The Noblesvillain

This space hasn't seen an update for a while, so I thought I'd post an assortment of things that have been happening.

 

• This year's Great Circle Tour (for the 2007 version, see Half-Way Point, Arrived in South Dakota, and Return to Indiana), we went through Iowa, saw the Freiwalds in Windom, MN, stayed four days in Watertown, SD (including a side trip to visit the Westerburs in Brookings and the Stormos on their farm), continued to The Cities to see high-school friends in the area, enjoyed family at my Aunt's wedding (see Estee's Wedding), stayed with Jenny's friends in Sheboygan, WI (and met the house rabbit), and returned.  The Van added 2060 miles and it is now officially ready for new tires (it has to earn them, you know...).
• For my birthday, I got (myself) a Logitech Duet wireless music player.  It plays music in our kitchen and has a handy remote that lets you browse different things.  It clued me into Slacker Radio.  Other 'presents' were driving across the states of MN and WI and seeing my Colts beaten up by Green Bay (while I was in Wisconsin, no less).  It made lunch at A&W fun (a 60-year-old passer by to our table said to my Jeff Saturday jersey, "Go Pack."). 
• I've become a fan of Slacker Radio, especially their Christian Rock station.
• For organizing photos, I've upgraded to Picasa 3 (in beta) and it crashes more than it should, but it's a great program.
• I'm working on building a new computer (from on-hand components--they weren't doing me any good just sitting there) for the kitchen.

   

The landscaping around our house is as old as the foundation (1971 or so) and could use some updating.  We have already done a good job in the front yard replacing the old timbers with rolled concrete blocks.  On Sunday while Jenny was working, the boys and I worked on improving the back yard.

The boys helped quite a bit.  Mark gathered up chipped rocks and put them in the wheelbarrow.  Adam scared away any curious wildlife that may have interrupted our project.  I listened to the first weekend NFL broadcasts on the radio.  The work isn't finished, but is is well begun.

View the Web Album:

If you'd like to play a board game with my boys, you'll need to know the rules:

1. Playing pieces belong on the board, or the spinner, or the table, anywhere but your mouth.
2. Spin the wheel and then find that number on the board, or advance your piece, or count to the number on the spinner.
3. Play nicely with your brother.  This is more important than alternating turns.
4. Playing pieces should be right-side up.  You may play more than one piece on the game board.  Your pieces may speak with each other.
5. Construction implements are only allowed on the game board after you have successfully won the game, or if you have sufficiently explored the game board with your regular pieces.
6. Using your tongue to express the deep level of concentration is allowed.

Follow these rules and you will likely avoid being scolded by either child for "not playing right."

Follow the link for more pictures of the boy's visit to their great-grandmother and the "Chutes & Ladders" game play.

Of course, Yahoo Music Unlimited couldn't live up to its title and is coming to an end.  I've been a subscriber for three (?) years and happy with the service for the most part.  My music needs are pretty simple.  I'd like good, high-quality music from both artists that I know and new music I've never heard.  I value variety and production value over control and nouveau taste.  My music player of choice comes from Creative and plays WMA (so no iTunes for me!) as a listening study I performed 6 years ago put the WMA compression at the top of my list.

Yahoo Music Unlimited gave me many pleasant hours of listening, both to their tracks and their streaming music (the old Launchcast technology).  It was through the Yahoo recommendations that I discovered a favorite band Jamiroquai and plenty of enjoyable music.

Unfortunately, Yahoo has decided to shut the doors and turn their customer base over to Rhapsody (run by RealNetworks, an unfriendly Internet presence in my mind).  It appears that Rhapsody has more content than Yahoo did, but we'll see whether it spans my areas of interest in an improved manner.  I am able to get Yahoo's pricing ($143.88 at least for this first year) which is below Rhapsody's $14.99/month (which includes download to a Plays-for-sure music player).  As I still remember my introductory pricing with Yahoo which was $5/month including transfer to a player, I'm not leaping for joy here.

On the plus side, I was looking to bail on Yahoo myself, but failed to research the alternatives before the last time my credit card was re-upped on its own.  We'll call this 'directed research.'   I'm entering this with low expectations, so I'm bound for pleasant surprises, right?  I do hope that Yahoo keeps its streaming service going.  This is something they offered to the ATT/Yahoo DSL subscribers for free (free for all, but the highest quality streams were reserved for their music or DSL subscribers).

No, not me.  Jenny gets to spend 12 days visiting her brother in London.  Meanwhile, we're having a pretty good time here.  Jenny's folks have been looking after the boys the past couple of days.  Yesterday and today the boys hardly spent any time indoors (other than naps).  The pirate crew got to eat their meals on the playset and on the porch.

