How many more boxes do we have?

Posted on 05/30/2009 by RLW3

Several months ago, I decided to stop lifting weights. I was at a juncture where I had to commit to seriously training or to stop.

The thought of being “muscular” doesn’t hold the appeal it once did when I was younger. I mean, really, who do I have to impress?

But, I do want to be fit. As I have written on several occasions before, I want to be running when the sand runs out.

So, I decided to incorporate calisthenics into my everyday life…5 1-2 minute sets of jumping rope and two sets of dips on my morning walk, a couple of sets of push-ups and pull-ups at work and then resume my running regimen.

I want to be “functionally fit”.

That is really being tested this weekend…

We are moving…

from one upstairs apartment to another upstairs apartment.

I climbed approximately 100 flights of stairs today. Toward the end day, I was really having a hard time.

To avoid crying, I would say to myself, “Functional fitness…I want to be functionally fit…”

Believe it or not, that helped. It’s a whole lot better thought than “How many more boxes do we have?”

Still, I can’t move. Really…

There is no food or drink or anything that is more appealing than just laying down right now!

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That should help!!!

Posted on 05/27/2009 by RLW3

There are times when you just need to keep trying…

The letter of appeal is getting closer to being a finished product.  I still need to write the opening paragraph.

I think that it has been good for my son to witness the process. The finished product might make it look like magic, or that the writer is “gifted”, but my experience is that effective writing is just lots of hard work. There is no magic.

While I am growing increasingly confident that the finished product represents my best effort to persuade the Financial Aid Committee, I still have no guarantee of success. I am very aware of this fact. I feel like I am flying a plane in a storm and am being forced to trust the instruments. The instruments in this case are a few vague guidelines and my own storytelling instincts.

After writing all Monday afternoon, I called the Financial Aid office on Tuesday in an attempt to glean any further useful information.

Unfortunately, my call was answered by a “by the book, just the facts” kind of woman. No help there…

I wrote more last night. I am starting to like it. However, I ran into a difficulty…

My notes from an earlier conversation with a young  from the Financial Aid office man left me thinking that he advised AGAINST mentioning anything about an athletic scholarship.

It’s somewhat difficult to tell our story without that little piece of information. The whole reason I have to write the letter is because the wrestling coach cannot offer my son an athletic scholarship until NEXT year!

If he did say that, I clearly didn’t understand the reasoning behind the advice…

I called the Financial Aid office again today. After winding my way through the automated operator, my call was picked up by…the same young man that I spoke to a few weeks ago!!!

I asked him the big question…

“Oh, no. You should include that. In fact, you should ask the coach if he will write a letter endorsing your son and include that in your packet.”

That’s a great idea!!!

I called the coach…

He is going to hand write a personal letter!!!

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Theys a who’ lot of growin’ up goin’ on ’round he-ah

Posted on 05/26/2009 by RLW3

My youngest daughter started training for her new job…

She will be a hostess at a very nice restaurant near our apartment, The Bonefish Grille. Inside the  restaurant, the lighting is subdued, the food is excellent and the prices aren’t cheap. What I am trying to say is that this is a place where adults work!

Down in Texas, my oldest daughter is starting to square dance with a young man to see if their do-ce-do’s  might develop into a parentally approved wrestling match…

that’s all I’m gonna say about that right now (think Forrest Gump)

My son is reading books at night…

You might ask, “How does that fit?”

Well, with all of this standardized testing that he has been going through, he now realizes that his parents WERE really trying to help him by encouraging him to read more. So, he heads to Starbucks every night…TO READ!!!

If my children are growing up, that must mean…

that I’m getting older!

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Writer’s cramp

Posted on 05/25/2009 by RLW3

How do you ask someone to give you money?

That is what I have to do.

Fortunately, I haven’t had much practice at it. I say fortunately because I have not needed to ask for money very often.

Drexel is offering to give my son $23,900 in grants and scholarships. That is fantastic. No one offered me anything when I was shopping for schools.

The problem lies in the fact that one year of school costs between $44-51,000!!!

Oh, I forgot…

He also qualifies for $5,500 in loans. That means that we only have to come up with $15,000! … for next year!!!

So, I have spent the past 5 hours writing a letter of appeal to the Financial Aid Committee at Drexel.

I have decided against the “Since the adjustable rate mortgage on our 8,000 square foot summer home in the Hamptons has gone up, we can barely keep up with the payments on the two Mercedes and the yacht” approach. That would be lying…

I’ve decided to just tell the truth, but…

I’ve got to be informative yet not self-indulgent, involving yet not give too much detail, state our case as strongly as possible yet remain brief and succinct. I have to throw myself on the mercy of the committee without throwing away my dignity.

Professional writers charge a pretty penny for something like this. I think I am just going to garnish my son’s wages for the rest of his life if this succeeds!

