growing up

It bugs me that I own a wheelbarrow. Even though I find it handy.

new photos

I should go to bed right now, but I visited Wal-Mart today and got my latest disposable camera disposed of.
First, there is this one:

Click on it if you want to see it real big, but I don't recommend it. Lucy likes popsicles. A lot.
Me? I like my food a little more sophisticated, but I am no less stupid about it.

You can click on that one too. Of course, it is corn, beer and chunks of hickory soaking in water. What else?
This was the street in front of our house on April 2:

Here is one of the little things that Mary does that make our house look fabulous:

It really does look great and she is making it better nearly every day.
I finally have an Ohio plate

Here is how I remember my plate Dumb Luck Fucker
98 is the year I started with Gannett and 57 is the year before I was born.
Easy.
Finally a photo Lucy took of Mom and Dad. Can you see the terror in our eyes?

More later, must sleep.

Country the way it oughta be

That's Shooter Jennings up there.
He is Waylon Jennings' son.
I have ordered his album and I have only listened to a few clips but I think I am going to like him.
He came to my attention when I was looking at bookings for Martin Zellar (no, he is not playing in Ohio) (click for upcoming gigs in Marion).
Shooter is playing at the same club as Martin; the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Clear Lake, Iowa, is of course where Buddy Holly died and Waylon Jennings, of course, was there that night (American Pie) and did not get on the plane. (isn't this cool? Or, at least, slightly ironic?)
Anyway, I bought Shooter's album based on its title. It's something I used to do as a young man because I just wanted to listen to anything clever.
The album (or CD) is called "Put the 'O' Back in Country"
Irreverant and clever ... I had no choice

This is from his Web site, so take it with a grain of salt, but I like the sentiment:

"Hoss, it's country music, the way it ought to be - alive with blood and thunder, spit and spirit and Southern soul.

Waylon fought this battle in his own way, back in the day. But the sun has sunk and the shadows have spread deeper across country music since then. And as cowboy poseurs roam this dim and dreary land, Shooter sets it ablaze with an affirmation that country music - real country music - is back.

And this time it's not going away.

'The main thing I want people to understand is that I'm a country artist," Shooter says. "Sure, there's rock in there. I've played a lot of rock & roll. I take a lot from it. But it's country music. And I'm going to push it as far as I can because it's that important.'"

The Faces of Bathtime

click on these pix for a real treat.

Days away from the office

Today is day two of new manager training for me. I have been attending a lot of these sessions over the past few years. It is good and bad.
I am better at figuring out when to speak up and worse at playing the games - or activities.
I am getting worse at the games because I know there is always a trick. Trying to figure out the trick generally slows you down. If it is a good game the trick becomes apparent when you try to accomplish the goal through normal means. But if you abandon normal means and try to find the trick right away you are bound to be slowed down.
I have to learn to go with the flow.
The training is in Newark, Ohio (map) which is about a 90-minute drive from here.
It is my third visit to Newark and so far all I have seen is the newspaper office and the Newspaper Group office. Someday I will do an actual visit. It looks like a nice place.
I listened to Elvis Costello's Delivery Man CD on the way down yesterday and All Things Considered on the way back. I am thinking the Tragically Hip might get play this morning.
Must go.

Overboard on grill

OK, I might have gone a bit overboard on the charcoal grill I bought yesterday.

But, I have a very large deck and he weather has been incredible for about 3 days in a row. You can hardly blame a boy.
Lucy liked her first rugby game. The Marion Rhinos won 49-0 over a team from Northern Kentucky. The eat squirrel brains in Kentucky, or so I have heard.
Two days of training coming up this week, so I will miss a lot of work, that I will have to make up somehow.
For you Gannett folks, I got my Well Dones done with a day to spare. We managed to have 14 entries this time - up from 10 last quarter. Need to work on online and M&D, but I am feeling pretty good about it.
It is very different writing every entry. You don't know how good you got it in Ashvegas.

