Some kind of fowl

So I am out watering ( what else would I be doing?) the North Shade Garden, which isn't so shady anymore and I turn around to see this large bird walking down the center of the brick sidewalk by the front of my house ( the road side). I wish some woodsman or woodswomen were here that knows about fowl as I am darn sure this is not a song bird. It is now under my evergreens. Looking for water do you think? It heard my hose running and thought I was a babbling brook?

OK, I looked at pictures online and I think I have young female quail in my front yard. I hope it is still here tomorrow morning so Jeff can identify it before he goes to work. I am going out to look again. Perhaps it flew in seeking sanctuary...I hope the dog next door doesn't see it. 

This and That

I wish I could say that Jeff, Rachel and I have been doing something exciting this summer, but life is pretty predictable. Rachel is taking a CNA class at the campus. These last two weeks the class STARTS at 5:45am, I guess that is a change and challenge for a family who likes to sleep late. She is doing her clinical at All About Life nursing home here in FDL.

I have been doing a little sewing. My library knitting group ( we are up to 7 members now) have knit 158 toys and are still knitting away. A FDL group of doctors, nurses and dentists that will be going to Nicaragua in February, give the toys to comfort the children when they come to the free clinic. We sent knitted toys last year also and the Nicaraguan mom's asked for more toys to take home to children who didn't come to the clinic. So we are trying! I wish I knew what we could do for the mom's. Thinking. The knitting group member who put us in contact with this group is Marge Stuber's sister-in-law, Kathy. I have been in FDL for 26 years now but I am always still amazed when I know someone.    My book club is reading 1984. I didn't like it when I had to read it in high school and I don't like it any better now.

Jeff and I both are trying to deal with the drought. I feel so bad for farmers, landscapers and orchards. We took advantage of the wet spring to transplant quite a few perennials. Now we are just trying to keep them and everything else alive by hauling a 150 feet hose around watering. Actually I have 2 hoses, the long one and one 50 foot.   Trees that were planted 5 years ago are showing stress. We don't water the lawn-well, that is not really true, we don't water about 95% of the lawn.  I have one area in the shade I water a bit just to keep the dandelions and clover going as I have two baby rabbits in the yard and they like to eat the greens. The rest of the lawn is dead. The bunnies are controversial, so far they have been kind to our gardens but I have noticed one of them is taking a liking to my parsley plant!

Since Bryan shared a "helmet post" I thought I would share a couple photos of my brother. For his 70th birthday my niece and nephews got him a "ride along" at the race track. I already forgot the name of the track but I believe it was in Northern Illinois. All I know for sure is he got to go VERY FAST. 

Harold rode in this yellow car.

Harold getting his helmet adjusted.

Below, left to right -  Harold, Beth and Mark

In which Darleen's Suzuki comment turns much funnier

I spent all week questioning my review of that Kawasaki Versys I wrote about last time. I scoured the web for other riders' reviews, and mostly found things that confirmed my thoughts. But in the process, another bike was repeatedly mentioned as a point of comparison: Suzuki's DL650 V-Strom.

As I began to compare the Versys and the V-Strom (also known as the "Wee-Strom", because it has a 1000cc bigger brother by the same name), I found that many things were similar: great price, 650cc engine, shape, seating position, size. One thing finally stuck out though, a major oversight I hadn't noticed about the Versys: its carrying capacity. Despite both bikes being about the same weight, fully-fueled, the V-Strom is rated to carry over fifty pounds more of equipment. This is important, because my estimate for carrying both Amanda and I with all of our gear and a little luggage was right at the limit of the Versys. In fact, the Versys was even rated to cary less wait than the my Triumph! The V-Strom would preserve our packing headroom.

I had asked a dealer about the V-Strom before. Suzuki just remodeled it for 2012, and the word is that they're just flying off the showroom floor. The middle of summer isn't a great time to buy either (because everyone is excited about riding, not about selling), but I couldn't resist searching Craigslist, anyway. Boy, am I glad I did.

Above, you can see me on my new 2011 V-Strom. This bike was posted on Craigslist by a dealer south of the city on a Friday morning. Amanda and I ran down to view it Saturday morning. After a short test drive for me, and a short test-sit on the pillion seat for Amanda, I left a deposit as a promise to bring my Triumph back for a trade-in inspection. It was just obvious that it was the right bike for us: great power and control, comfy seating, many unexpected upgrades, and a great price with low mileage.

Here you can see one of the big benefits: hard, lockable luggage. We estimate that each of those bags is nearly the size of both of the fabric bags that hung on the Triumph. You may also be able to pick out: handle bar covers and heated grips (for warmer hands), adjustable windscreen (with velcro already in place to hold the Fastlane pass), engine protection bars, center stand, tail rack, water bottle (or small-item) storage. And, the few things you can't see: fuel injection, fuel gauge, unified ignition and steering lock, and anti-lock brakes!

