The Dogs Are On To Something

Well, there you have it. The dogs having another rough evening in the Hale home. My back was feeling so good that I took them for a walk today. That usually wipes them out for the evening. I may have overdone it a bit with my back - took them for a walk and vacuumed my car and cleaned the windows and now my back is achy. But I played basketball pretty hard last night and it felt great afterwards.

Ashleigh had a game Thursday but they tied 0-0. Exciting game though. Today Lucie and I went our friend's daughter's volleyball game. That was pretty exciting. The rules have changed a bit since I played intramural in college. Now it is much faster. Their daughter did really well and is the team setter so she was busy. They won the best of 5 set three games to one.

Speaking of winning, the Red Sox won Game 1 versus Tampa Bay in Tampa tonight so they are off to a good start.

Elliott is down at the beach for a few days with a friend from school. That should be a great time for him.

Lucie and I stayed in and watched a Netflix movie tonight: "Shooter." Pretty good conspiracy movie about a former military sniper. Good action and it had some great scenes of Philadelphia including some shots of my old office building.

Tomorrow is a hayride that Lucie is organizing for the church at a local farm. She does it every year but this year she has opened it up to families - not just her girls' groups. The weather looks good.

Back Pain Gone

Monday night I went to bed with my back still nagging me and feeling pretty uncomfortable. Woke up Tuesday morning feeling 95% better! Unbelievable. I don't know what happened but I will claim healing... I took it easy yesterday and will again today. (Why not?!) I have a little twinge every now and then on one side but otherwise, I am feeling great. Weird how it came and suddenly went. Let's hope it stays gone.

I cleaned out the grill yesterday and did a few errands. The pool water was up higher than I like for the winter so I tried to siphon off some of the water using a long garden hose. After about 20 mouthfuls of pool water and it still not flowing out on its own, I went looking for a pump. Couldn't find anything cheap so I tried to use a drill pump thing. That promptly burned out so it was back to the siphon option. I finally got that started. It is draining slowly but at least it is draining. My brother contacted me and he is going to make me some clear skimmer lids. I mailed him one of the ones I have now for a template. I can't wait for that. Now I will see what lies beneath before I lift the lid.

As I expected, a couple of the employment possibilities got delayed. I still have a couple more I am hopeful about and may find out some more info this afternoon on one of them.

On To The Next Round

In a really exciting ending to the game, the Red Sox won their first play-off series against the LA Angels. Tie game at the bottom of the 9th, close play at the plate, and the Sox win! Pretty exciting. They now play the Tampa Bay Rays. The winner of that series goes to the World Series.

Had a bad back day today. I sure wish I knew what I was doing wrong to make it hurt so bad. But I took it easy all day, put the heat to it, and stretched a lot. It is feeling better tonight. Maybe it is the Red Sox win that helped.

We had a good Sunday. Went to the mall for Lucie to pick up something from there and had lunch at the Food Court. Came home and watched Iron Man on DVD. We saw it at the theaters when it first came out. Really, really good. Not your typical super-hero movie.

I found out today my nephew's football jersey number is the same as my freshman basketball jersey number - 43. Coincidentally, I scored a total of 7 points all the year I played with that number. Surely he will put up better stats than me!

One of the leaders at church asked me to help with a group of boys earn their basketball merit badges on Wednesday nights. There are about 20-25 boys, around age 13, and I only have a few minutes to try and get some instruction in. Last week was my first week. That was an eye opener. Lots of fun but I need to change my approach so that I talk less and they play more.

A&E are off from school later this week. No real plans yet.

I still have a couple of exciting things that could potentially work out in the employment area. I am really optimistic about one option. The others are long shots but would be fine too.

It Doesn't Always Have A Bad Ending

If you look closely at the picture, you will see a couple of mating praying mantids (yes, "mantids" is the plural of praying mantis). I found them in the front bush when I came home tonight. I figured the poor fella was about to lose his head but I did some research and found that that occurs less than a third of the time in the wild - it is much more likely to happen in a lab setting. So maybe today is this guy's lucky day...

Been a couple of quiet days around here. The kids had youth group last night so Lucie and I did some grocery shopping and got new pillows. She picks out some super duper thing, and I was fine with the Wal-Mart $8 one. We got home and she laid down on hers for a few minutes, then tried mine. Ten minutes later she was asleep for the night on mine so it looks like I get the super one.

Ashleigh has a field hockey game at the University tonight on their astro-turf. It is a big tournament and it is usually pretty exciting. She had a friend stay overnight last night who played in the tournament yesterday.