Baseball vs. Rugby

I do have an issue with Chief Wahoo and the whole Indian thing. I really don't understand the need for it.
The reality is that I am more likely to go to a Clippers game in Columbus than venture all the way to Cleveland and spend three times -- or more the money when my only aim is to sit in the sun, drink beer and watch a little ball.
Here is an interesting take on Chief Wahoo - very funny and (be warned) extreme parody.
When the high school in Saranac Lake was getting ready to change its nickname a columnist at the Plattsburgh Press Republican had a very funny idea. I think his real intent was to show how ridiculous the nickname issue is. Certainly, they shouldn't be offensive and it is ridiculous for their defenders to take them so seriously. It is a nickname for sports teams made up of teenagers - It is only the teenagers themselves that should give a shit and they should do what we tell them and like it.
Anyway the columnist from Plattsburgh suggest changing the name from Redskins to Redskin Potatoes


NEW TOPIC
Today I am taking Lucy to her first rugby match



Hope she likes it.
Speaking of politically correct. The annual rugby tournament in Marion is called the Teapot Dome Rugby Scandal, after Warren Harding's (Marion's favorite son) famous scandal.
The Harding Home people made the rugby team change the name in the early years but at some point relented. The history is a little muddy.
Anyway I am looking forward to getting to know the fellows on the team.
I still won't play -- too much money in my teeth.

Look at this picture of a player on the Montreal Wanderers Club.
He recieved these injuries in the first half of a game, got taped up and returned for the second half. I understand they are considering legal action. I don't think the injuries were the result of fellows playing with the true spirit of the game in mind

Baseball 2005

I want to get excited about the Indians this year and I hope the Nationals suck for many years while the Orioles do well and get all the fans.
The Indians are on the Fox sports network somewhere that I can only get if a pay extra.
I can watch all the cubs and braves I want. The American league needs a superstation.
I have a feeling that, and this has been happening for a long time, my interest in Major League baseball will wither away to nothing this year.
OH well, I have a bigger yard.

Kid next door

I was 42-years-old when Lucy was born.

By the time she got to high school or college I expected to get some cracks about my age.
BUT! Yesterday I overheard her conversation with the 4-year-old that lives next door.
"How come your daddy," he said, "always looks like a grandpa?"
For the sake of my sanity I am going to assume that this kid has a couple of good looking grandpas.

It's snowing here

Yup snow.
Had a couple of days where you could go outside in a sweatshirt and be relativly comfortable and today it is snowing.
We were going to go to a yard sale today, but I think we will bag that.
Had an exhausting week at work and came home absolutely pooped Friday night. Went to bed about 10 p.m. and got up 7 hours later. I woke up after six and that was as long as I could stay in bed. It is not like I have a lot of energy and want to do lots of stuff. I just don't want to be in bed.
Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction
sap the vigour of the mind.

Leonardo da Vinci

Some new photos

This is a mix of photos, a couple from the last days in Asheville and a lot from our new home in Marion, Ohio. (All but the truck photo and the couch photo will enlarge if you click your clicker upon them.)

This was what we looked at for the last two days in town. The truck parked on Lamb Avenue.
We blocked traffic for a good 12 hours over two days.
I am not convinced that Lucy really wanted to leave.

Below you can see a series of photos of the new house:

This is me in the kitchen. Lucy took this photo. Now we know why she draws noses the way she does.

This is Lucy in the dining room. It was taken with a wide-angle lens. It is not as big as it looks in this shot.

Here is the living room. Note the new TV. Kind of garrish, but I do love it so.
Again this is with a wide angle lens. It is kind of cozy really. We are getting a new couch and chair.
This is what the new couch will look like:

I will have more later. Today was the first real warm day we have had since I moved here in December. Hopefully it will last and I will have some outdoor shots that don't look too bleak.

The baseball fence and travel news

We visited Mansfield, Ohio yesterday.

We went with my inlaws to go to an antique show and flea market.
It was more flea market than antique show, but we had a good time.
If you would like a DNA sample or fingerprint from Lucy - check out the flea market. She touched everything.
Spent too long at Wal Mart today getting photographs. Don't get me wrong. It is amazing that you can get them in 1 hour - but you can't. It took 1 hour and 40 minutes. Lucy was not a happy camper for the last 20 minutes or so. And they didn't give us all our prints. That's the second time that has happened to me. Last time was at Rite Aide.
Some of the photos were of my baseball fence in Asheville.
I spent the better part of a summer working on the fence and never really completed it. Not sure what the new owners will do with it. If you happen to be in Asheville North Carolina and drive by 42 Lamb Avenue, look in the backyard and check on my fence.





