From a KC Librarian

Just an average guy trying to make sense of his life in the library and beyond.....

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Trip--more notes

This will be my last entry for a while. I'll be without a CPU as I will be traveling to Vermont via Canada and Niagara Falls.
My uncle and I got my car up on the trailer tonight. I thought it would be a monumental effort but instead it was rather simple. We will see starting Wednesday how car and trailer will do as we drive 500 miles to Niagara.
My uncle and I had a nice talk last night about social issues that people of all religions have to address. For me it was a real eye opener.
I woke up this morning in excrutiating pain. I was sunburned over three-fourths of my torso. It had been three or four years since I got that badly sunburned. I have got some aloe lotion. Hopefully, that will soothe the sunburn.
Final note, the only difficulty we had today was we forgot an important piece of hardware to hook the trailer today. So we had to make two trips into Traverse City in order to bring back the trailer.

Monday, June 27, 2005

Trip--starting notes

I'm here in Traverse City, MI. I made it safely here yesterday. Apparently, I took the heat and humidity with me because it's about 90 with unbearable humidity. Anyway, when I arrived yesterday, I took a quick dip in the lake--very refreshing--and had dinner with aunt and uncle and cousin-once removed.
Today, I helped uncle get the motor boat into the lake for the summer season. He will use it for his entire family. Later in the day, he gave me the opportunity to drive the boat at a fast speed. What a rush!!! Although I used sunscreen, I still got a major sunburn.
Tonight, cousin and I went and saw a lighthouse and then went to a local general store and bought some root beer and some fudge. More to come=====

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Random notes

Our adult service office is empty. The computers were disassembled and the old desks were taken away. When I go to work on Friday, I will have to put my personal belongings into a staff locker. The workers will begin work on the new cubes this coming Monday. I won't see the results of their labor until the second week in July.

Meanwhile, it might be trivial to some but I learned how to send an email message using my cell phone.

In other news, I did a quick mowing of my lawn tonight. I won't be able to mow until I get back.

Finally, I will be taking off for my trip on Saturday mid-morning with my first stop in Kankakee, IL.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Office Remodel--update

The new office furniture was shipped today and was received by the appropriate personnel.
We are required to clean out our soon-to-be former work areas by Friday. The custodial staff will shampoo the carpets on Saturday and the new office area will be built/installed on Monday, June 27. I will not see the new office area until I return from vacation

Concerns about credit card

If you have been following the news then you know about the problems in the Southwest about a computer hacking program that, when executed, can reveal a person's credit card number to anyone. In light of this, I went to my credit card bank in Topeka and, first, paid off my balance, and, second, let them know that I will be using my credit card on my trip and where I will be using it. I gave the bank my cell phone number if they should discover any shenanigans on their end and needed to contact me.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Celebrating a birthday

MS will be celebrating his birthday tonight. We will be pooling our money to buy him a new charcoal barbecue grill from Nebraska Furniture Mart. Also, we will be eating dinner tonight in Overland Park.

Friday, June 17, 2005

In support of AN

My thoughts and prayers go out to AN. She recently made an important decision to decline a job offer from the University of Kansas. I won't elaborate on her reasons but I will say I think she made the right choice at this time. AN is very talented and gifted. Other opportunities will surface and at the right time.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Batman Begins

At last! Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Cain, and Chris Noland and company got it right. This is the best Batman movie I've seen. Saw it last night and will probably buy the DVD.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Getting ready for second trip

I got an email today from my Aunt F. She reminded me to remember to bring my passport as we will be driving through Canada. But she also recommended that we rent a car trailer to tow my car as we drive from Michigan to Vermont. I think this is a very good idea considering the price of a gallon of gas.

On the homefront, I had a dickens of a time mowing my lawn today. It had been 14 days since I last mowed and the grass was very thick. I set my mower on a high setting and will plan to mow sometime later this week.
This spring and early summer has not been as wet as last year. Still, while I was away to the west, Kansas City had two days of substantial rain.

