All posts by Jim Trottier

News

Bargain Basement

We’re in the process of cleaning our basement this week (and probably next week too). It’s amazing what you find when you look through the things you’ve stored away for years. Interesting things that I found and learned today:

* I found my Associate Degree and my High School Diploma! Lost for years!
* I found a new loaf of wheat bread that expired in December of 2002! Wow, the colors!
* Centipedes love coffee!
* Books don’t work well with dampness.
* Goodwill now has a few new racks of clothes for sale!
* DVD-ROM drives stored in dampness still function well.
* Stray potatoes thrive and grow well in dark and dampness!
* Wi-Fi signals travel nicely through floors (Come on, I couldn’t be DISCONNECTED while I cleaned).
* Blow Pops get gooey after a couple years.
* HP Ink fades quickly, especially in the sun.

More interesting finds to come, I’m sure. We’re only about 1/4 done with the basement. I’ll keep you posted.

News

Kindergarden Kev

Today was Kevin’s first day of kindergarten. Sandy couldn’t get off work because she just started her new job a few weeks ago, so I had to take him. It wasn’t a problem, but I did notice that I didn’t see one other father there with their kid, only a whole lot of mothers.

Kevin was a little nervous and a little excited at the same time. He didn’t want to let go of my hand, even after we got into his classroom. He gave me a pucker, so I kissed him and told him to have fun. He said “Daddy? I’m gonna miss you.” I said “I’m gonna miss you too, kiddo.” And then he asked if I was going to pick him up. I said “Yes, I’ll be here to pick you up, don’t worry.” I think we were both about to cry at that point, but being the “men” we are, we kept it together. Argh argh argh. He then joined the rest of his class and I left.

I picked him up this afternoon and he said he had a lot of fun. I asked what he did in school today, and he said “We took a nap, dad. Not a big nap, just a little one.” I asked him if he learned anything else and he said “My teacher said it’s Tuesday.” That’s it. Tuesday and a nap. A very full day of learning for a five-year-old.

News

It’s a dog-eat-dog world

A couple weeks ago Peanut and Socks got into a scuffle over something in the back yard. I heard a dog crying loudly outside, ran out to see who it was, and it was Peanut crying in pain as socks was biting into him. This was the day after we took both of them in for their shots and checkup (so we could get both of them scheduled to be neutered). I ran out and scooped up Peanut and I could see immediately that his ear was punctured and bleeding.socksouch (32k image) It was dusk outside and a little hard to see, so I ran him inside to examine him better and clean him up. Once in the house we could see that the area around his eye was full of blood as well, and dripping. We cleaned him up and Sandy held an ice pack on his wounds for awhile.

Peanut is now healing well, but we’re worried about the dogs not getting along. They’ve had very few major fights in the past, and this was the first time either of them actually drew blood. Since that day they seemed to have been getting along fine as usual, except for today. Today they had another knockdown dragout fight in the living room and wouldn’t stop. I grabbed Peanut off of Socks, but he was biting into Socks’ cheek with his teeth, pulling Socks off the floor, and wouldn’t let go! I eased him off, trying at the same time to startle him into looking at me and easing up enough so I could pull him away. He let go eventually, as Socks began screaming, just as Peanut had a couple weeks ago.

Peanut appeared uninjured this time, so I put him in his cage so I could keep them apart and take a look at Socks. It appeared that this time Peanut had won the fight and put Socks in his place, evening the score. I don’t know if dogs can really think on this level, but that was what it looked like to me. After the fight Socks was limping, and right now his front right leg and the right side of his face are very sore. His limp is almost gone at the moment, since it’s now several hours since the fight, so I think he’s going to make it. Amazingly, Peanut didn’t manage to draw blood. Not that he didn’t try to though… he was hanging on pretty hard to Socks’ cheek!

We have them scheduled to be neutered next Friday though, so hopefully the bad behavior will be greatly reduced after that. The vet says there’s no guarantee of a behavioral improvement, but about 90% of the time, from what he’s seen, there is a major effect. Heck, wouldn’t YOUR behavior improve after someone did that to YOU!?! Ouch!!