My stupid wifi has started acting up again. Just out of the blue it will shut down. Then start up again. The randomness is what is so annoying - I don't know what is causing it or how to stop it. Something must be interfering in the neighborhood but I have no idea what.

Looks like a quiet day tomorrow too. The Red Sox could win their first playoff series tomorrow. I guess I should be glad for the slow days to allow my back time to get better. It seems to be settling in just above my hips in the back but I don't need the brace so much. I just keep stretching and taking it easy. But bending over to like touch my toes, or rising from a sitting position is still painful.

Field Promotion

Ashleigh had another field hockey game last night and they got beat 11-0. The only good news was that it was 9-0 at the half and her team slowed the scoring down in the second half. Ashleigh was really passionate on the field and was trying to motivate her team. That effort paid off today as the team voted her team co-captain. The original captains got bumped up to the varsity team so the team took a secret vote and she and the goalie are now co-captains. Now she can put some of her energy to work in the practices and calling plays in the field.

Meanwhile, Elliott was one 'kill' away from a field promotion of his own in the XBox game of Halo but one of the other online players quit which denied Elliott his glory. Major bummer for him.

Lucie and I took a road trip down to Maryland today and did some shopping at a scrapbooking store (she shopped - I napped in the car) and we went to the Baltimore IKEA. That store is great for ideas. We got some little lights for the bookshelves and I got a folding, high stool for the church soundbooth (where I do the video operations on a regular basis).

Tonight I played basketball. I played pretty gingerly at first, but then I felt pretty good and my back loosened up. My shot was off and I didn't play at full capacity, but I kept up with the guys and feel pretty good now afterwards.

Things are still looking good for a one-day job next week in NYC. I cannot provide details here but it is a fairly high profile opportunity that will pay enough to cover a bill or two. Still early but I am optimistic.

Did My Duty

A couple of weeks ago I got notice that I had been selected to be a potential juror. So last night I called the courthouse and got the message I had to report this morning. I made my way in to the Wilmington courthouse and sat with about 125 other people in a big room. There was only going to be one civil trial so the coordinator said we should get out early. I got a coffee and pumpkin donut and settled in but then they called names to report to a courtroom for selection. Sure enough, they called my name. Had to leave the coffee but got to finish my donut. Whew! So about 50 of us head up to the courtroom and file in. It was a personal injury case as a result of an accident. The clerk read off names of attorneys and witnesses and the plaintiff and defendant. Then she asked if anyone knew of the case or anyone involved and if sitting on the case, which could go for a few days, would be a hardship. A whole bunch of people raised their hands so they lined up and one by one marched up to the judge, with both attorneys, and told their stories. Meanwhile, the bailiff turned on this static generating device which played static over the courtroom speakers so none of us could hear what was being said. About a third of the people were dismissed. Then they called up 12 people to the jury box. Both attorneys whittled the list down one by one and as each person was dropped out, the clerk would call another name to go to the box for review. Pretty soon there were 11 of us left "unpicked" (reminded me of my younger days when they were picking teams at school...!), twelve in the box, and they had to pick two alternates. First alternate picked. One to go. And guess who they picked? Yup. So up I went and took my seat and was designated juror #14. I was bummed - if I have to be on the jury, at least I want some say in the decision! Anyway, we all got sworn in and lead off to the jury room to wait for a few minutes. Some woman immediately starts running her mouth and fussing about parking and another woman decides to entertain us with chicken trivia (apparently she is in the chicken industry and felt compelled to share her knowledge). After about 20 minutes, the judge came in and said the case had been settled. He said it was very unusual for that to happen at this stage - after the jury was seated but before opening arguments. So we got our certificates and were free to go. And I am out of the pool for at least 2 more years.

That frees me up to make it to Ashleigh's game and won't interfere with a potential consulting job next week.

The Last Sin Eater

We watched, "The Last Sin Eater," this weekend. Good movie. Kind of slow at times but had a good story and I liked it. Here is a link to a preview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A7G4QXKFx8

Every day I think my back improves by about 5%. I am doing a lot of stretching and resting and it is slowly coming along. I sure wish I knew what I did to bring this on so I never do it again, but from what I read, sometimes it just happens.

On Sunday we went to lunch with some friends at Famous Daves BBQ place. Pretty good and lots of food. The menu was huge.

Ashleigh has a game this afternoon that we will go to. It is nice out, after a rainy weekend, so it will be good to get out for a while.

I have a couple of interesting employment prospects cooking. I can't post info on them here, but there is some SLOW movement on a few things. I am optimistic. As always.