Wednesday night we met up with 15 of our motorcycle friends and had dinner in Linden Indiana. I was a little worried about the place when our waitress announced that tonight's Chef's Special was 2 coney dogs served with chips. My assumptions were right and the food was totally forgettable. Maybe we should have ordered the "special" :-).
We are borrowing Niles and Deb Robinson's cargo trailer so we can haul Matthew and Mandie's stuff from Columbus Oh. to their new apartment in Lafayette. Now here is where the story gets a little funky. Niles and Deb are attending a goldwing event in Columbus this week end. Niles bought a Rampage motorcycle lift from a guy in New Jersey who used it once and didn't like it. The shipping for the ramp ended up being a lot of $$ so the guy volunteered to meet them in Columbus this week end and deliver the ramp to them. So, Niles and Deb are taking our truck and towing their trailer to Columbus Friday morning. They are meeting the guy and loading up their ramp into the trailer. We will drive their car to Columbus after work on Friday and exchange vehicles with them so we can do the big move on Saturday. Whew, makes me tired just talking about it. Anyway, Thursday evening we met them and our buddy Grumpy at Stookies Restaurant in Thorntown for the big vehicle trade.
Friday after work we headed east for the 4 hour drive to Columbus. We met up with Robinson's, picked up the truck and trailer and headed to our motel. Matthew and Mandie stopped in just as we were getting out of the hot tub. Mandie's Mom, Dad and two sisters were staying in the same hotel. They were going to go out and check out the night life and wanted to say Hi. Nightclubs are not our "thing" so we declined their invitation and made plans to meet them in the lobby for breakfast in the morning.
Saturday morning after our freebie motel breakfast we drove over to their apartment. They have been packing and sorting but still had lots of "stuff". I'll have to admit I was not sure we could get it all in one trip :-(. Looking around I told Rudee we had better call the motel and get another reservation since it looked like we would be coming back again tonight.
We started loading and packing and piling. That little trailer ended up holding a lot. Two hours after we started I closed the back door. The apartment was empty! We got it all loaded! I was a happy guy, at least until I realized I had another 4 hour drive and had to unload it all :-).
Our truck is a Dodge Dakota and even with the V8 engine the loaded trailer was a strain. The onboard computer told me we got a whopping 11.1 miles per gallon on our trip back to Indiana.
Back in Lafayette our daughter Amanda and son in law Ryan met us at the new place so we had some extra help. The unload went pretty quick despite us having to haul everything up the 15 stairs (yes, I counted them. Several times!!). We had everything inside in about an hour. Mandie, her Mom and sisters got busy putting things in their place. Too many cooks spoil the stew so we took Ryan and Amanda out to eat to thank them for their help.
Matthew starts his new job Monday morning. They start their training first thing with pepper spray certification. I did this back in my day as well. They do some classroom training and then you get to "feel the effects" of the spray :-). All in all it's a fun day (heavy on the sarcasm).
Sunday is Valentines Day. Make sure you give your special valentine an extra squeeze today. We don't have any big plans, just going with the flow and resting up. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Planning ahead
Our son, Matthew, drove over Monday so he could sign his lease and get the keys to their apartment. He brought a whole car load of "stuff" and by the time we got off work and over to Lafayette he already had it unloaded and wanted to go eat. Their apartment is nice but is on the second floor so I'm not looking forward to moving them :-(.
Matthew had some errands to run Tuesday morning and then was heading back to Ohio for his last few shifts at work. I was up and out the door early. I had to drive to the office and be ready to take my test first thing. The snow they predicted had arrived overnight and the roads were covered. The plows had been out working and one lane of the interstate was fairly clear. I was able to drive between 45-50 most of the way in. The test I took was difficult. The majority of the questions were about how our estimating system works along with a lot of "integrity" type questions. They were all multiple choice but you really had to be careful to understand the question before answering. I took my time (we had 2 hours) and when I finished I went back and reviewed them all again. I was done in just over an hour. I'm not sure why but I always seem to be one of the first ones done when I take tests. Of the 50 questions there were about 10 that I felt uneasy about. We took the test on our laptops but once we submitted them we did not get a score or even a "pass/fail" grade. In fact they are not even telling us what score we would need to pass so I'm not sure when we will find out, if ever, what score we got.
The snow had quit by the time I left the office and the road crews had been busy and the major roads were pretty clear. I had a couple of inspections and made it back home around 3:00 to finish up my day doing paperwork. Rudee gets off at 4:00 and she made us a great dinner of crab legs, shrimp cocktail and a salad. We both love seafood!!
Niles called and said he had gotten his reservation for our vacation in July and told me to get off my @&# and make mine :-). I called and talked to the owner of Custers Gultch Campground and got our site set up. We are right next door Niles, don't say I didn't warn you!!
