The perfect girl for Thing1

Her name is KoriBeth

What a weekend!

My wife's niece Kelly got married on 12/27/2008 to Brian. Kelly had always wanted a winter wedding so off we went to beautiful Highland Indiana on the 26th. What made it interesting was the ice storm that went through on the night of the 25th...

We delayed leaving an hour as several of the roads we would take were having issues. Lots of accidents. Lots and lots. Finally got on the road around 10:45 and all was good...till we hit Halsted and I-294S. Traffic stopped. Not slowed but stopped. A truck had jack knifed at Calumet and 294 and only one lane was open. Going from 5 to 1 was not pleasing so I went south on Halsted and worked my way over to Kelly's parents house. The ice was 2 inches thick on the drive way. Kelly's father Matt had chipped out enough for me to unload my elderly father-in-law and his wife safely. Soon the women headed off to the nail salon, thing1 went with Matt to get their tuxes and I took the old folks to the hotel and got them settled. I even got to relax for an hour or so. Whee. Fired up the laptop and tried to use the hotel wireless. Slow. Very slow.

It was soon time for the rehearsal. Got the old folks moving and headed up Indianapolis Blvd. Rain. Lots of ice everywhere. Potholes the size of Yugos. Fun. The parking lot at the church was covered with 2 inches of ice. My father-in-laws wife uses a cane and had lotsa fun getting into the church. Afterwards the rain picked up as we headed back to the hotel. Wedding day morning brought even more rain. And no more ice. Matt's driveway was clear when I dropped off the girls to get their hair done. Later on at the church the ice was gone as well. It was windy and raining but at least there was no ice.

And soon Kelly and Brian were married. Beautiful service using the best of the two ministers present. And it was off to the reception. Well - once the limo got out of the way. It was blocking the egress from the handicapped spots. Once there we were treated to wonderful food and music to dance to. Even thing1 got dragged out on the dance floor. Thing2 wouldn't stop dancing! The bridal party was on the floor for every dance. So were a couple of the under 5 crowd. Jack and Riley latched on to each other even though they had never met and had a blast.

Soon the midnight hour approached and we went to the hotel. Sleep came quickly...

We woke to sunshine this morning. It was chilly and windy but the sun felt so good. As we got closer to home we noticed that the foot of snow that was there on Friday was gone. We have the remnants of a few snow banks but otherwise it's all gone. Buffy was at home with a family friend and appeared to have had a good weekend.

Home sweet home.

A couple of guys

Thing1 and his grandfather

Watching the Election returns

Thing1 is clinging to his guns and his Bible



The real guns were secure so he used what was available...

Not a Fan

But a blower motor resistor.

Thing1 was complaining about only have 2 of the 4 fan speeds on his A/C in his car. A quick Google and it appeared it was the blower motor resistor. No problem. The online instructions looked pretty simple and 5 minutes at rockauto.com had a new resisitor on the way.

Took things apart this morning. What a pain. First you need a 5.5mm socket - Had that. A 1/4 inch swivel would have been nice but no such luck. The motor came out quickly and I could see the resistor.



It's down in the footwell above the motor. And one of the screws is against the firewall with no room to get the socket wrench in there. Grrr. Just moving the resistor 90 degrees to the right or left would have made this a 5 minute (rather than 2 hour) job.



But now it's done. 4 fan speeds. A happy Thing1.

Big Day for Thing1

He has his first job interview. It should be interesting. Hopefully educational too.

Update: It seemed to go well. Thing1 reports that it was more like a intro to the interview rather than the interview. If he decides he's interested in working at the school he can meet with another person at the school in July. We'll see.

He's a Graduate!

Thing1 was graduated on May 17th, 2008 with a BA in Elementary Education.



The last 3.75 years flew bye. I don't feel old enough to have a college graduate for a son.

We spent the last couple of weeks moving his stuff home.





Soon he'll be able to use his bed again.

Now to get him a job and out of the house!

One Step Closer

Thing1 has passed his education certification test! He finishes up having complete control of his class this week and then he gradually turns control back to his co-operating teacher over the next week or so. Graduation is only five weeks away (man it seems like yesterday we dropped him off for the first time) and then we have him back at home till he moves out on his own.

