Raincharm’s Weblog

OK – this was Sunday, apparently I forgot to push the “Publish” button.

To many it would be a wasted day.
I worked. A full day. At home. And it was not raining.

But this will undoubtedly help me sometime in the next week.
Maybe even tomorrow evening when I expect to be delivering project information to about 100 people. Including how much it is going to cost them. Hopefully they will not get out of hand.

During a portion of the day the NCAA Basketball tournament was going on.
I Kentucky managed to knock Ashlan out of the tournament, and I have a chance at the Final 2.

Carl still has Kansas, and is happy because his Grandfather played for Kansas, back in the day. He also played baseball, and we attribute his genes for Carl’s propensity for chasing small round objects here and there.

Marvin Harms, played guard for Fog Allen

Tall and skinny, just like his son, and his great-grandson.

And now it is Today (Monday)

After working the weekend, essentially, I worked a 13 hour day.
Of course, the last part was pretty much why I worked the weekend.

The public meeting went pretty well. Even got a polite round of applause after speaking for over an hour. This was an INFORMATION meeting, in which I try to impart 24 years of information to folks that are going to have to turn over some of their hard earned cash to us. They were not all happy, mind you, but only one of them sort of called me a name. Something about talking out of both sides of our mouths. But then a neighboring person actually said they disagreed.

Not bad. And tomorrow it will be back at it again.
Good Night.

Here is our family bracket – as it currently stands.

Family Bracket

Ashlan is the only one without a team in the Final Four.
Rey has Louisville.
Jay has Oh How I Hate Ohio State.
Carl has … Well, we don’t know who Carl has, but he has two teams playing tomorrow against each other.
And Ashlan has to pin her hopes on the Yellow Bellied Baylors, against Jay’s Kentucky.

Spent a good part of today working, but included a lunch with Carl.
And now, I get to spend more time with him. (Yeah – that is a good thing)

For a report on yesterday’s activities – work for both, and then the Sounders game.
Sounders beat the Houston Dynamo 2-0. It was a fun game, and it did not rain.

The daffodils are starting to show their colors, just a hint.

And Again: In which I finished task 2 (yeah for refunds), and it was sunny so we headed out for a spot of exercise.
Carl, bless his heart, is trying to get my heart pumping again on a regular basis.
Not being on a soccer team means I don’t have the potential embarassment of not being able to run a bit to keep me on the straight and narrow.
And there are way too many distractions to say I am always idle.

So we took the soccer ball and headed up to Roosevelt.
It was nice enough, and there were a few others at the field.
We had our space and were running around, chasing the round ball.

And then it started to snow. Well, hail really. With some rain.
But we stuck it out long enough for that to come to its conclusion, and I could clean off my glasses and see again.

I also realized how out of shape I am, and solemnly pledge to work harder at the working out thing. And we did turn on the Endomondo App, to measure the walk. I forgot to turn it off when we reached the field, so it tracked my movements on the field as well.

 Move to the open space!=================================================

Update: In which I continue to be distracted as I move towards completing task 2.
(Found the 2011 and 2010 taxes)
As I was going through the file with most of the historic tax files, I found a file with clippings and information from a 1992 Dinosaur trip, and a 1993 Amtrak trip. Including the following 1993 photos. [And in the 1992 trip file I found my notes on how to find fossilized snails near Rock Springs, WY. This was the one piece that I saved from that file.]

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I had a short list of things to get done yesterday.

I think I accomplished one, but I can’t remember what it was. (Oh yes – e-mail house stuff to contractor and architect. And add all financial knowledge onto a spreadsheet, so it is not lost.)

The other two got sideswiped by a distraction.

I need to finish our taxes, and that (for me) required looking at 2010 taxes to see what forms we had included to back up the 529 program withdrawal (school expenses). In addition, I am in the midst of cleaning out files (and the entire house), and organizing past tax returns fits into that category. I had retrieved all of the tax forms I could find in our file cabinets and brought them downstairs. I was checking the file drawer next to the computer for any stragglers (likely more recent), and noted the pile of receipts in the drawer.

