Takin' the Blog for a Walk

Little Caesars. One of my last posts mentioned a sad individual without balloons and, even though I haven't gone hot air ballooning in months, wasn't referring to me. At least I didn't think so. No, I'm not the clown who lost his balloons. But I am sad that Little Caesars on Summit is closed. Sunday the pizza shop made one last attempt to attract customers by attaching bunches of yellow and orange balloons to a sign in the parking lot and by Monday they were permanently closed. Now I'm not a connoisseur of fine pizza, but did love the fact that we could run in for a quick, hot, inexpensive meal that everyone would eat. 

Auto Show. My last post mentioned the Auto Show last weekend was the reason for parking problems downtown Milw. Saturday. Well, now that I've got my facts straight, the Auto Show is this weekend.

Voting. In my 2/21 post about working the polls I failed to mention if my district saw any write-in votes. There was one - for Al Gore. Even though I said 10/14 that I would vote for him, it wasn't me. Speaking of the polls... I got paid today for my work. Sixteen hours on Tuesday plus two hours of training = $135.00. I would do it again even if I didn't need the money. It was great to see so many of my neighbors in the middle of a long winter. BTW, Deputy Clerk, Marie Bieber is looking for additional poll workers. If you or someone you know might be interested she can be contacted at 262-524-3550.

Laying down arms. The snowman standing sentry in front of my house for the last two months has finally surrendered to the elements. He put up a brave fight in the freezing/warm/windy/sunny/snowy/rainy/icy winter we've been having.

Finding pork gravy was one of the hardest things I did yesterday. Let me come back to this.

I talked the boys into accompanying me on a trippy trip to the Rock Hall of Fame at the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium. I've wanted to take my sons to this sound and light show at the IMAX Theater since hearing about it several months ago. I attended a similar-sounding show at the Horwitz Planetarium last April and wanted to see how different it would be on the larger screen.

The Rock Hall of Fame plays just one show at 8:30 Thurs., Fri., and Sat. evenings. It was easy to get to but parking was a little trickier than I imagined because of the popularity of the Auto Show. Passing a couple of people warming themselves on a steam grate attached to the museum, we entered and had no problem buying tickets. As we entered I noticed there is now a concession stand inside offering popcorn, and half-empty popcorn boxes littered the once spotless theater. (The seats also now have cup holders.) The show was 45 minutes of pure entertainment. Eleven familiar songs with pictures and geometric shapes so active and large that they came close to swallowing the audience several times. (If I'd have been drinking it would have been just the opposite of swallowing.) The show was very enjoyable and priced right - $20.00 for the three of us.

As we walked back to the car we passed three people lying on the steam grate. It's about 9:30 at night, temps are in the teens, and I'm presuming they're going to spend the night there. I use to see this a lot more before the city decided to enclose steam vents to keep homeless away. I'm not sure my boys have seen it at all before. We kept walking.

We're pretty sheltered living in Waukesha and I didn't know if I could use this as a teaching moment. We talked about it a little bit. There's not much we can do to save the world tonight when maybe it's their choice to be there. It's entirely possible they are there because they don't like shelters, so I didn't offer them my jacket or anything. 

It gets me thinking though. The hardest part of my day was finding gravy at the store. The aisle was so crowded and the jar hidden behind mushroom gravy. It must have taken 5 whole minutes!  And sometimes it's just so hard to get warm and comfortable at night in bed with my two comforters on the pillow-top mattress!

I know there are homeless in Waukesha, but we don't see them on steam grates - there are no steam grates in Waukesha that I know of. Most of our homeless are in the shelters. I hope. It gets me thinking . . .

If you happen to see a colorfully dressed individual wandering around looking sad you might mention they can find their balloons 25 feet up a pole on Summit Ave. 

Took the blog for a long walk today. Lots of sun, no wind and not too cold. Got a first paw view of the hard water situation in the city. It's so hard, in fact, that many neighbors have resorted to using softener pellets. Seems odd to apply to sidewalks something that was designed to make water slipperier. Seems to work though. Better than nothing I suppose. 

