Missing Trash Can Lid

Last night I took out the trash can. That's because the trash man comes early on Friday. Momoko told me Friday was supposed to be windy. So I placed the can right up against the back of my truck.

Sure enough the trash man came and left by the time I woke up this morning. Before work I like to roll in the trash cans. However I could not find the lid. I looked down the street. I looked under the truck. It was nowhere to be found.

So I thought about what the trash dudes do. They normally throw the lid on the curb in the yard. I looked around and found the lid by our house. The thing must have blown across the front yard to the house. Gail force winds.

Who Let the Animals Out!

I was taking the kittens for a ride when all of a sudden a horse crossed the road. Wow that was pretty amazing but then a few seconds later a sheep runs across the road. Now, we were on a pretty busy road but there was a house nearby. I guess the horse got out and the sheep was tracking him down. They walked toward some unknown destination. I was a nice conversation piece in the car. You just do not see that everyday.

Plumber Power

Momoko told me the sink in the kids bathroom was getting slow to drain. Normally I would call the plumber. But we are trying to be scrappy. When the plumber visits, he charges $100. No can do.

I ordered some long pipe cleaner looking tools. Then Kit Kat and I hit the sink. She said she did not need any gloves. I put on some latex gloves for protection. Kit Kat put the pipes down the sink.

Now I thought we would find tons of hair. Don't get me wrong. There was some hair. But there was also a lot of sludge or something down there. And I had to clean off the pipe each time Kit Kat dug for treasure. Those gloves came in handy.

By the time we were done, we could run the hot and cold water at full blast. All the water flowed down the drain and did not back up. Plumber charge avoided. Kit Kat and I will have another adventure this weekend. All I can say is that there is something nasty about the windows in her bedroom.

Jump Car Jump

I have been spending a lot of time a work lately and today was no exception. We had an event today and I had to park in a different lot. When I came out, I saw that there were only a few cars left in the lot. A colleague of mine had left her lights on and she needed a jump start.

There was another car that had stopped to help but she was having trouble. Neither women knew how to jump a car and they asked for my help because they couldn't find the battery and/or couldn't reach it. I have never jumped a car before and I did not feel comfortable advising her.

Meanwhile, my son had taken control of the situation. He told her where to hook up everything and when she could not reach the battery on the jumper car, he opened my hood and saw that my battery was easy to access. I did not feel comfortable with Little Kat advising when I wasn't 100% sure he was right so I told him to locate a man to help.

Of course, Little Kat was on the right track it must be in his "man" genes. We ended up using my car. I had directions on my jumper cables that said to hook the black to a battery and the other end to the engine block but the "man" put it on the other battery and it seem to work just fine.

So, I guess my question is where should it go...battery or engine block? I guess it does not matter as long as it work.

You've Got Mail

Normally Momoko and I get all the mail from the mailman. They are either bills or junk mail. There always seems to be a lot of it. Once in a while Little Kat will get a magazine.

Lately there has been a mail change. Kit Kat is getting all this mail. And they are from colleges. Huh? This kat is only a sophomore. Why are colleges hounding her already?

It seems Kit Kat took some test at school. And she marked that it was ok for colleges to send her stuff. They are jumping on the band wagon. Times are tough. Colleges need students to make that $$$.

Perhaps the best way to look at this is that Kit Kat did well on her tests. So the colleges want her. As long as they are ponying up for some scholarships, I say let there be mail for Kit Kat.

Desktop Transfer

Kit Kat's desktop computer is dead. She tried to revive it. But it keeps going down. Now she "borrows" Momoko's computers. She sometimes uses Momoko's desktop. However she tries to get in on Momoko's laptop as well.

When I bought my laptop, I offered to let Kit Kat use my desktop. She declined the offer. I think she planned to save up and buy a laptop for herself. However the savings are low.

Today Momoko told me to move my desktop computer into Kit Kat's room. Kit Kat wanted to keep her monitor. I told her she could keep almost everything, except for the box that is my PC. I got Microsoft Office on there. And it is set up to use our wireless network and printers in the house.

Normally I would have tossed Kit Kat's old PC. However Little Kat wants to open it up and experiment with it. Now that's a young computer engineer if I ever saw one.

