Christmas Lights on our house.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Merry Christmas to Liz & Peter
Merry Christmas to Liz and Peter, who live in Australia. They left us a phone message for us yesterday. We miss you two and wish you the very best! The only bad side to their message is that they talked about the warm weather they were enjoying in Australia.
Missy's Move
We moved my daughter, Missy, this morning to a new apartment. Missy got a great deal on a new apartment, which has a garage, 3 bathrooms, and two bedrooms.
Apartments are now less expensive in Madison because when the interest rates were low, a lot of people bought houses. So, some of the landlords in Madison now have empty apartments and have reduced rents. Other landlords are giving away free months of rent.
Fortunately it was warm today: about 20 degrees. It was extremely cold a few days ago. The move went well. Missy had everything packed before we arrived with the U-Haul truck. Her most precious item was her ferret, Bruiser. She moved only a couple of miles, which also helped.
Apartments are now less expensive in Madison because when the interest rates were low, a lot of people bought houses. So, some of the landlords in Madison now have empty apartments and have reduced rents. Other landlords are giving away free months of rent.
Fortunately it was warm today: about 20 degrees. It was extremely cold a few days ago. The move went well. Missy had everything packed before we arrived with the U-Haul truck. Her most precious item was her ferret, Bruiser. She moved only a couple of miles, which also helped.
Christmas Day
We drove to Kenosha to enjoy Christmas Dinner at Sue and Ken's house. The roads were a little slippery when we started out but then they dried off. We enjoyed a great Christmas dinner at Sue and Ken's.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was spent with my wife, Wendy, my mother-in-law (Bernice), my daughter, Missy, and her boyfriend, Mike. Wendy cooked a great Christmas dinner. I had a glass of Door County, sweet, cherry wine. And we exchanged presents.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Homeless Deaths in Las Vegas
Here are some causes of deaths of homeless people in Las Vegas for the year 2004:
"A look at Lera-Randle El's report of the dead for 2004 -- which is gathered from the Clark County coroner's office -- showed that 12 people had drug and alcohol abuse listed as at least one of the causes of death; eight had heart disease; five were victims of car and train accidents; and four died of exposure to the elements. Three committed suicide." (Las Vegas Sun)
"A look at Lera-Randle El's report of the dead for 2004 -- which is gathered from the Clark County coroner's office -- showed that 12 people had drug and alcohol abuse listed as at least one of the causes of death; eight had heart disease; five were victims of car and train accidents; and four died of exposure to the elements. Three committed suicide." (Las Vegas Sun)
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Homeless Mission in Chicago
On Friday, 12-17-04, I had the great privilege of accompanying a group from the Zion Revival Center on a mission to distribute clothing and food to the homeless in Chicago.
Our journey started at the Center in Zion, IL. One group sorted donated clothing. I helped boil water and make sandwiches. And another group loaded the bus.
Like the water I had just boiled, the bus ride to Chicago was bubbling with the laughter and chatter of young people, singing, and the linked conversations of people with a common goal.
Our first stop was lower Wacker Drive. Veterans of this trip commented that there were usually many more homeless in this area. They also noticed the new, wrought iron fences which now blocked many of the warmer areas where the homeless liked to live.
From a Chicago Tribune article, I later learned that the city of Chicago spent between $300,000 to $400,000 of Homeland Security money building these fences on lower Wacker Drive. It was obvious that night that, number one, these fences would never keep terrorists out, and, number two, that many of the homeless quickly found ways to get through the fences. This article also talked about frequent police sweeps. While driving down Wacker, I was told that the homeless formed groups to protect their belongings and at least one homeless person had to stay with their blankets at all times or city employees would collect them and throw them away.
In about the middle of lower Wacker Drive, we spotted piles of blankets and belongings. At first, we had to approach them. And then when the word got out that a church group had arrived, others came out and approached us.
Yes, I could smell alcohol on a few them. But the majority were clear of speech and vision. If anything affected their speech, it had to be the cold and hunger they felt. Most of them were men, but there some women among them. Thankfully, I saw no children.
We handed out gloves, hats, blankets, coats, and food. Their eyes widened and their voices rose when they discovered we had "hot" soup. And frequently, when I told them we had hot soup, they repeated it back to me, "you have hot soup?"
Besides food, the most frequently requested item was an extra large winter coat. The irony of this was that when they came near us we could see that they were already wearing a couple of coats. But it quickly dawned on me that for them to get any warmer, they needed an even larger winter coat to wear over the coats they were already wearing.
