Family

These Bookmarks Are Priceless

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Really. They’re not for sale. This particular one was made by a 6th grader. She was one of the winners of the “design a bookmark” contest here at the school library. She’s also my daughter, which is awesome for many reasons. (No, Donna and I were not judges in the contest.)

The winning bookmarks, of which there are 12 or so, are being printed and laminated to give out in the library. I think it’s an awesome way for kids to see their artwork appreciated by others. Unfortunately, it does cost quite a bit to print & laminate them. It got me to thinking… I wonder if people would buy them if the library made them available for sale on Teh Internets. We’d have to get school board approval, etc, etc, but if they each sold for $1 or $2 including shipping, they’d recoup that toner/plastic cost in no time.

What do you think, Internets, would you buy a hand crafted bookmark designed by a book-loving elementary child? What if the proceeds benefited the library itself? Should I push my darling wife to get board approval for such an endeavor?

Also — CONGRATS LYDIA! Way to go!!!!

Christmas: How Did You Know?

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It is the time of year where we get presents. That means it’s the time of year for awkward moments where you must pretend your gift is something you’ve always wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about, “It’s the thought that counts” — but we’ve all gotten those 3 armed sweaters from Crazy Aunt Judy. It’s the time of year for looking past the practicality of a battery operated pasta sorter, and look deeper. Remember that if your relative thinks you should be eating pasta, it means they think you’re skinny. See? It’s a wonderful gift.

Did you get a hideous tie? It just means the gifter thinks you have enough charisma to wear anything and have it look good. Did you get a sausage and cheese pack that looks like it’s from 1986? That’s aged fake-plastic cheddar! It’s probably worth thousands!

The one gift that’s always hard to take well is the soap and deodorant gift pack. How that says anything other than, “You smell bad, I thought this might help” is beyond me. I always try to imagine the person thinks I’m very concerned about hygiene, and knows I’d never splurge on an off brand travel sized gift pack myself. Oh, by the way, what is shower gel anyway? I never know what to do with half those bottles that come in the gift pack…

Anyway, keep your smile on full bore over the next couple days. Remember it’s the thought that counts. Remember you can always regift that sausage and cheese pack next year (they only improve with age I’m told). And lastly, hold off on your pasta sorting — your days of manual sorting are almost over!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone. 🙂

The Plight of the Soupless

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I’m currently sitting in a restaurant with my extended family, as one often does during the holiday season. They’re all eating. It’s not rude of them to be eating while I sit and stare at my empty placemat, because you see, they ordered soup and salad bar with their meal. I, did not.

It’s quite unsettling to have everyone else eating while I sip my ice water. Sure, I could snitch a crouton or two, but really it’s not the same. I could make a pterodactyl out of my placemat. Really. I make a mean paper pterodactyl. I worry it would be considered rude to start a craft project during the meal though. So, here I sit, blogging on my phone. It could be worse.

Here’s my holiday tip for those of you frequenting restaurants with your family: Order the salad bar. Really. Everyone else will, and you’ll be like me, alone with your phone. You’ll hope your meal comes soon, but you’ll realize the kitchen put your order on hold because everyone is eating salad. Happy Holidays everyone. May your weekend be full of food, and not paper pterodactyls. 😉

UPDATE: This blog post was eaten TWICE by the WordPress application for Android. Yes, I’m an idiot for expecting something different the second time I typed it on my phone…

What Are Your Traditions?

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The Glowing Green Eyes of Doom! Her super power is peeing on the floor...It’s really interesting to visit others during the holidays.  Some folks have advent calendars, some have fake snow on the windows, heck some even have dying pine trees sitting in their livingroom decorated in a morbid mockery of their death.  (At least that’s what I assume the trees are for, we have a fake tree…)

Here at Chez Powers, there are a few things we do this time of year.  I’ll tell you ours, if you tell me yours.  Unless you do some creepy public urination tradition or something.  In that case, let’s just pretend you just play in the snow.  Anyway, here are some of the things we do:

Burnin’ Down the House

This was actually a tradition we started last year.  I don’t recommend it.  The plan is to make it a one time thing, as it’s a very expensive tradition, and makes for a rather rotten new year.  (Yes, it’s been long enough to joke about.  Quit yer cryin.)

