Wednesday
21
My commute, while delayed, was not too bad and I made it to work only 15 minutes late.
As I entered Union Station this evening (while the flakes were flying and the Loop streets were in gridlock) I passed a brass quartet playing "Go Tell it on the Mountain" and my mind immediately flashed to the opening scene of "A Christmas Story". You know that scene; it's the one where you see 1940's Northern Indiana and all that comes with it. The shoppers, the voice of Jean Sheppard narrating this wonderful Christmas movie and all that. There's African Amaericans singing around a fiery 55-gallon drum and Christmas-themed windows to go shopping through. A timeless classic. That's the wonderful scene that came to mind just minutes ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPODCrn-kPo
Monday
H: 14
L: 8
Highs down as much as 40 degrees from Sunday. Temperatures between 10 and 15 degrees remain steady or slowly fall through the day despite a partly sunny sky. Strong west winds 15-25 m.p.h. gusting in excess of 30 m.p.h. send windchills as low as 10-15 degrees below zero. Partly cloudy and very cold overnight with lows from zero at the coldest inland locations to 5-10 degrees downtown.
Forecast
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As of 9:32 PM CST on December 14, 2008
Rest of Tonight...Periods of rain...freezing rain and sleet late in the evening...then a chance of light snow after midnight. Snow and sleet accumulation up to 1 inch. New ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Blustery. Turning sharply colder. Lows 10 to 14...except 14 to 18 downtown. West winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 30 mph at times. Chance of precipitation 100 percent.
Monday...Partly cloudy. Blustery...cold. Highs 14 to 18. Wind chills as low as zero to 10 below zero. West winds 15 to 25 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph in the morning.
Monday Night...Mostly clear in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows 7 to 11 above. Wind chills as low as zero to 10 below zero. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph until early morning becoming light and variable during the predawn hours.
http://weather.wgntv.com/US/IL/Chicago.html?main=1
Amanda just took her first car ride facing forward (now that she is one year old and over 20 pounds). She was all smiles the whole way to Grandma's house for dinner. Things are looking up.
I got the call last night that my snow blower was ready to be picked up. I was so glad. I picked it up today; it runs great. It's still old. Hey, guess what? It's raining today and it's going to be almost 50 tomorrow. You all can thank me for that!
Oh, the woes I experience. Yesterday, we had our third measurable and shovel-able snowfall in the Chicago area. I say shovel-able because that's exactly what I did. Wait, don't you have a snow-blower? Yes, I do. However, it's been in for repair since October 21st. That's right, it's been almost two months to have a few simple things taken care of:
-new primer bulb
-new primer line
-check fuel line
-replace grounding bolt
-tune engine
-replace shear pins
I have an Ariens 5 HP two-stage snow thrower. It looks like this only it's about 20 years old. I bought it last winter as-is for $150 and it was the best investment I have ever made. I did some preliminary work on it (with Brian's help of course; does anything get done w/o him?) last winter and it worked out great. I figured that if a professional tore it apart, they might make it work even better when under higher loads and also extend its longevity.
The long story is that when I dropped it off in October, I was told that I was way ahead of the curve. I figured I was, too. This really didn't come to fruition because it's still in the hands of Honda House.
Why did I drop it off at a Honda dealer if it's an Ariens, you ask? I'll tell you why. 1)I was on the Ariens web site and HH is listed as an authorized retailer and 2)I bought my moto from them and 3)it was close and 4)I knew the service department staff well. Now you know. Now back to my story of woe.
The reason why the snow blower is still there is that it has taken this long to get the parts delivered that were ordered. I don't know the entire laundry list of parts, but when I called last Saturday, they stated that the last item remaining was the primer bulb. Since they don't start any work until all the parts arrive, there has been no progress. I'm not in service or sales, but if I were in charge over there, I would have called me and asked if I would like them to start work on all the other pieces and maybe have me install the primer bulb myself after the fact. I have electric start and won't likely even use the primer. Why are the parts taking so long to arrive? I'll tell you why.
HH tells me that Ariens has a very "funky" method of shipping parts. They take forever. I find this hard to believe. I've gone to my local True Value and picked up shear pins off the shelf before. On top of all this, Ariens is probably the number one seller of snow thrower products on the market. Maybe Honda House is trying to get me to buy a Honda snow thrower. Keep trying. You're over-priced.
One year ago today (December 9th), I met my daughter for the fist time. Katie birthed her, we welcomed her into our arms and named her. It's been a wonderful joy to have her around ever since. For those new parents out there or those couples about to conceive or about to deliver, I have some simple insights to offer:
-keep all things in perspective
-try to rest when you are able
-remember that this new life responds to its environment
-each month brings new challenges and rewards
-eventually, they will sleep through the night
-eventually, they will start to smile
-eventually, they will start to laugh
-eventually, they will start to roll over
-eventually, they will start to crawl
-eventually, they will start to walk
-somewhere in all that development you will find it impossible to imagine your life without this little person in it and that's when you'll identify yourself as a parent
We had a wonderful time over the weekend; we celebrated Amanda's 52nd week of life with all the relatives over to our house to celebrate. We ate, we laughed, we told stories, Amanda had cake for the first time, Amanda opened presents and everyone enjoyed our little lady. I was a proud father.
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