A Very Mild November

With November coming to a close, it's time to reflect back on this month's weather here in the Upper Peninsula. Typically I don't do this unless a certain month or period is really one to remember. And this month was really exceptional, especially for those who enjoy warmer weather this late into fall. November 2009 ended up being nearly seven in a half degrees above normal compared to a typical November. It was also the least snowiest November on record - that's saying a lot when comparing it to November of 2008 which ended up being one of the snowiest (some 43+ inches of snow fell during the entire month of November of last year). Although the hunters looking for deer really didn't like the warmer weather, its really been nice not having to worry about driving on bad roads yet, this late into the year.

As I mentioned, the weather this time of the year can really be unpredictable. November is typically the month when we have some of our worst storms of the year. November gales are what they're called, and one was notorious in 1975 for bringing the ore freighter the Edmond Fitgerald down to the bottom of Lake Superior. The storms can be so fierce at this time of the year, waves frantically crash to the shore and can cause serious beach erosion. Sometimes it's fascinating to watch the waves crash against the breakwalls in Marquette. These are the kind of storms that draw people to the shores to watch mother nature at work. However this November, those kinds of storms were certainly lacking. I think in October we had a couple that were pretty fierce, but November was quite tame. In fact, I remember many days where we had sunny and warm conditions rather than rainy, wet, and raw days.

So November of 2009 was certainly enjoyable for those who like it warmer than putting up with the snow and cold that us Yoopers have to endure for many months on end during a typical U.P. winter. And when the snow gets delayed like it has this late in the season, it makes for a shorter winter, which makes a lot of people breathe a sigh of relief. Hey, I don't mind the snow. But when it's still on the ground in March and April, it gets a rather tedious to look at - and you'd rather it be all gone by then! We have a long ways to go during this winter of 2009-10, but we're slowing picking away at it. Before long, it'll be the end of winter and we'll be longing for the days of warmth and spending time at the beach. Four months does go by pretty fast these days.

Here Comes the Holiday Season

It kind of snuck up on me this year, but the holidays are officially here. It's hard to believe we are now heading into the last month of the year; and this decade, for that matter. I remember back when I was in grade school, the period of time between October 1 and Thanksgiving Day moved so slowly. It seemed like it took forever before Thanksgiving Break came. Now as an adult, there's no such thing as a Thanksgiving Break, unless you take a week of vacation during that period of time. I was granted Thanksgiving Day off, which was really nice. It kind of broke up my seven day stretch of day shift pretty nicely. But nowadays, time really moves by a lot faster than when you're a kid. Maybe we just didn't care back then, but there's so much more to keep track of now. And it's not really much of a surprise to hear from relatives and my parents that as the years go by, the time goes by that much faster.

For this Thanksgiving, my family had the pleasure of my sister from Wisconsin joining us for Thanksgiving dinner. It had been awhile since she was able to join us for the holiday; over ten years at least. I always enjoy spending time with her, even if it's just for the day. As I mentioned, I had Thanksgiving day off, so after work the day before, I packed up a few things from my house and headed for my parents. My sister was already there, so I got to visit with her that evening. Our family tradition whenever she comes up or when we visit her is to play Scrabble. The game usually involves myself, my mom, and my sister. I've been in a slump lately, and it continued on Thanksgiving Eve as I ended up in last place. I don't know what's going on - but during this particular game, I got stuck with an endless amount of vowels. There's not a lot you can do in Scrabble when six of your seven letters are vowels. Nevertheless, it was still a fun time and whatever the outcome, it's always a blast to play a game like that with your family.

Thanksgiving Day brought my other sister and her family over to my parents. I always have such an enjoyable time seeing my niece and nephew whenever possible. My nephew is always so busy that it's often very difficult to keep up with him! But I don't get to see him too often, so our visits together are always a lot of fun. My niece is a very funny girl. She says a lot of things that often make us chuckle. She's a bit more shy than my nephew is, so it often takes her awhile to warm up to everyone, particularly me. But before long, she's coloring, playing with her dolls, or watching Spongebob. Neither one of the kids usually eats very much and Thanksgiving dinner was no different. But it was really nice to have all of us together, once again, for Thanksgiving. The last time we were together like that probably was when we had dinner at my grandma's. So it ended up being a very fun day.

Now with Thanksgiving out of the way, on comes Christmas. One of my least favorite things about the holiday season is doing the shopping! I'd rather find what I need for everyone on my list right away than spend hours and hours looking for the right gift. And what complicates things even more; my mom's birthday is just nine days before Christmas. I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet, but there's plenty of time. I usually procrastinate quite a bit until about a week or two before Christmas. I think this year, I am going to try shopping a little bit early. It's better to get it all done with plenty of time to enjoy the holidays than rushing around at the last minute. Hopefully it goes exactly as planned this year.

A Frustrating Day

So yesterday I took my mom to town so she could buy groceries to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. All in all, the trip into town and driving around was the most frustrating part. I fear that the craziness of the holiday shopping season was already quite evident at the store I went to. It kind of threw me off - as I didn't expect certain people to be so vindictive, at least not so soon before Thanksgiving. Then there was the crazy drivers in and around Marquette that made me nearly lose my mind. Which is why I don't venture into Marquette too often anymore, unless I absolutely have to get something or I plan to make several stops. No more joyrides for me anymore.

Our first stop was a trip to the grocery store. Instead of me tagging along with my mom, I dropped her off and I ventured to the nearby big box home improvement center. I have had my eye on buying a new lava lamp for my house. I kept one at my parents house, but eventually it quit working and my mom threw it out. The other one I had at my apartment broke during the move to my house. And I've always liked the look of lava lamps. The home improvement store was having a big sale on lava lamps, so I picked up two; one for my mom and one for me. As I strolled through the store, I heard one woman ask for assistance locating a certain item that was on sale. No - "asked" isn't the right word. She was downright rude in the way she addressed the salesperson. Apparently she was misdirected by another salesperson which obviously lead to her frustration and lashed out at this other defenseless salesperson. Needless to say, he lead her to the right direction and she found the item she was looking for. I continued to go on my merry way and I proceeded to head to checkout. Don't you just love it when practically everyone else in the store decides to go and checkout at the same time as you? That's exactly what happened in this instance, and with only three checkouts open, things were getting very backed-up. Well this same woman who was bickering earlier also needed to checkout. It appeared she was with a daughter, as she was younger than the woman. I'd say their ages were 60 and 40, respectively. Well, seeing the long lines at the checkout must've really made her blood boil. She abruptly put her item on the floor next to a shelf and walked right out, muttering to herself along the way. Honestly, how rude can you get? All you have to do is have a little patience. It wasn't much longer before two additional checkout lanes opened up and things were moving again at the front of the store. But that's how some people respond to situations like that, and they may even say that they won't step foot in that particular store again. Yet you know they will.

So after exiting the store, I walked towards the car carrying my two bags of merchandise. I popped the trunk of the car open and placed the two bags over to the left side of the trunk. Suddenly I got totally distracted - the car on my left, with two passengers, was just taking off. Meanwhile, the car on my right was just arriving. In that vehicle was an Asian couple and they were fiddling around with stuff in their car. Before long, out came a stroller. Unbeknownst to me, I dropped the keys to the car in the trunk and slammed the trunk shut. I was ready to enter the car when I started to feel around in my pockets for the keys. They weren't in my coat pockets, so I tried my pants pockets. Not there either. I didn't totally remember dropping the keys in the trunk, but then I kind of figured out what happened. Then the realization came over me - I was locked out of the car! Now, this isn't the first time something like this has happened to me. But still, knowing that the keys are inside the trunk and there's nothing you can do about it really leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth. So I had to figure out what to do next. My two options were either go back in the store and try and call for a locksmith or take a hike over to the grocery store where my mom was at and hope that she had the extra set of keys for the car in her purse, and then hike back. And needless to say, this isn't exactly an easy walk. The highway between the home improvement store and the grocery store is the busiest in the Upper Peninsula! Regardless of that fact, I pressed on and started walking. At first I didn't know if it was the smartest decision, but the closer and closer I got, I knew it was the right pick.

The distance between the two stores is probably three quarters of a mile. However, I wasn't walking a straight line. So it probably ended up being around a two mile trek round-trip. I told my mom the situation and yet, she wasn't sure if she had the extra set of keys. Yet, to both of our relief, they were in her purse. She was ready to checkout at the grocery store, so I told her to take her time. I ended up having to cross four lanes of busy highway traffic four different times; yet there was enough of a gap to take a dash across the road. By the time I got back to the car, I had worked up a pretty good sweat! I was relieved the keys opened the doors and when I went to look in the trunk, sure enough; the keys were right in the very front of the trunk. Honestly, I was glad to get out of there and continue on with our day.

Needless to say, it wasn't a typical shopping trip for me and my mom, although she probably had far less stress than I did. It just goes to show you that it's easy to become distracted and do something foolish. I used to have a car where I'd tend to leave the headlights on, which would cause the battery to go dead. Or I'd lock the keys in the car. That car was a magnet for troublesome situations like that. But then there was a time when I locked my keys inside the car I currently have and it was still running! I ended up having to get a wrecker out to my car, which was at work, and open up the car for me. The car ended up running for a good hour at least before the wrecker came. Good thing I had enough gas in it to drive back! These are all instances where at the time, you wished things would've worked out better. However in the end, at least you can look back on them and laugh. And I can laugh about yesterday's incident at least.

