Back to work

The road trip was a good one for me, and yet I still wanted to get back home. I am basically a home body, that's for sure. We had great weather and the corn is 5 to 6 foot high in the good fields.

We're getting ready for a weekend of Camping. We're going to Muskegon State Park again this year. We went there last year and it was a lot of fun. It's pretty cool, we have Lake Michigan within a 1/2 mile and 5 minute drive we're at Muskegon Lake. Pretty light trip this year, we'll have 10 scouts and 3 adults. I really enjoy these outings. I was talking to the gang at work about the outings and one of the ladies asked why I don't eat what the boys eat. "Well", I said, "it's like this, they don't plan well, they're not good cooks, some times they eat their lunch at breakfast and then go hungry. It's really about them learning to care for planning, cooking, cleaning and everything." All the guys are nodding, totally getting the concept of the boys learning to care for them selves. She asked who planned the meals? It's them. Who cooks? It's them. What if they ruin the meal? They'll learn. I ended with a statement that all of the boys could actually miss a meal and probably survive and in the long run, learn how to avoid that the next time. Not sure if she ever really got it, but that's ok, she's got a daughter, no son.

Today's shot is one of me and my sweetie. I am one lucky dude!

Have a great day!
Pat

On the Road Again!

Yep, I'm on the road again. I'll be out for most of the week. But before I go any further I have a few shout out's.

Vicki Dot, one of Holly's best friend's daughters has her birthday today. She is one of best people I know to pick on and I've been picking on her since she was really tiny. How tiny? She was about 5 weeks old when we met. Give it up for Vicki Dot. This is her posing, not sure what the story is, but it's probably a pretty good story.

I also want to thank Larry, Terri and Jake for a great time last weekend and while we're at it, how about a shout out for Jake's graduation party! Well done! It was a great day for a party, sunny, warm with a nice breeze. Lots of folks stopping by. It was interesting for me to see these folks. We get over seldom, but enough to know quite a few of the friends and neighbors and it was really cool to see so many all in one place. And the truck project, well, it's shaping up really nice. I took a few shots but none of them give the car the due that it deserves. Sorry Larry and Jake, the shots with you in them weren't any good.

I'm working on a customer perception issue with a team on a very focused event. Should be interesting. We're here until Thursday, so it's going to be a long week. We went to a great restaurant, Thunder Bay Grille, for dinner tonight. Interesting trip to the restaurant, Jerry missed the exit, but no worries, we just rode the clover leaf until we got to the exit that we needed. I wouldn't mention it, but it's not Jerry's first time missing an exit and using a clover leaf ramp to get back while on a trip.We're thinking about going to Iowa City to have dinner with one of the managers here. As an Iowa State grad, I have issues with going to Iowa City, home of the Iowa Hawkeyes, but it's for the team, so it'll be ok.

Have a great day!

Pat

Friday Mystery

Today at work I was striving to keep focused on a task but for some reason I opened my personal email and I got a notice that someone had posted a comment on my blog. Curious, I go and see what's up. It's from Toni and she's offering to send over a picture of the guys from last night's Picnic Pop's concert.

Odd, I don't know a Toni that works for the Grand Rapids Symphony (Hi Toni! I know you'll get this one too!)

Intrigued, I replied from my work account, (hoping to confuse the stalker) with my work email address and asked for the photo. While I was typing I asked how she discovered my post. It's not like I'm a syndicated blogger, or that I write pithy relevant posts, I mean, I'm a family guy writing a family blog.

She replied with this photo and the information on how she's using Google to stay tuned for certain key words on the web. For the event we had scouts from Troop 282 and from Troop 228. Don't worry, it was confusing for the announcers too. Our Scouts in the picture are Ian, Josh, Ryan, and Spencer. 7 scouts are in the photo, can anyone find my sons? By the way, we are in Troop 282.

Toni you're a great photographer, thanks again for going the extra distance for a dad that forgot his camera, and besides, we were sitting way further back than you. Hat's off to savvy tech people!

Have a great day!

Pat

Picnic at the Pops, Grand Rapids Style

Tonight we were at the Grand Rapids Pop's, a fun symphony. This was the 4th of July Tribute and so our troop was asked to provide boys to perform a flag ceremony, lead in the pledge of allegiance and stand at the ready while the "Star Spangled Banner" was sung by an opera type singer, backed up by the incomparable Grand Rapids Symphony. Our boys stepped to the front and it was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, so I have no pictures, sorry. But trust me, they looked great and it was the motivation to get their sashes, with their badges put on, up to date.

