Closest to the Pin Contest

"The last three days have been busy. Dee has been doing her workouts at Contours, and I managed to go to Rotary on Wednesday. And then work on my "curriculum vitae" per Jan's suggestion. I plan to try to see if I can teach at a community college here in the area. And to do that, I have to pull together my work and educational experiences into one document as part of a "resume" called a "vitae".

"On Thursday we went to the Cranberry Municipal Open House where they showed plans they have in mind for the next 25 years as the township grows. There was a musician lots of things to look at and then a ticket drawing with lots of prizes at the end. We had some pizza and walked around looking at the displays. Then, I saw someone I thought I recognized and so I spoke to him. It turns out we were both in Rotary in Wilkinsburg at the same time. And now he lives right behind Mars High School. His wife was with him and so the four of us chatted awhile. He worked in Wilkinsburg as the administrator of the Jane Holmes Residence there. He is now retired and the Residence is closed. We exchanged cards and hope to connect in the future.

"We left for awhile and went to Barnes and Noble to look at books and magazines. Dee went across to Pier One too. When we returned to the municipal event for the ticket drawing, we won two tickets to a place in the Strip District where they play live music. The tickets were for a band that plays music like the bank "Journey" later in August.

"Then on Friday I worked at the men's invitational golf outing at Treesdale - 11 hours. It was different this time. I worked one of the "closest to the pin" par three holes. A hole-in-one would win a new set of golf clubs. But, the closest 24 guys then got to be in a "shoot out" on another par three hole. It took two of us to work the hole. One guy encouraged them to buy into the contest at $20 per person, and my job was to measure all the drives that landed on the green. I think I measured about 45 of the 144 drives landed on the green. At the shoot out for the 24 guys, a hole-in-one won 20 thousand. I left during the shoot out to go home to a delicious pork chop dinner after a long day in the sun. Dee busied herself during the day with some shopping and working around the house. Then we finished the evening watching Monk and Psych on TV.

The Titanic

Here's a picture of baby Conrad and his mom Marissa. Conrad happened to be born on my birthday. Marissa is Kathy Gs daughter (Dee's good friend.)

"Yesterday we went to Pittsburgh to see the Titanic exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center. We were given a boarding pass of one of the passengers and when we completed the walk through, we read the passenger list to see if our name survived or not. My guy died, Dee's survived but her two children did not. It was a good look at a historic event. Very moving.

"After that we went through the other part of the "sports works" complex. It had lots of try and do things. We did virtual snow boarding, hit golf balls and saw how far they went and at what angle our club hit the ball. There were dozens of things we could try - even a climbing wall, and a trampoline. Very nice.

"Since we got down to the center at 12:30 we looked for a place to eat first. We chose Bettis' Bar and Grill. It was modern looking, and even had a TV in the booth we used. The food was great. Upon leaving the restaurant I went into the bathroom. (have you seen those one way window/mirrors on TV? Like the kind they have in police interrogation rooms?) Well they had a window/mirror like that in the men's room. As you stood at the urinal, you could look out of a window into the restaurant! You could see the people eating, coming into the place, but of course they couldn't see you. What they saw was a large mirror! Crazy, and when you thought you have seen it all! LOL

"After lunch we walked down by the Allegheny River and up and around PNC Park. The when we walked back to the Science Center, we had to walk around Heinz Stadium. A nice long walk after lunch. Here's picture of one of the larger than life statues of famous Pirates. Here's a picture of Dee resting after our long walk. There were flowers everywhere we went lovely!

"I spent the evening on the deck with my laptop computer pulling together my various work experiences and seminars into one document. If I decide to apply to a community college to be an adjunct instructor, I have to have a document that shows I could teach something they need taught. It was a fun process putting it together and remembering the various events throughout my life. It's in rough draft form, from the present all the way back to 1968. Whew!

Searching for the GFI

Here's another quote I thought was pretty good, "People with humility don't think less of themselves. They just think about themselves less."

Yesterday Earl C. stopped by in the morning and we went looking for a GFI circuit breaker that would fit my panel board. We went to 4 places and found that it had to be ordered. As the clerk said, "They're not cheap." It should come in in about a week. Hopefully it will be here before the hot tub guy comes back. Earl thought he could install it but wasn't sure. We'll see.