Songs I Dig - 14

The last "Songs I Dig" blog I wrote was back in March. Did I think it would take this long to write a new entry? Not in the very least! The absence of the SID blogs during the last several months was completely my fault, because it wasn't like I didn't have any songs to write about. There's been plenty of great songs that were released during the summer and fall of 2009. It's going to take me some time to get back on track, but we still have a month in a half left in the year. I have confidence that I can bring back the SID blog with a vengeance and continue that momentum in the new year. 2010 starts a new decade of music, too! Holy cow, where did the 2000's go anyways? Anyways, off with the newest Songs I Dig!

Owl City - "Fireflies" : In today's era of music that's mostly littered with profanities and derogatory messages, how refreshing is it to hear a sweet ode to fireflies? Like the deejay I was listening to today said, it's a song that the whole family can listen to. I find it pretty darn cool that not only has local radio picked up on this song, but many of the pop radio stations in the United States. It took awhile for the local radio station to start playing the song - probably within the last month. But what drew the programming director of the station to the song was the incredible music video that was created for the song. It's basically an ode to classic 1980's toys like speak and spell, lightbright, etc. The song is super catchy in that when you hear it, don't be surprised once it's over that you begin to start singing all about fireflies.

Train - "Hey Soul Sister" : Here's a group that has experienced great success during the current decade. And from the looks of it, the start of the new decade could be just as successful for the group. "Hey Soul Sister" is the first single from their new album titled, "Save Me San Fransisco." And judging from the amount of airplay the song is getting, it just might be a very big hit. Train presents a different kind of sound to this song, different from past tunes. It's largely in part because of the ukulele, I think. And I believe the song is in a pretty high octave for lead singer Pat Monahan, but he definitely does not struggle. But I'm sure during a live concert, the song leaves him out of breath afterwards. All in all, this is a great song from Train and I can't wait to hear what else the group releases from their newest album.

Five for Fighting - "Chances" : There are certain groups or singers that you always wish the very best for, and others that you hope would just go away. Five for Fighting is a group I always root for because they may not be flashy or overly popular, yet they put out some really great music. "Chances" is one of those songs that gives a positive message and really helps to boost morale. Yet, this isn't unlike of Five for Fighting. Their other hit songs like "Superman (It's Not Easy)," and "100 Years" fit a very similar mold. You could make the case that "Superman" became a hit because of its message following the attacks on September 11th. Whatever the case, Five for Fighting produces music that really makes you think and doesn't leave you depressed. "Chances" is off to another great start like their other two big hits.

Mat Kearney - "Closer to Love" : Although Mat is a relative newcomer to the main stream pop music world, the later half of this decade has proven to be rather successful for the Oregon-born singer. "Closer to Love" is the first single from his second album titled "City of Black and White" and is proving to be a nice follow-up to his debut album. I don't think "Closer to Love" has proven to be as big of a hit like "Nothing Left to Lose" and "Undeniable" were for Mat, yet "Closer to Love" is a pleasant, soothing song. I really enjoy the beat and the lyrics of the song. It's another "positive message" kind of song, including the lyrics "You pull me out of the dark, just to show me the way..." It's nice that it can be positive and upbeat, yet refrain from becoming too sappy.

Nickelback - "Never Gonna Be Alone" : Here's a group that has achieved monumental success with hit after hit and they ain't slowing down! "Never Gonna Be Alone" is (surprisingly) the sixth single from their latest album "Dark Horse," and should garner similar success to previous releases "Gotta Be Somebody" and "If Today was Your Last Day." Its already generated a lot of airplay on the radio. Nickelback gets a lot of criticism for the music that it produces. Critics say the group doesn't try mixing things up with different sounds and have become too stale. Obviously the fans and the radio stations don't think so, because their albums continue to reach platinum status, if not beyond that. As the saying goes, whatever works, and for Nickelback, it certainly works well.

Well, that wraps it up for the latest installment of the "Songs I Dig" blog. It's been a long time coming, but I am happy to say it is back for good. Don't be surprised to see another installment soon. After all, I have to get caught up on the rest of the songs I missed out on discussing during the previous seven months of this year. And the year ain't over yet! I'm sure one or two new songs will be released that'll end up making the "Songs I Dig."

Home Projects

I am now entering my fifth month as a homeowner and I couldn't be happier with my decision. In fact, I think I'd be pretty content living here the rest of my life. Naturally, a person's desire to live in a particular location does tend to wane over time. But as of now, I'm pretty happy with the location. I guess the big test is seeing how the winter season is in this particular spot. The weather has been fairly mild lately and so far there's no snow in sight. The front of the house faces south toward a major highway, and that highway is pretty busy. I am guessing that this particular location gets a little less snow from the lake as those areas more inland. But still, it's a place susceptible to snow. Two to three miles down the road, the highways parallels the Lake Superior shoreline and during some of the worst storms, the visibility is bad enough that the highway gets shut down. My house is before that juncture and I don't believe visibility will be a problem where I'm at because of trees and neighboring homes. Still, during blizzards it doesn't matter how many trees or other obstacles are in the way. The wind still whips the snow around fiercely.

A few of the projects I have conquered thus far includes some electrical and drywall repair. The living room in the house is painted white and the drywall was peckered with a variety of nail and screw holes from the previous owners. Over time, I've patched those spots. The living room is almost ready for paint except for a few areas that need additional patching and sanding. I need to scrounge up a few more things before I am truly ready to paint. I'll definitely need a tarp or two to cover furniture and the carpeting and I'll certainly need a ladder. I'm guessing the ceilings in this house are eight or nine feet tall and I'm no where near tall enough to reach that high. And of course, I need to choose a decent colors for the walls! I have honed on a light tan/brown color but I need to make a final decision. I brought home a bunch of sample cards from a recent trip to the home improvement center, so now I need to compare and decide which color suits me.

The other major improvement that is ongoing is some electrical work. During the last few days, I've replaced several old light switches with new modernized ones. I am definitely an electrical novice but I've watched my dad do a ton of electrical work on his house to know most of the basics. Well, I didn't realize I needed a special light switch for three-way wiring. So I had to take another trip to the home improvement store to get the appropriate switch for that job. And while installing it, I turned the job much harder than it should've been. It took me a good hour to get the wiring figured out, where it should go, and get the switch working properly. I even forgot to turn the breaker off once during my frustration and got shocked! Needless to say, that was the final electrical project I worked on for the night. But all in all, the new switches look nice and only help to enhance an already nice looking home.

I am also gradually converting the electrical outlets in the house. My dad helped me change a few outlets in the living room and I've changed one in the kitchen and another in the bathroom. My dad also helped me replace an older style fluorescent light in my kitchen with a bigger, brighter fluorescent fixture which really brightened the room. We also plan on making some wiring and lighting improvements in the basement and create a new circuit for the refrigerator. Currently the fridge is on the same circuit as everything in the living room (including the television and my stereo). It's going to take some work, but in the end it'll be worth it. So hopefully by spring, these particular projects will be completed.

I have more projects planned but as a homeowner, you definitely have to take things one step at a time. I don't want to become overwhelmed by a bunch of different things at once and have the whole house a catastrophe. You just have to pick and choose your projects and then once they are done, you're able to marvel at what you've completed. And then, it's on to the next project! Ah, the life of a homeowner...

Happy Halloween

I can't remember for sure if I blogged about Halloween last year; I don't recall that I did. I suppose it would help if I looked back in the archives, but I'm going to press on regardless. Halloween just kind of snuck up on me this year and I didn't even do once ounce of decorating for the holiday. Heck, I didn't even buy a pumpkin for the steps of my front porch. I thought about getting something tonight. But isn't it sort of bad luck to buy decorations right before the holiday? Probably not, but that's my thinking. Anyways, I won't be home to really enjoy the holiday as I'll be working a 12-hour shift and won't be home until a little after 7:30 in the evening. Yet, I did buy a couple of bags of candy just to be on the safe side. You never know; there might be a few late stragglers trick or treating at that time.

Last year I ended up being home during the day while trick or treating took place. I bought a ton of candy expecting a lot of kids in costumes at my door. However, I didn't get one trick or treater. I honestly don't know why I thought I'd get that many kids; I didn't even get a single one! That's when I still lived in my apartment. Where I lived last year, there was a ton of apartment buildings all around me with a large residential area to the west of all those apartments. You would think kids would bombard all of those buildings and houses in that area to get the most candy they could. But the funny thing is, I didn't even see any kids walking around in costumes that day. So I don't know if that area just isn't trick or treating friendly or not. Whatever the case, I was left with a bunch of candy and I gradually consumed it until it was gone. I think it lasted just about until Christmas.

Where I live now, I'm not entirely sure if I'll get that many trick or treaters at my door (if I happened to be home at the right time to give out candy). I'm thinking maybe a dozen or so. But the road in front of my house is a busy state highway. I'm thinking kids and their parents probably aren't receptive to the idea of walking along the side of such a busy road to go from house to house. I guess I won't really know for sure this year and maybe not next year if I happen to be on the same work schedule as I am now. I'll just have to always be prepared just in case kids end up at my door without candy. And next year, I'll probably do a little bit of decorating just to make the place look in the spirit of Halloween.