On an unrelated scout note I sent the attached image to someone. What does this creation do? Anyone?

Have a great day!

Pat

Wednesday wow

Pretty interesting day here, I had a consultant in all day and we talked about making our products more environmental and more green and more expensive, well, he didn't say that expensive part, but that, unfortunately, is the reality. The new materials are available, but they are more expensive. I guess you could say that "green" products cost you more green. Anyway, it was interesting to look at our stuff from an environmentalists view point.

I swapped photos with the guy I traveled to China with and found this, it's a shot of me while at the Chinese amusement park.

Have a great day!

Pat

Relaxing as best we can

Today was Sunday and we went to church and then the boys went off to a friends house.

Whoa, I almost forgot, I have a Birthday Shout Out today. It's for my 2ND cousin Brianna. Hey Brianna, I know we've never met, but you seem really cool to me. I hope that this birthday is all that you want and need it to be. Take care and email if you get a chance.





OK, back to our quiet Sunday, left to our own devices, we did what we wanted to. We tore up the front plantings and started to figure out what we wanted there next time. For now, we're going to go with weed blocker screen material and. In the fall, we'll plant some shrubs, till then, it's mulch easier to keep a clean look. I have discovered that I like the big lawn projects, I don't like maintaining the look once we have completed the project and it's down to weeding or whatever.

Fun fact: I became a small-time baseball fan over the summer. Kind of weird, I loved the game when I was a kid, but the strike in 1981 killed my love of the game. And then this summer my brother Dave was trying to get a rise out of me over the Tigers loss to the Twins early in the season and it fell flat. Then I discovered the games are carried on one of my favorite rock stations, OK, so now it's a classic rock station. I wondered, do only old guys listen to baseball on the radio? It didn't matter, I started listening when ever I was in the garage and now it's when ever I have yard work. The boom box now has a 50 foot cord and I drag it around to hear the game. That said, it was a tough day today, the Twins beat the Tigers. But I need to point out, the Tigers lead the Twins and the division by 2 games. Good luck going into the All Star Break.

Have a great day!
Pat

Happy 4th of July!

We're back and camp was a great time, but first, a Birthday Shout Out. This one goes out to U.S.A. At 223, it deserves a moment of prayer. To the red, white and blue!! Also, thanks to the active servicemen that help keep us free as well as those before them that served as well.

OK, we just got back from Camp Gerber today. It was an awesome time. There were 20 scouts and 5 adult leaders. The food was camp food, so while it wasn't great, it was OK. The dining hall roof collapsed last winter, so we ate under a huge white tent. One night we watched a movie that was projected on the inside of the tent ceiling. In all, a pretty good experience for all of us.

The whole motley crew.

The Dining Tent

Ian earned merit badges for Environmental Science, Motor Boating, Metal Working and Climbing. He also got a kayaking activity badge and advanced up a rank to become a Star Scout. He's been working hard.

Here's Ian getting set to repel, he loved this and is looking forward to the next chance to do it.

Spencer earned merit badges for Fishing, Electronics, Swimming, Energy and Space Exploration. He's very close to being able to move to Star rank, only missing one merit badge.

Here's Spencer after he repelled down the climbing tower, it wasn't what he wanted to do, but knew he had to for something else and so he did it!

Holly and Spencer on Parent Day, after an inspection of our tents.

For me, my week went like this, I attended adult leader meetings in the mornings, took training that interested me, guided scouts to their classes, followed up with them and their instructors to make sure that they were staying caught up, walked miles each day, hung out and generally relaxed. No computer, minimal cell phone, no business calls at all. I also really enjoyed meeting other adult leaders, some I have known for a few years, others were brand new faces. I like scout camp. Interestingly enough, one of the leaders that is with our troop grew up in Windom Minnesota and went to Boy Scout Camp at Camp Cuyuna, the same place that Chris and I went to when we were youths. My highlight was doing the C.O.P.E. Course ending on the High Ropes, it was really cool to do, but now that I've been there, I may not want to do it again.

Here are the High Ropes guys, Tom, Steve and yours truly.

Not much else to say other than I am glad to be back with clean sheets, hot coffee, indoor plumbing and good food!

Have a save and happy 4th of July!

Pat