This is a photo of the collection of evidence I gathered from the stolen yellow Jeep. We were happy to get the jeep back, and I guess the crime did not warrant a full investigation. Sherlock Holmes could have figured it out. The only thing not pictured is the baby diaper (not used) and the peanut shells and ashes in the back cargo area. Appeared to be a little tailgating going on.

• Hispanic newspaper dated 22 de junio de 2011.
• A nearly complete word puzzle.
• A popsicle wrapper: Paleteria La Mexicana.
• Two phone numbers on a piece of note paper.
• A half of a scissor.
• A removable flat head screwdriver bit.
• An empty black pen.
• An Air Heads wrapper.
• A sprite bottle found in the center console.
• An orange Bic lighter.
• Our broken driver side windshield wiper apparently used to pry out the radio.

The four of us at dinner last night, talking about the recovered yellow Jeep. Did it being bright yellow make it stand out as a target from the mechanic’s lot? We know it was easy to spot when the kid Kelly “bumped” went looking for her after his dad said to find her. (She was getting her haircut. He found her.) And then you wonder about the whole bear under the yellow jeep incident…

I declared, “When we get it back, I’m just going to have it painted camouflage.”

“That will make it stand out even more,” Kelly said.

After a moment of thought, Claire said, “That’s ironic.”

We decided Claire was right. An unexpected reversal of intention is an example of irony. I paint the yellow jeep camouflage and just about every boy in the area would want to steal it (per Kathy.)

Brilliant observation, Claire!

It took about two weeks to figure out what to do for Gabriele’s cell phone. We were trying to keep cost down for what is basically a 9 month need. Unfortunately our Verizon friends-and-family plan is booked.

After several trips to Sam’s phone center, research on the web, calls to Verizon, and exchanges with friends and family, we decided to get Virgin Mobile’s pay-as-you-go. $80 phone. $25 per month. 300 minutes, unlimited texting, email, and data. The phone has a mini-browser built in, so it is inherently limited by what you can do with it.

On our third trip back to Sam’s, we had made our decision, but even then, the phone guy suggested another unexplored option: Metro PCS (which he did not sell.) But Gabriele was ready to buy, and so was I. It took about 45 minutes to get her phone set up. In this photo, she is standing in the middle of some of the biggest marketing and product promotion in America. Now we have to figure out what to do for Nicole…

Our original Tivoli Pal (featured here in a 2003 post) went into surgery over the weekend and is doing quite well. This one lives in our bathroom and then floats around on demand to run on battery.

Kathy and I have had a hard time keeping it working though, because the power jack (not plug) seemed to have a short and would stop working. We would wiggle the cord, pull on it, lean it against the wall… all kinds of strategies to keep the power flowing. Finally I decided to take it apart and see if there was anything I could do.

We knew it was not the plug, because trading plugs with the Yellow Pal made no difference. It had to be inside the Pal. Six screws later, I had the front of the Pal removed to reveal all of the wiring, speaker, and other major organs. While plugging the power in and out and wiggling the connection, I noticed a tiny spark on the circuit board.

I photographed the board with my digital camera and zoomed in. I could see where one of the solder joints was cracked all the way around. A neighboring joint also looked half cracked. So I got my old soldering iron that I bought when I was a teenager, and went to work. Good as new! (Even if my soldering joints are a bit ugly.)

Ted noticed Kathy’s Facebook wall post thanking me for getting all of the wires connected to the TV. (She thanked me on her wall vs. mine.) So then Ted emails me…

“What kind of TV hook-ups did you have to make? Did you get a new TV?”

And I’m answering on my blog. Roundabout communications.

We moved the big flat panel downstairs and moved the smaller (older) flat panel back upstairs. After having it for a year, we decided it was too big for our living room. (Always liked how mom and dad never had a TV in the family room…. at least I got the size down.)

We bought a new TV stand for the basement, since it would not fit in the entertainment center Kathy finished (see: Big Voice and the Music Crack – 1997). I had to hook the big TV up to the DVD/VCR player + JVC surround sound thing + PlayStation2. Kathy’s post was thanking me for getting it all hooked up so she could record American Idol when teaching Edge at the church.

Danny had figured all of this out last year, but he was not very useful trying to help me with a remote phone call. I still don’t have it all hooked up the best way because we have to use the channel 3 method of playing through the DVD/VCR. But it got Kathy through this week.

Conversation at the kitchen table. Kathy reading the paper. Jeb working on the church website. Bright red Cardinal visits birdfeeder outside kitchen window.

K: He’s a short one.

J: Cardinals are just finches with long tails. We should catch a boy one and a girl one and keep them as pets.

K: They would make a mess.

J: Did you ever go to Laura B—–‘s house and see her mom’s finches?

K: Yeh, I remember that.

J: It was enclosed, so that helped solve some of the mess.

K: I still bet it was a mess to clean up.

(Pause.)

J: But she was used to cleaning up after birds.

K: Yeh. (Grin.)