Midsummer Musings: What I've Learned

I've learned a few new things so far this summer:

1. There is always something new and exciting to discover even in the most familiar places.
2. Camp rules need to include rules against cross-dressing.
3. Talking like a pirate is hard on the voice.
4. Some of my high school classmates look old.
5. Some of my high school classmates still look hot.
6. I love singing karaoke.
7. Air conditioners are built to be more efficient than they were even just 10 years ago.
8. Toilets are built to be more efficient and flush less than they did prior to 1994.
9. Toilets are easy to install.
10. The wax ring used in installing toilets is really disgusting - even when it's clean.
11. There's a better way to get to Prescott and avoid the traffic on the main highway.
12. Our dog is smarter than I thought.
13. 18-inch tiles are heavier than they look.

Again, I've been reminded that God doesn't give us more than we can handle, and gives us just enough of the resources we need. Between the refinance, a generous tax refund and a stimulus check, we have had just enough to pay for new flooring and a new air conditioner without going further into debt. Nice.

And as always, good friends are more valuable than money in the bank.

Midsummer Musings: New Flooring

After a real busy June, I thought I could go into cruise mode. Nay, nay.

I had (grudgingly) promised my wife that we would replace the flooring in the house. We had some old carpet that desperately needed to go, and some pretty ugly vinyl that pretended to look like birch or something.

We have a friend in the flooring business so we met with her on July 3. We decided to go with ceramic tile throughout the whole house and tentatively scheduled the job for the end of July/early August. M then told us that we had to pack up and essentially move out of the house during the job. We could save a little money also if we pulled off the baseboards ourselves. They would take care of removing and replacing the toilets.

So that got us moving. We started filling about 20 or 30 boxes full of our stuff, as well as doing a general housecleaning.

Realizing that toilets would be pulled had me a little concerned, especially knowing that one was having a bit of a problem with the connection between the tank and the bowl. I figured it would have to be replaced. When I felt around for the bolts and one fell off, I knew we were buying a new toilet. And since the other toilet was flushing well, I thought, "Why not replace both?" So off I went to Home Depot for two toilets and we (meaning I) set out to replace them. Even though I knew they would have to be pulled again in a few weeks, I decided to get some practice in. It went well and was easier than I thought.

I then looked at my computer desk. It's a nice desk, but it would have to be disassembled before I could get it out of the room. I didn't want to disassemble and reassemble it again. So I decided to convert the closet in this bedroom (which is my computer room/study) into a computer work station. This entailed another trip to Home Depot for materials and some paint. I now have a nice computer work station tucked away in the corner and have virtually added considerable space to this room.

Then came the phone call from our friend M on the 11th. The contractor had to start work on the 18th. We had just a week to get everything ready. Yikes! Near-panic set in. But the good news was that they could work around us a little (i.e. - we only had to move the piano a few feet).

Nonetheless, we were still scrambling as the day drew nearer. Packing with finesse went out the window and things were getting thrown into boxes. Some boxes ended up on the patio, wrapped up in plastic sheeting like a big burrito. Other boxes that needed protection from the heat outside ended up being stacked in one of the bathtubs. With help from family (my son-in-law was especially helpful), we managed to get most of the furniture into the garage or on the patio. Our bed would move as needed.

By the time the contractor and his helper showed up on Friday, I still had a little bit of baseboard to pull, but I did manage to keep ahead of them.

M had told us the job would take three days. The contractor said it would take five. He was right. But it did go rather smoothly.

On Saturday I pulled one of the toilets and was able to reinstall it the next day (we were assured that there would always be at least one usable bathroom during the entire job).

Also on Saturday, it was becoming apparent that the monsoon storms would be coming back. There wasn't much protection on the patio except for the boxes that were wrapped like a big burrito. Fortunately there was plenty of plastic sheeting left, so I tacked it up all around the patio (leaving just enough of an opening for the dog). You'd think we were boarding up for a hurricane.

The effort to weatherproof the patio proved not to be in vain as we were awakened by a loud crack of thunder in the wee hours of the next morning, followed by the sound of a heavy rain pounding on the roof. The patio was just fine.

On Sunday morning we were able to move the piano back into the now-completed living room (by now that whole half of the house was done and the concrete and grout was set). We also moved our bed into the living room along with the refrigerator and a dresser. We essentially camped out in our living room for two nights. Our living arrangements, coupled with the blackness outside our patio door due to the black plastic sheeting, made it feel pretty weird.

On Monday I pulled the other toilet as they worked on our kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. And on Tuesday - as promised - they were done.

Our son-in-law helped us get our couch back in place, and a couple of friends came over to help with most of the rest of the furniture; I reinstalled the second toilet as well. At last we had our house back.

The new tile is gorgeous and was well worth the time and effort. I even admitted to my wife that I was glad I didn't do the job myself, and at my own pace (which would have taken until Christmas - 2010).

Since the baseboards are off, that has inspired me for our next project - painting. That I can do at my own pace and be done by Christmas - this year. Besides, I've already purchased new baseboards.