The sunspots were unavoidable. We took the photos on the last day we had possession of the house and that was all we had time for.
Not sure what art project will occupy my time at this house. I am thinking about the baseement walls. I want to fashion the largest room into a library/pub. Stay tuned.

cash photo

This photo is actually on the Ashvegas blog. It links back to it and comes with a great story from the Beer Guy about Johnny Cash. I don't have a great Johnny Cash story. I remember that my brother and I had a copy of the concert he recorded at a prison. It was a pirated album that my dad picked up for us in Taiwan. I guess that made us pretty cool. It was a long time ago. Nigh unto 30 year.

Thinking about Music

The band I like the best but still have not bought a CD of is the Like Young
They are a husband/wife team from Chicago, he plays guitar and she plays drums

They have not decreased my ardor for the Tragically Hip or Martin Zellar.

Sunday morning

Lots of upsets in the NCAA tourney last night. We are all rooting for Vermont.
I am a little surprised that the Burlington paper has not done more. When I was in Asheville we went ablsolutly "to the wall" covering UNC-Asheville when it made to the field of 64.

Vermont has only been there for a few years. You would think it would still be a big deal.
But, I don't want to talk about newspapers today.
My inlaws are in town from Chateaugay, N.Y.
They are very eager to see Marion.
We'll do the grand tour.

Which consists of the Harding Memorial and the Bob Evans

Then I think we will be spending the rest of the day at Lowes and in the basement trying to figure out the electricity in our new house.
Clarification:
Over in the right-hand column I refer to a friend's blog as that of a crazy rock stacker.
He is not crazy, but even he will admit he is a bit odd.

new computer

The new computer is up and running and I am finally on broadband.
Welcome to the 21st century MR. Graser. So far, about 20 minutes. has been great.
I am sure I will start complaining about it before too long.
In-laws come to town tomorrow. should be fun. I really like them.
I will add more later... gotta figure out a way to get pix on this computer from my antiquated former system
TG

a couple of pix and some blog news

First of all I figured out how to allow people who are not registered to comment on posts.
I am normally against registratation of any kind so I think this is a good thing.
Ironically, one of the reasons I have this blog is that I had to register to comment on someone else's blog and then while I was there I figured, "what the hell."
When we went to Polaris last weekend we drove through Waldo, Ohio. Everytime I bring up Waldo to a local they say, "Have you had a bologna sandwich?"
I have not. I am waiting until my father visits. He is the only person I have ever heard talk about having a really good bologna sandwich. I mean, I know people like bologna, it's just not sometihing that you go nuts about, unless you are my father or live in Central Ohio.

Please click on the picture to see the full version of these photos.
Lucy took a picture of me in front of the office. More midgets should be photographers. She gets great angles without even trying.

buying a computer

We went to buy a computer yesterday and experience consumer hell.
No wonder people use the Internet. No incompetent sales people. I can tell when they aee faking it. I know they are not lying, but when one guy says he can get the out of stock item in two days and then disapears and everybody else (at other stores) says two weeks, you know something is up.
I have to do some work today and then, I have to get on the internet to do some shopping. I need a new computer.

Snowing again


That's me in front of the Harding Memorial.
I guess my hope is that one day I will be buried there. Even though, until now, my wishes were for my body to be thrown in the woods to be scattered by the animals.
It is snowing here again. From the looks of it, it has been snowing all night.
I am sure I will be making a snowman later this morning.

It is our first Saturday in the house with furniture. Mary was up late arranging the kitchen. Earlier we assembled some stainless steel shelves (two units). Because we were distracted Lucy got to stay up much of the night watching cartoons.

This is called "Avatar The Last Airbender" and she was actually getting into it. I think mainly because it features a six-legged flying bison. What little girl wouldn't love that?
I think we might go to Polaris this weekend and do a little shopping.
We have to fill a much bigger house than we lived in in Asheville.
Now I think will go see if I can stir Lucy and get the snow stuff out of the way.
Oh, also I have to read some stories for tomorrow's newspaper.