Tech Club Cancel

Momoko goes to college class on Tuesday nights. So I pick Little Kat up from school. This week he was supposed to start "Tech Club" after school. It has something to do with computers. The good news is that I don't have to leave work early if Little Kat stays after school for club.

Today Momoko called me up and said that Tech Club was cancelled for today. Great. I still had a lot of work to do. But I had to run to pick up Little Kat. Once I got him, we headed over to Petco to get fish and gerbil food.

At first, Little Kat tried to pick up some random bag of food. But it was for mice. I guess gerbils could eat the food too. However I made him search for a bag that was specific for gerbils. By the time we got home, Kit Kat was already here watching her favorite TV show (CSI?).

I realized that my library books were due. So were Kit Kat's. We headed to the library as Little Kat studied. Now I am going to read my new library book as Kit Kat cooks us up some lasagna. Come home quick Momoko. Otherwise there may be no lasagna for you.

Sunday is Work Day

Sunday is the day of the week I reserve for chores. I do things like all my laundry, and paying the bills. Today was no different. I even ran the sweeper all over the house. Our new Shark vacuum worked well.

Momoko and Kit Kat went out to see a movie. Little Kat and I were left at home. We decided to do a bit of boys night out. I asked Little Kat where he wanted to eat. The top of his list was Silver Diner because of their kicking crab soup.

We were going to go to the local Silver Diner. However Little Kat remembered there was a new one close to the apartments where he used to live. So we took a road trip. We were home before Momoko and Kit Kat got back.

At night Momoko had trouble printing to the wireless laser printer. I could not print either. Nothing seemed to work. The printer was "offline". I googled this problem. Many people said reinstall the drivers. As soon as I started the reinstall on my computer, everybody's printing started working. It was a miracle.

Snow Melt

Our high piles of snow are starting to melt a little bit. I am happy. Some people tell me their rain gutters are falling down (due to heavy ice). Ours are holding up for now.

I am ready for the forecast of rain. That might melt even some more snow. There is a problem that remains with the snow. There is nowhere to park. Normally we have two spots out in front of the curb. But the snow only leaves one.

Momoko and I have been playing musical cars in our one car driveway. Then things got complicated when my bro drove over with his truck. Had to park those cars tight.

We got this old couch in the basement. It is older than Kit Kat. The darn thing is just not too comfortable. Momoko would like a sectional sofa. But that sounds like $$$.

Value City has a sale this weekend for a 500 dollar sectional. Sounds like a scam, but maybe Little Kat and I will check it out. Right Little Kat?

Going Out to Eat

Today I went downtown to meet some guys I used to work with. We decided to meet at a restaurant. There was not much traffic, so I arrived early. I called one of the boys. He said it would be a while before he arrived. I was already hungry. So I took a seat at the bar.

When I saw bar, I am not talking about a bar where you get drunk or pick up chicks. This was a fine dining establishment. They had a sign on the front door requiring proper attire. Good think I just came from work where they make me dress up. No. The bar was just a place where dudes hung out while they waited for their party to arrive for dinner.

At the bar I ordered a cherry coke and a bowl of gumbo. I was so early that the bartender kept the cherry cokes coming as I waited. Then I saw one of my buddies. We got lucky. I put my name in early for a table when I arrived. We saw down immediately and were served.

At the table I ordered a Caesar salad while we waited for our other friend. I chatted with my buddy who recently was let go from work. We seemed to wait for a while. As we were so hungry, we decided to order. I got some jumbo fried shrimp. This was some good cooking. I felt a little guilty since I had a crab cake sandwich for lunch. But I only see these guys a few times a year. It was the right time to splurge.

Teacher's Pet

I had work today but the kittens were off so I smuggled Kit to work with me. She was very helpful. While I was stuck in meetings, she did the work that I needed to complete. She made copies, cleaned, organized, graded papers, and other miscellaneous tasks. I am sure you are impressed that Kit would actually come in on her off to help her poor mom. Well, I won't mention the fact that she does get paid to help out now that she is older. I find she complains a lot less that way. (I love you baby..smoochie smoochie)

We were afraid that the animals might not be alive since they spent 10 day untended due to snow. We were happy to see all the fish and two gerbils had made it through the peril of two blizzards. YEAH!!!!!!

