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This is an archive collection of entries from  my main personal blog, My Mundane Mid-Life.

This collection of entries is from April 2005.

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Saturday, April 30, 2005

White Sox 4 - Tigers 3

Chicago White Sox Detroit Tigers

read more of this entry »


posted at 10:33 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Silver Circle

The Grand Ballroom of the Drake Hotel Me, Carol, Bill and his wife Jo Bill's Silver Circle Award

read more of this entry »


posted at 12:31 AM | Link | Puppeteering | 1 comment § |

Friday, April 29, 2005

What is this feeling?

I don't get it. It's just an awards banquet tonight, and I'm not even getting an award.

Then, why do I feel... nervous?

Maybe it's just excitement. I mean, I get to see my old boss again and I get to see (meet?) some other local TV "stars". I don't know, it's just a weird feeling.

Went out and bought some new shoes last night. Tried on my suit for the first time in a couple of years. It'll barely do for tonight. I mean, the jacket buttons fine, the pants took me quite a few minutes to actually get on. Which means, I'm going to have some major comfort problems tonight. It's just the waist, so I'm hoping I don't have any possibilities of blowing out the seam.

Time to get a new suit.

posted at 07:24 AM | Link | Puppeteering § |

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Crowded sky

One of the news choppers over the neighborhood
I was asleep, but something kept infiltrating my dreams. A familiar noise. It's the sound of a helicopter... not just one - but a few... and they're hovering... News helicopters... 2 blocks away...

Time to get the TV on and find some local news...

Father returned home last night at 9:30 and found his two kids - a 3 year-old girl & a 9 year-old boy - stabbed to death, his wife is being treated for lacerations.

We didn't hear a damn thing in the neighborhood last night...


Just a small portion of the media lining the streets The house where the children were found Charles Thomas (barely seen) doing his standup for the 4pm news
UPDATE: Getting out of the neighborhood to get to work was impossible. I counted at least 7 television trucks and a dozen SUV's from radio and newspaper outlets. The police, fortunately, were just lifting barricades that block a lot of the street, so some of the traffic would get going. It's amazing how much a person slows down to see the scene as they drive by. I saw a little old lady slow to under 5mph to cross the intersection, while the rest of us just want to get to where we need to be.

After work I drove by again. A little less trucks, hardly any other media, but now the TV people were setting-up to do stand-ups right in front of the house.

Strange story. I know this is going to sound odd and even bad, but why do I feel a little more at ease knowing that this could be a domestic case instead of a home invasion kind of attack?

UPDATE:

read more of this entry »


posted at 06:40 AM | Link | Mundane | 2 comments § |

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Bill on the Radio, Bill on TV

As you may know if you either know me or have rummaged around this website, I used to be a puppeteer many, many, many years ago for an icon in Chicago Children's Television - Bill Jackson. As I had mentioned earlier, he is being honored into the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle, honoring individuals who have devoted 25 years or more to the television industry and who have made a significant contribution to Chicago broadcasting.

Bill certainly qualifies.

This past Sunday, Bill was on WGN Radio on the Dean Richard's show and I was able to snag a few minutes of it here (17Mb MP3).

This Friday morning, Bill will be on the WGN Morning News.

And then on Friday night, Bill will be "inducted" into the Silver Circle.

I have never been more proud about anything I've done in my entire life, including my current career, than I have been working for and with this man.

And I am fortunate to be going to that ceremony Friday night at the Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago. I have to be there to honor that man.

Hope I can fit into my suit...

posted at 04:11 PM | Link | Puppeteering § |
That's more like I'm used to...

A strong start, a blown lead, 2 hit batsmen, a battle back, let them in a bit, somebody that played shortstop who never played there in their career, and a loss, with 14 hits 3 errors.

Yeah, that's more like it...

posted at 06:55 AM | Link | White Sox § |

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

First time in how long?