The weather is not expected to be all that great for the trick or treaters this year anyways. And that kind of had me thinking about previous Halloween's when I went trick or treating. One year we had a bunch of snow on the ground, a few where we had to bundle up because it was so darn cold, and a few that were actually quite mild and enjoyable for Halloween. I dressed up as a ghost when I was either in kindergarten or first grade and it was one of those Halloween's when it was cold. So I had to bundle up, put my ghost "sheet" over myself, and then get my face all painted up. On the way back from getting candy at my neighbor's house, we came back to our house. As I traversed the steps of the front porch, I slipped, tripped, and I fell forward on the deck of the porch. My sister, who was with me trick or treating, laughed while I pouted and went inside. It's not an overall pleasant memory of Halloween for me but it's still a memory. Probably one of the earliest that I can recall of many trick or treating on October 31st. Happy Halloween to all!

New Truck

So about a month back, I blogged about my impending purchase of a new truck. As a reminder, it's a 2009 Chevy Silverado and it was practically the only truck of my liking that I found. During the day that my dad and I went to check it out, the dealer was only offering $3,000 off. Well the next day, the sales person calls and slashes an additional $2,000 off because the truck had been on their lot for awhile, making the deal that much sweeter. So I went ahead and accepted that offer and the truck was soon mine. I had to wait about a week to officially pick it up from the dealer. They had to detail it as well as perform a few added work that I wanted done to the truck, including the clear under coating which will protect the truck from rusting. If I see any sign of rust for the first ten years, I'll be able to bring it in and get it fixed for free. Also I had a bedliner sprayed in the box of the truck.

I wouldn't say I was completely used to driving a truck. Every once in awhile when I was still at home with my parents, I drove my dad's truck to different places. I borrowed it on a couple of different occasions during a can drive for my school's chorus. I also brought a lawn mower in it back and forth to my uncle's to mow their grass. And I also took it during some pretty hefty snow storms as I traveled a little over 20 miles to work at a grocery store. More recently, I've driven trucks at work when I needed to traverse the roads leading in and around the tailings basin at the mine. And the Chevy that I bought is just like the Chevy's at work. So the functions of the truck I am very much used to.

Even though the truck I bought is considered a "work truck," it still has the amenities that any normal truck has. Okay, so it doesn't have power doors or locks. And it's not as fancy as the club cab trucks that are totally decked out. But I am happy with it regardless if it's tricked out or not. I absolutely love the XM satellite radio that came with it. The first three months of the service is free; then you have to start paying. I am seriously considering continuing that service once the three months is up, because it is one of the coolest things about this truck. The interior is spacious, with plenty of room to fit three people. It's everything I wanted in a truck and more. Definitely worth the price I'm paying for it, that's for sure.

You know, I've wondered whether I did the right thing by getting this truck when I did or deciding to wait for something "better" to fall into my lap. But after going through different scenarios and checking out the various vehicle dealerships since and seeing hardly anything to my liking, I'm pretty well convinced that I made the right move. Probably one of the worst things you can do is second guess yourself but I'll admit, I certainly do it on occasion. But in this instance I can say that I'm proud of my purchase and if I had the chance to do it over, I wouldn't.

No More Geocities

It's hard to believe, but I've been creating and maintaining websites for over ten years now. Mind you, this is just a hobby of mine, but its became something I've found to be enjoyable. These days, I don't work on my plethora of websites nearly as much as I used to. In fact, I'm lucky to find the time and the motivation to work on any of the sites. Well, that is going to be changing very soon. I don't have much more time to procrastinate, either. Geocities, the venerable web hosting service, is going out of business this Monday, October 26. In my opinion, ever since Yahoo took over their operations, they haven't been nearly as effective of a web host as they were. But a majority of the pages to my Upper Michigan website still remain on the Geocities servers. And if I don't at least save the content on all of those pages, it'll all be erased on Monday. So I've got some work to do this weekend.

Back when I first became interested in creating websites, I was still in high school. The whole idea of creating your very own website and attracting web-surfers was a very intriguing idea. I remember during my senior year, when I didn't have anything else of importance going on; I would spend time on my high school's computers updating my Upper Michigan website. Back then, it was a pretty simple website. Over the years, I kept adding more and more content, along with spiffing up the pages more than the simple designs they had at the start. But then it got to a point where I felt I did as much as I could with the site and haven't added hardly any new content since. Overall I'd say I'm pretty content with how the Upper Michigan site is. I mean sure, it's not perfect. There are a few things I could add to some of the pages. And even some layout issues exist when someone browses the website with a program other than Internet Explorer. I can't say I'm an expert when it comes to building websites. I'd still say I'm very much of an amateur. However, I've learned quite a bit about website design since I've started this whole thing over ten years ago. Yet, there's always fine tuning that can be done.

Another web project I started during my late high school and early college years was a fan page honoring the classic television program Leave it to Beaver. Back when TV Land didn't air the junk that currently infiltrates its channel, they aired the greatest classic shows. One of those programs was "Emergency!," a show that depicted firemen from Los Angeles County in California becoming paramedics, essentially launching the paramedic program in the United States. Well, following that program was Leave it to Beaver. Almost instantly, I grew hooked to the show that originally started back in 1957. My interest in the show would launch my idea to create a Leave it to Beaver fan page. The site became quite popular at the end of its existence. I was constantly getting e-mail from fellow fans, asking a variety of questions about the show. I even launched a message board that was getting to be quite the gathering place for fans to ask questions about particular show topics to other fans. But the Leave it to Beaver website train came to a crashing halt when the site became inaccessible one day. I tried logging in, but it wouldn't accept my password. I soon came to the conclusion that the site had been hacked and deleted. One of my biggest regrets was not having a tougher password - which was incredibly easy. It ultimately lead to the Leave it to Beaver website's demise. Maybe if I pursued it enough, I could've possibly gotten it back. But I thought my chances of that happening were pretty slim to none. So I pressed on, even if it was without the Leave it to Beaver site.

The next adventure that proved to be very worthwhile for me was creating another fansite; this time for a cartoon. Back in 2003, Nickelodeon launched a spin-off show of the Rugrats called "All Grown Up." It was a show that aged the Rugrats cast approximately nine years. Remember that in Rugrats, the kids were babies and toddlers. In the AGU series, they were nine to 12 years old. The show became so enjoyable to watch, that I decided to share my joy with other potential fans by creating a fansite. It soon became "Luke's All Grown Up Fansite" and for a time was the most popular AGU site on the web. The success of the site was soon realized once the corresponding message board began to take on more and more members. At the message board's peak, I had about 400 members, with a good chunk of those members being active. The website itself was becoming inaccessible far too often because of the traffic, so I had to start paying for a hosting package through Yahoo Geocities. I still had issues with YG, so I basically had to transfer every page over to a new host. Even with the new host, I still didn't go completely trouble-free with the AGU site. There was a time when I lost a variety of files, including some pages for absolutely no reason. So I had to rebuild those pages from scratch - sometimes even going off information from the top of my head. The AGU site is still out there, even though not as many people clamour for information regarding the NickToon anymore. I've thought about ending the site altogether, but then I'd feel the show wouldn't get properly remembered. So for now, it stays. And I still fondly remember the good times I had with that particular site. It gave me quite a reputation within the All Grown Up circle.

All of these websites, including my site about my hometown, all had their start on Geocities. And even though I've been gradually moving away from Geocities over the years, I'm still grateful to the service for allowing me to become interested in webpage building. At the time when I started building sites, it was the best webhost out there. Nowadays, it's certainly lost its edge which is why Yahoo is closing it down. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. And I've got to say, Geocities gave me one heck of a ride.

The Upper Michigan Informer
Luke's All Grown Up Fansite
The Chatham, MI Information Page

Favorite Reality Shows

It's amazing how the television landscape has changed within the past 15 years. Prior to 1994, the only unscripted programs you would find on television were game shows and documentaries. Now reality programming makes up a large chunk of what you find on TV. I have come to enjoy a variety of reality shows that comprise our TV landscape these days. Some of them I have discussed in prior blogs, but in this entry, I will discuss those that are often found on cable and might not be as well known as those on network TV (shows like Survivor or Amazing Race). So in a nutshell, here are the reality shows that I get the most enjoyment out of watching:

Little People Big World - I don't remember the exact specifics as to when I started watching this show. I know my mom was watching it for a time and so then I started watching it off and on. Now I can't get enough of it! Season five just started on TLC and with it brings all new adventures for the Roloff clan. The twins are embarking on their final year of high school - along with it the challenges of a post-high school career. Meanwhile, Molly is starting her first year of high school and getting used to the notion of seeing her brothers there! The Roloff children attend a small school, something I was very much familiar with. Everyone basically knows everybody and you develop a good friendly relationship with the teachers and other staff members of the school. That appears to be the case for the Roloff kids. As for Matt and Amy, it appears some challenges may exist within their relationship. Matt is always looking for the next project; something that'll be bigger and better than his last accomplishment. But then Amy would rather start relaxing and enjoying what Matt has built on their Oregon farm, along with doing some more traveling of the world. Often times when the Roloffs go vacationing as a family, Matt is often too preoccupied with work or the activities of the farm to truly enjoy the vacation. Matt and Amy have been together for a good while now and I'm sure their marriage will endure even the worst struggles in their relationship. We'll find out much more, I'm sure, as season five rolls along. "Little People Big World" premieres new episodes every Monday night at 8:00 PM eastern time on TLC.