There was only one man who waved me away when I came near. His speech was clear and his eyes steady. His friend sat only a few feet away and gladly accepted our food. Making sure I hadn't misunderstood, I again asked the man if he would like some food or clothing. He politely said, "no thanks." I'm guessing his pride wouldn't allow him to accept charity. And knowing that he deserved my respect, I had to accept his answer, and in case he changed his mind, I slowly walked away.
Another man appeared to be too ill to get up. Several people went to him instead. What must it be like to be ill, cold, and sleeping on concrete?
After taking a sip of hot soup, one homeless man asked me, "how often are you going to bring food down here?" I sadly admitted that it was just a once a year trip.
Our journey started at the Center in Zion, IL. One group sorted donated clothing. I helped boil water and make sandwiches. And another group loaded the bus.
Like the water I had just boiled, the bus ride to Chicago was bubbling with the laughter and chatter of young people, singing, and the linked conversations of people with a common goal.
Our first stop was lower Wacker Drive. Veterans of this trip commented that there were usually many more homeless in this area. They also noticed the new, wrought iron fences which now blocked many of the warmer areas where the homeless liked to live.
From a Chicago Tribune article, I later learned that the city of Chicago spent between $300,000 to $400,000 of Homeland Security money building these fences on lower Wacker Drive. It was obvious that night that, number one, these fences would never keep terrorists out, and, number two, that many of the homeless quickly found ways to get through the fences. This article also talked about frequent police sweeps. While driving down Wacker, I was told that the homeless formed groups to protect their belongings and at least one homeless person had to stay with their blankets at all times or city employees would collect them and throw them away.
In about the middle of lower Wacker Drive, we spotted piles of blankets and belongings. At first, we had to approach them. And then when the word got out that a church group had arrived, others came out and approached us.
Yes, I could smell alcohol on a few them. But the majority were clear of speech and vision. If anything affected their speech, it had to be the cold and hunger they felt. Most of them were men, but there some women among them. Thankfully, I saw no children.
We handed out gloves, hats, blankets, coats, and food. Their eyes widened and their voices rose when they discovered we had "hot" soup. And frequently, when I told them we had hot soup, they repeated it back to me, "you have hot soup?"
Besides food, the most frequently requested item was an extra large winter coat. The irony of this was that when they came near us we could see that they were already wearing a couple of coats. But it quickly dawned on me that for them to get any warmer, they needed an even larger winter coat to wear over the coats they were already wearing.
There was only one man who waved me away when I came near. His speech was clear and his eyes steady. His friend sat only a few feet away and gladly accepted our food. Making sure I hadn't misunderstood, I again asked the man if he would like some food or clothing. He politely said, "no thanks." I'm guessing his pride wouldn't allow him to accept charity. And knowing that he deserved my respect, I had to accept his answer, and in case he changed his mind, I slowly walked away.
Another man appeared to be too ill to get up. Several people went to him instead. What must it be like to be ill, cold, and sleeping on concrete?
After taking a sip of hot soup, one homeless man asked me, "how often are you going to bring food down here?" I sadly admitted that it was just a once a year trip.
As the bus took off, we spotted a man we had already helped lying on the sidewalk. His blanket shook as he shivered underneath it.
We traveled up to the street level and stopped at a corner. At my age, I realize the world isn't fair, but it still struck me as ironic that there was a Mercedes-Benz car dealership less than a block away and a BMW car dealership just a couple of blocks away.
As I stepped off the bus I realized it was much colder at the street level. I suddenly understood why the homeless migrated to the underground where it is warmer.
A woman, probably in her early 60s, wearing a thin T-shirt, pants, and shoes came up to the back of the bus looking for a winter coat. I felt colder just looking at her. As warmly as I was dressed, I could tolerate maybe 15 or 20 minutes out in the cold and wind before I had to retreat into the warmth of the bus. We took turns like that until late that night.
The members of the Zion Revival Center had come prepared. They gave out a lot of clothing and a lot of food. But I found myself wishing that we had a semi-truck full of food and clothing, or even 10 semi-trucks.
The bus ride back to Zion was quiet. Everyone was happy but tired. Some quickly fell asleep.
We traveled up to the street level and stopped at a corner. At my age, I realize the world isn't fair, but it still struck me as ironic that there was a Mercedes-Benz car dealership less than a block away and a BMW car dealership just a couple of blocks away.
As I stepped off the bus I realized it was much colder at the street level. I suddenly understood why the homeless migrated to the underground where it is warmer.
A woman, probably in her early 60s, wearing a thin T-shirt, pants, and shoes came up to the back of the bus looking for a winter coat. I felt colder just looking at her. As warmly as I was dressed, I could tolerate maybe 15 or 20 minutes out in the cold and wind before I had to retreat into the warmth of the bus. We took turns like that until late that night.
