Thankful

I am so thankful that we were able to go to San Jose for Thanksgiving. Glen and Amy opened Hotel Steele for the 6 Steele's and our friend Steve. Sean and I had a very smooth trip out to California on Wednesday and stayed until Monday morning, when we took a very early flight back home. The days included wandering around Los Gatos, eating a very yummy turkey, a visit to Trader Joes so I could get my favorite chocolate truffles, snacking and drinking tea, a day in San Francisco, a little wine tasting at several local wineries, the Body Worlds exhibit at the San Jose Tech Museum, and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory near Santana Row. Besides all of the tourist-y activities, we enjoyed family (and Steve) time back at house, while the men rocked at Guitar Hero. Amy and I made a valiant attempt, but were booed off by the cyber-fans on the game. As it always is, vacations must come to an end. Sadly, Sean and I made the trek back home with ease. It wasn't until we got our car and started the drive home from the Baltimore airport that we experienced any delays. We hit rush hour traffic on the beltway. Welcome back to reality!

Thanks, Glen and Amy, for a wonderful time.

Click here for some photos of our trip . . . Thanksgiving Vacation

Painting Again

After a little hiatus from the painting, we began again. Our brilliant white walls were causing us to feel as if we lived in an institution. Sean suggested we spend this weekend painting. Here we go again. I had Friday off of work, so I managed to do the entire lower level. That includes dining room, entry way, hallway and part of the stairs. On Saturday, Sean joined in and we completed the upstairs hallway. This was a bit treacherous since the one wall is two stories tall. I made Sean take care of that. It was his idea to paint and not hire someone. I have to say, he did a good job. We finished around 4:00 Saturday afternoon. The painting prompted a decorating binge so we went out and bought a rug for the entryway and Sean created a little "area" on our landing. Next on the agenda, the red study. I can't wait.


Some snapshots of Sean . . .

Planes, trains and cranes?

So this past week I had the opportunity to go on a little adventure. And since people are always asking me what I do for a living, this little story will help clear things up.

In a nutshell, I sell Cummins industrial diesel engines. Big ones, small ones, new ones, reconditioned ones, for everything from road paving equipment, agricultural machines, military equipment, power generators, cranes, forklifts, dump trucks, mining equipment, logging equipment, hydraulic pump equipment etc etc etc.

A few weeks ago, one of our customers asked me if it would be possible to re-power (in simple terms, replace the engine) in a container stacker. That machine looks like this:


The job of this equipment is to run around a rail yard, and unload containers off of trains, and onto and army of waiting trucks.

Cool, isn't it.

That's the neat part of what I get to do, one day I'm in a rail yard, the next day I'm in a factory. One day I found myself in the bottom of an open pit coal mine, standing in the bucket of a huge shovel.

Well, the only issue with this project is that the machine is located out in Columbus, Ohio - a 6 hour drive from home.

"That's no problem" our customer, Keith told me.
"We'll just fly out on my plane"
"Your plane?"
"Yes" he replied, "I have three of them, you know"

Next thing I know, Wednesday morning I am standing outside a hangar at Lancaster Airport, ready to board.

Here is his airplane:

Sweeeeeet.

So we flew, first class, all the way to Ohio in just under 2 hours. Flying in a small plane is much more fun. You really feel like you can reach out and touch the clouds.Mike (our resident engineer) came along for the trip, here we are sitting in the back seat.


The flight back was even better, we flew out in between these beautiful, huge, puffy, cumulus clouds. They were like giant castles in the sky.


Anyway, here are a few more pictures of the Crane. Mike and I had to climb up to the top of the thing to take a look at their electronic setup. This is the view from up above, where the driver sits - not for those afraid of heights!!!


Here is the engine compartment, this is what we are going to take out and replace with a shiny new Cummins.

Anyway, so there is a day in my job. Here is the shameless plug for our corporate website:

www.cummins.com

Big thanks to Keith for being a great guy, and a class act.

Sean.

A Little Jazz Anyone?

Last evening Sean and I joined our friends Brian and Aimee and headed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Cyrus Chestnut, a jazz pianist, performed with two other men. One played an upright bass and the other, a small drum kit. Tables were spread out for people to sit and enjoy the music. We chose to sit on the grand staircase that lead to the second floor. So with wine and drinks in hand we sat back and listened to a fantastic performance. Later, when we were walking through the museum and taking in some exhibits, Mr. Chestnut walked by. If it wasn't for Sean stopping him to shake his hand and compliment his performance, the other three of us would never have noticed such a great performer walking by. Here's a clip I found of him on YouTube.