The White Sox are scaring me. Still on the best start ever - 16-4, 8 straight wins, they're 10-2 on the road, and they're on the West Coast which - historically - has killed us (Oakland won seven of nine against the White Sox last season). And last night was against Barry Zito and we still get a win. Not only that, our catcher (Chris Widger) - who played last season with the Camden Riversharks in the independent Atlantic League before he showed-up at spring training as a non-roster invitee - gets his first homerun in the majors since April 9, 2000!!! (A.J. Pierzynski was able to get the ball from the fan to give to Widger.)

posted at 07:06 AM | Link | White Sox § |

Monday, April 25, 2005

Studs

I don't know if it's the lighting, but all of a sudden I can see every stud in the wall
I looked at the big wall in the living room/dining room tonight and saw something that shocked me. The wall hadn't been painted in 20 years - thank God the whole first floor gets professionally painted next Tuesday - but I look at the wall and I can see every friggin' stud in the wall? I don't know if it's the lighting, I don't know if it's shadows, or for some reason something has bled through, but they're there. I can see wher ethe hooks for the paintings are right on center with the studs. What the hell?

posted at 06:21 PM | Link | Mundane § |

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Best start ever?

This is getting pretty dam scary... The White Sox improved to 14-4, the best 18-game start to a season in their 104-year franchise history. Almost all of these games are against AL Central rivals.

I'm just happy having them win each series they're in.

posted at 08:03 AM | Link | White Sox § |

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Dinner with Bridget

Went to B&B's for dinner tonight. Something hit me today - I really think they enjoy cooking for us. The plan the menu out with diligence and they execute it very well. And I have to say that we enjoy eating what they cook, 'cause they do a damn fine job.

After dinner we watched Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Considering we never saw Bridget Jones's Diary, it was an OK movie. It was the first time I saw a movie on Comcast On Demand. Wow. This whole idea of a video farm and having the video streamed to you - and be able to fast-forward, rewind and pause - is a pretty good feat. Still wouldn't drag me back to cable, though.

posted at 10:55 PM | Link | Mundane § |

Friday, April 22, 2005

Spring Rain

Today is one of those great spring rain days. The ones that you like.

I guess not everybody like them, but I actually like a good spring rain. The ones where it's not really too cold, not really windy. Not that crappy, pesky mist, but a good steady rain. I love walking in it - of course with proper protection.

There's that spring rain - washing things away metaphor that I like too. Cleanliness, new starts. I don't know - it actually changes my attitude - for the better.

Now, the whole spring rain thing changes dramatically when the rain continues for days and days and days... biblical references of 40 days and 40 nights come to mind and the attitude quickly sours, accompanied with a longing for sun, warmth... and dryness.

posted at 12:09 PM | Link | Mundane § |

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Wolves 1 - Aeros 2 (Overtime) - West Division Semifinal Game 2

2005 Calder Cup Chicago Wolves Houston Aeros

read more of this entry »


posted at 10:14 PM | Link | Wolves § |

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

You'll never catch me doing this

I just can't imagine riding this thing... only to have it stop...

There's this new ride on the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas called Insanity that just opened on March 10. If I remember, it seats 8, and you get strapped into a seat and get extended 64 feet away from the tower, hanging 906 feet over Las Vegas Boulevard, while the ride spins, while the arm extends so that you almost face directly downward.

Now if that's not enough, let's take a look at this ride this morning, as in 1am this morning. An 18 year-old girl and her 11 year-old cousin get on the ride (i won't ask what an 11 year-old doing up at 1 am in Vegas). The ride starts up, the arm moves to dangle the passengers over the Strip.

The winds kick up. In the middle of the 3-minute ride, the ride shuts down.

Now, it's supposed to do that, which can't be any consolation to the kids 900 feet in the air, looking down, with winds up to 61 mph. And it's NOT a malfunction. It automatically goes into pause mode when the winds kick up. The sustained wind speeds were 50 mph.

And the kids - with the machine in "pause mode" hung out there not for 3 minutes, but 80 minutes.

