PumpkinFest 2007

So...at 3PM EDT Friday, I got into my car at the Louisville Airport and drove to Center Point/Urbana, Iowa for a weekend with Joe and Sarah. Oh yeah...this thing called PumpkinFest that Joe and Sarah host every year. Plenty of excellent food - great home brews - outstanding company - and of course plenty of Costumes. Here's some photos from the party. Enjoy

The PumpkinFest banner that greeted all guests...


The costume making Joe and Sarah's basement smell like pine


Let the Party Start!


Also attending the party Mr. MORE COWBELL!!!!


Mr. MORE COWBELL gave me his wig...HA

18 Hours in Orlando

Hey All-

Just a day after my basement flooded on Wednesday - I hopped on a plane to Orlando, Florida on Thursday...landed at 3pm EDT. Friday morning, I hopped on another plane back to Louisville...took off from Orlando at 9am EDT. A little nuts, I know.

However...I did get to visit with Mari, Dave, Eileen and Sarah for a while. A great time had by all even though the visit was brief.

Oh yeah! Mari and I went downtown to see The Samples in concert as well! Was great to see them...and to spend some quality catch-up time with Mari at the show. A Big Thanks to Mari for driving...a HUGE Thanks to Eileen for the ride to & from the airport, and to Mari and Dave for allowing me to crash in their spare room. And - so I don't leave anyone out...Thanks to Sarah too - for having a safe trip overseas and helping to make my 2nd trip to FLA a memorable one.

Anyways, this was the first time I've ever taken a primarily spontaneous and not-so-lengthy trip. I really enjoyed it....and will probably try it again someday.

That wasn't my only trip since the flood...which by the way is dried up for the time being. Next blog entry starts at 3PM EDT Friday...

7+ inches of rain

I've picked up over 7 inches of rain at the Maczko Mansion in the past 48 hours. Unfortunately, my unfinished basement picked up 4 inches.

On the bright side, the only stuff I have in the basement right now is my exercise bike that I use 15 times a day, an old homemade bookshelf and the former Z-man entertainment center (which fortunately I didn't have to carry down into my basement when I moved in).

Got a sump pump - I just don't think it ever came on. Would take a picture of my basement to show you, but I'm not very happy right now...

Gosh I sure hope this doesn't ruin my trip to Iowa - but it feels like it might.

More hopefully soon...

I Watched The Indians Win Last Night

Yeah, I know I need to put a real update here...hopefully soon.

I mowed the lawn this morning...

Can't Catch a Break?

Called to see when the doors opened for The Samples. Turns out the show was cancelled. Oh well..

One Month In...

Well - today marks the One Month mark of my being in my new home. I'm still not unpacked and I still haven't mowed my lawn. That comes tomorrow. I have had my first house guest - Laura came to visit Sept 10-12 to see the house and drop by the Louisville Palace Theater to see The Killers in concert.

I have bought a lawn mower (picture below), got some beer in the fridge (picture below), noticed every Sunday there are some Hot Air Balloons out my back porch (picture below). Anyways - I also got one of the coolest house gifts ever - courtesy of my very good friend Marye. What a doll...and what a cool gift. Of course, that is what was pictured at the top of this post. Thanks Marye!

Am off to see The Samples in concert tonight, then to see Laura and Barbara in the Dayton vicinity tomorrow before spending a week with my family! And there is this small matter of the Genesis concert in C-town on the 29th! Thanks to the Zelts once again for getting me into that show...





More posting hopefully after I get back....

Settling In?

My stuff arrived on Friday...and here it is Tuesday and I'm still not all that unpacked. I wanted to get the carpets/kitchen/bathrooms scrubbed top to bottom before really starting to put my stuff in the place. I also came across some 8-legged friends that I am not really a big fan of. So...I called the Orkin Man - who is here right now treating my place for Spiders, Wasps, Ants, etc. I hate Bugs.

Anyways - things are going especially slow because I'm on midnights too - and of course, I'm having trouble sleeping because I turned into a worrier and am psyching myself into being awake 24/7. Amazing how one can process 400 things under extreme pressure at work and not be able to quiet the mind at home. I actually went to work last night and felt relief from the stress of all the stuff that I am hoping to do/be able to afford with this house over the years.

I appreciate everyone's help this week in trying to get me to relax and see the bigger picture. The home is big and quiet - I've never not had anyone on my walls before so I'm having a tough time adjusting. I'll get there though...

