I won my first “snort-off”

Posted on 07/13/2010 by RLW3

I have told you that no one thought that it was a good idea to buy where we did. Some said that the city had a reputation for gang violence. Others cited a spreading blight.

However, my research told me that the crime statistics were actually lower than the “nicer” city directly east of us!

Still, when we were choosing where to live, I was very aware that the city that we settled in had a less than stellar reputation. We felt like this is the place that we are supposed to live. We figured that if God wants us to live here, He is big enough to protect us.

That being said, I am pretty conscious about security.

You need to know this to fully appreciate today’s story.

I woke up early this morning and went down to the family room to study the Bible for awhile before going to work.

Since it was a cool morning, I opened the two windows closest to my writing table. The crickets were still chirping (?).

After about a half hour, I heard a few footsteps just outside of the window to my left in our back yard.

Then, nothing…

I went back to studying…

I heard a few more footsteps…

I thought, “You have got to be kidding me! Am I going to have to deal with this already?”

I turned off my desk lamp and quietly moved toward the open window.

As I moved, I heard several hurried steps.

When I reached the window, my eyes had nearly adjusted to the darkness. I peered to the place where I heard the most recent footsteps…

Just 15 feet away from me, I saw the the outline of the prospective intruder! I was staring at a young, 4 point buck deer who was staring at me!

After a second or two of silence, he snorted at me!

It was too early in the morning to yell so I did the only thing that I could think of…

I snorted back at him!

He jumped straight up into the air, then turned 180 degrees in the midst of his second jump and then hopped and turn sideways and looked at me again.

Now he was about 20 feet away from me.

He snorted again!

I snorted back!

He hurried about 15 feet further away and and then turned and looked at me again.

This was too much fun! I didn’t wait. This time, I snorted first. (By this time, I really needed a tissue but since he and I were the only ones up, I didn’t think it mattered all that much.)

He took 2-3 small steps toward me…and then snorted!

I snorted back.

He trotted about 15 feet further away.

By now, dawn was just starting to make its appearance.

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Location, location, location

Posted on 07/12/2010 by RLW3

One of the most unsettling aspect of moving is the disruption of regular routines. I decided to get to work re-establishing one of my favorites yesterday morning!

I went out on my newly built back deck, put my coffee down on the top of the railing, sat down in my leather captain’s chair, put my feet up on the ottoman and opened my laptop. There is nothing quite like watching the sun rise while studying the Bible on a Sunday morning!

And it was beautiful!

However, I heard the rumbling of thunder off in the distance and it was heading my way. I stayed out as long as I thought safe before coming in. After all, rainfall and a laptop don’t mix very well!

Less than an hour after I came in, a tremendous storm erupted. The wind was blowing so hard that trees in the field across the street were bending. Rain was coming down in sheets! It is truly astounding how much rain can fall all at once!

Then, just as suddenly, it was over and we went to church in fairly normal weather.

When I got to work this morning, one of my co-workers asked, “Did you have any damage to your house?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about.

It turned out that the storm across the street that we watched yesterday morning knocked out the power to 29,000 homes. 9,200 still don’t have power this morning. Many homes and cars were damaged when huge trees crashed onto them. I saw one of those trees less than a mile from our house!

Upon learning this, I immediately thanked God for putting us in the place we are now in!

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My life as a snail!

Posted on 07/11/2010 by RLW3

The pain of moving lasts long after you physically move your possessions.

Long after your tired body recovers, you must endure the pain of living parts of your life at a snail’s pace! Simple things takes SO much time to accomplish…

BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO FIND EVERYTHING!!!

You would think that after I have found my razor, found my shampoo, taken a shower and dressed that I would be in pretty good shape…

But you would be wrong…

“OK, got my wallet, got my iPhone…Where are my shoes?”

I don’t know where my shoes are! They aren’t in their regular place because I DON’T HAVE A REGULAR PLACE YET!!!

“Where did you take them off?”

“How should I know? What did I do when I came home from work last night?”

Once I find my shoes, then I have to my lunchbox

Then the keys…

then my sunglasses…

and so on and so on.

