Zipper

One stop during our adventure in Ohio about which we did not previously report was a pet store (Petland, or some such place). At this pet store, Paula fell in love with a Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier. Subsequently, she went back and forth, back and forth, over and over, thinking about should she or shouldn't she acquire a dog. Ron wasn't very excited about the idea. On the other hand, Kathie was very encouraging, coming up with all kinds of reasons why it would be good for Paula. The two of them visited various web sites and found some breeders in the area, thinking that a reliable breeder might provide a puppy with better genetic traits, especially related to dysplasia or other common problems. I attempted to stay back from all of this a respectable distance.



Anyway, yesterday we received an email with a subject line that read something like "Look who came to stay." Enclosed were numerous pictures of Zipper, the new resident at the Benfer home out there in Troy, OH. Because Paula isn't into the blog thing, I am taking some liberties by posting photos of my new "niece" Zipper. Oh, by the way, Paula and Ron are getting all new carpet in their house next week. One has to wonder about the wisdom (or not) of the timing of these two events in their life.

You can send your notes of congratulations or condolence to Paula and Ron at: rbenfer@woh.rr.com.

Ohio Adventure

We visited Ron and Paula in Ohio from March 28th to April 2nd. Paula was on spring break, but Ron had to work during the day. Kathie attended a conference in dayton on the 29th, so Paula and I went out for an adventure. Here she is driving us to our first destination while we catch up on various "Billy and Paula" memories, stories, and recent news.

Among other things, I had asked Paula if she knew of any chainsaw wood carvers in the area. She said she did, so off we went. To say that the carver we found was a character would be a definite understatement. He had some interesting carvings, to be sure. I especially like "The Eye" and was tempted to buy it. But he was also something of a talker, a liberal, a rebel, a philosopher, claimed to be a one-time highly successful insurance businessman, but was clearly an eccentric artist who knew every kind of wood he had available, on and on. He seemed to own the old opera house in which he had set up business. We made the mistake of encouraging him with our questions and conversation, so he offered us a tour. If you think of the most cluttered, run-down, five-story massive structure you may have ever seen, and then think of it being literally filled with piles of wood scraps, antiques, and junk, and then if you make your image ten times worse, you still won't be there. Mr. Johnny Bookwalter insisted on giving us the full treatment. We became quite uncomfortable as we climbed higher and higher, hoping that no electrical shorts would start a fire, that no floor boards would give way, and that our host did not have some nefarious deed in mind. We lived to tell about it, as you can see, and, really, it was kind of fun.

Next, we picked up some flax for Paula's garden and then stopped by Bob Evans for lunch. Some of you will fondly remember stops at Bob Evans as a part of annual treks to Ohio for Thanksgiving.

We then climbed back into Paula's trusty Honda Element and headed to Paula's least favorite store to pick up a replacement Pyrex dish. Sure, we could have stuck to our liberal guns and driven miles to another outlet, but Wal-Mart was just next door. Oh well, we got to see a good bumper sticker in the Wal-Mart parking lot, of all places. (In case you can't read it, it says, "Bush-Cheney Screwing Up Since 2000!")
The next day, Paula, Kathie, and I visited the Kitchen Aid store in the town where the Kitchen Aid plant exists. There was a cool museum showing all the appliance models over the years. And if you think you have seen every Kitchen Aid color available, you're wrong!

Projects and Rhode Island

Obviously, I'm not a frequent blogger. My first post showed 106 until retirement. As of today, I'm down to 80. Don't want to wish my life away, but I'll be fine if these days pass rapidly.

Am still working on various projects. Made a picnic table and benches for son Rob for his March 5th birthday. Also built myself a new workbench, and (after all these years) I'm putting a nice floor in the laundry area of our basement.

Kathie and I just returned from a long weekend in Rhode Island to visit Jessica and her cat, Ozzie. She and her friend Mike are both students at Johnson and Wales University, where they are completing culinary programs with BA degrees. The New England area is a great place for seafood, of course. We had an exceptional dinner, beginning with six different kinds of fresh oysters. Also drove down to Newport and toured one of the "little weekend homes" that many of the nation's wealthiest individuals built there in the late 1800s and early 1900s (Vanderbilts and others). The flight home from Detroit to Cedar Rapids may well have been the worst flying experience of my life. We flew through or over that bad storm that passed through the midwest on Sunday. At one time they spoke of diverting us to Des Moines or Omaha, but we did finally land in Cedar Rapids. I've never seen so much lightening outside a plane window nor have I been in a plane so buffeted. Not fun. Glad to be on the ground again.

Time to introduce some pictures. Here is one of my new pickup. I have been doing a good job of keeping it really clean, but the storm we had overnight and today have interfered with that, so you get to see it in less than perfect condition. Only 1600 miles on it so far, including a trip to see Will and Sandy and another to see Betsy, Pete, and Henry.

Here is another picture. This one is of the stepstool I'm making Henry. He "ordered" it from me awhile ago--the order was transmitted to me by his mother. I'm finally getting it wrapped up. Have to communicate with him about what color or finish he wants it to have. I think I'll woodburn his name into it somewhere.



That will have to do for now. More later. Stay warm.

106 Days to Go

Well, I guess I have to get with the program. Two of my offspring are now blogging, and since I'm the original techno-geek in the crowd (my first introduction to computers was in 1965!), I should really be present out here in cyber-space.

Turns out I'm retiring in exactly 106 days. My birthday will be my last day of work for the good old U of I. On that day, I qualify for health care benefits, so I figure, why not bail out while the "gittins" good on the very next day? That will be one month short of 38 full years of employment at the U, but since I actually first experienced the U in 1960 as a band camper, I count 46 years of connection to the institution. That's enough. Time to move on. As a good friend says, "Time to have fun and then die." Time to build things, do photography, play with my grandchild (grandkids, if I get a little more help from the complete set of offspring), travel, read all these books I have piled up, drive my new pickup, whatever....

New pickup! A few weeks ago, I bought a new pickup truck to replace my Volkswagen Beetle. I know! Not quite the same kind of transportation, but I think I need something to haul my lumber, pull my boat up at the lake, and stuff like that. It's a previously unowned, dark cherry red, Chevrolet Colorado with an extended cab. Henry liked riding in it! That's what really matters. He and I will use it to haul lumber to build a treehouse somewhere in the forest out behind our cabin up at the lake in Wisconsin (in a few years).

Well. Look forward to more exciting news here in the future. I'm not going to do the ten year challenge thing. Hell, I can barely remember 5 years ago. Old fartism, you know.