Monday I was sworn in as a poll worker. Tuesday I spent 16 hours at Hawthorne School initialling and handing out ballots and helping make sure things ran smoothly at the polling station for Aldermanic District 4. Four of the seven workers, myself included, were first time workers. I think we handled the crowd pretty well.

I was very nervous about working such an important, unfamiliar job from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Could I remain alert enough after 16 hours? Could I handle the crowds, the rules, pressure, sitting on a folding metal chair, being away from TV, regular meals and a nap for 16 hours just to work the most historic election of my life? Knowing I'd need plenty of rest for such a long day, I got to bed early then tossed and turned much of the night from worry. But as you can see I survived.

Never before could we choose between an American hero, a minority, and a woman for the most important job in the country. I was extremely proud to see 1200 of my neighbors come out to vote, many for the first time.

For the most part the job wasn't too hard - my regular day job had already prepared me for doing more than two things at once. Besides, I brought a pillow just in case I couldn't handle it . . . for sitting on, not sleeping.

One of the hardest parts of the job was knowing which combination of papers, signatures, bags and envelopes goes with which. There literally are seals for the bags that hold a bag and envelopes for the envelope that holds the envelopes. There is a set order to everything, which would be hard to remember after an only ten hour day, and most things required all seven of our signatures. I was glad to do it too if it meant a close election wasn't decided by the way we handled our ballots.

Even though we were busy all day, 16 hours didn't really seem too bad. I'll be looking forward to helping out again during the big election in November, even though it's guaranteed to be busier with longer hours. I'll be nervous about it and lose sleep over it, but will take pride that I was around when history was made.

I'd like to thank everyone for making this a good experience. Marilyn took me under her wing and helped immensely. Maria was wonderful as the poll captain. Joan, Janet and Ruth helped me and each other as needed. All the voters were polite and patient with us even though the lines were sometimes long. The custodian helped make sure the floor was kept dry... 

Even though it was a little chilly last night, the skies were clear for viewing of the full eclipse of the moon. Even with the light pollution from the city we had a great view. Viewing got even better when power was interrupted for a couple hours for homes and businesses east of here.  

I thought The Wizard of Oz was required viewing for every American. Thought we all had to see it at least three times by the 8th grade. The person you'd think would have been one to have seen it most, the director and producer of Waukesha North's current production, Nathan Berish, hadn't seen it at all until he began work on this musical.

The older I get the more I enjoy the Wizard of Oz. We own it on video and I see something new every time I watch it. I enjoyed seeing all the press North's Wizard of Oz production received, especially the part about the flying. I was anxious to see their version of it and thrilled that we could see it last night, though I was worried we wouldn't get tickets. We didn't order them in advance, it was reserved seating, but we did get in OK and sat in the east wing. 

 I enjoyed the extra effort that went into Mr. Berish's first North musical. Clearing the hurdles of flight, a cairn terrier on the set, choreography of elementary school-age Munchkins, fire proofing everything... made me want to see it all the more. You know a lot of effort went into this $14,000 production.

I enjoyed the whole play, especially Dorothy's acting and singing, expertly performed by the current 'Waukesha Teen Idol," Ellen Jenders. Even Toto did a good job, making appearances in the hall to sign autographs (Got a picture for Sir Fido. Toto is a real "Lady")

Next weekend is the last for this production. If you'd like to see it call 970-3649 or visit North's web site.

So what is a Winkie anyway?

It's pouring rain out right now. Not good. Lots of ice and flooding. There is a salt shortage. Temperatures will drop making bad even worse.

The snowman I built January 5th has weathered a lot of temperature changes and appears much slimmer. He's probably solid ice under the surface. Mrs. Lee wanted me to remove the umbrella I gave him today because "we're not entertaining the neighbors" and I'm "not two." She had no idea how dangerous it was carrying a knife on the icy sidewalk to cut the umbrella off.

How was your Valentine's Day? Mine was nothing special. Worked during the day and had a meeting at night.

Tim had hip surgery on Valentine's Day. His mom wrote about the experience.