Midsummer Musings: Retreat

I had the opportunity to serve on a three-day men's retreat in Prescott. As always it was nice to get away from the heat of the Valley. I pretty much sat a table with a partner where we helped facilitate the procedings with three other men who had never participated on one of these weekends. On Sunday of the retreat, I had my own opportunity to speak to the group.

There was a considerable amount of preparation that our team took part in prior to the retreat (every other Saturday for several weeks) but it was well worth it. Now that it was over with, I finally would get some free time (so I thought).

Midsummer Musings: A/C Goes Down

Our house is over 20 years old, and sometimes it feels its age. Unfortunately, we sometimes have to feel its age with it.

We have this guy who comes and gives our heat pump and our evaporative cooler a checkup every spring. He's managed to keep our old units running for several years, but with a warning that they could go at any time.

The first casualty was our evaporative cooler. We didn't even turn it on this year. Repairs were deemed inoperable. No big deal. We could replace that at our leisure.

About mid-June, I noticed the house wasn't cooling off as well as it should. The A/C kept cycling. I called our guy and he checked it out. Sure enough, our heat pump's time had come.

Fortunately he called around and got us a good deal on a new unit. The price included installation, a new digital thermostat, the crane rental, and a ten year warranty. In less than 48 hours, we had our new unit up and running. Nice.

Midsummer Musings: High School Reunion

I had just come home from a week at camp when I just as quickly took off for my 30-year high school reunion.

It was fun to see some old friends (although a little disappointing that some others didn't show). Lots of memories were shared with folks I hadn't seen in 10, 20, or even 30 years. One surprise was seeing someone who had been at a retreat I had led (I didn't know him in high school). And I knew his wife - a pastor with whom I had served on another retreat.

Another surprise was that I actually sang karaoke - something I had never done before. I picked out Desperado by the Eagles. Although I was not in the best voice (my throat was still scratchy from performing my pirate voice two nights prior), it actually turned out okay and I got a rousing ovation. Even the guy running the karaoke said it was good.

It was a fun evening. Hopefully I don't have to wait another ten years to see some of these folks again.

Midsummer Musings: Pirate Humor

Did you know that there is a table grace sung to the tune of Pirates of the Caribbean? Just another tune you can sing the Doxology to.

And this grace was the inspiration for some levity during music camp. I was getting a bit silly with one of the other cabin leaders with some pirate jokes, and it just escalated from there. Before you knew it, I was asking my pastor if T2 and I could lead the grace for dinner that evening.

We managed to get eye patches from the camp nurse (and colored them black); bandanas completed our outfits. And so the Mingus Mountain Pirate Standup Comedy Show was born:

"What's a pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet?" - "R(rrrrr)!" (okay, that's old, but a good warmup).

"What's a pirate's favorite subject in school?" - "Arrrrrrt!"

"What's a pirate's favorite Bible story?" - "Noah's Arrrrrrrk!"

"What's a pirate's favorite Gospel?" - "Marrrrrk!"

"What's a pirate's favorite movie?" - "Purty Woman." - "Purty Woman? Why?" - "Because it's rated R(rrrrrrr)!"

And who said pirates couldn't have good Christian fun?

Midsummer Musings: Music Camp

Music camp went as well as expected. The kids worked hard and played nice (for the most part). I only had one incident where I had to intervene and lay down the law with one camper. But all in all, I had a very good group this year.

Our theme this year was writing a musical around the Creation story (Genesis 1, 2). We also had quite a bit of technology where a fair amount of music was done electronically and there was a Power Point slideshow going on in the background.

We had a several hikes, as usual, including a biodiversity hike where we would go out and photograph as many different species of plants and animals as we could find in an hour. We would then go back to the camp and - with books and internet - try to identify as many of the species as we could. Our group had managed to find an Abert's squirrel - not real common, but not as rare as its cousin, the Kaibab squirrel.

The weather actually was a bit cooler - even cold at times - this year. It wasn't so much the temperature, but the windchill. On Wednesday morning, a steady breeze came up and it didn't let up all day. Normally we have one day at camp (usually Wednesday) where we pick up a sack lunch and take our groups somewhere outside on the grounds or just outside of camp. But it was so cold this year, everyone opted to eat in the dining hall.

The show was written and rehearsed. Unfortunately, as well-behaved as my guys were, they weren't as focused, and had some difficulty learning their parts. It was down to crunch time. But T and I gave them a good pep talk, and they were all able to step up to the plate. They did alright.

Midsummer Musings: Prelude

It has been an incredibly busy summer for me - perhaps the busiest ever. Some things were planned, some things were not.

I had looked forward to blogging while I was at music camp during the first week of June. I even posted from there once. Then, inexplicably, my laptop died. We thought it was just a bad AC adapter or the cord that plugs into the computer. I ordered new ones. The laptop still does not power up. Perhaps I'll get into it sometime later when life settles down.

But now that things are sort of settled a little, it is now time for me to make contact with the world again and let all my peeps know what the heck I've been up to for the last several weeks. Hence the Midsummer Musings.