Flipping Out - I've always been a fan of do-it yourself remodeling and home improvement shows. "Flipping Out" was one of those shows that was right up my alley - but it certainly is not your typical remodeling show. In fact, you don't learn a thing about how to do a certain thing remodel-wise when watching this show, and it doesn't prove to be very educational. However, it is highly entertaining, especially when it comes to watching the inside and out of Jeff Lewis' world. Jeff is probably your a-typical project engineer. He micro-manages and is OCD to the fullest extent. There are times when he gets down on his employees very hard and you have to wonder how in the world they can endure such treatment. Yet employees like Jenni and Zoila are very loyal to Jeff. And in a way Jeff is loyal to them, too, because they have proven to be honest and hard working individuals. Yes, Jeff is a very demanding boss. Many of the assistants he's hired in previous seasons have quit because of his ridiculous demands. That's one of the reasons why he's had such high turn-over for employees in his business. If those folks were expecting to learn more about the business that Jeff is involved with, they came to the wrong place. I would say that the turn-over rate isn't as radical in season three as we've seen in previous seasons. However, that doesn't mean Jeff has softened his stance on many of the things that have caused previous assistants to quit. The assistants he has now are much more level-headed than previous ones! Whatever the case, you never know what to expect while watching an episode of "Flipping Out." Don't forget to watch the season three finale this Tuesday at 10:00 PM eastern on Bravo.

American Chopper - This was a show I was a huge fan of for awhile, but ever since the show switched networks from Discovery to TLC, I haven't been keeping up with it as closely as I used to. While it was on Discovery, it became a show my family and I all gathered around to watch. The antics between Paul Sr., Paul Jr., and Mikey became must see TV for all of us. And we weren't the only family tuning into this show. Yet I wouldn't say this show is suited for young children as the Teutul clan often let the obscenities fly. As the seasons' have progressed with the show, the father-son relationship between Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. has continued to crumble. Part of the reason why this show was so entertaining was due to the fights that went on at the shop between Paulie Sr. and Jr. At times, things got very explosive between the two - and often times Junior would end up leaving the shop to cool off. However, during the start of season six which was during this past April, Senior fired his son because of his work ethic. They have been able to mend fences somewhat, however, the father-son dynamic at the shop has been severly hurt and it's likely that Paul Jr. probably won't be able to work at OCC while his father is there. The second half of season six will be starting in another week on TLC, so it'll be interesting to see how the father-son relationship at work will continue to co-exist, if it'll exist at all.

Million Dollar Listing - Here is a show that follows three young real estate agents whom battle in the fickle and high-end market of Hollywood and Malibu, CA. They often battle each other to represent certain clients in buying and selling real estate - and in some cases, representing famous stars and celebrities. As I mentioned, they are young; in their late 20's or early 30's. Yet, they are experienced in their profession. It's an interesting show to watch because they face the same challenges in buying and selling for clients just as real estate agents do in buying or selling homes in the $100,000 range. They want to represent their clients fairly and give/get them good deals on their property. And if they can reach a good deal, it provides them a good deal in commission, as well. So in the high-end real estate market of suburban L.A., their commission can net them in the many of thousands of dollars, if not a millions or two (depending on the price). And just as in average American homes, there can be problems with these high-priced homes, too. During a season two episodes, agent Chad Rogers was selling Cuttino Mobley's home. During an inspection, part of the wood floor was buckling. A major water line leak was the root cause, which resulted in the home being de-listed until repairs could be made. So it just goes to show you that even with homes that cost millions of dollars, things happen. And this show proves just that; anything and everything can happen when buying or selling million dollar homes. Be sure to catch "Million Dollar Listing" every Monday for new episodes, starting at 10:00 PM eastern time on Bravo.

These are the reality shows that I am finding to be very intriguing right now. But in reality, the seasons don't last very long, so if you're planning on tuning into these shows based on my recommendations, you better check them out quick! As I mentioned, the "Flipping Out" season finale is this Tuesday. Meanwhile, all of the other shows have just started their new seasons or are about to. As I've found out, reality television isn't all bad. You'll find shows that suit your interests, just as I have. And it's actually really interesting that I have become a fan of reality shows more than scripted TV. It just goes to show that the American TV landscape continues to evolve. Who knows what it's going to look like in another 15 years.

A Tough Ending for the Detroit Tigers

It's not often that I discuss sports on my blog, even though I am a huge sports fan. It's something I probably should talk more about because a lot of stuff goes on in the sporting world, even if it doesn't involve the teams I root for. When I first started my blog here three years ago, I launched it by discussing sports. At that time, it was about the Detroit Tigers and their improbable run into the playoffs. Prior to 2006, the last time the Tigers set foot in the playoffs was 1987. 2006 was a magical year for the Tigers. It ended a long streak of bad seasons that rarely saw the team get out of the basement of their division. Everything clicked for the team; the pitching was superb, they put up great offensive numbers, and competed with some of the elite teams in Major League Baseball. After being given no shot to beat the New York Yankees during the first round of the playoffs, the Tigers won three out of four to move on to face the Oakland A's. They swept the A's and earned a spot in the World Series; the first time playing in the championship series since 1984. Unfortunately they came up short in the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, but still, 2006 ushered in a new era of Tigers baseball. The Tigers have done a lot more winning since, but has yet to earn a trip back to the playoffs. And the 2009 season was their best shot in reaching the post-season since 2006 - yet they came up so very short.

The 2009 Tigers started the season off on the right foot. Instead of losing seven straight games to start the season like they did in '08, they did more winning and losing. The first three months of the season saw the Tigers jockeying for the division lead between the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox. The Tigers eventually gained the lead after May 10 and never looked back. The first half of the season prior to the All Star Break saw Brandon Inge put up awesome offensive numbers; even leading the team in home runs. Edwin Jackson proved to be a tremendous pick-up for the Tigers as he pitched lights out for the club and earned a trip to the All-Star game. Justin Verlander, who had a horrible 2008 season, really bounced back in '09, pitching himself into contention for an AL Cy Young. Miguel Cabrera proved his worth after the Tigers picked him up from a trade with the Florida Marlins the prior season, proving to be the best offensive player the Tigers had.

After the All Star break, the Tigers started to play more .500 ball. They began to feel more pressure from the White Sox and the Minnesota Twins. The offense wasn't quite as stellar as it was during the first half of the season. Brandon Inge was never the same player offensively as he was in the first part of the '09 season. Of course dealing with a serious knee injury certainly didn't help. The pitching wasn't quite as lights-out as it had been during the first half. The Tigers just started playing more listlessly and didn't appear to have the desire to finish with an AL Central Division Title. However, the Tigers appeared to have things on track in early September when they held a 7 game lead over the Twins and White Sox. Yet that is when the Twins went on an incredible tear. They finished the season winning 18 out of 22 games, despite the fact being without Justin Morneau and Joe Crede; two of their most important players. Meanwhile, the Tigers did all they could do hold on. After splitting a four game series with the Twins in Detroit, the Tigers held a two game cushion in the division against the Twins. Both teams had three games remaining and if the Tigers could win two of three, they would be crowned AL Central champs. Yet, it would be even more helpful to the Tigers if the Twins would lose any of the games in their next series against the Royals. They didn't. The Twins ended up sweeping the Royals at the Metrodome and the Tigers would end up losing two of three against the Chicago White Sox in Detroit. At the end of the season, the Tigers and Twins were tied for the division lead and thus, a one-game playoff would be needed to decide the division winner.

So the Tigers held the division lead from May 10 until October 4. They certainly had their chances to win a few more games down the stretch than what they did. Series' against the White Sox and Royals come to mind where they wound up losing more games than winning. But all of that was in the past during last night's 163rd game to decide the division. Seeing that the Twins had won the head-to-head season series against the Tigers in 2009, the final game would be played at the Metrodome - a huge home team advantage for the Twins. And how fitting when this is the final year they'd be playing in the dome. The Tigers came out with a roaring start, putting up three runs in the third inning; two of them coming off a two-run homer from embattled star Miguel Cabrera. Rick Porcello pitched lights out against the Twins, carving up Twins' batters for eight strike-outs. But when Porcello got himself in a bit of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, manager Jim Leyland made a questionable call by pulling his rookie pitcher for Zach Miner. Now Zach has had his memorable pitching moments over the years with the Tigers yet he's also had his not-so memorable moments. Last night's game provided a not-so memorable moment when Miner gave up a two-run homer that allowed the Twins to take a 4-3 lead. Miner soon gave way to Brandon Lyon, who settled things down and got the Tigers out of the inning.

Magglio Ordonez, who struggled mightily in the first half of the '09 season, really tore it up after the All Star Break and it continued during the one-game playoff. He provided the tying run of the game at 4-4 when he blasted a solo shot into left field. The game would head into extra innings. Brandon Lyon continued to pitch well for the Tigers but would give up a base hit to the Twins in the bottom of the ninth. In came Fernando Rodney, who's proven to be a great closer, but not the greatest in non-save situations. This game was one of those instances, but Rodney delivered when he needed to. He got out of a ninth inning jam (along with an awesome defensive play from Brandon Inge) and allowed the Tigers a chance to win the game in extras. In the tenth, pinch hitter Don Kelly hit a double to left center, giving the Tigers a much needed base-runner in scoring position. Brandon Inge then made an important offensive play, scoring the go-ahead run, giving the Tigers a 5-4 lead heading into the top of the 10th. Unfortunately, the Twins came back in the bottom of the inning and scored the tying run. We were nodded up until the 12th inning.