Off to Iowa this weekend for a wedding and a visit with Joe and Sarah Kelly. And I get to see Kimmie after 4+ years. Yippee!!! Sure beats unpacking!

Here are a few pictures to show I have settled in a little...and so has HAL.

Jimmie Home Owner

Yes! The deal was completed at 912 am EDT today! I am the proud owner of a completely empty house that needs painting, clean carpets, scrubbed out appliances, empty gutters, a finished basement, and wants an owner who hasn't had as many heart attacks as I have. Wow...the project list is huge. But hey - I've been looking for a new hobby.

Anyways, am in a hotel through Thursday night - since my stuff is supposed to come on Friday. We'll see... we'll see.

No new pics of the place yet, so to tide you over, here is one of what I am sure are a few thousand pics of my showing off my moves at Barry and Tamara's wedding last Sat. Guess you could call this my last dance of financial freedom...

Busy in Billings

I have been in Billings since this Tuesday - yes, I'm vacationing in this place. Am here to participate in Barry and Tamara's wedding and visit with all my friends that I left behind when I moved just two long months ago. I've been really bad at this blogging thing, but thought I would provide a quick update for everyone.

The house is going to be mine - on Wed, August 22nd. I get back from Billings on the 21st - so man is this week going to be busy. Have gotten all my utilities set up - with the exception of cable/internet - so once I move in, I'm not sure how long it will be before I have contact with the rest of the world.

Before I came to Billings I checked out of my hotel at the end of my 60th night in paid for temporary quarters. I will be staying in a hotel 3 nights when I get back to Billings on my own dime - until I get my furniture and stuff back from storage on Friday.

Busy busy busy. Time to get a beverage or two to relax. Thankfully, the Zelts are coming into town today to help me out with that. Hope everyone is well - pics coming soon I hope.

Updates: HAL and The House

Hello Everyone! I got HAL backed 100% repaired this week - he looks like new. See pictures attached. Of course, on the way home from doing some laundry at the local coin laundry joint today, I ran over a nail attached to a piece of particle board. FRICK! Fortunately for me and HAL both, a tire store appeared right around the corner from the first thumping noise made from the implanted board in HALs passenger front tire. $20 and 30 minutes later, the nail was removed and the tire repaired. Phew...can HAL and I catch a break? We'll see....I certainly hope so.

On the house front - the inspection was Monday and as I've been telling some folks, there are not any dealbreakers - but as with every house, there are some repairs that I requested be made before I take ownership of the house. I should know by Friday afternoon what the status of everything is, so I'll keep everyone posted on any progress.

On a side note - I'd be willing to have a Billings NWS reunion at the Carp residence during Frontier Days next year....who's with me?

Enjoy HAL looking brand new - I know I am...

Until next time....enjoy the pics of HAL

Tagged?

In the wonderful world of blogging, I've been tagged. I guess its the equivalent of getting one of those 'if you don't pass this on you'll be doomed' chain emails that we all so fequently delete from our email inbox (huh-huh). Maybe soon I'll get a notice about my opportunity to share in $300 million that the Bank of Western Kenyamibia. That's the one I cannot wait for cuz I'm getting ready to buy a house and could really use some of that $300 million to help out.

Still - I've had such an up and down time of late - I better fill this out and pass it on to at least one person (not 8, sorry), so I can not be the absolute end of the link. This hopefully will be enough to keep at least a little bit of the bad luck that is supposed to come your way if you break chains like these.

So here goes...
-Players write a post with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
-At the end of that post, they "tag" eight (or in my case one, cuz the Zelt's tagged all the blogs of everyone I know) bloggers to write similar posts, including the rules.
-The players then leave a comment to tell the "tag-gees". (At least I only have to comment one person.

1. I carry around three coins in my pocket at all times. These serve as a daily reminder of my Grandmother and Grandfather (mom's parents) who were/are really big influences in my life. Here they are..

Casino Niagara Token: My Grandmother's favorite place to spend the quarters she saved up for the annual excursion to play the slot machines)

Sacagawea Dollar Coin: Given to me by my Grandfather. Was in my Grandmothers change purse when she passed away

Silver Penny: Belonged to my Grandfather. I was permitted to keep it after he passed away

Many Thanks to my Dear Friend Mari for finding and mailing me back the coin that fell out of my pocket onto her couch during my visit to FLA for her wedding this April. So far this has been the only time I have been separated from one of these coins since my collection became complete on Dec 28th, 2004.

