>
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I cleaned out my cubby and parts of the garage. My never ending minor bathroom project looks slightly better.</div>
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I managed to get some decent bike riding this week. One of the days was actually pleasant. 2 were quite wet and miserable, and the rest were cloudy and cold. </div>
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I watched a few recent Tour of Flanders races. I watched the 1984 game 7 finals between Larry and Magic. They were great, but didn't have their best games here [Dennis Johnson really carried the Celtics. Kareem was still quite athletic!]. Perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on current stars when the games start again. And maybe not hard on myself either.</div>
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I'll be working from home and the kids will be off school for at least the next 2 weeks. So far we are getting along just fine. Jill has upped the kids chores level. I cooked dinner tonight (chili!). </div>
Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-72698090945806753792020-02-22T16:40:00.001-07:002020-02-22T16:42:09.266-07:00Modern bike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some posts ago I mentioned that I bought a new bike last year and that I was going to write about it. Here is that post.</div>
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I bought a NEW bike. It was so new that it was from the future: a 2020 model that was already available in 2019.</div>
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I had fun buying the bike. I went to my favorite local bike shop, Champaign Cycle, one day last fall to check out the selection of new Trek bikes. I took 3 test rides: 2 on a slightly too small Domane and one on a slightly too small Emonda. The Domane felt interesting, but odd. Neutral handling with big tires but sort of fast feeling. The Emonda felt like any/all of my previous road race bikes (e.g. my departed Look KG 381). I ordered a red Domane in my size, and picked it up a week later (after a business trip to Denver).</div>
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Here is how you know that you're buying a fancy bike: it doesn't come with pedals. I had the shop install my trusty, 15 year old Ultegra road pedals. At home, I replace the saddle with the racier saddle that was on my old Trek previously. Tires were changed from the stock 32 mm to my super duper fancy Compass (now Rene Herse) 35 mm tires. A few weeks later, I replaced the -6 degree 11 cm stem with a -17 degree 13 cm stem (I still need to cut the steerer tube). The rest was left alone.</div>
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This is my first bike with:</div>
<ul>
<li>disk brakes (hydraulic!)</li>
<li>through axles</li>
<li> integrated bb spindle cranks</li>
<li>11 speed cassette ( I did have 10 speed at one point before dropping back to 8)</li>
<li>tubeless compatible rims (I'm using tubes)</li>
<li>aero shaped frame (frame tubes are HUGE compared to 531 steel tubes)</li>
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My Wild Card friends didn't recognize me on the first group ride with this (granted, I don't ride enough with them in recent years). Instead of being on my 1982 skinny tubed steel classic, I was on a super modern looking brand new bike. People congratulated me. I was special, the guy with the new bike.</div>
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Mercifully, we have had a few nice weekend days this winter. Off in the horizon you can see the forbidding Mt Block, possibly the biggest climb within 50 miles of my house. Also observe that I moved my fat thumb away from the lens!<br />
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This is what I see when I look down. Clean!<br />
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Very modern, no? The frame has some micro-suspension elements at the seat tube and headset area. I'm not sure that I can tell how much difference they make. I like that carbon fiber enables engineers to design features like this. The frame is lively in a sort of stiff feeling way. Why? How? I don't know, but it rides so, so well. 5 stars! Both thumbs up.<br />
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I picked up the bike a few days before the IL Kanza gravel race last fall. It had rained a few days before, and I wasn't ready to sully the brand new bike. So I rode the old Trek. Guess what? That bike is still really great.<br />
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I placed okay in the race. Perhaps I could have done better if I had taken off my windbreaker before the race (pretty chilly morning that warmed up quickly). Below you can see that I got it half-way off. I roasted very quickly and dropped off the lead group (below photo taken by Der Kaiser).<br />
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Should you buy a bike like this? <br />
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<li>Yes, if you ride lots and have a good job.</li>
<li>No, if you don't ride much or would rather spend your money on vacations or medical bills.</li>
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Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-11099259992274983392020-02-16T17:18:00.000-07:002020-02-16T17:18:03.093-07:00Downstream from the decisionGood and wise friend Jarrod asked me how much I have processed our decision to leave our church of 14 years. Well, a lot, in my head. It's still rolling around my mind now and again though. So I haven't finished. Writing thoughts out sometimes helps, so here goes with that. And maybe this will help when friends ask us what happened.<br />
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At the time of our decision, the biggest driving force was our weariness of the feeling of frustration. We saw obvious problems. We saw nothing being done. Why? Why? Why? Frustration developed. And stayed. And stayed.<br />
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2 months after our decision, the feelings have diminished. The befuddlement remains.<br />
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Several good friends from the old church have asked me why I left. I don't think my story for them was clarifying. This is partly because I want to avoid speaking badly of friends and partly because I haven't/ hadn't assembled the pieces into a story. Here is another try: a story I wanted to experience but didn't. I wanted a redemption story. It could have gone like this:<br />
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After messing up relationships with staff and some congregation members, our pastor would lead us through his process of confession, forgiveness, and restoration of what could be restored. [Instead he left.]<br />
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My friend who was under church discipline due to conflict with leaders would get together with them and fix the relationship. [Instead leaders banned him from the church.]<br />
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Church members would talk about tough issues, why they matter, and what the church should do to ensure unity in spite of them. [Instead discussion was actively discouraged.]<br />
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Perhaps like the pastor I left too soon? I hope that is true.<br />
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The second reason for continuing to process is that the decision cracked a story about myself: that I'm a stayer. I finish things for better (marriage, raising kids, projects for customers, bike races) or worse (grad school, bike races). But I left this, happily.<br />
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I've taken some pictures with my phone lately. Someday I might learn to move my fat fingers or gloves out of the way.<br />
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<br />Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-3204302170728291932020-02-02T15:33:00.000-07:002020-02-02T15:33:01.521-07:00a lot can happen in a decadeToday is super bowl Sunday. Many years ago when the 49ers were regularly great, the 2 weeks between conf champs and the final passed slowly. Whereas today, I say already?! I also used to care a good deal if they won.<br />
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Yesterday, Wild Card Cycling teammate Ryan emailed that I was the last person to pick up this year's jersey. So I met him and the rest of the crew at Quality. The bigger event (which I had forgotten because I'm so detached and clueless) was a celebration of captain Karl's retirement. Which brought out a good chunk of the crew that I rode with before Clara was born. Dave, Luke, Greg, Martin, Karl, Art, John, and more! <br />
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Greg recalled Jill being pregnant when we first met. Now Clara is 10 years old and would read all day every day if we let her [today's book is Peter and the Starcatchers book 2. Janny still lives at home also. Yesterday we bought her birthday pinata; she needs to get to know and love it for a month before bashing it to pieces]. Dave said he hasn't ridden in the last 3 months!?! In the old days, you were at least mediocre if you could stay on his wheel during his surges. I'm positive that's still true today. Larry is now 69, and he's still faster than me. John S didn't recognize me at first due to my bald head and scraggly beard. Luke reminisced about how we would have ridden 60+ miles in current weather (35 and cloudy), whereas it seemed like no one road yesterday.<br />
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John B's younger sister passed away from a brain tumor this week. <br />
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So did friend Tom from [old] church. So 2020 is off to a bittersweet start. I'm so grateful that I had one last chance to see Tom in the fall. A few years ago, Tom and his son joined me on a day like today to ride in the arboretum. I took them through the woods near Windsor road, which was a really terrible idea. Mud, mud, and overgrown trails. They didn't ride again with me there. Probably a wise choice by them. Tom wanted to pass along their smallest bike that younger son had recently outgrown before he passed. It's now cleaned and tuned up in our garage waiting for Janny to grow a few inches.<br />
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The recent event that did make time pass slowly was our church's 21 day fast. Our choice for what that meant. Jill practiced an eating plan close to Daniel's (of lion's den fame) consisting of fruits and veggies. I went with more of a vegetarian diet plus no desserts [and I took some breaks while I was in St Louis; didn't want to be a pain to coworker]. <br />
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I continue to realize how much of my life and mindset is driven by my body. I hate feeling hungry. I quickly grow tired of eating sweet potatoes. On the bright side, my soul is slowly emerging from some intertwined layers of apathy and frustration. May this decade be more fulfilling than the last.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-90522120413967514382020-01-25T16:29:00.000-07:002020-01-25T16:29:38.637-07:00stacking the community building blocksI received a paycheck for my new job, so it's official now. I've been working at co-working offices for 3 weeks now (5 days in St Louis and 10 days in Champaign), so I'm an expert. Some factoids for those not in the know:<br />
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* In Champaign, the ratio of women to men feels like 3 : 1. In St Louis it feels closer to 1:1. Median age in both places is probably 30.<br />
* If you don't have a Mac laptop, why are you even there?<br />
* The St Louis office space has touch screen driven hot drinks and loose tea freely available, including the best tea in the known world: green dragon well. In Champaign, I have to boil water in the provided kettle and bring my own tea from home [update: Maghan emailed me to say that the cafe now has loose tea. So things are looking up!].<br />