Throughout the entirety of the game, when it appeared the Tigers had the game in their grasp, the Twins quickly snatched away. In the top of the 12th, the Tigers managed to have the bases loaded with only one out. Brandon Inge was again up to bat. He was pitched inside and the ball brushed his jersey and should've allowed him to reach first base, thus sending the go-ahead run home. However, the home plate umpire didn't see it that way, and Inge had to keep batting. On a 2-2 count, Inge hit a bouncer to the shortstop, who then threw to home plate to get the force out. The bases were still loaded, but this time, two out. Gerald Laird was up to bat. In his previous at bats, he had six runners on base, but failed to get any of them home. You would think that Jim Leyland would pinch hit Laird - despite the fact that Laird is a very good defensive catcher. However, his offense stinks and he proved it during the one-game playoff. Laird struck out - and Detroit's best scoring opportunity of the night was squandered. The score remained 5-5.

With Fernando Rodney heading into his fourth inning of pitching, the writing was on the wall that the Tigers did everything they could to win, but would probably end up just a bit short. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. With Rodney tiring and Leyland not warming anyone else up, it was as if the Tigers were content with what was about to happen. The Twins had a runner on second, so the Tigers walk a batter to keep the double play potential in play. Well, it wouldn't work out that way as the Twins would then hit a walk-off single to end the game. Final score, Twins 6 Tigers 5 in 12 innings. It was an epic game, unlike any that I've ever witnessed. I don't recall ever experiencing such a wind swing of emotions in a baseball game like that. I just wish the outcome would've been different. Now us Tiger fans are left to wonder what might've been if only the team would've cashed in on some of those missed opportunities.

One has to wonder how the Tigers will fair next season. After a heartbreaking defeat like this, I think it's going to be difficult for the team to be competitive next year. It should be no surprise that the make-up of the team roster will be different. I'm expecting many of the same pitchers to be there next season. However, many of the position players may be gone, like Thames who struggled down the stretch, Huff, Polanco, Everett, and Laird. The Tigers need players who can hit the bat with more frequency. I would hate to see Polanco leave because usually he's a pretty clutch guy. However last night, he didn't deliver. Only time will tell what happens with the team during the off season. But I have a feeling this loss will be very difficult for the Tigers to get over. And that hangover will last well into next season.

Colder Weather is Here to Stay

Tomorrow we turn another page on the calendar and usher in the month of October. That also means we creep deeper into the season of fall. And lately in the Upper Peninsula, it has definitely felt more fall-like. The first three weeks of September were much more summer-like. In fact, many U.P. residents feel we finally got our official taste of summer, even if it came three months late. However, it doesn't last forever. We were affected by a major fall storm this past weekend which brought with it drastically cooler temperatures and plentiful rains. One thing about the first three weeks of this month; we hardly had any rain. Only trace amounts were picked up in certain parts of Upper Michigan. However, with this fall storm, it was like a flip of the switch. The rains fell hard and steady. The winds were brutal, even knocking out the power at my house for nearly two hours Monday night. It was definitely the first true sign of the cooler season ready to take charge of our weather for the next six months.

This time of the year, one can't even rule out the possibility of seeing snow. This past Tuesday, the daytime temperature barely rose above 40 degrees. The warmest I saw all day was 43 degrees. That was a shock to the system after we had been treated to 70's and low 80's during the previous three weeks. Temperatures that cool can change any rain we get to snow. No, the snow will not accumulate because the ground temperatures are so warm and it would take a lot of snow to start sticking. Yet, even a few flakes of snow in the air signals the beginning of the season that many Yoopers dread. The months of driving in treacherous roadways, shoveling days on end, and bundling up as tight as possible are quickly approaching. However, despite our complaints about the winter season, we always accept the fact that winter is coming and adapt. And many of us also embrace the winter season and it allows many to get out and enjoy the snow - in the form of snow shoeing, skiing, snowmobiling, dog sledding, and ice fishing. Just because winter shows up, doesn't mean we can't learn to enjoy it, either.

Because of the warm first three weeks of September, the changing color of the leaves has slowed, too. However, seeing how quickly things have cooled down and more night are beginning to get more frosty, the leaves will start changing very fast. We should be experiencing peak leaf peeping conditions in two weeks in most northern locations in the Upper Peninsula. And the warmth won't be completely over quite yet. October usually does yield a few stretches of nice days here and there. That will allow many people to get some last minute projects done before the cold weather officially hits and doesn't leave until next spring. It's also a good time to pick up any fallen leaves that many start to accumulate on the ground. At my parents place, it's a constant battle to stay ahead of the falling leaves. Yet, I haven't known a fall season without leaves accumulating on the ground. As a kid, it was always fun to rake up a huge pile of leaves and jump into them.

The fall season is definitely one of change. Animals begin to hibernate, birds fly south, and much of the green vegetation dies off from frosty mornings. The northern hemisphere readies for the winter season. Here in the Upper Peninsula, fall is our one last moment to enjoy bare pavement and to walk in grass until several months. However, just because the seasons change, doesn't mean things get anymore ugly. With a fresh blanket of snow on the ground - that often provides the most picturesque scenery one can imagine. And you know something, it's rather neat to experience all four seasons. Imagine living in California or Florida.

School Dances

It's hard to believe that junior high was nearly 15 years ago for me already. I would say my middle school experience was an okay time for me, certainly nothing glamorous yet not dull. I guess one of the highlights for me during this period of my life was going to school dances. Honestly, I don't even know how I got suckered into going to school dances. I think it became one of those deals that if a friend of mine was going, then I planned on going, too. And that became the norm throughout each middle school year. And you know what? Those school dances ended up being a blast! They were a lot less torture than I thought they'd end up being.

It's actually quite comical how kids behave at these dances, especially in junior high. The boys are basically there to goof off and attempt to show off to the girls. More often than not, they aren't interested in dancing, but rather just to be a wall flower. Meanwhile, the girls stick together in little groups, even dance with each other (mostly just the upbeat songs). Yet, they look out for a boy with whom they can reel in and get a dance in with. Back when I was in junior high, I ended up being the guy that all the girls wanted to dance with. And you want to know something? That made me feel pretty darn good.

I remember the first dance I went to, all of the boys in my class were sitting in the bleachers. We weren't even close to the dance floor. Heck, we weren't even interested in dancing. I mean eventually, we'd probably dance a few times with the girls. But we didn't plan on making it an all-evening affair. I was sitting on the lowest bleacher of our group when a girl from my class grabbed my hand and pulled me to the dance floor. No matter how much I protested, she wasn't letting go until she got her dance in with me. And so we danced to a slow song, my hands around her sides and her doing the same with me. I remember my hands being sweaty because I was nervous - heck this was the closest I got my hands on a girl through much of my grade school career. And especially in junior high, when the hormones are going crazy, this was a pretty big deal. When one slow song ended, so did my turn with that one particular girl. Yet, a new slow song would begin and I would start dancing with a new girl. This went on all night and I ended up becoming the dancing stud, at least in my class. It wasn't long, however, before many of the other boys in my class took my lead and started dancing with the girls, too. I guess they saw how such a minor deal it really was.

That's how school dances were for me throughout middle school - and I don't recall ever missing any (except maybe one or two). Once we entered high school, dances became few and far between. I don't even think one dance was held for the entire high school during my junior and senior year, except for the prom. I went to my junior prom which I considered to be a total disaster, so I basically wrote off even attending my senior prom. During my freshman year, I was "elected" by my class to be involved in the high school formal court. I think my class didn't really take it all that serious and elected me as sort of a joke candidate. I wouldn't have necessarily considered myself to be all that popular during my freshman year. I was probably in the middle of the popularity chart. Looking back at the experience, it was definitely a worthwhile event to attend, yet I am somewhat insulted at my classmates perception of me at the time. Whatever the case, at least I got to spend a wonderful evening with a girl I had a major crush on throughout high school. I even got to dance with her! Now that was pretty cool.

All in all, the whole school dance experience was fun for me. Looking back, I probably wouldn't have done much differently because I at least went to a majority of the dances that were held at my school. It's one thing to look back and regret some of the decisions you made at the time. However in this instance, I think things worked out quite well for me.

Adventures in Finding a Truck

There's something about driving a pick-up truck that gives a person a sense of power. Maybe because the vehicle sits a bit higher up off the ground or maybe because a truck has a lot more towing power than any other kind of vehicle. A truck also has the ability to maneuver a lot easier in treacherous weather conditions like snow. I have been wanting a truck for awhile, but never really had the space for it. I had contemplated getting a truck when I lived in my apartment but then I'd have two vehicles out in the elements. Now that I have a home and a two-car garage, I have room for an extra vehicle in there. And despite the fact that I am paying on a mortgage, I still have the finances to pay off a truck. So needless to say, I have finally taken the next step in owning my first truck.