And so, right away on Tuesday I rode the Triumph back and agreed on a price (the bikes did meet briefly, as you can see). I was able to go out for some parking lot practice and a quick ride on the holiday, and then I commuted on it both Thursday and Friday. It continues to impress. From the great handling to the ease of using the center stand, or from the easy-starting of fuel injection to what looks to be much-improved gas mileage, it has just been a pleasure to ride so far.

The Triumph served us well, but I think our two-wheeled mileage is about to explode.

Kawasaki Demo Days

It's summer, and that means riding … as long as your bike is up for it. As with last summer, June is proving to be a frustrating month. It's oil again this year, but this time the pump is fine; it's just that it's pumping some of the oil into my air box, instead of returning it to the sump. It's manageable as long as I keep an eye on the remaining level, and empty out the box before it soaks the filter, until I can get some time at the shop (a week from now). But, that adds up to a desire to search for a bike that's a little less … cantankerous.

Thus, I found myself at Kawasaki's demo day in Mansfield today. They brought most of their street line up (no offroad-only bikes), with the exception of their smaller offerings (those under 650cc). They were all on display to look at and sit on, and every hour they led group rides for people to get the feel for them.

I rode down specifically to look at one of the sportier bikes, but found myself also taking a spin on a cruiser to pass the time (signup was first come, first served, and I wasn't early enough to get a sport spot in the morning).  The route was out of the parking lot, onto I-495 for a few miles, a "backroad" loop, and then a short return on I-495 again.

My cruiser ride was aboard a Vulcan 900 Custom (which is what my friend, Stan, rides). I understand now why Stan calls his a flying couch. Very smooth. Very light controls (it would be a tap to shift if it didn't have so much travel), smooth clutch, smooth throttle. I got it pretty leaned over on the highway ramp, but despite the bike feeling wide, nothing dragged. Foot pegs instead of floor boards may have made that difference. It took me many standing starts to get used to putting my feet forward instead of just pulling them up, as on my standard-position bike. There's quite a bit of vibration in the handlebars at highway speed - impossible to tell of someone's making hand signals in your mirror. I'm waiting to hear how Stan keeps from burning his leg on the engine? If it weren't for my riding pants, I think I'd have scars.

My sport ride was aboard the Versys, the bike I that drew me down there. It was definitely worth going, because the ride was quite different than I expected. The nice bits were a comfy saddle, lots of torque with a large RPM range to use, good wind deflection from the small screen, comfy foot peg placement, and a good weight balance that made me feel comfortable holding it on just the balls of both feet. The parts I'm not ranking positive, but haven't decided if they're completely negative were mostly to do with vibration. The first gear is really short, so you're either revving way out or shifting mid-standing-start-turn. The gearbox is six speeds, but over 70 on the highway, you're rising over 5000 RPM, and you really start to get some buzzing in your hands. Slowing down again, there's also a point where you hear the fairing vibrate instead. Kawasaki definitely considers this a sport bike, though they occasionally label it "touring" or "dual". You need only witness the small-diameter handlebars, narrow grip, tiny toe shifter, and forward-rotated rear brake lever to know what I mean. I think this paragraph sounds more negative than I meant it to - the Versys is a nice bike, but the day swayed me more toward really wanting to investigate some other bikes (instead of falling for the Versys, as I expected).

I think the funniest part was that the sport ride felt much slower than the cruiser ride. I don't know if it was, or if I just felt more rushed on the cruiser ride while acclimating to the different position.

In any case, it was a fun day. Lots of friendly people wanting to talk about bikes. Lots of different styles of bike in the parking lot. I would definitely do another of these.

Our New Table

Last Friday I went down to Picket Fence Gals in Lindstrom, MN, and found the coffee table I have always wanted. I never found a table like this myself to cut the legs down on, so was very happy to find this one.

I love it. Now I do, however, need to add some bright objects to the rest of our room to tie it in.

So, what do you all think?

What we did on Memorial Day Weekend

On Friday, the plumber came and unhooked the old stove.  We cleaned the laundry room and under/behind the old stove.

On Saturday morning, the new appliances arrived and the old ones went away.

On Tuesday morning, the plumber returned to hook up the new stove and the new washer.

When I got home from work today, Bryan had already done several loads of laundry and baked a loaf of bread. It is a whole new world of reliable, working appliances. Hooray!

Jeff has gone a-hunting. Rachel is at school and then work. I have a whole list of things to accomplish, one of them to knit Jeff's birthday gift. So, I picked up, started a load of laundry and then tried to find a movie on Netflix to knit along with. "Reach for Me" was a great movie. Too great! I didn't get any knitting done. Check it out when you feel like watching a romantic tearjerker.   I'm going to try to knit to public radio now.

Nonsense

I have had several complaints that I have not posted in quite a while. But I have been busy and not much is interesting. I clean, I put away, I do laundry, I seem to spend a lot of time waiting.  S0 be warned, the rest of this is boring.

The project that has be taking up an enormous amount of time for the past 3 weeks (besides doing the taxes - Jeff got 3 different W2 forms at 3 different times as WI changed the law regarding Health Saving Accounts and I guess Wal-Mart couldn't figure it out) has been my brother Dawin's Charter TV Service. Today,  I have been on and off the phone talking with poor Georgeanne from Frontier Communications since 10am. It is now 2:30 and I am not done.

