It is Finished !

Finally, after ten weeks I finished the Ben Franklin book. That's the first time I think I ever read such a long nonfiction book. He sure was quite an American diplomat, scientist, philosopher, inventor, and writer. I learned a lot about America History and the Revolutionary War and his role in bringing the United States of America into being. A very good read.

Also, Dee and I finished our 5th puzzle ! Here is a photo of the final result - all 1,000 pieces together. That was alot of fun, and we just sat and did it on occasion instead of watching TV. A little here and a little there, and before you knew it, it was coming together. I'm still amazed at how each piece has only one place that it can go. And when it's in the right place you can definitely tell. We'll leave it up for week or so and enjoy looking at it.

While we were out and about yesterday, Dee got her hair cut at a new place and saw Ann from church there also having her hair done. I went to Pool City to learn more about hot tubs and spa maintenance. I want to do it right and the quick lesson by the service guy helped, but left me with some questions. Next door to the spa place was a Game Stop store. I wnet in there to see what they had for the Wii. As it turns out the clerk was very helpful in explaining one of our games to us. And we bought another Wii game that had word puzzles that could be played by one to four people. In passing we asked if they had any Wiis in stock and he said they were delivered just before we walked in. So we called the Curdies to see if they still wanted one. Sherron said yes, so we got them one. The price came down since we bought ours. Now they're $265.

We went to Costco and had lunch there. They have an awesome sausage and pepers sandwich that we've had several times. And it's fun to walk around and sample the various items they have available to try. After we got home, I went to play golf at Treesdale. But I decided to just practice on the range, and outa the rough, and my chipping and putting. It was a good time of just working on swing, speed, alignment and feel. Very enjoyable. Still unbelievable to me.

While I did that Dee planted some more flowers. Here's the flower box she did for the deck.

Cranking up the hot tub

The "hot tub guy" came in the morning to de-winterize our spa. Everything seemed to be working well. No major problems. He explained proper care and maintenance of it and I was able to download a manual for our make and model from the internet. As it turns out, ours is a 4-seater. And it is a Sundance Spa, Cameo model from 1998. That's older than I thought, but it was well maintained and so in good shape. It holds 300 gallons of water. There's a "shock" procedure I'm to do for 5 days, and then empty it out and refill it. Then we'll be able to use it. We're looking forward to that.

Also, I went to the monthly meeting for the staff of Treesdale. It was an interesting approach to a meeting. The big boss lead the group in playing games (Pictionary) that drew attention to the mission, vision and values of the organization. Also, people were awarded prizes for being recognized for ways they helped other employees or the club members. People were honored for their birthday with a free golf hat of their choice from the proshop. And a movie clip for "Enchanted" shown and used to illustrate the spirit of cooperation necessary to accomplish one's goals. New hires were introduced and people were also rewarded if they successfully recommended another person who was hired. All in all a very upbeat meeting that lasted one hour. While I was gone, Dee planted some of the flowers she'd uprchased the day before. Now the front of the house is ablaze with color.

Later, we had our first cookout on the grill on the newly stained deck. Dee marinated some chicken breasts and I cooked them on the grill. (It's and electric George Foreman double grill.) It worked well and the chicken was moist. Dee had some corn and broccoli to round out the meal. Outstanding.

Enjoying the Deck

It's been a couple of days since my last writing. We've been busy. The local clergy met at another church location and so I had the chance to see yet another sanctuary and enjoy the fellowship of the group. They began by sharing "highs and lows" of their congregational life. The highs had to do with some personal accomplishment or recognition or family situation and the lows usually had to do with the usual interchurch pettiness, rumor, "someone said," or hurt feelings that messes up the pastor's true focus or mission for his congregation. Amazingly, we Christians are usually our own worst enemies.

Later that day I re-stained the deck. The winter was har on the original staining I did. Now it looks better than before. I still have to do the one side of the verticle divide facing the neighbors. I never did get to that, and the neighbors graciously loaned me an extension ladder to do that. Dee bought some more flowers for the front of the house and a flower box for the deck. It looks nice. Here is a picture of her handiwork. Speaking of flowers, my Barbershop Chorus is selling flats of them for the next two weeks. The flowers come from a local nursery and are supposedly beautiful and a terriffic buy.

Yesterday I attended Rotary and saw yet another presentation of a group who went to help Katrina victums rebuild their homes. This group was supported with money from the Rotary Club and several on the trip were from Rotary. A good presentation. Then after Rotary I played some golf at Treesdale. I went out by myself, but two of the other rangers caught up with me and the three of us played together. It was very nice. I still can't believe hoe fortunate I am to be able to play there almost anytime I want (Tues. - Fri.) for free. The guys were very friendly and explained the best strategies for each of the holess. It was the first time I played the Orchard Course. We long played six holes before the lightening siren sounded and we had to stop playing. (The alarm goes off automatically if there is lightening within 5 miles of the course.) I did have one par though. I also picked up my red shirt and blue hat which are part of my uniform.

When I got home, I was got home it was sunny again and I thought I'd do more staining of the deck, but the storm clouds rumbled eventuall, and so I decided to just read on the deck. -- Ben Franklin was finishing up in France and heading home to America. While there I got the binoculars out and watched some blue jays playing in the trees. There were four of them and they were hopping all over the place. I love it when bird flies by at eye level or I'm looking down on them soaring. Cool. It did rain a little, but we were able to return to the deck after about 20 minutes. Later, we spent some time on the latest jigsaw puzzle. We made some great progress - It won't be long before I'll take a picture of our 5th completed puzzle.

