December 31, 2011

There were 3 posts published on December 31, 2011 (this is page 1 of 1).

Highlights of 2011: McNultys move

It hit me harder than I expected when our next-door neighbors the McNultys moved away earlier this month. They’d been here to welcome us when we moved in and now they’re in St. Louis.

Whenever their daughter Lily was out in their driveway my kids would almost always drop what they were doing to go play with her. It was really sweet to watch. When the grownups needed time away from the kids we would trade nights of kid-sitting. And we would gather around their chimnea to roast marshmallows on occasion.

Being the last house on a dead-end street definitely makes it tougher when your next-door neighbor moves away. I wish them well in their new city, though, and hope they visit here again soon.

Highlights of 2011: Earthquake

I would never thought an event lasting 15 seconds would become a highlight of the year, but this year’s earthquake made a big impression on me!

Sure, my West Coast friends doubled over with laughter at the panic the quake caused on the East Coast. The truth is, though, that we don’t get earthquakes as strong as this, and certainly we don’t build our buildings to withstand them. When the photos came back of the damage at Mineral, Virginia there were a number of buildings that became rubble.

As I write this, word comes that a minor earthquake measuring 4.0 rocked the state of Ohio. I wonder if we’ll be seeing more of these with all the fracking that’s now going on.

We could be in for a bumpy ride.

Highlights of 2011: Satellite dish

This was the year I finally indulged in a hobby I’ve long wanted to try: satellite reception! In January, as a birthday present, I answered a Craigslist ad for a few Free-To-Air (FTA) satellite receivers and dishes that were being sold. I got a few used receivers and dishes for a great price and went right to work figuring out how to get everything connected.

What resulted was an opening to a world I had only imagined before. So many TV and radio stations were available to me, many of them from distant lands. I became obsessed with finding new signals and perfecting my reception. I even planted two dishes instead of just one, working around the trees in my yard as best I could.
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