We Are Free to Roam About

Yesterday morning I woke up hearing what sounded like a snow plow. Looking out the window, I saw a guy with a small front end loader cleaning the snow on our street. It was about time. We have been snowed in for a week. I worked from home all last week.

Today I celebrated the cleared snow by going into the office for work. Everyone else had off due to President's Day. It was hectic at work. The only good thing about going in is that when I leave, I am done with work. Working from home I get calls around the clock.

There was a lot of traffic on the road when I came home. This was because it had started snowing again. The clear road on our street also allowed the UPS guy to finally come with our big package. I bought this Shark vacuum cleaner online. Kit Kat researched about found it to be the best rated vacuum in our price range. The kids were excited and have been vacuuming the house ever since I got home. Let's hope this one lasts longer then our current one.

Reflection at 40

Well, today I woke up looking at my life through 40 year old eyes. Wow! I never imagined my life would take the turns and bumps that it has but here I am and I have a lot to be thankful for. Today is just a time to reflect over past decisions and prepare for my future direction.

Family: I feel we are strong but I would like to see some strengthening of relationships. I feel like I am not as close to my sister as I once was and being far away makes it more difficult. I am going to work on this. Kit is growing up and I want to let her be the independent older teen that I know she is but this is going to take some time and some more tears I think. Little Kat becomes an official teen this year and I am not sure how I will deal with it, denial is working for me now.

Work: I will complete my Masters this summer. I am very excited about this. I have been moving in a new direction in my career. It is a very exciting time for me but it is also a very busy time. I am looking forward to the changes to come.

Play: I want to travel to more places I have never been before. I really enjoy discovering new places. Nothing elaborate, just a road trip to a new sonic would be nice. This will cost money so we will have to be extra careful so we can have time to play

Projects: I have a lot of ideas to improve the house. I want rearrange the basement and guest room, figure out a way to get more dresser space in my room, and organize the media and pantries.

Money: I am looking for ways to tighten up my spending and save for bigger projects. I might have to start cutting coupons.

I guess that is just some of the stuff I have been thinking about. Thank you for making my day special. I did not need anything but your love today and you show it in many ways. Thanks for all the off-key singing and gifts that gave of your time and special words. I love you all very much and I had the best 40th birthday day ever!!!!

Sopapilla Surprise

Last night Momoko was not tired when we went to bed. So we stayed up talking. There was just one problem with this plan. I had to get up for work early today. It was painful. I had trouble staying awake.

I got out of work early for us to go to a reception for Momoko's colleague. We got out of the house, taking a bumpy ride over the snow. At the reception, Little Kat and I let Momoko and Kit Kat sit at the main table. We had some seats over to the side.

The good part about being on the side was that we could get some food. Momoko missed the meal. Afterwards we were going to do shopping. Before that Momoko wanted some food. Got some Mexican. The best part was the sopapilla dessert we all shared. Apparently the rest of the family had this before at the restaurant. It was so good I wanted to order a second helping.

Slippery Adventure

Today the snow plow came. Well, we saw him drive down the street but never saw any evidence of actually plowing. We did notice that he was good at talking on the phone. We had to get out today because a colleague of mine lost her mother and we wanted to attend her memorial reception. I was thankful I had a 4 x 4 because the side streets where pretty slippery. After the service, we stopped at our favorite little Mexican restaurant for a quick bite to each (yum yum) and then dropped by the grocery store for extra supplies. We were suppose to go to an Anime Convention for my birthday but with the roads being so bad, we decided to skip it. Oh well, maybe next year. I am sure the big 40 will past without incident. We made it back home safely and we are currently enjoying the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. GO USA!!!!

Getting a Little Warmer

Kit Kat was happy during the power outage that the fish were still alive. That was the least of our worries. We had to stay alive. Little Kat had it right. We were in caveman times here.

Little Kat looked for food in the pantry. He found some queso which was eaten up quickly. Kit Kat lit a cinnamon candle. Then Momoko made her light a huge pine candle too.

