My fist stab at online videos...take 2

Lets try this.

Here I am trying to entertain the family behind the puppet booth.

Let me know what you think!....

"All I want for Christhmasth...."

Just a quick note...

Naw...just a quick picture...

Uncle of the Year Award

I am honored to have been given this title.  I'd like to thank all the little people that made this possible.  Jessalyn, and, well, I guess that's it.  Next time we have breakfast togther, I am expecting great results... 

For the full story (no pun intended) click here.

Do you know what tomorrow is?

We've found that preparing the kids for change before the change actually happens is best.  That way they can look forward to it rather than be surprised by it.  This week, Tim only has 2 days of school.  Monday and Tuesday.  The rest of the week is either HS Science Lab renovations and/or Teacher in-service days. 

On the way to school this morning (Monday). 

"Hey Tim.  Do you know what tomorrow is?"

(without missing a beat)
"Yeah.  Election Day"

I have to admit, I was quite surprised!  Good for him to know.  After a bit more probing, apparently the elementary school is having a contest, and they have to vote tomorrow for a winner.  I'm not exactly sure what the race is for...he couldnt remember.

But, he did say that he was going to vote for whoever gave him gum.  (there is a lot of similarities with his rational and that of the general American public..."What can I get out of it" ...but that is a post for another time...if ever...)

Its Vibernating

Just a cute comment by Tim!

So we recently got cell phones about 2 months ago...and since then the phones have been a fascination to both the kids and I (and Jenn...she got a cool ringtone).  When I call Jenn, it rings and vibrates.  When it is in her purse, her purse vibrates.  On time Tim exclaimed,

"Your purse!  Its Vibernating!"  

It made us smile, hope it did the same for you...

My day with Mark

I had a great day today...  It started like any other with the alarm going off seemingly too early.  After taking Tim to school, instead of going to LBC, I drove to visit Mark.  He had a few projects that he wanted help on, and it was time for me to make a trip anyway...so I went to help.  I'm glad I did.  It was good for us to see each other, and to catch up on life since our last visit.  I am already looking forward to the next trip I make. (today was convenient since his girls were all in school, my son was in school, and my girls had other obligations.  Was just a guy day)

After a brief tour of the changes he has made around the house since my last visit (including adding a new shed for the motorcycle, moving the existing shed a few feet to make a lean-to for his wood pile, his new woodstove (and thus why he needed to add space for a wood pile), a trailer which has proven his very useful in getting wood.  Oh!  and his new dinky chain saw.  Very nice!), we got started with putting in the outlet in the closet.  Now that the closet is the entertainment center (since the wood stove is where the tv used to be) I figure he should have a proper outlet instead of an extension cord.  Check!

We also wanted to replce the 4 foot section of wiring in his attic that had the insulation cleanly chewed off by some rodent.  It was discovered by the chimney install guys.  Yep, the outer layer and the colored layer around each wire.  Yep, bare wires ... 4 feet ... not even a fried rodent or a tripped breaker.  Not sure how it could have happened, but it did!  So, before lunch we peeked up there just to know what we were up against.  We then discovered that there was a 3 foot by 8 inch gap in their house located behind their primary chimney!  Not noticable from the outside, but in the attic, it was very noticable.  Just not sure why the (new) chimney guys didnt point it out??  Guess that would explain how the mouse got in to chew the wiring...  While out for lunch, we got the 3x expanding foam to seal the gap.  Upon returning from lunch we got the new wiring in place, and as a bonus, I added a light to the attic.  Check!

So at lunch I met the Shalom Christian Academy development director.  He had birds painted on his head?  Yes, birds painted on his bald head.  The deal was that if the students brought in enough names for their race for education, they could shave his head (yes, normally he is very well groomed...as in NOT normally bald), and then, if they raised enough money, they could also paint birds on his head.  Since the school has 3 sections, this was day 2 of 3 for bird painting!  The best part...Mark and I were eating at a pizza shop...and he was there, in public!  Good for him for being so proud of the students and not ashamed to bring attention to the Race-for-education cause. Props to the bird man.

After lunch we headed to Shalom Christian Academy and I got a chance to see J & M & L.  That was fun.  Wasnt worth the trip without the girls.

