TeeBee's Blog

The Big E

We went to The Big E, or the Eastern States Exposition, this weekend. This is an enormous state fair in the grand tradition of state fairs - rides, junk food, livestock, tractors, peddlars with miracle mops, pots and pans, blue-ribbon crafts, etc, etc. A fine time was had by all. We all rode the big ferris wheel ("The largest transportable Ferris Wheel in the U.S.!"); well, all except Gina (buck-buckaw!). Watched other people ooh and ahh at my cute baby nephew Morgan (he is pretty darn cute). It rained a bit, but we just went inside when it did. Emma and I down the water slide ride (hint - when you sit in front, you get wet). Alex tried clam cakes and pronounced them yummy (to me, they are like a salty doughnut, but what do I know). Watched the Shriner's parade, with the requisite tiny cars. The senior guys got the cool rides, while the junior guys got stuck on the minibikes.

Fun.

teebee

Classic Games

A few that we're playing at our house:

Battleship

Man, I can still remember the beginning of the commercial for this:

Announcer: "Battleship!"
(sound of battleship guns firing)
Announcer: "Battleship!"
(sound of battleship guns firing)
(quick cuts of 2 battleships firing at each other, with more battleship noises)

I used to play this for hours with my brothers. Not many ways to cheat at this. You can't put the ships in diagonally. Its pretty easy to get busted if you start moving them around. Now Alex and I are playing. He keeps saying things like "Ooh - you just missed one of my ships". I need to tell him that being helpful is, in this case, not a good thing.

And no, this is not the "electronic" version that makes stupid noises when you get a hit. This is the classic red case/blue case, pins-fall-into-the-little-hinge-area version of the game. $1 at a tag sale.

Don't Break the Ice
This one is from Gina's past, who also used to play this for hours. Alex and I were playing yesterday while Gina talked with our contractor, and it was obvious that our contractor wanted to play too. A simple game, but you can still have fun plotting out where you want to test your engineering theories. $.50 at a tag sale

Othello
Also known as Reversi. "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master". Another one from my past. An entertainingly tricky game - easy for the kids to pick up with lots of growth room, strategy-wise. I'm still showing the kids some of the more subtle points (like flipping along mutiple axes), but they're picking it up fast. Had to get this one from Amazon, as none of the local stores carry it anymore. Get home and my neighbor says "Oh we have that - I would've given it to you!". Sigh.

teebee

Why "Teebee"?

"Teebee" is a nickname I picked up as a kid. My Polish grandmother used to call me Stevie, but with her clipped accent it came out sounding like Teebee, so the name stuck. Of course my brothers used to torment me with it when I was young, but I don't mind it now - it is a fond reminder of the past.

teebee

Addition Update

7:30 AM - I'm expecting the concrete guys to show up and pour the basement floor, but they're not here yet. Off on the next street, something big and diesel-y is backing up. I walk out on the road and sure enough, there's the concrete truck lumbering around. I flag him down, and they get to work. Unfortunately it had rained the night before so the truck slipped and slithered on its way out, much to the detriment of our rasberry bushes.

Pics of the rough-plumbed basement bathroom and new basement room (before floor was poured) here. Pics of the poured floor tomorrow.

Next:
- electrical inspection tomorrow (plumbing was inspected yesterday)
- bathroom skylight finished on Friday
- insulation on Friday or Monday
- studding + insulation of basement also Friday or Monday

Things are really moving along - we haven't had a lull in activity since the summer!

teebee

Back to church

We belong to South Congregational Church. Things are pretty quiet during the summer, with most families on vacation and temperatures in the sanctuary getting up there. However, once the school year begins, things really pick up again.

We went back to service for the first time yesterday (missed last week). Very nice to see everyone again. Our congregation is a great mix of new members, families and people who've been attending service for 60+ years. Our interim minister, Fran Ruthven, is warm and welcoming. They have a great church school program (and yes, I will sign up soon to fill one of the rotating teacher positions). Kids grumble about having to go (nothing new there; I did the same at their age), but I think they enjoy the fellowship the same as we do. And hey - if a little morality lesson creeps in around the edges, then all the better.

teebee

Brief Addition Update

Initial plumbing and electrical work done. Gutters up. Next step - electrical and plumbing inspections. Then insulation + drywall; plus they'll pour the basement floor. Maybe pics later - the last set were all blurry (I need to read the manual on how to do indoor/lowlight/flash pictures).

teebee

Requiem for a Cat: 1987-2003

Well, our oldest cat (and oldest pet) Jake died yesterday. Not a good day. He'd always been somewhat dog-like in that he'd follow you around the yard, out to the mailbox, etc. Well, yesterday he followed Gina out to the bus stop and, unseen by anyone, decided that under the bus was a good place to sit. I suppose I don't have to spell out what happened then. Luckily, the kids didn't see anything. Gina was not so fortunate.

