Saturday started as a quiet uneventful day. Mary went foraging for provisions and returned with Nathan's Hot Dogs (memories of my New York youth). The hotdogs coupled with the pushcart sauce (onions in a red sauce) really evoked more memories of my youth. The traditional Sat night at Mary's house was hotdogs and a special treat potato chips. When we were growing up having chips in the house was highly unusual. About 5pm it started to get dark. This time of year, when the day had been cloudy and gray it was hard to tell whether this was caused by twilight or by possible coming rain. The question was soon answered as the breeze turned into a strong wind. We turned to Bay News 9, a channel similar to CLTV at home. They have amazing radar technology Pinpoint dual polar technology. This enabled them to provide us with the same data that the National Weather Service was seeing. Unlike most TV stations, we saw and heard real time data not after the fact. We were able to watch as the on camera meteorologist was fed raw data by another seated just out of the shot. It got a bit dicey for a few minutes as they pinpointed Tornadoes in the area. They called it well, telling us it was a fast moving storm which would be by in a few minutes. Sure enough, just as quick as it had blown up, it moved off to the East and all quieted down to what is currently a steady rainfall, although we did get a shot of hail for a few moments. Part of the day was spent watching the media fall all over itself reporting on the primary in South Carolina and the caucuses in Nevada. As usual, the rumors of voter intimidation were floated. What a wonderful country. If you don't win blame the conspiracy. I am becoming more and more annoyed by their coverage of Election 2008. Hello!!! did you notice these are primaries. This is not an election until November when we have to choose between the lesser of the two evils. It is time to call it a day. I just looked at my Comcast Home Page and discovered the temperature in Orland Park is 1 degree above zero at approximately 9:00PM CST. I can't even imagine and don't want to what that is like. I can feel the little hairs in my nose freeze.
Sunday we went to the 11:oo AM Mass at All Saints. It is time for the Annual Diocesan Appeal and their numbers are staggering. Last year their goal was equal to or a bit higher than ours for their much smaller Parish. They fell about $6,000 short that will have to be made up so they will probably commit profits from their annual gala in February. The contribution rate was 20%, much like any other Parish. This years goal is partially based on 2006 revenues as well as the size of the Parish. Since their revenue was up slightly in 2006, their 2008 goal is $88,000. After church we went home for some coffee before heading for Kathi's to watch the two games. Mary and Kathi experimented with a new recipe for baked onion rings. The recipe comes from a food network show with Ellie Krueger.. Ellie is a nutritionist whose forte is developing healthy versions of popular treats. The onion rings are dipped into a mix of buttermilk and spices. They are then coated with baked potato chips and baked in the oven. They are actually quite good. As usual the stands were packed in Green Bay in typical Green Bay weather, about -1 degree at 6:30 kick off. The Patriots to no one's surprise beat San Diego in the early game to set up one half of the Super Bowl match up. They showed a shot of downtown Green Bay and it was a ghost town. There was not a car or pedestrian anywhere. Apparently, those who were not at Lambeau were somewhere watching on TV. It is amazing that in a city whose population in the 2000 census was 103,000 the stadium is packed week after week. Looked like the Packers might pull it off until Favre threw an interception on the first series in overtime. The Giants kicker who had missed from 43 and 36 yards in regulation nailed a 47 yarder and Super Bowl 42 was set.
Monday, Mary made her usual trip to curves and I made my 2:00PM appointment with the personal trainer, returning home for dinner and some work on the Post newsletter. My fellow Legionnaires are amazed that through the power of the Internet I am able to produce the newsletter here and email it to the Commander who gets it reproduced for distribution at the General Membership Meeting which is on the 30th this month.
Tuesday I do Cardio (treadmill) on my own at the center so the time is a bit more flexible. I went a bit earlier than usual and from thee I went to David's shop. We had a front end noise and Dave had said I should bring it over and let his right hand man Gary take a look before we spent any money. Before coming on board with Dave, Gary had managed a small automotive shop for about 10 years. After some test driving and tightening of the left front wheel he decided it was beyond the tools he had available and giving me perfect direction he sent me off to the shop where he had worked. Within 45 minute to an hour of my arrival the problem was diagnosed as a warped rotor. I mentioned that the rotors were supposedly new before the trip down he responded that new rotors were often warped right out of the box. He commented he typically turns all new rotors before installing them. Oh well so much for having you dealer do the work. He turned the rotor, eliminated the problem and did an oil and filter change all for a very reasonable price. We now have found a place to take the car where somebody know something. Often dealer techs do nothing but change parts, paying little attention to detail.
Wednesday Mary made her trip to Kohl's followed by some recreational shopping. I was just about to call her and remind her of my 2PM appointment when the phone rang. It was my personal trainer indicating that he needed to go to a meeting and could we reschedule. We decided to skip today and that we would come together at the usual time on Friday with me doing Cardio (treadmill) Wednesday and Thursday. We then joined the kids for our regular Wednesday night Prime Rib Special. Dave's stepbrother, his wife and their little guy joined us. Along with sister-in-law Laurie two of her kids and Dave's Dad\ we made quite a group. Dave's Dad had to leave the gathering early to pick up a stepdaughter and her little one who had flown in from the coast. Her husband will join us shortly. I arrived home to find an email from a Legion member. Jack Bath our Sgt-At-Arms had died unexpectedly on Wednesday afternoon. Jack, had a heart of Gold and helped everyone he came in contact with. He was always there when something needed to be done and we will miss him greatly.
Thursday we had an appointment with our financial advisor. A neighbor came over and told u that they were approaching our street with the repaving project and we needed to park elsewhere. Since Mary had some mirrors she was interested in we went ahead and split. We spent almost two hours going over my portfolio and arranging to move some things around to minimize the effect of market fluctuations. We also arranged something for Mary. Shame on me I skipped Cardio for the second day in a row. After a lovely dinner of corned beef and cabbage I went to work putting finishing touches on the newsletter and emailing it out before sitting down to polish up these notes. I must confess, perhaps you have already noticed in the wording that as happens from time to time that I neglect these notes and must rely on memory as I write in past tense. Mea culpa, I must try to do better.
Friday morning the pavers began working on our street. They have been in the neighborhood working there way toward us. I moved the car out of the way parking it at the end of the street. They are currently stripping the asphalt off the street. Sometimes to save money and the environment they take the old asphalt, reprocess it and spread it back down. After I returned from the fitness center Dirk arrived for pajama party with B.