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2008 02:11 PM, CST

Tim is finally home!. Me too! I stayed with Tim his whole stay in the hospital. Surgery went well. The left hip had more damage than the right hip. They had to scrape more bone and chisel away more dead bone. They did the nerve block again but this time the medicine worked like an epidural and numbed him from chest down. So he ended up staying in recovery for three hours until his right leg woke up. It appeared that the nerve block was working pretty good in the recovery room. He got to his room and ate two bagels with cream cheese and then he fell asleep. When he woke up, he was in a lot of pain. Then all hell (excuse my language) broke loose. They couldn't get him a PCA machine because all of the machine's at Froedtert were being used. Unbelievable! A hospital runs out of necessary equipment. So they gave him his normal pain medication that he is on everyday of his life. This did nothing considering he just had major surgery. Tim was crying in his pillow for hours. His body began to shake. He hyperventilated so bad that his legs got tingly and his upper lip felt tingly. They finally gave him torridal(?) and later a sleeping pill. His back was hurting terribly and Tim asked for a heating pad. The nurse came back and said that they were all being used in the hospital. None were available. I think Froedtert had better look at supply and demand and order more equipment. If I have my way, no one in my family will ever have surgery at Froedtert again. Miss communication and lack of equipment just doesn't cut it. I had been so proactive about his pain this time. I spoke to everyone, specifically requested a PCA machine a month prior, again the day before, and when I saw Dr. King after surgery. I know some of you have experience watching loved ones go through horrendous amounts of pain and discomfort. I can tell you it takes years off of your life. You try to get the best for your children and then when it falls through you feel like you failed them. I was the brunt of his irritability and the poor nurse was the brunt of my frustration. I did apologize to her and acknowledged that it wasn't her fault but something had to be done. The solution to his pain was ridiculous. With today's modern medicine, no one should have to be in that much pain ever. On a pain scale from 1 to 10, Tim was 25.

It's a 3-legged race to the polls and there's two entrants: It's the team of Clinton, Obama and McCain versus Team Democrat, Republican and Undecided.

This is an exciting time for politics in Wisconsin because our vote in this primary really could make a difference - at least for Clinton or Obama.

Are you a Republican and not planning to vote because McCain looks like a shoe-in? Or are you going to waste your vote by voting for McCain?

Remember, this isn't a vote to see who will be president, it's the vote to see who will run for the presidency. In primaries we can use our vote in ways other than voting for our favorite candidate. Because the race between Clinton and Obama is so close, Republicans could vote for whichever Democratic candidate they feel McCain would have a better chance against.

If you usually vote Democratic the choice probably isn't that easy. My suggestion would be not to vote for whoever you feel is most popular just because they're popular, but for the one you would feel good about as your president.

At this point most of us are voting for someone that has a one in three chance of becoming our next president. If you're a Democrat and don't care for either Clinton or Obama, then I'd suggest you save your vote for November when the choice will be a lot easier. Or, if you're still undecided, you could just let the Super Delegates decide for you.

############ I wrote the above before reading this morning's Freeman. A story on Mayor Nelson removing a political post from his blog caught my eye. ##############

The mayor wrote, "Now that Sen. McCain is definitely going to be the Republican nominee, I think that independent and open-minded Republicans (who sometimes vote for the best person instead of only voting by party affiliation) should join Democrats in voting for either Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama because it's clear one of these three people will be the next president."

any similarities?

Often we hear of events or charities requesting we bring a couple cans with us when we come. Thursday I learned there would be an event Saturday that wanted us to bring all of our cans. Hearts for Hollyn is a recycling drive for a second grade Rose Glen student diagnosed with cancer. As one donor offered to match $1.00 for every pound of cans, my contribution went much further than if I cashed them in myself then donated the money.

Out of all the years I've been either saving aluminum or donating to a cause, this was the least painful donation and the best feeling I've ever had from recycling.