About 7 or 8 years ago Jeff and I gave my Mom a subscription to cable tv. The bill comes to FDL. When my mom went into the nursing home in 2008, Darwin began to reimburses us for the cost. The bill still came to FDL.

So several weeks ago Charter offered the account in Walworth a "Bundle" price. If Darwin switched his phone to Charter, the TV portion would be cheaper than he now paid and the phone would be substantially less. He would save almost $40 a month and get more channels and free long distance. It was great in that there wasn't even a contract to sign.  We ran into slight HIPPA Law problems (between Jeff and I) but after about 6 phone calls we signed him up and also switched the billing over to Darwin's name and address. (Well we thought we had)

So the guy came on April 6 and hooked it all up. The problems started right away;

>the new remote is hard to understand-Darwin has to use 3 different remotes to use the VCR. Darwin doesn't want a cable box.
>when Darwin calls someone - it says Jeffrey Worm is calling 
>THE BIGGEST problem---- the extension line to the barn no longer works.
Darwin and Harold both have cell phones but want a land line in the barn. 

When my Dad purchased the farm in 1956, the phone company put two extension phones in the barn. They have the same phone number as the house and ring when the house rings. The barn is about 1/2 mile from our house.

It took 3 or 4 phone calls to Charter to schedule a repairman to come look at the problem. According to their system analysis, the phone line is working just great. To make matters even worse, the house and barn have different addresses.

So Charter came again this morning and after 45 minutes of consulting with the experts, the worker said there is no way to hook up the barn phones. ( Do you think it is possible that there is actually a physical wire going from the house 1/2 mile away to the barn? It appears so!)

So I have spent the day trying to get the phone service back to the original Frontier Company. 


After numerous phone calls to Charter and Frontier phone company I can tell you with certainty-

>The account is in Jeff's name- well kind of, parts of it are
>The account is under Darleen's Social Security Number
>The account is under our old phone number of 921-1128 which fortunately Darleen remembered. I tried to have it changed to current number but for some reason I could not. The real number was "noted".
>Charter broke the law by switching Darwin's phone number from Frontier to Charter because the Walworth Account is under Donald Rambow's name ( I explained that my father Donald died in February of 2000 and the women from Frontier asked me if she could talk to him! Shows how well they listen)
> We can not return the account to Frontier because my Dad can't authorize the request. 

So right now I have time to write this as I am waiting for Georgeanne from Frontier to phone back. Sadly I didn't know my Dad's Social Security number off the top of my head so I had Rachel call and Harold didn't know it either. So my first or 15th mistake was to get operator Georgeanne's phone number, and assuming I could call her back easily, I hung up. Her line is always busy, I should have never hung up.

 Once I have my Dad's SS# I can be a 3rd party something and then we can do a " Fly Back" and send a "Port Order" to Charter. ( I am not sure but I think a Port Order might involve an after dinner drink! ) The sad thing is that once we switch back the account to Frontier, Frontier is not sure they can restore service to the barn, because "they no longer do hook ups like that".  It has ONLY been working non-stop since 1956 and I tried to switch it to Charter's modern technology.  

The really bad thing is I will never hear the end of this from my brothers.

OHHHH, Georgeanne is calling......

OK, I am a 3rd party something and was authorized to change the account back from Charter to Frontier. It was almost done, Georgeanne filled in all the paperwork for a "port order" and a "fly back". I was transferred to someone who didn't speak English very well and all I had to do was answer "yes" a bunch of times when she said, "Do you want the phone number 626-275-2241 transferred to Frontier?", Sadly, that is not the phone number. Somewhere along the line, the numbers got mixed up.

So now I am waiting for Georgeanne to call back again. It is now 4:56. I think Georgeanne probably is going home now after a long days work.

UPDATE: I finally finished with Georgeanne on Friday. For some odd reason Darwin had a local service by Fronteir and long distance with DCC. So I started in with DCC on Friday morning. That only took one phone call and about 10 minutes. Hopefully the barn phone will be working again April 30.

A Good Book

I have a book to recommend.

It is called "The Magic Room" by Jeffrey Zaslow. "A story about the love we wish for our daughters."

It is about a bridal shop called Becker's Bridal in Fowler, Michigan. It tells the story about the shop and many of the brides who came and bought their dresses there. It also speaks of how the times are changing. It opened in 1934 and has been family run ever since.

Very sweet read. I am reading it slowly and savoring it.

Fink-Brew-ary Fest at Success!

A couple of weeks ago, we realized that Bryan had brewed more beer than we could possibly drink ourselves, so we invited just about everyone we know to come over and help us drink it. We made a couple of pots of chili, taco dip, deviled eggs, Bryan's homemade pretzels, hummus, and a few other things, and our friends showed up in force to help us eat all the food and drink all the beer. (Except poor Emily who had to stay home with her cold!)
Bryan's bottle opener from my dad passed the test with flying colors! We encouraged all our friends to take beer home as well, and we got rid of two cases. Time to brew some more!

Amanda