And each of those things takes time…

which makes it very difficult to get to work on time.

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He has a bad runny nose

Posted on 07/10/2010 by RLW3

Last weekend, we moved everything out of the apartment. With that success under my belt, I had the opportunity to start moving our possessions our of our storage facility!

Man, is that something that makes you want to get out of bed or what??? Yippee!

That is quite a formidable task.

All of the rest of the stuff from our 2500 square foot 4 bedroom house in California that we couldn’t fit in our little 2 bedroom apartment in Kansas is stuffed in there! 10′ x 15′ stacked at least 8 feet high!

My son helped me with the first load.

As usual, I was so encouraged by the progress that we were making, the optimist in me started yapping…

“This isn’t that bad at all!…We’re making great progress!…We’ll be done before you know it!”

My son just silently groaned. This was not his idea of a fun filled Saturday with Dad. He was so tired from his first FULL week of work that he had to sleep before going to work at the restaurant. So…

I had to do the second load all by myself!

The second load took much longer. I can’t quite put my finger as to why…

When I brought out the last group of boxes, I was pretty tired. So, I was walking pretty slowly…

Slow enough to notice that the pavement underneath the truck was covered in water!

I had a feeling that Wild Bill was not feeling well but I didn’t realize that he was this sick. His had a very runny nose (the radiator)!

After spending a good 15 minutes arranging and rearranging boxes so that nothing would fly out once I going, I climbed in and turned the key. I knew there couldn’t be much water left, but since there are no hoses at the storage facility, I took off as quickly as possible.

The needle on the temperature gauge was well over the halfway point by the time I hit the first light.

I made my right turn and got on the highway…

“If I can get some air flowing through the radiator, maybe it will settle down.”

It didn’t…

It quickly became obvious that I was not going to make it home. In fact, I was going to be stranded on the highway in just a few miles.

At the last second, I swerved to get off the first off ramp. I needed to find water…FAST!!!

But, I was out in the country. The nearest filling station was at least 3 miles away. To get there, I would have to make a left turn!

The temperature needle was on its way to the big “H”. I couldn’t wait for this country light to change…

I gambled and turned right and headed off into the country.

About 1/4 mile down the road, I saw a side street with some houses in a heavily wooded area…

I turned right. Talk about flying by the seat of my pants…

I passed by the first two houses and then, on a hunch, turned into the third driveway praying that there was someone home.

As soon as I cleared the trees, I saw a man smoking a cigarette on the front porch. There was a hose at his feet!

I yelled, “Water?!”

The quizzical look on his face and made it clear that he needed more information…

“My radiator is leaking and I need water!”

He grabbed the hose, turned the faucet on and came to my rescue!

I made it all the way home, unloaded the stuff and then took Bill straight to the doctor (my mechanic).

That was a close one!

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Just a mile from work

Posted on 07/09/2010 by RLW3

I hope I don’t regret this…

I passed up a 20% off sale at Lowe’s and bought a completely reconditioned Kenmore Elite washer and dryer.

Why?

$300.

But, there is always a risk. They are used.

I hope I made the right decision.

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Hoping to get back to boring

Posted on 07/08/2010 by RLW3

I have an old truck that I have named “Wild Bill”. I call it that because it is an old style pick up…

Uncivilized, untamed…

It’s a man’s truck! No foo-foo women crud here!

The doors are hard to open and just as tough to close.

Since he’s old, he’s a little temperamental. Since there is no fuel injection, you have to pump the gas 5 times (not six!!!) before starting it up for the first time of the day. However, if you pump it the next time you start it, you’ll be sitting for awhile…(now that I think about it, kinda like dealing with my wife!)

You want air conditioning? Crank all of the windows open and start driving.

You want to turn it cooler? Drive faster.

My wife couldn’t believe it but through the years, guys in California regularly asked me if I wanted to sell it.

“Why would anyone want that beat up old thing?”

But, she’s a woman. How could she possibly understand???

Then, when I was ready to sell it two years ago, no one wanted it…three different times in two different states!

So, I…no…make that WE are stuck with him.