* Meeting people in shared work spaces still feels awkward. With so many different employers and customers, I have no sense of who is stressed and who has some time to chat. In Champaign, I've been trying to meet one person per day. So progress is slow, but there is progress. <br />
* In St Louis, I took a mug from the shelf and drank cold water from the cold water dispenser. I didn't immediately see where dirty mugs are placed, so I put it on a wire rack next to a lot of upside down mugs. That was wrong. I'm sorry.<br />
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During our weekly dinners with the neighbors, a tradition is to go around the table asking each person 'what was the best part of your day?'. We have had to ammend that question for Clara to include 'besides reading, ...'.<br />
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Janny has aced multiplication tables. Every day at school the students take a 60 second, 25 question quiz on the times table. Starting with 1*1 and moving towards 12s. She and I worked hard on this, practicing written quizzes a few times per day. Good work, Janny!<br />
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We dusted off our PS1 video game console this winter [have I mentioned the rough weather this season? Ugh. So many wet days with temps near 30. Sometimes snow, sometimes rain. Always wet. ] We've been playing Need for Speed a driving game. Clara and I are pretty even, albeit different styles. I don't like to crash exotic cars so I take some turns slowly. Clara is full-gas full-time. I'd like to think that in the real world my strategy is better.<br />
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<br />
I was filling up my rental car's gas tank after business trip
to St Louis yesterday. Young woman at pump next to me is talking on
her phone. Conversation [sorry for eavesdropping; she was talking
pretty loudly]<br />
<br />
yw: Did you hear that I got in an accident yesterday?<br />
<br />
other person: ______<br />
<br />
yw: Yeah, I got distracted by a text and I rear-ended this f*****g old lady.<br />
<br />
Midwest community is pretty great, as expected.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-11215186075369863992020-01-18T11:54:00.001-07:002020-01-18T11:54:28.935-07:00Illegal arms dealer[Writer's note [Jill is my official unpaid editor FYI]: as a typical human being, I am feeling a bit nostalgic during this season of dramatic changes. So I will write about the distant past.]<br />
<br />
As I wrote last week, we started attending a different church last month. This church has a very charismatic lead pastor. His style of charisma is so reminiscent of my youth pastor. This link gives me very mixed feelings. I might write more about that later. First, the story of my short-lived illegal arms dealership. <br />
<br />
During my teenage years, I was very, very involved in my church's youth group. We had a charismatic youth pastor that took an interest in me, and I followed many of his ways. For example, at the time he drove the speed limit in his red 1981 T-top Corvette. So I drove the speed limit. You might say to this: no big deal for you and you probably didn't drive much anyway. To that I say: I didn't ride bikes as a misguided teenager [nobody that I knew did except for Mark Keeler who had 2 bikes in his apartment, but I never saw him ride them. In college, cru leader Loc Ta also had 2 road bikes, which astounded me]. To get to church and soccer and baseball games I had to drive on 880 and 680 which had speed limits of 55 mph at the time. Only me and youth pastor (and perhaps my sister?) drove 55, which is why the speed limit is now 65 or 70 mph. Teammates did not like following me or riding with me. [One time I rode with a teammate in his Rambler through which one could see the road below. That was really scary]. <br />
<br />
Another example, youth pastor memorized a lot of the Bible and had a system for doing so. I copied that system and memorized a lot. [Much of them and the system is now forgotten].<br />
<br />
Every summer the youth group took a missions trip to Ensenada Mexico where we stayed at an orphanage and built homes/churches/etc [Gene Red always drove us in a bus that generally broke down en route]. On the way back home we went to Disneyland or Magic Mountain. And one day we went to town (Tijuana or Ensenada) to shop. The boys bought chiclet and fireworks (M1000s if you dared) and knives. Youth pastor confiscated the M1000s if he found them and then used them as time to wake up alarm. One time he blew a small hole in someone's tent. <br />
<br />
During elementary school, I had a friend named Matt who like me collected baseball cards. His goal was to get every Rickey Henderson card ever made. There were a lot! Unlike me, he collected weapons as well. He had Chinese stars, Rambo-style knives, butterfly knives, switchblades, and so on. We watched some ninja movies together. Points to you if you call tell me which movie this line is from:<br />
Dad (ninja) to young son: Remember, you no samurai!<br />
IIRC the son had to become a ninja to save the town.<br />
Anyway, Matt was very cool and his knife collection was a source of awe and fear.<br />
<br />
I came to own a butterfly knife on a Mexico missions trip. It's funny how the brain forgets important details such as this: I literally can't recall how I got it. As a terribly shy person (and quite law abiding), I'm pretty sure that I didn't buy from a shop. So I must have bought it from a church friend. I won't even speculate so as to not falsely accuse anyone. In any case, the knife came from Mexico, and I had it in my room in Fremont.<br />
<br />
After some short amount of time, I started to feel guilty about owning this 'illegal' item [we didn't have google back then, so I didn't know the law first-hand]. So I wanted to get rid of it. A friend from youth group, Dan, bought it from me [again the details of the transaction are buried too deep to recall. His family visited our home from time to time so I think he bought it from my house]. <br />
<br />
A very short while later, Dan brought the knife to school and was caught. The principal asked how he got it. He told me that he protected me and that his answer was 'from a kid in Mexico.' That answer has a lot of truth to it if you think about it. <br />
<br />
'Whoa', I thought to myself. My conscience (the Holy Spirit?) convinced me to get rid of the knife. But doing so made me break the law even worse. What???!!! [I had not yet read Catch-22]. At the time, I thought to myself, 'of course you didn't rat me out, Dan. I obeyed my conscience.' I was rarely a good friend in my youth. <br />
<br />
Recently, I've been wishing that I still had that knife. Maybe I'll buy one some day. Google says they are legal in IL with some caveats. Anyone have one they want to sell me?<br />
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I started writing this post with the intention of writing about the 2 Jeremys from youth group. This is getting too long, so that'll have to wait Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-9489403102962124372020-01-04T13:04:00.001-07:002020-01-18T12:09:13.350-07:002020 is the futureSometimes lots of time passes and nothing big happens. 2107 and 2018 feel like that in my memory. If I could remember those years better, maybe I would tell some tall tales from them. Or not.<br />
<br />
2019 was a year of a different sort. Jill's dad's health had been in a slow decline for several years and then fell off a cliff. He passed away early in the year. Our first Christmas without him just passed, and he was greatly missed. No one took more joy in giving random items (sticky notes, toothpaste, lube, peg board hooks, windshield washer fluid, ...) as stocking gifts than Rick.<br />
<br />
We made a couple of big decisions at the end of the year. Maybe we are simply getting older and tired of dealing with nonsense? Or maybe we were just tired and sad due to Rick's end of life struggles? The upshot is that I have a new job that begins on Jan 6, and we attend a new church.<br />
<br />
We're still serving in the youth group at our long-time church for now, but have started attending Stone Creek Church.<br />
<br />
My job has been pretty good for several years. I really enjoyed working for my customers, but getting new customers was a struggle. During the summer a friend called me up to ask if I would be interested in joining his company. I started to think about the things I didn't love about my job. Voila, a new job for me.<br />
<br />
Once those very big changes happened, a series of small changes have cascaded down on us. We have a new car (thanks Mom and Dad! We sold our trusty 2000 Mazda Protege for a stack of $20s). I bought a new bike (more on that in a later post; this is still a bike blog, right? I still have my 1982 Trek 610, but might pass it along to the right person. Interested?). I own a smart phone (I love texting. Look up my # in the phone book and send me a text). I bought a new laptop (our Toshiba died years ago. Jill bought a chromebook to sort of replace it. I missed having folders and files). I grew a beard (I have a small amount of hair on the rest of my head).<br />
<br />
My head continues to spin as a look at all these changes. Am I no longer a luddite? Am I in a mid-life crisis? How much nonsense should I try to pare from my life? So, I'm going to give blogging another shot (I hope). Maybe I can sort thru these ideas and find some foundation in my life again.<br />
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<br />
I'm still a rebel! Shortly after taking the above photo, I saw a sign that forbade photos. Too late, 'the man'! Also, Dad, note the magnolia trees growing right next to the wall, using tree supports to pin the branches.<br />
Another tender Tennessee Christmas. Here's to 2020, where we're now for real living in the future.<br />
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<br />Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-56797316615469064692017-07-09T20:15:00.000-06:002017-07-09T20:15:15.503-06:00a vacation in CA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Summer vacation started with a small pop this year. The night before our flight out to California I sprained my ankle playing softball. I didn't think it was too bad, so I kept playing-- except that I moved from my standard outfield position to first base. As an aside, first base is really great. I hardly had to move the rest of the game! And we won.</div>
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Later that night my ankle hurt bad. I wondered if I needed an airport wheelchair. While at the airport I eyeballed that old people greedily. But I hobbled along. And my ankle still bothers me 2 weeks later.</div>
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I didn't take as many pictures as I should have. Missing from this post are images from our visit to Andy and Melanie in Napa (we had Oprah-recommended english muffins that did not disappoint. Thanks, Oprah!), our beach trip, and several days hanging out at my sister's house. </div>
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The biggest adventure of the vacation was visiting Big Trees state park near Bear Valley. The trees did not disappoint. As per usual, humanity did. The largest tree was cut down shortly after the first Euro-Americans found the grove. The stump remains in the ground, and some very big pieces lay beside it. </div>
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Before we all go 'what were you thinking???!!!???' towards those guys, I'll note that several trees in the area have fallen due to natural causes. In fact, the signs say that much of the Sierras were covered with Giant Sequias several thousand years ago. Those trees are long since gone. Still, did they have to cut down the absolute biggest one???<br />
<br />
Still, they might say to us in the after-life, 'did you have to climate change the whole planet????!!!???' So maybe we're even.<br />
<br />
On a perhaps related note: we drove by the now-closed Sunol Golf course. I was jolted by the sight of dead weeds standing in place of lush grass. I guess googlers and facebookers don't play golf?<br />