"In the evening I went to Bogmeister practice. It was held at the home of Bill S. We sat on the deck and ate hot dogs and potato salad and drank pop. Then we took our chairs to the side yard and practiced. I think I swallowed a bug or two during the practice. We're getting ready for a performance at Bill's Church on Aug. 24th.

During the day I wrote to Faye and Jan to ask them how one becomes an Adjunct Instructor at the college level. They wrote back with some hints and suggestions. I was wondering , since there are so many community colleges in the area, about seeing if I could teach a course or two in the future. People have told me over the years that sometimes my preaching is like teaching. We'll see.

I talked with my mother in the evening (she'd gone to the center for her line dancing class, and just stayed through until dinner time. They were having spaghetti and she decided that rather than drive home and then back again, she'd just stay through the afternoon. We talked about her next Dr. appointment to check her progress. She said she'd call and make (actually change) the appointment today. Later she called me back to ask why we were making the appointment. I explained that it was so he could see any changes the meds may have had on her system, now that she'd have been taking them for a month. She understood and thought that was a good idea.

While I was at Barbershop Chorus practice, Dee did some sewing she'd been wanting to do, and finished putting the clip on the dog leash Kerri made for Bonz. It's a patterned material that has liver and white colors, same as the dog. Cute.

A Sunday to renew friendships

"Hope is not about everything turning out okay; it is about being okay, no matter how things turn out." This quote was in a Guideposts Magazine someone had given me at work. I thought it was pretty good.

On Sunday we went to church in Cranberry. One thing the preacher said that I especially liked was "It's possible to own something but not possess it." (That is, we have it but we don't really make it our own.) We saw the Campbells there and sat with them. We hadn't seen them for about a month. They had been attending another church and we were going to the places where I was preaching. It was great seeing them again! We went out for lunch at First Watch and got caught up on what's been happening. It seems their son-in-law has cancer throughout his body. So they've been going back and forth to Ohio to be a support to their daughter and son-in-law.

After worship, I also spoke to the pastor about singing with their adult worhsip team. (They had just led the worship service.) He put me in contact with the guy in charge and we chatted for a minute. They lead worship about once a month. He's to call me when they rehearse again. I understand they sing various kinds of music. Today they did two songs I know. There were 4 vocalists and 2 guitars in the group. We'll see what happens.

(Earl is coming over to the house on Monday to help me with the GFI switchs I need to get the hot tub in compliance before the repair guy returns. PTL !) When we got home, we read the Sunday paper and I hung some more pictures and walked Bonz around the court. It cooled off in the evening and I read till dark from, "What's So Amazing About Grace." Good stuff. Dee watered her plants and did the things around the house that make her happy. Then we watched a movie on the Sci-Fi channel called "Premonition" - a good story line.

(It sure ws nice to see the Campbells again.)

A Busy Saturday

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On Saturday I worked at Treesdale for the morning. I was a starter for the Grove course. Here's a picture of the view I had all morning. It is 207 yards from the tee to the fairway on this first hole (a par five).

Occasionally you see these signs along the course. A bit intimidating to say the least.

It was a good morning - nice breeze, busy and fun to watch the golfers tee off. I took my binoculars so I could track the balls. It made it more interesting for me too.

While I worked, Dee took care of the homestead. A window guy came and cleaned all the windows inside and out. He needed a long ladder to get the ones in our vaulted ceiling living room, and the windows at the back of the house on the second floor. Dee was happy with his work.

Later in the afternoon, we met some new friends for the Luau at the Adams Ridge Clubhouse. Sandra and Bob were there when we arrived. It was a combination family day and party at the pool, complete with games and face painting for the kids and a rock band in the evening. The food was good - pulled pork, kielbasa and sauerkraut, a chicken dish as well as lots of fruit, veggies, potato salad, and coleslaw and cake.

I was fun to watch the people at the pool (It's L shaped. This picture is of the shallow part of the bottom of the L.)from the deck on the clubhouse. I took some pictures. Here are a couple...

Afterward we went to our friend's home and saw it for the first time. They have a lovely home. It's a "patio home". We'd looked at a couple of them when we were in the market to buy, but nothing we saw was as nice as their place. We chatted on their patio and got to know them better. Bob likes to golf (recovering from back problems) and she and Dee seemed to have lots to talk about. Nice couple. Here's a picture of the four of us at the neighborhood pool...

After we got home, I took Bonz around the court for a nice long walk. and we settled in for some quiet time after a busy day.