If anyone is looking for a elementary ed major certified to teach K-8 I've got a great one here.

Happy Birthday to you!

Thing1. He's 22 today!

It seems like yesterday that we were sitting on the couch watching the Super Bowl bound Bears.

Dad, My headlights don't work

That was Thing1 a week ago when he called home one night. He had gone out to his car to go somewhere and he had no headlights. Parking lights were ok, DRLs worked, and so did the high beams. But the regular lights did not. He replaced the bulbs and checked the fuses - nothing. Since he was coming home in a week I just told him not to drive at night and I'd take a look at it when he was home.

I did some research on his car and found that this is a common problem on late 90's GM J body cars. At least there was some hope of a simple solution :-). The solution was either the headlight switch, a bulb socket, or a wiring fix.

So yesterday I started poking at the car. A check of voltage at the sockets show 12.8 volts with the lights on. That seemed ok so I ruled out the switch. No obvious scorching on the bulb sockets or adjacent wiring. Ok - its probably on of the junctions that are ~1 foot from the battery. So I grab the DVM and check continuity between the positive and negative leads of the regular beams. Positive was 0 ohms. Negative was 1.3 Meg ohms. Thats bad. Thats wiring.

So I started to unwrap the harness going across the front. Got the the junction area and no problems with the negative wire. In fact there was no junction for it. Hmmm. Then I looked closely at the negative wire from the drivers side. It headed in the harness over to the passenger side rather than back to the firewall socket. So I unwrapped the passenger side of the harness a bit and counted wires. Compared to the drivers side there was 1 less. And it was the color of the negative wire. There was another junction somewhere. So I unwrapped the center of the harness. In the middle of the car, right by the hood latch, there was another splice. This was for the negative lead for the low beam lights. And it was corroded. By the time I got it unwrapped it fell apart.



In a effort to clean things up I unwrapped the whole harness and cut back the corroded wire about 6 inches on each end. A little bit of spare wire, solder, and heat shrink tubing and the lights were on. Took some electrical tape and re-wrapped the harness. 4.5 hours after I started it was done. Just in time for cake! Smiles all around.

Advice from a Penguin

Taken at Brookfield Zoo. Perfect for Thing1.

Back to School

Today was the day we took Thing1 back to his college to start his senior year - unlike freshman year. No tears, no hysterics, nothing. Just another day. After we had gotten home and fed Buffy we couldn't find her anywhere. I decided to check Thing1's room.

And there she was:



I guess she misses her boy...

Better living through chemistry

From the latest Great Strides newsletter:

...a new drug candidate that addresses the basic defect in CF, VX 770, entered Phase 2 clinical trials. This oral drug candidate, which aims to restore the function of the defective CFTR protein, has many steps to go before drug approval, but it is an exciting milestone in our ongoing efforts to advance drug development.

VX 770 looks interesting. I realize that it is several years from FDA approval but if the defective CFTR protein can be repaired - wow. The potential for those living with CF is huge.

Thing1 cracks me up

The latest poll taken by the office of the Governor of Texas asked whether people who live in Texas think illegal immigration is a serious problem:

35% of respondents answered: "Yes, it is a serious problem."

65% of respondents answered: "No es una problema serio.”

300 - PG13?

Thing1 passes this along:

Warner Bros. originally pushed Zack Snyder to direct this film with a PG-13 rating as the goal. Snyder refused and ultimately the WB brass agreed to make an R-rated movie.

And comments:

How crappy would this movie had been if it was only PG-13?

Totally agree. 300 was a bloody movie that told a story. Making it blood free would have been a disaster.

Go Tour

What a night. Since Thing1 was going to be home for Spring Break I got tickets for the four of us to see Stellar Kart, Kutless, and the Newsboys at Life Changers International Church. This was a first for the wife as she's not really a fan of Christian music - unless it's in the green book. Thing1 had seen Stellar Kart and Kutless before so he had given us a preview of what to expect.

