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Events in the Life of Grandpa Baboo

On this page I have recorded events in which I was involved this past week, as well as thoughts and opinions about these events. It is not a blog since I have not included a method for you to respond and add your opinions/feelings. I guess it would more appropriately be called an daily online diary which is then published each week. You may comment in the guestbook. However, since I fund the website, I reserve the right to delete offensive comments.

Like life--a work in progress not yet finished

Week ending Friday March 28, 2008

My Favorite Links
In the case of a shared link
the name of the person who shared is included

Soon To Be Gone shared by Joe Plefke NEW

Inspirational Music of Margi Harrell

The Chicagoland Lionel Railroad Club

Orland Memorial Post 111 American Legion

St. Julie Billiart Church

Espiritu Santo Catholic Church

Minorities

The man song

I mentioned before that other commitments kept us from attending Easter Vigil. The commitment was to watch over Dirk. So, instead of Easter Vigil we went to 10:30 mass this morning arriving in plenty of time to be seated comfortably. The Presider who happened to be Father Bob, the Pastor extended a heartfelt welcome to all including all guests and visitors. The ushers had passed out welcome tri-folds to all who wanted them. They welcomed all and provided a checklist of ways in which the parish could be of help. It was a great tool of evangelization which I intend to forward to Sr. Gael soon. The parish had organized a special Holy Week choir. I am not sure whether it was they or the regular choir but the music was magnificent. Father's homily was once again beautiful and relevant. He spoke of arising a bit early this morning and walking outside to see if it was still raining. He was pleased to find that the rain had stopped, the sun was just coming up in the east with a few clouds and he could imagine what it must have been like that first Easter morning when the ladies arrived at the empty tomb. He also said that as he turned to reenter the house he spied a creature with floppy ears hopping in the grass. Perhaps the Easter Bunny on his way from leaving treats and Easter eggs. From there he used the idea of chicks or ducklings emerging from the egg to new life. not unlike as Jesus emerged from the tomb and that we should emerge to a new life as well. After church we went to Dave and Kathi's for coffee and a sandwich and to bring Dirk some Easter goodies that the Easter Bunny had left at our place. After hangin for a while we went on to Dave's brothers for Easter dinner of ham, two different wonderful varieties of potatoes, lasagna and a few other sides. Each family contributed a little bit and it turned out wonderful. Mary and I returned home with a couple of portions of the delicious homemade lasagna for tomorrows dinner along with some of the creamy mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, we ran across The Odd Couple II on TV so bedtime may be delayed a bit.

Faith acts promptly and boldly on the occasion, on slender evidence.

~ John Henry Cardinal Newman

Monday afternoon I took the old reliable Windstar for some brake service. It was one of those problems that only happens infrequently, however, the recommended mechanic we had been using made it happen. Unfortunately, although he seemed to know what was happening he was at a loss to correct it. He consulted with colleagues with no success and made two other calls to other friends before suggesting that perhaps it needed to go to Ford. It does not appear to be a safety feature, just a quirk in the abs braking system. So next step, one of the local Ford dealers. Monday night Dirk had a game. We are coming up on what is expected to be the last cold snap of the season overnight. Wake up temperature is forecasted to be in the mid forties and the panic is on as there are freeze warnings for some inland areas. I make fun but tonight during the game it was in the 60's, I had on a hooded sweatshirt and I was cold. It must be relative or maybe my blood has actually thinned. Anyway there were sweatshirts, sweaters, and blankets. Shades of Soldier Field in October. Dirk had a good night getting on base three times. Of course he is not alone in short attention span. The coaches constantly need to try to keep these 5 and 6 year olds focused. "stay baseball ready" is a constant comment. After the game we were going to hang out, get a hot dog and watch one of Dirk's cousins play. We decided it was a bit cold as the sun was setting but Kathi and Dave were going to stay a few minutes and then meet us at one of our favorite restaurants nearby. By the time we hit the parking lot they were right behind us and we all headed for Winners, a local sports bar with all the typical chili (my choice) wings, dirty fingers (chicken fingers with wing sauce) and other typical sports bar favorites. These were coupled by typical adult beverages for a much warmer pleasant experience

One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything every night before you go to bed.

~ Anonymous

Tuesday morning Mary went to exercise and when she was finished I returned to the saga of the Windstar brakes. I took it to a local Ford dealer and since they had the proper computer technology they quickly narrowed the problem to a thin magnetic sensor in the left rear wheel. I don't know all that was explained but the deal was that the gap between the sensor and what they call the tone ring was too wide causing a signal to be intermittently missed. A bit of "hammer" tap maintenance and the hope is that fixes the problem. The biggest problem of the afternoon was getting back on the infamous Route 19 which makes LaGrange Road in Orland Park look like a picnic and I am not the boldest driver on the planet. However I was able to use a merge to time a break in traffic properly to merge into fast moving traffic. Unlike yesterday when my failed "sense" of direction took me on a sightseeing tour I was able to take an easy direct route home. Tonight, I finally got to eat my piece of Lasagna which was left over from Sunday dinner. Unlike most reheated leftovers it was just as good as originally and although the portion was decent sized, I probably could have handled more.

It's Wednesday and the Windstar appears to be functioning properly after a bit of hamme``r maintenance. Mary went to the gym and I spent part of the morning and early afternoon working on the St. Terrence website. To make room on the home page I had eliminated a couple of links which after some consultation it was decided to put back. Unfortunately, the pages that were linked to were not on my laptop and needed to be downloaded from the site. After a bit of work, things were back to normal and I then proceeded to put this weeks bulletin online. When I had completed the work, Mary and I took a ride to our favorite spot along the nearby causeway to sit and enjoy the fresh air. Very shortly it was time to head home and get ready for our regular dinner gathering at the Golf Club where I chose the Lasagna. It was good but not as good as the homemade piece of last night. Tonight is web site Wednesday on WGN Chicago so I will set up my computer to hear the streaming audio.

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.

~ Raymond Lindquist

Thursday the long awaited prepared tax forms arrived from our accountant in Orland Park. We had been somewhat worried about how much we would owe but it did not turn out so bad. We will put everything together and get them off in plenty of time to hit the April 15 due date. That of course (filing a return) is the key to getting our share of the free money being distributed this Spring and Summer. What a crock. The MSM types (main stream media) are playing this like the government is giving away "free" money. That's the liberal view for you. Everything is a gift from Big Daddy in Washington. In fact, as we all know, any money in Washington is ours. If they have enough money to do this, what about leaving the tax cuts in place and let us keep more of our money. Heavens, we can't do that.

Friday Mary went to the gym but it turned out to be an aborted trip. She had hurried off without her gym shoes. So instead she foraged for some provisions and a curtain rod for the Command Headquarters. One of the things she found was Sopressa, a wonderful imported Italian salami. It doesn't seem possible that only a week ago we would have had to wait for Saturday to enjoy this treat because of Lenten rules. However, it was delicious. After enjoying it as part of dinner we watched some TV and now I am watching the Cubs in Las Vegas. Oh well, current score Seattle 5 Chicago 1. It is only an exhibition game but a win going into Chicago couldn't hurt. Well, my fantasy ended abruptly tonight. My sentimental favorite in the NCAA Tourney was Villinova (a number 12 seed). I was hoping because our niece Beth is a graduate of Nova and they were a decided underdog. As I finished this page I noticed that I had lost the template material at the bottom. This necessitated a trip back to the more familiar FrontPage so I could paste material. When Expression becomes more familiar, I shall return.

More Next Week

Until Then