Chaos. It was chaos I tell you. Pick 'N Save on Silvernail is in the middle of a GRAND RE-OPENING SALE! which was not what I was expecting when doing the shopping this morning. Already narrow aisles were bottlenecked by cases of product being shelved while heavy two-way cart traffic manuevered around people trying to read labels. The sale seemed to attract many people who don't normally shop there. Where normally it's common to bump into someone we know, today there was a lot of bumping into people we didn't know, literally. I don't know if everyone was avoiding eye contact to prevent an aisle-clogging conversation or just too busy searching for the next item on their list. I'm not exagerating when I say most everything in the store has a new location, and after several weeks I still have as much trouble as anyone finding things.

Maybe it's a sign of the times, or maybe the manager knew how congested it would be, but today there was only one free sample. A Grand Reopening! and no more free samples than on a normal Saturday. It's a wonder I still shop there. 

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The last time I visited the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist the pews were still there and the altar was in front. I recently visited once again, on St. Blaise Day, with a hundred high school juniors. Besides mass and having our throats blessed we were able to have a little tour and learn more about the cathedral.

The restoration and renovation begun in 2000 was almost as controversial as the archbishop who wanted it done, Rembert Weakland. It was very expensive and the changes drastic but I like the finished product. It's definitely brighter and more colorful than before. Much of the old cathedral was saved and reused and we can see the marble in the altar and bishop's chair, among other things. The first unusual thing people notice is the "wishbone" Jesus is holding on the cross. The Italian artist actually meant it as the representation of a dove in flight.

Several things about the cathedral deserve comment:

Many, many objects are in threes; three steps, three pillars... They represent the Holy Trinity.

There's a relic of St. John Vianney beneath the altar. I spent 6 years of grade school at St. John Vianney and don't remember learning as much about him then as I did in one day at the cathedral.

One of the juniors, Michael, has played the cathedral's four-manual, 74-rank, 3586 pipe, 38 foot tall pipe organ. He was the best guide to have on hand for that stop on our tour.

We toured the chilly crypt beneath the church where four bishops are resting. A time capsule is also there to be opened sometime around 2040.

It was good to see the "mother" church again. I missed her.

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Mayor Nelson and Gov. Doyle spoke at the Labor Temple tonight. They were stumping for Senator Barack Obama and spoke with enthusiasm to a full house. The governor explained why we should vote Tuesday the 19th and why he feels Obama is the best choice.

I don't know who the best choice is after hearing the governor talk but feel better informed. It has been, though, pretty clear to me that if we want change we should be voting Democratic this year. But the main thing is that we educate ourselves on the choices and then vote, because if we don't vote we shouldn't complain. 

I think it would be interesting having a president younger than myself. Obama and I are actually the same age, though I'm a few months older. Mayor Nelson predicts Obama will be the next president. I suppose that's possible, but I'm just going to predict that Obama and Clinton will be on the same ticket.

I definitely enjoyed the Dale Guldan talk at UWW Thursday. He was an award-winning photographer from the Journal Sentinel I used to enjoy. He died in 2005 at 51 years old. He was an UWW alumni and was awarded the university's first Outstanding Alum award. We heard from his very good friend, fellow Journal Sentinel photographer Gary Porter. We also heard his widow talk and we saw many of his great photos. A photo exhibit is on display through March 2nd in the Fine Arts Center Gallery. Take a peek if you get the chance.

Another interesting and free talk at UWW is coming up this Tuesday the 12th at 7:00 p.m. in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. A NASA architect will be talking about life in outer space.

The university has always offered this community nice things, but lately it seems so much good is flowing. UWW taking part in Waukesha's Janboree was really great. Many hour long classes were previewed, there also was food, music, dancing, antique appraisals... All free, of course.

It'll be interesting to see how many cool fools jump through a hole cut in the ice of a Muskego Pond today for the Polar Plunge fundraiser for Special Olympics. Right now it's about 75 degrees warmer inside than out and close to 30 degrees colder than Jan. 1st when I took my first plunge. And it's very windy.

One team I'm familiar with has raised $1700.00 in pledges! They will probably feel sharp stabbing cold momentarily, but the thought of helping with such a great cause will surely keep them warm inside. That and the hot tub, the heated changing tent, the food...