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We camped (glamped?) overnight in Grandpa's RV. The next day, Jill and I hiked down to the Stanislaus River to see how fast the water was flowing (very fast, and very cold!) and to see if we could find a gold nugget and retire (I'll be at work tomorrow.). <br />
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That was an 8 mile walk with ~1000` of vert. Ankle was pretty solid.<br />
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While at Grandpa and Grandma's house, we all played a golf-based game on their practice green,rough, sand-pit. It was on the hottest side of the house, so evening games were common. Some days reached 105. But we also nearly froze to death at Half Moon Bay. Janny and I played at the edge of the waves for about 30 minutes, and then she shivered for about 2 hours.<br />
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Grandpa has a very cool koi pond (shown below). Bernie has an unbelievable koi pond (not shown). We will not be getting a koi pond (there are koi in the U of I's arboretum).<br />
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Grandpa and Grandma recently bought e-bikes that Jill and I tested out. Very fun. I was pleasantly surprised that they rode pretty much like normal bikes with the motor off. Picking them up to carry them over a drainage ditch made it very clear to me that they had a motor. Very heavy! Note Grandma's sling in the photo below: she was injured after crashing during a ride. Heal soon, mom! Also, Clara won Ticket To Ride. Janny 'helped' her, so she was happy too.<br />
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We spent several days in Fremont, and this is one of the few pictures we took. That's big cousin Anna, who is working this summer as a life guard! Fremont is fancy now. I saw a Whole Foods and a See's Candies store. Some less fancy places remain, like Big 5 Sporting Goods.<br />
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I also partook in some silicon valley technologies for the first time:<br />
1. I texted [on my mom's phone]<br />
2. I talked to Alexa (Amazon Echo). She played a Brett Dennen song for me.<br />
<br />
The texting was to get details for what turned out to be a pretty sizable CBNC youth group gathering (plus their kids). Jenn and Brian, Brian and Tracy, Eve (Anthony was ill, so couldn't come. We did get to briefly chat later in the week), Phil, Tina, and I were all in the same place at the same time. I don't know how this happened, and it is unlikely to happen again any time soon, but it was great. Also at the party I met a fellow MSJ alum, who is a good friend of my best friend's brother. Brentwood: what a place!<br />
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Thanks to Mom, Dad, Bernie and Lisa for hosting us. We look forward to our next visit.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-4632156056808930222017-04-01T10:31:00.003-06:002017-04-01T10:31:47.611-06:00post-spring break<br />
I'm so grateful for the start of spring. Flowers are growing in our yard and some of the smaller trees and bushes are sprouting some leaves. I moved the figs trees from our garage to the driveway. Evenings aren't dark until after 7p.<br />
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Winter doesn't necessarily make me sad ( I really enjoy playing in the snow and battling the elements on my bike rides to and from work). This year the experience was more discombobulation. I couldn't assemble a coherent story for the various pieces of this life. Each piece was acceptable or good enough on its own, but I didn't see any bigness to it. As a grown up with barely sufficient maturity, I continue about life despite the dizziness. Someday, it will likely make sense again.<br />
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Parenting anecdote: this morning (Saturday), Janny came into our room at 7:15 to play and request pancakes. Both Jill and I wanted to continue sleeping. Every single day this past school week, I had to talk to, shake her (in the legal sense), and carry her out of bed at 7:30 to get ready for school. She turned 6 a couple of weeks ago!<br />
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We almost had a new adventure for spring break, but fate intervened to give us a different adventure. We made plans to stay at a bed and breakfast along the Katy Trail in MIssouri. We would do some short out and back rides with the kids on our tandems. I did some measurements and some preliminary packings, determining that our trusty Protege could in fact transport 2 tandems. I removed the forks, racks, and wheels so that only the frames would be on the car's trunk rack.<br />
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As I wrote, fate intervened so we didn't get to that adventure. But we did visit a lake in Kentucky and took a nice hike. On Thursday night we want to eat pizza in Cadiz. We found pizza at 8pm in the Casey's general store (the 7/11 or Circle K of the rural midwest) and drank slushies (cherry/coke mix for Jill and Chad, cherry for Clara, and blue raspberry for Janny). Delicious if not highbrow. And we got to spend some good time with family. The girls love playing with their cousins.<br />
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Clara has 2 nearly fully sprouted front teeth. She is growing out her bangs. She is getting so much better at reading lately -- we are so excited to see this happening. She is slowly getting through one of the Key Finders books and reading other smaller books with ease.<br />
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I have a business trip in May to Warren, MI. My last trip for work was probably 6 years ago ( DOE conference in a Pittsburgh exurb. The highlight of that trip was meeting a brahman that worked in coal gas extraction (i.e., removing methane from coal deposits, initially to reduce chance of mine explosion, then (and possibly now?) a profitable business.).<br />
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I started a new group on facebook called Urbana underground. So far, claiming the cool name is all I have done for the group. We have 4 members. Maybe if we had a purpose or goal, it would be attractive?<br />
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Finally, I bought another cheap, 15ish year old mountain bike. My intention was to swap wheels with my other psuedo-mtb and sell this one. But it's fun, so I might keep it. Now that 26" wheeled bikes are obsolete, I'm in! When the trend reverses (and mark my words, it will), I'll be swimming in cash. <br />
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Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-14894601012708219142017-01-01T16:45:00.000-07:002017-01-01T16:45:51.650-07:00Christmas in the new south<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Happy new year everybody!</div>
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We're back in IL after spending a pleasant Christmas break with Jill's family in Nashville. Uncle Matt's family has yet to find a new house after selling theirs just a few weeks ago, so we all stayed together at Grandpa and Grandma's house. </div>
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(Before we left, our good friend Fereshteh stopped by for a visit.)<br />
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We all took a house hunting trip together, but didn't find 'the one'. Interestingly to me, this adventure demonstrated a strong use case for cell phones. The realtor gave us the address of the next house only after visiting the previous house. Without a very detailed map (the search area was HUGE), finding the next house would have been very difficult. However, it didn't matter because:<br />
1. I didn't drive (we rode with Jill's parents and the kids were with Uncle Matt)<br />
2. Since we were on mostly rural roads, following the realtor posed no difficulties.<br />
But, hey, that was a real-life use case for a cell phone (besides compulsively checking social media)! And yet, I'm still not planning to get one soon.<br />
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Once in a great while, I feel the itch to visit an actual city. So we braved the traffic and terrors of downtown Nashville for a day. I did a quick search for interesting things to see and had the Belmont mansion (on the campus of Belmont U) and the Downtown Presbyterian church. Clara didn't want to see anything, and Janny wanted to walk along the river and throw rocks into it. So we started with the river and skipped Belmont (too far to walk from downtown). <br />
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We parked near the football stadium and walked over the pedestrian bridge to town. Clara was still cool on the idea of the trip until we stopped at a cafe for muffins (chocolate for Janny and blueberry for Clara). Then Clara was happy. Phew! Maybe cities aren't so bad after all.<br />
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The church had an 'out to lunch' sign, so we walked around a bit more, eventually coming upon the really nice (and free!) Tennessee museum. Clara and I played checkers (I crushed her) in the play area. There are some really excellent paintings along with artifacts from the frontier settlers.<br />
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The Presbyterian church office worker was back at his desk and led us to the sanctuary. The current building is the 3rd version (the first two had burned down) and was constructed around 1850 or so. After the Union soldiers conquered Nashville, they used it as a hospital during the Civil War. A few older photos from outside show an isolated building, whereas now it is dwarfed by the neighboring skyscrapers.<br />
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I think Enoch and Ricky won Christmas present opening because they got pocket knives. So far only one of them has needed a band-aid. <br />
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I recently implemented 'no dessert Tuesday', which really means no dessert for anyone in the family after dinner on Tuesdays. I am very frustrated by the kids' eating habits. They are irritatingly picky and generally eat as little at lunch and dinner as possible so as to eat much dessert. I'm happy to report that the kids enjoy the idea, sort of. My theory is that living under constraints (even an arbitrary one like this) resonates with our spirits. It feels right and is right.<br />
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<br />Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-16175368603951268392016-12-11T16:03:00.000-07:002016-12-11T18:45:04.377-07:00a Christmas newsletter of sorts<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I took too long of a break from this blog. So I won't cover all (any?) of the important stuff since summer came and went. </div>
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Church-league softball (and summer itself) ended months ago. I recall writing about the team's struggles early in the season. I'm glad to report that we rallied back, winning the semi-final game against Vineyard Blue so that we could face Vineyard Red in the final. The final was close and hard-fought, for 2 innings. Then their #10 batter hit a rocket that was beyond me by the time I took two steps back. I got to it quickly and relayed a throw toward 2nd, hoping to hold him to a double. He was already on 3rd. Then, the rest of their team decided they would hit (and run) like that too, and we quickly lost by 10.</div>
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My softball fire was not quite quenched after summer, so I joined a friend's team for the fall season. We had some really excellent athletes, so I could take it easy in right center field. Fall ball is an interesting mix. Some teams hit home run after home run (I think one guy hit 4 home runs in the double header against us, including a walk off shot in the 2nd game), others were terrible. We won about 1/2 our games, one of which on a walk off homer by me, my first over the fence shot in some time. Our church-league shortstop, Joe, was playing for the other team, so this story can be verified.</div>