Yesterday got the ball rolling on my purchase of a truck as we visited five area dealerships. But the problem was, there weren't very many choices in trucks. In most cases, the trucks on the lots were either too big for my taste or the wrong color. My dad came along to help me out on the search and we ended up speaking with three salespersons. We first drove around through each of the five dealerships, just to scope out the selection of trucks. Like I said, there wasn't a whole lot to choose from. In speaking with one of the sales people, some of that was attributed to the slowdown in the auto industry. We're also in between "seasons" for vehicles. 2009 vehicles are being sold; in some cases as quick as dealers' can to make room for the 2010 vehicles. And yet, a lot of the 2010 models have yet to arrive. Those were a few of the reasons why the car lots were looking pretty sparse, in addition to the government cash for clunkers rebate program offered during the summer.

Our first visit with a sales person went reasonably well. We first stopped at the dealer that had the most trucks in their lot. They actually had quite a few extended cab trucks. But that's something I'm not looking for, because at this point in my life I'm single and don't need all of that interior room. However, this dealer had three regular cab trucks - yet they were considered "work trucks" in that they didn't have exactly all of the amenities that a truck with all the features would carry. Yet, the only features not included with work trucks are power windows and doors. As long as I have air conditioning for the summer months and a radio, that's really all I need. Plus, I could always get those things added at some point in the future. So it wasn't a huge issue for me. Before we started the search, I was rather set on getting a truck with a large box in the back. However, I was persuaded in getting a truck with a 6 foot box and the more I thought about it, the more comfortable I felt with that decision. I think a truck with an eight foot box may have been a little tight in getting in my garage. Plus, do I really need a truck that big? So, the black 2009 Chevrolet Silverado was definitely a possibility. But the deal wasn't quite as sweet as either of my dad and I would've liked, so we initially passed and decided to see what the other dealer's were offering.

Our next visit was to a dealership that sold GMC trucks. Well, they had absolutely zero regular-cab trucks and they were all three-quarter ton. We spoke with a sales person and he was able to find one ... in Baraboo, Wisconsin. That's over six hours away and they'd charge a $600 round-trip fee to pick it up for you. Needless to say, we decided to pass - and the deals they were offering weren't quite as good as the Chevy truck we looked at earlier in the day. Next, we went and visited a Ford dealership which sold the F-150's. Honestly, out of all the trucks offered on the market, the F-150 is probably my favorite in the looks department. No wonder it won this year's award for Motor Trend Truck of the year. Naturally, there were no regular-cab F-150's at this Ford dealer. Actually there was one, but it was white. Not the color of truck I was looking at getting. We talked with a sales person briefly and went on our way. Our day of looking at trucks was over and I had decided to wait awhile to see what the future might hold - and if it brought with it better deals.

I got home from work earlier today with a message from the Chevy dealership that had the black Silverado I was interested in. They were able to slash an additional $2,000 off the asking price of the truck in addition to the $3,000 in incentives already offered, taking $5,000 off the asking price. After some contemplating, I decided to accept that purchase price (including a good sized down payment). So, I am moving forward with my first purchase of a full-sized truck. I also opted to get the underside coated of the truck to battle against rust (because we get a lot of snow in da U.P. and they use a ton of salt on the roads) as well as a sprayed-on bed liner. All in all, I'm pretty pleased how things turned out. And it won't be long before I finally have a truck sitting inside my garage.

Local Sightseeing

Who knew the Marquette area had such an extensive shipping and boating history? That is what my sister and I found out almost three weeks ago when we visited the Marquette Maritime Museum and Marquette Lighthouse. When my sister comes up from Wisconsin to visit, we're always looking for new things to do locally. When she stays at my house, I try to make it so she's not too bored and this time around, I think I succeeded in making her stay pretty enjoyable. Back when I was in college, one of the walks I would take passed right next to the Maritime Museum and Coast Guard Station. I've been always curious to see what the museum had to offer and it hasn't been that long since the museum also offered tours of the lighthouse. So it was one of the destinations we decided to check out earlier this month, and I'm glad we did.

It was Labor Day weekend and although many people had the weekend off, I wasn't expecting too many people to show up for the tour. We arrived right when the museum had opened at 10 a.m., and the first tour of the lighthouse didn't start until 11. We weren't expecting the tour of the museum would take all that long and we had another event planned for later that day, so we didn't want to take too much time at the museum. So we decided to only tour the museum at that point and see how much time we would have to wait before the lighthouse tour began. Before we got through everything inside the maritime museum, including watching the historical perspective of the history of Marquette's maritime past, it was quarter to 11. It wouldn't hurt us to wait another 15 minutes.

I wouldn't call the tour of the lighthouse exceptionally glamorous - but it definitely was interesting considering the history the lighthouse has had with Marquette's maritime history. For those of you unfamiliar with how the lighthouse looks, it's a two-story building with the lighthouse facing the waters of Lake Superior. It's painted a bright red color, so it's easy to spot. And the piece of land that juts out into Lake Superior is appropriately named, Lighthouse Point. The building has certainly stood the test of many harsh U.P. winters but the structure is quite sturdy. The red color of the lighthouse is a bit faded up close, but you can't tell from far off. The inside of the building had been kept up fairly well. We walked through the basement and through the first and second floors. Only recently had the lighthouse been left vacant as it housed individuals from the Coast Guard there. So the interior was still in pretty decent shape. The group from the maritime museum was in the process of restoring the second floor. And the Coast Guard still operates the lighthouse beacon itself, even though it's just an automated beacon now. We couldn't actually go up and see the lighthouse, unfortunately; just peak up at it through the circular staircase. But all in all, it was an enjoyable experience and for those of us locally, it was finally nice to be able to check out this facility that's right in our backyard. Our tour group was comprised of about 12 people which the people from the museum declared as being one of the biggest this late in the season. And most of the individuals were either from out of state or two-or-three hours away.

It just goes to show you that a person doesn't need to travel long distances to find something scenic or interesting, especially when it's right in your own backyard. I know it's nice to get away from time to time from the hustle and bustle of every day life, yet it isn't always necessary to travel far. And in these tough economic times, it'll save money in your pocketbook to stay closer. And I think at times, we take for granted what our local areas offer in the tourism department. For the Upper Peninsula in general, tourism is a large part of what drives our economy. So in times like these, it's important for us Yoopers to help out our own cause.

Trouble at Work

Things have certainly gotten interesting as of late where I work. Our crew coordinator, which supervises and manages the activites of the crew, has gotten very difficult to work for. Even though we get paid lunch and coffee breaks, they are only supposed to be ten and 20 minutes respectfully. We've always stretched them out to a half hour at least and never received any backlash for it. In fact, it's been this way for years and not only in operating, but in other departments. Well the details are a bit sketchy, but the word is that upper management has cracked down on the coordinators in charge of the crews. And our boss is following their every word.

The thing that frustrates me the most about this individual is that he gets very, very moody. And when he's in his bad moods, he takes it out on the rest of the crew. I've heard stories where he's yelled, slammed doors, and completely lost his cool. I am relatively new to this particular crew, joining it in April of this year. And I've dealt with this individual before, prior to him becoming a boss even. In fact, I wrote a blog entry about him two or three years ago and is on my WordPress blog. Back then, we were on the same crew and had the same position. Something happened where he didn't speak to me or our control room operator for a good two weeks - and we couldn't exactly figure out why. Eventually he got over the problem he had with us, but it continues to remain a mystery why he acted the way he did then. But now flash forwarding to current times, he's keeping up with his same behavior patterns that he had then, and it's certainly troubling.

Those of us on the crew agree that he probably isn't in the right job and he's not very good at coordinating the crew. He's been at the job for approximately two years now, so you would think he'd have a good handle on things. However, that doesn't appear to be the case. We've been working very hard at work the past few days, shutting the plant down for maintenance work. Do you think we've gotten any compliments on our work - with only four people on the floor? Our plant is three quarters of a mile long, so that's a lot of floor to cover with just four people. All he does is walk around, staring down at the ground as he walks by. He doesn't remotely seem interested in being where he's at, and that's kind of a dangerous thing because there are a lot of moving parts in every aspect at this facility. He's a puzzling figure, one that we really can't figure out.

When me or someone else from the crew talks to him individually, he seems perfectly fine, even joking around at times. However, when it comes to meeting with the crew as a whole, he fails miserably. A lot of times he appears lost or wishing he was somewhere else. And his recent behavior hasn't been the first incident of its kind, like I said. He's acted this way in the past, for no apparent reason, and takes it out on other people. He bullies one person in particular on the crew, always piling work on him. And when he decides to enforce certain rules that have been handed down from upper management, he doesn't discuss it with the crew in a rational manner. He goes right out and enforces it without explanation or discussion. Our crew just is not happy with the performance of our boss and it's beginning to wear on all of us. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. All of the bosses in our department are being switched around and we'll be getting a new boss in December. Unfortunately at this point, December is three months away.

Reviewing my College Life: Part 1

With fall around the corner, schools across the country are starting a new academic year. The same rings true at my old university in which classes began this past Monday. There are times when I become reminiscent of my college days - but honestly, there are few memories that I can call happy. College never ended up being something I enjoyed. The grind of classes really wore down on me. And coming right out of high school and starting college classes that fall really proved to be a struggle for me. My focus was never there. It finally took me to my fourth year before I finally got a handle of the college studying routine and by then, my GPA never recovered to where I was hoping to get it. That's not to say my entire five year college experience was a total waste. I did end up with a four-year degree and there were a few people who had a positive effect on me. But the negatives far outweigh the positives and as far as I'm concerned, I really have no desire to go back.