2. My favorite movie of all-time is The Towering Inferno.

3. I have only thankfully seen one tornado in my life. Devils Tower, June 21, 2003 with Kimmie in my first road trip with HAL. I had received a weather briefing in the morning from a friend of mine at the NWS telling me the weather was going to be great. After I saw the tornado, I received a voice mail from that same friend telling me a tornadic storm was heading my way. :)

4. In my first 35 days in a hotel in Louisville, I managed to watch all 11 Seasons of M*A*S*H on DVD (251 episodes total). Yes, the cable in the hotels is bad as frick and I haven't been sleeping well. In the subsequent days I've started watching Scrubs from the beginning...Seasons 2-5 here I come.

5. I saw all three movies of the Original Star Wars Trilogy in the theater in the same day on two different occasions (1997 Special Editions).

6. I finished Harry Potter 7 in under 7 hrs this weekend and am currently in the middle of the following books: Obama's Dreams from My Father, Pride and Prejudice, Now Discover Your Strengths and The Reagan Diaries.

7. Cars I have considered 'mine' in some form since I started driving. 1979 Silver Ponitac Bonneville (grandparents/parents), 1989 Maroon Pontiac Grand Prix (parents), 1997 Black Pontiac Grand Prix SE (Black Magic, Big Black Unit, P.O.S.), 2003 Beige Honda Accord LX V6 (HAL - the only car I've every fully owned on my own. Get how he was named? besides the obvious 2001 reference)

8. One of my dreams is to attend an America's Cup Yacht Race in New Zealand someday. Unfortunately, for that to happen, New Zealand must win the cup again - so I may have to settle for seeing a race in some other country some day.

Tagging:
The Loy's

HAL / House Update

Dropped HAL off at the body shop this morning - so in 3 or 4 days, he should be good as new. Unfortunately, there isn't a single Rental Car available afrom Enterprise in the entire county this morning (allegedly) - so I'm trapped without wheels until tomorrow morning. How nice. Fortunately for me - there's a Ruby Tuesdays across the street where I'm certain to spend a large chunk of my day off today.

Inspection is scheduled for Monday on the house - other than that, no updates on that front.

At least I have tomorrow off too...Enjoy your week everyone. HAL updates as they come in. :)

Offer Accepted

Yup...I have a signed accepted offer for a house. Thought I'd insert a picture for your enjoyment...

Of course, everything is contingent on inspection, etc. But hopefully by the end of August I will have a place to call home.

HAL goes in for repairs Tues - 4 days worth. Keep your fingers crossed that he comes out good as new. I'm confident that he will...

Car / House Update

Just a quick update today to let everyone know how things are going...

On the HAL front...

Turns out HAL's trunk was knocked a little off kilter in addition to the damage shown in the pics on the previous post. Got an estimate for repairs of around $1500, and for four days next week HAL will be getting his bumps and bruises repaired. So far, no complications with the insurance process...let's hope that continues until HAL is better and his repairs are paid for.

On the house front...

Went out Monday and found lots of crappy places. Tuesday and today were spent dealing with HAL. Tonight I start mids and hope to have some more places lined up for Friday afternoon. Am really considering putting an offer on the one house I've shown a few folks...and if I don't find anything Friday, I'm betting I will. We'll see.

Also...in attempting to relax a little, I went golfing yesterday morning. Went out in 42 and was 35 shots through 8 holes on the back-9 before lightning finished my round off before I could tee off on 18. I had 9 one-putts and three birdies. Shame I couldn't finish...but I've seen Caddyshack and know its better to quit when there's weather and you're having the round of your life.

HAL's First (and hopefully only) Wreck....

Yup - I was a participant in a little accident today on the way home from work. I was the first car stopped at a red light when a young lady in a Hyundai SUV decided not to stop at the light. A big jolt ensued...

HAL took some physical body damage - as seen in the pictures below. As far as internal or structural damage in the rear part of the car - that will have to wait until I get him looked at after the insurance process is underway. I did notice that both of my back doors squeak when you open and shut them now...whereas this morning, they did not do that.

As for me, I am a bit shaken up physically and mentally - so we'll see how I feel when I wake up tomorrow.

Here are some pics of HAL - and for all those that know me well, you know how this rips me to shreds to see HAL take a few dings. Yeah...it sucks.

At least I'm looking at houses tomorrow to try and take my mind off of what happened this evening.

Ugh....

New Zealand 2013-15??