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Clara and Janny are in school all day now. With 2 kids in school, it's much harder to keep tabs on all of the characters there. Janny helps me remember [redacted's] name, because s/he was the kid that threw up in the classroom just before the end of the day. <br />
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Clara and Janny would have perfect behavior scores if not for the miscreants in their classes. The scores are posted online, so we check on them once in a while. At most, Clara has two red scores, and they're always because 'the whole class' (Clara excepted) was doing something wrong. This frustrates her. She was disappointed in the fall when we took a day off from school to visit our relatives in MI because her chance for perfect attendance for the quarter was gone. So I bought Clara and Janny prizes for skipping school. We'll see if that's still needed in about 10 years.<br />
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Jill continues to be so happy about having her energy back after surgery earlier this year. She has retaken up piano learning, so my background music for writing Christmas carols. Despite her increased energy levels, she would like a housekeeper for Christmas. I'm trying to do a few more chores, as I'm much cheaper.<br />
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I'm starting to lose... (insert your joke in the comments) ... my fire for minimizing our energy usage. Our thermostat is now set to a whopping 66 degrees during the day and 60 at night. Jill is talking me into getting a gas burner insert for our neglected fire place. Our house has always been very humid in winters (every cold morning I took a squeegee to the windows to remove condensation), so I bought a dehumidifier this year. It has been pulling about 3/4 of a gallon of water per day from our house, which has me a bit befuddled. I suspect that the moisture is coming up from our crawl space. The plastic on the ground has some holes that could be repaired, but I'm thinking that rainfall runoff is the main problem. I don't have a good plan to solve this yet.<br />
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Work continues to be good and challenging. Recently, I joined the ranks of Wolfram certified trainers (http://www.wolfram.com/training/instructors/), so feel free to book me for your next training session. My photo and bio should be on that page soon.<br />
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Our church is having a rash of trouble marriages, and some of these are good friends of ours. This is such a downer. It's not clear to me if this is a new trend, or just something that I'm able to notice more. We continue to pray and work on our own marriage.<br />
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A number of work colleagues are from cultures where arranged (or 'suggested') marriages are common. Interestingly, every person that I have asked says that troubled marriages are extremely uncommon in their culture. One lady said that around year 3 is when the husband and wife typically begin to fall in love. More investigation required....Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-9775248105304157612016-07-21T21:12:00.002-06:002016-07-21T21:12:48.281-06:00Still hot at nightA strong memory of my first days after moving to IL for grad school was how hot it was at night. I'd be walking around campus town with some new friends (primarily Europeans) wondering how it could still be 80 degrees F at 10 pm. Well, I don't have to dig deep into my memory vault to recall what that feels like. I can just step outside. It's 10 pm and the heat index is 100 degrees F (but a whole lot cooler than that in my modern home).<div>
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Did you know that Janny will start kindergarten in about a month? She graduated from preschool, and we'll miss her super teachers. As part of the prep for school, Jill took the girls to the doctor today. Along with the usual lecture about feeding the kids more, we learned that Janny's hearing is slightly below average (I don't think that fully explains why she says 'WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY? I DIDN"T HEAR WHAT YOU SAID!' very loudly a thousand times a day, but it might) and that Clara has a slight heart murmur that might mean nothing. I guess that it's good to know these things??? Or maybe that's why I avoid the doctor like the plague. <br />
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Speaking of Europeans in IL, my company hosted a whole bunch of interns of such background this summer. As part of a farewell celebration of their time in America, I led a bike ride from our house to the Sydney dairy barn. Spain, Italy, and Ireland all represented, along with India, China, and some US citizens. The most pleasant sounding of all the homelands was Turin, Italy (the chance to be on a snowy peak while looking over the Mediterranean sounds excellent). But don't count out India. I've been told of a happening tech city populated with mostly young cosmopolitans (and not too crowded either).<br />
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This week we're hosting a couple of middle schoolers from China. Our neighbor (below) is sort of a co-host, providing either transportation or watching the young girls while Jill drives the English learners to class. 5 people don't fit too well in the old Mazda. But don't worry, we'll probably get a new car some time in the next 10 years (134000 miles on it now).<br />
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Finally, TCBC softball is BACK! We've played 3 games since my last report, and we've won 3 times.</div>
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How can this be explained after our rough start? As you might have guessed, the answer is Jill. Yes, my wife Jill! 3 games ago, we were in a bind. We had 8 players (which is technically enough to play, but having only 2 outfielders is tough). So we looked around. And we saw Jim's expecting wife, Matt's wife, and then, flowing down the sidewalk, 2 daughters in tow, the most lovely lady you've ever seen: Jill. After a short negotiation with Matt's wife, Jill agreed to play. She played catcher. She batted 4 times, and 4 times hit the ball in fair territory on her first swing. And, as you know, we won the game. She didn't play in the next 2, but her indomitable spirit filled each player, including those new guys that I had never seen before but have joined our squad because at least 1/3 of the regular guys are gone every week. </div>
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May that spirit continue on.</div>
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Oh, and we visited the local Vineyard church last Sunday. My last visit to a Vineyard church was to the church in Anaheim (CA) as a middle schooler in the late 1980s. At that time, there was a good bit of, um, spirit. Apparently, that degree of spirit is much reduced, but I still really enjoyed the experience. The aesthetics of the stage were really lovely -- a deep blue/purple in contrast with my own church's stark white. The clergy and leaders are extremely open about spiritual struggles and encourage attenders to receive prayer both after the service and at a special healing prayer time. With quite a few of us struggling through grief, anger, etc. this summer, this is an excellent emphasis. </div>
Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-92047638547914676962016-06-26T14:25:00.000-06:002016-06-26T14:25:29.517-06:00Vacation in Alabama<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After missing softball playoff games the past 2 years due to family vacations, we pushed for an earlier trip this year. Initially, we planned to head north to hopefully have slightly cooler temps, but schedules didn't quite work out. So the plan became Alabama in June, and we were ready to face the heat and humidity. Except that the heat and humidity mostly didn't show.</div>
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Our schedule went something like this: eat breakfast, read a while, visit the pool, eat lunch, read, visit the pool, eat dinner, fish, read, bed. Quite relaxing.</div>
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On the fishing front, I caught a few sun fish using a cane pole. I'm still squeamish when it comes to hooking the worm and unhooking the fish. Maybe when I'm older it won't be so scary.</div>
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The champion fisherperson in our family was Clara. She caught a pretty decent sized catfish. Thankfully, Grandpa was there to pull the hook out it's mouth.</div>
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The pool was a bit chilly. On most days, we had to swim around to stay warm enough. Or jump in and out.<br />
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Clara and especially Janny are interested in bugs now. At home, they catch fireflies. On vacation, the best bugs to catch were willow flies. They come in swarms in shady areas (especially the trees near the pool), fly very slowly, and don't bite...<br />
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And often drown in the pool.<br />
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Clara and Janny really enjoy being in pools, but they can't swim like cousins Ricky and Enoch. Hopefully by the end of summer, they'll make some good progress.<br />
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This is as close to an infinity pool as I've been in. Note the Tennessee River in the background. I had planned to swim in the lake, just so that I wouldn't feel like such an urbanite. But I never actually got in.<br />
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Finally, TCBC softball continues to struggle this year. Our record is now a grim 0-5. A possible explanation is that we've lost too many quality players in the last few years. <br />
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That may be true. But I dare you to doubt us. Even if nobody believes in us, we'll still believe in ourselves. We have the heart of a champion because we are the defending champions (I have the wind breaker that says so in my closet). We know how to win when it's all on the line. We are TCBC!!!!!<br />
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And now I must go kill some Japanese beetles.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-13820070711316624202016-05-22T08:12:00.002-06:002016-05-22T08:12:40.328-06:00at home, springtime<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
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Spring is the best. We survived another cold, dark winter, and so did our garden.</div>
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The first project of the spring was Clara's idea: build a mini-swing inside our tree fort. We used some rope that had been in the garage for some time, and a short piece of wood. Nothing fancy, but it brought many smiles.</div>
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Jill is a gardening fiend. We've been eating lettuce from the garden just about daily. <br />
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... while I and the kids eagerly await the arrival of raspberries and blackberries. The giant cherry tree is even holding some cherries, despite the bounty of last years crop. Perhaps the awful smelling fish emulsion that I poured around the base helped?<br />
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Latest project around the house: 2 rain barrels. During intense rain storms, water overtops the front gutter. So I added this new downspout near the front door for one of the new barrels. We'll have to wait a few more days before we see the barrels in action. [I had a photo of the setup, but it's gone missing. Google warned me not to use Microsoft Edge, but I did anyway. That's because Chrome completely stopped working on this computer. I tied re-installing twice without success. I'll also note here that my software also doesn't always work.]</div>
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In sports news, church league softball is underway. The senior members of the TCBC men's team, Matt A. and I, have returned for our 8th year. Back in year 1, we had zero kids between us (though Clara was on the way). Now we have 5. But we're still out manning the left side of the outfield together. <br />