We have our usual dinner ride tonight which is just up the road from the KOA. Sweet. Friday we are heading to Columbus Ohio to help Matthew and Mandie move. We are spending the night Friday and hope to get it all done and have them into their new place by Saturday night. Looks like a busy week end. I'll keep you posted.
Matthew had some errands to run Tuesday morning and then was heading back to Ohio for his last few shifts at work. I was up and out the door early. I had to drive to the office and be ready to take my test first thing. The snow they predicted had arrived overnight and the roads were covered. The plows had been out working and one lane of the interstate was fairly clear. I was able to drive between 45-50 most of the way in. The test I took was difficult. The majority of the questions were about how our estimating system works along with a lot of "integrity" type questions. They were all multiple choice but you really had to be careful to understand the question before answering. I took my time (we had 2 hours) and when I finished I went back and reviewed them all again. I was done in just over an hour. I'm not sure why but I always seem to be one of the first ones done when I take tests. Of the 50 questions there were about 10 that I felt uneasy about. We took the test on our laptops but once we submitted them we did not get a score or even a "pass/fail" grade. In fact they are not even telling us what score we would need to pass so I'm not sure when we will find out, if ever, what score we got.
The snow had quit by the time I left the office and the road crews had been busy and the major roads were pretty clear. I had a couple of inspections and made it back home around 3:00 to finish up my day doing paperwork. Rudee gets off at 4:00 and she made us a great dinner of crab legs, shrimp cocktail and a salad. We both love seafood!!
Niles called and said he had gotten his reservation for our vacation in July and told me to get off my @&# and make mine :-). I called and talked to the owner of Custers Gultch Campground and got our site set up. We are right next door Niles, don't say I didn't warn you!!
We have our usual dinner ride tonight which is just up the road from the KOA. Sweet. Friday we are heading to Columbus Ohio to help Matthew and Mandie move. We are spending the night Friday and hope to get it all done and have them into their new place by Saturday night. Looks like a busy week end. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, February 8, 2010
weather is getting OLD!!
This winter is just dragging on and on. The weatherman (or weatherperson to be politically correct) is telling us we are in for some more snow tonight and tomorrow. They are using words like "significant" when they talk about how much snow we are going to get. How many inches are in a "significant"?
We did the "visit our relatives" thing Saturday afternoon and then met up with Rob and Jany Runion at Brickers Pub in Brownsburg. We had a great time munching on "bar" food and watching the ARCA race. Danica Patrick was making her stock car debut in this race. She did a great job and finished 6th even after she did a big spin and slide. She is a very talented driver as well as having a top notch car and engine package.
Sunday we met up with Niles and Deb in Lebanon. We made some decisions regarding our summer vacation plans. We are going to the Black Hills in July. Deb brought her computer and mifi hook up so we could decide on a campground. The mifi gadget was really cool and they are very pleased with it. They can hard wire it to a single computer or can use it as a wireless modem to provide Wifi for up to 5 computers. We decided to head to Custer S.D. and are going to get reservations at Custer's Gulch Campground. They have gotten good reviews on http://www.rvparkreviews.com/ and are close to all the attractions.
Sunday evening we were both perched in front of the TV to watch the Superbowl. We sure were disappointed in the outcome but it was a great game. Several of the players for New Orleans attended college here in the Hoosier state including their quarterback Drew Bees. They played a better game than the Colts and deserved the win.
I have to go into the office tomorrow morning and take an exam to "certify" for my job. I have been studying for the last 2 weeks. They give us 2 hours to take the test and mine starts at 9am. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted.
We did the "visit our relatives" thing Saturday afternoon and then met up with Rob and Jany Runion at Brickers Pub in Brownsburg. We had a great time munching on "bar" food and watching the ARCA race. Danica Patrick was making her stock car debut in this race. She did a great job and finished 6th even after she did a big spin and slide. She is a very talented driver as well as having a top notch car and engine package.
Sunday we met up with Niles and Deb in Lebanon. We made some decisions regarding our summer vacation plans. We are going to the Black Hills in July. Deb brought her computer and mifi hook up so we could decide on a campground. The mifi gadget was really cool and they are very pleased with it. They can hard wire it to a single computer or can use it as a wireless modem to provide Wifi for up to 5 computers. We decided to head to Custer S.D. and are going to get reservations at Custer's Gulch Campground. They have gotten good reviews on http://www.rvparkreviews.com/ and are close to all the attractions.
Sunday evening we were both perched in front of the TV to watch the Superbowl. We sure were disappointed in the outcome but it was a great game. Several of the players for New Orleans attended college here in the Hoosier state including their quarterback Drew Bees. They played a better game than the Colts and deserved the win.
I have to go into the office tomorrow morning and take an exam to "certify" for my job. I have been studying for the last 2 weeks. They give us 2 hours to take the test and mine starts at 9am. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted.
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