News

Family News

Sandy told me last night she’d make me breakfast this morning. She does this about once a week or once every two weeks, depending on her schedule. This works out perfectly for me, since I’m not supposed to have a big breakfast very often, per my doctor. Anyway, when she told me I was very surprised. I remembered having a big breakfast just the other day, didn’t I?? She then reminded me that the other day we DIDN’T have breakfast, but she had made supper out of breakfast food (eggs, taters, sausage, onions, hot peppers, etc…

I was shocked. Even when she mentioned it, I remembered the meal, but didn’t even recall that it was supper and not breakfast! Are my days THAT mixed together now that I’ve been unemployed for so long, that I can’t even tell one PART of a day from another?? I think it’s the CRS, myself. I’ve had it for quite some time. I think I began suffering from it shortly after I met Sandy. Not that she CAUSED it, it was probably just a coincidence. For those wondering what CRS is, to put it “nicely” let’s just say it stands for “Can’t Remember Stuff.”

Fortunately, Sandy–my friend/lover/wife/right-hand/ball-and-chain/confidant/old lady/secretary/etc./etc.–is very understanding and forgiving. Or maybe because she’s an aide she just knows how to deal with people with disabilities… Anyway, she always straightens me out on these things so I can still function adequately in society, have a good breakfast now and then, keep all of my appointments, and still remember what day it is. Now if I could only fit her in my pocket, like today’s technology…

News

A Victim of CRS

Sandy told me last night she’d make me breakfast this morning. She does this about once a week or once every two weeks, depending on her schedule. This works out perfectly for me, since I’m not supposed to have a big breakfast very often, per my doctor. Anyway, when she told me I was very surprised. I remembered having a big breakfast just the other day, didn’t I?? She then reminded me that the other day we DIDN’T have breakfast, but she had made supper out of breakfast food (eggs, taters, sausage, onions, hot peppers, etc…

I was shocked. Even when she mentioned it, I remembered the meal, but didn’t even recall that it was supper and not breakfast! Are my days THAT mixed together now that I’ve been unemployed for so long, that I can’t even tell one PART of a day from another?? I think it’s the CRS, myself. I’ve had it for quite some time. I think I began suffering from it shortly after I met Sandy. Not that she CAUSED it, it was probably just a coincidence. For those wondering what CRS is, to put it “nicely” let’s just say it stands for “Can’t Remember Stuff.”

Fortunately, Sandy–my friend/lover/wife/right-hand/ball-and-chain/confidant/old lady/secretary/etc./etc.–is very understanding and forgiving. Or maybe because she’s an aide she just knows how to deal with people with disabilities… Anyway, she always straightens me out on these things so I can still function adequately in society, have a good breakfast now and then, keep all of my appointments, and still remember what day it is. Now if I could only fit her in my pocket, like today’s technology…

News

pop quiz

Time for a quiz! Today, while cleaning the basement, I found my old Elementary class photos, so here’s a quiz for you. Click below to popup each of the three class photos and see if you can find me. Imagine the grid is lettered A,B,C, etc. across the top and 1,2,3, etc. down the side. Now let me know which image you think is me in each of the classes. The quiz will be graded on a curve, naturally…

Class of 1971-1972 – 3rd Grade
Class of 1973-1974 – 5th Grade
Class of 1974-1975 – 6th Grade

I had Kevin try it and on the 3rd grade class he couldn’t find his daddy, but said “Hey! There’s ME!” as he pointed to the picture of me. But on the other two classes he failed miserably and couldn’t find me. Think: “Dorky Glasses”

News

DVRs and a picnic

This weekend our family finally stepped into the Wonderful World of DVRs. We traded in our old digital cable boxes and picked up two new “Explorer 8000’s”. We can now record anything on cable digitally and never have to use our VCRs again! It costs a few bucks more on the cable bill, but I’ve gone through a LOT of video tapes and even a few VCRs over the past few years, so for me it’s a dream come true. With a couple clicks of the remote it’ll record EVERY episode of any series on TV, no matter what time or day it comes on! Kevin will now have an endless supply of Spongebob episodes to watch! Sandy’s Soaps are already set to go, and several of my computer shows are already filling up “MY” box’s hard drive!

 

 

We also went to the UAW Local 72 Annual Company Picnic this Sunday. It was fun. We ate a LOT of food and Kevin got to climb and slide down his favorite inflatable: The Titanic Slide! We paid $2.50 each time he climbed onto this ride at Pleasant Prairie Family Days, so it was a relief to find it completely free at the UAW picnic! He also played a bunch of the kids games and won a few small prizes. Mostly consolation prizes, but he tried his best! He also got a balloon animal head attachment they called a “Jeepers Creepers.” I took a few pictures, so those will be posted soon. Luckily I got a shot of the balloon thing quickly–It popped shortly after, completely breaking Kevin’s little heart! He cried all the way home. sad

News

A day at Beth’s

Kevin and I spent the day at my sister Beth’s new house today. She has a nice big pool in her new backyard (along with a lot of bugs). Kevin and I had a great time, did a lot of swimming and had lunch. I should have photos posted soon. For now though, I have just this one. Are there any bug people out there? Can you identify this one??