This devolved into searching the internet for suggested retention schedule for personal records. (For receipts this is one year, except hang onto those for big ticket purchases with warranties.) So I took the 2009 receipts and went through them. Three piles; Discard, shred (credit card) and keep. The 2010 and 2011 piles are neatly stacked, waiting for me to figure where they should go for now, and the 2012 pile is growing. (Yeah – that is two years, but I am paring down.)

This effort took up a bit of time, and the number 2 task (taxes) never got further. In fact, I am hoping the 2011 tax file will appear as I go through my stack, because it was not where I expected it to be (in the file drawer). That is next on my docket.

The 3rd item was/is a work product that really needs to move along.

The distraction was only part of the time suck yesterday.
You see, it started as a rainy/snowy day, but then turned into a cold sunshine.
So we took a walk. About 6-1/4 miles, that ended at CenturyLink Field for the Sounder’s opening game of the MLS season. Sounder’s won 3-1, beating Toronto. One of the young players, David Estrada, scored all 3 goals.That means a free haircut somewhere, and I may just use the ticket.

The homeward bound trip was made by bus, along with a good number of other souls that thought the bus was a good idea. I would like to think that we are all trying to save the planet, but I’ll bet a few were trying to save themselves from St. Patrick’s day revelers that chose to drive.

Enough! Time for taxes.

Throughout the week we managed to get up at the proper time, despite the time change.
Then last night arrived.

FRIDAY! TGIF! time to go out and party. Or at least relax.
Except Carl went to bed about 7:15, exhausted. I would have followed fairly closely, but one of his friends wanted to drop something off, at 10 PM. So I stayed up.
I would like to say I used the time productively, but I was also a bit exhausted mentally, and just could not pull it together. I did not even blog.

I did watch some basketball, and then Grimm. [Grimm is a TV show based in Portland, OR where some of the characters have fairytale alter-egos. Werewolves, vampires, … Grimm is a police detective, and his lineage has taken on dealing with the evil alter-egos through time. The evil alter-egos, of course, fear Grimms and will harm them if given a chance. He has a friend who is a vegetarian Werewolf, who was brought up to know the stories, creatures, etc. It is entertaining. And one of my co-workers is a sometime stunt-man who does a share of the fight scenes that occur in makeup.]

And then I fell asleep on the couch. A time-honored family tradition. Carl eventually reappeared and woke me up so I could go to bed. He noted how tired I must have been because I still had my shoes on.

My yesterday was very different. I started normally, at work, for a meeting – and some work. Then I started talking to bankers (or credit unioners) about loans. And there was a very good meeting with the contractor and architect to further hone the scope of the project. And then, another banker, and then a phone chat with a “loan officer.” About then Carl showed up, and I babbled at him for about 30 minutes. And then I was done for the evening for all intents and purposes.

Today I must all of the information from yesterday organized, and sent out to those that need it.

And the Sounders Season opens tonight. (Of course it is supposed to be in the 30’s with rain, maybe snow, and a smattering of drunk drivers for St. Patrick’s day.) (So we are busing.)

And, the family NCAA Basketball Statistics after Round 2 (although I think it was really Round 1)

Ashlan: 6-10
Rey: 8-8
Carl: 8-8
Jay: 10-6

It would appear that I have the advantage, but that is only in numbers. Everybody still has their number 1 seed, and Carl lost 2 number 2 seeds.

March Madness.
I could be talking weather – we have rain, hail, thunder, snow and precious little sun, and all of my relatives (well a good number of them) are having warmth and sun. Of course there was at least one tornado warning thrown in for good measure.

But I am talking basketball.
The Family Statistics after the first full day.

Ashlan 3-3
Rey 4-4
Carl 4-4
Jay 5-5

So there is no clear front-runner at this point. Ashlan almost lost her #1 seed, but held on in the end.