That's probably the biggest difference between this and the January 1st Bradford plunge. When I jumped into Lake Michigan I was on my own. I didn't know what to bring or how it would go. There were no hot tubs, no fundraisers I knew of and the only food is what you packed in yourself. People came to sober up from the night before or just to watch people play in the frigid waves. I can just imagine the commercial possibilities.

update: the weather was too cold for the plunge today. Instead, "plungers" had the opportunity to jump in a kiddie pool in the heated tent. Not what a lot of them were expecting I'm sure, though some had to have been glad the hole never got cut in the ice.

 short version: Needing to unload a truck using a forklift with indoor tires I get stuck on the ice . . . more than once.

long version: We still get Cuban scrappers looking for metal at my company even though we've had our own roll-off recycling container for months now. I think they usually leave with something too. One guy we've known for years. We know recycling is probably his only income, as it more than likely is for the others we see around there too.

The Cuban was one of the first to offer help pushing the forklift I was on yesterday. I got stuck just outside the garage door on an icy sidewalk. I was told by a co-worker, "Stay on the sidewalk. Don't go in the street or you'll get stuck."  Well, I was on the sidewalk and I immediately got stuck. (Of all the times, this is year we were going to save money and do the plowing ourselves. Question to self: you need a plow for that, right?)

After four grown men were able to budge the heavy machine back into the bay, my co-worker said, "I told you, don't stop once you get going."

"No, you told me to stay on the sidewalk and don't go in the street."

The two trucks that were blocking the sidewalk had already moved for me and I still needed to unload a shipment in the snow-covered alley. Once I got going on the sidewalk I was OK, but as I rounded the corner to the alley I noticed the scrappers' truck parked right in the middle of it. Remembering what my co-worker said about stopping, I decided to try passing on the right where it looked like I had enough room. Almost made it too. Got past the mirror and was just about clear when, suddenly, the whole forklift drifted into the side of his truck. I alway see dollar signs when that happens.

Needing to quickly assign blame, my first inclination was to yell about the truck parked in the public alley. Fortunately, the truck was probably worth little more than the scrap he was hauling, because I'm pretty sure I dented the door. The Cuban calmly cranked the wheel and backed up causing no additional damage. I was grateful he didn't want to take down my forklift license!

I was able to unload the skid because the added weight of the freight gave me just enough traction. As soon as I set the skid on the loading dock I could no longer move, however. This was a problem for two reasons; the door was wide open to the elements, and I was starting to slide sideways toward our delivery vehicle. I must have learned my lesson a few minutes earlier, because I wanted to move the van before I banged into it. One problem; the minivan was parked so close to the building with a snowbank and phone pole behind it that the only way out was forward.

Through prayer and lots of kitty litter I was slowly able to back out of the predicament.

As in the Bill Murray movie of the same name, this Groundhog Weekend was the same as last year's; Mom had a birthday and celebrated it at the Original Pancake House on Bluemound, went to Retzer's annual Wild Winter Night Activities, and wrote about both in the blog as I'm doing now. 

I love my mom - Happy Birthday Mom! 

The Pancake House is great - friendly staff and best tasting, most generous pancakes and crepes. And I love Retzer Nature Center - there's always something new and interesting to see, hear, make, taste...

Unlike the movie, yesterday's visit to the Pancake House was not the same as the one before -- it was better. We were seated right away, and one person who knew us seemed disappointed we weren't seated in his section. I had the potato pancakes which filled the large plate and came with sour cream and apple sauce. I also enjoyed a side of bacon which was thick-sliced and not too fatty. No singing, no candles, just a good time. 

I love Retzer and often visit when it's free of charge, which is most of the time. I didn't mind splurging two dollars on the Winter Night Activities, however, because there's so much good stuff going on. I saw the planetarium show, made a craft, got a tattoo, ate a roasted marshmallow and drank hot chocolate, went on a night hike in the woods looking for owls, and could have had free use of snowshoes. The best part of the evening was seeing the dozen or so kids crowding around Larry as he dissected an owl pellet and passed out various mouse bones found therein to eager waiting hands. What a great teaching moment there in the middle of a dark and snowy pine wood!  How do they do it? Many friendly volunteers help make it possible.