Coins In Shoes on December 6th

December 6th is St. Nicholas Day, and every year we buy chocolate coins to put in our girl’s shoes.  We read the story of St. Nicholas, and start the holiday season with chocolate, which is a very good way to start it.  Unfortunately, we forget almost every year.  So we mostly remember around December 10th, read the story, and just hand out chocolate coins.  It’s a good plan, but for some reason we forget.  Still, we get chocolate, so it’s all good.

The Scavenger Hunt

This is a Powers Family favorite.  Every Christmas Eve, Mom and Dad create an elaborate chain of hidden clues.  The girls work together solving the clues and searching for the next clue, in order to find the final destination.  That final clue leads to a family gift, usually a game of some sort, that they open and we play.  It’s a great tradition, and as the girls get older, the clues get more and more difficult.  It’s so much fun to watch them work together to solve the clues, and at the end, we all get to play a game together.  It’s really cool.  We try to do this tradition on Christmas Eve, because it’s usually just our family.  It makes it special.

The Christmas Photo

Every year, we take a Christmas photo.  Actually, every year we take 6,328 Christmas photos.  Donna is really passionate about pictures, so we end up taking many photos, trying to get dogs and kids to pose correctly.  We all act like we’re upset by it, but really it’s sweet.  Donna loves the Christmas photo, and we love her – so we’re happy to oblige. 

This is actually a video, it was just so cold we froze in place

So there you go, some Powers traditions.  What are some of your traditions?  Perhaps we want to steal one or two!  (Also, if you’re looking for an idea from us – I highly recommend the scavenger hunt, it’s full of win)

Happy Holidays!

My Unfortunate Doctor Visit

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If you’ve been following me on Twitter, Facebook, or suchthelike, you most likely know that I’m absurdly sick. Today is the 13th day I’ve been bedridden, and it’s getting frustrating.

I started with what I think was Influenza (I say that instead of “Flu”, because the stomach flu is what most people call the “Flu”, and it’s really not the flu at all. The actual flu sucks.) About a week into my misery, I apparently contracted Walking Pneumonia. I went to the doctor, he gave me drugs, tested me, etc, and send me home.

Thankfully, on Monday, my fever broke. I figured that meant I was getting better, and while I still stayed in bed, I’ve been very optimistic. Since I still have a bad cough, aches, night sweats, (and a few other issues you don’t want to know about), I did go for a follow up exam today. I expected a pat on the back and assurance all was going well.

Yeah, not so much.

The doctor was under the impression I should be better. Not relatively speaking, but completely. Like, I should be all better. So, now I’m on an even stronger medicine, and on bed rest until next week when I see the doctor. Again. Since I’ve been really good about resting and drinking fluids at home (thank you for your support, family), I don’t have to go into the hospital or anything. So far.

So the lesson for the day? Apparently you can still be pretty sick even if you don’t have a fever. Go figure. And with that, it’s back into pajamas for me. 🙁

The Honeymoon Trip

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Donna and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary this month. 15 years. Yes, it amazes me that someone would put up with for that long as well. Still, in all that time, we’ve never been on a honeymoon, or even a vacation with just the two of us.

I started planning a vacation for our 15th anniversary quite a while back, but then our house burned down, construction costs skyrocketed, and now every last bit our our savings has been spent on our new house. That’s not a complaint, as our house is wonderful, but it makes a vacation impossible this month. We also planned a tropical vacation, somewhere with a beautiful beach where Donna could lay in the sun and I could stare at her read a book. The more we talked about it though, the more we thought a traveling vacation would be fun. So after a brainstorming session with my friend Kyle, we figured out what sounds like the perfect vacation, at least for us:

Sometime this summer, we’ll fly to San Diego (or somewhere in SoCal), where we’ll take a cab to the Volkswagen Beetle we will have purchased in advance. We considered renting a convertible, but a one-way rental of a sports car is really expensive. So we’re going to buy a car and keep it. Plus, driving home we save on half the plane fare, so in the end we get a car as a souvenir for little more than a rental would cost.

We’re going to take 10 days or so and travel north along the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping along the way to see the sites, visit with friends, and just enjoy ourselves. We plan to end our northerly trek in Seattle (again visiting friends and checking out the things to see), and then turn east to head home. It will take 4-5 days traveling cross country to get home, but since it’s part of the vacation itself, it will be fun!