The machine never did restart - they sent a worker out onto the arm - IN THE WIND - to attach a chain and pull the ride back into the platform.

Sorry. Pass. Not me. Ever. I saw the opening of the ride on a Saturday Today show on March 12th and there is just no way in hell you'd get me near that thing, especially now that I know about "pause mode".

posted at 06:18 PM | Link | Las Vegas § |

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Wolves 4 - Aeros 1 - West Division Semifinal Game 1

2005 Calder Cup Chicago Wolves Houston Aeros

read more of this entry »


posted at 10:30 PM | Link | Wolves § |
White Smoke - New Pope - Benedict XVI

78-year-old "Frontrunner" Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany made it on the 3rd vote.

Now, does this mean that - because he's 78 - he's one of these "interim" Popes?

posted at 11:14 AM | Link | Current Events § |

Monday, April 18, 2005

First Vote - Black Smoke

I don't know, but there's something cool about watching the execution of long standing rituals. It doesn't matter what they are.

In this case, we've had our first Pope Vote, but the black smoke means no one was selected. I think that was it for today - one vote and that's it. We got two more rounds in the morning and then two more very late in the afternoon. My feel - we'll have somebody by Thursday. I can't imagine it going longer than that.

It's weird knowing that John Paul II appointed all but three of the 115 cardinals who will choose his successor. Wonder if that means anything...

posted at 01:33 PM | Link | Current Events § |

Sunday, April 17, 2005

White Sox 4 - Mariners 5

Chicago White Sox Seattle Mariners

read more of this entry »


posted at 05:55 PM | Link | White Sox § |

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Wolves 5 - Grizzlies 1 - Final Game of the Regular Season

Chicago Wolves Utah Grizzlies

read more of this entry »


posted at 10:39 PM | Link | Wolves § |
White Sox 2 - Mariners 1

Chicago White Sox Seattle Mariners

read more of this entry »


posted at 05:53 PM | Link | White Sox § |

Friday, April 15, 2005

TAX DAY

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR TAXES ARE?

Oh, and it's been 7 years since I was released from my longest full-time job (9 months shy of twenty years).

On a brighter note, McDonald's 50th Anniversary is today. You should see the HUGE McDonald's downtown that replaced the Rock & Roll McDonald's over on Ohio/Ontario. They were working hard to get it open for the company's anniversary today.

posted at 08:28 AM | Link | Current Events § |

Thursday, April 14, 2005

The bad and the good

Looks like we lost a bush Our ash tree is starting to bud
Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!!!

I have 2 yews alongside the house, next to the chimney. We had a snowfall a couple of months ago that was pretty deep, but was also very heavy with water content. We noticed as the snow started to melt that one of the bushes - the one directly out the window from where the couch is located so we see it all the time, was starting to turn brown right underneath the snow.

Today, it's pretty plain to see that there's something really wrong with the bush. The one next to it is perfectly fine. We've had them both for almost 20 years - they were the first ones we planted in front of the house and they survived being transplanted about 5 or 10 years ago. I can't replace it without it looking stupid.

Of course I'm in denial right now - I'm still thinking it's alive and will spring back as it gets more sun.

Sure it will.

At least our ash tree is budding up a storm. The weather has been great over the past week or so and everything is starting to wake up.

Well, except one thing. Wake up, damn it!

posted at 05:19 PM | Link | Mundane § |

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Quick Return

Wow. I received emails saying that both my Federal and State returns were accepted. Gotta love electronic filing.

It's been raining all day. Was in the lower 70's yesterday, now it's in the 50's. It's Spring. It's Chicago. I know this is normal, but it still grates on ya.

posted at 07:15 PM | Link | Mundane § |

Monday, April 11, 2005

TurboTax, don't fail me now!