Jake had shown up at our window one night 16 years ago, back at our basement apartment on Montague Road. He was probably all of 10 weeks old. We caught glimpses of a mother cat hanging around, watching (in our minds) to see if we'd take her boy in. We did, and after a few nights, she disappeared.

He was pretty sick when we first got him. Brought him to our vet, who straightened him out with a diet of Tender Vittles. Jake managed to get his picture in the paper when they did a spread about local vets - a big picture of him looking very tiny and scared, behind bars.

He quickly grew into quite a charismatic cat. When we moved to our next apartment in Amherst Fields, he got to know everyone there, mostly by climbing into their cars whenever he could. We thought for sure he'd end up in some delivery truck, headed for Alaska, but it never happened.

He had this trick he'd play on unsuspecting helpful souls. He'd climb up a tree (just out of reach), and meow and meow until the sucker got a ladder (or chair, or something) and got him down. Those that were in the know just said "Hi, Jake" as they passed under him.

When I got my job at HBOC (which was a 5-minute walk from our apartment), it turned out that most of the people in my group knew Jake already. They would go for walks through our neighborhood at lunchtime, and Jake would pad out to meet them.

When we finally moved into our house, Jake quickly took it upon himself to rid the neighborhood of evil baby bunnies. Every spring, we'd find bits of bunny around the deck and back yard. Sometimes we'd come upon him with a live one, and then the chase would begin. I found that throwing a rake was the best approach - Jake'd freak out, drop his victim, and bolt. As he got older (and fatter), the slaughter slowed to a mole now and then.

As he moved into his twilight years, he became pretty much a housecat, going out now and again but mostly sleeping around in the sun. He developed this *lovely* Siamese-like yowl, which he used to great effect when he encountered a closed door and wanted to be on the other side. Considering he was 16, he was in pretty good shape - fur, teeth, eyes, limbs all intact. I thought for sure he'd go into his 20's, but...

Well Jake, I hope whatever level of being you've passed onto is agreeing with you. You stuck with us for 16 years, so you've ensured a place in our family history.

teebee

Addition Update

Its the Invasion of the Subcontractors! On Friday, both the electrician and the heating guys showed up at the same time. We're trying to talk with the heating guy, and the electrician is already drilling holes and stringing wires. Um, can ya wait a sec until we've told you where we want things? Get done with heating guy, talk to electrician who talks really really fast so Gina and I are trying to stay with him while we lay out all the sockets, switches, lights, etc. I think we got what we wanted; we'll see.

I've decided to wuss out and have the contractor do my workshop. Originally, I was going to work on this over the winter, but they're here, it's not that much $$, and it'll be done (and done right) quickly. I may have my shop back up by Christmas. I worked out the shop layout over the weekend, and am pretty pleased with it. We'll see how much it all will cost.

teebee

Back To School

Well, the kids went back to school yesterday, much to their relief (althought they wouldn't openly admit it). Summer vacation had pretty much run its course, and they were pretty tired of us. Both of them woke up early, and were out at the bus stop 1/2 hour early. Both came home with big smiles and stories of meeting all their friends again, how nice their teachers were, etc, etc. A real relief for us. I tell ya, nothing can stress you out more than watching your kids struggle with bad teachers, bullying classmates, etc. You have real empathy with them, having probably lived through the same thing yourself (and probably more than once).

Strange - this year I didn't get that "back to school" feel in the weeks leading up to school starting. Usually, I'll go out to work some morning in late August, it'll be summy but a bit chilly, and I'll get that old migratory bird-call saying "time to change, time to change". After I graduated college, it took years for August-September to stop feeling like it was time to put all the albums back into peach-crates and head out. Then when out kids started school, it came back again. Not this year, thought. Hmm - maybe I'm adjusting again. Oh well - I'm sure something will come along to take its place.

teebee

Gina's First Balloon Ride

Gina's sister Lisa runs Pioneer Valley Balloons, and has always been bugging us to go on a ride with her. Yesterday, Gina decided to go. After making sure I knew who our life insurance agent was, she was off!

Pics here. Note - this is a new group, so you'll have to join again, even if you are already members of my other groups. I created another group to try and avoid the bandwidth throttling that Yahoo has in place, so I'll be alternating usage of my groups between the 3 of them.