About 4 years ago, I had to change the water pump. To do that, I had to pull off the fan shroud. When I took it off, it crumbled in my hands…literally!

For the mechanically challenged among us, the fan shroud is like a hood or a funnel that helps the fan pull air through the radiator so that the engine doesn’t overheat.

I didn’t want to buy a new one because…

I was going to sell the truck!

So I looked for a used one…

Nothing!

“That all right…I’ll just drive without it. After all, how bad can it be?”

Plenty bad!

Every time the traffic stopped on a warm summer day became a high pressure moment. I grew to dread a light turning red.

“Will it overheat before the light changes?”

I have been reduced to yelling and pleading for the traffic to start moving or the light to change more times than I care to admit!

I decided that enough is enough. If Bill is going to stay on my ranch, I’m going to enjoy the ride when I saddle him up!

I found a used fan shroud in very good condition at a reasonable price. Now I just have to install it.

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From famine to feast!

Posted on 07/07/2010 by RLW3

I forgot to tell you…

My son technically now has 4 part time jobs!

You already knew that he works several nights per week as a busboy at The Bonefish Grill restaurant.

However, he followed up on some adds for construction post on  Craig’s List and found work…

Three brothers each have their own construction company. He works for whichever one needs him that day.

So, instead of sitting on our couch like last summer, he leaves at 7:00 in the morning, comes home to take a quick shower then heads off to the restaurant. He gets home at around 10:00 P.M.

He’s pretty tired.

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No, we aren’t on the debate team!

Posted on 07/06/2010 by RLW3

People think that after 24 years of marriage, you’ve probably pretty much been through every possible relationship scenario.

Not so!

We had a re-disagreement…

I don’t mean that we continued a disagreement that we had already had…anybody can do that! and most couples do.

No, my wife and I just broached new territory. We revisited a previous disagreement…

But this time we changed sides!

A few posts ago, I wrote about how my projections for our move differed with my wife’s.

Well, that happened again yesterday!

After working our tails off on both Saturday and Sunday, I thought we were in good shape.

“We’ll just make one or two small trips to tie up all of the loose ends, clean up the apartment and be done by 6:00.”

My wife, who on Friday night thought we could wait until Monday to do most of the moving, now told me that I was dreaming!

To make a long story short, I was right on Friday night and she was right yesterday morning. So, I guess that means that we were both right!

We hauled 2 Super Crew loads, 2 Wild Bill loads and 3 car loads! My wife and daughter didn’t finish cleaning the apartment until midnight!

During the move, my son expressed it best when he asked me, “How long do you plan to live in this house?”

“5 years.”

“Good.”

“Why do you ask that?”

“We won’t have to move for awhile!”

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So she wasn’t being rude!

Posted on 07/03/2010 by RLW3

As if things weren’t hectic enough with the impending move, two of Cake’s California friends flew in to spend the better part of a week with her. It made for crowded conditions. The three girls took over the second bedroom so Big A had to sleep on the couch.

After church last Sunday, we all went out to Chili’s for lunch. We were having a great time when Cake’s phone rang. She looked at it and quickly sprang up from the table and headed outside.

Hmmm….

That was an unusual reaction…

When she returned, we learned that her manager asked her if she was interested in being trained in “Admin”! The woman (in her 30’s or 40’s) who has been doing it will be leaving for a temporary opportunity with her “dream company” and he thought to ask her first!

Amazing! She’s 17 years old!!!

Wow! Go Cakes!

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Ah, yes, I remember it well!

Posted on 07/02/2010 by RLW3

The title to this post comes from the movie “Gigi.”

My wife and I had a small disagreement on this very topic tonight…

I told everyone that we had to get started moving bright and early tomorrow morning. She thought we could wait until Monday.

I agree with her to an extent. When I look around our little two bedroom apartment, it looks like we will be done in just a few loads.

But our eyes have to be deceiving us! I remember how much work it was to move into this very place one year ago!

Most of the time, I make an effort to be an attentive, kind, understanding husband and father…

But, tonight I don’t really care if she thinks I am unreasonable…

Everyone who is able is helping us move in the morning!

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