Author: dale

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Damn monsoons, anyway…

So I’m down here in Charlotte…  again.  And, like it once did every time I came here, it’s been raining.  Not just an occasional rain, it’s been a pretty much constant downpour from Monday morning on.  I htink I’ve seen it stop twice, for no more than an hour or two each time.

Of course I remembered to bring my sunglasses, which are still in their case in my laptop bag.  Didn’t bring an umbrella, though.  There are 2 or 3 of them sitting at home; there may even be one in my truck.  Parked a the airport.

How wonderful.

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Am I still alive?

Well, yes, for the most part…  but I haven’t been blogging much.  Let’s do a quick recap…

The high school reunion went well.  It was really good to see some old friends, make a few new ones, and generally reconnect with people.  It’s too bad some weren’t able to make it, and even sadder that one died on the way up to attend.

Pete’s back in school, getting ready for football.

I got a new phone.  It’s an LG Dare, and it’s just…  well, it’s cool as hell.  Why not an iPhone, you may ask?  Well, let’s see.  The Dare isn’t WAY overpriced, it’s not tied to uber-sucky AT&T, it’s got the features I want, it’s hackable and not tied to Apple’s cash extraction machine…  in short, why would I even consider an iPhone?

We’ve been out on the bike a few times, but not nearly enough.  The seat came back from Mean City, and it’s much, much better now.  The lawn is surviving, no thanks to me.  Have not had the Vespa out at all this summer — I need to find some time to do some engine work, again.  I’m building a new replacement for our server, which has been running Fedora Core 3 (or is it 4?) for way too long.

There.  All caught up.

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The Great American Trailer Park Musical

The torrid tale of a group of trailer park neighbors whose lives are disrupted by a home-wrecking stripper, a big storm, a false pregnancy (or is it?), a crazed ex-boyfriend, a marginally functional electric chair…  did I miss anything?  This is high drama worthy of, well, at least Jerry Springer, and you’ll never look at your Magic Markers and Pam cooking spray the same way again.

OK, I admit it.  I usually only see community theater productions that my daughter Allison appears in.  Still, when I do go I’m usually really glad I did and enjoy them for the play or musical itself, not just seeing my daughter shine (which she always does).  Some of these productions are really, really good.  Das Barbecue was hilarious, as was Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Lucky Stiff and others.  I have to say that if you have never been to a production at Bellevue Little Theater, Omaha Community Playhouse or one of the others, you really should.  It’s not terribly expensive, the crowd is generally casual, and you’ll likely have a really good time.  Last night we attended a pre-opening night show of the latest show at the BLT,  The Great American Trailer Park Musical.  It was a hoot…  I got a decent workout just laughing.

Uniformity of talent is usually not the real strong point in these productions; some people are great actors and actresses, but so-so singers.  Some can dance like mad, but can’t act all that well; some can sing but can’t dance, etc.  (I say this with the disclaimer that I am good at NONE of these, and have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone who can get up on stage and do what these people do, and do it for free.)  In this case, the whole theme is cheesy enough that any variations in talent are immaterial – plus the cast are all pretty good to begin with!  The acting was good, with a couple of real standouts.  There was no one who couldn’t sing; the quality was pretty uniformly good with (of course) one clear standout.

I suspect the tech crew is still dialing in the audio details, and there was one place where stage hands making a scenery change kind of distracted from the tale.  Since it was pre-opening night (I think it was “tech night” or the final dress rehearsal), I would expect the actual public performances to go even better.

All in all, I would recommend this musical to anyone who appreciates comedy.   Call the theater, get your tickets, and prepare for an hour and 45 minutes (no intermission) of real, honest-to-goodness fun.

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Lied Lodge in Nebraska City

We spent the past weekend at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City. My side of the family had our family reunion there, and I have to say we’ll be back!

The lodge itself is beautiful, well maintained and well staffed. Natural timbers are used throughout, and the huge lobby and quiet veranda are a couple of very relaxing spaces to sit and read, talk with family and friends, play cards or whatever. We also spent some time wandering through some of the many trails, visiting the Morton house and carriage house, playing some games on the lawn, etc.

The restaurant puts on a pretty good buffet for breakfast. In fact, after a large, late breakfast we skipped lunch both days. I don’t think we ever had dinner at the hotel restaurant. We wanted to do the free wine tasting (Sat & Sun. nights) but the timing didn’t work out right either evening.

All in all, it’s a beautiful place and one we’ll visit again. I could see an annual stay there, in fact.

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Are we having fun yet?

Oh, how I do love remodeling…  we’ve got the downstairs bathroom torn pretty much apart, working on getting the last of it ripped out now.  When it’s done it will be all new from the drywall inward.  New vanity, counter, sink, mirror, lights, fan, toilet, the works.  It’s not without challenges, from the inadequate (for what we wanted to do, anyway) wiring to the lack of water shutoff valves under the sink.  Seriously, who does that??

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Good work, Supremes!

Today the Supreme Court issued its ruling on the DC v. Heller case. What we now have, for the first time, is agreement by the Supreme Court that the Second Amendment to the US Constitution protects each individual’s right to keep and bear arms, not just the government.

This is truly good news. While the Court didn’t go any further than striking down DC’s complete ban on handguns, nor did I expect it to, at least there is a decision that makes sense. I can foresee a long path of suits to nudge our rights back into existence in other areas like Chicago, where bans like DC’s have created what amount to safe free-fire zones for criminals and gangs.

I think I’ll go to the range this week and celebrate.

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The French Cafe

Lisa & I had dinner at The French Cafe last night. It was our 29th anniversary, and it had been far too long since we visited my friend Tony Abbott’s place.

The food and service were, as always, above and beyond wonderful. The French onion soup and escargot have not varied from perfection in all the years we have gone there. The Chateaubriand was outstanding, accompanied by Brie-stuffed tomatoes that were simply unforgettable. The cherries jubilee topped it off perfectly.

The French Cafe has had a reputation as a pretty expensive place to eat, but quite frankly I think it is less expensive now than ever. We spent only slightly more on dinner last night than we did at a good-but-not-great place in Charlotte we tried last week. The atmosphere, service, and food at French Cafe are in a completely different class.

I feel sorry for those poor suburban slobs who think that abomination known as Mahogany Prime is what a good restaurant is about.

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The power is out again.

We had a pretty good storm move through here tonight, and the power is out.  Of course we’ve still got Internet connectivity, though I did power off the server to keep the UPS from dying too early.  Got to get some more emergency lighting, and maybe a small generator might not be too terrible of an idea.  Overall, we’re OK…  some LED lights, candles, cell phones, laptops on battery power.  We’ll survive until OPPD gets around to us.  We’re just hoping the Scouts hit by a tornado at Little Sioux aren’t hurt badly.

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Things We Learned On The Road

After riding over 2600 miles over the course of our 10-day road trip to Charlotte and Charleston, there are a number of lessons we learned.

Double-check the mileage between your hotels.  Nothing sucks quite like having reservations 50 miles past where you planned to make them, and 45 miles past your comfortable riding limit.

GPS is nice, but it’s also a good idea to print out or write down directions just in case.

When your route takes you through a major city, allow some extra time (and hassle) for detours.  Try to avoid arriving right at rush hour, it sucks. Continue reading “Things We Learned On The Road”