Friday, June 03, 2005

First summer vacation completed

I returned safely to my house today completing a week long trip which included stops in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Although the original purpose of the trip was Dad's memorial service, I decided to take some vacation time and see some landmarks/monuments that I haven't seen before in person or don't recall seeing them when I was a little boy.
After work on Thursday, May 26 I packed my car and drove over to C and A's place in Lawrence. They were sitting on their front patio drinking wine. I joined them for a glass. I am not a wine drinker but I must admit that the red wine had a relaxing affect on me. After C and I firmed up the order of things for the memorial service, I went to bed.
I took off for Colorado about seven o'clock in the morning. I forgot to pack some things so I had to make a stop at a Target in Topeka, KS. But after that, I drove almost non-stop to Colorado Springs--making gas stops only in Salina, KS and Limon, CO. As I approached Colorado Springs, I noticed the mountains were smothered by clouds. I noticed an occasional lightening strike on the east face of the mountains. The clouds would then dissipate as they went eastward toward the plains. I made the hotel at about six o'clock that evening. After getting settled, I drove around Colorado Springs--I wanted to scout out my route so that I could make my train time on Saturday and also drive quickly to other tourist attractions like the "Garden of the Gods" or the Colorado Springs zoo. I almost got lost in doing this. I found myself driving up a mountain on highway 24 and not seeing any guide signs. It seemed like I was a quarter of the way to Leadville, CO before I turned around.
On Saturday, May 28, I checked out of the hotel and managed to make the Cograil on time. There are two Cograils in the United States: one in New Hampshire and the other that goes up to the summit of Pike's Peak. I sat next to a pleasant couple from New Mexico. We discussed many things ranging from National Parks to our respective city government's progress-or-apparent-lack-of-progress (depending on the political point of view). It took the train ninety minutes to reach the top of Pike's Peak. I had to acclimate myself to the altitude once we arrived. We were allowed forty-five minutes to explore the top before our train took off for its decent. The whole trip took about three hours. Upon arriving at the depot, I spent thirty minutes in the gift shop.
I decided to go to the "Garden of the Gods" being that it was extremely close to the depot. Unfortunately, I was pressed for time and could not do any day hiking here. What a shame--I was mesmerized by the Garden's rock formations. I ended up driving two circuits around the park. It started to rain on my second time around. At mid-afternoon, I hopped on I-25 North and began the drive to Denver and the hotel. One curiosity: biking was permitted on this portion of the highway. I made the hotel at about four o'clock meeting with my sister and her family. My Uncle B and Aunt P were resting so C and I decided to drive through our old stomping grounds in Arvada taking a look at a house where we once lived and the church where dad once preached. For dinner, we joined my uncle, my aunt, dad's long time friend at the Macaroni Grill. Don't let the name deceive you: the Macaroni Grill is a very good Italian restaurant.
On Sunday morning we drove up to Berthoud Pass for our Memorial Service for Dad. We used garden trowels for the dispersal of dad's ashes. Afterwards, we took some group pictures at the pass. The weather forecast called for rain or snow. We were grateful that it was mostly sunny during our service. As we drove back to I-70, we decided to drive through the Eisenhower tunnel. Although Uncle B had lived a considerable portion of his life in Colorado, the tunnel was not complete when his life took he and Aunt P to Portland, OR, so the tunnel was sort of a treat for him. When we got back to Denver, C and I treated the entire group to dinner at White Fence Farm. C made reservations for us in the "Library Room," a room small enough to hold a group of eight to ten people--perfect for us. (BTW, the KC equivalent to White Fence would be Stroud's Restaurant.)
On Memorial Day, we went our separate ways. C and A had to return to Lawrence because A had to work the next day. Uncle B and Aunt P had to prepare for a trip to see a grandchild graduate from high school. As for me, I spent the morning in Denver browsing the Railroad Museum in Golden, CO. I spent two hours touring the place. The highlight for me was the very large model railroad set they had in the basement of the museum building. It was larger than the area of my basement. After the museum, I drove to Boulder, CO to see if I could find a bookstore that was featured in a Fodor's travel guide for Colorado. Silly me. The city was running its annual Bolder Boulder run and traffic turned out to be a nightmare. So, I made the decision to set out for my next destination: Devil's Tower, WY.
The drive from Denver to Casper, WY was rather disappointing. It was rainy and foggy and cold. Visibility was poor. In other words, I could not see the scenic mountains and buttes during my drive. When I woke up on Tuesday, it was sunny--much better driving than Monday. It took me about four hours to drive from Casper to the Devil's Tower monument. For you movie buffs, Devil's Tower was the key piece of scenery from Speilberg's movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I was amazed by the monument's size and its history. I spent two hours at the monument and visitor's center before leaving for my next destination: Rapid City, SD and Mount Rushmore.
I arrived in Rapid City at six o'clock that evening. I had hoped to do something more than just visit Mt. Rushmore. I came across a brochure for a round trip railroad excursion through the Black Hills. So I made the decision that the next day, a Wednesday, I would first visit Rushmore and then take this train trip. Little did I know that Mt. Rushmore would be a fascinating stop. I ended up spending four hours there taking pictures, browsing the museum, watching the documentary on the monuments origins, browsing for and purchasing souvenirs in the gift shop and taking a hike along the Presidential trail. When I finally arrived at the train depot in Keystone, SD, the ticket agent informed me that I was ten minutes too late for the last round-trip train. Sooooo, I ended up browsing through the shops in Keystone which took about an hour.
I made the decision there that I had come and did the things I wanted to do and it was time for me to start driving back to Kansas City. So, I gassed the car and drove through the Black Hills via southbound US 385 highway. The drive took me to the western panhandle of Nebraska and eventually connected with I-80. I spent the night in North Platte, NE and drove through Lincoln and Omaha, NE on Thursday. I got home at roughly 4:30 in the afternoon.
I return to work on Monday.