“My Career With SCS"

This was one of those few days that we didn’t leave the house. Schools were closed because of the extreme cold temperatures and windchill. We did have Aaron Grant here from Time-Warner who got our HD TV back in operation. Several years ago I wrote, printed and put a lengthy autobiography on a DVD. Then a few years ago started writing “My Career in SCS” but extracting much of the information from my earlier writing. My Chapter I includes the 10 years of my working here in Seward County. "The Lincoln Years” are covered in Chapter II and today, I worked on Chapter III. It covers most of our first 2 years in the Washington, D.C. Office while living in the Fairlington Apartments. One of my entries today included the description of working with son Verlon’s help on the posters we put on our Office doors for the Holidays. This one was based on USDA’s early efforts to computerize management activities which was getting underway back in the early ’60’s. I included the note that Don Williams, Soil Conservation Service Administrator, presented me with a ball-point pen as the 3rd-place winner of the Agency poster contest. Interestingly, our son Jon walks past some of these very doors in his current activity back in the USDA South Building, but I understand they don’t decorate the doors these days. 

TV Dilemma

This is page one of our 2014 picture collage. There are some 130 pictures on the 3 pages which we selected from among all those available to us during the year. We have written captions for them and have put them in a notebooks along with our years “Highlights” and a narrative entitled, “Year 2014 in Review”. In addition to the “hard copies” in notebooks and having them organized in a file on the computer, they are all on a DVD along with all of the digital pictures we took during the year. I just finished the DVD this afternoon and wondered if it would play on our TV through the CD player. I hadn’t tried any of these for some time and quickly learned that it wouln’t play. I thought I got everything restored and actually watched HD TV through the Time-Warner box for a while with things apparently normal. However, this evening when I pushed the remote to turn on the TV, nothing happened. Even pressing the power button on the side of the flat screen doesn’t respond. Our TV box is lit up so we know we have power. Obviously, I hit many buttons in the process. Our review of all the connections don’t give us any clues. So, tonight we are reading, writing this blog, and doing it without the TV playing in the background. Tomorrow is forecast to be the coldest day of the winter (so far) with 5 degrees for a high which isn’t a good time to be concerned with a TV that doesn’t work. There is a fine line between the challenge of trying things like I did with the DVD and having enough sense to not try to fix something if it isn’t broken.

Seward Kiwanis Kitones

Our Kiwanis singing group, The Kitones made several appearances during the Holidays and didn’t have the regular weekly practice last Monday evening. Practices did resume this evening and I didn’t attend with the weather and my recent cold part of the reason. However, the bigger reason may be in the result of my “Pain/Pleasure” analysis. While I have enjoyed singing and the camaraderie of the group over the years, it is offset by the stress of leaving a warm house to go out in the cold, learning new music, and, night driving on crowded slick streets. I have been singing with the Kitones since the spring of 1992 while under the leadership of Harry Gieselman and during the past several years, Paul Beck. I’m not quite ready to turn in my music but on these cold, dark nights, staying home where it’s warm and Elaine is making hot chocolate & pop corn, has a lot of appeal and tilts the equation in that direction. 

Big Sister

My sister Vivian was 18 months old when I was born and was my “big sister” for many years. As a Great Grandfather of Sadie and Jack, who have a 20 month spread in their ages, I couldn’t help but relate to this Family circus cartoon. I expect that sometime within the next year they could be caught in a similar situation. While it would be easy for me to offer some sympathy to Jack for the possibility of living in the shadow of a big sister, as I did for some time; I would also have to tell him of the benefits. A big sister can establish a pathway for a little brother to follow. She can have friends who will help a little brother to be a part of the group. She will establish a standard of excellence in school work that will keep the little brother challenged. She will even help him appreciate the pleasure of singing. Vivian and I sang, “Jesus Loves Me” before the Methodist Church when I was 5 years old. The way Sadie likes to sing, “even if she doesn’t know the words”, Jack may be on stage before 5.

Braeburn Apples

We had one of these Braeburn apples for lunch today along with a toasted wheat bread salami sandwich. How can you beat the bargain of getting these for 89 cents/pound at Pac n Sav in Seward. Elaine did fix a Hamburger, fried potato, green bean and cranberry sauce supper with sliced peaches for dessert. We are trying to eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables this winter and the price of beef is helping us make those decisions. We wrote captions for our 3-pages of 2014 picture collages this afternoon and got them into the “book”. It is a 3-ring binder that has a summary of our years activities plus the collages for every year since 1996. This binder is in addition to our one of “Highlights” which goes back to 1940. It includes the dates of “important” events  that occurred throughout the year and enables me to check out the date in my daily diary (Journal). I may have another apple for a bedtime snack.

Happy New Year

This  picture was taken by a friend at a Christmas party a couple weeks ago. It was just sent to me and felt it deserved a spot on a blog page. There are those who would say that the reason for the pleasant expression was not because of the Scotch but rather because it was complementary. We did have a very nice time at the party  and were also given a gift card for a new restaurant in the Lincoln Fallbrook area. Elaine took down Christmas decorations today with a bit of help.  They are all back in a storage area that will need to be reopened as we prepare for a major garage sale this spring. I am putting finishing touches on my records, pictures, and Highlights as we “wrap up” 2014. I completed 3 pages of picture collages this evening that contain some 125 selected pictures from the year. We will work on the captions for them tomorrow. I enjoy the challenge of doing it and as I’ver mentioned before, “It doesn’t take much to make an old man Happy."

New Year’s Day Visitors

Sadie, Jack and their folks came to visit this afternoon.  We not only enjoyed them while they were here but had a good laugh when I came up for supper and asked Elaine if she heard the horse “Whinnying” outside our north bedroom. As soon as she heard it, she recognized it as one of Sadie’s puzzle toys of various animals that make their “sound” when lifted off their spot in the puzzle.  I thought for a minute that maybe our neighbor had bought a horse. As I’ve worked with 2014 pictures, it is apparent how much Sadie has grown and changed during the year. We also notice how Jack changes between each time we see him. Personalities seem to emerge early in kids and I can’t help but compare these two to Lucy and Charlie Brown.

But Jack’s facial expressions seem to favor Winston Churchill so he might be able to keep up with Lucy. While the Owens’ visit was the highlight of the day, there were the annual readings that were taken and duly recorded in my 2015 Journal. Medications were recorded as was vehicle mileage. If Seward had a Taxi service, I’m certain that it would cost less to call a cab whenever we have need for the second car. But how do you put a price tag on the value of the one car being in the garage  and available for Elaine when I’m out with the other one. And, who knows, maybe the old ’92 La Sabre will be recognized as a classic one on these days and become very valuable. It has already become more valuable this fall with the addition of 4 new white sidewall tires. I have enjoyed driving it the 656 additional miles that it went this past year bringing its total to 155,742, even though it cost us well over $1/mile. That's still less than the depreciation cost that would be incurred during the first year or two of a new car. I have been reading and hearing more about the idea of “car sharing” in the cities which may be appropriate for some people. HAPPY NEW YEAR.