My Mind: Lifesized

My curious silence since last posting about the disaster in our basement has not gone unnoticed. The truth is, I almost couldn't bear to put on virtual paper what has been happening in reality. It has now been 31 days since we discovered water on the floor of our basement bathroom. What we thought was a leak, was in reality a seep, and the journey to today has been mind-blowing to say the least. We left our story on the eve of the "battle of the scope" as I lovingly call it, the night before Pioneer Drain & Sewer arrived to put a scope down our drains to try and discover the source of our problem. Dave Rawley from Pioneer is a local legend and wizard at sleuthing out leak sources. However, it didn't take long until Dave echoed the chorus that has become all too familiar this past month when he uttered, "I've just never seen anything like this before". On the first day of his efforts, he snaked, jetted, pushed, and cajoled his scope through what I...

It's been over a week now and our basement has gotten worse. We've had drain people out, plumbers out, and restoration experts out here trying to determine the source of the water, which has gone from ruining one room to 4 and from possibly being ground water seeping in to sewer water backing up into the house. Everyone has a different theory, from a water utility line break above our home seeping in, to a pipe break and partial blockage outside the home. We had a master plumber up who is certain it is a break...I'm throwing my chips behind his theory. The water increases when the washer runs, which to him means the water can't drain correctly from our home and he has wondered aloud if we don't have an old floor drain somewhere that was covered when the house was renovated back in 1980. We had to remove all personal items form that end of the basement, which happens to be the part of the house we remodeled to make bedrooms for Cole and Macy!  The restoration crew wa...

Houses are funny things, containing so much of our lives and yet so temporary and odd in their own way. We buy them and work hard to make them reflect who we are...but they, or we, can be gone or partially destroyed in the wink of an eye. They are also curious in how they can look so different when empty or when things are moved around and "out of place". And the longer someone resides in a home the more settled in things are, and the more shocking it looks when a room is emptied, or the house is changed in some way. I write all this as a crew is turning part of our home into what looks like a scene from Breaking Bad. They are creating a "negative air" environment in our basement, to prevent mold spores and foul air from escaping and entering the rest of our home. Heavy plastic is going up, effectively sealing 1/3 of our basement off from the rest of the house. Zipper doors are included with this plastic blanket and they make this odd sound that really does feel e...

Tasty!

Good coverage. A few inaccuracies but overall very pleased with the article. There seems to be some confusion on the bond...the bond has something for everyone and will improve our quality of life, provide additional play opportunities (of the most important type) by replacing 10 playgrounds in Missoula, create a new County Trails program to leverage funds to better connect communities and provide more access to public land, and fully build Fort Missoula Regional Park with its trails, pavilions, dog park, new softball complex, and new multi-use sports fields which will allow us to host sporting events we can't now and provide an economic driver for our community. Vote YES for Parks & Trails! Supporters, critics weigh in on $42M Missoula County parks, trails bond

I have a confession to make...I am in Indianapolis and I didn't really tell anyone I was coming. Sorry, Joe & Brian & Steve and all my other beloved Indy friends, this is a quick trip and I am being selfish. And yes, I told Pete we should arrange a Purdue reunion this year and am going sans my old roomie; had to do it braaaaaa! I came home to visit my folks, my brother, sister, and their families and to catch the #Purdue - Michigan State football game tomorrow. I'm sorry I didn't make plans and try to arrange visits. Simply put, I'm exhausted and need a break and this weekend is just what the doctor ordered. It's been 14 months since my last visit, the longest time I've ever been away from my home town and family. Today we drove through Broad Ripple and I got to see one of my most favorite people, Karen Van der Walle at her studio, The Potter's House. We drove downtown and had lunch at Shapiro's. Then headed over to Mass Avenue and shopped (...

North Central High School 1981...yes, this was popular. Much to my kids horror, I danced to this song tonight in Old Navy. Why not, they already think I am totally uncool.  Luckily I was gravitating towards The Replacements, New Order and others and escaped pop music for several decades!

Johnny O's Army of Good RATPOD 2014 Page Every year I ask my friends to dig into their pockets to support Camp Mak-A-Dream. Camp is a very special place, where kids and young adults with cancer get a cost-free Montana camping experience that is so much more than camping. They come from all across the country and all walks of life and for many this will be their first (and maybe only) time seeing the mountains and being around others fighting the same battle. Every donation, whether $10 or $1000 helps. My goal is to raise $6,000 and so far we are at $1,000 Please consider a donation today. Thanks friends (my chicken legs and boney butt don't say thanks, but the pain is worht the gain!!!!)

USA Ultimate Officially Recognized by the United States Olympic Committee  Exciting news for our sport!

I absolutely love this song. Every single time I hear it I sort of just freeze. What a beautiful voice and what great lyrics. A must watch. Oh, and hi, I am back.

My Mom found this gem.

You Can Grow Ideas, In the Garden of Your Mind One word, awesome!

It's on! 11th annual RATPOD and this year I want to send 10 kids to camp. We can do this together!  Camp Mak-A-Dream is an amazing place. Please consider learnign more and donating to my page. FirstGiving - RATPOD

Okay, so I am on an ultimate kick today.  Great 2011 highlights from the Open division.

This is absolutely hilarious. This is absolutely hilarious.

I mentioned that I was in the midst of a year-end gorge of 2011 music in an effort to solidify my best of...I'm happy to report I keep finding more and more sites with great reviews and, once again, music that hadn't reached my ears. Here is another example I Guess I'm Floating Presents: The Best Albums of 2011 . I'd never heard Pepper Rabbits before, but am loving their sound. 2011 was indeed a good year in music and I can't wait for my compilation to be complete so I can share. Back to work....

I've always loved music, always. I have strong memories of my childhood and some that stand out are of my Mom, driving the car and signing out loud an d"dancing" as she drove. She had this elaborate hand dance she did that made both me and my sister laugh. We didn't think she was a dork, we thought she was cool. At some point, I think around my college years, I started making "best of" lists and compilations. In college these were done on cassette tapes and I prided myself on my ability to make songs fade and blend together. My tapes were all titled, "Juicy John's Best of...". At some point the cassette's were dropped for mixed compact discs and I developed a whole network of like minded friends who would trade me their best of discs for mine. I guess I've been at this for 35 years or so, wow! Since the birth of my first son, Liam, the importance of always being ahead of the curve when it comes to music has diminished somewhat. I n...

Well, it's been a long long time my beloved blog. I wish I could connect my brain to blogger and upload the good stuff since my last post. For now let's just say here is 2012 and a chance to get back in touch with my blogging side.

Cole played Evel Knievel in his school's wax museum this year. It was a hoot. he worked really hard to memorize all the details and also to use exaggerated hand gestures as recommended by his teacher. Pretty funny stuff.

I've been in some pretty vigorous debates on health reform over the past year. I've been surprised at the anger and downright misinformation displayed by some of my friends who sit on the far right. During one exchange I was shocked by comments from a friend who is quite religious and who basically said there is nothing in the bible that says she has to pay for the health care of those who won't pay for themselves. Another friend told me she couldn't believe the government would try to penalize people who worked hard their whole life and now wanted to have cosmetic surgery (this was when a tax was proposed on cosmetic surgery). The whole thing has turned sour. I am a big fan of T.R. Reid and his research on health care around the world. He presents a fair and unbiased view on the shortcomings of our system and just the economic sense covering all citizens makes. I am not a fan of a single payer system, but I am a fan of universal coverage done in a private/public comb...