The members of the Zion Revival Center had come prepared. They gave out a lot of clothing and a lot of food. But I found myself wishing that we had a semi-truck full of food and clothing, or even 10 semi-trucks.
The bus ride back to Zion was quiet. Everyone was happy but tired. Some quickly fell asleep.
We arrived back at the Center, unloaded the bus, and then went our separate ways.
I spent the night at Sue and Ken's house in a warm bed. In the morning, thanks to Ken, there was hot coffee ready for me when I got up. I ran outside, started my car, and ran back inside so that the car would be warm when I drove home.
When I arrived home, the dogs seemed friendlier, the house seemed warmer, the Christmas tree lights brighter, and my vision more focused.
When I arrived home, the dogs seemed friendlier, the house seemed warmer, the Christmas tree lights brighter, and my vision more focused.
Thanks!!
I would like to thank Ken, Senior Pastor Benny Ramos, and all the great folks at the Zion Revival Center for taking me along on their Chicago Homeless Distribution mission.
To learn more about the Zion Revivial Center, go to their web site at http://www.zionrevival.org/index2.htm.
To learn more about the homeless and what you can do to help, go to
http://homeless.org
To learn more about the Zion Revivial Center, go to their web site at http://www.zionrevival.org/index2.htm.
To learn more about the homeless and what you can do to help, go to
http://homeless.org
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Christmas Dinner in Janesville
My wife's family's annual Christmas dinner was held yesterday in Janesville. Bernice, my mother-in-law, received various gifts, including a new digital camera. Everyone enjoyed the usual pass around game. (Everyone has a number and then can steal the next person's gift.)
I had an Xbox video game machine I wanted to get rid of. So, my wife and I raffled off the Xbox machine. We then took the money we received from the Xbox raffle and gave that away as the second prize. Liz won first prize but wanted the money. Her boyfriend, Will, won the second prize, and took home the Xbox. We didn't buy lottery tickets for each family this year. We figured the Xbox raffle was enough. And there was no pinata this year.
Deb, Dave, and Justin flew in from Virginia Beach and enjoyed the festivities. They then stayed overnight at our house. We went to Uno's last night for pizza. We enjoyed their company.
I had an Xbox video game machine I wanted to get rid of. So, my wife and I raffled off the Xbox machine. We then took the money we received from the Xbox raffle and gave that away as the second prize. Liz won first prize but wanted the money. Her boyfriend, Will, won the second prize, and took home the Xbox. We didn't buy lottery tickets for each family this year. We figured the Xbox raffle was enough. And there was no pinata this year.
Deb, Dave, and Justin flew in from Virginia Beach and enjoyed the festivities. They then stayed overnight at our house. We went to Uno's last night for pizza. We enjoyed their company.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Thanksgiving Day
We started our day out with Thanksgiving breakfast with my daughter and her boyfriend. Cinnamon rolls, pancakes, eggs, sausage: it was a feast, which my wife prepared. (I helped some but don't deserve any brownie points.)
Some conversation, a little TV, a nap, and we were ready to fulfill our Thanksgiving duty: eat more.
For lunch, my wife and I went to World Buffet on the south side of Madison. World Buffet specializes in Chinese food but today they had traditional Thanksgiving dishes "and" Chinese food. My wife was very happy eating Turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. And I was very happy eating crabmeat salad, Lo Mein noodles, pork buns, Crab Rangoon, Mussles, and General Tso's chicken.
I read an amusing article about General Tso's chicken a couple of weeks ago. An American reporter visiting in China asked some local people about this dish. They were amazed. They weren't aware that one of their famous Chinese generals had a dish named after him and they had never tried it.
We were invited by relatives to spend Thanksgiving in Kenosha, but I have on call duty this week so I have to stay close to Madison.
In America, the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a big sale day at our stores. Stores offer reduced prices on general items and then have some big items that they really discount. An example of a big item would be computers. But then for the big items, there are only 15 or 20 in the whole store. So, it's common for people here to stand in line at 5:30am outside the store so that they can save money on a big item.
We've prepared for tomorrow by going through all the newspaper ads, marking items we want, and planning out our plan of attack.
Weather today is sunny but cold, 38 degrees right now. There is a snow storm south of us.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends, relatives, and readers.
Some conversation, a little TV, a nap, and we were ready to fulfill our Thanksgiving duty: eat more.