Unfortunately, Emirates Team New Zealand lost the America's Cup this week to Alinghi which mean my trip to New Zealand to see the Cup race is delayed until at least 2013. How disappointing. The next cup is scheduled to take place somewhere in Europe (probably Valencia, Spain) between 2009 and 2011, so maybe I'll get to go there. We'll see.

The upper 90s are coming for Sunday and Monday - with dew points in the upper 50s to mid 60s. This can mean only one thing....that someone will have to drive by my hotel and peel me off the parking lot because I won't physically be able to survive the walk to the car without passing out from humidity sickness.

On the house front...the search goes on. One really nice place so far - but there's a lot more to look at. Gotta find one with that microwave hood thingie already installed....

Enjoy your weekend all...I'll be spending the whole thing inside on day shifts.

A Day of Round 1's

Round 1: My First Lead Meeting

This went really well - though when I brought up a hint of something that I might want to investigate to see if perhaps we could someday for just a moment consider doing something a little differently - I made a co-lead or two a little bit nervous.

Yeah...change is bad - that's why I decided to move 1600 miles outside of my comfort zone. :-)

Round 1: Take Thirteen

Today it was 82 degrees with 40 degree dewpoints - which is basically as perfect a day outside as it can get in early July in HumidityLand, Kentucky.

And since my realtor was busy I decided to enjoy being outside by seeing my first movie in my new town. You guessed it - Ocean's Thirteen. Great flick...

Movie #2 coming soon - probably Harry Potter on the IMAX. Yeah...IMAX

Round 1: Indian Springs

Of course I didn't waste the entire day indoors...between the lead meeting and the movie, I played my first round of golf since moving to Kentucky with the Science and Operations Officer from the office and his son. First hole - PAR, second hole - BOGEY, third hole - NINE. Ended up shooting 49-44-93 with a birdie and a couple of pars on the back nine.

Anyways...one picture from the course. Not a great photo - just one to show you how much I'm going to enjoy golfing here. Specifically notice all the new friends I'm going to make while golfing here (hint: the tall folks with the brown clothes and the green hair).

Enjoy...house hunt resumes tomorrow with a full day. Wish me luck...

My Karma Strikes Again...

So Laura happens to have the Versus Network - which is covering the America's Cup. I wake up to watch the race this morning and guess what...

NO WIND = NO RACE. AHHHHHHH!!!!!

Guess I'm destined to not see an America's Cup Race until 2010 or 2011.

Oh well - back to enjoying my weekend with Laura...

Hope everyone is doing well and having a better-than-Jazzy karma Sunday.

The Great House Hunt

The Great House Hunt of 2007 has begun in the Louisville, Kentucky area. I finally was approved for a loan and have started looking for my first home. So far - I've discovered that new construction in the Louisville area is about as well-crafted as my 1997 Pontiac was by the time I got rid of it. Yeah...for those who don't remember my 1997 Pontiac - and those who did not even know me when I owned that car -I nicknamed the car. P.O.S. the last year or so before I bought HAL. P.O.S. mean Piece of Super-Fraga-cala-blah-blah. We all know what the S stood for in P.O.S.

Yeah...new construction in Louisville is great. I walked into one house where I had to turn sideways to fit through the doorway into the master bath. Yes...brand new construction with a doorway no wider than me turned sideways. Wow. One house made the 2nd call list - but it had one of the crappiest yards I've ever seen. So we'll see.

On a positive note - every house I looked at had that microwave hood thingie already installed - so Carp will have to buy me dinner or something if I win his challenge. The hunt if off till mon or tues because my realtor is tied up - but no big deal, I have about 15 listings I want to check out when the hunt resumes.

Since my hunt is off for a while - I'm headed to visit Laura in Miamisburg, OH for the weekend. It will be a good weekend...I'm very sure of it.

Hope everyone is well - and planning on being in Billings for Mr. 'I am not allowed to do anything fun anymore' Loy's wedding. The future Mrs. 'I'm not sure what they heck Mr. Loy is talking about when he says he's not allowed to have fun anymore' Loy has a new bridesmaid I hear. How nice.

Speaking of how nice. TNZ is down 2-3 in the best of 9 America's Cup thanks to a broken Spinnaker today...though I could never confirm that the broken kite actually happened since my tv has no Versus. Ugh...

The America's Cup........or not.

After waiting a little bit over 4 years for the 2007 America's Cup - the event is finally here. A best-of-9 contest that pits my favorite team - Emirates Team New Zealand (TNZ) as the Challenger versus the 32nd America's Cup Defender Alinghi from Switzerland. Today was race #1 - a race that TNZ led off the starting line, but got beat around all four marks by Alinghi.

