Analog Blockage

Posted on January 28, 2006 by jeb

Kathy and I were walking our furry dogs when she told me, “The vacuum cleaner is not sucking. I think it is broken.” She told me she had tried to see if it was clogged by pushing a coat hanger through the intake. Annoying, given it is only a few years old.

When I got home, I took it down to the workshop and started inspecting. Belt was fine. Motor sounded ok. Suction was very weak. Between the intake and the bag is a tube that you can disconnect from the bottom and add hand attachments (clue: for example an attachment for sweeping wood floors.) I had to unscrew the top to inspect the hose. It was too long to look through, so I tried blowing through it. Blockage. I then used a drain snake to push and push. Pop. Out came a big furry clog. Like Kelly did with her owl pellets, Claire and I dissected the fur fewmet and found a strip of film negatives in the middle. That’s how the clog started. So that’s another advantage to digital cameras. No negatives to block your vacuum cleaner.

Good as new.

Crazy Costume Contest

Posted on January 8, 2006 by jeb

Mary Claire attended two birthday parties this weekend. Both had a crazy costume contest built into the party. Claire was not sure about it, so she did not dress up for Saturday’s party. Realizing there were prizes involved, she did not miss the chance to compete for the second birthday party on Sunday. She won!

The prize was a very nice bath gift set including soaps, lotions, and bath salts. Good thing. She needed a bath to get rid of all the crazy makeup.

Merry Christmas! (About the card.)

Posted on December 24, 2005 by jeb

As I worked on the 2005 Time Line in our Christmas card, I found myself wanting to create links… which do not work very well on a paper card. So I put them here. Some FAQs on the card:

Q: How was the front done? Who did the front?

A: Claire created this acrylic painting in her art class. She gets credit on the back. Kathy thought it would make a good Christmas card, so I photographed it. The browns and dark reds did not work too well with inkjet, so I experimented with sending the photo to Sam’s photo center via www.samsclub.com, which did the painting better justice.

The original painting does not have the same proportions as a 4 x 6 photo, so I copy pasted the left and right sides to make it wider. You may spot a repeat in the snowflakes and bells.

Grandad got out his magnifying glass to see if he could read the signature. He thought it said “Cassius Clay.” It doesn’t.

Q: Did Claire start 6th grade? I thought she was in 5th?

A: My mistake. I often forget these two peas-in-a-pod are three grades apart.

Q: Is Kelly sad in the net picture?

A: No. She is afraid. She was very worried she would fall through the net into the water below. She’s thin, you know.

Q: The colors in Merry Christmas on the front match the lightbulb colors on the front. Was that intentional? What font is that?

A: Yes, the coloring was intended. The font is Chalkboard and comes with Mac OS X Tiger. The card was composed in AppleWorks.

2005 Time Line

Jan:

Claire leads her basketball team to a championship. Jeb abandons Las Vegas business trip to beat ice storm in Atlanta (barely.)

Feb: Kathy and Danny work with Missionaries of the Poor in Kingston, Jamaica.

Mar: Danny pitches season opener for Brookwood. Kelly, Claire, and Danny all sustain sports injuries.

Apr: Danny

awarded half

academic scholarship to

Spring Hill College in Mobile.

May: Nicole graduates from UGA. Danny graduates from Brookwood. Danny pitches exciting playoff game against Lassiter and goes to prom.

June: Kelly and Claire drama camp and tennis camp. Danny vacations St. George Island. No summer swim team because of vacation schedules. Nicole and Psychic Hearts play Music Midtown on 99X stage.

July: Jeb and Danny evacuated from freshman orientation by Hurricane Dennis. Sleep in Wal-Mart parking lot. Cashin-Ettensohn family vacation Perdido Key. Grandad retires FOPAB newsletter, another victim of the Internet.

Aug: Kathy takes us on Windjammer barefoot cruise (see photo.) Kathy and Jeb take Danny to Spring Hill. Kelly starts 8th, Claire 6th.

Sep: Kelly and Claire play church softball and soccer. Danny evacuated by Hurricane Katrina and Spring Hill shuts down for a week. Kathy volunteers with Red Cross to help Katrina victims. Kelly joins

running club.

Nicole and

Psychic Hearts play in the CMJ Music Marathon at the Lincoln Center in NYC.

Oct: Kathy and Jeb join RCIA. Kelly in district honors chorus in Athens. Harley (parakeet) dies after a long life.

Nov: Jeb in Callaway for management meeting. Nicole gets raise as manager of UPS store.

Dec: Kathy starts new job in real estate. Gramalie treats us all to a wonderful visit to the Georgia Aquarium and a

delicious

dinner. Danny

goes to work

for Grant in Athens.

Two Altar Servers

Posted on December 23, 2005 by jeb

Kelly and Claire went through altar server training and assisted in their first mass on November 27th. There was much discussion and concern about the three different duties: bell ringer, book handler, and cross bearer. Claire set up a pretend altar at home and had me play the priest so she could get the timing of the bells down. The trickiest is the first, single ring as the priest extends his hands over the gifts. This is a relatively new ring for our parish, having traditionally had the two 3-bells.