Granted, a two week vacation driving across country will be expensive, especially when buying a classic car is part of the cost — but we have some time to save up for the journey, and I suspect the memories we’ll have will be more exciting than 6 days and 7 nights in a bungalow on a beach. (Not that we can’t do that someday as well!)

Anyway, making it public here will help motivate me to really make it happen. If you live in southern California, please keep your eye out for a classic convertible bug, please! (UPDATE: A 1975 or older model, to avoid the crazy California emissions stuff, thanks Dr. Phil!) I’m so excited about this trip, I can’t wait until summer!

On Being Happy

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WARNING:

This post is a long, wordy, self-discovery thread in which I reveal more about myself than anyone likely cares to know. It’ll probably be boring. Feel free to click away now, I won’t be offended. 🙂

I wish I would follow my own advice. Really, I do. See, my simple advice to everyone is a two step process:

  1. Figure out what you love to do.
  2. Do that thing.

I don’t mean that in some existential, universal happiness, hippy circle, kumbaya crap. I mean your career. Your job. You daily doings. The thing you spend most of your life doing. That thing.

For me, it’s taken 35 years to figure out what it is I love to do. For a long time I thought it was working on computers. I’m good with technology. And I enjoy technology. But it’s really not what I love. Shocked? Don’t be. I like bagels and cream cheese too, but I don’t want to have a career of eating them. Computers and technology are things I enjoy doing, things I understand, things I have an intuitive ability to fix. That doesn’t excite me when I wake up in the morning though. I don’t ever want to go to work in the morning.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work at Linux Journal. It involves computers, technology, and allows me to write. I love writing. I really do. For the past few years, I actually thought it was writing that was the thing I should be doing every day. I actually do wake up in the morning thinking about writing. I love writing. In fact, writing allows me to fill that need deep in my soul that truly brings me a wellspring of joy.

But honestly, writing isn’t “the thing” I love.

This was a confusing revelation for me. When I write, I can feel fulfilled, totally. It does give me that soul soothing comfort everyone hopes to get from their job. Yet, I struggle to keep a diary. If writing were really my ultimate passion, a diary or journal would be like my own little crack pipe. But it turns out that I really don’t like to write in a journal. Because no one reads it. And that’s when it struck me.

I like to entertain.

For a long time, I told Donna that more than anything in the world, I like to make people smile. And I do love to make people smile. But like writing, it’s just a tool for my ultimate passion. Entertaining. That may sound hokey. It may sound like hippy circle, kumbaya crap — but really, entertaining people is my passion. It’s taken me 35 years to figure that out.

So now I’m stuck in a rough situation. I know what I love. That knowledge is powerful, it really is. It’s freeing. It’s fulfilling. It’s awesome. Unfortunately, my life is no longer all about me. I have a family that I deeply love and care for. In fact, I love my family more than I love myself. It’s true. I’m not upset that I have responsibilities that prevent me from “following my dream” right now. I’m thrilled to have a family to care for. So I choose to work in a stable job that provides financial stability for those I love.

If that job proves to be detrimental to the happiness of my family, however, I have no reason to stay. See, money and health insurance are important, but a father and husband is even more important. If the stress of my current job is killing me, and making me a father I don’t want to be, I can quit with the confidence I’ve done the right thing. That, my friend, is some powerful knowledge.

So I leave you with this:

  1. Know what you love.
  2. If you can, do what you love.
  3. Don’t let what you’re doing change who you are.

The last point is important. Remember who you are, and who your family loves. Don’t let a bad career choice change who you are. If you do, you kill the person your family loves, and become a poor substitute. I’m working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen to my family, I urge you to do the same.

Life is too short. Carpe Diem. Trust me, it can be gone in the blink of an eye. Live your life to the fullest, please.

The Defattification Process Has Begun

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OK, here’s the deal. Those of you that know me know I struggle with migraines. Like, really really struggle with them. Well, I’m on a new cocktail of prescription drugs that seems to be working at keeping migraines at bay — but one of the side effects is that I am gaining weight. And boobs. I suspect the two are closely related. 🙂

Anyway, while my life certainly hasn’t gotten any less busy, it’s still true that for the majority of my day, I sit in a chair and type on a computer. I figured it would be awesome if I could transform my work desk into a standing treadmill desk. It would help me lose weight, make me healthier in general, promote a healthy mindset at school, and not take any MORE time out of my already crazy life. I say that’s win-win. (Well, actually win win win win, but who’s counting)

One of the first problems with building a treadmill desk is that such endeavors can be quite expensive. Since we just bought a house (yes insurance covered some, but we ended paying upwards of 80K, so needless to say, money is tight) I figured I had about a $10 budget. 🙂 Thankfully, my mother in law said I could use her treadmill, which was collecting dust in the shed of the last person that borrowed it. That was the first big expense, and it cost me $0. Well within budget.