At first we tried to make some instant soup with hot water from the tap. Later we attempted to use candlelight to heat water for soup. It was a fail.

Little Kat's scout leader had us buy a flashlight you mount on your head. I thought it was a little cheesy. But it came in handy when the house was dark. The kids learned how to light a Bic lighter during the outage.

At midnight after 12 hours of power outage, the power came back on. I saw a blinking clock. The heat started up. I heated up some White Castle cheeseburgers in the Microwave. Momoko and I played Mario on the Wii.

School's Out

OK, I am getting a little tired of the snow. Everything is white again. We had the cars dug out and now we are back where we started. We haven't had mail or newspaper delivery since Friday. They have canceled school until Tuesday and we are trying to keep ourselves busy. We have been playing family games both board games and the Wii. Kit said she couldn't wait for school to get started because sometimes you need a break from your family. In other words, she has had enough of us...tsk..tsk

Great Blizzard of 2010

Early in the morning of the last snow fall, Little Kat went out to play. He measured a whopping 22 inches of snow in the yard. And all the snow had not fallen yet.

The power went out on us. We had a little propane cooker. I figured that in the future we should stock up on propane. We are going to get a new shed some day. I could choose to have the shed in the corner of the yard, with a big supply of propane. Nice.

During the storm we sheltered in place. I used duct tape to seal the windows in the basement shut. Little Kat put up some reflective shiny material in the windows to keep out the cold. Grannie Kat advised us to fill the bath tub full of water. But the water leaked out twice even though the stopper was shut.

There was no light in the kids bathroom. They came to take a shower in me and Momoko's bedroom while we still had hot water. They got a taste of how the broke down shower in the house works. Only a little water trickles out when you turn the hot water on. Weak.

I still got a lot to say about living through the blizzrd and power outage. More on that later.

Shelter in Place

Our snowfall and power loss was a significant event. So I plan to be blogging about it for some time. When the power first went out, the goal was to keep the house warm. Little Kat got the duct tape, and taped around the doors to close the gaps. Who knew when the power and heat would come back on.

We had previously purchased a propane cooker. It is a portable small thing. But we wanted some hot food while the power was off. I bought some propane in a bottle as well. After reading the directions, we found out you could not use this cooker indoors. Drat. We already closed off all the doors. And I did not want to open the doors and make the house colder.

There was hot water left in our heater. Everybody took a 5 minute shower shortly after the power went out. That felt good. The water heater is powered by gas. However I was not sure whether it needed electricity as well to run. Most of our phones need power to run. But we kept one of the old ones that works off the power that comes in on the phone line. That became our new incoming phone line.

We decided to do most of our work during the daylight. Had to conserve battery and flashlight power for the dark. There was not that much work to do during the day. We got a full game of Monopoly in before the sun set. Next time I will talk about the massive snow levels we got.

Bumping Along

Well, we have had a pretty interesting weekend. For some reason, I do not feel well rested. I am sure it has nothing to do with 2 feet of snow, loss of electricity, or slowly digging out of the neighborhood. I am glad we did not have to go to work/school today and I just found out we are off again for tomorrow.

I decided to venture out to the grocery store before the next storm hits. They are predicting another 8 inches of snow. Our street has not been plowed but the neighbors all worked together to make a single lane down the street. I had a little trouble leaving because there was a jeep blocking the path but I talked to the person who owned the jeep and he moved it out of the way.

Kit and I headed out and the roads were very slippery. The problem was that traffic could only travel in one direction. We were feeling pretty confident about making it to the store until we saw a big four-wheeler coming straight for us. The four-wheeler saw us and started to back up but he got stuck. After many tries, he finally was able to back up and we were able to pass to the next street.

We ambled slowly to the store and made it there without further incident. We stocked up on more food and drove slowly back home. When I got home, I asked Black to back my car up into the driveway because he is an expert backer upper. WHEW!!!

Now to hunker down for another round of snow.

Out of Power

Yesterday Momoko encountered some brownouts with the power. You know. The power flickered on and off. She woke Kit Kat up immediately and had her cook us breakfast. That was a good move. The power did indeed go out.