Lucy and the screwdriver

Lucy's first phrase was "heego."
She was saying, "here you go." Her pronunciation was, really, exactly how we said it. And we said it constantly, handing her toys, feeding her etc, "heego, Lucy, want some mushy cereal?"

I know she is apt to say anything at anytime.
Last Sunday night, the movers were unloading the truck into our house. To get the refrigerator in we had to take some doors off their hinges.
One of the movers asked me for a screwdriver. I quickly looked for Lucy.
Why? Because I used to take Lucy to the Kids Workshop at Home Depot where she made little wooden projects that we gave to her mother. You know, a crooked birdfeeder, a dangerous step stool, an ugly plant holder. Lucy was good at hitting herself in her face with the hammer (you have to be careful with your backswing) and with screwing in screws.

Anytime the word screwdriver comes up, here is what Lucy says:
"I know how to screw!" "I'm a good screwer!" "My dad taught me how to screw."
yeesh.

settling in

We have been in the house for four nights now. Aside from Lucy still being intimidated by its size and Mary being intimidated by the amount of crap three people have accumulated, all is going well. If you don't count the dog shit incident.
Let me tell you about that.
It is about 8.5 hours from Asheville to Marion. On Saturday we took a little longer. Mainly because we decided to take a break for lunch - usually we only stop for bathrooms and gas. Also we had an unplanned stop when Lucy decided to see what would happen when she touched the back of her tongue with her fist.
When she was a baby, people were always telling us that she looked like an Olsen twin. Now we know which one.
Anyway, by the time we got to Marion we were a bit done in. The only one who seemed unscathed was Sunny the cat.

We drugged him and put him in a cage. The drug wore off before we got to Marion but he seemed resigned to his fate and waited quietly for me to let him out. Or maybe I just had the music too loud to hear his complaints.
The previous owner of the house, Dave Rich, was waiting for us when we pulled into the driveway. I stopped in town to get some Champagne and Mary made some wrong turns so we got there at the same time.
Dave gave us the keys, answered a few questions about the house and left us to it.
I was worried about Sunny the cat, so I went back to the car to get him. I walked him through the house, up the stairs and across the length of the second floor, all the while marveling at the softness of the carpet. My plan was to release him in the large bedroom upstairs so that we could keep the doors open to the house while unloading the two cars.
"Tom," Mary yelled from top of the staircase, "are you tracking this in?"
I didn't think I would be tracking in anything. I had kept myself to the driveway while outside. I looked at my shoes anyway and of course stuck my finger in the substance on the bottom of my left sneaker.
"Dog shit!" I shouted forgetting that Lucy was standing next to me.
"What's dog shit?" Lucy asked. "Where do you get dog shit? What does dog shit taste like?"
I later discovered that the dog had dumped in the drive way. I will be looking for him. Believe me.

In Asheville

I made it to Asheville in 8 hours and 15 minutes.
I stopped in Ashland, Kentucky for burgers and bladder relief and then in Gate City, Viginia for gas. Gas for the car.
Lucy didn't get to sleep until after midnight last night. I don't think Mary has slept at all and the moving company gets here in three hours to begin packing.
Should be interesting

Get ready for the big move

I have pretty much finished up my big report. Now I just have to bundle it up and ship it off. And then pray to the cosmic muffin that we did it right.
Tonight I have to pack up all my Marion belongings and bring them down to the office for safe keeping while I travel to Asheville to get my family.
The weather is awful - snow and cold and cold and snow.
I also have to write a column and I am, as usual, stumped.
Perhaps something about moving - wait, did that last week.
mmmmm let me know if you think of something.

Hello March

It looks like a lion today - the snow has stopped and it's just a dusting but now it is frozen, windy and cold.
For about a year I have been receiving daily cartoons from a lab technician in Singapore named John Wong Hock Weng.
At first John's cartoons were editorial-like. He did some very funny cartoons about the Iraq war and the early days of the last elections.
Lately, however, John has started depicting rural life in Singapore. At least that's what I think he is doing.

This one is called "Man Sleeps on Tree."

This one is called "Crocodile Girl."

This one is called "Playing Barber."

I am not sure what any of them mean. I just hope they keep coming in my e-mail.