The #3 thing on the list was to replace the basement light with something a bit more low profile.  Too many head knocks on the existing light and poor lighting.  So this was the least important, but also easiest.  Mark was preping the area as I was finishing adding the wiring from the new outlet in the entertainment closet into the existing circuit in the basement.  I was running out of time, and I was hoping to get the basement light finished...so I was having his help with mounting the new light in place.  I would just terminate the wiring. ( :)  I'm already chuckling about what happened next.... :)  )  Mark: "Is this the right spot to hang the light?"  Micah: "Yes, just make sure that I can add the wire through this opening here...that way I dont have to add new wiring."  (a few moments pass)  Micah: "Oh, Mark, before you screw it up. . .?"  Mark: "I already did!" but he was still holding the light in his hands!  I laughed so hard.  If you didnt get it, read it again.  That was near the highlight of my day!  Needless to say, it got done.  Check!

We didn't have time to get a load of wood, or replace the other outlets, or fix the light switches, or tighten the other thing, or plan the future improvement of ....  Oh well.  All in all...a successful day.  Any day spent with Mark is bound to be successful even if nothing gets done.

Both quarters

So it happened in the Spring of 2007.  My car was broken into.  Well...I guess you can't call it 'broken into' since it wasn't locked.  Kinda hard to lock the doors that you don't have keys to.  The locks had been changed multiple times with each replacement of broken door handles.  Never spent the time to re-key the locks.  I digress.

Monday morning, I got in my car to go to work, and noticed that my glove box was open, and its contents strewn about the floor.  Hmm...thats odd.  I'm not very concerned since this particular glove box needed a good SLAM to get it to shut, so I figured that maybe it just opened again...but yet the contents would have still been in the box.  Alas, I figured out what happened when I noticed that all my money had been stolen too.  Yes, they took both my quarters.  I was devastated!  That was water money for refilling our empty gallons since our tap water is gross.  I digress.

After a call to the police (just to let them know...not 'cause I really cared) they wanted to fill out an accident report and the works.  The officer showed up a few hours later and told me that there was a break-in spree on my street over the weekend...and most of the reports were completed on Saturday.  "How is it that you didn't call us till today?"  Well.  Since the car had over 260,000 miles, only 2 doors, no air conditioning, smelled, broken glove box, and doors that don't lock (among many other things)...it was obviously not our choice of vehicle whenever the family needed to go somewhere.  Oh...and the seat belts didn't really work...not safe for the kids.  When asked what was stolen, I told the officer that both quarters were.  She snickered, and continued with the report.  I digress.

Time passes...I forgot about what happened until I received a subpoena to appear in court to testify against some kid they had caught.  The exact court date escapes my mind...I just know it was early September 2007, and to appear in court would have been a hardship at LBC since the semester had just begun and training was not complete.  The day before the court date, we got a call that the case had been settled out of court, and I did not need to appear.  Great!  Didn't really want to go anyway.  

End of story right?  Oh, wait there's more...

Time passes...I recently received a letter dated Sept 17th, 2008.  It was too good not to share with you... "Dear Mr Story:  This criminal case is now completed."  What?  A full year?  I guess those 1 hour shows on TV where they catch the murderer in less than 1 day really isn't correct since they cant even close the case on a guy that stole fifty cents in less than 1 year!!  "On July 21, 2008, the defendant plead guilty to the charges of 1) Theft by Unlawful Taking," What?  What other kind of theft is there?  Is there a lawful kind? "2) Criminal Conspiracy, 3) Theft From a Motor Vehicle"  Didn't we already cover that in the first charge?  Interestingly, he gets to serve jail time and is required to submit a blood sample to be included in the DNA registry (and pay costs)  Lets hope it costs less than fifty cents!

With the letter also came a survey titled Victim/Witness Services Satisfaction Survey.  While, yes, I am a victim, not so sure I really care about the outcome or my satisfaction.  The funniest part of the survey...question #1.  "What type of crime was committed against you?"  Pick one: (have left some off the list...) C-Burglary, E-Criminal Mischief/Vandalism/Property Damage, G-DUI and Vehicular Crimes, H-Financial Crimes, K-Robbery, N-Theft."  What?  Pick one?  Out of 14 choices, 6 of them somewhat relate to my case...some more than others...but without a description of how they breakdown, how do I know which is the right one.  What-a-minute.  YOU tell me what type of crime was committed against me.  You were the ones that prosecuted the guy in this case...how do I know how you classified it? Whats the difference between Burglary, Robbery, & Theft anyway?  

Ugh...