Saturday, June 16, 2001

Blogger Trivial Pursuit is over. I'd be the one who likes jelly fat off of Spam. My dad would come home for lunch to watch "As the World Turns". He either had Spam, cold hot dogs, or vienna sausages - things that you could easily eat in front of the TV. Personally, I think it's more odd that a man would watch a soap opera but John picked the Spam fat as my weird factor. Anyways, dad would scrape off that layer of jelly from the Spam and I'd eat it.

I also love the white piece of pork fat in pork 'n beans and fat off of steak. Cooked, of course. That makes Todd sick. I hope Todd gets picked for Round Two of this game. He has some quirks that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. I'd love to hear him try and explain when the game was over.

posted by Lisa 6/16/2001 09:43:00 AM | link it |

First off, let me say how sorry I am that I invoked fear and panic in some of my friends with my tornado story. Yes, we are all okay but it was just as scary as it sounded in my story. Christopher got to help with cleanup at the babysitters today. That involved riding on a tractor so it was a good day for him.

My day wasn't near as exciting. I set up a test ftp site for a client which is usually no big deal but this one needed special permissions. Some people need to write over files, others aren't allowed to touch them. It was another learning experience and those are always good. Tonight I set up a 1Ghz machine for the boss' dad. I pulled the old box out and discovered that his external modem took a larger serial port than the new one had. I decided to come back to town and rob a modem out of one of our systems. When I got home, Todd was here with his nephew Lance. Lance and I have exchanged a lot of emails over the last couple of years and some phone calls but I've never actually seen him. He is just as cool in person as he is in email. One of my favorite Lance email exchanges involved Todd's old Trans Am. I was teasing Todd that it was purple. He said that it wasn't purple; it was red. Now, I have a very good memory and I remembered it being purple so I emailed Lance and asked "Hey, do you remember that Trans Am that Todd used to have?" His response..."Yeah.. the purple one??" Todd had a really nifty word for both of us but it's not something I can repeat here. Ha! Anyway, it was great to see him but he had to head out and I had to go back to the ranch to finish up this computer swap.

I took the internal modem from home and put it in the new machine. Wouldn't ya know... plug 'n play didn't detect it and I had no drivers for the damn thing. I had to take the new box out, put the old one back and dial out so I could download the drivers. What should've been an hour project at most ended up being 3 hours. I'm not complaining because it gave me a chance to see Bud, the big farm dog. Poor Bud... he weighs as much as I do and has a very thick coat of hair. In the summer he gets shaved down so he doesn't suffocate. This last haircut didn't go well for him. The clippers overheated before the job was finished so he's bald everywhere except his belly and legs. I need to go out this weekend and get a picture of it. I said "Oh my gosh Budster! What happened to you??" and he buried his head like he was embarrassed. Too funny!

posted by Lisa 6/16/2001 12:10:00 AM | link it |

Thursday, June 14, 2001

Some pictures that Todd took of the storm. Unfortunately he was working so he could only take a few. The worst of the damage uptown was cleaned up before he got back to the sheriff's office. I hope that's our one and only truly bad storm of the year.

Last night our cat got out as Todd was bringing food in off the grill. I looked several times before bedtime and couldn't find him. I looked in the middle of the night and again at six o'clock this morning. Every time it stormed today, particularly the tornado storm, I worried about where he could be. After I got C. home from the sitters, we went door to door in the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen him. That turned up nothing so we walked clear back to the tree line behind our house and yelled for him. Just as we started back to the house, I heard him. He was stuck on the wrong side of the fence that is grown up in brush and couldn't figure out how to get back. I suppose he must've climbed the neighbors woodpile, jumped on their shed and then down into the pasture/brush. He was one unhappy dude. He looked like he'd been drug through a mud puddle and was scared too death. I hate to think what he went through being out there in the open when the big one hit.

posted by Lisa 6/14/2001 10:44:00 PM | link it |

Tornado!!

The mere sound of the word is enough to send me into near panic. We'd had some thunderstorms this morning but nothing to get shook up about. Todd called this afternoon and said he just wanted to let me know that we had some weather moving in from Missouri - 60mph wind and nickel sized hail about 20 miles south of here and coming this way. The mailman was just coming up onto our porch so I warned him, "Randy, big storm just a ways south of here. Better hurry so you'll be back to your truck." He thanked me and rushed off. Back to the conversation with Todd where I heard his car radio squawk the word. "... tornado..." What?? Tornado?? Where??