When I started classes for my freshman year in the fall of 2000, I wasn't positively sure of what I wanted to major. I had declared my major to be in network computing systems - something to that effect. But I just wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle the more complicated mathematics that would be required for the major. Algebra 2 was as far as I had gotten in high school and taking a higher math course in high school like calculus scared me. I was happy with Algebra 2, to be honest. So following through on the math was going to be a huge test - and sadly it was too large of a goal to overcome for me. But it wasn't just the math that caused me to change my major; it was my first computer science course that totally threw me for a loop. It was Computer Science 120 and right from the first day, I was confused. We had started to make these simple programs with our laptops and I just couldn't understand what to do. The professor I was dealing with was absolutely no help. She wasn't even that approachable, in my opinion. She was old and quite cranky. I knew this computer science thing was not going to go in my favor, so I soon became an "undeclared" major and knocked out some of my elective courses.

One of the very first elective courses I decided to tackle was Music in Society. It was basically a music history course, but it also made you learn about some basic music terms. In fact, this was the first class I went to at 9:00 AM on day one. The professor was super nice, one that I had dealt with briefly in high school as he helped our high school choir group. But coming out of high school and into college, I was not prepared for the course load and so I was unfocused. I could not study the material for this class. And looking back on it, it was such an easy course! I ended up with a "D" as my final grade and getting that D honestly hurt. Never in my life had I gotten a D in a class. If I kept this up, I was in trouble. Not only was that class somewhat of a nightmare for me during semester one, but Intro to Sociology was a struggle, too. If I didn't study the material for Music in Society, well I certainly didn't for Sociology. And I did something in this class that I regret to this day and vowed not to do it ever again - I cheated. I didn't bring a cheat sheet, but I was looking at other students' bubble sheets in the row below me (we were in an auditorium setting). I honestly believe a girl sitting below me caught me looking at her sheet because she gave me a dirty look and covered up her paper really well. I thought she was going to turn me in and my college career could've ended quite abruptly. I was so scared she was going to say something to the professor when she turned her bubble sheet in. But apparently she didn't because I never was talked to by the professor. I ended up with a C for the final grade in that class which amazes me. I hardly studied as it was and I ended up with an average grade. The only class that semester I did well in was a freshman college composition course which I wound up with an A-. Intermediate Algebra I ended up with a C+. That didn't bode well for my future with Math.

The Winter semester of 2001 went a little better for me, but not much. This was the semester where I took the computer science course but ended up dropping out. I just couldn't hack it, no matter how hard I tried. I also took a basic Biology course which, again, I didn't study much for but ended up with a C. The professor for that class was easy on the eyes at least. I also took a Finite Mathematics course which, to my surprise, I ended up with a B. The only reason I did decent in that course was because of the professor. He was originally from India and his teaching methods were pretty lax, in my opinion. His grading methods were so lenient. Overall, he was a nice guy even though there was a bit of a language barrier that hindered the learning process. But growing up, we had Indian priests at my church, so I was kind of used to hearing the Indian dialect. Also this semester was another Sociology course, which I did far better with than the previous Soc. course. That was because the teacher basically referenced what would be on the test through the course material she covered in class. This was a class that met only once a week in the evenings. And more often than not, the class ended far earlier than the 9:20 ending time. So overall, the second semester of the year ended up much more positive than the first.

Then came the third semester, the first of my sophomore year. Again overall, this semester was 0.2 GPA better than the previous one. But that ain't saying much! I took a more advanced English course, a Writing and Literature class. It wasn't terribly bad, but it wasn't great either. The professor could put you to sleep at times with his lecturing. I think we ended up writing four different essays in this class - obviously these essays weren't stellar on my part. But this was the semester when the tragedy on September 11th occured. In fact, this was the first class I went to on that day, and it was extremely hard to focus because of the events that were going on. Classes ended up being called for the day soon afterwards and rightfully so. But it's one of those events that I'll never forget. Also during this semester, I took a history course called "The Third World." If you couldn't already guess, it was a class on the third world countries in our world. It was interesting to learn about the history of some of these countries, particularly those in South America. But do you think I can remember much of that history anymore? Anyways, I ended up with a C in this class which was disappointing because I took rediculously good notes and it didn't exactly help me. I also took an Intro to Philosophy course which was a class I honestly had no use for. I didn't know Philosophy could be so boring! I consider the "C" I got for a grade pretty good. And a big plus was that the professor re-used some of the questions from previous tests on the new tests. Last but certainly not least for the fall semester of 2001 was Statistics and Probability - yes, one of those dreaded math courses. I certainly made an effort and tried the best that I could with this course, but I was doomed from the start. I technically didn't have to take this course because after I became an undeclared major, I didn't need it for my network computing major. But it still qualified for an elective which is why I decided to give it a try. Well, it didn't work out and I soon struggled with the course material. It wasn't long before I dropped out.

As you can tell, I definitely had my struggles through the first three semesters of my college career. Keeping focus was proving to be a tremendous challenge for me. And I blame a large portion of my non-focus on my living arrangements through the first three years of college. I made an arrangement to live with my grandmother who lived a relatively short distance from campus. I think living with her and her boyfriend proved to be a double-edged sword. Growing up, I didn't really see her that often. And after living with her for three years, I can understand why. But all of that is for another day and part of me doesn't really want to go into those details for fear that one of my family members should happen upon this particular blog. Even though my grandmother has burned a lot of bridges in her life, I still think she has one or two people that are close to her. I don't want those individuals to be upset by what I have to say.

This blog posting is going to run rediculously long if I continue into my college career, so this will be a multi-part blog. Expect part 2 to be posted soon.

A Lost Love

Her name was Jennifer Swanson - a woman who was strikingly beautiful and whom I had determined to have zero chance even speaking to. The first time I noticed her was during an upper level non-fiction writing class. I sat towards the back of the room while she was placed in the middle. At certain times, I would stare at her and not pay attention to what was going on in the class. I just had to talk to her, even if it was just "hello." But that would be difficult, because I had always been shy, especially when it came to striking up conversations with pretty girls. The non-fiction writing class would not be the one where I would "introduce" myself to her, so to speak, but later on in my college career.

It was the next winter semester and Jennifer and I would end up having another class together. I remember entering the classroom and the room was packed with people. I managed to find one of a few remaining empty seats and it was up towards the front of the class. The classroom ended up being way too small for the class and we eventually moved into a bigger room. But on that first day of class, I wasn't the last one to enter the room. Jennifer ended up being one of the last to show up. She found a seat on the other side of the room and she was striking up a conversation with another fellow classmate with whom I had class with prior. I was feeling pretty jealous but I knew if I kept my courage up, I would get a chance to talk with her. Hey, the semester lasted around four months long. I figured that was a lot of time to bump into her.

I can't remember the exact details of our first official conversation, but we bumped into each other outside of the classroom in the hallway during one of our breaks. I remember a feeling of euphoria coming over me as I talked with her. She was so easy to talk to; I felt comfortable and didn't stumble over my words. I knew that she was single because she had brought it up during her introduction to the rest of the class when the semester first began. From that point on, I continued to talk to her whenever I got the chance. However, it remained simply a college friendship and nothing outside of the campus life.

We would end up being part of another class together the semester following. She even sat right next to me in that class as I was the most familiar face that she knew. And despite the class being absolutely useless - she actually made it fun for me to attend. I know we would converse about the teacher and her being an absolute dingbat. The professor seemed absolutely unprepared to teach and her syllabus was so unorganized. Despite that, Jenny made all of the headaches involved with the class go away. She was an absolute joy to be around and I was a total fool for not making that next step and arranging a date outside of school with her. Who knows what life could've been like if she would've been more involved with me? And even if she only wanted to remain just friends - at least I would've know.

After that semester, I lost all contact with Jennifer. Those were the days prior to facebook and myspace - so I really didn't have a source where I could find her. I know she talked about flunking out of the second class we had together and she was looking forward to officially being done with school after the last semester we had that class together. All I can guess is that she either quit college altogether, graduated (barely), or transferred to a new school. I know that she lived in Illinois originally and that she possibly went to be closer to home. In other words, she was no longer in the local area. Also during that last class we had together, she revealed that she had a boyfriend but that the relationship was "new." I felt that all but quashed my chances of us being an item. Foolish me - I was so naive.

Hard to believe, but it's been five years since I've talked with Jenny. She's been on my mind recently which is why I thought she would be a good topic to discuss in my blog. Where ever she is - I hope she is happy. And if she happens to see this blog about her, I hope she even remembers who I am. She may not have felt the same way about me that I do about her, but she still holds a special place in my heart. And on the very slim chances that we ever to talk again, I hope I am able to tell her how I really feel about her, even if she is married to someone else. You know, I've had a lot of missed opportunites when it came to women in my life, but not initiating a relationship with Jennifer is probably the biggest missed opportunity of them all and it's something I'll live with for the rest of my life.

Favorite Fast Food Restaurants

I'm hoping to flip the switch on more blogging here within the next few weeks. It's been a pretty hectic summer and I haven't really had the opportunity to do much writing. With summer winding down and cooler weather on the horizon, it'll give me more motivation to start writing again. But hopefully the cooler weather doesn't move in on us too fast! Because we've hardly had much of a summer as it is. It's finally gotten more summer-like and I'm hoping our fall ends up unseasonably warm. Only time will tell. I can promise that you'll see the return of "The Songs I Dig," which unfortunately has been placed on the back-burner in the meantime. I have so many songs to write about it's not funny! Rest assured, it hasn't permanently gone away. You'll see it pop back up here in a short amount of time.