It was about an inch and a half high and stuck inside her screen door window

News

News Currents

Hi. My name is Jim and I’m a Linkaholic. Just thought I’d post a few of the top news items I’ve learned about recently to make sure everyone is up-to-date on everything happening these daze. Of course, these are only the things I feel are most important… Here ya go:

Blaster Worm – It’s still out there, and people are still getting hit with it. Here’s another great article all about it.

Sobig Worm – It’s back again, this time it’s variation “F”, and just as rampant as before (if not more) so make sure your antivirus definitions are up-to-date at of 8/18/2003 to stay protected from this one. More Info, Removal Tool

Gas Prices – They’re currently flying out of control everywhere! Over 20 cents increase in some areas just today alone! I understand a pipline break in Arizona is to blame for some of it, according to my nephew Jay in Scottsdale and this article. He says the lines at the gas stations are miles long and people are getting into fights over it! Here’s another good article on it.

The War’s Not Over – Somebody blew up the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, in case anyone thought the war might be over…

Viagra 2.0 – Called “Levitra”, this drug is supposedly going to give Viagra a run for its money… Get ready for a new flood of spam now…

The California Governor Race – Can you spell “Schwarzenegger?” I thought not. Try this one: Georgy Russell. She even has a BLOG!

Microsoft releases Office 2003 – October 21st is the release date. Whoop-tee-doo. Use this instead. It’s great, and it’s FREE!

News

Onion Rings and Humidity

Kevin, Sandy and I went to the farmer’s market this morning. Kevin played in the park while Sandy picked up veggies. When we got back into the car Kevin said “Mom, there’s water coming out of my head.” He seemed very concerned. This must have been new to him. We explained that he’s “sweating” or “leaking” as I put it, and he needs to drink water to put it back in his body when it’s very hot out. The humidity was 89% (according to Weatherman Uncle Rich) and with the playing he did in the park he got pretty heated up. We decided to go to Burger King for lunch, so he could play in the indoor playground instead, and keep cool. During our meal Sandy found something interesting in her onion rings. Take a look:

OnionRingInfinity (36k image)

Sure, it could be just another oddly-shaped onion ring, but I’ve just recently watch a few movies that say otherwise. This week I watched the movie “Basic”, where the number “8” was the key to the entire plot! And I also watched Final Destination 1 and 2 this week, which leads me to believe that this could also be some sort of “sign”–perhaps it has to do with “infinity” or something involving the number eight, but definitely a sign… hmmm. Or maybe it just means we “ate!” =)

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Tall Ships Festival

Be sure you go see the Days of Discovery Tall Ships Festival at Kenosha Harbor, August 7th-10th! The first tall ship arrived today. Kevin and I went down to the harbor to watch.
The first tall ship arrived at 4:05pm on 8/6/03
The festival the rest of the week should be even better. We plan on visiting a few times and even taking a tour of the HMS Bounty. The Daysails are a bit pricey for us though, so we’ll have to pass on that, although it would have been pretty cool.

News

Look at me!

Here’s a new toy I’m playing with. You can now see a current snapshot of my desktop along with an inset picture of what our webcam is pointed to at the moment. Pretty neat, and the software that does it is FREE! Let me know what you think, and what you happen to catch me doing at any given time.

Click here to view our desktop and webcam
The page will refresh itself every 15 seconds. There is also a permanent link to this page at the bottom of our home page so you can get to it easily at any time. Have fun “spying!”

News

Family Daze

We had a great time at this year’s Pleasant Prairie Family Days! Kevin conquered the Titanic slide (twice), played a bunch of games and won some trinkets and took a train ride in a drum, among other things. We all watched the Aquanuts Waterski show on Lake Andrea, then came home for a rest.

The weather was interesting. We had a storm pass through about an hour before the fireworks. We left home again at 7:30pm to get there a little early and we could see the threatening clouds. In fact, Bear and George were going to meet us there, but the rain scared them away and they didn’t go. On our way there we had a torrential rain, then it stopped just before we entered the park! Perfect timing. In fact, I think the rain forced a LOT of people leave early, so it wasn’t even very crowded when the show actually started! It ended up being a very nice show, and they even started it 15 minutes early… Probably fearing more rain if they waited any longer. The ground was a little damp, but we had our portable chairs, so we were set. The show was really great, and I took hundreds of photos to share with everyone. I’ve narrowed it down for to my “Top 130.” Click here and enjoy!