Kit Kat stubbed her toe while making breakfast. She said that was a bad omen. I believe her. Little Kat was not concerned with anything but playing in the snow. However when the power went out, we needed to bring him in.

When the snow is high and the temperature is low, you got to plan for the worst. That means conserving precious resources. Little Kat wanted to us the batteries to blow up some air mattresses. We had to inform him that the light from flashlights was more important than any air mattresses. More on the great power outage 2010 later.

Blizzard Warning

Well, we ended up getting off work/school really early today (3 hours!) I decided to do a few last minute errands. I took the kittens by the gas station and Kit topped off the gas. We went to Best Buy to pick up a few new Wii games and then to the bookstore to pick up a few new books. The kittens are reading the Percy Jackson series and needed the next few books. I was surprised how many people were out and about in the snow but hey so was I. We made it home before the snow really started cranking out. Things have been going pretty full force and we probably have 7" down now but it won't be stopping until Saturday evening. They have a Blizzard Warning posted right now and things are pretty crazy out in our neck of the woods. We are just hoping to stay warm and toasty and the electricity running. Wish us luck!

The Tax Man Cometh

Last night I stayed up and did my taxes. Luckily Momoko had me buy Turbo Tax. It made it easier to figure everything out. One painful part of doing the taxes was being reminded how the downturn in the economy affected the stocks I owned. In simple terms, I lost all my money.

These are lean times. We used to be high on the hog. Need a TV? We could go buy it. Want to go on vacation? Price was not an option. Now we need to be very scrappy. And that is just plain no fun.

Things could be worse. Both Momoko and I still have our jobs. However these jobs are now our lifeblood. We need these jobs to stay in the house. That's a bad position to be in. It is like financial slavery. It is going to take a while for me to regroup, figure out a plan, and get back on track to take over the world.

A Good Helping of Snow

Well, they say we are gonna get a lot of snow tomorrow...maybe 30 inches by the time everything is done sometime Saturday. I really am not expecting it to snow that much but I am sure we will get a good helping. I have already filled up my car and went grocery shopping (thanks to Black) so I do not have to fight the mad rush for bread, milk and toilet paper. The kittens are I are hoping for a day off tomorrow but we will probably get to go home a little early and that is just as nice.


On a sad note, our zoo's "baby" panda has grown up enough to be returned to China and he left today. We will miss him!

Snow Day Surprise

Whenever there is a snow day, I put on my snow clothes and head to work. I also pack a backpack full of business clothes in case I appear too casual.

Before going to lunch, I reached into my backpack to get my sunglasses. I figured it might be sunny with all the reflective snow outside.

I felt a pair of sunglasses in my bag. But then I felt something else too. There was another pair of sunglasses in there. It was my long lost pair. I must have left them in there the last time it snowed.

Yay. Now I don't need to go out and buy another backup pair of glasses. A good find that made a good day indeed.

Sleeping In

Last night we had a little snowstorm. It was enough to cause a snow day. After doing the happy dance for getting the day off, I crawled back into my warm and toasty bed. Sometime during my snoozing, Black had to slip out and go to work. It is so sad that he never gets a snow day. The kittens and I slept until nearly 11 AM. We have a few chores to complete. The driveway needs to be cleared. I think I will just hire the kittens to do the work. I brought some work home and I guess I should attend to it. The only good news it that I got to sleep in today!!! I love snow days in the winter. I just hate them in the summer when we have to make them up at the end of the school year.

look look LOOk

look at little kats blog.

Linking in a Blog Post

So how do you create a link in your blog post. There are two main ways. You can just type the URL of the page you want to link to. Blogger will make that URL a link. For example, Kit Kat's URL is http://taylerlovescats.blogspot.com/. See how that became a link?

The second way is more complicated. You can make a word or words in your blog be the link text. To do that you select the text you want to be your link. Next you you click the little button on the bar above the post that looks like the picture I posted in this post. Then you get the hyperlink pop up, where you must enter the URL in the box that says URL:

That's it. You now have the power to link away. I know Little Kat wants to link to his blog. Good luck to all.