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The squad has started the season off with 2 losses. Can we pull ourselves together and make a run? Are we getting too old? Too complacent? Did we lose too many players to graduation and free agency? Or, perhaps we're saving ourselves for the post-season? Stay tuned...<br />
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For the 3rd (4th?) year in a row, I raced the local Joker's Jaunt gravel race. Neil crushed us all. I was riding with Larry until I ran out of energy with about 4 miles to go. I was riding my Boulder Bicycle, which continues to be a fantastic bicycle (and, no, Mike Kone does not sponsor me). This year, I used Vittoria Hyper-something tires in size 700C by 35mm at about 40 psi. They're okay.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-20745090464762367462016-02-14T18:59:00.000-07:002016-02-14T18:59:08.220-07:00Another idea for church.... podcast-style preachingWinter continues about as you'd expect this year. It's cold (20 °F). Today it snowed about 2 inches. So we have lots of time to be inside and think. You'd think I would have lots of time to write blogs also. I suppose that I do...<br />
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Our church's proposal to purchase the building next door was the inspiration for a good bit of thinking this winter. The scale of the project (about $2M) spurred us to think bigger about the church. With that much money, a church can do some interesting things. <br />
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For example, we could hire another pastor. A big focus of TCBC is to help students at the University grow in their faith and impact the campus, and in turn, world. Interestingly, we don't devote much pastoral staff to this part of the church. Our youngest pastor spends much of his time with our middle and high school students. Our other pastors are decently removed in time (and I am as well FYI. 1998 was some time ago!) from college life. If we hired a youngish person to work in this area, I think some interesting projects and ministries could be developed.<br />
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But our membership overwhelmingly voted in favor of purchasing the building, so additional staff is unlikely at this point. But don't worry, there are more ideas swimming around my head.<br />
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A idea that has been floated to us community types is to think about how our (mostly-community (non-student)) small groups can serve the campus (read: students). Jill and I have participated in the adopt-a-student program for many years, and enjoy getting to know students by serving them dinner (and sparkling conversation) weekly. But how can this be "part" of our small group? This is a hard question.<br />
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So instead of answering that question, I'll ask a different question. What if instead of looking for ways to serve students (who, let's face it, are pampered in nearly every possible way), we try to provide ways for students to serve? I also don't know the answer to this question, but it's more exciting to me. By having them serve the church or community in some way, they will feel more a part of our church anyway.<br />
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Lastly, I have an idea for a new type of sermon. A typical sermon at our church is a 40 minute monologue about a topic or Bible passage. During that time, the speaker has very little indication of what parts of it are meaningful to the listeners. Based on looking around at people's faces, I'd guess that they feel very discouraged by looking at the audience.<br />
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So, how about have a conversational-style sermon? 2 pastors (or one church leader and 1 pastor) will be at the front. One will be the "interviewer", and his/her primary job is to introduce the topic (why does it matter, where have we been, where are we going?) and to sharpen the points of the discussion. This could be by asking clarification questions or bringing up other passages or personal stories, but also by just "guessing" where the conversation should go next. The benefit for the main speaker is that another person is giving immediate, direct feedback. The sermon can feel more like a conversation.<br />
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Let's assume the interviewer asks a question that isn't where the main speaker wants to go. She/he could say, that's a good question, but I really want to emphasize (...). This transition can help the audience understand and track the sermon's main points. And it gives a signal that this is a time to really listen. <br />
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So podcast-style preaching isn't a good name for this (need some help with that), but the idea came from listening to a podcast. <br />
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As always, all blog ideas are free to use.<br />
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In family news, Jill had her hysterectomy just over 2 weeks ago. The first several days were spent primarily in bed resting and taking pain-killers. Since then, she's steadily added more activities to her day. Today, she made the best pizza in town for dinner.<br />
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Clara has been so excited to play Uno lately. She tracks the number of times she's won: 15 as of the last round. She's also knows even and odd numbers.<br />
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Janny enjoys playing Old Maid and watching the rest of us play Uno. <br />
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Many nights when the girls are asleep, Jill says that they are the cutest girls ever. This might be true, but I observe that she rarely says this when they are awake. Jill responds, "I don't say it then because I don't want the girls to hear. It might get in their heads."<br />
<br />Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-81504000049591367042015-12-14T19:43:00.002-07:002015-12-14T19:43:35.840-07:00Let's monetize your churchDoes your church have a bigger vision than budget? Giving from parishioners isn't keeping up with expenses? You've come to the right blog. Jill and I have spent at least 30 minutes working on solutions for you. And we're not even going to cover the boring, traditional sources (renting out the facility for weddings/memorials). Here are some solutions by category.<br />
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1. Staff services.<br />
If your pastor has been around for more than a year, he or she has astounding listening skills. Maybe he or she has a few moments to spare where that gift can be used? Monetize it! I'd guess that 10 hours per week of counseling some depressed well-offers could cover about half the salary.<br />
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We're fortunate to live in a town with a large university that has a number of international students. We also have some staff (pastors and others) that have marketable editing skills. Let's get together and make some money editing those papers<br />
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2. Sunday services.<br />
Yes, of course your church has Sunday morning services. But do you have car detailing or oil changing services while you worship? How about coffee or tea delivered to your pew? Maybe we could arrange house cleaning while your soul is purified.<br />
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3. Phone apps.<br />
A lot of people at our church use their phones as Bibles as well as note taking devices. Let's make an app where you could take notes. The app could be a game based on the sermon. Maybe if you finish the game, you get a sponsored prize or coupon.<br />
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4. Sponsorhips<br />
Speaking of sponsorhips, how about "Today's communion is brought to you by County Market"? The church would never change it's name, but the name of the building is available for the right price. We have a weekly bulletin. That thing is begging to be stuffed with flyers and coupons. How about 15% off your entree at a local restaurant following the service?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VuIZqXl4lGR5fF2-Kic8oR5r6TY8AdH5-PlLxXfgssVZP4p4NURzqxj4-VxTY291bErrgyYVvblu8QyzC9sVvr_crPTb3JQjrM6-N08YQA8xY7eOV0QyJTSZRxXcfwKAZxQb3GpH2gg/s1600/DSCN5516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VuIZqXl4lGR5fF2-Kic8oR5r6TY8AdH5-PlLxXfgssVZP4p4NURzqxj4-VxTY291bErrgyYVvblu8QyzC9sVvr_crPTb3JQjrM6-N08YQA8xY7eOV0QyJTSZRxXcfwKAZxQb3GpH2gg/s320/DSCN5516.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Did you like the pastor's tie? His sweater? We'll have links and QR barcodes in the bulletin and on our screens for his entire outfit. This is even better if you your pastor is a woman.<br />
How can churches with male pastors reach the women? Our host/emcee is a woman! While she's giving announcements (brought to you by Wolfram Alpha) about upcoming events, we'll zoom in on her shoes and provide a link on our big screens.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgePiFfT2KwivnOElECnapwyWPlgcJh3SUvmw3k0EozHrzkPBwI86OIIGpugUQT3OvFsTXBrQkZ39wV5wucUuzb9fQ6HYipaTceM_PWaxHlVVjTqh6Hd3IOO-eu3uKu8zthHzx3ayBHqdE/s1600/DSCN5479.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgePiFfT2KwivnOElECnapwyWPlgcJh3SUvmw3k0EozHrzkPBwI86OIIGpugUQT3OvFsTXBrQkZ39wV5wucUuzb9fQ6HYipaTceM_PWaxHlVVjTqh6Hd3IOO-eu3uKu8zthHzx3ayBHqdE/s320/DSCN5479.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
5. Remote events<br />
Our church is special in that a large number of students have attended and moved away. Many of them have been in Chicago, made good money, and don't have a good channels for giving back to our church. Following the political fund-raising approach, we can have fancy dinners that that cost considerably more than usual. Former pastors could give a brief devotional and share some fond memories of the good old days, reminding everyone that the good times can continue (when sufficient funds are available) today. Did you know a bunch of university athletes have attended our church? I'm sure they'd be willing to stop by and shake a few hands.<br />
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6. On the controversial side<br />
Recall in the book of Acts where hankees held by apostles could heal people. We don't guarantee that level of service, but perhaps a pastor could pray that a tissue would bless you. Maybe you could ensure that your request is lifted up first during pastoral prayer meetings. <br />
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May your church prosper!Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-62937510129291356652015-11-07T15:24:00.000-07:002015-11-07T15:24:34.025-07:00not as conservative as I used to be...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A group of 15 from work went to a Chinese restaurant last week to say farewell to some friends. We all ordered a dish and shared them on the lazy susan. There were a few Chinese people in the group, so some dishes weren't familiar to me. One is particular looked a bit like a translucent sponge. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't try it.<br /><br />Day after day we plead with the kids to eat the [generally delicious] food on their plates. The current list of non-eaten foods includes marinara sauce for spaghetti, any soup, any stir-fry, most vegetables, and so on. So there I was (without them, it should be noted) and I ate only what I wanted. But in my defense, there were about 7 other dishes that I tried. I was a bit full when I learned that the dish was cow tendon. So maybe not so gross. But why eat meat-like products when meat is available, right?<br />