Lately

We're still here. Just haven't blogged in a while. We've been busy like everyone else. Both Sean and I have been working hard. I have a student teacher this year and that adds a different element to the mix. Sean has been working on a big deal at work. We haven't done much to the house. I believe we've hit a stand still. That's okay, considering Sean kept saying we were bleeding money right after we moved in. Hey, it needed to be beautified.

This past weekend we attended my 10th year college reunion. It's hard to believe that ten years have flown by. Sean allowed me to drag him along and meet a bunch of people who he would forget about within 5 minutes. He was a trooper! It was great fun seeing old friends and catching up. I think I only called one person by the wrong name. I did pretty well remembering who most of them were. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures. Take my word for it, we all pretty much look the same as we did back then.

My Lawn Boy

A very important purchase was necessary when we moved into our new home. The lawnmower! We never had need of one in the past, but now we had our very own lawn. Sean made his decision within 2 weeks of living here and went out to visit Sears. He came home with a lovely, orange Husqvarna. I do believe mowing the lawn is now one of his favorite past times. Creating a manicured yard has become his passion. He puts on his grass-stained sneakers and a pair of old pants and off he goes. In between lawn mowing days, he brings out the sprinkler and waters the lawn. He researches ways to do away with the lawn rust fungus that has taken over the neighborhood. Then he implements his plan. After a few days, there he goes again. Time to mow the lawn. Now, I'm not complaining in the least. You see, I haven't even touched the precious Husqvarna. I sure do love my lawn boy!

Notice orange powder on Sean's pant leg . . . that's rust.

Priceless

Our new favorite TV commercial. Enjoy!

Update

So here is the latest update on our home.
The living room is coming to completion!!! Marci is yearning to finish at least 1 room, and we are almost there. Last week, we made the plunge and installed a flat screen TV. Wow, what a difference. I have decided that there are a few things in life that are worth it. A huge tv is one of them. Installing it on the wall however, is not the easiest task. This took a few tries with Marci helping me to fish wires and cables thru the wall. The end result is worth it. Other additions include a new console under the TV, and a kitchen table.

Our lawn is not doing to well, it is covered with an orange sort of fungi called "Lawn Rust" The good news is that our entire neighborhood also has it. I have discovered through some diligent searching on the web that it is common for new lawns to be susceptible to this after a long dry season. Oh well.

Last night I read an article in National Geographic about the effects of global warming, and then I went to sleep worried and depressed. It got me thinking, is there ever any good news anymore? All you hear in the media is sad, depressing, bad news. Global warming this, Iraq war that, Hillary vs Obama, climate change, oil prices up over $80, mortgage market in turmoil, democrats hate the president, republicans don't care, Iran building nuclear bombs, radical islamist want to kill us, terrorism, blah blah blah.

On and on.

So I typed in "good news" in google this morning, and I found this website: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/ All they report is, good, positive news, about things happening around the world. They have an article explaining how 3 million mosquito nets are being distributed around Zambia, to help save countless lives from the threat of Malaria. This is great news!!!!

I am convinced that there is more good left in humanity than bad. All I need to do to see this is look out of our front door every morning and see the gathering of moms and dads waiting with their kids for the bus. They chat, shake hands, protect their children and bring a sense of community. This is good news. I wake up in the morning, and I am healthy and live in a lovely home with a wonderful wife, this is good news.

I have a savior who has freed me from the clutches of misery, death and sin.

This is good news.

Sean.

Wildlife

Already we're attracting all manner of wildlife. Okay, not all manner, but your regular every day rodent, the mouse. Sean terminated the life of a little one the other day with the lawnmower. A complete mishap and total accident. He felt quite bad about it actually. And now we have a new inhabitant in the garage . . .

Baby bunny! He's very cute, but could pose a threat to future gardening endeavors. He took up residence behind the garbage tote on Friday. We left the door open for a few hours and now . . . no bunny. Our biggest concern was possibly running over him, but we seem to be in the clear. Sean plugged up their little burrow yesterday. Let's hope they'll be gone for good. Is that wishful thinking?

Interior

Here they are . . . photos of the interior of the new house. You've asked. We deliver.


Click the link to check them out . . . Interior