God, I hate this time of year... we've got a few twists to our tax filing this year, so I'm uncomfortable going through pieces of the EasyStep process that I've never been through this year... then the software didn't know it had the state software installed... so I reinstalled the software and then had to apply updates... and then some of the prompts didn't have the tax year in them (they were blank)... everything was OK in the federal, but the state - one second, I owed over $2000 and had a penalty to figure out, until I checked a box that said let the state calculate the penalty and then I'm getting a refund of $123. This is the first year that I'm not feeling good about the way TurboTax was acting... but, I'm going ahead with it, filing electronically, and let the cards fall where they may... I hate this time of year...

posted at 10:51 PM | Link | Mundane § |

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Days pass with little to write about

Wow! I can't believe that I haven't written anything in the blog for a while. I guess what's more shocking to me is that I haven't written anything and I didn't realize that I wasn't writing. It was like the blog wasn't part of my life for a couple of days... and you know, that's not a bad thing. But it's just odd that I didn't even recognize that I was doing this. Maybe it's because I'm busy at work, maybe it's because the house is a mess, maybe it's because we've had painters in every day for quotes on painting the first floor. I don't know - I guess a jumbled-up life jumbles-up your priorities and perceptions.

read more of this entry »


posted at 10:18 PM | Link | Mundane § |

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Still Traumatized

The "kidlettes" are still not coming out of their cage - the cage door was open but they came out and walked around the foyer, peaked into the living room and family room, but that's it. They don't want to have anything to do with it. Carol thinks that maybe their sensitive noses can still smell the finishes (since their nose is so close to the ground) and they don't like it. We'll see how it goes.

posted at 07:15 PM | Link | Bunnies § |

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

They don't seem to like it

Indy and Chip want to have nothing to do with the new flooring
We're just starting to move our base of operations from our bedroom back to the rest of the house. Since we've just had the hardwood floors installed, and there's no furniture (except for the new couch) anywhere on the first floor, this would be a good opportunity to paint. We're in the middle of getting quotes now, with a new painter coming in each night this week to bid on the project. And since we're going to paint, there's no reason to put all of the furniture back, so we're just putting back anything we absolutely need. The first item: the TV. We bought some TV trays (In the 20 years we've been in the house, we've never had TV trays - how the hell did that happen?), so there's no need for a dining room table. We're not entertaining for a while, so there's no need for the rest of the furniture.

So, the place is very empty, and with the installation of the flooring, it's also VERY echo-y. Carol and I can barely understand each other as we yell across the floor if the air conditioning is on. Everything just reverberates and distorts. I Knew this would happen - I just didn't realize how bad it would be. And without furniture, rugs, and window coverings there's just nothing available to dampen the sound reflections.

We decided to bring Chip and Indy and their cage downstairs. We'll setup the cage in the foyer for a few weeks until the floor finish finally sets-up (Ted doesn't even want us to put rugs down for 30 days).

So I scooped-up Indy and Chip out of their cage, brought them downstairs and put them in the middle of the empty living room/dining room.

read more of this entry »


posted at 07:23 PM | Link | Bunnies § |
Scratched already?

The new couch in the family room
La-Z-Boy delivered our new sofa this afternoon - and promptly scratched the brand new Brazilian Cherry floor in the family room. Carol went ballistic, but was able to use some oil after they left and the scratch appeared to vanish. The couch seems to fit just fine on the wall, though it's deeper than the old one

posted at 01:29 PM | Link | Mundane § |

Monday, April 04, 2005

OPENING DAY - White Sox 1 - Indians 0

Chicago White Sox Cleveland Indians
YES!!!! It's Opening Day!!!! All is right with the world!!!

read more of this entry »


posted at 09:08 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Bang?

Nobody told me that the floor was going to adjust itself. In the middle of the night. With a series of pops and BANGS! It's a little sartling - we had to go downstairs a few times to make sure no one was breaking in...