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At the end of the meal, about 1/3 of the food remained. I was happy to walk away and let it be thrown away. But a number of us decided to box it and take it home. Perhaps because I'm in middle age, but experiences like this are jolting me lately with the question: how did I end up here?<br /><br />In this case, I wondered, how is it that I'm much less conservative than my coworkers? After a bit of self-reflection, I have my answer. The kids have done their utmost to grind it out of me. We put food on their plates in the hope that they'll try it. They don't. I request them to try it. They don't. I say, why don't you try some? They generally don't. I say, how about eating 3 bites? They eventually try 1. Then I have to decide if 1 bite is enough [to get dessert later, my only negotiating chip] or if I want to push for all 3. Sometimes a child takes a bite but something is wrong with the food so she spits it out.<br />
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And we do this every night. For years now. There is no end in site. So I'm calloused about throwing away food.<br />
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Maybe you're wondering if this attitude has affected our home energy usage? Well, I'm much less passionate about it than I was. So I'm currently not pushing hard. However, I think we're still doing okay, as this month's data shows. <br />
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For the last 3 months I owned only 2 bikes (for me, plus the tandem). I sold one of my 1980s Treks to a student through craigslist. While perusing same list recently, I saw a bike that spoke to me. It was loud, it was funky, and it was cheap. It can fit pretty large 26" mtn bike tires. So I could ride this cheaper bike when the roads are lousy and salty, leaving the fancy blue bike to remain clean in the garage.<br /><br />I waited about a week before contacting the seller. Was it still available? You bet. So within the hour I was driving it home. Within a week, I took off some parts and put my spares on, plus some new barend shifters. Behold, the purple GT: <br />
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The frame is purple (like Clara's and Janny's. Only Jill doesn't have a purple bike now). So are the stem, platform of the rear rack, and the bottle cage. I put some neon bar tape that Jill had hand-colored about 10 years ago.<br />
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Call me shallow or materialistic, but I went from dreading the upcoming winter to looking forward to it. Ride on!Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-17904059495905208792015-09-27T19:39:00.001-06:002015-09-27T19:39:46.037-06:00what is new<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Clara has been in kindergarten for a whole month now. She's so cool and grown up now. Reading is just around the corner for her, and her written alphabet letters are looking pretty good. And except for having to wake up too early, she loves the whole experience.</div>
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Meanwhile, Janny didn't at all enjoy Clara's absence during the day. Mommy just couldn't replace Clara (and Mommy really didn't want to). But she's getting the hang of life with less Clara. She has a good friend (the only other girl) in her preschool class. And Jill is working hard to inspire Janny to learn things and play on her own a bit more.</div>
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Our church has a nice tradition of passing out Bibles to new kindergartners each fall. Clara lined up with her friends to receive theirs during the service last month.</div>
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Clara's birthday party was a bit smaller scale this year, but so much more grown up. She invited 5 friends, and their parents didn't stay for the party. We built legos and whacked this pinata.<br />
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A couple of years ago, I bought a new fridge which turned about to be about 3 inches wider than the old one. It barely fit between the counter and the cabinet. I suspected that one reason we never had much ice (besides Jill eating so much) was that the water line was too close to the exhaust and there wasn't any place for it to go. <br />
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Enter Grandpa, always a willing worker! He helped me move the cabinet over about 2 inches. Sounds so easy, right? But we got it done. The fridge now breathes.<br />
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Janny is a 2 wheeled bike rider! She is so proud of this (and I am too). On her third ride (on the way to pick Clara up from school), she crashed and cut her mouth (likely on her handlebars, see photo below). Much blood and tears flowed. When she and Jill got Clara and returned to the crash site (and the bike), Clara showed Janny how to start by herself. Janny took off and hasn't looked back. <br />
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Our garden produced a watermelon! It was pretty decent even. One more remains to be picked. Tomatoes have been growing well also, except that squirrels are stealing many of them. Red raspberries are again available in small numbers. And our moon vine bloomed yesterday (just a day before the super moon eclipse tonight).<br />
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Clara and Janny are both getting a little big for their respective bikes. So I got to thinking. And reading the internet. And scouring ebay and craigslist. Eventually, I decided on a 20" Specialized Hotrock with coaster brake. It's a super cool purple. Clara loves it, despite being just big enough to ride it.<br />
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Not one to leave bikey things well enough, I have a few items on order to hotrod it up a bit. The coaster hub will be replaced with a single speed freewheel hub (when I'm convinced that she has the hang of the hand brake) and some fancy bmx race tires will replace the flat-proof tires that came with it.<br />
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Janny tried the pink bike, but still prefers her 12" purple bike for now. Her legs spin so fast (trying to keep up with Clara) it's hard to keep her feet on the pedals. Maybe if she's grows an inch (she's tiny for her age), the transition will be easier.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-74126462040254582732015-08-22T20:37:00.000-06:002015-08-22T20:37:14.604-06:00Summer vacationUnbeknownst to us, we scheduled our summer vacation for the last week of summer. After a large number of years not caring a whit when the school year starts, school is again impacting our lives. Clara started kindergarten this past week. But that's getting ahead of the main story, which is that we took a summer vacation in Colorado with Chad's side of the family.<br />
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Again, I kick myself for not taking enough photos, but Grandma did her part. When she sends her set to us, I'll have a full suite of photos to choose from. But for now, we're stuck with ours. I promise, the rest of the family was there.<br />
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Going into the trip, I had a few small goals to achieve:<br />
a. Bike ride adventures<br />
b. Some hiking<br />
c. Dip my feet in a mountain stream<br />
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(c) was quite easy to do, as our condo was a short walk from the Keystone ski resort, which has a very nice stream that flows along the mountain. We built dams and found some treasured rocks to take home.<br />
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(b) was actually pretty limited. The whole family (except Grandpa, whose knees aren't so hot anymore) rode the chairlift to the top of Keystone and hiked along the ridge. And it turns out that was the only real hiking we did.<br />
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But Grandpa and Grandma have jeeps! Grandma's was the available machine this week, so two different groups took a mini adventure ride with Grandpa in the Montezuma area. We took off the doors and roof for super jeeping mode! Janny liked the part when her head rattled. I enjoyed seeing the vistas from the tops of mountains. <br />
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(a) was, surprisingly to me, my biggest success. Prior to the trip, Jill and I waffled about bringing our bikes. I considered just renting an mtb at Keystone. Hanging the bikes on a rack on the back of the Protege for 2000 miles makes me a bit nervous (plus we lost an mpg or two!). But sanity prevailed, and the bikes came!<br />
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Jill and I did a couple of rides together, up to Montezuma and up the Keystone gulch. Jill preferred the pavement over the gravel. I also managed to talk Bernie and Anna into joining us to Montezuma. Despite riding on mtbs from the '90's, Anna and Bernie rode great. We were quite close to Montezuma before Anna decided she'd had enough climbing. I was impressed! No doubt she can ride to Grandma and Grandpa's house from their house now.<br />
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Just prior to leaving for the trip, I emailed my friend Ryan to see if he was going to be in or near CO during our stay. Well, in fact, he was there and was planning to ride up Mt. Evans with his brother-in-law and nephew. We met up at Ryan's 1970 ice cream truck/army transport camper on Friday morning, parked 22 miles from and some 6000+ feet below the summit. He brewed some tea for me while we awaited the rest of the crew.<br />
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We rode most of the way up to Echo Lake together, but I soon realized that to climb that far I really needed to ride my own pace. So up I went, alone. About 4 miles above Echo Lake, the rain started. It poured, and I got soaked. About 10 minutes later, it hailed. I was wearing shorts and had no gloves. Hail on bare legs and hands hurts! So I contorted myself to have most of the hail hit my arms and head. Then it rained again. But at about mile 5 1/2, I was above the storm. I thought, hey, this isn't so bad. I'll dry off the rest of the way up, and enjoy a cozy route down. Alas, it sprinkled more, I never dried completely. Gloves and a rain jacket instead of my wind-breaker would have been nice to have.<br />
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I made it to the summit and was heading towards the trash to throw away my banana peel when a man and his wife offered to let me sit in their van and warm up. I like to say no to such offers, but warming up did sound nice. Their 4 kids squeezed into the back seat of the van so I could sit in the middle row. The family was on a monster road trip from their home in Long Island to Seattle, Las Vegas, and Colorado. I turned down offers of pizza and peanuts, but accepted the roll of paper towels to dry my shirt and socks. I very much enjoyed talking to them and feeling the heater blowing on my head. Then I bid adieu and headed back down.<br />
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I saw Ryan and the rest of the crew not far from the summit and planned to wait for them at Summit Lake. Alas, it was too cold, and I wanted to get away from the lightning storm. So I headed down... and down... and down. <br />
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I didn't realize until this trip that I struggle with a bit of vertigo. Riding and driving (we drove Loveland Pass on the way there) on roads without guard rails and with huge dropoffs really freaks me out. I know that a guard rail really doesn't do much, but still, they are so comforting. Plus, the edge of the Mt. Evans road is crumbling away, and periodically there are 1 foot diameter holes in the road. I think the holes go to the center of the earth. Perhaps my bike would bounce over them, but thankfully I managed to avoid them all.<br />
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Well, finally I made it to the Echo Lake lodge and drank hot tea while waiting for the crew. We were all freezing upon arrival. We had very nearly warmed up when we left, but then it poured rain. And I had a flat tire. And my spare had a slow leak. I gingerly rode the corners down to my car. <br />