The worst part of this is not that Alinghi went up 1-0 today in the best-of-9 series, but that I did not get to watch one second. My hotel does not have the Versus network that is showing the Cup in America - and the internet in the hotel isn't capable of handling the bandwidth that is the Virtual Live Sailing that allows me to watch the race using GPS data and my computer. It was able to handle the streaming radio - so I got to a least listen to race one. Guess I'll have to wait 3-5 more years to see my next America's Cup Race. Hopefully I'll be watching it LIVE on a chase boat in the waters of the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand...

Here's a picture of TNZ trailing Alinghi on the water. Everyone reading this has now seen as much of the first America's Cup Race as I have. How nice for everyone...

I SURVIVED!!!!

I survived my first day at my new job today...though I didn't really have a ton of pressure on me. The biggest adjustment to the new locale is not going to be the weather - as previously anticipated - but the adaptation of my work to the software and forecasting tools (and sometimes lack thereof) in this much different part of the country. The people are great...a fun bunch that I anticipate getting along great with.

Anyways - only three more work days til the weekend. Not that I am looking forward to the weekend, but it will be the next opportunity for me to get out and about in this town and try to find a place to live.

To Mr. Carp and his challenge... do I win if I find a place that the hood is already installed? And if I do find this already completed - do I still have to take a picture of me faking like I'm putting it together? Guess I could always start the lawn care challenge with a picture of me passed out face down in the grass after pushing the mower for two or three steps.

More soon...and hopefully something with pictures.

Its great to finally be working again - though vacation with the Zelt's and Scarlett's in Aberdeen was much more relaxing...

The Belle of Louisville

Today is my first full day in Louisville - and I managed to navigate my way through the downtown area without getting lost. The destination was the Belle of Louisville, a 2-hour boat ride on the Ohio River between KY (its getting kind of old that you're still laughing at this) and IN (hint...the state name sounds just like shmim-dee-anna) that included a full service buffet meal. There was also a limbo contest that of course I would have won if I had participated, but I decided to let all the kids on the boat have a little fun.

On another note, I found a free weekend parking deck...which I'm a little proud of because everyone that went on the boat from my new office ended up paying for where they parked.

Anyways...a couple of pics from my trip - including a very nice one that I'm sure all those friends of mine in Montana and South Dakota will enjoy. More from KY (ugh) soon...

The Belle of Louisville herself. In the background, some water that I think is the Ohio River - but I didn't have a map when I took this photo so it could have very well been the Baltic Sea.

One view of a portion of Downtown Louisville from the boat.

A more complete view of Downtown Louisville - also from the boat.

A picture of an airplane from some airline that has a geographic reference about the Southwest on its tail. I hear they go everywhere in the country - but I also think the airline name is really... No-Way-in-Heck-Will-I-Land-in-Montan-aor-South-Dakota Air

Its about bloggy time...

It's about bloggy time I set up one of these things. Been meaning to for a month or so, but I guess I've been a little preoccupied with packing my life away in Billings and moving to Louisville, Kentucky. Seeing how I have now completed the long 1600 mile journey from MT to KY (yeah I know...K-Y....huh huh), I figured I was out of excuses.

So - where to start? Hmm...After an outstanding week of visits with friends scattered across the plains and midwest (Zelts, Scarletts, Kellys), I arrived in Louisville this afternoon after making the 525 mile, 8hr jog down from Urbana/Center Point, Iowa (after an all-too-brief visit at the 3.5 acre lush complex - a.k.a The Kelly Ranch Estates).

Slightly exhausted from all the celebrating that has been going on since 4/20 when I found out I was moving to KY (c'mon, stop chuckling already...gosh), I decided to finally offload some photos from my camera - including the farewell to Apt #93 photos I took last week during/after my move out. Here they are...

This is the infamous HAL - who always makes an appearance in my photo albums. Here he is parked for the last time in garage #54 - his home since April 2003. Sniff Sniff...

And here's another HAL picture - but this one is right after I turned in my keys for the last time. YIPPEE!!!!

Of course...the moving truck two days prior to the above pictures.

And lastly, the thing I will miss the most from Apartment #93 (besides Gamelympics) is the worn down stretch of grass from my walking back and forth between the apt and the garage (of course in the same line every single time)

So that's it...kind of a lame first post. Hope my next post will be more entertaining and maybe contain some pictures of my new town.