Working the Puzzle of Life

Yesterday while Dee went to Contours, I walked the dog. During the walk I saw a man near the construction site of the new homes behind our place. I spoke to him and we began a conversation. He was the project manager for the homes being built in our plan. We must have talked for 20 minutes about the process. He said it takes 120 days from when they break ground, till when people can move in. As we were talking another guy drove up and stopped. Turns out he's the person who knew all about the furnace and air filtration systems in the homes. I quizzed him on how they work, and when and how to replace the various kinds of filters. Very helpful. When I got home, I saw Steve online and IMed him. He called me on the phone and we chatted for awhile. Since we last talked one of his tennants had a house fire. They had only been in the house 3 days. Steve sent pictures of the damage that will run into the tens of thousands of dollars. He said Paul Anselm went to check it out and was extremely helpful with the insurance adjuster. In fact, the adjuster wants to use Paul's report it was so thorough. (way to go P-A!)

Later Dee and I went plant shopping in a nursery nearby. It was huge and quite fascinating to see and read about the various kinds of flowers. All new to me. We picked out a few primrose - reds and yellows and Dee put them in the front of the house just outside the front door. I also got hold of the "jacuzzi" service man, and he'll be out to set us up on Thursday morning - I'm looking forward to that. He said it would take about an hour.

During the afternoon, I sat on the deck and read my Ben Franklin book. Ben was negotiating the peace alliance with Britain. He was quite a diplomat. Fascinating stuff.

I finished the evening with another practice with the Cranberry Barbershop Harmony Chorus (Bogmeisters). It was good to be there and to sing. I can see where it takes practice, practice, practice to do it right. We worked alot on the song "Good Night Sweetheart, Good Night". The fact that I can read music sure helps. I got the application to join the group last night. It's an enjoyable time, I learn stuff, and the people there are there to have fun and to try to accomplish something that brings pleasure to others. Jim is going to get me his "tape" of the pole cat songs (songs every barbershopper is supposed to know by heart) so I can hear the bass part and learn it between practices.

While I was at practice, Dee was able to get caught up with Kathy on the phone, who'd returned from their two week trip to Hawaii. They had lots to talk about. The work on the 5th puzzle proceeds. It's amazing how each piece fits only in one place. And you can tell when the fit is perfect. And the more you work at it, the better you are able to see where the pieces fit. It's a fascinating visual and mental process to be sure.

Sunday

Yesterday we went to the Presbyterian church and sat with the Campbells. The service was worshipful and focused on service and mission. The people who went on a mission Trip to Katrina stricken Mississippi share stories of their experiences and a video collage of pictures and video clips was presented that gave you a better feel of what they accomplished. About 18 people went on the trip in February. Impressive presentation and accomplishments that helped rebuild 3 family's homes. After the service I spoke with the guy who was putting away the equipment and asked him about it. He is a member of the church and does video for a living. all the equipment was his. I asked what the church does to make other video presentations. He said they don't. I was disappointed to hear that. He mentioned that the large windows provide a lot of back lighting that make presentations difficult to see sometime. AND that his projector was a 4,000 lumens model. It's a shame they don't used some video at least, even if not every Sunday. There is so much available now for churches to use that could enhance their services and make a greater impact on the worshipers to build up their faith. I know there is always the temptation when using audio visuals to allow them to take over, but that doesn't have to be the case if you manage it well.

During the fellowship time, I met Dee's new friend Ann, who went to the newcomers meeting with her and Marsha last week. It was nice to meet her. Afterward we went to Aladdin's (Lebanese food) for lunch. Excellent. Later, Dee returned a couple of items and or exchanged some, and we headed home. Bonz and I walked around the block a couple of times in the afternoon and we enjoyed sitting on the deck again. Progress was made on our 5th puzzle. We relaxed through the evening. All in all it was a laid back kind of day.

Reminiscing with Old Friends

Since yesterday was warm and sunny and we had nothing really scheduled until the evening, we relaxed by walking Bonz around the area for about 1.5 miles. Then, since it was so nice, we ran a couple of errands, Dee got some ivy she wanted to use above the kitchen cabinets, and we chilled out on the deck for the afternoon. She read her book and I continued with the Benjamine Franklin book.

Later, the Fishers came for dinner. Dee made one of her chicken casserole dishes with broccoli and rice. The Fishers brought some nice selection of desserts from Whole Foods. And Bonz behaved himself nicely. It was great to see them again and visit together getting caught up on their family, and others from the Wilkinsburg Church. We laughed a lot and picked up almost where we left off 13 years ago. Nice.

After dinner we played the Wii. They'd never played it before so it was fun teaching them how the games worked. As it turns out Eleanor was a bowling "ringer". She started slow and then after a "turkey" in frames 6-8, she hit another strike in the 10th frame and sped past all of us to win the game. Tom seemed to catch on to the tennis game quickly beating me several times. Finally we did the "Brain Academy" game. As it turns out Tom's brain only weighs 659 milligrams giving him a first round score of C--. Dee and Eleanor visited while we played the tennis and academy games.

It was lots of fun. And a very enjoyable evening with people we've known for 25 years. (That's something I haven't been able to say very often - actually not at all - until we retired.) Somehow we missed out on being able to get together with people we've known a long time when we moved from one church to another. That's been one of the added blesings of moving back to the Pittsburgh area. Three of our five churches are here, and we've been able to connect with our roots. While serving churches in Michigan and NJ we felt somewhat "rootless". I always envied people who said they did this or that with people they grew up with or knew for 10-20-30 and even 40 years. Being here, now, allows us to have some of those experiences. What a blessing. Thank you , Lord.