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I put on dry clothes (except that I didn't have extra socks, so I drove barefoot), and Ryan gave me his nephew's breakfast burrito (thanks!).<br />
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During most of the ride, I thought that it was stupid. Looking back, it was yet another super memorable, excellent ride with Ryan. May there be many more!<br />
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I also rode the service trail to the top of Keystone and took the "green" mtb trail down. Then I (gently) crashed, and decided that riding a road bike on mtb trails is not fun.<br />
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Thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa for arranging the trip (and paying for the condo!). It was wonderful to have the whole family together. We're looking forward to more adventures together.<br />
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Finally, TCBC is again the A league softball champion. We won the semi-final game 9-8, and then for the second year in a row I took vacation for our last playoff game. Without me, the team won 16-1. I guess I'm not needed.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-64603690893793624912015-06-25T21:07:00.000-06:002015-06-25T21:08:24.693-06:00springtime<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hi, it's wake up time. Are you ready to go?</div>
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Some pretty momentous occasions have happened since my last report. Fereshteh is now a master business lady, soon to be working out on the east coast. We'll miss her! And we'll miss Nikki too, who has just started boot camp at the Air Force Academy. I think she'll do more pushups this month than I'll do this year. Finally, we added a new boarder, an intern working at Wolfram (not doing all my work, sadly) for 6 months. <br />
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And Clara graduated from preschool! She started at Wee Disciples as a tiny, just turned 3 year old, and is now a hearty 5 year old ready to tackle kindergarten. Well, that's if she can get herself out of bed in time. Lately getting up before 8:30 has been rare. So a bedtime change is in order. But that can wait until it's actually dark outside at 8:30 pm.<br />
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Thanks to a company provided 4 day weekend on Memorial day, we took a trip down to Nashville to visit grandpa, grandma, and the southern gang. It was a great way to welcome spring a bit early -- the weather was so nice. <br />
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Jill and I took our bikes for the first time and did some riding in the neighborhood. Based on our driving around their neighborhood, I thought it would be pretty difficult to start rides from their house. But I was pleasantly surprised by the very nice road that tracks the west side of the Priest Reservior. I ventured out into some neighborhoods to ride some steeper hills and rode past the BMX track (not on it... way too scary for me!). So color me impressed. I still prefer my commute to any sore of possible commute there, but the "fun" riding is pretty nice.<br />
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Clara and Janny got some pointers for hitting a wiffle ball. I'm trying to play a bit of ball sports with them regularly. My goals: throwing well, catching without flinching (or ducking) and sweet hitting.<br />
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And while on the topic of ball sports, church softball season is about half-way done. If you asked me prior to Monday, I would have said that our team is very tough to beat. After our 10 run loss on Monday, well, we're still pretty good. The wind was howling out to right-center, so much so that I hit a ball over the fence. The problem was that the Vineyard gents were really mashing the ball. Many balls were into and over the fence, neutralizing our team's biggest strength, excellent defense. <br />
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No more babies amongst the grandkids. Linda is still too young to play much with the older 4, but that should change very soon.<br />
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We've gotten a lot of rain this spring/ early summer. Janny doesn't mind, as long as she has an umbrella. <br />
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Our (well, mostly Jill's) gardening skills continue to improve. To date, the big successes are cherries (every other year seems to be good for our tree), raspberries (both black and red), peas, and salad greens. Much more on the way, including tomatoes, peppers, squashes and beans (if we can keep the bunnies away).<br />
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Apologies for not writing often here. It's too nice outside!Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-4907252272403898092015-05-03T20:37:00.000-06:002015-05-03T20:37:59.985-06:00less green <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After church today, a friend commented that life might be too easy in this town. We are never in traffic jams, there are a few cultural amenities, and reasonable employment situations happen. When the temperature is 75 degrees with sunshine and no humidity, well, it's quite nice. Thankfully, it's not like this too often, and there's still lots of work to be done.</div>
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Not long after Grandma and Grandpa S came for a visit, the K grandparents stopped by for a long weekend. As usual, that means a family portrait was found amongst the 10 or so attempts. Silly kids!<br />
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My parents were able to peak into some of the crazier parts of our life. They attended our small group. I think that there are 12 kids 8 and under at our house (it's hard to count them all). Preparing for the group and recovering after it can be all that we are able to handle. So it's gotten harder to call on Sundays, as had been the usual plan. We still need to work a better time for all of us to talk.<br />
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We've now been living in this house for about 4 1/2 years. As the kids have grown, Jill is having more interest and energy to do some gardening. Our neighborhood is filled with giant trees, so full sun areas are hard to find on our land. So we started thinking. Hmmm, there's a big evergreen in our yard that appears to be dying one branch at a time from the top and bottom. If it were to somehow disappear, we'd have a bit more land to play with...<br />
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Well, a visit from Gus (and a big check!) later and voila, open space! While I was at work, Gus led the count of tree rings on the stump. It was about 40-something years old (fits with the age of our house). Rings for the last 7 years were exceptionally narrow, suggesting that it had a disease of some sort. <br />
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Eventually we might have some raised beds in there, and hopefully a nice rainfall runoff management system. But for now, it's full of dreams and potential.<br />
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While Jill was digging in the dirt, I was getting grease in my fingernails. We bought a tandem from fellow townie Bonnie a few weeks ago. She had all the parts for the kid-back crankset but they weren't connected. So I hooked up all the chains, bolts, and such for a Janny-sized person. Frustratingly, the kid crank length was 150 mm, or not that much shorter than adult sized (170 mm). </div>
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When faced with challenges, one could get frustrated or spend $$ on new cranks or get aggressive with drills, saws, and taps. I chose the latter. The holes would have been a bit more accurately placed if I had a drill press. But I used a cordless drill. Since Janny doesn't turn the pedals over in anger, I'm not too worried about the 1.5 mm-ish offset.<br />
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So, now we're out there on the roads, bringing smiles and turned heads wherever we go. 15 years ago, we had almost the only bikes at the church rack. Today the racks are full of single bikes. Maybe in the future, more families will travel this way? Who knows, I might have a couple for sale by then.<br />
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Today was the Urbana Criterium bike race. I didn't race. I'm not saying that I'm retired, but I'm not planning to do any races this year.<br />
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Softball season is underway! We've won our first 2 games by a comfortable margin. The first game almost doesn't count since the other team only had 8 players. For my first at bat, I noticed that there was no shortstop, so I casually hit a grounder in the gaping hole. We went on to score 17 runs that inning,and I batted 3 times. Curiously, we scored 1 run in the remaining 3 innings. <br />
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This year, we picked up a new outfielder, Rob, that is better than both Matt and I. How much longer until we're put out to right field pasture???Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-72406329037597536552015-04-05T16:56:00.000-06:002015-04-05T16:56:38.999-06:00return to B-town<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since we live in the paradise that is central IL, we really don't need to travel often. But sometimes, you really should see the troubles people in another part of the world must face. Since our jet is in the shop, we decided to visit a location within driving distance, and that turned out to be Bloomington. The one in Indiana, not to be confused with our neighbor town in IL.</div>
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Back in the kid-free era, Jill and I took a few trips out to B-town to ride the hills. This time, we thought we could convince the girls hike a bit in the state parks.</div>
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Saturday morning started a bit badly at Brown County state park. It was still cold (around freezing), and I had left Janny's boots in the trunk. Both her second layer of pants and the boots were soooooooo cold. We got out of the car to visit the west gate fire tower (above). Then Clara wiped out while trying to balance on log. In both cases, many tears.<br />
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Undeterred, we drove out to the 'rugged' 2 mile trailhead on the east side of the park. Armed with good humor (as always) and a bag of Swedish fish, we headed down the partially frozen trail. At the bottom of the canyon, we threw rocks at the confluence of the small streams.<br />
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As the day warmed up, the frozen trail became the muddy trail. But we made it all the way back! And all were up for climbing the 'real' fire tower. Clara got a bit frightened about 3 stories up, so she and I walked back down. That thing shakes! Janny and Jill climbed to just below the deck (it was locked). Can you see them?<br />
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For day 2, we visited McCormick state park. This was a much easier day for the girls, as the canyon/ river/waterfall was a rather short walk from the parking lot. <br />
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There were also a lot more sticks and rocks to throw in the much bigger stream.<br />
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The trail continues over there? Sure, Clara and mommy are game! I tried to take this route, but balancing is quite hard when trying to not dip one's unnecessarily-long legs into the stream. I dipped my foot, and decided to hop across on some the stones.<br />