Thank God we're playing hooky today so we can some sleep!

posted at 07:02 AM | Link | Mundane § |

Sunday, April 03, 2005

The Winner is: La-Z-Boy

The winning La-Z-Boy couch
We bought the couch - after all of the looking we did, it was the first couch we say at La-Z-Boy. It's being delivered Tuesday.

Screw DST... my body clock is a mess... it needs a nap NOW...

posted at 09:05 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Spring Back, Fall Forward?

Yes! We made it! Longer daylight! In the evenings!

Welcome all-powerful Daylight Saving (not SavingS) Time!

Lost an hour of sleep to pay for it...

posted at 07:50 AM | Link | Mundane § |

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Karol Józef Wojtyła - May 18, 1920-April 2, 2005

Karol Jozef Wojtyla - Pope John Paul II

"The Holy Father is deceased this evening at 9:37 in his private apartment," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a written statement.

"Our beloved Holy Father John Paul II has returned to his home. Let us pray for him," he added.


"The Holy Father, John Paul II, died at 9:37 p.m. (1937GMT) in his private apartment," the message read. "All procedures foreseen in the Apostolic Constitution `Universi Dominici Gregis' (`Of the Lord's Whole Flock'), promulgated by John Paul II on February 22, 1996, have been activated." - quote from something so high-tech from an institution so old - Vatican email

The pope's death marks the beginning of a carefully scripted ritual that culminates in the election of a new leader for the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics.

It starts with a formal deathbed pronouncement in Latin, that the pope is "truly" dead.

The Vatican's chamberlain, now Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo of Spain, verifies the papal death -- which in the past was done by striking the pope's forehead with a silver hammer. The chamberlain, or camerlengo, then calls out to the pope three times by his baptismal name. When the pope does not respond, the camerlengo then announces "the pope is dead."

He destroys the symbols of the pope's authority: the fisherman's ring and the dies used to make lead seals for apostolic letters. He seals off the pope's bedroom and study, takes charge of the Holy See's property and arranges the funeral and the conclave at which the College of Cardinals will elect a new pope.

Universi Dominici Gregis (February 22, 1996)

posted at 02:47 PM | Link | Current Events § |
Done - Day 6

The final coat - living room The final coat - dining room
Carol and I had been out looking at sofa's all damn day (sorry... furniture shopping is a grueling sport, what with all of the looking and deciding and the test driving, all coupled with the thrill of avoiding the sharks at every twist and turn in the showroom). When we got home - Ziggy's van was still in the driveway - BUT he was just finishing up cleaning. Ziggy just left 5 minutes ago. The floor Right now is a high gloss, with the last finishing coat just applied before he left. We can't walk on it today, so God knows what the kitchen looks like - we can't get there.

Great work, though. It's really unbelievable to see.

posted at 02:37 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Beginning of Day 6

Ziggy working on the trim Ziggy working on the trim
Saturday.

7:45am.

Ziggy is downstairs working. Yes, he's working on Saturday to get everything done today.

posted at 08:04 AM | Link | Mundane § |

Friday, April 01, 2005

End of Day 5

Nasty weather moving in Gas prices take another jump
Raining. Pouring. Spring is definitely here. Got home and the crew was gone - but they're not done. The the floor finish looks like it's done. The trim is going up - I'm very disappointed - the color doesn't match. It's a totally different wood, so we're going to have to paint it. Was hoping the match would be closer, but this isn't close.

Stopped at Bay Furniture before I went home, just to look around. I like the variety better than at La-Z-Boy. Carol and I were going out to more places tonight to look at more couches, but the weather really is crappy. We'll go tomorrow.

posted at 05:36 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Beginning of Day 5

Sample of the flooring in the family room
Friday morning. Sunny. The flooring looks remarkable - I had to take a picture of it while the sun was out. What do you think?

posted at 07:33 AM | Link | Mundane § |
*nose wiggle* x 2
posted at 07:03 AM | Link | Memes § |

 

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This Blog was last updated Friday December 18, 2009 13:03:12 CDT (-06:00 GMT)
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