He assured me it was 15 miles west of here and headed to the northeast. He had to turn his attention to the radio so we hung up and I began pacing. Frantic pacing with quick glances out the picture window. The sky was that funky pea green color. The mailman was hurrying towards his truck. The rain started. More like erupted, driven by wind straight out of the west. The trees bent to kiss the ground. Todd calls again to make sure I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm fine. Please be careful. The town tornado siren began to sound. It went on for what seemed like forever. Todd, why are they blowing the siren so long and loud? Tornado - but not here. Just calm down. He had to go.

Rounded up the flashlight, the cellphone, the baby kitten. Went to turn on the scanner when "BOOM!!" and the electricity went off. Okay, now can I be scared?? There's no basement at this house - only a crawlspace that can only be reached by going through the garage. Closet. I'm getting in the closet. Where'd the kitty go? The wind is now whistling oddly, the same sound a vaccuum makes when something is stuck in it. Found the kitty again and got in the closet. The kitten made so much noise. She thought we were playing a cool game in a dark corner with a flashlight. Opened the door just a crack to listen for storm sounds. It was much quieter so we emerged; the kitty, the flashlight and I.

A cursory glance around our house and outside assured me that all was well in our neighborhood. Todd calls. Says it looks like a bomb went off downtown. Debris everywhere. Businesses with their awnings strewn through the streets. Street signs snapped off at their base. Trees down everywhere. He couldn't find a clear road to get out of town. I thought he was kidding. There was nothing like that on our street.

I decided to go get C. from the babysitters early and make sure he was okay. As soon as I pulled off our street, I started to see the damage. Todd was right. It looked like a bomb had gone off. I can't ever remember seeing so many damaged trees. The town was bustling with people wanting to catch a glimpse of the damage. I went to my mom's to see that she was fine. A giant tree a block from her house had been shattered and thrown into three major pieces. Navigated through that mess and got to her place. Her tree was split in two places and laying in the utility lines. She and I drove around the neighborhoods tallying the damage. Wow. Some places were like mine - just some leaves in the yard. Others had trees on their deck. Roads were blocked. The greenhouse that Pamida puts up for selling flowers and garden plants was blown off it's foundation and resting against the house across the road. The plants remained in their flats, not a blossom out of place.

The trip out to Christopher's babysitter indicated that the storm had not touched the countryside. We made the turn off the highway onto the gravel that runs in front of the babysitter. I motioned to mom that a very small tree was down on the fence and commented how fortunate they were and how glad I was that C. hadn't been through what I'd been through. He'd have been so scared.

As we pass the house and approach the driveway, I notice the long line of cars in the drive. An electrical line lies like a partially coiled snake. The mailbox is snapped off at the base and the bulk of it is 20 feet away in the yard. The eavespouts and part of the roof are gone. Big trees in the backyard were downed. An equipment shed was uprooted and thrown into a pond. Oh my god, the cars belong to Mennonites who have come to help clean up the damage.

On the porch stands my little boy grinning from ear to ear. The babysitter with her eyes wide, talking to the men and gesturing wildly towards the fields. Christopher jumps off the porch and runs to the car. "I saw a tornado mom!! A real one!! And it almost took down the house and look what it did to the trees and the mailbox and we went to the basement!!" That kid talks a million miles a minute when he's excited. I look to the babysitter for a sign, something to let me know that he wasn't scared too death. She smiles nervously and says "He was so good. He was a big help to me with the baby and knew exactly what to do." then turns her attention back to the men. One of them walks over and explains that he was in town when the storm hit and tried to call the house. When he didn't get an answer, he drove out and found them in the basement. And yes, Christopher was big and brave and helping with the baby. I am amazed... and proud.

My brother lives 15 miles south and is on the weather spotter team. He called and told me a horrifying story about being out in the big firetruck, driving along a north-south road in order to spot any tornadoes. He said he couldn't see where he was going but felt the rumble strips as he drove over them so knew he was at a stop sign. He did a u-turn in the intersection and the wind that had been blowing straight out of the south made a sudden shift to the northwest. It sucked the rumble seat out of the back of the firetruck and tore the lid off the steel battery compartment. He made the wise decision to get out of there. On his way back into the town where he lives he saw a 30' stock trailer twisted around a tree, a house whose soffitts had been sucked out from under the roof, and a large wooden gazebo that had been turned to toothpicks. Thank God he's okay. Everyone seems to be accounted for and unharmed. Todd grabbed his camera so hopefully we'll have some damage pictures later tonight.

posted by Lisa 6/14/2001 07:15:00 PM | link it |

Wednesday, June 13, 2001

It started as a little tickle in the back of my throat and progressed into a cough last night. Today someone may as well stick a fork in me; I am done. I have just enough of a fever to make me feel lousy all over. blech.