The more experienced altar server took on book duty. Claire ended up being the cross bearer, and Kelly handled the bells. Because it was the start of advent, there was a little change in sequences, so the time for ringing the 1-bell came early, but Kelly did some quick thinking and handled it smoothly.

Both girls did very well, and sat very still. Claire managed to only wiggle her feet a few times, which was probably only noticeable to her dad.

I accidentally took a flash picture of the altar at the beginning of mass. (I had turned off the flash, but when the camera powered itself down and I had to turn it on again, the flash reset.) Father Bill noticed and said something to Kathy later, but I am not going to be ex-communicated.

Bill Marten announced that this was the two girls first mass and they got a round of applause

Sisters

Posted on December 18, 2005 by jeb

We all very much enjoyed Kelly’s chorus concert in Athens on Fiona’s birthday. However, I never did write about how really good these kids were and how impressive the show was on the following Saturday. The Athens Classic Center is something of a small Carnegie Hall with a double balcony and two levels of box seats along the side. Kelly had never performed in anything so grand.

Each chorus was composed of the honors singers from many schools across Georgia, and each was conducted by a guest music professor. The boys chorus (about 100 members) made a very theatrical entrance from the back of the theatre, singing an African-sounding chant as they came in: Eh Ohooro Obayafayo Owa Eh FehOh Ohwa Awafaragay. The effect on the CD makes it sound like a large tribe of young warriors coming towards you across the plains. The girl chorus members sitting in the audience exploded into applause and cheering.

I may be biased, but every song sung by Kelly’s 8th grade chorus was exquisite. Nicole claims it brought me to tears. (And it did, although I was suffering from a cold and very itchy eyes, so I had been in tears all day.)

One of my favorite songs was Berlin Irving’s “Sisters”. It makes me think of the sisters we have in our family:

Nicole + Kelly + Claire

Betty + Julie + Patsy

Carol + Kathy + Jami

Here is the song as sung by Kelly and 124 friends: Sisters.

Here are the lyrics:

Sisters

Sisters

There were never such devoted sisters

Never had to have a chaperone “No, sir”

I’m there to keep my eye on her

Caring

Sharing

Every little thing that we are wearing

When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome

She wore the dress and I stayed home

All kinds of weather

We stick together

The same in the rain or sun

Two diff’rent faces

But in tight places

We think and we act as one

Those who’ve

Seen us

Know that not a thing could come between us

Many men have tried to split us up but no one can

Lord help the mister

Who comes between me and my sister

And Lord help the sister

Who comes between me and my man

Giant Bur Oak Acorn

Posted on December 11, 2005 by jeb

Nicole is in the shipping business. One of her customers gave her a giant acorn. It is from a Bur Oak. She mailed it to us with instructions to plant it in a pot to get it growing, and then transfer it outdoors. (Being in the shipping business, she thinks nothing of mailing a giant acorn.) The leaves on this tree will be up to a foot long. They seem to be very popular in Texas.

I’ll plant it next to the mailbox and see if Kathy notices.

Clyde’s Sugar Mama

Posted on November 14, 2005 by jeb

On a particularly nice day a while back (before Stout) Kathy drove Danny to church for a retreat with the Wrangler’s top down. She brought Clyde along for the ride. When Danny got out, Clyde moved up to the passenger seat. Still in the Wrangler, Kathy saw a friend, and they talked a while in the parking lot. The friend then said, “I can see you are having a mid-life crisis.”

“How is that?” asked Kathy.

“You are riding around in a convertible with a blonde.”

Clyde the Poopin’ Roo

Posted on October 31, 2005 by jeb

In Ted’s recent collage of banner photos, the kangaroo banner is one of my favorites. There is one (which I’ve highlighted below) that looks a lot like Clyde in the front yard, doing his business, and looking over his shoulder to see if anyone is watching.

I’ll see if I can sneak a photo of him for a side-by-side comparison.

Kelly and the Claire Photo

Posted on October 23, 2005 by jeb

I took a couple days off work to coincide with the girls’ four day weekend. The girls and I went to Harland to have lunch, and they both helped with a yo-yo project. I brought a paint brush and smock so that Kelly could pose in front of the photo of Claire on the wall. Isn’t Kelly a good sport?

A Homer and a Grand

Posted on October 22, 2005 by jeb

I forgot to mention that Mary Claire kicked off our busy Birthday Blitz weekend last week with an outstanding softball outing. Both she and Kelly have joined church league teams and have been having a lot of fun learning how to hit, catch, throw, and run.

Claire was excited because she had been selected to play first base for the game (the base where most of the action is.) She played the position well, stretching to make several catches and outs at first.

Claire ended up being the best hitter on her team, often getting it out of the infield (which is rare with the elementry school team and their extra-soft softball.) She batted clean up last Friday. Two girls were on when she got up to bat the first time. Claire smacked it over the shortstop’s head, and the ball rolled past the outfielder. Claire was able to speed around the bases for an in-the-park homer with three RBIs. At her next at bat, the bases were loaded. She repeated a hit to left field, but this time the outfielder got to the ball and threw it in. Unfortunately, for the other team, two throws missed their mark, and the ever-aggressive base runner, Claire, was able to round all the bases for an in-the-park Grand Slam.

Her big brother would have been proud. We sure were.

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