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In praise of buying used

Posted on 05/24/2009 by RLW3

Several weeks ago, I had to buy tires for Wild Bill, my old F150. As is the norm, things did not go as smoothly as I had hoped.

I bought a set of tires and rims only to discover that they didn’t fit!

So, I had to buy 3 more tires.

I finally got around to putting the tires and rims on Craig’s List at 1:30 this afternoon. I just sold them about 30 minutes ago and made a $25 profit!

So, the final accounting is three tires with less than 10,000 miles on them mounted and balanced for $91. Not too bad!

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Stopped at the gate by Barney Fife

Posted on 05/23/2009 by RLW3

It seems that every so often I just get the itch to drive to places that are far away!

I usually have a pretty good reason…

I drove to Texas to look at a car for my son…

I drove to Agency, MO to buy tires for my old truck…

Today, I drove three hours to look at an oil refinery and a fertilizer plant! I am not kidding!

A few weeks ago, I did something that I haven’t done in several months…

I looked at our stocks. I haven’t done that because it has been so discouraging!

However, this time I saw that we have two stocks that have doubled since we purchased them! And they are just starting to grow!

One of those two companies is in Kansas…about three hours away. I wanted to see it!

Everyone else in my family was working so, I hopped in the car and took off…

I don’t know what I was thinking…

When I pulled up to the gate and asked if I could get an informal tour of the place, the rent-a-cop grew suspicious and asked to see my driver’s license!

He reminded me a little of Barney Fife!

Anyway, it is a beautiful sight to see a company that I am part owner of cranking out production! And the drive was really enjoyable.

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I want my money back

Posted on 05/21/2009 by RLW3

We got my son’s SAT scores today…

If you remember, we actually paid a tutor to help him. I think we paid for 4 lessons…$240!

I want my money back!

His scores only improved by twenty points!

That was about 40 less than I was hoping for…

I don’t know if he did well enough to persuade Drexel to give him more academic money…

This is one of the difficult parts of being a parent…having to sit on the sideline and watch as your child launches out on their own. If they are doing great, it is fun to watch. However, if they are struggling, it feels like you are left twisting in the wind.

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Say when!

Posted on 05/20/2009 by RLW3

I finally got through to the Drexel coach today to talk about the campus visit…

Big A is going to be attending classes with members of the wrestling team…

He will meet with the admissions and financial departments.

When I asked him if Big A should bring his wrestling gear, he responded instantly “Oh, absolutely!”

Now…

Why do you suppose that he was so enthusiastic in his answer?…

Hmmmm?…

Maybe he wants to see if my son is really that good!

My answer to that question is “I’m your huckleberry!…Say when!”

But, I’m not going to be wrestling either…

When I brought up my desire for a roommate with strong morals for my son, the coach erupted…”I think I’ve got just the guy. There’s a guy coming who has two goals. His first is that he wants to win a national championship. (same goal as Big A) His second is to go through college without drinking a beer!”

When I told my son about this, he just smiled and laughed.

Stay tuned…

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Not then…not then…hmmmm

Posted on 05/19/2009 by RLW3

I have to be careful…

I could easily rupture one of my knee ligaments…

from kicking myself in the rear!!!

Less than one year ago, I earned a voucher for a free flight with United Airlines. Both my wife and I have looked EVERYWHERE for the past three weeks and haven’t been able to find it…%&^$&$*(!!!

Time is running out. Even if I did find it, I have to notify United 21 days before actually flying.

So, do the math…Today is the 19th. 20+21=41

Even if I found the voucher tonight (which isn’t going to happen), the earliest that my son could fly to visit Drexel is May 41st on the Ernest P. Worrell calendar. (That would also be June 10th for those more comfortable with the Gregorian version)

The problem with that date is that it is during Drexel’s Finals week. Everybody knows that you don’t get a good feel for a school during final exams!

So, I had to buy a ticket from Southwest…

and that wasn’t easy! This coming weekend is out. Too much money!

He can’t fly out on the last weekend in May. He has a warm up tournament and we are moving into our new apartment.

The ticket prices drop after June 1st. However, he has the state freestyle tournament on Saturday, June 6th. He has to do well there to qualify for the Nationals in July.

Now, he can’t be jet-lagged for that so that rules out flying back on Friday…

And he has Elite night practice on Monday where only the best wrestlers are invited, so…

He is flying out on Tuesday morning, landing in Philadelphia at 7:35 P.M., taking his official visit on Wednesday and flying back to KC to be at practice on Thursday night!

And he’s on summer vacation!

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Already??? But I just got situated

Posted on 05/18/2009 by RLW3

I spent the evening packing up boxes and boxes of books that I don’t think I am realistically going to read in the next year. We have been using the third bedroom as an office/library. With just two bedrooms, that will obviously not be the case for the next year.

As I pulled the books off of the shelf and put them back into boxes, I realized that I just finished unpacking them and getting everything organized less than six months ago!

Downsizing has its downsides!

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