The next hurdle was to get my desk, well, on the treadmill. Or in front of it, or something like that. This treadmill is on the small side, so I guesstimated it would fit under the desk, and I could just raise my desk up to accommodate the height of me standing on the treadmill. I guessed on how high it would have to go, and went to the lumber yard. I bought 12 cinder blocks. (Bricks, the kind you build houses with.) They were just over a buck a piece, so while I went over my $10 budget, it wasn’t by much. So here are the materials I had to work with:

Hauling bricks is hard work. I just want to put that out in the universe. Go hug a bricklayer or something, those folks work hard for a living. Anyway, I never really measured, but I sorta figured raising the desk by 3 blocks would allow the treadmill to fit underneath it. I had no idea if that would make the desk too high — and quite honestly, when I stacked the bricks, I was a little nervous.

As it turns out, I had to rearrange this really nice brick layout, because my electrical outlet is behind one of the bricks on the right. After asking Donna (my wife) to help me lift the desk, it was time to hook stuff back up and get the treadmill in place. Why did I ask Donna to help me? Because if it was a colossal failure, I knew she’d be kind. 🙂 Here is the finished treadmill desk:

How does it work? Well, I only walked on it for about two hours today, since I put it in place during my lunch hour. In those few hours though, I learned a few things.

  1. Converse All-Stars, while the most amazing and awesome shoe ever created, are not good for walking on a treadmill. I will be wearing my walking shoes to work from now on.
  2. Treadmills are rather loud. Probably not all of them, but this one is kinda noisy. For the price, I’m not complaining, and Donna says she can’t hear it out in the library, so I’ll live with the noise. It’s something to consider if your situation calls for more hush hush though.
  3. There are very few things that can’t be done while walking on the treadmill. Really. I’m surprised and amazed at how well I can manipulate my keyboard, mouse, etc. I can even drink coffee without spilling.
  4. I need a fan. Even walking slowly, it gets hot quickly. My office is always uncomfortably hot anyway, and walking doesn’t help. Since the treadmill is noisy anyway, I don’t think a fan will be too bad.
  5. So far, I’ve gotten many more compliments than rolled eyes. I suspected people would think I was crazy, or just playing in my office — but both students and adults alike thought it was a great idea. In fact, our phys-ed instructor was REALLY impressed with the idea.
  6. Oddly enough, I get a feeling of accomplishment when I work while walking on the treadmill. It’s not as if I’m doing anything differently, but while my “never get everything done” sort of job is often frustrating, the fact that I walked a few miles really makes the day seem more productive. It’s quite nice.

If you’ve been considering building a treadmill desk, or even just a standing desk, I’d recommend doing it similar to how I did. Try to be cheap. I have no idea if I’ll stick with this for a long time (I really hope I do), but since it cost me about $12 total — I’m not going to feel bad if I fail miserably. However, since Donna immediately claimed my awesome desk chair, if I do give up the treadmill, I don’t think I’ll get back my comfy chair… 🙂

That’s Right Ladies, He Was SINGLE

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I know, it’s hard to believe, but this fine piece of 12 year old geek was single. Mind you, he had a TI-99/4A computer, a black and white television, and a laminated library card — but no woman could hold him down. In fact, it was so obvious to them, that none tried. 😀

I know they say size doesn’t matter, but just look at those glasses. Oh yeah. You know what I’m talking about. Homeslice could see the whole computer screen without moving his head. (Coincidentally, the computer screen at that point was that aforementioned black and white TV. Uh hu, we kicked it old school.)

How did I happen upon this glorious bit of the 80s you might ask? Well, that’s what happens when your Mom starts a blog. 🙂 So far there are no bathtub photos over there, but it’s probably just a matter of time.