Mark and Adam both enjoyed the 4H Fair.  The whole family went Friday last week.  Mark, Adam, and I went on Saturday morning (after Bible study), and Mark and I went back in the afternoon to catch the tail end of the tractor pull (you didn't think I could make a post with out a tractor pull reference, did you?).

...no, not those kind of bubbles.  I was blowing soap bubbles (the boys are both fond of soap bubbles) when I held out the stem for Adam to blow into.  He blew very gently (but insistently) and made a very nice stream of bubbles.  He took it in stride, but I was shocked!

Adam's vocabulary expands each day. His early words are still a jumble (such as tractor and train) but new ones are pretty clear (like snake and sky).  I enjoy the words yes, thank you, and please most of all!

And a trip to Conner Prairie

Jenny worked Sunday and Monday of the Memorial Day weekend.  Sunday the boys and I went to the beach for a picnic.  Monday we went to Conner Prairie for a morning's adventure.

The boys love Discovery Station where they have trains, toys, and a fake cow you can milk.

The Conner Barn also gets high billing with its variety of juvenile animals.

We then saw the carpenter turning big logs into beams.  He was working on one of the corner posts for the new carpenter shop.  Adam and Mark help clean up the debris.  We then took the wheelbarrow to Mrs. Conner (played by Jenny) who needed some chips for the walkway in her garden.

Inside the house, Adam and Mark both took a turn at checkers.

We all had a great time, even if it meant we got a late lunch.

 

Whew!  What a weekend!

In August of 2004 when we moved in, our kitchen looked like this:

Don't adjust your monitor--those are the real colors.  This past week we've done a number of transformations including an update of the floor, cabinets, and counters. 

The flooring is a laminate 'tile look' in 16" x 48" boards (purchased four years ago waiting a good time to install!).  The cabinets are Maple in a Chestnut color (the house woodwork is dark--the cabinets are dark as the older ones but with a more pleasing red tone replacing the eerie green cast).  The counter is a granite-look laminate.  The appliances had been updated before we arrived.

My dad and I did this all over the course of seven days.  Here was my plan:

• 1.5 days to rip out the old counters, cabinets, and prep the floor
• 2 days to put in the floor
• 2 days to install the cabinets
• 1 day to install the counter

Well, that adds to 6.5 days, so I'll book a plane ticket for dad to come for seven days.  Seems reasonable, no?  Hindsight tells me something different.   You can see some in-progress work in Jenny's post.

Given a fixed project time and the threat of not ever having running water again (the sink can't be installed until the counter is done which relies on the cabinets which sit on the flooring...you get the point), we were able to squeeze this project into our schedule.

Here we are at about 9pm the day before Dad's flight back to South Dakota.  If you look closely, you can see a bit of the sink peeking through from behind us.  An hour later the water and drain were hooked up and we were officially 'done!'

Ambitious?  Yes!  Seven long days, dozens of 'problem solving' breaks, a week of Jenny rousting the boys, lots of take-out meals, a day's help from friends Shawn and Wade, numerous sore muscles, and we're done!

Lots of minor things remain like under cabinet lighting, backsplash tile, scribe and toe kick trim, door hardware, covering the rear peninsula cabinets, final fitting of the counter, overhead lighting, and stowing of all my tools, but whew, the kitchen can be used again!

AND IT LOOKS GREAT!  (And a cheer to Dad for being a great partner in the project so it had a chance of success.)

Thursday evening (3/20) I participated in Bethel Lutheran's Living Last Supper program.  This drama has thirteen men (plus an introductory narration) contemplating Jesus' statement, "One of you will betray me."  Each apostle takes stock of their contribution to Jesus' ministry and wonders, "Is it I? Is it I?"

Pastor E. Dean started the Living Last Supper at Bethel in 2004 when I played the part of Thomas, "Why do people remember my doubt, but forget my daring?  Why do they remember my questions and forget my belief?"  Presenting this drama on alternating years, my role changed to Phillip in 2006, "Where will we find bread that all of these may eat?  Little did I know that Andrew was already bring a boy and his lunch to our Lord."  This year I reprised the role of Thomas, which is fortunate, because only two disciples made it into the front-page photo with Jesus.

 

That's me behind Jesus.  Yes, the beard would work just as well as a Planet of the Apes costume, but that just makes Jesus even more the center of attention. 

The drama has been very enjoyable each time.  Having that many men in the cast has been a good way to develop some new friendships as well.  Thank's to Pastor E. Dean and assistant director Shannon for their efforts.