And I am taking off 1/2 day tomorrow.
To meet with the contractor, and some bankers.
The goal – to move this remodeling project along to the next stage.

Today was spent in the meeting that Saturday and a bit of Sunday was spent getting ready for.
The PowerPoint went off without a hitch.
Well – there was the one project that had a date of 2011 on one slide, 2012 on another slide, and should have been 2013 everywhere. As things go, fairly minor.

The animations (my part of the whole shebang) were well received.
And we will use the main one for a staff meeting too, so it is more than a one-time show.

Started putting dollar amounts into the Excel Amortization template.
How handy is that.
I am a bit calmer about the prospect of getting a new loan now.
Now I need to see what the banks will offer.

And – get back with the contractor to show him what I think we can go for, so they can move forward. Right now it looks like we will either be starting early summer, or late fall.
It is dependent on another project the contractor is bidding on.

Either way will probably be OK for us, as long as I can get a loan while interest rates are low!

The project is currently – major kitchen (wall changes included), major basement (waterproofing, earthquake retrofitting, new furnace), major upstairs insulation, and maybe a bit of work around the upstairs bathroom.

That is my plan for now – we will see what changes over the next few weeks.

Yesterday was …. I am not even sure what yesterday was. I think it had moments of dryness, followed by a lot of wetness. Carl did get out of the house for a bit and watched some high school baseball. Then he came home.

What he mentioned to me was that he saw a lot of my back.
All day.

That is what he says when I sit at the computer.
I spent most of yesterday PowerPointing.
The result was really pretty good, if I do say so myself.
I actually exclaimed out loud when I got a particular animation to work as I wanted it to, and Carl came to see what was wrong.

By the end of the day I was fighting to get a rainbow, and have it appear with a pot of gold.
Using the pre-packaged bits was not working well, so I let it go for the night.
Sometimes you just have to make it yourself. This AM I made 7 arcs of different colors, grouped them, wipe in, and wipe the clip art pot of gold in as well. Nice effect. (Again, I am patting myself on the back that Carl is watching.
It is done.

We also watched The Descendants last night.
I heard some DJs discussing when was the last time they had seen a movie, without knowing what it was about going in. I think I came close to that last night.
I remembered one preview where a daughter told the father their mother was having an affair.
That was about it.

I thought it was a well done movie, and an enjoyable way to end the day.

This morning we have taken a short, errand walk. (After said rainbow work).
We are now preparing for Selection Sunday and the start of March Madness.
Hopefully we will be able to team up with the kids, although I only have a firm date with one of them so far. But the brackets are ready, and the randomizer primed to go. (Actually, it goes off all the time, every time you do anything.)

For those that don’t know, since the kids were small we have randomly split the teams in the NCAA Basketball tournament between the four in our immediate family. Initially the kids liked the prizes (candy mostly) they got for every team they had that won a game. Starting with 16 teams guarantees some good 1st and 2nd round hauls. Lately, the prizes have become less important, and just about absent. This is at least in part due to the distances that separate our home store from their domiciles. (We still buy the prizes, we just don’t send out their winnings.)
((That’s not true, we just pocket the savings.))

Perhaps I will post our bracket once they have completed the drawing.

Sorry ’bout that.

Life sometimes just goes on by.
We had some things going on this week in the evenings, but not every evening.
There was some TV watching.
There was some reading.
And there was some sleeping.

Work has continued to be fairly intense, and I do plan to work some this weekend. But this weekend I get to play more with PowerPoint. We have a “retreat” at our office on Monday with our Board. One of the items of discussion is a bit of personnel restructuring. Like so many places, the economy has impacted our bottom line. As people have left over the past few years, they have not been replaced. We just fill in here and there to make sure things get done, but it is a bit out of balance. So this is a rebalancing, and will further take advantage of an upcoming retirement.