On The Burning And Building Of Houses

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UPDATE: I just got a call from the CEO’s executive team, and the full check is being overnighted! Thank you to everyone that helped. 😀

Anyone that knows me personally or professionally knows that in January our house burned down. Many of you know that we’ve had problems getting our house replaced as well. Oddly, while it would seem obvious to blame the insurance company, in this case Auto Owners (our home owners insurance company, I know, funny name for homeowners) has been amazing. Our problems have been with Chase Manhattan. Let me tell you a story about why there isn’t a house in this photo…

How Insurance Claims On House Fires Work

This process wasn’t something I ever considered before, but it turns out it’s a bit complicated if there is a mortgage on the house that burned. It is a 4 step process:

  1. The insurance company gets an appraisal of the structure, based on its value just before it actually burned. This is for the dwelling only, not the property, etc.
  2. The insurance company cuts a check for that amount to the homeowner AND the mortgage company.
  3. The homeowner endorses the check, and sends it to the mortgage company for them to cash and send back to the homeowner to pay the contractor. In our case, thanks to the crappy housing market, our dwelling appraised for a whopping $65,500.
  4. Once the house is set, the insurance company cuts another check to the homeowner and mortgage company for the difference in the original check and the actual cost of the house. This is what “replacement insurance” on the dwelling means. I endorse that check, send it to the mortgage company, and they cash and send it back made out to me and the contractor doing the work.

Yes, it’s complicated, but legally that’s what needs to happen. The problem is that Chase won’t release all of the first check to me. Since our house is a modular house, it’s complete when delivered. In fact, my house has been completed for weeks now, and is sitting in a warehouse in Indiana. It can’t be delivered until the contractor has the cash to pay for it.

This might seem hinky. The manufacturer needing COD for a house? But as it turns out, this is the norm. Once the house they built is on private property, they have no legal right to it. So, they insist on getting paid, especially since their job IS done. The problem is that Chase is keeping back half of the first check. This means the contractor (the middleman between me and the housing manufacturer) is expected to pay over $100,000 for a house while only being given roughly $44,000. (See, there was a $12,000 deposit the insurance company paid, plus that first half of the check already sent to the mortgage company).

If people were actually buying houses, the contractor might have enough capital to fund the house while Chase Manhattan dragged their heels. Sadly, no one is buying. No one is building. In fact, here in Michigan, people are moving away because there are no jobs. So that’s what puts us in the current pickle.

  • Without the second half of the first check, which Chase Manhattan is holding (and collecting interest on, I’m sure), we are unable to get a house placed on the foundation.
  • Without an inspection of the house ON THE FOUDATION, Chase will not release the second check.

See the problem?

Why Chase Manhattan Sucks Like The Tootsie Roll Center of the Galaxy

That was weeks ago. No, really. I’ve been dealing with Chase Manhattan since mid-June trying to figure out a solution to the problem. After hours of phone calls, and supervisors of supervisors, I finally got them to agree to investigate a deviation for us. Mind you, for the past month I’ve been faxing information they requested, getting paperwork notarized (and re-notarized, don’t ask), having my insurance company send explanation letters on company letterhead, etc, etc, etc. Every step takes 48-72 hours. Send a fax? It’s not official for 48-72 hours. Want a call back? 48-72 hours. Waiting for a decision? 48-72 hours.

So now, I’ve reached what seems like the end of my ability. I’ve been the patient customer, holding for literally hours. I’ve been the irate customer, immediately demanding to speak to supervisors by name. I’ve been the annoying customer, and when given a direct line, left multiple messages.

It never does any good. At all. Here is what I’m hoping: That you might help. Lord knows you’ve all helped my family before. I’m only asking here for publicity. If you know someone at Chase, please send them to my blog. If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link if you’re OK with that sort of thing. If you work at Chase, by all means, PLEASE email me. If you are Jamie Dimon, dude, you should know how poorly your company treats its customers.

Here is a list of email addresses. I’m sure they’re not all valid, I just came up with them based on the standard structure for Chase email addresses. They are the names of the company board members, CEO, and some of the managers I’ve spoken with inside Chase. I’m not asking you to email bomb these folks, but feel free to add any addresses in the comments so I can email them as well:

List deleted, since they’ve finally done the right thing!

My house is done. It’s been done for weeks. It would be really nice if the next 48-72 hours actually accomplished something. You have my thanks.