For lunch, my wife and I went to World Buffet on the south side of Madison. World Buffet specializes in Chinese food but today they had traditional Thanksgiving dishes "and" Chinese food. My wife was very happy eating Turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. And I was very happy eating crabmeat salad, Lo Mein noodles, pork buns, Crab Rangoon, Mussles, and General Tso's chicken.
I read an amusing article about General Tso's chicken a couple of weeks ago. An American reporter visiting in China asked some local people about this dish. They were amazed. They weren't aware that one of their famous Chinese generals had a dish named after him and they had never tried it.
We were invited by relatives to spend Thanksgiving in Kenosha, but I have on call duty this week so I have to stay close to Madison.
In America, the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a big sale day at our stores. Stores offer reduced prices on general items and then have some big items that they really discount. An example of a big item would be computers. But then for the big items, there are only 15 or 20 in the whole store. So, it's common for people here to stand in line at 5:30am outside the store so that they can save money on a big item.
We've prepared for tomorrow by going through all the newspaper ads, marking items we want, and planning out our plan of attack.
Weather today is sunny but cold, 38 degrees right now. There is a snow storm south of us.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends, relatives, and readers.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Super Size Me
This is a documentary by Morgan Spurlock. For the purpose of the documentary, Morgan ate nothing but McDonalds food for 30 days. As anyone could guess, his health went downhill, he gained weight, and generally felt miserable. Although a little long at times and somewhat preachy, it was entertaining. Some of the statistics were surprising.
NOTE: this film is not for young children: swearing, graphic footage of a surgery, and a few other scenes which I wouldn't show to a child.
NOTE: this film is not for young children: swearing, graphic footage of a surgery, and a few other scenes which I wouldn't show to a child.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Vacation in South Dakota
In October, Wendy and I went to South Dakota for vacation. Highlights: the Corn Palace, Wall Drug Store, Deadwood, Devil's Tower, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the Badlands.
It's been about 30 years since I've been in Wall Drug. Back then it was a one room gift store with things like rubber tipped arrows and buffalo burgers. Well, the buffalo burgers are still there but the rubber tipped arrows are gone. And Wall Drug is more like a mini-mall. We enjoyed it. I bought some books on American Indians and a biography of Buffalo Bill. And we got our free bumper sticker.
Deadwood was interesting. It had a lot of small Casinos (they claim there are 80 casinos). One of the most interesting casinos was the Midnight Star, which is owned by Kevin Kostner. In the upstairs bar, some of Kevin Kostner's movie costumes were displayed. And of course, there were many places in South Dakota which advertised various items and places related to the movie "Dances with Wolves."
I had one of the best steaks I've ever had at Big Al's.
The Badlands was beautiful in an eerie, desolate way. I will post more photos.
We looked into flying out there but it was very expensive. So, we drove. Before going out there, we bought a portable DVD player. I brought some DVDs from home and borrowed some from the neighbors. I had over 75 hours of movies I could have watched. I would drive for a couple of hours. Watch a movie. And then drive some more. It really broke up the drive. And the portable DVD player worked flawlessly.
I love living in Madison, but it was interesting to go out to South Dakota where there is less people and less traffic.
Driving our minivan across the open prairie gave us a very small glimpse of what it must have been like for our pioneer ancestors as they journeyed West.
It's been about 30 years since I've been in Wall Drug. Back then it was a one room gift store with things like rubber tipped arrows and buffalo burgers. Well, the buffalo burgers are still there but the rubber tipped arrows are gone. And Wall Drug is more like a mini-mall. We enjoyed it. I bought some books on American Indians and a biography of Buffalo Bill. And we got our free bumper sticker.
Deadwood was interesting. It had a lot of small Casinos (they claim there are 80 casinos). One of the most interesting casinos was the Midnight Star, which is owned by Kevin Kostner. In the upstairs bar, some of Kevin Kostner's movie costumes were displayed. And of course, there were many places in South Dakota which advertised various items and places related to the movie "Dances with Wolves."
I had one of the best steaks I've ever had at Big Al's.
The Badlands was beautiful in an eerie, desolate way. I will post more photos.
We looked into flying out there but it was very expensive. So, we drove. Before going out there, we bought a portable DVD player. I brought some DVDs from home and borrowed some from the neighbors. I had over 75 hours of movies I could have watched. I would drive for a couple of hours. Watch a movie. And then drive some more. It really broke up the drive. And the portable DVD player worked flawlessly.
I love living in Madison, but it was interesting to go out to South Dakota where there is less people and less traffic.
Driving our minivan across the open prairie gave us a very small glimpse of what it must have been like for our pioneer ancestors as they journeyed West.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
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