The Garage

1. The new drywall is up, taped, and compound applied -- all in just over a year!!!2. The workshop side needs pegboard on the left wall but that will be after we paint.

3. The back wall was never finished so that was finally done. You can see it beyond the stuff piled in the center of the garage floor. New cabinets are still in boxes.

4. We are hoping to prime the walls in the next couple days. Then paint after that.
I'm glad I did my first drywall job on the garage. Not many people will see my mistakes. I learned much, made many mistakes, and finally finished it.

Hats Off

Last weekend Kathy co-captained a team that participated in the Relay for Life Troy event.

She spent the entire 24 hours at the event, walking many hours to ensure someone from team was on the track at all times -- a feat not many of us could have accomplished, especially me. The walk was interrupted about an hour and a half by a thunder and lightening storm; teams took shelter in the Troy Community Center adjacent to the site and returned to rain-soaked tents and soggy grass. And they persevered

In addition Kathy devoted hours planning and organizing her team, attending orientation and update meetings, and preparing for the event. Especially impressive was their team sign that held pictures of loved ones affected by cancer, both survivors and not.

Her team raised nearly $5000 for the American Cancer Society. And the 33 teams combined for over $160 000.


Kathy and her team have my admiration and respect.

An Empty Nest Again

Mother raccoon and her tribe have finally left. They lived in our fireplace chimney for about six weeks. We first noticed them because of the little ones' "barking" that must have been shortly after birth. Leo volunteered to help us get rid of them, but with the babies it was more difficult. We did not want to do anything to endanger them.

Kathy kept climbing up on the roof at night when mother goes out to feed and with flashlight in hand peered down the flue to see how the little ones were doing. "They're still there and growing." She would also check by rattling the fireplace screen and would get a noisy response and that also clued us they were still around.

Yesterday Kathy rattled the screen again to get their response and there was none. Up on the roof to check. This time no baby raccoons.

Kathy capped the fireplace flue and cleaned up the mess in the fireplace that fell through the damper.

Now for the state bird of Michigan. A couple robins are trying to build nests on beams extending over the outside decks. But we keep knocking down the nesting material because we do not want to deal with any more little ones.

De ja vu

Another double loss to Cleveland teams by Tigers and Pistons--they also did this previously, last weekend.

First the Tigers go down to the Indians. Four losses in a row to the Tribe in seven days. Tiger injuries are mounting and so are critical losses. We now see how important few injuries was to the Tiger team of 2006 compared to the number of injuries this year: starting pitching (3 at one time or other), relief pitching (3), left side of infield (2). On a positive note they are still second place in the division and Magglio is having a great season.

Then the Pistons drop critical game five at home to go down three games to two to the Cavaliers. Quite a show by LaBron James. Are we seeing the officiating begin shade their calls in his favor? If he did not have a technical foul from earlier in the game, would he have been given a technical late in the game for bumping a Piston after a foul call? When a player bumps him slightly on a drive, why is that a foul when it isn't for other players? The inconsistency in calls makes one wonder. (Of course, Pistons winning makes the inconsistencies moot.)