Emily had a ballgame tonight. I stayed home while Todd and Christopher went. We live within shouting distance of the teeball field so they rode their bikes over and I watched with binoculars from the living room window. I couldn't make her out but Todd said she did really good. When we practice at home she sure whacks 'em. She can write both left and right handed but seems to use her right hand for almost everything except batting. Todd tries to teach her to bat from both sides but man, is she good left handed. I wish I could have been there to see her but I'm a firm believer in keeping my germs to myself.

posted by Lisa 6/13/2001 09:07:00 PM | link it |

Tuesday, June 12, 2001

I think I'm probably getting too fancy shmancy for myself so I'm going to quit tinkering with this before I totally break something.

posted by Lisa 6/12/2001 09:26:00 PM | link it |

Okay... new template coming up. The links should be much easier to read and the photos above can be moused-over for a description of what they are. That's the plan anyway. I don't even know why I'm attempting this when it's been one of those days.... here goes nothing...

posted by Lisa 6/12/2001 07:39:00 PM | link it |

Monday, June 11, 2001

When I think my life is spinning wildly out of control, I remember that I am friends with a wing nut hell-bent on anarchy, his alterego, a radical lesbian feminist who lives in oregon, a semi-competent critical care nurse, and a whole slew of others both online and off. It's the diversity in my life that provides the balance necessary to remain sane. Oh... and I live with a gun totin' freak : )

posted by Lisa 6/11/2001 09:59:00 PM | link it |

Well today has been just peachy. I found out this morning that a summer babysitter is going to cost around $400 a month by the time I factor in gas getting him there. This woman lives way out in the country so it'll be about 30 miles a day on the car. Refigure the budget to make room for that. Get home and there's a notice in the mail from my health insurance company. Starting July 1, my premiums are going up $55 a month. So all told, I have to find an additional $450 a month... give or take a buck or two. I know now why some people choose welfare. I've never thoroughly investigated it but I think I could toss away my job, let the state fund my return to college, pay my babysitter, buy my groceries, provide my health care AND give me spending money. Something is so wrong with that picture. I believe welfare reform cut back the number of years you can live on the state's nickel but there's loopholes. I could collect here until my time ran out then move to Missouri and draw a little there. I wonder if I could get a full-fledged, state financed master's degree?

Gotta change the subject before I get completely wound up again. I am hoping to change the color of the links tonight. I whipped up this new design on the laptop. I know better. I've been doing this for three years now. You cannot accurately gauge anything on a laptop. I did it anyway and was horrified by how crappy this looks on a real monitor. I apologize to those of you who have struggled to read my links... all five of you. hahahaha No really, it's bad bad bad to publish something without checking it in different resolutions and browsers. If it had been a professional site, I would've done so. Honest. : ) Thanks to John for providing me with a screenshot from a Mac. What tiny fonts I have...hehehehe. I need to get with Zeldman and hone my CSS skills to the web standards.

posted by Lisa 6/11/2001 07:17:00 PM | link it |

Sunday, June 10, 2001

Getting some feedback on the new layout already. This is my favorite so far. I suppose I should explain the menagerie of pictures of little old me. I got an email calling me self-absorbed. Well, the actual phrase used was "self-absorbed idiot". That sparked this idea. It's a show of how self-absorbed I can be I guess. You already know that the idiot part is true. heh.

posted by Lisa 6/10/2001 09:19:00 PM | link it |

Finally redecorated this place. It's not at all what I wanted but it will have to do. Warning - do not click the catdog, sponge bob link unless you are really interested in cartoons. That site has popups galore! I never did get the 8 hours I wanted to redesign this so it's all quick and dirty. I don't even have time to comment on this further as Todd has just uttered the phrase "Alright! You're done!" Somewhere in this house, a kid is looking wide-eyed and innocent and I need to go see if I have to run interference.

posted by Lisa 6/10/2001 01:18:00 PM | link it |