Thing1 and I got there early as it's a general admission show. We still ended up 5 rows from the back but stage center - which is ok as the auditorium is fairly small. Thing2 had to get something from the bands - it's just the way she is. Ended up with a Newsboys hat and buttons from Stellar Kart. Nothing from Kutless. At 8:00 the show began...

Stellar Kart is full of energy. Nice tight music and excellent vocals with meaningful lyrics (life is good but eternal life is better).



Thing2 captured a bit of one of her favorite songs.



They only played 6 songs but the energy was awesome.

After a 10 minute break Kutless came on. I wasn't expecting much as Thing1 had a bad review. They were great. Excellent mix of ballads and good old fashioned rock and roll.



And the it was time for the Newsboys. Paul Coleman came out and talked a bit while the stage was being changed. Paul discussed the Newsboys participation with Global Tribe to end poverty around the world. A few minutes later the Newsboys hit the stage!



I loved it. So did Thing2. Thing1 and the wife - not so much.

Cells phones rather than lighters





Some old school electronica Newsboys



And a spinning drum set



Awesome show. Good old fashioned loud rock and roll with a message.

If the Go Tour comes around - just GO!

Rangers lead the way

Sick child gets wish to train with Rangers

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — Weakened by his lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis, 14-year-old Riley Woina dreams of being strong like the war heroes he watches in movies.

The Army’s 6th Ranger Training Battalion on Eglin Air Force Base recently helped him realize this unusual dream.

Susan Woina joked that her son could have taken his Plymouth, Conn., family to Walt Disney World or gone on a shopping spree through the Make-A-Wish Foundation instead of spending a week crawling in the mud with soldiers in the Florida Panhandle.

“You always want what you cannot have and he’ll never be able to join the Army because of his cystic fibrosis, so of course he wants that more than anyone else would. He would join the Army today if he could,” she said.

Thing1 lives with CF. Just over 15 years since his diagnosis. After visiting the Air Force Academy on vacation when he was in high school he started emailing the admissions staff to get details on exactly what he needed to do to try for an appointment. I had to break the news to him that he was medically unfit to serve. Tis a shame as he would have made a great officer.

Kudos to the Army Rangers and Make-A-Wish for making this happen.

via Right Thinking

OCC, Airgas, and CF

An unlikely combination? Not really.

Two Airgas Chopper motorcycles, designed and built by Orange County Choppers (OCC) using Airgas gases and hardgoods, have begun their nationwide tour.
...
“The Airgas Chopper tour will do more than just excite Airgas employees and customers – it also will benefit a great cause,” said McCausland. At many of the Chopper appearances, tour attendees will be invited to make a $5 donation and have their picture taken with the Chopper as part of Airgas Puritan Medical's national partnership with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's GREAT STRIDES campaign.

OCC - cool bikes. Way out of my price range but very cool. Anything that attracts attention to Great Strides and the battle to cure CF is ok with me. More from Airgas here including the bike tour schedule.

Smart Boy

Thing1 called as I got home (just before the email problems) and had some interesting news. He's officially a senior. He has enough credits already so he can get a senior parking sticker and get a spot thats 1/2 mile closer to his dorm.

This could explain things

Testing Garlic: A New Weapon in the Fight Against CF Lung Infections? February 2, 2007 A novel approach to fighting Pseudomonas infections in the lungs of people with CF is being tested in a new pilot study in the United Kingdom. Volunteers with CF will be given capsules of either garlic extract or a placebo (olive oil) for two months and the levels of bacteria in their sputum will be measured. The potential of garlic extract as an antipseudomonal agent was supported by the results of a study conducted in Denmark. In that study, exposure of Pseudomonas to garlic extract made the bacteria more sensitive to tobramycin and to immune defense system cells. The garlic extract also provided mice with significant protection from Pseudomonas lung infections. The new trial is being conducted at the University of Nottingham under the direction of Dr. Alan Smyth. Safety of the extract will be examined in addition to any potentially positive effects on weight and lung function.

Thing1 lives with CF. It's been 15 years since he was diagnosed and, thank God, he has no lung problems. On the other hand he is a big fan of garlic...

More here

Update from Thing1: "My wonder drugs: garlic and laughter"