I have not been deeply involved in figuring out the restructure, although I am generally aware of the proposals. But for the Board, there is an associated PowerPoint presentation. The part that I am assisting our HR person with includes the transition from our current org chart to the proposed org chart. It starts out nice and cheerful, and then we dim to currently or soon to be vacant positions, move some folks around the board, restructure a bit with some positions moving, and others disappearing. There is a lot that can be done with Powerpoint, flying bits about. It is pretty fun. Not “my” work, but I enjoy this kind of challenge, and I think it is turning out well so far.

And on the home front, literally, or really the home back if we are speaking literally, we met with the contractor and architect for a cost estimate. GULP. Now it is our turn to prune a bit, meet with some bankers, and generally figure out what we can bear. We are so close to paying off the house that I hate to get into more debt than we have ever had. But, it is the right time to get it done, and it does need to get done. I think I would rather spend some money and end up with a nice product, than rely on our home improvement skills (or not), and pay for it in the long run.

I pledge to try to get on here a bit more as well.

Because we miss some of the little notes of happenings.
Like the weather.
From snow, to almost 60 degrees, and back into a darn good rainstorm, and predictions for snow again.

March 2012 - at work. This is gone, but more is predicted.

Yesterday we bought a few old postcards, and posted one on the blog.
Less old, but longer in our possession, are the following two examples.

Manufactured Postcards

The one simply titled Seattle is funny for the western horizon. As if Seattle was on the Pacific Ocean (a really calm ocean) rather than the Puget Sound. There are islands, and many other land masses in the Sound. None are visible here. Perhaps a mirage has obscured them. (See the latest Scientific American for a brief on how mirages can hide masses from your vision. Including icebergs.)

Ever Changing Seattle appears to have two Space Needles. The back of the card notes that the Space Needle is at the far left of the picture. But it just doesn’t seem quite correct, almost too tall. And there is another strikingly similar structure a bit further into the picture. Again, I am not sure whether it would be visible from this perspective.

Now, with a city as picturesque as Seattle, why would I think these postcards were playing fast and loose with reality. If you look at both postcards you may note that the clouds have a certain similarity. In fact, they are exactly the same! (Shifted slightly, but the same.)

Perhaps there was a “Postcard Photographers Day” and they were taken at exactly the same time. Since there were no cell phones, they must have had strings of walkie talkies so they would all take their pictures simultaneously.

The pictures credit two different photographers, were copywrited by a company in Boston (with sequential numbers). I think we bought these in our early Seattle days, intending to send them off to our friends and family. The clouds were noticed only after they were in our possession, and they just resurfaced in our shuffling of items around the house.

We took a walk today.
And that will probably be the biggest thing I accomlish.
(I did the crossword earlier)
7.2 miles.

I think the lack of food (and exercise) over this past week has really put a dent in my ability to push myself physically. So this was a good test. Had breakfast (yogurt), and lunch (couscous and applesause), and then set out. And now I am setting sitting.

It is Seattle, so there were hills.
For those that are familiar with the City, we walked southwest to Gasworks Park, into Fremont, over to the Troll, north to Lower Woodland and Green Lake, and then home again.
I have this app on my phone (Endomondo) that tracks your workout.
It is pretty fun – has a gps function, so you get a map of where you went.
On the computer, you can see the map, elevation, speed (at least by the mile), and a few other bits of information.
Carl started trying to guess certain distances, and he was usually pretty close.

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It was sunnyish, and I had one layer too many. But we survived.
I did have to stop at a Starbucks, rest for a bit, and eat a yogurt/fruit parfait. I let Carl eat the granola bits on top.

If there was a focus to the walk, it was Fremont. The Center of the Universe, and home to a “Vintage” store. Vintage includes many things I grew up with. And they have a collection of postcards. Some used, some not. But we did find one that we just had to get.

Looking for guesses on the year (note the knickers on one boy). The lead boat name appears to be James something. It is a colorized picture. The picture was published by A.E. Young, of Sault Ste. Marie.

Vintage Soo Locks - How vintage?