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My coworker (IU class of 2012!) suggested a bunch of restaurants and parks to visit. We ended up at only one of the restaurants on her list, but it was a memorable one: The Runcible Spoon (extra credit for sophisticated readers that know the reference). It's a converted house about a block from campus. You really should be more into goth than we 4 are, but they served us anyway. For some reason all the servers smelled VERY strongly of incense (aside: while a student way back when at a school in Berkeley there was a correlation between incense use and inhaling the smoke of certain plant. Since that was so long ago, I can't imagine that there remains such a correlation). Anyway, the food was really nice, and it was fun to eat at a place that looks different than Chilapplecharlie's.<br />
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In conclusion, I quite enjoy Bloomington. I think our town(s) would have been better off following that pattern of development. Their civic buildings and campustown area coincide. Whereas, here we have two 'downtowns' on either side of campus town that created a pull to move things away from campus itself. There aren't nearly enough people here to support 3 main business/civic centers.<br />
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Or maybe the town is nicer because engineering students are banished to Lafayette. Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-66102560865680968452015-03-28T16:16:00.000-06:002015-03-28T16:16:17.409-06:00life in fast forward<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Winter was no big deal this year. Then two big snow storms hit, and the wind came, and it was cold. Well, at least we had some snow to play with. I built a sledding hill on our patio, and the girls cruised down it on baking sheets.</div>
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I built the hill after the first storm and added to it after the second. That storm started late Saturday night and continued until about noon on Sunday. At 6:30 in the morning, Jill work me up to tell me that we could sleep in, since we wouldn't be able to get to church. I was confused (um, why did you wake me up to tell me this?). </div>
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Our church didn't cancel services, but we declared a family snow day.</div>
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One of the families in our small group is from northern Minnesota. The wife's mother was staying with them for the winter. At our small group, she said that it's colder in Urbana than in Duluth. Despite the -25 degree temperatures in Duluth, it still feels warmer than 5ish degrees in Urbana, thanks to the steady [cold!] winds here. </div>
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I can't tell you how proud I am of this comment. Our hometown has just about the worst weather in the country! We may not have interesting topography or varied flora, but the weather is really something. Come visit anytime! </div>
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Hey look below, here is our patio on March 14, Janny's birthday. It's still a bit wet. I was able to scrape the remainder of the sledding hill off earlier in the morning, but it wasn't quite warm enough to dry the melt water yet.</div>
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The usual cast of kids from church and the neighborhood came to Janny's party for some cupcakes and pinata breaking. I felt smart that I pre-distressed the pinata a bit this year. We only had to go through the line once before it was about to break open (the bigger kids at the end of the line did the work before Janny finished it off).</div>
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Jill pushed back barbie acquisition at least until Christmas. Instead, Janny got some very fun hotwheels cars and track (see behind her in the picture). These are much more fun for me and Jill.</div>
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Some common Janny sayings lately:</div>
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Mommy I can't [do something]... WAIT! I can!</div>
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Mommy [or Daddy], I'm hungry. [This is said either when she's laying in bed for bedtime, or about 30 minutes after we've finished eating a meal]</div>
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Mommy, will you play with me?</div>
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Our basketball season was cut one week short when a last second put-back by Luke bounced around on the rim and ultimately rolled out as the buzzer sounded. Had it gone in, we win. Instead, the game went to overtime, and we ultimately lost. The next tournament game would have been against the undefeated Stone Creek, who beat us by about 30 a few weeks before. So I didn't feel that we missed out.</div>
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The season as a whole was a struggle. We won only one game, beating the winless team in the league. A few games were close, but many were not. We had trouble scoring, and our defense was poor.</div>
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But a couple of ideas brightened my feelings about the season. First, there were only 6 teams in the league. In softball, there are about 30 teams over the 4 different levels. So instead of thinking that we were 2nd to last, instead I think of it as 5th place. Quite respectable!</div>
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Second, Tom Z from church shared some encouragement before church one Sunday. We had played together in church league during my grad school days [he seems to have retired some years ago]. A friend of his on the 4th place team told him something like 'TCBC is decent. They have some older guys that are pretty good.' Thanks?</div>
Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-9192185400144695022015-02-08T19:54:00.002-07:002015-02-08T19:54:49.169-07:00views from 2 1/2 feetThis post's photos were all taken by Clara recently. She requested they be used for the blog, so here we go.<br />
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The girls continue spend most of their days making crafts of all sorts. Coffee filters were converted to fish ponds.<br />
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Bunny (Clara's version. Janny's bunny arrived a couple of weeks ago. She is fond of it, but Clara's attachment to her Bunny is quite a bit greater) is often the subject of the project or the recipient of it. Clara cut this cereal box to make a swan, which apparently Bunny can fly in.<br />
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The next day, Jill asked Clara why she was sobbing. Clara couldn't remember how she made the bird from the cereal box. With a little help from mommy, Clara was back at it.<br />
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I just realized this week that Janny's life will be radically different next year. With Clara away at kindergarten all day, Janny will have lots of alone and mommy-only time. We're planning to have her in the 3 days per week preschool, but that still leaves a whole lot of time. What will she do by herself?<br />
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I try to dump the lower half of the project bins every other week. It's time to do it. <br />
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We've had a couple of small snow storms last month. Janny comes outside and demands that snowmen are made. She won't help because she doesn't know how. She assures me that 5 year-olds can build snowmen. I wouldn't know because Clara tends to stay warm inside. <br />
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Jill is turning our sunny windows-areas into greenhouses. Our big plan for this year is to have the evergreen on the northwest side of our house (next to the driveway) chopped down. That area should be the sunniest on our whole estate, so we have high hopes for a garden there.<br />
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The girls' Sunday school class passed out Valentine's cards at the county nursing home today. Neither Jill or I joined the group because (a) our class had a fantastic potluck and (b) other parents graciously went with the kids. The parents' reports: our kids are quiet. Sounds like me and Jill!<br />
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Self-foot-portrait.<br />
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Finally, TCBC basketball remains winless. There is one more team that we haven't played yet before we replay a couple of other teams. So there's a decent chance that we'll win a game or two (we switched our primary defense from zone to man, so it's not quite so easy for our opponents to score. We struggle to score). Possibly because I'm getting older (not that old, I'm still in the upper 30s), or possibly because I'm zen'd out, I really don't mind the losing. It's dark and cold at night, and I'm getting some exercise. I'm not sure anyone else on the team feels this way, but my hope is that we still enjoy playing and hanging out together. <br />
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And if not, well, softball starts up again soon.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174985078400986696.post-83671857751060010702015-01-05T19:02:00.001-07:002015-01-05T19:05:40.668-07:00A fine holiday season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I crossed paths with a coyote on my way home from work tonight. I was riding along the dirt road just south of St Mary's Dr near the horse pasture, and he was in the harvested corn field. Thankfully he didn't think I was dinner and ran off through the snowstorm. </div>
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Have I mentioned that I enjoy living in this small town? What fun to ride a bike without any cars nearby on a commute! We had a great time in the Nashville burbs for Christmas but it's nice to be home. </div>
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Lupita and the kids were back from Mexico, and the Beth and Brents came down from MI for the festivities. So we had a full house(s). Lots of 5 Crowns and Deer in the Headlights happened.</div>
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A highlight was the indoor jumpy house place that allows grownups to jump as well. Janny climbed up to the biggest slide and came down all by herself! </div>
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The kids put on the 2nd annual Christmas play. Janny wouldn't say any lines as Gabriel. Clara played Mary brilliantly.</div>
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We paid another visit to Cold Springs water fall near Manchester. More water was coming down this time. I decided to not carry Janny on the sketchy walk to the falls, so we threw rocks in the stream.<br />
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The kids continue to work on projects for hours at a time. Other than the gigantic mess that this process leaves all over the floor, it's quite relaxing for us to watch them work. During the visit to Nashville, Jill and I recalled with shudders how much work it was to care for a 1 year old. Linda never stopped looking for new things to touch/break.<br />
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Queen Clara and Princess Janny hold fort in front of their castle. <br />
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In my last post, I mentioned that we were using a bit more gas than last year. Well, a little more poking around on <a href="https://aic.opower.com/">Ameren's site</a> led to finding MORE DATA! Also, I realized that my plot was labeled incorrectly last time (oops, I'm quite used to Mathematica now, not google spreadsheets), and my conclusion was wrong. <br />
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In fact, we've used less gas than last year. In fact, the plot below shows that we've been progressively using less gas each year. Notice the two very large data points from 2011, when we first moved in. Yikes! Adding insulation in the ceiling (happened late that winter) and paying attention made quite a difference.<br />
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Finally, church league basketball starts this Thursday. I haven't played at all since, um, hmmm.... I don't remember. So the first game might be a bit rough. However, we have some new players this year, including large humans, so maybe it won't be so rough after all.Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01189948886783254079noreply@blogger.com0