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Waterboy

We went to Rec-Plex tonight, and Kevin took a major step forward in his swimming abilities. Since he began swimming he was always afraid to put his head under water. He’d get very upset if you dunked him, even if by accident and even if only for a short moment. Tonight he took the plunge (pardon the pun) and went under… He seemed to be amazed that he survived such a traumatic experience unscathed, so shortly after that he did it again…and again, and again, and again. We couldn’t stop him, and now he’s swimming like a fish all the time! Matthew even took it a step further and showed him how to go under without even holding his nose! He picked it up quickly and was even more excited to show off after that. I know it’s a simple accomplishment for most people, but he’s very proud of himself, and we’re proud of him too.

Our lil Waterboy! Call him “Nemo!”

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Our Museum Trip

The photos from our trip to the Museum of Science and Industry are now online. Everyone had a great time, and we were all exhausted by the time the train got back to Kenosha. Check out the pictures!

This is Louie and Kevin clowning around at the museum

News

Healthy Insurance

Over the past month I have learned something most of you probably already knew: Health Insurance is only for people who don’t need it. They won’t give it to people who need it. I know, I’m there right now. DENIED. My height-to-weight ratio is out of “spec” (I’d have to lose over 100 lbs to get “IN spec”) and I’m on medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Both of which are fully under control and at normal levels right now, while I’m on my meds. The problem is, soon–without the insurance–I won’t be able to AFFORD the meds, which is going to throw ANOTHER wrench in the works!

An insurance guy we talked to recently (whose company of course denied me coverage) recommended Coral Calcium. He said it does some amazing things, and among them are the lowering of cholesterol and the lowering of blood pressure. I was going to give it a shot, but after reading a lot of pages like this and this I decided I’d better hold off for now. Ideas anyone? I’ve already begun a more regular exercise program and I’m trying to eat better.

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Toyz for Geeks

I’m sitting on my sisters couch at her new house on 75th street, typing this blog on my new toy. We’re just visiting, and Kevin is playing with his cousin Tyler outside in the pool. We haven’t gotten out much, so now we’re catching up while we have more free time.

I’m actually scrawling this message onto my, screen, believe it or not. Using a thin “stylus” (looks like a pencil) I just write directly onto the screen, in either cursive or regular print. Pause for a moment and viola–my drawn text disappears and magically appears in the e-mail message as typed text! It’s amazingly accurate at reading my handwriting too. Ain’t technology wonderful?

Read on for some photo highlights from our visit at Loretta’s…

Destiny1 (30k image)
This is Destiny, Erik’s daughter. Not lookin too happy in the swing…

Lorettas_Cat (11k image)
Loretta’s Cat… or is it Kari’s?

Cat_HeadStand (22k image)
Ever see a cat do a headstand? There ya go.

Lorettas_Peanut2 (30k image)
This is Peanut, Loretta’s Pomeranian.

Kev_and_Tyler1 (28k image)
In the little pool…

Kev_and_Tyler2 (33k image)
In the big pool…

Destiny3 (25k image)
Destiny waves.

Destiny2 (22k image)
Destiny stands!

Destiny4 (18k image)
And finally… Destiny pouts.

Replies

You have all the new toys don’t you? Did you forget how to type???? Kidding!!! I loved the picture of “Cat standing on it’s head”. Who does Destiny belong to? She’s so cute.

Rosemary said @ 07/14/2003 01:07 PM CST

Destiny is Erik’s daughter. Erik is Loretta’s son. (Loretta is my sister).

News

We had a nice (somewhat quiet) 4th of July at home this year. We bought a few simple (legal) fireworks and sparklers and Sandy, Matt, and Kevin used them out in the backyard after it got dark. I took a few photos, and I thought this one turned out pretty neat.

Sandy hands Matt two sparklers.
(Matt’s in the flag t-shirt)

News

Happy 4th!

Just a quick note to everyone to have a safe and happy 4th of July, and to remind everyone of what it means. Here’s a pop quiz from an old History class:

Q: What are the colors of the United States Flag?
A: Red, white and blue

Q: What do the colors represent?
A: Red stands for courage, white for truth and blue for justice

Q: How many stripes are there on the United States Flag?
A: 13

Q: Why 13?
A: Each stripe represents one of the 13 original states

Q: How many stars are there on the flag?
A: There are 50 stars, each represents one of the present state

Q: What is the 4th of July?
A: Independence Day?

Q: Independence from whom?
A: England

And if you miss the fireworks, CLICK HERE and enjoy!