I recently returned from a road trip to Central Wisconsin to visit with my sister. Overall the trip was nice, but I had hoped no problems would pop up. Unfortunately problems did occur - leaving me with a bit of a headache. I may address this at another time or not. But the main focus of this particular blog is to discuss and rank my favorite fast food restaurants. It's been awhile since I've done a blog like this, but I thought it would be something fun to do again. While sight seeing through many of the larger and smaller towns of Central and Northeast Wisconsin, you can't help but notice many of the restaurants that exist in each of those towns. It's quite expected to see a McDonald's or a Burger King in just about every town with a large enough population to sustain it. Yet others might not be as frequent. With that said, here is my ranking of favorite fast food restaurants. As always, this ranking is unofficial and very biased. Don't take my word for it.

#1 - Culver's : This fast food restaurant is most famous through most of the Midwest, although it is gradually growing and expanding its boundaries through other areas of the U.S. Culver's is famous for its butter butters and frozen custard. Not only are its hamburgers delicious, its fries cooked perfectly and always warm, and it's frozen custard to die for, but they also have numerous others items to choose from the menu. This fast food restaurant won me over as being a favorite of mine because of the wide variety of custard choices, from sundaes, to concrete mixers, slushies and so on. If you've never been to one and happy to drive upon one someday, be sure to check it out!

#2 - Wendy's : The restaurant made famous by Dave Thomas comes in a close second as favorite for me. If Culver's never expanded and entered the area, Wendy's probably would've made it as a number one choice. Nevertheless, it's still a very tasty fast food joint. Just as with Culver's, Wendy's hamburgers are very delicious, juicy, and cooked in that familiar square shaped. The fries from Wendy's are about as good as they get, cooked perfectly with the right amount of salt. It's not only about the burgers and fries, however. Their chicken and fish sandwiches are just as tasty. And how can you not include the always popular chili and frosty's!

#3 - Dairy Queen : I had considered not even including DQ on the list because where I live, it's basically just an ice cream stand and they don't even sell hamburgers or hotdogs. It's even opened just in the summer months. However, I know it's not like this everywhere. Just south of the Michigan border into Wisconsin, the DQ's there are open year-round and are enclosed buildings. They offer more than just ice cream on the menu, too. I think at one time in my life, I had a DQ hamburger and it was pretty good. However, I cannot give an honest opinion of their warm food since it's been so long. All we ever get from DQ is ice cream and it is always delicious! From their blizzards, sundaes, and ice cream cones and so much more. You cannot go wrong by making a quick stop at your local Dairy Queen.

#4 - Burger King : So next up is Burger King. Selections number four and five are going to be a bit more difficult because these are restaurants I basically go to in a pinch and are not frequented by me all that often. BK is a good selection for number four because their hamburgers are very good, being that they're flame-broiled. No other restaurant does it quite like BK. They have become famous for their whoppers and the fun-loving king they've developed as their mascot - attempting to act cool in many of their TV ads. One of their most-recent commercials had these people dressed up in hamburger costumes, playing roles as "Whopper" and "Whopper Jr." A few of those ads ended up being pretty hilarious. Another one I got a kick out of was where these two college-aged guys are eating these BK burger shots (mini burgers) and suddenly become surrounded by a group of very attractive-looking girls. One exclaims "I just want to squeeze them!" (referring to the burgers). The one guy says, "squeeze away." Gets me every time...

#5 - Hardee's : Rounding out the top five is Hardee's, which seems to be within a period of tough times, judging by the amount of closed restaurants I've been seeing within my travels. They are also known as Carl's Jr. in the western United States. As a kid, Hardee's was one of those restaurants we visited quite often. But then their quality of food diminished and eventually, it became a restaurant we rarely entered. To this day, I just cannot get myself to go to a Hardee's, even when I suddenly come to crave a Hardee's burger (and no, NEVER a thickburger - unless I want to gain a tremendous amount of weight). And their switch to Angus burgers did them no favors for me, in my opinion. They ended up giving me heart burn, unlike any other fast food burger I've ever had! But the Hardee's franchise still holds a special place in my heart, which is why sentimentally, I gave it #5 in my rankings.

And here are some honorable mentions:

-McDonald's : You might be shocked as to why McDonald's doesn't make my top five. Well, I've never been a big fan of their food overall and it was a restaurant we rarely stopped at when I was a kid and even now. However, don't be surprised if at some point, when and if I re-do this ranking, it manages to sneak into the top five. They are building a new McDonald's restaurant just two miles down the road from my new house. That easily beats out the seven or eight miles I need to travel to get to Wendy's or Culver's! I just might have to try McDonald's food a bit more often now.

-A&W : Another restaurant that seems to be having its struggles, at least locally, anyways. Within the past year, the last two A&W restaurants in the central U.P. have closed. One restaurant just a short drive from my new house closed a few years ago and was recently purchased. I was hoping someone would re-open it as an A&W but sadly, it's being converted into a different commercial business. The building is being transformed into something completely different and I find that disappointing! When they closed that A&W, they opened another one in the city of Marquette. But the location was very poor and within a few months, it was closed. I was looking forward to trying that one out, too, but it didn't stay open long enough. Now there are no more A&W's left within a short driving distance for me but it gets an honorable mention for me, basically for nostalgic reasons. Their root beer is what made them a household name and that rings true today.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my ranking of the favorite fast food restaurants. Like I said, this is only my opinion and I'm sure many of you may disagree with which restaurants belong where. And, if we had even more varieties of restaurants, I'm sure you'd see others included. There's no IHop or Sonics in Upper Michigan, that's for sure. Well, maybe eventually. And just in case you haven't heard or one or two of the restaurants featured here, maybe you learned something about them, too.

A Recap of Last Weekends Events

Around 4:00 tomorrow afternoon, I'll be heading down to Wisconsin for the weekend to visit my sister who lives about five hours away. It'll be our first visit down there in six months. Believe me, we've tried making it down there sooner, but a lot of different things came up. One specifically was my move into the new house back in June. I am really looking forward to the visit and being able to get away from the U.P. for three to four days. That's not to say I am sick of living where I live - I can't think of living anywhere else! It's just that any person, not just me, needs a breather every now and again to appreciate where they live and to be grateful about where they live once they do arrive back home. So, with the impending trip, I want to try and get in a few blogs before I go. Otherwise by the time I get back, it'll already be the middle of August!

So this week I'm on vacation from work - and let me tell you, it's been a long time coming. I was last on vacation over a year ago back in July 2008. So I was definitely due for a week off. This past weekend, I spent some time back at my parents place where the annual homecoming and county fair were being held. If you read my previous blog post, I'm sure you saw how excited I was to go back and be apart of the festivities again. I arrived on Saturday, plenty of time to take the walk down to the downtown area of the village to watch the parade march down the street. Like I said in the last blog, no matter how old you are, you never get sick of watching a parade. And there's something absolutely special about watching your own hometown parade. You see familiar faces and businesses represented in the parade and it truly makes it feel like home. What made it even special was my niece and nephew being able to watch the parade and to retrieve enormous amounts of candy. Heck, even my parents and I were picking up the candy off the street every time people from each float would throw some at us. It always helps to have kids with ya, cause as soon as they saw them, out flew the candy! I took a whole round of pictures with the kids and of each parade float as I'll soon be uploading them to my hometown website. As soon as I get the pictures and the time!

One of the activities of the county fair is a tractor pull that is held during the weekend. I believe there were at least 12 different tractors in the parade and a couple of them were pretty unique. One individual souped up his tractor and installed a V-8 engine in it! He was revving it up every so often and it was a pretty interesting piece of equipment to look at. Another tractor was a real-old timer. It was one of those old steam engine tractors, complete with a whistle you'd hear from a train back in the early 1900's. You could smell the wood burning inside the tractor as it went by. It was a cool sight to see and it's one of those things you don't often get to witness. There were also a countless number of reunion floats this year - probably the most I've ever seen. From the class of 2009 (which I had to admit was pretty clever - only 60 some days of being out of school, but having the least decorated float) to the class of 1949, there were a lot represented at this year's parade. And next year, it'll be my class, the class of 2000! Our ten year reunion will be held, and I just might happen to be in the parade. How crazy is that?

The parade is always the biggest highlight of the event for me, but it's always nice to walk the grounds of the fair as well. It's a small fair, so it doesn't encompass many acres. We checked out both exhibit buildings, saw my sister's and her kids' exhibits and variety of ribbons. Then the kids went on a few of the rides there. They were just those bouncy-slide kind of things and my nephew especially likes those. So they got their fill of those rides and then we went and checked out the animals in the barns. My niece loves animals and she even got to pet a baby calf. We got a few refreshments and took a final walk around the grounds until we headed home. And home for us is just a block away practically.

So now that that event is over, my summer is practically over with! No big occasions to look forward to, other than to enjoy the rest of the summer and to finish some of our big remodeling projects. I am hoping the end of summer and fall will end up being warmer than average. I mean afterall, I think we're due. And better yet, I have another week off from work in September to enjoy, so I'm sure there's plenty of nice weather left to enjoy. Better make the most of it, because it won't be long until the snow starts flying!